Monday Funday

Right now the rain is coming down pretty hard. My computer room is at the back of the house and I'm not sure if it's b/c the room is an extension that was added later, but it always sounds louder in this room. I love the sound of it splattering against the roof! It's very soothing. :)


Over the weekend I got some serious spring cleaning done thanks to my wonderful sister who helped me clean out my closet. I packed up all my winter clothes and boots and discovered I had about fifteen pairs of boots. Seriously, what does a Florida girl need w/ all those boots? That's the question I could hear my husband asking if he'd seen all those shoes. I only got rid of two pairs b/c the others were just too cute to part with. Besides, next year I'll hopefully be living farther up north during the winter and I'll need them. My closet doesn't even look like mine anymore. It looks as good as it did when we first moved in. Now I just need to do the same thing to the guestroom closet.


I also met w/ my CP yesterday and she helped me brainstorm on my current WIP. We came up with about ten new scenes and then when I got home I started typing them up and came up w/ even more. I've been dragging my feet writing the past couple days b/c I'd only plotted to a certain point but now I feel rejuvenated b/c I know where it's headed again. I had a vague idea how the story was going to end but there was a lot of stuff in between I hadn't figured out and now I have.


What did everyone else do this weekend?

Spring is Here

Last night my air conditioning kicked in for the first time in 3 or 4 months. It took a few seconds to realize what the noise was. Elation quickly followed when reality set in. Soon it's going to be hot, humid, and muggy and I can't wait!! Despite the sometimes sweltering heat, I love Florida and everything about it. It's been an unusually long 'winter' and I'm using that term loosely, so I'm ready for some super sunny weather and weekend trips to the beach.

Now that Spring is pretty much officially here, the plan for the weekend is to clean out my closets and box up all my winter clothes. Since I plan to be gone by this summer and definitely by the fall, I need to box them up anyway for the big move. Besides, it'll probably make our closets look bigger to potential buyers and that's a good thing. Speaking of, we did have a few more showings recently so I'm keeping the hope alive. I fell in love with our house so I know someone else will too! My sister and I are going to see Bounty Hunter over the weekend too. I love both the main characters so I hope it's as good as all the hype. If not, I still get to hang w/ my sister so I don't really care.

If you want to see some completely gratuitous pictures of Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, check out my alter ego's blog at Naughty Author Chicks. If not, I still hope you have an awesome, sun-filled weekend!

Is the Grass Always Greener?

I'm over at Writers Gone Wild today chatting about why the grass often seems greener on the other side of the fence. Come say hi!

I'm Back!

The anniversary weekend is over and I'm back! We did a lot of touristy stuff like put put golfing and visit Gulf World (marine park) and of course we got a lot of sun time at the beach. I also got a henna 'tattoo' on my neck. I've been thinking about getting another tattoo and wanted to see if I liked the position of this one. So far, I like it! I practically grew up at the beach, but I've never been to Panama City before and the white sand really is gorgeous. Since it was spring break this week/month, it was crazy crowded and reminded me that I don't miss being nineteen at all.


It's so hard to believe it's been six years. It really does seem like yesterday that I was trying to find a wedding dress and a venue. It's been an amazing six years though, despite all the time spent apart. And this weekend was exactly what we both needed. Sun, fun, no phones, and no computer (okay, limited computer time, lol). I know I would have decided to become a writer no matter what, but without Josh's support it would have been a lot harder. Heck, life would have been a lot different without him and I'm thankful every day that I met him all those years ago.

One More Day...

Only one more day til I get to see my hubby! I might actually get to log some computer time and post beach pics while I'm gone, but I dunno, it's doubtful ;) Yesterday I was pre-packing, meaning dumping out my entire closet and going through all my summer dresses and deciding if more shopping is in order. I found a dress w/ the tags still on it that was too big (yay! means my stupid diet is working) so since it was still light out I decided to head to the store and return it. Didn't find any dresses I liked but I found a really cute XOXO purse that's fire engine red! If you know me, you know that I love red, not as a staple piece, but as an accessory. Even my vehicle is red and speaking of, it needs a good washing before I leave tomorrow.


One of my girlfriends is finally finished training for her stupid triathlon so today after work we're going to walk/jog around the lake downtown and hopefully burn a lot of calories or more likely, get caught up on all the latest gossip, lol. Don't get me wrong, I think it's insanely cool that she's into triathlons and marathons and all that jazz, I just miss my walking buddy for purely selfish reasons ;)


If I don't get to log on until next week, I hope everyone has a fabulous week and weekend!!

Happy Monday

I totally forgot about the spring forward thing this weekend. I'm still adjusting but I like the lighter later thing. Especially since I'm gonnna be at the beach this upcoming weekend. ;) The man and I are celebrating six years of wedded bliss. Okay, maybe not all of those years have been 'bliss' but it's been six pretty damn good years. He's traveled a lot thanks to the Marine Corps, contract jobs, and of course the construction job he had for about a year where I saw him once every three weeks. It's weird, but the past few months seem like nothing now that I know I'm going to see him again, even if it's only for a few days! Once I have a light at the end of the tunnel, everything else sorta fades away.

Over the weekend I saw Green Zone. It was interesting, not exactly what I expected. I was sort of thinking it would be more of a 'Bourne Ultimatum' thing but that's what I get for not reading up on it first. Even though it wasn't what I expected I think they did a good job of portraying the bureaucratic BS between the agencies. In case you don't know what it's about either, it takes place in 2003 right after the invasion of Iraq and the unrealistic ideals a lot of people in Washington (w/ limited knowledge of the Middle East) had about what it would be like going to war. There's more to it than that, but the end left me feeling a little hollow b/c it's 2010 and not a lot has changed. That's a subject for another day and likely not on this blog, but if you're thinking about seeing it, maybe wait til it comes out on video.

I also met with three of my writer buddies Saturday night and they talked me off a ledge. Sometimes it's easy to bottle stuff up and pretend I live in a vacuum and am the only person who deals w/ rejections, etc. but meeting w/ my friends put life and writing into perspective in a good way. It was something I didn't realize I'd needed until I got there :) Tracy, Jax, and Chudney, you know I heart you!!

What did everyone else do this weekend? I don't where you are, but the weather finally cheered up a bit here and we got some decent sunshine. Always a plus! Oh yeah, and I got a long overdue pedicure. I had some seriously bad claws going on. Had to get that taken care of before this weekend ;)

Rejection and Why I love Being a Writer

My alter ego is at Naughty Author Chicks chatting about Why She Loves Being a Writer despite rejections. Seriously, talking about myself in the third person is awesome. Check it out if you've got time!


I got a rejection yesterday that while it was nice (is that an oxymoron?) it still stung. I always allow myself a small mourning period but surprisingly I actually feel a lot better today. I've been working with my dad for over a year and in this economy he's managed to stay uber positive which until yesterday, I don't think I realized how much it reflects mine and my sister's attitude (in a good way). Without going into too much detail about what we do, it's a technical field and it's always changing so we always have to be adapting with technology. Before I'd found out about my rejection, my sister and I were talking about how it's amazing that he's always so positive. Actually thinking about it, I guess that's what a leader or an owner has to do if they want to be effective. Maybe he's rubbed off on me. I don't know, but at least I don't feel like drowning myself in a bottle of wine anymore. Though, the penguin did try to get me to have some White Russians with him.


Have a great weekend!!

Writers Gone Wild

As a reader and a writer, I like to mix it up to keep things fresh. What about you? Stop by Writers Gone Wild if you want to share what you do to mix things up ;)

Why I love Working for Family

Today I'm going into work an hour late and working an hour later so I can get some much needed sun. Yes, I'm changing my hours so I can tan. :) That's why I love working for family. I don't have to lie about why I need (and yes, I said need) to change my hours. As long as my work gets done, and it does, it doesn't really matter when I come in. The countdown til my anniversary is officially on (less than two weeks!) and since I haven't seen my hubby in over two months, I want to be tan and looking good when I see him. I know I should spray tan but the last time I went I had a seriously traumatizing experience so I'm sticking to the real thing this time ;)


Over the weekend I started a new story. Normally I don't like to work on two things at once or if I do, it's normally when I'm winding one story down and starting a new one. I couldn't help myself this time though. On Saturday I sat down and knocked out 11 pages. So, of course I had to build a new 'character keeper', which took hours. Last year I *THINK* it was Kristen Painter who blogged about a free download-able program for keeping world building straight (called character keeper?). Kristen, sorry if that wasn't you, but I'm crediting you with it anyway *g*. The program was really good but not extensive enough so I made my own and now I use it for every manuscript I'm working on and it's made my life sooooo much easier. So I'm currently working on 2 single-titles and wondering if I've lost my mind. Only time will tell if one of them takes over and the other takes a backseat.


What did everyone else do over the weekend?

Friday!

I just got a camera phone (yes, I know I'm a cavewoman) and I've been having so much fun with it. I have this stuffed penguin that I keep in my freezer because, where else would I keep him, that I've been putting in goofy poses and randomly sending pics of to my hubby. Since we're living apart we've got to keep each other entertained somehow! :) We just lowered the selling price on our house so I'm hoping that helps in getting an offer and thus getting me moved up with him. Until then, he's there and I'm here. Our six year anniversary is in two weeks so we're meeting in the middle and spending a three day weekend with each other. It's been a couple months since I've seen him so I'm super excited!


I've got one book left to finish reading for the RITA contest (yes, I know I'm cutting it close) and I should be done by tonight so this weekend I plan to write write write and finally catch up on some pleasure reading. What are y'all doing this weekend?

Chatting with Wynter Daniels

For the next three days I'm chatting with erotic romance author, Wynter Daniels, at Desert Island Keepers. For a chance to learn more about this fabulous author and to win a copy of her upcoming release from Loose Id, feel free to stop by!

Monday Goodness

I mentioned it in the comments of my last post, but my little sister is doing great! The surgery went well and they removed the tumor. It was a tiny thing that attached to one of her nerves. It was in her neck so imo, it was a little scary but the doctor downplayed it so I guess that's a good thing. I'm just happy she's okay!


In other life news, my six year anniversary is coming up and since the hubby and I are still living in different states we've planned to meet midway (sort of). I have to drive a bit further but I'd cross the desert in bare feet for how much I miss him now. The countdown is officially on and if everything goes well, I'll be seeing him in 18 days!!


I think I mentioned last week that I pulled an old manuscript out to tweak and after days of working on it and wanting to pull my hair out, I shoved it back into that proverbial drawer. It was the first thing I ever wrote and until I feel more motivated about completely revamping it, it's gonna stay right where it is. There's a reason it's been gathering dust for so long. :) It gave me the boost I needed to start working on something new that's been rattling around in my brain for a while, so a good thing was born out of my frustration. I knocked out a few thousand words over the weekend and hope to knock about 10K out this week. I love the feeling of working on a new story. Usually when I get to the middle I start to question myself but there's nothing like that feeling in the beginning! What's everyone else planning for the week?