Decisions, Decisions

Hi-Hi. Raja here. We've had really rainy, stormy weather lately. My furry brudder, Panda, got bored and knocked over the trash can.. There wasn't anything good in it, mainly stale bread, fried rice, moldy tomatoes and broccoli. I did score a small piece of chicken, though. He lapped up the rice. I told him he made the right decision to get us food, but next time wait, til the can's fuller.

Speakimg of decisions,we have a freebie for you about making them. It's called Right Decisions, Right Now Now : Be Tobacco Free. It's a tobacco prevention kit designed for middle school teachers, social workers and homeschooling  parents.  Mommy got one for a project she's doing at work. While the package is funded by R.J. Reynolds, a tobacco company, the focus is on peer influence and making healthy decisions. Mommy liked the very structured sections dealing with peer pressure. She thought they could be useful in talking about other risky behaviors as well. The posters were cool, too. .I liked the box it came in..For your copy go  to http://www.rightdecisionsrightnow.com/

I was so scared that NASA's satellite would fall on me.. Efurrytime a thunder boomie hit I thought it was the satellite coming and ran under the couch. I'm glad the satellite decided to fall into the ocean instead of someplace crowwded, like New York City. Or Cecily, Alaska. Remember Northern Exposure?  Mommy and I watch DVDs of that show a lot. 

BOOK REVIEW: Mommy (Tracy) just read  Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl and April Henry. She decided to review it::
Heart of Ice.is about three high school friends from Portland ,Oregon .: Nicki is an FBI agent, Alison a prosecutor and Cassisdy a television reporter. Calling themselves the Triple Threat, they band together to solve crimes. In this, the third book in the series., they deal with two psychopaths- a male they are prosecuting , and a female, who's persecuting them.

Heart of Ice is fast-paced, but I wished the authors had developed most of the characters and events more.. .The male pstchopath could have been better delineated to contrast with his female counterpart. If I was the editor I would have asked for another, more detailed re-write.. However, the character of Elizabeth Avery is one of the best examples of female sociopathic behavior in popular literature. Too bad the authors didn't balance her character against the others better..Still, I'd recommend the book.

Thanks,  Mommy. Now it's time for the most important decision of my day. What shall I have for supper? Should I have mixed grill, seafood  or TOONA?

Shalom,
Raja

Freebies & FR

Hi Efurryone. Raja (and Tracy) here. We have a  new freebies for you.

Better Homes & Gardens is offering a 32 page recipe book, Healthy for Life,through Facebook. And for every download, they'll doante $1 to the Komen for the Cure foundation. Breast cancer is a terrible disease. It hurts mommies, daddies,kitties and woofies .Just go to http://www.facebook.com.mybhg/ and 'Like" them. Then go to the left side of the screen and click on Komen. Just fill out the form and download...

When Mommy was little children used to trick or treat for Unicef. You can still do that.  Just go  to http://youth.unicefusa.org/trickortreat or call 1-800-FOR-KIDS for your kit. Grown-ups can participate, too.Each October Mommy keeps a collection box on her desk at work. It's next to a jar of candy. She asks for donations. Ususally she raises $15-$20 dollars that way. You can also do e-mail collections with your friends. I like helping kids. All I ask is not to be dressed up!!!!

 That's all for now.

Meow

Facebook Freebies

Hi folks. Raja and I have a couple of Facebook freebies for you. Downy is offering free samples of their new Unstoppables, in- wash fabric softener and scent enhancer tablets. Just go to www.facebook.com/downy and 'Like' them. Then scroll down to the left-hand side of the page where it says 'get sample'. Click on that and fill out the form.

Next, AMC Theatres is offering a free 20oz frozen Icee on Fridays from Sept. 16-Oct.7. It's part of their Frozen Fridays promotion. Just go to www.facebook.com/amctheatres and 'Like" them, then click on 'get coupon' and print. A free Icee makes even a crappy movie somewhat worthwhile.

Raja: Why can't kitties go to movie theatres? It's not like we're going to bark and disturb the show!

Book Review: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathkeen Kent( Little, Browm & Co.) The Heretic's Daughter is a novel dealing with that colonial flirtation with tolitarianism, the Salem Witch Trials. Between 1691 & 1692 dozens of men,women & chilkdren were accused of witchcraft. Many of the women were put to death. All were innocent.

Wicca and Satanism were not involved. A narrow,superstitious world view, minor occult practices, petty disputes between neighbors and adolescent acting-out combined to create mass hysetria.

The novel is told from the point of view of ten year old Sarah Carrier. Her parents, Thomas and Martha are better educated and more worldly than their neighbors. When the witchcraft hysteria spreads from Salem to nearby Andover, the Carriers become caught up in it.

Kent, a decendant of the real-life Martha Carrier, has written a gripping story of life in hard-scrabble colonial New England.   I highly recommend it.

Oldies But Goodies: Raja here. This is my report on what music Mommy is listening to. Yesterday she brought home Corinne Bailey Rae's eponymous  2006 CD, I really liked it. Corinne plays acoustic guitar and has a soft voice. It's like jazz, R&B and folk music combined. I put my head on my paws and enjoyed listening to it. My favorite track was the one called Put Your Records On.

That's all for now. Take care.

We're Back....

Hi efurryone. Raja here. We have a new computer. It's used, but very nice.It has a lot of programs like Word and Excel that our laptop didn't have. That makes mommy happy. Me, I love the bigger monitor. It's like watching TV. I stare at it so much that Mommy says, "Don't fall in." Whatever that means. We want to thank Rabbi Geoff  Botnick who brokered the deal that got us this great machine.

COUPONS: Tracy here. I want to mention another coupon site. Go to http://www.redplum.com/. They compile the manufacturer's coupons that make up the Sunday paper inserts. Those same coupons are available online. Just click on the link and print. Enter your zip code for additional local offers. They also have free samples as well. Best of all, the coupons are available almost a week ahead of time, so you don't have to wait for Sunday to save.

RANT:I'm going to stop shopping at Simply Fashions. They advertise good deals,  ut there's always a catch that you don't find out about til you're at the register. This time they advertised $1 for up to $50 worth of clothes on layaway. I picked out $35 worth of stuff, then was told that because it was sale merchandise, it was ineligible. About 80% of the  store merchandise was on sale. So they lost a $35 sale. The on;y way a lot of their stuff is going to fly out of there is by reducing it further. Bad business..

That's all for now.

Free Recipe Book

Hi! We're having computer problems. On the days I'm not working I have to go to another library to use the computer. Plus this is the first time since my mother died that I've been without a computer. I feel very shaky and disconnected. I hope I can afford to get mine fixed soon.
Now on to business. Weber Grills is offering free recipe books to download. Go to http://www.weber.com/ and click first om'grilling', then on'downloads'. They're offering five titles: Grilling for Girls, Grilling What's Good for You, Weber's Upgrade to Tailgating Glory, .Steak Boot Camp and Barbeque .Download one or all. You can also sign up for their recipe e-newsletter.
I chose Grilling What's Good for You. I downloaded it in pdf format, then saved it to disc. That way I can just print out the recipe I plan to use. The 36 page guide is divided into two sections. The first focuses on the basics of grilling, while the second contains recipes.Most can be adapted for barbeques,gas grills and the George Foreman-type indoor grills.
Raja has some opinions on what she'd like me to grill...

Raja: I like cooking. I don't like it when the black steel hee-baa-chee thingy shoots flames. Mommy doesn't like that either. She always keeps the garden hose ready. She thinks I don't notice that. Tee-hee. But this booklet has very nice recipes for chicken and flank steak. There's one in there for Atlantic char, which Mommy says can be adapted for any fish. I hope so. I loves toona the best. She wants to make the black beans salsa and grilled asparagus dishes,but those don't really interest me. I like my meat,poultry or fish. Outdoor grilling is messy. Chunks of food get accidently dropped on the ground. Yum.
That's enough for now, Raja.
Take care,
Tracy