M's Favorite Things

More Freaky Snow - the Cause of our Misery

2011-11-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

The Freak Snow Storm of New England

2011-11-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

The snow storm that cancelled Halloween was the worst thing I've yet to live through.

On 10/28 - was the Halloween party for my church that I organized. We had about 200 people which was actually really good! There were a lot of parties going on that night. Who knew that our party would be the ONLY Halloween celebration our parish children would have. The next day the snow started falling at 12:45 and never stopped. Our trees were still fully loaded with fall colored leaves but instead of leaf peeping on that weekend, people struggled with no power and, if you were a person like me with a well -- no water. And, since we "bundled" our cable service

because it was SUCH a good deal, we lost phones too. We lost everything.

Add to that the fact that my cell phone chose that weekend to not hold a charge. I'd made one phone call and it went from three bars of power to one. Also, I could not even access 911. My husband went to see if he could reach the center of town, to get information on shelter, water and power. It takes 10 minutes to reach the center under normal conditions. Three HOURS later, he still wasn't home. And, the sun was setting - how do you look for someone caught under a tree or off the road, in need of help, with no lights? No power? and NO way to call for help?? Because that is when I realized just how vulnerable I was - when I couldn't even get through to 911.   A neighbor was driving by as we attempted to walk down the street towards an acquaintance's home - despite the fact that there was a huge tree suspended above us on the electrical wires - I still wanted to reach someone with a working cell phone.   The neighbor rolled down his window and when I explained my worries, he gave me his charger that sticks into the outlet in cars. It's used for items that plug into wall outlets- like laptops and phone re-chargers. He was going to bring it to his father-in-law who was without power for his phone but let me have it first.  That was really awesome of him!!

Forty five minutes later, my husband drives up - wondering why our kids are crying, why I'm so upset. Hello! -- a ten minute drive and he's gone for Four HOURS?
oh. well - um... I drove around then decided to see how your parents were faring so I went to see them.
WHAT?
God love him for thinking of them but he in no way ever told me he "might" do that.   Going to the center of town to get information is NOT driving over a mountain passing through 5 towns, crossing a river and getting on a highway. Not to mention dodging all the downed trees and LIVE power lines. No wonder he was gone four hours but HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!  He knew my phone wasnt' working. He knew we had no means of communication. Did that stop him? NoooOOooo - he can "handle" himself, there was no reason to worry.
Worry my ass- try frantic. Try wanting, needing to call 911 because I didn't know what else to do because trees were still dropping and the scope of the damage was just being realized.  Add then finding out that I couldn't even reach 911!!
Oh, yeah, it'll be a long time before I forget this storm.

I mean, we've had tornadoes, an earthquake, Hurricane Irene, hail storms and now this freak October snow storm. And 2011 isn't over yet!

Ok then - back to the fun.

I buried my freezer contents in containers in snow. Faithfully I piled more snow on them every day. The temperature was rising and in the fifties so there was melting. Today, seven days later, I unbury them, even had to chip them out, and 75% of my food defrosted. I had to throw them all out. Oh, I kept the ground turkey...because there were still ice crystals in the packaging so that means I can cook them all up and refreeze as cooked meat. But the fish? gone. the cheeses? gone. the lamb? gone. the yogurts? gone. the clams? gone.

Opened up the refrigerator to see if anything survived. My kids almost puked. My dh's eyes watered and they left ME to clean it all out. Took me 2 1/2 hours to deodorize the whole thing. Something did more than get warm in there - it re-died. Thing is, I had tried to clean out and save what I could but left things I thought would be "safe". There is no such thing when it comes to 7 days without electricity.

Our wood stove pipe leaked smoke. I have asthma. We think the chimney cleaners either didn't put the pipe all the way back into the back of our wood stove OR, they never cleaned that part. I ended up sleeping in what amounts to a cellar, on a futon that has no mattress in temperatures that started out in the 50's but steadily dropped into the upper 40's - in Fahrenheit. Not fun. But, because the room was on a lower floor, the smoke didn't reach it so I could breathe. You kind of need to do that, you know?

Oh, and I got a second job. Yay! - I was supposed to start on Halloween but the trick of it was- no power- no phone, roads blocked, no way to shower - Ha - I wasn't going anywhere. So, no work. Gee, I hope they understood.

Yep, the town my new job is in had 100% loss of power. Mine only had about 90%. They understood because they were in the same boat. The most fascinating thing? I now work for an insurance adjuster who specializes in weather related claims. Gee - maybe that's why I was hired? ::SNORT:: -- after the tornado, and then Irene and the hail storms - they have claims coming out the wazoo - add in this storm and every day is an adventure. Most months they get between 30-40 claims... when I went in for my first day of work on Wednesday - bad hair and wrinkled clothes and all - they were getting 80 a DAY!!! ---If I can make it through this? You can be sure I can handle this job. Talk about crash course learning.

And, I'm still loving my other job in the Conservation office. I like my boss, I think she's quite the character and I enjoy the very nature of what the office stands for.

And get this... these are the first jobs I've had in decades that I can dress casual! No high heels, no suits - jeans, sneakers and comfort is the rule. How'd I get so lucky? I'm truly blessed. Even after all we've been though and all the self doubt that started to creep in the longer it took to find a job - I still consider myself blessed.

All the people I care for, friends and family alike, made it though this latest natural disaster unharmed - certainly they were inconvenienced, some in a huge way - but we all made it through to sing , dance and give Thanks and group hugs the day the lights came back on.

Oh! and my Conservation boss? I was supposed to work on Tuesday, so I got dressed and got the kids ready. I figured, if the town hall was closed- we'd head to the town's shelter for a warm meal and to recharge their PSPs and my failing phone. I was just trying to make my wet hair look passable when there was a hard knocking on my back door. It was my BOSS- Hey! Guess what? There's no work today! --- Wow - have you EVER had a boss do that? I haven't. Not until now.

My life is certainly changing. New experiences, new co-workers, new responsibilities and new challenges to meet and overcome. I'm hoping my kids see by example what it takes to make it in life, and how to deal with adversity. Of course they did spend 4 days and 3 nights at my parents who had power a half a week earlier than we did. LOL- so, they had 1/2 a lesson. **VBG**

So, today - we got all our electrical life back and spent a small fortune restocking my fridge and freezer with perishables. Cooked the turkey that was in the freezer - it was big and needed 4 days to defrost anyway. I think I was out of practice at cooking. Poor turkey re-died. I mutated it to sawdust and rubber. But hey! That's what gravy and ketchup are for, right?
lol
Hope you had a MUCH better Halloween than I did!!!

OH! DID YOU NOTICE THE CAR IN THE TOP PICTURE? Yes, there was a car stuck there. They must have stopped for the fallen tree in front of them and ANOTHER tree fell right behind them- trapping them in the height of the storm! Talk about scary!!!

And the Life Journey Continues

2011-09-25T07:15:00.002-04:00

Yes indeed. I've pretty much recovered from my surgery. Back to doing vacuuming and laundry but no Zumba.
DH is well - in fact, you'd never know he'd had a heart attack.
Ds #2 is still having epileptic seizures - going for another EEG this coming week - sleep deprived- to see if the increased med's and dual combo are doing what the neurologist suspects and that is - Controlling them! That'd be great! -- not so great is the loss of sleep. I've been having some issues with that lately.

It might have something to do with sinus pressure. It might also have something to do with stress.

Let's see. One week before I was to start back to work, my boss called on a Monday and asked, When are you coming back? I need you! - I said child care was all set and I was coming back that Monday. Great!

Got a phone call on the Friday that same week.
"This is a hard phone call to make" -- it is? Yep seems she went and talked to some financial folks who "officially" told her what me and my co-worker were trying to tell her for years.

The end result - she was downsizing , restructuring and she laid both me and my co-worker off.   Who, in fact had just left for vacation for a week and a half.

Surprise!

So, I've been unemployed for almost two months.
I've sent out resumes. I've gone to classes that talk about writing the perfect cover letter, doing the perfect resume, how to act in the perfect interview and am now looking to take classes at another career center to strengthen my Excel skills.

The only nibbles I've had are two scams, a note from the Red Cross apologizing that the job I applied for wasn't in the city listed but somewhere else...like an hour and a half away! Was I still interested? Ha!- um , no. Three hours on the road for a part time job is stupid.

I've signed up at Monster.com, and LinkedIn, and Indeed, and I surf Craiglist and the state's job listings - all to no avail.

I've also noticed that more and more jobs require a Bachelors degree. Not too shabby if I was looking at executive or high end jobs. But no. Data entry, folks.   They required a Bachelors degree just to do data entry and they usually don't specify a degree. How insulting is that?   A person goes to school for four years just to do what anyone who can type and transcribe with accuracy, does?   Amazing.

So, what did I do? A little over three weeks ago, there was this tiny advertisement in my town's local paper. One of the offices in town hall had a little eight hour part time position open for a clerk.   I looked at it and thought, "Hmmmm, I can do all that."

So, the very next day, I drove into town, got the application, filled it out ...and waited. After about nine days, I called to follow up. Unfortunately, my allergies had turned into a cold and Minnie Mouse was back. I called to check the status of the application in the morning when I had a voice. No one called me back until way late in the afternoon, when Minnie Mouse was in full vocal splendor. The man on the phone hung up laughing.

Well, that was that.   I thought.

Last week I got a call. "Are you still interested in the position?" oh, heck yeah! So it was arranged that I'd have my interview the following week - at night! 6PM.

When I got there, I was interviewed by two ladies. Both high on the Commission hierarchy.
Now, realize that I've been typing for years. Here on the blog when it was really active, then reviewing. I had to do a typing sample. Should be easy, right?
Shot myself in the foot!

I never looked at hand placement on the keyboard and I blithely typed away - that is until I was almost done, looked up and gave out an audible horrified gasp. It was all gobbldy gook!

They let me erase and have a do over. I'm quick and it didn't take long, but by that point, nerves were jangling. I never really proofed for typos. If they were there, oh well.

Then came the dreaded questions every interviewee quakes in fear of. "Why do you want this job?" And "How do you handle angry people?"

I think I was unique in my answer to the first. And I BS'd on the second. Although I believe it was a good answer. My old co-worker certainly thought so when I later relayed it to her.

In any event, they were meeting another applicant after me.   I didn't think I presented well at all.   I chalked it up to a learning experience. I mean, I hadn't gone to an "official" interview in over a decade!

You wouldn't believe how long I studied all those notes I got from the Career Center! I even went so far as to record myself answering questions to see how many "umms" and "Ahhs" and other stalling stutters that are common in vocal communication that are to be avoided in interviews. I wrote notes, made a cue card - practically spent all day preparing for a twenty minute interview! (( I didn't use any of it, lol))

Very nerve wracking.

The next morning I got a phone call.

"Hello, I just got off the phone with your old boss. She gave you a glowing recommendation and if you want the job, it's yours."

WHAT? Well blow me down. Not what I was expecting at all. As a formality, she has to write a letter of recommendation to the town's selectmen and present it for voting. She said I'm a shoe-in and to start next Thursday. Cool!

And you might ask, why take such a small hour per week job? First of all - the self-esteem. I can't believe how much self-worth is attached to working and believing I'm doing something important and contributory to something greater than housework.

Second, experience. I loved my last job, don't get me wrong. I'd still be there if I could. But this one will challenge me like no other, having me do things that are truly needed. Updating their website , jumping into their backlog of filing, greeting people! I missed that. I was only a voice on a telephone for 99% of the people I interacted with every day at my old job. I will strenthen the computer skills I have while learning how to use something new on the job. The very skill that SO many jobs out there ask for, and for which I had no knowledge existed until I started looking for work, is the Access program. I know it's database stuff and people have told me it's easy. I can't wait to learn!

I still have to look for a "real job" but now I want to work around this current position. I'm expecting to enjoy it and there IS the possibility for an hours increase in the future. That's what I was told. In fact, that is what my going-to-be boss told my old boss. Why would she even share that information if it weren't true?

Most amazing for me is the commute. I'll be going from a 45 minute drive one way, to ten minutes.   That will be a boon in the winter, let me tell you. Yay!

So, financially, this isn't a huge help. Mentally and emotionally, it's major. I'm nervous but very excited too.

The thing is - all those dozens and dozens of resumes I've sent were for jobs, just jobs. This new position is working for the preserving of our environment. This is something that I believe in and really can get excited about. This is something that has meaning!

This is a whole new journey I'm on and I'm not too sure where it's going to take me, but for now, it's not going to take me long to get there.
Ten minutes, imagine!

Wish me luck!

How Am I Going To Make Lemonade From This??

2011-07-29T12:37:00.000-04:00

My day started with burning a bagel so bad the fire alarm went off.
Of course we opened all the doors and windows to get the smoke out to stop the smoke detector's noise.
Because the sound was so loud, we never remembered, or realized that the house alarm was going off.

When the fire alarm stopped, the house alarm was going.
Rushed over to shut it off.
The phone rang, it's the alarm company.

Because I didn't know the PASS CODE, they sent the police. We never HAD a pass code! There I was in my Taz PJ's, hair all mussed because, it's early early in the morning and I still hadn't had a complete cup of coffee and I'm telling the cops that it's a false alarm. They charge for those these days.

Anyway, it turns out, the small company contracted with a professional monitoring company just a WEEK ago. One week, And they were not supposed to ask for a pass code. Because we never had one. Nor had our contact information ever been forwarded to them so they didn't know if I was lying or not.

One stressful situation averted/

The arsenic in the sauce? Well, some of you know that I had surgery and am now 4 weeks post-op. So, I've been out of work. And I know they missed me and I was sort of looking forward to going back. In fact, this coming Monday.

At 11:13AM I got a call. It was my boss. She said " This isn't going to be a good call. " And I thought, oh no, what did I forget to do before I left for surgery?" I wish that was all it was.

She said, "I'm laying you off". She's closing her law practice. I am now out of work . Earlier in the week, I'd wished for one more week, because I didn't feel I was quite healed enough. Be careful of what you wish for. I don't have to go back to work next week after all. Now, I don't even have a job to go back to.

Add to the misery. I can't call my husband at work. Why ruin his day? I tried calling my mom. No answer.
Called a good friend -no answer. For a moment there, I just broke down. How do you deal with this kind of bombshell all on your own? Fortunately, my friend called me back within minutes and I was able to at least have an ear. That meant a lot to me. She was such a God-send because at that moment, I wasn't alone bearing the weight of the results of one of the worst phone calls I've ever had.

I have kids with special needs - medical needs. Where am I going to find another employer who is as understanding and accommodating as my old boss? It was a dream job. But like all dreams, they end. You wake up too soon and you lose that good feeling and harsh, cold reality slaps you in the face.

I have no idea what I'm going to do. How to proceed. Obviously, I have to update my resume. Oh my gosh, at my age, who is going to hire me? The economy sucks and there are so many well qualified people out there who've been looking for months, YEARS, for a job.

I'm a very scared person right now.

Things that Make me LAUGH until I hurt

2011-07-18T07:46:00.000-04:00

Star Trek Parody

Kirk in the A-Team!!

Han Solo, P. I.

The Three Stooges! As the A-Team? Whao!

It's MR. BEAN!!!

Hopefully ONE of these made you smile, giggle, groan or ::facepalm:;

Sometimes, you gotta smile even through a day that sucks.

Ah, The Good Old Days

2011-07-16T07:03:00.002-04:00

I loved the old movies that explored how nature would turn on us for poisoning the earth with our bombs and nuclear experiements.

Remember THEM! THEM!

This is my favorite Forrest Tucker movie   The CRAWLING EYE!
Recognize the female lead? She was in Darby O'Gill opposite Sean Connery, way back when. Ah, those were the days.

The most blatent movie targeted towards our pollution is GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER! lol
I used to think this movie was awesome. Boy, I was young.

Of course THIS movie scared the fur out of me! Can you believe MGM did this ??
Bunny Mutants!    If this didn't give you a good glimpse, here's a close up **GG**
what Viscious Rabbits! But THE most Dastardly Rabbit attack EVER is HERE!!!! ::cue spooky music::

Yes, nature has a way of getting back at us. ...

Sing HIGH - Sing LOW - Just Sing

2011-07-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

Never heard of these guys ... I can't tell if they were trying to be the Four Seasons or the Beach Boys.
What's your take?

TONIGHT BY THE RUBETTES

I'm going with the Four Seasons...-

DAWN

or CANDY GIRL

DANCE by the Beach Boys- Dont' think it comes close to the Rubettes like Frankie Valli. :-)

Um - really?

2011-07-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

Single Bed Close your eyes. Listen to her sing. Tell me... do you imagine the singer should be singing with
a Lollypop and and her thumb stuck in her mouth? And this was 1980s rock?
Yikes

Now- Blast from the past.. a song that Does Match, Does Rock and Does make a person Dream

MAGIC

One inspires imagination - the other - makes me want to drink diet soda. ;-)

Laughter - It's totally subjective

2011-07-10T18:43:00.000-04:00

Gotta get past the last post. Easy enough to do when I go to help out my blog buddy, Bailey, with an earworm and find the perfect song to replace it with. In the process I had a gigglefest and thought I'd share it with you.

Which version do you think is more ... cool, rocking, hip, groovey? LOL

The Newbie

The Oldie

You think that was painful? ROTFL!

Jump in my Car? How bout IN FRONT OF IT! ::snicker:;

But it looks like 1975 was a GOOD year for the Car Song...what do you think???

Nightmare

2011-07-01T06:45:00.000-04:00

Nightmares comprise of many things: phobias, worst case scenarios, the list is endless.
A mother's nightmare is just as terrible.
I woke up yelling NO!! this morning at 5:10AM..
Is it a result of recovering from surgery?
Is it a result of a phone call I received from a school counselor?
Combination thereof?
I don't know.
What I do know is that the image was so vivid - terrifyingly so.

That I woke up to find a note on the side of my bedside table saying "I don't believe in the afterlife, but, I'm sorry."
In my nightmare, I ran downstairs to see my son hanging, the tips of his toes just barely brushing the tips of the arm rest of the chair he must have used to help hang himself.
His face was sort of puffed and red, his eyes bugging out and breath wheezing but winding down when I found him.
Oh my God... it was so REAL!
In the nightmare, I was trying to lift his weight, get it off the plastic noose he used. Screaming, "Please! Please! Breathe! Don't Go!"

The thing is, earlier that morning, I heard him get up about 4:30AM. I knew he was up and he closed our bedroom door. When that happens, sounds gets muffled pretty completely.
I didn't care that I pulled my stitches and was in ;pain.
I ran down those stairs.
To find him calmly watching King of the Hill.

I shared with him my nightmare - not the details, mind you. Just that he killed himself and how it scared the shit out of me. And I asked him, " Have you ever thought of committing suicide?"
He looked at me.
Said, "Yes."
::Deep breath::
"When?"
"During the school year, but I'm fine now."

Yes, out of school. Away from pressure of peers, testing and performance expectations. It's the summer, he's home, safe and in a supportive environment.
How many kids must feel that way? How many kids find the pressures of school so bad, and, being unable to talk about it, internalize it enough to end up spiralling into a state of depression that suicide looks to be the ONLY way out?

You bet, I'll be calling the pediatrician. And having more talks with my son.
He has Aspergers - so the talking will be difficult and challenging. He's not in touch with his feeling to verbalize them. But he has them and they are just as strong and potent as a non-neurologically affected person.

Sometimes, dreams are the start of facing reality.
If we listen.
Wish us luck.

Ow

2011-06-29T19:10:00.000-04:00

Just came home from surgery.
It was major surgery to correct a bunch of things...and remove others.
I hurt.
Man, I hurt.
The morphine was horrid - I mean the afteraffects. I thought of food, dry heaves. I looked at a flippen menu, I dry heaved... I dipped my finger into soda to get some liquid, and I hurled. NOW I understand the phrase, 'cotton mouth'. It was so dry. No matter I was getting hydrated via I.V. - nothing was in my mouth and I hated it. I would have been home the morning after the surgery if I could have kept food down, If I could have eaten a breakfast, but I could not do it.
I fell asleep with food still in my mouth.
I was lucky I didn't choke.
I could not stay awake.
It was the most miserable experience of my life.
I hated it.
Then, they make you walk. And walk. and walk. and do that breathing thing to prevent pneumonia.
I'm glad to be home.
Even typing this hurts.
but, it's been awhile and I needed to share my pain.
And my lonliness.
In there, my DH not able to be there, alone, all that activity going on around me but no one really caring for ME, it got to me.
I felt so lonely.
But. The best thing while in the hospital? Was turning on EWTN, when I felt so alone, and in pain
and there was Mother Angelica talking about the Divine Mercy.
And then the Rosary, - I didn't feel so alone then.
Then a priest was visiting the room next door to me, He said only HI! as he passed my room but that was enough.
God was there.

I wasn't alone.

Now I'm home... and I have to recover. How does a mom recover when everyone else needs what I do?
I'm tired.
I'm going to bed.
but, it's MY bed, I'm home. Amen.

I Made it My Way

2011-04-05T18:44:00.001-04:00

Yep, I was visiting a cooking website for what to do with leftover chicken. I had to change it a lot, therefore that means I made it my own. What did I do?

Let's call it a chicken/broccoli pasta cassserole.

First I preheated an oven to 350 degrees F

1 whole package of uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
It asked for one can of cream of chicken soup - I can't use that due to the high salt content.
I used three cups of homemade chicken broth, and with it I made a standard medium white sauce except I used 2 TBL of Brummel & Brown with yogurt as the butter substitute.
1 package of frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained.
1 cup of tiny cut chicken breast ( my DH likes chicken but it has to be small enough that he doesn't have to "fight" with his food - more chicken is fine if you really like profuse poultry
1/2 skim milk or 1%
1/2 tsp garlic powder but I used 1 tsp - I like garlic
1/2 freshly ground black pepper
1 cup of low fat cheese ( I used the Kraft mixture of colby/cheddar and a few others - don't remember now)

Directions
Fill a large pot with water ( I don't put salt in my water) and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the penne pasta, and return to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 10 minutes. Why does it always take me more? LOL Drain well.

In another large sauce pan I mixed up a white sauce with the chicken broth, I whipped in the garlic and pepper and when creamy and mixed, then I added the chicken and the broccoli and that 1/2 milk because I made a LOT of pasta.

Then, I dumped the whole thing into my Corningware casserole dish, sprinkled all the cheese all over and put it in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese melted. I didn't bother with putting a cover on it but I guess you could.

My kids liked MORE cheese and they can eat regular cheese so they sprinkled shredded mild chedder over the serving in their plates.

All in all, it was a tastey new way to use leftover chicken.
I hope you didn't mind my sharing.
:-)

I Yam What I Yam

2011-03-24T07:08:00.000-04:00

Yams are Awesome!

Oh, DH is doing MUCH better and he's eating TOFU! I won't touch it. LOL

But I discovered that my whole family LOVES Japanses Yams They look purple on the outside, white on the inside and cook into a yellow color. They are so sweet, you don't need buttor or salt or any flavoring to enjoy them. I brought some to work for lunch and shared a bite with both my boss and my co-worker and the look of pleased surprise on both their faces was so cool. Look for the ones that are smooth and plump looking. They are MUCH easier to peel if you want to peel them and not bake.

Hannah Gold Yams are ok. For some reason a little pat of butter or what what we've been using as butter which isnt, and I can't remember the name but it's made with yogurt, just that little addition brings out the flavor. I found it odd but the texture is nice and it too cooks yellow.

I like these new yams better than the ones I've grown up with where I have to add a LOT of butter. Heck, I used to even add brown sugar! No more.

And sweet potato fries are Delicious! Baked of course. :-)

Shopping Adventures

2011-02-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

In my previous post, I mentioned my having to shop harder to find the foods that are safe for my husband.

I found that most meats, chicken, turkey or pork, are injected with a salt broth solution to make it more tender. BUNK! Give me untainted food. They are taking the choice away from me by not offering meats that come without their helpful salt baths.

For that reason, I like Whole Foods Markets. I found some very unique sweet potatoes there. Hannah's are really cool and they come out yellow. The flavor is a little different than the regular orange yams I'm used to. They even have purple ones! That's for my next trip. The drawback as far as I can see is they didn't offer a lot of No-Fat or Low-Fat options. Or even No Salt options - they use a lot of Sea Salt but that has the same amount of sodium as table salt so it's still bad for a heart attack victim's diet.

Our local Stop & Shop chains have a much better offering of the Low or No Fat products. Even cheeses and sour creams are sold as a No Fat option. The price might be a bit higher than I'd like but we really don't have a choice. We no longer make these products ourselves or on local farms - and I don't know if dairy farmers even have the facilities to make anything low/no fat. Who does do that? I'm assuming a secondary factory somewhere. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

The final place that I'm happy about and grateful to have as a resource is Trader Joe's. I found SNACK FOOD! Their Bran muffins with blueberries was a hit with my husband, so were the dried Plantain. They look like bananas but they crunch like potato chips. Very cool. The roasted seaweed is an acquired taste I think. Husband hated it but my kids scarfed them up in one day. I love the 21 Spice Salute of theirs and prefer it over Mrs. Dash. Why? I think it is lighter and sweeter and I smell more citrus in the mix. Mrs. Dash is heavy handed in the pungent herbs like oregano and basil. I found some very low salt wheat tortillas at TJ's too. I didn't need them this trip but when I do, I'll know where to go.

Between the three stores, I think I'll be able to find what I need.

Here's the thing. Changing our eating lifestyle is HARD. Hard to break our typical and usual eating habits and harder on our finances.

I was talking to another friend at the library and she made this comment.

"These days, with everything going up in price, the only people who can eat healthy and buy the organic foods to sustain that better lifestyle are the rich."

She's right. In the winter. At least in the late spring, summer and early fall we have the benefit of farmer's markets to shop at. But right now? We have to pay the higher prices for imported organic foods. And organic food is higher anyway.

The diet that my husband is on says to eat at least three meals of fish a week, preferably salmon or mackerel. Excuse me? Have you checked out your seafood department lately? Salmon on average is $14.00 to $16.00 a pound. Try feeding a family of four with that kind of price tag, especially with two growing boys in the mix. (Hello, bottomless pits)

Did you know that Hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils are on the WORST list for ingredients in processed foods? Try that new one I found, Interesterified fats. I found it while trying to buy a low salt generic store brand box of saltines. I didn't buy it because I was perplexed as to what this new ingredient was. Boy, am I glad I checked before I bought. What the heck are they trying to do to the people in this country???

You realize of course that it all comes down to the bottom line, money. The big manufacturers don't care about our health and well being, just money. They don't give a flying fig that they are contributing to the high cost of future medical care from the diseases of the body they are germinating within us. Low income families have no choice but to buy what they can afford. And those are products of long shelf life that can be cheaply made with all these wonderful chemically altered mutated elements that may once have started off natural and now are so changed that they harm the consumers after long term exposure.

The nurse in the cardiac ICU said that they are seeing 25 year olds coming in with hardened arteries. YOU THINK? - look at the crap they are selling to kids! Did you know that hydrogenated fats are in Hot Cocoa mixes? And kids LOVE hot cocoa in the winter. It's a must for this time of year. Product after product and more than one gets ingested each day, every day. I am MAD! I am SCARED.

So, after working a whole day, I have to come home and make like Donna Reed and Martha Stuart and create a meal using no helpful pre-made mixes or assists and help with homework, clean the house and do everything else.

Is there a support group for swapping normal recipes out there that is user friendly? I'm interested.

What do I mean by normal? Recipes with ingredients that are easy to find, simple to assemble and can be created in 45 minutes and are geared to heart attack survivors and their families.

And don't say the American Heart Association. I do not find their website easy to navigate, nor do I find their recipes all that helpful. (weird ingredients) Just saying.

Tragedy Averted

2011-02-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

It's taken me awhile to be able to have the time and presence of mind to blog about this.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, that was 2 Tuesdays ago, my husband suffered a heart attack.

I'm lucky I still have him. The Saturday before we had a bit of a row which was the worst we'd had in our 25 yrs together. From his perspective, it was serious and he claimed I didn't love him.

Fast forward a couple of days and by my actions I proved that I did. I didn't listen to him. I ignored his words. He said, "I'll call the MD once I get to work" and proceeded to shave, fix his tie, brush his teeth and ignore the fact that his left arm was numb, he had shortness of breath and he had a pain in the middle of his chest.

I turned right around and called the MD. Of course they said get him to the E.R. He says, "I don't want to go by ambulance."

So, in a snow storm, I drove him. He says I drove like a bat out of hell and he's awfully proud of that. Me? I'm pissed I couldn't go faster because I ended up behind 3 cars and a truck who were going at a snail's pace down back country roads. No passing anywhere.

Guys? Some advice. Call a frigging ambulance. Don't be stubborn because I tell you, your life IS on the line. When an ambulance responds, they have the gear and the meds to assist immediately to stabilize you. Driving in a car, stuck behind cars whose drivers have NO idea about the medical emergency driving behind them, means that if he went into full out cardiac arrest there would have been nothing I could have done to help him. I'd be an early widow.

God was our co-pilot, our guide and our strength. We made it. The MD flat out said that because I got him there as fast as I did, (and it would have been MUCH faster if I didn't have those frigging cars in my path) is the only reason he survived the heart attack.

He ended up 95% blocked in the artery that caused it all. We later found out that he is 40% in two others. He had one stent put in.

What does that mean for his future? That means a diet low in salt, fats and high in Omega 3s, veggies and other healthy foods is a must. I'd often mention his breakfast regime of sausage, bacon, ham - all those processed Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's breakfast sandwiches - were bad and doing him harm. Him being a guy, ignored me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

::face palm:: Unless a man can see inside his body, he shouldn't assume no symptoms means no worries.

Now? He can't have kielbasa, liverwurst and veal loaf; his favorite comfort foods. No pizza, no ice cream, no butter, no salt -- let's face it -- he can no longer have any of the trappings that society relies on for flavoring food.

And me? I am the one who bears the brunt of providing him a changed nutritional food venue day in and day out. I have to learn to shop differently, prepare the food differently, read labels and organize my time a lot more efficiently.

Why?

Because ALL of the pre-processed foods touted on TV and in magazines that say they will simplify your life by saving you time end up costing you time on this earth. They are NOT healthy. Hello, Trans fats anyone? They are NOT good for you. They are in crackers, cookies and in foods you'd never expect! Now I have to build time into pre-making my own broth because I have to let the fat harden and skim it off before I can even use it.

Do you realize that every flippin' turkey or chicken I tried to buy has been "flavor enhanced"? I simply could NOT find anything fresh or frozen that was untainted or non-manipulated. (if that's a word)

Do you know what that means? They are not doing it to make our food tasty. Oh no. They claim that but what it really does is preserve the food for longer shelf life. For centuries societies have used salt to preserve food. Here, they use so danged much it's ridiculous. We are basically becoming pickled humans.

The only turkey I could find not tampered with was at Whole Foods Market. Do you know what I PAID for the bird? FORTY DOLLARS!!! Just so I could give him lean meat, healthy meat not already loaded with the salt he needs to stay away from.

And the doctors wonder why we have so many cases of high blood pressure in this country. Just go food shopping and read the labels. You'll see.

So, that's my momentous update. I'm on a new food journey and I'm glad for Google because I'm relying on it a lot for guidance, recipes and choices.

Readers - pay attention to your diet choices - it will prolong your quality of life.

An Unremembered Book And the Man who Wrote It

2010-10-19T15:57:00.000-04:00

Many years ago, my Aunt Robin, God Rest Her Soul, gave me a really cool book called Not So Dumb: Animals in the Movies by an amazing man by the name of Raymond Lee. I loved books about things like that, including dream interpretations, hand writing anyalysis and how certain movies were made.

I'd lost track of if for a couple of decades. In the process of transferring summer clothes to winter, I rediscovered the book.

So, thanks to the wonderful world of Google, I found the author. Turns out he died four years after the book's publishing date of 1970.

So I'm talking about thirty years ago. Ouch!

Anyway, for those that remain followers of my blog and my reading habits, you KNOW I love me some paranormal romances and that includes wolfies.

I'm not too sure about copyright laws after thirty years have passed but I wanted to share one of the stories from the book. And yes, Amazon actually does have it for sale. Imagine my shock.

I'm going to refer to Page 134, Chapter 30 and it's about The Wolf Queen.

I think the facts predate the 1921 movie called the Silent Call so you can appreciate how far ahead he was for his time.

His name was Larry Trimble. His idea was to use real wolves in movies. So he put a call out and trappers, hunters, zoos and ranchers sent him the most aggressive wolves they found. The book refers to the wolves as grey tails. Larry picked out 23 of the best lookers of the lot and he transported them all to their new home in Canada. He had a big area set aside as a stockade to house them.

As we readers know, pack status had to be established and amazingly enough it was NOT a male alpha that emerged but a female! We rock.

Anyway, Larry Trimble named her Lady Silver and was determined that she would be the first female wolf star of the cinema. Isn't that cool?
What's even more amazing, he did it.

How? After the pack dynamics were established, the man MOVED IN with the wolves! Yep, he was the first human wolfman. *grin*
He didn't even go in there armed. Nope, he just ate with them and hung out and watched them. And get this, to go to sleep the wolves dug holes!
I never knew that!
And so this Larry guy, he does the same thing but he's got a sleeping bag to help him out. I'd say he was cheating but hey, we humans don't have fur so I guess it was okay.

So there he was communing with the furred set and he started sharing his food. They'd eat it but they didn't trust him yet. Not until Lady Silver, the alpha female, came up to him and gently took the food from his hand. That was my favorite part. I really loved this story, can you tell?

Eventually, not only did other wolves follow the Alpha's lead, but when they dug their holes to sleep at night, they did it close to the human! He was IN!

And get this. The next part of the story? Larry shocked the heck out of his workers by taking the wolves OUTSIDE of the stockade! He was Brave! He was Courageous! He was nuts. But he did it and he proved that they could be trusted because he slowly introduced to them other dogs and people and environments. The next was Hollywood and stardom.

Larry Trimble ended up making movies with real wolves doing incredible scenes that no one ever accomplished before and no human or animal was ever injured. Incredible isnt' it?

This is the kind of story that appears throughout the book,
Not So Dumb: Animals in the Movies by Raymond Lee. Sure I paraphrased and left a bunch out but I shared the parts that spoke the most to me. Can you see why I am so excited I rediscovered my book?

And because I enjoy werewolf romances this really resonated with me. Oh, there are tons of stories in the book about famous dogs, cats, birds, elephants, chimpanzees, and of course dolphins - hello Flipper! But it tickled my fancy that a man was so enamored of wolves and believed they could outshine the ol' German Shepard, that he did what had never been done before. And proved that the wolf wasn't inherently a blood crazed killer of sheep and man.

Pack dynamics are a wonderful and amazing thing and somehow this man, Larry Trimble, without the benefit of 21st Century studies and documentaries, did what men and woman go to college to learn how to do.

He came to be trusted by the wolf. He became Pack.

Come on romance writers out there! This has the makings of an AWESOME PARANORMAL ROMANCE!!! And it partially can be based on fact. How cool is that???

I have to say, the idea of it is a FAVORITE THING!!

I have to put this somewhere, why not here?

2010-10-01T15:40:00.012-04:00

I read a cute book. It doesn't have a home because Whipped Cream already did it.
So, I'm putting it here.

Healing the Fox by Michelle Houston. Published by Phaze Books.
It's M/M just so you know. 18 pages

The Blurb: When an injured fox comes into the wildlife rehabilitation center, Scott knows he isnÆt an ordinary animal, heÆs a shifter. Taking him home, Scott does his best to care for the injured shifter, and finds himself falling in love.
Knowing it would be selfish to ask Christian to stay, Scott has to decide if he will let Christian walk out of his life, hoping that his love will return.
My Thoughts on the book:
The most courageous thing a person can do when they love someone is to let them go when it’s the best thing to do for them. No one said it didn’t hurt or that it was easy but it’s what true love would do.

That’s the internal conflict that ends up fueling this story. Scott works at a place that rehabilitates injured wild animals. Never did he suspect that he’d find one of his own kind is such a scary and possibly fatal situation. I think he started falling in love then because of the care he gave and how sensitive he was to the other fox’s needs.

The story follows a slow and beautiful build-up towards true emotion and depth. The payoff is when the fox recovers enough to shift back into human and Scott meets Cris for the first time. Cris comes across as shy but I suspect that it’s mostly from his own burgeoning feelings. It has to be a lot to process. He also has a life agenda that had to have been weighing on his mind. He might have been in his animal form for most of it while he healed but the man inside observed and understood. I believe that because of the first action Cris initiated in the kitchen. He intuitively knew what to do to make a good impression on Scott and he was right.

The man-love is hot and yet sweet because Scott’s emotions are involved and they’re conflicted on top of it. He really wants to do the right thing but in the end he chooses the best thing. The writing of those scenes was well done and should make erotic romance readers happy. Actually the overall writing voice and style was well done. No complaints.

Healing the Fox is the perfect book to read for those looking for a short shot of woohoo. It is romantic, has characters whose feelings come across as real and even has a tender happily ever after to warm your heart. I enjoyed the story and am glad I read it.

You guys are funny

2010-09-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

This was an untitled blog post. Was left this way for days and NO one whapped me aside the head with a comment?
HAHAHAHHA

Guess I was the invisible woman!

My Friday ARGH

2010-08-20T07:55:00.000-04:00

I never should have gotten up this morning. Always be careful of where you send your email notes.
It may not go where you think and your words will come back and bite you on the ass. I know I need to lose weight but getting my ass chewed is not the way to do it. I've sent an apology out but have no idea if it will be received well or not. I hate this. And LAST Friday was Friday the 13th, so what is today's excuse?

In a lighter note, I saw a little dog about eight feet from my car on Wednesday night. I thought it was a dog. It acted like a dog.
A car was heading towards me on the street, the canine stepped to my side of the road and waited for the car to pass. I inched along not knowing what it would do. I stopped my car completely and when it turned to look at me, I realized it was a fox, not a dog. HOW COOL! And it slowly loped across the road after it looked both ways and realized I wasn't moving. Smart little fox! I was tickled pink to see that. He/she was so CUTE!

My pole beans are too high, they are taunting me. I look up and there they are dangling there, teasing me and I can't get them. I will plan MUCH better next year.

My kids found some baby snakes. Played with them a bit. They are cute when they are no bigger than a pencil.

LOTS of woolly bear caterpillars lately. And they are so furry! Does that mean we are going to have a very snowy and cold winter?   That's OK because by the end of next week, we will have a NEW WOOD STOVE! I'm thrilled! Excited! Happy! - we've saved and planned a whole year for this. We have someone that it going to fix the chimney and another company that will deliver the stove. It's finally all coming together. And the new stoves have a place to COOK on! I can't wait to try it... then again, I will wait. Why rush winter?

I'm reading a really good book called His Captive by Diana Cosby. Great Scottish historical romance. Usually I can finish a book in short order but life has been getting in the way and I've not been reading like I usually do. But so far, it rocks. She's a new to me author too. I love discovering new authors.

Next week will be the week before school and school has already reared it's demanding head. I have orientations, uniform fittings, meetings with nurses, MD appointments and band camp to deal with. ARGH!

The ONLY movie I was able to bring my kids to see was the new Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore and it rocked!   When asked what their favorite part was, they thought about it....and said THE WHOLE THING! That was a first. There wasn't one part they could pick over another. I guess if I had to pick a summer movie to see, I chose well. :-)

So, that's my update.   Life is a roller coaster and sometimes ...well... I'm in the dip. Can't wait until it travels back up so I can see where the heck I am.
Have a great weekend!

Random Pictures

2010-08-08T21:37:00.000-04:00

Just Mooing Around...

What kind of flower IS this?

Another View of the Mountain

Been a long day. This is about as ambitious as I feel like getting.
And tomorrow is Monday.
Blech!

Looking Back Before Looking Forward

2010-08-07T09:53:00.000-04:00

On top of Mt. Killington, VT

I was looking at my 2007 posts and I can't believe how busy I was!
I did quizzes, notified readers of contests, discovered a book review site, told jokes and plastered a lot of pictures everywhere.
What happened?
Oh yeah, I was no longer a stay-at-home-mom. Huge difference. I went back to work in the fall of that same year and everything went downhill from there.

And it languished. But I can still share pictures!

A quiet moment to reflect

Peeking through Killington's woods

I've been a little more active here than I've been in a year so that's good. I'm trying to make time and it's not easy. I don't think I showed you some of the pictures we got when we went. It was so nice because at the time we took these pictures, it was like we were the only people on the mountain. We got there before the crowds -- they were arriving as we were leaving. So the serenity was undisturbed for us while we were there. Don't you wish you could take the time to smell the pine? And I'm telling you true. Walking through those woods was like walking through a Forest sachet where the scent of pine was as fresh and sharp as a freshly cut Christmas tree, without the snow and cold. *VBG*

May you find your serenity today.

A Baby Bunny Visits

2010-08-04T09:09:00.000-04:00

Our litte furry visitor

Imagine our surprise when we opened the door to find this little guy only four feet away. He stayed and calmly nibbled on the greenery. It wasn't until my eldest had to knock the mud from his sneakers that it hopped away. As it was, it had three humans oohing and ahhing almost from touching distance and it didn't seem to faze it at all. Obviously a VERY young bunny.

This sure beats getting up close and personal with a snake.
**VBG**

Things Change

2010-08-02T09:59:00.001-04:00

Yes indeed... I'm in the process of fixing that which I thought was unfixable.
I think I may be able to separate my identities afterall
::fingers crossed::
but Now I may have to find a new fairy.
LOL

Where's the Fairy?

2010-08-02T07:19:00.000-04:00

Yep, you are probably wondering what happened. Or maybe you're not but I'll tell you about it anyway.

You see, I have this other persona that has become a big part of my life and as that person, I have been itching to comment back but I can't as me,myself. Stupid BLOGGER will not let me separate identities and for some reason I can't have a separate profile. For those of you who have been with me almost since 2005, you'll know me as me. I usually write you off grid anyway in one form or another so this change should not be a big deal. So, M's isn't going to make much sense with new viewers because the name now starts with an X.

As with my new moniker, its actual representation is that flower. It's what I am. Well, no not really, not unless I was an alien. *gg*

So, that's that.
In other news, I was Mz. Suzy Homemaker this weekend. Saturday I made buttermilk blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Sunday I made French Toast for breakfast. Later on, I premade for future use a HUGE batch of lasagna and put it in the freezer. Then I made New England clam chowder - yes from scratch and corn bread, not from scratch. I love those little Jiffy boxes. It's another reason why I need September to arrive fast.

Why? Zumba. After eating all the rich food and having an unnaturally sedentary lifestyle, I need that commitment to movement. I need to Zumba but working nights prevents my attending. I work during when the classes are held. I miss it because I've noticed a massive difference in how I feel about myself and my energy levels. Although this month, I'd not be going anyway. Our instructor and owner of the studio has had major surgery. She'll be back in September. Guess we'll all be starting fresh.

Oh, I picked my first ripened on the vine tomato and it's exciting. My squash plants are languishng, poor things. I have ONE cucumber however and my pole beans are doing great. Speaking of Pole Beans...what possessed me to use poles 12 feet high? I never gave it a thought that I'd have to GET the beans waaay up there!! Must have been a blonde moment.

Have a great week and I hope you don't have any blonde moments of your own. ;-)

LIfe is flat

2010-07-27T09:07:00.004-04:00

Well, it can be.

This morning I woke up chipper and alert. I had my cup of coffee and then my granola cereal. I was putting the finishing touches to my hair and my DH says,

"I hope you're not planning on going anywhere this morning."

Well, yes, yes I was. "Why not?"

"You have a flat tire. A completely flat tire. "

"WHAT?!?" ::cue screech::

I rush out of the house and sure enough - completely without air is my poor, flat as a pancake, tire. The rim is practically touching the dirt it's so flat. ::heaves sigh::

Thank goodness for AAA and their handy dandy tire changing service. SO, instead of taking my kids to see a movie, they get to go to a testosterone laden place to have my tire fixed where grease and oil is the scent du jour.

I suppose it could be worse. It could have been more than one tire, right? ::knocks on wood:: deep breath ::knocks on wood again::
I don't want to jinx myself, you know?

Gee, hope your day is rolling along just fine. Mine will be - and why are those little donut tires so cute?

Highland Games 4th year

2010-07-22T07:02:00.007-04:00

Why did it have to be the HOTTEST day ever for the Highland games?

We made it to the opening ceremonies and I tell you, Mr. Zahn gives me goosebumps when he sings our National Anthem. The man can Sing!

Then we have the clan presentations. And no, I don't have a speck of Scot in me that I know of, darn it. Anyway...it was adorable that this little tyke with his dad tried to keep up with the rest of the drummers. He had his own little drum and he had his own beat. Such a cutie.

Oh yeah, this guy with the rather rough attire. Get this, and I think it's going to crush the fantasies of every romance reader who imagines brawny Scotsmen in kilts and sporrans.

What this guy is wearing is ACTUAL high linen fashion from the Highlanders. A Plaid is actually - and there is a Gaelic word for it that I obviously can't possibly know - a BLANKET - Plaid does NOT refer to a pattern of a clan. Neither is a Kilt, those cute little manly skirts. He told me kilt means "pleated" so a Plaid Kilt or Kilted Plaid is basically a Pleated Blanket! No romance in that! And while discussing weapons of the period, only the broadsword and what he's holding, a battle hammer/axe is authentic. There is this one that would be used for the foot soldiers and a shorter one for those on horseback.

And while discussing weaponry, a Scott in full regalia - modern version, tee hee, stepped up and they started tearing apart the movie, Braveheart. ROTGL- ground laughing since I was outside. lol - anyway, another guy showed up with baseball cap and shades so I was surrounded by all these guys in different dress debating history versus Hollywood. Braveheart was 10% history and 90% Hollywood fiction. Even the face paint that Mel Gibson used hadn't been used in hundreds of years- going back to the Picts. The only things that were consistent with history were the fight scenes and the depiction of the king. Wow. It was a lot of fun being in the middle of that. I learned so much more but how long do you want this post to be? ::snicker::

Anyway, the last picture here is the caber toss... did I at least spell that right this year? I couldn't get close pictures like usual because silly and scatterbrained me forgot my camera!! I forgot to unpack it from vacation so I had to rush to CVS to get a one time use camera. At least I got some but sheesh! I was so disappointed in myself. So, that's my current fun. Hope you are having fun this summer too!

Things in general

2010-07-12T06:58:00.006-04:00

Views from Quichee Gorge,VT

Not sure what kind of bird that was but it was the only wild life brave enough to hang around despite the many people on the other side of the rock outcroppings. Perhaps it had to do with the teeming fish life in the shallows?
Picturesque, isn't it?

I love the look of filtered sunlight through trees - I couldn't go much farther on the trail - poison ivy was rampant.

In general:

Things in general are alright. The summer schedule means I work nights so no more Zumba during the summer. I miss it terribly. By the time I get out of work and make it back home, Zumba class is over or almost over. For this reason, I'm looking forward to September.

Summer is nice, but what do YOU look forward to at the start of autumn?

Coffee - a morning ritual

2010-07-03T07:57:00.003-04:00

So, here I am.
In a motel.
Drinking substandard coffee.
Even two sugars didn't make it palatable.
But when you are desperate and it's all you have, then the taste is Nirvana.

Is there some unspoken motel law that states that pipes are loud.
That people get up at 5AM and shower and we hear EVERYTHING?
That all the coffee, filters and fixings come in cellophane wrapping that sounds
louder than a bugle and ricochets off the walls until we ALL are up?

And that there is nothing on T.V. that is appropriate for kids to watch and we end up watching a John Wayne movie, The Horse Riders, which made absolutely NO sense to me? I still don't understand the POINT of the movie. Some one want to clue me in??

And was 'some one' supposed to be one word?

And electrical sockets! How come they are all on the opposite side of the room from a table so I can't even use my computer in comfort? NooOOOoo, I'm on a bed, trying to balance things while trying to ignore Jimmy Neutron and now Fairly Odd Parents. I swear, vacations can make your brain de-evolve. Maybe that is why it's relaxing?? ::SNORT::

I simply MUST visit a book store at some point to reassert my sanity.

In the meantime, Happy 4th of July all. Hope your plans provide entertainment while being safe at the same time. And may you still get quality SLEEP. Since I didn't get much last night, it's high on my To-Do list. ;-)

That's just GROSS

2010-06-27T05:56:00.003-04:00

I'm here to tell you another difference between males and females.

The males in my household were loading the dishwasher. A rather rambunctious and stupid fly zoomed into the dishwasher just as the door was being closed.

The guys saw it.
Closed the door anyway, and kept it closed.
Started the dishwasher.

Part way through, they opened the door, peered in and saw the fly floating in the sudsy water.

What did they do?

Left it.

Left it and closed the door and let the dishwasher finish its cycle. With a DEAD FLY INSIDE.

They didn't think anything about it.
It will go down the drain port.
It will be hot enough to sterilize anything in there, no worries. No problems. It's all clean.

THEY. LEFT. A . DEAD. FLY. IN. MY. DISHWASHER. AND. WASHED. MY. DISHES, AND FRIGGEN NEVER TOLD ME UNTIL THEY WERE ALL UNLOADED AND IN USE!!!!

If it were me, the lone female in the household, I would have done one of two things.

Let the fly back out.
OR
Scooped out the dead insect and let the hot water and soap sterilize and clean my dishes as it should.

But, I would NEVER ever wash dishes with a dead bug!

And they STILL don't see anything wrong with what they did.

What would YOU have done?

Time - it's a kid thing

2010-06-07T07:02:00.003-04:00

What do I mean?
If you are a parent, then you know.
Time is measured by how much your kids change year to year. They are the visual marker of time's passage.
Until they stop growing out of shoes and clothes, they keep you hopping, wondering and running.

On Sunday, my nephew graduated from High School. I remember when he was 2 years old (I have the cutest picture of him back then )and now he's 18. He's changed and grown and matured to become a very level-headed, handsome and funny young man. And he can do a stare contest like no tomorrow. lol.

It made me proud to be his aunt, and it astounded me that I'm so ....well...old. But that's what life's journey is all about. We don't stay static and kids insure that.

Hope your day is full of wonderful revelations too!

The Sentinal Ant protects his Aphids

2010-05-27T19:09:00.001-04:00

What a busy place it is on the tip of a tree branch.

The Storm blew this way and that

2010-05-27T19:03:00.003-04:00

ALL TOO EASILY, THAT TREE COULD HAVE DECIDED TO LET GO ON OUR DRIVEWAY.

AS IT IS, IT WENT OVER ONTO OUR NEIGHBOR'S. I MADE SUPPER WHILE THE REST OF THE FAMILY HELPED THE LONE WOMAN AND HER TRUSTY CHAIN SAW GET THE JOB DONE. IT WAS GOOD TO SHOW MY KIDLETS WHAT BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOR IS ALL ABOUT. THESE PICS ARE BUT A MEMORY NOW - THE ONLY STUFF LEFT ARE LEAVES, TWIGS AND DEBRIS. BET MOST AREAS COMMUNITIES WISH IT WERE SO EASY TO CLEAN UP THEIR MESSES. MANY AREAS HAD TO CLOSE ALL SCHOOLS DUE TO TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. I THINK WE WERE VERY VERY LUCK....

WHAT BUG DO THESE EGGS BELONG TO????

2010-05-27T19:00:00.001-04:00

A London Werewolf in America - I read it

2010-05-25T11:50:00.005-04:00

I recently read a book whose very title had me interested in reading it.

I saw the movie, American Werewolf in London years ago. So what kind of story could the reverse be about? A fine romance, if I may say so. I liked it enough to write a review.

What do you think??

Title: A London Werewolf in America
Author: Pat Cunningham
Publisher: Siren Bookstrand
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length - #pages : 227

Review: The answer to what does a werewolf and a witch have in common is nothing and everything. Finding out what they do have in common and how they get to that point is a great read.

Darinda is the heroine. And she does earn the title of heroine because of all the things she has to do to keep herself alive as well as the hero. She doesn’t do martial arts, she doesn’t use a gun nor does she have to act like she’s got something to prove. She’s an ordinary woman living in a supernatural world and she just happens to have a bit of magic about her. Her familiar is deceptive and affective – just wait until the plot gets really hot – her friends are varied, funny or helpful, and she has a way with cards. She also has bucketfuls of integrity and loyalty which serve to not only garner respect from this reader as well as the hero, but serve to ratchet up the sensual tease and heat during the courtship. Not that she sees it as that, nor was it meant to be a mating intent. Just by the way she acts, the decisions she makes and the friends she’s made, she put herself in a position to be accepted by the very people who shun humans as being less than them. Darinda perseveres because she’s got guts, class and doesn’t run from the truth of her feelings. I enjoyed her character.

Roderick is a werewolf. In this world that Ms. Cunningham has created, humans are considered inferior but no less important as diversions, technological and societal movers and shakers which allow the supernatural communities to blend in and benefit from -- much to the detriment of some of the characters in this story. As for Roderick, he’s a misplaced alpha being forced to do as his mom says. His mother makes Mommy Dearest look like Mrs. Brady from the Brady Bunch. How he managed to stay sane and not become a bully is a testimony to his character and the strength of his inner alpha. I absolutely enjoyed the slow, gradual buildup of his character’s falling in love with Darinda. Being a guy, Were or not, he messes up and thinks with his partner ‘down South’, which presented this reader with some wonderful insight into both Roderick and Darinda.

The conflict is internal – want vs. oath, and external – who is trying to kill everybody? The mystery dogs their footsteps and Darinda ends up doing a lot of the sleuthing. It was refreshing to see a woman in a strong role without losing her femininity or brains. The villains are well couched in distraction and misleading clues, yet the author drops little hints along the way. Not that I figured it out until Ms. Cunningham wanted me to. It was a fascinating reveal. And something happened that totally caught me and one of the characters completely by surprise. I enjoy being astounded.

I thought the writing was tight, the dialogue flowed smooth and true to character, and the sensual dance between Roderick and Darinda as they fell in love was page flipping – will she or won’t she? I thought the secondary characters were well placed and described, and each contributed to the plot and story overall. I giggled when it was revealed just who Darinda was named after. In fact, her pixie buddy and her cat were oftentimes amusing and great fun in the scenes they appeared. I smiled many times throughout this story.

If this were to appear on a review site: I'd rate it a 4 1/2 on whatever scale they use if it's 1 out of 5. So, I'd say I was pretty happy with it. And when I'm happy with/about a book, I share. It's one of My Favorite things.

:-)

Tim Hawkins- Old Rock Star Songs

2010-04-16T17:15:00.000-04:00

TELL ME YOU DIDN'T SNORT AND GUFFAW AFTER HEARING SOME OF THIS. COME ON, THIS IS GENIUS!!

Last time I zipped

2010-04-16T16:33:00.003-04:00

This time I'll stroll

First, what is it with all the scam comments my blog is getting? How annoying.
Second, What is it with winter? Give it up already! Let the seventy degree temps reign.

I re-read Raising Havoc by Lori Foster. It's as great the second time as the first.
I just bought, Coyote's Mate AND Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh. AND Sandra Hill has FINALLY come out with a new Viking one, Viking in Love. Woot! I love her sense of humor. That new line about Pink Ice was ..eh.. ok..but her Vikings have always entertained me. My only groaner is that I cannot read these yet. I have to save them for when I go on vacation. Do you have ANY idea how hard that is to do?

I've been reading the Cat Star Chronicles by Cheryl Brooks and I cannot get enough of them. They rock my world. Then again, Terry Spear is nothing to sneeze at. She has wolf stories that make me care about the characters. Enjoyment abounds.

I have been going to ZUMBA for over two months now and I LOVE TO ZUMBA!!!
I lost 8 pounds from doing it but it's the contagious and outrageous fun and excitement generated by the owner of the studio that really inspires me to try harder and Woot and Holler and Yahoo louder. She's an amazing lady.
She just got certified in Zumba Toning and after my first class my butt screamed for three days! Yeouch! but of course I went back for more.
I just got word that she's planning a surprise ladies night with food and everything. She's just not saying what the highlight will be. No, not anything with men dancing, darn it. It's going to be a saucy but nice surprise. I'm just thrilled to do things that are geared towards women. It's great being a mom and all that but I like to do fun things for me. If I feel fun, I AM fun.

Oh, yes. The Neti Pot. Don't anyone scoff at its use. It works. Sounds weird and gross but dang if it doesn't work wonders.

I'm on Facebook. I think you know that. And I'm a Bejeweled addicted nut. I don't play the apps like I used to but that Bejeweled Blitz is only a minute. Who doesn't have a minute or two or TWENTY to play? LOL - yeah, time creeps away from you when you play that game.

Oh, I had another short 1200 word story Epubbed. And I have a great WIP that I'm working on. Maybe I should say it's Good ... it'll be GREAT when I finish it. LOL

Well, that's all the conversation I have to impart today. Except for wishing that SPAM comments would just stay the heck away from my blog. Sure I don't post as often as I used to but it is STILL my blog and I don't like trash being posted in my comments. I don't think ANYONE does...why can't they leave us alone?
Pesky rodent spammers.
Bronx cheer to them all.

zipping through

2010-01-12T15:38:00.002-05:00

Yep, just zipping through to say

OH my Gosh, they are making the A-TEAM into a movie? And they sort of found actors
that have hints of the originals?
And oh my gosh, who IS that ripped guy they showed in the trialer?
OOOH WOW!
I HAVE to go see that movie!

and that new Jackie Chan movie looks funny. Reminds me of the Pacifier a bit, but that's OK, I liked that movie too.

Happy New Year.

Hope you are staying warm. It's been cold and windy and not conducive to snowman making, or snow balls.

I'm currently reading the latest Kim Harrison book. It's taking me awhile because I'm fitting it in amongst other things going on.

I'm joining Zumba soon - I go for my weigh-in this Saturday. It's a six week course and I hope it makes a difference for me.

Some totally stupid jokes to share::

***What do you call a fish with no eyes?
A fsh

***Two snowmen are standing in a field. One says to the other : "Funny, I smell carrots too".

I love Redneck jokes:

***You think taking a bubble bath starts with eating beans for dinner.

My Favorite Cat Quotes:

Anything not nailed down is a cat toy

Cat - a small furry organism with a tropism for where it's not wanted

Cats are smarter then dogs. You can't teach eight cats to pull a sled.

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything has a function

Cats are Zen made Fur -- Jo Godwin

Cat Creed: Everything here is mine

Dogs come when called. Cats take a message and get back to you

**********

I fell on the ice last week. My Chiro said I 'bounced'. That means I gave myself whiplash. Have to go back next week after swelling goes down. I can't wait until winter is over. Ick.

I sewed a button yesterday. OK..so what you say. BIG so what, sew what? LOL
I'd been buttonless for over 2 months. It took me that long to sit in one place long enough to have the patience to sew a button. And hem the coat and restitch the cowl flappy big part on the coat. I love my coat though. It's big, long, black and wool.
It looks like I should walk around with a latern and respond to being called
John Coachman.
LOL

And , a question. Do Moose Tracks go in single file like a cat's???

OK..zipping back out. Hope all is well with you!

A Man who can COOK

2009-12-05T14:51:00.004-05:00

I can just swoon.

I love him on romance book covers.

But what he does to food? Oh my Gosh. The part when he makes a fennel salad was too fast. I wanted to SEE how to prepare that. I've never had fennel. Seeds, sure, but as a veggie?
Wow, never crossed my mind.

And his smile? **le swoon**
And his wife? Can we say TALENT? How she decorates is totally awesome.
I have woods behind my house and I've NEVER thought to USE them in decorating.

It's got me thinking.

Watch his episodes.
I envy his pots and pans. I want them. Now those are tools to cook with!

I'm feeling low on iron

2009-12-01T21:02:00.002-05:00

So I took this quiz.
It's been a LONG time since I've posted a quiz.
LOL

Ready for my results?

Your result for The What's Your Signature Weapon Test...

Greatsword

You preferred a weapon with 51% power over speed and 49% range over melee.

You use a Greatsword.

Do the words Zweihander or Flamberge mean anything to you? You prefer a Greatsword, a massive, heavy blade frequently strong enough to cut down the rides of mounted warriors. Though slow, the impressive length and heft of a greatsword makes it capable even of breaking through armor. Your enemies will run from the deadly arcs of your blade as you bear down on them.

Take The What's Your Signature Weapon Test at OkCupid

Now, All I need is a Highlander or someone equally savvy with these things to teach me the ropes. LOL
IF I could lift the silly things.
<>

Our Class' Weapons Instructor

2009-10-26T09:32:00.005-04:00

Here are two videos of what I got to see yesterday. And what I had a chance to shoot with. I don't think my form was as good as his. <> At least YOU don't have to wear earguards and safety goggles to view these. LOLOL

I Fired my First Gun Today!

2009-10-25T16:44:00.005-04:00

Yes I did and it was awesome!

Today was my class's day at the shooting range.

I got to fire a pistol, an AR-15
, a 12 gauge shotgun AND ...

A GLOCK!
Just like I read about in my favorite romantic suspense novels.

And get this.
Out of our class of 30, 15 showed up for the practice. And of those 15, five were women and all of us had never ever shot a weapon.

AND... ::drum roll please::

I was the ONLY female to get THREE out of four of the steel targets!! ME!!!
I can't believe it! I've never fired a weapon before in my life.
It was fun.
It was exciting.

And...I drew blood. My own.
LOL

You see, with a pistol, you have to hold it just right and keep your thumbs out of range of that slider piece on the top. Well, I sort of forgot and the top of my knuckle got skinned. Bled for three hours. Thank goodness I had a tissue to use to absorb all that red stuff. *g*

I view it as a badge of courage. I mean, I fired a GUN. WOOT!

When I was firing the AR-15, the instructor said, "Wow, don't let me ever get on your bad side." tee hee... there were five rounds to fire and each one went into the neck area. Not the torso, not the bulls eye, oh nooooo, I go for full stoppage.

I did take some pics. I'll have to load them on the other computer so I can post a few here.

Honestly, it was THE most fun I've had in a long long time.

And I just had to write all about it.

<<*VBG*>>

My nightmare

2009-09-26T16:03:00.004-04:00

Yep. That describes my whole day.
DH was gone so I was all alone to enjoy the crisis.

Today I woke up with high hopes. Eldest was going to march in his first parade.
I bought his 'farmer' outfit, I had the chairs, the water bottle and the money for the rides all set. We were going to go to the fair after the parade. We even had ideal beautiful sunny yet cool-ish weather. Perfection.

All went well. I didn't think too much about youngest's wish to walk all the way up the main road until he came to the street his buddy lived on.
I should have.
All was fun and entertaining until my son and his band came by playing a very fun song. The first inkling of disaster came when I realized 1- he had NO idea where we were sitting to find us. 2- he was supposed to go back to the school to pick up his instrument case after they were done, to go by bus and be picked up from there.

Big issue with #2. My car was in a lot that I could not get out of because of the parade. HOW would I get him? He'd be left standing at this school for over 1 1/2 hours until I"d be able to go and get him?

And I had another child to think of. What do I DO? Beg the father of other child that my youngest was talking to and ask if my kid could stay there. He said yes and within a minute, I'm doing a brisk walk down the main street trying to catch up with the band, to get him before he boards that shuttle.

I make it. I also have to decide to have him leave the case at the school and hope it's there for him come Monday. Monday I'll have to figure out HOW to transport a trumpet without a case on a school bus. One nightmare at a time.

Now, we have to walk all the way back up to where I left my other kid. My eldest sees the buddy he's going to spend some time with at the fair and says'Mom, I need money." I give it to him and I said, I'll meet you at her shop!

Parade ends and I have to carry the chair and my youngest has to carry his chair and his hoard of candy he got from the parade participants. He loves it when they throw candy because most of it is peanut-free. It's so nice.

We get there and I have to drive out of the parking lot to find another parking lot closer to the fair. Still a decent amount of walking, but doable, until I realize that I have to walk from the new parking lot (at our local bank) to the shop. By the time I got there and dodged people, horses and more people, the shop was closed and the mom was just about to leave. My son and hers had already left for the fair across the street. I never had a chance to talk to him. Don't ask me if I talked to him when we were walking up earlier. I can't talk and walk - I"m that out of shape.

So, I and my youngest go to the fair. The next hour was pleasant. We went on the Scrambler and the Tilt 0'Whirl and a few others. We bumped into my son twice. Both times I tried to tell him, to remind him where our meeting place was and both times, he ran off with his buddy, never hearing me and a sea of people closed in between us and I lost sight of him.

And I really lost sight of him when it came time for meeting at the rendezvous spot and he's not there. Nor does he show up. I lost him. For over an hour I looked. I went to the police and the fair's Lost & Found and went to every person I knew who I knew, knew what my eldest looked like.

Eventually, he was found by one of the mom's I'd asked for help from. Thank Goodness.
So, after crying and feeling completely, totally emotionally wrung out like a wet dish rag, I said, we're going home now.

Except, we could not.

Remember I had to find another parking lot closer to the fair grounds??
Well get this.

AS I TYPE THIS , MY CAR IS STILL THERE!

The attendents allowed my car to get boxed in and I could not leave!
I had to call my DH to come and get us.

And.
Just now?
DH just found out that our boiler is leaking. A valve or something let go.

CAN THIS DAY GET ANY WORSE????

What a loss

2009-09-14T21:05:00.002-04:00

I just heard that Patrick Swayze died.
He was only 57!!
What a loss.
I loved him in Ghost and Dirty Dancing. I think everyone has either seen the movies or at least heard of them. They defined an age.

He will be missed.

*************
I don't feel chatty right now.
I'll get back to you as to how the Citizen's Police Acadamy is going.
So far, we toured the station and got to look into the police cars.
We got an overview of what we'll be hearing and seeing.
It's not a surprise that the first class ran over 30 minutes longer.
LOL
Lots to ask questions about, that's for sure!
TTYL

I'm Allergic to What?

2009-09-07T08:47:00.003-04:00

That's my question.
I just got those Disney Freeze Dried Fruit thingys for my kids.
You know, thinking it was a good healthy alternative to candy?
I tried the pears.
Youngest HATED them, said they tasted 'yucky'.

So, not one to let things go to waste if I can help it, I ate three.
And lived to regret it.

It came upon me so fast!
Mouth, tongue, gums, back of throat..a burning itch that reached
a screeching crescendo.
Sure, I have an Epi-Pen.
But I didn't get the sensation that I was having a systemic reaction.
I DID get that I was having a reaction that made me want to have a mouth transplant.

I raced downstairs, poured a cup of black coffee and searing my mouth and throat
with its heat, fresh off the burner, I downed half the cup.

I'm better. Throat is a little sore. Not known if it's from the allergic reaction
or the hot coffee.
I don't care.
At least I'm not having the horrid feeling any longer.
So, what I would like to know is.. WHAT AM I ALLERGIC TO IN FRUIT? DRIED PROCESSED FRUIT AT THAT?

You see, most fruit, once processed, doesn't bother me any longer. Fresh apples, pears, peaches, plums; all make my mouth itch. But this itch was exponentially increased. Yikes!

On the book front.
Read the final book in Emma Holly's Fitz Clare trilogy. Oooooh, I do like Graham. At first I thought it was Edmund who was the star. How clever that it's not. Seems throughout, I got to see Graham grow and evolve as a character. The last book finally gave him his HEA.

Emma is very sneaky.

Yep, kids are back in school and a different sort of chaos ensues.
The fight with the school system will continue.

Oh, the good news. That Zonagram medicine..even though it has the unfortunate side affect of suicidal thoughts, seems to be the ONLY medicine that has any affect at all on my youngest's epilepsy. Depacote, Depakote? ... did nothing.
All that tutoring during the summer I think helped. And in two weeks we'll continue it for a month since the first 2 months of school is usually a recap from the previous year. I think he'll catch up. He's a smart boy. :-)

OOH, and I'm a JAFRA consultant again! Yep, I re-upped. I really missed their products.

Whereas a lot of companies that sell perfumes and skin care and body oils use man-made chemicals to simulate the wonderful smells in nature, JAFRA is botanically based and their products have NEVER EVER caused my asthma to kick in. I've never had that choking sensation, like my breath is trapped in my throat, with any of their scents. So, I'm a big fan because of that. Do you realize they've been around 53 years? Yet loads of women and men have never heard of them!

Oh..and my DH is like,incredibly difficult to find cologne scents for. Most over the counter colognes require him to take a bath in them just for the scent to last most of the day. You can imagine how fast a guy can go through an 8oz. bottle while having to do that.
Not so with JAFRA. Nope. Four quick spritzes and he's good to go. And the bottle lasts for up to three Months, not one. I'm all for better value for the dollar. Especially during these times.

I'm a happy camper.

Oh! Oh! Oh!
And guess what? I was accepted to take part in our town's Citizens Police Academy!
Is that cool or what? I can't wait to start. It's very official and serious but I'm excited too!

So, that's my update. Lots of stuff going on and for a nice change, most of it is pretty darned good.
::knock on wood::

TTYL!

You think Monday was Bad? HA

2009-08-20T21:34:00.002-04:00

Tuesday was another adventure in Life's Chaos.

Upon bringing the sitter home, my eldest holds out his glasses and says,
"Look, Mom!"
And holds out his new opera glasses.

Seems his eye glass bar, or whatever they're called, snapped right off.
We were supposed to LEAVE Wednesday night!

What eye glass place can not only order them but make them in Less than 24 hours?
Seems my local town does.

It was a 90+ degree day. Seems the little place's A/C was broken. We walked in and lo! turns out that if we waited 38 minutes in the sweltering heat, they actually had an eye guy there who actually took his insurance and had a cancellation! Not only that but with ten minutes to spare the next day before they closed their doors, we dropped by and picked up a New pair of glasses with a new prescription. Talk about service! Talk about Small town excellence. Talk about being really really LUCKY.

But honestly, think about all the crap that's been thrown at me in my family in a very short amount of time. It's amazing we're still sane. LOL

So, here I am... in a room, on a bay where I saw a dolphin play in its waters.
How relaxing.

It's amazing to be in a strange place and still have Internet, in my bed where I can look out over an ocean bay. Now if only the kids would stop jumping on the bed.
Reminds me of that book...Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed..except I only have two.
But that's enough. **VBG**

I figure, things have to be better. We went through so much to get here.
Oh and I got some great books!
I started reading an old story... The Forever Kiss by Angela Knight. Not that I've read it before but I guess it's been out for awhile. I hope it's good.

AND, I found the latest Christine Feehan book, the latest in her Drake Sister's series. I hope that is as good as the rest.

Right now, the Pacifier is on and I enjoy that story a LOT. Must be the Navy SEAL that Vin Diesel portrays. Anyway, that's the scoop!
Have a great Weekend!

My Day Went FUBAR

2009-08-17T20:30:00.004-04:00

Oh yeah, it did, in a big way.
Thank goodness I have a blog. I can VENT.

My day started when I left at 8AM.
Tutor at 8:30 - 10AM
Trumpet 9:30AM
MD appt 11:30
Car repair 1PM

It's that car repair that made everything else go FUBAR. I want to scream.
Ever hear of a domino affect?
Oh yeah, it's real.

Made it with a minute to spare for the 1PM car appt. Seems when we had the tires installed, one of the mechanics was a little too happy with that little automatic screwer-on thing, and stripped one of the lug nuts.
We went to have the car aligned.
The tech had the bolt snap off in his hand.
So, it needs to be tapped out and another replaced.
We were assured it's a 45 minute job.
HA

Today, we waited 2 HOURS for it to actually be brought into the bay.
30 minutes later the guy comes out and says, Gee, we can't do it today.
You have to come back and LEAVE the CAR!
They don't provide loaners.
We were going on a long trip and were going to use the car.
He says...oh, you should be alright to use the car, but the manufacturer did put five lug nuts on there for a reason. You should be safe enough but before you start back..re-tighten all the nuts to make sure they are secure.

Hello! Who wants to go 65-70MPH down a highway with even the thought of a possibility that your tire will pass you on the road???

I work. My DH works. And the guy tells me it will take a Minimum 2 HOURS to even do the job, the whole hub assembly needs to come off to do the repair.
That's not counting the time it takes to get IN the bay!
Who can sit on their ass all day like that?
Who can afford to rent a car to add More of an expense on top of car repair?
Just so you don't have to wait for hours with Two Kids!
Not fair, Not fair, not fair.

Sooo, we have to rent a car. Now we have to cut a day off of our mini vacation. We don't even get to take full weeks anymore. We were going to have 4 days, now it's down to three.
Sucks... big time.

And here's the domino affect. The rental car needs to be returned Monday AM. Then, since we will be leaving my blasted car over vacation at the car repair shop, we have to go and pick up my car at the repair shop for when they open at 8AM. BUT I'm supposed to have Tutor at 8:30AM and Trumpet at 9:30 Am and the thing you need to realize?

The car rental is in one city, the car repair is across the river in another city and the Tutor is in a different town 55 minutes away in the other direction.

::bangs head::

All because of a stripped lug nut! Make sure, any of you, that when someone uses that automatic screw-on thingy, they are not overzealous or YOU will end up having a FUBAR day too.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

An Actor Makes His Own Mark

2009-08-10T16:44:00.003-04:00

A couple of years ago, through this very blog, I connected with an up and coming actor, Mr. Nate Golon.

He's been busy since then, learning and honing his craft in his chosen career. It's a tough road but he's determined, energetic and always looking for that edge that will propel him towards his goal.

I'm proud to announce and share a milestone with you. He's been hard at work and is an integral part of a new Internet series that has its debut this week.

Please check out this link: WORKSHOP SERIES

If you are a longstanding reader, you may remember Nate from way back when.
Let me know if you spotted him because he IS in there...live, in color and with his charming and high-wattage smile totally in view.

Have fun!

Find the Happy in Botany

2009-07-20T11:39:00.005-04:00

OK...a bit of nature too. LOL....

Some posts just do not need words, since nature tends to express herself so well.
Take some time and marvel.
You'll be glad you did.

Haggis Rocks!

2009-07-19T08:22:00.008-04:00

Well, you don't have to agree with me. LOL
Yes, I ate haggis at the Scottish Festival.
When the vender suggested I eat my haggis puff with some steak sauce, I only put a dab at the corner. EWWWW.

I like my haggis straight And they make the BEST fish and chips there. Sure it's a bit pricey, but we budgeted for this. I look forward to this every year. This is the third year in a row we've gone.

And I got my airbrush tatoo too.

I took some awesome pics of the caber toss and the weight throwing contest. Can you imagine throwing a metal ball weighing 65 pounds, overhead behind you, up and over a 14 foot height? Yep, that's what they do. Well, try anyway. Tee hee

Did you ever see the bicep width of these guys? Hmmmmm.

.

OH and did you notice? Under the kilt? Just a regular ol' pair of athletic shorts. *sigh*

Like I said... it's HARD to throw that kind of weight backwards. HOW do they train for THAT?
Whoa.
Is it any wonder these are my favorite things to see?

What's up?

2009-07-17T08:41:00.003-04:00

Not much except clouds and bees.

What do you see when YOU look up?

Anyway...I love my library. Yeah, I know, I've said that before. But I borrowed some books on general laptop info and I discovered the Fn key! What a handy little button!

I've been able to get a few green beans from my garden, lettuce and peas. I'm sharing my chard with the mustard colored slugs. Guess what? They are compact little critters and they fly really far when you throw them. I can't kill them...ewwwww! So...I give them permission to sprout wings and if they can fly back to my chard, they can have it.
I'm fair.

I just remembered something ...

I saw this guy in a pick-up truck drift over to the rumble strip on the highway the other day... I estimate he was going about 60 MPH. Do you know why he drifted? Nope, he was not drunk. He was on a cell phone. As much as I don't like another law being passed to tell us what to do for our own benefit...texting and talking on the cell has become an epidemic of ridiculous proportions.
I would have thought that taking your eyes off of the road longer than it takes to sneeze would be avoided, as in common sense. As in, realizing that a driver has the responsibility to maintain control of his/her vehicle at all times and be aware of their surroundings and react accordingly.

Their first thought should be that they are in a mobile weapon, capable of maiming, destroying or seriously injuring people, property or animals and drive with respect to that.
Their LAST thought should be who is calling, must answer the call or " OOH, look at that accident, I simply HAVE to text/call (insert unlucky name) and tell them all about it!"

Because people have increasingly put their phone first and safety last, now laws have to be written to correct people's inherent stupidity and arrogance - It can't happen to me, I can do three things at once, I'm always in control, you can't tell me what to do, it's my phone, my car, my decision.

No, it's not. Not when it affects too many other drivers and pedestrians who innocently believe you are alert, in control and and are paying attention beyond the thing held in your hand or attached to your ear. Driving is a skill.
You can't hunt bear while on a cell phone, that kind of inattention will get you eaten.
You can't jog a marathon while talking on a cell phone, you'll lose; not enough regulated breathing to moderate your pace.
A painter/artist cannot paint/sculpt or create the next masterpiece while talking on a cell phone.
It will look like one of those paint by numbers jobs by a four year old.

Why then, why do people think they are doing a great job of DRIVING when they are talking/texting on a cell phone?

Can you tell me??

Quick

2009-07-07T05:59:00.003-04:00

Hey!
I went to mountainous, rainy Vermont over the 4th of July weekend.
They had a Triathalon at Killington.
I actually got to see hunky guys running.
Downhill.
So they went fast.
I was eating breakfast at the time and we had a window seat.
So I guess you could say I had a room with a view.
lol
But DH and the kiddos were with me. I had to keep a fork in my mouth.

***
I brought my laptop with me. How fun it was to type away IN my room!
I didn't have to suffer watching stupid TV. Blech.
****
Did you know that if you check the chair cushions in your hotel/motel room, you stand a good chance of finding loose change?
I didn't.
Until the kids found enough, bored donchaknow, to play some video games in the arcade.
Go figure.
******
Did you know that Killington, which is famous in the area for skiing, is a hot spot for mountain biking?
I kid you not. Hot guys came down splattered with mud. It was so caked on at times, you couldn't see their butts. OK, so I exaggerate, you could see them, but they WERE totally muddied.
And sexy.
It's all that protective gear they wear, makes them look like warriors. Very cool.

OK..that's my drive by post as I rush off to work.
Have a terrif day!

Rain

2009-07-02T06:31:00.003-04:00

It's raining
Again.
What's up with that?
No. Wait. It comes down.
What's down with that?
Flooding.
My okra rotted.
Of nine plants, only two survive.
I'm bummed.

Humid weather wrecks havoc.
I bought a watermelon.
Left it on the floor of my kitchen.
What?
It was BIG!
Anyway, my youngest says, "Mom! Something spilled!"

Um...nope. Something split.
Said watermelon had had a rough patch on it and that patch was a blemish
which allowed for early rotting.
It split.
Brownish slimey goo had sneaked out of this crack and oozed its way into a puddle.
EWWWWWW!

So....heave ho!

It was only five days. Sheesh.
I've had them there for a week and a half and be perfectly fine!

Oh...plans for 4th of July.
Yes, I have some.
Yes, I will take pictures.
Dang if they are STILL predicting rain!

What's up with that?
Ah, Right.
Down, I'm Down with that!
Happy DRY 4th of July to everyone!

I'm a cricket, Hear Me Chirp

2009-06-29T20:26:00.002-04:00

A very quiet Chirp.
You see, I'm going to try to be a better blogger.
Even if I have nothing to say, I'll try to pop in every few days and tell you about nothing just so you have something to see about nothing, so you won't get used to seeing the same nothing every day. So that's something.
So, as you can imagine, I have nothing to say.
I'll make something up.

The sun actually made an appearance today. Yay~
I saw a live bunny.
A dead Opossum.
I almost hit a deer - jumped right in front of my car about 4PM in the afternoon. Man, they bound FAST.
My kids found two snakes while looking for their missing soccer ball. Never found the ball but the snakes were cool.
We had a second person die of Swine Flu in my state this week.
I am sorry Billie Mays died..he was young, but I won't miss his yelling delivery. I got very stressed listening to him. I DO like Oxy-clean however.
I'll miss Michael Jackson. I grew up listening to his music the same time as the Osmonds.
I feel my mortality creeping up.
How much gray hair do you allow before you start coloring it?
And do people really pick their noses when no one is looking?
Betcha they do!

So, that's it. A whole lotta nothin' to fill this blog with something.
Aren't you glad you dropped by?
;-)

Why?

2009-06-28T10:26:00.005-04:00

Why do kids have to go through things that break a parent's heart?
Why are there things we absolutely cannot protect them from?

My little one? His seizures are still not under control, despite being on the highest dose he can be on the current medication. So, they've added a second.

Last Monday he had 24 hour ambulatroy EEG. It showed 26 seizures in that period. ON medication. Can you imagine how many he must have been having before he was diagnosed? That is why he was failing school. If the seizures can last up to 8 seconds...and he lost whatever instruction was going on directly preceeding the incident, day in and day out throughout the school year, it's amazing he learned anything at all! I mean, I 'd heard Absance Seizures/Petit Mal can occur up to 100 times a day; guess it's true,

This second medicine comes with scary side affects so I'm watching him close.

IN other, better news...

We went to our local farmer's market this past week. The local farm that sells meat products was serving up cooked burgers and it was supper time, so we decided to eat there. This elderly guy walks up with his own half eaten burger and tells me and my kids, "You are going to love your hamburgers. I swear it's the best I ever had! But I don't think I have enough money to buy another one. Let me check"

He proceeds to count out four one dollar bills and folds them in half. "You know?, he says, " I could have sworn I had a bit more money than this."

When he Unfolded the dollar bills, they had all changed to TWENTY Dollar bills!! The guy was a MAGICIAN! How cool was that? VERY. And, the hambergers were pretty darned good. LOL

Later on, after we ate our burgers, one of my kids turned to me and said" No insult, Mom, but their burgers Really Are Better."

Um...gee thanks. :-)

*************

My last post, I had mentioned that I"d post a pic of my son's scorpion project. Here it is. He got an A. I'm proud of him. :-)

Meow

2009-06-01T20:20:00.002-04:00

First, before I say what I was purring about, I will say in reference to the previous post, no, I don't have pictures yet. The scorpions are still drying. When the clay is sturdy enough to pick up, I'll place them in better lighting. So, stay tuned for that. If you are interested. :-)

As for Meow. I just got a sneak peak at the new New Moon trailer, the next in the Twilight series and I have to say, WOW, Jacob sure got buff! I had heard the actor worked on getting into the role he has to play since he has a bigger part in the second book. But oh my! Meow indeed! And they wanted to replace him? Are they Nuts???
He's perfect as Jacob! IMHO

Also, I feel bad for Susan Doyle. I also think it's understandable. I mean, talk about condensed chaos! When she first came on the scene, she was spunky, enthusiastic and clearly loved what she was doing. She was there to do something she loved and clearly, as we all now know, was good at. Still is.

I cannot imagine anyone, thrust into the media fray as she was, coming away from this unscathed. The scrutiny, the constant barrage of media talking at her or about her and when it turned nasty...nasty sells as we all know...it got to her. This woman, following a dream, was very sheltered from the crap that is paparazzi and Glam. She has no rhinoceros thick skin against the trade, she has no experience with people being two-faced to such a heighten scale. I know I would not. I'd be mentally, emotionally and physically drained too.

I sincerely hope that she gets her second wind, her love for singing just for the sake of it returns and she someday reaches her ultimate dream, to sing before the Queen. Susan deserves it just for being brave enough to start the journey in front of millions in the first place. IMHO.

And she most Certainly, has talent. So there.
**********************

I'm in withdrawal. I've not read a book in a week. I have 2 I have to read and 3 I have to review, but for a TBR pile? I have none. Sometimes, I think it is a curse to read so darned fast. And what is the difference between the 2 I have to read when I say I have nothing to read? Doesn't make sense does it? But, it does. To me. You see, I have no PRINT books to read, to hold, to inhale that sweet smell of paper and ink and to sigh over a partially dressed man in close up detail - if he's yummy enough that is. What's a girl to do?

****************
I had red rice the other day at a restaurant. My question: Is red rice Really Red? Or is it dyed?

Ah, Monday. It's almost over. Chaos reigns for the rest of the week. How'd I get so lucky?

Men and Clay

2009-05-31T08:22:00.002-04:00

I am greatly amused by man.

What is it with men and clay?

Youngest has a scorpion project. Has to do a report on it's habitat and the scorpion cannot be a store bought plastic toy. Nope. It can be made with anything you want, but it has to be homemade.

I had to work so I asked my DH to help out youngest. Good gravy!
It became "The Project"

He SHOPPED for the right clay,
He ORGANIZED the items he'd need; stood there and basically said, "Rally the troups, I need...rattled off a long list of stuff that had me scurrying all over the place to find the stuff. Why me? I seem to be the ONLY person who knows Where Everything Important Is In The House.
Married Women or Women who do Domestic Sharing the world over, know of this syndrome.

Then he referred to the pile of books I picked out from the library.
Obvioulsy, I chose wisely. There was the perfect detailed picture he required for his masterpiece.

He then proceeded to make his OWN scorpion whilst youngest watched and sort of copied the technique yet making the little critter entirely his own creation, including sticking a piece of tooth pick in the tail for the stinger.
Nothing like a little reality. ::shudder::

In the end, the result was pretty impressive. DH was SO into it too -- it was pretty funny.

If/when he decides to commit to something, he is 100% focused.
And he likes to play with clay.
Who knew?

My Favorite Kid Quote

2009-05-27T15:07:00.003-04:00

I guess my last post was a bit...macabre.

*grin*

I have a variety of interests.

Today I'm going to share my favorite quote from this past weekend.

When stating the intention of tracking down where the sky divers/jumpers we'd been watching spiral and float to the ground originated from, the young man said:

"Oh, I've done that before. I'm an expert!", chest puffed out in pride.

I looked at him aghast.

"Your parents have let you sky dive? You had lessons? When was that?!"

"Oh, well..." chest deflates. I've actually done it on Play Station 3.
But I'm REALLY good at it!"

You have to give him credit for enthusiasm. *giggle*

Just remembering the look on this young man's face as he boasted with the best of them, keeps me giggling long after it happened. Art Linkletter sure had it right.

Kids really DO say the darndest things...

Vampirism vs.Water

2009-05-25T18:33:00.004-04:00

Vamps.

Vampires. The romance paranormal genre or sub genre is alive and still biting.

Intelligent vampires are sexy when they bite responsibly. I'm sure you've heard the slogan, Drink Responsibly? Well, vampires need to bite responsibly. If they existed.
I'm only talking about the fantasy ones...the unguys that appear in romance books.

I'm not touching the box with the people inside who think they ARE real, or indeed think themselves as potential living un-undead. Do two negatives make a positive? Do two UNs make a living vamp, an un-vamp? ::ouch:: Brain hurts.

Anyway...I'm talking about vampirism in general. No wait, I'm changing the subject is what I'm doing. Vampirism in the natural world. Natural. As in animals and stuff.

Everyone knows about ticks and leeches and mosquitoes. Very common blood suckers that help man but gross out man at the same time, as in the case of leeches. Or impart deadly and debilitating diseases via tick and mosquito bites.

And of course, I'd be remiss in not mentioning everyone's favorite mammal, the vampire bat.

But if you've not caught some recent discoveries on TV, let me enlighten you to some newbies on the block:
The Vampire Butterfly
The Vampire Bird.

Yep, they exist. The final two ended up evolving that way, so the experts say, as a means to survive in a drought ridden area.

That makes me wonder.

Someday, it is predicted that drinkable water will be scarce. And yes, the technology exists now to reclaim water from salt water and water mixed with...body fluids, as in the space station. That occurs with some high costs though, doesn't it?

Just think...in the future, if water becomes worth more than gold; if water becomes a commodity only the oil-rich, politically-rich, drug-rich, armament-rich populace can afford, where would that leave the rest of the masses on the planet?
What other sources would we use for hydration?
What resource is abundant and all around us since it would no longer be water?

Other people?
Blood then.

Would we turn to the lessons of nature that forced a butterfly and a specie of bird to turn to vampirism to drink blood for its moisture content alone?

So, for the genre that writes apocolyptic stories, dark romantic fantasy stories, what would the romance journey look like?

Would mythical vampires be in competition then, with humans who have had to turn to blood drinking for survival? They, the living, to continue to live, turn into living monsters, the very things they reviled? And feared?

How could there be anything romantic in that?
It sounds like a nightmare.
But then again, the power of love transcends a lot.
I wonder what it would read like.

I'm not the sharpest stake in the bag, but I can say I'm not the only one who thinks of such things.

Frank Herbert, in his DUNE series touched on that. Those suits reclaimed body fluids and I thought it was a great idea when I'd first read the series in the early 80s.
The thing I found most fascinating was that when a body died, its fluids, its water, was reclaimed so that the family the person belonged to had their water - or the victor claimed that moist treasure as spoils of battle/war.

But that was a book, a sci/fi fantasy.
I wonder.
What will be our reality?

Blood for water?
Body reclamation?

I hope water never becomes that kind of bargaining chip because, personally, I'd prefer reading about it in a fantasy. At least I'll wake up from that one.

What do you think???

Thoughts of Were

2009-05-24T20:09:00.004-04:00

I was cruising in cyberspace and came upon the coolest tidbit about Werewolves.
One of the myths is for when a werewolf dies.

Did you ever hear that when a Werewolf dies, it becomes a vampire?
What a cool concept.
Why haven't the paranormal romantic suspense writers jumped on that bandwagon?

And I was thinking.... yes, yes I know, bad thing.

Silver bullets were not always around. Guns have only been propelling balls of metal through the air for a couple of centuries. What was used back in ancient times?

Silver didn't make for a strong sword, did it?

What did they do, make silver balls and use a sling shot? I can't say that would be too effective when the weres have super speed.

And lets face it, women back then did not learn hand-to-hand combat, so a silver knife would have been a joke - on the woman. And hand-to-hand anything is too close to teeth and infection. Right?

Hmmm, silver barrettes? I'm going to style your fur in a killer coiffure? Naw..too silly.

I cannot think of a single long range weapon that can be utilzed quickly and be made of silver that could have been applied in the ancient days. Can you?

So that means, werewolves had the right of might on their side until the invention of the gun. What a culture shift that would have been!

Anyone with a writing bug can see the possibilites in this, right?

And yet, and yet, as the myths unfold, werewolves never gained a majority. So what held them in check? Slayers? I can't see them being too effective prior to long range weaponry. I think I would enjoy others' take on this.

Sure, it's a fanciful and unrealistic topic. Then again, some of the best and well loved tales and movies of the past deal with vampires and things that go bump in the night. What I would like to know, what bumped them right back??

Care to share your thoughts?
LOL

I threw the clock out the window

2009-05-17T12:32:00.002-04:00

And time really flew!

Look at the calendar.
It's May.

We have a graduation, a Confirmation and our anniversary this month.
We've had a sleep deprived EEG and another coming up before the end of the month.
Why?
It's been busy. My youngest was diagnosed with Petit Mal seizures.
Then he ended up having a Grand Mal on the school playground.
Imagine a young person who goes unconscious one place and wakes up to awareness in an ambulance speeding to who-knows-where, surrounded by strangers, strapped to a gurney with an IV sticking out of your arm.
Terrifying.

The school reacted very professionally and with consideration. The rumors that started were almost immediate: His head split open, he broke his leg, amongst a few. Kids sure can be creative when it comes to drama.

My eldest had a M.D. appt which required him to be taken out of school early.
What do you think happened?
One of his peers called later that day and asked him why he had to leave school so suddenly, did he have Swine Flu?

Sheesh! Kids seems to be fascinated with dramatic mortality.

As far as a favorite thing, books, I've discovered Christine Warren. I ordered every book in the Other series and I read them one after the other. I love when I can do that. I feel like I'm immersed in another world, getting to know the characters and unlike soap operas, it doesn't take a year to make a point. Well, when I come in late to a series it can work that way, LOL

I saw Star Trek yesterday. Oh my GOSH! How did everyone keep the secret? I LOVED what they did!
I try to talk to my DH about all the great parts but he's not into dissecting things. He was OK with the movie. Okay because he expected more like the old series whereas I was wide open to the possibilities. I was not disappointed in any way. The action, the characterization, the subtle hints and jokes that only the fans of the original series would get, it all worked and I had a blast!

At one climactic point, I saw one young person put their arms in the air in a Touchdown! motion. When um... when the Live Long and Prosper sign was used, the girls next to me, three of them, all put up their hands and Did the Vulcan sign right back! LOL
Even my kids did it. My DH is the ONLY person who cannot do the Vulcan Hand signal.
Ha!

At the end of the movie, Guess who started the sold out audience to start Clapping?? Me! Me~! I started them clapping cuz I started it first. I was so enthused, I could not keep it inside. Star Trek ROCKS!

I started a garden. Planted seeds mostly. Peas, lettuce, 2 kinds of chives, green beans, cosmos flowers, and radishes. So far the peas and lettuce are coming up. Waiting on the rest.

I've won two free ebooks lately. That was awesome!
So, that's what happens when time flies - you live and experience and the blog sort of gets dusty.
Sorry about that.

But I'm alive and around
Hope you are too.

nope, no update today

2009-03-17T16:21:00.003-04:00

that's right.
I've got nothing to say. I'm out of the habit of blogging.
Sad isnt' it?
I've been here since 2005 and a few years later--I'm poof.

What happened? Life. I'm still reading. It's remains a favorite thing.
I'm still playing with my camera - still a favorite thing.
I can't wait until the snow is gone, then I can do garden stuff - a favorite thing.

I'm still working - more than ever and I still like it. Am I one of those people who can say 'Work is a favorite thing?' I am not sure, but I like my boss, my co-worker and the work I do. I like going to work and I don't mind working a Saturday when I have to. I guess that means I like work?

I started another story and I love love love the first chapter. It has drama, it sets up the story and the conflict between hero and heroine and you know there suprises on the way. As for my other story..well..it's been so far on the back burner...it's not been touched. That doens't mean I've not thought of him. Oh no. I found THE picture, the picture that IS my character, Speedo and all. I would print it out and make a poster board...but, well, I have... young eyes around and they might be traumatized. LOL. So it stays on my PC buried deep.

I'm stil on Facebook and loving it. However, I finally am finding myself not so addicted. I'm limiting myself to a few applications. I am not 'friending' left and right anymore. And I Have found two FB'ers that live in my local area. One is a writer so we can talk 'writer' talk...and horses. I talk poop, she talks tack. LOL

I can say,Happy St. Patricks day to you. Hard to believe we've been through two holidays already. I've been good though. Not much candy eating. I've been bad though, too many Ding Dongs. They don't have peanut cross contamination.
Oh that's right!
Did you hear?
Scientists are working on making kids tolerate peanuts and being safe around them! There is hope!
There is a future free of fear of food!

I am So very excited. I realize it will be years before it goes mainstream, but the resutls are positive. And that has got to be a favorite thing. GOOD NEWS!

I hope you receive good news in your near future, if not today.
Thanks for stopping by.

And I had no update?
HA

Are You Having Trouble?

2009-03-02T09:26:00.004-05:00

Are you having trouble opening my blog from time to time?
I am.
My own blog and I can't open it. I seem to be able to post but when I want to view it? I.E. says it can't.

I used to be so consistant with blogging. It was a habit, a routine. Since the internet problems for two months and now I.E. AND not being home like I was when I started this blog, it's not often you see updates anymore.

Well, that's interesting. While typing this, Blogger is going up and down with being connect to the internet. What gives?

Just an update.

We got twelve new inches of snow.
Jaid kicks my butt on Wordscraper on FB.
Marianne kicks my butt playing that new Mini-Golf addiction.
Mike leaves me in the dust in Soduku...
Eddie says my updates aren't droll and boring afterall, Yay me!
I like poking Dru and Amy - um, not for REAL...sheesh!

I took my Mom to see Paul Blart-Mall Cop. Once the movie got over setting up the background story, it was really quite cute. Unrealistic, but cute. Enough laughs to make it worthwhile to see it at the early matinee.

Did I mention that I had another short published at LASR? well I did. It's archived now.
I read the funniest short story this past week! The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo & the Poltergeist Accountant by Vivi Andrews
I got it from Samhain Publishing.
I thought it was a hoot!

I read Night Shadows by Cherry Adair. It's the wrapup of this trilogy and it's INTENSE. The whole series was but this is the book that wraps up the loose ends that wove through all three books.

I also read Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole. That was good too. I'm glad Rydstrom got his HEA but he sure had to work for it. LOL

I'm still reading and reviewing for LASR and Whipped Cream. Can you believe it's been over two years? Where'd the time go?

Cats. I like cats on Treadmills.
Links: Two Cats
The cat that refuses a Treadmill

And then we have humans acting wierd with their cats....

What can I say?

Being Quiet is not an option

2009-02-20T20:20:00.005-05:00

I know that I've often said that I won't speak of politics or religion.

A few things have come to light recently that have me sitting up and taking notice, and not in a good way.

For instance is this article I just read about President Obama's transportation secretary coming up with this "great" idea about charging us motorists for the miles we travel.

Tax our Travel

This is the excerpt from the link that has me scared, wary and concerned.

The system would require all cars and trucks be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours.

This opens the door to abuse. This opens the door to our rights being curtailed, and in the future, taken away. Think I'm overreacting? I don't think so. I think they (ok, think X-files conspiracy) are testing the waters. How strong are we as Americans? How alert are we to threats to our way of life? I don't care if it's a 'fellow American' promoting the idea, it's still wrong. It still smacks of another time, another place, another war.

I mean, think about the quoted section I posted above. Can you get more specific than secondary roads? Why would they need such detailed history? Americans love the phrase "getting away from it all". That freedom would be taken away in a very subtle and rational-sounding progression until it was too late. Can we get more watched? Start on this slippery slope and the answer is YES. It will lead to our travels being controlled and monitored. Human nature being what it is...you know it's possible.

I'm going out on a limb here, and state that if the Nazi's had had this kind of technology, they would have used it against the Jews when they started culling the population to pursue their evil and twisted reality. If the Nazi's had had the ability to track every civilian vehicle back then, the Underground's success would never have been what it was and many more innocents would have died. Hitler was a German, one of their own. The enemy within is what we need to be ever vigilant against. Yes, I admit to being very worried about these ideas and my choice of example is a bit extreme but I feel strongly about this.

And if that is not bad enough, there is something else that stinks in the wind.
Re-instating the Fairness Doctrine.

I will admit to not being totally fluent in its ramifications but the bottom line is this: I hope that this in no way can alter our access to Freedom of Speech. Again, this is sounding like a subtle infringement leading to total suppression of our rights -- say the wrong thing on the wrong topic in the 'wrong' way and talk show hosts will be penalized. And what will those penalties be? Well, we certainly know what happens in other countries - people disappear.

I know, I know, the law was around before. But it was discarded for a reason. Why do we need it back? We have the freedom to change the channel at any time and we have choice. I personally do not enjoy talk radio, but that doesn't mean it should not exist. I think the choice should be there if I change my mind. Right? Maybe the talk show hosts of various political beliefs and TV evangelists are being overly worried, but then again complacency is in itself a dangerous thing. If we don't rattle our sabers and respond, indicating that we will defend that which make America so unique and special against those who would seek to undermine from within, then they will have won.

I think preserving our freedoms is worth talking about. I mostly read and review romance books. In that genre, there are many new and established authors who are pushing the envelope of what is written. We are now seeing M/M romances, Menages, BDSM and other alternative living and loving lifestyles. Do you really think that if the spoken word is controlled, monitored and/or suppressed that the written word won't be far behind? I happen to love the changes and the freedom.
I don't want to lose it.

So, I'm spouting on a subject I never thought I would have a reason to - politics.
Now my head hurts...

Heart be still - My Stomach is in love...

2009-02-08T22:32:00.005-05:00

I have been a fan of this romance cover model since I saw him on Sherrilyn Kenyon's
story of Alexion. I think it was him...it's been awhile. The one thing I have NOT forgotten is the cover model.

I found out his name about six months after the book came out and ever since, he's exploded onto the romance cover scene. He's been a Indian Warrior, A Scottish Highlander, a hunk in the Dark Hunter Universe;you name it, he's been it.

The one thing you don't get from romance book covers is a sense of the man -- the person behind the face and costume.

I have found a delightful link to share with you that will not only give you a glimpse of this person but you will hear his voice, his sense of humor and get to meet his very beautiful and gracious wife. THE most amazing talent he has, modeling notwithstanding, is his natural flair and technique for COOKING! He makes it look so easy.

Oh my Goodness! I want to eat at HIS HOUSE! LOLOL

Ready? Listen and get to know the great talent of NATHAN KAMP!

This video is not for the faint of heart...

2009-01-17T23:25:00.003-05:00

OK...I do NOT, as a rule, put this type of stuff on my blog

But , I almost peed my pants... I laughed and snickered and snorted and ...
I probably should have felt bad for the guy but Sheesh...come on!
People do anything to make a buck, but this?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Did you see what I meant?
This video makes me cringe and laugh all at the same time......

I'm around

2009-01-11T14:36:00.002-05:00

Yep , I am.

Just..not much to say.

We got snow.
I had to work this Saturday so my weekend, wasnt' very refreshing.

Met my neighbor...well, on the phone. Found out she has Facebook and Live Journal.
What's REALLY weird?
I now look at what I write and realize...someone reads it RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME!
For five years, no one I personally know close to home...family or friends... ever uses their computer for social networking.
I mention Facebook and they say WHAT? I mention MySpace and they look at me like I should grow up.
I mention chatting to authors online and they are like... Why don't you LIVE your life?

Excuse me?

Like I'm ever going to meet famous authors? This is BETTER than when I was a kid and I'd write to Donny Osmand and never ever got a response back.
This is better than hearing about someone famous and wishing I could get just an autograph.

Through this here blogging and social connection in cyberspace, I've gotten autographed books from authors! I've MET one. I"ve TALKED to one. All because I AM on the computer!!!

I even get to play word games with my all time favorite erotica author who got me hooked on the romantica genre! I mean, come on! Trading word knowledge with a Literary Diva?

WHERE else can that happen? Tell me.

I love the world wide web. I believe it enhances me..so what if I talk about people I'll never meet. That doesn't mean they don't touch my life or enrich it..they do!

So....How did I even get on this soap box anyway?

Gah

OK...yes I am here. No I haven't read any books lately. Darn.

But my neighbor is now a pillow's throw away.
On Facebook.

**grin**

It's about time!

2009-01-04T09:48:00.003-05:00

I have internet!
It's been cold and yet I remain online. Can you believe how long it took?

They had to install a thicker cable. If only they'd figured out the issue back in November, they wouldn't have had to stumble though eight inches of snow to do the job.
Silly men.
LOL

So, how were your holidays?
Mine went quite well. Got to see ALL of my family. My little sis came up with her family from Florida and the cousins had a rousing good time.

I got a couple of nice gifts from Santa DH.
I ate lots and lots and made my very first chocolate fondu! It came out great!
Leftovers makes great sauce over vanilla ice cream too. YUM.

I won an Ebook from Shelly Munro's birthday bash that she held during the entire month of December. I just found out yesterday. Major squeee moment, let me tell you.

OH, and how did I enter if I didn't' have internet? Work. I have internet access during my lunch at work...though never long enough to do anything of great length. Just enough to contact me and tell them I was still alive. *grin*

I submitted a short story (1,000 words) and found out yesterday that it was accepted at LASR. Should be posted in January. Color me EXCITED!

Guess all that downtime from being offline was good for something, eh?

During the holidays we didn't do much. Generally we just enjoyed the downtime. School for my kids has been rather stressfull and tough, so this short reprieve has been much welcomed.

I took LOTS of pictures, but I can't share any because they were mostly of family. I can share our tree though. The kids totally decorated it. I only did the lights. Not bad, eh?
We fit the tree in where we can, in a place that is colder than the rest of the house. Mostly because a wood stove would dry up it up in record time. It always ends up our family mud room. ::shrugs:: It works.

Anyway, Happy New Year!
Oh, and for any who are wondering...No, I did not make any resolutions.
Bah Humbug...like I'd keep them anyway?
LOL

How about you?

I hate my cable company

2008-12-18T16:01:00.005-05:00

Well, I do.
I've been having internet troubles for a month now.

I was recently told last week that the signal of 12 on the street drops to a 6 at the subpole. So who knows what I'm actually getting once it reaches my modem.
When it's below freezing, I don't get my internet. When it goes above 32 degrees, it seems I have it. Hence my updating you right now. But the temps are dropping fast. We have another snow storm on the way too.

So, snow is coming, the temps will be dropping and that means I won't have this connection for long.

They told me they don't lay new wires until SPRING!!!!!
But, they will try to do it. However, the other way they can do it will take 7 - 10 business days, add in weather related delays and I'm looking at 2 weeks before, MAYBE THIS WILL FIX IT, before I get my dependable internet back.

The thing is, I no longer trust it, believe in it or feel like I can depend on it.
Is this what it feels like to have a cheating spouse? A double-timing boyfriend?
It ROTS!

So, worse case scnenario, I'm down until the Holidays.
So, Merry Christmas, Joyeoux Noel, Felice Navidad and Happy Holidays to the few wonderful and lovely bloggers who still visit and haven't given up on me.

Oh, and read some good books!
I'm starting to read the Vampire Kama Sutra. That's a title that grabs you!
LOL

The Grinches of Black Monday Shopping

2008-12-11T06:11:00.006-05:00

Beware.

I saw something yesterday on the TV news about thieves driving up to people's homes because they see packages sitting on porches and front stoops.
They waltz up, grab the box(es) and drive away taking hard earned dreams and trust with them.

They are stealing Christmas presents, wedding presents, anything that usually is shipped via UPS and left while you are at work.

Why do I mention this now?

I just chatted with my little sis. She ordered, like many across the country, online. The day they call Black Monday, the busiest online shopping day of the year, is the siren call for thieves, malcontents and inconsiderate neanderthals to take advantage and ruin hard working peoples' holidays. Remember The Grinch?

Her packages were witnessed by a neighbor as being delivered. However a few hours later, when she got home from work, they were all GONE!

So, Beware. Track your packages if you can and be aware when they might be delivered. Have a neighbor get them for you if you are able. Before the Grinches of the season steal your bought treasures. Unlike the Grinch, these slime of society do Not 'see the reason for the season' and will not ever give them back.

I had to mention this.

Cable Wires and a Book Contest

2008-12-10T20:45:00.005-05:00

Hey, Long time no update, yes?

Well, I had the cable tech come by again and Lo! after almost crying in frustration..almost..my eyes got misty but I stayed in the shadows of the stairwell...he exhausted his expertise, he called three other techs for input and I believe he has determined the culprit. The final determination?

THE PROBLEM IS NOT INSIDE MY HOUSE.

He donned his little white hardhat and slogged off into the rain to climb the pole.
Turns out that the readings on the main line are 12 but my house is only getting 6 when it gets to the outside box but when it gets to my modem, it's anyone's guess what I am actually getting.

He said that all the Wires/Cables from the Main pole, the sub-pole and from the subpole to my house need to be replaced but with a THICKER cable.

Wouldn't it be great if that truly fixed all my problems?

He said he was going to paint the other guy red cuz he too went up the pole the last time but never noticed the extreme drop in signal and he should have. Oooooh, the senior tech is going to razz the under tech. Tee Hee.

But seriously. Almost three weeks of having intermittant internet, this last one being 48 hours without is driving me nuts! Thank goodness they did credit my account today. I called and I saved $9.00. It's better than nothing.

By next week, I should have the full 12 signal. I hope, hope, hope that it fixes it!
******************************
******************************

On an upbeat note...a good friend, a wonderful author and a very sweet and generous person is having a contest you really need to know about if you are a romance reader.

Her first romance book in print! You can Hold it! You can smell the ink on the pages! You can drool over the hunky guy on the cover!

Available from Samhain Publishing

"One Love For Liv" (available in eBook or in Print)

Olivia "Liv" Leigh, wealthy socialite and spa owner, suspects her fiancé of cheating on her, so she takes drastic steps to discover whether appearances are deceiving. And if those steps require a bit of stalking, a change of appearance, a hippo-sized dog named Spike, and sacrificing her manicure to clean house for a sexy but sloppy man whose neighbor is determined to break several of the strangest Guinness Book of World Records, why should that be a problem?

Mike, a happily single auto mechanic, is more than content sharing his bachelor pad with piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and a sneaky ferret. But when a half-crazed woman in a bad wig shows up on his doorstep, what's a nice guy to do? Why, invite her in, unknowingly help her in her search for the truth and, in the process, fall head over heels for a woman who's never been less his type.

Doesnt' this sound AWESOME????

Here is the link to the rest of the page.

ONE LOVE FOR LIV

Check it out or better yet join in on the contest so you could win her book. I've read her stories before and she's never let me down. If you want upbeat and happy, then Marianne Arkins delivers.

Internet Yo-Yo

2008-12-06T20:42:00.008-05:00

It did it again.
I was down.
I give up.
The cable rots. Should Verizon get off it's butt and install those fiber optics in my country county, I'll be switching from cable internet to DSL so fast! At work, they have DSL and it has NEVER gone down in the 2 years I've been there.

Be that as it may, I have some pics to share from when we went to Santa's Land. It's probably for the last time as my youngest is giving hints that Santa is really us. They grow so fast!

Anyway...here are some interesting pet tricks: I think this is Claude. I learned AFTER I took the picture that when llama's ears are laid back...be prepared to be spit upon and they can spit up to 15 feet! I was REALLY lucky he never let loose!

This next photograph is one of the original figurines from it's grand opening back in the 1950's. It's the Purple Plum Man.
Not very originally named is it? LOL...he was missing last year. He finally did a 'humpy dumpty' and fell off his ... caldron? Anyway, his historical ambiance is important to the history of Santa's Land so they repaired him. He sort of gives me nightmares....

This next is me being my wierd and irreverant self. You never DO know what you are going to see or read about on my blog, do you? Ha. My question. What animal does THIS come from????

They have a 1500 pound dromedary who is a year 'round resident. Amazing to see an animal that I'm more accustomed to seeing in the desert. I bet you didn't know that camels get Air Mail, did you? **chortle**

I'm also sharing a short video of these really cute and fluffy chickens. I don't know the breed but they are so CUTE!

I guess that's the update for now.
Hope your weekend is going well.
I hope to update my blog a bit more regularly, internet willing.
Take care!

My computer is on the Fritz again

2008-12-03T22:26:00.005-05:00

I know I'm not blogging like I used to. Lately, my internet is acting like a yo-yo.
I'm on and then without warning, it can't log on. I've had my tower checked for viruses..and I did need a new modem but that not solving it.

The tech's are getting frustrated and so am I.
So, I will pop in when I can.

I discovered a new song that I really like. This is a bit of hard rock but the video is first class. Man has found reasons and has been willing to go to war for thousands of years. This song illustrates that in a very vibrant way.

This is a brand new release...what do you think?

I tried to imbed the HTML code but it's not working... So check out the URL.
If you dare...

INDESTRUCTIBLE

Now that you've watched it, I ask:

So, what are they saying? That man won't ever stop waging war? It's unavoidable?
And now women are doing their share.
What is the world coming to?
At least the music is good.

Hats off the Ren and Stimpy

2008-11-26T22:29:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are many wishes out there with very eloquent and sentimental posts that will touch your heart and mind.

I'm not going to be among them. Sure, I want you to eat well, laugh and be with those you love and care for..but I really want you to smile and laugh.

Hence...YouTube

No post is complete without the Happy Happy Joy Joy Song...unfortunately, there wasn't a good copy ...but listening to Ren and Stimpy as chipmunks was its own source of amusement...you can get through it in seconds flat. LOLOL
Skip the Slo-Mo version....that Drove me NUTS.

And for those with a really Bizzare Turkey Day sense of humor.....

Enjoy your Day!

Honk on Tap

2008-11-12T18:52:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I ended up stopping at a red light with this huge truck in front of me. With nothing else to do until the light turned green, I checked out my surrounds and spied the small print on the lower right of this truck.

My question: ARE THEY SERIOUS? WILL THEY REALLY DO THAT? AND WHAT HAPPENS IF I DID HONK? WOULD I GET A FREE BEER? AND WHY AREN'T THERE MORE HONKING ACCIDENTS OR SOMETHING?
Can anyone explain the logic or reason behind this?????

Mel Ruins the View

2008-11-08T08:19:00.011-05:00

Last month we took a long drive to leaf peep. We'd heard the leaves were bright and the view from on top of the mountain, glorious. You can imagine expectations being high. Then again, you know what they say, Be Careful What You Wish For, the results can be skued. You see, Mel had been there. Mel left a mess. Mel robbed me of a tower climb. A climb which was guaranteed to appeal to my leaf peeping, picture taking heart. Instead, I got roped-off areas, a blocked-off tower and the remnants of spent movie magic.

Mr. Mel Gibson filmed on that mountain. He turned my experience on its ear. Instead of being in awe of the color palette that is nature, I was presented with a bit of illusion and man's ability to use a color palette to create what doesn't exist.

Of course I took pictures. It was what I'd come to do, never expecting to capture something more elusive than fall foliage. Unlike trees which will once again unfurl leaves to recreate their colorful glory next autumn, this sight will never be repeated.

The following picture looks good BUT, the foreground has bushes. If I'd been able to go where I expected to go, the only thing I would have captured and you would have seen were uninterrupted panoramic views of the valley from high in the air. As it is, all I got were pictures close to the ground. I had a mammal's view when I wanted an eagle's.

This next shot is perfect to illustrate just how dramatic movie magic can effect the landscape. See the foreground? Looks like six feet at least of concrete, right? Did you notice the RADIATION warning?

See the grey ridged wall formation that surrounds the building? Do you see the field stone square on the upper left with the white pole sticking up? The ONLY thing original is the field stone square up there because THAT is the tower. That is where I was supposed to be, had expected to go. The cement was actually WOOD. Wood and paint and putty created an impressive and impenetrable cement bunker. They even had used paint and putty to create aged, rusted and weather beaten iron tracks for what I can only assume was a trolley system. The glass is not a part of the original building. In fact, this building is twice the size as the actual building. It's quite impressive, isn't it? And it's not real.

The next one is a clearer example of movie magic. This is what you will see in the movie...somewhere.

This next photo is what it really looked like.

Did you notice the pretty tree stump with the flowers inside? They built the scenery around the natural environment. I laughed when I saw that.

Next is proof that they filmed at night, or dusk or in bad lighting. There were quite a few pieces of equipment left. The lighting looks kind of sad and neglected, doesn't it? Then again, I like the pretty color - like a lizard.

Just think, everything, and I do mean everything, constructed in this next shot is fake. There is nothing in view that is part of the original building. Doesn't it look like metal? Doesn't it look impressive? It's all wood, folks. But look beyond to the view of the mountains. Isn't it gorgeous???

All in all, I guess Mel did provide me with some unexpected, picturesque and unusual once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and for that, I thank him.

The view from the bridge at the bottom of Mt. Sugarloaf.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T14:52:00.004-04:00

I hope you have a delightful and fun Halloween evening, whether you hand over the candy or scarf it up.

And may you see some Amazing Costumes!

More Snickers and Snorts in 60 Seconds

2008-10-23T22:05:00.003-04:00

I know, I know. I'm YouTube addicted again. I can't help it!
Look what I found! I loved The Lord of the Rings movies.

And this fast clip was done so well, it left me smiling and giggling. And It's Friday. Don't we deserve some humor?

And Star Wars? What is a Robot Chicken?

Have I done the SpaceBalls song yet? If I did, sorry. I'm addicted to that movie.
Cracks me up no matter how many times I've watched it and I quote things from the movie. But I"m not saying what...this is a PG blog. Tee hee.

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you have many reasons to smile besides it being the end of the week.
TTYL!

I'm laughing, I'm Crying

2008-10-23T21:39:00.001-04:00

I can't get over how hard this hit my funny bone!
Have you SEEN THIS?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh my gosh, I almost fell out of my chair!

Knee Bouncing

2008-10-23T21:21:00.002-04:00

OK, I like the beat, it's snappy and fun.
The costumes are sparkly and interesting.

It is the dancing...specifically the knee bopping that totally makes me giggle.
Somehow it ruins what the sexy outfits tried to convey, from a totally objective viewpoint. I have NO idea what they are saying and I sort of wish I did to understand what the hand movement near the face means.

Do you know? Besides understanding UFO, I'm clueless. Sometimes it rots only knowing one language. But even if I knew more than one, what are the chances I'd know this one?

A new band to follow

2008-10-22T20:53:00.004-04:00

I only heard this once on the radio and I loved the beat and what lyrics I could understand.
Thanks to YouTube, I put in Bad Girl Friend and found the song and a rather deliciously naughty video. LOL

I'm a romance reader, if you haven't figured that out by now. And the moment when he sees her, his face frozen in shock, his libido obviously gone super nova...well, I really liked that moment. Sure, he's a wild man,some would say he's a horn-dog, but the look on his face when he catches sight of his 'bad girl friend' is priceless.

I just hope, once behind closed doors, she makes him work for it.
ROTFL

Tongues and Middle Fingers

2008-10-15T16:08:00.009-04:00

There's a posing trend going on that totally fascinates me.

I just joined OWNED on FaceBook the past few days and I've noticed something quite perplexing.

The preponderance of males who insist that a cool pose sure to garner interest and purchase seems to require that their tongues hang out like over eager puppies. Or it looks like their mouth muscle is caught doing acrobatics towards someone/thing else. Is this a must for a relationship? I mean, auditions for KISS ended decades ago, so why else?

Then there is the middle finger. I don't care if I'm looking at pictures of teens or men over 60 years of age - the lure of the middle finger is timeless. Few do it with a smile. They inevitably add in a scowl or "mean dude face" sure to intimidate the viewer. Or is it they hope to entice a female buyer? Perhaps this is the new male dating phenomena much like the antics of birds or mammals in the wild? The more fierce a male is, the better the date will be?

Personally, I laugh. I think all that posturing is silly, unimaginative and pointless. The fact that so many think of doing the same thing in many of the same ways shows their level of imagination. The only difference is the location of the pose -- exotic locales or in not so quiet suburbia, tongues and middle fingers abound. I'm not quite sure if the females are drawn to these male displays or not but it would be interesting to find out.

As for the females out there, well, they are a bit more...classy. Not too many middle fingers for them but tongues? Yes. And bikinis abound showing abundance. I notice that those that show the most nubile poses are consistently in the 4 million "dollar" range. Not blatant poses, but instead graced with softening touches and props and/or colorful backgrounds that enrich and entice a viewer.

Whereas crass displays of vulgar hand signs are left in the dust, tasteful and artsy poses strike a resonate chord which equals unheard of lunch money in the application of OWNED.

I'm of the opinion that once again it shows the difference between cavemen and sensual sirens. The battle of the sexes continues regardless of venue.

I wonder if those tongue wagging, finger flippin' males will ever notice?

You won't find them in MY portfolio, that's for sure.

Time to change the post

2008-10-13T10:20:00.007-04:00

Not a very original title is it?

I always have things to say but that doesn't translate automatically to a blog.
I decided to post pictures.

I mean, why not? A picture is worth a thousand words so this blog ends up being a short story, right? LOL

This first picture is of a place I drive by at least twice a month but I've been doing it for 15 years. Finally I slowed down enough to snap this picture. I wanted to share this with you so you could see the sheer absurdity of posting two different speed postings so close together. I mean, if you go 35MPH, do you get a ticket for breaking the 25MPH limit?
Which one do you choose and since when should we HAVE a choice? LOLOL
I don't think it's too often where numbers make me laugh,but these sure do.
What were they thinking? And why leave it for over a decade?

This next photo is one of three baby snakes my kids found. They put 2 in the hole they dug so they could view nature up close. Of course I had to come out to see what the excitement was about. Personally, I'm not too excited or enthusiastic about things that slither but I have to admit, small things, even snakes, are cute.

This next shot is of an unusual bug that up until I moved to the country, I thought were exotic and had only seen them on TV. What an amazing surprise to find this five incher...possible six, in our yard after a rather humdinger of a thunderstorm. It's an amazing critter and you know what? I think they bite. Won't catch me testing that theory out though. ::shudder::

I love this picture. It's of a friends frisky dog and I was able to snap the pic because the little darling needed a rest after racing pell mell all over the neighborhood when we took her for a 'walk'.
**gg**
She's such an adorable and loving puppy. Though I think she'll be a year old fairly soon. Where does the time go?

This last picture is of my SIL's dog. Another cutie who luurves his mommy. My SIL was out on the porch talking to my DH and the dog was inside. As you can see, inside is NOT where he wanted to be. Isn't the paw up in the air endearing? Soon after this picture was taken we took pity and let him out so he could jump joyously around my SIL. I'm personally not a dog person but being in these two dogs' company for awhile, I can see the appeal.

Well, there you have it. Words do come from pictures and I now have my blog post.
Have a wonderful week everyone!

It was my Birthday today

2008-10-05T18:52:00.002-04:00

Yes, I was sick and I stayed in my jammies all day. But, Dh got me a scrumptious cake filled with my favorite Bavarian Creme filling.

So, I have been online, basking in the glow of MySpace and Facebook with all the wonderful well wishes coming in. I'm flattered that so many of my favorite people chimed in and in fact a few surprises came my way too.

So, in the vein of fun that is a birthday, allow me to expose how old I am. You see, I remember this show and loving it.

Tee hee

If that isn't enough to show my age, what about this blast from my past,

Does anyone know what character and much loved series Wild Boy ended up starring in later?

And one of my favorite shows was this:

I used to have the blue prints to one of the EAGLES courtesy of STARLOG magazine, a publication that I adored for many years. Amazing how I've gone from hard core science fiction to pure romance.

LOL

Who knew?

Well, my special day is almost over. So, thanks for dropping by and viewing some of my fav's from my 'younger' days.

Prologue Pet Peeves

2008-10-04T22:16:00.000-04:00

I have clarified to myself a pet peeve in books.

The prologue. Perhaps not all prologues should go on my bathwater list but this type does.

I read a prologue that was about six pages long. It sets up this dramatic scene of mistrust, possible betrayal and who will the heroine actually leave with and is it the right person?

Then the book starts way before the heroine meets these people and builds. The thing is, the part where the prologue started is actually a verbatim scene 3/4 of the book in. Heck, I didn't bother reading any of the book. I found the scene, read through to the end and just from the last five chapters, I got the whole gist without all that rigamarole of dragging my butt through what was going to happen. It read like a cliche and I hated it!

For me, a prologue should NOT be about a point in the future of the book that we have to read up until. It didn't grab me enough to get me to CARE. I certianly didn't give a fig if she went with this guy or that, trust that guy or this. Big deal.

I prefer a prologue to set up the story. Perhaps a scene that shows a catalyst for a series of events that we will now read about. A history to make us understand why we are about to read what we are. Like...a crime that remained unsolved because the villain thought they were untouchable and they left the scene thinking no one would ever stumble upon it. The story will then pick up because someone DID.

Or a setup, perhaps an old woman looks into a flaming blaze and sees her granddaughter having to face an old foe of the family at a critical time in her future life and the old woman sets up safe guards that will find and aid the young woman when the time is right.

Those, to me, are prologues that set up a story and allow me to read from cover to cover.

The initial prologue pet peeve example does absolutely nothing for me, except inspire me to put it back on the shelf, throw it against the wall or write passionate drivel on a blog such as this to vent my spleen.

Gee! I feel better. What do you know?

Car Attitude

2008-10-03T13:47:00.003-04:00

See this here car?
I was driving behind it the other day and simply HAD to snap a picture.

If you click the pic, it should load larger so you can see the wonderful descriptive graffiti on the bumper.

I love people's sense of humor about their cars, don't you?

A Cute Kitty Video

2008-10-02T21:04:00.002-04:00

I found this on the great DDD's post. It's really cute and since I'm a cat lover, well, it's a natural addition to this blog. It's a favorite thing. :-)

And a joke for you:

A woman was helping her husband set up his new computer and, at the appropriate time in the process, told him he would now need to enter a password - something he would use to log-on.
Her husband was in a rather devilish mood and thought he would try for the shock effect to bring this to his wife's attention. So, when the computer asked him to enter his password, he made it plainly obvious to his wife that he was keying in:

P .......

E .......

N .......

I .......

S .......

His wife fell out of her chair laughing when the computer
replied

***PASSWORD INVALID...........NOT LONG ENOUGH***

I love this kind of silly humor, don't you?

ON the personal front. Not much happening. Discovered a new author I really like,
Patricia Briggs. Quite a nifty piece of world building she's done.
Her heroine, Mercedes Thompson...she's spunky and unique. I like this series so far. The interesting thing is this author doesn't zero in on only one person...there are offshoots which helps a reader look at different aspects of the same world.
I think that is what is keeping me hooked.
TTYL

I love this series...and Ian's story is eagerly anticipated!

2008-09-21T15:24:00.000-04:00

Mr. Hugh Jackman - got a moment?

2008-09-21T14:29:00.005-04:00

Sometimes people Google themselves.

Maybe, just maybe, if you had a moment of idle curiosity, you may have found my blog because of that very reason.

If so, this post is being written with the sole purpose of pointing you to a fan
who has the hilarious knack of inserting your name somewhere in her Friday renditions of Spamarama. It's always in answer to the best things that could happen to a person - namely her and the best thing is you.

Her name is Bailey and this is the link to her blog. BAILEY

Just a simple 'HI' in her comments would send her over the moon.

Thank you.

Is this a protest song?

2008-09-21T12:19:00.003-04:00

With every military conflict this country has engaged in, there are songs of protest, of awareness that somewhere in that good fight there is a dark side.

I could be wrong, but I think this song is in response to our current conflict. The beat is hard, the pace is harder. The lyrics are perhaps difficult to discern if listened to on the radio. That is why this YouTube clip is better because the words are there for you to enjoy. The crow is a bit of a spazz, but it's a well put together piece.

I have a tendency to like hard rock, so this song appealed before I really heard the message. It made me think, and that's a favorite thing.

Enjoy.

Where have I been?

2008-09-20T09:23:00.002-04:00

I've been a bit stressed. I don't handle it very well.
I tend to let other things totally slide, even things I LIKE doing.
I can't focus on other things when the object of my stress is my child.

Seems the school did it again. We hammered out an IEP last year, two sessions, the last one was two hours long held on the second to last day of school. They agreed to offer supports in line with MD recommendations.

I had a meeting ten days into the new school year and gee, what do you know, my child is falling: emotionally, confidence-wise and academically. Ten days and all present at the meeting noticed but didn't know what to do about it.

HELLO!!! Look at the bloody IEP! They didn't initiate ANY of the accommodations! They said 'sorry'. Sorry is NOT good enough! There were two supports they were to have set in place from day one. It took 2 1/2 weeks to do one and the other didn't even have a plan to do so yet! Yet THEIR MD said they were crucial to my son.

My advocate had steam coming out of her ears. Middle school is tough. Going into middle school with a new building, new rules, new responsibilities and,after two years in an isolated program which was finally deemed inappropriate (duh), going mainstream again is daunting. And they let him flounder. I give him credit. He didn't breakdown in school. He was holding on by his fingertips. But we sure understood something was happening...or not.

The other thing we had to fight, but ended up being anti-climactic, was their initial refusal to list Aspergers as a diagnosed condition. Because THEIR MD didn't see it in his opinion after six hours of testing, they disregarded the six week hospital program where he was there Monday through Friday for the duration. It's part of his med file. How can they say he isn't on the Autism Spectrum?

It was anti-climactic because they didn't argue at the meeting and it was quickly overshadowed by the other issues that came to light.

WHY is it so hard to do the right thing for my child? Why is it a fight? Why doesn't No Child Left Behind have any meaning?

I'm having MUCH better luck for my other child with his peanut allergy. I joined a group of mothers two years ago who are extremely proactive in protecting their children in the school as far as peanut exposure. Some mothers had not had any children in the system yet but because of what us already in the system experienced, they knew what they wanted and didn't want for their children once in the school system. It's amazing what a vocal group and letters and being PRESENT for meetings can accomplish.

The latest wrinkle is the bus. We were all set until I and the other mothers got a call from the superintendent of the school system two days before school started.

Seems the lawyers for the bus company got wind of their drivers being Epi-pen trained and felt a suit was imminent. They absolutely forbade ANY and ALL drivers from administering Epi-pens in an anaphalactic emergency. Even if the driver wanted to, if the driver saw that the child was in such distress and they could see the EMT's could not get there in time, they are NOT to intervene.
WTF?

The Good Samaritan Law protects people from suit when they try to assist a person in a life threatening situation. It's not just for heroes who give life saving CPR. (ribs can be broken in that process) But that doesn't matter. No is No.

I went to a 504 meeting yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. The school system is actively seeking job applicants for the role of ... gee, what would their title be? Any bus that has a child riding in it with a LTA (Life Threatening Allergy) will have a trained person with knowledge of response protocol and Epi-pen usage and will ride the bus while these children are on it. My child has an Epi-pen on him at all times in his backpack in a designated pouch.

I was pleased and relieved with this alternative. In a few years it will be a non-issue when he can self-administer. But right now? He needs to rely on adults.

So, the school system is quite a see-saw. For one child, they are not doing their best and for the other, they are.

I think parenting these days is much tougher than my parents had it -- environment wise. We have more options but we also have more things to fight for and against.

I've been reading during this situation, but I have latched onto books as an escape. I don't want to do anything right now expect read. I want to read about HEA's and good triumphing over evil because in my own life, there isn't an HEA in sight, neither is evil clear cut...it exists in a shade of gray and it goes by the name of "the bottom line". It rules people who should care about the child but are tied to monetary shackles instead. The sad thing is...they don't seem to mind.

Does it matter that I do?

Quiz time

2008-09-06T09:49:00.002-04:00

Your result for The Geek or Chic Quiz?...

The Chic

Lost with technology, lost in your own dizzy world. You are Chic and you know it but you couldn't send an email to save your life. Looks and social life are your driving force and nothing will stand between you and the clothing rail. Geek chic was so last year.

Take The Geek or Chic Quiz? at HelloQuizzy

So, Which are you?

I find that my results aren't too accuate. I mean, I BLOG!!!!
LOLOL

Confused Boo & Hiss

2008-09-01T10:39:00.002-04:00

I just read
Immortals: The Redeeming.
By: Jennifer Ashley

It is Tain's story and I really really am glad he got his HEA.
But that' s not my Boo & Hiss stance.

No. I read the blurbs for the new Immortal series coming out and I'm ticked.

In Tain's story, there were no foreshadowing of the new guys on the block. These are totally new guys. I don't remember anything ever being mentioned about them. Why not? How can thier existence be justified?

Five Immortals, Five Brothers, Five brothers got their HEA's, so what gives?

You know what I expected? What I wanted?

Logan!
I want LOGAN'S story

He fascinated me. He has secrets. We were teased and it was hinted at. Septimus found out some dirt but not WHAT.

And no where is Logan's name mentioned in the up-in-coming blurbs.

So, I'm confused. Why not? And Boo & Hiss because he's not.

So, what's up, author Jennifer Ashley??
Will he be a sub plot?
Will he appear in the current series?
Will Logan ever get an HEA?

I'm pouting because it's likely I'll never know.
:-(

Need a chuckle?

2008-08-31T08:22:00.004-04:00

A 5 year old's first job...

Here's a truly heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little 5-year-old girl and some construction workers that will make you believe that we all can make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time.

A young family moved into a house, next to a vacant lot. One day, a construction crew began to build a house on the empty lot.

The young family's 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in the goings-on and spent much of each day observing the work ers.

Eventually the construction crew, all of them 'gems-in-the-rough,' more or less, adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her during coffee and lunch breaks and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.

At the end of the first week, they even presented her with a pay envelope containing ten dollars. The little girl took this home to her mother who suggested that she take her ten dollars 'pay' she'd received to the bank the next day to start a savings account.

When the girl and her mom got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young age.

The little girl proudly replied, 'I worked last week with a real construction crew building the new house next door to us.

''Oh my goodness gracious,' said the teller, 'and will you be working on the house again this week, too?'

The little girl replied, 'I will, if those assholes at Home Depot ever deliver the fuckin' sheet rock.'

Kind of brings a tear to the eye - doesn't it.

A bit O' humor

2008-08-21T07:08:00.005-04:00

REPLACEMENT WINDOWS

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with that Expensive double-pane energy efficient kind, and today, I got a call from the Contractor who installed them.

He was complaining that the work had been completed a whole year ago and I still hadn't paid for them.

Hellloooo!

Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid.

So, I told him just what his fast talking sales guy had told me last year, that in ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves!

Hellloooo?

It's been a year! I told him.

There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up.

He never called back.

Guess I won that stupid argument.

I bet he felt like an idiot.

Do mice Pop or Crunch?

2008-08-17T21:28:00.005-04:00

I was visiting Lyn Cash's blog post and I had a memory burst.

Did I ever tell you about the mouse that lived in my car? Under my hood?

Yep, my mouse scared the crap out of me while driving.

There I was, driving along a winding country road when out popped the head of the mouse. He climbed UP the windshield and STARED at me!

No lie-- AS I DROVE.

So there it was, with its little beady eyes and nose a-twithin', which I suspect is 'mouse' for HaHa or Boo!.

Talk about the ultimate taunt.

Anyway, a week or so later, I go to pick up my son from the sitter and I had to park in a different spot from where I usually do in the mornings.

There, where one of my tires would have been from the morning was the flattened mouse.

Seems when the car stopped, either the furry thing thought I was home and went to explore for food, or he was coming back from foraging -- either way, I'm sure his little mouse legs were going a mile a minute trying to keep up with the rotation of the wheel before he lost.

Forgive me if I laugh at the visual. I still think it's funny.

And so, I have to wonder. I know that frogs POP when you drive over them, do mice pop too? Or do they crunch?

OK, so I'm indulging in a bit of morbid humor.

TEE HEE

Accident update

2008-08-09T19:55:00.003-04:00

Tried to get the police accident report today but it was not done.
Guess the responding officer is a part-time cop and isn't back on the roster for quite some time. Because of the insurance reg's and time table, that report needs to be written up. Although I don't need to give that report to the insurance company, only the other form that I have to write up in triplicate.

You know what? It's a VERY good thing that I documented all of the action the day of the incident on Blogger here. It's going to help me remember things since I wrote them when they were very fresh in my mind. You won't believe all the things you have to fill out for the report. Sheesh!

My back seems to have calmed down so I think it was muscle tenseness from stress.
The kids remain fine. The only injury came from my eldest playing Zombie Attack with his buddy and he jumped off of something and hurt his heel. Kids. Any discomfort from the bumper cars has not shown up. So I hope it never does.

Oh, guess what. I found out from the tiny paperwork the dispatch guy gave me that the truck behind me had to be towed; that the guy WAS transported to a hospital -- good thing I told them he was injured and that they sent an amublance, it was needed, and that the vehicle that plowed into him was a Ford Bronco. Those are big cars! There is NO way that the Bronco was at a stop in line like the rest of us for an impact to have done so much damage. We drove by the site this afternoon and there was still glass on the side of the road. He had to have come up from somewhere else.

It was sort of anti-climactic today to get into the car again. The damage doesnt' look too bad but the entire bumper and back door is going to have to be replaced.
*sigh*

**********************

I called a guy to give us an estimate on roof repair but he hasn't returned my call yet. He was recommended by a friend of mine. I hope things can work out somehow.

You know, this has been a very tense past twenty four hours.

What say you to a joke?

Young Chuck, moved to Texas and bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.
The next day he drove up and said,

'Sorry, son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.'

Chuck replied, 'Well, then just give me my money back.'

The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.'

Chuck said, 'Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey.'

The farmer asked, 'What ya gonna do with him?

Chuck said, 'I'm going to raffle him off.'

The farmer said, You can't raffle off a dead donkey!'

Chuck said, 'Sure I can Watch me.. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.'

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, 'What happened with that dead donkey?'

Chuck said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $998.00.'

The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?'

Chuck said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.'

Chuck now works for the Congress

Accidental Domino

2008-08-08T15:47:00.003-04:00

Today started out so well too.

The sun was out, I and my kids were going to get hair cuts and from there we were going to bring a buddy home for my eldest to have his very first Sleep Over at our house.

Yep, all was going our way. I love my new shorter hair cut, even my hairdresser was surprised how good it came out. I looked at one of those glamour books and pointed to what I wanted. I do love it.

Off we went to McDonald's for a quick lunch and then to home.
We had a slight delay going home.

I was at one of the THREE intersections with lights in our town, (yep, 3), there was a brightly painted yellow crosswalk directly in front of me. There was a young woman waiting and waiting to cross. I had the red light. Both sides had the red light.
Mine turned green first and I took my foot off of the brake and then put it back on again because I remembered that a pedestrian in an official crosswalk has right of way. If I rolled at all from taking my foot off of the brake, it was maybe 2 inches.

I checked my rear view mirror, the guy stopped, and all was OK. She stepped out, because the other line of traffic was still stopped. She was halfway across the road when my car lurched forward.

At first I wasn't sure what happened. It was so fast.

In my rear view mirror, there was an older man, maybe in his 60's, in a pickup truck full of cut limbs and tree debris. He was holding his head and his neck and his face mirrored the pain he must have been in. You see, he didn't drive into me. He was rammed into me because someone slammed in HIM from behind.

Dominoes.

I stayed in my car. The kids were fine, thank goodness, and that is the most important thing.

Kids are resilient. They were like, "Cool! We're part of a crime scene!" and "Are we going to be on TV?", and they proceeded to eat their McDonald's lunch.

They were agog at the police cars and the ambulance and all the people milling around. I never got out of my car. I was not leaving the kids. I had no idea how much damage my car endured but this is the second time our car has been hit in 2 years. Oy.

This is also the first time I've used my cell phone to call 911. And I guess it went pretty quick. I was transferred to my local police department and when asked if I was hurt, I said no, but I said the guy behind me looked like he was in a lot of pain, he was holding his head. They said they'd dispatch an ambulance right away.

I would say the response time was five minutes. I am impressed.

While waiting for the police to come, the young woman who I stopped for and let cross the street came back over to me an apologized. She was so sweet too. She gave me her name and phone number as well as her cell. She couldn't stay because she was heading off to babysit someone. I figured just her info would be enough if needed. She felt so bad; I think she felt that if I hadn't stopped for her, it never would have happened.
Who's to say?

The police officer wasn't interested in taking the info even though I offered it.
He said that even if I wasn't letting a pedestrian cross the crosswalk, even if I stopped for an ant in the road, ( his words) drivers of cars are supposed to keep plenty of distance between them so if the car in front stops, they retain control of the car at all times. He also told me that the truck sustained heavy damage and the gentleman received injury whereas I and the kids were fine.

I only had to provide my drivers licence, my registration and I had to provide him with the names and birth dates of my kids and their friend. I didn't know they would need that type of stuff.

As to why or how it all happened, the only thing I can think of is the third driver didn't see break lights on, saw the light was green and assumed traffic was rolling and slammed into the guy behind me. Why else?

Just think though. If she was slow stepping into the crosswalk after I stopped -- the momentum of the push sent me into and over the crosswalk -- I would have hit her. THAT would have given me nightmares for months!

Thank GOD for many things. My kids and my eldest's friend was not hurt, the girl was not hurt and I was not hurt. Right now, my back is a little sore, but if that's all I have, I'm not going to bother with an MD visit. I should be fine.

Now my bumper has a gash in it and my trunk handle is pushed in. I bet you it's going to cost a couple of grand to fix this. I have to go to the police station tomorrow to pick up the report and on Monday, go to the insurance company.

Because I didn't get out of my car, I did not get any of the usual information; the names, insurance numbers and all that. And lets face it, the poor guy behind me was in no condition to look for insurance and registration papers.

So now my worry is, was I ever at fault? No. Because it wasn't the guy behind me that hit me by driving into me, it was the guy behind HIM.
And it is a state law for cars to stop when pedestrians are at an official crosswalk.

I was within my rights to stop.
The traffic on the other side was still stopped.
I was already stopped.

She was IN the middle of the crosswalk so it didn't happen because I had made a sudden stop.

Enough seconds of time had lapsed for it to be entirely the third drivers fault.

But shit, you know? I have a leaky roof, and now I have car repairs to deal with.
This sucks.

And as I type this, the kids are playing Wii and are shouting and having tons of fun.

Ah, the innocence of youth.

My Life Tidbits

2008-07-31T22:54:00.003-04:00

Addiction... that is what the song is. I have listened to it at least ten times in a row and seem to not be able to get enough.

My roofed leaked again when we had another wild wind storm.
Thunderstorms raced through last night again but this time, no leaks. We had a LOT of rain but no leak. I am thinking the direction of the storm may have something to do with it. Who knows?

4 weeks until school is back in session. Wow.

I've picked a few cucumbers and today I picked another yellow squash. Except I gave it to my sitter. Why keep it when we won't be around to eat it?

Going civilized spelunking. That means the caves are made safe and tourist friendly.
The bad thing? One of them, they keep out the bats. What is a cave without bats?
So we'll go to another one where we know bats are. They are so cute!

It was so humid today! I mean, the windows in my car fogged constantly. When you walked outside, it truly was like a sauna...heavy, oppressive and sticky. Darned shame we all have to wear clothes during weather like this. Guys at least can go with only short shorts on and be comfortable. Gals can't- unless we want to be arrested.

Ever See the movie Ghost Rider with Nicholas Cage? Would you say it was OK for an 8yr old to see? They LOVE the trailer with the flames, the motorcycle and the chains. But what about the theme? The plot? Is it too violent? Worse than Lord of the Rings??? Just wondering.

Hey, Great news!! Possibly great news.
My eldest's EEG showed "normal" brain activity. Once school starts we are going to wean him off meds and see if he will be seizure free. He will always have epilepsy as part of his medical history, but to have a calm brain scan? He's not had that since he's been four years old..Seven years ago. We are Very Very hopeful!

I adore the books by Kresley Cole. How many are there anyway? I've lost count.

I am yawning so it must be time to hit the hay. Have a good weekend and I hope where ever it's hot out, that it cools down WITHOUT the aid of thunderstorms or wild weather.

TTYL

What I've been up to

2008-07-26T22:54:00.004-04:00

The story in this song is filled with dark eroticism and romance to it. Is he bound to her even when he doesn't want to be? What binds him to her? What magic did she really do to him? The beat really gets my toes tapping too.

Oh, did I tell you I went to the Scottish Games last weekend? I got my first tattoo...temporary. I loved it. But I"m glad it's washing off. LOL. So I can get another one next year.

The lightening storms we've been having have been amazing. And yet, I was never afraid. Not good. But on the way home last Thursday, I saw the coolest thing. I have to wait for my turn at the rotary. It was thundering out and I was pretty happy about that. I was staring at the car in front of me, sort of zoning out while I waited for the light to turn green before I could head into the rotary, when a jagged slash of white lightening reflected off of the car's rear window. That means the bolt had appeared right above my car! How amazing is that! And then the thunder hit and the air in my van actually shuddered. I felt it through my body. I love thundestorms. Although to be fair, I know that they are to be respected.

Wednesday night we had a bolt that hit so close, the light, the crash/boom and the cutting of power all happened simaltaneously. That was a bit too close for comfort. We ended up with a leaky roof. Heck, we built the house 14 years ago, so it should not have leaked. But the wind and rain were so powerful, we suspect it pushed the rain down the vents at the peak OR, rain simply poured down the PVC vent on the point of the roof. The rain was so dense, it was akin to pouring buckets of water directly down the spout that should have nothing coming in or out except for air.

I've been left with stripes on my ceiling so now I say I have a Tiger Ceiling. LOL

I picked my first cucumber and yellow squash from my garden. Major High!

I've discovered Facebook. I mean...I've found myself addicted. The word games there are great. I have always loved Scrabble but my DH doesn't ever play board games. It's like I found people to play with! When I was growing up? My Aunts, Grandma and my Mom and I would play. Well, my Grandma and Aunt are dead, I've moved away and no one plays. So Facebook is like a trip to my past when I could play all the words games and have people to play with. It's really sweet.

So, I went to the Scottish games and tried Haggis for the first time. I have no idea if it made that big of a difference in taste when served on a Triscut as it was, you know, if it made the flavor change? or if the Haggis they served is authentic but I liked it. Well, I didn't love it but I could eat it if I had to and I would not make a face.

LOL OH, I have to say, the 1970s had very strange fashions for clothes. Whose bright idea was it for bell bottoms that were so much like bells they looked like sweepers cleaning the floor? LOL. I didn't mind the bat-wing collars but those pants were atrocious. *grin*