Last week, as many of you know, I headed to Portland, OR, to see the Picky Vegetarian. We had a blast, eating at her favorite restaurants, driving to a quirky museum in Washington, stopping at wineries, drinking coffee, and making fun of ourselves and each other.

I got home Friday morning, slept, and then immediately headed to New Jersey for Easter. As most of you know, I am not religious, but I do recognize the importance of respecting others’ traditions, so I was happy to trek down there for crabcakes and ham.

Back in Brooklyn only to realize that the Spawn’s school doesn’t actually resume until Wednesday. Oops. There went those ’start writing again on Monday’ plans. But I did get the repair from Toyota, took my son to Sunset Park to the Asian supermarkets and bought green beans for fifty cents a pound. Score!

He goes back tomorrow. Whew.

Meanwhile, I am feeling sort of energized–sort of–and mildly optimistic about finishing this book by my own deadline.

Yes, close-to-dullest-post ever. But at least there is forward motion.

AND I got the international version of this from Netflix:

This week I’ve been working like a fiend to prepare for next week, when I head out west to see the Picky Vegetarian! YAY!

Much coffee will be consumed.

So I’m doing double work this week, which means no fiction writing, not much time for other stuff, and brain-deadness for posting here. Plus nothing fun has happened, besides me eating some really good food, but that’s hardly exciting for anyone but me.

So there you go. Will post more later.

1. I am no longer sick. The Spouse seems to have caught it, though.

2. I am trying to write when I have a spare hour, like this one, so I’ll still not be so chatty here. Plus my life is as dull as it’s always been, so no news there.

3. I have 143 pages done of the current WIP. Yay! Likely heading towards 400 pps.

4. I like hockey now, thanks to HDTV and the Olympics. I cannot find a good pic of Ryan Miller, but I thought he was amazing.

5. Next weekend I might get to see the Delightful Phone Friend; seeing the Picky Vegetarian at the end of the month in Portland. SO EXCITED.

6. Still waiting to hear on a submission. Many digits crossed.

7. Okay, off to write. More later.

Today is the Picky Vegetarian’s birthday! Do you know what I’ll be getting her? Good, ’cause NEITHER DO I! I will not be getting her:

eggplant

tofu

squash (inc. butternut, acorn, et al)

Owen Wilson (she prefers Luke)

a romance novel

a science fiction/fantasy novel

an action movie

a yappy dog

an item of clothing with any kind of ornamentation that might be called “girly”

natch, nothing pink

a cupcake without a good frosting

a purse

shoes that aren’t sneakers: That includes flats, slides, pumps, boots, etc.

make-up

pierced earrings

contact lenses

jewelry in general

meat

a slow cooker

an ‘improve your handwriting’ class; she has lovely handwriting already

a digital-only camera

an Alpha male

Clive Owen (see how that segues?)

reggae

disco

grungy, snarly stuff

a non-baseball cap

a trip to somewhere fabulous rather than far, far away; forget about England or France, she’s heading to Myanmar or Burkina Faso.

Angelina Jolie

an enormous party filled with people she doesn’t know

a dance club

Whew! Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thank you for being my friend for so long, and so well.

Love,

Megan

PS: The present is coming. Promise.

Yesterday was lovely. I got up, worked on freelance, then headed back upstairs to take a nap. WIN1

Then I worked on my own writing, and finished this short Regency-set story I’ve been doing. WIN2

Then, McVane came up with the perfect anagram for my name: Tramp, Fang On Me. WIN3

The Picky Vegetarian, who’s been working like a dog WITH dogs (and cats) called, which was nice, but cell reception stinks so all I could hear was “Happy Birthday.” But still, it was nice. WIN3.1

After, I read more of The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks, which the Faux Critique Partner recommended. WIN4

[Many, many happy birthday wishes from Twitter and Facebook, plus a special post from my P-I-C] WIN4.1

Then, STEAK! And family, and wine, and laughter. WIN5

A gift of tube mascara and Godiva chocolate. WIN6

After that? The Nocturnal Aunt and I watched North And South, and she adored it. WIN7

A really, really good day.

The Best Friend from Portland (OR, natch), the Picky Vegetarian, visited last week and this, and was telling me about how she has to restrain herself from talking about her cats all the time. She is a proud pet owner, obviously a vegetarian, who also does pet-sitting, so clearly she has a passion.

She has one Facebook friend who thinks it’s hysterical to post pictures of his sleeping dog throughout the day. Every day. For months.

Wow. That made my mouth hang open in shock. Because I would so defriend someone who did that.

Another Facebook person posts pix of her cats and writes her own LOLcats captions. Frequently. Because apparently there’s not enough for this person to do every day. Please.

And the PV, despite her ability to discuss her remarkable cats ad nauseam, wants to be a cat person with restraint. Which given what I know about most cat people (not Nastassja Kinski, btw, nor David Bowie. God, could Kinski have been any more gorgeous?!?) is nigh impossible, if not downright oxymoronic. She does, to her vast credit, only talk about her remarkable cats when they do something–remarkable. Which makes her, in my eyes, a remarkable woman, and not just because she loves me as much as I love her.

Geez, Louise, am I exhausted! The Framptons have led a merry life lately, and I am just so darn tired. I’m not made for this extreme socializing stuff. So I am posting, basically, to say I am tired.

Yeah, it’s come to this.

Sorry.

Tune in later for my cat lovers’ rant, courtesy of the Picky Vegetarian.

Today is the Picky Vegetarian’s birthday.

Yay!

She is an amazing friend, someone who always, always has my back, no matter what. So what if she won’t eat eggplant moussaka with me? She gives great advice, is funny, solid, interestingly idiosyncratic, opinionated, smart, and has the best handwriting ever.

I love her more than I can properly express.

So Happy Birthday! Have a great day today, and a wonderful upcoming year.

Love,

Megan

I will no longer speak on Q-Tips. My shame is too great.

This week, the Picky Vegetarian is in town (!), which means cupcakes, coffee and lots and lots of talking. I love so much about her, but one of the greatest things, as I’ve mentioned before, is her dismissive tone, since she would appear, to the casual onlooker, to be totally non-judgmental. But that is before you solicit her opinion on carrying a purse, eating eggplant, tofu, running out of toilet paper, if cupcakes are indeed totally delicious, reggae music, science fiction, dancing, makeup and a myriad of other things that will immediately occur to me once I publish.

She thinks I am funny. And I reciprocate.

And in other news, I realized I didn’t have a clear enough picture of my heroine in my head, and since it seems that I cannot write unless I have a real image, I searched my brain for who inspired my heroine, and found this photo of Rachel Weisz. I’m sorry, could she be any more beautiful?!?

I am trying to reduce consumption, Picky Vegetarian, but today is already a two-pot day.

Sigh.