I can't believe in forty eight hours I will be on my way to the airport!  Time really does go by so darn fast - I know I'm going to blink and this big trip is going to be behind us.  

At the moment, my biggest dilemma, luggage. My carryon is too small and my right size one the wheel broke on our trip to Ireland and I haven't been able to find a match for my smaller one in the medium size.  sigh.  So... I bought a vacuum sealer hoping to make my clothes smaller - yeah well - that doesn't work near as well as they make it sound. It might reduce the size 80% for an air filled comforter, but it does almost nothing for a bulky sweater.  And unfortunately, since we're going to two climates, I need pants and sweaters as well as shirts and capris.  Running out of time, but my daughter may have the size I need - of course I'll be totally mismatched - burgundy checked luggage and blue laptop carryon - but hey- it is what it is- right? 

I promise to take some pictures of me all bundled up - the cruise line gives you as a gift a warm parka - that this Texan will NEVER again use!  So I have no idea how I'm going to fit that thing into my suitcase - maybe then the vacuum pack will work. So many unknowns and once I figure it out - won't need to know it again cause I am never doing this trip again lol. 

Book updates-  Rescue is back from the editor and at the proofer/review team so that should be done and ready to go for schedule release. I am planning on doing a lot of writing on the airplanes - hopefully - I'll get a good start on either Ryan or Sweet Devotion - we'll see how it goes!  

Shall we grumble a little about weight loss?? Sigh - I did so well last year losing about ten pounds and not gaining it back in Ireland - well, I did gain two pounds but considering what I was eating that wasn't bad at all.  Then with my grands here for four month and the change in foods and eating times etc etc - I gained TWELVE pounds - and have tried to get rid of it without stressing but I'm merely back to not gaining - losing has always been hard for me.  I even tried the semaglutide pills for almost two months - I actually gained weight on that garbage- then we tride the tirzepetide pills for a couple of weeks but it had zero affect on my appetite of my sense of feeling full also so - they both got dumped. If I weren't phobic about hypodermics I would try the shots - but shots and I are not good friends. Who knows, maybe with all the walking we'll be doing on our trip and with more real food - unlike the US where sugar and additives are in EVERYTHING - It might help me drop at least a few pounds - would be nice. 

That's it for today - I'm off to work on resolving my luggage issue and some of my supplements that I didn't realize I was short on - I'm taking three weekly pill boxes with me for the trip - One will go in my carryon - the other two in my checked bags - as Bette Davis once said, growing older isn't for sissies ! 

I hope y'all rang in the new year however made you happy.  For us, it was staying home and watching an old movie : While You Were Sleeping. 

We considered going to our favorite supper club but frankly, it's been a long winter lol. I've needed this week to recover from four months of a very active household and keeping up with two little grand kids! There's a reason motherhood is for the young! It was exhausting trying to keep up - we did it - and I'm proud of us, but we're tired! lol. 

I've been spending the first days of the year prepping for my trip - can you believe I'm leaving in just over a week? I've had to buy all sorts of things foreign to my warm weather life! I now own multiple types of lined and wicking socks, insulated under garments (my friend bought those on sale at costco lol) two sizes of gloves, a hat covering that would be perfect if i want to rob a bank after visiting the penguins lol, and of course, polarized sunglasses. Those were the most fun - I actually like the two pairs I bought (in case i lose one) and am looking forward to wearing them back home after the trip! 

I have been having a little trouble with the top of my left foot - it's been bothering me for weeks and I finally decided that I must have a fractured little bone. Unfortunately, I remember Loki - the golden retriever - stomping on my foot not long ago and me being very unhappy at how much it hurt at the time because he's so darn big! Well, I've decided that the two things are probably related. I've bought a couple sizes of ankle compression sleeves and have cut them up to protect the sore part of my foot.  I'm hopeful to get an appointment with my favorite doctor before I leave in case I need to do something else other than wait it out - 

I'm also working hard at straightening out this year's release schedule. As you know, Sweet Redemption released last week! yay!  So far I've heard good things which I'm glad that folks took the time to tell me because the sales are much lower than our December book and hearing that folks enjoyed it makes me feel better about it! So - the next book, the start of the Honeysuckle K9 books will release in February! that will be up for preorder in the next few days - here's the blurb: 

In a convoy explosion, Josh Coleman lost more than his balance—he lost his sense of purpose. Recuperating at the Sweet Ranch, he finds an unexpected connection with an injured K-9 as wary as he is. To avoid organizing another closet, furloughed contractor Katie Lawford heads to Honeysuckle for a quick visit, but is surprised to find a wounded warrior whose quiet strength pulls her in. As dog and soldier heal, can the Sweet family magic show Josh and Katie that some loves are worth fighting for? 

Because of having my family here, the holidays, and issues with my mom, I had to step back from the next book Sweet Devotion - that one will have to release in April because Ryan, the next Farraday is releasing in March.  I hate skipping a month without new material, but honestly, I needed the break to catch up on all aspects of my life !  I can actually see the items on my side table - until yesterday is was a mountainside that kept tumbling into the trashcan below lol, hopefully I haven't accidentally thrown out anything important!  I've managed to cross off a handful of things from my to-do list which is always good for clearing the mind.

I'm hopeful that I'll get some good words in on the flights.  I'll be taking two - one to Miami and then another to Buenos Aires. The one to Buenos Aires is overnight - so I'll probably work a bit at 9pm but then will have to try and get some sleep. We land at 9am which will be 6am for me - not my favorite time of day ever. Then my friend and I will do our best to stay busy and awake all day. I'm going to need to try and get to sleep early because in two days we have to be up and ready to catch a flight at some insane hour of the morning - so insane that I may just stay up  all night LOL, nap on the ship. 

OH - and for anyone who lives in North Texas, I will be on an author panel with my author friends Kellie Coates Gilbert, Leanna Ellis, and Kathy Ivan. We will be having a little Galentine celebration on Friday February 13th at O'Brien's Bookstore in Midlothian Tx from 7-9pm!  There will be a gift basket and lots of fun - will share more info as I find it ! 

All right - I think that's it for this week!  

Will keep you posted on all my efforts! 

​Happy New Year! 

That old expression:  The days are long but the years are short - Never made as much sense to me as it does now.  I'm flabbergasted that we made it through the holidays!  Thank heaven for a dear friend of mine who came with me to take my mother christmas shopping.  As I mentioned last week she has dementia so outings like this can be challenging for short tempered impatient me. Sigh.  Joan has way more patience with old people and little children so she was the perfect help!  We found everything for mom to give folks at Marshalls. A lot were simple token gifts but that's all that was needed. 

After shopping we went to dinner - I don't do that often with Mom, my husband does, but my heart rate goes nuts when I have to keep repeating myself. Again, bless Joan for her patience and a fun dinner for all.   Once we were done, Mom got taken home and Joan again came to the rescue with gift wrapping. The night before Christmas Eve and not a single gift wrapped - Armed at my dining room table with lots of scissors, tape, paper, and gifts, it took a few hours but we knocked it ALL out - What a relief. 

So when you read about all the friends who come to the rescue in my books, you know where the inspiration comes from.  Of course, much of that help comes because I 'ask' -  too many folks are afraid to ask for help- Not me!  I'm quick to ask because I'm quick to say yes when I'm needed.  Works well most of the time and was a huge blessing for me this holiday. 

Our christmas eve was low key and smoothe.  I heated lasagna that my son ordered (usually I make it) and everyone brought a pie - so dinner was an A+ in the yummy and easy department.  My granddaughter who loves frilly presents got a huge kick out of the princess dress I bought her and my Mom who forgot to dress for christmas was thrilled with the ugly sweater she borrowed, so now it's hers! 

 The photo of my mother isn't the best, but for 90 and with dementia, she did good. She still enjoys giving and opening presents - For decades mom was more excited about Christmas than most of the kids!  Just for the heck of it - I included a photo of mom years ago on mother's day so you can see how Mom used to dress and present herself! 

We also got to do a couple of things I wasn't sure we would!  On Christmas Eve Eve - okay, the day before christmas eve - I made my best effort at christmas cookies with my granddaughter since she loves to bake.  I am not a baker - but I tried.  What I have to figure out is how not to burn the bottom of the cookies!  But here we are mixing the cookies batter and then that night we went to see christmas lights in a popular neighborhood - TONS of traffic, crazy traffic, those poor people must have a heck of time getting home from work, but it was very pretty. Next year, now that we know, we'll do a carriage ride. And I kind of like the idea of the day before christmas eve, that just extends the fun part of the holiday.  If you want to see the video clips I did of the lights pop over to my youtube channel ( click here ) - and while you're there - subscribe!  Christmas day was so easy  we went to my daughters for lunch and to see what the kids got from Santa, then everyone came back to my house for Chinese food (pizza restaurants were all closed) - and for the record, I suspect Christmas has to be the Chinese restaurants busiest sales day for the year LOL.  We also watched all three Santa Clause movies and after the kids went to bed, the adults watched Queen Latifah in the old fashioned movie - the Last Holiday.  We all laughed and laughed, and of course, there was the puzzle table going on as well!  And just to keep up the experience, the next day my grandkids came to visit and we decorated the cookies. Can you tell my granddaughter LOVES sprinkles lol.  Maybe next year we'll bake and decorate on the same day, but for now, this worked! 

SO, of course with all this activity, Sweet Rescue: K9 heroes is not at the editors, but I was up till 4am last night working on it and back at it again this morning - which is why today's blog is going to be up a bit later than I'd like - and then I'll go back to it - with the grace of God it will be at the editors tonight! Here's hoping! 

Will see you on the flip side - Next year!  Happy New Year everyone! 

Not for me - but for my daughter!  So excited to have her only 8 houses away.  Already it's proven helpful. The grands stayed here with hubby and myself when the moving truck pulled up.  After a couple of hours I just popped in to see how she was doing. We chatted for a few minutes - I helped her fold wrapping paper from what she'd already unpacked then popped back to my house to get her trash bags and scissors and back again - it was as easy as running upstairs to another room and back.  I'm going to love it ! 

Another nice surprise for her is that she didn't care for the dark gray floors but it turns out that they go really well with her living room rug and furniture. It was a pleasant surprise, and while the flooring isn't her favorite, it's not so unpleasant now! 

the house isn't their dream home, but there wasn't much available now in their price point and as much as we love having them under our roof, they didn't want to wait months more for the perfect house - As it is, we've all been together four months now- Amazing how fast time goes by!  and it's not an ugly house or anything like that, already, moving about looking at all the options they're thinking of simple fixes to make the house more of what they want. It will be fun fixing it up to suit them.  

There was another fun perk - she realized the kitchen, though about the same size, has less cabinet space because almost all the bottom cabinets are drawers not shelves. Now at first that might seem problematic, but her major complaint about her old kitchen is it didn't have enough drawers so she's actually quite excited to see how the kitchen will work with more drawers than cabinets. 

Of course I can hardly wait to spend more time with the new baby when it comes. For anyone who hadn't figure it out yet, I ADORE babies. Just love them. I stop in the street and coo at stranger's babies and always make them smile. I figure the little ones know I really do love them.  And while I spent a good amount of time visiting with my grandbabies, at least once a month is great for long distance grandparenting, but seeing the new baby on a weekly not monthly basis is going to be a blast! 

On a different topic, I'm trying really hard to start dropping some of those twelve annoying pounds I gained since returning from summer vacation. I didn't realize how much a change in daily schedule and habits affects our eating and weight. I've only got three weeks to drop ten pounds - or close to it so that my clothes will fit on our Antarctic trip.  I've just gotten a prescription for Trizep-something-or-other tablets. We'll see if that does us any good. Will keep you posted on that! 

For anyone wondering about the Honeysuckle series - I'm chugging along as best I can!  My editor needs it by Christmas so I have to really push while fitting in all our family traditions - I think we've pretty much decided that it's going to be simple this year - VERY simple- especially with my daughter moving and everything so chaotic here with two families under one roof - that we'll do our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and gifts but on Christmas day instead of me cooking another meal and cleaning up from the day before and setting up again - we're just going to order Pizza (or Chinese- whatever can be ordered) and watch christmas movies - and probably return to an old tradition we haven't done since my kids were little decades ago - Drive around to look at Christmas lights!   I think it will be fun.  Next year we'll put baking Christmas cookies onto the itinerary again! 

Do you have any holiday traditions? Would love for you to post them here to share! 

I'm going to start by letting y'all know that for anyone who doesn't want to wait - Sweet Redemption is available from my website store - for everyone who prefers to wait, you can preorder anywhere you like! 

Now - my next rambling is the sandwich generation.  If you're as old as me, you know exactly what i'm talking about. 

Thankfully, I do not have any children who are dependent upon me. Both of my adult kids are pretty good at adulting on their own. Granted, we all have our strengths and our weaknesses and we need to help each other out, sometimes through no fault of our own. My son's recent job change means doing outside sales calls verses, telephone calls, which means, he's out of the house regularly for 10 to 12 or more hours a day - which means - our grandpup Loki is now a permanent houseguest.  We have a dog door so he can come and go on his own as needed. My son lives in a condo and there's no way to expect the dog to hold his bladder that long so - we help out. 

Where I feel sandwiched is more by choice.  I love having grandkids and want to spend time with them to build bonds and memories. I have wonderful memories of my grandparents from when I was a little girl and would love the same for my grands. But there's also the help factor  like recently while my daughter was at the hospital all day for nothing serious with her hubby, Pawpaw and I stepped in to care for the kids for the day.  And we like being able to do that. I'm very thankful to have them living close again. But - it's a tug to live up to our own responsibilities and be there for your offspring and their kids - and then an elderly parent. 

Elderly parents.  Oh boy. Many of you know my mother was diagnosed with mild dementia most likely due to alzheimers about eight years ago.  Then about three years later she was moved into the moderate dementia stage. Let me tell you, that in between stage where they think they can do it all, don't believe they have a problem, but you're trying to get their checkbook, credit cards, and car keys away from them is not easy. But - when it's finally done, there's a relief that she's safe and the hard part is over. Yeah- no. IT's just beginning. 

We've done all we could to keep Mom in her own home-- even though we had to move that home to one closer to us four years ago.  For a few years a cousin of mine and her husband lived with mom to keep an eye on her until they bought their own home last year. Then her brother who moved back to Texas from California - her younger brother - moved in with her.  That was interesting. he's a healthfood nut and he put mom on a strict and challenging (for us) regimen.  After almost a year he had her more alert, more active, and off all meds.  Odd - but it's working.  

Mom had high blood pressure - she was on two meds a day because with an aortic aneurism that she's had for decades that we know of, high BP is more dangerous than usual.  Well, with a dose of beet root powder every day- her BP is normal to the low side without meds. Great. With no sugar and no wheat carbs, she doesn't sleep as much and tracks conversations better and has more energy and is more alert - Unfortunately, she still has dementia so she repeats herself and forgets the simplest of things like - my three year old granddaughter's name, or that my daughter is pregnant--every time she sees my daughter, mom is surprised that she's pregnant again. Little things like that. 

Now, even though her brother is younger, he's not a spring chicken and the day to day stress of worrying about my mother wasn't good for his health, so he's moving out. Mind you - for being 90 years old - mom's in pretty darn good shape! She walks on her own steam- uses a cane for balance but it's really a security crutch. If she forgets to grab it she'll walk across the house and back without issue. She can dress herself no issue, she just might forget to change into her pajamas at night or that she wore the shirt on the chair yesterday.  Bottom line, she can't be left alone, and living with us (a two story house) isn't optimal. Too many rooms, too much stuff, too many levels (stairs), and too many doors (there are four ways in and out of my house).  There's also the challenge of she has a sweet tooth and literaly forages for sweets whenever you're not looking. She could sit and eat an entire pie, forgetting she's already had a slice. 

I'm an only child, so it's all on me - and I'll be honest - we're scrambling at a few days to brother moves out day. I have a full time stress headache right now and have no idea how I'm going to finish Sweet Rescue on time - but I'm going to push as I never want to disappoint my readers.  My daughter is a great help, but as any mother knows, we don't want to put stress and pressure on our pregnant daughters, so we'll see how that goes! 

For now we are exploring all options to keep Mom in her house in her familiar routine, because learning new routines and new places is HARD - when mom first moved to the house near us four years ago, we had to put framed signs on all the doors so she'd know what was what.  Guest room - Cousins room - Hall Bath - water heater - a/c unit - linen closet - mom's room.  Yeah, it didn't help that one short hallway had SO many doors!  The first couple of days mom opened every door several times a day wondering what was where - then we got the signs and she spent a lot of time reading them, occasionally opening one or two - and finally, she got used to it and the signs came down and the doors stopped being opened.  We don't want to put her through that again. Not at ninety. 

We're looking at options for more people to take her out to do things during the day, or options for places and things to do.  Like me, my mother is an extrovert. Nothing makes her happier than being around people. I just wish elder care was easier and more affordable - another reason why I have to keep up with book production because senior care isn't a bargain.  We already pay out of pocket for her weekly cognitive therapist and weekly personal trainer who even though mom won't exercise ( I admit it might be genetic as I'm allergic to exercise too lol) at least mom gets out of the house with the woman who tries to 'trick' mom into exercising by going up and down aisles in stores, or up and down curbs, or as many steps as they can find on an outing! The biggest problem is the rest of the time. There needs to be someone around 24/7 in case she falls, or struggles with who knows what, or grows more forgetful about something dangerous, like hot water.  We're looking at all options. Including temporary ones. 

For all you folks who believe in prayer, feel free to add mom and me to the list - finding a good fit for mom is not going to be easy.  I should probably add, my own heart condition makes my having too much responsibility for mom hard on me as well so more reason to find a good fit sooner than later! 

All of this makes me think more on what do I need to do to spare my daughter these issues when I'm an old fuddy duddy!  I don't have any answers, but I sure hope someone figures out how to cure dementia sooner than later! 

Okay- that's it for me for the day! 

​Y'all take care and I'll see you next week! 

Well - this has been an interesting morning - I wrote the entire blog - hit post - and the whole thing disappeared - hopefully I'll remember everything i said but somehow, I doubt it! 

first off - the holidays are behind us, the pies and whipped cream and biscuits and rolls are all gone and surely have nothing to do with the ten pounds I've put on since returning from Ireland LOL.  Like it or not, I weigh more than I have at any time in my life which is not the plan. For my heart health, the scale is supposed to be moving in the opposite direction - and I have one month to drop these ten pounds (more would be nice) before my trip with my bestie for her big upcoming birthday. 

Besides the holidays, I've also had an author house guest this past week and that was super fun for me, but also meant lots of eating out. But now that my house no longer has any visitors - except my daughter and her family but that's different lol - it's back to work time.  I'm currently working on Sweet Rescue the next book in the Honeysuckle series and even though I'm a bit behind with all the family for the holidays and then the crud that struck the keniston house after that, my editor is also behind so we should be good to go for end of January release! 

We did have a bit of an unsettling this Saturday. The grands finally got over that climbing fever that came with the crud and my daughter who got sick first also seemed to be on the mend, but she had stabbing pain in her back when she woke up that her doctor said to go into the hospital and be checked out. The good news is the baby is doing perfectly fine. But it took twelve hours of blood tests and scans to decide to send her home with a - hmm not sure what this is all about diagnosis.  She's on a heating pad, taking it easy, drinking more fluids in case it's her kidneys grumbling and though yesterday was so so, today seems to be much better. If anyone has ever had any experience with stabbing pain on the lower right side of your back while six months pregnant - I'll take all healthful suggestions to make my daughter feel better! 

Now I'm moving into finish Sweet Rescue mode while prepping for my January trip to help celebrate my bestie's upcoming big birthday.  Her dream has been Antarctica, so off we'll be going. I still have so much to prep for, all I've bought so far is long underwear- well, actually my friend picked me up a set at Costco recently, but i did buy that face mask in a pretty blue that would probably be suitable for a bank robbery- lol.  Hopefully it will work the one day I am willing to get off the ship and face the cold.  For anyone who doesn't know - I HATE the cold - it's why I moved away from New York. The part of the trip that I'm looking forward to is after - Buenos Aires Argentina, Iguazu falls on both the Argentina and Brazil sides and then Rio DeJaneiro.  The Iguazu falls have been on my bucket list since my cousin and her husband went their for their honeymoon-- the video was amazing so I'm looking forward to seeing it in person--and in warmer weather than Antarctica! LOL. 

Which brings us to welcoming a slew of new folks from yesterday's Bookapalooza! It was lots of fun interacting with everyone and it's lovely to have so many new folks join us. Please feel free to comment, especially about your preference in reading a blog like this. I pretty much spit out what ever is going on in my world this week. Sometimes I share excerpts of a book I'm working on, sometimes I share photos that I wouldn't post on Meta and the world - this feels a bit more private, could be a delusion on my part but it feels that way to me. 

And looking back, I realized I never shared any excerpt from Sweet Redemption releasing later this month! So for anyone whose been wondering what Clint's story is all about - now we'll all see! 

“Are we really going to do this again?” Clint took a deep breath and clamping his eyes shut, counted to five before exhaling. It was getting harder and harder to communicate with Carol. He’d tried his best, working two jobs, moving them to a larger house in a nicer neighborhood, holding his old blue Ford together with spit and a prayer instead of getting a new work truck the way he needed.
He just didn’t understand what had gone so wrong. Why was his wife so terribly miserable? Happy one day, desperate the next. He’d begged her to go to therapy; even though he couldn’t afford it, he’d find a way. Something had to give. With Jason tucked in and sound asleep, he started for the kitchen to help clean up after their dinner of warmed up canned ravioli, only to have Carol start throwing silverware at him. Instead of reasoning with her, he gave up. Grabbed his jacket and his keys and headed for Kelsey’s bar. He’d probably had one, okay, two more than he should have, and he probably shouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of his truck, but he needed to escape from the hell his marriage had become at least for a few hours.
Parking in the driveway, he almost tripped into the house, collapsing on the lumpy sofa rather than make his way upstairs and risk another fight with Carol. He’d been asleep before he remembered closing his eyes.
Hot. Fan, he needed the fan. So hot. No. November. Not hot. No fan. Rolling slightly, he almost slid off the sofa. That’s right. Not in bed. So hot. Blinking, he looked for the fan, but couldn’t see. Blinked again. And again. Still so dark. Then he heard it. A sizzle, or a crackle, or… his eyes flew open. Fire. The house was on fire. The kitchen was bright orange. The dining room sparked. The stairs. He needed to get to the stairs. His lungs felt weighted. Heavy. Hard. Pulling the hem of his shirt up over his nose and mouth with one arm, he stumbled to his feet. Had to get upstairs. So much smoke. Something somewhere in the back of his mind repeated, stop, drop, and roll, only he wasn’t on fire…yet. Still, he got down on all fours and crawled up the stairs, barely able to make out where he was going. The smoke was so thick. Feeling his way as much as looking, he found Jason’s door. Ignoring the sharp pain on the burning knob, he opened the door and hurried inside. On his bed, coughing but asleep, his son was at least still breathing.
Clint threw a blanket over Jason’s head, then placing another around them both, upright now, he rushed out the door and down the stairs. The living room was almost fully engulfed. The sofa he’d been sleeping on only minutes ago was a sea of dancing orange and yellow flames, shooting high to the ceiling. He barely had a path to the front door.
Not caring about his hands, he pulled the door open and hurried outside, nearly collapsing on the lawn. Carol. He had to get Carol. Only at that moment, still coughing, Jason hacked out, “Daddy.”
“It’s okay, Son. You’re okay.” Turning his head, the house was almost fully engulfed. Windows exploded as flames continued to burst through the house.
 “You wait here,” he told his son, then turned to the house.
“Clint.” A hand clamped on his arm. “You can’t go back in there.” It was Jerry, their next-door neighbor. “We called the fire department. They’re on their way.”
“Carol,” was all he managed to spit out. “I have to get Carol.”
He saw Jerry’s eyes widen. The neighbor on his other side had turned on the hose and was watering down his own roof, turning the spout from time to time toward Clint’s house.
“It’s too dangerous,” Jerry repeated, his grip on Clint’s arm even tighter. “You can’t.”
“Carol!” he shouted as loud as he could, as if she could hear him and would wake up and run out of the house on her own two feet. “Carol!” he screamed again.
“Clint!” another male voice shouted at him.
“Carol!” He had to save Carol.
“Clint!” the voice shouted louder. “Wake up, man.”
Wake up? Clint blinked, forcing his eyelids open. Where was he? The fire. No. Not the fire. Not his house. And then, closing his eyes, he slumped back against his pillow.
“You okay?” The voice belonged to Benny, the new hand they’d hired.
It was all coming back to him. He wasn’t living in Wyoming anymore. He was in Texas. Working on the Sweet Ranch. A foreman. If he wasn’t so exhausted from his nightmare, he would have laughed at that. “Sorry, kid. I guess it was a bad dream.”
“One helluva dream. You were screaming so loud I thought the place was on fire.”
Right. On fire. “Sorry.” Since they’d fixed up the old foreman’s house for one of the Sweet newlyweds, he’d insisted he’d be fine bunking with Benny. Now maybe he should have given that more thought. “I’m okay. You go back to sleep.”
Nodding, Benny straightened, eyed him a moment longer, probably convincing himself that Clint was indeed okay, and then turned on his heel and went back to his bunk in the other room. 
Unlike most bunkhouses, this one was broken into more private cubicles with a living area in the middle, so he stayed on his end and Benny moved into the other end. Throwing his feet over the side of the bed, he dropped his face into his hands, then wiping the sweat from his forehead, raked his fingers through his hair and blew out a long slow breath. He’d thought the nightmares had finally stopped. Pushing to his feet, he walked to the single photo that had survived that horrible night. Him and Jason in happier days. That sunny-faced little boy brought a smile to his face. What Clint wouldn’t give to go back in time and fix everything. 

And there you go - place your preorders now if you are so inclined or wait to get it a week or so early directly from me - will keep you posted! 

​Take care and enjoy the season! 
​

hankfully, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch!  We had SO much food that I may be eating left overs for a few months! I've decided to freeze it all in single portions because it's just too much! 

We had 17 adults at the table and six kids - well, 17 adults at two tables stretched from my dining room into the living room - we push the sofas and chairs against the wall and put the second table in the middle. Then, we place a perpendicular folding table for the kids.  I'm beginning to think in the next few years as more of the kids age out to the adult table and then start bringing plus ones, I'm going to need a longer table or bigger room!  We'll take it one year at a time, but if my house remains the central family gathering place for my grandparents descendants, I'm going to have to figure something out. 

My son's golden retriever and my cousin's golden dachshund (only one I've ever seen that color) got a long beautifully. Little Louie chased our big Loki all over the place. It was hilarious to watch! Excellent entertainment! 

Unfortunately, by Friday my daughter wasn't feeling well so she stayed in bed resting, and by the time the rest of the family went home on Saturday afternoon, my grands were showing signs of having caught what mom had, and by Saturday night hubby and I had two sick little ones in our bed so mom and dad could recover too. Thankfully today, my granddaughter seems fine, my grandson still needs another couple of days, but every one is on the mend. Me, I keep taking my vitamin C and thanking God for my strong constitution!  Oh - and my drink of choice is now warm Pineapple juice and Honey tea.  I've been drinking it for my allergy cough so hoping that the crud my family has skips over me! 

I want to take this moment to thank everyone for telling their friends about Sweet Tomorrows. So far it seems to be going over well and my review team is loving the next book Sweet Redemption.  I'll be honest, I'm very glad to hear good reports because as I was writing it, I had my doubts!  Same for the new turn in the Honeysuckle series, we'll see how this first book Sweet Rescue: K9 Heroes turns out!  I am a tad behind schedule with it - but that has to be expected over the holiday season.  

As soon as I have new covers I'll share here! 

Well - that's it for today's update - now I'm juggling finishing up Rescue and planning the next trip in January for my travel buddy's upcoming decade birthday - last decade we went to Australia, this decade she wants to do Antarctica - that's going to be chilly! Will keep you posted on that too! ​

The week is upon us and the Kenistons have SO much to be grateful for. 

I had pretty much resigned myself years ago that I would have to buy a house in Houston to be able to spend more time with my grands. I also accepted that I would only have two grandchildren. After all, I only had two children. Most of my friends only had one or two. But this has been a great year for my family. As anyone who follows this blog knows, not only is my daughter's family back in town, tomorrow they will be signing the final papers on a house around the corner from us. I'm beyond thrilled.  And to make Thanksgiving even more special, my whole family will be here. My two cousins and their clan, even my niece and her husband and his mother visiting from Spain. There will be seventeen adults and six children at our table(s) this Thursday--a little like the Farradays and Sweets I think! 

Then, this week, we took my mother to her neurologist for her six month check up. This time, though, mom is off all her meds, both memory and  blood pressure. My uncle has stabilized her BP to below 120 with daily doses of organic Beet root powder. Who knew controlling BP could be that easy. But she went from being on two meds for BP to none. Crazy.  Same with her mind. No more sugar, no more wheat, which means, no pizza, no crackers, no bread, no cola, cakes etc.  After six months, mom is way more aware and alert - the other day she walked into the room, stopped, my uncle said what is it, and she responded, I forgot what I was going to say - holy moly, for her to realize she's forgotten something is huge. Now that comes and goes. Some days she remembers a smidge longer, and some days not so much. She most definitely still has dementia, but she's more herself now than the woman who would stare off into space with nothing in her eyes.  So. At the doctors. We told her -- no meds of any kind. So often that at one point I wanted to say to the PA, what part of NONE are you missing? But, I was night and just kept repeating, no none, every time she asked if mom was taking one med or another.  Then her doctor came in and did the regular tests they do to see if she's digressing. Well, her score was exactly the same this year as last year, yay! We fought awfully hard for years to keep her from digressing, but this time when they asked mom to remember three words, and asked her those words several minutes later, though she had no clue what they were --- which has been standard for years now, when the doctor gave her hints, she remembered two of the three. Now, that has not been the case for years. For years, even with prompting, she'd draw a blank.  So this shows that what we're saying is spot on. She still has dementia, but some days she remembers things a little longer than others so she can participate in life without annoying people with the immediate repetition of the same question.  Like I said, we have much to be thankful for! Oh, and did I mention, Mom turned 90 this year! 

Tomorrow is release day for Sweet Tomorrows - that's the book my editor loved so much, I barely had any revisions to make, and usually, I have a lot! LOL. Then Sweet Redemption is out with the review team waiting for proofreads, and that one will probably release about two weeks early on my webstore if you don't want to wait till after Christmas!  

Lastly on the book front, I'm working on Sweet Rescue. This is a shift in the Honeysuckle series. We're still at the Sweet ranch, and we still have the whole family, and the town, but now instead of an Happy ever after for the siblings, now we're going to work with the military K9 rescues that Alice fosters.  I hope y'all love it as much as the sibling's books. I'm so fond of dogs and especially German Shepherds who are crazy smart.  We had a GSD named Rabb, a big guy, over 100 pounds and he wasn't fat, but he was so smart, the trainer thought he had to have a German blood line. Then after Rabb, we got Gunny. He was a sweet dog. And smart for a regular dog, but pretty dumb for a German Shepherd Dog. LOL.  Of course, we won't have any dumb dogs in Honeysuckle! 

All right. that's it for me! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

I remember reading somewhere ages ago that Honey is the one food on the planet that will never go bad.  You can store it in your pantry for a decade and it will still be edible. It may need a little softening up - but it won't go bad. 

well, eight years ago when my daughter got married, we had a very big open house party the night before the wedding at our house for all the guests, out of town guests, and acquaintances who weren't invited (like some of our neighbors) and others who were invited but couldn't attend the actual wedding.  Since we had so much family coming from out of town it made sense to celebrate more than a few hours on the big day.  What we didn't expect was the coldest December day in pretty much Texas history - so - friends of ours loaned us outdoor heaters for the back porch. All was well- until we realized the pit bull had accidentally (I presume) stuck the tip of his tail in the heater - sigh - it was a pretty nasty burn. What the vet decided to do to treat it was - Honey.  I was shocked.  A special raw honey was coated on the tail and then the tail was wrapped - it actually did help the dang thing heal- though the dog was not at all happy with having his tail wrapped, but that's another story for another day. 

Fast forward to recently and my husband has occasional challenges with skin rashes thanks to exzema. Well, his shins - yep both of them - broke out in a rash and nothing he was doing was helping. I happened to read that honey helps with eczema. Really? How about that. So, since we have a massive jar of raw honey that a friend of ours gave us from their beehive, we tried it. At night I'd put it on his rash and then I wrapped it in nonstick gauze pad before bed.  We did this every night for a week or so. Then we did it whenever it flared up over the next several weeks. At the end of a couple of months, the rash was gone and hasn't flared up again. Now, I have no idea what causes eczema to flair on occassion, but the honey brought instant relief to the itch and slowly but surely did the trick. 

Now we fast forward to a couple of weeks ago - I developed an odd itch on my wrist. No redness, no obvious rash, but if you rubbed your finger across where it itched it felt a little rough, almost scaly, maybe just dry, but basically not normal.  When I went to my doctor for an authorization to travel in January, I asked about the wrist and she glanced at it and said, eczema just buy an over the counter steroid. Well, the first thing I thought was how odd - in all my decades, I've never had trouble with rashes, or eczema but, okay.  What I didn't have was time to go shopping for some cream - so - what's good for the gander is good for the goose (lol - literary license to flip that old saying) and I tried the honey.  Like with hubby, I'd spread it on at night, but since it's on the upper side of my wrist, I didn't bother wrapping it - just let it dry. And I'm happy to report that it's really helped with the itching. In the day time I use coconut oil if it itches so I'm not sticky against things, but it's been a week since I put anything on and only yesterday did is start to itch a smidge, so today I've put honey on again. As long as I'm not going anywhere, it works just fine! 

I truly love old fashioned remedies. There aren't a whole lot of them in my family, but the ones that I remember growing up are- rice water for diarrhea , you cook rice in twice or three times as much water for the regular amount of time - then drain the excess water into a glass and drink it. Works really well. I remember once, there was a nasty stomach virus going around that had everyone spending a week or more close to the potty (lol) - when the bug caught a friend of ours family, she thanked me at church the next week. Mentioned she remembered what I'd said about rice water and she'd made it for the whole family. I said, that's for something you ate, probably won't work for a virus and she happily reported that it did indeed help- everyone else had the virus for a week or more and her family was over it in just two or three days. She was very happy and I wrote it off as one of my grandmother's remedies never to forget. 

The other one, that I haven't used in decades, is apple peel tea. One of my kids was having belly aches. She peeled an apple, boiled the peels and served the water as warm tea. Worked like a charm.

I'm betting she had a lot more home remedies, but sadly, I don't remember them, if I ever knew them. 

What I wish I could stumble across is a good remedy for coughs. Not from a cold, or flu, but that annoying allergy cough that won't go away after allergy season is gone. My doctor calls them bronchial spasms. Basically, it's an irritated cough. My lungs are irritated from coughing so I cough more, then the cough makes the lungs more irritated. Same with talking, more talking makes the lungs more irritated and more irritated lungs cough - vicious cycle.  I've tried pineapple juice - which is tough because I'm on heart meds. I've tried elderberry syrup, which works sort of well. I've swallowed a teaspoon of honey, which kind of helps too, but I may need to try it warm, that's what an aunt says. 

Do you have any home remedies you swear by? 

Well, today didn't go as expected.  I woke up with a sore chest. At first I thought I must have slept very funny. Then I coughed and I realized after months of bronchial spasms (irritated cough) thanks to allergy seasons back to back - my chest is just revolting! 

So - I'm taking cough syrup, and ibuprofin.  Hopefully it will go away soon because it makes me feel like not doing a blessed thing. sigh. 

Then, my uncle and mom stopped by unexpectedly- yeah that took three hours out of my afternoon - now, don't get me wrong - the fact that my mom has improved enough to interact with all of us and not be totally annoying, though she has forgotten Erica is pregnant (mom has dementia) once we reminded her, she remembered for the entire three hour visit. It's just when you are not feeling your best, and have a packed day, stopping for three hours to entertain can be a challenge. 

So the blog is late, my words aren't written, but I spent time with my mom-- in the long run, that's more important.  I just wish I felt better. 

Obviously, there hasn't been too much happening in only a week, but I got Sweet Tomorrows to the proof readers, and I Sweet Redemption is at with the editor so YAY! AND - the beginning of the next Sweet book has started - I'm not sure what the title will be yet. We're leaning toward Sweet Rescue. 

This is a seriously super rough draft of Josh and the Sweets, you'll meet him in Sweet Redemption, but y'all seem to like those so here it goes: 

Josh Coleman tightened the chin strap on his tactical helmet and checked his vest seals. Sweat slid down his spine, but his focus stayed locked on the six-vehicle convoy lined up for inspection.
"Transport three's thermal reading is climbing faster than the others," he reported, clipping the handheld scanner to his tactical vest. Responsible for convoy security, these routine checks had become second nature during his years of service.
Kade Sweet, his longtime friend and the Military Working Dog handler assigned to their team, approached with Rambo, the Belgian Malinois, trotting attentively at his side. Fitted to his muscular frame, the dog's tactical vest matched their own. “All set?”
“Right about now, I’d kill for some of your mother’s strawberry lemonade.”
“Tell me about it.” Kade chuckled. No doubt his buddy’s thoughts were taking a detour to the Sweet family ranch, quiet evenings, soft breezes, and his mother’s lemonade. A quick blink and he was all business again. "Rambo already cleared the first two vehicles. No alerts for explosives. What's the issue with transport three?"
"Coolant leak, looks like." Josh gestured toward the heavy truck carrying fuel reserves for the joint training exercise. "I'm not taking chances with that much combustible material on board."
As convoy security commander for this mission, Josh had final say on safety protocols. The chain of command was clear—he made the decisions, his team executed them, and everyone got home safe. The straightforward nature of this assignment should have made it routine: escort training ordnance and fuel supplies to the far range where a joint exercise was scheduled to begin tomorrow morning. Simple enough on paper.
The transport driver approached, wiping sweat from his brow. "Problem, Staff Sergeant?"
"Need to check your engine compartment." Josh's tone was professional but left no room for debate. "Pop the hood."
The driver complied, releasing the hood latch with a metallic click. Josh leaned in carefully, avoiding the scorching metal components. His training had taught him to trust his instincts, and something about this situation felt off. A small puddle of green liquid had formed beneath the radiator, and the coolant reservoir showed a hairline crack along one side.
"Losing coolant fast," Josh stepped back. "This vehicle isn't going anywhere until it's replaced." He turned to Specialist Boglioli, his communications operator. "Radio base. We need a replacement transport before we continue the mission."
"But we're already behind schedule," the driver protested. "Can't we just add more coolant and keep an eye on it?"
Josh fixed the driver with a steady gaze. "Not with what you're hauling. One spark near a fuel leak and this whole convoy lights up like the Fourth of July."
Moving closer, Kade kept Rambo on a short lead. "Listen to the man," his easy Texas drawl masked the authority in his voice. "Staff Sergeant Coleman's been running convoy security since before you could shave."
The driver's shoulders stiffened under the rebuke. "Yes, Staff Sergeant."
Josh nodded to Kade as the driver walked away. "Thanks for the backup."
"No problem." Kade crouched to check Rambo's tactical vest, adjusting a strap that had loosened. "Dog's been acting antsy since we stopped. He’s flagging something. Not heat.”
Scanning the sparse landscape around them, Josh frowned. Training grounds stretched for miles in every direction, mostly scrubby terrain broken by the occasional patch of mesquite trees and dirt roads. Nothing but heat waves shimmered on the horizon. "Think the heat getting to Rambo?"
Kade shook his head. "He's desert-trained. This is nothing for him."
Kade gave a quick hand signal toward the front of the line. “I’ll finish clearing the lead trucks,” he called over his shoulder, Rambo trotting beside him. Josh waved acknowledgment, turning his attention back to the idling transports.
They hadn’t gone ten yards when Rambo suddenly stopped mid-stride, muscles going rigid, his head snapping back toward the rear of the convoy. A low growl rumbled from deep in his chest, sharp and warning.
Kade froze, hand hovering near his sidearm. “What is it, boy?” He followed the dog’s focus toward the fuel trucks behind them.
Josh’s pulse spiked. Rambo wasn’t one to false-alert—something back there wasn’t right.
The radio on Josh's shoulder crackled to life. "Base confirms replacement transport ETA forty minutes, Staff Sergeant," Boglioli reported.
"Roger that," Josh’s attention was now fixed on Rambo's behavior. Military working dogs had saved their lives more than once during previous deployments by detecting threats before human senses could. Josh would trust a well-trained K9 before humans any day of the week. Something sharp and chemical tainted the air—too faint for his nose, but dogs didn’t false-flag.
"Check the rear vehicles again. Full inspection."
"On it," Kade nodded, already moving with Rambo toward the back of the convoy.
Josh followed, signaling for two more team members to join them. If Rambo sensed something wrong, there was a reason. Whatever was wrong up front wasn’t what had Rambo spooked. Different truck, different threat.
They approached the rear transport—another fuel truck—where Rambo's behavior intensified. The dog strained against his lead, hackles raised, growling more loudly now.
"Something's definitely got him worked up," Kade’s voice dropped to a near whisper as he maintained control of his partner.
Josh gestured for the driver to step away from the vehicle. "When's the last time you checked your engine temperature?"
"Just before we left base, Staff Sergeant. Everything was normal."
About to take a reading, Josh reached for his scanner when a sharp metallic crack echoed from somewhere beneath the truck. The sound wasn't loud—barely audible over the idling engines—but Josh's combat-honed instincts registered it instantly. It wasn’t a mechanical pop; that hollow metallic snap had the signature of something man-made under tension, about to give.
Adrenaline shot through his system. "Clear the area!" Moving at full speed, he waved his arms, directing his team to a safe distance. "Everybody back now!"
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Josh sprinted toward the front of the convoy, shouting orders as he moved. "Boglioli! Get the lead vehicles moving!”
Having just finished checking the forward vehicles, Kade and Rambo were at the front of the convoy. Josh could see him turning at the commotion.
"Possible detonation! Clear out!" Josh bellowed, urging nearby soldiers to move faster. Two men were still too close to the suspect vehicle, frozen in momentary confusion. Damn it. He changed direction, rushing toward them. “Move!” Josh shoved the nearest soldier forward.
The blast hit before he cleared the path, followed instantly by another detonation. The shockwave caught Josh and the two soldiers in the open, lifting them off their feet. Josh felt himself hurled through the air, a blinding flash searing his vision as the pounding force crushed against his chest, slamming him to the ground. Beside him one soldier wasn't moving, the other lay several feet away, unnaturally still. His chest burned, his side screamed.
Through the ringing in his ears, he caught a flash of Kade dragging Rambo behind the lead truck—both safe. Relief flickered, even as darkness closed in.
His only clear thought—what an unholy mess.
And - rereading it as I posted - I found a slew of continuity errors - SO - thank y'all for helping! 

Now, I'm going back to work - let me know what you think?