Earth-Friendly Friday

What percentage of U.S. rivers originate in national forests?

Eighty percent. The rivers provide clean drinking water to 60 million people in thirty-eight states. They also are the home to thousands of species of fish.

We need to protect our rivers and our forests.

Dark Places

I've started reading a new book. I liked the title. I know, you can't judge a book by it's...cover...and the title is even less than the cover. But it was also on the New York Times Best Seller List so I thought, "what the heck" and "why not?"

I picked it up and I'm about half way through the 345 pages. But this isn't my usual type of book. It's slower than I usually like and there is to much "real" drama in the story. I usually prefer horror - 'cuz it's not as horrible as some of the stuff that happens in homes across America. But this keeps me reading. I don't know. Maybe I'll make it to end of the book. I don't know.

But right now, I'm going to get back to it.

Gillian Flynn must have done something write 'cuz I'm still reading and, like I said, this isn't my usual choice for a book to curl up in bed with and twiddle away the hours.

Zombie Squish - FREE VIDEO GAME

So my sons and a couple of their friends have been working on a video game app for the Windows 7 phone and, yes, it's a zombie game.

So, if you have a Windows 7 phone, you can download it for FREE and start squishing those zombies before they take over the world. And, with Halloween just around the corner, there's no better time to start getting your game-on with Zombies.

Try it! I think you'll like it - I did. In fact, it's almost addicting.

ARGHHH mateys, what could be more fun than squishing some pirate zombies?



Only listening to the sounds of the green slime oozing over the screen...


And, if that's not enough to get you to click on over to grab some free gaming fun, just look at the zombies getting slimed...



Now, that's what I call some good green fun ;)

If you want to read up on it before you start playing, check it out here.

There are three ways to download the game for free to your phone. Check them out here.

Pints to Pasta

I did it!!! I finished the 10k which is 6.2 miles. I've done it before but it was HOT, actually one of the hottest mornings we've had here in Portland. So, I was struggling.

I wanted to run 10 minute miles. I didn't quite do as well as I wanted but I was happy my pace was under 11 minutes per mile. I just have to keep practicing and working to get faster.

How 'bout you - do you have any fitness goals you're working on? running it

TrueBlood End of Season

It was the end for TrueBlood - at least for the season. And I had to do something. I mean it's going to be months before I see my HBO friends again and after getting to know them so well from reading their stories - thanks to Charlaine Harris, it's hard to be away from them for so long.

So, I invited a few girlfriends over to share the finale. And we had to eat and drink a little. So I made a Fanpire Cake, some magical cupcakes and we said a toast with a little "Bat Juice". Oh, and we had a little finger food ;)

Here's how I did it.

The finger food was just breadsticks that I stuck almond slivers on and brushed with butter before I baked them.

I made a couple of cakes and frosted them with a whipped cream frosting then I covered it with red fondant.

I sprayed some Wilton Color Mist - Food Color Spray on top of the cake using a vampire stencil. Then I added some frosting to cover the connections.


And, added some fondant bats to finish it off.


I bought a couple of labels and taped them over my favorite wines to give them some added TrueBlood charm


It was a fun party but I was disappointed with what the writers did to Tara. It had me crying in my green witch hat cupcakes.

Birthday Bash

It's a strange phenomena in our family...multiple birthdays. My husband and I share a birthday. One of my brothers and sisters share a birthday and...yes, two of my kids share the same birthday. Pretty coincidental. Maybe it's destiny. The fates bringing us together.

And, you might think sharing a birthday would make people super similar...sort of like twins.

Nope. That's not how it works.

We're totally different. But sharing a birthday creates a bond that can't be broken. But, we share so many things...more important than birthdays.

How 'bout you...any strange coincidences in your family tree?

Meg Cabot's Overbite

This was a fun book. Meg Cabot is a wonderful writer and anyone who knows me knows I'm a true fanpire. And I love all those vampires lurking in the shadows of this story.

This is another one of those "Twilight" romantic triangle stories. The big difference here is that this story is about a wonderful guy gone bad...well, he's been bad since birth but you can't really blame him. After all, he's the son of Dracula. The Prince of Darkness is a charismatic, gorgeous guy and if that's not enough to draw you to him, he's all powerful--or at least nearly "all" powerful. He can rip doors off cars without any effort and he comes to the rescue of ... yep, once again, it's a beautiful girl named Meena. But Meena doesn't want to become another demoness of darkness. Instead she becomes a kick-butt beauty who goes into battle against the forces of evil by staking those vamps. But she never gives up hope for Lucien.

And she has good reason to hold out hope for him. His Dad might be Dracula but his Mom was an angel. So, while the war of good and evil is ramping up the drama, Lucien has his own battle of good and evil waging a war within him.

Now, if you want to find out which side wins--you'll have to read the story. And, I recommend this one.

If you read it, please pop back by and let me know.