Told you so

A couple of weeks ago when my neighbor Lori B. hosted a book party-- remember I told you she made me wear a tiara? You didn't believe me did you?

For the record- she only made me wear the boa during the question and answer session. (Lori has a rather twisted sense of humor, doesn't she?)

Today I have great and glorious plans. I'm going out for lunch! With Krista, a fellow writer! Good food and writing talk. Ahhh!

I'm back

After taking a week off blogging for reasons including (but not limited to) sickness, turkey cooking, and identity theft (trust me, you don't want to know), I'm finally back on the web.
Good news-- I'm featured this month on the Bethany House's book club page. You can see it here.
Happy Tuesday!

One of "those" weeks

I haven't blogged in a bit because it's been a rather hectic week around here. My mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital with a (quite scary) post-surgical blood clot. She lives a couple of hours north of here, so the family has been driving back and forth at all sorts of crazy hours. At this writing, she is still in the hospital, but hopefully coming home today or tomorrow. Everyone please say a prayer for Leah.
Yesterday (Sunday) I came down with the mother of all stomach flu's. I mean, I was flattened. Today, I'm feeling better (not good yet, but considerably better than yesterday). Now I'm just praying no one else in the family gets it. Blah!

Donna Reed would be so disappointed

Tonight, we had some visitors for dinner. I REALLY wanted to make a good impression. I am REALLY not a terribly domestic person. So... on Saturday night I did a trial run of the dinner. It turned out perfect! So... I spent the day today(and made my kids who had the day off school spend the day) cleaning, decorating, etc.
My domestic friends and relatives called me all day long. "Are you okay?" "Do you need any help?" My smug answer, "No thanks, it's all under control."
Remember that dinner that turned out perfect on Saturday? Well, tonight I undercooked the chicken--same recipe, same oven, what gives? Ugh! How can something that turned out so well not 48 hours ago, turn out so, well... raw, when it really matters?
It's times like these when I remember why it is I don't entertain much (unless of course having pizza delivered when the Carobinis come over counts as entertaining :-).
I think now is the perfect time to eat a little chocolate.

Book shindig

Unfortunately, all my photos from last night's book shindig at Lori B 's house turned out really dark :-(. It was a great evening though (in spite of the fact that Lori made me wear a tiara!), with about 40ish women just hanging out and chatting about books, kids, whatever. Here are a few of more visible pix.

THANKS LORI, IT WAS GREAT!!!!!

Feast and famine

My friend and neighbor Lori B. is hosting dozens of women at her home tonight, where we will celebrate A Promise to Remember after its first month on the shelves. Lori has been a tireless promoter of Promise since long before it actually came out, putting in hours worth of phone calls, emails, etc. To cap it all off, she's been cooking for over a week, preparing for tonight's event. A great friend. We are going to FEAST!
My teenage daughter and her youth group, on the other hand, will be participating in the 30 Hour famine tonight. They will go 30 hours without food in order to raise money for WorldVision (they had to deviate from the official nationwide dates due to scheduling, but they didn't let that stop them.) In other words, they are going to FAST!
When all is said and done, I do feel a little guilty-- but I wouldn't want to trade places :-)

Karen Kingsbury and me

I just met Karen Kingsbury! In this picture, we are holding our books that are currently linked on Amazon.
She said I have been on her radar because most of my promotional material says "in the tradition of Karen Kingsbury" *blush*. Anyway, she asked if I'd have my publisher send her a copy, and I said "sure". Cheryl ,the Borders Sales Manager said, "Wait a second, we've got a copy right here." Then Karen Kingsbury, THE Karen Kingsbury, asked me to sign my book for her!!! I managed to remain conscious, but I'm still not certain whose name I signed on the book :-)
She stood there and chatted with Julie Carobini and me for half an hour. What a sweet, humble spirited woman of God she is. (And so is Julie, come to think of it). A nice night all around.

Going to see Karen!

That's right. Karen Kingsbury will be signing books here in Santa Barbara tonight! I'll be there, along with down-the-coast neighbor, Julie Carobini. I'm excited to get a copy of Karen's newest book, Between Sundays, but I'll also be bringing along a few others from my home library to get them signed, too.
Here are the details if you live in the area:
7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 7)
Borders, Goleta
7000 Marketplace Drive
Goleta, CA
Phone:805.968.1370

Final count

Final counts from yesterday
225-- number of trick-or-treaters that came to our door (this is a typical number for us, btw)
3- number of fun size bags of peanut m&m's I consumed
2- number of fun size Almond Joy's I consumed
1- number of fun size Butterfingers I consumed
4- number of medications I have consumed this morning to fight post-candy migraine (head still hurts, may have to break into the narcotics soon)