Sammy notes

I step off the deck, carefully avoiding the ice patches as Shorty sprints to sniff recently left rabbit prints. My face is covered with a scarf, my feet with boots, my head with a hat, my hands with gloves. The wind, thankfully, is absent. Shorty continues sniffing on his preordained trail, first checking the raspberry bush, then the holes in the fence, then the lilac tree. Stars twinkle shyly in the denim-blue sky, a moon sliver tucked in its back pocket. I close my eyes and repurpose the sound of nearby traffic as ocean waves crashing into rocks. The outside light glinting onto the snow makes it glitter like white sand. Beach sand. Warm beach sand. I burrow my nose further into my scarf. For a moment, there is no cold, only warmth. Shorty prances up to me holding up his paw, his rabbit hunt completed and his feet chilly. “You’re right, buddy,” I tell him. “Let’s go back inside. It’s effing cold out.”

 So Leah’s comment yesterday got me thinking: That said, it should be on the label. Period. I personally don’t like fruit flavored foods, so I rarely eat them, but still, I like to know what I’m eating. And thank your lucky stars I’m not blogging additives/preservatives in our food. I’ll save you that rant. I’m talking smells. Specifically, in my case anyway, fruit smells. I hate fruit smells–except citrus. I hate really perfumy, flowery smells either. I won’t wear flowery lotion (seriously, I hit an after-Christmas sale and bought some lotion from Bath and Body Works then went WTF? Why did you buy that when you can’t stand how it smells? Dumbass!), and I can’t stand to burn fruity candles. You’ll probably never catch a blueberry or apple scented candle in my house, I don’t care HOW MUCH it smells like apple pie. I love the smell of baking fruit pie…just not in a candle.  However, if it’s spicy or clean smelling (Lemongrass and Sage or Vanilla Lime…even plain old Lubriderm Lot...

 It’s that time again. Time to review the list of searched keywords people used to end up on this site. Once again the winner is (with numerous searches): “Kraft Egg Noodle Dinner” Yes. Apparently I am not the only soul who is determined to taste again this delectable dish, as evidenced by the other search variations of “Chicken with Egg Noodle Dinner Kraft” and “Chicken with Egg Noodle Dinner Kraft Brown Box.” I bet somewhere there is evidence of my own escalating search frustration, something like “Egg Noodle Dinner Where Are You Hiding It Kraft Because I KNOW You Still Make It You Evil Noodle-Hoarding Bastards.” So I am going to do the entire WORLD a favor and tell you where my friend Michelle claims you can find it: at participating Festival Foods. Where the sneaky marketing people now call it “Kraft Noodle Classic Savory Chicken.” I’ll need to make a visit to see if she’s correct, and if she’s not, there will be tears. Hers AND mine. Supposedly, you can also find it online her...

As an author, there are times I make my husband sit with me in certain positions, then move to others, so I can see how awkward, or how to describe it. We usually snicker like 12 year olds the entire time. As a wife, I can say there is nothing that turns my husband off more than trying to live up to a mental fantasy I’ve got for/from one of my books. He prefers to be in the drivers seat, and for sex to be in the moment. That said, he doesn’t always *know* that some trick with my mouth may have come from my expanded horizons via reading…

So I was writing the other night and one little line I typed out made me pause. It was the heroine thinking about the hero. It made me think…hold up, Shelli. Is this the kind of hero people would read about? Well, before I get to far ahead of myself, let me just show you the line. This was the man who thought celibate had the same meaning as celebrate. Now I haven’t full out decided if the hero really was that dense about the meaning of celibate, or if he was just screwing with the heroine’s head when he said it. Probably the second one. When I considered the first, I thought…no guy could be that thick. And no reader would want to read a book about a hero like that. Someone who’s endearing, sexy as hell, but maybe a little slow on the big words. Might not have exactly gone to Harvard. No one would want a hero in that spotlight. Or would they. As I stared at that line I’d written, the image of one guy popped into my head. A guy who made that persona famous, and maybe we all could and di...

Here in Denmark it is completely illegal to hit a child. Not even as reasonable chastisement. We once had what was called the Right to Chastise. It was a right that all household heads had, meaning it was legal for a man to hit his wife and children, it was legal for him to hit his stable-boy etc etc. As workers unions grew powerful the right to chastise an employee physically became illegal, but it still applied to family members. I don’t recall how long ago it was abolished, suffice to say that it was. All smacking of others (adults as well as children) is illegal, but from there to people actually reporting a smack and a prosecution taking place – that’s loooong way. Currently there is a lot of outrage in the media because of Faderhuset (The House of Fathers). It’s a religious sect here in Denmark, it’s rather small, but some former members have told stories about how they as children were horribly abused there. It’s a Christian sect, which really favours the method “spare the rod a...

 Yesterday I joined a workshop organized by Brilliant Brain College. The theme of the workshop was "let's improve and strengthen our thesis writing ability through workshop and training in writing thesis". The participants of this workshop were student from three univeristies in Makassar; State University of Makassar (UNM), Makassar Muhammadiyah University (UMM) and Makassar Islamic University (UIM). The total of participants was about a hundred students. There were two keynote speakers in this workshop, the Dean 1 of English Literature Department of UNM and a senior English lecturer of Hasanuddin University. They talked about how to writing a good thesis and its components. I was so impressed with the second speaker whose a very good English pronunciation and I can interpret very well what she said. Participating in this workshop I can get many new information and knowledge about thesis writing. I am still a student and I will make a thesis too one day. In this workshop ...

My “Expected Grace” post went a little viral over the past two months. Over a million people have read it. One million! (Yes, I’m holding my pinky finger up to my lips and channeling Dr. Evil.) It’s been a fun ride, an opportunity for introspection, and a little bit of a celebration. I’m thrilled, honored, and humbled to have so many new readers. A warm welcome and a big hug to every single one of you. Perhaps the biggest surprise to me throughout this journey was the response I received to this sentence: “Chris was still in Mississippi, and the full-time working/single-parenting/new home/new community gig was getting to me.” For those who are new here, I’m not a single parent. I have a very devoted, loving, involved husband who equally shares the joys and challenges of raising our four kids. This year will mark our 20th anniversary, and we’ve been together for 26. The time I was referencing in this sentence was the month that I lived in Ohio while he lived in Mississippi. And my point...

I’m not what you’d call a “political” person. So it makes me a bit uneasy to post about a “political” topic, but as a writer, when the muse calls… it’s best not to let that one go to voice mail. I watched with wonder yesterday as my Facebook friends split before my eyes… half to the right, half to the left — as if to make way for the charging bull of Obamacare that was snorting and slobbering as it barreled down the road toward them. I especially got a giggle from the Tweeters who said they were going to move to Canada in protest. Once they’re there, I hope they’ll write home about what true socialized healthcare looks like. So, here’s the thing. I just can’t bring myself to argue with logic and policy that serves the common good. I’m well aware there are many out there who can poke their fingers straight through the gaping holes in my theory. But it’s mine, and I stand by it. Many of you can tell me how bad this will be for businesses, for employers, for your checkbooks. I get that. I...

 Join me foBlog Tour Jul 2021 a week-long blog tour this week highlighting my romantic suspense ebook Synapse! Congratulations to Deb Pelletier who won the box of Irish items in a random draw of commenters! And congratulations to Carrie Ann Ryan who won a $10 GC to Amazon for the most comments on her blog! Thanks to all who participated in the blog tour, it was a great week to meet new readers! Monday, July 13: Good Family Reads Tuesday, July 14: Book Bags and Cat Naps Thursday, July 15: Rachel Brimble Romance Friday, July 16: Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog I'm giving away a gift of basket of Irish goodies for one random commenter during the tour and in addition, I'm giving a $10 Amazon gift card to the blog host with the most comments! Note: please leave comments at the tour stops rather than here at Write About. Thanks! :) Synapse Stalked by a killer bent on stealing her laboratory notebook, scientist Molly Augur is desperate to figure out who she can and cannot trust. With the h...

If you’re familiar with sophiticated and stylish hairstyles during prom events, I am sure you will be interested with what I wore at my college prom. I wore a simple long gown with a side slit that added glamour to the attire. The light green, long gown matched with my dark green heels with little spots of faded yellow color. To finish off the look, I wore a dazzling diamond necklace and matching earrings. My mother allowed me to borrow her bangle that is made of sparkling diamonds. For my hairstyle, I got the inspiration from fashion bloggers, hairuwear, style trendsetters and celebrity hairdressers. My outfit was emphasized by the sleek and sophisticated hairstyle. Adorned with colorful and small flowers, I opted for an up-do style that perfectly framed my face. My on-trend makeup and pink handbag highlighted the light green gown. Of course, I won an award that night. I was the best dressed lady.

Amelia Brown is the newest addition to our Clan. She was born last June 14, 2021 at the Baguio General Hospital Medical Center. My mom was there when she was born, she together with Tito Paul assisted my Tita Apple during her labor. She looks like her dad and can open her eyes wide already. I don’t like her because it’s my very first time to be around and see a newborn baby. I cry when they try to keep her near from me. I don not like her presence at all. I am only 3 years old and that’s how I react, maybe when she is already big like me I am able to like her since we are cousins.

It’s been a while since I last visited my blog. I am getting busy each day because mom told me that she is going to enroll me in a swimming class this summer and in a day care center this coming school year. She already made inquiries but it seemed they don’t accept kids below 3 years old. If only they knew what I can do, They will probably say that I can keep up with grade 1 students. Mom and I are busy playing and studying together. She is teaching me how to count, sooner or later I can do addition all by myself. Mom and dad let me use iPod and laptop everyday. It’s a new way of learning. They let me watch educational videos and play educational games. I guess there is nothing wrong if I use gadgets everyday as long as my parents supervise me. I also take part in household chores. I help mom in her laundry and watch her as she cooks so I can help her when I am big enough, I help my uncle in putting new kitchen cabinets under the sink and I put my toys back inside the basket after pla...

Mama was looking for possible sponsor of our charity event so she sent e-mail to all diaper company that she knew, unfortunately no one replied. Mama didn’t lose hope for she asked all her friends if they knew a company who is willing to help us. A good samaritan named Sherilyn Tan told Drypers about our event. We don’t know her personally, we are not even friends on Facebook and I am very glad that someone like her is sent from heaven to help us. A staff from MomCenter Philippines asked my mom’s full name, address, contact number and all the things needed for the shipment. The very next day, two boxes of diapers are already in front of our house. This is me and mama. I am trying to help her sort out the diapers from newborn to XL size.

We have three cute little puppies. Daddy Olan brought them home when they are just days old. The color brown puppy is Vivian, her sister Jodi is the one with brown and white color. The last one is Carlo, his sister Sexy died inside the box on our way to Baguio City. Rest in peace…

REPOST FROM MAMA. I saw this blog post about Samsung's SHARK SERIES notebook, the SF410. I think it's a very good Christmas gift for me. Hahahaha! This portable laptop runs on an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a GeForce 310M card. This isn't just for work, it's a decent gaming laptop. Since I never had my own desktop and laptop. I ask mom to help me about this a while ago and she just said. Don't ask me, I have my own laptop alreadyт. Whoa! She is so nice. I love her much. So I am asking you my fellow friends, families and blogging mates, (is this right? LOL) please help me to win this contest. Kindly drop me some comments about this Samsung thingy that turned into an acronym so that we can spell out words. The word JAPAN for example is: J- ust A- lways P- ray A- t N- ight Let's see how much words we can use to spell out SAMSUNG. Entries can be in English / Filipino / Taglish.You can submit as many entries as you want in the comments but make sure you l...