Linda's Sunflower

The week began with a bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15 that killed 3 people and injured over 170. Two bombs went off a block apart, near the finish line. An 8 year old boy and two young women lost their lives. Wednesday night there was an explosion at a fertilizer facility in West, Texas.  It leveled blocks of homes and business around the plant. They are still counting fatalities and injuries, but upwards of 20 people were killed, most of them first responders to the fire that was originally reported before the plant exploded. The week ended with authorities releasing photos of 2 suspects in the Boston bombings late Thursday afternoon, which escalated into a shootout with the police in Watertown, after they had killed a police officer at MIT Thursday night. One of the suspects was killed, the other one escaped, setting off a massive manhunt and shutting down the entire city of Boston for the day on Friday. Finally, Friday evening the second suspect was captur...

Kaitlin gets out of classes around noon on Tuesdays, and since I was off work again today, we decided to make a trip to the Kansas Star Casino. Had a fun afternoon, and she won more money than I did (losing most of it), while I didn't win a darn thing. No matter what tho, it was fun spending the afternoon with her!

We took off early Saturday afternoon for Newkirk, Oklahoma and the First Council Casino. Met up with Corby's brother Doug & sister-in-law Debbie. Had a great time visiting, gambling, drinking, gambling, eating and gambling! WAS SO MUCH FUN! We didn't win big, but won enough to play on for a while, and didn't lose too much! Our niece, Megan, is getting married in June. Kaitlin and I are hoping to go to her wedding shower next month, as long as it's not the same weekend we're headed to KC. Was great seeing Doug & Debbie again! It's been far too long!

I read 14 books in March...I'm well on my way to my 2013 goal of 125 books! 1) To Have & To Kill - Mary Jane Clark (Kindle) 2) Sea Glass Winter - JoAnn Ross (paperback) 3) One for the Money - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 4) Three Sisters - Susan Mallery (Kindle) 5) Two for the Doug - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 6) Three to Get Deadly - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 7) Stolen - Daniel Palmer (paperback-ARC received from Facebook contact with author) 8) Helpless - Daniel Palmer (Kindle) 9) Everything But A Groom - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 10) Everything But A Bride - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 11) Everything But A Wedding - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 12) Everything But Christmas Eve - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 13) Everything But A Mother - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 14) Everything But A Dog - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) I have to say the BEST book I read last month was Stolen by Daniel Palmer. I am a fan of his author father, Michael Palmer, and have been following Da...

I am finding it hard to keep up with my blog...and every time I vow to do a better job, I just don't. Anyway, here are my February reads: 1) The Single Daddy Club: Jason by Donna Fasano (Kindle) 2) The Single Daddy Club: Reece by Donna Fasano (Kindle) 3) When Summer Comes by Brenda Novak (Kindle) 4) Barefoot Season-Blackberry Island #1 by Susan Mallery (Kindle) 5) Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman (hardback) 6) The Power Trip by Jackie Collins (hardback) 7) Deadly Stakes by J.A. Jance (hardback) 8) Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner (hardback) 9) Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up by Frank Pancetta (paperback) 10) Purple Cow by Seth Godin (hardback) Enjoyed the Single Daddy Club books, by an author I'd never read before... Novak and Mallery have quickly become two of my favorite authors! Kellerman, Collins and Jance's books were great, as usual. Gardner continues to be THE premier author of psychological thrillers! I received the last 2 books for a committee tha...

is in the books... wow, what a game! Ravens were pretty much kicking the 49'ers booties until the power went out in the 3rd quarter. Since the announcers were so terrible during the delay, we took to Twitter and laughed our heads off at all the posts. My favorite commercials were the Budweiser Clydesdale and Dodge "God Made the Farmer" ones... And after a valiant comeback attempt by San Francisco, the Ravens ending up winning. Congrats!

I read 12 books in January... 1) A Home of Her Own - Brenda Novak - Kindle 2) Stranger in Town - Brenda Novak - Kindle 3) Perfect Fit - Carly Phillips - Kindle 4) Stalked - Allison Brennan - paperback 5) Private: London - James Patterson - hardback 6) Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - hardback 7) Sage Green - Jill Gregory - Kindle 8) Larkspur Road - Jill Gregory - hardback 9) California Sunset - Casey Dawes - Kindle 10) California Wine - Casey Dawes - Kindle 11) Purple Cow - Seth Godin - hardback 12) The Single Daddy Club: Derrick (book one) - Donna Fasano - Kindle Several authors new to me this month: Flynn, Gregory, Dawes, Godin and Fasano. Truly enjoyed both Jill Gregory books. I had heard a lot about Gone Girl, and when I was able to get the book before Christmas for about $4 from Amazon, I went ahead and ordered it. Wow, what a story! I would highly recommend it, but be prepared for a pretty sick, twisted ride. Purple Cow was an interesting take on how to look for n...

Techically, Mikey is Kaitlin's dog. She bought him from the Humane Society, pays for his vet bills (mostly) and buys his food. He loves her, but he adores Corby. Because Corby gets home from work before Kaitlin gets home from work and/or school, he usually takes him on his daily walk. On the weekends, he knows we're in and out, and he expects his walk first thing in the morning. Today, he was so fully of energy that he was barking at Corby before we even got out of bed. Only because Corby let him back in the house around 8am. He's a really good dog, though occasionally he does get into the trash can and string trash throughout the house. But that is rare, and usually when we do something stupid like leave scraps or something in the trash we know he would like. He's a great watch dog too. He warns us if anyone is near the house. Pity the poor person who would try to break into our house!

Corby had another fainting spell about 1am Saturday morning. He wasn't feeling well and got up to throw up in the bathroom. As I was getting up to follow him he went down. I hollered for Kaitlin while grabbing a wet washrag to put on his face. He was only out for maybe 20-30 seconds when he came to. Kaitlin was on the phone to 911 and hung up before they answered. Of course, they called right back to make sure everything was okay. After he got sick in the toilet and rested in the rocking chair for about 30 minutes, he seemed better, so I got him back to bed. However, he didn't feel well all day, so we made him stay in the rocker or laying on the couch all day. I am not sure whether he had a stomach bug, or whether he ate some bad queso for dinner. We had the queso on Monday night (New Year's Eve) and I had told him on Thursday night that we should probably throw it away, but of course, he went ahead and ate it on Friday night before I got home from work. Hoping it was more ...

I read 109 books in 2012... * 100 by female authors * 9 by male authors Most read male author: James Patterson - 5 books Second: Michael Palmer - 2 books Most read female author: Susan Mallery - 11 books Second: Carly Phillips - 8 books Most popular female authors after the top 2: Emily March - 6 books Brenda Novak - 6 books Robyn Carr - 5 books Nora Roberts - 4 books JoAnn Ross - 4 books Sheryyl Woods - 3 books Kristin Hannah - 2 books Iris Johansen - 2 books Karin Slaughter - 2 books Mallery and Phillips are long-time authors that I just started reading this year, that's why I read so many of their books. You can tell by my most-read authors this year that I spent a lot of time reading romance books. It's not usually a genre that I focus on THAT much, but for some reason, these books spoke to me this year. Perhaps because I just celebrated my 25th anniversary and romance is always good? Of course, you can't put Johansen ...

My 2012 book review... Coming to a blog near you soon...

I can't believe that 2012 is almost over. We've had a busy December, as one would expect. I had some time off the first part of the month, and then was able to take Christmas Eve and today, the day after Christmas, off.  We had a good holiday. Kaleb came home on Friday afternoon, and the kids and I went to the Wings game that night. They beat the Missouri Comets, and finally look like a team! It's been a rough beginning to the season, but hopefully they are on their way to some great wins! Kaitlin and Brandon went to the Shocker's baskeball game on Saturday night at Intrust Arena. Kaleb, Melody, Corby and I went to dinner at Abuelo's and then came home and played SkipBo and UNO. Great fun! Christmas Eve was fun too. All my siblings gathered at the clubhouse where Mike & Diana live. Terry & Sandy came after a long day of driving back from Indiana, where they had spent the weekend visiting her family. Michelle came by later, as did Ryan. Melody, Diane ...

While Lenore and Daniel were here, she had a library book panel at the Johnson County Library in Overland Park. So, on Tuesday afternoon, November 27th, Lenore, her friend Rachelle and I took off for KC. We had a great time visiting on the way up and back, and I didn't get tired at all driving! We stopped for a quick bite to eat at Arby's and filled up with gas at QT before heading to the library. It was an interesting panel featuring Bethany Hagen, author of Landry Park, which comes out next year; Gennifer Albin, author of Crewel, which was released a few months ago; and Lenore, whose book will be released on January 15. Here's the panel: Me & Lenore: Lenore & Rachelle: Gennifer, Bethany and Lenore

I read 7 books in November: 1) NYPD Red - James Patterson (hardback) 2) No Regrets - JoAnn Ross (paperback) 3) Blue Skies - Robyn Carr (Kindle) 4) Christmas on Mimosa Lane - Anna DeStefano (Kindle) 5) The Art of Men - Kirstie Alley (hardback) 6) Level 2- Lenore Appelhans (loaned ARC copy) 7) Merry Christmas, Alex Cross - James Patterson (hardback) Lenore and Daniel were here for Thanksgiving, and she loaned me a copy of her book to read. The writing was excellent, and even though it's not the type of book I normally read, I really enjoyed it. It comes out on January 15th! Can't wait for Level 3 to come out in January 2014. I enjoyed both Patterson books, as usual, though Merry Christmas was pretty short. Alex Cross is my favorite Patterson character. Both the Ross and Carr books were good, both were written earlier in their careers. DeStefano's book was enjoyable - I think I got it free on Amazon. I really liked Kirstie's book, though it wasn't wri...

K-State beat Texas last night 42-24 to clinch a share of the Big 12 Championship! Slow first half, but they came out strong in the second half. Kaleb was at the game, and I'm guessing was part of the crowd storming the field after the game!

Happy Thanksgiving! With this warm weather, it sure doesn't feel like the end of November. Yesterday we broke a record set in 2010 - it got up to 74! I think it's supposed to be in the high 60's today. I am thoroughly disgusted that a lot of stores are opening at 6pm or 8pm tonight to begin Black Friday sales. I think they should go back to 4 or 5am openings on Friday morning. Pretty soon they'll be opening at noon or earlier on Thanksgiving. I did enjoy the paper this morning though! We had a TON of inserts!

Really enjoyed my first Daniel Craig James Bond movie! Brandon, Kaitlin and I saw it in IMAX today.

Why did Kaleb's friend Alicia have to tell me that Walmart carries these now?