Birthday Celebration with More Blogging, Tim Tams, and the Laundry Hag

Today is my 21st birthday (x 2 plus a few extra years).  So I am treating myself  to three special things:

1.  More blogging!  Anne Elizabeth (Navy spouse and RT Columnist) and Lynde Lakes (Air Force spouse and Aloha Chapter president) have encouraged me to write more ... so I will be posting a blog three times a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Readers - is there a subject you would like me to blog about?  .

Authors - would you like to be a guest on my expanded blog?

2.  Tim Tams!  Tim Tams are chocolate-covered biscuits (wafer-like cookies) that are an Aussie treat.  Anna Campbell spoiled her fans at RomCon with them.  

Last week, I bought a package of Tim Tams from the Hickam commissary.  The teenage bagger shared his method for the correct way to eat them.  I shared his method with the "experts" - Aussie authors Anna Campbell, Anne Gracie, and Christine Wells.   I will share their feedback in a blog sometime in the near future.

But the discussion of "biscuits" reminds me of my Dutch friend, Wilhelmina, whom I met at NATO.  She spoke Flemish, French, German, and English with an English accent.  Sometime she confused British and American words for the same item.  For example:

British chips are American fries.
British crisps are American chips.
British biscuits are American cookies.
British squash is American juice.

She once asked me to bring back Popeye's Chicken and cookies from Ramstein - she meant American biscuits!  This is a fond memory I have kept in my heart for over 15 years.  Wilhelmina also celebrated her 21st birthday last week, so I wish her Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd.

Do you have a favorite sweet? 

Have you mixed up words from different languages?

3.  The Laundry Hag:  I am reading a contemporary romance recommended by my friend, Mary Gramlich, the Reading Reviewer.  She recommended Jennifer Hart's second book from her Misadventures of a Laundry Hag, Swept Under A Rug. 

From Mary's website, http://www.marygramlich.com/,

"Laundry, laughter, love and crime make for a great read.

Maggie Phillips is a stay-at-home mom, runs her own house cleaning business and on the side is a Confidential Informant to the police. Well back that up a little please she is a what? Yes Maggie is a CI in their home town of Hudson, MA a bedroom community outside of Boston. She takes care of her sons, does some house cleaning and makes sure the criminals get caught sometimes even before a crime happens."

I can relate to the author - Jennifer is a Navy spouse.  While her heroine stops crime before it happens, I know from experience that Jennifer has her house packed before the PCS (moving) orders arrive!   Military spouses are Wonder Woman, Martha Stewart, and Laura Croft rolled into into one.

To learn more about Jennifer Hart and the Laundry Hag series, log onto http://www.jenniferlhart.com/

Jennifer donated an autographed copy of Swept Under A Rug for one lucky commenter.

1.  Leave a comment about blogging, Tim Tams, or what you do best as a domestic engineer.

2.  Log onto Mary's website, http://www.marygramlich.com/, for the contest word.

3.  E-mail the contest word and your mailing address to sos.america@yahoo.com.  I will randomly select one commenter to receive the book.  All other commenters who send me their mailing address will receive a Navy treat.  The book is available only to US residents due to mailing costs.  But I will send the Navy treat to international readers.  This contest is open through August 29.   

Mahalo to Jennifer and Mary for today's contest.  Join me on Wednesday, August 25, as we celebrate William Wallace's Legacy with Scottish historical author Diana Cosby.  Plus more books to giveaway!

Happy reading,

Kim in Hawaii