Good Friday

“So shall we join the disciples of our Lord,

keeping faith in Him in spite of the crucifixion,

and making ready, by our loyalty to Him in the days of His darkness,

for the time when we shall enter into His triumph in the days of His light.”

-Phillips Brooks-

March 2013 Book Report Part 2

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

As always, the Stephanie Plum books are so much fun to read. In this one, Stephanie discovers a photo that was hidden in her purse her that everyone is willing to kill for.

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Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

This one involved Grandma Mazur a lot, so was really a treat. There was organ harvesting at the hospital and embezzling from the nursing home. And of course, there were the “skips” that Stephanie seemed to let slip through her fingers.

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The Mystery of Cloomber by Arthur Conan Coyle

Great read! Lots of atmosphere out on the lonely moors. The Heatherstone family awaits an awful fate at Cloomber Hall in Scotland. Can young Mr. West help? After all, he is engaged to young Miss Heatherstone and will do all he can to save her.

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The Unscratchables by Cornelius Kane

Great book that I hope is the first in a series. It’s written pretty much as a straight crime novel of the noire style, except all the players are animals. Max (dog) and Cassius (cat) team up to fight a common foe in the sly Phineas Reynard (fox).

My Oasis

This is my dream spa. Let me show you around….

You can’t see it, but off to one side is a small water fountain with tinkly little bells. Strictly for the sound. Not too loud, but loud enough to hear over the music. What music is that, you ask? Beautiful, relaxing flute of the Native American/Andean/New Age type. Also not too loud, but blending in well with the sound of the water fountain.

Right now, it looks like there is daylight coming in from a window at the back right. Nice for a break in a busy day. At night, though, the room would be much darker. More candles. Maybe some tiny lights in the ceiling above the pool, to mimic stars. Much more relaxing.

And what am I drinking? Herbal tea is a no brainer, of course, but mine would have a generous splash of Jack Daniel’s in it. Unless I’m having something cold. Wine cooler? Maybe. More likely, it’s my friend Jack mixed with some kind of lemon/lime soda. That’s if I want to REALLY unwind after a hard day.

Now, the next question is: incense or no? Depends on my mood. The candles are scented, so there isn’t need for much more. Maybe just a splash of scented oil in the water.

Ahhhhhhhhh…..that feels MUCH better…..pardon me while I take a sip…..

While the pool looks big enough for two, and there are two tea cups on the ledge, I’m afraid this is MY little spot in MY little world. Feel free to use the spa when I’m finished, of course…just remember to blow out the candles before you leave…and turn off the fountain.

Rendering Unto Caesar

And by “Caesar” I mean the I.R.S.

I’ve written about those Infernally Rapacious Serpents before, so I won’t belabor the point again. Although I really do despise them…

Our yearly pilgrimage to Sacramento is tomorrow. Our accountant is a great guy and we always enjoy chatting with him. He has helped us a lot over the years and has saved us more than once when we’ve been audited by the Irredeemable Reptilian Scourge. And we usually get a LITTLE bit back in the form of a refund OF OUR OWN MONEY THAT WE ARE TAXED ON AGAIN. Don’t know how much, if any, we will get back this year. See the picture above? See how little the amount of blood is being squeezed from that stone? That’s because most of the blood has ALREADY BEEN DRAINED from previous years…but that doesn’t stop them from trying…

And no matter how the tax appointment goes, Marv and I always celebrate afterward with a nice meal at a fancy restaurant. We made it through another year. God is good and has always seen us through everything this world has thrown at us. 

And despite the Insatiable Ravenous Swarm, we will triumph!

March 2013 Book Report

Frozen Heat by Richard Castle

Another in the series by “Richard Castle” of the TV series. These are such gems to read! Best marketing ploy EVAR!!! They’ve now come out with the “Derek Storm” books as well, but they’re all ebooks! I don’t have an ereader or Kindle, Nook or any of those! I’ve always treasured the printed word that I can hold in my hands, but I think the time is coming very soon that I will need one of these devices. I’ve already mourned the fact that some very interesting-sounding Steampunk novels have come out in that format only. But I digress….

If you’re a fan of the Castle TV show, you will really enjoy the Nikki Heat books. Interesting that in this latest book it was revealed that Nikki’s mother was a spy….wink, wink…..

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A Thousand Way to Please a Family by Louise Bennet Weaver & Helen Cowles LeCron

This was another reprint of the series by Weaver & LeCron. Like the first one, it was in story form with the menus and recipes following. This book takes place several years into Bob and Bettina’s marriage and they now have two young children. I’ve been unable to find any of the other books, so this is the last I will hear of this little family. I truly wish these women had written some real novels taking place in this time period with these same people. It’s a joy to read.

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So Young a Queen by Lois Mills

This is a highly romanticized story of Hungarian-born Queen Jadwiga of Poland and her marriage to Jagiello of Lithuania in the 1300s. I got the book at a library sale, from the youth section. As soon as I started reading it, I realized I had read this same book when I was in junior high. It had a different dust jacket on it, which is why I didn’t know that from the first. I vividly remember the original dust jacket, because I was so taken with this story. After I finished it this time around, I looked up the REAL story of this woman. Not quite the romance of Ms. Mills account, but interesting nonetheless. Jadwiga was beatified and then later canonized by the Catholic Church. I couldn’t find an image of the dust jacket to include here, and I had already donated the book to the church rummage sale. I got this picture from the Internet.