Call off the search dogs, I’m back.

First of all, the winner of my contest was lisaguertin, so please drop me an email with your email and I’ll…um…email you your copy of Cross Country Chaos. *LOL*

Home improvement hell. Well, I’m stuck slap dab in the middle of it right now. I still have one room to finish laying down the allure flooring, I just finished painting our bedroom (well, almost finished, still have to finish the trim work, ugh, dark chocolate brown over white trim, not fun), I have to paint the hallway (long) and great room/kitchen. I also have to replace the window treatments in those rooms (except for our bedroom, which is already done).

Admittedly, our bedroom, with the new flooring, new blinds, and new paint, looks really neat. I need to go through and declutter it and tidy it up, but it’s like having a whole new room. Especially since we reversed the layout, moving the bed and TV 180 degrees from where they were.

Can you tell I received a quarterly royalty check? *LOL* I also paid our property taxes, which came in the day before my check. I asked my husband if we could frame the receipt since it was the first time EVER we didn’t wait until the absolute very last day in March to pay them. He sort of laughed but I think he thought I was kidding. (I wasn’t. *LOL*)

Yeah, who says the Universe doesn’t have a sense of humor? Literally the day before my royalty check hits my bank, I get my property tax statement and my flood insurance renewal notice. *hanging and shaking head* At least I got hubby’s car fixed ($600+ later), which I’d been promising him we’d do after I got paid. Nearly a grand dropped at Home Depot. Oooh, and another exciting expenditure…I set up our mortgage to pay automatically, had to pay a month in advance for the overlap on that.

Oooh. Yeah, I know, the glamorous life of a writer, right? *LOL*

So what sort of “fun” stuff did I buy? I did get a new wireless keyboard. Does that count? *LOL*

I know. I’m so friggin’ boring. Hey, I’m just happy to be getting my house painted, seriously. In the almost thirteen years we’ve lived here, the only rooms that have ever been painted are my son’s room, and both bathrooms. That’s it. It’s a slow and ongoing process now to get everything done. I want to upgrade our decrepit A/C system, but that needs to wait until next quarter. I also want to get our roof done, but I need to get estimates on that and find out how much it will be and then make sure I have that done when it’s not rainy season. *LOL*

Meanwhile, I’m in the middle of edits for “Safe Harbor,” which will be my next Siren-BookStrand release. I’ve decided I just don’t have time to do Nano this year. *sigh* Ironically, I’m too busy writing (among other things) to do it. I’ve got four projects I need to get turned in that were special invites (one’s almost done) and there just isn’t enough time in the day for it all. Not that I’m complaining, believe me.

And hubby is already ramping up for his Christmas light extravaganza.

No, I’m not exaggerating. He really does go all out. We’re upgrading our exterior lights to the LEDs, so hopefully my light bill won’t be so horrendous this year. Ugh.