This weekend was the 30th reunion of my husband’s company, and they celebrated by paying for all the employees to head down to a Hill Country resort/camp. We dropped the boys off with my mom on Friday afternoon and headed off for our weekend alone, which included golfing in the Texas heat (I whiled away the hours driving the golf cart and reading a book), company chit-chat and pictures, and two Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments. I played in the second (a first for me) and actually did pretty well–it was, after all, only pretend money.

Most of the chit-chat that came my way from people I don’t know too well all had to do with a second book. Having read my first one (and enjoyed it!), they wanted to know if–three and a half years later–I’m working on another one, if it’s finished, if it’s published, if it’s like the other one. Basically I admitted it was done, and not really at all like Unladylike Pursuits, and then the conversation got a little uncomfortable. I tried to explain that while I’d self-published the first one, I was taking the summer to query a few agents, gauge the general interest of the traditional publishing establishment for the type and sytle of my book, and then make an assessment at the end of the summer whether or not I should tweak the book, query more agents, or go the self-publishing route once more.

My explanation was met with plenty of silence and bobble-head nodding. No one outside the publishing world (not counting those trying to elbow their way in) understands it. Most people are beyond impressed with a self-published do-it-yourself undertaking and don’t really seem to get why someone would torture themselves in an effort to break into traditional publishing. At least not without some in-depth explaining. Maybe I should learn from this and start thinking like an outsider myself…

But despite all that, it was a fun weekend, hot and humid outside and luckily fraught with chilly air-conditioning inside. As I was trying to concentrate and keep up with the poker game, one of my husband’s male co-workers came and sat down beside me. He said, “I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I thought your book was really cool.” My eyes probably bugged, and I said, “You read it?” He said, “I did, yes.” And I said, “When did you find time to read it?” I’m pretty sure historical romance is not his normal cup of tea. So he says, “You really want to know?” Then it hit me, and I tried super hard not to think about it or picture it while insisting, “No, no I don’t.” So he blurts, in front of a tableful of poker players (who may or may not have been paying attention), “Do you really want to hear that I read your book on the toilet?” Ugh! I suppose I should just be happy he read it at all…and liked it!

As requested, here is the recipe for Hello Dollys. You will not be disappointed by this super-easy, super-yummy recipe.

Hello Dollys

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Melt 4 T. of butter or margarine in a 11×7 baking dish. (The recipe says to make sure the sides are coated, but I never do.)

3. Layer the following ingredients in order:

1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. grated coconut
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts (I always use pecans.)

4. Pour one 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk over everything, making sure it gets into all the nooks and crannies.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until light golden brown.

6. Loosen from the pan, cool, and cut into squares. (Or don’t wait and dive right into the gooey mess.)

Enjoy!

We’re to the east of Hurricane Dolly and so on the rainy side of the storm. We’ve been expecting rain. Yesterday we had some in the early morning, but then the weather held for swimming lessons and stayed drizzly most of the day. Last night we decided to take the dog for a walk and let the boys ride their new Razor scooters. There’s a park with a walking path right near our house, and that’s where we normally go, but my older son wanted to head out to the more distant park. Personally I didn’t think either one of them would make it there and back without getting tired of their scooters, but I followed along after them.

When we were directly behind our house (maybe a quarter mile away from home by road), I heard this shimmery sound behind me and turned to check it out. It was rain, pouring down behind us, racing in our direction. I called up to my husband, but by the time I’d finished warning him, the rain had arrived. We were all drenched in seconds, our clothes clinging to our skin as we hustled it back home. It was freezing–quite the anomaly in Houston in July–and windy, and the dog was LOVING it, prancing and frisking and wanting to play.

Once we turned the corner back onto our street, it had pretty much stopped, and my husband, ever the optimist, tells the boys, ‘Okay, so we’ve had our shower. Let’s get dried off, brush teeth, and go to bed.’ It didn’t fly, and instead they all huddled on the couch watching some show about the chupacabra. (Luckily there were no nightmares…)

And now today it’s been almost non-stop rain… But it’s cooler! It occurs to me that this is the perfect opportunity to make some Hello Dollys. For those of you who haven’t heard of these, they’re a bar cookie, with a graham cracker base, then layers of coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans, covered with sweetened condensed milk and baked to a golden brown yummy goodness. I think I’ve just convinced myself that this is exactly what I need!