Inkwell Guest: Alyssa Lyons and A Holiday Weekend in Lynchburg

Today, I welcome author Alyssa Lyons! Don’t forget to say hi :)


We just finish a holiday weekend here in Lynchburg, Virgina. The home of Jordan Davis and Grayson Trent in the Jordan Davis Mysteries celebrated two holidays. 2012 is one of those periodic years when the first night of Passover falls on Good Friday.

Over at the synagogue that Jordan and the children attend, Friday night was the night of the annual community Seder. This is the traditional meal where the story of the exodus from Egypt is retold explaining how this event turned the Children of Israel into a unified people. This year, instead of a catered meal, the synagogue members had a managed pot luck. Jordan, Gray, and the kids brought a Sephardic lamb main dish that was a specialty of Jordan’s mother.

A lamb shank and a roasted egg are placed on the ceremonial Seder plate in recognition of the Paschal lamb sacrifice made in the spring in the days when the Temple stood. During Passover, which lasts eight days, Jews don’t eat leavened bread or other baked goods. This is in remembrance of in which the haste the Jews left Egypt. One day they were there and next on the run, unable to wait for their bread to rise and therefore baked it still flat. At the Seder, they drink four glasses of wine in honor of God’s promises of freedom and deliverance.

If any of those symbols sound familiar, many Christians believe that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder and that Jesus used the unleavened bread and wine already on the table to illustrate his message. (Communion wafers are made from the same ingredients as is matzah.) Jesus is compared to the lamb of the Paschal sacrifice, and in some languages name of the Easter holiday is based on the word “Paschal.”

On Easter Sunday, the hundreds of churches in Lynchburg are packed with worshippers. Those with crosses on the lawn, usually draped with a purple stole, had a black stole on Good Friday and now a white stole on Easter to honor the Resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, Lynchburg shuts down. We say that nothing is open for business except Church, IHOP, the movies, and Walmart.

Ah, the movies. Jordan and Gray took the kids to see “The Hunger Games.” Oh, and they loved the movie. However, the family had read the trilogy together, so the movie and discussion afterwards was very spirited.

On Sunday night the Trents gathered in the family room to watch the first Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the season. Spring Break begins on Monday, so the kids can stay up late, although Kiki fell asleep during the sixth inning and Gray carried her up to bed, their large Main Coon, BB, trailing behind them. And the war between Kiki and Paul over whom BB loves most continues.

You can read about Jordan’s adventures in solving crime “Southern Style” in Last Wishes, Clubbed to Death, & Stabbed & Slabbed.

You can reach Alyssa at her website and blog: http://www.alyssalyons.com
Her books are available at http://www.blackopalbooks.com and all major e-book retailers.

I succumbed to Pinterest

Yes. I did. Yesterday as a matter of fact. It was a horrible thing of peer pressure that I finally broke.

Just kidding. :D I just wanted to check it out for myself and see what all the fuss was about. Can’t say I’m all that impressed but maybe I will be later. So if you’re on Pinterest, I’m there. You can follow me and I’ll follow you back. So far, I only have book covers up there.

We had a really low-key Easter. It rained like cats and dogs early in the day. The front flower bed flooded just a wee bit. Plus I played a lot of Words With Friends. I mean A LOT. And read. A LOT. In fact, I did a whole lot of NOTHING this weekend and it was fantastic. I had Friday off, so I made a point of heading downtown to have lunch with the husband. It was nice and leisurely. We went to Corner Bakery and then to B&N where he bought me Nalini Singh’s Angels’ Blood. I started reading it this weekend.

The kiddo arrived home from camp 40 minutes late. I got him home, unpacked, and started laundry since he had a bunch of it. He made it home with everything except his $5 poncho. At least he managed to keep up with the camera the whole time. He said he had a good time and loved the horseback riding and the archery. I’m glad he had fun. And tomorrow it’s back to business as usual – me to work and him to school.

I was very tired Friday night and fell asleep reading on the couch about 8:45. How lame is that for a Friday night? I finally crawled into bed shortly after 9 and slept twelve hours. Clearly, the body needed the rest. I’ve been having some issues with the pillow, though. Been waking up with neck and back pain. I’m looking into finding a yoga studio but they all have classes at 5:30. What the heck? I can’t make that time because of the Day Job. I need something that starts at least at 6. I’m considering joining the local gym but I’m not too keen on signing a contract. On the other hand, they have later classs…AND Zumba… Hm…

Didn’t write one single word this weekend on the WIP but I did manage to get some blog posts written and sent off for some upcoming guest posts this week and next. I’m trying to stay productive. Had some good long talks with the husband about the future and put a lot of thought into writing and story ideas. And I also thought about this book I’m reading and making mental notes on why it isn’t working for me. I will continue to read it until I’m finished with it, but there are a lot of things about the book that bug me. She’s a great writer, for sure, but I’m meh about the book itself.

So it’s Monday. Again. Have I mentioned I hate Monday?

The Weekend Report

Another weekend has come and gone. I hate they go so fast.

We had a nice weekend, overall. It did have some low points but for the most part, it was nice. ;)

I was dead tired by the time I got home Friday night. It took all my strength to get up and do anything. I think the week just wore me out. I finally slept like the dead – first time all week – and woke up at 7:30 am on the dot Saturday morning.

The Man was going to be out and about all day doing his own thing. The kid and I had a lot of things we had to get done since he is going away to camp today (sniff). I took him for a hair cut and then I had to return some shorts that didn’t fit for him. Then it was on to downtown to stop at the office and pick up something I left behind on Friday.

Since we were downtown, we parked and walked around Sundance Square a bit. We stopped in a new store that’s half-grocery and half-deli for a couple of sodas. Afterward, we headed to the Water Gardens. I snapped this photo at the Quiet Pool. It really is quiet. ;)

But it was hot this weekend. We hit 89 degrees yesterday. We actually had to turn the AC on because it was so sticky and humid. We didn’t get home until mid-afternoon and then had a rousing evening of pizza, hockey and laundry. Good times.

I think one of my favorite times of the day is when it’s early morning, I’m awake, the birds are just starting to sing and the house is super quiet. I enjoyed that…right before I went back to sleep until 9 am. :lol:

We had more errands to do on Sunday. Grocery shopping among them. I think this is my least favorite of all. We had to stop in at Walgreen’s and I bought some awesome blue nail polish called WHY NOT and painted my fingernails and toenails. I figured why not? :D Grilled dinner, drank wine, watched ONCE UPON A TIME and packed up the kid for camp.

The entire 5th grade is off to camp for the entire week. I’m sure he’ll have a wonderful time. He gets to go horseback riding and do archery (totally jealous of that). He’ll be back on Friday afternoon, which is a holiday for both me and the kiddo. I’m so glad this is only a four-day week.

And that’s about all I got for this boring post. Come back tomorrow of another Inkwell Guest, k? :)

Stuff We Did This Weekend

So we had a good weekend. It always goes by way too fast. Saturday I drove out to my chapter meeting, which is always enjoyable. Got to see a writer friend I hadn’t seen in a while and catch up. I haven’t sat and talked writing with anyone in forever, so it was nice. I’ve been brainstorming a couple of ideas for a new series. I have two in mind and both of them are contemporary. I also have some other paranormal/fantasy ideas I’d like to develop. But of course that all takes time. And I’m short on that lately.

Got home and then actually wrote for about an hour. I pulled up the WIP and tweaked some things on it. One line I had forgotten I’d written made me laugh out loud. I’m easily amused like that. :) Then I headed off to the kiddo’s basketball game. It was a hard one for the boys as the other team played rough. Lots of elbowing, pushing and shoving. Not a good game. They played so hard and ended up losing in the end.

After the game, the husband and I had a nice dinner date at Texas Roadhouse. We stuffed ourselves silly with fried pickles. I had the sirloin with sauteed mushrooms. It was delish. Then we headed off to Bed Bath & Beyond and bought ice trays. I know–we’re truly party animals. ;) When we got home, though, we made cocktails. Friday night, we had an excursion to the liquor store and purchased everything to make Long Island Iced Teas. I have this great app where I can look up drink recipes so it made it easy to get everything.

The Long Island Iced Teas came out good.

On Sunday, we went to see Safe House which was actually pretty good. Denzel Washington is always fun to watch and it was a really good action flick. I’m not sure I’m convinced Ryan Reynolds is an action star, yet, though. I still think of him in that Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place. :)

I made this fabulous pork stir fry for dinner and we again stuffed ourselves silly. We rounded out the evening with watching the Oscars.

All in all, it was a good weekend. Just not long enough. Isn’t that the way it always is, though? And so we begin another week. Hard to believe February is nearly done. Where does the time go?

Hope everyone has a pleasant week.

A Proper Blog Post

Progress Update: 1962 for the day

Since I didn’t really post an entry yesterday, here’s one to make up for it.

This weekned went by FAST. I took Friday off work and hung out with the kiddo. We went to the museum and it was jam-packed with people. I’m not much for crowds, so we didn’t stay long. I think he was a little disappointed, but McDonald’s made up for it.

Saturday was cold and rainy. We even got a dusting of snow later in the day. This has been the strangest weather, I tell ya. Today it was nearly 70 degrees. Anyway – very cold and windy and just gross all weekend. The kid was so bored, I finally packed him in the car and took him to Best Buy and made him pick out a new Wii game. I made chili for dinner. We were slugs on the couch and watched “Two Weeks Notice” and then “Housesitter”. And can I just say we love Netflix? It’s so awesome. Man and I stayed up until nearly 1 am watching movies. Then we got up early on Sunday and went to see ALICE IN WONDERLAND. We all enjoyed it.

I actually planted herbs this weekend, too. I’m going to attempt to grow cilantro, basil, chives and parsley. Oh, and cat grass for the CAT CAT who is a bad kitty since he keeps getting into my bamboo! He knocked it over and spilled all the water out of it. Hopefully the grass will grow and he’ll not be tempted by my other green plants. Little stinker.

Got more words in at lunch yesterday. Figured out the black moment so I’m good to go there and the book is nearly done. I finally found out I really DO have an editor assigned to me at Samhain so – WOOT! I have an April 1 deadline and then I’ll polish up my submission and get it to her. I’m glad to know I’m not editor-less anymore. All this time I’ve been wasting… I could kick myself.

And that’s it, boys and girls. Have a SUPER awesome Tuesday.

Getting Back To Normal

Is there such a thing as normal? I wonder…

Busy weekend. Sold some old furniture on Craiglist. Bought some new furniture at Rooms To Go. New sofa and new bed for the kid is on the way. SWEET. Plus I got no interest/no payments for 12 months. Which of course means I will be paying it off in less than that.

It’s a free preview weekend with Starz and Encore so Man and I stayed up until nearly 1 am watching movies Friday night. It was so bad of us but we had a great time just sitting with each other and watching movies (Twister, Armageddon and Enchanted). It was such a huge error because by the time we crawled into bed… the kiddo woke up sick. So I was up and down the rest of the night with him. We managed to sleep in late some on Saturday but WOW was I ever tired that time. Man watched the Texas-Texas Tech game while I dozed next to him. Good QT, ya know?

Soccer was canceled on Saturday. Cooked a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. I took the kiddo shopping with his Toys R Us gift card and he got some Clone Wars battle droid or something. He loves it. It’s good he picked it out and paid for it himself. The store was fairly busy for a Saturday afternoon and they only had two registers open with long lines and slow people. I don’t get that. You’d think the manager would want to get the people out of the store so the customers would feel happy about their purchase and want to come back.

Went grocery shopping. Went to church. Did laundry. By Sunday night, exhaustion had kicked in. Man watched the Cowboys in their fancy new stadium and I was in and out of the room while I got the kid ready for bed and myself ready for another long week ahead. Even though it’s been over 20 years, I’m still mad at Jerry Jones for kicking out Tom Landry. Yeah, I hold grudges. ;)

So I did my part to help the economy this weekend.

Oh, and if you’re curious to see the new Cowboys stadium, following is a picture (you can click on it to see it bigger). And yeah, it’s just THAT big. (We’re calling it the Death Star around our house haha).

Happy Monday!

deathstarstadium

Life With Junior

This weekend was awesome. And jam-packed with fun and frivolity. Okay maybe not the latter, but fun nonetheless. (I really just wanted to say frivolity.)

Saturday was about errands and visiting Mom. So we got up Saturday morning, I made my list, and then we headed to what the kiddo refers to as “the big Walmart”. And the absolute second we stepped a toe into the store, he started in with the fact that he didn’t get a Transformers toy for his birthday and he really wanted one and could he please get one? To which I answered a big fat NO.

Hey, I’m not that mean, usually. But, you see, his birthday party was the next day. No way was I going to buy him more toys when he was going to get more for his birthday. Yes, I know his party was a week late. But I couldn’t see sending birthday invitations to school the first week. And so, alas, I delayed things. So I had a pouty kid for about 10 seconds into the trip when I told him very firmly if he didn’t knock it off, he could forget about having a birthday party. Period.

Okay, so I was in no mood to drag a sour-faced kid around the store for the next two hours.

Yes, you read that right. It took me two, long, life-sucking hours to grocery shop. By the time I got home, I was ready to slash my wrists. :D

And, by the way, the temps were in the mid-90s all weekend. I’m sick of sweating my ass off everywhere I go! Come on, Cool Front!

Anyway. Got home, unloaded the groceries, fed the kid lunch and then decided to hell with getting party favors. I’ll get them at the place the next day. So we packed up and headed to Mom’s for the rest of the day. We stuffed ourselves silly with brisket (yum) and beans and lots of other yummy food. I was completely full and miserable the rest of the night. And the kiddo got more birthday presents from his aunt and uncle and his Grammy. He was happy. I was happy. Good times.

Sunday started with chores. Then we went to the game place for the birthday party where 12 boys showed up. And can I just say boys are completely rowdy? Yes, it was chaos. My objective was to feed them, open presents, and eat cup cakes as quickly as possible so I could release them into the wild. And release then I did, armed with $5 game cards and one free attraction. They scattered. I ran out to the car with all the gifts (oh, yeah, he made out like a bandit too) and then I was stuck in the game place for the next… two hours. My life seems to be revolving around the two hour time slot. Oh and I spaced and FORGOT the durn goodie bags. Ah well.

I came home exhausted and the kid came home happy. He tore into all his presents. He made a giant mess. There were cardboard boxes and directions and itty bitty guns everywhere. Enough to drive a sane Mom to the brink. So while I was trying to cook dinner (because I refused to eat that cardboard pizza), I think I heard “Mom” about a thousand times. So much so I think I’m ready to NOT be called Mom again. I think I heard “MOM” more in the last three days than in the last eight years of his life. Man said the cat was going to start calling me Mom.

Yes, that’s how much he said it. Mom, this and Mom, that. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I love being Mom. But Mom was tired and Mom wanted some dinner and a martini. ;) And Mom crashed early, too.

Monday. Cook-out day. Man forbid me to do anything regarding dinner. I wasn’t even allowed to step foot into the kitchen. The Earth moved. The Angels wept. Somewhere in the distance, I heard the Hallelujah chorus. :D Talk about a woman’s dream come true! Sure. I’ll let you cook. You go right ahead. He even did the dishes. Gotta love a man who cooks and cleans. And yes, I’m keeping him.

Anyway, did some plotting on the new book that morning with CP. I finally have a direction and I completely forgot about using the 20 Master Plots book I have. Duh. Jotted down lots of notes and I’m going to start working on the GMC now. I have an idea and I have a big picture idea – but I needed something for this book. I’m thinking trilogy at least.

While Man prepped in the kitchen, I tackled the kid’s room. I figured I needed a task to keep me busy or I’d be in his way and he’d get mad. And BOY was the kid’s room a disaster area. I made the kiddo help, too. We made piles of things in the hallway: Keep, Trash, Donate. He was pretty good about getting rid of his ”younger” toys but I suspect he had a hard time parting with some of them. But I told him – everyone needs to purge every now and then. I just got rid of clothes I hadn’t worn in 15 years. And that felt great. And now it was time to clean up and organize.

I even moved his furniture around to change it up. I’ve discovered the bunk beds HAVE to go. And the sooner the better. They’re blocking the AC vent and the ceiling fan and the kid sweats at night. TIME TO GO. BUH-BYE. The only catch is I have to get some other things paid off before I can spend more money. Where is that money tree when I need it? :) I’m hoping we can hold out until January for a new bed.

I managed to get all his toy tubs in the closet (a big one for big toys, one for Legos only, one for action figures, etc.). And gave him a little more floor space to play in. Plus I finally found a new home for the chest so it’s not in the way of the closet doors. His room is small – only 10 x 10 – so it’s a challenge with furniture placement. And I don’t want his bed by the window AT ALL.

Dinner. It was fantastic. Burgers were awesome; hot dogs rocked. And yes, I stuffed myself silly. Again. But I wasn’t miserable like I could have been. I forced myself to stop. Even though I really wanted another chili dog. :D

Afterward we watched The Mummy because I hadn’t seen it before and Man picked it up for $7.50. Fun flick! And even the kiddo enjoyed it. And by the time that was over, the evening/weekend was done. Another one for the record books. Another Labor Day over with.

And today – it’s back to work and back to school. Another busy week ahead. I swear I think this was a marathon post like the weekend. ;)

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and a smashing holiday!

First Day of School

So it’s the first day of the new school year here (the beginning of 3rd grade for my one and only…hard to believe). And soccer practice is already underway. With all these familiar things happening, it makes me think of cooler weather, the leaves turning, and even the holidays around the corner. I am SO ready for cooler weather! I’m SO ready for Fall and yes, even the holidays.

Still, though, I look at the calendar and I’m amazed that it’s the last full week of August. Where does the time go? It seems like if you blink, you miss it.

Busy weekend, as usual. Man is off on his week-long vacation with his daughter. He left early Saturday morning. The house is…quiet. Too quiet. I got used to the bustle of activity and now it’s totally different. The kiddo and I had a nice last weekend of summer, though. Went grocery shopping and went 8 cents over budget. Then had to buy the kiddo new cleats for soccer because he’d outgrown them from the Spring season. Went to the local library.

Am I the only person on the planet that didn’t know you could borrow movies and music from the local library? I was in heaven! I brought home a stack of CDs and two movies. The kiddo picked out Ghostbusters (it still makes me giggle) and I got The Mummy. I had rented it a few weeks ago and never watched it. Had I known I could get it from the library FOR FREE I would have done that. And they have a great selection. I so can’t wait to go back! Very excited about that.

Anyway… I grilled hamburgers on Saturday, per the kiddo’s request. I made cheesey ranch burgers and MAN were they ever good. And simple! You just dump a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix and a cup of shredded cheddar into one pound of ground beef. Form into patties and VOILA! The only problem was they sort of fell apart. AND they stuck to the grill. But they were still tasty as all get out.

Made a pot roast Sunday. It was yummy. I knew since we had soccer practice it would be hard to get dinner cooked and done, so I made something that would cook all day. Went to church, came home and finished laundry. And while the kiddo played on the Wii, I read Dreamfever. I couldn’t put it down. It’s awesome.

So now that school has started, the schedule goes back to what it was. I’m back to being child-less on Mondays and Tuesdays. Since Man is off on vacation, I’m going to work on the revisions hard and heavy. I really want to get them done this week.

I’ve been toying with another idea. I need to get it fleshed out and a brief synopsis written (I’m starting to really depend on that!). I hope this week some normalacy will return to my life. Well, here’s hoping anyway.

Happy Monday! Happy Start of the School Year!

Dog Days

I think the hot summer days are finally here. There is no more rain in the forecast. The only forecase we have is HOT. Temps reaching near 100 with a heat index over 100. These are the days I hate most. The ones where I tend to stay inside most of the time and never get out unless I have to.

It sucks I hate to swim or, you know, wear a bathing suit or I might enjoy summer a little more.

Saturday was the chapter meeting. Always enjoy hearing the speakers and learning new stuff. Afterward, we headed to lunch and I had a really fattening patty melt and it was delish.

Finally got home, picked up the kiddo, and we headed to the movies. We finally saw UP! I loved it. It had laugh out loud moments. My favorite was the dog, Doug. He cracked me up. We saw it in 3-D and while cool, it gave me a headache. Got home and I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

I was so tired by the end of the day, I literally fell into bed. Got up fairly early on Sunday, started laundry (always a joy) and then went to the store. One of my most hated chores. I let the kiddo be in charge of the calculator which actually went really well until the end when he “misplaced” it because he got distracted by gum. It’s gone. At least it was a freebie so I didn’t care but he was beside himself.

Went to my brother’s for birthday stuff – my brother and niece both had birthday’s last week. Hung out there for a couple hours and then drove home in the searing heat. Have I mentioned I hate the heat?

Last night I made burgers and fries. Though nothing like the burgers and fries I saw on the CBS Sunday Morning show. Check out this place. It’s called Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, AZ. I feel a road trip coming on. haha

Happy-Sad Day

Today is one of those bittersweet days. My boss of the past 4 years is leaving the company. I’m tremendously happy for her and wish her well but I’m also tremendously sad. She was, by far, the best boss I’ve ever had. And probably ever will have. She’s a truly awesome lady and I’ll miss her. A lot.

Today is also the last day of school. Happy-Sad. Happy school is out and homework is over. Sad we’re losing a bit of structure for the next three months. LOL I can’t believe the school year is OVER already. Where did the year go? Dang.

I volunteered at the kid’s end of year party yesterday and I totally worked my ass off. I was exhausted by the time I left there. They have several stations set up around the area and the kids can pick the things they want to do. I was suck with face painting, which I totally suck at. At least there were these stencil things that helped with that. Mostly I just made a mess. I had paint all over my hands and arms. It’s still in my cuticles and under my nails, even after numerous washings. I took the kid to his grandparents and then went to work.

I’m so happy it’s Friday. I’m so happy it’s the weekend. Hopefully, I can get back to writing.

Writing While Cooking Fish

So the weekend is already gone. It amazes me how fast it goes.

Saturday morning was an early start for a 9 am soccer game. It was cloudy and windy and kinda cool but we made it through the game without rain – and won! That afternoon, we headed to the movies and saw Monsters vs. Aliens and I was highly entertained. Great flick! Of course, it cost $25 for me and the kid to go to the movies… urgh.

We pretty much just hung out the rest of the day and most of Sunday. The kiddo went with his grandparents for dinner since his cousin turned 18 yesterday. Now you KNOW time flies when you look at the kids growing up so fast.

While he was out, I stuck some tilapia in the oven and broke out the AlphaSmart. As the fish was baking, I stood in the kitchen and clicked away on the Neo. I finished out another great section on the book – the chariot race! I used Ben Hur as inspiration. I had started it the night before but was too tired to get it finished. I even did my “research” by watching that 30 minutes of the movie. After I got the scene all written, I found a great resource online for chariot races and went back and tweaked. I’m very pleased with it and I think it came out really well.

That was another 1200 words or so. The story is up to just over 78K and I’m shooting for 85. I’m pretty sure I”ll make it but I only have four days to finish it before my self-imposed deadline.

I have some other things in the works – in fact a really cool something – which I’ll be talking about soon. And even more good news! My book with Cobblestone-Press, Take Me I’m Yours, finally comes out THIS friday, May 1. WOO! Stay tuned because you know there will be free books involved.

And… if you’re a frequenter of the blog, you’ll notice I bumped up the font size. Finally figured that out and my apologizes for the eye-straining size I had before. Hopefully this size will keep you from squinting. :)

Okay that’s it for me today. It’s off to work because I owe! I owe! And time to get the kiddo to school, too.

Busy Weekend

Saturday was the chapter meeting. It was really good, I have to say. We got a lot accomplished in the business meeting and our speaker was delightful. We had Rosemary Clement-Moore who talked about writing YA. She’s funny and very lively. Her new book is out, too. Highway To Hell is the third in her series about her spunky heroine who fights evil. If you like paranormal YA, then you should definitely check it out.

After that, we had lunch with Rosemary and chatted and had a really nice time. Then she headed out for her book signing. I went home, and Man picked me up and then we went to the book store. I got there just in time to get her last book! Whew. So now I have in my hand the third book and I can’t wait to start reading it.

Man and I went to dinner after driving around for while. We were going to cook on the grill but it was still a little cold and we were both famished so we ended up at TGI Fridays. I had a nice steak.

Sunday was all about laundry and getting a lot of work done on the chapter biz. I think I spent about six hours at the computer. And that’s six hours solid. I worked on the website and made a lot of updates, the luncheon registration, a new member packet… all sorts of things. It was exhausting.

By the time 10:30 rolled around, I started reading the last two chapters of Phoenix for editing purposes. I think I have all the glaring typos and errors fixed. Now I just need to write the 2-3 more scenes for the book and call it done! I’ve already started sending it out to for critique. I want this book to be super good before I submit it. I’m still shooting for April 1. I think I can make it, too.

This morning I need to take the kiddo to the dentist for a check-up. Plus they’re going to seal his permanent molars. It’s preventative – keeps the cavities away. I’m all for that! I just hope it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Oof.

And then I’m off from work Wednesday-Friday with the kiddo and my nephew. I need to start figuring out some inexpensive entertainment activities. I’m thinking the Botanical Gardens will be a good outside option, provided it doesn’t rain, of course. Plus they can run themselves ragged. haha

Okay that’s it for me. I gotta get ready for the dentist. Happy Monday, ya’ll!