F * O * M * O

I'm baaaaack! Whew! Here I am back in the saddle again. Sort of. I really missed everybody and feel sooooo out of the loop so bear with me while I scramble to catch up with everyone.

You all know about my syndrome right? No. I'm not talking about my arthritis. I'm talking about F*O*M*O. I'm sure I've mentioned my 'Fear Of Missing Out' before. It's a terrible, terrible thing to endure. Yet some how I manage to muddle through my days trying not to obsess about it.

I hope all is well in your worlds and I sure look forward to catching up. Of course, you do have the option of making it easy on me and leaving a comment on what you've been up to. C'mon you know you wanna!

BTW, I somehow managed to get my post for ACCESS ROMANCE done. This month I talk about reading and how much I like it and how much I miss it when I'm busy. Take a second and go check it out.

No pictures, no reading and no sleep...

Hopefully there WILL be pictures and there WILL be reading and there WILL be sleep, eventurally. Apparently I have to leave home for that to happen. I'm off to my conference in just a couple of hours. Better hurry too because I haven't showered and I haven't packed and I'm leaving in two hours. Ack! Maybe posting a blog shouldn't be a priority???

I don't know what sort of free time I'll have or how busy I'll be, but I'm taking Shmoo's laptop. Maybe I'll see you all out there. Soon?

Going to the Chapel and...

There they are. My niece and her intended. It's one of their engagement photos. So, it's here. Today is their big day...er, uh...night. The wedding is at 6 pm. Sort of odd to get married at 6 p.m. on a Friday night in SoCal. The traffic on the freeways on Friday is a nightmare, but I digress.

After all the planning it's finally here. I was doing a head count this morning and it's been more than three years since EVERYONE in my immediate family has made it to a single event on a single day. So that's pretty awesome and pretty cool. GG promises to take some pictures for me so you can see how pretty we all are. Hopefully I'll be able to get them posted before I'm out of town.

Now I gotta go help feed some people breakfast. Don't you just love chaos?

Ann Aguirre

As anyone who visits here regularly knows I'm a fan of GRIMSPACE and WANDERLUST the Jax books by Ann Aguirre. Which means, you know, I stalk her blog and website. Recently Ann was talking about a play list she put together for one of the books she was working on called SKIN GAME under another pseudonym, Ava Gray.

Anyway, I asked her in the comments if she always does a play list for her books. For all of the inquiring minds out there, yes, she does. Ann then very kindly posted the play list to SKIN GAME.

Naturally, as any good freaky stalker fan would do, I then added the links to all the songs and created a duplicate play list. Why go to all that bother? Well, Ann suggested it might be fun to listen to the tracks as you are reading the book.

Don't you just love little factoids like that? Obviously, I do. So I'm all set for when the book comes out. Of course, since she just finished writing it I might be waiting for a bit. That's the bad news.

The good news? I recognized several of the songs right off the bat. So, you know, I'll probably be listening to the play list even without the book.

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

Down the Rabbit Hole by Diana Lakes

And so it begins ladies and gentlemen, my crazy weekend. Which sounds crazy to say since it's only Wednesday.

I tried catching up a little bit with your blogs early yesterday morning, but alas I did have to go to work. I'm only down about 177 posts. I live in hope I'll have some time later tonight.

If not, you'll get a lot of late comments from me again next week when I return home. I think I'll hit Shmoo up for his laptop again like I did for RWA. At least that way I have a sporting chance of not getting too buried.

Man, I'm whining again aren't I? That's not good...

See ya 'round campus!

Random Thoughts

HEROES, is one of the few TV shows I watch pretty regularly. Lordy it gets more confusing each week. Which begs the question...why am I still watching it?

All wrapped up. Snuggled. Spooned. How do you sleep with your significant other? GG and I are seasonal because he's always so dang hot. We haven't put the heat on yet but it's been a little chilly in the house in the early mornings and I go seeking the heat. In other words I send my foot out on expedition to find the warm and then scoot myself over there. In the summer time it's just the opposite. Since the person I sleep with is ALWAYS hot I go looking for the cooler spots in warm weather. Not very romantic, is it?

Having read some pretty good books lately I feel like I'm in a reading frenzy. It's all I want to do. The tbr beckons and taunts.

Is it weird that I'm anticipating the upcoming wedding like I used to anticipate Christmas as a kid? I just can't wait to see all my family and celebrate good times.

Speaking of celebrations... It dawns that in a month I will have been married for 28 years. 28 years! Hard to absorb. Let me just say I barely feel, despite how my outer shell looks, 28 years old let alone being married for 28 years. It continues to amaze me. Maybe I shouldn't tell GG that part.

What I've been doing since I saw you last...

I have to go to work so I only have a moment to finish this and get out the door. I had one of my lazy Sundays yesterday and didn't do much of anything except read. Wait! I DID fill the vitamin chests for the next two weeks, and... No, that's it. I was a lazy bum.

Of course that didn't stop the dervish I live with. He mowed the lawn and went for a 5 mile run. Freak!

I've been wanting to mention I'd read TWISTED CREEK by Jodi Thomas. This was first read by Dev and then Nath and then a whole bunch of other people. Another very good book. If you haven't read it...go get it. You won't be sorry. Now how often do I say that?


See this?


This little gem came in the mail on Friday. I read it over the weekend. STRANGER, another very good book. It doesn't release until January 2009, but keep it on your radar. I'll be posting my review closer to release date. But it's another winner from Megan Hart.

I'm rested after yesterday but girding my loins for this week. I only work 3 days and then it begins...the family wedding weekend. I'm always excited to see everyone and the day promises to be fun, exciting and...interesting.

Tell me, anyone know what to say to a father who calls and asks if it would be appropriate to crash the wedding with his new wife that was specifically NOT invited? Yeah. Let the good times roll. My Dad. You never know what he's going to do next. I, of course, passed this info on to my brother who's the father of the bride. Wonder what I'll be writing next Monday.

Oops, just remembered I'll be out of town next week at my class. Take of things for me won't you? I'm hoping to get out and about later tonight and catch up with all of you. Anything interesting going on?

Friday

This has been one of those weeks. I find myself wondering why we bother with holidays on Mondays. It just wrecks the rest of the week. October has turned out to be another busy month. I worked last Saturday at a special event and will be working again this Saturday at another special event. While interesting and fun they are also exhausting.

Next weekend is the big family extravaganza wedding. Yes, all the family will gather to see my niece and goddaughter get married. So, Thursday, Friday, Saturday busy, busy, busy with wedding and family. Sunday I head out of town for work to attend a training seminar for 3 days.

A couple of days later, Halloween.

And then... ZOWIE! Just like that October is over. Crikeys. What the heck. October we hardly knew ye.

Anyway I told you all that so you would know that I'll be sporadic again here the next few weeks. I'm going stealth. However, I might Twitter; or blog; or blog hop. I may even post something now and again. At this point I just have no idea how the next couple of weeks are going to play out. Or, you might not even notice I'm away. Maybe.

Before I go, something for all you SoCal Blogger types, you know who you are, to mull over. I'm thinking we should get together before the holidays hit. So the date I'm throwing out there for a possible meet up is November 8th.

I have Lori, Nikki, Wendy, Rowena, Holly, Daphne, Tracy and Alys on my list. Am I missing anybody in Southern California who'd like to join us? We are a pretty easy and friendly group.

Email to follow so if I haven't mentioned your name, email me or leave a comment and let me know.

The List. The Whole List and nothing but The List.

I mentioned a few times recently that I'm on a mission to limit my book buying to what's on my list. I have a running TBB list that I put books I want to buy by release date, by month.

So my goal has been to limit browsing and completely eliminate impulse buying. Although it's hard to do when I keep reminding myself that I discovered Linda Howard years ago by making an impulse buy. Determined, I shake those memories off and re-dedicate myself to curtail impulse buying and at least think about making a dent in my tbr tubs.

It follows then that I should only buy books I've pre-screened and put on my list. Which means the books are either tried and true auto buy authors or they are from recs by my trusted pusher pimps blogger friends.

Remarkably, mostly due to a lack of time, I believed I was pretty much only buying what's on my list. Uh-huh. That's what I thought I was doing. Buying fewer books. The ultimate goal, right?

While updating my TBB list and getting ready for November I noticed that just in the last few weeks my pal Super Librarian Wendy has me adding books by Portia da Costa, Kathryn Albright, a medieval by Michelle Willingham and convinced me I should quit hedging and buy the Chelsea Cain books.

Then of course there was the BROKEN WING Quest initiated by Kristie. Yesterday I read Lori's review of the JoAnn Ross book CROSSFIRE that convinced me I needed to get those books too.

So let's sum up. I've actually added 8 more books in October that were not originally on my list. My belief that I was improving with my book buying was nothing but a sad delusion. Apparently I'll buy whatever you people tell me to. I'm so susceptible and suggestible when it comes to your recommendations it's nothing short of pitiful. It makes for great reading, but it does NOT however improve my tbr pile or my pocketbook.

Thank God I didn't mention anything to GG. He'd start adding up receipts and I'd never hear the end of it.

Although after recent events he's still treading pretty lightly around here. Albeit with a smirk on his face.

TBR or Bust!

I read all weekend. Three books people. It was grand. Even though one of them was from my tbr it isn't old enough to qualify for the TBR Challenge. I fell asleep last night before finishing the Jodi Thomas book I wanted to use for today.

It's unlikely I'll be done before the end of the day. Work promises to be verra verra busy. So, there you go. Another month with no tbr book. Very big bummer.

For Nath & Steadman

Here is Igor nekkid. Without the life saving and embarrassment sparing pancake makeup. It is much, much lighter in color than it was yesterday. However Operation Love Bite, or HIDE THE FREAKING HICKEY! is still on.

Steadman? Nath? Happy now?

I'm off to try and finish my tbr read for tomorrow.

Not a '6' But a Very Good Book

BROKEN WING by Judith James is not a 6 out of 5 read for me, but it IS a very good book that is well written. I have absolutely no problem recommending this book to any reader that wants to read a story that has multi-layered and complicated characters.

As I believe Kristie mentioned in her review, it is difficult to talk about this book without giving too much away. I certainly don't want to do that because a great part of this read is one of discovery. Every step of the way we are discovering who Gabriel St. Croix is much as the character himself.

Kristie was right on the money when she said that this is a dark story and sometimes a wrenching one. But Ms. James is very able in her work and the story is also moving and beautiful.

I enjoyed the journey of this book very much. I could hardly stand to know what was going to happen to the characters next. The story is peppered with secondary characters that would make interesting books of their own. I don't want you to be mislead and think that Ms. James belabors or leads too much in that direction. I only mention it because a couple of characters appealed to my curiosity and 'what if' enough to want to read their stories.

I did have some issues that kept this book from being perfect for me. However, in light of the depth of the story and how well written it is, it seems petty to mention them. If you really want to know more, email me separately and we'll discuss.

While Gabriel St. Croix is certainly a tortured and dark hero he is not mean spirited or cruel. We, as readers understand him better than the people he meets because we know his back story and his thoughts. This discovery and understanding of Gabriel is an integral part of the reading experience. It's not hard to understand why Sarah Munroe falls in with him.

If you want to know more about the book I suggest you read Ms. James excerpts. I am happy to report that they don't take away from the reading experience. Much like a well done movie trailer, I think choosing just the 'right' excerpt is important for a book.

If you like a book that puts you in that place in history, a book that doesn't apologize or equivocate or back away from the unsavory truth, you'll like BROKEN WING.

Not a 6 out of 5, but a very good book. Thanks Kristie!

Ruh-Roh Reggie...

I planned to start this with the definition of 'mortified'. Instead I will start by saying GG is in A-LOT... TREMENDOUS LOT... of T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

GG is the root, the source, the very essence of my mortification. GG is the one who left a love bite, otherwise known as a hickey on my neck. The neck that is exposed in most of the clothing I wear. The neck that is exposed because it is so short that I rarely wear (or own) collared tops. The neck that has a bright purple bruise on it the size of a half dollar. Yes, mes enfants this is no 'oops I got carried away by passion' little red smudge this is a whopper of a HICKEY ON MY NECK!

So this is my S-O-S. Any ideas? Thoughts? Advice? I'm not speaking to GG. He had the nerve to laugh when I called him this morning and told him what I found on my neck. My only reprieve is that I was off today for Columbus Day, but I have to go to work tomorrow.

By all that's holy it's not like I've never had a hickey before. I have. You know little tiny raspberries that are gone in half a day. But nothing and I mean NOTHING like this monstrosity. I'm livid. Embarrassed doesn't begin to cover my mortification. I'm not exaggerating either. Although it occurs I sound slightly hysterical at this point.

So, you might be wondering why am I exposing this on my very public blog? Well, with the exception of Luann, no one at work reads my blog AND I need your help.

Does anyone have any cure for hickeys? Remedies to make it go away fast? Something. Anything. Well, anything other than the requisite half pound of pancake makeup that is currently smeared over my friend 'Igor the love bite'.

You have no idea, well Holly might since MM is a cop, how merciless fire fighters, et al, will be if they catch the slightest wind or sight of this thing. My life will be unbearable for the foreseeable future.

Boys suck. No pun intended.

***ETA*** I think the hot and cold treatment has helped because the bright purple bruise seems to have faded quite a bit. Keep your fingers crossed that with the spackle pancake make-up covering it I might pass muster. One can hope.

Worth a thousand words...

Recently I was trolling online looking for images of a tired woman. Yeah, that's me, always tired. Anyway, I came across a photo of the painting below. The darn thing just fascinates me. It evokes a different response each time I look at it. All sorts of 'what ifs' go through my head.

When I found the picture the site didn't credit it. I was curious to know who had painted such a fascinating piece. Besides, I also wanted to post it and didn't want to do so uncredited. Consequently I had some research to do.

The painting is called 'The Nightmare' and the artist's name is Henry Fuseli.

Want to know some interesting facts? I know you do, because I did all this research and clicking around so, trust me, you want to know.

It turns out Mr. Fuseli had a love affair with Mary Wollstonecraft. Historical readers might recognize that name as the resident feminist referred to frequently in British historicals. Ms. Wollstonecraft's principal premise was that women were not intellectually inferior to men, they just didn't have the same opportunities for education. Go Mary!

Mr. Fuseli and Ms. Wollstonecraft alas were not meant to be. She did, however, eventually marry and had a daughter Mary Godwin.

Mary Godwin married the poet Percy Shelley. We all know that name. Right? And Mary Godwin is now Mary Shelley. Anybody recognize that name? Mary S. also wrote. You might remember a little book called Frankenstein perhaps?

Connections. Weird stuff huh? I know. Finally the painting. What do you think about when you look at it?

Go Green

See this flip flop? It's called a 'Cushee'. It's made by Simple Shoes. This little gem was my introduction to organic and green shoes. Who knew right? Well I love these little babies. They are as cushy and comfy as they look and they come in a few different colors. Oh and did I mention they happen to be on sale right now? Yeah, pretty cool, huh?

Why do I mention this now when Fall is upon us and most of us aren't wearing flip flops or sandals any more?

Well Simple Shoes is getting ready to launch a new shoe. They make shoes, purses, sandals all green and natural. Anyway, if I post their video I might win free shoes. Who can argue with that, right?

So without further ado, here's a simple story about Simple...

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas

The most important thing to know about SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE by Lisa Kleypas is that you won't be disappointed. It's such a relief to have an anticipated story deliver. Yay! If you were like me and looking forward to reading Win and Merripen's story, you won't be let down with this book.

By now the faithful readers of Ms. Kleypas know that Kev Merripen is the Rom (gypsy) that was taken in by the Hathaway family as a starved, beaten and abandoned boy. After the loss of their parents the Hathaway siblings have come to rely on Merripen's strength and support to keep the family going.

Winnifred Hathaway and Merripen have a connection from the moment they meet. The connection continues to grow stronger over the years even though it never moves beyond yearning. Win was struck with scarlet fever as a very young woman and left pretty much an invalid and too weak to have a normal life or romantic relationship.

Some of this back story we know from the previous Hathaway book MINE TILL MIDNIGHT which is Amelia Hathaway and Cam Rohan's story. However, I don't feel that you need to read that book to enjoy this one. OTOH, reading MINE TILL MIDNIGHT will enhance your enjoyment of SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE.

Anyway, as this book opens Win has decided to go away to France to a clinic specializing in treating people with heart and lung weakness like she has. Merripen believes he has come to grips with the idea that Win can never be his in the traditional sense, but just having her in his life is all he needs. Consequently, he is devastated and angry when she decides to leave to seek this unorthodox medical treatment.

Reading excerpts and the back blurb I was a bit concerned wondering how Ms. Kleypas was going to make this story work. I really didn't want a 'miracle' type of healing or a mis-diagnosis of Win's health to be the resolution. I should have had more faith. Ms. Kleypas handles this all very well.

I do have one small complaint. It seemed out of character for Merripen to be such a thick headed pea brain. It is clearly demonstrated throughout much of the book how intelligent, industrious, hard working and practical Merripen is. I think his resistance to Win went on a bit too long. Thankfully Ms. Kleypas did not belabor this point or situation and swiftly segued into another plot twist.

All in all this was a very satisfying story about these two characters. I'm looking forward, as always, to the next book from Ms. Kleypas set in this world with these people.

A solid 'B' read for me.

I HEART YOUR BLOG (I do. I really really do!)

Earlier in the week Stacy from Scooper Speaks nominated me for the I heart your blog award. Thanks again scoop. You're a sweetie.

The rules for this award are that you need to:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

Limiting this to 7 blogs is killer. You can see the many and varied places I visit on my sidebar. Following in Stacy's footsteps, I'm not going to nominate anyone who I know already has been nominated.

1. Post Secret
2. Diary of an Adult Runaway
3. Argh Ink (Jennifer Crusie's site)
4. Super Librarian
5. Nose in a Book
6. Meljean Brook
7. The Boob Tube

Look what came in the mail...

I'm pretty darn excited. Also scared. Thank God the weekend is coming.

The Quest. It's out there.

Who doesn't love Pooh?

I couldn't resist these cute Pooh plush toys and outfit for Little Wonka. I had to buy them.

I HAD to.

I also got big sister a present. Speaking from my own experience, it's a tough job taking on bossing guiding a younger sibling through the treacherous waters of raising parents. I figure that kind of commitment and dedication deserve some sort of reward.

Besides, who could resist this?

October To Do List

This is mostly for my own edification, but if I have to be tortured with guilt over this list I figured I might as well include you in my angst. I figure if I have to suffer, so do you.

1. In the name of all that's holy, I need to go buy a freaking dress for the wedding already. It's less than 3 weeks away! Halleluia! I found a dress Sunday er...maybe it was Saturday. Anyway it was a total fluke, on sale and can I just say I'm soooo relieved? Well, I am. Relieved.

2. Update TBB and UBS book lists. Long overdue for a rehaul and an update. Kristie's post on her book cataloging was inspirational. I'm thinking Library Thing may be my next project. Well maybe not 'next' next. See number 9.

3. Update the sidebar on blog. Delete Twitter posts and replace with???? I did this. Sort of. On Saturday. I updated my links. Debated eliminating them entirely. Left them. I like looking at them. My blog. My blog. My lovely blog.

4. Re-do the blog page? Find someone to re-design it for me? What? I can't make up my mind. What do you guys think? I need help with this decision. I found out at RWA that there are people that identify my blog with the yoga lady. But how important is that? Aren't we all mostly stream readers? How much does blog design matter? It's not that I hate the design, I just can't decide if it's time for a change.

5. Twitter or not twitter. You can't be half in. This is another decision I can't seem to make. I like Twitter so much when I'm doing it, but most of the time I try to ignore it because I get sucked into the conversations and then... Zap! My day is lost. Also, I'll get fired and I'd like to keep my job. Put that way this decision seems like a no brainer. No?

6. Re-commit to swimming. I started walking again two weeks ago. I do my walking outside with Luann a friend from work. I'm not a big treadmill fan. I like being outside. So when it's a gazillion degrees outside walking 3 1/2 miles is killer. I was swimming a lot during the summer so we cut out the walking until it cooled off a bit.

Anyway, I only swam once this week and once last week. The goal is on alternate days walk or swim. That would be 6 days a week of exercise with only Sundays off. I was doing this last Spring. It was great for weight loss, good health and I want to get in the groove again. It's always hard getting started and back in the routine of things. (ETA: Swam Tuesday night!)

7. THE QUEST. Yes Kristie is at it again and we all have something new to consider in our lives. BROKEN WING by Judith James. I ordered mine and hope to have it by the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

8. Mail pressies to new nevvy and his big sister. Gotta celebrate the new baby. Pressies purchased, just got to them wrapped and boxed and mailed. Soon.

9. Last but not least, the photo project. Last year at this time my Dad dumped all the old family photo albums on me and asked me to go through them all and divvy up pictures to all the sibs. I've neatly boxed them all up and they are under my bed. I've purchased albums for the individual sibs to give them their share of the photos, but haven't gone through the laborious process of reviewing and dividing. Ugh! I'd like to get this done before Christmas.

So there it is. My Fall 'to do' list. Yes, I know I called it the "October" to do list, but I'm thinking a few of these may go on past the end of the month. At least I have them in writing and now I'm committed.

Committed.

Funny no?

As in I need to be committed? *ba dum bum* *cymbal crash*

It's a Boy!

This is my 14th nephew whose has already been dubbed 'Wonka' by a couple of his slightly older male cousins. Little Wonka's Mom barely weighs more than he does. My SIL is about 110 lbs soaking wet and hardly looked pregnant when I saw her two weeks ago. LW came in at 9 lbs 7 ozs and 21 1/2 inches. Ouch!

This little guy makes my 28th nephew or niece. So there are 30 grandchildren on my side of the family counting my two boys. 16 boys and 14 girls. Pretty evenly divided. The ages range from my 32-year old niece who now has two children of her own, to little Wonka not even a day old at this writing.

I also have 8 great nieces and nephews and one on the way. Fuh-reaky that. One day you are one of the half pint kids running around at your grandparents house and before you know it all the half pints are running around at your house. Surreal.

So, welcome little Wonka. I can't wait to get my hands on you. Hopefully your Mommy will be able to bring you to your first family wedding in just under three weeks. Live large kid. There's a lot of love out here waiting for you.

The Quest

From Wikipedia:

A quest is a journey towards a goal used in mythology and literature as a plot. Quests can be found in the folklore of every nation. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero(ine)*, and the overcoming of many obstacles, typically including much travel.

The first part of your quest, should you decide to make it, is to go read what our heroine has to say about the journey. When a reader you know, love and trust tells you a book is a 6 out 5 you sort of stand up and take notice.

The book?

BROKEN WING by Judith James

Go ahead and read an excerpt. Then you can go buy it at Borders or Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Its available now and we probably shouldn't wait.

6 out of 5?

Nope.

Not waiting.

Zapped by Zeek!

Zeek got me!

This is a meme that is pretty easy to get into and requires very little effort. It's also timely as I just finished the "nearest book".

Here are the rules:
Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions.

Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.

"He would have taken an army if you asked him to conquer a town. He could not take one to conquer a mulberry tree. He says he has no honor, but you can see that's not true."

~THE LION'S BRIDE by Iris Johansen

I just finished reading LION'S BRIDE. It's still good. It was originally published in 1996 and holds up well. There was an excerpt of Ms. Johansen's new historical coming out in December 2008 in the back of the re-release of TLB. It looks like THE TREASURE is Kadar and Selene's story. Finally.

I'm not tagging anyone, but I like these kinds of memes because I'm always curious about what everyone is reading. So if you likey, join us AND let me know.

The Center of the Universe

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
~Kahlil Gibran

My life is changing. Again. Life does that. These expected and anticipated changes. You logically know they are going to happen, yet somehow when they arrive it's sort of a surprise. Beanie moving out was not a surprise. It was planned. He was ready. We were ready. It was time. Yet now it seems so odd not to have him living under the same roof. That part was a surprise.

It felt wrong that overnight all those years of care and worry, the daily watering and care of my children, was just over. Done. Don't get me wrong. The move was a good thing. Beanie is doing great. Shmoo is doing great. It's just weird not to have to be on watch. Know what I mean?

In all honesty, I am a little melancholy. It's the passing of another stage of my life. For so many years the boys have been the center of the universe for GG and I. Thank goodness we live in a time where the internet and cell phones make our loved ones so close and accessible. I'd probably be a real mess otherwise.

Anyway, lately GG and I find ourselves at home together. Without kids. This is like one of the premier best kept secrets about being an (almost) empty nester. Alone in your very own house without the kids! I have to say it's pretty freaking awesome. Hey, maybe that's why I'm not reading more??? I swear it's better than going away for the weekend because you get to be together AND sleep in your own bed.

Most fortunately we still enjoy each other's company. I'm so grateful we have so much to talk about every day. Laugh about. Complain about. We can be quiet together. We swim and walk together. It's pretty cool.

Snap!

Just like that the planets and life have realigned. We now have a new center of the universe. Each other. So, I figure, what's not to like? Change is good. Right?

And Shmoo lives just down the hall and Beanie is only 50 miles away.

September Reading List

This is not much of a list at all. What happened to September anyway? I swear it's all a blur. One moment it was September 1st and the next it was October 1st. Aside from a baby bridal shower I couldn't tell you one thing about the whole month.

Oh, I remember something about a DIK dust-up from some blog hopping other than that... Who am I? What am I? Where am I? You get my drift. Heh. Drift. I amuse myself sometimes.

Here's the sadder but wiser September book list. Seven is a 'list'. Right? Of course I'm now at 50% (give or take) of what I used to call a normal reading month.

I know I keep harping on this topic, but I'm completely befuddled with where my time goes. I'm thinking I live in two realities. There's the reality I'm stuck in now and there's one where I read more. I want it the reading reality back. Like right now.


Heart Fate by Robin D. Owens B
I really enjoy this series and look forward to each new book. Why though did her publisher have to release her last two books in trade size? They don't fit on the shelves with the other paperbacks in the series. Aaargh!

Dark Curse by Christine Feehan B
Carpathians in HC. I've clearly lost my mind. What can I say? I was in the mood for it.

Outlaw Lovers 4: Tyler's Woman by Jan Springer C
An ebook from Ellora's Cave. I've read the others in the series. They're sketchy and uneven, but again, I was in the mood, browsing and remembered the series.

The Invitation by Lacy Danes C
This was a Spice Brief ebook. I have little recollection and no interest to go looking for it to recall. That's not a good sign.

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr C
I know. I know. I should like these more. Good writing, just not enough going on for me. Oh, and I think this is a re-release of this one.

Hot Property by Susan Johnson C-
The hero isn't a total a$$ hole. That's a departure for her.

Private Places an anthology by Robin Schone, Claudia Dain, Allyson James and Shiloh Walker

I read both the Schone and Walker's stories and was pretty pleased with them. I'd give them both a 'B'. This one is still on my night stand and I'll probably give the other stories a try over the month of October. You know as filler between ALLLLLLL the books I'm reading.

A girl can dream can't she?

C'mon you know you wanna..

Guess who's coming to dinner? Don't know? Go read.

It's okay. I'll wait. Go ahead and click. Yep, it's that time of the month again. No, not THAT time of the month. It's that time of the month. I have a column up at Access Romance. Go check it out.

Do you know...

WHO LOVES YA BABY?

It's here my peeps. Autumn and the merry month of October. I love the Fall don't you? This year is going to be full of lots of changes and surprises.

Things are changing at work as I continue to learn lots of new stuff about a whole new job. My goddaughter and niece is getting married in a few weeks. My brother is getting ready for the arrival of a new baby really any day now... Just lots to think about and look forward to.

Not the least of which is my lack of time to read posts. I'm up to 380 in my Google Reader these days. I'm only reading about 5-10 a day. I just haven't had a good block of time to go through them all...yet. I'm being stubborn again and refusing to just press delete and move on. Don't judge, just love me. Okey dokey?

I did take my handy dandy book list and do some shopping tonight. Normally Tuesday is a swimming night, but I worked late and GG had a horrible day at work so we decided to give ourselves a break. Of course for me it's Tuesday and a break means the bookstore. Good thing I have a man who doesn't mind stuff like that huh?

Anyway, here's my loot:

COME THE NIGHT by Susan Krinard

KING OF SWORD AND SKY by CL Wilson (I can't wait!)

SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE by Lisa Kleypas (if she writes it I will buy it!)

SECRET DESIRES OF A GENTLEMAN by Laura Lee Guhrke

NIGHT FALL by Cherry Adair

What you may ask am I reading right now? Actually I'm doing a re-read. Yes, it is an insane thing to do with so many books in my TBR. But, but, but... I felt I HAD to re-read LION'S BRIDE by Iris Johansen because after more than 10 years she is going to be releasing a brand spanking new historical in December. This new historical is linked to LION'S BRIDE. So you see I really did HAVE to re-read LION'S BRIDE. I've barely cracked it and am anxious to see if it stands the test of time. More on that later.

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll put up my pitiful September reading list. It's not pretty people, not pretty at all.