Oh, Pinky!

Bird Flu in South Florida

Aura is from Florida, and I think more than one of her family members has lawn art. We do not know yet the extent of the tragety for the Petersons, but a memorial will be held in a few weeks when the family is all gathered.

This was just so goofy I had to share.

Book Review: Breath of Magic

Teresa Medeiros is known for her historical story lines having only recently ventured into paranormal. I’m not big on historical novels, though after reading the ‘blurb’ for several of her books on her website, there are one or two that intrigue me. Magic, time travel and betrayal are the elements for a fascination tale from the past into the present called Breath of Magic. My Roomie recommended this book to me when I said I needed something a little different than the contemporaries I’ve been reading lately.

With a bang the story takes off on a wild ride, keeping in the realm of possibility but still teasing the depth of my belief that there is magic in the world if you know where to look for it. After being catapulted from the simple Puritan life to the decadence of New York City the young Witch Wannabe discovers it might be easier to return to the past and face those who would put her on trial than to suffer the distain of the man she’s fallen head over broomstick in love with.

I enjoyed the way the characters in the present interacted as if they really had known each other since childhood, and the painful twist of mistrust that followed the lovers through their courtship and beyond was well crafted. There were times I wanted to toss the hero off the top of his mighty tower for being a jerk, and yet his tenderness and growth brought tears to my eyes in the end.

I discovered there is a follow up to this story and now I’ll be on my way back to the book store to track it down. There are also a couple other paranormal titles on Teresa’s shelf, if you like vampires. I here they’re pretty good and look forward to starting another Medeiros title soon.

Book Review: Almost Perfect

Julie Ortolon has been on my must buy list since I read Lead Me On. LMO is the middle book in the series about siblings, ghosts and treasure with a whole lot of adventure and humor. I loved it and highly recommend it. After reading that series, I bought every Ortolon book I could find and even shared them with my Mate’s mother and now she’s hooked too. I was very pleased to hear she had another series in the works, A Perfect Trilogy. Almost Perfect is the first book in this new series where three friends make a pact (you might call it a bet) to take chances and follow their dreams.

The main characters in Almost Perfect are high school sweethearts now in their late 30s, that had a lot of growing to do before they would be ready to settle down. Through the story they find out things about each other they didn’t know to ask when they were younger, yet as much as they’ve grown there was much for them to learn together.

The characters were real enough, thought it was sometimes hard for me to read through the misinterpretations without wanting to scream “say what you really think, idiot” as the characters communicated. Misunderstanding and assumptions plagued their reintroduction of the characters from the beginning, but that was their biggest hurdle to overcome. At times the story was almost like a sitcom (which I no longer watch) where you can predict what stupid thing the character is going to do next and must agonize with them then as they try to pull themselves out of the mega mess they’ve created. The thing that kept me reading was that these were very real life messes, not a “Friends” or “Cheers” storyline with intentional lying and deception.

Dreams are important, as are love and trust. These are lessons hard learned by the couple as they struggle to understand how they fit into each others lives after 20 years apart. The supporting cast of characters are vibrant and worthy of their own stories. I look forward to finding the next two books in the series to see what kind of mess the Doctor and Nanny fall into as they fulfill the requirements of the pact.

Going thru the big "D" and I don't mean Dallas!!

I spent the day at the King County Courthouse with my Daughter. She was there to observe a criminal trial, required for credit in Government class, I was there to atone for missing a status meeting with the court I didn't know I had. (Who knew there was a calendar at the back of the package they gave me on the day the paperwork was filed in August last year.- Oh, Wait! - I did, when I read it, but I forgot... oops!)

I needed to be in court at 9:30a, and not knowing where the heck I was headed, we decided to arrive early, pulling into the parking building at about 9:10a. The three story cement structure was very dark on the ground floor level, which we found very odd. There was no parking available on the street, so I drove on up to the second floor, found a spot, and spend a few minutes making sure the truck was positioned evenly between the lines.

The second floor of the garage has a sky bridge to the courthouse, and there were a large number of folks standing along the rail, smoking or talking on cellular phones. We entered the courthouse to find even more people lining the hall, sitting ~ standing ~ milling about, and still more folks filled the lobby.

Seems the power was out in the courthouse and the guards were not allowing anyone but court/state employees through the non-working metal detectors. I don't understand why... really. Pfht.

An announcement was made, and power was promised at 10:00a. We went back to the vehicle to wait out the electric in comfort, with tunes. At 9:55a we made our way back over the sky bridge to find the power had not been restored. We mingled with the masses, in the grey light of a rainy Northwest day, waiting. Then.. at 10 o'clock on the dot, the low hum of building systems powering up could be heard as lights began to flicker. The crowd cheered, and like livestock, people began to move into line to pass thru the metal detectors for their day in court.

We found what we thought was the correct room for my day in court after talking with the court clerk. As we waited outside there was a flurry of activity in the background to prepare and print calendars as the morning processes were stepped up to double time. Court clerks and advocates rush around in a flurry to post information and unlock doors.

We sat thru three different protection order hearings, and then the judge said they would recess until 1:30p. WHAT? I talked to the court clerk after the judge had returned to chambers and she told me we were in the wrong room. She told us the room she thought we should be in, so off we went to the other room. A case was being reviewed as we arrived so we slipped into the available seating until the next case was called, them I checked in with the clerk, but was again told I was in the wrong room. *sigh*

Third times the charm? Off we went, down the hall the last room on the right. I check in with the clerk, signed in, talked to the lawyer guy about what I still needed to do and what the judge wanted to know. We sat and waited while the judge handled three other cases and then I was up, last in line. *Yeah!*

I had some documents that still needed to be filed for the parenting plan, and a parenting class that the court required we take before the final decree could be filed. I'm not sure why a parenting class was required, my Daughter was 17 when the paperwork was filed last August, and would be the first one to tell them that she 'no longer needed parenting.' So I talked with the judge, set at date for the final decree after my Daughter's 18th birthday so the parenting plan and class would no longer be necessary. I filed the official paperwork to set June 12th as the day for the final decree and then it will be all over, and the new beginning can.. well, begin.

I think I'll check in with the clerks office in a couple weeks to make sure all the necessary documents are filed, so there is not more waiting.