Surfacing from my travels

I’m rounding out the end of a busy couple of weeks. The best kind of busy, too!

My daughter came home from Indiana University for a short visit May 21-24. We had Alec on Thursday, so she got to spend the day with him. We invited Grandma Peggy and Brooklynn over to swim The neighbor boys joined us too, so we had a great time. She and Brian left on Saturday, and on Sunday, I left for my mom’s in Texas.

Oh, and my best friend’s baby had his first birthday. Judging by the way he dived into the cake, I’d say he had a great time.

Mom and I didn’t do a whole lot, which is just the way we like it. Dad is doing really well. He still needs the walker, but he gets around pretty fast. We took him out to eat every day and to Hobby Lobby while I was there. Mom and I went to JC Penney’s but it just wasn’t the same shopping without my sister. I didn’t buy a darn thing.

We watched 8 or 9 movies, mostly old ones like Esther, Ruth, and David and Bathsheba. We also watched Overboard and As Good As It Gets. I hadn’t seen any of those in ages. I worked on the kids’ scrap/recipe books and got my niece’s caught up with the rest of them. My aunt (Mom’s twin) came up with more old family photos which was awesome. She had some old pictures of my cousins that really brought back memories.

I came back from there on Thursday and left for the lake on Friday. We had a great time. Brooklynn and I were nigh inseparable on Saturday which makes my heart glow. On Sunday Brady and I got quite a bit of quality time. He is such a cutie and a tooter at the same time. That child fears nothing and tries everything. He’s hard to keep up with but so fun to watch!

We came back yesterday, and I have Alec all day today. We’re going to invite Brooklynn and the neighbor boys to swim again this afternoon probably. I have a ton of work to get done because we’re leaving on vacation to San Antonio either Saturday or Sunday and will be gone a week. After that my summer pretty much returns to normal. I’ll be glad, but I’ve really had a great time.

Hope your summer is going well!

~pinkie

If at first you don't succeed...

I started this post a few minutes ago, went to highlight and save it since Blogger was having troubles, and the entire post disappeared. That is so annoying!!

Anyway, I was saying I got my Golden Heart scores back. The straight contemporary did lousy, but the paranormal did really well. I rewrote the opening to the contemp so hopefully I fixed the problems. To be in the top quarter required a score of 36. something, and the paranormal got a 38.something. I'm quite pleased with that even though I didn't final.

Of my 10 agent queries I sent out, I've gotten 3 requests for more material, 2 no thanks, and 1 'let me know how this turns out' (meaning let her know if a contract is offered). I'll probably forget about that last one. Not quite the enthusiasm I'm hoping for. Still no word from the editors, but that's not a surprise. They pretty much have to read uncontracted stuff on their off-work time, so it's likely to be at least another month or longer. As long as they don't keep it for years like a certain editor did (who is now with the peace corps - who knows where the manuscript ended up). That's the second really interested editor to flake out on me. Perhaps the third time will be the charm?

The dh and I have been doing some home improvements this year. We had the front and back porches acid stained, and they are beautiful! The back looks like red flagstone (to match the red mud that gets tracked across it so often), and the front porch is Italian Mocha with a circle in the middle. The circle looks like it's edged in light brick with multi-colored flagstone in the middle. We covered the rest of the back porch with a pergola with a drop down screen to block the afternoon sun. It's heaven!!

We're sodding the rest of the back yard (about an acre's worth) to hopefully cut down on the mud tracking. I'm also getting some trees - yippee!! I picked out two red maples, three evergreens (don't remember what they're called but they're gorgeous), a river birch, and a smoke tree. When the smoke tree blooms (which is right about now), it looks like it's surrounded by pink smoke. Next year we're going to do the front yard. By splitting it up, I was able to get bigger than usual trees. The maples are about 15 feet or so.

Well, I'd better run. Still lots to do today. Hope you all are having a great spring!!

~pinkie

From the Deepest Web

I know, I know - I've been remiss in my duties as a blogger. I don't have a ton of time to blog right now either, but I did want to share some good news. My health is doing so well, my oncologist has changed my appointments from every three months to every four months, so woo hoo!!

~pinkie

Back in Texas

I've been in Texas again this week, but this time for a pleasure trip. My daughter flew in from Indiana, so I came down to meet her. We did some shopping and had a great time. I just dropped her off at the airport.

Dad is doing great. He has a therapist that comes 3 times a week and a nurse that comes 2. He got a pressure sore on his heel in the hospital (don't get me started on the hospital here...) that is taking its sweet time healing. Doc says he'll probably have to go to a wound center.

I brought my WIP with me and worked out the next few scenes on the tape recorder on the way down, but I haven't worked on it since I've been here. Instead, I've been working on the recipe scrapbooks (which I haven't touched since I left here at the end of December). I have at most 4 weeks to get both WIPs done, so I've really got to get busy when I get home. I'm really excited about the current story. It's shaping up nicely I think (hope).

Well, got to run Dad around a little, so I'll talk to everyone soon!

~pinkie