Over the weekend, I went out for dinner and some shopping with a couple of friends. While shopping, I found this fun item.

It does say “bodice-ripping” on the packaging—a stereotype I dislike—but I couldn’t resist adding this to my inspirational magnet collection.

My first phrase:

He dreamed of her passionate kisses, rolling and rocking with pleasure.

I’ll move the phrases around each day. Should be a fun writing exercise.

It’s April 15, otherwise known as tax day or the day of reckoning. This year I’m getting a bit of money back. I’m looking forward to my San Francisco trip this summer, and I’m also going to put some of my return toward my debts.

The best thing about doing my taxes—besides getting a refund—is that I don’t do them. A friend of mine does. It’s such a relief to have someone else do them.

The refund isn’t half bad, either . . .

Last week I did pretty good with the exercise challenge. This week . . . not so much. I’ve been napping instead, which is nice, but not the same thing. I think it will help to choose a regular time for exercise, and then to just do it.

Anyone have an inspiring quote or success story about exercising? I could use it.

A friend of mine challenged me to an exercise duel. We haven’t established the stakes yet, but this will be good for me, since I fell off the exercise wagon treadmill a while ago. I have two new DVDs to try, but I’m planning to get back into things with the familiar ones first. Wish me luck.

I just wish I could figure out how to exercise and take a nap at the same time.

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.

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 . . .

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 . . .

I’ve had an assembled bookcase in my living room for a while now.

As you can see, the spot in front of the closet door is not exactly the best place for it. So, as part of my goal to work slowly but surely on organizing my house, I’m going to find a better place. I’ve decided I’ll use this bookcase for my J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts collection.

This doesn’t come close to being my complete collection. These are only the books that aren’t already on bookshelves. Stay tuned–I’ll post again with a picture once I put it somewhere.