1. Modern Medicine. My mother broke her wrist two days ago while gardening. She fell into a pile of mulch, broke both of the large bones and dislocated every bone inbetween. She's having surgery today, so Adam and I are probably going to spend the weekend in Easton walking the dogs or running errands for my parents while my mom recovers. They're going to put a titanium plate in her wrist, and I'm grateful that she should get back use of it. I can tell already she's going to be a lovely patient.


2. Cocoa Roast Almonds. This is a new snack that's becoming a staple in my house. For 1/4 cup (easily measured in the cap of the bottle) you get some cocoa dusted almonds for 150 calories and 3 net carbs. Quite tasty. Think of all those healthy oils.


3. A third coat of paint. I spent the past few days painting our front door. I had to--the new one was installed stark white, which is against the covenant of our HOA and didn't match our shutters. So after at least one failed attempt (and first coat of paint) I found a color that is close, but not an exact match. Firebaked Brick. For normal people, that's red. And I assure you, there's nothing I'd rather do than mess with red paint in the foyer of our white living room. However, after three coats, and only one drip on the foyer floor, the door looks great, and I even put on the hardware myself.


4. LARP Progress. As of yesterday, I finished writing out all the character sheets. The rest of the work involves editing, checking for mistakes, shopping for props and supplies, finalizing rules, making nametags, writing out notes and reminders for the actual event, making table labels, organizing the banquet hall, setting up "the corpse," printing out a bunch of paper and stuffing it into about 90 envelopes. Trust me, this is all the easy stuff, comparatively speaking, so I'm a little less stressed now.
5. Parsley and Rosemary. So, even though my favorite herb is basil, I have killed two out of the four basil plants we planted in containers in our yard. The two remaining basil plants are sickly. But the parsley and rosemary are growing like gangbusters, so I snipped some fresh parsley this morning to fry up with fresh mushrooms for a quick omelet. I felt very accomplished :P

1. Our Tomato Plant, the Fighter. As some of you know, I've been trying my hand at container gardening this summer with mixed results. I've already killed two basil plants, and the folks on FiranMUX have a betting pool going as to when I'll kill the rest. Our tomato plant was the one that was doing the best, until a deer came and ate it--all but two leaves. My sister assured me it would die, but when I looked out there today I saw new leaves sprouting! I shall name this tomato plant Hillary--it just wont' die.


2. Our New Front Door. After many years of suffering it was finally our heating bill that convinced us to replace the front door with one that actually closed properly--with a seal. We decided to add a storm door as well. Home Depot came to install it, though we will need to paint it to match the shutters. The door looks great, and I love the storm door, but it kind of freaks me out when I look in the living room and I think that someone has left the front door wide open! I'm not used to all that light. The cats are afraid of the storm door because its piston hisses when it closes.


3. Projects that are Easier Than They Look. Adam and I have been dreading repairing our basement bathroom, which, through an unlikely series of mishaps, had two holes in the plaster, a crack by the sink, a cracked baseboard, and caulk that ripped away from the wall. We've been putting off fixing it forever, but it turns out that with a little plaster and sanding, it'll be ready for painting very shortly.


4. Uber Appliances. I said early on that this was going to be the year of new appliances for me. I ended up getting a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for Christmas, a George Foreman G5 grill for my birthday, and a deep fryer. I make low carb bread at least once every two weeks, so I get a lot of use out of the kitchen aid, and it has been a very worthwhile investment. The Foreman I use almost every day. This morning, I used it with the "omelette plates" to make baked eggs with dill and goat cheese. It was ready before I finished making my tea. The deep fryer doesn't get as much use as the other appliances, and I went with a really awkwardly designed one that takes up more counter space than it's entitled to. Still, I have used it a bunch of times since I got it, so it's not going to waste. My husband likes rutabaga fries and low carb onion rings. And chicken wings are a snap.


5. Good friends and Interesting Times. This week, Paul McEndree (kralentor) extended a last minute invitation to the Lyric Opera House to see Justice Antonin Scalia. My first instinct was to recoil from even the mention of the Prince of Darkness. But the chance to spend time with Paul and see a Supreme Court justice was too much for me to resist. Besides, much to my horror, Scalia isn't even the worst jurist on the Supreme Court anymore. It was a beautiful afternoon, an easy walk from the parking deck to the opera house, and a packed auditorium. I dug my nails into my hands as I listened to Scalia spew an amazing amount of excrement with a completely straight face, but he was still funny and entertaining. People who make pacts with the devil often are. Then afterwards, Paul took me for coffee and we had a really nice talk. (And yes, I stood for Justice Scalia, but I did not clap!)

1. My Blond Bombshell. While most people wake up to the sound of a grating alarm, I wake up to a furry little cheerleader with an internal clock who knows precisely when to rouse me from slumber by licking my nose and waving around his huge pompom tail. I'm really glad we decided to keep Butterscotch.
2. Basil. Basil is my favorite herb. It's not only great in Italian food, but it's also a staple of Thai cuisine, so you really get more bang for your buck. Fresh basil will wake up a traditional salad, is a perfect accompaniment to tomato, makes a fabulous pizza and gives elegance to a cream sauce. Given its special versatility, it was my first choice of plants to buy for the Great Dray Gardening Experiment of 2008 (tm). Adam and I have decided to see if we can keep plants alive this year, so we went to Home Depot and bought a bunch. Little did we know that it's too early in the year, and that basil requires full sun (which we don't have anywhere in the yard) and that really, you don't need five basil plants--one is probably fine. However, since three out of the five basil plants are already dying, it might be best that we got five. Now it's survival of the fittest to see which one will remain standing by the end of the summer.
3. Spring. Spring, glorious spring is here. I've been taking it for granted for too many years. This is because normally April and May are the worst months of the year for me due to FiranCon. I spend my entire spring chained to my desk writing larps and planning the convention. This year might not be different, but I am determined to do a much more incompetent job on the LARP this year, putting out only half-hearted effort and slouching my way to the finish line. Half the participants are going to be drunk anyway, so they might not even notice!
4. Preparation. I'm a mess about a lot of things, but in the past five years, I've learned the value of making lists, organizing, and planning ahead. I often fail at this, but when I succeed, I like to celebrate my triumphs. Today I had an organizational victory regarding the pour shield on my KitchenAid mixer, which recently warped in the dishwasher. I've only owned this appliance since January, so I was quite put out. I emailed the KitchenAid company who sent back a mail demanding all manner of information before they would honor the warranty, in a clear effort to frustrate me into simply buying the replacement part. However, I had anticipated this. Within easy reach of my desk, I was able to retrieve the series, model number, and serial numbers that I had saved for just such an occasion. I was even able to email them a copy of the receipt! My mother would be so proud.
5. Dates with the Husband. Tuesday, after a long day of being chained to my desk working (see above comments re: FiranCon), Adam breezed in after work and announced he was taking me out to dinner. I wasn't at all prepared for this. I don't work in pajamas and slippers--I always dress right down to the lace-up shoes--but my outfit was several notches below restaurant attire. Adam just shooed me upstairs to change into something dressy, then took me to the Bonefish Grill where we enjoyed a delicious (albeit pricey) meal that brought back memories of our cruise. Afterwards, he took me for a drive then when we got home, he started humming our wedding song, took me in his arms and danced me across the living room. I teasingly asked him, "Have you done something bad that you're trying to make up for?" But he's just a romantic like that, and I'm very lucky ;)

• Make a trip to Capitol Hill and take some photographs and do some field research on the Senate Office Buildings
• Visit a Campaign Headquarters. (I'm hoping the Democratic coordinated campaign office in Pikesville I spent nights holed up in during 2006 is an aberration, because there's no way that place was suitable setting for romance.)
• Interview a campaign manager
• Interview a senate staffer
• Think of a better hobby for my rules-obsessed main character than gardening
• Consider adding back in the subplot that was cut
• Channel my Inner Anais Nin
• Visit a Maryland Lockup and give myself a refresher course on the arraignments
• Visit the hot-spot restaurants and bars for politicos in the area

• 47 Hours is Longer Than It Sounds. The good news is that I've completed at least 47 hours worth of uninterrupted editing on my contemporary modern romance novel, Primary Partners. The trick here is the uninterrupted time. 47 hours doesn't sound like a lot, but when you can't count trips to the bathroom, picking up the phone, taking a lunch break, surfing for a missing piece of information, or having a short conversation with a client or someone passing by your desk, you'll find that it takes a lot longer than 47 hours really ought to. Anyway, three more to go before I cross the finish line.
• I had a lot of detritus to delete.The other good news is that the novel is no longer pure drivel. I gave it a lighter narrative voice, a comedic tone, and ended up cutting an entire subplot out of the book. It now clocks in as a complete story at just over 50K words (roughly 203 pages). I've never performed such a feat of brevity in my life so I'm ridiculously proud of myself.
• Much More Research Is Needed. When I wrote Cleopatra's Daughter I spent more than seven months doing research before I typed a word. I suspect that's probably the standard in historical fiction. But because I wrote this book as part of National Novel Writing Month, I didn't have time to do any research at all. The whole manuscript is riddled with questions in the margins, hopefully none of which will make or break the story. I'd hate to have based a whole scene on a premise that simply could not happen in a campaign. I've done what research I can on the net. I've read The Campaign Manager, the Vault's guide to Careers on Capitol Hill and I'm currently immersed in Jessica Cutler's The Washingtonienne (the sexploits of which offend even my indelicate sensibilities). But I feel as if there's not going to be any real substitute for my actually doing some interviews and field research. So if any of you know know people who work on the Hill (and I know several of you do), I'd really appreciate help in hooking up with someone who wouldn't mind humoring my sillier questions.
• Description Remains My Hideous Weakness. I think the main reason I managed to keep this book as short as it is, is by gleefully ignoring my greatest weakness--lack of the telling detail. Dialog is my strength. I'm decent with plot and pacing and I can draw memorable characters. But I'm the anti-George Lucas. I don't care about the scenery. Everything I write is against a green screen that I struggle to fill. Like a newbie writer, I really need to have a sticky with the five senses taped up on my desk to remind me. For the next draft of this novel, I have about five thousand words leeway, and I'm going to have to dedicate them all to a sense of time and place.
• There's not a single sex scene in my book. Remember when I said I was being coy? I realized today that there's not one actual sex scene in the whole draft--not even a sex scene where I close the bedroom doors and fade to black. This makes the book unpublishable for the majority of romance lines and, therefore, must be remedied. But what the heck is up with me? Why am I suddenly demanding chaste suffering from my poor characters? I suppose in the third draft, I'll have to pour myself a glass of wine, dress up in a negligee and help my protagonists "get it on." What, don't all writers do that?

As far as holidays went, Grace thought Halloween had a lot going for it. First, people actually gave you candy for free. The Government didn't need to pass a bill or anything--you could just knock on a fellow citizen's door and they'd give you stuff. Talk about redistribution of wealth!

He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

1. The writers of The Tudors have really fouled up. I enjoyed Showtime's recent historical series--the acting was decent and sometimes even good, the visuals were stunning, the history was interesting, and the story epic. Mind you, I'm not a purist when it comes to historical fiction. In fact, I scoff at those snobby college history majors who complain about every little dramatic change a writer has to make and don't understand that historical fiction is not meant to be a documentary. I even joyfully accepted the historical desecration that was HBO's Rome because it told a great tale! But by combining Henry VIII's sisters into one character, the writers of The Tudors have really limited the show's potential storyline. What about Mary Queen of Scots? What about Lady Jane Grey? Neither of these vitally important historical characters can even exist in future seasons because of this stupid decision. And it doesn't seem to have been done for any story-related reason that I can fathom.
2. Stilton is the king of cheeses. It is better than Danish blue or even Gorgonzola. I have dubbed it my favorite cheese in the universe, which means that England has finally produced some native food of merit. (My friend paultucker insists that beer battered mushrooms are also English, and if so, I guess that makes two good native foods from a country that is otherwise a culinary wasteland.)
3. It's time to replace the front door. When the hole in the seal of your front door becomes big enough that your cat hangs out in front of it all day, staring outside and/or guarding the house from creatures who want to come in, it's time to give up on Do-It-Yourself Repair and call a professional.
4. I am a disgrace at Google Research. I spent two hours the other day trying to find websites that would help me learn more about daily life as a staffer on capitol hill. Other than the vault, I got nothing. I don't understand this inability of mine. In my academic days, I was a decent library researcher. But appropriate internet search terms elude me.
5. Life without Delivered Groceries is a Nightmare. I realize those of you who have never had your groceries delivered (or never had them delivered for a reasonable fee) are snorting at my privileged whining here. You are thinking, "Some of us can't afford to have groceries delivered to our door like lords of the manor. Some of us are frugal." But what you don't know is that I saved thousands of dollars using Safeway.com's delivery service over the past two years. For $8 I could have my groceries delivered, and I assure you, this fee was well worth it as my growing savings attested. First of all, as you put things in your electronic cart, you were easily able to keep a running total and meet your budget exactly every time. Secondly, you saved on gas. Third, you save time that would have been spent in the grocery store--hours, in fact--and time is money. Safeway stopped delivering to our house the day of the last ice storm and since that terrible day, I have been completely unable to stick to our budget shopping in the store in person. Even if I use the calculator on my phone, thanks to scan codes instead of price tags, I can't remember what something cost if I need to put something back. Worse, by the time I get to the checkout, I'm too embarrassed to tell the clerk to remove 15 items that I won't be needing anymore. Life without delivered groceries is a tragedy you won't understand until you've suffered it. I'm getting desperate enough to reconsider Peapod.

1. It seemed very important to me that my heroine be in love with Mr. Wrong before realizing who Mr. Right is
2. Essential that her calamitous romance should culminate in someone being dumped after a kiss under the mistletoe.
3. And all this required my adding the month of December to the manuscript

• I'm six days into NanoEdmo and I have about 9 hours of editing of Primary Partners done.
• I rather like my main characters. They are quirky and a little goofy.
• The sexual tension is strong.
• For 50K words, there's even a little depth of character and story

• I can't remember writing half of this stuff
• There is no art to this draft at all and I like my other novels better
• While the sexual tension is hot, the actual sex scenes almost all rapidly fade to black. Why am I being so coy?
• I'm averaging three hours of editing per chapter and since there are 19 chapters, at this rate, it's a bad sign.
• I'm having to write brand new scenes to make up for a decided lack of transitions
• I have much research to do.