Thursday

The shower reno is still ongoing.  We had the shower made larger too.  Today they are *finally* putting up tile.  It's going to be beautiful!

Since I don't want to post pics until the shower is done, I'm going to talk about last Friday and the wonderful Sushi dinner we had with my friend Denice and her husband Ron.

At first, Lonnie didn't want to go.  He's never had Sushi and didn't want to try. But he finally agreed.  I've only had it a couple of times and wasn't that impressed.

But this place was Oh So Good!  Maybe it was the company and the experienced way they ordered the rolls.  Either way, it was all fresh, tasted wonderful, and the texture was good.  I'd definitely go back.

Here are a few pics.

Tower of (can't remember the name)

 Vegetarian Roll

Tuna roll and shrimp roll

We were stuffed!

Monday, Monday Monday.

Here I am again, about to get back to work on The Rancher's Return.  I read a quote somewhere - and didn't get who said it - but the quote was something like "Work gets done when your fear of not doing it exceeds your fear of sucking at it."  I feel like that sometimes, especially when working on revisions.   I'm always afraid I'm not going to do them right.

This weekend was busy for me - I volunteer for Legacy Boxer Rescue.  On Saturday, I went to one of our Approved Adopters and met a foster mama there with her puppy.  And my adopter is giving little Blizzard her forever home!  (Blizzard's name will probably change!)

My second visit on Saturday was a Home Visit to qualify or disqualify someone who wants to adopt a Boxer from Legacy.  Since the people didn't have a dog, another foster home met me there with their foster dog, Monroe.

Monroe is an older gentleman, and what a love bug.  The young couple we visited loved him.

And then after the last home visit, I came home and Lonnie and I went to both Home Depot and Lowe's to look at fixtures for our shower.  And then I got groceries.  We planned to swim but a sudden rainstorm came up and nixed that idea.

Sunday, I met my fellow rescuer Denice at 9am to do a Home Visit.  We brought a lovely dog named Dolce with us and the young family LOVED her too. (Fingers crossed)

And the last Home Visit of the day was for someone who wants to be a volunteer with Legacy.  We met him and his fiancee and their three dogs.

Whew.  Then I did laundry and collapsed.  We had more rain.

This morning the shower reno has started.  I am back to work. The weekend went buy in a flash.

Mitchell Thomas

As most of you realize by now, I'm a dog person.  I volunteer with Legacy Boxer Rescue and do what I can to help my favorite breed.

But before there were Boxers, I had Miniature Schnauzers.  Years ago, my first Schnauzer was named Skipper Doodle Dandy (poor guy).  He died from Hemolytic Anemia 13 years ago at the age of 8.  My second Schnauzer Daisy Mae, died 3 years ago from Cushings Disease at the age of 11.

My last remaining Schnauzer Mitchell Thomas aka Bitsy Buddy will turn 13 tomorrow.  He's been a healthy little guy until recently.  As he's aged, he's lost his hearing, and his eyesight is a bit weak, and he wobbles when he walks.  Oh, and he has a bit of dog dementia.  But we still adore him and carry him up and down the stairs so he won't miss anything.

He used to love to swim, but his hind legs no longer work right so the only time he can go in the pool anymore is if we carry him.  Which we do, holding him in the water which makes him happy.

In the thirteen years he's been with us, he's been a vital and important part of our lives.  He's slowed down a lot now and mostly spends his days sleeping, and we have to hand feed him a lot as he doesn't want to eat, but he still likes to do dog stuff and his quality of life is still good.

Happy Birthday, Bitsy Buddy!

Almost There

It has been a hectic 6 days since I last posted.  My wonderful editor emailed me and asked me to send her whatever chapters I have completed on Shade of the Wolf.  Since my method is to finish the book and then go back and edit the chapters and I wasn't done, I panicked.  The first day I sent her the first four chapters, edited by me.  Each day I'd send her 3-4 chapters as I went through and edited them.  I had two left on Friday, one of which (Chapter 19) wasn't finished.  Yes, I still had to write The End.

This past weekend, I finished editing Chapter 18 and sent it to her on Monday.  Monday morning, I had to help my daughter move into her new classroom in her new school in her new district.  After all the boxes were in the room, I started unpacking.  Then I saw an email from my editor asking for the end of the book!

Yikes!  I rushed home, sat down, and started writing.  Luckily, I knew the ending.  I just had to put the words on paper (and chose the right words!)  In one afternoon, I wrote nearly 3000 words, emailing it to my editor right around 4pm my time (5 hers).

She edited it right then and there, put it in the system, and emailed me the line edits today.  I have 2 days to do them, but they're light.  Thank goodness.

So that's what I'm working on now.  On a side note, I really like this book!  It's different and my editor said the twist surprised even her - and she said she didn't surprise easily these day!  She also said it was a powerful and emotional story!  Yay!

Anyway, I must get back to it.  After the AA's are done, I have to get really busy on the next revisions.
No rest for the wicked, apparently!

Tuesday

I'm always amazed at how quickly time goes by now that I'm working at home at a job I love.  School starts again in a three weeks and so far our summer has been mild, which makes me a happy girl.

I'm wrapping up Shade of the Wolf and sending 4 chapters at a time to my editor, because it needs to go into production.  I like the books.  It's been a fun story to write.

So I'm busy, but happy.

This year has been the year of expensive home repairs for us.  It started in January when we decided it was time to totally redo our pool.  The pool is 19 years old.  We had it gutted, new tile, coping and plaster put in. That was supposed to be our only home improvement project this year.  We like to do one a year.  We can afford one a year.

And then spring came and our lawn died.  We had dirt.  With rain and dogs, that equals mud.  Lonnie had the old lawn scraped off, new dirt brought in, and the yard entirely re-sodded.  Ka-ching. $$$

Ok, that's cool.  In May, once my long term foster dog Katniss got adopted, we decided to finally head out to our lake place and our camper.  It had been over a year since we'd been there.  If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know what happened next.  Yes, the camper had a leak and we had mold and mushrooms inside.  Said camper is now at at repair place for extensive - and expensive work.

And yes, I'd put a deposit down on a cruise in November with my Boxer rescue friends.

Then I needed two fillings and - gasp - a root canal.  I don't have dental insurance.  I was quite shocked to learn how much a root canal - and a crown - cost, never mind two fillings.  That little escapade left me $2500 poorer.

Then - yes, it continues - our master bath shower got invaded with ants.  Lonnie sprayed, and since we had some mold issues, decided to regrout the entire shower.  Tiles fell off, there's dry rot and mold (and ants) and we need a complete shower overhaul.  I am STUNNED at how much this is going to cost.  Estimates are still coming in.

The pool chlorinator went.  We have a salt water pool.  We ordered a new one (nearly $900) and NOW... NOW.... the damn POOL PUMP is spewing water.  Lonnie is working on it to see if he can fix it.

I cancelled the cruise.  Then decided not to.  We deserve a cruise after all this.

There are still 4.5 months left this year.  Pray for me that nothing else happens.