Guess what I am going to be doing in 164 days...

That's right! METALLICA will be at the Conseco Fieldhouse

in Indianapolis, IN on Thursday, September 17.

You can't tell that I am just a *little* excited, can you?

READ THIS BOOK!

The Innocent by Harlan Coben

My sister, who is not a reader, turned me onto this author. She read his book The Woods and was hooked from then on. She went out and bought all of his books that were in stock at Borders and devoured them in days. (This is the same girl that took 2 years to read The Smoke Jumper!) I read The Woods, and I liked it, but it was nothing that I would write a blog post about. Sunday morning I picked up The Innocent and barely put it down all day. When I turned off the light that night I was 3/4 of the way through it.

Now I am not good at giving quick little blurbs about books that I like because I am bad at just telling what happens so I am not going to say anything except READ IT. If you want a review or a summary, look it up on Amazon. AND, don't just stop with The Innocent. Why not consider joining me in devouring all of Harlan Coben's books just like my sister did! I already have the list printed out and the first ones I am going for are the Myron Bolitar series, because you know how I love series books.

Which brings me to something else I was thinking about the other night. It was probably about a year ago that I posted about how I was going to start posting about books that I am reading and what I think of them. Just in case anyone cares what/who I am reading and what I think of them/it. I haven't really done that, but as I go to the library probably 3 times a week I am really starting to regret that. I have checked out more books that I have already read than I even care to admit to. Of course the ones that I really like (Beach Road, The Quickie being the only ones I did actually post about), or series that I have gotten into (Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich and Kinsey Millhone by Sue Grafton), I remember reading and I can tel you about what happened in them and I don't accidentally re-check them out.

SO, I have typed list of books and authors that I want to read that is about 10 pages long! Most of the books come from recommendations or from the Book Bitches' Blog. Any author that I have been recommended like Harlan Coben, or if I have read something of theirs and really liked it, I have challenged myself to read everything they have written. I have been highlighting my list also to help me keep track, but I am going to try and post something about the books on here too. I will try to spend some time going back through books I have already read and post a little something about them too.

While I am on the subject of my love of reading and books...I just want to say that I am SO HAPPY for my friend Brenda and my sister Kristin!! Brenda wasn't much of a reader, but then I introduced her to Mark from Elizabeth Valdez's Passion and Janet Evanovich's first Stephanie Plum novel One For The Money and she was hooked. She bought a huge lot of Janet Evanovich's paperbacks, and she has started re-reading some of her old favorites and even sharing them with me...but we'll save that for another post! *wink, wink* And just the fact that my sister picked up a book and read the whole thing in an amount of time that she probably didn't forget what it was about before she was done is wonderful in itself. But what is even better with her is that she found a really good author and was finally able to share with me!

Friday Funnies

I took my dad to the mall the other day, to buy some new shoes [he is 92]. We decided to grab a bite at the food court.
I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different colors; green, red, orange, and blue. My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look and find him staring every time.
When the teenager had finally had enough, he sarcastically asked, "What's the matter old man? Never done anything wild in your life?"
Knowing my dad, I quickly swallowed my food, so that I would not choke on his response [knowing he would have a good one].
And, in classic style, he did not bat an eye in his response; "I got drunk once and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son."

And this one is even funnier! Listen to the guy in the middle laugh!

This POOR kid!

I think I would simply kill my parents if they posted something like this of me! Can you imagine growing up as the kid who freaked out on dental medicine on the Internet? Too funny!!

BEWARE!!! WARNING!!! BEWARE!!!

Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypso decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk . Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.' (What is the Hershey Company known famously for making? CHOCOLATE! What is one of the biggest no-no's to feed your pets? CHOCOLATE! What is the name of the mulch in question? COCOA Mulch! What is CHOCOLATE made from? COCOA!)

This Snopes site gives the following information:http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called ' Theobromine'. It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

Anyone who thinks country music *isn't* sexy...listen to this!

Political Correctness

The following is the winning entry in an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year's term was "Political Correctness":

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

Huh... =)

A Litte Irish Humor for St. Patrick's Day...

As a bagpiper, I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery in the remote countryside and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost and being a typical man, did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew who were eating lunch but the hearse was nowhere in sight.

I apologized to the workers for my tardiness and stepped to the side of the open grave where I saw the vault lid already in place.

I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long but this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I played out my heart and soul.

As I played the workers began to weep. I played and I played like I'd never played before, from Going Home and The Lord is My Shepherd to Flowers of the Forest. I closed the lengthy session with Amazing Grace and walked to my car.

As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "Sweet Jeezuz, Mary'n Joseph, I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

I have multiple personalities!!

According to this, I have 21 different personalities!! Of course, these 21 are the self-diagnosed ones. Ask some of my firends and family and they might tell you differently. =)

I never knew I was retro until I saw these!

Hundreds Attend Global Warming Protest

Bizkit the Sleep Walking Dog!

BEWARE 1800petmeds.com!

The following was copied and pasted from an email I sent to my lovely Aunt Amanda. I wanted to pass along the information to as many people as possible because I am sure there are plenty of others out there that love their pets as much as I do and do not want to get screwed-over by this place!

************

On TV you see that 1800petmeds advertised...DO NOT BUY STUFF FROM THERE!!!!!! I just ordered my dogs pills through there and when you place an order they fax your vet for them to sign off that it is okay for your dogs to have what you are ordering. Well, Saturday morning Missy's vet called me and told me all kinds of stuff about them!! BAD STUFF. Apparently their prices are not as good as what they say... (My vet saved me almost $30 on both Missy and Peanut's pills), plus he told me that they have been into some trouble with forging vet's signatures and some other unethical stuff. Plus what they were recommending for my dogs was SO WRONG!!! There are 3 types of worms dogs can get, and the pills they were selling me were only treated 1 kind...the most common...heart worms. If you buy the pills directly from the vet's office you can get a rebate on them, plus if your dog would happen to still get any kind of worms that the medicine treats, the manufacturer will pay the cost of treatment. If you buy from an online pharmacy, there is not guarantee. I was so shocked that the vet called me from his house on a Saturday morning when he didn't even have office hours. Peanut goes to a different vet, but we were planning to switch him to this other guy, Dr. Hargarten, when it was time for him to go back in for his yearly shots because the girls that work in the office at his vet are so rude and just act like they don't even like animals! When we got Missy we started her with Dr. Hargarten because we had to get her fixed within just a couple of weeks after getting her because she came from the shelter. I decided that I liked the doctor and the people in the office well enough that I didn't care if they were more expensive I was going to go ahead and switch Peanut. Now I can't wait to switch him!!! (Hopefully he won't BITE this guy...he really didn't like the doctor that he saw at the Animal Care Clinic!!)

Anyway, I hope all that makes sense!! Just a heads up!!

Peanut chillin' on my in my office.
Missy chowing down on Jake's socks.
She's too cute to yell at sometimes!

Peanut doesn't let anything get by that window!

Missy could care less!

The BIBLE and the Financial Crisis

'In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.' Proverbs 23:4 & 5
Now take out some paper money, any paper money and look at the symbol of the Federal Reserve System. What do you see? A winged eagle. On your money that is flying away. Hmmm. You think maybe God knew what he was talking about?
I now calculate that if I don't leave any inheritance for my children, I might possibly be able to retire when I am around 93. Kinda depressing. But God talks about that too: 'Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one's children.' Ecclesiastes 5:14
I think we can all agree: it is scary out there! Banks are collapsing, businesses are failing, and investments are plummeting. Our economy and our lifestyles are changing, and no one can predict what will happen next. We are all hurting and scrambling to cope. If we are depending on our money for our security, we are in deep weeds. As King Solomon warns us: 'Trust in your money and down you go!' Proverbs 11:28
Listening to the latest financial predictions of the supposed experts can drive you to despair, can't it? So what is the solution? Let's listen to Jesus instead. What does Jesus have to say to us at a time like this?
'Don't trust in your unreliable investments. Trust me. Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.' 1 Tim. 6:17
'Use this wake up call to recalibrate your heart for true riches. Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.' Matt. 6:19-21
'true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.' 1Timothy 6:6
'Don't lay awake worrying about what you can't control. Take it one day at a time. So don't worry about tomorrow' Matt 6:34
'don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.' (The Message paraphrase)
'Bring your financial needs to me, and leave them with me. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you willexperience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.' Philippians 4:6,7
'I haven't forgotten you. I already know your needs and I promise I'll meet your needs. So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate thethoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need'
Matthew 6:31&32
'this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to usin Christ Jesus.' Philippians 4:19
Not all of our wants, but all of our needs. Not some of our needs, all of our needs. Not from scarce resources, but from his glorious riches. So how should we live during this economic crisis? Jesus tells us:
'I tell you not to worry about…whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear… Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?... And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.
And that is a promise we can bank on.

--Dick Loizeaux