I am having some serious gadget envy this summer for cool things  I cannot quite justify.  But I really, really want them!

First is the iPhone.  Everyone has one except me.  Lori let me play with hers in D.C. and that made the want even worse.  I am going to get one, as soon as my current plan is up, so I can take my number.  I have not allowed myself to get one before now because come on, I work at home.  Do I really need a fancy phone with internet capability?  Where am I going to use it?  But with very little effort, Lori convinced me I will save loads of time by checking my email while waiting in line at the ATM or Starbucks.   I am also a little concerned about ending up like my father, who still has to have his wife send his emails.  I don’t want to be left behind!

The second thing I want is the Kindle.  That thing is sexy!  I was reading a hardback when I went to D.C. and not only did I have to shove it into my already stuffed backpack,  it was heavy!  And then I finished it. I had nothing to read and I had to lug the thing home.  Admit it–the notion that  you can have a book, and lots of them, instantly is alluring.

The third thing I want is a Garmin watch.  This is a watch that has a GPS system in it, so if you are ralking (I have upgraded my status–I am now  running faster than a wog, a sort of running walk thing, so it’s ralking) like I do, you would know how far you have gone, what your heart rate is, and where you are–not to mention time yourself every which way to Sunday.  Okay, yes, I could drive my path and approximate the distance, but I can’t get it exact.   I confess that I have a GPS system in my car that I never use, but see, the problem is, it is not on my wrist. 

There are other gadgets I want, too, like the desk you can lift up so you are standing, or lower so you can si.  And a DVR ( we still have no DVR), and a little plug-in thingie for my car so I can listen to the music on my new iPhone!!  I also want a signal booster for our wireless, and one of those teeny tiny laptops to travel with, and a suz-zero fridge with the freezer on bottom and the fridge on top.  And while I’m at it, I want the front load washer and dryer because I think they are cool looking.

I am not going to get all this stuff, of course, because I don’t need it all.  But I think I really need the iPhone and the Kindle, don’t you?   What do you have?  Do you have gadget envy, or do you have all the gadgets you could ever want? Do you have a Kindle or an iPhone or a Garmin, and would you recommend one to me?

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Can you hear Olivia Newton John singing my song?  Yeah, I’ll be hearing it all day too.  Sorry!  But I’ve had the BEST summer.  We’ve been to Maine.  Which was absolutely gorgeous despite the 20 year flood.  It rained every day but we managed to do a lot of stuff.

The best part was being up early every morning and sitting with my coffee and my sister in law chatting and watching the lake as we listened to the loons.  Paradise.

Then I was off to Washington DC and the annual RWA conference.  I’ve already discussed how and why I LOVE RWA.  But I have an addition.  The Goddess Party was a BLAST!!  Hey, wine and tiaras, what’s not to love, right?  (At least Claudia and I think so!)

Four days after returning home, I was off to visit a college campus with #2 son.  And two days after that I was in Minnesota for the Handeland Reunion.  It was a long trip as shown by photo of son and the Italian Viking (DH) in the back seat.

I AM tired, but I’m also thrilled that I got to do so much this summer.  Usually I’m working.  My kids are working.  Viking man is REALLY working.  We go nowhere.

How about you?  Are summers for work?  For play?  Or a little bit of both?  What did you do this summer?

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Recently, I went to a restaurant where they served Truffles and Truffles as a dessert. I saw “chocolate truffles” and ordered it without stopping to think what the other half of the truffle equation might be.

You guessed it. The truly delicious chocolate truffles came with ice cream that was made with the other kind of truffles … or as the waiter so eloquently put it, “the kind that the pigs root out.” Gee, sounds great. To “enhance the flavor,” they added salt. When the waiter said that, I told him he had to be pulling my leg. He was not.  He even added, in defense of his chef, that the restaurant down the street served bacon ice cream. As if that was an endorsement.

So I tasted it—how could I not after that bizarre lead-in? It tasted exactly like you would imagine—the nice earthy flavor of mushrooms in a sweet cream with a soupcon of salt. In other words, the vilest stuff I’ve ever put in my mouth. As my publisher, who also tasted it, said, “Mushrooms don’t belong in ice cream.”

Since then, I’ve heard of other odd combinations: lobster ice cream, for example. I’ve had garlic ice cream, and it was good, but garlic turns sweet if you cook it enough, so that sort of made sense. Mushrooms don’t do anything but get more earthy when you cook them. Last year I ordered braised foie gras, since I’d always wanted to taste pate de foie gras, and in my confusion I thought this was braised pate. It was not. It was goose liver that had just barely been browned. In other words, raw liver. It was disgusting, like eating pure uncooked fat. I couldn’t eat it.

I like to experiment, but I’m getting a bit wary these days. What’s going on with these chefs? Are they bored with the same old roast duck and wild rice? When did fruit and barbecue sauce become acceptable additions to pizza? When did chefs start adding shellfish and mushrooms to their desserts? What’s next—roast wildebeest nostrils?

I can’t imagine that I’m alone in my bewilderment. So tell me, oh wise goddesses, what is the worst concoction you’ve seen in a restaurant or on someone’s table? Do you eat pineapple on your pizza? Are you an adventurous eater, willing to try something bizarre just for the experience? Or would the truffle ice cream send you screaming from the room?

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Okay, peeps, tomorrow is my 45th birthday.  Egad!  It seems like I was just 35, like, yesterday.

But I’m not upset about getting a year older, really.  I’m not keen about the wrinkles, but overall, I’m good with my face.  I’ve got good skin and makeup helps.  When the time comes, I wouldn’t be opposed to a little nip/tuck, but that’s in the future somewhere.

I find that I’m looking forward to doing lots of cool things as I get older versus looking back and lamenting the cool things I can no longer do.  I think this is because I was pretty boring when I was young and rarely did anything daring or fun.  Indeed, most of my major milestones occurred once I’d left my twenties, or as I was leaving.

Case in point:
Started writing – age 29
Sold my first book – age 35
Hit the NYT – age 43
Skied my first mountain – age 34
Started karate – age 42
Released I CAN SEE YOU, my TENTH romantic suspense – age 45 (This is shameless promo, but it’s my birthday, okay?)

.
There are a few exceptions:
Earned a college degree – age 21
Got married – age 21
Had my first child – age 25

Now, there is loads of Stuff I still want to do:
Learn Italian
Ski bigger mountains
Drive really, really fast on a racetrack
Climb Mt. Fuji (I always just wanted to)

What are your milestones?  What cool stuff have you done post-twenties or even post-thirties or forties?  What cool stuff do you still want to do?  Any advice for me as I turn 45?

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And just for fun, we’re going to use a screen shot from my favorite movie ever – My Fair Lady!

The winner will receive an ARC for my August 25th release — THE LAIRD WHO LOVED ME — as soon as I receive one (expected any day now)!

Rules:

1. Be creative! This is an awesome movie and the lovely Audrey Hepburn deserves to be immortalized on Mt. Oly!

2. If you have more than one idea, use separate entries. The more times you enter, the more chances you’ll win!

3. No profanity. A little naughtiness is ok, of course, but tastefully done, please!

4. And that’s it! So get to captioning!

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Because if you are, Josh Holloway is willing to be LOST with you!

I’ve never seen LOST, but after this week’s FROS, I just may start. HELLLLOOO, JOSH HOLLOWAY!

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I had someone say the other day that they had the impression I could work well with a team.  I said yes, as long as I was the leader, nyuk nyuk.  But it got me thinking about the things I can honestly say I do well.

I spend way too much time being hard on myself about various things.  Ate too much, didn’t exercise enough, should have produced more pages, why do I let the house get into such a mess, etc. etc. etc.

But you know what, I am good in a team.  I play well with others and I can say that about myself and not feel self-conscious.  I’m also a pretty good dog trainer.  I love my family to pieces and that they know that I do, so I think I do that pretty well.   I’m a good book club member.  I usually read the book, I host once a year, and I always bring something.  I am a good driver.  I am a good listener (well…with everyone but Jack London, perhaps, but I can even listen to him most of the time).

There is a long list of things I don’t do well (cook, clean, return phone calls), but that’s okay, because I balance it out with the other things.   And I know some on this blog are good at things you might not know.  For example, Karen H is good at making stained glass.  Sabrina obviously is good making little comic strips.  Madeline is a whiz with numbers, and Suzanne is good at Star Wars trivia, which must be a talent somewhere, at some convention, on some planet .

Sometimes, I think we need to remember the things we do well and celebrate them.  I think women in particular can be too too hard on themselves–we are constantly taking care of something or someone and when we don’t, we notice it more than anyone else, right?

So Come on, goddesses, tell us what you do well.  Let’s give ourselves a pat on the back today!

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