To Be Read.....

I finally broke down and caught up with all my books. Read and to be read both. I've updated my Paperbackswap.com account and since Friday have mailed out 3 books and have 4 more to mail out tomorrow. I have 3 library books to read by April 8th and then I have 33 books in my to be read pile. I got these books from online friends and my Mom and sister Cheryl plus a few I've picked up at Dollar Tree. There's a huge variety from Harlequin Romance to mystery to fantasy. Actually there's quite a lot of Harlequins on the list. There's nothing wrong with that though and fluff can be a good read too. I should be in book heaven for quite a long time. LOL. Here's a list of what I've got to look forward to.


A Baby Between Them (Harlequin SuperRomance) by C. J. Carmichael
Babylon Rising: The Secret on Ararat (Mass Market Paperback) by Tim LaHaye
(Library Book)
The Best Christmas Ever (Mass Market Paperback) by Stella Bagwell
The Bone Parade (Mass Market Paperback) by Mark Nykanen
Counting On A Cowboy (Silhouette Special Edition) by Karen Sandler
A Cowboy at Heart (Harlequin Superromance No. 1184) by Roz DennyFox
The Divine Husband (Hardcover) by Francisco Goldman
Dream Country (Mass Market Paperback) by Luanne Rice
Firefly Beach (Mass Market Paperback) by Luanne Rice
Forbidden Love (Paperback) by Karen Robards
Fully Engaged (Wingmen Warriors, #12) (Silhouette Intimate Moments, #1440) by Catherine Mann
Ghosts and Lightning (Hardcover) by Trevor Byrne (Library Book)
The Girl with the Golden Spurs (Golden Spurs, #1) by Ann Major
Guardian Angel (Crown's Spies #2) by Julie Garwood
Harrigan's bride (Paperback) by Cheryl Reavis
Hawk's Pursuit (Leisure Historical Romance) by Constance O'Banyon
Here and Then (Time Travel, #2 by Linda Lael Miller
Home to Eden: Koomera Crossing (Harlequin Superromance No. 1183) by Margaret Way
In Care Of Sam Beaudry (Silhouette Special Edition) by Kathleen Eagle
Lone Star Legacy (Cowboy Country, Book 3) (Harlequin Superromance, No 1442) by Roxanne Rustand
Loving Evangeline (Bestselling Author Collection) by Linda Howard
Luke (The Cowboys, #8) by Leigh Greenwood
Marriage by the Book (Paperback) by Joan Johnston
The Midwife and the Lawman : The Birth Place (Harlequin Superromance No. 1182) by Marisa Carroll
On The Line (Back To The Ranch) by Anne Marie Duquette
Pieces of My Sister's Life (Mass Market Paperback) by Elizabeth Joy Arnold
Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta, #1) by Patricia Cornwell
Precious Pretender (Greatest Texas Love Stories of all Time: Heading to the Hitchin' Post #2) by Stella Bagwell
Remember When (Mass Market Paperback) by Judith McNaught
Renegade Millionaire (Mass Market Paperback) by Kristi Gold
Roman Dusk (Saint-Germain series, #19) by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Saint Patrick's Battalion: A Novel (Hardcover) by James Alexander Thom
Scarlet Feather (Paperback) by Maeve Binchy
Someone To Turn To (Silhouette Intimate Moments, No 334) by Marilyn Cunningham
Texas Twins by Tina Leonard

First Line Friday...

My friend Kathy loves books and bags and Bon Jovi. Not in that order necessarily but she has a love for first lines and came up with the idea for First Line Friday. You can find her here

http://bagsbooksandbonjovi.blogspot.com/2010/03/first-line-friday.html

First lines have always intrigued me since I heard an author say that writing the first sentence is, by far, the most difficult part of writing a novel. The reasoning was that a first sentence can make the reader continue reading or cause the book to be tossed aside. So, go to your To Be Read Pile, choose as many books as you want and share the first line. Be sure to include the title and author so that if your reader also finds it intriguing, they can find the book. Also, share your thoughts about the first line. Does it draw you in? Is it...exciting...thought provoking...scary...funny?


I haven't done this in a while. I guess its time to start over again. Even if I post it on a different day its the fact that I'm doing it that matters right? LOL. Here goes....


The book in my TBR pile that I just started is The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw. It's got a quote on the cover by Deepak Chopra that promises me that if I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code that this book would take me to a new level of mystery, wonder and adventure. So yeah I didn't actually pick the book up because of the front line but because of the quote on the cover. The first line is great too though. I would have still gotten this book if I would have read the first line first. LOL. Here it is....


Thomas Lourds abandoned the comfort of the stretch limousine with reluctance and an unaccustomed sense of foreboding.

Anytime someone is in a stretch limousine it just screams big money and big money leads to intrigue usually in books like this one. I already know its a mystery involving antiquities and the Catholic church since the quote mentioned the Da Vinci Code. The few pages I've read so far its definitely going to be good. I can't wait to get further into it.

Babies.....

and more babies. Baby boys in fact. We've had a baby boy born every 6 months since February 2009. LOL. One is from my sister (Feb. 2009) Another from my Sister in Law (Sept. 2009 and then yesterday we had a new great nephew born into the family from my youngest brothers son. He's gorgeous of course and very healthy. Thank God. He was born two weeks early which isn't too bad. He weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and is 18 inches long. He's so sweet and so tiny. Introducing Wyatt Jason with his parents Jessica and Todd.

Spring Break

Today was the first day of Spring break for my kids so I planned a day trip for us to have some fun. I invited my brother and Mom to go with and he said if I put gas in his car he would drive. I agreed to it because his car is bigger and a lot more comfortable. Well, the first place I had wanted to go was the Billy the Kid museum in Hico, TX. Unfortunately its only open Thursday through Sunday so we didn't get to go there. Well I told my brother I wanted to head south and see what we come across on the way. He didn't go the way I wanted and we just ended up driving all day. I saw several places to stop but he wouldn't stop. Pissed me off to no end. It was such a wasted day. We ended up coming back home through Austin and I mentioned we needed to eat lunch and yet he would not stop anywhere in Austin or Round Rock or even Georgetown. He kept saying where should we go. Oops, there's not an exit. Stupid doofus wouldn't get on the service road so we could go somewhere. We ended up about 20 miles from my house at a mexican restaurant. It was good but we have mexican food all the time it seems. We just had it on Saturday. We passed so many good restaurants in Austin that we don't have here but noooooooooo he wouldn't go to any of them. Next time I'm just loading up the kids and just me and them are going. I didn't say anything to my brother because he would have gotten mad and we would have just ended up at home that much sooner. I really wanted to take my Mom somewhere for her to enjoy. While we had a nice time talking and joking in the car its still not what I planned for my kids as a day trip. :( Maybe Wednesday afternoon we can sneak off somewhere fun. I just didn't want to go just me and the kids. It's always just me and the kids. This weekend we need to go and see my Dad so we won't get to do anything with Chris when he's home. I'm just pissy about the whole day being spent in the car and nothing to show for it.

I Just Heard

on the Saturday Today show news this morning that a lady's husband was diagnosed with Dementia and she ended up having to divorce him. She did so that he could get the care he needed through medicaid because she couldn't pay the bills from his nursing home care and still live and take care of herself too. They were married for 44 years. I can't imagine my Mom going through this. Thank goodness my Dad was in the service and between the VA and his Medicare since he's retired is covering most things. My Mom and Dad don't have any savings so if my Dad hadn't been retired I doubt that he'd have gotten half the care he's getting otherwise. It's scary what you have to do to take care of a loved one now.

Oh Goodness....

My Dad is being put on hospice care. He's lost 14 pounds this week and since he's not so violent now they're reducing his meds. I'm not sure what the next few weeks will bring but I'm trying not to hold my breath. I keep catching myself doing it though. I'm worrying about my Mom too. I don't know what the inevitable will do to her when it finally happens. She's going to be so lost without him. They will celebrate 50 years of marriage in August. I hope anyway but if he's getting worse, which he is, I don't want him to linger to just make it to another anniversary. I just don't know what to think at this point.

Blessings...

I think its time to count my blessings again. It's been a long while since I've actually put them into any of my thoughts.

1. I have a loving husband and two wonderful children.

2. We're all pretty much healthy and happy.

3. I have a loving extended family.

4. I'm trying to rid myself of negative people. So far 3 are gone but they're relatives so they're not really gone. I've just decided not to allow them to rule my world.

5. My son will be going to a brand new school after Spring break. No not a new school actually but a new building. Our little town approved and built a brand new middle school.

6. My daughter has improved in Math. She's still failing but she's improved. I'm so proud of her. She has a learning disability in Math so its a big plus when she improves.

7. I know no matter how pissy I get about my brothers and sisters they'll always catch me when I fall, fail or flounder.

8. I can say pretty much the same thing about my online Mom friends. Thank you for letting me vent and worry with ya'll.

9. My Mom is doing well in spite of all she's been through this year.

10. My Dad is still alive. He may not know us at times but we sort of still have him. There's glimpses of the old him every now and then.

There's 10. I can't believe I got to 10. There's probably more if I think about it but these will do. They're the most important ones to me anyway.

I think

I pissed my Mom off today. Oh well she'll get over it. Her blood pressure is up and the doctor is trying to figure out a combo of drugs to get it down so I mentioned did he know that she's under a lot of stress about what my Dad is going through with his dementia. He said that stress could be playing on her and offered for her to go to counseling about it if she feels the need. She kept telling him that she was talking to people at the VA like the Social Worker for my Dad but she's not. She might have said hi to her but that's about it. The doctor kept asking her how she was handling the pressure and stress of it all and she told him she's fine. That she pulls herself out of it when she gets in a funk. I told her it might be nice to meet somebody that she could talk to besides me. She uses me as a sounding board. Ever since I've been grown enough to listen she's done it so I'm used to it but now she's starting to make me feel guilty about stuff that's beyond my control plus I don't need to know all of her feelings. I mean it helps to know them so I can gauge how she's doing mentally but I think she forgets I'm her daughter not a dear friend or sister and I don't know......I feel if she had somebody else to talk to that knows nothing about the whole situation she could really let go of stuff that is making her feel bad. I know she's feeling guilty and like she's deserted my Dad but there's nothing I can do. He's better off in the VA. No one is able to take care of him like they are and its a full time job just taking care of him. Maybe if we were all in better health and none of us had to work we could or if we were rich and keep him at home but none of that is about to change any time soon. I try to let her just talk but she goes on and on about the bills, why hasn't my sister paid this, that and the other. I feel guilty because I can't give them any money. Then she starts in on why can't my brother do this or that? Well, gee Mom, maybe because he's actually sicker than you are and not supposed to lift over 10 pounds? And again I feel guilty cause I can't get to her house except for Mondays usually. I never hear anything bad about baby sister come out of her mouth and then I feel guilty when I think oh gee must be nice to have a baby and use him as an excuse to not do anything for them. Ugh! I hate feeling this way. That's why I blog it all here. I get it out and I feel better. I have to remind myself I'm doing what I can with the fact that I have two school age kids and the fact that we're home alone for the week and Chris is just home on weekends. If I don't have the energy to take care of my own how can I be expected to tackle other things?

Hello Weekend!

I'm starting the weekend one day early. I can't take any more of this week. My week started getting bad last Saturday when I had the breakdown over my Dad in front of my Mom. From there on it only got worse. I got sick Saturday night and went to sleep at 6 p.m. and didn't wake up until 8 a.m. Sunday morning. Nothing but a lovely chest cold at that point. Even though I slept 14 hours the night before I still needed a nap on Sunday afternoon. I slept so hard and long that I didn't get laundry done or dinner made. They didn't starve and ate freezer food. I tried to get into see my Doctor on Monday but she was all booked except for an appointment at 3:15 which didn't work for me because the kids would be home and off the bus before I would be so I didn't take that appointment. I didn't want to see another doctor in the practice either. I mean, I'm sick, I want my doctor who knows me and who knows that I'm not often sick but when I am it's a doozy. Still thought I just had a chest cold at this point but my ear was starting to ache. Wake up Tuesday and realize I've got an ear infection. I thought I had one on Monday too but thought maybe I could get into the doc's office since it was a Tuesday. Called and she's booked solid for 2 weeks. I could see another doctor though. No, I turned into a total baby. I want my doctor, I WANT my doctor. If the guy would have told me on Monday that she was totally booked for almost 2 weeks I would have thought to maybe get my brother come to my house and be there when the kids got home but I wasn't told so....Anyway, I asked them to have the doctor call in a RX for me for an ear infection and finally at 3:00 on Tuesday I got the call back from the nurse that it had been done. At that point its too late to leave and go and get them since the kids are almost due home from school. Do I need to mention that I slept most of Monday and Tuesday away too? Wednesday I got the ear drops and came home and started using them. I'm not 100% with the pain yet but its starting to ease and I'm feeling much better with my chest cold. Pretty much over it except for a nagging cough that isn't constant. Then Thursday comes. I had a good day. Didn't need much extra sleep but last night right before bed I started getting a sty on the lower lid of my left eye. Hmmmph.....I have an eye doctor appointment today (Friday). Wouldn't you know its just my luck? I hope he can still do the exam because I have to have my eyes dialated and making sure Chris can be there is hard since he never makes it home at the same time on Fridays. I think he'll be able to. My eye just looks like I got sucker punched a little. If I come home with a RX for glasses I'm going to www.zennioptical.com and order me not one, but two pair of glasses. I'm going to get transistional lenses on one pair and hopefully both pair should cost less than $100. That's an awesome price considering the normal price for one pair of plain glasses with no frills usually cost me between $300 and $400. Anyway I hope tomorrow (Saturday) doesn't bring me any new surprises health wise. I'm done with all this crap!

I Don't Do My Space

hardly ever. I maybe check it out once a month if that. I only keep it for cousins and other relatives that haven't stumbled onto Facebook yet. I was surprised to get an email notification from there from my niece Amanda this morning. Here's what it said.

3/2/2010 11:31 PM

hey did you get an income tax form from tommys when i lived there last year i was wondering if i could pick it up or have you send it to where i live in whitney now one of my friends mom died and i came down here to help her shes been there for me and she needed a friend to help her thru this thing i dont know what its like to lose a mom but i never had a mom so i told her to at least think of the good memories she got to have with her mom anyways love yall how is jess and nick they doing good in school i hope so well gotta run so busy


Gotta love how she gets right to business....not! Hello would have been a nice start. First, its not an income tax form you're wanting. It's your W2. Why would it be sent to my house? When you quit that job you up and moved to Temple to be with your boyfriend. It's probably at one of the fly by night places you lived with him or maybe, just maybe you could call your Grandma (my Mom) and ask her if its at her house since that's where you lived before you went off with your boyfriend. Oh gee, but that would mean having to explain to Grandma why you haven't been to see your beloved Grandpa who you're sure you're the apple of his eye huh? I doubt he'd ever recognize you again Amanda. It's been since September 2009 that you last saw him. He's not any better. His kidneys are still in as bad of shape as when we had to have him first admitted back in November over the weekend before Thanksgiving when he nearly died on us. Oh but you wouldn't know any of this because you won't keep minutes on your phone so people can update you about how your Grandfather is doing. Gee whilikers, I'm so glad to read you have a friend who's been there for you through thick and thin. Where was she last year when you were telling me please Aunt Karen can I live with ya'll? I have nowhere to go. CJ is so mean to me. He puts his daughter ahead of me. Good for CJ. He's a stupid punk but at least he's putting his daughter in the right place. She should come first and Amanda, she's 2! You're 24! Grow up little girl and be an adult. I'm so sorry your friend lost her mother. I really am. We're this close to losing our Dad but since we're family it doesn't matter to you. Just remember Amanda through thick and thin you'll always have your friends and no you can't come and live with me or my family any more. You got your friends to count on.



Okay so that's what I wanted to tell her but I didn't. I was nice. I couldn't reply on my space this morning. It was just doing all kinds of weird things so I posted to her on Facebook that I didn't have any mail for her here. I guess she didn't check that because she called me about 11:30 and again like the message above just wanted to know about her W2. I told her I don't have it but to go to the local Tommy's and get their number and call and ask for a duplicate and that hers probably got lost in the mail. I also told her she needed to go and see Grandpa. That you can't go by the pictures you see on Facebook and that he's still as bad as he was a few months ago. She said okay, so he's still at the VA right? I swear if I would have treated my parents and grandparents with the lack of interest and respect that she does my Mama would have beat me black and blue. That's the difference between the way I was raised and the way my niece and nephews weren't raised. My brother always pushed them off on friends as much as possible. Hindsight it's easy to call but at the time not living in the same city and only getting to see them ocassionally I can honestly say I never noticed how much of a non Father and non Family kind of man my brother was. Now all his kids are grown but not grown up. I kind of doubt they ever will be either. I just had to get this all written down. My emotions have run the gamut this week. Starting with my Dad last Saturday, being sicker than a dog this week and then waking up to this oh so glorious email I'm so glad this week is finally over. I don't want to be a bitch but sometimes being bitchy on paper (so to speak) gets it out of my system so I don't step on toes too much. Boy, but I sure want to step on some toes hard this week too.