It was beautiful here today, sunny and warmer. I went for another walk and enjoyed the sea breeze and the sound of the palm fronds swaying. Here’s the view out the window about mid-day.

When I returned from my walk, I found hubby chilling and reading on the balcony.

I finished my proofing job and ran it to FedEx, then went to an area Books-a-Million to set up a book signing for March since the book I have coming out then, The Family Man, is the second book I’ve written set in this area. My hope is that since it’ll be spring break all those spring breakers will need a good beach read.

While I was out, I also bought the soundtrack to Avatar. As usual with James Horner’s work, it’s beautiful. I’m listening to it now. Hubby took this shot while I was out and about.

We went to Floyd’s Shrimp House for dinner. We ate there last December and really enjoyed it, so it’s the only place we’ve gone back to for a repeat visit this trip. We played a game of Perquacky, a word game, and have been playing on the Internet since. Hubby is reading the book I got him today as an early Christmas gift, The Art of Avatar.

It’s the end of Day 2 at the beach, and I’m already wishing I could win the lotto so I could buy a place here and just stay. I woke up this morning to another sunny day, and I looked out the window to see several dolphins rolling in the waves. They were too far away for a good photo, so I decided not to grab the camera and stumble onto the balcony in my pajamas.

We went for a walk (hubby for half an hour and me another half hour on top of that), and just chilled around the condo. But, hey, when you’ve got fun paintings like this on the wall, it’s a happy place to hang out.

I even did a little work. See, here’s proof. For all you RWA members out there, I was proofing the February issue of the RWR. Good stuff in there.

Hubby played some guitar, and later in the afternoon we headed to the movie theater in Destin to Avatar. Loved it! We both agreed it’s very re-watchable. I’d love to see it in its 3-D incarnation. Even without it, I enjoyed the story, the acting, the tremendous visual beauty. It made me want to be a blue Na’vi and live on Pandora. If you have not seen it, go.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

I tried to get the soundtrack after dinner, but Barnes & Noble was sold out. May check somewhere else tomorrow if I venture away from the condo for anything other than my walk.

The hubby finally got some time off from work, so we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip the beach — aka Place That Is Warmer Than At Home. So, yesterday afternoon, after he was done with band practice and I got home from my local RWA chapter holiday party, we loaded up the Versa and headed south through a cold, windy, rainy, just plain icky day. We got as far as Prattville, Alabama, before deciding to stop for the evening. We got into our hotel and walked across the street to the Cracker Barrel, where we might have had the best Cracker Barrel meal every. Yay Prattville Cracker Barrel, and yay to Jennifer, our waitress. We were so tired that we turned in early. I cannot remember the last time I went to sleep at the insanely early hour of 10:15 p.m.

After a casual morning, we hopped in the car again for the rest of the drive to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We made our usual stop at Florala State Park in Florala, Alabama, so we could add to our collection of goofy pictures of the hubby posing with Spanish moss in some fashion. Today it was crazy hair guy.

I posed for a quick picture in front of the park’s Lake Jackson. If I look cold, it’s because I was. The wind was blowing across the lake. Being that close to Florida, I stomped my foot and said, “I demand it be warm!” in my best queenly voice.

We rolled into Fort Walton Beach around 2:45, and I uttered my usual greeting of, “Hello, ocean!” Yes, I’m a dork. But the beach always makes me happy — the relaxed atmosphere, the sound of the waves, the bright colors you can get away with painting your home here. This is me posing on the balcony of the condo where we’re staying. I’m looking forward to one of the warmer days this week so I can sit out there and read a book.

And here was the first sunset of our stay here. Gorgeous, yes?

After appreciating the sunset, we went to Publix and stocked up on some groceries. Then when hubby discovered he had forgotten to bring a cable for his computer, we drove over to Destin and hit Target, Radio Shack and finally Best Buy before we found it. Then we came back and hubby made shrimp scampi, brown rice and mixed veggies for dinner. I love shrimp, so count this as something else that made me happy.

While eating dinner, we watched the Pixar movie, UP. Really good movie, though it made me cry a couple of times.

And now here we sit across the table from each other working on our respective computers. Guess that’s all for tonight. I’ll post again tomorrow.

Santa must really love me this week because I just saw the cover of my March Harlequin American release today on Amazon. And it’s awesome! The art department did a fantastic job of capturing the look of Adam, the hero in The Family Man. I told them he was supposed to look similar to Eric Dane, aka McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy, and I think they totally nailed what I was looking for.

What do you think?

Those are the two topics I’m blogging about today in my regular blog posts at the Romance Bandits (winter weather eats) and Healthy Writer (brain health) blogs. I’m even giving away a prize at the Romance Bandits blog as part of our 12 Bandita Days of Christmas.

I finally got my Christmas letter written and all the Christmas cards ready to go this afternoon, which means a trip to the post office tomorrow. Might as well make it Errand Day and hit other exciting hot spots such as the recycling center. Oh, the glamorous life of a writer.

Considering a recent phone conversation with my father-in-law recently started with him asking, “Have you died?”, I think perhaps it’s time to do a better job blogging.

And as luck would have it, I have something exciting to share — the cover for my second young adult novel, Winter Longing, which is set to come out next August. I really like it, and I’m hoping it will make people pick it up off store shelves and race to the cash register. What do you think?

I just turned in a proposal for a trilogy to my agent, who sent it to my editor at Harlequin American. I’m hopeful she loves it as much as my agent who said she “loved every word!” I heart my agent.

I’ve also got lots of other things out there under submission, so Santa, if you’re listening, I’d like a new contract for Christmas!