Quiet

I haven't talked much about books lately, but I'm reading one that I'm really enjoying: Ill Wind, by Rachel Caine. I became aware of it through a service provided by Dear Reader, sort of an online book club.

You sign up for the genres you're interested in--I'm in the Science Fiction Club and the Pre-Publication Club--and they send you excerpts in your email every day. I haven't totally figured out the schedule, but it looks like they start a new book in each section every other week. Or something like that--all I know is that I haven't gotten more than one email per day since I started it.

You don't get the whole book, just a couple of chapters, and if it turns out to be something you're not interested in, you just delete the email, and maybe next week will suit you better. I found about it when S. L. Viehl's newest, Blade Dancer was the featured science fiction selection a few weeks ago, and since then I've gone out and bought several of the books they've recommended. Kind of a cool way to sample new books.

Anyway, Ill Wind is the first in a series called "The Weather Wardens," and is about a young woman, Joanne, a "weather warden," one of the magically-gifted people who run the world's weather. An intriguing concept. The weather wardens are assisted by Djinn, who are assigned to a warden for life. Also an interesting concept, particularly given the one that Joanne ends up with . . . She also has a vintage Mustang named Delilah, a "perfect" turquoise bikini, and the power to control hurricanes.

Barb is in town for Christmas, and we went out to lunch on Sunday, and Misty is here, too, and we went out to dinner Monday night. Christmas Eve was at Bob's parents' house, and Christmas Day at mine; it's been a busy couple of weeks. One night we stayed home and watched Pirates of the Caribbean, which I got for Bob for Christmas. What a great movie! Bob's a big Johnny Depp fan; me, not so much, although he does do a wonderful job as a pirate. Orlando Bloom, who I wasn't sure I could envision as anything other than an elf, also does a great job.

At some point Bob started getting bronchitis, and I'm feeling a little like I may be getting a cold, so tonight we're going to stay in, I think, and have a quiet New Year's Eve, just us and the kitties.

Like most years, 2003 was a mix of good and bad. I can't say that I'll be sorry to see the year end; it's always nice to look forward to a new year, a new beginning. The past year has seemed kind of rough, but that's probably mostly because of all the health stuff that hit me at the end of the year. It would have been nice to have it all cleared up and taken care of before the first of the year, but that didn't happen. It's going to go with me into the new year, but once January is over, I'm hoping everything will be fine and I can actually have that new beginning, maybe just a little late.

Bob's mother gave me some Pooh pajamas, Barb gave me a good-luck Chinese fish, and Misty gave me a tiny "angel egg" with a feather inside, and a blankie, and if the order ever arrives I'll have about a hundred dollars worth of wonderful wool yarn to knit with (bought with a Christmas gift certificate from a fellow knitter), and I've got a stack of books I've been hoarding (and someone sent me a new copy of Emma Bull's War for the Oaks, one of my absolute favorites, to add to the stack), so I should be well prepared for a couple of weeks of recuperation.

At my last appointment, I asked the surgeon about stairs, and he basically said to just use common sense--if I'd normally go up and down the stairs eight or ten times a day, maybe just go once or twice, and don't carry anything. He said coming downstairs for the day was fine, and going back up to go to bed--Bob and I had been wondering if we'd have to rent a hospital bed or something, since my pre-op instructions said to "avoid stairs."

So that's good. I also asked him about exercising, and he said while he wouldn't want me using weights, walking is always good, and going to the health club and walking on the treadmill would definitely be something I should do. (I had wondered if I should "freeze" my health club membership, but since they don't want you doing it for every little thing, they only let you do it for a minimum of 60 days.)

I'm trying not to have any preconceived notions, and just take it all as it comes, but it's hard, particularly for someone like me who likes to be in control of everything. It's an adventure, that's for sure.