My Recent Comments

Kaelee and Donna, I've jotted down some notes of your suggestions. You've definitely given us some great ideas. I've been to Jasper, Banff, the Columbia ice fields and Lake Louise before (during the Canada 125 voyageurs program (in 1992?) in which students from different parts of the country traveled to each other's homes for a week), but I don't know about my fellow travellers. September is such a beautiful time of year to be travelling. It's not too hot, hopefully no snow (except maybe in the taller mountains?), and the leaves may be starting to turn (at least they have just barely started here in eastern Ontario/western Quebec). We actually started our furnace up this evening to take a little of the dampness and chill out the air, can you believe it? Anyways, thanks again!

I would actually rather stay near the Vancouver area myself but there are others on the trip as well who seem to be pretty keen on the whole Calgary/Edmonton thing. My brother is in Edmonton and I would love to see him but it is a rather long drive in a short time. Donna - I've actually been to Kelowna before and gone on a Mission Hill Tour - I really enjoyed it. When I was in Kelowna it was in November 2006 so it will be nice to see the area in September. Apparently we are landing late Sunday night, staying at my Aunt & Uncle's condo in Vancouver that night, travelling to Kelowna on Monday where we will spend the night at their home, and we will see from there. I have a couple of Western Canada travel books that I picked up for under $2 each at the local Liquidation World. Thanks for the great advice and the travel time. I really don't want to be stuck travelling in a van all week.

I can only imagine how challenging it must be to provide a varied and nutricious lunch for your children each day and not send lunch meats (due to recall). Leftovers which need to be reheated are great if the child has access to a microwave. I imagine fruits & veggies, cheese and crackers must go a long way. And of course REAL meat is great on sandwiches too. Hope you've all heard about the pre-sliced, washed ready-to-eat mushwooms recall (also for listeria). My bf is a big mushroom fan so we always have fresh mushrooms on hand. Peanut butter & jam sandwiches were my mom's go-to lunch back when I was in elementary school but with the increased awareness/prevalence of food allergies now, that is out the window too. Man, did I ever get sick of those!!

I am soon heading out to Vancouver for 1 week to attend my cousin's wedding. It will be my first trip to Vancouver and a bunch of us are going: My mom, my aunt, my aunt & uncle, and another cousins's girlfriend. We plan to do a bit of traveling since we are there the week before the wedding. My aunt and uncle are a bit ambitious and want to visit Calgary, Edmonton, and other places in between. We have to travel from Vancouver since that is where we are landing late Sunday night and be back in Vancouver Friday night. Any suggestions on what we should see/visit?

I've been meaning to get back to you about your tip regarding the break for the trimmed version of my book review and I just did my first book review since then and it worked perfectly. Thanks! I still don't know why it worked the first time I did it because I definitely did not disable rich text that time, but at least I know it works your way now. Thanks again for the help. 

Cady - I can see to a degree why some people would think that the Mom in Accidentally Yours would be manipulative but I think it is more strength and determination. She is willing to go to any lengths to get the help she needs for her son who is dying. The man she blackmails isn't a sympathetic character in the beginning: he's super rich and donates more than that much money to various charities annually anyway plus his only goal in life is to get richer and see his name on a new set of towers like Donald Trump's. Of course, as the story unfolds, we learn there is much more to him and I think he lets himself be manipulated by her though he isn't sure why... As he says in the beginning, he could squish her like a bug! (Definitely not a sympathetic character in the beginning!)

msrb- What was I thinking whining about my little plumbing problems??? Thank goodness I didn't have the problems you had! I would have cried too (though I feel sympathy for the plumber being caught there and not knowing what to do with a tearful woman

Sandi (msrb) - SEDUCE ME is a stand alone read. Not in a series as far as I can tell. It was originally published in 2001 under the title Erotic Invitation. The main characters are lawyers: Mallory is 1 year away from making partner in the firm and is forced to work with Jack, her secret crush, for a high profile client. There is, of course, a strict company policy against relationships among coworkers...Check out my blog if you want to read my review.

Margie - SEDUCE ME is worth reading, and the new title is a good one. You will feel as though you're being seduced right along with Mallory & Jack! And Carly Phillips is a great author - you should definitely check out some of her other titles too. I read her SEALED WITH A KISS last year, which was a follow up to CROSS MY HEART, both of which I really enjoyed. They were not as steamy as SEDUCE ME, which, depending on your preference, could be a plus or a minus, but for me didn't matter. Regardless, you should definitely check out some of her titles.

Janet - LOL. I got that email about the snow shoveler some time ago and it was funny - and true!

What is it about plumbing lately? Our kitchen sink had a leak, then our toilet took forever to fill up (I mean 20 minutes), then our washing machine broke (only the motor coupling, thank goodness - just a $20 part). Peter fixed all of them. Thank goodness he is so handy!

I am currently reading Susan Mallery's ACCIDENTALLY YOURS, which is about a Mom who will do anything to help her young son who is battling a terminal & crippling disease, including pretending to be a superhero, and blackmailing a billionaire for 15 million dollars to help find a cure. I am just past halfway through and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Happy reading!

OK, so I know I said earlier to use that "<!--break--> thing in order to get some text to appear beside the cover in a book review and it worked for me yesterday, it didn't today. It's as if it doesn't even recogize it as anything other than text today so I got around that by making the paragraph break after 3 lines by hitting "Enter". I think 3-4 lines must be the limit because I tried 6 lines and I didn't see any text at all.

Anita Mae- I had noticed the same thing, but I clicked preview after creating my book review and noticed at the very top a paragraph talking about the trimmed version (the version that others get to see without clicking More) and so I left my book cover at the top (actually I align mine to the left using the tree editor), put horizontal and vertical space at 5 each and to get text to appear alongside my picture, I add "<!--break-->" without the quotations after the first 3 to 5 lines or so of my review.

Yesterday I finished Seduce Me by Carly Phillips. That story was STEAMY! I likes the duality of Mallory's buttoned-up day persona vs. her seductive night side. Today I am reading Needed: Her Mr. Right by Barbara Hannay. I am enjoying it so far and I am just past halfway through. Gotta go do some laundry.

I just finished reading Manhunting, Jennifer Crusie's first novel, which I enjoyed. I am now going to start her second novel, Getting Rid of Bradley. Crusie is a sure bet when looking for some laughs and I am. Happy reading!