Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

A Passel Of Puppies!

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What better way to celebrate Black Friday than staying home and watching videos of African Painted dog pups born to Ella at the Oregon Zoo! It’s her first litter and they estimate ten to sixteen pups. She needs privacy and quiet, so here we get to peek into her maternity ward. So either try to count the pups or go shopping today.

I can shop online like a ninja, so no worries here about sales. I actually did my shop and buy last weekend to beat the crowds. Okay, the crowds were there, but I’ve been trained for combat; it comes in very handy when retail shopping.

As I dived into an overflowing steel basket trying to find a certain polar bear snuggle blanket at Kohl’s my elusive prey was not to be found, but I captured it online. Don’t try this at home, I’m a trained professional buyer. The government used to pay me to do that. Alas, my budget is much smaller now. But I love me some bargains.

I did actually achieve getting two hoodies for free with points and coupons and sales and garlic. My personal best so far. But I digress.

Have a great, hopefully long, weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

 

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

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A prior classic Libby’s recipe pumpkin pie from my very own kitchen. Can you smell the joy?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Family, turkey, friends, mashed potatoes, football, pumpkin pie, gravy, whipped cream. You get my drift. It’s also a time to reflect on all we have and how lucky we are to live in the USA.

When Debbie, my Australian friend, happened to visit our family during Thanksgiving one year, she totally endorsed this fabulous holiday. Everybody can get behind a time to be thankful.

Whether you’re having turkey, spaghetti, ham, a breakfast burrito, McDonald’s Happy Meal or eating Meals-Ready-To-Eat or mess food on a ship, it’s time to reflect.

My sister and brother-in-law just got back from a trip to California to visit family. On the way down I-5 they traveled on the road with Oregon fire crews going to backup our California neighbors in need. At the hotel in Redding they shared space with more fire crews and the displaced folks who had lost their homes in the fires.

It’s times like these that those of us who are not directly touched by the wildfires, hurricanes or other natural disasters can do our part to help. Donations are always welcome. The Red Cross is a good place to start. 

So while we thank and honor our firefighters on the lines in California, our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq spending another holiday away from home, and all our military members, veterans, law enforcement and intelligence personnel around the world protecting us, it truly is a time to say thank you for what we have.

I am blessed to be able to work on my writer dreams, have a funny family and supportive friends; plus cuddle Spec Ops Cat who thinks I’m his waitress and personal mobile heating pad.

And to my blog readers, I send you hugs and wishes for peace, prosperity and pumpkin pie.

Which means I’m now heading off to whip up the pumpkin pies for tomorrow. Somehow there always seems to be leftovers. Because we plan to feed an army on purpose so we can take turkey and pie home. Life is logistics!

The only thing better than turkey day, is turkey day leftovers.

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

 

Here Come The Holidaze!

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Last week I was praying for toilet bowl cleaner and hemorrhoid cream tv commercials to avoid political ads, but we made it! It’s time to cut loose and prepare for the shopping frenzy and advance Black Friday deals. Talk about shopping creep.

So for a palate cleanser I have brought back an oldie and a goodie in Sing A Long mode!

Prepare to hoard eggnog!

Have a great, safe, weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

 

 

 

A Veterans Day Reminder

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ARCTIC OCEAN – (From left) Carl Felten, U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Annabelle Gagnon, Merchant Marine Academy Cadet Taylor Crisci, Luc Rainville and Jeremy Wilkinson pull a buoy across the Arctic ice Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, about 350 miles northeast of Barrow, Alaska. The buoy was deployed in the Arctic and contains a series of sensors to measure wind speed and direction, air temperature, barometric pressure and other measurements to study stratified ocean dynamics. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) is underway in the Arctic with about 100 crew members and 30 scientists to deploy sensors, buoys and semi-autonomous submarines to study how environmental factors affect the water below the ice surface for the Office of Naval Research. The Healy, which is homeported in Seattle, is one of two ice breakers in U.S. service and is the only military ship dedicated to conducting research in the Arctic. (NyxoLyno Cangemi/U.S. Coast Guard)

Election Day. Brought to you by the good women, men and military animals of our armed forces, Coast Guard, National Guard, veterans and their families. The first time I voted was by military absentee ballot on a pool table at Fort Carson. Colorado. My Lieutenant had to observe to make sure I complied with the then rules for voting out of state. The Recreation Room seemed the logical place.

For the past twenty years Oregon has had vote-by-mail and I highly recommend it to all the other states. Except Washington and Colorado, they have it too. No online, no clunky machines, mail with a stamp or drop off and a complete vintage paper trail.

This year I even got to track my ballot through the mail using www.ballotscout.org by way of my ballot address bar code. Simple. Effective. Private. And nobody messes with United States Postal Service employees; a lot of veterans work there too.

For those of you who might think twice about getting to a polling place stateside if you need to, don’t. Do it. Vote. The men, women and military animals in these photos are working hard right now around the world to make sure we all keep our right to vote. Use it or lose it.

It’s not like you’re a Marine hiking in Iceland!

Happy Veterans Day on Sunday to all who have served. Thank you for your service to your country.

 

Members of Team Andersen load water purification equipment onto a 36th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules to be delivered to Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Oct. 28, 2018, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Service members from Joint Region Marianas and Indo-Pacific Command are providing Department of Defense support to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ civil and local officials as part of the FEMA-supported Typhoon Yutu recovery efforts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Donald Hudson)
Candidates participating for the Expert Field Medical Badge disassemble and reassemble an M4 rifle as quickly as possible during the standardization phase of EFMB testing on Fort Bragg, N.C., Oct. 30, 2018. The first week of testing introduces the candidates to all the tasks that they’ll be expected to complete to earn the coveted badge. The EFMB was established to showcase and recognize medical Soldiers for their exceptional skill level and competence in the medical field. The testing consists of a written exam, land navigation, three separate combat testing lanes and concludes with a 12-mile ruck march. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Liem Huynh / 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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NORWEGIAN SEA (Oct. 27, 2018) An F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the Sunliners of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81 is prepared for launch aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in support of Exercise Trident Juncture 18. With more than 50,000 participants from 31 allied partners, Trident Juncture 18 is taking place in Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Thomas Gooley/Released)
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Angela Cardone, a military working dog handler with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, conducts training at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 19, 2018. Military working dog handlers are military police who are trained to employ a military working dog to conduct searches in open areas, buildings and vehicles. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Seth Rosenberg)
U.S. Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit hike to a cold-weather training site inland, Iceland, Oct. 19, 2018, during Exercise Trident Juncture 18. Trident Juncture training in Iceland promotes key elements of preparing Marines to conduct follow-on training in Norway in the later part of the exercise. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Menelik Collins/Released)

Of Pumpkins, Pachyderms And Mayhem

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Sometimes you just need to self-medicate with candy. Today would be that day. I declare today calorie free for everybody! My big decision is whether to eat a box of Goobers or go Trick or Treating at Mom’s house for chocolate covered biscotti. I will be her only customer and I know what is in her pantry. I have wicked chocolate RECON skills.

I try to limit myself to one treat on Halloween, adult size, but maybe I get both today. Because I can. Now to hunt down my Snoopy Halloween plastic treats bucket. Maybe I can talk her out of two biscotti! One for backup.

Let’s be careful out there, to quote the tv show Hill Street Blues. Watch for little and big trick or treaters, keep warm and hug someone you care about – no calories in that!

On to the pumpkin smashing, elephant style at the Oregon Zoo.

Lemurs, Bears, Beavers And Pumpkins?

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Do we all feel like we’re hurtling toward the holiday abyss at increasing velocity? I’ve been running around like a squirrel on Mt. Dew trying to get outside and inside chores done ahead of the rain. It arrived yesterday. Kind of got things finished. Almost.

Just managed to get the six Halloween decorations out Thursday. If I can stay six days ahead of each of the upcoming holidays, my life will be a success.  I’ve learned to lower my standards for the holidays; makes life so much easier.

But one pleasure I can’t refuse is checking out animals at the Oregon Zoo playing with their pumpkins. How cute are these beauties? Love the lemurs! I keep thinking of King Julian in the Madagascar movies.

Have a great, safe, weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!