Camy Tang's Blog, page 100

APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO DATE MY DAUGHTER

NOTE: This application will be incomplete and rejected unless
accompanied by a complete financial statement, job history, lineage,
and current medical report from your doctor.

NAME ______________________________________________
DATE of BIRTH ______________

HEIGHT __________ WEIGHT ________________
IQ _____________ GPA ______________

SOCIAL SECURITY # _______________________
DRIVERS LICENSE # ________________

BOY SCOUT RANK and BADGES
___________________________________________________

ADDRESS ________________________________
CITY/STATE ____________ ZIP __________

Do you have parents? ___Yes ___No

Is one male and the other female? ___Yes ___No
If No, please
explain:_______________________________________________________________________

How long have your parents been married?
___________________________________________
If less than your age, please explain:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________


ACCESSORIES SECTION:
(If you answered "Yes" to any of the above, discontinue application and leave premises.)

1. Do you own or have access to a van?
__Yes __No
2. Do you own a truck with oversized tires?
__Yes __No
3. Do you own a waterbed?
__Yes __No
4. Do you own or have access to a pickup with a mattress in the back?
__Yes __No
5. Do you currently have or are you planning on getting tattoo?
__Yes __No
6. Do you own or are you planning on owning an earring?
__Yes __No
7. Is your nose or belly button pierced?
__Yes __No
8. Is your tongue or cheek pierced?
__Yes __No

ESSAY SECTION:
In 50 words or less, what does "late" mean to you?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________

In 50 words or less, what does "Don't touch my daughter." mean to
you? ________________________________________________________________________
___________

In 50 words or less, what does "abstinence" mean to you?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________

REFERENCES SECTION:
What Church do you attend?
_____________________________________________________
How often do you attend?
________________________________________________________
When would be the best day and time to interview your:
Father _____________
Mother _____________
Pastor/Priest/Rabbi _____________

SHORT-ANSWER SECTION:
Answer by filling in the blank. Please answer freely, all answers
are confidential.
1. If I were shot, the last place I would want to be shot would be…
__________________
2. If I were beaten, the last bone I would want broken is my…
______________________
3. A woman's place is in the…
____________________________________________________
4. The one thing I hope this application does not ask me about is…
__________________
5. IF I grow up, I want to…
______________________________________________________
6. When I meet a girl, the thing I always notice about her first is…
__________________
7. The current going rate of a hotel room is…
______________________________________

I SWEAR THAT ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED ABOVE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO
THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT,
CRUCIFIXION, ELECTROCUTION, AND RED HOT POKERS.

_________________________________________________________
Applicant's Signature (that means sign your name)

_______________________________
________________________________
Mother's
Signature
Father's Signature

_______________________________
________________________________
Pastor/Priest/Rabbi
State Representative/Congressman

Thank you for your interest. It had better be genuine and non-sexual
in nature. Please allow four to six years for application
processing. I will contact you in writing if you are approved.
Please do not try to call or write.

Teacups

The kids at church just got back from a youth retreat called Winter Vision, and one thing they got out of the retreat was the concept of how each of us is a teacup.

The red plastic cups used for parties is disposable. Coffee mugs are a little better than those plastic cups, but they seem to breed in my cabinet like rabbits, and also they’re “common,” they’re not anything special.

Teacups, on the other hand, like the fancy ones in your mom’s china cabinet which you’re not supposed to touch, are precious and protected.

We are each teacups—precious and protected by God. I thought it was a great way to think of ourselves.

But I want to go one step further. Yes, teacups are precious and protected, but they also should be used. If they’re just on display, they’re of no use to anyone. Instead, people are using their common coffee mugs rather than the beautiful teacups. And yes, I do think it tastes better if it’s drunk from a fancy teacup.

For my birthday, my mom had shipped to me this vintage Kutani tea set that belonged to my grandmother. It’s hand-painted and the pot is the best I’ve ever used because it doesn’t drip at all. I was saving it, but then I thought, am I going to go my entire life without using this? What’s the point of having it (and the cost for mom to ship it to me) if I don’t use I? So I started using it. My English Breakfast tea tastes ten times better because I’m drinking it from my Kutani tea set. :)

So YOU are a teacup. You are precious and protected, but you are also made to be used by God. How can God use you today?

My word for the year: Worship

Most years, I ask God to give me a word for the year to focus on, and this year it’s been Worship.

It actually coincides nicely with how our pastor is focusing on Prayer this year for our congregation, so I’ve recently been reading up on prayer, and finding how it includes worship in our communication with God.

I read this book, Lord, Teach Me to Pray in 28 Days by Kay Arthur, a long time ago, but started reading it again to rejuvenate my prayer life this year. I’m enjoying it a lot so far. Some of it is stuff I remember, but some is stuff I’ve forgotten, and the Lord is speaking to me through the scriptures the author has me look up and study.

Did any of you have a word for this year? How are things going with that? Any suggestions for me for my word for the year, worship?

Help me with my next romantic suspense novella

I’m going to write a romantic suspense novella and I’m still in the planning stages. For those of you who’ve read my Sonoma series, what would you like to see? Any characters you want me to write about? If I use your idea, I’ll include you in the book dedication!

Helix

Has anyone seen the new TV show on Syfy, Helix? I just watched the first 2 episodes last night on On Demand. It reminds me of Resident Evil meets Outbreak or something like that. I’m not entirely sure if I’m hooked enough to want to keep watching it, although the creepy Asian scientist is fascinating in a Hannibal Lector kind of way.

What have others thought about it?

Ever tried manapua?

If you ever go to Hawaii, you must visit Royal Kitchen and try their char siu manapua. It is a little golden bun so delicious that it will send you into a higher plane of consciousness.

Basically, it’s marinated pork baked inside a fluffy bread bun. It’s like those Chinese steamed bao buns you see in restaurants and sometimes at bakeries, but manapua is usually baked rather than steamed. You can get steamed manapua too, but I tend to like the baked ones.

You can get the manapua stuffed with char siu pork or other things. I’ve also eaten it with kalua pork, which is Hawaiian-style smoked braised pulled pork.

Captain Caffeine had frozen some pulled pork he made in his smoker a few months ago, so I pulled it out of the freezer to make manapuas on my own, using this recipe for the bun. I’m too lazy to knead, so I used my bread machine to make the dough. I just put all the ingredients in my bread machine, with the liquid ingredients first and then the flour and yeast on top, and put it through the dough cycle.

The recipe called for 6 cups of flour, which is a LOT for my bread machine, and it spilled over a little bit after rising. When I was making the manapuas, it seemed like an awful lot of dough per bun, but I just followed the recipe. It turns out, it was just right. I actually probably should have stuffed it with a little less pulled pork.


They baked up sooooo beautifully! I used my convection oven because I was making yogurt in my regular oven, so I baked them at 350 for 18 minutes each batch.


Very yum! I was a little full from dinner but I had to try one. I was only going to eat half but I couldn’t stop myself!


The bun isn’t as big and fluffy as Royal Kitchen but it might be because I stuffed it with a little too much pork. This recipe is definitely a keeper for us! What a great way to cook Captain Caffeine’s smoked pulled pork!

Any of you ever tried manapua or Chinese buns? If you like smoked pulled pork, give this recipe a try!

If you've struggled with weight loss like me ...

If you’re fine with how you look, you can skip this post. But I’ve been battling my weight almost my entire life and this year I want to do something about it. I’ve failed so many times and I wanted to figure out what I could do so that I wouldn’t fail this year.

One thing I’m doing is blogging my goals to you guys. Nothing is more motivating than a public confession that my bum is the size of Oregon. I used to be okay because my upper body wasn’t really that obviously big, but now I’ve started to squeeze out of my bras like toothpaste out of the tube, which means I can no longer delude myself.

I read The One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs, and I have to say, this was a great book to make me change my mindset for weight loss and healthy living. She really delves into the different way you have to think in order to accomplish your health goals and not give up by the end of January.

It really has helped me to make better eating choices and to exercise every day. I really needed a book like this, that explored the mental aspects of discipline, in order to be able to calm the fears that I won’t stick with a new healthy lifestyle.

So here’s hoping and praying I’ll stick with my new healthy lifestyle from here on out. Please pray for me! And if you’re struggling, too, let me know so I can pray for you!

Poll- novellas

I’m over at the Love Inspired Authors blog with a poll. Be sure to go weigh in!

Finally saw the Sing Off 2013

I know, I'm waaaaay behind the times but we recently watched the last few episodes of this past season of The Sing Off (we had taped it on TiVo). I’m so excited because my favorite team won!

It was so awesome so see 98 Degrees sing! I always liked how in their music videos they didn't quite seem to take themselves seriously. My favorite song from them was "Invisible Man" which to my teenage mind was just the Most. Romantic. Song. Ever. I dreamed of some hot guy pining after me, as unlikely as that was. I mean, seriously, who is going to pick some other chump over Nick Lachey???

So in A Dangerous Stage , when George sings to Tessa (and makes Charles a bit grumpy) in chapter 7, I had him sing “Invisible Man.” Because, you know, it’s the Most. Romantic. Song. Ever.


Aren’t they just adorably cheesy?????

Okay, ’fess up. Did any of you also have a secret fondness for 90s boy bands????

Hello 2014!

I LOVE New Year’s Resolutions. I know lots of you hate them but I LOVE making them. I hardly ever fulfill them but it’s still fun making them because the whole year is new and filled with possibility.

Last year, I was upset to get sidelined by plantar fasciitis so that I couldn’t run the Honolulu Marathon in December as I’d planned. My head and spirit weren’t in a good place for much of last year, which affected my work, and to cope, I slipped back into bad eating habits while I was under deadline for books. I gained 5-8 pounds over the year and felt like a gigantic blob sitting in my work chair.

My New Year’s Resolution is to lose 30 pounds and train for the Honolulu Marathon in December 2014! I want to stop snacking while I work because I’ve gotten used to having something in my mouth as I’m typing, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. Instead, I’d like to get up from my work, have a snack at the table, and then return to my work.

I actually started my resolution early and restarted my exercise in late December. My plantar fasciitis flared up again, but I just got a new book, The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook , which was recommended by some people on a forum board on SparkPeople.com. I started massaging my plantar fasciitis trigger points yesterday, and I’ll see if it works to get rid of my plantar fasciitis, or at least help me to control it.

I started back up on SparkPeople.com, too, for accountability and to track my food and fitness. If you’re there, add me as a friend! If you’re not on SparkPeople, join up! It’s really great and it’s free.

I joined a few reading challenges on Goodreads.com, and as for writing, I’m participating in two novella box sets releasing next year with a bunch of other Love Inspired authors. We’re calling it the Inspy Kisses line. The box sets will include original novellas from each of us, and mine will be romantic suspense.


Prelude for a Lord comes out in July. It’s a Regency romance I’m releasing under a pseudonym, Camille Elliot. I’m super excited about this because I’ve loooooooved Regency romance since I was in high school, and this is the first time I’ve written one. I love these characters and hope you’ll love them, too.

If you guys are on my email newsletter, I’ll be sure to send out an email when these new books are available (I only email when I have a new release, 3-4 times a year). To join my newsletter, go to http://www.camytang.com/ and look for the purple chair.

So there’s my goals for 2014! How about you?