Wednesdays with the Arts: The Longest Dress Ever

This is by far the longest dress ever–and no, I am not talking about length of fabric. I’m talking about how long it’s taking me to finish this thing. Yes, I am busy. Yes, I have a lot on my plate. Yes, I could technically still work on it at least a little each day, but do I? No.

Desire Means Everything

Just like most other things in life, desire means everything. My desire to sew and knit just aren’t high enough to make me sew or knit after I finish my workday–the one that involves my cleaning and cooking, studying for class, trying to write and edit, and be the chauffeur as the only driver in the house. I just look at my sewing table and think, ‘what a mess, I should probably put it all away somewhere else.’ But I don’t put it away because I know once I fold up the material this dress will end up getting lost in sewing limbo where years from now I’ll open a crate or bag and find a pin laced garment that still needs to be finished. Let me just say finding those garments with my fingers instead of my eyes is not a good thing.

Vacation Needed

My mom tells me I need a vacation. Between all that I have to do personally and all the stress of dealing with crazy neighbors that require police involvement to keep them from tampering with our mailbox and stuffing animals in it, I just think I’m dealing with a lot. Anger being the key thing right now, and of course it doesn’t help that I haven’t actually had a vacation in years. I haven’t even had a real day off that didn’t involve running errands for other people, or cleaning, or cooking, or editing and writing, or yard work. So I do get why she says I need a vacation. She says I should go stay with my dad for a few weeks so I can stop worrying so much. I told her 1. I don’t have the money to get me there. 2. I would still be worried, but I would be worried about her because the men across the street and the lady next door won’t leave us alone. We have a no trespass order now so maybe that will help since if they violate it now the cops will actually do something more than show up to tell us they can’t do anything.

Stress…Me? No…Well, Maybe

I think the weight of stress can sometimes kill certain artistic endeavors. By the end of the day I don’t care about dresses that need to be sewn. I just want to go to bed. So I am sorry, but I don’t have anything to really share this week. I’ll try to work on the dress this weekend and if I finish I’ll share a picture of the finished product next time.

Have a great Wednesday you all.

Fly on the Wall Sunday: Serenity Point

Serenity Point ~ Cash Phillips is trying to escape the past that haunts him, but moving to Serenity Point soon proves to be everything but the safe haven he seeks. When the woman next door reminds him of the woman he couldn’t save. And the passions he long ago silenced rise from the grave. Can Cash start over? Or will the past he ran from follow him to Serenity Point and drag him back to hell?

Short Excerpt:

He had to stop torturing himself. He couldn’t have her. He didn’t want her. He lied to himself, but he couldn’t lie to his body. It wasn’t listening to him. He did want her. He very much wanted her. That admission alone sent a wave of guilt cascading through him.

“I should get going,” he said as he put the last plate on the rack. “Thanks for a great dinner.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Maybe we’ll get to do it again sometime.”

His eyes raked over her perfectly plump lips still stained with a soft pink shade. “Maybe,” he said and he realized his voice was husky and laden with thoughts of sex. He resisted the urge to close the distance between them and take those sweet lips with a kiss. He was trying to resist anyway. Oh hell, why was he trying to resist? It would just be a kiss—nothing more.

His eyes zoned in on her lips and his feet started to move. He watched her lips part in preparation for his tongue to gain entry into her mouth and then he heard it, a high pitched yell that jolted them both out of the moment.

 

Serenity Point ~ Available in print and e-book via Amazon, and it is also available on Barnes and Noble.

Grow with Words

Good morning and happy Saturday. Here is this week’s Grow with Words post.

ubiquitous ~ existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly

 

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Friday Dish: Changes

I’m probably not the biggest fan of change. I find something that works and I get comfortable and typically I like being in that spot. I can totally agree on the “if it’s not broken” mantra. However, sometimes change is good, even if things are working it doesn’t mean that they can’t work better. So really it comes down to taking the leap, making the change, and hoping it works out. After all, you can always go back right? Well, no, sometimes you can’t go back so one must think before leaping. Don’t leap without thinking or you might land in a pile of something that you really don’t want to land in.

I have been chatting on Facebook about my year of change. I have been guarding the details close, and there are still some things I just can’t share right now. The year of change for me has been up and down. I think I have things worked out, thought out, planned out, and then it all falls apart and it’s back to square one. Okay, maybe not “all” as some things didn’t fall apart.

So what has been going on with my year of change? Well, I officially launched the new business. Sweet Temptation Designs. I was going to wait and try to have things perfect before launching, but sometimes you can’t wait for perfect. Actually, it’s not a good idea to ever wait for perfect since perfect doesn’t exist–but that’s a blog post for another time. I’m excited about this because I love being able to design. I took a computer graphic art program some years ago. The focus was on business marketing art, but it still went a long way in helping me have a starting point with book cover design when I needed to do it. I learned as I went, grew, changed things and got better. See, change is sometimes a good thing.

I’m near completion for the Web design program now…as in I have about three more major segments of the course left so I should, if all goes well, be finished before the end of the year. I’m trying to finish early. If I can’t finish early I must finish by February as if I don’t I’ll have to pay for a course extension. I think they’re trying to make sure people keep moving forward with the program and not stagnate and miss doing required classes on time. I don’t want to pay the course extension, and I like to finish early, so I’m working in overdrive trying to get it done. Once I’m officially done I can officially add it to the business services offered. Right now would be a bad time because I have several class design sites to work and I still have to redo my writing site and the new business site. So for now I’m focused on the things I can do with confidence, the needed skill level, and time.

So far this week I have been getting things set up for Facebook, making sure thee site is updated, and trying to progress forward with my year of change. I have been working on the business since last year. It’s about time I actually took the leap forward.

That’s all for this time. More Dish next week, same time, same place. Have a great weekend you all .

Wednesdays with the Arts: Edible Arts

Sometimes the most fun kitchen moments for me are the ones where I get to play with the ingredients I have–combining them to make a delicious meal or sweet treat. Baking doesn’t come that often for me anymore, but I do still get to do it sometimes. However, this past week was not about baking; it was about cooking.

I don’t eat beef or pork, and neither does my mother, so jazzing up chicken or fish is important if I’m going to keep the meals interesting and not tire of them. I guess you could say I limit myself with food even more because I have always only liked the wing or the breast of chicken; I can handle turkey on good days, and seafood, well…it depends because it’s sometimes hit or miss with my stomach. Fortunately for me I love salad and some vegetables so I can play with combinations to create something different for each dinner. Enter my kitchen adventure.

I was going to grill, but then I thought of the cleanup and decided on that day that I didn’t feel like that kind of cleanup. Now let me just be clear, I do not have a fancy backyard grill. I have a George Foreman grill, which I very much love to use–when I feel like tackling the cleanup that is. So since I really didn’t feel like it, I decided to bake the chicken breasts instead. I’m very glad I went for baking because I got a chance to play with it more.

My garden came in very handy here. Homegrown green onions and tomatoes with a store bought orange bell pepper. My bell peppers are not ready to come off the vine yet. Well, they are if I want them green, but they are supposed to be red and yellow and I would like to try to wait patiently for them to change colors instead of picking all of them green.  I used a little bit of garlic too.

Garlic isn’t something I’m all that crazy about. I buy it for certain dishes and then I’m stuck with what’s left. Hence my need to use up this garlic (because I bought it a while ago). It keeps nicely in the refrigerator though. I planted garlic, but not to use in my food. I planted it because I read that it would keep cats away and I figured maybe it would keep my neighbor’s cat from popping in my yard.

Back to food, as clearly I’m talking edible arts, i.e. the meals I made over the past week.

So what did I do with those veggies shown above? I added them to my chicken. First, I beat up my chicken. I know, that was so uncalled for, but I like my chicken thinner so I tend to pound it with the meat mallet until I have a thickness I can deal with.

I made a pocket using aluminum foil and inside I placed my chicken breast seasoned with my choice of herbs and spices, but no salt because neither I, or my mother, can deal with salty meals. I tossed in my veggies, closed the pocket and baked in the oven. To go with the main course I made rice. Sadly, I was out of salad for the first go at this meal which meant I couldn’t have salad too.

The finished meal was a success, and mother requested it again so I played with it throughout the week with the remaining two chicken breasts I had.

So what’s the next kitchen adventure? I’m not sure, but now that I have milk I might just get around to making my clover leaf dinner rolls.

Happy Wednesday you all.

Fly on the Wall Sunday: Write Me a Murder

Write Me a Murder: Blood Justice is the first of three books in the Write Me a Murder series. Each book is able to stand on its own so even if you don’t catch the last two books in the series when they come out, you still get a complete story in Blood Justice.

What would you do to track down a killer? Sloan Macleod has searched all over Scotland to find the man who viciously murdered his sister and when his search leads him to America, right to the door of mystery writer Mackenzi Tate writing as Torran McGowan, he comes with the rage of a man wanting justice—blood justice.

 

Excerpt:

 

“It’s about time you decided to open the door,” the thick Scottish accent assaulted her ears. “I could see your form sitting at your desk when I drove up.”

She looked past him to the parked Escalade in her driveway. He was at least six feet because she was five eleven and he was just a little taller than her. “How did you find me and why are you here?” She hadn’t seen Sloan Macleod since her vacation to Scotland two years ago. She hadn’t given him her information either. He was rakish to say the least and he thought he could just charm his way into her pants. She had news for him. She could not be charmed. She didn’t trust men. She didn’t like men—most men. Although if she were honest with herself she liked the look of this man. He was built like a runner, lean muscles, not bulky ones, and devilishly blue eyes with black hair. What wasn’t there to like about the man? Well, other than his lack of manners.

He pushed past her and into her house. “I didn’t invite you in.”

“I know; that’s why I came in.” He walked over to her white chase lounge and sat down, hitching one boot covered ankle to his knee. Perhaps she shouldn’t have put a place to sit in the spacious foyer but it was just so deep and wide that it made sense to give it something. Right now she was wishing she hadn’t because then she wouldn’t have to look at Sloan sitting there looking so sexy. God, even the small table in front of the lounge looked miniature compared to his stature.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here because you’ve been writing me murders sweetheart and I need you to stop.”

Write Me a Murder: Blood Justice is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Lulu.

Grow with Words

Fustigate ~ 1. To beat with or as with a short heavy club. 2. to criticize severely.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary