I always found it sort of amusing that my hubby's birthday is often on labor day. I feel like all those ladies who gave birth on labor day really got into the spirit of things LOL. 

Since my grandson was born at the end of August, we usually celebrate his birthday with my hubby's over labor day weekend.  This year was no exception (not that we've had that many, he only turned 3! my grandson not hubby lol). 

Of course Oma (that's me) had to get in on the decorating - did they even have cupcake towers when my kids were little? And I'll have you know, these suckers do not come with instructions. Apparently it should be intuitive for all parents. 

I am here to assure you there is nothing intuitive about stacking cardboard in the right order so it all comes together evenly - I will however attest that I did indeed finally get the dumb thing done! And yes it looked lovely . The cupcakes were delicious - I should know - I ate most of them LOL. 

Don't have any real update for the books yet - we're plotting book 4 which is good but I'm still struggling to finish book three and juggle family and house projects as well. Will share updates on kitchen next week! 

Do you like cupcakes? 

Well - I apologize for doing it again. Sort of forgot Monday - sigh. Needless to say, there's a lot going on in the Keniston household.  Not only are we redoing the kitchen but I got the bright idea to replace the 30 year old guest room carpet. After thirty years it was time- right? That's what I thought. 

So out goes the thirty year old carpet. For the floors to be even I needed 3/4 inch hardwood - ouch. SO - off to find on sale floors. While the floor I chose wasn't my favorite color, it was the most pleasant of all the sale options LOL. So in goes the floor, but wait, maybe we should go ahead and freshen up the walls with new paint. Good idea- Right? So we paint. Except now the wallpaper wall looks dingy and dirty- well - let's paint the wallpaper. Ooh, now the wall looks pretty and fresh. Except we broke some of the baseboard, so new floor, fresh paint, and new baseboards. We're good. Well, maybe not. Now the twenty five year old bathroom floor suddenly looks very faded and dingy and the dark tan walls don't match my crisp light gray bedroom walls. So it's time to paint the bathroom - right? Glad you agree, because that dingy floor had to go too!  So today I have a fresh new crisp bedroom and the toilet and sink are still on my front porch. Hopefully tomorrow i'll have a crisp new bathroom floor too! 

Oh,, and it's hard to see, but that clown painting over the blue rocker is one of my mom's.  I actually sketched it, copying a painting I liked, then Mom painted it. I sure hope at least one of my grandkids inherits some of Mom's talent!

​All of this brings us to the kitchen lol. If you haven't noticed, I'm rather frugal. Well, my grandmother used to say a penny wise and a pound foolish, but I digress. I have half my cabinets - they come in a few at a time because I'm getting a - you guessed it - discount of last year's prices if I let the cabinetmaker bring me cabinets as he has extra time. It seems to be working out to about 3 cabinets a week. At the moment they're just lined up on the wall while I sand and paint (frugal remember? LOL) but I love the all the nice lights (I used to have one in the kitchen and only one over the breakfast nook) and think the floor turned out great. ​

Now, the island is my old island - the new one will be a foot deeper and a foot longer - I'm sort of surprised how big the kitchen still looks even as we fill it with furniture and cabinets. I can hardly wait to see it all done - will continue to keep you posted. 

On the book front, I am still one chapter and one epilogue away from finishing book three of the Billionaire Barons of Texas.  Then we get to start on book four. And sadly I still don't have a release date for the first two - but will let you know as soon as I know! 

And on that note, preparing from my niece's visit started Thursday morning I have to run. Catch y'all on time next week! 

After a summer of especially hot days- mind you, despite the news media coverage, this is not the first long hot summer Texas has had - though the local meteorologist pointed out that the North Texas area has added so much concrete to the landscape that without more trees to create shade, the long hot summers aren't going away any time soon. What is a tad unexpected is that for the first time I ever remember - we've had cooling down rain giving the area a forecast of several 80 degree days this week.  An 80 degree week in North Texas in August is way more odd than a 100 degree month in July. But I have no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth! I'll take my lower a/c bills, thank you Mother Nature! 

Because I have Finn releasing in German this week, I went down memory lane from my trip to Austria after college to share with my German readers. The reason this made sense was because while touring through Salzburg in search of all things Sound of Music, we ran into some pretzel vendors. Not speaking a word of German - well, excuse me and I don't speak German don't really count - and being unable to ask how much for the pretzels, the three of us visiting town together started handing the young kid bill after bill hoping he'd say stop when we'd paid him enough - not too much. 

We were fascinated by that massive pretzel to the far right - I mean - who the heck would buy and eat that? Anyhow the two kids manning the stand were super sweet and pushed our money back at us and then gave each of us a more manageable pretzel. Except to our surprise, they weren't pretzels at all. They were donuts! Delicious, but donuts. 

I loved my time traveling through Europe after college. Back then staying in hostels and taking the train wasn't all that expensive and I was extremely blessed to have had the opportunity! 

Anyhow, now I'm back to the real world and working on finishing Just One Dance book three in the new Billionaire Barons of Texas series while plotting out Book four Just One Take. It is looking like the release date for Just One Date and Just One Spark, books one and two, will be late November, though I can't confirm just yet. But I will soon! 

That's it for my catch up this week - next week I should have some more kitchen photos for you. The cabinets are coming in slowly at the rate of three a week (so yeah this will take a while LOL) but it gives me more time to sort out what we need. 

Let me know if you have any fond travel memories or a favorite donut (I'm a glazed girl myself !). 

I don't think I considered how much junk...er... treasures I store in the deep dark recesses of my kitchen cabinets!   For everyone who thinks a kitchen remodel only affects the use of the kitchen- ha! my kitchen is spread out in two rooms - technically three when you consider that the formal living dining combo is two rooms in one! 

Not only are all my goodies piled on every table, sofa, and chair surface, there are two additional tables in there  for the coffee station and the microwave station! LOL. It's pretty messy - I just keep shaking my head and dust mopping the floors - did I mention how much dust there is in a remodel? Doesn't matter if you close doors, hang plastic, whatever. That fine dust is everywhere - and I mean EVERYWHERE. I live in a two story house. Apparently heat isn't the only thing that rises. So does dust! LOL . 

On the bright side, I got a fantabulous bargain on floors. I want vinyl for a few reasons. Easier on the back when you're standing than tile, and things don't smash and shatter when you drop them the way they will with tile. The other reason of course is ease of install. The quick connect flooring has less material and labor and can be done in a fraction of the time of a tile floor that requires leveling, laying mastic, then tiles, then grout, then washing, and then sealing grout. Which is a whole other story of pretty grout on installation day and ugly grout two years down the road. No grout issues with vinyl. 

Anyhow, I went floor shopping while in Houston with my daughter and found a stonelike large tile that were on clearance and looked nice. I found the same tile at a store near me in North Texas so decided not to drive home with all that weight sucking up expensive gas. Then when I got home, rather than drive to the store with the floor 45 minutes from me, I stopped at the local one. Just to see if maybe they had it. Well, they didn't but they had something similar for 30 cents a sq. ft. less - also on clearance. I brought the pieces home, compared, and while I liked the original tile a little more, not enough more to pay an additional 30 cents a sq. ft. for my 400 sq ft. kitchen/breakfast/laundry/pantry floor. So I went back for the less expensive one and surprise surprise, there was an additional discount I was unaware of -- a whopping 40% more off. Holy moly - my floors cost half of what I originally thought they would. What a huge blessing and it absolutely made my day!  The floor started going in on Saturday and will be finished today - Woot! 

I bet you're all wondering what this means for the new book series - well, it's going slowly - but it's going. Maybe by next week I'll have release dates for you guys!  Now I get to decide on paint colors for the cabinets.  I was thinking white like my old cabinets - maybe with a dark blue bottom for the island. I've always liked blue. My daughter did blue bottom and white top and it looks pretty cool.  I'm looking around and tossing ideas in my head. 

What Color are your cabinets? If you could paint them now, would you paint them the same color? 

Progress is slow but steady on the kitchen. I am absolutely loving how much light is in my kitchen now thanks to the sliding patio door.  Before, any time of day, I would have the kitchen lights on. Now, everyone can see clear as day (lol) without turning on a light - it's great! 

the old floor is now torn up - the rotted sections of plywood will be replaced. It's amazing how much damage can be done from small occasional water leaks/spills. Also, about a year ago a neighbor of my mom's was remodeling and they were throwing out perfectly good sheets of plywood because they had 'staples' in them.  I brought home all five pieces. Hubby and friends shook there heads at me. The way the price of plywood had shot up I thought I will need it so now I have it - and voila - floor will be repaired with the plywood everyone made fun of me for saving LOL. 

So - I still have to pick out a floor - which means running around town finding something on sale that I like - I always pick the best of what's on sale. So far it's worked out great through the decades of small projects here and there. I also had a friend drop off some of her paint samples from her house and so the wall color is picked. It will be benjamin moore paint color Revere Pewter cut down 75% - so the walls will be sort of white to keep the room light and just enough hue to pop against white cabinets. I'm pretty excited. I've had a yellow kitchen for almost fifteen years. It's time for a change. 

Here's another photo of hubby having take out - we've moved our entire kitchen contents (microwave table is no longer in kitchen) into the dining/living room. Heaven forbid we have company there's no sofa space for sitting! 

And I'm happy to report I've made good progress this last week with Book three Just One Dance. I've passed the halfway point so it's exciting!  

I also had a dinner -- of course I forgot to take photos, sigh -- with a movie production person so I've got plenty of input for book four.  I'm still waiting for release dates on these but it will be wonderful. 

Okay back to work!  Have a good week everyone! And I'm curious - what color are your kitchen walls? 

Oh have we had a busy week!  This was demo week - we tore out the right side of my kitchen to flip the room so that I can access my porch without having to cross the house :) .  I am super content already with the difference in light the new door makes in the kitchen.  This is mostly a do it yourself sort of project - I'm the one managing the work load and independent contractors (let's just say electrical isn't my thing lol) so it's making book writing slow going (lots of interruptions) but I'm chugging along! First we have a messy mid process photo (forgot to take a pretty photo of a clean kitchen lol) and then the patio door installed where the window over the sink was :) 

​Then, I have series book cover news for you - as you know I'm working on a new series: The Billionaire Barons of Texas.  This is a very wealthy ranching family with interests in more than just ranching. Grandson #1 runs the family hotel business (think the Hiltons without the drama) Grandson #2 is a race car driver.  Grandaughter in book #3 is a smart as a whip chemist who creates scents for a living. Number 4 is back to the grandsons, this guy runs a television movie production company - I'm having dinner with a real producer this tuesday for background!. Book #5 is the granddaughter who runs the family vineyard in central Texas. Book #6 is granddaughter who is a photographer. The last book of siblings is the widowed Senator.  If y'all like the series there are a ton more grandchildren to keep going with. 

Here is a first time reveal of the covers!  Let me know what you think of the titles and series title. We struggled a lot as to weather to put billionaire in the series title or not. 

Last but not least Mom seems to be making some improvements since her rapid post car accident decline. She's not back to normal yet, is still housebound, but we're working on it! 

So  - what do you think? Let me know I love visiting with you guys. Also do you like the renovation photos or would you rather I stuck to book matters? 

I always try to post first thing in the morning but some days time just slips away from me! Today was one of those days.  This last week my mom starting going down hill for no reason until the doctor explained to us that the trauma of an accident coupled with the pain of a bruised hip can cause 'regression' in elderly. Not wanting to hurt she wouldn't walk which created a downward spiral.  We're working on bringing her back, but at her age it can be tricky. Her doctor ordered PT three times a week. Hopefully she hasn't had too much loss of muscle mass. 

I am delighted to report that I have finally started working on the Baron book - I still don't have a cover for you but the cover designer is sending out ideas. I'm sure it will be narrowed down soon! The only real challenge is getting words in between banging and hammering. We are taking apart my 70 year old kitchen and getting ready to install a lovely patio door where my sink used to be. I've always thought it nuts that in order to access my nice big back porch with drinks or food, I have to leave the kitchen and cross the living room to reach the back door. So silly. After 28 years of shaking my head at the architect who must have been a man--one who never barbecued--I am finally moving forward. We've had to do the project in sections and we're having to cut the budget in a lot of places, but I'm so excited to have a patio door coming soon! 

​Here's the mid kitchen photo (of course I forgot to take a good before!): 

You can see why things are a tad distracting! The window on the right is where the sink was and where a patio door will be. You might notice the shadow of the porch post through the dirty window LOL. Anyhow I promise to share more picks next week and maybe even a snippet of the Baron book. 

​If anyone has survived a kitchen remodel - I'll take any tips you have to offer! 

Have you noticed that some weeks seem very boring? Nothing really happens, no news to report, same old same old, life just goes chugging along. Then there are weeks when lots of stuff happens. Some good, some bad, some boring, some exciting. This week was one of those weeks with good and not so good.
 
As y’all know, last week was a bit out of the ordinary. Hubby’s car got clipped rather nastily. We’re still waiting to hear if the insurance is going to total it or repair it, but that’s just the start of the week. Our dog Gunny, who we rescued eleven years ago, has been deteriorating with DM. His hind legs have been giving out more and more over the last twelve months and even though it broke my heart, it was time to say good bye. Though he will live on through the years in a handful of my books!
 
The flipside of our week is all about family. My grandkids and daughter have been here all this past week which made this the perfect weekend to celebrate all the July birthdays. We have five family members celebrating so what choice do you have in the middle of a triple digit summer? Pool party!  It was a lovely time trying to stay cool! It was also very interesting having one cake for five people – we spread out the candles and said – make a wish and blow out one! Lol. It sort of worked ha ha!  The other trick was the song – uh – some hurried through five names, some said some other cumulative word but bottom line is everyone chuckled and ate cake and were blessed to be together!
 
Starting Today though, it’s back to work on the Barons of Texas. I stopped in the beginning of Beth Baron’s story, we’ll have to see where it goes.
 
Are you ready for a new series? 

The Keniston household has been busy. My daughter and grandchildren came home with me for a week’s visit and a wedding this coming weekend. It’s lovely having them around in the home my daughter grew up in. Wouldn’t mind going back in time to the days when whole families lived on the same street, but sadly in these crazy days and times if we had to buy a home today we wouldn’t be able to afford our own house!
 
Then, just to add a little zip to our day, my husband was T-boned turning at an intersection. Thankfully the person who ran the red light was insured so we were able to take my mom (the passenger) to the hospital to check out her hip. Again, more thanks, her hip was just bruised from the seatbelt but at the ripe young age of 87 everyone was concerned she could have easily fractured that hip.
 
So now, we’re all moving about with company and one family car. It will be interesting until we get a hold of the insurance process. With only 66k miles on our old Mitsubishi, I’m hoping they repair the thing and don’t want to total it. We not only like the car but were hopeful it would last longer than we do LOL!
 
The good stuff – the grandbaby smiles in her sleep. That’s fun to watch. Would love to know what those dreams are!
 
As for writing, the plan is to get back on board full time next week when the family goes home and it’s just me and my computer, but until then, it’s all about the baby! Have to admit I love those little baby snuggles. It makes me understand why the Duggars had 19 kids – babies (if you have some help) are too sweet for words. Though I do think 19 is a bit much, but my daughter wants one or two more so I’m totally on board with rocking babies a few more times! As an only child I think having a bunch of siblings should be a blast, both growing up and then later in life when our parents are aging. Heaven knows I would love a sibling to help a bit with Mom and her dementia, but I’m thankful to have cousins who are there to make the road a little easier.
 
Do you come from a large or small family? 

​Happy Independence Day
 
There are movies that I enjoy watching on this day. Oddly enough, my first is The Time of Their Lives with Abbot and Costello. Costello is a ghost from the revolutionary war and Abbot is a modern day (well 1940’s modern lol)  psychiatrist trying to correct the wrongs of his traitor ancestor. It’s quite entertaining and not as slapstick as most of their work.
 
Next is the musical 1776. I love the portrayal of John Adams and his wife Abigail. And of course Jefferson and his wife are too cute for words, though historically inaccurate.
 
Lastly, the modern classic – Independence Day. The only challenge is the romance author in me. The storyteller who loves her happily ever after has never understood—nor liked—why they had to kill off the first lady. (If you’ve never watched the 1996 movie I apologize for the spoiler). There was absolutely no difference in the plot, storyline, or purpose of the movie affected by her survival or death – stupid scene. I do however love so many of the characters and their one line deliveries, especially Judd Hirsch. I think he may be my favorite character of all!
 
Meanwhile, today we’re having a quiet family day while I’m at my daughter’s. Usually we have a pool day at my house followed by the fireworks across the street. It was so funny the first year we moved into our home. We were visiting friends about 20 minutes away and drove him as dusk hit. We were halfway when I spotted a lovely fireworks show and told hubby we should follow it. He was tired after playing water volleyball all afternoon and just wanted to go home. I was kind of mopey watching the fireworks, but as we got closer to our house we also seemed to get closer to the fireworks show. By the time we pulled into the driveway, as Naomi Judd once said, “Well slap the dog and spit in the fire.”  Color me surprised to discover not only were the fireworks close – they were literally across the street. So now every year we all sit in our back yard and watch the 20 or so minute show with easy access to chairs, beverages, snacks and the other comforts of an air conditioned home. I am so spoiled! LOL.   
 
And of course, I’m always pleased to hear Lee Greenwood’s song God Bless the USA. Every national holiday where we tend to spend the day gathering, eating, and playing with friends and family, I’m thankful for the talented people who one way or another remind us of what the holidays are truly about.  Even though so many men lost their lives hundreds of years ago, I can’t imagine living anywhere except in the country those early leaders envisioned. Well, maybe I wouldn’t mind a summer home in the South of France, but that’s a post for another day, lol.
 
So, how are you celebrating our countries declaration of independence?