Plot Monkeys

Over the past few months, in preparation for our move from California to Oregon this summer, I’ve been methodically (and ruthlessly) cleaning out each and every room in the house and getting rid of “junk stuff”. After living in the same house for 19 years, I have to admit that we’ve certainly accumalated a whole lot of junk, too. Stuff that we never should have bought or kept in the first place because we never used it! Yes, we’d become pack rats!

So, wanting to start out fresh and clutter free in Oregon, I decided that it was time to clean house in a big way. And I did. Out went furniture we no longer used/needed, clothes we no longer wore, games we no longer played, home decor that was outdated, crystal I never used, the girls in-line skates and razor scooters, TV, VCR, bread maker, Legos, blankets, books, comforters, curtains, artwork, craft stuff, cassette player, electronic gadgets, an old PlayStation that the girls no longer use, night stands, curio cabinet, candlestick holders, teapots (I have a collection and I weeded it out considerably), floral arrangements, Don’s golf stuff he no longer used . . . and a whole lot more. In fact, I had boxed up so much stuff while cleaning out the house that I had to rent a storage unit for it all until we had a garage sale!

Well, the yard sale was this past weekend, and what an experience it was! I advertised that the yard sale would begin at 7 AM, and by 6:30 AM cars were parked on the curb waiting while I put everything out on the driveway. As soon as I was done, they literally swarmed and overwhelmed me as they rummaged through my junk. These people were clearly die hard garage sale-ers and me, my daughter, and a neighbor who was helping out, could barely keep up with the steady flow of cars and people who came by. By noon, we were exhausted . . . and we did this again on Sunday, too. All in all, I sold $1,000 of “junk” – and that just goes to show you just how much stuff I had out there to sell! As the saying goes, “your junk is someone else’s treasure”, and that certainly held true this past weekend.

So, for the past few months it’s been “out with the old”, but not necessarily “in with the new”. Now that I’m loving the clean, uncluttered look inside my house, my new motto when buying something new is “quality not quantity”. This motto has helped me to not buy new junk just because it’s pretty or cute. From now on, anything new that is brought into our house has to serve a distinct purpose, or I’m not buying it.

OREGON UPDATE: For those of you who’ve been following my move to Oregon, we’ve yet to sell our house in California. The real estate market here is so bad, and getting worse each month that passes. We recently made the decision to rent our house here, and rent something up in Oregon until the market changes in a more positive way. I figure that will give us time to figure out where we really want to live in Oregon and find just the right house for us. The girls and I plan to join Don in July. That’ll give us time to get settled in and get my youngest daughter prepared for her new high school, and my oldest into college. All in all, we’re still very excited about the entire move.

Back to garage sales. Have you ever had a garage/yard sale? And if so, what was your experience – good or bad? And do you enjoy going to garage/yard sales to find great deals, or are they just not your thing?

Okay, I just want to cry. I just spent the past hour on a big long post recapping American Idol this season, my favorites and why they’re my favorites, who I want to win and why (all the while saving my post as I did this), and then I hit “publish” to get the blog lined up to post in the morning and POOF, it completely and totally disappeared. Everything in the post — GONE. I’m devastated. And it’s 11 PM at night and I’m exhausted and upset and there’s no way I can recreate that post when it took me an hour to get it just so.

So, I sincerely apologize for this shortened version of what once was a big, long blog on this season of American Idol. That said, for those of you who watch American Idol, who do you want to win? I’m rooting for David Cook!

#54 Tammi Flora
#118 Anne

CONGRATULATIONS! Please contact me at janelledenison @ sbcglobal.net with your mailing address so I can mail out your WILD FOR HIM prize package!

SUNDAY FUNNY:

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”

The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?”

The boy takes the quarters and leaves.

“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”

The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game’s over!”

I just found out that WILD FOR HIM will be a hardcover feature release with Rhapsody Bookclub! Whoo-hoo! Unfortunately, the hardcover version of WILD FOR HIM won’t be available until June, but to celebrate today I’m giving away TWO (2) sets of the following:

A hardcover version of TOO WILDE TO TAME and BORN TO BE WILDE, and an exclusive ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of WILD FOR HIM a month and a half before it hits bookstore shelves! Here’s your chance to read Ben’s story before anyone else!

Whether you’re a die-hard Wilde fan or new to my Wilde series, let me know! For a chance to win one of these prize packages, just post a comment below then check back on Sunday to see if your name was drawn.

Over the years, the way we listen to music has changed drastically. Growing up, I listened to LP’s (vinyl records) and 8-track tapes. Remember those? My husband and I still have quite a few LP’s from our youth that we’ve kept, and we still have a stereo system to play those records if we ever want to. Not that we have in the past 20+ years — but hey, you never know when that urge is going to strike! There’s something about those LP’s that makes us reminisce about simplier times and make it very difficult for us to part with any of them.

Then came 8-track tapes. (Some of our bloggers may not even know what those are!!!) Recently, while cleaning out the boxes we have stored in the rafters in our garage, I came across a big box of 8-track tapes with artists such as The Carpenters, Styx, Journey, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Merle Haggard, Bee Gees, Bay City Rollers, and many others. We even had the 8-track player from way back when. Don and I laughed, we reminisced, and then packaged it all up for our upcoming yard sale. Hopefully, our “trash” will be come someone elses “treasure”.

It was funny to see how big and bulky those 8-track tapes were, and it’s easy to see why they didn’t last long in the music industry. However, that said, I do believe that the 8-track tape did pave the way for the more popular cassette tapes, which Don and I had a ton of, too! Cassette tapes were a huge success – they were small, compact, convenient, and how cool was the portable Sony Walkman that we could use to play those tapes and wear headphones? And remember boom boxes that played cassettes, too? I loved cassette tapes, and according to research, the audio cassette became the most widely used music format during the 70’s, 80’s, and part of the 90’s.

That is, until the compact disc (CD) took the music industry by storm. This disc format was the coolest way to play music – how amazing was it that all that music could fit on a shiny silver disc and sound so good? The cassette tapes looked so bulky in comparison, and it didn’t take long for them to become outdated and a thing of the past! I think CD’s is the music format that most people know the best, probably because it’s so current. My two daughters, born in 1990 and 1992, have only bought music on a CD. They’ve seen vinyl LP’s, the 8-track tapes, and the cassette tapes, but have never played any of them. To them, it’s ancient history. Over the years they’ve bought and collected dozens and dozens of CD’s, and most of the time they’d use their CD player to listen to the music.

A few years ago we bought them their first iPod, and it took them a while to “get into it”. MP3 players are truly amazing. I mean, here’s this little thing that fits in the palm of your hand that holds THOUSANDS of songs. Who would have ever thought that would be possible? Don and I have also gotten an iPod, and all those CD’s we bought over the past 20+ years we’ve converted into digital music and downloaded them to our iPods. Yes, it’s very cool to have every single CD we own on our iPods - - it truly boggles my mind!

But even now, with MP3 players and Ipods dominating the market and quickly becoming the main source of playing music, my girls still love CD’s. While most people are buying and downloading their music via the internet and iTunes, my girls still insist on buying the CD version of the album they want, then copying it to iTunes and downloading it to their iPods. When I recently told them that someday, possibly soon, that CD’s would be obsolete, they were both pretty upset. While they love their iPod, they also really enjoy the “physical” part of having a CD. But, chances are, within the next ten years or so CD’s — just like vinyl, 8-track, and cassettes — will become nothing more than a part of history. And that really does makes them sad.

Right now, it’s all about digital music. And I have to admit that it’s awesome and way cool, but it also makes me wonder how we’ll be listening to music another 10-20 years down the road. Each year, sales of CD’s are declining in lieu of MP3 players and downloadable music. And quite honestly, I’m going to really miss CD’s, too.

So, how many of you remember playing vinyl records and 8-track tapes? What is your main source of listening to music now - - CD’s or iPod/MP3? How do you feel about CD’s become obsolete in the future? Will you miss them or have you already moved on with your MP3 player?

The winners of Julie’s contest yesterday are #5, Jolene and #66, Kelly H! Please email Julie with your snail mail addresses so she can get out the galleys as soon as she has them! Congrats!

Undoubtedly, this Plotmonkey blog has given us a lot of laughs and fun times, as well as sharing and commiserating in some tough times, but it just wouldn’t be the awesome community that it is if it wasn’t for our readers and the people who take the time out of their busy days to post here with us. So, a great big THANK YOU to all of you who have made the jungle such a special place to hang out. We truly treasure our time with you and the many friendships we’ve made along the way! You all ROCK!!!

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff and onto the fun celebration!

I really debated on what kind of excerpt to post here at Plotmonkeys. I wanted it to be different from the excerpt on my website, and I couldn’t decide between something hot and sexy, or something more fun to give you a glimpse of the character’s personalities. So, I went with a fun excerpt to celebrate our 2nd anniversary here at Plotmonkeys and decided to save the hot stuff for when the book is actually out in June. I hope this excerpt makes you smile, and maybe even laugh a bit. It was a fun scene to write!

Here’s a quick summary of the story: Ex-Marine and security agent Ben Cabrera isn’t going to complain about his latest assignment protecting the daughter of a gubernatorial candidate. After all, spending 24/7 with Christine Delacroix isn’t exactly a chore. But it turns out that Christine’s seduction tactics are top-notch, and it soon becomes impossible to keep things strictly professional. Christine is an uptown girl who’s spent her whole life being perfect. Now she just wants to have fun. And who better to have a good time with than the gorgeous guy hired to protect her around the clock?

WILD FOR HIM Exclusive Plotmonkey Excerpt:

Ben and Christine passed a chain linked area where a small group of boys were playing basketball on a concrete court. As soon as the kids saw Ben, they ran for the open gate to greet him, then formed a semi-circle around the two of them.

“Can you play a game of hoops with us, Ben?” One of the kids asked hopefully. He looked about twelve, as did the three other boys who’d joined him, and it was obvious by the bright expressions on all four of their faces that they were very fond of Ben.

Ben reached out and affectionately ruffled the boy’s unruly brown hair. “Sorry, guys, not today.”

“Awww, man.” Clearly disappointed, he hung his head and scuffed the ground with the toe of his well worn Nike’s.

“Whose’s your girlfriend?” one of the other boys asked as he tucked the basketball beneath his arm.

“This is Christine, and she’s a friend,” Ben clarified, then went on to introduce her to the boys, who also lived in the apartment building.

“Well, she should be your girlfriend, because she’s hot,” the one named Jimmy said, eyeing her much too boldly for someone so young.

Ben cringed at the unexpected, and very suggestive comment.

Unoffended, Christine laughed. It had been a very long time since someone had referred to her as hot, and she wasn’t about to turn it down. “Why, thank you, Jimmy. That’s a lovely compliment.”

Another boy looked pointedly at her outfit, her bangle bracelets, then her high heeled shoes before meeting her gaze. “We’d ask you to play hoops, but you look way too girly for us.”

There was an edge of sarcasm to the kid’s voice, and she arched a brow at him. “Just because I look like a girl doesn’t mean I play like a girl.”

“Yes, it does,” Samuel chimed in, backing his friend with a succinct nod.

Smiling, she held her hand out to Andrew, the one who was holding the basketball. “Let me have the ball,” she said in a friendly, easy-going tone.

Andrew frowned and took a small step back, unwilling to give her the coveted ball that clearly defined them as “men” in their minds. “You’re a girl.”

“Why yes, I am,” she agreed, and kept her hand stretched toward him.

Beside her, Ben sighed. “Christine-”

Ignoring her bodyguard, she kept her gaze locked with the boy’s. “Come on, give me the ball, please? I’d like to show you something real quick, and then you can have it back. I promise.”

Still skeptical, Andrew glanced toward Jimmy, establishing the other kid as the leader of their pack and the one who made all the crucial decisions in their circle of friendship. After a few seconds, Jimmy gave him a nod and said, “Go ahead and give it to her, Andrew. Let’s see what she can do.”

Reluctantly, Andrew shot the ball her way, fast and hard, and she caught it with both hands without flinching, as he no doubt expected. She walked onto the basketball court and up to the three point line, and her audience followed behind to watch.

She calculated the distance to the basketball hoop, bounced the ball a few times to get a feel for it, then glanced back at the small group of boys waiting with varying degrees of feigned boredom and subtle curiosity etching their expressions. Ben stood off to the side as well, his arms crossed casually over his chest and amusement flickering in his gaze.

“Okay, boys, and that includes you, too, Ben,” she said, winking at him. “Pay close attention, because I’m about to show you what this girl can do.”

She dribbled the ball a few more times, positioned herself, then concentrated on all the important elements of making a basket that her high school basketball couch had taught her. Visualizing the shot, she sent the ball sailing through the air, watching as it arched toward her target. The ball hit low on the backboard, and instead of bouncing back onto the court, it circled the rim of the basket before dropping through the net.

Yes, she thought in exhilaration as she suppressed the urge to do a victory dance of some sort. It wasn’t the cleanest shot she’d ever made, but it was enough to prove that she was a girl with a few hoop skills of her own.

One of the boys ran out to fetch the ball as the other three stared at her in shock and blatant disbelief.

“Whoa,” Samuel breathed in awe.

“That was awesome,” Jimmy added, his eyes wide.

“Not bad for a girl,” Andrew muttered beneath his breath.

“Nice shot,” Ben said, the bland tone of his voice belying just how amazed she knew he really was beneath that indifferent facade of his.

Feeling a little cocky after mastering her shot, she strolled back toward the boys, her gaze on the biggest, sexiest one of the bunch. “Awww, come on, Ben. You were impressed. Admit it.”

The corner of his mouth twitched with a smile, but he managed to keep his humor under wraps. “Maybe that was just beginner’s luck.”

“Hardly.” She stopped in front of him and gave him a smug look. “I’ll have you know that I was a guard on my high school varsity team.”

That bit of news finally shook a surprised reaction out of him. “You played basketball in high school?”

He sounded as stunned as her mother had been when Christine had announced her choice of extra-curricular activity at the all girls boarding school she’d attended. Audrey had been pushing for ballet or something equally feminine and had been less than pleased to discover her daughter had chosen what she considered a boy’s sport.

“I know it might be hard to believe, but it’s true,” she said to Ben, as well as the boys who were still gathered close by. “Of course it’s been a while since I’ve actually played a game, but I’m sure I can hold my own. How about a quick ten-point game with the boys?”

“Yeah!” the foursome cheered enthusiastically in response.

Ben’s gaze narrowed. “You’re kidding, right?”

She spread her hands wide. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

His gaze took her in, all the way down to the red painted toe-nails peeking from her open-toed shoes. Then he gave her a private, teasing smirk. “You’ll break your neck in those stilts you’re wearing.”

Which was easily remedied. She kicked off her Jimmy Choo’s, pushed up the sleeves on her top, and glanced back up at Ben, now four inches shorter than him – and much closer to the boys’ height now. “I’ll go barefoot.”

He shook his head, not the least bit moved by her efforts to sway him. “I don’t think so.”

He was in full bodyguard mode, obviously trying to protect her from something as simple as a game of basketball, which she found ridiculous. Sure, she was smaller than most girls, but she was far from being a delicate debutante, and she wasn’t about to let him treat her like one.

“I’m not that fragile, Ben. I swear I won’t break if I get bumped around a little bit.”

He blinked lazily and rocked back on his heels. “Maybe not, but you’ll definitely get all hot and sweaty.”

Something about the low, husky tone of his voice and the too sensual way his gaze held hers gave his comment a whole different meaning and inspired tantalizing fantasies of hot, sweaty sex . . . with him. The sudden awareness flaring between them made her feel restless, and a bit daring, and she didn’t hesitate to act on the impulsive moment.

Still mindful of their young spectators nearby, she leaned closer to Ben to give them a small measure of privacy, licked her bottom lip, and whispered, “That’s what showers are for.”

Ben experienced a swift kick of lust straight to his gut as Christine’s less than innocent comeback flooded his mind with provocative, erotic images — of her joining him in his shower, a steady steam of water sluicing down her naked body and a come hither smile on her lips as he lathered all her sleek, sensual curves.

He swallowed back a low groan and shoved those dangerously arousing thoughts of Christine right out of his head. But despite the disappearance of those risque images, he still had to deal with the flesh and blood woman standing in front of him, who seemed so bound and determined to tempt him with what he couldn’t have. Her.

Ever since they’d left her parents house that afternoon, he’d noticed a distinct change in Christine. While she’d always teased and flirted with him in the past when their paths crossed, now that he’d been assigned as her bodyguard for the next three weeks there was a stronger, more tangible seductive quality to her behavior he found way too inviting.

Like now. The irresistible dare in her sparkling blue eyes encompassed a slew of possibilities, and beckoned him to accept every single one of them. Then there was that beguiling curve to her lush mouth that captured his full attention, along with the fact that she was standing close enough for him to look down and watch the intriguing rise and fall of her small, firm breasts.

“Awww, come on, Ben,” Jimmy said, effectively reminding him that he wasn’t alone with Christine, as he suddenly wished he were.

“It’s just one quick game,” Andrew added.

Christine batted her lashes, taunting him in that affable way of hers. “Yeah, come on, Ben,” she cajoled, her tone sugar-sweet. “Or are you afraid I might whoop your butt?”

“Ooooo,” the foursome chorused together, as if she’d just issued the ultimate challenge to his masculinity. Which she had.

He pointed a finger toward her pert little nose. “You’re so on.” After that bold, nervy statement, he wasn’t about to say no. “And don’t expect me to go easy on you because you’re a girl.”

She tossed her head back and laughed. “And don’t whine like a little boy when you lose.”

God, she was too much, though he had to admit that her confidence was a huge turn-on.

They divided up into teams, with two boys on each side. With a toss of the ball the game began. Christine took the sport seriously, using exceptional skill when it came to playing with the kids, but she saved all her womanly wiles for when it came to dealing with him. Like when he came up behind her to steal the ball from her grasp and she turned the move into a full, frontal body assault as she scooted back and pressed her curvy bottom against his groin, forcing him to retreat from the too intimate position or risk embarrassing himself in front of the boys with a raging hard-on.

But putting distance between himself and Christine on the court didn’t stop him from noticing how a gradual pink flush suffused her face, or enjoy the fun-loving laughter that pierced the air as she managed to outwit her opponents. She played aggressively, and she was in it to win. She passed the ball to her teammates when the opportunity presented itself, made a few shots of her own, and didn’t mind getting down and dirty for fear of breaking a nail or messing up her hair.

Every time she got close to him, Ben caught a whiff of her signature scent — a warm, vanilla fragrance that made him want to take a big bite out of her. Or lick her skin to see if she tasted as good as she smelled. And the harder she played the game, the stronger the scent grew, combining with everything else about her to distract the hell out of him.

He couldn’t focus on the game, couldn’t make a shot if his life depended on it. Because when he tried, she was right there in front of him, trying to take the ball away — and using everything in her feminine arsenal to do it.

She didn’t play fair, at least not with him.

By the time the game ended, with his team losing by four points, he was sweating and breathing too hard, and it had little to do with the October sun overhead, and was more a result of Christine’s frisky moves.

As she celebrated with her teammates with high fives and atta boys, all he could do was grin, shake his head, and take the loss like a man.

His teammates, Jimmy and Andrew, weren’t as benevolent.

“I can’t believe we lost to a girl,” Jimmy grumbled.

“Yeah, that totally sucks,” Andrew added with a frown.

“Come on, guys, don’t be poor sports,” Ben said as he clasped both Jimmy and Andrew on the shoulder in a small attempt to soothe their bruised egos. “They won fair and square, so let’s go congratulate them.”

With a little push from Ben in the right direction, the boys headed toward the champions and issued a “good game” compliment. The foursome went back to playing basketball on their own, and Christine picked up her shoes and strolled toward Ben, glowing from the exertion of playing the game, and from her recent victory.

She stopped in front of him and wrinkled her nose. “Well, well, well. It looks like you’re the one who’s all hot and sweaty.”

He dragged his fingers through his damp hair and laughed. It figured that she’d turn that comment back around on him, and he did the same thing.

“It’s nothing a quick shower can’t take care of.” But while he’d previously fantasized about her joining him, in reality he was all on his own.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I just received full color bookmarks and tri-fold flyers for WILD FOR HIM, along with new bookplates that I will autograph so you can have your own signed copy of the book when you purchase it in June! For anyone interested in a bookmark, flyer, and autographed bookplate, just send a regular sized self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to me at:

Janelle Denison
Plotmonkey Blog
P.O. Box 1102
Rialto, CA 92377

To celebrate our 2nd anniversary here at Plotmonkeys, I’m giving away two ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) of WILD FOR HIM. For a chance to win and read a copy of WILD FOR HIM before anyone else does, (it’s not out until June!) just post a comment on today’s blog. Winners will be announced tomorrow (Friday), so check back then to see if you’re one of the lucky winners!

I’ll admit it. I love getting a good discount on something, or better yet, free stuff. Who doesn’t? And nowadays, it seems like every store has some sort of “Free Buyer Reward Program”. And everytime I’m offered the chance to apply for some kind of new frequent buyer card, especially at a place where I buy a lot of stuff, I do it. I’m such a sucker, I know, but I can’t seem to help myself.

So, let me dig through my purse and share with some of the frequent buyer reward/discount programs I belong to.

Grocery store club cards: Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons. Now, I honestly don’t know why these grocery stores insist on having everyone sign up for a club card to get extra discounts on their groceries. Why can’t they just give EVERYONE the weekly ad specials and discounts — without having to swipe a club card every time? It’s annoying, but these club cards are essential for me when I shop for groceries because they make a HUGE difference on the bottom line total of my bill. As an aside, I also clip and use coupons and you should see the money I save between using the club card and getting those coupons “doubled”. I easily cut my grocery bill by 50% every time I make a shopping trip. It’s amazing. (I’ll save my “coupon” savings for another blog!) .

Office supply club cards: Staples, Office Max and Office Depot. I’ve received great discounts and even reward checks from these stores.

Pet club cards: Petsmart and Petco.

Clothing or Department Store club cards: Stein Mart & Hot Topic (My girls love this store and frequent buyers get 15% off!).

Bookstores club cards: Border Rewards and Barnes & Noble. (Absolutely necessary!)

Drugstore: CVS, GNC, Target Pharmacy

Food Stuff: Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt (Buy 8 and Get 1 Free), Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (Buy 10 caramel apples and get 1 Free), Orowheat/Entemanns (Don gets 50% off all bakery products at the outlet! Whoo-hoo!), Cold Stone Ice Cream (Buy 9, get the 10th one Free), Harry & David (Spend a certain amount and get a nice discount).

Beauty: Ulta Cosmetics, The Body Shop (Spend a certain amount and get free store credit), Victoria’s Secret Angel rewards card (Get a rewards check based on what you spend).

Misc: Hand Car Wash (Buy 9 Car Washes get 1 Free), Spencer’s Store (My girls made me get this card, but I’ve yet to see any kind of reward or discount — maybe I need to spend more money there! ), Hallmark Rewards (I’ve gotten some nice reward checks from them to use at their store!), Things Remembered Rewards Club (They send out discount coupons).

The discounts and freebies are great. Having to carry around all those frequent buyer cards in my medium-sized purse and trying to FIND THEM when I need them is a pain in the butt. Add to that all your various credit cards, gas cards, gift cards, health insurance cards, and other “plastic”, and you almost need two purses to carry it all! So, what to do with all those necessary cards, and frequent buyer/reward cards?

If I have a choice, I prefer those small plastic cards that you can slip onto a key ring. I have a key ring in my purse devoted just to the frequent buyer cards. What’s left goes into a zippered coin purse (larger size), which holds all the other reward cards. But I still feel that’s it’s not as organized as it could be. Recently I came across a pretty cool organizer created especially for discount cards and gift cards. It’s called a “Card Cubby“, and it actually allows you to alphabetize all your various cards! What a cool concept. I haven’t gotten one yet, but I’m thinking it would make a great Mother’s Day gift to myself. Especially the hot pink one!

So, how many of you out there have a ton of the frequent buyer rewards cards like I do? And how do you organize them?

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA (missing in action), but my girls and I have been in Oregon visiting Don for the past week. This is the first time that Danielle and Kellie have been to Oregon, so there’s been a lot of sight-seeing and checking out different areas just outside of Portland . . . and a bit of house hunting. We haven’t yet sold our house in Southern California, but I wanted to see some houses in Oregon in different neighborhoods, and get a feel for homes and builders. And I wanted to be prepared just in case our house does sell in the next few months. I’ve been viewing a lot of homes that are for sale in Oregon on-line, and I made a list of the ones that appeal the most to me that I want to see while we’re here. There are certain things I’m looking for in a new home (all Don wants is a three car garage! Typical guy! ), and one of the most important things would be a nice, big, functional kitchen — functional as in the way it’s laid out. I want a kitchen nook for our table and I want a LARGE great room (family room), since that’s where we spend the majority of our time together as a family.

What I don’t want is a formal living room and dining room. For me, personally, it’s been a waste of good square footage. The house I currently have has both, and we hardly ever use either. In fact, I recently sold my formal dining room set and china hutch because it’s furniture I just didn’t want to take with us — and I’m hoping we’ll find a house without a formal dining room. Believe or not, they’re out there — I’ve seen them, and it’s what works for us, personally. Currently, our formal living room has a pool table in it. When we first moved into this house 18 years ago we did the whole “formal living room” thing, and never ever used it!!! When we had company over, or even a party, everyone gathered in the kitchen and family room — which is why those two things are so important to me. Anyway, we got rid of the nice living room couch and furniture, and bought a pool table and some comfortable reclining chairs, and we’ve gotten more use out of that room now than we ever did before. So, those are my main requirements. I have a few more, but that big kitchen and great room is the top of the list.

Now, as we’re walking through homes that are for sale, I’m noticing a trend where people are painting every room a different color — and I’m not talking neutral colors, but bright, bold colors! I’m a neutral color girl myself. My walls in my current home are beige and the trim is white. (Boring to some, I’m sure! ) If I want color in a room, I do it with decor and furnishings. So, seeing all these bright colors on the walls in the homes up here in Oregon is throwing me off! I understand that everyone has their own taste, and colored rooms work for a lot of people — but I’m having a hard time seeing the layout of the house past that vibrant paint. I’m also very concerned that I won’t be able to paint the walls my neutral beige because the color underneath is so bold and bright and will change my beige color to something I just can’t live with.

So, I have two curious questions for you today. 1) If you have a formal living room and dining room, do you use them? 2) Do you prefer neutral colored walls in a house, or the bolder colors?

I’ll be traveling back home today and won’t see your comments until this evening, but I’m definitely curious to read your answers!

P.S. The pictures in this blog are actual pictures of homes that are listed for sale in the Oregon area. I just wanted to show you what I meant by the bolder, brighter colors on the walls.

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ADDITION TO BLOG: Hi, Julie here. I’m just sneaking into everyone’s blogs this week, aren’t I? Bad Julie.
I’m guest blogging over at Diana Peterfreund’s blog today, telling the story about how PHANTOM PLEASURES (in stores now, as if you didn’t know!) took fifteen years to publish. Come by and say hi! She’s also giving away a copy!

Emma (Comment #35)

CONGRATULATIONS! Please contact me at janelledenison @ sbcglobal.net with your mailing address and your choice of book from my backlist so I can mail out your prize package!

SUNDAY FUNNY (I couldn’t find an Easter joke, but this one is pretty darn funny!):

A woman went to her doctor. The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, “I’ve some bad news. You have cancer, and you had best put your affairs in order.”

The woman was shocked, but managed to compose herself and walk into the waiting room where her daughter had been waiting. “Well daughter, we women celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate when things do not go so well. In this case, things are not well. I have cancer. Let’s head to the club and have a martini.”

After 3 or 4 martinis, the two were feeling a little less somber. There were some laughs and more martinis. They were eventually approached by some of the woman’s old friends, who were curious as to what the two were celebrating.

The woman told her friends they were drinking to her impending end. “I’ve been diagnosed with AIDS,” she told them. The friends were aghast and gave the woman their condolences.

After the friends left, the woman’s daughter leaned over and whispered, “Momma, I thought you said you were dying of cancer, and you just told your friends you were dying of AIDS.”

The woman said, “I don’t want any of those bitches sleeping with your father after I’m gone.”

Now that’s putting your affairs in order.

Today I’m giving away a $25.00 gift card to Borders/Waldenbooks, along with the winner’s choice of an autographed book from my backlist.

All you have to do to enter today’s contest is post a comment below, then check back on Sunday to see if you’re this week’s winner!

And just for fun . . . what books are on your “to be bought” list?

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A NOTE FROM CARLY
And a shameless plea from Bailey and Buddy:

Wheatens on Parade is an event that shows off wheatens and earns money for Wheaten Rescue. I entered Bailey and Buddy. If you would like to vote, EVERYONE/ANYONE gets one free vote. After that, if you want to donate money to Wheaten Rescue, you can buy votes. Info below.

In the meantime, here is Wheatens on Parade!

If you click on each picture, they come up larger.
Where to find BUDDY - 5th row down from top far right
5th row up from bottom far right and middle

Where to find BAILEY - 6th row down from top far left
4th row up from bottom far left
Its fun just to go through, but I’m asking you to vote Everyone has a FREE vote.

HOW TO VOTE:
Email: wheaten68-parade@yahoo.com
and in the subject - vote
and in the email - just write - One free vote for Buddy D or Bailey D (pick one)
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IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT WHEATEN RESCUE (I DID):
Additional votes: $5 each
Voting address: wheaten68-parade@yahoo.com
Paying address: wheatenshop-win@yahoo.com
(contact me if Paypal is not an option for you!)

Thanks!
*****