Scenes from Colorado

I'm in Co Springs right now, enjoying Kimmie, Michael, and the boys, Reece and Aiden (aka Beau). I arrived Thursday, went to the Royal Gorge on Friday, the zoo on Saturday, and we are going to Golden CO tomorrow to visit Thomas the Train. Here are a few pics.


Kimmie and the boys, on the Royal Gorge Bridge


The boys helping Grandma up the hill (I was Nana for 4 yrs and suddenly I am now called Grandma)


Well, if you are going to take a photo, I'm going to pose for you.


How far down did you say it was?


View of the canyon floor (Arkansas River) with camera zoom. Several years ago we rafted the rapids but the river is too low to do that now.


View of the Royal Gorge and Bridge from the canyon. Scared of heights? Not for you!


View from the bridge


The "Great White Hunter" at the zoo


Such a drama queen! But he comes by it naturally.

Free eBook Reads by Lietha Wards

If you are interested in reading free eBooks, and that means LEGALLY free eBooks, with the permission of the author, you really need to try the writing of Lietha Wards. I found her on the website Scribd and I've read all ten of her books. She cranks them out fairly quickly and she is really good. The books could use a little bit of editing but basically, they are better than many of the romance books I've read. She has a lot of talent. There is a vampire romance, a historical, and several contemporary books.
Give them a try. The books have all been available online for 1 - 6 months and have between 3900 and 10,000 reads EACH. Pretty impressive for an amateur.

Blondes are the Best - Blonde Jokes

I didn't make these up. I'm just repeating them because they are funny.

Blondes Are The Best!!!

A blonde and her husband are lying in bed
Listening to the next door neighbor's dog..
It has been in the backyard barking for hours and hours.
The blonde jumps up out of bed and says,
"I've had enough of this".
She goes downstairs.

The blonde finally comes back up to bed
And her husband says "The dog is still barking,
What have you been doing?"

The blonde says,
"I put the dog in our backyard,
let's see how THEY like it!


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Two Blondes With Hammers...

Lynn and Judy were doing some carpenter work on a Habitat for Humanity
House. Lynn was nailing down house siding, would reach into her nail ,
Pouch, pull out a nail and either toss it over her shoulder or nail it in.

Judy, figuring this was worth looking into, asked, 'Why are you
Throwing those nails away?'
Lynn explained, 'When I pull a nail out of my pouch, about half of
Them have the head on the wrong end and I throw them away.'
Judy got completely upset and yelled, 'You moron! Those nails aren't
Defective! They're for the other side of the house!'

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Did you hear about the two blondes who froze to death in a drive-in movie?

They had gone to see 'Closed for the Winter.'

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You might have to think twice about this one.

A blonde hurried into the emergency room late one night with the tip
Of her index finger shot off. 'How did this happen?' the emergency
Room doctor asked her.

'Well, I was trying to commit suicide,' the blonde replied.

'What?' sputtered the doctor. 'You tried to commit suicide by shooting
Off your finger?'

'No, Silly' the blonde said. 'First I put the gun to my chest, and
Then I thought, 'I just paid $6, 000.00 for these implants...

I'm not shooting myself in the chest.'

'So then?' asked the doctor.

'Then I put the gun in my mouth, and I thought, 'I just paid $3,000.00
To get my teeth straightened I'm not shooting myself in the mouth.'

'So then?'

'Then I put the gun to my ear, and I thought: 'This is going to make a
Loud noise. So I put my finger in my other ear before I pulled the
Trigger.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A blonde was driving home after a game and got caught in a really bad
Hailstorm.. Her car was covered with dents, so the next day she took it
To a repair shop. The shop owner saw that she was a blonde, so he
Decided to have some fun... He told her to go home and blow into the
Tail pipe really hard, and all the dents would pop out.

So, the blonde went home, got down on her hands and knees and started
Blowing into her tailpipe.. Nothing happened.. So she blew a little
Harder, and still nothing happened.

Her blonde roommate saw her and asked, 'What are you doing?' The first
Blonde told her how the repairman had instructed her to blow into the
Tail pipe in order to get all the dents to pop out.
The roommate rolled her eyes and said, 'Uh, like hello!
You need to roll up the windows first.'

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These are just too cute not to pass on!!!!

A blonde was shopping at Target and came across a shiny silver
Thermos. She was quite fascinated by it, so she picked it up and took
It to the clerk to ask what it was.

The clerk said, 'Why, that's a thermos..... It keeps hot things hot,
And cold things cold.'

'Wow, said the blonde, 'that's amazing....I'm going to buy it!' So she
Bought the thermos and took it to work the next day.

Her boss saw it on her desk. 'What's that,' he asked?

'Why, that's a thermos..... It keeps hot things hot and cold things
Cold,' she replied..

Her boss inquired, 'What do you have in it?'

The blond replied......'Two popsicles and some coffee.'

+++++++++++++

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

A blonde goes into work one morning crying her eyes out.

Her boss asked sympathetically, 'What's the matter?'

The blonde replies, 'Early this morning I got a phone call saying that
My mother had passed away.'

The boss, feeling sorry for her, says, 'Why don't you go home for the
Day? Take the day off to relax and rest.'

'Thanks, but I'd be better off here. I need to keep my mind off it and
I have the best chance of doing that here.'

The boss agrees and allows the blonde to work as usual. A couple of
hours pass and the boss decides to check on the blonde. He looks out
from his office and sees the blonde crying hysterically...

'What's so bad now? Are you gonna be okay?' he asks.

'No!' exclaims the blonde. 'I just received a horrible call from my
sister. Her mother died, too!'
Blondes Are The Best!!!

The Most Over Used Words in Paranormal Romance

Now I'm not going to say what books I've been listening to on the iTouch lately. I have about 20 to read that I've already purchased by various authors, so I'm not going to name any names. But they are definitely NOT the books by my favorite authors. Those ladies can do no wrong (most of the time).
But I have decided to publish my list of "Most Over Used Words/Phrases In Paranormal Romance. This also includes regular romance novels, too, or at least the racy ones. So here they are:

• liquid heat
• velvety softness
• black eyes
• silky hair
• possessive mate
  
• emerald/sapphire eyes (depending on the heroine's eye color)

and the most over used word of all time..... BONELESS

Don't get me wrong, I love my romance and paranormals for escapism. But after reading the last several hundred I've come to the conclusion that we "mundane" humans can never have the kind of love, relationship, orgasms, etc. that the loftly paranormals experience. They wear me out just reading about them. These people can go at it all day long and never tire. I must be missing something in my normal life and after talking to some of my girl friends, I'm not the only one. Not once has someone said to me, "Those vamps/weres/fairies/witches/elves (well, you get the idea) have nothing on me"!
Since I'm not a writer - I have no patience for dialog. Those quotation marks and new paragraphs are a pain in the rear - I really shouldn't complain. But for all of you fantastic writers out there, please remember.... Languid is an acceptable substitute for Boneless.

And, oh yeah, stop calling all of those heroines "Little One". I've been short all my life and was once a tiny little thing. Did men call me "Little One" as a nick name? Heck no! They called me "Shorty", like Indiana Jones' sidekick!
I would love to be able to write though.

Notes to my favorite authors:
Carrie Vaughn - Cormac, not Ben!
Kim Harrison - Not Pierce! I like Al, he has charisma.
Karen Chance - I'm just not sure about Mircea. But Dorina and Louis-Cesare? Thumbs up!

Reece's Self-Decoration

Kimmie walked out of the room for just a few minutes and when she walked back in, this is what Reece looked like.
He is obviously showing his artistic side.
Luckily, he didn't try to decorate Aiden, too!



This photo isn't as recent, but I can't post a photo of one grandson without posting one of the other. Notice how the hands are blurry. It's almost impossible to take a picture of Aiden that something isn't moving and blurry!

Now What?

I really have been enjoying the iPod iTouch that Bill bought me for our anniversary. Well technically, this is the iPod he bought me to replace my anniversary iTouch because I found that 8 gb wasn't big enough. Anyway, I love listening to audio books on this thing. I listen to it when I walk, when I do housework (not that I do very much housework) when I sort mail for that first hour in the morning. I've listened to lots of books in the past 4 months, including several great series such as:

1. Patrica Briggs - Mercy Thompson (walker/coyote shape shifter)
2. Rachel Caine - Morganville vampires
3. Karen Chance - Cassandra Palmer books
4. Kim Harrison - The Hollow series
5. Gina Showalter - Lords of the Underworld
6. Carrie Vaughn - Kitty books (werewolf radio host)
7. Rachel Vincent - Soul series

In addition to these audio books, I've read all books (or at least 90%) of the above authors, Marjorie M. Liu, Sunny, Susan Mallery, Suzanne Brockmann, Maureen Child, Robyn Carr, Rachel Caine, Mary Janice Davidson, Lynsay Sands, Katie McAlister, and plenty of other authors that I'm forgetting right now.
So the question is.... What do series do I start on next?
I have some Christine Feehan books to get started on my iTouch and Laurell K Hamilton books to read. I've held off because once I get started on a series I can't stop until I finish all of them, which gets a little bit expensive in audio books.
What to do, what to do???

Well Heck!

Someone needs to learn to proof their posts...
I posted a link to my previous post about Marjorie M. Liu's game that is "couing out soon". Errr, that should have read COMING. I imagine that if I change it now the link to the post will be screwed up so "couing" stays.
Sometimes, I am such an idiot!

Marjorie M. Liu Has a Game Couing Out Soon!

Having read all of Marjorie M. Liu's books (and of course, I've loved them all), I was thrilled to hear that she is getting a game based on the first in her Dirk and Steele novels. The book is Tiger Eye
and I can guarantee that if the game is half as good as the book, it's a winner. The game is available for pre-order on the PassionFruit Games site for a mere $9.99. According to PassionFruit's website, Tiger-Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box is a hidden-object style game loaded with compelling puzzles and minigames, beautiful voice-acted cinematics… and titillating romance. I can't wait to play the game. As much as I love Liu's writing, I know I'm going to be playing this game for hours. I can always sleep later!

Mafia Wars on Facebook

I haven't written anything for a while. I wonder why that is... gee, do you think it might be because I am just a tiny bit obsessed with playing Mafia Wars on Facebook? As far as obsessions and addictions, it's not so bad. It's free to play so it beats gambling. As far as I know, it isn't hazardous to my health so it beats smoking. I have to admit to a cranberry juice with Malibu rum last night while I was playing so I will just ignore the alcohol comparisons.
I love this game. It's a blast! I've been playing for a week and I am a Level 46 Fearless right now. I have $63 million in the bank and I own over 50 properties in the U.S. I am just now expanding into Cuba so it will take a few days to build up over there. I have 140 people in my mafia which helps with fighting and defense (ya got da have a mafia ta move up in da world). I am not sure how I got to be such a good fighter. After the first few fights that were about 20 wins and 20 losses, I improved. Right now I have 1772 wins, 171 losses, and 78 wins in Cuba. So a 90% win rate is pretty good although it's mostly strategy. I tend to attack the people with smaller mafia. I don't imagine that real mafia groups of 10 are going to go up against a group of 100 very often so why should I? I've also put quite a bit of money (what else am I going to do with $63 million and climbing?) into good weapons, armor, and vehicles.
I hear that Mafia Wars is also on My Space but I'm afraid to check it out. I can just see me going from FB to MS every day to play the game and level up. It's already hard enough to play MW and work every day, not to mention laundry, cooking, cleaning, yard work... You would think that with $63 mill, I would have maid, housekeeper, and a lawn service.
You know, I think I will go back to Mafia Wars before the REAL world intrudes.

More Beale Street Photos

Beale Street

Bill and I went to Beale Street in Memphis for the 4th of July. I think it's the first time we have spent the night anywhere except Kimmie's in the last 9 years, so I guess it was time. We had a great time but man, people sure are strange. Obviously, teeth are not a requirement for admittance to Beale St because a whole lot of people seemed to be missing theirs. And I saw some of the shortest dresses EVER on some of the young ladies. I could never figure out how they kept their you-know-what from showing because there was only about a half inch between the hem and their you-know-what. These same young women were wearing stilettos and they looked like they were going to fall off their shoes. But by the end of the night you could tell which ladies had been wearing the stilettos because they were the ones hobbling down the street. haha
We ate at BB King's Blues Club and the food was great. I had a bar-b-que the southern way, with slaw. Bill, who doesn't really like pork, went crazy over the ribs. I'll make a southern boy out of him yet!
We stayed at the Hampton Inn right off of Beale and we had a balcony room that overlooked Third St and Peabody Place so we went back to the room at 10 p.m. (what can I say, we are boring) and were entertained by all of the Memphis police trying to control the traffic and get the minors off the street at the 11 p.m. curfew. The traffic was awful and there were thousands of people milling about so I am so glad we didn't have to worry about driving.

I Reached My Goal

I lost the 35 lbs that was my goal. I am not finished yet, but I'm a lot closer. I plan to extend my goal for 10 more lbs so that will be a total of 45 lbs.
Bill and I went shopping and he bought me a swimsuit since I haven't picked out anything for my birthday yesterday (the BIG 5-oh). I picked it out and said, "You can buy this for me" and Bill took it from me. A lady was standing there, we had been discussing the different styles. She said, "Oh, that is so sweet" and I told her he was buying it for me for my birthday present. She was very nice and when I told her that I turned 50 yesterday she said, "You certainly don't look like you are 50. I thought maybe 39 or 40." I REALLY like that nice woman. LOL
When you are a teenager you want to look older. You hit 30 and then you wish you could look younger. Never happy, are we?

Still Losing Weight

I lost another couple of pounds while I was in Colorado so I'm down to the same weight I was three years ago, I've lost a total of 33 lbs and it looks like I'm going to beat that weight loss goal of 2006. I didn't even get breathless the first week in Colorado like I did every other time when I was heavier. I never did get altitude sickness this last trip. I definitely feel much more healthy and it's a good thing since I'll be so OLD soon. Kimmie is really rubbing it in but I'm not ready for a senior citizen's discount just yet!

At the Zoo - May 20th

Aiden and Nana. He didn't feed the giraffes but he liked looking at them.


Reece and I feeding the giraffes. That tongue is looooong.

I stole these photos from Kimmie's blog. She owes me for that last shopping trip we took anyway. LOL

Nana's Been Babysitting

Nana has been in Colorado for almost a week. Kimmie and Michael went to Vegas for 3 days and came back Sunday. But she worked yesterday and today so I'm still enjoying my quality time with the boys... Who would think that 2 little boys could be so busy and run Nana ragged... Aiden doesn't want to just be held, he wants to be entertained at all times. It's a good thing he's so cute! Reece has been in a couple of "time outs" for not listening, but he is really very easy to keep entertained.
I'm getting lots more kisses than any of my other visits. I'm not sure if he is beginning to remember me or if the 3 days he was thrown together with me kinda forced the issue.

Shopping

Bill and I went shopping after church and he was nice enough to buy 3 blouses and a nightie. I bought them all in a size Large because I don't want them to be too tight. Well, I got home and tried them on and the nightgown and one of the blouses was too big! I had to exchange them for a size Medium. Might not seem like a big deal to some people, but I've gone from an XL to a Large, and now a Medium.
Pants are now down to a size 10 and I've lost 27 lbs and still counting. I'm hoping for about 35 lbs weight loss and size 8 pants.

Health Numbers

Normally, April 15 is not a good day when you work at the post office, and this morning was proof, but the afternoon was so much better. I called the doctor to get my test results from my appt last Thursday. They did my yearly blood work. Here are my numbers versus last year's numbers.


Blood Pressure
2009 - 110/70
2008 - 120/74

Cholesterol
2009 - 159
2008 - 197
Normal is 100-200

Triglycerides
2009 - 74
2008 - 147
Normal is under 200

Glucose
2009 - 96
Normal is 60-120
I don't have a number for last year's glucose level because the lab made a mistake and didn't run that test.
Amazing what losing 25 lbs will do for your health. DUH.

Look What I've Been Doing

I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.
It will be 4 wks on Monday so I'm happy with the progress. Some people only seem to loose 1/2 lb to 1 lb a week so averaging 3 1/2 lbs a week is better than I expected.
I can wear my black jeans that I couldn't squeeze my fat butt into a month ago. Next goal is my white jeans, that are a size smaller.

Winter Ice Storm 2009

This is my front yard and house.


This is the view from my front porch.


This is a view of my side yard. I'm the lucky owner of all those limbs, right up to within about 10 ft of my neighbor's yard.


Things around here have been a little too exciting for us lately. On January 27 we had a major ice storm come through. In fact, the worst ice storm in the U.S. in 70 years is what I heard. I certainly believe it. Our electricity, cable TV, telephone, and internet went down on the 27th. We were lucky and they got our elec back up in one week (some other people in the country had to wait almost 3 wks to get their electricity back). We got the cable, internet, and telephone service back today so we've been without for 3 wks. But to tell you the truth, I was so happy to get electricity back on that being without the rest didn't seem so bad. We ended up buying a generator after 3 days because it was freezing cold. I had to work in the cold all day at the post office (the mail must go through and all that) and then come home to the cold and let me tell you, it sucked! Bill, the 3 dogs, 2 cats, and I were all in a 10 x 12 ft bedroom, trying to keep warm. It got down to 9° one night. Luckily, we still had water and since we have a gas hot water heater, I could take a hot bath. Some people didn't even have that. The Jaycee's club was set up as an emergency warming center so we could go there and eat hot meals. I was wearing a sleeveless tank shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a shirt, sweater, and a coat. I wore sweat pants over my jeans and I had these furry boots that kept my feet warm. Oh, and I cut two fingers out of my gloves so I could keep my gloves on and work. I was a wide as I was tall! LOL
We are still cleaning up the mess. Not one of my trees was undamaged. It brought down so many branches and some trees. We've worked for over 2 wks on the clean up in our yard and we now have the front fairly clean but we still have a long way to go in the back yard. The city has picked up several big piles of branches and we have another 6 piles by the curb right now but we are finally over half done. I heard on the news that there were 7000 utility poles that snapped and had to be replaced.
Let me tell you, it's no fun to sit in the dark and the cold, listening to big limbs fall on your house. The trees were snapping and cracking all night long, taking our electric and cable lines with them.

A Great Book

I read a new book several days ago. The book is Eternal Seduction, a dark, paranormal, vampire story and the first in a series of related paranormals. The author, Jennifer Turner, self published this book and after reading the first few chapters on her website, I was hooked. If you are interested, her website is The Darkness Within
I enjoyed Eternal Seduction as well as any book I've read lately. The "heroine", Logan, starts out as a homeless drug addict. Definitely not heroine material, and from what I understand, this is the reason the book was self-published by Jen. No agent wanted a lead character like Logan and Jen stuck to her guns and kept Logan at the cost of an agent. I have to say, having a character/love interest who wasn't practically a virgin, or one who's only flaw seemed to be stubbornness was refreshing. I actually liked Logan from the beginning, even with her less-than-perfect life.
Our hunky, brooding vampire is Kerestyan, the Lord of New York, and he is faced with the problem of what to do with Logan who has been aware of vampires for several months. And that's a definite problem when you are trying to keep vamps a secret from the human population.
You can also read a great interview with Jen at Bitten By Books and learn a little bit about Jen and her wonderful book.