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I'm happy, married, and looking forward to sharing my world with you! If you're interested, that is!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

It's a Tough Week

It's been a bit quiet around here, I know...  I also remember that I had made a promise to stay on top of my weekly postings, both in the "LEARN" and "30 Days of Lists" categories.

But things have been going on around here that have gotten in the way of a normal posting schedule...

Hubby and I took some vacations.  We went to Florida and the Bahamas for 9 days.  We went to Universal Studios, for the Harry Potter experience, and on a cruise to Grand Bahama Island with 2 nights on the island, too.  Here are some photos...

There was never a moment in Harry Potter World - not at Hogwarts or in Diagon Alley - that you weren't touching a complete stranger who was either sticky with sweat or suntan lotion or both.  It was hot and muggy and SO crowded...


We took an overnight cruise to Grand Bahama Island and this is a photo of us on the cruise ship, waiting to depart, with yet ANOTHER storm rolling in - it rained on us 7 of the 9 days.  A friend who lives in Florida said it was the worst rainy season they've had in 5 years - this after I posted a photo of a storm on Instagram with the comment:  "We've eliminated FL and the Bahamas as a retirement option:  I'll be moldy for the rest of my life!"


I asked a stranger to take a photo of us; in return, I took a photo of her and her daughter.


This is the hotel we stayed at in Port Lucaya, the Grand Lucayan Lighthouse Point.  The room was HUGE and the grounds were lovely.  We didn't face the ocean, but we spent all day either at one of the three pools or on the beach.  We had a great time!


I took quite a few lovely sunset photos, each of which is completely UNfiltered!


After the first rainy visit to Universal, the one where we left at around 6:30, soaked literally through to our underwear, we bought ponchos.  Obviously we're always concerned about making the wrong fashion statement when we're out in public...


We came home and almost immediately we had a birthday party for my mom.








These photos hurt.

The other BIG thing that has kept me off the blog is my sister and my nephew are moving.

To Arizona.

Arizona.  That state on the other side of the country.

I already have a sister there, living in Tucson, who I miss every day.  Now my OTHER sister AND my nephew are moving there, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before my niece moves there.

Which means my mom will most likely be spending more time there than she does now.

Which means I'm going to miss them all SO DAMN MUCH!!!

But I do have to say, she bought a house - 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully wired for cable and internet, all appliances, a 2 car garage, central air and a fenced in backyard.

For somewhere in the neighborhood of $137,000.

Her taxes are about $1200 (barring the usual increase they'll put into place for the new owner).

Per YEAR.

Her development has a gym and 3 pools and a lake.

If it wasn't for that damn weather, I'd think about moving there for our retirement, but I couldn't handle the heat.  No way.  No how.

And I'm married to an absolute angel who assured me that he'd make sure I/we (?) got a chance to visit "a couple of times a year..."  Sounds good, but even once a year would be great, and I hope he'll come with me...

They're leaving to drive cross-country on Friday morning.  I'm sick.  And I'm working from home so that I can be there when they drive away...  I'm already planning not to wear my contacts that morning, because I know I'm going to be crying...

I'll try to get back onto a regular posting schedule - with no family here (Mom will for SURE be going out there this year, I know), I'll have nothing else to do...

Thank God my in-laws aren't out-laws:  they are family, my family, too, and they're going to be really sick of me...

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Another Amazon vs. Publishing Quote


Shelf Awareness : Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade
Thursday | July 31, 2014 | Volume 2 | Issue 2309

Quotation of the Day

Douglas Preston: 'We've Felt a Little Bit Betrayed by This'

"I think most of us think that Amazon is a good company. We're grateful to it for selling our books. We've been a partner to it, we've been supporting Amazon from the very beginning, from the time it was a start-up. And we've felt a little bit betrayed by this. I'm speaking to you now, not as an official spokesman for anybody. That's how I felt personally, and it's turned out a lot of other authors felt the same way....

"I guess our feeling is that there are going to be disputes between Amazon and publishers forever. There are going to be negotiations... these are two large corporations. Is this going to be Amazon's MO [mode of operation] from now on?--to hurt authors and inconvenience their own customers every time they run into a rough patch negotiating with a publisher? I guess our feeling is that that's not acceptable."
--Author Douglas Preston in an interview with Porter Anderson at the Bookseller's FutureBook blog.