Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung here in north Georgia. The pollen is working my husband over big time, and covering anything outside with the evil yellow dust. My silver car definitely doesn't look silver at the moment, and there's really no sense in washing it until things calm down.

With the arrival of spring, so comes the arrival of our wedding anniversary. April 9th marked 27 years. Eek! How is that possible? I wrote a little something on Facebook (see below), and presented the hubs with this cute penny from 1994 that I ordered from an Etsy shop. It was a nice day.

Twenty-seven years ago, on a windy, Spring day, two 17yos pledged their lives to one another. Most would say that's far too young to agree to eternity, and I would certainly agree with you NOW, but it appears to have worked out. Some days it feels like a lifetime has passed, and others it feels like just yesterday we were so young and free (i.e. stupid).  

I won't say it's been an easy ride. Oh, definitely not. Like all couples, there were moments where I considered smothering him with a pillow. Especially during all those middle of the night cluster feedings when I had an infant attached to me, and their dad was snoring away like nothing. Now here we are, all these years later, three wonderful children and a grandson we both adore. We had two short years alone in the beginning before our oldest was born, and now we have two short years left before the youngest is out of the house. It blows my mind!  

Even with all that, the good definitely outweighs the frustrating, and I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else. I look forward to spending the rest of our lives together, and I hope it will be a very long time before you die. (I always say he'll go before me.) Happy 27th anniversary, baby! I love you forever and always!

This past weekend, I spent some time planting 9 strawberry plants in our little makeshift cinder block bed. They were already covered with flowers, runners, and small berries when I bought them, so I'm hoping they'll grow abundantly. I've picked a few berries over the last few days and still waiting on a couple to fully ripen. Sun-warmed, freshly picked strawberries are simple pleasures in life.

Now flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, birds are chirping every morning. This is the time of year I love!

And then next month my grandson turns 1! Eek! I can't believe how fast that happened. He's growing so fast, babbling all the time, loves for me to read to him, pulling up, and doing his best to get into anything that isn't tied down or just out of reach. It has been a lot of fun watching him grow and learn. 

Today, I'm waiting on an inspector from our homeowner's insurance to arrive and inspect the roof. With all the storms, wind, and hail we've had the last few months, we've developed a leak in my laundry room. So now we see if the insurance will pay for a fix, or if we'll have to handle it ourselves. With 25 years of coverage, and zero claims, I really hope they'll do something beneficial.

In the meantime, I'm working on book 9 in the Liz Baker series, as well as a short story about Chad & Monty from when Liz was missing. The short story will come out first (free of charge), and book 9 is currently scheduled for the fall.

I hope you're all safe, healthy, and having a wonderful week. Be sure to pop by my Facebook page for more updates and randomness from me. :)

Spring has finally sprung!

My cherry trees are bloomed out beautifully.

Spring is my favorite time of year. After the nastiness of winter, everything comes back to life. Blooms abound and everything turns bright green. And if you look out the window in front of my desk you'll see a yard full of dandelions (my own fault since the kids & I love blowing the seedlings all over the place). It's time to think about the upcoming vegetable garden, spend time clearing away the debris left by winter storms, and relishing in the warmer, sunny days. Plus the kids have Spring Break next week!

With the new sprouts of life outside, I feel uplifted and ready to tackle new projects. I have two books I'm working on for 2015, plus several blog posts ready to go out on schedule. I also have one daughter graduating from high school in less than two months, and then preparing to leave for college in the fall *Sniff, Sniff*

In between all of that, I have two hogs going up for slaughter, and possibly adding a few new chicks to the coop, and a rental house to paint. Oh, and my middle daughter will be getting her learner's permit in July and will want to start driving. ACK! I told their dad he can do it this time around. I don't think my nerves can take it so soon after the last one.

Spring has definitely sprung, and my to-do list grows even longer. However, I'll get to enjoy the warm weather while whittling away at my tasks.

I hope your day is as beautiful as my cherry blossoms. <3

It's Spring Break!

Good morning all. It's Monday again, and it's a week off of school for my girls for Spring Break. Unfortunately it looks like they won't be enjoying any Spring temps around here. It was lovely Saturday and Sunday, but this week is suppose to bring lower temps and even a possibility of SNOW! Noooooo!!! Winter is over!! Go away!!

Luckily it looks like the lower temps are only here for today and tomorrow. Things should start warming back up on Wednesday. *Fingers Crossed*

Anyway, today I have to take the oldest to have her bottom braces put on. It has been 8 weeks since the tops were put on, and she did a fantastic job with them. Hopefully the bottoms will be just as easy on her.

I have a few other errands to run while we're out of the house today. After that, I plan to be home the rest of the week. I have a set amount of writing work planned for this week--since I won't have interruptions from going back and forth to school--and my regular to-do list to work through. Plus with the older girls home to entertain the 4 yr old, I should be able to get it all done.

THEN... Thursday is my 15th wedding anniversary. Tim will be home to celebrate with me allllllllll day long. Woohoo! On Friday we will be heading out of town for the weekend; we'll return late Sunday. We're looking forward to it!

Sooooo, today is actually the only day that we have to get up early, and that's only because the ortho appointment is at 9am (and it's a 30 minute drive). Therefore, I'm off to wrangle the girls into the van and head out. I hope you all have a great Monday and that your weather still looks/feels like Spring! :-)

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Sunday.

Good afternoon all. I can't believe it's nearly Monday again. These last four days have flown by so quickly.

Yesterday we spent most of the day outside. We worked around the yard, played with the dog, installed some new solar lights and japanese lanterns around the backyard fire pit. Unfortunately, it was so darn windy that we could safely light the firepit. However, the new lights worked like a charm once the sun went down. I'm looking forward to enjoying them once it's warmer. The girls keep begging to roast marshmellows and make smores. Maybe we can do that soon, now that's it officially SPRING! Yay!

Today we went for a visit with the in-laws and then came back home. I cleaned out the front flowerbed and moved some of my yard irises into it. Tim washed his car and then the girls tackled washing the van. Everyone was dirty and wet by the time we were all finished. LOL!

Now everyone is inside, though the windows are open and the house has a light breeze running through it. Tim is watching Nascar and the girls are off playing, or watching cartoons, or whatever they are doing. As long as they aren't fighting and screaming then I leave them be.

Me, well, I just finished writing up a contest over on the LTTM blog (so if you're an LTTM member, pop over and check it out) and now I'm doing this entry before heading over and working on the April issue of my newsletter.

I WAS going to do some book writing, but every time I started the girls would yell for me, or someone would start fighting. It's like they can sense when I'm trying to get work done. If they knew how much I enjoyed writing here on the blog then they would be interrupting this too. LOL! Luckily, they have no idea how much I like my blog. Tim is a different story though. He started flirting with me as soon as I began writing the LTTM entry. LOL!

Since it is Sunday, I've started my "to-do" list for the new week. It's an ever-expanding list, but here are a few things that I need to do in the upcoming week:

*** Repaint fingernails (yes, I actually have to schedule nail painting)

*** Make dinner rolls for the freezer (my sister got my last bag last week)

*** Call the urologist about insurance stuff (gotta make sure all the vasectomy details are perfect)

*** Make Spring skirts for the girls

*** Clean the carpet in my bedroom

*** Clean my laptop

*** Finish the Character Dictionary for my website (have you been waiting on this? LOL)

*** Work on my April newsletter

Yes, that's a lot of stuff, but it's also just the tip of the iceburg. It doesn't include all my normal household stuff, or my book writing. I might even throw in a web article or two, since I haven't written on in a while. Not to mention that I have a couple of magazine articles I need to finish. LOL! It's never ending.

Okay, I'm out. I need to do some other work and hopefully everyone will leave me be for a while to do it. Of course, the phone will probably ring as soon as I hit publish on this entry. LOL!

Oh, the picture above is of my three beauties while we were playing outside at the in-laws' house earlier today.

Have a great one!

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A beautiful Monday.

Happy new week to all of you wonderful readers out there! I'm in an extraordinarily great mood today. The weather has been superb for days now. My heat has been completely turned off in the house for a full three days now!

There's sunshine, blue skies, chirping birds, a light breeze, and comfortable temps to be had by all around here. Oh, and I saw blooming flowers today. Awwww, I love Spring!!

I'm the kind of person who needs sunlight to thrive. I get in a funk when it's always dark and cloudy and gloomy. I need sunshine! It makes me happy, energetic, and fully functional. LOL!

I just wish Tim was home to curl up in the hammock with me. LOL

Oh, speaking of him being home...

Now that the time has changed, we'll still have a whole hour - hour and a half of yummy daylight when Tim gets home each evening. I love this time of year!

Okay, enough gushing about Spring from me. I actually came to post about my forum. Some of you may remember that I posted a like to it a few months back. Well, I closed that one down because it was getting bombarded by fake members and spam. I just don't have that kind of time to constantly be banning people and removing spam posts.

Sooooo.....

I stared a Yahoo Group instead. I like them better anyway cause I can run it and post right from my email program. Makes it much easier for me. So here's the new forum for anyone interested.

Vampires, Werewolves, & Lust... Oh My!

I bet you didn't know that the name of the new forum was almost the title for A Midnight Infatuation. Yep, it's true.

Anyway, stop by and join. I have to approve all members, so that'll make it much easier to prevent fake accounts and spammers. And to anyone who does get through and spams us, I will NOT hesitate to ban you. It is my group after all. ;-)

I hope you're all having a fabulous day... even though it's a Monday. LOL!

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What a beautiful day it has been!

Wow! I knew I was missing warmer temps, and I have been begging for Spring to arrive, but I didn't know just how much I wanted it until it arrived today! It has been in the mid-70's today here in north Georgia. The weather has been just spectacular! I'm in heaven!!

The girls spend the night with mom last night, so Tim and I woke up to a very peaceful house. The morning had clouds and a light misting drizzle. However, right after lunchtime the clouds parted, the sun shone brightly, and the sky became a beautiful shade of blue. It has been fantastic!

We worked outside most of the afternoon, just cleaning around the house and raking leaves. Then Tim grilled out cheddar brawts for us. Yum! Now everyone has a full tummy and it beginning their bath-taking. I look forward to a relaxing evening with the family because everyone is tired out. LOL!

On another note. I did take Tim to the doctor yesterday and I was right, he has bronchitis. He's now on a Z-pak and an inhaler. He should be feeling much better in a few days. Actually he looks and sounds a lot better today than he did Thursday. Poor guy was wheezing and gasping. Now he's sounding a lot better.

He's been so careful about not giving the rest of us his germs. I'm missing my mouth kisses terribly. Does anyone know how long he might be contagious? I haven't the foggiest idea.

Since he's dealing with this, we aren't going to visit the in-laws tomorrow. They are smokers and, even though they don't smoke when we're there, the smoke would be aggravating his lungs terribly. Tim smoked when we met, and during several years of our marriage. Once we built our house (and I was pregnant with the oldest), he was banned from smoking in-doors. Luckily, six years ago he finally kicked the habit.

He's been cigarette-free for 6 years and I'm soooo proud of him. What's really funny is that now the smell of smokers really bothers him. I just keep reminding him that I had to deal with it all those years he smoked and he's just getting paid back for it. LOL!

Anyway, he's feeling better now and that's what matters. We've had a glorious day and all are happy and relaxed. Oh, and we have to remember to move our clocks up and hour tonight! I love this time of the year. I like having daylight later in the evening.

I hope you're all having a good weekend and enjoying nicer temps. Til next time!

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Tuesday... Yawn!

Gosh, I'm so tired this morning. I just popped open a can Coke because I'm really in need of some sort of boost... and the caffeine will have to do, I suppose. And I don't like coffee. I like the smell, but can't stand the taste. So Coke it is!

It's not like I was up late last night either. I guess it was about 10:30pm when Tim and I finally settled down for sleep. During the summer, I'm regularly up until 1-2am in the morning each night, and not feeling so drug down. I'll just blame it on winter. I am sooooo sick of it! At least it's suppose to be in the 50's here today.

Tim had to go into work early this morning, but he'll be getting off work early as well. I'm looking forward to having him home before dark for a change. Plus, it'll give me a little more writing time since he'll be home and can deal with the girls while I'm working. Yay! Then again, I may find better uses of his time once he does make it home. We'll see...

Ah, it appears that my business email is now back in working order. I awoke this morning to several days of emails piled up in my inbox. Thank goodness! Therefore, christie@christiesilvers.com is now back in working order. Woohoo!

Okay, I've wasted an hour of my writing time by just goofing off and trying to feel more awake. The laundry is done, the kitchen is clean, the trash has been emptied, and I need to get to writing. Liz has a man in the hospital, vampire to kill, and not a lot of time to tell me about it. Check back tomorrow for this week's Wanna Know Wednesday!

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