Yes......I'm afraid a week later, all I have left in my aquarium are three fish.  The babies?  All gone.  The yellow Mollie?  She's gone too.  The babies disappeared one night last week.  Turned the light on in the morning and poof!  No babies. 

  The other morning, I turned the light and no yellow Mollie.  I think she had been pooky and without getting gross here, I bet you can guess where she went.  Hmmm, is this what they mean by survival of the fittest?   So I'm down to three fish.....and I'm thinking when the tank is fully cycled (has to do with having the proper bacteria in there, etc.) I'm going to give these two Mollies and my Tetra to Oliver.  And me?  I'm going with good old Fancy Goldfish.  I just love the ones in my outside pond and they're doing SUPER!  Not namby pambies like these Tropical fish.

Update on Ray:  Well, he's certainly feeling much better.  Back to normal, actually.  However, we got a phone call on Thursday from the Hematology & Oncology Center in Gainesville.  Ray's iron levels are off the charts.  Normal range is 10-290 and his is 628.  Yeah, double.  So Miss Martha, the Nurse Practitioner in Chiefland, called Gainesville for Ray to be seen.  We're going this Friday at 1:00.  I guess they're thinking it could be Hemachromatosis......overload of iron.  Some of you might recall that my mother had that, unbeknowst to us, and ultimately it damaged her liver and caused her death. I'd done a blog entry about this last year.  After we discovered she had it and too late for her, I had to go and have DNA genetic testing.  Thank goodness "I" do not have it.  It's genetic and since I don't have it, it wasn't passed on to my children. 

 If caught in time, it involves going quite often at first to a phlebotomist to get rid of the blood.  Just like giving blood.  Once the levels are down, then you do this a few times a year.  We're not sure this is the cause for Ray's exceptionally high iron levels, but it could be.  And that's why we're meeting with the dr. in Gainesville for a history, more blood work, etc.  To be continued..............

Paris Update:  Yes, I'm supposed to be in France right now.  Actually, in Brittany and then we were going to Paris for a week on Tuesday.  But as you know, due to the episode with Ray's health, we had to cancel.  Am I feeling disappointed and sad?  Hmmm, a little.  But not a whole lot, because.........I was very busy this past week rescheduling our trip for the fall.  All the plans have been made, everything is booked and confirmed.

And we had a change of heart.  Rather than going to Normandy, Brittany and then on to Paris for a week.......we decided to do something different.  Oh yes.......it's still France, my one great love.

So join me here next time and I'll tell you all about it............

I discovered this author on My Space.  "One Dance in Paris" is actually her second novel.  And......Julia Holden is a pseudonym.  Now isn't that intriguing?  Hmm, so who really is Julia Holden?  I have no idea....except from what I've read about her, she's involved with Hollywood as an Executive and I read that she isn't using her real name for personal and professional reasons.  As I said......very intriguing.  And I won't lie, I love a mystery.  And okay, okay.......I'm also nosey.  But she's real, because Julia very nicely accepted my invitation on My Space to be my "friend."  Yeah, I know.....she might be my friend, but I really don't "know" her.  That's okay.......on My Space, that's allowed.  Especially for us authors.

All of this aside, lets get back to the book........in one word I thought it was spectacular!  I loved it.  I didn't want it to end.  I enjoyed every single page.

The main character, Linda Stone, barely remembered her mother.  She died when Linda was a baby.  But what she discovers about the woman who gave her life was way more than she bargained for.  Her mother was a famous.....and infamous.....international showgirl.  Her mother wore glittering high-heeled sandals.......and a dress that was barely there.  A dress that gave her the power to become the talk of the town, the queen of Paris, the star of the Folies Bergere.

As many of you know, I'm originally from the Boston area.  The character in the novel is from Somerville, Mass. which is where the story begins.  Many of you also know that I'm a confirmed Francophile and my favorite place in the world is Paris.  The character ends up in Paris.  So you're probably thinking, "well, sure, of course Terri would love this book."  While that added to the story for me, trust me, those aren't the main reasons I loved this book.

When the character takes off for Vegas to begin her journey of searching to learn about her mother, I was right there with her.  I felt like I was standing right behind Linda Stone's shoulder as she met Dixie, one of the first links to her mother.  When she flew to Paris, I was on that Continental flight with her (yes, the author chose Continental as the airline)  And when she arrived in the City of Light, I was just a few steps in back of her as she walked Rue Cadet, Rue Richer, Montmartre and everywhere else. Not because I've also strolled those streets, but because this author brought it all alive......whether you've been there or not.  When she met Claudine, the last link to her mother, I felt like I was meeting a real French woman by this name.  Because that's how vividly this author captures her characters.

Holden's writing is both witty and poignant.  But above all, it's real.  She's spot-on when it comes to character development.  And knowing Paris as well as I do, it was very gratifying to see how authentic her descriptions were of everything from street locations to the French culture.

The story itself was unique, refreshing, entertaining and satisfying.  All good things must come to an end.......just as this story did.  But it doesn't mean I have to like it.  I hated to close that final page.  And I have to say, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a novel about Paris as much as I did this one.

But the good news is, I've already ordered Holden's debut novel, A Dangerous Dress.  And I'm anxiously looking forward to losing myself in her writing once again.

So if you're looking for an extremely enjoyable book, whether you're a Francophile or not, do yourself a favor and get this one!  I don't think you'll be sorry.

See you here next time..............

THE BIRTH OF 3 FISH BABIES............................................

Yes, just since I posted here this morning, I have THREE new baby fish!  I checked the aquarium this morning and thought I was seeing things.

Emily, one of the Bronte sisters, had been acting a bit odd (odd for fish, I guess, but trust me I'm not a fish behaviorist) since I put her into her new home Friday evening.  At first she swimmed around happily like the others.  And then she staked out a corner in the upper left of the aquarium.  When I turned their light on Sat. morning, she looked pretty pooky to me.  I thought she was on her way to fishy heaven.

But I watched her all day (NO, not continuously) and although she never left that corner, she "seemed" okay.  By that, I mean she was breathing.  Well, I called my fish expert, Oliver and he said, "she could be pregnant."  Leave it to me to take home an unwed mom. 

Sure enough......this morning I found 3 itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny little black and silver fish in there.  Up in HER corner, swimming just in that area.  Guess she staked out her claim as a homesteader.  This afternoon I fed them and she came a swimmin'.  I also noticed she keeps pushing the other fish away from "her" spot up there.  Okay, call me crazy......but "I" think she's protecting her babies.  She's swimming around the tank a little more now, but she keeps going back up to that corner where the babies are.  It's so sweet.  And yes, I'm hooked on these fish.  Didn't take me long to bond with them and get to figure out their personalities.

Two other household members have discovered the fish.  I caught Duncan and Foster quite mesmerized by them this morning.

OPPS!  Wait a sec!  As I was typing this, I see we now have FOUR babies in there!  Hmmmm.......anybody know how many a Mollie fish can have at one time??????   Cripe.......I hope I don't develop a problem with crowd control!

As I was typing this, my fish expert Oliver, dropped by and confirmed it.  Yup.......those are definitely black Mollie babies in there.  Oh......and we now have FIVE.  He said she could have a half dozen.  In a couple weeks, I was going to get 2 more fish to add, but looks like Emily took care of the addition factor for me.  The good thing is.....since it's a freshwater system, if it does get too crowded in there, a few can always be moved to the outside pond, which is about 200 gallons and plenty of room.

Well, Nurse Terri is getting back to her OB duty here, monitoring the births of fish.  See you here next time.........(and yes, I'm having a ball with this and really enjoying it!)

Yeah......I have my new aquarium and you can meet the new guys.  The two yellow ones are Mollies and I've named them the Bronte Sisters......Charlotte and Emily.  The black Molly is Charlie (for Dickens) and the silver Tetra is Nathaniel.  Yup, for Hawthorne.  Since they now reside in a writers studio, I figured that would be pretty appropriate.

I got the blue gravel for the bottom, two live plants, some driftwood and a thingy for them to swim through.  So they seem to be doing pretty well, and I sit here and watch them for minutes on end.

There's something truly soothing about just sitting and watching fish swim by.  The cats haven't spied this new addition to my studio yet.  But it's an enclosed system, with a cover on top.......so they can look but can't touch.

Ray continues to do well and I'd say he's back to normal.  We're still waiting to get results of the most recent blood work.

So before long, I'll be busy planning our trip to France for the fall.  And I have no doubt, that before long fall will be here.

Not much going on with my writing.  I've finished 200 pages on Book #2 and had decided to take a rest.  Next week I'll go over the first fifty pages and do an outline.  My contract states I have to send them that by June 1.  So I'm ahead of schedule.

I've been doing loads of reading the past couple weeks.  I just finished a great book that I wished had gone on and on.  Yup, it was that great and that entertaining.  So join me here next time, and I'll tell you all about it.

Till then, hope all is well with all of you..........