Filling the Boots

You have heard to be careful of what you ask for.  Funny that I asked for a unplugged weekend.  And low and behold the Internet where we are house sitting went bonkers.  Then we also had a out of town trip to see my Mom-in-law who is in the hospital for heart problems.  As happens many different parts of the family all showed up around the same time.  So there we sat and talked and laughed with each other.  Sharing family time around her hospital bed.  I think it did her a world of good to have family gathered around.  I know that she had a much better last night than before.

Family is a wonderful thing to have for support.  Weather it be to help one get through the day, a home to return to or just the pat on the back for each other in a rough patch.  It seems that often families follow in each other footsteps.  Weather it be mother to daughter learning how cook the family recipes or father to son tweaking the carburetor on the truck.  We learn from our family.  And that is were the strongest bonds come from.  So it is not at all a surprise when we continue on in the same business as our family.  That is how it was for Gary R. Ryman who followed in the footsteps of being a fire fighter.  I just finished reading 'Firemen: Stories from Three Generations of a Firefighting Family'.  I have to say it was as intense as I expected.  Stories of unbelievable blazes, rescues just in the nick of time and just how a father leads a son and the pride of seeing who he becomes.

I already had a great respect for the firefighters in our volunteer fire departments around here.  Every lil community pulls together any time there is a fire or emergency call.  Weather if be from the EMS, to the brush trucks or the 911 operators coordinating.  These people train hard to learn how to be the arms of safety while doing this all of their free will and community service.  This summer I have seen how efficient they work when the volunteers put out a fire in my father's backyard, making sure to protect the house first and foremost.  And just last weekend the EMS responded to our help call when we were trying to help a woman who had fallen from her bed and could not get up.  She could not assist us since she could not use her legs and was too large for us to lift on our own.  They knew just how to help and preserve her dignity too.  And 911 sent out officers to help fill the reports when my brothers storage was broken into just last week.  These emergency workers are all around us everyday.  Helping in the foreground during an emergency and in the background when all seems calm.  My hats off to them.

My thanks once again to Tribute Books for sharing with me.  You can follow this blog tour too if you wish.  Also there is the facebook pages and twitter that you may join.  Along with a place to read an excerpt of this book. 

My Airline Trip Giveaway

Well today I am off in the wild blue yonder. Yeppers, flying to California as we speak. So excited about my trip. But I have been doing all I could to be prepared. Not having flown since before 9-11 I was not use to the new security check points. Had to make sure I had my lil bottles of soap and all that could not be confused as dangerous materials. Oh and my meds are a bag unto themselves I think. Gosh getting old is not an easy task.

But I did have my ol standby. A good book in my purse. Thankfully I have a pretty good size purse as my book of choice is "Johnny One-Eye" by Jerome Charyn. Yes that is the same Jerome who wrote about Emily Dickenson and Babe Ruth.  This time we are visiting the American Revolution through a interesting tale of intrigue and spics that are not quite spies.  Oh and let's not forget the ever present 'nunnery' aka the local whore house where everyone gathers.  Hey, you have to be able to entertain the troops some how.  Actually, I am enjoying this story even if it is a lil on the far fetched side for me.  Not sure life would happen this way but if your wanting to have all the interesting ins and outs of the 1700's then here it is.  The cast of characters from the great George Washington to Benedict Arnold on to the British Howe brothers officers and free slaves twirled around a cast of very strong women roles, not a bad combination.  I am in the last third of the book and hope to finish it on my plane ride today.  Really wondering where it will end up as the main character Johnny has experienced the highs and lows of war time.  From losing his eye in a battle where he was the scribe to Benedict Arnold to currently being on a British prison ship.  He has served as a double agent for both sides, swooned over a whore he will never have, narrowly escaped death yet survived being tarred and feathered to even being at some of the most interesting private meetings of the time.

I am so lucky to also offer you a FREE hardcover copy of Johnny One-Eye .  It is not light reading but a book that will keep you rivited to the story line.  All you need to do is leave me a comment here (include your email please).  That will be your first entry.  If you would like extras then please like the following two facebook pages.  Tell them Crazed Mind sent you and leave comments here for both.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/jerome.charyn
http://www.facebook.com/JohnnyOneEyeBook
And an extra would be to leave a post with twitter letting them know @CrazedMind sent you over at:
http://twitter.com/jeromecharyn
Remember to comment back here to have it as an entry in the giveaway.   Good luck. 



And as always, any item I review is not a paid review. But my thoughts on that item are all my own. I may be provided with the item to have it to review but that is all.