Cooking?!

John learned the hard way not to complain about my cooking pretty much the same thing all the time.

John complained one morning about breakfast being boring.

I looked through all my cook books searching for a totally different kind of breakfast for the weekend.  I had dreams of wowing John with this breakfast.

I found one called Holland Danish Eggs and bought what I needed at the store.  This recipe called for canned Holland Danish sauce.  I know you are thinking "You're Kidding, Right?"   No unfortunately I am not kidding.

I was up early fixing the poached eggs and toasting the English muffins and heating up the sauce.  I proudly set the plate in front of John and stood there waking for him to brag about how pretty it was and that it tasted fantastic.  Yup, Right!

John gagged down the first bite and looked at me with disbelief in his eyes.  "Lord Honey, are you trying to kill me?  This is horrible." 

"It can't be that bad,"  I laugh taking my first bite  and spit it out.  "That's horrible!"

"Ya. that's what I said," laughed John.

I dumped the food out and turn to John grinning, "Would you like some bacon and eggs?"

John never complained again about being bored with food I fixed. 

But I did ever so often through in something new.  Sometimes it was good and other times I had to fix something else to eat.


I had been reading a lot of romances set in Australia and I noticed they ate lamb a lot.  Never had eaten lamb, I decided my family and I need to broaden our scope of food we ate. 


I found a recipe for cooking lamb chops and bought what I needed.  I can still see John, the four boys and I sitting around the table.


We each made a different kind of face as we took our first bite of the lamb.


John looks at me and I shrugged, "Maybe it is a required taste.  You have to start eating it at a young age."


At that moment the two year old spits out the meat, "Yuck!  What happen to the pork chop?"


I look at John smiling, "I think you need to start younger than two years old."


John and I had a good laugh.  I then fixed some fried hamburger and we finished our meal.


John came from a big family and they love to have family reunions.  Each family member takes turn hosting it.

One year while living at the airport, it was our turn to host a meal.  John loved cherry pie and I decided I would make a large cherry cobbler for the dessert.  I found the recipe and bought everything I would need to make the cherry cobbler.   The recipe called for canned cherries, not cherry pie filling.

I know you are wondering where I am heading.  Well, I learned I needed to pay more attention to details when cooking.

I followed the recipe and brought the cherry cobbler out with a big smile and ice cream.  I filled the bowls and eagerly watched John take his first bite.

"Ah honey, are the cherries suppose to have pits?"

I gave John a blank look for a minute, "I didn't realize they would sell canned cherries with the pits still in them.  I don't understand why they would do that."

Every one laughed saying the cobbler was good and they carefully ate the fruit around the seeds.  It turned out I had bought some canned cherries with pits and without pits.

Have you ever had a cooking disaster?

I notice in the Blogs today that two of the bloggers I follow was talking about how our hero and heroine looks.  Their blog made me think about how I describe my characters in my stories and realized I follow the same trend as most writers and make them unbelievable great.  Need to work on that.

My oldest son came over last week to give me a crash course in making links.  Hope they work, because it was a rapid fast course and I may of lost something in the thought processes.  LOL.



Smart Bitches by SB Sarah  wrote Heavy D & the Hero.  She makes you stop and think about your own imaginary and the real hero in your lives.

The Naptime Novelist  by Leigh Ann Kopans wrote about Writing Hotness and gave you some examples.


Paperback Writer  by Lynn Viehl wrote about Ten Things Women Do Only in Novels.  I found this entertaining and chuckled through some of it.


See you around the block.

On Sale at Amazon and Smashwords for $.99

Amazon:

Second Chance:   http://www.amazon.com/dp/Boo50TI84A

Fainting Damsel:      http://amazon.com/dp/B005RFGJD0

Smashwords:

Second Chance:    http://smashwords.com/books/view/87120

Fainting Damsel:    http://smashwords.com/books/view/93185

Am I Lost???

I woke up this morning sore.  My knees hurt, bottom hurts and I have a number of other aches and pains.

I know your thinking did she go to the gym and work out too hard?  Did she climb a mountain or swim the English Channel?

Wrong!  I went for a walk and found out exercising can be dangerous, nerve wrecking and etc..

I have been writing about my past, but today I thought I would share what happened yesterday.

I am trying to walk 10,000 steps a day.  Sitting at the computer writing all the time has added a few pounds and clothes are beginning to feel tight.

The weather is perfect for walking and I do enjoy this exercise a lot, walking in the neighborhoods around my home.  Looking at the different houses and the way the yards are set up.

Will I found out yesterday I need to pay more attention to where I am going, instead of thinking about a story I am working on or about the houses and yards I am looking at. 

At least I wasn't behind the wheel of my car, is all I can say.

I am walking along and I realize I am really tired.  I looked at my watch and I had been walking for an hour.  I looked around the neighborhood I am in and I don't recognize anything.

Now as you know in my other tales, I don't like retracing the way I have come.  I am afraid of becoming more lost than I already am.  Especially this time, since I have taken streets off to the side and etc.  There isn't a straight path I could follow.

The thought keeping me going, was I didn't want to have to call one of my sons to come get me.  In my mind I can hear the conversation.

"Hi, it's mom.  (a long pause)  I was wondering if you would come and get me?"

"Did the car break down?"  Of course son would sound a little distracted being busy at work.

"No, I'm not in my car.  I am out walking."

"Mom, why do I need to come get you if your out walking?  Did you sprain an ankle?  Where are you at?"

"No I'm not hurt.  (another long pause)  I don't know where I am?"

"Mom, do you feel faint?  Did the feeling of not knowing where you are come on suddenly?  Have you been having trouble remembering things?"

"No to everything you asked."  Now I am becoming a little peeved at all the questions.  "I am lost.  I don't know which way to go to find home."

The laughter explodes over the phone and I hear this voice gasping for air as he asks, "Did you find the scenic route?"

Now I am mad at the son I was thinking of calling and decide I am not calling any of my sons, come hell or high water.   I will find my own way home, thank you very much.   I will not be laughed at or ridiculed for my lack of direction.  I am not in the mood for it.


One problem was this neighborhood had a lot of dead ends and circle streets.  I would head down one hoping it would go through to only find out it circled back.  Which means they don't really lead any where.  I finally gave up and walked in the direction I think one of the main streets can be found.

I was lucky and I did find a main street that I knew.  I stand there at the side of this main street wondering which direction I should go, left or right?  I know I am a long way from home since I found this main street.  It takes at least fifteen minutes in the car to get to this street from my home.  I can see stop lights way down the street in both directions and decide I would head toward the closes one.

I know you are wondering why I don't use my cell phone to find my way home.

 I don't have the directional thing on my cell phone and I can't see the screen when I am out in the sunshine.   It would be just as hard to call someone, unless I knew their numbers by heart and could dial them.  The only number I know by heart is my own and sometimes I draw a blank when trying to remember it. 

I mean who would think I would need to know my kids numbers.  I would scroll down to their name and press enter.  Gees give me a break!  Ya, I know that's not working this time.


By the time I walked into my front door, I had walked over fourteen thousands steps.  Muscles in my bottom, thighs and calves were hurting and my feet were yelling in protest.   I would have kissed the floor, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back up and I needed some water.  I had drained my water bottle dry long before I reached home.

Who knew walking could be dangerous!  

Hanging Diapers!!!

John and I lived on the Bisbee Douglas International Airport for about ten plus years with our four boys.  The taxi way to the terminal ran by the back end of our yard.

The front yard had a white picket fence and the back yard was wide open without a fence.  I didn't have a drier and I had to hang laundry out on the clothes line in the back yard.

We had been out visiting with John's brothers in Elfrida late that evening and didn't arrive home till late at night.  We noticed the military had tents set up in the empty area across the road from our house and thought nothing of it.

Our fourth sons was a few months old and I had to do a lot diapers every few days.  But nothing smelt as good or looked as good as lines full of snowy white diapers trembling in the light breeze underneath a blazing sun.

I washed a load of diapers the next morning and I was hanging them on the clothes line.  I noticed the military had parked a row of helicopters on the edge of the taxi way next to my clothes line.  As I'm hanging my third line of diapers I see a group of military men heading  toward the helicopters.

I swiftly walked out to meet the group of men standing between them and their helicopters and I ask politely what they are planning to do.

One of the officers politely answers, "We are starting our field operation and need to get the helicopters in the air.

I shake my head, put my hands on my hips, "I don't think so.  I just hung a load of diapers and those helicopters aren't being started until they dry and I take them down."

The young officer's face drops and he shuffles his feet, "Ah, I'll need to go speak to my commanding officer about this."

"You do that.  I am not having dirt and what ever blown all over my clean diapers."

The group of men walked back toward their camp and a few minutes later they return in vehicles and put wheels beneath the helicopters and pulled them farther down the taxi way.

John my husband worked on the airport for the county keeping the roads, runways, tower lights and building fixed.

He came home that evening with a big grin on his face.  "Honey, you are the only woman I know who can boss around the military."

"How did you find out about that?"  I had to grin from ear to ear feeling good, that a five foot three inch woman can make the military do what she wants.

"The manager of the airport told me.  He was laughing so hard he almost didn't get the story out."

The airport manager said, "The commanding officer came in complaining about a woman not letting them start their helicopters.  I reminded him I told them not to park their helicopters behind the house and that as long as the woman had diapers on the line, he could not start the helicopters there.  They either had to wait for the diapers to come down or find another solution."

My husband and his brothers teased me for years.  They said I was the only woman they knew who could lay claim to bossing the army around.

Hey, Heidi Windmiller wishing you a lot of luck in your NaNo novel.

Is That a Ship??!!

I hope I have mentioned these stories about some of the things that happened in my life are not in sequence.  I write them as they come to mind.

So I am jumping to a time after my husband had passed away and my daughter Carey was the only child at home.  She was about fifteen when this story takes place and we had moved back to our hometown of Elfrida for a year.

We loved driving to Sierra Vista every weekend.  It had more to offer than Douglas, besides having men walking around in uniforms.  There is nothing like a man in a uniform!!!  Fort Huachucha is part of Sierra Vista and there were a lot of military men around.

I am grinning right now as I remember Sierra Vista had recently built a small mall.  It is small in comparison to the malls in Mesa and etc.

My daughter Carey and I love malls no matter what the size.  Great place to window shop and watch the people.  Also great place to find things you want.

Of course the brainatics (computer says word is misspelled, but it didn't come up with the right word I wanted, Oh well) had worked hard to come up with the name for this mall (tongue in cheek)  they called it, Mall of Sierra Vista.

We always took the back way down Kings Highway, a small two lane road that the county finally paved.  It cuts off some time, even though it still took a good forty five minutes to get to Sierra Vista.  This road is full of dips and curves and wide open spaces.  It is open range and you have to watch for live stock.  After this trip, I figured they should add another sign for what else you needed to watch out for.

One late afternoon, my daughter Carey and I were returning from a day spent in Sierra Vista.   We were cruising down Kings Highway when low and behold.  We see, you aren't going to believe this.  I know my sons had a hard time believing it.

A SHIP is coming down the small two lane road taking up the whole road.  We couldn't believe our eyes.  I mean Arizona is pretty far from the ocean and this thing is too big for any of our lakes.  I pull off onto the dirt as far as I can and stop to wait for the ship to pass by.  It is on a very low, long trailer being pulled by a semi truck.  This thing takes up the whole road.


My daughter Carey turns to me grinning, "Mom, only you would be forced off the road by a ship in the middle of the desert."

I wish we had gotten pictures to prove it.  The boys had a great time teasing us about this, asking what had we been drinking and etc.

The story doesn't end there.  Carey and I move back to Mesa and decided to go to Falcon Field for their World War II USO show.  They have planes and other memorabilia you can look at and there are people dressed in uniforms of that time, not only U.S. armed forces, but also Germany's and Japan's.

I followed the signs and parking people directed me to go down this road to the parking area.  I had to pull off in the dirt this time, because a World War II plane was taxiing down the same road.  There it was this big plane coming down the road right at us.

This time not only did I have Carey as a witness, but also her boyfriend.  The boys still had a great time teasing me about what I was drinking at the time.

My sons have always teased me about drinking.  The reason is, John once told me in front of them I would be dangerous if I drank.  I was already dizzy enough without alcohol.

On facebook  one of the Austin authors Nina Benneton had posted about free books for helping writers.
http://dailycheapreads.com/2011/11/06/free-now-six-books-on-writing-from-writer

Girlfriends Book Club/What's in a genre? by Jacquiline Luckett was interesting.  I choose books by the blurb on the back and I read any genre that sounds interesting. 


K.B. Owen, Mystery Writer/Mystery Morning: Chasing the MacGuffin     I had never heard the term MacGuffin before and found it interesting.  She also has a site you can go to that tells you more about MacGuffin.  MacGuffin is what the characters are searching for in the story.  Some great examples.


I have been reading books who have animals in them.  I read two of Sofie Kelly's books, Sleight of Paw and Curiosity Thrilled the Cat.   These are two really cute books and I enjoyed them totally.


The reason I have been reading books with animals in them is because of  Charlie.  He is a mouthy parrot in my book .  I finished it and now I am waiting for some of my critique partners to read it.  I read the other books to see how they handled the pet in their stories.  But in the end, I did my story my way.  I hope my readers will like it.  I had a lot of fun writing it, even though Charlie wouldn't leave me alone.  LOL


See you around the block.

What???!!!

You have probably been wondering if I ever had a run in with the highway patrol.  The answer is once.  I was driving toward home after spending the day shopping in Douglas.

It was the weekend, John and the kids were off having fun together.  A day of shopping without kids was a gift from heaven.  Those of you who have had to drag one or more kids around while trying to shop will understand how special this day was.

Well, I was heading home, windows rolled down and the radio playing.  I wasn't paying attention to my speed and when I met a highway patrol car, I didn't think anything about it.

That is until I hear a siren and see flashing lights behind me.  GULP!  I pull over and wait for the policeman to walk up and he is very polite.

He asks me if I knew how fast I was going.  I smile,  shake my head and tell him I don't know, which was the truth.  He tells me I was going ten miles over the speed limit.

Then he asks for my driver license and registration.  I hand over my driver license  and then I have to ask, "What does the registration look like?"  I didn't think I had ever seen it and I wasn't sure what he wanted.

He looks at me for a minute and then he says, "It's the paper the sticker for your tag comes on and it says to put it in the glove box."

I smile giving a tiny laugh, "Oh that, it's on top of the refrigerator at home."

"When you get home tell your husband to put it in the glove box."  He handed back my driver license and told me to watch my speed and told me he would just give me a verbal warning this time.

I put my driver license back into my wallet and drove home, mindful of my speed.

I find John and the kids have returned and I tell John what the policeman had said.  John gives me that look (are you for real) and grins, "Honey, it is amazing what you can do."

I look at him confused and he continues, "Only you could get yourself out of a speeding ticket with a smile and asking a question."

John handed me the registration and told me to put it in the glove box.  He said this way next time I would know what it looks like.

From that time on, I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for the police and made sure my foot didn't grow heavy on the gas pedal.

The first car I had with cruise control was fantastic.  I use it all the time, because half the time I don't know how fast I am going.  My mind is off somewhere else, generally on a scene I am planning to write for my book.

I pity the other drivers out there sharing a rode with me.  I am one more idiot on the road not paying attention.

Read some great blogs this morning:

Slingword/Joan Reeves guest was Terry Callister and he is looking for submissions to be published in a short story book.  Check it out.

  I tried to put the link, but it erased everything I had written about Slingword.  Sometime   computers are very mysterious.

Good luck to Heidi Windmiller on her NaNo project.  I am rooting for you.  I'm not sure I used the right spelling for rooting.  It looks strange.

Writer Unboxed had guest Sarah Callender who talks about doubt.  You know the kind that makes you wonder about this or that.  Found it interesting and of course I saved her blog site.

Happy reading and writing to everyone.

The weather man says Arizona will be windy, means big dust storms and we will get rain tonight.  Normally I would be thrilled about the rain, but I have a leak in my roof that hasn't been fixed yet.  But then again the weather man could be wrong.  Weather is hard to predict in Arizona.  It may only rain a block over, I can only hope.

See you around the block.

I Drove the Camper!!!!

You remember the Ford pick up with the camper?  That top heavy, standard transmission Ford.  Well, I had to drive it ONCE.   I had driven standards before, but they were small cars, not a BIG old pick up.

Winters in Elfrida are cold and this took place during the winter.  The kids and I just couldn't get it together that morning and we were running late.

The kids missed their bus, which meant I had to drive them to school.  I scraped the ice off of the Buicks windshield (it had an automatic transmission) and then I tried to start it.  The battery was dead.  I stood there for a minute thinking what I should do.  John had left for work hours ago and there was only one other vehicle left in the yard.

You guessed it!  The Ford pick up with the camper on the back.  Ugh!  I had never driven it before and I knew it was a standard.  It had been years since I had driven one.

The two younger kids sat in the front with me and the other three road in the camper part.

The Ford started right up and I frowned looking down at the gear shift.  It doesn't have the picture of the shifting guide on top.  Soooo,
I figured I would try any gear I could get the shifter into and see which way the truck moved.

I found a gear it would take off in, lugging a little, but we were own our way.  Only problem was when I came to the corner with a stop sign the truck died when I tried to shift back down into the gear I had taken off in.  I got the truck started again and took off in the gear it would move in.

I knew another stop sign was coming up and I didn't want the truck to die again.  I could see nothing was coming down the road I was planning to turn onto.  Without gear down or slowing down to much, I made the turn onto the road and heard the boys yelling and laughing in the camper.

Each time I had to take a corner I had to take it fast and the boys would be laughing and yelling in the camper.  When I finally made it to the school, the boys piled out of the camper laughing with a white cloud of dust following  them.

"Mom, every time you went around the corner things would fall out of the cabinets.  We were dodging can goods.  It was fun.   Can we do it again?"

I looked at the boys and they looked a little whitish.  Reaching out a shaking finger, I was worried I had scared my sons more than they were letting on.  Did I do emotional harm to them?  The white powder stuff came off on my finger.  Whew, I thought, I hadn't damaged them.

"What do you guys have all over you?"


The boys double over with laughter, "It's flour mom.  When the canister holding the flour fell out, the lid came off.  The sugar lost it's lid too."

I gulped and climbed back in the camper and headed home.  Around each corner I heard more things falling.  I tried to park the truck in the spot John had had it in.  Hoping the adventure of this morning would be forgotten.   I opened the camper door and was meet with a white cloud of flour.

Taking my youngest child in the house, I know I have to come back out to clean the camper before John gets home.  I finally got the camper cleaned.  I thought it looked good and no one would ever know what had happen.  Unless they went through the cabinets looking for plates, glass ware and etc.  The canisters were a little dented and empty.  I planned to fill them after the next trip to Douglas.


The minute John enters the house, he looks at me, "Who moved my truck?"

"Your truck is in the same spot you parked it."  Now notice I didn't lie, I just didn't answer the question thinking if I could convince John the truck was parked in the same spot.  I figure if I could get him to believe it was parked in the same spot all would be well.



John"s eyes narrowed as he looked at my smiling face.  "The truck is not in the same spot."


"Are you sure?  Who remembers the exact spot you park your vehicle?"  I have trouble finding my car in the parking lot even today.  I try to always park in the same row, in front of the same store when I go to the mall.  I just have to make sure I come out the same door I entered the mall in and chances are I will find my car within a few minutes.  Hopefully.


"I remember where I park!"  John is still looking at me and I keep busy with preparing out meal.


"Lucky you.  Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." 


John mumbles something under his breath and returns outside.  I figure it's a good thing I can't hear and understand what he is saying, because it would probably make me angry.  Ignorance is bless at this time.


Dinner is ready and I call the family in to eat.  Hoping they will be to busy eating and that the morning events had been forgotten.


Drats!  The boys entertain their dad with the tale of the exciting ride to school that morning.


John looks at me and asked what gear did I have the truck in.   I smile and tell him I haven't any idea.  "Why didn't you take your own car?"


"Well, because the Buick wouldn't start," I grumbled and lifted my chin looking him in the eye, "If you kept my car in good running order I wouldn't have to drive your truck."


John's eyes widen and his grin grows bigger, "Amazing how this is all turning out to be my fault.  After dinner you can show me where the gear shift was when you drove my truck."


It turns out I took off in second and drove in third.   John shook his head and gave me that look (are you for real).  He looked in the camper and was happy to find it cleaned.

Then John put my battery on the charger.  He egged the boys on to embellish the story of their adventure and of course John told his brothers and his co workers the tale.


For weeks I was teased about the trip in the camper.


Fortunately, I never had to borrow that stupid camper again.  Of course the boys beg for another ride, they are such thrill seekers.


Read some interesting blogs this morning:


Nicole Storey's Chaotic Thoughts on publishing.  I could emphasize with her.  Writers with families, jobs and etc., have a very rough path to follow.


Slingwords by Joan Reeves had Susan Lute talking about finding your voice and advice on how you could find it.  Found it really interesting and I am thinking of giving it a try.


Paperback Writer by Lynn Viehl wrote about designing your own magnets.  She is so artistic and I have one of her book marks.  I really love the texture, color and the look of it.  What can't this woman do is what I wonder?  I mean she also write great books too.   Hmmm, maybe she doesn't sleep, that thought sets my imagination to working.  LOL