Funny Show is Gerard's Favorite

Animal Planet has done it again!  I like watching "My Cat From Hell" which shows homes with major cat trouble and Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist comes and helps the people learn how to get along with their cat(s) by recommending how they can change things to rectify the cat(s) annoying behaviors.

Now Gerard has found a funny show called "Bad Dog" that is mostly about dogs but also lets other pets participate to, going for the title of Bad Dog.  In this show, it shows the bad behavior of the pets but does not address correcting it.  This show certainly makes us appreciate our dog even more!  She could never qualify for this show, she's just way too good!  Some extreme cases were a dog eating trash and getting its head stuck in the trash can which was funny, pets who were escape artists and could get out of the cages and some even out of their houses, and the dog that chewed up a huge section of carpeting.  This is one show I do not like Abby to watch!

Here is a link to Animal Planet's Bad Dog website where you can view different episodes!

Here are links to the Pet Olympics in Blogville today:

Couch Potato Peeling ~ http://lovablelily.blogspot.com/

Gymnastics ~ http://downhomeinnc.blogspot.com/

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

AWW Mondays: Black Bear and More

I'm watching you . . . see my long sharp claws?

This black bear was resting when I saw him at the Cleveland Zoo last Thursday when we went to the special Breakfast With the Animals zookeeper event. I thought he was verycute. On our arrival, we had a breakfast of yogurt, a muffin, fruit and water and got to pet the possum and armadillo that one of the volunteers brought over. I took a picture of the possum but thought I already had a picture of an armadillo but later found out I didn't. The armadillo's shell was flexible and had hairs sticky out of it. It was a hairy armadillo and very cute. It felt like petting bumpy rock.

I grow thick fur when it's cold.

I look kind of like a donkey.

There was a new animal that we hadn't seen before up in the Northern Trek called a Persian Onager that was very nice. It was all the way on the other side of the exhibit but came over for me to get a good picture of it.


Be sure to stop by to see the pet Blogville Olympic games today: 

Beach Ball ~ http://www.twofrenchbulldogs.com/

Cross Neighborhood Walkabout ~ http://cutecorbin.blogspot.com/

Hiding ~ http://housecatconfidential.blogspot.com/

Competitive Napping ~ http://hufflemawson.blogspot.com/

If the Olympic pictures aren't up yet, check back later.

Find more cute AWW Monday pics and some more at Jodi's Journey.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

7 Things We Learned This Week (Olympics, Tips, Soldiers, Eagle, Shopping, Animals)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

1. Olympics

   For the first time in the history of the Olympics, our USA teams have more female athletes than males!

2. Soldiers and Suicide

   According to the June 23, 2012 issue of TIME, "More U.S. soldiers have killed themselves than have died in the Afghan war." "Every day, one U.S. soldier commits suicide." This is so sad.

3. Eagles

   Over at Jodi's Journey I learned some interesting facts about the eagle. I knew they fly above storms but didn't know that they can live to be 70 BUT to do so, in its 40s, it goes through a painful process of change that lasts 150 days. It loses its beak, talons and feathers and wait for them to grow back and lives another 30 years or so.

4. Household Tips

   Over at The Modern Mom I found Some Things You Never Thought Of that are helpful tips. The one I plan to try next I have to put keys or dog tags on a ring is to use a staple remover to hold it open instead of my nails. Another tip I'm going to try is using a microfiber cloth to prevent frost from forming on the windshield (if I can still remember by then). She gave several other great tips too--definitely worth checking them out!

5. Funny--Shopping Math

   See this video for how to shop for free that I found at Marythekaytheblog:
   

6. Animals
   

   

   Persian Onagar

   We saw a new animal at the Cleveland zoo yesterday--a Persian Onager. It's a fast wild horse, also referred to as a Persian donkey. It grows thick fur to adopt to cold weather and is fast.
   
   

   

   How to walk a possum

   
   We also found out that a possum's tail is muscle and it's fur feels like a dog's. I got to pet a possum named Pearl and an armadillo named Monte at the zoo yesterday when we went to eat breakfast with the animals. The volunteer held the possum's tail when she put her down on the table or the ground to walk around.
   

7. Pet Olympics Begin Today

   There are over 130 pets involved in this, including our three (Spunky Doodle, Manny Boy and Abby) to a small extent. Here is the schedule of events you may like to see for the weekend:
   FRIDAY, JULY 27
   Opening Extravaganza ~ http://www.roosdoins.com/
   Parade of Athletes ~ http://posiedorg.blogspot.com/
   Welcoming Speech ~ http://frankiefurterprice.blogspot.com
   SATURDAY, JULY 28
   Swimming ~ http://sargespeaksout.blogspot.com/
   Window Nose Art ~ http://jazzis-world.blogspot.com/
   
   SUNDAY, JULY 29
   Crazy Sleeping Singles ~ http://oskarsblog.com/ and Synchronized Snoozing  
   Bouncing http://bouncingbertie.blogspot.co/uk

Please note I may not visit your blog as often as usual because I will be spending time supporting the pet Olympics in Blogland. These bloggers who are hosting the events have put in lots and lots of work to make this happen and so I hope you will support their efforts too by checking out these special events with all the pets.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

10 Things That Make Us Angry (Writer’s Workshop)

These are the ten top things that make my husband angry:

☻Having to wait at traffic lights

☻When cashiers overcharge me (not honoring my coupons, not giving me the sale price)

☻Having to wait in line at Giant Eagle

☻Having to wait for me to choose library books if he’s ready to go

☻Having to wait a long time for the library books he orders

☻Getting home late from work

☻Watching his Boston sports teams lose or play poorly

☻When things break or do not work right

☻Having my car in for repairs

He does NOT like to wait.

 Here's ten things that make me angry:

☻Outrageous salaries for athletes—I really don’t want to hear how much money they make because it always  riles me up.  It just shows how whacky our nation’s values are.

☻Child Abuse heartbreaking, especially when parents abuse their own children!  It always gets me angry, enough to motivate me to donate on a regular basis to Boys Town and Covenant House.

☻Animal Abuse is just senseless and cruel!

☻Greed and Selfishness—I believe this is the primary cause of so many problems.

☻Dishonesty—I hate it when people lie, in fact, I even dislike books if the characters lie a lot because I get confused and don’t know what’s going on.

☻Computer Malfunctions—Most of my yelling is at my computer, although lately it’s been working really well.  The videos have been playing without stalling, my auto email addresses have been filling in, and Blogger is working well.  Oh, we did have a slight delay the other day though when the server couldn’t be found.  It didn’t bother me though because I was done with the computer by then and it was my husband’s turn.

☻Cruelty to people—This kind of news really upsets me.

☻Politics—I wish we didn’t have political parties and we could all just be Americans in the USA.

☻The Browns—when they play poorly and consequently blow a game I think they should win

☻My husband makes me angry when he loses his temper and makes a scene in public, swears at his sports teams or throws stuff and slams things.  It’s not pretty!  Fortunately, this doesn't happen often.

Here is one of my life verses that help me control my anger:

James 1:19-20:  . . . let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

What makes you angry? 

This post was inspired by Mama Kat's Writer’s Workshop prompt: “List 10 Things That Make You Angry.”  Abby did the prompts:  What Are You Looking Forward To?

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

What Am I Looking Forward To by Abby (Writer's Workshop)

Abby Dabby Doo is Ready to Go!

I am excited about getting to visit lots of people and get lots of pets.  Since I have been certified as a Canine Good Citizen, next week I get to start being a therapy dog.  My mommy has lined up a couple appointments for me:  Legacy Place on Sunday afternoon and Pleasant Lake Villa on Saturday afternoon.  We are all looking forward to brightening people’s day and making some new friends!  Woo hoo!  I hope they let my mommy take some pictures to show you.Woof!  Woof! What are you looking forward to?

What Are You Looking Forward to is one of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompts.  

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Our Library Has Relocated

Our Parma-Snow Cuyahoga County library was closed all last week because they had to move across the street to a temporary location shown above.  They are adding on so for over a year this is where we'll be getting our library books from.  They had a book drop box but got backed up having been off for a week.  People were complaining they were charged fines but the librarians were very nice and said they wouldn't collect any fines for books due last week.  I was surprised at how quickly they got everything moved and the computers working.  I was also surprised at how much space is here--there's a whole other side as big as what is shown in the picture that isn't even used!  We are excited about the new library that is scheduled to be built by next fall.

Do you have a library near you?  How often do you go?  We go every week!


(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Fantastic VBS Vacation Week

Marmot (image source:  Wikipedia)

Last week I took a vacation week to help in our Vacation Bible School ("VBS") and had a fantastic week!  It is such a blessing to be a part of this ministry outreach into our community!  We had around 750 children attend and 77% were from outside of our church.  I helped in grades 5 and 6 again this year just because I like working with that age group best. Personally, I think the older kids are easier than the younger ones and like the competition.  We used Gospel Light's Sonrise National Park material which featured a different animal to go with each day's verse.  The children each got laminated verse cards with the animal of the day and verse on one side and the lesson connection on the other.

Each age group was a different animal for their name tags.  The 5th and 6th graders were Marmots which are like a big ground squirrel.  They live in mountains and burrow among the rocks during the winter when they hibernate.  Each day, the 5th and 6th graders were challenged to bring in facts about the animal of the day.  Very few knew what a Marmot was.

I chose to be the green team this year because it is a color easy to spot and gave my group tickets each day they wore green which promoted a bit of team unity and also helped me find them easier.  The tickets were given to the kids by their group leader and had prize drawings at the end of each day. 

I was encouraged when several of the boys I had last year signed up for my group again this year.  Our whole group was cooperative and fun.  My small group memorized the five verses without much nagging encouragement from me and we had a come-from-behind 1st place finish!  We had rec time outside, snacks, crafts, skit presenting the lesson each day and small group time to take care of points, review the lesson, verses and play some games.

In our small group, we played the following fun games:

Match game--in groups of three they talked to find out what things they all liked and the point went to the group that came up with what I liked best such as TV show, sport to play, etc.

Fact or fiction. Each one gives three facts about yourself--two true ones and one false one.  The others tried to guess which one was false.  The one guessing most right got a ticket and if they could fool everyone, they got a point.  My facts were as follows--see if you can pick the false one:

I like animals and have 2 cats, 1 dog, a rabbit and a bird..

I never liked reading when I was in school but read a lot now.

I don't have a stove.

I fooled them all! I don't have a rabbit or bird. The last day I offered the kids in my group a copy of My Funny Dad, Harry, the book I wrote and was pleasantly surprised that most of them actually wanted a copy! I only had four though so told them I'd order more and mail it to them if they sent me an email.

Basketball review using a small ball and a wastebasket with review questions.

Animal charades giving a point to both the correct guesser and the actor if someone could guess what animal they were acting out.

It was also a blessing to see boys I taught in Sunday School when they were in 5th grade be helpers in VBS. They are in Jr. High and High School now and my heart rejoices when I see them serving our Lord Jesus Christ with me.

It was hot every day except Friday and rained Thursday so had to have most of the rec time indoors.  The kids and staff were flexible and no one complained.  Here is a picture of some of the kids enjoying the big puddle in the parking lot as they were leaving to go home.

Wading in church parking lot after VBS on Thursday.

Over $2400 was received in offering during the week that will be used to provide milk to kids at the Chain of Love orphanage in Brazil.  The video below gives a brief overview of the whole Bible School. 

Did your church have VBS yet?  Do you remember going as a kid?  Do you help in yours now?  Although none of the kids in my small group received Jesus as their Savior last week as far as I know, I did give them each a personal Bible Reading Record to encourage them to start reading their Bible.  Hope they use it!

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

AWW Monday: Wet Dog

Abby got soaked on her walk:

"Mommy, can you dry me off now please?"

Since Gerard is the one who walks her in the rain, I feel the least I can do is dry her off when they get home so that's my job.  When she's this wet I start by using a towel and then go to the blow dryer.

The rain coat I bought for Gerard keeps him much dryer now . . . when he remembers to wear it.

Find more cute Aww Monday pics at Aww Mondays.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

5 Things We Learned This Week (animals, sleep, repairs, NFL)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Napping Together

1. Turkeys

   Turkeys can swim--just ask Mountain Woman.

2. Cat Olympics (and doggies too)

   We were too late to enter the Synchronized Snoozing and Competitive Napping events. There were lots off good entries.  This is the picture we would have entered of Spunky Doodle and Manny Boy napping in our computer chair.
   

3. Sleep

   At twitter@OMGFacts I found out that if it takes less that 5 minutes to fall asleep it is likely linked to sleep deprivation. A healthy sleeper takes about 15 minutes. I am so glad I am a healthy sleeper again!

4. Repairs
   

   One of our inside doorknobs keeps falling off so I called Mr. Handyman (found in the Yellow Pages) who gave me a quote for $138! I thought this was outrageous, which my Facebook friends confirmed, and told him to forget it. Too bad Mountain Man doesn't live close by--he said he'd replace the whole door plus for that.

5. 

   
   Football--Browns and Patriots

   Pete Prisco, a NFL columnist, predicts the Browns will go 1-15 this year and the Patriots, 16-0. Guess I'll be wearing my Patriots shirt more this season than my Browns stuff unless they prove him wrong.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Don't See This Every Day Walking Down the Sidewalk

Our quiet street in a Cleveland suburb with houses close together

When riding down our street this week, we were surprised to see this walking down the street:

This 5-yr-old girl had a pony come to her birthday party and give rides to every one walking on the sidewalk.  I sometimes see mounted policemen on horses in downtown Cleveland but this was the first time I ever saw one walking on the sidewalk in my neighborhood!  What is the most unusual thing you ever saw in your neighborhood? 

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

My 8th Gotcha Day by Spunky Doodle

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today, on my 8th anniversary of my Gotcha Day! My mom chose some pictures of me she thought showed my cuteness and beauty for the slide show down memory lane. Hope you enjoy it!

I have a good life here and am so happy Karen brought me in to live with her. I was born in May as a feral! She couldn't stand the thought of me struggling through the winter to survive, especially after my other brothers and sisters all found homes. She thought I was the cutest and spunkiest anyway when she saw me trying to climb the big tree and always be on top of the others. Even if she had decided to take one of us before the others were all gone, she still would have chosen me! I can be moody at times, but still like lying in bed next to my mom and playing with her. Hope I get some extra play time today and maybe a special treat too!

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Abby Finds Buried Treasure

Abby Finds $10

While out walking Saturday morning, Abby amazes us once again by digging up a $10 bill as she sniffed along in the grass. Way to go Abby! You are such a good dog!  What's the best thing your pet ever dug up?

Life Lesson:  Always let your dog sniff along the way!

This is one of the images you can use on your sidebar.

I just found out about all the Olympic events and how to enter the pet olympics in blogland.  You have to hurry to enter (deadline is July 18), but there is still time.  Too bad my dad didn't get the picture of me actually digging up this $10--I could have entered the digging event.  Woof!  Woof!
 

Find more posts about pets or link up yours at Bozo's Pet Pride hop.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Friday Fragments A Day Late

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

I usually list things I learned during the week, but this week I didn't learn anything so I'll share what's on my mind.

We have two things missing. My husband lost the key to the club for his car yesterday. It just disappeared into thin air, no kidding! He used it in the morning to remove the club when he went to work, making a quick stop at the library on the way. When he got to work, the club key was gone! He searched all over the floor of the car and in his pockets but it was no where to be found. It's a good thing it disappeared AFTER the club was removed! When I got home from work, I searched too without success. I even took a trip up to the library to retrace his steps but didn't see the key anywhere. POOF! I have a spare one so we'll go get another key made but it sure is a mystery.

Our second missing thing is my comfortable blue cotton dress. I thought it was in my closet right where it belongs with my other summer dresses, but it's not there! I know for a fact it is not one I would have given away because I like wearing it because it's so comfortable--feels like a t-shirt! I have three four closets and have looked in all of them on separate occasions several times and can't find it anywhere. The investigation will continue, I still haven't checks the floors--it could have fallen off the rack and I have the laundry basket in the basement yet I could check which is a long shot. Wish me luck!

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

My First Cat Sitting Job

Sasha, my snoopervisor liked drinking from the sink

Today I got to visit two nice cats of a friend of mine.  Sasha greeted me as soon as I came in and followed me everywhere I went, except outside. 

Pumpkin stayed in hiding for about the first 1/2 hour I was there, but then came out for breakfast and paced by the back door, meowing to be let outside.  The cats usually do get to go out but not while their owners are gone.  Sorry, cats.

They are both handsome and friendly.  I spent some time petting them both.  There is an outside feral cat named Peaches too, but that one wasn't around when I was there.  I left some food and water for it outside though.

Pumpkin begging to go outside

There are also two birds who were chirping while I was there named Romeo and Juliet.  I cleaned their cage and gave them fresh water and some food too.  I am surprised the two big cats don't bother the birds, but they don't seem to pay any attention to them.

Juliet

Romeo

Watering the plants was where I ran into a slight problem.  It took me about 15 minutes go do the outside ones but when I poured half the watering can into the big plant in the front window, it was dripping onto the floor and made a big puddle.  I wiped some up with paper towels but didn't want to use them all up for that so looked for the linen closet to get a towel but couldn't find it.  I figure it was on a linoleum floor anyway and would dry eventually.  Fortunately that one only gets watered once a week.

I look forward to getting to know all these nice pets better.  I think I'll take my book along, "One Moment" and read to them some.  I'm sure they miss their mom and dad.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Aww Mondays: A Marine Goose

On one of Abby's morning walks, we discovered this cute goose in the Marine uniform and went back later to get a picture of it.  You just never know what we will find in our neighborhood.

Find more AWW Mondays and at Jodi's Journey.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

6 Friday Fragments (funny, Google, Graduation, celebrities, job, beards)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

1. Senior Moments

   Jodi's Journey had the funniest post I saw this week with this funny video about Senior Moments. Fortunately, I'm not this bad off yet!
   

2. Google Search

   It was nice to know someone actually did find our blog through a Google search. It was nice of them to leave a comment letting me know too! They searched for "how to fold a napkin" and did the crown fold using the instructions I shared!


3. Graduation and Certified

   The highlight of our week was with Abby completing her advanced training class at PetSmart and passing her Canine Good Citizen Test. We are so proud of her!  Of course, her diploma is displayed on our refrigerator!

4. Andy Griffith R.I.P.

   
   
   I was sad to learn Andy Griffith died of a heart attack at age 86. I was surprised to see he was divorced twice and was on his third marriage. I was also surprised to see he never won an Emmy award but Don Knotts did for his role as Barny Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. My dad always enjoyed watching him on "Matlock" too. He loved his hometown in N.C. and even has a street named after him! I learned all this from an article on Yahoo News (sorry, I didn't get the link). I enjoyed reading The Way Back To Mayberry--Lessons From A Simpler Time by Joey Fann.

5. Cat Sitting

   Remember when I wrote about My Dream Job? Well, I actually get to take a crack at it during my vacation week coming up the week of the 16th. A friend has asked me to take care of her two cats and two birds while she is gone and I am excited!

6. Beards

   
   
   When reading Gone Missing by Linda Castillo this week, I learned that in an Amish community, men who are married have beards. That is definitely more noticeable than a ring! I wonder if this is actually true. My review of this book will be posted tonight on our book blog if interested.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Canine Good Citizen--Congrats Abby!

Saturday Abby passed her Canine Good Citizen test with flying colors. We are so proud of her! She waited until after she was completely done with the whole test before she barked her happy woo hoo bark. Now all I have to do is wait for her official tag from the American Kennel Club and start calling around to see which nearby facilities will appreciate her visits. Here is the list of things she had to do:

Accepting a friendly stranger

sitting politely for petting

letting evaluator brush her and look at teeth, ears, eyes and touch between toes

walk along side owner without pulling

walk through a crowd

sit and down on command/stay in place

coming when called

pleasant reaction to another dog

ignoring distractions

separation from owners for 3 minutes without whining, barking or pacing

During the test, she was not allowed any food/treats, just praise and petting.  Not allowed to pee or poop during the test or will fail.  Dog fails if dog growls, snaps, bites, or attacks.

After Abby passed the test, we of course clapped and congratulated her.  We took a picture of  her with the other dogs who helped provide distractions and assisted with the test.  Right before I clicked the picture, Abby decided she should be front and center and moved up away from Gerard.  Then we stayed and helped Bosco, the big black rescue dog take the test too.  His owner was surprised that was all there was to it and thought Bosco could do that too and did!  Afterward, we went to the park for a couple hours to celebrate.  It was a big day for Abby and us! 

Abby was tested at PetSmart by her trainer, Vickie, who didn't want her picture taken.  Vickie was such a good trainer and she said "Abby was one of the most docile dogs she ever met and is absolutely one of the sweetest, most loveable dogs I have ever tested." 

Abby says, Happy 4th everyone!  Hope you all are good citizens too!  Fly your flag!  Woof!  Woof!


(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Our Favorite Reads For June by Haynes, Flynn and Rivers

Since Gerard's reviews are short, I let him have a tie for his June favorites.  The second one of his I read as well and didn't care for it at all.  Although I had several good books in June, my favorite was a contemporary Christian fiction combined with historical fiction by Francine Rivers.  It had the flavor of a Belva Plain book but without all the detailed description.

Gerard had a tie between two:

You just have to make time to read Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes —it's awesome!! It tells the story of young pretty Catherine Bailey. She was in a very abusive relationship with Lee. The thing that makes this book so good is that it follows her and Lee's relationship but also three years later as she is trying to recover and get back to being normal again. You get two stories at once! The writing is superb and the ending shocking! This is a page turner that is hard to beat. It doesn't get any better than this! Must read!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn tells the story of Nick and Amy. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy turns up missing. Did Nick have something to do with it? WOW oh WOW! It doesn't get much better than this story that is told by Nick and Amy. I had a love-hate relationship with them both! I never knew what was going to happen next and had a hard time putting it down. I hated to see it end! The writing is superb! I think this would make a fantastic movie and loved this book! Don't let GONE GIRL pass you by, believe the hype!

Gerard and I differ on our opinions of this book. I didn't care for it at all and only read about 1/3 of the way. I really didn't like either Nick or Amy all that much and the bad language turned me off too. It seemed I was plowing through it but wanted to keep going since Gerard thought it was so good. Then I saw another blogger's review of it and they didn't like it either. They said the first 100 pages were very boring. The reviewer compared it to Still Missing by Chevy Stevens and Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson because of the ending leaving the reader feeling tricked. I wish I could remember where I saw it so I could share the link here with you, but I can't remember. Anyhow, I was bored with this one so gave up on it and went on to read something else--"Impeccable Petunia" which I had a request to review.

Karen's Favorite for June

The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers is contemporary fiction about God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. After 13 years of marriage, Alex decides on his own to leave his steady job for an opportunity in California as a video game designer. His wife, Sierra, does not want to move and becomes angry and bitter. I particularly liked reading the part about the issues in the contemporary marriage. The couple has four times as much money but becomes very unhappy and Alex asks for a divorce. Sierra’s Godly mother gives her an old journal and a quilt of one of their pioneer ancestors, Mary Kathryn, who also had to move against her will back in 1847.

The author beautifully combines this contemporary fiction novel with historical fiction by showing the parallels between Sierra’s and Mary Kathryn’s journeys, women from two different time periods. They both are bitter and resentful towards God at the beginning but as he works in their lives, they come to see his love, faithfulness and goodness. Great writing with a wonderful message and a great ending! I think this would be an excellent book club read because of the marriage issues and the spiritual journey. It even has discussion questions in the back! This is my favorite read for June and balances out Gerard's dark books of late!

Visit Grab A Book From Our Stack to see all our book reviews (and more pictures of our pets).


(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this:

Monday Mischief: There Goes Our Unity Candle

Spunky Doodle in the act of tearing apart our unity candle

The beads and ribbon are just so tempting!  And the flowers at the base easily come out too!

Sorry, mom, but it wasn't just me.  Manny helped too!

The cats have pulled the beaded frame off so much that the holes are too big now to hold it in.  I tried turning the candle around and sticking it into the other side as best I could but it's crooked.  Oh well, I'm sure it won't stay that way for long anyway.

This post is part of the Monday Mischief blog hop.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

Share this: