Best (& worst) books of 2012

I wanted to do this really in-depth blog about everything I had read in 2012, but let’s face it. I read A LOT in 2012. So, I’ve decided to try to just do a top 10 of what I loved. Or maybe top 20. Ugh! So many to choose from. Also, I was asked to also include my “duds” of 2012. I can tell you now that there weren’t many. I read many books that held my attention ‘til the end, but didn’t make me think about them long after I was done, but I don’t think that makes them “duds.” So those will not be included here.

If you are an avid reader, or become one in the future, I highly advise you to subscribe to Pixel of Ink. I follow them on Facebook, but I believe they also have a website. Every day, they post two updates (morning and evening) with freebies for the day. (If you aren’t on Facebook, I think they send the deals via email.) It also includes any Amazon bargain deals for the day. Please note that when it says a book is free at the time it was posted, it is entirely possible it won’t be free by the time you go out to get it. Always verify purchase price.

If, after reading my choices, you think some/most/all of these would be up your alley, I also encourage you to follow Maryse’s Book Blog. I follow her on Facebook, but she does a blog that can be updated as often as five times a day. (Also, she posted her top 25ish books of 2012 today, if you're interested.)

Disclaimer:

• I read my books in a Kindle Fire. Any reference to price or book site or blog is specific to a Kindle reader and books purchased through Amazon. I cannot guarantee that Nook or other e-readers will be afforded the same specials.
• Most of the authors I read are classified as indie, self-published authors. In many cases, these will not be available in any format other than an e-book, and finding them through your local library will be next to impossible.
• Other than #2 on my list, I paid no more than $3.99 for any book in my entire Kindle carousel. And there are so many…
• I am a firm believer in the supernatural and paranormal. If you are not into that genre, you will probably not be sold on this list. I will try to note when books fall into this realm.
• I am not going to provide summaries of the books. I’ll give my opinion and brief commentary, but you can go out and read more about each if you’d like.
• While some of these books may have been released in 2011, I read them in 2012, so…

The first two books I’m giving you are, in order, my two faves from this year. The rest could be in any order because I really enjoyed them.

1. The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

   I am not going to even explain this book to you. Just read it. It was phenomenal. And there is absolutely NO paranormal aspect to it. It’s just real people and real emotions and a totally real plot. I recommended this to my mom's book club. I hope this author gets an agent and a publisher QUICK because she deserves it.
2. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

   Again, words can’t describe this one. Nothing paranormal in this one. Hot, tattooed guy (Travis…yummy) tries to get the good girl. It takes place in a college setting. This also just got picked up to be made into a movie. The only way they can screw it up is by casting the wrong actor as Travis. Also, the “sequel” will be released in April 2013. It’s called Walking Disaster. It’s not really a sequel; it’s the same story told in Travis’s point of view. Scrumptious...
3. The Providence Trilogy by Jamie McGuire
   
Notice the repeat of the author’s name? Amazon has the trilogy bundled into one e-book purchase. That’s how I got it. This one has a supernatural aspect to it: angels, demons, and a bit of religion. The story (and love story) is well thought-out and beautifully written.
4. Blood Reaction by D.L. Atha

   Not surprising that this one is about vampires. This is probably the first e-book I read this year that I recommended to others. The story was very original. I encourage anyone who enjoys the vampire genre to indulge. I will say that it’s pretty dark. I also want to caution anyone with kids. Sounds weird, I know, but one of the underlying storylines is about what a mother would do to keep a child safe.
5. The Experiment in Terror series by Karina Halle
   
I have also been pushing this one all year. This one is mostly about ghosts and ghost hunting. There is an underlying love story between the two main characters who are in their mid-20s. This series is interesting because you’ll find that there are “tweener” books, as I like to call them. Like, if you go looking for them, you might see Book 4.5. These are usually short stories that either are standalones to hold you over until the next book in the series, or it’s the story up to this point told in a different character’s point of view. Finally, the editing on these books is not great. The story is pretty good, but you should be aware of the poor editing going into it. Darkhouse is the first book and has been free almost the whole year. It is a super slow read, but if you attempt it, stay with it. The rest of the series gets better, but you need this for back story.
6. Fall from Grace series by Christine Zolendz

   There are two books in this series. This series was one of my faves because it had rock stars and paranormal aspects. The paranormal in this series is angels. However, with angels come demons. This series is very well written.
7. Reunion and Twisted Vengeance by Jeff Bennington

   These are two separate books, but I found one because I read the other and liked the writing. Both of these books involve ghosts and hauntings. If you enjoy that topic or believe in ghosts, both are really great.
8. Just Breathe series by Kendall Grey
   
I believe this is going to end up being just a trilogy. The first two books are out, and the third is scheduled to be released 1/8/13. (Seriously, I can’t wait for this one!) This has some pretty supernatural aspects to it that require you to open your mind and think outside the box. I can tell you that the lead character, Zoe, works with whales and can communicate with them. That’s one of the storylines. Sound odd? Perhaps. But note that a huge portion of the proceeds of the book sales goes to whale research and rescue.
9. Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

   I think I get to count it because I finished Mockingjay in January. Seriously…if you haven’t read these yet, just do it. The first movie was actually really good compared to the book. However, the books are always so much better!
10. Flesh by Kylie Scott

    I am constantly being mocked at work by my love for this book. This is listed as zombie apocalyptic erotica as the “genre” on Amazon. Oh, and that’s what it is all right. Here’s my synopsis: It’s 60 days past the zombie apocalypse. There’s a group of people that have survived that come together for safety in a small community. The ratio of men to women is something like 10:1. As a female, unless you want to be kidnapped, raped, and fed to a zombie, you might want to open up your sexual boundaries. There is a “sequel” to this one coming out on 2/1/13, which I have already pre-ordered for the low price of $1. Same post-zombie-apocalyptic erotica but not the same characters…and it has now been 6 months since the apocalypse and supplies are low.

Rock star books, rock star books, rock star books! Holy crap, I couldn’t list them all. I am so into these right now. I think it has something to do with my secret fantasy to date…um, “have fun with” a real life rock star. Regardless, I have a ton, and they are all basically the same. Somehow, some girl gets to go on tour with a band. She falls for a band dude, thinking she can “change” him, he screws up, she leaves, he begs, she comes back, happily ever after. These are kinda played out for me right now, but they sure are fun! (If you are curious, message me and I can send you a list.)

O.K. Time for my list of duds. It’s really not going to be much.

1. Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James

   Guilty pleasure, but not the best writing of all time. I say read the first one to say you’ve experienced Christian, but read reviews/summaries of the next two and move on with your life. And, for the love of Pete…if you get through the second one, DO NOT start the third one. Ugh…so many hours of my life I can’t get back. However…if you do want to experience them all…I suggest getting the audio book for the third book. I was having a difficult time getting through it and had a long road trip ahead. The audio book was AWFUL and made me giggle out loud in inappropriate places.
2. Have You Seen Her? by Rich Silvers
   
The only reason this is on here is because this is one of the only books in my entire life I started and could not finish. 40% of the way through, I could already tell the ending. It was SO FRUSTRATING to know what was going to happen when the whining, crazy main character didn’t get it. Per a suggestion from a friend, I jumped to the last two chapters to confirm my belief and called it good.
3. Savagery by Emma Mackenzie

   (sigh) Do I have to? This is the one I “won” and got an advanced copy of. This was billed as erotica. The story was awful, the writing/editing was awful, and a few tame sex scenes (and one tame threesome) does NOT make an erotica. I mostly hate this book because after my negative review on Amazon, the author emailed me privately and ripped me for my review. Whatever. It’s awful. It was also free a few weeks ago. Don’t do it.

In closing, I also want to push a site call Smashwords. I have visited but never stayed long. Since I'm hooked on a ton of self-published, indie authors, they have more release control on Smashwords. From what I've read this year, B&N is AWFUL in picking these books up. However, you can buy the format on Smashwords and it'll tell you how to load it onto your Nook. I'm assuming if you have a "generic" e-reader, this would work as well.

Happy reading in 2013! I know I can't wait. :-)

2012 Recap

So, it’s New Year’s Eve. I’ve never really understood this need to make a big deal about the end/beginning of a year. It’s just another day. Maybe it’s just the excuse to have fireworks, drink excessively, stay out late, and prepare for a few days of college football. Whatever it is…it’s just another day for me.

That said, I wanted to try to put down on paper (metaphorically speaking, of course) my 2012. Consider this my version of a Christmas letter. With social media, I feel like most of my friends already know all of this, but here goes.

Honestly, I can’t even believe 2012 is over. I feel like nothing happened in 2012 for me. Maybe it didn’t. Maybe that’s why I feel like it’s gone so fast. Let’s find out.

Let’s start with the most fun of my 2012. My concert attendance! The La Crosse Center welcomed Volbeat, Megadeth, and Zombie; some random small-town festival in Arcadia brought in Trapt, and a trip to Iowa of all places gave us the Tresspass America Festival. The Tresspass show had, like, 8 bands, but the important part of that was seeing Five Finger Death Punch. My concert buddy, Ashley, and I had said early this year that we were getting tickets if they came anywhere near us. Who know that Waterloo, IA would be that place! (Side note: 5FDP's American Capitalist album was my fave of 2012.)

Also in 2012, my spoiled rotten, 4-legged little buddy decided he was no longer going to tolerate and eat food purchased at the store…even really expensive food. Thus started us on our journey of a homemade diet. It kills my bank account every week and eats up about three hours out of every weekend…BUT…he loves it, he seems happy, and we’ve not had to go to the vet in a long time. I know my time with him is winding down, and so we will continue down our homemade diet path.

The majority of the work on the house was complete. Finishing the basement was my last big project, and that was done somewhere around Memorial Day. I have been informed that I will be receiving a small sum of money from my grandmother’s estate, so the wheels are turning with a possible additional project. Or I can make a bigger house payment. Or I can travel with it. Or I can save it. Who am I kidding…it’ll be a house project!

One of the biggest things 2012 brought me was a restructuring of finances, which included the canceling of cable. This was a super big decision for me…mostly because I gave up a lot of sports. However, what I gained was this immense amount of time I never recognized I had lost. I can still access every single sporting event I want…on the radio. A little satellite radio or the TuneIn Radio app and I’m good to go. While I’m listing to a game or race, I can be doing something else. The best situation is when I can be sitting in a lawn chair in the back yard with a beer doing nothing but listening. If I had cable, I’d be trapped on the couch. Of course, the other big advantage to ditching cable was the sheer amount of books I can now read. In October/November, I was averaging four books/week. (Stay tuned for my 2012 fave book blog to hopefully come very soon!)

I’m finding reading even easier to add to my life now that I have my own treadmill in the basement. Yes, exercise still is a very important part of my life. Now I can walk the treadmill any time I want. I still have access to the gym at work for free. I do yoga twice a week and also try to fit in an abs or pilates class. This summer, I took advantage of Yoga in the Park. Two Friday evenings a month throughout the summer, the three biggest yoga studios in La Crosse rotated teaching a 45-minute class in Cameron Park in conjunction with the farmer’s market. The turnout was amazing, and with the unusually warm summer we had, they added three additional dates to the schedule. There were a total of nine classes, and I attended all of them. I was the only one. (Please wait while I pat myself on the back for that one…)

Yoga remains an important part of my schedule to help me remain relaxed and calm. 2012 also brought about more panic attacks and an actual diagnosis of anxiety. The pills help, but I welcome a more holistic approach to treating more of a mental disorder. I find that I really rely on my yoga classes for that. In November of 2011, La Crosse became the proud owner of a hot yoga studio. While it’s a little too expensive and high impact for me to do on a regular basis, I love it. When I had busy weeks and couldn’t make it to my yoga classes at the gym, I really loved that I could drop in and attend a class. What an amazing way to experience yoga!

Much of the anxiety I experienced this year was a direct result of my job. Without getting into details many of you wouldn’t understand, I became the project manager of a new product line at work back in March. I can actually remember the date, and it was a Friday. I know I had been chosen for a reason, but as I look back now, I can’t remember what that reason was. The following Monday, the department received the best news it could have ever hoped for. My supervisor of 4+ years was being transitioned into a new position. She was a horrible person and violated many ethical laws at work. I were glad to see her go. However, it was almost two months before they hired a replacement, and the project managers were really left to fend for themselves and make decisions. With that amount of responsibility and the addition of a flailing new product line on my plate to manage, it became a lot to handle.

Skipping ahead in the career story, a lot of things changed during the summer for product lines I worked on. People were more/less involved; people were eliminated/moved; expectations were shifted. An opportunity presented itself to 1) free me from the level of stress I had been under and 2) perhaps give me the opportunity to actually use my master’s degree. In early October, I accepted a different position within the company. It was very exciting. I was going to be part of a team of people I enjoyed working with and respected. We had the chance to do something really great…to create something out of nothing. However, seven days after I started my new position, the bottom fell out. The company decided to “downgrade’ the product, thus not needing as many staff. I was informed my position would be ending at the end of 2012 and I would be heading back to my old department.

So, as I say goodbye to 2012, I try to look forward to 2013. I turn 40 in 2013. Normally I feel about birthdays the same I feel about NYE: just another day. Turning 40, though, seems to be a different monster. I feel like there are all these things I haven’t achieved yet. I feel like I’m not as happy as I want to be. That said, I don’t really know what I want or how I want to change to make that happen. So, I will take baby steps and focus on the things I can control and things I can look forward to:

• Starting a new, old job
• Many new books and music arriving in January/February
• Cars on the track in Daytona in February
• Shinedown/3DG/POD show in March
• Tulips in April

I’ve been thinking about what I want out of 2013. I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to become a roadie with a band. I feel like that solves many of my issues at once. (Did you know there are even instructions online on how to become one? HA!) Check back with me in a year to see if that dream came true!

Here’s to a great 2013!

The dysfunctional family follow-up

Many of you saw my Facebook post a few days ago relating to wishing I had been raised by wolves. That sentiment still stands, but I thought maybe I should explain myself. The past week has been quite interesting, but now that the events in question are winding down, I think I'm prepared to share details.

Last Thursday, my grandma (Walley) passed away. She had not been well, and we all knew it was imminent. I got a text Friday morning and then awaited further details. Thus begins the drama that was my week.

Bottom line, I didn't want to attend any of these "events" associated with her passing. I'm not really a funeral person. It appears I missed out on the gene that comprehends a large group of people getting together for multiple days to "say goodbye" to a person who has already passed. Think what you want, but I wasn't sad. The woman was 91. She lived a really great life. But when she suffered her stroke earlier this year, it robbed her of her freedom and made it impossible for her to enjoy the life she had come to love. Now, I do not believe that the opposite of "sad" is "glad," so please don't assume that is where I am at emotionally. I really just don't feel anything. I know you think that makes me a horrible person. It is what it is. However, maybe this will help explain things.

When my grandpa died on New Year's Eve 1989/1990, all I can really remember about the weeks after that was my dad fighting with my aunt (his sister) and uncle about who got what...who gets grandpa's car...who gets grandpa's tools... I was a junior in high school. I knew what was going on, but clearly I was too wrapped up in my teenage drama to really care. The end result was that my dad no longer wanted anything to do with his sister and her family. That included my only two cousins. Between living four hours away and this little rift between families, it cut into how often I saw my grandma.

Up until the funeral yesterday, I'm not sure I had seen my cousins since my grandpa's funeral. My parents would get Christmas cards, so I knew they were both married and had kids. That's about it.  My aunt, uncle, and grandma made an appearance at Eric's wedding in 2003. That was the last time I had seen any of them prior to yesterday. (Not trying to be morbid with the "seeing grandma yesterday" comment, btw.) So, basically, these people were/are strangers to me...family or not.

Hence the trepidation in attending the funeral festivities.

Over the weekend, I got the "sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do" speech from my dad. Which, if you know my dad or are away of his mental illnesses, is almost a pot-calling-the-kettle-black kind of irony. I opted out of the visitation...mostly because it meant an overnight, and I don't really have an overnight dogsitter plan in my back pocket. I took hell for that, too.

I really struggled with this "do or don't I" decision...for days. I reached out to some of my closest friends for advice. I got all kinds of insightful tidbits. However, none of it seemed to help make a decision easier. So, I sucked it up and went.

Other than what I have previously mentioned, the main reason I didn't want to go was because I was pretty sure no one would care if I was there. My dad had been his usual douchecanoe (EIT book reference) self for the past few months with his limited involvement in his family's decisions. I knew I didn't need to be there for him. My mom didn't want to go about as much as I didn't want to go because she was not a fan of my dad's family. I knew I didn't need to be there for her. My aunt, uncle, and cousins all had survived 20 years without me, so I knew they wouldn't need me. As it seems to turn out so often, I'm brilliant and was right on all counts.

I didn't recognize my cousins when I walked into the funeral home. I'm not sure I would have until the ceremony started and realized these people were sitting in the family section. I was in the same space with each of them for over 3 hours yesterday and they never spoke to or acknowledged me. My aunt gave me a hug when I got to the funeral home, but nothing after. My jackass of an uncle also never acknowledged me. Even during the service, both of my cousins spoke. They were the only people to speak other than the minister. Not that I would have, but my brother and I were never asked. And during their speeches, they made all these references to events that happened with them and my grandparents when they were kids, and they never even acknowledged Eric and I.

This is totally what I expected...and exactly why I didn't want to go.

As a side note, when I walked out of the church to drive home, I put my coat on 10 feet from all of them, and none of them got up to say goodbye or address me.

This will be my last family event I get bullied into attending.

As an anecdotal side note, we had a funeral crasher! No joke. "Donald" walked in in a sexy flannel shirt and jeans, lacking all hygiene and dental work. He introduced himself and shook hands with everyone. In fact, he came over to me three times. (One of my friends believes it's because I was the only single hottie in the place. Barf.) The last time, I finally said "yeah, we've done this already." Everyone seemed to think he was weird, but no one had their creep alarm go up quite like me. There were seven small children running around, and it's possible his picture is in the dictionary next to Pedophile. Turns out, we were warned when we got ready to leave the funeral home to not give him a ride to the cemetery...that the funeral home director would "take care of it." Glad to know my sole purpose was my creep-o-meter.

Anyway, I've wanted to blog about this or post more details to Facebook since it happened, but since I don't really require the "I'm sorry for loss" comments, and people don't really know what else to do, I opted to wait until now to write my story.

The End is Where We Begin

Today was a pretty big day for me.

It went almost completely unnoticed.

Kinda like when Crash hits his dinger, hangs it up, and the Sporting News doesn't cover it?

Yep.

Today was my last day working full-time in the Editing department at Kaplan. Two weeks ago, I accepted a new position as Curriculum Coordinator. Tomorrow I begin a 2-week transition of splitting time 50/50 between the old and the new.

This is news to many of you, mostly because I haven't really told anyone. The reason I haven't shared the news is quite sad. See, a good friend and co-worker also applied for this position. When it was offered to me, I was just sick. Literally. As happy as I was for me, I felt horrible for her. Then there were the people who were sad. I didn't want to continue to share the news and rub salt in the wounds.

People think I'm a selfish bitch. I really beg to differ.

Then, late last week, I discovered that people were glad I was moving on...and not in the this-is-the-best-thing-for-your-career way. This was very disheartening. I was quite close to tears. Instead, I focused on the rage and anger that caused me to even apply for the position in the first place.

You see, for the past few months, I have been medicated in order to do my job. That's how stressful it had become. Those of you that know me and know my family history know how horribly awful it was for me to ask a doctor to put me on medication...just so I could do my job every day.

The moral to this story is that I'm grabbing this opportunity by the (bull) horns and making some significant changes in my life. Priorities will start to change, and I will begin to weed out the people who do not offer positivity in order to make room for those that do.

I leave you with the chorus from a song off my fave album of the month:

The end is where we begin
It's crawling back when
We run away, run away
Cuz the end is where we begin
Where broken hearts mend
and start to beat again
The end is where we begin

 *Special thanks to Bull Durham and Thousand Foot Krutch for letting me borrow dialogue and song lyrics for today's blog.

Labor Day 2012

Ah...6-day weekends. Don't we wish we could have these ALL the time? I know I sure do.

So, as you might expect, I've been busy. I got some projects done that have been on my list for months. One has been on a list for years! Let me tell ya' about them.

First up, I built an outdoor storage rack for my garbage cans.

 

When I posted this picture to Facebook over the weekend, I was asked by Ms. Tanya why people do this. I believe her thought was "why would anyone want to lift a full can up onto these things?"

If you live in La Crosse, you already know what I'm about to say. In June, the city implemented new garbage rules. All garbage had to be in a can with a lid. It's dumb. Ridiculous. Absolutely asinine. I can barely fill a 39-gallon bag half full with my weekly garbage.

Outside the service door on the garage, leading into the backyard, I have a 39-gallon can that sits with a bag in it at all times. Full "doggie bags" are deposited there upon returning from a walk. Brownie boxes, cereal boxes, and soda case boxes get deposited there when empty. On the night before pickup, I would just gather up the bag and throw it out next to my driveway. 

My house boarders an alley, but I don't use the alley. My house/garage/driveway faces the street. I would never put a garbage can out by my driveway on pickup day because I didn't want it blowing out into the street while I was at work. 

As a result of these new rules and my location, I decided to start using the alley for garbage collection instead. I also decided to buy a second garbage can so that I could leave the existing can where it is.

So, Ms. Tanya, all I do on the morning of garbage collection is throw my half-full bag into this can that never leaves the stand by the alley. I'm not sure if that makes more sense to you or not.

By the way, here is the AMAZING miter saw I borrowed from the neighbor to build this. (I sent the pic to my mom with the caption "Christmas gift idea".)

 

Project #2 - which is really #3 but it's boring, so I don't want to leave it to the end, for excitement purposes and all - was to spray paint my mailbox. 

Oddly enough, I have hated that mailbox since BEFORE I bought the house. I had these grand plans that replacing that mailbox would be the first thing I did when I moved in. I quickly learned that changing mailboxes was not at the top of a first-time homeowners list of things to do. Instead, yesterday, I painted it. It's black. It matches my shutters now. It used to be rust colored. Probably because it's rusty. You get the picture.

Finally, the big project. The one that's been on my list for YEARS.

Many of you have either been to my house or seen pictures of the novel feature in my kitchen. I refer to it as "the nook." This isn't the greatest picture, but you get the jist of it being sorta' U-shaped.

The seats/benches are hollow. They used very flimsy material to make this, and when you knock on the sides, it's quite obvious that they are hollow. I've been in this house over 4 years, and I still wonder "why on earth would you NOT build in storage to these if they are hollow?"

The reason this project has taken so long is that what I ended up doing was Plan C. Plan A was to just saw off what I refer to as the seats, put hinges on, and away we go! However, the backsplash tile was laid OVER the seats. The bottom row of tile would have had to come off. As much as I hate that flippin' tile, I didn't even want to tackle that. I wasn't sure if it would come off, would it break the following row of tile, would I have to try to retile with something close to fill a gap?

Plan B was to just cut a rectangle in the middle of the seat tops for access to the space inside. This seemed like the ultimate plan. I had it all planned out. I was all ready to start cutting Saturday afternoon. Then it dawned on me. These benches were meant to be sat on. If I cut holes out of the middle of them, no matter how much I do to secure that the "lid" stays flush and secure, those benches would never hold weight again.

(sigh)

Ironically, my neighbor stopped over Saturday afternoon and sat on one of those benches for about an hour. I knew my concern was legitimate, so I sat (no pun intended) on the project again. (NOTE: Please do not think that my neighbor's weight confirmed my suspicious. I only bring it up because rarely does anyone sit there. As soon as I question whether or not it can hold a person's weight, I actually have someone who sits there for an hour.)

If you can't pop off the tops in any way, can you get at the space from the side?

Hmmmmmmmmm

Why, yes....yes you can.

As I started drilling the starter holes for the saw, I discovered where the studs were. I had to readjust my original plan for size and spacing. That's why you can see all the shotty craftsmanship. Once I got it open, my main goal was to look for mice droppings. It's gross, I know. However, I want to store food in here. I needed to get a sense of what was going on. It was mostly just sawdust, a few pieces of scrap lumber, cobwebs, and dead spiders. Nothing that the shop vac wouldn't take care of! 

Once that was all cleaned out, I shoved as much batt insulation into the U curve from this hole that I could possible manage. I figure anything is better than nothing in regards to warmth and keeping the critters out. Once that was done, I added a piece of plywood about 10" in from the right side of the hole as a "wall" between storage and the rest of the bench. I added 1" styrofoam in between all the studs as insulation. At that point, I added a vapor barrier along the sides and the bottom. Over top of the bottom I added a piece of plywood for the floor.

Once that was all done, I started to think that this space might get too hot/cold/damp. Since there was nothing more I could do easily to control that, I decided to just cut a hole in the space and add a vent cover. I have no idea if this idea will work or if it was dumb, but it sounded good at the time.

Getting to this point was about all my back could handle on Sunday. Plus, I picked up some cheap wallboard at Menards that I was painting white for the doors. I needed to give it a couple of coats and let it dry before I could put the handle and hinges on.

Here is the finished product. I don't think it looks too bad!

It was time to see if there was enough room to move my food from a plastic tote in the basement into this space. Here is the tote...empty. No idea how many gallons it is, but you get the picture.

It all fit!

And I added a cheesy tap light to the top!

Unfortunately, when I opened up the other side to do this same thing, I encountered something much different. I discovered the slanted studs for the stairs to the basement. I had already cut out the hole, and I had extra insulation, so I just insulated the two stud frames that were exposed.

Here is the view now with both doors attached and the table moved back into that spot. Yes, both doors actually open and clear the table legs!

Thus concludes the Labor Day 2012 project story!

Life without cable

As you might notice, I'm not a timely blogger. Ever since I replaced my laptop with a desktop - and no other device I have has more than a virtual keyboard -  I actually have to sit in one spot at the computer to type up a post.

Who has that kind of time?

I should have posted this on August 24th. That was the 6-month anniversary of when I ditched cable. I thought I should just give an update on how this has affected my life.

IT'S AWESOME!

OMG...I'm so glad I did this. I accomplish so much more without being tied to the TV. I still miss my sports. When Nascar went to cable in June, I started longing for my cable. I did not cave in, though. I can get all the races on the radio...local radio at that. I find that I can listen to the race and get other things done at the same time.

Oprah calls that multitasking.
(10 cool points!)

With the NFL starting next week, I know the shock of not getting certain games will hit me again. This whole CBS not coming in on the antenna on the main floor of the house will kill me sooner rather than later, I'm sure.

I digress.

Bottom line...I am getting so much more done in any given day. I'm reading so much more (thank you Amazon for the Kindle freebies), and finding great up-and-coming independent authors. I'm spending more time outside and hanging out with my neighbors more.

I have a Roku. I have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime. (The price of all those subscriptions together was so much cheaper than cable, and now I have everything on demand.) I may have to watch something a day, week, or year later, but I can get just about everything. I would definitely recommend cutting the cord.

P.S. I'm also finding the time to read Fifty Shades. Ugh. How awful are these books? Oh my...

Homemade dog food, Part 2

It's been about three months since I started feeding Lucky homemade dog food, so I decided it was probably time I posted an update. From what I hear, many people find this little endeavor of mine fascinating. (Not sure why...but..thanks!)

Not much really has changed in my ingredients except that I am adding in some diced hard boiled egg to each meal. See, I'm pretty sure he was losing weight by the second month, and that was one thing the vet said to watch for. Well, the cost of burger (protein) was killing me, and my freezer was full. So I went in search of other types of protein. I tried quinoa, but that stuff was awful to work with. Also, I'm pretty sure I saw almost all of what I put in the food come back out...if you know what I mean. So, the obvious thing that came to mind was egg. I did a little research in my books and online and found a 50/50 "eggs are bad" vs. "eggs are fine" argument. When in doubt, I go with any info that seems to repeat. Repeated info said that hard boiled eggs are fine, but to try to not feed more than 2 eggs/week. I boil up two eggs at a time, dice them up, and put them in a container. I usually put about 1-2 pinches in Lucky's bowl for each feeding. Since the "pinch" method is very unscientific, I usually boil two eggs about every 5-7 days. So, I'm probably pushing the "no more than 2/week" guidelines, but...meh.

Permit me to go off-track just a bit here.

Lucky had worms in the last week of June. We went to the vet, we got the meds, we killed the worms, boom. Thought it was isolated and moved on with my day. The last week of July, another reappearance of those damn parasites! Don't judge, but I was able to find the same prescription meds from June online without a prescription. I'm frugal. What can I say. Anyhoo...the meds came in the mail and we killed the worms...again. I got to thinking, though, if the homemade dog food was causing it. I'm aware of all the typical ways dogs pick up worms, and it didn't seem like it was possible. So, I started looking at the situation differently: Is Lucky getting worms because he's deficient in something with only homemade dog food in his diet? I know all the healthy/grain-free/limited-ingredient/expensive food isn't supposed to have any chemicals or preservatives or anything, but I just couldn't help wondering if this is why we suddenly have monthly parasites. I started looking at organic dewormer options. There are plenty out there, but something caught my eye: diatomaceous earth (food grade). I'll spare you the details as to what this is; I just linked to the product on Amazon. Basically, though, you can spread it on your lawn to kill parasites. It's also supposed to be amazing at getting rid of bedbugs. And consumed by a dog, it works as a dewormer. The container - which does not look like the picture on Amazon, by the way - says to give 1-2 tablespoons a day. I have erred on the side of caution and am probably only giving .5-1 tablespoons per day.  I give him this in his evening meal.

He gets a GNC "pet" multivitamin with his morning meal. I tell ya...if you have a dog and money to burn, there is something out there for everything you can think of!

The only other new thing with Lucky's food extravaganza is that I've been supplementing his homemade food with Sojos. (Again, I'll spare you all the details. Just click the link.) This is basically a freeze-dried food that you just add water to to rehydrate. They make it with meat or without. I get the one with the meat. (Refer to second paragraph where I said the cost of meat was killing me.) The ingredients are great. Most are what I feed him anyway. It's not that expensive the way I use it. He gets 3 heaping tablespoons before I leave for work in the morning or about noon on days I'm not at work.

Bottom line...he still loves this. He loves everything I've done so far. He gets excited about eating. I think his energy level is better. My neighbor thinks his coat is shinier. And, most importantly, the poops are easy to pick up.

I listed some of my resources in the previous blog. Here are a few more I checked out from the library:

• Chow Hounds
• Eco Dog

Homemade dog food

So, anyone who has known me long enough or read my Facebook statuses over the years knows that my dog, Lucky, has a sensitive stomach and is a very picky eater. Since I got him in 2004, I have switched foods pretty much on an annual basis. That was always frustrating, but it worked and life went on. This year, however, I spent A LOT of money on what I was told was high-end, "better" ingredient commercial food. He either hated it, wouldn't eat it, he got sick, or it zapped his energy level. I'll resist the urge to list some of the more expensive foods I tried so as to not sway anyone purchasing dog food; I do actually think it has more to do with him than with the food itself. However, I would keep your dog away from anything with turkey in it, but that's a whole other story!

He got sick right before Memorial Day, and I had some time off work, so I took him in. All the tests came back fine, and the vet put him on a prescription antacid and prescription food. I had been thinking of making my own food for awhile now, so I asked the vet if he could refer me to any good resources for figuring out how to do this. (Trying to find and trust information on the web when it comes to a living creature's health frightens the hell out of me.) Ironically, the vet didn't know anything. He advised me to call the local humane society, and he personally advised me against the raw diet. That was cool...the thought of handling raw meat and feeding it to the dog sounds gross to me anyway.

So, I emailed my good ole college buddy, Sue, to see if she knew anything or could help me. (She is my go-to person for all things canine.) She passed me over to her friend Ginny, who has been doing this for her dog(s) for years. Ginny and I exchanged a few emails, and it was very helpful. Turns out, what I was finding online coincided with what she was telling me. However, a lot of what she was telling me was that it's a trial and error process. And so I tried.

I ordered a book that I had seen referenced many times during my online search: "Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food" by Ann N. Martin. Now, this book appears to be loaded with info that I haven't even taken the time to read. It also looks like it would scare and gross you out immensely to know what is in commercial dog food (not all, of course). I just stuck to the chapter on homemade dog food ingredients, how to manage all the nutritional aspects of your choices, and the few recipes in the book.

And off I went.

I made a week's worth of food the first weekend. Let me tell you...I was in the kitchen for about 6 hours that Sunday. I did dishes probably 3 or 4 times. Granted...I'm not good in the kitchen (period), and I really had no idea what I was doing. My kitchen is small, I have no dishwasher, and I really only have one of any size pan. So, there was a lot of doing dishes in the middle of food prep just because I needed to use a pan again. (I did also make a batch of dog biscuits this day.) The meals are packaged in 1-cup plastic containers that I freeze.

The first weekend, his containers consisted of boiled burger, brown rice, parsley, carrots, and either sweet potato or applesauce. I threw 14 of those containers in the freezer, making sure there were 4 in the refrigerator (thawing) at all times.

Here are some pics from that long day in the kitchen and Lucky's first homemade meal:

While feeding him that first week, I realized it should be so simple to just dump out the container in the bowl and be done, but I was also adding his chewy joint care supplement to each feeding. So, when I started making up the containers for the second week, I decided to mush those supplements up into the containers. So now all of that is together, and I don't really have to think about it.

The 2nd week's menu consisted of boiled burger (we seem to enjoy that for a meaty protein, so I am sticking with it), oatmeal, parsley, either carrots or green beans, and either applesauce or pumpkin. Before I put the pumpkin in all the containers, I had him taste some. I swear that dog would have eaten all of it straight out of the can. Good to know!

I just finished the full 2nd week, and the only thing I did different was I bought some sunflower oil to mix in for each feeding. The book I referenced earlier says that certain kinds of oils can be good for their coat and digestive system. Since I use a spoon to pour out and mix up the contents of the containers in his bowl each time, I just pour about a teaspoon of the oil in. I can't really tell that it has a smell (so maybe no real taste), and he doesn't seem to be phased by it. So, we continue on with that plan.

I just finished making another week's worth, and they all contain some menu combination from Week 1 or 2.

That first week, I also made three different kinds of treats: a crunchy kind, a softer kind, and a chewy kind. All of those recipes came from "MacPherson's K-9 Cookbook" by Mary MacPherson. I shared a smattering of those with my fellow dog owners, and those seemed to go over well with the audience. I have those either in the fridge or the freezer where I'm told they should last at least 3 weeks. So far so good!

I checked out a few more books from the library that I haven't really had a chance to go through yet. Once I do, and if I find any good info, I'll post those titles for all.

Hello 2012!

Woah! It's been a long time since I've posted to the blog. I was really excited to have this last year when I started, and then I just abandoned it. Not really sure why. I see Google changed the look and feel of this since I was last here, so we'll see if I can remember how to do this. Originally I didn't want there to be any way for people to comment on my posts. No offense...I sometimes like to speak from my heart and don't really want a response of any kind. I'm hopeful that that functionality carries through with the Google upgrade.

That said...

I'm back, and there is a lot going on! I started making my own dog food, so I want to be sure to blog about that. Other people might find it informative. Since a friend of a friend helped me get started, maybe I can help someone else who is in the same boat as I was. Also, the basement is almost done. I put up the finishing trim today but undercut one of my pieces. So, I have to buy another piece, paint it, cut it, blah blah blah. I'm excited for that to be finished (for obvious reasons). That has been a 4-year work in progress. I'm excited to go back through ALL my pictures of the basement over the years and post pictures that will create a timeline.

Now...let's see when I'll have time to write that first post of 2012.