OMG!!! Far too long since I last blogged and Erin and Dakota are in a blog war. Isy has hit me with a blog tag... oy!

Four jobs I've had:
Bartender
Office Manager
Vet Tech
Office Assistant

Four places I've lived:
Iowa (as a baby)
Guam (as a Navy brat)
Maryland (as a child to teen)
Florida (as a happy adult I love warm weather)

Four favorite foods:
Steak (rare/med-rare)
Ribs
Pork Roast
BEER

Four movies I can watch over and over:
Tank Girl
Joe VS the Volcano
Sound of Music
Fifth Element

Four TV shows I enjoy:
House
Heros
Eureka
Dead Like Me

Four places I've traveled:
Maine
South Carolina
Massachusetts
Bahamas

Four places I'd like to visit:
Mediterranean
Alaska
Los Vegas
Australia

Four web sites I go to (almost) daily:
Yahoo (MyYahoo)
Avon (I have to place orders)
Bank of America (I don't keep a check registry)
Florida Sex Offender registry (sorry, work)

Four people I'm tagging to do this too: (do I know four people?)
Alexa Aames
Isabelle Spurrier
Cassandra Kane
Header W.

(ok, I cheated and pulled three of my authors!) LOL

It was a night to remember:

So yesterday was VERY VERY busy. Erik and I worked with his sister in law in the morning and then we took the kiddies to Daytona USA at the speedway in the afternoon.

We had a blast and I kept getting chills being that close to NASCAR (I'm a freak!). We watched cars go around the track. I thought they were testing, but I was wrong. It was the Richard Petty Driving Experience which Mean Erik would NOT let me pay $150 for!! Of course I couldn't see my fat ass climbing through a window either. LOL The downer of the Daytona USA experience was that Erik's LARGE stone picked that day out of the past two weeks to act up. He's been fighting this stone for 2 months now and the Doctor has adopted a wait and see attitude. Yesterday it was bad. Erik threw up at the track. When we came home he went straight to bed, but that was planned as he was going out around midnight to do a job with his brother. He woke up three times had had BLACK bm. Finally we got up and stayed up around 9pm, he decided to take an Imodium Ad. However, he never made it. What he also almost didn't make it was to the bathroom. There was blood everywhere! He threw up so hard that I thought his insides were coming out... so did he. He wasn't going to tell me until he started cleaning up and realized he better.

911 later, the ambulance guys are stretchering him out of my house without a word to me. I double checked that he was going to the local hospital and then started making calls. I had to call his parents because I couldn't take the children to the hospital. Then I had to call his brother. Dad came to the house to sleep so we didn't have to wake the monsters and Mom joined me at the hospital.

Short story long... (LOL) he's now at a different hospital and they are blaming the anitinflamitories that he was self medicating (the ones his Dr prescribed!) as the reason he has ulcers. Of course we don't know for sure but today the Gastro.... what ever will do a scope of his stomach and do what needs to be done to fix it. I'm going to ask about what he can do for the pain of the stone now that they are saying that he can't take Advil or Toridol (spelled?).

On a different front Lorraine's first tooth is LOOSE!!! My baby *sobbing*

ADDICTION

It's an ugly thing. You sit there in your easy chair, your butt getting sore and your brain turning to mush. But you have your night timed down to one hour slots and pee breaks during the commercials.

Television is an ugly addiction. We all have it... even me and for three months last year we had our TV cut off to try and save money. As a result of the three months we really haven't been much on watching TV. We spent more time on our computers and with the monsters. However, they go to bed at 7 and we, hubby and me, have to spend time together. Well that's a horror :) so on comes the TV.

Now we have hours of TV watching. Mostly on Tuesday nights. We are addicted to Dead Like Me which, from what I can tell, is already cancelled and I'm so sad. It's really a very though provocking show. Then we move to House (different channel) and get to spend an hour with the caustic and seemingly unemotional Doctor. Finally we go back to the Sci-Fi channel for Eureaka and to a phrase I've come to love "Oh, this isn't good".

Lately, due to changing TV line up we can no longer watch the same Deep Space 9 show that we use to catch ever day at lunch. So in an effort to not watch As the World Crumbles (or what ever it's called) we watch "trainning videos." Worlds Wildest Police Videos is narrated by Retired Sheriff Cheezy and for the most part shows police pursuits. However there are the few videos in which the collection Sheriff Investigators, Sergeants, and Lieutenants will sit quietly and stoically watching. Granted this show has the overabundance of cheesiness but at times I've learned from it and worried about the friends I've made at work. However, I've also at times, laughed at the hokiness of it with my co-workers.

I've been known to watch American Idol and jack up the text message charges on my cell phone. So much of our evenings are spent now watching various shows, from thought provoking to the inane to the instructive.

So what evening addiction can you NOT pull yourself away from? Bet it’s Dancing With the Stars … or Duets … but I also bet your as addicted to Bridezilla too!

I am participating in a blogging experiment hosted at dearauthor.com. To enter the contest, put up this blurb, image, and trackback and you are entered to win the following prize package.

• $200 Amazon gift certificate


• Signed copy of Slave to Sensation


• New Zealand goodies chosen by Singh


• ARC of Christine Feehan's October 31 release: Conspiracy Game

You can read about the experiment here and you can download the code that you need to participate here.

SLAVE TO SENSATION

Nalini Singh

Berkley / September 2006

Welcome to a future where emotion is a crime and powers of the mind clash brutally against those of the heart.

Sascha Duncan is one of the Psy, a psychic race that has cut off its emotions in an effort to prevent murderous insanity. Those who feel are punished by having their brains wiped clean, their personalities and memories destroyed.

Lucas Hunter is a Changeling, a shapeshifter who craves sensation, lives for touch. When their separate worlds collide in the serial murders of Changeling women, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities…or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.

Excerpt

Dropped Ball!!

Ever do that? Have great plans for a daily detail of the great summer event and then suddenly realize that it was a month since your last post? Oy! So in a nut shell we had a great vacation... LOL I can't remember everything that happened but needless to say Maine is BEAUTIFUL and Uncle Bs house is the most relaxing spot in the mountains!

We enjoyed the 50th wedding anniversary and Lorraine feel in love with Cousin S... that is an easy thing to do. She's a beautiful woman who is very sweet. I'm so proud to announce that S made it into nursing school... not an easy event to do. We have great wishes for her to graduate with ease.

We also enjoyed Mass and it's lovely rocky beaches. The kids went wild at Wells Beach, a place we are definately going to add to our list of future vacation spots. We saw Kenny Bunkport... kind of, it was very foggy and we could bearly see it. We went to the Breakers in New Port RI. Such a small summer cottage for the Vanderbelt (spelled wrong isn't it?). Good grief! I could live well in their bathroom!!!

We headed back to Hershey and had a great time. However, the hotel we had for two nights was TERRIBLE. We put our breakfast plates in the hall before leaving for the park and they were still there at 10:30 that night! I wrote a long letter explaining all the things we found wrong with the hotel, but also mentioned that we really found the front desk staff to be very professional. Just this week we recieved a full refund for our stay there. I'll keep them in mind for if we go back to Hershey Park.

We went to my parents for the 4th of July and my father's birthday. Saw my new nephew finally and my darling little niece... she's growing up so fast!

Finally, we returned home where I became busy BUSY with editing. I'm still editing for Liquid Silver and now also edit for Changeling Press who keeps me busy as HECK... I love it!!

Ok, gone again!

testing a new way to post a picture so that I can have a better photo of my new avatar. bear... with... me :o)

Sunday, July 2, we’ve headed from Attleboro, MA to Harrisburg, PA by way (out of the way) of Deerfield, MA. The flagship store for the Yankee Candle Company is there. It’s HUGE. I had thought to only spend 30 minutes in the store. However, 2 hrs and $90 poorer (I’m going to have to get a second job) we finally left the store. We did have lunch there (that was $25) and I got three small candles, three car fresheners, two lotions (for my co-worker who is the whole reason we went there) and one little purse for Miss Thing (aka Lorraine).

I was heartbroken to realize how much time was lost in that store. I had really wanted to get to our hotel room in New Cumberland with reasonable time to rest and perhaps swim in their pool. Instead we arrived after nine pm and to a darken area. Apparently 2 hours prior to our arrival there was a power outage and our hotel was included. I went inside anyway to see what could be done. For goodness sake I was exhausted and cranky… forgot to mention that Aunt Flo (the bitch) arrived for her monthly visit last night. They had been able to get their computers to work and were able to check us in. We have an outside room with a door on both the inside of the hotel and the outside of the hotel (ironically right close to where we parked). When asked, I was told that there was only one luggage cart and that family over there had it. When I asked to borrow the cart they said no it was packed with their luggage. I almost let Aunt Flo do her stuff and bitch about their “luggage” being one small carry on suitcase and three towels, when we had one double sized suitcase, two children sized suitcases, a cooler (full of my beer), two book bags, a computer bag w/two computers, and three grocery bags to carry in when the father of the group (family tree shoots straight up) shows me the second luggage cart. So Aunt Flo went quietly back to bed with the promise of a beer the minute we arrived in the room… which was getting hot and was too dark to see in. But I missed possibly the worse thing that happened today.

We were getting ready to cross from New York into Pennsylvania and were a bit worried about when the next gas station would be. We decided to go ahead and stop and the FREAKING GAS WAS $3.19!!!!!!!! I about had a heart attack. But that’s not the worse of it. Eighty miles later we found gas for $2.79. Now we would not have made it that far on the 3.8 gallons we had left (we only had just over 60 miles before we ran out) but Erik did ask me “should we just get a few dollars worth and find something else” and I said no just fill it. I don’t want to have to stop again. Dumbass!!!! We wouldn’t have saved $1.50, we would have saved $6.80!! For F**KS sake, that’s more than 2 gallons of gas we would have saved! *sobbing*

But here we are in our hotel room. Wyatt will NOT got to sleep and Erik and I had wanted to sleep in our bed alone for the first time in a week but that’s not going to happen. I swear, he is getting worse as this trip goes along. He refuses to listen to us any more and anytime we don’t give him what he wants he screams, when we do give him what he wants he screams, if I look at him in exasperation he screams. I am going to Lowe’s in the morning and getting duck tape!!

Off to drink another beer!

And a good time was had by all! Today was the culmination of our entire trip. This was the very day/event that we planned our two week vacation around. Erik’s Aunt and Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary. This morning, we woke up early…

Oh wait I didn’t blog about yesterday (Friday, June 30). First we woke up and it turned out to be lovely. We all got ready and headed up to a restaurant by the beach, it was within walking distance. After “breakfast” (LOL), Erik, kiddies, MIL and I all headed to look at the beach. It was clearer than the day before and soon we ended up on the beach. My children (fully clothed) ran through the “lakes” and “rivers” on the beach. We found snails and more pretty rocks.

We ended up back at our rooms, taking HOT showers and packing up. After quite a bit of driving we were finally all in one car and met up with my brother-in-law and his family. We hit a lunch joint (Taco Bell) and the liquor joint and then were off to Erik’s cousin’s house. There they have a dog and a pool, so of course it didn’t take Lorraine long to decide that she was in love. My daughter decided to adopt the cousin and his lovely wife as her’s. She spent the night with them and never missed me. When I called in the morning she was headed off to get a new bathing suit because we had left with her suit. She didn’t care that we were off to go sight seeing with out her.

So, heartbroken and desolate, we headed off to Newport. This is a very cool town. However, due to time constraints we had to pack it all in. Most of the visit was done in the car. We did take a tour of The Breakers. OMG I wanna be that rich. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL!! I wanna be that rich (oops did I already say that). We took the scenic driving tour. I’d give to be as rich as the poorest house there! Needless to say it was a great drive.

We were, however, VERY late getting back and headed straight to the Elk’s to help set up. After a quick toss, me the kiddies, BIL and FIL all headed back to the rooms to get showers. Then everyone else arrived to also shower. We were still getting ready when we were supposed to have been at the hall! After a few hard moments with overly tired kiddies in the beginning, we all had a blast. Lorraine danced her heart out and suddenly realized that this would be the last time she would see Sandra and Brian (the cousins she adopted) and started sobbing. Since Mommy and Daddy refused to allow her to spend the night again (we are headed to PA in the morning), she walked the room until she found someone to take pity on her! Suddenly, Sandra and Brian couldn’t not let her down and they even danced (as a group) together. Finally, the girl fell asleep in Sandra’s arms. I offered them $3 to take her (was that wrong?) the declined and said they would take her for free!

So now, here we are, late, sleepy and worn out. I’m the only one still up because I needed to get this down before tomorrow… well later today at any rate. We are off to PA in the morning with a side trip (hopefully) to Deerfield, MA to find a store for a friend of mine. I don’t know if we can take any more! LOL… I really do miss my bed.

No internet connection?!? Nooooo. LOL We arrived in Maine at 12:45pm on Tuesday. Though Maine had also been plagued with constant rain we brought sunshine, good old fashion Florida sunshine with us. It was hot and humid when we got here but not raining. The kids jumped out of the van and, after the cursory hellos, they were off! I swear, Lorraine is a nuclear energy plant! She ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran… well I could go on forever. She sat down long enough for dinner but then got up and ran again! Uncle B has 40 acres on the top of a “small hill” (ie: mountain for us flatland Florida people), across the “field” is his nephew’s and he has an 8 year old girl who had been waiting for us. After some initial running, Lorraine started playing with this girl. They would disappear and return periodically. I being the control freak and liking to always know where my girl was… didn’t care. LOL I was too busy soaking up the beauty of this place and resting like I was on vacation. Finally, after a day and a half we were with my in-laws who love and adore the kids (but then who wouldn’t) and are happy answering their many questions.

Out back of this large house is the rolling back yard. It goes down hill, right into an up hill. This is Lorraine’s favorite running place. Run down hill, run up hill, turn around, run down hill, run up hill. I swear on my mother that she was still doing it at 9:30 pm Tuesday night. Needless to say, after wrapping Meme and Papa around her little finger and sleeping with them, she was the last person up, sleeping until 9 am on Wednesday.

Wednesday dawned a dreary day. It was overcast and had the look of rain. Uncle B, our cousin, Meme, and I went into town. Our poor van needed a vacuum and bath and we needed fixin’s for a lobster boil! Ayuh, I said labstah. The nephew was able to pick up live lobster for a really good price and we got hotdogs, potatoes, onions, sausage, and corn. Now this is my first time with lobster and it was… ok. I love the legs, the body with it guts looked too nasty for me and I got the tail out easily but then I saw (well there’s no nice way of saying this) the poop shoot and couldn’t do it!! I devoured the legs though (being a Maryland girl I can chow on some crab legs and lobster legs were too far from them).

Thursday morning we got up and (after a few things were taken care of) headed off. We went to the coast Wells Beach. Erik took us on a tour of Kennebunk Port. He use to work there every August with the first Bush President when he was stationed at White House Communications Agency. We had lunch on the inlet and I had a lobster roll (had heard about them on the Food Channel) and Erik had fried scallops. Now, I know that I’ll never get another lobster roll but DANG his fried scallops were like candy!

Currently we are at our hotel. If you look out our window and to the right you can see a sliver of the beach. I know this is shocking but I’m freezing cold! The kids want to go to the pool and beach and I just want to snuggle up with a beer or Margarita!

We went to dinner at a very lovely restaurant yesterday called Alfredo’s. It was family owned and operated. My mother in law and I share a pizza that I can’t remember the name of. It was a white pizza that had black olives (oh yeah), artichokes, tomatoes, pesto, and onions. OMG was it yummy. We got the kids one basket of chicken tenders that they shared, Erik had a cheese stake and his dad had a meatball sub. I can’t express how wonderful this restaurant was. If you ever get to Wells Beach you need to eat here it’s on US 1.

We walked the beach. It’s different because of all the rocks. In Florida it’s all sand and flat. Out here there are rocks and little lakes and rivers running on the beach. Hopefully we are heading out there again this morning.