In all my years, I have never had a Valentine’s Day that I can say, “WOW. That was the best V-Day ever.” Never got flowers. Never got jewelry. Never got anything worth a shit. I’ve pretty much written off Valentine’s Day. I even had a boyfriend break up with me on Valentine’s. Isn’t that nice? It’s left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Maybe this year will be different but I highly doubt it.

I did however get THE sweetest Valentine EVER. And it was my the sweetest boy EVER. No, not The Man. But my baby boy. Check it out.

The outside:

The inside:

In case you can’t read that it says: I love you because… you’re the best cookr. And yes, he misspelled cooker but I LOVE IT. It nearly brought me to tears. And he told me – he highlighted LOVE.

Aw.

I’m the best cooker. The best. HEHEHE

Dammit it’s sweet.

Anyway.

I swear I really think my mind is a total void still. I try to write and get nothing. And I think I know what part of my problem is. I’m not reading books like I used to. And when I don’t read, I don’t write. And when I don’t write, I struggle and I get frustrated and I get annoyed with myself. It’s a vicious circle.

Maybe I need some new music to fuel the fire. And to get back to my TBR pile. And to do some serious critiiqueing. I DO have those contest entries I simply must get to here in the next few days but I’ve been putting them off. I come home with a headache every single day and it’s really starting to grate on my nerves.

I don’t love today. Suppose I’ll head to the office. The Man is working tonight – SURPRISE – so I suppose I’ll be staying home and having sloppy joes. Yay me.

Monday was a pretty uneventful day. 

My boss ordred me a new computer for the office and it’s a laptop. I got it yesterday. It’s smoking fast with an 80 gig hard drive. AND its a Dell. Dude, I got a Dell. HAR.

Anyway – after Saturday’s scare, I headed to Lowe’s after work. Since I didn’t have the baby with me, I spent a good portion of time walking around the entire store and checking things out. Priced a new storm door for the front with installation. Priced mailboxes and posts.

Which reminds me. Shortly after getting home from work yesterday, some heathen kids decided it would be funny to (1) try to knock over my mailbox (it’s hanging by the thread of one screw on the post and is about to come off, hence the reason why I probably just need to replace the old beat upt hing) and (2) ride their effing motorbike in my yard.

I heard the commotion and when I opened my front door, they scattered like cockroaches. I started charging outside to yell at the moron on the bike but he took off and then I noticed the mailbox. The teenage girl was laughing her ass and walking towards me saying she was sorry and that it was an “accident”. Uh huh. She said she’d fix it. “Don’t touch it,” I snap.

“Sorry,” she mutters and off she goes with her boyfriend. They pause in someone else’s hard to make out for about 10 minutes.

About that time, my neighbor walked up. “I was about to run them off,” she said. Nice to know she has my back. We chatted for a minute and that’s when I headed off to Lowe’s.

Anyway! Back to Lowe’s. I got this bad-ass heavy duty Master padlock for the back gate. WOO! There is NO WAY in hell anyone is getting past that. It gives me peace of mind knowing it’s out there keeping me safe.

The creep hasn’t called back and of course since his number is a cell phone, it can’t be blocked. That’s okay. I told my Big Brother all about it. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to handle it if the dude DOES decide to call back.

I called the phone company first thing this morning and was highly agitated to learn that it’s a monthly fee of $5.50 to be unlisted. I’m sorry – but that is just highway robbery! And then they tried to sell me EVERYTHING under the sun, too. Different phone packages, better DLS, satellite TV, and did I want to combine my cell phone bill with my home phone bill? No, actually I don’t. Becuase I don’t get a paper bill anyway and I pay it online and I’m happy knowing that it’s separate, thankyouverymuch.

I also bought this nifty programmable thermostat! Now…wonder if I’m smart enough to install it myself? It can’t be that hard can it?

Now about that suckage thing… I tried to write last night. I really did. I pulled out the WIP and everything – yes the dragon story. I seem to have lost the story. I sat and sat and sat staring at a blank screen and got NADA. Nothing. Like the mind is this big blank of nothingness. Oh gaw – it’s total suckage.

What is wrong with me?

And oh – I got my monthly statement from the publisher for January today. TALK DIRTY TO ME is still selling like crazy. I didn’t even sell ONE copy of A BEND IN TIME this past month and I’m really disappointed. I guess I will have to buckle down next month and hit the marketing hard and heavy. The only problem is – I have limited funds so I will have to really stretch my advertising dollar.

Wish I could afford a spotlight in Romance Designs. Man, that would ROCK.

Anyway. It makes me wonder if my real calling is the spicier stuff like TALK DIRTY TO ME. Although I have to say I really love the time travel, it’s not very “hot” and the romance is slow moving. However, that’s because there are a lot of factors involved. I mean, it just didn’t make sense for the heroine to hop right into bed with the hero when he’s been hired to kill her. Right? And so their romance is set to a slow burn.

That changes for book two though. They’re hot and heavy in book two and there’s more of a developed love story for them.

I sometimes wish I could write again like I did for the serials. Sort of carefree and no plan whatsoever.

Oh wait – I DO still write like that. I’m a total pantser all the way. AND I never ever write with an outline or a synopsis.

Which reminds me… I really need to get that synopsis done for the dragon book…

Saturday was a pretty busy day for me. After my RWA chapter meeting (with VERY low attendance, I might add – totally embarrassing for our speaker), I picked up the baby and we went grocery shopping. Then it was off to buy cat food and to Lowe’s. I purchased the paint for his room since I had that $10 project starter card.

That afternoon, we hung out. I did laundry. He played games. I started dinner around 5 but because I was cooking a pork roast, it took FOREVER. It was nearing 7 pm and I had just taken it out of the oven to rest while I finished up dinner. The home phone rings.

It comes up a name and number I don’t recognize. I figure it’s a wrong number so I go ahead and answer – I rarely answer my phone if it’s someone I don’t know.

The guy says, “Michelle?”

“Yes?”

“Hi, this is Ryan!”

“Who?”

“Ryan from MySpace.”

Immediately, I get that tingling feeling on the back of my neck. “How did you get this number?”

“Directory assistance.”

I hung up. But I was immediately freaked out. Shaking. Scared. But I tried to remain calm because I didn’t want to upset the baby. I finished dishing up dinner. We ate. I let him stay up and watch cartoons. I searched for the area code to see where this guy was located – Nebraska.

Even if I didn’t have my name on MySpace, he could have still got it from the book cover, the website. I thought I had my number listed as unpublished and unlisted, but apparently not. Something I intend to rectify this morning. But even if I did have an unlisted, unpublished number, he could have still found me.

You know why?

Because of a website called US Search. Find anyone, anywhere. Get background checks. Get phone numbers, addresses, criminal history. Whatever you want. All you need is a name and a general location and $40. I looked myself up and even though I didn’t pay the fee, I was shocked to see the results. They have every address listed for me since basically I was born.

And you know why? Because the moment you apply for a credit card, you can be found. The moment you have a driver’s license, you can be found. Think of things like the appraisal district of your county. It’s public record. You can get anyone’s address and anyone’s appraised value of their house. And now with the Internet and all this information at anyone’s fingertips…

Scary, isn’t it?

And here’s the real kicker – I don’t have my exact location listed on MySpace. So he must have really put Directory Assistance to work.

It doesn’t matter how safe you THINK you are or how safe you THINK you’re being in Cyberspace, there are still ways for people to find you. And we all know what sort of people walk this Earth these days. Some are just not very nice. Who’s to say he’s not a stalker? Who’s to say he’s not going to get in his car and drive down here? Then again, maybe it was just a prank his buddies put him up to. And maybe by me hanging up on him, it will deter him from taking further action.

At any rate, I did NOT appreciate the phone call. Nor do I appreciate him putting the seed of fear in me. NOR do I appreciate having to worry about this. It’s a definite wake-up call to the reality o the Internet. You really can’t be too safe.

And if all of this wasn’t enough, effing MySpace gave me a trojan AND a virus. So – HOORAY for MySpace. I had to make an emergency phone call to the Brother to find out what to do and luckily, downloading Ad-Aware fixed me up. It quarantined the trojan and all is well once again with the computer. I managed to clean the virus off as well.

I’m seriously thinking of just formatting the HD and starting over with a clean slate. I’ve recenlty backed up most of my stuff but I need to do a total and completely backup of the entire MyDocuments folder just to make sure all is well. I’ve also decided I should probably invest in an external hard drive and a USB hub (the hub because all the ports are taken up in the back of the computer). I could use the external hard drive to back up important documents once a month.

Anyway – I knew better than to download crap onto the computer. But I leanred the lesson once again today. NEVER EVER download ANYTHING from ANYWHERE no matter what. At least the computer didn’t crash and I could perform serious damage control before anything really bad happened.

The coffee pot is calling me…I need it. And why does it have to be Monday already?

So. Yesterday my blinds and curtains came in. The Sweetie Boy and I went to the mall to pick them up from the store. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the way home because I just couldn’t bear to cook.

After dinner, while he played on the computer, I decided to take on hanging up the new blinds and curtains. Mostly because I’m impatient and I wanted to see what it was going to look like. The green curtains are a little darker green than I would have liked, but they seem to go okay. I think the jury is still out on that, though.

After about 2 hours, I got them all up. But there was a lot of cursing in between times. A lot of putting together swear words I had never put together before. The brackets weren’t complicated, but it’s very difficult to screw in screws above your head. And my arms kept getting tired.

The plastic brackets that were there before were impossible to get out – I couldn’t get the screwdriver in there to do it. And so I grabbed the hammer and just busted them to get to the screw. It was a leap of faith. I held my breath and hoped I could get the new brackets up there and they would fit okay.

It took about an hour of precise measuring, cursing, sweating, and elbow grease to get the first set up. But they looked great! I was very pleased. I really like the look of faux wood blinds. The headrail is flush with the inside of the window and it just looks grand.

The second one went a little faster than the first. Mostly because I knew what I was doing the second time and had more confidence. More precise measuring, screwing in the brackets, and the getting them into the bracket.

These blinds are a vast improvement over the $20 cheapies that were hung previously. What a difference blinds and curtains make! The curtains were, of course, a snap to get up. My biceps are quite sore today, though.

Now it makes me want to buy two more blinds for the other two rooms and just get it done with – one for the office and one for the baby’s room. These two rooms are in the front of the house and one is cream and one is white. It’s so obvious they don’t match! It bugs me that when you look at the front of the house, that’s what you see. Okay, so I’m anal and I want everything to match. I may do some measuring today.

I have my chapter meeting today and I need to light a fire under the baby boy so I can get him to his dad’s. I’ve been up since about 6 am and went ahead and got myself ready. Saves on time later. Much easier to get him ready that both of us at the same time.

I admit it. I’m a bit cranky lately. There are a lot of factors involved, too. I’ve been tired a lot. Plus I’m fighting off this cold that keeps trying to get started. Every morning I wake up with a dry throat and stopped up nose. It gets better as the day wears on. Sort of. But it still feels like an illness is coming on.

Two school districts have shut down due to flu outbreak. Thankfully, none in the immediate Metroplex area. But there’s something definitely going around. There are several sickies at the office. One of them came in with a 101 fever. Which is just stupid. Why come to work with a fever? So you can infect everyone there? I’m sorry – but I seriously doubt there is ANYTHING that important that you can’t stay home. Sheesh.

This evening was particularly challenging with the baby boy. I could tell he was tired early on because he wouldn’t take no for an answer. On ANYTHING I told him. Sometimes, it’s easier to give in that fight with him. So I gave in for a little while and then we ate dinner and he watched Justice League and then I paid bills (NEVER a fun thing) and then it was bathtime.

He was happier after a nice warm bath. I know I usually am too.

After I got him settled in bed – he called out “Goodnight, Mom!” and “I love you, Mom!” several times before crashing in about 2.3 seconds – I sat down to watch Grey’s Anatomy.

That episode was hard for me to watch. I’m not a big fan of blood and guts anyway, even if it IS a hospital show. I like that they are stretching this out over three episodes and making the storyline more interesting than the character’s messy love lives. I keep hearing one of the major characters is leaving – and I keep wondering how they are going to do it because his storyline is so intertwined with another character.

Anyway, overall I really liked it. After seeing the interns in action at the major disaster, I started to ponder who I’d want as my doctor on the scene. I think if I had to choose, it would be Alex. He has good bedside manner and he cares about his patients without getting too involved. My second choice would be Meredith.

And oh – what a shocking ending to the episode! Now I have to wait a week to see what happens?? GAW!

In other news…I received my entries for The Shiela. There are 7 and I don’t have a lot of time to judge them, so I’m going to have to get busy on that next week. Plus the entries from my chapter’s own contest have started to roll back in. Some of the judges have been very quick and that makes me happy. Others have yet to respond that they’ve even received the entires and that makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

At any rate, I’m glad tomorrow is Friday. My new curtains should be here by then. Which means I can get them up this weekend. Plus, Lowe’s is having some sort of sale or rebate on their American Tradition paint – and I had planned to buy paint this weekend – so I’m going to get it for the baby’s room.

I’ve also got to get the tax software this weekend and get my taxes done ASAP. I need to know if I have to pay or not this year – I’m terribly worried about that.

Tonight – we’re off to buy valentine’s for school. Plus I need some other things. And I think we’ll stop and get something for dinner.

I am SO glad it’s Friday!

I’m not sure how I feel about the return of LOST. It was a good episode but there are still so many unanswered questions. I have a feeling another major character is going to be killed off judging by the previews for next week. I know the writers want to keep us guessing, but they need to answer a few questions every now and then. Don’t they? Anyway, I’ll continue to watch the show of course. If only for Josh Holloway.

Yesterday was a challenging day. In fact, when The Man called, he could tell in 2.3 seconds something was up. By the end of the phone call, he had me laughing at him. I think he was trying to cheer me up which I thought was incredibly cute.

When I got home last night, the Sweetie Boy helped me cook dinner. He stood in a chair and wore my apron while I sauteed some chicken breasts. When I picked him up, he had told me not to look in his folder (his behavior folder) and I asked him why. He said he didn’t want to tell me, so I very patiently told him that if he told me the truth I would be less mad than finding out the truth later by reading his folder. And he wouldn’t be in trouble. He told me right then he had “moved his clip” (they have a clothes pin that sits on green – but there’s also yellow and red for misbehavior) to yellow. I asked him why. He said because he was being silly. I asked him why he was being silly. “I don’t know,” he said. So I checked the folder while we’re cooking and sure enough – he was being silly during the lesson.

He got no computer time last night and when I told him on the way home, I got a simple, “Okay, Mom.”

And he didn’t ask all night.

We had a good evening together and he went to bed when he was supposed to. And now I gotta get up and get moving this morning. I’m feeling rather crummy so I hope I can made it through the day.

Okay – first, I would like to call attention to the right hand side where the word meter is. YES! It moved! I finally got around to downloading my work from the Neo into Word last night and discovered I had written just over 3000 words! Now, of course, some of that is synopsis type stuff. When I get stumped, I write “he did this and then went here and then this happened.” Hey, it works.

Anyway, pleased with the progress. It was nearly 10 pages long. Just gotta keep on keeping on with that.

The last couple of days I’ve noticed something about the building I work in. Usually, I get to work around 7:30 but this week and last I’ve been taking the baby boy to school and so I get to work between 8:15 and 8:30.

What a difference an hour makes. People are so rude. Yesterday morning, I was behind this moron in the parking garage. Now, when you turn in, there’s a ramp that goes up and then curves around to where you either take a ticket or use your card to get in. This idiot decides to stop in the middle of the ramp going up! Now, since I drive a stick, this was not a pleasant experience as I tend to roll backward when I have to let off the clutch and brake and continue moving forward. He finally gets to the top and it takes him several minutes to figure out how to punch the button and get a ticket. Hello. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he takes his sweet time getting around the corners in the garage.

Dude, there are no close lower-level parking spots at 8:15 in the morning. All the good ones are already taken. Get on with it!

In finally park and head to the garage elevators. I’m behind a rather large woman who is nice enough not to slam the door in my face, however, once inside the door, she parks! Right!in!the!door! I mean, I had to squeeze behind her to get inside the elevator lobby. HELLO!

Once the elevator shows up, you’d think it was a stampede to get inside. Folks, it’s an elevator. It’s probably going to be okay to take your time. It’s only going one way – down. As it turns out, Idiot Driver In Front Of Me ended up in the elevator. And he stank. And looked like he hadn’t owned a comb in decades.

This is another elevator pet peeve of mine – don’t talk to me. Just don’t. I haven’t had coffee; I’m not a morning person; please do not under any circumstances strike up a conversation with me unless you happen to work in the same office as me and even then I may not be too keen on talking to you.

Most businessmen are courteous enough to allow the ladies to go first. Either getting on or off the elevator. And I think that’s smashing good form. However, there’s always an exception to the rule. Those who are in SUCH a hurry they have to dash out as soon as the doors open. I mean, what’s the rush? You’re going to work after all. I hate to be late too but I’m not going to run over someone just to get to the next set of elevators.

Which is another beating, to say the least. Thankfully, I’m only on the third floor, so I don’t have to ride long with these folks.

Oh, and people who talk on their cell phone while IN the elevator. And use that “I’m on my Cell Phone and I’m so Important” voice. Like, we really want to hear your conversation? Um, yeah, okay, that’ll be a NO.

So that’s arriving. Leaving is another matter.

Leaving – I am, as I said, on the third floor. Which means people get agitated if they have to stop on the third floor if they’re coming from, say, the 15th floor. It means they are that close to getting to the lower level before jumping out and heading to the parking garage.

Yesterday, as the elevator came, there was the young guy on there. It stopped at the third floor and he came charging out as I tried to get on! Nearly ran me over. Um, okay. He realized his mistake and gave a look of disgust. Dude, get over yourself. I’m in just as big a hurry to get outta there as you are.

Then when we get to the lower level, he charges out. Doesn’t abide by the “ladies first” rule. Okay. Whatever. Then he practically RUNS down the hall toward the garage elevators so he doesn’t have to ride up with anyone else. His doors close just as I get there.

Thanks, asshole.

If I know there are other folks in the vicinity, as much as I hate it, I wait for them. I hold the door. I allow them into the elevator with me. Even though I end up stopping on every freaking floor before I get where I’m going. That’s just being polite. That’s just called common courtesy. Isn’t it?

I shouldn’t let it get to me, but yesterday was one of the particularly foul days for me. I was agitated about a lot of things (still am) and didn’t get a lot of sleep. I’ve been tired lately because I’m not sleeping as well as I could be. Or not getting enough sleep. Either way, it sucks.

I’m glad it’s Wednesday. That means I’m that much closer to the end of the week.

For such a productive weekend, Monday was not. I guess I’m in Recovery mode from the weekend. I was exhausted by the end of the day. But I made a kick-ass dinner. We had chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and corn. The baby boy ate every bite. I think he was hungry and I know that’s one of his favorite meals. My stove still sucks, though. As soon as the refrigerator and dishwasher are paid for (another two years at least), I will be getting a new one. In black. I just love black appliances. They are so sleek.

I was never big on cooking before. Proably because I had someone who wouldn’t leave me alone in the kitchen. I don’t play well with others when it comes to cooking or baking. I really just want to be left the hell alone while I do it. Since I’ve moved into my house, I’ve discovered I enjoy cooking again. And I want to try new and different recipes.

Talk to The Man yesterday who had a super bad day. So to cheer him up, I sent him all these “Confucious Say” things. You know, they’re things like… “Confucious Say: Man who stand on toilet is high on pot.” I have no idea if he appreciated my humor but I giggled my butt off every time I sent him another one.

The dragon story is still coming along. I haven’t downloaded it from the AlphaSmart yet. I guess I’m afraid if I do, I’ll lose all my momentum. So I have no idea what my word count or my page count is. All I do know is – I’m getting about 30 mins or more of writing in a night. This is VERY good progress for me.

And now it’s time to get the baby off to school and me off to work.

So this weekend was spent in front of the computer. Almost the whole weekend. But I got a lot done – in fact, I got everything done I had intended to get done, which is always a good thing. My desk is all neat and organized. I made new folders for all my Samhain contracts. A new folder for 2007 tax deducations. Woo. I am SO on top of it.

Wonder how long it’ll last?

Went to Mom’s on Sunday and we went to a late lunch at Applebee’s. I was rather disappointed in the service. The guy first tried to bring us the wrong food – he was at the wrong table – and then he forgot which one of us had which dessert. And when he refilled our tea glasses, he took away the glasses. I’m a paranoid sort – I don’t like them taking my glass away to refill it. I mean, bring me a new one if you must. I suppose I’m spoiled to having super service, though, since I usually visit The Man’s restaurant when I dine out. You can’t beat that personal attention.

We were both stuffed to the gills by the time we left. Mom made some very cute curtains for the baby’s room. Two blue panels with a Cars valance. They are SO cute! Now I’m very inspired to get his room painted. That $10 project card is calling my name…

Spending so much time in front of the computer made the weekend fly by. I was shocked when I looked up and it was 6:30. I still had laundry to finish, the cat box to scoop, trash to take out.

I have two packages to get in the mail today – one to my sister. It’s the shoes I cleaned out of my closet. She should be surprised to get the. I mean, she’s the only person who’s actually ever WORN these shoes anyway (I loaned them to her when her daughter was competing in Miss Texas a couple of years ago).

I got this card in the mail Saturday for a complimentary hair cut and color from this place near the house. The Salon Gods must have heard me complaining to Best Good Friend the other day about needing a hair cut. The salon I usually go to is temporarily closed because the owner (and only sytlist) is out on maternity leave. So today, I’m going to schedule an appointment! I probably won’t go for the color though because salon color scares me. I’m afriad it might come out purple or something. I’ll just buy Miss Clairol and do it myself.

And, in other news, I volunteered to judge The Sheila. I haven’t judged in a couple of years. I had heard three judges dropped out and I know how difficult it is to find replacements – I had the same debacle with our own contest. I’m actually looking forward to reading some other writer’s work.

That’s it for me. Time to head to work!

Hey - today is the SuperBowl, as if I care. I’m so not a football fan, but if I MUST choose, then I’m going for the Colts. Only because it has the word “Indy” in the name. LOL Yeah, I’m that pathetic.

I hit the ground running today as soon as I got up. I cleaned off my desk and organized, made folders, and got through the mound of email that I ignored this last week. I got ALL the contest entries out yesterday! YES! I am done with that for at least a month when they all start rolling back in with the scores. *sigh* Got my personal newsletter out yesterday, too. Today, I am working on the chapter newsletter. Eventually. Ordered a special Valentine’s ad from Romance Designs. I’ve been ignoring promotion and marketing lately and the book sales show it. I need to get back on track with that.

I’m driving to Mom’s to pick up the baby’s curtains she made. WOO! Then I can get his room painted. I got a $10 project card in the mail yesterday from Lowe’s, so I will be using that when I buy the paint. I’m excited! His room is going to look SO cute.

And then I shopped online today. Penney’s is having a HUGE white sale – I got new curtains and blinds for the living room. The blinds are a necessity as the ones that are currently there are the Cheapest Blinds Known To Man. I can’t wait to get rid of them and get the faux wood blinds up – they had a great price on them too. Plus, I got the COOLEST two-tone contemporary looking curtains. Man, they are going to look sharp when I get them hung. I can’t wait! My living room is going to have the modern look I’ve always wanted. The only thing I’m lacking now is the awesome TV stand from Ikea I want. But that will come in time. Maybe in two or three more months.

I finally got the 1099 I was waiting for in the mail yesterday. Now I can get my taxes done and see what the damage is. Hopefully, I won’t have to pay, though I’m a tad scared about it. I hope I have enough deductions to offset the money I made from the publisher. *crossing fingers*

I gotta hit the shower now and then load up the car. I’m taking some furniture to Mom that I don’t have a use for or room for. I’ve been in that cleaning/organizing mood lately. I can’t stand it if anything is out of place lately. PLUS, I’m going to the post office tomorrow and mailing a box of shoes to my big sister. I have no use for them and I know she can wear them because she and her hubby go on a cruise every November.

Then when I get home, I’ll get that newsletter done and download everything from the Neo to see where I am on the dragon story. I HAVE been writing – slowly but surely. Now that the contest is out of the way for the moment, I can concentrate on my March 2 deadline.

Go me!

The sun is out! This is the first time in days we’ve seen it. But it’s still cold out there.

Last night, we had a fire in the fireplace, had snacks, and watched cartoons. It was great. I intended to sleep in today but instead woke up at 6:30. I was NOT happy about it. I refused to get up and laid there for about twenty minutes when a little person came and climbed into bed with me. He snuggled up next to me and shared my pillow. We both crashed out.

Woke up a little after eight to he streaming sunshine in my bedroom. It faces east, so it get the morning sun. The front of the house faces west, so the afternoon sun hits the other bedrooms.

Anyway. We have some errands to run this morning. I’ve got to get to the bank and then I told the baby boy we’d stop at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast. Then back home and we’ll hang out. He’ll be with his dad today and tomorrow and I’ll be working on the contest and the newsletter. And then I’ve got to get to Wal-Mart because I’m out of light bulbs (and the two are burned out on my garage door opener). I also need to get to the post office and mail out a package today. So. Lots to do.

I’m just happy it’s Saturday and SUNNY!

I’ve been busy and tired the last few days. I’m still working on my RWA contest and very close to getting the entries out. My goal is to get that done this weekend – without fail! And then I need to get hte chapter newsletter together. And my personal newsletter as well. So, lots of time at the computer this weekend.

Thursday morning was a challenging one. We had one ordeal after another, the Sweetie Boy and I. First, he didn’t want to wake up because the night before he stayed up playing until 10 pm. Then, I finally get him somewhat awake. I somehow forget he has bunk beds and raise up only to bash the crap out of the back of my head. Yeah, I saw stars.

Then when he was going potty, he managed to scratch the devil out of his leg with his fingernail. I have no idea how he did it, but it was catastrophic. Things like that are when you’re five.

I got him to school on time, but then traffic was a nightmare getting to work for me. My normal 20 minute drive took 45 minutes. Because it was raining. Sheesh.

By the time I left the office, it was SNOWING! Again! In North Texas! I mean, what is UP with that? This has been the strangest winter yet.

So the cat’s new thing is every night when I cook dinner, he perches his little self on the corner of the couch. I have an open concept for the living/dining/kitchen. The stove faces the living room. I like to drink wine and watch the news while I cook. Anyway, you can see him here, perching on the corner and eyeballing the food. Last night I oven-baked butterfly chops and let me tell you, he was practically salivating at the sight of them. Can you see the little tail there? It was flicking back and forth. And he was staring RIGHT AT that meat every time I moved it to dip it in the egg and then the breadcrumbs. It was like he was thinking, She’s going to turn around in a minute and that’ll be my big chance. So every time I turned my back to wash my hands, I had to keep an eye on him. Yeah, he’s a sneaky little devil.

And he’s decided to take up residence on the baby’s bed while we’re gone. Or mine.

I’m a little disappointed in this litter box I bought. It was nearly $30 and I have to say it’s not all that great. It’s a dome shaped, covered, with little steps leading into the box so when he comes out, the little steps will catch all the loose litter. That part works. However, the litter liners suck and I have a hard time getting them to fit properly. I’m going to give it a little while longer, then I might have to switch back to the old uncovered box. Which means I’ll get a Poop Update from the Sweetie Boy. “Mom, Sampson’s hiding his poop again.”

Anyway.

I’m glad it’s Friday. I have a lot to do this weekend and it’s going to be COLD. VERY cold. I need to stock up on some firewood tonight on the way home. I have plenty of stuff to make potato soup and chili, so I’ll probably have that for good eats this weekend.

That’s it for me. Time for work and school. Happy Friday!

No time to blog today! But I will definitely be back tomorrow. Promise