mini’s

Yes I have been quiet. Again. I know I keep drifting in and out. I’m sorry for that
Life is keeping me extremely busy, my work schedule keeps changing, I started going back to the gym, and am trying to stay on top of my book reviews.

Speaking of book review, I have posted a new one every day this week, and a lot of them are up for giveaway, so please check them out. I’ve been blessed to have receive some really good books, and would love to share the wealth!

Like this one:

Stretch Marks, by Kimberly Stuart from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

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Piece De Resistance by Sandra Byrd

Peice De Resistance is the third book in the series by Sandra Byrd. Having read the first in the series, Let Them Eat Cake, I was excited to read Peice De Resistance and wasn’t disappointed.

I immediately was able to pick up with Lexi Stuart even though I missed the 2nd book of the series, Bon Appetit. In this third installment, Lexi has just returned to the States after spending some time in Paris doing an internship, her dream world. Now coming back to the states, she is faced with living in a retirement center, opening a new bakery and making it profitable and trying to straighten out her love life. What more can a girl ask for?

Sandra Byrd’s characters are always well thought out, and developed. I love Lexi for her faults as much as I do for her strengths. A wonderful, light hearted read. I am giving away my copy of this book leave a comment here, deadline is Oct 9 at 11:59pm!

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

Sandra Byrd

and the book:

Pièce de Résistance

WaterBrook Press (September 15, 2009)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sandra Byrd is a best-selling author of books for adults, teens, and children. Her notable series include the Friends for a Season series, the Secret Sisters series and the French Twist series, which includes the first two Lexi Stuart novels, the Christy Finalist Let them Eat Cake and its sequel, Bon Appetit. A regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, Sandra lives in Washington state with her husband and two children.

Visit the author’s website.

To Order from Amazon

Or to Order from Christian Book Distributers

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press (September 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400073294
ISBN-13: 978-1400073290

Ruff

I went to bed early the other night… I actually got off work early, by choice, because I had a migraine and needed to sleep it off.

Around 6am, I woke to Big Dog licking my elbow. Its his way of letting me know he needs to go outside. First he will nudge me with his nose a couple of times, if I don’t respond, then he will lick me.

I ignored him. It was 6am, and cold, I wasn’t about to get up to take him to pee, he could go nudge one of the boys… I was staying all snuggled in under the covers. Stud was snoring away, cause Big Dog never nudges him, he’s skeered to. Nobody wakes Stud u when he’s sleeping. If you startle him, he comes up swinging, so we all stand back and poke with a broom handle or something. Big Dog learned a long time ago that you don’t wake dad up in the middle of the night to go pee. Never.

Anyhoooo,
Here I am laying still as possible, ignoring Big Dog, just so I can stay warm and go back to pleasant dreams. Big Dog wasn’t having anything of it. He needed to pee and he needed to pee right then….
Next thing I know, I have a cold nose at my ear, and I hear a very low, very light “ruff”.
I cracked up
I giggled, and then here came a second “ruff” in my ear.
That dog was serious about me getting up. I’ve ignored him before, but he’s never resorted to barking in my ear. But he was a smart doggie, and knew not to bark loud enough to wake up Stud.

‘ruff’ in my ear was all he did.

Never try to tell me my dog is dumb.

Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah by melody Carlson

With Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah, Melody Carson has outdone herself! I have truly enjoyed the 86 Bloomberg Place series, and anxiously awaited this final installment of the series. I have grown to know and love Lelani, Kendall, Anna and Megan, and while I hate to not have a peek into their lives any more, this book was a great way to end the run.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

Melody Carlson

and the book:

Three Weddings & a Bar Mitvah

David C. Cook (2009)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melody Carlson has published more than one hundred books for adults, children, and teens, with many on best-seller lists. Several books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards, including the Gold Medallion and the RITA Award. She and her husband live in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and have two grown sons.

Visit the author’s website.

To Purchase from Amazon, or ChristianBook.com

Three Weddings and a Bar Mitzvah, by Melody Carlson from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 320
Vendor: David C. Cook (2009)
ISBN: 1589191080
ISBN-13: 9781589191082

Talk about ironic

Wanna here a funny story?

Sure you do. I’m sure you will laugh. I personally find it hilarious.

Ok, so most of you are female, and if you aren’t then you have wives or girlfriends, so you know that the first sign of pregnancy is a missed period.

Well, I have patiently waited on mine for 21 days. Yes you read that correct, 21 days late. For someone who is like clockwork, that is a huge time frame.

A few minutes ago, I decided to take the plunge, went to the drug store and bought “the test”.

I tucked my purchase safely in my purse to bring it in the house, guarding it with my life until the right moment to sneak to the bathroom and pee on the stick.

Finally all the boys were occupied, so I shot to the potty, test stuck in my pocket. As i sat there relieving myself on the stick… I pondered… exactly how life would change if in fact there was a 6th Stud family boy. Cause we all know it would be a boy. I realized it would be tough, seeing as how I am now 41 years old, and life is hectic, and busy, and I have a job, and my parents are all elderly and we are taking care of them… and… it was a bit overwhelming. But I realized it would be a wonderous addition. A welcome addition.

So I finished with the stick, put the cap on lay it on the sink in the potty and proceed to finish up.

I’m anxiously waiting for that stick to tell me yes or no, to see a plus or a minus, while going about my business. By chance I take a glace at the toilet paper…. and busted out laughing

Right at that moment, exactly the time I pee’d on the stick, my monthly visitor showed up, 21 days late.

You can laugh now

I just chuckled a bit myself. Stud I’m sure is breathing a sigh of relief, and the Stud crew is all jumping for joy, except for the older ones who are screaming “WHAT?????????”

A Cowboy Christmas by Mary Connealy

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

Mary Connealy

and the book:

A Cowboy Christmas

Barbour Books (September 1, 2009)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As an award-winning author, Mary Connealy lives on a Nebraska farm with her husband and is the mother of four grown daughters. She writes plays and shorts stories, and is the author of two other novels, Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon. Also an avid blogger, Mary is a GED instructor by day and an author by night. For more information on Mary Connealy, visit her Web site at .

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $10.97
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Barbour Books (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602601453
ISBN-13: 978-1602601451

Hope

Talk about sliding in by the skin of our teeth…..

The mortgage company is sending our package to another lender, one who is 99% positive it will pass…. AND
the seller who previously was chomping at the bit to close, and decided to extend the contract 30 days, with the right to show the property,and sell it if someone has cash in hand. He has to give us 48 hour notice though.

What a difference 24 hours makes.

Need a big one

Well it looks as if barring an outright miracle, we have lost the land we love so much.

seems as if my mom has 1, yes you read that right…. one late payment in the past 24 months on a credit card, a 35$ payment at that, and they turned the loan down…. how that happens on a preapproved loan, with collateral that is double the amount of the loan, and a credit score that is almost perfect… I’m not sure

No wonder the banks are failing.

SO unless we can come up with $62k, by the 30th of this month… the jig is up, and we not only lose the land, but also the money we put down ,and the money we spent getting the appraisals, engineering reports and survey….

see, we need a miracle.

Big Behemoth

I actually took a day off yesterday. Miracle I know

I needed it. In a bad way. I had worked 6 weeks straight with no day off

I needed a day off

Stud and I took my parents to a new state to see the property we have the contract on… this mortgage thing is killing us. Its now wonder banks are in trouble. They take a guy like my dad who has an incredible credit score, no debts, and has collateral worth DOUBLE what the loan is, and they are dragging their feet. Its going so slow, that the seller we are contracted with is threatening to pull out of the contract early. Not to mention we only have 9 days til the contract ends, or we loose the 2grand we put down. All of this happened today… yesterday was bliss.

We drove down, stud and I walked the property, got a good feel for the land, figured out where our proposed houses are going to go, and even had a nice long conversation over the creek with our neighbor. It was heaven.

Today was not

On another note, Big Dog had to have surgery on his ear today. Remember he is called Big Dog for a reason
He’s big
He’s black
and he doesn’t play well with others
We took him and dropped him off this morning to wait his turn for his procedure. Around noon, the phone rings and its the vet’s office….
She says :

Excuse me Mrs. Stud, but do you think you could come back to our office and help hold Big Dog down while we sedate him, so he doesn’t eat us!

I busted out laughing

Then Me and Son2 went back to the vet’s office and held him down. lol

He’s home safe and sound now. Already shook the bandage that was wrapped around his head covering the ear off, and still drunk as a skunk…. but he’s home safe and sound. His nickname at the vet’s office? Big Behemoth. He was the Big Barking Behemoth… lol

Winner!!!!!!!!!!

And the winner of Cottonwood Whispers by Jennifer Erin Valent is……

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3

Timestamp: 2009-09-21 04:19:48 UTC

That means comment number 3 wins: Please include me in on the chance to win this book. It sounds so good and right now I could use a good down to earth book to curl up with. I never read the first one either but have it jotted down in hopes it can be located somewhere. have a good day. susan L. garysue@dejazzd.com

CONGRATS SUSAN!