I woke up last night (this morning? whatever.) at about 4:00 because I was really hot. I dragged myself out of bed to adjust the AC, only to discover that neither my husband nor I had “shut down” the house before bed. This means that the kitchen light was still on, the door to the screened porch was open, and the cats had potentially escaped. After I rounded up the kitties (no easy feat since I wasn’t wearing my contacts or glasses), locked the door, got a drink, turned off the lights, and went to the bathroom, I headed back to bed. I woke up about an hour later, and realized that in all the mayhem I had turned the air down too much, and the bedroom was freezing. So I got back up, readjusted it and went back to bed. Again.

Today, I developed a headache around noon, so I popped a couple of knock-off Excedrin. Then around 9:30 or so this evening, I started having extreme pain in my very lower back (almost my tailbone) that was radiating down my legs. I took Ibuprofen, which helped a little, but not entirely. Since standing, walking, packing, etc. were out of the question, I settled down with Shape magazine and stumbled upon this blurb:

Before you stock up on aspirin, get some quality shut-eye. A new Johns Hopkins University study found that women whose sleep was disrupted multiple times in one night experienced significantly more bouts of pain the next day–like headaches and backaches–than those who snoozed soundly for eight hours. “Disturbances to sleep cycles seem to impair your ability to process and cope with pain,” said study author Michael T. Smith, PhD.

How completely weird. It’s normal for me to have trouble sleeping. In fact, typically I’ll have trouble for a few night in a row until I’m so exhausted that I sleep like the dead for a couple of nights and finally feel rested, which leads to more trouble sleeping, and the whole thing starts again. I’m also no stranger to headaches (which I generally blame on barometric pressure) and backaches (which I generally blame on work). But I wonder if my sleep cycle has something to do with it?

Years ago when I worked at a bookstore, one of my responsibilities was to organize the New Age section. This was where all the tarot and divination, wicca, and astrology books were (and still are) kept, and it was a fascinating section. Of course, the trouble with being responsible for that section meant I frequently shopped from there, and I snagged a lot of stuff. Books about astrology and love, Atlantis, a vampire encyclopedia and more (after all, I got an employee discount!) I also picked up my first set of tarot cards there: The Goddess Tarot. This is a beautiful set that I love to look at, but not once in six years have I ever tried to read a spread. I bought them for looks alone. Recently however, I’ve started to get into the New Age stuff again…

I’ve been hanging out with my wicca-practicing friend lately, and one rainy day she whipped out her cards to do a reading for me. She uses the tarot standard: the Rider Waite deck. I really like these cards: they are easy to find and easy to interpret. The results of my reading were fascinating, so naturally, I picked up a deck for myself and did a reading for my husband. It turns out that his reading and my reading were the same: proceed with the move to Texas and pursue changes in terms of our careers. I guess our future really is in the cards! This just might be better than the online magic 8 ball.

I’ve eliminated the blogroll from my revamped site, but I do want to give a shout-out to a few of my friends’ blogs:

• Mia’s relationships blog
• Chris’s library blog
• Kim’s personal blog
• My husband’s music blog
• Michael’s library technology blog

These are all neat sites with good information. Check them out!

Cool, quick links

eDiet’s 10 steps to fitness

Elle’s bangs retrospective: a tribute to fringe

Celeb workout wear from InStyle

Does thin=happy?

More healthy smoothie suggestions

Cute fashion flashback: Jennifer Lopez’s I’m Real Remix video

I like magic. I like shows about magic, books about magic, stickers about magic, and the idea of magic in general. I even used to shop at a magic store in Florida, which was very cool. I really like Nora Roberts’ Donovan Legacy series (Captivated, Entranced, Charmed, and Enchanted), which is about ordinary people who have magical gifts, and I’ve been hunting for something similar ever since I first read them. I do like typical fantasy fare (obviously), but there is something appealing about stories that are completely realistic (contemporary setting, time, etc.) that feature characters with magical talents.

Christine Feehan’s Drake Sisters series is a pretty good example. They are pretty standard romance fare, so they can get a little cheesy from time to time, but overall they are well-written, with intriguing characters, compelling plots, and the occasional steamy scene. The crux of the series is the seven Drake sisters: Sarah, Kate, Abbey, Libby, Hannah, Joley, and Elle. Each book is one sister’s story; primarily they’re about the women finding true love, but there are also evil spirits, Russian mobsters, cranky cops, and the sisters’ unique abilities to manipulate the wind, animals, death, and baked goods. Of course, the sisters are all extraordinarily beautiful and have amazing careers: renowned security expert, best-selling author, famous marine biologist, sought-after doctor, supermodel, world-famous singer, and mysterious jack-of-all-trades. On top of that, three of the main male characters have special abilities: one has outright magic, and two are telepathic. As of right now, there are only 5 books in the series; Joley and Elle’s stories are still in the making.

Overall, this is a fun, spicy, silly series with interesting people, hunky men, and a house that can eat people. One word of caution: these are all published as mass-market paperbacks, and the inside front cover of each depicts the male lead of each story: all of these men are cheesy, Fabio-esque characters. It’s best to let your imagination conjure up the image, rather than rely on these goofy illustrations.The books, in order, are:

• Magic in the Wind
• The Twilight Before Christmas
• Oceans of Fire
• Dangerous Tides
• Safe Harbor