It’s hard to believe that it’s time to switch to new calendars throughout the house. 2012 certainly has passed quickly.

Since our last blog update, we turned our attention to the year-end holidays. First there was Thanksgiving in Tyler, TX where we dined with our future daughter-in-law’s family. A great time was had by all.

After returning home we started doing some trimming for the Christmas holiday. We kept our effort minimal. Next came shopping for gifts. It seemed like every time we left the house we found ourselves purchasing another gift for someone in the family. Since we were having our two sons and their families here for Christmas dinner, we wanted to make it something special.

Now that the new year has begun, our updated website which includes our new novel The Iris Covenant is nearing completion by our webmaster.
Even though our new novel won’t be released until March 5, readers will be given a taste of its content on the website. If you read the promo and sample chapter, you’d see this novel is a completely different genre than our previous release.

Catching up on movie going, we saw three good films. The first was The Hobbit which we really enjoyed as it carried the flavor of The Lord of the Rings and ended with you looking forward to the sequel. The next was Tom Cruise’s new film Jack Reacher. We were surprised at how entertaining it was. The last was Les Miserables. It gave you a strong flavor of how crude life was in France during the early part of the 19th century which is something you didn’t get from the stage performance. Also, we felt the stage version was more dramatic and more enthralling.

We wish you all a healthy and prosperous new year.

We beat the crowds by voting early about a week and a half ago.

Just learned that our new novel The Iris Covenant is to be released mid January. We signed off on the final copy today and we’re awaiting publishing and marketing.

Since the last posting, we had the exterior trim painted on our 13 year-old house and it looks like new.

We drove on the new section of tollway 130 between Seguin and Buda, TX (40 miles) where the speed limit is 85 MPH. Unknown to us, it happened to be the first day it was open. We took our Pontiac Solstice coupe on the road and ran it up to 100 MPH for a short period. It reminded us of when we were stationed in Germany and drove on the autobahn. Wonder how disappointed we would have been if we had been a day early.

We’ve been to the movies again. The first was Argo with Ben Aflac; a pretty good flick about rescuing five Americans from Iran during the 1979 revolution. The second was Alex Cross, a movie made from one of James Patterson’s first novels; a pretty good story which could lead to a movie series. The third was Flight with Denzel Washington; a good but sad movie about an alcoholic commercial pilot.

With the addition of two more clocks, one for our anniversary and one for Betty’s birthday, Cash doesn’t look forward to resetting the myriad clocks when we fall back and spring forward. He always misses a couple resulting in resetting them sometimes days later.

One more lawn mowing and our yard is set for the winter.

Until our next blog, hope all is well with you.

This weekend chilly weather hit Central Texas; thank God. It was nice to don long sleeved shirts and jackets and not have to run the air conditioner.

We’re in the final throes of working on the proof of our new novel The Iris Covenant due to be released late this year or early next year.

Last month we had our dining room and office painted as well as the front door refinished. With that we’ve had every room in the house repainted since we moved in. We also bought a round granite top table dinette set for the breakfast nook. It’s a much better fit for the room than our old dinette set.

Next now that the weather is cooler, we’re having the exterior brick power washed and trim repainted as the house is 13 years old. Nothing like being a happy home owner.

Our sons and families are well. We’re happy that both sons are gainfully employed considering the state of the economy.

Since our last blog, we saw three movies that were noteworthy – Trouble with the Curve (Clint Eastwood’s movie was much better than we expected), Won’t Back Down (A good story of a mother and a teacher overcoming odds to save a failing school in Pittsburgh) and Taken 2 (Liam Neeson in an exciting follow up thriller to the original).

Last Friday drove 100 miles to the Round Top, TX area to an antique and flea market spread along four miles of rural highway. Although it was hot and dusty, the experience was enjoyable and we found a bargain for our effort.

We’re looking forward to the cooler weather and the upcoming holidays.

Here we are on Labor Day. Hard to believe the months have passed so quickly.

Last week we approved the design for the cover of our latest novel The Iris Covenant.

Below is the promo for the book that is to be released either the end of this year or the first of next year.

A young nuclear scientist is found dead in the parking lot of a Virginia laboratory. The briefcase he was carrying has disappeared.

A hero abroad and at home, Buck Whithers gains new notoriety when he saves a mother and her son from a murderous attack. But when tragedy strikes his own family, Buck is ill prepared to respond to a faceless opponent. A phone call in the dead of night opens the door to the shadowy world of global industrial espionage, and Buck is led to believe that the death of his son is related to the theft of industrial secrets. He agrees to demands of secrecy in hopes of finding justice for his son. The unfolding drama reveals a scheme bigger than he could have imagined, striking at the heart of America’s nuclear power. An enemy rooted in decades of resentment strives once again to use America’s resources against her. The leader of the conspiracy, a corporate mogul, is driven by an ancient vow of vengeance that reaches back to World War II.

When a sensitive facility is seized by terrorists, Buck’s plans for revenge are put on hold, and he is called to active duty. From Kyoto to the Gulf of Mexico, one man’s industrial espionage tightens its grip on American power. Building from Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, The Iris Covenant binds the far-reaching consequences to the personal impact each decision will have.

Can peace ever settle between the nations that inflicted such suffering upon each other? Betty Byron and Cassius Mullen offer a testament to enduring loyalty and profound love in this sweeping drama. A sweeping drama of clashing countries, The Iris Covenant portrays the lengths two families will pursue to right the wrongs committed against their ancestors.

It’s been a while since we last updated our Blog. We’ve been busy editing our next novel The Iris Covenant most of June and July in order to keep on the publisher’s schedule. Right now we’re coordinating the cover with the designer. We expect the book to be released early next year if not sooner.

Cash, Jr. and Douglas and families treated us to dinner for our 50th wedding anniversary the end of last month. As we look back, it’s hard to believe a half century has passed since we were married on the hottest day of the year in Louisville.

We took a couple of breathers this month. First we traveled to Ft. Worth and stayed at a B&B. While there we visited the Kimball and Carter art museums. The Kimball museum mainly displayed art from the middle ages and renaissance periods. The Carter museum focused on western and more current art works. We also visited a huge indoor antique mall housed in a former golf equipment factory. Also dined at a few top restaurants.

We just returned from a trip to Rockport on the TX Gulf coast. We stayed at a B&B there as well. Visited the TX Maritime museum and several galleries. While there we dined on fresh sea food.
Over the past couple of weeks we saw two movies – The Dark Knight Rises and The Bourne Legacy. Although both films were entertaining, neither was memorable in our opinion.

Cash, Jr.’s daughters spent the month of July in Wasilla, Ak visiting friends who moved up there a couple of months ago. They should have interesting stories to tell when they return to school next week.

It’s hard to believe Douglas’ son, Nathaniel enters his first year of college next week.

We hope to be more active with the Blog in the future.