My Recent Comments

I've been MIA because we got the call this weekend that we'd been expecting - my MIL in NJ passed away.

She'd been in kidney failure for 14 months.  The doctors, when they diagnosed her back in July of 2007 told her she had two months.  She lived 14 months.  Shows what they know.  Back in the end of June, she fell and broke her hip, and we thought for sure we were going to lose her then.  But they replaced the hip, and she bounced back from the brink again, had therapy and went back home again.  She was even walking again.  She was a stubborn fighter, born in Italy and emmigrated  to the States when she was a small child.

So, I had a road trip with Holly on Saturday, and a road trip with my husband on Sunday and back home on Monday.

Grape jelly is awesome, but my favorite homemade jelly from when I was a child was elderberry.  Oh, I how I adored elderberry jelly!  I ate it on toast for breakfast, and on a PB&J for lunch almost every day.  Yum!

I watched Bones online.  I loved that they had Caesar Milan (aka The Dog Whisperer) on.  I love him! He's amazing.

I got teary at the end with Bones and the dog.  Like she'd finally made a connection of sorts, and it was too late.    I thought the little tag she'd bought him was a nice touch.

She's a fascinating character, isn't she?  I did try to read one of the books, and I just couldn't do it.

Caren, MySpace and Facebook and all those types of places are very big for infection.  Because the goal is to infect as many machines as possible.  So you go to the biggest audiences.

So never click on links there that aren't from people you absolutely know and trust.

Road trip, Holly?  Yes, I think I'm sufficiently recovered from the last one so that I can do another one.  <G>

Oh, believe me, Vieve, my computer IS protected by an anti-virus software.  It's just that the virus writers tweak and change them so often and write new ones, and there's always going to be a little bit of a lag between the time a new virus comes out and your anti-virus program is updated to recognize the sucker.

 Think about it.  When a new virus comes out, first someone has to find it, isolate it, send it to the anti-virus folks, and then their geeks have to write the anti-programs for it.  I know because we once caught a fresh new virus in one of our customer's computers. (So we were basically the discoverers of the new bug. <G>  Ooooo, cool, huh? <G>)

Caren, I knew I was infected because I knew the symptoms of this particular bug.  They keep renaming it, but basically a big sign appears on your computer that says "YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED.  RUN YOUR ANTIVIRUS NOW."  And then up pops this "license agreement" for an antivirus program.  Problem is THAT IS THE VIRUS!!!  We cleaned one poor guy's computer who actually clicked on that part (remember, he's already been infected if that pops up), and gave his credit card information to pay for an 'antivirus" program.  So, basicially what he did was pay these people for infecting his computer.  It was no surprise that he found MULTIPLE charges on his credit card as well.

 The bug sign is a highjacking of your computer background.  it will stay there until you clean up your computer and reapply your original background.

Now, after I visited here this morning, I started having more "hinky" symptoms.  I tried to visit certain websites (like FoxNews, just for an example) and I wasn't able to get there.  That's because the virus was STILL lurking in my computer.  It took Tom most of today again to figure out exactly how to ferret out the little tendrils of this darn bug.  (It's called a root kit, and it literally HIDES in different parts of your computer.)

We're pretty sure we've finally got it beat.

If only those virus writers would use their skills for GOOD!! 

Go missing for a day or so, and there's 63 new posts!  Oy!

 My computer caught a superbug yesterday.  <sigh>  Luckily for me, I live with a computer geek who spent the day cleaning it up.  For those people who don't know this, you can now get viruses just by visiting a website that has been infected.  No need to click on anything.  <sigh>

Ellen, I haven't seen the second part of the new MS commercial, but I didn't "get" the first part.  Now, I'm a PC girl, but I have to say, so far, the Mac commercials (I'm a Mac, I'm a PC) win. <G>  And Bill is cute in a geeky kind of way.  There's nothing wrong with geeky.

Marcie, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend!  How terrible!  Sending prayers for her and her family.

Sags who tell it like it is -- I'm a Sag.  And I tend to tell it like it is.  You want to know what I think, ask.  If you really DON'T want to know what I think, then don't bother to ask. <G>  I always have an opinion, and I'm happy to share it.  LOL.

Men who love us despite a few extra pounds are the best kind. <G> 

And now I'm off to the treadmill to help get rid of some of those "few extra pounds." 

Marcie, I'd look at the book situation this way:  80 percent of the books were right, AND you got a free bonus surprise book. The correct book will be there before you know it!  And you got a FREE bonus SURPRISE book. <G>

(That's called looking on the bright side.)

There have been instances where authors have, while expecting the box(es) of their own books, opened the box to discover it's an entire carton of someone else's book.  They're also told to keep them (cheaper than paying for return shipping, etc.)  So, imagine that.  There's nothing more uplifting for an author than finally holding that "baby" in her hands.  So it's quite a disappointment when they open the box and find it's wrong.  But still...  It's often an opportunity in disguise.  The books might be sent to the real author (at that real author's expense, one would hope. <G>)  Or they might be used for contest prizes and other types of donations/promotions.  The author might make a new friend because of it, because of contacting the 'real" author.  All sorts of good things can come out of "mistakes."

Wow.  And I haven't been to HollyWorld in a while. <G>

Roz, I'm sorry to hear about the problems with dh's surgery!  They nicked the spinal cord??  YIKES!  That's scary.  I hope his pain is quickly under control, and that he's perfectly fine after this mishap and the surgery.  Sending prayers for comfort and a speedy recovery!

Independence can be a flaw -- the heroine I'm working on right now is independent to the point of it being a problem.  So, while some independence is a good thing, too much isn't.

Almost anything taken to an extreme is a bad thing.  (As someone else -- I forget who, sorry! -- already pointed out.)

One of my heroine's took the "keep a stiff upper lip" so far that it sort of emotionally crippled her.  You can only suppress emotion for so long before it knocks you over.  And that flaw tied into her complete character arc, the plot, the black moment, and the resolution.  So yeah, when you hit gold, it all ties together neatly. <G>  (The trick is making it look like you didn't work at it.  LOL.)

The heroine in A Kid to the Rescue doesn't believe in fighting -- for anything.  She's a pacifist to the extreme -- and that's a flaw.  So the lesson she has to learn is to fight for what she wants.   So I gave her a hero who could teach her that, and put her in a situation where she would HAVE to fight.  <G>  (I'm mean that way. <G>)

The flaws are sort of like mottos.  Actually, my characters' flaws are tied into their mottos, or expressed by their mottos quite often.  For example, my stiff-upper-lip heroine's motto was "Good little soldiers don't cry."  And the heroine from A Kid to the Rescue could sum up her motto like this:  "Life is a catch and release program."

THIS is why what we do is actually so much harder than so many people expect.  (The "I'm going to write a novel one of these weekends" people. <G>)

The threads all have to weave together just so in order to make a really great story.  It's hard. <G>  But then, we all know that here.

No, Atkins doesn't cause gallbladder problems.  Mine has been "unruly" for a few years now.  Mostly it doesn't act up.  But I have to take care of it. <G>  It needs to be coddled once in a while.

 Deb, that's sad about the apple trees.  We have a few apple orchards around here.  Soon I will go and pick some -- but I need to wait a few more weeks.  I love to pick my own.  And the juice...it's SOOOO good.  Yum.

We also have a lot of vineyards around here, and soon it should be grape harvest time.  I love to drive through the vineyards (We have a lot of roads that have grapes on either side) just before harvest -- it SMELLS so fantastic. 

Jodie, I'm glad you figured out quickly that some of are a little...nutty. <G>  But you know what?

We have a very good time. 

Sometimes it's not safe to read and drink with us. <G>  (Monitors and keyboards have been known to get splattered!)

Welcome Margot!  Glad you're getting the hang of this!

I'm always the one that gets the short end of the stick.  Listen, Ellen, Holly was mine long before you proposed.  Therefore I think YOU are the relationship-wrecker, not me. <stomp> So fine, hold a grudge. <sniffle, sniffle>  See if I care.

I was the ORIGINAL woman, not the "other" woman.  And Holly tossed me aside for you.  That makes YOU the "other woman."  So I wasn't ready to marry her.  So what?  You came along and proposed just like that.  <snap>  Sheesh.

I'm going to put a Spider Solitaire curse on you.

Hi, everyone else!  Deb, glad you had a good time on the coast.  My book is a February book.  I think the other "picture" book is in January.  Maybe it was December?  I'm not sure.  But yes, I guess they thought there was enough time between that one and yours to reuse perfect.

I have been drinking some freshly made apple juice the last few days.  DH has been making it for me.  YUMMMY, and a wonderful part of fall.  It always amazes me, though, how different "real" fresh apple juice looks compared to the stuff that you buy in the store.

Yes, it's not on Atkins.  Atkins is out the window right now while I deal with my gall bladder.  <sigh>  Gall bladder pains are the pits, as I know several of you here can testify.  I'm going to be doing a cleanse in a few days, and hopefully that will take care of it.  It did the last time.  I just didn't do it a few times, like I should have.