Cops and Wet T-shirts

Yesterday was a busy day here at Hacienda del Holmes. Naturally, the cats were spazzing most of the morning. Scraps of paper, dust bunnies, and shed whiskers become mighty dragons in their minds. There was a whole lotta pouncing, chasing, and general mayhem. (Only Nugget was in a dragon-slaying mood this morning, so it was relatively quiet.)

I spent most of the day catching up on emails and doing other "housekeeping" type stuff until it was time for Ms. Editor to call and discuss the final round of edits for BLOOD LAW. It's all minor tweaking in the vein of adding a sentence or two here and there to clarify things. It shouldn't take long to wrap these up at all. Huzzah! We also discussed the plan for Book 2 and she gave the official green light on it. (Good thing, too, since I already started writing it. Hehe.) We also discussed other Super Secret Items Which I'm Not Currently At Liberty To Divulge. *evil author grin* Overall, it was a good conversation that left me completely jazzed to get to work on these edits.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to start work right away. Last night was the opening night for the Mobile Police Department's "Citizen's Academy" and I was selected to participate in the program. I spent three glorious hours learning some of the basic foundations of law enforcement. According to our schedule of events, the next 11-weeks are going to be filled with information and fun. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about their community and how the police operate within it to check with their local PD and see if they offer a "Citizen's Academy" type program. It's a great way to get to know your neighbors, the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect us all, and have a little fun in the process.

Of course, being the complete klutz that I am, I can't go anywhere in public without doing something to embarrass myself. The Academy staff provided light food fare -- finger sandwiches, fried chicken wings, barbecue meatballs, and beverages -- for everyone. I chose to stick with water as my beverage of choice. Everything is going great when suddenly the water bottle slips as I'm taking a sip. What is the most natural of reactions when something starts slipping from your hand? You tighten your grip. Well, you can guess what happened next.

*sploosh*

Water up the nose. Water splashed all over my chest. (When I told Mark about the incident, his reaction was to laugh hysterically and say that I should've told everyone I was "there for the wet T-shirt contest." Yes, I smacked him.)

*sigh* Only I can nearly drown myself with a bottle of water while surrounded by about thirty people, including five or six highly trained cops, and at least one nurse.

This is why I often avoid the buffets and such at cocktail parties and stick to non-alcoholic drinks served in real glasses. I'm a klutz. If I can possibly drip, dribble, spill, stain, or otherwise embarrass the hell out of myself, I'll find a way to do it. I don't even have to be at an important function. I can do the same whenever Mark and I go out for dinner. It happens so frequently that we've created a motto: "If Jeannie doesn't drip, it wasn't worth the trip." Grace in motion, I am not.

Oh well... All these little embarrassments build character. Right? Right?