Closet Nudist

What? Me? A nudist? No way...well, if the truth be told, I guess if walking around naked in my own home, regardless of the other occupants qualifies me as such, then so be it.

Blame it on my parents, ha ha!

Growing up, my parents' bedroom was next to mine. And every morning, my father would would walk past my door, on his way to the shower, carrying his underwear.

You remember those days, don't you? We only had one full bath in the house, and when four people are all trying to get dressed and leave the house within minutes of each other, bathroom time tends to overlap. Many times, my dad would be in the shower; my sister or I would be on the toilet, with the other brushing her teeth or even blow-drying her hair.

So naturally, I carried this relaxed attitude into my own adult life.

My son asked a friend of ours, "How long after marriage can you share the bathroom with that person?" She stated three weeks. I say, if you've been intimate with someone, then the same day!

I've shocked more than one lover over the years by using the toilet while he showered. After I married, it was natural for me to perch on the sink and talk to my hubby about his day when he came home tired and covered with dirt (he's a construction worker...the guy you scream at every summer, because his concrete machine has blocked the highway lane you think you need to be in?)and wanted to clean up before dinner was ready. And after the kids arrived, well, at one time, we would have Daddy sitting in the bathtub; a child perced on the toilet; another one sitting on the covered litterbox, and myself on the sink.

I have a vague memory of my mother running out of the house wearing only her suit pants and a bra, waving her toothbrush at the school bus to stop, as I was late.

My hubby was slightly shocked, when, after my sister's wedding reception, we were all gathered in our parents' hotel room ( they had been married six months before; this was for the friends and family who couldn't attend) and my sis had her husband unfasten her dress, while I turned my back to my dad and asked him to unzip me, as my husband was occupied in changing a diaper!

I shocked my MIL after my hubby's heart surgery; we were all staying in one room at the hospital's motel, and she went into the bathroom to change. When she came out, I had stripped to bra and panties and was preparing for bed.

Even now, I have no problems with dressing or undressing in the living room, if I don't want to miss a minute of the news, or a favorite TV show. And if someone comes to the door, then I'll slip a shirt over my head and poke my head around to answer it. And if you're a friend, I'll let you in. Otherwise, I'll close the door and finish dressing.

So I guess that doesn't make me a total nudist, right?

Friends

Friends are wonderful, aren't they? Especially the true ones. You can laugh, argue, fight, make up, and they'll still be there without holding grudges.

I had to remind one of my friends today that I'm here for life.

Why?

Remember two weeks ago, this person was very snotty on the phone? Thank god the techonolgy gods intervened and I didn't get her reply. It was apparently not very pretty.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I got an email from her; we briefly met and while she didn't apologize for her attitude, we're still on good terms. We've agreed to disagree on my choice of career paths...she doesn't support my decision to pursue publishing, and she said the crux of her email was to please stop inviting her to my signings.

I reminded her that friends support each other, no matter the personal feelings involved. I reminded her that I don't agree with certain aspects of her life, and while I wasn't expecting her to show up and loudly proclaim me as her favorite author (though...that would be nice!), I was simply inviting her to drop by and say hi. No pressure to buy; just show up and be friendly!

So with that out of the way, we settled back and exchanged info on what was going on in each other's lives. And she's going to set aside some time in the coming weeks so we can have lunch.

I love her; she's constantly in my thoughts and prayers; and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

Will she show up this weekend? I doubt it. But then again, she just might surprise me!

Panic Attack

I've had a nasty virus invade my home PC, so I've been keeping up with my blog and email at the library. I just had a horrible thought:

What if, when I downloaded all my files to my brand new flash drive, I also infected the drive with the virus?

Or sent the virus to others? After all, I sent off a submission and interview answers!

So far, I've heard from the editor already, so I know her system wasn't affected. And no word from Gracen, either, concerning her PC. So I guess I'm safe.

But I've got two documents that I didn't put on floppy disk; the only copies are on my now-damaged hard drive and the flash drive.

Have I just ruined my publishing chances? Will I be forced to start all over with these stories? Or are they still salvagable?

Time will tell, I guess. I'll get my personal computer geek to solving that mystery when he gets back from Kentucky.

In the meantime, I can do no edits; I cannot chat; all I can do is pray that we will be able to either put in the recovery disk and hope it works, or else buy an external hard drive and recover it that way. Last ditch effort will be to buy a new PC. But for that to happen, hubby needs to return to work.

Or else I need to sell a huge amount of books this summer!

On a good note, I've started a new story called 'Steaming up the Midway'.

And I'm trying out a new title for the chef/customer story, 'Recipe for Love'. What do you think?

'Crazy for the Caterer'?

'Par for the Course'?

'Dishing Up Desire'?