Wishing all a very happy New Year! Christmas was pretty awesome. We had a quiet time and then were invited to our neighbors for their Christmas dinner. Almeda is from the Philippines and served a traditional dinner of her country. Very tasty and she worked very hard on the preparation. We brought chocolate chip cookies and all I can say, cookies cross all international lines. They were gone immediately!

Now, we are awaiting the arrival of my sister-in-law and her husband. They will only be here for four days, so we want to make sure all the days are accounted for. It's been over a year since we've seen them.

I thought we had it bad when our ice storm hit a couple of weeks ago, but my sister in Toronto has had it worse. They had no power for a week. They live in an older area of Toronto and have huge old trees. The ice did major damage to power lines as well as their trees. They have been staying at my nephew's apartment while he is on vacation in California. The hard part is the pets. nTombe is a 15 year old Blue Kerry Terrier who suffers memory loss and Emily Jane is a kitten. Without their usual surrounding, there has been lots of 'accident's in the apartment.

My book. Flag on the Play, due out 1/31 is hitting close to home. It's very eerie that what I wrote about last year, is actually happening....

First off, I want to thank the angel who found my lost cell phone and turned it into the Lost and Found at our local mall. They could've kept it because it is a newer iPhone and tried to sell it. Even though we think only evil exists, it is not true. There are good people out there which we need to hear more about. We only get the negative press.

I also want to thank this person because losing my cell phone, got my mojo working again. I couldn't sleep a wink and the new book I've been working on, I've had a writer's block. That sleepless night, my characters came to life. I wrote everything down in an outline and am ready to rock and roll.

Of course, I spent most of yesterday hugging my phone after I picked it up. I think I must have checked it at least thirty times just to reassure myself that it really came back to me. Today, I am more sensible and business like and will resume normal human relations.

This time of year, I try to exercise caution because everyone around me is in a hurry and not thinking. On Friday morning, I went jogging with my daughter because the weather was balmy and I've grown tired of my treadmill. People were speeding down the road and a couple of times, I feared for my life as these big ole pick up trucks came barreling down the city streets. I was kind of afraid that one of them would jump the curb and hit me.

On our way back, there was a five car accident at the intersection by our subdivision. You wonder why, because the roads were dry but it was due to speed and texting. An SUV sped thru the intersection and was t-boned, throwing the SUV head on into cars waiting in the turn lane, bounced back into a local business parking lot. In the meantime, two other cars crashed into each other trying to avoid this SUV. It was like watching a horror movie in slow motion.

I want to tell everyone to slow down and enjoy each minute as it is. It's really worth it!

Holiday Madness

I try to be a very organized person. I have 'to do' lists every day that I follow religiously. I map out my day almost to the minute such as; from 7 - 9, I work out. Shower, read, do laundry, work, write and then run errands. Why do things go wrong???

When I go to the grocery store, I have another list of items that I need to get. Sometimes, even though I've written it down, I will forget to pick up something but I attribute it to forgetfulness and sticking to my alleged time table.

My pet peeve when I go shopping is the lackadaisical people who just lounge through the store, yakking on their cell phones right in front of the item(s) that I need. Then they get to the check out line only to rearrange their items on the belt while the cashier is ringing it up. Really? As a cashier, they know their stuff. A lot of times, they arrange things because of bagging. You know, trying to get all the cereal  boxes lined up; getting produce in the same bag; chips, bread, eggs... So, I've had my items on the belt; this lady in front of me has rearranged everything and oh? She forgot to inform the cashier that she's an employee and needs her employee discount. The cashier asks for her card? Oh? Do I need a card? I do know my employee number, won't that help? The cashier doesn't know how to do this without the card...let's call a supervisor. Oh? The supervisor is on break? I lost my patience. I suggest to the two of them for this 'employee' to go to the Customer Service desk to get her discount. No, that's not the way things are done. Forty five minutes later, I finally leave the store.

Let's also mention that I really couldn't finish my shopping because of the ice storm, the store's shelves are empty. Now, I have to go to another store that I know is pretty well stocked but the prices are little bit higher. Not so fast...there is an accident closing both sides of the road due to icy roads (yes, 7 days after the storm). How do I get there? All back roads and another thirty minutes longer.

I come home, eat my lunch and now have to go to the post office. I've mailed out all of my Christmas cards and now, on the 11th, I will mail my packages to ensure that they will arrive in time. Two hundred other people have decided to do the same thing. Another forty minutes later, it is now three in the afternoon. But to me, it was five o'clock somewhere, right? That drink went down smoothly!

Happy 3rd Birthday to LazyDay Publishing!

Happy 3rd Birthday to LazyDay Publishing!!!

Deep Freeze

When we moved to Texas four years ago, I was really excited. You see, I had had it with cold weather and snow. I looked forward to sunshine, hot summers and mild winters. Imagine my disappointment when the first year we lived here, we had thirteen inches of snow in one day. Granted it melted the next day, but I know for a fact, that I was the only one who didn't have a snowman in my yard. (We still have our snow shovels and I used them to clear out the driveway.)

You see, Dallas doesn't have snowplows. They don't use salt, they use sand trucks. Needless to say, those trucks don't even come close to the town I live in.

I forgot to mention the first Christmas here, we had a small ice storm. Our neighbor tried to thaw out his frozen pipes and ended up setting his house on fire. It took four neighboring communities fire department to reach us because the roads were a solid sheet of ice and the trucks could not negotiate the roads. The house burned down to the ground.

Then let's not forget the fiasco of the Super Bowl held in Dallas. The weather was snow and ice, crippling the roads for days. After that, the city of Dallas did purchase some snow plows.

Question is. where are they now? We have been stranded now for four days in a deep freeze. Those brave enough to venture out have found that the food stores are empty. Roads are impassable. I can hardly walk outside without falling down.

The good news is that I was able to turn in my edits earlier than normal for Flag on the Play due out 1/31/14. I figured I'd better get them done while I still had power.

I guess these experiences have made me a stronger person. But I can't complain. Welcome to Texas!

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a very good Thanksgiving! We did. This year, it was only the three of us which was fine.

After a scary morning with me getting dizzy, I slowly bounced back and was able to help put up the Christmas decorations. I am not a sickly person at all, so for this to happen to me was really frightening. My blood sugar had dropped to 71 and I don't know why. My husband is a borderline diabetic and he has the sugar test device which enabled me to take my blood sugar count. I have a call to the doctor on my to do list for Monday.

I did get my second round of edits on the 25th and they are due back on 12/9. I have already gone through them the first time, mulling things over. I took Thursday and Friday off but worked on them again. I really appreciate everything the editor is saying and the suggestions she has are great. I need to work on my too many dialogue tags which does take some thought. I want the conversation to run smoothly so the reader doesn't get confused. When I write, I really get into the story and my fingers fly over the keyboard. It does help when another set of eyes looks at what I've done.

Weather finally warmed up but will get cold again this coming Friday. Last year, we wore shorts putting up the outside decorations. This year, we had to wear jeans and a light jacket. I think we are in for a cooler than normal winter. Bummer! After living up north for so many years, I really liked the mild winters here. Oh well. Live and learn.