Wed. February 25, 2009

Hi, Everyone,

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I was really sick all last week with pneumonia, bronchitis, and laryngitis. (Didn't have a voice for four days!-really a bummer.) I'm better now and went into work on Monday. Had two meetings yesterday, and trying to catch up with house and work at home.

I'm really looking forward to presenting at the Canton Public Library on Monday, March 2 to the Project ELSIE group on domestic violence, abuse in many forms, and relating some of my own experiences.

I'm also starting to work on another grant for the animal organization and this will be quite challenging. More than the other one I did. It is much more involved. I do have a grant-writing person helping me, so that sure is a plus! She is really good and has so much knowledge and expertise in this area.

The new kitty, "Tigger-Digger" is settling in just fine. She is so funny. Mornings are her best time for play. She loves to bat around toys on the kitchen floor and gets very exuberant in doing so. Sometimes they go beside or under the refrigerator, and she sits there and stares at me until I get a yardstick or something to get them out. She and Tooter-Hooter haven't played yet, but I believe they will eventually.
Tigger goes to the basement in the evenings when hubby and I are down there sitting in front of the fireplace. She sits on our laps for a brief period, then off she goes to play with something. She really enjoys playing with a plastic spoon. She even carries it around, drops it, plays with it, then carries it to another area. She is so funny to watch.

I've had some readers give me reviews of my sequel, "A BETTER DAY DAWNING", and I am so thrilled. The reviews are on here, Amazon, Borders, and some other places as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll blog again soon! Take care, be safe, and think spring!
My best,
Becky :)

Sun. morning, Feb. 16, 2009

Hi, Everyone,

Thanks for stopping by. I sure appreciate your doing so and for your emails and uplifting comments.

Hubby and I have had to add water to the pond for the first time during the winter months. The liner has risen below and even though there was quite a bit of run-off from the melting ice and snow, the risen liner has reduced the amount of water in the pond. One fish is in trouble and I have it in a bucket in the garage. Don't know if she/he will make it or not. Hopefully without any rain these past few days, the liner will recede and the pond can get back to normal. It is cold this morning and I saw a layer of ice and a light coating of snow on the pond. It will warm up a little today and we'll add more water.

The new kitty is settling in fine, but Tooter-Hooter is still not sure of the little bugger. At least now, she is not growling or hissing at Tigger-Digger. They just avoid each other for now. Time will tell and hopefully they will be playmates.

The horrendous wind storm (gust up to 90 mph),that moved through the area this past week sure made things a mess for a good while for a lot of folks. We were out of power for fifteen hours. Luckily we had a kerosene heater to keep the upstairs warm enough. I heated water on the top of it to make coffee! Hubby had to cook his eggs in his cast iron skillet the same way for breakfast. We improvise when needed too! Some area still did not have power on Saturday, but hopefully everyone has power back by now. We did lose some shingles on the old garage, and one of the pine trees at the end of the house started to uproot. Hubby propped a long board against it to stabilize it and to keep it from falling over. We'll see if it works and it re-roots itself and will be okay.

I've been blessed to hear from some readers I sent my sequel to. They have enjoyed it immensely and I am so thrilled they like it. Always great to hear from readers!

It seems there are more stories of domestic violence in the news, and men killing their wives, girlfriends, and the children, then themselves. So tragic. Learn all you can, read all you can, so it does not happen to you!

I've been blessed with scheduling more book signings for spring and I'm working on some other areas I've not been before.

I'm ghostwriting a book for another author. It is good. She is pleased with what I have sent her so far.

Gotta go for now. Lots to do today!
Have a great week, thanks again for stopping by.
Stay safe, and think spring! It is just around the corner...hurray!
Hugs,
Becky :)

Sun. morning, Feb. 8, 2009

Hello Everyone,
Thanks for stopping by this week!

I sure wish I had not given away my ice skates! Our whole backyard is nothing but ice. I tried to remove some of it on the stone pathway in back with a chipper tool, but only managed to get a little of it off. It is so thick! Even though it warmed up yesterday to around 50, there is so much thick ice everywhere and it sure makes it difficult to walk on.

Hubby discovered yesterday the lining of the pond has risen due to all the inflow of ice melting in the yard. Uh-oh. Not good. Even though there are cement blocks at various places on the bottom of the pond, the rising liner will decrease the space for the fish, frogs, and salamander. I'm very concerned. The ice is quite thick on the pond too. Hubby says they will all be okay, but I'm not sure. The heater in the pond didn't seem to be working either, and we discovered the plug was pulled out of the socket due to the expansion/contraction of the ice near the plug-in box. Hmm. Well, hubby hooked up another extension cord to it. Now the heater is floating on top of the water with the ice below it and can't reach the ice to do its job until the water flow diminishes. Sheesh.

I had a lot of meetings this week but sure accomplished much. I even managed to get the laundry done, a little cleaning, and we got a new kitty! Boy-oh-boy, is Tooter upset! Still growling after three days, although this morning they did get about two feet away from each other. I was watching and waiting for the fight to ensue, but the new kitty, "Tigger-Digger" just backed off and became submissive. Little Tigger is so cute. She is a tiger-striped, black, brown, and has a brown spot between just above her nose. She is really sweet. We got her from a friend of ours that rescued her back around November. She is around 6 months old, and was spayed last week. She is a little thin, but she will pick up soon, I'm sure. She sleeps through the night, thank goodness. She likes all the toys and plays a little with them. She even has gone down to the basement, which hubby is thrilled about as Tooter will not go down there under any circumstances. Don't know why she is so afraid of the basement. Nothing every happened to her down there.

So, last night while hubby and I were sitting before the fire, Tigger got on my lap and curled up and took a nap. Cool!

For anyone who is interested...I posted two excerpts from chapter forty from THE DOOR OF FAÇADE on my website at www.Authornation.com. Click on the member tab, type in: survivor_beckyconrad and it should bring up my website there.

Going this Thursday to meet my friend and author, Joyce Bishop Morris and some other authors for the "InkPot" writers group. We always have a great meal, and interesting conversations. We are usually done around noon. It takes me a good hour and a half to get home. Thursday night I also have a W.I.S.H. group scheduled from 5-7 p.m. Hope the weather holds for both events.

Gotta go for now. Have a great week, everyone.
Stay warm, stay safe, and think-Spring!
Hugs,
Becky :)

Sun. morning, Feb. 1, 2009

Hi, Everyone,
Thanks for stopping by!

It sure has been a cold, snowy, icy week here. Hubby had three days off of school, and more than likely, if the new storm rolls through on Monday night or Tuesday, he will have more. Goodness. Seems like the old-fashioned winters we had when I was a kid! My sister and I were talking the other day. We reminisced how we used to build snow caves in the side of the hills along the long lane where we lived. It was fun.

I sure feel sorry for the people in Kentucky! They have really had it rough. Many are still without power and hopefully soon they will get it back. I just hope and pray they don't get hit with the next storm coming through! They have had enough, already!

The heater in the pond is buried under ice. I poured hot water on it, but the ice is too thick to reveal it and for it to work. I checked and it is still plugged in, but maybe it isn't working at all. It is supposed to get up to 40 today, but I have my doubts. It was zero yesterday morning and while we were out with the dogs yesterday, it was only 18 degrees. The wind was so cold and it felt much colder!

I did remove a bunch of snow off the pond where I could reach with the snow shovel, hoping some of the ice would melt, but the sun wasn't out until yesterday and it was still so cold. The bushes, evergreen trees, and shrubs still have so much ice, and they are covered with the snow that followed. This has bent the branches down so far some are even touching the ground and many in the planters are bending over. I hope they recover.

I had a great W.I.S.H. group on Monday this past week. Most of the women are coming back this Monday and I spent three hours yesterday preparing some things for Monday's group. I may just have my web guy post some of it in a different category on this web site. Much of it is food for though for survivors and victims to think about.

I am really enthralled with Diane Lawless' book, "Women Escaping Violence" and I recommend it highly. A very in depth study and very well written.

I have to go to a meeting at 12:30 p.m. today for the CCAPL Directors. We had to cancel the Director's meeting this week because of the weather, and now with another snow storm coming on Tuesday, it will be down to the wire if we have a February regular meeting. (Our January regular meeting was canceled too because of the ice storm.) We are behind in getting things voted on, etc. so hence the meeting today.

So far the power has stayed on. It flickered a few times, but my concern is the ice is still out there, even on the power and phone lines. If the ice does not melt and more snow is coming, it will be quite interesting to see what happens.

Sure hope you have a good week.
Stay safe,
Becky :)