
First, we didn't get the house.
The house is in an old area of Long Beach and it was abandoned in the middle of a restoration (someone was trying to get rich fixing and flipping). It would cost a lot of money to finish the work but we couldn't come to an agreement with the bank that we could afford. Still, there are a lot of homes in the area that are in our price range, so we'll still be looking.
Second, it's December. I'm not quite sure how this happened. I'm pretty sure this year is really just getting started--but all of a sudden, it's December. Very weird how this happens.
Third, my son is visiting. He's been in Australia for the past year and a half (and will be going back) so it was great to see him when he visited for a while on Sunday. I think he'll be planning on coming back and spending some time with us soon.
Fourth, we had a nice bridge party for all of the beginning students at the Bridge Academy of North Dallas (http://www.bridgeacademyofnorthdallas.com/aboutus.html). It's great to create an atmosphere where beginners can play and enjoy the game while still being competitive.
I posted reviews of INTO THE FIRE by Suzanne Brockmann (http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2008/into_the_fire.html) It's hard to go wrong with a Suzanne Brockmann book but this one didn't do much for me. We had a lot of people angsting at great length, and not enough of the action I look for in a Brockmann story. I also reviewed THE WYRMLING HORDE by David Farland (http://www.booksforabuck.com/sfpages/sf_08/wyrmling_horde.html). Wyrmling was okay, but it was very much a middle book--and if you skip it and just read the next one, you didn't miss much. Hate it when I can't really rave about the books I read.
I'm going to make ACROSS THE RAINBOW by Victoria Chancellor the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. A pilot flies across a rainbow at his young daughter's request and is sent into the past. He meets a beautiful woman but he knows he can't stay--his daughter is waiting back in the present day. Moving and exciting--only $3.99. Learn more, read the free excerpt, or buy the entire eNovel here: http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2005/across_rainbow.html (available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Palm Reader/eReader and Microsoft Reader formats). Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

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