The Witness

I am not an avid Nora Roberts' reader, but I have read a few of her books that I liked.  The Witness is definitely my favorite. 

The Witness is Elizabeth Fitch, the 16 year old daughter of a domineering mother, a mother who has planned Elizabeth's entire present and future.  A freshman at Harvard, Elizabeth comes home for the summer to find her mother is going out of town and has enrolled Elizabeth in a summer program in order to accelerate her graduation and ensure she is the youngest neurosurgeon in Chicago.  Elizabeth, who was looking forward to vacation and a promised trip to New York, rebels and goes shopping for clothes for the first time in her life.  She meets someone she knew of in high school and they go to a club which is owned by the Russian mob.

After leaving the club, Elizabeth witnesses a murder and goes into witness protection.  When her protectors are murdered, Elizabeth runs.

Twelve years later Abigail Lowery moves to a small town in Arkansas and catches the eye of the local chief of police, Brooks Gleason.  While their relationship deepens, Abigail makes plans to get her life back.

 

Up Country

Nelson DeMille is, and has been for many years, one of my favorite authors.  His books always entertain, yet you can't help learning something at the same time.  I think the first DeMille I read was The Charm School and it remains one of my favorites.  Recently I listened to (yes, I am an audio book fiend) all of the John Corey books and in The Panther, Paul Brenner had a pivotal role, which is one reason I picked Up Country as my first book of 2013. 

As a child of the 60s, I put off reading this book on Vietnam by Nelson DeMille for quite some time.  It's been in my TBR bookcase since it first came out in paperback, but I recently got a copy of the audiobook, so I figured why not start listening. 

Up Country is the story of Paul Brenner's return to Vietnam to investigate a murder that happened during the Tet Offensive in 1968, the same time that he was a PFC in the Army.  Chief Warrant Officer Paul Brenner (also the character in The General's Daughter) is a no-nonsense, tell it like it is, recently retired Criminal Investigation detective.  He retired after solving the case of the general's daughter's death and pissing off a lot of the brass.

In order to investigate the murder of an officer by a superior officer, Paul must find a Vietnamese soldier who witnessed the crime and get a statement and retrieve any mementos of the crime he might have in his possession.  Paul Brenner meets and then is accompanied by Susan Webber, an American woman who lives and works in Vietnam, and who may not be exactly who she says she is.

I liked the book very much, the complaint I have is the ending leaves several questions in my mind.  I want to know what happens next.  

Friends

Today I had a wonderful lunch with my friend, Marie.  We went to Patty's Eggnest in Arlington, which I think is one of the best places to go for breakfast or lunch with friends.  The food is good, they give you enough for two meals, and the service is great.  Plus they don't seem to care how long you sit there and visit, they just keep filling your coffee cup and being nice.  Bear was happy because he got Marie's leftovers (I ate mine for dinner). 

We missed having Mary join us, but hopefully her back will get better quickly and we can do this again soon.  I miss my old neighborhood and the wonderful people I met there.

I have to say that I miss having the constant interaction with the people I lived near, worked with, and saw on a daily basis.  I think it is the downside of retirement and moving.  You just lose contact with the people you saw day in and day out.  I guess the reason the people at Walgreen's think I'm always such a pleasant customer is I'm just happy to see them.

January 1 time for a do over

It's January now and the day was crisp, sunny, and cold.  Not cold like Alaska cold, but cold for Washington.  It was a good day.  I actually went through some clothes, washed them, and now they are in the Goodwill box.  I haven't worn a dress since I attended a funeral shortly after I retired, so I'm passing them on to someone who might need them.  

Why is it so hard to give clothes I haven't worn in ten years?  Why do I think that I will suddenly start wearing dresses and jumpers, it's not like they are even in style anymore.  Still, even though I know I won't be wearing them, I put three jumpers back in the closet "in case it get hot this summer".  

I put out some bread chunks for the birds the other day and last night something came any ate them.  I don't think it was birds, because there was half a loaf of toasted bread yesterday and today there are about three chunks.   Plus Bear was really sniffing in the area . . . coyotes?  Probably.



 

Hello 2013

Wow, it's so hard to believe that we are already almost in the year 2013. I remember vividly the worries and stress of turning from 1999 to 2000 and how we all thought the computers were going to crash and the world would never catch up. Surprise, we made it. 
 It's been a long time since I blogged anything, and it may take me a while to remember how to do things. Seriously. 

So here we are on the cusp of 2013 and I think this is an excellent time to set goals for myself. These are not resolutions, because I never manage to keep resolutions and it's not a bucket list, because it's not going to be life changing things.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• Read at least 50 books this year. 
• Knit six pairs of socks. 
• Knit six hats. 
• Attempt cables, oh wait that was last year's goal - - oops. 
• Knit one thing that is not a a hat or a pair of socks. 
• Get rid of the clothes I'm never going to wear. Even the ones with the tags still on them.
• Continue doing my 26 random acts of kindness.
• gift card for a stranger
• soup for mom 

I'm going to keep adding to my lists and keep trying to be a kind person.  Who knows, maybe 2013 will be my best year yet.