If you are a Harry Potter fan, this series would interest you.  I like to describe it as a grown up version of a Harry Potter style book.  I finished this one a while ago and immediately downloaded the second book in the series called The Wise Man’s Fear, all 992 pages of it!  It’s not a quick read by any means and you really need to settle in with this second book and take it in one page at a time.

There are mixed reviews about this book.  I would say the really hard-core sci-fi/fantasy enthusasts are more critical – but I’m easy to please when it comes to my choices in reading entertainment.  This one kept me turning the page.

Here is Amazon’s short decription of the first book: The Name of the Wind.

THE POWERFUL DEBUT NOVEL FROM FANTASY’S NEXT SUPERSTAR
Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the
murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

If you’re a kindle reader and have joined Kindle Prime – login and I’ll share my digital version with you.  I think you will enjoy it!

Wikpedia says that studies of zinc in the common cold suffered from methodologic flaws; restricting the analysis to well designed studies, the authors concluded that the therapeutic effectiveness of zinc lozenges has yet to be established.  However, the stuff works for me so even though its about $15 for a box of the nasal swabs, I’m willing to make the investment. 

It’s a horrible flu season right now and the hallways at Microsoft seem to be laden with the bug – so it’s hard to escape, especially when so many people (like myself) feel compelled to go to work even when you’re sick.  Try the Zicam – at the start of even an inkling that you might be coming down with something.  Take it every four hours and you will be better before you know it!

Anyway…after Moose climbs up, he does not disturb Phillip and stays on “his side” – which again, I find incredibly insightful for this dog.  You’ll note that the both of them are hunkered down on one side of the bed….not Phillip’s side, but MY side.  As Phillip often says, “Boy, they sure do love “the Mama”.  They love Phillip too, but he’s not nearly as as good of a snuggler as “the Mama”. 

To be clear, we don’t actually let the dogs sleep with us – good Lord, we would never get any sleep!  Moosey and I have our morning ritual of snuggling for a few minutes before I get up for work, and on this particular day, Luke joined him after I got up. I snapped the photo and thought what a cute picture – the boys are spooning!  AND…look closely.  Moosey has the TV remote safely tucked under his arm.  Typical male…having to control the TV all the time.  Too funny.

I just finished reading this novel by Dean Koontz.  Typcally I am a big fan of Dean Koontz, but not so much on this one.  It captured my attention enough to read it all the way through to the end – but the ending was disappointing.  If you’ve ever read a Koontz novel before you already know that he has quite an imagination for the super natural and this book is busting with it.  However, the ending on this book seemed poorly thought out and well…I kinda felt like he was getting bored with his own story and rushed to finish it…anxious to move on to his next best seller.  It was dark and spooky, typical of his writing style, but this was not on my top 10 list for sure.

I just downloaded to my kindle The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and am only a few pages into it – so far so good. 

What are you reading right now?

Moose Drool -  A malty beer with just enough hop presence to keep it from being too sweet. The aroma mostly comes from the malt with a hint of spice added by the hops. Moose Drool is brewed with pale, caramel, chocolate, and whole black malts; and Kent Goldings, Liberty, and WILLAMETTE HOPS. It has an original gravity of 13 degrees Plato, and is 4.2% alcohol by weight, 5.3% by volume.

 However…in my house, Moose drool means something very different.

Moose, our 7 year old black lab left this puddle for me as he eagerly watched me eat my dinner, waiting patiently for his taste.  Mama always saves the last bite for him – so I guess I deserve this.  I present you with Moose Drool

So, here’s what you need along with a play by play of how it’s done.

First, make a box of stove top stuffing according the package directions.

Then, with a meat tenderizer or mallet pound out 2 chicken breasts until they are nice and thin, but not see-through.  If they pound out to be quite large I cut them in have to make two smaller breasts.  Sprinkle with a little S&P and garlic salt if you like.  I also use a special spice called Robles which is a custom blend of peppers and spices that I get homemade from a friend of a friend.  Robles is optional, and unfortunately I can’t even tell you where to buy it because it is not sold in stores.  If you’d like a little kick to your chicken, you can always add a few red-pepper flakes.

Next, Fluff up the stuffing with a fork, then take a scoop and plop it on each of your chicken breasts. Roll up the breast while gently pushing the stuffing to the center as you bring the ends together and overlap them on top.

Here’s what they look like stuffed and ready to be transferred to your baking dish.

Place the stuffed breasts in a greased baking dish, seam side down and sprinkle in any leftover stuffing around the breasts.  Next, get out a can of cream of mushroom soup and thin it a bit with about a half cup of milk.  Whisk it up until it is nice and creamy then pour over your chicken breasts.

They are ready for the oven!  Bake at 350 for about 35-45 minutes.

ENJOY!

I’m keeping it real this year.  This is my motto.  No new year resolutions, no promising to hit the gym 3 times a week or tell myself that I am going to get back making my glass beads again even if it kills me.  This year, I am keeping it real.  To me that means a couple of things.  It started with the removal of my acrylic nails.  This was s small step, however a tough one for me…as my real nails have not seen the light of day in I can’t tell you how many years.  I can’t promise you that I will never put them back on again, but for now, they are gone, and I am living with my God-given finger nails and loving it.  Now, about my hair color – not keeping that real.  If not for my quarterly sessions with Doreen I would be gray beyond my years, and I’m sorry – I’m just not giving up my honey wheat highlights.  What I will give up is Splenda,  diet soda and ”lite” versions of anything!

In addition to the physical or tangible aspects of keeping it real, for me there are some psychological sides as well.  For example, I have a hard time saying no to people.  Keeping it real means thinking first about what saying yes means to me.  I am the pleaser-type….meaning I tend to draw a certain amount of satisfaction from making others happy.  Unfortunately, this sometimes turns out bad for me in the grander scheme of things.  Often times I end up being so over-committed that I resent what I am doing instead of having fun doing it!  This year, I vow to be thoughtful about saying “yes”.

Keeping it real also means not fantasizing about having the same waistline and shapely biceps as Kelly Rippa.  Let’s face it – I’m not the work out type.  I love to cook (with real butter and cream), drink wine, and eat dinner after 8pm at night.  All of these things are not conducive to fitting into those size 4 jeans.  So, my version of keeping it real is recognizing that yes, I could stand to drop a few pounds – okay maybe more than a few, but be happy in my own curves.  I can handle adjusting to having dinner before 8pm each night.  I have a desk job that has me sitting 50 hours a week, so I get the fact that I need to get out and move and be active.  Maybe this means walking those 18 holes instead of riding in a golf cart.  Or, maybe I could park my car in the furthest parking spot away each morning.  There are lots of things that I could do increase my activity level without making myself crazy about whether I can get to the gym today…I just need to think about it and decide to say yes….for me.

So there is little glimpse of me and my motto for the new year.  What are you doing to keep it real?

Some people are speechless when I tell them we have three big dogs.  Some people actually think I’m nuts (like my mom) and some people simply can’t stand the thought of cleaning up that much dog hair (yes, there is lots, but thank God for the Furminator).  And if cleaning up after them is not enough, you should see how much they eat!  Almost 30 lbs. of dog food a week!  (Just think how much fun that is for us to clean up in the back yard!)

Well, Moose has basically been a part of our extended family since he was born.  He is the litter mate to Luke so they share the same birthday – but we’re still not sure who is older.  Pretty sure Luke is the Alpha male, but I suppose that doesn’t mean he is the elder.  Anyway, our good friend Steve picked Moose from the litter and took him home to be his own dog at the same time we brought Lukey home to be a brother to our Lola.  Luke, Lola, Moose and Tucker (all brothers) would get together almost every weekend for play dates and games of fetch….one big happy canine family. =)

Well, a while back, our friend Steve was offered a contracting job in Maui.  He was supposed to be gone four weeks, possibly six at the most, and becuase of the quarantine laws for dogs coming into Hawaii, he was unable to take Moose with him.  So, he asked us to care for Moosey while he was gone.  “Of course!” I said.  After all Moose was family.  Well…Moose is REALLY family now, becuase next week will mark one year that Steve has been gone to Hawaii.  Steve comes back on occasion to visit us and Moose, but we think that after a year with us, Moosey has decided our house is now home for him….at least I hope so.

So, although we didn’t plan for three dogs, it just kind of happened.  We love Moose and if you can’t tell from the picture below, we’re pretty sure he loves us back!  Wet kisses…and BAD doggie breath.

Okay…I admit it…I’m a big softie.  I can’t stand the thought sometimes of knowing that my poor Lukey is tied up all day while the other two dogs run free in the backyard.  (they apparently have not learned the art of escape from their brother!).  So one day I have this grand idea and propose to my husband that we try leaving the back sliding door open wide enough so that the dogs can go inside and out when they want to.  This way, Luke will be able to go inside and hang out when they want and the idea is to get Luke to NOT want to escape.

So Phillip gives me one of those “you’ve lost your mind” looks but reluctantly agrees…and we give it a shot.  The next morning, all three dogs get their morning “goodbye cookie” before we leave for work, but this time we don’t tie Luke up.  We leave him free to roam with the other dogs and leave the back slider door open just wide enough for them to get inside.

Later that day, driving home from work, I’m anxious see how the dogs did and find myself speeding to get home, suddenly in a panic that I have made a terrible mistake.  This (below) is what I came home to.  Of all three dogs, it was Moose caught red handed, chewing up the center cushion to my front room sofa which he very proudly spread out in the back yard for all to see.  Experiment failed.  And by the way – Luke did not escape that day – so that part of the experiement still stands I suppose.  However, we did learn that Moose simply cannot be trusted unsupervised in the house.

Needless to say the mess was cleaned up before Phillip got home that evening, the mangled sofa has since been hauled off to the dump and the sliding back door stays SHUT when we are gone.

Gotta love ‘em!  I didn’t like that sofa anyway! =)