Happy New Year!

I finished Patricia Cornwell's "Scarpetta." I must admit that it's an improvement over her last 5 or so novels. Except for the fact that she and her niece, Lucy, were rather forgiving of her former side kick, Marino, after his faux pas in the last novel it was written very well. Her commercials bet the reader that they wouldn't be able to guess the ending, but I did. The murder was of a "little person" and the suspect was her "little person" boyfriend. They had a fixation with Kay Scarpetta and she came to New York to work the crime scene and the bodies of both the dead girl and the suspect. Kay has left the south and moved to Boston with her now husband, Benton Wesley. Her niece has also moved from the south and taken up residence in NYC. Marino is now working for the D.A. of NYC as an investigator. Hopefully this means that Patricia Cornwell is back on track!

No big plans tonight! I worked till closing at the new job and hubby made a trip to the grocery for some crab legs and steaks. YUMMO! Since I work tomorrow I have to not stay up too late tonight. I'm sure we'll make it till midnight.

I got a piece of mail from my insurance lady. She is now my least favorite person in the world. I did not need the reminder that I had reached the 59 1/2 age and am now eligible to draw out my pension without penalty. Gee, thanks for that lovely reminder! Talk about pouring salt in the wound.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

A wonderful Christmas

A very wonderful Christmas was had by all. It was a video Christmas for the majority of the family. With so many of our "chickens" leaving the nest we decided to give out the new mini videos so that they can be easily downloaded and put online for sharing with other family miles away. They seemed to be a big hit. It was great to have everyone under the same roof for a change. I couldn't find a replacement at work yesterday. I was scheduled for 11:30 to 4:30. Unfortunately a co-worker got "sick" and had to leave and I got her hours. I was there till 9:30. That wouldn't have been too bad except I was scheduled to show up at 5:45 this morning. I'm totally worn out! A nap might be in order. Not letting me much time for reading!!

One of my gifts was a book of 1001 books I need to read before I die. I thought long and hard about this one. I've read a few already. They're classics afterall and I try to read them once in a while. Well do I read one a week and die in 1001 weeks; one a month and die in 1001 months; or one a year and hang in there for almost a 1000 years more. (Remembering I've read some of them already.) Think I've figured it out!

Merry Christmas!

Spent most of the day working the part time job and now everything is locked up tight and I'm home getting ready to start cooking for tomorrow's feast. WIth a little luck maybe no one will notice that there is only one small bowl of cranberry sauce. Whoops! Every year I go through the same worries. Did I forget something in the food line that I should have had or did I forget to get a gift for someone. Then I worry that everyone will like what they get. Oh my! Our Hawaii son and his wife are coming tomorrow afternoon and we're really excited. The whole family is anticipating his return. Every minute of his time here will be taken up by different family members trying to steal a few more minutes with him. I have to make due with tomorrow since I was put on the schedule for work on Friday and will be leaving the house mid morning. By the time I return he'll be gone! Lining up having everyone home for the holidays in the future will be even more difficult with our daughter moving to Washington state this summer. Two kids so far away will be hard to plan around.

Broke down and got Patricia Cornwell's "Scarpetta." Sounds like it might be better than her last 5 or so. Anyway, we'll see!

KnitTwo

I finished "Knit Two" by Kate Jacobs. At first I wasn't able to get into the book but then after remembering the characters and getting them back in perspective, things were looking up. In the first book ("Friday Night Knitting Club"), the main character was Georgia Walker who founded and ran the Walker and Daughter yarn shop. Friendships were developed at their Friday night meetings and at the end of the book, Georgia died from ovarian cancer. "Knit Two" picked up with the rest of the characters, including Georgia's daughter Dakota, and where their lives are now after 5 years without Georgia's influence. She may be dead but her influence continued on. The daughter is now a freshman in college and her father who had not been a part of her early life is now trying to get her to be more than what she desires and that is to build a career around her pastry baking abilities. The other friends have also changed. One is the mother of twins and a professor, one is now a lawyer instead of a publisher, one is directing music videos, one is running the yarn shop and creating her own designs in bags, and the eldest is going to remarry after being a widow for many years. All the stories are woven together like one of Georgia's afghans. Makes me want to get out the knitting needles and make an afghan but I already have tons in the closet.

Bah! Humbug!

I was sitting here secure in the fact that I had very little shopping to do yet for Christmas when I discovered that one of my major gifts is lost in transit. It will take a few days to track it and that means it won't be here before Christmas. I definitely want it since the price was excellent so I will be bugging the company for a replacement. I'm just sorry that my gift will be late for my daughter-in-law! I was going to get a gift card from this same company (Sears) for one of the kids but that isn't going to happen now. I don't want to go out in the crowd and have to be jostled or stomped on by the crazies. Bad enough that I have to go to the grocery store and stock up for the big day.

I heard some information recently about the effects of cholesterol medication on memory and also the fact that it makes you extremely tired. My doctor had increased my dosage and I wanted naps everyday and was struggling to remember certain words. Got really scary! I decided to stop taking them for a while and see what happens. Well, I don't know yet about the memory or the napping but I do know that I no longer have the severe tremor in my hands that I've been going to the neurologist for. Fancy that! The regular medication that I was on seems to be doing the trick again. Seems I'll be having a long discussion with the family doctor about that little side effect. Looks like I'll be doing something else to lower the cholesterol. Oatmeal, maybe!

I'm reading "Knit Two" by Kate Jacobs. Loved her first book: "Friday Night Knitting Club," but this one isn't going as well as the first. I'll finish before I pass final judgement.

A wonderful adventure

I just finished Clive Cussler's latest. "Artic Drift" It touched on the Northwest passage expedition of the Erebus and Terror ships in the 1840's. There is only speculation as to what happened to the ships and the crew but Cussler took a few liberties and made an excellent Dirk Pitt adventure out of it. Dirk Pitt is a serial character of Cussler's. So is his fictional company called NUMA. All the books are about ocean adventures. I really enjoyed this one. Set mainly in Canada in the not to distant future. The world is suffering from global warming and there's one really sick guy out there who can distroy all the good everyone is trying to do. Send out Dirk Pitt and his sidekick, Al Giordino to save the day. If you like adventure, oceans and antique cars then you'll love Cussler!

Enjoying a little wintry mix. Not enough snow but I'm hopeful that we'll get more.

Cravings

My Mom used to make some interesting meals. We were poor and one pot meals were a standard. We saw a chicken or a chunk of beef on Sundays but otherwise it was something unusual. Tomato gravy, Hungarian goulash (not really, but that what she called it), and tuna curry on rice. Once in a while I find myself wanting to have these tasty morsels. Recipes, no! My Dad threw them out and it's up to me to recreate the dish. I can do the goulash. That's just throwing ground beef in a bit fry pan and adding celery, onions, a can of tomatoes and some macaroni. Simple but pretty tasty. I used to love the tuna curry dish but neither of my husbands liked it. Mom's been gone for 17 years and so it's been well over that since I had any. Today I decided to try to replicate it. YUCK! I think I went way too heavy on the curry. I'll let you know when my acid reflux tames down. I hope it's totally out of my system by tonight or I'll be paying the price for that experiment. Kind of cured my craving for the time being. My brother mentioned an onion sandwich. Tomato sandwiches and onion sandwiches were more common than peanut butter in our home. If I was staying home for a day or two than the onion sandwich wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Tonight's the big company holiday party. Free food at the local sea food restaurant. Can't beat that!

Readding the latest Clive Cussler. Won't be ready to review for a while.

Dean Koontz

The latest novel by Dean Koontz is "Your Heart Belongs to Me." Excellent which is pretty normal for Koontz. The main character is Ryan Perry who has it all. He's made his fortune in software and has more money than he'll ever need. He's 34 and has a great girl friend. There's only one problem........he's starting to suffer attacks. Can't breath, chest pains, and more. A trip to the doctor confirms the worst. He has very little time to live unless he gets a new heart. Take this roller coaster ride and see what getting a new heart costs in dollars and emotions. Can't say more! Enjoy this quick read. Now I'm going to read the latest Clive Cussler.

Happy 80th Birthday, Uncle!

Took an hour and half drive to attend an 80th birthday party for my last surviving uncle on my father's side. Boy did they get him good! He was totally surprised. Not only were a hundred people waiting to yell surprise but his son was there from Colorado to surprise him even more. The biggest turn out of cousins that I've seen in years that didn't involve a sad event. Naturally in two and a half hours everyone was ready to leave. Don't know what it is about them that they feel the need to pack up and rush out. Stopped and did a little Christmas shopping at my favorite Polish Pottery shop in my home town on the way through. My friend from Michigan got lucky!

Waiting for the latest Dean Koontz book. Was hoping it would be in the mail yesterday but no such luck. Keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow. In the meantime I guess I'll start the latest Belva Plain book.

The tree is decorated and we got a dusting of snow on Saturday to make me holiday ready. Now all I have to do is get motivated to shop. Well, there's the other thing..........$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Got some good ideas for gifts, I hope.

Whew!

I asked for more and I got it. Just this week though. My co-worker went hunting so I got about 34 hours clocked in. Most of those were starting at 6:00 a.m. so and ended at 4:15. Today was a short day so I'm enjoying the down time. Back to just a 14 hour week next week. Bummer!

I've been reading "A Salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffet. Well, I feel like I was dropped into the middle of a story. Characters show up that he makes you feel like you should know but don't. It's wacky! I'm trying to finish it but I'm not enjoying it. Too choppy! If it's a sequel, then I wish it would say so. Good thing I didn't spend a lot on this one. It was in the reduce rack at the store. I won't be buying anymore Jimmy Buffet books. I think he had too many Margaritas! No thumbs up for Buffet.