Nothing else matters ...

First off ... Happy Birthday, debalita! I think you should party like it's 1999! Word!

Second ... Heather goes in for her knee replacement surgery tomorrow. To make a long, drawn out story short, she's going to be moving back into our house for a few weeks until she becomes mobile. This is not a huge deal except it means that she's taking Cole's room and he's relocating to my room for the duration. Once again, not a big deal. Really. She's my sister. She's going to need to stay here for a while. I get that. However, I really don't want to share my room with the kid. I sleep horribly whenever he sleeps with me. Horribly. Me, one kid, two dogs=restless sleep. Blech. Y'all will just have to excuse me if I'm bitchy and out of sorts over the next few weeks.

Third, which ties in with two ... Originally, H was supposed to be at the hospital by 8:15 for surgery later in the day. Early afternoon was the initial assessment. As of today, she needs to be there at 7 for surgery at 10. That would be fine except that I can't drop the kids off until 7:20 at school and the hospital requires that someone be present with her while she's there. Don't ask me why. I don't know. We had to do some creative schedule rearranging to get everything to work out as it needs to.

Fourth ... books!
Book #94 - Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse #9) by Charlaine Harris - The book were the Weres finally go public. And it's about time, guys! Sookie gets drawn into yet another murder investigation, tossed willy-nilly into the middle of an all out war between factions of the Fae courts, and begins settling into a bit more of a traditional relationship with Eric. I don't know how I feel about the Fae. On one hand, it helps explain a lot of stuff about Sookie and her family and the attraction that supernatural creatures have towards her. On the other hand, it almost feels like we're coming to the end of their story (the Fae, that is, not Sookie's) and if that's the case, I'm going to feel like this was a whole lot of story that went nowhere. Anyway. I liked the book. I like how the relationship between Eric and Sookie is progressing. I'm waiting to see where it goes.

-and-

Book #95 - Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris - I ended up really liking this book. I enjoyed the glimpses into Eric's life and home. It's funny how I'd always imagined he would be the type to bunk down in some secret, dark, back room at Fangtasia or something. You know, to be close to his livelihood and profits. Goes to show you what I know. I also thought the look at Eric's maker and the relationship he had with him was well done. It's funny how the topic of how a child has to obey a command by his maker kept being brought up in previous books but at the same time it was never really addressed whether it was a compulsion to obey them or just tradition. Yet this book took that topic and made it very clear which way the mystical juju flowed. Maybe it's only funny to me. I don't know. Anyway. Sookie has mostly physically recovered from her torture at the hands of her great-grandfather's enemies (Book #9) but the emotional scars are a little harder to heal from. She and Eric are learning how to work with the blood bond and are settling into a workable relationship. Naturally, Eric's maker chooses now to make an appearance with his newest child. Meanwhile, the Weres coming out party isn't going exactly as they'd envisioned and plenty of people are up in arms about the double life they lead. In the neverending cycle of Sookie's life, she's drawn into pack politics, has to deal with Eric's maker, and finds that it's highly probable that some of her great-grandfather's enemies might not have left the human world behind when the portals were closed. Just another day in the life of a telepathic barmaid.

My Sookie book-reading marathon is now complete!

My teeny, tiny obsession with all things Sookie/True Blood related at the moment might have made me make a new True Blood wallpaper. It's not finished yet, but it's definitely in the works. I might have also been browsing for a few new TB t-shirts. There are a couple that I really, really like but they run about $20 each. The problem I have with this is that my two current favorite shirts (purple skull/dripping heart and a werewolf one) were $8 and $3 respectively. I don't work, people. I have to think with my checkbook on this. Yet, I really want those shorts. Really. I mean, I talked myself out of the 2 $150 collectible dolls based on another of my favorite series. Well, I mostly talked myself out of it. The point it that I want those shirts and I'm having a tough time telling myself no.

That felt very long-winded.
And now I'm done.
Later.

I have a headache that's sitting right on the back of my skull. Joy.

jenah and kimbrchick popped over for a visit today. They are not the cause of my headache despite my unwieldy segue from one topic to the next. Anyway. Jenn and Kim came visiting and we watched a stinker of a movie. Legion. Let me rephrase that. Parts of it were cool. There were some very cool shots peppered throughout the movie but I wasn't paying close enough attention to really get what was going on from scene to scene. 'Evs. It was more about hanging out with the girls than figuring out what was on the screen.

We talked. We went to lunch. We compared the iPhone to the Droid. We got caught up. We marginally watched a movie.

All in all, it was a good day. Until this headache clawed it's way up from the depths of hell.

Blah.

I finished a book or two.
Book #92 - All Together Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #7) by Charlaine Harris - I must admit that I like this book quite a bit. The Vampire Summit was as convoluted and twisty as I could hope for. Plus, the Sookie/Eric interactions were as joyfully complex as one could wish. Hee! Okay. Summoned by the Queen of Louisiana to attend the summit as her human lie-detector, Sookie finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into vamp politics. We get some oddly unclimactic revelations about Weretiger Quinn and another brush with the telepathic Barry (book #2). Several things that happen in this book have direct impact on the next few. Which is just one reason I'm having so much fun reading the series in a full-out marathon.

-and-

Book #93 - From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8) by Charlaine Harris - Picking up not long after book #7, Sookie is drawn into the war between two feuding packs of Weres in Shreveport. It seems like Sookie's always in the middle of one war or another, doesn't it? Trying to understand her blood-bond with Eric while dodging Weres bent on killing her and meeting long-lost members of her family doesn't leave Sookie with a lot of free time on her hands. Another enjoyable outing in Sookie's world.

Okay. I'm tired all of a sudden. Like, whoa.
I think I'll go watch something mindless and fun and zone out.
Later.

Uggh. I slept from 7-8 (meaning I just woke up) and it's hotter than something extremely hot in my room now. I am not enjoying it. I think I need to find someone to help me install the ceiling fan I bought. I'm not saying that it would cure all ills, but it would most definitely be moving the air in my room a bit. That would be a little slice of heaven right at this moment.

The fam went over to see Amb and the wee baby earlier (before my nap). The baby didn't pass his hearing assessment (they think he still has fluid in his ears) so he'll have to go back in a few days to see an audiologist. Amber was a wreck between that news and the non-sleeping last night. I'm not trying to be callous or anything but that's the way parenting a new baby goes. I think I went almost 48 hours without sleep after having Cole. I simply couldn't sleep in the hospital. It sucked. I hated it. I got over it. Those first few days with a new baby are tough, though. Really hellaciously tough.

Anyway. The kiddo curled up on me and was content for a bit. I'm going back over on Tuesday to help Amb out because Phil has to go in to do some random work-related stuff that came up unexpectedly. I've already informed Amb that I will be holding Ryan for the bulk of the time I'm there. I like sniffing that little misshapen head.

I spent a couple of hours prior to that with the friend I haven't seen since junior high. We went to lunch at the brewery (snakebite!) and did some catching up. I love that one of the things that can be said when you haven't seen someone in that long is "So, what have you been doing from high school on?" Ha. What have I been doing? Working long ass hours, going mental, quitting my job, becoming happier, writing. All the good stuff. She's had an interesting life, though. She's a certified mortician who's going back to school to be a teacher. O_o She even whispered "I see dead people" to Cole in a creepy voice. That cracked me up. Hard.

Okay. I'm hot. The dogs are licking my leg, which is weird. I'm done. Done, I say!
Later.

The baby = 5 days late. Amb came over and we went to the pool because she's GINORMAS and I think I got a teeny, tiny bit of a sunburn. Maybe it's just the beginning of a tan. Sometimes it's hard to tell with me.

Anyway. I wrote another few hundred words on the story that still rattling around in my head. Not the one I've been posting at bay12_fic, the other one. The one that only I can see at this point. The one that I've been plotting for.ever. The amazing thing? I haven't killed anyone off yet. Don't worry, though, there's still time. Lots and lots of time. The blood and guts can wait for a few more pages. *evil laugh that sounds more diabolical than I can actually make it*

In sad news that should be happy but makes me feel a little bit empty inside, I finished the last two books that are currently out in the Dark-Hunter series. I really don't know what to do with myself now. I mean, I read 17 books (of the 18 because book #3 is still being borrowed. *cough*Jenn*cough*) and one short story in 9 days. I'm adrift. I found myself looking at the Dark-Hunter manga this morning and thinking "Hmmm, that would be a good thing, right?" Except that I don't want to pay $20 for a two part comic that is essentially book #2 which I read a week ago. It makes sense in my head. Truly.

So.
Book #75 - Dream Warrior (Dark-Hunter #18 and/or Dream-Hunters #4) by Sherrilyn Kenyon - This book opened up a whole new can of worms. Which is funny because once that can opens and you can look back on the clues and hints that have been dropped in previous books, you can see that there's a lot of stuff that's been leading up to this. A.Lot. Honestly, I love when a series is so well put together that every book deepens the mythology. So. Jericho is a Titan who used to be the right hand of Zeus before he laid down his sword and shield and walked away from it all. With a dark power rising and causing the pantheon to fracture, Delphine is sent in to recruit Jericho to the side of the Gods before all is lost. The burning question is: Why would a God who has been banished from Olympus and stripped of his power want to help the very Gods who turned him aside when he needed them most? I liked that Delphine was given some very big ties to characters in previous books and the morality of what Zeus did to the Dream-Hunters was explored. The recurring theme that you can't circumvent something that's fated to be (Acheron, anyone?) is thrust front and center again. It looks like there's going to be a showdown on Olympus. I'm curious how this is going to play out.

-and-

Book #76 - Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter #19) by Sherrilyn Kenyon - I've been waiting for Fang's story since he was attacked and left comatose in Book #6. A Katagari wolf of the Kattalakis clan, Fang is caught in the Nether Realm after he is attacked by Daimons and has part of his soul stolen. The only person who he can connect with in the real world is Aimee Peltier, the only daughter of the Peltier bear clan. As he fights demons in the Nether Realm, she hunts down the Daimons who stole his soul to free him. Even if he finds a way free, they both know that a wolf and a bear can't be together. It's against the laws of the Omegrion, the very laws that both their families are sworn to uphold. It's interesting how the Were-Hunters are stratified; there are the soldiers of both races, the leaders, the Aristi. It also seems that a lot of Katagari are mated to Arcadians or humans. I'm wondering if this is going to have an impact somewhere down the line. Hmm.

It's taken me almost an hour to write this post up. Wow. FYI, yesterday's post was my 2,000th post here on LJ. That is a lot of words.
On that note, I'm out.
Later.

Random post of randomness coming up ...
I keep thinking today is Friday since the kids don't have school tomorrow. Cole has three friends spending the night, meaning that I have FOUR ten-year-olds in my house. Ye, Gods!

In writing news, I'm working on figuring out where the next chapters are leading to. No, not leading to. I know that. I'm figuring out what's going to happen in each of the next chapters so that things I think need to happen will end up happening in a timely manner. Seriously, guys, this is the first time I've been this organized about my writing. Most of the time I write by the seat of my pants and the things that come out happen to work well together. This time, though ... this time I have a vision. A kick-ass, take no prisoners VISION! And I will make that vision work for me.

I have a bizarre meme to do courtesy of oddmonster but I really don't know where to start with it. Tangerine. Huh.

Just in case you were worried, I did read a book today ...
Book #42 - Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld #9) by Kelley Armstrong - This is the first book in this series to deviate from a first person narrative. It's also the first to feature a non-Supernatural as the main character. Now, one could argue that Hope and Karl have a pretty decent storyline and they're Supernaturals, but I stand by what I wrote. Robyn Peltier's life was turned upside down when her husband was senselessly gunned down and she's been reeling ever since. Unexpectedly thrust in the middle of a murder (as the prime suspect, no less), Robyn doesn't have a chance of surviving without Hope and Karl. Especially since she has no idea that Supernaturals exist. With a deranged clairvoyant gunning for her, Robyn has to figure out who to trust, what to believe and how to make it out alive.

So. Hope and Karl. I like those two. I also like that Hope is being given the chance to stand on her own two feet. Hope has to prove to herself that she can control her demon without Karl stepping in every time. I hope we get to step back to their relationship in a later book (as we've done with Elena and Clay) because I feel like we were left hanging and there's more to be said. Anyway. Good book. A change of pace from the others in the series, but still very engaging.

Speaking of books, I'm completely in love with Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series (which I've mentioned once or twice before) and the third book is coming out on Tuesday. I've already ordered it, I'm so excited, blah, blah, blah. The point? The first ten chapters are posted online and I was all, "No, I'm not going to read them because I want to read the whole book at once." Yeah. I read them. And, dammit, I want to read the whole thing now. NOW. IMMEDIATELY! I should have listened to myself. Grr.

Remember how in the first paragraph up there I was talking about how I keep forgetting it's Thursday? It's true! Because I forgot that my shows are on right now! I must go! I must watch! I must drool over the Vampires! And Winchesters! And the weird Fringe-y stuff!
Later!

Arrgh! I still haven't put up chapter 5 of the multi-chapter epic. Ehh, I have time. Right? It's not midnight yet!

Besides the fact that I got practically no sleep last night (what's up with the 1 o'clock wake-up where I just sit there and stare blankly without thinking about anything?), today was a pretty good day. BFF Megan is visiting from Washington State and she dropped by with her two boys this morning. We visited, drank coffee, visited some more, went to lunch and made plans to see each other tomorrow. I had a chance to go on and on and on about my 5 year plan for working for myself, preferably in the writing business. Once again, I can't believe how incredibly supportive my friends are of what I'm choosing to do with my life. I'm not surprised by it because I have really awesome friends, but it's humbling that they have such faith in me and my ability to write. Either that or they're all really good at hiding their disbelief that I'd choose to do what I want to do. Just kidding, guys. Just kidding.

I also finished another book ...
Book #39 - Broken (Women of the Otherworld #6) by Kelley Armstrong - We're back with Elena as the narrator and I adore Elena. Adore her. Being the only female werewolf, Elena doesn't have any guidebook to follow when she and Clay decide to have kids. Tamping down her natural instinct to throw herself into the middle of all sorts of danger is only her first problem when a routine breaking and entering job for a fellow supernatural has unintended side effects. You know, the type where serial killing Zombies are terrorizing Toronto? Unraveling who and what has been unleashed becomes critical when it seems like Elena is being targeted by the Zombies. Jaime Vegas puts in another appearance (paving the way for her grand entrance in the next book as the narrator) and the Pack shows up to lend support and help fend off the rotting dead. Yeah, they had me at werewolves and Zombies.

In not quite as thrilling news, I have to drop my car off tomorrow to have a bunch of work done. Boo. Plus? malkovich03 is in Arizona. Good for her, sad for me.

I'm done.
Later!

malkovich03 and I did our pub crawl at the local watering hole. Except that it wasn't so much a crawl as a "here we are, at the bar!" type of experience. It was fun. We got to watch the Sharks on the big screen, eat and have a few drinks. I think the bartender/owner was hitting on one and/or both of us. I was asked how tall I was but Mal got to show off her knowledge of far off places.

All in all, a fun evening.
Now I'm tired.
Goodnight.

Dudes. Is it me or has lj (and the internet in general, come to think of it) been slow lately? Not slow, like not loading quickly but slow like not a whole lot going on. Just curious. I obviously have way too much to say and will just keep posting my posts and writing my journal and being my muse's little bitch. Word!

Here's my story for the day. I painted my toes green for St. Patrick's day. Actually, I painted them 2 days after, so it was more for me. Not really the point of the story. I hated the color. Hated it. With the blinding fury of a thousand suns. I have no idea why it took me a week to take it off. Every time I looked at it I wanted to hurl. Barf. So I took it off today and although I was going to paint them red or pink or ANYTHING that wasn't green ... well, I haven't yet. And I still like them better than that nauseating green.

Did I mention that I might possibly have a pub-date planned with the always scintillating malkovich03 on Saturday?. I'd know for certain if she'd respond to my comments or texts. Or if I just called her and talked to her. Where's the fun in that, though? I'd rather be filled with righteous indignation that my BFF doesn't like to return my texts. What a jerk. :)

I also have my other BFF coming down from the Seattle area for a visit at the beginning of next week. Awesome. Since I royally screwed up the last time she visited (by not being here!) we haven't had a good get-together in a while. It's going to be FUN!

Yes. I did read a book today. Thank you for asking!
Book #37 - White Witch, Black Curse (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows #7) by Kim Harrison - The last time I read this book was around this time last year and what a difference reading it back to back with the others in the series makes. Whoa. So much continuity and little things that I felt like I missed the first time around. The bulk of this story revolves around Rachel helping the FIB hunt down a banshee running loose in the city while looking into Kisten's death. Her latest almost-boyfriend takes a step up and then a big step back and another man from Rachel's past puts in a ghostly appearance. There are more and more interactions with Al (which I enjoy immensely) and Trent and she butt heads as usual. I loved the conclusions of Kisten's story. Well, I didn't love it because I liked the guy, but I loved how Rachel was able to honor his memory. All in all, a good book with lots of blood and guts and flaming balls of Ever-After. Sweet!

FYI for oddmonster, I'm re-reading the 8th book in this series which I read earlier this month. According to Kelly's Rules of Book Counting for the New Millennium, I will not be claiming it as another book read. You have a day of reprieve. Take it, my friend. Take it and read the shit out of it!

In writing news, I went back and re-read the chapter I wrote yesterday and I still like where it's going. I added another 800-900 words which brought it more in line with the word count I was aiming for. The only thing that's still make me look at it with perplexity is that I might have to go back and tweak a few scenes from earlier chapters to make the tangent the storyline is heading off to make more complete sense.

It's cool. I can do that.
Okay. I think I have enough time built into my The Vampire Diaries recording to be able to skip all the commercials now.
That means that I am out of here!
Later!

I just got a call from Cole's teacher (remember, he's up at Science Camp with the other 5th graders) that he's terribly homesick and misses me. Ahhhh. Poor guy. I said he had to stay. Although I am slightly giddy to hear that he actually misses me. Ahhhh. Poor guy. He'll be home on Friday. He can make it tonight and tomorrow night.

I feel a little bad for saying that he has to stay but I really think it's a good thing for him. Strangely, I don't recall ever having intense homesickness while I was away at camp. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Cole's so like me that it surprises me a little bit. Sure, sure, I'm a total homebody, but I don't usually get homesick. Does that make sense?

Anyway. Tomorrow night's gathering at the bar with my old work BFF has been canceled due to lack of fundage. Boo. We'll try again in a week or two. After our tax refunds kick in. Which reminds me that I really need to send that paperwork back to my tax guy. The refund will never get here if I don't send it off.

Although the bar-fun has been canceled, I do have an exciting day planned of sitting at my sister's house while she gets her new flooring installed. Whatever shall I do with myself? Read, perhaps? Or write? I should probably write. It turns out those stories really don't write themselves. I mean, sometimes they do. In the sense that the plot flows from my head like water, but they don't actually WRITE-write themselves.

I'm sure everybody's clear on what I'm saying.

Okay. I totally have things to do. Not really. I'm still going to finish up here.
Later.

Oh.Em.Gee.

Book #17 - The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #5) by Rick Riordan - I seriously loved this series. It ended well. It has my boy READING! It was just likable and fun. The time the Great Prophecy predicted is upon them and Percy and his Camp Half-Blood buddies have to find a traitor in their midst, fight some nasty Titans and save all of Western Civilization. The bulk of this book is the battle in New York and it moved very well. There was a lot of attention paid to the detail of the skirmishes and Rick Riordan doesn't shy away from hurting (and sometimes killing) good guys. Yes, I did see a few of the plot points coming from a mile away but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the book. As an aside, I like how the Mist is used to obscure the sight of the mortals. Something about the mortals making up "theories" to make the things they don't understand understandable hits my funny bone. Wasn't that the whole idea behind Greek mythology? Good job all around, I say! I'm a little sad it's over now.

Last Saturday, my mom and I went to have our taxes done (we have them done together because we both claim half the interest on the house, blah, blah, blah) and I originally thought I'd be owing about $1700. Well, the final figures arrived today and I'm (more or less) breaking even. I'm getting a refund from Federal but I owe the state. I think I'm ending up with about $40. Unfortunately, I still owe the guy who prepared the forms so I'm ending up a little in the red, but it's much better than owing what I thought I was going to owe. *whew*

Tomorrow I have (HAVE) to take Cole to buy the last of the things he needs for his week away at Science Camp. He leaves on Monday, so it's crunch time. I think I only really need to get him flip flops (for the showers) and a jacket. The jacket might be difficult. I mean, the bathing suits are already out at Target. That means that the jackets are GONE! No worries, guys, I'll figure it out. I always do.

I mentioned a few days ago that I was giving Harper's Island a try. I've watched 6 episodes and I really like it but I think I missed some of the stuff that happened in the first two or three eps. People are dead that I didn't realize are dead. WTF?!?!? I'm seriously tempted to go back and re-watch from the beginning before going any farther. I also like how contained the series is. Going into it knowing there were only going to be 13 episodes means that everything is happening fast and furious. It's AWESOME!

I'm off. I have more books to read to catch up to oddmonster. Zing!
Later.