It's Here!

My copy of The Forgotten Disturbed arrived today -- Two Days Early! I've just started on chapter two, and must honestly say that I'm enjoying the book. The end of the Prologue caught my attention and I'm anxious to find out ... well, I won't say what I'm anxious to find out because I don't want to "spoiler" the book for everyone else!

Nothing much going on otherwise. Work, tacos last night, watching Criminal Minds (and they need to stop taking actors I like and making them creepy!) Tomorrow is Survivor night and I really, really hope that they vote off Coach.

Commercial is over.

Sunday

And another weekend is drawing to a close, and it's back to work in the morning. Was up early as usual and met The Kids for a late breakfast. The Boy then went for a class on fly fishing (just for the heck of it) and The Girl and I wandered around the mall. Had a nice time, bought a pair of earrings and she bought a necklace. Spent a lot of time at the bookstore and didn't buy anything in there. Maybe because I still haven't finished the first of the Sword of Truth series (and there are 12 books in the series); nor have I finished P&P&Z. Plus, the book my brother just had published (did I mention that my brother had his book published???) will be arriving on or before (hopefully) Friday. So I have plenty to read.

Since I've been home, I've been reading and computering. Didn't even turn the tv on until about half an hour ago, which is very unusual for me. I generally have it on all the time just for the background noise.

Just finished dinner (leftover Girl Scout tacos from last night) and am ready for the evening shows to start. Of course, that won't be until about 9:00 ...

Saturday Morning

Well, it's not quite 8:00 am as I start this post, and I've been up for 2 hours. Sure do wish I could sleep later on the weekends, but I've given up on that idea. Don't really have anything to say, which is normal, but figured I should make more of an effort to keep the blog updated. About the only notable thing that happened this week is the Publication of The Book, which has been mentioned. And I received an email from Amazon to let me know that The Book has shipped and should arrive at my place by Friday. Woohoo!

Didn't start the coffee until just a little while ago; and as soon as it finished brewing the cat climbed up onto my lap and got all purry-comfy. So now, in order to get my coffee, I have to dump the cat onto the floor. Guess I can wait a little longer for the caffeine... we'll see how it goes.

IT'S AVAILABLE AT AMAZON!!!

My brother's book .... The Forgotten Disturbed by T L Trevaskis

Is it a mark of insanity when your life turns into a faerie tale? Or is it a sign of awakening? And how do you tell the difference? Jessica Kendall thinks she is fleeing a nightmare, when she impulsively trades her promising but mundane career at a California university for the isolation of a tiny farming village in south-central Germany. She soon discovers, however, that it is not quite so easy to run away from a dream. There is something odd about her stern but grandmotherly new landlady, Frau Totmüller, and something even odder—and more wonderful—about the old woman’s handsome, successful son. Drawn to the enigmatic Hermann, despite her fears and misgivings, Jessica soon finds herself immersed in a world of magic, ancient artifacts, and unimaginable power that seems to have been waiting for her all her life.


4/23: Edited to add the link

Yummy Dinner

Not a very exciting day, but then what else is new. Met The Boy and The Ex for breakfast (the Ex was late, of course) and then watched a couple episodes of Moonlight. Gave the upstairs neighbor a cup of sugar (yeah, he came down and introduced himself; then, with an embarrassed expression said "I know it's a cliche but ... ").

This evening, The Boy and I met Sis and Rafe for dinner (her birthday celebration) at a restaurant called The Stinking Rose. I'd never been there before, although I know Sis and Rafe love it. The restaurant specializes in garlic; in fact, on their website they advertise as "seasoning the garlic with a little food". I had 20 clove garlic chicken, which was wonderful and came with garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert I had the most marvelous chocolate fudge mousse. It was so absolutely delicious!

Unfortunately tomorrow won't be as much fun ... I have about a dozen loads of laundry to do (which is odd, because I only own about 5 outfits). Wish I'd done the laundry earlier in the week.

Long Week

This has been a really long week. I've had computer issues (got a virus, so The Boy has the laptop for repairs). I have his old one as a loaner, but it has issues with the power cord so I have to be very careful about moving the computer or I lose power. Which is just an observation, not a complaint, because I am very grateful that he is: a) working on my computer; and, b) lending me this one. I should (hopefully) be getting my computer back tomorrow.

The Boy had to work late on Tuesday (in fact, he didn't go home but slept at work due to any early Wednesday start time) so we didn't make it to taco night. He and I did, however, go for burritos on Wednesday. They were really good, too, although I think I like the tacos just a little bit more. I had a good time; the bartender (we still don't know his name) spent quite a bit of time talking with us since the restaurant wasn't very crowded. Of course, we were there a lot earlier than usual and left about the time most people would have been showing up for dinner.

Yesterday was Sis' birthday, and she took vacation time for a 4-day weekend. Made the two days seem even longer since I didn't have her to email with during work ...

And now I'm kinda sleepy and my neck is sore.

All I Can Say Is

I sure hope they do a better job of it the second time around ....

"regarding actor Ralph Fiennes. Variety reports tonight the actor, who is reportedly in advanced negotiations to appear in the remake of "Clash of the Titans...."
(found in an article at http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/)

Saturday Morning

and I've been up for almost 45 minutes. I wish the cat would learn that Saturdays are for sleeping in. Of course, my own brain doesn't let me sleep in -- but at least it doesn't get right in my face and meow at me until I get it some fresh water. So here I am, computering with a purry cat on my lap at 6:40 on a Saturday morning. *sigh*

Don't really have anything to blog about, as usual. Will be meeting The Kids in a few hours (like, about 4) for breakfast. I think the ex might be joining us; he was going to call The Boy last night but I don't know if he ever did. Need to do some housework, and need to weed my little yard area. I also need to decide on (and start) a new knitting project. I should find the yarn and pattern for the socks I started ages ago .... I have one sock for each of two pair and never started on the "mates". And no, the two I have wouldn't look good if worn together. Although I just might do that anyway.

Well, that's all my brain can come up with right now. Gonna go make some coffee.

Post Office and DMV

Why do we have to deal with these agencies? Why? And again I ask .... WHY?

I realized that the DMV never sent me the registration renewal notice for Henry. I know that I got him in April, thought it was near the end of the month. Went to work today and decided to check the date on the registration, just in case. Figured I could call DMV and find out what the fees would be and maybe get it paid early. I've been dreading having to pay it, since word is that the registration fees were doubling as of April 1. So, as I mentioned, I decided to check the date on my current registration. Um, make that expired registration. As of yesterday. Darn.

Decided to pay the fees online. Oh, wait - can't do that because you have to have the ID number from the renewal notice. That I don't have. Called DMV and after transferring around in the auto attendant stuff and being on hold for about 10 minutes, finally spoke to a "real person". Told her I need to know the ID number and the charges so I could pay online. She couldn't tell me the ID number without me having the renewal notice (?????), but if I still had the one from last year the number would be the same. Yeah, because I kept that. Anyway, I was happy to discover that the registration fees were only $10 higher than last year. Bad news? There was also a $32 late fee. For one freakin' day. Needless to say, I stopped AAA on the way home and paid the fees.

Started reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies while at AAA and I think I'm going to like it...

So then I got home and checked the mail; I want to get that darned package returned so I can get my money refunded. Huh, no key in the mailbox. Called the Post Office and after spending about 5 minutes explaining the situation to the woman that answered the phone, my call was transferred to a supervisor. Who could tell me absolutely nothing. She doesn't know if the repair guy came out to fix the lock, or when they'd be able to get the mailbox open. This is extremely frustrating, to say the least.

And now, I'm gonna go because Survivor is on.

Post Office Frustration

So, the copy of Twilight that was supposed to have been canceled was delivered to my mailbox on Saturday. Well, not MY mailbox because it didn't fit, so it was put into one of the "parcel boxes" and the key left for me. The key doesn't turn in the lock; I think the box is too close to the door and is blocking the latch. Called the PO today to ask what to do about it ... well, apparently the parcel boxes are loaded from the front, not the back like the regular mail boxes. I have the "only" key; so I need to leave it in my mailbox in the morning so the postal carrier (who had a very rude attitude on the phone) can try and get my parcel for me. And she better not take it back to the PO and expect me to go pick it up; this is a lot of PITA for an item that's going to be returned.

Picked up my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (why do I keep typing that as "Jombies"?) today, and will probably start reading it in a couple of days. I'd like to get a little further into Wizard's First Rule first. Supposed to be re-reading Twilight for a read-along, too. That's a lot of reading! I'm sure I can handle it ...

And - today I received my surprise from one of the Rav ladies -- she sent me a skein of hand-dyed yarn! The colorway is called "Charlie Swan" and is absolutely gorgeous. He is 440 yards of fingering weight sock yarn - 70% Merino, 30% Silk. I feel guilty accepting it; but I know she'd be hurt if I returned it. I don't know that I'll ever knit anything with it, but it is beautiful. So - with no further ado - may I present Mr Charlie Swan:

Restful Saturday

I spent most of the day yesterday reading (when the headache was mild) and napping (when it wasn't). Didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked to last night but that's not surprising since I didn't do anything that would tire me out. Just have the last little lingering bits of ache in the right temple, so I'm hoping that means this stupid headache has just about run its course and will leave me alone.

Don't have plans for today other than maybe meeting The Girl for breakfast, and then going to the grocery store. Will probably throw a movie into the dvd, roam around the Rav forums and read. That's about all I have the energy for.

Feeling A Bit Better - I Think

Didn't sleep very well last night, probably because of the nap after work. I am feeling better, though. The headache has eased off (at least for now, let's hope it stays that way!) and I'm showered, shampooed and dressed. Got my coffee and a book. I think I'll be ok.

Headachy Week

Well, not much going on this past week. Tuesday was month-end, of course, so we had the "big push" to get all the invoices processed. Not really too much of an ordeal, since we've been able to keep up-to-date on the data entry. Had a yummy sandwich from the Philly cheese steak place (chicken and melty cheese) for lunch. Wandered the mall for a little while and went to Target for candy to fill the jar at work. Met The Kids for tacos (which were yummy - the tacos, not The Kids) and had a nice time.

Wednesday was check run day (which is normally on Tuesdays but we postponed it a day because of month-end). AZ and I went to the teriyaki bowl place to pick up lunch - we get coupons for buy-one/get-one stuck on our cars just about every week. I generally don't like to patronize places that stick flyers or coupons on my car; mostly out of irritation. However, AZ talked me into "sharing" a coupon with her a week or so ago and the place has really good food. So, we went again this week.

Last night was Survivor (FINALLY) and it was a pretty good episode. I'm worried about my TJ; he was a little obsessive about completing one part of the challenge himself instead of trading off when it wasn't working out well, and I think he might make people upset with that kind of behaviour. Fortunately, he didn't get voted off -- Unfortunately, I owe another buck.

I was supposed to meet Duh tonight to go to the Two-Step competion and help out this weekend. However, I've been getting headaches in the late afternoons at work (don't know if it's because of too much coffee, not enough coffee, too much computer entry or some other unknown reason). Got home from work today to pack up for the weekend. Decided to sit and relax a few minutes and let the headache ease off. Dozed off -- and woke up with the head pounding. So I called Duh and told her I'd have to back out of the weekend. I'm bummed, but I wasn't about to drive to her place with my head aching.

Guess that's about it for the updates. Nothing exciting, but that's life.

OH - I almost forgot the one really exciting thing ... my brother sent me an email to let me know that his book is finally being printed and will probably be available for purchase this month! He also attached a pic of the cover art -- a picture that he, the author, took!

And - the completed "Armando" hat --