I went to bed shortly after midnight. I thought about trying to stick it out for another hourish but decided there had been too many sleepless nights for that. It was the right call.
I finished Professional Troublemaker and Some Days (the latter is a children’s book I downloaded from Amazon for World Book Day.)
Total pages: 561
306: Professional Troublemaker
211: Band of Sisters
24: Some Days
10: Artcurious
10: Turnip Greens & Tortillas (cookbook I’ve read before but am hoping we can actually make something from – soon.)
~~~
How would you assess your reading overall?
Generally speaking, not bad. I was tired, the hen was broody, the dogs needed wrangling. It could have been a LOT worse.
2. Did you have a stategy, and if so, did you stick to it?
My strategy was to do whatever I felt like I could do – and not feel stressed about what I couldn’t do. I stuck to it.
3. What was your favorite snack?
Favorite snack was probably the Jalapeno Pimento Cheese sandwich w/tortilla chips that I had while I waited for some frozen empanadas to bake. That was a snack because I considered the empanadas my dinner. I didn’t snack much, really. I napped instead.
4. Wanna volunteer for our next event? Stay tuned for the recap post!
Maybe. It’s been awhile since I helped out. Let’s see what the world looks like next time.
I did it. I finished a book during this readathon. It was touch and go there for a bit because we have a broody hen who escaped and could not coax back to her coop right at sundown. Silkies are a pain in the ass and as adorable as they are, I do not want any more of them. Remind me of that if I am ever in the mood to buy more chickens… anyway, back to reading.
Professional Troublemaker, by Luvvie. I finished it. Honestly, I wondered off and on why I was reading it because I, too, am a professional troublemaker so it was much like the troublemaker leading the troublemaker for me. But of course I read it because one reads whatever Luvvie writes because one is not an idiot, obviously.
Yay, Luvvie and big YAY for troublemakers, professional or otherwise.
Reading is going slowly. I’m tired. So tired, I took a pretty long nap and then made a huge sub sandwich and chatted with my son and his dogs, read a sentence, chatted some more, read a sentence… rinse/repeat. Now I’m feeling like I need another nap.
I’ve read about 150 pages, from three books (I added a cookbook to the original list and one of those three is a cookbook) – at this rate, I’ll probably have six naps in and finish one book.
(Why does my blog look weird? A question for another day…apparently. Ugh.)
It’s that time again! I’m not sure what’s going to happen today but I intend to do not much more than read, eat, nap, and wrangle dogs. Probably more wrangling of dogs than anything else, but I’m here for the reading. Sort of.
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Still here in Keystone Heights, FL – where the COVID-19 infection rate is high and the belief in science is low.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Band of Sisters, which is what I’m starting with.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Gin Cornichons.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m tired. I’m very tired.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
This is my zillionth readathon and the difference this time around is I’m going with all e-books – I don’t believe that has ever happened to me before! (I’ll likely go track down a print book from the shelves just because typing this is making me twitchy.)
Also, and more importantly, I’m very tired and very stressed out. That makes for a different type of readathon. But hey, all readathons are good readathons. Let’s do this!
UPDATE 5/26/21: I’m adding updates at the top now. The original story will appear below, without edits.
The case review scheduled for 5/24 at 9 am was shifted to an arraignment held on 5/24 at 1:30 pm. We attended via Zoom. Both attorneys indicated they were waiting for records and evidence and the State’s attorney (that’s our guy) said that additional charges may be filed, pending receipt of evidence (fingers crossed!) Jonathan L. Davis’s fancy lawyer, Zachary Richter Shafter was multi-tasking and wasn’t ready when his case was called so he stumbled a bit over what he wanted to say. I wasn’t impressed. He reiterated the not-guilty plea for his client etc. etc.
Judge Lester called for a pre-trial hearing to be held on June 21 and as of now, this hearing will be IN PERSON and not on Zoom. That will be … interesting.
In the meantime, Cassidy’s brother has started an Instagram account called @JusticeForCassidy. Follow it for updates from Cassidy’s family, please.
UPDATE 5/19/21:
It’s been almost 6 weeks since Jonathan L. Davis hit Cassidy in a head on collision and hid in the woods. It’s been almost 6 weeks since Cassidy died. Jonathan L. Davis is still in the Clay County Jail and on Monday, May 24, a case Review will happen with Judge Don H. Lester.
During Review, the Judge will speak with the lawyers, see how the case is progressing, see if the case needs to go to trial or whether a plea can be agreed upon, and… the judge could also review the bond.
We do not believe that Jonathan L. Davis should receive a reduced bond. We do not believe he should be released from jail at all. His previous jail time did not stop him from breaking law after law after law. There’s no way that six weeks in the Clay County Jail has reduced the likelihood that he will drive again. Six weeks is not enough to teach him not to drive recklessly or while under the influence. Six weeks is NOT enough to ensure the safety of other drivers.
Join us at the Clay County Courthouse, on Monday, May 24 – any time between 9 am – 12 pm. Cassidy’s brother, Patrick, has some t-shirts available for protesters and some food will be provided. Contact Chris or Patrick if you need a ride – or leave a comment on this post and I’ll see if we can figure out how to get you there.
Help us make sure the Court and the community know that we’re still fighting and we want #JusticeForCassidy.
***************ORIGINAL POST BELOW***************
Cassidy came into our lives when our son Chris started spending more time with her last year. We were just starting to get to know her, had the honor of sharing our Christmas Eve and Christmas day celebrations with her, and looking forward to spending more time with her and her Treeing Walker Coonhound (just like Skeeter!) , Maggie, once we all made it through the pandemic.
You might have noticed a young woman in our Christmas photos… wearing a mask. She was good about that – keeping everyone safe, because as a UPS warehouse worker, she was always at risk for an exposure to COVID and she did not want to put anyone at risk, including herself. Cassidy cared deeply about people – her commitment to workers rights through the Local 512 Teamsters United https://www.facebook.com/512TeamstersUnited was just another way for her to make the world a better place for people. (You can read their post about her here https://www.facebook.com/512TeamstersUnited/posts/3821828661234458)
She was strong. She was kind. She was funny. She was caring. She was personable. She was a hard worker. She was passionate about human rights. She loved paddling rivers and springs. She loved the ocean. She was 23 years old when a habitual traffic offender took her life in a head on collision… and walked away, literally, from her as she fought to live.
Shortly after midnight on Saturday, April 10, Cassidy got in her old red Toyota Tacoma truck and drove home from her second job as a beer slinger at Tabula Rasa (the photo below is the one she took when she went on shift, April 9.) It takes a little more than a half an hour to get home. She didn’t make it because 10 minutes from her home, Jonathan L. Davis swerved a Silver Yukon into her lane, hitting her head on. He got out of that vehicle and WALKED down County Road 218 as people tried to help Cassidy.
Cassidy’s parents were informed of the accident and drove from the Tallahassee to the hospital in Orange Park, FL. Her mom and dad and Chris held her hand as life support machines were turned off somewhere around 2 pm. 14 hours and she was gone.
In the hours after the crash that took Cassidy’s life, we learned that the vehicle was incorrectly tagged and it might be difficult to find the driver… but later that same day, 38 year old Jonathan L. Davis turned himself in.
He was cited for:
HIT AND RUN – FAIL TO STOP REMAIN AT CRASH INVOLVE DEATH (316.027(2)(c)) – a first degree felony
His bond was set at $75,755.00 ($750 of that was for the license plate violation) and he was assigned a public defender. His review hearing was set for May 24 and a few days later, a request to reduce bond was made and that hearing is now scheduled for April 28.
His first offense occurred in 2001 (he was 18) – 316.122 Fail to yield-to oncoming traffic/vehicle passing on left when making left turn.
Almost exactly a year later, he was sited for having an open container in his vehicle.
There are two additional cases that are related to drugs or alcohol.
In 2008, he was forced to go to driving school.
In 2013, he was charged with Driving While Licenses Suspended or Revoked (Habitual Offender) (322.34(5) – He received the same charge 2 years later.
In 20 years , he’s been cited 39 times.
He had 4 open cases when he killed Cassidy.
You can review his record by going to the Clay County Docket Search https://www.clayclerk.com/case-search/ and entering his MOST RECENT case docket number: 2021 CF 000519 .
When you get there, click his linked name to see his record.
You can right click/open in a new tab each of those docket numbers to read what he was charged with and what happened with each case.
Along with his Traffic Offenses, he earned himself a Domestic Battery charge last November (though the charges were dropped, as they so often are with domestic battery cases.)
From his record, it is clear that the only lesson this man has learned is that he gets off pretty easily and laws intended to keep people safe are not applicable to him. There is no doubt in my mind that if he is let out on bond, he’ll find another vehicle to drive illegally. And another. And another. And another.
How long would it before he hits someone else? How long before he kills someone else? How long before he changes a family’s life forever, like he has ours and Cassidy’s? I don’t believe he has earned the right to be released on bond. Do you?
This is a screenshot of every case… I know, it’s hard to read but you can save it and enlarge it if you prefer to view it this way rather than go to the docket search.
My mom made some cinnamon candy, just like she and my grandmother used to make when I was a kid – and it was amazing. It looks pretty bad but it tastes SO good. Folks asked for the recipe and I realized that my copy in my very first handwritten recipe book is very faded … so I’m putting it here, in case my kids want it some day.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Pet Milk (lol)
1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tarter
1 tablespoon Butter
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Cinnamon
Directions:
Mix Sugar, Pet Milk, Cream of Tarter, Butter, and Salt in a pot. Cook to boiling – stirring continuously. Once it boils, cook to soft ball stage, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool til lukewarm or until your hand can be held comfortably on the bottom of the pan.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat til creamy & stiff. Roll on waxed paper sprinkled with cinnamon. Cut into slices.
Originally published on BlogHer many, many years ago.
When I was a kid, I loved making Christmas cut-out cookies. I loved helping my mom make the dough, the recipe we used came from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. I loved rolling out the dough and placing our small supply of holiday cookie cutters in exactly the right places to cut out the shapes. I loved decorating them — either with icing or without. The only problem with those sugar cookies was that I did not like to eat them and neither did anyone else in my family. We ate them but we did not love them — which might be why my mother did not let us make them every year.
When I had kids of my own, I bought a bunch of holiday cookie cutters and introduced them to the joys of the sugar cookie. Like me, they loved making the cookies but they did not like eating them. Still — it was a tradition. It was something they really loved to do, so we kept making them.
Over the years, I made those sugar cookies with my kids, with neighbor kids, with Girl Scout troops and Cub Scout dens. I even took the pre-baked cookies into classrooms and we made fun cookie decorating messes in classrooms all over the world.
I thought I’d spend the rest of my life making Christmas sugar cookies that nobody liked. I had resigned myself to nibbling on cookies made by children, faking the joy until the child turned her back and I could toss the cookie into the trash… until that wonderful day, when a book changed my life.
I wish I remembered more about what led me to buy Leisure Arts’ Christmas Gifts of Good Taste. I was probably looking for some new craft ideas for projects I could do with my Girl Scouts or with my kids. This was way back in 1991, before the internet made it so much easier to find new ideas — back when you ordered books out of magazines or from book clubs and prayed the book had something in it you could use. This book has a beautiful cover, and I’m a sucker for good covers, so that’s probably what pushed me into placing the order.
I do remember receiving the book and opening it for the first time. It was late fall in Northern California. The weather was glorious and we were beginning to think about the holidays. I was excited to try several of the recipes in the book and make a lot of the crafts. My kids and my next door neighbor (and her kids) were equally excited by the idea. Both households went to work — the kids made felt Santa puppets, angel gift bags and Santa cookies (made out of Nutter Butters.) If you wander through my house, you might find some handwritten holiday recipe cards made that fall by my neighbor and her children. Every time I see those cards, I remember that time in our lives and I quietly celebrate the book that changed our lives because in that book is THE sugar cookie recipe.
I clearly remember looking at the recipe and wondering “Who puts mint in a sugar cookie?” I shrugged and headed off to the commissary because these cookies were so pretty that I had to make them.
I made the dough by myself, without the help of children. I cut the Christmas light pattern out of cardstock while the dough was chilling. I carefully cut the cookies, by this time the children were very interested in what I was doing. I sent them away and told them we’d make their sugar cookies next. When the cookies were cool, I iced them by myself with homemade red and green and blue icing — and they were beautiful.
I never expected to love these cookies. I never expected the children to devour them. I really did not expect the neighbor children (or their mother) to return my plate, empty, within 15 minutes of having sent it over. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d be in the process of making a double batch of that recipe before I even cleaned up from the first batch. Those cookies… they were that good. I’ve never considered trying another recipe. Ever. There’s no need, I’ve found perfection.
I’ve carried this recipe with me all over the country (and the world) and I’ve always had rave reviews — even when the cookies were decorated by pre-schoolers with germy fingers. I’ve shared the recipes with friends online and always had rave reviews. Every fall, someone emails me or messages me asking me for the recipe. When I met TW’s children, they’d never experienced the joy of the sugar cookie (TW is not a fan) and they were immediately converted to mint sugar cookie lovers. Our holiday would not be complete without this cookie — it’s not just the fun they have sitting around the table together, making anatomically correct snowmen and gingerbread girls. It’s that they actually LIKE to eat them.
Mint Sugar Cookies
Cookies
For cookies, cream butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and mint, beating until smooth. In another bowl, sift flour and baking soda. Stir the flour (and nuts if you use them, yuk!) into the creamed mixture until soft dough forms. (And if I’m honest, I’ll admit to quite often NOT sifting because who has time to sift when you have a zillion kids wanting to make cookies?? Hasn’t ever hurt the cookies to not sift… just sayin’.) Cover and chill for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin (or the heels of your hand like I do, lol) to roll out the dough to 1/4″ thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut cookies and back for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on a wire rack.
For icing, beat sugar and milk in a large bowl until smooth. Divide icing into small bowls and tint with food coloring. Spread icing on the cookies and allow the icing to harden (if your cookie eaters don’t eat them first!)
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
3/4 cup of butter (or margarine), softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon mint extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup finely ground walnuts (I leave these OUT)
Icing (I rarely make icing anymore…)
5 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
Paste food coloring
A sugar cookie everyone loves… who would have guessed it? (Oh. Wait. There is one hold out — TW has still never tasted one of these cookies. She swears she won’t like it. Her loss, more for us!) This is also the cookie that is causing my vegan child angst this year… so we’re going to try a vegan version and see what happens — fingers crossed!
Well… I enjoyed it. That’s pretty much all the assessment I can do. Heh.
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?
I did have a strategy, which was to read until I needed to sleep and that’s what happened. Which is why I slept for 3 hours within the first 6 hours of the readathon. I knew I was going to nap more than usual but that was a LOT of napping.
3. What was your favorite snack?
The Asiago cheese and Pop Chips.
4. Wanna volunteer for our next event?
Maybe. It depends on life and work and my exhaustion level. As usual.
I only finished one book, A Starless Sea – which I had already started… twice! I’m feeling good about finally finishing that. And I enjoyed it a lot. Possibly more than Night Circus (sacrilege, right?)
Another October, another Readathon! My opening survey:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Keystone Heights, again – still. Mostly the master bedroom.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Umm, errr, umm…. my snack situation is a little odd this time around. I have cheese, cheese, and more cheese. So I’m looking forward to CHEESE! And also egg salad and pimento cheese on saltines and celery. Weird, I know. But now I’m reminded that I did not see the fruit chew thingies I ordered when I unpacked the groceries. I wonder if they were out of stock… I should find out.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m tired. I’m very tired. Already.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
This is not my first rodeo, er readathon – what I’m doing differently this time is… I have NO PHYSICAL STACK AT ALL. Every book I plan to read is on my Kindle or Libby or Audio. This is a first. I’m not sure I’m going to like it. I need the #pandemic to end. WEAR YOUR MASK and SOCIAL DISTANCE, please.
