free stuff to win

Hi, This is just a short post because I thought you might enjoy the chance to get free stuff. Rachelle Christensen has a new book coming out today, Caller ID. I haven't read it but I have read two of her earlier books. Judging from them, I'm sure I'll enjoy this one.

Here's the deal. This offer is only good for today, March 22 because she is trying to get as many copies sold today as she can so she can break the top 100 list on Amazon. That will help her book get a spot where she will be noticed. Just buying her book will get you all the free stuff. There are a lot of e-books, etc. Even if you don't have an e-reader, you can download Kindle for free on your computer.

Here is the location to cut and paste to read about the free giveaway http://rachellewrites.blogspot.com/p/book-bomb-3-22.html

Here is the location to cut and paste to read a review -http://www.queenoftheclan.com/2012/03/book-blast-for-caller-id-by-rachelle-j.html

I will also forward a blog talking about it.

Hope you win!

Retirement Quest: Book Review

Retirement Quest: Make Better Decisions by John Hauserman, CFP

Click here to purchase book

Unless forced to, most of us never quite take the time to consciously think through our plans for retirement. The blessing of our longer life spans has proven to be a curse for the Social Security system which planned for helping senior citizens for a much shorter time. Subconsciously, I tell myself that everything will be all right, that retirement is in the future and I might get around to thinking about it tomorrow. In my mind, I am still young, but in human years, I am fast approaching that magic age. I need a plan of action. Now.

Retirement Quest: Make Better Decisions (RQ) looked like a good place to start. A better sub-title for this book might have been “Make Better Financial Decisions, since it does nothing to address the issues of health care, assisted living, which type of Depends is better, etc. Still, for finance information, it held some valuable information.


The author, John Hauserman, is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) based in Maryland and was named a five-star wealth manager by Baltimore Magazine. His own business card reads “Retirement Quest: Wealth Management.” Oh, how I would love to be wealthy (and healthy) in my retirement.

Beyond giving background into the need for financial planning, RQ is a basic primer for investors, explaining stocks, bonds, insurance, etc., The explanations are simple and easy to understand, with a little bit of effort, nothing too deep or intimidating. Except that technical books of any type can be a little bit intimidating and require more thought than your everyday romance.

RQ points out, explains and gives examples of how young and old alike need to be actively engaged in planning for their own financial future. Formulas are given for figuring out current assets and projecting necessary funds for the future. The differences in the types of insurance, and in the types of financial planners and brokers are explained.

Mr. Hauseman gives information and general suggestions for investment but avoids giving any specific recommendations, noting that too many variables such as individual needs and assets and market volatility affect what the best investing strategies are.

The end of the book moves quietly into politics and its role in economics and market cycles then explains how the US got into its current economic state. I especially enjoyed this part of the book and its depiction of a generation who went through depressions and wars and came out fighting and working for everything they had then raised a generation who didn’t have a concept of what being needy was.

The analogy of the “frog in a pot” was especially apt. We have gone our merry way without a care until we are in big financial trouble. (My expanded version: A frog was put into a pot of water and thought everything was great. He was happy and could swim around without a care. He continued to feel secure as the water heated up until, before he realized anything was wrong, it was too late....he was cooked.)

I had to say “amen” to many of the observations in this book. My own dubious investment history bears out many of his cautionary tales. I could see myself in his “dot.com” scenarios and his stories of people hanging onto too much stock for sentimental reasons. For those who haven’t found themselves in these situations yet, his advice is priceless.

A technical book is difficult to review because there is no plot to summarize and condensing technical matter just doesn’t work. The best thing I can say for this book is that I highly recommend it because it gives the reader the knowledge she needs to make informed decisions.....hopefully with the help of a professional.

As for using this as a book group discussion, I can only say that while it sounds like a good idea on the surface, it would be like supplying a group of teen-age boys with a bunch of illegal fireworks. Without the experts to help, someone would end up getting his hand blown off.

To read more about the author, click here.

Click here to follow the blog tour for Retirement Quest.

Seize the day

Happy Thanksgiving!
Yep, I'm late. Things have been chaos here. Loo and family arrived late Saturday. She and the kids and I went to SLC and Provo on Tuesday to visit her work, etc (show off the kids).

Then on Wednesday,(you know, the day before Thanksgiving when I was supposed to be getting things ready for the Big Eat) an old steam engine stopped for fifteen minutes in Lynndyl so we all went in to see it. Farmer Boy saw someone he knew and asked why he was there. He replied that he was picking up family that rode from Delta. Well, after everyone disembarked Farmer Boy asked the conductor if they were taking riders. Yep, to Stockton (by Tooele).

Gramps grabbed little LL1 (21 months) hopped on the train with Farmer Boy Roo and Auntie C.(sister-in-law-who couldn't=find-her-husband-because-he-was-way-down-the-train-track-taking-pictures). Moo ran and got crackers ,etc for LL1 and took it on the train to give them. When she went to get off, the conductor told her it was too late. She had to throw her car keys out the window to Loo! All in about 5 minutes.

I had to cancel piano lessons, then Loo and I rushed to get to Stockton, about 60 miles away to get everyone! They had a wonderful time, but I didn't get much done. I enjoyed it anyway. One of the seize-the-moments.

Even with the train ride thrown in we still had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the food and everything. Glad we seized the moment.

Twins

Wow, It has been so long since I posted that I forgot my password and everything else. It must be something earth shattering to get me off my duff. Well, it is.
We got our "twins" last night. They were born 3 hours apart on opposite sides of the country, on the same day in my time zone, but different days in their own time zones.
Baby one (the second one due) was born in Oregon at 7:34 p.m. (8:34 MST) on July 18, 2011. She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long.
Baby two (the first one due) was born at 1:39 a.m. (11:39 p.m. MST) on July 19 (July 18 MST) in North Carolina.
Both mothers and babies are doing fine. Mom one was induced and Mom two, after hearing that Mom one (the second one due) had given birth, kicked into gear....really, really fast ....and had to race to the hospital an hour and a half away. She was in the delivery room for 4 minutes before giving birth. Which was lucky because the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Good outcome. Great story. Must have been the priesthood blessing by Pop2 before they left home.
Mom two figured out that after hearing her cousin had made it to earth, Baby LooBoo decided to hurry on down. I can't wait to see them both. They must both be just beautiful. So very very grateful that they are both....actually all four....doing well. I have prayed for them all for a long time.

old friends

Wow! I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted on my blog. I promise to be better.
I'm kind of a random person. I write lists of things that I need to do everyday...or every other day...or occassionally. (I always spell that wrong) Then I do what ever hits me in the face.
The other day, I glanced next to my computer and noticed an old address book. I had a newer one so I decided to throw out the old one after I gleaned any needed addresses from it. Alas, there were very few if any that I needed. You see, most of the people in the book had moved on to heaven. It was like a trip down memory lane to read the names and I reminisced about good times with them. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. All played a special part in my life.
I know that I no longer need the book, but it seems sad to say goodbye. Goodbye, dear friends. I loved you all.

Perilous

Perilous by Tamara Heiner
Publisher: WiDo Publishing
price: $14.95, though it's available for pre-order on her website for $12.95.
available: Amazon.com and B&N.com for now
ISBN:9780979607

Small town Shelley, Idaho. Four friends. A trip to the mall and a jewelry heist. Only three of the friends make it out alive....and kidnapped.

Tamara Heiner has written a fast paced thriller about a group of innocent teens in small town America. An ordinary day turns into a nightmare and keeps getting worse. Heiner skillfully takes the girls into scary situations that don’t have that soft edges we might hope for in a teen novel. Bad things don’t just threaten to happen, they actually do happen. One of the girls finds a surprising tie to a town all the way across the country. And another girl is plunged into a deep, possibly dark and dangerous secret about her father.

Even though I had to read this book from the computer screen, I enjoyed it enough to keep reading and keep reading. (I know. People pay good money to read books from electronic screens, but I’m not quite there yet.....maybe with a good beach thrown in...?) The pace didn’t let up. My only regret about this book is that I didn’t have time to form much of an emotional attachment with any of the girls. I hope that in the sequel, Ms. Heiner will take a little more time to let us become acquainted with the players.

Good Job!

I asked Tamara how she came to write this book and she sent me a link to her blog that explained it all. It seems that as a twelve-year-old she had much too much time on her hands. After trying everything else she could think of to relieve the boredom, she decided to write a book. She decided to write about four friends and a shopping mall adventure. The book was finished and typed up (by a very kind father) by the time she was 13 years old. Wow! Talk about focus. I think that she has revised it a bit over the years, but the concept has remained the same. To read in more detail, go to: http://tamarahartheiner.blogspot.com/2009/07/countdown-15-study-hall.html
It's a fun story.

Tamara also has two fun contest going with her blog tour. You can win an autographed copy of her book or a Kindle. Really. A Kindle. Below, direct from her own website are the rules and her blog tour schedule. Good Luck.

"
1) There will be two book giveaways. Signed copies of Perilous, of course. All you have to do to get in on that action is make a comment anywhere in the blog tour. The drawing will be completely random. Of course, the more comments you make, the more chances you have of winning.

2) There will be a Kindle giveaway. This WON'T be random. Kindles are kind of a big thing, so I'm going to make you work for it. The giveaway will be point based, in other words, whoever has the most points at the end of the blog tour wins the Kindle. The contest will run until Dec. 15, at which point all hopeful winners will email me at tamara at tamarahartheiner dot com with their points and their proofs.

Here's how you get points:
+1 for each comment on the blog tour
+1 be a follower on my blog (old or new)
+1 retweet
+2 blog about the blog tour
(You prove all of those by emailing me the links.)
+5 purchase the book; ebook or paperback, doesn't matter
(Email me the confirmation number of your purchase.)"


Oct. 15 David J. West http://david-j-west.blogspot.com/
Oct. 18 Nichole Giles http://www.starcrossedbookreviews.blogspot.com
Oct. 19 Talli Roland http://talliroland.blogspot.com/
Oct. 20 Guinevere Rowell http://thisisnotnotmydayjob.blogspot.com/
Oct. 21 Mary Gray http://m-gray.blogspot.com/
Oct. 22 Frankie http://smblooding.blogspot.com/
Oct. 25 Lluvia (maybe, if her computer is working) http://iwaitforthatday.blogspot.com/ and Mary Greathouse http://marysgreathouse.blogspot.com
Oct. 26 RaShelle Workman (interview) http://rashelleworkman.blogspot.com/
Oct. 27 T. Anne Adams http://whiteplatonicdreams.blogspot.com/
Oct. 28 Valerie Ipson http://valerieipson.blogspot.com/
Oct. 29 Ann Best http://ann-jen.blogspot.com/
Nov. 1 Christy Dorrity http://www.dearestdreams.com/
Nov. 2 Chrstine Bryant http://www.ckbryant.blogspot.com
Nov. 3 Rebecca Blevins http://www.iamapistachio.blogspot.com/
Nov. 4 Kathryn Magendie (guest post) http://tendergraces.blogspot.com/
Nov. 5 Annett Lyon http://blog.annettelyon.com/ (interview) and Jaime Theler http://www.jaimetheler.blogspot.com (review)
Nov. 8 Jennifer Daiker http://jennifer-daiker.blogspot.com/
Nov. 9 Carolina Valdez http://carol-in-print.blogspot.com/
Nov. 10 Elizabeth Mueller http://elizabethmueller.blogspot.com/
Nov. 11 Christine Danek http://christinedanek.blogspot.com/
Nov. 12 Elle Strauss http://ellestraussbooks.blogspot.com/
Nov. 15 Niki http://wool-n-nuts.blogspot.com/
Nov. 16 Lynn Parsons http://lynndeniseparsons.blogspot.com/
Nov. 17 Danyelle Ferguson http://www.queenoftheclan.com/
Nov. 18 Elana Johnson http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/
Nov. 19 & 20 Sarah McClung http://babblingflow.blogspot.com/
Nov. 22 Suzanne Hartmann http://suzanne-hartmann2.blogspot.com/
Nov. 23 Marsha Ward http://marshaward.blogspot.com
Nov. 24 Tara McClendon http://eyefeathers.blogspot.com/
Nov. 29 Diana Miezcan http://diana212m.blogspot.com/
Nov. 30 Tristi Pinkston http://www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com/
Dec. 1 Cheri Chesley http://cherichesley.blogspot.com/
Dec. 2 Karen Gowen http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/
Dec. 3 Melanie Jacobson http://readandwritestuff.blogspot.com/
Dec. 6 Kristie Ballard www.thiscrazywritingthing.blogspot.com
Dec. 7 Melissa Cunningham http://melissajcunningham.blogspot.com/
Dec. 8 Arlee Bird http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/
Dec. 9 Debbie Davis www.debbiesinkspectations.blogspot.com
Dec. 10 Taffy Lovell http://taffyscandy.blogspot.com
Dec. 13 Sheri Larsen http://writersally.blogspot.com
Dec. 14 Joyce DiPastena http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/

Guest Blog for LDS Writer's Blogck

I was asked to be a guest writer for the blog LDS Writers Blogck (http://www.ldswritersblogck.blogspot.com/) and I thought I would share it here as well.

I kept putting off writing this blog because there was always tomorrow. Then I ran out of tomorrows.

`I finally came up with something that I thought was fantastic. I had it all planned out in my head.....stories, details, witty little analogies.

Then I lost my mind.

Well, not really lost my mind. I am still capable of giving someone a piece of my mind. But I did lose my train of thought. Totally.

I am the writer of non-fiction, specifically local and personal histories. Actually, I think that history is NOT non-fiction. After my writing experiences, I believe that all history has an element of fiction.

After gathering stories and facts for my histories, I began the work of putting them together in a logical, complete written form. That is when I discovered that the stories had holes in them, sometimes very large holes.

When a person tells a story, he puts it in his own context. He knows the background well but he keeps that part in his head. The listener (or reader) probably doesn’t have the same background so he fills in the blanks with his own experience. And thus, history becomes a mixture of true history and created history.

That brings me to the subject of writing your own history or memoirs so you can fill in all those holes with the facts as you remember them (not always accurate either.)

A memoir is “a person’s written account of his own life; an autobiography.
Will Rogers put it a little more pithily: "Memoirs means when you put down the good things you ought to have done and leave out the bad ones you did do."
[Marshal Pétain "To write one's memoirs is to speak ill of everybody except oneself"]
Mary Greathouse “A history book gives dates and facts, but a memoir evokes memories and emotions. It connects us to the reader.

In days of yore, only generals and prostitutes wrote memoirs. I don’t know who read the general’s memoirs, but the prostitutes had a vast audience eager for their exciting tales.

Today, anyone can write a memoir. Movie stars wishing for a few more seconds of fame, politicians seeking a bigger voting audience or an ego boost, and everyday people just wanting to tell their stories.


I think most of us ordinary people write our memoirs so that we can connect with our families and friends. We want to pass on to them who we are and what we value. Mostly, though, we think our lives are not important enough to write down, so the next generation is left with the job.

They go about it with the best of intentions, and the worst of knowledge. Bits and pieces of stories that they remember Mom and Dad telling, differing greatly from the stories their siblings remember. That makes my case for writing our own stories. Who do you want telling your story? (The answer isn’t as obvious as it sounds. I have avoided telling my kids about my early dating years so they have come up with a pretty amazing romantic life for me. My version is truer, but theirs is funner.)

Why should we write our memoirs at all? Here is a short list
-To connect with those around you including your descendants
-To relive the memories
-To pass along your heritage
-To pass along your values
-To give your posterity a firm foundation
-To leave your testimony in words and acts
-To iron out differences

The son of a WWII veteran talked his father into writing his autobiography, The father had been emotionally distant for all of his son’s life. In writing the memoirs, the son learned of his father’s horrifying experiences as a prisoner of war in Japan. Finally he understood the emotion pain of his father and why he had not been available to his son for all of those years. They were able to become closer as they worked together and discussed those long lost years.

-As therapy.

Sometimes we just need to get things out of our systems and the only way to do it is to write it down. This is valuable purpose for writing a memoir, but it might not be something you will want to share. Someone reading these entries may not understand the background and circumstance and may misconstrue what you say.

There is more to writing memoirs, but this is enough for one blog. Thanks for listening.