Finding fun in Strange Times

In keeping with Anne's vacation theme of yesterday, I thought I'd chime in here. Every summer we try to do something fun as a family even though our kids are young adults now and tend to be busy with their own things. Even now, we love being together. We live in Texas and though it's a helluva long drive, we have traveled to South Padre Island for as long as I can remember. We'd rent a condo on the beach and just have a blast. We've done other fun vaca things but this always topped our list of cool stuff.

This year has been rather different for our family and I'm beginning to refer to it all as a 'dark time' but we are getting through it. Mr. Regina is just about to wrap up radiation treatments for his cancer and everything has been shoved aside so we can deal with this. My daughter and I are with him now. He had to move away for this and we've been traveling back and forth to see him. So this week we are supporting him through the last of this and he'll be finished at the end of the week. This is spectacular news. Though he is weak, he has insisted we do things, have some fun. The first day, we went with him to The Dungeon at MD Anderson Cancer Hospital for his radiation and then we headed to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. My daughter is an art history major, so this was especially fun for her and we really had a fantastic time. They supplied wheelchairs so hubby was comfortable while we went from room to room. The following day we went to a fabulous outlet mall. I love those thing, don't you? OMG...Bargain Heaven. Mr. Regina found a shady place to sit and listen to live music from a talented duo from Austin while we SHOPPED. I found a beautiful Coach bag and the price was so good, I got a wallet to match. My daughter (skinny little thing that she is) found great deals on some really pretty clothes. I loved finding her a $300 dress marked off to $50. What a steal!

We shopped again today at the Galleria Mall (very huge). I think it's one of those Lourve Museum deals where it really takes a good week to see everything. Once again, big fun, and each time we'd hit a few stores and head back to see my husband, fetch him a soft drink and sit with him he'd ask...soooo what did my sweethearts find? I swear. I think he really enjoyed people watching and sometimes shamelessly eavesdropping on interesting 'stranger' conversation. I think to him, this was considered something of a vacation even though it wasn't the 'norm'. That's okay. We laughed and talked and made plans for the day we'd bring him home. It was good. Vacations are about families being together. This summer, though the circumstances were awful, we managed it. I found myself thinking that it doesn't matter the WHERE or the WHEN, just that we're together.

In other news, Drilled (April, Ellora's Cave) got a very nice review (4.5) from Blackraven Reviews.
Here's a bit of what she had to say-
This novella is intensely hot! Regina Carlysle is a gifted writer who combines passion, humor and lust to create an engaging read. I enjoyed the frequent email chats with Lori and her friends back home, right down to the final message at the end of the story.

Drilled is hot and sexy, but also full of possibilities. Lori could have spent her days alone and miserable, but she took a risk and benefitted from it. Jackson is sexy, attentive and doesn’t care about a few laugh lines. The realistic love story wound around our hero and heroine’s red hot affair leaves you feeling satisfied.

Read the entire review HERE!

Drilled was also named Sweetheart Book of the Week at The Romance Studio. Thanks so much to all who voted.