How Do You Feel About Re-issues

I recently found out, quite by accident actually that a book I had pre ordered and had thought was new * I know silly me* was actually a reissue of 2 books I had already read, but I didn't know that without looking up the info because it has a cool *insert sarcasm here* new cover and title.

Now it shouldn't surprise you to find out that I have a real issue with reissued books. Especially when they are done like this and 2 previous released books in the series are going to be put together in a new book and released under a totally different name. I don't care for that at all. I'm not going to name the offending book or author because I actually really like the books and the author. The fact is this was done in a way that just irritated me. Yes, it says that 100 extra pages that weren't in one of the books the first time was added to this book in that story so something was changed...but does that make it right? I don't think it does.

I think reissues * reprint of the original* are alright as long as they are CLEARLY labeled as such. I realize that some authors like to take earlier books and tweak them a little and re-release them because they think they are better. But to tell you the truth, I really don't see any reason to do that and rarely do I find a tweaked re-released book to be as pleasurable a read the second time around.

I liked the original and I read it, I don't really want to read it a second time just because a few minor things have been changed. I would rather read the original. I don't like having to do research on every damn book I go to buy, just to make sure it isn't a re-issue, re-release whatever. I was dumb and didn't look into this book that pissed me off. Good thing I just happened to read on another blog that it is actually 2 books that have already been released with a few extra pages added.

I realize that some authors like to revisit older books they've written in the hopes to target a new audience and make more sales. But if there are enough of the original books still available I don't like to see reissues/rewrites of the original book. What really bothers me is to see the same book years later with a new cover and a new title. It's the same damn book and if I order the book without looking at the description because I like the author and autobuy their books, I tell you I will be clearly peeved when I start reading only to find out that this is actually another book by another name. If an author changes the name it should have to say so on the front cover of the book.

For Example: A HillyBilly Christmas by Author so and so..A Reissue of A Hot Studly Christmas by author so and so.

That way at least I know what I'm paying for without having to research each and every book I'm getting.

I know that books go out of print and then the author makes nothing on those books. But they are usually available in used book stores ect, so people do read them and if they like the ones they find they go seek out the author to read the new books. So does reissuing an older out of print book just because the author isn't making money from it make them seem a little greedy? Will it turn off readers if they buy a book that isn't clearly marked as a reissue? Knowing full well up front that at some point the book will be out of print and they won't be making money from the book after that, should they just move on to the next book and let readers find them by reading the older books?

I think you already know my answers...

I'm actually going on a book buying hiatus right now. I'm just a bit irritated.

Foreign Money

A couple of years ago my dad gave me this what he thought was a Korean 100 dollar bill. This is the back side *I think* He told me he's had it since his brother brought it back from Korea in the 1950's, after the war. My uncle Roy who brought this back was in the Korean War and my dad wanted to pass it along to me. I think it's too cool not to share. I actually don't know much about this, so if anyone out there knows, please let me know. 

This is the front side of the bill. I find having this bill and knowing it's so old to be really interesting. I looked online and found that I actually think this is an old 100 Yen bank note from Japan. I'm not sure but it kinda looks like other 100 Yen bank notes from the 1940's 1950's, but that's all I could figure out. 

Freebie Friday

This weeks freebies were sent to me from Bzzagent.com. I signed up for an account with them and every once in a while they send me free products or coupons for free products to try out at home. This week I received Glade expressions coupons for 2 free products *One is shown here, the other I haven't been able to find in the store yet* So I got a Free Glade expression oil diffuser starter kit and a can of glade expressions fragrance mist *seen here*. Plus a booklet of coupons for myself and to share with my family and friends. 

Disclosure: I received coupons for free products in exchange for reviews and social networking posts but all views remain my own. 

Would You Have A Relationship With Your Father If You Were The Product Of A Rape?

Warning: This is a rant from me. I will be talking about a touchy subject "Rape", if this bothers you, please don't read this post.

I have a question for you all. If you found out that your mother had been raped and that you were the product of that rape...would you try and find your biological father and his family?

I have a family member, my half brother who has done this and I feel betrayed by it. Maybe I have no right to feel this way, but I do. Our mom is gone now and it seems like as soon as she died he changed and make it impossible for my younger brother and I to have a relationship with him.

So we don't talk to him anymore because of everything he's done and now I find out he's talking to his bio dad's kids and calling them brother ect. I don't know how a person can do that.

Obviously he wasn't happy with the family he has in us, maybe we weren't the type of family he was looking for. Maybe he has more in common with a rapists family than he did with us.

I can't be the only one who thinks this is a really weird thing to do, that you would have to really have something wrong with you personally to think this is ok. I know my mom wanted him to have nothing to do with his biological father and family and he kept saying he wanted nothing to do with them, but I guess he lied to my mom about that too.

Some bridges can't be mended, some things can't be taken back...and this for me, is one of them.

Keeping Track of Passwords

My friends are always telling me that they lose their passwords for different sites and have to reset them. So I was wondering why they didn't just write them down when they made a new one, but some of them told me they did, they just couldn't find where they wrote them down. lol 

So I thought I would share what I do and find out what everyone else does to keep track of their passwords. 

In the picture above is my password notebook. I added the little tabs on the pages for quickly finding some of the pages I use more often. My notebook is alphabetized. When I first bought it I took a pen and wrote a letter of the alphabet on each 4th pages in the upper right hand corner of the page. To do this I spaced out the pages and left 4 pages for each letter. You have to make sure you get a notebook with enough pages to do this. That way I have enough room to write several websites and passwords down for each letter. 

So for example on the 'Y' page, I have all my Yahoo email accounts and any other websites that start with "Y". 

Yes, it does take some time to find all those little pieces of paper you've got all your passwords and log in information written down on, but once you have the notebook done, you have it. You just have to make sure and remember to pick it up and put more new information in when you make a new account somewhere. I also write in some of the passwords in pencil because I change them every 6 months. Like fb, yahoo email, and banks and bill sites. I don't want to chance getting hacked. 

For each entry I write down the site, the email address I used *Since I have 6 or more of them*, the password and or username. 

It's a lot easier having all this information in one place that I can easily find than on thousands of tiny pieces of paper like I used to do. lol 

Now some people are thinking, "But this isn't at all safe" Really? Who isn't it safe from? Your spouse? Sorry but if anything ever happens to me I want my Ken to be able to log into our checking account, pay the bills, check my accounts and have the passwords to my email to let my friends know I'm sick or no longer here among the living and vice versa with him. 

He already knows most of my passwords and the ones he doesn't know because I change them, are in my notebook. I also know his passwords. It's not like we are snooping into each others email everyday or anything but if you can't trust your spouse to have your passwords then you might be doing something you shouldn't be doing in the first place, right?

Glade Expressions Collection: Review

I received some freebies from Bzzagent and Glade to try at home. I have used Glade products at home before and I do love the scents they offer but if you haven't seen the new Glade Expressions Fragrance Collection, you are in for a treat.

This new collection has great new scents like Fuji Apple Cardamom Spice *which just happens to be my favorite*, Cotton and Italian Mandarin, Lavender and Juniper Berry and Pineapple and Mangosteen.

I have now used the fragrance mist and the oil diffuser and love them both. I think my favorite scent right now is the Fuji Apple Cardamom Spice because it reminds me of the Halloween/Thanksgiving holiday. Even my daughter said it reminded her of the spices of pumpkin pie almost and something subtle that she can't quite put her finger on but definitely a Halloween type scent. And I agree with her.

Another great scent is Lavender and Juniper Berry...that smells so pretty. I love having that one in my bedroom and falling asleep surrounded by that scent.

The new design holders are unlike anything else on the market and they fit in with my decor really well, anywhere in my home. People seeing the oil diffusers in my bathroom didn't even know that's where the scent was coming from, they just thought it was some sort of statue I bought for the shelf in my bathroom.

Disclosure: I was given free samples and coupons and points for my review and blog post but all opinions are my own.

Favorite Movie

One of my favorite movies of all time is Legend. I was 15 years old when it was made and I saw it for the first time and I just loved the demon. Yeah I bet you thought I was gonna say I loved Tom Cruise, didn't you? LOL I'm actually not much of a Tom Cruise fan, never have been especially now that he's completely bat shit nuts.

But I do love this movie.

Have you ever seen Legend? Do You like it?

I made a poster

I made this poster and shared it on fb the other day and wanted to share it here for those of you who didn't see it and didn't know you could make posters like this. If you'd like to make a funny, inspirational or other poster just go here and follow the instructions. 

Does Your Local Pet Shop Support Puppy Mills?

T find out if the local pet shops in your area support puppy mills just go here to this interactive map and put in your zip code. It will give you a listing of all the pet shops in your area that do and don't support puppy mills. The red check means they do and if they have a red check...don't buy anything from them. Here's what I found out. 

The Petsmarts and Petco's that I go to do not support puppy mills but the Mall pet shop on Meadows Lane does. Not a real big surprise there and I refuse to shop in Mall pet stores. 

It's good to know that Petsmart and Petco don't buy puppy mill puppies. I also know from experience that they get their rats, hamsters and mice from regular people who either breed them or accidentally have a litter and want to adopt them out. 

The Petsmart I went to when I had baby hamsters, sexed all the babies for me for FREE...and told me that would adopt them out if I wanted them too. But I decided to keep them and the manager told me that's how they get their small animals most times. 

I buy most of the supplies from Petsmart through Amazon now and it's good to know they don't support puppy mills. 

Freebie Friday

This weeks freebies included tea from Hawaii and a book, Demon's Bride by Zoe Archer. I received the book from a giveaway contest on Kim's blog... Aloha On My Mind. Thank you, Kim! Kim adds the tea sometimes to the winning envelopes so I've had quite a few of them. I think my favorite is the passion fruit tea. 

I also received a signed book, cover flat and post card from Kate Douglas from a contest on her blog. Thanks so much Kate!

The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center For Brain Health

I don't know if anyone living outside of Las Vegas has heard of this building but most people in Las Vegas know it and talk about it because of the construction. There's a joke about the building because it's a place for Brain Health and yet you would think looking at the outside that trying to figure out what the person who came up with the plans for this place was thinking.

Most people think it literally looks like a comet smashed into it and it's about to fall down. it doesn't look like a building that someone would build on purpose but they did and people with Brain problems are supposed to look at this place and think, "Yeah, that's looks like a place that could help me." lol

That is not most people's first thoughts when they see this place. And the reason I had to share it with you. Just watch part of the video, it shows the outside of the building right away and tell me what you think of it.

Come Visit Me At I Smell Sheep

Hey everyone, today I am a guest blogger over at I Smell Sheep. I'm talking about a few of my favorite books and authors including Sara Humphreys, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan.

You can find the blog post here.

Come on over and let me know what you think of my picks.

The Baby Blanket is Finished!

A couple of weeks ago I told you I was working on crocheting a baby blanket for my grandson that we now know is going to be named, Logan. When I had some of it done, I posted this picture and told you that I would post the finished product when I was done. 

My daughter took a picture of me last week while I was working on the blanket. I did have a couple of mishaps and had to undo part of what I had already crocheted and redo it, but since this is the first blanket I've ever crocheted, I don't think that's too bad. 

I decided to make it two different colors and sent away for a mint green yarn that I started using on either side of the blue panel I did first. I think the two colors go well together. 

And finally, here we have the finished product. The top mint green panel looks shorter than the others but believe me it's just the angle at which I took the picture. Not bad for a first timer who had no idea what the heck she was doing. 

Another Crazed Fish Picture From My Brother

My younger brother liked the last blog post I made about him and how Fishing Makes You Crazy, when I used another of his fishing pictures ...so he sent me another picture. lol *I know, what was he thinking... right? Does he not know me at all? *

I think we need to rethink this fishing hobby he has, because the look in his eyes is a little reminiscent of Ted Bundy. 

Like I said before...Fishing Makes You Crazy....LOL 

Wheat Grass Experiment: The Rats

 

So yesterday I told you how I bought the wheat grass kit, grew it and was going to give it to my rats. Here's what happened. 

I put the wheat grass in their cage, they sniffed it, pulled out a couple of stalks of grass and chewed them a little, spit it out and sniffed at it a little more. 

Hades, my black and white rat only sniffed it for a few minutes before heading off to the bed and going to sleep. Pretty much telling me he could care less about it. lol 

Ares on the other hand looked like he wanted to play with it for a while. He stayed out, walking around it, sniffing it, test biting a few blades of the grass. 

Then Hades came back out to see what all the commotion was about and sniffed the grass again for a few minutes while Ares just wanted to see why we had the door open. 

Hades and Ares sniffed it and that was pretty much it. I even folded over a little of the grass so they could sniff more of it and they ignored it. 

A few times Ares stuck his whole face into the middle of the grass, just sniffed and then ignored it some more. 

Ares was more concerned about cleaning his face after sniffing the grass than he was about playing or eating the grass. 

I pulled a few more blades of grass out and gave it to them to chew on. They chewed on the bottom part of the grass but didn't eat it, just spit it out. They just weren't interested. 

"Hey mom, where's my real treat?" 

I left the Wheat Grass in their cage for 3 hours and the most they did was sniff and move on...so this wheat grass experiment was a bust. Although I did get some great pictures of my boys...lol 

Wheat Grass Experiment

A few days ago I ordered this Wheat Grass Kit from Amazon. I've been told by numerous friends who have rats that their rats love this stuff and will play with it as well as eat it. I even found a few youtube videos of rats playing and eating with it. So I bought a kit and grew it to see if my boys would like it. 

I got the kit and followed the directions. You spread the soil in the plastic container and soak the seeds in water for 6 hours and then spread the seeds at the top of the soil. Water the whole thing and put a wet paper towel over it with a piece of placis wrap on top of that to keep the paper towel from drying out and water it right on top of the paper towel every day for three days. So I did that. 

After three days my wheat grass was big enough to push the paper towel right off the top. Still keeping it in a cool dry place out of the sunlight, you let it grow until it is 5-6 inches tall, watering it everyday.

This is the wheat grass after 4 days. It grew really fast. 

This is 5 days. 

And this is 7 days after I first planted the seeds on top of the soil. After the 4th day this stuff grew so fast that I actually stuck a toothpick in the side to measure how much it was growing each day. Between day 6 and 7 it actually doubled in size. 

So how did my rats like it? Stay tuned until tomorrow when I'll post pictures of my rats and their wheat grass. 

Freebie Friday

Last week I wrote a blog post for Eden Fantasys and was given a free gift card for it and I bought these two things with my gift card. So they were free! I didn't take pictures of them *These pictures are from their site* because they should be here in a few days but I bought them this week so they are going in todays blog post. 

It's Ocean scented Shower Gel, Shampoo, Conditioner and Shine serum. 

Did you get any freebies this week?

Help Me Raise Funds to Adopt 2 Kitties and I'll Promote Your Business or Blog

Help Me Raise Funds to Adopt 2 Kitties and I'll Promote Your Business or Blog

A friend of mine has decided to adopt two stray cats she started feeding but they are in need of Veterinary care and she is hoping to raise money to get them to a vet. In exchange for your donation she will promote your blog, website, or business in varying ways.

Here is what she will do....

If you donate between $1-$5 dollars, I will add your link to my sidebar for one month.

If you donate between$6-$15 dollars, I will mention you in an upcoming post about the success of the kitty adoption and add your link.

If you donate between $16-$30, I’ll add your badge, banner, or logo to my sidebar for one month.

If you donate between $31-$50, I’ll add your badge, banner, or logo to my sidebar for one month and do a blog post promoting you or your business.

If you donate between $51-$100, I’ll add your badge, banner or logo to my sidebar for one month, do a blog post promoting you or your business, and share you several times on all major social media platforms.

If you donate $100 or more, you’ll have the VIP package of everything above, but I’ll keep promoting you heavily for two months or more depending on your generosity. We can also work out a business arrangement that works for you.

If you are interested just click the link at the top of this page.

Tv Shows

So lately I've been a little caught up in a show that I never imagined I would be watching or even liking as much as I am. I'm talking about Big Brother. If you've never watched it you probably have no idea what I'm talking about but I'm a little obsessed with this show now. So much so that when a particular contestant was evicted from the house the other day *Frank* I actually started Tweeting to #BB14 about it and saying I was happy Frank was gone. lol

Another show I'm really looking forward to coming back is Vampire Diaries. Elena is now a vampire and I'm wondering how that's going to work out. Frankly I mostly watch the show just to look at Damon *Ian Somerhalder*. The man is gorgeous!

Criminal Minds should also be back soon and this happens to be one of my favorite shows. I love the characters, the acting and the stories that get told on the show. I even like the quirky little nerdy bits.

So those are some of the shows I like, what are some of the shows you are looking forward to watching.

Writing

Why is it easy to write some thing but hard to write other things? I started out thinking I was going to be a book writer. I even started writing a book...got about 200 pages *Of double spaced typed pages* into it and realized I had just written the end. I put it away and a few years later, re-read it. It's not very good. lol

It'll be a nice find for one of my grandchildren to find when I'm an old woman and read it. I'm sure they'll get a good laugh out of it. But I have written over 200 articles about Small Animal Care, which you can find here.

I don't find those hard to write. I think because I can focus all my thoughts into a few paragraphs and get the information I want to relay into about 500 words and not have to worry about making it longer. I know about the information I write about, I'm living it, have lived it or have seen it with others so I have experience with the situations I write about which I think makes it easier to write about.

There are other things I would love to write, like book reviews. I do them every once in a while when I book really speaks to me, when I want everyone to know how much I loved it and they just must read it...they must! But the words for the book reviews don't come easily for me. I would be most happy just to say, "I loved it...can't really explain why but I did. You simply have to read it and tell me you loved it too." But I know that's really not what I want to put out there and not what readers are looking for when reading book reviews. So I let those that do it best, do the book reviews. I'll just keep buying the books and reading them and telling my friends about them.

Crocheting A Baby Blanket

So last week I pulled out my crocheting needle and blue yarn and sat down and started crocheting. (At least I think I am- I've never done this before) Someone gave me the yarn and the two crocheting needles I have about 5 years ago and they have sat up in my closet until now because I actually have no idea what I'm doing. 

I don't even know if the stitch I'm using is a real stitch or something I just made up because it worked. LOL 

When I was 8 years old a cousin showed me how to start crocheting...the very first line and how to hook the lines together. (Yes, I'm aware I'm not using proper crocheting terminology- mostly because like I said...I have no idea what I'm doing) 

I'm trying to make a baby blanket. At least I think it's a baby blanket. This could end up being a shirt for all I know. (Not really). 

I don't think it's bad for a first timer who's had absolutely no training and taught herself how to do this in the first place. 

I'll post pictures when it's done. I have to buy some more blue yarn because I'm almost out.

Freebie Friday

No free samples in the mail this week but I did win a book. 

This week I received a book in the mail I won from Short and Sweet Reviews. I really like this series so I'm excited to start reading this one. 

Some Of Our Other Animals

Back in 2002, I decided I wanted some hamsters and Ken was ok with me adopting 1 or 2 of them. I adopted this little guy we called Smokey because of his coloring. He was a really cute little guy. But he was a little skittish and didn't like to be held at first which is why the top is off of his cage. We just brought the entire cage over to the couch, took the top off and let him climb out when he was comfortable. He got comfortable enough to climb on us and let us hold him after about a week. 

This is Cuddles. I walked into a pet store in the Mall to see about hamster cages and she was in a tiny cage all by herself, running back and forth jumping up and down like she was trying to get my attention. Now I don't usually buy hamsters at Mall Pet stores because they are usually not taken care of, but I felt bad for this little girl and bought her. She was a dwarf hamster. 

About 2 weeks after bringing Cuddles home...we heard squeaking coming from the cage. She had given birth to 5 little babies. * I kept all the babies* This is my daughter trying to wrangle all the babies after they were weaned. 

At the same time we had all the babies, Cuddles and Smokey...our neighbor had a rat who he wanted to give us because he didn't have enough time to devote to her. So we adopted Romi. Here she is wearing a Christmas Hat. lol 

Then one of the kids in the neighborhood asked her mom if they could give their hamster to us because they didn't want to take care of it anymore. Of course I said yes. Here is Buster. He was the biggest hamster we ever had. he was big enough to put the guinea pig harness on and take for a walk...which I did. 

Here I am trying to wrangle all the dwarf hamster babies. One of them climbed up on my shoulder to say hi. Those little hamsters were fast and would climb all over us when we put them on the couch. We had 3 boys and 2 girls so once they were old enough they went into separate cages so we wouldn't have more babies. Cuddles ended up with her own cage because once the babies were weaned she wanted nothing more to do with them and would fight with them. She was much happier in her own cage. 

Hahaha

Hand full of baby dwarf hamsters. 

And here is the shelves Ken make for all the hamster cages. The plastic container on the floor was their play area that we would let them run around in to play when they came out. Romi's cage was on the other side of the room. 

23 Years and Counting...

Today is My and Ken's Anniversary...sort of. lol While we aren't legally married we've been living together now for 22 years and have known each other for 23 years. 

We are opposites in just about everything but that makes for a very interesting relationship. I like sweets, Horror movies, romance books, staying at home, Mexican food and Heavy Metal. 

Ken likes savory foods, Action movies, action books, going hiking/fishing, Italian Food and soft classic rock. 

Total opposites...

We made it work because we can talk to each other, he talks more than I do sometimes. We have shown each other new things, got each other to try new things and have always been there for each other. 

I showed Ken that Rats are great pets and now he loves them. I showed Ken that it's ok to have tacos for thanksgiving dinner-everybody loved them. And he showed me that sautéed peppers and onions aren't bad after all, that cream cheese is great on bagels and it's ok to be yourself. 

I wouldn't change the last 23 years for anything...now if I can only get him to start reading romance novels....

Buffalo Chicken Wings Recipe

This is my recipe for making hot chicken wings. I like this recipe because I like a little my chicken wings to be a little spicy without burning my tongue off and the hot sauce you use really makes a difference here. 

Start off by taking 4 lbs of chicken wings (I use the frozen ones) and bake them for an hour at 350F. They will be underdone but we will cook them the rest of the way in this next step. 

You will also need a jar of Franks Red Hot sauce..12Oz..and the original is the best for this recipe. You are going to use the whole bottle. 

Along with the Franks Red Hot Sauce you will need two sticks of sweet cream butter-unsalted. (Yes, I know that's a lot of butter) Make sure you use real butter and not margarine..Margarine just doesn't taste the same. 

After you have roasted your chicken wings for an hour, take them out and add the two sticks of butter to a deep pan and turn on medium. When the butter has melted, add the entire bottle of Franks Red Hot Sauce to the pan of butter and stir. 

Now add the roasted chicken to the pan of butter and hot sauce and simmer for 30 minutes. This will cook the chicken the rest of the way and give the chicken time to absorb the flavor. 

Take the chicken out of the pan and enjoy.

Happy Birthday Mom

This is a picture of me, my mom and my daughter a few years ago. It's one of my favorite pictures. 

My mom would have been 65 years old today.