Another unproductive week. Only 17 pages progress. But understandable given family obligations. All I can say is thank goodness I was way ahead of schedule when real life intruded.

I caught up on sleep last night. Watched a really terrible disater flick—2012. I’ll watch it again, no doubt. I completely love cheesy, end-of-the-world B movies, and this one had several real groaner scenes. I wish there had been a surprise or two, but everything was pretty formulaic. The only character I truly enjoyed was Woody Harrelson’s (did I spell that right?), over-the-top portrayal of the crazy prophet of doom who stays to watch the fireworks when Yellowstone blows. The lesson here—never, ever trust my taste in movies.

Monday night, I head back over to my daughter’s house. I sure as hell hope I can figure out how to get some sleep and that the dogs are exhausted by their good time. I’ll take my laptop with me and try to get some work done. If I’m still struggling, I won’t beat myself up. I have time to finish the big book. The shorts might have to fall by the wayside.

Y’all have a good week. Thanks to everyone who expressed their outrage on yesterday’s Facebook posting. I knew I wasn’t crazy to be outraged!

Daughter has the weekend off, so I made a mad dash for the door—after dropping the 5-year-old off at Saturday detention at the high school. I mean, really, what can a 5-year-old do that warrants three Saturdays of detentions? She looked so small and lost with all those teenagers when I dropped her off. Grrrr… Stupid administrators. I think they meant it as punishment for the parents because my daughter refused to let them spank the kid when she got into a fight at school.

But I’m home. Not that I’ll be getting any work done today. I’ve had a total of 7 1/2 hours of sleep the past two nights. Those damn dogs kept me up. The shepherd and the malinois tied again last night at 1:00 AM, and daughter and I held both dogs’ collars as the dogs stood butt-to-butt, joking about how dirty we felt. The male must have been insulted because when he finally withdrew from the bitch he sprayed our feet with doggie-cum.

There’s nothing worse than listening to male dogs, who still have their testicles, bark and whine all night long because the bitch among them is in heat.

My daughter has a malinois named Zazo. She’s a good dog, if a little crazy. You have to approach her a certain way and watch to see whether she gives you the crazy eye or lays down her ears—if she doesn’t, you don’t have to worry about her going for your throat. I can be a little blasé about that because my husband trained serious dogs for most of our marriage and I’ve laid a Rottweiler on the ground once when she went for me—it’s all about establishing a pecking order. But back to the problem. Zazo went into heat the day before I arrived here to help the red-headed hellion.

Last night, there was no getting any sleep. This morning the shepherd and the malinois were walked together—yeah, we’ve been wanting them to tie—but the screeching from the male when she kept trying to crawl away from him when his man-part was still locked inside her had me saying, “You go, girl.” The really painful part of this ordeal is the male dachsund. He thinks he’s got a chance. And he’s wearing out himself and everyone else with his constant whining.

I stayed up to help daughter with her homework after she got home from her Sprint job at 1:00 AM. We went to bed about 3:30. At 7:00 the alarm went off so that we could walk dogs and get the 5-year-old ready for school. Then we went back to bed. Daughter can sleep through the noise, but here I am bleary-eyed and making a really lousy posting because I’m ready to roast two pairs of nuts.

The winner of yesterday’s prize is at the bottom of this post!

A note frome Cerise:

Listened to a good audio book lately?

I’ve just begun and I must say, they are wonderful.

Sure, I like music on my iPod. But the treadmill at the gym can become boring listening only to music. And the new audio books—especially the shorter novels—are just the right size! One hour of delicious delights.

I am hooked.

I have found however, that I need to have good earphones that don’t let too much of the oohs and ahhhs leak out. My neighbors on the next machine look at me inquisitively—and then with a big grin.

I grin back.

Listened to any good books lately?

Tell me about them! Do you like the idea of romances on audio? Will you listen to them in the car? As you walk?

Then I will tell you that one of mine from Ellora’s Cave debuts April 15! Watch for HER THREE-WAY MERGER in audio April 10! Visit me too at Cerise DeLand.
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I’m back from the NOLA conference! Betcha didn’t even know I was gone. It was a quick trip—Friday through Sunday. And it was just across the border to Shreveport Louisiana, a little over two hours away. I’m a member of the NOLA chapter and love to get a chance to go down there and see friends.

I traveled with Shayla Kersten, and wouldn’t you know, I didn’t get a single darn photo of the woman! We had a great trip. I drove, hence the quick driving time. She only gasped a few times. We were set to stay in the hotel where the event was hosted, but discovered they’d lost our reservation! While I boiled, reception found us a room in the hotel next door, a Hilton Homewood Suites, and they arranged a very reaonable price for the rooms. Yeah, rooms. We ended up in a two-bedroom suite with a common sitting area and kitchenette. I didn’t complain after that.

I took a few pictures, but promise to share only a few! This first is of Lori Wilde. I’ve taken classes from her before. She makes some really tough concepts so easy to understand. I won the hardcover book you see pictured here. Didn’t get her to sign it though. Don’t know why I didn’t ask. When I’m done reading it, I’ll pass it along to one of you.

Here’s Sandy Blair. I love her. Her books and listening to her speak. Very funny lady.

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I pre-posted Friday and Saturday’s blogs, figuring I’d be too busy to bother for once. And I was right. The conference in Shreveport, Louisiana, hosted by the NOLA chapter, ended last night. I’ll have pictures to share tomorrow, but I have my weekly status report to give you first. Yeah, sorry. You have to suffer through it, but keep in mind that I do this to keep things real.

The sad reality is I’m close to completing just one chapter of the big book for the entire week. I worked on nothing but the big book, so I can’t claim progress on anything else. I have excuses—good ones—but excuses won’t get the book written.

This next week doesn’t bode well either. Daughter’s hubby is going out of town, so guess who gets to come babysit babies, dogs and chickens? I have to convince the one-year-old that her playpen is a happy place and the dogs that one trip to the back yard really is enough. Good luck, me. But that doesn’t happen until Thursday, so I better write like my hair’s on fire through Wednesday.

I want to wrap up three chapters this week. Hold me to it. ~DD

I leave for Shreveport and the NOLA conference tomorrow, so today, I have a ton of things to do—laundry, pack, clean the car, etc. I will also try to get some more pages done today. And I will pre-post a couple of blogs. Have to pick a worthy topic. Any suggestions?

For today, I’ll let you do the work. I have a question and I’m interested in your answers!

When you look back on the life you have lived to this point,
what in particular amazes you the most?

The thing that amazes me the most is that I’m still alive.

Anything past 20 was gravy because I was a wild child with a penchant for bad boys, illegal substances and fast cars.

When I hit 30, I couldn’t believe I’d done it without ending up in jail or sold in a slave auction (long story, there).

40 was a miracle, because I still hadn’t learned to look before I leaped and even lobbied hard to go to a war I didn’t have to see.

Now, I’m a venerable old 51 and am still having little unexpected adventures (burning hair, snakes in the pool)—and I’m hoping the rest of however many years I have left are just as interesting.

What amazes you?