Hmmmm…. I’m on a spending spree. First the washer and dryer, next a refrigerator (we are selling the old one so that one is really only costing $300), and now a new car? I have an SUV, a Hyundai Santa Fe, that gets about 21-22 MPG on average. It’s been more and it’s been less. My dilemna is that I drive about 50 miles per day (I live in horse country, remember?) to drive to work and back… So, I fill my gas tank every 6-7 days - about $43… or about $186 a month. :shock:
The car I want to buy is a Toyota Prius - the hybrid that gets 48 to 60 MPG. At worst, would only use about 7 gallons a week - or $19 in gas… or $82 a month. If it’s getting 60 MPG, it’s even less than that. 
I’ve got 2 1/2 years to pay off my SUV… so the car payment wouldn’t be sooo different and you get a tax credit here in the States for owning a hybrid vehicle. And I’m an avid recycler, and have wanted a hybrid car for a while…
(I can come up with more reasons too 
)
Decisions, decisions. I looked at one today, sat in it (it has a really cool dashboard). I’m going to go back to test drive it on Saturday. I may be blogging on Sunday about how I bought a new car…
Archive for October, 2005
Oh, yes, yes, yes… it’s finally set! Monday, October 24 is the release date for The Reward from Liquid Silver Books! 
You know I’ve had reviewers tell me their were on the edge of their seat, dying to get, and waiting for The Reward. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
Can you tell I’m happy? I know, try not to hold back so much right?
Find out Hermano’s secrets from his past and present, and meet the only woman who can be his, Leigh Wynne O’Reilly….
Hermano is not just the bandito you met in The Bounty. He’s Malcolm Ross y Zarza half-Spanish, half-Scottish bastard son of a Texas hacienda owner who has hidden in the guise of a Mexican bandito for half his life. Malcolm left home at 18 fueled by rage at his half-brother Damasco and the treatment he received at the hands of Damasco’s mother, Isabella.
He decides to return at age 35 to find his mother, the Scottish cook that fell under the spell of Don Alejandro Zarza. When Malcolm returns to Texas, he finds his childhood friend, Leigh Wynne, a widow and owner of the neighboring ranch. Unable to believe his gut-wrenching attraction to the girl he thought of as a little sister, he tries to fight his own instincts to make her his woman.
Inevitably, he fails in his struggle, because together they set their world on fire. They forge a bond to find out the truth behind his dying father, his vicious half-brother, the murderous Isabella, and the passionate grab for the land held weakly by a man past his prime. Bullets will fly, and Malcolm and Leigh must stand and fight, for their lives and their future.
A commercial for Behind the Muses that I’m borrowing from fellow muse Annalee Blysse.
If you’re not a member of the Muses’ Yahoo group, now is the perfect time to join. Once we reach the 100 member mark, our Topping the Muses contest will begin. Here’s what you go to do…
Join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/behindthemuses
Once we top 100 members, the contest begins. Any reader who would like to be entered must post an answer to this question. “What is your favorite ice cream topping?” To earn an extra entry in the random drawing, follow up with the answer to “Which hero from one of the Muses’ books would you like to be able to lick that topping off his body?”
And what will you win? Your choice of any one item from Muse Gear, the official Behind the Muses Cafe Press store. Want a sneak peek at it…visit www.cafepress.com/behindthemuses/
The lucky winner will also receive a coupon good for one free pint of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.
So what are you waiting for? Join BTM today!
We’re at 96 members. Don’t you want to “top” the muses?
No, I didn’t, I swear. I went offline Saturday evening after the Muses chat and stayed offline until now basically. I didn’t go too far, just spent the day at the North Carolina state fair and I was T-I-R-E-D. OMG - dawg tired. 
I couldn’t even bring myself to blog or even write an e-mail.
The fair was fun - the kids loved it. Half the fun is picking up all the goodies they get like free pencils and of course, the midway where they win all the crap we ended up toting home. The 13 YO won two large stuffed animals and was happy as a pig in… mud.
They have favorites at the fair like the baby chicks and ducks. They alway shave newborns in the “poultry” building that you can pick up and pet. I think they spend an hour there picking up and petting those little babies. They are pretty damn cute and furry. 
Then there’s the food. That’s my husband’s favorite. Whether to pick apple fritters or dumplings, fried dough or elephant ears, ice cream or cotton candy, candy apples or popcorn. Oh and they have “Texas” turkey legs that are about the size of my calf, which he also loves.
The one thing that drives me nuts about the fair, and forgive me if you’ve got one and use it in places like this, are baby strollers. Oh, geez, they run ya over, get stuck on all the wires and stuff on the ground, have no place to turn around, and generally are a pain in the ass. Carry them or put them in a backie (that’s what we called the backpack thingy for kids). We never took a stroller to the fair although we went with young kids - the 9 YO has never missed the fair since he was a baby.
I think that particular rant is over. I am off to work - tired and bleary eyed and in desperate need of coffee and a Luna bar. It’s 6:45 a.m. but the moon is shining bright out my window. I can’t wait for daylight savings time to end and to think they extended it next year. :shock: That’s a whole nother blog post.
Join the muses today from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. EST on the CLR Yahoo group for a rip-roaring good time.
I haven’t done a blooming thing to prepare yet, other than think about the fact that I am “on” from 3 to 6. So I’m going to work on the website for a few minutes, then go run my errands.
Don’t forget to stop by!
