Apartment Life #308

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

I saw this guy laying on the sidewalk, he's one of the regular homeless people around here. It's sad seeing them laying on the sidewalk and the homeless van does come around and ask them if they want to go to the shelter but they often refuse.

At first I thought it was just a pile of blankets until I spotted his shoes. But I watched a police car drive up near him, get on their loud speaker and ask him if he was alright. He gave a thumbs up but other than that didn't move and the police drove away. That's the first time I've seen that happen. A little while later some of his friends woke him up and they all walked away together.

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I think it was last year sometime I told you about a big white stray or outside cat cat that was real friendly and would follow people around. The cat came right up to Falcor and was sniffing him. They were nose to nose at one point and they just sniffed each other until the cat got bored and walked away. The cat is bigger than Falcor and I called him stalker cat because he would follow behind us and others and just follow us around. Well I saw the cat across the street the other day and watched him climb up in this tree and just watch people as they walked by. 

Reminded me of a tiger laying up in the tree waiting to pounce on someone. lol I think he is someone's cat across the street because he's well fed and when he sees this one particular lady, he'll follow her inside her apartment. He came running up to me and Falcor the next day and was nose to nose with Falcor. He's a very friendly cat. Falcor wanted to play, the cat not so much.

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2 new people moved into my courtyard this week. So far they are quiet. 

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On Saturday a storm blew in and we had 65 mph winds. I took Falcor for a walk, I couldn't walk the path by the stores because the small gravel, sand and tiny rocks over there were hitting my skin so furiously it was hurting. 

So I took him out front of my building but the dead palm fronds on one of the tall palm trees were flying off and being picked up by the wind and flying all over the place. I got hit in the side of the head and my leg by two of them. The street was blocked by them and more were coming off. I'm fine, hardly left a mark but all those big palm trees are scary being blown around by the wind.

Cars were being hit by flying debris for hours.

This palm tree right here was the culprit. 

1. Some of the palm frond remnants were still near the top. 

2. This smooth space is where the palm frond debris had come from. 

3. This is what was left towards the bottom of the tree and was flying off for hours.  

The high this week was 72F/22C

The low this week was 42F/5C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Shinedown- Black Soul

It's been a while since I've heard a new Shinedown song that I liked but I like this one. I hope you enjoy too. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

A full size bag of Purina Dentalife digestive support treats from Fur Buddies. 

Falcor liked them and they didn't upset his stomach so that's a win for him. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Hungry Like A Wolf by Jessica Lynch

 

Book Description

He'll do anything to claim his mate—again...

In a world where paranormals live side by side with humans, everybody knows about Ordinance 7304: the Bond Laws. Or, as the Paras snidely whisper to each other, the Claws Clause—a long and detailed set of laws that bonded Para couples must obey if they want their union to be recognized.

Because it wasn’t already damn near impossible to find a fated mate in the first place. Now the government just has to get involved…

I remember—

Three years ago, Maddox Wolfe lost his mate.

Since there’s nothing more dangerous than a bonded shifter on his own, Ordinance 7304 gave him three choices: voluntary incarceration until he’s no longer a threat; a lobotomy-like procedure performed by government witches that would dissolve his bond; or a state-sanctioned execution so that he could be with his mate again. And while death held a certain appeal in the hazy days following the tragedy, Maddox had his family and his pack to live for. So, refusing to give up his memories of his sweet Evangeline, he chose to spend the rest of his days in the Cage.

That's when his brother drops the bomb on him: his Angie isn't dead. In fact, she's living in the nearby city of Grayson while Maddox is locked up in the magic-free prison. With the newfound knowledge that his mate is alive—alive and on her own—he earns an early release. Eager to get back to her, it never dawns on Maddox that there was a reason he spent three years without her.

And there is. A big one.

His beloved mate doesn't remember him, or their time together. Maddox is nothing but a stranger to her—and worse? When Maddox tracks her down, he discovers that she has a new male.

Can you blame the wild wolf shifter for what he does next?

My Review

Maddox and Angie are mates but instead of getting their mating license so the government would recognize their union, they got married first and were on their way to their honeymoon when their car crashed. Maddox was told that Angie died and he had no reason to think he'd been lied to. So he spent three years in prison because he wouldn't let the witches take away his memories of his mate. But then his brother spots Angie on the street and she acts like she doesn't recognize him. Angie was hurt really bad in the accident but she didn't die. She had some head trauma and amnesia, she lost an entire year of memories, the entire time she had been with Maddox. Her family wanted to keep her away from Maddox so they made sure he thought she was dead and they figured that would be the end of it. 

When Maddox is finally released from confinement, he goes searching for Angie to hopefully get her to remember him but it's a lot harder than he thought it would be. Angie's family and her new boyfriend will do anything to keep them apart but Maddox is determined. 

Angie and Maddox have a great love story and a tragic past being kept apart. The things they both endured to finally be brought back together broke my heart. But it has such a good ending. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

When Falcor goes for a walk he likes to stretch his leg out behind him and just stand like that for a second. I have no idea why but I caught it on camera this time. lol He was also smelling all the weeds that popped up because of the rain we had a couple of months ago. This is a picture from a couple of months ago when the leaves started falling.

We also had some rain this week and some really dark clouds.

After the rain cleared out we were left with some really big, fluffy clouds.

Book Review: Christmas At Last by Sydney St. James

 

Book Description

Christmas comes early this year for those who wait…

Franz, Sigurður, Adem, and Yiannis have been waiting decades to see if the urban legend about a matchmaker that specializes in monster matches will come through for them. They did the ritual. They trusted the process. And nothing has happened. They're almost out of hope when their number is up, and it's the worst timing for the best thing in their life to happen.

Mary used to love Christmas. That was before her ex dumped her due to her chronic illness not fitting his cookie cutter life plan. Now she has to live in his shadow, literally. She can look out her window and see the house they were supposed to grow a family in. It would be easier to pretend her heart hadn't been shattered if he'd leave her alone.

After the most hectic day, Mary trudges home with an ancient book to curl up with by the fire. Only she gets more than she bargained for when she opens the book and four hunky monsters appear. Has the opportunity for love come too late? Or will these five hearts find more than Christmas cheer this season?

Author Note: This book was previously published as Holiday Horrors. After listening to reader feedback, I've changed the name to better meet reader expectation. No one wants to be disappointed!

My Review

Mary is heartbroken that her ex broke up with her because of her medical condition. But things with him are not good because he's changed and is mean to her now. They both work at the same place and he's become down right antagonistic towards her for no reason. So when she brings an old book home to read and opens it, she gets the surprise of her life. 4 monsters pop out and she's not expecting what happens next with them. 

They have been waiting for their mate but didn't expect the matchmaker to mate them with a human, so they aren't sure this is going to work out. One of the men is Krampus and another is Yule Cat- a cat shifter. The others are different monsters but as they get to know her and they tell her who and what they are and how they came to her, she's starting to realize that maybe she might find her happily ever after if she can make things work with all of them and finally get rid of her ex. They can all shift between their monster side and human looking sides so that they don't scare the neighbors, just don't get them mad. 

When Mary Finds out that the guys have tried to enter a gingerbread baking competition back home at Christmasland and have always come in last because they really can't bake, she offers to help them because she loves to bake. This competition brings them all closer and shows them all what it would be like to be in each others lives. 

These guys are great. They might be monsters but they treat her better than she has ever been treated and they have loving hearts. At times this was super spicy as you can imagine with 4 guys but it was also super sweet. This was such a fun read. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

The rats name is Fish so this does make sense. lol 

*All pictures this week are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #307

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

On Monday this woman was walking up and down the sidewalk screaming at herself. I can never understand what she's saying. It was 8am this time. I've showed you other videos with her in them but it's been a while. Sometimes she'll be screaming at 3am so at least it wasn't that early this time. She's a drug addict but she also has some mental problems. 

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On Thursday my daughter was walking in the grocery store parking lot right next door to where we live so she could catch the bus to work and she was hit by a car. She's fine, nothing broken. The car didn't hit her hard but hard enough to knock her over and then the car sped off. She didn't call the police because she didn't get the license plate so she didn't have any info to catch the guy.  At least it wasn't worst. 

The high this week was 69F/20C

The low this week was 48F/8C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Song of the Week

 

New Kids On The Block- Remix

So if you are Gen X you'll probably recognize this group. I still like them and I love this song. This song came out 10 years ago but it's such a great song and the video is so much fun. I hope you enjoy. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

A sample of LaRoche Posay moisturizer. 

It works good but most of the products I've tried from this company work pretty good. 

Did you received any freebies this week?

Book Review: The Hitman's Weakness by Ivy Banks

 

Book Description

He was sent to kill her, but now he can’t escape her alluring grasp!

Lily would have gladly traded her billion-dollar inheritance for one more day with her beloved father. But someone else wants her fortune and will stop at nothing to get it—including sending a hitman to kill Lily.

As a vampire prince, Beckett is a natural killer, so he puts his skills to good use as a professional assassin, offing only the scummiest of the Earth. When he’s sent to kill Lily, everything changes. Something feels off. When he can’t bring himself to murder her, he must confront not only the way she makes him feel, but whether the hit put out on her was warranted.

Will she turn out to be the murderer he was lead to believe or his seductive soulmate?

If you like steamy, quick, and dirty vampire romance novellas, you will love Hitman’s Weakness!

WARNING: This novella is quick, sizzling hot, and ready to be devoured!

This is a stand-alone short and naughty story in the Royal Vampire Kingdom series. Each story in this series features an alpha vampire hero. No cliffhangers and no cheating, just good old fashioned hot, dirty fun! Intended for 18+ readers due to adult content.

My Review

Beckett is a vampire and a hitman but he only kills those really bad people. He's hired to kill Lily and is told she killed her father to inherit his company but that is far from the truth. Beckett doesn't kill Lily because he knows right away that she isn't a bad person and he's more than a little upset when he finds out that someone sent him to kill an innocent person. 

Beckett feels something for Lily and wants to keep her safe because someone obviously wants her dead. So they set out to find who wants her dead and why. I had a feeling who the bad guy was right away but it's sad to see Lily find out who betrayed her and her father. This was a quick read but I loved the romance and the mystery. Beckett is such a great guy for being a hitman. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

My daughter took this picture a couple of months ago when the leaves were falling off this tree. We had been taking pictures of Falcor across the street in the fallen leaves because it's such a nice background. 

The picture isn't from this week but I liked how they came out so I keep sharing the pictures we took. 

Book Review: Leopard's Hunt by Christine Feehan

 

Book Description

In this pulse-pounding novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Leopard series, animal instinct unites two elite shifters whose heads are at war with their hearts.

Gorya Amurov might be known as his family's peacekeeper, but the leopard inside him wants nothing more than to claw to the surface and unleash hell. A harsh life has shaped him into a vicious fighter with a calm exterior, but Gorya knows it's only a matter of time until he loses all control. Deep down, he truly believes he'd be better off dead, and that no woman will ever accept him as a mate....

Maya Averina has spent years hunting the criminals who destroyed her life, and she always takes down her prey. She keeps to herself, stays under the radar, and never loses focus. But with her body burning up and her mind distracted by her first heat, an ambush takes her by surprise. Now she's trapped, an unmated female shifter about to be sold off to the highest bidder. Maya is ready to fight her way out—until the most dangerous, powerful man she's ever encountered arrives to set her free....

My Review

Gorya is an elite Leopard shifter. He's taken over the criminal enterprise after killing everyone who used to run it. Now he's a better boss than his predecessor because he doesn't allow women and children to be abused and trafficked the way he was when he was a child. Gorya hires another couple to watch him closely because he thinks he might have to be put down because his Leopard is a cold blooded killer. 

Maya is also an elite Leopard and a killer. Her early life was very hard when people killed her family and kept her as a sex slave. When she and other escaped with the help of another, she grew up to be a killer that took out the men who made her life miserable. 

Now Gorya and Maya's leopard's have mated and their human sides are feeling things for each other but neither of them think they can truly be in a relationship with anyone because they are so broken emotionally. 

Maya meets the people that Gorya works with and his cousins and they all have to work together to bring down the bad people even though they don't trust her and she doesn't trust them much. When they find out that some of the people is Gorya's organization are still trying to traffic women and children, they have to work together to find out who, take care of them and save the women and children from a bad situation. 

Gorya is such a great character, he thought there was nothing redeemable about him and he was so wrong. When he and Maya start getting closer they bring out the best in each other and their leopards are helping them to heal. It was sad watching how broken they really are but great seeing how they tried to find a way though and make their relationship work. 

This book was a little wordy, a little slow at times which slowed down the pace for me but all in all it was a great story. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures this week courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #306

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

The police, fire truck and ambulance were down at the end of my street. That's where all the lights were coming from. The police helicopter had been flying round too. No idea what was going on though.

I was walking Falcor where I usually do and this big truck was parked on the sidewalk where people were trying to walk. You can see right next to the sidewalk the parking lot was empty and he could have parked there but no, he had to be a jerk. People park close to the walkway here to do drugs, pick up hookers and have sex in their cars (I've seen people a few times) and who knows what else they are doing. 

On Wednesday while my daughter was waiting on the bus to go to work, there was a car accident. 

My daughter waits for the bus right near the grocery store I showed you last week, so this was real close. I don't know how bad the accident was.

I don't have any new neighbors yet but the maintenance guys have been working hard to get two of the vacant apartments ready so I think there will be a couple of new people soon. Other than that, it's been quiet.

The high this week was 65F/18C

The low this week was 45F/7C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Coheed and Cambria - Beautiful Losers

I've always liked Coheed and Cambria but this is such a good song so I wanted to share this one. I hope you enjoy this one too.

A Day In The Life of Someone With Several Chronic Illnesses and Medical Conditions

 

My insurance switched me to a different Prescription Drug Plan and when I got all my medications through the new mail order pharmacy I was like, dang! That's a lot of medications and Diabetes testing supplies. So before I started sorting everything, I decided to take a picture, not knowing what I was going to do with it and then sort it where it goes. 

Then I figured I would share a little bit about myself.

I have several chronic illnesses and medical conditions including: 

Diabetes

Hypothyroidism

Hashimoto's

High Blood Pressure

Osteoarthritis in my knee's and hips

Schizoaffective disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder

Depression

Anxiety

Agoraphobia

There are a few more but these are the big ones. So I take a lot of medications. 

I test my blood sugar when I first get up and take my insulin. The thing that looks like a pen is actually a pre-filled pen with the insulin. I just dial up how much, stick a pen needle on the tip and inject the medicine. Sometimes they send me vials of insulin that I have to draw up into a syringe and inject it that way. It took some getting used to.

After a walk with the dog, I have to eat something so I don't get hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and then take 6 medications. 

At lunch I do it again as well as use a blood pressure machine to check my blood pressure. Make sure I have a snack before dinner and then take more medications after dinner and check my blood sugar again. I usually stick my fingers 3 times a day and give myself 1-2 injections. Some of the pills I take 4 times a day so it ends up being more than 17 pills a day. 

I have Osteoarthritis in my knee's and hips and take Celebrex for that. I am in pain most of the time but I can't take prescription strength pain medications because they make me really sick. I can take anti-nausea medication with the pain medication but they make me really sleepy and I want to be awake and functioning during the day so I end up taking Ibuprofen instead. 

My doctor comes out once a month to see me because I have so much going on right now. It's not just the Diabetes, high blood pressure and Thyroid problems. The mental illnesses I have cause me to have a lot of anxiety, hallucinations and voices but the medication does help somewhat with that too. There's a lot going on and a lot to keep on top of but I'm doing it. 

I see no reason to hide mental illness, it's an illness just like the others. The stigma around it at times is bad which needs to stop. 

So that me most days, how are your days?

Book Review: Her Filthy Enemy by Adele Knight

 

Book Description

What do you do when snowed in alone with an arrogant flirt?

Don't walk in on him in the shower.

Too late.

I can't look away, and Noah loves the attention.

But it doesn't mean anything…

He's the guy who never goes home alone, and I'm the shy book nerd whose idea of a good time is staying late at the library and binging on red licorice.

Noah thinks I'm so forgettable that he can't remember my name, even though we share the same group of friends. So when the roads clear and our mutual friends finally turn up, including Eric, the sweet guy from my biology class, I'm determined to forget about water dripping off muscles and fists wrapped around...

But now Noah's acting differently. Sitting close to me, touching me, calling me by my actual name…

It's almost like he's jealous, but that's ridiculous.

Except, I swear the bathroom door was unlocked before I walked in.

Noah didn't leave it open on purpose...or did he?

Contains MF, FF scenes and an MMC who likes to watch.

My Review

Sophia didn't know that Noah would be there or she wouldn't have come on the trip. But now Noah and Sophia are snowed in and their friends can't get to the house for a while. They don't like each other or so she thought but Noah seems to be feeling differently after they've spent a little time alone together. 

Once the friends can finally get through the snow and join them, Noah acts differently, almost jealous that Eric is there and looking at Sophia like he likes her. 

This was a steamy novella because Noah likes to watch. Watch what? You'll have to read it to find out. *Smirk*

I love the enemies to lovers trope and while they weren't really enemies that hated each other, they were frenemies. So when she walks in on him in the shower and he just keeps doing what he was doing, knowing that she can't look away, I knew these two were going to be spicy and they sure were. 

I had fun with this one. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I found this stink bug inside my apartment and very gently picked him up and relocated him to the wall outside. Why do his little eyes look like they're looking up at me? lol 

Book Review: Her Fated Vampire by Gina Kincade

 

Book Description

There's no such thing as real vampires... right?

Carly Henderson thought attending a posh party at the home of her best friend's boss would be the same boring Halloween it had been for several years past. The last thing she expects is to spend the night in an old crumbling castle.

Can Carly accept the spooky secrets within the castle walls when a dashing man in a vampire costume proves true that some things are not always as they seem?

Will this be one steamy night she will never forget?

My Review

Carly is talked into going to a Halloween party with her best friends at her friend's boss's house. She figures she'll stay for a bit and leave when she is bored. But when she meets Dominic who is the son of the friend's boss and he invites her back to his room, she figures what the heck and decides to have some fun. But Dominic is into BDSM and he's a vampire. She goes with him to a sound proof room where none of her friends know here she is and just trusts this stranger which I thought was dumb on her part. But the danger might be part of the fun for her, who knows. 

Dominic really likes her though and she feels something for him which is normal for a fated mates story so I just went with it. 

This was a short, interesting vampire romance and it had a great ending so it was worth the read. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon