Book Review: Paranormal Romance

Darkness Revealed by Alexandra Ivy


My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I don’t know what happened to the authors muse, but this book just didn’t excite me the way the first 3 in the series did. I think she should have stopped with the last one, because the storyline for this book was just tolerable. I like a romance with liberal love scenes and the descriptive telling of how the vampires and their mates marry/bond with each other. This had little to none of that. Hopefully the next book in the series will redeem itself.

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Weigh In Update: I seem to be losing ground with the weight loss ever since I went back to work. I doesn’t seem to matter how little I eat or if I do a 1 mile workout on the treadmill during the weekdays. It's been another 2 months and now I'm 7 pounds fatter, it just keeps creeping back on and I don’t know what to do……

First of the Month News and Weigh-in Recap…

Well as you can see from the stats map I’ve lost ground this year. I got down to 177 by the end of January and hit a brick wall plateau wise, and just couldn’t drop anymore no matter how strict I was. So at the end of February I cut back my routine from 4 miles a day down to 2 miles. In March there were 2 weeks I didn’t exercise at all. And in April when I got a month of temp work I quit all together and went back to eating what ever I wanted. And as usual my weight started to slowly creep back up on me to where I’m back up to 190 pounds as of June 1st.

My Weight Chart:



Because I haven’t had any temp work for the month of May and it doesn’t seem to be forthcoming for this month. On wed. the 3rd, I’ve begun my 1000 calorie/exercise routine again. I’ve been off my diet/exercise for 2 ½ months, and it’s amazing how quickly one can get stiff and out of shape. I’ve had to literally start over by using 1 pound hand weights, only walking 2 miles (1 mi in the morning/ 1 mi in the evening) and turning the speed down on the tread mill from 3.1 to 2.9 miles an hour. Thank goodness those 30 minutes of stretching exercises I do after each mile hasn’t changed and I can actually feel the difference when I do them now. Hopefully in 10 days or so I’ll be back up to speed at 4 miles a day with the 2 pound weights. I’m still riding my bicycle on the weekends for a 5 mile ride when the weather allows....

As for my love life…. I’ve given up on finding a boyfriend for the time being. The 2 local guys I was in contact with seem to have moved on. One e-mails me from time to time, although he’s not interested in a “relationship” but just a casual friend’s thing. I won’t even go into the crap I’ve had to deal with on-line… but just to say I almost got nailed by a scammer who took advantage of my naïve good nature. So I’m ignoring the invites from social networks like MySpace for awhile. Licking my wounds and pulling out my much neglected needlework and concentrating on that along with my Wiccan studies for the time being.

So here’s to the Goddess granting me a full time permanent job and a skinner new me.
That’s all for this blog blurb.

First of the Month Good News…

I have a job again!!! Yea !!! Manufacturing Services called me back to work – for how long? who knows. I’m just happy to be working and have money to pay off the “plastic”. I also have a car again. Yea Me!!! Well technically it’s in dad’s name so I can acquire the pink slip and cheap insurance 6 months from now. It’s so nice to have a car again after not have one of my own for more years then I care to count.

Got my new prescription replacement lens yesterday. They finally got the damn bifocals cut right on the progressives. Yea again!!! Now I can read my ever growing mountain of books and start working on my stitching again.

Now for the depressing news. I’ve gained 6 pounds back. I was on the treadmill for 4 miles a day and then I got burnout out doing it by the first of the year. No matter how much or little I did I couldn’t drop below 177 and make it stick. Last month I made a effort to go back to 4 miles a day and was doing well for 2 weeks and then last week I didn’t workout at all. Plus on Wednesday of last week I fell on my hip and knee roller-skating and hurt my lower back, then I started back to work on Monday. Standing all day long on cement floors is making my back hurt again to the point where I can’t use the treadmill. Hopefully I’ll get accustomed to standing for 8 hours straight. Maybe in another week or two I can start back doing 2 miles on the treadmill. I’m too tired from work to do anymore than that. Hopefully my weight won’t creep any higher then 183 pounds.


That’s all for this blog blurb….

Monthly Weigh-In, Glasses, and Needlework

Ok, my official end of the month weigh-in is here. Sad to say a very disappointing blow for me. The scales have been bouncing up and down all month, as I’ve had to deal with aching joints, fatigue, and sugar cravings (which I gave into). So as of Jan 31, 2009 I’m 177 lbs - just a 3 pound loss. This is the first time since I started last year that I’ve missed my 5 pound goal. Hopefully next month I’ll do better.

I’m still waiting on the optometrist to call about my re-maded glasses. They didn’t get the bifocals cut right the first time. So I’m have a rotten time, reading, typing, etc. and needlework is out unless I switch back to my old glasses.

Speaking of needlework, I’ve found another free french chart stitch-along. I’m going to be collecting the parts for this, as I have too many other WiPs to deal with at the moment, to even think about starting another project. It’s called “Grand Abecedaire” part 1 of 8 can be found starting at this blog entry: http://gazette94.blogspot.com/2008/11/grand-abecedaire-18.html




The second acquisition is an out-of-print chart by Heaven and Earth Designs called “Eternal Promise” the artwork is called “Arwen and Aragorn” by artist Matt Stewart. I put up a {in search of…} plea on the HAED message board and a very kind person sold me her used copy. Almost the very next day someone else was asking if I’d sell it to them after I was finished with stitching mine. She’s going to have a long wait, because I probably won’t get started on this until sometime in 2010, if I’m lucky in getting a few WiPs done this year first.





Hopefully I can get over this cold weather/depression slump I’m in and start posting more book reviews and needlework updates this next month.

That’s all for this blog blurb.

Weight-in update, Needlework projects, and On-line dating

Well here it is the first Sunday in the new year. I kind of just squeaked in under the wire for my 5 pound weight loss goal for the month of December. At 1:30pm today I weighed in at 180.8 pounds. My water weight has been bouncing up and down by a pound or more this entire weekend. What’s worse is that during December I’ve been losing and gaining back the same damn 5 pounds all month long. That in itself has got me the most depressed. Hopefully with the holidays behind me I can leave the sweets alone and get re-motivated for this month.

I was going to pull out Camelot sampler and work on it. But I got new glasses last week and the bifocal prescription is off, everything is slightly blurred and/or ghosted. So no needlework until I can get in on Monday and have them look at it. I was very naughty today and I went to Everythingcrossstitch.com and spent $89.00us on 2 kits, 5 remnant fabric pieces ( all Zweigart 25 count lugana ), plus some kreinik braid and Mill Hill beads for the new Teresa Wentzler “Delightful Dragon Fob” that I got from patternsonline.com yesterday. I hope to put this cute little project on my quickie to-do list.

And now we come to on-line dating. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere for me. I have several guy friends who text chat with me but none of them want to take it any further than that. I think I’m going to stop visiting my on-line message group forums and get back to concentrating on my dieting and reading my books. And if the Goddess sees fit to drop a man in my path, so mote it be. Otherwise I don’t want to deal with the emotional rollercoaster that I went through these last two months.

That’s all for this blog blurb.

End of the month weight-in, friendships, & other stuff

Happy holidays everyone!

Once again it’s time for the end of the month weight-in – well a few days late that is. Anyway I kind of dropped the ball this last month. What with being depressed and then the temptation of Halloween candy and fast on it’s heels Thanksgiving {Hummm… pumpkin pie with real whip cream!} I just decided to let the month of November slide and only did 2 miles on the treadmill once a day or sometimes not at all. I figure I’ve been a good girl for 7 months I deserved a break. So the bottom line is I only lost 7 pounds this month. But because I always fluctuate by 2 pounds I’m officially stating a 5 pound loss for this month. Not bad, but not good either as I want to be down to 150 pounds by the 1st of March.

Why in such a hurry you ask? It’s simple. I’ve hook-up with someone special on-line from PaganSpace. We’re in the tentative get-to-know each other friendship stage but we’ve clicked on everything we’ve talked about so far. And if I don’t fuck this up by being too pushy in the mean time, we’ve made a tentative date to meet in March. Now it really is imperative I find a new job, as I’m going to need plane fare because he lives in North Carolina and I live in Washington.

On the other stuff front: Money being as tight as it is I’ve had to start going through my storage unit, to basically pick which bare bones things I can keep and store them in my parents basement and the rest I’ll have to sell. When I think of all the star trek collectable stuff I have, trading cards, school text, art, & general readings books, and knitting yarn stash I just want to cry. But as needs must it has to go and I readily admit I’m one hell of a pack rat. Like mother like daughter as they say. *LOL*

Happy Yule!

That’s all for this blog blurb….

No Job, Seasonal Depression, and a Hopeful Outlook

Well it’s been 7 months now since my last employer sent me my “W-2 forms” in the mail. Which was an “in your face” hint for me to stop calling them about if they had any work. So I’ve been formally laid-off and haven’t been able to find a new job so far.

Which on the up side has given me all the leisure time I need to keep up with my diet and exercise plan. So far I’ve managed to lose 75 pounds and am down to a 190 pounds. I’ve still got 40 more pounds to go, and if I still can’t get a boyfriend I may try losing another 20 to get me down to a skinny 130 pounds.

I’ve kind of hit a plateau in the weight loss this month. I only managed 4 pounds and then gain 2 pounds back, and now I’m struggling to keep off just the 2 pounds I’ve lost. I think it has a lot to do with the seasonal holiday depression I’m going through right now, not having any motivation to get on the treadmill and walk my 4 miles a day. That and temptations like – halloween candy, thanksgiving dinner, christmas bake goodies, and the like, that are starting to show up around my parents house {where I’m living because of no job}.

I’ve tried to get my mind off the depression by getting out on the on-line community. An on-line friend of mine says if I want to start dating again I’ve got to get *out there*. So with that in mind she suggested I join www.paganspace.com I’ve been an agnostic since the age of 13 when I got fed up with the Catholic religion my mom kept forcing me to adhere to. I’ve always been fascinated about the Pagan/Wiccan religion since my early 20’s and in the last couple of months I’ve decided to gather up all the books I’ve bought over the years on the subject and start formally studying.

I’ve had my ego boosted a couple of times by guys who have seen my profile picture ( www.paganspace.net/profile/Janiece ) and thought I looked *hot* and messaged me to be on my paganspace friends list.



Well my face and my lower legs might look OK, but my upper arms, stomach, and hips are still really fat. But the really loose t-shirt I’m wearing covers that up very nicely {snickers}. It’s still going to be kind of hard for me to get back in the dating scene. It’s been 15 years since any guy has taken notice of me and I’ve never done the flirting thing, since I’ve been fat all my life, I’ve never learned how to. Anyway, moving on to something different…

I’ve put all of my stitchery projects away until after the new year begins. I’m just not in the mood to stitch now-a-days. I still read the occasional romance novel, but not like I use to. The depression just makes me tired and I sleep a lot. The rest of the time I’m on the internet checking my e-mail, several dozen blogs, and two on-line communities. Well that’s it, for what’s been happening in my life up to this point.

That’s all for this blog blurb….

Halloween, Stitchery Update, and more….

Halloween Day:

Not much happened around here today. I was planning on dressing up like a swashbuckling vampire complete with my red and black floor length (6ft.) hooded cape, taking my niece and nephew out trick or treating again this year. But due to my massive weight loss (75 lbs.) my old SCA costume didn't fit me anymore. So I ended up asking my nephew what I should dress up as, and with out batting an eye he said Witch. Well thank goodness that wasn't a problem. I simply put my floor length hooded cape on and hung my silver sabbath pentacle around my neck and I was good to go.

Trick or treating with my nephew lasted all of 2 houses and that was it. My niece on the other hand had her poor mother going around several blocks in the neighborhood.

Here’s a couple of pics. Jesse is a pokemon named meril and Sarah is a dementor from Harry Potter.




Stitchery Update:

Well this is my end of the month update for Musical Bell Pull ( by Donna Vermillion Giampa ). This is the banjo and the bottom picture of the 4 instruments. This month I just couldn’t seem to get any sort of stitching enthusiasm jump started with this project. I think it has to do with that time of the year and my seasonal depression is rearing it’s head for the holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.). So with that in mind I think I’ll put away all my stitching until well after the beginning of the new year. Here’s the latest picture.




SURPRISE!!!!!:

Well the biggest and most unexpected surprise came in the mail on Thursday the 30th. A personally autographed ARC (advanced reader copy) of Katie MacAlister’s Zen and the Art of Vampires. I had entered a random drawing contest hardly thinking I would win – and what’da ya know miracles really do happen. Because this is my very first ARC. {grins} The dedication page was for all the loyal minions that virtually live at her message board and of course I’m a card carrying member. I don’t know if this is coincident or not but my name was used as one of the fodder characters for two pages near the end of the book. It was however used as a male name, so ( Jan ) was pronounced like Yan ( as in yawn ). What’s really going to drive me crazy is the fact that I’m sworn to secrecy about what’s in the book and I have to keep my mouth shut until December 2nd when the book is officially released. I managed to read, or I should say rip, through it in an 11 ½ hour marathon read. From midnight Friday Halloween to 11:30 am Saturday. I still as yet haven’t had any sleep and I have this over whelming urge to read it all over again tonight. Yea, I know I has it bad addiction wise. {chuckle} Anyway here’s a pic of it in my hot little hands. My precious, My own, Bawhahahahha……





Weigh-In Update:

Wahoo!! I made double my weight loss goal again with another spectacular 10 pounds shed. That puts me 40 pounds closer to my tentative goal of 150 pounds. If I can keep up with this 10 pound loss consistently I think I may lower my final goal to 130 pounds!!!

Man one of these days I’m gonna have to get my hair cut and have a new {skinner} picture taken of me for the blog. {Grin}


For the next few months I’ll be catching up on my authors and writing book reviews.

That’s all for this blog blurb………..

Over Half Gone!!!!

Happy Happy Joy Joy !!!!

I had to post a special blurb today and say WAHOO!!! This last month I managed to double my weight loss goal to 10 pounds. Which put me well past the halfway mark for the goal I've set and I've got the picture to prove it. Only 50 more pounds to go. YEA!!!!

BOInk Mystery SAL Update

Greetings and a Happy Labor Day Weekend to those here in the States.

I just now finished up with squares 2 and 7A and have uploaded progress pictures See....



A full size picture of my progress so far taken outside on the neighbor's deck. The project is attached to my European Style Slate Frame.



I'll be moving BOInk to the bottom of the rotational pile since I've official worked on it a month now. Next I'll be working on Summer's End I really need to get some progress done on that. Maybe working on it this next month I may even finish it.

Other News: I've made my 5 pound weight loss goal again for the month - YEA!!!! Only 60 more pounds to go...
Starting next month I need to start looking for work again, for what little good it will do. Although, now that school has started maybe I'll have better luck with kids quitting to go back to school.

Well that's it for this Blog Blurb.

Somebody Whip Me….

with a Wet Noodle Again!!! Taking a line from Brittany Spears “Oops I did it again…”

No sooner do I finally finish one of my long term WiPs, I manage to find and join another on-line SAL. {Shakes head in utter bemusement.} You’d think I’d be happy with the 8 current projects I have now. Nope.

I can totally blame this on Needle In A Haystack’s e-newsletter. They mentioned a free design SAL from Tracy of Ink Circles. So I took a look and found out it was a Celtic design called “The Book of Ink Circles”. I ended up joining the Yahoo group on Tuesday and downloading the available parts. I found that it was started back in March, so I’m only 5 months behind. If you’re interested in the SAL you can find it on her website HERE.

I was rather astonished to discover that I live less than 10 miles away (just a stones throw) from Tracy who lives in West Richland, Wa. So a big wave in the general direction of West Richland/Benton City area.

Anyway, I dug around in my stash Thursday and found a 20” x 20” piece of 28ct. Ivory evenweave and did a floss toss with DMC Rayon. I can’t afford to buy silk thread so I opted for something that had the same sheen quality as silk. I think I did pretty well in the color matching. As I only had a JPEG of the floss to go by. I’ll try and get the fabric’s edges sewn up on the machine and put on a scroll frame some time this weekend.


Here’s the floss toss pic from Thursday:


Today after I looked at the floss again, I decided to change the dk. Blue to a slightly lighter hue. As it looks like the black will overwhelm the 30336.

Other news: First the good news. I’ve reached my 5 lb. goal for the last month. That gives me a grand total of 50 lbs. lost to date, with 65 lbs. more to go. Wahoo!!! Now the not so good news. I’ve had no luck with finding a new job and basically gave up looking this last month.

That’s it for this blog blurb…..