Thursday Thirteen

Blogging was a new adventure for me in 2007. When I began I had never heard of StatCounters or considered what was involved in my Google searches. But I learned quickly. Here are thirteen Google searches that landed visitors at my blog in 2007. Thankfully or oddly enough, my blog does not come up quickly for most of these any more.

Thirteen Google searches that lead me to say..."What were you people thinking?? I don't think you will find this here!" But I was glad they visited.

1. chocolate is cheaper than therapy rubber stamp--I too would love to have this as a rubber stamp. I am sure it is available. Just not here. I have talked about the three things though, chocolate, rubber stamps and therapy. All in the same post even!

2. eclectic parrots--do they like Jimmy Buffet and Johann Sebastian Bach? Do they say random things? I am curious?

3. scarlet macaws mac & cheese--I hope this was not for a recipe. Yikes!!

4. in the bible scarlet macaw--Well I don't know that they are mentioned specifically, but I am sure God enjoyed the color palette for those.

5. My dog ate a loaf of bread--yeah, I know I blogged about that.

6. the little ants march to Jerusalem--I had no idea when they went one by one and two by two that they were headed there. Who knew?

7. what do you call an ant with no hair? I don't know, Curly?

8. what four things are smaller than an ants mouth--ant breakfast, ant lunch, ant dinner and ant snack? Just guessing.

9. age of innocence poodle--as opposed to those not-so-naïve poodles, you know the ones who say, "Ooooo-la-la" and "Voulez vous...?" OOooops...never mind, this is a family friendly blog.

10. jennifer van roo ballett--clueless, just clueless.

11. dr seuss passover plagues--The venerable Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote on many things. I did not know he wrote a book on a Jewish Holy Day...but I've learned a lot around here. I wrote about a plague of frogs once.

12. childrens bible lessons on rockets or spaceships--I don't think the Bible mentions spaceships, I know I've mentioned the Bible more than once, I may have mentioned spaceships...?? The scarlet macaw in the Bible made more sense.

13. how to make a tapir shadowbox--Okay, I like tapirs. I really do. But perhaps this is a bit much.

I need to start saving some more searches that land people at the Joyful blog in 2008. What odd things do visitors look for at your site?

Find more participants for Thursday Thirteen!

THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE THURSDAY THIRTEEN:
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. What do you do? Write Thirteen things about yourself, summarize your week in one entry, make it easy for other bloggers to get to know you on a weekly basis. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged!

Wordless Wednesday

Tree Kangaroo

For more WW participants go to The Hub

Beloved Castaway—A Review

Beloved Castaway by Kathleen Y’Barbo

Historical fiction set in New Orleans and the Florida Keys in the early 1800s is the stage for intrigue and danger.

Beautiful slave, Isabelle Gayerre is the heroine with a heart for the LORD running for freedom. Her path crosses with a sea captain, Josiah Carter, who believes himself to be too far removed from the path for God’s notice. Their first meeting is full of mistrust and deception. How can anything positive come from this?

Beloved Castaway was a rapid read, engaging from the beginning. Y’Barbo draws the reader right into the infamous New Orleans culture. This story is full of twists and turns and mounting tensions. There is nothing superfluous in the telling though, and I was very grateful for that because I became extremely attached to Isabelle and wanted to reach a conclusion for her flight.

I stayed up way to late one night to finish this—there was no way it would wait until the next day.

Kathleen Y’Barbo is new to me, although she is a prolific writer. This won’t be the last of her work that I read.

Hollywood Nobody—A Review

Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson

The first installment of a new series for Samson.

Fifteen year old Scotty Dawn is on the road with her rock-star resembling mother, hanging out on the sets of Indie films. She dresses in chic thrift store finds and has a lot of freedom and more than a few questions. Scotty Dawn and her mother, Charley, travel in an old RV she calls the Y. She meets famous people on a regular basis, but is more excited about the senior citizen RV-ers she meets at campsites along the highways en route to the next movie. Well there might be one up-and-coming young actor she is a little excited about…

Apparently I have been off the deep end of the earth because I’d never read one of Lisa Samson’s books until I received it as part of an author’s blog tour I participated in. I have to say I liked it and will be reading the following episodes.

Hollywood Nobody is tagged as a Young Adult read, a genre I enjoy on a regular basis. I can see that this story with many current culture references will grab young readers. I would recommend this for the fourteen and over crowd. Lots of dating and relationship references, although there are plenty of solid adults surrounding Scotty’s life to offset her offbeat mother and the teen angst. This is obviously a Christian book, and Samson is weaving it in a gentle and appealing fashion.

Hollywood Nobody, a fun, fast read.

Sentinel: City of Destiny--A Review

Sentinel: City of Destiny by Landel Bilbrey

Recently, I received a request to review this book from the author. As the mother of two young sons I am always looking for age appropriate books for them to read or for us to share together. I visited Mr. Bilbrey’s website to find out more about his story. Of course once I read the premise for Sentinel I had to read it for myself to learn more.

From the author’s notes about the book:

One enemy.

Two brothers.

And a perilous quest in search of four mystical keys …

Keys that will unlock the gate of Sentinel, the timeless city of destiny—the place that all followers of the Light must one day find. Only true warriors of good King Deus can call it home.

From Gelandesprung, through the mysterious forest of Gravenwood, across the barren plain of Gall, and beyond the burning sands of Mammon, they will travel. But traveling will be only half their journey, for hidden throughout the regions of Callow are the keys. And to complete their mission into Sentinel, they will need all four. Even if the valiant brothers should find the hallowed walls that surround the city, without the keys their struggle will be for naught.

But Azrael awaits. Driven by an ancient vow to stop any boy from entering the sacred city. His plans are evil, his minions are many, and his aim is sure… Keep all seekers, at all costs, from finding the royal keys.

Even so, they embark. They search. And, eventually… One of them will fight to take hold of what is rightfully his—a place of honor at the mighty king's table.

I slowly worked my way through Sentinel. Not because it was a difficult read. It is not; it is a great match for young readers and is suggested for 8 and over. I took my time to savor the story, to hear the words and let them work in my heart and feel how they would affect my sons. I’ve enjoyed the book immensely and have been moved by the story.

Sentinel is the story of two brothers on the path to manhood. The journey is fraught with toil and trial. There are opportunities to earn honor and rewards but with those opportunities also come the possibility of failure and sorrow.

The brothers are twins; they have been raised with the same opportunities, the same education, the same loving and devoted parents. But they do not make the same choices, and therefore find themselves separated not long into the journey. They both face peril at every turn. Do their paths end at the same the same door?

Sentinel: City of Destiny can be many things. It is foremost a wonderful story, an unashamed allegory. There is no question of the message that the author intended. It can be used as a language arts tool. The vocabulary is supported by the Glossary at the end. There is a question and answer series at the end that will help with comprehension, Finally it is a devotional. The same question and answer portion is a study guide that could be completed by an older child alone, but would be even better as a discussion starter for the young reader and the parent.

As I read this book my oldest kept checking over my shoulder to see how far along I was.

“Gee, Mom, that looks interesting.” “It is, dear.”

“Is it an okay book for boys?” “Well, yes as a matter of fact, it is.”

“Mom, do you think I might be able to read it when you are done?” “I am sure that you can.”

“Mom? Are you done yet?”

Guess who gets to start a new book tomorrow.

Visit Mr. Bilbrey’s website. You can check out resources for parents, teachers and children. Sentinel: City of Destiny is available from Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Nobel and directly from the author.

A great book, a super gift for any young man. I highly recommend it.

Elise at A Path Made Straight is the lovely hostess of Children's Book Monday. I am hopping on over to put this review on her Mr. Linky. Visit Elise and all the great bloggers who join her for Children's Book Monday.

Gloating...

Okay, really I'm not. But I was pretty tickled when I found out I won the $10 Amazon gift certificate that Katrina of Callapidder Days gave away for the Fall Into Reading Challenge.

I applied that to purchases made tonight.

What did I get??

Well, I was a good homeschool mom and ordered some books for Boo. It was definitely most appreciated by both of us.

Thanks Katrina!!

The Daily Dose

Kim at mom-musings gave me the sweetest award, she received it from Karen and passed it on to Annie and Stacy and, believe it or not…to me.

The award is called:

"THE DAILY DOSE"

Xandra from Heart of Service created this award to honor those Blogs that are "must reads".
In her own words:

"...it's for blogs that I must read every day without fail . . . They make you laugh, cry, think and feel connected every time you read a post. They give you a thrill as you see them loading into your browser and you get an equally satisfying thrill when you see that they have commented on your blog."

She asks that blogs that receive it post on her Mr. Linky that she has up. What a great award.

If Kim hadn’t already received this, I would have given it to her. She is a sister-in-books. Her to read list is long (and I am so about lots of reading) and it is filled with great reads. If I ever get to go shopping with Kim, I’m pretty sure we’d hit the bookstore first!! Thanks so much, Kim, you really blessed me.

I am going to share this with Renee, who has been so kind and thoughtful and never fails to make me smile and feel better; Maria who is like a breath of joy; Jenny, who although her ankles may wobble, I think she’s a super-hero & who knows some of my “secrets” and still is talking to me; Deb who is faithful and constant and who has been a beacon (and who watches the most fabulous movies and reads the most interesting books!!); and Jennifer who is on a mission to make her home a haven—her wisdom exceeds her years.

One thing these ladies all have in common is a heart for the LORD and for their families. One day I will grow up to be just like them. For now I will click on over anytime I see a new post of theirs on my Bloglines. A daily dose...that sums it up very well.

AHHHHhhhhhhhh…..Sinking into Home

The boys and I had been gone for ten days. (I think I mentioned that.)

My husband and the dog came up to visit over New Year’s for less than twenty-four hours. We had a good visit with my father, my sister and her children. We had a very good visit. But we were gone from the nest for a long time…

I’ve been saying since I turned off the freeway today, it felt more like ten years—not anything bad, just an odd feeling of having left a long time ago. I feel like I journeyed a longer way than four hours. Maybe my heart did. It surely needed to.

Walking in the door was a shock. How odd, I forgot I left the house decorated. The dog, who did not eat the gingerbread house this year—but DID eat a whole box of puppy treats one day after my husband left, greeted me enthusiastically. The cat said, “Yeah, about time you brought the lap back.” And strolled out the door for a walk-about.

I missed my saggy, old pink recliner, also known as the blogging chair. I missed my cheap old coffee pot and coffee grinder—with my fresh ground coffee. I missed my crowded kitchen with the eight foot by four foot, industrial strength bookshelf shoved into it and my kitchen table overflowing with books and unfinished work.

I missed the dog—but not the hair. She is blowing like a cottonwood tree when they release all the white fluff. I also did not miss the neighbor’s beagle/dachshund mix who barked the whole entire time I unloaded the van.

My boys wandered around and played about ten different things—just because they were home and they could. And because they better get all the fun stuff done before school starts Monday.

I missed my husband. The comfortable one, who after fifteen years knows the way to my heart.

It was a good visit. But, aside from strangely appearing items, it is good to be home.

It Must Be Love

If this doesn’t say “love,” I don’t know what does.

“Why?” you ask, does an electric can opener set my heart aflutter?

For the last year I have been dealing with some serious pain in my right hand. Sometimes pain that shoots all the way up to the elbow.

Yes, I am aware of what it is. Call it carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive motion injury, if you will. It hurts. I have braces to wear. It helps when I do. I am stubborn and don’t always wear them. I continue to do the things that cause me pain: crafting, writing, BLOGGING, picking up too heavy objects with my right hand until it totally gives out. Blah, blah, blah…HURTS, blah, blah, blah…stubborn, blah, blah, blah…NO SURGERY, blah, blah, blah…PAIN!!!

Care for some cheese and crackers with my W(H)INE???

Often I am unable to open jars and using a manual can opener causes tears.

So when I came home, I found my shiny new electric can opener on the counter. Taken out of the box of course because…opening boxes even hurts.

Fifteen years and that man certainly knows the way to my heart!

To praise the fabulous man just a bit longer, the can opener was not all that was waiting for me.

I came home to: a clean kitchen, a clean dog (who hates baths), all the garbages emptied, and many of the truffles that I left behind!!! I fully intended to share them with him. Can you believe he limited himself to ONE little truffle a day?

So if the electric can opener does not prove I have a super guy, the fact that there was incredible chocolate left for me should!

Sigh…

Fifteen years—I think he’s doing pretty good!

The mysterious APPEARING $$$

I came home to find this...

...on the end table by my blogging chair.

My husband says he noticed IN my blogging chair about three days ago.

I have been gone. for. ten. days.

It was not there when I left.

I have never seen it before. My sons have never seen it before. My mother started a collection of these for each grandchild. If there had been two of them, (one for each boy) I would have been really freaked. For now, I am just seriously wondering how this came to be in my house.

Suggestions?