Book Review – Through Wolf’s Eyes

Wolf - Book 1

What happens when you mix a feral potential princess brought up by wolves, and not just any wolves but Royal wolves. The difference being Royal wolves can “talk” and have their own society; an ageing king that needs an heir; and an Earl who sets out on an expedition to find the king’s banished son? Courtly intrigue at it’s best.

Firekeeper is a two legged wolf. She is not as fast or strong as her kindred, but she can do something that no other wolf can do, produce fire. When word comes of other two legs in their forest Firekeeper’s world changes forever, she must learn to live like a human surrounded by people with their own agenda. She is accompanied into the human lands by her friend Blind Seer and the Royal Falcon Elation. Firekeeper’s only human friend is Derian the youngest member of the Earl Kestrel’s party that found her. It is his job to try and teach her to be human.

What I really liked about the story is that even though Firekeeper is way out of her element she is never mistaken as weak. Whenever a snide remark is made on the way she eats or dresses she does better than brush it off, it is of no consequence what so ever. You can’t help but cheer her on, it reminds you of every awkward situation you have ever been in and wished you handled better. That’s not to say there are not problems. Firekeeper has trouble making friends because everyone sees her as a rival to the throne.

This is more than a coming of age story, and it is far better than the usual people talking to animal stories. There are political shenanigans, friendships, betrayals, kidnapping, battles, evil magic and just a hint of love.

I can’t wait for the next two books. This was one of the series where I couldn’t find the 1st book but I had the next two. Now if I could just find book 2.

DIE

I am taking a page from TK’s book.
Uncooked Meat: I hope this letter finds you well out of harm's way

Dear See’s Sweepers truck,
Dude the road is wet, it is not snow covered, and it is not black ice. It is 6:51am and I am 15 minutes late. Going 30 miles an hour when the speed limit is…35 or 40 is just wrong. I will rear end you if you hit your breaks again when a car comes the other way.

Dear New England weather,
What is this drizzley shit? Just enough falls on the windshield to cause a giant smudge of grayish brown. Windshield wipers? You can be replaced, get that crap out of my line of sight now.

To my beloved Boy toy
You caught the stomach bug that Spotty and I have had. You were hurling every 45 friggen minutes last night. It sucks, get better soon.

Dear Spotty Chop, my son, the love of my life
If you fucking EVER hide on mama again when we are shopping so help me GOD I will not be held accountable for my actions. I understand at 2 ½ you like to hide, but when mama is calling you frantically with tears streaming down her face because she thinks some fuckwad has taken you and finally has some little 80 year old grandmother like woman with an accent I couldn’t place, but said “HERE” in a voice that was used to dealing with her own hysterical tribe of girls “don’t you raise your eyebrow to me young lady”. And honestly what the fuck is up with the rest of you shoppers at the Natick lateeda mall? Are you too good to stop looking for a deal that you can’t at least pretend to look? FUCK YOU BYOTCHES.

Dear commuter line,
What is up with the trains that have water dripping in the windows? Why is this happening? If I wanted to be wet I would ride my bike. Fix this shit now. Just because you have been “on time” twice this week doesn’t mean shit.

Dear rancid pieces of crap that keep calling my house thinking its Wal-Mart,
I know our number is just like theirs, I don’t mind that you get the number wrong, it happens, but could you perhaps figure it out after the 3rd call? 5 or 6 times is a bit much don’t you think? If an answering machine says “we can’t take your call right now” you can pretty much be guaranteed that it is not a major outlet.

Dear Asshat of an ATT sales rep that gave us the number in the first place
I always think of you during the holidays. Satan called, your rooms ready.

Dear anyone shopping who is in a parking garage
GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY. Stop holding up the line of traffic because you think you see someone walking to their car. There is room on the roof. Besides they are just dropping off packages, that is a prime spot, they aint going anywhere.

Dear Stomach virus that currently has taken up residence,
You have overstayed your welcome, it is time for you to find someone new, it’s not you it’s me. I appreciate that you have moved on to boy toy, but you can’t have us both, please pack your bags and go.

Kick Ass Weekend...or not

We went out and cut down a Christmas tree this weekend. What a blast. We found a place close by (20 min). When I called and asked if they had any trees left I was told “yup, but it’s snowy, so don’t be wearing your high heels…or sneakers.” I said I would do my best, apparently my phone voice screams “have no clue”, and went and got the boys ready for outdoor fun. Damn getting a 2 year old ready to play outdoors is a pain in the ass, but he sure is cute!

The GPS brought us to the farm by back roads, which was nice because we were able to avoid all of the Wrentham outlet traffic. There was parking on the street and a small area to go when you were picking up your tree, there were only 5 or 6 other cars there, not crowded at all. We got our saw and our sled (with 4 big tires) and headed out. Spotty had a blast being pulled on the sled. He loved laying down and watching the ground go by. At first we were disappointed, the trees were so small, I told boy toy we didn’t always have to have the biggest tree in the neighborhood, and it would be ok. But as we continued on down the path (and a HUGE hill) we came to the section of the farm that was made for people like us. Big ASS trees.

Spotty felt that the snow was too deep and wanted to carry me, so boy toy walked around to find the perfect tree. After he cut it down (and I took a zillion pictures) he remembered that he would have to be pulling the monster up the hill again. Spotty decided he wanted to ride on top of the tree which was cute as hell, until he slid off, and then he needed to carry me. After boy toy got to the top of the hill and he rested for a moment he went to get the car. Apparently not everyone realized that the small parking lot (large enough for 2 cars) was for loading trees. I did not slap anyone silly as Santa is watching, but I did think it. He pulled behind the “offenders” with the ass end of the Jeep in the road, I helped roll the tree up the Jeep and onto the roof, it was heavy as hell. There was a father there with his two young sons, I suggested to boy toy that he offer to help, so I pulled my car out of the way and back onto the road so he could pull up. Boy toy did his good deed for the day and said that even though there tree was a lot shorter, it was just as heavy as ours.

Spotty fell asleep on the way home, and after we undressed him and put him in our bed to finish his nap boy toy suggested that I get some “snuggle” time in. And I did, and it was good.
Then came…the NIGHT TERRORS, I hate this crap, it’s only his 2nd one, but I do not like it one bit. I hate how he is screaming for me like he can’t find me while I am holding him. So I am sitting on our bed with my back to the wall trying to wake Spotty up. Boy toy jumps on the bed (did I mention we have a waterbed?) And yes ladies and gents I go flying over the edge. The space between the bed and wall is just big enough to allow me to have my legs stuck onto the bed and narrowly miss hitting my head so hard that I pass out. I have blood all over me because I have somehow scraped all the skin off of my left elbow. Boy toy says “where the hell did you go?” Did I mention it was pitch black in the bedroom. I can’t get up, I hurt both my wrists, he starts to laugh, I am crying because my baby is freaking out, but laughing because…well I just got flung off my bed, this is a first. Boy toy finally stops laughing long enough (I can not believe I am so fat that I just made you fall out of bed), to pick me up. I pick up Spotty and carry him outside to look for the moon. That seems to snap him out of the nightmare/whatever is going on. I put him back in our bed and run to the bathroom. Spotty comes looking for me and proceeds to toss his cookies all over the hall. He does not like this. There are yuckies in his mouth. We get him some water to rinse out his mouth and after boy toy cleans up we climb back into bed; where an hour later we have a replay of tossed cookies. So boy toy comforts Spotty and I change our sheets. Did I mention that all of our Xmas decorations are in front of the linen closet? Hit repeat a few more times. Boy toy finally went to bed in Spotty’s room. Spotty and I slept in sleeping bags, luckily we have a lot of sleeping bags. I worked from home on Monday. We watched some TV and videos. He’s at my mom’s now. The Needham trains were cancelled, and driving in there were accidents up the wazoo. I am ready for bed.

First Snowstorm of the Year!

Thursday we had a snowstorm and it was a good one. It took boy toy over 2 hours to get home. I luckily was working from home so Spotty and I didn’t have to go anywhere. But he did want to go outside and play in the snow. So I put on all of our “cold weather gear”, and we went out into the winter wonderland.

Spotty loved playing with his dump trucks in the snow; he made crazy patterns in the front lawn. I shoveled. Boy toy had a truck with a plow for at least 5 years; this is the first year without it. Thank God the snow was so light and fluffy. Once I finished shoveling I decided to grab the sled and asked Spotty if he wanted a ride. We had such a BLAST. He was grabbing snow and eating it. He would lean over and put his face in the snow. Sometimes he would walk with me and help me pull the sled. Kids are so Frelling cute when they walk in the snow. We had plow trucks beeping at us to say hi. Every car that drove by us had someone smiling and waving. Spotty did have enough on our way home. The snow was getting too cold and he wanted to “carry me”. I tried to run home pulling the sled. DAMN am I out of shape. We finally did get home. Took everything wet off and snuggled on the couch under my color blanket. I think this winter is going to be fun!

Random crap

Spotty Chop and I made a fort for the first time last weekend. He calls it his “hiding place”. Who knew a couple of sheets, chairs and a couch could be so fun. We spent a lot of time watching TV, reading, hiding from the monsters in the closet and singing to the cars and the houses (stocking hangers). While I was shopping for presents I saw a “fort sheet”, it was a nylon tarp like thing that had Velcro or elastic loops on the corners and sides that made it perfect for making forts, it can attach to chairs, trees, fences etc. I did not pick one up they were about $60.00 or so, I thought 1) he isn’t really into forts and 2) real moms use sheets, pillows etc. F that crap, I wish to Christ I could remember where that damn thing is. I would buy it in a heartbeat! Forts are hard, when he is 6 maybe he won’t care about the ceiling touching his head, at 2 ½ he doesn’t like it.

When he woke up boy toy by tickling him this morning when boy toy reciprocated Spotty told him to “Stop, I am looking at the clouds” and proceeded to lie on his back and stare at our ceiling. He has also told me on numerous occasions, “mama, no fussin”. I love to hear him speak, the way he puts words together, the way his mind works. He is just so much fun to be around. I wish I could express myself better because he is so amazing and fun that it just blows my mind. Spotty is generally a miserable SOB to wake up…I wonder where he gets that from (BOY TOY). I am finding that if I lay down next to him and gently kiss him on the back and belly he wakes up in a good mood…unless it pisses him off and he round kicks me in the head.

We also went to Moo and Freak Show’s house, it was Freaks birthday and Spotty helped put the candles on the cake. He was very pleased with how the cake came out and it was the BEST cake he ever had. He sang happy birthday and helped open presents, and ate more cake. I think it is the most cake he has eaten in his life. The only way he could have consumed more chocolate would be to drink a gallon of melted chocolate.

Boy toy just asked if our water seemed hotter because I have been complaining that the hot water just doesn’t seem to last. Apparently “someone” turned the water temperature down. I don’t even know how to do that. God I love that kid.

No good deed goes unpunished Pt 2.

So this morning in the NE we had a delightful ice storm, which apparently covers everything in ice. Boy toy went out in his long undies to start his truck around 6:10am, he was running late. Did he start my jeep? Alas he did not, it is morning time, and he just doesn’t do well. As he runs around the house I toss his lunch together and helpfully tell him “you forgot to make coffee”, his response is less than cheerful. At 6:15am I go out to start my car, I run out in just a sweater as I will only be out for a second. I turn the car on and notice that his windows are still icy. I take out my handy dandy ice scraper and start scraping, I do wonder if I should run in for a coat, but as the ice is coming off of the driver side fairly easily I think I can wrap this up in another minute or two.

As I go around the back of the truck my feet notice that there is something shiny towards the street and they should go hither at once. The rest of my body would like to continue around the truck, except for my right elbow that would prefer to stay with my car. Apparently my dance of doom was so stupendous that someone driving by stopped, got out of his truck, and said “DAMN, are you OK? Do you need help? And as he took a step towards me, “SHIT”, I let the good Samaritan know I would survive and he said “thank fucking god”. I held on to the truck for dear life and shuffled my way to the other side, tearing skin off my hands as they stuck to the frozen metal. I cleaned those Frelling windows, I am woman hear me whimper.

Now my neck is stiff, my lower right ribs throb, my left butt cheek feels like I really shouldn’t be sitting on it, my back on the right side where my waist (or what used to be a waist) feels the way it does before it seizes, right above my right elbow is numb, my left arm feels like a donkey kicked it (just started as I was typing this) and my left hand feels like someone used it as a ball in one of those games…football I think it is, field kick? Punt? Whatever. Did I forget my ice scraper in the house? Yes. Will it be a nightmare when I finally get back to the car? Hell Yes….unless I can find the mother of all inventions….the wooden ruler, with metal edge. We New Englanders are tough, we make do and I can not tell you how many times that trusty ruler has saved me. Go hug your ruler, let them know they are loved.

Book Review - Queen of the Darkness

The Black Jewels Trilogy Book 3
Dorothea is up to her old tricks, blaming the High Lord for all her cruelties, and like sheep most people, including Jaenelle’s parents are ready to believe the worst of him. Meanwhile Lucivar is desperately looking for his brother Daemon on the “lists”. There are so many people fleeing from Tereille trying to find work and home in Kaeleer, that they hold fairs to accommodate them all. At the last second Lucivar finds Daemon, who as we all k now has just come back from the Twisted Kingdom. You may be surprised to know this but “someone” is trying to keep Daemon from Jaenelle.

Jaenelle is just a shadow of herself with not even a glimmer of the awesome power that she had at her hands and once she and Daemon come to terms with each other. We have new and old witches trying to kill and discredit them.

Have I mentioned the Wolves, Tigers and other friendly jewel wearing animals that love Jaenelle and her posse? Nothing like a pissed off Tiger or Wolf to add to the chaos of Dorothea and Hekatah.

Add to this a taint that our 2 favorite byotches manage to stir up due to Briawood that is gearing up to destroy the Blood completely and you have a “strap yourself in” end of a series.

God Damit I am going to miss all of these guys.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Annie over at one thing I hate about today was talking about clutter, more specifically the clutter than comes about when you have the pitter patter of little feet in the home. This is something that is so a part of my life that I am paralyzed at times. I have no idea where to begin cleaning/sorting/tossing crap. I wish I could blame it all on Spotty Chop, but he has only enhanced the clutter. Boy toy and I have always been lazy, and I am a pack rat of the first order, and as we have been together for 20 some odd years that adds up to a lot of crap. Boy toy is also not as…enthusiastic about home cleaning as he could be. So at times to show him, I do not declutter the way I should, and as boy toy could care less, then I care even lesser than his less and down that slippery slope lies madness. Now add a 2.75 year old who loves cars and trucks and has learned from his parents that clutter is the norm. CHAOS (feel free to pronounce it rhyming with floss). Add to this the holiday’s and where the Frell are we going to put the tree and more toys and more stuff and and and.

I need to go lie down

Interesting Websites

Some interesting websites I found at Pop Culture Junk Mail

The Future – pre 1980

What if my life took another path

Dew the Tree O Tannenbaum

Blog readability I am not sure if I should be embarrassed that you only need to be in High School for mine…

Find your Christmas Elf Name
(Snappy Floppyfeet if anyone is wondering)