Sandra Cox's Blog, page 246

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My

Vanilla Brandy, err Vanilla Extract

Greetings everyone, yes it is Monday, but it's getting closer and closer to the holidays where we'll be home even on Mondays.
My Vanilla Extract is bottled and ready to go.  I ordered the bottles and labels on line. Next year I'm going to start in July so those beans can get good and saturated, and my vanilla will smell more like extract and less like brandy:) I'm giving them out with a Christmas spatula and chocolate covered pretzel.

Babies are still in holding pattern, which is just fine with the hh since he is in the middle of giving and grading finals. I kept the ceramic planters from when my babies were born and I'm recycling them for the next generation.  I took the planters to the local florist and had them put plants in them and when our little peas in the pod decide to make their entrance I'll take them to the hospital and give to the DIL.  It's hard to tell from the picture but the one plant is a pink Christmas Cactus.

But enough about me. How was your weekend? Wondrous? Of course, it was.

Friday The 13th

Are you superstitious? The good news is it's Friday. The bad news is it's The Thirteenth.

~*~
VAMPIRE BAY is on sale for 99 cents at Amazon.

You Shall Not Pass, Dog

VBT: King of Bad

With us today is Kai Strand talking about: Good vs Bad. Not Always A Clear Choice
I’m going to ask you to do some imagining with me. Picturing scenarios in your head for the purposes of illustrating a point.
Imagine if you will, an epic traffic pile up on a freeway. An oil tanker has tipped on its side and is spewing its contents. The river of gasoline is headed straight for the pile of cars that are already aflame. The truck’s driver hit his head and is out cold, slumped over the steering wheel. (The cab is still upright, while the tank is on its side. We must keep this simple-ish). How do you react?
GOOD person: Rushes forward, throws open the truck’s door, climbs in, unbuckles the unconscious person and drags him clear just as the trail of gasoline ignites and a line of flame zips backward to blow the tanker sky high.
BAD person: Rushes for truck, throws open door, climbs in, rifles through driver’s pockets for wallet. Repeats process with any other unconscious driver in the pile up not already engulfed in flames. Walks away from incident with $140.00.
Now, imagine with me a crowd of revelers pouring out of a sports arena after their team won its first championship in 100 years. How do you react?
BAD person: Insights riot, sets trashcans on fire, tips over cop cars, breaks car windows. Shouts their team’s name prefaced by a cuss word. So proud of their actions, they grin into the news cameras.
GOOD person: gets the heck out of there. Fast.
Okay, let’s go back to that first scenario and put yourself in the BAD person’s position. But first let me give you a little background. BAD person in on the freeway in the first place because she got a call that her son fell off the jungle gym on the playground and cracked his head open. He was rushed to the hospital, where she was headed when the multi-car pile up happened in front of her. She doesn’t have health insurance and only a part time temp job that pays barely more than minimum wage. She’s already gotten a disconnect notice from the electric company and she’s two weeks behind paying rent. BAD person might have made a bad decision to steal money, but she saw an opportunity that may help pay the hospital bill. Is she a bad person or is she a person reacting to bad circumstances?
Now, let’s move on to the second scenario. Put yourself in BAD person’s position. Or better yet, don’t. That person is simply unlawful and disrespectful.
As you can see, sometimes people are in a victim mentality, making decisions with what little opportunity they have and other times a person is just bad. However, in both circumstances, you likely don’t have the entire story in order to make that determination.
Jeff Mean is King of Bad. But don’t judge him until you’ve read his entire story.
BLURB:
    Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he learns he has superpowers and is recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he’s bad enough for SVA.
    He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good manners. Then he’s kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and evil in the super world. The catalyst – the girl he’s crushing on. A girlfriend and balancing the Supers is good, right? Or is it…bad?Sitting front and center in math class the next morning was the Amazon. Jeff almost stumbled when he saw her. Even folded into a standard classroom desk, her body went on and on. Her olive skin glowed under the fluorescent lights. Miles of wavy sable locks tumbled to her waist. A short skirt revealed a never-ending expanse of legs gracefully wrapped together under the desk. They seemed indecent. Jeff wasn’t attracted to her, per se, but she intrigued him. And scared him to death.
Amber colored eyes gleamed when they met his. She looked him over from head to toe and a half smile curved her full lips. Jeff fought the urge to scurry past and with all the casual aloofness he could muster, he sauntered to his desk at the back of the room. He heaved a loud mental sigh when he was safely behind her. He might understand Pyro’s claim that something wasn’t right about the Amazon. Though he doubted that he and Pyro were referring to the same thing.
To Jeff’s dismay, the math teacher had the Amazon introduce herself to the class. She stood at the front and stared pointedly at Jeff most of the time. When she spoke he groaned. Her voice was warmed butter rum—soothing, comforting and intoxicating. Jeff made the mistake of glancing at her while she spoke about her home in northern Italy. As soon as they made eye contact, Jeff was transfixed. Though she continued to speak aloud to the class she also spoke directly to Jeff in his mind. It wasn’t in a language that Jeff understood, but he knew she was hypnotizing him.AUTHOR Bio and Links:When the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died, the end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for younger children Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Visit Kai’s website, www.kaistrand.com, to browse her books, download companion materials or to find all her online haunts.
You can usually find Kai online at Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KaiStrandAuthoror Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaiStrandBuy it:  Publisher: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1125Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQGA6MW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1N5D669JWJ92YG79QJ78&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/king-of-bad-super-villian-academy-book-1-kai-strand/1115915105?ean=2940016426198Add it to Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18080275-king-of-badKai will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC plus a signed book mark to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (International).
Tour dates can be found here:    http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/09/virtual-book-tour-king-of-bad-by-kai.html  Rafflecopter code for entries:   http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e650cb11/

The Trees Are Up

Here's The Tree What were you expecting for a tree topper? A star? Santa Claus? :)   I inherited Mickey from my mom.  This is the tree in the bedroom. It's hard to tell much about it, but it's fiber optics.I have a weakness for fiber optics;)
 This is in the guest room. Our daughter made itwhen she was in college. Of course, her lights were a bit  moreuniform looking than the way I've got them scattered on the table. So blogger buds, are you ready for Christmas? Have you been naughty or nice? It's almost time for Santa.

Grandbabies For Christmas

No, it hasn't happened yet, but we are expecting news any day. Our little peas in the pod are turning into little ponies. The girl weighs nearly six pounds and the boy is five pounds three ounces. None of us think its going to be much longer. And I'm certain poor mom is hoping its going to be sooner than later. Since we think they'll be here for Christmas I picked up a couple of things...
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It's The Weekend

Enjoy it...

Big Giveaway At Pat Hatt's

To celebrate 1000 posts, Pat is giving away $100.00 Amazon card. He's done a truly creative video too that's all kinds of fun. If you haven't been there yet, pit stop by and enter . You may be the winner. Here's the addie: http://rhymetime24.blogspot.com/
While you're there you might want to check out some of his books.

VBT: Seventeen

BLURB:   Most of the world's seventeen billion people are unconscious, perpetually serving their employers as part of massive brain trusts. The ecosystem has collapsed, and corporations control all of the world's resources and governments. A bedraggled alcoholic known as the Prophet predicts nineteen year-old waitress Eadie will lead a revolution, but how can she prevail when hunted by a giant corporation and the Federal Angels it directs? EXCERPT: The mist was clearing. Brian found himself standing in the street outside the bar he had entered earlier. Half a dozen battered and bleeding men stood surrounding him, and at least as many more lay on the gravel, seriously wounded or out cold.
The attack had come from somewhere in the mist, from all directions at once. His head and torso ached and throbbed. He locked his shaking knees to keep them from buckling. Every muscle in his body seemed to be lengthening, pouring downward like water. His eyelids drooped.
One of the standing men took a step toward him, fists raised. Brian tried to turn away from him, his arm flopping behind his back like a fish.
Behind his back! His eyes opened a little wider. He straightened and forced his arm to function, whipping out his revolver and aiming it around at the circle of attackers.
He tried to pull back the hammer but too many of his knuckles were broken. He ended up simply pointing it at the closest one, who backed away cautiously. Once past him, Brian walked backwards, still aiming the gun as long as he could see them. Then he turned, moving as fast as he could manage, back toward Dok’s place.AUTHOR INFORMATION:Mark D. Diehl writes novels about power dynamics and the way people and organizations influence each other. He believes that obedience and conformity are becoming humanity’s most important survival skills, and that we are thus evolving into a corporate species. Diehl has: been homeless in Japan, practiced law with a major multinational firm in Chicago, studied in Singapore, fled South Korea as a fugitive, and been stranded in Hong Kong.
After spending most of his youth running around with hoods and thugs, he eventually earned his doctorate in law at the University of Iowa and did graduate work in creative writing at the University of Chicago. He currently lives and writes in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Author’s Website: http://www.markddiehl.com
RAFFLECOPTER   http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e43434/ Enter to win a $50 Amazon or BN gift certificate.