One of my favorite authors of all times is Erma Bombeck.  She made us face our everyday lives with humor.  It's always seemed to me that she could make even the most dire situations seem better somehow by offering a smile for a small reprieve.  Even the titles of her books crack me up, "The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank," "If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?" and "A Marriage Made in Heaven, Too Old for an Affair."  

Right now my family is in a medical crisis with several members battling different diseases, so when someone sent me this piece by Erma, written ...Read More

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Governor Arnold Schwartenegger

I recently told you about my niece who won a trip to see the filming of American Idol from a local radio station.  Well, she took her sister and just got back.  After talking with her, it was obvious that the most exciting part for her was the celebrity spotting.  



Their first sighting was Pete Wentz of the band Fall Out Boy (I have absolutely never heard of this man ...Read More

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Well, today's the big day.  One day of guest blogging here at Beyond Her Book is on the auction block.  Over at Brenda Novak's Online Auction for Diabetes Research, you have until 8:59 p.m. PST to bid on this special opportunity.  I was worried there wouldn't be any bids, but it's up to $72 and there have been 18  bids.  So, thanks for not making me feel like loser. <grin>  ...Read More

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Last night I saw Lisa Ling, investigative reporter for the National Geographic Channel and Oprah.  She was part of the Smart Talk Women's Series and the first thing she'll tell you is that yes, she plans on reading Barbara Walters new book, she loved working on The View and no, she has never been one of Charlie's Angels.

But what she has done is nothing short of amazing.  Lisa started her career at age 16 when she snagged a hosting role on "Scratch," a teen magazine show.  She went on to  become a reporter...Read More

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Johnny Damon of the New York Yankees

Before I give you the news I heard this week, here's our baseball pic of the week.  You can send me your news, kudos, or fascinating tibits by emailing me here.  Or, feel free to send me a picture of your choice for our baseball player of the week.

From author Michelle Styles: &nb...Read More

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Before we get started on Your Turn Friday, I though I'd mention that we have now moved into the month of May, the 5th month of the year.  In 5 more months stores will have up their Christmas decorations and I haven't even had a chance to wear my sandals yet!  Is it just me or are the years flying by at an alarming rate.  It used to take forever for my birthday to arrive and now it slaps me in the face when I'm not looking.  I always have to stop and ponder how old I am.  And to think, on my 20th birthday I was already saying "I'm almost 21."  The almost days are long over.

...Read More

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Brenda and son Thad

Tomorrow is the first day of  Brenda Novak's Auction for Juvenille Diabetes.  There are over 1,000 items available including trips, once in a lifetime experiences, autographed books, jewelry, and special items for writers and readers that will be offered all month.  Everyday will have a "One Day Only" special item and my donation is a day of blogging here at ...Read More

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After all the nonstop action of the last couple of weeks, I was looking forward to a little down time.  Sunday was supposed to be spent in jammies surrounded by the dozens of new books I collected at the conferences I'd been to.  But my son called, so I dropped everything to help him out.

Now, don't go thinking the worst.  Andrew called to say that he just found out Best Buy had a shipment of Wii's in and he was on his way to get one.  The next thing I knew, I was at his place to help him break it in.  I am not a video game player.  Everything always moves too fast for me and all the buttons on the controllers give me a migraine.

Andrew assured me I could handle it, yet I...Read More

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Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees

I'm starting off Mondays with pictures of baseball players, so when I Googled "hot baseball players" I got a Yahoo question from a girl who wanted names and pics of hot players. When this came up for Robinson Cano, I couldn't resist.
 
Well, I'm home for 2 weeks before I head off to the WisRWA conference in Green Bay, WI with my Flip video camera.  I'm still downloading videos and I'll be posting more from RT and...Read More

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Breakfast buds:  Claranne Perkins, Jennifer Clark and Leslie Langtry

At the breakfast gathering, Christie Ridgway took us through her journey to become a published author.  This fast talking dynamo barely took a breath as she had the crowd laughing along with her.

I met Debbie Macomber a few years ago on the Author's at Sea crui...Read More

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The hour drive to Illinois (on my way to the Spring Fling RWA) shouldn't have been a big deal, but the final 38 miles of construction were a killer.  Then, one of the tolls was a dollar, but only took coins, so I yelled to a construction worker that I only had a dollar bill and he told me I could drive through and pay it online.  So now I'm afraid the toll police are looking for me because I haven't paid it yet.  Finally at my exit and I can see the hotel, but because of the construction, I can't get there.  I need to drive about a mile down the road before I can turn around and come back to enter the makeshift driveway.  What...Read More

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Come on, you had to know that as soon as I got a copy of this picture it would be front and center.  It is now the wallpaper on my computer, feel free to use it on your computer.

Here is a small photo gallery of some of my favorite shots from RT. Click on the image to see full sized photos: 

...Read More

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