The following is a (rather slapdash) list of books that I eagerly await in 2008. (Oh, and look, a little rhyme too!)

Unpredictable by Eileen Cook (Feb)
The Little Lady and the Prince by Hester Browne (Feb)

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan (April)

A Fatal Waltz: A Novel of Suspense by Tasha Alexander (May)

Rumors: A Luxe Novel by Anna Godbersen (Jun)
Rites of Spring (Break) by Diana Peterfreund (Jun)

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Aug)

I So Don’t Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy (Dec)

My mind is blanking and I know I’m missing some good ones, so if you’d be so good as to help me out…

Update: No one new potty-trained; aim not noticably improved.
Younger son’s broken arm is now completely healed, but next week he’s going to have to have a crown put on a decaying baby tooth. I’m already feeling queasy about it.

In other news, my husband bought me a Roomba. In case you don’t know what that is, it’s a little robot vacuum cleaner that runs by itself on carpeted and uncarpeted floors. He came home with it before Christmas, and at first I imagined it was my gift–let me just interject here that while normally I would not even consider a household appliance to be an acceptable gift, this I would have embraced with open arms–but it wasn’t!!! It was…just because! So now, I’m pulling this thing out at the drop of a hat and sending it on it’s merry way around the house. Meanwhile…I can do anything else I want! It’s almost like I have a little tiny maid that performs only one task with brisk, if somewhat noisy efficiency. I’m just a little bit in love. Today it went under my couch–whoever vaccuums under there???–now Roomba does.

My sons love it and being the Star Wars aficionados that they are, they call it Mouse Droid. My older son barely spared enough time to be impressed by it before asking if we could get other ones that did other things. His suggestion: a painting droid that would glide, loaded with paint, up and down the walls of our house. I cringe just thinking about that possibility. I’m happy with Mouse.

At this rate I should be able to crank out a book in no time, right?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Okay…so apparently Beck is the only one suited to speaking authoritatively on kids’ birthdays. (Thanks, Beck!) No problem–we’ll wing it. And now, just as I suspected as I tried to come up with ideas and get myself together before Christmas, this birthday party is coming up fast. Guess what my side-project for the next couple of weeks will be….(!)

It was my husband’s first day back to work today after being off for a week and a half, and he didn’t like it one bit. I was also back to work in that I was packing away all the Christmas decorations (ugh!) Tomorrow it’s back to work for real–Mother’s Day Out is back in session! I think it’ll be just a little painful. These kids have been at home with their moms for two and a half weeks, so I think there might just be a few with some traumatic separation anxiety. Looking on the bright side…maybe they’ve all potty-trained themselves over the holiday (and taught themselves to aim accurately).

I still haven’t gotten back into the writing yet–today was exhaustingly busy–but I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the book–I figure that counts for something. And besides, my Christmas present to myself is a few more days with which to devote my spare time to reading. I’ve finished up Marked by Moonlight (really enjoyed it) and started on Blind Submission, which I am lov-ing! So, off to read a bit more before bedtime!