I’m back from Eden, and as with most vacations, returning has been kind of rough. I had a lovely and relaxing time, and I could have easily stayed another week and been happy. Instead, I’m back and besieged with laundry and other tasks. Well, the break was nice.

Now I need to get back to things. First up: finishing Sanctuary.

Here’s my latest out-of-office message, set to go out to work e-mails I receive beginning today.

Yes, folks, I’m not in the office today. I’m making a personal exit to Eden. Yes, Eden. Don’t know where it is? Neither do I, but the person driving does. I hope.

I’m planning to lose myself in the first garden I find there. If I find my way out again, I’ll respond to your e-mail when I’m back in the office on Monday. If not, well . . . come find me in the Garden of Eden.

I’m going to enjoy a much-needed vacation.

Today I received my first review of The Greatest Gift. It’s a nice review from Romance Junkies.

A wonderfully written story of love and passion that will warm the heart without doubt, regardless of the season and time this book is read. My only complaint is that the tale is too short. Lia Sebastian really does know her craft to spinning a romance that will cling to the mind.

You can read the review in its entirety here.

This week I realized I’ve hit a milestone—four months since I stopped drinking anything with caffeine. Yes, amazingly, after drinking two 20-ounce bottles a day, I decided to quit. I made the decision when I realized I had stomach issues when I drank it. I decided to see if things would improve if I stopped drinking caffeine completely.

As you might imagine, I had a rough week or two at the beginning. My coworkers noticed it as well, I’m sure. But I got through it. I didn’t weaken even on my birthday, because my stomach did feel better without the caffeine. Go figure.

Six months ago, I couldn’t imagine going more than a day without caffeine; now I’m off it. And I don’t miss it . . . much.

It’s been more than ten years since I first got online. Within a few months of getting on the internet, I was buying books and teaching myself how to create websites. No one who saw them would think they were professionally designed, but they were nice, they suited the purpose, and I felt a sense of accomplishment with them.

Today, I let a designer do my sites. (Have I mentioned how much I like her?) Anyway, I asked her to give me a bid on a couple of images. Instead of doing so, she pointed me to a free program that would do what I needed. I’m always a bit wary of new software until I get the hang of it. So I figured I would play around with the program for a while until I figured things out.

You can imagine how surprised I was when it took less than five minutes to do what I wanted with the picture.

Riding high on my success, I decided to look for software that would make screenshots from videos. That’s how I got this screenshot, which I posted last week.

So, I’ve got a couple of programs that will allow me to do a few things myself.

Now if I could just DIY with car repairs . . .

The day job has consumed my energy this week. And when I haven’t been at work, I’ve sought out mindless distraction in movies. My once- or twice-a-year movie marathon has turned into a daily one. We’ll see how long that lasts. I’m sure I’ll get back on a regular blogging schedule sometime.

In the meantime, I have a mini-vacation to look forward to next week. I hope I can make it that long . . .

Every now and then, I go on a movie-watching binge. Last week was one of them, and Proof is one of the movies I watched.

Character-driven drama with romance and intrigue. Just what I like. A fascinating exploration of what counts as proof. And I loved the chemistry between the characters played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal.

It even made me a little nostalgic for academia, even though math is definitely not my field. It’s been a while since I felt that. Anyway, it’s worth a watch if you like character-driven stories. Or Jake Gyllenhaal.

It’s still difficult to explain how I’ve been affected by Heath Ledger’s death. Each loss diminishes the world, but this one has really touched me. I grieve for his family and friends. I grieve about the movies he won’t make. I grieve.

Rest in peace, Heath.

I don’t typically watch award shows, but I stumbled on this speech by Daniel Day-Lewis during a Youtube visit. The speech itself starts about 2:00 into the clip.

Now that’s a tribute. My favorite part is this (click and scroll over the blank space after you’ve watched the clip—it’s better when you hear it first): “It’s always been the work of other actors, and there are many actors in this room tonight, including my fellow nominees, who’ve given me that sense of regeneration. And . . . Heath Ledger gave it to me.”

Absolutely beautiful.

There are times when coming home after a long workday makes me feel a bit like I’ve been wrestling wild beasts. This is one of those times. No matter how much planning I do, I seem to get hit at once with several projects. All of them due this week, of course. More are due next week, and the next. . . . I know, that’s the nature of jobs, but things have stepped up a few notches and will stay that way for a while. All I can do now is hunker down and get through it.

I’m heavy in the editing stage of Sanctuary. I hope to have that in the hands of a few test readers before too much longer. Then it’s off to submission, and I will enjoy a well-deserved break.

In the meantime, I may take a nap . . .