So, for those of you who have read this blog into antiquity, you’ll know that my son tested positive for an allergy to grasses and pollens. Well, at that time (last June), we gave our son a scratch test (a nifty test where they literally “scratch” you with a bunch of stuff to see if you’ll have an allergic reaction – peanuts, grasses/pollens, soy, pet dander, etc.) Anyhow, my son Levi was allergic to grasses and pollens, so much so, that the hive he got as a result was the size of a quarter. Normal hives from the scratch test are about the size of a pea.

(This is not normal hay fever, folks. Those of you who are nodding about being allergic to grasses and pollens… Sit down. lol My son’s trumped you. Keep reading.)

Ever since his scratch test, we’ve noticed he’ll be sniffly and very stuffy if he even thinks about playing on the grass. Therefore, when he goes outside to play with his sisters, he’s only allowed on the gravel and dirt of our yard. Poor boy. Last summer, his cousin played in the grass, then stood on Levi’s bed in his shoes. Levi woke up the next day with a rash on the side of his face and pustules on his ear. EEWW. I know.

This season, we’ve noticed my son’s allergies have decided to BAM! Kick it up a notch! The boy is miserable, but he insists to go play with his sisters. Reminding him of the grass, he runs out the door with his stick that he’s happy to pretend is a pirate cutlass.

But then he comes back into the house – and his eyes are so swollen, my boy looks…odd. The whites of his eyes are completely red, they are watering non-stop, and I notice *something* in his eye. What the heck is that?? Oh my gawd, his eye is so swollen, you can see the inside skin of his eyelid on the OUTSIDE! It looks like it’s turning inside-out.

To make a long story short, he picked up a clump of grass to throw into a box in the backyard, only to rub his eyes (because of his allergies) only to make things a million times worse by rubbing the oils of the grass DIRECTLY INTO HIS EYES.

Needless to say, I called DH, he came straight home from work, and we took the boy to the Urgent Care. Their solution? Up his dosage of Benedryl and do NOT let him play outside until he’s all better. And even then, make sure you supervise where he plays.

Remember that new deck DH and I had installed this spring? The boy will ONLY be allowed to play on that outside. How sad is THAT?!? But holy crap. I’ve NEVER seen someone so very allergic to grass. I’ve seen people sneeze and wheeze in the springtime, but this boy explodes if he so much as touches the stuff.

The doc says it will only get WORSE as he gets older. There’ll be no mowing the lawn for this boy. And outdoor sports are right out. He’ll have to be happy with (indoor) Basketball or Ice Hockey.

My poor dude.

~~Becka

This week is going to be an easy one for me, so here we go. Thirteen of my Wolverine knights from The Legends of Mynos series.

1.) Sir Vincent of Westchester – Originally stole the Crystal of Mynos from Castle Templestone millennia ago at the urgings of the dragon Iruindyll, setting in motion the death of King Timothy as well as the destruction of dragonkind.

2.) Sir Benjamin of Stollinshire – A young Wolverine who lived millennia ago. Mynos chose him as king after the death of King Timothy.

3.) Sir Darryn of Winterborne – Married Kendra, the Crown Princess of the elven kingdom, who abdicated her throne to be with him.

4.) Sir Geoffrey of Emberdale – Known as the youngest Wolverine to hold the title of ‘King’s Best’.

5.) Sir Sebastian of Tabrinth – Best friends with Sir Geoffrey, and soon becomes Captain of the Guard at Castle Templestone.

6.) Sir Cederick of Breckenwood – A harsh man who regrets decisions he’s made in his past, but who also has a large heart.

7.) Sir Nathan of Emberdale – Good friend to Geoffrey while growing up, but is known as a womanizer at the castle.

8.) Sir Duncan of Marynville – A younger Wolverine, he’s a novelty at the castle with red hair and green eyes. Very kind, gets along with everyone.

9.) Sir Ethan of Krey – A prankster, but good friend to both Sebastian and Duncan.

10.) Sir Connor of Emberdale – Sir Geoffrey’s father.

11.) Sir Quinn of Breckenwood – An aging Wolverine, ready to pass on his sword to his son Cole.

12.) Sir Joshua of Korenth – Good friend of Sir Ethan, a handsome man with light brown hair and sea-green eyes.

13.) Sir Briand of Breckenwood – The youngest Wolverine in the king’s service, Sir Briand is determined to gain the respect of his fellow knights.

And there you have it. Thirteen of my Wolverine knights. Here are some linkies for you if you want to learn more:

http://www.rebeccagoings.com/TheCrystalOfMynos.pdf

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/the-wolverine-and-the-rose

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/the-wolverine-and-the-jewel

~~Becka

You’ve been with me for 12 years, meowed for your breakfast, rubbed on my feet, came running when I whistled. You warmed my lap countless times, watching House, as well as LOST, Firefly, Buffy, Angel, ER, Friends, and countless other shows and movies I’ve watched over the years. You would crawl under the blankets with me at bedtime or curl up around my head and purr, much to my husband’s dismay. In your old age, you became ornery, demanding to be lifted up to the dryer in order to eat your kibbles. You’d weasel your way onto my lap, despite me pushing on you to get off. You were on my lap, dammit, and you were going to stay there.

Your name was Justin Time Jr., named so for two reasons; #1 being you were a runt kitten who’s mother had left you behind to die, and #2, being you looked exactly like DH’s childhood cat Justin Sr. You latched on to me as if I were your real mother, clinging to me every day of your life.

Even today, when we took your last trip, when you were scared at the vet, you held on tight, refusing to be moved, refusing to be parted from your Mommy. I love you, Big J. I’ll miss you terribly. God gave you to me, now I’ve got to give you back. I pray you are finally in a better place with no more pain.

I’ll never have another kitty like you, Justin. You will always be in my heart.

Goodbye, old friend.

~~Becka

I am proud to be an American.
I am proud of the men and women who fight for our country.
I am proud of the brave families who send their children, siblings, spouses to war.

I will never take my freedoms for granted.
I will never take our soldiers’ sacrifices for granted.
I will never turn my back on our troops.

I will remember the fallen who died to preserve my way of life.
I will remember the fallen who died to keep my children safe.
I will remember the fallen who died for people they will never know.

I say thank you to the fallen, for your noble sacrifice.
I say thank you to those still serving, fighting for me, for my family, for our country.
I say thank you to the families; through your love and support, our country is protected.

I do not know you, but I’d hug you if I could. Today, my flag flies in honor of you.

~~Becka

I would have posted my Hottie earlier today, but I was literally channeling one of my books and I couldn’t tear away for a moment to blog. But that’s a good thing! So here I am, 10 minutes before I have to shoot out the door for my kids’ Karate class trying to think of a good Hottie for this week. LOL But I think I’ve found him. Y’all might know who this is if you watch American Idol. This guy went on to make a name for himself. Who is he? Mr. Chris Daughtry.

Daughtry has gone on to make a name for himself with a band of the very same name, singing poignant, rockin’ songs. I particularly love “Crashed”, “Over You”, “It’s Not Over”, and “What I Want”, featuring Slash. HAWT!!

Chris has a very “Vin Diesel” look, doesn’t he? Hmm… Which reminds me, I gotta feature Vin one of these days… LOL Chris also reminds me of my hubby. Bald head, goatee, sexay…

Have I mentioned that I LOVE his voice? My Gawd, if you haven’t heard his music, then flee to Amazon or iTunes and hear a snippet. Even his voice is sexy. “What I Want” conjures images of my sexiest bad-boy heroes from my romance novels. Hubba hubba!!

Congratulations, Chris Daughtry. You’re Becka’s Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka

Check out what’s been keeping me busy today. Enjoy!

~~Becka

This T-13 is brought to you today by the letter T and the number 13. Today, we’re focusing on the “whiney author”, you know the ones. Try not to get too drunk, eh?

1. Author whines about not getting any royalties ~ one shot

2. Author whines about having no time to promote after you suggest that’s probably why they’re not getting any royalties ~ two shots

3. Author whines about how great you are in comparison to their “floundering” career ~ three shots

4. Author whines about getting a poor review, thus goes into hiding for three weeks ~ four shots

5. Author whines about not being a “real” author, despite being multi-published at a reputable publishing house ~ 5 shots

6. Author is upset when Jane Q. Writer’s novel is considered for a movie but hers isn’t ~ 6 shots

7. Author whines that their manuscript actually has to be “edited” ~ 7 shots

8. Author whines when no one responds to her drive-by promo posts on the Yahoo loops ~ 8 shots

9. Author flips out over hearsay about current publishing house and pulls her contract for no good reason ~ 9 shots

10. Author whines that family and friends only read print ~ 10 shots

11. Author whines that her book isn’t a New York Times bestseller, despite being a brand new author that no one has heard of ~ 11 shots

12. Whiney author admits she won’t read eBooks because she can’t sit at the computer for hours at a time, however, she’s a successful, multi-published eBook author ~ 12 shots

13. Author is constantly comparing her career to that of Nora Roberts ~ 13 shots

I’m sure we all know some authors who resemble these remarks. Heck, may even be the pot calling the kettle black, if you know what I mean… LOL

~~Becka

I saw these in Rite Aid the other day. Am I the only person on Earth who stared speechless at the box for about a full minute? Anyone else see these in the stores?

Wow. Press on TOENAILS?!? Now I’ve seen it all. See for yourself.

http://www.kissusa.com/TN.html

I know people get pedicures. Even had a few myself. But fake toenails? TOENAILS?

Seriously, folks. WTH?

O.O

~~Becka

Well, I haven’t done a random pic in a long time. I decided to see what popped up under “dragon shifter”. As we all know, shifters are HOT in romance right now, be it werewolves, big cats, birds, or dragons. Since I love dragons, I wanted to see what kind of pics I could find.

This is what popped up.

That is fricken’ awesome. For those of you who may not know what you’re looking at right off the bat, that is a brushed metal stick shift ball for your manual transmission car. HAWT!!

It’s no secret that I love stick-shifts, but you might not know it, since I don’t think I’ve talked about it much. I love the power and control a stick gives you, especially driving in the snow. An automatic is easier, granted, but I love sticks. I wish more luxury cars were sticks. Why can’t you buy them? It’s discrimination, I tell you! You only get a stick on the “sportier” cars. Can’t find a Nissan Maxima in a stick, for instance. What’s up with that? Maybe they can’t sell them. Maybe people who want luxury wanna be lazy too. Dunno.

But since we all know how much I love dragons, having this shifter ball on my manual stick would rule. Of course, I don’t have a stick right now.

Bollocks.

~~Becka

Oh yeah, who went to an actual SALON today for the first time? Why that would be me. Yes, ladies, I have NEVER been to a real salon. I’ve only ever been to the SuperCuts or the Great Clips, the el cheapo hair-cutting places. This place I went to today was recommended by a friend and it was awesome. I needed a change. For years, I’ve had longer hair, swept up into a ponytail much to my husband’s horror. He loves it when I wear my hair down. Problem is, I never did. Too long–gets in my face, too hot–gotta get it off my neck. Never did anything with it, because I have the whispy kinda hair that falls right out of a braid, and I don’t know jack about hair products, nor do I want to learn or buy them.

You see, I’m lazy bones. I ain’t gonna do the mousse and the gel and the VO5 and all that jazz. I wanna shower, towel, done. I got more important things to do than my hair, like write books for example. LOL

So it’s literally been 10 years since I had my hair cut and colored by someone else other than myself or my DH… Yes, he’d color my hair. Aw…. But that’s beside the point. Anyhow, you’ve all seen this picture by now, and if you haven’t, this is the pic I’ve been circulating as my author pic. It’s me from 2003, but even so, nothing much changed in the last few years. LOL

So you think to yourself: That’s not bad. And it’s not. If it hadn’t been my look for a bajillion years. You see, I haven’t been blonde since high school. After I got married, I decided to “go red”, and I haven’t had a color other than auburn for many years. So, I decided to go blonde this time. And shorter. Much shorter. In fact, I can NO LONGER even put my hair in a ponytail, it’s that short. But now, it has so much body, that it literally bobs up and down when I walk, and I’m not even trying to be stuck-up! LOL Check me out NOW:

Woowoo! DH says I’m 100% better with this new ‘do, and I gotta agree with him. I love love LOVE it. It’s shorter in the back than it is in the front, and I can curl the ends to flip out if I want, rather than flipping in like they are in the pic. I love this new hair and I’m going to have a lot of fun with it this summer. DH can’t keep his eyes off me now! **ggg**

Awesome. I’m a hottie! Who knew?

~~Becka