I I am not ready yet for the biggest trip my husband and I have ever taken together! 

I just hope we don't wind up walking across Ireland if I can't figure out how to rent a car or sleeping in the car if hotels are as crowded as everyone says they are all summer long! 

My editor says she'll have edits for book four of the new Honeysuckle series - Sweet Deal - in my mailbox later today - yay! Am hoping to get loose ends tied up before we leave. Remember books one and two release in two weeks!! Are you counting down or did you go ahead and buy them early from my website? 

As for me - I played hooky from responsibilities and spent the weekend with a group of friends who descend on North Texas every summer. We've dwindled down to about a dozen women, but I think after twenty years, that's pretty good!  Who knew playing Mexican Train (dominoes) could make so many people laugh so hard for two whole days ! And of course, we're watching JAG in the background. Did you know that I started writing because of that TV show? Yep - I hated what the writers were doing with the show and would write stories to fix the mess they'd made. LOL. 

The downside to a long friends' weekend... dieting is not an option! I gained a few pounds. I mean, who can resist all the delicious dips and chips and cakes and treats that everyone brought??  Maybe I can drop them again before our trip - we'll see.

For anyone who remembers my little car accident a couple of weeks ago, I am glad to report my neck is hardly giving me any trouble at all. I was hoping that I wasn't going to need to take a neck brace to Ireland with me and I'm pretty sure that by next week I'll be right as rain! (do people still use that expression?? lol) 

​Okay, I'm going to leave this a short read so I can get to work!  Who knows, maybe I'll have an excerpt from book four or five next Monday! 

​

I have no idea what is going on with my website but this is my THIRD attempt at typing todays post - the first two are forever lost in cyber space! 

Okay - here goes - AGAIN LOL

I can not believe in less than two weeks hubby and I will be in Ireland! ​Thanks to his maternal grandmother and grandfather, he has a slew of cousins all over Ireland and we’re hoping to meet as many of them as we can!  Another thing a long trip overseas is good for is learning just how much clothing you have in your closet that don’t fit anymore and probably never will! I have a huge pile on the floor and am still picking up non-wrinkle clothes that fit comfortably. I am trying to take about two weeks worth of clothes since I have no idea how easy finding laundry facilities will be where we are.
 
The other thing I have discovered are #Crocs! My cousin bought a pair for her sister. I decided to try a pair on and see what all the fuss was about. Oh My Heavens. They were clunky and not very fashionable but the spongiest shoes I have ever owned! I bought a pair in black.  I’ve been wearing them to break them in – so to speak – so I don’t get any blisters on the trip, because I plan to wear them a lot. After all, where it’s wet and rainy, what better to wear than rubber sandals! This sent me on a hunt for the same sandals in tan for when I’m wearing lighter colored clothes. The store I bought the black ones in didn’t have any other color than orange (yuck) so today I tried a store in the next town over. Turns out the tan are really more off white. They didn’t have them in my size so I tried another discount store in another town further north. Well, they had lots of bright colors but no off white/tan. But… they had a different style in a blush pink. They look much better against my skin and are almost as comfortable. On a scale of 1-10 the black pair is an 11 and the pink a 9 – not bad! 

​Now I’m going to start packing and see what I really need and if we’re still missing anything. Hubby has put on a few pounds so he’s getting a lot of new pants and shorts. It was time. So much of his clothing was faded and worn and of course, he always kept pens in his pockets so there are a lot of dark blue stains on just about everything. I’ve banned pens from his pockets for this trip!
 
As for books, no new writing, but we’re still on time for release of my German Hart Land series this week and book one and two of the new series Sweet Beginnings and Sweet Surprise, at the end of this month. Book three is ready for release in July and book four is still at the editor’s for release in August.  I’m doing my best to get most of book five written before we leave so I only have to tinker here and there to get it finished for the scheduled September release.
 
Okay – off to sort and start packing! See y’all next week! 

This is coming SO late because I've been running like a crazy woman. 

I have a cousin visiting from out of state and she leaves Wednesday so today was last minute shopping day. We hit Costco - we were there for her but I went to town with all the blouses. I had a blast picking out all sorts of new affordable tops that were ideal for travel. I have plenty of tops, but they hang in my closet, not crumpled in a suitcase. These should look just as nice when I pull them out of a suitcase as when I put them in! 

then we hit Walmart, I didn't really need anything there except potato chips. We're trying to fatten my mom up who has lost 9 pounds in the last six months which is quite a lot for skinny little her. Since she wont eat well, but loves to snack, I figure chips should fatten her right up! LOL. 

Next stop was Ross Dress for Less. I picked up two dresses (how can I turn down a dress for 7.99?) that will travel well. The downside, they're a tad snug. If I can drop five pounds in the next three weeks they should be good to go. Fingers crossed. 

From there, we met up with a friend for dinner - except- on the way, while stopped at a light, the car behind me plowed into me - and I mean PLOWED. What a jolt. My head and neck began to ache immediately. And unfortunately, as is all too typical in Texas, the driver was uninsured and illegal. I gave her a good lecture on not talking on her phone, not being careless, and how lucky she was that she hit me because anyone else would call the police, which would mean her car would be impounded, and possible ICE involvement.  I don't like to get political, but this is why so many Texans are fed up. I was pretty unhappy- but - having experience with being rear ended, I arrived at my friend's and immediately took two ibuprofen. Then I took more at dinner. I enjoyed a chocolate martini - liquor should relax the muscles, except I don't like the taste so it has to be disguised with chocolate Lol- and now as I write this, I have a heated bean bag under my neck. Tonight I will sleep on my memory foam weird shaped pillow that always helps with stiff necks and pray for a positive morning outcome. If I'm still hurting, I'm putting my old neck brace on and cutting this sucker off at the pass. And yes I still have the one I had to wear for almost a year after I was rear ended when I was pregnant with my daughter - that long ago! I might even have the traction kit I had to hang over the door. It was a pretty nasty struggle and I still have shoulder pain from it, but we adapt. 

So.. if anyone is wondering how the office turned out - here are a few photos. The papers on the desks are a bit of a mess, need to be organized and find good homes (lol) but we were distracted by my grandkids visit for the weekend. 

First photo is from the doorway staring at the window - I need to change the curtain. I usually hang half curtains in the dormers to get light from the top, but it dotesn't look right here. second is the photo to the left of the room from the chair, and the third is to the right of the doorway - needs a bit of cleaning up still! 

All right - time to call it a night. 

​thanks as always for joining me - 

I have discovered that if I skip eating all day - I can enjoy a dinner out with all the trimmings and not gain an ounce.  Now that may sound a bit drastic to everyone but I already skip breakfast - have most of my life. Started eating it when I was told I needed to in order to jump start my metabolism.  I'm not buying that one anymore. So I don't get hungry until around mid afternoon and if I'm busy, I don't even notice.  So Two nights out for dinner in a row - and no weight gain. Heck the first night I even lost a few ounces! 

These are the three meals we each had Saturday night. I had the fish - of course, I started with the warm bread and butter, then added pate (oh how I love pate - reminds me of liverwurst only better) then I had cream of asparagus soup - the absolutely delicious trout - and finished up with creme brulee.  So much food. I was so stuffed, but I loved every bite! 

My friend had the veal parmesan - I was tempted but went with the trout instead. My cousin had the grilled spinach and shrimp in some kind of Filo bowl.  Everyone loved it and the creme brulee was the best I'd ever had. 

We're making progress on the new series.  Book three is at the proofreaders and book four is with my editor. Today, I'm plotting out book five. My goal is to get well into it before we leave on vacation the end of next month.  We'll see how well that goes. With houseguests and other projects going - it will take an extra effort. We'll have to see. 

Now - hubby's office. It's still a work in progress - BUT - it's making progress. We decided his dad's old desk was just too clunky and the drawers stick, so, I'm on the hunt to find a furniture repair person who can cut it into two side tables. We think that will be easier to pass down through more generations. Fingers crossed I find the right person! 

Until then - here's what we've got going. We were gifted a beautiful dining table, but I don't need a dining table, so we are going to remove the beat up old table my husband used to use (painted with green legs! LOL) and use this lovely table. We've moved all things around and are using a smaller desk since he only needs it to pay bills and things - otherwise he uses the big table. Oh, and since I don't need another captain's chair with my set - I already have two- we're using the matching chair with the table. 

Since my daughter and grand kids are coming to visit this upcoming weekend, and the bedroom in last weeks blog is where they sleep, I'm hoping to have all this straightened out by the end of the week for their arrival and have more final photos for you in the next blog. Maybe by then I'll even have a few words for you from Sweet Deal the fourth book in the new series! 

Okay, off to work on that fifth book!  Andy mayb sort through more books ! LOL. 

Boy is this a busy few days - there is so much going on in my life. 
I have a cousin visiting who is transcribing all the short stories my grandmother wrote. When looking for something else, I found a stash of all she'd written but I couldn't read her handwriting so a cousin is visiting and typing all of it into a modern computer file.  

Then, I am helping a friend deal with the aftermath of a flood, so today was carpet shopping. 

There's also another friend who is selling their house and I'm charge of 'let's make this house likeable' before we let strangers in.  If anyone has a great idea for how to get rid of the stench of forty years of cigarette smoking fast - I'm all ears! 

Of course we having the ongoing saga of my mother and her brother - so far all is well. We found someone to help mom bathe. The downside of her age is they become afraid of the shower even if you're not climbing into a tub. 

And did I mention we're redoing my husband's office? Well, now that he's retired, we're sprucing up his office. When we bought the house, it was just a big T-shaped closet. The roof line was angled and a dormer window jetted out from the middle. Since I didn't want my kids mess in my living room and I wanted their bedroom to be a place for unwinding and sleeping, I knocked out two walls to expand the closet into the roofline, and voila, a playroom was born. Well, clearly, thirty years later, they don't need a playroom so it became my hubbies office. He didn't use it much, mostly for reading and studying his bible, but now that he's retired, he wants to do more studying. 

Since the thing still had the yellow striped wallpaper and blue wood trim from when it was a playroom, I thought it was time to make some changes - so - the wallpaper is gone, the walls are freshly painted, the trim is freshly painted, and you know what that means... the age worn vinyl floors looked awful. Which means, time for a new floor. Well, I really didn't want to spend a lot of money before our summer vacation to Ireland, so, I started shopping for bargain flooring, and then I remembered... we have leftover wooden flooring from when I did my son's room seventeen years ago. In order to get the great price, I had to buy the entire remaining lot. I'd meant to sell the leftover flooring in a garage sale or something, but just never got around to it - well - there is now a blonde wood floor in my hubbies office. It looks pretty cool! 

In these photos you'll notice the floors in my son's old room are the same as the office -you'll also see all the stuff in the bedroom that used to be in the office - needless to say, purging is going to happen when the furniture is replaced.  The second photo is the room - same floor- looks great. The desk was my father-in-law's. The third photo is the narrow side space, that used to be on both sides till I opened the walls up.  I'm getting super excited. 

It's amazing how one decision to freshen up the paint, leads to more and more and more LOL. 

As for the book works. I have finished book four of the sweets - that's Sweet Deal. I'm finishing up edits on book 3 - that's Sweet Temptation. And I'm working on getting more German and starting French translations. It's crazy hectic around here! 

Of course y'all already know books one and two are available early from my storefront, but this means book three should be available on my webstore within a couple of weeks also! How cool is that! 

​All right - Time to get back to work. 

Have to admit - for the mother's day weekend the whole family took off for the beach so not a single word on any of the new books has been written, but I did get the edits back for Sweet Surprise, will be starting on those tomorrow!  Today is the last day on the beach with my Mom and Hubby. Son is working on the deck but he and his girlfriend go home this afternoon, my daughter and her family left last night because kids have school today - personally, I think Mother's day should be a national holiday and everyone gets Monday off just like Columbus and the presidents! 

I am going to share a few photos and if you go to my you tube page - tomorrow my assistant Lisa will be posting a little walk through the Aquarium tunnel. 

We didn't actually do anything fancy, just being at the beach was good enough. My granddaughter adores the sand and the water, my grandson not so much, but I'm sure as he gets older that will change - 

I see a lot of castle building days in our future - I also may start playing the lottery - lol - they say beach property prices are coming down - probably because so many of the homes along here are losing their foundations and have had to be rebuilt. The house we're at has all new dirt and grass, though the parking pad is pretty sloppy repair - you can tell all they lost. The house next door looks ready to fall onto the beach, and I suspect this will be their second repair but it's so peaceful and a great place to relax. 

All right - mom is going to be 90 this year and because of her dementia she needs a bit more guidance than she might have a few years ago - sigh - so I'm off to deal with out last day on the beach - everyone enjoy your week! 

we are getting ready for our annual beach vacation beginning this thursday. I hate to confess how many hours I spent opening every closet door in the house looking for our folding camp chairs. Not once, not twice, way more often. Finally I asked my husband. The man who often misses the item directly in front of him - and he knew exactly where it was in the carport - and yes - I'd already looked there! 

So, finally, that's taken care of - except they're filthy - because they 'should' have been in the closet, but I digress.  Then I went down a rabbit hole thinking, with my son's girlfriend and my uncle possibly joining us, we don't have enough chairs for the beach - so - I went hunting for big chairs - with cup holders (two of ours don't have them, but I only paid $5 at a garage sale- for both of them, so I can't complain) and finally settled on ones I can get now - they're black, I prefer color, but they're chairs! lol. 

My mother also had an appointment today with her memory neurologist. The good news is that after four years her test score only went down one point. The sad news is we still don't have a cure for Alzheimer's. We're doing all we can, cognitive and physical therapists, taking sugar out of her diet, hubby taking her out to dinner, but a cure would be nicer. And of course - taking my mother anywhere is always more mentally exhausting than physically tiring - so I was a bit fried when I got home - which is probably why it took about four hours to get 1000 words on the page - but I got them! 

Then, I'm trying to resolve struggles with my leaking pool - that is still not resolved, though we may have a plan to drain it for the summer and replaster in the fall - we'll see - I'm still waiting to hear back. 

we're going to skip over my diet - because this week was not cooperating. Lots of dinners out, and irresistible cookies on Sunday. 

Anyhow, this is why today's blog is so late, in some time zones it's tomorrow! 

I will tell you that I am getting much closer to the end of book four - Sweet Deal.  I sure hope y'all like this new series - I'm certainly trying my best to keep things interesting and different - and let me tell you, after about fifty books, that is NOT easy! 

And now - after telling everyone they can buy it early - I've learned there's a snafu - so one more rabbit hole for the day!  

Let me tell you - I am truly looking forward to this little break - just hope the world doesn't fall apart on me when I get home! 

Okay - it's late and I'm calling it a day - or night LOL - see  y'all next week! 

For those of you who are Farraday fans - you probably know that the Farraday sagas will continue after Ryan - there was a small - and I mean SMALL hint in Quinn as to where more Farradays will come from, but it will be obvious in Ryan - Which - I wrote the first chapter of this week - and just for the fun of it - for you guys - here it is - You can preorder on any vendor you like- Apple was finally fixed - though anyone who preordered before last week will need to go back and do it again. 

How about that? It's been ages since I've had a start of a book so far before release! 

I'm also almost a third of the way through Sweet Deal - the new series - do y'all remember you can start that series early directly from my webstore? Well you can! Otherwise the first three are up for preorder - this one will be up as soon as I'm done with it! 

and now - off to take uncle for cataract surgery!  Everyone have a great week! 

I'll tell you - writing Sweet Temptation is proving to be a bit of a challenge as I near the end - I decided to go for one of my more humorous big moments and it is giving me fits. Y'all might have to settle for snickers instead of guffaws! 

I am however thrilled to have gotten to spend a lovely working dinner with a friend and her niece - the reason the niece is a big deal is that she's a social worker and I needed help with Rachel Sweet in Sweet Deal - the next book I'm starting as soon as Temptation is done - which I'm hoping is sooner than later - sigh. 

I didn't bother taking a photo of my chocolate martini because you've all seen so many pictures of pretty glasses with chocolate swirls LOL - but I did photograph the escargot. I'm a huge seafood fan. I love escargot when it's well prepared. This one was a tad too garlicy for me - but the interesting thing was the biscuit puffs on top - aren't they cute? I actually didn't eat them because I just love the escargot and butter sauce, though this time there was one missing. I popped the puff while the waiter was still there and told him one had escaped.  I also said it was no big deal, but a few moments later they brought me out a whole other serving of six - and ha - we found the missing little sucker - there were two in one of the spots! 

As you can see I took plenty of notes - that was page one of several pages! the poor waiter had to keep waiting for us because we were so busy yaking and taking notes we'd forget to look at the menu - especially because I have learned to say - Hang on a minute - while I write down what people are saying, otherwise if I try to keep up with the talking, I can't read my notes the next day! 

A nice perk - is we even came up with the 'emotional' big moment near the end of Sweet Deal - and this time it will not be a comedy - I may have lost my funny bone! 

Did I mention I'm in Houston for this dinner? The nice part is I get free accommodations at my daughter's house! Unfortunately, I still need to work. While I was out on the back porch having a business conversation without the kids running about being kids, I happened to look up at the ceiling fan and thought - is that a bird's tail? And a real nest? - I walked around and saw a bird's head -- no idea what kind-- but she sat SO still, I wasn't even sure if it was real or if it was a fake deterrent to other birds. 

My daughter said that the bird comes every year. Sadly the first year they moved in they didn't realize there was a bird's nest and while they were playing with the switches to figure out what was what - the fan obviously kicked on and the next day they found the nest and eggs on the ground. What they don't know is if the eggs ever hatch. 

The first photo is that bird's tail that I was unsure of - the second photo is mama bird's head. she was SO still. But I have no idea what kind of bird she is. 

That's all the news I have for this week!  Hopefully next week I'll have finished Sweet Temptation - Oh - and do y'all remember that tomorrow is the release of Quinn?  I hope everyone loves Quinn as much as my review team has! 

Okay, signing off - talk to y'all later - and feel free to leave comments to let me know y'all are liking what I write! Ta ta! 

​

Home sweet home! 

We had a lovely time visiting friends and family after the week at Disney.  While visiting my cousin we had the most interesting and delicious pizza. The corner crusts of the star were stuffed with ricotta cheese! I have never heard of ice tea in blue - but that's what the Greek restaurant served! and of course, a casual ocean front lunch of fresh shrimp and lobster bisque - Yum! 

We did have to replace a broken suitcase - with the small blue one - but there was so much STUFF that got bought or that my daughter didn't have room for, that we had to buy a second little blue suitcase! Of course, part of the problem is my hubbies big shoes! Mine flatten pretty good, but hubby doesn't like sandals so his size thirteen shoes can take up a suitcase all by themselves!  If you're wondering - the small black one is my laptop bag. Though I've figured out I can fit a long weekends worth of clothes in there no problem too - it's pretty big! So - for a two week trip I'm not sure if all that luggage is good or bad LOL 

of course hubby had to try on the hat for his new life status. Thankfully, he seems to be enjoying not having to go to work first thing in the morning. He mentioned that he was concerned it would be a shock to his system - nope - he seems to be enjoying it quite a bit! and might as well post a photo of us - this was the last lunch in Florida! 

You're probably wondering about work - well I did indeed get more writing done on the airplane home - I love flying because I get so much work done - now this week I'm catching up on all the things that went wrong while I was gone - son's car broke down, pool pump broke down, son's plumbing is backing up, and - well - you get the picture! LOL.  Regardless of all the demands - I'm still working on finishing Sweet Temptation. So no worries there. 

Also - if anyone is interested in purchasing Quinn early - he's available right now from my web store in ebook format.  If you prefer to wait for your favorite vendor, you can start counting down - 8 more days! 

Okay,  uncle is having cataract surgery today and I'm his wheels so I'm off!  Oh - and if you're wondering- Sweet Beginnings and Sweet Surprise will be available about a month early on my webstore so I'll keep you posted when that happens! 

​Take care everyone!