Mud, memories, and words

Jamie and Melanie

Our sprinkler system goes off in the early morning on Thursdays and Sundays. For some reason known only to her, Sophie chooses Thursdays as her mornings to go wild in the yard chasing squirrels and, sometimes, chasing her own tail. She’s always so exuberant, has so much fun just racing in circles that I hate to put the kibosh on it, but this morning I looked out to see her running back and forth, kicking up wet earth as she went, and leaving the sidewalk really muddy. If that was what the sidewalk looked like, what would my floor look like? Yep, I had to mop. Mopping is not one of my major skills, so it still looks streaked. I’m counting on time to soften that look.

A sudden reminder: twenty-one years ago today, Jamie and Mel married at Robert Carr Chapel on the TCU campus. Jame is the third of my children but the first married and the first to have children. I am overwhelmed with a flood of memories of that day and of all the major milestones and small good times since. So proud of them, the life they’ve built together, and the two super daughters they’ve raised. Can I sneak a moment of blatant self-pride for having raised such a neat son?

I did it today—no, I didn’t streak my hair again. But I took the plunge and put those first words of a new novel on paper, 1200 of them. That’s a huge step. I’m sort of in-between with my fall publications—need to start promoting the novel, Contract for Chaos, but waiting to schedule cover reveal. And the cookbook, scheduled for November, is with a designer. So I can’t do much but bits here and there. If you get my newsletter, you’ll get a sneak preview of both covers, plus a recipe from the cookbook. Just write to me at j.alter@tcu.edu and I’ll see that you get a copy promptly.

But meanwhile, those first words—on another Blue Plate Café Mystery. No title yet, except that it will follow the pattern of the series and be “Murder at ????” I know it will involve an incident from real life when a fiend of mine had her lunch interrupted by a home intruder, and I sort of think there will be a wedding, but “Murder at the Wedding” doesn’t have good karma, so I’ll work on that. As a friend of mine says, “It’s early days.” I work best if I just plunge in and begin, so as yet I’m not sure what the story will be about. Hmmm, maybe there’s a jealous ex-wife involved.

Lunch at Carshon’s, the local deli, with one of those friends who won’t back out of my driveway, so I drove. Nice visit catching up. Tonight, leftovers, and a book I’m not sure I’m wild about reading. Win some, lose some.