Well, I've been back from my mother's house for more than a week now, but I've been in one of those moods where even the occasional poke at the Internet feels like information-overload, so I guess you could say I've become a bit of an electronic hermit for a while. It often happens to me right after the holidays. Now, especially, I seem to prefer the old-fashioned company of books while I'm forced to sit around in my cast.

Sitting around isn't altogether a bad thing, of course. I suppose I should just try to get very zen about it -- and take advantage by working on my novel -- but gads, is it annoying not to be able to do my own laundry or vacuum my floors. I can load dishes into the dishwasher from my wheelchair, but putting the clean ones away is a whole lot more complicated. I do have help -- an aide from school helps to watch my son, and my husband's been taking on some of the house-chores, but still, inevitably, there are things that just don't get done. Oh well. I'm not supposed to think about that now. I'm supposed to be concentrating on convincing my leg to mend. Or something like that.

The fiberglass cast I have on is much lighter than the splint I previously wore -- as well as being a stylish day-glo pink -- but it's still a cast and still a pain to lug around. The good news is that it's supposed to come off near the end of January, and the doc thinks I might be able to start putting some weight on the leg then.

Better news: One week to PRESIDENT OBAMA. And so help me, if Bush opens his yap one more time before he leaves office to spew the kind of nonsense he's been spewing lately, I will be throwing every one of my currently useless left shoes straight through my TV. (Psst: Dude, you are not helping yourself or your "legacy" with these displays of temper and stupidity. Please have the grace to just shut up and stay away from the cameras until someone competent can assume the job. Thank you.)

I just finished reading Loretta Chase's wonderful novel, Lord of Scoundrels. It's the kind of book that I think even non-romance readers would enjoy. Note to fellow Snape fans: the hero of this piece is dark-haired, darked-eyed, with an enormous nose and a foul temper. He was tortured unmercifully while at Eton and has never been given a scrap of love before meeting Our Heroine, who is fearless as well as deadly with a pistol. I'll say no more, except that this book was originally published in 1995, before anyone knew who Harry Potter was, and that one of the joys of romance novels is the guaranteed happy ending -- even for guys with big noses and bad tempers. :-)

Okay, I have a pile of other romances to read -- plus some fantasy. Hope everyone is having a great new year. I'm counting down to Inauguration Day.

Recent culinary discovery: Raw sliced cucumber makes an excellent sandwich on whole wheat toast with a dab of hummus.