Perspective

I don't know about you, but there are some things I find so humbling. What do I mean? Thinking about what I was going to write about this morning, I had it all planned out. It was a big event for my family; the purchase of a new (well, new to us) vehicle. We traded in our beloved but 'going down hill really fast' 1999 car.

But yesterday, while I was talking to a friend and his wife who have been going through a really rough patch in their life, suddenly stopped the conversation because of concerns of the pet. I later found out, their beloved pet of eight years, had a seizure and died in their arms. My heart broke into tiny pieces over the news.

Not able to have children and even those who do have children, pets are a part of our family. We lost our Indiana Jones over five years ago and have yet to get another pet. I want to, but my husband doesn't want to go through the pain of watching them pass on. But I remember the love and joy they bring.

Also, I want to wish better luck to my friends. Her mother passed away the day after Thanksgiving; he lost his job of fifteen years on Friday and now they lost their pet on Saturday. Things can only get better. May God Bless.

Trying to Stay HIdden During the Holidays...

This has really been a busy three weeks and I am looking forward to a breather. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.

I really wanted to finish and submit my next book before the end of the year, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Why? Too many interruptions.

My husband wants to buy a car. Which means we have to get a couple of things fixed in order to trade his current car in. Which means I'm going to be spending time at the repair shop. Just what I want to do over the holidays.

Buying this car (it is a pre-owned vehicle) involves rearranging the garage since it is 18 inches bigger than the old car. You see, we don't have a basement. We have a small attic but growing up with a basement has us spoiled. In turn, we store everything in the garage. Starting Tuesday, my husband has decided to take the next two weeks off of work to not only purchase this car but to rearrange the garage.

I will try and hide in my writing cubicle; hopefully he won't find me.....right!

Making a Plan and Sticking to it!

As you all have known if you've been reading my blogs, this has been a hectic couple of weeks for me. First off, I want to say that my Progressive Dinner party went along smoothly.

What I did do this week was with my next book, tentatively called, Intercepted. I've been writing when I can find the time just before I went on vacation. I thought when I get home, I can finish it.

Wrong! I thought about it a lot while on vacation and resigned myself to the fact, I need to reread it from the beginning because there were some serious holes in the plot.

I disciplined myself to sit down each day last week and review my work. Yup. Lots of rewriting. The beginning is fine, it's toward the end where I screwed up constantly repeating myself and not being careful with the timing and a few serious character flaws.

Since all parties and such are over and done, I will get back to work cleaning up this story and getting it out there!

Oh, by the way, I just got done reading an excellent book I couldn't put down. It's called, If You Leave, by Courtney Cole! Highly recommend it!

How to Handle Stress!!

I need to breathe deeply! My 'to do' list for this week is a tad overwhelming!
Why, you ask? I don't know where to start!

I just got back from a week of vacation in beautiful Scottsdale, AZ. Besides Sedona, it is one of my most favorite cities. We have relatives who live in the Phoenix area and decided to delay our Thanksgiving dinner to spend it with them. We drove there and back with a stop over in El Paso, TX. Funny how you can drive for twelve hours and be in the same state...but there I digress.

We decided to take our daughter's car, a 2006 Mazda 3. It only has 28,000 miles on it and it is really in good shape. The week before we left, I took it to NTB (National Tires and Batteries) to have the tires rotated and an alignment. While performing that service, the workers discovered the power steering cable was leaking and needed to be replaced. However, they needed to order the part from a Mazda dealer and I said sure. Not a problem...even though two years ago, you, not Mazda, replaced it.  I was told NTB only guarantees their work for 90 days.

Before we left, our Aunt who refuses to buy an eReader and is a huge reader, has always wanted to read my books. But since they are eBooks only, she cannot access them. For a thanks for making the Thanksgiving dinner, I took the time to print out my latest two books for her to read. What happens? My 14th month old printer decides to bite the dust. I did get a two year service plan with it, but I don't have time to replace it. Put that on my list to do when I get home!

We finally begin our vacation and get to El Paso. In the morning while we filled up with gas, we backed up and turned the wheel to the left. This god awful noise from the front tire sounded. We had just driven over 500 miles and felt or heard nothing. What was it? Couldn't figure it out, so we trooped on. 

When we arrived in Scottsdale, while the car was in reverse, the noise sounded again. I called NTB back here in TX only to learn there is no NTB in AZ. They call it Big O Tire. The manager wasn't sure that our information would be in Big O Tire's database. No, it wasn't. We figured since the car didn't make the noise while driving and the car handled well, we were safe.

We took a day trip to Sedona only for a truck to pass us and kick up a pebble which hit and cracked our windshield. The poor car!

By the time we got home last night, the noise began to sound while driving. That is my first stop for the day. Followed by the printer exchange, grocery shopping and laundry.

Monday, followed by when the pool was serviced last week, why is the Polaris detached and is sitting on the pool deck with no note or message on my answering machine?

Followed up by visiting our State Farm agent for a window replacement claim and settling our Obamacare Health Insurance plan.

Then on Tuesday, a visit to my cardiologist for my SVT and then the Women of Flower Mound monthly meeting.

Oh, did I mention I'm hosting a progressive dinner party on Saturday night with about 40 guests?

Breathe, Lois. Just breathe!