WTF in Montana

Right up front I've got to tell you I'm typing this on my Treo, so typos away! *g*

I had intended to post before we left for vacation, but I sort of ran out of road .

We had an incredible day at the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. My brother was so awesome and all the participants awe inspiring. It was a very cool day.

However, we are now in Montana for my Dad's 75th birthday...with the new girlfriend whois my age. So far he's given her a car and a diamond ring. WTF! He met her a year ago but hadn't seen her for over 7 months. Within 90 days he's "very much in love".

Okay, I read romance novels...I know and believe love happens fast. But one can't help wondering how much she would love him if he was living on his social security check.

Look at what I found!

I'm a big Ralph Waldo Emerson fan. I've taken his quotes and printed them out on big sheets of paper on occasion. I just think he is so true to life and inspiring sometimes.

Today I happened on one of Mr. Emerson's quotes at GemmaK's personal site. A place I'd nipped off to after reading on her design site that she was closing down for the time being. I am after all nothing if not a Nosy Nora. It reminded how glad I am that I got my blog design done when I did. Thank you KarenS! I'm so happy with my new digs that I can't imagine how ticked off I'd be with myself for procrastinating if I hadn't made the changes...especially since Gemma seems to be on a break for an indeterminate period of time.

Anyway, while reading a bit about some life changes Gemma is experiencing this quote in her sidebar caught my eye...

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense".

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Isn't that absolutely splendid? While I have oft preached to my children that "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it" I think this quote says it all and so much better. I'm so glad to have found it.

AWOL

Well kiddies...here I am. It is a Monday morning and I'm writing a post. Nope I'm not on vacation. Nope I'm not at work. I'm home!

Friday was my last day at work. No kidding. I'm really done for good this time. It was hard not to mention it or comment, or wank about it this past month. But, I made a vow to myself not to discuss anything until I was done. I haven't had this site for a year yet and have already mentioned quitting my job three times. It was a little much even for me.

So I'm hoping to get back to regularly posting. Hopefully not obsessively. Fortunantely we will be going on vacation here shortly and that should keep me out of trouble for awhile.

For now I'm going to try and pace myself and not freak out that I don't have to go to work. I feel good knowing that I left the property in excellent condition with a well trained staff. So no regrets and no worries there. While I have an immense sense of relief I also have a sense of loss. It's weird to think that I will probably never work again...in the conventional sense of going out to an office anyway. That's a weird feeling to be sure.

For now, school's out, the boys are home. I have stuff to do to get ready for vacation!

Have you missed me?

Let me just say right now that I've been missing all of you. I've been working a bazillion hours. Summer is such a busy time at work. All work and no play makes me cranky. No time to read for crying out loud.

There's a glimmer of light up there at the end of the tunnel. See it? I do! Praise be! In the mean time I'll plug away at work and anticipate the new Linda Howard and Christine Feehan books which are due out on June 27th.

What is everyone reading right now? What's on your night stand?

Clang, Clang, Clang went the trolley...

Yeah, I don't know why I titled this post that...I was trying to think of something that would sum up the crazy busy I've been lately and that's what popped into my mind. Posting is going to be intermittent the rest of this month, June is just a beehive!!

Here's a couple of quickies about some books I've read.


Jory Strong - ROPING SAVANNAH I'm a big fan of Ms. Strong's books. They are usually fast paced and intense. She has a couple of different series going on. This particular book is part of the FALLON MATES series. It is futuristic and the least of my favorites. This book was only okay for me. I didn't really like Savannah that much. I couldn't figure out why these two guys would like her either...DNA matched mate or not. This book gets a 'MEH' from me.

The new Sherrilyn Kenyon - THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON which is her hard cover debut for the Dark Hunters I believe. Okay, I'm a fan and was soooo looking forward to this book. My biggest interest in this book was the information Ms. Kenyon gave us that progressed the Dark Hunter lore. Changing locations to Seattle did nothing for the story line, IMHO.

I was not invested in Ravyn or his story much at all. For such a hard ass who is supposed to be so mean and difficult to get along with he seemed pretty tame to me. He was a sort of "metro" DH if you will. This would have been okay, not all DH's have to be the same, but Ravyn just seemed sort of confused and without focus. I do have to say I am curious to read Nick's story, which has been set up with bits and pieces in three different books now and also, Savitar looks like he would make an interesting book. We already know he just kills the people who irritate him. How do you make that guy redeemable?

Lynn Viehl - DARK NEED. Now this book I loved! I couldn't put it down. While I must admit it took me the first couple of chapters to get reacquainted with the Darkyn world, I still enjoyed every page. I'm already a big fan of the series and I think this is the best book yet. I was hooked trying to figure Lucan out. We know he has a story, but Ms. Viehl, without frustrating the reader, slowly unveils his past as the current day story progresses.

There is a whole Darkyn world that has been created with these books which touches on the dark side of the Catholic Church. This book differs dramatically from the Kenyon book because we are not only interested in the progression of the story of the Darkyn kind, but get engrossed in this individual story of Samantha and Lucan. Ms. Viehl does well here with the characters creating in-depth people we care about. Both Samantha Brown, homicide cop and Lucan the Darkyn assassin are flawed, misunderstood, and lonely individuals. I found this to be a tightly written and compact story that moves briskly and takes for granted the reader's intelligence to keep up with the interwoven story lines and characters. I love that there is an overall continuing saga here while you can easily read each of the three books in the series as stand alones. Kudos, this is a standout book in an already interesting series. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Iris Johnsen - KILLER DREAMS This is another long-time favorite author. I've been reading her books since she wrote for Bantam and did little serial Loveswepts. Her books are somewhat formulaic but I just can't seem to resist them. I really like her writing voice. One of the other things I've always admired about her is that while she frequently has children in her books as pivotal characters she doesn't dumb down the conversation or the child's intelligence.

This particular story has to do with what would happen if sleep research and the power of the sleep therapist were corrupted to give "suggestions" to people while they are sleeping. Let me just say...some really bad stuff could happen! Duh!

I guess most people would call Ms. Johansen's books romantic suspense. That doesn't quite describe them to me because they always have that touch of mystery and espionage in them as well. Characters from previous books such as COUNTDOWN and the Eve Duncan books also appear in this novel. This is a hard cover, but large print and is a very quick read. I mention it because spending the money for a hardcover and getting a "quickie" sort of book may turn some people off.

While my work days have been long and busy, it's been nice to escape into a book and relax in the evenings. I'm looking forward to a summer filled with good books.

If it's June it must be VACATION!

I'm so excited! We go on vacation this month. We will be traveling to Idaho and Montana.



My youngest brother will be in an Ironman in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. That will be exciting. He has done an ironman twice before in Australia and Utah. This will probably be his last one. Training for this event takes an incredible commitment and alot of time. Throw in a demanding job and the joys of being a new Daddy and he decided that he would be spending more time with his family instead of training for big events like the Ironman. He already has plans to continue doing triathalons so I'm sure before we know it he will have his daughter as his training buddy. His daughter is KADEN of Kaden's Place on my sidebar.


So after the Ironman we go on to Montana. My Dad has a second home there. Dad's 75th birthday is within days of the Ironman, so several of our family members will be with him in Montana to help Dad celebrate this milestone.

So it's June. Time for vacation. I can hardly wait! Wouldn't you like to just rest in a summer breeze?

SUMMER BREEZE
by Stephen Darbishire