Book signing events are great and black eyes are not...yep

Sorry that it's been a while. Sunday, I was busy kicking Randi's butt in Yahtzee, and yesterday I had an eventful day that ended in me hearing the unmistakable sound of skin splitting as I saw stars. About 2 minutes later, I felt the pain.

Let's back up first. Sunday was pretty uneventful. It snowed off and on. I cooked a beef fillet dinner with roasted potatoes and spiced cabbage. Steve said, "You know, since we moved here, you have been cooking some amazing food. It's all so full of flavor!" I told him, "Thanks. Good food takes time, and now I have time." I enjoy cooking.

Later that night I got on Skype with my friend Randi for a few games of Yahtzee! She bought a set, and I have a set here. She got 4 Yahtzees in one game! Have you ever seen anything like it? Then, of course, she had to post my look of absolute disbelief on Facebook. HAHA

From: Randi Rae

Moving on to yesterday, Monday. More snow. I like the snow. If it's going to be cold and wet, it might as well snow. We got out in it anyway! I got tickets for Steve and I to attend a book signing. We were going to see Darren Shan. He wrote the Cirque du Freak series and a few others. You may have seen the movie The Vampire's Assistant, which was based on that series. I went because he was talking about his new series about zombies. I'm a huge fan of zombies! Before the event, I waited at Starbucks to meet Steve when he got off work. Our book club is reading The Great Gatsby so I stopped to pick that up so that I would have something to read. I forgot how much thinking was required to read that book. Of course, in high school I probably didn't think too much about what was being said. One line that I found particularly interesting was: "Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope." I thought, wow, it really is, isn't it? I never thought of it that way. You don't say anything because you are hoping nobody noticed, or heard, or that maybe they won't do or say it again, or maybe they will realize their own mistake eventually because who are you to say otherwise? Gosh, it's going to take me just as long to read this 180-page book as it would the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy at this rate. Yep, still reading that one too.

Oh right, the book signing. I felt like a kid again as he read parts of his books out loud. It was marvelous. People asked questions, and then we got in line. Steve took some pictures of me getting the book signed. I got one signed for my sister, Cacie, because she loves zombie movies too. I'll give it to her when she comes to visit this summer, and it will give her something to read! Darren Shan was really nice. He said he would be in Texas in about a week or so. Look him up to see if he'll be near you! I enjoyed meeting him and listening to his stories.

Book signings are fun and are also a great way to get your kids out and excited about reading. I already want to go to more and can't wait to read his books! By the time we got out of the bookstore, it was past 8 PM. We stopped for some Thai food and about froze to death in the restaurant. They apologized telling us that all the heaters were on, but it was just so cold out that it wasn't warming up well inside. Our food was cold on our plates within 10 minutes! The walk home was colder. The wind was gusting and snow/sleet was pelting us. We just laughed and joked about how this weather would have had us holed up in Texas, but in Aberdeen, here we are trekking around going to events and out to eat... walking everywhere.

And now, the moment disaster struck. The dogs were restless because we haven't been able to get out for a run. I was playing with Angel and Frog, tossing them around, rolling them over, me rolling over, and deflecting Angel's attempts to bite my arms (she plays rough). Unfortunately, the ninja dog caught me off guard. I turned to pull up on my knees as she lunged. Her face crashed into mine. I heard that unmistakable sound of skin splitting (it's like a loud crack or pop... almost like the sound of snapping a stick). I sat there dazed and thought, oh man, I know that sound. Where have I heard that before? Oooooh right. When black-belt Steve jumped up to turn off his alarm and caught me in the face with his elbow! My skin split at my brow and blood came gushing down my face and into my eye and ear when that happened. Blood? Oh shit. I ran to the bathroom to check it out. Yep, the skin was split open, but thank goodness it was not too bad. I only had a little swelling and needed just a small butterfly strip to keep it closed. Whew. Got off easy with that one! It could have been my eye, or I could have had another black eye like the one I got from his elbow or like the time my other dog jumped off the couch and hit me in the face. I had a black eye then. (Sighs) I've never been in a single fight, but I've been punched in the face three times. Let me tell you of lesser experience, it HURTS.

I walked into Kung Fu with a butterfly strip by my eye, and Sifu said, "What happened? Been in a fight?"

(Sighs) "My dog punched me in the face..."