July 30, 2007

Well I'm at the beach with my husband's family - all 14 of us! It's so crazy with everything going on, but fun. Saturday night a bunch of us stayed up way too late. Sunday at the beach was fun. We rode the waves on boogie boards and sat under the canopy and visited. Okay, we also "people watched," which means we talked about all the people who walked by us - poor souls.

It's rainy today, but I did manage to steal away from the job for about an hour and sit on the beach while the sun popped out. My brother-in-law is making an indoor clam bake for dinner, so I get the night off from cooking. I may go fishing at the pier tonight, but I am still burnt out from Saturday night.

I did manage to go jogging/walking with my sister-in-law Natalie; we went for about mile along the beach this morning.

That's all for now.

July 27, 2007

It's amazing what being outdoors can do for you. I felt so much better after my walk/run yesterday. I worked on my regular job and tried to finish up the TOT visuals. I hit a few snags with the menus in the back. It seems my old publisher has some originals, so I am having to substitute. Now I have to try and match up the new menus with the recipes in the book. I am going to the post office today or else!

We're going out for dinner tonight and then finish the shopping for the beach. Tomorrow we head for North Topsail. I can't wait. I have to work, but it shouldn't be too bad.

We watched Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares again last night. I still love it! I had never heard the word "bollocks" until about a month ago. My English gents (Tom and Oli) told me what it meant, and now I hear it more than ever...funny how that happens.

Off to the gym for weight lifting and swimming later. Gotta get to my day job now.

My next post will be from the beach!

July 26, 2007

I made it to the gym yesterday where I lifted weights and then swam 14 laps. I missed the Fed Ex who was delivering my Redskins season tickets. He should be back today. The cleaning lady did a pretty good job - just a couple things that I will tell her about next month.

Just when I thought I was done with TOT, I got an email my the publisher saying he needs the old book marked up with where I want the visuals. Ugh. Speaking of emails...when I send one to someone with questions, I normally expect a response within, say, a week? If I don't get one back (I'm talking personal ones here, not business related) and it's longer than that, I start to wonder. Did I say something wrong, are they pissed at me, or are they just too darn busy? Maybe it's me. I guess that's my gripe for the day.

Anyway, I have new work-related projects so they are keeping me busy. I've got an acupuncture appointment today. I am going to attempt the post office today since I missed that yesterday.

I've been asked to be the VP-Marketing again next year for Women Writing the West. Honestly, I don't know if I want it. I haven't done a very good job with it this year. I guess I need to give the board an answer soon.

Going to run/walk, get a better attitude, and then get to work.

July 25, 2007

Well, I missed a day. Not much exciting happened on Monday or Tuesday. However, yesterday I did finish the visuals for Taste of Tombstone. I am headed to the post office today to mail that and a couple of packages to England. I also got a really neat email from a reader. He sent me a message saying he was reading my new book, Tombstone's Treasure and he's half-way done. He booked a trip to Tombstone, in part, to what I said in the book! How cool is that? I love getting emails like that.

I also discovered that Lost Worlds, season 2 will begin airing on Wednesday, August 1st at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. I still don't know when my Deadwood show will air, but I will let you know when I do.

I will be busy today with my job because I got a new assignment. We decided to hire that cleaning lady after all, since she decided to meet my price if I supply the cleaning supplies. She's here now - looks good so far. The cats are going crazy...

Going to the gym later to lift weights. Walked/ran yesterday and lifted some weights at home.

The Weekend

On Saturday, we started shopping for beach house staples and food. We stopped for lunch and as usual, we opted to sit outside because it was beautiful weather. Unfortunately, just after my lunch was set in front of me, a bee stung me on the ankle. Not only did it hurt like hell, but I'm allergic. I tried to stomp my foot to get it off, but it was stuck. I had to use a fork to pluck it off, and then had to pull the stinger out with my nails. I had no medicine with me, but as fate would have it, the hospital was across the street. Having been stung about 5 years ago, and only having a mild reaction, I decided to finish my lunch. I figured I could at least have one last good meal in case I did end up in the hospital overnight. I put ice on it until we left. About 15 minutes later, other than feeling dizzy and shaking, I was fine. That was all just nerves I'm sure. We went to the pharmacy and got some Benadryl and After Bite. Benadryl always makes me sleepy, but we still had a ton of things to buy, so I kept going. We got home about 5:00 p.m. and I took a nap. I took more Benadryl before bed and slept late on Sunday morning. The sting area is now itching like crazy!

My mom needed some cat cages for a pet adoption on Sunday, so we took them over to the store. We did more shopping, and then went back to get the cages and take the kitties back to her house. Grilled filet mignon, corn, and potatoes for dinner.

Going for a jog/run and will hit the gym later. Then it's work time.

July 20, 2007

This is a little late today, but I still made it. That's one whole week of blogging! Went walking/jogging yesterday with a neighbor before it got too hot. It was 98 and humid yesterday. Did my job, and met the cleaning lady. She's real nice and loves the old west! However, she wants to charge more than I want to spend, so I guess I'll keep looking.

We watched the funniest show last night on BBC America. It was called Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. OMG - this guy (English chef) is hysterical! It's the only reality show I have ever watched. I can't wait for next Thursday.

Today, I did some work and then went to the gym. Lifted weights and then swam 12 laps. I also volunteered at a local feral cat org. Some foster kitties (13) needed nails cut and other basic things done. It took longer than I planned, but I have to love on them, too!

I got extra copies of the August issue of True West which includes my author profile.

Got back and did some more work and had a conference call. Finishing up some more and then will sign off for the weekend. It's a big shopping weekend to get everything for the beach next week. Not sure what's for dinner tonight either...

July 19, 2007

Well, I was wrong about the rain cooling things off; all it did was make it more humid. It's like walking into an outdoor sauna. Lifted weights and jogged at the gym yesterday. Came back and got to work. Last night we went out for pizza and caprese salad, then headed to the Jaguar dealer. I've been leasing my X-Type for the last 4 years. I love my car, so last night we went and purchased it. Now I own it, or well, at least I'm working towards that. Since I don't drive to work anymore and the car is used for getting me to the gym, shopping, and leisure, I couldn't see the point of dropping $30,000+ on a new one.

My internet and email worked pretty good yesterday, so I guess they fixed their issues. Today I have a new cleaning lady coming over to give me an estimate. The last one I had just didn't do a good enough job. I didn't want to give her another chance because there were too many things she missed. We'll see what this one does.

In between my day job, I have been scanning visuals for Taste of Tombstone, and should be done this weekend.

I haven't mentioned my two kitties (I call them my girls) in a while, so here's an update. It's been since December that we've had the new one, Trixie. She celebrated her first birthday on July 4. She and Bailey, my three year-old, are getting along better, but there's still some issues. Trixie is still all kitten and "snipers" Bailey at every turn. Bailey finally gets pissed off enough and slaps the crap out of her. Maybe one day, they will be best buds.

Okay, out into the sauna for a jog/walk.

July 18, 2007

Yesterday was an interesting day. I started out by jogging/walking about 2 miles. Did my regular job the best I could while my new ISP company had my email and Internet up and down all day. I was getting messages that were 4-6 hours old. I had to covert to this new company because they are splitting from my old one. I had until Oct. to do this, but I thought I would do it now. So I called the company and was told, "we're trying to get up to speed!" What the hell does that mean? Weren't they ready to handle this volume of clients? I guess not. We'll see what happens today.

Last night I was asked to meet a fellow author named Don Hoglund who lives nearby. He's a veterinarian, cowboy, and what I like to call, "horse wrangler." He wrote a book about it last year. I'm sure it's much more than that, and will let you know after I'm finished the book. We were at a horse farm owned by friends and he showed them how to handle their 9 month old filly. I was very impressed - this guy knows his horses. We chatted about writing and he gave me one of his books. It sure seemed strange - me getting a book, rather than giving one to somebody.

We had bad thunderstorms last night - maybe that brought the heat and humidity down, but I haven't been outside yet to see. Heading off to the gym for weightlifting and a swim.

July 17, 2007

I'm on a roll here with this blogging. I recently finished a phone interview with a New Mexico public radio station. I'm not sure when it will air, but I will post that here for you when I know. You can listen to it via their web site. Yesterday was pretty quiet. I went running/walking for about an hour, maybe did 2 miles. The humidity and heat are bad right now, so it makes breathing harder, but I have a bikini goal... Listened to song clips again for my job to find the perfect theme song for a client. Made buffalo burgers on the grill for dinner and watched some interesting shows on the Discovery/Science Channel about mummies in Egypt.

Deadwood...

Getting a meal and having it served in a timely manner was a challenge in Deadwood. When we broke for lunch each day, we didn't want to spend two hours doing it. Some places were good, others were not. Dinners were better, but I think that's because we were exhausted by meal time. The buffalo at the #10 saloon was awesome. Kevin Costner's casino and restaurant were beautiful inside.

Speaking of casinos...Tom and Oli seemed to develop a quick affection for the one-armed bandits. Oli failed to see the enjoyment with dropping a quarter into the machine and then pushing the button to make it go. However, once I showed him the "arm," he was hooked. Tom enjoyed them as well. We swore he was addicted because he always had a pocket full of quarters, and disappeared a lot! Just teasing...

Blog commitment and more Deadwood

I must confess that this weekend I did nothing "author" related. Saturday we met friends (Bev & Dave) for lunch at Memphis Red, Hot & Blue, then wine tasting, then food shopping. I grilled Porterhouse steaks, sweet potatoes & corn for dinner. Sunday I did the girl thing and went shopping by myself for clothes, beach stuff, and birthday gifts. I got some great deals! Today I have to crack down and get the visuals done for my Taste of Tombstone book, and do my regular job.

Deadwood saga...the blogs I should have made when I was in Deadwood in June.

Let's see, the first full day in Deadwood began with a rain downpour that didn't want to end. Oli and Tom changed the filming schedule and we moved to the archives building in downtown Deadwood. By the time we got done and broke for lunch, it had started to clear, but turned cold. We had some additional problems with our next guest because of the cold weather, so poor Tom ran around Deadwood trying to find an alternative. Arlette, from the archives, graciously agreed. We headed up muddy roads to a remote location to film the "deadwood" lying about. By the time we got done, one of my fingers had turned completely white and had no feeling. With lots of literal hand hold handing, it recovered. I can drive again! I honestly don't remember all that we filmed there because I was so cold. The day wasn't over yet...

We dropped Arlette back in town, then headed out for an 1880s miner's cabin, which you'll see in the show (see the picture here with me and Oli, freezing). It was close to 7:00 p.m. and the temp dropped to 33 degrees. We left that location around 8:00 p.m., blasted the heater in the car and went to the cabin, then back out for dinner.

More on dining in Deadwood tomorrow (at Tom's suggestion)...

Back to work, True West magazine and more Deadwood

Well, it seems I haven't gotten any better at posting regularly here, so I guess sometimes is better than not at all. Please bear with me.

This photo was taken right after we wrapped up my closing comments about Deadwood. Filming was over, and we were ready to celebrate. In the photo, L to R., Peter, Tom, Me, Oli (in back), Rick, and Chris.

The August issue of True West magazine (on sale now) has featured me in their "Author Profile" section. If you can get a copy, check it out. I am also in there with my favorite reads.

I am finally back to a routine of working and writing. I just sent the manuscript to the Univ. New Mexico Press (Taste of Tombstone), which is a huge relief. I am a week past my deadline - I hate that. I still have to send them the visuals to use in the book, and will finish that this weekend. I am waiting to hear from the Univ. North TX Press about the pioneer women book - should be this month.

I said I would talk more about the Deadwood filming, so here goes. The more I think back on that (hard to believe it's been a month since I did it), the more I realize just how much I enjoyed doing it. I mean, I love history and I got to share that love with so many! It's every authors dream, well even if it's not; it's this author's dream.

On location: As I said, Oli, Tom, and Peter were awesome. A girl couldn't have asked for a better "crew." Here's what our schedule was like each day - Get up at 6:00 a.m., leave for the first location at 7:30 a.m., start filming around 8:00 a.m., break for lunch anywhere between noon and 2:00 p.m. for about 40 minutes. We changed locations often and didn't quit until between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. each night. We packed up, unloaded the equipment (ok, the guys wouldn't let me help), and then headed back to town for dinner. Had ice cream at the cabin, then to bed around midnight. Yeah, I know, ice cream before bed is baadd. It's all Oli's fault with his addiction to Ben and Jerry's! We girls all know where it ends up, right Oli?!

The first two days I did pretty darn good. However, the third day at Ft. Meade, I fell apart. I don't know what happened, other than I was standing on sacred Indian ground with a guest who had a very soothing, soft voice, and I felt very calm and relaxed. I think Oli wanted to strangle me (not literally, well maybe) because I had no "zip" and was very different from the previous days. We finally get it filmed, but it was painful for all. After lunch, I was fine. The following day went well, too.


Later I will post more about one day of the filming. Just to tease you, it was June 7 in Deadwood, SD and it was 33 degrees...