Is it really the end of January already?

WOW. October, November, and December gone. It's hard to believe I was that sick that three months slipped by me. January has been much better. I'm about to get caught up around the old web.

My Silhouette Nocturne is officially on the editor's desk after three tries. Naturally I forgot to include the synopsis in the package, but she was sweet and let me email it. I heard from an agent I'd queried months ago requesting a partial on my contemporary so woo hoo!!

Not much else going on. I'm about to settle into work on the WIP and then various housecleaning activities. It's still icy outside, so no going into town for me today. Hopefully it'll melt off tomorrow. The high today is supposed to be 35, but I don't think it'll be above freezing long enough to melt much. Maybe, if the sun stays out.

I'm feeling fabulous these days albeit now 30 lbs overweight instead of 20. Darn those steroids!! This is my last week on them. It's not supposed to be my last week, but I'm making it the last. I'm tired of the moon face, night sweats, and appetite from hell.

I have a new little nephew and he is sooooooo cute! Got to go see him briefly last week. Got to love those babies. My granddaughter and I had our first "Nana and Brooklynn" day week before last and we had a ball. We have enough Barbies to pilot a battleship but not as many Kens - isn't that always the way? Today or tomorrow I plan to put together a dollhouse-shaped bookshelf to go with her Barbie Disco Ball house (or whatever they call it) for more furniture room. We have three Barbie cars too.

The dh and I are officially empty nesters. The last child moved out a couple of weeks ago. We sure do miss her.

I'd better get busy now. I'm also on Facebook now, btw. That is so addictive!

Love ya,
~pinkie

Oh my gosh, I miss my life!!

What is your favorite Spyder reading while eagerly awaiting the release of PRIDE by Rachel Vincent?

A WHOLE BUNCH OF BOOKS ON CELL CHURCH STRUCTURE

Which is a whole different topic that deserves its own post. I've buried myself neck deep in facilitating the renewal of the little United Methodist congregation to which I belong. Progress has slowed considerably considering the *other* less pleasant thing I've been doing since my last post. I've spent over five weeks accomplishing nothing more than trying to recover from - not the worst GI problem a fella can have - but close.

I did get my proposal resent to Anne Leslie Tuttle at Silhouette Nocturne, so that's a big yay! I'm also writing about five days a week consistently. I suppose I have the illness to thank for that. Writing is one of the few things I can do flat on my back.

The technical term is ulcerative colitis. It works like a autoimmune disease in which the body attacks itself. In this case, my immune system decided my lower colon is the devil.

I left on vacation with GI symptoms I thought were simple IBS. You watch what you eat and wait for it to go away. Not only did it *not* go away, the day we left for our long trek home, it got incredibly worse. Worst 4 days of my life - bar none, and that's saying something.


We got home on a Wednesday afternoon. I thought that, without the cataclysmic bump, bump, bump of the RV, I'd get much better. Thursday morning, the dh and I awoke with the same thought written in neon in our brains. I needed to be in the hospital.


I got up and pulled a pair of pajama pants on under my gown while Lane brought the car around to the front door. I made it as far as the entryway before I cramped up so badly that I couldn't walk. Lane walked in to find me sitting on the floor and crying. Scared him to death. We opted to call an ambulance.


Lane carries me back to bed, and about fifteen minutes later here come eight or so firemen clomping into my bedroom in their heavy rubber boots. Pretty funny, but I was too embarrassed and sick to appreciate the humor. They took me to a local hospital where I got the absolute worst, worst, WORST, ER crew.


I was very dehydrated, but unfortunately I didn't realize how badly or how sick I was. When they tried to draw blood, my hand drew up and lost all feeling. I pointed this out to them, and they said, Oh, that's no big deal. They sent me home with two antibiotics and two pain killers and told me to see my primary care physician if I didn't get better.


I made an appointment with my PCP for Monday afternoon and suffered through the weekend. The visit to the PCP is its own comedy of errors I shall save for my next post.

It's good to be back on the net.

Love ya!
~pinkie

Tuesday's trip to Niagara Falls

The mist thrown up from Niagra is the first thing you see. It goes hundreds of feet up into the air. Remember, this originates from the bottom of the falls where the water hits the rocks.










The instant we approached the falls, the power was evident. The water is filled with white caps long before it reaches the drop off. The sound is a roar.











A fabulous distance view of the falls - notice how high the mist is thrown into the air.













No picture can do justice to the sight of all this water boiling over the rocks, then plummeting over the side and down to the rocks below. It's the most awesome and awe-of-God inspiring sight Lane and I have ever seen. We just stood there, mouths agape. Lane felt that if we'd turned around here and headed home, the trip would have been worth it.

A light shower fell for a few minutes, and we were rewarded by this fabulous rainbow!!

The bottom of the falls.

It's hard to see, but there's change scattered on these rocks. How do you miss Niagra Falls? Hehehe! It's not that far (a couple feet) from the fence.

Here are a couple of really cool downriver pictures taken at Niagra.

Back in the good ole' USA!!!

I have lots more pictures from Wednesday and today to download from my camera, but I'm tired!!! I'll post more tomorrow evening or perhaps the next. Love you all and miss you!

donnell

Port Huron and Through Canada

This is our camp at Port Huron. Very beautiful and nice. We ate supper at Appleby's and the waittress introduced herself and said 'I'll be helping yous.'






Here we are driving into Ontario, Canada. The border guy was really nice but asked a ton of questions. He came into our camper and looked around a bit. We had to show them the dogs' rabies certificates.











The speed limit was 100 in Canada!! Don't get excited, though. It's kilometers per hour which equals about 60 mph.












No billboards allowed along the highway in Canada. We only saw this one and one other, and they were way, way out in the farm fields. The countryside was incredible as you'll see with these pictures.















































This is either Lake Erie or Ontario. Not sure which. The shot doesn't do it justice!
















Hopping on the QEW to Niagra Falls! Notice the shape of the highway designation is a crown.