35

August was a good month. I lost 7 pounds which brings me to a total of 35. I missed my 12 day challenge by three days due to knee/ankle swelling and pain and piss poor planning on days it rained. (Should have run in the morning when the forecast was clear.)

I'm more than a third of a way to my overall goal. Yeah. I know. It's a bit overwhelming to look at it like that but there it is.

All right. Back to work.

The Chai Story

Oh my god. This is just the saddest and most aggravating thing I've read in quite some time. The basics: A sweet dog named Chai was playing with his Pimple Ball (red ball with nubby chewy things on it) manufactured by Four Paws, Inc when the badly designed toy created a suction against his tongue. Poor Chai ended up losing his tongue. Four Paws basically told Chai's owner to eff off. Chai's owner started a blog, THE CHAI STORY, and lo and behold, another pet owner's dog died because of similar injuries--in 2005!

Folks, please, please, please check your dog toys. Now. Go. If they only have one hole, they can create a similar vacuum to your fur baby's tongue. Get rid of them!

And, seriously, even if Four Paws decides to do the right thing and recall all these balls and make reparations to these dog owners, I won't ever buy anything made by their company. Rotten bastards. What kind of dog toy company doesn't carefully test their products?!?!

Query Hell

So the dark urban fantasy novel is polished and the queries/synopses/sample chapters are making the rounds. This is the hardest part of being a writer: snagging an agent. There are all these fiery hoops to jump through, but it's so worth it. So far things look good. My first query received a request for a partial in 12 minutes. Not bad. Now it's a waiting game.

Still running and working out. I ran 1.4 miles in 25 minutes today. That's not great but it's not bad either...especially for someone as chubby as me. Hell, when I started this a few weeks ago, I couldn't even run to the end of the sidewalk and back without dying. The C25K program ends at 30 minutes but I'm just going to keep adding 5 minutes a week until I'm jogging 60 minutes. Surprisingly, I'm not having a hard time building endurance. I think it's because I'm dropping weight so my stubby little legs don't have to carry as much weight...

All right. I've got to go wash some grapes and fix a glass of tea before Obama makes his speech. History in the making, folks!!!

Ribbon Dancer

So apparently I'm a super nerd but I'm about thisclose from logging onto Ebay and hunting down an old school Ribbon Dancer. Or heading to Lowes for a dowel stick and JoAnn's for some ribbon.

I can't help myself. I love, love, luurrrve rhythmic gymnastics. I want to run around our super big backyard with my very own Ribbon Dancer and gold sprayed hoola hoop and those nifty maraca-looking tossy things. I can't help but wonder how long it would take to bedazzle a hot pink leotard....

Dave, of course, thinks I've finally cracked. Pishaw. He just doesn't get it.

Release Day!

*Self-Pimpage Ahead*



My altar-ego's spicy cougar novella, Pressing the Flesh, releases as an e-book today from Ellora's Cave! Yayness!

Here's the blurb:

Heath Sanders is slowly going insane. He hopes an impromptu vacation to Mexico will get his mind off his object of lust—until she saunters past him in the resort lobby. It must be fate. Throwing caution to the wind, he decides the opportunity to taste his fantasy is too good to pass up.

Texas Senator Luz Hernandez is surprised by the attention from the smolderingly sexy, much younger man. Her job is too important to risk on a fling—but she’s far from the prying eyes of the press, and the hungry look in Heath’s eyes quickly convinces her to unleash her inner cougar.

When Luz learns that Heath is the anonymous blogger behind BeltwayBlitz.net, the most influential political blog in the country, she panics and bolts, certain she’s been set up. But now that he’s had a taste, Heath is determined to prove he’s not interested in her politics—only her passion.


Ooh! Sexy, successful older woman. Check. Totally hot younger man. Check. Political scandal. Check. Smoking hot sex scenes. Quadruple check.

To read an excerpt check out Pressing the Flesh.

Challenge

So after skipping so many workouts and a few jogs, I've decided I need to get back on the wagon. I'm four pounds down for August. With two weeks left in the month, I should be able to squeak out another 2-4 pounds. I've decided to challenge myself to workout/jog 12 of the 14 days (counting today) left in the month.

After majorly slacking the last two weeks, it's going to be a bit of a bitch but I have no other choice. I refuse to lose my weight loss momentum. I'm so effing close to hitting the 35 pound mark, I can taste it. It's time to sweat.

Comfort Food

So after numerous false starts, bouts of writer's block, and postponements for various other projects, I have finally, FINALLY, finished my dark urban fantasy novel. It's gritty. It's sexy. It's darkly humorous. And, well, it's long. For the genre, it's on par with other novels but for me, after writing erotic shorts and novellas of 15K or 30K, this one seems like a dictionary. My new tome clocks in at 115K. 70K of that was written in the last ten days or so.

Yeah. I'm beyond exhausted. I'm teetering on the verge of hysteria. I actually made myself sick, folks. Writing mania doesn't mix well with my oh-my-god-I-have-to-be-the-perfect-cook-housekeeper-lover-dog-mommy-friend-daughter-sister fanaticism. I'm a tad punchy and pukey. Not good. Must rest.

When I get like this, I turn to food. Since I'm dieting, that's sort of a bad thing. Luckily, I seem to have learned how to eat well when emotionally gorging. I stuck to fruits, veggies, and yogurt. Even with the constant grazing, I still lost a pound this week...and missed pretty much all of my workouts.

I did give into one comfort craving though. As a kid, I used to love hot tortillas slathered with butter. Ama (my paternal grandmother) used to pull them right off the stove, rub a stick of butter over them, roll them up, and hand them out like treats. We'd all clamor and line up at the stove like it was an ice cream truck. God, those were the days.

Meh. Now I miss my grandma.

Coupon Queen

So most people know Dave-O and I have decided to become "gazelle intense" on paying off what little debt we have and piling up ducats for the future. We'd like to purchase a freezer, a newer, safer car, and, if the babymaking goes south, fertility treatments (conveniently NOT covered by our insurance) and/or a few adoptions.

That said, we've been living like no one else, as Dave Ramsey likes to say. We've stopped eating out. We've switched to the library instead of Barnes & Noble. We've kicked up the thermostat a few more degrees and water the grass according to a water conservation program. Lately, I've been looking for more ways to squeeze pennies out of our budget. Through my support group, I've discovered a new addiction: couponing.

Oh. My. God. I can't even begin to explain the absolute ecstasy I experience through couponing. Getting loads of stuff for a quarter or a few dollars is so effing fun. Today, for instance, I coupled coupons with local sales to cut 30 dollars off of our weekly food budget. If I save a similar amount for the rest of the month, we'll have an extra $120 bucks for the savings account. Holy Crap!

Right now I'm a coupon amateur but there are ladies in my support group who are extreme couponers. I mean, seriously, they'll get $150 worth of groceries for ten bucks. It's crazy. And, again, addicting. I get that it's not for everyone. But it's good for us.

Yeah. I know. I'm a coupon nerd. :)

Mucho Gusto!

So last night Dave-O and I attended the wedding of his friends, Terri & Scott. Really great people, sweet couple. The wedding was very pretty and rather relaxed. The bride looked a bit peaked but that's not surprising considering it was hotter than hell and she's in the family way. I imagine the stress of a wedding, a baby on board, and an impending move took its toll.

Anywho. I finally met a good deal of Dave's colleagues. It's nice to finally be able to put a name to a face, you know? Rhonda is a hilariously talented storyteller. I don't think I'll ever forget her fishing pole and spider tale. Craig and Rachel T. are quite a pair. Rachel's probably one of the bubbliest personalities I've met in quite a while. Sara H. cracked some rather funny jokes... I could go on and on.

All in all it was a great night. I was glad to get away from the house for a while. By the way, Bosley behaved surprisingly well. He practically mauled us when we came through the front door though. In theory, it's sweet that he misses us so much. In reality, having 160 pounds of Great Dane flying at you--well--not so sweet.

So that was our Friday night. Tonight's lineup equals Dullsville. I'm heading out for a run in about half an hour (2.5 miles) and Dave's probably going to read or dick around upstairs in his Man-Cave. We'll have dinner and then a few rounds of marital relations.

Mmmm. Marital relations....

Run Ragged

So in the last five days, I've written 30,000 words on various projects. My sleep schedule is completely off so I'm getting a few hours here and a few there while also trying to juggle my normal Domestic Diva duties. I've also run a crap load of miles and put in hours upon hours of cardio and strength training.

Yeah. I'm learning I can't keep this kind of pace. I think I've broken my tummy. You laugh, but seriously, my belly is totally not working. I haven't felt hunger in days. Like, normally, I'm ravenous every three hours or so. Eating numerous small meals throughout the day is my trick to weight loss but lately I've been eating once or twice a day. And, for whatever reason, I've developed random and surprisingly violent food aversions. Yesterday, the smell of ham and spinach quiche sent me racing for the bathroom.

Needless to say, the Dave intervened today and made me take the day off. Seriously, I'm surprised he didn't hide my laptop and running shoes. I was basically confined to the couch and the bed. I feel a little better rested, but I still don't have my appetite back. I have a feeling I'm going to spend tomorrow lounging too...

All right. That's my update. I should probably get back to bed before the warden realizes I've escaped....

30

Quick post before I get back to work. I lost another two pounds so I've finally reached 30 pounds of weight loss. 30 Pounds!!!! Whee!

Oh, and TS Eduoard is drenching our dehydrated yard. Yay for free water! I love rainy days. They're my most creative.

All right. Back to that old chestnut...

Kiss of Death

So I just escaped a near death experience by about 15 seconds. No, really. I just stopped shaking enough to blog.

Since it's a nice cloudy and cool day, I decided I'd go for my run an hour earlier than usual. I was trying to get out the front door but Bosley wouldn't stop tugging on my shirt and snapping at my shoelaces. I had the door open and was backing out onto the front porch when suddenly I hear this WHACK! BOOM! and squealing tires. I turn around, and holy shit, some young girl driving an SUV had slammed into another parked SUV right in front of our house. She didn't hit the breaks until AFTER she'd already hit the car. She hit it hard enough to shove it seven or eight, maybe even ten feet (I'm not spatially blessed) from the street, over a curb and sidewalk and onto our neighbor's yard. There's a chunk of bumper lying in our front yard along with random bits of glass and plastic and god knows what else.

Uh, yeah, so if Bosley hadn't been snapping at my shoelaces, I would have been right there on the sidewalk when that girl hit the other car. I don't think I'll run today. I think the universe is trying to tell me something. And, of course, Bosley is losing his shit because there are cops and angry car owners and tow trucks crowding the street. Leaving him alone when he's this agitated means I'll come home to a ripped up living room.

Yep. Off night. Definitely.


***UPDATE***

I went running after all. After I gave my statement to the State Trooper, I decided to escape the daggers of death from the woman who caused the accident by running. Far. Away.

Apparently, telling the trooper that I saw her fumbling with her cell phone as her car rolled to a stop makes me evil. The way our house is positioned--higher than the street--made it easy for me to see inside her untinted, wide windows. She was totally in the middle of a text, with the phone balanced against the wheel, her thumb over the buttons. The trooper asked if she was, in fact, texting and after much arguing (the lady doth protest too much!), she grudgingly admitted she might, MIGHT, have been distracte by her cell.

So yeah. I totally expect to have our house egged tonight. Oy veh. So much for telling the truth, huh?