oh what a week!  Actually, most of it went quite well.  Every morning I pop over to my daughter's house so that I can help with the baby while she runs the older kids back and forth to school and therapy etc. 

Then came Friday. OYE! Woke up and my mouse didn't work. I can't work without a mouse. I hate those little pads on the laptop. But, since I keep spare mice in the drawer -no problem- right? wrong. The new mouse for when this died didn't work - needs two hours to charge - so I went for the wired mouse - except it didn't work either - grrrr.  Okay- I ordered two new mice and went off to my daughters.  Borrowed her wired mouse- except -nada. Didn't work either. NOW I'm starting to put two and two together.

As soon as my daughter came home I asked her to check her mouse and mine on her laptop - and no surprise - they both worked - blast! 

So - off to Microcenter I go. Thankfully, mid afternoon there aren't that many people waiting. I only had to wait about fifteen or twenty minutes for the tech to look at it. I love that store because so many of my problems can be fixed in five minutes by someone who has any tech skills since we know I have none. Now - I DO know when all else fails, turn the machine off, wait five minutes, and turn it back on.  That didn't work. Not when I did it, not when the tech guy did it. 

After what felt like an hour - and may well have been - and testing my mice and their mouse on my laptop and then on theirs, it was determined that my laptops USB and USBC ports were not registering anything. The downside - my two year warranty expired about six weeks ago - grrr. OF course, I need my laptop so I paid the $59 for the diagnostic and prayed for an easy fix. Since both my husband's computers are broken (one won't charge, one has keys that won't work- the space bar being the most critical) and the tech guy said it would be 24 to 48 hours before they'd get back to me, I did what I did last time my computer crashed two years ago - I went to pick up a cheap computer.  Except - there is no longer such a thing. Long story short - $1200 later I have a working computer and a two year additional warranty. 

I learned something from this - I hate Windows 11.  Let me repeat that - I HATE Windows 11.  after spending one hour searching how to capture a screenshot, Microcenter texted me.  THere is no problem it must be my mouse. Apparently one tech guy doesn't talk to the other. So I packed my new computer up and drove back.  My computer most definitely was working normally now. The tech guy backed me up and said it wasn't working a few hours ago - I returned that horribly expensive and annoying new laptop (My credit card and interest rate are much happier now!) and because the diagnostic said the computer is fine - I was able to buy another 2 year warranty.  

Kept my Friday interesting - frustrating - but interesting! 

I was however a very good girl and worked all weekend to make up for lost time on Friday! I even made a little banner to share about my booksigning coming up next month in Kentucky!  

I think it turned out okay - don't you? Just a little more than three weeks! If anyone is from Lexington or Louisville and has suggestions on things I MUST SEE - please share! I know I'm going to go see Churchill Downs and checking out horse farms will be very helpful for a woman who is always writing about horses and barns and things! But anything else will be great too! 

Okay- I'm going to sign off here - Hopefully I'll have some nicer rehab photos for you next time! 

 I figure we'll start off with news on Sweet Devotion! It is releasing officially on May 19th - but - it should be available on my storefront TOMORROW!  Isn't that wonderful for folks who don't want to wait? https://www.chriskeniston.com/sweet-devotion.html 

And here's the opening scene (unedited of course!) for Sweet Courage! 

"Clear the area!"
Shrill voices. Screaming. Hanson running at a full gallop. Get away. Move. Clear the area, get everyone out.
"Clear the area!" The words tore out of him. His legs — tree stumps, both of them, heavy and wrong and not moving fast enough. Move. Had to move. Had to save everyone. Heat. Lord, so much heat pressed in from every side. Dust so thick he couldn't pull air through it. Lungs burning. Keep moving. Water. Suddenly water everywhere. Swim. Had to swim. Arms like lead, gravity yanking at his boots, pulling him down. Ripples of water overhead. The sky dark and fiery gray and wrong.
"They're attacking!" A voice, muffled, overhead somewhere.
Bursts of red and orange and yellow exploded above him like the Fourth of July. The air stank of fuel and ash and something worse. A dark shape spun between the fire and the water. Growing. Closer. Bigger. A truck. How was there a…
Kick. Move. He had to get away. Screams everywhere. The convoy, where was everyone, where had they… ? The pressure built in his chest. Breathe. Long deep breaths but nothing came. No air. He couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't find… "Aiden!" His voice swallowed by water. Still in the water. Where? How? "Gideon!"
Groans. His buddies. Somewhere. He kicked out, pulled his arms through the water, the light hit his face and then the water was gone and he was running, burned grass under his boots, black smoldering holes in the earth, smoke burning his throat. Move. Stay safe. Find them.
Screams again. One louder than the others. He locked onto it and ran harder, harder than his legs should have been able to carry him, toward the sound coming from under a pile of burned wood. A structure. Had it been a house? A cabin?
The cry came again and with both hands he grabbed at splintered wood and charred beams, throwing them aside with the ease of tossing bags of feathers. He had to move faster. The screams were getting louder. One more board. Gripping the corner, he flipped it out of the way. A final scream pierced straight through him.  Not Gideon. Not Aiden. Not his sergeant—a baby!
"No!"
Sucking in a deep breath, Hanson Taylor sat up straight. Surrounded by dark, he blinked. Silence embraced him. He blinked again, looking down. Soaked. His shirt was soaked. Tangled around his legs, sheets were drenched with sweat. His sweat.  Swinging his legs around, he braced himself on the edge of the mattress. Where the hell was he?
His eyes squeezed shut, he tried to remember. Tried to understand. As if someone had drilled a hole in his brain and let all his memories pour out, he could not remember where he was.
A light tap on the door. “Hanson, honey, are you all right?”
Honey?
The hinges squeaked as the door inched open. “Can I get you something?”
He blinked. A woman, older but not old, concern etched on her face. But who? And then, like a light bulb in the dark, he remembered. Mrs. Sweet. Alice. He was at his sergeant’s ranch. Relief washed over him. The nightmare was just that, a senseless dream.  “Sorry, yes. I’m fine, and, no. I don’t need anything.”
“You may not need anything, but how about a mug of warm honey milk? That will help you sleep.”
Sleep. At this moment the last thing he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep—or dream. Then again, the worry in the woman’s eyes made him reconsider. “That sounds…nice.”
Her frown flipped to a smile. “Good. I’ll have that ready for you in just a few minutes.” Mrs. Sweet turned on her heel.
Hanson glanced at the old fashioned alarm clock on the nightstand. Three in the morning. Had he woken the poor woman out of a deep sleep? Damn.  Shaking his head, he pushed to his feet, at least that was now stable. One thing they’d managed to re-teach him at the hospital. It had taken months, but now, finally, he could at least stand steady on his feet, move one foot in front of the other. They were no longer heavy like tree stumps and did what his mind told them to do. One thing in his upside down life that was normal. If only his mind could do the same.
Under any other circumstance, this room would be a nice place for a vacation. Simple décor, not too girly, not too manly, mostly—welcoming. The attached bath made it easy for him to wash up his face, brush his hair and teeth, and put on dry clothes. Staring at himself in the mirror, at least now he looked more presentable. Enough not to scare small children.  Taking another second, he let his mind run through what little he remembered. The Sweet ranch, Ms. Alice. His sergeant had already returned to base. His wife, whose name escaped him, lived here with his brother. Cooper? No. Carter. That seemed right, yet wrong. Carson! That was it. His brother Carson and his family.
For now, he'd done enough tug of war with his mind and his memory. Straightening to his full height, he sucked in a calming breath and moved toward the kitchen. At the doorway he paused, looking, studying, trying to paint a memory.  A single light over the stove, the quiet sounds of Alice moving with purpose in the early dark, a massive table that had seen years of family meals. Set on the same table was a large steaming mug. Knowing he wouldn’t remember, he walked in and took a seat.
“When my Charlie couldn’t sleep, worrying about some problem or other, I’d make him warm honey milk. Honey has lots of healthy properties and warm milk, well.” She smiled and shrugged.
“I’m sorry I woke you.”
“You didn’t.” She shook her head. “I always get up at this hour to start breakfast. Unlike chickens who rise and rest with the sun, a rancher’s work starts in the pitch of dark.”
“I didn’t know that.” He curled his hands around the warm mug, before lifting it to his lips. The warmth more soothing than he’d expected. “This is delicious. Thank you.”
Her head bobbed as she tied an apron around her waist.  Slowly, signs of a morning routine emerged. Clint, Alice’s husband was first to the table. Carson, who was apparently going to work the ranch this morning instead of his normal day job, followed shortly after.  The conversation was minimal, but smiles were abundant. Happiness draped every corner of the room with a goodly dose of love and family. 
It had been explained to him more than once, that for him to make any kind of additional progress, he needed to be in a relaxed stress-free environment. An environment that matched the Sweet family ranch. Too bad the only thing all this normalcy succeeded at was reminding him how his new world was anything but normal. 
Sweet Courage is available for preorder at all vendors! and soon you'll be able to sign up for notification of direct early release on my website soon! 

​Now - shall we move on to the kitchen and bath remodel for my friend? We'll start with a refresher on the before - and where we are now? I love that this home will now have a pantry- small, but a pantry! Ignore the floating wires - when the electrician finishes- they'll be gone! 

As soon as all the sheetrock is up and repaired around the house - then the cabinets can go in - it's going to be amazing, I can feel it in my bones LOL - The kitchen was SO impractical before - there will be way more counterspace and so many more cabinets!  

I hope everyone with human and fur babies had a happy and peaceful Mothers Day! 

Next week I'll have more on the master bath- that shower is coming along - 

​Okay- back to work - have a good week! 

 I can't believe I survived last week! 

My editor needed my next book by Friday. We are on an unusually tight deadline to get this book published on time, and I freely admit it was not easy. I had to sit myself down every day and agree to type any gobbeldygook that came to mind knowing you have to have words on a page to edit. Thursday night especially meant  I was up until four am finishing the book - then Friday I worked on the epilogue. Which by the way, there will be a new Honeysuckle book coming in August - Sweet Courage. Another soldier injured in that convoy explosion that got Josh and Aiden will be coming to Honeysuckle.  The preorder should be up by the end of this week!  I had thought of stopping at Sweet Devotion for a while, but the preorders were strong enough that my publisher wants another book sooner than later - so August it will be! 

Now for folks waiting on new of my mother.  All seems to be back the way it was before she took those dives last Saturday.  I truly believe the base cause of all of it was dehydration. It happens so easily in elderly because they don't want to drink because it makes then have to go potty and most folks hovering around ninety just don't want to get up that many times a day! The labs the doctor performed didn't show any abnormalities. The doctor didn't seem to think there was an issue with strokes or mini strokes, probably because by the time the doctor saw Mom on Tuesday, she was pretty much back to normal.  By Thursday she was up and about and roaming- I had to chase her away from my mail and drawers! LOL.  So far she'd done just fine being back at home so yay! 

As a reward I got to sleep late Saturday, veg out, and go out to dinner with a friend. It's a Saturday tradition ever since covid - we used to go to dinner every saturday night to help the restaurants and have kept it up. Only now we come back to my house after dinner, catch up on the latest episode of Boston Blue (which does anyone else think they've gone over the top with the latest 'family drama'? ) and then if we're not too tired or it's not too late, we watch an old movie. This week it was Silk Stockings with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. That was a favorite growing up, I just loved Peter Lorrie in a comedic role instead of his usual creepy film noir characters. And even though there are some great Cole Porter tunes, my favorite scene is still when the Peter Lorrie and his three comrades sing "When we meet in sweet Siberia" I just loved that silly song.  We did try a new restaurant - Lefty's. It's a chowder house and everything is home made. I will say the stuffed snapper I had was amazing and my friend said her crab cakes were the best ever. Even though the desserts looked amazing - they were a tad disappointing.  But here you go - just for show! 

. For me, meringue tastes better toasty. That foamy white felt like I was tasting raw eggs and sugar! lol.  The coconut cream was fine, but it didn't taste very coconutty, more like ordinary custard. While it wasn't bad, I decided it wasn't worth the calories.  We did bring that poofy meringue layer home and I tried to bake it into cookies - but I got lost in the tv show and forgot about them until the smell of burned sugar filled my first floor - oh well lol. 

Because I was busy with Mom, I didn't get a chance to get many new photos of my friends remodel house - but here are shots of the new kitchen window instead of the old one to allow for more cabinets. First photo is the original kitchen with all the cabinets gone - second photo has the walls closed up and the new window and to the right the door is moved and the laundry closet is where the old built in hutch was. The third photo is the close up of the window - you can see where it used to be almost twice as wide - but who needs that much window into the yard? Cabinets are way more helpful! 

Next week I'll hopefully have more for you! 

​Until then - have a great week - and tell me in the comments below what you think of that new window? 

Well - I think the closet turned out wonderful for what my kids need!  It will start out slowly letting the cats sniff it out - then they'll add the litter box - and then - they'll close the door and hope the cats figure out how to use the little cat door! You'll have to click on the photos to see the whole picture. 

So that was a perfect end to the project. 

Then I had a friend of more than twenty years - the woman who helped me with much of my military protocol in my Aloha series - had an unexpected layover in Dallas so I was able to rearrange my schedule and we got a nice long visit in downtown Dallas - even the ducks came out to play! 

And for more success of the week - we finalized the basic design for the new series! The Firefighters of Hart Land. I should have those ready for preorder as soon as we nail down the rest of the titles! 

Aren't they cool! 

then comes the actual end of the week - Saturday to be precise.  I babysat the grandbaby while my daughter's family, hubby, and my uncle all went to see the new Mario movie. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, my grands or my Uncle, but I digress lol. My uncle who lives with my mother found her on the floor staring at the ceiling. We have no idea how long since she'd fallen but he managed to get her up and then she dropped like a felled tree again. So we brought her home to my house - have given her lots of pedialyte in the event that she's dehydrated, and I'll make a doctor's appt today for tomorrow in case she's got a UTI or something similar that's affecting her balance. She has some moments when her balance is fine and then others when she wobbles like a weeble only unlike the vintage toy, she will fall down.  So we're hydrating her and walking her and feeding her lots of foods that she's not usually allowed for strength.  Will keep everyone posted! 

Now I'm off to my every other year dermatology visit.  If I like this new dermatologist we'll be able to do the annual check the way I should. 

Send prayers my way for both me and Mom! 

As with every week the last two months, most of my mornings are spend helping my daughter with the new baby while she does multiple carpools.  It never ceases to surprise me how fast these little ones grow the first year.  I wish they could stay small and cuddly a little longer but I'll take it for as long as I can get it. 

In the meantime, we're working on creating a cat closet for my daughter - you ask what is a cat closet?? A place for the litter box that doesn't smell up the whole house! LOL.  She had hers in the laundry room of their new house but it's at the opposite end of where one of the cats sleeps in their room so the former feral cat won't go past the kitchen so she needs to move it closer to the bedroom, hence, the new cat closet. 

Of course there was no closet where she's putting it. But, we did know from the survey that for some unknown reason, between her bedroom closet and the living room bookcases there is 18 inches of dead space.  WHY they didn't use that for a bigger master closet, I have no idea - but we decided 18 inches of dead space plus 15 inches of unwanted built in book case, would be just enough space for... a cat closet! 

My favorite handyman has been demoing and building for three days - it's looking good! 

here is the section of survey that showed the hollow space, and the bookcase in front and a close up of the case on the left that is going away. 

Unfortunately - it's still not finished - but - we have a few in progress photos - The first is the current state of the removed bookcase. The sheetrock still needs to be tape, bedded, and textured before it can be painted.  And the inside needs to have the floor put down and the walls put up - but you can see where the cat box can fit without issue! First shot is the view of the hall wall before we cut in for a door. 

I am still working away on Sweet Devotion and plotting for A Flicker of SOMETHING lol - but had to squeeze that in between helping a friend. On a general pre-emptive health check, she requested a calcium scan, which turned out to be twice as high as her previous one a few years ago, which led to the doctor doing a cardiac scan with dye, which showed two blocked arteries. Thankfully, all she needed were a couple of stents, but we were startled when the nurse said not to do anything with her right arm, no vacuuming, no pushing a grocery cart or if the clot breaks she could bleed out. Well, that was all we needed to hear to decide she was NOT going home alone after the 'simple procedure'.  But, despite having company for a few nights, I still managed to stay on track for word count! 

​Okay - time to get back to writing work! Will check back next week with the finished product! 

It seems having a baby in the family is the easiest way to notice how fast time is flying by.  They grow so fast. This week, my new granddaughter laughed for me! So much fun. I didn't realize she hadn't laughed yet for her mom, but at least I got a photo of it! 

I'm also overjoyed to have gotten my tax return done and filed almost a week early! That doesn't happen very often. I have no idea why it seems like human nature to wait for the last second to get important things done!  Are you a procrastinator or one of those organized folks who have their returns filed within weeks of the new year? 

Book news is chugging along. German Alohas released last week, and French Farradays release this week.  I'm pedaling as fast as I can! So far, I think Sweet devotion is coming along nicely.  

Here's a sneak peek - You might recognize a few folks from a favorite series. 

“Don’t pull him.”  Colleen Gleeson forced an easy smile.

The woman’s hands tightened anyway. The gelding lifted his head, ears flicking back, then forward, reading everything the rider hadn’t said out loud.
Colleen stepped in without breaking stride, one hand settling lightly against the woman’s calf, the other brushing her wrist. “Loosen it.”
“I am.”
She didn’t argue. They took two more steps. The horse drifted off the line, shoulder edging out, testing. Colleen adjusted the rider’s leg, just enough to shift her weight back where it belonged. “Again.”
The woman exhaled this time. Not much, but enough. The reins softened. The gelding’s head dropped a fraction.
“There.”
They moved forward, slow and even, dust rising under each step. The rhythm settled in—one beat, then the next—until the tension bled off and what had been work started to look like something easier. Even though it wasn’t.
Colleen walked beside them, close enough to correct, far enough not to interfere. This was it. Her last day under the tutelage of Hannah Farraday Johnson. Though not that much older than Colleen, Hannah had a reputation throughout all of Texas, the neighboring states, and often beyond, for running one of the best equine therapy operations. In the case of her uncle Connor Farraday, well, the man was known as the best horse breeder and trainer from shore to shore. If there was such a thing as a horse whisperer, Connor had that skill in spades.
Her wristwatch buzzed. Time was up. She cued the horse to halt with a shift of her weight and a quiet word. Her patient eased to a stop and sat for a moment before swinging down, landing with more confidence than she had a month ago, steadying herself briefly against the saddle before stepping away on her own.
"Good session," Colleen smiled.
“You’ll be meeting with me again next week.” Grinning as though she’d won the largest cupie doll at the state fair, Hannah strolled up.
The woman nodded, turned to Colleen and offering the first sincere smile Colleen had seen from her, spoke softly. “Thank you.” Without another word, she nodded and Hannah and limped away. To Colleen’s satisfaction, not nearly as pronounced as it had been when Colleen first arrived three months ago.
“We wish you could stay.” Hannah handed the horse’s reins over to one of the stable workers.
“I have to admit,” she fell into step with Hannah toward the main house. “I’ve been tempted.”
“But not enough.” There was no censure in Hannah’s tone, not even a hint of optimism.
“Honeysuckle is home. Between school, training, licensing, getting my hours, and… well, here,” she waved arm across the expanse of the Farraday operation, “I’m ready to go home.”
“Still planning to hang your own shingle?”
She nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“Horses?”
With a shrug, she tipped her head momentarily to one side. “That may have to wait.” There were certainly plenty of ranches with horse in her neck of Texas, but nothing like the set up Connor Farraday had. Of course, that didn’t mean that maybe some day…
“Have you talked to Alice Sweet? They’ve been doing a lot of improvements over there. Maybe that could work out.”
“Maybe.” She had thought the same thing. After all, it was upon the recommendation of Alice Sweet and in reverence of the Farraday patriarch Sean’s friendship with Charlie Sweet that she’d gotten this chance to train with the best.
At the front of the main house where Colleen had been staying, Hannah eyed the bed of her truck. “You’re all packed?”
“Yeah. I figure it’s like changing Band-Aids, easier in the end to just rip off the old one.
“Ouch.” Hannah cringed but still managed to smile. “So we’re an old bandaid, huh?”
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant, as excited as I am to go home, leaving here isn’t going to be easy.”
“Just so you know, you’re welcome any time. As a friend or a therapist. Whatever you want.”
“Thanks.” Colleen leaned forward and gave her new friend a tight hug. “I’ll remember that.”
“You’d better keep in touch!”
“You bet.” She stepped back, climbed into the truck, blew out a big sigh, and started the engine.
Hannah took a step back. Connor came out the front door and stood beside his niece.
She’d already said her goodbyes to Connor and his family after lunch, no point in starting that all over. She lifted her hand, waved at the two smiling Farradays, and pulled away. The windows went down. The radio went up. The gravel of Farraday's long drive crunched under her tires, then gave way to the standard West Texas blacktop.
The truck climbed a low rise and the land opened up the way it did out here — wide and unhurried, the sky taking up more room than anything else, the late sun burning everything copper and amber all the way to the horizon. Now her thoughts turned to her mom and dad, her sister in NEARTOWN, the Saturday afternoon corn hole games in the park, the delicious scents from the candle shop owned by her friend Jillian Sweet, the gossip queen, and everything about Honeysuckle that made her smile.
Resisting the urge to grab her phone and spent a good chunk of the drive chatting away with her sister, she rolled down the window a little further, let the warm air come in, and with a smile as wide as the Rio Grande, drove toward home.
How's that? Surprised? 

On the not so happy note, my cataract surgery I mentioned is postponed until July - why you ask- Would it surprise you if I said- a broken elevator? 

Yep - the elevator is broken and won't be fixed for six weeks. I'd have to walk up two flights of stairs every week for several weeks and since I couldn't breathe when I got to the top of the stairs we agreed, waiting was best. 

okay, that's it for this week, I have another busy week ahead and will post photos of the house reno then! 
​

The new grandbaby weighed 7lbs 7oz four weeks ago - now - she's 10lbs 8oz - WOW - she is growing too fast!  I'd love to slow it down just a little! It is lovely though that unlike the previous grands, I get to watch this one grow day by day and I am very thankful that my daughter and her family now live walking distance to my house. 

Projects are all coming along - I am on schedule with Sweet Devotion releasing in May. I have the Farradays releasing in French this month. That's pretty exciting, though I have no idea how to get the word out in France and Canada! 

And as promised - here is the start of a new rehab project for my friend. I'll start with the kitchen - first photo is original kitchen - it was quite impractical. limited counterspace - the stove blocked access to much needed cabinet space - the hutch on the side wall was almost useless (original architect should have made it a pantry!) - and the laundry is in the garage. 

First stage is to demolish everything old to start fresh - next - tear down that false ceiling that was so popular decades ago and return it to a full 8' ceiling.  This is as far as we've gotten. The third photo shows the hutch removed (that's where the laundry closet will be - though we'll move the garage door and bump the closet into the garage a bit - but at least access will be from inside the house! 

On the health plan - guess whose having cataract surgery next Monday? I'm guessing my blog may be a bit late! Hope you'll forgive me.  We'll do one eye on Monday and then the other a couple of weeks later. I hadn't even realized I had cataracts, only knew that In order not to see things blurry I need my readers for everything from cell phones to seeing the food on my plate clearly.  It will be nice not to need readers AND a magnifying glass to read the tiny print on the back of supplement bottles LOL.  I think it will be fun! 

Seems this is catch up on my health week lol - Accompanied my husband to the hearing aid doctor and had my own hearing tested.  Listening in crowds is still a struggle at times, but apparently I'm within normal range - overall hearing ability is 92% and I'm using 88% so not a big enough gap for hearing aids, yet, but I promised my daughter as soon as they'll be helpful I will get them - and I will!  It drove me nuts for decades that my husband and my mother were deaf as doornails.  I refuse to do that to anyone. On top of that the hearing loss was probably a large contributor to mom's dementia.  If we could have convinced her they wouldn't make her look old (a fear of her generation) maybe we could have delayed the dementia decline.  I'll take this as a public service announcement to say - if you have hearing loss, even if you have to beg, borrow or steal, get hearing aids! 

Okay - that's it for me for the moment - will report back next week. 

I have no idea how time flies by so darn fast - but it does.  The baby is just growing like a weed - I know I'm going to blink and she'll be running around like my three year old, twirling dresses and showing off her red patent leather shoes! 

the week was also busy helping my friends daughter make her kitchen more practical - I showed you how we gave access to the house from the garage (Though I have no ideas why the builders sixty years ago didn't think that made sense!) -Now we're on to the kitchen, not a real remodel just a 'more sense' change. 

You'll see from the original photo - that was all there was for counter space and storage - no pantry (the old pantry now holds a stackable washer dryer) and heaven forbid you want to bake and cook at the same time! sooo - we moved the fridge to an open wall - added a refrigerator water line in case they get a fridge with an ice maker some day - adding a trash cabinet next to the fridge, a dishwasher and another cabinet - Don't you think this looks better?  I'm sorry I didn't remember to grab a nice photo when I was there yesterday seeing the final product but my friend took the two close up photos so you get an idea :)  - If you're wondering why there's a gap between the fridge and the cabinet - it's because that's a smaller 32 inch fridge and we had to leave room for the larger 36 inch in the future. 

On a personal note - I lost an entire pound - I know it's not much - but it's fun because i wasn't trying! Whether it's from all the walking I'm doing with the baby or because I'm too busy and eating less but I'll take it - I'll also be curious to see if i lose another pound next week! 

And just for the fun of it  - here's a photo of me with the baby and the teddy bear (that looks more like a monkey to me!) that my three year old grand thought I needed to hold since I was doing such a good job with the baby. ​

Now - television - since life has been a bit crazy and yes a tad stressful - I've started running an old television series in the background - The West Wing.  I don't remember it being quite so funny.  Though I suspect - much like Barney Miller (a favorite comedy of mine) that a lot of the subject and comments would be tabu in today's media. 

In the meantime - I hope everyone has read their copy of RYAN - I would love to hear from you here in the comments if you were happy with the Mariah resolution and the upcoming new branch of the Farradays - I'm hopefully it's going to be as much fun as the originals with all the cast of characters we love playing with in Tuckers Bluff! 

Okay- I'm calling it a day - so much to do.  Oh - and for the folks who like the remodeling stuff - I'm going to help another friend update her kitchen so I'll share that and try to do a better job of photographing! promise! 

Oh it's been a busy week for this little author!  lol.

I actually didn't have very  much grandbaby duty because the other grandma was in town for the week so I only visited one afternoon and then again yesterday.  Today, it's back to helping mode. I'll be on my way over in a few minutes to watch the baby while mama does morning carpool with the older ones.  She's coming along well enough that she can do morning drive, but by afternoon Pawpaw is doing pick ups - that's too much for her still.  Hard to believe it's already been three weeks since the baby was born, almost four. And already, she feels so much bigger and heavier! I just love the newborn stage and already I'm starting to miss it since she's more alert and squirmy LOL. 

I've been scrambling working on a bunch of translations - finally after almost three years of translating my books into German, we're doing French. I'm actually looking forward to having this done so someday I can do a booksigning in France.  Some of you may know I am actually conversational in French so it would be a load of fun for me to be able to meet readers and chat in person.  I'm also working on Sweet Devotion, the next book in the new K9 set of Honeysuckle Texas books set at the Sweet family ranch. By the end of April, we'll be starting on the new series. 

Did I tell you that we decided by majority vote of the fans to return to Hart Land and do the firefighter series? I should have those up and ready for preorder before summer. This will be the first time a series releases one book at a time instead of dropping the first two or three at once.  Hopefully no one will mind! 

​Most importantly, Tomorrow (or tonight if you preordered on amazon or Apple) Ryan Farraday will be available everywhere (he's already for sale on my website) 

Well - as you can see - never did get to finish the Blog on time! 

Yesterday with the baby was long - she slept on Oma most of the day and then when my granddaughter came home it was time outside with her - I think of the two siblings, she's the one feeling the most 'left out' - so we're all trying to make a point of one on one time with her - mine was yesterday from five to six pm. Then it was Pawpa's turn. 

here we have a couple of shots of happy Oma - and the weekend when pawpaw and the grands played in the hot tub - too cold for the big pool yet! it's not heated :) 

Then, to add to the massive to do list - A friend's daughter who lives in California has a house here in dallas and her property manager dropped the ball, so - guess who gets to step in and spruce things up a bit to make it more appealing to a renter? Yep - yours truly! I love doing this kind of thing but it makes things pretty busy - 

​For those of you who love before and afters - here are a few shots. The first photo is the dining area from the living room - you can see it's a solid wall. This is a one car garage house with no access to the house from inside the garage - I figure working single women want the safety of access to the house without going back outside and moms with kids don't want to lug the groceries around the house in the rain and cold - so - we added a door to the garage- that's the second shot - the third is the access from the garage - easy peasy! 

And of course the big news of the day - RYAN is here!   Run and get your copy - and let me know what you think of the Aunt Mariah resolution and the intro of Seamus!  And you can preorder Seamus too now! 

Cutting it short since I'm late!  Hopefully will be more caught up next week! 

To say that today did not go as planned - would be an understatement. Which means, instead of writing this at 11am, I'm writing it at 11pm. So very sorry. 

My days are mostly filled with new baby efforts. My daughter is doing great after her C-section, but still needs help a little longer - and of course, I'm loving every minute with the new little one.  Even though I have to share this week with my son in law's mom. 

For anyone wanting to read RYAN early - as promised - the last of the Construction Cousin books in Farraday Country is up for sale early on my website - click here to access it if you don't want to wait for the world wide release next week! https://store.chriskeniston.com/products/Ryan-p822671521  So far, I'm hearing that folks are loving how we wrapped up the family feud issue. I'm really happy to hear it because it took me this long to fully understand what happened. As usual, it wasn't until I was writing the scenes that the characters stepped up to the plate and told me what was happening! LOL - I love it when that happens, I just wished they'd spoken up a little sooner and saved me some stressful days and night lol!

For fans of my aloha series - i'm currently working on transforming my original series book Waikiki wedding into a clean and wholesome version-- I hope that's good news for some of you. 

Our next release is in May and I have to wrap my head around Sweet Devotion -  with every book an author writes, trying to keep the next one and the one after that and the one after that fresh, gets harder and harder. The number of ideas we have to toss away because - did that two books ago, or ten books ago, or in a previous series...or two - happens too often. Some times we hope that we can change an idea from another book or series around enough that it still seems fresh. After all, a kitchen fire and a brush fire are not the same thing, still, it's not getting any easier. But I'll keep doing my best as long as you let me! :) 

Since its pretty late for me and my restless leg syndrome is kicking in (always does when I'm tired) I'm calling it a night - 

Wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick's day!