J=Jellybeans

With Easter coming next weekend, I figured Jellybeans were in order.

My fave? Jelly Belly! With 50 official flavors, there's bound to be one that everyone will like. Licorice, Mango, A&W root beer, crushed pineapple,cotton candy, cinnamon, chocolate pudding, etc.

Then, of course, there's the Harry Potter jelly beans. Now for those who haven't tried these, truly you need to. No they aren't really yummy but it's pretty funny to watch your kids gross out on them. They have the normal such as chocolate, almond, cherry, banana, etc, but then they have the less flavorables such as spinach, sprouts, liver, sausage, tripe. And the really yucky ones: vomit, troll bogie, earwax, farm dirt, earthworm, and of course the dirty sock. You don't know what you're eating unless you have the guide on the bag or box.

What are you favorite flavors?

I=Information Overload

When I'm researching for one of my books, naturally I go straight to the Internet. Why go anywhere else when it's all at your fingertips?

But, you can easily get swept into the sea of information overload. Unlike a library, anyone can put anything on the internet, which makes getting the correct information a trick in itself. Of course, I go straight to the trusted sources.

Here's my problem. I have a tendency to click on the next link, and then the next one and then, I'll read a line that has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm looking for and follow that link. Now, I'm off the beaten path. The next thing I know, it's been well over an hour. Wasted. I have to kick myself and get back on the path where I was to begin with.

The library seems the better choice for me. How about you?

H=Hero/Heroine

My favorite hero is Noah Calhoun from The Notebook. What a courageous man who truly loves his wife. He reads her their story day after day after day to help her remember their life together as she has Alzheimer's. And he never gives up, even at the end when he comes to her and crawls into her bed, holding hands as they slip away peacefully together. Who wouldn't want a man that devoted to his wife? He's number one in my book.

My favorite heroine, even though she has her flaws and lost her hero in the end, is Scarlett O'Hara. She's sassy, she knows what she wants and goes for it, even though not quite in the right way. You can't help continuing root for her.

Who are you favorites?

G=Ghosts

The first word that crossed my mind was gorgeous. But, of course, that would have led to more eye candy. And that would have been the easy way out. Not to mention I already did it once with D.

So, the next one was ghosts. Not everyone believes there could be spiritual beings around us. I'm not here to convince anyone, just to simply share my experiences with you. There are quite a few, so I'll only mention a couple.

When I was a teenager, my best friend was spending the night along with my niece (she is two years younger than me-we just should have been sisters!) and her best friend. All of us in my bedroom with a Ouija board. Not too smart, but we were kids after all. Everything was going great until one of us (I don't remember who) asked a spirit a question that apparently pissed him off (I think the question was an attempt to prove we were being answered from the spirit and not one of us forcing the doohickey around the board). My bible which sat on my nightstand flew across the room, hitting the wall pretty darn hard and then my light in the bedroom went out. My door was closed, but you could see the hall light still on under the door. Only my room went out. To say the least, none of us slept in my room that night!

My brother passed away suddenly over six years ago. I went to CT. and brought back a pair of his black shoes he had given my mom the year before. We had a pit bull puppy and when I got back home, I unpacked the car. The entire time Benji was happily wagging his tail, running under my feet. The last thing I brought into the house were those shoes and I set them near the fireplace. As soon as they were set down, Benji went ballistic, barking, snarling, and growling-directly at the shoes. He'd run away and then come flying back to the shoes. This lasted for about ten minutes and he wasn't letting up. I had to put them away in the closet, and he sat in front of that door growling for another five minutes before I finally locked him out of my bedroom. I believe my brother's spirit was around.

Do you have any good stories to tell?

F=fragrance

I'm talking about the good ones, of course. My favorite is lavender. And for those of you who haven't ever had the pleasure of a lavender scented bath, you don't know what you're missing. Lavender truly relaxes you. Or at least it works with me-including lighting a lavender candle. I would be in heaven if I had that lavender field in the pic.

And there are others: Fresh cut grass, the 'baby' smell, and fresh cut roses from my garden. And there is one smell that reminds me of home (as in my Mom's up in CT.) (Not fresh baked cookies, lol. Although that ranks up there pretty high!) This is really strange, but it's the smell of a storm coming. It's when the air is charged and I get a whiff of an earthy mixture-dirt, grass, trees. It takes me back to CT. It's one of those triggers. You smell something, or taste a certain food, or see something in particular that reminds you of something or someone in your past. I love that earthy smell, almost like a cleansing of sorts.

Those are mine. What are yours??

E=Endings

As in happy endings, of course!

I love happy endings. Especially after the gut wrenching roller coaster ride that's an absolute requirement in romance. I know it's a great book when I'm so into the story that I can feel the hero and heroine's pain. Harlequin books do this well.

Nicholas Sparks' books sometimes don't have the happy ever after. But, The Lucky One does. And it's such a great romantic read with lots of tender moments. The climax is heart wrenching but leads to a wonderful HEA. A must read!

Do you have a favorite happy ending?

D=Diversion!!

Okay. So I figured maybe we all need a little bit of a diversion. That's what I picked for Tuesday's D.

Some more eye candy, ladies. Enjoy.