I must admit, I've never gotten why anyone would want to live in Florida. This, I realize, is because I didn't always have the most positive experiences there. My first visit I learned you Floridians have alligators in the lakes and fire ants on your lawns. And I flew out barely ahead of a hurricane. Totally creepy. My second visit was summer before last for a writers conference. In July. I thought I would die. But last week I was in the Tampa area and had a very different experience. Warmth! End of January and I was running around in a sweater. Wow!

I had the opportunity to meet the fabulous sales staff for my new publisher, Mira, and stayed at the Innisbrook Resort. What a lovely place. The sun was out, the osprey put on a show, and I even got to spend some girl time with my fabulous agent Paige Wheeler in the nearby town of Dunedin, which is both scenic and a lovely place to shop. Probably one of the most unique shops we went in was this one pictured below that featured every imaginable kind of dangly from wind chimes to Christmas ornaments. Sensory overload! Loved it.
And loved Florida. I'll be back. Hopefully.

    Money management can be difficult for many of us. Often it's not simply a matter of numbers. That's because money isn't just money. Money is how we buy food and shelter and how we keep the lights on. It represents opportunity to reach goals. Money, like time, often gets away from us. It's an easy resource to mismanage.
    So, if you're hoping to start the new year taking control of your money, your first step might need to be finding your financial Achilles heel and fixing it.
    What is a financial Achilles heel? I'm glad you asked that. First let me refresh your memory as to who Achilles was. He was a hero of Greek mythology, whose mama dipped him in the River Styx, hoping to make him invincible. And he nearly was... if not for the heel by which she held him, the one vulnerable part of his body. Like Achilles, we all have our weaknesses when it comes to finances. I've listed the ones I've observed in both myself and others, and hopefully, the information below will be helpful. Do you see yourself in any of these?
    RATIONALIZING    
    You tend to rationalize any and all purchases. (I am the queen of rationalizers - I can come up with a reason for any purchase I want to make!) The problem with this is, it often leads us into spending money we don't have.
    Rationalizers often whip out the old charge card figuring that when the bill comes due they'll get the money somewhere. Let me tell you, "somewhere" doesn't exist. I know this from personal experience. Oh, wait, it does, too - the groceries! And when I'd have to dip into the grocery budget for my spending boo-boo and Gerhardt would ask, "Why are we eating beans for the third night in the row?" well, I could rationalize that, too. "Beans are good for us. Roughage."
    If you're a rationalizer faced with a tempting "must have but can't afford" purchase, try this: list for yourself the reasons why you can't buy that item right now. Use the same creativity you'd use to rationalize a poor choice for coming up with other options or ways to find the money you need for the purchase.
GUILT SPENDING
    You, you poor thing, are easy to manipulate. As the name implies, guilt spenders tend to feel guilty if they're not spending. A guilt spender has a hard time saying no to anyone - the cute little Girl Scout peddling cookies, the office worker collecting for... you name it, and, of course, the children. This is not to say you shouldn't be generous. By all means, give to your children, support worthy causes. But DON'T part with money you can't afford to party with simply because you feel guilty over saying no.
    If you're a guilt spender, try changing your self talk. "I am not a bad parent because I refuse to be an ATM with legs." ... "Not opening my wallet every time someone asks me for money does not make me a bad ____." (Parent, friend, neighbor, citizen of the world- you fill in the blank.) ... "Money can't buy love, not even my children's." If you're feeling guilty over not spending enough time with your children, mother, spouse, or whoever, well, you know what to do about that.
RETAIL THERAPY SPENDING
    Anyone who's watched Dr. Phil has probably seen this particular Achilles heel. Retail therapy involves buying things to fill an emotional need. The retail therapy shopper says things like, "I just need a bigger house," or "I always wanted a ____." (Fill in the blank.)
    If this is you, well, I feel your pain. I've done my share of retail therapy shopping, too! But that gets expensive and leads to other problems which can involve the need for a very different kind of therapy.
    So, instead of heading to the mall to go window shopping (always a dangerous place for those of us with this particular Achilles heel), you might try some different methods of coping with life. Take a hike (literally). Going for a walk with a friend will give you some good exercise and a chance to vent. Distract yourself by doing something fun and rewarding with your spouse, kids or friends. Pray. It's cheaper and will produce lasting results. Volunteer. There's nothing like focusing on the problems of others to get your mind off your own troubles. And, finally, avoid temptation. Don't go window shopping. Seriously, who can do that and not come away with something?! (I still remember the first time I went mall walking with my friend Kathleen. Walking past all those stores with all that yummy merchandise. That mall walk cost me forty bucks!) Also, don't browse through catalogs or search on line unless you are on the hunt for something specific that you need.
DREAMS THAT WON'T DIE
    We need dreamers. Most entrepreneurs are dreamers. Without dreams we would never have gone to the moon. Without dreams there would be no Disneyland or (Imagine that!) inventions or novelists. Dreams can be wonderful things.
    Sometimes, though, they can also be impractical, poorly researched and poorly funded. When a dream becomes a financial Achilles heel, the dreamer is in trouble. People have lost life savings trying to keep a business on life support long after it was dead. Sometimes, you have to wake up.
    If this tends to be your particular Achilles heel, let me suggest that, when it comes to business dreams, before you go about making that business dream come true that you have a business plan, a budget, a time line, and a spending limit. Some dreams don't come true. Sometimes the timing isn't right. It's okay to say, "This isn't working," pull back re-think and start again. It's also okay to say, "This isn't working," and let that particular dream die. You'll dream again. You'll be back.

   The decisions we make and the steps we take will either take us to security or disaster. Here's hoping that finding your flaws and learning how to fix them will help you move down the road to financial security. Happy New Year!

Oh, gingerbread! How we love it. And we especially love it when it comes in pretty shapes, like houses. Which is probably why the annual holiday gingerbread house display at Seattle's Sheraton is so popular. Going downtown for lunch and a tour of those amazing creations makes a perfect family outing. Or a girlfriend outing, which is exactly what I did yesterday. How fun to get to catch up with my old high school pal Donna, enjoy a great lunch and then tour those houses!
The only down side? Afterward I was craving gingerbread like a starving woman. I went home determined to bake gingerbread cookies. Maybe even a house. Except the few gingerbread houses I've tried to make were abysmal - needed to be condemned by the board of gingerbread health. But I could make gingerbread boys. Love gingerbread boys.
So do my fat cells, so it's probably a good thing I was too busy to haul out the flour, sugar, butter and spices.
Now I've recovered. The craving is gone. And that's a good thing, considering how many other Christmas cookies I still have to bake. And sample.
Oh, my poor hips!

We had a ton of fun at the book parties celebrating Ambrose's story, THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS, this season, and one of the fun activities we enjoyed at the Silverdale Barnes & Noble was a cute cat contest. I asked my friend Tim, who came with a slew of pictures, to send me some so I could post them. Aren't these adorable? (By the way, for those of you who don't live in the Northwest, Ivars is a landmark seafood bar in Seattle. Great seafood. This kitty has excellent taste!)

Deb, whose amazing cat is part firefighter. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. All your cats sound fabulous!

    We're about to bring the book signing fun to a close on this Sheila book. We had some stellar fun at all the parties - food, goodies, recipes, practical holiday tips, gifts and pranks. In fact, one prank almost got a certain big brother in trouble. My oldest brother loves to crash my signing parties in disguise. At the Federal Way Barnes & Noble (in Washington) he came dressed as... well, I'm not sure, but he looked scary, like someone who would happily mug me for my last brownie. And when he entered the store, the employees were sure he was there to rob the place because not only did he look suspicious he was acting suspicious, lurking around the books shelves like a crazy stalker. And he was acting like one too, heckling me while I talked. He so didn't look like himself that it took my sister-in-law teasing, "Don't you recognize him?" for me to see past the disguise. Fortunately, all the laughter that ensued alerted the staff that he was indeed harmless. Of course, sickies that we are, everyone in my family is mildly disappointed that the police didn't come and fit him for some Jailhouse rock bracelets. Wish I'd gotten a picture of him. Instead, you'll have to settle for this pic of all the yummy breakfast goodies we had at that store.
    Speaking of goodies, the Barnes & Noble in Olympia, WA were not to be outdone. We had scones and holiday tea. Yummy! (Hmmm. All these goodies could have something to do with why the weight I thought I'd lost has found me once again.)

I had a spectacular time up in Leavenworth (Wa) signing at A Book for All Seasons. Gerhardt and I stayed at the Enzian Inn, which is a lovely place, all done up to give visitors a taste of Germany. At breakfast in the morning, diners were serenaded by an older gentleman dressed in traditional German garb who played the Alpenhorn. I loved that... all except the part where the guy climbed up on the wooden balcony railing to play. It was all I could do not to run out there and grab him by the legs so he wouldn't fall to his death. Of course, if I'd run out and grabbed him I probably would have knocked the poor old man to his death so it's probably just as well I kept my seat. 

    In addition to musical serenades, I received a special treat - a festive hat created by a lady named Renee. Let me tell, you, Renee and her family were sooo fun to visit with. They'd all come to town to enjoy some family fun time and Renee made matching hats for all of them so they could find each other easily in the crowd. Well, I raved over the hats and next thing I knew Renee was giving me hers. How cool is that?! So, here I am, pictured below with Renee and her granddaughter Jodi. Daughter Ellie kindly snapped the pic with her smart phone (I want one of those!) so we could record the moment for posterity. Ladies, that was such a highlight!
    I enjoyed talking with three budding young writers also: Mikaila and Vanessa, who are writing a book together, and Regina Rae, who has all kinds of projects going and wants to do this for a living when she hits the world of grown-ups.
    And I meet a couple of friendly ladies down from Canada who live right near Abbotsford, where "On Strike for Christmas" was filmed.
    How fun it is to meet people who love to read! A big thanks to all who came out to support me and say hi. And thanks to those of you who hadn't yet read a Sheila book but were willing to give one a try. As Thanksgiving weekend come to a close I can't help but think about how blessed I am. And one of my biggest blessings is you, dear readers. Thank you for loving books!

It's one big party at a Sheila sighting! We had so much fun yesterday at the Nine Lives of Christmas party at the Silverdale Barnes & Noble. Food, games, door prizes -a good time was had by all. After the "official" part of the party at the bookstore, we hauled everyone in attendance to Hales Ales in the mall for appetizers and more fun. As you can see by the pictures, many of us got into the spirit of the thing! A big thanks to all my friends and fans who showed up. You all made it a memorable day!

Some of our guests made a day of it, enjoying shopping an lunch before the book party. Shopping, lunch, book, signing, and finally, free food. What a great girls' day!

A few of our guests enjoying themselves... and one of them is checking out the loot in the gift basket she won in the door prize drawing.

Here's a fun game we played in honor of Ambrose the cat at one of my book signings. See how many of these famous "cats" you can guess. The answers are below but try not to peek!
1. Became famous doing cat food commercials
2. Put on his owner's shoe wear and turned into a mover and shaker
3. Ate breakfast at Tiffany's
4. Guy with a big smile, famous for his disappearing act
5. Belongs to Strawberry Shortcake
6. Is Tweety Bird's favorite feline
7. Went boating with a feathered friend
8. Solves mysteries with his human Temple Barr in Carole Nelson Douglas's mystery novels
9. Is a comic book celebrity:
10. Had only her memories left in CATS
11. Got his paws burned thanks to Tennessee Williams
12. Is big into stovepipe hats
13. Kim Novak's familiar in BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE
14. Top musicians in Nashville are called this
15. The mama cat in Disney's THE ARISTOCATS
16. Before he was known as the King, Elvis was called this
17. A comic book star who looks a lot like Garfield
18. Greedy politicians and gluttonous felines
19. Lillian Jackson Braun's sleuthing kitty
20. Cartoon leader of a gang of alley cats
21. Literate kitty (This one is courtesy of Laura, who reminded me of this little kitty at the Olympia signing.)


Answers:
1. Morris (By the way, did you know? Morris was rescued from a Chicago shelter 20 minutes prior to being put down?)
2. Puss 'n Boots
3. Cat
4. the Cheshire Cat
5. Custard
6. Sylvester
7. the Pussycat (of owl and the pussycat fame)
8. Midnight Louie
9. Garfield
10. Grizabella
11. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
12. the Cat in the Hat
13. Pyewacket
14. Nashville Cats
15. Duchess
16. the Hillbilly Cat
17. Heathcliff
18. Fat Cats
19. Yum Yum (or CoCo)
20. Top Cat
21. Dewey the Library cat

That is what I say anyway! I have been having a great time this month celebrating fall fun with my girlfriends. Our neighborhood something-for-nothing club got together for a boo breakfast at my house where the theme was trick-or-treat. We played all kinds of fun games (Draw a Jack-o-lantern.. blindfolded! Find the missing item in the picture - you can download these from many online sites. Word scramble games.) My pal Bonnie provided the prizes: a bunch of girl goodies she'd scrounged from various sources. That blue bottle was a popular item and Annette and Sheila had a leg wrestling contest to see who got it. I have bigger thighs. Why did she win?!!!

As you can see by the picture, it took all our strength. Good thing we had pumpkin scones and shrimp deviled eggs to recharge our batteries!

Oh, so many parties, so little time. The boo breakfast was last week and this week, I got together with my Game Girls for a Halloween lunch.  Costumes were over the top - we had everything from pirates to witch doctors. I'm costume challenged. I donned kitty ears and a collar and came as a cat... in honor of Ambrose, hero of my new release, THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS. Jill Barnett was our hostess and she made the world's best cupcakes... just like the Hostess chocolate cupcakes of our youth... only a million times better, with a filling made of whipped cream and marscapone cheese. Yum! I brought pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Are our cupcakes gorgeous or what?!    You know, as moms we can get so busy making sure our children have fun we forget about ourselves. (Well, some of us. Obviously, I never do!) But here's a bit of Dr. Sheila advice: there's nothing wrong with taking a little time to laugh and enjoy life. Show your kids you can have fun at any age. Make memories with your friends while you can. Our time here is short and it goes fast, so do those girl things now while you're all together! I hope you all get a chance to do just that this month.

If it's fall in the Pacific Northwest it must be time for the annual apple party at the home of our friends Kathy and Tom. This is always so much fun - our hosts always gather a great mix of people, both old and young (four generations present at his party). We spend the afternoon putting what feels like a million apples through a hand-made apple press and making cider, and then we eat. And eat. And eat. Kathy has the Martha Stewart gene (as you can see by the pictures) and makes everything beautiful. We set up a regular assembly line with some people washing apples and others of us line up along on an old picnic table cutting the apples into quarters and putting them into bowls to be passed on to the guys running the apple press. Rain or shine, we gather - but it's much nicer when the weather cooperates as it did yesterday. There's a fire to gather around for those taking a break and a local musician friend serenades us. The Great Gatsby had nothing on Tom and Kathy, let me tell you. Every year we leave with homemade cider for the freezer and a host of lovely memories.

You may be thinking, well, darn, wish I had an apple press and a Tom and Kathy in my life. Everyone should have a Tom and Kathy in their life, but let me tell you, you don't need an apple press to celebrate the joys of the season. Host an apple party in your a back yard (or loft if you live in the city) and have all your friends bring their favorite apple dish. A fire in the fire pit or the fireplace, some good friends, some hot apple cider and you're good to go. Fall is a time of changing colors and bountiful harvests. Let's celebrate!