Took my daddy to the beach for the weekend

Oh, y'all, it was hilarious.

We went shopping. We went to the ocean. We flew kites with his granddaughters (my nieces). We grilled and bought shrimp right from the ocean.

Daddy had a good time, I think, and Julia and I spent a lot of time going "what if there was this guy," especially on the drives there and home.

The best part was the dolphin watching boat. Oh, man. *So* much fun for $10. There were tons and tons of dolphins, including a momma dolphin (which Julia informs me is a cow, but I like momma dolphin better) and her baby. OMG the CUTENESS. It was fascinating and they got close enough to really see and one? Jumped all the way out of the water and slapped the water with her/his tail.

We saw pelicans and we ate crab and shrimp, we drank cherry limeades and root beer floats. Daddy grilled the best hamburgers ever and Julia made her famous french onion dip and life was fun.

Also, I'm fairly sure Julia is 2 games up on the eternal family cribbage tournament score...

;-)

Y'all have a happy Monday! *kisses*

BA

I spraypainted a bicycle

I did.

It was an old bicycle I bought at a garage for Julia before I knew that Julia didn't ride bikes.

Y'all should have seen me. I paid the $14 for it, tested the tires and hopped on like it hadn't been 24 years since my old ass had been on a bike. O.o

I was bound and determined not to crash and burn, so I just rode it all the way home, Julia following me in the car. I made it, too. I was so scared, y'all...

At any rate, we've since bought Julia a three-wheeler and the old bike's been in storage. It's rotted, messed up, and totally trashed, so I decided to spray paint it.

It's now baby pink and sitting in the backyard as the world's biggest birdfeeder and perch.

It's not perfect. I ran out of paint and it was windy and I'm not the world's best spraypainter, but it makes me smile, every day (I can see it out of my office window) and, Sunday morning there were cardinal birds on it.

:D

Cardinals!

Also, did I tell y'all Julia made me a table for my herb garden so that the bassets of doom don't eat them?

She did. It was very cool. I'm proud. :D


Now I need to go out and water and possibly hula hoop.

BA

Being butch ;-)

As y'all probably have seen, Julia and I moved recently, downsizing into a condo of our own. Lord, it's been an adventure. Up on ladders, power tools, hammers.

We've put in a floor, replaced baseboards, hanged about 213400978 pictures. Put together a couch. Set up a computer network. Hooked up the television. Hanged cabinets, had faucets replaced. Daddy came and helped us put in a microwave and dishwasher. I built shelves. Julia installed sliding drawers.

Today we went to the home improvement stores. Tomorrow? Home improvement day! Well, Julia's improving. I'm working in the yard. She has curtains to hang, an ethernet cable to run, and a raised herb garden bed to build. I'm landscaping around the tree in the front yard and mulching, then I'll be planting flowers and tomatoes, jalapenos and green chiles, basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, and dill. Then I'm hanging the hummingbird feeders and the last few windchimes and possibly weedeating around the front porch, although if Julia does that, I'll trim bushes.

Oh, and there are two birdbaths to set up, too.

We were heading for our 23423094870987th trip to Goodwill today and we were laughing, comparing scars -- Julia's drill bit her head, I dropped a birdfeeder on my big toe and broke it. We decided we were very butch today.

Well, I did have on my favorite pair of purple yoga pants...

Rewriting

So, I wrote a story that was rejected -- it happens to the best of us -- so I spoke to my agent and got some advice and need to start the rewriting process, which I love.

But I just haven't done it.

I'm not sure why -- I loved the story, I'm 3/4 through the 2nd in the series. I had to delete a bunch of scenes to try and make word count, so now I can do in, play with some scenes, flesh things out. It's blisteringly hot, it's werewolves, it's set in Colorado, it's a menage. All good things.

Still...

I haven't opened that damned file in 4 months.

*grins*

Maybe I'll open it today.

Maybe I just needed to tell y'all that it was sitting there on the desktop, staring at me.

;-)

Much love and hot cowboys to y'all.

BA

Y'all Are Made of Win

Thank you guys so much for the letters and cards, the emails and the flowers. Uncle Bob was a neat man and it was stunning to see his grandchildren. Boston and western Massachusetts was chilly and just beginning to be spring.

It's weird -- my daddy left New England years before I showed up and, in my heart, he's a cowboy -- a Texan, born and bred. (Which oddly enough, my mother's people are the Texans, and she's from Missouri...) Everyone up there kept looking at him and you could see them trying to reconcile this loud, brusque, jeans and boot and hat wearing cowboy with the man they remembered and the brothers they knew.

Also, let me tell you, pink hair and visible tattoos? Not huge up there. I was *definitely* in the stand out section.

I did get to spend one night in Northampton and share a long, lazy, lovely supper with my lady and on Saturday we drove to Boston and had a long walk (our flight out left at the crack of dawn on Sunday, and let me tell you, it's a LONG run in Houston when you have 14 minutes, land in terminal E and fly out of terminal B. Especially when you have to pee) that was lovely. I did splurge and buy two skeins of sock yard to make footies for me and Julia, but that was it.

The unpacking is almost done here at the new condo. The bad? We lost a lot of space. The good? My new office has a window into the huge backyard and there's a new bird feeder right there. :D

We start with treatment for Julia's dad on the 19th. Not sure what to expect, really. My stepmom passed away from cancer 6 years ago, but it was too advanced to fight when they found it, so it was simply a 'keep her comfortable and wrap up loose ends' situation. This will be a learning experience -- both in helping with practical stuff and holding Julia's heart safe.

Hope y'all have a good Monday. I'm going to take a load to Goodwill, pop into the store and buy cumin, parmesan and paprika and possibly buy a latte. :D

Much love.

BA

Dear Universe, I could use a break

So, I moved unexpectedly. Julia's daddy found out he has lung cancer. Mother had to put one of her dogs down, and this morning my uncle Bobby passed away.

*breathes*

All of this would be hard enough without knowing we're going to miss the RT Convention and getting the hugs and snuggles we've been looking forward to for so long. Unfortunately, Bob's funeral is Friday and there's no way we could do both and my family is needing us.

Please, if you're the praying type, keep us all in your thoughts, and hug the people you love.

BA