Nothing else matters ...

Today is my wee beastie's birthday. He's 12. TWELVE! I adore my kid to pieces but there are times when he totally gets a WTF? face from me. One with a superciliously raised eyebrow. Usually it has to do with when he wants food. Cole, who is nearly as tall as me and wears bigger shoes, always asks me to go downstairs with him to get something to eat. I don't have to get him the actual food, mind you, I just have to go downstairs with him. Why? Why? WHY?!?!

Despite that, I still love the little brat. I probably won't sell him back to the gypsies or anything. Unless, you know, they offered a really good price. And threw in free fortune telling for life. And, really, what are the odds of that?

Happy Birthday, Cole. I love you, darlin'. Even with all your weirdness and your endless video game playing and the way you always want to watch TV in my room when I'm trying to write.

The last few years we've made it a tradition to go to the movies on his birthday. He really wanted to see Transformers 3 last night so we caught the 7:30 show. For the record, I liked the movie. I thought it was a lot stronger than the 2nd movie. The only thing that really, really, reallyreallyreally bugged me was that the Victoria's Secret chick was wearing a white jacket through the entire climactic battle scene and she somehow came out of it looking spotlessly gorgeous. Really? Sam was covered in grime and soot and you managed to look perfectly put together? I can accept a lot of things - giant sentient robots who come to earth and open portals to other worlds, that only hot guys are in the military, that Sam got 2 hot chicks over the course of the series - but I can't accept that anyone could be fleeing though a ravaged city without being filthy by the end. Michael Bay, you have disappointed me.

I have some bookish stuff. For real.
Book #268 - Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander #4) by Karen Marie Moning - There was, like, 2 way time travel in this one. Kinda neat!
Teaser Tuesday (07/05/11) - Sexy assassins and time-traveling Highlanders. Can you tell which one I've already finished?
By the Numbers...the first half of 2011 - A breakdown of where I stand on the various reading challenges I signed up for. I had a fun time writing this one up. Lots of numbers. Lots and lots of numbers.

Okay. I'm done.
See ya'll later.

I've had a crazy insane bizarre night and early morning.

My computer picked up a virus last night which led to me freaking out, doing something stupid and spending hours afterward working on fixing it. Seriously, being without a computer is just about the weirdest thing ever. Normally I'd Google the crap out of the pop-ups I was getting to figure out what's going on. Without a computer and internet access I CAN'T GOOGLE ANYTHING. It was terrible, horrible, awful. I almost cried. Not really. But I was reaching maximum entropy by the time I got everything straightened out.

I do wish I was a little more computer savvy. I can do all the basic stuff and I can usually figure out what I need to do to fix the little things but when it comes to major troubleshooting I start worrying that I'm going to shut down something critical and be stuck with a dead carcass of a computer and no way to resurrect it from the great beyond.

Anyway. I ended up running 3 different anti-virus/anti-spyware programs over the course of my "fixing" and one of them looks like it caught the problem and blasted that motherfucker into oblivion. I hope. Of course, I might be totally wrong and I'm going to get home tonight to a fried computer and a lot of weeping.

In other much happier news: Today Ryan turns ONE! Yay for the little booger! I'm missing his party due to work but I've been assured that the family will make sure some of the delicious food is put aside for me. THEY BETTER BE TELLING ME THE TRUTH! It won't be pretty if they're lying.

Now onto the bookish stuff:
Book #170 - Past Midnight (Past Midnight #1) by Mara Purnhagen - It's amazing how much more sense a series makes when you start with book #1. Seriously.
Book #171 - Laid Bare (Brown Siblings 31) by Lauren Dane - This book is smoking hot. SMOKING! Plus, I got a really nice twitter message form Lauren Dane thanking me for my review. AWESOME!

It's been so busy at work today that I haven't had time to even pull my book out of my bag. Can you believe that? I bitch about it when it's slow but I think I much prefer that lazy pace to people coming in to talk to me. Arrgh!

My one goal today is to write up the review on the book I finished on Monday. I can't believe I've let it sit so long without writing it yet. I feel like I'm failing at something here. Something huge and epic and other really big stuff. But not really. Because, you know, as much as I love writing up reviews and being all recommendation-y with books I love, I can't take myself too seriously or my brain will hurt. So yeah. I have this book sitting here waiting for me to review it. It's cool.

Okay. Time to get back to work.
Later.

Oh, bangaboomerang, I wanted to wish you a happy belated birthday! I'm sorry I'm late. Forgive me?

It's Christmas Eve and Cole's playing his video games while I wander aimlessly around the web looking for something to keep me awake. What? I didn't get my nap today. It was tragic.

The fam went to Amber and Phil's for dinner. We honestly didn't do much. I had a drink. We played with the baby. We ate. We came home. That's the most unexciting thing to write ever. Boring.

Anyway. One last thing before I drag Cole in here to watch a movie with me.
Book #281 - Bloodfever (Fever #2) by Karen Marie Moning - Holy Hannah! This is a good series.

And now I'm done.
Sleep well. Keep an eye out for that red-clad guy who likes to sneak into houses!
Later!

The epic weekend in San Francisco has come to an end. I was hungover as all get today which made driving home pretty sucktastic. In fact, I'd wager that I was still drunk this morning when I woke up...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

It's my best friend malkovich03's birthday tomorrow. She's awesome, btw. Absolutely one of the most outstanding people ever. EVER! She's the reason I sat down and wrote novel #1 earlier this year. She pushed and pushed and pushed in the way that awesome best friends do and suddenly I was writing.

Anyway. Mal wanted to have dinner in San Francisco. So we did. It was an Italian place and the food was good. From what I remember. See, Mal ordered a bottle of wine and we split it. Have you ever tried twirling fettuccine when you're seriously tipsy? IT CAN'T BE DONE!

After dinner we went to a bar. It was super crowded. I didn't order a drink. Then most of our group went home and the four of us left went to another bar. Actually, it was just three of us. Mal went back to the hotel for a bit and joined us later.

This would be the point in the evening where my drinking downfall began. I had something with coffee, kahlua and tequila in it. What was I thinking there? I don't know. And then the Tropical Storms began. I think I had 3. Mal said 4. But since she missed the beginning of the bar part, I don't know how accurate her counting was. Anyway. We moved to the bar next door and met our waitress from the first bar. That wasn't planned. Some chick had to pound on the bathroom door to roust the three or four girls in there out so the rest of us could actually pee. That was kinda awesome. Mal made me dance with some guy. 2 o'clock rolled around. We left.

At this point I was feeling pretty good. Not falling down drunk, but definitely blurred enough that I wasn't feeling any pain. Mal decided that she wanted to go to Denny's nearly as soon as we got to our room. It rained on us as we walked over. I fell asleep on Mal's friend. I woke up and they were ready to go. *blink, blink* Yes, I did say "fell asleep".

It was 4-ish by the time we got back to the room. There was some sleeping. And by some, I mean very little because I woke up at 7:30. Now that's just wrong. That's when I realized that I was still drunk from the night before. Dude. I had to sleep in the car while Mal and her friend (we dropped Mal's husband off at the Niners game) had lunch. I felt better after sleeping a little.

Now I'm home. I've showered again, slept a little more and eaten actual food. *thumbs up*

I'm going to chalk this entire weekend up in the WIN column. I figured it was a celebration for both Mal's birthday and for me FINALLY hitting my NaNo goal after years of trying.

Anyway. Book stuff.
My reread of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy continues - Shadow Kiss.
On My Wishlist (week 11)
In My Mailbox
30 days of books... Day 69
30 days of books... Day 70

Okay. I'm done now.
Later.

I had a really fun birthday. Today I slept in (OMG! DID YOU HEAR THAT?!?!), ate, had cake, opened presents and did all the other things that one generally does on their birthday.

But yesterday, oh yesterday. First off, I was carted off to San Francisco to see Cherie Priest at Borderlands. I'd never been to a book signing before and it was ... neat. I think there were around 30 people there so it felt small and intimate. I got 5 of my personal books singed and 2 more that I'm going to give away on my book blog. Cherie was a total sweetheart and took pictures with me while signing my pile of books. Pictorial proof:

I have other pictures but most of them were taken while she was signing so her head was down. I actually got out of line and put myself, Eric and Mal at the end of the line so that I had a few extra minutes to talk to her. It was just awesomely fun.

As a bonus, Borderlands is a used bookstore that specializes in Horror, Sci-fi and Fantasy books only. It was like walking into a store dedicated to my childhood.

After the signing we went to the bar where Mal's husband was hanging out watching teh Giants game. I got the world's biggest drink and proceeded to get my buzz on. Unintentionally, mind you. I really thought it was going to be a normal sized drink, not something big enough to pull stray planetary bodies into it's orbit. Then we went to dinner at a tiny, little seafood place where I discovered that I don't like raw oysters (they tasted like I was licking the beach. A sandy, dirty, cesspool of humanity beach. Yuck). We went to a little Italian coffee shop after and I had a delicious piece of cake while Mal and her husband sucked down espresso.

Then I came home and sat for a while eyeballing my haul of signed Cherie Priest books while I giggled to myself. It was pretty awesome.

So, that was my birthday. *fist pump*

And now onto the bookish stuff...
30 days of books... Day 35 - Free Kindle books make me smile.
In My Mailbox - Lots of books. Lots and lots of books. Love!

Okay. I'm done.
Later.

Oh, look! It's almost that time again! You know, that time where I joyfully celebrate my birthday for at least a week and remind you endlessly to shop early and shop often. Yeah, that time.

Things I've learned about my birthday celebration in San Francisco since yesterday: I'm getting picked up at 2 and I can wear jeans if I so desire. O_o < lj user="malkovich03"> is really not giving me a lot of work with here. On the other hand, at least I have a departure time. Seriously, Mal is pretty awesome. She's even arranged pick-up and drop-off for me since I don't want to drive in SF. At least, I assume she'll be dropping me off. I don't know. Maybe I'm being left in San Francisco to find my own way home.

That would definitely make it an unforgettable birthday. Kinda like the birthday of '89. Actually, that birthday really sucked. I hope it doesn't turn out like that. Also, my birthday 2 years ago wasn't fun because we were freaking moving that day and it was hot and sweaty. Blech. Still, I ended up with a house out of that, so I guess complaining isn't going to get me anywhere.

Which reminds me: Tomorrow is the official 2 year anniversary of buying my house. That's kinda cool. Even cooler? I quit my soul-sucking bank job a year and a half ago. I wrote a novel. I'm planning out novel #2 and will be starting it in a few weeks.

That stuff? Is cool.

Okay. Books. Books. Books.
Book #217 - Shadow Bound (Shadow #1) by Erin Kellison - A free Kindle read that was pretty darn good. After getting through the flowery prose at the beginning, that is.

30 days of books... Day 33 - Underwater.Archeologist. Sweet!
Book Blogger Hop - Do you give up on books that you can't get into?

I have one more review to write tonight and I have to get tomorrow's wishlist post together so I can post it in the morning.

I think I'm done now. Wish me lots of fruity alcoholic drinks and a hot werewolf or two. You know, just in case I don't get back here before heading out on my birthday extravaganza.
Later.

Cole has a book report due on Friday and there's no way he's going to be able to get the book he's doing it on read between now and then. Part of this is my fault because I talked him into the book and I think it's a little more than his poor brain can handle. The book? The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.

First off, in defense of my poor mothering skills, I haven't read that book in years and I had truly forgotten how much swearing and such there was in it. Until Cole asked me what "fucking rectal palp" meant, that is. Umm... What? He didn't actually ask me, mind you, but he pointed it out on the page and asked me to define it. *face palm*

So, I'm trying to figure out how to handle this. If it was a book that I thought he simply wasn't applying himself to finish I'd probably just let him deal with the fallout but the poor kid has been reading every night and he's only halfway through the book. I really feel guilty about this. I have a tendency to forget that most people can't read 2 or 3 books a day.

I know this is probably a big, flashing neon sign of what not to do in the parenting handbook but I think I'm going to outline the rest of the book for him and help him with the book report. I've already started him on a new book, one that doesn't involve the word "fuck" in any way, shape or form. Amazingly, he's about 15 pages into it. This particular book would be roughly a two hour book for me, so I figure he'll be able to finish it within the week and get a good start on his NEXT book report without any help from me.

Arrgh. I totally fail at this mommy thing.

Okay. Stuff that also involves books, but in a very different way.
Book #208 - Mistress to the Beast by Eve Vaughn - Honestly, I didn't care for it. I just ... no.

30 days of books... Day 28 - Dragons! And Napoleon! Boo-yah!
In My Mailbox - An embarrassment of riches. Seriously. If you're looking for free e-book downloads, look no further!
100 Post Round-Up - I've been blogging at Reading the Paranormal for 38 days and I've posted 100 entries. I've also been accepted as a guest blogger (as needed) at a well-established site and picked up a ton of new authors that I really enjoy. Not bad for 5 weeks worth of blogging.

Before I sign off for the night...
Happy Birthday to my oldest and youngest sisters, Robin and Heather!
12 years apart, same birthday. Coolness.

Alright! I'm out.
Later.

I am officially sick of the heat. This shouldn't be a revelation, really, since I much prefer the cooler weather to the hot, but ... dammit, I've had enough. I might be the only person who lives in California who doesn't like summer, but there you have it. Summer, blech. Heat, blah. Give me rainy days and warm sweaters over sticky heat any day. Well, except when you go into two or three weeks straight of rain, then I complain about that. But that's neither here nor there.

Anyway. I finished a book.
Book #194 - Dreadnought (The Clockwork Century #3) by Cherie Priest - My love is boundless. Never ending. Epic in nature. And that's before the Zombies make an appearance.
30 days of books... Day 18 - I don't even know why I own this book.
Booking through Thursday - Jumping the Shark - When do you stop reading a series?

You know, my sister's birthday is in a little more than a week. I should probably buy her something. Because, you know, if I don't, my birthday's the week after and she'll retaliate by not getting me anything. Horrors!

Ooh! And since it's almost officially October I can start work on my Halloween decorating. I have ideas. Dark, skeleton filled ideas.

I'm done now.
Later.

It's a crazy birthday day!
Happy Birthday, Hailey Bug!
And Happy Birthday to my sister Tracy!
And Happy Birthday to oddmonster!

I did not get spit up on today. You might be thinking that this isn't something that one needs to announce but you'd be wrong. Baby Ryan gets so excited when he sees me that he spontaneously barfs on me. Every time. Instead, he drooled massive quantities of slime on me and grinned like a little loon.

Cute kid.

You know, taking three showers yesterday might not have been the best idea ever because I'm really, really itchy today. See? There is such thing as too much of a good thing. That was a poorly constructed sentence. I apologize.

Randomly, I think Ruby is a cyborg. Here's my proof.

She's like a doggy version of the Terminator! She's come from the future and she's looking to lick you to death! The Rubinator!
CRAP! That picture is too small. Click on it and see the bigger one and then everything I wrote there will make sense. In theory.

I was dreaming again during my nap and it was mondo bizarre but then I was rudely awakened and my anger over being jerked out of my nap made me forget it. However, my anger was them supplanted with pleasure at the spaghetti and garlic bread that Hailey chose for her birthday dinner. Yes, we celebrate birthdays for an entire freaking week in our household. Doesn't everyone?

I'm out, kiddos.
I have things to do! Very important things that involve werewolf mating habits and ... no, that's it. Sorry.
Later.

My sister is over getting ready for Hailey's birthday party. My sister's good at planning these sort of things for the most part but every once in a while something like this happens:

Sis (looking at the leftover plastic cups from Cole's party, which is a mostly full package. Maybe 5 are missing from it.): Is this all we have?

Me: Yes. Why?

Sis: Weeelllllll ...

Me: You don't think it will be enough?

Sis: Well, we have 25-30 people coming and they're all going to want drinks plus we're having the root beer floats later and we'll need cups for that ...

Me: I think it'll be fine.

Sis: *looks doubtful*

Me: *thinking* You could have gone out and bought some of your own instead of mooching off the ones I bought. Hmmph. */thinking*

Me: *what I actually said* It'll be fine.

______________

Then there was the table incident:

Sis: We should have borrowed Amber's fold-up banquet table to put the food on.

Mom: I thought of that but then I figured we didn't need it.

Sis: *inarticulate noise which might have been rage but probably wasn't*

Mom: Well, you can always go over to Amb's house and pick it up.

Sis: *another inarticulate noise*

Mom: Nevermind! I'll go get it!

Sis: I'll do it! I didn't say I wouldn't!

Mom: *inarticulate noise of possible rage that probably isn't*

_______________

Nothing says love like these family bonding moments!