Woke up to the alarm early to finish packing, get breakfast and get headed out. Hubby fed the horses, while showing my brother all the proper quantities and techniques of feeding, during which Clio inexplicably threw her head back, spilling most of her food on the ground, and knocking off Hubby’s hat and glasses. He wasn’t hurt, but halfway to the Fort Lauderdale airport, he discovered he was missing a hearing aid, so now he’s deaf in one ear. I called my brother and asked him to look for it, but didn’t hear back before we got on the plane. I was sure I had built in a lot of extra time, but the time it took to park and get the shuttle was longer than I expected, and the time it took to haul a very heavy bag full of books (both books, as our client wanted some, and I intend to keep on fulfilling orders while we’re out here), and then security seemed slower than usual, and by the time we got to the gate they had already boarded our group and were about to board the next group. I didn’t even have time to fill up my water bottle or grab us something to eat! Hubby thought they’d sell meals on the plane, but all they had was free snacks, so we had our fill of cheese crackers, pretzels and cookies before the flight was done. Arrived in Las Vegas 20 minutes early, went through all the process of getting our baggage, our rental car (trying out a Nissan this time, first time I’ve driven one of those), got checked into the hotel, which they kindly upgraded to a full suite including jacuzzi tub, thank you!), then took a quick trip to the store, the post office, and finally, a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant where we got some delicious food, though the atmosphere isn’t any kind of atmosphere, more of a delivery and take out kind of place, but we were so hungry, we didn’t care! Got back to the hotel, had a nightcap, heading off the bed by 8:00!

Spent a lot of the day on the phone with Paypal trying to sort out how to print Multi-Order Shipping Labels. They have a program for it, but I haven’t been able to figure it out, and by the time I finished “experimenting” with it, I ended up completely crashing it. Couldn’t even do single labels for a while! Then suddenly that kicked in, after spending several hours on the phone, but finally got the job done. Had to pick up envelopes again, then headed to the post office, fighting through some really heavy summer-like downpours of rain, only to suddenly realize it was President’s Day and they were closed! Well, I chucked all the packages in the big slot anyway, figuring at least we’ll be first in the morning! Though there were people working in back, so I’m sure there will be no delay anyway. More rain on the way home, but it broke just in time to get the horses fed and get settled down for the evening.

What a trial today! My old camcorder had died during the Cattle Drive, and my phone has such a bad camera I knew I had to replace it, so today was the day designated for that. I borrowed my brother’s Sam’s Club card and we drove down to North Palm Beach to look there. We found one we wanted, but discovered I had to renew my brother’s membership, which I did while we were waiting for them to get our camera. Turned out they didn’t have any, so they offered to discount the display model, so I decided to take that. We waited another 20 minutes while they tried to find the box, and when they finally did, we saw it was missing all the parts, like the USB cord and the AC adapter! So we decided NOT to take that one. I went back to Member Services to get the credit back for the membership (my brother only uses his membership occasionally, no sense wasting months he doesn’t need to), and after I got the credit, the guy turned around and instead of giving me the Sam’s card back so I could give it to my brother, he shredded it! I couldn’t believe it! So now my brother will have to go in and get another one, though they told me he would only have to show his ID. I hope that’s true, that he doesn’t have to reapply. In truth, the card was in pretty bad shape, so hopefully my brother won’t mind having to get another one… Anyway, we went from there to the Walmart next door, and they didn’t have their cameras on display at all, just boxes that were locked up underneath the counter, and they have to stand there and watch you go through the boxes! How ridiculous! The clerk remarked that they had to do it that way because of vandalism, yet there was a phone display and a laptop display, so I’m not sure the logic holds. Anyway, there was no way I could make a decision based on the outside of a box, we left there disappointed. Next stop was Target, and they didn’t have anything comparable in stock (why do they leave things on display that they don’t have in stock?), then another Walmart, where they had a very small display. Finally, we decided we had to go to Best Buy (not my favorite place, but apparently the only game in town for electronics these days), and fortunately, they had a wide display, I found a camera that would do just what I wanted, a Nikon Coolpix S7000, and finally headed up to ABC for brandy, and our hometown Walmart for our final domestic shopping. Naturally by now we caught all the rush hour traffic, but finally got home about 5:30, fed the horses and got settled in for the night.

Spent the ENTIRE DAY printing shipping labels, cover letters, signing books, and stuffing envelopes until at last, at 4:00, I was finished just in time to head to the Post Office to drop off my load of books! I even had to go the office supply store and pick up more envelopes in order to finish everything. Thanks to everyone who had the faith to purchase it! Can’t wait to start getting comments and reviews on it! By the time I got back, even more orders had come in! So thrilled that my book is being so well-received. Obviously, there was a need!

Hubby spent the whole day watching Superbowl promos until the big game, mainly because I’ve been too busy all day with book orders! Incredible, I knew writing a book about horse camping would have a niche market, but this has really exploded! I’m going to have to make another order of books this week! Once the Big Game started, I put my computer away, only to check it at half-time (when I learned I’d sold another half dozen books), and after the game (another half dozen books). Fantastic! And, by the way, GREAT GAME, DENVER! Congratulations, Peyton! We’ve been watching him since he was quarterbacking for University of Tennessee, can’t believe his career is almost over! Great job!

It has taken almost a full week to recover fully from the Cattle Drive! Hubby was badly out of breath for the first couple of days, but eventually, with the help of extra Lasix pills, his lungs cleared out and he was able to get a full night’s sleep without struggling to breathe. The horses are no worse for the wear, and by Wednesday were already looking down the driveway longingly, a sign they’re bored and ready for a ride! I’m happy to report that book sales for The Best (and Worst) Horse Camps Across America have been brisk this week, evidently our book is filling a gap that exists out there in the market. I’ve even had an order from as far away as Alaska!

Had morning appointments with our acupuncturist for our final, pre-cattle drive treatments, we’re both feeling much the better for it! Then had a meeting with a guy to help us add the book and a few other things to the website, looking forward to upgrading that to something much better than my attempts at it! Stay tuned, the book should be available online by Feb.1! Later in the day the storms starting coming in, lots of rain and wind and even some thunder, it’s promising to be a loud night!

With some rain overnight, and more on the way, I received my new computer by 10:00 this morning, and spent the day transferring stuff over from my old computer. My new computer is a lot lighter in weight than my older one, even though it has everything that I need. After working with Windows 10 on the last computer, and realizing that a lot of it only functions when you’re connected to the internet (which is NOT a good solution when you’re out in the boondocks as much as we are!), I stayed with Windows 7 on my new computer. It may go obsolete in a few years, but at least I’ll be able to use it off-line, and I won’t have a long learning curve for W10 either, so it’s a double plus in my book. I’ll switch when I have to, and not before! The keyboard is laid out a bit differently, so that will take a bit of getting used to, and for some reason, all these laptop manufacturers insist on making the keys flatter and flatter, which isn’t as comfortable or accurate for a touch typist like me, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Going to have to cut my nails shorter, though, they keep hitting bottom when I touch the keys. Anyway, glad I have it, hope it works better than the last lemon I had!