Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Hello? Anyone Out There?

Okay, so I was at Ladies' Night last night, when my gal, Sandy, comes up and says that she enjoyed my blog, but what happened? So I was like, what? Could you possibly be referring to the fact that I vanished?? LOL!!

Truth of the matter, I had a *baby*, and he's taking some getting used to. Remember Son #2? Well, he's now legally ours, and something about having an added son, on top of caring for Granny Sylv, has emotionally taken a lot out of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm over-the-moon happy with the new member of our family, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of worry that came along with him--both emotionally and logistically. He was sort of a blank slate in terms of dentistry, health care, government documentation, etc., so it's been an adventure getting him on the *grid*.

Yesterday, he got his learner's permit for driving, and both boys have gotten jobs at our local grocery store, so there's been banking to do in setting them both up with new accounts. The job is more work for me than them, in that I'm now driving to and from work in addition to cheer and track and tennis!! They make $6.00 an hour, but hit me and Hubby up for snack money during their breaks. So far, between gas, snacks, and buying their uniforms, it would've been cheaper for them to stay home loafing!!!!

Daughter's great! We just got back from a trip to Orlando with her cheer squad. They competed in the UCA National Cheerleading Championships, and while they performed their hearts out, the other teams were SPECTACULAR, so they didn't make it to the semi-finals. Coach Heidi explained that many of the teams have had programs in place for twenty-plus years, whereas our school has only been competitive for the past two. I was still impressed with how our girls performed!!! But you know me, I was REALLY impressed by Disneyworld caramel corn!!! LOL!!!

As for my diet . . . Sigh. I'd lost seventeen pounds before Christmas, only to gain it back during the holiday rush. It's finally gotten pretty again outside, so I've started walking again in the park. Hopefully, that'll help offset my love of McChickens!!!

Hubby's great--currently in Minnesota. He took a new job that he's happy with. It's a much smaller, specialized consulting firm VERY close to home, plus, he's great friends with the guy in his office, so now that we're past the hump of switching insurance, etc., I'm thinking it's going to be a great fit.

As for the writing front, I just finished a flurry of new Harlequin American proposals that I'm excited about! (Let's hope Johanna and Kathleen are, too!!) Speaking of my poor, new editor, Johanna, she shattered her ankle weeks ago, and as far as I know is still out of the office. I just finished edits on my September book, Dancing With Dalton--yay!!! LOL!! Johanna made some great suggestions, and I was pleased with how it turned out. I'm now fine-tuning a detailed synopsis/outline for a project I've been contracted for out of the NYC Harlequin office.

This was MAJOR excitement for me, hearing I'd been invited to participate in a winter-themed anthology headed by my first editor, Tina Colombo. It's been fun catching up with her again, and crazy-flattering that they thought to include me in the project!! Lindsay McKenna and Cara Summers are the other two authors!! Cool, huh??!!!

Now that life has settled into somewhat of a regular routine, I'm hoping to get back into my regular routine--meaning blogging and an updated website and answering e-mails!!! In the mean time, time to wake the kiddos!!!