June hiatus

So after much thought and termoil I have decided that I must go on a June Hiatus so that I can attempt to write my first novel. You see, I am perticipating in June's http://campnanowrimo.org/ ! I am going to be attempting to write a 50,000 novel in one month! EEK! Anyway I will occasionally write updates and have a few sneak peaks... but be on the look out for some REALLY great stuff coming up. Including something possibly REALLY exciting from most fabulous author friend Darynda Jones. *big grin*. Love you all! Oh and in the mean time keep me posted on what you're reading. If you'd like the oppertunity to make a guest post about a book you have read I would LOVE to post it. Just write it up and send it on over to readdrinkbebloggy@gmail.com .
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Bookshelf of Holding :: Lethal Rider Preview

Larissa Ione has a fun set of books within her Demonica world that are always a pleasure to read.  The demon hospital books are some of my favorites, I love Eidolon!  Larissa branched a bit from her demon hospital set into a set of books dedicated to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and their attempts to thwart the end of the world and enjoy love when they find it.
Thanatos, our hero, subjected himself to celibacy because he thought it would keep the apocalypse from coming...but, in book two he met Regan.  Thanatos seems to be a first shot wonder and got Regan pregnant. Now they have to navigate betrayal and the coming apocalypse in Lethal Rider.

"Thanatos, the most deadly Horseman of the Apocalypse, has endured thousands of years of celibacy to prevent the end of days. But just one night with the wickedly sexy Aegis Guardian, Regan Cooper, shatters centuries of resolve. Yet their passion comes with a price. And Thanatos must face a truth more terrifying than an apocalypse-he's about to become a father.

Demon-slayer Regan Cooper never imagined herself the maternal type, but with the fate of the world hanging in the balance she had no choice but to seduce Thanatos and bear his child. Now, as the final battle draws closer and his rage at being betrayed is overshadowed by an undeniable passion for the mother of his child, Thanatos has a life-shattering realization: To save the world, he must sacrifice the only thing he's ever wanted-a family"
 

Keep Reading!
Rhianna (Check me out at Good Reads to see what is on my bookshelf!)

Cash into the Trash


Cash into the Trash

these are the new "Reissued" shoes
these are the vintage ones, like the ones I had
          Once upon a time I had a pair of shoes. They weren’t particularly pretty, they weren’t super confortable, and I’m not even altogether sure they were even the right size, but… they were my cool shoes. They were red and plastic. They had these microfibers of glitter or something that made them seem like they had mini rainbows in them. I got them for probably 5$ at Savers. I could look through every single picture and probably couldn’t find a single one of me wearing them, but I have a lot of memories about them. They were great, and when I’d used them and abused them until they’d ripped in several places I threw them out.

Come to find out they were limited editions. They weren’t in amazing shape when I got them, but damned if they probably wouldn’t have been worth something to someone. You know, a shoe nut, I dunno.  So it got me thinking, what did you have once that you threw away thinking it was trash and come to find out it was actually worth something?



Maybe Bat Shoes are more your style??
I know a certain someone who would LOVE these shoes, if they weren't doll shoes
          I think everyone has one of these… Jesse let his little brother play with all of his vintage Starwars action figures. Little brother wasn’t exactly kind to them. Now, several years later, they could be worth a lot of money to the right collector. So I’d like to hear your stories… I know this post is short, and kinda lame… but I’m going to include some fun pictures of shoes and hopefully you will give me stories!! I have a very AWESOME exclusive post for you all coming up that I’m STOKED about. But I can’t tell you much more about it yet. Also make sure you’ve signed up for my give away with Bag of Holding! Your time is almost up!!



Okay people! Leave your comments of your Cash into Trash stories!! And as always, keep reading!
Category: 3 comments

Mama Chocolate

Mama's Chocolate

    A chocoholic's new addiction! 

 I love chocolate, anyone that has seen my tweets or knows me is aware of this. It is second only to my love of my three children. Although on some days I wonder about that. Don't worry I'm kidding, today anyway. {Winks}
    Recently my sister and I hosted the engagement party for my brother and his fiance. Not an easy task of course. The weekend before the big shindig was my mother's birthday. She also loves chocolate, so I blame her for my addiction. While shopping at Wegman's for the party food we came across a triple chocolate cake that I just KNEW Mom would love.
   
   That's right, THREE different types of chocolate. My Soon-To-Be-Sister-In-Law and I decided to get it for her, along with a nice bottle of ChocoVino. I was pretty excited about both of course. Especially because I've never had chocolate wine. So after a yummy home-made pizza night we let the kids play and then sang Happy Birthday to Mom.


   It was a long day so I was definitely in need of something with a little bit more kick than milk with my cake. Admittedly I was skeptical about ChocoVino. I mean, chocolate with WINE?! Yea it doesn't really sound appealing to me. Maybe because I'm not really a big wine drinker (my preference here) to begin with. Or maybe because I'm a chocoholic that doesn't like to dilute the yumminess of my addiction. Who knows? Either way, I sliced up the cake & poured some glasses for my STBSIL and I (Mom doesn't drink).
Me on the right & STBSIL Cheryl on left
   STBSIL was very excited to have some vino with me. Now I know why. Can we say YUM?? Not only was that cake as light, fluffy, and delicious as it looks but the wine was just as yummy as the cake. Who knew fusing together two such different flavors would work so well? But they did, at least to me and STBSIL. We didn't finish the bottle that night, after all we had party stuff to finish prepping for. I did however eventually finish it. It was good to the very last drop. 
    I credit the STBSIL for the suggestion of the ChocoVino. Thanks Sis! I raise my glass to you!

GIVEAWAY

My sister blog, Bag of Holding Blog, and I have gotten together to offer an amazing book lot catering to pregnant mommies! Take time out to enjoy and learn about your pregnancy and then a few quiet hours to read for fun!





   
 
 

Audio Books: For the Multitasking Maniac


     I love reading, I love seeing the words unfold on the page and feeling the paper between my fingers. I love the smells and textures that come with books. I also enjoy being able to read in the dark with my EReader while the baby sleeps beside me. What I've recently fallen in love with, though, is audio books. Though expensive, audio books allow for unlimited possibilities for the multitasking maniac: yours truly.

     When I turn on my audio book I can rock the baby or play with the baby, or if they baby is sleeping I can crochet or knit. When I’m having trouble sleeping I can put on my audio book and close my eyes and just let the voice actor lull me to sleep. Of course there are problems with this: Audio books don’t save your place, they just keep on playing until they reach the end so losing your place is common if you’re listening to fall asleep. Also, you’ll miss things if your attention drifts away, something very common with the ADD mind.

     It’s one of those things you have to weigh the pros against the cons. The only real con I think might hinder my going audio book crazy is the price: 34 dollars for a book that, honestly, I can listen to in just one day if I wanted to, is extremely irresponsible. So I joined Audible’s little club and promised myself I wouldn’t listen to a book in one sitting. My life is crazy right now so it’s pretty easy to keep this promise. With one free book a month and discounts on the other ones I think it’ll be worth it! Of course I can’t stop my Amazon addiction: I saw a book in Costco that I thought looked interesting but it was 12$. I found it on Amazon for .98 cents 4$ for expedited shipping and bam! I got a book for 4.98$. I think I’ve mentioned that I actually have an Amazon allowance: if someone doesn’t monitor my book addiction I’d spend our entire savings on books. There’s just SO many! I’ve given up on going back to my old favorites over and over, but I think with my Charley Davidson audio collection I can easily relisten to all of them while I’m waiting for a month to pass so I can get my free audio book, and I’m sure you know by now about my addiction to Charley… I’m thinking of renaming this blog Addicted to books. But didn’t you know that already? I mean this is Read Drink Be Bloggy!

     I’d like to hear more about YOUR reading addictions and I’m missing having comments from my readers! So go comment crazy!! I’m excited to hear from you all!



     And as always, Keep Reading!
Category: 3 comments

Voice or Choice?



Voice Or Choice?      
      The topic of transgender teens has, and unfortunately, probably always will be a pretty touchy subject with most people. Tonight's Glee did a fairly tasteful job of doing an episode containing this issue. I can't help but wonder, though, does putting these teens struggle on television give them a voice or does it offer a choice to teens who feel uncomfortable in their own bodies?
     Let’s face it; no one did High School gracefully. I wasn't so much popular as notorious: people still recognize me and I often have no idea who they are. I'm pretty good with faces but I chalk it up to having been in the dramatic spotlight one too many times throughout my youth. Still, having dramatic friends and being look at as somewhat as a freak in high school is nothing compared to these teens who don’t even identify themselves as the sex of their body parts. I can't imagine going through my life with girly bits and always feeling like I was a man.

     I’m not typically the kind of person who wonders these things. I know that when I saw the character Wade stand up for himself and for who he wants to be I swelled with pride for the character, and when he/she started singing I was in awe! I mean I’ve seen drag queen performers who weren’t this convincing. It was obvious to me that Wade really was Unique. To me, I think any opportunity for a show to stand up for those who are different is a great thing. But I do have the voice of some people, who are less open minded, in the back of my head. Almost every show on tv now has a gay or lesbian couple, and while I love my LGBT community I sometimes find myself wondering if this isn’t so much giving a voice to the LGBT community as it is almost glamorizing it. Showing a boy who feels like a girl and that moment when he embraces who he is and puts on that dress and high heel shoes and have a glorious moment fills me with pride for this boy, but to a younger child this image might be confusing. Why is this boy dressing like a woman? He seems so happy, should I be wearing dresses? Might be some questions a very young child might ask themselves. It goes back to the nature vs nurture issue. How much of who we are is programmed in our DNA and how much is the way we are raised? I probably wouldn’t even be thinking these things if I hadn’t worked with children and seen for myself how moldable their little minds can be. There was a student at one of my schools who wasn’t even two years old and wanted to wear high heeled shoes and dresses, even when offered the male alternative. His parents just went with it, his father even said to me “If he ends up being a cross-dresser at least he’ll be the best damned cross-dresser out there.” Gotta say I love his attitude, I just wonder; were they nurturing his nature or were they nurturing one possible outcome for this child’s future? It’s certainly not the easy way things could go for this kid, for any kid, being LGBT is one of the toughest lives out there. 
      So what’s my point? I love the LGBT community, I love every time I hear they have won a case for their fight for human rights, I love seeing LGBT embrace who they are and succeed, I just can’t help but wonder about this very touchy subject. Could they have had it easier? Of course, we could all pull our heads out of our butts and accept them for who they are, give them the rights they shouldn’t even have to ask for, and then there wouldn’t be an issue at all, but until that time… well, what do we do? I guess one way is to be sure that our children are really and truly emotionally ready for the television we allow them to watch. There’s a fat chance that’ll happen, so the real option seems to be to talk to our children, constantly, even if the topics are uncomfortable for us adults, and to pull our heads out of our butts and accept everyone for just being who they are. Because, really, who cares why they are who they are as long as they are happy? And they would be, if humanity weren’t so stubborn about acceptance.

     I have to stop thinking about things and just accept them.
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De-funk My Funk


De-funk My Funk:
Have you ever lost your inspiration? Lost a story? I feel like I missed my chance with my last story idea by waiting too Long to actually put my fingers to the key board. I've lost my excitement and the drive to write. Actually, I've lost a lot of my drive recently. I'm not sure what cause it, possibly lack of sleep, or an increase in stress. I took on a lot of projects and now I feel like I'm drowning in them. The worst part of drowning is that the one thing that I want to do, the thing that would make me the happiest, is what's been lost: my writing. Not just my blogging, which has been at a decrease as well, but my creativity. Is it possible to use up your creativity?
I took on knitting, crochet, I've got my own blog as well as guest posting on three other blogs, and I started my own business! I'm now a consultant with the Pampered Chef, not to mention being a full time mom. I love ALL of these ventures, but I miss my writing. I'm exhausted. My weight loss is totally of track.
My Pampered Chef is taking a lot more work than I anticipated and is making me feel as though I'm hounding my friends and my family for purchases ALL THE TIME and getting little to no interest, but they are great products and I believe in them and I know I could do some good with the money as well as possibly using the business I do some good in the world by donating some of my benefits to charities and organizations that are near and dear to my heart. I can't do any of these things with our buyers, though, so I'm left with calling everyone I know or Facebook stalking them and constantly asking them to buy products. No one wants to host parties.

On another note, my knitting has been replaced by crochet. I really enjoy all of the fun things that can be done with crochet that's pretty impossible with knitting unless you're far better at it than I am. Still most of my projects have flopped and I'm not trying as hard to get the done and sell them as I was. A lot of this started when Jesse lost his job. Having him around all the time is nice but it's also one more huge distraction. This is mostly my fault because since he's home I feel like we should be doing things. But neither he nor I have been doing what we REALLY should. Also, baby is now mobile. My leisurely days are over. To top it all off my little Angel has been a bit of a hellion lately. I don't know if it's teething or a super early onset of rebellion and independence. Whatever it is it's keeping my up at night because I'm not able to do what I need to during the day. I wish I was
sleeping better! I wish he would sleep better! You know how when you don't sleep your brain malfunctions? Your memory is shot, linguistics is suddenly a skill you wonder if you ever had, and thoughts escape nearly quicker than they came, and let's not forget emotional overdrive, and a big ol' bite from the cranky bug right on the tooshie. I hate being sleep deprived.
What I really hate, though, is feeling like I'm losing the most interesting part about myself: my creative writing. So any of you writers, how do you begin to get your interest back in a story? HAVE you ever lost interest in a story? Do you have any exercises that help get your creative juices flowing? How about
ways to balance a heavy work load?


Category: 3 comments

Bookshelf of Holding :: Lover Reborn Review

As I said in my preview, I was not looking forward to this book and, to be completely honest, I was prepared to hate it.  But, I am happy to say, I ended up really loving it.  I think what I enjoyed best was seeing that the other previously paired couples were having issues in their relationship.  JR Ward seems to make it a point to show that although these mated couples are in love, they still have relationship issues they need to work through.  This isn't the first book she has shown this concept in, either.  I like that "happily ever after" doesn't mean "ridiculously and unrealistically 100% perfect bliss" it means that love is there, but so is life and life brings issues, problems, and growth within a relationship.

** SPOILERS **

This book seemed really long - but in a good way.  It really focused on Thorment getting passed the loss of his mate (and unborn son). It was torturous to read his journey in dealing with such a huge loss. Having such a monumental issue to deal with would have been ridiculous in a shorter book, so the length was a huge plus. I wish that No'One had more of a backbone earlier on in the book, but you could see her growth as well (just not on as large of a scale as Thorment's).

** END **

Overall, I think this book pulled me, successfully, back on the Black Dagger Brotherhood train. I was starting to waiver with the last few books, but I enjoyed this one so much that I am looking forward to the next one!

Rating: 4 stars (should read)

Keep Reading!
Rhianna (Check me out at Good Reads to see what is on my bookshelf!)


E-Reader E-Smeader

Hi again friends!

I've been working on a post about Alice In Wonderland (my favorite story of all time) for a bit to post for you. Since it's unfinished I thought I would post an honest bookworm's thoughts of the e-reader vs book debate.
    I've had a lifelong love of books, I blame my parents for that. When I was a little kid growing up in Brooklyn we had almost weekly trips to our local library. To this day I can remember it! The gleam of the tile floors as you enter the building, the way your shoes clicked and squeeked as you walked over them to the stairs. The sound of us pounding the steel steps on the way up to the children's floor because, well why on Earth would we walk NORMALLY over such fabulous noise makers? Most of all I remember the smell, you know what I mean, the rich Earthy smell of hundreds of books of various ages, lined up on wooden shelves. It is such a wonderful smell. Then there was the feel of the books. The texture of the old pages, the slickness of the new ones. There is nothing like having a book in your hands. 

  
Me & my Baby w a new book!

   This mad love of that place, that smell, those textures followed me into adulthood. Naturally I've been passing that on to my children. My son, who is 8, used to LOVE to sit and read with me. Since he now is required to do it for school, his love of books is somewhat diminished. I remember that phase, it will pass. Right? Right?! My two little girls also really love books, even if we aren't the ones reading to them. So now that books are so rampantly available on electronic readers, what's a book worm to do? How do we make the next generation understand the excitement that comes with getting a new book in our hands? Where does the love of the actual written page go?


   The new era of electronic reader has pushed many, if not almost all, brick-and-mortar book stores out into the void of space and bankrupcy court. The closing of the local Borders store brought an actual tear to my eyes. My son even commented how he will miss going there with me. My kids and I loved to go to book stores to get a new book, just as much as they love the library visits they take with their Grandma. We didn't get to go there often but we did get to go, it was a special treat for us all. Are libraries next up on the list of businesses to be destroyed by all things e-? I hope not.
   But I digress. Here is a link to a good review site of the many different kinds of e-readers (here). I myself was hesitant to get an e-reader, I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon of just anything, especially electronics when they get "updated" so often. However last year I got my darlin Hubby a Kindle for Christmas. I wasn't sure on this since he, like me, is a big book person. He loves it though! Granted we didn't run out and toss all the books in our house but we did go through and make a few piles of books where the actual book itself is sentimentally preferred over an electronic version of it. The rest got donated to our local library.
   Each of our kids has a three-shelf book shelf in their room, all overflowing with books. We plan on keeping it that way. Children need the joy of reading a book, with pages to turn & the whole bit. That's is our stance on it and you can't convince either of us to change it. Go ahead and try... Eventually we will get an e-reader device of some kind of course for the kids, as they age and get into the real good stuff. For now they can have books, and the messes that accompany them.
  I myself have an e-reader on my cell phone. I just finished my first book on it too. I just read "First Grave on the Right", as suggested by the Fabulous Cait. (Link to Author Here) I loved it, the book & the reader on my phone! I don't get long breaks at work so it was convient to have the reader on there. I loved how easy it was to just grab and go, the reader keeps my place. Which I LOVE. I'm notorious for losing bookmarks & so I would then bend the page of the book...gasp!
  

   So now that I've experienced the joy & convienience of the e-reader, I'm hooked. They are so handy to have, and there is no heavy pile of books to take on vacation or clean up. Don't get me wrong, I will still own books, actual paper containing books but....I love my e-reader...shhhh don't tell my books.

So do you have a reader? What kind? Which do you prefer, the book or the reader? Sound off in the comments & I'll see ya on the next pixellated page!!

Hunger Games


Hunger Games:

     Last night I finished The Hunger Games, the book. I was blown away by the ending. *SPOILER* The Muttation dogs attacking Katniss, Peeta, and Cato, the revocation of the two can win rule, and then Katniss literally clawing at the glass calling out Peeta’s name while the doctors work to save his life… Did any of you feel like these things were missing from the movie? That’s because they were. The suspense of them anyway.

     Other than those few things I really felt like the movie captures the books very well as far as the story goes, but some of the emotion I found a bit lackluster, a few more differences that left me a little… shall we say… Hungry? The costumes were breath taking, the attention to character detail was fantastic, and the casting was OUTSTANDING. I’ve heard there were some people who were upset that Rue and Thresh were black, I have to say… were we reading the same book?


The author’s colloquialisms made both Thresh and Rue’s ethnic background very apparent to me. The author seems to make that point by describing Thresh’s strength and speed and even the location Thresh decides to live in reminds me very much of the tall African savannahs. Also, the speed, dexterity, and athleticism that Rue exhibits at such a young age are common with African American athletes.

     I love that Foxface’s hair was the exact color I pictured it, and that even Ceaser’s eyebrows were blue. At first I wasn’t sure about Josh Hutcherson being cast as Peeta, but as the movie went on I thought he did a great job. I also adored Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. I honestly hadn’t put too much thought into the other characters, not even Cato, although I did think they all did a very good job.  When I heard Lenny Kravits was going to be Cinna I was very shocked but he pulled it off beautifully. I had always pictured Haymitch as a drunken version of Mad Eye Moody, but I really liked Woody Harrelson. He made me really feel for Haymitch and it was much more obvious the change between drunkard who doesn’t care about his protĂ©gĂ©’s to someone who would do anything to help them get sponsors.

     So here’s what I missed: I missed feeling the connection from Peeta towards Katniss, I missed the tug of war of Katniss’s emotions about returning his affections. I felt like the movie way underplayed the love story! From the moment she pulled her hand away on the carriage I knew this was going to be the case. I kept hoping they would recover it but they never quite managed it. In the book Katniss and Peeta are holding hands so tightly that they are literally hurting each other, but neither one wants to let go. Through the whole book I could feel how much Peeta adored Katniss and her blindness to it actually irritated the hell out of me (I’ve mentioned before how annoyed I get when the character is missing something super obvious, it’s a flaw… I’m working on it).  I knew in the back of my head that Gale would be an issue when they got home if they both survived, but until I reached the end I had no hope they would. I felt as though the movie missed the connection Katniss had with Haymitch, not only that she hated his guts most of
the time, but also how well she understood his meaning behind giving and with holding gifts. For the most part I felt like Katniss was sort of indifferent to Peeta, they didn’t ever make it very clear that they were supposed to be playing the “friends or lovers” angle from the moment they got off that chariot. It just seemed like it happened more naturally. I really missed that Katniss didn’t scream Peeta’s name when they announced there could be two victors, but I suppose a whisper can be equally effective when you’re on film, and it is such a small thing, but it’s also one thing that helps get Katniss out of the dog house during their closing interview.

     Speaking of dogs… in the books my heart actually froze up when I realized what Katniss did, that the dogs actually were parts of their former competitors, it was never clean just how much they were though. In the movie they were big and scary, but it wasn’t a sick and twisted thing that the Capitol did like it was in the book. Also, Peeta was not fatally wounded by the dogs and so their desperation to commit suicide felt a little hasty. I truly believe had Peeta not been on death’s door already Katniss would never have thought about taking her own life instead. I also didn’t feel like Katniss needed

Peeta, it very much felt like a slap in the face to the Capitol. There also was not that horrible moment on the train home when Peeta believes she made it all up. True, Katniss is torn, on the one hand she doesn’t ever want to be married or have kids, but I truly believe that she deeply feels for Peeta. I also believe, though, that if Katniss allows those doors to be opened towards love she may be flooded by them. I know somewhere she loves Gale, she just hasn’t allowed herself to ever feel romantic love before. I start book two tonight and I believe a lot of my questions may be answered, and I’m sure a lot more will be asked as we head into book three.

     I have a lot of questions regarding the cut backs to the Capitol and whether or not they took snipits from book two and stuck them in the first movie. I guess only my reading further will tell! In any case this was definitely the best book to film adaptation I have ever seen,  and I’m excited to see the future of this series.


Keep reading and watching my friends!
Category: 2 comments

Bookshelf of Holding :: Lover Reborn Preview

Howdy again, folks!  J R Ward just released the latest Black Dagger Brotherhood book this week: Lover Reorn!  YUM!  Although I have some favorite (and some not-so-favorite) books in this series, I am still actively following the series.
I have mixed feelings about reading this book; mainly because it tells the story of Tohrment.  For those who have read some or all of the series, Tohrment has already had a "love of his life"/mate - Wellsie. I LOVED the character Wellsie - and I was utterly HEARTBROKEN when she (*SPOILER*) died a few books into the series.  Really - it was a sad moment.  So, I am not sure if I will like a mate v2.0 when previous lore in the Black Daggerhood series made it clear that Tohrment and Wellsie loved each other fully, utterly, and passionately.
This book is on my uber current to-read list - as in, I will be reading it over the weekend.  Once I have it all read I will let you know my overall thoughts in a new post: Bookshelf of Holding :: Lover Reborn Review.  It will contain spoilers, so you have been warned!

Keep Reading!
Rhianna (Check me out at Good Reads to see what is on my bookshelf!)

"In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. The city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Now back in the Brotherhood - and unrecognisable as the vampire leader he once was - Tohrment is physically emaciated and heartbroken beyond despair. When he begins to see his beloved in his dreams - trapped in a cold, isolating netherworld - Tohr turns to a self-serving fallen angel in hopes of saving the one he has lost. When he's told he must learn to love another to free his former mate, Tohr knows they are all doomed...

Except then a female with a shadowed history begins to get through to him. Against the backdrop of the raging war with the lessers, and with a new clan of vampires vying for the Blind King's throne, Tohr struggles between the buried past, and a very hot, passion-filled future...but can his heart let go and set all of them free?
"

Parenting 101: lab study only.

     Imagine being thrown in to a lab study course with absolutely zero training, no tried and true lab books, and no real professor. That's what it’s like to be a parent. Sure, there are books aplenty but what worked for one parent may not work for you, and what worked for ten parents most likely gives you a headache, and you better believe that if it worked for every other parent you have ever met you can forget it having a snowballs chance in hell with you. You'll try every suggestion and your kid will still look at you in such a way that makes you positive that if your precious little angel could talk they'd be saying "ha! Yeah right, ya dummy, better luck next time!"

     The best part is that what one day was a gummy smiling little bundle of happiness will the next become a raging, teething, nonsleeping kick your kidneys till they are black and blue ball of fury (should you do what I did and keep the baby in bed with you). As we speak its 1030 pm and I firmly believe that the db's insistence at giving baby a couple sips of coke at the 8pm dinner has caused baby to be laying T-boning me and repeatedly using both feet to try to kick in my liver. I know of course that in about 10 minutes he will pass out and become Mommy’s little angel once more, but in the mean time I'm writing to keep my frustration at a minimum.
     The Dh may not always be around to hand baby off to, and I may get called in to take over when he decides he no longer knows what to do with baby, but at least he’s there! These single moms I know... well they are quite simply amazing. How DO they do it?! And I have an easy kid!! I mean, I have the world’s easiest going child! What I consider throwing a fit is equivalent to some of my friends kids minor fussing. My mom reminds me hourly how lucky I am and how abnormally mellow tempered my son is. Still, to me, we have our hair pulling moments, too. Typically it’s him pulling my hair though, as opposed to me pulling out my own. We couldn't both do it or I’d have no hair left.
     The point, of this rather pointless entry, is that there IS no studying for being a good parent, there's no perfect parent (though there are definitely really crappy ones out there), but we all do what we can and for THAT we should give ourselves a pat on the back... Or better yet, grab your best mommy friend and pat her on the back…preferably while sobbing outyou’re your frustrations, cause you all know none of us would make it without each other to lean on.
     One thing you can be sure of: there's always someone that's going to judge you... just don't let that person be yourself! Unless you're one of those crappy parents, but, since you're reading this, you probably aren't one of those. Love you all my mommy friends. You get me through the tough times.

Bad Bad Bloggy Mommy

    
     First of all I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to my sisters for keeping this blog Live while I’ve been busy. I’m a mad, mad crazy lady right now. Here’s a life update:

     My DH’s job kinda went sour, Sony pulled the plug on the game he was making and so now he may be out of a job, of course they haven’t officially told him anything yet so we’re holding our breath! In the mean time I have become a Pampered Chef consultant! I’m so excited to get this new career underway! I also have been working on doing some Bloggy Networking. As you can see I have a new Ad on my page for a wonderful blogger Geektastic! Please check her out! As well as setting up my Sisters! Then I’ve been trying to learn crochet, I’ve successfully created two beautiful headbands for Sister Blogger Angie’s two cutie pies! Now I’m working on making a robot for my own son! Wish me luck! Finally I have this story ratteling around in my head, I need to get it onto the page but I wanted to try plotting it… I’ve since discovered that I’m a horrible plotter. Add to ALL of this that I’m not actually getting a lot of support from the fam on the whole writing thing (which is of course my real dream) and you’ve got one crazy Bloggy Mommy. So that’s the update!



Btw, I’ve finished Kiss of Frost and I loved it, looking forward to Dark Frost coming soon, but in the mean time I’m going to start Hunger Games! I plan on reading the book and seeing the movie and doing a whole book to movie review and actually going into that whole loathed topic. Get your opinions ready my Bloggy friends! I hope to see LOTS of comments with your favorite and least favorite book to movie/book to TV show experiences! Love you all! Keep reading!
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Book Shelf of Holding :: Night Play

Howdy!  I'm Rhianna and I'll be regularly guest posting on Read, Drink, and Be Bloggy. I am hoping to bring a new paranormal romance book review (or general post on romance novels) once or twice a month!


Night Play
by: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Night Play is one of my favorite books in the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.The book tells the love story between Bride McTierney (a human) and Vane Kattalakis (Sherrilyn Kenyon's version of a were wolf).  I really liked the fact that Bride is described as being a size 18 bombshell. Yeah, you read correct: a size 18!  And, that her hero, Vane, loved that about her.  Their story is scrumptious; it includes a mating bond, just desserts on an ex-boyfriend, and even some time travel!  It's an easy, nice read and a great addition to the Dark Hunter series.  This is one book I read over and over again because I genuinely enjoy the story and characters.



Keep Reading!
Rhianna (Check me out at Good Reads to see what is on my bookshelf!)


Mommy's Drink

A Little Drink for Mommy
   the Opinion of an Alcoholic Natural Disaster by Angie (@angiedjw on twitter)

   Being a mom is hard, kids are the best things that can happened to someone ever, also the worse. It's fun & entertaining but it's also difficult, stressful & exhausting, basically it's chaos in diapers. How do I know this? Simple, I'm a Mom. Not just any mom, a mom of 3. My kidlets, as I commonly refer to them, are 8 and 4 years old and then there's the 15 month old. With needing to get 2 kids to 5 different activities and their associated practices and rehearsal times, as well as us both having full time jobs, and being active members of our church, we spend a LOT of time in the car, hurrying around, stressed, and plain simply tired. True we bring it all on ourself but hey we're molding little minds into active healthy members of society. No wonder Mommy needs a drink every now and then. Mommy's drink of choice, a mudslide! Yes MUDSLIDE, a drink made of alcohol named after a natural disaster, fitting for motherhood wouldn't you say?

Making a mudslide is easy (single serving recipe taken from here):
   Put it in a blender and let it spin, or put it in a shaker and shake, shake, shake senora, shake your alchy right. Or you can just pour the yummy stuff over ice and drink it like that, which is how I do it.
   I ran out of the Kahlua & Baileys not too long ago and asked Hubby to stop by the liquor store to buy another bottle of each, this was a mistake. Not because he doesn't know what the stuff is but because my empty bottles happen to coincide with New Years. Boy do people like to clear out the liquor for that. Instead of bringing me home the actual liquor he brought me home these:


I took this picture, not sure why these are sideways,
maybe the bottles are drunk. I doubt it though.
    Not exactly the same. These are those pre-made drink mixes, that when drank straight from the bottle taste mostly like syrup. You've probably seen similar things like this in a 7-11 or local grocery for margaritas, pina coladas, & daiquiris but those have a lower alcohol %. But same deal, you MUST make these by pouring them over ice into a blender and making them frozen drink style.

Here's an honest review of each of the three:
My Mommy Drink:
  I use a modified version of recipe I found online 3 years ago (sorry can't point you to it since I lost the paper after I memorized it).
  • 2 parts (or shots depending on how you chose to measure it) Kahlua
  • 2 parts Baileys Irish Cream
  • 1 full cup (yep 8 oz) 2%milk (you can also use cream if you'd like it really thick)
  • 1 part vodka 
I don't blend it, but yes it is all over ice just as it is, so there is usually a lot of ice in the cup. As I mentioned, I use milk (and count it towards my daily dairy serving). What? It counts if I consume it right?

Baileys Mudslide:
  I made this one first when I ran out of the "real" Mudslide ingredients. I'll admit, I like those frozen drinks when you buy them at a restaurant, maybe they add an extra shot of one of the ingredients to make it extra yum. This didn't taste at all like those. When I made this I felt it was definitely lacking from the mudslides' I'm used to drinking that I make myself. It really should be noted it doesn't taste like the ones at the restaurants, at least not to me. Also, I'd probably have to drink about half the bottle before I felt any sort of effect from the alchol in it. Over the last two months I've mostly made them using this stuff, with no extra shots since again, I'm out.

Kahlua Mudslide:
  I am currently drinking one of these, as in, while I type this review out. See, look:


Woo are you drunk? Cause this cup is totally sitting upright.
   Taste wise it is very similar to the Bailey's one. This one does have a bit more of a syrupy kick to it though. I love syrup, you know, on pancakes. In my drinks, not so much.  I may have become immune to the it's-not-directly-from-the-bottle alchy effect or something. Again I'm thinking half a bottle later I may feel a tingle.
   For both of the pre-made mixes I fill my blender to the 1/4 mark and add twice the ice as the liquid level. It took about 1/4 of the Bailey's bottle before I found a good Ice-Liquid ratio that removed the syrup taste, this is where I got that equation...experimentation.
   Overall the drink mixes are not bad, just not my taste I'd say. If you are a big fan of the mixes from stores, then I suggest giving them a go. Just make sure you have a working blender. The best part of these drink mixes is that my kids "help" me make them by pushing the blender button. What? We're bonding, and I swear Mommy does not drink that much. Yea, I know, setting a bad example, bla bla bla. Hey FIVE activites, rehersals, practices, church activites, work AND they think Mommy's drink looks like chocolate milk so they are allowed to have that while I have my one drink.
   Sadly until those two bottles are empty I'm not allowed to buy the "real" mudslide ingredients.Sad for me of course. Can't waste money or liquor, afterall there is liquor in there and we've got "healthier" sport related activites to spend on. It's an unfair but understandable compromise between Hubbs and I. Next time though, I'm hittin the ABC store myself, otherwise Mommy might be A Big Crank!


A Real Mudslide, see it's not laying over drunk.
 Have you ever drank an alcoholic natural disaster? How was it?

Conflicted/Addicted

     So I’ve now finished Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep and have moved on to Kiss of Frost (the second book in the series). My feelings about this series, thus far, can be summed up in one word: conflicted. On the one hand Touch of Frost reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Do you remember that one? Harry was such a winey little turd in that book that I found myself yelling at the pages and even threw my book into the laundry basket once or twice. So here’s the breakdown of the story before I go on: Gwen Frost finds herself at a new school, knowing no one, shortly after her mother dies in a car crash caused by a drunk driver (though I have a sneaking suspicion that’s not at all what really happened… only time will tell). This is a pretty basic set up for a very basic story, but, the awesome part of this story is that Gwen is what’s known as a Gypsy. Not the card reading vagabond type, but she has special powers: when she touches things she can see and feel everything an object has been through; whether the object is alive, dead, or inanimate.

      This school, in which she knows no one (and reminds the reader of this ad nauseum ad infinitum), has got to be the coolest school next to Hogwarts itself. Everyone who goes there is a descendant from mythological warriors who fought in the Chaos war against a God named Loki. There were Valkyries, Romans, Spartans, Amazons, ninjas, samurai, and many, many, many others. This sounds like an amazing premise for a story right? Except that Gwen herself is utterly loathed to everything around her. She hates that the kids are so snobby and rich and have every new gadget and the very best top brand name everything, she hates the food served in the cafeteria (albeit fillet minion pizza does sound really freaking weird, and that’s not even the strangest example given), and she hates her classes. Though she, herself, has magic and witnesses the magic the other students poses she still does not believe in any of it. She sits in her Myth History class and pretty much ignores everything the teacher is telling her because she simply thinks it’s stupid and couldn’t possibly be true. I want to scream at her “HELLO! HOW COULD IT NOT BE TRUE? YOU TOUCH STUFF AND SEE THINGS, YOUR GRANDMA SEES THE FUTURE, YOUR MOM KNEW WHEN PEOPLE WERE LYING, AND THE KIDS IN THE SCHOOL HAVE SPARKLERS COMING OUT OF THEIR FINGERTIPS!!!” What’s there not to believe?? I get very animated when I’m angry at characters.

     As the story progresses some even weirder than usual things start happening to Gwen: she witnesses a girl die in the library where she works. Something feels wrong to her. One of my biggest pet peeves in a story is a mystery novel where the mystery is blatantly obvious to everyone but the main character, so when I figured out what was going on long before Gwen did I was slightly annoyed. Not to mention the fact that most of the dialogue read like bad movie lines or an adult writer trying to dumb down her characters to make them believably “teen-like”. I know quite a few teenagers that don’t have to talk like idiots for it to be obvious that they lack life experience.

     Still, with such a cool story premise and a love interest that’s totally drool worthy, as well as a plethora of interesting characters, this story wasn’t exactly bad. I couldn’t put my finger on it; despite my being seriously irritated by Gwen I couldn’t stop reading! Even at the end of the book I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. The descriptions were great, the characters were a little predictable but in a way that any avid reader may find any character (someone always reminds you of someone else you’ve read after about 100 books), and the dialogue, as movie quotie as it seemed, was interesting and fit the personalities of the characters. With an amazing story idea and a lot of room to grow I found myself immediately buying the second book for my Kindle.

     I’m not very far in to Kiss of Frost but I’ve seen huge improvements, and seeing as how there are quite a few books after this one I can only imagine it keeps getting better and better. Much like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a lot of the issues I had with the story weren’t really about the story so much as issues with a snotty and sometimes vapid teenager. Well, who hasn’t dealt with a few of those?!  I can honestly say that I’m fully enjoying Kiss of Frost and my new word for this series is now: Addicted.

     I know! I know! I spent 90% of this blog basically bashing the books. But, seriously, if you pick one up (and I suggest you do), I think you will find yourself getting pulled along by the story the same way I was. After all, we got through Order of the Phoenix didn’t we? This series is just too good of a story arc not to keep reading and not to suggest it to you all. I will keep you updated as I continue to finish reading the series. I’m not even going to tell you more about the books because I just know I’ll accidentally throw in a spoiler, I’ll just tell you that they are definitely worth picking up.

     I also intend to read her adult novels starting with Her Elemental Assassin number one: Spider's Bite. If any of you decide you can’t stand the teen angst and shoot for one of her adult novels and happen to get to this one before me let me know and you can, if you want, do a guest blog post on the book!

By the way, all of these books have been out for a while, I have a serious problem starting series in the middle. If you don't, though, check out By A Thread, which was just released and has gotten FANTASTIC reviews!


Check out all of Jennifer's books at http://www.jenniferestep.com/

For my readers: Have you ever been conflicted or addicted to a book or series? Which ones and why? Please leave comments!
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"How To" Books and How I Hate You

     Have you ever read a How To book? Did you get anything out of it? I’ve tried to read a couple of them over the years and I’ve always been pretty disappointed.

     The first How To book I ever read was a How To have better sex book. The first chapter was about “getting to know your vagina”. I was a little surprised by this because, after all, I’ve lived with my vagina my whole life: I thought we were pretty well acquainted. I was wrong. The book said to get a mirror and look at my girl. I put the book down and never picked it back up. I was pretty sure that a book talking about masturbation and an up close and personal with my Lower Lady was NOT going to help me rediscover my libido. In fact I was quite sure that if I looked at her in the mirror I would realize exactly why I wasn’t feeling like having sex: because Lady Friend is not such a good looker and any doubts about why we were not on speaking terms would be summed up into one word if I looked at her: ugly.  It was shortly after this that I realized the problem wasn’t with me at all. I was just dating a D-bag. That set me and My Girl back to rights. Funny how she knew before I did that the relationship was a dud.

     The second How To book was about knitting, and it was more of an idiots guide than an actual How To. Knitting is not such a complicated thing, really, once you’ve figured it out a bit. I wanted to be a better knitter and knit more complicated things so I ordered the book for my Kindle. The words describing the knitting, even the knitting things I already knew how to do, made no sense to me what so ever. Even the pictures had my brain spinning. I needed and idiots guide to the idiots guide!

     Now I do How To Videos: they are free on YouTube and you can rewind them and I even feel better about shouting at my computer screen and a real person as opposed to the written word on the page when the videos make no sense to me. I wouldn’t suggest looking up How To Videos on how to have better sex though. Just a suggestion.
Category: 6 comments

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!


It’s Dr Seuss’s birthday and I’m sure we all have a Dr Seuss story. I grew up having his stories read to me, then I read them to myself, and now I am reading them to my son. His stories are eternal and so close to the heart, I’m sure, of many millions of people around the world.

     One Fish taught me to count, Sam I am taught me to try new things, Cat in the Hat taught me that there’s mischief to be had at every corner (I may have not taken the proper lesson I was meant to from that story), and even got my Christmas Spirit on with The Grinch. I’ve enjoyed seeing many adaptations to his stories and watching them come to life in movies; both live action and animated.

     Dr Seuss is one Author I believe everyone can agree played a part in their lives, he will be missed, but always loved.



Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!
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