• I write books.

    I do! It's true. I have written for all sorts of different audiences. My first book was literary adult fiction and I've written many many books that have fallen into the category "juvenile fiction" and "YA fiction". I talk about my books and writing in general on my other site, which is at www.karenrivers.com. (I don't know how to make that a live link, so you may have to copy and paste.) (Sorry.) THIS site is about me, my hair, my kids, my appliances, and that time that I rode my bike down a cliff and then got stung by a bee. It may not all be appropriately awesome (or even slightly interesting) to kids, so if you are young, LOOK AWAY. That said, there is nothing harmful here, except the occasional swear, which I ask you to edit out with your eyes. Blink blink.
  • I take pictures.

    Parksville, Day 3

    Thetis Lake, Thursday

    Thetis Lake, Thursday

    More Photos
  • Is it safe to eat raw bacon?

    No. You shouldn't eat any raw pork products. You could get trichinosis and no doubt a number of other food-borne illnesses. With the recent change in food safety standards, I'd frankly cook the crap out of any meat product I purchased before eating it. Even if it's already cooked. Seriously. Keep in mind that I am not a raw bacon expert, I just play one on the web.

  • I Flock
  • Categories

I Confess: Five Things You Need To Know, but Not Really “Need” and Maybe Don’t Even “Want”.

Once again I’ve hit a wall.   Not literally.   If I literally hit a wall, I’d probably break — at a minimum — all the bones in my hand.   I’m “lucky” like that.   Not that I have brittle bones, but that I have bad luck.   Not REALLY BAD LUCK, like, you know, a fatal disease, but [...]

Five Completely Random Things That I Feel Like Blogging About. Booyah.

1.  What is it with the word “booyah”?   And is that how you spell it?  It must be, because the spell checker says it’s correct.   Well, booyah.   What a completely ridiculous word, and yet also fun to say out loud.   Try to work it into your conversation at least ten times in one day and [...]

Five Thing Friday is Eating My Brain or Maybe I Have a Brain Wasting Disease such as Mad Cow or Maybe My Brain Is Actually Just Fine, Did You Ever Think Of That?

Oh, time.   What HAPPENS to you?   I go from five thing friday to… Five Thing Friday with nothing in-between.   Depressing!  The truth is that I’m finishing a book and so my next couple of weeks will be filled with putting every last precious word into the wee novel and less here, but you won’t mind [...]

Well, looky here, it’s Five Thing Friday or Sunday or Whatever. PLUS A Giveaway!

You know, I’m really starting to wonder why I call this post Five Thing Friday.   Last night I was reading Petite Anglaise, which is a book inspired by the blog Petite Anglaise, which made me read the blog Petite Anglaise and I realized that I very much doubt that I Spuddle is ever going to [...]

Five Things + Friday = Five Thing Friday. Surprised? Because it’s actually Thursday? Well, no one is perfect.

I realize that if you read this blog regularly, it’s starting to look like I do nothing but watch/obsess about crap reality shows and shop and I want you to know that that’s really not the case. I swear that now that The Bachelorette is over*, the only show I watch is House Hunters and [...]

Five Thing Friday. On Friday. Is it a miracle or just a fluke? And why does the date on this say July 3 when I’m sure it’s the 30th? At least?

The beauty of owning your own blog and whatnot is that no one really minds if you do Five Thing Friday on Friday or not (or at all) (or only sometimes) and that’s just the kind of girl I am, an “only sometimes” and a “when I remember” type.    And lo, it IS Friday and [...]

Five Thing Friday + Silent Sunday + Grace in Small Things = This Post.

What? What happened? One minute, I was watching The Bachelorette (so it must have been Monday) and next I looked up and, BAM, it was Saturday. It must have been a busy week. Or not. I do not recall any of it. It’s possible I have amnesia or just didn’t do anything. Actually, I did [...]

I forgot Five Thing Friday, so Instead I Give You Six Thing Saturday or Maybe it’s Sunday Already. Ta da!

If you know me at all, you know that my feet are a wreck.  An absolute, unfixable wreck, with high arches and a BUNION and a HAMMERTOE.   I’m using capitals, because I AM NOT ASHAMED!  Except I am.   It’s an exercise, people, stick with me.  I am attempting not to be repulsed by my own [...]

Five Thing Friday! It’s a New Feature, except it’s not Friday, and there are nine things. Hey, no one is perfect.

I’ve been thinking about this blog and what it needs, mostly to keep me posting regularly (apart from The Bachelorette which I blog religiously on Mondays) (OK, fine, mostly on Tuesdays).   So after careful thought (i.e. I was vacuuming the crap from under the dining room table and thought, “I should add more structure to [...]