Monthly Archives: April 2011

Apr29

Scents that Evoke Memories

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The smell of Gloria Vanderbilt perfume from 1982. It was a relatively new perfume back when I was graduating from law school and taking the bar examination. I wore this fragrance for a couple of years. I spent 10 days in a hotel in Orlando, Florida taking a bar review class before the 2 day exam. This perfume was so strong, it permeated that room. I stopped wearing it shortly thereafter because it reminded me of the bar exam (which I passed!)- but even after all these years, if someone wearing it walks past me and it wafts over me, I’m immediately back in the 1980s in that hotel room, stressing over that dang test!

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Apr27

A Favorite Food from a Restaurant in My Hometown

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cooking two pizzas in our garden oven

The absolute best food in Pensacola is the abondonnza pizza at The Tuscan Oven. It’s a local restaurant and they have a fire powered oven from Tuscany that they cook their food in. It makes a wonderful crust. The abondonnza has like 5 meats on it and it is just sublime. The owners are wonderful people and treat you like family. I go about once a month- I used to go more often when my office was very close. Now, it’s further away so I don’t get over there as much as I like.

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Apr25

“The Killing Edge” A Book Review

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This book was written by Heather Graham. It’s a light paranormal with some ghostly elements.  The heroine survives a blood bath/massacre when she’s a teen. It’s now a decade later and things are heating up again. People are dying and she may be a target again herself. 

This is a great read and I highly recommend it. Ms. Graham is an excellent writer and she really brings her “A” game to this story. I figured it out pretty early on but that’s what I do. I love to try to solve the mystery along with the characters. This story occurs in Miami, the Keys and a snippet in New Orleans.  AND most importantly, the hero is another to die for kinda guy. Luckily for the heroine, that’s might not be necessary!

Apr11

The First Time I Started Using a Computer

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my first computer

I first got a computer for my work as a lawyer in the 1980s when MS DOS was the program everyone used. I used it basically for word processing. We also used it for accounting. Little did I imagine that one day a majority of all the court filings in my area would be computerized and the whole world was going to change. I never took typing in school as I always planned to be a lawyer and have a secretary. Poor, naive me. I had no clue of the learning still to be done!

I first got a home computer in late 1996 when prodigy was the main portal to the internet. I dipped my toe in and started emailing and using message boards. I still find myself looking at the keyboard to find letters all the time. I’m able to use more than 2 fingers now but it took a long time to get proficient with it.

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Apr8

The Oldest Thing I Own

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The Kalaloch Cedar

My grandfather was a hobbyist wood worker and I have several pieces of furniture he made. Some of them, he made specifically for me such as my roll top desk when I was about 10, my curio cabinet from my early 20s and the hooded cradle he made when I was pregnant with my first son. The oldest piece I have is a cedar chest he made before I was ever born. I’m not even sure my father was born when this was made. I treasure all the items he made for me as well as thay cedar chest. I also have a couple of small items made by my great grandfather, his father. I’m not sure of the age of those things.

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Apr5

Recent Adventures in Splurging

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DSCN0862-The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA

I was aboard the Queen Mary docked in Long Beach, California. I’m writing a novel set onboard in 1937 and I purchased several books, post card packets and other items to use in my research. I also treated myself to a beautiful white scarf in the couture shop on board and a lovely brooch in the Scottish store. A productive and fun spree.

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Apr1

My High School Reunion

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peter and alison smithson, school of architecture and building engineering, bath university, 1982-1988

I have been. Once.  I had nothing in common anymore with my class members and I was on the committee to plan the 20th and ended up being the one to sign all the contracts. I got into a tiff with one of the other committee members that didn’t want to pay the DJ as she didn’t get the songs she wanted played. She was the one on the reunion bank account and wanted me to pay the bill myself. I had to force the issue (Never did figure out if she wanted to keep the excess money, if any). So, when it was time to plan the next one, I was asked to help again, I said, not only no, but hell, no. So, short answer, NOPE!!

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