OK, so I've got pictures! I have naturally curly hair, so the curl is all mine. In the "straight" pictures, that was the first time EVER I'd had my hair straight.

Just to give everyone a clear idea, here's the before.


And the after (where it's straight)



And the curly/natural stuff!

Change of plans... Hair appointment is now tomorrow. Drat!

I'm nervous. With 40 pounds down and about another 40 to go, I'm ready for a change, but clothes ain't it. Heck, any clothes I buy now won't fit for long!

So, I'm doing NEW HAIR! And we're talking really different. I'm getting some BLUE hair!! (No, sis, not the old-lady blue!) I'm also doing a new cut. Still a medium length since

1. My hubby likes it longer


2. Tall women usually look better with medium to long hair

I'll post before and after pictures tonight when it's all said and done!

I haven't been blogging much just because there's so much going on in my life! YIKES!

Did want to say that today's my birthday though. ;) My family knows me so well... I got pens and writing paper! Gotta love it!

WOW! I've just realized that the ticker says I've lost over 40 pounds. WOW!

That's 40 packages of butter. 4 big bags of flour. One really big bag of dog food.

I'm in a bit of a weight "yo-yo" lately. I stayed the same for so long and then I lost 2.2 pounds and then gained 2 and this week I lost 3.8. I'm hoping that I don't gain any of it back next week. This yo-yo thing is discouraging.

I spent yesterday Geocaching in Spearfish with Oscar the Wonder Dog. No one else in my family enjoys it as much as I do, so it was just the dog and me. We got nine (8 in Spearfish, one only about 5 miles from our house) for the day. A personal record.

Oscar took a dive yesterday. Spearfish (which is about 50 miles from my house) has a creek that runs through it. Now, I think it's larger than a creek, but it's not a river, so whatever.... ANYWAY, one of the caches was right next to this body of water. I find the cache and sit down to sign the log. Oscar has his two front paws in the water and is lapping it up. Then he stops and climbs on a different rock (closer to me). I thought he was coming to me.

I was wrong. He jumped in and took a swim. I think he stayed in there about 2 or 3 minutes was all and I was laughing the whole time!

Later, we found this church. One of the caches, a micro, was hidden near here. I thought the church was so beautiful I just had to get a picture. It's on the national historic registry, too, so the place has been here for a bit. I may try painting it next.

Today was filled with sewing. Did a few pillows out of old t-shirts for the kid, hemmed some jeans for her, put elastic in a pair of shorts my sister made (also from a t-shirt) and did a few more bookmarks. Tomorrow will be more embroidery, I think.

Notice there's not a lot of WRITING in any of that....

Finished another knitting project. These socks will go to the kid's best friend.

Today is a big day at our house. The Kid got her learners permit.

South Dakota makes you take a test to even get the permit, and she took it (for the second time) this morning. The first time, she didn't do so well. The Kid doesn't test well, and we all know that. Doesn't help when she gets "cocky," though, either.

So, after a few days of studying (and reading the HP book!) and an online quiz, and studying, and having me and her dad pull questions out of the book, and a little more studying, she did it. She came out of the test room with a million dollar smile that told me all I needed to know....

I'm proud of her, but I wish she'd stay little for a bit more....

Another few pounds closer to my goal. At the official weigh-in this morning I was down 2.2 -- not bad for two weeks.

For those who missed it, I did have a bet with my hubby that I'd be down to a size 14 by Aug. 8. Well, I did it and already have won the bet. I went ahead and bought some new clothes yesterday (a pair of pants and a few shirts) with the help of the kid. Got some really cute things. One of these days I may not have to shop at the "fat chick store" at all! Although it does feel good to be at the smallest end of *that* scale!

Finished the latest Harry Potter book and am re-reading the previous ones for anything I might have missed. Also working on the matching sock I posted about earlier.

I'm trying to get some Christmas crafts done. What I'd love to do is set up my two sewing machines somewhere I could LEAVE them and sew when I get the "urge" and then move on to something else when I get the urge for that. Unfortunately, we don't have the room around here and I can only leave the sewing machines on the kitchen table for so long before it annoys the heck out of me. (My hubby, on the other hand, claims to not mind. What a great guy!)

Finished the first of Bob's socks. I used the Zodiac Socks pattern from "Hip Graphic Knits." The socks knit up pretty quick. I just hope the girl I did them for likes them....

Here's a picture of my grandmother with my kid (on the right) and my niece (on the left).

I've been thinking about names for the past few days. My family has always called me "Jenni," which makes my kid laugh because I've been "Jen" to her all her life. Heck, I was "Jen" since I left for college more years ago than I care to admit. Come to think of it, I haven't been called "Jenni" for half my life! But, since my dad's name is Jim, it was too confusing to have a Jim and a Jen in the same house.

Being back home, though, I was "Jenni" and "Aunt Jenni" for two days. It took a bit of getting used to, but now part of me misses hearing it.

Isn't it odd that we have names we're given and then we have names we select? Or am I the only one who does that?

Went to Omaha for my grandmother's 90th birthday and did some serious shopping. Too much eating, so will skip weight watchers this week... You'd think I'd learn, but no....

Oh well! Maybe next time!

Van Gogh has nothing to worry about. I will not be taking over as one of the world's greatest painters anytime soon, but I did paint this in watercolor today. I've determined that once the kid starts school (September 4), I'll have a bit more free time. I'm trying to find hobbies to fill that. (Heaven forbid I actually work or write!) I'm not sure painting will be it, but I guess this isn't so bad for a first try.... (My sis or Steph will probably let me know through polite comments! giggle!)

Found a new way to do dishes at my house... OK, not really, but this picture was just too cute NOT to post!

I've gotten a lot of knitting done lately.

These socks are a "Dobby" pair -- Harry Potter fans will understand. The "M" goes on the outside of the leg and the kid, who is at camp, doesn't even know her socks are finished. Of course, what she really wants is a Weasley sweater, but sweaters take FOREVER for me to knit! Poor kid....

The blanket is for a young lady who is expecting in September. I know it's not much, and she will have more trials and tribulations then a little blanket can sooth, but it's something. And the young lady is trying. Gotta give her some credit for that.

FINALLY!

I broke through my plateau. I lost a whopping 3.8 pounds this week! I feel so excited that I'm back on track....

The dang ticker went the wrong direction this morning. I gained six-tenths of a pound.

More than anything, I'm upset with myself. I'm feeling sorry for myself, yes, but I'm angry, too. No, I didn't need to snack as much as I did, but I hate the fact I seem to have a slower metabolism than everyone else in the house, too. It doesn't seem fair....

What I really need is to get "re-motivated"...

SPAY and NEUTER your pets!! How hard is this for people to understand?

I woke up this morning to find six or seven little kittens in my wood pile. They aren't mine!!! My pets (with the exception of Oscar the Wonder Dog) are all fixed. Every one of them! All three cats, and both "big" dogs. Now I have seven kittens in my yard and it is supposed to be 100 degrees again today.

Every summer I end up taking at least one batch of kittens to either the Humane Society or a local pet store. Every summer I hear my daughter say "but Mom, they're so cute...." Dang it!

She's right, you know. They are cute. And so tiny....

Now I'm waiting for the Humane Society to open so I can take them there. (Just called the pet store and they won't take them for fear of distemper.)

GET YOUR PETS FIXED! Especially if you're going to let them roam around outside....

I'm sitting here checking e-mail and reading the blogs of my friends (and some "famous" authors who I wish were my friends!) and wondering if blogs really work. I don't know.

One of my friends is a mystery writer under one name and an erotic romance author under another. She blogs under her mystery name regularly and was able to guest blog under the other name. How do you do that? Does it help sales? Does it just keep you from the WIP you should be writing?

In my pre-author life, I did public relations for a large company in much need of PR work. My "day-to-day" job was to write and edit the company newsletter. Consequently, I know the value of a good editorial. It's uplifting to the reader and therapeutic for the writer. A good editorial can assemble the masses and be a valuable tool for the company.

Isn't a blog the same thing? Doesn't it keep the writers name in the public eye (or at least on a Google search)? Doesn't it allow those of us who don't take social stands in our work a forum to speak about topics which are important to us? (On a side note, I just finished Betty Webb's "Desert Wives." FANTASTIC book!!)

So how should those of us just starting out use a blog? I hope my friends will read and want to comment, but will a post like this get my name out? Or is it just a therapeutic outlet for me? Or just something to write since I'm mildly stuck at a plot point in Ghost Mountain and have no external deadline to finish the novel by? Should I be looking for a group of people to blog with, like my mystery/romance buddy mentioned earlier? Does anyone else write paranormal mysteries who would want to start a blog?

What do you think? Is a blog helpful at this point in my career? Or am I just avoiding the work?

Guess who came home??? OUR CAT!

Wanna hear the whole story?

Last night, the kid came to tell me that she heard a meowing under the house. I woke hubby and told him that we'd heard a cat. The brave man that he is went down to the crawl space, but found nothing.

This morning, I could still hear the cat. DANG IT! So I asked hubby about putting the infamous Have-A-Heart trap back down in the crawl space. After only mild hesitation, he agreed.

This afternoon, the kid had made plans to go ice skating. No more than 10 minutes after leaving the house, hubby calls to tell me that Little Jo had returned. She must have jumped on top of the trap, and then into the room. She was meowing to be let out of the room (we had left the trapdoor open a few inches so we could see if the Have-A-Heart caught anything), which we'd closed off so as not to lose any MORE cats.

She just came prancing around like nothing had happened. This was truly a miracle.

Honestly, I thought we'd never see her again. Hubby is so happy he almost started crying. (Not an easy thing to admit for such a macho-guy, but it shows how much this really bothered him.)

I'm happy for him, too!