The Weekend From Hell

As anyone who's a regular reader of this blog knows, we have a lake lot down at Richland Chambers Lake with a 37 foot camper and other assorted toys.  Due to taking Katniss as a foster dog on 4-3-13, we weren't able to camp there in all of 2013.  (She was so sick, and then she didn't get along with Macadoo).
Early in 2013 we had a horrible storm that cratered our boat and our lantern. We got those fixed, but didn't realize our camper apparently had damage.

A summer went by, a fall and a winter.  Katniss got adopted and finally we were able to go to our camper this past weekend.  Finally!  I was SO excited.

Apparently all this time ago, we got roof damage.  There was a leak, and over the hot summer, the leak and wet wood and carpet grew fungus.  Mushroom and other nasty stuff, to be exact.  I gagged.

WARNING - GROSS PICTURES.  VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Here is what I found INSIDE our beautiful camper.

 Needless to say, I went online and realized what had happened.  Extensive repairs, new walls and floor and carpet and pad.  We'll have to haul it somewhere and have it fixed.  Hoping insurance will cover this. Aware that we won't be camping for a long while until it's fixed.

The rest of it - broken dog water jug, the water getting cut off, Lonnie losing his cell phone (we found it), bug bites, cutting my leg on a dirty piece of metal, only completed the weekend from hell.

I got home, did a bunch of laundry, and drank.  Because really, what else can you do?

News!

I have happy news to share!  Today I was offered (and accepted) an offer to write another Colton's continuity story!  I love writing those and my October 2014 book A Secret Colton Baby will be a Coltons of Wyoming story.

This book will be a Colton of Oklahoma story!  I am so excited, I can't wait.

I need to finish up this Nocturne Shades of the Wolf, do the revisions for All or Nothing, my March HRS, and get cracking on this!

Loving life today!

Mmmm

I have had some good food over this Memorial Day weekend.  Starting with Friday night, when we went to BJ's Brew House.

Shrimp Tacos.  Yumm.

Saturday, Lonnie cooked Pork Spareribs on the grill.  I'd made a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad, plus baked beans.

Sunday, was concert night.  We stopped at La Margarita in Irving and feasted.

And yesterday, Monday and Memorial Day, Lonnie grilled burgers.  Perfection.

Today I went back to the gym and back to writing.  I'm nearly at 15,000 words now.  Wahoo!

Joy

This week, I've experienced a lot of joy.  First, with each and every update Katniss's adopter Tom sends me, my heart is full as I know she finally has found her forever home.  This is what makes rescue bearable. This was worth all the nursing and worrying and separating and loving and yes, missing.  Knowing that my sweet girl is finally where she belongs, has made it possible for me to do it again.  I will foster another dog - Lonnie and I have agreed to take a break for the summer so we can actually enjoy our lake place and camper.  It's hard - I see the urgent Boxers every single day.  There have been more than a few I've wanted to step up for and if I didn't have a lake place and given my husband a promise, I would have done so.

But I will wait and pray that those I cannot yet help will get their own happy ending like Katniss did.

Sometimes, little things can bring joy.  I've been seriously trying to limit my shopping, though every now and then I purchase something.  And yesterday, Tom's sent me a $10 off coupon.  So I went to look at shoes. And I saw this fun, flirty pair of platform sandals that screamed "Summer" and "Fun" and even "Cruise!"         They came in two colors and I took the plunge and order them in the black - though I loved the blue too, I think I have more I can wear with the black tropical print.

I smiled and decided to post them on Facebook.  And then a few comments nearly robbed me of my joy. Hurt, I took the comments down.  And while my delight in them may have been a bit tarnished, I know when they arrive and I put them on my feet, I will smile.  That, my friends, make everything worth it.

Here they are.  If you don't like them, well - you don't have to wear them.  They're mine.  (They also come in a royal blue tropical print!)

I'm 53 years old now.  I have decided to embrace my inner weirdness and wear what makes me happy, rather than worrying about what anyone else things.  The bright tropical shoes, the rock N roll t-shirt, that's me.  Check.

Even my writing has been a joy lately.  My newest book, Shade of the Wolf, features a hero who happens to be a ghost.  I've never written a ghost hero and I'm like a kid with a new toy.  Oh look!  Sparkly, ooooh! Pretty, oooh!  I've been having so much fun with him and their story.

Speaking of which, I'd better get back to writing.  See you soon!

Absence

I've been away the entire month of May, which is a new low for me.  I confess, this blog crossed my mind more than once, but for one reason or another, I didn't post.  Most times, I feel like I'm screaming into the wind.

Before I left my Wordpress blog, I had hundreds, even thousands of visitors a day.  And then I switched to blogger for security reasons and I guess no one could find me.  Sorry for the whining, but I do miss those days when I felt like someone actually read this and it wasn't just a post into the darkness.

If you are my friend on Facebook, you know that my sweet Katniss finally found her forever home.  This time, the right person found her and she him.  They love each other and he doesn't mind her kidney disease or need to be a single dog.  He's told me she's Queen of his house and yard, happy and loving.  He's thrilled, I know Katniss is loving the attention.  He's even keeping her name.  Plus she has her own boy!  He visits every other weekend and she loved kids.

Doesn't she look happy?  I'm thrilled for her.

In the meantime, Lonnie and I are taking a break from fostering.  At least the summer, so we can enjoy our lake lot.  It's too difficult to manage with a foster dog.  So I volunteer on the Foster Committee,  I do Home Visits for prospective adopters, shelter evaluations, transport dogs, and whatever else I can to help.

And I working on the new nocturne.

Random Stuff

I'm always shocked when I go to my blog and see I haven't posted in almost a week.  Mea Culpa.  I get busy and forget.  It's weird how life is so full right now, but I'm loving it.

Let's see.  I went to the new eye doctor, got a totally new prescription, and picked up the glasses yesterday. And I can see.  Without blinding headaches.  So, old eye doctor who insisted the prescription was right and it wasn't your fault I couldn't see, you were wrong.  It was your fault.  Pffffft.

Libby had to have surgery to have a tumor and her other anal gland removed.  She's recovering nicely.  She has to wear the e-collar, which makes her unhappy, but there's no choice.

All the roses I planted - both last year and this year - are blooming and my house looks so pretty.

And today I should finish the AA's for The Colton story.  Once they're gone, I need to dig back into the revisions for All or Nothing.

I'm still exercising every single day (except weekends).  I'm on week four of the program I'm doing.  So far, I haven't had a dramatic weight loss, so obviously I'm still eating too much.  I need to go back to writing down calories. Sigh.

And that's it for now.  We've had beautiful weather, but we need more rain.  Especially at the lake.

Midweek

We've had a fair bit of rain, and the flowers I planted are doing great.  Here's my newest rose bush.

And the gardenias and impatiens.

That brings me happiness.

Yesterday, I went to a new eye doctor and had a new exam.  He disagreed with my prescription (duh, since I couldn't see) and said I don't need prisms.  He was very thorough and I liked him.  I took the new script to Visionworks and fingers crossed this time (fifth remake) I will be able to see.

Today I took my sweet girl Liberty Belle to the vet.  You may remember she had anal gland surgery in December of last year and had a mass removed.  Now she has another mass and is scheduled to have the anal glad removed as well.  Tomorrow.  Prayers for her, as I am very worried.  I love my sweet brindle boxer girl.  And she's only two years old.

That surgery was a bugger last time and the recovery worse.  I am so worried for her.  I love her so much.