Duck The Halls

I am going to start off my holiday quest with a crazy Christmas Caper.  . On December 21st, Michael and Meg are startled awake by the buzz of a pager under Michael’s pillow. As a college professor turned volunteer firefighter, this is Michael’s first emergency call. Meg, ever curious, decides to tag along.

The fire fighters rush to the New Life Baptist church expecting a blaze only to find there is no fire.  It is much stranger than that. They find a bunch of skunks who have sprayed the caretaker while he was in the church checking the building.  The church reeks to high heaven and now all of their holiday events including their famous choral concert is in jeopardy.   

Though not a member of this church, Meg steps in to coordinate the available spaces in among the other Houses of Worship in town, only to have to keep on rescheduling when an Emerald Boa ends up in the Episcopal church and a ton of ducks are found in different church. What seemed like harmless pranks escalates quickly ,when a body turns up. Now, amateur sleuth Meg must unravel the mystery before the holiday season is completely derailed. 

I give this book a rating of one Ho out of a possible Ho Ho Ho

Chocolate Lovers Be Afraid, there is a SHORTAGE!

This is not the first time I have heard that there is a potential chocolate shortage and it is becoming a little scary.   I depend on my afternoon snack size chocolate bar to get me through till I leave my office.  And if there is no chocolate what will happen to Halloween.  Will skittles, sweet tarts, twizzlers and Mike and Ike's takeover.  Thank goodness I don't Trick or Treat anymore.  It just wouldn't be worth the effort.

But seriously the world has become addicted to chocolate.  What will happen if it becomes scarce.  Check out the link to a very interesting article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/15/the-worlds-biggest-chocolate-maker-says-were-running-out-of-chocolate/?tid=pm_pop

Death With Dignity

I have recently read two books that deal with the subject of death with dignity formerly known as physician assisted suicide.  Right after I read Five Days Left which I recently blogged about, the news came out about Brittany Maynard.  This is the woman with inoperable brain cancer who moved to Oregon. In Oregon it is not illegal if you decide to end your life for medical reasons.

In the book Five Days left, the main character has Huntington's Disease.  This is a disease for which there is no cure.  Over time you loose your ability to basically do everything.  This woman who has so much support and love from her family, a family that is willing to take care of her during her illness must make a very hard choice. Her choice is to live and slowly slip away from everything that makes her who she is or to end her life.

The second book is Me Before You.  Again the main character is facing a life where he can do nothing for himself having been injured in a car accident leaving him a quadriplegic.  He is in and out of hospitals where due to modern medicine he remains alive.  In the book he contemplates his choices.

A year ago my dog was diagnosed with inoperable cancer.  He was our second child, our baby, our joy.  As I watched him in pain and slowly losing his ability to be him I knew we had to make a decision.  A few days after Thanksgiving I came home from work and found him under the table breathing heavily and in pain.  I saw it in his eyes.  I felt like he was pleading with me to make the pain stop.  I gave him pain meds the vet had given us and held his head in my lap until my husband got home.  We got him in the car and drove him to the vet.  The vet told us he would only get worse and so my husband and I had the conversation on what to do.  I made it easy on my husband convincing him that allowing our baby to die peacefully in the doctors office would be the best thing we could do for him.  The vet had this room with a comfy couch and a fireplace and my husband, myself and the dog all shared the couch.  It was so peaceful and he died knowing we were there and loved him.

I think those who choose this option are brave.  It so goes against human nature. You want to fight for life and hope you can get better.  The truth is sometimes you just can't.  You fight as long as you can and as long as your quality of life is acceptable to you.  After that it should be up to you.  I ask myself if I was faced with this decision what would I do.  Would I have the courage to make the decision.  My answer is I don't know and I hope I don't have to be in the position to make the choice.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-brittany-maynard-effect-how-she-is-changing-the-debate-on-assisted-dying/2014/10/31/efc75078-5df0-11e4-8b9e-2ccdac31a031_story.html

Cooking, No Recipe What a Blast

On my continuing journey to improve my culinary skills in the kitchen I signed up for a cooking class. The class was Everyday Cooking Without a Recipe and it was right up my alley.  I spent the entire day with Chef Jeff Olson and 7 others and we watched learned and prepared dishes using a list of ingredients and items from the school’s pantry.  It was a blast and I want to share some of my experiences and tips that I learned while there. Please go to my cooking blog for my first installment.  I have also included a gadget that I have found that has made my life so much easier so if you are looking for a reasonably priced gift for a friend or foodie on your holiday list take a look at my post.

http://tryingtocookbysuzc.blogspot.com

Sunday Notes On Monday

It has been a long time since I have played my little game using the Washington Post top ten bestseller list.  This morning while enjoying my morning coffee I decided to take a peek.

For those of you who don't about my game here is how it goes. On Sunday one of the first sections of the Washington Post that I read is the Outlook section. It contains the book section. I go to the last page and read the Washington Bestseller list. I count how many books I have read and give myself a point for each. This week the bestseller list focused on paperbacks but it alternates between paperbacks and hardcover. The top ten books are spotlighted in each category, fiction and non-fiction. The rules of my game are to have read 30% of the books on the fiction list, ten are listed. So I get one point per book  and I get a bonus point if I read any of the non-fiction. I guess it is just my way of checking to see if I am in touch with what other people are reading.

This week I read three out of the 10 books. Gone Girl was number one on the list and if you haven't read the book by now you may want to consider picking it up.  I also read Orphan Train which was one of the books chosen by my book club during the summer.  If you haven't read it yet consider adding it to your reading list as well. 

I have started the book A Sudden Light.  The book is written by the author who wrote
The Art of Racing in the Rain.  If you have not read this book I highly recommend that you do especially if you have ever owned a dog.  It is a must read.  For more info on any of these books check out my blog posts or click on the books.  


    

       

Ho Ho Ho

The holiday season is fast approaching and I have decided once again to go on a quest for holiday themed books.  If you remember I started this quest last year but did not get very far.  The books I chose where a little more sugar coated than I was looking for.  None the less I love this time of year and I love reading books with a holiday theme.  This year I am going to start with a who done it holiday caper so keep your eyes out for my posts. 

I have decided to create a rating system.

Ho Ho Ho means the book was really good

Ho Ho means the book was good

Ho means the book was ok.

Enjoy!
 

Five Days Left

First I would like to say that I am surprised that this book did not get more attention.  Maybe it was the subject matter or maybe it was because there are so many books on loss.  This book deals with two very different people who are facing loss. 

The first, Mara has Huntington's Disease.  She was adopted so her parents had no idea she carried the gene. This is what I found written by the Mayo Clinic Staff.  Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington's disease has a broad impact on a person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders.

Most people with Huntington's disease develop signs and symptoms in their 30s or 40s, but the onset of disease may be earlier or later in life. Medications are available to help manage the symptoms of Huntington's disease, but treatments can't prevent the physical, mental and behavioral decline associated with the condition.  The bottom line is there is no cure.  Mara is no longer able to work and is having trouble managing everyday life.  She has a husband and a young child and does not want them to see her deteriorate any further.

Scott is facing a different type of loss.  He and his wife Laurie have been foster parents to this young boy whose Mom went to prison.  It has been a year, a year where Scott has become very attached to this little boy and thinks of him as a son. The Mom is being released and wants her son back.  Even though he and Laurie are expecting their own child a girl, Scott is devastated at the thought of losing Curtis.  But he has five days left or does he?  I really enjoyed this book.  It is a good read.  Give it a shot. For more information follow this link Five Days Left.