It's time for a change

Yup, you heard it. It's time for a change. A change in my blog that is. =) I'm upgrading and switching to Wordpress. Yeah. It's better and will enable me to do a lot more. Plus, I've been irritated with some things with Blogspot, such as RSS feeds and the like. So yeah. I'm switching. So go see me here, at http://editortera.wordpress.com

Harry Potter

Remember me telling you a couple of months ago that I had succumbed to the madness that is Harry Potter? Well, the week before last I finished with Year 6, which is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I wanted to make my comments on the series so far and then read the last one, since we all know how much the final book in a series can change your opinion of it. =)

In short, I loved them. I can now easily see the obsession as I am now wondering how close I am to it. Hahah. I'm not used to reading books so "simple" and I was amazed at how well they did everything "adult" books do but much better. I mean, when I'm reading a book I sometimes visualize the scenese in my head, but not all the time. When I was reading Harry Potter I had a vision in my head 99% of the time. I always knew the emotions of each of the character, and the character development was something else entirely. I loved it.

The stories kept me enthralled, and I didn't care about the fact that they doubled in size with each book. All I wanted was more more more. And then some more after that, which I guess I'll get when I read Year 7, which is the final one. Plus, I haven't seen the movies, so I'm looking forward to watching those, too.

I couldn't even tell you know why I avoided them for so long, but I'm actually sorry I did. I've never been one for reading YA, but with the introduction of Harry Potter and the Twilight series I think I just might peek into it more often. Another one keeps catching my eye, too, that I think I just might go ahead and get. The title is "Luxe" but I'm not sure who the author is.

But I digress.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books. The only irks I had were in the beginnings of the second and third ones, when I felt that they repeated way too much of the previous book. Then I remembered that most people weren't reading them as quickly as I was and that the previous book probably wasn't as "fresh" to other people as it was to me, so the annoyance of it dissipated rather quickly.

My hat is off to JK Rowling and her amazing storytelling abilities.

Bound By Love by T.A. Chase

It's a release day! Woo hoo! I'm late this evening on it, but hey, I'm getting to it. =)

Two cowboys fall in love. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

Tyler Newsome is heading home to the Lazy N, tired of the rodeo and tired of always being his charismatic twin’s shadow. It’s time he gets a life of his own—and maybe the man he’s always dreamed of, too.

Ren Alston’s always been attracted to Tyler, but never made a move because of his own mental and emotional baggage. But after years spent taming his demons and gaining control in every aspect of his life, Ren sees the younger man’s return as a sign of good things to come.

But first, they have to deal with Tyler’s twin, past indiscretions and Ren’s brothers. Will these cowboys manage to build a strong foundation of trust and love? Or will their problems be too much for them?

Warning: Explicit manlove. Hot naked cowboys, caramel sauce, spanking, whipping and a new twist on the old fashioned roll in the hay.

Go buy it here!

PictureMail

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Christmas!

So, today is the day for Christmas. Yesterday we ended up having to replace a dryer at one of the rentals, so that took up most of the day, which meant that I didn't get to put up all the Christmas stuff. So, today is the day. =) Woo hoo! I've got all of my little knick knacks to take down and replace with Christmas stuff and my two trees to put up. Yes, I said two. I have our main one in the family room where we spend all of our time, and I have the simple one with white lights that I put up in the front window, since I love the look of it from outside. =) We also have the lights to put up outside and the big wreath at the peak of the roof above the garage.

And the Christmas trees up means that the cats get their favorite places to sleep back. =) They will CONSTANTLY be underneath the trees. And Piper? Well, we don't think he does this anymore, but when he was a kitten, he would climb up the tree and lay across the branches in the middle.

Query letters

Guess what? I'm not going to bitch about them this time. =) Isn't that amazing. I just got one that is probably the best I've ever seen. Instead of starting out with the normal "My name is... My book is... (brief explanation of the book)..." and so one and so forth, the author uses a tagline.

"I've just stolen two million dollars from you. What are you willing to do to get it back?"

It immediately had my attention and piqued my curiousity. It was a great idea because it immediately got my attention. It stood out...and in a good way. Because, well, when query letters stand out for me it's normally in a negative way. And as we all know, first impressions are everything, and it can affect your opinion of a book/author.

Now, I haven't even opened the manuscript, so I have no clue what the quality of the writing is. But, they've got my attention, which is ALWAYS a good thing. Considering the fact that 95% of what we read is rejected. And trust me, it's not always an easy decision.

A quiet Friday night

So Myles went out with a friend tonight to play penny poker, have some beer, and have some guy time. Works for me. I headed to El Rodeo with David and Misty and the kids for some Mexican food and BIG margaritas. Had a bunch of laughs with/at the kids and then treated myself to some Starbucks to attempt to stay up late and get some editing done. I've got a bunch I want to get done this weekend so I can take a break next week over the long weekend. =) Especially since I'll be putting Christmas stuff up. Woo hoo! I love putting it up, but God I hate taking it all down. For some reason, it just doesn't feel like work when I'm putting it up since I'm so excited. Then come January 2nd and it's time for it all to come down... Yeah, I just don't want to do it. It usually takes me until about the middle of January to force myself to do it. LOL And no, it's not because I'm all sad to "put Christmas away", I just really don't want to spend the time and energy on it. And this year will be sucky, considering last year, we were heading to Hawaii on January 8 for two weeks. Yeah. That would be so nice to be able to do that every January. Becase, really, is there anything good happening after New Year's for like, months. lol Literally.

But for now, I'm in a good, positive mood. See me again in January and I'm sure it'll be a different story. I'll be hermiting and editing and really just not wanting to leave the house in general unless it's to go to work or get food. =P

Funny pets

I've spent my weekend switching off between cleaning and editing, and I've gotten quite a lot of both done. Right now, as I'm trying to type, I have a Piper Pussicaticus next to me on the arm of the couch, head-butting me and swishing his tail in my face letting me know just how displeased he is that I haven't been very loving this weekend. =) But hey, I fed him and cleaned his litter box? What more could he ask for?

Yesterday, Myles and I were putting curtains up in the bedroom and Piper decided he was going to play in them. They're longer and rest on the floor, so it's a perfect cat place, though Myles and I aren't too happy about it. Well, to attempt to dissuade the cat/s from playing in the curtains and potentionally/definitely snagging up the sheers, Myles began to freak Piper out by doing whatever he was doing and telling Piper the Curtain Monster would eat him. *shaking my head* So, here's Piper, all worked up. He runs into the hallway, and I'm at a vantage point where I can see him and Myles can't. He is laying up against the wall, his tail going about a million miles a second. He turns back to look at me, and his tail hits him in the face....and scares him....and he jumps about two feet high. People, you can't just make this stuff up. For serious. I haven't had a laugh that good in a while. =)

Yes, it's a stupid, but I felt the need to share. So, share it I have.

I steal

And I steal from Angela...well, this time at least. She posted a video of Keith Olbermann and his reponse to the passing of Prop 8 in California, and I've got to say, it really touched me. I'm not even going to bother to say more because he says it so much better than I ever could. Thanks, Angie!!

The Catcher and the Lie by Rita Oberlies

I had a new one release yesterday! Go buy it here!


One player works extra innings to make Abby break her own rules about love.



After a year of personal and professional upheaval Nick Valente is in the market for redemption, not temptation. Getting involved with any woman, especially smart-mouthed Abby McCabe, is simply not in this player’s game plan.



Experience, mostly bad, has convinced Abby McCabe that she has a special gift for finding men who can’t help falling out of love with her. Getting close to a man, especially one who plays the field professionally, is sure to add another loss to her emotional score sheet.



As summer heats up an unexpected spark turns into a flame. But fear of getting burned winds up putting two strikes in their relationship. With Nick on the bench, it’s up to Abby to turn the game around. Trusting this man with her heart could deliver the biggest save of her life—or the biggest error she ever made.



Will they strike out or end up with a homerun?

Warning, this title contains the following: a hot baseball player with all-star equipment, a smack talking woman who doesn’t know the score, and a world class collection of inflatable dolls.

Yes, I'm up

I've been trying to force myself to wake up earlier on the weekends. When I sleep until noon I feel like I've wasted so much of the day. Especially with everything I have to do, the last thing I need to be doing is wasting time sleeping. And now the weekends are so much more important for getting stuff done since the evenings are trash for doing anything much. When it gets dark out at five, you really don't have the energy to do anything. It's a struggle to stay up past nine right now, since my body is still adjusting to it getting dark so early. Hopefully it adjusts soon. Sigh.

Today I plan on finishing edits on Rockstar and sending that off and then I'll be getting some stuff around the house done. Oh, and grocery shopping. The cats have no wet food left and they are making it known that they are NOT very happy about that whatsoever. I swear, when we give them dry food, they sniff at it and then turn their noses away. They only eat it when they realize they're not going to be getting anything else. =P Yes, they're very spoiled. But hey, when you don't have any kids yet, your pets are your kids.

Another thing I'll be doing today is looking through my recipes for casseroles. I can make a 9 x 11 pan of something and Myles and I can eat it four 3 or four days. Make a second one and switch them off and we eat for a whole week. With the prices at the grocery store, this has become even more important. It sucks when you pay $70 bucks for only a few things.

Anyone have any good casserole recipes your family enjoys? And keep in mind, Myles won't eat vegetables...or they have to be big enough for him to pick them all out. =)

I know I know

I've sucked at blogging. I sit down to write one and I have a great idea, but then something distracts me. A submission I'm reading, or edits to do, or someone talking to me. Something, anything, pulls me away from the task at hand. And for those of you that know me, you know that's not hard to do to me. I'm a distractable procrastinator. Yes, I'll admit it.

But this week, I've been working hard to complete all those little things I've been putting off. I've been an asbsolute machine when it comes to editing and reading submissions, but other than that, I don't have much to be proud of this week. =P I'll be spending the weekend doing a lot of catch up stuff around the house and hopefully I can persuade the Myles to hang some curtains with me, but we'll see how it goes. I'm sure he'll spend a lot of time on with his new toy, the lawn vac, sucking up every stray leaf he sees. lol He's even told the neighbors not to rake. =)

So, yeah, that's about all in my life now, but I've been going through a lot of writing and grammar stuff, so be prepared for posts related to the subjects in the very near future, since I've been slacking from sharing the editor side of me lately. And I know how you all love it when I talk grammar and the like!

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

When I heard another Chuck P book was being made into a movie, I immediately had to go out and get it. I love his writing and his books do lend themselves to being made into movies. For those of you who don't know, the movie Fight Club was based on Chuck's book Fight Club.

Choke is written in very much the same style. I could actually picture Edward Norton soeaking the main character, Vince Mancini's, lines and thoughts will I was reading. That should give you a pretty good idea as to the tone of the book. As for the whole choking in restaurants thing, I can understand it for the attention, but as for the people who "save" him sending him checks and cards and such, I think that's a bit fartfetched. But hey, it's a fictional story. If that's the way Chuck wants it, that's the way it will be.

I'm anxious to see the movie now to see how it compares to the book. There's a lot of stuff in there that I'm wondering if the movie will portray or not. I mean, a book from the POV of a male sex-addict has some pretty interesting narrative and situations in it. LOL Plus, the whole situation with his mother and...well, let's just say you've got to read it. Keep in mind, Chuck P's books aren't for everyone. You'll either love them or you'll hate them. There is no in between.

Query letters

I haven't done a post on writing/editing in a while, and since I'm sitting here doing nothing, I figured now would be as good a time as any. I know I've probably posted on this before, but since the query letters aren't getting any better, I'm going to post on it again.

First off, in your query letter, don't tell us you're the next Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, or God forbid, Stephen King. Believe it or not, Stephen King is the most prevalent name I think we all see. You are not Stephen King. You never will be. And when you compare yourself to him, we pretty much immediately know that when we start reading your manuscript, it's probably no good.

And secondly, proofread your query letter. I mean, seriously. Don't use "your" in the place of "you're". It doesn't look good for your mauscript if you can't even get your query letter right. I have seen query letters where authors even misspelled their own name. Yes, I know that sounds a bit out there, but I'm not lying. I've seen it before.

Also, don't tell me that you've submitted your manuscript to lots of other publishers. That doesn't tell me anything good about you or your manuscript. Trust me on that one. All it does is tell me that you've been rejected by lots of other publishers and you're pretty much going down the line and submitting it everywhere, hoping/waiting for someone to pick it up. And I'm sure there is a publisher out there that might just do that, but that's not us/me. With the amount of submissions we get, we don't need to accept second or third rate material just to bump up or output like some publishers do. That is NOT Samhain.

When writing your letter, tell me about your story. Don't give me the whole synopsis, give me a mini-blurb about it. Hook me, get me interested. Then, tell me about yourself. Don't tell me you started writing to get over the pain of your husband leaving you, your cat dying, or your children growing up and leaving the house so you needed something to fill the void. Tell me what makes you such a good writer that I should offer you a contract, and no, any of the above-listed don't count!

And in your query, don't just say "Dear Editor, This is my book. I hope you like it." Yes, I have seen MANY query letters that say simply that.

I know...

I've been horrible at this this past week. And before that too. I keep getting sidetracked every time I try to sit down and blog. Or to do anything else for that matter.

Last Wednesday was my birthday and I had a good day. =) Myles cooked dinner all by himself, and David, Misty and the kids were over. Had a great laugh over Kevin, so that was actually a great gift. =) And even with Misty being there, Myles cooked all by himself. I told Misty she wasn't allowed to step into the kitchen. She cooks for me--and everyone else--all the time.

Saturday we ended up tailgating and the Purdue homegame from the time we woke up and then went to the bars with that whole gang afterward. And I'm so proud of myself...I was in bars and I was drinking all day, and I only bummed one smoke from someone. That's amazing. Seriously, for me, that's a miracle.

The quitting smoking thing is going pretty good. The cravings and rough times are less and less now, so that's always good. I miss it, but I'm thinking about it less now. We didn't quit because we wanted to, per se, but we quit because it's just so freaking expensive. Over four bucks a pack and they're talking about imposing another tax on it. Yeah, it's just not worth it.

This week is for getting thank you notes done, cleaning the house, and getting through all of my submissions before Friday, that way I can spend Friday sitting out on the porch with my Misty and a glass of wine and handing out candy to Trick-or-Treaters without having to worry about what I have to get done. Plus, I'd like to be able to get some organizing done this weekend in the kitchen and in my office without having to worry about cleaning anything. That'd be really nice. Ooh, and hang curtains. =)

What are your plans for the last week of October?

Getting caught up....

Can be a big pain in the butt. That's what I'm working on doing right now. Editing, submissions, housework, laundry. lol Not to mention writing all the Thank Yous for the wedding. Yeah, it's a lot, but I'm not as busy as I was before the wedding, which is really nice. It's nice to have things back to normal, or at least to as normal as I ever am. =) I enjoy editing, and even when we were on our honeymoon, I kept wishing I had my computer so I could work. But the deal from the very conception of the honeymoon and where we went was that it was no phones and no computers. I did end up having to buy some word puzzle books, though, because just sitting there and watching TV and movies was getting boring for me.

Tomorrow I go back to work, which I'm so-so on. As much as I love being home, I need to get back into the swing of things. I'd love to be able to stay home all the time and have no evil day job, but that won't be happening for quite a while. =P Not until babies come...and no Misty, you're still gonna have to wait two or three years, so don't go looking at maternity clothes to dress a pregnant Barbie. I'm sure I'll have a bunch of stuff to do when I get there tomorrow, but most of my work was being covered while I was gone, so it won't be almost two weeks of stuff piled up, which is okay. Believe it or not, I hate it when I have nothing to do. I prefer it when I'm crazy busy, since it keeps me, well, busy and because it makes the day go by faster. =P

The Wedding!

Me on my way to the church after hair and makeup.
My dad and I right before the ceremony.


My flower girl on the left. Me dancing and making weird faces on the right.
My MOH and her husband, a groomsman.

Myles and Dawn, one of my BFFs and bridesmaid.

Okay, well, it's all over with. =( That's the sad part. But the good part is that Myles and I had an absolutely AWESOME wedding. And everyone else says so, too, so it's not just us. lol There were no gliches or hiccups or anything. No disasters, no problems. It was amazing. I don't have a whole bunch of the pictures in yet, but I do have some, so I'll post some of the good ones I have on here.

One Thursday, everyone started coming in, so admidst getting all of the final stuff done, I had a ton of people there. But it was all good, since I loved getting to spend time with them. Friday Mom and Misty and I all got manis and pedis, Mom's treat to her "two" daughters. =) Doug and his girlfriend came in on Friday morning and oh man was I sooooo happy to see him. Turns out, I used to hang out with his girlfriend way back in middle school. LOL That's some funny stuff right there. But she's awesome, so it's all good. The rehearsal went well on Friday as did the dinner.

And then Saturday came. The big day.

The day started at 5:30, getting up and getting showered. We made a Starbucks stop and then we were on our way to the salon so Jesse could do our hair...we had to be there at 6:30 so that he could get all of us and my makeup done by noon. We were there a long time, but it didn't feel like it. Just us girls gabbing and having fun and joking around. The girls' hair was great, all in French twists with some mini calla lillies and pearls, but each one done differently.

After Jesse finished my makeup it was time to head back to my house to get our dresses and accessories and head over to the church to get ready for the pictures we were doing before the wedding to cut down on the time spent on them after the ceremony. The dress zipped out without a hitch, which was great, and then I just sat there. And sat there some more until Ed, our photographer, was ready to do pictures with my and my maids and family.

Everyone kept asking if I was nervous, and the answer was no. I was just anxious. I was sick of sitting there and I wanted to get the show on the road, so to speak. Mom and Dad were getting a little emotional, but I remained calm. Until I was lined up to walk down the aisle with my dad. Then it hit me. I was fighting back tears when my dad lifted my veil and kissed me on the cheek, and when Myles took my arm to walk me to the minister, I was having a hard time, but he ust kept looking at me and smiling and it really helped calm me down. Hell, I don't even remember what the minister said and what we said. Myles and I were whispering to each other the whole time, and at one point Misty and I caught the giggles. Her son was the ringbearer and he was sitting on a chair behind the guys, but right in view of Misty and I and he started doing this heavy breathing/hyperventilating thing, using his whole body and stuff. Oh God it was hilarious. Luckily, one of the guys saw what was happening and moved him so we couldn't see him anymore. =P

I know I messed up a line, but I don't even remember what it was. =P And then it was done. We were married. =) Then everyone blew the bubbles at us and then Myles and I took off in Doug's Mustang, and then we came back and took pictures. And then we went to the reception site and took some more pictures. LOL

And then we finally got announced and got to start the best part of all of it...the party. =) Eating and drinking and all that good stuff. The one thing that was really hard was getting around to talk to everyone. I still feel like I missed people. After the first dance, most of the people pretty much cut out, but those that were left were our close family and friends and we all had a blast. And I mean a freaking blast. Dancing and drinking and laughing and just having fun. I walked out onto the dance floor with my champagne and Misty promptly came out, took my glass and gave me the bottle of champagne. LOL So there was Tera, walking around with a bottle of champagne. =P Eh, oh well, it was my day. =)

After the reception was over, a bunch of us headed to a bar downtown, within walkign distance. I change but kept my veil on, since there was no way I was traipsing around in that huge ass dress and letting everyone walk all over it, since one of the bustle things broke and it didn't hold it up right. The bar was a great time. At one point, Myles came up to me and told me we had to talk to some people. I was like, um okay. I followed him, and he walked to the front of the bar to the front booths, stopping at each one and saying hi and asking if they got their shot and telling them we had just gotten married. Yeah, he bought a round for the ENTIRE BAR. *shaking my head and laughing*. That's my Myles. You should have seen my brother's face when he found out what Myles did...since at the beginning of the night he told the waitress that Myles and I were on his tab. Hahahah.

After a few more drinks and being bought a couple more shots, Myles and I decided to head out, at like 1:30. Once we got back to our hotel room, Myles decided he wanted one more beer. So he calls up the best man, who has the cooler full of beer in his room and who was also still at the bar. And voila, Kevin, Dawn and or friend Fulk show up at our room with the cooler and stay there until a little after 4. lol Yeah, it was a LONG day. But it was so much fun.

Sunday was all about sleeping and only waking up for short amounts of time when we absolutely had to. LOL Here's some pictures: Okay, well, my Blogger is being a pain in the butt, so I'm leaving 'em up top. LOL

You know it's...

Going to be a good day when you start it off by hearing Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" on the radio on the way to work. =) Yeah, definitely a good day.

So last night, Myles went out and got us a home gym. Rock on! I've been wanting one since forever. I hate cardio with a passion, but I have no problem sticking some music on and working out on that for 20-30 minutes when I get home from work. So, to the big black trash bag in my closet of my skinny clothes, I'm sorry you've sat there for so long, but you will be worn again. I promise. It'll be like getting a whole new wardrobe. Seriously. All of my favorite clothes are in that bag...including my favorite jeans ever. My size 5 Tommy Hilfiger jeans that fit like a glove. lol And they're soooo comfy. And all my favorite sweaters and shirts, too. I can't wait. For serious.

And have I mentioned lately how wonderful Myles is? He knows I've been wanting to exercise and stuff, so he surprised me with an MP3 player to motivate me. =) Because taking walks by yourself in absolute silence is freaking boring.

On the wedding front, man, it's coming up. I keep getting busier and busier. Tonight I have nothing to do but work out and work on cleaning the house, though, so that's nice. Tomorrow we're going to see Robin Williams, so that evening is gone, and Friday Dawn will be in town and her, Misty and I are going to spend the day together and the evening before my bachelorette party on Saturday. And on Wednesday, everyone starts converging in Lafayette and most likely my house from all over the country. Literally. =) Dawn and Kevin and the kids are out here from Washington state, Stephanie is in from Hawaii, and all Myles's family from out east will start filtering in on Thursday. So yeah, business business. Not to mention getting the favors ready next week, which is gonna take FOREVER. =P But it's all good. I'm excited.

So if no one hears from me, that's why. I'll try and post blogs when I have downtown, but we'll see how much downtime there is. =P

The Presidential Debate

Myles and I couldn't watch them on Friday so we set them to tape on the DVR and watched them last night. David and Misty were over last night for Myles birthday, so we watched it with them, and we all came to the same conclusion: it was one bug cluster you-know-what. We didn't really see that either of them really answer the questions, and the moderator even picked up on that and made some comments regarding it, too. They both kept saying what needed to be done, but neither ever said HOW they were going to do it, which is the most important part.

I'm not going to tell you who I'm going to vote for, because, well, I don't know who I'm going to vote for. I really don't like either one. I will admit, Obama did better in the debates by far. That still doesn't make me like him any better, though.

I mean, McCain...he's old, he's been pro-Bush's ideas (which I hate), he wants to keep us in the war...the list goes on.

And Obama. Ugh. He has absolutely zero patriotism, which I hate. He won't even put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is playing or the Pledge of Allegiance is being said. And, straight from my brother who's in Iraq, was there when Obama went to visit Iraq. Obama refused to go into the hospitals and visit wounded soldiers because the cameras couldn't follow him in there. I do like how he wants to get us out of this stupid war and put or soldiers where they really should be, in Afghanistan searching Bin Laden out.

Like I said, I'm not big on either one, so I guess I'm just going to have to keep watching and decide who the lesser of the two evils is. Either way, I think this country is pretty much screwed.

Oh, and what's all this crap they were talking about that we're winning the war in a Iraq and we'll be the victors, blah blah blah. Can someone please tell me what the hell we're winning? Seriously. McCain kept talking about how the Iraqis look at us as liberators...um, no they don't. My brother said they hate us and want us to get the hell out of their country.

And here's a way to save money, stop giving it away to people like Georgia and Africa. I think it's time our governemt stopped trying to be everyone's big brother and aiding all these other countries and start paying attention to their own country for once. Start letting other countries deal with their own problems.

Can anyone tell I'm really annoyed by the whole entire election? Sigh.

I've been...

A bad, bad blogger lately. And the sad thing is, I haven't been all that crazy busy, so I really have no excuse. =P I'm just a crappy blogger lately.

I'll probably start to get busier in the next few days, since as of right now, the wedding is only16 days away. This weekend is the trip up to my parents' to pick up my dress from the alterations, next week is my two-day bachelorette party extravaganza, and then on Weds 10-8, family and friends start arriving from all over the country, including Hawaii. So yeah, I'm thinking I will continue to be a crappy blooger for a little while, though I will do my absolute bestest to remember. =) I just can't make any promises since I'm not sure I can keep them. lol

In the category of "Tera's Latest Obsessions" today, we have the Vampires Game on MySpace. Don't ask, because I have no freaking clue how I got into it. I think Misty sent me the invite and it's been downhill ever since. I sat in front of the TV last night, clicking over to my MySpace page every few minutes to refresh and see how much Energy and Rage I had. Yes, I know. It's sick. Completed depraved, but it's got me hooked. And with my OCD, once I'm hooked on something, it becomes a crazy obsession. Sigh. So if you need me, that's where I'll probably be, with my nose pressed into my laptop and my fingers frozen in place over the keyboard, playing Vampires. Yes, it's that bad. But hey, the more distracted I get, the less I think about things like food, so maybe it'll be a valuable weight-loss tool. (Shhh. Let me try and spin this into something positive.)

Things you need to know

Which myths about alcohol are actually true? Well, today I'm going to address five of them, thanks to the Exponent, Purdue University's newspaper. =)

Myth 1: Beer gives you a beer belly.

And the answer is........FALSE! (Oh thank you, lord). There has been any substantial research to confirm the fact the beer causes consumers to gain excessive amounts of weight. There are alternative explanations to the correlation between beer drinks and excess weight. Beer drinkers tend to eat food when they are intoxicated, so their weight gain can be attributed to excess calorie intake. Another reason beer drinkers may gain weight is because of the amount of alchohol they drink. Heavy drinkers who are putting down a six pack or more a night are going to gain weight...so basically, to sum it up, beer drinkers who aren't alkies are okay. Ya hoo!

Myth 2: Beer before liquor, you've never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you're in the clear.

FALSE! Sweet. I've always made an attempt to follow this one, but it never quite works out with all the shots I take while drinking beer. =P Studies show confirm that mizing alcoholic beverages with fruit beverages or carbonation makes and difference, but not with beer or liquor specifically. The one reason you may get sick is because of the congeners in alcohol, which are a by product. Basically, stick to the same drink if you can, because if you're drinking different types of drinks, you're getting different types of congeners in you, and sometimes they can have a reaction that ain't so great for you. Bottom line, alcohol is alcohol and if you drink enough, it doesn't matter what you had in what order, if you drink too much, you'll make yourself sick.

Myth 3: Sucking on a penny helps you pass a breathalyzer test.

Yeah, so not true. Just watch Mythbusters. They already covered this and said there is pretty much no way possible to beat a breathalyzer test, so don't even try.

Myth 4: Hair of the dog as a cure for a hangover.

This one is actually false, which surprises me. When I was in my big time party days when I was a bit younger we always did this. Maybe it was just psychological that we felt better. Actually, the metabolites in alcohol will actually make your hangover first. The researchers go on to say that the best way to cure a hangover is to moderate your drinking so you don't get what. Um, yeah. I take it they don't get out much. =P

Myth 5: Alcohol kills brain cells.

This one is actually sort of true. Sigh. It certainly explains all my blonde moments. It's something about alcohol being a neurotoxin, and if you have the right genes, or the wrong ones haha, if you drink a lot over the course of your lifetime, you can develop something called Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, which deteriorates the brain tissue. Well, that sucks.

And now that you have been enlightened, go out and have some beers and have some beer before you get to your shots. =)

Love Me by Kelly Jamieson

How far does she have to go to get his attention? Another girl’s arms?

Melina Wenham is worried and frustrated. Lately, her boyfriend of six months seems to have lost interest in her. Yes, she knows he’s stressed about his big project at work, but jeez, it seems like he’d rather go solo than have sex with her. Sexy lingerie, a Brazilian…nothing seems to get his attention.

Gavin’s frustrated too. He’s under enough pressure at work, without feeling more from Melina every time he gets home.

Another night, another party, and Gavin is off talking to the boys. Feeling ignored yet again, Melina confides her troubles to an acquaintance, Abby, who suggests shaking him up by flirting with another guy. Hmm. Not a bad idea, except there are no flirt-worthy guys at this party.

Then Abby suggests a different tack—flirt with her.

Could a little girl-on-girl tango be the match that reignites romance with Gavin? There’s only one way to find out…

Warning: Hot girl on girl scene!

A day late and a dollar short

But there's a reason for it. I couldn't really post this before I had watched the show.

Last night, Myles and I sat down and watched the 102 Minutes show on the History Channel. I thought it would be interesting to watch and see footage from a non-news aspect. Wow, it gave me a whole new perspective on things.

I know a lot of people compare the attacks of 9/11 to that of Pearl Harbor. I wholeheartedly do NOT agree. The 9/11 attacks were MUCH worse. When Pearl Harbor happened, they attacked a military post with military people, people who signed up for a job, knowing there was risk such as that attached to said job. It was also a time of war (Yes, I know, we weren't in the war yet, but it was inevitable and everyone pretty much knew it at the time). 9/11 was none of those things. It was during peacetime and it was to everyday, innocent people. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that the people at Pearl Harbor weren't innocent, but I think you know what I mean. The people who lost their lives during 9/11 were non-military people.

Watching that show last night really made me think more about 9/11 and what the people were going through, and I don't think the news has ever really shown that aspect of it. These were people on the streets as it happened, regular people, who were there as it all went down. You are seeing peoples' reactions as the events happened, in real time. You are feeling their panic and terror, and I had a hard time keeping myself from tearing up as I watched part of it.

In one part there are two college girls taping it from their apartment window, before the second plane struck, and one of them notices "things" that are falling faster than the other debris, and she is hit with the epiphany that those are people. In this footage, you can see the people jumping and freefalling, you can see the people on the top floors, above the impact area and fire, hanging flags out the window, leaning out of their broken windows and yelling for help. And you know, these people you are watching, they're all dead now. None of them lived through the collapse.

I think what got to me the most was the reactions and the expressions on the firemens' faces. Many of them are walking toward the building resolutely, scared shitless, some with tears in their eyes, but they are still going willingly. That is such bravery and courage, and I have even more respect for them than I had before, and my respect for them has always been very high up there. You can see the reactions of the firemen as people who have jumped or fallen land on the ground in front of them. And you can see how dazed, confused and utterly helpless they are after the collapses. You can see that they simply didn't know what to do at that point.

I know a lot of people don't like to hear things like what I've said, and they choose not to pay attention to that, but it's important we never forget. This was one of the worst days in the history of our country. Hell, it should be a national holiday like Labor Day and Memorial Day.

And people need to think of the many other American lives that have been lost since then, of our men and women fighting in the middle east, who were dragged into this mess. And yes, it's a mess. I may support our troops, especially since my brother is over there fighting in the Army right now, but the reason we got into this war in the first place has not been dealt with. We should be looking for Bin Laden, he should be dead already. Instead, we went over there because the president wanted to settle Daddy's old score. Saddam is NOT who commited the atrocious acts of 9/11, and the people who did are still out there, still hating America, still planning other ways to "get" us.

I know a lot of people don't agree with what I may have said, and that's okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is mine. It's something I feel strongly about. Like I said, it's okay if you don't agree with me. And no, I don't believe 9/11 was a conspiracy...that is just an absolutely ridiculous notion and has been disproven time and time and time again.

Ooooh, pretty

So, we went and got our wedding bands tonight. And after three hours of looking and comparing prices, we finally bought some. Our intent was just to get plain gold wedding bands, since we didn't want to spend a lot of money, but, well, that just didn't happen. At all. And since I had requests from people to post pics, I had Myles take one of mine before it gotten taken away from me to be sized, since I have mini hands and my ring finger is only a size 5.

And you know what the worst part about this whole thing is? Myles just bought me a beautiful ring with certified diamonds in it, and I can't even wear it for another month. Blech!

My Bridal Shower...

Was absolutely phenomenal. Misty and my mom are awesome! =) The first thing I saw was the cake when Misty came over with everything early yesterday morning. Oh. My. God. And as you can see, not just one cake, but two. =) A pink elephant in a wedding dress, complete with tiara and veil, and a wedding shoe cake. =) And she even tried to make the dress look like my wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses with the ruffles on them. She's so awesome. =) She always outdoes herself with the cakes she makes, so I was super curious as to what she was going to do for this, and she, once again, outdid herself and made a cake that was absolutely perfect for me. =) And actually, she told me she can't even take the credit for the cake design, it was her husband (one of our best friends, David) and her daughter, Grace's idea. They know me well, too. It's really great and such a blessing to have such close friends who know you that well.

As most of you probably read in my blog yesterday, right before my mom and dad and Matthew got there, I was banished to the upstairs to sit in my office while everything was being done downstairs. (Hey, I actually got quite a bit of editing done in that two hours. lol) After my parents and Matt got there, my dad and Matt and Grace were going to run out to Meijer to pick up some forgotten supplies. I actually got out of my office for a bit to have something more to do...and let me tell you, going downstairs with your eyes closed with your ten-year-old brother leading you isn't the most fun...especially in a pair of my signature three-inch heels. Hahah. I cheated and peeked, but I shielded my eyes and only looked at the steps. I didn't want to ruin the surprise that my mom and Misty were working on so hard for me. But then, I was finally able to come down and look at like 12:45, fifteen minutes before people were to start arriving. =P And that was partially because I sat on the top step, where I couldn't see anything and kept asking if they were done yet. LOL They wouldn't let me come down until they were ready with cameras, since they wanted to get my reaction. =)

This is me abolsutely loving the little high heels and purses they put on the table to hold candies. =) And the kicker of the candies in the high heels is that they were white chocolate high heels that Misty made. Perfect! They basically took all of my favorite things and that was the theme of the shower: black, white, pink, calla lillies, high heels, purses, elephants, ice cream, lip gloss and a few others things. Everything in the favor/gift bags was something that is one of my favorite things. Little wooden elephants, little ice cream cone-shaped bubbles, little lip sticks and high heels with bath gel in them, little blocks of Post-Its (I'm a Post It FREAK), blank note/Thank-you cards with elephants on them, my favorite candy bars (Rolos and Hershey Cookies N Cream bars. No Mr. Goodbars since Misty is allergic to peanuts), little candles in the shape of ice cream sundaes, glass coasters with calla lillies etched on them....it was perfect. And my favorite types of food, too. Mexican, Italian, and hick. LOL The hick part is the little mini pigs in a blanket. Hahaha. Taco dip, bruschetta made with yummy frency bread, homemade cinnamon tortilla chips with fruit salsa, and a BIG bowl of homemade sangria. Everything was perfect. I had a really great time. And afterward, my mom, dad, Myles, David, Misty and I went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (bloody steak, my fave!) and then to our favorite bar...well, everyone except My's. He's not so big on it, but he is wonderful enough to put up with it sometimes for me. =) And no, dinner and the bar weren't for me. It was to celebrate Mom's b-day on Sept 5 and Dad getting his MBA a few weeks ago. =)

Here's a couple of extra pics from the shower. I don't have everyone's pics yet, but I'm sure I will in the next couple of weeks and I'll post some good ones as I get them.

This one has me eating and making some sort of funny Tera face, but it has a really good view of the table stuffs. =)

By the way, the awesome picture of my cats...my dad drew that. =) He's a phenomenal artist. And I'm sitting in my throne, cheesin' at something or someone.

The three littlest ones who weren't participating, but sitting in the living room playing and watching cartoons, saw a few people come out to do the toilet paper wedding dress game and were so fascinated they wanted to do it do. All under the age of six. =)

And this one is of me and my practice bouquet....something I never even knew about until yesterday. I'm telling you, I'm pretty green regarding this whole wedding thing. =-P

So today....

Is my bridal shower. Right now I'm sitting upstairs in my office with my neice Grace while her mom, Misty, is downstairs cooking and getting everything ready for when people start to arrive in a couple of hours.

She brought a bunch of the stuff over last night and helped me rearrange the house and get it back together after having the carpets cleaned and was showing me the stuff she put in the gift bags. =) Everyone is going to be getting things I like... all of my favorite things. =) Bubbles in the shape of high heels and lip sticks (since lip gloss stuff is hard to find, lol), little wooden elephants, some Ariel from the Little Mermaid stuff (since there will be kids here and the Little Mermaid is my FAVE Disney movie), my favorite candy bars, glass coasters with calla lillies on them...and the list goes on. It's so neat and it's so perfect. There is no theme other than "Tera". LOL She even has done everything in my favorite colors, black, white and pink.

This morning, she showed me the special surprise that she had set up...a scrapbook recipe book. She get recipes from all the family members on Myles's side and my family and friends will be contributing theirs today. Each family member has a page with their name on it and my favorite recipes. When I looked through it, I cried. It was really touching. Even though Myles's grandmothers have both passed, they even have pages in there. Wow.

This all feels so surreal. Myles and I have been together for four and a half years now, and we've been engaged for over two of them. It's like the wedding and all this has been such a long time coming that now that it's finally here, it still isn't quite real yet. It's amazing and wonderful. I'm so excited about everything and I can't wait to see what else Misty has in store for today.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the cake. Er, cakes. She made two. One is a wedding shoe, since, well, duh. LOL And the other is a pink elephant in a wedding dress with a tiara and a veil!! Oh my God, it's awesome. I'll be sure to post pics of everything. =)

Ah, having an office

I moved into my office today, even though it isn't 100% complete. We still have to paint some chair rail and put that up one night this week. Myles is currently putting up the chair rail in his office right now. The room I'm in has been painted and unused for two years now. Yes, we've had an entire room in our house that has been unused. It's slated to be the nursery when we have kids in a couple of years, but until then, it's my office. And I have NO CLUE what I'm going to do for an office when the first rugrat comes and I have to give my space up, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. Gar. But, for right now, it's nice to have my own space for editing and such. I have all of my reference books and notepads and highlighters and pens and such in one place, and now the living room isn't cluttered with all my crap. =) I've been needed to seperate work and relax time for a while now, and I'm happy it's finally done. I'm sure I'll work just as much, but I'll work more efficiently. LOL Plus, when I'm not in front of the TV, it enables me to place all my concentration on the submission I am reading or the story I am editing. I think it will work much better this way. And did I mention that it's nice to have a room that's JUST MINE? =) I think that's my favorite part. None of the bookshelves match, the desk isn't the greatest, I still need to hang some pictures on the bare walls and I don't have any curtains for the window yet, but dammit, it's mine. =)

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.