Dear Diary: Best Laid Plans

The furniture I ordered on the Internet arrived yesterday in five boxes so heavy we couldn't budge them when they were placed in our dining room. We had put Brandy on the back deck for the delivery since she would've been totally underfoot greeting the delivery men if we'd let her run free. So now we have five stupendously heavy boxes blocking the sliding door. Dog is trapped, quickly figures that out and begins to panic! Thirteen-year-old son to the rescue! Jake devised a plan to bring her in through one of the windows that face the back porch. Success! Brandy was none to keen about being hauled through a window, however. The Brandy rescue was the good news. The bad news was that the dresser and part of the bed arrived damaged. Of course we discovered this just as the California-based retailer was closing for the evening. Hoping to get resolution—quickly—today since Dan and I are cellar-dwellers until our new bedroom furniture is set up. Jake said last night that he's tired of all this house stuff. I'm with you there, buddy! This is what happens when you put it off for years and then decide to do it all at once!

I totally forgot to mention that I hit the gym on Monday. Now why is this a big deal, you ask? Well, let me tell you... It's the first time I've gone on my own without a date with the trainer. I see her on Wednesdays and Fridays. Adding the third day on my own has been the goal, so this week I started adding that extra day. Of course after lugging furniture around last night, I'm sore as hell, but I'm still going today. Damn it. LOL

Yesterday I mentioned the very fun groups we've formed on Facebook and membership exploded, especially in Marie Force Book Talk. It's great to have so many new members hanging out over there, and I hope more of you will come join the fun! We're also having some great chats on the Falling for Love group about important topics, such as whether David Lawrence, who cheated on Janey McCarthy in Fool for Love and does something downright heroic in Falling for Love, deserves a HEA in a future book. Hmm, what do you think?

The writing of Hoping for Love continues to go well with the word count almost to 43,000. I can "see" the finish line in my mind, and I'm looking forward to writing the last half of the book. I'm having fun, as always, with the Gansett Island crew! I also want to say thank you to everyone who gave Falling for Love such a terrific launch week. I've been so excited by the reader response to book 4. Thank you all so much!

In other news from yesterday, I've agreed to be the President-Elect of the Romance Writers of America's (RWA) Published Author Special Interest Chapter. Gulp. This is my first leadership position within RWA, and it's something I felt I could take on now that I no longer have the day job to contend with. I'm looking forward to getting more involved with PASIC!

So what are you up to this week? Anything fun or crazy?