Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass

Goodreads Summary:
 After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My review:
Who doesn't like a good fantasy book. I am not usually into fantasy, but I guess maybe I am as all the fantasy books I have read lately I liked. The thing I love about this book is that you know who the obvious "bad" guys are, but you are left guessing until the end who the EVIL bad guys are. I hear that these books get better as they go and I can't wait to see if it is true.

Things I've learned...

...being on Instagram.

1. Giving photocredit is only important if your child took the picture. If you took the picture they are posting, photocredit is not required.

2. No longer do you have to wait until their wedding day to embarrass your children. You can do it instantly. Thank you Instagram.

3.  I feel like I am in high school again because I find myself checking to see how many people liked  me my photos. I'm just glad they don't have a "dislike", "hate" or "completely idiotic" button.

4. It's such a great way to keep in touch with and see what your family and friends are doing. You may learn more than you ever wanted to know.

5. #stefbooks2016 is my "books read this year" junk drawer. I love that I can reference them in an instant. So convenient.

6. Who needs a bathroom reader when you have Instagram?

7. I guess my friends really like my husband and my oldest son as their pictures generate more likes than all other photos. Should I be concerned?

8. Hash-tags link pictures. Maybe check your # before using it. I'm pretty sure you don't want your child's first birthday photo coming up next to soft porn...or hard porn for that matter. #becareful

8. I love that I seem to take more and better pictures of my children than ever before. Filters rock!

9. It's how we carry photos around these days. Who needs a wallet when you have Instagram. Heck, you have instant mini-movies to show. Awesome!

10. How did I ever live without it?

Linking up with Writer's Workshop today!

Repost: SIMADM: Who's that?

...so I was telling you about our phone issues, right.

If you call me, on the phone...you know...the talking phone, I will talk to you. And it will be fun. And we will have a good time.

If you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in, he will ask "Who are you talking to?" To which I will sign your name.

If you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in and asks who I am talking to and I tell him it's you,  he will ask, "What are you talking about?"

This is slightly annoying, but I will, in a word or two, tell him.

If you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in and asks who I am talking to and he knows it's you and he learns what we are talking about and he is interested, he will ask me to interpret our call for him.

 Ummm... no! 

This is where I draw the line.

Understand this rarely happens...but it does happen.

But....if you call Hubs on the phone...the signing phone (video phone), he will talk to you, and it will be fun.

If you call Hubs on the phone...the signing phone and he is talking to you, I will not ask him who he is talking to. I will look at the TV. And there you will be.

No need to ask what He is talking about. I can see it. No need to ask if he will interpret for me, I can see. 

But I don't...because that would be rude, right?

So now, when you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in and asks who I am talking to and I tell him it's you, he will ask, "What are you talking about?"

 And I will answer, "Tampons."

Problem solved.

Wise words from my father.

"If you are in the right place,

at the right time, 

doing the right thing,

 99.9% the time,

nothing bad

will happen to you."



Little Pink House

"Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage" by Jeff Benedict

Goodreads Summary
Suzette Kelo was just trying to rebuild her life when she purchased a falling down Victorian house perched on the waterfront in New London, CT. The house wasn't particularly fancy, but with lots of hard work Suzette was able to turn it into a home that was important to her, a home that represented her new found independence.

Little did she know that the City of New London, desperate to revive its flailing economy, wanted to raze her house and the others like it that sat along the waterfront in order to win a lucrative Pfizer pharmaceutical contract that would bring new business into the city. Kelo and fourteen neighbors flat out refused to sell, so the city decided to exercise its power of eminent domain to condemn their homes, launching one of the most extraordinary legal cases of our time, a case that ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court.

In Little Pink House, award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict takes us behind the scenes of this case -- indeed, Suzette Kelo speaks for the first time about all the details of this inspirational true story as one woman led the charge to take on corporate America to save her home.

My Review
This story is shocking and completely outrageous and true!! Sometimes....more so lately... our government and courts shock me! How does something like this happen? In America? In my lifetime? This book was so well written. You can't help routing for the underdog, Suzette Kelo and her neighbors because in this day and age she could be you!! And then what? What do you do when government over-reaches? Would you have the courage to stand? Enjoy the book!

Things I've learned....

....matching socks.

There are seven people in my house. If each person has only one pair of socks for each of the seven days in the week that means, at minimum, there are 98 socks making their way through the laundry every week. But I can say, with confidence, that there are more than 98 socks roaming around my house.

Needless to say, I have learned a few things from matching socks.

1. They are the easiest thing to lose,
but the hardest thing to find.

2. Little boys don't care if socks are matched or not.
Heck, they don't even have to be the same color.

3. Never-mind that socks are bought in pairs.
Some socks just aren't meant to be together.
And so one of them leaves.
Where they go, I do not know.

4. I have a Most Wanted pile.
I know there is a match...somewhere.
I've seen the match....recently.
I know its here....someplace.
I just can't seem to find them both....at the same time.

5. It's okay to throw socks away.
There should be no guilt,
no anxiety,
no what-ifs,
no regret.
Just let it go.

6. If you leave a sock at my house, you will not be getting it back.
A mother knows her socks.
And your socks...are not mine.
See #5.

7. Holey socks are not sacred.
Yes, they are obviously your favorite,
but since darning socks is completely ludicrous,
please see #5.

8. Boring, one colored socks are optimal and easiest to match.
Buy those!

9. Socks should not have a foot preference.
That's just way too complicated for me socks.
I hope someone from Nike is reading this.

10. The only way to make sure all matches are found is to move.

That's what I need.

I'm ready to fix my yard.
The pointy evergreen
Has put me over the edge.

A climbing tree and flowers
So my kids can play for hours.

That is what I need.