Whew, I am done!

I am finally finished. Thank you for your input, it was appreciated. I just knew that pretty wouldn't cut it for that particular book. Don't get me wrong, I think the books of Julia are great, but beyond the romance, well, there are the Bad Things in life. This one a little more so than the others. I got my cover finished for my writer's page and the book cover finished and I did do a little revising of the story, before I re-submitted it.

Now, I can relax for the weekend! I am going to re-read Monroe Street and call some friends. What are you going to do? I hope Y'all have a great time doing something pleasurable!

Aah...

I need opinions, please!

As you may or may not know, I have to make a new cover for the third book of my Julia series. Seems the original one was upside-down for folks with an Apple. (It's just a picture folks, sigh...) I have had more trouble making the new one. Please tell me which one actually appeals to you or maybe if you would swap some of the fonts out. I am going to resubmit it with my slightly 'fixed' version of the book tomorrow afternoon. (That would be my Friday)

There is love, adventure and sadness tied up in one in this third part of Julia's life. If you are going to read, it is best to start with the first one - 'Monroe Street', to get to know the characters. You'll fall in love with someone on the way. After I re-submit it, it will take a week or two for it to be on the Smashwords site.

Thanks for any help! Have a lovely evening!

Normal Posed Shot

I am smiling...

Rear Window

After a couple of unhappy nights trying to bring the animal inside during the sub-freezing weather, we wondered just where the heck Tacky was sleeping. She avoids the garage since the skunk visited.

Puzzle solved. New problem.

 I have no idea if the weather did this or what, but there is evidence that Tacky has been making herself at home in the back seat.

We took another trip for a tarp this morning, not that it will really do much good. It rained in...

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sad Looking Roses... and Colt.

So! DH is on furlough because of the frigid temperatures. Naturally, as soon as the weekend hits, it warmed up a bit. Monday we well be back in the freezer, and he will continue on his furlough all week. That's all we know so far.

The little colt, my father made, is back home. Seems he lost his way about a year and a half, but he finally made it!

Roses, yah, they look pretty sad. Sigh, I have to make a new cover for "Bad Things", I will probably use the petals to make a new cover. I had trouble with the cover previously, but I thought I had it straightened out. I guess someone who owns an Apple notified Smashwords that it is upside down, they didn't purchase it, they just let them know. 

I went for my follow-up visit at the clinic, and it would seem that the new doctor I was sent to, had no idea why I was there. I love it! You would think some information would have passed along with my name, huh? Had blood work done, no biggy. Then we took care of car insurance and came home for a nap. That cold weather makes me so tired... that plus getting up at the crack of dawn to drive to the new office.

We went down to the health food store for what DH refers to as my "Funky Food". Spent a bit too much, but - oh, well.

Friday, I braved the cold again, to see the dentist. I am still not wearing my teeth. I have knots on my gums that he suggested I have the oral surgeon scrape off. The knots hurt. No thanks, buddy, maybe later. I am going to give them time to go down on their own. He said to put a cushion in the plate and wear the plate. I guess he doesn't understand that the knots hurt without the teeth even.

I planned on going shopping today, but a nap sounded so good and DH volunteered to go to the grocery store. I wasn't going to argue. He bought me some more "Funky Food", such as avocado, bananas, tomatoes, spinach, and cantaloupe, for my bullet.

That's about it in a nutshell. I hope you all are having good times too... ha ha ha. Stay warm or cool as you desire!

(As seen on TV)

Have one or wonder about getting one? I'm talking about the Nutribullet. You all know that I had my upper teeth pulled in hopes that I would have a pretty smile and be pain free. That isn't working out real well, as my gums shrunk the plate doesn't fit. I am still toothless in Tennessee. I was becoming a tad worried about what my shoddy eating habits of eating soft foods (which are generally loaded with calories) was doing to my weight. (I have gained nine pounds since my teeth were pulled!) I cannot 'chew'. I worried, too, about the problem that the chunks of harder food were doing to my insides. I saw this thing on TV, late one night and considered it might be what I need for now.

Yesterday, my son and I went to look at something I had seen on Craigslist. On the way home we stopped at the mall for lunch. As I cut my sesame chicken in the smallest bites possible to swallow whole, I thought about the 'Bullet' again. I wondered just how much actual nutrition I was getting from the food I was eating. We shopped at J C Penny's and they had the Nutribullet on sale for $99. I was going to buy it. My son suggested we check at Target first.


We found them at Target - they are on sale this week! $79 and I got a $20 gift card besides. I definitely put it in the cart! What a good deal! Naturally, I took it all out to look at it and read the book that came with it, as soon as I got home. It comes with a diet for losing weight as you get healthier, and here I was just concerned about eating something besides yogurt, pudding, and ice cream! I hadn't paid enough attention to the commercial, I guess, I hadn't thought about it being a diet program. I just wanted some nutrition without getting so fat. (I had advanced to milk soaked cookies, Little Debbie cakes, in other words, the soft, sweet, gooey goodies)


I will have to hit the veggie market for some organic real food, now. I had a spinach, carrot, and banana drink for breakfast. It looked ghastly, BUT, it just tasted like banana! I can handle this. I believe my stomach and guts will be happier if I do this a couple of times a day, at least until the dentist can fix my teeth, and my gums finish healing. My breakfast was quite satisfying, no problem there. The food combinations seem endless!

 
 

Life's ups and downs

Yesterday - The golden rays began a day of anxiety and terror. The doctor had seen a bright spot on my x-ray the week before and I had to have a mammogram. I took a friend along who had gone through the whole thing and she did her best to calm me. I was sure that I would be having months of misery and treatments after the doctor made out the order for the mammogram.

The technician looked at the first plate then left to call my doctor. Something was wrong. I couldn't see anything. She came back and continued taking the pictures. My friend and I looked at them, we saw nothing unusual. The technician left the room again. When she returned, she had my report. I was fine, there wasn't anything in my breast!

Both of us were relieved. We went out to eat and laughed.

This morning - My newly acquired gray kitty lay dead on the road. I thought it was Tacky, at first. I went out to gather her up and then I saw her running for me from across the pasture. Grief and joy in a heartbeat, then grief for the gray again.

Yep - life is just a series of ups and downs and I would like to stay up longer than one day at a time...

Letter From Home - It's Cold!

Dear Folks,

Nearly a week of January has been polished off! Some of us are in the deep freeze and some wishing for a breeze of our freezing temps for just a few hours.

Our hot water line was frozen today, it has now been thawed and hopefully there are no leaks. Seems the line to the heater was directly in front of the vent where the workmen shoved out the drain hose for the water cleaner and the vent could no longer be shut. He has stuffed it with insulation and spent time under the house, burning out the blow dryer motor to get flow again. No clothes were laundered, BTW. Perhaps tomorrow.

Jack only spent the one night at the vet, he came home with us the next day, blurry eyed and slightly unsteady after having an abscessed tooth removed. He is fine now and eating as if he is trying to gain all of his weight back in a week. Their new heart worm medicine is for fleas too... I am a little more than slightly concerned about giving them all those chemicals, but the battle with the fleas and their bites is a losing one here. The budget took a big hit... over $600 for their annual shots, 6 months of heart worm meds, and one tooth extraction. Jeez!

For now - I am done looking at houses. I can't see catching my death in this weather for him to get me excited about a house, only to have him change his mind the next day. Not enough Xanax in this hemisphere... I do so hate "window shopping" on this scale.

As I write this, it is 5F. Temps tonight will go below zero on anyone's thermometer. We can't keep the cat's water liquid. I tried to bring Tacky in last night to sleep in the dog carrier - she almost went berserk. I had my fingers through the front, to give her reassurance and she bleep near broke my finger. Finally around 3:00 a.m., I couldn't take it anymore and let her have her way - out the door. She still has ears, so I can only hope she finds a spot tonight and doesn't lose them. It should begin to warm up in the morning and be decent by Wednesday or Thursday, but with rain. Winter here is like that, warmer and wet, or colder and clear. Choices, choices!

He hasn't been called back to work yet, because of the temperatures. Makes for an extra long Christmas break. The kids (other people's) won't go back to school until Wednesday. I hear that even the kids in MN had the day off - that has to be the first time. I must say, it's about time! They had windchill temperatures, something like -60F! Now, that is cold. I remember standing out on the road waiting for the bus, many years ago when girls wore skirts. We could wear pants under them, but they had to come off as soon as we arrived. The school wasn't all that warm either...

The other day, my gums decided to shrink and my teeth fell down - I still have a sore, so going without the plate until it heals. I have had enough pain for a while.

I do hope you are all staying warm or cool! Stay safe!

Toothless in TN.

 

Tomorrow...

We have to try to get the dogs to the vet in the a.m. and look at more houses. 

My favorite

 I guess you can tell which ones I like... ;-) We have only been inside the red brick and it does need some help... The "Womb with a view" is second floor on the right side of the picture front.

I'm worn out. I hope your first day of the year has gone well!