The one where I try to do way too many things at one time...

Tell me I'm not the only one who bites off more than I can chew. Show of hands, how many of you out there feel like there are not enough hours in the day? Wow. That's a lot of you. And sorry Gents, but it seems like it's a "woman" thing. I'm convinced its a holdover from caveman days. You guys got to go out and hunt down game while we stayed behind and picked berries, tended children, washed the furs and cooked. Overworked since the beginning of time. Totally explains why I'm so exhausted.

So what all am I doing that makes me too busy to blog? Or read blogs? Or comment? Home Improvement. We painted this house (every room but the kitchen) when we moved in. That's 9 years ago in May. Needless to say, they all need repainting. And the carpets need shampooed. And there was a mold issue in the bathroom. And I need to get it done before Lu's baby arrives. Then there's the showers to plan. Baby showers that is. And a bachelorette shindig. I'm in a wedding in June. There are tomatoes and peppers to plant. And lately, there are books to be read and reviews to write. There are authors to interview. There's a proofreading business to launch and there's fiction to write. And lest anyone forget- this is the time of year when I see my husband only at bedtime. If it weren't for Sean, I'd be trying to do this all on my own. But as luck would have it he's a fantastic painter. And we work well together. Way better than Mike and I work together.

I hope that you all enjoy the author interviews. I plan on doing one a week, tied in with the book I'll review at See Spot Read. There are a lot of great Indie authors out there and they need the word of mouth. Since their ebooks are priced affordably it's a win-win. And who doesn't love finding a new author?

So now some funnies:

Sean and I were painting the bathroom last week and of course we were smack talking each other the entire time. I'd just shot him a really sarcastic comment when I realized I need more paint on my corner tool. As I was up on a chair painting near the ceiling, I handed the tool to him and asked him to get paint on it for me. As soon as I grasped the handle to take it from him, I realized he'd loaded the handle with paint and now my hand was full of wet paint. I was hopping mad. Cursing, I stomped out of the bathroom to wash my hand. He was convulsed with laughter. When I told Mike and Lu about it? Yeah, they doubled over with laughter too. Rude.

Last night Lu and Sean were in my room talking to me as I got ready for bed (don't ask, it's a nightly occurrence. I've tried kicking them out but for some reason they pick that time to talk.) I told them that my thumb I'd sliced on the can lid had healed funny and felt kind of mushy. They both felt it~

Sean: you're crazy. It feels fine to me.

Lu: Yeah, it feels the same as your other thumb.

Me: no it doesn't! You're dad even thought it felt funny.

Lu: It's dad. He always agrees with you.

Sean: Yeah, you could tell him the sky was purple and he'd agree.

Me: *yelling loudly down the hall* Hey Mike!

Mike: *yelling back* Yeah?

Me: The sky is purple.

Mike: Oh yeah?

We all collapsed in giggles. Way to back me up honey!

And last but not least, have any of you ever thought you heard something that wasn't there? Like when you're falling asleep and you could swear someone says your name? Or sometimes I wake up thinking the phone rang but it's all silent.

Me: Remember how I told you that sometimes I hear things?

Mike: Yeah?

Me: It's called auditory hallucinations. I looked it up on the Internet and all I could find was...

Mike: Schizophrenia?

Me: yeah.

Sean: So you're schizophrenic?

Me: of course not! We all agree on that.

Sean: Who's we?

Me: All the voices in my head. Duh.

*giggling*

Me: Anyway, I'm not the only one. Lu has them too.

Mike: Well that explains a lot.

Sean: Maybe you're psychic. Maybe its the dead calling and you should get up and answer the phone that's not ringing. They might have important messages for you.

Me: Hmmm. Sounds like there's a story idea in there.

Sean: They might be like "Stacey...don't leave you're house on Tuesday..."

Lu: That's just creepy. I'm not answering the phone in the night ever again.

Well, I'm off to paint trim because it is a beautiful sunny day and I can't waste it. I'm sure the rain will be back tomorrow. Hope all is well with you dear readers. See you when I next come up for air...

♥Spot

The one where I interview Scott Nicholson, horror author and nice guy

Come on in everyone, find a seat, grab a cup of coffee, tea, vodka lemonade, whatever. I'm pretty excited to announce that today we have Scott Nicholson in for a chat. For those of you who don't know Scott, yeah I know there's a few of you non horror fans out there (don't worry...I'm not judging), take a look at his *Amazon.com author page, go on, I'll wait. *taps foot impatiently* Back? Good!

Scott probably doesn't remember this but we actually first met in 2003 on the HWA website. That was back when you didn't have to be a *paid* author to join and I happily paid my member fee and set out to hobnob with people who knew what they were doing. Scott happened to be one of the folks I met and we emailed a few times back and forth. It was just before his book Harvest, now renamed Forever Never Ends, was released. I gave up submitting and homeschooled my children and Scott went on to become a successful author. But what I remembered most about him was that he was a genuinely nice guy. I'm happy to say that he is still a genuinely nice guy whose always willing to help a newbie author out. He's generous with both his time and his advice. So when he contacted me about doing a review of his latest book, Liquid Fear, I was more than happy to help out. Okay, so he gave me a free copy of the book too, but I would have done it anyway! So the review of Liquid Fear is up on my brand new book review blog, See Spot Read. I would encourage all of you to pop over there when we're done here and look around a bit. There's cookies and juice and a review. Okay, there's no cookies and juice. But its the thought that counts, right?

Scott also consented to let me pick his brain so here goes...

1.) I know everyone asks authors where they get their ideas and most authors hate that question, but, at least for me, it’s a legitimate question. I love it when authors include that info in the back of the book. So I won't force you to reveal the inner workings of your mind, but if you'd care to elaborate...

Every book is different, but usually it’s either two ideas jamming together, a character demanding to be born, or a plot that bugs me so much I have to tackle it. In Liquid Fear, it was a combination of research into pharmaceuticals that literally “change your mind” combined with my ongoing interest in psychological research.

2.) You've been writing books for several years now, what do you feel has changed the most about either you're style of writing or the way you go about writing?

I write less to what my “brand” should be and more toward what interests me, because I don’t have to worry about somebody pitching something to somebody else based on one sentence of description instead of the entire story. So basically I am freer to take chances.

3.) I know you've recently quit your day job to become a full time novelist, how has that changed your routine, beyond the obvious, of course?

Well, I am also running a business, but I’ve been doing that from the start. The writing is the product development and manufacturing end, and then there’s the entire process, including getting paid. Not to make it as cold as a factory, but basically I have to do it all, which is fine, because I love it all.

4.) I also see that you have joined your voice to the chorus of authors who are backing away from traditional publishing and going it more on their own. It definitely appears to be working well for you. Do you feel less pressure to conform to industry standards and ideas that way? In that, you don't have to convince an editor to publish your work, you can publish and go right to the audience for approval?

The only pressure is to tell the story the best way I know how, and then get a few trusted opinions and always have a professional proofreader. The only “industry standard” is professionalism, and New York doesn’t have a monopoly on that.

5.) I know that some of your books are based on experiences you've had or places you've been (like the hotel/paranormal conference in Speed Dating with the Dead), does Liquid Fear have any personal connections?

I studied a little psychology and I like to read the casebooks, but Liquid Fear was kind of a hodgepodge of many things. I attended UNC near the Research Triangle Park where the book is mostly set, and I’ve visited every location in the book (Cincinnati, West Virginia, DC). Other than that, this book was just based on research and ideas.

6.) This is a question I want to ask all horror writers...if you see a movie preview or book trailer that is just an absolutely fantastic concept (I always think of 30 Days of Night, vampires, Alaska, 30 days of darkness, brilliant!), do you want to shake your head and go "why didn't I think of that??!" or does it inspire you?

Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Like, “Snakes on a Plane.” It’s like, “Cool!” but I would never waste my time watching it because the title does everything for me. Sort of like the previews for a big movie. You know you’ve seen the entire movie in 45 seconds, so why waste $10 and two hours? Other times, it can stay in the back of your mind and maybe influence a direction you want to go. If you’re calculating, you can cash in on a trend—like teen vampires in romantic angst, for example.

7.) Several of my blog readers are aspiring authors or beginning authors themselves. What is your best advice to them, especially horror writers?

Write what you love and turn off the censors. But when you’re done, remember that somebody somewhere has to read it. If you want to sicken your reader, it may not do much to build a fan base. But just be true to yourself and trust that the work will find the people who need it—whether the audience is a few million or a few dozen.

8.) Okay, I know it's cliché, but who are some of your favorite writers, horror or otherwise?

Stephen King is obviously a master, but I also like the older-school stuff like Ira Levin, William Goldman, Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Shirley Jackson, James Lee Burke, Elmore Leonard, and Dean Koontz.

9.) Finally, what scares you? (Other than taxes and government?)

Anything happening to children. As a father, I invest a lot of the world’s worth in my wife and kids. Anything that threatens my family is something that’s going to die—probably quite slowly and painfully.

10) I know you told me the serious things that scare you, but what about the silly things? I'm irrationally afraid of scarecrows, you? And do you ever scare yourself when writing?

Well, I have some real phobias, like flying. Probably mice are my silliest fear--I just don't like all that scurrying. I have been a little freaked out when I write, but it's more like something is emotionally intense instead of genuinely spooky...but sometimes late at night, you go, "Hmm, what if all this stuff was real?"

2) What is your writing routine? Do you schedule certain hours to write? Do you use a favorite pen, etc?

I pretty much do everything all the time. I just do the next thing when it needs to be done. Now that I make my own schedule, I trust myself to write when I need to, as part of the day. I recently took an entire day off, my first in 15 months, I believe.

Thank you Scott, for the book, for the interview, for all of the help you've given me. I wish you loads more success and continued joy in your work.


Liquid Fear is available for Kindle readers from Amazon.com for 99 cents for a limited time. Get yours now! You can order a paperback copy of the book from Scott's website.


Scott lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where he tends an organic garden, picks a little bit of guitar, and does some freelance editing when he's not writing. He's living the life of his dreams and is thankful for new friends and new fans. You can visit him at www.hauntedcomputer.com. He also has Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for joining us for a bit everyone! For my regulars, it's back to our regularly scheduled nonsense tomorrow. For anyone new, please take some time to browse my blog and make yourself at home.

Happy reading,
♥Spot

The one where we need to have a little chit chat...

So my Dad has this voice that we call his "dictator voice". It means that in the following discussion he will brook no whining, silly excuses or disagreement. He's kind of like Dr. Phil. (If Dr. Phil had spent 24 years in the Air Force bossing around other people and dealing with live bombs). Even at my advanced age and parental status, the "dictator voice" scares me. But I called him on it and now it's kind of a joke. Still, when he starts a sentence with "we need to talk", I figure I've got some 'splaining to do and start frantically searching my mind for what I've screwed up recently.

It has come to my attention recently that I "need to have a talk" with some people out there. The subject? Lu's pregnancy and the father of her baby. It seems somewhat crazy to me, in this day and age, that people are blaming Luke for this situation. Wth? Peeps, wake up and smell the decade! It's not the fifties folks. If I was going to take anyone to task over Lu's pregnancy (which I am most certainly NOT), it would be Lu! She's the one who's responsible for her own body. And here's why:

1.) She's not sixteen. She's nineteen and legally an adult. She was raised to make her own decisions and well educated on sex and birth control. She knows how to prevent pregnancy and not to rely on someone else to handle that prevention.

2.) Luke is only a year older than she is. Its not like he's some older guy who walked in and seduced an innocent and then abandoned her.

3.) They were planning on getting married when said conception occurred. They'd been in a monogamous relationship and living together for a year and a half. And we'd already started looking at wedding dresses for heaven's sake!

4.) He did not abandon her, she asked him to leave. While there was some miscommunication and screw ups in the beginning, he was not trying to abandon his child or Lu. In fact, he's been doing a pretty decent job of stepping up.

5.) Neither of them planned nor anticipated this pregnancy. It was an accident of malfunction. Shit happens. And it happens for a reason.

Therefore, there is no blame to place and I would like everyone to stop trying to assign some. Mike & I are not angry because Luke "knocked up our little girl". For real people?! We are truly supportive of them both in their effort to work things out and become the truly awesome parents we know they can be. So back off or I'm going to come at you like a spider monkey.

And now for a giggle~

The other night Mike, Sean and I were watching a scary movie:

Me: Omg! Why would he put his bed between two windows?! Who does that?? The only way to watch them both at the same time is to sleep on your back. I can't sleep on my back. I'd be exhausted all the time!

Mike: You do realize our bed is between two windows, right?

Me: Yes. But that's different. You're between me and one of them.

In the car:

Sean: What is that smell?

Me: I don't know. But it kind of smells like soybeans. Its spring, time for weird smells in farm country. It must be an RSC.

Sean: RSC?

Me: Random soybean cloud.

On the return trip:

Me: Ewwww. That stinks! RCSC!

Sean: RCSC?

Me: Random cow shit cloud.

Sean: You truly confound me with your ability to make up and throw out random acronyms. Its like you don't even have to stop and think about it.

Me: I know. Lightening fast acronym skills are just one of my many super powers.

Sean: Make that an acronym.

Me: LFAS!

Sean: Astonishing. But not particularly useful.

Me: You're just jealous.

On the way to the movies:

Sean: Come on *dancing in his seat* let's get pumped up for this!

Me: You want me to sing the "Friday" song? "We so excited"

Sean: No! Wait..."partyin partyin"

Me:"yeah"!

Sean: No but let's get P to the U to the M to the...*loooong pause*

Me: To the P

Sean: *crickets chirping*

Me: to the E to the D. You know, your rapping would be more effective if you could actually spell.

Sean: That's right. Make fun of the Dyslexic guy.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday as much as I am,
♥Spot

The one where we take a little trip...

I'm baaaaccckkk! Vacation was pretty much a little slice of wonderfulness with a few pieces of frustration mixed in. Things I learned on vacation:

1. When it comes to family, you can have too much of a good thing.
2. People in southern Alabama are the nicest most polite people I've ever met.
3. Other tourists are annoying.
4. People drink way too much.
5. If I ask my kids to not talk to me and not hang out with me for 24 hours, they will not follow this request.
6. My husband should go on vacation with me, if only to help me hang on to my sanity.
7. Some things take longer to forgive than others.
8. I love Cajun food.
9. I love boats. And history.
10. I can manage to get bronchitis absolutely anywhere, without even trying.

I had never been to Alabama before or the Gulf Coast for that matter. I was pleasantly surprised. For real, folks down there are super friendly and polite. If you're waiting to cross the road, they will stop for you. I wasn't even half in the road, I was on the sidewalk and traffic (both directions) stopped to let me cross. I felt like a celebrity. Around here, they speed up to hit you. And in their Walmart (because what vacation would be complete without a trip to Wally World?) you can actually find the workers! They come up to you to ask if you need help! And they actually know the answer when you ask a question!! It was like the Twilight Zone. Or maybe Stepford.

We only really got to spend three days at the beach due to rainy, colder weather. But two of those days we managed to get sunburned, so it was probably a good thing. I did have to spend one day in bed, hacking up a lung, but at least I finished a good book. We shopped at the Outlet malls one day and baby Dylan already has quite a collection of clothes waiting on him. And we went sightseeing two days. They have two historic forts in the area and the kids and I visited both. Sean being the Civil War buff that he is was in heaven. I thought they were pretty nifty too. And we visited the Estruariam, much like an aquarium only it included the marshes and wetlands as well. Who knew baby alligators were so adorable?!

I have a boatload of interesting conversations to relate from the trip:

In the hotel on the way home, we were getting ready for bed and there were people making a lot of noise in the hallway:

Me: (loudly) If you people don't settle down out there I'm going to come out and stab you.

Lu: Mom! You can't say that!

Sean: You can't go around stabbing people either.

Me: I wasn't really going to stab them, I'm just trying to scare them a little.

Sean: Did you say you were only going to stab them a little? WTH? Is that what you'll tell the cops? "I only stabbed them a little officer"

Me: NO! I said scare them.

Lu: It must have worked, they shut up. That or their downstairs telling the front desk the crazy lady in 216 threatened to stab them. But just a little.

Sean bought a captain's hat our last day and proclaimed himself "Captain of this vessel", vessel being my SUV. He kept putting it on and yelling "I have made my decision..." So once we stopped for gas in this little town and there were two choices for gas stations. The kids picked BP and we went there. It was awful. Dirty and the people were rather suspicious looking:

Me: (safely back in the car) You two are fired from gas station picking. Next time it's the Texaco for sure.

Sean: (in his captain's voice) I have made my decision...next time we visit the Texaco!

we pass the Texaco and it's not even a functioning gas station, the pumps are gone and the building is deserted.

Sean: I have made a new decision! I've decided to stick by my original decision!

Yes, he continued in this manner for the next 4 hours. I think I'm deaf in my right ear now.

Driving through Mississippi we saw many many religious billboards. One was for abstinence, many were anti abortion and many were just about finding Jesus. And no offense intended to any one's beliefs...but we began to joke about it:

Sean: There's another "Have you found Jesus" billboard. They just keep losing him.

Me: You'd better watch your mouth. This is the heart of Bible country and they still burn people at the stake. We're traveling with Jezebel back there so we've already got one strike against us.

Sean: Wait. What? Who's Jezebel?

Me: She's in the Bible. She was a whore and she got ripped apart by wild dogs.

Sean: You know an insult doesn't really work as well if neither of the other people in the car know what you're talking about...

All in all, we had a great time. Now I'm back and I have an absolute ton of things to get done before Lu's baby arrives. Carpets to shampoo, rooms to paint and rearrange, showers to plan and blogs to write. I expect to be busy busy busy. Sean quit his job so he can get ready for his summer travels and finish his Eagle Scout project. Little does he know, that now he can help me with all the painting and shampooing. Mike is neck deep in getting things ready for summer camp at both camps since the other ranger retired and they haven't found a replacement yet. I'm back to seeing him at supper and bedtime mostly. Lu is doing well. She's now an assistant manager at the Quincy DEB store. The pregnancy is still going well, she's six months along now and we all got to feel the baby kicking last week. He's an active little guy! She and Luke, the baby's father, are officially back together. He's been coming down on weekends and for appointments and plans to move back here the first of July. They hope to have their own place by Thanksgiving.

I'll leave you with a couple of pics:


Lu and Sean on the beach!


The three of us on the last day



Lu and Baby Dylan

There's no place like home...
♥Spot

The one where we head for Memphis...

So I don't know how many of you are like me...I'm always up for a road trip. Especially when I'm going through states I've never been to. There's not many states I haven't been to at some point but this trip is hitting a few of them. We started off in Mendon this morning and then hit St. Louis, Mo; Blytheville, Ak; Memphis, Tn; and came to rest in Southaven, Mississippi. Now I've been all over the great state of Tennessee but Arkansas was new to me. We really barely clipped a corner of the state and I was kind of disappointed to find it looked no different then Missouri. After 7 hours, two gas/potty breaks and a ton of 80's music we checked in to our Holiday Inn before going out to chow down on some BBQ (we are just south of Memphis after all!).

Here are some brief glimpses of our day:

After a stop in Arkansas for gas, I asked the attendant how to get back to the highway. Another gentleman joined the conversation and then I headed out to the car where the kids already were.

Sean: Were you talking to people in there?

Me: Um. Yeah. I was getting directions.

Lu: Mother!! Stranger Danger!! Stop talking to strangers.

Me: They weren't that strange...

Sean: You're hopeless...

While driving:

Lu: Can I see the Atlas?

Sean: No.

Lu: please?

Sean: Ask me again in six minutes.

Lu: (waiting) Can I see it now?

Sean: No. You still have two minutes.

Lu: How about now?

Sean: No.

Lu: But you said ask you again in six minutes.

Sean: Yes. But I never said I was going to give it to you...

After dinner we came back to the hotel room and Lu decided to take a shower so she could sleep in a bit later tomorrow. She takes her stuff into the bathroom and we hear the shower start, immediately followed by a thump, an "oh shit!", and strange noises. We couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying.

Sean: do you think she fell?

Me: no. the thump wasn't that loud.

(Lu is still making the noise) I go to the bathroom door and knock.

Me: Are you okay in there?

Lu: (muffled) Yes.

She opens the door and she is laughing so hard she's crying (so it WAS both). She points at the floor and I see it's flooded with water!

Lu: The shower head was pointed out into the bathroom and I didn't see it before I turned the shower on!

Leave it to Lu!

I'm so happy to be back below the mason-dixon line where the only acceptable beverage is sweet tea, everyone says "y'all" and "yes ma'am", and grits are a staple. But I am going to let them keep their fried pickles. Those were just gross dude.

Well tomorrow will come early and we have another 8 hours on the road before we hit the gulf. Good night y'all.

♥Spot

The one where we get some good news...

I haven't blogged much in the past few months and there are a variety of reasons for that. We've had some health issues at our house and to be honest, it sapped my energy. In many ways, we are still feeling the effects of Mike's accident even after nine months. He was back on the job so quickly that many folks, including us, forget that it was such a serious accident. To say it has changed our family would be putting it mildly. A lot of good has come out it, but there are the bad things too. Mike has had more sinus infections and then the stay in the hospital last month. This is hard on a guy who got sick once a year (maybe) before this and hardly ever slowed down for it. But eventually we started noticing other changes in him as well. He seemed to be having lots of trouble with his short term memory. He got frustrated very easily. And then got frustrated that he was frustrated. For those of you who don't know him well, Mike was one of the most laid back guys on the planet. As one young man we know put it a couple of years ago, "Mike's so slow to anger, that if he yells at you, you better believe you f**ded up bad!"

And while he still manages to contain the frustration and not yell at people, it's simmering on the inside. He also tires much more easily and doesn't seem to enjoy things (even hunting) as much. We were both a little worried. So we went to see a neuropsychologist in Springfield. And after an hour long interview, Mike spent the next 5 hours being put through a series of tests designed to test mental functioning. Then we waited two weeks for results. I was nervous about the results. Yesterday we went back to her office. Most of the tests Mike aced. Especially the problem solving one. Which isn't surprising. Solving problems is a big part of his job. But there were some short term memory issues. The doctor's diagnosis was Prolonged Post Concussive Syndrome. Which means Mike had a mild traumatic brain injury from the accident. The symptoms showed up late and are staying late. Probably the stress of work exacerbates them. The good news is they'll go away on their own. He doesn't need any treatment except patience and his brain will heal itself.

I don't know if you can imagine what a relief this was. It's not a tumor. It's not Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's not a worse brain injury. It's not permanent. Things will be fine. She gave us some tips on how he can help himself remember things. She gave us tips on things I can do to help him. She told him he absolutely has to give himself down time occasionally to de-stress and rest. She said even the frustration is a symptom and it will go back to normal. She completely concurred that him skipping this vacation is the right thing to do since he'd only stress more about all the things he wasn't getting done. And she told us we were a great couple who communicated better than most people she knew. (Score us!) And then she wished us well.

And so I try to remember to be patient because this too shall pass. And some day the accident will be completely behind us. I only hope we don't forget the lessons we learned.

Conversation earlier today:

Me: We never got a bill from the hospital for your stay last month.

Mike: Are you going to call them about it?

Me: Are you kidding? And remind them about it? Um. No. I'm just going to assume that we had enough frequent flyer miles built up with them that this trip was free.

Enjoy your day today readers. Each one is a gift.
♥Spot

Then one where Lu finally picks a name...

Bless me readers, for I have sinned, it's been one month since my last blog post. Sorry. Forgiven? I'm just going to go with "yes" on that one since I can't really hear your answer. And I'm going to dive right in with the good stuff. And apparently Lu's love life is the "good stuff". How do I know? Because a friend of mine related this conversation the other day:

KK: So I read the blog. Please tell me the guy Lu was seeing wasn't M!

MM: It was.

KK: What was she thinking?!

MM: I don't know. But it's over. The end.

KK: Thank God!

MM: Do you ever wonder why we're so invested in Lu's love life??

Don't worry guys. I get it. It's like a soap opera. So the update on that is that Lu and the baby's father are on very friendly terms. They aren't what one would call officially reconciled but that's because Lu wants to take things slow and make sure that the previous issues are on their way to resolution. But he's very involved with the pregnancy now. He and his mom were both at the sonogram where we found out it's a boy! And things seem to be progressing between them in a positive direction. And frankly, it's nice to see her happy. They did work together to choose a name: Dylan James Flanagan. Personally, I was partial to Milo. Her belly is ginormous. But she makes pregnancy look adorable. And thankfully, she takes after me and has a very easy pregnancy. I hope her delivery is the same. All the screenings have come back with negative results so the baby seems extremely healthy and on track. Her platelets dipped but then went up on their own. And she finally gained some weight. Here's a picture:


Isn't she adorable??!

Sean is still working as a telemarketer and comes home daily with the funniest stories ever. He meets and works with some interesting characters that's for sure. Some of his stories are funny, though kind of sad in a way. Sad that people feel the need to self medicate with drugs and alcohol to the point that they do. Even to get through the work day. I was going to share one, but suddenly I'm not in the mood. He's looking forward to vacay. And to getting to quit his job. He's working for the boy scouts again this summer and camp callahan and then travelling.

Mike is, of course, submersed in work. Always a ton of projects to do and the usual getting camp ready for summer. In fact, he'll be missing our vacation. Don't worry about him too much though. He's not a big fan of the ocean. He calls it the big puddle.

Mike: have fun visiting the big noisy puddle.

Me: Noisy?

Mike: yeah, it's constantly making that noise.

Me: You mean the sound of the waves? The one people find soothing and they put on those machines to help people relax?

Mike: yeah. It's so annoying. Give me silence any day.

Me: You just get weirder every time I talk to you.

Don't worry. I will enjoy it. I love that sound. And I'm very excited to be visiting a state I haven't yet been to. Alabama. And drinking sweet tea and saying y'all without anyone laughing at me. I'll keep you posted.

The heart wrenching part though? We aren't taking CJ. I just can't do that without Mike. I'm already having a fibro flare up and not getting enough sleep would make it worse. Also, we considered that we aren't sure how he'll do on an eight hour car trip two days in a row. Or being out of his routine for 10 days in unfamiliar surroundings. I know in my heart that we've made the right decision but that doesn't make me any less sad. But I will be taking him to my sisters in the next month or so. We'll see how he does there and keep working to get him ready to go on a vacation with us. And Mike has promised to go somewhere with me in the fall when his work slows down some. Alaska anyone?

The fibro flare was really bumming me out. I've felt so well for such a long time that it sucks to be reminded you have a chronic illness that can put you on the bench from time to time. I was throwing myself a real pity party for a couple of days. The klutziness was really getting to me. I have thrown my phone across the kitchen (not on purpose, it just slid out of my hand), dropped a dish of cat food upside down on the floor, spilled a very full glass of red juice all over the carpet, dropped and broken a glass cookie jar and sliced my thumb open on a can lid requiring an ER visit and tetanus shot. Talented, huh? I've grounded myself from using glass glasses for the duration. But the pity party ends today. Because I happened to see a show that reminded me that there are far worse conditions to have. I may be typing awkwardly with my bandaged thumb, but at least the rest of my appendages are responding to my brain signals. I may be dropping things, but I'm still able to clean up after myself. I may be forgetting things and having trouble coming up with the right word now and then, but I can still speak and see and hear and walk. And I have people who love me and forgive me when I'm moody and sick. People who take care of me willingly when I need it. A job doing what I love. A roof over my head, plenty of food to eat and a grandson on the way. I am a blessed woman.

Thank you all for sticking with me like you do. And a big shout out to my kindle readers!! You have not gotten your money's worth this month and for that I apologize sincerely. I'll try to do better.

♥Spot