Hand of Fate by Lis Wiehl

Panic ensues in Portland after talk radio host Jim Fate is killed with poisonous gas. Police quickly evacuate downtown and the investigation begins. The Triple Threat of FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges, Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce, and crime reporter Cassidy Shaw spring to action to solve the crime. Who killed Jim Fate and why?

I have to say that I was mildly skeptical when I started reading this book. This is the second book in a series and I usually start a series at the beginning. Add an author I’ve never read to the mix and I tend to be a little more critical than I probably should be. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The characters were well developed and I felt as if I didn’t miss anything by not reading the first book, but still got a good idea of who the characters were. They were real people with challenges just like the rest of us.

I’m a suspense novel junkie and I usually figure out who did it about halfway through the book. That was not the case here. Surprisingly, a major twist near the end left me in awe that my assumptions were wrong. Who did it? You’ll just have to read the book for yourself to find out.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Holy Whole Wheat Batman!

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've done any baking until today. I am WAY out of practice & it shows. I took on the challenge of using whole wheat flour to add a healthy boost. Now, I'm wondering what would possess me to do such a thing!

My first baking experiment actually turned out quite yummy, giant breakfast cookies with raisins. I got the recipe here, http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/giant-breakfast-cookies . Emma & I both had one and they were so tasty. She even asked for a second one.

My second experiment...the jury is still out on that one...it's still cooling. I realized very quickly that there is a reason why I own a bread machine. Yep, I made bread, and in the theme of the day, it's whole wheat too. It was kind of a comedy of disasters. The yeast wouldn't proof because the house was too cold, tried again & the liquid was too hot. Then the dough wouldn't rise so I had to force it to rise on the top of the stove by preheating the oven. I didn't let it rise enough in the pan so the loaf was much smaller than I expected.

Maybe the dough I froze will work better for the next loaf...we'll see!

The good news is that the salsa I made yesterday turned out so good, even Emma will eat it. She got a chunk of jalapeno today and instantly wanted to spit it out but I coaxed her past it & gave her a drink. She's such a trooper! I adapted the recipe from Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/. I never thought of using canned tomatoes in salsa before but it worked!

Now I'm off to see if I can avoid destroying dinner!

Buyer Beware

I'm going to start out by apologizing. This is a rant. If you don't want to read it, that's fine, I understand. But I just had a VERY bad experience with Target.com and I desperately need to vent.

I placed an order on Black Friday for my birthday/Christmas present. Okay... I ordered a Wii & a balance board. I thought it would be fun to play & the fitness options looked very interesting. I placed the order around 2pm after I was unable to snag a deal at any of the instore Black Friday sales.

A few hours later, I loggged into their website to double check something on my order and no order showed in my account. I called Target.com Guest Services & got an associate in their India call center. Yes, in case you didn't know... this Minneapolis based company has a call center in India! I was told by the gentleman that there was an issue with my credit card and my account was "on hold". He took some information from me including the phone number for the issuing bank of my credit card and told me I would get a call back from an Account Specialist in 24 hours. I called the bank to make sure that my minor purchase didn't violate any purchase limits on my card. The only limit was more than 10x the purchase price so no problems there. They stated that no approval had been attempted on my account. So I waited for my callback from Target....

I did not receive a call in 24 hours so I called back. Once again, I got an associate in India. He told me that the information I was given was incorrect, that I would not get a call back for 24 to 48 hours. He took my information again and said he would forward it to the Account Specialists. I had a sinking feeling I was starting to the the "run around" so I called back again. I spoke to a female this time & thought for sure that she was not in India. But as the conversation developed, I realized once again, I was talking to someone in India. She listened to what had happened and explained that I was given incorrect information. I felt briefly relieved...until she told me that the incorrect information was that I would receive an email, not a phone call in response to my order status. I called my bank again after completing the call, still no authorization attempts. So I waited for my email from Target....

A few minutes after 48 hours from the time I placed my order, I received an email from Target.com in my inbox. I eagerly opened the email anticipating the answer as to what the problem was with my credit card. This was their response....

Greetings from Target.com.

Unfortunately your recent order(s), including (#XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX) could not be processed. If you would still like to receive that item, we ask that you place a new order. Please accept our sincere apologies for any resulting inconvenience.

Thanks for shopping with us and we hope you'll visit again soon.


Sincerely,

Account Specialist
http://www.target.com

I was momentarily speechless. For anyone who knows me, that is a rare occasion! I checked Target.com and the Wii bundle I had placed my order for was now a higher price and they were out of stock and could not guarantee delivery by Christmas. I was furious. And a few moments later, I was on the phone to Target.com Guest Services again. I feel sorry for the poor woman who got the call. I didn't get angry, I just had a lot to say. She told me that I or someone else with access to my account had cancelled the order and that they showed my credit card had been deactivated. (The bank later explained that this was not true, they never even tried to get an authorization on my account.) The Target associate spoke with her supervisor and they would honor the price for a new order but still could not guarantee delivery by Christmas.

While I was on hold waiting for her to talk to her supervisor, I looked at Best Buy's website. I was in luck, they had the Wii & balance boards in stock. This week, you even got a $20 Best Buy gift card with a purchase of a Wii. I checked my local store & both items were in stock for instore pickup. Once the Target.com associate came back on the line, I explained that I would just file a complaint about the service at Target.com & make my purchase elsewhere. Minutes later I was out the door & in 15 minutes I was leaving Best Buy with my Wii & balance board in hand.

I called again to Target Guest Services this morning and spoke to someone else in India. They could not do anything but file a complaint or transfer me to Target.com Guest Services. So I filed a complaint. I fully expect that no one will ever contact me about it or even see it. I think it was just a waste of my time.

I don't know what is worse...that I found out that Target has outsourced it's Customer Service to India, or that Target.com failed in such a big way. I've worked in Customer Service most of my life & I understand that language has a lot to do with the expression of needs & wants, especially over the phone. I had script after script repeated to me because they didn't understand what I needed and had no way of resolving the problem, or transferring my call to someone who could. Target.com gets a big F- from me this Christmas season. I don't really think I'd buy from them online ever again. If I hadn't checked on my order, I'm sure I would have been rudely surprised after a week when the package never arrived & my chances of getting my Wii were slim to none!

Sorry Target.com but I won't miss you!

And Some People Think It's Sew Easy!

I took a quilting class today. It was a 2.5 hour beginner class that quickly turned into 3.5 with just 4 students and an instructor. I am now in awe of women who can quilt. I made 1- 12" block and I'm so exhausted that I think I might just take a nap! I made my block with 3 shades of purple fabric. It turned out cute but no where near perfect. Our instructor quickly pointed out that we need to practice, practice, practice in order to get the skills down.



Quilting is all about precision. The pieces need to be cut accurately, sewn precisely, and pressed properly in order for the smaller squares to make the larger block. Lots of measuring & cutting are necessary. I don't know if impatient me can really put forth the effort to make a whole quilt.

The good news is that I learned a lot of great tricks that will save me some time and effort with my sewing. Rotary cutting will take some practice to get used to but the class was well worth the money just to learn how to rotary cut. I also found a great use for painter's tape...use it to mark your seam allowance on your machine so you can use the edge of the tape as a guide when sewing.

Overall, I'm glad I took the class. I may not ever make a quilt but the skills I learned will hopefully make me a better sewer in the long run!

Machine Envy

I've been doing a lot more sewing lately than I have in the past. I made the mistake of stopping at the sewing machine shop inside JoAnns the other day when I was buying some fabric. I was looking for a special presser foot for my ancient Singer. The machine is about 15 years old and still in pretty good condition but it doesn't do anything other than straight stitch and zig zag plus it's very noisy. It's a work horse and it's been good to me but I'm a little more advanced than it is and I am thinking it's about time to trade up.

So now, I have machine envy. There are all these beautiful, shiny, computerized machines that just call out to me as I pass by...

"You don't have a serger but I have an overlock function...it's so useful when making kids clothes."

"I have 40 decorative stitches."

"You can design your own embroidery patterns with my special software".

So far, I haven't given in. But I feel I'm starting to break! I found what I thought was a fantastic deal for a steal of a price last week. Turns out it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It wasn't even made by the manufacturer name that was stamped on the case. No online support either, a HUGE deal breaker for me.

I found a machine I think I will like at a price I can afford. The hard part now is finding a local dealer who sells it so I can actually try it out before I buy it. It's a pretty advanced machine but low end for a computerized one. I'd rather buy it from a sewing shop and spend a few extra $$ for a sewing lesson or 2 they usually throw in with a purchase. I'd rather not buy from a big box chain who could care less that I'm buying it in the first place.

I'm taking a beginning quilting class tomorrow. I'll have a better idea of my need for a new machine if I decide to get serious about quilting. Me, get serious about anything? (You can't hear me but I'm laughing like crazy now!)

Milestone Women's Victory Weekend

I had an amazing weekend. Okay, it was really just 24 hours but it was well worth every second. I met lots of smart, beautiful women, and made many new friends. I slept very little, had too much caffeine, and ate lots of great food. I laughed, I cried, and I learned a lot about myself. Thank you to everyone who made this weekend possible, especially my wonderful husband who took a vacation day so I could go and had lots of daddy-daughter time with Emma.

Milestone women are the best!!!!

Welcome To My Neglected Blog

It's me again...I didn't forget about the blog...I've just horribly neglected it. I joined Facebook and I've been able to use that platform as I originally intended for this blog. If you're not already there...join me of Facebook. But if you do, be warned...it's highly addictive.

I'm not closing up shop here...just temporarily stalled.