Today I went to my RWA chapter meeting, the first time since March. The two times I happened to be traveling this spring were on meeting weekends. I presented part of the program on judge training for our contest/critiquing. Super critiquer Annie Solomon was the other presenter. It was nice to see everyone and to go out to lunch with the girls. Afterward, I dragged my friend Monica to Barnes & Noble so she could get J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover so she can get hooked on the series like me. She ended up getting the first two, Jessica Andersen’s new book, the first in her The Final Prophecy series, and a Katie MacAlister book. I was sad to see, however, that yet another B&N has removed the series romance (Harlequin/Silhouette) books from their shelves. Sigh.

I meant to put up these pictures a few weeks ago when my rose bushes were blooming. Still, they’re too pretty not to share.

It’s my hubby’s favorite time of the year — time to pull out the mower, clean the sparkplug, and try to get the beast running. Okay, no, that’s not really his favorite activity, but here he is nonetheless mowing the lawn. And I just realized he blogged about the experience too, and I have to admit his post is way funnier than mine.

It’s the time of year when I weed the flowerbeds (started yesterday, can’t continue today because it’s pouring rain), cover them all with new mulch, and clean up all the fallen limbs and leaves left over from the winter. I love seeing all the trees and grass and plants greening and flowering — even if I sometimes have to wear a surgical mask while working outside because of my allergies. So what if I look like a doctor in gardening gloves.

It’s also the time of year when everyone is suddenly stricken with the need to fork over their credit cards at Lowe’s or Home Depot. We’ll be headed there this weekend for mulch, new landscaping timbers, and other assorted home improvement items. Whoever thought up the concept for a home improvement warehouse business was a genius. I think even the guy selling hotdogs and drinks outside Lowe’s is making a good chunk of change.

In writing news, I finished my final read-through of the September book and sent off my few and minor edits to my editor. On tap for today — write an article for the Romance Writers’ Report, watch some episodes of Supernatural and take notes for my Benbella essay, start a Bebo account, read some of my friend Annie Solomon’s latest manuscript, and rent a car for my trip to the RT convention. But first, a quick trip to the library to get an audiobook (Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian) for my RT trip.