Holy Fly-bys, Batman!

This summer has literally flown by. I can't believe it is September already--SEPTEMBER! It is hotter than Hades here, so for at least another few weeks, it sure won't feel any different. But there are subtle differences.  For instance, it is still dark out when my alarm goes off in the morning. It was like one morning, the sun was streaming through the lace curtains, and then BAM! total darkness the next morning.

School buses are back on the roads, too--a sure sign that we are heading into the fall and winter season. Not that I mind--the weather is very agreeable here in the fall and winter. When it gets over 90 degrees here, it is too much for me. I love the 70s and 80s--not a big fan of 90 degrees and above.

It is has been an unusual weather season here all around.  We hit triple digits in June here, and were consistently over the 95 mark for three weeks--unreal.  And while an afternoon shower is normal here in the summer, we got rain, rain, and more rain!  We had been in draught here so long, the aquifers couldn't fill fast enough. The lakes look great, as do lawns.  Can't keep up with the grass!  It gets mowed one day, and two days later, it is going to seed!

NOT complaining. It will take a few years to get used to the heat. I am sure in no time, I will be like my grandmother who wore sweaters in the summer and complained when we turned the air conditioning on. She got so used to the Florida sun and heat that anything under 80 degrees was COLD.  HA!

Our dogs are nuts. They insist on finding the hottest patch of cement or brick to lay on in this heat.  They lay there panting, but seem content to be in the sun.  In the meantime, Bud and I are melting...right now, we are worshipping the gods of air conditioning. We walk in the house and always let out a big, "AAAAHHHHHH!" It is mandatory.

I have a four day weekend due to Labor Day. We are feeling a bit claustrophobic at the moment, as we are dead broke and therefore are pretty much stuck here all weekend. Too hot to go out for very long, so we sleep--a lot.  I cleaned house yesterday, did three loads of wash--it helped pass the time.  I plan on doing some ironing later (if we ever win the lotto, I will gladly pay someone else to do this chore, as I loathe ironing. I used to love it, but now? Not so much...)

I am making a big pot of homemade beef and noodles for my lover.  He is worth the effort, and it gave me something useful to do today. I should be writing, but I just don't feel like it.  Sigh.  The West women are in France right now, and that is where I left them--hope they are having fun! The next segment of the book is going to be rough on them, so I guess they better enjoy themselves while they can.

The sun is on the west side of the house right now, so the glare is making it impossible to really see my screen.  Hope I am not just typing a bunch of random characters...

Goodbye, summer 2013, hello cooler temps!

Rain!!!

It has been raining all day--happy dance in the puddles! It really cooled off, too--only hit 70 degrees. Haven't seen 70 degrees in quite a while.  It is a nice change from the 90s and 100s.

We also got a new (to us) vehicle. It looks like this:

It drives like this:

It is an all-wheel drive, and I have never driven one before. It is going to take some getting used to!

We went to visit Bud's mom today as well, and took her for a ride. She liked it--SCORE! And a copy of my book arrived today. It was waiting for me when I got home.  So crazy--seeing it in print.  It is finally real. Even if no one reads it (oh, but I hope they do!), I feel like I have accomplished something to be proud of.

Lots of things to smile about today.  :)



I'm Published!

Finally, I am a published author! My novel officially went on sale at CreateSpace eStore in book form, and at Amazon.com in Kindle eBook form.  Hooray! Already sold one book--life is good!

You can review the first three chapters here:

https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1106695
Your feedback is appreciated!

You can buy the book here:

https://www.createspace.com/3956420

You can download the Kindle eBook here:


http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Mrs-West-Story-ebook/dp/B008TE3DGW/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1344266753&sr=1-3&keywords=mrs.+and+mrs.+and+mrs.+west


The book will also be available on Amazon.com in book form in about a week.

K is throwing me a party to celebrate. I am so excited!

Completion

I finally finished writing my novel. As it turns out, it looks like it will be a trilogy, so I will need to get started on the next one while I am waiting on the copy write for this one!

I am having Bud, K, S and our friend B read it. Bud finished it and like it, but I still have to fix any typos, spelling and grammatical errors that they find.  Then I will need to edit. I have read it once all the way through, but I need to do it when I am not so tired, as I missed a lot of spelling errors. I am going to start reading it again tonight, but I am only going to read 4-5 chapters at a time (book is 35 chapters long, plus about 20 pages of recipes at the end).

K is about 1/2 way through, and B is a 1/3 of the way through. I have to take it to Sue for her to read next. If I get the thumb's up from all of them (Sue will be my biggest, and most honest, critic), it is off to be copy written, which takes about 3 months if I do it online. Like I said, I will take advantage of that time to start the next segment in the story.

I will self-publish using either Lulu or Amazon--probably Amazon, as I would have a larger audience. We will see.

It feels good to have it done. Took three years, and several starts and stops in between. I may have to do am major edit, though, as I may have crossed the line between adult content and porn--I will have to investigate and find out what the parameters are.

Other than that, I feel pretty good about what I have accomplished.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

A Day in the Life...

We had a full day yesterday. Since it wasn't scorching hot by 9am, K and I went outside and did some yardwork. Bud had mowed the lawn the day before, and we wanted to tackle the flower beds. One side of the house had nothing planted (East side). It gets great morning light, but it is in the shade in the afternoon. We decided to divide the hostas and plant them along that side of the house.  The two existing hostas are (were) huge, so it was time to divide them anyway.  We also dug up some of the day lilies that had made there way to the front of the porch and transplanted them to the east side as well.

By dividing the hostas, we gave one of the hearty hibiscus room to grow. It was being crowded. It made it easier to weed as well.  We made a good team, and got a lot done while we were outside.  I jokingly told K she was Nature's Bitch, as she spent most of her time on her hands and knees weeding. We both laughed at that.  My one knee is so bad, it is hard to get back up anymore, so I did as much work as I could which didn't involve using my knees: deadheading flowering bushes, pulling off dead leaves, cleaning up the piles of weeds and putting them in the wheelbarrel, digging the holes and transplanting plants, etc.

We have been plans--just not the funds to bring them into fruition. Today we are going to dig up some cement patio stones, lay down gardener's fabric, then relay the stones and fill the cracks with pea gravel. We are getting tired of trying to keep it weeded. It will initially be a lot of work, but it will save us a lot of work in the long run.

Bud, K and I were out yesterday trying to drum up karaoke jobs--not easy in the summer, as most people are out on the lake and enjoying the great outdoors, not hanging out in bars. While we were out, one bar had a yard sale going on. K and I found the coolest piece--it is a rack that has oblong hanging wicker baskets. There are five tiers, and we both thought the same thing: how cool it would be outside as a planter! I am going to line each basket with gardener's fabric, and we will find some annuals to plant in each tier.  It will be mighty purty!

While we were out and about, S called and left a message on my phone stating she was lonely and would love a visit. I had called her early in the day to see if she was up to a visit, but got her answering machine. I figured she was out and about, so K and I tackled yardwork instead. She evidently had called back several times to K's phone while we were outside, and K never checked her phone before we left to go karaoke job hunting.

Of course we headed to S's as soon as we got the message.  She was kind of in a funk. I feel bad. I know she is envious that we are living with K right now, and that she doesn't get to see us every day. She is only about 20 miles away, but that is too far to go every day. K invited her to come out for supper tonight. I told K it was her baby this time, as I have been doing a lot of cooking and I felt like she needed to stretch her cooking muscles a bit.  K said she was nervous, because she isn't used to cooking for 5 people. She makes a mean pot of chili, though, and we have the fixings for a salad, so she will be just fine.

Bud and I are sitting in out on the front porch right now enjoying the hummingbirds and the early morning quiet, along with a cup o Joe. Life is good! LOL

I am excited to be working on my novel again.  K and S have not read what I have yet. I want to wait until it is complete before they read it. K, ever the diva, asked if she was in it. I told her honestly that she would find herself in several of the characters; I told S the same thing, though she would find more of herself in the next book (I have already determined that this will be a series of books, as the end of this one is really just the beginning of another story to tell). I am in there, Bud too.  ES is in the pages as well. I drew enough from my own real life experiences that it is more a work of factual fiction.  There is also some things that are obviously not true, but make for some interesting story none the less.

I am excited to be near the end of this particular novel.  I have noted on several poly boards that there are people out there looking for poly romance novels that aren't just under-delevoped erotica novels.  I think my novel fits the bill.  Yes, there is a lot of erotica in it, but it makes it more real--the sexual dynamic is part of a polygamous relationship. I will let everyone know when the book has been published!

Gotta get my butt dressed and ready to tackle to patio stones.  Hope everyone has a great day!