Saturday, February 12, 2011

Saturday Snapshot - February 12 - Uh-Oh



Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ At Home with Books.



No, unfortunately the white stuff surrounding my buddy Uh-Oh is not snow.
It is toilet paper.
:(

I took this photo this past Halloween as we were trying to clean our yard after the annual wake up on Nov. 1 to find our yard rolled routine.
This year the hooligans used the cheapest, thinnest toilet paper they could find, and it took us a month to get it all picked up.
Joke's over.

Uh-Oh enjoyed the clean-up process as much as the jump around in the toilet paper as it whips in the wind from the branches scenario.
You can tell from his on alert eyes and his readied claws that he is on a mission.
:)

Next year Uh-Oh and I will be waiting on the hooligans. 
Mwah ha, ha ha ha ha ha.....

Friday, February 11, 2011

Four to Score, High Five and Hot Six - Mini Book Reviews

While I've been traveling over the last few weeks I've kinda gone off on a Stephanie Plum tangent...I'm actually all the way up to # 14 so I thought the best way to handle all these reviews was to cover the 11 books I've managed to devour so quickly in mini reviews. 


In Four to Score Stephanie's looking for Maxine Nowicki; as are most FTA's, Maxine is not too keen on being found...especially since she's involved in some secret dealings of her own designed to give her mean ex Eddie Kuntz a taste of his own medicine.  Even though Eddie's offered Stephanie 1,000K to find Maxine, Stephanie picks up pretty quickly that Eddie isn't telling her everything.  Maxine leaves Eddie coded notes, and Stephanie enlists a transvestite named Sally to help her decode the notes and follow the clues to find Maxine before Eddie does.
Chased by Sally's jealous and demented roomate, Sugar, and a mysterious counterfeiting villain who chops off fingers as his calling card, Stephanie's life is out of control.  At one point she even finds herself  homeless and moves in with Morrelli until her apartment can be repaired.

And, yes, I did just type that Stephanie briefly moves in with Morrelli.

;)

Of course Stephanie and Morelli don't go off into the sunset and live happily ever after.  There are 12 more books, remember?  Neither is ready for commitment...both like the idea of marriage at times and for various reasons, but neither seems ready to make that final leap.  Whenever one is ready to talk about forever, the other seems to say just the wrong thing to set off sparks and tempers fly. 

Sure does make things interesting though!


Uncle Fred is missing and Benito Ramirez, the scary psychopath boxer is back in High Five - to make matters worse, Uncle Fred has photographs of chopped up bodies and his wife seems happier now that Fred is gone rather than spending her time looking for him.  Stephanie's first FTA, Briggs, a small person, also ends up living in her apartment while his is repaired after Stephanie and Lula tear it up trying and finally succeeding in aprehending him.  I'm tired just typing about Stephanie Plum's multi-layered complicated life!

Stephanie's still trying to pay the rent and ends up doing extra work for Ranger...she helps him design a security system for a family home and babysits an Arab shiek's son.  Somehow she also manages to blow up and lose (actually stolen) two of Ranger's nicest company vehicles, a Porsche and a BMW. 

As Stephanie and Morelli are still trying to feel their way through the relationship, the heat between Stephanie and Ranger explodes.  Up until now, Ranger has been a trustworthy friend...even though there's never been any doubt that he's attracted to Stephanie.  In High Five Ranger seems to really turn on the sexual overtures and playful suggestions...of course confusing Stephanie even more about her relationship with Morelli. 

Once the crimes are solved and Benito Ramirez is no longer a threat ,Stephanie realizes she must choose between the two men in her life and quit wasting time.  In the last scene one of those fellas mysteriously crosses the threshold of Stephanie's apartment at her invitation.

Who will Stephanie choose?


Ranger is suspected of murder and becomes Stephanie's most challenging FTA when he doesn't show up for his court appearance.  Since Ranger is a high stakes bond with a lot of money on the line for Stephanie's cousin, bailbondsman and boss Vinnie, Stephanie is assigned to bring Ranger in.

Ranger quietly shows up in the middle of the night to give Stephanie instructions on keeping an eye on a mobster's son. Ranger has to find the real killer before the killer, the police or the other two goons tailing Stephanie find him if he wants to stay alive.

Even more complicated than Ranger showing up in her bedroom in the middle of the night is Grandma Mazur  who has had it with Stephanie's father and moves in with Stephanie until she can find a place of her own.  Morelli and Stephanie are none too happy about this arrangement since it stunts their love life which was way complicated enough already.

Even crazier still is the arrival of Bob the dog.  Bob is a Lab/Retriever mix that is not completely potty trained and eats anything and everything that's not nailed down...and maybe even some things that are nailed down.  Bob is supposed to be a temporary guest but ends up making himself at home. 

Stephanie is shot in the culminating scene of this installment, and both of her guys begin to realize just how much she means to them.  Steph even manages to get a marriage proposal out of her first on the job injury.

As usual though, nothing in Stephanie's Plum's life is ever simple.

"About that proposal, Cupcake..."

Thursday, February 10, 2011

My Girls

My firstborn signed her college soccer scholarship this morning.


While I am immensely proud, I am also an emotional wreck. 
I really have to face it now.
They really are going to pack up their stuff and leave my house.

Wait, can I please push the rewind button??

I really don't want to rewind anything...I'm proud of my girls and the young women they are becoming.  They are headed out into the world little by little...figuring things out as they go. 



and maybe even beginning to realize that they may actually like each other...

Just a little.

;)

Congratulations, Kendal!!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wordless (Almost) Wednesday - San Francisco Garden


On the last day of my recent trip to San Francisco, as I longingly looked out the window of the office building where I spent my days while I was away last week, I spotted this "community" garden.  I saw several residents of the apartment complex around the garden come out at various times to tend their little patches.  My family was freezing in Mississippi, but it was Springtime in Northern California (look at the blooms on the little tree in the right bottom corner).
Go Figure!

Monday, February 7, 2011

There's No Place Like Home :)


As a kid growing up in Mississippi I remember many times wishing for the day that I could branch out on my own and see the world.  Mississippi seemed so small and I always wanted to know what more the world had to offer. 

I know now...and while I've certainly not seen everything...
and want to continue exploring...

I think everybody has to leave home for a while to appreciate it.
I appreciate home more and more every single time I leave it.

It may be chaotic, it may be inconsistent and there's always a TON of laundry to wash...

But, it's home.
And, that's all that matters :):)

I'll get back to more of a regular blogging schedule after I get some cuddling time with my favorite people :)
(and cats)