Book Signing aka Dakota and Michele come to H-town

Michele Bardsley, Dakota Cassidy and Victoria Laurie came to Houston a few weeks ago.
Because I'm a bad blogger, I'm just now getting around to posting these pictures.





Signing the books, I wonder if Victoria Laurie is doing a reading right there at the signing table?? That's quite a look of concentration.

I don't remember what was said to get this look from Dakota.
I was admonished for taking a picture with her mouth open.
I will not hang my head in shame, it's HARD to get Dakota to shut up long enough to take a pic!

I cannot wait until Dakota comes back in June.
I hope to have a better camera by then since most of my pictures came out very blurry :(

Promo!!!

Ok, it's been a week and I'm sorry that I didn't get to this sooner.
If you haven't already done it, go check out
https://www.paper-bag-press.com/ebook/its-a-textual-thing

Even if you're not interested in this book (how could you not be? it's written by my good friend Mika!!!) check out the site.
Never mind that, you MUST buy that book!!!

Opinions

Just let me start with this, I know everyone has an opinion and a right to voice it, but PLEASE!!!!

So, I was catching up on my blog reading after a busy end of week.
I stop over to PW's website because she rocks and it'd been too long since I'd been there (a couple days). Anyway, I'm on her photography page and see THIS post. I'm sitting here crying at how sweet this is. THEN, I read through the comments to see if she'd commented and how things progressed (yes, I had checked the update link, but was looking for more info).
Some people had the audacity to comment on the girl's name, Randall.
Others had the audacity to comment on their views of same sex relationships (because of the girl's name).
ONE person mentioned how she didn't think it was romantic.
For the most part, everyone congratulated the couple and family and commented on how sweet PW was to do this for them. It was really nice to read the comments of the family.
I just wonder if the woman who got religious in her comment was thinking about the couple reading her post.....
Anyway, yeah, it's just my opinion, but one should be careful how they voice theirs on a public forum on a day that someone has obviously planned carefully.

Which Stephanie Plum boook are you?

Found this over at the Crazy Lady's blog and thought, why not?
I'll have to reread the first one, lol, as it's been a long time.

Busy, busy, busy

I've put off posting about Hubby's surgery because I wanted to get the details right. Well, then I just got caught up with everything else that was going on.
Hubby had surgery Feb 19th on his shoulder. We've been trying to find a doc to do this surgery for 2 years. He's known his labrum was torn and one doc mentioned rotator cuff issues. No one listened when he said his bicep hurt. We also knew about some arthritis or bone spurs in the shoulder. We've seen 6 doctors in the past 2 years, most of which ignored us, told him he could live with the pain or just told us there wasn't anything we could do about it.
In January, Hubby called me and said, find a doc, I CAN'T live with it anymore. I searched Google for an orthopeadic surgeon in our area. I found a couple and one looked very promising. Even better when we found out they had an open MRI on site. Hubby's shoulders are 4 inches wider than a traditional MRI machine, meaning the MRI films and results we had from 2 years ago were taken with him wrapped up and contorted to fit into the machine. I called and they wanted to get him in right away. We took an appt for a week out because of his work schedule.
We met with the PA, who listened to the story, told us "We have to get you fixed" and went to consult with the doc. The doc came in and said, ok, we'll get a new MRI, see you next week to go over those results and Oh, we'll probably get you in for surgery the next week.
I was floored. We've been jerked around with PT and associates and having 'scripts for narcotics thrown at us. He didn't even suggest pain meds!!!
So, MRI was done the following day and we went back the next Thursday for follow up on that. We scheduled surgery for the next Thursday.
Surgery went well, but when they got in, they discovered bicep repair that needed to be done. Oh and the labral tear that Hubby could "live with"?? Yeah, took 2x as many stitches as usual to repair. The rotator cuff had a huge tear and the humoral head was completely exposed. They also shaved off the bone spurs in his AC joint.
During my discussion with the doc after surgery, he said he was still amazed no one would do the surgery before. I hugged him. After listening to all that needed to be done, I was about in tears and wanting to call ALL of the other doctors that had refused to help.
The next day, we went in for post op follow up. The doc was amazed to see him looking as good as he did. While he was in pain, and still is somewhat, it's not the same kind of pain he'd been in before.
He's in the sling for 4 weeks total, so another 3 weeks of it. He's wearing glasses because getting his contacts in was not easy. He's feeling so much better and I'm so happy.
I hope this means that this year will be a wonderful year.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful day. I woke up to Hubby trying to sneak out of the bedroom. He ended up taking the youngest child and running to the store for V Day presents, lol. I got roses, chocolates, a mug with a mini balloon and chocolate roses, a small stuffed frog that makes kissing noises and a stuffed dog. Several of these things were picked out by the 7 year old, lol.
Anyway, I gave Hubby a pocket watch and a card that my mother had found for me. He was very surprised and really likes his new watch.
We went to breakfast and then to Target where the boys each got to pick out a couple packs of collector's cards.
I also managed to go grocery shopping for the next couple of weeks. Not great on my checking account, but I did stay within the budget I'd set for myself. I'll have to go back for produce and milk, but I think we're set on meat and cheese and that kind of stuff.

Shoe Depression

I have extra wide feet.
I don't know if they are naturally that wide or if it is the result of several broken toes.
I do know that shopping for shoes with extra wide feet is a pain in the butt.
I don't shop for new shoes often because I have to shop online or at a store across town to find my size. The biggest issue with my feet is that while they are extra wide, they are only a size 6.
So, it seems that the stores think that if you have extra wide feet,
you want to wear grandma shoes.
Rounded toes and no heel.
BORING!!!!
And now, I'm going back to the search. Occasionally, I find the perfect pair at the perfect price.