Blogging at Romantic Inks

This morning I blogged at Romantic Inks about keeping a writer's notebook. I'm also going to be at Coffee Time Romance today. I'd love to see you there!

And because it's Spring, I had to change my blog up to be colorful! Happy Spring everyone!

Croaking Frogs

Spring has arrived. Flowers are uncoiling, butterflies are rebirthing, and the Mesquite trees (which they say are the last to bloom) are blooming. After a hot and dry summer, everything is green.

I love this time of year. We've had some good rain and after a good rain, the frogs come out at my house. Literally. I have a huge pond a few feet in front of my house and I can sit on my porch and listen to them croak, calling out for their mate or warning other males away, or whatever it is they do. It sounds like millions, my husband bets there are probably hundreds. The thing that fascinates me is that if the males croak in warning or to breed, why do they croak in harmony? It's like a free concert right outside my house. None of them are out of tune with the other. You'd think they'd sound discordant or something if they weren't getting along.

I know, it's silly, but it's beautiful. Indescribable. With all the horrors in life, the sound of this many frogs is just amazing. This is what they mean when they say "enjoy the little things."

Not understanding this, I had to look it up some more. So I googled "why do frogs croak?" and found some interesting tidbits. Some say they croak before a rainstorm, but after five years of living here I can tell you they croak after a rainstorm. I also found something that says it only sounds like they're croaking more before a storm because the low clouds reflect the sound. Hogwash. It's probably a least a little true, though, because the whole world - color, sound and smell - all seem amplified before or after a rain shower. The colors after a rainstorm...ahh.

Back to the frogs...another post said it's because the air is moist and they can stay outside and croak longer. That makes more sense because I've walked up on them before and they all stop croaking and jump back into the water. I actually found some funny things online, but one thing I can tell you is, it is cool.

I wish I could find the pictures of the frogs I took last year, but my pictures are severely disorganized, even my digital files. Maybe one day, I'll get to those and organize them. Until now, I'll leave you with this...

If Mondays are the worst, Sundays are the best

As the rain glides against the window and waters the trees I planted last week, I sit here and enjoy the knowledge that I don't have to do anything, if I don't want to. It's Sunday afternoon and what a lazy Sunday afternoon it's been!

My days are busy, my weekends are busy, and it's always nice to have a day like this where nothing is important but to just enjoy life. The dishes in the dishwasher are clean, and I haven't unloaded them. The laundry was mostly done yesterday, but I haven't folded the clothes. I haven't even written today, though I did get other stuff done. And soon, I'm going to get dinner started and settle down to a movie. The perfect ending to a stressful workweek.

Tomorrow is starting another workweek, so I have to revitalize myself. We have a new employee starting, the third in less than a year and one who I don't think plans on staying (but that's another story) so I love these lazy, rainy days.

What's your favorite day of the week? What's your favorite lazy thing to do?

Mondays are the worst

How many cups of coffee does it take to get you going in the morning? I only try for one, but I always fail, especially on Mondays. I'm on my third cup now.

What is it about Mondays that are so rough? I know for me it's because my routine gets shot over the weekend. I stay up later, sleep a tad bit longer, and those two days really mess me up.

We planted trees over the weekend and my wrists hurt worse than if I'd stayed at the computer and typed 20 hours straight. I killed my first snake of the year (by accident). I was snipping along with some lopers and a small snake was curled up in the jumping cactus I was cutting. Yuck! It wasn't poisonous - I only know this because once I told my husband about it, he came and looked. I didn't dare get close enough.

Congratulations to Marty Kindall. She won my contest for naming my next victim. Because I'm so tight-lipped about my work-in-progress, I'm not going to share what she came up with, but it's great!

My next appearance, on-line that is, is March 31, 9am CST or 10am EST (or should I say EDT for daylight time?) at the CoffeeTime loop. If you haven't seen us Wild Rose authors in action, stop by. It's a lot of fun! Coffee Time gave ONE WRONG MOVE four cups!

Now that was totally by accident and unplanned but I just noticed that I started out this morning talking about the coffee I was drinking, then ended it with talking about Coffee Time Romance. LOL Have a great week everyone!

One Wrong Move in Print!

ONE WRONG MOVE is now available in print! You can find it online at Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com, and hopefully we'll see it in bookstores (you can always request it, ISBN # is on the Wild Rose Press website).