25 Things About Me

For fun….Little known facts about Tina
-I am the oldest child, but because my brother was the long awaited male child I demonstrate quite a mish-mosh of first and second born traits.
-I dreamt of being a ballerina when I was a little child, probably because I could do the best spins in my patent leather Mary Janes on the linoleum in the side room. Sadly, my mother felt I was much too uncoordinated and denied me lessons.
-I loved riding my bike through the cemetary when I was old enough to just go riding where I wanted (probably junior high).
-I watched Dark Shadows when I was a kid and bought the trading cards with milk money I squirrelled away. I wonder if that’s why I liked riding bike through the cemetary.
-I worked several summers while in college and even after I was married at Cedar Point Hotel Breakers.
-I’m not allergic to poison ivy, but my brother can get it from the air. At least that’s what I’ve been told.
-Today I sneezed eleven times in a row. I think it was from the cayenne pepper I put on my mixed nuts.
-I love to laugh and make people laugh.
-One of my early jobs was at McDonalds.
-I have played God. Actually, I had the role of Zeuss in our college production of JB.
-I was also the Stagemanager in our production of Our Town. I think I got the part because no one else wanted to memorize the lines…
-Though I hate doing housework, I actually cleaned house to make money many years ago. These people had 3 long hair cats and two long hair dogs. And if I had a dollar for every gegaw and chotzke I could pay off my school loan.
-I have three masters degrees and I started work on a D.Min.
-I played tennis in college. I wasn’t very good, but they needed someone to fill the roster.
- My mother only had one job when I was growing up, and that was as a library aid in our small town. I loved going to work with her and reading.
-I can’t do Sudoko. It makes my head hurt. I try occasionally and then get flustered and quit, vowing to never waste time like that again…until the next time.
-I was fourth runner up to Miss Teenage Columbus in 1974. I was presented an award for third place at BRMCWC for Articles for Print. I want to win.
-I have won the Super Bowl Championship in our Fantasy Football League–a couple times!
-My house has four mature maple trees along the one side and across the front. I love the feel of being surrounded by trees.
-I don’t like raking or blowing all the leaves, but I do enjoy making a pile for my grandson to jump in.
-I can’t talk without using my hands. Someone held my hands once and I started moving my shoulders. When I am trying not to say something (like in a class)I will sit on my hands.
-I love flavored coffee, escpecially hazelnut, but it has to be decaf.
-I love to burn scented candles. My favorite is Angel Whispers by Glad.
-I do not take tests well. I failed my oral exam for my second masters (M.Div) so badly the head of my committee suggested that we consider that the exam never happened and they would give me a new committee the following fall. I passed then. I also failed my counselor exam the first time I tood it. The room was all darkened and there was a screen thing I had to use, and I had to be still and quiet. Nightmare for a techno-phob with ADD. Since I knew what to expect I passed it the second time.
-Someone contacted me this week about writing devotions for a church related publication. I really like that people are thinking of me as a writer.

Book Review: Nothing to Hide

Nothing to Hide, A Roland March Mystery
Author: J. Mark Bertrand
Publisher: Bethany House
Pages: 328

This book is part of a series by this author. I’ve read reviews of the other books and while this book is able to stand on its own, it does follow the other books sequentially. I was able to catch the spots where the author linked back to previous story lines, but it wasn’t ever too much information or too little.

In this book, the author jumped back and forth, however to a back story several times throughout this book. All the information was pertinent to the current story, but I am just not a huge fan of this format. At times I found myself wanting to move on, and we dropped back in time. I get that the flashbacks, if all told at once in the beginning, probably would have spoiled the surprises as the story unfolded.

I will admit that I had to read the first few sentences several times before I “got it.” If your first lines are supposed to grab, then I’m not sure these succeeded. If I hadn’t committed to finishing, I would have been hard pressed to get past the first few pages.

But I did. And it was ok. I’m not one to try and figure things out, so I stayed with it to the end. I was surprised. That’s good.

If you liked the previous books by this author, then you will probably like this one. If you like surprises, then you might enjoy this. If you struggle with violence and gory stuff, this might not be your best choice.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Bethany House blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

It’s Not the Heat…It’s the Humidity

A couple weeks ago I visited my mom in Arizona. I love so many things about being there.
I never would have guessed I could fall in love with the desert, but I do find it beautiful. I
especially love the high blue skies.

This last trip I was there during their “monsoon” season. Things were so much greener, but the
sky was less blue. My mom explained something she had learned from the local weatherman.
He told the tv audience that the sky became paler the closer it got to the the horizon because
of humidity. I love that my mom shares these things with me. At 75 she still has things to teach
me. I tucked the little tidbit away in my mind.

The next week I was introduced to a new author, Sibella Giorello. As I read her book, “The
Stones Cry Out,” I came across this phrase, “the humidity leached the blue right out of the sky.” I
smiled. If I would have read this two weeks eaier and I wouldn’t have had clue as to what that meant.

Timeliness. Like the character I was reading about, I don’t believe in luck, or coincidence. This was just
another God-wink where I was reminded ever so softly and subtly that there really is Someone
in control.

How has God reminded you lately of his watch care in your life?

I Forgot to Tell You….

I just realized that I had failed to mention something huge that has been unfolding for me. On July 19, I entered a contest to write a book. The details are here.

Well on Monday July 30 this announcement was made! I’m one of the finalists. I’m in some pretty amazing company.

And I’m writing my first book. Book. I’ve written devotions, newsletters, articles, and monologues. I’m writing a book. I’ve already outlined the chapters for the synopsis. I have about 20 write. Except I already turned in the first and today I was finally able to crank out the lion’s share of the second chapter.

I have been so blocked in my writing since the beginning of my visit to my mom’s. When I got back Saturday, 8/11, I thought that everything would fall back into place and I would become a writing machine. Not. Ack. I have a book to write.

Today I sat in the quiet at work (quiet is something I have a lot of since I care for an 89 year old woman with dementia who doesn’t want me there so she doesn’t speak to me very often) and began to ponder deeply what this block was all about. I’m a trained counselor afterall, so I should be able to figure this out. A counselor and a pastor—so I can check both heart and head! And that I did.

I worked my way through several possibilities, finally I landed on fear. Fear? Where did that come from? I’ve been so excited about this. Then I began to feel something uncomfortably familiar. It probably should have dawned on me earlier in the week since I had two very different but oddly similar conversations with each of my daughters. For them the issue was parenting. They’re both such perfectionists…I can’t imagine how they got wired that way being the children of two first born parents, one strongly melancholy and the other equally strong as a choleric. (Sigh…).

What should I have realized? I was being blocked by fear and not fear of failure, even though it might look that way given the strong writing talent that I’m up against. No. For me there has always been this infuriating fear of success. I can’t explain it. I don’t want it. I have been stifled on more than one occasion by it’s ugliness. Well, today, I decided ENOUGH! I determined to push right past the block of fear and show myself and my daughters that it is okay to succeed.

As soon as I wrote those words in my journal, it was like a dam burst–I couldn’t write fast enough. Wouldn’t you know I’d leave the computer home today? Page after page, word upon word. Until I ran out of time and had to continue the process at home.

Is it enough to say that it felt amazing? Probably not. I had thought I was going to ride bike tonight, but I doubt I’ll leave this seat except for necessities…and maybe for So You Think You Can Dance…it is quite inspirational to me.

So I’m off to work some more on my book. I have a review that I wrote while on vacation that I need to post and another book I’m reading and quite enjoying that I’ll post the review on Monday.

Life is full and good. How about for you?

Unexpected Book Review

I love to read. I love to find new authors. Those are two of the main reasons I have signed up with several publishers to do blog reviews. Of course, getting free books also is a pretty powerful incentive.

Writing reviews has also increased my interest in how others review books, so I find that I am reading more reviews. Last week while I was on vacation I read a review for a book by Sibella Giorello, The Stars Shine Bright. The reviewer was quite positive about the book, and it’s place within the series, but it was one of her final statements that really caught my attention. To paraphrase, she suggested that it would pretty awesome if Giorello’s character Raleigh Harmon teamed up with Steven James’s Patrick Bowers.

I have been jonesing for the next Patrick Bower installment since I laid down my copy of The Queen. I was intrigued to find another author so closely compared, so I went to barnesandnoble.com and hunted up this author. I was quite pleased to find that the #1 book in the Raleigh Harmon series was on sale for $3.99–the amount remaining on my account.

I started reading the book yesterday. I finished it today. I want the rest! Now. And I have to agree with the reviewer I read last week: I think Raleigh and Patrick would make an interesting team.

I intend to read more in the series, but if the subsequent books are of the same ilk, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. I’ll let you know for sure, but would also be interested in what you think if/when you read them too!