As I’ve mentioned before, I generally have the radio playing all day while at work. Mostly for background music and white noise. However, sometimes there’s no ignoring the commercials. I find it very curious that many retailers are pushing, pushing, pushing you to spend more money. Yes, the economy relies on the consumer parting ways with their money, but I’ve been doing a little math with a couple of commercials.

The Pick n Save deal. This is where you spend $35.00 and receive a “premium” for each $35 spent. That premium is then used to go towards a Pick n Save grocery gift card.

Okay, sounds pretty good so far. You spend money at this particular grocery store … for stuff you’d normally get anyway, and you’re rewarded with a gift card to spend toward more groceries. Problem is, you have to have 15 premiums to get a $10 gift card, thirty premiums to get a $15 gift card and sixty premiums to get a $20 gift card. My mother and I figured out that you’d have to spend $2,100 in order to receive the “reward” of $20.00. What’s wrong with that picture?

Since I don’t do enough grocery shopping to make this worthwhile for myself, I applied my purchases toward my mom’s premium collection. She gave me one of her saver’s cards and I just used that whenever I went to the local Pick n Save. This enabled any premiums I received to be credited to her account. Yes, she did manage to gather 60 premiums this way and, yes, she did get the $20 gift card. I guess since these were purchases that I would have bought anyway, in the long run, it didn’t matter. What bugged me was that the shopper has to make sure their purchases were rounded up to the next $35 in order to qualify for that premium, thereby spending money he or she normally would not have. This certainly worked out well for the store.

Next week I’ll try to get into the whole Colders Furniture scheme. Still in the midst of figuring that one out.

I have to say, 2009 was a busy year. Don’t know if I would consider it busy writing-wise … well, perhaps it was, but it was a busy year all around. That’s probably why it seemed to fly past so quickly.

I mean … hell, I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. January and February was relatively quiet with finishing up my contemporary vampire story. March and April flew past with activities in the home front and going to the RT conference in Orlando. May, June and July always seems to meld into a blur but since I was starting a new treatment … well, that what it felt like anyway. Plus we had the Wisconsin conference which was loads of fun. August was a busy month with birthdays and vacations. From there it was downhill and accelerating.

This year was spent doing little by way of new writing but a lot with revisions. I think I revised three books. I’ve also queried a number of agents and I guess, pretty much took it easy. Compared to a lot of writers I know, I was a total slacker.

However, I know that 2010 will be far more productive for me. I’ve gotten a good jump on my urban fantasy and the pages are beginning to flow. It feels good to get back into the groove.

So how was your 2009? Did it fly or drag?

Okay, for those who didn’t see my comment on last week’s Cancer Warrior … I got a call from Dr. D. on Friday afternoon. My numbers have dropped again. We’re now at 284. Down from the 380 of last month. Good news, boys and girls! The Avastin is apparently working. Soooo — despite the few side effects … we’ll be sticking with this regime.

I gotta say, though, that I never seem to have a problem with the use of some type of chemo to get my numbers down. Its keeping them down that’s the problem. My maintenance of low numbers never seem to last for long. So, we have to come up with some long term treatment beyond using chemo to keep the cancer at bay.

It’s just a matter of finding the right combination. For some, getting weekly Herceptin infusions works, for others it’s the Tykerb/Xeloda combo. Neither one of these worked for me in the long run. Hopefully Dr. D. will have some thoughts on this.

Yesterday was a nurse’s visit … so no chemo. Yay! I brought cheesecakes for the lab/reception area, my doctor’s staff and for the infusion nurses. They’ve all been so good and so professional in the years I’ve been going there, it seemed appropriate.

So – MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE and remember to repeat after me …“YOU ARE A CANCER WARRIOR”

This just keeps getting better and better. Okay, last week I was talking about enablers. There’s another incident which involves relations, so I’m not naming names or giving the exact relation to me … which is (thank God) distant. You have a mom with a kid from her first marriage. The kid is not only a druggie, he’s a liar and a thief.

Got the picture? Supposedly gone through rehab, the remorse stage and “I’m gonna clean myself up” stage. Think it worked? Think he’s now a pillar of society?

Uh-uh. Nope. Just gave mom (and family) what they wanted to hear. So, he still on the same route and mom is helping by closing her eyes, and actually rewarding him. She went to Florida to see her mom and took the ratbag with her. Must be because he’s sooooo misunderstood.

My ass.

I have no patience for people who allow and enable this type of behavior. As I mentioned last week, my younger brother was pretty much the same of the aforementioned ratbag. I told my mom for years to cut him loose. It was the only way he’d ever learn to stand on his own two feet. Well, by the time she opened her eyes, it was too late. Yes, she finally tossed him out, but the damage was done. He’s still a ratbag and is still a blight on society. Probably always will be.

Sound a bit harsh? Maybe. But you try living with someone like that and watching what it does to your family. It ain’t a pretty sight.

This is definitely my time for finding new reads. I think I mentioned over at MagicalMusings about several new UF authors that I’d discovered while browsing the local Barnes & Noble. Well, one of my sisters gave me a Christmas gift of two books that she thought I’d be interested in. It just so happens that she was at Waldenbooks a couple of weeks ago and there was an author signing going on. W.D. Gagliani, who is a local writer and who writes about werewolves in Wisconsin. Right up my alley. Can’t wait to jump into these two books.

One thing that I have to remember, though, is that these are not romances and there is the distinct chance that I’m not going to get a HEA. I’ve always admitted that one of the reasons that I read romances is because I’m guaranteed a happily ever after. With Gagliani’s books, that’s not a sure thing. Same thing with Alex Bledsloe’s book “Blood Groove”. I’m better than halfway through it and I have to admit that I’m taking a bit of a break from it. I’ve no doubt that I’ll go back to it because it’s an excellent book. However, it’s a lot darker, grittier, more in your face than I’m used to reading. I find I have to read a romance or two to get back into my own groove.

So, are there books that … I won’t say disappointed you … but made you step back, take a deep breath and give yourself a break from it?