キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな?』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう?もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.01.2007
I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it.
901. Happy New Year!
902. Worship went well at church. My voice was going, but it held out just enough.
903. After service, Captain Caffeine and I got a chance to pester some of the college students who were home for vacation. Poor kids had to stand around and pretend to be interested in us old fogies.
904. I’ve been good lately about not running my space heater as often so I don’t use as much electricity. I haven’t been too cold, either, since I bundle up more, move my feet, and burn a candle, which warms my office really well despite the small size.
905. I gave to Zoe Children’s Homes missionaries the Nakamuras as part of my tithe from my last payment from Z.
906. I also gave to the Agape Home as part of my tithe.
907. I love knowing my Mac is a little safer from Spyware so I can give online with a little more peace of mind.
908. We had to go to Costco and found a parking space relatively quickly
909. We got a lot of groceries we needed at Costco
910. I got some ribbons and scrapbook paper at Costco for really cheap!
911. I got some pig stamps to make my sister-in-law’s Christmas presents next year
912. I got the new Yahoo mail beta edition. It’s a lot like Outlook.
913. We got three canisters of instant cappuccino mix last Christmas (as in one year old already) and I finally finished the first canister and started on the second one.
914. Saw the movie Glory Road. Good movie! I cried, natch. It was nice to see a movie that wasn’t just a feel-good sports movie, but that also was based on something that had historical and social significance.
915. I’m almost done with my last batch of eucalyptus infusion, because I’d added the wrong type of alcohol to it (to keep the bacteria and mold from growing) so it smelled a little funny. Now I can make another batch with the right alcohol.
916. We had yummy Chinese food at our favorite restaurant, Union Chinese, which is a small family-owned hole-in-the-wall place that has the best Hong Kong-style fried noodles on the planet.
917. I had salad for dinner! I also ate only one dong (or zhong), which is one of my favorite Chinese foods, made by my sister-in-law’s mother.
918. I remembered to drink my cranberry juice
919. I finished revising my manuscript and sent it to my editor! Now I get to work on book 3, at least until I get edits back on books 1 and 2.
920. I exercised a little while I was watching a Korean soap opera. My manuscript talks about K-dramas, so I had to watch at least one episode to see what they’re like so I could make up a K-drama for my characters to watch.
921. I uploaded my Visual Thesaurus onto my Mac laptop
922. We found some leftovers in our freezer that we can eat and free up freezer space.
923. I randomly thought of my friend Sharon Hinck today and am so grateful and blessed that she’s in my life.
924. A lady at church asked about my book and seems excited that it’ll come out next year. How flattering!
925. I spent a lot of time on my feet and moving around, so hopefully that will help increase my metabolism after having such a lazy vacation.
I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it.
901. Happy New Year!
902. Worship went well at church. My voice was going, but it held out just enough.
903. After service, Captain Caffeine and I got a chance to pester some of the college students who were home for vacation. Poor kids had to stand around and pretend to be interested in us old fogies.
904. I’ve been good lately about not running my space heater as often so I don’t use as much electricity. I haven’t been too cold, either, since I bundle up more, move my feet, and burn a candle, which warms my office really well despite the small size.
905. I gave to Zoe Children’s Homes missionaries the Nakamuras as part of my tithe from my last payment from Z.
906. I also gave to the Agape Home as part of my tithe.
907. I love knowing my Mac is a little safer from Spyware so I can give online with a little more peace of mind.
908. We had to go to Costco and found a parking space relatively quickly
909. We got a lot of groceries we needed at Costco
910. I got some ribbons and scrapbook paper at Costco for really cheap!
911. I got some pig stamps to make my sister-in-law’s Christmas presents next year
912. I got the new Yahoo mail beta edition. It’s a lot like Outlook.
913. We got three canisters of instant cappuccino mix last Christmas (as in one year old already) and I finally finished the first canister and started on the second one.
914. Saw the movie Glory Road. Good movie! I cried, natch. It was nice to see a movie that wasn’t just a feel-good sports movie, but that also was based on something that had historical and social significance.
915. I’m almost done with my last batch of eucalyptus infusion, because I’d added the wrong type of alcohol to it (to keep the bacteria and mold from growing) so it smelled a little funny. Now I can make another batch with the right alcohol.
916. We had yummy Chinese food at our favorite restaurant, Union Chinese, which is a small family-owned hole-in-the-wall place that has the best Hong Kong-style fried noodles on the planet.
917. I had salad for dinner! I also ate only one dong (or zhong), which is one of my favorite Chinese foods, made by my sister-in-law’s mother.
918. I remembered to drink my cranberry juice
919. I finished revising my manuscript and sent it to my editor! Now I get to work on book 3, at least until I get edits back on books 1 and 2.
920. I exercised a little while I was watching a Korean soap opera. My manuscript talks about K-dramas, so I had to watch at least one episode to see what they’re like so I could make up a K-drama for my characters to watch.
921. I uploaded my Visual Thesaurus onto my Mac laptop
922. We found some leftovers in our freezer that we can eat and free up freezer space.
923. I randomly thought of my friend Sharon Hinck today and am so grateful and blessed that she’s in my life.
924. A lady at church asked about my book and seems excited that it’ll come out next year. How flattering!
925. I spent a lot of time on my feet and moving around, so hopefully that will help increase my metabolism after having such a lazy vacation.
Comments
Maybe I should do this myself, though I probably won't do 25 a day. I'll start off slowly because I'm in the process of moving again. I might have already mentioned that. So I can't spend too much time on blogging and the like for the next little bit. I have to be out by the 31st and I'd like to have a bunch of things discarded by then and the rest I've got available all neatly sorted. Please pray for me. I'll definitely need God's help and guidance.
The first thing I have to do is get them all working on the same ISP. I'm going crazy over that. I think I need to get someone to clean up this computer and make sure the best of the other two is ready. I have no idea how to tell which is better and both have only the simple Microsoft 98 not even with SE, which is what I have. I'm so used to it, though it does have other problems. All this while I'm trying to move.
God, please give me the grace to accept how this is going.
I just burnt my piece of pizza too. It's certainly not a good start to the new year.
And like Sigrun, I don't think I could come up with as many thankful things as you, either. Great reminder to be thankful, though.