Wordless Wednesday

Bit@$, Please, I am from Louisiana

This is the group on Facebook that I just joined. Too funny not to share! I have bolded my thoughts beside each statement.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM LOUISIANA WHEN...

In your car, you use the heater in the morning and the AC in the afternoon. So True!

ou greet people with "Howzyamomma'an'emdoin?" I'm afraid this is true.

You don't learn until high school that Mardi Gras is not a national holiday. It isn't?

You believe that purple, green and gold look good together. Of course, it does!

Your last name isn't pronounced the way it's spelled. This happens a lot! Try to pronouce Thibodeaux.

You know what a nutria rat is but you still pick it to represent your baseball team. Not in Northern Louisiana!

You can pronounce words like Ouachita, Natchitoches, Avoyelles, and Tchoupitoulas and you make fun of people from other states who say them wrong. Even I don't know the last two....ha-ha!

You pronounce the largest city in the state as "Nawlins." True

You know those big roaches can fly, but you're able to sleep at night anyway. I hate to admit, this is true!

You assume everyone has mosquito swarms in their backyard. Well, only if it backs up to a bayou.

You realize the rainforest is less humid than Louisiana. So, so true!

You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window. I have!

When out of town, you stop and ask someone where there is a drive-through Daiquiri place, and they look at you like you have three heads. So true!

You have flood insurance. More than likely you do!

Your sunglasses fog up when you step outside. LOL - yep!

No matter where else you go in the world, you are always disappointed in the food. SO TRUE, especially Europe (with the exception of Germany.)

Your house payment is less than your air conditioning bill. Sad, but true!

Your grandparents are called "Maw Maw" and "Paw Paw." Yep!

You judge a po-boy by the number of napkins used. True

You actually know what a po-boy is. Sho (Southern for sure) do! Has nothing to do with money or a male.

You don't think it's odd to see live crickets or firearms being sold at a gas station. Hell no, that is not odd at all.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Louisiana.

Love Language

I took another quiz on Facebook and thought it was neat enough to share. The quiz is "Which Love Language Do You Have?".

You are a person of gifts. This means you are most touched when people give you a gift, because it means they were thinking of you when they bought, created or found what they give you. You see life as a gift, and it's things in it!. Gifts and giving is your emotional tool and you will therefore also use this to connect to other people. Gifts are a great way of communicating, but when someone else you love doesn't necessarily talk the way you do, it doesn't mean they don't love you. What would be their primary love language? The downside of giving gifts without talking or doing things for someone else, may come across as a quick fix to escape building a further relationship. Try to put in some effort by finding out what the other person's language is, too. A good conversation or spending time with them can be a gift to them, more precious than box of chocolate! One last point to mention is that God also communicates in your love language. He uses gifts, too. He says in the Bible that He loves you, that you are the apple of His eye, and that He wants you to come to Him and talk to Him. He loves you and gave Jesus (God Himself in human form) to bridge the gap caused by the fall of sin through which we cannot fully obey the law He gave us. He made the solution through Jesus, and when accepting Him, you'll accept God Himself, Who loves you, and wants to communicate with you. Jesus is the greatest Gift, Who gives salvation FREELY to whoever accepts Him. Praise God!
And now make your own Quiz!

Laptop Love

Have you ever gotten a great deal on something and you have to pinch yourself to make sure you are not dreaming? This has happened to me. Here is the story.

I have been in the market for a laptop for myself and was not sure how much memory I would need since Vista is a known memory hog. I do work in Computer Support, but my scope of knowledge is desktop support and I know enough to possibly be dangerous. Ha-ha! However, I do have a plethora of knowledge surrounding me since I work with computer “geeks”. That being said, you know what I did, right? I went to one of the abundant sources of knowledge who would steer me in the right direction. I told him what I want to use the laptop for, email, blogging, Face Book, and general goofing off cruising the World Wide Web. I don’t do any gaming or any other high end memory usage stuff, so I just need it for “normal stuff”. My co-worker says he has one he will sell me…..for $300…..he paid $1100 for it a year ago…. and was used about three times before his wife’s company bought her one. In other words, it is practically brand new! I know this guy, so I know the laptop is going to be a good one. I immediately said yes.

Fast forward to today. I get the laptop. I open the laptop bag (YES, it even comes with its own laptop bag), and I hear the angels sing. The heavens open up and there is a bright light shining down on me. Sitting in the bag is one of the prettiest laptops I have ever seen. I never knew that a laptop can be pretty! This is a Special Edition HP Pavilion. Oh. My. Goodness. I feel like a kid at Christmas! This has a built in web cam, SD memory card reader built in, extended life battery, the sweetest keyboard and touchpad ever, and a REMOTE CONTROL for the DVD player on it! I am going from a Ugo to a Cadillac! I am over the moon!

How to Speak Southern #1

You all may not know this, but I am a Southern girl living in the North. Or as my mom calls me G.R.I.T.S. (Girl Raised In The South). And I LOVE grits, so to be called G.R.I.T.S. is way cool if you ask me. I was cleaning my work area today and came across a book one of my co-workers pawned off...I mean gave to me a couple months ago becasuse it reminded her of me. The title of it is More How To Speak Southern. Wonder what made her think to give it to me? Ha,ha! It is so funny, I thought I would share some of it with my bloggy buddies. I don't want to overwhelm my pupils, so we will start with just a few for today.

Wawk - a method of of non-polluting travel by foot. "Why don't we take an old-fashioned wawk?" OMG! I so pronounce walk this way. Eek!

Fawt - What Yankees and Southerners did when the South asked for a divorce in 1861 and the North refused to grant it. "Nobody fawt like Stonewall Jackson." Way useless trivia fact: Stonewall, Louisiana is named after the ole boy.

Dite - what people do to lose weight. "I think I am going on a dite."

Supper - the evening meal Southerners are having while Yankees are having dinner. "What's for supper, honey?" *is supper REALLY a Southern thing? I thought everyone said that. For real.

Fline - to travel by air. "I am fline to Louisiana next month." I am guilty of this one too. And I REALLY am fline to Louisiana next month! Woo hoo!

Tump - this one is actually a colloquialism from my "neck of the woods". It is a combination of dump and tip. I have asked fellow Southerners from states other than Louisiana who had no clue about this word. "Don't tump over the glass of water." I honestly did not know that was not a real word for most my life until my hubby proved to me that it is not in the Websters dictionary. I was shawked, Southern speak for shocked.

Do any of you have any colloquialisms or sayings from your neck of the woods?

Freak on Friday

....at least that is what I feel like after my latest moment of forgetfulness. (Is forgetfulness a word?) You are going to love this story. It is funny, scary, and sad all at the same time! This is a true story, but don't try this at home kids. Ha! You know what a week I have had, right? Well this evening after work, I was going to let the dog take me for a walk...I mean I was going to take the dog for a walk. I mention to him that we were going for a walk. Yes, I talk to my dog. Doesn't everybody? Sorry - I digress. So I proceed to go upstairs to change into some workout clothes and the dog follows me up. He is super excited, running around, barking, and bucking like a horse because this is what he does when excited. I am trying to hurry because a 140 pound barking, bucking dog following you around is a bit nerve-wracking. I change into a a t-shirt, find my workout pants, take my jeans off, go to the bathroom, and wash my hands. Remember this whole time the dog is having a meltdown of excitement. I take off down the stairs to get my walking shoes on and get crazy dog off for his walk and then it dawned on me as I get to the bottom of the stairs. I have no pants on. You read that right. NO PANTS ON! OH. MY. GOSH! What the hell is wrong with me? What kind of freak forgets their pants? Seriously! By the way, I have yet to find the phone, my favorite jacket, or my mind. I will keep you posted.

Lost and Not Found

Somehow I have lost my cell phone.....again! This will be my third to lose. It has been about a year and a half since I lost the last one, so I guess it isn't that bad (by my standards). The last time I had it I was sitting on my couch. I remember it vividly. But somehow it is not on the couch, in the couch, or under the couch. However, this is what I did find in my couch, and under my couch:

One sock.....and all this time I have blamed my dryer for eating socks!

Bank statement ...... don't even ask. I haven't a clue.

Book by one of my favorite authors, Cathterine Mann, that was published LAST YEAR!

My Steel City Mafia business cards....been looking for those for months.

Unused white envelope.

Pen

.....but no cell phone.

Other things I have lost the past two weeks:

My favorite Harley jacket.....still trying to figure out where it is.

Keys (my set), so I was using hubby's since he is out of town. Now found.

Keys (hubby's)....I think I know where they are. I had better check....

My wallet....this one had me in tears. Lost it at the restaurant last Friday. Did not realize it until I got back on base (work). I called and was told by the bimbo "we HAVE looked under the table, but did not find it. We will call you if we do." I KNOW it is there because I had it out when I paid and went straight back to work. Jumped in the car, drove back to the restaurant, and the hostess and I asked the couple sitting at the table if they would be so kind and look under the table for me. And there it was! I love a happy ending!

My mind....I tend to lose and find this all the time. It is a vicious cycle!

Back to the cell phone. I am going to pull the couch away from the wall and look yet again. The battery was dead last time I had it in my hand, so calling it has been out of the question. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. ;-)

Speaking of cell phones, something really annoyed me at the gym today. Yes, you read that right, the gym. Some stupid girl ( I say girl, she was in her 20's) was on the stair climber talking on her cell phone! And not talking with her inside voice! What a knucklehead! You are so attached to your phone, you cannot bear to be away from it long enough to exercise? Is it just me or do you think that is obnoxious too? Just curious.

Widget Love

I love my widgets! The first one is my leg lamp. First of all, it turns off and on. How cool is that? A side note, I made a leg lamp once for someone who was leaving the B-2 office where I worked. I am working on hunting down a picture of it, so a seperate blog on that later. ;-)

The counter. Okay, mine is nothing fancy but it is really cool so see how many hits I have had. Since implementing it, I have had over 1920 hits! Okay....so maybe 920 of them are mine from going back and forth, but even a 1000 hits since December 25th just blows my mind! I am still shocked that anyone would read what I have to say. I am not so great at writing but love the social aspect of blogging. So to all of you wonderful peeps who have helped to get me this far, THANK YOU!

Last but not least, the Live Traffic Feed totally rocks! Just today, I had someone from Perth, Western Australia! I've had someone from Moscow, Russia and other countries I have not ever even heard of. I highly recommend this to all of you because it is so neat to see where folks who are reading you are from since there are so many lurkers. No complaints, I love my lurkers! And I love to see where they are lurking from. ;-) I have had so many different states and countries, my heart always flutters when I see a new one.

Do you have a favorite widget? Widget recommendations? Like shoes and purses, a girl can never have enough widgets!

Love Story

Got this one from E @ TMI and thought it was wonderful! Her instructions are as follows:

This is all about your love story. Fill it out. If you find this; it's because I want to know your story, even if I've already heard it. Copy and paste the entire note into a new note, then edit the answers.

♥ What are your middle names?
Sue/Scott

♥ How long have you been together?
thirteen years; married 12

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
6 months

♥ Who asked who out?
He did - I played hard to get

♥ How old are each of you?
45/41 (I'm a cougar...ha,ha)

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
His because they live here and mine are in TX and LA

♥ Do you have any children together?
One

♥ What about pets?
Brutus, 141 pound yellow lab

♥ Did you go to the same school?
Nope, I grew up in LA and he in OH

♥ Are you from the same home town?
Nope

♥ Who is smarter?
I think we are evenly matched.

♥ Who is more sensitive?
Equal

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Heck, I don't really know!

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Hawaii

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Probably me

♥ Who does the cooking?
Me

♥ Who is more social?
This is a hard one, but I will say me. I do have more with friends.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Easy one! Him - I am a disaster!

♥ Who is the more stubborn?
Him

♥ Who hogs the bed?
He claims I do, but I don't believe him

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
He does for sure

♥ Where was your first date?
Not sure since we went out as friends for the first 6 months.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
About the same

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Often enough

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Usually do our own thing on Thanksgiving and Christmas w/his dad and stepmom. (His mom snow birds it down to Florida)

♥ Who is more jealous?
neither of us have a jealous bone in our body - it's a waste of time and emotion

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
six months, then the Clue Fairy paid us a visit

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
Me, he is not allowed since washing a dry clean only suit (my favorite). This was 12 years ago!

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
Me - he calls me his Techno Gangsta

♥ Who drives when you are together?
Him, but I think I drive better (what wife doesn't? ha,ha!)

Round Robin - Meme

You girls already know I am a blogger klepto,so I swiped this idea from Alexis and she knows it! LOL. Actually she challenged all her followers to do this and it looked like too much fun to resist.

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:
1. Sleeping in tomorrow morning
2. Warmer weather
3. Riding my motorcycle
4. Watching my sister graduate medical school next month
5. Winning more of Alexis' Giveaways on her site! LOL
6. Hubby getting home from his 5 week long TDY in two weeks.
7. Going to the grown up "Prom" with my girlfriends in two weeks
8. Eating at Superior Bar and Grill in my hometown of Shreveport, LA AND seeing my friends and family!!

8 Things I Did Yesterday (not in order):
1. Went to a Retirement Party after work
2. Drank beer at said Retirement Party
3. Saw the baby birds for the first time
4. Went to a staff meeting
5. Pinched a co-worker (he needed it!)
6. Issued a blackberry at work
7. Hugged a Colonel
8. Saw some old friends from the B-2 Office, felt like a Reunion!

8 Things I Wish I Could do:
1. Make the world a better place
2. Travel around the world
3. Swim with dolphins
4. Win the swingset on Dad's Blog and give it to Alexis
5. Wake up skinny again .... LOL *had to keep this one, Lex!
6. Be more motivated to clean my house
7. Have more time to read
8. Have a maid and/or personal chef

8 Shows I Watch:
1. Survivor
2. Gray's Anatomy
3. American Idol
4. Americans Next Top Model
5. The Biggest Loser
6. The Amazing Race
7. Anything on History Channel
8. Cold Case Files

Now I am supposed to list 8 friends, but I don't want to chose or make anyone feel like they have to do this. If you would like to play, go for it! If not, I will be reading your blog anyway!

xoxoxoxo

D

We Have Babies!

OMG! The twins are here! Not sure how long they have been here since I did post the picture of momma bird last week and she appeared to be sitting on her eggs. She must have been covering her babies because they are out now and they look like pre-teens already! Do they grow that quick? I am really freaked that they have already hatched and are so big. However it happened, I am ecstatic. I want to name them but obviously don't know their sex. I am thinking I need to go with some unisex names. I am open to suggestions. Let's make this fun. The person with the winning names(s) gets a prize! I love giving away prizes! So put on your thinking caps and give me some suggestions. Remember, I want names that can go either way so to speak.

Newsletter From One of My Favorite Authors, Catherine Mann

This picture was taken when I first met Cathy at a book signing at the Wright Patterson BX. At the time, I worked with her awesome husband, LtCol Robert "Wanna" Mann.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST found out after posting this earlier today that Cathy just joined blogspt. I am so excited! I HIGHLY recommend that you check it out and hopefully follow her. You won't regret it!
http://catherinemann1.blogspot.com/ (sorry, still not getting the links to work in my posts.)

**Reposted with Cathy's blessings! I have the pleasure of personally knowing Cathy. She is a super sweet lady and a phenomenal writer. I own every single one of her books and they are treasures to me. I have the honor of having a character in one of her books (very) loosely base on yours truely. Well the character had a call sign and it is the same as mine and the story behind it the same. Maybe I will blog about how I got the name if I ever get around to cleaning out the skeletons from my closet..ha! In the Air Force the character and I had the call sign of Flipper. I cannot tell you what a thrill and surprise it was when I read it in the book! Make sure you read through this completely. Cathy is have a giveaway with 25 winners! Without further ado.......

Hi there! I'm thrilled to announce that the flyboys have landed!! Yes, April 7 is finally here and so is my new "Dark Ops" series from Berkley Sensation! DEFENDER is on shelves now! Here's the scoop:

!*!*!*!*DEFENDER on shelves now*!*!*!*!*
When a USO boat goes down in flames, test pilot Jimmy Gage pulls a scantily clad Chloe Nelson out of the shark-filled Mediterranean. Although she is grateful, and he's as hot as the fire that took the boat down, the last thing Chloe needs is a jet-jock to be her bodyguard—until she inadvertently finds herself closer to Gage than she ever expected, and side by side in a dangerous mission...

Gage is desperate to find a fellow airman, missing and reportedly held captive. A pub in Istanbul, controlled by a notorious and sadistic female adversary, may hold the key. Now, moving in toward untold dangers, Gage can't afford to let his growing attraction to Chloe distract him for a second—or it may cost the lives of his crew, the prisoner they must rescue, and the woman he's unable to resist.

*!*!*!*DEFENDER reviews!*!*!*!*

The reviews are in and they're rocking awesome!

"Relentless suspense, heroes to fall in love with right from page one--this must be another military romance by the fabulous Catherine Mann!" --NY Times bestseller Suzanne Brockmann

"Fans of Suzanne Brockmann will find that this book with its powerful storylines and realistic backgrounds is a roller-coaster ride bursting at the seams with one electrifying moment after another - 5 Cups!" --Coffee Times Romance Reviews

"Great military 'feel'; wonderful characters; plenty of action – 5 Stars!" --Errant Dreams Reviews

"This exciting first Darks Ops military thriller hooks the audience from the opening suspense laden scene and never loosens the tension until the end - 5 Stars!" --Genre Go Round Reviews

"Dynamically appealing characters plus an intriguing plot packed with perilous danger make DEFENDER not only spellbinding but totally satisfying - 5 Stars!" --Cataromance,

*!*!*!*!*!*Excerpts Posted*!*!*!*!*!*
My website has been updated, complete with new covers and excerpts for DEFENDER and other upcoming releases. Check them out at catherinemann.com

*!*!*!*!*!*Spring Cleaning! Free Books*!*!*!*!*!*
I'm in the midst of spring cleaning and have found I have a number of extra author copies of books on hand. To celebrate the release of DEFENDER and the upcoming May release of HOTSHOT, I'm running a contest. Winner's choice of one book from my backlist books between 2005-2008! Twenty-five winners will be chosen at random. Yes, that's TWENTY-FIVE winner! (Winners will be asked to list a first and second choice in case I run out of some of the books. More about the books can be found on the books page of my website. catherinemann.com ) Rules for entering are posted on the message board on my website. You do NOT need to post or log in. The instructions are open to the public for viewing! Check it out at catherinemann.com - Good luck and happy reading!

*!*!*!*!*Message Board*!*!*!*!*
As I noted above, you don't have to post on the message board in order to enter the contest, however I sure do enjoy hearing from readers. If you would like to discuss DEFENDER or any other books, I will be around and checking in frequently on the message board this month.

*!*!*!*!*!Bookmarks*!*!*!*!*
I have hot new bookmarks to share with readers and booksellers. If you would like a bookmark, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Catherine Mann
P.O. Box 6065
Navarre, FL 32566
Please note if you need extra bookmarks (and how many) to share with other romance reader friends! I'll send them out for as long as supplies last.

Endless thanks for all your letters, enthusiasm and generous help in spreading the word about my books!!

As always, feel free to share this newsletter with anyone, anywhere, anytime!

Love,
Cathy
www.catherinemann.com
Catherine Mann, RITA Award Winner
Current and Upcoming Releases:
DEFENDER, "Dark Ops," Berkley Sensation 4/09
HOTSHOT, "Dark Ops," Berkley Sensation 5/09
PROPOSITIONED INTO A FOREIGN AFFAIR, Silhouette Desire 5/09
MILLIONAIRE IN COMMAND, Silhouette Desire 10/09
RENENGADE, "Dark Ops," Berkley Sensation 1/10
BOSS MAN'S BABY SCANDAL, Silhouette Desire 1/10

Backlist: (Still available online at amazon.com)
HIS EXPECTANT EX, Silhouette Desire 9/08
RICH MAN'S FAKE FIANCEE, Silhouette Desire 6/08
OUT OF UNIFORM, Silhouette Romantic Suspense 02/08
EXECUTIVE'S SURPRISE BABY, Silhouette Desire December 12/07
HOLIDAY HEROES w/Rachel Lee, Silhouette Romantic Suspense 11/07
BET ME w/Joanne Rock and Debra Webb, HQ 8/07
ON TARGET, HQN Books 7/07
UNDER THE MILLIONARE'S INFLUENCE, Silhouette Desire 3/07
FULLY ENGAGED, Silhouette IM 11/06
SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS w/Rachel Lee & Merline Lovelace, HQN 10/06 (reissue)
MORE THAN WORDS w/Susan Wiggs, Karen Harper, Kasey Michaels & Tori Carrington 10/06
BLAZE OF GLORY, HQN July 2006
BABY, I'M YOURS, Silhouette Desire, 4/06
AWAKEN TO DANGER, Silhouette IM 1/06
THE CAPTIVE'S RETURN, Silhouette IM 10/05
CODE OF HONOR, HQN 8/05
EXPLOSIVE ALLIANCE, Silhouette IM 2/05
SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS w/Rachel Lee & Merline Lovelace, HQN 11/04
PURSUED, Silhouette Bombshell 11/04
JOINT FORCES, Silhouette IM 5/04
ANYTHING, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, Silhouette 3/04
STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT, Silhouette IM 11/03
PRIVATE MANEUVERS, Silhouette IM 6/03
THE CINDERELLA MISSION, Silhouette IM, 2/03
UNDER SIEGE, Silhouette IM 1/03
TAKING COVER, Silhouette IM 11/02
GRAYSON'S SURRENDER, Silhouette IM 9/02
WEDDING AT WHITE SANDS, Silhouette IM 6/02

Wordless Wednesday

Momma bird is in full nesting mode. She let me get pretty close today because she was not going to leave her eggs. I was very slow and careful as to not give her a heart attack. She seems to be hunkered down more than she was at first. She is such a sweet momma!

BTW - can anyone tell if this is a pigeon or a dove? I can't tell!

Hope everyone is having a good week so far!~