Today is the hubster’s 42nd birthday. Birthday Hapday, dude! In honor of his b-day I let him choose what we would do today. I was hoping he would opt for sleeping in late, taking a long nap and going to bed early, but he didn’t. He chose to go to some of our favorite museums in downtown Indianapolis.


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We went to the Civil War museum at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Monument Circle. Although we have been to the Monument Circle monument, gift shop and observation tower, we had never been to the Civil War museum located in the basement of the monument. What a great museum. And what a great price; free. They had some really cool artifacts too.


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Afterwards we went to a hotdog place we have been wanting to try, King David Dogs. That’s were it got scary. After we ordered a Chicago dog and a chili cheese dog, I was shot. Honest, I was shot right in the chest, there in the restaurant! How it happened was I pushed on the ketchup dispenser to put some ketchup in a small plastic cup. The hubster and I were sharing a small fry. All of a sudden the ketchup shot out and spewed all over the front of my brand new lime green sweater. There was even ketchup on the sleeve. The shot was so violent that it got the back of my hubby’s leg, from knee to ankle and he was standing five feet away at the cash register! I immediacy screamed. The owner and two co-workers napped their attention in my direction. I hollered “Oh my God, I’ve been shot!” It was so bad (I know, “How bad as it?”) that I had to go in the bathroom and take my sweater off, and wash it in the sink. It was similar to someone squirting you with a large honking super-sized bottle of ketchup. It was a hell of a lot of ketchup, people! It seems what had happened was the ketchup thingy was newly filled and has a history of getting jammed so when I pushed on the handle it suddenly, an rapidly unjammed – all over me! For my injuries the owner gave us free tater tots and fries. I was sort of hoping for free hotdogs as well, but I guess he figured I merely needed something to sop up all that ketchup with, such as fried and tater tots. Fortunately the ketchup washed out and all was well.

After that lunch and a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed for the Indiana War Museum. Are you seeing a theme here? Yeah, we are war mongers form way back. Not really, but we are avid historians. Well someone has to do it, you know. Anyhoo, we spent the remainder of the day touring the War Museum, which I must say is one of the nicer war museums I have been to. If you are ever in Indianapolis you should check it out. And again, the price was great; free.

In between the war museum's we dropped by the City Market and walked around a bit. I was a little shocked to see the hoardes of policemen wandering the area, until the hubster mentioned the City County building (aka police station and jail) were directly across the street.

The hubster’s amazing, exciting birthday isn’t over yet. We are just at home, taking a break before we continue the festivities. Dinner and a movie are in the works for this evening, among other things. I’m even letting the hub-miester pick both dinner venue and the choice of movie. Hey, I’m all heart, but you knew that, didn’t you?!

This is sooooo fun. Give it a try, whether on your Facebook page, Myspace, blog or even on the wall at the gas station. And it’s easy peasy. Drop me a line or leave a comment and let me know your band’s name and your album cover.
Enjoy!


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What would your own album look like if you were in a band? Follow the directions below and find out.

Here are the rules:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to FaceBook with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and tag it with the friends that you want to join in.


My bands name was - Valery Larbaud
My album name is - You've got to bash in minds
If you ask me, I think it’s going to go platinum!

Hoo boy, have I been busy lately. My vampire novel has taken on a life of it’s own and is nearing completion. Only, somehow it’s veered from being merely a paranormal romance with vampires and has turned into a full fledged urban fantasy with a whole cast of paranormal beings. My heroine, Frannie, is sucking face with the vampire that turned her when all of a sudden a lycan (werewolf) comes in. Later, she meets the head of the North American sector of paranormal beings, who just so happens to be a demon. A few days later, when she is at a restaurant with her obligatory gay, she is accosted by a zombie in the bathroom. I’ve even managed to add in a moujik and a few undine. Yes, it would seem that the book has taken on a life of it’s own. I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing that book for the last month. I am determined to have it completed by the end of February. It’s a real possibility that I may make the deadline. Odd since we all know how bad I am with deadlines and good I am with procrastination.



I did take a break from writing on Valentines Day. The hubster surprised me with a lovely vase full of long stemmed red roses, a large box of yummy chocolates and a cute card. I gave him the most romantic gift you could imagine – a bottle of Knob Creek bourbon with a note on it that said “nothing says I love you like a bottle of booze.” Did I mention spending my days writing gives me a warped sense of humor? I did spring for a card and a small box of gourmet chocolates so I’m not all bad. After I made my hunny-bunny a lovely, romantic breakfast of Belgium waffles (made with my super duper fancy professional waffle maker) topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, paired with crispy bacon (which I made him cook), we went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. We had a lovely day there and I was yelled at only once this time. Yes, I am that moron that always forgets to turn their flash off when they take a picture. I felt really, really bad about it, especially since it was my absolute favorite piece. As you can see in the picture below, my flash is reflecting off the middle panel. This piece was done in the early 1300’s. It is part of a magnificent collection of artwork of the same era. Don’t get me started on art though, I’ll never shut up. That’s one of the many awesome things about living in a large city. The small town I grew up in, Salisbury MD, was 1-1/2 hours away from an art museum. In fact, the closest one was in Washington DC. And when you are stuck on a peninsula, cut off from the rest of civilization, you just don’t make the time to tour places like DC as often as you would have liked. But that’s another story.


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That damned groundhog certainly wasn’t off his mark when he predicted six more weeks of winter. We are expecting 3 to 6 inches of snow in the overnight hours. I am so bummed because I really need sunshine. Time to plan a trip if you ask me. Oh, that’s right, there may already be one planned. I’m closed lipped on it though, so don’t ask. Lets just say sunshine, crawfish and BBQ will be involved. But like I said, I’m not saying.

Speaking of trips though, it is surreal to think of this time last year. The hubster was packing to move to Salisbury to start his new job and I was staying here, alone, trying to sell our house. Our doggie was still alive, although ridden with cancer. My ex-husband was still alive and a thorn in my side. We were excited about the new adventure our lives were about to take (boy were we stupid). We were on top of the world. Remember the earthquake we had when he was gone? I bet Ernestine remembers that one, having experienced it herself. Yup, things were very much different. What a difference a year makes.

How is it I ended up with a flu bug when I had a flu shot this year? Why waste the co-pay if I am going to get the flu anyway. Think I could get a refund of my co-pay since the flu shot obviously didn't work?

I would blame this on Friday the 13th, however it hit yesterday afternoon, suddenly and violently.

Okay, second wind is spent. I'm headed back to the couch. Just talk amongst yourselves until I return.

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I’ve not only been busy writing lately, I’ve also been busy crafting jewelry. This is where you come in. I need you opinions, please. I am pasting a few pictures of some of my jewelry designs and I was hoping you could tell me what you think. Either leave a comment or drop me a line via email.


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Do you think they look good enough that someone might buy them?

Which ones do you like the best?

If they do, would you sell them on eBay or Etsy or somewhere else?

How much would you charge for a pair of earrings?

How much would you charge for the glass necklace?

Is that enough questions for you or would you like some more?

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The sun decided to come out and play this week. How incredibly odd to have 12 inches of snow (or more) on the ground on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon to be able to see the bare ground again. Today it is positively balmy at 60-something degrees. I have no false hopes, however. Spring has not sprung. Winter is just giving us a cruel tease and will come back with a vengeance very soon.


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Perhaps the false spring is what urged my husband to make the most incrediably awesome cupcakes ever on Saturday evening. They were to die for. And I am talking To.Die.For. people! If you want the recipe buy my book and look on page 116 for the coconut cupcake recipe and page 130 for the frosting recipe. Any cupcake recipe that calls for 3 sticks of butter and 6 eggs has got to be good. Take my advice though, half the recipe or you will be eating cupcakes all week long and then some. If you don’t have my cookbook and would like the recipe, just drop me an email and I will shoot the recipe off to you.

I am going on a road trip next week. I am going to Pennsylvania and find that rotten groundhog that saw his shadow and he is mincemeat when I get through with him. Mincemeat I tell you! Yes, suffice it to say, it’s bloody cold here! Just a mere minus one this morning when I drove Jas to school.


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It has been so cold my poor fingers have been freezing to the laptop’s keyboard. You would think it would be the opposite since I am smoking up the laptop. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Allow me to explain. My fingers have been doing the laptop dance like crazy for the last month as I race towards the finish line with my smoking hot paranormal romance. You may remember at first it was a vampire romance. Well a week ago I had a brainstorm and now there is both a demon and a lycan in my novel. I am so stoked! Now I can hardly wait to finish it because I have a brilliant idea for a follow-up novel. So the sooner I finish this novel the sooner I start the next.


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Other recent activities have been jewelry making. Jasmine is getting into the act also. In fact, she made herself the cutest watch last night with swavorski crystals. I will have to take a picture of all my swavorski crystal jewelry components I have. You will die! I have about $3,000 worth. Yes, it was one fabulous sale! I could make jewelry every day for a year and still not run out. I feel like a miser hoarding his money as I sit in my crafting room running my fingers through all of my shiny swavorski crystals and charms. Shiny…shiny…me likey.


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Nothing else going on worth mentioning really unless you really want to hear about the EMG I am having tomorrow morning. That is where they stick tons of tiny little needles in your legs and feet, and then run electrical current though them to see if you have nerve damage. I had one two years ago and they determined I did have nerve damage. I guess they want to make sure I still have that irreversible nerve damage. Either that or my doctor wants to go on vacation again and need some extra money.

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All I'll say is sometimes a snow day is not a good thing to wish for! Twelve inches is a little in excess when you would have been happy with six.


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If you do get a snow day, with massive quantities of snow, it's best to put the man to work. Hurray for the man!


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The little doggie is glad the man got to work and shoveled paths in the snow, because it's a hard life when you can't squat to pee because the snow is taller than your patooty.