Sunday Synopsis

 

I Funny: A Middle School Story by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The last few books I've read have been disappointing, so I needed something fun and easy to read to get me over my reading slump. This one was definitely a quick, easy read as it's written for middle grades. Jamie Grimm wants to be the funniest stand-up comedian in the world, even if he is in a wheelchair. Jamie's uncle tells him about a contest for young comedians, so Jamie prepares his best routine, in between bullying sessions from his cousin and his friends.

It was a good story and only somewhat predictable. The characteres are not as 3-dimensional as I usually like, but as the series continues, I'm sure they develop more. Some of the humor was actually funny, and some of it was only "ha-ha" funny, but the author(s) did some research on comedians to make it more realistic. It's not a bad book if you need something fun to distract you from reality.

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On this Day... A T13 post

 On this day, April 28...

1.   Year 1180 - Phillip II of France married his first wife Isabella of Hainault at Bapaume.  He was 14 and she was 10.

2. Year 1192 - Newly elected King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat was assassinated in Tyre.

3.  Year 1635 - Virginia governor John Harvey was accused of treason and removed from office.

4.  Year 1442- King Edward IV was born on this day in Rouen, Normandy.

5.  Year 1721 - Female English Pirate Mary Read who operated throughout the Caribbean died in prison.  She was also pregnant at the time.

6.  Year 1758 - James Monroe was born. He became the 5th President of the United States.

7.  Year 1788 - Maryland becomes the 7th state to ratify the new United States Constitution.

8.  Year 1903 - William Randolph Hearst (newspaper publisher) married Millicent Veronica Willson.  Hearsts' daughter would later become a household name due to her kidnapping and Stockholm Syndrome.

9.  Year 1945 - Benito Mussolini, Italian facist dictator, was shot by communist partisans at the age of 60.

10. Year 1979 - John Candy wed Rosemary Margaret Hobor in Toronto, Canada.

11. Year 1908 - Oskar Schindler was born in Zwittau, Austria-Hungary.  He is the subject of "Schindler's Ark" and "Schindler's List."

12. Year 1990 - Axl Rose of the band Guns N Roses married Erin Everly.  That marriage was annuled the same year.

13. Year 1999 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow died of leukemia at the age of 77. His work with lasers helped his team of physicists win the 1981 Nobel Prize for Physics.

I would like to credit my source for information.  Thank you.

Visit Thursday Thirteen for more fun content or to join in the fun!

Fun Photos

 

The state flower of Texas is the bluebonnet (since 1901).  It blooms every spring, usually around the end of March to mid-April.  They bloom all over the state, but the hill country claims to have the most.  There is even a Texas bluebonnet map.  There are bluebonnet trails, and hikes, and festivals and photo shoots.  Did you know most of them are actually purple rather than blue? There are five different varieties of bluebonnets.

I don't know when taking photos with the bluebonnets became a "thing" here in Texas, but it did.  Professional photographers get big business this time of year taking photos with a backdrop of bluebonnets.  Here are some featuring our beautiful granddaughter (and we're pretty fond of her parents, too! tee hee!)

For more fun photos visit Image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.

Random Happy Tuesday

 

Last year on "The Great Texas Birthday Road Trip" my husband and I  went to Blisswood Bed and Breakfast Ranch (so awesome, romantic, fun), San Antonio (always a good time), Austin, and Dallas.  This year, I have decided where I think I want to go.  Granbury, Texas. 

It's closer to Dallas, so that could be the next stop, if there is one, or I could stay longer with my daughter and fly home or go on to Austin. We don't have any details worked out yet because I only found this place two days ago, but The Inn on Lake Granbury is where I think I would like to stay.

  We may put it off until September when it's not as hot and fewer people take vacations.

I have 9 pages of medical history for myself and my family to fill out before my appointment for genetic testing.  I'm still not exactly sure how it works or exactly how many things they test for, but I'm sure I will get some answers soon. I also wish there was a way to tell if I am at risk for a subarachnoid hematoma, the cause of my father's death.

This is just to show the different layers. The subarachnoid area is very close to the brain. 

(Subarachnoid hematoma is usually caused by the rupture of a cerebral aneuryism).  His only symptom was a headache, then justlikethat, he was gone.  I have always wondered if that will happen to me with all of my headaches.

Moving on to something more cheerful...

As a former English teacher, I can relate to this!

Clever ad for hair products!

This gives the term "cheat sheet" a whole new meaning.

If only I had some oreos...

TRUTH!!!!

And last, but not least...

Have a great week!

Visit Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday and Stacy Uncorked for Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Sunday Synopsis-Suitcase Girl

Suitcase Girl by Ty Hutchinson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book is not as good as you may anticipate based on the hype about it.

The worst thing about this book is it doesn't end. Literally. It stops without a resolution, so to find out what happened to the characters in the end, not only do you have to read one more book, but two, and I'm just not going to do that. If it were a better story, I would.

I wasn't "feeling" this book to begin with, and I could tell they were headed down the "cloning" road, but when the story became too science fictionish, I was mentally finished. It was extremely unbelievable in addition to having no resolution.

There were many times I noticed awkward grammar. Every time they described a murder, the words "shot dead" were used. Couldn't they say shot and killed, or even just killed or murdered, or a euphemism for it like "blown away." The words " shot dead" should not appear in any book in excess of 20 times. There is other awkward language such as, "I and my fellow police officers..." Shouldn't it be, "My fellow police officers and I..." Just awkward.

Then there is the extremely far-fetched plot. It starts with a container ship that had air conditioning, snacks and meals, entertainment-of-sorts, along with 12 other Chinese women who were brought here as part of a sex-trafficking ring that would eventually be returned to China. There is also a girl, approximately age 11, in this shipment. The gate guard at the ship yard turns the other cheek by letting the vans in to collect the girls, and a dock worker moves the container to a safe and out-of-the-way area for them.

The little girl is stuffed in a suitcase and left in front of the FBI offices. Agent Abby Kane and her partner get involved and when the investigation grows, the task force also consists of local law-enforcement detectives. Abby takes the little girl home with her to see if she can get her to talk, and everyone notices how much the little girl looks like Abby. They also notice she speaks two distinct Chinese dialects.

In the meantime, another pair of criminals, twins of Asian descent, have orders to kill all of the women who were on the ship, the group in charge of the sex ring, and any other person who gets in their way, even if it means shooting an FBI agent. Orders from whom? Book one certainly doesn't tell the reader.

I find it hard to believe that a group of college dropouts could come up with an International sex trafficking plan all on their own, and not even realize they were putting themselves in danger. There is no way a group of misfits is able to coordinate this elaborate plan with Chinese criminals who are selling girls.

I also find it hard to believe that two men could kill the college dropout group, the girls, a doctor, and an FBI agent, and attempt to kill another agent and Suitcase Girl, all in a span of a few hours at four different places in broad daylight. Next, I find it hard to believe that a young boy would be the one to shoot the second bad guy when there were several agents and police officers already present at the scene. And last, I find it heard to believe that a lab had been able to clone Abby's DNA without her knowledge, much less consent, which is how they explain that Suitcase girl looks just like Abby. Because she is Abby!

What a convoluted tale.



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Fun Photos

 These are some photos from White Rock Lake Park in Dallas.  There is a marina, a rowing club, picnic areas, hiking, biking, a dog park, and oodles of trees and trails.  And it was a beautiful day!

Love these gorgeous trees!

Can you see the rowers?

For more fun photos check out Image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.

Happy Random Tuesday

 

Hey everyone.  My sister had her first chemo which took over 8 hours.  She will do this every 3 weeks and have a total of 5 or 6 treatments. Then comes radiation.  She's having a few typical symptoms, but she's hanging in there.  I wish there was something I could do.

I finally was able to set up an appointment for genetic testing after weeks of back and forth and talking with the insurance company.  I don't know what I will do with my results, once they are in, but having 2 family members with cancer, one of whom had two types, I feel it's necessary.

How about some actual good news?  A homeless dog started hanging around one of the U. S. military encampments in Kosovo about a year ago.  He developed a strong bond with them, but especially with one of the Sergeants.  He found a way to bring the dog, which he named Duke, stateside, but that's about the time the dog quit coming around the camp.  They finally found him, but he had been shot.  Paws of War made sure he received emergency care in partnership with the Alamal Foundation. 

After six months of recovery, Duke can finally  move to the U. S. to live with his Sergeant friend later this month.

Moving on...

Ewww!  Gross!

Can you say the same?

 

What?  You don't see the logic in that?  LOL

This could be me in a fantasy life!  Except then it would be grammar woman.

Gives this phrase a different meaning for stick people.

And last but not least...

Cat moms... you know this is true!
Have a great week!
Don't forget to check out Happy Tuesday and Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Happy Easter!

 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)

Easter Cards

 

Hello friends.  Today I want to share some recent cards I made.  I don't usually make more than one or two cards for Easter, but this year, I saw so many cute cards on Pinterest that gave me some great ideas, and I ended up making several different designs and multiples of some of them.  

To make these cards, I used Pinterest (and my brain) for ideas.  I used card stock (both solid and patterned), my Cricut Maker, Cricut pens, my Cuttlebug embosser, Pops of Color (exclusive to Scrapbook.com - only on some), and various types  of adhesive.

It took 2-3 days to play with designs on Cricut Design Space, another day to cut the pieces, another day to emboss and assemble.  It was so much fun!  I hope you like them! (Click an image to enlarge.)

Did you like any of these?  I wish the embossing would have shown up better on some of them, but oh well.

Have a great 3-day-weekend (if you're off Friday or Monday), and a Happy Easter!

Visit Friendship Friday and Crafty Creators for inspiration, crafts, food, and a whole lot of fun!