Fifteen Minutes of Delusion

Oh, my goodness. What. A. Weekend. In a good way, of course. Thanksgiving Weekend 2009 is winding to a close, and I am thoroughly exhausted. So much so that the thought of sitting on my bum all week writing computer code sounds like a bit of a vacation. Kara, the girls, and I had a nice dinner here at home. A few weeks ago, we'd talked about taking a trip down to SeaWorld, but decided that would be just a bit too much, and would probably throw us off for the rest of the weekend. Kara makes a wicked good turkey, and together we made our traditional honey pumpkin pie. (If there's enough interest, I'll have her post recipes.) I also made our famous eggnog ice cream (pour one quart eggnog into an ice cream freezer and say 'go.' That's it!) and baked a key lime pie recipe for my friend Josi (she writes culinary mysteries, and I'm lucky enough to be part of her test kitchen). The girls helped quite a bit with making the other side dishes, which made the day fun. I

There's a new Christmas story collection available, and I'm part of it! The book is called Stolen Christmas and it's a compilation of winning stories from the LDSPublisher blog annual Christmas story contest. These books are being sold for the very affordable amount of $7.99. You can't even buy a hardback bestseller from Wal-Mart for that price! To purchase your very own copy (or two or three), click here . By Lds Publisher, Roger Bonner, Don Carey, Laura Craner, Joyce DiPastena, Sarah M. Eden, L. T. Elliot, Gussie Fick, Melanie Goldmund, M. Gray, Taegyn Hutchinson, Angie Lofthouse, Lori Nawyn, Tristi Pinkston, Brian C. Ricks, Sandra Sorenson, Janice Sperry, Christine Thackeray What happens when you're so poor you have to steal your Christmas presents? Have you ever taken a punch in the face as your Christmas gift to the girl you love? Or saved Christmas while hunting were-weevils? These award-winning Christmas stories are the best of the best from the L

Recently, I received an email from my friend Tristi Pinkston, Senior Editor of the new Valor Publishing Group , asking if I would read and review Am I Not A Man? The Dred Scott Story as part of its virtual book tour. The book was written by Utah Attorney General Mark L. Shurtleff, and is the first title to be published by Valor. I jumped at the chance to read and review this book, as I have heard a lot about it, and the story it tells marks a pivotal moment in the history of this great nation. Plus, I'm always happy to let someone send me a free book. The complete description of this book can be found below, but in a nutshell, Dred Scott was a slave who took his fight for freedom all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Court's decision in the case of Scott vs. Sanford galvanized both sides in the slavery debate, and was referenced heavily in the successful presidential campaign of Abraham Lincoln. Am I Not A Man? The Dred Scott Story is a very powerful book. It is a nove

So Saturday, after I got the mud washed off of me and my tools, it was time for the weekly grocery shopping trip. I like taking one (but not both!) of the girls with me, as it's fun to have someone to talk to as I go from store to store. Neither one really likes going, though. However, I still ask anyway. When I asked Alyssa if she wanted to go to Costco and get some samples, she said, "Park?" I agreed that if she came with me, we could stop at the park (or in this case, the playground at her school). While I pushed her on the swings, it occurred to me that I had forgotten the RedBox video, which needed to be returned. So we drove back home to get the movie. Once we were there, Alyssa insisted that I leave her at home. "Don't you want to go to Costco and get samples?" "No! Me home." There was no convincing her otherwise, and I ran my errands all alone. She'd gotten her trip to the park, and nothing else mattered. Used and abandoned by my own

We have at our house and aerobic septic system. This means that the water gets separated and processed and purified and pumped out through sprinklers in the back yard, while the yucky stuff stays behind in the tank. It's an efficient system, and works pretty well. Except when it doesn't. We've noticed that while one of the sprinklers has been spraying correctly, the other one has been sporadic, and recently stopped working all together. This triggered an alarm condition on the system, and we called the maintenance guy to come take a look. He fixed a problem with the pump, and then went to look at the second sprinkler. Nothing was coming out, even though the pump was working and the first sprinkler was going great guns. So he took the sprinkler head off. Nothing. Assuming this must mean a rock or something was plugging the connection, he dug up the end of the pipe and cut it off. Still nothing. Since this fix-it guy charges big money per hour, and the problem was obviously i

The girls and I had a great time at Sea World yesterday. I will attempt to share the fun of the day in Seen and Heard format, with a Texted thrown in for good measure. Seen: Anna watching cartoons on her computer instead of getting ready to go. Heard : Dad - Anna, come on and get in the car. It's time to go. Anna - But I haven't eaten breakfast yet! Seen: Some kind of butterfly migration taking place near San Antonio and making a mess of our windshield. Seen: Anna and Alyssa loving on each other while posing at the Trick or Treat Street props. (Sadly, Alyssa was too old to participate in the Trick or Treat Street.) Seen: This guy, standing ten feet tall, wearing a glittery blue fish on his head, and giving me a great idea for a character in a future novel. Seen: Alyssa absolutely refusing to pose with a mermaid. Heard: Alyssa insisting on posing with this couple, and Anna being the one to refuse. Seen and Heard: The Count, Elmo, and the gang. Alyssa loved this show even mo