The wonderful world of info dumps

This is something that always pops up in writing, especially with new writers, even even with experienced ones as well.

Please don't drop big info dumps in the beginning of the story. We don't need to know exactly what the hero and heroine look like right down to their shoe size by the time we get to page number two. We also don't need to know where they went to school, if Daddy loved them enough, if Mommy was never home, what elementary school they went to and what their favorite food is by the time we get to page number four. =) We don't need all those details right away. Trust me, that's not a hook for your reader. It's more like a yawn. There's nothing about that that's intriguing. Instead, start us off with some action. Lots of action.

And don't take leaving the info dumps out as to give us ANY information. Info is good, but we don't need five paragraphs detailing the heroine's life. Keep the story moving. Let things about your characters come out gradually. Let the reader learn the character, don't just tell them everything about the character. Show the reader the character.

Yes, those bad words, showing vs telling. But as long as people still do it, we editors will still continue to talk about it. =) Don't spend a paragraph giving us an info dump about how the villain is evil because he killed a litter of puppies. Show us something relevant, like the way he treats a family member in the presents, or dastardly actions he takes against a coworker.

I know I've kind of swayed off topic, into showing vs telling, but, I'm the queen of starting on one tangent and ending up on another. If I keep typing, I'll probably end up on the issue of filter words, the correct usage of the past participle, or the proper usage of lie vs lay.

Trust me, we don't want to go there. =)

Another busy weekend

Firday night was fun. I went to El Rodeo with David and Misty and her family. Myles stayed home and slept. He was out like a light when I got home from work, so I left him alone. After El Rodeo David and Misty and I came back to our place and we sat outside and just chilled. Myles told David and Misty some of his famous car stories that they hadn't heard before. lol Misty was cracking up at them. Plus, we regalled them with the Jerry Springer ballad of his sister, and Misty was cracking up even more. LOLOL Yeah, it's a pretty good story.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed down to Indy for the airshow. The airshow itself was awesome, and the F22 Raptor was absolute kickass. The only thing that absolutely SUCKED was how sunny and hot and humid it was. Oh man. The temp was about 97, so I'm figuring with the heat index it was a bit over 100. There was no shade in the reserved seating area, so we were just out in the blistering sun. I put sunscreen on twice and still managed to get fried. I even ended up sitting under the table for a little bit. LOL Myles took a picture of me doing that. =P All that sun and my Irish skin is no good.

Today we slept in a bit and then headed over to Blakely where I taped off the kitchen and hallway and removed all the switchplates in those rooms so Myles could paint them today. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I'm home. As soon as I'm done with this, it's off to start some of the stuff on my list of things to get done to the house before the bridal shower. =P So it'll be a busy afternoon.

And I know I've been slacking on posting about editing stuffs, but I promise I'll do some of that this week.

And crap...the cat just knocked over the bag of trash. Sigh. So now I have to go pick all of that up. Dammit.

Thankful

I was doing some pondering on my drive to work this morning. I've noticed that a lot of times many of us think about what we wish we could have instead of being thankfful what we already have and taking it for granted. I've got so many things in my life to be thankful for, so many people I've been blessed with having in my life.



Myles - He is my everything. He's the greatest guy anyone could ever ask for. He may not be the most romantic, lol, but he shows his love in so many other ways. He concentrates a lot on our future and things like saving money for things like college for our future children. He works really hard for us, with his job and the rental properties, and I hope he knows how much I appreciate that. He supports me in everything I do...my editing, my writing, and anything else I decide I want to do. =) Without him, I wouldn't be where I am today, no doubt about it. He's so smart (even though he doesn't give himself enough credit for it) and he's just awesome. On top of being my almost-husband, he's my best friend, hands down.



My family - A girl couldn't ask for a better family. No way, no how. I have THE best mom and dad ever. Hands down. My parents aren't just my parents, they're two of my best friends. I love spending time with them and they mean the world to me. I have the best little brother anyone could ask for, too. Matt is THE greatest kid ever. He's so smart and funny, and I love seeing how much like me he is at times. It's really night. And my other brother, Doug. He can be the hugest pain in the ass at times, but when he tries and when he wants to be, he's a really good person. If only we could get him to grow up a little bit...



Misty - What can I say about her? She's phenomenal. Last night I got to thinking about everything has done and is doing for the wedding and my bridal shower and the scheming we have done for my bachelorette party, and I teared up. She seriously knows me so well, it's creepy. She's shown me and told me about a lot of the stuff she is doing for the bridal shower, and it's amazing. The whole thing is revolved around me. Completely and totally. From my favorite colors, to my favorite types of food, down to all of my favorite things. She's ALWAYS there for me and has been from day one. I can honestly say that she will be my bestest friend until the day I die. She is absolutely amazing and anyone with her in their life is blessed. I only wish I was resourceful and "smart" enough to be able to do for her all that she has done for me, but dammit, I'm just not as good as her. lol



My house - It sounds stupid, but a lot of people barely have a roof over their heads, and Myles found us a beautiful home to live in that we never have to leave if we decide we don't want to. I know Myles and I have dreams of a place a little out in the country on some land, but if we never moved, I would be more than happy. The house is big enough for us and the kids we'd like to have, and it has a great backyard with awesome neighbors. What more could anyone ask for?

All the "stuff" I have = It's another thing that sounds stupid, but there are so many people who don't have their own library at home, or a closetful of clothes. Yes, a lot of what I have is necessities, but there are so many people who don't have that.

I think one of the main things I've been doing this morning is thinking about all of the things and people I am fortunate enough to have in my life that other people may never have. I really am a blessed person, and I don't stop and say "thank you" enough to the powers that be for giving me all that I have.

Work work play work

I've been getting a lot done recently, but we're making some time to play, as well. I'm way ahead of the mark with my authors and getting their edits done, so that's lending me some extra free time. I've also got a couple of submissions to read, but not many at all. It feels like it's been kinda of dry on that end lately. =( But I'm sure it'll pick up. It always does.

This Saturday we're heading to Indianapolis to the Mt. Comfort airport for their airshow. It should be a lot of fun. We'll have a big cooler of beer tagging along behind us and we paid a little extra to have seats right on the runway, so no General Admission. Whew. I HATE General Admission anything. So that's what on the agenda for this weekend.

Next weekend is my final dress fitting in South Bend, but I'm fitting some fun in, too. I'll be getting a tattoo with my mom, our shamrocks for mom-and-daughter wedding presents. =) And I'm sure will hit my favorite mexican restaurant and suck down some of my favorite margaritas.

The weekend after is my bridal shower. Mom and Dad are gonna stay the night and we're gonna head out to dinner and Misty and I'd favorite bar to celebrate my Mom's birthday on Sept 5 and my dad getting his MBA. Woo hoo!

The best thing we're doing to have some fun is going to see Robin Williams on October 2. He'll be here at Purdue, and since I work here, I can get tickets tomorrow, and they don't open to the general public until Saturday.

Then there's wedding stuff galore and my bachelorette party, so everything until October 17 is gonna be REALLY busy for me. But that's the way I like it and I wouldn't have it any other way. =)

As a side note, my current obsession is Melinda Lambert's song "Gunpowder and Lead". I freaking LOVE it.

Ah a Monday

And as with every Monday, it means I'm one week closer to the bridal shower (which is on Sept 6) and the wedding. I'm really excited for all of it though, so I'm glad another week has passed. =)

I'm all caught up on editing, waiting for a couple of things to come back, starting edits on one, and I'm gonna read some submissions today. =) Woo hoo! I've only got a few in my inbox, so I should be able to get through them in the next couple of days. I need some really good ones, though. I feel as if I've hit a slump. *sigh* It's always frustrating when that happens, but normally when I pull out of it, I pull out of it in a really good way. I'm worried that pretty quickly, I'll have nothing to work on, and that's no good at all. Eeek.

Wow, I went to see a movie

Going to see a movie in the theater is something Myles and I never do. It's just too damn expensive.

But yesterday, one of my best friends, Ann, called me in the late morning and asked what I was up to. Her hubby had taken the kids camping for a family reunion that she couldn't go to due to a softball game (she has a national recruiter looking at her because she's such an awesome pitcher) and she had the weekend to herself. She knows that I never get to go see scary movies because Myles hates them, so she called and asked me to go with her. She picked me up at about 7 and thenw e headed back toher house for a bit. After she showered and her mom got into town we headed to Nine Irish Brothers which is one of my absolute fave places around here, and then we headed to the midnight showing of Mirrors.

I wasn't into it as much as I used to be into horror movies, but that's okay. =) I still got a chance to spend some time with her and we both agreed that the end of the movie got really gay. There were some parts they REALLY should have done away with and then skipped to the last scene, but oh well. I still had fine.

Other interesting stuff also happened yesterday, too. We were sitting on the couch and Myles stood up, grabbed his keys and said "I feel like doing something different today. Come on." Of course, I had no clue where we were going until we got there, so it got me a little nervous at first, because, well, with Myles you never know. We ended up at the Purdue University Airport. First he just wanted to watch the planes, because he hasn't flown in a while since we've had to spend so much money lately, and flying isn't cheap. =) You gotta rent the plane and then pay for the Avgas (aviation fuel) on top of that. So, yeah, after watching a Mooney fly in and then a Malibu (250K and 400K respectively) he decided to walk into the building. And he ended up reserving a plane to fly. =P We went home so he could get his log book and I could get my Xanax (I've NEVER been on a small craft before). And um, when we got back, it sucked for me. Since Myles wasn't current on his FAA medical, he had to have a Certified Flight Instructor go with him, and their policy is no third party passengers. Sigh. So Myles went flying and I went to go put gas and the Jeep and go to Borders...where I bought a couple of Jonathon Kellerman books. Hey, since he got to fly and I had to stay on the ground, I figured I should get something out of the deal. =P And trust me, the twenty books I spent on books was NOTHING compared to what he spent on flying yesterday. LOL

So now we just have to get him a medical and get his hours current and then he and I will be able to take off. =) The only problem to this is now he has the plane bug again. Bad. Picture a woman that's been bit by the baby bug...except it's a guy who wants to buy a plane. Yeah, that's my Myles. =)

And on a side note, I saw quite a few Samhain titles at Borders. Some Lora Leigh, Biance D'Arc...and and few more, but I didn't have my camera on me, which is a rarity, so I could take pics or anything. But they were there!!

Something happened this afternoon...

That really bothered me.

Myles called me a little while ago and said "I just got the strangest phone call." Mind you, one of our houses is up for rent, so he's been handling a lot of phone calls about it since it went into the the paper on Wednesday. A woman called him about it, and he said that she had made the best impression so far, was very eloquent and well-spoken, but then she asked him a question that made him completely stop in his tracks. She said "Now I have to tell youask you something before deciding if I come to look at the house. We're an African American family. Would this neighborhood be accepting of us?" WTF? They're new to Indiana from California, so when Myles told me this, my first thought was that coming to such a bass-akwards racist state such as this one, they might have heard things and are somewhat apprehensive. That was the only thing I could think up for her asking that question.

So Myles tells me that he felt really bad for her that she felt she even needed to ask that in the first place. After he tells me this, I just sit here, totally shocked, and then Myles calls me again. It was bothering him so much that he had to call her back and apologize for the fact that she had to ask that. (My Myles is a damn good guy. =P )Turns out when she has spoken to other "landlords" in the Lafayette area, when they find out she is black, they've been asking "Well how black are you?" What?!? And, because she is so well-spoken, some automatically assume that she's a white woman, and when she inquires about the property, they've said "Oh, you wouldn't want to live there. It's in a black neighborhood."

Dude, all of that is so wrong on so many levels. Way wrong. So now, I'm sitting here, extremely bothered and agitated by it. I want her to come and look at the Blakely house so I can ask her who she called so I can find out exactly who thaey are, which wouldn't be hard, and turn them in, because asking a potential tenant anything about their race, or sexuality for that matter, is illegal. And it's just plain WRONG.

i'm just amazed that this is going on in the town where I live. I mean, yes, I live in Indiana. Yes, I know Indiana has one of the highest numbers of KKK membership in the US. Yes, I know this is a redneck racist state, but I guess I never really thought about it until now. I mean, I grew up in South Bend, which feels like worlds apart from Lafayette, which is only 100 miles away. It just wasn't like that in South Bend. I mean, sure, we knew it was like that in Osceola, but, wow.

I'm still just really irked about the whole thing. The color of your skin doesn't matter, it's your actions and how you carry yourself and all that. And that goes for ANY race. I'm just....yeah.

I am succumbing to the madness of...

Harry Potter. Yes, I am. I've always steered away from it, and I have no clue why. Maybe it's because I always associated it with little kids, but I know SO many adults who have read the series and loved it, that I've decided to read it. And Misty has all of them and brought them to me to read, so I'm going to start reading the first one today. And she has all the big, bad, hardback ones. LOL The last two are huge and heavy. I'm gonna get my arms workout for the wedding just by reading. LOL

So yeah, I'll be doing my normal thing and posting reviews of them as I read them. I'm gonna start teh first one on my lunch, and I'm able to get through quite a lot of a book in an hour. Mad reading skillz is kinda something you have to have when you're an editor. LOL

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

A song that kills. Can you imagine that? That would be really deadly in the hands of someone like me, pun intended. Oh man, Myles. Think of the wondrous things we could do? *wink wink*

Anyways, back during Christmas time, Misty and I were roaming through Barnes and Noble for books for my mom and Myles, and of course, I end up looking at books for myself. So I picked up some Chuck P. books and Misty scans the back and says, "That looks really good" and takes it up to buy it. A few days later, she walks into my work with a box of homemade cookies and that book on top. =P Needless to say, life has been hugely busy for me since then and I haven't had a chance to read for pleasure until recently. And first I wanted to finish all the books I had started but not finished, which I'm pretty sure I got done. =) So after Misty stole it from me and read it, I just finished reading it. And it was awesome, if you like that sort of thing, that is.

Now, for those of you who don't like to know anything about a book before you read it, don't continue to read further. Knowing me, there's bound to be some spoilers in here. =)

I was hooked by the Prologue that Misty actually read aloud to me while I was putting away my laundry. =P It basically talks about Helen Boyle, "the hero", who is a real estate agent. But no, she's not just any type of real estate agent. That would be way to ordinary and simple for Chuck P. She's a real estate agent who acquires haunted properties and then continues to sell them over and over and over. After the Prologue describes her, we learn about Carl Streator being a reporter/journalist and how much he pays attention to details. And here is when I started to go "Huh? What does this have to do with anything?" Then, it begins to come together.

His boss ends up having him do a peice on SIDS, interviewing families and so on and so forth. Since Mr. Streator is so freaking wonderful at paying attention to details, he happens to notice that the same book is at all of the scenes, and that page 27 is where they were are left at. So our wonderful reporter makes the connection and the deduction and fingers it all out. =) He assures that he's right by reciting the culling poem/song to his boss...and his boss dies. =P So there we have it. He connects up with "the hero", Helen/realtor, and together, along with a couple of tagalongs, they go on the road to destroy all the copies. This is how good old Mr. Streator finds out what Helen is doing with her knowledge of the poem. They're also searching for the grimoire to be able to reverse the culling song and blah blah blah.

Good story. I liked it. Of course, the editor I am found a couple of things that annoyed me or bothered me. The first was the way the main character described everything. "The details of the man are..." I understand this is because the guy was a reporter and we had this whole long diatribe about him paying attention to detail. But it felt very intrusive when every single character and location in the book was described that way. There was something off about it to me. Then again, good old Chuck might have done that on purpose for all I know. The other thing that bothered me was that I was confused about how Carl's wife and daughter died. Maybe it was me not paying attention, maybe it wasn't really said, but I was left wondering why. Or did Carl read the culling song to them from a book before he knew what it was a what it did.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. A lot. I'll definitely be keeping it in my library. =) And I'll also be picking up some more of his works, too.

Just my freaking luck

I'm not a happy camper after going to see the doctor today. Yes, I know, most people would be really happy that they didn't have to have some sort of procedure or surgery done, but not I.

First off, Myles and I got there a few minutes early...the appointment was at 2:00. Then we proceded to sit in the waiting room until 2:35 until someone finally came to get us to go into the exam room. Once we got in there, tec guy/nurse whatever asks me a bunch of questions and then leaves. Then the doctor comes in about ten minutes later, and asks me all the SAME questions. Dude, the other dude just put them in the computer and they're on the paperwork in front of you. Not sure if I want you diagnosing me if you can't even READ. For serious.

So he brings up my MRI on the computer and Myles and I look at it. Yes, we see the big white abnormal thing. Only problem is, it's not on my knee. It's above my knee on the lower part of my thigh bone. Oh, and guess what? It's in the bone marrow and has very sharp, difinitive edges. I forgot what he called it, but basically when I was a fetus and everything was forming, a piece of cartilage got mixed in with the bone and stayed there. It's actually not anything at all, doesn't show up on an x-ray and has absolutely no effect on anything. So, there is no benign, abnormal growth.

Matter of fact, there is nothing. Nothing at all.

He said my knee looks excatly as it should look. No procedure to be done, no surgery needed, nothing. When he told me that, my eyes teared up and I about started crying in the exam room. I know it sounds funny that I wanted to cry because nothing was wrong, but anyone who knows me knows that I've been through physical therapy for this about four or five times, and it's never helped at all. I've been going through this for about ten years now, and I'm just plain tired. I've been to sports doctors, specialists, orthopedic surgeons...everything. And none of them have an answer.

This time, I thought it would be different. About a month ago, my knee started clicking. Every time I squat or go up stairs. And this is a problem, seeing as how I live in a two-story house. *sigh* I thought they would find something they can fix so i can finally be done with the pain and the annoyance and the frustration.

At one point, I looked at him and said "So you're telling me there is medically nothing you can do for me and I just have to deal with this for the rest of my life? (the clicking)". And he actually just looked at me and shrugged. Shrugged. Poor Myles was trying to ask questions, was trying to get somewhere with him, but the doctor basically said any other option we might try to do would be pointless. God love him, my Myles really tried though. I was glad he was there, because I was so upset, I couldn't even think of any questions to ask, but Myles covered all that for me, thank God.

When I got out to my car and Myles pulled away, since he was going back to work, I just sat there and cried. I'm so frustrated with this, and the only solution he gave me was a measly leg extension exercise and to wear a knee brace. *sigh*

D-Day

Yeah, this is my D-Day. I'm leaving work at 1:45 to head to the doctor to get the verdict on my knee. I'd love to know what whatever this growth is in my knee. lol Ann thinks it's my twin sister. LOL Only she would say that. But that's one of the reasons I love her.

Myles is meeting me over there, since I'm pretty nervous/anxious/apprehensive about it. So, we'll just have to wait and see what they say. I'll post later this aftenoon/early evening and share the verdict.

Can't I just go to bed now?

I'm really wore out from this weekend, and I will be after this evening, too. Friday we met with our banker and our realtor for drinks, Saturday we woke up late then went to dinner and out to the bar with David and Misty, and yesterday we got tons of "chores" done and then dealt with fleas until about midnight. Tonight will be the aftermath of dealing with the fleas.

Friday Myles and I met Mark and Jay at Hooters, and a little later on, our new tenant for the Blakely house met us over there, had a beer, gave us money and signed his lease. He ended up staying and chatting with us, since he's actually a nice guy and pretty easy to get a long with. So After we got bored at Hooters and I drank way too much sangria, we headed to BW3s (with the exception of mark who was headed to Kokomo. For those of you from Kokomo or who are from around here, will know exactly where said single man would be going.) had a few more drinks at BDubs, where Myles received more reassurance from an enthusiasic Jay that he has a job waiting for him if he decides to quit Steiner. So, we'll see.

Saturday I went and got my hair did, picked up a couple of things (including a new modem, gar) and then David and Misty met up with us at our house. Myles hadn't showered yet, so I made the mistake of flipping on a episode of House from the DVR for David and Misty and I to watch, since Misty loves that show but never watches it at home. Have any of you ever tried to watch House with her? It's an experience, let me tell you. First, she tries to figure out what is wrong...something NO ONE can do, since it's always some obscure, never-heard-of-before condition or disease. Then, since she knows these are reruns that I have seen, she bugs me to tell her what happens. And I truly rarely remember what the diagnosis is. And sometimes she laughs really loud and repeats stuff...especially if she is on a narcotic hangover from taking some pain meds. LOL but, she's my Misty and it's cute and I love her.

After we finished the episode of house, because we couldn't dare leave before she saw the end, we headed to parkside...which is this really crappy hole-in-the-wall local restaurant. But oh man do they have probably the BEST prime rib that I've ever had. The atmosphere sucks and the service isn't the greatest, since they only have one cook, one waitress, and one server, but it is sooooo worth it once you taste the food. We'd never been there before until David and Misty decided that was where they wanted to eat, and I'm glad we ate there. =) Then we headed to our favorite bar, where Misty's cousin is the DJ and we know everyone that works there and a lot of the people who hang out there. We had a lot of laughs and a really good time. I tried to drink "skinny" drinks, but ended up giving up and switching to draft beer. lol I just can't do the mixed drinks when I have good beer available. =P

And then came Sunday. At about 8:00, Myles decided we should check the cats to make sure they didn't have fleas. (The evil rental house had fleas in it, and Myles just then had thought about us bringing them home on our clothes. Something I never even thought about since my mind has been consumed with other stuffs.) We grabbed Piper and took a look at him, since he's white underneatch and it's easier to see them, and sure enough, I found one. So at 8 on a Sunday evening, here go Myles and I, going out to buy flea bombs and flea shampoo, then giving the cats a bath (oh, what fun, to give the world's most skittish cat and the world's bitchiest cat baths) then bombing the house. We had to put the wet cats in my car, put that car in the driveway so they weren't in the house, and then Myles and I had to leave the house last night for two hours. Luckily Brian and Ann let us come hang out with them. lol Needless to say, it was a REALLY long night last night.

And tonight we get to wash all the bedding (since we're bad people and let the cats sleep in bed with us and on it whenever they want), vacuum everything, mop the ceramic floors, get every bit of clothes washed....yeah, fun fun.

Wish me luck!

I LOVE the show...

Paranormal State. I tried to get into Ghost Hunters, but well, it sucked. They never show anything and it gets stupid. So I quit bothering with it. And then Paranormal State came on, and I'm hooked on it. =) Then again, I've always gotten into the darker side of things, and I truly believe all that stuff. I've seen some crazy stuff that just can't be explained by anything else. Myles has always been a skeptic of all of it until recently. One of the guys at his work is on a local paranormal investigation team and he brought in some EVPs the other day for them to listen to. He said they were pretty "crazy". =P He also said that it was hard to ignore the fact that it might be real when it was this certain guy that brought the tapes in and is on the investigative group when said guy is a really smart Purdue grad student. Or maybe he's undergrad. Hell, I don't know. I don't even know the guy's name. LOL I just know Myles thinks he's a smart guy and a good guy and he said it's kind hard not to believe in the paranorma, stuff now. Which makes me happy, because now he turns on Paranormal State without me asking. =)

And this season is WAY better than the first season. The cases are better and the facts and proof of the "haunting" are much better. There have been a couple where you the viewer actually see what they are seeing, because Sergei is taping the rooms they are in and it's replayed. The viewer gets to see the chair move on its own, you get to see the shadow they are seeing, and the crazy lights floating around in the kitchen. And I'm sure there are skeptics out there who will explain away everything, but maybe some things just can't be explained away.

Trading Faces by Denise Belinda McDonald

I've got Trading Faces by Denise Belinda McDonald releasing today. I loved this one when I read it as a submission. It just got better every time I read it! Click here to go buy it now.

There are worse things than winding up dead…

With her ex-husband’s death, Elyse Cabot thinks she’s permanently off the emotional roller coaster…until he turns up posing as his twin brother—the real victim of foul play—at his funeral. Before she can get any answers out of him, he’s gone, leaving her with more questions than closure.

And a fortune in loose diamonds.

Seeing Elyse again brings back a lot of hot, sweaty teenage memories for Jack. Then she opens her mouth and out comes some cockamamie story about her ex, diamonds and double crossing. So much for rekindling an old flame. Still, he just can’t seem to resist the lure of this dame in distress.

He just hopes he can solve the case before he does something stupid—like fall in love.

Warning, this title contains the following: Twins, explicit sex, graphic language, some rock ’em sock ’em violence, and did we mention diamonds?

Ah the joys of painting

Yes, I hate painting...except when it's my house. And then I don't mind it as much. It's still not one of my favorite things to do, but at least I'm benefiting from it directly. =) My BFF Misty has decided that it is her mission to irradicate the world of the color purple. Her husband's ex had painted his house in many shades of purple, and now that the house is Misty's, all purple is GONE. Well, there was a lilac-colored bathroom in my house. And I say was because Misty irradicated it yesterday. LOL Even though Myles and I have lived in this house for almost two years now, we still haven't gotten around to painting everything and getting it the way we like it. We got the worst of it taken care of right when we moved in, right before our HUGE housewarming party, but then we lost momentum. And let's just say that the people who owned this house before us had NO taste whatsoever. So, yesterday, Misty decided to paint the upstairs bathroom and I worked on my office/what will become the nursery in a couple of years. And it was, well, an interesting day to say the least.

First, Misty decided to use her five gallon bucket o' paint as a step stool. It worked great to get the top of the walls...until her fell through the top. Yeah, not so good. She had cocoa-colored black tennis shoes. =) So after we got that cleaned up, it was my turn to have an accident, and mine was way worse. *sigh*

I guess with mine I have to start with a bit of backstory. We started by painting the room blue, the shade I choose. The only problem was that once all four walls were painting, it was WAY too bright. So, to make a long story short, we decided to paint it a cream color one third of the way up and put chair rail up. So yesterday I was finishing trim work and painting one third of the way up. As I was just about done with the walls, a big mirror fell onto a bookshelf and the bookshelf fell. And I had a gallon of paint and my paint pan sitting on top of said shelf. Yeah.No good. I spent the next two hours plus some getting the paint out of the carpet. It sucked. Bad.

I guess I probably shouldn't have laughed at Misty. I'll post pics of the room when it's done and of the bathroom. I love the bathroom. Lots. =) Now I just want to go sit in there and look at it. LOL I'll be stoked when my office is done and I can work in there...since I have yet to use it as an office yet. =P

And the verdict is...

I have to go in for an MRI on Wednesday for my knee. I'm not happy about it. Only because it means I have to have an IV. I'm not afraid of the big magnet they're going to stick me in or anything like that. I'm petrified to have to have an IV. Why you ask? Dunno. When they draw my blood, I get nauseated and faint if i'm not laying down, and even then, I have a rough time with it. When I get shots, it's bad. And IVs are the absolute worst. Any time I've ever had an IV it's been BAD. When I got my wisdom teeth out, they did it in my hand and it bruised to bad down to my wrist I could barely move my hand. When I had my appendix out five years ago, they could only find a vein by my elbow...so therefore when I bent my arm, the needle was poking into my bone. For two days it was like that. Finally, on the third day when blood starting backing up into my IV, they moved it. I DO NOT do well with IVs, having blood drawn, and shots. So I'm starting to get more and more nervous about Wednesday and having an IV so they can inject crazy dye into me.

But do you want to know the kicker of all this? I love tattoos. I have three and I'm getting one more right before my wedding. My last one since Myles really doesn't like them. And the one on my lower back is pretty big. A tattoo doesn't phaze me to get and I have no qualms about going in and getting one...in fact, I get excited. So could someone please tell me what's up with that? =P

And just in case anyone cares, the reason I have to have an MRI on my knee....Since high school I've had really bad knees, the right one being the worst. Now it clicks when I walk up stairs. So they think something is rubbing or that I have might have a loose piece of cartilage under my kneecap. The first might mean surgery, the second definately means surgery. *sigh* I'm not a happy camper.