I Gotz The Warm and Fuzzies!

Today there was a surprise in the mailbox.

There was a book.

This was funny because I haven't ordered any books.

Then I saw the return address.

Bob stood there dumbfounded as I tore into the package.

After all, Bob had already said 'I see you have a book'.

'I didn't order a book, it's from Rosie!!'

And TADA!!!

A book that brought tears to my eyes and a high pitched squeeing sound up from my lungs.

An Anne Stuart Harlequin First signed by none other than the Goddess of Tortured Heroes and the Heroines who have the bad luck of tripping over them!



















Bob stood back and said with awe, 'You have such great friends. None of mine send me stuff from Home Depot.'

I do have such great friends. Truly blessed I am.

Rosie the Book Angel had struck again!

Great Big Burly Bear Hugs and a Gazillion Thank Yous!

Eeeep!

Sunday night and all is quiet again.

We had a friend with his two young sons come for the afternoon and I played hard. Both my elbows are aching when only one was aching before they came (I hurt my elbow earlier this year and need to do a week of Ibuprofen but I know it upsets my tummy so I've been waiting till no one is coming around. This week may be perfect). I had to keep lifting the light 4 year old up out of the pool and onto floaties and such.

I'm beat.

I don't know how people have kids 24/7 - they have energy to the max.

Yikes!

Now, my poor ear that was hurting earlier in the summer (but got better with a week of me using over the counter drops) is in full blown pain. I don't know if it's swimmer's ear or another type of infection. It hurts! I have a Doc's appt on Tuesday for regular stuff so I'll wait till then but the pain is starting down my neck. I have some over the counter drops for ears but I'm not sure they are getting into the canal like they should. Feels like the canal is either swollen or inflamed.

I have my best bud and her son coming tomorrow but it's supposed to be crazy rainy. Maybe we'll get out of the house for a bit which would be nice but the temperature may feel as high as 40 C. Yeah. I wilt in that kind of heat.

But I'm not complaining!!! Nope, I want the heat. Just let me have clear skies too so I can swim like the fish I am!

Anyways, I'm 3/4 of the way through the Chase book and I'm enjoying it. Hopefully something a bit deeper will happen in the next 1/4 but it's kept my attention.

So that's my weekend update. Hope everyone found some 'me' time.

Alright, I think tylenol is in order for the ear.

Bad Ear.

Things to Come

Thanks for all the blogiversary wishes!

It's a sure way to get the lurkers to come out and comment.

Onwards!

We're having friends come visit tomorrow and I can only hope that it's gorgeous out and they don't need to come into the house too often. With a blind kitty, there are areas of the house that don't smell all that great. Not her fault poor monkey but it definitely makes me self-conscious. All things would be fine except my hubby tore up the flooring in the hallway and well, it's plywood and it's porous.

Ugh.

Not enough bleach in the world.

Anyways, I'm soon off to bed as I've been up all day. Yep, daywalker hours showed up today. And I guess a good part of tomorrow will also be daywalking so I figure Saturday will be a wash.

On that note, I've picked Don't Tempt Me by Loretta Chase for my next read. I can only hope I find some time this weekend for Cindy Time. If not, I guess Monday won't be coming soon enough.

Happy weekend everybody!

Blogiversary - Really 4 Years!?

Holy cow!

I've been blogging for 4 years as of today.

That's nuts.

Considering I never finish anything I start I would have to say I've been showing some dogged determination with this little endeavour!

Four years ago I took a leap after being banished from one of my favourite blogs - Maili told me I wasn't allowed to comment on her blog again until I had my own blog. Me, being me, figured what the hell, the net is ginormous and nobody would really find me.

Let's just say I was shocked when six people actually commented on my first post.

From the title, Nocturnal Wonderings, I obviously made no promises.

I can't keep one train of thought rolling long enough to make sense most days so I knew that anything I posted was going to be whatever the brain wanted to play with.

Book semi-reviews (I'm not a professional and have never made out like I could be one), book shopping, pets, friends, anxiety, memes, movies, clothes, weight, anxiety, Christmas (yikes!), food, parents, loss of parents, anxiety, family, loss of pets, errands - well, life in all it's glory and slop - it was all going to be out there and I'm honest about who I am and who I'm not.

And it's been a blast!

Some of you have been here from the beginning and some have filtered in over the years but you have all been so wonderful and supportive of who I am. And I'm so grateful to have met some of you in person.

This past year I had wondered if I had lost the blogging mojo. I started to worry about how boring I was and the fact that I had been in a reading slump for so long did not make blogging any easier.

Well the good news (poor bastards) is that I have that spark back. I've found my will to read and the will to blog has come home with it. Not that I'm any less boring but now I'll write about it and let it go. Like I did in the beginning.

So here is to 4 years and counting.

Who knows?

Blogging may be the only thing that never gets old!

Edited: Damn picture! I so want a cupcake now.

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

Phew!!

Another book read and it was awesome!

This was my first Jennifer Ashley book and I can say it won't be my last. Although the other brothers in this story couldn't possibly be more interesting the Lord Ian himself.

Cindy Blurb: Beth is a newly rich woman after the elderly woman she had been a companion to left her an inheritance. Beth has not had an easy life but she's known love and understanding but it's been 7 long years since her husband died and she's ready to be a wife again. At least, she thought she was.

Lord Ian Mackenzie is believed to be mad, after all he was declared so in a competency hearing when he was 12 years old. Everyone knows he was released only because after his father's death his brother, a right powerful duke, made it happen. Ian states things as he sees them, has a photographic memory, can re-play any music he hears and is unable to stare anyone in the eye.


The minute he sees Beth he decides he must save her from a horrible betrothal and proposes to her on the spot. Beth, a sensible woman, declines the offer but can't stop herself from being curious about the man who seems unable to tell a lie.

And then came love.

I don't know that I can do this story any justice.

What I can tell you is that in the beginning I was stumbling with my perception of Lord Ian and that's because I had seen someone put a diagnosis on him and I thought it was autism. Not knowing an adult with autism but knowing plenty of children I couldn't get the image of Ian 'the man' right in my head. I was prepared to stop reading the story but decided to head off again in search of what Lord Ian might be suffering and discovered I had made a mistake and it's believed he has Aspergers. I have seen adult men portrayed with Aspergers so after that I was able to see 'the man' and not a child.

And it was awesome.

But I think I've mentioned that.

With the many nuances of Aspergers, there is a million ways for Beth and Ian to not understand each other but neither seems to want to walk away from the other. This is not just a relationship between Beth and Ian but also between Ian and his brothers, Beth and Ian's brothers, Beth and her previous relationships and finally between Ian and his awful father.

Like I said, I can't do this story any justice, just know that I really enjoyed it. I ended up staying up past my 'bedtime' to finish reading the story the night before Bob's family was to come for the day. And you know how I need to sleep!

All that said, there were a few things that quirked.

There is a mystery to be solved and it took Beth to figure it all out which seems a bit silly but I guess with the assumptions the brothers made, it would take an outsider who believed. There's a TSTL moment but I remember feeling invincible at the age of the heroine so maybe it's acceptable.

I also have to say I'm not sure the rest of the brothers are at all likable which makes me wonder if I'll like other books.

I know I would love to re-read it again in the future but I'll go with a B+ as a grade.

The Ugly

If you don't care to see a crap load of bitching and complaining click on out of here because I'm about to go nuclear.

C-Rex is up and pissed off.

I'm sick of waking up to a house that is constantly messy. I clean, I put shit away and bam, the next morning I wake up and shit is all over the place.

Seriously, I can't take it anymore. I'm doing laundry constantly and putting the baskets away - Bob meanwhile has decided the baskets make great storage areas for his clean clothes and putting the clothes away doesn't occur to him.

So nothing is ever really in a spot.

There's this damn green satchel thingie that's been sitting in our den for months. It has dust on it and I've cleaned around the damn thing and everthing and finally last week while in a mood I asked Bob where the damn thing belonged. Bob knowing I was in a mood just said to stop worrying it'd been gone by the morning.

Guess what's still in the den?

Right now I want to do up a huge bon fire. Seriously, just burn up all this clutter and get it over with. Where does all this stuff go?

Then there are the weekends. Poor Bob can't win. He has been helping his brother for months now doing up a reno in their basement so they can get a renter in. It's become even more imperitive because the brother just lost his 20 year job. I know it's important. I know I'm being a bitch. But just one weekend - this one in particular, could you please stay home and help me get ready for YOUR family to come for a visit.

He actually said to me that I should clean the place up before his family shows up.

Seriously?

This from the guy who walked through the house a million times with his dirty boots when I've asked him not to. I've cleaned and vacuumed the floor enough and seeing the work *I* do be discredited by being stomped all over just makes me pissy. Why should I bother cleaning? It's just going to be a mess again by tomorrow.

The kitchen island is a sticky mess but can I clean the damn thing? No. My husband has had his tools and crap all over it for a few weeks and on the day we're going to have company I get 'can you clean up a little.'

THEN, when Bob asked me what time to tell his family to come to our house I said 'You said they were going to follow you home so 1pm'.

Bob: Well I need a few hours in the backyard to get some work done.

Me: *silence*

Me: Well, I've been up since 3am and I'm not going to be cooking dinner at 5pm for your family as I probably won't be up.

Bob: *realizing I'm in a fine mood* Okay, they'll follow me home so 1pm at the latest.

Yeah, no shit.

Not only does he want me to clean the house, he wants time to continue working on the damn fence which he's been working on for weeks.

Fuck no!!

One day. I just need one day of you NOT thinking about only what you want to get done!

So yeah, C-Rex is ready to bounce but I have to go get groceries and stuff. Then I need to clean the house up and pray that my poor cat doesn't have an accident so that the house smells like urine.

In a nutshell, I guess it's a good thing Bob just left for his brother's house (an hour each way). There's a part of me that wants to do jack all. Just forget it. When everyone shows up and asks what the fuck I've been doing just shrug.

Okay, I have to go shopping. Pray some poor soul doesn't cross my path.

I decided to just type it out and get the anger out of my system. So far, the anger is still raging in my belly. Let's hope I can keep it together and not burst into tears next.

Ugh.

Edited: It's 2 hours later and the family has decided they will come tomorrow and I talked to Bob and told him why I'm super bitchy. Poor guy. Now I feel like I'm going to vomit which is never a good feeling and Bob says I need comfort food. I think he's right. I also told him about how I was going to pitch this satchel on the front lawn with a bunch of his stuff but that I refrained because I didn't want the neighbours to have evidence that I'm white trash. Good thing that man loves me. And he does. He really does. He's going to come home and calm C-Rex down.

Long Weekend

It's a long weekend up here in Canada so you might notice some of your peeps disappearing for a few days.

Thankfully Bob and I are only expecting his family on Sunday and the forecast is rain so they may cancel which would mean it's all about us! (I know, I'm horrible)

This week hasn't been all right as rain what with my tummy deciding to roil over and beat the crap me. Stupid tummy. So I'm sitting here hungry but unsure of what I could possibly eat. Not only that I don't really have meat in the house so the last few times I boiled up some beautiful local potatoes I ate them alone and well, the tummy rebelled.

I was considering a McD's run but I'm too tired to get behind the wheel.

Which is ironic because the minute I take my sleeping pill I'm all bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Seriously. Not happy.

And now I'm floundering on whether I'm going to continue on with the Ian book. Maybe it's just not speaking my language at the moment. I might be looking for something darker but I'm so not cracking the Anne Stuart nut I have in back up. Not ready for extreme intervention.

AND, just as a complete aside:

Nalini Singh has put up a schedule of her upcoming books in the Psy series. I will now copy and paste from her site:

Upcoming US releases

Next in the Psy/Changeling Series

BLAZE OF MEMORY (Dev's Book)
November 2009
Now available for pre-order!

AN ENCHANTED SEASON
(mass market release)
November 2009

Psy/Changeling #8 (Max's Book)
July 2010

Psy/Changeling #9 (Indigo's Book)
November 2010

Psy/Changeling Novella (Ria's story)
2010

Psy/Changeling #10
(It could only be one person...)
2011

Ho-kay, you still with me?

Did you see book 10? It could only be one person?

Uh, it better be HAWKE!!

Why am I worried?

Cause there is a Ghost guy with no name running around, I think there are a few other Psy running around looking for stories and seriously, 2011!?

2011 people!

OMG I'll be turning 41 when the damn book comes out.

Okay, I just can't...

I have to go breathe in a bag.

What I Need To Work On

I have noticed that some bloggers have mentioned 'blogging challenges' that are for cleaning up your blog or making it presentable.

I might be able to follow Marg's links to find what I'm looking for but does anyone have some links to help me out?

I have to add people to my sidebar as I keep stumbling over new blogs and even older blogs that I've been to but haven't added to the sidebar. Bad Cindy.

I know I'll put up books on the right hand side of the blog (KristieJ and Nath showed me how, I just have to get my lazy self to move on out)

And tagging. I've never really gone back and re-tagged in fear of breaking people's Google Readers or something like that. Maybe I'll just send a warning post before I start that and by start I mean before I turn 75.

At least this is a blog and something manageable.

Not crazy sized like my house but we'll skip that for now.

Edited: My computer is starting to act like a jerk so I need to do some maintenance. If you don't hear from me for a while I'm working out computer issues.

As to reading I picked up The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley but I can't say it's working for me. I wish I had gone into the book without knowing what *might* be wrong with Ian because it's affecting how I perceive him. If I can finish the book I'll explain in review with 'spoiler' marks.

Ohhhhhhh. I just read what he *might* have and I confused it with something else. Makes better sense to me now.

Hopefully this helps me with the perception issue. Gah. Sometimes I worry myself!

I'm owning idiocy at the moment. Anyone care to take the SOB off my hands?

To Beguile A Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

I spent the whole day reading. Talk about bliss!

So I just finished To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt and decided to get some of my thoughts down cause I'm awake and it's day light and I'm hyper.

Good times.

Cindy Blurb: Helen Fitzwilliam is a wonderful heroine in the fact that she is nothing like what I have read before. Sure she's all good and sweet and stuff but get this. She's the long time mistress of a Duke and has two children from the relationship.

I know!

Then, the hero is a tortured (literally) soul with a horribly scarred face who has holed himself up in a decrepit castle.

So down to brass tacks and all that, the heroine has decided she must flee the Duke and knows that the Duke will try and keep her by stealing her children from her.

A friend of the H/H sends Helen to Scotland to the above mentioned castle to act as a housekeeper for Sir Alistair who is of course a grouchy grump but true love will prevail and all that.

The good news is that I enjoyed the story for the most part.

Anyone that knows me knows I don't like kids in my romance books. Not only were these kids not just a peripheral thing, they had their own little stories within the bigger story. Ugh. I powered through and enjoyed the little boy Jamie only because he seemed right for his age whereas the girl Abigail was 9 and moody. Basically too much like me as a child. Poor thing.

I liked that the heroine had a past and it wasn't something anyone was going to be able to sweep under the carpet. She makes no apologies for who she is or how her life has turned out. She just knows that she needs to move towards happiness before it's too late.

Sir Alistair could have become one of those heroes you've read about more than once. A small scar on the face and they feel marred for life and unworthy of love. Alistair's scars were immense and people fainted when they looked at him and children screamed. He knew what his reality was and had somehow etched out a way of life that was lonely and sad but was his.

He also wasn't charming or overly sentimental. He was rough spoken and like I said above, a bit of a grump which made him wonderfully different from most heroes. I was also surprised at his reaction to Helen's revelation later in the story. Most heroes would hold their tongue and maybe leave the room for a few hours. Not Alistair. He was brutal, not to be evil but because he is so immersed in reality that he sees everything Helen's revelation means.

All that said, the story was missing something for me. That zip that makes a book a keeper and one you'll want to re-read again. As much as I enjoyed this book I can't say I would re-read it but if you love historical romances and don't mind kids in your story then I say give it a try for something different from all the other historicals out there.

C+/B- Can't decide. So I guess I'll have to tag this one under both grades.

Cause I'm lazy.

TSTL - Really?

This post got me thinking and laughing.

What some people consider actions that make a person Too Stupid To Live can actually be some of my daily rituals.

So. Let's share shall we?

1. I have seen it too often said that a heroine without a cell phone in this day and age is TSTL.

I'm a 38 year old woman who can jump start a car, change a tire (if forced to at gun point), and in general find my way to a gas station without any help thank you very much. I also own a cell phone. I don't however, carry it on my person cause seriously, it's just one more thing I have to remember to pick up on the way out the door.

Oh! But now I have a purse so I can carry it always. Only there isn't a permanent plug on my person so it's dead almost every moment of each day.

That said, you come up on me in the middle of the night on some dark road with my car broken down, you better believe I'm carrying a big ass crow bar.

2. Hearing a noise in the basement and knowing there is a killer on the loose and you go down those stairs.

There have only been a few times where a 'killer' has been on the loose and that is usually well televised and I've always had dogs so figured no one would even try. Still, I'll go down those stairs to prove to myself there is nothing to worry about. And yes, there is a baseball bat in an easy to reach place in the house. (I'm not sure how I would react without dogs now. Hopefully I won't be puppy-less forever)

Oh! and I always get mad at movies where the people walk around in their house in the dark - just turn on a friggin' light! It was something of a mind hit the other night when I realized I walk around in the pitch black all the time. Now, I do hit the lights the minute I get in the front door. After that, darkness happens.

3. Heroine out in snow storm in her car.

I'll drive in anything. I'm so not afraid of snow, water, winds. Don't bother me in the least. And yes, I'll be the only person on the road and you better believe I'm heading out to get french fries when the going gets blasted.

I'm also a person who will get out of her car to help someone push their vehicle off the road, or to offer her cellphone (if it's not dead), and one time I got out of my car at a light to help an elderly couple cross the road to catch their bus (they couldn't figure out the walk light & were starting to panic). Sure the light had turned green my way and other people wanted me to move but screw off, I'm helping people here!

That said, I live in a town/city so I wouldn't pull any of this stuff in the country. Although I have driven through a snow storm on unplowed country roads for an hour without flinching once. I thought my mother was going to throw up (she had an accident in the snow) and she was floored that I was so relaxed. (My father took me out when I had my permit and had me do donuts in a snow storm in the back parking lot of a grocery store - once you learn how a car will move in most situations the fear is gone)

So this just covers a few things. The number of times I've almost killed myself because I didn't think something through is probably greater than a cat's number of lives.

Have you ever taken a knife to something not realizing it's actually pointing straight at you? I've almost stabbed myself in the stomach a few times. And I'm careful with knives cause they scare the crap out of me!

Almost broke my leg with a sledge hammer. Once again, didn't think it through.

In demo mode I didn't realize I was hammering towards my head until the damn hammer skipped off the wood and hit me in the noggin. Bob was not pleased.

So 'stupid' happens.

Now, if I got a call from some gravelly voiced serial killer telling me to meet them or else, I'd go with the 'or else'.

I'm just saying, just because 'stupid' happens doesn't mean I happen to be 'stupid'.

Buddy Review!! Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh

Woohoo!!

I finished this book shortly after it was published (there be no slumpville when my auto-buy authors come out!) but boy there is a lot of work in doing up a buddy review!!

Thanks to Nath for letting me play and having the patience for it all and for doing all the 'techie' things that need to happen to get a review like this up.

Without further ado:

Breezing Thru and Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh

You still here?

Seduced By A Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt

Yikes. I never reviewed this book and with my stupid memory I need to make a record of it.

This is where my record keeping with books gets murky. Sure they side bar says I read X number of books but if I forget to change it when I finish a book it's likely I won't ever remember to change it. Thus, lost books. Okay, not lost but not on the fore front of my memory either. I'm using 'Read in 2009' as a tag so at the end of the year I can go back through and remember what it was I read. Now I just have to make sure I review the books or at least make a note somewhere.

Course, I lose notes.

So keeping track would be better.

Instead this will be a note.

I know I liked the book enough to want to dive into the next book To Beguile A Beast which is currently ensconced in my gorgeous new purse.

But Singh's book arrived and stuff happened.

Translated, I can't remember a thing about the darn book except I remember 'seduce a sinner' was in the dialogue somewhere.

Yes, I'm lucky to remember where I live most days.

Noted.

Things I Don't Find Funny

Okay, with that kind of title this post could be one long-assed missive but I'll try to keep it to the one thing that is pissing me off right now.

The Weather:

Canada's summer is short. Shorter than I wish it was. Basically to me there are two seasons, Winter and Swimmer. Swimming has not been happening nearly often enough to keep my ire from rising and killing those in the vicinity.

The Weather Network (how I hate your new smarmy ways) hasn't got a friggin' clue lately. I used to rely on The WN like it was gospel, now it's like they are pissing in the wind and if something hits then they figure they did a good job.

I'm not sure what is going on that they (WN) don't know there is a ginormous cold front with a bunch of rain heading our way instead of the HOT and HUMID weather they are reporting. Seriously, 39 C is what they are saying we should be feeling (humidity) and when it doesn't show up they put it to the next day like oh, it'll show up.

Well it's now late July and I'm calling BULLSHIT.

Poor Bob is keeping C-Rex tied down so she doesn't go on a rampage through hither and dale cause she wants to do some serious damage.

Bob says August will be hot and beautiful. Again, hoping to keep C-Rex from knocking over buildings on her way to Mother Nature's place to ask what she did to piss her off.

To top it all off it was miserably wet and cold tonight. So cold my hubby asked me to turn the furnace on as he went to bed. I was all 'hell no, the bedding and everything in the house is dripping from the humidity in the air' to which my extremely brave husband mumbled 'the heat will dehumidify the house because there is a dehumidifier on the furnace.'

My house is now a sauna.

Hot, miserable in it's current wetness & my brain has decided to misfire and have me smelling burned up cigarettes. (If I was smelling burned toast I would think this horrid summer had finally caused a stroke but I'm hoping the smell of stale cigarettes means my body is feverishly burning off tons of fat) Looked in mirror and my ass is still huge along with the rest of me so that one is a big NO.

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my soggy PMS C-Rex upstairs to mope in front of the TV until my poor unsuspecting husband get ups and I can whine to him as he dresses for what will turn out to be a long day.

Bonus for him, he will re-discover his love of going to the office.

Bonus for me, once he leaves I'll turn on the A/C and blast the wet out of the air.

Next up, prepare yourself for a strongly worded post on meat lockers.

AND - We're Back

With RWA running this week and weekend I figured nobody would miss me if I was too busy to post and well, I was!

My Dad is home from Malaysia so we were there Saturday night for a BBQ and then last night (Sunday) Bob and I took the family out for dinner at Boston Pizza. Sure I had to chew some panic pills but I did it and I'm bloody proud of myself! (small note to newbies - I have panic attacks and my biggest triggers are my parents and food so restaurants with parents in tow are dangerous places for me).

Today was the first Cindy day in about 14 days. Poor Bob had to go back to being a working man after his one week vacation. I told him I didn't get enough Bobby time (he put up fencing and is still custom building wood sections which take about 2-3 hours just to build) so I want him to take a week off in August so we can do day trips and hopefully spend time by the pool and hide from people. Yeah. Sometimes I just want it to be Bob and I and I'm spoiled rotten most of the time so I know I'll get my Cindy week with Bob yet!

I'm going to post a few before and after pics here of the backyard. Keep in mind that Bob did most of the fencing by himself and fencing is usually a two - three man job. Thing is, Bob rarely quits when he's on a roll. I'm also hoping by the mid point of August he'll be closer to finishing up at his family's home.

This week I should get some reading done for sure. Okay, I have Dad to visit and make sure he gets plenty of family time but I can't see why I can't pull out a book every once in a while.

We (most of Southern Ontario) are hoping that we do get the promised heat wave this week cause I so want to go swimming more often. I dove in tonight and swam for bear/bare (?) to warm up. It's the time after (the past two hours) that you sit with a chill all over. Bob just got up to go to bed and mumbled that he is freezing. Yeah, me too!

Dang I was going to load photos but there are every where in my computer and I have one spot where there are no previews so you end up having to go through hoops and I'm not in the mood to jump.

And finally, there is no food in the house.

Sure, there are crackers but no peanut butter. There's bread but no PB, meat, etc. There is not one potato in this house (I'm a potato addict and not having any in the house is making me queasy with hunger), I drank the last coke hours ago and the stuff I did find had mold starting. So I found a lonely frozen dinner in the back of the freezer and I'm heating it up. I told Bob we had to go food shopping tonight but he was tired after a day at work.

So he's sleeping and I'm up like normal and starving. The things I do for love.

And no, I'm not heading to McDs or anything although I'm dying to just so I can stop thinking about food!

I'm in my jammies and lazy to boot so no going out at 2am for me.

Cooling the Jets

I've been scrolling through a bit of the RWA coverage (AAR and Kristie J's so far) and figure most of you will be busy catching up for the week so rambling will now commence.

Did you know painting your own toe nails is hard?

I had no clue. I don't normally polish cause I have that 'Oh, shiny!' factor and get distracted by my own hands. The feet however are fun to catch every once in a while but I've only ever had it done at the spa (one time). For two weeks I would be doing something and would catch a colour out of the corner of my eye and see my toes. Stupid stuff makes me smile so yeah, I would smile.

So my Gorgeous Cousin came to stay overnight with Bob and I and shopping was done in the extreme.

Side Trip!

My cousin can shop. OMG can this girl shop. Even as a teenager and young adult I could not have done the kind of shopping my cousin can do. She will shop an entire mall and then decide what she wants to buy. Me? I buy stuff as I see it. So halfway through everything I'm the only person who has dropped some major coin. Grrr.

Poor Bob decided to come with us (I told him he could stay home and continue building the fence but he chose to come) and the poor guy would find a chair in the mall and fall asleep only to have us poke him awake to move on to the next set of chairs. Geez, he even got two new shirts without moving out of those chairs!

Then he followed us into a few stores because he had had a good snooze and discovered what shopping with women can be truly like. Gorgeous Cousin finds 12 things to try on and then comes out to pose while I laugh and point, thumb up or OMG NOOOOOO! her. Bob was quite impressed and asked if his job was to give the thumbs up. I asked him how old he was (51) and told him he had no business telling a young woman what she could wear. He agreed.

OMG - Train of thought off the track, run for your lives!!

Can you say 1980's? Every where I looked were the clothes that I shopped for when I was a teenager. Seeing my 23 year old cousin get all excited about stuff I have seen before and was terrified of has put a new spin on my getting old. I just never thought the 80's fashion would come back in style. I actually grabbed a dress and put it over my head and sang Love is a Battlefield cause seriously, it was the dress! Obviously, my cousin didn't know what to make of me.

Even if I were a skinny mini (I wish), I wouldn't wear the stuff again.

Back to the side trip:

On the way out of the mall (stores were closing all around us) Bob keeps on with lines like 'I'm not sure I can make it, I've aged years while being in here!' and 'you tried on 43 outfits and you didn't buy anything!?' get outside 'Holy crap, the seasons have changed while we've been in there.' and continuous witty comments ad nauseum.

Dang, I'm so off topic - what I was planning to say was that my cousin has worn polish on her hands and feet since she could wield one of those little brushes. So like, 5 years old.

Okay, how'd we do? Everyone still conscious?

I have a bit of a head ache so we'll list that as a side effect of reading the above. Ooops, should have put that in first, ah well, we'll take some Tylenol together.

Let's get this cart back on the path already!

I don't like most nail polish colours. Bright red? Forget it. Pink? Ugh. I tell my cousin I'm looking for something with a hint of purple in it. She intreprets this to mean PURPLE. Yikes. I thought her head was going to explode while I hummed and hawed over the colours but I finally picked one. (I think I'm more in the brown tones)

My big toe looks like an anvil was dropped on it.

Me, thinking it would take about 10 seconds to put on some polish learned the hard way that that shit has a mind of it's own! So I was able to wipe most of it off but it's all in around the edge of the nail and on my toe.

It looks like a dead zombie toe. Course, my cousin has gone home and I have no one (and no I'm not asking Bob) to put the polish on.

Can you tell I learn on a curve?

Onwards!!

Purse Porn for Ames:

You got me with your latest purchase and I had to find the perfect purse for my wallet, keys and a book without it looking like a purse (cause I feel like I'm playing dress up and everyone knows).















The pictures aren't doing the bag any justice so go here to see it professionally photographed in all it's cuddly goodness.

The leather is like budda!

And it came with it's own cozy sweater that is called a dust jacket for when the purse isn't in use!

Seriously. That's just too funny.

So my keys, wallet and a book will fit nicely and maybe I won't forget any one thing while out shopping like I did last week.

Vacation!

Bob's off this week and I have already inked in my 'Bobby time'.

See, he's putting up a fence and then I told him to go help my Mom with some stuff and then my Gorgeous Cousin is off this week also and wants to get together and then....

HE'S MINE!

Yes, I'm a wee bit feral on this point.

The weather is holding up but it's cool again, as in the pool should be 83 so that I don't jump from cold air into colder water. Seriously, I have a pool heater for a reason and this brisk summer is the exact reason for it!

Oh, I cooked dinner tonight too!

I know I'm shocked also but then I really just threw some frozen burgers on the grill with some hot dogs, boiled up some Ontario potatoes (crack as I like to call 'em) and tossed a pre-packed Caesar salad that I add tons of bacon bits and croutons to. And some pepper/onion pack for the BBQ that was new at the store. I was the only one who at the veggie stuff so I'm guessing that part wasn't a hit.

I finished the book and I have the Great Book Blues.

Yep, I'm having a tough time breaking from Singh's world as there are a few characters I want to see stories for TODAY.

Ahem.

I'm fine.

No really, I'll figure this one out.

I just don't think massive reading will get done this week but I can still try, right!

I put an exclamation point on that sentence to see if I could get my sorry butt to pick a book to read.

Not working.

The GBB's suck when you don't have 17 more books in the series to grab at.

Just saying.

In Just A Minute

So many things going on you lose track of time.

1. I finished the book and will have a joint review up with Nath at Breezing Through as soon as we write it. Aside: I'm so excited to write a buddy review as I've never done one and hey, I get to be a guest over at BT!!

2. You think I'm a slow reader, you should see how long a review takes to write!

3. I have no idea where the week went.

4. I think I have a video of Emma that I can upload for ya. If you haven't seen her in her new 'cropped' look be prepared to laugh.

5. One of my best buds is coming for a visit and I haven't cleaned the house. Like, at all.

6. My sleep is weird. I'm going to bed at 5am and waking up before noon. That's just not right. Then I wake up tired and spend hours sleepy but I can't fall asleep. Jacked up is what that is.

7. Bob's off on vacation next week so we'll see how my reading goes. Although if you know me you know I'm in the GBB (hint to my grade for the review but if you don't know what GBB means you'll have to wait)

8. Oh, and since you know Bob you probably won't be surprised by how many projects he has on the go. Helping at his brother's house (I can show you a video of where they are at) building the apartment they need to rent, putting up fence at our house, plans to rip off existing deck and build a new one and my favourite - an ensuite bath. The ensuite bath thingie means I have a bathroom I can't use but there is no progress as Bob is working outdoors at the moment.

The more I think about it the more I realize this could become a separate blog post so I'll leave it at that for now.

8. You poor bastards, I do have a video of Em!

Bruce Willis Baby!

Why are you all messing with me?

Why was I not alerted to the next hottest movie starring my Bruce?

Not only does it star Bruce Willis, it's like a sci-fi movie. Matrix on crack if you will.

SURROGATES trailer in HD


Just a little summa-summin.

Back to reading. Shhhhhh.

SQA - WHEEEEEE!

Edit: THEY HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I didn't want to say anything on Wednesday but uh, yeah, Amazon.ca had Branded by Fire showing as IN STOCK!!

I was floored so what did I do? I bought 40 bucks worth of books to fill out an order and bloody hell, it shipped today and if I'm really lucky it'll be here tomorrow!!

Loretta Chase is a hit or miss author for me. While she has written one of my favourite romances of all time - Mr. Impossible, she's also written Miss Wonderful and Lord Perfect - ow, ow. Still, I'll keep coming back hoping for another hit hence, Don't Tempt Me.

Meredith Duran's Bound by Your Touch is a book I have only heard good things about and hey, it was also in stock so one easy click and it was in the online basket.



What Happens In London by Julia Quinn also fell into the virtual cart but this is another hit or miss author with me. I'm not a lover of the title but I think it's because it's contemporary - course, maybe the book is contemporary - yeah, I don't normally read back blurbs. Still, I was able to buy this one despite the title (amazing how that 39 bucks and it ships free can work out).

And, of course, I have to mention Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh. I love this author and have been waiting too long for this one. Sure enough, after ordering the book online on Canada Day (Wednesday stores were closed) I checked stock at my local bookstore late tonight and they now have 38 copies.

So yes, I will admit it to one and all, if I don't have a book package in the mail tomorrow I will end up at the bookstore to buy Branded by Fire. I'm not proud of my inability to suppress my 'gotta have it now' impulse but obviously I'm not horribly shamed by it either.

Where I know I'm crazy is that I won't actually have any reading time until Sunday night when Bob has to leave on business. Reading palooza begins immediately afterwards, which is why I will have the book in the house on Sunday night even though the mail might not show until Monday morning.

Bad Cindy.

But I'll have the book.

And in my brain that makes all things equal.

Reviews and Different Media

I know book reviews are often discussed, yelled about and eventually sobbed about in romance circles. I find it such an odd occurrence but then I was watching movies long before I became a romance reader.

How does this relate?

I don't know how it works in other countries but here in Canada, if a movie reviewer pans a movie as the most horrid thing to have ever been made for the big screen, I know I have to get my ass to the film as soon as possible. In fact, if a movie that I have been really looking forward to gets a good review from any of the Canadian media I'm almost beside myself with disappointment.

Most sci-fi movies before now have been panned by movie media and I smile knowing I'm in for a treat. I'm pretty sure I've seen horrid reviews for all the Indiana Jones movies including the one with Sean Connery and have been personally insulted by the idea that a viewer would have to be a moron to enjoy such films.

I learned early on with movie reviews that the reviewers were looking for something in the film that I myself was not the least bit interested in. The Oscars only furthered this conclusion with such winners as Fargo (hated the film), American Beauty (seriously, the whole film was ridiculous) and The English Patient (bleck). Also, if anyone can explain to me the meaning of the movie The Virgin Suicides, I would greatly appreciate it.

Onwards!

So, seeing today's Yahoo story on the most recent Transformers movie made me laugh.

'Transformers' sequel could become worst-reviewed $400 million blockbuster ever

Basically this movie has received horrible reviews yet it's making a killing at the box office. Those reviews that have praised the movie have the added caveat of 'check your brain at the door'.

Now for some honesty, I didn't care for the first Transformer movie and thought it was quite juvenile and since it is about toys that were created for young boys back in the 80's I understood my 'meh' feeling about the film.

Silly me now thinks I have to see this sequel.

But I'll wait until it's out on DVD, just in case.

I do have to say however, that I think movie reviewing has finally started to change over the past few years. Not all critics aren't looking for that artsy fartsy film that'll make me gag (although they still love those things) to fall all over. New reviewers are popping up here and there, probably sick of the blood bath of normal movie reviews, and adding in a voice of the person who is just looking for a grand time at the movies.

I just don't need a moral lesson from every film I watch, in fact, I would prefer not getting any kind of lesson from a film!

Still, it takes some getting used to, for example, the latest Star Trek movie received great reviews from critics and I almost fell to my knees in horror. What saved me was that normal everyday people were also saying it was a great movie and thankfully it was a great movie.

How does this relate to romance books and their reviews?

Good question. You know me and how my train of thought unravels in mid---

Basically, romance reviews years back were the complete opposite of how movies were reviewed. I remember the first time I saw reviews for romance books and was surprised at just how many were 'gems' and 'perfect reads'. A few purchases later I discovered that romance book reviews were not to be trusted.

Please keep in mind this was the mid-90s before blowing your load in the comments. Just saying.

We've come a long way in regards to reviews for romance books.

There's that dark part of me that wants to do a test like the movie one above. How many positive reviews are written for a book that most people think is horrid or even how many 'OMG NOOOO' reviews are written for a book that sells like hotcakes. (and how well do hotcakes sell?)

Keep in mind it's a statistical thing in that out of 100 reviews 93 were rave reviews or whatever, we all know a review is only one person's opinion but group 100 together and you have some information to draw from.

Okay, I'm boring myself now.

Thoughts, rants, name calling?

Damn, I lost you at the word 'review' didn't I?

I knew it.

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures!

I've fallen off my reading train and I'm so not being left behind without a fight.

Deciding that somehow, the book I was reading had become a block for my reading mojo I picked up a book that would be fast, easy and done lickity split.

Yes.

It had to be done.

MaryJanice Davidson can always be counted on for a fast read and I picked up her latest one while shopping with my book peeps (Lea, Mary, Nath and Kristie). I just couldn't help myself and I'm glad I bought the book because it's going to get me my reading mojo back again!

Small problem is that there is something fairly major that has happened in the previous book and I have no recollection of it. I mean, I'm thinking I would have remembered 'this'. All the same, I can't find the previous book (so maybe I don't have it) or I haven't exactly exhausted myself looking for it.

Cause usually, I have read the previous book, and my memory is becoming a holey mess which makes me fear too many things so let's not think too hard on it.

That said, the book also does not show up anywhere on my blog. The last reference to MJD was Undead and Uneasy and I think the last one was Undead and Unworthy.

Ah well, this book is pretty much re-capping everything that happened in the last book anyways so no worries.

By tomorrow I will have finished a book and I'll move on to the next without over thinking it.

And my reading mojo will stay put!

THIS Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Just A Little Bit Longer!

It's noon on Thursday and I'm doing all I can to stay awake.

Fair warning this post could wreck your brain.

I was still awake when those groomer people were open and I called and darn if they couldn't shave Emma today. Since I have been worrying about it for too long now, I bit the bullet and dropped her in. They were hoping she would be done around 1pm.

Lord, let her be done at 1pm. Cause staying up any later is going to take more than I might have stored up.

I should also mention that while I'm typing this up thunder is rumbling here and there and has been moving closer over the past hour. I can only hope it holds off long enough for me to pick up the Miss.

And, of course, Bob is way too busy today to get home before the vet closes. Not his fault, I was just hoping he might have to work from home this afternoon and could zip over to pick her up - it's like a minute drive - but nope, I refuse to crawl into bed in case I fall asleep and miss the alarm.

45 more minutes and then I'll call.

Tomorrow there could be pictures. Depends on Her Majesty's mood.

Dang. That thunder is close now.

Curses.

Crap, I just Googles lion cut and found this:

I am so dead.

I never thought to tell them to leave her legs alone!

Armageddon.

This cat is imagining it.

Nocturnal Doings

I don't know that I've ever used the word nocturnal in a title.

Wait. I'm sure I did when I explained why this blog exists and well, that's from eons ago and who cares.

Tonight it's hot. Stinking hot.

Bob couldn't sleep which is extremely odd since he's off the sugar and caffeine and usually drops like a marionette getting it's strings cut at 8pm. Okay, some days he makes it till 7:58. Before the sugar and caffeine drought he made it till 10pm.

Anyways!

I do go on.

Bob was up way past when he normally sleeps and he went to bed at about 11pm. I had asked him if he wanted to go for a night swim but no. (Note for newbies: I used to have a pool that was 4.5 ft deep every where and it was nothing for me to go swimming at 3am by myself. Now, we have a pool with a deep end and I have been forbidden to go swimming alone. Actually, I can't be forbidden to do anything so I was made to 'swear' and dammit I take oaths pretty seriously. So night swimming is rare, rare, rare and I miss it)

Bob gets up about 1am and can't sleep. I figure he'll have a tea and go back to bed. An hour and a half later he's up working (working!!!) and I say, that's it, let's go for a swim.

And he said YES!!

So out we go and the hot night turns out to be quite breezy outside. Yes. This means the pool will be all warm and toasty.

I dive in expecting a warm embrace and do everything in my power to not come up screeching.

Definitely on the cool side but a couple fast laps and it's warm.

We lasted until the pool light blew out (damn thing is supposed to light up for 4 hours and lasted maybe 11 minutes) and Bob started the Jaws theme song. Nothing gets me out of dark water faster.

Never claimed sanity here.

So we're back in and dry and Bob's back where he's supposed to be at 3:34am.

I just have to remember what I'm usually doing at this time and damn if I'm not pulling a blank.

And finally, this will sound nuts after my major book shopping there just a week ago but I'm in need of Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh.

I'm haunting the online Chapters site checking stock every night. Nath was laughing at me for looking for a book 6 weeks before it's even meant to be on the shelves. But don't we all just hope we'll stumble across that 'OMG MUST HAVE' book on a whim?

Yeah you do. Don't be hiding. I've met you.

So what book are you hoping to stumble across?

Good for Now

1. It's allergies and taking one benadryl seems to make things easier - so no more whining.

About that.

2. I didn't make it to the groomers because - nocturnal. I don't believe in risking other people's lives and limbs to head out my driveway when I should be crawling into bed. So Emma is still fur-a-licious.

I'll re-schedule her for next week.

3. I haven't finished my book yet but that's on tap for next week some time.

4. Movie reviews?

Thought you would never ask!

Revolutionary Road and Quantum of Solace were rented out of sheer boredom. Nothing left on TV to watch and at least a few hours a day to be burned up.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed both of these movies.

Quantum of Solace - I've talked of my lack of love for James Bond a few years ago when the last one came out. As I kid I never saw the appeal of a man who would sleep with any woman at a drop of a hat and who didn't seem to take anything seriously. It was probably my need for HEA and Bond is not a HEA character.

Let's just say that Daniel Craig can be James Bond forever as far as I'm concerned. Although I imagine the credit has to go to the writers of these scripts for realizing finally that the James Bond of my youth was really just a one note character and he needed a good scrub up.

In the last movie you discovered how James Bond had found love and been viciously betrayed. In this film you get more closure on that but also some insight into how Bond becomes a man who refuses to be entangled emotionally in the future. Even still, he can't seem to stop himself from caring and I found that part of Bond appealing.

All the same the movie does not really tie up loose ends within the suspense sub-plot. I think it was more about Bond proving himself to his boss M and getting at least one of the bad guys out of the picture. As far as I'm concerned there were another 6 baddies that didn't get their finish but whether this will be an ongoing plot for a few more movies or whether I'm supposed to assume that the Quantum fails, I can't say.

I did find a few scenes to be a little slow (the scenes at dockside - until the boats come) but the technical stuff with the touch screens and such played brilliantly. In that I mean there were something new and the actors who interacted with the computers didn't feel the need to over-exaggerate their hand movements (think Minority Report with Tom Cruise) so the interest in that kind of technology, at least for me, was peaked.

I might be the last person to actually watch this movie but if not, I would say it's a nice night in.

Revolutionary Road was a surprise for me.

Turns out I did understand every thing in the movie but I did re-watch certain scenes with the director's commentary to see if I was right. In the end, I thought the director should have left some of the deleted scenes in the film as they would have added more texture to how the characters were feeling and given the viewer more insight into the heroine's impulses at the very least.

Apparently the novel (according to all who worked on the film) was brilliant and had some scenes that were the best of any literature ever read. Since I've never read the book I can't say. I did however notice the repetition of dialogue and I guess that was a trademark of the writer. All the same, if it pulls you out of a movie and makes you wonder why Alice and Frank are constantly saying each others names even when they are screaming at each other, maybe some repetition can be taken out.

Is the movie happy? No. But I do think it shows how life was in the 50's and doesn't hold back in telling a tale of desperation. We grew up hearing about the 'good old days' but in reality the good old days weren't as free or wonderful as people have made them seem. This movie also translates to modern life in people wondering if this is all there really is. Is this what life is? Where's the excitement, the adventure?

Maybe I was just in a good enough mood to handle this movie cause normally, movies like this just piss me off and make me mad. Or maybe it was this particular movie.

So there you have it. Two movies that I didn't feel were a complete waste of time and yes, I have rented many in the last month that I did think were a waste of time. Problem is I can't remember any of their titles.

Maybe I've blocked them out of self-preservation.

Miserable? Me?

Thankfully I'm not wallowing in complete misery. I'm just doing every thing I can to keep what I thought were allergies from turning into a summer cold.

Seriously.

Summer colds are the worst. In the winter, fine, it's crappy out anyways and I have plenty of cold meds to knock me out.

In the summer though I don't want any down time. None.

And I have a pool.

Ever gone swimming when you don't feel well.

It sucks.

It could be much worse though, I could have a full fledged cold.

So I'll lay low this week.

Now I just have to decide - NyQuil the mother or let it be.

Oh crap, I just remembered I have to take Emma to the groomers where they will shave most of her fur off on Thursday morning. She'll be put out at first but once I remind her she is the most beautiful kitty ever she'll settle down.

Aww, here she is with George the squirrel. See all the beautiful fur? Gone on Thursday. For the best over the summer as she gets too hot and we remember what happened with the 'poop' a week ago.

Definitely don't want a second act with that.

So if I NyQuil it has to be tonight. Cause NyQuil don't hold no punches.

Down. For. The. Count.

For Nath

What all cat lovers know is that their precocious little critter is highly offended by closed doors.

I had guests this weekend and knowing in advance that Nath was allergic to cats I washed down the book room, washed the bedding and closed the bedroom door.

That was Wednesday night.

Nath left Sunday at 3:30pm.

And this was taken at 5pm.




Once upon a time you would trip over Amber right at the door but now that she is blind she's not aware of closed doors. She only knows a door is closed if Bob or I are on the other side. Then there is some crying to let us know she wants in NOW.

Anyways, Kristie is safely home and Nath I think is still on the train. She'll e-mail me when she gets in.

And with that, I'll sign off after a wonderful weekend. I'll post a few pics later but I know Nath has many and she might want to put them up on her blog.

Oh! And Nath and Kristie taught me a few things about the sidebars so hopefully I can put up some books in the sidebar like 'Keepers' 'Currently Reading' etc.

And GOOD DAY!

Update: Lea has posted pics and re-counted the day. The first two pics were taken by Bob and he was trying to get the 'Chapters' sign in the picture which explains why we look like ants ;) Go here for a visit.

Update 2: Nath has made it home with all her books intact! So everyone is snug as a bug in their own homes. I will now sign off and fall into my sleep coma.

Exhaustion, I Know Thee Well

Short, sweet and to the point.

We had a ball.

If you had told me years ago when I was in the midst of my agoraphobia that I would be meeting up with people I have talked to on the internet I would have pointed and laughed. For me, back then the internet was a way to interact with people *without* leaving my house.

How life works, eh?

Today I met two new people, Lea and Mary and what wonderful women to spend a day with. They didn't even mind that I needed my Bob to be with me.

There was food, lots of chatter, lots of laughter, shopping & buying of books (think we kept the local UBS open for at least other month with our purchases), more food, chit chat and laughter.

And Bob. My wonderful Bob who makes sure I can get where I want to be.

I don't think I mentioned it but if I did just skip this part. Bob, at his last docs visit, was borderline diabetic and he freaked. He stopped drinking pop & cut way back on chocolate (probably his biggest source of sugar and caffeine) and only drinks water or de-caf tea now. Since he has done this I notice he gets tired faster. So Bob took moments here and there during the day to put his car seat back and rest his eyes.

I used to call Bob the 'energizer bunny' cause he just never stopped and didn't know what a nap was. Now he still gets things done but he is now more susceptible to dozing if he is sitting in a chair. He came over to me at the first bookstore and said:

Bob: I'm going to go nap in the car.
Cindy: Okay. You all right?
Bob: I nodded off in the chair over there and scared the person sitting next to me.

So yeah, I was laughing. Poor guy.

Anyways, I'm exhausted but in that 'I've been busy and had a full day' kind of way so I'll sign off now while I *think* I'm still making sense.

See ya!

They Made It!!

Nath and Kristie made it right on time today!

I have to say I was antsy with anticipation and the two of them were lucky to only get a regular hug instead of the running leap of a hug my excitement wanted to give them. Yep, I was bouncy.

They both look great and I could see they had been having lots of fun.

First we chatted and caught up with each other and poor Bob was hovering waiting to see if we were going to Burlington (read Rona Home Hardware) and when we were going to eat.

Hours later we went to a local pub style restaurant that has a cute courtyard to eat in. I took pics so I'll post them next time (sorry, I'm achy and making potato salad for tomorrow and I have to get to bed so I can keep up with the ladies!)

We came back and Nath and I took a quick dip in the pool. I was worrying it was going to be too cold for me but I came up from my dive marveling at how comfortable the water was. Yay! Then the bugs started biting. Boooo.

We came in and then we video chatted with Ames for 3 hours.

I'll give you a minute.

3 HOURS!!!

I have to say it was fun but then I'm a huge nerd. At some point we wondered if we could all video chat with each other. Nath was on Kristie's brand new laptop and I had my laptop which also has a webcam. So we first tried gmail but it would tell me Ames was busy.

Then of course, I was all 'what about Skype' and dang if Ames and I didn't have the program loaded and running. Then Nath tried to join in the video chat but instead it just let us all talk without video. At one point Ames could see both Nath and I because Nath went through gmail while we were still in Skype.

Okay, so if anyone is still with me - do you know how to connect multiple computers up to see each person visually?

Cause I'm a dork.

But we were the first to see the new puppy Ames' mom got! I'm jealous. Both my cats were in hiding so I couldn't show Ames.

Oh and for those three hours of chatting Nath, Kristie and I were sitting on the floor.

Apparently 38 year olds are not meant to sit on a floor for that long. Bad floor.

Okay, I have to sign off. The potatoes and eggs are cooked so I should get that going and then I need to wind down.

My plan is to take 2 benadryl and a sleeping pill. This will have one of three results:

1. I wake up footloose and fancy free ready to take on the world. *cough*NOT*cough*

2. I will black out for 3 hours and wake up totally buzzed and unable to sleep.

3. I fall into a drugged sleep, my alarm will go off and I won't hear a thing, Bob will come up five minutes before we are to meet up with Lea and Mary to tell me I should get up, C-Rex will slaughter Bob and hide the evidence and try to act like getting up in the morning is a natural thing.

Thinking on it, I'm betting on 3 so I'll just take a sleeping pill and one of my anxiety pills (the normal way for me to sleep). At least then, if C-Rex pops in for a visit it won't be my fault.

No really.

I think I may have a legal loop hole I can jump through.

They'll Be Here Soon!

As Nath and Kristie may have mentioned, we're having a Canadian Blogger meet up this Saturday.

Sadly Ames can't make it this trip and we won't get to see Seneca but, we get to meet two new people Lea and Mary!

Now you all know I've met Kristie a few times and Nath just once but hey, she lives like 8 hours away! So Kristie and Nath will come to my house on Friday afternoon to stay over for 2 sleeps.

I'm thinking on Friday we'll head into the city of Burlington to visit two used bookstores that do have a decent (or used to) romance section and then dinner and then to the big box bookstores. The Burlington Chapters romance section is screaming hot. It's probably one of the best kept romance sections I've ever seen in a bookstore. I haven't been there in a wee bit so hopefully the buyer there has remained!

Oh wait, the World's Biggest (formerly) Bookstore (that's us on the last meet up) once upon a time had the best romance section and we did clean them out the last time we all were there but we aren't hitting Toronto on this tour.

Saturday morning here in my sleepy little town is apparently Heritage Days. Yeah, I just found out yesterday because of road closure signs. Easy. Bob reads the local paper and even he didn't know it was Heritage Days so be gentle on me. Anyways, I figure it Kristie and Nath get up way earlier than me they can easily walk up and see the sights and sounds.

The plan so far is to meet Lea and Mary at a local restaurant away from the busy main street. (Makes me sad because I found the greatest little patio on the main drag just this past week to go and eat at but I'm betting it will be packed). Hit Chapters and then if they want to hit another we can go up to a new Indigo that was just recently opened.

Then we come back and sit by the pool.

Yeah, that's right, the pool.

Sweet!

On that note, maybe you guys can send up some hot air from where ever you are. Seriously, I've been in the pool 3 times this year and each time getting out was a nightmare because it was so cold. 20 C is not as warm as you all might think!

The pool will be 83 F.

Yeah, baby.

So afternoon of shopping, fun and sun.

Then a BBQ. Which reminds me I need to buy some rum so I can make up my bucket of Pina Coladas that you put in the freezer and eat like slushies. Yum.

At this time there are no set plans for Sunday. I'm not sure if Nath and Kristie are going to be poolside women or be looking to do something else.

So yes, I'm excited and can't wait!

And yet, I have more chores that need to be done. Bedding in the house is currently being washed and more dusting must occur. Then the floors will be done. And finally the main upstairs bathroom needs to be de-cluttered.

Tomorrow night I invited Bob and I to my mother's house for a meatloaf dinner. Yes, I'm that kind of daughter.

What?

She was mentioning how she had made up a meatloaf and put it in the freezer but she couldn't imagine making all that food just for herself. So I said, great, Bob and I will be there for dinner on Thursday!

You know I don't normally cook.

I have mentioned my Mom is lonely, right?

We were out with her Tuesday night for dinner and some shopping so I'm doing my daughterly duty. I hear my brother may make an appearance this weekend. About friggin' time!

Oops. I said that out loud.

Ah well, so if on Monday you are cruising around blog land and wondering where I am - coma.

Until then, I'm thinking there will be lots of little updates from us as we play through the weekend!

Awards! For Me? OKAY!

The Lemonade Award


I got this gem from Amanda at Bookwormom - Yep, I was awarded the Lemonade Award. This is a real feel-good award for blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.

I love it!

1) Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.

2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.

3) Link to your nominees within your post.

4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5) Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

Rosie - Nobody Asked Me

Holly - What Were You Expecting

C2 - Csquared's All Around Blog

And the usuals ;) Kristie J, Nath, Ames, Sybil, Megan, Marg etc - seriously, I read your blogs for a reason!

One Lovely Blog Award

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Nath gave me the Lovely Blog Award and I'll take it!

Course, I've known and met Nath for a while but I'll send this one to three new blogs I've just started reading.

Lea - Closet Writer

Amy - Amy's Corner of the World

Book Thingo - I found this site through Kat O+ as she is a contributor!

All the blogs mentioned are along the side bar on the left hand side. Go and take a look around!

Busy? Me? Yep

Bob's off for the next two days (Fri/Sat) so it'll be a Bob and Cindy palooza!

Bob's been working at his brother's house every Sat for the last few months so it's nice he'll be here for two whole days in a row. Since it's supposed to rain on Sunday he decided to go to the bro's on that day instead.

So yeah, I'll be busy.

Also, AAR's Favorite Books by Favorite Authors is running so I'm counting up ballots and such.

Got my mom out of the house tonight (she's not been feeling well for the past week) so she ate an actual meal for the first time. It's funny, we go to her house after dinner and Bob will fall asleep in a chair. At 10pm I knock Bob's foot and tell him it's time to go and my Mom says 'why'd you wake him, he was just going down for the count!'

Yeah, my Mom is lonely. And Bob was down for the count for 2 hours already!

Must be a better daughter.

It's just tonight we managed to stumble onto 2 awkward discussions.

1. My mother wanting me to get an education so I could take care of myself. (I guess I could take care of myself but I have Bob and he loves me the way I am) I have the fancy education I just never did anything with it. Bad Cindy.

2. My former best friend's other friend she no longer keeps in touch with. Since I won't talk about former BF, I can't say why another of her childhood friends got left in the dust.

So after 2nd awkward moment I decided it was time to go home. Lord knows what could have come up next.

1. No such thing as panic attacks.
2. Laziness is not a real hobby.
3. You lead a charmed life. (yes I do but pot is calling kettle - just sayin')
4. What if Bob leaves you. (yep, I always get out the door before that one. Sure to have me crying on poor Bob for an hour)

Ta-da.

That was my night.

I think it was much better than poopy kitty night so I'll take it.

Visitors!

Okay, I have to admit that I have lost my book. I think it's in a car (we have 4) and I haven't really looked hard but I'm calling it a day.

Don't matter now anyways because in two weeks I'll be having special guests for the Canadian Blogger get together!

Now some of you might wonder why I'm not worried about reading for the next two weeks.

Cause I'll be doing a bajillion other things.

And by bajillion I mean 12.

Things will be cleaned and dis-infected.

My best friend needed some money and bless her she called me and said 'I'm working for you so I need 60 bucks'. She knows if I couldn't afford it I would say no but hey, I knew what was coming up. So she's going to come and help me clean and damn, when you are paying that woman she works like a beast. I'm telling you objects that were never meant to shine will be spit polished by my BF.

I may even pay her more if she can help me with some of the 'other' stuff that is not on Bob's mental to-do list.

Right now though, I'm treading water and going under every few kicks.

See, now that Bob's mind has gone to the outdoors, things inside the home get left behind.

Where my husband was thrilled by the glossy white sink he put in just before Christmas, it is now a dull comparison to the new mulch he is trucking in for the gardens. So dishes that were once hand washed daily by hubby, are now being stacked in the sink and drown in water.

Pet peeve alert.

I hate dishes in a sink. I hate dishes in a sink splashed with water. I hate dishes in a full sink of water. I hate having to touch them and reach in the sink to get to them. My husband (whom I love dearly) does not scrape his dishes. Not scraping a dish means that the crust of pizza hubby wouldn't eat gets some water on it and it expands.

GROSS!

He puts his oatmeal pot in the sink with water. Guess what happens to burnt on oatmeal? It expands and looks like beige puke.

*GAG* SUPER GROSS!

I would rather he leave the dishes on the counter right by the dishwasher because it's easy and I'm not dealing with water dripping on the floor or splashing on other food stuffs on other dishes in the DAMN SINK!

AND, if you leave the oatmeal pot on the stove for the day the oatmeal dries and just flakes off. No pukey gelatinous sheep intestine like floating stuff in MY FRIGGIN SINK!!

End Pet Peeve

Phew. I think I'm good.

On that gross note here's a little story of my night last night.

*ahem*

Once upon a time Cindy's most beautious long haired kitty Emma had a problem.

Cindy realized that there might be a problem brewing in her home when the noticeably strong smell of poop hit her in the face while playing on the computer. Knowing this was not a good sign she went looking to find out where exactly her most beautious kitty Emma (yes, we know which kitty can peel paint) had had an accident.

After pacing through the house Cindy realized the problem was going to be much bigger than she thought.

She couldn't find the poop.

Princess of Gorgeous Locks Emma meanwhile was mewling and looking quite upset.

Now those of you with long haired kitties might know that they can get cling-ons every once in a while.

This however, was not Emma's problem. So much.

No, Emma had diarrhea. And it hadn't quite left her bum section.

Aside: *GAG*

Cindy filled the bathroom sink with warm soapy water and quickly dunked Diva Emma's behind into the water. Sadly the water turned to poop. Sadder still, Cindy had not been able to find even 1 of the 14 pairs of rubber gloves she normally keeps in the house and was forced to launch her hand into the vessel sink and let the water out.

Much crying and mewling was heard. We'll leave it to you, dear reader, to discern who exactly was making such a racket. Cindy continued to clean the poor disheveled princess Emma until her mewling turned to muttered growls. Time was up.

Cindy barely had time to wrap a towel around Emma before she took off with a drenched sorry looking tail.

Cindy then washed her hands at the very least 8 times with soap and hot water.

An hour later the precious Emma was in the living room trying to clean her saturated fur when Cindy came in to murmur to her how she was the most beautiful kitty in the world.

It didn't take much longer for Emma to realize that even after this near tragedy, she was still the most beautiful kitty of them all and fell into a purring nap.

Cindy sighed knowing that the princess was content and no longer upset.

And she went and washed her hands again.

And one more time, just in case.

The End.