Friday, May 18, 2007

Books and the Good Read

Many of us read to relax. The public library is literally two blocks from where I work. The good news: all the money I save from borrowing vs buying books. The bad news: the library calls when a book request comes in, and they're calling at least twice a week, driving DH nuts.

Tuesday I visited the library and two of my requests were in. Yay! I'm currently reading a paranormal, but it's been a challenge to get into. Then I accidentally left it at work. So I did what many of you would have done with time on your hands and a TBR (to be read) pile awaiting. I picked up a new book. Oh, I fully intended to finish the other one first before I really got into the meat of the second one.

Ha.

Every once in a while I come across a series that might as well be my crack. I would give up food for the next page of one of these books, so you know how serious this is. Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels are one series. And one of the books I picked up the other day was the latest of the In Death series, "Innocent In Death" by J.D. Robb.

Oh. My. Bob.

I was sucked in, twisted up in knots, turned inside out, horrified and laughed out loud. That book went with me everywhere. To work, the BMV, and to bed. Maybe my eyes looked wild and feverish, because DH and the dog kept their distance. There was no amount of candle snorting that could bring me down off this buzz. For two whole days I might as well have worn a big red sign that said, "LEAVE ME ALONE. I AM TRYING TO READ MY DAMN BOOK."

I finished the book this morning, making me nearly late for work. Seriously, how can you possibly expect me to put a book down when I'm down to the last five pages? I might as well have tried to rip my own arm off.

So, whew. I'm better now. I LOVE books that make me all crazy when I read them. They make me think. I love the "A-ha!" moment when a clue falls into place, even if it is a half-second before the whodunit is revealed.

So now I'm going to try to get back to that paranormal. I still have hopes for it and Nora's book recharged my batteries somewhat (for those of you who don't know, Nora Roberts is the genius behind the J.D. Robb pen name).

Which reminds me, Jayne Ann Krentz has a new novel out. She is another author I go ga-ga over. She also has the distinction of having been the first author I met and where I instantly became a blathering idiot. Sadly, she probably won't be the last.

Which authors rev your engine?

Thursday, May 17, 2007

So, how do you do it?

Blech. Time for a new chapter.

Yes, things are hectic. Ok. Things are REALLY hectic right now. And I'm one of those people who does not handle stress well. Thank Bob I get to snort candles at the candle store. I didn't think aroma therapy worked for me until I started working there. Feeling that tenseness in your shoulders? Grab a Vanilla Cupcake, Vanilla Caramel, Buttercream or Cranberry Chutney and take a deep breath. Aaah.

And yes, I noticed the theme too. Now if you'll kindly ignore the fact that I'm drooling on myself...

Life's not perfect, but a few seconds of sanity helps.

Of course, there are books. If my Saturday remains clear, I'll be reserving a few hours to read my latest library book and light a relaxing candle. Can't wait!

I know I need to exercise. I've been told - often- that it will help. Quite frankly, I have no routine and it shows. I have been doing more yard work lately but that only does so much. And then the rain messes up my schedule and I've got a jungle in my yard.

So here are my questions: What do you do to decompress when stress levels are going through the roof? And how do your motivate yourself to cut out some time to exercise?

Monday, May 14, 2007

In Memory, Part II

I've finally made it back. Physically, if not mentally.

Wilmington DE is definitely a 12 hour + trip, and I don't care what MapQuest says. DH, my sister and I left Friday morning at 8:30 AM. My other sister from Ohio had to work on Friday and flew into Philadelphia after work. As it turned out, we just reached Philly as her flight arrived so we swung by to pick her up. Then on to Wilmington. I think we got in around 11:30 PM.

The viewing for my uncle began at 8:30 AM on Saturday. The funeral was then set for 10:30. His widow has Alzheimer's and is in a very vocal and contrary stage, which made things interesting. Things were delayed several times, but finally everyone made it through with some degree of drama and some sedation involved. There was a lovely reception afterwards with lots of food (my family excels in food-oriented events). My folks took my sister back to the airport and we were finally able to crash at the hotel room. We had beautiful weather, and minimal headaches on the trip.

The trip back was relatively uneventful. We only made wrong turns twice, and I'd only consider the one time truly "lost". Funny, but even the not-so-nice areas have a certain charm when you are from out of town. We left at 8:30 AM from Wilmington and arrive back here in Lafayette at around 10:00 - 10:30 PM.

Yes, I feel like I've been hit by a cement truck today. Ugh. It's going to take awhile to recoup from this marathon.

Considering how close I came to saying, "Nope. Cannot do. Impossible," and then there was a tiny sliver of hope that made it possible. I still cannot believe I made it work. Uncle Ray was my godfather and I mourn the lack of time I spent with him. Years would go by between visits. I didn't get to tell him goodbye in person, and that is probably the biggest reason I was so upset about the thought of not being able to say a final goodbye at the funeral. Which is kinda silly if you think about it. I do believe you can say your goodbyes in your own time, at your own place, in your own way.

The trip was over 800 miles each way, and 8 of us from Indiana made the journey. For me at least, a large part of that was in support of my cousins and my father. Dad is not in the best of health, and Uncle Ray's death coming somewhat abruptly was a jolt. Hopefully, Dad will take it as a sign to take better care of himself.

Thanks for everyone's sympathies and hugs. It truly helped me start through this. I was pretty much able to keep it together until the first condolences started coming through. And that pretty much let me know just how much I was trying to juggle inside.

Thanks for sharing my quiet little corner with me.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

In Memory

I may be going dark for a few days.

My uncle passed away yesterday. While he was seriously ill and in a VA hospital, his passing was sudden and unexpected.

The funeral is in Delaware, about a 12 hour drive. If I can rearrange my work schedule in time, I'll be spending a lot of time on the road.

My uncle was a good man with very human flaws, and shared my dad's oddball sense of humor. You haven't lived until you've spent three hours in the car with the two of them going, "Turn left." "Left, right?" "Right." "Right?" "No, LEFT." Seriously. For three hours.

He will be missed.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

You Again

For the past few months, I've been stuck in stallsville with my writing. Yes, I partially blame one of the meds the doctor put me on because ever since I started taking it, the little scenes popping up in my head have been painfully quiet. Of course I haven't seen that nervous twitch since then either, but I'm holding out hope that the two are not related. I mean, you can keep your sanity and be a writer at the same time right?

Ok, quit the snickering in the peanut gallery. You know what I mean.

It doesn't surprise me that the paranormal I've been kicking around for the past year has been quiet. The original idea was an ensemble cast of six characters: a vampire, an angel, a witch, a shapeshifter, a human researcher and an unknown. Kind of an "Incredible Journey from Hell." The unknown is kinda fun because she begins to develop powers and no one knows what exactly she is, but suddenly both good and evil sides want her as a kind of weapon of mass destruction. And she could easily go either way as she tries to find her path. My problem with this one is fleshing out the characters. The Unknown, the angel and the vampire are easy. I'm trying to figure out if the others are necessary at this point.

Now the historical romance has been percolating for years now. It's evolved several times now. I went through a spurt where I had all these ideas and not enough plot to tie them together. It was like living with these people. I saw them buying food and supplies, going to business meetings, taking care of the horses - not exactly the riveting stuff that makes for an entertaining read. I began to feel, "Oh. It's you again." And trying to weave threads to connect the good stuff? Ugh. Not a recommended method.

And then the other night Tyler and Bethany popped in my head again. He kissed her for the (millionth) first time. She is suspicious of his motives, but hey, she is only human. And in love with him since childhood. Too bad after their first kiss she felt obliged to break his nose. And he was engaged to someone else. Kinda put a damper on the whole blossoming possibilities there.

I actually sat up in bed. I was that surprised to hear from them. Weaving that complex dance of courtship is what keeps stumping me. Too much and it becomes a joke. Not enough, there's nothing to hold interest.

I think it's time to dust off my old plot lines for Tyler and Bethany and make them work again.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Times and Adventures with Whooping Cough

Poor DH. He's not been feeling well for over a month now and after a particularly bad night, I told him to go see the doctor again.

He has whooping cough.

WTFH?

Apparently it is making the rounds in these parts. Basically it is a bacterial infection (at least it isn't viral) that lodges itself around the back of your throat and likes to disguise itself as allergies and colds. The kicker is the violent coughing spells where you can lose your breath, making a "whooping" sound when you try to suck in some air. Some of the worst coughing fits are at night, sometimes to the point where you make yourself sick.

And it is contagious. We had to call his ex to verify DSS's shots were current or else we couldn't see him until DH has recovered (his are).

Well, yay us.

DH is on meds, so he is taken care of. Apparently I'm on the neighborhood watch program now. Both my sisters have been over in the 24 hours before we knew what he had and he had it awhile, according to the doctor. Yes, they were thrilled with news.

I talked to my mom and she told me us kids shouldn't have to worry because we all had our shots growing up. Au contraire, ma mere. The shots only protect you for a certain length of time and yes, you can contract it as an adult even if you have had your shots as a kid.

Now this part was news to me and I'll have to do some research to verify this is true. Apparently there is something in the new tetanus shot that covers you for whooping cough. How the two are related, I have no idea, but DH was told if you've had a tetanus shot in the past two years, you should be ok. Sadly, I've not had the opportunity to step on a rusty nail lately, so I'm at risk.

The main complications from whooping cough are exhaustion, dehydration, pneumonia, and cracking a rib from coughing so hard. Joy.

Now on the to fun stuff. I don't know what med is making DH really loopy, but he was hilarious this morning. He wanted me to wake him up when I got up this morning so he could call work and let them know what he has and how long he may be out. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Sweetie? Time to wake up, Ok?

DH: Hmph? Rwpr mmfpht hmm graptum snftt.

Me: OooooKaaaay. Sorry, I didn't catch that. You said you wanted me to wake you up.

DH: Rawrfbtfpr.

Me: *snort* Hey, wake up. You need to call work.

DH: Wabba gab ... did they get the school ...

Me: What was that?

DH: Did they ... get that thing at the school ... (snore) straightened out?

Me: Um, I must have missed that on the news last night.

DH: There was this thing ... bus training ...we doing ...

Me: Please tell me you didn't sign us up to drive a school bus.

DH: Huh? What are you talking about?

Me: *sigh* Nevermind. Are you awake?

DH: TV.

Me: Huh?

DH: TV over here. You ... middle. Another TV.

Me: Was the TV on late last night?

DH: Rbbsmtnpt.

Me: Was I hogging the bed again last night?

DH: No ... TV here ... push the buttons ... other TV ... *snort*

Me: Two TVs, huh?

DH: Uh huh. Who's that guy?

Me: What guy?

DH: The one standing with his back to you.

Me: (thinking: um, hi. There sure as hell better not be some guy standing in our bedroom while I'm in my PJs.) Sorry. I don't see him.

DH: He's with his wife. Over there. They own the go-cart shop.

Me: Oooo kaaaay. (thinking: what the hell is in that stuff they gave him?)

DH: (cracking his eyes open) What?

Me: Hmm? I didn't say anything. Are you awake now?

DH: Oh, be quiet. Don't mess with me when I'm not awake. (pause) What were we talking about anyway?

Me: You were saying something about school buses, tv sets and go-carts.

DH: Oh, be quiet.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

You know when you want to laugh and really shouldn't ...

Ok, this is going to be a very low-brow, crass humor post. Maybe. Unless I find a way to BS my way around it.

(Yes, I am punchy again today. I think the sugar from the five chocolate chip cookies I ate finally kicked in.)

Ok, I just wrote a typo on one of those instant message thingamabobs and I can't stop laughing about it. It sounded painful. It sounded like an inner combustion problem. It sounded like a really gross case for House.

Actually the latter might not be so bad, as long as Wilson can tag along.

Back to the typo. It's like you know you shouldn't laugh when someone toots, but the expression on the lady's face beside him is priceless. And the more you try not to laugh, the funnier it gets.

I know. Sometimes you have to be there. Even worse, I was by myself on the instant message thingie when it happened. Kinda like the tree falling in the forest question.

Is it still funny if no one hears the joke? I'll let you know as soon as I'm no longer in danger of snorting myself inside out.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The Office and the Ghost Surfing the Web

I'm still reeling with relief that my sisters and I won't be shipped off to live in a relative's broken home in the event anything should happen to my folks. I'd feel like someone's deadbeat cousin living on the couch in the basement.

(Warning: this author is a bit punchy this morning.)

I'm more than a wee bit tired this morning. At my day job, there are three of us assistants who work for the 9 officers in my department. One of the assistants is on vacation this week (alas, 'tis not I. I warned you I was punchy this morning). Apparently the super-secret code phrase for all hell breaking loose is voicemail and email reading, "I am currently out of the office..."

By what basic math skills I possess, you could assume that the remaining two assistants' work load would increase by 50%. Sadly this is not true. Without any exaggeration, I can safely state that our work load has increase by 200%. Diet coke and chocolate are coming into his place by the truckload.

I fell into the sleep of the nearly-dead last night, only awake to the light of the computer monitor. At 3:00 AM. WTH? DH woke when I turned it off and I asked, "Were you on the computer after I fell asleep last night?" He replied that he hadn't been on since early afternoon. Okaaaay. So either he conveniently "forgot" or something moved the mouse enough to wake it from sleep mode.
And I crate our dog at night (trust me, he actually prefers it that way).

Not that I think the dog is surfing the net and looking at the PetSmart website. Well, if he did surf the net I'd hope it was the PetSmart site and not some slutty poodle's site. I mean, we did have him neutered and boy, he's never forgiven us for that either. I'd also rather not think I have critters big enough to turn on the computer while I sleep. So yes, darn tootin' I hope DH was on the computer last night.

And before everyone threatens to take away his GAM-in-training status, this is the guy who, when I caught him gawking at a blond in a very tiny bikini mowing the lawn, could tell me down to the make, model and deck size of the mower, but didn't even know it was a woman mowing the grass. Or so he says. The man does know his machinery.

I know how to check the computer's cookies and history. If you need a car part, DH knows a site or two that can help. He found a car antenna that looks like a rod and reel for my dad for Father's Day.

Well, I've got to get to work. It's going to be one of those weeks.