tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-244032072024-03-18T22:26:47.694-06:00Writer's PathThe ins and outs of writing life. Please visit my website at www.deeburks.com or our company website at www.tagpublishers.com.deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-41366454560777838962011-11-07T12:48:00.000-07:002011-11-07T12:48:03.913-07:00foodie adventures in our backyardIn case you haven't heard, and since most of the people who read this blog are my family and they have heard, but in case you haven't we are creating a cookbook based on family recipes. It will be updated for today's cook and filled with shortcuts, tips and cheater specials - cause there's nothing like making comfort food in 20 minutes or less! But of course to do a cookbook, you have to do lots of testing.<br />
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so this weekend we were testing our 'cowboy chili rolls' so I needed to find spring roll wrappers and I needed the special kind that are really crispy.. After a short consultation with the family spring roll experts (Jojo and Cindy) the hubby and I trekked over to an asian market waaaay on the other side of town. It's called Tri's Market and was completely awesome. A foodie's paradise...however there were a few things I still can't figure out how they might cook...<br />
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Like: fresh duck heads:<br />
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Or chicken feet:<br />
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They had an impressive fish market and good prices on various meat cuts I'm not all that familiar with....<br />
We found some wonderful Bok Choy, a whole slew of unusual mushrooms and a hot Asian chili sauce that I had in a Mongolian restaurant in a Casino once but that I hadn't been able to find anywhere. It was a fabulous outing and I'm sure I will be back frequently.<br />
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I did get my spring roll wrappers and we are finalizing the recipe for the Chili rolls - just working on the dipping sauces now. I'll keep you updated on the progress and maybe even post a recipe or two alone the way! I also hear there is an African market somewhere in town so I plan to search it out and see what interesting things it offers too. <br />
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<br />deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-91759842891524831442011-10-09T14:44:00.002-06:002011-10-09T14:44:45.760-06:00On the Way HomeOur last day at sea was pretty uneventful...I watched the Lincoln Lawyer and Rio. Hey, its what was on. I really liked the Lincoln Lawyer but then again I like most Matthew Mcconaughey movies. I have to say I like Rio, right up until the end when they just slapped a happy ending on the thing. Storytelling has really gone in the dumper is all I can say! There was a cold front that came through as we steamed up the coast of Florida and the sea was really choppy. I like that of course, but there were a lot of people who can't deal with a little extra swagger on the boat! I'm looking forward to seeing my doggy when I get home. All in all it was a great time though I may have to take a vacation from my vacation if we keep doing jungle hikes!<br />
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<br />Mom's HOME!!!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-8660535144253586472011-10-09T14:39:00.000-06:002011-10-09T14:39:22.577-06:00Eatin Turtle<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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So we’re floating toward Grand Cayman this morning and
laying in bed. I say, “you know it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we just blew
off the beach today.” He says, “You know I was hoping you would say that cause
I’ve had about enough of that tropical sun!” So we didn’t go on our excursion.
We did get off the boat and roam around town. We found a little restaurant
called ‘Paradise’ down a ways from the shopping area. It sits on the water and
allows people to snorkel right from their deck. We sat and watched people
snorkel and ate a bite of lunch. They had sea turtle on the menu among other
things. </div>
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For those of you unfamiliar with Grand Cayman, they actually
farm green sea turtles as a source of food. Literally tens of thousands of
turtles nest there so its been a source of food since people have lived on the
islands. It just seems bizarre to us because in the US if you so much as touch
a sea turtle, you will be arrested for some kind of animal welfare foul. Anyway I
wanted to try it. They had a burger and they had soup. The soup seemed more
tame so I went that direction. It was actually pretty good. Much like your
normal beef stew. The turtle meat was like a cross between beef and pork and
was a little fatty so more like pork I’d say. It definitely did not taste like
chicken!</div>
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I really just wanted to try it so I did and it was fine. We
also shared a chicken wrap which was very good – and yes it tasted like
chicken! We puttered around then got back on the boat and napped again. I was
glad we didn’t go to the beach as it was an oppressively hot day and I wouldn’t
have lasted 20 minutes!</div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-37586677009370630692011-10-09T14:34:00.002-06:002011-10-09T14:34:21.752-06:00Staying In<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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So today we stopped at Isla Rhotan, Honduras. Unless you
want to rent a car or go on an excursion, there is nothing to do here but shop -
which is my least favorite activity. So I bought a Christmas ornament and got
back on the boat – Kevin didn’t even get off. We had decided to take a day off
and rest and with everyone else off the boat we had it mostly to ourselves. We
learned a long time ago that it’s the best time to use the pools and whirlpools
as you feel like you are all by yourselves. We suited up and went to the back
pool which is the adults only pool and there were only a very few people. The
clouds covered the sun on and off and we swam in the pool, used the whirlpool
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Actually I didn’t do as good a job as I should have with the
sunscreen and did get a little more red than I would have liked. A sunburn can
make me sick really easily and tomorrow we are supposed to be on Seven Mile
beach in Grand Cayman so we’ll see.</div>
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We did go up and eat at the supper club which was nice. </div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-40736646962175612322011-10-09T14:31:00.002-06:002011-10-09T14:31:51.903-06:00Cave Tubing & Tacos<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We had to leave right at 8 am for the tour in Belize – we
are going cave tubing!! I’m a little concerned as we are both out of shape and
now definitely middle aged. I hope we can keep up as I hear it’s a little bit
physical. Belize is interesting. It used to be called British Honduras but
became its own country in the early 70s. I was surprised that there are only
312000 people in the whole country and they have the highest literacy rate in Central
American at 93 percent. </div>
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From the port, it was an hour and fifteen minute bus ride to
the site. Mostly is was this type of scenery but the last 20 minutes or so was big time jungle. Then we suited up: inner tube, check! Helmut, check! Life Vest,
check! Watershoes, check! Bug spray – ummm, well you remember the Prevacid? I
think I left the bug spray sitting beside it so we’re just going to have to run
the gauntlet of mosquitos!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNSOEcFveLDtvH1G-DmImNTGokNg1kmVo3T25MvWaLUT68RyVhOrp7hnCIPzE1hqOkk4oy1YZ1xwYCwFF3ejR9YRMSLwshfZp3eYKvALRhc2DURG96_0ifqL8FMfWOgEokvw/s1600/Hiking+through+the+jungle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNSOEcFveLDtvH1G-DmImNTGokNg1kmVo3T25MvWaLUT68RyVhOrp7hnCIPzE1hqOkk4oy1YZ1xwYCwFF3ejR9YRMSLwshfZp3eYKvALRhc2DURG96_0ifqL8FMfWOgEokvw/s320/Hiking+through+the+jungle.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hi ho, hi ho, its
hiking through the jungle we go! Actually I was expecting the jungle to be
hotter. As a veteran of jungles in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Costa Rica and
other rather steamy locations, this one was pretty pleasant. Not too hot –
until you are suited up in all that gear!! And why can’t anyone make a life
vest that circulates air?? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tWJMF9WaRw9RZqCg6EScMxDAnlJpGCJhCsy_xnL8LRQtMFCzJ99FljUv-yLRQL1OLh-G4YL7IUpDbpkpxcppKfyWB8l0js2goO_cdjUozYhlcPb5KMhsBZRY8ATxCte8VLc/s1600/Cave+entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tWJMF9WaRw9RZqCg6EScMxDAnlJpGCJhCsy_xnL8LRQtMFCzJ99FljUv-yLRQL1OLh-G4YL7IUpDbpkpxcppKfyWB8l0js2goO_cdjUozYhlcPb5KMhsBZRY8ATxCte8VLc/s320/Cave+entrance.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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We waded through the water coming out of the mouth of this
giant cave. The water was crystal clear and very cold which was something to
look forward to after our hike! There are no animals other than some very tame
fish because the big bad reptiles thankfully don’t like cold water. Anyway we
slogged across the river then up the opposite bank which entailed climbing
three flights of stairs. That was the hardest part of the hike which was very
mild. The trail was wide and easy to navigate and had very few inclines at all
so no big deal. Its just that you sweat off about ten pounds carrying the gear! </div>
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Of course once you reach the entrance to the cave and plop
on your butt in the inner tube, that cold water feels great. Its like a cool
lazy river flowing through these caves. We all had headlamps attached to our
helmets and they gave us light as we floated through the caves. Pretty awesome.
After about an hour we ended right where we started. They had cooked some great
chicken tacos all homemade and they were great. We did way better than I thought
we would for being so out of shape and had no problem at all. And we didn’t get
eaten alive by the mosquitoes, though a big swarm followed us all the way
through the jungle!</div>
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Of course when we got back to the boat we took a looooong
nap – that heat really takes it out of you!</div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-27345350416137686432011-10-09T14:25:00.001-06:002011-10-09T14:25:08.367-06:00Ahhhh, Mexico.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Don’t you just love Mexico? The people are great. They
actually want you to have a good time and they have a great attitude – much
better than some of the Caribbean islands who barely care whether you’re there
or not. We went straight from the boat over to the next pier where we boarded
the catamaran to take us to Passion Island. It was a 45 minute ride so its
quite a ways. When we got there it was gorgeous!!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzwMqTSQeeS7K9g_2onbi1JA2qq_bSjj_BWQEZdXyANAXyFqSq64vb0VTlYCnjGl8hhZUsXlybX-xQ31D3dMOLJB48tKZucSyhWNvTVCjbqqvXPWTrUwhTzUOYJAd2Xj-qlM/s1600/corona+beach+chairs+good+one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzwMqTSQeeS7K9g_2onbi1JA2qq_bSjj_BWQEZdXyANAXyFqSq64vb0VTlYCnjGl8hhZUsXlybX-xQ31D3dMOLJB48tKZucSyhWNvTVCjbqqvXPWTrUwhTzUOYJAd2Xj-qlM/s320/corona+beach+chairs+good+one.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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White sand a beach that
literally stretched for miles. There is no development around it so it was the
few little buildings, beach chairs and natural dunes. Very awesome. We came
with about 80 people and had the place to ourselves for the first hour or two –
it felt almost deserted. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTq25Bbr3Nb6GZvpsr2xAWr9fQ8KTB0mDt5hFczXQhtupVSauTsgnQDfgR10HrQaxRD7QyhOP3f0vJaEhf9q-ddPvj51pukarH1GfK0mh-AjS5zgvFmT3JLM8guooR0WaaDOU/s1600/Passion+Beach+sea+toys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTq25Bbr3Nb6GZvpsr2xAWr9fQ8KTB0mDt5hFczXQhtupVSauTsgnQDfgR10HrQaxRD7QyhOP3f0vJaEhf9q-ddPvj51pukarH1GfK0mh-AjS5zgvFmT3JLM8guooR0WaaDOU/s320/Passion+Beach+sea+toys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Except for the excellent staff who had a fruity drink
or cup of beer ready every time we turned around. The ticket was all inclusive
so it was all you could drink and all you could eat. The lunch was very good –
chicken grilled outside and homemade guacamole with chips was our favorite but
they had salad and fruit and fish and lots of other stuff. Even when the next
tender showed with more people there were still less than 150 total and lots of
beach so it was the least crowded beach I’ve ever been on – and a great value
for $70.</div>
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There was also lots of shade which I really liked so I
didn’t get too toasted. I hopped in the water several times and there was a
light breeze so it was really nice – reminded me of Hawaii with the cool water
and constant breeze. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJnPWzEB5DnMVnEceghDAS1mkNRlR7fIL_EFdVJt7ApkTk5WtzgMu3HoZIlnPsYu1DuKnD0SSSIMBEWYUYhFk_WQMBDt3ujNSGadLS88MENclgNlEd_R_fL-HsZ2Wh7KSzltM/s1600/passion+beach+hut+table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJnPWzEB5DnMVnEceghDAS1mkNRlR7fIL_EFdVJt7ApkTk5WtzgMu3HoZIlnPsYu1DuKnD0SSSIMBEWYUYhFk_WQMBDt3ujNSGadLS88MENclgNlEd_R_fL-HsZ2Wh7KSzltM/s320/passion+beach+hut+table.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Once back on the boat we took a long nap and then had dinner
with Trina and Eric again. We are looking forward to tomorrow as we have a very
active excursion planned!</div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-36427836444468550202011-10-09T14:21:00.001-06:002011-10-09T14:21:10.630-06:00Sailing on the Ocean Blue<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Today is a great day at sea! Calm water and beautiful blue –
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Today we spent exploring the boat and finding everything. I
was so proud of myself for packing my Prevacid (the new tummy wonderdrug) so I
could eat virtually anything I wanted. And I did yesterday – I mixed various
liquors, fruity drinks, wine, cokes and various other things…so this morning
imagine my disappointment to find that I had packed the EMPTY bottle of pills
instead of the new full one! Obviously my mind was already on vacation as I
packed. So I’ll have to take it easier and drink lots of milk (booooo). </div>
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I played poker today with a variety of peeps from all over
but mostly from Tampa Bay. There are a lot of older people on this cruises
versus what you get on the boats that go from the other side of Florida. I was
shocked that by midnight the casino was almost deserted and the nightclubs were
empty…which is fine by me but not what you see on the bigger boats where they
go until 3 am or so. </div>
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I know everyone is looking forward to Cozumel tomorrow as
are we. This time instead of just doing some shopping, we decided to book an all
day excursion to Passion Island – where they film the Corona commercials. I
just hope there is some shade because getting sunburned at the first stop will
mean disaster for the other since they are all back to back. We will see how it
goes.</div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-16822828711980612862011-10-09T14:19:00.000-06:002011-10-09T14:19:06.404-06:00All Aboard!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We arrived about 11 ish as we normally do at the cruise
terminal on cruise day. We had no issues and were checked in and ushered on
board within an hour. The boat is the Legend – one we haven’t been on so far.
The ship is definitely laid out differently than what we are used to because we
usually stay on deck six because the promenade is on deck five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on this boat, the promenade is on deck 2!
So a little adjustment is in order. Lunch was salad – we are trying to eat
better this cruise, and after a little exploring the cabin was ready. So great
to be back ‘home’. Duncan is our cabin steward for the week and I’m thrilled to
have a steward with a name shorter than 13 letters that I can pronounce! We
sailed away from Tampa Bay at 5ish – but the bay is pretty big so an hour later
we were just sliding under the bridge at the mouth of the bay! The water isn’t
the pretty blue yet that it is in the gulf but I’m sure it will be by the time
we get up tomorrow. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVDCjx3WHKkmVRL6jtqmEzOE4Er2V02ZrUQiJ9w9H3WliPJxtADjE8E_seBaSpKWYPhvg_7HCA-3VXfdRYgD3UfpkhPjpEpSYx42JsWQYxq-rwr8_4swUJ5z_w0IY4dxhL2w/s1600/Leaving+Tampa+Bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVDCjx3WHKkmVRL6jtqmEzOE4Er2V02ZrUQiJ9w9H3WliPJxtADjE8E_seBaSpKWYPhvg_7HCA-3VXfdRYgD3UfpkhPjpEpSYx42JsWQYxq-rwr8_4swUJ5z_w0IY4dxhL2w/s320/Leaving+Tampa+Bay.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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We have noticed that this boat is far from full. Kind of
nice actually and we’ve seen very few ankle biters – also good news and mostly
attributed to the time of year. At dinner, we met our dinner mates. Eric and
Trina, newlyweds from Tampa Bay. Eric is 32 and a minister, and Trina is 40 and
a day care director. Nice people. We puttered around the casino, I played a
little poker and then we called it a night. Tomorrow is a fun day at sea so we
can sleep in.</div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-23787201849311608352011-10-09T14:16:00.002-06:002011-10-09T14:16:57.205-06:00Off to the Birthday Cruise!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We are off cruising once again. This time we will be going
out of Tampa Bay and the ports are Cozumel, Belize, Isla Rhoatan(Honduras), and
Grand Cayman. We’ve been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman before a couple of times
but Belize and Honduras are new. Of course I failed right off the bat to follow
up on my administrative duties and check us in so we were in later group B
& group C to board our flights. Can you say middle seat?? Actually it
wasn’t that bad – it never is on the way out, it’s the way back where everyone
gets bitchy. </div>
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I’ll admit it was sad to leave Bubby, but he will have Lyssa
to play with at night and of course his day pack (Liz and Chris) will still be
there so I’m sure the little doggy will survive. I’m just ready to get some vacation
underway! </div>
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<br /></div>
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We are staying at the Riverwalk Sheraton in Tampa and its
pretty nice. There is apparently an ER nurses convention in town so we’ve seen
lots of nurses. There are also a couple of weddings going on in the hotel. One
is Greek or European of some sort (lots of cheek kissing) and the other seems
to be locals. They both seem to be pretty formal affairs. Although after seeing
some of the girls dresses (bandaids would cover more and show less) and shoes
(stilts are lower) I have to wonder – since when did formal attire include ‘Ho
wear? If you can see clear up to the va jay jay in their wedding gear what the
heck do they wear to the clubs? I hate to think. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzC1oIm09OxrYABtMdiy5uDTmAOJdhjto_KBF3dXdAy3FZnS9kT06MZ9XQ8g1fDj8rJksYZopeTuzewPbTOZXeebyGeVWxmKQSvDoTyXJB-ab762lFz0O1YxqGtIrGowGpz2Y/s1600/Tampa+Bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzC1oIm09OxrYABtMdiy5uDTmAOJdhjto_KBF3dXdAy3FZnS9kT06MZ9XQ8g1fDj8rJksYZopeTuzewPbTOZXeebyGeVWxmKQSvDoTyXJB-ab762lFz0O1YxqGtIrGowGpz2Y/s320/Tampa+Bay.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Here's a view of Tampa Bay. We ate at a place called Mangroves and it was nice. Then we
spent some time lounging in the pool under the stars… a great way to start
relaxing. Tomorrow, the boat!</div>
deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-65126661400478949392011-09-16T11:03:00.000-06:002011-09-16T11:03:23.467-06:00So Here's What Happened....<br />
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<br />
I know I have been absent from the blogosphere for quiet some time, but it usually takes just one stupid incident to bring me back. So here's what happened: I was creating a fabulous omelet the other night and I thought, "some tortillas would be great with this". Of course, I used to have a gas stove so when the tortilla monkey struck, I'd just pop one on the open flame to give it that wonderful crispy taste. But now I have a fancy schmancy black glass electric cook top. Previously I'd tried crisping one directly on the glass - it took me an hour to get the burnt tortilla off the glass so that wasn't an option. The cleaning ladies had hidden all the skillets again (save the one I was using for the omelet) so I came up with the bright idea of putting some foil over the element so the tortillas wouldn't stick. I was very proud of myself for being so smart! Well apparently aluminum foil melts at a very low temperature (I missed that day in chemistry!) and so while my tortillas were crisping, the foil melted to the cook top. Here's how it looked:<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojopnWECiP5AhqNJ5DCRpGFeJgSlWIUrktgmkeP7U6fltmlOzuzVZkPsbnl0xeWBdvpj87EFI7UQZvciYQCiBXRNuojPwZHYc8cFnR8kqDhl-McZwiOKMCu-tSeoehZfoEb8/s1600/before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojopnWECiP5AhqNJ5DCRpGFeJgSlWIUrktgmkeP7U6fltmlOzuzVZkPsbnl0xeWBdvpj87EFI7UQZvciYQCiBXRNuojPwZHYc8cFnR8kqDhl-McZwiOKMCu-tSeoehZfoEb8/s320/before.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
And this was AFTER I'd scrubbed on it for a while. Booooooo. Of course my spouse was just glad HE hadn't done it because he would have been in the dog house forever. In fact, we have a new cook top because he destroyed the last one with a huge pot of beans - but that's another story. So I was bummed. Years ago, I would have searched for a book on how to fix it but now of course there is Goggle. Google is your friend. So I searched and apparently there are a huge number of people unaware of the melting point of aluminum when in contact with a glass cook top so there were many recommendations for getting it off. I went to bed determined to try some of them out the next day.<br />
<br />
After work yesterday I arrived home arms loaded with possible options to take the metallic mess off my cook top. (We got BarBQue too because of course there could be no cooking while I was working on this project). My trusty sidekick, Obiwan Helper Dog (Rocko) stood ready to assist:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9FOrz4g4SRS_oX9Uv4-Asb17WYU0sHKVXfZIQMGpD-kehSnoG0Auv4q7EBhyspSunWHKvZ3jb7WQng48p1YBHhpejgJMjBICES8PTq0IcKrz5I_G50LBb46hlKglfMszRAQ/s1600/helper+dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9FOrz4g4SRS_oX9Uv4-Asb17WYU0sHKVXfZIQMGpD-kehSnoG0Auv4q7EBhyspSunWHKvZ3jb7WQng48p1YBHhpejgJMjBICES8PTq0IcKrz5I_G50LBb46hlKglfMszRAQ/s320/helper+dog.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Or maybe he just wanted more BarBQue I don't know.<br />
<br />
I surveyed the players which consisted of : Crisco spray oil, WD-40, Drano, Goo Gone, and Easy Off. I also had the cleaner recommended by the manufacture which I'd tried the night before. The Windex was to clean off each chemical in between tries because I didn't want to fumigate myself by mixing chemicals. I also had a razor blade as a last resort but I DID NOT want to scratch the cook top.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllW7xe_LOdnSAaNwZEqptLt9OmAvpjxfo9V13kRD4vWmhRoDoMvwQX4_mo-dRvrMTAshm3InEhvbWTwyXplbFRoNNPLU8b2rlOq8KQDV299W1I-1I_NWDpUwos6hm_OFJE6Q/s1600/the+players.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllW7xe_LOdnSAaNwZEqptLt9OmAvpjxfo9V13kRD4vWmhRoDoMvwQX4_mo-dRvrMTAshm3InEhvbWTwyXplbFRoNNPLU8b2rlOq8KQDV299W1I-1I_NWDpUwos6hm_OFJE6Q/s320/the+players.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I tried each on in turn and the drano was pretty good at getting some of the metal off but it wasn't too good to my skin (I know I could have worn gloves, but I forgot them at the store so I just went with it - it also bleaches out anything it touches so my purple shirt is a gonner). The oil actually helped flake some of the aluminum off and the WD-40 was even better. I was also surprised at how well the WD 40 conditioned the cook top. It made what scratches there were hardly noticeable. The goo gone was a joke and so was the easy off. I tried the easy off cold and hot. The cold was fine, but the hot I would not recommend as it left a shadow on the cook top. Here again gloves would have been a good idea. So here's how it looked after two rounds of everything:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqIyfCEYNQUUjOvk5dhHMx0iujovFKCz69uRiMlrg4AjOr7qe4QpfKXROuUZ9TrBp1i4eqTSKA-Lu91kzllMi7bRVZInMbNqVcT4_LAGaP70tvGL1EZQnccfaBr_yhXubWNM/s1600/part+way.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqIyfCEYNQUUjOvk5dhHMx0iujovFKCz69uRiMlrg4AjOr7qe4QpfKXROuUZ9TrBp1i4eqTSKA-Lu91kzllMi7bRVZInMbNqVcT4_LAGaP70tvGL1EZQnccfaBr_yhXubWNM/s320/part+way.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Not as bad but still not usable. Then I got the bright idea of using the WD-40 AND the razor blade...it kept the blade from scratching the surface and did a great job:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXh7VCPoxj6Fh-8hcajIkfal5BN43m9mUp1WayKgTXgi2sUFBIw9O3ku9cPFrDc4ZYz5Pp9lgIAnL-LZgG7jUyOeOzrL3pnPDOhs2NEttD-7S40qrhrsPjisLoZG6Fnxd9ZUs/s1600/IMG00094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXh7VCPoxj6Fh-8hcajIkfal5BN43m9mUp1WayKgTXgi2sUFBIw9O3ku9cPFrDc4ZYz5Pp9lgIAnL-LZgG7jUyOeOzrL3pnPDOhs2NEttD-7S40qrhrsPjisLoZG6Fnxd9ZUs/s320/IMG00094.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
There are still little shadows, but I'm hoping those will go away as we use it....all in all I was very pleased with the outcome. Of course my dad could have told me to use WD 40 from the start. In his tool box he always had Duct tape, WD 40, Baling wire and some epoxy. I now have those four items in my kitchen drawer (I have picture hanging wire instead of baling wire but its the same idea). Oddly enough there is very little that can't be fixed or temporarily helped with these things.<br />
<br />
What does this have to do with writing? Not a damn thing, but it serves as yet another illustration of how far I can go to avoid writing on my next book!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-48036129662902931492010-12-27T12:42:00.001-07:002010-12-27T12:47:54.068-07:00New Ideas, New YearSo here we sit in the offices of TAG Publishing (we being my business partner Liz and myself) pondering our strategies for the new year. Of course in order to know what you want, you have to know what you don't want and there have been many things this past year on the "never again" list. I'll spare you the details, but will share confirmation that hard lessons learned are often the most valuable education you can get. This next year however, promises to be our best yet. We've had several very positive occurrences at the end of this year not the least of which has been a six fold expansion of our business. We will be coming into the new year with over 100 authors, a milestone for us for sure but something that we fully intend to be a stepping stone to our next goal of 1000 authors!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLknPOB5gR4LRBlFncak1MKMfCbSsO-dYeHEiOZjYkyy8u6-FIYIOOse5AlQCc8cCarztTGgTGKzRecdgdXd_dq1CUKFcPeGIbxjPY0WM5sRa7ahdjZFsJDwg06SFqq3aLEVA/s1600/Party+dog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLknPOB5gR4LRBlFncak1MKMfCbSsO-dYeHEiOZjYkyy8u6-FIYIOOse5AlQCc8cCarztTGgTGKzRecdgdXd_dq1CUKFcPeGIbxjPY0WM5sRa7ahdjZFsJDwg06SFqq3aLEVA/s320/Party+dog.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>I'm sure everyone ponders their life's progress at this time of year - its hard not to, but do you think "Another one down" (and breathe a sigh of relief) or do you anxiously look forward to the fabulous things this next year will bring? Honestly this year for me its both. There were some struggles, and loss of loved ones which makes me want to leave the year 2010 far behind. But I also know that many of the issues and people we encountered through the year are leading us to a very bright future and that excites me. <br />
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When I was younger I can remember taking a moment each December 31 and thinking back to where I was the year before. I would ponder the events of the past 12 months and measure my growth both financially and personally. Then I'd solemnly resolve to set loftier goals and push myself harder. But I'm not doing that this year - not because it is not a good practice (it always has been) but more because now I realize the importance of not taking myself so seriously! I'm thrilled to have weathered the various storms this year with my humor intact. I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing and so excited I get to keep right on doing it. I have a husband that puts up with me, kids that are self-sufficient and a dog that loves me. It really is a wonderful life and I don't need anyone else to validate that. I know I will have an excellent 2011 simply because I decided to make it so and I hope all of you do as well.deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-43383800329555576412010-12-11T09:32:00.001-07:002010-12-11T09:35:40.114-07:00Christmas light Extravaganza!!!For the first time in a long time, the spouse and I decided to go out and look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Most of the people in our part of town do it up big time so there is usually quite a bit of traffic which is why we don't usually join in, but this time - what the heck....so off we went. And you know there were several interesting sights:<br />
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Of course the fact that they give holiday hayrides through our streets is always kinda neat...until you get behind the wagon hauling people slower than my bulldog walks. It is a pretty red wagon that hauls probably 25 people and is drawn by mules - who couldn't seem less thrilled. As we rolled along at the speed of smell, I couldn't help but notice how unusual the lights were from years past. Only a few years ago, you'd drive down these streets and see perfect displays with matching lights and colors. Now it seems people are more into the real spirit which is : do what makes you happy. Every house seemed to have a mish mash of colors, flashing lights and Christmas figures. Its kind of like when you let your three year old dress herself - quirky, cute, but wouldn't win any contests. I liked it - perfection is so overrated anyway.<br />
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One of the yards was decked out completely in purple which was very unusual but there was something about the lights that made your vision blur - almost like an epileptic seizure coming on. Kind of a "Gee that's pretty, too bad you can't look at it". Down the street from there was a house with some sort of scene on the roof. At first I thought it was just mounds of snow, but it turned out it was supposed to be snowmen...the spouse thought they looked like Ninja turtle snowmen. There was a house up the street from ours that had four huge wreaths hanging in a line at the street - very cool looking.<br />
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Of course we also had to swing by Steve's house. He is one of those guys who has the full on, 100,000 light display set to his own radio station so you can watch the lights perfectly timed to the Christmas tunes. When we got close to his house, of course it was like grid lock....spouse used a term with the word 'cluster' in it. I thought it was interesting how most of the houses around him didn't even do lights and I guess I can see why....I'd just enjoy his too!<br />
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All in all, I think its proof that people don't really take appearances all that seriously anymore and that, in my mind, is a very very good thing....Merry Christmas!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-57724244760920119352010-12-10T12:56:00.001-07:002010-12-10T12:59:58.962-07:00Is the Christmas movie dead?I saw a report come across the news that said studios were just not making Christmas movies anymore. It stated the reasons to include the fact that there is so much competition from non-seasonal pictures that it doesn't make sense. It also stated that there just weren't any 'new' or different stories out there. This caught my attention for a several reasons.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkcoNGSd1BtUB4Nb3CPDwaVKZ1E98mxOGjzka6I4TpQAfXrS4bt7Bq-dsRtcuf_pOhgiDtbwkM8YjVH5s8YbLLO3xkl-6VNQzuarAsKms7hf5_BOwQRjebgqfUN7EA3ILuI8/s1600/Baby+Santa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkcoNGSd1BtUB4Nb3CPDwaVKZ1E98mxOGjzka6I4TpQAfXrS4bt7Bq-dsRtcuf_pOhgiDtbwkM8YjVH5s8YbLLO3xkl-6VNQzuarAsKms7hf5_BOwQRjebgqfUN7EA3ILuI8/s200/Baby+Santa.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>Of course as a connoisseur of many a Christmas film, I would agree there are lots of crappy ones out there. Invariably, when a great Christmas tale is done for film, aka A Christmas Carol, Its a Wonderful Life, or The Christmas Story, it seems that all Hollywood can do at that point is some knockoff. Of course they want a sure winner so its easy to think that doing a knockoff is safe. But then to complain that there just aren't any good stories out there is pretty much crap and we as writers know it. <br />
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Its very similar to the publishing industry professional who tells a group of writers that "humor just doesn't sell" or "no one wants to read memoirs". Yet the success of a book like Sh*t My Dad Says - now a TV series - flys in the face of those statements. It also shows writers that there is more than one way to skin a cat. The guy that wrote that book started it as twitter posts and gathered hundreds of thousands of followers. It was proof people loved it and he thus got a publishing contract.<br />
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These days writers have tremendous ways to build their audience and market for any book or style they choose to write in and the public decides what is or is not good and this allows a writer to follow their gut instead of trying to conform to what someone else tells them the 'market' likes. Of course, if you're wrong you know it immediately and that's a good thing too because a publisher can say you're crazy but there's nothing like instant public feedback to confirm it.<br />
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I think that the new digital age will user in a whole plethora of genres and books that can't even be imagined now and that includes the types of stories available as Christmas tales. Our job as writers is to stop playing it safe and push the envelope on what we dare.<br />
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One other ridiculous aspect of Hollywood and the publishing industry is that they have a memory of about four weeks. So whatever they aren't buying this month, they will start buying next month. The trick is to stop caring what they think and just start writing.deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-41422376208812774392010-12-03T16:00:00.002-07:002010-12-03T16:02:35.074-07:00The New Look and New Book!Well, I finally decided the personal website(www.deeburks.com) was in need of an overhaul so I worked on that this afternoon and it went really smoothly. The biggest reason being that I have a new book out! Liar's Fire has been many years in the making and I'm excited to see the feedback. I'm also organizing a blog tour so hopefully you will be seeing the book in many new places shortly. I have to say I love the cover and the feedback has been that its pretty HOT...which is in line with the content of the book.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9-qbRP1aXXJs-9dn_9tPcLVItmJN-YFUg6xrtnLTjKaqdm17OphhncZ0JXJR6kG36467SFVyEJ9L7sgAwAgqRrTU_i9oC5_JNaCV2v8uAKuV1-UGrLQnscSpH0YTgGXKGyE/s1600/front+cover+for+website.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9-qbRP1aXXJs-9dn_9tPcLVItmJN-YFUg6xrtnLTjKaqdm17OphhncZ0JXJR6kG36467SFVyEJ9L7sgAwAgqRrTU_i9oC5_JNaCV2v8uAKuV1-UGrLQnscSpH0YTgGXKGyE/s320/front+cover+for+website.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />
In other news, business has been very busy. Our little company has grown tremendously in the past few months as we are absorbing a number of authors from another company in to ours. They all seem to be pretty excited and that bodes well for their books. We are also converting all their books to Kindle so that will be an additional avenue for them to reach new readers.<br />
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This month, our advertising starts for our new contest, Eternally Yours. If you haven't already guessed, this is a romance novel contest so any of you who have a romance manuscript you'd like to enter, the online enrty form will be available late next week on our company website, www.tagpublishers.com. Our other contest, The Great American Novel, closed Oct 31 and we'll be announcing the winners Dec 20th.<br />
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On the home front, the tree is up and the bulldog is eyeballing it, but so far no disasters. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.....deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-17362781618271863372010-05-22T14:37:00.004-06:002010-05-22T15:40:16.368-06:00Bulldogs and Baby Birds<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8ek_-igC44Gv0V-b8vU6KuPxR7lCXXSKc0RWoRntyTNPFxJS_4JwSY9u3iGXudVPRspGkK3KTfxrAWmWL-XHvioQ5kOwATQYA5JdppQzRDg-9VdyZp152QAdH155DVs1yBA/s1600/Rocko+with+flamingo.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8ek_-igC44Gv0V-b8vU6KuPxR7lCXXSKc0RWoRntyTNPFxJS_4JwSY9u3iGXudVPRspGkK3KTfxrAWmWL-XHvioQ5kOwATQYA5JdppQzRDg-9VdyZp152QAdH155DVs1yBA/s320/Rocko+with+flamingo.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474205640633494850" border="0" /></a><br />So why is that dogs seem to think that dead things make the perfect gift? One evening a few weeks ago he was out in the back patio and suddenly appears with what looks to be some sort of large dried egg shaped brown thing....until I looked closer and saw it had WHISKERS!! It was a dried up cat's head...yet Rocko was so proud of it. It was as if he'd found a gold nugget! When I tossed it over the fence he was devastated and almost didn't get over it...<br /><br />Then, the other day he is again on the back patio holding something that looked kind of white and fluffy in his mouth. When I finally got him to let it go it was a fat little baby bird. Apparently it had fallen out of the big tree in our backyard and again Rocko seemed to think it was the find of the century....of course Kevin immediately pointed out that the dead bird wasn't his fault as it brought back a reminder of the now infamous 'baby bird incident' a few years ago. For those of you who are unfamiliar, I'll share it here:<br /><br />It was a fine spring day and we were out on the deck enjoying our little patch of heaven and the new garden. But there was a little bird nest tucked into the corner up under the roof line....Kevin decided to get the garden hose and get rid of the nest before the birds laid their eggs...unfortunately he didn't check the nest first. So he starts his water blasting and before we know it we see a tiny little bird *splat* on the deck.....so sad!! But there was still another baby bird chirping away in the nest! There was no way the mother was coming back to the wet, destroyed nest and its hard to know what the humane thing is to do. Since they weren't going to survived without the mother, he squirted the rest of the nest out of the overhang and the second bird splatted too...but was still kickin...so he picked the little fledgling up with a dustpan and took them both out to the dumpster.<br /><br />this is where it gets ridiculous....have you ever had one of those conversations with your spouse that makes you think you are both crazy? Me too. And this conversation centered around if it was more humane to put them in the dumpster and let them die eventually, or just give them to the neighborhood cat and have it over quickly. He voted dumpster, I voted cat. At the time, I was working at CoreData and so I of course shared the incident with my coworkers, one of who had been faced with the same dilemma .... a baby bird fell out of a tree in her backyard and she rescued it before her cat could pounce. But she was convinced the baby bird could be saved. In a effort to keep the bird alive, she wrapped it in a little cloth and put it in the middle of her stove which was warm (she had a gas stove). A short time later when she checked on it, the bird was dead!! She'd cooked it!<br /><br />After that story I didn't feel nearly as bad about the baby birds because I think being allowed to die in a dumpster or by cat are both more humane that being roasted by a do- gooder!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-40708373638979514672010-02-15T19:29:00.002-07:002010-02-15T19:49:49.171-07:00The Value of SleepSo at 4 am this morning, as I whacked my snoring husband for the thousandth time, I had to wonder, "Why is it that when I want to sleep all things seem to conspire against me?" Not that this was the only thing on my mind. I also contemplated how it could be that earplugs which see so well suited to block out high level industrial noise or even the drone of aircraft, could not seem to block the noise eminating from this man's mouth. Or how it could be possible that snoring could vibrate our whole king size bed. Its only recently that I've really understood the value of a good sleep. I've become a bit of a night owl over the last year as our call volume has picked up so substantially during the day that I work much later into the evening. Only lately I've realized that rather than helping me catch up on my work this is really hindering me.<br /><br />I know, it sounds a little counterintutive (that's intellectual talk for batty) but just follow along. First of all, at night it seems to take me three times as long to do the same amount of work as it does during the morning. Then of course there's the effect on my relationships. I'm bitchy...okay, bitchier. I snipe, gripe and order people around - yes, more so than usual! Then there's the laying in bed wondering if its worth the effort to go downstairs and dig out an icepick when I could just shove a pillow down his throat.<br /><br />The only cure that I can see is to bring back the afternoon nap! you know when you curl up with a pillow in a very quiet, warm place...with a margarita....oh wait!! that's a siesta....you know Mexico is such a good idea this time of year. Go nap!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-28432204224241858732009-12-13T11:29:00.006-07:002009-12-13T12:24:20.604-07:0011 year old Used Car Saleman<div>So me & Liz went over to the Troop 80 Xmas tree lot to get a beautiful fragrant tree for the castle. As we strolled trough the rows of smaller trees, we were met by Zach, our personal boy scout salesman. He showed complete confidence as he extolled the beauty and quality of the scout trees, taking the time to spit to the side like any good 'ol boy, and pressing home how we'd be helping our local boy scouts. When we told him we were looking for a 'big' tree his eyes lit up and he led us to the barn that housed them. AS we followed along behind him, we both thought he had a very promising future in used car sales - or mabe amway. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We quickly found, with Zach's help of course, a beautiful nine foot noble fir. Zack also direct us around the corner to select a tree stand and get the tree netted all the while he chatted, spit, chatted, spit. He stuck with us all the way through the check out line, offering hot chocolote, pictures with our troop salesman, and every possible upgrade he had in his arsenal. Turns out he is completing with the other scouts to win an all expense paid trip to Wilderness camp which sounds like a huge big deal to him. I have no doubt he will emerge at the top of the list this year with his fabulous sales skills. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We're really looking forward to the party on thursday which has also turned into a booksigning for Warren Mcclenegan and his new humor book, Reel Livin'. Here's the cover:</div><div> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414800743976403330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 177px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 246px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvc9Jrp1QuF91xKGkK0rtrkdKZXREXP-HS4niKZZ2pUVhkyvHI46aOghPuQ0tI42CnWm0ax2Fm1qcnXdlPFa8DMka9HZQy_DixFp6BDo7uPKdrNpuuOLQS_ztqQDnvwg_gD4/s320/front+cover+final+2-16-09+RGB.jpg" border="0" />We're hoping for a good turn out to congratulate him on a great accomplishment. We will also be displaying the covers of the many of the books we have coming out over the next few months so it should be an exciting time.<br /><div></div>deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-76991935199681427412009-11-10T13:32:00.006-07:002009-11-10T14:13:49.055-07:00Greeting Card RulesSo I was just wondering how long you keep a greeting card. I cleaned my office and unpacked the rest of the boxes from the move (a year ago!) and ran across several old cards people had sent. I was just wondering if there were any rules on when to throw out greeting cards. When you think about it, once you've read the sentiment you have no more use for the card, but I've always felt it rude to immediately toss it. My hubby, on the other hand, will usually read the card, smile or nod and immediately toss it. This has always bothered me. I somehow feel obligated to retain the card at least until the occasion has long passed before getting rid of it as if somehow tossing it six months later will be less offensive to the sender - who has no idea what I do with the card and probably doesn't care if or when it gets tossed!<br /><br />This brings up a real problem for me with the whole idea of greeting cards - and not just because I regularly miss the occasions that they are for. The only reason I buy the darn things is out of obligation to the one getting to the card so they won't feel 'forgotten' - or as a convenient place to put money for their gift. But since the only people I buy cards for know how I feel ( and would just as gladly take any cash handed directly to them), why would they feel forgotten if Hallmark doesn't give them a sappy sentiment? Since when did paper scribbles (which I could write much better BTW) come to symbolize relationships? People feel obligated to buy them, then people feel obligated to keep them and then they end up in a landfill....wtf?<br /><br />No I'm not just ranting today, but its getting to the time of year to look at buying Xmas cards. I don't do personal Xmas cards. I tried it a time or two years ago but decided it was a ridiculous waste of time and energy and I really kind of suck at that sentimental thing.<br /><br />But I remember years ago when I was in Jr High, helping my mom do Christmas cards and found that I knew almost no one on their list. How can you grow up with two people and know hardly anyone they know? Don't you wonder sometimes how people got on the list in the first place? Of course I quickly learned not to ask as I would get some thing like "Oh you remember! When you were three they lived next door to us in Plainview and had those two cute little girls you and Cindy played with until that incident at the birthday party. But her hair grew back. And then there was that day your grandpa showed up drunk and passed out on the lawn and their brother helped drag him home and clean up the puke...." ..........ho ho ho .......deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-44929112683227443022009-10-28T15:50:00.004-06:002009-10-28T16:08:13.268-06:00Throwing in the towel...No I'm not throwing in the towel, I'm just dumbfounded at how many other people do so at the drop of a hat. I'm working on numerous books for clients that are focused toward small businesses so the subject of running a small business has been uppermost in my mind. Not that I'm ever far from the subject because, hey, I run a small business. But every once in a while I see something that stops me dead in my tracks and makes me wonder, "What were they thinking???" Happened to me today in fact. I was taking a break from writing this afternoon and going through the mail. Included was the monthly issue of Shopper's Window which is a local pulp showcasing ads from local businesses. So I'm flipping through this little publication, making fun of Liz cause she was on a call and actually working when this ad catches my eye:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397774033126465826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yYkTtlkXn-IIy-B8nJbx47NfgOyiznj42vzznxNXqfxX0-QGR97AKiSznOBSiB7BqtMPZTIvvTPcHBYCYvxlDmRXU2nuNHleATrMGVIsOqRDJFOrOXCLge9e9aHxiokjoAQ/s320/worst+ad+jpeg+ps.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br />Now I ask you, What were they thinking? Why would I even want to go to a place that was obviously just about to give up and call it quits? And they paid for this ad! I can think of a dozen ways to market yourself and NONE of them involving begging people to show up at your door because you are this desperate. Case in point is we have been doing some marketing for an author client of ours for a couple weeks and today it started to pay off as we booked a speaking engagement and radio interview. There are so many ways to get yourself out there as an author or small business person that will help and improve your exposure and cash flow - but unlike this business, you can never ever let em see you sweat!!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-23189318493096359802009-10-22T15:33:00.002-06:002009-10-22T15:58:30.407-06:00Christmas lights and 2010...So today I'm gathering up interviews for an article for a feature article for the December issue of Credit Union business magazine. Its on trends and business forcasts for the industry for 2010. Its interesting because I have to interview very large organizations as well as very small ones. The difference in the two is staggering. Of course the behemouths have multiple layers of "press 1 if you know the person's extension, press two for loans" ad nauseum then you finally get someone who transefers you to someone who calls someone that's not there only to send an email for them to return your call. So I went the other direction and called the little guys. I got a person (like live and breathing and everything!) who didn't know the answer to my question but immediately transfered me to a guy who said, this is Keith the CEO can I help you? Now I ask you, when's the last time that happened? I've always been a huge believer that if someone calls our business, someONE should answer the phone! Not a machine or endless voice option loop.<br /><br />Its one thing I always tell our writers and clients - if you call, we will answer. How hard is that? maybe its the society we live in that seems so impersonal, or the fact that I'm just getting older but I would take a real human who can't answer my question over a impersonal machine anyday. Its like Meg Ryan says in You've Got Mail, "Whatever business is, it should personal." So that's my rant for the day.<br /><br />In other news, Christmas is coming!!! Oh yipppee! My favorite season. A week ago they had christmas toys at the Petco, so Barky got a candy cane striped squeaky bone. He also got a Rope Dog which he proceeded to disembowl and scatter about the house. Today I had some christmas light pros come by and do an estimate for lights for the castle...they should be up before thanksgiving. I always love the holiday season - mostly for the great movies. They had the remake of miracle on 34th street on HBO last weekend which was a great start to the season!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-86968755519614611292009-10-05T13:38:00.004-06:002009-10-05T13:47:01.243-06:00Fabulous Fruity Drink Recipe - The Tidal WaveI had a great new fruity drink on the boat. What they've been doing on all the carnival cruises this year, is that early in the week they have a 'Mixologist' competition and passangers compete to create the best fruity drink which is then available at a special price the rest of the week. The winner on our boat was called the Tidal Wave - and its blue. Now I know what you're thinking, because I thought it too: If it's blue its gonna suck. This is because its the rule of fruity drinks that if its red or orange, then its probably pretty good - but if its blue or green then it sucks. Its like suckers, the blue and green ones are always the last ones picked. But of course I had to try it and ordered one anyway knowing it would probably suck. Well surprise, surprise it was one of the best fruity drinks I've ever had so I asked the bartender for the recipe:<br /><br />The Tidal Wave<br /><br />(equal parts)<br />Vodka<br />Peach Schnapps<br />Blue Curaqao<br />Pinapple juice<br />Sweet & Sour Mix<br />Garnish with orange slice and cherry - and of course a little unbrella)deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-25613537148844225692009-10-05T12:31:00.002-06:002009-10-05T12:50:08.019-06:00last day....The last day on board is always depressing. Mostly because you have to pack and contemplate going home. All in all this was one of the better cruises we've taken probably because I REALLY needed a vacation and also because we went to some locations that were totally different than the Mexican and Caribbean locations we've been to before. I even watched some movies while on board - I can't remember the last time I saw a current movie! This trip I saw Marley & Me which was very touching and then I also saw The Proposal which I also liked. I wasn't sure I'd like Sandra Bullock as the evil 'devil wears Prada' type, but it turned out to be really great. I also saw Benjamin Button, and although I like the uniqueness of the premise, I didn't think it was very well executed. Some parts were downright boring, but I'm sure I'm in the minority there as many people I know loved it.<br /><br />I also read two books on the plane - the first was on the way out and is called 'The Children's Blizzard'. It is a creative account of the 1888 blizzard that swooped down over the Midwest suddenly in one afternoon killing hundreds of school children on their way home which is why its known as the Children's Blizzard. The subject matter is very intriguing and interesting but I have to say the writing was a bit lackluster. It is also noticeably uneven meaning that there are passages of scientific information written so differently in tone and feel from the rest of the text that it seems 'stuck in' by someone else. Its a little bizarre, but then I tend to read things like an editor rather than an actual reader.<br /><br />The other book I read was Dave Sadaris' book, When You are Engulfed in Flames. Of course Dave is a humorist and I've read his essays before. This one was touted to be about death and dying but I'd say less than 50% of the book was about that. Quite a bit was about his being gay and in a gay relationship -which was totally funny and realistic and makes you think about the stupid things you say to, wonder about, or ask, gay people. I laughed out loud in several places which is certainly the mark of an excellent humorist as I'm not an easy laugh most of the time. So if I find it funny, then its usually REALLY funny. I also thought that a couple of the essays could have been cut out or shortened, but over all a good read - just maybe not a read for everyone.<br /><br />Tomorrow we disembark in Ft Lauderdale -BOOOOOOO!!!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-28122556315613198102009-10-05T12:23:00.002-06:002009-10-05T12:30:36.808-06:00Pukin on the Boat!Not me, but all those pansies with motion sickness. If you've looked at a map, then you can see that Panama is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">loooooong</span> way from Ft L<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">auderdale</span>. This means the captain has to gun it back toward <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cuba</span> to make it on time. This wouldn't be a big deal in the gulf where the sea is totally flat, but in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Caribbean</span> its a little choppier and any additional speed gives the boat a little sway and shimmy which you can really notice at the back of the boat. Of course neither one of us gets sea sick so we had a fun day at sea but the decks were <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">noticeably</span> deserted. Another fun activity today was going out on the deck facing the waves which were spraying water over deck three(that's about thirty feet or so above the water level) and leaving a layer of salt on everything. You don't often get sea spray in your face on a cruise but we did this trip!<br /><br />Most of the day was spent relaxing and playing in the casino, along with a little shipboard shopping. In the afternoon we could see the mountains of Cuba and the ship came very (very) close to shore. Got some great pics of that along with another beautiful sunset and a full moon. A dreamy evening on deck for sure.deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-27085367170886266052009-10-05T11:50:00.004-06:002009-10-05T16:25:45.172-06:00Panama!This morning we got up at 5 am....yes that's 5 am, something I swore I'd never do on vacation, but our day long excursion to the Panama Canal starts at 6:45 and I really wanted to see it. The first leg of the journey takes us by bus (nice buses again!) across the country to Panama City and the Pacific side of the canal. Panama City is pretty awesome with many very tall skyscrapers. On the way over we had yet another tour guide who was interesting. Although we traveled on a wonderful highway, he proceeded to tell us how marginal, average or bad things were. Now really, if you are in a location and don't like it that's fine, but if you're a tour guide do you really want to share that? I have a client in Panama and know that much of what the guide was saying was his own opinion rather than reality. His English was also marginal.<br /><br />There were a total of 450 people on the tour from our ship, 11 buses worth. We boarded two large ferries for the trip half way down the canal and once on board, the difference between the tour guides was night and day. The one on the boat was very educational about the canal and all the great things that Panama was doing to expand the canal and enhance it. They are currently widening the canal from 125 feet to 700 feet to both accommodate bigger ships and facilitate two way traffic as right now one section of the canal is only one way which means it takes a ship 8-10 hours to navigate the canal depending on the traffic volume. They are also adding a another set of locks - a 10 billion dollar project. The weather was great for this type of trip as it was overcast and misty so it was very cool and comfortable for the tropics.<br /><br />As we approached the first set of locks it was really astounding to see them work and know that they are 100 years old. They raised our ferries in 8-10 minutes through each of the 3 locks which is amazing to see and experience. There was a tour we could have taken that just went to the visitor center and watched the ships go through the lock but that would have been such a rip off there is nothing like experiencing it yourself and I would definitely recommend putting on your "things to see before I die" list. Of course during our last dinner in the dining room before we bailed for the supper club, the subject of the panama canal excursions came up and the consensus was that they were just going to have a peek but didn't see the value in actually going down the locks as it was another $79. Seriously??? Of course these are the same people who don't want a cabin with a balcony or window because there's nothing to see but water........deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24403207.post-17578819521443028632009-10-05T11:36:00.004-06:002009-10-05T16:26:39.316-06:00Bats, Monkeys and sloths! OH MY!We have docked in Costa Rica and are off on our excursion. The first part is by bus through Limon, where our tour guide starts educating us on Costa Rica. His name was Eric and he was very educational. The buses were also large and comfortable with great air conditioning! Eric told us that Costa Rica is only about the size of west virgina and has about 4.5 million people. The took the money they would have spent on the army and put it into education and are now also using it to build up their reputation as a great ecotourism destination. He said that they now teach ecotourism as a subject starting in grade school all the way through high school as their #1 industry is now tourism.<br /><br />The bus ride took us to a banana plantation which was also very educational. It was the Del Monte Filadelfia plantation and I had no idea that bananas weren't native to central America because they are everywhere and grow like weeds. But they were brought there in the 1890s from asia. We watched as they processed the bunches of bananas and both me and Kevin thought it would be really weird to be a worker in the plantation and every day have people come by and take pictures and video of you doing your job.<br /><br />The bus then took us to a little train that is a refurbished 1940s train they use so tourists can ride through the jungle and along the shore to take pictures of wildlife. Anytime someone spotted something, we'd stop for everyone to take pictures. Along the way there were howler monkeys, several sloths and lots of jungle which is pretty neat as long as you're in the train and not walking through it. At one point, the tracks run alongside a beautiful black sand beach that is completely deserted and undeveloped. We all got off the train and tromped around taking pictures for a while and that was pretty cool. The waves were beautiful.<br /><br />Once back on the bus, we went to the river and transferred to boats. The boats were pretty loaded and rode about six inches above the water which of course has caymans and crocodiles in it (though we didn't see any). What we did see were bats hanging upside down on a tree trunk, lots of various birds and exotic butterflies as well as numerous sloths again. Coast Rica must be sloth central and they are the perfect animal for photo ops as they move so slow. The boat ride was fun and when we got back to the dock they had a little buffet of fresh bananas, pineapples (which were also imported as a crop) and fresh coconut. If you've never had a tree ripened banana, its fabulous!!<br /><br />All in all it was a great fun day as we saw a little bit of everything that Costa Rica had to offer. I'd definitely go there again!deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06867497703560796092noreply@blogger.com0