"Faces of the Gone" by Brad Parks

Faces of the Gone: A Crime Novel by Brad Parks


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Newark, NJ is a complicated city, the largest in NJ. Brad Parks successfully shines a light on its darker side and the workings of a newsroom for a large regional newspaper. A bit heavy on the wittisisms, the plot is straightforward, the real villain is almost a complete surprise, and the subplots are entertaining. I could not put it down. It is a well-conceived and written first novel.

Contest entry mailed

Yes, the entry form, digital photos (thank you Adam) and fee have been mailed! It's hard to believe that I am actually entering this contest. Here is a photo of my quilt.

This is a Tri-State Quilt Competition - NJ, NY, PA. The accepted entries will be shown at the Quilt Fest of New Jersey, March 4-7, at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, NJ. By February 5th., I will know if my quilt has been accepted!

Keeping my fingers crossed...!

New Year

Wow! I have neglected this blog for almost a year. Time for an update:

• I retired on October 1, 2009.
• I bought a new Honda CR-V in June 2009.
• I went on my first cruise in July 2009. (To Bermuda, it was very nice.)
  

Baby Shower

My sister Debbie is expecting her first great grandchild! Yesterday I travelled with my daughter to the shower. It was an hour and a half drive so we had plenty of time to chat and catch up. We had a lot of fun in the car and at the shower.
At 22, India, Debbie's granddaughter, is a lovely mom-to-be. Her mom, friends and cousins really turned out to give her a nice shower. We played games (I won the first one), ate ravioli, and talked non-stop. Jackie R., my daughter, made the cutest quilt with dots and little cars. It wil be a great blanket or playmat for the baby. I found some tiny workboots with help from my friends Tom and Vic and I included a Visa gift card to give India some cash to purchase what she still needed. My sister Jackie G. made a baby quilt and a quilted book which were adorable.
The gift that was a surprise was the baby tub and spa. How do inventors think of these things? I remember bathing Bob and then Jackie in the kitchen sink. It was easier on the back and afforded a better hold on the infant.
Debbie at 78 celebrated paying off her mortgage in the summer and just purchased a beautiful Buick. She is so involved in her church and family activities. Having a new car just makes her more active.

Gift for Jackie

This is a long story. My daughter, Jackie, is an amazing young woman...creative, lively, and with unique perspectives. Her 30th. birthday was last week. I sent her a nice chunk of money which she reported she was thrilled to spend on a great fabric binge. A couple of years ago, I gave her a Kenmore mechanical sewing machine as a Christmas gift. Just in case it was a passing interest, I did not spend more than a reasonable amount on this gift. To my great pleasure, Jackie has been sewing non-stop ever since! She has adopted this creative outlet and really invested time and practice into her projects. I have been a sewer all of my life and it seemed that Jackie did not have the sewing gene until now.

On Friday the thirteenth, my friend Betty and I planned a road trip up to Vernon to the Pieceful Choices Quilt Shop to purchase fabric for the project we were going to learn at the BBQ weekend in April. While there, Betty looked at a Janome machine to be her class portable. She was looking at a mechanical machine very reasonably priced. However, with a minimum of coaxing, she considered the Janome Jem Platinum 760 (which I was drooling over). I have a Janome Jem Gold which I take to classes, but the Platinum is computerized and I was amazed at the features it sported AND the price was great!!!! I decided to buy one for Jackie, but first tried to reach her on the phone. After I left a message for her, I decided to buy one anyway and check with her later. I knew she was lusting for a Bernina QE, but it might be a long time before she could afford it. In the interim, her Kenmore was at the shop and she seemed to have "outgrown" its basic functions. Betty decided to buy one also! We were both ecstatic and off to find Cracker Barrel for an early dinner.

Jackie returned my call to say that she would continue to save up for a Bernina. The next day I saw a posting on her blog with a photo of the thread mess that her "repaired" Kenmore was making of her current project. I called her back to ask why she kind of turned down my offer. She explained that the cost of the gift made her uncomfortable. Smile. What a kid. After a brief of description of the pleasure it would give me as her mother to support her sewing hobby and the joy I felt because she was pursuing a craft that I had enjoyed all of my life, she relented. I delivered the machine to her last night after work. She was happy. After I got there, I wondered what in the world I was doing leaving home at 6 p.m. to make an hour and a half (my speed) drive each way just to see her happy response.