Peaceful Country Living

I'm almost finished with my first cup of coffee, but I'm thinking this could be a five cup day. And after I'm done drinking coffee I'm hunting down that police officer who doesn't understand proper night time siren use.

Once upon a time the country was quiet. Tree frogs, crickets, the occasional coyote howling. At 4:30 am you might hear a neighbor's rooster crow.

At 4:30 am this morning I was sound asleep (Which doesn't happen that often), dreaming a nice dream. Suddenly a firetruck showed up in my dream. What? Why is there a firetruck here in my dream? I tried to dream it away but it remained, blowing its horn, sounding its siren in short bursts.

What? Siren?

TORNADO!! I jumped out of bed, thinking the first responders were using that annoying fire truck foghorn, blasting their siren, trying to warn us, wake us up. Common Sense says a siren and horn at that time of night are a good sign that we're being warned to head for an interior room.

My husband and I jumped from our bed to see what was the matter. I threw open the door and stepped out on the porch. What to my wondering eyes did I see, but a cop with a spotlight, parked in the road. I yelled (not really) a bad name and shivered in my robe. I flashed my porch lights as if to say, "Stop that you dummy, we're awake, we're awake."

The police car flipped his siren again and hit that annoying horn. He flashed his spotlight upon the dark field. I flipped our porch light, thinking he understood, "we're awake, we're coming, stop it right now." The siren he did sound. The horn he did blare. He ignored my distress signal. My children he did wake. (I have a lot of respect for police officers, but seriously...all of this over a horse.)

My husband jumped in the truck, thinking the officer must need our help. I yelled, "he's an idiot, tell him to turn that thing off." (Is this a christmas story or Dr. Seuss. I've lost track) The kids were not sleeping, dreaming of sugar plums. THe dogs were all barking, wanting to go out. The neighbors were up. Their lights came on.
The nice police officer continued his sounds.

My husband rushed to his side, asked "what could be the matter." The officer shined his light and said, "Hey, someone has a horse out."

REALLY? REALLY? He couldn't back up fifty feet, turn in a driveway, knock on a door and say, "Do you have a horse. It's out."
My husband explained. "It isn't our horse. It doesn't belong to any of our neighbors."
The officer got another call, used my husband's phone, turned on his siren, and tore into the night. THe horse ran away, afraid of the siren. We all went back to bed until someone knocked on the door...Do you know you have a horse out?

Dieting

What is it about spring that makes us think we need to diet? Is it the looming of swimsuit weather? Is it the thought of T-shirts and shorts. I mean, sweaters and jackets really do cover a multitude of sins (better known as too much chocolate, lack of exercise due to deadline, love of carbs, etc). In two months we'll be on our way to the beach. That gives me two months to diet. In honor of the season of dieting, I did two things at the grocery store today. I bought Agave Nectar for my coffee. It's healthy, you know. It also has more calories than good old sugar. I bought banana chips, trail mix and mixed nuts. And cupcakes. But I didn't buy the caramel cake or the Paula Deen Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Any good tips on dealing with self-control? Never go shopping might be at the top of the list.

Me Again

Where has all the time gone? Months without a blog post! Amazingly enough the world kept spinning. So what has happened in the last few months? In my world, family, church and two books finished and another started. The first is a novella, Her Christmas Cowboy. It will be released in November along with a story by Gail Gaymer Martin. The second, The Cowboy's Christmas Blessing, will be released in December. Do we see a trend? Yes, the answer is COWBOYS. These two cowboy books kick off the beginning of the Cooper Creek series which means plenty of stories featuring cowboys! So what will I be doing this summer? Writing more cowboy books, of course. I'll also be running like crazy with kids, hopefully drinking a lot of coffee, and definitely making a trip to the beach. What are your plans for the summer? If you're writing, how goes the journey?