I had no idea just how wonderful the heated keyboard that Steve gave me was going to turn out to be. When Steve gave it to me I appreciated the warm keys as my hand are typically ice cold, but I had no idea just how much warmth it actually gives off and how delightful that can be until today. Our furnace quit working late Saturday afternoon and the builder was out of town for the weekend so we didn't get the name and phone number of the company that put the unit in until late last night. Steve called ever 1/2 hour this a.m. until he returned the call. We are 4th on the list, but he "thinks" the guys will get to us today. I sure as heck hope so. I am in thermal long johns under my sweats, with an extra fuzzy jacket on as well. Yesterday I spent most of my time in bed with the heated mattress pad and heating pad turned to high. Today I got smart and I took the little electric heater we have and came into my office, which is smaller and is heating up fairly well. I am glad we are in KY and not in WI with the very cold weather Mary and family has been dealing with. It was a balmy 32 degrees up there - she said it felt warm after the many days of below zero weather.

I am slowly lowering the # of pain pills I am taking a day so I see light at the end of the recovery tunnel. I have my good days and bad days, and the bad ones are my own fault as I start feeling a bit better and I over do it. But I have discovered the most wonderful "sleeping pill" - an hour with an audiobook. I lay on the heating pad and listen and find myself relaxing enough to fall asleep. It is wonderful as I tend to have trouble sleeping. It also drowns out Steve's snoring a bit too. :)

Since I was bed and warmth bound yesterday I read Evernight by Claudia Gray. What a cool vampire book!! I couldn't put it down. Bianca's parents have taken teaching jobs at the very remote and exclusive Evernight Academy. Bianca is not happy about it and decides to "run away" to teach them a lesson the night before school starts. As she makes her way through the woods she hears laughing - what sounds like a bonfire party - but she keeps walking and then sees a figure in a long black coat and starts to run. The figure tackles her to the ground. She thinks he is out to harm her and he thinks he is protecting her. An interesting way for their relationship to begin, especially since Jared ignores her when she tries to catch his eye. Bianca is no shrinking violet and demands to know why. Before long they are an item and their necking sessions become more and more passionate until one of them loses control and everything changes. This is not like Meyers' Twilight series with a "helpless" female falling for a vampire. This is a grab you and not let you go tale of two very strong characters who are defying every protocol involving human and vampire relationships. Thank goodness Diana Fox, Gray's agent, suggested she write a vampire novel. Gray has written a fascinating one and I do hope she will continue the tale of Bianca and Jared and in the hold-your-breath style as this one is written. There is no "bogging down" in this 327 page vicarious reader's admission to one of the creepiest private high schools ever found in a novel for teens. This gotta have HarperCollins title will hit the bookstores in late June. Watch out Isabella - Bianca is going to have teenage girls wishing they were her rather than you, and certainly not suggesting that Bianca quit whining already! :-)

That's it for today.