Apr 27, 2012

The Harvest


If you follow me on Facebook, you know that a few days ago I said that YOU needed to read The Harvest by Tess Gerritsen. I love this woman’s books. She wrote a great series that evolved into my favorite show, Rizzoli and Isles on TNT.

The Harvest was an amazing medical thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I read it in two days which will only happen if I am truly hooked on a good book. This is especially true since I am a full-time student, mom, and worker. I spent all of my free moments reading this one (We didn’t have the kids for two days). The story cut at my heart strings because it is focused on the process and workings of the organ transplant system. I have a friend who received a successful lung transplant and I kept relating her to every character in the book that was waiting for a donor. Needless to say, I cried a few times. A shortage of organ donors is a true problem. This fiction thriller touches on that problem and exposes an illegal black market for organs which we hope isn’t true in reality.

Register to become an organ donor in your state!

Here is the official book synopsis from GoodReads.com:
Medical resident Dr. Abby DiMatteo is elated when the elite cardiac transplant team at Boston's Bayside Hospital taps her as a potential recruit. But faced with a tormenting life-and-death decision, Abby helps direct a crash victim's harvested heart to a dying teenager -- instead of the wealthy older woman who was supposed to receive it. The repercussions leave Abby shaken and plagued with self-doubt. Suddenly, a new heart appears, and the woman's transplant is completed. Then Abby makes a terrible discovery. The donor records have been falsified -- the new heart has not come through the proper channels. Defying the hospital's demands for silence, she begins her own investigation that reveals a murderous, unthinkable conspiracy. Every move Abby makes spawns a vicious backlash...and on a ship anchored in the waters of Boston harbor, the grisly truth lies waiting.

Apr 19, 2012

Time is money?

Most of us have heard that saying “time is money”. Really, what does that mean? We all know that famous sayings start out with “well you know what they say”… who is they? In this case, according to Wikipedia, “they” refers to Benjamin Franklin. 

"Time is money" is a saying first promulgated by Benjamin Franklin referring to the notion that time is valuable and money is wasted when a person's time is not used productively.

The phrase may also refer to:
  • ·         Time is Money (South Park Mexican album), a hip hop album released in 2000
  • ·         Time Is Money (Styles P. album), a hip hop album released in 2006
  • ·         "Time Is Money," song by rapper Akon featuring Big Meech and Rock City
  • ·         Time Is Money (DuckTales), a 1988 DuckTales TV movie, reedited into five episodes
    of the series
Thank you Wiki for making that phrase much clearer.

In my own life and probably yours too there just isn’t enough time in the day. We spend so much of our time at work and school. We get home and we tend to the house, the yard and the meals. By the time I am done with my daily responsibilities it’s 8:00pm and the kids are in bed. But it’s not really over yet. That’s when I get my homework done. So hopefully I’m in bed at 10:00. Sure I could do it earlier in the day but that means having to tell the kids “not right now I’m busy”. I refuse to do that to them too often.

I was fortunate to grow up with a stay at home mom. She always had time for us. We only needed to leave her alone while she cooked and I’m not sure we really did that either. My mom always had time for us and I developed a very strong bond with her. She’s constantly there for me and I’ve never had an ounce of doubt about it.

So here I am, the mom, making time for my kids. I don’t have as much of it to give to them as my mom did but I make the effort to do the most with the hours I have. My children will know that they can interrupt me to talk. They know that I will stop what I’m doing and help them. We read books, we ride bikes, and we play together. My time is very valuable. I agree that “time is money”. That’s why the time I have at home belongs to my family first. Now if I could get paid cash for it… that would be winning. =]

Apr 17, 2012

It's Better Than Tax Day...


Today is known as “Tax Day” to most, but for me it’s more special than that. As of today I have been married to the most wonderful man in the world for a year.

Sarah Costa Photography
Seeing how we promised each other forever, we have PLENTY
of anniversaries to come. This one is of course the most special because it’s our first. I’d like to tell you that our first year of marriage was pure bliss but I won’t. That newly-wed bliss stuff is pure B.S. sorry to say. Like normal couples we had high ups and low downs in the year. The magic of it all is that we were married and able to support each other through all of it. Some of the hardest things we’ve ever had to face happened in our first year and I wouldn’t have gotten through it all without that sexy man by my side.

Every woman probably says she’s the luckiest woman in the world but she’s lying because clearly I am that lucky woman. ;)  Good day or bad day, I wake up to and go to sleep next to my counterpart. Despite being the funniest, kindest, most thoughtful man I’ve ever known he’s also a perfect gentleman. Chivalry isn’t dead! I am blessed because my daughter and step-son are growing up in a house with an amazing role model. By example, Isaiah will learn how a real man should behave and Halle will learn how a woman should be treated by a real man.

I thank my lucky stars that he walks by me every day. Happy Anniversary to us!
I love you love; more than life, more than these words.