Happy Sunday!  I hope everyone’s doing okay, what with Hurricane Irene & our recent earthquake.  (The East Coast isn’t doing very well this week, is it? :vampire )

But I’m happy to report that—as far as my limited knowledge of astrology goes—Mercury in Retrograde has officially passed & we can hopefully get back to a less crappy version of normal! :elvira

So…setting aside any miseries Mercury in Retrograde brought on…what are you happy about &/or grateful for this week?

I AM HAPPY to finally have a brand-spanking-new hot water heater!  If you’ve been following my tweets, you know what a complete pain in the butt this was. :purplebat   Apparently, the darn thing has been deteriorating from the inside out for over a year, but did I have a clue? No, I did not.  Thankfully, it’s under a lifetime warranty, Whirlpool was wonderful about that.  No arguments, not beating around the bush.  But to make sure the unit really was dead & needed to be replaced, they first asked me to replace a heating element to see if it fixed the problem…& kept us from having to deal with the issue of actually getting a new water heater into the house & the old one out.  Total PITA either way, but sadly the replacement part did not work, so we really did have to go with a total swap.  The whole ordeal took forever & the guy who installed the new unit was kind of a jerk (knew everything, hated animals), but it’s done now, & the new water heater is slick & shiny & energy efficient.  Yay!

I AM HAPPY that I’ve found a new chiropractor & am feeling soooooo much better than last week.  Don’t ask me what I did—it wasn’t an accident or injury (although I wasn’t treating my body very well while dealing with the dang hot water heater)—but something happened somewhere that made my shoulder ache & put my hip & entire left leg out of whack.  At first it was just a nuisance, but the one day it hurt so much I could barely walk.  I was limping around like Dr. House & really, really needed a cane!  That was the day I decided to get off my butt & actually find a new chiropractor instead of just talking about it.  So I did!  He’s very nice, very cute, & very good with is hands.  Unfortunately, he’s also married, so I’ll have to stick with just letting him adjust my spine. :vamp

And I AM HAPPY I finally got to see Angels & Demons.  Yeah, yeah, it’s been on my DVR for a while now, but it’s a long one, so I kind of had to work myself up to it.  Then I heard it was going to be on USA & thought, Oh, boy—I’d better watch the full, unedited version before I catch parts of it on regular TV.  I’ve since discovered that USA plans to air it “unedited & uncut” so I probably wouldn’t have had to rush :face but oh, well.  I’ve seen it now & loved it (totally figured it out, but the journey was oodles of fun *vbg*), & will likely add it to my collection, right along with The Da Vinci Code.

Your turn!  Tell us your happys & your gratefuls for the week.  (And yes, I realize those probably aren’t real words, but let’s pretend they are. :fangsmiley )

Now to announce the winner of our most recent Free Book Friday giveaway—Katherine Garbera’s Taming the Texas Tycoon…

:dancingbat  Cathy Ward!!! :dancingbat

Congratulations, Cathy! :drinkonme   Please contact me with your real name & mailing information, & I’ll get your book out to you as soon as I can!

Um…when I pray for a man with six-pack abs, this is SO not what I mean. :ohcrap

A FRIDAY FUNNY

Today’s Funnies are in honor of the wee little Earthquake we had here on the East Coast this week.  I just couldn’t help myself…

FREE BOOK FRIDAY

This week, I’m giving away Taming the Texas Tycoon by one of my best author pals, the sweet & funny Katherine Garbera.

To enter the giveaway for this book, simply leave a comment to today’s post that includes the code FBF—for “Free Book Friday,” of course—to let me know you’re interested in the drawing. (U.S. residents only for the prize, please, but everyone is welcome to chat.)

Winner will be announced during our Happy Sunday post on…well, you know, Sunday. Winner is responsible for contacting me with her mailing information—i.e. I will not be contacting you—so be sure to check back in or you might not even know you won! :uhoh (If prize isn’t claimed within 14 days, another name may be drawn or item may be tossed back into the goody bag to be re-used for a future giveaway.)