Chomp!

I get excited whenever I see that Carl Hiaasen is releasing a new book (be it for young adults or adults) and Chomp does not disappoint. As is often the case Hiaasen sets the book in the Florida Everglades, and in this story, Wahoo Cray lives on the animal wrangler farm that his father runs. Their animals, especially their prize gator Alice, often appear on TV shows or in movies, but ever since Wahoo’s father was hit on the head by a frozen iguana (pure Hiaasen!) business has been down and money is tight. When the going gets really tough a successful survivalist TV show (Expedition Survival!) comes a calling. It’s just a shame that the famous host, Derek Badger, is a flaky fake. Can Wahoo keep his father in line, keep track of Derek Badger, and help his new friend Tuna escape from her abusive father? Hiaasen blends humor, slapstick antics, and his own personal brand of satire to take his readers on Wahoo’s crazy ride. I hope you all will check it out when it is released in March 2012!

I'm so tired I ....

1. can't move off of my couch to get the remote to turn off the terrible movie I'm watching.

2. wonder how it is that I didn't fall asleep at 7:00 pm.

3. keep thinking that maybe I can teleport up the stairs to my comfy bed. The comfy bed that has a pillow top memory foam mattress cover, a cozy quilt from Ikea, and lovely feather pillows ... really, really wish I could teleport up to my bed. So much for saying "Beam me up Scottie".

4. can't believe I have to do it all again tomorrow.

Brain Cramp

I've got too many thoughts going on right now to commit to one particular entry topic. Even a list of my scattered thoughts would be too long and chaotic to be enjoyable, so this one will be short. I think my thoughts are being clouded because I am coming out of a garlic butter nirvana coma.

Garlic Butter Nirvana Coma is the medical condition that results after a visit to Mud City Crab House. Well OK, it isn't an official medical condition, but a few of my friends and I have decided it totally exists. Mud City Crab House is one of the best seafood restaurants I have ever been to. If you can get to South Jersey while they're open for the season you would be crazy not to stop by! The staff is friendly and the food is always amazing! Their garlic butter sauce is to die for. It should be added to everyone's last meal menu. Until last night I was .8 pounds away from having lost 20 pounds ... the 5 pounds I probably gained last night was totally worth it.

If your interest is piqued please check out Mud City's web site:
http://www.mudcitycrabhouse.com/
and enjoy!

The Black Hole

The dreaded Black Hole. Every knitter hits it, and unfortunately I have hit it with each of my 3 WIPs (two shawls and a blanket). I was seriously hoping to get one shawl finished in time to submit it to a Fall Harvest festival, but no matter how many hours I spent working on it last month I couldn't hit the halfway point. Sacre bleu!

My knitting frustration combined with starting a new job lack of concentration has led me to a reading binge so I haven't gotten any knitting done at all this past week. My knitting bag keeps staring up at me and I keep promising it and the shawl that I will pick them up as soon as I finish my book ... then I pick another book. My two main hobbies (reading and knitting) unfortunately don't work together unless you are listening to audio books. Luckily my library joined ListenNJ this summer and I am finally getting around to try it out. Tomorrow I plan to use my iPod to listen to Jesse Eisenberg reading Holly Black's Red Glove  while I try to knit my way out of the stinking Black Hole!

Sweet Valley Blah

I read a lot of Sweet Valley books when I was younger; Twins, High, Sagas and The Unicorn Club that is, I read the first five Sweet Valley University books and decided that they weren't for me. I was excited eight years ago when the then titled Sweet Valley Heights was announced, and that excitement carried me up to the point when Sweet Valley Confidential came out last March. Upon the book's release though, I experienced a fizzling out. I didn't really enjoy the sample of the first chapter, but I figured I couldn't quit now and I would read it someday. That day came today, and man I want those two hours of my life back. This book irritated the hell out of me, but in that same vein of needing to slow down to look at a car crash, I kept reading anyway.

The story was underdeveloped, choppy, and in the end unbelievable ... though come to think of it now, that's Sweet Valley... unbelievable. I found myself caring less and less about Jessica, Elizabeth, and Todd's falling out and more about the stories of the background characters who got little more than passing blurbs written about them. Who would have ever thought that Bruce Patman would end up my favorite character and that the best part of the story would have involved hearing the always put together Alice Wakefield call to her husband to have someone "bring out the fucking cake!"???

You Had Me at Cupcake

 My body and brain are ready for it to be Autumn! This means asides from craving apples, cider, crunchy leaves, and crisp weather I am also craving cozy mysteries. Yesterday I wandered over to my local library and perused the New Mystery shelf. There I found Sprinkle with Death and Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay ... a mystery series about a cupcake bakery ... with recipes??? Yes please!!!

I got home with my books around 4 o'clock and I had torn through both of them by 10 o'clock. When I finished I turned on my Kindle to see if there were any other books to the series because I didn't want to be left hanging. Turns out the third book in the series, Death By the Dozen, isn't being released until October 4th. I preordered my copy, but however shall I make it through?

 Though the cupcakes sound divine I have to say that the charm of this series extends beyond the wonder of the cupcakes. That being said I am totally trying some of the recipes this weekend. One of them is called Tinkerbell and it is a lemon cupcake with raspberry buttercream frosting and pink sugar topping ... so what if I need to lose the 7 pounds I gained back in Florida last week ... but I digress, back to the stories!

 The main character Mel and her best friends Angie and Tate feel like people I would be friends with. I especially identify with the girls who have each been in love with two of the other characters since they were twelve. This speaks to me. I have been a (mostly secret) torch carrier for the same guy since I was sixteen. Since I've always been a chicken and my love has been unvoiced and unrequited it is nice to see characters who are a. in the same boat and b. in the case of one character the possessor of a happy ending (for now at least). The characters are well written and fun. I just hope they don't fall into the cozy mystery love triangle trap! I really enjoyed Angie's older overprotective brothers (priceless spy mission in Buttercream Bump Off) and Mel, the octogenarian romeo! I would recommend these books to anyone who enjoys Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series or Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson series. I liked them so much I wrote a thank you e-mail to the author today which brings my fan letter lifetime total up to five (Kristopher Turner, John Green, Melissa Marr, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and now Jenn McKinlay in case you were interested).

Seesaws and Wedged Between a Rock and a Hard Place

This week I am both starting my new job and am finishing up at my old job. Straddling both worlds is confusing, and my uneasiness is leading to brain jumble. I need to triple check everything I type because my mind keeps wandering. It's too full and crowded in here.

In the interest of taking better control of my finances, earlier today, I looked up each of my credit card balances so I could try to work up a strict budget. Unfortunately I realized that since I have no clue when I am going to get paid at my new job I don't think I can pay all of my bills without dipping into my (not so rotund) savings account. This fact got me blue.

But then as I went on working I started to appreciate the fact that it is a truly a beautiful day outside. We had the doors open today at the office and I could hear the wind blow and the birds chirp. I could see a sunbeam shining on the carpet. All began to feel right with the world and I realized that somehow everything will be all right.

Then my mother called me at work to ask if she could borrow $500.00 so the power wouldn't be turned off today at 5:00. Oy Bleeping Vey! Happy, fuzzy thoughts gone. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. I live over my parents and they don't charge me a set amount for rent and I don't have to pay too much for utilities. I just give what I can each month and pay for groceries. I realize this is essentially a golden situation. Problem is my parents are a step and a half away from bankruptcy and my dad's pay, my mom's disability, and their combined social security does not stretch too far in the current climate when you add in their previous debt. Try though I may, I can't get them to stick to a strict budget. My father promises to take care of the situation, makes a few calls, then never quite follows through all of the way. This is nerve wracking. Asides from owing them life I also owe them for my living situation, but it is hard not feeling bitter every now and then. If they didn't need to always borrow money from me (we're up to a few thousand dollars by now) I could be more financially secure. I dread using my savings account below a certain amount because what if they need the money and I don't have it to give them?

Like I said, Oy Bleeping Vey!