Weekend in Review

Crazy weekend here ... still waiting for a video to upload to YouTube while I type (apparently my phone takes really big videos which is YAY for the resolution, but UGH on the amount of time it takes to upload), so I'll share this with you first. My friend, Maria Zannini released a new book! It's the second in her Second Chances Series, Chain of Souls. Check it out:

Banished from Heaven for refusing to harvest an unwilling soul, Liam Chase drinks to forget night after night until the Angel of Death pays him a visit.

For the price of a few humans souls, Ziva promises to get him reinstated into Heaven. Liam doesn’t doubt her influence, but milking humans of their light is an unspeakable crime, punishable by eternal oblivion.

He’d rather rot on Earth than commit such a monstrous sin. But the Angel of Death didn’t get where she was by taking no for an answer. Ziva is a huntress of extraordinary skill and cruelty. If he refuses, his loved ones will be her next targets. And Ziva never misses.

Ziva has already set her sights on Shannon, the soul he once refused to harvest, and his beloved servant, Evie. He’ll do anything to keep them safe, even if it means his death.

But something goes wrong just as he concedes, and the chain of souls picks a new mistress before he has a chance to deliver.

Brought for trial before the most feared angel in Heaven and Hell, Liam discovers he has failed to protect his loved ones and now they too could share his fate.

Sounds good!! If you think so, too, know this: It's only $2.99 (the cost of that Starbucks you were going to get this morning ... but this lasts for more than a few minutes) and you can get it here: Amazon, B&N and Smashwords.

:::checks back at YouTube::: "About 4 minutes left"

*sigh*

So, DH decided that we should spend Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday taking down trees, stacking the branches and dragging logs in from the woods to load on the truck, bring home and stack in our yard for next year's burn.

It's not that I mind working. It's not that I don't LOVE free wood (we use about three cords a year, and it runs about $250/cord right now, so YAY for free wood). It's not that I don't love a warm house in the middle of winter.

What I mind is spending ALL FREAKING WEEKEND doing it. Because, hello, already have a full plate of chores and work that doesn't do itself while I'm off doing something else. I didn't get the LASR/WC website built for this week until last night. I have twenty-six active virtual tours on Goddess Fish that I'm filling, organizing and promoting. We won't talk about the 50+ reviews I edit weekly or the house that I cleaned. And DD wanted to practice basketball, so I needed to fit that in somewhere, too (amazingly, it didn't hurt my knee AT ALL).

It all got done (barely), but it wasn't fun. Nevermind trying to plot something for NaNoWriMo in a week.

:::checks back at YouTube::: -- Upload Progress 100%!

Okay, so I took one video of DH felling a tree. He did this when SIL wasn't there (she was driving the wood to our house with SIL#2 and stacking it) because she tends to flip out and stress beyond belief every time he takes anything down. It's not like he's dropped one on her house (he did hit the edge of her shed once, but that was actually her fault... long story). I videoed it because I knew she'd want to watch. It's pretty amazing actually, and DH is a lot braver that I would be. The times he gestures to me in the video, he's asking if the tree looks like it's falling the right way (it was). I was worried a minute because the wind picked up just a smidge, but it was blowing the right way.



That's a big tree. We had to clear and pile all the branches in the canopy, plus find all the bits of wood he cut ( we don't waste any -- even the smaller branches are cut up to burn) and haul it out the woods. SIL will have some very happy birds and chipmunks this winter living her her brush piles.

There are three more trees she wants taken down. That's on the agenda for next week.

*sigh*

What did you do this weekend? Anything fun? Let me live vicariously!

====================

You Should Get Your PhD in Business Administration

You love to work on a team, and you do your best to bring out everyone's strengths. You only work when it is very meaningful and profitable. You don't want to waste your time in a job. You have what it takes to be a top business owner or consultant. You have a head for money. Your work doesn't have to have a higher meaning. Making money is its own reward.

What Should You Get a PhD In?

Mostly right.

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New and Notes

Lots of people talk to animals.... Not very many listen, though.... That's the problem. ~Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

Woke up with an amazingly bad headache, so any brilliant ideas I might have had for a blog post escape me (and it seems like I *did* have something to say).

We still haven't found any swallowtail caterpillars. The day before our insanely bad storm last week, we thought we had a black swallowtail laying eggs on the rue -- but have to assume that the wind and deluge of rain must have killed the eggs. DD is very sad at the thought of having NO swallowtail pillars. With the exception of the one black swallowtail butterfly we saw, we've seen no others. Very sad.

I pulled up all the lettuce in my garden -- it had bolted and was bitter. Everything else appears to be VERY happy, though. And several plants I thought were dead (leaves shriveled to the ground) apparently decided they were only taking naps. I have three cucumbers and an eggplant coming back from the ashes, so to speak.

My mom is moving back here after leaving us almost four years ago to live in California. She's slowly driving cross country, visiting family. Her last solo stop is Kansas City, where my DH will go pick her up and drive her back. We're very excited to see her again! Only ten more days...

Father's Day is Sunday and we haven't gotten so much as a card for DH. I should probably remedy that today.

DD has two more days of school... she's VERY excited to be done. And her new school starts off with a barbecue / orientation for their first day, so that should be fun. She's thinking about playing soccer... something she's never done. So, I'll probably invest in a soccer ball and she and I will practice over the summer.

Maria Zannini has a new book out. She sneaked that sucker through without even letting us know she was WORKING on it. Just BOOM! Oh, by the way, I have a book out... sneaky, sneaky.

I bought $66 worth of stuff at CVS yesterday for $14 (including toothpaste, deodorant, fish oil, gum and a razor and refill blades. My best scoop yet.

And that's about all my brain can say today. Sorry... hopefully my meds kick in soon and I can function normally.

Hope you all have a great day!

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You Would Be a Logical Doctor

You are a very rational person, and it's nearly impossible for you to be swayed by emotions. As a doctor, you would let logic be your guide. And with it, you'd find some ingenious remedies and cures. You are a natural problem solver. And you never give up until the problem is solved. You would be well suited to being a neurologist, pathologist, or oncologist.

What Kind of Doctor Should You Be?

That's mostly right.

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Tuesday Traipsing

"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude." - Karl Barth

Finally got my last crit (of sorts) on "Now and Forever" ... and a couple things are clear. I need to work a LOT on the ending (which I knew) and a couple more scenes need to be added (though I haven't a clue what they will be). *sigh*

This writing thing is WORK. *G*

Speaking of, I gave a shout out to Maria Zannini yesterday about her interview with my old editor, but I was a slacker on mentioning that she has an awesome new fantasy romance release out from Carina Press called "Apocalypse Rising". Though it's the second in her series, it's written to stand alone (though you could always just buy the first book, too: "Touch of Fire" from Samhain Publishing).

If you're a fantasy fan, I'm betting you'll thoroughly enjoy her books.

Yesterday, Brandy asked (in comments): Are you buying items you regularly use if you have a coupon, or are you buying items that you haven't used before because you have a coupon?

Before I started watching "Extreme Couponing", I would idly go through the coupons and clip two or three for items I buy anyway and then use them the next time I went to the store. Yes, I saved my $.075 or whatever, but what I've learned since then has been two-fold.

First: I really don't have a lot of brand loyalty. I'll use Colgate or Crest or Aim or whatever for toothpaste (and toothbrushes ... OralB or Reach or Colgate -- it's all the same to me).

Second: You never, never, EVER use a coupon on a regular priced item. You combine them with sales.

What this means to me is that I clip about 90% of the coupons in the flyers now. There are some things I know I'll never use (allergy medicine, contact solution, diapers, denture adhesive, etc) so I skip those, but if it's something I *might* use, out it comes. They're organized by type of item (Food, personal care, household cleaning, pet, etc) first and then by specific item (toothpaste, canned vegetables, laundry soap) and THEN I paperclip brands together (all my Colgate toothpaste coupons, all my Tide coupons). Though many couponers recommend NOT clipping, I can't rely exclusively on the websites to tell me what date of flyers goes with what sale. It's just easier for me to compare flyers to my coupons. PLUS, there have been times I've been out shopping and stumble across an unadvertised sale (like the Ken's Dressing at Shaws) and if I didn't have my coupons clipped (and with me), I'd miss out.

So, Brandy, long story short? I spend a few hours a week perusing the sales flyers for our three local grocery stores and our three local drugstores for sales and compare it to my coupons. If it's something I think I'll use (I'm going today to Walgreens and getting two big bottles of Listerine for $0.50 after coupon ... I don't usually USE Listerine, but at that price I just might give it a try *G*) and it's a good price (like a few cents or free), I pick it up. In a pinch, if I have to use a different brand of sanitary napkins or toilet paper than I usually do, it's okay.

Right now, I'm still having to buy some things at full price because I haven't been doing this that long. But, as time passes and my coupon supply AND my supply of goods expands, I expect that to end. So, yes, I buy things I may not need right away (I bought six bottles of dish soap the other day ... it'll take me a while to go through it, but I have room to store it so why not buy it when it's almost free?).

Still, I'm not like the ladies I saw on the show... one who has something like 75 things of diapers and NO kids. Or the lady who has hundreds of cat treats, but no cat (they paid her to buy them -- $0.05 per each to take them out of the store after coupon). I *hope* those ladies donate their goods to a local women's shelter and animal shelter...

It can be time consuming, but I'm all about saving money. The sooner we have our house paid off, the sooner we have a decent amount in savings, the sooner my DH can quit working 70 hours a week at a job he hates and enjoy his life. So, it's worth a few hours a week.

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You Are Steady

You value your own opinion over the opinions of others. You know when you're right. You trust your intuition. So far it has a good track record of not leading you astray. You prefer logical to emotional appeals. You like well structured arguments. You are very clean and tidy. You take pride in taking good care of your possessions.

The Old-Fashioned Car Test

Um.. yeah. That's pretty spot on.

=================

Monday Again

Maria Zannini is interviewing my old editor, Deb Nemeth at her blog today. You should go check it out.

My weekend was quiet and though I'm not entirely out of my funk, I'm working on it.

I did do some couponing yesterday morning at Rite Aid and Walgreens.

At RiteAid, I got Carefree pantyliners free after coupon, Speed Stick deodorant for $.50/ea after coupon, and three packs of Irish Spring soap for $.75/ea after coupon.

At Walgreens, I got Mitchum deodorant for $.99/ea after coupon and granola bars for $1/box after coupon.

It was good.

Today we're going to hit Shaws grocery stores for Ken's Dressings (which we love). They're on sale for $1.99/bottle and I have a $1 off coupon. Yay us.

:-)

It's the little things in life that matter.

====================

Your Summer Vacation is London

You are pretty conventional when it comes down to it. You have mainstream tastes and interests. You're looking for something a little different to shake things up... but nothing too foreign. You consider yourself to be a normal person. You fit well into this world. You have high standards, and you are fair to everyone. Manners are important to you, even if that's old fashioned.

What's Your European Summer Vacation?

That's all true...

=================

Micro Management

"Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from the expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear—and doubt. - H.A. Dorfman, The Mental ABCs of Pitching

DD did much better yesterday at school... I'm finding that she's NOT a self-starter and isn't self-motivated at all (which is frustrating for me, since I'm self-motivated to the extreme). She is thriving on having me micromanage every second of her day, while it's making me a little crazy. I want to be able to say, "Here's what you need to accomplish today -- go do it." and not "For the next fifteen minutes, I want you to work on XX and then next, pick up XX and read for ten minutes." Just goes to prove that our kids aren't mini-me's.

In any case, I got very little done yesterday outside of hovering over DD...

I ran to our local Tractor Supply Company yesterday to grab a couple things. They let us bring the dog inside (they have dog cookies at checkout ... Dakota doesn't understand why we have to shop before we get cookies. I always have to drag her past the clerk because otherwise, she runs in and plops down in a sit, drooling) and currently they carry live chicks and bunnies. Dakota is mostly puzzled by the chicks -- they're being kept in big, metal horse troughs and she peers at them. She LOVES the bunnies though and oddly enough, they seem to love her back. Yesterday, she stuck her nose through the wire cage and two of the bunnies hopped over and touched noses with her. There was no drama, no barking or fussing, just a little doggie / bunny bonding. It was very cute.

I wish DH would let me have chickens. And bunnies. And maybe a goat. *sigh*

I admit to being greatly jealous of Maria Zannini.

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You Are a Bicycle

You are an extremely independent person. You have some loner tendencies - and you're totally okay with that. You are an action-oriented doer. It drives you crazy to just sit around and ruminate. You are a risk taker. You believe in seizing each moment and just getting out there to do your thing. You are focused on living in the present. No one knows what's coming tomorrow, so you're going to enjoy today.

What Form of Urban Transportation Are You?

LOL... this is pretty much right on -- except I think about the future. A lot.

===================

The Dog Dish with Maria Zannini

Today, Dakota and I welcome guests Tank and Iko who make their home with my friend and fellow author, Maria Zannini.

Maria and I have had several discussions about dogs -- in fact, her first comment on this blog was about dogs (yes, Maria, I remember the first time you commented). Remember, too -- Maria's giving away something to folks who comment on her blog posts, so check out the deets at the end.

So, without further ado, welcome her boys... Tank and Iko. Aren't they handsome?


Dakota: So, your human writes books. Does this mean she is home all day and easy to access?

Tank: Yes and no. She's home, but if it's nice out, she's usually outside digging in the dirt. Iko and I have offered to help many times, but she's never taken us up on it. Go figure.

Dakota: What are your techniques for distracting your human during crucial writing moments, just because it's fun? Or is that Iko’s job? If so, what do you do to support your human and keep Iko away?

Tank: I try not to bother mom when she's working. But when it's meal time, I consider it my duty to remind her. She loses track of time so quickly! I use my super giant head and plop it on her lap, then I mesmerize her with my big brown eyes. Within 30 seconds, she'll give me a kiss and ask me if I'm hungry.

Of course, I'm HUNGRY. I'm always hungry! I didn't get to be 130 pounds on Lean Cuisine.

As for supporting mom, I do my best to keep Iko away. He's a terrible pest. I really don't know why she keeps that dog other than he's good at finding scorpions. :sigh: I guess he'll have to stay.

Dakota: What indignities and neglect have you suffered because of your human's writing career?

Tank: Neglect? From mom? Never! She cooks for me. I get to sleep on her bed. And when I have bad dreams, she's always there to give me a big hug.

I remember how it used to be for me. Running the roads, nothing to eat, no place to sleep. I'm a big boy and you wouldn't believe how many other dogs want to fight you just to prove a point. I'm a lover not a fighter. It's not easy being a Rottweiler, especially a giant Rottweiler. Talk about racial profiling! Mom promised me I'd never have to go back to the streets and I believe her. She keeps me safe.

But no life is complete without indignities. They did bring home that annoying little puppy. I haven't had a minute's peace since Iko arrived.

Iko: Hey, I'm not annoying. Well…not all the time.

Dakota: Tell me about the dogs in your human's fiction. How often do they appear and how big a part do they play?

Tank: Mom doesn't put a lot of dogs in her fiction, but there's a mongrel that's going to show up in a new novel that's still hush-hush. She loves it when there are dogs in the story, but she hardly ever writes them in her own books. She says they'd take over the story if she let them. Duh. What's wrong with that?

Dakota: What movies involving dogs does your human enjoy sharing with you? Books with dogs?

Tank:: :::Whistling. Looking off into the distance::: Oh, uh, yeah…about that. I'm not allowed to be in the room when mom is watching her favorite dog movies. They look so real. I just want to jump into the television screen and join them. It got a little messy one time and mom got mad.

But she raves about It's A Dog's Life (she says it’s the best dog movie, ever!). And she has an entire library dedicated to dogs. She has everything from Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day to A Dog's Life In Art and Literature by Iain Zaczek

Dakota: If you could make one change to your human, what would it be?

Tank: I would love to change mom's internal clock. She gets up before the chickens and she insists I get up too. I'm a dog! We're allowed to sleep 20 hours a day.

Dakota: If you could tell your human one thing, what would it be?

Tank: Dad steals leftovers from the fridge and I hardly EVER get any.

Dakota: What things does your human do that would mortify her if known?

Tank: Okay, you promise you won't tell, right? Cuz if this got out, she'd know it came from me. (sniffs Dakota) You're not wearing a wire, are you?

Mm…you've got chicken breath.

:Tank drooling:

Oh, yeah, your question. Okay, here goes. On rainy Sundays, she will sometimes stay in her pajamas ALL DAY. She won't even answer the door. She just lounges around and watches old movies.

Dakota: What does your human do that most annoys?

Tank: Me? Nuthin'. I'm shiny.

Iko: Psst. What about me?

Tank: What about you? You're a pain.

Iko: Mom puts me in the crate when she goes out. That's annoying.

Tank: Not to me. :grin:

Dakota: Did your human name you for a fictional character? Hate it or love it? If you could rename yourself, what would your name be?

Tank: I showed up with my name. The people who rescued me said I was so big, I looked like a tank. Mom and dad were determined to give me a new name, but one look and they said it fit me too well. I'm good with it.

Iko: I don't like my name.

Tank: What's wrong with 'Iko'?

Iko: Not that name. The other name mom calls me whenever I'm bad.

Tank: Ohhh, that name. We can't repeat that here. This is a family blog.

Tank: Thanks for having us over, Dakota. The dog cookies were delicious!

Iko: I especially liked the fringe on your mom's rug.

Tank: Iko! Not the rug! Now Marianne will never have us over again.

Iko: Oops.

Dakota: Don't worry. We'll blame it on the cat. Hope you guys will come over and play again sometime!

If you'd like to hear more about Tank and Iko, the chickens, or Maria's crazy life on the homestead, stop by her blog. She's always telling stories.

***

Maria Zannini's latest release is a science fiction romance called TRUE BELIEVERS.

Mix one cynical immortal and one true believer and throw them into the biggest alien-hunt the world has never known. Rachel Cruz is a Nephilim masquerading as an archeologist and she's stuck with an alien who believes she can lead him to his ancestral gods. Black Ops wants to find these gods too. They want them dead.

Follow Maria here:

Blog
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Contest time! Every time you leave a comment, tweet or mention "Maria Zannini" anywhere with a link to my blog, your name goes in the hat for a chance to win a Texas sized prize. Go here for more information.

Agility Competition

"What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." — Donald Trump

First a little business: My online friend and talented author, Maria Zannini, has a book in the KENSINGTON "Writing With the Stars" contest!! I'm so thrilled for her -- but she needs our help. See her post here about the contest and her excerpt, and go vote!

So ... last Saturday night DD finally decided she wanted to compete in a local trainer's junior agility competition the following morning. I wasn't even sure we COULD compete, but decided to just show up and see what happened.

The people there were fabulous. It was an interesting dynamic. Clearly everyone there knew everyone, and had been competing and training together for quite some time. So, a tight knit group, but also very inclusive. They had no trouble at all welcoming the three of us into the fold. DD even ran another dog for the owner. Everyone was very supportive and full of all kinds of information -- including the fact that a more formal CPE Junior Agility event was being held the first weekend of November. They were all very impressed with DD's ability and strongly recommended she start competing at CPE trials (whether they were specifically for Junior Handlers or not).

There were four "classes" at the competition: Games (we did "Full House"), two standard, numbered courses, and one jumps and tunnels.

Dakota and DD won the blue ribbon for games. That's this video (and as always I apologize for the quality -- I'm still using my cell):



Things were looking good, and I was excited that Dakota was responding well in a strange environment... but I got too confident too soon.

You see... this was an outdoor competition on a woman's property and along with agility, she also raises miniature horses. Horses whose pasture abutts the agility ring. And right in the middle of one of Dakota's runs, they decided to run down and check things out...

Part of what happened is off screen in the video, sorry! When Dakota came out of the tunnel underneath the A-Frame, she saw HORSES!! DD grabbed her (a fault) and she ran up the frame and then stopped and LOOKED AT THE HORSES!!! while DD stood at the bottom calling and clapping and whistling. You'll see the judge start over to help when Dakota finally comes down. But she goes off course at the bottom for a moment, too, because HORSES!!!!



DD came off the course with tears in her eyes. Everyone was wildly encouraging, and Dakota wasn't the only dog to be fascinated by the HORSES!!, but that didn't matter. It was DD's only last place run in her class.

It was a good experience for both of them. I'm glad we went. And, yeah, we'll probably do the other Junior Agility trial in November, even though it's the Saturday before the fun match from our agility class, so it means an entire weekend of agility because it's something DD really loves, and it's getting her involved with other kids who love it, too.

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Tomorrow -- a few websites I've found that are helping prepare folks for NaNoWriMo.

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You Are Sensible

You are a down to earth and practical person. You don't get caught up in flights of fancy. You try to look at all sides of something cooly and rationally. You make prudent decisions. You are always aware and informed. You rather know all the facts, even if they're hard to swallow. You are together and wise. People can rely on you to be the voice of reason.

The Argyle Test

That's mostly right. :-)

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Welcome Guest Blogger: Maria Zannini

Dogged Determination
by Maria Zannini

I've been reading the ongoing saga at how Marianne's wily dog, Dakota keeps pulling on her lead. I've come to realize Dakota brings new meaning to the term: dogged determination.

My suggestion was to switch directions on the pooch, forcing her to follow mom or get jerked off her paws.

Marianne said it didn't work.

Sigh.

Obviously, Dakota is a breed of super dog who laughs in the face of frustrated humans and their foibles. I can tell. I had one of those too. But I'd like to think dogs like these uniquely prepare us for a writing career. Stick with me and I'll explain.

My Samoyed, Czarina was such a dog. Like most sammies, she wanted to please, but she also had an independent streak that went miles deep.

The husband and I were young back then and at our wit's end with a dog who could ignore us with regal disdain. With no other options left to us, we took a dog training class.

That morning, Greg washed Her Highness until her long snowy coat gleamed in the sun. She was gorgeous! All white fluff and attitude.

The field where we did our training was muddy, but the trainer found us a decent dry patch where we could run through our paces. Greg walked Czar, and as usual, Highness decided she was too cute to oblige that day.

He tugged on her leash. He ordered her in his best authoritative voice. He finally pleaded with her.

Nothing.

The trainer, watching this, told him. "Drag her! She is testing you."

I think a light bulb snapped in both our heads at the same time. The trainer was right. Czar was going to see who was going to outlast who.

While all the other dogs obediently followed their owners (including my 'saint', Joey), Czar steadfastly refused to budge.

She sparkled in the sunlight, pristine perfection at its peak.

That's when Greg dragged her through the mud. The look on Czar's face was priceless. It was as if she couldn't believe anyone would dare challenge her imperial rule.

She was wrong. She had finally met a man more determined than she was.

By the time it was over, she was one huge mud baby—but she walked on lead, without complaint, as if this whole thing was her idea. I liken it to the Miracle Worker when Anne Sullivan finally taught Helen Keller to understand the word, 'water'.

The trainer later taught us that if we switched direction on the dogs as we walked, it would force them to keep us as the center of attention.

I don't know why it didn't work with Dakota. Methinks, she is an alien dog with super dog powers. Or maybe there was still too much puppy energy in her.

Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, recommends tiring the dog out first with a long walk or play time before beginning any training. They are more malleable then.

So what does this have to do with writing?

It goes back to dogged determination and learning how to use that immense energy for good instead of evil.

When I first started writing, I had a few bad traits I hung onto because, darn it, I liked them. They identified me. What I didn’t realize at the time is that they didn't work. I didn't understand the rules, and you have to understand the rules before you can break them.

Czar didn't understand that despite her obviously superior dog intellect, she still had to obey the rules, and those rules came from us. But she did cement the concept of dogged determination firmly in my brain. And like Her Highness, I learned from my mistakes.

So what's the moral of this tale?

Never give up, but know when to give in.

As for Dakota…I still think she's an alien dog sent to Earth to test poor Marianne.

Thanks for having me over, Marianne. Do you think I can get my car keys back from Dakota now? I thought I saw her plotting with the voles.

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Maria Zannini runs a lively blog here.
You can also catch her at her website
And at MySpace.

Her futuristic fantasy, Touch Of Fire, set on a world that knows only magic, is now available in ebook form from Samhain. To read an excerpt and for buying information go here.