Favorite Lines: “Mothers–they have so much power. a few little words, and a few unthoughtful out actions, can nurture or destroy a child. It’s a power I always said I’d use wisely. I sometimes feel as if I’ve failed.” (ARC  p. 195)

Bonus Favorite Lines: “Grandpa Luke tried beating the babies from Grandma Faith at first. His fists made the first two children, a girl and a boy, come out strong jawed and ornery. He told her the third one was born dead, wrapped its twisted body in his oily flannel shirt, and buried it in the woods. But Grandma thought she heard a pitiful mewling as he left the room and that sound haunted her to her last thought. While Grandpa scraped the burial dirt from his fingernails, Grandma cried.” (p. ARC 9)

A woman returns to the Appalchian hollow where she was born and traces her family history through a journal and her memories from her parent’s first meeting to her mother’s death in an enthralling coming home tale.
Read the Review at Scooper Speaks or buy the book at Bell Bridge Books.

I feel little more than disgust as I write this post. We all know that Afghanistan is far from America. I think we all know of many of the differences and similarities our cultures share. I don’t know how anyone can justify killing little girls though. I’m writing this in disgust with the Taliban who felt it necessary to drive by a girls school as it was letting out for the day and open up fire on them. Two girls were murdered in the drive buy. This is just another form of intimidation that the Taliban is using to prevent women from getting an education.

I feel so bad for the mothers who showed their bravery by allowing their daughters to brave the Taliban by going to school. I can only imagine their grief and it breaks my heart.

Thursday 13

1. Painkiller Jane (I’d never heard of this one until I researched this TT. Painkiller Jane is about a DEA agent forced into a secret life of working for the government. She also has the ability to self-heal.)

2. Wendy Wu Homecoming Warrior (My kids love this Disney movie.)

3. My Super Ex- girlfriend (I can’t wait to watch this movie. The preview of the spurned lover throwing a shark cracked me up.)

4. Elektra (It doesn’t matter if it’s the movie or the comic books, this girl knows how to kick butt!)

5. Catwoman (I never watched the movie but I do have a few of the comics and she is cool as hell.)

6. Witchblade (Did anyone else watch the T.V. series when it was on TNT?)

7. Dark Angel (This series didn’t last long despite my patronage.)

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (My favorite name on this list.)

9. Xena Warrior Princess (Started off seriously dorky, but gradually improved.)

10. Red Sonja (I used to watch this movie all the time. How about you?)

11. Supergirl (I prefer the comic book to the movie.)

12. Sheena (Wild woman)

13. Wonder Woman (As pitiful as the show seems today, it really was cool at the time.)

Other TT’s

1. Full Plate
2. Mama Archer
3. temporarily me
4. scifichick
5. life in the
6. Tilly
7. Midnight Moon
8. West of Mars
9. Mommy
10. Stars
11. Ember
12. Amie
13. Gypsy
14. Pessimists
15. Writing My Life
16. From My Brain
17. Fractured Fiction
18. Pieces of Me

When I was a little girl I used to read a lot. Big surprise, right? Anyway, the only books my dad had were about the wilderness or fishing. I remember reading about how to survive bear attacks and in recent years was surprised at how many people didn’t know basic survival. You can click here and read about bear attacks or continue reading to see what you should do if you cross paths with a bear.

If you’re ever confronted by a bear DO NOT RUN, like many animals the bear runs much faster than you. If the bear charges you drop into the fetal position and cover your head. This will protect your vital organs as well.

It’s easier said than done, but DO NOT YELL OR FLAIL ABOUT. You don’t  want the bear to think that you’re a threat and if you play dead you increase the odds of surviving. Bears aren’t going to tear you apart if they think you are already dead. If you move before the bear is gone it will re-attack you until it deems the threat gone.

3 Easy Rules to Remember:

1. Keep a clean campsite. Never leave dirty dishes or food out as they’ll attract animals.
2. Never leave soap or body products laying around. Bears are attracted to sweet scents.
3. Women should never hike while menstruating. Bears have been known to violently attack women on their periods.

not getting help while in the hospital? I complain about the wait in my hometown, but I know that they would never allow a person to die in the waiting room like this hospital in California.

I don’t understand how 911 could be so cold in the face of frantic phone calls from the woman’s husband; he pleaded for help. I’ve heard of 911 horror stories and I must admit they scared me away from living in a large city. The example of a woman dying while waiting treatment just serves as a reinforcement for me. It tells me for all the crap that comes with living in a small city, it’s actually better when it comes to health care.

I also read that there are many areas where doctors don’t want to deliver babies because of high insurance rates. Can you imagine living in a state with few obstetric doctors? Here’s an article about it. What do you think?

I started up a new blog yesterday. It’s going to play around with new products that are coming out and different beauty products. The first post was about different lip glosses and places to find them, while today’s post dealt with bubble bath. My plan is to find recipes and products that aren’t at Target or that you don’t want to look up. Let me know what you think.

Can you believe that another week is over? It seems like this week flew by. My Nalini Singh Caressed by Ice came yesterday and I spent the day reading it. It’s a great book. I’ll be posting my review next week. I’ve been adding several books to my Books Read page and linking to the reviews that I posted for Romance Designs, so check it out!

I did buy Anya Bast’s latest release and I’ll be reading it this weekend. I’ve got two books from Cerridwen Press that I’m reading, Lady Iona’s Rebellion and Eye Witness. Those reviews will be linked to from the Books Read page. I haven’t been surfing like I normally do so I feel a little out of touch. Are there any contests being ran? Any book pimping you want to do? Feel free to post in today’s comments.

On to personal drama, well it’s not drama. My oldest is in summer school this year. I discovered that I could sign her up for enrichment classes for $15 (one benefit to being poor). She’s taking “Cooking up a Book”. The class reads a book then they make some kind of food to connect to the story. For example, they read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie then baked cookies. My daughter acted like she’d never seen cookies made before. She said, “Mom, the cookies were tiny before we put them in the oven, but when they came out they were bigger than my hand.”

They made pigs in a blanket the next day. Yesterday they made playdough and baked bread. She was highly upset that they ran out of time before she got to eat the bread. The whole way home she complained that she was starving. It was kinda funny seeing as how the girl was only at school for 3 hours and had ate as soon as she got there.

What are your kids doing this summer? Any major plans? Does your school district offer summer school? Today is dump day, lay it all out.

I was watching the Today show this morning when I heard the news about a woman missing in Florida. What makes this so important? Women disappear everyday, but this woman makes me want to help. She was a recent graduate from John Jay College of Criminal Justice who took her 16 year-old sister on vacation to Miami. She went to a nightclub and was seen getting into a dark sedan later that night. That was the last time anyone has admitted to seeing her.

Why has it taken so long for us to hear about this missing woman? You can read John Ridley’s opinion here. It makes me question the priorities of the media. Why do some people get more coverage than other people. I was even more disgusted after I read a blog that described the footage being cut from MSNBC in favor of airing Paris Hilton news. You can read about it here.

I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t care about Paris going to jail. People go to jail for making bad decisions everyday and we don’t read coverage about them. So what that her parents are rich. I’d much rather hear about a missing woman than a woman sitting in jail for violating the law.

How would you feel if I told you that by holding a bake sale you can help a hungry child in the United States? According to Share our Strength 1 in 6 U.S. children are in danger going hungry. Lack of nutrition can lead to neurological problems, growth delays, and lower academic grades.

To combat hunger, Share our Strength has joined with the Food Network to promote the Great American Bake Sale. They are asking for groups and people to hold bake sales from May 19 – August 31, 2007. It’s quite simple. Go to the gabs site or call (800) 761-4227 and register. Host a bake sale and turn in the proceeds. The money goes to help out hungry kids in your community.

If you don’t want to hold a traditional bake sale, they offer a virtual bake sale site that I haven’t investigated yet. Another way to help, without holding a sale is to buy from one. To encourage people to participate they are holding a contest. The group/person/organization that earns the most money will win a trip for 2 to the Food Network in NYC, hotel and airfare, tickets to the Emmeril show, $250, and  a gift basket.

Want to hear a funny song about the price of gas? Go here for a free, singing ecard.