The family and I are headed out this morning for a week at the beach. Y’all, I need this vacation so badly I can’t even tell you. Oy.

So. On to the Fireworks *g*

All of us at the Fiction With Friction blog will be posting short stories with a fireworks theme for the week of the Fourth of July, starting tomorrow, Sat. June 28th. Some will be brand new original stories, some will be snippets of upcoming works, and some **points at her own** will be newly-written interludes involving a certain three hotties in a certain ongoing series. Tune in Tuesday July 1st for my story, “A Fireworks Fantasy”, and be sure to follow the blog all week for LOTS of manlove hotness!

Y’all have a wonderful week, and a wonderful holiday. I’ve off for some serious relaxing

So, I am having a major squee today. Heh.

Ally = massive dork :B

**kicks EDJ in the balls**

So I’ve been listening to Bright Eyes “Lover I Don’t Have To Love” like non-stop today. It seems to fit for some reason. I don’t know why. Something about the bell sounds and the minor key, and the generally gray-veiled feel of it. The song just captures my mood at the moment. Congrats, Conor Oberst, you finally made me pay attention to you, you doe-eyed bastard.

Lover I Don\’t Have To Love

o_O

Um, how about NOT PUTTING IT ON THE NEWS? Geez >_<

[/aggravated moment]

So. Here it is, two weeks before we head off for the beach, and I am feeling bloated, tired and totally out of shape. Sigh. This always happens to me, vacation sneaks up on me while I’m busy with Life & Its Consequences and I end up going to the beach feeling blobby and unattractive. I HATE that, dammit. Therefore, I am attempting to put in some serious exercise time before we go. 

Let’s face it, body image isn’t so much about what the scale says, or what the size tag on your clothes is. It’s more psychological than anything. If I stay on an exercise program, I will feel better, therefore I will look better even if it’s only in my mind. *g*

Today’s attempt: ran my usual 3.25 mile loop. Or, well, jogged/walked. Actually managed more non-walking than I thought I would, though the heat was kind of a downer. It was at least ten degrees cooler than it was this time last week, but low 80s still feels hot when you’re running in the sun :-/

Okay, I need some iced coffee now. Maybe later I’ll come back and bitch about writing blurbs O_O

The book is kind of lighthearted, kind of funny, and full of sex. Which is why Anne put the boys in bed on the cover. They spend a lot of time there O_O

I haven’t added this one to my website yet, but you can read the blurb and an excerpt on the coming soon page on Samhain’s website. Click here and enjoy

Just had to share this, I love love LOVE it

• Got one really loooong chapter of An Inner Darkness finished (though it’s not very good and needs serious tweakage) and about half of the next chapter (which is pretty good so far, I think). I need to get at least another 2K today. Oy.
• Actually did a bit of promo on the two print books that came out this week. Go me! 
• Took copies of Easy and Fireflies to a new local women’s magazine, Verve, for review in their August issue. They’re doing a small feature on romance authors in Western North Carolina, which is pretty cool. I’ll link that when it comes out

Mom World & Other Family Obligations:

• Managed to navigate the UNC-Chapel Hill website well enough to find the info about what financial aid we’re getting for the girl-child’s college. Answer: not much. Work study, big f’ing deal. Oh well, she’s enthusiastic about it and willing to work, so whatever. 
• Took the boy-child for a FREE sports physical this morning at the ass-crack of damn dawn. He wants to go out for soccer next year (9th grade). It was okay though, they got all kids in and out pretty fast and everyone got a free T-shirt and gym bag. Y’all cross your fingers that his soccer game has improved since he was six…
• Tried to talk my dad and That Woman He Married into staying with my in-laws (next door to us) instead of a hotel when they come up for the girl-child’s graduation. Failed, of course; the tight-assed harpy liked to keep her distance from my husband’s family. Not upscale enough for her. Oh well, at least my sister is staying with us, I’m seriously looking forward to that. I don’t see her nearly enough.
• Attended way-fun family potluck on Memorial Day, put on by my hubby’s cousin R. Embarrassed the crap out of R’s nephew by constantly telling him how last time I saw him he was toddler-sized and now he’s like twenty and helping remodel their house and wasn’t that just insane how fast life goes by. The four glasses of wine might have had something to do with that. LOL. It’s fun being “old” *g*

Self-improvement:

• Re-joined the gym at work after having been out of it for like 3 years. Actually went twice this week. Yay! Discovered their treadmills are WAY better than mine. On the flip side, the water pressure in their showers leaves much to be desired.
• Got out on the road and ran my 3.25 miles this morning after taking the boy-child for his physical. It was already almost 80 degrees. Yikes. The older I get, the more the heat seems to affect me. But, I didn’t do too badly, considering. Ran the flats and downhills, walked the uphills. Kept up more or less the same pace throughout, which is quite an achievement for me

EDJ:

• Bitched about having my position phased out and being forced to take an ED case management job instead. Not that I have anything against ED case management itself. I think it’ll be pretty interesting, and certainly more challenging than the crap I’m doing now. It’s just that I’ll have to go back to working weekends and holidays and that SUCKS BIG FAT HAIRY DONKEY BALLS. 
• Bitched about being forced to go back to school for my BSN. If I wanted that particular piece of paper, I’d have gone and gotten it years ago. I am not interested, and I resent being told I have to have it for this new job I was not given any choice other than to take. Dammit. Just how in the nine hells am I supposed to fit schoolwork in on top of EDJ, home stuff, mom stuff, running, friends, writing, occasional meals and sleep, and seeing my hubby now and then? 
• Continued the (so far fruitless) search for a new job. Sigh.

So those are the big things going on this past week. My goals for the upcoming week:

• Finish An Inner Darkness. I’d rather not still be working on it when my dad and sister are here to visit. They’re driving up Thursday and staying the weekend.
• Get in my three runs. I have GOT to do better at keeping up with that or I will turn into The Blob.
• Get the house cleaned up, sheets washed, food bought for the big graduation party next Saturday, etc etc. 
• Survive my baby girl’s graduation. *sob*

Some people take the attempts of others to merge into traffic personally.

Nothing is quite as amusing as watching the person who’s been weaving in and out of traffic at ninety miles an hour start to pass a relatively slow car on the right, discover it’s a cop and hit those brakes. Ha!

A frightening number of people out there seem convinced that they can simultaneously dial their cell, dig around for something hidden under the passenger seat, and drive with their knees.

Guys in muscle cars HATE being outmaneuvered in traffic by a woman in a Hyundai *g*

erm… yeah. Anyway. The other day I found this weird and disturbingly amusing little ficlet in the LOTR fanfic archive Library of Moria. Honest to FSM, I thought I’d seen everything at least once. Apparently I was wrong. LOL. It’s actually quite well done, it’s just the subject is so very, very odd o_O

On the other end of the fanfic spectrum, though, is my very FAVORITE Harry/Draco fic ever, “Ghosts and Potters”. The use of language in this story is exquisite. It brings tears to my eyes. I re-read it every time I need inspiration *g*

Speaking of which, one day? I am going to do my own H/D tale. I have one already half-thought-out in my head: a song-fic based on Patrick Wolf’s GORGEOUS tune “Penzance”. Yes, I’m a ginormous dork :-B

All right, back to work for me. I have 19 days to finish An Inner Darkness and 20K to go O_O

Yay! I’m so excited!!!