Free eBooks!

There are two more free eBooks today!

The Funniest Cop Stories Ever by Tom Philbin.  It didn't get great reviews but it's not like you're wasting your money.  It's free!  If you don't like it, just quit reading it!

Cops are the people who see and hear it all. They work at one of the world's most dangerous jobs, but it's also one of the most entertaining. When their lives are at risk¿and even when they aren't¿cops encounter constant weirdness and stupidity in human behavior. The Funniest Cop Stories Ever collects the strangest, most amusing stories about stupid crooks, bungled crimes, and station-house banter. A true look at what life is like behind the badge, the tales in The Funniest Cop Stories Ever were collected by real-life ex-New York City policeman Scott Baker and coauthor Tom Philbin. Anecdotes are told by the real-life cops who experienced them and include:



A foot chase after a dwarf who karate-kicked his girlfriend's door and assaulted her while wearing a tuxedo and carrying a violin case.



A beggar who ended people's pay phone calls so he could demand their extra spare change.

A narcotics bust on a guy who claimed the crack cocaine¿and his pants¿didn't belong to him.

-AND-

Write That Book Already!: The Tough Love You Need To Get Published Now by Sam Barry.  This one actually did get good reviews.  Since you guys are bloggers, you very possibly are interested in getting something published.  Maybe this is for you!

From the foreword by Maya Angelou:"[T]he joy they promise in their prose makes me glad that I and other writers have been willing to make good writing our aim, and even great writing our dream." "How do I get my book published?"Good question. Lucky for you, publishing insiders Sam Barry and Kathi Kamen Goldmark have laid out the blueprint for what you want--your book. From transforming an idea into a manuscript to finding an agent to working with an editor to marketing your book, BookPage's Author Enablers are here to assist you every step of the way. And they've brought some backup with original insight from literary superstars like Stephen King, Amy Tan, Rita Mae Brown, and more.It's everything you would ever want--and need--to know about the industry from the inside out.

Baking Up Some Goodness

I'm a featured blogger!  Jenna from Jenna's Journey is running a 12 Days of Goodies feature in preparation for Thanksgiving.  She has chosen my Pumpkin Cupcakes to showcase today!

Head on over there and check it out!  I am sure that the remaining Days of Goodies will be something to behold!

Sourdough Starter

Forever ago, I posted about my experiences with homemade sourdough bread.  I said I would provide you with the directions to make your own starter whenever I got it from the person who supplied me with my starter.  Well, she never gave me the directions.

I really enjoyed making my own bread and planned to experiment with sourdough pancakes and pretzels.  But then summer came.  Who in the world wants to heat up their oven and their entire house when it's 90 degrees outside?  I let the starter go.

Now that it's cold and rainy out once again, I'm craving the fresh taste of homemade bread.  So I decided to find directions for making your own starter online.  Viola!  I just love having the resource of the internet at my fingertips!  (You'll notice that the directions in this post vary slightly from the directions in my other post.  It made me realize, this is not science.  It doesn't really matter how you do it, just as long as you do it.  Don't stress over it; it's not as complicated as you think.)

So, sorry I'm so late, but here's how you begin your own sourdough starter:

Combine 1C warm water and 1C flour (any type).  A wide-mouthed, glass jar works best.  It's good if you can easily see what's going on in the container.  A disposable container, Tupperware, or old mayonnaise jar works too.  Do not use metal containers or utensils.

You need to feed the starter every 24 hours. 

• First, throw half of it away.  I don't know why, but every site about sourdough starters says this.  So it must be important.  My friend removed half but didn't throw it away.  She kept it in a second container and fed it separately.  That's where I got my original starter from.  So I guess that's OK too. 
• Add 1/2 C flour and 1/2 C warm water and mix. 

Your starter should sit at a temperature between 70 and 80 degrees.  You don't want to use an air-tight lid.  A cloth draped over the container will suffice.  I just left my lid lying on top of the jar, tilted to the side.  The starter will bubble and smell pleasantly sour (possibly like beer, they say).  It may puff up.  When it develops a bubbly froth, it's done. 

Move the starter to the refrigerator with a lid on it.  If the lid is air-tight, poke a hole in it.  At this point, the starter only needs to be fed once a week.  (You can read more about that in my other post.)  You do not have to be meticulous about feeding it.  Missing a day or two won't kill it.  Some people said they only fed theirs the day before they planned on using it.

I wouldn't recommend using a Mason jar.  The opening was too small and made adding the flour difficult.  I made a mess all over the sides of the jar.  Plus, the container was a bit too small.

Day 2:  I split the starter in half and added 1/2 C warm water and 1/2 C flour to each.  (If I'm going through all this work, I will be starting out with two loaves of bread.)  Here is what it looked like before I did anything to it.

One thing you may notice in your starter (as seen in this picture) is a yellowish liquid forming at the top of your jar.  This is called hooch.  It's fermentation and it's harmless.  If it disgusts you, you can pour it off.  You can also just mix it back in, which is what I do.  That's kind of what sourdough bread is about.  If the liquid is really off-colored or moldy looking, you need to toss out the starter and begin again.

The starter changed very slowly over the next several days.  I keep my house pretty cool so I think it may have taken longer.  One article I read said that they would never use starter that was less than a week old anyway.

After about 8 days, I determined that my starters were done enough.  They weren't really changing any more.  So I put one starter in the fridge with a dish cloth rubber banded around the top.  I immediately began mixing the other starter into a sponge.  I didn't use the recipe I posted the first time.  I tried the recipe from the same site where I got my starter ingredients.  It did not work.  The sponge did not rise at all so I threw it out.  The second recipe did not have yeast in it.  The site said that true sourdough bread does not have yeast...the fermentation should be enough to cause it to rise.  Well, I don't care if my bread is true sourdough or fake sourdough.  I just want it to rise and taste good. 

Despondent, I fed the starter and put it back in the fridge.  I contemplated starting over and dumping everything out.  But I had worked so hard!  I think I used an entire bag of flour making these two starters!  I decided to hold off a couple days and think about it.  Almost a week later, I decided to try baking bread again, this time using the first recipe I tried.  Success!  My house smelled fantastic and the bread turned out great!  So, the moral of my story is this:  use a recipe that has yeast in it!  Who cares if you're not an authentic sourdough baker- as long as it tastes good!

Also, one article I read said that the riper the starter, the paler in color your loaf will be.  That was absolutely true.  As you can see in the photo in my last post, my loaf was very brown in color.  This time, my starter ripened for a week and my loaf came out very pale.  It had a stronger sourdough smell and definitely a stronger sourdough taste.  I liked it even better than the bread I made in early Spring!

So, I'm passing off my trials and error to you, loyal blog readers!  I hope you give it a try.  The starter is time consuming but it's not really that much work.  Making your own bread is fun, inexpensive, and tasty!  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Dear 18 Year Old Me

Emmy did a very interesting writing exercise on her blog.  She wrote a letter to the eighteen year old version of herself.  She gave herself good advice, said what to avoid, and what to do differently.  Some things were general, some very specific.  I wondered what I would tell myself so I decided to give it a try.

Dear 18 Year Old Me,

You just graduated and you couldn't be more excited to begin the next chapter of your life!  I know you're frustrated that you missed graduating with honors by one stipulation.  But don't worry, it really doesn't matter.  You got a scholarship to your first choice college.  The honors cords would have only made your white graduation gown look prettier.  You're not sure what you want to be your major in college but you'll end up making the right decision.  You want to eventually be a stay at home mom so Early Childhood Education is a good fit for you.  (You won't end up working long anyhow.)

You're in love!  Good choice, he ends up being a real winner!  The first few years of marriage will have its ups and downs.  You'll wonder what you're working for; your house is always a mess, you're always tired, you don't feel like cooking, and you have very little money.  But it gets much better, believe me!  You'll have a couple crappy jobs and people will treat you like dirt.  Don't worry about them.  You'll move on in life and never see them again.  Your family is who will always be there for you.

I know you want a big family and I'll let you in on a secret.  You get it.  But be patient with your children.  It's in your nature to yell and scream a lot.  Try not to.  Spending time with your children is more important than the TV, the phone, or the computer.  Help them learn.  You'll be thankful when you see how well they perform in school.  Teach them to love and respect one another.  Remember, children learn best by example.  Be a good one.

You will be let down by various people in your life.  There's no way to avoid this.  Friendships die.  You will shed some tears but don't let it impact you too greatly.  The people who matter most will be there when it really counts.  Again, your family is something you can always count on.

Be nice to Aunt Grace and Uncle Don.  Knowing your children is very important to them.  It won't hurt you to allow Aunt Grace to think you named your daughter after her.  When she passes away, you'll have good memories.  Uncle Don really wants to be close to the daughter you named after his favorite aunt.  Just go with it.

Don't waste away your life always looking to what you don't have.  The grass is always greener on the other side.  When you have no money and nothing to do, all you want to do is run around and have fun.  When you're older and more established, you would give anything to have a day to sit down and do nothing.  Enjoy each moment while you're living it.  Count your blessings and be thankful for what you have.  Don't waste your time being in competition with others.  Be who you are.  If someone doesn't like you because your house isn't decorated as cute as theirs or you don't wear name-brand clothes, forget about them.  Weigh your priorities and only focus on what's truly important in life.  Don't live to try to please other people.

Stand up straight and be confident in yourself.  Those are some of your biggest flaws.  You can and will accomplish a lot.  You will live a great life and experience so much happiness. 

Oh, three more things-

1.  When you're competing in the quizzing championships, go ahead and ring in on the very last question.  You know the answer.  Don't let your teammate beat you do it because he will freeze up, he won't know the answer, and your team will lose the championship.

2.  Don't take that recommendation for the florist for your wedding.  He's a joke and ends up making you a bouquet you totally hate.  Hire a real florist. 

3.  When in labor, you will be introduced to an intern anesthesiologist.  You won't be paying much attention because you will be in pain.  But stop and listen.  Say no when they tell you that this woman will be administering your spinal.  Refuse, and ask for a qualified doctor who knows what they're doing.  Otherwise, this intern will end up ruining your whole birth experience.  She will cause you great pain, you will vomit, and they will drug you into a state of semi-consciousness so that you don't even see your baby being born.

That's all.  Enjoy life.

Love,
Me

Time Change

How do you feel about the time change we must endure every six months?  I hate it.  Well, at least the "falling back" part.

Several good minutes of daylight are wasted while I'm still asleep.  It will be dark tonight by 6:00.  Hubby says he doesn't get to see his house in the daylight all winter long.  The darkness sends me into a minor depression of sorts.

Even though it's only an hour, it takes my body so long to adapt to the change.  Baby Girl woke up an hour early this morning and I didn't get my sweet, ten-minute break this morning between when the boys leave and when I must wake up Big Sis.

But because she was up, Baby Girl was the one assigned to waking up her sister.  It was really sweet to see her climb into her sister's bed, lovingly stroke her face, and push back her hair!  Then she gently uncovered her and told her to wake up.  It was precious!

I'd rather just stay on Daylight Savings Time all year round.  Anyone with me?

Weigh-In Saturday

I did so good this week.  And then I did so bad.

I weighed myself about halfway into the week and was pleased to see that I had lost another pound!  So I rewarded myself.  Dumb.  That's the bad habit I have to break.  I ate a miniature Hershey's bar leftover from Halloween.  Wednesday night, right before bed, I ate one of those Granola Thins that are so good but not low in fat.  Thursday night before bed, I ate a sugar cookie someone gave me.  What is wrong with me?  Those are the things that are keeping me from losing weight.  I work so hard all day long just to blow it right before bedtime.  Shame on me!

I'm pleased I had good results but I hope you guys had more willpower than I did!

Starting Weight- "112"
Week 3 Weight- "110 1/2"

Free eBook

Here's another deal for a free eBook!  A Simple Amish Christmas by Vanetta Chapman.  Enjoy!

Annie Weaver always planned to return home, but the 20-year old RN has lived in Philadelphia for three years now. As her time of rumschpringe is about to come to an abrupt end, bringing for Annie an overwhelming sense of loneliness. She returns home and finds herself face-to-face with a budding romance with an Amish farmer and Annie has several important choices to make.

Stirring Up the Past

I had a dream last night that I quit my job.  That's weird for two reasons.  #1, I don't have a job.  #2, I think that the "job" I quit in my dream was actually the last job I had, which I quit.

I quit working 13 years ago this December when I was five months pregnant with Son #1.  I worked with horrible, terrible people.  The thing that upsets me most about having this dream is that I apparently still allow these awful people to have a hold over me.  It's been 13 years and I'm ready to have freedom from them.

I am so not the kind of person who is quick to yell "discrimination."  Yet, I feel like I was discriminated against on this job.  I was young, thin (well, not for long, since I was pregnant), married, and white.  The two assistants were older,  African-American women who had been assistants for years and years.  This was my first full-time job in the school system and they were under me.   The other head teacher was a classic spinster.  Older, unmarried, overweight, unpretty, and bitter.  I told my fellow employees right away that I was pregnant because I was suffering from morning sickness.  The first thing Spinster said was, "Are you even three months yet?"  It was said in a degrading, snotty way.  "No," I replied.  "I just wanted you to know in case you see me bolt to the restroom."  The First Foot was apparently the wrong foot.

The assistants- they made my life a living hades.  They were lazy and wanted to spend their days chatting with one another.  Spinster, for some reason, allowed them to get away with that.  The two women took attendance in the morning, prepared the students' lunch (which means they took the packaged meals out of a hot box and set the milks on the table.)  Then they felt that they were done for the day.  That's two easy chores in a seven hour time period.

When they began hating me was when I asked my assistant to do something.  You would think there was lava raining from the sky.  She retaliated, got angry, and reported me to my supervisor.  Guys, I asked her to wipe another child's nose.  I would ask any of you to do that too.  I was occupied with another student and noticed someone's nose running toward their mouth.  She was standing there, doing nothing, so I asked if she would wipe the child's nose.  She huffed away, got a tissue, and brought it to me.  I had to stop what I was doing, track down the child, and clean his nose.

In my frustration, I vented to Spinster.  I didn't tell her who I was talking about; there were three other people in our classroom that day.  She told the assistant I was talking about her and they reported me together.  That was the day I realized I was in this on my own.

There were other small problems along the way but one major issue was the last straw for me.  The students took naps every day on cots.  That's when the teachers took lunch breaks (still in the classroom...no true breaks).  When the kids woke up, we stacked the cots and continued on with our day.  The other teacher and I were responsible for teaching the kids while the assistants again did nothing.  It only made sense that they were the ones to stack and clean the cots, since they had no other duties.  But the four of us always did it together. 

One day, a student had an accident while napping.  Since there were 31 other kids I was in charge of teaching, I didn't clean up the accident.  It wasn't my job.  The assistant told me that I needed to get down and clean up the pee.  She even brought me a wad of paper towels.  I politely told her that I would not be cleaning it up.  The other students were waiting for me and I needed to attend to them.  I was 5 months pregnant and getting down on the floor was getting more difficult.  I decided it was time to stand up for myself.  I continued on with my job while she stood behind the counter, talking about me.

The next day, the child who had the accident could not find his cot.  He walked around asking all the teachers where it was.  They shrugged and sent him to ask me, even though I was on my lunch break.  I sighed, put down my sandwich, and found his cot.  It was stacked against the wall.  I set it down and told him to lay on it.  My assistant went crazy.  The cot had not been cleaned since his accident yesterday.  Even though I was teaching and she was talking, she never cleaned it.  The teachers began harassing me.  I felt tears begin to well up.  Blame it on pregnancy hormones if you want but I wonder how I would have handled it even if I hadn't been pregnant.  I refused to cry in front of the students.  I went to the office phone and tried to call my supervisor.  This had to stop immediately.  She was not in but my former supervisor was.  I explained to her what was going on and how I wasn't able to cope.  I was physically sick from the abuse.  The day was nearly over and the students were leaving in a matter of minutes.  She told me to leave. 

Trying to follow procedure, I told Spinster and the two assistants that I was sick and was leaving.  My assistant turned to the other assistant and loudly said, "She's not sick."  They continued talking about me at a volume that the kids and I could all hear.  I walked out the door and never turned back.

I was reprimanded for leaving without the permission of my direct supervisor, who was not able to be reached.  I explained that I felt like I was going to vomit and needed to leave.  She didn't care.  Someone suggested that I seek the help of my union representative.  He was in an uproar about the situation but didn't actually do anything.  He told me to use all of the sick time I'd accumulated and call in sick every day.  That took me up to Christmas break and then I quit.

The thing that bothers me most about this entire situation is that I wonder if it was actually me who was difficult to get along with.  Should have I just done everything they ordered me to do, including their work?  Was I wrong to stand up for myself?  Am I the one who is hard to get along with?  Even though I don't have problems like this in other areas in my life, I've always wondered if the problem was me.  Throughout the years, I've seen people in public who I mistook for these former coworkers.  I immediately got a sense of panic and felt nauseous.  I think the diagnosis is that I was bullied.  Bullied as an adult. 

What helps me through it is to look at my life now.  I've never had to go to work a day since that happened.  These people are still working hard for a living.  I have a husband and four beautiful children.  I am happy.  I am content.  The only thing is that I still cannot let it go.  I don't know why it still has a hold over me and it angers me to realize that it does.  Hopefully time will heal all wounds.  I'm still waiting to be healed from this one.

Feeling Happy

Yesterday's post was such a downer (sorry about that) that I decided to make today's post

Things That Make Me Happy!

Can you see the big, cheesy smile on my face???

• Beautiful Fall colors.
• The fact that this is Thanksgiving month! It is my second favorite holiday! (Mmmm...turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie....ah, sheer bliss!)
• Hubby asked if the "DG" on the side of my sunglasses stood for "Dang, Girl!"  I grinned like a teenager!
• Son #1 was awarded with a $100 gift card to a grocery store at school!  I'll admit, the first thought into my mind was, That's a whole week's worth of groceries for the family!  Then I decided that it was his gift card, I was going to let him spend it however he wanted.  So, how do you think a 12-year old boy would decide to spend $100 at a grocery store?  Junk food!  About $40 into the trip (he kept track on a calculator), he started feeling guilty.  He kept telling me how he didn't feel right putting all that junk into the cart.  I was beaming!  He started picking up things like chicken noodle soup, cranberry pomegranate juice, and cider.  The purchase he was most proud of was porterhouse steaks!  The purchase I found most amusing was frozen garlic bread.  I loved seeing how thrifty he was.  He put back the Nutrigrain bars because he wasn't wasting $4.39 on that!  He opted for the generic brand instead.  Even though I was embarrassed to ring up all that junk food, I was quite proud of him.  He even bought a treat for his brother and each sister!
• I accomplished a bunch of the little, tiny chores that clutter the back storage section of my brain.  It was nice to clean that area out...I hope I didn't miss any tasks that have fallen into the corners of my brain storage.  I seriously need a live-in maid to help me keep my brain clean.  It's really cluttered in there.
• Watching Baby Girl play this.  It is seriously the best kids game we've ever had!

• The $50 check I just got from filling out Knowledge Networks surveys!  That makes $80 so far for me ! (It all goes in my camera fund!)
• Coupons.  Sorry, I had to say it.  But I got several good ones on November first.  My binder is oh-so-cute with artwork of a girl shopping on the front!
• The fact that I don't have anything to do tonight.  I love stay-at-home nights.

Things Irritating Me Right Now

To keep up the spirit of grouchiness and stressfulness started in yesterday's post, I decided to tell you all the things that are irritating me right now.  I may have to edit it down a bit...I'm pretty crabby today!

• The health insurance representative that called me at 7:14 AM this morning.  Kinda early, don't ya think?  She preceded to tell me in a snooty voice that she left me a message on Friday.  With the same attitude in check, I let her know that I heard her message and left one in response, also on Friday.  So, whatcha gonna do 'bout it now?  (No, I didn't say that last part.)
• We have 4 light bulbs burned out in a 15' radius.  Both lights in the upstairs hallway, the closet light in the hallway, and Baby Girl's bedroom light at the end of the same hallway are all done for.  It made for a very dark evening upstairs last night.  But when I have a husband who is nine inches taller than I am, why should I do projects that are up that high???
• The kids destroyed the basement again.
• I couldn't sleep last night as I was sure I could hear a mouse running around, gnawing on something.  I got up this morning and moved all the furniture around.  There were no droppings to be found so hopefully that means I have no mouse.  I'm paranoid.
• UTI
• I dropped my phone and now the hinge is not opening properly.  Just in case you were wondering, it takes 329 times of dropping your phone before it's totally destroyed.  I'm on 328.  (And you wonder why I don't have an iPhone.  That's why.)
• Cold weather
• The fits that Baby Girl has suddenly started throwing again.  And I thought we were done with the Terrible Twos!

BUT- it's supposed to be a beautiful Fall day today so that helps me feel better.  I hope you all have a great day today!  Chase away the Crabbies!