Gone by Lisa Gardner

When someone you love vanishes without a trace, how far would you go to get them back?

For ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, it's the beginning of his worst nightmare: a car abandoned on a desolate stretch of Oregon highway, engine running, purse on the driver's seat. And his estranged wife, Rainie Conner, gone, leaving no clue to her fate.

Did one of the ghosts from her troubled past finally catch up with Rainie? Or could her disappearance be the result of one of the cases they'd been working-a particularly vicious double homicide or the possible abuse of a deeply disturbed child Rainie took too close to heart? Together with his daughter, FBI agent Kimberly Quincy, Pierce is battling the local authorities, racing against time and frantically searching for answers to all the questions he's been afraid to ask.
One man knows what happened that night. Adopting the moniker from an eighty-year old murder, he has already contacted the press. His terms are clear: he wants money, he wants power, he wants celebrity. And if he doesn't get what he wants, Rainie will be gone for good.

Sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, it's still not enough.

As the clock winds down on a terrifying deadline, Pierce plunges headlong into the most desperate hunt of his life, into the shattering search for a killer, a lethal truth, and for the love of his life who may forever be gone.


Rainie's been kidnapped then Douggie disappears too. Who's taken them and why a ransom for only $10,000?? Obviously the kidnapper is in it for more than the money. Lots of little stories going on and with a couple of previous cases of the FBI still open there are too many leads to follow in too short a time. I really liked the development of characters; Quincy, Ranie, Douggie, Danicic, Stanley Carpenter, Kimberly, Mac and Sheriff Atkins.

25 Secrets to Happiness

I think I've put this up before but it's very important.

25 Secrets to Happiness

1. Listen to your wife
2. Admit when you make a mistake
3. Stop having to assign blame
4. Listen more, talk less
5. Strive for excellence, not perfection
6. Don’t make excuses
7. Don’t be argumentative
8. Get organized
9. Be kind to kind people
10. Be even more kind to unkind people
11. Make time to be alone
12. Make good manners a priority
13. Be humble
14. Return everything you borrow
15. Try to do something nice every day without ‘getting caught’
16. Be on time
17. Let someone go ahead of you in line
18. Reread your favorite book
19. Realize and expect that life isn’t always ‘fair’
20. Know when to say something
21. Know when to be quiet
22. Try not to criticize anyone for a whole day
23. Donate blood
24. Live beneath your means
25. Give away clothes you don’t wear anymore
26. Learn from the past, plan for the future, live in the present
Okay, it’s 26 because I thought the first one should be NUMBER 1

Although I try to achieve all of them I have particular trouble with #3, #4 and #21. How about you?

Weekend Projects

Well, I did pretty good and kept my nose to the grindstone. I made two darling aprons for my granddaughters to use when helping me cook. When I tell Peanut it's time to cook dinner she says "where's my apron", so now I have one for her at Mimi's house.



I also did a lot of work on crib size quilts but didn't finish anything... these really are longer time projects. But I did finish a little cross stitch stocking.



I also got in a few WII workouts. I'm finding the boxing really works out my 'back fat' :). Still haven't done the 'bike' workout but I'm getting better at the soccer and I actually caught a hula hoop... I know I know everyone is doing better than me, but it's still a workout. Both of us are really enjoying it.

Oh yeah, look what else I found on my camera. Peanut playing Farkle with us :) I think we took this right after Christmas.

Weekend Plans

Looking forward to starting my long weekend. Anyone else adding a day to their weekend? I have lots of projects going and hope to get a few of them finished this weekend. The New Year has me starting a lot of new things :) Also plan on fitting in a lot of WII Fit. We got it for Christmas and are having a ball with it.

Check back next week and see what I've been up to.

Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver

Roadside Crosses (2009)

The Monterey Peninsula is rocked when a killer begins to leave roadside crosses beside local highways . . . not as memorials of past accidents, but as an announcement of his intention to kill. And to kill in a particularly horrific and efficient way: using the personal details about the victims that they've carelessly posted in blogs and on social networking web sites.
The case lands on the desk of Kathryn Dance, an agent with the California Bureau of Investigation and the state's foremost kinesics — body language — expert. She, along with close associate and friend, Deputy Michael O'Neil, and the fellow CBI agents introduced in The Sleeping Doll, follow the leads to Travis Brigham, a troubled teenager, who is retaliating against those who have posted attacks on him in a popular blog, The Chilton Report, for his part in a fatal car accident that took the lives of two high school girls.
The investigation reveals that Travis, who idolizes the Columbine and Virginia Tech killers, is bent on revenge — first against those who cyberbullied him, then against anyone connected with the blog that, he believes, has destroyed his life. He vanishes and, using techniques he learned as a brilliant participant in MMORPGs, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, easily eludes his pursuers and continues to track his victims, some of whom Kathryn is able to save just in time, some not. Among the obstacles Kathryn must hurdle are politicians from Sacramento, paranoid parents and the blogger himself, James Chilton, whose belief in the importance of blogging and the new media threaten to derail the case . . . and possibly Dance's career itself.
The book picks up only a few weeks after The Sleeping Doll ended and Kathryn must not only run the Roadside Cross case but has to confront issues that loomed at the end of that first book in the series — issues that threaten to tear her family apart.
Typical of the author's novels, Roadside Crosses is a roller coaster of a thriller. It takes place over four days, is filled with dozens of plot twists, cliffhangers and heart-rending personal subplots.
And, not surprisingly, the novel offers up several, well, surprise endings.
A searing look at the accountability of blogging and life in the online world, Roadside Crosses is the third in Deaver's high-tech thriller trilogy, along with The Blue Nowhere and The Broken Window.


I found this book very interesting and enjoyed the modern day element of a 'blog' involved. It was definitely a page turner. If you like thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat you'll definitely like this one.

Eugene James Ott

I've been in a funk lately and it's showing up in my blogging. Two thousand nine ended in a big way for us. My brother went to his glory on December 31, 2009.

August 9, 1944 - December 31, 2009

His daughter put it best when she said he wanted to celebrate the coming of the new year with his wife who died about 6 years ago. I was probably closest with this brother (one of six) and talked with him about once a week. He was a strong family man and there was always room for one more in their household. He raised four children between him and his wife and they went on to raise two grandchildren. Along the way there was a nephew that moved in during his high school years and lots more that were not related in any way than by love.

His love and generosity will be missed by a lot of family and friends. When I think of Gene I think of love. I'm going to miss him.

What Type of Weather Are You?

Yikes!! It's been a while - I need to find more time for posting. I have lots of ideas, need more time. :)

What Type of Weather are You? (Kawaii!) Your Result: Sunny   You are full of energy, joy, and fun! Everyone appreciates your warm presence and you seldom go unnoticed. You are the center of the universe to many people in your life. However, when you get mad, you burn! [no urls]
Flood
Snow
Tornado!
Wind
Derecho
Rain
Mist/Fog
Hurricane
Cloudy
What Type of Weather are You? (Kawaii!) Quiz Created on GoToQuiz