I'm home sitting on the bed in pajamas with my laptop on my lap and cute, little Bonita beside me sleeping, playing, cleaning, or simply ignoring me. Pets are like that. They'll give you all their love, but it's on their terms. Dogs are better than cats, though. At least they don't give you a hair ball every few days. There's nothing like the sound of a retching cat.

Yesterday morning, I was waking up in Weed, CA. I like Weed. It's small town America in the mountains. Last Saturday when I drove through Weed (US-97 from Yakima), three boys were out at the skate park. It was cold and they were bundled up, but the sun was sort of out and, although the wind was brisk, there they were enjoying themselves in the great out of doors. Snowy Mount Shasta rises up behind the park and there are pine trees. It looks absolutely inviting, but there's no parking for big trucks.

I like it when I see kids playing outside. I've driven through a lot of small towns at every hour of the day and you'd be surprised at the number of empty backyards and parks I've seen. Sometimes a town will seemingly be totally devoid of the sound of playing children. It's scary to think of all those chubby cheeks and flabby butts sitting inside their homes doing nothing more physical than walking to the kitchen to get another bag of chips.

I'm still looking for a beta reader for my winter anthology story. I sent a snippet and description to TalonRider to see if he can find someone will to help, but I'm not holding my breath on this. It's just so damn frustrating sometimes, but that's what happens when you head down the creative path and discover there are few who want to help you along your way.

The material for my website is finally coming together. I spent a couple hours this morning finally mortaring some of the bricks in place and seeing the final structure in my head. Hopefully, it will be enjoyable to one and all, but I'm not holding my breath on this one either.

And, I'm back on the Kevin project. I want it ready to go once I've completed posting "Pastel." When "Tim" finishes, I think I'm going to post my first novel. It's a fun read and not too violent if you don't count the child abuse, that is.

Finally, I made my 97th post this morning. Three more to go! I think I just might make 100 posts before my one year anniversary.

Lastly, if we go out today, I just might find out how much a three inch green gecko is going to cost. I'd like to have a picture of that little bugger gracing my website. I certainly know all of you want to look at a little green gecko happily sitting on my hairy arm, though I am thinking of having it on the pearly white, hairless side of my bicep with it crawling up into my hairy pit. I know there are people out there who get that tingly feeling everytime they look at a hairy pit and I want to do my part to make them feel good.