Happy Halloween!

We had two little trick or treaters last night—the third one, a cowgirl, didn’t want to go out, she’s saving it all up for tonight!

Here’s a Halloween Scary tale:

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night,

when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

FASTER...

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP...
clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.

With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

Bumping and clapping toward him.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything,
but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...
and,

(hopefully you're really ready for this!!!)

The coffin stops!

Admit it, you grinned.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Meet Jack

The granddaughter’s spent the night with us, and the next morning I said we were going to rake leaves and make a dummy. The four-year-old informed me we can’t say dummy, it’s like saying stupid and that’s a bad word, so in the end, he became Jack. (I didn’t explain the hat and shirt say Dale all over them.) They also took the dogs for a walk, until Gander, the yellow lab, simply slipped his head out of his collar and gave me a look that said, “Really?” before he walked to the house to lay down by the front door. Those are tattoos on the girls’ foreheads. We picked up a package of 200 of them, and they were pretty much all gone by the time the girls went home. 

Pooh, our little house companion, is going for a hair cut tomorrow, so he’ll look completely different, and I’ll need to find his sweater for our morning walks. I bought him his own doggie-bed and he absolutely loves it. So does our two-year-old granddaughter that's walking him in this picture. You never know if it’ll be her or Pooh sitting in the bed.  

On the writing side, there’s lots going on…My HQN editor/team is brainstorming titles for the Undone Duet that will be released in January and February, and I’m busy writing the Hanging Judge’s Daughters trio of stories. Also, For a Sister’s Love is still on sale for only .99 cents at Amazon, and has been on the western best selling list. Yippie.

Live in the moment, they go too fast not to appreciate them.

Cowboy Boots

I'm over at Sweethearts of the West today talking about cowboy boots. Stop by and say hi for a chance to win a copy of For a Sister's Love and to see a very old picture of me. :)


http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com/2011/10/perfect-footwear-cowboy-boot.html

Happy Birthday

Yep, today is my birthday, and it’s already been an awesome day with lots of phone calls and birthday wishes. Thanks to all!

This is the whole gang (minus Hayley who was napping and James and Daniel who hadn’t arrived yet) at my mom’s birthday last March. Now that was a birthday party! I’m so glad we celebrated her birthday with such a grand event.

The kids called Jess yesterday to find out what kind of cake I wanted for this evening. He told them a coconut cream pie. He knows me so well. But we’ll have to put a (one is enough) candle on it. Historians say the Greeks placed candles on cakes so the smoke could carry their wishes and prayers to the Gods. A lovely tradition for sure. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Take time to celebrate, birthday or not, every day gives us things to be grateful for.

Happy Columbus Day

Some states recognize it, some don’t, but to me, if the calendar says holiday, I’m game. Actually, I’m game to celebrate every day. That’s how life is meant to be. FYI…States that don’t recognize Columbus Day includes South Dakota, Hawaii, and Alaska. Colorado was the first state to declare it a state holiday in 1906, and it became a federal holiday in 1937. New York was the first city to observe the holiday in 1866.

DH and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last week. We drove up to the north shore and rented a quaint little villa overlooking Lake Superior.  We hiked, went shopping, rode the gondola to see the fall colors, visited several little museums, ate some fabulous meals, and even played a few slot machines. A mixture of things for sure, and the pony car enjoyed the run. She is such a fun car to travel with. However, I was afraid a few of the roads hubby chose for us to take would stone bruise her.  

At one museum I read about a turn of the century business owner that had acquired a set of orphaned moose. He raised them and taught them to pull a wagon, except they would only move when his wife was behind the reins. Word got out, and his business thrived with people flocking the area for a ride all summer. That fall one of the moose came up missing. It was suspected that a rival business owner was behind the disappearance. Lost without her twin sister, the moose died, and so ended the moose rides.  I must say, I found that a sad ending to a delightful story. I guess I’m set on happily ever after endings. 

Speaking of such, I finished a short story about a gambler and sheriff and sent it off to my critique partner and beta reader last week, so I’m back to working on my hanging judge stories this week. The poor man is having a heck of a time trying to marry off his daughters. After all, he would be an intimidating father-in-law. 

I’m off to enjoy the holiday by unpacking and doing laundry, and then emerging in the judge’s story.

Enjoy your day, and remember, you don’t need a holiday in order to celebrate. You are a reason.

Pumpkin Day

Papa and I were barely out of bed this morning when the phone was ringing and an excited little girl was asking, “When are we going to Uncle Cody’s?” Uncle Cody had promised they could have as many pumpkins as they wanted. Besides picking pumpkins, we gathered eggs, played with the dogs, and took a very, very long four-wheeler ride that included visiting the pumpkin field and picking a few more pumpkins. Yep, it was a wonderful day, and Papa is now taking a nap.

If you are familiar with Good Reads, I’m on an author chat over there this week. Ask An Author, Win A Book Corner: Lauri Robinson (October 2 - October 4) Stop on over and say hello.

Copyedits are done and approved, but we are still working on titles for the duet of Undones that will be released in Jan and Feb. These books are set in El Dorado, Kansas and are about two widows and the town Marshal and Deputy.

For a Sister’s Love that I co-wrote with author Paty Jager is still on sale for .99 cents at Amazon (Kindle only).

Final edits for Unclaimed Bride were accepted so now I’m just awaiting a release date. This will be my first full length in Harlequin’s Historical line.  

Make it a great week. You can do it.