I have my days where I just feel like a total fraud. Last night was one of them.

I opened up the Revision Hell book and tried to work on a few pages. I have an idea of where I want to go, it’s getting there that seems to be the problem. And I’m not allowing myself to write it out of order. I’m making myself stay chronological. That’s hard, let me tell you.

Plus, while I was writing – or trying to – I had the attention span of a gnat. I’d write a few sentences, then get up and prowl the room. Write, then get up and get a drink. Write, then get up and go to the bathroom. Write, then go wash my face. Write, then go turn off the AC (yes, I had to bend), and open the windows back up. Write, and then…well, you get the idea.

I’ve even started watching Desperate Housewives again to avoid writing. How sad is that?

It doesn’t help that I’m somewhat depressed about some things that are going on in my personal life. I can’t even begin to explain it here. It’s too long and drawn out. But suffice it to say that things are not going as planned. Then again, when do they ever?

I did manage to make it to Lowe’s yesterday for that 12 months of no interest/no payments. Yeah, I bought the ceiling fans. I’m desperate for one in the office since there isn’t one and it’s hotter than Hades in here with the computer on. That’s part of the problem, too. I seem to have a diffcult time trying to think whilst sweating buckets. I called the handyman and he’s going to come install my fan for me…and teach me how to do it so I can hang the other four. We’ll see how that goes. I may be calling him back, though.

I’m still thinking about the living room furniture I want. Make it stop! I do not need to be doing that right now. Especially with so many things up in the air.

I’m looking at the calendar and simply amazed that tomorrow is the first of May. It also reminds me I have birthday cards to go buy and get in the mail! Oh and Mother’s Day. That too.

Oh well. I guess I’ll go back to being a fraud. Oh and…my book comes out in 15 days. I guess I need that to remind myself that I am most definitely NOT a fraud.

Right?

You know…I could so totally be indepdently wealthy. I love to spend money but not really on stuff that’s frivolous. I want stuff to make my house nice. (Okay okay so I want a pair of Manolo’s, so count that as frivolous.)

I got brave and went to Ikea yesterday. The hour long trek to the store was totally worth it as it gave me ides for the living room. They have the TV stand I’m hot to have and then bookshelves on either side with these beautiful etched glass doors (on the bottom only) and then shelves above the TV stand that go between the shelves. It looks awesome. It would look TOTALLY awesome in my house. hehe

But that’s $250 I can’t spend right yet.

So Lowe’s is having a no interest/no payments thing for 12 months on in-store purchases only. Do you realize how tempting this is for me? I want to go and use my credit card there SO BAD and buy all new ceiling fans, two new wall sconces for the entry and hallway, and a new dining room light. (Oh and a new porch light – might as well go all out, right? hehe) Updating the lighting in the entire house would sure make it a helluva lot nicer. Plus I’m sick of these butt-ugly tulip lights. OMG I hate them. They are so cheap-looking (it WAS a rent house before so I understand why…but still…). I have my eye on some cool retro looking scones and chandelier that have brushed nickel accents.

I want.

I also want new bathrooms, new kitchen cabinets, new flooring in the kitchen. I NEED a new AC unit, a new front storm door, and a back patio would be nice. I need a lawn mower, hedge timmers, weed eater. Screens for the front of the house. Lately, all I’ve wanted to do is spend money on the house. And I keep telling myself that I can do all this in time.

But because I’m a here-and-now kinda girl, it’s very hard for me to have some restraint sometimes.

I’m off to have another cup of coffee and talk myself out of spending more money.

It’s another beautiful day! 

The birds woke me up chirping at about 4 am. That’s because I had my window open. I’m so happy I have window screens now and can enjoy the outside. I think I’m going to have that guy come back and make me screens for the front of the house.

I’ve been working off and on on Revision Hell Book. Mostly off. I’ve been so tired lately I have to get to bed by no later than 10:30. Isn’t that pathetic? I did get some good pages in last night though. I can’t believe it’s going to be May next week! WTH? Time just flies way too fast.

We stayed up last night and watched Night at the Museum. It was very cute and Sweetie said his favorite part was when they all came to life. Robin Williams was a great Teddy Roosevelt.

Since the baby boy didn’t go to bed till almost 10, he slept until 9. Got to the post office today and mailed the packages overseas. So that’s done. Waited in line for just over 30 minutes and then we went to get donuts.

The baby and I are headed to Ikea after lunch. I may not get anything…then again…

I hope to get some pages in today. And I need to update my website. Guess I’ll go do that now.

The zoo trip was great. We had a really good time and the kids were fun. Another mom and I had three boys in our group and it was sure tough to keep up with them. All very active and very energetic. We, of course, had to go see the snakes and the lizards first. Then on to the spiders and then finally the sharks. All ew factors for this mom. haha

We had lunchy in the picnic area and the kids were ravenous. Then it was off to look at other animals before time to regroup with the others. We saw the hippo, the rhino, the elephants, the lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), and our final stop was the monkies and gorillas.

The gorillas are cool. They have these viewing rooms where only a pane of glass separates you from the gorilla. The kids thought that was cool because they could walk right up to it. But this particular one had a special gross-out moment. As the five of us are standing there, watching the thing, it decided to first shake its head back and forth and then up and down. Then it barfs in its hand. We all shouted “EW!” and then again when it decided the stuff in its hand was a…um…delicacy.

Sweetie went running away shouting, “GROSS!”

He said it was NOT his favorite part of the zoo. haha

Almost all the kids slept on the bus ride back.

After we got home from school, I went for an much overdue oil change in the car and then off to Target where I spent way too much money. But what else is new? I got the baby Night at the Museum and we’re watching it tonight! It’s movie night at our house.

Saturday I’d like to make a trip to Ikea, but I’m not sure about that yet. I’m dying to get the TV bench to go with the rest of my furniture and call the living room done.

I have had ZERO time to work on the book which is disheartening to say the least. I’ve got all the ideas in my head, I just can’t seem to get them down on paper. Doesn’t help I’m exhausted every single night of the week. I hope to get same pages in tonight and this weekend.

At any rate, I’m certainly glad it’s Friday. And looking forward to having the next two days off.

I’m one of the chaperons for Sweetie’s kindergarten class trip to the zoo. Should be lots of fun today and the weather is going to be great. I’m really looking foward to it.

Will blog more later.

There is some terrible flooding in the area, but at least we didn’t have any more torandic activity. Lots of straight line winds though. It only rained at my house for about 10 minutes and then it was done. However, some other areas west and north of here got really hammered.

There was lots of lightning, though, so I shut down theh computer and unplugged it and the electric keyboard.

Today the sky is blue and the sun is out. Go figure.

And I get my window screens today! I guess you know you’ve grown up when you get excited about window screens, huh? I’ll actually be able to open windows this afternoon. I’m so happy about that.

We’re supposed to get more rain Friday night and Saturday morning.

Not much else happening here. I’m off to make lots of phone calls.

We’re under another tornado warning so I’m shutting everything down and hoping for the best. It’s nasty out there, folks. Will check in tomorrow…

Very sad the Stars lost last night. They played so hard in the first period and then in the second, they sort of fell apart. Of course, it didn’t help the officiating was horrendous. They were calling penalties just to call penalities in the third, I think.

Marty Turco, though, was awesome. No one can fault his performance. Not this time.

I hope Anaheim KILLS the Canucks. Even though I have no love for the Ducks. Hm. The Ducks vs. the Canucks. THAT should be interesting.

Not much else to blog about. I’m still plugging away on the Book From Hell. hehe

First – a hearty welcome to my new readers from Sophisticated’s blog!  

SO! This weekend was fantastic. I mean, it was GREAT. It started off great. And ended great.

Friday night, I had the baby boy with me. Since I promised him I would take him for a lightsaber for good behavior, that’s what we did. After I paid bills. We headed over to SuperTarget and I bought him his lightsaber and a step stool for the bathroom so he can see himself in the mirror. It was fun. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for dinner.

He climbed in bed with me in the middle of the night with Sparky (a small stuff dog), Blankie, Hops (a small green stuffed bunny from my friend Sandy S) and Hoppy (a blue stuffed bunny my mom). I woke up early the next morning with him snoring next to me and all the creatures in between us.

We got up early and headed to do some banking. I had to go to the bank for the chapter and since it’s Wells Fargo and there’s that logo of the coach and the horses on the sign, the Sweetie Boy announced he wanted to ride in “that thing on the sign.” I thought that sounded like a smashing idea but I have no idea where we can do that and we’re in Texas. So I’m telling him that those things are what people used to get around in before there were cars.

“Wow, Mom. That was like the 1980s,” he said. And he’s 5 – so you know – it’s only a matter of perception.

And it made me feel super old. I laughed. “Something like that,” I said. And then he said “Mom, was I born in the 1980s?”

I told him no – he was born in 2001. And then he proceeds to ask me what year I was born.

ahem

“I was born in 1972, sweetie.”

“WOW!” he said. “That was a LONG time ago!”

Yeah. Thanks. I’m aware I’m old. And I have gray hair and I’m starting to get laugh lines around the eyes. So THANK YOU for the reminder.

But then, with glee, I explained that his dad was born in 1963. BAHA

Then it was off to Best Buy where I got myself a 250 gig external hard drive and a new USB hub. The guy at Best Buy showed me the externals and if I was going to be using it for backup and other stuff, then I needed to go with the MyBook (which – guess what – looks like a book. It’s totally awesome) and they had just put their 250 G on sale and I should go ahead and get that becuase the 120 were only $10 cheaper. So what the hell… I figured I’d get it. And I had $30 in reward certificates to use.

He asked me what I’d be using the USB hub for and I said, “Well…I have three printers…”

“Three?”

He seemed rather weirded out by the fact I have three and what can I say. I need printers. One B&W, one photo, one color. What’s wrong with that?

Back at home, I got everything installed with nary a problem.

After Sweetie’s dad came and picked him up, I did the marathon grocery shopping. It seems I was out of everything. Since I had a handful of coupons from SuperTarget, I went there first and bought all non-perishable items. I saved about $10 in coupons. WOO! Even the lady who checked me out was impressed. Hell, *I* was impressed because I never ever use coupons.

Then it was on to Wal-Mart where I got the rest of my groceries. I stocked up on wine, too. Bought 4 bottles. Had one that night. It was Black Swan Shiraz and not bad for a $5.00 bottle of wine.

The murder mystery game launched at 7 pm CST as well as the puck dropped for Game 6 of Stars vs. Canucks. I had the game on in the background while playing the murder mystery – which was a TOTAL blast. A good time was had by all and just about everyone that attended won prizes. Thank you to everyone who came and participated. It was a great time. The Mystery Maiden did a smashing job of doling out clues to everyone and it totally makes me want to buy one of her games and have a murder mystery dinner party. hehe

I also discovered, thanks to one of the players (Linda!), that my book is now available for pre-order from Amazon.Com! I am so stoked about that! WOO! I’m on Amazon! How cool is THAT!

So. Be sure an support your local author – that’s me! LOL

My only complaint is they’ve got my name wrong - Michelle, Miles instead of Miles, Michelle – so I need to figure out how to get them to fix it. Hm.

I went to bed in a near-drunken stupor because I’d had just over two glasses of wine (and yes, I’m a lightweight).

Woke up SUPER early on Sunday to go have Spa Day with the gals and OH.MY.GAW. it was smashing. Simply smashing. I wasn’t even aware there was a Four Seasons in town. We even got there via limo service. We were so living high on the hog for about six hours. And we all decided we could TOTALLY be rich and live like that every day.

I had the lavender spa bath and a lovely manicure. I picked the girliest palest pink I could find for my nails because if I’m going to get a manicure like that, then by golly, I’m going to be ultra-feminine. Hell, I even wore rubber gloves when I did dishes Sunday night because I didn’t want to mess up my nails. Excessive? I guess so when you pay $45 for a manicure. Ha

Got home mid-afternoon Sunday and was just a SLUG the rest of the day. I did manage to get in a few pages on BREAK but I realized I have to rewrite an entire section and I need to plan it out before I do. I need some direction and I have to think about it for a bit. I need some ideas.  

I gave myself a pedicure (not the same as a wonderful spa pedicure, but I did get my feet done) and painted the toenails bright orange. I mean, they are almost day-glo orange. I’m pretty sure they glow in the dark. haha

I cooked myself a light meal of brazed chicken breast in olive oil and had a salad. And okay, I couldn’t resist having some Starbucks Java Chip ice cream. And two more glasses of wine.

All in all – it was a super weekend.

And I sure as heck didn’t want to get up and go back to work today. Was nice being part of the social elite for 2.3 seconds.

I have a tag to answer, but I think I’ll save that for Thursday’s post over at SFC.

GAME 7 – GO STARS!

I feel so extravagant. I just got hom from the Four Seasons - which was a lovely excusion with Best Good Friend, her sisters, and her mom. I got a lovely manicure and had a spa bath scented with lavendar. My gaw…it’s greatness.

We had planned the outing a while back. We’ve already decided we want to go back ASAP. Now I just need to save my pennies for the next time because I’m getting a spa pedicure if it kills me. haha

Not only that, but the Stars won last night! They came back from a 3-1 series, won the next two and now they are going to play Game 7 in Vancouver on Monday. GO STARS! They have the momentum now; let’s just hope they can make it to Round 2.

AND the murder mystery game was a giant success last night. A good time was had by all and all the prizes were awarded. The game lasted as long as the hockey game. hehe

If anyone ever has a change to do this online murder mystery game, you certainly should. It was a blast.

Oh…and… I’m on Amazon!

Today’s the day! Hope you come out and play and win some cool prizes at The Romance Galleria!

Hey all – we still need players! If you’re entered, leave a comment on this entry and you can come on out and play on Saturday for free. It’s going to be lots of fun. Following is more information about it!

Join Shot In The Dark Mystery Games, The Romance Galleria, and me, Michelle Miles, for a night of virtual mystery! If you’ve ever wanted to play a murder mystery game from the comfort of your computer chair, this is the event for you!

On Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 8 pm EST, people from all over the world will meet in The Romance Galleria to play the newest Shot In The Dark Mysteries murder mystery game, Murder at the Book Signing, and you can be a part of this thrilling event!

The Venue:
Murder at the Book Signing is taking place at The Romance Galleria. The Romance Galleria is a chat room, a bookstore, a theater, a forum…and so much more. Discover a virtual world like no other in the romance industry. No other community can come close to offering an expansive virtual environment or real time interactions like the Romance Galleria. Murder at the Book Signing is taking place at this state of the art facility, where you assume a virtual version of yourself (AKA an avatar) and mingle with other players, all from the comfort of your own home.

The Storyline:
Romance author, Michelle Miles, is kicking off her book tour and her fans are eager to meet her. Miles’ best-selling novel, A Bend In Time, has established a cult following, and her fans are eagerly awaiting the second book in the Adventures of Ransom and Fortune, A Break In Time. But when Miles’ agent is found dead, the suspect list begins to grow, and fans and authors alike are held to determine who committed the Murder at the Book Signing.

The Featured Author:
Michelle Miles writes in several genres but finds she enjoys creating other worlds best of all. In addition to working full time, she has numerous projects underway.

Her time travel adventure, formerly a serial with Inara Press, has been released in novel length from Samhain Publishing. The first book, which encompasses the first and second seasons of the serial, has a new name: A Bend In Time. Look for it in print later this spring!

The Murder Mystery Game creator:
Shot In The Dark Mystery Games creates and sells murder mystery games for kids and adults in a variety of genres. Mystery game kits are the perfect way to spice up your next get-together! Visit us online and chat it up in our forum, buy a game and sign up for our ezine!

The Murder at the Book Signing Characters:
Michelle Miles – The Author:
Michelle Miles is an exciting new addition to the best-seller list, giving readers a break from the pontificating memoirs of late and helping them slip into the thrills of adventure. Michelle has been writing for years, and the success of the first book in the Adventures of Ransom and Fortune series, A Bend In Time, is no surprise to her long-standing die-hard fans.

Fletcher Flemming – Michelle Miles’ Publisher
Angel DiTosto – The Agent’s Mistress
Risto Rasmussen – The President of the Ransom and Fortune Fan Club
Sonia Sparrow – Michelle’s Close Friend
Sophia Bernesque – The Rival Author
Sally Mustard – The Romance Galleria Event Coordinator
Horrace Halliday – An As-Yet Unpublished Author

The Fans:
Marilyn Paradise
Ian Kirstofferson
Rose Seabrook
Ross Westcott
Vivaine Vincente
Germain Leblanc
Brenda Calhoun

In addition to the murder, attendees must also use their sleuthing skills to determine the identify of Michelle’s stalker! It’s two mysteries in one!

Tickets to the event are $10 (US). Don’t want to play a character? You can still attend the event and solve the mystery. Spots are limited, so sign up now for a great night of fun, murder and mystery! To learn more and sign up, visit Shot In The Dark Mysteries.

The person to solve the murder will receive the “Ransom & Fortune Survival Kit” prize pack as well as a signed copy of the book. The person to solve the identity if the stalker will also receive a signed copy of the book. Every attendee will be entered in a drawing for a copy of the book as well as other door prizes from Shot In The Dark Mysteries.  So, there are lots of chances to win COOL prizes. Come on out and play.

Get Your Murder On…

Hey I’m blogging over at Chicas today about Murder at the Book Signing. Hop on over for your chance to WIN a free ticket to the game on Saturday! WOO!

So.

Main Street Arts Festival is in full swing in downtown Fort Worth. What this means is…they close off Main Street for four days for this arts thing-a-ma-bob. I’ve never been. I have no desire to go.

So. Since it’s the Arts Festival, it makes traffic a nightmare getting into and out of downtown every day. Joy, oh, joy.

Guess who works in downtown? Yeah. Me.

Guess who also have the drive into downtown where EVERYONE and their mother has to slow down and look at the tornado damage from Friday’s storm?

Yeah. Me.

So. I’m leaving work yesterday a tad after 5 and because traffic is bad, I figure I’d go a different way. What a mistake that was. I ended up driving through downtown for freaking 25 minutes – normally a 5 minute jaunt to the highway! It’s because the road I chose was cluttered with – guess – Arts Festival traffic. Oh, yeah, and freaking construction.

Sheesh.

Forty five minutes later, I finally get to the sitter. And the baby boy is crying with an earache. A wail almost. I feel awful for him. So I pack him up and take him to the clinic – which is actually his doctor’s office but they have late hours. I waited about 30 minutes to even get in to see a doctor and there were only two folks ahead of me.

Turns out the baby has ear wax shoved all the way down the canal. And now they want to flush his ear. THAT was an experience, let me tell you. He did okay for the first five or six squirts, then after that it was NO WAY, NO HOW. The doctor came back, took a look, and then used a metal rod thingie (don’t you love the medical terminology? I should have been a transcriptionist) to clean out the ear. That poor baby’s ear was beat red.

It was 7:30 by the time I left there, prescriptions in hand. Off to Walgreen’s and they tell me it’s 15-20 minutes.

I drop off the Rx and, since I was out of cat food, it was on to Wal-Mart. Plus I was out of apple juice and that’s a staple in the household when the baby is here. Then, since we hadn’t had dinner and it was too late to cook (and dangit I was going to make chicken fried steak), I stopped at McDonald’s. Back to Walgreen’s.

It’ll be another 5 minutes before it’s filled. DAMMIT. I’m so tired by now. My feet hurt (thank God for flats), my legs ache, and I was just ready to be home. Then, as I’m waiting for them to call me, this big, fat white trash BITCH gets up to the counter, parks her effing basket in the middle of the Earth, and then her POS white trash kids are running amok.

So. They call my name, I get up to the counter and this POS doesn’t even bother to MOVE HER EFFING SHIT. She stands RIGHT in front of the register at the counter and never moves an effing muscle, all the while I’m trying to pay and get the hell out of there. I was so annoyed by this. Stupid bitch.

I finally got home, ate dinner, unloaded the car, fed the cat, scooped the cat box, did the dishes, and then it was time to give the kid his meds. And that was a fight. So help me I wanted to fall on a sword. I was totally at my wits end by this time.

So I did what any parent would do. I bribed. “If you take your medicine, you can have a cookie and then play you Gameboy for a few minutes before bed.”

It worked. Of course, he made faces and complained the entire time he took both meds – one for the ear and one for the congestion. But, thankfully, he got it all down.

I missed most of LOST so stayed up late and watched it.

Then I passed completely out in the bed.

And no. I got NO writing done. GRR

What Does Your Sleeping Position Say About You?