Thursday, November 10, 2011
My Morning
I thought I would share with you what happened during my morning today...such as it is. I knew as soon as I got up and came into the living room where my rats cage is that they needed a cleaning. They tore up their new bed...little bits of stuffing looked like it exploded all over the cage and they tore the top blanket off and pee'd everywhere up there. ewww stinky.
So I moved the cage over *It's on wheels Wheeee* and that's when I saw it...they had also dumped the food bowl out on the side of the cage and little bits of this and that rat food was spread all over the floor. Good grief they are messy little brats.
So I took out the rats *except for Ares and brodie who choose to cower in their beds on the top shelf* they only like coming out for a few seconds at a time and being able to jump right back in their cage. Jasper and Hades love being out.
I took all the baby blankets an fleece from the cage and put it in bags to wash later and wiped the whole cage down. Now I think my largest rat, Jasper has taken up stalking me when I'm not looking. Because I turn around to make sure they are fine on the couch and he is hanging on to the side of the cage and trying to climb on top on the cage to come over and stare at me while I clean. Being the good rat momma I am and not wanting him to go splat on the floor, I pick him up put him back on the couch and move the cage over so he can't get back on it. But he comes over to the side of the couch and looks anyway. Then gives me the "Well that wasn't nice" look.
Anyway I finally get all the clean fleece in the cage, put the baby blankets on the cage and fill the food bowl up and I see that Ares is inside the new bed and shredding the fluff stuffing. lol Well, I guess it won't be long before that's in the garbage, but for now it's holding together and since they like to sleep in it I'll leave it in there. Good thing I kept the big plastic igloo...I have a feeling I'll be putting that back in there pretty soon.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Chance for a $25.00 gift card

Shop Small on Small Business Saturday, November 26th, a day dedicated to supporting the small businesses that fuel local economies and invigorate our communities. If millions of Americans Shop Small it could be huge.
You'll join other Vocalpoint members and shoppers nationwide when you pledge to Shop Small on Nov. 26th—and enter for a chance to win a $25 American Express® Shop Small Gift Card!* Tell your fans to pledge to Shop Small and share this giveaway. Just copy this link into your browser and sign up for Vocal Point if your not allready a member...
vocalpoint.com/SmallBizSat
Monday, November 07, 2011
Old Pictures

I love finding old pictures of family members that I haven't seen before. But when I showed this to my dad he was completely surprised by it because he'd never seen it either. My sister found it in her things and when my mom passed away this past June, I inherited her photos and have been going through them all.
Ever since I was 12 years old, I have been collecting the family's photo albums. It started with just one...and then there were 2 and 3 and 10. When I had my daughter we took countless pictures of her and us and I ended up with more than 20 full size photo albums full of pictures. Now that my mom passed away and I now have all of her pictures, I had to buy 2 more huge photo albums and I still need at least two more to be able to fit all the pictures into them.
But as I was going through the pictures I noticed I didn't know who some of the people in the pictures were. There are a lot of black and white pictures of people I don't recognize. So because my daughter wants to inherit all these photo albums when I pass on, I started writing the names of every one in the pictures on the back of all the photos who I know they are. That way my daughter will know who they are and how they are related to her.
How I Get Free Stuff...
I tell my friends and family all the time how I get free things coming to me and some of them have tried it and they don't have the same results that I have. So I am going to tell you the websites that I belong to in order to get free stuff and maybe you'll be able to get free stuff too.
Swagbucks Sign up here and search like you would on Google or yahoo to earn swagbucks periodically. Turn in those swagbucks for Amazon.com gift cards or other merchadise.
Inbox dollars sign up with Inbox Dollars and click on the emails they send you and shop with them for points that you can turn into real money. This one takes more time to do but in the past 2 years I have gotten $120.00 from them.
The Tasters This is from Nescafe tasters choice coffee. Sign up and if they pick you to be a taster, you will get free samples of coffee to host Coffee parties with. Take pictures of your party and submit them for points that you can then use to buy gifts cards like Amazon.com. They also have a bunch of other surveys and activities for you to do that will also give you points that you can turn in for Gift cards.
Free Grabber This is where you will find a bunch of free samples to sign up for.
Free Silver Jewelry On this page they show you a few pieces of pretty silver jewelry that you can get for free...All you have to do is pay $6.99 for shipping and handling. I have bought earrings, rings and pendants from them and they are really pretty and good quality for the price. I'm wearing one of the rings right now.
Vocal Point Sign up with them, comment on the message board and other topics on teh site and periodically they will send you free samples and coupons for full size free products as well as coupons that you can share with your friends and family. But you have to comment a few times a week on the boards and topics in order to keep the samples coming, but it is well worth the effort. I get samples and coupons all the time.
Actual free Samples A site full of free samples to sign up for.
Hey Its Free A site for great free samples. The guy that writes about the free samples is totally funny too.
Samples FromTarget Target gives out samples periodically. But they go quickly.
My View This is a survey taking website. You sign up, take the surveys they send you and get points for the ones you qualify for. Then turn them into cash or prizes.
My Survey This is another survey website that you take survey to get points which you can turn into prizes and gift cards.
Harris Poll Another survey website to take survey and earn points that can be cashed in for prizes and gift cards.
Zoompanel Another website that has you take surveys and gives you points for them that you can cash in for prizes or gift cards.
American Consumer Opinion Sign up with them and when they send you surveys that you qualify for, you get money that you can cash out after you have accumulated $5.00
Just Some of the things I have gotten so far this year for free.
Cheryl Dragon T- shirt
1 Pair of EZ Sox
Sample of Purina Smart Blend
4 free business cards from StarBucks
Button- I'm Human
Charisma Carpenter T-shirt
Beneful Dog food sample
Cybdi bands hair tie sample
Crest white strips sample
seattles Best coffee sample
Herbal Essences shampoo sample
Tylenol stress kit
Prilosec OTC sample
Sample of valspar paint and mini roller
Kirkland Brand Antibacterial wipes sample
Tide Stain release 10ct. sample
Sample of Tide Detergent
Coupons for full size freebiesBreve Creme
Nestle Pure life Multi Pack
2 Buitoni Meal packs
2 Hot pocket boxes
2 Boxes of Lean pockets
1 package of Nestle toll house refrigerated cookie dough
2 Bottles of Nestle Juicy juice
1 Stouffer's party size meal
1 Canister of Nestle Tasters Choice coffee
Books I have gotten for free.
I have received over 50 books for free from entering blog contests and giveaways.
Amazon.com gift cards
I have received $90.00 in Amazon.com gift cards from giveaways and contests on blogs and over $500.00 from cashing in the points I had on the different surveys.
Some free samples require you to sign up for them on Facebook and for that reason I have another FB account solely for freebies.
This is not a complete list of the things I have won because I forgot to write some of the things down when they came. But you get the idea. All of these freebies are just in the last 6 months.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Rant: Headless Romance Book Covers
So here we have a sample of the type of covers I am going to be talking/ranting about. Can you see what I am talking about? They are all headless. There is a torso, but the face and or head is gone. I like the faces to be attached to the torso's I am looking at and therefore this new trend is driving me batshit crazy.




I think this new trend is fairly hard to miss...am I right? Do they have a valid reason for not adding the heads and faces to the torso's? I don't think so, not in my opinion they don't. I am an eye person and a lip person not to mention an arm person. lol I like looking at a man's eyes and lips. So not having a head on the torso of a cover makes it hard for me not to think of said torso being a headless corpse.
I believe that we've come a long way from the creamy bosoms, men's long hair blowing in the wind and floral colors on the front of romance books, but this new trend is irritating me to no end. I want to see a face! For an author to say that she wants us to envision what our hero would look like instead of giving us a face, is a cop out. Why make us imagine what he would look like, pick a cover model and tell us what he looks like. it's much better for me than seeing what looks like a headless corpse on the front of my romance book. I really don't want to be reminded of the headless horseman. Headless torso cover's make me think that someone came along and lopped off the heroes head with a sword...people this isn't a Highlander movie!
I blame the publishers so I hope I have gotten their attention.
My Babies

Here you have Hades, Brodie, Jasper and Ares in the background.
Jasper squinting and Brodie up close.
Ares is sniffing the camera. lol
Hades on his back sleeping. His little feet up in the air. Jasper and Ares are in the bed with him.
Hades sleeping on his bed/pillow.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
My Published Articles
I also wanted to share something about myself that you might not know. I am a Freelance Writer and write article about small animal care for The Yahoo Contributor Network.
You can find my profile here and just scroll down to see what articles I've written. I have more than 200 articles published right now and am always adding more.
If you read any of my articles, I would love to know what you think about them. :)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Sharing smiley 360 Mission
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
My brother in law is going home today!
Here's a little bit of the article...
After four years in the hospital, Mike Stanzione is going home.
A rare disease left him dependent on a ventilator, barely able to walk and in need of constant medical care. He was told over and over again he had no chance of leaving Bergen Regional Medical Center and getting home to his wife and young son.
Yet the 53-year-old refused to give up.
Armed with his cellphone and laptop, he found a doctor willing to try a groundbreaking surgery. It required a harrowing ride to Florida and back and a painful recovery and rehab.
And today, he'll finally rejoin his family at his Saddle Brook home, where friends and neighbors are expected to be on hand to welcome him back.
"I'm happy I didn't give up," Stanzione said. "I just wasn't going to accept being on a vent and in the hospital for the rest of my life — I heard about the diaphragm pacemaker and went after it."
Stanzione has Pompe disease, an often fatal genetic illness that causes degeneration of muscles, including those that control the diaphragm for breathing. He is the first Pompe patient to get a diaphragm pacemaker, which stimulates the muscles and nerves in his chest so he can breathe periodically — sometimes for hours — without a ventilator.
It was the ventilator that shackled him for years to a hospital room at Bergen Regional in Paramus. The machine requires a medical professional be on hand around the clock in the event it malfunctions or the patient needs assistance.
Stanzione's insurance company, Aetna, and Medicaid and Medicare refused to cover home health care costs. It appeared the former computer programmer would have to spend the rest of his life in a long-term-care facility.
Birthdays, holidays and seasons came and went. His son, Brian, who was 4 when Stanzione was first hospitalized, is now 8. They used Skype daily and tossed a ball on weekend visits at the hospital, but it didn't come close to watching his son grow and change every day.
"The hardest part has been being away from Brian," Stanzione said. "I missed so much. I just want to be home with him — I used to read to him every night, now he can read to me."
His wife, Debbie, admitted she and Brian had resigned themselves to the idea that her husband would spend the rest of his life in a hospital room.
"I never admitted it to him, but after a while we really didn't think he'd ever be able to come home," Debbie Stanzione said. "It was hardest on Brian — he's had his hopes dashed so many times."
But Mike Stanzione refused to accept that this would be his life. He had once been an active husband who played ball on weekends with his friends. He searched for a way home.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Review: Companion Caterers Lixit Space Pod 2 Large

When I first brought my 4 boys home I thought I had all the accessories I would need for them. I bought an igloo that they refused to use for sleeping, they used it for food storage so we dubbed it "The refrigerator". I also bought them a stuffed Alligator which was supposed to be a hidie place to snuggle into the middle of, but they tore it to shreds in less than a day.
Then I bought a Lixit Critter Space Pod 2 Large and they fought over who was going to get to be inside it. I hung it from the top of the cage as it states you can and at first I was really scared it would come crashing down but it didn't, it stayed put. My 4 male rats were always trying to squeeze themselves into the Space Pod so I decided to buy another one for them and I bought it from Companion Caterers on Amazon. They have a wide selection of toys, food, treats and other accessories for your pets and they shipped my box out to me really fast, which I really liked.
Companion Caterers prices are comparable with others who sell some of the same things on amazon but knowing I can get fast shipping and nice customer service if I need it, has made me a customer when I am looking for things for my 4 boys.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
I've Got Great News!

My brother in law who has been in the hospital for 4 1/2 years..is getting to go home this month...for good! Last month he had a pacemaker like machine implanted into his chest that shocks his chest muscles and makes him take a breath. He got this so he could be weaned off the ventilator and hopefully go home. It's called a Breathing Pacemaker.
Diaphragm (Breathing) Pacemakers
A breathing pacemaker consists of surgically implanted receivers and electrodes and an external transmitter with antennas worn directly over the implanted receivers.
The external transmitter and antennas send radiofrequency energy to the implanted receivers just under the skin. The receivers then convert the radio waves into stimulating pulses.
These pulses are then sent down the electrodes to the phrenic nerves, causing the diaphragms to contract. This contraction causes inhalation of air. When the pulses stop, the diaphragms relax and exhalation occurs. Repetition of this series of pulses produces a normal breathing pattern.
A breathing pacemaker can provide ventilatory support for patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency whose diaphragm, lungs, and phrenic nerves have residual function. Typically, these patients have high spinal cord injuries, central sleep apnea or other central neurological disorders, or a paralyzed diaphragm.
My brother in law has Pompe Disease and I did an interview with him for Yahoo Contributor Network, last year.
I'm happy for him, my sister in law and their 8 year old son. I know they must be beyond happy right now.
Friday, October 07, 2011
Book Review: Inferno's Kiss by Monica Burns
Series: Order of the Sicari #3
Author: Monica Burns
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade; (October 4, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0425243141
ISBN-13: 978-0425243145

The laws of desire...
Dante Condellaire, heir apparent to the Sicari Lords, knows that being a true leader means sacrifice. For Dante it was relinquishing all erotic pleasures. But he never expected his willpower to be tested so fiercely by Cleopatra Vorenus, expert assassin of the Order, and daughter of the man he is positioned to succeed.
The rules of battle...
Cleo prefers working alone--until she meets Dante who shares her goal: to destroy a Praetorian stronghold where Sicari women are imprisoned for devious purposes. Bringing the mission off without a hitch pumps up more than their resolve. It sets off a sexual spark too combustible to ignore.
Are all made to be broken.
As their attraction flares like an inferno, the stakes are raised. So are the risks. Before the mission is over, Dante and Cleo will be plunged into a dangerous conspiracy where a traitor threatens the very foundation of the Order, as well as the fiery bond between Dante and Cleo--warriors and lovers now torn between duty and desire.
Inferno's Kiss is the 3rd book in the Order of the Sicari series and brought all the questions left unanswered from the first two books to a close. To see what happens with Atia and Marcus, characters from the first two books was really exciting and something I had really been looking forward to. I loved their characters and their relationship was so heartbreaking because of the things they've had to endure.
Then there's Cleo and Dante, who bring a whole new meaning to the term "Virginal". Cleo meets a man who is one step away from being the newly appointed Sicari Lord and who has taken an oath of abstinence. That's right, he's a powerful, intimidating, intense...and a virgin! How could it get any better? Well, there's also family secrets, long lost family members who meet for the first time, reincarnation, magical scrolls that need to be deciphered and an adventure that spans several life times.
Inferno's Kiss was a thrill ride well worth waiting for. Dante feels things for Cleo he never knew he could feel and Cleo can't help but to fantasize about the things she would love to do with him if she can ever get him to stop running away from her.
Marcus and Atia have a lot to over come because of all the lies and betrayal they each feel, but when they come together and see how good it can be again and the fact that their blood bond has never really been broken, makes you believe in true love.
Cleo is probably my favorite character in this whole series, I used to think it was Lysander but after reading the heartache Cleo went through after losing her unborn child and feeling like an outcast because she doesn't posses powers like other Sicari and that fact is even more pronounced after finding out who her parents are. If anyone should have strong sicari powers it's a child of Atia and Marcus. But Cleo more than makes up for not having powers by being a total bad ass who can kick the bad guys ass all by herself. Cleo is not only strong, but a sympathetic character and a survivor who's had to endure the worst pain imaginable. She is without a doubt my favorite character out of all three books.
If you want action packed scenes that actually make sense and don't just have swords blows and blood spurting scenes that go on forever that leave you lost as to what just happened, then this is the series for you. The action scenes are clean and Monica Burns made the action clear as to what is happening and it happens for a reason, just just action for the sake of action.
I didn't think Monica Burns could write another book as good as Assassin's Heart, but I was wrong, this book the 3rd in the series was just as good as the first two books and a great ending to the series.
I give it 5 stars.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Winner of The Puppy Diaries by Jill abramson
Bill...I'll send you an email please respond with your mailing addy withing 24 hours or I will pick an alternate winner.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Spiders...
So, me being the big bad ass that I am, I went out and saw a Black widow spider on the outside of my apartment wall. *Yeah, don't try this at home kids*
I got a glass and a piece of paper and put the glass over the Black Widow and slowly, gently pushed the paper under the spider until I had her safely inside the glass. Then I walked home with her. I also read that if you put a spider in the freezer for just a minute they will slow down and won't be able to move for a few seconds. Just long enough for me to take a look at her and get over my fear.
So I put her, glass and all in the freezer for a minute and sure enough she wasn't moving. I took her out and got out my small microscope and looked at her under the microscope...and then she woke up. You've never seen me move so fast in my life. The thing was, I could have gotten miss spider back into the glass...if it hadn't been for her web. Yes, when she woke up she started spilling her web all over everything she walked across and it was sticky..I mean really sticky and I kept getting stuck in it. Once I touched the web and I saw her climbing on it...right towards me. I got her in the glass and took her back outside real fast. Buh Bye miss spider.
I later found out that a Black Widow spider most times requires a trip to the E.R. for Anti-Venom. I had no idea about that at the time. But I got over my fear of spiders and can now pick any spider I find in my apartment up in my hands and take them outside and put them in the bush outside my door.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Giveaway! Monica Burns Bookmarks and More...
If you haven't read any of Monica Burns books. I really do recommend them highly.

You can read my review of Please Me, Here.

You can read my review of Assassin's Honor, Here.

You can read my review of Assassin's Heart, Here.
Inferno's Kiss is due out soon and you can be sure I'll be reading this one as soon as I can get my hands on it.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Giveaway! Heidi Betts Bookmarks

Today's Giveaway is for 2 Booksmarks from Heidi Betts new book Must Love Vampires.
Giveaway Today! Heidi Betts was nice enough to give me some bookmarks to give away to you. If you haven't read her books you really should, they are great reads. I highly recommend them and anything else by this author. You can also come and visit Heidi Betts at her blog here. She is crazy funny and has contests where she gives away books all the time.
Today I am giving away 2 bookmarks and maybe a couple of goodies from my own bookmark stash to 5 people!
All you have to do is send me an email with your name and address to miztik_rose@yahoo.com and let me know you want the Heidi Betts bookmarks. I will give them away until my supply is gone.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
One Of My Biggest Pet Peeves
I love entering contests on blogs but there are some that I skip because of all you have to do in order to get an entry. Here's just a bit of the things I've found out there in blog-dom that people make you do in order to win a book/swag/ect...
Complete the form *or at least try to figure out how to complete it.
Follow Me
Leave a comment about this interview, the cover, the author, the authors town, the year the author was born..ok not really but you get my point.
And then there are the "Extra entries"
+1 Follow me on Twitter
+1 Like me on Facebook
+1 Like "So and So" on Facebook
+1 Be my friend on Goodreads
Like my review on Amazon or give me a thumbs up to show I done good.
+1 for social networking this giveaway and leave me a link
+1 Leave a comment
+1 Fan on GoodReads
+1 Follow the blog
+1 Follow on Twitter
+1 Friend on Facebook
BONUS QUESTION: Answer another question that can be found on the site, in the book, on twitter or somewhere out in the nethers...
And my #1 pet peeve is the blog owner not listing that the book we are commenting /entering for is an ebook. You see I don't buy ebooks, I don't usually read ebooks, I don't have an ebook reader, and I don't plan on buying one. I like traditional books. Yes, I am not a fan of ebooks at all. So when I find out that I have just won an ebook and the fact that the give away wasn't specific about it being an ebook up for a giveaway..it makes me a little irritated because I don't usually enter for ebooks. I'll leave them for those of you that like to read them, that have ereaders or like to spend countless hours in front of your computer reading *which I will not do*
As for the why? I've won a few ebooks and I will read a few by authors that I already like and have established that they can write. But I have also won a few or been given a couple to review that read like a 3rd grader wrote them. I will not be specific here sorry. I don't like to write negative reviews, it messes with my good mood. So I usually say thank you, shake my head and say nothing. I mean someone somewhere must have liked it for it to have been published, right? Who am I to say it's really not good, that I think they write ebooks only because they aren't good enough to write traditional books. I may think it, but I won't say it.
Giveaway! Win 2 Bookmarks from Joyce DiPastena


Giveaway Today! Joyce DiPastena was nice enough to give me some bookmarks from these two books to give away to you. If you haven't read these books you really should, they are great reads. I highly recommend them and anything else by this author.
Today I am giving away 2 bookmarks and maybe a couple of goodies from my own bookmark stash to 5 people!
All you have to do is send me an email with your name and address to miztik_rose@yahoo.com and let me know you want the Joyce DiPastena bookmarks. I will give them away until my supply is gone.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Giveaway! Sherrilyn Kenyon's Special Collectors Edition Coffin Box Set (Audio Book)

Win Sherrilyn Kenyon's Special Collectors Edition Audio Book!
It’s time for another giveaway! Hurray! Today’s giveaway features my all-time favorite author Sherrilyn Kenyon here at Dark Thoughts and I'll be hooking up one lucky winner with a free copy of the audiobook! See below on how to enter.
This audio book includes:
This Special Collector’s Edition Box Set includes audio CDs for the first three books in the Dark-Hunter Series. The set also includes an AUTOGRAPHED keepsake suitable for framing!
NIGHT PLEASURES
He is solitude. He is darkness. He is the ruler of the night. Yet Kyrian of Thrace has just woken up handcuffed to his worst nightmare: An accountant. Worse, she's being hunted by one of the most lethal vampires out there. And if Amanda Devereaux goes down, then he does too. But it's not just their lives that are hanging in the balance. With the fate of the world in their hands, Kyrian and Amanda are all that stands between humanity and oblivion. Let's hope they win.
NIGHT EMBRACE
Talon was an ancient Celtic warrior who made a big mistake—he killed the son of a Celtic god Camulus. Camulus swore vengeance, claiming that no one Talon loved would be safe—they all would die horrible deaths in front of his eyes. When, after everyone else he loves has dies, Talon’s sister is murdered in front of his eyes, he barters his soul to Artemis for the chance to protect strangers from the vampires that stalk the night. Two thousand years later in modern-day New Orleans, he meets Sunshine—a woman who, against his will, makes him love again. Of course, it’s Mardi Gras, and New Orleans is filled with vampires, Dionysius in the middle of a complex plot, and Camulus as his confederate. Now Talon and Sunshine have to block the gods, and somehow figure out how to break the curse. Or Sunshine will be the next to die…
They say even the most damned man can be forgiven. Zarek, a man who endured a lifetime as a Roman slave, and 900 years as an exiled Dark-Hunter, never believed that until the night Astrid opened her door to him and made that feral beast want to be human again. Made him want to love and be loved. But how can an ex-slave whose soul is owned by a Greek goddess ever dream of touching, let alone holding, a fiery star?
So it goes without saying that if you haven’t checked out the Dark Hunter series, you totally should.
To enter into the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment here with your email, so I can get in touch with you if you win and you are entered for this giveaway! How easy is that! US residents only. I will pick the winner on September 25th!
Added note: the winner has 48 hours to respond, if they don’t within that time then the book goes to someone else, so make sure to check your email on the 25th of September!
Disclosure: This free audio book is being provided by Macmillan Audio.