the end (or, spider bite - my heiny!)

And, no, a spider did not bite my heiny. In fact, a spider didn't bite me at all.

Turns out that facial tingling and swelling which I attributed to a bug bite in the last post is actually shingles. Ever gotten it? DON'T. It's a painful nightmare that first had me resembling the love child of Barbara Streisand and Quasimodo and more recently (i.e. this morning) had me looking like I'd gotten in a barfight with several sailors. I have to be cloistered away, and I'm on heavy-duty meds that give me splitting headaches on top of all the other loveliness.

This is all to say that, if you had chickenpox as a kid, the virus never fully went away; it just went dormant. Which means you are a candidate for having that nasty virus wake from its slumber when triggered by - oh, I don't know - stress, or a cold. Which is also to say that I wish I'd gotten the shingles vaccine, as I've been thinking about doing so for a few years.

So, what's the upshot? Well, for one, I'm shutting down the blog, Folks. If this nasty bout has taught me anything it's that I've been stretched way to thin for way too long, and a re-ordering of priorities is sorely in order. I'll be focusing on my kids, my peeps/fam/homeboy/homegirls, my paying gigs and my non-blog writing, all of which could use more of my attention, anyway.

It's been a good run, and I've had lots of fun blogging the ups and downs of rural life, riding, writing, etc. I'm not going to pull the blog off the Net at this point, and I may even pop in now and then to post an update or two. No promises of regular blogging, though.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Trails!

halloween and stomach flu and spider bites, oh my!

I've been dealing with all of the above lately (some of which were fun (i.e. birthday parties and trick-or-treating) and some of which were not-so-much (i.e. the circulating stomach flu and the recent arachnidian attack on my face while I slept, resulting in swelling and numbness and general sinus-related misery). Oh, yeah, there's been major soap production in the mix as well, with more to come.

Makes me kind of long for the quietude/boredom of mid-winter snow days. Good thing various people recommend stuff like this now and then to keep my smile-o-meter in the black:

Cranberry Fig winner!

Myrrh is the winner of the Cranberry Fig bar. Congrats, Girl!

Posting on the blog will be light for a while (heck, it HAS been light for a while already). Reasons? I'm in major soaping/work mode, and October is a major birthday month to boot. Has anyone else noticed this? I've been in birthday mode, too, for the past few weeks, and I have another party to throw this weekend - on Halloween day, no less. It should be mucho fun, though, so see all those kidlets running around in their costumes. Last weekend it was an adult's birthday party I threw, so it's time to switch gears a bit. I think we'll avoid bobbing for apples, what with the nasty swine flu season and all. We may even have snow, which would almost make it like Christmas and Halloween combined.

See ya in the shake of a black cat's tail!

friday soap giveaway and cucumber melon winner!

Our soap winner for the Cucumber Melon bar is...(drum roll, please)...

Haley Rae - a prolific young blogger and commenter if there ever was one. Congrats, Haley! Send me your address via email, and I'll get this bar in the mail to ya.

There are only two more comments needed for the Cranberry Fig bar to find its forever home, so if you haven't commented on that giveaway, be sure to do it now!

Onward...

Today's Friday Soap Giveaway bar is Floral Fiesta!

I seem to be on a bit of a spring thing. Perhaps it's denial of the cold weather. I don't know why that would be, though, since I do love fall. Ah, well. Regardless, I've noted on the labels of these bars that they are "Ginger-Lime and Wildflower-Scented" - a pretty, heavenly blend if there ever was one. Plus, I figure we'll all be inundated with holiday-themed stuff soon enough, so why not enjoy normalcy while we still can?

To have a chance at winning this bar, leave a comment telling what you plan to do and/or be for Halloween. Happy Friday, Everyone!

:-)

okay, Dad. time to blow out those candles...

Here's an almost-too-cute birthday video someone created, and I'm posting it here for one of the most special men in my life - my Dad! It's from him that I inherited my Scottish frugality (shall we just make it easy and call it cheapness? Actually, I have to edit this to say that, while Dad has been chided for this classic Scottish trait for decades, those closest to him know he's one of the most generous people you'll find anywhere) as well as my stubborn streak (some might call it a wide swath). I also inherited his nose and his forehead. But not the blonde hair. I didn't inherit that. I won't disclose his age as of today, but let's just say it's impressive. lol. Good thing I live far away, so he can't swat me.

I hope you had the happiest of days, Dad! Love, Nicole

modern smokey (or maybe percy?)

Have you heard this guy? I did for the first time the other day and felt compelled to share. I love new discoveries, even if they're old for everyone else.

:-)

the twin fire & friday soap giveaway

Last weekend, parts of the city of Williams (aka "Gateway to the Grand Canyon") were evacuated due to a prescribed forest burn that got out of control. The Twin Fire was finally contained when it reached about 1,000 acres, but it was a little dicey there for a while. Part of the price of being surrounded by National Forest is the possibility of fire danger. On the way to son's soccer game in the Old Route 66 town of Seligman, we drove through this:

...and on the way home we drove through this:

I wish I'd had my camera with me when we were in town and saw the slurry bombers flying overhead and the helicopters sucking up water from the nearby reservoir to drop on the flames. The local Williams/Grand Canyon News had some good pictures of the choppers, though. At night, the smoke was thick and heavy in the air. This was the view from my front door:

...and this was the view from the back:

Those dastardly forest fires sure do pretty up the sky.

So, on to the Friday Soap Giveaway. Fall is here in all its glory, and I don't know about you, but around here at Writer/Rider central, preparations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and various fall birthdays are in full swing. Seems like pumpkins, cranberries, warm spices and all things orange, black and purple are constantly on my mind lately. So, here's one of my top sellers being offered for the giveaway - Cranberry Fig:

Wanna join the ranks of previous soap winners whose mail smelled reeeeeealllly good the day their bars arrived? Simply leave a comment telling me what kinds of things you'd like to see more of here on the AWAAR blog. Remember, there need to be at least six comments from different readers in order for the bar to get sent.

Happy Friday!

falling leaves soap winner!

The winner of the Falling Leaves bar (finally!) Is Krystal! So, Krystal, if you're checking in, email me at bearkhat-at-aol-dot-com with your mailing address. Congrats! And, don't forget, People...there need to be six comments from different users on the soap giveaway post for a winner to be picked.