Our daughter came home for her last “while-in-college” spring break, and I have oh-so enjoyed having her here. She only has a little over two months left of school before she returns home to study for the bar exam. And, the good news for us, is that when she finishes with that, she will be working in Austin.

Some of you have been with this site long enough to know that she went to the University of Texas in Austin for her undergraduate studies. It only takes us (+/-) an hour and half to drive all the way to the center of Austin. Of course, all of this depends on the traffic>>> which has a lot to do with whether you are trying to get across the bottle-neck bridge, or not!

We decided that it would be best if we simply took it easy while she was here, since it is her last college vacation. There wasn’t much more than hanging out on our schedules. She was able to go to two movies, and get a lot of walking done. (I never mentioned this before, but all four of us have Fitbit pedometers. I absolutely love mine! I try to get 10,000 or more steps in every day. I have only missed a few days since having the Fitbit. Not bad for someone who was pretty couch-potato-sedentary five months ago!)

So, at this point, I am full of conflicting emotions. I am really enjoying her visit home right now, I am dreading when she has to go back to school, but I am also excited about her moving back to our area in less than three months.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am back home, and have been busy trying to “catch up” with some of my household responsibilities. My husband and I changed insurance plans in January, and had to have our medications sent to another online pharmacy, which would have been a little easier for me to do>>> if my doctor’s nurse was a little better at her job. I don’t mean to be negative, but I had to talk to her before I left (several times), while I was gone, and will have to call her tomorrow. Good Grief! 

I feel like I got a lot accomplished while out in Colorado. I found a dog walker for my mother – who is unable to take her dog for an extended morning walk. I also found an organization that will send a woman to her home (Visiting Angels) every morning for three hours to help with small household tasks and to drive her places. Her fiancé is mending from his surgery, but will not be home for at least another month.

Although I had my laptop with me while in Colorado, my time was spent going through insurance forms, taking my mom to doctors’ appointments, lining up services that will help my mother, ETC. Also, her fiancé’s sons finally came down to see him last weekend. Their visit seemed to really raise his spirits. I really liked them, but unfortunately the daughter in law filled me in on all of my mom’s fiancé’s gossip… which I am really sorry I know! Here’s another Good Grief!

Anyway, I am back and will start being better about responding to your comments. When I finally did fire up the laptop, the connection was so slow and the mouse so stubborn, it made the whole computer process a real drag. Seemed to take forever to do anything.

Also, if any of you wrote me directly to my mail box, I will go ahead and apologize right now. I usually get my mail through Outlook Express, and was not at all prepared for the “regular” internet mail box system. Good Grief! What a mess!

I have been reading comments and letters from some of you all for several years now. I know that I have stated (several times) that paranormal mystery series just aren’t for me. However, I have read so many comments that make me think that maybe I should try a paranormal mystery and see if I can get on the Paranormal Mystery bandwagon. (I have tried several “unconventional themes” before, from talking cats and dogs to guardian angels…)

The last paranormal mystery author I tried was Nancy Atherton. I was hoping that she could change my “no-paranormals-for-me” attitude. I know that Atherton is a best selling author with many, many fans. Aother reason I chose the first in Atherton’s Aunt Dimity series is that I didn’t want to go from “no paranormal mysteries” to something as “strong” as a vampire theme. I thought I should take baby steps… and ease my way through Aunt Dimity’s “ghost” helping Lori solve mysteries before I tackled blood-thirsty vampires.

I enjoyed Nancy Atherton‘s writing style. >>> It flows easily while telling the story. But, I’m again facing the paranormal theme. I wasn’t quite sure how Aunt Dimity was going to communicate with her best friend’s daughter, so I was very interested in finding that out. I won’t include any spoilers here, suffice it to say that Atherton has come up with a communication process which I see will be easy for her to stick with in the following mysteries of the series.

I just finished the first in the Aunt Dimity series (Aunt Dimity’s Death). and I’m still not sure about my paranormal VS non paranormal mysteries stand. I guess I’ll just have to try another one!

Do you (or don’t you) agree with my “no-paranormals-for-me” attitude?