I have always been an avid reader ever since I can remember. When I was little I remember my mom taking me to the old Yardville Library on South Broad Street in of course Yardville, NJ where I grew up.  It was in the upstairs of a building and really quite small when you look at today’s library’s. They didn’t even have computers in them back then, which gives you a pretty good idea of my age. My first books were Dr Seuss, Where the Wild Things, Danny and the Dinosaur. As I got older and started reading chapter books my love for reading grew even more. I fell in love with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Three Investigators. Books that had series were always a favorite and still are today.

A good book can take you so many different place and even out of this world. I am always amazed when I hear someone say that they hate to read. A huge part of my life is books. I have literally read thousands. I cannot go to sleep at night unless I read. There are some weeks were I can go through two or three books depending on the length. I guess this is why I have always wanted to be a writer, My favorite genres are horror, fantasy, sci-fi, mysteries although I also read a lot of non-fiction.

I remember when the Kindle and Nook first came out and I declared I would never give up my print books for an electronic one. That has certainly changed. I still buy print books because I love collecting books, but most of my reading is done on both Kindle and Nook and a few other devices. There is still no better feeling then opening a new book and feeling the pages in your hand. The main reason I use electronic books are because most my reading is at night and it is so much more convenient having something back lit that I can change the font size on depending on how well my eyes are seeing.

Now for some books that I have personally read recently and highly recommend. Terry Goodkind – Sword of Truth – is a series of 15 epic fantasy novels. All of the books contain over 500 pages so you really get your monies worth. Sean Platt and David Wright – Yesterdays Gone -is a series of 6 horror sci-fi. This series blew me away, this however is an adult read novel. Sean Platt and David Wright – Crash – this is a short horror book that will keep you reading till its done novel.

The first two books in the Yesterdays Gone series are free eBooks and the authors will also send you Crash and two other books for free.

That’s it for this weeks blog post. Peace to all and happy reading.

Wow, its hard to believe its been over a year since I last posted on here. Time has a way of getting ahead of you. This has been an unforgettable year and a lot of it was not good news. I suffered my fair share of learning exactly what depression is and I have to say I really feel bad for those who suffer it daily. I had to learn to let things go and make some changes in my life.

The first good news is I did finish my book. It only took 112,256 words to do it. I am very proud of what I have accomplished and am in the process of securing myself a literary agent. When I first set out to write the book I had no idea of all that is involved in getting a book published. It is not easy by any means if you are not already a household name. The good news is I have learned so much and that is one step in the right direction.

Now some of the bad news. First I lost a brother this year. My brother Paul Jacob Daringer passed away on June 5 2018. He had just turned 60 years young. I cannot tell you how much it hurt losing him and I still feel that pain everyday. I have however gotten over the severe depression that I went into following his passing. Jakey you will always be in my heart brother.

If that wasn’t enough I also lost two of my cousins who were only in there fifty’s. Both from the same family. My cousins Skip Battista and my cousin Bobby Battista both taken way to young and my cousin Bobby passsed four days after my brother. They will both always be in my memories and they are very fond ones that I have.

Now some good news. My sister ended up getting the cutest little morkie puppy and they named her Aiko. The love this little pup gives is enough to make the coldest heart melt. Also my niece gave birth to a healthy baby boy so I have another great-nephew and another niece is due in November. Total nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews will stand at a whopping 32 for me as of November. I love being from a big family.

So all this in the past year. Oh and I forgot to mention I had pneumonia twice already this year. The fact is I am just getting over one of those times now. This has been a rough month but I bounced back and am determined to get as healthy as I possibly can.

I am looking forward to getting this blog back up and running on a timely schedule. I also am going to rework it so that I can include product reviews since I do a lot of that in my spare time. Feels funny not having a book to write. Oh wait I forgot, I am going to start my second novel soon only this time instead of hand writing it out and then typing it I am going right for the typing. See sometimes I do learn a lesson.

Till my next post. Stay happy, stay healthy and may life bring you all the good things it has to offer. Peace till next time. 

Today the world has lost someone who has touched many hearts. Today my sister Mary and her family lost their pet dog Chica.  Those who knew Chica would be more than  happy to share a story of how this little dog touched them.  For those of us in the family, Chica was family.

Twelve years ago my sister had purchased Chica from a breeder of Brussels Griffon out-of-state and when Chica became old enough to leave her doggy family she was flown into Newark, NJ airport where she was greeted by her new mommy, my sister Mary, my wife Denise, myself and an adopted sister of our family Leslie.  We used to have a running joke on how many blondes it took to pick up a puppy.  When we first laid eyes on this little thing, who fit in the palm of your hand, we immediately fell in love with her.  She had pee in her crate so we took her to the lady’s room and gave her a little bath under the faucet. She was just so damn cute.  On the ride home we took turns holding her and when my turn came she had lain on my shoulder and was licking the bottom of my ear.  I remember us all having such a great time with lots of laughter.

When Chica got to her house she was introduced to her kitty sister Raffy cat.  Raffy immediately took to Chica.  She would pin her down and groom her every chance she could.  At that time in my sister’s life she only had her husband John and one human child Krystal and my niece was in her teens so Chica became the baby of the house.  Now if you know anything about Brussels than you know they are a non shedding dog and they stay very small.  The eyes of a Brussel are almost human looking and their faces can be compared to a Star Wars Ewoks.  They are extremely intelligent and very social.  They have very human looking expressions.  It is very hard not to fall in love with one when you see them.

Chica had been a little over a year old when I moved to California but when I came back east to visit that pup always knew me and greeted me with her tail wagging and lots of licks on the face.  My sister’s family grew during this time also, besides her husband John, she had a son Nate born shortly after I moved.  Then came another daughter Brielle.  The pup was never jealous of the kids and loved playing with them.  I remember when I came for my summer visits Chica would love to go out in the front yard and run around the water rocket that the kids had.  She would run around barking at that thing for hours if you let her.

My sister never lacked for friends and every one of them that I knew loved Chica and that was just the way that pup was.  When my mom and dad would visit the dog would always wiggle her way in between them on the couch.  After mom had passed and it was my father visiting Chica would follow him everywhere.  When my oldest sister Jane would visit you would always find Chica sitting on her lap.  When I would visit Chica would be my shadow and sleep with me every night. She had her routine at night.  She would get up on the bed and head to the pillow and scratch at it till it was just the way she liked it.  On colder nights she would crawl under the covers and spoon me.  When I came with my wife Denise the pup would make sure she was right in the middle of us during bedtime.

Chica had such a beautiful personality and could always make you feel better if you were feeling down.  I truly loved that pup and my heart is broken with her passing.  I will miss my little furry niece but will always cherish every single memory I have of this high spirited pup.  Our family has lost a very precious heart touching soul.  May you Rest in Peace and your spirit be beside that of our mothers.  Till the day we meet again I love you and miss you.

For those of you that have ever lost a furry family member, my heart goes out to you.  Our pets are no longer just pets they have become full members of our families.  Always show them love and kindness and you will get that same gift back in return.  Our furry family members only know unconditional love and deserve to have that shown to them, there is no better love in the world.

I ran to the store the other day to pick up a few items that we needed and some that we surely did not.  One of those that we did not need but because we have had so many days in the 120’s, ice cream was on the list.  Just the name of it made me feel cooler.  Don’t get me wrong I am a true desert rat and can take the heat of the desert with the best of them but we are talking more days in the 120’s then has ever been recorded.  Any way back to the ice cream.  I bought some Dreyer’s which is a big name brand here in SoCal. When my wife and I went to have some that night we were looking at tub and noticed it had shrunk in size.  I am not sure just how many ounces smaller it was but I know for a fact it used to be just shy of a full half-gallon, now it’s not even a full quart.   Then I started to take notice of some of the other stuff I buy and guess what the cereals, cheese’s, sour cream all have been shrunk down.

When did all this happen?  The price on these items has not been cut so why has the package size.  I remember when you used to be able to by a case of soda which would be 24 cans.  Long ago that was switched to 20 cans and now when we tell the checker at the store that we have a case of soda in the cart they know we mean a 20 pack.  Again the price of the 20 pack runs more than the case did.  Whats next are they going to make our 12 packs of soda 10 packs and tell us it was done so it will fit in the refrigerator better. Have they been slowly decreasing these items so we would not notice.  My answer to that is yes.  If you don’t believe me start looking at the items you normally buy.  No longer do you find half gallons of milk, they have been cut down just a few ounces and slipped on the shelves and packed in tightly so you would not notice.

We really need to be aware of the shrinking goods because we are not paying any less and in most cases paying more.  When we see a package that has been conveniently snuck in we should use our social media sites and make everyone aware, this way we can all start emailing these companies and voicing our thoughts about why.  Do you remember the last time you actually saw a pound of coffee?  That is another one that keeps on shrinking.  How about those snack cakes you buy for your kids?  The package looks the same on the outside but when you look at the product itself they are much smaller.  All of these ounces we are losing add up and us as the consumer have a right to know just when they are decreasing the size of things and not giving us a cut in the price.  It really makes me wonder just how long this has gone unnoticed.

Another thing that I have noticed a lot more of also is that more products  are using high fructose corn syrup.  Start reading your labels.  That stuff is in everything and it has been proven to be harmful to our health.  Even ice cream is now made with it.  Why would they mess around with ice cream when it used to be made with such simple ingredients.  Now I have to label read that also and let me tell you it is getting harder and harder to find a brand that just uses sugar as the sweetener.  I can still find some of the Dreyer’s Ice Cream that doesn’t have the high fructose corn syrup but even that is getting to be a chore.  I have found one brand of ice cream that no matter what flavor they make it does not have the HFCS in it and that brand is Tillamook.  It is by far my favorite brand but not all the stores around here carry it.  It also though does not come in a full half-gallon but 1.75 quarts which is still more than the Dreyer’s brand.  I also notice now brands that use less ingredients like to advertise that fact and charge you more than the ones that have all the things in it that you cannot even pronounce.  So now we have items that have shrunk in size and items that use less ingredients and those that could care less if they are poisoning us all still charging us more for less and that less includes the quality.  

Okay now that I have gotten that out of my system I will remind you again.  Watch the products you buy and see if they are shrinking and if they are let everyone know.  Watch the products that have slipped in the HFCS and again let everyone know.  Watch the products that tell you they are now using less ingredients like they used to but are charging more and once again let everyone know.  We live in a time were social media has made us able to communicate with others instantly and if we start letting everyone we know and they pass it on to everyone they know then just maybe we can make a change in these companies that are shrinking the goods.

You may remember my article last year on me and my sister’s attempt to perfect making pizza, especially on the grill.  Now I myself am not even going to lie and say that this is my goal.  This is actually my youngest sister Mary’s goal.  The reason I bring this up again is  because the other day I did make a great pizza.  Mine of course now is the deep dish kind that I used  to loath and at most places still do.  You see I make mine with a focaccia bread dough.  I love homemade bread so bear with me for a minute for getting away from the pizza.  When we were young growing up homemade bread was a staple in our home and especially in my grandparents home.  I used to watch my grandmother whip up bread dough without ever using a measuring cup.  She had the knack for it and you would never catch her using a machine.  My mom also used to make hers the old fashioned way until the discovery of the bread machine.  Once she got one of those the kneading by hand became obsolete.  Now some will argue that you cannot tell the difference between bread made in a bread machine or bread made the old fashion way.  I will tell you that I can and although I will eat the bread from a bread machine, as it is still much better than store bought mass produced can’t spell half the ingredients or pronounce half of them bread.  I can tell whether my bread was machine made or handmade with loving care.  The handmade is by far the much better tasting of all.

I say this because while we were devouring our homemade pizza the other night this was the discussion that came up.  I was told that my crust was one of the best that I had ever made.  This came from my wife Denise and also from my niece Sonja. Both had my pizza before so they know what it taste like.  I always make my own dough but I usually use my KitchenAid stand mixer for the kneading because the arthritis in my hands makes it hard to knead by hand.  When I went to make the dough this time I had all my ingredients in the bowl and put the dough hook on the mixer.  When I turned the mixer on the dough hook would not spin so I had no choice but to knead the dough by hand.  I also ran into another problem, hey shit happens right, I ran out of olive oil.  Olive oil is a key ingredient in focaccia bread so once I had my dough all kneaded and rising I ran to the store quickly and picked up a bottle of Pompeian EVO Robust flavor.  The reason the olive oil is critical in the recipe is first of all it is used in the dough itself and second when you are shaping the loaf onto your cookie sheet using your fingers to carefully stretch and dimple the bread, you need the olive oil on top the bread so that it will stretch and dipple without tearing the dough.  I only had enough EVO to put into the recipe itself and none for the stretching part.  

My wife and niece swear the taste was because I had hand kneaded the dough and not used my trusty KitchenAid mixer.  I myself think that it was because the olive oil was different from my usual Trader Joe’s brand.  Now I am going to try this again after I fix my mixer and see if they can tell a difference than.

I was really bummed out by my mixer crapping out on me and when I see the cost of a new one, let’s just say it is way out of my budget.  Because I use the mixer not a bread machine to make things like bagels, english muffins, cinnamon walnut bread and a whole list of other types it has to be a high power mixer not the cheaper stand mixers that have a much lower cost.  Thank god for YouTube video’s, I was able to find a fix it video for my model of the KitchenAid stand mixer from ereplacement parts.  I did take the mixer apart to see if any of the gears were damaged so that I could place an order right away if needed.  To my surprise the gears are all ok with no signs of wear.  I think the problem is that the grease is old and not getting in the gears right.  I believe that caused the gear to slip out of place so that the part that spins the attachments does not turn.  I did put it back together and it is running but I ordered new grease and will clean out all the old grease and repack all the gears with some clean heavy duty grease and hope that keeps the gears from slipping again.  I am also glad that I am handy enough where I am comfortable taking things apart and rebuilding them.  That definitely comes from my dad always showing me how things worked and the YouTube video’s makes it that much easier.

Okay back to the pizza.  Well apparently my sister and I were on the same wavelength and we were both making pizza.  Hers of course was made on the grill and mine was made in the oven.  I have told her if she really wants to perfect the making of pizza on the grill she should have a wood burning oven built out on her patio.  I think if I had one of those I would have to begin my experiment of making the perfect pizza again.  I wish my sister the very best on her pizza making goal and who knows maybe by the time I visit her in August she will have it down to a science and than I can enjoy some good ole pizza.

One other thing before I end this article.  I live in California and what they call pizza and what I call pizza are two totally different items.  Some things you just cannot beat from New Jersey and New York and the most famous is pizza.  Those of you who live there know this as a true fact.  I have one pizza place near me that has decent pizza and that is because the owner comes from New York, otherwise it is make my own and indulge in that luxury when I go back east.

Happy Eating. 

Everybody has dreams.  The dreams I am talking about are the ones that shape our lives not the dreams we dream in our sleep.  My dream for instance is to have my book, Quantum Planet, make the New York Times bestseller list.  I am working on my dream and doing all that I possibly can to make my dream a reality.  It is taking a little longer than I expected but I still will not give up on it because I believe in myself and my ability.  Too many people give up on their dreams and that is such a shame.  Some dreams are harder to carry out than others but they are not impossible as long as you make one that is truly within your reach.

I believe everyone has the power to make their dreams come true.  It takes patience and perseverance and an attitude and it also takes sacrifice.  Yes you must be willing to make some kind of sacrifice to see it through.  That sacrifice may come in the form of time, money or a number of obstacles. Don’t let these things stop you, make those sacrifices that you need.

I am a true believer of following your dreams.  No regrets.  The one thing people hate to see in their lives are regrets.  You always hear people say how they regret something.  If you do not make the effort to follow your dreams you will definitely find yourself with lots of regrets.  When you’re chance at your dream comes you must grab that chance and make the most of it, never let anyone tell you that you can’t because you can.  People who tell you that you can’t are the ones who suffer regrets because they did not follow their own dream and that makes them not want to see others succeed. You must have a positive attitude because a negative one will only create more negatives in your life.  Negatives are excuses and excuses get you nowhere fast.

Think of all the success stories that you have heard in your life.  Everyone of those successes came because the person that had the success never let things stop them, they worked around the obstacles, they did what needed to be done without making excuses.  I live from paycheck to paycheck so one of my biggest obstacles is money.  I know a lot of people in that are in the same boat and I tell them what I am writing here today and that there is a way.  I try to always work within my budget and save wherever I can.  I don’t mind going without material things if it brings me that one step closer to my dream.  I have learned not to squander my money on frivolous items.  I have learned not to spend money just because an urge to shop came over me.  I will admit that I have done those things in the past and by doing them I was getting nowhere.  That instant of gratification can holds you back.  Money is always one of the hardest things to overcome, but it is not impossible.  I know it is hard for people to see others have so many things in life that they wish they had themselves but the reality is they can if they are willing to make sacrifices and not excuses.   

What this all boils down to is how you set your frame of mind.  Instead of I can’t say I can. Instead of this is too hard say this is hard but not impossible.  Instead of this is impossible say if I work at this it is possible.  Your mind is an amazing thing use it to its fullest and you will see those positive things come together in your life.  Take every advantage that is given to you and use it to better yourself and your life.  Don’t ever let anyone bring you down. This is all within your power. What happens in your life is what you put into your life.  Don’t blame others as that is just an excuse.  Excuses do not enrich your life and you will not get far on them.  Be truthful to yourself and I mean really take a look in the mirror, if you do not like what you see then know that you have the power to make that change. Follow your dream.

My hope is that these words will inspire you to make the most out of your life.  Sometimes we get caught up with all the negativity that we read and hear and it brings us down.  Don’t let this happen, your life is truly in your hands and your dream is always within your reach, you can do it.

Hello readers once again my blog has been on vacation.  Luckily for me I have a sister who has told me that I am slacking and need to work on my blog so that I keep my readers happy.  Thank you Mary, you are absolutely right and I love you for keeping me going.

Well the good news is my book is coming along greatly and I am very excited about the direction it has taken.  I will add a few more chapters on the preview page to make up for the time delay on my blog.

Today I would like to discuss Spirit Animals.  Now I know a lot of you are probably shaking your head and thinking what in the hell is she talking about.  A lot of you might not believe in Spirit Animals but I personally do. There is plenty of information you can google on the subject.  Spirit Animals are said to be guides, messengers or protectors in our lives. Some believe that when we are born a Spirit Animal is assigned to us. Some use the zodiac signs to tell us our Spirit Animal. In this case mine just happens to be a raven and this is why I pick this particular subject to talk about today.

You see yesterday my wife and I had the most unusual encounter with a raven.  We were sitting in our living room chatting away when we heard a loud noise outside.  We looked over to the glass sliding door and there was a raven pecking at the glass.  We got up to get a closer look and the raven stayed put still pecking at the glass and than putting his body close to it. When he seen this was not getting him any closer to getting inside he went to the stationary windows that are on the sides of the sliding glass door and repeated to peck at the glass.  When that window didn’t work he went to the other one.  My wife decided she better put the slider on our pet door.  We have the pet door on our bedroom door that goes out to the patio so that our cat has the freedom to come in and out at his leisure.  No sooner did she get the slider on and the raven tried to get in via the bedroom door. Now I had never seen a raven do this in my life.  I decided to go outside and see if I could get the bird to leave the patio as he was frightening my two pet birds, my Cockatiel Spirit and my African Grey Simba.  I went out onto the patio and started talking to the raven and he walked onto the grass and just cocked his head.  As soon as I went back indoors the raven came right back over to the door and once again tried to figure a way to get in.  This lasted almost an hour.  Suddenly when we looked back over to the door the bird was gone.  We looked around outside and not a sign of him.

Now I know some people say that maybe he saw his reflection in the glass but that is not the case.  When you are on my patio it is fully shaded and it looks like there is no door there at all.  In fact I myself had run into the glass several times thinking that the door was open. Others have said that the bird was probably thirsty but I have a fountain on my patio that runs all day for my hummingbird Louie to bath in.  Louie is very territorial and will not let anyone else use his fountain.  The raven never even attempted to go near the fountain. Now you might say that this is all just a coincidence but I have had to many things happen in my life to think this.

My Cockatiel Spirit is one of these.  One day in October around 3 years ago I was at my neighbors house having cocktails when we noticed a bird flying from tree to tree screeching.  We could not tell what kind of bird it was as it was to high up.  After a while we decided that we would go to my backyard and let her dogs run around.  She did not have the room in her yard for them to get a good run in.  When we got to my yard I heard the bird and watched it land in my palm tree.  I could not tell what kind it was but I held out my arm and said “come here pretty bird.”  Well to my surprise the bird came right down and landed on my arm.  I knew the bird had been someones pet and over the next several weeks I looked for the owner only to never find one.  It was than that I realized that this bird came to me almost one year to the day that my cockatiel of 18 years had passed away. That is why this one is named Spirit.  This bird found me and to this day is my baby.  She will tolerate anyone but she will only come to me.

Now back to the raven.  Because of this birds behavior and the fact that my Spirit Animal is supposed to be the raven I am trying to figure out just what this bird was trying to tell me.  I have been googling about the subject of Spirit Animals and have found out a lot of information and a lot of false information. Beware of those that ask you to pay to find out your Animal Spirit or those that tell you take a quiz, these sites are usually some type of scam.   

Native Americans have always believed in Spirit Animals and Totems so I would recommend you to a site like Manataka.org if you would like to check this subject out any further.  Whether you believe in this or not is totally up to you.  I just found this to be worth more investigation on my part and I really hope that I can discover the meaning behind this.  Oh and here is another weird thing, I was texting with my sister Mary about this and while we were chatting she decided she felt like a glass of wine. The bottle she pulled out just happened to be called Ravens Wood, she sent me a picture to show that she was not making this up.  Coincidence, not in my book.

You can check out the video of the bird on my Facebook page.

Everyone has probably heard the term of paying it forward.  Hell there was even a movie about it.  Did you really ever stop to think on just what these words mean.  Well I got a taste of it over the past 24 hours.

It all started with a call from my sister Mary.  She had called to tell me she had not heard from my brother Jake for a while and was starting to worry. Well at first we thought it was Jake being Jake.  My brother was never any good at keeping in touch with his family.  When my sister started calling his cellphone though that’s when the worrying started setting in because as much as he did not always contact us, he was usually pretty good about answering his phone.  We had contacted some of his close friends only to find that they had not seen him either in a while and they were also looking for him.  

Well supposedly he was staying with a friend that we did not know.  Mary found the guy on Facebook and had sent the guy messages but still we had no word.  She did manage to get the guys address and my brother-in-law Timmy went to the address only to find that the guy had lost his home to a fire.  Timmy also went to my brothers usual watering holes and no one had seen him.  This is when we really began to worry.  You see my brother had fallen on hard times and lost his place and his job or vise versa the point is he was basically homeless.  To know my brother though is to know he does not believe in charity unless he is the one giving it.  He is stubborn as a mule when it comes to helping him.  He was raised were you were told you gave a good eight hours of work for a good eight hours of pay and he still holds this to be true.  My brothers other problem is he likes the bottle and he has never hidden that fact.  He has an immense heart and is always willing to help those in need, everyone that is except himself.

So here it is where two months have now passed and we know this is way to long even for Jake.  Mary finally got a call from the guy he was supposedly staying with and he told her that he had not seen my brother since the summertime.  This is when we decided to file a missing persons report.  Well my brother Allen had tried to do this but it was the day of the big snowstorm and the people who handled that had not been into work.  Plan B with the help of the guys wife and my niece we ended up with a couple of good pictures to make up a poster that I had put on Facebook.  Say what you want about social media at a time like this it really came in handy.

I posted my brother’s picture and a description of him and contact information.  Within seconds my post was being shared.  In one hour we were already at 80 shares.  At that point people were also posting well wishes and it turned out that a lot of them knew my brother or my family. There were people I had not heard from since my school days and a lot from people who I am friends with.  I was just amazed.  But it gets even better, after several hours we had over 300 people share my brothers missing poster.  I had a meeting I had to attend that night so when I got home it was after 9 pm.  By this time we had over 860 shares.  With the shares came a lot more wishes that my brother was found safe.  Honestly though by this time I was so worried because all those post and no one had seen him.  I did not sleep well trying to keep my mind thinking positive instead of thinking the worst.  

Morning rolled in and I checked Facebook first thing.  My sister than called me to ask if I could send the police the pictures I had of my brother and the missing poster.  She had gone down to the station in Lawrenceville where she lives and filed the missing persons report.  By this time we had well over 1000 people share the poster.  I was busy answering all the persons who had commented on my brother and there was just so many.  After another hour and a half passed by my sister called.  My heart had literally dropped as I was sure the news was bad.  As it turns out the news was good.  The police had pinged my brother number and it led them to a parking lot in Wal-Mart in Tallahassee Florida.  The police had talked to my brother and told him that his family was desperately hunting him.  Jake ended up calling Mary and reassuring her he was fine.  They both ended up crying and my brother has vowed to keep his family informed of his whereabouts.  Now our goal is to get him to go back to NJ and get him back on his feet.  As I said before he is stubborn and wants to do things on his own but he forgets we are just as stubborn and we will help him because we are a very close family and we love him to death.  We want to kick him in the ass for what he has put everyone through but we still love him.

Now what does this have to do with paying it forward you ask?  Well I was so touched and overwhelmed by the outpouring for my brother that I have literally began to think of all those people who took some time out of their day to do me a favor.  We are talking over 1000 people in the span of 24 hours who have cared and shared with me.  I am so touched and I just cannot thank these people enough.  There are still a lot of very caring, loving people out there.  You see they paid it forward,  They never asked for anything except that my brother be found alive and well.  

There is a lesson to be learned here and I have learned it.  If everyone would just be kind to one person everyday we would learn to get rid of hate.  We would learn to accept people for their differences and uniqueness.  We would learn you don’t judge people.  I vowed on Facebook to everyone that I would always pay it forward and I plan on keeping that vow.  As I ended it on my Facebook post Karma is a kindness that comes back to you in many great ways.  I wish to thank all those who helped spread the word.  You will always have a place in my heart.  Thank You.

I used to live on the east coast specifically New Jersey.  I remember seeing more than my share of snowstorms.  Because most of my family still live on the east coast I was informed by them that they were supposed to get a major snowstorm.  Let me tell you living here in the desert we rarely ever watch the weather reports because there are only so many ways you can say sunny and warm or sunny and hot.  Now that I knew my family was in for a big storm I actually watched the weather for the east coast.  

Now if you live on the east coast you know the second they say major snow storm everyone and there uncle hit the grocery stores and the two items that run out the quickest are milk and bread.  Now I am a curious person by nature so I google “Why do people by bread and milk when a snowstorm is predicted.  Well to my surprise there were hundreds of articles on this subject.  Some say it started in New England during a storm in 1978 when people were trapped in their homes for weeks.  Others say it began in 1950 when a storm caused a shortage of milk supplies.  Psychologist say it comes from our nature to hoard.  As I read through article after article all I got was someone else’s opinion on why this happens.

Now if you think about it from a logical point of view you would have to consider that these are both perishable items that have a very short shelf life.  Also these days nobody gets trapped in for more than a day or two and those who live so far from a store, well that bread and milk will not last you more than a few days.  So logically it makes no sense at all for the stores to run out of these items.  This leads me to believe that our minds have been programmed from a very early age that snow equals bread and milk.  Keep in mind this is only my personal opinion and I have no evidence to back this theory up.

I myself would be more inclined to buy flour, sugar, powdered milk and other non perishable items and make my own bread, but hey that’s just my opinion again.  Now I guess I will never get a true answer of why these items are so important in a snow storm.

To those of you who live on the east coast I wish you all well and I hope you survive the snow storm without to much inconvenience.  Just remember your non perishable items will get you a lot further then your bread and milk.

As for me I will continue to enjoy my sunny and warm weather and be thankful that I moved where the snow stays on the mountains and people only buy milk and bread when they run out.

Hello Readers,

Yes I know once again I am off track.  I swear sometimes I should learn not to make promises.  I do apologize and I am really going to try my best to get my blog back on track.  I have been working steadily on my book and am so excited with how the story is progressing.  I get really excited when I am writing it as I can picture my characters in action.  Even though I know what the book is about I really don’t have a plan on how the story will go till I start writing so that makes it so much fun for me.  I never plan out what will happen next so not only am I the author but I am also the reader.

Now I do have somewhat of an excuse for not having a post in a while. Every year in the beginning of the new year it never fails that I either get a severe case of Bronchitis or Pneumonia and this year I ended up at Urgent Care with Bronchitis/Pneumonia.  It took me three weeks to get back to feeling like a human again.  The older I get the longer it seems it takes to heal my body.  Also I have a very shitty immune system and no matter what I try to do to change that it just does not seem to work.  Ok now that I got that out of of my system I can now get back to what I love doing best and that is writing.

This winter has been one of those unusual ones.  It was a lot colder then what most of us desert rats are used to.  It has also been a lot wetter and cloudier than I have seen since moving here in 2006.  This week however I am happy to say our Palm Springs weather is back to being Palm Springs weather.  We have been enjoying nice sunny days and the temperatures are back up in the seventies and next week we will be back in the eighties.  This is such a beautiful time around here.  Since we have had more rain then ever this winter the mountains had more snow then I have seen in years.  It is so nice to be able to sit outside and work in shorts and a tee and look at the mountains with all the snow on them.  This inspires me to write.

This year is going to also be a great year for the wildflowers.  I am looking forward to seeing all the blooms we will have.  The desert is getting ready to come to life and a lot of my time will be spent outdoors enjoying all of it. My best writing happens when I am surrounded by beauty and fresh air so I am hoping to get some major chapters done this week.

My patio is now serving as my office and it feels so good not to be surrounded by four walls.  I have my hummingbirds keeping me constantly amused. They just love to come over to me and see what I am doing.  My spa has a waterfall that goes into the pool so I also have the beautiful sound of water flowing.  To me this place is my own personal paradise.

My African Grey and my cockatiel are also glad the weather is back to normal as they also get to spend the days outdoors watching me work. Well now that I have let you all know that the blog is back and running I really will do my best to post at least once a week.

Wishing you all a great new year and please always think positive as your positive vibes will always bring you the best in life. A new day dawns and with it a new adventure, make the most of it.