12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop: Cocktails and Stephanie Berget

Sugarwater Ranch by Stephanie Berget

Bullrider Sean O’Connell’s life is perfect, or it was until his partying lifestyle affects his riding ability. Now he’s ended the season too broke to leave the Northwest for the warm southern rodeos. When a wild night with his buddies gets out of hand, he wakes up naked, staring into the angry eyes of a strange woman. His infallible O’Connell charm gets him nowhere with the dark-haired beauty. It’s obvious she’s not his usual good-time girl, so why can’t he forget her?

Catherine Silvera finds a waterlogged, unconscious cowboy freezing to death in front of her uncle’s Sugarwater Bar. She saves his life—then runs faster than a jackrabbit with a coyote on its tail. Any man who makes his living rodeoing is bad news, especially if he thinks partying is part of the competition. He’s everything she doesn’t want in a man, yet she shake her attraction to the rugged cowboy.

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

As part of The 12 Days of Christmas celebration, Stephanie donated a PB copy of Sugarwater Ranch with a keychain to the prize list. Click HERE for this and many more random drawings. To follow the celebration, find a new recipe, pick up a holiday decorating or shopping tip, click HERE.

About the Author

Born and raised in Boise, Idaho to city parents, I was a horse lover from the day I first watched My Friend Flicka.

I began writing after I read a rodeo romance in which the romance was good, but the rodeo and horse information was so wrong…. I thought, how hard can it be to write a book? Five years and thousands of hours of study and writing, I know how hard it is. Writing well is just as hard to do well as it is to do anything well.

I write Contemporary Rodeo Romance with a touch of magic. It’s Romance with a Rodeo flair.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Take two on cocktails.

Tonight, Christmas Eve, I’m spending with my one of my besties and her husband. We will have a delightful Pinot noir, to go with our Christmas tacos, because we agreed on nothing too massive this year (we overdid it at Thanksgiving, and then we were in food comas for the rest of the night).

The kids will open a present. I’ll prepare my Christmas cinnamon rolls for tomorrow morning.

I still won’t have a cocktail.

That being said, here is my wine recommendation: Bradley Vineyards Pinot Noir. It’s a small Oregon vineyard, but if you can get it, it’s totally worth it. We’re going to drive through next year, just so we can pick up some more (they won’t ship here, which is a crying shame).

My husband, way back when, grew up on the land that is the vineyard. But that’s not why I’m recommending it. I’m recommending it because it really is THAT GOOD.

http://bradleyvineyards.com

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12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop: Sloane B. Collins and Favorite Tradition

Hey everybody. As usual, here’s the plug for the rafflecopter…. Enter to win some fantastic prizes

SLOANE B. COLLINS

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Twitter:  @sloanebcollins

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Heat level 4

Give American cake artist Genevieve Haywood a picture of anything, and she’ll turn it into a sweet and decadent creation. She’s not going to let hard work or competition stop her from opening her dream business. But when she’s hired as the cake artist for her cousin’s wedding in France, she never expected to run into the French fashion designer who broke her heart fifteen years ago.

Roman Duchaine is done with living life in the fast lane. Tired of being in the haute couture spotlight, he’s moved back to the small French village where he was born and raised.
Roman’s ready to settle down and have a family until the lost love of his life arrives for his cousin’s wedding. Seeing her reminds him just how devastating falling in love can be.

Their fragile truce is meant to last through the wedding, yet every second together makes their attraction and long-buried feelings undeniable. But old habits and hurts die hard, and while Roman is ready to weave their lives together, Genevieve can’t afford to lose herself in his shadow.

****

Favorite Christmas Tradition… Oh, this one is easy. This is the day we cut down our tree.

The family and I wake up slowly… around ten o’clock we pile into my husband’s truck with some coffee and hot cocoa and drive north. We stop at “our” truck stop and buy a permit to cut the tree, and usually get some snacks (it never matters if I pack lunch and all sorts of snacks; we always wind up with more). Then we go to wherever  it is that we will cut down our tree.

Most years, we go up to a certain reservoir with some friends of ours and their kids. The kids play in the mud/snow, and the adults cut down the tree. This year, we went out on our own, and found a nice little copse of trees. The kids pick out the tree, and husband will cut it down. Then we’ll hike back to the truck, have some snacks, water and more coffee, and head back into town.

I love the smell of the trees, the bite of wind on my face. I loved where we went this year, because it wasn’t far from a nice gravel road, and therefore, I felt like we wouldn’t get stuck (there have been some years when it’s been a little dicey.)

When we come home, I’ll make lunch of leftover Thanksgiving spread (that I then turn into sandwiches) while the kids/husband take out the Christmas decorations. Then husband will help put up the Christmas lights, and then the kids and I will decorate my crazy tree. I love it.

My second favorite Christmas tradition is, late on Christmas Eve, after the kids have opened their presents and we’ve helped Santa put together any of the toys that need putting together, husband and I will sit down, have a glass of wine, and watch While You Were Sleeping. Well, except for that one Christmas, when Santa left us in charge of putting together my daughter’s play kitchen, which took until 3 in the morning. We skipped that year. I really felt like Santa owed us one that time. 🙂

 

12 Days Of Christmas Blog Hop: Jessica Jefferson and Dessert Recipe

First, don’t forget to check out the rafflecopter in order to enter to win some fabulous prizes!

First up,

JESSICA JEFFERSON

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websites: http://www.JessicaJefferson.com and http://www.embracingromance.com

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Heat level 3

Miss Tamsin Tisdale believes herself to be completely unsuitable for London life. After a myriad of social mishaps, and the potential ruination of her family name, she’s shipped away to her cousin’s northern estate. Only after she accepts the type of existence Society dictates she must follow will she be welcomed home.

Marcus Winston, the Duke of Grayson, has a lackluster reputation. The last in a dying line, he’s endured a protected life—rank with privilege, but encumbered by isolation. After a brief encounter with rebellion, he learns the devastating consequences of his carelessness and willingly accepts living life from inside his gilded cage.

However, a chance meeting with the brazen Miss Tisdale gives Marc the opportunity to reinvent himself into the man he’s always dreamed of being. But when his deception comes to light, and ghosts from both their pasts threaten to unravel the intimacy they’ve come to cherish, will either of them set their fears aside long enough to embrace love? Or will Miss Tisdale’s stubbornness divide them?

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So, dessert recipes.

Well, the last time we had this topic, I chose my more complicated dessert recipe. This time, I’m going easy.

Like, breathtakingly easy. But it’s Christmas, and what’s Christmas without fudge?

Here’s all you need:

1 can of sweetened, condensed milk

1 package of dark chocolate chips

walnuts (as many or as few as you want).

Put the chocolate chips and walnuts into a microwave safe bowl and mix. Pour the condensed milk on top. Microwave on high for one minute. Stir. Put back into the microwave for another minute. Take out and stir again. If the mixture has the desired smoothness (as in all the chips are melted), take it out and let it cool on the counter. If it’s not done, then put it back in for one minute. I’ve never had it require for more than three and a half minutes, and I’ve made this with an ancient travel trailer microwave.

Word of caution: don’t turn your back on this if you have dogs. Frank loved ours. Darn dog. Given that he ate ALL the fudge, it’s amazing he’s alive, but hey. The vet said he was made of pretty stern stuff. Expensive stuff, but stern stuff.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop: Cynthia Gail and Favorite Christmas Song

Welcome! First, let me remind you to enter the rafflecopter to win some fabulous prizes!

Now, let’s welcome Cynthia Gail (see, I always start with the exciting stuff first).

She’s the author of Winter’s Magic, which I have read, and I loved. And y’all know I don’t often offer free endorsements. (Oh, and look, I figured out the problem with the pictures. It’s that my Mac loves me, and my PC hates me)

CYNTHIA GAIL

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/12ysNRp

Website: http://www.cynthiagail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CynthiaGailBook

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CynthiaGailRomance.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6564818.Cynthia_Gail

Heat level 3.5

Owner of La Bella Vita, a five-star day spa nestled in the affluent suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee, Beth Sergeant knows her elite clientele first hand. She attended their private schools. She was even engaged, although briefly, to one of their most recognized bachelors. But she never fit in to their social-elite world.

After losing his parents to a car accident at a young age, Nick Chester was raised by his grandfather, the wealthiest man in Nashville. When he chooses to socialize, he has a never-ending list of exclusive events and beautiful women vying for his attention. Yet he never lets himself forget that everyone has an agenda.

Beth can’t resist Nick’s charm and accepts an invitation to dinner, despite her deep-seated insecurities. She proves she’s nothing like other women Nick’s dated and learns to trust him in return. But just as the last of their resistance crumbles and true love is within reach, challenges from Nick’s past threaten to destroy everything and force Beth to reveal her most guarded secret.

***

So, favorite Christmas song.

When I saw this theme, I just about had a conniption fit. I turned to husband and said, “Am I a grinch? I don’t like Christmas music! Oh no, I’m a grinch. All these years, and I’m a grinch. A grinch with children. And I’m ruining their holidays because I don’t like Christmassy things!” (Except my tree. I really do love my tree. Other forms a decoration? Meh.)

It’s true enough that I put a red light district in my mother’s Christmas Village when I was 17, and I kept one in my own Christmas Village when I got one. Actually, last year, a dragon perched on top of  the castle (courtesy of my son… He put the dragon there, and I left it, because, well, it was awesome), all my son’s storm troopers were coming out of the now traditional red-light district (which we call the “emergency district” because it’s right next to the police station, and my children have no idea what a red light district is, and I’m not going to tell them), and Darth Vader had a battle with Luke Skywalker in the town square. I thought it was the most fabulous Christmas Village ever.

But I digress.

Christmas songs.

I thought about it. A lot. Then I came to the conclusion that I actually do like Little Drummer Boy, and I like Stille Nacht, though that’s mostly because I know all the German words. But then, as I was bemoaning the fact that I am a grinch raising children, and ruining the holidays for all time, husband pointed out that I actually really like Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas is You, even though I’m not an MC fan (it could be because I love, love, love the movie Love, Actually). And no Christmas is complete without Feed the World, maybe because it’s from the 80s, maybe because it has Bono from U2, and maybe because it’s an emo enough Christmas song to appeal to my inner grinchiness.

Then husband pointed out the following: the last three nights when he’s come home, the kids and I have been singing Christmas carols really loudly and really off key as I make dinner. Maybe I’m not a total grinch, after all.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop: Sophia Kimble and Finger Food Recipe

Hi Everyone! Don’t forget the rafflecopter!

Today’s installment is from Sophia Kimble!

SOPHIA KIMBLE

Protect Her on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1u6bWf5

www.sophiakimble.com

Blog: http://sophiakimble.com/blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophiaKimble

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophiakimbleauthor

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/SophiaKimble

 

Heat level 3.5

Golden Alexander is trapped in a nightmare.

Trying to flee her hallucination of a demon, she runs heart first into the brooding alpha male she’s been dreaming about for years, and then her nightmare really begins.

Kris Pietka is done with women…he’s broken. But when he meets Golden, an overwhelming need to protect her tests everything he thought he knew about himself, and the paranormal.

A bond forged centuries ago thrusts them together as they search for a way to break an ancient Druid curse prophesying their demise. Racing against the clock, they travel from Vermont, to the Carpathian Mountains in Poland, and the Scottish Highlands in search of answers and a way to break the curse.

But something evil watches—it covets, and time is running out.

Will fate allow love to prevail against unbeatable odds, or will Golden wake to find it was all a delusion?

**********************************************************************

This one is rather like yesterday’s: I don’t really do finger foods, any more than I do appetizers. I’m a chips and dip kind of girl.

I do, however, like dolmas. I’d post that recipe, except that they’re the thing I don’t cook: I buy them from the Greek restaurant in town. I get the vegan kind, because I like them,  but you can get them with lamb, beef, etc. And I do love them.

So… dolmas.

Don’t make them. Buy them.

What’s best about this? You’re not spending a boat load of time prepping them. For instance, I go out, buy some fancy olives and some dolmas, put them on a platter with some stinky cheese, and I’m good to go. I’m a busy girl, so sometimes, it has to be all about convenience.

Huh. Now I feel like  a massive curmudgeon. Like, “I don’t do finger food or appetizers. Bah humbug.” But I don’t really like many finger foods. Just watch. Like I rebelled against my mother by being able to make just about any kind of soup imaginable, my daughter will rebel and become Captain Appetizer or something. Being honest, I wouldn’t put it past her to have her own cooking show devoted entirely to appetizers. I can see it. I really can. After all, the girl hates soup.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop: Christi Barth and My Tree!

Welcome back. Here is my part of the 12 days of Christmas blog hop, and info about my tree!

First, here’s Christi:

Purchase at  Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Carina Press iBooks  Kobo

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Heat level 4

Becca Huntley’s produced the Lyndale Park Player’s over-the-top Christmas pageant for ten years. The beloved Minneapolis tradition is the theatre’s main fundraiser. But this year’s production is almost canceled when their director disappears into rehab at the last minute. Good thing his directing partner steps in to save the day. Except for the minor fact that he hates everything about Christmas.

Jack Whittaker wiped the Twin Cities off his shoe with his graduation tassel and never looked back. But duty compels him to fulfill Tyler’s promise to direct the show. Even though it means working side-by-side with Becca, the girl he always wanted, lost to Ty, but never forgot.

It’ll take more than a few handfuls of tinsel to soften Jack’s heart toward Becca’s favorite holiday. Steamy kisses that melt the snow right off his boots are a step in the right direction. They’ll both discover that Christmas is about making each other’s dreams come true. But will doing so destroy their chance at a happily-ever-after together?

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So, my tree.

I adore my Christmas tree. Every year, I really want it to look like this:

 

Instead, it looks like… well, my tree.

17 years ago, when I first got married, I had precisely one ornament, a decorated egg that I bought in Prague two years before (I was shocked my mother let me have it, even though I bought it for me… I mean, I bought her one, too, but… The egg is pretty awesome).

Over the years, I’ve bought other ornaments, from various trips we went on Disneyland ornaments? Check. Ornaments from that trip we took (pre-kids) to Mexico? Check. And every single ornament made by my children through the years. Including all the ones that are held together with scotch tape, glue and popsicle sticks.

I love my tree. Half the time, it’s a bit scraggly (seven years of drought will do that to trees, and if I’m going to have a real tree, it’s going to be one I cut myself). The decorations are crazy, but I love them. Every memory of my family is contained on that single tree, in that one space.

I have an ornament that is a recording of my son telling a knock-knock joke when he wasn’t even two.

I have an ornament for when I was expecting my daughter, and one that holds her first Christmas pictures.

I have ornaments of all their little handprints, and the ones they colored. Including the ones my son colored, and that boy hates to color, so it’s not… um… his best work.

Best thing ever, my scraggly, crazily decorated tree. I wouldn’t trade it for the most perfect tree ever. Not in a million.

 

Christmas Movies!

Remember to enter the rafflecopter to win some really fantastic prizes!

First, though, before we get to that, let’s welcome Kim Hotzon!

KIM HOTZON

Not on sale until 1/14

Website: www.kimhotzon.com

Twitter: @KimHotzon

Heat level 4.5

Olivia promises to fulfill her dying husband’s wish – to scatter his ashes around the world. Wading through grief and depression, she journeys to a remote orphanage in Uganda. Living amongst the children in their threadbare surroundings, she vows to fight for the children’s lives as she begins to fight for her own. While Olivia develops a passion for humanitarian work, the lonely director of the orphanage develops a simmering passion for her.

Just as time begins to heal the wounds of Olivia’s fragile heart, her world is shattered when she is involved in a violent encounter with an armed rebel group in the picturesque mountains of Uganda. Olivia flees to the safety of Rwanda, where she learns the truth of her husband’s unimaginable betrayal.

As Olivia hovers on the brink of an emotional collapse, her broken soul is reawakened with a startling new love – but her life is about to take another dramatic turn as she struggles to survive in a region left torn apart by civil war. It will take every ounce of Olivia’s courage to hang on to those she loves the most but it may come at a great cost to all of them.

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And now, for my favorite holiday movie!

It’s While You Were Sleeping…

Okay, okay, so I do like Sandra Bullock, and I’ve always enjoyed Bill Pullman… and Peter Gallagher has awesome eyebrows. I mean, sure, they’re super heavy and dark, but so were mine before I discovered the joys of wax. At least he has two of them, right?

However, even if this movie didn’t star Peter Gallagher’s eyebrows, I would love it.

Every year at Christmas, I make mashed potatoes. Every year, after his first bite, Husband says, “These mashed potatoes are so creamy.” And that gets us started on an entire Cesar Romero riff that lasts a good five minutes.

It also started the whole “leaning” conversation with the husband. And the snarky comments of “I know karate.” Because even though the kids haven’t seen this movie, both of them will randomly spout off, in a New York-style accent, “I know karate.” Boy child will even
punctuate this with some sort of twirling jump-kick thing that looks pretty good if it’s not badly executed.

Alas, the last time he tried it, I thought he pulled his groin.  There were tears and ice and Motrin. And maybe some wine for the old mom.

In any case, after the mashed potato comments, after the kids are in bed, and after we have put together all the things that need putting together, Husband and I will sit together and watch this movie on Christmas eve. It’s my favorite part of the entire day.

 

Let’s Have Dessert First!

In the spirit of the season, we’re posting dessert first on the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop. But first, here’s a tidbit from Heather Miles!

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the rafflecopter to win those fabulous prizes!

HEATHER MILES

 

My web address for my blog is: www.heathermiles.net/blog

Facebook: Heather Miles
Twitter: Heather Miles (@heathermmiles) | Twitter

Heat level 8

Kasey Blakely doesn’t know that her date is anything more than incredibly hot. It’s after things have moved past friendship, that she learns her new lover is also slated to be her partner in a corporate merger. He knew it all along withholding his identity to have her.

Self-assured, future CEO, Kasey Blakely stumbles into Joshua Crawford, leaving her breathless and momentarily senseless. Taken with her, he learns she’s more than just a beautiful woman, she’s slated to be his partner in a corporate merger. Never feeling as smitten or intrigued, he’ll do anything to have her, including, not revealing his last name. After a passionate exchange and the prospect he could lose her, does he come clean with his identity. Always confident, Kasey, struggles with her growing love for a man who has claimed her heart and changed her world, but should be forbidden. She’s all in…then all out. Despite the warnings not to mix business with pleasure, Kasey and Joshua risk it all. Committing to return to California with Joshua, Kasey’s world unravels. Were her fears right, or can they manage the MERGER of their hearts and their future partnership?

Find it on Amazon! 

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And now, for my posting on dessert…

Ah, dessert, elusive dessert. Dessert has always been the bane of my existence. Mostly because I love it so, so much. I love baked goods, but I never really made them. Let’s just say that I learned to cook at a young age as a survival skill,  but baking seemed beyond me (probably because, like Lemony Snicket, there was a series of unfortunate (baking) events. Though these incidents did fuel my love of firefighters. They’d all show up in their turnouts, and I would hide somewhere with a good view while someone explained about the rolls. Or the bread. Or the popcorn. Or how the back wall of the kitchen just happened to catch on fire. Twice. And I swear, by all that it good, that I wasn’t the one doing this. I have my own baking mishaps, but the fire department never came to those).

In any case, I was a box cake, buy it at the store, kind of girl.

And then I became allergic to eggs. My first baking episode post diagnosis looked like this:

Yes, that is an actual picture of a real cake I sort of made. I keep it because it’s both funny AND sad, which always makes for a great story. Apparently, without eggs (and using a baking soda egg replacer), a box cake will turn into, at the slightest touch, chocolate dust. This was five years ago, for my son’s second birthday. And yes, I squished it together with a mixture of willpower, upper air strength, and frosting. It held together long enough to take this picture, sing Happy Birthday, and look at it sideways. And then, it was frosting-covered chocolate dust.

It was horrible (tasted OK, as I recall, but it wasn’t pretty. Boy child didn’t seem to care, but then, he’s boy child. He’s not picky, unless it’s green).

In any case, shortly thereafter, I discovered that I also have celiac disease, so welcome to a wheat-free lifestyle. At the time, I thought I’d never eat dessert again. It was depressing.

I discovered, after a while, and reading many, many blogs, that I can bake. It’s just a matter of being creative. And using pumpkin. I’m an expert on using pumpkin these days.

So,  here is my recipe (and yes, it’s pumpkin.). It’s an adapted version of one that I found in Sunset magazine. The original is a two layer cake, but it was too much, and everyone felt over-full and sugar comaed (yes, I just made up a word) afterward.

Gluten free praline pumpkin cake

1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 c butter

3 tbsp plus 3/4 c whipping cream

1 c chopped pecans (this I kept, because, well, pecans are fabulous)

2 flax eggs (to make a flax egg, combine 1 tbsp flax with 2 tbsp water. Normally, recipes call for three, but I find that with pumpkin recipes, it needs to be thicker, or you’ll never get it cooked through)

1 c granulated sugar (because this cake is so stinking sweet)

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 c canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c flour (I had a mixture of 1/2 c gluten free all purpose baking mix, and  1/2 c sorghum flour. The all purpose tends to be made with garbanzo bean flour, which in baked goods isn’t awesome unless you really overdo the sugar. Sorghum is sweet and delicious, but doesn’t rise very well without some complicated mixture involving arrowroot and tapioca and xanthan gum–all of which I have, and have made before, but it’s complicated, and I didn’t want to have to think too hard on Thanksgiving. So here you go)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or you can make your own with ground cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Which I did this year because I ran out on THANKSGIVING DAY, but I added ground cloves because I like cloves. If you don’t, just leave it out).

1/2 baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 c powdered sugar

So… Now that you have all the ingredients, here’s what you do with them:

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Butter one 9 inch cake pan and line with parchment.

Over low heat, mix the butter, 3 tbsp whipping cream and brown sugar together until melted and blended. Pour the mixture into the pan and sprinkle with most of the pecans (reserve some for the topping)

In a bowl, mix the flax eggs, granulated sugar and oil until well blended. Stir in pumpkin and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients (omit the powdered sugar; that’s for the frosting)

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet stuff (I’m being totally specific here… I harp on my students all day for using non-specific language, and here I go, doing the exact same thing). Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. At higher elevations, decrease the heat and extend the cooking time. It just works better. i’m not at a high elevation, but I cook as though I am because it just seems to work better for me. I think I live at that funky “in-between” elevation. Let it cool in the pan for a bit, then invert onto racks and remove pans and paper. Let cool completely.

For the frosting (topping), take your remaining whipping cream and the powdered sugar and mix until soft peaks form. Once the cake is completely cooled, then you can put the cream on top. Top that with the remaining pecans.

It is a pretty cake, and it tastes fantastic, even for people who are accustomed to wheat cakes with eggs (which are admittedly a whole lot easier to bake). This cake came out super moist, and sure, my cakes don’t rise like a normal cake, but it was delicious. This is very, very rich, though, so you only need a small piece to be satisfied. I’ll admit, I wondered if Husband’s blood sugar would ever be normal again.

I wish I’d taken a picture. But since I don’t Instagram my successes (only my dismal failures), I didn’t take one.

Happy eating!

 

 

 

 

Attack of the Vanilla Bean

She’s cute. She’s cuddly. She’s a holy terror.

Our new puppy, Vanilla Bean (Nilla), is a smart girl. She knows all her basic commands. She’s as sweet as she can possibly be.

She’s a bad puppy.

I think I had forgotten how naughty labs are when left to their own devices. And while Nilla is only 1/4 lab, it’s enough.

Generally, the dogs are out outside in the morning, but that didn’t happen this morning. So today, I heard some banging and came downstairs to find:

1) an overturned coffee table, missing it’s marble top.
2) said marble top, underneath my couch.
3) half a dozen broken plastic Easter eggs, which were taken off the counter. I also found the plastic bag that used to house them. Shredded.
4) a torn up, half-eaten Starbucks cup.
5) some coffee, staining my new-to-me suede couch (the stain removal protocol I found seems to have worked at fixing that).
6) the couch blanket, wadded up in the middle of the couch.
7) a very happy puppy.

Francis, my shepherd, never took stuff off the counter. I can leave an entire turkey up there, and, if it doesn’t hit the floor, he won’t touch it.

She helps herself.

At least she’s cute.

Here’s a picture of the baby and the old man. 🙂

Update

So, I haven’t really blogged about me in a really, really long time.

I’ve blogged a little about vacations, and a lot about other people’s books, but nothing from my own perspective in what feels like ages.

Maybe I don’t have much to say. I’m really busy in my not-on-line life, with work and school and kids and just stuff. But no one wants to hear about the stresses of my day job (or the fact that I’ve written almost 50,000 words in the last month, 10,000 in the last week–including a 2,321 word lesson plan–but not a one of them was fiction). Everyone’s got stress. I don’t need to vent that badly.

But all the work has left me a little… empty. The words will come back when I have time to think about them, when I can live in my head a little more and a little less out of text books. Right now, my creativity is spent on lesson plans and planning thematic units for the entire next year. They’re good units, too. I’m excited to do them, but honestly… Over 2300 words? That’s nuts for one lesson plan.

I suppose no one can ever accuse me of under planning.

In any case, one of the great things about being a writer is that the stories never go away. They  just sometimes take a break while real life takes precedence. Once I’m done with my classes, I can devote more time to my characters. To Ash and Mina, who I really would like to finish this summer, after almost two years of off and on writing. To Ethan and Cat, who have an entire story plotted out that just needs to be written down. To Gabriel and  Asa, who, for some reason, desperately wants to be called Freya, even though I keep trying to convince her that that won’t work, given then whole… I don’t know… English maiden thing.

So, because my life seems like a giant To Do list these days, I thought I’d give you updates in list fashion.

1. What I’m listening to: When I’m writing Ethan and Cat, I really like to listen to this crazy playlist I put together that includes lots of U2 (I suppose we could call it vintage, though I am loath to call anything that was released during my lifetime–something I bought on cassette tape when it was first released–vintage. And if you ask “What’s a cassette tape?” I will throw you some serious virtual stink eye). Oh, and One Republic, Counting Stars. Totally seems weird that that song reminds me of my hero, but it does.

When I’m contemplating Gabriel and Asa/Freya, I’m listening to Wardruna, which is a little crazy, but whatever. It sort of sums things up right now, and since I think that my characters are somewhat darker than Ethan and Cat are turning out to be, it kind of fits.

2. What I’m reading right now: I’m finishing up The Earl’s Enticement by Collette Cameron, and I’ve already started The Bride Gift by Sarah Hegger. That’s when I’m not reading about SIOP features and ELL stuff.

3. What I should be reading: I should be reading my text books and I need to do some more research on early Scottish history. I’m pretty familiar with the period right around Lindesfarne (I spent some time in York, and there’s that whole English/History/German major thing I did in college. And yes, I had three majors. And two minors (Poly Sci and Education). Wait, didn’t everyone? Luckily, I did actually get a graduate degree in something I can use!)

5. What I’m doing right now: Apparently, I’m digressing.

6. What I need to do: Work on my own topic maintenance, rather than my students’!

7. What I’ve been watching on those rare occasions that I get to watch TV: I spent several evenings enraptured by Vikings. Had myself a little Vikings marathon, in fact. I have a thing for Rollo. I think I’ve forgiven him for Season I. Now that I’ve watched all of Seasons I and II, I’m not watching much of anything. Which is probably a good thing. I’ve gone back to reading my text books.

8. What I’ve been doing in my free time: Camping. I got bitten on the rear end by a beetle of some sort last weekend, which hurt like bananas. The screaming (only after I discovered the bug… inside my pants) probably didn’t do wonders for my street cred, though.

9.  What I’m working on: Lesson plans. Oh, God, so many lesson plans. And these last few papers for my last class. I can do this. It’s a lot of work… Not necessarily hard, just a lot. And it’s late in the year, too, so my life is already crazy with meetings. Those three hours a week in class–and the additional 3-5 working on projects–starts to feel like a lot when I spent most of Memorial Day writing IEPs.

10. What I’m hoping for: That I don’t have a nervous breakdown in the next two weeks. Because once we’re out of this little stretch… It’s summer time! And I’ll have seven weeks off!

So that’s it for me. I hope you have a good weekend. And if you get the chance, go ahead and check out my book, Highland Deception. If you feel so inclined, leave me a review! Because I should could use them. Seriously.