Lately, the Norwegian and I have made several day trips out of town to handle family business.  In the past, we’ve used our GPS, which we lovingly call “Emily,” because that’s what the company named the particular voice setting we use. Well, it turns out that Emily is a much better navigator than I am. Never mind it’s her job and she has most routes plotted out and stored in her electronic mind. How in the world could anyone else compete? Usually, I don’t. Because I am a terrible navigator.

However, on this trip we forgot Emily. Yes, went off without her. And we suffered for it because we were left to our own devices.  Actually, the Norwegian wasn’t too concerned because he has a “map ap” on his smart phone.  The words map ap should’ve been my first clue that we were in trouble.

We knew how to get to the outskirts of where we were going; then we decided to use his handy-dandy  map ap to guide us to the specific addresses we needed to find. Sounds simple, right?

The scene went something like this:

Norwegian (driving, hands me his cell phone): Just type in the address and follow the blinking dot. That purple line leads us to the address. Just make sure the blinking dot stays on the purple line.

Me:  Blinking dot? I want a list of streets, not a blinking dot.

Norwegian: No, you want the blinking dot because it will tell you where to turn before we get there.

Mind you, the display area is a 3.5 x 2 inch cell phone screen. I’m blind without my  reading glasses and  get a little woozy if I try to get up and walk around with them on, much less try to read something tiny in a moving car… because, of course, the Norwegian, bless his stubborn heart, would rather get lost than pull over and give me time to familiarize myself with his darned blinking dot map ap.

Still, I tried to be a good copilot and make it work. Despite how the blinking dot, which represented our car, seemed to be moving in a different direction than we were traveling. I turned the phone every which way trying to get the dot to move in the same direction. Soon, I thought I was getting the hang of it.  Until the Norwegian asked me the name of the street BEFORE we were supposed to make our turn. 

Me: I can’t read it. The print is too small.

Norwegian: Just do this (indicating that I should use my fingers to enlarge the screen).

I did this… and the blinking dot went off the screen. Panicking, I jabbed at the page trying to minimize it so the blinking dot would come back into frame, but a different page popped up – some sort of advertisement. Of course. I couldn’t figure out how to make the darn thing go away.

Me: Are you kidding me? Just tell me how to get to the darn page that lists the directions. If I’m going to navigate I have to use a system I can understand – unless you want to pull over and show me how to work this thing.

Norwegian (who kept driving on): How can you be so good at backseat driving, but so bad at navigating?

As I made a conscious decision to bite my tongue, I realized why our daughter says that when the Norwegian and I are in the car she sometimes feels as though she’s stuck in a Seinfeld scene featuring George Costanza’s parents. Poor girl.

How about you? Are you a better pilot or copilot? Do you have any funny road trip stories to share?

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RT Book Club gives CELEBRATION’S BRIDE 4.5 stars! They say, “…Her couples’ imperfections make them realistic and alluring and their love scenes are provocative and passionate.” CELEBRATION’S BRIDE, book four in the Celebrations, Inc. series, will hit the shelves in July.

In my new book, CELEBRATION’S BRIDE, which will be available June 18, the heroine, Sydney, has a history of being somewhat of a vagabond, moving every few years. Because of her tendency for itchy feet, she usually doesn’t accumulate many personal possessions so she can travel light.

Lately, the Norwegian has been contemplating retirement and we’ve been talking about downsizing and traveling. Naturally, that means I’ll have to pare down. I’m making peace with buying books for my Kindle. That way I’ll be able to take my library with me wherever we go because I couldn’t live without my books. There are several other special things I won’t be able to part with either.  Here are just a few of them: 

My animals (Marie is the cat; Samantha is the corgi). Of course, it’s a given that the animals will come with us.  Or if we travel abroad, the Crown Princess will care for them. Still, it will be difficult to leave them even temporarily.

My office is my sanctuary. I love going to work every day, and it’s a pleasure spending a lot of time in here. I have a huge glass-top desk. It’s not only great for working, but it also cleans up easily when I art journal on it. I have it sitting a third of the way out into the room, so that I face the door and my back is to the wall (my art table is in front of the desk along the left wall). I’ll probably have to downsize the desk when we move. But for now, here’s a picture of the left side and some of my favorite things I will definitely be able to take with me. That’s an inkwell with a feather pen that the Norwegian gave me for Christmas a few years ago; the “N” is a paperweight the Crown Princess gave me for Christmas; next to that is a “magic wand” Kathy Garbera gave me (and yes, it really works   );  behind that are two tea cups my good friend Mimi gave me; that’s a picture of the Norwegian and me in Paris; the smaller photo is me with the Crown Princess many moons ago, back in my auburn-hair days); that’s my prized Eiffel tower lamp and on it is a magnet of Berthe Morisot that Kathy G. sent me from London and a small beaded change purse that I found in an antique shop and couldn’t live without.

I have an art table in a corner of my office. The picture shows just the tip of the art supply iceberg. I have so much paint, paper and ephemera and stuff that might come in handy for a future art journal project. I don’t know how I will part with it. However, since the definition of  ephemera is transitory written or printed matter not meant to be retained or preserved, maybe that’s all the more reason I need to let it go…in due time. I mean, not tomorrow… or even next year… But I do need to think of what items I should put in a portable art journal kit.

Here are a few more of my favorite things that I will take with me:

Crown Princess made this for me for Mother’s Day. I wouldn’t part with it for anything.

This is a little tray of candles shaped like sweets. They are so pretty and absolutely calorie free.  

I love the double heart ornament that hangs from the ceiling fan in my office.

The Norwegian gave me these whimsical pens years ago. I’m not even sure they write anymore. Still, I keep them on a shelf in my office.

Stepping outside my office, into our backyard, we’ve planted a fabulous little herb garden. I’m so spoiled by the fresh herbs; I’ll have to buy potted ones since I won’t be able to take the garden with me when we go.

Finally, there’s my Don Juan rose bush. The Norwegian gave it to me for Mother’s Day several years ago. It’s in a large planter. So, we were actually able to bring it with us when we moved into this house five years ago. We’ll take it with us when we move again.

What do you have that would be difficult to give up?

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Be sure to check out CELEBRATION’S BRIDE, which will be available June 18. It’s book four of my Celebrations, Inc. series from Harlequin Special Edition.

Yesterday Kathy posted about things that make her happy. Our Jaunty Quills community is very, very high on my happy list. I particularly love the way we all interact. Sometimes the blog is more like a chat room with back and forth banter and sharing.  It’s so much fun to talk to you, to hear your thoughts on our posts and the stories you share.

Recently, my sister Jaunties and I have been wondering what makes YOU happy?  What do you like to read about here on the blog? Do you like glimpses into our writing processes? How we come up with ideas; how those ideas eventually make it to the page? Kristan’s post about making out with her hand springs to mind.  (Haha! Waving at Kristan) Do you like glimpses into our personal lives and hobbies… a la Kathy’s ode to her son or the time Robyn gave you a tour of her crafting/scrapbooking room? Do you like us to post recipes or previews of coming releases? How about character interviews? Or guest bloggers? What would you think about us doing occasional JQ blog reader spotlights where we interview you? Maybe we could do a ‘Reader of the Month’ feature?

Today, it’s all about you, dear readers. What would YOU like to see here on the JQ blog? And the possibilities are not limited to what I stated above.  Those were simply suggestions to get you thinking.  So tell us…what would you like to read about?

I just received several advance copies of my new book CELEBRATION’S BRIDE, which will be released in July. I will give away copies to several of you who comment. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

After dinner the other night, the Norwegian and I were sitting on the back porch enjoying a rainstorm as it blew across the lake. The rain made the air smell heavenly. We had wine and it was so nice and romantic… Until, from out of nowhere, a frog landed on my head and got caught in my hair.

The scene involved a lot of flailing and screaming, “GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!” The neighbors must’ve thought I was being murdered.  Finally, the slimy thing managed to free himself from my “Venus fly trap hair” (as my good friend, Kathleen, so aptly dubbed it). I ran into the house, traumatized and feeling quite violated.

I don’t know if the frog jumped or fell from the porch ceiling. All I know is he was on me and that was not okay. I have a phobia of slimy creatures. The clinical term for it is herpetophobia, “a morbid fear of reptiles and similar vertebrates, such as amphibians.” The phobia causes mild to severe anxiety and panic attacks. Yes, indeed it does.  That is absolutely correct. Personally, I think herpetophobia sounds like an STD. Accordingly, I avoid all things remotely reptilian and amphibious.  ;)

Ironically, earlier on Freaky Frog Day, I’d been thinking about how I should make more time to enjoy our porch in this nice weather, before summer descends like a wet blanket.  Our little spring-fed lake is gorgeous. It’s the crowning jewel of our back yard. That night, the rain made it magical. When the Norwegian ventured outside, I thought it was the perfect time to share a romantic moment. For two.

Of course, I hadn’t been out there five minutes before the dang frog landed on my head. Talk about a mood killer. It proves that I’m much better off appreciating nature from afar – say through the kitchen window or from the air-conditioned family room through the closed glass doors. Lizards, snakes, frogs? No thank you. Not cute. I don’t want to think about them. I don’t want to look at them. Most of all, I don’t want them to violate my personal space.

Phobias are strange, aren’t they? In my rational mind, when I’m
safe in my air-conditioned family room, I know the lizards in our back yard are not Komodo Dragons; the only snakes I’ve seen out there are black snakes, which are good for controlling the rodent population; and the frogs are not creatures from the Black Lagoon. But how can one be rational when we all know a snake is a snake is a snake. And other slimy things that fly at you in the dark and get tangled in your hair? As far as I’m concerned, they’re all deadly because I nearly kill myself trying to get away from them.

I can’t trace my aversion back to a traumatic childhood incident. Unless you count the time my high school art teacher captured a bunch of geckos, tied strings to their legs and thumbtacked the free end of the string to the table so that we could draw from “live models.”  I was so freaked out I couldn’t breathe. Then there was the time when I was all grown up and working as a newspaper reporter and someone wanted to take a picture of me holding a baby alligator. It may have been a baby,  only about ten or twelve inches long (and its mouth was muzzled), but all I could see was “GIANT LIZARD!” No how. No way. I wasn’t going anywhere near that thing.  So, you can imagine the herpetophobia trauma-level of the frog-in-the-hair incident.

I know there are programs to help people overcome phobias…they usually involve confronting fears head-on.  My treatment would probably involve some form of human to creature contact. That’s where I disembark. That’s my stop. Instead, I’ll continue to go out of my way to maintain my personal space so that the creatures and I can coexist separately. For the sake of full disclosure, I still venture into the backyard to take out my dog. I still clip herbs from my herb garden. I simply carry a long dowel so I can rustle the plants and warn the wildlife before I stick my hands and face into their territory. I don’t hit or poke or harm them in any way. No contact. This is the literal meaning of I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.  Actually, mine is a four-foot pole. So far, the arrangement seems to be working well for everyone. I have consoled myself by calling Freaky Frog Day a fluke. However, I haven’t chanced another nighttime porch date with the Norwegian. My waving a four-foot pole wouldn’t be very romantic. If you’re thinking something else, you have a dirty mind. But that’s okay because we’re all friends here.

How about you? Do you have any phobias? I know it can be uncomfortable talking about them. So, I’ll give away not one but two books of the winner’s choice to one person who posts.

Years ago,  the word “repurposing” brought to mind the old tractor tire my grandma and grandpa painted silver and placed in their front yard as a planter.  I don’t know if they thought of their tire-turned-planter as “repurposing,” certainly not as “upcycling.”  I can see my grandpa scratching his head and asking, “What the heck does that mean?”  All that mattered was that they had the prettiest petunias on South New Street, and my grandpa was proud that he’d created a cool flowerbed for my grandma to show off her posies. They’d turned a tire into a personal treasure.

In the spirit of that silver planter, here are some upcycling ideas I’ve stumbled across recently. Most of them are more functional than beautiful (sadly, no tires are involved):

1. TP and paper towel rolls are great for organizing cords and jewelry. When we moved our daughter to college, we used them to keep her long necklaces from getting tangled. It worked!

2. Binder clips hold computer cords in place when not in use.

3. If you brown bag it, CD packages serve as a perfect bagel sandwich holder.

4. Make a bud vase out of a used light bulb by cutting off the end of the bulb and removing the wires inside; fill it with water; set it on a pretty napkin ring and add a flower. Voila!

5. Make great use of narrow wall space by converting an old window shutter into a decorative and functional message center/organizer. Secure messages, keys, mail, artwork, photos and school permission slips with clothes pins and it will be easier for your family to stay organized.

6. Silicone ice cube trays make great organizers for your desk, craft room, jewelry or tool box.

7. Cereal boxes covered with wrapping paper make pretty magazine holders.

8. Rake heads display necklaces and keep them from getting tangled.

9. Place a tension rod under the kitchen or bathroom sink and hang cleaners from it.

10. Turn “cup” drawer pulls upside down and affix to a blackboard for a handy chalk holder. 

11. An old doll house makes a unique storage shelf in the laundry or bathroom.

12. Create a vintage-looking bottle. This was a Crown Royal bottle painted (three coats of paint – first, paint it black and then finish with two coats of a sea green color); sand lightly to give it a distressed look.

13. Make a wine cork coaster:  Gather enough corks to make the size coaster you desire. Cut a standard-size cork in half so it’s not too tall. Using a hot glue gun, glue the corks to each other in a circular shape. As the finishing touch (and to hold them all together), glue a pretty ribbon around the cork bundle.

14. Have instant fun with a portable magnetic Tic-Tac-Toe game made from an Altoids box.

15. Use a wine rack as a towel holder. Roll the towels and place then where the wine bottles would go.

Do you have any upcycling or repurposing tips or projects? Or what’s your favorite project here? One person who posts will win a book from my backlist – your choice. Can’t wait to hear about your ideas and personal favorites!

I’m writing to you today live from the Big Apple! I’m in New York and loving every second of it – despite the below freezing temperatures and the blisters on my feet… even though I’ve been to the city a number of times, I always feel compelled to trot around in shoes that aren’t very nice to my feet. You’d think I learn my lesson, right…?

Anyway, I digress – I’m in New York. It’s part business trip, part personal trip. In addition to having the pleasure of spending time with my lovely and talented editor, who is one of my favorite people in the world, my daughter is playing in a concert at Carnegie Hall!

This performance is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m so proud of her and so happy that a lot of our family has come to New York to see the concert. So, as I try my best to strike a balance between on-the-ball professional and giddy mother – actually, my editor is a mother and completely understand how I’m feeling right now – but while I’m here will you please join in my happy celebration and share one of your own happiest or proudest moments?

It can be anything – about motherhood or another personal moment. Anything, as long as it’s happy. Since I’m away from my desk right now, I won’t be able to reply today. But is soon as I’m back, I’ll respond to each and every post. On Sunday, I’ll draw a winner and post the name. The prize will be something fun and special that I pick up here in the city.

I’m so looking forward to reading about your happy moments. Thanks for helping me celebrate this one!

As a special treat today, I asked some of the Quills about their most memorable Valentine’s Days. Here’s what they said:

Shana: When I was in high school, there was one Valentine’s Day that I didn’t have a boyfriend, and I felt so sorry for myself. I moped all day, didn’t get out of my pajamas, and didn’t put any make-up on or fix my hair. This was in the days of lots of make-up and big hair. My mom kept telling me to get dressed, but I was having a pity party. What I didn’t know was that a guy I’d dated a few times had called her and asked if it was okay if he stopped over and surprised me with flowers. He showed up, and I was so embarrassed. It was actually very sweet of him to bring me flowers but being all of sixteen I was too worried about how I looked to be as excited as I should have been.

Nancy: I don’t know that I can single out one most romantic Valentine’s Day in particular. That’s because The Chef is a master at making all Valentine’s Days special and romantic. He never forgets and always brings me a dozen red roses, champagne and the perfect card. Usually, he gives me chocolates, depending on how loudly I’ve proclaimed I’m on a diet. Still, calorie counting or not, there’s always a fabulous meal: lobster or filet with cognac peppercorn sauce. Or Lobster AND filet with cognac peppercorn sauce…. One of the best touches is that he also gives our daughter flowers-a bouquet of pink carnations. There’s something extra romantic in him not only being a great husband, but also being such a wonderful father.

Kristan: My first Valentine’s Day out of college, I was alone in a new city, worked for poverty wages and didn’t have too many friends. Boo hoo! Valentine’s Day with a guy? As probable as running into a Saudi prince at the pizza place on the corner. Imagine my surprise when a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered to work! “From your secret admirer,” the card said. I called my dad and thanked him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but I could tell he was smiling. He died that same year. I think of him every day, but I always smile on Valentine’s Day, remembering how dear old Dad made sure I got flowers from someone who loved me a whole heck of a lot.

Kathy: One of my favorite Valentine’s days was when my kids were about 8 and 13 and they got totally into the holiday picking out stuffed animals and chocolates for each other and my husband and I.  They even made Valentine’s for us from our dog.  It was such a fun time for us all.

Mia: This Valentine date was the first time I’d gone out with this red-headed guy I knew from church and it promised to be a lovely one. He took me to a dance at the Surf Ballroom, a place that epitomized romance in my little corner of the upper midwest. And I did enjoy the evening of dancing, but then he ran out of gas (Does anybody ever really do that?) on the way home (which was about 20 miles away). He had to hike back into town for a can of gas while I froze my tootsies in the cold car (February in Northern Iowa is no joke!) To make matters worse, we were cutting things close on my curfew. I’m a railroader’s daughter. At my house, not being on time was regarded as only slightly less heinous than becoming pregnant out of wedlock! I knew I was going to catch it when I got home.

However, my date was not in a hurry to let me out of the car once we got in my driveway. I managed to pull out of his grasp, but he tailed me to the pool of yellow light at my back door and forced a kiss on me. It was our first date and I really didn’t want to kiss him. I wanted to get inside so I could explain to my folks that it was not my fault I was seriously late. I finally told the guy I didn’t think things were going to work out between us and made a break for it. Then he stalked me for the next six months and made creepy phone calls.  So the moral of the story is…beware of red headed men!

Cindy: Worst Valentine’s Day? Most memorable Valentine’s Day? I racked my brains but couldn’t come up with anything. My husband and I have been together since high school. We’re the kind of couple who goes out the weekend before the big day, so we don’t have to fight the crowds. We buy the boxes of heart-shaped Valentine’s Day candy after the big day (when it hits 75% off  )because it’s a better deal. I’d call us practical. You might call us boring. But we’ve been together a
long time and hey, it works for us!

Robyn: Valentine’s Day is one of those I’ve had a love/hate relationship with. As a little girl, I loved it because my Daddy would give me sweet cards and my own (small) heart-shaped box of chocolates. I loved that. But with a series of disappointments through high school and college, I pretty much ignored the holiday for a few years. Then I met The Professor. Our first Valentine’s Day together was actually a month before we got married. I was trying to eat healthily so that I could fit into my wedding dress so he went to a gourmet chocolate shop here and bought me sugar-free candies. I thought that was so sweet and thoughtful. Every year he brings me a sweet card (that I know he spend so much time trying to find the perfect one) and roses. I know that might seem too traditional and not creative, but I love it!

Margo: The absolute best Valentine’s Day gift was from my mom. Our kids were about 2, 4 and 6, and Mom called and said she would take the kids overnight if we wanted to make reservations somewhere. Omg, it was hard to know what to do! Stay home and enjoy the peace and quiet? Go to a Red Wings hockey game, drink some beer and go home? (not)  When it came down to it, we went to a play, had a late, romantic dinner, and then stayed the night at the Ritz Hotel. In those days when it was non-stop kid stuff, that night out was absolutely heaven!

Do you have a Valentine’s Day memory that stands out? Tell us, and we’ll pick three random participants who will each receive a copy of one of our books. Come on – what was your most memorable (good or bad) Valentine’s Day?

We have a pair of sandhill cranes that have a nest near the lake behind our house. Where you see one bird, the other is always close by. They strut around the neighborhood, and when they return from a journey, they always announce themselves as they swoop in.   I love their quirky, rusty squawks. It’s such a strange mournful (and loud) cry,  I’m always compelled to get up and look out the window when I hear them.

Something about them tickles me.

According to Wikipedia: “Mated pairs of cranes engage in “unison calling.” The cranes stand close together, calling in a synchronized and complex duet. The female makes two calls for every single call of the male.”

Imagine that. I guess some things are universal no matter the species.

We named the birds Wacky and Nunu after a ridiculous local appliance store commercial where this guy jumps around and says, “If you didn’t buy from us, you paid too much! And that’s wacky-nunu!” I have no idea what  the literal translation of wacky-nunu is, but our daughter and her friends found it hilarious, and we ended up naming the sandhills accordingly.  That was five years ago. Since then, Wacky and Nunu have become members of our family – well, more like distant cousins, but we adore them nonetheless.

Before they built their nest, they used to come and go, sometimes disappearing for months at a time. But about a year ago, Wacky and Nunu decided to settle down. They built their lake-side nest in our backyard and started their family.  Just the other day, I got my first look at their baby. She was out walking around (it seems Wacky and Nunu aren’t very good parents and frequently leave her alone while they gallivant). I was so excited to get a look at the baby, I took a picture of
her and immediately texted it our daughter (who is away at school). I meant to say, “Look, it’s Wacky and Nunu’s baby!” Somehow my phone autocorrected to, “Look, it’s Wacky and Nunu’s Judy!” So, yes, you guessed it. We named the baby Judy. Wacky, Nunu and Judy are a happy family. I’m so glad they decided to settle in our backyard.

Do you have any strange obsessions? If not, what tickles your funny bone? I’m giving away a $10 Amason.com or Barnes & Noble gift card (winner’s choice) to one person who posts.

It’s the beginning of a new year and time for all those Best Of lists. My Jaunty Quills want to let you know some of their bests from 2012. These recommendations are not to be missed. Add pine nuts to each, and they’re even better!

Terri Brisbin has a suggestion for Best TV show of 2012—IMHO “Once Upon A Time” is the best TV show of 2012. It draws on familiar mythology and fairy tales, tweaks and twists them, makes characters come alive and shows the power of true love, too. How could a romance author not love a series that does all that?!

Robyn DeHart says, Okay I’m probably jumping on the proverbial bandwagon here, but the best new website of 2012 was Pinterest! I love being able to have a visual collection of recipes and ideas for my house and my biggest obsession, organization ideas! Long before this lovely website came along I used to cut things out of magazines and put them in photo albums, having a way to store ideas of cool things to do. This makes it so much easier and everything is in one tidy location and I can sort to my heart’s content.

Personally, I like to pin pictures of pine nuts.

For Best Book of 2012, Shana Galen recommends THE SELECTION by Kiera Cass–romance, mystery, intrigue, royalty…what more could you want?

Best chocolate of 2012. Okay, I say this as a professional chocolate taster (or as close as one can get to being a professional chocolate taster). I love Lindt, Ghiradelli, Godiva. I love me some of the Whitman’s Sampler, and I love Hershey. White chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, malted chocolate balls, chocolate Santas…I think I probably eat chocolate every day, and I have no intention of stopping. But the best chocolate I tasted this year was in Seattle at Fran’s Chocolates. A salted milk chocolate caramel that tasted like angel tears and unicorn kisses. Try them. I command you. And happy new year! –Kristan Higgins

In 2012 Cindy Kirk discovered J D Robb’s In Death series and was hooked! If you like a suspenseful tale mixed with a health dose of romance, Cindy recommends you check out this series.

Margo Maguire: My most amazing experience this year was surviving a nasty case of appendicitis, in spite of myself. On December 1st, I overcame my denial (yes, denial that I had a serious problem that wasn’t going to just go away) and went into the ER. Within a couple of hours, I’d had an appendectomy, managed to get past a crash in blood pressure, and a post-operative spike in temperature. I went home the following day and walked a quarter mile – and kept at it until I was up to my usual 2 miles a day. Thank heavens for modern medicine! And Hooray for the timing. I didn’t have to do any Christmas shopping this year!

Emily McKay has a recommendation for Best new recipe of 2012—

This is a great pot pie recipe if you:

a) love pot pies (and I do!)

b) are trying to eat more veggies (and I am!)

c) are trying to eat less meat (and, again, I am!)

or

d) just love ridiculously yummy food (duh, who doesn’t?)

I really can’t stress how yummy this was. The ingredients seem very humble, but somehow the result is amazing. You might be tempted not to make the crust yourself, but I urge you to try. I didn’t roll mine out, so mine looked nothing like hers. I just patted them into big fat circles and plopped them on top of the bowls. They weren’t pretty, but they weren’t around long enough for it to matter.

One question, Emily. No pine nuts?

Best 2012 Smartphone App: Christmas night, Nancy Robards Thompson and her family went to see the Les Miserables movie. While they were waiting in line to get into the theater, they struck up a conversation with the family in front of them. This is where they learned about a phone app called “Runpee.” It tells you the best times to run and er… do your business so you don’t miss anything important during the movie. Among other features, it even has a timer that makes your phone vibrate to give you the heads-up on when you can “go.” It’s available for all smartphones.

Readers, your turn. What’s on your best of list?

In August, my husband and I took our daughter (our only child) to college. It was more heart wrenching than I’d ever imagined. I’m not going to lie, I sobbed for an hour after we said goodbye and headed home. My poor husband didn’t quite know what to do with me.

We have a rule in our family called “The Twenty-Four Hour Pity Party.” When something upsets us, we’re allowed to wallow in it for twenty-four hours, but then it’s time to buck up and move on. There are special exceptions to the twenty-four hour rule. Leaving my daughter at school qualified, but deep inside I knew I wouldn’t be a good mother if I didn’t encourage her in this rite of passage. Then another thing happened: soon I realized that not only was this a fabulous time of growth and wing-spreading for our daughter, but it was finally my time again.

She’s been away a month now. In that time, I sat down and made a list of things I’ve been wanting to do but hadn’t had enough time while my daughter was at home.  Of course, at the top of the list were writing and reading more. I’m spending more time with my art journal, taking an art class and going on a plotting retreat in early October. This new freedom is also affording me a great opportunity to cook some of the things I might not have cooked in the past because it didn’t appeal to my daughter.  Not that she ruled the roost, but when she was home it was more fun to fix things we all liked. I didn’t mind.

The other day I made homemade granola. It was so fun and simple – and yummy – I wondered why I’d never made it before. Oh, wait – I’d never made it because it contains coconut.  If I tried to feed dear daughter coconut she’d swear I was trying to poison her. So, that recipe was shuffled to the back of the stack. Until the other day.

Now, here it is, front and center:

Granola

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2  cup cashews
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 2/3  cup olive or canola oil (I used olive oil)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon to taste (I used 2 because I love cinnamon)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup of your favorite dried fruit, such as golden raisins amd/or dried cherries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the all of the ingredients except for the dried fruit in a large bowl, and toss to coat. Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. After about 10 minutes, I stirred the granola so that it browned evenly. Then I let it cook the remaining 10 minutes.  Let cool completely on the baking sheet. Add the dried fruit after it is completely cooled. If not using right away, store in an airtight container or Ziplock bag,

My most recent Special Edition series Celebrations, Inc. features lots of food. It’s set amidst a Dallas-area catering company owned by four friends. I had a lot of fun as my heroines cooked up all sorts of delicious dishes in the kitchen. The first book, TEXAS WEDDING, is available this month. TEXAS MAGIC hits the shelves in October, followed by TEXAS CHRISTMAS in November.

I’d love to give a copy of  TEXAS WEDDING to someone who posts about favorite ways to spend free time or a favorite recipe. I realize I still owe books to some of my past winners. Thanks for bearing with me as I’ve settled into this new chapter of life. Now that Dear Daughter is settled and I’m starting to regain my equilibrium, I’ll be more timely sending out prizes!