I’m a morning person. Generally. If I can get 8/9 hours of sleep, once I’m up, I’m up and ready to roll. I get all the important things done early in the day (i.e. I’ll write from 9 – 11 and then do errands if I have any), be home by 1 PM so I can write some more till the kids come home. I love being home in the afternoons. Whether I am working, or watching soaps, making dinner etc., that is the perfect day.

Enter my life now. My youngest daughter needs physical therapy on her ankle and because she’s in school all day, that’s a 3:45 PM appointment. Twice a week. For an hour and a half/two hours. I could drop her off but I feel like by the time I get home, I’ll have little time to turn around and go back again. So I bring my laptop, my kindle, and my knitting. I work. I get things done there. I know this is actually a good thing.

But it’s killing me. Because for some reason, losing my afternoons is making me irritable, grumpy and exhausted! It doesn’t make sense, but there you have it. And it seems like it’s going to be an endless proposition, although to be honest she only has appointments booked through early April and then we’ll re-evaluate. But I’m really out of sorts.

To add insult to injury, (haha) this week we add a dentist appointment for her on another afternoon at 5:45, and then another appointment or two next week. And … WAAAH!!!!

So I guess that makes me a morning person. Who needs her afternoons at home!!! What about you? Morning, afternoon or night?
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And a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my baby girl! Bailey is three years old today!

There were times I didn’t think we’d make it. Bailey was the most challenging puppy. I can really say watching her grow into herself and her personality has been a fascinating journey! I watched her learn how to be a pet, overcome (most) of her anxieties (with the help of medication), and really become the pet she was meant to be. She is all personality. She loves to be rubbed on her back, but will ease around until she is getting a “butt rub” instead. She still isn’t 100% trained and thinks the dining room is an acceptable place to poop, but we’ve come to accept there are things you can’t change. She’s sensitive and if I think she needs the vet or something is wrong, there usually is. She was just diagnosed with Lyme’s Disease this week after she hiked up her paw and refused to put weight on it. Last week it was an intestinal issue. But she is worth every little bit of work and aggravation. The ONLY thing I would change is that she doesn’t cuddle into me in bed the way Buddy does. Buddy loves body contact. Bailey just wants to be near me. If that’s the worst, I’ll take it. Even Buddy, who’d never admit this out loud, loves having a running partner in the yard. He will be 12 next month and she keeps him young!

I must get a more recent pic of her posted!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL! I love you :)

Was it just one week ago that I said I LOVED snow days? Said they brought me peace and comfort? Well, I have one thing to say to last week’s post: was I thinking???!!!???

A week ago Wednesday night, almost every school district around me began announcing early dismissal for Thursday. Not my district. On Thursday morning, my girls left for school, my oldest drove and it didn’t look too bad out. Mid-morning Thursday, the was coming down like crazy and I called school (which still hadn’t closed) and dismissed my daughter before the roads got worse. Thursday night, again every school district around me announced they’d be closed for Friday. Not my district. At 2:00 AM, I woke to the power going on and off, on and off until it finally settled on … you guessed it, OFF. Not really processing what this meant, we went back to sleep. At 6:00 AM, the battery in my alarm clock made it go off and I didn’t know what the noise was. I couldn’t see very well because it was still dark and we had no power. Some stumbling around and finally my husband did something to make the noise stop. That’s when we realized it was COLD. As in, no electricity means NO HEAT!

We looked outside and realized we’d gotten slammed by snow and it was still coming down. We assumed they’d canceled school because we had no phone service to get the call. Thank goodness my husband was willing to venture out and Dunkin Donuts was open. He brought us all home coffee and we met downstairs and lit a fire where the four of us sat. And stared – at the fire, at each other, and at the dogs. Oh. And we shivered. I called from my cell and reported the outage, but there was no information on how long we’d be without power and heat. The dogs, needing comfort too, jumped on the couch and slammed into my husband and his coffee, spilling it all over. No more warm coffee for him!

A little while later, we got a call that the carbon monoxide detector was going off in my parent’s house, who are in Florida but have a house a mile away from us in NY. My husband called the Fire Dept. and met them over there, where everything was fine. While he was gone, youngest daughter and I played scrabble in front of the fire. Oldest slept. Suddenly our carbon monoxide detector (which is connected to our alarm system) went off. I called hubby and he said he’d bring firemen to our house. A few minutes later, they were trudging through our place and we discovered our detectors were about 13 years old and needed to be replaced. Took awhile to get them to stop beeping though. No carbon monoxide levels were detected and they left. Hubby went out again later and brought home lunch, which we ate while we froze.

Finally I called Con Ed back and found out they couldn’t estimate a recovery time because they had 40,000 customers out in our county alone. So we dropped the dogs off at the kennel (they had heat) and called a hotel and headed over there. From that point on, things were more comfortable, at least until the following morning when my husband woke us at 6 AM to take him back to the house for his car so he could go to work. (Note: He didn’t HAVE to go to work, he couldn’t lay around anymore! Grrrr) The day started early, we had breakfast, checked out, went to knitting store (I’m making a BLANKET!) By the time we headed home to check the house, it was a little after Noon. Nothing had changed. We decided to go back to the hotel where many of my friends and neighbors were and to knit in the lobby or a corner somewhere it was warm.

We pulled out of my street and immediately noticed a MPH sign was flashing with the speed limit. We even discussed “Oh wow it’s flashing” and NOBODY realized that meant in the two seconds since we’d left the house, the POWER CAME BACK ON! :duh: We drive all the way to the hotel (not far but not close close either), find our friends to hear them tell us the POWER CAME BACK ON! And then it clicked. We should have known from the flashing MPH sign! :duh: :duh:

You’d think that’s the end, right?

WRONG!

We have two zones of heat and only one kicked back in. The downstairs still had no heat! Suffice it to say, we are now, finally back to normal. As for me? The next time I hear snow, I think the fear of GOD is going to kick in and I’ll go into hiding.

Lastly, I have to thank my oldest for being a good sport and allowing me to post these embarrassing photos here today!

Certainly tops a “Never Travel With Carly” story, doesn’t it?

There’s something soothing to me about knowing there’s a snow day :snow:. A no school day. I love waking up and finding out the kids have no school and I can just go back to sleep. If I hear there’s a snow storm coming, I get excited about the possibility of being home with my family with nothing to do but watch TV, look out at the snow, and hang with the dogs, kids and hubby. I often think I’m supposed to hate the snow – after all – it’s cold and wet – but in truth, I hate rain. That’s cold and wet. Rain doesn’t give you a day off with your family. Snow lets you know you’re going to be in the house, safe, warm and snuggled in your pajamas. But if the weather people say snow and suddenly it becomes a half hearted effort, and the kids have to trudge out to school, and you’re driving in slush, then UGH. Suddenly that’s not my peaceful day at all!

Yesterday I had a meeting at the high school. I left the house and it was cold and raining. I got out of the car and it was hailing. Or was it sleet? I don’t know. I was pelted by hard, cold rock-like things on my way into the building. That’s no fun at all.

So today we’re expecting a huge snowstorm – today into tomorrow. By the time you read this I will know whether I have my :snow: day I love, or the UGH day I don’t. Same for Friday. I hope it’s a snow day. I can use a soothing, peaceful day!

PS – I tried to post pictures but I am having WordPress problems and it wouldn’t accept them.

Sorry for the delay! I forgot to pick a winner. And the winner of Friday’s $25.00 Amazon Gift Card is:

#6 Miranda :Snoopy:

Congratulations! Please email me at: carly phillips @ mac . com (no spaces) with your full name and email so I can send the gift card!

EDITED TO ADD: The winners from Julie’s Wednesday giveaway are:

#62, Sandra Lynne
#46, Jeanne

Please drop Julie a note with your email address at julie @ julie leto . com (no spaces) with your name and SNAIL mail address!

*****

And now the Sunday Funny:

Apologies if anyone finds this politically incorrect. It’s only meant to amuse!

There once was an indian who had only one testicle and whose given name was “One stone”. He hated that name and asked everyone not to call him One stone. After years and years of torment, One stone finally cracked and said, “If anyone calls me One stone again i will kill them!” the word got around and nobody called him that any more. Then one day a young woman named blue bird forgot and said, “good morning, One stone.” he jumped up, grabbed her and took her deep into the forest where he made love to her all day and all night. He made love to her all the next day, until blue bird died from exhaustion.
The word got around that One stone meant what he promised he would do. Years went by and no one dared call him by his given name until a woman named yellow bird returned to the village after being away. Yellow bird, who was blue bird’s cousin, was overjoyed when she saw One stone. She hugged him and said, “good to see you, One stone,”
One stone grabbed her, took her deep into the forest, then he made love to her all day an all night, made love to her all the next day and made love to her all the next night, but yellow bird wouldn’t die!

Why?????
Oh, come on….take a guess!!!!!
Think about it!!!!!
You’re going to love this !!!!!!
Everybody knows…..

You can’t kill two birds with one stone !!!!

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Hey, all! I’m home and wish I was back in Aruba!
Not sure which Plotmonkey has this Friday but since there’s no contest up, I’ll post mine and we’ll swap!

Comment for a chance to win a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

It’s our yearly family vacation and I’ll be home LATE tonight. My thought for the day is this: What are all of YOU up to lately?

And a reminder: HOT NUMBER, the reissue, is in stores this Tuesday!

I can’t breathe through my nose. So I can’t think about anything else. I sleep but I wake up exhausted. I’ve tried Saline, Nasonex, Afrin, Neosinephrine, I run a vaporizer next to my bed, and today I did the one thing I swore I would NEVER do. I used a Netti Pot. And the only reason I did was because I know it’s the first thing an ENT will tell me to do when I make an appointment (which I will do when I get back from vacation – leaving Friday back next Thursday late). I want to be able to say I did EVERYTHING on my end and NOTHING helped. The only thing I can think of is that it’s the heat in my house – but I’ve lived here for almost 14 years so WHY NOW?

I’m losing my mind. I’m miserable and exhausted. So sorry to dump on all of you, but it’s all that’s on my mind these days! So suggestions above and beyond the ones mentioned above would be great. If not, some old fashioned pity and commiseration will do just fine!

Update – Come to find out, the medication I am on for my headaches (maintenance preventive medication) dries out nasal membranes! So with a little luck, I will be able to call my doctor, change my medication and this will go away! However until it does, old fashioned pity and commiseration still welcome!

The winner of my Go Red For Women pin is:

:valpres: # 5 Anna Dougherty :valpres:

Congratulations, Anna! Email me at: carlyphillips @ mac . com (no spaces) with your name/mailing address/ so I can get your prize in the mail!

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And the winners of Julie’s Wednesday giveaway of 2 sets of New Orleans Nights & Dare Me:

#40 Brenda
#38 Carol

Congratulations! Contact Julie at: julie at julieleto dot com. Send her your snail mail addy and she’ll get the books out right away.

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Lots of winners today! The three winners of an autographed copy of Cate Noble’s DEADLY SEDUCTION are:

#1 Gillian
#9 Joyce
#19 Kirsten

Congrats, Winners! Please send your snail mail address to janelledenison @ sbcglobal.net, and I’ll pass it on to Cate!

*****

And now for the Sunday Funny:

It was a small town and the patrolman was making his
evening rounds. As he was checking a used car lot, he
came upon two little old ladies sitting in a used car.
He stopped and asked them why they were sitting
there in the car. Were they trying to steal it?

“Heavens no, we bought it.”

“Then why don’t you drive it away?”

“We can’t drive.”

“Then why did you buy it?”

“We were told that if we bought a used car here we’d get screwed. So we’re just waiting.”

We’ve discussed our writing processes here before and I’ve told you mine’s particularly ugly. I just handed in my Sept 2010 book and as usual it was a mad rush to the end! But I’m finished! And because I love you all, I’ve decided to give you an exclusive sneak peak at my 2010 covers for:

KISS ME IF YOU CAN (8/10)

and LOVE ME IF YOU DARE (9/10)

It’s a brand new cover look for me. What do you think?

I haven’t filled you in on my two goofballs lately, so here goes:
Buddy and Bailey
The dogs are doing well. Of course they LOVE the snow and Buddy hates to come back in at night, which makes MY life very hard. I usually have to call one of my daughters to call HIM because he has decided to no longer obey my voice. I caught them at a sweet moment but I’m very Wordpress technologically challenged, so I’ll ask another plotmonkey to enlarge it a bit ;but here’s the photo:

I’m currently working on a MORE THAN WORDS novella story for 2011 – I’m excited to be part of this charitable program Harlequin runs, so stay tuned! I’m doing the anthology with Jill Shalvis, Pam Morsi, Meryl Sawyer and Donna Hill.

So what do you think of the new cover look?

It’s the 5th Friday of the month, so the Plotmonkeys are all chipping in to offer a $50.00 Amazon Gift Card!

You know the drill! Comment for a chance to win and check back on Sunday!