Friday Five Saturday Six...this week only

I drove up to DC to attend the Passionate Ink Pary yesterday, leaving me braindead in the wake of the travels. And I'm going to be away from the keyboard most of the day today.

So will probably do a Saturday Six, this week only.

Carry on.

Mechele

Cancelling chat tonight at M-Spot

We're taking tonight off for the summer. See ya in August!

Mechele

Time to spare

I saw something disturbing on Friday. It was one of those cannot now get it out of my head moments.

A car hit a squirrel.

The disturbing part was that they had enough time to avoid hitting the squirrel. I was watching from my spot, waiting to turn. And in my head, saying, “Slow down. Slow down. OMG.” I didn’t say anything out loud because my youngest was in the car. Had she seen it, she would have had nightmares.

I think either the squirrel had been hit before or more likely just got confused being on the road with cars coming. But in two more seconds, it would have been off the road. Two seconds. That was all it needed to escape.

The car never slowed. Never hit the brakes. It had enough time to. Had enough time to slow itself so the squirrel could get off the road. Had enough time to stop really because nothing was close enough behind it to be a danger. But the car didn’t. I don’t even think they looked back.

I can’t help wondering why. Squirrels aren’t my favorite animals. They empty my bird feeders. They chew on things like my trashcans. But I’d never go out of my way to hit one.

Was the person on the phone? Didn’t see the animal trying to cross? Simply not paying attention on a road they’ve driven hundreds of times? Were they in a hurry? Couldn’t slow down because they had to be somewhere?

I’m not sure which I’d like to believe. Inattention or not caring. I’d like to think the best but after what I saw, I can’t. One tap of the brakes and the squirrel would have made it across.

I’ll never know the reasons why the incident happened.

But I replay the moment when the car is coming and the squirrel is crossing in my head often. Still can’t believe it hit the little animal.

Maybe now I’m driving a little slower. Paying more attention to what’s around me. So I don’t take out any small animals and leave someone wondering about me.

RIP unknown squirrel.

May the muses have two seconds to spare
Mechele

PS I posted at Ladies of the Club on my brain vacation.

Friday Five

1. Edits are back to the editor on Another Night Another Dream! Weren't too bad. I added a scene to the story, which I really like. Still waiting to hear on Blood Lines. It needs a name!

2. Haven't gotten far at all in the office reorganization but...I'm getting new vinyl in my bathrooms and kitchen. I can't wait. It will actually be shiny instead of dull! Of course, I'm sitting here now in hammer/saw central (on Thursday) and we had to move all of the furniture out of the kitchen so the entire house is a wreck. LOL. The kitchen table is in the living room. I think the kids want to keep it in there so they can watch TV at dinnertime.

3. Okay, who watched After the Catch? Edgar. Oh my goodness. I melted. It was so sweet. Deadliest Catch was good, too. Another Time Banditless episode though. Now the Northwestern had to go through ice.

4. I read Charley's Web by Joy Fielding. Wow. I stayed up way too late last night (1 AM). And got up this morning to find more books by Fielding. I have a reading goal of 10 this summer and am only at 2 so far. :( it'd be a shame for me not to go do something special for not meeting my summer reading goal.

5. Speaking of books, the youngest likes audio books. We had listened to a couple of Magic Treehouses. She was looking for a Stink book and they only had it in audio book. We listened to that and Judy Moody Saves the World. Next up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Bonus: We volunteered at the SPCA on Tuesday. If you're on the lookout for a cat, now would be a great time to adopt a new buddy. The SPCA was overrun with cats and little kittens, and I know a lot of shelters are having that issue right now. No, we didn't take anything home. We erm *whispers* thought about it.

May the muses have cats
Mechele

Friday Five

1. I return! I've been at Hershey for the last five days. We had a good trip. Stopped by Gettysburg on the way there and tooled around. Climbed the side of a mountain. The girls really enjoyed The Chocolate World Tour and we did that several times.

Hersheypark was fun. Our first day in we ran into this:

Yes, that's a squirrel with a Reeses cup. Apparently even the squirrels are into chocolate.

We rode lots of rides (the youngest's fave: Sidewinder; the oldest: The Whip) and wound up in the water park (The Boardwalk) a lot. Probably how I fried my back :(. We also toured ZooAmerica. Our favorite animals were the prairie dogs. We went to Lancaster and saw an Amish house and rode through a covered bridge. The oldest started feeling crummy yesterday and didn't feel well at all...until she walked in her front door today. Not sure if she had a virus or what but she's feeling better now. It was a long drive home with lots of traffic once we passed DC. The cats and dog were really happy to see us.

2. I did get my book into the editor so now I wait to see whether it will be accepted or not. And I have edits on Another Night Another Dream. I will probably start with those tomorrow.

3. Blogged at Georgia's Crossroads Cafe on vacations.

4. My project for next week: The office that I share with the kids is in shambles. It needs organization and serious cleaning. We'll see how far I get.

5. I heard lots of 80's music this week. Have been singing lots of it. Bruce Springsteen. Bryan Adams. My kids are like, "Why?" LOL.

May the muses have trips

Mechele

Friday Five

1. Tweaking continues on the Blood Lines. I still hope to submit before I leave on vacation. We'll see. I missed a day because...

2. Diva Kitty nearly gave me a heartattack. She disappeared for 24 hours. It was my fault as she got out when I was taking in groceries. She hunkers down a lot of evenings so we didn't realize she was gone until the morning. I lost a day looking for her.

3. Posted at Loose Ends on rereading.

4. Okay, I'm completely captivated by the latest episodes of Deadliest Catch. I'm so glad Phil is back and really wanted him off the ice. The Time Bandit boys weren't in the last one.

5. I've been waiting to announce this...Another Night, Another Dream has been accepted by Loose Id! Whooo hoooo. I'm really excited. Soon, I'll get to sweat about the latest Blood Lines. LOL.

May the muses have books to reread
Mechele

PS wanted to direct attention to a couple of articles at ESPAN. Angela James' A call to Action, Raelene Gorlinsky's The Author Advantages of E, and Treva Harte's Investing. Great round of articles and 'nuff said.

Friday Five

1. I'm almost done. I hope to be able to write done by tomorrow. It's topping off at about 70 K, which is about where I wanted it to be. Next week, a flurry round of proofreading and editing. I want to submit before I leave on vacation.

2. I blogged at Authors of Erotic Romance (for the first time, yay! me) on Tuesday. It's a super group of erotic romance authors. I blogged at Trampy Vamps today, too.

3. We have all four come down with summer colds. Yuck. I guess the family who sneezes together, stays together? Needless to say this made our first week of summer break...grumpy.

4. I broke my Twitter application on my Iphone. I broke my computer. The hubby is wondering what else I can break. A friend suggested a wake for the computer...I like that idea! LOL.

5. I read Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton. The last quarter was...odd. But I liked the book overall. I saw a review pointing out a squick factor and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I see on the one hand the point but Anita wasn't really conscious per se. Little torn there. I did love the book up to the end. Edward is in it and thank God I don't think she'll ever sleep with him. It would ruin the entire relationship IMO. Heh heh, I've logged my first book of the summer reading goals. Go me!

May the muses have reading goals
Mechele