Tag: friends

One of those anniversary kind of dates

As some of you know (and THANK YOU for the e-mails, cards, notes, LJ posts), March 26 was…um…the yearly anniversary of my 35th birthday. Vigilant readers of THE DEAL may remember that Aaron was thrown a belated surprise birthday party at a local Houston restaurant, Ming’s, and Tom and some of my friends thought it would be fun to do the same for me.

It WAS fun, and not just because of the presents, eggrolls, and the delicious cake. The company was EXCELLENT. I know I have the greatest friends in the world. I got birthday cards from as far away as Sweden (my college roommate), e-mails from all over the country, and phone calls from near and far. Even though I couldn’t be with all my friends, I promise you were well-represented by the wonderful gathering at Ming’s.


Thanks Lindsey, Lynne, Amy, Richard, Tom, Tim, Rhonda, Marla, and Nora for being there, not just tonight but for years spanning 1968 until now. You’re wonderful, and I love you all.

It’s a beautiful morning

Now I’m being Greg-like and using song titles for my subject line… But it is a beautiful morning in Houston. Yesterday was beautiful, too, and my errands took me through three of my favorite Houston neighborhoods. My own, of course, as well as River Oaks and West U. River Oaks has the stateliest mansions, but I like West U better. Many of the roads in West U are canopied by live oaks, which are just amazing trees.

I should take out the camera sometime and shoot some of my favorite places in Houston. The other day, I was in line at the grocery store and began talking to the guy ahead of me about how great the weather was. When I wished it could always be this way, he objected that year-round good weather would make people want to move here. Since we already have over four million people clogging the roads, I guess it’s good that the heat keeps everyone else away.

Another high point of yesterday was a run by the post office. Thanks, Todd, for the St. Patrick’s Day card (I was a little late picking it up, huh?). And I got the VERY FIRST official dogrl greeting card with a lovely photo of Sophie! Thanks, Lisa. =)

March at The Compound (so far)

As I mentioned before, March 4 was my mother’s eightieth birthday. My brother and sister came for that, but also because we had a lot of family business to take care of. Oddly, both of them ended up seeing doctors or dentists and taking painkillers and antibiotics. I had no idea spending a couple of weeks at The Compound could be so hazardous to anyone’s health.

I wish I had pictures of the night when a minute in a people-free house allowed Guinness to flip a ham from the table to the floor. Sadly, none of the photos quite capture the more dramatic moments of the last three weeks.
see images

The True Value of a Writing Partner

I took a three-hour nap earlier since I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was having this really long and elaborate dream, and Tim was in it, as were several (other) celebrities. But when Bill Cosby showed up on a motorcycle, I turned to Tim and said, “This is when it jumped the shark, isn’t it?” And Tim gave me a grave nod. I can always count on him for an honest editing job.

It’s in the stars…

I’m less than 2448 hours away from being able to ship my manuscript to the publisher. Everything’s written, and most of it has been heavily edited by me, and read and edited by Tim and Tom. Jim is reading it, too, and I know he won’t be finished before it ships, but he always finds little things which I can make sure get corrected before it goes to typeset.
Continue reading “It’s in the stars…”