Merry Christmas et al

The blog will be quiet for the next two weeks. I plan to return to it January 5th. During this time I will spend time with my family.
Yeah!
cmr

Hot Hunk Friday, -Santa

HO Ho HO.

In a mall in Beverly Hills California, this is the mall Santa. On weekends he listens to what good girls and boys want for Christmas.

ahem. Well women certainly.

He can come trim my tree.

Anyway Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Merry Kwanzaa to all my readers.

I've been tagged Twice

Ginger Simpson tagged me on Tuesday.
I'm supposed to reveal ten truths about myself and then tag 7 other to do the same.
(The second tag is for a short Christmas story, but that will have to wait.)

Here goes:
1. When looking at colleges I only applied to two: Northerna Arizona University and Penn State. I got into both, but picked Penn State.
2. I delivered pizza for Domino's in college.
3. I once interviewed to drive the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, but didn't get the job.
4. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and I don't like shopping.
5. I wrote my first book in junior high.
6. I was an oops. My parents were using the rhythm method and they lost the beat.
7. I've lived in England. My husband and I lived there for a year for his job.
8. I was ambivalent about having kids. I wasn't one of those people who dreamed about getting married and having kids. I love my kids to death now that I have them.
9. If something bothers me I'll tell you. If something really bothers me, you won't ever know.
10. I can't knit. I've tried numerous times over the years, but I just can't seem to get the stitches to look right.

I don't have seven people to tag. Most of the people I know don't blog. Sorry. But check out the pic on this blog. http://caridad.com/blog/

Word Wednesday - Birthday

Birthday. Not a hard word. Well if you have a lot of them behind you it might be.
But it isn't my birthday. It's Joe Paterno's birthday. Someone is throwing hima virtual surprise party. You can make a comment about some experience you had with Joe Pa
I did. I passed him on the street once and he said, "Hello."
If you don't know, he's a legend. A really big man on campus.
Regular readers of this blog, know I went to Penn State. I meet someone everywhere I go that has gone to PSU.
Yeah!
So Happy Birthday Joe Pa!
We are . . . . .Penn State.

Happy New Monday - Happiness is contagious

Happiness is contagious.
I truly believe this. I can be a grouchy and you encounter someone who is in a great mood and you end up in a great mood, too. I love when this happens.

I think I've done the same for other people, too. I'm a glass half full kind of person. At the very least it is half full. I'm not perky, per say, but I'm pretty upbeat.
So smile at someone it may make their day.

Word Wednesday - Intimation

intimation \in-tuh-MAY-shuhn\, noun:
an indirect or slight suggestion; hint


I often use this word. It’s one that when I do use it around non-writers they ask me what it means.

Some words people can figure out in context. I guess this isn’t one of them. I’m also asked to spell it by some wiseacres. I can. I can spell lots of words.

I’ve found in dealing with men, you don’t intimate. You tell them directly. Other women will pick up hints. Men will not. After I’ve been with women for a few hours, I go home and talk that way to the men in my house. Often my husband will just ask me what I want him to do.
It’s a good strategy on his part. I then get back to manspeak and we all can understand each other.

This is one of those words that sound dirty, but isn’t. Though an intimation can be for something dirty.

What was the last thing you intimated?

Book Review Tuesday - House of Dark Shadows

House of Dark Shadows
Robert Liparulo

I’m not one to read YA. If I do, it would be romance.
But I like horror and House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo seemed pretty close to horror.
I haven’t been scared reading a book since I read It by Stephen King. I was truly scared reading the book.
The King family moves from Los Angeles to a small town. Xander, 15, does not want to move. He has a girlfriend and friends who he makes movies with. He likes his life in LA.
But move they do and the Kings find this odd house. Xander doesn’t like it from the beginning. He hears strange noises and sound travels in odd directions. When he confronts his father, the man agrees there is something about the house, but at first isn’t willing to consider moving.
Xander’s mother finds a set of large footprints in the house. Then Xander and his younger brother, David, see a strange figure on the second floor and decide to follow it. They find odd rooms in the attic. Each one has a different theme and an outside door. In order to go through the door the person must be wearing some of the items in the room.
After Xander is almost killed in a gladiator fight, their father makes David and Xander agree not to enter the rooms and not to tell their mother.
But David can’t resist.
This sets off a series of events which lead quickly to the end of the book.
House of Dark Shadows is the first in a series.
I could not put the book down. When I did finish it, I couldn’t sleep because my heart was pounding. Part of why it was scary to me is that I so identified with Xander and David. Having two boys myself, I found the relationship between them realistic. David especially had the push and pull that a 12 year old faces between being a child and being a teenager.
If you like horror then I highly recommend House of Dark Shadows.

Happy News Monday - Animals

Animals reaching out to troubled kids.

This is a picture of my dog as a puppy. He's almost as cute as this now. He has big maple syrup eyes. I didn't really want a dog, but everyone else did. I sometimes don't like him, but I always love him. (Gee sounds like my husband.)

Anyway, when my father died last year it took a few weeks for it to really hit me. My dog knew it before I did. Normally we live a peaceful existence during the day. Once the kids go off to school, I get on the computer and he goes to sleep in my bedroom. He doesn't usually stir unless I do.

Well this day he was glued to my side. That's when it hit me. I was finally mourning. He knew it. He has this way of putting his head on your lap and looking up at you and wagging his tail. It's hard to resist, but as I'm allergic to dogs, I can't really pet him.

Studies have shown that having a pet lowers your blood pressure. Even just petting an animal can help.

And there are times when I break down and pet him and make sure I wash my hands right afterward. And I do feel better.

How can you not when there is unconditional love?

What kind of pet do you have?

Hot Hunk Friday - Noah Wyle

When I researched Noah Wyle, I realized he wasn't that much younger than me. I was sure I had at least a decade on him, but it's closer to five years.

So I don't feel so bad about him being a Hot Hunk Friday pic.

I've loved ER from the beginning, but I haven't watched it in a few years. I guess since it is the last season I should. I used to tape it and watch it during the day.

I liked Carter, the character Noah Wyle plays, even though he was pretty much a snot-nosed kid in the beginning.

I have hope for snot-nosed kids. I've known a few in my time. Being on a first aid squad that lets 16 year olds join, you see them at their snot-nosed best. On the other hand, you get to see them grow into fine young men. One recently came back from being an LA cop. He has a quiet confidence now.

Another has a full time job and loves the 8-4 hours. He even bought a house.

I guess what I like is the character arc of these kids. It's what we as writers strive for in our stories. It's nice to have examples in our everyday lives to pick from.

So who have you gotten to watch grow up and are very proud of now?

Word Wednesday - resplendent

resplendent \rih-SPLEN-duhnt\, adjective:very bright or shining; splendid

This is one of those words that I think sounds like what it means. It’s not a word I would use in my writing, but if I were writing an historical, I would probably use it more. To me it seems like an old word.
We don’t have things that are resplendent anymore. The world makes me think of Versailles or Buckingham Palace.
You wouldn’t say a Yugo is resplendent. You wouldn’t even say a BMW is nor a Merecedes. It’s an old word for old fancy things.
Have you used it in your writing?

Happy News Monday - Less to worry about

We all need less to worry about.
Right?
I think the reason this article struck me is that I just saw someone I know who is due this week. She was pretty calm I have to say. Which is good.
I'm a pretty calm person. I was in Emergency Medical Services for a few years and you have to be a calm person to do that.
I don't think I worried that much when I was pregnant. Okay maybe about labor, but really that isn't odd.
In fact there's a test called Alpha Fetal Protein that they do during pregnanty. If the level is too high or low it can mean spina bifida or Down's Syndrome. At that point I was aborting the fetus and I had read about so many false positives that I declined the test. Why did I need to know?
I have two strapping boys now who eat me out of house and home.
Guess there was no need to worry and this article backs me up.
What did you worry about during pregnancy?