Make the most of yourself…for that is all there is of you.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I haven’t been able to blog or comment recently and I have really missed the Blog Universe!! I was down this past weekend with a wicked migraine and wouldn’t have been able to see even if I was able to sit at the computer! But I went to the doctor Monday and got a new medication that should help! We also were with our 14 year old niece and 11 year old nephew all day Monday as their dad had to leave town that morning and their mom was flying in from a conference that evening. So when I was on the computer, it was on the Webkinz site so they could update all their new critters! We had a lot of fun with them though! Yesterday was spent running errands all day catching up on all the things that should have already been done! Ugh! Hopefully today I will get caught up with posts and comments on everyone’s blogs! So here we go!

Over at 5 Minutes for Books, there is a new monthly meme called “What’s On Your Nightstand?” where you can share what you’re currently reading and why!

Just Jane by Nancy Moser is a terrific read that I picked up at the library. It is a fictional novel about the life of author Jane Austen. Even though I have yet to read a Jane Austen novel, I am thoroughly enjoying this one and do plan on reading Emma and Sense and Sensibility after I am finished with it! This book is one of three so far in Moser’s “Women of History” series. I will also definitely check out Washington’s Lady!

I’m also reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini. It is the second book in the “Inheritance Trilogy” about Eragon and his dragon, Saphira. I loved the first book and borrowed this one from my 14 year old niece. It is amazing to me that Christopher began this series when he himself was just a teenager! It is an imaginative and creative work that definitely keeps my interest!

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Sweet Pea ~ she is the “wild one” of my bunch! Sweet Pea was a stray that adopted us and was quite skittish for awhile. She is still very leery of people and if you come to visit, you probably won’t see her. But when it’s just me at home, she lets her “wild side” show! She is still somewhat skittish around Abigail but they are growing accustomed to each other and Sweet Pea is getting braver! She’s hilarious especially if Abigail is outside and she has free roam of the house! She’ll run up and down the hallway; slide into the living room; jump on the windowsill and attack the blinds; and her tail has a huge behaviour problem! She must learn to tame it!

“In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, He gave him the cat.” – Warren Eckstein

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!

Questions 1 and 2 this week are courtesy of Sherry, thanks!

Here we go:

1. If I could travel back in time, I’d go to back to when life was simpler and everyone sat on their front porch drinking ice cold cherry coke and everyone passing by knew your name! (“Mayberry” by Rascal Flatts)

2. Give me a vacation or give me a windfall so we can actually go somewhere on a vacation!!

3. I am listening to my favorite Christian radio station.

4. Somewhere, someone is thinking about me (hopefully my hubby or maybe my Mom)!

5. I’ll always be just me. I’m unique and I can’t be anyone else!

6. My idea of a good time includes relaxing at the beach with my hubby or going jet skiing.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to work at Hallmark and then reading, tomorrow my plans include blogging, relaxing, and working and Sunday, I want to go to church, relax, read, and spending time with my dog, Abigail!

I’m feeling: Happy

What are your favorite final sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its last sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the last line?

Of course, with last week’s Booking Through Thursday about favorite first sentences, you knew that this one would be coming around this week! I don’t really remember things like this well. They say, the last sentences of a book sell the author’s next book. I’ve never been one to “cheat” and read the last page first. I always thought that was a waste of my time. When I got to the end, it would be worth it.

I looked up some last sentences though and in no particular order, here are some of them from my favorite books:

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

And that is the very end of the adventure of the wardrobe. But if the Professor was right it was only the beginning of the adventures of Narnia.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath. “Well, I’m back,” he said.

I think one of my favorite “Harry Potter” books is The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling:

As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come….and he would have to meet it when it did.

And from my favorite kid’s book series, If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff:

And if you give him some jam, chances are, he’ll ask for a muffin to go with it.

FBI agent and storm chaser Mick Kline is determined to track down the person responsible for his brother’s murder. Mick becomes obsessed with the case and thinks he has found evidence that will link his brother’s case to several other police officers’ unsolved murders as well. Ordered to take mandatory leave by his boss, he continues his own investigation which leads him to a blind lady who is the wife of a former police officer who was killed in the same accident that left her blind. However, Faith Kemper, who is doing her best to hide from the murderer, has her own secrets to hide.

This book is filled with suspense and tension with every turn of the page. The characters are likable and quirky. Mick is fascinated by the power of God manifest in storms and has an obsessiveness with avoiding food poisoning. Faith is definitely hiding something behind her own dark glasses. And Faith’s new-found friend, Dixie is both witty and funny! I loved this book and literally couldn’t put it down! The message of God’s sovereignty is clear as both Mick and Faith face their own personal demons. This book is the first in a new series by Rene Gutteridge. Look for the prequel – Storm Gathering and the next book in the series – Storm Surge!

I’m so glad that God is with me every step of the way! He’s holding on to me and will never let go!

This is my first Whiskers on Wednesdays post! I’m sure by now you’ve seen the “Fat Cat of New Jersey” who’s making the news. It seems this very well-fed kitty was found wondering the streets of Camden. She weighs in at 44 pounds!! What a porker! I’m not sure how any cat-owner could lose a cat that weighs 44 pounds but she appeared to be lost! She is being kept by shelter volunteer Deborah Wright until the owner claims her or until she is put up for adoption at the end of the week. Shelter volunteers say they will be putting “Princess Chunk” on a low-fat diet hoping to trim her down to size! I do hope either her owner will claim her or she will go to a good home where someone will work to get her size down!

In the meantime, I think I need to work on getting my own “fat cat” to lose a little weight! I’ve had Smudge for 11 years now and he actually got his name “Smudge” because he was so little and a friend of mine kept saying, “He’s just a little smudge of a thing!” He was born under the barn at the apartments where I live and he “adopted” me as his new guardian. He’s been my special bud ever since then and still sleeps right beside me on the bed. However, he’s no longer just a little “smudge” of a thing at all! He weighs in at 21 pounds and is more than three feet long when he stretches out his paws! He is on “healthy weight” Purina One, but he doesn’t seem to be losing any weight! He loves to lay on our bed and sleep and especially likes to sleep on any article of my clothing that accidentally gets left around. He also likes to go outside in the back yard and watch the birds. He’s never figured out that he can get over any kind of fence so he just sits at the fence and watches the world go by. He is also a “lap cat” and will take advantage of anyone sitting on the couch. He is very sweet and loves to cuddle! Of course, our dog, Abigail, thinks that he is her personal toy and attacks him any chance she gets! He is very sweet though and I love him!!

Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace;
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go;
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for its living;
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

I took the caffeine test today and evidently I’ve had more coffee than I realized! I knew I shouldn’t have had that cup at Sunday School!

Friday Fill-Ins #82

1. I believe whatever doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger. (from Kanye West’s song “Stronger”)

2. If you’re good at something, give it your best.

3. Why so blue, Eeyore?

4. Something is out there, it’s lurking in the darkness...

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled “My Three Furry Children.”

6. Sitting on my back porch I see our own wooded wonderland and my little girl, Abigail, waiting for me to play ball with her!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to driving up to Columbia to Becky and Lawrence’s house, tomorrow my plans include going to Lonnie’s FIRST birthday party and then driving back home and Sunday, I want to go to church and then REST!