Dreamin' in Dallas

My buddies and I went to the DARA conference in Dallas this past weekend, and it was better than ever, I thought. They've always put on a great show, but this year seemed extra good. It was really hard deciding between the workshops.

Roxanne St. Clair was the kick-off speaker, and she did a great job. I wish they'd recorded the speeches and the workshops, but alas... This was the first time I'd met 'Rockie' as she's called and I'm totally in love with her! I have a couple of her novels in my TBR pile, and they're moving to the head of the line. Also got a free one at the conference (signed, of course!).

Vicky Lewis Thompson did the luncheon speech and was great, of course. We made sure we each got a different book of hers so we can trade and read all three. :-)

Bob Mayer did a couple of workshops I attended, and oh my gosh were they awesome. I learned several key things that will really help me. I can't wait to share them with my OKRWA friends.

I met Tessa Woodward of Avon, and though she didn't request my ms (they're not doing straight contemps right now), she did give me an excellent idea to strengthen the beginning. Plus she's a really nice gal.

I'm feeling really good this week. I slept much too late this morning, but when I do that, I feel so good all day. Truly rested. I wish I could sleep less and still feel that good, but it's not in the cards. Yesterday we were all really worn out because we drove to Dallas Friday night and came back late Saturday night. I didn't sleep much on Friday night, but I caught up yesterday and today. Now I'm feeling great which is important because I'm working out with my husband this evening. I asked him if I could so I can judge how much the workouts I'm doing on my own are helping me. I figure if I can hang with him, I'm doing super!

Getting down and dirty about the diet this week. I'm doing the low-carb kick off week of a diet I found in first magazine. 20 grams of carbs or less per day which means meat and salad all week. Then I start a regimen of high carb, low carb, and medium days (it's a lot easier than it sounds) to keep burning fat. I hate deciding what to wear every day because I've gained so much. It's time to get busy! Yeah! (oh crap!) hehehe!

I'm headed to Dallas again in mid-May for a pleasure trip. My daughter will be down from IN and we're going to spend the day with my mom, dad, sister, BIL, niece, nephew-in-law(?), and their beautiful new son. Cannot wait. Then on Memorial Day, I head down to west Texas to spend a few days with my mom and dad at their house. Love that time. We don't do a darn thing except work on our latest craft projects and watch movies. Ahhhhhh. Love it.

Love you all,
~pinkie

Important Prayer Request

This arrived from a friend in my email this morning, and I think it's a great idea.

Chron. 7:14

AFTER A DAY OF CONTEMPLATION AND SOUL SEARCHING, I HAVE DECIDED TO REACH OUT TO MY FRIENDS AND RELATIVES AND ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING BECAUSE OF WHAT HAS BEEN TROUBLING ME FOR A LONG TIME.OUR NATION IS/HAS BEEN ON THE SLIPPERY SLOPE TO HELL FOR A LONG TIME. IF YOU LOOK AROUND YOU WILL FIND CORRUPTION, GREED, MORAL DECAY AND A STEADY MOVE AWAY FROM THE THINGS THAT MADE US GREAT. THE PRINCIPLES UPON WHICH THIS NATION WAS FOUNDED ARE NO LONGER OUR BACKBONE.

HOWEVER, WE CAN REVERSE THIS TREND.IN GOD'S WORD HE STATES,"IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN AND HEAL THEIR LAND."

I AM CONVINCED THAT WE MUST PRAY FOR OUR NATION AND ITS LEADERS AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS. SO I ASK YOU TO JOIN ME IN THIS PLEA TO OUR LORD.WOULD YOU PLEASE SEND THIS TO AT LEAST 25 PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK, (SEND IT TO ALL OF THEM). ASK THEM TO PRAY EVERY DAY. 25 TO THE 5TH POWER IS 9,765,625 PEOPLE. IMAGINE IF EACH PERSON REACHES TEN OTHERS.IF YOU DO AND THEY COMPLY, WE WILL LIFT UP MILLIONS OF PRAYERS A DAY TO OUR CREATOR. HE WILL HEAR US AND IN FAITH WILL ANSWER.

One person added the following: Let me just add a quote from Ronald Reagan - "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." I truly believe this is why the United States of America is in the shape we are in today. Most people have forgotten that we are ONE NATION UNDER GOD! Let us as Christians stand up and remind people of this. ~ Have a Blessed Day!

Echoing the prayer for all to have a blessed day - love you all and don't forget to pray for our country and leaders every day for the next 30 days.

~pinkie

Wow, has it really been almost three weeks since I've posted? You guys should string me up in my own web - hehehe!

I'm glad for spring to be almost here. I say almost because we had snow just a couple of days ago. Yes, snow. It didn't stick, but it was really pretty falling. Except it wasn't pretty because IT'S SPRING!

Lane and I ordered a bunch of lawn stuff (pavers, retaining wall bricks and mulch mostly) to work on leveling our flowerbeds and laying a path where the dogs walk through one of them frequently. It's already arrived, so now I need to find time to get out there and work on it. Good luck, you say? You've got that right!

Got to close now - I'm bushed. Love you all!
~pinkie

Sunsets and Sanity

Life is good when you can look out your back door and see such a drop-dead gorgeous sunset. I especially needed this today as I've been even crankier that yesterday. The last couple of days have featured messed up sleep (last night I didn't fall sleep until around 4:30). The night before wasn't much better, so tonight is definitely a Lunesta night. Anyway, I ended up in the line from hell at WalMart. The girl was training and none too smart to begin with. Then the b*t@h, I mean chick in front of me wrote a check - Who (other than my elderly mother) writes checks these days? Holy cow!! Total time spent in line: 45 minutes. Yeah, I called and complained. Evidently I threw a big enough fit that the experienced cashier helped the girl catch the line up after I left.

On a positive note, I'm loving doing Dance Dance Revoloution for my cardio. I've upped my calorie burn as I get better and better at the game. It's tons of fun. I also got wrist weights since I've reached a plateau on my Wii tennis. *That* upped the difficulty factor (and messed up my score a little, but I'm catching back up).

My Wii tennis and weight workouts on my arms have paid off. When I went for my treatment last time, the nurse who did my bloodwork found a new vein that accessed super easy, and the next day the treatment IV slid effortlessly into still another new vein. Thank goodness because we were doing 4-5 sticks per visit, including very painfully digging trying (unsuccessfully) to make some of them work.

Also, I'm really glad Megan and Anoop didn't get kicked off of Idol. I thought Jasmine was a bad choice for wildcard from the start, but I thought Jorge would do better. What do they say? Song choice, song choice, song choice!! My favorites though are Adam, Danny, and Alexis (I'd forgotten all about Dirty Diana - kudos Alexis) - this week anyway. Can wait to see how next week goes.

Even cranky, I love you guys!

~pinkie