Thursday, October 26, 2017

My Fur Babies #MFRW Authors #43


Yes, we have a red-nosed Pit Bull:)  This is Dexter, and he's about as vicious as a limp noodle.  Unless he doesn't know you; then he's likely to growl, bark, and ready to defend his pack....but once he sees you're friendly, he will try to crawl into your lap.  He thinks he's a 50 lb lap dog!

We acquired Dex when his former owner could no longer keep him, and asked if he could stay with us 'only for the weekend'.  Four years later, he's part of the family!


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This is Cheyenne, our 'German-Rott-Bull-Chow' mix.  Daughter Sara adopted her from the local shelter back in 2010.  This is the best picture I could find of Chey, who is now 8 years old.




Next up is Jelly aka Jealous aka Jelly Bean aka Jellico aka Jellyboo.  We were originally supposed to get two cats, and since Sadie was found first, Miss Jelly earned her name by trying to attract the daughter's attention.  But when it came time to collect both cats after we moved, Miss Sadie was nowhere to be found.  Jelly discovered she enjoys a can of Fancy Feast every morning, and is leery of the granddaughter.  Her litterbox is downstairs, but the only time she really uses it is in bad weather, since she spends the majority of her time in the back yard.

Now For The Pets We've Lost in Recent Years:


Our beloved Oreo....my youngest rescued him from a park back in 2009, and disappeared one snowy February day.  It happened to coincide with a neighbor's 'Stray Cat Round Up' action plan, and since Oreo was never one to pass up free food, we think he was taken to the country and dumped along with the others.  My youngest son grieved for months over the loss of his kitty, and though people thought they've spotted him, we either couldn't find him, or it turned out it wasn't him.  I thought I saw him at the Humane Society, but someone had already adopted him.  If it was him, I hope he's found a good home.




My sweet Roxie.....she was rescued back in 2009, and the first Cocker Spaniel we've ever owned.  Her former owners left her to fend for herself in the back yard and neglected her.  It took us months to get her to understand she would always have food and water, and she lived to the ripe old age of twelve.  She slipped off her chain once and I thought I was going to find her in the middle of the street, but this blind sweetheart managed to find the Doggie Boarding Shelter five blocks away.  Another time we thought we'd lost her, someone found her and placed her in an outside pen of the animal shelter.  Poor Roxie, who also suffered from arthritis, was outside the entire night in 50 degree weather.  We brought her home and warmed her up, but when she later had trouble with her bladder, it was time to let her go.  Dexter and Chey howled as we buried her, and lay on her grave for about an hour.



Last but not least, is our deceased 'Kermit'.  We're not sure how this bullfrog found his way into our basement, but he was an extremely helpful pet, eating the camel crickets and whatever else he could find.  He played tug-of-war with my towel at times (our shower was in the basement) and would sometimes spend his days in the shower area.  When we moved, we scooped him up and wrapped him in towels in a bucket to hibernate, but someone put the lid on slightly too tight, and we think he either froze or starved to death.  Every spring his mating call would entertain us, and he has been missed.

I also use this picture as my FB profile pic when I begin to get too many requests from men, trolling for hook ups.  Usually after about a week, it stops:)

I couldn't find any pictures of our Norwegian Elkhound Shadow, our German Shepherd Keisha, or our Black Lab Lucky. Shad and Keisha passed away in 2007 (Shad of a heart attack and Keisha was put to sleep due to old age), and we had to put Lucky Pup down in 2010 due to bladder issues.  We'd had Shadow since 1996, and the other two since 2000.  Our other four cats were born in 1991, and passed away in 2004, 2005, and 2006, all of natural causes, though Gizmo disappeared into the woods in 1998 and was never seen again.

Want to meet other fur babies?  Click here.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Reading, Shaun Cassidy, and Steve #MFRW Authors #42

What was my 1st love?  Since I'm not sure which 1st love we're supposed to mention, either hobby-wise, Romantic Interest, or Celebrity Crush, I'll cover all three.

Reading:
Since you've been reading my posts for the past 42 weeks, you know by now I fell in love with the written word as soon as my mom read me Cinderella.  At the tender age of 11, I discovered how to write down these stories in my head.

"That's Rock-n-Roll"
Okay, to be fair, Shaun Cassidy and Donny Osmund occurred at about the same time.  I soooo wanted to be on the Donny and Marie Show as an ice skater, and maybe he'd 'discover' my *cough* singing ability and let me sing with him.

I rarily missed an episode of The Hardy Boys, and when Shaun Cassidy began singing....wow.  Just....wow.

*side note*  Both were actually replaced in my heart about the 4th time I saw Star Wars.  Harrison Ford (Han Solo if you've been living under a rock the past 40 years) swept me off my feet (I wish!!) when I realized he was MUCH better looking than Mark Hamill!  (Sorry Luke....)

First Kiss:
I met Steve when we were 10 and 11, through our parents.  When Steve's parents spent six months in Colorado on sabbatical, I began writing letters to him and his twin brother.  My family joined them for two weeks of camping and driving all over Colorado, so we were spent two solid weeks of togetherness, even sleeping in the same tent a few times!  By the 3rd day, we were 'officially going together', holding hands whenever no one was looking, and he held open doors, unfolded napkins, and in general, treated me like a queen (I was 12, he was 11).  At the end of our vacation,  I left for home counting down the weeks until Steve's family would return.

We held an 'unpacking party' for them a month later, and right before we were to leave, Steve called me to his room, and after we shooed his brother and my sister out, he came over and kissed me on the cheek.  I kissed him back, then was starry-eyed all the way home!

We only saw each other once a week, or twice if our parents got together, and this 'relationship' lasted four more years, until we realized our hormones were now 'raging' for other people, lol!  Still, we remained good friends, and I even attended his wedding in 1991.

What was YOUR first love, be it hobby, opposite sex, or otherwise?

To see others', go here.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Why Do I Blog? #MFRW Authors #41

Heartfelt apologies for being late with this post; it took me two days to 'recover' from my busy weekend, then children's illnesses have kept me busy.  We even forgot to set out our trash can this morning!  Now, I can feel my own body is trying to fight off something....ugh.

The short, simple answer is LIFE.  Somewhere, there is a news article, or a national uproar that I simply can't keep my fingers quiet about.  I've been inspired to blog about my outrage against parental warnings against Classic Sesame Street episodes ("May be harmful to your child"...give me a break!), Idiots In The News (aka Stupid Criminals or just stupidity in general), or even recent issues such as disrespecting our flag and my rage against finding affordable health care.

My Writer Life
I love drawing ideas from other blogs, and blog hops.  I used to long to become a member of Oh Get A Grip or The Writer's Evolution blog groups, and for a while was following their weekly topics.  I did manage to become a member of TWE, only to have everyone else get tired and stop posting.

Promotion:
Back in 2011-2013 I managed to hop on the 'submit-edit-release-promo-submit-edit-release-promo' merry-go-round (aka Book of the Month Club as I call it), where just about every month I was releasing a new title.  This was exhausting, and something I don't intend to ever do again.

Not to mention the 50 lbs I managed to pack on during that time, due to being chained to my laptop!  Note to self:  Next time I wind up with a publisher who wants to release books every other month, say NO!

Other Posts:
Some are witty, some are author interviews, some accidentally cause the Blog Mob to rise up against me.  Some are silly things my kids have done.

So you see, inspiration can be found EVERYWHERE.  If you're stumped for a topic, turn on the local news, read the paper, listen to the radio.  Or find your favorite author's blog and scroll through his/her posts until you find a head-scratching moment or think. 'Yeah!  That's a good idea!"

To see where other authors draw their inspirations from, go here.

Forgot to mention:  Found out Teacher's Pet should be releasing by either later today or by the end of next week!  So excited about this news!!!!  Next up is the reboot of The Anderson Chronicles, coming soon to Stardust/Erotes Press!

Thursday, October 5, 2017

"Frankly Miss Scarlet, I Don't Give A Damn." #MFRW Authors #40

The title of today's post came to me the instant I saw this week's topic.  I won't be surprised if it pops up on everyone's post today!

Other memorable lines:

"I'm horny and pressed for time...." (Teacher's Pet, me-shameless self promo, lol!)

"Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring....what happens to Aaron?  Everything!"  (see last week's post)

"That's no moon..." (Star Wars)

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  (Great Expectations *Correction:*  Tale of Two Cities  Thank you Ed!)

"I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen."  (Little Women)

“Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a vortex, as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace.” (Little Women, the scene which resonated with me when I began putting pen to paper!)

"True friends are always together in spirit."  (Anne of Green Gables)

"Life is worth living as long as there's laughter in it."  (Anne of Green Gables)

"A person's a person, no matter how small."  (Horton Hears A Who)

“When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad...you should do what I do! Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky!  Some people are much more...oh, ever so much more...oh, muchly much-much moreunlucky than you!” (Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?)

"Papa, Papa, I went to town!  Inside, outside, upside down!"  (Inside Outside Upside Down)

"Marvin K Mooney, will you please go now!"  (Title of book)

"I like a swift breeze 'round my privates."  (Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire-this one always makes us laugh!)

Yes, I confess; I had to google some of these!  Sat down and aside from the 1st two, my mind was blank!

Gah....can you believe this week #40????  Only twelve more weeks in this year! I'm not reeeeaaddddeeeeeeeeee.....

Want to see what other bloggers came up with for this topic?  Click here. 


I'm off to Louisville, Ky to the Imaginarium Convention this weekend!  I will be taking the computer, and might check in Saturday night.  If not, then I'll be back either Monday or Tuesday.  Have a great weekend!