USA Today Bestselling Author
Wasn’t exactly how I intended to spend yesterday. I spent Saturday at a book street fair with the Bard and friends, and when we went back to his house late Saturday night we kept hearing this weird electric hum periodically. Wasn’t the AC, and we couldn’t figure it out.
Remember the saga from December when my dad had to replace my sixty-year-old toilet and a section of flooring? Since then, my dining room table has been buried under the mountain of (metaphorical) crap that usually resides on the shelving unit that straddles my toilet because I had to replace the flooring. Problem. Fibromyalgia and … Read More
Apparently there will be a part 3… Last night, at the weekly Wednesday dinner out with my parents and a variety of other people (the roster fluctuates depending on who’s there) Hubby and I were sitting at one end with my mom and grand-aunt, and my dad and others were at the far end, so … Read More
(Just in case you thought an author’s life was glamorous…NOT.) Nothing like waking up on a MONDAY before you’ve even finished your first cup of coffee, no less, to realize your house’s ONLY toilet is LEAKING. Oh, from the BOTTOM. And it’s a sixty+ year-old WOOD-FRAME house. Yeeeeah. And yes, it’s the original toilet. Worse, … Read More
I say hopefully because my cats can be creative. And technically it’s not a “table,” it’s a plastic tub, but you get the point. This is Sheldon’s inside home, and hopefully will prevent Grimmy the wonder thief from stealing Sheldon’s greens. (No, he doesn’t eat them. He just plays with them. Because he’s an asshole … Read More
This project only took me, oh, a friggin’ year and a HALF to get done. I bought the Jack Daniel’s half-barrel at Dom Home Depot and there it sat on my carport because I was too busy to get it done. Well, it’s done. You start with a half of a wooden barrel and drill … Read More
This is DIY in the sense that I assembled it myself. I ordered this TV console from Overstock.com and it arrived Wednesday morning. (I was hoping it’d get here Thursday because I wasn’t ready for it, but oh, well.) What I had for a TV stand was, again, left over from my grandparents. Two of … Read More
As I plan for a future kitchen remodel, there was one small but necessary DIY project that couldn’t wait any longer. The kitchen windows were adorned with a disgustingly grimy and non-functioning cheap blind, which my grandfather had installed years ago. Despite my busy schedule, I hadn’t found the time to address this eyesore until … Read More
This is absurdly…absurd. I picked up two of the Ikea Sindal floor mats for $4.99 each at the Tampa Ikea store. As you can see from the comparison, Grimmy is standing on the new mat, upon which I’ve laid an EXPENSIVE store-bought cat-scratch mat. Which is less than HALF the size, and about two-thirds MORE … Read More
I’ve been buried in home improvement hell for a while now. I decided while Hubby was gone I was going to paint and re-floor the living room. Then I busted my knee, and a dear friend of ours died, and my steam has sort of…fizzled. But at least one third of my living room looks … Read More
Time for another mash-up of things I’ve gleaned from the interwebs (other than pictures of cats). Great article at the Writer Beware blog about when to refuse a contract (complete with reference links): http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2012/11/guest-blog-post-mustering-courage-to.html A couple of great articles from LiveScience about dreaming here http://www.livescience.com/24707-dreams-sleep-science.html and here http://www.livescience.com/17290-facts-dreams-nightmares.html. Don’t be drinking anything (you have been warned) when you read … Read More
Grab some popcorn, this one will take a while. With Hubby not feeling good the past few days, I’ve taken up the slack in the daily routines. I also finally got around to reorganizing the bedroom. No, it’s not perfect, and far from “done,” but at least my eye doesn’t twitch in a bad way … Read More
I know I have my Facebook followers’ attention after the short status update I posted earlier, so here’s the longer version. The plan Hubby and I had today was to go out to eat this evening, but early. We’ve sort of turned Tuesday night into our “date night,” and since he’s retired, we can go … Read More
Hubby and I were talking the other night. He asked me if I wanted to stay here in this house (the house I inherited from my grandparents) permanently. After thinking about it, I had to say yes, I did. Don’t get me wrong, I love our house. I love where it is. I live in … Read More
Well, I got the bright idea that we should try to waterproof the shower here. You know, to, oh, say, make it actually easy to bathe. (Keep in mind this is a sixty year-old house I inherited from my grandparents.) All my life I’ve taken sit-down showers or tub baths in this bathroom, ever since … Read More