Fantasy Football

In 1998, my husband got me interested in watching NFL football. The trick was telling me more about the players' personal lives, who were Christians, etc. Knowing more about them got me interested in watching them play. That year, the Minnesota Vikings had a 15-1 season if I recall correctly. Their quarterback that year was Randall Cunningham. I decided to root for them and as a result, I became a Vikings fan and still am to this day. Cris Carter was my favorite player for them.Last year I decided to try playing fantasy football for the first time. I joined after the season had already started and played on the NFL.com site. Somehow I ended up undefeated after several weeks. Then it all went downhill and I didn't even make it to the playoffs. But it was a lot of fun setting up my players every week, checking for injuries and bye-weeks to make sure to make the most of whoever was playing.


This year I've joined 2 fantasy football leagues - one through NFL.com again and the other through Facebook. The draft for my NFL league has already happened and I have Eli Manning as one of my quarterbacks, with Jason Hansen as my kicker.

One thing that is fun about fantasy football is that it helps me to learn about more players throughout the league. My Facebook league's draft is August 4th and it will be interesting to see who my players are for that league. I also want to see how I do playing in 2 different leagues with different players.

Another Read - Short Non-Fiction

Detours, Tow Trucks, and Angels in Disguise: Finding Humor and Hope in Unexpected Places by Carol Kent


My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Not all that great of a book. Collection of inspirational and funny stories designed to uplift and encourage. Kinda boring. Much preferred her other books Tame Your Fears and Secret Longings of the Heart.

Mindy Starns Clark

Whispers of the Bayou by Mindy Starns Clark


My rating: 5 of 5 stars






Every book I have read by this author has been fantastic! This was no exception. A page-turning, suspenseful mystery of a young woman who returns to the home of her childhood and discovers a multitude of secrets about her past.
Love this author's books! Looking forward to reading Shadows of Lancaster County and another book she has coming out Under the Cajun Moon.

Previous books of hers that I have read are her Million Dollar Mysteries series:
A Penny for Your Thoughts
Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels
A Dime a Dozen
A Quarter for a Kiss
The Buck Stops Here

and her Smart Chick Mystery series:
The Trouble with Tulip
Blind Dates Can Be Murder
Elementary, My Dear Watkins

Worms and Eyes

For a while now I've noticed little white particles on our cats' back ends. I didn't really think much about it, weren't sure what they were but just chalked it up to normal. Our cats act very healthy. Well, then the other day my cat sat on my leg and one of the white particles got onto my leg and started MOVING! Now the "normal" factor went out the window! I called the vet to make an appointment, figuring they have worms.
Then the next day I woke up with one of my eyelids all swollen. I figured either it was infected from my picking at it or I'd gotten a bug bite. By Sunday night it was getting worse and since I didn't have time to go to the doctor, I went into the local ER at 2 am to get it checked out. They prescribed antibiotics and eye drops and away I went.
Tuesday morning my eye was worse and I wasn't sure I should be driving. I called my doctor to find out that antibiotics take around 48 hours or more to start working. Lovely! The best I could figure at this point was that I had had a sty and it had gotten infected.
Our cats were taken to the vet and given a clean bill of health as well as given a pill to get rid of the worms. Thankfully it was a one-time dose that was administered at the vets' as we have not had luck in giving our cats pills.
My eye is now much better and life seems to have returned to normal. For now.

Writing Reviews

Sometimes I just don't really feel up to writing a review of a book I've read. Then I remind myself that I don't have to keep track of the books I've read, nor do I have to review them. It's purely a hobby and for fun, so I can do whatever strikes my fancy at the time.

That being said, here are some quotes from a book I recently finished.

Eyes Wide Open, rev. & exp. ed.: Looking for God in Popular Culture by William D. Romanowski


My rating: 4 of 5 stars




Quote that struck me as someone who grew up overseas, in a different culture than the one my parents are from: "People are not born with a culture, a way of life, but are nurtured into one."

"...we learn the ideals, norms, values, traditions, habits, customs, beliefs, and the acceptable behavior of a particular way of life. Worldview formation occurs when a person becomes conscious of that way of life."

We live in a fast-changing world with technology that continues to change rapidly. How do we live in a way that reflects Christ and impacts those around us? We are affected daily by the culture we live in. How do we keep our worldview grounded in Scripture when the world around us is constantly in flux?

"...a Christian worldview, formed as it is by faith and culture, has to be shaped and tested by Scripture in order to resist the temptation to wrongly appropriate secular beliefs."

"Abraham Kuyper said: 'There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry 'Mine!' "

Recent Re-Reads

Tintin in America by Hergé


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Re-read this recently - one of my favorite comics from growing up.





Virus by Graham Watkins


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another re-read for me. Page-turning, addictive read. Fictional story of people becoming addicted to using their computers. Some doctors at a local hospital begin to see an increase in the number of patients coming in with malnutrition and poor health. As they investigate to try to discover what has caused this, the answers keep pointing back to a computer software.
What I found interesting about re-reading this is that I remember when I read this the first time, I had a really hard time putting it down and I found it funny that I was becoming addicted to a book about people being addicted. It wasn't quite as addicting the 2nd time reading it, though still a great book.

Challenges Update

Well, I've pretty much given up on any challenges that I'm part of that have a deadline. I have the best of intentions when I join, but then it just seems to fall apart. I think my main problem this year was going through a long phase of not reading much at all and losing interest in most of what I was reading. I seemed to have trouble getting into fiction and was more interested in non-fiction. Though my reading has picked up again, my loss of interest for awhile has derailed my challenge intentions and I have decided to give up on them. During my slow reading days, I also gave up my Booksfree membership since I wasn't reading much and didn't want to spend money when I wasn't utilizing the service. A lot of the books I had intended to read for challenges were going to be from Booksfree since I don't own them and now that I'm not using Booksfree, my access to the books is less likely (depending if my local library has them or not).

As much as I love to join challenges and love to make the lists for them, I think it's probably better if I don't join them in the future as I usually don't end up finishing them. Fortunately, challenges are for fun and aren't meant to be swords hanging over our heads. Happy Reading!