Monday, December 31, 2007

I set a lot of goals for 2007, but I only managed to complete one of them. Hopefully, 2008 will be a better year. Anyway, the one goal I accomplished this year was to read 100 new books. Not necessarily new purchases, just books I'd never read before. Thank you, Houston Public Library. I actually surpassed my goal. As of this moment, I've read 113 books. With any luck, I'll finish 114 before going to bed tonight. Yay me! Here's the list. The books I particularly enjoyed are in bold.


1. Into the Storm- Suzanne Brockmann
2. Grave Sight- Charlaine Harris
3. Tinker- Wen Spencer

4. Don’t Kiss Them Good-Bye- Allison Dubois
5. Second Sight- Amanda Quick
6. How to Be Popular- Meg Cabot
7. The Little Lady Agency- Hester Brown
8. Danse Macabre- Laurell K. Hamilton
9. Shakespeare’s Champion- Charlaine Harris
10. Grave Surprise- Charlaine Harris
11. High Heels and Homicide- Kasey Michaels
12. The Rest Falls Away- Colleen Gleason
13. Urban Shaman- C.E. Murphy
14. Mistrial’s Kiss- Laurell K. Hamilton
15. Plum Lovin’- Janet Evanovich
16. White Lies- Jayne Ann Krentz
17. Shakespeare’s Christmas- Charlaine Harris
18. Sleeping With the Fishes- Mary Janice Davidson
19. Wolf Who Rules- Wen Spencer
20. Book of True Desires- Betina Krahn
21. Black Powder War- Naomi Novik
22. All Night Long- Jayne Ann Krentz
23. On the Way to the Wedding- Julia Quinn
24. The Warrior’s Apprentice- Lois McMaster Bujold
25. The Vor Game- Lois McMaster Bujold
26. Natural Born Charmer- Susan Elizabeth Phillips
27. An Assembly Such as This- Pamela Aidan
28. Party Princess- Meg Cabot
29. Twilight- Stephenie Meyers
30. Tall, Dark, and Dead- Tate Hallaway
31. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time- Mark Haddon
32. Shards of Honor- Lois McMaster Bujold
33. A Charmed Death- Madelyn Alt
34. Barrayar- Lois McMaster Bujold
35. Duty and Desire- Pamela Aidan

36. Shakespeare’s Trollope- Charlaine Harris
37. Dance of the Gods- Nora Roberts
38. Real Vampires Have Curves- Gerry Bartlett
39. These Three Remain- Pamela Aidan
40. Blood Bound- Patricia Briggs

41. Centaganda- Lois McMaster Bujold
42. Ethan of Athos- Lois McMaster Bujold
43. The Smoke Thief- Shana Abe
44. Maximum Ride- James Patterson
45. Dead Beat- Jim Butcher
46. No Humans Involved- Kelley Armstrong
47. Brother in Arms- Lois McMaster Bujold
48. Mirror Dance- Lois McMaster Bujold

49. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever- Julia Quinn
50. All Together Dead- Charlaine Harris
51. The Jinx- Jennifer Sturman
52. The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes- Jenny Crusie, et al.
53. Lean Mean Thirteen- Janet Evanovich
54. Rises the Night- Colleen Gleason
55. Memory- Lois McMaster Bujold
56. Pants on Fire- Meg Cabot
57. Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows- J.K. Rowling
58. Komar- Lois McMaster Bujold
59. The Harlequin- Laurell K. Hamilton
60. Sorcery and Cecelia- Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
61. Castle of the Wolf- Sandra Schwab
62. A Civil Campaign- Lois McMaster Bujold
63. Kitty Goes to Washington- Carrie Vaughn
64. Diplomatic Immunity- Lois McMaster Bujold
65. Princess on the Brink- Meg Cabot
66. 13 Little Blue Envelopes- Maureen Johnson
67. The Devil Who Tamed Her- Johanna Lindsey
68. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid- Bill Bryson
69. Shakespeare’s Counselor- Charlaine Harris
70. Proven Guilty- Jim Butcher
71. White Night- Jim Butcher
72. The Hob’s Bargain- Patricia Briggs
73. Austenland- Shannon Hale
74. Damsel Under Stress- Shanna Swendsen
75. Falling Free- Lois McMaster Bujold
76. The River Knows- Amanda Quick
77. Jinx- Meg Cabot
78. Howl’s Moving Castle- Diana Wynne Jones
79. New Moon- Stephenie Meyer
80. Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer
81. Speak- Laurie Halse Anderson
82. Silver Master- Jayne Castle
83. The Golden Compass- Phillip Pullman
84. Devil May Cry- Sherrilyn Kenyon
85. Just For Kicks- Susan Andersen
86. Unshapely Things- Mark del Franco
87. Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair- Laurie Perry
88. Adios to My Old Life- Caridad Ferrer
89. Agnes and the Hitman- Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer
90. Knitting Rules!- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
91. Garden Spells- Sarah Addison Allen
92. Mason Dixon Knitting- Kay Gardiner and Ann Meador Shayne
93. Driven- Eve Kenin
94. Wicked Lovely- Melissa Marr
95. Witch- Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
96. Dark Lover- JR Ward
97. Over Hexed- Vicki Lewis Thompson
98. I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You- Ally Carter
99. A Lick of Frost- Laurell K. Hamilton
100. Lord of the Fading Lands- C.L. Wilson
101. The Fire Rose- Mercedes Lackey
102. Force of Nature- Suzanne Brockmann
103. Lady of Light and Shadow- C.L. Wilson
104. Lover Eternal- J.R. Ward
105. Lover Awakened- J.R. Ward

106. Lover Revealed- J.R. Ward
107. Lover Unbound- J.R. Ward
108. Witch in the House- Jenna McKnight
109. Claimed by Shadow- Karen Chance
110. Halfway to the Grave- Jeaniene Frost
111. The Sharing Knife: Beguilement- Lois McMaster Bujold
112. The Shop on Blossom Street- Debbie Macomber
113. All Through the Night- Suzanne Brockmann

Edit: I finished book number 114. Iron Kissed- Patricia Briggs

Thursday, December 20, 2007

I AM SO MAD!

In September there was an unauthorized charge on my debit Master Card of $450 by some company I've never heard of. I reported it to the bank, they decided it was indeed an unauthorized charge, and put the money back in my account. Today they took the money back out again.

Apparently, there was some paperwork I had to fill out that no one told me about and I never received. Now they're telling me that the window to fight the charge is passed and there's nothing they will do about it. Even though it wasn't my fault. My only option is to fight the charge with the retailer.

In September all they had was a company name, no contact info. I tried researching it at the time, but there was no internet or phone listing for the company anywhere in Texas. Today the bank was able to give me a phone number, but when I called it some random guy answered and then hung up on me when I asked for the company. When I called again he wouldn't pick up.

I did a reverse number look up. It's a cell phone number and unlisted. Of course, I can get the info if I want to spend $15 for it. I called the police instead. Now an officer is supposed to be calling me and/or coming by my apartment to take a report.

Have I mentioned that I AM SO MAD! Rat B*stards!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

So, it's been a while. I've been busy being very sick and listening to my boss threaten to fire me if I don't get better soon. Thanks, boss. That's really helpful to someone with a disease that flares under stress.

Anyway. I'm not dead yet. I started Remicade about a week and a half ago, and I've already seen improvement. Yay!

The end of the year is coming up fast, and I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions. Actually, I've been thinking about them for about a month now, ever since I completed one of my '07 resolutions. I'll post about that later. I have lots of ideas for 2008, and I'm not sure which ones I want to pursue. I know I want to finish the book I started during NaNo last year. I know I want to do an exercise resolution. (Doesn't everyone?) I think I want to make some knitting goals. I know I have some financial goals for next year. But how many is too many? I have a list around here somewhere, and there are at least 10 things on it. Do I set all of them as goals, and accept that they won't all get done? Or do I just pick the few I really want to accomplish, and focus on those? I'm leaning toward take them all on, and see what happens. Maybe if I decide to do something toward one of my dozens of goals every day, I'll get some of them done. A resolution to work on my resolutions? Maybe.