Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Lucky


Last week my mother called to tell me that she and my stepfather were going to raise a two week old squirrel. You can imagine my surprise when I heard this. Yes, it's true both my mom and step dad are crazy about the wildlife that lives around their house. The animals are so used to being fed by them that it's not unusual for squirrels in particular to venture up onto their porch and take and eat peanuts from their hands.

My stepfather found this baby squirrel on the ground, abandoned last week. Apparently, the momma squirrel either kicked the baby out of it's nest or my mother said (hopes) that high winds somehow blew it out of it's nest onto the ground. When my stepfather spotted it, he immediately wrapped it up in a warm towel and took it to the local vet. The vet told him it looked to be around two weeks old and gave him instructions on what to do to feed and take care of it until it was at least 12 weeks old. The vet admitted that he didn't know a lot about squirrels, and he couldn't tell my stepfather if it suffered from any internal injuries or anything like that. He suggested that my mother and stepfather take care of it and then recommended for the squirrel to be released when it was old enough to take care of itself, because apparently squirrels DO NOT make good pets.

So, he brought the baby squirrel home, went to the local pet store and bought a lot of supplies and they started taking care of the newest family member of their household. Since my sister was working, my mother was also watching my niece, Snow White, and when four year old took one look at the baby squirrel she decided right then that she would be the official adoptive mother of the sweet little thing. She of course wanted to call it 'princess' but after a close examination, they decided since it was a boy they should call it Lucky instead.

For two days, my mother and niece did everything they were told to do to take care of the baby squirrel. Lucky was fed, taken care of and loved. My niece even cried when she had to go home. But, since she knew Lucky would still be there when she returned in a few days, she eventually went on home without much fuss.

I knew something was wrong when I got the first text message from my mother at midnight on Friday:

Little Lucky isn't going to make it....I think he is dieing. He's not eating and breathing with
a gasp. I hate it but I did everything I could for him. If he lives the next hour I'll be surprised.

Then fifteen minutes later she texts:

Poor little Lucky did die. I really hate it. He really didn't have much of a chance. He was a
sweet little squirrel. I wish I could have saved him.

I immediately called her and when she answered, she was crying. She kept blaming herself and was worried how Snow White was going to take it. Now, I don't know about y'all, but when my mother cries, I cry. I don't know why, but it's something that I've always done. So we both cried and I reassured her that they did everything they could for Lucky. In all honesty, Lucky probably had more love in the last 48 hours of his little life than he ever had.

Unfortunately, this was going to be one of those life lessons for my niece. The next day she was told about Lucky's passing and was devastated from the news. When my stepfather heard this, he wrapped Lucky in a hand towel, put him in a shoe box and buried him in the backyard. He then made a small cross and painted the word "Lucky" on it and put it on the grave. I thought this was very sweet. He wanted there to be a place where Snow White could put flowers and visit it should she want too.

Since then, my mother and I have talked several times and just by talking to her I realize that for a couple of days, Lucky brought joy and happiness to my mother, stepfather and a to my niece. It reminds me and my family that life is precious and that every minute of it should be cherished. In the end, I think it was fate that brought Lucky into my family's life and wherever he is, I hope he's happy, carefree and has more peanuts to eat than he can handle.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Have a great weekend!!

Hey y'all:)

I hope everyone has had a great week. Mine has been pretty good. I've been working on my current work in progress, Angel's Redemption, and so far everything has still been going pretty smoothly. I don't think I'll be finished with it by the end of the week though. Both of my main characters are being quite talkative, so I believe this book will be my longest to date. I have a feeling it's going to be around 40,000 words when completed.

I've been feeling bad all week. I've had some complications with my hysterectomy a couple of years ago and I've experienced some pain this week. So for the past two days I've been laid up on the couch when I've wanted to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we've been experiencing here. Tonight, I'm still in some pain so it looks like I'll be going to bed shortly and hopefully sleep this pain off, and I hope I'll feel better tomorrow.


Until my next post, I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoy the eye candy. Aren't they sexy?

Friday, September 9, 2011

Happy Friday

Hello friends:)

Well, not much has happened this week. I've been working hard on my latest book, Angel's Redemption and I hope to have it finished by next weekend. Happily, the hundred plus degree weather seems to have passed us by here in the sticks. It's starting to cool off and even the nights are nice and chilly. Admittedly, I'm thrilled to say goodbye to summer. Honestly, summer is my least favorite season. Between the heat and humidity, I turn into a wilting flower when I'm outside so I have a tendency to hide in my dark, cool house until September. 

One crappy thing that's happened is my husband's job has cut out overtime. This is something they usually do every year around the holiday season, so we have to watch out nickels and dimes until the end of the year. Thankfully, I thought ahead this year and I've already bought Christmas gifts this year, so that won't be an added expense we'll have to budget for. Speaking of Christmas, my mother informed me a couple of days ago that Christmas will be celebrated at our house this year. Just thinking about cooking and getting everything in ship-shape makes me want to break out in hives. Thank god I'll have a few months to prepare for it!

I've been flirting with the idea of writing a paranormal/shapeshifter book. It seems to be the trend right now and I've had an idea floating around in my mind for a couple of weeks now. So I'm not sure if I'll jump on the werewolf bandwagon or not. I know I enjoy reading these types of books, but I'm not sure if I want to write one or not. What do y'all think? Do y'all enjoy shapeshifter books a lot or do you think these types of books are just a trend right now?

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend. We plan on hanging out at home, hubby might be going fishing and I hope to get a lot of writing done.  Heck, I might even leave the dark cave of my living room and sit on the back porch and enjoy the nice weather for a while.


Monday, September 5, 2011

Happy Labor Day!

Friends,

It's been a good weekend for me. We watched a few rentals and I did some writing. I've been working hard on my next Men of Charlestown book, Angel's Redemption, and my goal is to finish it within the next two weeks. Luckily, my muses have been both very talkative and cooperative so far. Let's hope that continues!



I also took some time to read Shawn Lane's latest book, Can't be His. I've never tried to hide that Shawn is one of my favorite authors. She's such a versatile writer she keeps me, as a reader, always guessing what kind of book she's written this time. She writes great angsty stories, but I also believe she writes wonderful sweet stories too. Since I needed a sexy, romantic story last night, Can't be His was a perfect read for me. I loved it and I hope y'all all check it out at Amber Quill Press.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day. I plan on cooking out, watching some television and doing a lot of writing! 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Happy Early Holiday Weekend:)

Friends,

Well, as all of you probably guessed, we made it back from Las Vegas safely. We left Friday morning and drove 23 hours straight through. Even though it was very tiring, it was worth seeing all of the beautiful desert and other things we don't normally get to see in Arkansas. As beautiful as the desert is, I don't think I could ever live there. The dry heat does something to my throat and I'd miss the lush trees and greenery of where I live.

Las Vegas was a lot of fun, but it'll probably be a while before we go back that direction. We had a horrible time finding a decent place to eat off the strip. Everything was overpriced and I wasn't happy about the huge amount of children there. (Thanks for the information about Vegas on my last post Shawn) We spent a lot of time sightseeing, so by the time our vacation had come to an end, we really were ready to come home. There is really nothing like sleeping in your own bed!

I started working on a Christmas themed story, but since my heroes are being too talkative for a short story, it looks like there will be no Christmas story from me this year. Instead, I'm writing on Angel's Redemption, that is going to be my next book in my Men of Charlestown series. It's a story about Jackson, who y'all met in Daniel's Dream, and Riley his new but mysterious and younger neighbor. So far I'm about seven thousand words into it and I think it should be between 30,000 and 40,000 words when it's complete. My goal is to have it completed by the end of September.

The other thing that happened on vacation was I turned another year older. It was a quiet birthday and I have to admit that I'm glad it was. After I turned 40 a couple of years ago, birthdays aren't as fun as they used to be! LOL!

I just signed my Cover Art contract for Kissed By Death. I can't wait for this book to be published! It's going to be the first of three books in my Kissed by an Immortal series and I'm anxious to see how everyone will like it. It has a darker feel to it than my other books, but it also has a very romantic side to it too. I still don't have an assigned date for when it's to be published, just sometime in 2012. As soon as I find out, I'll let y'all know!

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Since my husband is working overtime, I'll have plenty of time to write and watch a few movies on television. Have a great weekend and week ahead:)