Delegated Authority

By Brad Meltzer

I found this book to be fun and intriguing!  Its my first foray into Mr. Meltzer’s writing, and I’m hooked!  This story winds its way behind the scenes of the Congressional Appropriations Committee and behind the scenes in Washington, D.C.  It starts out pretty mild and gets pretty wild!  Tho I found some of it pretty unbelieveable, it is, afterall, fiction, so I just enjoyed the ride.  There was a twist and turn at every unexpected moment that kept you on your toes and provided the “can’t put the book down” page turning excitement!

I’d definitely recommend this for thriller readers!

* This is the first installment of my home grown book club!  Have you read this book?  Please, leave a comment and let me know what you thought!  Have you read any other book of Brad Meltzers you would like to suggest?  Please do!  Join me for more stories along the way!

Did I mention that not too long ago I was walking through Franklin Square, I was actually *FLASHED*!

 Franklin Park is one of two block parks on either side of the block my office is on. . . . and while usually, if walking alone, I know better than to cut diagonally through the park. . .I was in a hurry and cut through.  The park is wide open, in plain view of everyone and One of the “park residents” hollered out to get my attention and asked me the time.  Again, breaking my own protocol, I answered.  Never, never, never talk to anyone you dont know when going through these parks.  It can’t possibly bring any good.    At least I had the good sense to look down to see my watch, and when I told him the time, he was umm… revealing himself, which I, thankfully only saw out of the corner of my eye!  I quickly resumed my walk. As I walked away, the “residents’” buddies had a good laugh, because I wouldnt stop and talk to their friend…

I think mortified correctly captures my feelings since the “incident”.

Suffice it to say, I will not be cutting through the park any more.  Lesson learned. �

You know, if I wasn’t a day late, it just wouldn’t be a wish from me  :o)

For the past nearly 30 years you have been a true light in my life.  Always there for me, whether it was for all the “girl stuff”, fun, shopping and chit-chat, or to weather the bumpy roads life sometimes throws at us.  You’ve shared the birth of our sons, surgeries and Adam & Megan’s marriage  and just about everything in between!

I know it has been a hard fought relationship we have.  Neither knowing what on earth to do with the other when we met.  Fortunately, [Dad put up with us both and] we have been lucky and smart enough to realize the great friendship we have been able to forge together.

Paula, I love you, and I wouldnt have missed this “trip” for the world.  Thanks for being part of my life.  Thanks for putting up with me and loving me, warts and all.  Thanks for loving and taking care of my Dad, and giving him the chance to be happy again (tho I think you’d do that without me :o) )

Happy Birthday.  Here’s to many, many more to come! 

I know the bronchitis has you down a bit now, but when you have the chance to celebrate your birthday, I hope you celebrate in style!  You deserve it!

Well, school doesn’t officially start until January 23. . . Wednesday. . .  but two of my 3 courses have already posted work and schedules. I can’t believe it’s time to start again already!  Wow!

Guess its time to kiss my spare time good-bye, and to Saturdays laying around, watching tv or better yet, shopping!  Nope, Saturdays are back to being dedicated to the dreadful. . . . homework. . . . Yep.  If I could stay awake and function during the week, I’d have a whole lot less to do on Saturdays, but I just can’t seem to do it, no matter how well intentioned I start out the day. 

I need to check again, but I also think that one of my courses will be due on Wednesday nights, not Saturday nights, so I’m not sure how that will affect my psyche.  Technically, I should still take care of it over the weekend when I have unfettered time, but somehow I believe I’ll be up until 11:59 pm on Wednesday nights hitting the SEND key.  Geesh.  Lets hope not.

My 3rd course (Information Systems) for some reason, doesn’t start until Feb. 1. Don’t know what’s up with that, but whatever.  I guess I can use the extra week to get my footing on the other two  :) 

Anyway, I’m off…. here I go!

p.s.  I’ve wanted to start a kind of book review/club thing with my blog.  I’ve been reading some truly fantastic books lately.  I hope some of you that also like to read will jump in and make suggestions and if you’ve read some of the same books I have- comment on them as well!  I’m looking forward to it, for sure :)  So, if I can find the time, and the right words, you may see it intertwined between the moans and groans of the school work!ÂÂ

Two kids: He, living in New Orleans, LA and She, living in Biloxi, MS decided to get hitched.  On Friday the 16th, they went to the courthouse in Biloxi where they were told, of all things, you have to be 21 years old, or have your parents permission!  What?!  Well, fine then. . .  they showed up at 4:45pm on Friday afternoon to get the marriage license with no parental permission, so what did the Court do?  Called their parents, of course. (He was 20 and She was 19)  With all the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed, the license was then granted.

Justice of the Peace for Harrison County, Mississippi, Dewey Lawrence, suggested we get hitched at his home, just down the street from the Court, and a much nicer setting  :)  They agreed, thinking, “what the heck!”

So on Saturday, January 17, 1981 at 5pm, they went to the fine home of Judge Dewey Lawrence, where the Judge politely asked his wife to turn off the tv and come witness the marriage.  (She only turned down the sound!)  Within 5 minutes the I-DO’s were said and those kids were now officially married and the celebrating began! 

That was us!  Those impetuous, carefree, wild and crazy kids! 

Now, here we are.  Twenty-seven years have given us 3 beautiful grown sons and a (so far just one) wonderful daughter-in-law. 

We’ve lived in 2 countries, 5 states, and 14 houses!  Our kids attended a total of 19 different schools (yikes!  Adam “wins”, with 9 of those being his, including one Department of Defense school, in Portugal; Justin had the fewest changes with only attending 4 schools and Jared had 6).  We’ve had 24 vehicles (I think I counted them all!), 6 dogs and 2 cats, 3 hamsters and too many fish, oh, and a ferrett 

Thanks to an indoor football tackle, we had 1 visit from paramedics, concluding with 3 staples to put Justin’s head back together.  We’ve had 6 7 broken bones, 2 heart surgeries, 2 kidney surgeries, and 6 other “various” surgeries.  We had 3 sets of stitches.  And lest not forget the almost-lost-an-eye incident of recent fame.

All in all, I’d say we’ve lived a very lively and wonderful life, and have quite a lot more to look forward to! 

D, you are the ying to my yang, the carrots to my peas, the icing to my cake.  So many times we are each others opposite, but so often, that is what makes us work so well together.  When all is said and done, I think we make a pretty good team.  Looking at our family, I’m convinced we do good work!  I’m looking forward to the next 27 years of my life together with you 

Always and forever,

K

45?  NO?

30!  Yep, I do believe.

I started at 35, but thought I could “fine tune” the sleep number just a little.  The first night was pretty good.  Not to jinx anything, but the pain that I’ve had in my lower back (sacro-iliac) for about 7 months straight, that even a chiropractor couldnt shake, was, dare I say, g-o-n-e after only 1 night on this magnificent bed!  However, I still tossed and turned a bit, so, hey, why not, fine tune it a little, right? 

I tried a little firmer. . .  pumped ‘er up to 45 and in less than 5 minutes decided it was tooo hard! (do I sound like Goldilocks here?) So I dropped it down to 30 (keeping in mind I started at 35).  Thirty was good.  I slept very well.  Only woke up once (miracle in itself).

I’m really thinking I love this bed!

Its true.

I found out the Criminal Justice class I signed up for didn’t qualify for anything- not even an elective. . .(which I truly don’t understand). . .  so I dropped it and of course, added TWO classes in its place.

Why did I do this?

So, now I’m taking Ethics Law, Consumer Law and Information Systems (Ugh. Required).  I think I’ll be buried from January 23 through May 8.

It arrived!  We finally got our Sleep Number bed!  Everyone I’ve talked to that has one loves it.  I’ve actually talked to 4 people who own them and they all have nothing but good things to say about this bed.  All of them have back aches and pains and such just like me.  So, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time!

We ordered it online and it took us about an hour to put it together - tho we took a leisurely pace doing it.  They say it can take a couple days to figure out just the right “sleep number” for you, so we will see just what it takes.  Today I’m starting at 35 (the number I found felt best when testing in the store). . .  we’ll see how that works and go from there!

                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Classes start back up on January 23.  Thats 14 days. . .

Legal Ethics and Criminal Justice, here I come!

CONGRATULATIONS
2007 League Champion!

Easton Eggheads
Owner(s): Kitty Tuttle
Regular Season Record: 10-3

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you very much  :)  Its been my pleasure!

See you next year!