Back in the Saddle Again

Phew. Yesterday was weird. I thought I was coming down with a virus, but now, since I feel so much better (I slept most of the day, with Sadie and Bernice 'standing' guard), I figure I just hit a wall. I work pretty hard, and I guess sometimes I run the tank too low. In any case, I'm much better today.

The sunshine holds--it's a lovely, spring-like morning. I say 'spring-like' because I'm not sure the Universe is throwing Spring this year. It's the last day in April, and the weatherman is still threatening snow flurries!

Excuse me for a minute--Sadie is barking for the elevator, and her highness must be obeyed. :)

I'm back, along with Sadie. Spoiled rotten--beloved, cherished, and adored--Beagle-dog.

It's Wednesday. I have always liked Wednesdays, although I believe (now I'll have to Google) that I am Friday's child. (Yes, June 10, (bleep), was a Friday.)

I continue to stay on the Weight Watchers plan with relative ease. I fully expect to have dropped a few pounds at Thursday night's weigh-in. Now, if I could only get myself to exercise.

Where is that pink saddle I bought? The one with the hearts?

But WAIT. That would only exercise The Horse.

On Sick Leave

Apparently, that virus I've been dodging has finally caught up with me. Although I still hope to write, in small increments, I'm headed for bed. I've got a big trip to London coming up soon, with Sister Sally, and I want to enjoy every minute of it.

So, it's off to bed for me. Bernice is already saving me a spot. Tea, chicken soup, plenty of water, and a lot of rest. That's the plan.

I do have some things to tell you, though, as always. Yesterday, I received a package from Syd and Jeanne Greenberg, who began a wonderful theraputic riding program in honor of their daughter, Sari. (I wrote a story based on Sari's, and theirs, in this year's "More Than Words" anthology, and met them in person at the celebration in Toronto last month.) The card is beautiful, and closer examination proved it was Syd's very own art on the front. Not only that, but the message is written in the most gorgeous caligraphy I have ever seen! Syd, you are as amazing as your wonderful wife. The package included a very special gift, too--a Chai symbol on a gold chain. I will write you my personal thanks, of course, but I was so pleased and impressed, I had to thank you on the blog, too.

"A Wanted Man" hits the stores today, in mass market paperback, so if you missed the hardcover version that came out last summer, here's your chance to read all about Rowdy and Lark. What a pair! (Like Syd and Jeanne, who are still so in love in their 80s that it's a joy to be around them.)

More tomorrow. If I don't show up, you'll know I'm still under the weather. Keep checking back, and stay well.

A Day to Do Quiet Things

I'll be writing today--and that's usually a 'quiet thing'--except in the westerns, when there is a lot of shooting going on. :)

I seem to be a touch under the weather, so I plan to take it easy. No runs to Michael's, Wal-Mart, Spokane Art Supply or the casino.

I did collage all weekend (I know, I know, I said I was going to write, but it turned out my brain needed some R&R)--struggling to make a birthday card for my wonderful sister-in-law, Anna. (And her birthday was the 26th, so you see why I used the word 'struggling'.) I guess I'm too picky--I keep messing them up, and because I love and admire Anna so much, I want to get this right. (Damn it.)

Let me tell you about my brother's beautiful wife. She is gorgeous, smart, practical and big-hearted. She and Jerry have three beautiful children together--Jerome, Chyanne and Sydney. Both Anna and Jerry work full-time, and yet they are the most marvelous parents.

So, Anna, if the birthday card doesn't say it, maybe this will. You're golden, and I'm so glad you're part of our family.

The Promised Report

Home again, home again, jiggetty-jog!
(For you younger readers, that's a play on a VERY old nursery rhyme. :))

At 4:30 Wednesday morning, my favorite driver, Tom, from Ambassador, picked me up at the house. It was still dark out, of course, and unlike last time, the Appaloosa, Skye, had not managed to open her upper stall door and whinny at me to come and feed her!) Tom whisked me to Spokane International Airport (a big title for a delightfully SMALL facility) and I caught a flight to Chicago. Upon arrival at O'Hare, Harlequin rep Erica Mahr picked me up and it was off to my hotel, where I signed a bunch of books, after we had lunch. (She brought me a pound of hand-made chocolates--I managed to eat only two pieces--delectable, though!) The idea of signing books ahead of time was to give me more time to schmooze with the wonderful folks from Levy Home Entertainment--these are the people who put a LOT of my books in stores, for you to find.)

I grabbed a two-hour nap after lunch, then Erica came back for me, and we headed for the event. Was it ever fun!!! David Baldacci was the keynote speaker, and he was GREAT. I'd heard him once before, in Fort Meyers, Florida. He had everyone laughing, with that dead-pan lawyer delivery of his, and I enjoyed every minute. I have great respect for Mr. Baldacci, both as a writer, and as a person. He and his wife are actively involved in adult literacy, and that's a wonderful way to give back.

I got a big kick when Dorothy Benton Franks, one of my favorite writers, came up and told me she loves my books!!! WOW. That blew me away.

Harlequin writer Gina Showalter was also in attendance; she's red-hot these days, well on her way to becoming a VERY big star. On top of that, she's beautiful and sweet. She's a dog-lover, like me, and as you can tell, I think very highly of her. If you haven't read her yet, you're missing something.

As always, the Harlequin folks treated me like royalty. And since this cowgirl has had a bad case of spring fever, that was restorative.

Back to work today. I will probably write through the weekend--no great hardship, in case you're feeling sorry for me. :) I LOVE what I do, and can't wait to get back to Dylan and Kristy and their adventure!

On Tuesday, the mass market paperback of "A Wanted Man", will be in stores. This took me a little by surprise, I must confess. I thought it was NEXT month!

Which just goes to illustrate how spring fever can affect a writer's mind.

Make it a good weekend.

Praise Be!

The SUN is shining! After heavy snow flurries yesterday, spring appears to be here. Thank heaven.

I wrote a chapter yesterday, and it was a thrilling experience, distracting me from the nasty weather. On to the dentist's office when I finished--for what the dentist and I BOTH thought would be a simple filling, but turned out to be a crown, involving lots of drilling and taking impressions. Yikes. I'm into the Silva Method (intense meditation) after a long absence from it, and I certainly used the techniques yesterday. There was no pain, but the sound of that drill--well, you know. Anyway, Silva worked.

Very early tomorrow morning (4:30 to be exact), a car will arrive to take me to the airport for a flight to Chicago. I'm having dinner with the Levy folks--they are a major book wholesaler/distributor, and sell other media, too--and some of my friends from Harlequin. It's a short trip--as much as I'm looking forward to it, I hate to leave Dylan and Kristy, even for a couple of days--and I'll be back Thursday afternoon. No doubt I will have tales to tell, as David Baldacci, one of my favorite writers, is the main speaker. (I also like Greg Ilses, Laura Lippman, and Mary Higgins Clark, among others). It will be a convivial time--lots to see and hear and learn. I always enjoy meeting with the lovely folks at Levy, and getting together with all my buddies at Harlequin. The offshoot of all this being that I won't be on the blog until Friday morning.

My stepmother, Edith Lael of Grand Coulee, WA, sent me a rosebush--it's called Veteran's Honor, and will have lovely, deep red blossoms. Of course, it is in honor of my favorite veteran of all--my late father, Skip, who served proudly in the Pacific during WW2, as a United States Marine. When I called to thank Edith, she passed on a bit of folklore. You're not supposed to thank the giver for a plant, she tells me, because that keeps it from growing. So I said, "Why'd you give me that darn plant, anyhow?" and we both laughed. (I cried a little, too. I miss my dad something fierce.)

I'm getting excited about the May 10-18 trip to London with Sister Sally. Among other things, I plan to do an ATC journal of the trip--one card for each day. I guess you could say I have a VISION of what a wonderful experience this is going to be.

I will be back on Friday morning, and tell ALL.

VISION

It has been SNOWING for the past hour or so. The flakes have stopped coming down, but the draw I overlook as I write this is dusted with white.

Did you watch the HBO mini-series, "John Adams"? I did, and I loved it. Oh, for more material of this quality on television! I was so sad when it ended--and I've preordered the DVD, which won't be out until June. (I wonder if it will still be snowing then. :))

I did some reading and revision this weekend, and also some art. (To use the term loosely. Van Gogh, I ain't.) Current projects include another 'affirmation' collage--this one for VISION. Not eyesight, though thank God for that, but "Where there is no vision the people perish" type vision.

I'm listening to some history lectures on my iPod (the Teaching Company), one of which consists of extensive profiles of the greatest Presidents. The professor said something that really resonated with me: that the truly great Presidents all had a very clear VISION of where they wanted to take the country and how to get there. And it occurred to me that, really, that's true in all areas of life. You don't have to be a Washington or a Lincoln or an FDR to do great things--maybe you just want to lose ten pounds, organize photo albums, or take some extension classes at your local junior college. Maybe you want a better job. You get the idea. You need a vision of yourself, doing whatever it is you want to do, and a plan to get there. Don't have the whole plan? No biggie. Establish a vision first, and the plan will come, perhaps all of a piece, perhaps one baby step at a time.

So, anyway, I'm making a VISION collage. My first one, a whimsical piece that says "Allow your feelings to come and go", delights me every time I look at it. Is it great art? No, definitely not. But it's cheery, and a powerful way to stay on track. Right now, I'm planning a big one to facilitate the development of my Civil War series. You see, I have a BIG vision for this project, and I want to keep it before me throughout the process.

What's YOUR vision? If you have an artistic bent, make a collage. If you don't, make a picture in your head.

In the darkest hours of the Civil War, Lincoln had a VISION of the country reunited and thriving as one nation. At Valley Forge, with soldiers starving and going barefoot all around him, George Washington had a VISION of a free and independent country standing on its own, taking its place in the world.

If they could do things like that, surely we can achieve our more modest goals....

April 18

This is my future son-in-law Jeremy's birthday. Happiest of happies, sweetheart.

It is also the anniversary, as legend has it anyway, of Paul Revere's famous ride. "The British are coming! The British are coming!"

I think somebody ought to warn Britain, this time. My sister Sally and I are headed in their direction, to spend a week celebrating a milestone birthday--hers. Shouldn't someone ride through the streets, carrying a lantern and shouting, "Sally and Linda are coming! Sally and Linda are coming!"???

Absolutely. Harrod's should definitely be warned.

Sally tells me she plans to eat fish and chips every single day while we're there. (I wouldn't want to be at HER Weight Watchers meeting when she steps on that scale again!) Speaking of WW, I was up .4 last night. No big deal. I was on program all week, but there are always fluctuations.

Plans for this fabulous Friday include finishing Chapter 11 (or is it 12?) of the new book, then printing out what I have so far and doing what I call a read-through-and-revise, and doing more art work. I've got a small (5X5) collage started, called "Cowgirl Spirit." I've made more ATCs, too and am gearing up to take the plunge and jump into my first trade. (For this particular one, it's 20 cards, either all the same, or all different.) I'm trying to think of a way we could have a trade of our own--readers of the LLM blog--any suggestions? There are no rules with ATCs, remember, EXCEPT that they MUST measure 2 and 1/2 by 3 and 1/2 inches. The big problem would be facilitating the trade. If you're interested, send an email to the site with ATC in the subject line, in capitals.

This could really be fun!

More Ramblings

Another sunny day! It's a GIFT. Believe me, over this long winter, I have developed a new appreciation for sunshine. :)

What a wonderful writing day I had yesterday. Although it is emotionally rugged sometimes, going through everything my characters go through, right beside them, it is also tremendously rewarding. And I've noticed that my characters tend to reflect issues I'm dealing with, in some way. (Duh.) For instance, in the Montana Creeds/McKettrick Kin series, the underlying theme is claiming one's true identity and then stubbornly refusing to be anyone else. Establishing a legacy, not just materially, but psychologically, too.

Well, of course I know who I am--Linda Lael Miller. But what does that really mean?

I'm a writer, of course. A mother, a daughter, a sister and cousin and aunt, a passionate lover of animals. A fledgling artist. A reader. A Christian and a member of a major political party--(it doesn't matter which one.) An American, no doubt about it.

But is there more? Surely there is. And beyond the obvious, what is my legacy?

As Logan and Dylan and Tyler, the Creed heroes, wrestle with these questions, I am wrestling with them too. I am taking them on a journey--but they are also taking me on one. And I find that incredibly interesting.

Ramblings

Today, the draw is bathed in sunlight, and the needles of the big pines are glimmering with traces of gold. I'm seeing more deer, and more birds. Perhaps the moose will stop by one day soon. When I was very young, there wasn't a moose this side of the Canadian border--now, there is a herd of some forty of them, ranging over a wide grazing area, literally in my back yard. And the bald eagle is back, too--there are two that visit the big pine tree in front of my lake house. Once, they were nearly extinct. Now, they are returning. It is a thrill to the heart to watch them rise on a current of wind, spreading their magnificent wings.

I guess I'm ranting about all this because we get so much bad news about the state of the planet. And it's certainly true that we'd all better get 'green', and soon. But once in a while, somebody needs to speak up. There ARE good things happening in this world--they just don't make the news. There are people out there doing kind things, responsible things. They are rescuing animals. They are feeding hungry children. They are tending to the sick and working night and day to find cures for all sorts of diseases. You meet them every day, these quiet, ordinary heroes and heroines. You probably ARE one of them.

As someone who spends a great deal--some would say inordinate--of time mucking about in the nineteenth century, I can tell you with certainty--we've come a long way, baby. In terms of justice, of civil rights, of opportunity and all around awareness. And even though we've still got a very long way to go, I believe with all my heart that we'll get there. Our children and our children's children will carry on.

There have always been bad people. But they're vastly outnumbered. :)

And for every bad thing they do, we can do ten good ones.

Let's push up our sleeves and get to it.

Princes vs Cowboys

I always fall in love with my heroes--Sam O'Ballivan will forever have a very special place in my heart. But I've got to admit, I'm head over heels for Dylan Creed. Logan, his brother, the hero of book one in the Montana Creed/McKettrick Kin series, is WAY hot. But Dylan? He's got that bad-boy thing going--be still my beating heart.

Of course he's not REALLY bad. :) He's baaaaad in the GOOD sense of the word.

Yum. Conjuring up these guys is some kind of a job. I'm glad it's mine. :)

And guess what? There are more McKettricks coming--the TEXAS branch of the family. There are also Creeds and Yarbros and maybe even Corbins.

I continue to make ATCs in my spare time, such as it is. Gosh, I love that 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 format--not so intimidating as a big canvas. I did one I especially love--it shows a prince, and the caption reads: I guess the dragons got him.

:)

So far, you see, my own personal prince has been a NO-SHOW, but that doesn't mean I've given up--after all, I'm a romantic. And, anyhow, I've got Sam O'Ballivan, and Dylan Creed, Jeb and Jesse, Rafe and Rance, Kade and Keegan...

Just how many princes can one woman handle, anyway? And princes are a little too sissified for me, I must admit. They wear tights, for pity's sake. I'll take a cowboy, please. Chaps (pronounced SHAPS, with an SH sound, not like 'chapstick') instead of tights, boots instead of slippers with bells on the toes, and a six-gun instead of a sword. I'll go along with the brave and noble heart, though, and the trusty steed...

This Year...

Spring fell on a weekend! :) It was glorious here in Spokane over Saturday and Sunday--sun shining, sky blue, spirit-lifting weather, all around.

Now, it's raining. Not that I'm complaining, mind you--April showers really DO bring May flowers. It's just that the hope of spring wears a little thin for me around this time of year. I'm ready for peonies, and the lilacs for which Spokane is justly famous--indeed, she is called The Lilac City.

I must buy more daffodils. Just the sight of them, happy and yellow, like little horns about to play hallelujah music. Ben Franklin once said that beer is proof of God's fondness for mankind--and perhaps that is so. For WOMANkind, however, spring flowers are the proof. Crocuses, pushing their bright heads up through snow. Daisies and wild tiger lilies, taking over entire fields and hillsides. "Hold on," they seem to say, "things are stirring and sprouting beneath the cold earth, ready to burst forth and bloom."

Oh, yes. There has always been a spring, not matter how long winter went on.

If I sound wistful, it's only because I am.

Weight Watchers Report

I lost 1.8 pounds this week, for a total so far of 13.6!!!

YES!!

In terms of getting up in the morning, it seems to be one extreme, or the other. I arose at about 9 a.m. yesterday (yes, NINE, and my grandfather is surely rolling over in his grave!), and 3:30 am today. It's just crazy.

I'll probably crash early tonight, but as of now, I'm going at full-throttle!

Bernice is healing fast--she finally got out of her cone, but she still looks pretty funny with three fluffy legs and one shaved one.

I'm wearing a pedometer now, with an ultimate goal of taking 10,000 steps a day. (Way under that as of now.) If I put it on Bernice, it would probably read 20,000. That little dog really motates, and since she won't get into the elevator unless I carry her, she's up and down two flights of stairs all day long. Got to be wherever I am, if I'm in the house.

Which makes me think. Maybe I shouldn't take the elevator! But then, where would poor Sadie be?

Dilemmas, dilemmas.

Cyber-see you on Monday. Make it a good weekend.

Discombooberated

That's a Hazelism, as in, invented by my mother, Hazel. :)

And it completely describes moi!

I thought my dental appointment was yesterday. It's today.

Yikes!

I promise to be back on track with this blog tomorrow. I have Weight Watchers tonight, so I'll have a report for you.

Yours discombooberatedly,

Linda

Dentist Day

Yikes. I hate it when I have to go to the dentist, even though Doc is a very nice guy. I would much rather: write, collage, play with the dogs, or transfer images onto polymer clay. (I get such a kick when I pull back that t-shirt transfer paper and see that it worked.)

I wrote a full chapter yesterday, and will do an outline today. After the chapter, and a trip to the grocery store (you have to shop for fresh vegetables a lot on Weight Watchers), I worked on an affirmation collage--meaning I am incorporating an affirmation into the picture. ("I choose to be GRATEFUL") I am actually quite pleased with the way the piece is turning out--most of them end up recycled or in the trash, if they're bad enough. :) I adhere firmly to the old saw that you have to be willing to do things badly for a long time if you want to do them well. And I am certainly doing most of them badly, so I must be on track!

It reminds me of a Lincoln story. (Just about everything does, alas.) When he first met Mary Todd, he told her he wanted to dance with her 'in the worst way'. She later confided to her sister or a friend that he certainly did dance with her in the worst way!

I'm caught up on the HBO mini-series, "John Adams", and I've got to tell you, I am blown away by the production, the actors, all of it. (Could have done without the pox innoculation, but medicine has come a long way since the 18th century, thank God.) I think this cast is going to carry off every major award television has to offer.

And I can't help dreaming a little. Suppose my Civil War books, big and sprawling and historically accurate as they will be, became a mini-series????

WOW. That vision is enough to get me right through my dentist appointment!

Feelings

Relax. I'm not going to cyber-sing that worn out old song. :) In fact, if I hear it one more time, I'll scream.

Maybe it's dealing with my yo-yo weight syndrome, but I've been thinking a lot about feelings lately, and all the things I do (usually destructive) in a vain effort to control or avoid them. (Do YOU do that, by any chance? Come on, tell the truth.)

So instead of indulging in one of my several vices, I'm trying to stop and simply FEEL whatever is going on inside me. Am I bored? Sad? Discouraged? Antsy? And if so, so what??? When did it become terrible to feel any of those perfectly natural human emotions??

Suppose, like a bull-rider trying to stay on the bull until the buzzer sounds (8 long seconds, when you're being flung about like a noodle on the back of a bad 'un), I just rode out that feeling? That's what my dad used to mean when he'd say, "Tough up, cowgirl."

I've become soft and spoiled.

And I'm going to Tough Up, for sure.

Hold me to it, will you? :)

Irene's Visit

On Friday morning, we drove out to the lake house. As there are a variety of stresses in my life right now, it was restorative for me--even though it SNOWED. In April, yet! On the way, we stopped off at Spokane Art Supply, where I bought some really cool stuff for collage.

We talked and talked--books, families, the biz, art. On Saturday, we decided to explore Coeur d'Alene a little. I used the navigation system in my truck for the first time (Sam Smith showed me how to do that while we were in Seattle--thanks, Buddy!) and found Creative Elements, this wonderful stamp and papercraft store out in CDA. We had lunch at Red Lobster--(points well-spent for one of their fabulous cheese biscuits, a plain salad, and halibut.)

We returned to the lake house then, and talked more, mapping out a plan for writing projects of the future. That afternoon, we took in a movie--something I rarely do. We saw "21", and while it didn't change my life, I did enjoy the experience. I had forgotten that movies are a good way to get away from it all for a couple of hours, and much cheaper than going to the casino! :) After the movie, we had Mexican food--my absolute favorite--and I ate half of everything and charged myself 10 points. You have to guesstimate sometimes, but this is what I love about Weight Watchers. There are no forbidden foods--you just have to plan, and be prepared to pay for them with points.

Yesterday, Tom from Ambassador, my favorite car service and my favorite driver, came to fetch Irene off to the airport, for her return to New York. We had a lovely time, and I was a little tearful when she left. I consoled myself with the other half of Saturday night's chicken enchiladas!

Today, I am back in harness and ready to roll.

Make it a good day. The choice is up to you. As my hero, Abraham Lincoln, once said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." And he was certainly in a position to know--no one ever faced greater challenges.

How happy are you going to be today?

Doing GREAT!

I was down 5.2 pounds last night at WW!!!!

Let's hear it for me, girls!

Irene arrived, and we're having a great time. We're heading out to the lake in an hour or so, to stare at the water and plan very big things for the future. (She's my agent as well as one of my closest friends.) I warned her that she'll probably want a nap when we get to the lake house--it has that effect on people. I walk in, look out at the lake, and all the stress just drains out of me.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Remember, anything is possible, if you believe and take a step at a time, however awkward that step may be.

Sunshine!

This is the second day of sunshine in a row! Whoopee!!!
(Although I did hear a nasty rumor that it might snow AGAIN this weekend.)

As I mentioned yesterday, my good friend and agent, Irene Goodman, is due to arrive for a visit today. I'm SO excited.

I weigh in tonight, at Weight Watchers, and I'm expecting a good result, since I've been on program and even managed to eat wisely on the road. Have you seen those new steaming bags from Glad? They're neat. Simply Steaming, I think they're called. In any case, you just pop in some broccoli or whatever else you want to steam, toss them in the microwave, and bingo. Healthy, fresh vegetables cooked to perfection, with zero grease. (I do want to caution you about steaming fish, however. I tried the bags with salmon, and the filet blew up inside the bag. :) Probably my fault.)

The cool thing is, I don't even feel as though I'm on a diet. For me, Weight Watchers is easy. I don't know why I ever quit--I think I've hit goal something like four or five times. :) I write down what I'm going to eat the next day, in my food journal, every night. I usually have alternatives, with similar point values, but this is the best trick I've learned in a very long time. I don't have to think about food--it's right there in the food journal. I also use a salad plate instead of a full-sized one--and I have a glass of wine nearly every night. This, as the WW people used to say, is living!

I've got seven ATCs completed and stashed in the special holder I bought for them. Mine are often three-dimensional, with a polymer clay image transfer in them somewhere. Fun! I love it when the UPS man shows up with another box of supplies. And I am madly in love with my scanner. :)

I'm rambling all over the place, here, but you might as well know, if you haven't guessed already, that that's the way my mind works. The Firefly Syndrome. :)

More tomorrow.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

For you youngsters, those are the first three words of Frankie Lane's song, "Rawhide". Back in the day--when Clint Eastwood was a relative unknown. :)

This week, I've had an unusually hard time keeping 'them doggies' (pronounced with a long O) rollin'! I putter. I write. I play slot machines. I've stayed on the WW program and shed the 'airplane weight'. I just don't seem to be very focused, though.

I've decided to let that be okay, since I can't seem to change it.

Tomorrow, my agent, Irene Goodman, will arrive for a fun visit and some meetings. We're going to hang out at the lake house. We're very good friends, as well as long-time business colleagues, and we always have fun together.

I've done some nifty ATCs, a few keepers. I'm still trying to figure out a way to post them so you can see.

Back to work. I left Dylan in a VERY precarious situation. :)

Sleepless in Spokane

I'm late again! I can't believe it. Sadie and Bernice got me up at around midnight for a backyard run, and I didn't get back to sleep again until after two a.m.!!! (They, of course, snoozed happily the whole time.)

I read art books. I went down the hall to my craft room to fiddle around a while. I read art books again. Finally, I went back to sleep--and didn't wake up until nine-thirty, by which point I was considered missing in action. Guess those trips to Toronto and Seattle, both of which were great fun, took a little more out of me than I thought.

Bernice is back in her cone, with her leg bandaged. Turned out, she was chewing on the wound, so now it's antibiotics and the whole deal all over again. She can get downstairs okay--unlike Sadie, she hates the elevator--but up is a problem because she's short (9 inches between the top of her head and the floor), and the cone bumps against the next step up. So I carry her a lot. This time, she's much better adjusted to the cone, though. If it's not one thing around here, it's another!

I've got a couple of ATCs done, ones I like well enough not to chuck into the trash, anyway. I love doing collage in that small, small area. Heck, I just love doing collage, period. It's gloriously messy, and like most writers, I am the Clutter Queen. I pour over magazines like "Sommerset Studio"--great stuff. And I've discovered some great websites: www.artchix.com is a big favorite, along with Stampington & Company, European Papers, and Alpha Stamps.

Time to eat breakfast, though it's nearer to lunch time as I write this. Weight Watchers is still working like a charm--I had a two pound gain when I got home from Toronto, but that's gone now, and it's full speed ahead. At this year's NFR, I'll be the one in the little tiny Wranglers....