Dear Diary: The Sound of Silence

Ahhhhh, it's done! The big carpet/tile upstairs/downstairs disaster is finally finished and no one will be coming to bang around in my house today. I am soooo glad we did it, but I'm even more glad it's over. It looks fantastic, and we are very happy with the outcome. Working in a "war zone" of renovation and repair is not conducive to creativity, that's for sure. We have one final frontier to face and that is the replacing of the doors on all the rooms. We think the guy who lived here before us went to a door yard sale because they are all different. That has bugged me for more than nine years, so we're finally doing something about it. And then we will REALLY be done!

Sorry to miss a day of the diary yesterday. I was at a funeral in the morning for one of my dad's cousins, who died over the weekend. He is in Florida, so my brother and I went as his representatives. Ironically, Mary ended up being buried about 100 yards from our mother, which should please both ladies as they were great pals in life. I like to imagine my mother up there welcoming Mary, and saying something to the effect of, "Glad to see you! We could use a spark plug like you around here!" And I like to think of Mary telling my mom, "You won't believe what Marie is up to these days!" since my mom didn't live to see any of the great stuff that has happened with my books. (Although I like to believe she knows all about it and is helping to make it happen.)

I had to laugh the other night when our governor delivered the state of the state message (verdict: it's not good), and the local news never mentioned the governor's name until 11:10 because they were too busy with Super Bowl coverage. As always, in Rhode Island, our priorities are straight!

Today it is back to work on HOPING FOR LOVE and lunch with my childhood best friend. Looking forward to both! Another bit of good news: my agent really loved the "half a historical" I submitted to her. She is a lover of all things historical, so to have struck a chord with her feels like a big accomplishment. I'm excited to get back to work on that book and finish it up. It's a whole new genre for me, and I'm loving the grand experiment. I hope you will too when you get to read it!

Have a great day!