Ahhh... It's Over!

Well Christmas has come and gone, and I survived it. I hope all of you did too. This year was so much better than last year. Last year, my husband almost died from appendicitis and had to have major surgery so he was in the hospital for 10 days during Christmas.

More importantly, the kids had a better Christmas. They had both their parents and they got to do a lot of fun stuff. Last year everything was put on hold because Chris was sick, so they missed out. This year we got to go to the parade and the Festival of Trees which is always a fun time.

Now we're off to the New Year! So many things are going to be happening. I'm going back to school and have decided to change my major to Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Forensics. Also on January 11th I'll be turning 33! I'm super excited, and welcome the changes.

B2B Book Review: Sleeper's Run by Henry Mosquera

Betrayal, the CIA, political thrills- this book has it all, even a little romance. Sleeper's Run is the Jason Bourne series meets The Manchurian Candidate. Fast paced and action packed this political thriller is hard to put down. This is a direct reading from the back cover:

'War on Terror veteran, Eric Caine, is found

wandering the streets of Miami with no memory

of the car accident that left him there. Alone and 

suffering from PTSD, Eric is on a one-way road to

self-destruction. Then a chance meeting at a bar begins

a series of events that helps Eric start anew. When his new

job relocates him to Venezuela- the land of his childhood-

things, however, take an ominous turn as a catastrophic

event threatens the stability of the country. Now Eric must

escape an elite team of CIA assassins as he tries to uncover

an international conspiracy in which nothing is what it seems.'

I have to say this isn't a genre that I normally read, but I really liked it. I will definitely look for future books by Henry Mosquera. For his first novel, he's off to a great start! Others agree as he received at 4.11/5 stars at Goodreads.com.

* I was provided a book to review and keep as well as financial compensation. All views are strictly my opinion and unbiased.*

Smart & Savvy with BeeSavy.com!

Who likes to shop? This girl!! As a mom of three, it's extremely important to find great deals. At BeeSavy.com I can do that and more! Instead of going from store to store, wasting time and gas, I can use the BeeSavy comparison shopper. Here I can compare prices on millions of products from hundreds of stores, all with a click of the button! Not only can I find the best price, it also shows tax, shipping costs, and any available coupons.

Not only will you find the best deal at BeeSavy, you'll also get paid to shop! When you make a purchase through BeeSavy you receive a cash back discount! Now how awesome is that? The percentage of cash back offered varies from store to store, some stores rather than a percentage give a flat amount in cash back. Either way that's money in your pocket!

There's also another way to get cash back at BeeSavy. All you have to do is refer people, using your unique code, to sign up for free. For each referral, BeeSavy will pay you 40% commission on all of your referrals' cash back... FOREVER! They will also pay you 10% commission for all of the people they refer, up to seven levels! Once your balance reaches $10, you can choose to have BeeSavy mail you a check or deposit the money right into your PayPal account. I love this site! Head on over to BeeSavy.com and check it out for yourself and if you like what you see, sign up - it's free!

Crouptastic!

My daughter, Stella, has been sick all week with a really bad cough. After missing her fourth day of school and as usual unable to get into the doctor's office, I ended up taking her to Urgent Care. After waiting three hours in the waiting room we finally made it back to an exam room where we had to wait almost another hour for the doctor to come in. To me, that is completely ridiculous. There were people who didn't even look sick getting seen before her and there was no mistaking that she was sick by looking at her. After waiting FOREVER, the doctor in less than five minutes, said she had Croup.

Flash forward to today. My son was fine all day today, and then he laid down to take a nap. He slept for almost two hours and when he woke up he was barking like a seal and had a 101.5 fever. This time we went to the emergency room since Urgent Care was already closed. We sat in the waiting room for maybe 15 minutes and then went back to a room where the doctor was already waiting for him. Diagnosis: CROUP! Freakin' Crouptastic!!

It really boggles my mind how we were in and out in under a half hour at the ER and had to wait at Urgent Care for the better part of a lifetime. Alek's prescription took longer to be filled than his visit to the ER! It's not that it makes me mad per say, it's just that they don't understand how difficult it is to have a very sick kid waiting for that long while having to wear one of those stupid face masks. If they were that afraid she was like Typhoid Mary then why didn't they get us back to a room right away? It was especially awesome when the receptionist decided to tell me that I really needed to make Stella keep the mask on. Really lady? Why don't you wear one for four hours and see how you like it! Hopefully this doesn't last long considering they are both on several medications.

Book Review: Defending Jacob by William Landay

Is your child capable of murder? This was the question that Andy Barber had to answer in a fantastic novel Defending Jacob by William Landay. Read from the back of the novel:

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and their son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters the New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son ischarged with the murder of a fellow student. Every instinct Andy has as a parent rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He's his father. But, as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own- between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he's tried to bury and a future

he cannot conceive.

This book was absolutely fantastic, could not put it down! I had never heard of the author before but he has already been added to my must read list. His other two books are The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times Favorite Crime Book of the Year, and Mission Flats, winner of the Creasy Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and a Barry Award nominee. I highly recommend this book, it forces you to think of some very dark questions no parent could ever conceive of thinking about their child.

Shave for a Cure!

Every year, 160,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the United States and Canada. Research is the key to saving lives. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a charity run by volunteers dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancers. 

On March 17th, 2000, executives John Bender, Tim Kenny, and Enda McDonnell used their company St. Patrick's Day party as an opportunity to benefit kids with cancer. 20 people stepped up and agreed to shave their heads with the hope of raising "$17,000 on the 17th". They reached their goal and then some. They ended up raising over $104,000!

This charity quickly grew into the world's largest volunteer fundraising program for childhood cancer research. The St. Baldrick's Foundation has funded more grants for research than any other organization except for the U.S. government. Since 2000, more than 189,660 volunteers, including 17,200 women, have shaved their heads at events in dozens of countries and every U.S. state raising over $117 million for cancer research.

Kelly McCausey, editor of Mom's Talk Network, is on a mission to raise $5,000 before Black Friday. On November 25th, 2011 if the $5,000 goal is met she will have her head shaved live via streaming video! So open your hearts and your wallets and make a donation today! To make your donation please click below:

Donate Here!

Paranormal Activity 3

I'm a huge fan of horror movies, so is the rest of my family for that matter. Hubby took me to see Paranormal Activity 3 over the weekend and it scared the crap out of me! By far I think it was the best one, Hubby thinks the second one was. Something I thought was interesting about the previews on TV for this movie is that none of them were actual scenes from the movie. I thought that was pretty cool because I hate it when you spend $20 to go to the movies and the previews showed the best parts of the movie. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone so I don't want to say to much but I highly recommend seeing it if you are a fan of the horror genre!

Hubby and I also watched The Human Centipede 2 this weekend. WARNING: This absolutely is not for anyone under 18 to watch or if you have a weak stomach either. The first one was horrifying enough but the second took it to a whole new level. It was one of those situations where you are just speechless because there are no words to describe the horror, disgust, or grossness of what you just saw. If you can stand the disgusting nature of this movie then watch it because there is nothing more gross than this movie!