Like so many in the Midwest, our my county was hit by an ice storm this week. It started off as just a thin layer of ice, and it wasn’t too bad to get around. Then the rain came.

The temps were around 30 when it started and there was a fair amount of ponding on surfaces, namely driveways and sidewalks and roadways. Miserable crap to deal with, for when those ponds froze, look out.

But the worst problem as always was the ice piling up on the trees and powerlines. The weatherman kept saying this wasn’t going to be as bad as 2002 which was horrible, but it was bad just the same. The icicles from the trees were at least 3″ long, and they were one next to the other. Lots of weight in ice.

The electric lines near our my house put on a freakish light show of blue, purple and red arcs of energy before all power went out. The rain continued, and it was four hours or more before a crew arrived to remove the limbs and flip our transformer back on. Folks in my area were lucky. Damned lucky.

There are still a good many homes in Whoville without electricity, and it could be close to a week or more before all power is restored. That’s coming mighty close to Christmas.

Speaking of which– Outside Christmas decorations, like the big inflated characters and such, don’t fare so well in ice. Neither do the moving objects, like bobbing deer heads and waving Santas.

I’m praying for a warming trend, say around 60. 🙂 Yeah, that’d be a great Christmas present, imo. I’m so not a winter person.

This year, I’m lobbing the lumps of coal at my IP. For this year, they have consistently provided me with : intermittent internet service, disconnected me at whim, reduced the measely kbs I was getting by on to a typical 25,000 receiving on a good day, and provided a laundry list of worthless excuses why my service is total crap.

They are the only “game” in Whoville. My IP sucks, knows it, and doesn’t give a flying fart. I am considering switching to yahell dialup. Or even AOL. God help me, it’s that bad. Yes, there is no DSL in my neck of the woods in Whoville. 🙁

Oh, there’s the possibility I could get cable, but like dish service, the cost is beyond me at this point in time.

So if you know of a fairly reliable dial up service that’s nationwide, please let me know. And please, help yourself to the coal on the back porch. You’ll also find the directions there to my IP, so feel free to pelt them.

I’m so sorry I haven’t posted anything lately, but my mother was in critical condition the past week, so I, for the most part, stayed by her bedside. I believe I’ve found a new definition of exhaustion married to worry.

Mom passed on the evening of 11-15-07, peacefully which was a blessing for her, and to those of us left behind. She was so much more than a mom to me: she loved to brainstorm ideas, loved to dig into a first draft, and loved the written word. But above all, she was my best friend.

I’ve no doubt she will be sadly missed for a very very long. Some shoes can’t easily be filled, even if they are small ones.

Rest in peace at last, dear Mama. Rest in peace.

I’ve found myself singing Carrie Underwood’s latest hit, Love Is All That Matters. The overall message is uplifting, but I keep getting drawn back to one line — “Sometimes, that mountain you’ve been climbing, is just a grain of sand…”

That rings so true to me, and reminds me of a favorite saw of my dad’s — don’t make mountains out of molehills. Yes, he told me that many times, and though the lesson stuck, I’ll admit there have been instances where I perceived things to be bigger, or badder, than they were. It’s part of human nature.

Those seemingly insurmountable odds are a wonderful vehicle in fiction, but they can be a defeating one if you’re on the creative edge and the sand starts piling up. Sometimes it’s hard to tell at first (or second or fifth) glance the scope of our particular challange. Like a sandstorm, the true picture can be obscured.

I see people as bits of sand, being blown by life over the dunes of time to mound or drift on. Some grains find purchase and welcome others to pile up on them, creating a refuge–their own mountain of support. Others never find a place to rest, and are soon worn down to dust.

Our very lives sift through a miniscule hole in the hourglass of the world, marking our days, minutes, seconds. That’s never been more obvious to me than now when my mom is battling a terrible illness.

We need to make the most of life. Now. And we need to stop looking at those molehills as insurmountable obstacles, or we’ll never stand a chance when we do face that mountain.

So I’m ignoring the Mt. Impossibles and focusing on the things I can control, like writing another historical novel, and going over my final copy edits for One Real Man.

Life. You should love it to live it to its fullest. 😉

I’m guest blogging about guest ranches over at Petticoats and Pistols on Saturday, Nov. 3. I used a guest ranch as the setting for my April 08 release, One Real Man. Drop by and say hi. I’m giving away an autographed copy of One Real Cowboy to one commenter.

And in case you’re wondering–Griffin’s Lair is done and off to editors today. My progress meter is caught in the NANO writing crunch, but GL IS done, but I couldn’t update my progress meter.