Thursday Thirteen

I love looking at the calendars that have those crazy, wacky special days like "pepperoni-pizza day" or "hug-your-pet day!"  Here are some special days coming up this month.

September 10 - Today is Sewing Machine Day.  Actually, there are 2 of these, today and June 13.  I recently started sewing again.  Did you know that the sewing machine was invented in France in 1830?

September 11 - 9/11 Remembrance Day.  I will never forget the World Trade Center attacks that killed so many and forever changed so many others.  I would love to visit the Memorial.  It was under construction when we were in New York.  It is reopening to the public on 9/12.

September 12 - This is my kind of day!  National Chocolate Milkshake Day!  I love, love, love chocolate milkshakes, and I make a really good one!

September 13 - National Grandparents' Day.  Sometimes I think this day was invented for Hallmark and American Greetings, but since 1978, it's been a day set aside to honor our wise and wonderful parents-of-parents!

September 16 - National Play-dough Day.  Who doesn't fondly remember playing with play-dough, either when you were a kid or when your kids were kids.  I did both. The only bad thing about it was it made the palms of my hands peel.

September 17 - Constitution Day. Did you know that Sept. 17 was the final meeting of the Constitutional Congress when our Founding Fathers signed this important document?

September 18 - National Cheeseburger Day.  This is another day I can truly support!  Check your local restaurants for deals today.  Red Robin, Smashburger, and White Castle are just a few who have had deals in the past.

September 20 - There really is a National Pepperoni Pizza Day!  My husband and I have a local favorite go-to for pepperoni pizza.  Yum!

September 22 - Autumnal Equinox.  Fall begins, although in our part of Texas, we'll be lucky if it's not still 90-something degrees outside.

September 23 - My birthday!

September 25 - National Comic Book Day - I loved comic books as a kid!  Archie, Richie Rich, Peanuts, Dennis the Menace.  I wasn't a fan of superheroes.  I'm still not!

September 26 - This is an unusual one.  It's International Rabbit Day (the fourth Saturday in Sept.). We had a rabbit named Bandit when I was young much like the one pictured here.  I say, "we." He was my sister's rabbit. Then during my son's sophomore year for FFA, he raised rabbits .  This special day began in the UK before spreading to the rest of the world.  Did you know that rabbits are the 3rd most popular house pet after dogs and cats? (Ironically, it's also National Hunting and Fishing Day.)

September 28 - National Good Neighbor Day.  This originally began in the 1980's, but in 2003, the US Senate actually passed a resolution making it a national, special day.  Our tax dollars at work!

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Random Tuesday

I'm linking up with Stacy for some random thoughts.

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Yes, today really is Tuesday.  All day yesterday, being Labor Day, it felt like a Sunday even though I'm no longer working.  Since I retired in December, I still set my clothes out every night - they're just "different" clothes (sweats or yoga pants and tee shirts).  I feel like if I don't set them out, I might stay in my pajamas all day.  That has actually happened once in the last 8 months.

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I've been cooking at home so much since the pandemic started.  I've learned a lot of new techniques and tried some new recipes.  I feel like I make some really great sauces to keep our meals more lively.  Here's a hollandaise sauce I made. 

Click any photo to enlarge.

One thing I made, since my son is doing the Keto diet, is this Chicken Parmesan.  It was delicious!  I also liked this Ground Beef Wellington with fennel seed (you might call it a meat pie.)

By far my favorite dish has been Chicken Florentine.

How have your dinner plans, cooking, or meals changed in the last few months?

I guess I've rambled enough.  How about some funnies?

Did you see two people?  I did!  If you look carefully, it's only one.

Appropo, no?

This cracked me up.

I love puns!

Can anyone else relate?

I totally saw the angry bunny first!

And, last, but not least...
This may be a little inappropriate, but it was so funny to me, And the cat was not hurt.  She is sitting in her bed.

Image Credit

Have a great week!

Sunday Synopsis

A Dangerous Man by Robert Crais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely love Robert Crais! He does not disappoint. This might be Joe Pike's most dangerous case so far. Pike just happens to be leaving the bank when two men abduct the teller that he just spoke to inside. He follows and is able to free her, but the fun is just beginning. The attempted abduction was part of a much bigger plot. The two men are arrested, and when they are released, they are found murdered.

Pike calls on his friend, Detective Elvis Cole, to help him solve the mystery of why these men are after Isabell, the young bank teller. As it turns out, her parents were involved in the witness protection program, long before Izzy's birth and completely unbeknownst to her. They are looking to recover some stolen items from 20 years prior, but Izzy insists she knows nothing about it.  She actually has NO idea what they're talking about.

I couldn't put this book down. It wasn't super complicated, but I just wanted to know what would happen next. Robert Crais crafted a somewhat believable crime where everything ended up fitting together in the end. I admire the way he creates dynamic characters with multiple traits that make them seem like real people. And he really keeps you guessing about some things you think you know. I really enjoyed this book!

View all my reviews

Thursday Thirteen

Here are some books on my "want-to-read" list.  If you've read any of them and have an opinion, or you have a different book to recommend, I'd love to hear what you have to say!  Please leave me a comment.

1.  The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (I read some of it years ago.)

2.  Glory in Death by J. D. Robb (2nd in a series.  Read the 1st one years ago.)

3.  The Yada Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson

4.  Wake by Lisa McMann

5.  A Truth Worth Tellin' by Toni Teepell

6.  A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie McComber (This isn't the first in the series, and I haven't read any of them yet.)

7.  One Day by David Nicholls

8.  Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

9.  New York Dead by Stuart Woods

10. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

11. Vanishing Acts by Jodi Piccoult

12. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

13. The Mercy Seat by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop




I just don't know what to read next.  I don't want to read something that willl make me cry, but I don't want to read ONLY detective stories, so I'm searching for some other good books.  Thanks for your help!

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Photo Wednesday

This is one of my faves even though half of the picture is blurry (it was a picture of a picture from a scrapbook).  My daughter's caption was "The ______ twins: bringing you cute reunions since 2002.

In 2002, they had been separated about a week.  In 2016, on the right, it was about 3 weeks.

More photos at Wordless Wednesday and Image-in-ing