Surrender

Today Eye Spy is wearing a pink panther suit and a smile while creeping around the Blogger-sphere and sharing intimate secrets.

There is a blogfest to celebrate the release of Elana Johnson's second book in a series, SURRENDER, which came out June 5, 2012. Check out her blog and her book HERE.

So all I have to do for this blogfest is blog about a time that I did not surrender. That was not as easy as I thought it would be. Thinking about what I should write I discovered that my whole life has been mostly about surrendering. There I am the first in line, waving a white flag in order to keep peace. Surrender and sacrifice seem to go hand in hand as I reflect through the choices I have made in my life. 

As a young girl and the oldest of siblings, I made sure my brother and sisters were taken care of when my parents could not. My father was always out traveling and my mother did the best she could in a world she did not belong in. Sports, music, drama were all things I loved in school but gave up quickly when I found out they had no room in my life. Besides, we moved around so much that I always ended up starting over again. As a teen-age girl I ended up pregnant and giving my baby up for adoption. Another form of surrender and sacrifice because I was convinced his life would be better off with someone else. My first marriage failed and once again I waved the white flag. I didn’t fight through the custody battle for my daughter; instead I believed she would be better off with her father. I went on vacation to Norway and never went back.  There have been times in my life that I have surrendered to drugs, to alcohol, to food, and to any overindulgent thing I could find in order to escape one thing or another. I have been a gambler, a workaholic, and I have exercised every muscle in my body through excessive training. I have even gone from one church to another looking for God. Music, art, and writing have always been another form of surrender, overindulgence and sacrifice. These things move like waves through my life. One form of creative expression washes ashore and another takes its place. I surrender to each one.

This blogfest is about sharing the times you did not surrender, but maybe surrendering is not always a bad thing. Maybe sometimes we have to surrender in order to move on.

“Like a tiny boat on the sea

Waves just keep crashing over me

I can fight to make the shore

Or ride the waves and fight no more.”

Don't get me wrong. I admire people who endure and against all odds keep fighting with the same spirit as William Wallace in "Brave Heart."  Sometimes we are just not faced with a simple option to a simple choice. Sometimes surrender will still get us where we were meant to be without the fight of getting there, sometimes not. Believing in something strong enough and most of all believing in yourself is a start. 

 What do I know, after all I am wearing a pink panther suit. So do you think I am a quitter now ? Far from it, I just choose carefully when to fight. I finished my education in a foreign language at the age of 40, regained my two lost children, and have had two more children, been married for over 20 years, ran a successful business, survived a fire on a cruise boat as part of the crew, have a short story that will be published this fall and I am still writing my book. So many stories! Do you have a story about surrender you would like to share? Never surrender, or surrender, do you believe there is a right time for both?

Check out some of these amazing stories from the "Never Surrender" blogfest.

The God Thor and his Mother

Stories from Norwegian culture and mythology have always fascinated me. Every Monday I try to find some of these stories to share with you. Some I find in my own back yard, some I translate from Norwegian folklore and some are researched online. The stories from Norse Mythology are based on “The Prose Edda”, an Icelandic collection of prose containing tales from Nordic mythology, written by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around the year 1220.

With all the recent attention Thor has been getting in the movies, I thought it fitting to take a look at Thor’s mother. You know her better than you might think.

Thor's Mother Jord

 Thor is the first son of Odin, father of the Asgardians, but little is said of his mother.  Thor has a special love for Earth, more so than perhaps any other god. Like his father he is captivated by the beauty, the strength and endurance of earth.  Thor is the protector of earth and it is not surprising since earth is his birthplace and Jord (Norwegian name for earth) is Thor’s mother. 

In Norse mythology, Jord, also known as mother earth is the mother of Thor. Jord is a giantess and reckoned a goddess, like other jötnar (giants) who coupled with the gods. Jord (also known as Fjorgyn, or Hlodyn) is one of the Aesir, an earth goddess as well as a giant, she was the mother of Thor and the mistress of Odin. Some say that she was Odin’s first wife but the interpretations are unclear as to whether that is the case. 

According to one story, Odin sought to father a son whose power would derive from Earth as well as Asgard, and hence he sought to mate with Jord. Odin created a cave in Norway where Jord gave birth to Thor. Months after the infant Thor was weaned, Odin brought him to Asgard to be raised. Odin's wife, the goddess Frigg, acted as Thor's mother from that time onward. Not until years after his birth did Thor learn that Jord was his birth mother, and he has been busy protecting her ever since.

 

Did you know that by being a creature of the earth, you are related to Thor as well? Do you know where your hammer is, and how often do you use it?

Italian Norwegian style

Homemade Pasta with Italian sausage, meatballs and a spicy garlic tomato sauce

It is Friday and I am known for my "Friday Pizza," which I tend to make out of leftovers. Today however I feel more like pasta. I LOVE spaghetti and meatballs, actually I just love spaghetti any which way. Have you ever made your own pasta? It is not so much work, but it is time consuming, and oh so good!  So, “what’s for dinner Mom?” Today we are going with Pasta. To make pasta you need flour and egg. If you have a very fine flour “type 00” that is the best, if not then use what you have. Use 100 grams flour per egg, depending on how much pasta you are making. I would say 1 egg per person, so if you are making pasta for 2 people, 2 large eggs and 200 grams flour. OK, so I am using metric and you might need the American measurements which are 7 ounces for 200 grams. Make a heap out of your flour on a chopping board with a hollow well in the middle. Crack your eggs into the hollow and mix your eggs with a fork gradually adding flour to the eggs. At first it will form crumbs and won’t look like it will ever come together. Keep working and it will. Eventually you will have to get your hands in there as well and knead the mixture. Squash it with both hands and then stretch the dough and fold it back on itself, give it a little twist and repeat. Keep doing this until the dough feels smooth. Wrap your ball of pasta dough in cling film and leave in fridge for about 1 hour, more or less depending on how much time you have. Remove your pasta from the fridge and flour a rolling pin and chopping board. Roll out to the required thickness and cut into strips with a knife, whatever size you decide to use just make sure you cut them as close to the same size as possible. If you have a machine, go for it. Your pasta is ready. You can now either hang it to dry or cook it right away in salted boiling water – it’ll only take a couple of minutes, unlike dried pasta, so keep an eye on it.

Now that you have your pasta, you can do just about anything with it. Eat it with just melted butter and garlic or fresh herbs. Talk about a cheap and delicious meal! You can also get some ground sausage and make meatballs that you can add to a nice tomato sauce . I like to serve my pasta with Italian ground sausage meatballs and a nice garlic tomato sauce, ground Parmesan on top...of course.  Now I could tell you how to make the meatballs and sauce but I think the pasta is enough for today. Enjoy your meal whatever it is and have a great week-end! Anyone have something to say about pasta? Norwegians say that potato is king but I beg to differ and prefer pasta any day. Hungry now? I sure am. Here is a little video that will give you the idea. She is sprinkling on a little salt I think, but I don't find it important.

Eye Spy on the run with bubbles

Eye Spy is on the run today with a guest post at A-Z blogging challenge. Social networking is an amazing thing and if you want to find out how it changed my life forever and the lives of others, pop on over there and read about it. Many of you have already heard the story, but I never get tired of telling it. After all, it is one of those happy endings!

 Since it is the first Wednesday of the month it is also time for The Insecure Writers Support Group. No matter how many books you have written or how famous you are, there is always room for encouragement and support. That is what this group is all about, and if you are a writer you must have felt insecure at one time or another. My focus today is time and the lack of it. How do you choose to prioritize? Setting goals and keeping them is easier said than done. Something always seems to come along to change my plans especially if I am in the middle of a creative thought (or two). Change of plans and starting over is something I have gotten used to. There are not enough hours in the day and sometimes I have to make a choice. We all do because even though many of us would like to live in a little “Writing Bubble,” most of us do not. So for all my blogging /writing friends that I have not managed to get around to as much as I would have liked to…I am so sorry, time just keeps popping holes in my bubble. My priorities are first family, then book, short stories, and lastly blogging. What are yours? Do you also suffer from bubble holes?

Have a great day, and don’t forget to come back on Friday to see what Mom is cooking for dinner! If you want the pink panther to come around and do an official---EYE SPY---Let me know.

Crazy Cozy Mysteries-Cooking with Thieves

Today is the big book launch for two Cozy mysteries! In celebration they are hosting a Crazy Cozy Blogfest. One fun mystery tour which you can read about here. Make sure you take the whole trail and visit some of the other stories as well!  
These are the rules:

Come up with a wacky theme, a zany sleuth, a crazy setting for your OWN Crazy Cozy Mystery idea.

Include:
1)  Sleuth (age, occupation, maybe a little family info)
2)  Sidekick (either friend or foil, but someone who always seems to be around)
3)  Setting (town, city, or other sort of place)
4)  Theme (go nuts)
5)  Twist (be as creative as you like)

Write it up in 150-250 words (so short)--for the blogfest portion anyway—we want people to be able to read a bunch of these without too much burden. Keep the traditions in mind, but we are judging on entertainment value--which we enjoy most, not how realistic it is to make a best seller. We want people to laugh.

My Story idea is about a gang of thieves working as cooks on a cruise boat, hope you get a laugh.

Cooking with Thieves

As a retired police detective addicted to crossword puzzles, Kat was not the kind of gal to take things lightly. She was hard as nails, a penny pincher and not the least bit frivolous. So when she was given a Mexican cruise from her two children as a birthday present, she had half a mind to give it to her spinster sister instead.

“It will be good for you Mom. Dad died 5 years ago, and it is about time you had some fun. You might even meet someone.” They insisted until she gave in, unaware that she was about to sail off into a ship load of trouble. A stowaway cat with thieving paws and a nose for danger was not the kind of friend she expected to meet. When Kat finds herself in the middle of a mysterious death on board the M/S Fantasy and a crew full of suspicious characters, her only back up turns out to be a dirty yellow cat with a taste for gold. Together they uncover a smuggling ring that is run by a gang of vicious cooks, and in a game of cat and mouse they fight to stay alive.

 ************************************
 Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Confessions of a Watery TartLinks:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Mystery Writing is Murder

Come back tomorrow to see what Eye Spy is up too!

MINNIE HAS FINISHED CHICKEN

Chicken was really a rooster that had no legs and enormous wings, because of that everyone on the swamp wanted chicken to buy a set of convertible skis-water for the summer, snow for the icy winter on that swamp. Only they didn’t want chicken to use the skis- they wanted him to fly and pull them across the water, but chicken knew what lay in those waters…Sharktopus, and it wanted fried chicken! Chicken was no chicken however but a Butterball turkey with false wings which would not lift him up. The poor thing was grounded; the only thing left was a snake in the bushes. Chicken knew how to fight snake and quickly grabbed it by the tail. Swinging it faster and faster he threw it straight at the Sharktopus and flew off into the night with his enormous false wings, never to be seen from again.

Minnie and her Gibberish pals this month were: 

Hilary Melton-Butche

Alex J. Cavanaugh

Craziness abounds

Stephanie V

EvalinaMaria

Summer Ross

Thanks for playing, hope you come and play again soon.

Tomorrow there is going to be a lot of foul play in the air and here we are going to be cooking with thieves. Come back tomorrow for a special  stop on A Cozy Mystery Tour.


This Wednesday "EYE SPY" will be guest posting over at A-Z challenge,  talking about how social nett working can change lives. Since it is the first Wednesday of the month, that means it is also time for the Insecure Writers Support Group.


Have a great day!

Minnie Says--CHICKEN!

Minnie is off to a flying start. Suffering from allergies but unable to stop smelling the flowers, she is ready for another game of Gibberish. Want to play but don’t know how? You can check out the rules HERE-

"Be kind to my chicken!"

You have all week-end so put on your silly hats people, and help Minnie create a story that makes no sense... yet does... Come back on Monday to see what Minnie has done with your creative brains... Oh yeah and before I forget, there is More Nonsense coming out today. You do not have to be smart to know that stupid is the new thing! Whatever....You liked Just Nonsense, you will love more of it. Not only that but if you like "My" Gutsy Story then PLEASE vote for me HERE. 

So here is Minnie's start to some gibberish fun:

Chicken was really a rooster that had no legs and enormous wings, because of that everyone on the swamp wanted chicken to….