Flashback Friday: Blizzard of '73:)

December 1973:
The date was set....the party planned....my outfit chosen with care.

Mom made cupcakes for me to take to school.

However, Mother Nature had another idea.  Snow began to fall.

In the morning, "School is canceled, honey.  Go back to sleep."

Sleep?  But it was my birthday....and the last day of school before the Christmas Break!   What about my class singing Happy Birthday to me?  Playing Head's Up 7-Up?  And passing around my delicious chocolate cupcakes?  Instead, I got a blizzard and an early start to vacation.

We enjoyed the snow, and went sledding down the neighbor's driveway and hill.  Friend K came over and shared ice cream and cake, then had more celebrations with various family members during the next two weeks.

*******
Present Day:
Cookies Baked:  14-15 dozen chocolate chip
Presents Bought/Shipped:  8, along with 15 e-book CDs for the troops.

Songs For Tomorrow's Karaoke:
(If I get to go; a sleet/snowstorm had school letting out early yesterday and no school today.  Depends on the ice factor and if I feel like trudging a mile through the snow.)

Faith of the Heart (Rod Stewart)-doing this again so I can catch it on video
Fall To Pieces (Avril Levign)
Fame (Irene Cara)
Birmingham (Amanda Marshall)-Redemption song.

Today, I'm baking either the sugar free cookies or the M&M ones...haven't decided yet.  Have a great weekend!

TSWSNBN #6

I'm heading into the home stretch!  Only two more chapters after this week's installment, halleluja!!!

Ch. 17:
Pg.355:  I had a massive eye-roll when, during the phone conversation to tell C her dad's in the hospital and C says he has a meeting with some Asian business men, A wonders 'Why did I no nothing of this?'  Umm, because you're too wrapped up in your own job, staying alive, keeping C alive, and worrying about C's previous lovers to ask about what it is he does every day.  That's why.  Then on the next page, she's questioning his judgement?  What has she got against the Global Economy?

Pg. 359:  I don't know about 'normal people', but when I make a cup of tea with a tea bag, I let it steep for several minutes.  Here she dunks the tea bag, then immediately throws it away, then sips and grimaces at the taste, because it's not her usual brand.  Get a clue; you're drinking colored water at this point.  You have to set it steep!  And on the next page, a mere paragraph later, her tea is cold?  How hot was that water?  Couldn't have been too hot.

Pg 361:  I wanted to slap her.  Yeah, I get it; she's in shock....but I've been in that situation also and when I hear 'stable but critical', I don't wonder what it means; I tell the doctors 'thank you'!  It means his condition has under control, but they're watching him closely.

Ch. 18:  A and C are sharing a suite so she can be close to her dad, and since she's forgotten her toothbrush, she uses his.  Gross.  Has NO one told her you never use anyone else's toothbrush?  You put the paste on your finger or use mouthwash.  Chew gum.  This happened in book #1 also.

Ch. 19:  Why is she shocked that C wants to make love on the sofa?

Ch. 20:
So A's pregnant.  With all the threats to her life and C's, and parties to attend, plus being whisked off to Aspen, she's forgotten to go get her no-baby shot.  And C goes ballistic when she tells him?  Proof she should have left him waaaaayy back in Ch 1 or 2 of book #1.....

They fight, especially when A discovers C went to see 'Mrs R' in order to calm down.  Then JH shows up and blackmails her....and suddenly meek, sheltered little A turns out to have James Bond skills at turning the tables on her captor, though she does injure herself in the process.

Ch. 23:
Pg 465:  I've had a catheter in; you can't tell when you're peeing.  So why does she have the urge?  Tsk tsk...author didn't do her homework...and OMG....on the next page, her refuses to let the nurse do her job?  What if he drops her?  She slips?  Is he still going to blame the hospital?  Idiot....

Pg 472:  Holy cow.  No hospital food for A; C has her meal catered from an upscale restaurant.  Talk about overkill.

And surprise, surprise....at the end of this chapter, C's changed his mind and is now looking forward to the birth of 'Little Blip'.

I'm sooooo thankful I only have to read less than 100 more pages!

HDH #31

I know; technically this is over.  But everyone is giving me wonderful feedback on that infidelity story.

Story Thus Far:
Brian and Randi meet at a party and have an instant attraction, but she's dating his best friend John.  Now it's a year later; Randi is now dating someone else, but has come to see John and brought a friend with her.  The friend has accompanied John down to the basement to iron his jacket, leaving Randi and Brian in the kitchen alone.

Again, please forgive the head-hopping.

Brian moved to the cabinet and withdrew a glass.  “Want something to drink?” he asked.  “If we’re not going out, then I’m having a Bloody Mary.”

            “Yuck,” Randi made a face.  “I hate tomato juice.  But you go ahead.”

            “Thanks.”  Brian was amused by the way she naturally slipped back into her role as hostess.  “You know, Randi, it’s puzzling.”  He poured in a shot of vodka, then added the tomato juice.

            “What’s puzzling?”

            “You’re one of the best looking, smartest girls that John’s ever dated, and yet you let him go down there with another girl.”  Might as well grab the bull by the horns...what the hell...

            “I have no ties to him anymore,” she stated.  “Can I help it if they find each other attractive?”  You think I’m good looking?

            “Well, you dated him.  Doesn’t it feel weird to see him with a friend of yours?”

            “Not really.  I don’t feel anything for him anymore.”  Now you, it’s a different story...

            Brian paused, and added some tobasco sauce, then reached in the refrigerator for a slice of celery.  “And there you have it, my dear...the perfect Bloody Mary!”  Oh shit...did I just call her ‘dear’???

            He called me ‘dear’!  “As I said, you can have it.”  She looked down at her hands. 

            “So you’ve only been dating, what’s his name?  Rick?  For how long?” he said conversationally as he leaned against the sink and sipped his drink.

            “I’ve actually known him for several months,” she swallowed.  “And he asked me to come down to see him this weekend.”

            “I see.  And did you know Rhonda before, also?”

            “Yes.  I...knew her through the dormitory.  And she has her room and Rick has his.”  Why am I telling him this?  It’s none of his damn business!

            “And you’re not suspicious?”  His penetrating eyes unnerved her.

            She looked up at him.  “I’ve met her...lover,” she said softly.  “He and Rick used to be roommates last year.”

            “Does he live there too?”

            “Why all the questions?” She burst out.  “Yes, he does.”

            He shifted so that she wouldn’t see the swollen bulge in his pants.  Damnit, why does this have to happen now?  I can’t get it up when I’m with anyone, but the minute she turns those eyes on me, I’m so hard I can’t stand it... “I just can’t figure why you bothered to come see John,” he said softly.  “You could have called him.”

            “I did...and his mom said you two would be back shortly.”  She bit her lip and looked away.  Will he pick up on the fact I wanted to see him as well?

December Reading List

End-of-the-Month Recap:
Books Read:  13
            Print:  4
       E-Book:  9

Writing Goals Attained:
Did I win Nano?  Sort of.  I finished Brock and Tricia's story, my 1st ever paranormal erotic romance, which will be pubbed under Kenzie's name, and it came in just under the 42K word count.  So under the true NaNo guidelines, no; I was still 8K short.  But since my goal was to finish the story, then yes, goal attained:)  And feels wonderful to have written 'The End' for the first time in 4 years!

Exercise/Weight Loss:  Blew my diet during a ChRHP weekend and am still struggling to lose the 4 pounds gained.  I'm thinking I'll try to stick to the moderation and portion control over the holidays, then pick back up after the 1st of the year.  We're also thinking about joining the gym.  I'll keep you posted.

Karaoke Update:  Kept 5 of the songs, including two more 'E' titles, Everything I Do (Bryan Adams) and Eye of the Tiger (Survivor).  So far, the 'F' titles are being kind to me:)  

December Reading Schedule:
Wyatt’s Guilt-Sara Daniels Excellent!  RR
A Highlander For Christmas-Jamie Carie Excellent!  RR
Money-Mike Weiss Good story
Murder-Mike Weiss Happy to see it finally end.
Unwritten Rules-Alison Henderson
The Tiger's Heart-Marissa Dobson
Swapped-Keaton Quist
Alice's Story-Kathleen Ball

Karaoke Song List
Fall To Pieces-Avril Lavign
Fame-Irene Cara
Fancy-Reba
Far Away-Nickelback
Feels Like the First Time-Foreigner
First Cut is the Deepest-Sheryl Crowe
Flashdance-Irene Cara

Plans This Month:
-Baking cookies
-Celebrating two birthdays
-Christmas shopping/wrapping
-Shipping laptop off to be fixed
-Preparing for Christmas Eve service

Hopefully, I'll post pics of out Thanksgiving Day feast and the daily count of cookies, presents bought/wrapped.

Flashback Friday: Another Diagnosis!

Nov 2003:

Recap:  D had two heart surgeries, was diagnosed with TB and put on those meds; I came up pregnant and had to quit my job; both cars died.  Thankfully, we were able to patch together the Lincoln Town car and drive to his mother’s for Thanksgiving.

We spent an enjoyable weekend, and when D began telling his mother of some other health issues he was experiencing, she made him test his blood sugar.  Over 300.  What?????  As soon as I could, I made him an appointment for the following Wednesday.

This time, his blood sugar was over 400.  Dr. S had him immediately admitted to the hospital.  I called the kids and told them I’d be home shortly, after settling him in.  I felt bad once we got him settled, since Dietary showed up with a meal for his roommate, but he wasn’t allowed to eat it.  I offered, so they gave it to me, and I enjoyed it.  But then the nurse came by and told the roommate his test had been cancelled, and could eat.  I rather sheepishly confessed to eating it; they ordered another meal!  D spent the next day undergoing more tests and was diagnosed with Type II diabetes.  Two more medications were added to his growing list.

I also began noticing people whispering, and finally one of my friends asked me if I’d lost the baby.  I said no; they had noticed I wasn’t putting on much weight and wondered if anything had happened.  I did let my kids accompany me to the ultrasound, where they got their first look at their new sibling.  I didn’t want to know the sex, but the kids did; however, ‘Peanut’ rolled over and refused to allow the tech to get a look between his/her legs!  We were also given an entire strip of pictures, so each one could take to school and show off their new brother or sister.

Next Month:  Christmas Craziness and Bed Rest!

******

Songs For Tomorrow:

Faith of the Heart-Rod Stewart

Faithfully-Journey

Fall 2 Pieces-Avril Lavign

Black Velvet-Alannah Miles

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Catch Up 11/26/13

Had a good weekend; passed out a few cards on Sat at the Stroll, even though it was freezing cold and the spouse thought we were all insane, I told people Murphy was a bitch; the past several parades have been in the 30′s, and Friday was still in the high 40′s/low 50′s. Trust it to be cold the year they scheduled the parade on Saturday!

Karaoke was packed; I was only able to sing 3 songs, and only because I played on Mark’s (drunk) sympathies:

Faith of the Heart: Did well on it, but when Mel picked up my camera, she accidentally hit the battery compartment, knocking them out. So no video.

Everybody: Mel and I decided to try this, since another group had sung Step By Step (New Kids on the Block), but we bombed. Chalk this up to temporary insanity!

Faithfully: Nailed this one, which thrilled me! I’ve been singing it ever since it released over 30 years ago, and I’ve been dying for the chance to sing it. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t seem to appreciate my talents, as they drowned me out with their conversation….or so it seemed, anyway. I’ll review the video footage and see if I can be heard.

Sunday was busy, as I had a CRHP ‘reunion’ and the two recipients of their framed song and poem were thrilled! I’ll be giving the other one out tonight, Thursday, or next Wednesday, since she wasn’t there.

I was a little pissed off when I sat down to watch 60 minutes. CBS had stated it was to start at 7:30, so I enjoyed dinner with the family. But football had apparently (gasp!) finished early, and I missed 20 minutes of it, the story I had actually wanted to see.

Amazing Race: While I was happy to see the Ice Rink girls be eliminated, I was also thrilled to note I was spot on about Nicole’s use of the Express Pass. Had it not been Amy’s generosity in helping her (cannot believe someone does not know what an octave is! Did the woman never pay attention in music class???), she and Travis would have been going home.

Good Wife: This season gets weirder and weirder. Is Will that bitter toward Alicia? That new smarmy lawyer he hired….yeah, if I wanted to get back at someone, that stunt was ingenious and I’d want him on my side. But on the other hand…..that was annoying.

Yesterday, I neglected to post. But then again, I’d overslept; didn’t even get dressed until 1pm; and had to take the youngling to the dr. Spent the afternoon doing laundry and typing up what I’d written in longhand over the weekend.

Heading Into The Homestretch!
NaNo deadline is this Saturday, and I’m only at the 22K mark. But, I’m hoping to finish Brock and Tricia’s story, then find a title for it, so I can send it off by February. The alien culture keeps developing as I write it, so I’ll have to go back and fix a lot in the earlier chapters. And that was my NaNo goal all along, so I’m thrilled:)

TSWSNBN #5

Ch. 14:
Friend K just got engaged, yet she turns puce? And A thinks she knows what K wants to do instead of going clubbing. Give me a break. If she’s going to be sick. that doesn’t always mean she’d rather hit the sheets instead of the dance floor. I think the author meant to write another color.

Pg.301: Why is he so worried about her alcohol intake? So she downs the water in an ‘unladylike manner’ to protest. Huh.

A is fondled on the dance floor; she slaps him; C punches the guy. Overkill? And yet no one but A thinks K and E are ‘being indecent’ on the dance floor?

Pg. 309: He’s not mad at her ‘for once’ and she thinks this is progress???

Ch. 15: I find it hard to believe her hand still hurts. And I’m completely thrown off by the mock ‘rape’ scene on pages 314-317.

Ch. 16: A goes to work and L shows up to see her. I don’t even know why this was necessary to the story. It’s so uncomfortable to read. I had to stop at the beginning of Ch. 17 to read something else: My FB feed. Much more entertaining.