by Christine | Life
Today is Meet Me Monday, so I need to tell you something you may not have otherwise known about me. It took me awhile to decide what to divulge – I have SO many secrets, you see – but I finally hit on one.
I’m an extremely vocal fan of sporting events. It can be any sporting event, professional or amateur; on TV or in person. I am the girl who will pick a team “just because” and then become VERY vocal during the game. If my side is falling apart and I’m watching on TV, then I go into a different room and refuse to watch the game because my heart can’t take it. I get WAAAY involved – Basketball, Soccer, lately Hockey – I jump up and down, scream at the refs, chew my team out – chew out the other team when they batter my guys – it quite entertains my hubby.
When my kids were in soccer, I had to learn to keep it clean and positive; but I regularly lost my voice cheering our team on.
Got a little known fact about you that you want to share? From all the comments today, I’ll be giving away a copy of DEMON SOUL!
Are you following along in the blog hop? Check out Rachel Firasek’s site for other blogs!
by Christine | Life, Observations
I never thought I’d be going to rehab, but I’ve got my orders. And while I haven’t yet made the phone call, I will…right after I get back to the office. Just wait until I tell my new boss…
Three months. Relearning how to see, walk, balance. The rehab has a name, too – Vestibular Rehabilitation. Since in one eleven-hour surgery I lost all the “stuff” that helps me hear in my right ear, I need to relearn a bunch of stuff that most people do without thinking about it.
When I first talked to the Surgical Ontologist about it yesterday, I didn’t know how to feel. Last night I didn’t quite process it, either, and today I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s one of those things that I won’t know how I feel about it until I’m doing it. But when I told my Doc that I’d been taking yoga, practicing balancing, walking out doors, walking on a treadmill, lifting weights and doing my best to retrain my brain, he said simply that it had been too soon. And of course since I broke my leg, I haven’t done any of those things.
Being dizzy is annoying. To look drunk when I’m not drunk is even more annoying. If it takes rehab to get my eyes in better working order (because your eyes and your ears work together to give you your balance), then that’s what I’ll do. If it stops the dizziness, the sudden and inexplicable loss of balance, and as a byproduct if it helps me shed this excess broken-leg weight, then I’m all for it.
You won’t catch me saying “no, no no!” Not to MY rehab. (Love the song, though…)
~~~
~~Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? What are you waiting for?
Go and buy it now, lol!~~
by Christine | Life, Observations
thanks to mortonqlanglinaiss.blogspot.com
There are some people who are always seeking joy. For the optimists, and I definitely include myself in that group, everything will always work out. The money will be there, the vacation will happen, the book will sell. If it doesn’t work out in the way they hope, then something better will come along and take care of things.
Then there are those who go through life guarded against disappointment. They worry a lot. It’s more of, this is what I’ll have to do because the money isn’t there. We’ll be lucky to take a vacation next year. Selling a book is a crapshoot.
I understand the pessimist’s viewpoint – or as a friend of mine would say, the “realist’s” viewpoint. They’ve been burned. Life’s hit them over the head a time or two, and they’re just hoping that nothing jumps out at them and swings the bat one more time. I get it. I sympathize.
But I can’t live that way. I HAVE to generate positivity. It’s hard-wired in me, like my green eyes and slender ankles. As I get older, I’m getting more mellow about it, too. I love surprising people – holding the door open for someone younger than me with their hands full, and giving them a warm smile. Waving folks into traffic ahead of me. Chatting in an upbeat manner to complete strangers. 
I find that I like positivity in my online life, too. I’ve actually un-followed people on Twitter because of the language they’d use, and the negativity they sprayed on my day. I’m no prude – I can fling epithets around with the best of them, but I don’t want to see them on Twitter from people I barely know, ranting about their personal life. (That’s what a blog is for, lol!)
Cheerful people, on line and in person, uplift my day. Make me more able to go about with a smile on my face. Cheerful people generate a feeling of well-being in others. I am gung-ho about cheer, and positivity, and making my little corner of the world a sunnier place.
Which are you? A “realist” or an “optimist”?
by Christine | Life
This whole working during the day thing is tiring, you know? I was going to post the blog yesterday, and I lost my new password. So I went to sleep, instead.
Today I was up and gone before the birds I think. No, not really, but it felt like it. So the blog didn’t get written. And I’m not writing it now, since hubby is pouring me champagne in congrats on my first week at the job.
Here’s hoping by the end of the year I’ll be skinnier and have two books finished, as WELL as handling the job with flair.
Blog tomorrow, I promise!
by Christine | Life, Writing
It happened like this. I was preparing for our vacation the day before we left. I’d been running errands all day, dashing hither, hopping yon, and it was a hot day so I was in lime green shorts, a black tee shirt, and a fine layer of sweat.
I’d just gotten back from my umpteenth shopping trip when the phone rang. It was a very good friend of mine. Here’s how the conversation went down.
“Hi Christine. Do you still need a job?”
“Um. Yeah. I guess so.” (Wary – I love my girlfriend, but sometimes…)
“Then take down this number. Call him right now. He needs someone right away as his secretary is retiring.”
Now my brain is kicking in gear. “Where are they, what do they do, how much do they pay, yada yada?”
“They’re in my building, five geologists who deal with water, $XX, and they’re all really nice guys. They’d be thrilled to have someone like you.”
Decision time. Even with a broken leg, I do need a job and I don’t want to go back to retail.
“Give me the number. By the way, I have a broken leg.”
*shrieks* *gives me the number* “Call RIGHT NOW.”
“Okay, okay. I’m calling.” I hang up. Sheesh. It’s two-something on a hot Friday afternoon. After fortifying myself with a cup of coffee, I call the number and am soon connected.
“Hi. My name is Christine, and my friend T. told me to call you about a job opening.”
“Wow Christine. I just got back upstairs from talking to her.”
*Cut – we did a lot of jabbering about the job, and about my quals. I tell him about the broken leg, and that I’m going on vacation the next day, but if he wants to see me this afternoon I’d come down, lime green shorts, sweat and all. He agrees.*
So I print out the resume, wash my face, and head on out. To Studio City. A 40 minute drive. Once I get there, I can see what my friend meant when she said it was a cozy place – a smattering of offices, conference room, tiny kitchen and bathrooms. Barely big enough to swing a cat in, but still, nice with a buzz of busy.
The interview goes well. What REALLY makes my day are the huge empty wine bottles (jeraboam (sp) size, I think) scattered around the office. We knock off all the important stuff about the job and then settle into a wine discussion, and one about chocolate, and how every now and then he has “seminars” on Friday afternoons involving cheese, crackers, and one bottle of wine shared out amongst whomever is in the office…
When I left, we were mutually delighted with each other. While I was on vacation, I heard from my references that they’d been contacted that Monday; on Tuesday I received a call asking me to come in on Monday the 15th for a second interview. My girlfriend T told me to be prepared to stay all day.
Upshot? I walked in Monday, we zipped through all the info, he made me a job offer, and I started working that same morning. As day jobs go, I landed a beauty.
I haven’t had a steady, 8-5, M-F job since – Um…2001??? BEFORE I became a writer. The challenge now will be grabbing the time to write, and not letting that part of my life just slip away. It means too much to me now.
I guess I need to study for my Super Writer Powers of Time Manipulation…
Tomorrow is Friday, so another wine blog is coming your way. Cheers all, and remember – drink responsibly!
by Christine | Life, Wine Friday
Hi, y’all. I’m on vacation. And I’m tasting wines. Lots of them. All under $10 – okay, I lied. I’m taking some winery wines with me, so not all of them are under $10, but a whole lot of them are.
We’re going camping – yep, even Ms. Broken Leg here. Up to Mammoth Mountain. As a matter of fact, when this gets posted, I’ll be headed home. Sigh…hate to leave the place…
But when I come back, I’ll have lots to talk about and lots of wine to share. And if I get a chance (read: internet connection) to update you, I will, I swear. In the meantime, there are books to write, chipmunks to blast with the super soaker 5000, and wine to sip by the fire.
Not to mention, getting myself lost in the night sky. There are so many stars visible up at that altitude that it fills me with wonder. And tonight the Perseid meteor shower should hit.
Update: Because of the nefarious hackers who cyber-raped me yesterday, I’ve got an update on a wine for you.
Firefly Ridge Syrah 2008 Central Coast (Livermore and Ripon) Alcohol 13.5% by volume. $9.99 on sale at Vons.
On the Label: “Our wines are a symbolic tribute to the mysterious and romantic firefly. The firefly’s brilliant luminescence is reflected in each vintage of Firefly Ridge wines.
“Firefly Ridge Syrah is a smooth red wine with exotic aromas and flavors of blackberry, spice and pepper. Velvety tannins, a hint of smoke and long, spicy finish make this an ideal pairing to grilled steaks or hearty pastas. This Syrah is delicious now or can be put down for up to 5 years to develop additional complexity.
My take: Definitely smooth. It goes well with campfire smoke, the sounds of a guitar, and sons squabbling good-naturedly as they play horseshoes. This bottle, however, was destined for great things.
I took a glass to the hubby to sip between songs. His eyes lit up, however, and he proceeded to transfer all the wine from the bottle to a plastic water bottle. The neck fit his finger – he was eyeing it as a potential slide for his cigar box guitar, as he’d left all his own slides at home.
(To break the neck of a wine bottle: douse approximately 7 inches of twine in lighter fluid. Wrap twine tightly around neck of bottle, tie off. Light the twine on fire, and twist bottle to make sure all the twine is burned and the bottle heated. When the flame goes out, dunk bottle into bucket of cold water for up to 2 minutes. If it cracks, good for you! If not, the bottle won.)
The bottle broke, instead of the neck coming off smoothly; and so we drank the wine in homage to the lost bottle. Being in plastic did nothing to mar the wonderful flavor. We had it with chicken-apple sausages, roasted potatoes with onion, and green beans.
My Rating: ~Very Drinkable~
So, summer’s almost over and I’m finally getting a vacation. If you want more of me today, head on over to Flirty Author Bitches and see my post, also hitting today. You’ll find out just why my family hates chipmunks.
Peace out people, and remember – drink responsibly!
~ Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? Head on over to Crescent Moon Press and pick up your copy today! ~
