Debbie Macomber Blog

Moving at the rate of a turtle

2012-05-16T16:28:50-07:00

Wayne and I are going bike riding this afternoon. Now, I admit that Florida is nice and flat, unlike the hilly landscape in the Pacific NW, where I learned firsthand that riding a bike can be brutal. So taking up bike-riding here in Florida sounded like fun. Here I wouldn’t need to worry about battling those dreadful hills, pumping my legs for all they’re worth, sticking my butt in the air and struggling to breathe. Wrong! What I didn’t count on was the Florida wind. So here I am, on my new bike, peddling to save Dixie, giving it my all, moving at the rate of a turtle. And once again my butt is in the air. Sigh.

Walking in water

2012-05-15T15:19:33-07:00

Wayne and I have been “walking” in the pool every morning for a week. We put on the Oldies radio station and be-bop in the pool, dancing, walking and talking. I call it our Pool Talk Time. What I find amazing is that we’re together nearly 24/7 here in Florida (in Port Orchard I have an off-site office and staff), but in Florida it’s just the two of us. Still, we have so much to chat about. While the exercise is good for both of us, and the music brings back such great memories, what I enjoy most is chatting and dancing in the water with my husband.

A bicycle for me!

2012-05-14T16:19:01-07:00

Wayne surprised me with a new bicycle for Mother’s Day a day early, so Saturday afternoon we went for a ride to try it out. You know what they say about never forgetting how to ride a bike? Don’t believe it! Well, once I was on the bike it sort of came back to me. The getting on and getting started were the hard parts. Earlier in the year Wayne bought himself a recumbent bicycle. Unfortunately, that’s about the same time he fell and broke his arm, which meant no bike for Wayne for a while. Now that his arm has healed, we’re making up for lost time and are determined to get out every day.

Mother's Day

2012-05-11T00:00:00-07:00

I’ll be away from our family this Mother’s Day which is rare for me. I’ve often flown back to Washington just so I could spend the day with my children. When they were younger I had them work in the yard on Mother’s Day, weed the flower beds while I planted our herb garden. Even now I can hear them mutter and complain. To their credit everyone dug in, and after two of three hours we were finished. Then we’d go to dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. So for this Mother’s Day I’m going to let Wayne treat me to Chinese food, although he’s quick to remind me I’m not his mother.

Wayne's Birthday

2012-05-07T11:25:58-07:00

I’m off again this week on another business trip, this time for three days. I travel a lot, so it isn’t unusual for me to return home from one trip, wash clothes and repack. Unfortunately, this trip means I’ll be away from Wayne on his birthday, which is tomorrow, May 8. That’s right—Victory in Europe Day (from World War II).

Yesterday I cooked Wayne’s favorite dinner for him with peach cobbler for dessert and made sure there were enough leftovers to hold him until I return. While I’m away what I’d like you to do, my faithful readers, is post birthday greetings to my dear husband either via my website guestbook (http://debbiemacomber.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=nnp&pageID=2) or on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/DebbieMacomberWorld). Many thanks in advance. Meanwhile, here’s that peach cobbler recipe, given to me by a friend:

Peach Cobbler
Melt 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter in a 9” x 11” pan

In a bowl combine:
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk

Pour mixture onto melted butter.

Dump one large can (28-32 oz) of sliced, undrained peaches over butter and flour mixture. Do not stir.
Bake at 350 degrees until brown and bubbly, approximately 45 minutes.

What Time Zone am I in Again?

2012-05-01T16:01:12-07:00

I was awake at 3 a.m. again this morning. It seems my body hasn’t figured out what time zone it’s in just yet. Waking early does has one advantage--I had three loads of laundry done before 6 a.m. Wayne (who seems to be suffering from the same problem), Bogie, and I were finished with our morning walk by 7 a.m. and we still had the entire day stretching out before us. This afternoon I’m packing my bags again for a quick business trip to NY. Does anyone remember what time zone that’s in?

Nice and Monaco

2012-04-30T14:43:00-07:00

Wayne and I are home after a lovely, lovely time away. We spent the last two days of our vacation in Nice with its spice market and colorful flower market. On Friday we had the opportunity to visit Monaco—think James Bond 007 at Monte Carlo. I’m pleased to tell you my French has greatly improved. Before we left, all my two years of high school French allowed me was the ability to conjugate verbs. Now I can read a menu and order wine. After nearly three weeks I’m here to tell you everything written about French wine, cheese and pastries is spot on. Ooo-la-la!!

Cruising the Rhone River

2012-04-23T10:30:00-07:00

Wayne and I have so enjoyed touring the wine growing regions in France along the Rhone River. We've walked through the vineyards, met with wine makers and enjoyed sampling the wine. Each appellation, or growing area, has its own unique soil, which brings out certain flavors in the wine. It's been quite a challenge to distinguish the flavors and scents (or nose) of the wines. Some people can detect the aroma of black currant. Others smell strawberries or cherries. Me, with my discerning pallet . . . I smell grapes!

Bordeaux, France

2012-04-19T12:13:00-07:00

Wayne and I have been in the city of Bordeaux, France, for a few days. We took a side trip and walked in the walled city of Saint Emilion. Wayne bought a French beret, and I think he looks handsome wearing it! In fact, he has been mistaken as being a Frenchman! We had a private tour of Chateau Lasseque, a wine estate. Our tour guide, Monique, arranged for us to sample their 2011 vintage, which has yet to be bottled. Fantastique!

Yesterday we decided to have a light lunch, and, since we were in Bordeaux, we settled on cheese and bread at a wine bar close to the hotel. We had sampled wine at this bar the night before, so we felt confident we could communicate on our own. Wrong! When the order arrived we realized we had ordered three large glasses of wine each instead of one! I know our tour guide will chuckle when she hears about our adventure!

London!

2012-04-18T14:51:08-07:00

We had a great time in London, England. One of our stops was the Imperial War Museum . Wayne ventured to other parts while I went to the WWII section. I was especially interested in the V-Day displays because my dad was involved in that. It gave me a much deeper appreciation of the war. We also visited the Churchill War Room and saw where Churchill conducted many of the planning meetings. Wayne has been studying military history, so naturally all of this was extremely interesting to both of us.

The next day was less somber and included shopping for antiques in Porto Bello Road. I was thrilled to find and purchase a map of North America from the 1600s.

And We're Off!

2012-04-11T14:48:55-07:00

The grand adventure is about to begin. Wayne and I are headed to London this evening and then France for a river cruise. This will be Wayne’s first time on the continent. As for me, my French is very poor but I do remember how to conjugate verbs from two years of high school French classes. I hope to send pictures along the way if I can make my electronics work properly!

Easter Egg Hunt

2012-04-09T13:15:41-07:00

The great Macomber Easter Egg Hunt took place this weekend. My eight-year-old grandson, Isaiah, wrote out a list of ideas for me. First item: more candy, more money. I did my best. On Saturday afternoon, kids and grandkids came to our house here in Washington, eager for our annual family hunt. (God supplied a beautiful, sunshiny day.) After the mad dash around the property came the tallying of who had collected the most eggs and the most money. Candy and coins were spread across the living room carpet like pirate plunder as the kids counted their loot. Maddy gleefully announced she had the most money because Carter bought all her candy for $5. And Carter? He had the most candy!

A Day at the Beach

2012-04-03T12:27:53-07:00

My daughter, her husband and three of our grandchildren have been with us for the last eight days. The kids have had a blast fishing off the dock, swimming in the pool and running down the beach. They’ve gone to the beach (less than a half mile from the house) to swim in the ocean, and yesterday they had quite an adventure. Kevin, my son-in-law, was with the kids, who were out quite a way. Suddenly several kids shouted at them from the beach and were pointing at the water. Kevin didn’t think much of it until a number of adults joined in, pointing and shouting, too. Sure enough, a shark had headed their way—an eight-foot-long shark! Kevin scrambled to get the kids out of the water, and they all raced home, fighting with one another on who could tell me about the shark first. All is well that ends well!

Competitive Streak

2012-04-02T09:10:14-07:00

Both Wayne and I have a competitive nature. We’re constantly looking to best the other, but never more than since we got our FitBit. This tiny device totals our steps every day. (You can also log onto their site and keep track of food intake, workouts, calories burned etc., so it’s more than a pedometer.) Because I have a sedentary job I rarely get in my 10,000 steps a day, but I average a good six to seven thousand, and on good days manage the 10,000. For the last several weeks we’ve been challenging each other to do better, to be more active. Because Wayne’s been doing a lot of physical therapy following his shoulder surgery, I’ve bested him quite a bit recently. He hasn’t taken kindly to that. In fact, I found him trying to place his FitBit on Bogie. No fair, Wayne Macomber!

Rap Song by Bailey

2012-03-29T09:23:00-07:00

One of the questions I'm asked most often has to do with my children. Will any of them be writers, too? I have wonderfully creative children, but none share my passion for writing. However, my grandchildren show real promise.

Allow me to brag a little. My granddaughter, Bailey, ran for school vice-president and WON, due in large part to a rap song she wrote with her father. Here it is, in part:

Well my name is Bailey, people call me Crazy
One thing about me, I'm sure not Lazy
Work don't phase me, smellin' like a Daisy
Running for VP, rhyming like Jay-Z.

As you can see, the talent in this family runs deep. I'm so proud of her!

Fun Being a Grandma!

2012-03-28T13:17:19-07:00

Three of my grandchildren are visiting Wayne and me this week. (Their parents tagged along, too!) As soon as we landed, I grabbed the kids with their backpacks and headed to the house, leaving Jenny Adele and Kevin to deal with the luggage. The kids weren’t in the house two minutes before they changed into their swimming gear, raced to the pool and plunged into the water. After a five-hour plane ride and another two hours in the car, they were more than ready to play. I can describe the experience in one word: cannonball. Wayne and I got into the water with them, and we all had a blast. In fact, we were having so much fun that we didn’t hear Jenny Adele or Kevin arrive . . . with all those suitcases. It’s so much fun being a grandma!

First Day of Spring!

2012-03-20T14:43:32-07:00

Bogie and I welcomed the first day of spring with a long walk this morning. I wanted to give him lots of extra attention, as I’m leaving for Seattle this afternoon and will be away for a week. I’ve been loading up the refrigerator with packaged meals for Wayne. If I don’t he would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the entire week. Peanut butter and jelly might not be such a bad thing. A steady diet of PB&J will guarantee Wayne will miss me!

Rehab with Bogie

2012-03-16T11:58:00-07:00

Wayne is busy at work on his rehab, and I have to admit he's doing a great job with his exercises. Notice the golf club he has in his hands. He's working on his shoulder and improving his game all in one. The only negative is Bogie, who loves to have Wayne down at his level. He thinks it's great fun to lick Wayne's face or climb on his belly while he's exercising. Oh, the joys of recovering from shoulder surgery!

Lunch with The Love Squad

2012-03-13T09:44:00-07:00

I had a lovely lunch yesterday with a group of ladies who call themselves The Love Squad. They read my book A Turn in the Road and fell in love with Max. The table was set with a toy motorcycle at each place setting and the napkin rings were small tires (I envision toys all over Vero Beach missing tires). There was even a road map on top of the tablecloth, indicating the stops Bethanne and Max made on their trip. Every item on the menu was taken from the Cedar Cove Cookbook. I was wined and dined and loved by the Love Squad!

The dreaded black screen

2012-03-12T15:39:43-07:00

I’m not much of a technical person. When it comes to computers, I can write a chapter, store a chapter and print a chapter, and beyond that I’m pretty much useless.

Saturday afternoon, while I was watching an on-line lace-knitting class, my computer screen suddenly went completely black. Nothing I did helped (and probably only added to the problem). I’ve never had a computer crash on me before, so I did what every sane, sensible woman would do. I prayed over it. Big time prayers. Prayers that would move mountains and part the Red Sea. When I finished, I called and left a message with the computer fix-it guy. My prayers worked. Not only did he call me back on a Saturday, but he walked me through the rebooting process, and I have my computer back!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

2012-03-09T08:40:09-07:00

Wayne had surgery on his shoulder yesterday. . . sort of a drive-by-surgery. No kidding, he was in and out within two hours. I barely had time to get any good knitting in or to study people in the waiting room. (Situations like this are rife with great plotting potential!)

I brought my injured hero home. With painkillers he’s feeling just fine. He has a little bell he rings when he wants or needs something. We shall see how long he gets to keep it in his possession . . .

The Rest of the Story

2012-03-07T09:27:13-07:00

I always assumed I was the storyteller in the family. Not so, I’ve discovered. It turns out that Wayne is also gifted in this area. He recently broke his arm and has thoroughly enjoyed “expanding” on his injury. I heard a lovely young lady ask Wayne what happened to his arm. Tongue in cheek, of course, he told her an elaborate story of how he saw a puppy trapped in the middle of the road with a semi barreling down on it. In a heroic move, he dashed into the street to rescue said puppy. Later the same day a man asked Wayne about his arm, and the story was entirely different. Wayne said some hot head was in a bar, and the situation got out of hand and he had to step in. The truth, my friends . . . Wayne slipped on some water and fell.

I do have a book to plot. Perhaps I should ask Wayne for his help . . .

Catch of the Day

2012-03-06T10:54:54-07:00

Bogie and I went for a long walk in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. Bogie sniffs and marks his territory along the way as I tug at his leash and remind him we are out to walk, not sniff. Part of our route takes us past the marina, and we take a small detour and walk along the dock to see if any dolphins or manatees have stopped by for a visit. We didn’t see any, but we did run into a fisherman. I asked him if he’d been lucky, and he smiled back and said, “Yup, just once. I caught a redhead more than thirty years ago.”

Water Aerobics

2012-03-05T08:38:10-07:00

My friend and neighbor, Judy Mulhern, has been encouraging me to take a water aerobics class with her. To this point I’ve resisted. The memory of the last time I took such a class lingers in my mind. I was cocky and with good reason. I swim half a mile three to five times a week. As a result, I figured I was in pretty good physical shape, and, really, bouncing up and down in the pool isn’t all that different than swimming laps, right?

WRONG. About halfway through the routine, gasping for breath, I turned to the woman next to me (a complete stranger) and with no small amount of difficulty managed to ask if she knew how to perform CPR.

I will probably take Judy up on her offer to attend the class, but this time I’m going to approach it with a more humble attitude, enjoy myself, and hopefully not need a defibrillator!

Florida R&R

2012-03-01T08:59:51-07:00

Wayne and I are taking off and traveling across Florida for a bit of R & R mixed with business. Wayne’s shoulder surgery is next week, and we thought this would be a good time to escape for a couple of days. Florida is a great state to live in and visit--there are so many entertainment options! I’m using the time to plot my next couple of books. It’s amazing how many ideas come my way when I'm sitting by a pool, sipping on a cool drink and watching the lifeguards (and life!) go by.

The New Knee Club

2012-02-28T14:07:29-07:00

Wayne went to see the surgeon regarding the results of his MRI. It seems when he fell and broke his arm, he also injured his shoulder, and that will require surgery. The doc also took a look at his knees and said both need to be replaced, and soon. In fact, he was surprised Wayne was still able to walk, as they are bone on bone. Wayne’s getting plenty of sympathy from me—I’ve had knee replacement and rotator cuff surgery. Now both Wayne and I will have the joy of “extra attention” at airport screenings.

The Quotable Woman

2012-02-27T10:45:39-07:00

Here’s a bit of trivia about me that you might not know: I collect quotes. I make a point of finding something someone said that strikes my fancy every day. And then I write it down in my gratitude journal. I’ve used my collection of quotes as chapter headings in a couple of books: MRS. MIRACLE and THURSDAYS AT EIGHT. This week I received a calendar from Evie Day with a variety of quotes for each month. The idea for her calendar started with her great-grandfather back in 1884, when he printed calendars for his employees. Is that a great idea or what!?

Now here’s one of my favorite quotes that I saw years ago on a church bill board: God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

Shirley, Goodness, Mercy and Will

2012-02-23T16:05:53-07:00

It’s a “red letter day” at our house. This morning I sent my November book, ANGELS AT THE TABLE, featuring Shirley, Goodness and Mercy--along with the apprentice angel, Will--off to my editor. In celebration I had a manicure and pedicure, came home, and took a nap. Now if that’s not luxuriating I don’t know what is!

Grandma Time

2012-02-21T09:38:15-07:00

My son, Ted, and grandson, Carter, are visiting this week. While Wayne and Ted were off doing manly things (translated, that means they were at car dealerships looking at fancy sport cars), Carter and I had the day together. We went out to lunch, swam and took Bogie for a long walk. Then, while Grandma rested, Carter played video games. (That boy does have energy!) He’s good for me, though. Thanks to Carter, I got my 10,000 steps in for Monday.

Birthday Candles

2012-02-17T08:57:09-07:00

This is a red letter day in our family. It’s our oldest daughter’s birthday. Jody Rose was named after my mother, who was named after her grandmother, so the name Rose is rich in family tradition. And, yes, the name continued down to my granddaughter (the one born on my birthday), Madeleine Rose. Today is also Laurie’s birthday, although she’s a few years younger than Jody. Laurie is Dale’s widow and deeply loved in our family. Birthday candles will burn bright tonight as we celebrate two of the greatest blessings God has brought into our lives.