Daily life continues.....

[This sight gave me a giggle today.]

Daily life continues with me working on my romance, Home Again, and Stu working around the property. We've made plans to leave here on December 13th and go to Pigeon Forge for a couple of days. We have a season's pass to Dollywood and haven't had a chance to use it. Last year we really enjoyed the Christmas shows and we're looking forward to seeing them again.

We have an appointment with Alliance Coach in Wildwood, FL on December 17th. We'll get our dryer repaired as well as a couple of other things. On the 20th we'll go to Thousand Trails in Clermont until the end of the month. From that point on we'll be moving every two weeks. In previous winters we have stayed in one spot for 2-3 months at a cost of $500 a month. Well worth the inconvenience to use our new membership with Thousand Trails.

Getting back to writing, I'll be having another blog hop contest this December in honor of my upcoming book, Home Again. My short story, Lost and Found, is the prequel to Home Again. Some of the prizes include some Amazon gift certificates as well as copies of Home Again when it is released. Watch for updates.

And my good friend Nick Russell has just released two new books. I hope you'll check them out, I just bought both of them!  Overlooked Arizona and Overlooked Florida

Cyber Monday: Kindle Fire Deal (non HD)

From Amazon.com:

Cyber Monday Savings
Today only, Kindle Fire is available for only $129 ($30 off). Enter promotional code FIREDEAL at checkout.

Offer valid from 12:01AM PST through 11:59PM PST on 11/26/12, or while supplies last. $30 discount valid on Kindle Fire with Special Offers or Kindle Fire without Special Offers sold and shipped by Amazon. Limit one discount per customer. Offer not valid with 1-Click ordering. If you return items purchased using a promo code, we will subtract the value of the discount from your return credit. Promo codes may not be combined with other offers. Amazon reserves the right to cancel the promotion at any time. Void where prohibited.   

Stopping by for a minute....

Life continues in the same mode here. We did drive to my youngest daughter's house in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. Always nice to spend it with family. Stu did a little Black Friday shopping at Harbor Freight and I shopped online for a nice set of Paula Deen pans from Target.

I got to bring home the maple rocker I bought 35 years ago for my then newborn daughter. They are redorcorating and have no need of it. Will be perfect in our cabin....future cabin.

The weather in the east seems to have turned frigid. We came home last night to a reading of 41 degrees in the RV - propane ran out. Oops! Plugged in two space heaters while Stu changed the tanks. All toasty within an hour.

Today I started out slow, playing Words with Friends (my daughter got me hooked, errr started on it), did some reading on the computer and then started the laundry. Put the first load in the dryer and in the first couple of minutes it made a clicking sound and stopped. I pressed start, nothing. I opened the door...and the smoke rolled out. Sigh...we think the motor went. So it was off to the laundromat in town. Good news is the machines are HUGE and it was all done quickly. Bad news is I'll be using it for the next couple of weeks till we get back to our repair spot in Florida. [insert frowny face].

When will we leave for Florida? Somewhat depends on when we can get an appointment for the dryer but not before 12/10. We currently have reservations at Thousand Trails in Clermont for two weeks. We may have to shift the dates a bit depending on the repairs.

Here are a few photos of Thanksgiving...oh, and Sadie went to doggie camp. We pick her up tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends!

OCD? Nah, just quirky....

When I was still working in an office full-time, I had a particular way I arranged my pens and pencils on my desk. A specific spot and a specific order. I never thought about being OCD, I just knew that everything had a place. ;-)

When I eat M&Ms, I line up all the colors and eat them down till I have an equal amount of each color. Doesn't everyone? OCD? Nah, just quirky.

I have moved a lot over the years and always tried to arrange drawers and cabinets close to how they were organized in the previous house. OCD? Nope, just made things simpler.

I keep the console in Scooby, our pickup, very organized as well as my motorcycle saddlebags. OCD? No, just means I can find things quickly.

I don't think I'm OCD at all...just ultra-organized!

Thank you to all the Veterans...

Close Encounters of the Bovine Kind

What a wonderful day for a toy ride, or in this case, toy parade. Sponsored by our local Harley Dealer, Boswell's in Cookeville, we arrived about 30 minutes before kickstands up. TIme enough to register, grab a cup of coffee and a few donut holes.

I don't know how many bike there were, but there were a lot. Every bike paid $10 and donated a toy. Needless to say, many donated more than one toy. Promptly at noon we all headed out, lead by local police officers who, along with several H.O.G. Chapter Road Captains, did a wonderful job of keeping us moving and traffic stopped.

I lived in neighboring Sparta for three years and took many trips into Cookeville but today we rode through areas I'd never seen. Most cars were courteous and pulled over to watch the procession. Lots of waves from spectators, especially the kids.

We arrived at Boswell's about an hour later, some parked at the dealership, some across the street in another bike dealer's lot and some in Applebee's, beside the dealer (this was us). There was a band playing, bit hard and loud for us (heavy metal), wings were offered up by the new-in-town Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant and lots of perfect weather to enjoy. Inside one rider had brought his 87 year old mother along and presented her with her birthday cake.

For me the only disappointment of the day was turning in our toy donations at the registration point. Any previous toy run I've been on has seen bikes well decked out with holiday decorations, carrying their toys. Maybe next year they'll try that...

Stu tried the wings but I opted for a late lunch at Applebee's. Then it was time to head home, hoping to get there before the cold and dark set in. We took a back route, one we'd been on before but not in this direction, at least not on the bikes. Lots of twisties mixed in with rolling countryside.

Then it happened...our close encounter of the bovine kind. A young cow had gotten out of his fence and was startled by the sound of the motorcycles. He jumped up and ran towards the road, missing Stu but forcing me to slam on the brakes. The truck behind me evidently didn't see the cow and started to pull around me then pulled back in behind me. The cow kept running alongside the road and I paced myself just behind him. Eventually it slowed, went to the fence and I got pass.

Right after that was a dog on the side of the road...thank goodness it stayed put. The final encounter was a gorgeous red fox, unfortunately seen only as roadkill. All in all, a wonderful day of riding!

Getting old....the good, the bad and the ugly

Growing old isn't for sissies but it is better than the alternative! There are some things that I like about it but there are others that I don't. Here's a little sampling...

WHAT I DISLIKE:

• Vision getting worse - not just reading things but I need a LOT more light to do anything. I sometimes feel like a mushroom in a cave and go around turning on all the lights.
• Manual dexterity decreasing - sure, I knew I'd have trouble threading a needle. Thank goodness for needle threaders. But I've found when cooking and dishing out food, I'm much more clumsy with the spoon and spatula. What's up with that?
   
• Weight shifts - yeah, you heard me. Even when I don't add any pounds, everything seems to be shifting to the middle, forcing me into larger sizes. :(
   
• Hair - where it shouldn't be and losing it where it should be. It's not just men that worry about this. My eyebrows are thinning and I found out what's happening. All those little hair follicles are shifting...to my chin! UGH!

WHAT I LIKE:

• But I do love that both my laptops have back-lit keyboards AND my white wireless keyboard really rocks!
• I care less what others think about me. I spent most of my life trying to be what I thought others expected me to be. No more! You don't like me? That's your problem. ;-)
   
• While I like to look nice that doesn't mean every hair in place in the perfect current style. Nor does it mean expertly applied make-up every day. Nope, what you see is what you get. Best I can do is try to get a haircut every 6-8 weeks (when I really need it every 5 weeks).
   
• Doing the unexpected - this ties into the first one. Now I get to try things that I would never have considered when I was young. Simple things like getting soaked at a theme park, fun things like going zip-lining, adventurous things like traveling the country on my motorcycle. Life's too short!

So what are your pet peeves about aging? The good, the bad and the ugly. Do tell...

Movie Day and More

My writing is moving along well for NaNoWriMo, I'm just over 20% of my 50k target. You can keep up and read about others participating in this unique event on My Write Spot blog. (You can even watch my little graphic on the right hand side as the stack of papers grow!) Oh, and thank you for the kind comments about my excerpt...I'll post another one this weekend.

The weather has cooled and gotten very overcast. Today we head into neighboring Cookeville to have lunch with a good friend, take a run through Sam's Club and then catch the latest Bond movie, Skyfall.

Not everyone likes the new Bond but we do. Stu appreciates the lack of gadgetry (that was fun in the 60's-70's) and I love Daniel Craig in the roll. Casino Royale hooked me and I hope he has many films yet to come.

As I sit here typing, Stu and Sadie are.....

It's a great day....

...for a motorcycle ride. I've been busy writing the last two days and Stu has been busy with chores. Yesterday he got to ride his bike in for his 5k service appointment. Today is supposed to be in the low 60's and mostly sunny. I CAN'T WAIT....it's been too long.

My romance novel based upon my short story, Lost and Found, is coming along. Two days of writing and I'm at just over 10% of the 30 day goal. I will keep trying to stay ahead of the game knowing there will be days like tomorrow when I won't have time to write.

Here's a short excerpt from the first draft:

“I’ll be right back. I just have to talk to Nancy for a minute. Okay?” Sarah pulled the car into the pharmacy parking lot.

Not looking up from his game Brian replied, “Sure, Mom.”

“We’ll get that ice cream when I’m done.”

This time he looked up, “Great. I want a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and a cherry on top.”

Sarah shook her head, “You’ll settle for a regular cone, single dip.”

“Fine.” His head dipped back to the game.

The bells over the door jingled as Sarah walked inside. She loved walking into the old style store. The only thing that had changed since she was a kid was the missing soda fountain. Too many health regulations had caused that. But the tall ceilings, shelves full of merchandise you couldn’t find anywhere else and the candy counter still remained. She walked through to the pharmacy window at the back and looked for Nancy, finding her leaning over a tub full of pill bottles.

“Hey Nance.”

Straightening slowly, Nancy put her hands on her back and groaned. “I’m getting too old for this.”

Sarah laughed, “You’re three months older than me. We’re not old so quit complaining.”

“So you say, you young whippersnapper you.” A customer in another aisle looked over as the girls started laughing.

“Guess who I just saw?”

Nancy came out from behind the counter and motioned Sarah into a quiet corner. “Who?”

“Someone who has a crush on you.”

“No one in this town has a crush on me. Heck, I could crush most of the men in this town.”

“You stop that right now. You have curves. Men like curves. Look at Marilyn Monroe.”

“Sarah, I’m no Marilyn Monroe. I’m fine with my weight. I’ve always been heavy, I’ll always be heavy. I know it turns off the guys. That’s okay. My life is good. I have lots of friends, a good job and get to take an amazing vacation every year. What more could I ask for?”

Sarah sighed and shook her head at her friend. “You are gorgeous even if you don’t see it. As soon as I get a job we’re going into Tulsa and get some glamour shots done. You’ll see.” 

I'll try to pop in once in a while it there is something of interest to post. Oh, and here is a couple of cute shots of Sadie - she says she misses writing but I won't let her use the computer anymore. ;-)

[working on the HOLD command]

[snuggled in on a cold night]

Disappearing...for a while

Today is November 1st and the first day of  #NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. Some of you may remember my participating in #CampNaNoWriMo last August. I pre-scheduled some posts so you wouldn't forget about us. Well, this time around I ran out of time.

I'm going to try to get up something weekly and maybe Stu will chime in with an update occasionally. But for the most part, I won't have time to update the blog. Hopefully I will get back on a more normal schedule in December BUT I will have two novels to get edited and published. EEEK!

We won't forget about you, promise. There won't be much going on here anyway, we'll be on our property in TN until mid-December and then we head south to Florida for the winter.