Welcome to my daily blog. If this is your first time, I'm a romance writer and a misplaced city girl currently living in the wild Sierras. I tend to have a lot of I-Love-Lucy moments that I share here but sometimes we talk about books, TV, and our favorite cookies. Okay, my favorite cookies. In any case, please feel free to comment by clicking on the Comments at the bottom of any entry. If you're too shy, that's okay, just know I love having you.

April 7, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

We’ve discussed this before. The list of who you’d “do” if they came knocking on your door. Don’t try to tell me you don’t have one, at least in your head. My list doesn’t make much sense to anyone but me, and it changes ALL the time, but there are always two constants.

Matt Damon and
Ranger, aka Ricardo Carlos Manoso

The Matt Damon thing … I’ve loved him since he wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting. Yes, I realize he’s happily married with kids, but hey, so am I. (Matt, call me)

The Ranger thing I can’t explain. He’s a fictional character (Janet Evanovich) and he’s HOT. He needs no other reason to be on my list.

The others on the list come and go. Right now it’s Nathan Fillion from Castle … He’s big and almost goofy, but there’s something so innately … guy about him. Love him in everything he does.

Jason Bateman. Has a smile that won’t quit and a look in his eyes that says he knows what he’s doing. I like that in a man.

I read this list to Alpha Man and he nodded his head. He already is well aware of where he stands. Fifth.

How about you? Let’s hear your list. Go.

Update:
Ryan Reynolds! How did I forget him? Sorry Alpha Man, you’ve been bumped to sixth.

April 6, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

It’s spring. The calendar says so.

But we’ve had 4 feet of snow this week.

Let me repeat that.

Four.

Feet.

Of.

Snow.

Even the trees are confused. I went snow shoeing.

Don’t ask me why I wasn’t walking a straight line. I wasn’t under the influence of anything but leftover strawberry pie from Easter.

And don’t ask me why I tripped over my own feet.

It’s probably why I didn’t qualify for the USA Women’s downhill ski team this year.

April 5, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

So Jake the frat boy doesn’t like to go to bed. We have tried letting him sleep with us (big mistake), and we have tried crating him (bigger mistake), The pup doesn’t like to sleep. We say please and he says no, thank you.

So we put him in the garage thinking there he could wander and play and have a good old time if he wanted, and we wouldn’t care.

Best laid plans …

In the garage next to my car is a huge shelving unit filled with our shoes. Now remember we have five people living here, which is a lot of shoes. There’s basketball shoes, dress shoes, sandals, ski boots, regular boots … Those shelves are crammed full.

Until we started sleeping Jake The Frat Boy in the garage. Seems Jake has a little bit of a shoe fettish. The first morning that we came downstairs to get the dogs up, we found the shelves rearranged. The entire bottom shelf, which had been all boots, was mysteriously empty.

So we walked over to the dog beds wondering what the heck, and found this.

Now this is a huge two car garage, and the bed is on the far side away from the shelves. In between are two cars and various other crap. So basically, this little adventure had to take him all damn night. Then there’s the fact that most of these boots are bigger and heavier than he is.

The best part — he hadn’t chewed a single one. Yet there was no place for him to sleep, and he didn’t appear to care. He just wanted his people’s stinky things surrounding him. And seriously, how are we supposed to get mad at this face? It’s impossible, I’m telling you …

April 2, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

4. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

5. Was learning cursive really necessary?

6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

8. Bad decisions make good stories.

9. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

10. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blu-Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection… again.

11. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

12. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this — ever.

13. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice-mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

14. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

15. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

16. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

17. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

(Thanks to Judy for sending me these. I’m working my fingers to the bone on my next book, which I’ll tell you about very soon. In the meantime, Slow Heat and Instant Temptation are on the shelves and this overworked writer really really hopes you’ll get yourself to a book store, real or virtual, and purchase. )

April 1, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

Once in awhile, a day dawns so jaw-droppingly gorgeous that I can’t stop looking out the windows.

It’s really very distracting.

In today’s case, we’d just spent the past 36 hours being pelted by a blizzard, and now have two feet of fresh powdery snow. I think the gorgeousness is Mother Nature’s way of saying sorry that you had to shovel for five hours.

Which is fine. Because I wasn’t the one shoveling, Alpha Man was.

I went snow shoeing beneath 300 foot tall towering pines laden with heavy snow …

Twice they unloaded on me and made my hair frizzy. Bastards. No, I don’t have a picture of that. It’s too scary.

I do have a picture of Ashes and Jake trying to stand on the backs of my snow shoes instead of post holing in the snow.

Until they found something buried and hybernating in a snow cave. Since it probably was a bear, I gave them the bum’s rush.

And then we headed to the cliff.

Where Ashes roused a very unhappy, premenstrual raccoon and then Jake nearly caused an avalanche, so we called it a day and headed home for cookies.

March 31, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

Got a foot of snow yesterday and it’s still coming down. Been shoveling.

Jake hasn’t quite gotten the hang of staying out of the way.

Ashes found a stick that she was very proud of.

Until Jake stole it …

He does that. Steal things. Shoes, papers, wallets … he’s not choosy. Here he is, coveting my cookies.

Sorry, Jake. I don’t share with puppies who steal my ski boots and then lick my face with the same tongue that was just used in a place that is not to be mentioned!

No matter how cute you are.