Friday, January 29, 2010

What I'm Reading...

Nuttin'!!!

I got the release date for Savin' Me this past week....

March 10, 2010!!

It's much sooner than I was expecting so I've spent the week scrambling, trying to get some promotional things put together. I've spent the past two days selecting pictures and learning how to work Window Movie Maker so I could make the video.

Originally, I'd planned to just select the pictures and then get them, along with copy points, to Marly Mathews, so she could do the video for me. But the longer I played around with it, the more I started getting into it.

Next thing I knew my butt to my toes were numb and I'd been sitting at the computer working on the video for six hours!!! :0

All I need to do now is send it off to Son #1, so he can score the music for it. Hopefully, he'll have that done by next weekend and I can share it with you here.

So what about you? What are you reading?

I hope it's a great, safe weekend for everyone!! It seems like most everyone is forecast to get some kind of wintry precipitation, so stay safe!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Something new and different

I've gotten kind of bored with doing recipes - that's the way I feel toward cooking too - so I decided to do something different. Hope you guys don't mind.

Music has always been a big part of my life. It shouldn't be surprising that I have a son who's a musician, he's certainly been exposed to enough of it over his lifetime. In fact, he could name the titles of songs when he could barely speak.

My iPod has a wide variety of songs and I thought it would be fun to share some of the things on my iPod and the history behind them. Going all the way back to my high school days.

I think most of us are around the same age, so some of these might be familiar to you, and possibly a little nostalgic.

When I was in high school, I began my obsession with Australian's. LOL This hunky Australian was Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital, before going on to a hugely success career as a solo artist. His biggest hit, Jesse's Girl, is still popular, even today. But here's a few of his other songs that are my favorites.



Video's have come a long way since 1984 (lol) but that song is just as great today as it was back then!! IMO



When I was 19 I was lucky enough to get to go to his concert. I was also lucky enough to get there hours and hours before the doors opened. I was even lucky enough to get to the front row!!!!

Then my luck turned downward. The crowd got crazy and started crushing us into the barrier that separated us from the stage. The security guards ended up pulling me, and one of the girls I was with, over the security barricade to get us air and keep us from being crushed.

All in all - I'd say it was worth it! LOL I got to the front row, it was an amazing experience and it's a story I can tell on my blog. :)

Have a great Thursday!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Hump Day Giggle....

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school.

One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.

They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida.

Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.

They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.

There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.

At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.

Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.

My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.

When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

It took me until I was all the way down to the line that says, "Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment..." before I figured out what this kid was talking about. LOL I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Food For Thought...

"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity."

J. Sidlow Baxter
1903-1999, Author and Theologian

This is so true, but I always seem to see the difficulty and not the opportunity.

Make it a great day!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Friday, January 22, 2010

What I'm Reading...


I've moved on to the second book in the Stephanie Plum series, Two For the Dough, but I'm also reading a craft book, "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass.

I realized over the weekend that I need to completely rewrite the romantic suspense I've spent the past year working on. I'm a little frustrated, but a lot excited. I know it's the right thing to do, it'll make the story so much better and stronger, and can't believe it took me so long to figure it out.

To make sure I get it as strong as I'm capable of, I'm going through WTBN book and writing down all of his suggestions, and then making sure I have that element in my story.



So what about you? What are you reading?

I hope it's a great weekend!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Marinated London Broil

Because I only get meats that are "natural" (not fed growth hormones or antibiotics) my menus are planned around what the grocery store had available, not what sounds good. I found myself with a really nice piece of meat labeled "London Broil" and it looked great but I didn't know what to do with it.

After doing a little internet research, I found that London Broil actually refers more to the way the meat is cooked, rather than the cut of meat. Who knew? I also found the following recipe and everyone loved it, so I thought I'd share it with you.

1/2 Cup salad oil (I didn't have a clue what salad oil was so I used olive oil. LOL - it worked)
1/4 Cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon each - salt, marjoram, thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh parsley (I used 1 teaspoon dried)

Mix it together, pour into Ziploc bag with the meat and rotate the meat every few hours. The recipe suggested marinating for 6 hours but Hubby ended up having to work the evening I'd originally planned on fixing this. It marinaded twenty-four hours and none of the flavors were too strong.

Preheat broiler, place meat in oven on rack that is 3" below the broiler. Broil for 8 minutes on each side for rare. I cooked one piece that way for Hubby and Kidlet, then fixed a second piece for myself which I cooked on each side for a little over 10 minutes. Both pieces were very tender and tasted yummy!!!

Only 1 more "get up" for this week. Hope it's a great day for everyone!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Hump Day Giggle....

Dan was a single guy living at home with his ailing father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune after his sickly father passed away, he decided he needed a wife with whom to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, "but in just a few years my father will pass away, and I'll inherit 10 million dollars."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at estate planning than men.

Happy Hump Day!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Food For Thought...

"An unwritten want is a wish, a dream, a never-happen. The day you put your goal in writing is the day it becomes a commitment that will change your life. Are you ready?"

Tom Hopkins
Author and Speaker

Have a fantastic day!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Friday, January 15, 2010

What I'm Reading...

As I started reading a passage of this book to my husband the other morning, he said, "Haven't you read that book before?"

Hysterical laughter followed. "I've read this book a dozen times. At least!"

I've read it so many times, I could just about recite it from memory! But it's like chocolate or chicken soup to me, it's comfort food. When life gets too heavy and I find myself slipping into depression I pull out a book from this series. It's not long - usually the first page - and I'm laughing and feeling much happier.

And, God knows, I need to be in a happy place this morning. I've just realized I need to rewrite the entire romantic suspense that I've been working on for the past year!!!! I've got the wrong mystery! Damn, I hate it when that happens. LOL



Watch out, world. Here comes Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case.

Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, fearless bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook.

Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli is also the irresistible macho pig who took Stephanie's virginity at age sixteen and then wrote the details on the bathroom wall of Mario's Sub Shop. There's still powerful chemistry between these two, so the chase should be interesting.

It could also be extremely dangerous, especially when Stephanie encounters a heavyweight title contender who likes to play rough. Benito Ramirez is known for his brutality to women. At the very least, his obsession with Stephanie complicates her manhunt and brings terror and uncertainty into her life. At the worst, it could lead to murder.

Witty, fresh, and full of surprises, One for the Money was among the most eagerly awaited crime novels of the season.


Originally published in hardback June 1994
Scribner

I hope it's a fantastic weekend for everyone!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Coffee Filters....

Eek, it's Thursday and I've got nothing in the way of a recipe to post today. I'm going to wing it and go with something that's at least sort of related to the kitchen. LOL

COFFEE FILTERS

Coffee filters ..... Who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter..

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.

18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.

19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.

20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.

21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.

23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..

25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.


OH YEAH, THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS TOO.

Have a great Thursday!!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Hump Day Smiles

A few thoughts to make you smile...

Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car.

When I'm feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbor's dog run to the end of his chain and gag himself.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are "XL."

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells "Theirs."

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way.

I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft.
Today, it's called golf.

Friday, January 8, 2010

What I'm Reading

Before I get to this - which is waaayyy different than what you're expecting - I want to apologize for not posting a blog yesterday. I've been battling my computer for days - you know, the one that Best Buy had for weeks and I finally got back on Wednesday? I'm trying to restore all the software that I previously had on it - some of which has expired licenses so now I'm trying to figure out how to get the content open without actually having the software. And, I couldn't get the restore function on my external hard drive to work.

But...I'm now winning the battle and while I'm not completely back up and running, I'm much closer and should be within an hour or so.

Anyway, what I'm reading now is not a romance, it's not even fiction. It's by a cell bioligist who has proven some amazing things about our cells. And he's dis-proving many long held beliefs. Like, we're stuck with who we are because of our genetics. I'm not very far into the book, but from what I understand he's actually been able to prove it is possible to change our DNA with our thoughts!!

I've always been fascinated by quantum physics and this book is along those same lines. I thought about posting the Roxanne St. Claire book that I finished earlier in this week and decided to go with the truth...What I'm Reading. Not...What I Read. LOL

Who know, it might interest one of you too. Here's the cover and the blurb from Amazon.

The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles (Hardcover)


Product Description
With more than 100,000 copies sold of his self-published book, The Biology of Belief, Bruce Lipton teams up with Hay House to bring his message to an even wider audience. This book is a groundbreaking work in the field of new biology, and it will forever change how you think about thinking. Through the research of Dr. Lipton and other leading-edge scientists, stunning new discoveries have been made about the interaction between your mind and body and the processes by which cells receive information. It shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology, that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our thoughts. Using simple language, illustrations, humor, and everyday examples, he demonstrates how the new science of Epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of the link between mind and matter and the profound effects it has on our personal lives and the collective life of our species.


About the Author
Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized authority in bridging science and spirit and a leading voice in new biology. A cell biologist by training, he taught Cell Biology at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine, and later performed pioneering studies at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He has been a guest speaker on dozens of TV and radio shows, as well as keynote presenter for national conferences.

I hope it's a fantastic weekend for everyone!!

Much peace and love,
Alannah

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

WOMAN'S WEEK AT THE GYM

Dear Diary,

For Christmas this year, I purchased a week of personal training at the local health club.

Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.

Friends seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.
________________________________
MONDAY:

Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god -- with blond hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!

Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!

Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!
________________________________
TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!

It's a whole new life for me.
______________________ _________
WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot.

Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying.

My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster. Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. He said some other shit too.
_______________________________
THURSDAY:

Asshole was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late -- it took me that long to tie my shoes.

He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. He sent some skinny bitch to find me.

Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine -- which I sank.

_________________________________
FRIDAY:

I hate that bastard Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic, little aerobic instructor. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it.

Christo wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the damn barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich.

The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

________________________________
SATURDAY:

Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel..

________________________________
SUNDAY:

I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my husband will choose a gift for me that is fun -- like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!


Hope everyone is having better luck than this!!!!

Much peace and love,
Alannah

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

My Wish For You in 2010

Some of you have probably already seen this. But, if not, I didn't want you to miss out!!

My Wish for You in 2010

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy

May the problems you had, forget your home address!

In simple words ............


May 2010 be the best year of your life so far!

Wishing you much peace and love!!
Alannah