No idea what to call this post

We have some of our favorite bloggers heading out to the RWA Convention in Dallas. Jane, Kristie, Sybil and Wendy will be there along with 150+ other bloggers, and I'm sure all will have a wonderful time.

While the ladies are having fun in Dallas I will be working bingo and trying to stay cool in 95+ degree temperatures. I shouldn't complain, we spent a good chunk of yesterday in the pool with the BF and his Mom. All of us did a quick bookstore run (the BF's Mom is an avid romance reader too) and I picked up a few books and plan to spend as much time as possible floating in the pool and reading.

I have a hard time planning meals in the heat. We don't have air conditioning so I prefer not to cook. The child doesn't eat salad and the hubby doesn't really like fruit with dinner. Last night it was BLT's, a green salad (for the hubby) and fruit salad (for me and Junior). Tonight it will be salad with cold chicken for the parents and a sandwich and more fruit salad for the child. If I have enough time I'll pick up some fresh green beans and make a green bean salad, we all eat that.

Tomorrow my Dad goes to the specialist about the blockage in his carotid artery, we know it requires surgery. My sister is taking them to the specialist and we expect surgery will be sometime in the next few weeks. Though he will have to be off his blood thinning medication for 5 days before they can do surgery. We're all a little nervous. He's been through so much the last few years.

Have to go, hit the shower, drop the child off at the BF's house and head to school for a web-site committee meeting and then 5 wonderful hours of BINGO.

Have a great day and stay cool :)

A Round About Review

We are officially 3 weeks into Junior's summer vacation. And, I am officially ready for him to go back to school, unfortunately we still have 8 more weeks to go. He has camp at the end of the month--that can't come fast enough. Now I love my child, but like his father he knows exactly how to push that one button that will trigger an automatic response, rarely a good response. Not that he's being "bad" because he's really a very good little boy, but at 5 he thinks I have been put on this earth to be at his little beck and call. And when I don't respond fast enough it's announced I run on "Tara Time". This is something he's managed to pick up from the DH. It is true, I do run on "Tara Time", but I really don't need to be reminded of this by a 5 year old.

And yet the little stink pot knows when he's pushed too far. While on vacation he was whining while we were visiting Mystic Seaport... "It's hot, I don't want to be here, can we go..." We had brought him there to see the ships, which he wanted to see, took him on a little ride around the little bay and still he was whining. When I'd reached my limit I in turn announced "I've had it, put on a happy face or else." This was while I was dragging him into the ladies bathroom after he informed me he would go into the men's room by himself. I am rather relieved that he hasn't actually tested the "or else" threat as I'm not really sure what "or else" means. He put on a happy face and actually did enjoy himself.

The other day we took a quick run into B&N and while in there he pushed every button imaginable. "I'll wait in games." "Can I get a DVD." "I'm going to the kid section." The store was packed and I insisted he "knock it off", but being a child he kept pushing until I announced "I'd had enough." Apparently the child can judge my mood, because he could obviously tell I wasn't all that mad, he dropped prostrate on the floor and started begging my forgiveness, right smack in the middle of the one and only "Romance Aisle". I, of course, started to laugh and told him to get up. "Not until you forgive me." "Listen Barrymore, get up." He did a reenactment for his father that night--it was quite good.

So, while in B&N I pick up a couple of books, one of which was Holly Lisle's Night Echoes. Which was released back in April and somehow I'd missed completely. I heard absolutely no buzz about it and realized maybe I'm one of the only people in our little part of the romance reading world who reads her romantic suspense (I've never read her Fantasy books as 1. I'm not really into Fantasy all that much and 2. I'm not likely to get into Fantasy if I start with books as long as she writes, though I've been tempted :)

From Publisher's Weekly (Apr. 2007):

Romantic suspense twines neatly with the paranormal—and without a single vamp or were-creature—in Lisle's latest, a chilling haunted house mystery that pits a sensible couple against the supernatural...

Tara fixes the back blurb:

When artist Emma Beck returns to the small South Carolina where she was born to discover the truth about her roots and long dead birth mother, everything she thought she knew about her birth begins to fall apart--especially after she moves into the old wreck of a Pre-Civil War farmhouse she plans to restore. Emma is drawn to the house, which seems strangely familiar, as does Mike Ruhl, the contractor she hires to help her fix it up. She begins to feel frightened when she recognizes Mike as a recurring face in her paintings--including one in a Confederate uniform. And when Emma starts to hears soft whisperings late at night, and they discover lost letters and a hidden journal in the attic, they realize they are caught in a web of ghostly tragedy.

I like Holly Lisle's story telling and particularly like that it's a ghost story not a vampire or werewolf to be found. Emma is drawn to a house she's been recreating it in artwork since she was 5. There's a "realization" that comes about 3/4 of the way through the book that annoyed me because it should have come much sooner, like in the first 1/4. Vague, but I didn't feel like going into a big spoiler alert. But Holly's ability to raise the anxiety level makes the book worth reading even if I didn't love the plotting.

odds 'n ends...

I haven't read anything all week. School stuff and other things seem to be taking up a lot of time.

Somehow I was named chair of a new committee at school, Marketing and Publicity. This happened at a meeting I wasn't even attending. So, I've been busy collecting rate charts for the various newspapers, and gathering press release info for radio and television stations as well as newspapers. I need to come up with a budget and plan by June 21st. I also have to design an ad that will be in a local "Parenting" magazine, this I need to do next week. I also need to create an ad for our graduates.

Junior only has 2 weeks left of school. Graduation is June 14th. The Kindergarten class is putting on a play about Noah and the Ark. Junior's Noah, I was able to borrow a Joseph costume (my nephew was Joseph in a Christmas Pageant a few years ago and that costume fits) but I still have to make a beard. To quote the music teacher "Whatever you do, don't cover up the beautiful face." :D

He was supposed to be able to tie a bow by today. He's left handed and I'm having a heck of time teaching him, it's the reason he wears loafers. I have a feeling they're testing them today. Do you think you can fail Kindergarten because you can't tie?

We have a barbeque tomorrow and a day trip planned for Sunday, maybe I'll find time to read Monday, probably not--LOL.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend, and buy a poppy.

I'm back......

At least I hope I'm back, with a new CPU, cable internet service and the new Window's Vista OS, which to be honest, I'm not too sure about.

Going without the internet for a week is like a junkie going through withdrawals--LOL.

I will admit to being an idiot...

1. couldn't get the cable modem hooked up because the splitter wasn't working.
2. couldn't get dial-up to work--it wasn't plugged into the wall jack.
3. once I finally got on through the cable modem the IE browser wouldn't work--brought everything back to Best Buy for them to tell me it was set to work off-line.

Well, I'm off to see just how much faster cable is over dial-up :D

Have a good one.

AWOL

I'm officially off-line for a few more days, visiting my parents today and am using their computer. Our old dial-up modem shorted out our whole phone system before it died. This happened Thursday. Friday the entire system crashed, and the computer wont even turn on. We knew this was coming, but hoped it would last a little longer. I'll be looking at new systems this week and hopefully will be back on-line soon.

You'd think I'd be reading more, but between kid stuff (school, t-ball, piano) and a nasty cold, I've only finished a couple of books this week.

I'm going to try to do some blog hopping before leaving today.

Hope all are well and happy reading :D

Slowing down

My mini reading binge has slowed down to a crawl, not because I'm not interested in what I'm currently reading, but because life seems to be interrupting--that darned life.

Between school stuff (Parent Guild meetings and a Chuck E. Cheese Fundraiser) and cleaning I haven't had much free time. One of the pre-schools affilitated with ours is having a tag sale next week. I started cleaning the room from hell, purging old books and toys. I have to do this when the child isn't home or he gets all misty eyed about what's leaving, but if I do it and then tell him what's gone he's fine. I can't quite figure that one out. One giant box, three shopping bags and a giant free standing horse later the room isn't finished, but it's looking much better.

The Chuck E. Cheese Fundraiser was last night, we went from 4-6 and to be honest it wasn't bad, not too crowded with people not affiliated with the school. Junior had a great time--games, pizza, ice cream, prizes--what's not to love for a 5 year old. We're going back Sunday afternoon for a birthday party for a little girl who sent him his first offical Love Letter, It's sitting in a place of honor on top of our TV armoire in the living room. She also told him "I love you and I'm going to marry you and all the girls in our class want to marry you." I can't decide if I should be worrying.

We got a call from Junior's T-Ball coach, their first practice is next week (weather permitting as we're expecting 12-18 inches of snow today) and the first game will be some time Easter week.

Have a good one and happy reading.

To Keep or Not to Keep...

I pulled this quote from Cheryl's review of Laura Lee Guhrke's And Then He Kissed Her on AAR:

As I read, I was pleased to be enjoying a very strong B+ romance. However, I have since found myself going back and rereading several scenes, and when I finish this review, the book is going right on my Keeper Shelf - that all adds up to a DIK in my book. And Then He Kissed Her is smart and sexy and fun and I highly recommend it.

And this got me thinking about when I make the to keep or not to keep decision. The desire to reread scenes or the entire book is usually a sure sign the book's going to be a keeper. But ultimately I don't make the "decision" until I purge books, and that only happens once or twice a year. I'm much better at making this decision when the afterglow of a book has worn off. If after all that time I still want to reread or the book has something that draws my attention I'll keep it. I also have a tendency to keep books that are part of an on going series, at least as long as the series holds my attention.

So, I wonder how and when do you decide To Keep or Not To Keep?