Promotion day arrives for white Conn. firefighters

Promotion day arrives for white Conn. firefighters - Nation Wire - SunHerald.com

A group of white firefighters who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to sanction their promotions over black colleagues are receiving their new badges Thursday in a ceremony that provides symbolic recognition of their victory.


The high court ruled in June that New Haven officials violated white firefighters' civil rights when they threw out 2003 test results in which too few minorities did well.

The case became an issue in confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who ruled against the white firefighters when she served on a federal appeals court.

So glad the guys who earned the promotion finally received it.

The Laundry Room Gets It's Turn FINALLY

We have finally gotten around to remodeling the laundry room (sigh, it is the last room to be remodeled). This linoleum is what was originally in the dining room, kitchen and the bathrooms. We replaced the floors in the dining room and kitchen with laminate flooring and now we are putting the same flooring in the laundry room. We put tile in the bathrooms.

This is the flooring that will be in there. Unfortunately the renovations required taking the hot water heater out, so we are currently without hot water.

For some reason the walls were never painted in here. After seeing Barb's Raspberry Mud Room I was inspired. I took myself off to Lowe's to look at paint chips. And settled on you guessed it Raspberry. It matches the strawberries and raspberries in the border I have in the kitchen nicely not that it matters but depending on what we do with the kitchen cabinets I may use it in the kitchen too. We are going to leave the pantry door open. A folding door, which is what was in there when we bought the house, takes up to much room to open. We are going to paint the pantry the same (off-white) blue that is in the rest of the house. I think the contrast will look nice.

For those of you wondering why we are going to do anything with the kitchen cabinets as they are fairly NEW. We had them custom made by a local cabinet maker. He did a HORRIBLE JOB! The paint is peeling off the cabinets and all the trim he painted and some of the trim (that was suppose to be white is a dingy yellow). I am furious every time I look at them he didn't even bother to PRIME the cabinets before he painted them. They were a total waste of our money and IF I had it to do over I would have gotten the cabinets at Home Depot, somehow some way. You can read all about the nightmare here.

Alasandra's Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

1 small can, canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter melted
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thirteen Books I Read Recently

1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski ~ Born mute Edgar has an idyllic childhood with the Sawtelle dogs until his Uncle Claude returns to destroy the world as he knows it. I found the book kinda weird and hard to get into.
2. Dinosaurs in the Attic an Excursion into The American Museum of Natural History by Douglas J. Preston - I found the book to be interesting and informative.
3. Scarpetta by Patricia Cornewll ~ A real page turner, the gang minus Rose is reunited in New York City.
4. Dream Warrior by Sherrilyn Kenyon ~ Jericho (aka Cratus) a Titan helps the Oneroi broker a deal with Zeus to return their emotions, and rescue the Oneroi and Skoti from Noir and Azura all for the love of Delphine.
5. The Winds of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson ~ Lady Jessica returns to Dune after receiving news that a blind Paul walked over into the desert.
6. Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon ~ I had been looking forward to reading Fang & Aimee's story but I am very disappointed in it. First off Kenyon seems to have forgotten that Cherise Gautier was killed leading to Nick committing suicide and becoming a Dark Hunter, which then lead to the discovery he was the Malachai. Even though in Bad Moon Rising Thorn says the increased demon activity is due to the Malachai being unbound. Serious problem with her storyline there. My next major complaint is that Ash was there when Maman Peltier was wounded (saving Fang's life) and could have healed her but didn't. I am also annoyed with Savitar he revoked Sanctuary's license forever in a fit of pique (felt bad about it after he did it) which made the attack where Maman Peltier lost her life possible.
7. Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman - Lots of twist and turns and plots within plots. A very good read.
8. Never Again by John Ashcroft - Ashcroft defends the Patriot Act.
9. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins ~ excellent book, very well written.
10. The Web And The Stars Book 2 of the Timeweb Chronicles by Brian Herbert ~ This book was full of surprises and I liked it much better then Book 1 (mainly because I now know all the characters). If you are looking for a books to get a young person I do recommend this series. Noah's nephew becomes Doge of the Merchant Prince Alliance and forms an alliance with Noah and his Guardians. The Parvii Tesh will sacrifice her race for the good of the galaxy and the Tulyans will work with the humans to liberate the Aopoddae.
11.  Webdancers Book 3 of The Time Web Chronicles by Brian Herbert ~ Tesh chooses to have Noah's baby. Noah evolves into something that isn't human and that has the power to control an Aopoddae weapon capable of great destruction. Parais risk her life to save Dux and Acey. And the Web Spinners are revealed as the greatest threat to the galaxy.
12. The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell - Jean Baptiste Chandonne is back and badder then ever.
13. Kindred In Death by J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) 16 year old Deena MacMasters is murdered by her "secret" boyfriend while her parents are away celebrating her Dad's promotion to Captain of the NYPSD.  Can Eve find out WHY and WHO before the killer kills again?
    

Dining with Alasandra

We went to The Olive Garden in D'Iberville for Hubby's birthday. The service was excellent and the place was packed but the food is only mediocre. I much prefer Capone's. I got the Venetian Apricot Chicken a grilled chicken breast in an apricot citrus sauce, served with broccoli, asparagus and diced tomatoes. The chicken breast OK and I did like the sauce but the broccoli and asparagus were tough. The salad it was served with was disappointing, but on the plus side they did keep us supplied with warm bread sticks.

Thirteen Books I read Recently

Thirteen Books I Read Recently

1. Blasphemy by Douglas Preston ~ A bunch of Christian Fundamentalist create a mob intent on destroying Isabella (the most expensive machine ever built) and killing the scientist. With the help of some American Indians most of the scientist are able to escape.
   
2. The Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - Palmer Lloyd is willing to pay anything to have the red meteor as part of his museum collection. He hires Eli Glinn to bring the meteor to New York. Unable to admit defeat Glinn will risk everything to complete his mission. Then McFarlane one of the few survivors of the ill fated expedition will discover that it wasn't a meteor at all............. (I sense a possible sequel)
   
3. Smash Cut by Sandra Brown - A real page turner. Paul Wheeler was gunned down in an elevator who hired the killer? His nephew who expected to inherit his fortune or the lovely young lady he was spending his time with.
   
4. Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen ~ When Tavak is trapped in an Egyptian tomb he emails the only person who can help computer whiz Rachel Kirby. Can the dynamic duo find Peseshet's tomb before the bad guys do.
   
5. Deadlock by Iris Johansen ~When Emily Hudson is kidnapped only one man can save her. Can he win her heart too?
   
6. The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson - The first in the Repairman Jack series. He is awesome, I am looking forward to reading more. Jack wins back his girlfriend by saving her daughter from an ancient curse.
   
7. Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell - How the English won against all odds at Agincourt thanks to the archers.
   
8. The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child - The immured anchorite sends the Agozyen out into the world in order to find the next Rinpoche. Pendergast must return the Agozyen to the monastery before the world is destroyed, and thanks to Constance Greene's secret when all appears lost Pendergast will receive help for an unlikely source.
   
9. Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & Richard Dilallo - I didn't care for this book.
   
10. Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincol Child ~ Sir William Macallan designed "The Water Pit" a deadly vault to hold the pirate Edward Ockham's treasure on Ragged Island. 30 years ago Malin Hatch's brother died on Ragged Island, his body was never recovered. Now Captain Neidelman is offering Malin a chance to recover his brother's body if he will allow the treasure hunter access to Ragged Island. But what if St. Michael's Sword is deadly to posses? Will anyone escape from Ragged Island alive?
    
11. Thunderhead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child ~ This is the novel in which Nora meets Smithback for the first time. Nora receives a letter from her Father 16 years after his death telling of a lost Anasazi city he discovered. With the backing of Ernest Goddard she assembles an archaeological team and heads off into the wild to hunt for it. But the city turns out to hold a deadly secret.
    
12. The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra ~ Great Book!!!!!! " A religion of love has moved alarmingly in the direction of hatred, although outright hatred may not be preached from the pulpit. What is preached is self-righteous intolerance."
    
13. Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston - Sally & Tom Broadbent (from The Codex) are featured. While riding in the desert Tom hears gunshots and finds Stem Weathers shot in the back. With his dying breath Stem begs Tom to take his notebook to his daughter Robbie . Hoping to find a clue to Stem's identity in the notebook Tom takes it to ex-CIA agent Wyman Ford to decode. They then begin to search for the T-REX the code reveals but can they manage to stay alive with Stem Weathers' murder after them as well as a rogue government agency that wants them dead.