Sunday Winner and Funny…
Congratulations to Shari, #76 (as in 1776…get it???) who is the big winner of this week’s Fifth Friday contest! Please send your snail mail address to me at julie @ julie . leto . com (no spaces) and we’ll get that baby shipped right away!
I know the Plotmonkeys all wish we had this drop down menu on our computers…what about you?
Congrats Shari!!
I could so use that drop down at work.
Comment by Vicki — July 1, 2007 @ 6:57 am
Congrats, Shari.
I think we all could use that drop down menu.
Happy 4th!
Comment by Pat L. — July 1, 2007 @ 7:22 am
Congrats Shari!
The drop down menu would be great, but not so sure I want to know what the boss is thinking…TMI. LOL
Comment by Darla — July 1, 2007 @ 9:02 am
Congrats Shari!!
I like the drop down menu. Wonder if I could add re-do vacation???
Comment by ev — July 1, 2007 @ 9:33 am
Congrats, Shari!!!!
I would put money on that drop down menu being created by someone in the advertising agency. Sending it to “my person” right now - she’s an account executive and office manager for my SIL’s advertising agency.
Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!!!
Comment by Jodie — July 1, 2007 @ 9:42 am
ok, here goes. The cast of characters first.
Friday, the last day of vacation, we were all caravaning to go to lunch. There were 4 cars- one with hubby’s son, dil and 2 grandkids (16 & 18), one with hubby’s other son, dil and the twins, one with dil’s mom and brother and then us.
We were ahead of everyone and unsure of the directions, hubby pulled over and flagged down the Jersey cop behind us. He gets out and goes over to the cop car, a female cop, who takes a minute to roll down the window. Gets the directions and comes back and we leave. He said it took her a while to roll down the window and laughed that she was running our plate.
Prophetic.
Everyone meanwhile, had gotten ahead of us and we were last in out little caravan. Two miles down the road I see another cop car coming and then her lights (she was still behind us) go on. Hubby pulls over to let her by and she pulls in behind, another car comes up on her side and another one towards us. Everyone else had gone thru the light they stopped us at, saw the cars,and wondered if there was an accident.
Not quite.
end of part one.
Comment by ev — July 1, 2007 @ 9:47 am
Part two.
Hubby rolls the window down, they are standing behind open doors on their cars, guns drawn, yelling for him to put his hands out the window, turn the ignition off with his left hand, and step out of the car. Now, hubby is 73, wears dual hearing aids (too many years in artillery) and diabetic.
He did as he was told, meanwhile Heather and I are sitting there scared shitless. I was trying to find the registration and call son #1 and dil who are both attorneys. No one heard the phone. I finally got thru to her mother, told her to keep trying and have them call me asap. She’s the kind that wanted to know what was going on, and I had to get thru to her I didn’t have time.
Back to the cops. They have hubby walking backwards towards them with his hands out. He can’t hear the instructions and I was scared that someone would shoot him because he would turn around to “hear” them. I finally got out of the car and told them that he couldn’t here them. The female cop had her gun pointed at me.
By now there were 10 or 12 cop cars, most SWAT of K-9 all around. Traffic was stopped and everyone was getting a great show. Heather was just sitting in the back seat, not breathing.
The cop told me that the tags had come back as stolen. Now, in NJ, when you have speciliaty plates, the prefix is on them. Not so here in NY. We have State Guard plates, which only have the number. The words under in on the bottom of the plate will clue the cops into the prefix, if they know what they are doing. Otherwise, the numbers alone will come up not registered to that car. I yelled at them to run it with the prefix- Sierra Tango George- which they did and it finally came back matching our car.
Once they ran the VIN and checked the registration, things calmed down. They they spent 15 minutes apologizing and assuring us they would put it on the radio that it wasn’t a stolen car. And that people do do stupid things like steal cars and pull cops over to ask directions. Or hold the driver hostage and force him to drive them. but would they let them out of the car to ask a cop for directions and not say they had a gun on me???
I can understand wanting to check to see the registration and clearing the driver, but this was overkill. Almost litereally.
His son finally got a hold of us, and I told him all was well. But to order me a drink for lunch. Which I needed badly. I don’t think I have ever been so scared. and I come from a family of cops. Hubby took it all in stride and was laughing about it. I was pissed. We were waiting for them to ask if they could search the car, in which case, the answer would have been no, not without a warrant and our attorney present.
And I hadn’t had coffee yet.
Comment by ev — July 1, 2007 @ 10:01 am
Yey Shari…Julie, you’ll have to tell us where you got that prize (Guitard hot fudge sauce, I am SOOOO there). Leslie, I loved your video, by the way. Are you sure that’s not Bruce? I found a Janelle book in my suitcase (I forgot it was there). It’s my next book after my Jilll Shalvis book. Still on vacay….
Comment by katie — July 1, 2007 @ 10:31 am
Congrats Shari!
Leslie I read Allie’s stiry last night in “Heat Wave” I loved it.:love2:
I can’t believe it wan’t a book unto itself.
I’m tempted not to read the other 2 stories.
I sure hope we hear more from Trouble.
Small towns are such great places for stories.
Will read She’s no Angel” when I get home if I can’t find it here.
Hugs to all from God’s little acre in Maine.:love2:
Comment by jeannie — July 1, 2007 @ 10:45 am
Congrats Shari!
Leslie I read Allie’s stiry last night in “Heat Wave” I loved it.:love2:
I can’t believe it wan’t a book unto itself.
I’m tempted not to read the other 2 stories.
I sure hope we hear more from Trouble.
Small towns are such great places for stories.
Will read She’s no Angel” when I get home if I can’t find it here.
Hugs to all from God’s little acre in Maine.:love2:
Comment by jeannie — July 1, 2007 @ 10:46 am
Congratulations, Shari!
Comment by Susan — July 1, 2007 @ 10:48 am
Love the drop down menu, something we could all use at various times!
Okay Ev, that is quite a teaser, where is the rest of the story?!
Comment by Donna M — July 1, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Congratulations, Shari! Mmmm…
Comment by Fedora — July 1, 2007 @ 1:02 pm
Congrats Shari! Great prize! :thumbsup2:
Leslie, I just got my copy of SHE’S NO ANGEL from Amazon.com yesterday and I’ve started reading it this morning. I just love Trouble!!
Have a great day everyone!! And a safe and happy July 4th!!
Comment by Carolyn A. — July 1, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
Donna- the story ends with me sitting in Applebees drinking as many frozen margaritas as I could before we left. :cocktail:
I don’t think I have ever been so scared in my life- Seeing a gun pointed at the deaf guy and then one at me. Of course, he laughed and said the last time anyone pointed a gun at him the were short asians.
I almost shot him myself.
I don’t want to go back to Jersey for vacation next year.
Comment by ev — July 1, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
Congrats Shari!!! I just found She’s No Angel and my local B&N. Will go in my tbr pile so I can read again(since I read the ARC already)…hope we get some more Trouble books in the future.
Happy 4th everyone!!!
Comment by Liza — July 1, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
Congrats Shari
Comment by Cherylann — July 1, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
Ev you had a gun pointed at you??????????
Comment by Cherylann — July 1, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Okay EV
Where’s the rest of the story.
No more teasers.
Comment by jeannie — July 1, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
ev, I just released the rest of the story (got caught up in our spam folder, somehow.) I’m so sorry this happened to you!!!
katie, the basket is from Wine Country. If you google it, it’ll come up. LOVE their stuff. I use them all the time.
Comment by Julie Leto — July 1, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
OMG EV!!!! As you promised your story was a doozy, glad the story had a happy ending:cocktail: I’m also from NY, actually Staten Island, so I know how idiotic they (Jersey cops) can be, my hubby works in Bayonne which he jokingly calls Mayberry because he swears they are all Barney Fife
Congratulations Shari, enjoy!
Comment by Tina Martinesi — July 1, 2007 @ 5:12 pm
Ev,
sorry to hear what happened… i think the nj cops need to take a refresher course on running plates… because i know with my police dept we run every various characteristics first before u make an assumption that it is stolen. hope you loved your drinks at the end…
congrats shari… im so jealous…
Comment by Elisa V — July 1, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
Congrats Shari! You’ll have to throw an ice cream party.
Comment by Tina Byrd — July 1, 2007 @ 6:26 pm
OMG Ev, I would have been totally terrified.
I would had to have many drinks after going through something like that.:cocktail::cocktail::cocktail::cocktail::cocktail::cocktail:
Good thing that you were smart enough to tell them what to do. I think I would have been pretty ticked off over the whole thing too.
I’m glad that all worked out for you.
Comment by Tina Byrd — July 1, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
EV,
nO WONDER YOU NEEDED A :cocktail::cocktail::cocktail:
I would have been
too
Comment by Cherylann — July 1, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
Carly,
I started reading, “Cross My Heart” yesterday. I’m really upset because now I have Grave’s Eye Disease and I can’t read as much at one time as I use to. :cry:
I only got the first 5 chapters read and I swear if it weren’t for my eyes, I would have read the whole book yesterday. I was hooked from the very first page.
I had planned on getting up this morning and read a few more chapters.
but instead, I woke up with my eyes all swollen, tears streaming down my face and burning like crazy.
But they are doing better now and I plan on reading a few more chapters tonight.
Also, I was
because the other day, I posted that I drug my husband to get him in the book store. Although that seems like a good idea at times, 
I meant to type that I had to drag him into the book store.
I just wanted to clear that up so no one thought that I was actually drugging my hubby.
Comment by Tina Byrd — July 1, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
wtg shari
Comment by kim h — July 1, 2007 @ 8:17 pm
Congrats Shari!
Started She’s no Angel, not that I am well enough to read for short spurts. Can’t wait to feel better and finish. Have Cross my Heart in line and the receipts and gift book ready to mail, just need to feel well enough to tackle driving.
I swear I haven’t been this sick in years….Today we had a family pic nic and it was humid and rainy…I was driven in by my lonesome since I literally could not breathe out there…….
Have a great night.
Comment by Debbie — July 1, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
Ev- my brother in law is a cop and even he said it was overkill for all the cops to show up for a possible stolen car. Hope you were able to relax after many :cocktail::cocktail::cocktail:. You should write a book with that story alone. I know it was scary at the time, but it would be an instant hit with others.
Comment by Liza — July 1, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
Good heavens EV what a time you are having.
Hope this week things get better for you.
:love2::kiss::love2:
Comment by jeannie — July 1, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
Thanks guys!! It’s so nice to have friends who are there when you need them!!!
Comment by ev — July 2, 2007 @ 8:01 am