Monday Mish Mash

Well, we put the older girl onto the bus and sent her back yesterday. Heavy sigh. It's always really hard to watch that Greyhound pulling away with her on it. It was a wonderful two weeks of having her home again. Having that third bedroom occupied, having "Leave it to Beaver" running constantly on the T.V., having her to grill talk to about her life and justing having her around to give hugs to. I really miss that kid. Well, she's 20 now, but she'll always be my kid.

While she was here we went to the big city and took in some sights and sounds. We went to our favorite restaurant where we conducted ourselves with proper restaurant etiquette:


We met new friends:

We took in the Science Centre and made sure we left some money at the big new mall.

Older girl leads a very, very busy life so at home we made sure she had lots of down time. We ate, watched a gazillion an episode or two of Leave it to Beaver, ate, read, ate, and generally hung out. Knowing she doesn't get her favorite foods until she comes home, I had asked her to make a list of dinners she wanted me to make her. So we feasted on bbq steaks, bbq chicken, whipped potatoes, creamed garlic spinach, sausages from our favorite sausage shop, yellow wax bean stew (a Hungarian dish), cream of wheat pancakes and others too numerous to mention or remember. And that was just in one day. Just kidding. I am now on a restricted diet as my hips are remembering only too well.

Yesterday we drove her to the city where she catches the bus back home. We made sure we got there with plenty of time to spare because you just never know what construction or delays you'll meet up with. And then we find out her bus is over an hour late. Ugh. So we went to the tiny little garden park across the street, thank you little city for that lovely garden park, and killed some time.To kill our boredom we thought to take some fun pictures. We took a few jump shots:

Which led to Brother's suggestion to "let me jump over top of you" shot:

I don't think Younger Girl enjoyed that one so much. Then one of the girls thought of the infamous "let's run at each other and collide in the middle shot".

Thank goodness there were no hospital visits on that one. Then someone had the brainy idea of "Let's put grass on Dad while he's snoozing and laugh at him" shot.

I am happy to report there were no injuries sustained on that shot either. Although that one could have been quite risky.

Finally her bus arrived and we bid a teary goodbye tempered only by the fact that we will go visit her on her turf before the summer is out.

Book Tour ~ Indivisible

"Indivisible" by Kristen Heitzmann

Publisher's Summary:

An inseparable bond.
An insatiable force.

Battling his own personal demons, Police Chief Jonah Westfall knows the dark side of life and has committed himself to eradicating it. When a pair of raccoons are found mutilated in Redford, Colorado, Jonah investigates the gruesome act, knowing the strange event could escalate and destroy the tranquility of his small mountain town. With a rising drug threat and never-ending conflict with Tia Manning, a formidable childhood friend with whom he has more than a passing history, Jonah fights for answers—and his fragile sobriety.

But he can’t penetrate every wound or secret—especially one fueled by a love and guilt teetering on madness.

From best-selling author Kristen Heitzmann comes a spellbinding tale of severed connections and the consequences of life lived alone.

Audio Interview with Kristen Heitzmann about the book is here.

My Thoughts:
Unfortunately, I did not receive this book until the day before the blog tour ended so I've only been able to get a few chapters in. I don't really feel at this point I have anything to say other than it does start off mysterious in every way. But if you would like you can go here to download the first chapter. The only thing I would caution is if you are very sensitive to animals getting hurt, it might be uneasy for you to read parts.

Thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing this book for review.
You can purchase "Indivisible" here.

Happy, Happy, Happy

Fickle in Pink has awarded me the Happy 101 award. Well, Fickle in Pink I'm totally tickled pink because the award came from you, who I had no idea was even visiting my lil 'ole blog. So thank you for the nice surprise.

All you have to do is:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).

3. List 10 things that make you happy.

4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know

So 10 things that make me happy:

1. A good book

2. A good cup of coffee

3. Even better when shared with a friend

4. Scoring a great deal

5. Giving the perfect gift.

6. Hoar Frost

7. Holiday meals shared with family and/or friends

8. Date nights with hubby

9. Having my family all together when oldest comes home for a visit

10. One of these, anytime of the year, thank you!


And to pass the happiness on, I pass this to:

Tina at Blessings in the South 'cause living on a pecan farm in the south is such a romantic notion

Karen at Over the Backyard Fence 'cause we seem to have so much in common and I can totally see us as neighbors chatting over the backyard fence

Jeintje at Heaven is in Belgium 'cause her blog is like photography eye candy. Breathtakingly beautiful and makes me smile. I'd love to go on a photo walk with her!

And if anyone else wants to grab the happy award and do the happy post go for it 'cause you all make me happy with your visits and great comments. Just let me know so I can come and read your post!