Well, I fly out 7.30 tomorrow morning and arrive in the Republic of Georgia sometime Monday afternoon. It's going to be a long haul. On the way home, I fly through Istanbul for 3 days, which should be fun. I'll be on my own, which is a little worrying, but I've travelled alone before, so it should be fine.

I think I've finished packing, I've probably forgotten something, but ah well. Not taking my laptop as I'm going to be staying in a hostel on the last leg of the trip, and I don't want to risk it.

Have a wedding to go to today, and then that's it!

Any urgent questions regarding publishing etc, you're probably better off emailing Mark Deniz. Anything else, I will reply when I can!

Bye bye for now!

Now, I often spot street signs that make me chuckle in a schoolyard, 14 year old boy way (Glasscocks Road, for instance).

Last night, however, somewhere between Carrum and Bonbeach I spotted a sign that said:


I had a laugh to myself. And then it made me think what the developers were thinking...

On a side note: 3 days to go before I leave.

Tom flies back in from Chile tomorrow morning. At 8.30am. So that means I need to leave home sometime before 8am. On a Sunday.

Yes, please, feel the pain.

But I am a wonderful fiancé (it feels strange typing that!) and I will do it. Apparently he has been sick with the local gastro, poor man :(

Meanwhile, the Terrible Two are missing their daddy. Saxon even howled for me to come down and attend to him two nights ago. I thought he was sad. He was hungry. But it's comfort eating ;)

Today has been a sad day for the entertainment industry. I woke up to news reports about MJ. As a kid, I used to love his music, and no matter his personal issues, he was a talented man.

But what caught my eye in today's news was this:

A US church has posted a video on YouTube showing its elders trying to exorcise a "homosexual demon" from a teenager as he vomits and writhes on the floor.

…

"Come on you homosexual demon, you homosexual spirit … Loose your grip, Lucifer."

The church, Manifested Glory Ministries, insisted the teenager was not injured during the incident, which it said was justified because marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman.

"We have nothing against homosexuals — I just don't agree with their lifestyle," Reverend Patricia McKinney told the New York Post.

…

Link is here.

This reminded me of a post wedschilde made the other day.

How can this Reverend not have an issue with homosexuals if she is trying to exorcise the 'demon' (or urge) from a young boy? Who is she trying to kid?

I think that people should be allowed to do what they want provided that they aren't hurting anyone else. And I think that what they did to a sixteen year old boy is inexcusable. If he didn't have problems with himself before, imagine how he would feel after?

So time is flying by too fast. I fly out to Georgia in a week and a half. I've got some niggly things to do with Grants Pass for publication, but I'm hoping to have them sorted by the end of the week.

I've got some more to do on Phantom Queen, but it's under control, and I've a few more projects waiting in the wings.

Worst thing of all though, my Word is broken. Lucky I have another computer that it is working on. But I tend to do most of my work on the laptop because it's faster and closer to the heater, hehe.

On the publishing front, not a lot of news. I've got stories with publishers and I'm getting used to the wait. I've also been trying to find an agent to represent my YA novel, so keeping my fingers crossed!

Vet = 2
Cats = 0

Today was time for Saxon's annual injection/worming and Lily's 6 month vaccination. Lily was first. The vet had to pry her out from her cat carrier, where she had somehow managed to climb under the bed and hide. As she was taken from the basket, I noticed that her tail was firmly between her legs and she was shaking.

It didn't improve.

Our little feisty kitten was an absolute sook! Whenever the vet turned from her, she tried to burrow into my jacket and hide. Thankfully, despite her food addiction, she isn't overweight. The vet said she was a good looking cat, and matched any of the cats he'd seen at the cat show he'd judged the day before.

As for the food addiction, well, he said it was a behavioural problem and pretty much wished me luck and told me to keep on using the watergun.

Saxon, on the other hand, was well behaved. He did try to escape a couple of times over the side of the table, but he tolerated his injection and tablet very well. He's lost 0.4 kgs, but the vet said it was probably a good thing and that despite being 'thin' (my friends and family kept telling me Saxon was too skinny and sick looking), Saxon looked great and was in perfect health. The vet said that too many people were used to seeing overweight animals.

Here are some pictures after they came home from the vet:

   
Saxon in front of the heater, Lily coming for a snuggle.              Saxon watching.

                               
Snuggle = yes.                                   Saxon in shock over cuddle. He wore an expression similar while at the vet's...

Oh, this made me chuckle evilly.



*snaffled from stephen_dedman.

Yes, it's true. My six month old baby girl is a food addict. It's disgusting. She can't help herself. At the mere promise (well, what she thinks is a promise) of food, she's in the kitchen howling for some noms.

Saxon, on the other hand, needs to be carried to his special 'nommies room' where he's locked away so he can eat in peace. If left in the room with Lily, she would quickly finish her noms and then shove him out the way and eat his. She gets so fat she waddles afterwards if she can get into his food and hers.

Poor Saxon has started to get a bit thin, because he's constantly being chased (Lily's favourite toy is his tail) and doesn't like to gulp his food down in one sitting. We try and give him extra during the day, but Lily is a sneak and tries to get into his nommies room at any chance she can.

So Monday is a vet visit. Time for their injections and worming, and time to see if the vet has any recommendations for a cat food addict. I'm hoping she will grow out of it, but that doesn't seem to be the case so far... if anything, she seems to be getting worse.

Is now up for sale on Amazon.com.

I've read the whole thing, and there are some interesting tales up for grabs. It's a solid anthology and if you love vampire fiction, worth a look.

Not much has been happening. Due to the CFS, my concentration has been shot to pieces lately. But that's okay, I'm waiting on a few things to be sent to me before I can do anything.

My memory has gone downhill a lot too. Then there's the weight gain which is driving me mad, but which my doctor is unconcerned about. Hehe.

At the moment, my doctor is completely at a loss with what to do with me. So I have to book an appointment to see an immunologist. We'll see what they say when I get back from Georgia, I guess.

So now I'm trialing a weight loss drug to see if it gives me any extra energy (although the doc maintains I don't need to lose weight, no matter what I say).

/ends cheery post.