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Archive for April, 2010

You never know…

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Last night my five year old nephew came for a visit. Dinner was almost done and the smell was in the air. So, he appears in the kitchen and gives me a shy little grin before he disappears into the living room. A minute or so later, my daughter calls me in to tell me a ’story’ about how the nephew is hungry because no one EVER feeds him. Never, ever, EVER. Now, my nephew is five, stands above my waist and weighs over 75 pounds. He’s not fat but stocky and solid, the biggest boy in his class. The child does not lack food. LOL But when I donned my serious face and played along this was his response:

“Nope. No food. Ever. I’m always hungry,” he said with the most pathetic face. “No one never, ever feeds me.”

I cracked up. Couldn’t help it. If you could’ve seen his ornery little face. LOL Angel

Do you have any funny stories to share? I’d love to hear them.

Kay

The List

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Here’s the list. It’s posted on Amy’s Blog. There are several that have to be added, however. Such as:::

*Traffic cops have eyes in the back of their heads when contemplating a left hand turn before said cop okays the turn. LOL :quad:

*Over-priced hotel muffins do not a breakfast make.

*Chicos’ coupons are only for the chosen few (i.e. Amy, who bought an awesome belt I am determined to borrow at the first opportunity.)

*My first shoe choice is not always the wisest. Fashion can be painful. Sneakers and mile-long Michigan Avenue are a definite must. (Yes, Amy, you were right to make me bring sneakers.)

*Toll booths suck. When Chicago rakes in the cash they do on everything else, WHY do they charge thirty-cent and one-dollar tolls? Better yet, since they charge them, WHY are the roads so bad???

*Good friends make the world go round and laughter really is the best medicine.

*Plotting at 2 a.m. takes some brainpower but the twists and turns get really interesting!

Kay

Laughter and friends

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Ever notice how friends truly bring out the laughs? I disappeared for a couple days because I flew to Chicago to attend the Spring Fling Conference. It was great but what an adventure getting there!

Fellow Superromance author Amy Knupp emailed me last week to confirm my arrival etc. Because I wasn’t at my desk, I didn’t know much but she quickly found the copy I’d sent her and told ME what airport I was flying into, the arrival time etc.

Then on the day of my arrival? She went to the wrong airport.

Um…. OOPS!

That kicked off the weekend. But, it gets better.

In chatting with Amy for several months we were undecided on what we were going to do when I arrived (ie, stay in Chicago, drive back to her house or what). Wellllllll, one thing led to another but let’s just say hotel reservations were made. By me. The problem?

We arrived at the conference hotel to discover I’d forgotten to extend our stay to include Wednesday night–and the hotel was booked. We had no room. OOPS!

Laughing because we’d both made such air-headed mistakes, we decide to find lunch, Priceline a hotel for the night etc.

We see a restaurant name that immediately snags our attention–Thai Thai. (We were hungry and homeless–it was funny at the time!) We immediately decide to check it out because the name alone made us laugh.

Welllllll, after pulling into the strip mall we see something we just weren’t expecting.

chicagohookersnook2010.jpg

Nearly hysterical with laughter and joking that this was our future home or at least our place of rest for the night (note the name (BTW, it’s a knitting store!) we stop to take a photo because writers just can’t pass up an opportunity like this one. Blog material anyone?

The coast was clear when we stopped but in the twenty seconds we sat in the car to snag a photo, a woman drove up behind us, beside us, and screamed out the window, “Lady, WHAT are you doing????” before she sped off.

She was obviously having a bad day. She left. We laughed. Then we saw her again–going into Thai Thai.

Deciding she wasn’t quite a serial killer, we decided to stick with our original destination but I think our laughter and happiness scared her. We walked in–she walked out. LOL In fact, she couldn’t get out of there fast enough as we came in the door. If only she knew we were two romance writers who liked happy endings. LOL

Amy was a Priceline virgin but with the Hookers Nook so close she braved the experience. We booked a hotel (a Marriott, no less), ate our Thai Thai and went on our way to the Marriott we’d passed along the way, patting ourselves on the back for a job well done.

Inside the Marriott, we walk to the desk, smiling, give our name–but we have no reservation. Because we’d, um, gone to the wrong hotel. Razzanhit:

OOPS, OOPS, OOPS!!!

LOL Yes, at this point we’re both thinking neither of us should be driving–or booking anything. It was like dominoes falling but through it all (because we had no schedule to keep, thank goodness) we laughed ourselves silly. *Everything* was funny and we were wiping away tears because only we could make the mistakes we’d made.

We eventually made it to the right hotel. We had a room. All was well. After checking in, we even braved another trip out to find a mall and shop. Did you know Godiva fixes everything? (Or that they have a Godiva of the month club and you get a FREE piece of Godiva by signing up???? (It’s free, too!) All you have to do is visit a location and walk in. No purchase necessary. (But I highly, HIGHLY recommend the dark chocolate truffles. YUMMY!)

Amy and I had so much fun we’re planning another trip 2012 (the next Spring Fling). I wonder what adventures we’ll have then?

Do you have a friend that brings out the laughs? Have you ever had a day like the one above?

Kay – coming soon look for a list of things we learned during our Chicago stay. Some of the revelations came from the events mentioned above, some didn’t. It’s a list you have to read, tho. :rofl:

Cooking with friends

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

I posted a little while ago that I’d signed up for cooking classes in the kitchen Chef Jamie Oliver set up in Huntington, WV. Well, Saturday was the first two of the ten classes and all I can say is I sooooo need this!

The first session was on eggs. Gotta tell you, I didn’t learn anything new in that one. Eggs are a pretty simple food source. Their recommendation was to buy fresh or organic if possible. Know a farmer?? (I’d love a source for fresh eggs!)

The second session was on soups. I’m not a cook (Oh, if you only knew!) so this actually was good stuff to know. Anyway, we made Leek & Potato Soup. One, I’ve seen leeks, heard of them, didn’t know what the heck to DO with them. Now I do. Two, soups aren’t that hard to make. And this one was truly phenomenal–and healthy.

I don’t like the texture of ‘chunky’ soups so I was honestly dreading having to taste this one, which consisted of potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, celery, garlic etc. It just didn’t look appetizing to me. But, at the end of the session the person who’d trained with Jamie asked if we wanted to blend our soups with a submersion blender so every bite held all the flavors.

The result?

YUMMY! Clap

I’m now on a mission to own Jamie’s Food Revolution cookbook. I can handle good soups like this one. And the calorie count? Totally doable!

I took some pics but I don’t post pics of my family online and I kept forgetting to take photos without my daughter in them. But, if you watch the show, you’ve seen Jamie’s wall of 1000. He made a bet with a local radio DJ he could get 1,000 people through his kitchen in a week’s time. Here’s a pic of the wall.

jamieoliverwallphoto.jpg

And because one of my CPs joined me on this cooking excursion to healthiness with her granddaughter (notice Jamie’s call to join the Food Revolution behind us), I have to include this one even though it’s a horrible, horrible pic of me.

meandserenahuntingtonphoto.jpg

Next class is on stir-fry and I can’t wait. I love stir-fry.

Are you a cook? Do you enjoy cooking? Have you ever thought of having a ‘cooking’ day with friends? I think it would be fun to get Jamie’s cookbook and everyone pick one appetizer, one entree, one dessert etc. and make them together–then eat them. LOL

During the process of cooking in Huntington’s Kitchen Serena and I made new friends, enjoyed time spent with our family, and are working toward healthier eating. Let’s hope it’s only the beginning!

Kay

Blog Topics

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

I have to say for a writer, coming up with blog topics is hard work! I don’t find the various topics in the news particularly funny or newsworthy. So….what do bloggers blog about???

So, I thought… Hmm…. what if–I asked you to come up with a few topics you’d like to see addressed. There are rules. Namely, the topics have to be ‘clean’. But other than that, it’s pretty much a wide open field. Do you have any questions you want to ask? Any topics you want addressed? Here’s your chance to ASK. Those who post a list of FIVE SPECIFIC TOPICS (or more) will be automatically entered for a SURPRISE any reader would love.

Come on, don’t be shy. POST!

Kay