Family Update

The big news is that Loki and Rob are having a baby. It is due in the middle of September. This will be grandbaby number two.

Bella finally has her first tooth at over 9 months. I was beginning to think she was never going to get any teeth. My sons all had teeth by six months. She is getting so big and has a laugh that is amazing.

Count Rugen is growing also. He will be a year old this month. Unfortunately, he isn't behaving any better. Last night he decided he wanted to go fishing in the fish tank and knocked one of the pieces of glass inside. I had to put a towel over the opening so the fish wouldn't jump out and Rugen wouldn't go in. Rob fixed it today.

We have a new roof which is very fancy. This means we can now fix the hole in the bathroom ceiling where it used to rain because of the hole in the roof. Actually, it was more of a slit between the flat roof on the family room and the peaked roof on the rest of the house. It is nice to not have it rain in the bathroom. Today we got insulation in. We have to rent a truck to get the drywall home since no one has a truck anymore. It'll be nice to have the ceiling done, then we are going to tile.

My new book, A Chance for Love, a historical time-travel romance, is coming right along. I am on page 175. It is over half done. I have trouble finding time to write with teaching six online classes, but I am adding to it every week. It will be published before the end of the year on Kindle.

Roof Monsters

The second month of the year is already half over. I am not getting as much writing done as I would like, but I am almost half way through my new western time-travel.

We had a new roof put on the house recently. My oldest son Tom decided on that. It is some fancy new tile that looks sort of like shingles and is self-cooling. Part of the reason for the new roof was there was a leak in the front bathroom, over the bathtub, thank goodness, but the ceiling had come down.

It was quite an ordeal. My family room has a wooden beam ceiling, so as they tore off the old roof, dirt and water from the rain the night before came in. I had to cover all the computer equipment and couldn't work while they were up there. I also couldn't sit on the couch because the bathroom is on the other side of the wall and the roof was a bit damaged there. The roofer was afraid he'd fall in on top of me.

Chewbaca was terrified and stay glued to Tom until Tom went into his office. Then Chewbaca refused to leave my side. Count Rugen went under the bed in the back bedroom and refused to come out. He was freaked out all night long. Neither of them liked the roof monsters.

The day they started putting the roof back on, one of the roofers put the big trash can in front of the dog door to make sure Chewbaca couldn't get out and get him. The door was locked so that wouldn't happen. Rugen spent the day under the bed again and Chewbaca stayed very close to me.

The third day when they were finishing, I had to leave. It is really difficult to get dressed with a 90 pound dog sitting on your feet. Then when I started out the door, one of the roofers was in the yard and Chewbaca decided he was going out with me and after the man. I had the dog wedged in the door. The man went up the ladder and onto the roof. I had a really hard time convincing Chewbaca he couldn't eat the man. I finally made it out the door.

Rugen still freaks out when there is noise on the roof. Some animal runs across it some nights.

And, it hasn't rained so I can make sure the leak is gone. Every big rain storm seems to go around us. It shouldn't leak any more, but I am not sure the roof is not possessed. We tried everything to fix the leak and nothing worked.

I want to fix the ceiling so I can redo the bathroom. Besides, it will be warmer in there without a gaping hole. I keep hoping for rain.

2011 Is Ending

I went over my goals for 2011. Boy, was that a bust. I finished two and started on a couple of others. I changed books near the end of the year since the Alternate Universe romance was going no where fast. I am making progress on A Chance For Love, which is a time-travel, historical western romance. I hope to have it finished by March and up at Kindle and Nook.

My books have all been posted at Nook and are ready for sale. I have to wait and see how long it takes them to actually sell. It took longer than it was supposed to to publish. I also have to e-mail Barnes and Noble again to get them to take down the publisher's copies of the ones I have the rights to. There are still three of them up. I have been trying for months to get them down.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday so far. I am on vacation from both universities, so I am happy. I am ignoring my students until January 2.

Bella had a very busy holiday. This was her first Hanukkah and she is opening one of her presents. That was Friday night. Then Saturday night she had Christmas Eve with Grandpa and Grandma.

Christmas Day she came with mom, dad, and grammy. She wasn't much in the mood to open presents any more. Her arm was bothering her until after her dinner nap in mom's arms.

Chewbaca had a wonderful Christmas. He got his present first, a new squeaky ball. He ripped it right open and took it straight to Bella's grammy to play ball. He took it to everyone before the day was over. By the time everyone left, he was exhausted. He could hardly get his back end up from the floor because of all of his running around. He did manage to sit up for his nightly pill and peppermint candy, then flopped back down. His birthday is the day after Christmas, but I didn't give him his present until the following day. He was so tired I kept telling him to go lay down. He wasn't getting to play any more.

He had more trouble getting the squeaky bone open. I had to pull of the last of the paper for him. Now I am trying to find a time when he isn't looking to toss the old one that is in tatters.

Count Rugen wore himself out trying to hide from people. He leapt over presents to get behind the tree. He also hid under the dining room table, but his big paws snuck up to steal the silverware. He finally went into the bedroom and crashed on the blankets. He was pretty tired the next day. All the stress of company was too much for him.

I was tired and didn't move for two days. There is so much to getting everything ready, then cooking dinner. It wasn't as stressful this year because Rob helped me. It would have been even less stressful if I hadn't had to take a class the week before vacation for work.

I am going to be making goals for the next year this week. I will be making less goals since I don't seem to be accomplishing as much with all the teaching I have been doing. I hope to do a better job of actually doing them this time.

The first one is to finish my new book. I would like to have two new books next year.

The Irish Countess is on Kindle

BUY NOW from Kindle

I have posted the Irish Countess at Kindle with a sexy new cover.

After her husband’s death, Countess Fitzsimmons returns to Ireland with her son. There she meets Mick O’Hurlihey, the estate overseer, and falls in love. However, being the countess keeps her from him. Mick, smitten with Ciara, realizes that he can never her. Then danger stalks Ciara and her son and Mick risks his own life to keep theirs safe.

Rugen loves to help me while I am at the computer. His newest thing is to grab my hand while I am typing or using the mouse. Then he bites. He also likes to clear off the top of my desk.

He is a little terror most days. I was boiling left over roast to make shredded beef enchiladas and I spent the whole afternoon chasing him away from the stove. He has no idea of what hot is or fire. I cannot leave the stove for a second or he will be setting himself and the house on fire.

He has gotten big enough that he can now hug Chewbaca. He grabs him around the neck so that they are face-to-face. His paws almost meet at the back of Chewbaca's neck. It is a hit and run action. I would love to get a picture of him doing it, but he doesn't stay long. I think he figures Chewbaca is going to grab him.

I made a Christmas stocking for Bell's first Christmas. I made one for each of the boys for their first Christmases, which I still hang on the fireplace. Those are knitted since felt stockings were not around when Tom was born and I wanted them all similar. But a girl deserves something bright and fancy. I made her mommy one for her first Christmas also. Michael nagged me something terrible on that one. He didn't think I would have it done on time. This time he wasn't around to nag me.

Then I had to go out and buy something to put in the stocking for Bella. I bought little items that I can take out of the packages and put loose in the stocking. I probably bought more than will fit.

I figure the Christmas stockings may be one of the few things that goes up this Christmas because Rugen likes to redecorate everything. The Christmas tree will probably end up a shambles.

Bella is growing so much. She will be six months old this week on Saturday. Her parents can start to use the Baby Bullet I bought them to make her food.

She has such a beautiful smile and such big blue eyes. She is my darling. She can turn over from her stomach to her back, if so inclined. She isn't thrilled with being on her stomach and voices that at other times.

I am working on a new book called a Chance of Love. It is a western time-travel and is moving along nicely. I am trying to find more time to write, but teaching classes interferes with that.

Check out my books on Kindle when you get a chance.

Read More

The Lucky Lady Up At Kindle

BUY NOW from Kindle The Lucky Lady has a new look and is now available on Kindle.

Lila Kane s trying to bury her past as a saloon singer and reestablish herself as a respectable dressmaker in a town where no one knows her. Then she meets Carter Hawkins, a saloon owner, gambler and drinker, the epitome of everything she detests, but he touches her heart.

Carter wants nothing more than to sell his saloon and resume his wandering lifestyle until Lila arrives in town. He is drawn to the prim and proper seamstress, but realizes he must stay away from her or he’ll ruin her reputation.

Then a blackmailer threatens her life and her dream. Carter will do whatever is necessary to keep her safe. Can he protect her without sabotaging her dream and her reputation? Can she keep him from stealing her heart as her tries to protect her?

Check it out. Carter is hot.