I’ve had “clean up hard drives” on my list for weeks now. Finally got a start on it yesterday. Since there are 5 drives just on my pc’s (another 3 between hubby and kids) it’s going to take more than a day, but the worst is behind me. Duplicate File Searcher was a huge help - most of my clutter comes from copying old directories to a new drive, and then making changes like renaming, or reorganizing folders, which doesn’t actually change the file contents. Yay for deleting 13GB worth of duplicate files.

I also cleaned out the registry, and now Flickr Uploader is working again. Yay! It’s been about 3 months since it stopped working, and except for a few pics I uploaded manually I haven’t posted anything new. So look for a few hundred pics to go up over the weekend as I sort and organize.

TiVo’d “Spy Kids 3″ last night for Princess. Who knew George Clooney was in this?

Tomato plants continue to produce just enough tomatoes for one person. Which is good, because there is only one person in the house (me) that loves them. But why are 9 plants only producing enough for one person? The plants look plenty healthy, except for the one that mysteriously de-leaved overnight a few weeks ago. And the pepper plants? One pepper harvested all year. One more on the vine that should be ready to harvest next week.

Need more coffee. Must clean bathrooms. Grocery shopping awaits me.

I’ve got San Francisco Fever. And so, a Google map was born.
Still a work in progress, so if you’ve got any hot tips of must-see places in walking distance of the SF Marriott, please share!

View Larger Map

The Romance Divas annual Not Going to Conference Conference will make you feel a bit less deprived!

Amazing workshops, a star-studded guest list and awesome giveaways, all on the Diva forum! Don’t miss it!

Coordinated by Seeley deBorn!

Here’s a bit of a schedule update for the Q&As and Workshops…

Wednesday, July 30 Paula Guran, Editor, Juno Books Q&A on Creating Kick a** Heroines Laurie Rauch, Editor, Samhain Publishing Workshop on What Happens After the Contract (aka Editors are People Too!)*

Thursday July 31 Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary Q&A on Inspirational Romance Stories and the Inspy Market Sandra Schwab, Historical Romance Author Workshop on Historical Accuracy and Anachronisms

Friday, August 1 Yolanda Sfetsos, Author of Guarded by Stone Q&A on Paranormal and Urban Fantasy World Building Katie MacIver, KatieDidDesign Workshop on Website Design and Color Selection

Saturday, August 2 Joey W. Hill, Erotica Author Workshop on Plotting Erotica and Erotic Romance Rhonda Stapleton, Editor and Author Workshop on Style and Voice

How about if I list some door prizes?

• What Gwen said" mug donated by Gwen Hayes
• 3-chapter critique of a YA by Simon Pulse author Rhonda Stapleton
• 3-chapter critique of a YA, chick lit, or rom com by Golden Heart Finalist Amanda Brice
• An ebook of your choice from Nell Dixon’s backlist
• An ebook of either Second Sight (paranormal romance) or Dragons’ Choice (fantasy romance - dragon-shifters) from Debbie Mumford
• Ten dollar Amazon gift certificate from Jodi Henley
• Lush stuff from Seeley deBorne
• e-book copy of Chasing Shadows from Erin Richards
• Paperback copy of Iron Horse Rider OR Smiling Eyes from Adelle Laudan
• Book thongs from Angeleque Ford
• 3 chapter critique from Sela Carsen
• winner’s choice of ebook copy of "Not Quite Dead" or "Heart of the Sea" by Sela Carson
• e-book copy of HEATWAVE by Eden Bradley
• e-book copy of BREAKING SKYE by Eden Bradley
• a box of goodies, trade and paperbacks, bath products candles, etc… All for a fun and relaxing home spa day treat. courtesy of The Midnight Moon Cafe
• 1 download each of Natasha Moore’s Samhain books, The Ride of Her LIfe and The Passion-Minded Professor
• a copy of "Painted Soul" by Mary Quast
• e-book copy of HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Samhain
• e-book copy of PAR FOR THE COURSE by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Samhain
• e-book copy of FOUND by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Wild Rose Press
• e-book copy of NIGHT OF INSPIRATION by Jenna Allen - Phaze
• e-book copy of ON AGAIN by Jenna Allen - Phaze
• $10 gc to Amazon from Kendal Corbitt
• ebook Vampire Oracle: Harmony by MG Braden
• Ebook ARC, Art of Sensuality by Jax Cassidy
• Plus a lovely bar of wonderful Chagrin Valley hand made soap, Caramel Pralines jar candle, handmade jewelry, Tarot readings, a Lush box for European Divas/Dudes, a $10 Fictionwise gc and much more!

Son is recovering nicely so far from having all 4 wisdom teeth cut out today.  A few painful hours, but that seems to have mostly passed.  Already up and about, and eating all the Italian Ice I’ll let him. 

I’ve been trying to remember the whole “experience" of having mine out, and - I can’t.  I remember laying in the chair before they put me under, being under before I could count backwards from 5, and that’s it.  Don’t remember the recovery period, don’t remember the pain, don’t remember when it was.  Right before I got married?  Right after?   Pretty sure it was before my son was born, and they wouldn’t have done the whole anesthesia thing when I was pregnant with him.  So  factoring in the whole pregnant-within-2-months-of-marriage thing it must have been right before we got married.

Not being able to identify the year had me a bit worried, but then I thought of all the other things I can’t identify (who was the 23rd president of the US?*  Who won the World Series last year?  What’s the difference between Carbon Offsets and Renewable Energy Credits?) and decided I’d let this one slide.  Really, from watching his first few hours post-surgery, it isn’t a memory I’m that eager to reclaim.

So no fun time today.  In between the hour at the dr office, the 90 minutes filling his RX’s and picking up some cold treats - silly mom, I stocked up on hot soft food, not cold soft food - , and the hour running errands, there was that pesky work thing.  And the don’t-call-her-pesky six year old who wanted to play the princess games on Disney.com 

Black Ops is probably the worst movie I have(n’t) watched in a very long time.  I’m trying very hard to ignore it.  It’s on for the male population of the house to enjoy, but even they have wandered off.  Think I’ll do the same.

*Poor Benjamin Harris.  So overlooked, at least by me.

I’ve been reading most of the weekend, and a few books have stuck out enough to mention ~

Linda Howard’s Death Angel. Fabulous book. She manages to make these two people that on the surface are absolutely unlikeable into believeable, compassionate heroine and hero. I’ve got a bit of a quibble with the ending, and I never felt I really got the hero, but still a great book.

Laurell K Hamilton’s Blood Noir. I almost stopped after the first 3 chapters, and really I wish I had. It’s a hot mess from start to finish. Except where it’s a cold mess, because quite a few chapters left me absolutely cold. Glad this was a library book, not one I spent my book budget on.

Lauren Dane’s Wolf Unbound and Standoff. (I’m not quite finished with Standoff yet, but yumm!) This series has been fantastic from start to end. I adore books with family connections, and this one has a great, big, alpha male wolf pack at it’s core. I think this is my fav series Lauren has written, which is saying a lot, since I’m a fan of everything she’s written.

~

So that’s my weekend reading. I’ve also got Gena Showalter’s first three books in her Lords of the Underworld series waiting for me. And in the DVD player but not yet seen, The Other Boleyn Girl. I’ll probably cuddle up with kitty and watch that while hubby watches the Mets tonight.

My son has to get his wisdom teeth extracted at 8:30am tomorrow. They’ve formed, but no roots yet, so the oral surgeon says they should “pop right out” with no trouble. Here’s hoping for some easy popping.

We’re going to have a day of rain, it looks like.  Big storms last night, and more to the north (that are moving south) and south (that are moving north).  I’m hoping the two fronts don’t collide right over my head. 

My house has been Google Mapped.  Some in the city are upset (not about my house, but their own).  All you can see if you put in my address is – my neighbors.  Google was a few houses off on matching houses to addresses.  And if you actually scroll down the street to my house, you see a bunch of overgrown trees and an empty recycling bin sitting by the curb.  I  have a vague wish they’d let us know the day so I could pretty up the curb a bit, but there isn’t much for me to get upset about. 

Hit the community yard sale this am, and for $5 picked up a replacement coffee maker for the one that has been overflowing it’s basket for the past 3 years.  This one belonged to the pastor at the church hosting the yard sale before I bought it; I’m not sure what that will mean for the state of my soul, or my coffee either for that matter.  Will salvation be mine, one cup at a time?

Am I hot or not? Erotic Romance VS. Erotica. Q&A with Liquid Silver Acquiring Editor, Tina Burns.

All day July 12th at Romance Divas
Featuring:
Tina Burns

How do you know if you’ve crossed into the Erotica zone? Get a professional’s opinion. It will take place at the Romance Diva Forum. All are welcome. To get access to the forum you will need to register. The workshop will be in the “Steamy” section of the forum which requires permission from the admin. Details are HERE.

Hubby and I had a great time celebrating his big 4-0 last night.  He’s still sleeping off the good times finally up but feeling the effects of the good times– the many, many good times.

Jane at Dear Author has what must be my favorite euphemism ever in the middle of a review today - “magical groin wand”.  Oh my.  I have to find a way to work that into everyday conversation at least once.  You’ve been warned.

Dishes done, laundry underway.  Must mean time to work.

4o years old.  You don’t look a day older than yesterday.  It’s your day, from start to finish, and your plan-hating-self is going nuts that everyone wants to know “what do you want to do”.  Mexican for lunch, and the rest of the day is still up in the air.  I’m sure you’ll let us know as soon as you’re ready to, and not a minute before.

You’ve made it easy for me to shop by telling me exactly what you want. 

~~~

If you’re following the Twitter crowd and use Firefox, check out TwitterFox.  Brings something already fun to a whole new level.  I’m loving it!

11 Hours, 4 minutes, 20 seconds and it will just be me, the dog, and the kitten for a peaceful day and a half.

Things that I should do while the family is away, since 8 houseguests will arrive at pretty much the same time they get home :

• Finish the bathroom paint job
• Clean the guest room, bathrooms, and pretty much every other room in the house.
• List all the stuff I pulled out of my daughter’s room (the only room that got cleaned) today on Freecycle
• .
• Shop for Princess’ birthday party, which is now only 5 days away.

What I actually think I’ll get done while they’re gone -

• Flawed.  The book, not my plan.

Updates as they happen.