Today we took Barb's mom out to lunch, ate at a place called Arriba Mexican Grill (although, to be honest, it's really more a NEW Mexican Grill); they have a white sauce there called fundido that I am terribly addicted to. It's hot, but OH, so good, and I can't... stop... eating... even when my mouth is on fire and my sinuses have become VERY clear. All their food is pretty good, but it's definitely on the spicy side of spicy. Their carnitas are top-notch, too. (Not to mention their margaritas, although I didn't have one today.)

Yesterday we went looking for sandals, but found none; instead Barb got cute boots and a purse and I bought three more pair of sneakers (I have turned from "girly" into Ellen, apparently). Low-tops, this time, though, for summer wear. Because my work no longer requires much in the way of the BUSINESS part of business casual, I haven't gotten my feet used to wearing heels again, so when I DO wear heels, it's rather painful pressing on where the surgery was. How ironic, have the bunion removed and now my shoes fit better and I don't wear 'em.

I made up some Amish Friendship Bread this weekend, the starter having been given to me the usual ten days ago by a work friend. I forgot to give the new starters to people on Saturday night (although tiirz was the only one who seemed interested, I was sure I could eventually talk [Unknown LJ tag] and </lj> into taking one), so now I have four cups of starter. It's good bread, but that means eight loaves nine days from now, and that's beyond me. I need more friends. *g* One site I found said that starter can be safely frozen; I may try that.

I haven't updated my weight in some time because I haven't been able to do anything but hover between "wedding weight" (about 166-167) and 173 pounds. I did work out regularly last week, so if I can keep that up, I'll feel okay about things even if I can't seem to drop those pounds (although that would be very nice, too).

I've been trying to catch up with two weeks' worth of Craig Ferguson; I do love my Tivo, but sometimes things do stack up a little. I have to say, I adore Jim Parsons on this show; he's as much fun as himself as he is on Big Bang Theory. I'm only lucky that he's been in re-runs the last week, because while Tivo will for some reason helpfully record two-year-old episodes of House and Lost for me, I can't get it to record reruns of Psych or Craig unless I specifically program it to record them individually. I had meant to save the one with Gordon Ramsey, but alas, before I could get in to "recover" it after I accidentally deleted it, it vanished. The ways of Tivo are strange...

For what it's worth, I =KNOW= I have to market myself, put myself out there, get those submissions in, and develop the thick skin necessary for a professional writer if I really want to be published. These are things I know. When I whine on my LJ, I'm not looking for people to tell me these things, I'm venting my frustration and hoping for, at best, a comforting pat on the shoulder and a "there, there." When I can't get even friends and family to read my work, I get frustrated (seriously, when I won the SWW Award and proudly told my Mom, what I got back was, "Oh, I'm so proud. Did you know your {much younger} cousin Brooke just got her Doctorate and a very prestigious professor position at an Ivy League college?"). However, that doesn't mean I won't keep on trying; I just haven't in a while because I've run into a few dead ends. If my whining becomes annoying, skip over it. I don't mind.

So, in any case, I'm prepping The Long Way Home for this year's SWW Contest, and considering the next target for Ring of Fire, and wondering if, perhaps, the as-yet unnamed Book Three ought to be sent out first... just 'cause.

And that's it by me.

Dragon Site continues to be annoyingly down. You are saved from Dragons.