My Two Blessings

It is the last Tuesday of the month and Jennifer at 5 minutes for books is hosting " What's On Your nightstand " Currently on my bedside stand You Can't Hide by Karen Rose The Exile and The Machiavelli Covenant by Allan Folsom Trashed by Alison Gaylin Left to Die by Lisa Jackson Always Time to Die and Die in Plain Site by Elizabeth Lowell - Another one of my favorite authors Dead Silence by Brenda Novak The Millionaires and The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer The pile generally stays about the same size because I am constantly buying books. We have a used book store in the same shopping center as our business, so you can imagine where I spend my breaks. Plus I have Amazon Prime and get my books in two days. I have discovered several authors this year that I like including not only Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell and Karen Rose, but Suzanne Brockmann, Roxanne St. Claire, and Linda Howard. I ...

I got an A! Just finished my college math course and earned an A. Yeehaw! My GPA with Excelsior is 3.75 which is awesome for me. I've always been a middle of the road C student which accounts for my overall GPA of 2.66. But let's just ignore that overall one for now - shall we! I am currently working on completing my Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts through Excelsior College (accredited online university) I started back at the beginning of 2007 and have 6 lower level credits and 12 upper level credits left to do. I have been taking one class a semester because that is all I can handle with everything else. I just signed up for a required 1 credit course - Information literacy which basically gives an overview of information literacy concepts. It's easy peasy and then I'll sign up for my next big class in November. Right now I'm contemplating whether to take English 340 Short Stories or English 365 Nobel Literature for one of my upper division co...

What we are doing for 3rd grade. We finished 2nd grade in June and decided to make a few changes for 3rd grade. We officially started 3rd grade this week with a full schedule. During the summer, we concentrated on math and handwriting only. English: Voyages in English Writing and Grammar by Loyola Press. Last year it was a toss up between Rod and Staff and VIE. I purchased both Rod and Staff 2nd and 3rd grade and reviewed both. At the time wanted to get Voyages in English but since couldn't get the teachers guide, forgot about it. Decided to start with the 2nd grade R & S because it seemed to segue easily from first language lessons. It turned out to be too easy and didn't hold James interest. Plus we already were concentrating heavily on devotions and the religious aspect of the program was just too much. I was able to get the VIE student book and practice book without the teachers guide and so far like what I see. Spelling: Spelling Workout C For 2nd ...

"WOW, It's a Godzilla Shirt. Just what I always wanted! James was quite excited to receive a Godzilla shirt in the mail from his Uncle M and Auntie G. They went to the science fiction museum in Seattle, Washington and thought of him when they saw this shirt. How neat is that!

Happy 49th Birthday to Father Today we celebrated Father's 49th Birthday. I cooked a roast beef with yorkshire pudding. Father usually makes the yorkshire pudding whenever we have roast but I wanted to make it myself this time. I found the recipe in my William Sonoma Roasting cook book - part of the collections series Father gave me several years ago. Right after I put the beast in the oven, I premade the pudding batter and put it into the refrigerator as per instructions. Father has always made a big production of making the batter right before he cooks it and makes a big mess. The only way to cook right! Make a big mess in the process. Sh - don't let him hear me say that or he won't cook for me anymore. I won't complain - I won't complain. Anyhow I premade the batter. All I had to do when the roast was done was remove the roast from the pan and put it aside, covered of course, to let it rest. Then pour the batter into the nice hot pan with all the b...

Two babies have found a new home Brother M (new name - Melvin) and Sister Sweetie (new name - Leoa) have found a new home with Cousin L, Auntie A, and Uncle B. They came over last weekend to pick up Leoa and ended up falling in love with Melvin as well. We are keeping the three stooges Gracie, Herbie and Melvin They love their momma Who still lets them nurse about once a day They are 11 weeks old as of Monday and all are adorable, rambunctious, precocious, curious and affectionate. They follow us around everywhere or try to at least. Now if I can just train them to stay off the dining table and the speakers.

Happy Anniversary to Us! We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary today. Father, James and I went out to dinner at the Pilot House restaurant on the Delta King docked in Old Sacramento. I enjoyed a filet mignon with garlic potatoes, Father had rack of lamb and James had a burger. Father and I shared a piece of cappuccino cheesecake which was absolutely yummy. James decided he would have some nestle crunch when we got home. We wandering down the pier watching the boats as they went up and down the river. Then we came home and Father opened his present. The 11th anniversary is supposed to be steel so I purchased an elegant champagne ice bucket to replace his old one. Father didn't quite finish working on my gift - dremeling a piece of steel into the shape of a heart. He gets quite inventive when it comes to anniversary gifts. He will finish it today and I'll have to figure out how to display it.

5 kittens sitting in a chair Sweetie gets annoyed The boys play it cool The girls team up Until Gracie steals the limelight Are they not adorable. The kittens are now 7 weeks old and we are ready to send some off to new homes. We will be keeping two of the boys - Herbie and Melvin. James cousin gets first pick of the girls - sweetie or gracie, then we start calling all those folks who are just waiting with baited breath for one of our sweet, affectionate darlings! I say this after being woken up at 6:30 and having my ankles attacked in a good morning frenzy while trying to make breakfast.