Lizzy here and I’m really excited! Warm weather, lots of bugs and birds and crawly things to play with when it’s warm outside. The Mistress is always in a better spirit when it’s spring. She likes to plant things and watch them grow. She planted some flowers in pots Sunday and watered them. Today they look like they are happy to be here and there are bugs buzzing around them.

Her bedroom floors are done and today they will begin painting her walls. I can’t wait to see what they look like since the old people are cringing about it. She picked out a bright lime like green so it’s going to be bright! She’s also getting new closet doors that are easier to open and close. I’ll have to make sure she takes a picture for you to see when it’s finished.

Sunday she also filled all the bird feeders and put up some new ones. I love it when she keeps them full because the birds come to eat all during the day. Even if I’m stuffed up inside the little house (her office), I can watch them eat in front of the windows. She has them hanging around the windows for us to watch. It’s sort of fun. The little sparrows and finches dart around to eat and the robins and cardinals will eat with them, but when a mocking bird shows up, they all chasing him off.

The Mistress is getting ready to go to a weekend conference in Birmingham, Alabama next weekend…the 30th through the 1st of April. She’s excited about pitching to agents and also excited to just relax and not have anything pressing for her to worry about. She needs some time away. I’ll miss her, but she does need to get out some. Poor Dippity Doo can’t stand it when she goes off. Wish he’d lighten up, but Little Bit says he’s older and doesn’t like a lot of change. Right now, there’s a LOT of change going on in the big house with the parents moved in and all the updating they are doing to the house. Poor thing.

I watched the Mistress print up some stickers with information on her book See How They Die that’s coming out in April. She’s putting them on the back of her postcards. I guess so when she give the postcards out the back tells them more about the book and where they can get it. That’s pretty smart. She learns a lot from all the classes she takes on line and from other authors she chats with. Okay, time to make a run outside. The old man is outside and that means he will be over here to let us out soon.

Talk to you all later! Be sure and read to find out what’s next with the renovations and the Mistress’ books.     Lizzy

Happy Friday everyone!   I love the weekends cause we get outside more.  Well, you know, since the old folks have moved in, we get out during the week a lot to now.  Hmmm, I need to think about that.  More importantly, the Mistress is home on the weekends more!  She works in the office on writing and leaves the door open for us to run in and out and it’s so nice.

 
This weekend though, she’s going to her writing meeting in Jackson so she won’t be here tomorrow.  I wish she wouldn’t go, but I know she likes to go and see her friends.  She also likes to drive the Natchez Trace and take pictures of animals on the way.  She sees lots of deer and turkeys.  I really want a turkey!  She’s shown us pictures of the birds and the look like they’d be real tasty.   Snicker 

 
Little Bit says the grown ones are a lot bigger than I am, but I think he’s just trying to scare me.  I can’t believe any bird can be as big as I am!  The Mistress says she sees them all over the place when she drives and maybe one day she will take me to see them.  I’ll hunt one down and bring it to her. J

 
They finished sanding her floor in her bedroom and the man put some stinky stuff on it that made the floor really pretty.  The Mistress says he has to put two coats of protection on it now and then it will dry and be ready for her to move back in.  The stuff he’s putting down today is really bad for her so it’s a good thing she’s going to Jackson for the weekend.  I’ll miss her, but it scares me when she can’t breath. 

 
Oh, and I overheard the old people say they are having some shelves and a desk built into her bedroom for when she doesn’t feel like working over here.  She’s going to be so excited when she sees them I bet!  A whole wall of book shelves, floor to sky and a desk under her window where she can look out at the bird feeders while she writes.  She has a LOT of books.  Don’t you think she’ll like that?  I do.

 
I am still waiting to see what color green paint she picks out.  I checked the Internet for green like lime green and cucumber green.  There are some bright greens out there.  Since the father said it was a loud one, it must be one of the bright greens.  I think that will be cool.  It will look like grass and since they took up her funny looking grass, she needs something that looks like grass, even if it is on the wall.

 
Well, better run for now.  I’ll try and check in later.  I want to be ready for when they open the door and let us out.  I saw a really pretty butterfly over by the pine trees and they are so much fun to chase!

Lizzy

Happy Thursday Everyone! Hehehe Well, maybe not for everyone I guess. It is for me cause The Mistress is going to blog for you today. She’s in a dark mood so look out. She didn’t sleep too well it looks like cause she has dark circles under her eyes. Dippity Doo said she couldn’t get comfortable to sleep and kept getting up and walking around the house. He wasn’t too comfortable either.

I’m sure both of them will be happy when they finish whatever all they are doing to her bedroom. Why do humans change their stuff so much anyway? They are going to sand her bedroom floor today so I’m not sure if I will get to go look at it or not. Plus, it’s raining. When it rains, the old folks don’t let us out much. If I get to look any, I’ll let you all know.

Anyway, here she is. I’m going to give her a big purrr and rub her ankles so she’ll smile for you.    Lizzy

Oh, the Ides of March, or as my funky calendar has it, Beware the EYES of March!  Between all the things we are afraid of and worry about and avoid, how do we manage to get through our days?  I’m an admitted worrier.  If I don’t have something to worry about, I worry that I’ve forgotten something!  But, I don’t sweat Friday the 13^th’s (my birthday is the 13^th of a month) and I don’t worry about walking under ladders.  Now how contradictory is that? LOL

 
Am I afraid of ghosts? No, love to meet one.  Am I afraid of vampires, witches or shape shifters?  No, would love to be one. J  Do I have bad dreams?  OH YEA!  Lots of them, real chatter your teeth and hide under the covers kind, and then I turn them into a book.  Some of my darkest stories started as one of my nightmares.  I haven’t tried to publish any of those, but maybe I will one day.  Maybe I will.

 
Let me tell you a little about Rhiannon from See How They Die.  She’s a nurse who went through a bad marriage and survived…barely.  Surviving a beating that left her in a coma for several weeks, she woke up to find she was psychic.  More accurately, she had dreams, dreams that came true.  For years, she’s tried to control them by not having contact with people any more than she had to.  It’s by touching them, forming a bond that she becomes connected to them and if they are going to die a violent death, she dreams about it until it comes true. 

 
As a nurse, touch is part of her life, but she’s managed to carve out an existence for herself by working as a travel nurse and only in the Emergency Room where she wears gloves and doesn’t spend a lot of time with the patients or the other staff.  She works a few weeks at a time and always in a different place so she limits the chance she will become connected to anyone, and if she does, maybe…just maybe she won’t know them so that it becomes much more personal. 

 
Then her luck runs out and she’s in the middle of a nightmare in her own back yard.  She dreams about the horrible murders of a pair of teenagers but finds out, they live in a town close by.  Her carefully made haven from the world is about to crash down around her and she can’t run away anymore.  Not just because she’s tired, but because she knows it’s not a random act of violence, but the work of a serial killer who will strike again.  She can’t ignore the fact she might be able to help and then another blow…it’s the killer she’s connected to!

 
Even if she wanted to run and ignore the murders now, she couldn’t…they’d just follow her in her dreams.  Who can she trust with her secrets and who would believe her?  Someone with secrets of their own who needs her as much as she needs him…Gavin. 

 
See How They Die will be available in April from Triskelion so watch my website for more information and some exciting excerpts over the next few weeks.  www.maryalicepritchard.com

 
Sweet Dreams

I have to say, it’s different.  There’s that wood on the floor and some sticky stuff they will have to get up and some guy brought over a big machine that makes noise and lots of dust!  All the mistress’s stuff is spread out all over the house!  She was sooooo quiet when she came home today.

I don’t know where she will sleep?  She could sleep with us, but our beds are too small for her.  Little Bit said there’s a couch she will sleep on but he’s a little worried too I think.  He kept going and sitting in the window to watch them move her stuff. 

Dippity Doo disappeared all day and didn’t show up until she got home.  Then he fussed and fussed while she held him.  I could tell he was worried she was going to go away without him.  I know she won’t do that cause LIttle Bit says she won’t.  He says she always comes back.  So, I’m not worried…much.

Now she is looking for stuff over there.  She’s probably tired, she was up all night last night packing her things up. I bet she goes to bed soon.  I just hope she has one that is comfortable. I wish mine was bigger, but I don’t think she’d be comfortable on it.  I’ll let you all know what goes on tomorrow.

 Lizzy!

Ohhhhhh, the Mistress is really in a whirl today!  Watch out everyone. Hehehehe   The old people are doing her room this week instead of next week and she had to pack up all her things last night.  Man you should have heard the noise over there!  Then she came over here to put stuff up and looked like one of those cartoon shows on TV with her hair all sticking out and her eyes big as saucers!

 
There are men over there now moving her furniture out of her bedroom.  I jumped up on the window to peek in and it is really good thing she’s at work and can’t see this.  The old people are putting her books and papers in bags and boxes and stacking them in another room.  Dippity Doo said he can’t find a place to hide with all the moving around and all.  He disappeared a little while ago and I think I saw him slip under the couch.  Poor cat!  He’s like the Mistress and not good with his stuff being disturbed. 

 
Little Bit said they will pull up her grass like they did in the old people’s room next.  I still don’t understand why it’s not green and why they don’t want it.  I like grass, you can roll in it and eat it when your tummy hurts and hunt bugs and mice and moles in it.  You know though? I don’t think I ever saw the Mistress hunt any of that stuff or roll in it.  I remember she runs that monster over it that sucks stuff up-hey!  That’s how she hunts!  She uses that monster to suck up all the good stuff at one time.  Wonder if I can figure out how to use the one over here.  Hmmmm  I’ll be right back and let you know more later.

Lizzy

What a totally great weekend! I thought it was going to rain, but it didn’t and I had a ball!  Little Bit and I even hunted some together but the old cat didn’t last long.   Snicker…  There were bugs flying all over the place and I even found a few lizards to chase.  Did you guys know that if you catch them by their tails, they fall off?  I didn’t.  I lost the first one cause he ran off while I was playing with his tail.  Then when it quit moving, I realized there was no head attached.  Sneaky little slimy things aren’t they?

 
The Mistress left her office door open all weekend while it was daylight and I ran in and out anytime I wanted to.  It was neat cause chasing bugs and lizards (especially when you catch one and eat it) gets to be thirsty work and I like the water inside better.  When it started getting dark out though, she closed the door cause the bugs move inside with her and she doesn’t really like them in there. Hmmm.  Maybe its cause we make such a mess when we chase after them inside. wink

 
Oh, and even the others came out and played some.  You know, the blind Julie cat and her mean co-hort, Howie or is it Heather?  I’m not sure.  I think her name was Howie and the Mistress is trying to change it to Heather to be more feminine.  I don’t think it matters; she’s one hellcat either way!  She doesn’t have claws in the front but she whips my butt every time I try and play with her.  I just try and steer clear of her when I’m inside.  Too much fussing between her and the Mistress when we tie it up. 
 
So, news… what to say, the old folks have moved in for good now it looks like.  They haven’t really gone anywhere overnight since a few weeks ago.  Plus, there’s an awful lot of stuff all over the place inside and under the carport.  They had someone over painting the bedroom for them… I ended up with paint on my tail but don’t tell on me.  I didn’t mean to swipe it down the wall.  Besides, it’s behind the door, they won’t notice. snicker    They seem to be having a good time and the Mistress has really enjoyed them being busy so she can write.
 
Little Bit tells me they are going to be working on the Mistress’s room later this month.  I asked him doing what to it and he shrugged and said the same thing they did to the old folks room he guessed.  Something about pulling up the inside grass and leaving wood on the floor.  Oh, and she’s painting it a lime green color he said.  He isn’t for sure what color lime green is either but heard the old man say something about it being a headache loud color.  I’m going to look on the Internet and see what I can find out about lime green.  And why would anyone take the grass out?  It’s not pretty grass and you can’t eat it, but it’s a lot softer and warmer than wood?
 
Ooops, here comes the Mistress, I better go now.  Talk to you all later!
Lizzy

This my brother and his wife and their youngest son.  The older one wasn’t in this pic. 

I just have to brag about my wonderfully talented and extremely handsome brother, J.D. Ruffin.  He’s my younger brother but the source of my pride and inspiration.  He’s never met a stranger and will do anything he can to help you.  He’s married to a wonderful woman who is also the mother of his two boys, W.P. and D.A.  Oh, and just so you don’t go and get any ideas…she’s a parole officer and from what I hear, a damn good one!

Well, on with the bragging rights here…J.D. works for a pharmceutical company (he’s a drug salesman LOL) and this year he made fourth in the nation in sales numbers and almost got into the international top slot as well.  SO, I’m sending him HI 5’s across the net!

Take a moment and let me know you read this so I can feel like I’ve done something to spread the word about how much I love him!   WTG Little Bro!!!