Birthday and Christmas Highlights

I've been meaning to post ever since Friday, but I've been held hostage. By, yes, Angry Birds.

My big birthday gift was an iPod Touch to replace the iPod that was stolen in NY in June and so my husband could have his iPod back. I love the damned thing so much. I keep going back and forth between e-mail and Twitter and Facebook and the Patriots app and Angry Birds. I spent much of Christmas day troubleshooting my in-laws wireless network so we could all connect to it. (And much of the rest of it getting my father-in-law started with the Kindle he didn't want. He likes it, though!)

I did go get adjusted on Friday, because my back was worse when I woke up. It steadily got better until yesterday, and the way I was sitting or the jumping around during Catchphrase. I was teamed with Number Two and my nephew, both of whom preferred the Sports category, and my MIL, who excelled at the Entertainment stuff. We kicked butt in the number of words/phrases we guessed, but the other team (my husband, his sister, his father, and Number One) would drag out their clues/guesses so long that inevitably, we got the buzzer just before it buzzed and never had time to do one more. It was raucous fun.

My big present for Christmas was a new widescreen monitor. I f'd up my computer so I haven't loaded the Windows 7 I bought today, but I can't wait to do that so I can take full advantage of all the wide goodness.

Watched Doctor Who last night, and it was a decent enough Christmas special. It served mainly to make me long for the series to come back already. I'm tempted to go back and rewatch it all, because I have the Netflix app. :)

Some other highlights from Christmas:

Number One got a guitar, and she has barely stopped playing. She's teaching herself "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol and her fingers are purple. She also loves her gift from her sister, which is a soccer ball signed by Abby Wombach. It was an item in a silent auction at her school, and she didn't even think twice, just instantly bid $100 and chewed her nails the rest of the night hoping no one would outbid her.

The Patriots won on Christmas Eve. That was good, especially when they were down 17-0 at halftime. Wes Welker is on Twitter now, and yes, that's a major reason I couldn't put the iPod down on my birthday.

Number One also put together a special present for us all. We had to open her gift from us last. Each of us got a piece of a puzzle, that put together looked like this:

I bet no one else got this gift in 2011! :)

So what was your best gift or best part of the holiday this year?

Yay, December!

Can I tell you how happy I am that it's December?

There's no real reason. Well, okay, there is. But even if there wasn't, December would still be one of my favorite months, along with May and October. (My least favorites are March and November, with April tagging along with them and February maybe joining the group periodically.) I just like those months, the way you like a certain pillow or tree or painting.

Of course, I'm predisposed to December because it holds my birthday as well as Christmas. I don't care if I get any presents, I just love not having to do any chores on my birthday. I get to take the day off from work this year, and I'll sleep in, get a nice breakfast made for me, watch some TV and read and maybe go to a movie and out to dinner. It's always awesome, even the year my husband was sick in bed all day and I was recovering from a mega-migraine from the day before. I just sat in a chair and read all day, napping a little in the late afternoon.

I also love December because I feel like big things are going to happen. Sometimes they do, like a book contract or babies being born. Sometimes big things that aren't good happen, like my mother's terminal cancer diagnosis or a rejection from a publisher I was hopeful about. But it's not really about what will or will not happen, it's about the anticipation of it.

That's what I'm going to focus on. :)

Suck It, Apple!

So you all know about my iPod being stolen, right? And how much I miss it?

I promise, this is the last time I'll post about this! :)

So seven or so years ago, I guess, my husband bought me an iPod photo for my birthday. In 2007ish, the battery died. No Apple stores around here, so I sent it in for a new battery for around $63. They don't actually install a new battery and send it back, they send you a refurbished unit. Which is all nice and shiny and unscratched and everything, but the battery failed again 6 months later, which totally pissed me off.

What pissed me off more was that Apple wouldn't just replace the battery again, because of the icon I was getting. It was the same icon as before, but it could indicate hard drive failure, so they would charge me over $300. Frak that, I could get a new iPod classic for $189. So I did.

And, as you know, it got stolen last week. I hope Vicki is enjoying Pottercast and Jason Manns. Bi***.

Anyway!

I was also pissed at Apple because they never notified me of a recall on my laptop, even though I'd bought it directly from them and registered it. When the logicboard failed, I was lucky that it was one month before the recall expired, and I sent it in to get repaired for free. Guess what? Six months later it failed again, and they charged me an outrageous amount of money to replace it again.

Clearly, I have a love/hate relationship with Apple.

My iPod Classic lasted three years without needing a battery change or any other repair, by the way, even though I dropped it three times on ceramic tile, chipping the plastic front of the case.

ANYway, geez, digress much?

My wonderful husband loaned me his iPod, which was excellent because with the NFL lockout ending, I was withering without my podcasts. Seriously, when I started listening again, I was like an outdoor plant in August being taken inside and doused with water. I am sooooo refreshed.

But it was a temporary solution, and I feel guilty every minute I'm using it, even if he wouldn't be at the time. So I thought of something else. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier!

I called Batteries Plus about replacing the battery in the iPod photo. I almost hung up when I asked if they could and he scoffed. "No. They won't let us touch 'em." After I pushed a little and explained that the iPod photo *is* an older generation and that I did *not* mean the iPod Touch, we established that he had a battery in stock.

It is now in my iPod! For only $31 and change!

I also got some Apple Cores. I never saw these before. They're awesome! One is wrapped up in the cassette adapter in my car, and another the dock that I will once again be charging my iPod in.

Add the 2,000 words I've already written today, and the fact that I made a new Twitter friend who loves Wes Welker as much as Shannon Stacey and I do, and I'm flying high!

Back to Heavy Metal, followed by City Islanders soccer watched online and reading of Ghost Story, which I have to devour because even only 90 or so pages into it, I MUST KNOW THE END RIGHT NOW OMG.

"Yep. Gooood day."

Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

But first, I forgot a couple of things that are annoying me. And it's every day, too! I can't believe I forgot.

First is the clumps of hair on the bathroom floor every time I go in there. I eliminate them whenever I see them, even scan the edges for more, and still, every time I go in! More! Maybe we need to shave our heads.

The other thing is the water here. It's town provided, but we border a rural area. I don't want to live in a big city, but when I was in NY, my hair always looked great, and my makeup came off clean with one swipe. Here, my hair looks like it needs brushing two minutes after I brush it, and I have dark smudges under my eyes, even days after I last wore mascara. The skin gets sore from rubbing at it with makeup remover swabs or cloths.

Okay, now the important stuff! What's making me HAPPY right now!

The Kids Being Home All Day
It's really nice to have the dishes always done, and I can assign chores to them every day, taking a couple of items off my shoulders.

I'm sure they aren't so happy about this one. They may even be eager to go back to school by now.

My Loaded TBR Shelf
It was getting very empty before RWA. I had maybe a half dozen books in print and half a dozen on my Kindle. Now I have at least a couple dozen in print, plus the ones I gave Number One to read first and demanded she give back.

Not that I have time to read much right now, but a full shelf makes me happy!

New Jim Butcher Coming
I never have an answer when someone asks my favorite author, but at this time of year, it's easy to say Jim Butcher. It has been way too long since Changes, and I may pull another all-nighter with Ghost Story.

Jason Manns
Jason's finally coming back to the east coast! For a while, he was here quarterly, but it's been over a year since we saw him last. As I mention that every so often, both here and on Twitter/Facebook, you can imagine the glee I feel about being able to see him sing live again. If you've only ever heard his produced albums, or even heard him recorded live, you're missing out. He's amazing in person.

I shouldn't complain that it's been too long since his last gig out here. Every time he announces one, he gets a stream of complaints that he never goes where they live. I'm lucky to live close enough to some major cities!

Captain Jack Harkness
I agonized for months about whether or not to shell out the money for Starz because I didn't want to wait forever for DVDs or streaming. Then my husband sees an ad for Torchwood and says, "This looks interesting." I say, "But it's only on Starz. We'd have to subscribe." He says, "Okay." So I did. And got to watch the premiere live, and it was awesome!

Upcoming Vacation
This has been a work-centric summer, plus the travel for RWA and my chapter retreat. I try to have focused family time, but having a week together in which I will only work when the time becomes organically available will be awesome.

Harry Potter
I guess I should put this on here. The final movie comes out this week, and like my kids, I've grown up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I'm eager to see the final battles portrayed on film. Even if it means three hours of sleep Thursday night, and a houseful of teenage girls, and cleaning, shopping, and chauffeuring. My eagerness to see the movie is tempered by the changes I know they've made and I'm not convinced I'll like. We'll see if the most important line remains, and is attributed to the right person. :)

Each Bit of Work I Finish
Yesterday, I focused on fiction, which felt really good. I'm on track for my deadline, but hadn't touched it since I got back. But my workload is so heavy, progress on Heavy Metal put me behind on editing work. I'll catch up today—at least, that's the plan! But it's been really difficult to balance it all, so I'm happy with every small bit of progress, whether it gives me a praising or scolding note on my tracking spreadsheet. :)

Behind the Scenes in audiobook!
I learned yesterday that my next romantic adventure from Carina Press was picked up by Audible. That will probably come out in October, too.

So what's making you happy this week?

Reasons I am Friggin' Happy Today

1. Very productive morning, made more so by the handyman being late.

2. I put the screen in the front door.

3. The handyman has fixed the dishwasher and one drawer.

4. The handyman will next fix the sprayer and the other drawer.

5. Number Two's microphone arrived.

6. Jim Butcher's new book arrived.

7. My Entertainment Weekly has arrived.

8. Supernatural is on tonight, and it's new!

9. Bones is also on tonight.

10. My kids are awesome.

Explanations, Caveats, and Addendums

1. With the handyman coming, I had to clear out the cabinets and dishwasher, then I had a workshop lecture to post, some client work to do, family stuff, and bills to pay. I was running out of time for the last thing when the handyman called and said he'd be half an hour late. So I had time to finish all my downstairs office stuff and then move to my upstairs office (laptop on dining room table) before he arrived.

2. We've lived here 11 years. When we moved in, we had a three-year-old, and by the time she was old enough that I wasn't afraid she'd put her hand through the screen trying to open the door, Number Two was the perfect age to do so. After that, I was just lazy, I dunno. But today I pulled it out of the boiler room and swapped it with the full-panel glass insert. MAN, was that heavy. But it's safely downstairs, and we have the most awesome crossbreeze now.

3. Our house was built in 1962. It's not ancient, but it's old enough to need a fairly steady stream of work. Add the fact that apparently the builders or retrofitters never did anything properly (that's a whole 'nother post), and said work tends to be problematic in some way or another. The dishwasher is perpendicular to the cabinets (see left). It sits on the subflooring, while ceramic tile in front of it creates a nearly one-inch drop. The countertop did not originally have a side panel; it just rested on top of the dishwasher. When we had the cabinets refaced, the guy put in a side panel, but that meant there was an inch between the dishwasher and the counter. The dishwasher wasn't anchored. First time I opened the door, the whole thing tipped forward. When we replaced the dishwasher a couple of months ago, the installer positioned it all the way to the right so it would clear the drawer and cabinet handle. But when he anchored it, it must have shifted, because it was not only unable to be opened because it hit the door handles, it rubbed the side of the cutout space. Of course, I didn't notice until after the installer had gone. He refused to respond to phone calls or faxes or complaints to Sears, so we suffered. But NOW, the handyman (from Handyman Matters has raised up the dishwasher and moved it to the right and anchored it so it not only fits and doesn't interfere, it LOOKS good, too!

4. After we'd decided to call in a handyman to fix the dishwasher and the Drawers of Suck (slide bent, replaced it, it shredded the wood, couldn't find the parts to do it ourselves—the other drawer just needed anchoring in the back), the sink sprayer stopped working. I couldn't find a replacement locally without having to buy a whole faucet set, so I ordered one online. But when he tried to replace it, the hose that came with it isn't compatible with the connector under the sink, and the sprayer end of the old hose isn't compatible with the new sprayer head. He went to Home Depot and bought a basic replacement head but it didn't solve the problem, so we probably need to replace the whole faucet system. That sucks. And he still has to try to fix the King Drawer of Suck, so we're looking at a 3-hour bill, minimum.

5. Number Two saved up her money and subscribed to Smart Music. For her birthday we added the instrument microphone. That finally came today, and gives her the ability to self-tune her viola, as well as grade her playing. She's excited and now her entire afternoon is set. :)

6. There are a multitude of authors whose books I enjoy, and many I love. But I can count on one hand the ones I'll squee over and buy in hardcover the day they come out, or even preorder. Jim Butcher is one. He combines everything that pushes my buttons—paranormal shenanigans, snarky humor, heart-pounding adventure, and people who love each other so much they'd kill or die for them (and not just romantically; in fact, mostly not romantically). I read 12 pages while I ate my salad, and now the book is glowing on my table, enticing me. But I shall be a good girl and work on my revisions. After I finish this post, of course.

7. Entertainment Weekly used to come on Fridays, and sometimes, if the postal service was in a mood, not until Saturday or even Monday. But the last few weeks, it's been coming on Thursday, cementing that day in its spot as my favorite of the week.

8. I haven't talked yet about last week's Supernatural episode. Oh, right, because I did the recap at Supernatural Sisters. I loved how they covered the whole "But they've died before. A lot. So why are they just in heaven now?" problem. Their memories were erased! Easy-peasy! But it fits with the show. The angels wouldn't have wanted them to remember the afterlife, early on. I loved Ash, SO so much. "I'm cool with it!" Pamela's logic was not flawed, but I hated that she tried to manipulate Dean. I mean, life is life, and the afterlife is something totally different. Why should all those people give up the living just because the afterlife seems like it ain't so bad? Dean believes in the value of life so far beyond what anyone else in the Supernatural world believes. He's humanity's champion, and he won't ever give in, no matter how bad things looked at the end.

9. I like every show I watch. If I didn't, I wouldn't bother. Duh. :) But the only one that feels like a guilty pleasure is Bones. I have no idea why. Maybe it's just weird for me to like a very successful show.

10. Number Two's parent/teacher conference was last night, and it went very well. We learned something that kind of blew us away. And Number One gets inducted into the French National Honor Society tonight. So we're proud parents. :)

What's making YOU happy today?

Enough of That

Let's talk about some happy stuff.

This makes me happy, even though it's still 17 days away:



So much to squee over. Something good? My favorite reaper? Evil Dean? Superhero Sammy? EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! March 12 can't come soon enough.

Let's see, what else?

My mammogram today was negative. My mother died of breast cancer, and first contracted it at age 37, so I've been getting them for the last five years. This year, they also provided a probability profile for me. I'm 0.9% likely to get breast cancer in the next five years. That's three times more likely than the general population, but as risks go, it's pretty low.

Despite the FB debacle and the mammogram and the other errands I ran while I was out (bagels from the place that makes them by hand, yum; library; gas), I had a pretty productive day. I got through one and a half chapters, and plan to finish the second one before tonight. I also sorted the receipts for the taxes. It's a much less overwhelming job if I break it into pieces. I'll be done by the end of the week.

Tomorrow Number Two has after-school club, and Wednesday she has after-school orchestra, giving me an extra half hour of work time both days.

I'm excited about seeing Race to Witch Mountain. I don't remember if I posted about this before. I read the first book again recently (Escape to Witch Mountain, and am about halfway through the second (Return from Witch Mountain) now.

Of course, when reading books this old, you have to allow for the decades that have passed. The first book was fine, but the majority of it had little happening, and the ending was sooo disappointing because suddenly we're not in the kids' POV anymore, so we don't actually see Witch Mountain or what it's like for them to be reunited with their family/people. The second book starts with an absolutely ridiculous scene, even for 1978. The uncle is rewarding the kids with a little vacation, so he drops them off at the Rose Bowl and leaves them for a week. WTF? Who does that with kids? There's absolutely no reason for him not to stay with them. They have to take a taxi to their hotel, but of course it all goes awry. Once again, despite the inherent action in the premise, it's a pretty passive story.

But I've been "matching" the bits from the trailer with the book, and I'm eager to see what they've changed. It looks like they've reversed Tia and Tony in terms of age/leadership, and given the cab driver a bigger role than the two pages he has in the book (maybe he shows up again in the book, I don't know yet).

Anyway, looking forward to that. Unfortunately, I'll be in New Jersey not seeing Jared Padalecki when it comes out, so we'll have to wait a week (assuming the family doesn't go see it without me!).

Okay, your turn! Tell me something positive.

Of Spoon Thieves and Gas Incentives

When I left my mother's house to go to college, I took three mismatched spoons. I still have them.

The spoons from the silverware set we bought when we first set up an apartment 17 years ago? Gone. I think we have one left.

Then there are the 10 or 12 spoons I bought by themselves a few years ago. Three of those left.

Luckily (for me and other frugal shoppers), our local Linens N Things is going out of business (I am very sad for those employees). I got a set of 10 spoons for $6.99.

I have no idea where those old spoons went. I thought they'd gotten dropped below the silverware tray in the drawer, but Number One and I cleaned it out a couple of weeks ago, and they weren't there. So I thought they'd fallen out the back of the drawer down in the pan cupboard, but I dug that out, and found only one of the two grapefruit spoons we used to have (no idea where the other one went, as we have almost never used them.

I remember being a kid and my mother saying my brother must be smuggling spoons outside to dig in the dirt or something, because they'd all disappeared. So either I generate a teaspoon black hole in my house, or this is a universal phenomenon, like socks in the washing machine/dryer.

How about you? Do you lose spoons inexplicably?

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One of our local grocery store chains has gas stations in their lots, and one of their incentive programs is that you earn a point for every dollar you spend (pretax) and for every 100 points, you get ten cents off per gallon of gasoline. They also occasionally have extra incentives, where if you buy 6 of 8 particular products, you get an additional 20 cents off per gallon.

In the past, I've gotten up to 40 cents off at a time. But thanks to Vicki, I became aware of last week's promo, which was 40 cents off if you bought three bulk meat items. So I got snow crab legs (which were muy yummy) and boneless pork chops and skinless boneless breasts (that were MAMMOTH and stuffed nicely with the crab meat). AND I got up to 90 cents off a gallon. Not nearly as good as Vicki got, but still pretty damned good--$1.09 per gallon!

But I'd counseled J to run his tank down as low as he could, because he has a bigger tank than I do, and I wanted to get the most of this savings. He took me at my word. But when we got in the car to go to dinner last night, and he hit the fancy button that gives us a rotating display that includes how many more miles you can go on the gas you have left...

...it said 0.

Thank God the local station is only a mile from the house, and half that is downhill, so we could drive without using the gas motor, but then we have to go UP hill, and I was very afraid we'd be pushing. In the rain. That wouldn't have been good. Needless to say, we made it, and that damned car lies, because it only took 14.6 gallons and it's a 17.1-gallon tank.

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I'm feeling a bit down tonight. I really don't know why.

--Maybe from watching The Lake House today, but probably not, because as much as it made me cry (even the third time watching it!), it's a lovely, happen-ending movie.

--Maybe from the whole NaNo thing. I'm a Capricorn, and live up to the sign description when it comes to competitiveness. Just ask Misty. :) I'm just as driven when competing against myself as against other people. So even though I'm (usually, but not every day) leading my Buddies on NaNo (Mary's way ahead of me, now), and even though I will have absolutely no trouble winning NaNo, I probably won't make my goal and beat my previous record, which beat the one before it.

It shouldn't be a big deal. There's no concrete reason why I need to do it, just personal challenge. But I haven't written all weekend (a NaNo double-first) and so I let that personal goal go. Which makes me feel bad about myself and my discipline and focus and blah blah blah, so I get determined to do it anyway, but then I feel despair because at this point, it will be so hard to do. So why bother?

Such is the circle of my mind.

--Or maybe from realization and acknowledgment. When you got to a conference, there is usually a small group (or several) of professionals at a particular level of success who are really, really close friends. Like BFFs to the Nth degree. And they all started being successful at about the same time, growing their careers on similar (though often quite disparate) tracks. And you look at them, and hug your own BFFs to the Mth degree close, and know that you'll be just like them someday. And then something happens, and those other friends start getting successful, and you don't, and you watch them flying, and are so happy for them, but the dream has broken down. The time has come when you can no longer fool yourself into thinking that you'll catch up. Can the friendships be sustained when you no longer commiserate on the same things? Will they start looking at you differently because you're just not at their level? Even if things don't change at all from their perspective, can you keep your own from changing? Admitting that maybe not can be a mood dampener.

ETA: Or MAYBE it's the fact that we haven't had any SUNSHINE for, like, a WEEK, and it's been dreary and drizzly and downright rainy and windy, not to mention dark REALLY REALLY EARLY. Thank God for Teresa! I feel inexplicably better. (And thank you to Cindy for linking to Teresa about Cats in Sinks and therefore exposing me to the most reasonable explanation for my kinda sad mood. Sheesh. And I'm supposed to be smart and self-insightful.

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So. That's kind of a bummer of a note to end a Sunday night post on. Let's end with this, instead.

SPOILERS!

Vindication

I was almost writing a big rant right here in this space. It will be only a partial rant, and I had to pick myself up off the floor before I could write it. The end part is actual praise for customer service.

No big deal, right? Except it's praise for AT&T.

I've always avoided AT&T. They had a history of screwing over their customers, back when they were not only a huge conglomerate but basically had no competition. My cell phone company was sold to AT&T, and for a while the company I wanted to switch to kept saying they had no coverage in my area, which was wrong, but I wouldn't call them (you know me). I just kept checking the website. Anyway, this spring they changed their website and I could get their service but they weren't offering reimbursement for the early termination fee anymore, so I waited for my contract term to be up. And then Number One was going to Holland and I will admit that AT&T does have the best signal coverage and it was the easiest way for her to keep in touch from overseas.

So I finally switched last month. When I called to activate my new phones, they told me AT&T hadn't yet released the numbers so I had to call back the next day. This week I got my last AT&T phone bill, and they charged me for service from 8/14 to 9/13, even though my records showed I'd switched to Credo on 8/13. So I called them. And they said according to the terms of my account, AT&T doesn't prorate the monthly service and my bill cycle ended 8/13 and I didn't switch until 8/14.

The bastards held my service hostage so they could bill me another $60+.

Vintage AT&T.

So I told him that my new company showed my service effective 8/13 and that it was one day and if they ever wanted me back as a customer, they'd remove that charge from the bill. He said it was policy and he couldn't do that. I asked for a supervisor. He assured me he had authority to address the issue and that it was true and correct and laid out right there in my terms of service. I got pretty loud and demanded a supervisor again. During the 15 minutes I was on hold (he put me on hold mid-sentence, too--I really ticked him off), I laid out my argument for the supervisor. But when the CSR came back on the line, he said yes, if I switch in the future, they would want me back, so he removed that fee.

I was really nice after that. :)

So it appears AT&T is at least attempting to balance its bastardness with good service, and if I do switch again--which is a possibility, since Credo, a reseller of Sprint, doesn't have the signal power of AT&T--they aren't automatically off my list.

Switching is a low possibility at the moment, because Credo gives 1% of my charges to charity, and I've been a long distance customer of theirs (formerly Working Assets Long Distance) for nearly 16 years, so I'm reducing my number of bills to be paid. But still. AT&T smartly did not burn our bridge, and now I'm praising them publicly instead of vilifying them.

Maybe corporate dickheads CAN learn something.

Pursuing "Happy"

I have a pretty controversial opinion to voice.

People often talk about how obtaining Things or achieving Success won't make you happy, that being happy has to come from inside you, blah blah blah.

Bullshit.

Happiness is not a Life Goal, like buying a house or raising children to be good people. It's not something you Achieve and then Have. And no one has a right to say what should or should not make you happy.

Happiness is an emotion. ALL emotions, not just bad ones, are transient. They don't last. It's against their nature to be ongoing. So it's foolish of anyone to think there's a status to be achieved, and that once we do, we're all set.

If my happiness is contingent solely upon what's inside me, I'll commit suicide. I'll be so freakin' BORED I won't be able to avoid it. Here are some things that make me happy (in no order at all):

1. A warm cat on my lap and a good book in my hand.

2. New, fun gadgets, like my iPod or a new laptop.

3. When my kids display maturity or responsibility or compassion or intelligence or just say "I love you, Mom."

4. Time with my husband, sharing things we both enjoy.

5. A really kick-ass, emotional TV show or movie. With hot guys who are also tremendous actors.

6. Spending a day with my closest friends.

7. Finding an item of clothing that I think actually looks good on me (a rarity nowadays).

8. Writing an awesome scene or passage that evokes emotion, either in myself or someone else.

9. Getting a great review by someone I don't know.

10. Having a kick-ass agent (and she doesn't read this blog, so I'm not kissing up) on my side.

11. Spending an entire day writing.

12. Popcorn. With real butter and lots of salt.

13. Sunshine.

14. Lots of money in my bank account (relatively speaking).

15. The beach, with big waves in the ocean.

16. Speed (the fast kind, not the drug kind).


87.5% of those things are external. Some things that don't make me happy (or that I don't care about) include religion, politics, fashion magazines, designer labels, purses, shoes, being popular, having perfect makeup, having a big house and fancy car, having a high-paying job (I want to make a lot of money, but won't do a particular job just for that reason). However, those things make lots of other people happy, and I say, good for them.

Yes, getting a new iPod made me super-happy for a day. Its use beyond that is mostly functional or moderate enjoyment, but that doesn't invalidate the moments when I had joy.

Similarly, I am married to a fabulous guy, my kids are awesome, and I have the best friends I could ever ask for. That doesn't mean I'm not sometimes pissed off at any one of them, or need space from them, or are made sad by them.

I'm reading Jim Butcher's new book, Small Favor. It's making me extremely happy to be doing so. I'm laughing my way through it, and really hate not being able to read it nonstop. Once I'm done, it will stop making me happy. But that doesn't invalidate the happiness it makes me feel right now.

Happiness is worth striving for, possibly the whole point of living these lives we live. I don't think anyone has to apologize for what things make them happy, nor should anyone judge others for being happy with things the other person thinks aren't worthy. In that sense, yes, it's entirely personal and internal.

Popcorn, anyone?

It's a Friday with No Soccer on Saturday!

Sleeping in FTW! \o/

I don't remember if I said this yet, but Trish Milburn, who was a guest blogger last month, made the second round of the American Title contest at Romantic Times.



Cool! I stole the code from MaryF for that image. I don't think the link works, though, so go here to vote.

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Speaking of MaryF, she sold to Samhain! That's two books in, like, two weeks. Go congratulate her!

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And the news just keeps coming! Misty Simon, Vicky Burkholder, and debut author Vicki Smith have sold an anthology about domesticated shapeshifters to Draumr Publishing. I didn't put this announcement first because they haven't announced it themselves yet, and they might make me take it off the blog if it's too prominent. I can't help myself, though, I'm so happy for and proud of them.

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I have the bestest friend in all the world. For a lot of reasons, of course. I am blessed with many very close friends, and several of them "get" me, but none to the level of completeness that she does.

But today, she's my bestest friend because of this. My birthday present! Does she rock, or what? I'm so excited I'm bouncing with squee.

I'd like to announce some news for her, but I can't yet. Hopefully soon.

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Okay, now to important stuff. Supernatural.

No, wait. Let's get the really important stuff out of the way first.

The WGA strike continues, and there are some fabulous articles out there with explanations and opinions I think everyone should read. My favorites are here and here, and of course, always United Hollywood with constant updates, links to videos (both funny and informative) and other articles and rebuttals for stupidity like the quote about flushing the toilet.

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Okay, now to Supernatural.

It's pretty clear that this is my very favorite show, and as such, I have hated reading/hearing criticism of it. I want everyone to love everything about it because if they don't, they might stop watching and then it would be taken off the air (ratings are dropping every week, people!). I believe I have gotten past that knee-jerk desperation and can tolerate reasonable discussion about both the good and bad aspects of the show now. Just a long as no one attacks the creators, writers, actors, crew, or even The CW, m'kay? Thx.

So. "Fresh Blood." Once again they got creative with an established supernatural element, and I loved it. One of the few fan bloggers I still read said she didn't like that they acted like they had no choice but to kill Lucy, because they know there are options (there was Lenore, of course--I think that was her name). But just because there are some people who can overcome the hunger doesn't mean she would be able to. She's a junkie, and vampirism is a far more overwhelming hunger than simple narcotic addiction. She'd already killed two people and almost two more, including Dean. If there was a halfway house they could send her to, great. But they can't afford the luxury of holing up somewhere and trying to teach someone something they themselves can't understand. Besides the job they do, they have people after them. Lots of them. Minus one.

We thought when Sam cut off Gordon's head he'd have to have cut his hands on that wire, too, and Gordon's blood was spurting all over. I kind of wish they'd addressed it, like had Dean say "thank God you didn't cut yourself" or something like that.

I have two nitpicks. The first is akin to the situation in "Croatoan" where they had nothing to go on, so "oh, let's call Bobby." At the time, it was out of character and simply convenient writing so they had a reason to find out the phones were dead. This time, it was Dean telling Bela where they were. In what UNIVERSE would Dean do that? He hates her! Sure, he'll save her life and take her money, but he wouldn't chat with her, wouldn't give a known mercenary who'd sell them out at the clink of a coin his location when they are wanted by so many people.

The other is a silly one. Sam looked ridiculous feeling around in the dark. It was way too exaggerated and flaily. He's got more control than that, even when he's terrified. Puh-leez.

That said...this ep had so much greatness. The hotel room they were in, clearly one not in use that they were squatting in again. I love that they found a way to not say "as you know, since we broke out of prison and Henrickson is still after us, as well as who knows how many hunters, plus that Jesus-freak guy, so we have to lay really low, go where we can't be tracked." We had them squatting in the house last week, and in this obvious storage unit in a hotel this week. Very cool.

Sam starting out with the same argument about Dean's recklessness and avoidance, which is annoying some people but wasn't annoying me, I don't care if it's the same old argument, that's how people are, that's how life is, and I just love watching them do it. But he took it somewhere new, went ahead and opened himself up, made himself vulnerable. And Dean stepped up. For once, he did what his brother asked, not just what he thought was best or what Sam wanted because he wouldn't listen anymore. It was great, especially with the scene at the end, played perfectly straight without hidden nuance and deflection and stuff. Just "you're right, you're my brother, and I'll be yours again."

*sigh*

Sam's hair is freakin' awesome. Season one it was College!Sam hair, kind of dorky and childish. Season two it was adolescent hair. It was testing itself, seeing what it liked, maybe be longish here and stick out there. Better, but not great. This year, OMG, as Sam has matured, so has his hair. It's awesome. I want to...okay, wait, I gotta stop there. My husband reads this blog occasionally.

Sterling K. Brown has been the best recurring guest star on this show, and I shall miss him mightily. RIP, Gordon.

I'd post some of the great lines from the ep, but I'd mess them up. Maybe after I watch again. Which I definitely will, eventually. I'm saving them for when everything else goes dark due to the strike.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

An Open Letter to Single Parents

Well, this is really not about single parents in real life, because I don't know many, and I can't say I've ever encountered the policy in real life. But it is everywhere in fiction. It abounds in category romances, and I just watched the episode of Gilmore Girls where Luke lets Lorelai throw April's birthday party.

The policy to which I'm referring is only applied to romantic relationships for some reason. Single moms don't want their kids to get to know the guys they date at all, or to know the women their kids' fathers date, because OMG the relationship might not last and the kid would be attached and they'd be devastated beyond recovery if they left.

So better not let your kid make friends. They might move away, or more likely, decide they'd rather be closer friends with someone else, and devastate your kid.

Don't let them go to school. It's sooooo easy to get attached to a good teacher and then wham, nine months later, they're out of their life. They'll never get over that, after seeing them day after day, more total time than they see their own family.

Definitely don't let them play sports. Attachments to coaches and teammates can be strong. And can you imagine, the trauma of a combined losing season and having to say goodbye?

Most of all, never, ever, EVER get a pet. Cats might be okay, if you get them young, because they can live 20 years. Unless, you know, they don't. They could get sick. So yeah, forget the cats. Big dogs only live to mid-teens, small dogs a little longer. "Starter" pets like hamsters have very short life spans. Stay away from those.

The point is, kids are resilient. My mother was a single parent from the time I was seven and my brother was four. She dated, and we met most of the guys, because it was important that if there was going to be a relationship there, everything fit. That we liked them and they liked us. All of them left our lives, and it didn't hurt us. It taught us.

The way to raise mature, well-adjusted adults who can handle change is to give kids reasons to adjust, changes to which they can adapt. Life has pain. We all need to endure it, and the only way to learn how is by doing it.

The flip side is that you may deny them, and yourself, something wonderful. And that's an even bigger loss.

Tuesday Tidbits on Wednesday

Obviously, I never got around to posting this yesterday.

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Ate dinner last night at a sandwich place that has really good flatbread pizza. I like the one with artichoke hearts, spinach, Parmesan, and pine nuts. Except last night mine had no pine nuts. It did, however, have a plastic bread closure.

When the waitress came over, I showed her and asked what my prize was. She was very apologetic, of course, said they are supposed to throw those away immediately so it doesn't happen. I told her my husband wanted me to be mad so I could get a free dessert. She laughed and thanked me for being nice. I said, well, it's not like it's a finger.

She gave us TWO free desserts, worth over $8.00. When I paid, I made a joke about the plastic thing again and the cashier tried to give me 10% off my bill. I stopped her. I am nice.

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I am in love with my new cat litter box. It's called "Roll'n Clean" and you don't have to scoop at all! It's got a grate and a drawer. You roll it all the way over onto its top, then roll it back. The litter is all clean, without chunks from broken-up clumps, and the clumps are all in a little drawer that you pull out and dump. So worth it! And much more logical than the litter box that washes and dries the litter. What a waste of energy.

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I started watching two new shows this week. They're actually old shows that I'm Netflixing.

The first is Gilmore Girls, which some people who have taste similar to mine have liked, and the other is Dark Angel, one of those shows I knew I probably would have liked, but it was on back when I was watching almost zero TV. I recorded an episode of DA on a whim the other night and really enjoyed it, and J likes Jessica Alba, so we'll watch it together starting Friday.

I watched the first disk of GG last night, and I liked it. I like Lorelai a lot. Rory a bit less. She's stiff and emotionless. I hope her acting improves as the seasons go on. I like all the quirky characters, too, and can see why it was a popular show.

In both shows (one episode of each, as a matter of fact), it was quite weird to see Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.

Jared was so much younger, and at first glance he looks nothing like his current hot self. The weird part is when he has an expression I know so well, or in hearing him talk for more than a few words, his voice is very close to the same. But he was so SMALL and he had such a baby face!

Jensen was only a little younger, relatively speaking--there isn't as much difference in his body, no difference in his voice, and his face is like a slightly softer version. His mouth is more pronounced, his cheekbones a bit less defined. His character is lighter in personality, but he's a fighter, and can shoot a gun, so sometimes he's like Dean. The weirdest part? He wore a turtleneck the entire episode. :)

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The weather has been really nice all week, so I've had my office window open, but then I get pissed off because my next-door neighbor smokes on his back porch and it always blows in my window. I hate that.

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Happy Independence Day!

I'm not going to be like everyone else and add "to my American readers/friends" because even though this is a holiday in the United States, celebrating the birth of the nation, I think EVERYONE can celebrate their personal independence.

So go light a sparkler and drink a toast. And have a great day!

Happiness Baseline

This morning the local radio personalities were talking about a guy who won $25,000 in the lottery two days in a row. They mentioned it because the host had read an article about a study that shows that the happiness spike of such a thing doesn't last, that after a period of time the person will go back to their baseline of happiness.

Well, duh.

The study also showed that if something terrible happens to you, you will also return to your happiness baseline.

Duh again. I mean, the phrase "time heals all wounds" didn't become a cliché because it was wrong.

We don't live in slices of time. So while winning money makes us happy in the sphere of influence of the win, other things in our lives are still occurring. We still have to feed the kids and drive them around and take out the trash and do endless amounts of laundry and dishes and struggle to either find or fit in those things that fulfill us beyond the day-to-day grind of living.

The part of the study I loved, though, was the part that found two specific things that can permanently elevate a person's happiness baseline.

One was adopting a pet. The other was marriage to someone they truly love.

If that's not validation of the entire romantic fiction industry, I don't know what is. :)