Fall into Reading 2007 - Update 1

A little over a month into it and with a little over a month left, these were my original choices:


Playing for Pizza..........................John Grisham
Play Dirty....................................Sandra Brown
Free Fall ....................................Fern Michaels
High Noon...................................Nora Roberts
Shoot Him if He Runs....................Stuart Woods
Justice Denied............................. J.A. Jance
Double Take............................... Catherine Coulter
Knit Together.............................. Debbie Macomber
Mad Dash.................................... Patricia Gaffney
What Matters Most........................ Luanne Rice
Lean Mean 13............................... Janet Evanovich
6th Target.................................... James Patterson
Wuthering Heights........................ Emily Bronte
Rebels of Ireland:
The Dublin Saga........................... Edward Rutherfurd
Lord John and the Brotherhood
of the Blade............................Diana Gabaldon


Out of these, so far, in no particular order, I have finished; Rebels of Ireland by Rutherfurd (and corrrected the spelling of his last name), Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Gabaldon, Lean Mean 13 by Evanovich, Shoot Him if He Runs by Woods, Free Fall by Michaels, and Playing for Pizza by Grisham.


I have learned that; potatoes are not native to Ireland, that as long as there is one person living who depends on your for their safety, you are not free, that I do not want to be a bounty hunter, that quite possibly the CIA/NSA/FBI is as scary as it is funny (at least in fiction), that I read books I do not remember a month later, and that Grisham is as good at writing American ex-pats in Italy as he is at writing lawyers.


I have also read Miss Julia Strikes Back by Ann. B. Ross, Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson, and The Quilter's Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini. The first two of these books are the latest in series that I have been reading for years. The last is also part of a series - one about which I have read great reviews.

Wuthering Heights is next but today I am dealing with a broken hot water heater line (read no water) and 40 mph winds out of the north!

Friends

"They color my life with the beautiful hues of friendship. Although we come from different backgrounds and cultures we share the same spirit of friendship."

I received this wonderful award from one of my new friends, Junebug.

I have not been blogging long and it simply amazes me how generous everyone is - with their thoughts, their support, their comments - oh, wait, I guess that would be with their friendship

So, thanks to Junebug for making what was shaping up to be a stressful day be a wonderful day.

And hoping to share some of that same wonderfulness, I would like to share this with Pensieve for actually making me think some of the time, with Swampy just for being Swampy, and with Anglophile Football Fanatic for helping to restore my faith.

Have a great day, y'all!

PS: Just thought I'd share that I now have Vanessa Williams sing "The Colors of the Wind" stuck in my head!

Fun Monday - Mother, May I?

This Fun Monday is brought to you by......Hootin'Anni. Details are at her website but here is my version of "Anni, May I?"

30 steps from my favorite place to blog is this.


It is a one of a kind, custom made bird hotel. We have owned this hotel for upwards of 2 years and it has lived on top of the dog crate in my living room. Yes, I have an eclectic decorating style.

I took 30 steps in an easterly direction and ran smack dab into the railroad tie/fence post in the middle of my yard. I thought that would be boring, so I stuck the birdhouse on top. Actually, my husband stuck the birdhouse on top.

Thank you, dear.

I turned around, took 15 baby steps, turned south, and this

is what I saw. I had intended to take pictures of the oak tree but took this of the protector of the oak tree instead. This is what Holly looks like without the Christmas collar.

There you have it. Have fun, everyone, and I'll see you in your comments section!

Thanks to all the Veterans

Traditions - Non-holiday

Sunday evening, after dinner (which I did NOT cook), my husband became ill. He blamed it on food poisoning.

Monday morning, my grandson's school called to tell me they had a sick child. I foreswore asking them, "Whose?" and went to pick up the lil man. He had a slight fever and a "tummy ache."

My daughter, who works nights, was sleeping so I brought the munchkin to my house.

We got home and I sent him to change into his jammies and get into bed. It is tradition, in my house and in my daughter's, that if you come home sick from school, you go to bed. You do not watch TV or play games or bake cookies. You are sick.

It was almost lunchtime and lil man said he was hungry. I decided to make him - you guessed it - chicken soup

.

Normally, when I make chicken soup from scratch, this is the recipe I use.

When my husband makes chicken soup, this is the recipe he uses.

When there is a sicko involved, this is the soup I make.

It is the soup my mom used to make when we were sick and the soup I made for my kids when they were sick. We only got it when we were sick. Period. I don't know why. I just know.

Now, if there is a sore throat involved, or (insert your own word for vomitting, yakking, puking, etc.) involved, Mom gave us this.

We did not get the sugar free variety (I couldn't find the right picture) and we usually got strawberry. We got it warm. Yep, warm jello. It slid down without hurting and well, you just can't beat technicolor puke. Once again, we only got this when were sick. Period. I don't know why. I just know.

And last but not least - for colds:

Mom would rub it on our chests and then give us one of Dad's white cotton (J.C.Penney pima cotton) T-shirts to wear to bed.

She would also smear it under our noses and occasionally stick it up a nostril. Sometimes, even though she was a nurse and I am sure that she loved us, she would roll some into a little ball and have us swallow it! Do not do this at home. It specifically says not to do this at home.

The smell of Vick's still makes me feel loved when I am sick, though.

So there you have it - winter supplies for the sickroom at my house. Lipton's chicken soup, warm jello, Vick's VapoRub, and an extra large man's white cotton T-shirt.

UPDATE

Little man, this afternoon, asked if he could have "sick noodle soup" even when he's not sick. I think a new name for Lipton's has been born.

Say What?

I found this test on Deb's site. Evidently the two of us have nothing in common except that we do not necessarily agree with the results of this test!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Fun Monday - Happy Birthday!

This week’s hostess is Deborah from The Humble Housewife. Her request?

“I want to hear about or see a holiday tradition, recipe or event. It can be any holiday you like or that is special to your family. With Thanksgiving and the Winter holidays coming up, those would be especially apt, but anything that is special for your family is fine. If you have pictures - it's a bonus! Whether it's your Mom's famous stuffing recipe, going caroling on Christmas Eve, Diwali dances, or even the inevitability of Great Aunt Polly having one too many brandies and knocking over the Christmas tree - I want to hear about it!!!”

My very favorite Christmas tradition is one that I started when my girls were little.

At my mom’s, on Christmas, we always had 3 desserts - pumpkin pie, rhubarb pie, and prune cake. The prune cake was my sister’s favorite and since it was her birthday, Mom always made prune cake.

When my oldest daughter was 3 and my youngest daughter was 2 months old, I started serving Baby Jesus’ birthday cake for Christmas dessert. It is His birthday, after all.

By that point, my mom and I were splitting the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day dinner so, whichever one I was cooking, we had birthday cake, not for my sister, but for Baby Jesus, for dessert.

When I was a mom with a house, this is the cake I made.

It's a two layer Jello poke cake, 1 layer red and 1 layer green.

I was unaware how much of an impression Jesus' birthday party was making on my kids till someone asked my daughter, when she was in 4th grade, what her favorite Christmas carol was. Her answer? “Happy Birthday to You”.

When the girls were older, my husband and I drove truck cross-country for a living. That’s when I discovered this wonderful cake. I had it delivered to whoever was hosting dinner that year and, in good years, to everyone on my gift list, with “Happy Birthday, Jesus” written on the card and the cake.

So, there you have it - my most favorite Christmas tradition. My kids and grandkids are sure of two things at Christmastime - they will receive a hardback book as their Christmas gift and dessert will be birthday cake for Baby Jesus.

On a side note: last year our Church was providing dessert for the inmates at the county jail. I ordered a birthday cake from our local bakery to be decorated with “Happy Birthday, Jesus” and delivered. One of the jailers called me and asked if I had any clue how many “Jesus”’ there were currently incarcerated. I didn’t. He told me. I drove down to the jail with my frosting tube and changed the cake to “Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus”. One of the jailers got the piece with Jesus' name on it to avoid a Christmas riot!