Vampires suck….and they pay the bills…

Thanks to author pal Heather Brewer for bringing to my attention that Anne Rice plans to write one more vampire book.  Yes, Lestat lives, Anne says in a Time Magazine interview….after telling Christianity Today that she was done with vampires after her renewed faith in God.

“I would never go back, not even if they say you will be financially ruined. I would be a fool for all eternity to turn my back on God like that,” Anne says.

Hmmm…sounds like someone needed a paycheck.  I’d love to see everyone boycott the book and actually have IT financially ruin her after she turned her back on so many fans who had followed her, well…religiously. But that won’t happen.  The kinds of people who were Anne’s true fans are much more forgiving.

Anne says religion will play a big part in the new novel.  Hmmm…could Jesus and Lestat be lovers?  Nah…that’s already been done…and done much better.

For now, you should read Heather’s first two books about a teenage vampire.  Better yet, if you are in St. Louis, she’ll be signing copies at the Borders on Olive this Saturday starting at 2pm!  See you there!

HGTV, where are you when I need you?

If J and I aren’t watching the Food Network, then we are probably watching HGTV.  That means if we aren’t trying a new dish in the kitchen, then we are rearranging furniture or doing something to the yard.  Spring cleaning inside the house was the project the past few weekends, so this weekend we were outside.

On Saturday, I finally spent my birthday money on plants for the back yard.  I bought some more perennials for our flowerbed, and some vegetable plants and other things for a few pots.  J decided to pay someone to remove the large evergreen bushes from our front yard which would lead to an even bigger project for Sunday.

We made a trip to Lowe’s to look at brick to put up a wall and enclose the new flowerbeds in the front where the bushes had been.  We also bought paint for the front porch, steps, and foundation of the house.  At 6am on Sunday, I was still asleep but J went outside and started painting.  At 8:30am, Lowe’s was calling ready to make the delivery of the pallet of bricks, which we thought weren’t coming till the end of the day.  I got dressed and went outside when the truck came.  Brick by brick, 128 in all, I enclosed the beds on each side of the front of the house while J finished painting.  We were done three hours later.  With aching bones and backs, we showered, ate, took some Excedrin, and rested.

By mid-afternoon, I was content with staying home the rest of the day but J was antsy to buy a few new plants for the new flowerbeds.  We bought four new smaller bushes and added some pampas grass.  Came home and planted those, cooked dinner, and crashed.  I slept like a baby last night, having not worked that hard since two years ago when we moved.  Looks like I’ll have to go back to work today just to get some more rest!

Here’s a “before” picture.  I’ll post an After picture later this week…