The Odd Shots and odds and ends

Thing the first: Go check out The Odd Shots - a new group blog by Ilona Andrews, Jill Myles, Meljean Brook, Nalini Singh and Patrice Michelle. The content will be a mix of craft and general mischief but sure to entertain, no matter what.

Thing the second: I've posted some additonal links for PC users in the comments to yesterday's post about using a timer. If you find one you like, please let me know so I can recommend it definitively.

Thing the third: I thought I'd share this picture of Baby Nephew and Auntie Renee, courtesy of my fabulous sister-in-law:



Things to note:
1. I don't know why I look so damned unimpressed, but it's not true, I SWEAR IT! I superlove my nephew.
2. Srsly, ppl. Have you ever seen such luscious thighs? (His, not mine.) I love the knee rolls.
3. That purple shirt I'm wearing? It's my Prince shirt. Told the little man all about him, yes I did.

I'm likely to be mostly offline for the next few days as I spend my evenings with some real life obligations (volunteering and, oh, Ben's birthday...). Be good while I'm gone. (Well, you know. Mostly.)

Sunday Fun

I know, it's Wednesday and I'm posting about Sunday. I'm just crazeh like that.

So! Two fun things to post about from Sunday. First, this:

Right??

Okay, but that's not a very fun-looking picture. Cute? Yes. Fun? Nah. Let's try again:

Yay!

Now, contrary to first appearances, Baby Nephew and Bro-in-Law are not wearing matching onesies. For example, Baby Nephew's doesn't have a big drool patch on the shoulder. But, I digress.

Baby Nephew is a little older now and less lumpish, though equally cute. I'm actually a fan of the lump stage--those early weeks when they're little more than snuggly heaters (at least to Aunties who don't have to get up with them in the middle of the night, change diapers and worry about gums gnashing our breasts). I love the teddy bear factor brand new babies have. But he's starting to smile now and interact more, which is very fun and rewarding. Moods are a cool addition. :)

One of the other cool things we did on Sunday was play the game Apples to Apples. I LOVE this game. Everyone gets dealt a hand of random cards that say things like PAMELA ANDERSON or MAGPIES or POCKET LINT. Then one person flips over a word card that says something like DOMINANT. Everyone else selects a card from their hand that best represents the word card chosen. For example, the clear choice from our hand above would be pocket lint. Duh. Then the person who flipped over the word card gets to select the best match, without knowing who provided it. That person wins the hand. The person who wins the most hands wins the game (essentially).

Oh, it's good fun.

Because we rarely ever take things seriously. Let me show you:



It's a little blurry, but here's what we have. The word card is APPETIZING. Here are the cards we played: BRUCE WILLIS, MEG RYAN, TRUCK STOPS, MAD COW DISEASE, CIGARETTE BURNS, POODLES, and VIETNAM 1968. I know! Tough choices, right?

In this case, the person who picked happened to be one of our more literal players and they went with Bruce Willis (though you can see another player arguing his case for Meg Ryan above). I think I played the Cigarette Burns card, though I'm jealous of the Truck Stops and Vietnam, 1968 choices. I probably would have gone with 'Nam if it was my turn to pick. I tend to go for whatever amuses me most.

In any case, we had lots of fun and I highly recommend the game for everyone. It's a good family game, too--pretty kid appropriate (assuming they understand what all the words mean).

Hello, World!

I'm back!! The Day Job Project is over! Work-life balance is restored! Woo-hoooooo! In celebration, a short and random list

1. After staring at a black dress I've owned for a number of years (which I always wear with black shoes and accessorize with black jewelry), I turned to my friend and said, "Is that dress black or navy?" To which she responded, "Navy." This caused me to have one of those completely pathological moments where a voice in my mind shrieked, "OMG! I'm not a Real Girl!"

2. Now that I'll be back on my regular schedule, I'll also be back to regular blogging.

3. Aaaaaaaand regular writing time (woo-hoo!). Which means revisions progress, plotting progress on the new novel and perhaps some short story writing.

4. This bundle of cuteness is coming over to his Auntie's house today:



Which means I have to get the heck off teh interwebs and go plan a meal for 6 people, clean up the house, etc.

happyhappyhappy

Baby Nephew update

Just a quickie for those of you who are following his progress. He's off oxygen (yay!) and has all the tubes, etc. out of him except the IV for the antibiotics. Tomorrow he should be moved to a less-urgent-care room where his parents can interact with him more freely, including feeding him.Whoo-hoo!!!!! Thanks so much to all of you for your positive thinking. There isn't a doubt in my mind that it's helped.
xo to all

Stuff

Tried to cross-post from my LiveJournal account, but the HTML keeps getting screwed up. Click here for a smorgasboard post, including Baby Nephew pics (duh.).

Baby Nephew update

Just a quick post to thank everyone for sending good vibes our way. Baby Nephew is out of the oxygen hood and his lung has reinflated. He's still in the ICU on oxygen and antibiotics and still has a recovery journey ahead of him but he's doing very well. There was more oohing and ahhing and foot tickling today but we still can't hold him. I'm hopeful for tomorrow, or at least that Jonathan and Cara can hold him.

Now I'm off to tackle the dreaded Chapter Two (in which I info dump like crazy).

Baby Nephew is here!!!!!

I love him! He's so cute! I can't help but use exclamation points for everything! Yay!

Here are a couple of pics from the hospital tonight:



SERIOUSLY! Isn't he so cute??? I know I'm a completely biased auntie, but come on. A. Dorable. Look at his precious little feet:



As you've no doubt noticed, Baby Nephew is in the intensive care unit. He has a collapsed lung and some other issues, all of which we're very hopeful will clear up within a few days. It would be really fantastic if you could send some positive energy his way to speed his recovery and welcome him into the world. Because of his health issues, we can't hold him yet (augh! the torture!) but I did get to spend a few minutes with him tonight during which I cruelly tortured him by tickling his feet while he was trying to sleep, like any good auntie would. ;)

Brace yourselves. The Papparazzi Cam you've experienced thus far on the blog has only been a warm up. Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaa!

Picspam update - now with more picspam!

Now that my Day Job work has settled down a bit, I was finally able to devote some higher brain function to revisions based on the critique I recently received. Yay! I feel so much better now that I'm actively working on the book again. More on critiquing (and mine in particular) later this week.

For now, I have a slightly random mishmash of updatery for you, primarily in the form of picspam. The Papparazzi Cam never rests.

First (at the suggestion of dan_phi ), here are the World's Cutest Hot Chocolate Mugs (tm), as mentioned in my Writer Playdate post:



The thing sitting in front of them is a frother, which fits conveniently into their hats. Sadly, the hats must be removed before you drink from the mugs, but they're still pretty damn cute.

Next, I already have a problem with my newly reorganized bookshelves. {sigh} I knew this would happen.



See the red rectangle? That's where Bone Crossed needs to go, now that I bailed on my To Do list last night and finished it. (Review forthcoming!) But see those red arrows? No more space on the shelf! Luckily my Patricia Briggs section is sandwiched by Rachel Vincent and Mark Del Franco, both of whom have new releases on my next-in-line-to-read list. So, I'd have to do some rearranging for their two new books anyhow. But now I have to find another shelf worthy of their work that has space... hmm. Maybe there's something to be said for this alphabetical system after all. ;)

Last in the picspam updatery are a few choice shots from my sister-in-law's baby shower (got that, guys?) a couple of weeks ago. One of the many shower games we played based on your suggestions (thanks!) was the smelly diaper game (put various stinky substances in labeled diapers and make the guests guess what they are). Good times, good times.


This one's my personal favorite. She had just taken a deep whiff of the diaper and was pondering the scent with mucho concentration.

This handsome little fellow flirted with me for quite some time:



Until I was (predictably) abandoned for a considerably younger redhead.



Tragically, I don't have any pictures of Cara opening the super cute sneaks I got Baby Nephew, but suffice it to say they were properly appreciated. :) Her stepmother had even gotten him a little rock 'n' roll outfit that they'll go perfectly with! The kid is going to be stylin'.

Okay, I've tortured you enough. The Papparazzi Cam will be put to rest...for now. MUA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!