Merry Christmas Everyone and a Happy New Year!!

I probably won't be blogging for the next few days, but I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I hope everyone gets time to visit with family and friends! Enjoy yourself my blogger friends!! HUGS!!

The Final Countdown begins!

I'm sure everyone will be scurrying around this week to finish up their shopping, cookie making, wrapping, etc. I am one of those too! I have been trying this year to shop during the whole year and that worked for awhile. I got my Christmas cards out later than normal this year, my cream cheese cookies are still not made and I don't have a thing wrapped! But you know what, I am not sweating it this year. It all seems to get done and looks wonderful Christmas morning! The most important thing to keep in mind this week, that Christmas is not about buying gifts, making cookies, sending cards, etc. it is to celebrate Jesus Christs birthday! Our church had a lovely service yesterday and it hit my like an epiphany, that Christmas comes whether we are frantically running around doing all those things I mentioned and it is always wonderful!

Everyone enjoy what this season brings, enjoy being with friends and family and visiting here and there!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

My day with Jenny!

Jenny and I had a wonderful day today! For those of you who don't know Jenny is my youngest daughter. She is expecting in July! We had decided to spend the day and part of the evening together and what fun we had. I drove up to Jenny's house in Concord, NC. That is about 45 minutes away from my house. When I got there we then drove into the little town of Concord. There is a shop there called The Bead Lady. What a treasure trove of things that lady has!! I of course, bought some things. When then went to a Christmas Shop, an antique shop and another little shop which had some really cute things! We then had to go to the Chocolate Shop/Bakery and have a wonderful cannolli and tea!! We then left Concord and came back down to Charlotte. We went to another bead store called The Bead Lush (don't you just love the name!!). We didn't stay there long, just had to exchange a defective bead. We went one street over to a place called Dish and had lunch. It was good to sit and chat after so much walking! Then we came back to my house and started creating. I think I made 5 pairs of earrings for Jenny and she designed 3 necklaces that I will be making up at a later date. Then Kevin (Jenny's husband) arrived and we had dinner. I made chuck roast, mashed potatoes and corn. Jenny and Kevin love this meal.

We had such a wonderful day! Here is a picture of Jenny at my jewelry table creating away:





Jenny still creating but she took her hair down. I guess she can create better with her hair down-LOL!!


Some wooden beads and steampunk items she was putting together.

I just love days like this! Another one for the memory book!

Of Honest Fame by M. M. Bennetts

I read this book for Pump Up Your Books. Here is a little about the book from Pump Up Your Books website:

On a summer night in 1812, a boy sets fire to a house in Paris before escaping over the rooftops. Carrying vital intelligence about Napoleon’s Russian campaign, he heads for England. But landing in Kent, he is beaten almost to death. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, is desperate for the boy’s information. He is even more desperate, however, to track down the boy’s assailant – a sadistic French agent who knows far too much about Castlereagh’s intelligence network. Captain George Shuster is a veteran of the Peninsula, an aide-de-camp to Wellington, now recalled from the continent and struggling to adjust to civilian life. Thomas Jesuadon is a dissolute, living on the fringes of society, but with an unrivalled knowledge of the seamy underside of the capital. Setting out to trace the boy’s attacker, they journey from the slums of London to the Scottish coast, following a trail of havoc, betrayal, official incompetence and murder. It takes an unlikely encounter with a frightened young woman to give them the breakthrough that will turn the hunter into the hunted. Meanwhile, the boy travels the breadth of Europe in the wake of the Grande Armee, witnessing at first hand the ruination they leave behind and the awful price of Napoleon’s ambition. This companion to M.M. Bennetts’s brilliant debut, May 1812, is a gripping account of deception, daring and determination, of intelligence and guile pitted against brutality. Bennetts brings to vivid life the harrowing devastation wrought on the civilian populations of Europe by Napoleon’s men, and the grit, courage and tenacity of those who stood against them.

My review:

You will enjoy this historical novel set in London in 1812. Against the backdrop of Napoleon's Russian campaign we are introduced to Foreign Secretary, Lord Castlereigh and his cast of spies, trying to out guess Napoleons minions.

The author paints a vivid picture of our mind of the slums of Paris and London, the battle ravaged landscape of Europe and the brutality of espionage and counter espionage. The plot is fast moving enough to keep your interest and his descriptions of his characters, their feelings and motivation are well done.

You feel their patriotism, humor, pride, vanity and rage at the injustices of their time, as well as their rage at the enemy. The author captures the extreme patience needed in the spy game in the person of his central character, "boy", as he moves like a shadow through Paris, London and Vienna collecting information for the Foreign Secretary, and reuniting with his Maestro.

The author raises our heartbeat, bringing us to an exciting and surprising climax while leaving the door open for his next period work. I look forward to Mr. Bennett's next work.

You can purchase this book on amazon.com. I was not paid to write this review.

Good Bye to a Wonderful Angel!!

Megan on the left and Cindy on the right


Some of you know this and some of you don't-my oldest daughter, Megan's friend Cindy Ray was killed on Sunday, 12/11. She was run over by a drunken driver in Massachusetts and she died. Her Mom was in the car and didn't know Cindy had been hit. She ran in the police station and told them someone had jumped the curb and struck a car. When Cindy's Mom and the police came running out they found Cindy. This tragedy is one of the most awful things I have heard in a long time and it makes it worse because we knew the person. This happened on a Sunday afternoon around 3:00 p.m. Cindy was coming out of the police station after picking up a report and was headed back to her car. The man who hit her is 50 years old and a father and now he will have to live with this for the rest of his life. What are people thinking when they have too much to drink and get behind the wheel! Was it worth it! Cindy and her husband, Brian were suppose to be watching their nieces for the next year while Brian's brother and sister-in-law were deployed. Cindy had just gotten the little girls room ready for them, found a pediatrican and daycare facility for them while she was at work. Brian will now be doing this task alone. Cindy went to college with Megan and they were the best of friends. They called each other every Monday. Cindy was so loving and kind. She had lost her father very early in her life to a heart attack while he was shoveling snow. Even though she had gone through tragedy at a very young age, she was always smiling and joking with everyone and she had a very big heart. Today will be her viewing and tomorrow the funeral. The world has lost a true angel-God Bless you Cindy Ray!! We all love you and you will be missed!

And the winner is.....

I can't believe random.org picked #1, it hardly ever does!! The winner of my 750th Post Giveaway is Lori from Morning Glories and Moonflowers!! Congratulations Lori!! I will be e-mailing you right after I post this!

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway today before 5 p.m.!! The giveaway is on my December 11th post. Good Luck! I will be announcing the winner either tonight or tomorrow a.m.!