Bounce Back

Things are looking up this morning. Fio slept well, probably because she has drastically adjusted her diet to combat the GERD that can wake her up in the middle of the night and keep her up for hours. Also, she is busily engaged in setting up the aforementioned computer era murder mystery/romance she and a friend are planning to write.
Another thing that is putting a smile on Fio's face and a spring in her step is that today is the day she calls friend Suzy in England and catches up on all the news across the pond. And today is also the day that she'll get the Microsoft sytem installed in her computer. And maybe today will also be the day she gets the family ranch land problem taken care of.

Down to Austin and Back

Fio's said it before and she 'll say it again. There's nothing like busting thirty-some miles down the road to Austin to rev up her writing brain. She actually pulled off to the side a couple of times, both ways, to record her thoughts--well, actually, one of those times, she had the fortune to get caught at a red light.

On the way down, Fiorella thought about Trump and the way that every time it seeems like she's run dry of blog topics, he comes through with something dumb, mean, or obscene that she can comment on. She also thought about how FB responders, by doing such things as mistaking the Declaration of Independence for an anti-Trump rally call, reveal their low IQs and educational levels.

On the way back, Fio reflected about over-eating, probably because she had just dined on chocolate chip cookies with Friend Evelyn at Starbucks and a hamburger with Friend Paula at Dan's. The spices were still on her tongue and the warmth was still in her digestive tract, but she knew that in an hour or so, the taste would turn bitter, her stomach would feel bloated, and she'd never want to eat again. Yeah, sure. Once Fio has downed a couple of chocolate chippers, her brain turns into a ravening beast and it's only the prospect of total embarrassment that stop her from going up to the counter and buying a box of them. Certain foods are  like drugs to Fio, but if there's one thing she's has learned from "My 600-Pound Life," it's that over-eating is emtionally driven, and that instead of trying to smother one's emotions, one needs to investigate and understand them.

Besides, the more cookies she eats, the more GERD she'll have later on.

Manic Phase

Watch out, world!  Fiorella feels GOOD today! Two doctor visits yesterday, and both went well. Also, her cockamamie idea of buying a twelve foot long 4x5, having it cut into four-foot lengths so she could handle them and they would  fit into the back seat of Husband's car, then driving then home to use instead of rocks at strategic places along the driveway so the riding mower will have easy access (got all that?) looks like it will work. Also, when she and Husband accidentally locked themselves outside the house, she realized the only way they could get in was by removing the temporary guest-room air conditioner and climbing in the window--and since Husband's arm is still in a sling, she did the job, which was sort of thrilling. Her first break and enter!

Also, she accomplished everything on her lista yesterday (ayer), celebrated with two slices of Starbucks marble pound cake and a pint of Blue Bell without even have a twinge of GERD, slept like a baby all night, woke up today with the beginnings of a marketing plan for Phillipa's story, and feels Tony-the-Tiger G-R-R-R-E-A-T!

Living Dangerously but Eating Well

Happy birthday to Fio--again.  Later today, her brother and sister-in-law are taking her and Husband out to Frisco, one of Fiorella's favorite restaurants. It's an old-time Austin thing, a family tradition. Not only did Husband's parents know the original owner, but Husband and Fiorella took their kids there regularly when they were growing up. The hamburger steaks are the best, and the chocolate ice box pie is out of this world. Fio will probably end up with a late-night GERD attack, but it will be worth it.

Connoisseur

When did Fio become a chocolate connoisseur?  She's always liked chocolate, but in years past, all chocolates tasted the same to her. Why is it that she now prefers Russell Stover and Dove to good ol' Hershey?  Where did this new palate come from?  Maybe from the pounds of Russell Stover bars she devoured during the Christmas holidays and over Valentine's week--the bars that, by the way, she can't find on the supermarket shelves anymore. Maybe because she's aware that bitter chocolate sets off a GERD reaction in her.

Whatever, hand over those Russell Stover Easter bunnies.

Cops and Killers

As a male, Husband can watch episode after episode of cops-and-killers shows, and they bounce right off of him.  As a female, Fiorella absorbs every gruesome detail of the dramas, and her GERD starts rumbling.

Ergo, Fiorella must henceforth absent herself from the den when said programs are on TV.  If you can't join'em, leave the room.

As Usual, Soldiering On

You missed all the wrist-slitting drama.

Last night, Fiorella's computer gulped down her entire manuscript, the FINAL version of which is due at her publisher's on Tuesday morning.  Luckily, after three hours of Fiorella trying this and that and Husband trying this and that, Fio's resident computer wizard located the file.  Events of the past couple of day have put Fiorella behind her own schedule so she worked on till midnight, when her vision blurred everything she tried to read and her brain was floating around in the outer darkness.  At 4:00 a.m., of course, she had a massive attack of GERD.

But now she's loaded to the gills with antacids and has run out those last four chapters to work on.  Then, in mid-afternoon, she will start rereading the whole manuscript.

Prayers accepted.

Fiorella's Day

Fiorella's day is shot.  She's under the gun--a barrage of guns, in fact.  Not only is she engaged in a massive GERD attack (wonder why), but she also has to make a whirlwind clean up of the house, back porch, and adjacent yards because a refinancing appraiser is coming this afternoon.  And she's been asked to dig up records she's never seen before on property she and Husband own in Colorado.  And she has to get her final, line-edit revisions in on Tuesday, but they disappear the second she turns off the computer.

Needless to say, she's canceled the dental appointment.

From Kitchen Cabinets to Meal-planning

Husband is Fiorella's hero.  Of his own initiative, he bought a can of white enamel and repainted the worn edges of all the kitchen cabinets.  They look brand new!  Fio didn't realize a touch-up job would make such a difference.

Husband has also held down grocery-shopping duty while Fio is doing intensive revising of the book due out in November.  And hasn't griped about the amount of time she spends isolated in her so-called office or about the ran forests of paper she consumes in the process, most of which departs the house crunched up in a plastic trash bag.  Or about having to come up with his own meals--well, that's partially because Fio is on a GERD diet.

Anyway you look at it, he's a keeper.

Stressed, You Say?

This has been a hard week for Fiorella,  That engine light was still on so Fio had to take the car to the dealer for a $400 repair, she was diagnosed with GERD (good-bye, chocolate), attacked by a herd of mosquitoes, hit the concrete face-first again, is still recovering from having her false vocal chords shot up with botox, is agonizing over revisions of her new book, and is preparing not only for the NY writers' conference, but for her birthday,

The good thing is that she's lost two pounds.