The grey tie....

"Well you missed it....."  I have listened to those words my whole life.  It could be about a family member getting a new vehicle, kids riding four-wheelers, a visitor or just one of the many family members acting like a fool.  I will not hear those words in that tone of voice again.  It has been a very long week with my grandfather having an accident involving full thickness burns to around 40% of his body.  He gave everything he had to hang in there for a week and in the end his kidneys could not keep up with the demands placed upon them. 

It has been very hard.  All six grandchildren grew up across the road from him.  He was a part of out every day life.  A few moved a some miles away and I myself just recently returned home after living away for four years.  I am sad that we ever left our home across the street from him.  I know I missed a lot, but still saw him and talked at least once a week, but the last few months have been amazing talking over coffee in the mornings sitting in rocking chairs in the afternoon.  I am so thankful for the time we have had recently, but I am selfish and wish I had more time for those talks.   I miss the sound of his voice and the direction he would give me when I was worried about the simple things.  He always knew the answer. 

There are many stories to share that will be told and retold in our family.  Those are for us to use to remember him as well as continue to keep our large family close together, but I will tell my personal story of how I held it together though out his funeral service.  my husband was in need of a new tie, so after reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy I opted for a black and grey striped tie.  Looking at this tie throughout the day I would have a slight distraction thinking of potential uses.  I had to update one of my cousins on the plots in the books I had read, so we had our own little joke to get us through all of the public attention. 

The above tie will never be used for "kinky f@@@ery", but the crude thought kept me from being completely inconsolable in front of the many friends my grandfather had.  He will be greatly missed by many for his compassion and kind heart.  He always made me feel welcome in the home he built with his own hands.  I was more than welcome to come and go as I pleased and was never made to feel guilty for being too busy for a visit.  He was the most amazing man I have ever met along side my father that is like him in many ways.  He instilled strong values and love in his three boys, his six grandchildren and even in all nine great-grandchildren.  I am very proud to say that I see some of his character in my own six year old.  If my son grows up to become half the man he was, then I will be the proudest mother in the world. 

77 shadow...?

To begin with I love Dean Koontz.  He has made me aware of all kinds of terror over the years.  I am excited about the conversion of the Odd series to a screen.  He writes amazing stories from clowns to nano technology inspired beings.  His settings are always fitting and hold loads of detail.  I was so excited to read 77 Shadow Street when it first came out.

I had pre-ordered so I would be set for reading as soon as possible.  It begin a little different than most I have read from him.  There are many characters involved and each chapter is dedicated to specific ones and their journey through this maze of a house.

He provides easy to follow maps of the structure he is winding these people through.  everything was all nice and spooky until a the beasts were beginning to be unveiled.  Millions of tiny computers just do nothing for me.  Even if they are in the shape of something that sounds demonic.  So this nano technology made up these creatures and took over some of the living.  Basically I get zombie robots from Hell out of this.  It was completely different than any horror I have ever read as well as very original on his end.

I still love this author, but can not stand books on technology.  I love traditional monsters and just plain crazy people doing horrific things.

The Notebook......

My son has started writing in first grade.  I was so excited last year when he leaned over my shoulder and began to read a few line to me aloud from the book I was reading one night.  I was so excited and proud of him.  Like me he does not like to be forced to read, but loves to read things that he chooses.  So most homework is boring to him. 

This year he started writing.  He is learning about how to set up a story and the basic components to writing.  He loves this even more than reading because he can write anything he wants.  Usually it is about activities that make him happy or some kind of animal.  (He loves wild animals more than his mom I think.) 


Naturally, his first writing assignment was about a wild boar.  We had rescued two newborn hogs a year and a half ago.  He was so excited about his since they were so tiny and acted like little kittens.  His assignment was to tell a story about a time when he did not tell the truth.  He even drew a picture to match exactly complete with my dinning room table.  He wrote the following ~  "My daddy brought home two baby hogs from the woods one day.  They used the bathroom in the floor and I cleaned it up with a Kleenex."   He was afraid if he told me, that I would make the hogs go away.  I was more embarrassed by him telling the entire first grade and his new school. 

When we first got the hogs, they were so little they would fit under out little yorkie.

A lot of moms might get their feelings hurt by this next thing he did, but we are very open and honest with each other.  Plus I thought it was funny.  How am I going to get mad at my kid for writing and telling the truth?  He has loads of notebooks but this one is my favorite.

He started all sweet with I love you.  Then I told him it was bed time.  He went to his room while I talked to his dad who was out of town working.  A few minutes later he comes up too me and says, "See this notebook?  It is just for you.  It has all the things I don't like about you in it."  I just looked at him.  What do you say to a six year old about that?  He showed me the pages he had written.  There were already seven front and back.  He was mad about having to go to bed so it took everything I had not to laugh.  Finally I said, "Ok, Keep it where you can find it, and every time you get mad you can write in it."  He seemed happy with that and finally went to bed.

He completely cracks me up most days.  He always has a story or questions.  My favorite recent question "Momma, are there two kinds of stupid?"  The ideas he has are amazing.  I love this little guy. 

Finally Finished

I actually finished they last of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy a few days ago, but it has taken a few days to get my thoughts straight on this.  I loved the flow of the books, but again there was a wedding and of course my other despised topic... babies.  Yea, babies are wonderful.  I love baby stories and listening to a two year old talk, just not in the middle (or end) of a book I am reading that is about sex.  It just sort of ruins it for me.  Yes, I know that is how babies are made.  I am more into the practice aspect of the baby making.  Apparently I am not the only one who likes the practice or there would be less birth control options and way more babies.

I love reading and writing.  Like everyone I have a list of things that I do not like to read.  Robots or other technology as number one, weddings in at number two and babies at number three.  This slowed down for me in the final novel.  I had to keep reading to see how the characters evolved through their relationship.  I did like the fact that they both grew with each other, becoming what the other truly needed.  Christian overcame his past that had defined him and Anastasia became more confident and actually grew up with every page.

I did learn a few things, like what kind of rope to buy to tie my husband up with, how to properly use a flogger, riding crop and neck tie.  I also learned that my husband gets embarrassed by talking about said objects.  Now that I am finished with these books, I can move on to finally finish 77 Shadow Street.  I am not looking forward to this since I have just came upon the part where the creatures are described as basically millions of tiny computers.

Ok, so I am back to reading Fifty Shades Freed.  The second in this trilogy was better than the first since there was a subplot that created a slight cryptic feeling through some of the book.  I love tragedy after sex.  It is just more fun.  Maybe I am a few shades of messed up.  I did grow up in an error of great scary movies where the virgins were the only ones that made it through the stabbings.

So the second book begin working on a suspenseful revenge plot.  I loved it.  I was so excited about the last book and f course after starting a trilogy, I have to finish it to see what the outcome will be.  My excitement was building, until the wedding.  I have slowly gotten past that part and am now on t bigger and better things.  Just to clarify, there is nothing wrong with the wedding.  I just hate them.  It is my own personal preference.  I do not have bad experiences with them.  I have been married for almost 13 years and had a nice wedding.  I just hate weddings.  So that completely halted my reading at the beginning.

Once I got over my hatred, well past the wedding flash backs, the revenge began again.  I am excited to read the outcome of that.  The sex is still there.  I have to admit I am starting to like spankings, among other things.


I am excited to see what else can be done with duct tape, besides a kidnapping.  So I am back to reading.  Hopefully to finish in a day or two where I can start my favorite cold weather/October reading of amazing horror novels.

Fifty Shades of....Sex

Alright so I finally started reading Fifty Shades of Grey.  I was a little afraid at first since I like my sex followed by fighting and/or death of something awful and evil.  So on a trip to a Dr. appointment, I picked it up to see what all the buzz was about.

I have talked to people that loved it and people that hated it.  There seems to be no one on the fence with this book.  So I began my journey through the sex filled pages.  I liked the use of all kinds of toys, however a spanking over the knee is completely not a turn on for me.  However, I do believe that all of the sex and toy usage is necessary for the story.  It helps define the main characters.  Everyone has a problem with the past and show it in different ways.  Like for example, how many of you like the lights off?  Or maybe likes to be in control of every sexual adventure?  There is a reason for that and a reason Mr. Grey likes sex a little rough.  I can't wait to find out more about his past in the next of the series.  You can easily guess after the first book, but I do love things spelled out for me in the end.

Overall I kind of liked it.  It is a different twist on romance novels and messed up childhood scenarios.  I really like to see someone brave enough to write something that is so far from your traditional 'vanilla' romance novel.  It is fun and better than talking to a sex therapist.

Airyan sample

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/airyan-erin-kaine/1112942264?ean=2940015694932&itm=1&USRI=airyan&

http://www.amazon.com/Airyan-ebook/dp/B009D3KI48/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348329404&sr=8-1&keywords=airyan


Above are the links to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Below is a sample from the novella.
Chec it out while it is on sale! 

"He went straight to his master suit.  Entering the room the center piece was a huge cherry red mahogany bed.  He had fallen in love with the intricately carved tree on the headboard and frame.  The carvings of the tree roots continued wandering down the side frame, all the way to the footboard that formed a bench on the end of the bed.   

At the foot of the bed he had a white shaggy rug with its matching partner to the right in front of a white leather couch.  The bedside tables of matching mahogany were adorned with square fabric lamps that reached higher than the immaculate headboard.  The ceiling had lights hiding behind the white crown molding.  The glow they produced was like a sunset, defining the painted black on black vertical striped walls. 

He had also added horizontal white and black striped curtains to create a foe window in his basement.  There were also small highlights of red in pillows, vases candles and a huge canvas piece of a tree with fall colored leaves. 

This had been his escape on many nights.  The super soft grey, white and black bedding was so soothing and peaceful. 

On this particular night he would not be relaxing or resting. 

He placed Blair onto the bed along with the blanket he had wrapped her in.  The bathroom was on the left of the bed so once she was settled he went to retrieve some water and towels.  While filling a bowl of water he realized his sweater had become blood soaked when he saw himself in the Victorian silver framed mirror.  Cursing he stripped it off throwing it in the trash beside the black toilet.  He returned to the room to care for Blair. A shower could wait until she was clean.

Airyan set down the items he brought for cleansing while he removed her bloody and torn clothes.  He would return to her house later for a fresh set or send one of his guys to get her something to wear.  He placed her dirty clothing into the same trash he had used for his.

He could not stand to see the blood on her face any more so he started with the wet wash cloth there.  Slowly he removed the blood and dirt from her entire body, leaving in a soft conditioner for her hair. 

His blood was beginning to close the wounds she had obtained from the wreck.  It had stopped the blood flow long ago.  He placed her underneath the soft silky sheets as he felt her heart stop. 

He reached to feel for a pulse that was not there.  Just as his heart was sinking towards the dark pit of failure once again, the Moon Goddess appeared in his private sanctuary. 

"My son, be calm.  We all must die to be reborn.  Your efforts have not been lost here.  She will return to you once her body has repaired the injuries."

"I am sorry my queen.  I know it is forbidden to share blood, but I feared I had no other choice.  She had retained such fatal injuries."

"It is forgiven my first born.  She is different. She holds more power than you know."  The Goddess reached for a strand of Blair's hair."

Fun Fall Deco

So I have a new creative idea I started this past fall.  It is super easy and comes with endless options.  I started with this Halloween wreath after I won a basket full of goodies from my son's school.  I could not find a cute wreath for our front door so I ran to the store to pick up some supplies after finding this little glitter covered spider in our basket.





I started off with a plain straw wreath.  Since the straw tends to flake off and create pulls in fabric I decided to cover it with black duct tape.  This also blended with the colors I was using to keep the straw from shining through the tulle.

Once the wreath was all taped up, I began cutting tulle.  I had already purchased these in six inch wide rolls so there would only be one easy cut.  Find the length you need and then began wrapping them over the duct tape.  This is the longest part of the project since you want your wreath packed full of color.  I alternated three navy blue pieces with three purple pieces.  I also made one extra long piece for hanging.

After the wreath was completely covered, I turned all of the fluffy edges to the side a few at a time. 

I warmed up the hot glue gun and began placing my spider web to the back side of the wreath.  Then last I added my cute little glitter spider to finish the wreath.  It needed a little more glitter so I sprayed it with the cheap glitter hair spray you can find around Halloween.

I was so excited with end product I snapped a picture before finishing my tie, so it looks a little awful here.

I was so excited, I played around with a few more for fall.  I used silk flowers and greenery for this large wreath.  All it needs is a cute monogram in the middle and the edges trimmed a little.

My story of creation

Welcome to my blog! I am excited to announce my new Guardians series soon to be available for ereaders. I will begin my blogging adventure with the story of how I decided to begin the series. As usual my son takes credit for this.  He is a wonderfully noisy and active six year old with a special interest in books as well as movies.  Since he so amazing, I thought it was fair for him to choose the first picture. 

We have watched New Moon, Breaking Dawn and The Lost Boys together. He also like to know about the books I am reading and will look over my shoulder to read to me at night. While I was reading one of the books from The House of Night series he decided he wanted to know all of the details. I gave him all of the details he ask for about the plot and story line. I thought we had finally finished when I had turned out the lights for bed. Little did I know he had just began with the deep questions.

  I guess I should have figured this out sooner since two years ago Toy Story 3 brought up the dreaded "Where do babies come from?" questions. He came to this question all because Andy grew up. What a fun night that was. So I turned out the lights and the first thing I heard out of the darkness was "Momma, where do vampires come from? I mean how were they made?" I started thinking and the first thing that came to mind to answer him was of course the first novel written about them. So I told him who Bram Stoker was and that the first vampires name was Dracula that I knew of. He seemed happy with that I guess since he then asked "Why are some good and some bad?"

We talked a little longer until he finally fell asleep. His questions got me thinking about why they were created. I decided it would be fun to start a romance series containing an ongoing battle between good and evil that began with an ancient curse upon the Moon Goddess. Makes sence that only a Moon Goddess could create such a creature that helps to guard against demonic powers on earth. So my journey began. Now it is my turn to ask a question. What is the strangest thing a child has ever asked you?