Sophie is totally miffed at me because I was awake before her this a.m. and she didn't get to wake me up and listen to tell her to go away and leave me alone! I got quite the dirty look and the tail shake. Cats are such funny creatures, but as much as they are a pain in the butt you can't help but love them. At least I can't help it. I know there are lots of supposed cat haters out there, but they just haven't found the right cat! Or, more appropriately, the right cat hasn't found them. :-)

Looks like we are in the last stretch here as we wait for all the paperwork to finalize on Steve's new job at Lexmark in Lexington, KY. When he told me we were going to over to Lexington so he could interview I had to chuckle as we had driven through that area in October on our way back from Kansas City and we talked about how gorgeous the area is with the rolling hills and horse farms. At that time of the year it was exceptionally beautiful as the trees were ablaze in Autumn colors. I commented then that I had loved the area for years as I drove through many times going north to visit family when I lived in Texas. And, now we will be hanging our hats in Lexington. Well, for me, part of the time as I am keeping my teaching position with ECU and driving back and forth for meetings. I love my job and the people I work with, as well as my students. They are well worth the several hour drive, and just think of all the books I will get to listen to during the trips!

I will be so glad to have Steve back on the Mainland. He emailed me this a.m. to say that the Virgin Island Daily News has a picture of semi truck that "rolled off" of the ferry at the dock in Red Hook. I just shook my head as nothing surprises me about what happens over there anymore. When you live there about the only thing that helps you realize you are living in the United States is the postage stamps! And even then, every package we mail from the USVI to the Mainland needs a customs form. It feels like a foreign country. Poor Steve - he has been filling customs forms out by the droves as he is sending all his stuff to NC via the mail. He sold all of our furniture, etc. that we bought down there as well as our RAV4. I am glad - it had a bit of island damage. No car is immune to being backed into, run into, scratched, etc. on that island. Parking is impossible and when you do find a spot it is the size of a postage stamp and everyone drives SUVs! The government buys them for all the upper level government employees and the legislature. Why anyone would want to drive a full size SUV on that island is beyond me - there are even a couple Hummers on the island. Next time we go to the Caribbean, as I am sure we will as we both love the islands, I want to go to Aruba, or one of the other ABC islands, but I want to go as a tourist!

Speaking of traveling - I got to do a bit of vicarious time/realm travel while reading Kate Thompson's The New Policeman. What a "way cool" book! Make this your weekend reading and block out some time as you won't want to put it down once you start. I very much relate to the theme of there not being enough time in the day and that the days are getting shorter. For J.J. and the rest of his music loving Irish family, the days literally are getting shorter. Time is somehow seeping into Tir na n'Og - the Land of Eternal Youth where the figures of Irish tales reside, such as Aengus Og - the Celtic god of love, youth and beauty. A place where time is supposed to stand still, where the sun is supposed to stay at high noon, but is no longer. No one from either side seems to be able to find the portal through which time is leaking. When J.J. promises his mother he will give her time for her birthday, he doesn't realize that he will journey to the other side of time where goats turn into drums and the music he sometimes hears in the woods is actually seeping through from Tir na n'Og. He will play with legends and help humans discover why their socks go missing from the dryer! :-) For those of you who read my blog I am sure you have picked up on my preference for fantasy, but I would recommend this title to non-fantasy readers as well, especially those who love music as the sheet music for the tunes preface each chapter. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but loved this book for the wonderful merging of current day Ireland with the Celtic legends and myths I have loved to read since I was a child. If you go to www.katethompson.info you can actually listen to some of the music from this book. The cover shown on her web site is different than the Greenwillow U.S. cover. I think the Greenwillow cover is more attractive - it is a gorgeous dark blue, with what looks like the internal workings of a clock. For me, time is blue, not green as the other cover shows. Also check out Thompson's other titles, such as Only Human, Origins, etc. She has written several children's/YA titles.

All for now.