The New Man in My Life

Yeah, I know - he's a mobster.

I know he's married (at least in the episodes I've seen).

And I know he's been around awhile. But I just recently met him on A&E and I'm in love. In fact I'm in love with the entire ensemble: "T and the Gang". I tape the episodes and watch them Sunday evenings, with a dish of pasta and a glass of good Italian wine. It's almost as if I'm in the middle of Patterson, NJ and I have a son named Frances Albert.

I admit it: I'm hooked on The Sopranos. That could be an unusual admission since I'm mostly Italian and I'm not at all upset about the "image-problem".

But I love Tony S. He's the mobster who needs to see a psychiatrist. How conflicted is that? The writers are geniuses: by using visits to a shrink, they've made what could have been a caricature into a multi-dimensional character.

Okay, so everyone's known that for years. I've come lately to The Sopranos and T. But that's okay. With the much rumored last season coming up soon on HBO, I still have many more evenings with my man - and the gang.

The Secret

"There must be something to this New Age crap," my skeptical daughter said to me not too long ago.

Heather had never been the most outwardly happy person in the world, but she made up for it in loyalty, work ethics and intellect.

And then she had several bad gall bladder attacks - bad enough to cause my not-so-health-conscientious daughter to have surgery.

Since the surgery she has been almost a different person. She doesn't accost strangers on the street and hug them, but her voice is lighter and she sounds more content.

"Maybe it was all that bile backing up that made me so cranky," she said to me a few months after the surgery. "I feel so much better now. So maybe there is something to all this New Age crap."

I know Heather will never be a New Age guru, but I did send her this book. I also gave it to a good friend as a birthday present. This is not, in Heather's succinct words, "New Age crap" - this is changing the way you view your life, those around them and yourself.

I recommend this book and the movie.

Tomorrow I'm getting the CD so I can also listen to it.

There is no "secret" to The Secret. It's all a matter of believing that you can change your life for the better.

My Theory on the Cause of Spinal Stenosis

Here are two images of spinal stenosis - a narrowing of the spinal column. I have this problem in two areas of my spine in addition to at least one herniated disc. Many things could cause this. A rheumatologist, upon looking at my MRIs, asked me if I had been an athlete in my youth. Evidently my films were pretty crappy - like I had been doing a lot of running, lifting etc. Of course, I laughed and told that I had been the fat girl sitting in the corner reading a book. But I had been a nurse for almost 40 years. Although she thought that could be the cause, I have another theory.

I've had the rug pulled out from under me many times in the last 25 years. And when the rug is pulled out from you - where do you land? On your butt. Landing hard on your butt could cause what? Spinal stenosis.

But after the last long, hard pull, I learned how to fall - gently.
I've also learned not to get too attached to a certain rugs.

More San Juan Island pics

I want to live here.....

My dream house on Friday Island - of the San Juan Islands of Washington State - has lots of glass looking out to the woods and water. It's solar heated.

My writing desk is in front of a large, sliding glass door where I watch the wildlife as I write. There is an Alaskan huskey at my feet and the cats watch from the loft balcony.

West Virginia may be "Almost Heaven." The San Juan Islands ARE Heaven.

I is a Writer!

This is what a completed manuscript in revision looks like. Messy, huh? But also beautiful - very beautiful.

I'm taking a week off to finish the revisions and get it to the agent who requested it - requested the full, complete manuscript, mine you. That doesn't happen often.

This isn't my first finished book. I have two more in similar notebooks but they're in hiding - in a writer protection program - because they're crap. I'll be the first to admit it. It took me two completed manuscripts before I found my stride - my voice.

This is Elizabeth Peacock and the Body on Abbey Road - a cozy mystery - sort of Jessica Fletcher meets the X-Files.

I'm almost half way through Elizabeth Peacock and the Ghost of Heart break Hotel - set in Gettysburg during a reenactment.

I'm outlining Elizabeth Peacock and the Wolf of Stones Crossing. Werewolf - get it?

And as I'm writing this, the title of the fourth book popped into my imagination:

Elizabeth Peacock and the Crop Circle of Death. No explanation necessary for that one.

MommaDonna is excited about this book - she says she has a "good feeling" about it.

So do I.

And, BTW: This is why this blog has been quiet lately. I've been working! Working at Writing!

A New Adventure

It's not climbing Mt. Hood or white water rafting or anything like that.

I've been asked to give a class at Melissa's shop: All Things Magical and Mystikal. It seems that some of her customers and new Wicca students think I'm knowledgeable. Well, maybe - but only in some areas.

Of course I thought of lots of topics, but settled on one to start: The Goddess at Glastonbury. I've been doing lots of research already and have some ideas. I want to include the Mists of Avalon - the Arthurian Legend through the eyes of the women - the "goddesses" of myth. Or is it really history?

My new adventure - not white water rafting, but, for me, more fun and definitely less dangerous.

Snowy Valentine's Day

Finally some snow to shovel in Pennsylvania. Not that I'm thrilled about digging the car out but I still can do it with minimum back pain. I was finished in time for the plow to clear the parking lot. Perfect timing - my "abilities" are developing.

And the office was closed! A day without those hassles - shoveling a little snow is a small price to pay. A day of coffee, raisin cookies, books and a good long nap. Heaven.

The cats were entertained by Cat TV: the birds flitting around the bird food on the patio.

But mostly - a day out of the office. The last few weeks have been awful - being yelled at and being yelled for. I have a new mantra: Do you want to be right or do you want to be employed? For now, I want to be employed - but working on that early "retirement" thing - actually change in careers.

However, it is Valentine's Day.

Stay warm and snuggle with someone you love - I am.