Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, totally worn out and screaming,
"WOO HOO, what a ride!"

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After the family dog opens a plastic pill case and licks it clean...

While the littles (children) zone out, I snatch the National Animal Poison Control magnet from the fridge and bring the could-be-stoned poodle to my side. Gussy exhales. She's heavy. I've dialed the canine 911 with Gus before - also known as the potentially lethal fondue incident.

~page 13
from Lobster Land by Susan Carlton


Monday, August 30, 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page (this month at Chick Loves Lit) is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I only got three titles in the last two weeks but that's been more than enough lately. I haven't had much time to read so now I'm looking forward to relaxing in the sunshine with a pile of books. I hope you found some goodies in your mailbox too!

Delacroix Academy: The Candidates
by Inara Scott

From Disney Book Group

Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that's not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia's mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to anyone, belieiving this way she can supress her powers and keep them hidden. But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over. Only, Delcroix is a school for diplomats' kids and child geniuses--not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. So why are they treating Dancia like she's special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make Dancia feel welcome. And then there's her mysterious new friend Jack, who can't stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at the Academy and wants Dancia to help him figure out what. But Dancia isn't convinced. She hopes that maybe the recruiters know more about her "gift" than they're letting on. Maybe they can help her understand how to use it...But not even Dancia could have imagined what awaits her behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

Every Demon Has His Day
by Cara Lockwood

From PaperBack Swap

In her wildest dreams, Constance Plyd never thought she'd see dead people. Then again, she never thought she'd be hit on by her ex-husband at his own funeral...or be the prime suspect in his murder. Fortunately for Constance, irresistibly sexy sheriff Nathan Garrett wants to believe her explanation -- that a card-carrying demon in a black suit killed Jimmy in the garage -- or maybe he wants something more. Either way, all signs are leading to a showdown of hellish proportions, with Constance at the heart of the battle, when the Devil and would-be mother of the Antichrist (a pop princess wannabe) descends on Crockett County. Sure, she'd rather be cooking up a storm for the next state fair, but if she's going to be the Chosen One, at least Constance can give a few demons a Texas-style butt kicking....

Hearts At Stake
by Alyxandra Harvey

From PaperBack Swap

On Solange’s sixteenth birthday, she is going to wake up dead. As if that’s not bad enough, she also has to outwit her seven overprotective older brothers, avoid the politics involved with being the only daughter born to an ancient vampire dynasty, and elude Kieran Black—agent of an anti-vampire league who is searching for his father’s killer and is intent on staking Solange and her entire family.
Luckily she has her own secret weapon—her human best friend Lucy—who is willing to defend Solange’s right to a normal life, whether she’s being smothered by her well-intentioned brothers or abducted by a power-hungry queen. Two unlikely alliances are formed in a race to save Solange’s eternal life—Lucy and Solange’s brother Nicholas, and Solange and Kieran Black—in a dual romance that is guaranteed to jump start any romance-lover’s heart.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Family changes

Last week we made the difficult decision to move my grandmother and great aunt into an assisted living facility. They are 91 and 88 year-old sister-in-laws who are both widowed and have shared a home for a few years. As time has passed we've had to add more and more people and time to help with their care. They have gradually become totally dependent "independent" home owners. They weren't even able to bring in their mail or newspaper any more because it was across the street. Among other things, my grandmother is weaker physically and my aunt is having more and more memory problems. My mother has very broad shoulders but the weight of all of this has been enormous. My aunt has no other family around and my grandmother has another daughter but she lives out of town. I've tried to step up and help as much as possible in recent years, especially with their doctor visits and health care. It still became overwhelming for my mother and I as more and more issue arose and problems developed.

After some recent health scares and trips to the ER in the middle of the night, their doctors helped us convince them it was time to make some changes. Their first impression was of nursing homes and they were resistant and afraid. After a visit to a nearby facility they were able to see first hand how beautiful, comfortable and active the place really was. They agreed to a trial stay and have been there one week. We are hoping, and planning, to make it permanent. We can't go back to the way it was.

It was scary to prepare for and we've had our bumps in the road already but the staff and other residents have helped make it a smoother transition. So far it's seems to be a good experience and they are adjusting better than expected. They each have nice rooms that are fully furnished (or you can bring your own), delicious meals in a restaurant style setting, active social lives (exercise class, hair salon, manicures, daily trips to town, in house events, local trips... even Wii bowling on the large screen TV in the family room), and best of all are the regular routines that are monitored by aids. Now we don't have to worry if they have fallen in the bathroom, missed their doses of medicine or skipped their meals. They are already getting stronger, healthier and more active and they get to do it with dignity.

We still have our work cut out for us and there is much to do but now all the responsibility doesn't fall on us. I've even started to have moments at recent visits where I was just the granddaughter/niece and not the hired help or chauffeur. I would do anything to help them and they do appreciate it but it had become very stressful. I have always been impressed with my mom's strength, courage and ability to do anything and everything. This has made me have even more respect for her. I'm blessed to have some tough chicks in my family and I love them dearly. I hope I will set that same example for my children.

Now I going outside to do a little gardening and read my book. Maybe after that I can get some work done on my neglected blog. I've missed you all and I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. After all, as the mother of three young men who live at home, I have free time on my hands now... HA!

As always, thanks for listening.

Shopping at CSN Stores

I think I've mentioned once or twice (ahem) that I have a hammock that I absolutely love and adore. I enjoy spending as much time there as possible. My hubby built the giant frame for it years ago and I've already had to replace the hammock three times. Sadly, I'll need to do that again soon since the strings are starting to pop. I've had a few over the years so I know what I want but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. Until now.

I'm sure you've seen various posts on blogs from CSN Stores.com. They have 22 different stores online that offer everything from coffee makers to hammocks and more. (You see where I'm going with this?) Earlier this year I entered several giveaways to try to win some of the beautiful bookshelves that were being reviewed and given away on many different blogs. Sadly, I wasn't a winner but I bet some of you were!

So that's how I became familiar with the site and that's how I found this:


There are pages and pages of hammocks and outdoor furniture but I think this is the one for me. I haven't decided on a color yet but I'm going to try to get that ordered today so I can enjoy these final weeks of summer. (Oh how it pains me to say final and summer in the same sentence!) And since I'll also get free shipping I think I just might order a set of pots and pans my hubby had his eye on. With our anniversary and Christmas not too far away (that's even more painful to say) it would be the perfect gift for him. Especially since we always agree not to exchange gifts and he never follows that rule. CSN has so many sets to chose from but I think I like this one.


So what do you think? I don't shop often so this is a big deal for me. I'll be sure to let you know all about them when they arrive. CSN Stores, here I come!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page (this month at Chick Loves Lit) is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Fun books this week! I can't wait to dig into all of them. These lazy days of summer (well, we try to be lazy) feel like they are zipping away too fast. I can't believe it's already mid-August! I need at least 6 months of summer but I guess NY state isn't the place for that. I hope you are enjoying good books and sunshine too!

Linger
by Maggie Stiefvater

Won from la femme reader

In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past…and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves…and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love–the light and the dark, the warm and the cold–in a way you will never forget.


Radiance
by Alyson Noel

For review from Macmillan (through Shelf Awareness)

Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he's never met Riley...


Practical Demonkeeping
by Christopher Moore

From PaperBack Swap

In Christopher Moore's ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is one-hundred-year-old ex-seminarian and "roads" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor façade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Review: Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka and Francesco Sedita




Meet SPHDZ.

Be SPCHDZ.

Save the world.





The perfect combination of the age old experience of holding and pouring over a phy
sical book with newest media technology that kids love!

Michael K. just started fifth grade at a new school. As if that wasn't hard enough, the kids he seems to have made friends with apparently aren't kids at all. They are aliens. Real aliens who have invaded our planet in the form of school children and a hamster. They have a mission to complete: to convince 3,400,001 kids to BE SPHDZ. But with a hamster as their leader, "kids" who talk like walking advertisements, and Michael K as their first convert, will the SPHDZ be able to keep their cover and pull off their assignment?

This was a quirky, goofy story tailored to young children, especially boys. The cover grabs your attention with it's bright colors, whimsical text and clever illustrations that are also carried throughout the book. The artwork was not finalized in the ARC so there are even more illustrations in the finished edition.

Michael K. is the new kid, a sympathetic character who's having a rough first day at school. Add in the other new kids and the class hamster, who just happen to be aliens, and it can't get any worse, can it? No one would ever believe his classmates were aliens and they never stop repeating the commercials they've learned from us. (Think outside the bun!, Stronger than dirt! - Even if the kids don't recognize these products and jingles the parents probably will.) Special Agent Umber is suspicious of alien activity and he may be ambitious but he's also a bit inept. Who can we really trust to save the world? Since this is the first of the series we'll have time to figure it out and each book will also have it's own interactive website. I look forward to following along!

Author Jon Scieszka has several hilarious children's books. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man was a favorite at our house.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an ARC to review.

www.sphdz.com

www.kids.simonandschuster.com

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: 6/22/10
Pages: 144
Price/format: $14.99/hardcover
Type: middle grade fiction
Ages: 7-10, grades 2-5

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Sorry this wasn't more of a storybook ending," the man with his hands around her throat said, smiling, holding her eyes with his own as he choked her.
"If you're going to kill me, can't you just get on with it? This is kind of uncomfortable."

~page 161 Kiss and Tell by Michele Jaffe
from Prom Dates From Hell


Monday, August 9, 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page (this month at Chick Loves Lit) is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I only got one book this week but it's a fun one! I think I'm going to enjoy this one as much as the little people will!

Beastly Feasts!
by Robert L. Forbes


For review from The Overlook Press

If you haven't heard, the whole animal kingdom is roaring its approval for BEASTLY FEASTS!, this collection of delectable rhymes about animals naughty and nice. With over forty delicious poems by Robert Forbes and zany illustrations of each featured creature (and a secret critter peeping out from each page) from master cartoonist Robert Searle, these wildly playful rhymes and charmingly intricate illustrations will keep readers seven to seventy coming back to the table again and again.

The Gnus are out! So are the dachshunds, squirrels, and giraffes! Open up BEASTLY FEASTS! for a menagerie of poems that are as good for a scare as they are for a laugh!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Back to work.. kind of

I can't believe it's August already but I'm happy to say we've been enjoying the lazy days of summer. Unlike last year (rain and more rain) we've had plenty of sunshine and hot weather. I love it but it's been a bit warm for our two dogs so we've been taking them to our creek every day.



Our amazing swimmin
g hole












Making good use of our amazing swimming hole







We also got to spend a long weekend at my brother's house. It was so great to have all of the family there. With all of our kids growing up it's getting harder and harder to make room in their busy schedule so this was very special. We relaxed, played beach volleyball, swam, tortured ourselves with a giant jigsaw puzzle, had cookouts and bonfires, relaxed some more and bonded. It was so awesome and exactly what we all needed!



My mom and nephew fishing at the pond








Now it's back to work (kind of) and time to get some stuff done on my blog. Maybe I can get back to some kind of schedule. At least a summer schedule, right? Although it's really nice out today and the dogs just asked to go swimming...

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It is well after midnight, the fire dying down to embers, when we finally stand and stretch, reluctant even now to bring this long, lovely day to an end. Here in the darkness we have discovered, to our amazement, that in June these wild, untended fields are alight with fireflies, that they spark and tumble like falling stars through the tall grass.

~ page 49
The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison