Maggie's Newsletter
June 15, 2008
Life is Good!
Hi, everyone! I’m actually getting
an update done on time (more or less) for a change, and
I’m going to break it down by subject, as has become my
habit.
 Serenity is Rising
Yes, she is. My beloved house is
beginning to look like a house again. There are new
windows where there used to be plywood. There is clean,
white sheetrock where there used to be charred,
blackened ruin. There are big, gorgeous French doors
leaning on the wall, waiting to be installed. There’s a
pretty, corner shower stall with frosted glass doors
going into the second floor bathroom. The first floor
bathroom, the haunting room where Wrinkles died in her
sleep from the smoke, no longer exists. We knocked it
out, making the living room bigger. After all, I
already have one bathroom on the ground floor—the
Cleopatra bath. How many bathrooms do three of us
need? Especially since two of us are pets? No, no.
It’s simple math. One woman, two bathrooms. Perfect.
I expect the sheetrock to be done
by week’s end. After that, the process of tape and
spackle and sanding begin. The kitchen cabinets have
been ordered. Everything is coming together and it’s
going to be fantastic by the time we finish.
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| Living Room |
Master
Bedroom |
Upstairs Hallway |
Dozer is Thriving
Yes, he is. My beloved mastiff pup
is 23 weeks old, and weighs in at a healthy 67 pounds.
He’s all lean muscle, no fat, thanks to his natural raw
diet. He initially showed signs of hip problems, but
while he still walks a bit oddly and seems stiff when he
first wakes, the other symptoms have abated. He’s
getting plenty perfect nutrition, the exact stuff his
body has evolved to live on. And he’s loving it. The
vet figures he is gaining an average of a pound a day.
But as I said, it’s healthy, lean weight and he’s doing
very, very well.
 Except on the leash, that is.
Heck, he’s always great for me on his leash at home.
But at the vet’s office where there were other animals
around, he tugged me around in a full circle, never once
stopped pulling, wouldn’t even sit, and that’s his best
command! This was a definite change. He’s obeyed me
very nicely when we’ve visited the girls and their kids
and their pets.
Another thing, though. He has
taken off on me three times now. I used to be able to
let him out to run and play while I did lawn work or
garden stuff, so long as I kept him in sight. But
suddenly, if I so much as glance away from him, he’s
gone. And where does he go? Right down the narrow,
winding, pot-hole-riddled, shoulder-free patch of
macadam that passes for a road out here. (I love it
here—I’m teasing.) I found him twice, and the third
time he came back on his own after a few minutes, and I
never did figure out where he’d been.
The vet says he has entered a
growth spurt, this period between five and eight months
old. During this time, we’re doubling up his soy and
aloe-based glucosomine condroiten, and adding a daily
aspirin to reduce any inflammation, as this is the
period when any joint issues tend to worsen. My own
theory is that this same period is equal to the early
teenage years in human puppies. The time when they
rebel, revolt, demand their “freedom” and test their
limits. He’s just trying to see how far he can push
me. That’s all. I’ve been there. We need to do some
work at home on our leash skills. We need to plan for a
no-pull halter for him. And we need to revisit our
basic obedience training.
 I bought him a ramp for getting in
and out of he car, because he was too small to jump in
and too heavy to jump out without risking injury from
the landing. And because he was too heavy for me to
continue picking him up to put him in and out, and he
hated that anyway. After only a couple of trips, he
figured out what the ramp was for, and now he walked up
and down it like a pro, and seems to be enjoying his car
rides a whole lot more.
I also got him a kiddie pool for
those hot hot days we’ve been having, which he likes
lots better than the bathtub. The only problem is, he
jumps into it every time he goes out, and then wants to
come back in and leap onto the couch (also my bed) and
lie there to dry off.
A lot of the time, he seems to be
channeling Sally, the gorgeous Great Dane I lost in the
fire. (She’s alive and well in my heart though. I’ll
never quite get over losing her.) Anyway, Dozer looks
like her, aside from him being totally different breed.
The brindle markings are very similar, though he’s quite
a bit darker. He “talks” like she used to do, every
once in awhile. And like her, he tends to get a little
car sick.
But he also has a personality all
his own. He’s a clown, he’s a brat, he’s a tease, and
he’s a lover and a half. He’s one of the most
affectionate animals I’ve ever known. I honestly don’t
know how I ever got by without him. The nut.
The Family is Surviving
Better than that, really, but I was
trying to rhyme. Stacie finished nursing school and
has begun work at Lourdes Hospital. Lisa’s gearing up
to return to college, Binghamton University, in August.
Jena and Mike’s baby is due in August also, and so far,
all is going well there. Little Sean (2) talks about
his new brother all the time and is looking forward to
helping care for him. Jessica and Ben are beginning to
heal after their miscarriage, though that’s one of those
hurts that never really goes away. Little Ben is
growing like a weed and talking a mile a minute. And
soon Ben’s niece, Gabriella, (13) will be moving in with
them, making our family a little bigger! Katie has
moved into her new home, with a fenced-in backyard,
where little Gracie (4) can’t escape. Robby (8),
another new addition to our family, shares a room with
Tanner (8), and the two get along great. Ella (10) and
Tanner are getting ready to go camping next week with
their dad, and then in August, Ella gets a special day
with me all to herself when we go to see the Jonas
Brothers (13, 15 & 17, maybe?) concert at the NY State
Fair. (Don’t worry. I’m planning special times for the
other kids too.)
The Work is Shining
I’m writing every single day on
BLOODLINE, and striving to get finished. I can’t make
any promises, but I’m thinking the twins might put in an
appearance in this story, along with their Aunt Rhi. If
you know what I’m talking about, this will delight you,
and if you don’t, then it wouldn’t matter to you
anyway. My new estimated finish date is July 1, a full
month ahead of deadline. Immediately after that, I have
to write two quick novellas, and plan a blockbuster
novel proposal to begin the next contract.
And the Books are Flying
 WEDDINGS FROM HELL is on sale now.
It’s a June release, a paranormal anthology from Harper
with a wedding theme running throughout.
 LOVER’S BITE, a May MIRA Books
release, is still available and selling briskly, I’m
told.
ANGEL’S PAIN
will go on sale in
October! Check out the gorgeous cover art!
BLOODLINE goes on sale in May 09.
And this website will be updated
again right around the beginning of July, when I’ll
begin the post with the immortal and long awaited words,
“Yes! The book is done!” But of course, as soon as I
do, I’ll be on to the next project. So it’s never
really done. And there’s wisdom in that.
Every day, find something to smile
about. Find something to enjoy. Find something that
makes you feel good. Life isn’t about where you’re
going. It’s not going to begin once my house is “done”
or once my book is “done” or once I lose ten pounds, or
once I get a little more money and a few less bills, or
once I get a pool or once I get ANYTHING. Life is about
living and loving and smiling and enjoying and relishing
and appreciating right where I am, and what I’m doing,
right now, in this very moment. And so I am.
Till next time, here’s hoping you
are too!
Maggie
Previous Newsletters
Maggie’s Feel-Good Websites:
www.hayhouseradio.com
www.abraham-hicks.com
www.effortlesshealing.com
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