September 20, 2007

A Venezuelan man pronounced dead at the scene of an auto accident woke up during his autopsy, "because the pain was unbearable."

Uh, yeah. I'd think so. 

His wife, who came down to the morgue to indentify him got a most joyful (at least, I hope it was joyful) surprise when she found him alive instead.

Now, seriously, if I'd tried to put something like that in a book, my editor would put her foot down. I'm sure of it.

And the readers would throw the book across the room.  Or roll their eyes.

But, it's okay that I write about strangely-powerful women who hunt vampires.

Go figure.

So, what's the oddest thing you ever heard about that happened for real…that you'd never believe if you read it in a book? 

September 18, 2007

I loooove berries–any kind of berry (except maybe gooseberries. Can't say as I've ever had any of them. But strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, ligonberries, cranberries…. bring'em on!).

And I'm very excited because about four years ago, maybe five, I planted about six little raspberry bushes in a small garden section next to my house. That little plot has taken over at least twice its original size (and about four times as thick), plus it's sent up feeders under my deck stairs and in the five-foot space under the deck, and it's become quite a jungle of raspberries. Yum!

We're on our second harvest, and there are scores more berries each day than there were for the early harvest, which was in June. I'm picking a bowl of berries like in the picture below each day.

Which means, I can put my nose up at those plastic-packaged ones in the grocery, priced at 2/$5 or even 2/$4. I'm picking about six times as many as one of those little containers each day.

As I said: Yum.

So, what do we do with all those berries? Well, we eat them out of the bowl mostly. My kids are fruit and vegetable eaters, and everytime they walk by, they snag a handful of the berries.

My favorite thing to do with them is to dump them in a cereal bowl and pour milk and sugar over them and eat with a spoon. A great treat, and one I remember from my childhood.

Another thing I do with them is add them to my oatmeal in the morning, or I make a smoothie with fat-free milk and a banana and a big handful of berries. That's really good, and I get my calcium too.

What about you? Berries or no berries? Your favorite thing to do with the fresh ones? Share! 

September 17, 2007

Our children's old au pair, who is from Germany, visited us over the weekend while on a two-week vacation here in the US. It's always fabulous to see Jan, and it felt just like old times while he was here. (He lived with us from Sept 2002-Aug 2003.)

He speaks absolutely perfect English, and he's a big Hollywood buff, so we had lots to talk about.

But one of the best things about his visit was that he brought Milka! Oh joy, oh joy, oh joy! The best chocolate ever. So creamy and yummy and smooth. Mmm. (We also have an au pair from Holland who brings us Milka too, so I'm hoping she'll come for a visit again soon. She also reads this blog, so HINT HINT!)

Milka just makes Hershey's taste like wax. I'm sorry. It ruins the taste buds for any other chocolate, except maybe Godiva. Maybe.

So here he is, surrounded by the variations of Milka that he brought, and that we have been enjoying all weekend.

It's like Girl Scout cookies–you get it once a year, so you indulge all at once. And then have to wait till the next time.

At least, that's how it is at my house–but the main reason is for self-preservation. After all, if I don't eat it, someone else will! 

So, are you a hoarder or an indulger? What's your favorite chocolate?

September 15, 2007

Notre Dame tumbled big time at The Big House today (38-0), and although I feel badly for ND QB Clausen, I'm delighted for my beloved Wolverines.  And for Mike Hart, who's surpassed Charles Wheatley's record for rushing. Congrats also to Mallett for doing a good job on his inaugural start.

I also just want to tell Sparky Duck I'm sorry he won't have a reason to harass me this week. Mwah!

September 14, 2007

Okay, I tried. It doesn't really work, but I tried. Happy TGIF anyway!

I thought it might be a fun way to show you my new t-shirt design, in honor of The Bleeding Dusk. I absolutely love it, and am sending out a big fat thanks to the NAL promotions department for coming up with it (after many, many iterations).

What do you think?

I'll probably do some on black, as shown, and maybe some on a dark or heathered purple.

And that gold…that's going to be a metallic gold, not that flat-looking color you see on the screen.

Cool, huh?