Valentine's Day trivia

Did you know that over 18 BILLION dollars are expected to be spent this year for Valentine's Day?


Yes, it's true. I saw it on the news a few days ago.

Yeah, I'm full of interesting trivia.
In fact, if you would like to hear more AND...want a chance to win a copy of A LITTLE BIT CUPID (yes, apparently, my publisher is sparing no expense on the freebies. LOL) I'm over at my good blogging bud Carol Kilgore's blog: Under the Tiki Hut.

Stop by if you can! :)

Awards and Such

Hope everyone had a lovely Father's Day and/or weekend!
I made brunch for my hubby and his family: breakfast pizza and creme brulee french toast were on the menu. Yum!

The Better is Possible blog surprised me with some nice awards last week. It's been awhile since I received any, so I figured I was boring people out. Nice to know I still have it. LOL!






Anyhew, here are the requisite seven facts about myself.

1) In high school I was in a beauty pageant. If I had won, I would have gone on to Miss New Jersey then Miss America. (But I didn't even place) :-)

2) I've recently decided to put a little color in my life and am having my office painted...RED. Well, cranberry. Well, actually the color is called Stolen Kiss. But you get the idea.

3) I prefer a heavily salted snack over a sweet snack.

4) I just started week 11 of my second round of p90x. (and no, I'm not ripped yet)

5) I'm highly allergic to cats (and most dogs)

6) Wanted to go to med school after I graduated pharmacy school. Took the GREs and everything. Bu then I met my future hubby and all my plans went totally out the window because I fell in love and got married. (never regretted it once)

7) Was sooooooo close to being named Linda, but when I was born the doctor told my mom I looked like a Jennifer. (And the rest is history) :)

And that's all for me.

This week I'm trying to get some editing done and get my act together for the RWA conference.

I'm also at the Avalon Blog today. I'm talking about "Beginnings and Endings" in books. It's a discussion I had last year, but I think it's an interesting topic, so if you get a chance (and haven't weighed in on your opinion before), come on over and tell me if you think one is more important than the other when reading a book.

Georgie on His Mind is Now Available!

MENTAL STATUS: "Flighty". Almost missed my own book release!
RECENT IPod DOWNLOAD: "Half of my Heart" by John Mayer

Well, my new contemporary romance from Avalon Books, GEORGIE ON HIS MIND, is finally released!

And I almost missed it.

**cue the crickets**

I know. How can I possibly be that dumb? Well..I don't know. But I really thought the publication date and release date were kind of one in the same so I thought my book wasn't going to be out until October. My editor was kind enough to explain the difference when I emailed her after seeing all these Google alerts about my book.


Then...this weekend I got that special little package every author loves: free books. :)

So, alas, my trailer isn't finished and my library brochures aren't in, but...

the one thing I can do is have a book giveaway on my blog!!

Starting now.

Well, not right now. But soon. At the end of this post.

First allow me to share some interesting tidbits about this book.
(Or at least allow me to share what I think is interesting) :)

1) Georgie is my heroine. And when I first started writing her, the general consensus by my crit partners was that she was WAY TOO immature. So I honestly thought about changing the story and writing it as a YA.
But instead of doing that, I opted to tweak her character a bit first. Turned out that's all that was needed.

2)This book went through a number of titles as I wrote it. The first being BROTHERLY LOVE and then MY BEST FRIEND'S SISTER.
I finally decided on GEORGIE ON HIS MIND because I liked the similarity in the song title "Georgia on my Mind".

3) When I got about halfway through writing this book I started to have doubts about where the story was going, so I wrote a synopsis and thought I would submit the book before it was done to see if anyone would be interested and to see if it was actually worth finishing. So I sent the partial off and within ONE WEEK Avalon Books requested the full. The only problem was the book still wasn't finished.
The moral of this story was I will never ever ever ever ever ever do that again. That was a stressful writing month. BUT it was nice to know that I could quickly produce a sellable story going by synopsis alone when under the gun. :)

4) My hero's name is Walter. Yes, and I did have a number of my critique partners suggest that I should change my hero's name to something a little more...contemporary. I said I'd think about it--which loosley translated meant: NO WAY. I LIKE THAT NAME AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS. PS. I should also mention I like the name Vincent and would not be averse to having a hero named Vince. Just giving you fair warning now.


So without further ado, here's a little bit about GEORGIE ON HIS MIND:

Georgie Mayer has no boyfriend and rarely goes out. In short, she needs a life. Living with her brother doesn't exactly help matters. Since she's graduated college and returned back home, her brother's over protectiveness has been in overdrive, and she hasn't been able to have any fun, or at the very least get a date.

So what's a poor particularly attractive girl to do in a situation like this? The only thing she can do: find him a woman-er, distract him.

He'll thank her for it in the end. That is, if his best friend Walt Somers would stop interfering with her plans. Back in town to help run his uncle's business, the handsome pharmacist has made no secret that he doesn't approve of what she's trying to do. Unfortunately, having Walt hanging around does strange things to her mind, and suddenly she can't help but take a healthy interest in him. But how can Georgie entertain thoughts of the two of them together when Walt still treats her like his best friend's little sister?

Available and on sale at Amazon and Barnes& Noble.

Best yet, Avalon Books is primarily a library book publisher, so run (or walk or drive) to your local library and request my book! Or if you're feeling lucky, enter my book giveaway contest below. :)

CONTEST: To be entered to win a copy of my romantic comedy, GEORGIE ON HIS MIND, please leave a comment below.

NO, you do not have to be a blog follower. NO, you don't have to follow on me on Twitter. NO, we don't need to be Facebook friends. And NO, you don't even need to like me. (But I don't understand why you wouldn't. I mean, I'm pretty nice.) :)

*to be entered in the contest, please leave a comment below between now and Tuesday, August 24 11:59PM (EST). Winner will be announced this Friday along with the winner from this coming Writer Routine Wednesday**

Good luck and viva la romance!

Cupid Shot Me :)

IN THE NEWS: 3-legged dog wins 1st place in NYC shelter contest. Read more here.

Fellow blogging bud, Diane Estrella is hosting a little post Valentine's Day fun.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Diane thought it would be fun to share personal stories on when and how Cupid Shot Me! This could be a first date, how you met your spouse, a worst date ever or maybe what your dream date will be when you finally meet Prince Charming.

If you feel like participating, too. Check out her blog here for more details.

So without further ado, I will briefly describe how I met my Prince Charming--er, hubby.

I was in college (in my fourth year of a five year degree) on winter break. I wasn't dating anyone-- or interested in dating anyone-- since I had just suffered a bad break up of a long relationship. So I'm home when the phone rings.
Me: Hello?
My aunt: Jennifer? It's Aunt Helen. Would you like to meet a nice young man?
Me: (frowning because I had no idea what my aunt deems as "nice young man") Um...I don't know...
My aunt: He travels all over with his job, so he's very busy. I won't give him your number if you're not interested...
Me: (grudgingly) Ok. I guess that's---
My Aunt: Great! (hangs up)

Ugh. I have to tell you, I wasn't holding out hope for this to be a love match. I mean it was my aunt and his mother who was doing the matchmaking. (A yikes)
He ended up calling me 2 weeks later, my last weekend before I had to go back to school.

As soon as I heard his voice, I was HOOKED. In fact, the hubby has had many people tell him that he has a voice for radio. (He likes to joke he has a face for radio, too. LOL)
He made me laugh and laugh on the phone. So when he asked me if I'd like to go out that night, I said, "YES!!"

When he picked me up I, I thought he looked very young (his voice sounds older). I guess I expected him to look more "worldly", too, since he was out of college and a few years older. :) But we were both pretty young. We went out to dinner in Philadelphia and then to the Copa 2 for margaritas (my first date in a big city, so I was impressed!). We call it our marathon date since he picked me up at 6PM and I got in around 3AM! Surprisingly, I did NOT get in trouble with my parents.

Anyhew, he used a credit card to pay for dinner and after he signed the receipt he held it up and said, "For the scrapbook?" --which made me laugh.
Little did I know he ended up saving it (as well as several other souvenirs from our dates).
(That old softie) :)

We both knew that it was IT right away for both of us. We even said the "i love yous" not long after that first date and seventeen years later we're still together and very much in love. :)

So that's our story--a successful blind date.

Are you doing Diane's posting?

How did you meet your honey bunny?

Happiness---and an Unplug

MOOD STATUS: "Happy". Hence, the award. :)

Oh, happy days for this Happy Award.

I must have really been deliriously happy last week because THREE people gave me this award.

Special thank yous go out to to Kristin Rae, Elizabeth Bradley, and Jessica Brooks.

So here are 10 things that make me happy:

1) My hubby. (He is literally the funniest person I know.)

2) My kiddo. (Who we keep saying is in my hubby's humor immersion program.)

3) When my hubby unloads the dishwasher for me. It doesn't happen that often, because I'm home and in the kitchen more than he is, but when he does take it upon himself to do it, you would think he gave me a diamond necklace.

4) My Women's Bible study group. I just love these women. The group is a great fellowship and nothing gives me more peace and joy then being in the Word with them.

5) Writing "the end" on a story I've finished. It's a joyous feeling--like a big monkey off my back--until I start a new story. :)

6) Singing in the car. You don't want to drive with me. I have the music cranked up and I'm belting it out along with the radio. (PS. I do a mean rendition(meaning have your earplugs ready) of Carrie Underwood's "Last Name")

7)Sushi. I know. How can raw fish make you happy? It just DOES.

8) Reading in peace. It's such a special pleasure to read without interruption.

9) When the house smells like cinnamon bread, apple pie or cookies. I just made some homemade cinnamon bread on Saturday. It's such a comfort to have your home smelling so yummy. It was almost as good as eating it. (Almost)

10) And lastly...getting blog awards! This is not a hint to hit me up for another one. (Unless you REALLY want to) :)

Now to pass the award over to these blogs:

1) Chelle Sandell

2)Chicki Brown

3) Kate over at The Lovers, the Dreamers and Me

4) R.M. Gilbert

And lastly, I'm done for this week. I'm going to take a little timely "unplug" and try to get some mucho grande writing done.

See you next week!

Tagged, an Award-and an Opinion (Good Things come in 3's)

IN THE NEWS: Mom sniffs out son's alleged stink-bomb plot. Read more HERE

A DOUBLE thanks to Wendy over at All in a Day's Thought for giving me this "Super Comments" award and for tagging me with this question list that's been ALL OVER THE INTERNET. I know way too much about you people!

Kidding.

Okay, half kidding.

I'm cutting mine short, though, because I was tired last night and went to bed early. Sorry to be a party pooper. ( I'm sure you'll live.)

But here goes for what I have:

What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
The last: Sunny Days for Sam--the sweet romance I recently finished.
The first: A book report I did in fourth grade on The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell. (I got an A, although my teacher said my writing was a bit sloppy)

Write poetry?
Never

Angsty poetry?
Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Favorite genre of writing?
Romance, women's fiction, chick-lit

Most annoying character you've ever created? "Georgie" from Georgie on His Mind which will be published next year. (Yeah, I know. I'm sure I'm really selling this) But she's very immature. So much so, that I almost thought about making this book a YA. (I'm glad I didn't)

Best Plot you've ever created?
Meh. I'm still working on one. Most of my books aren't cleverly plotted. They're more character driven.

Coolest Plot twist you've ever created?
It's not really COOL as much as CUTE. I ended up making a character (Georgie) enter her brother in a "win a date with a celebrity" contest, but she ended up winning the date herself. (It created a lot of problems for my hero) LOL

How often do you get writer's block?
Never. But I do suffer from periods of pure laziness. :)


Write fan fiction?
Nope.

Do you type or write by hand?
I usually type to write, but I plot on paper by hand and jot down ideas for scenes on TONS of sticky notes.

Do you save everything you write?
Yup. Even stuff I know I will never want to look at again. (Never say never, right?)

Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
Sometimes. If I really feel it can work.

What's your favorite thing you've ever written?
A book that was never good enough to be published! I guess it's just that one "book of my heart".


What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written?
The Role of a Lifetime. Even my friend who read the book that Avalon Books bought, said she still liked The Role of a Lifetime the best. Go figure.

And now for your opinion:

Have you seen this commercial yet?



Am I the only one who finds this commercial a bit creepy and...just wrong?

What do you think?
Does this commercial cross the line or is it harmless fun?

The Scoop on Ice Cream

IN THE NEWS: Seven suburban Philadelphia children had a brush with the law for selling without a permit , selling lemonade, that is. Read more HERE.

Bad news. I was eating...toffee yesterday and the crown on my implant came right off. (Fortunately I didn't swallow the thing!) I knew I shouldn't have had candy for dessert. WHY didn't I have ice cream? WHY???

I wanted the ice cream, but I figured a piece of toffee was less calories. And now, I have an unexpected trip to the dentist in store for me tomorrow. Wah.

On my way home from the dentist I plan on treating myself (and the kiddo) to some ice cream. (To cheer myself up.)

My favorite? Moose tracks.

**Did you know that in 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream month and the third Sunday on the month as National Ice Cream Day?

**Did you also know that the U.S. ice cream industry generates more than $21 billion in annual sales and provides jobs for thousands of people? About 9% of all milk produced by U.S. dairy farmers is used to make ice cream.

Source: International Ice Cream Association.

Also, according to the International Ice Cream Association, these are the 15 most popular ice cream flavors:

1. Vanilla, 29%

2. Chocolate, 8.9%

3. Butter pecan, 5.3% (My mom's favorite)

4. Strawberry, 5.3%

5. Neapolitan, 4.2%

6. Chocolate chip, 3.9%

7. French vanilla, 3.8% (Um, is there really a difference between this and #1?)

8. Cookies and cream, 3.6%

9. Vanilla fudge ripple, 2.6%1

0. Praline pecan, 1.7%

11. Cherry, 1.6%

12. Chocolate almond, 1.6%

13. Coffee, 1.6%

14. Rocky road, 1.5%

15. Chocolate marshmallow, 1.3% (Another favorite of mine)

All others, 23.7%

Shocking, huh? Moose tracks is not on that list. Not even Mint Chocolate Chip.

~~~~~~~

Anyhew, still finishing up with my contest judging today and then I hope to do a little writing. Even more shocking. :)

What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

Taggerific!

IN THE NEWS: W.Va. woman wins her 9th big lottery prize. Read more here.

I'm feeling MUCH better today!
In fact, I'm feeling terrific and I've been tagged by writer friend Glynis Smy, so you might say I'm feeling taggerific
(hence my title)

I know, I know. That was bad. I blame the medicine I'm on. :)

Anyhew...

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random and/or revealing things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your post entry is up on your site.

So here we go. Six Random/Revealing Things About Myself:

1) I vacuum too much.
I admit it. I vacuum everyday to every other day. It's not OCD, but it is a sickness of some kind. But then again, I have off-white carpets.

2) I believe airplanes, hospitals, dentists, and potty-training are just necessary evils in this world.

3) I have a VERY hard time telling people no when asked to do things.

4) I'm exactly half Polish and half Lithuanian.

5) In my last year of college, I decided I wanted to either go to medical school or continue to get my doctorate in pharmacy. But my dad cut off my funds and made me graduate with a BS. Otherwise, I would have easily been content to become a professional student for the rest of my life. :)

6) I LOVE to try new foods. Whenever I'm at a fancy restaurant, I usually try to order the most unusual entree I can find.

Well, that's all for me. I'm just not that exciting. But maybe these people will be:
1) Diane Craver
2) Debora Dennis
3) Kristen Painter
4) Chicki Brown
5) Kate Karyus Quinn
6) Stephanie Griffin

Check out their random facts about themselves in a few days and see if I'm right. :)

National Grammar Day

IN THE NEWS: Injured good Samaritan ticketed for jaywalking. Read more HERE.

It's National Grammar Day! Isn't that exciting? A little bit?

Well, even though I writer, me have no so good grammar.

Luckily, there are a vast array of websites to help me and my disability.

Here's a few I peek frequently:

Guide to Grammar and Writing

Daily Grammar

Dialogue

Basic Prose and Mechanics

What are your favorite grammar websites?

Calling All Know-it-alls!

MENTAL STATUS: "Apprehensive." Still learning to ski.

A friend sent this e-mail to me--probably to lower my self-esteem further, because I could barely answer this quiz.

Here it is:

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.
2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw" and they are all common words. Name two of them.
7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?
8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S."

ANSWERS:

1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends is Boxing.
2. North American landmark constantly moving backward. Niagara Falls (The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.)
3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. Asparagus and rhubarb.
4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside. Strawberry.
5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.
6. Three English words beginning with dw. Dwarf, dwell and dwindle.
7. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
8. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh. Lettuce.
9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with "S". Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

How did you do?

Cookie Decisions

MENTAL STATUS: "Happy". Christmas cards actually came out... pretty good. And more importantly, they're done and going out in the mail today. (Woo-hoo!)

I was invited to go to a cookie swap this week. Thus, I said "Sure!".

Then I was told to make 14 dozen of one kind of cookie.

**cough cough**

Anyhew, I'm having trouble deciding what kind of cookie to make. (Yeah, I know more sweating the small stuff) But in my defense, I'm not really sweating this decision.

I went to a cookie swap a few years ago and came back disappointed. One, because I came back with so little cookies. (But I think I only made a few dozen) And two, I was disappointed because I didn't come back with any "Christmas" kind of cookies. I ended up baking cookies AFTER the swap, which kind of took the whole point out of the swap.

So... I want to make a Christmas type of cookie, but I also want to avoid repeating what other woman are making. All I know so far is someone is making a biscotti.

I have narrowed down my choices to these:

** Caramel pecan cookies (they have a butter cookie bottom and a caramel pecan top, almost like mini triangular pecan pies)

**Walnut snowballs (you know, those little round cookies dusted in powdered sugar)

**Spritz cookies (those cookie press cookies with candied cherries in the middle)


What do you think I should make?

What kind of cookie do you think of at Christmas?

Flashback Friday (part 3)

IN THE NEWS: "A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed." read more HERE

Well, it's that kind of Friday again. I felt like a flashback. (And I thought these were kinda cool too)

**MTV is in 17.5 million homes and top videos include "Beat It" - Michael Jackson, "Be Good Johnny" - Men at Work, "Sexy 17" - Stray Cats, and "She Works Hard for it" - Donna Summer.

Um, for the record I was one of the underprivileged kids who did not have cable, thus did not have MTV.

**Cabbage Patch dolls with birth certificate and adoption papers are a Hit

Um, I thought (and still think) they were/are ugly.

**Sony Walkman with Dolby: $229

Um, yikes.

**RCA VCR: $399 - $888

Um, I'm sorry. Is anyone else laughing?

**Ray-Ban and Vuarnet sunglasses are in.

**Ad for Moosehead Beer: "Stands head and antlers above the rest"

Eh.

**The shuttle Challenger completes four missions including the first spacewalk since 1972.

**Seat-belt and anti-drunk driver campaigns are accredited with auto accident fatalities dropping to 43,028, the lowest figure in 20 years.

Interesting.

**Coca-Cola and Pepsi com market "No-Caffeine" sodas.

Wow. That wasn't long ago at all.

**Break dancing and the electroboogie are sweeping the country

Unfortunately.

-----------------------------------
Also, on the reviews front, I just received 5 BLUE RIBBONS from Romance Junkies!
Woo-hoo!

"You'll be laughing out loud one minute and then your heart goes out the very next. If you only have time to read one book this summer, THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME is a must read! This is the first story from Ms. Shirk I've read but it certainly won't be the last."

You can go HERE and click on my smiling face to read the whole review. :)

Have a great weekend!

Happy Belated Fourth!

MENTAL STATUS: "Off". I'm feeling better, but have developed other symptoms--cough, watery eyes, headaches, mental fuzziness. I'm beginning to think it's allergies. Ugh.

Well, Happy Belated Fourth of July to all of you in the U.S. We kicked off the long weekend with a BBQ with two other couples and their kids, then we hosted a family BBQ on Friday then headed down to the beach to watch the fireworks. The weather this weekend looked iffy but we managed to spend all four days at the beach--where I mostly slept because I felt so blah. But it still felt good to be there.

While I was there, I read a Focus on the Family magazine and saw some neat trivia on fireworks that I thought I'd share with you even though the holiday is past.

Fireworks Trivia:

* static electricity in synthetic clothing can ignite fireworks. Those who make fireworks wear cotton from head to toe.

* professional fireworks shows have grown shorter in recent years. Three decades ago, the average show lasted over an hour; today's shows last about 20 minutes

* in 1996, a lighted string of firecrackers lasted 22 hours to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.

* The amount of fireworks used in the U.S. has increased 2.5 times since 1992.

source: fireworks.com

Fascinating, huh? And now you know. :)

How was your Fourth of July holiday?

Don't Say that Word!

IN THE NEWS: According to Fox News.com, "Taylor Hicks might have won "American Idol," but he doesn't have his record deal anymore.
The soul singer, who won the televised singing competition in 2006, has apparently been dropped by J Records, a label within Sony-BMG, which signs the show's singers.
'Taylor is going to record on his own for the next album,' said J Records publicist Liz Morentin, who did not give further details regarding Hicks."

Well, Lake Superior State University has done it again and has come up with the List of Banished Words for 2008.

Here's a few:

WEBINAR – A seminar on the web about any number of topics."Ouch! It hurts my brain. It should be crushed immediately before it spreads." – Carol, Lams, Michigan.


ORGANIC – Overused and misused to describe not only food, but computer products or human behavior, and often used when describing something as "natural," says Crystal Giordano of Brooklyn, New York. Another advertising gimmick to make things sound better than they really are, according to Rick DeVan of Willoughby, Ohio, who said he has heard claims such as "My business is organic," and computers having "organic software."


AUTHOR/AUTHORED – "In one of former TV commentator Edwin Newman's books, he wonders if it would be correct to say that someone 'paintered' a picture?" – Dorothy Betzweiser, Cincinnati, Ohio.



POST 9/11 – "'Our post-9/11 world,' is used now, and probably used more, than AD, BC, or Y2K, time references. You'd think the United States didn't have jet fighters, nuclear bombs, and secret agents, let alone electricity, 'pre-9/11.'" – Chazz Miner, Midland, Michigan.



UNDER THE BUS – "For overuse. I frequently hear this in the cliché-filled sports world, where it's used to describe misplaced blame – i.e. 'After Sunday's loss, the fans threw T.O. under the bus." – Mark R. Hinkston, Racine, Wisconsin. (I use this one ALL THE TIME)

I think I would have put Gi-Normous on that list as well, but, hey, that's me.

Happy writing.

Happy Woman's Rule!

MENTAL STATUS: "Happy". Been applying my new goals for the year--and that's including going to the gym more. I feel really good, too.

Did you know that in Greece, January 8 is Midwife's Day or Woman's Day, also sometimes called Woman's Rule?

On this day, men do all the housework and take care of the children, while women go out for the day, relaxing in cafes and coffee shops and playing card games. Events during the day focus on midwives, who parade through the streets on carts. In some villages, men who are caught outside, and not at home doing chores, are chased by women and drenched with a bucket of cold water.
(I'm sorry. I can barely write this, because I'm lauging so hard, thinking about my hubby's reaction if he saw this.)

But I'll tell you one thing, those Greek men know how to take care of their women!!
So I think I'll "celebrate" here in America and get a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee (not exactly hanging out in a cafe, but, whatever), forget about all the Christmas decorations that still have to be put away, and just go write.

Vive la Women! (Or whatever they say in Greek, too)

Christmas Meme #1

MENTAL STATUS: "Happy". My skinny jeans don't feel as tight, I get to do a little Christmas shopping this morning, and I get to sneak in a little time for some writing. Not a bad day ahead of me.

Well, I call this Christmas meme #1 because I'm sure it's just the beginning of the memes that will be tossed at me from now until December 25. (I didn't say not to toss them to me, though!) I do find some mild amusement from them.

This one is from Kristen Painter. So blame her. And away we go:

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate Eggnog. And don't skimp on the rum.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? What? I'd clunk him on the head if he didn't wrap them.

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? This is a sore subject in my house. I like white lights. My hubby and daughter like colored. As a result, we have white lights outside and colored lights on the tree. But I still want white lights on the tree. My hubby said when he's dead and buried, I'll can enjoy my white-lighted Christmas tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? NO. Too awkward. Plus, people you don't want kissing you kiss you without it anyway.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I begin somewhere between Thanksgiving Day weekend and the first weekend in December.

6. What is your holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Potato pancakes (if I'm doing Christmas Eve)

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child. Baking Christmas cookies with my mom.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Never believed. In my house Santa was the big fat guy who took the true meaning of Christmas away.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? YES!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Colored lights; gold and red bows; gold, silver and red balls; and lots of ornaments. We try to pick up an ornament from every place we've ever traveled.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Bring it on! (If i have no place to go, that is)

12. Can you ice skate? Maybe. It's been like 20 years. It's got to be like riding a bike, right?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Hubby surprised me with Andrea Bocelli tickets one year. I didn't even know Andrea would be touring at the time.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Celebrating the birth of Jesus--and spending some quality time with the family.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Christmas cookies!!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Hot Cocoa and popcorn while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.

17. What tops your tree? A gold star.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving. I put A LOT of thought into my gifts. :)

19. What is your favourite Christmas song? "O, Holy Night".

20. Candy canes. Symbolic and decorative. Plus, the little girlie LOVES them.

21. Favourite Christmas movie? It's a Wonderful Life. Come on, people! Give me a break! I'm not made of stone!

22. What do you leave for Santa? Coal. (What I'm sure he'd leave for me)



Ok. Time to pass the torch. I tag... Chelle Sandell, Debora Dennis and Lesley Speller.

Have a great weekend!

A New Toliet Frontier?

MENTAL STATUS: "Thrilled." Plugging away at my word count goal--slowly but surely.

I came across this news article yesterday at FOXNews.com that just so happened to strike my funny bone. Pardon me, if you've already seen it.

Apparently, in Chongqing China, they now have a porcelain palace featuring an Egyptian facade, soothing music and more than 1,000 toilets spread out over 32,290 square feet. Chongqing government officials are even hoping this four-story public bathroom will become a new tourist destination and set a new world record for size.

"We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV," said Lu Xiaoqing, an official with the Yangrenjie, or "Foreigners Street," tourist area where the bathroom is located. "After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy."

Really?

Oh, well, assuming I'd be in China for pleasure, you could sign me right up for that newfangled TV watching on the john. Forget Prozac and all those other anitdepressants out there on the market. We'd all be a lot happier if we could just listen to music and watch TV in the bathroom.

Here's some pictures of it. (If you haven't stopped reading by now)





And other countries think we've got issues.
(But maybe they're really hoping for a Seventh Wonder of the World nomination.)

Do you think we should put TVs in our bathrooms?

Who said History was Boring?

IN THE NEWS: According to World Magazine, teenagers' choice for breaking up isn't a phone call or an in-person conversation. It's MySpace.

I love learning little trivia and such, so when my hubby pointed out this article in our local paper to me, I jumped at the chance to blog about it. The author, Joe Gilbert, always posts interesting facts every week or so, and this article is no different.

Here are a few of the facts about sayings derived from life in the 1500's he wrote about:

Over 500 years ago, most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide body odor. Hence, the custom of carrying a bridal bouquet.

When people obtained pork, it was quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon". They would cut off a little to share with guests and they would all sit around and "chew the fat".

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat/drink and wait to see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

In England, the local folks started running out of places to bury people. They would dig up old coffins and take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When opening those coffins, one of out 25 coffins was found to have scratch marks on the inside. They realized they were burying people alive. So, they would tie string to the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would sit out in the graveyard all night--"the graveyard shift"--to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer".

Cool, huh? And now you learned something.

Have a great weekend!