Boy meets girl, but all's not rosy

Boy meets girl,
But all’s not rosy

On The Shelf
By: Bea Smith


Author Sandra Bonaldi of Nutley has a two-fold offering in her latest novel, “Midnight Magic.”
The book itself is a nicely written contemporary romantic story, and since it highlights domestic abuse within the pages, it also contains at the end of the book important information on domestic violence, warning signs, the facts, and research data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, resources, national telephone numbers “for immediate assistance” and planning for safety.
Bonaldi’s “Midnight Magic,” a readable love story with major complications, concerns two people, Nick Roland, an account executive in an automobile dealership, who moved from Brick to an apartment in a town outside of Nutley, and Victoria Benson, who also resides in the same apartment house. She recently broke up with her lover, Max Mendes, due to an abusive relationship, which left her drained – and with child.
It appears that Nick, himself, has been estranged from an unfaithful lover. And when he meets Victoria, he falls desperately in love with her. It’s a complex situation all right, and if “Midnight Magic” sounds like a soap opera; it does more than that. It reads like one. It also has some intriguing characters. Actually, the book has its suspenseful moments, especially when the angry abusive Max comes after Victoria – with a vengeance.





But Bonaldi knows how to bring her characters to life – and to touch on a reader’s interest and sympathy. There also are many interesting supporting characters that befriend both Nick and Victoria. The author’s first book, “One Enchanted Evening,” also had its enchanting moments.
One wonders what her next novel will be about.
“Midnight Magic” was published by A Wings ePress Inc. of Richmond, Conn., and can be obtained by getting in touch with http//www.wings-press.com.
It also can find its way and situate itself on the shelf of this reviewer’s bookcase among the romantic novels that have a highlighted touch of tenderness and tenseness.






Author, Sandra Bonaldi’s second book, ‘Midnight Magic’ offers a romantic story with a few suspenseful twists of the plot.

Life is too short...

I have come across this saying quite a few times in emails that I have been sent by friends. Today I came up with my own version and I know there will be some who agree with me.

“Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”
Author Unknown

Here is my version…

“Life is too short to wake up with regrets. Love all people whether they treat you right or not. We are not here to pass judgment but to share Christ’s love and show His light in this dark world. Believe everything happens for a reason but also believe the power of prayer can make any good thing attainable. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it! With God on your side you will never go wrong.
Sandra Bonaldi

Chase The Cookie Snatcher

Well, Chase finally pulled it off. And he did it with such finesse that Chelsea and I were momentarily dumbfounded. After getting ready to retire for the evening Chase gets his little piece of chicken with ½ of a pepcid and Chelsea gets a cookie. They know the drill and wait eagerly for their treat. After all, there had been some drastic changes made after Chase went through surgery after that acute bout of Pancreantitis. He is on a special diet and believe me when I say; there is no deviating from the plan.
Last night Chase was feeling his oats. Not only did he spit out the pill his first go around but he got another small piece of chicken out of the deal. When it was Chelsea’s turn for her cookie I gave it to her and in a blink of an eye the cookie was in Chase’s mouth. Chelsea is looking around and Chase jumped on the couch getting ready to chow down.
I try to get the cookie but Chase has it so far back in his throat that not a crumb would escape and he was not giving it up without a fight. I know when I lost a fight as I’d rather him eat the danged cookie rather than choke on it which he did rather happily.
Tom and I were looking at each other in total disbelief. The moment the cookie was finished Chase looked at me and did show some remorse. He knew what he had done was wrong and quickly tried to apologize. Of course I would have melted had I not called Chelsea for her cookie when he perked up and tried to come into the kitchen to snatch another. I could hardly believe my eyes and that’s when I know beyond the shadow of a doubt, that pup has me wrapped.

Dirty Dancing - Hungry Eyes

Take Note Men: 9 WORDS WOMEN USE

I think all of you ladies are really going to enjoy this... Don't ask where I got it. It was in my file titled "Tossed Into The Mix" I guess that says it all. ENJOY, and it's okay to laugh out loud... LOL


Take Note Men: 9 WORDS WOMEN USE


1. Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4. Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome.

8. Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F@!K YOU!

9. Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking, “What's wrong?” For the woman's response refer to #3.

To Realize

TO REALIZE
(Author Unknown)
(Thank you to my dear friend Joanne who shared this with me)

To realize
the value of a sister/brother
Ask someone
who doesn't have one.

To realize
the value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
the value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
the value of one year:
Ask a student who
has failed a final exam.

To realize
the value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize
the value of one month:
Ask a mother
who has given birth to
a premature baby.

To realize
the value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
the value of one minute:
Ask a person
who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
the value of one second:
Ask a person
who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
You will treasure it even more when
you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:

LOSE ONE.

Remember....
Hold on tight to the ones you love!

GIFT - Author Unknown

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, “if I could only see the world, I will marry you.”
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?’ The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hasn’t expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him
Her boyfriend left in tears and later wrote a note to her saying: “Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.’

Today before you speak an unkind word – think of someone who can’t speak.
Before you complain about the taste of your food – think of someone who has nothing to eat.
Before you complain about your husband or wife –
think of someone who’s crying out to GOD for a companion.
Before whining about the distance you drive –
think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.
When you are tired and complain about your job – think of the unemployed,
the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.
And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down –
put a smile on your face and think: you’re alive and still around.

CONGRATULATIONS JUDY TRAMONTANA!!!

CONGRATULATIONS JUDY TRAMONTANA!!! You are the lucky winner of the sweet secret raffle! Please message me privately on where to send your prize!
Thank you to everyone who entered.

Martina McBride - This One's For The Girls

Call me the Crock Pot Queen…

I love that thing. It truly is one great time saver. I start dinner at lunchtime and it’s ready by 5:00, can’t get any better than that. And you can cook anything - providing that it fits into that pot.
I have cooked a whole chicken in there and used the stock for other recipes as well. Eggplant, squash, potatoes, and string beans. Pulled Pork, the possibilities are endless. Beef stew can be done, but you really need to brown the beef on the stove first. It still turns out to be a time saver.
Listen, if you work nine to five you’re looking to save time any way that you can. I should have listened to my mother-in-law 20 years ago. She had always raved about the Crock Pot. And whenever the kids went to visit they raved about it too. She gave me one for a bridal shower gift which I tucked into a closet. Two years ago I was straightening up the pantry and there it was, still in the box, brand spanking new. (Mind you it had been tucked away since 1996.) I pulled that baby out and things have never been the same.
As the pleasant aroma greets me at the door there’s a hot meal on our table every night. This chick is all about multi-tasking. Besides, I’d rather be writing…

Out of the mouths of babes...

(This snippet comes from my sister Dana)

Ok, so last night I'm telling Jada a story to help her go to sleep. I'm telling her the one I made up of Ginny and Tasha. I start at the beginning and continue reading it out of my own head, as if it's a book. I'm watching her, while I'm telling her and her eyes are closed, her breathing becomes relaxed and I decide that I'll continue on telling her until I finish. Remember, it's a pretty long story-5 or 7 minutes or so. I'm dragging it out, slowing the words down to help her relax to sleep, right? So I get to the end of the story and am POSITIVE the kid is asleep. So I end it with, "...So Tasha never looked at Ginny as the scared little cat who couldn't do anything, but as a brave one, who risked her own self to help her friend...And Ginny realized that because she trusted God to take care of her, she didn't need to be afraid of anything!".
I look at Jada, sleeping so peacefully and prepare to stand up, when without missing a beat, and with her eyes still closed, Jada yells out, "THE END!". LOLOL.

BTW...She woke up this am talking about 'joshua'. I'm saying to myself, 'who the heck is Joshua', so I ask, 'Jada, who is Joshua?'. She remarks, 'Oh, you know Joshua and Ginny'! LOL

Friends - NOT

There are days when your thoughts can be all over the map. Of course, there is always a trigger point. These are the days when I wonder if I really know who my friends are, and at this point in time, it is safe to say that no I do NOT. Yes, I admit it. Let's be real. How can someone be a friend when they are smiling in your face, handing you a line (lies) while at the same time sticking the knife in your back? No need for names, you know who you are.

Then there are those who just don't want to hear the truth. They want you to tell them what they want to hear. And that doesn't sit well with me. Anyone who knows me, knows damn well that I shoot straight from the hip. There is no sugar coating the truth. It is what it is and I cannot change the facts. I'm sorry that I can't be who YOU think I should be.

I guess this is my rant for the day! I'll survive without them. Quite honestly, who needs all that toxic drama anyway??

Sanity or Security

There is a fine line between sanity and security.
Have you made your choice and more importantly, can you live with it?

Webster’s definition of enable

We live in a society of blamers, accusers, and enablers. And I refuse to fit into that category. I can sit here and place blame all day but it doesn’t change a damned thing. Now, I need to stand up and take responsibility for my own actions, my own mistakes. I can make accusations but in the end I am right back where it all began. Enable is one of those words with multiple meanings.

Webster’s definition of enable:

1) to make able; provide with means, opportunity, power, or authority (to do something)

2) to make possible or effective

What about when someone enables a person so much that they can no longer do things effectively for themselves. While they are trying to help someone they are in turn making them completely dependant. I realize there is a fine line here and many people might disagree. Helping someone is one thing but enabling him or her not to do anything is something else entirely.

I have known quite a few enablers in my time. It starts out with the right intentions and then gets completely out of control. Instead of arguing the issue it just seems easier to do the job yourself. Here’s an example.

You constantly have to tell your teenaged son to pick up the towels off of the bathroom floor every time he showers. You are sick of saying it and he is sick of hearing it. What do you do? You have two choices and they are as follows:

1) Stick to the point. He is to pick up the towels off the bathroom floor. It is not difficult. You are not asking him to do something that is unreasonable. Everyone else in the household picks up after themselves but he seems to think he’s exempt. He claims that you are nagging.

2) Instead of the constant friction, after all, you have bigger fish to fry; you go in after him and pick up the towels because you just do not want to fight about it anymore. It’s easier to just pick them up then go through the whole emotional battle every day.

While I am a firm believer of the saying that you have to pick your battles you also have to realize that if you chose option 1, eventually he will get the message that you mean business and that you aren’t a maid. His future wife will one day thank you.

If you chose option 2 because you do have bigger fish to fry I can almost guarantee that this WILL become one of those bigger fish later on down the line.

I will help anyone who asks me for help. However, there needs to be a line drawn. There comes a time when you need to stand tall, dig your heels in, and work. Sometimes you need to walk past that brand new pair of shoes and matching handbag because you need to pay the electric bill first. It comes under the heading of priority. You need to set up your priorities and then you work from there. You might not be able to afford a second brand new car, okay, weigh your options. Whoever lives closer to their job takes the second hand car. Better than that, maybe you can take turns. Life is made up of sacrifice. You give a little you get a little. A little adversity never hurt anyone. In fact, it made them stronger.



Give a man a fish and he eats for the day.

Teach a man to fish and he will eat for life.

Lady Antebellum Performs "Need You Now"

This song really tells a story in itself. Right JoJo...

My quirky family

Today we buried Pop (Uncle Freddie). We, meaning my sisters and I, have always called him Pop. In fact, I believe the entire family called him Pop. He was always Pop and it was an endearment.
Losing someone usually means throwing two or three generations of people together. And with a family like ours it soon becomes a family reunion of sorts. How many times do we say that we are going to get together and life has a way of creeping in and we get lost within our own responsibilites of simply one day at a time. I don't want to do that anymore. I want us to sit around the table and talk about old times and laugh as we have never laughed before. Time is but a vapor.
Here is my lesson for today. Here's a news flash. If ever I had doubted it I don't anymore. My quirky family has my back!!! And that's enough for me!!!

The mystery beyond!

Once again it is time to clean out the Butler’s Pantry. The accumulation of junk is just way over the top. You come to realize this when you are searching for a plastic bowl among the fifty that you have only to discover that not one of the lids is a match. Everything out! Problem solved!

Snippets according to Dana

It's funny, but last night we were coming up with snippets galore, today nada. It must be exhaustion setting in and with vacation ending in a couple of hours all I want to do is go to sleep. So, I guess I will leave you with one of my favorites...

Sometimes doing the right thing is not always the right thing to do...

C & C

Chelsea looking like a little angel right before vacation!!




Chase doing (squirmies) in the backyard!! Also, right before vacation.
August 2010

A snippet of One Enchanted Evening...

Ben punched the gas pedal and the polished black Mustang shot forward with a vengeance all her own. With the radio blaring strains from Boston’s, “More Than A Feeling’ and the gravel kicking up under the wheels he hit the pavement with retribution. He’d left Marie standing in the bedroom of their spacious two story Colonial cursing up a blue streak. As she called forth every kind of damnation possible he’d slowly come to realize what he had done. Of course it had been three days too late. He’d give Marie some time to formulate her next plan of action as he knew that she would not go down without a fight. But as far as he was concerned it had been done a long time ago. Tomorrow was another day. He’d carry on just as he had carried on before because it was bred in him to do so.
There was no way possible that any woman would ever bring Bennett Brookes to his knees. Not in this lifetime. He gripped the wheel tightly as his foot pressed the accelerator the moment he hit the highway. He would not think of the ways that Jessica had brought him to his knees. He would not recall her beautiful brown eyes. He would not call to mind her luxurious silky chestnut tresses. He would not commit to memory that little hitch in her breath as he had breeched that small barrier of resistance. He would not recollect how drugging her kisses had been. He would not consider how she’d wrapped her legs around him to keep him with her. No. Tonight he would not think of Jessica at all.

It’s One Enchanted Evening…

Take an exhilarating limousine ride with Jessica and Ben as they leave a company party together. The cold winter night is the perfect backdrop with dozens of stars set in the inky velvet sky with the sizzle of electricity in the air.

The moment Jessica climbed into that limo and met Ben's deep blue eyes she'd come to realize that she was going to get a lot more than she bargained for. It only takes one passionate moment for her to believe in love at first sight. However, that wasn't meant to last, as Jessica discovers a secret that is destined to keep them apart.

Lead Me by: Sanctus Real

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

"Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone"

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're in independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

"Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone"

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone