Bringing Hero Home: Soldier's Puppy Gives Hope to Grieving Family uggbootssale-aus.com

"It had become our life, and then I was like, oh my God, he's leaving. And that's when I had broken down, and there's a picture of us where he's sort of trying to talk me out of being upset," said Brittney.

"They were embracing, that was the last time that we saw him alive," said Skip Rollins, Justin's father.

No one knew in that moment that it was their last moment with Justin. In fact, Justin was making plans to propose to Brittney.

"On the last phone call that he called home, he saidugg boots colorado ugg outlet los angeles ugg outlet buffalo I want to take her to Tiffany's and pick out a diamond for her. So I knew my son was going to propose to his girlfriend," said Rhonda.

In March 2007, two weeks before Justin could come home, he made an intriguing phone call to Brittney from his Iraqi base camp.

"He was like, I got some really great pictures, and I can't wait for you to see them. I didn't know what was going to be in it," recalls Brittney.

The mysterious pictures would arrive by email the next day. But by then, Justin Rollins would be dead.

"I remember he said I love you twice to me that night, and that was the last time that I heard from him," said Brittney.

"At six thirty in the morning I was getting ready for work, and I felt a jolt just go right through me. And instinctively I thought of Justin, and I thought, boy, I hope everything's OK, it just was the weirdest feeling I've ever had. And went to work, went on my day, and had no more thoughts of this at all," Rhonda recalled.
Bringing Hero Home Watch Video
Person of the Week: Justin Rollins Watch Video
Fallen Marine's Dog Comes Home Watch Video

"I had the afternoon off. I looked out the window, and I saw a car come up the driveway. Two officers in uniform," said Skip. "I remember what they said to me that day, 'Mr. Rollins, we regret to inform you that your son Justin Rollins was killed in action early today.' You just go empty, you die on the inside."

Adding to their despair was Brittney's broken heart.

"My mom called me, and she goes, Brittney, he's gone. I ended up passing out shortly after I had found out," said Brittney.

"It was hard for my own heart to be broken, and myugg milwaukee ugg boots minnesota ugg boots in minnesota family's, but to see this little girl that just loved my son so much, it, it really was very, very difficult," Rhonda recalled.

As family and friends were grieving together, something beautiful happens that changes this story forever.

"It was late in the night And I pulled up my email, and Rhonda, I just remember she goes, oh my God, look at his smile, look at his, how happy he is," Brittney said.

The pictures were of Justin, a big solider, playing with puppies small enough to fit in his hand.

"It was just so nice because they were just the day before. It felt like he was still real, he was still here," said Brittney.

Jason Wheeler remembers the night Iraqi police alerted his platoon that some puppies were living in a very strange place.

"They say, hey, there are some puppies on the old port-a-john, which was like a toilet. There's, like, eight puppies laying underneath the toilet. So, we started playing with them, and that's, that's where all the pictures came from that night, that was the night before Justin got killed."

Those sweet images were still on Rhonda's mind when, less ugg boots in houston ugg boots houston ugg arizonathan two weeks later, Justin's body was flown home for burial. As customary, Army brass attended the funeral and asked the family what it could do to help.

Sharp Elbows: Shoppers Scuffle on Black Friday uggsuggboots.com

A shopper in Los Angeles pepper-sprayed her competition for an Xbox and scuffles broke out elsewhere around the U.S. as bargain-hunters crowded stores in an earlier-than-usual start to the madness known as Black Friday.

For the first time, chains such as Target, Best Buy and Kohl's opened their doors at midnight on the most anticipated shopping day of the year. Toys R Us opened for the second straight year on Thanksgiving itself. And some shoppers arrived with sharp elbows.

Near Muskegon, Mich., a teenage girl was knocked down and ugg maine ugg in seattle ugg brooklynstepped on several times after getting caught in the rush to a sale in the electronics department at a Walmart. She suffered minor injuries.

On Thanksgiving night, a Walmart in Los Angeles brought out a crate of discounted Xboxes, and as a crowd waited for the video game players to be unwrapped, a woman fired pepper spray at the other shoppers "in order to get an advantage," police said.

Ten people suffered cuts and bruises in the chaos, and 10 others had minor injuries from the spray, authorities said. The woman got away in the confusion, and it was not immediately clear whether she got an Xbox.

On Friday morning, police said, two women were injured and a man was charged after a fight broke out at an upstate New York Walmart. A man was arrested in a scuffle at a jewelry counter at a Walmart in Kissimmee, Fla.
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AP
Early bird shoppers watch a Harry Potter... View Full Caption

Wal-Mart Stores, the nation's biggest retailer, has taken steps in recent years to control its Black Friday crowds following the 2008 death of one of its workers in a stampede of shoppers. This year, it staggered its door-buster deals instead of offering them all at once.

Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said Black Friday was safe at most of its nearly 4,000 U.S., but there were "a few unfortunate incidents."

The incidents were attributed to two converging Black Friday trends: Crowds are getting bigger as stores open earlier and stay open later. At the same time, cash-strapped shoppers are competing for deals on a small number of gifts that everybody wants — tablet computers, TVs and game consoles like Xbox, Nintendo 3S and Wii.

That's a shift from years past, when there was a wider range of must-have items.

"The more the people, the more the occurrences," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group.

A record number of shoppers are expected this weekend to take advantage of discounts of up to 70 percent. For three days starting on Black Friday, 152 million people are expected to shop, either online or in stores, an increase of about 10 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Thanksgiving weekend, particularly Black Friday, is huge for retailers. Over the past six years, Black Friday was the biggest sales day of the year, and it is expected to ugg boots nj ugg boots miami ugg boots in njkeep that crown this year, though shoppers seem to be procrastinating more every year, and the fate of the holiday season is increasingly coming down to the last few days before Christmas.

Last year, the Thanksgiving shopping weekend accounted for 12.1 percent of overall holiday sales, according to ShopperTrak, a research firm. Black Friday made up about half of that.

ShopperTrak is expected to release sales data onugg boots in buffalo ugg boots buffalo uggs in minnesota Saturday on how Black Friday fared, but a better picture will emerge when major retailers report their November sales figures next Thursday.

Bears hope he's back in regular season

Bears QB Jay Cutler needs an operation on his fractured throwing thumb, but the team hopes he'll be able to return before the end of the regular season.

CAPTIONBy Dennis Wierzbicki, US Presswire

"He'll be out for an extended period of time. The plan now is for him to have surgery on the thumb -- soon," said Chicago coach Lovie Smith on Monday.

"The plan is to get him back at the latter part of the regular season."

VOTE: Will Bears reach playoffs minus Cutler?

The Bears (7-3) currently hold one of the NFC's two wild-card spots along with the Lions. But the Falcons, Cowboys and Giants all currently lurk at 6-4, though Dallas is presently in the playoff field as the nominal NFC East leader.

Smith said the team will look for a veteran quarterback to add to the roster in the meantime. He also expects the offense to become more run-oriented after it strayed from RB Matt Forte the last two weeks.

"Don't feel sorry for us or anything like that," said Smith. "We have a lot of things in place. We're losing and we're gonna miss a great player for a period of time. But offensively, we're gonna rely on our running game a little bit more.

"We will miss Jay, but we'll keep his spot warm. But in the meantime, we're going to continue to win with (backup) Caleb (Hanie)."

Payback For Sending Sundin To Vancouver

Sometimes a sign says it all. Coors, the brewer of perhaps the worst beer every made (Old Milwaukee and Steeler included) is running a that campaign throughout British Columbia. I didn’t realize folks in BC had a Toronto complex, must be something new since Sundin hung out in Whistler instead of practicing with his teammates over the all star break.

Yes, this is true, yes i know that we didn’t “send” Sundin to Vancouver, YES this is tongue in cheek (all but the ad part).

photo from Mike Boon’s photostream at Flickr.

Olympus urged to bring back chief

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the ugg boots sale uk ugg boots sale uk ugg boots sale ukarticle. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4634ecb8-0dea-11e1-91e5-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1dekzVKpt

A former director of scandal-hit opticalugg boots sale uk ugg boots sale uk ugg boots sale uk equipment maker Olympus has launched a campaign for reinstatement of its ousted British chief executive, saying Michael Woodford’s return is crucial to the “painful restructuring” needed to save the group.

The call from Koji Miyata, former head of Olympus’ugg boots sale uk ugg boots sale uk ugg boots sale uk medical systems business who served on the board from 1995 to 2006, adds to the pressure on the 92-year-old company’s management amid a scandal that has shaken faith in Japanese corporate governance.
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On this story

In depth Olympus acquisitions’ controversy
Japan tries to limit Olympus fallout
Olympus put on watch for TSE delisting
Video Woodford – ‘I’m prepared to go back’
Olympus Q&A

It came as Tokyo regulators struggled to decide how to handle the scandal and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund disclosed that it had sold its 2 per cent stake in Olympus.

Other large foreign Olympus shareholders have called for a return by Mr Woodford, who was fired after he raised questions about a series of acquisitions in which the company paid $1.4bn to obscure advisers and Cayman-registered funds.

After initial denials, Olympus has admitted that it used the deals to dispose of investment losses it had been hiding since the 1990s.

But the company’s new president, Shuichi Takayama – who previously defended the payments – has continued to insist that Mr Woodford was sacked because he was a “high-handed” manager who did not understand Japanese culture.

In a statement on a campaign website set up at the weekend, Mr Miyata called for Olympus to offer an apology to Mr Woodford for “the baseless aspersions cast on his character”.

Olympus should invite Mr Woodford to return as president to push reforms that would make the company a model of excellence “complying with the highest standards of corporate ethics”, Mr Miyata said, asking current and former employees to sign an online petition.

By early evening in Tokyo on Sunday, the petition carried the names of almost 40 people described as former or current employees, along with others who registered anonymously.

Mr Woodford told the Financial Times last week that he was prepared to return to Olympus. However, such a return is sure to be fiercely opposed by the current management and could further strain the internal unity of the crisis-hit company. “A complete newcomer would be better,” said one Olympus manager on Sunday.

The Olympus scandal has raised questions about the efficacy of Japanese regulators. On Friday, the Financial Services Agency confirmed it was examining the Olympus case, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange has put the company on watch for possible delisting and police are reportedly investigating.

It is still unclear how rigorous such examinations will be or how far they will go to make clear how Olympus suffered the losses it was trying to hide and who might have benefited in the process of concealing them.

Japanese media on Sunday quoted sources at the Securities Exchange and Surveillance Commission as saying it had already concluded that all the losses had been fully written off and that the SESC might thus recommend Olympus be subject to only an administrative levy.

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, which manages more than $300bn of funds, said it had sold its 2 per cent shareholding in the troubled Japanese medical equipment and cameras group when indications of wrongdoing first emerged.

GIC retains an “insignificant” indirect holding, but the announcement it has sold its direct stake could further undermine confidence. GIC was Olympus’ 10th biggest shareholder at the end of March, according to the company’s latest annual report.

PR.com (Allison Kugel): How does it feel to be retired from basketball and having closed that chapter of your life after 20 years with the NBA?

Shaquille O’Neal: It feels good. I went out on a positive note.uggs boots on sale uk uggs boots on sale uk I’ve more than prepared myself for this day and it’s just time to do something new; it’s time to do something different.

PR.com: It seemed like once you were with your final team, uggs boots on sale uk uggs boots on sale uk uggs boots on sale ukthe Boston Celtics (from 2010 – 2011), you had more of a team mentality and the ego was no longer there. Is that something that just came naturally with age or did you learn lessons from some past mistakes?

Shaquille O’Neal: It just came with age, and it was uggs boots on sale uk uggs boots on sale uksort of a thing where you didn’t want to fight with the system, because a lot of other times I did it my way. I was a successful player doing it my way, but when you get older… people start to lose confidence in age so I wasn’t really trying to go up there and do things that I used to duggs boots on sale uk uggs boots on sale uk in the past.
Shaq & Kobe Bryant

Shaquille O'Neal & Kobe Bryant


PR.com: In your book (Shaq Uncut: My Story) you admit that during the eight years you played with the Los Angeles Lakers you thought you were going to be a Laker for life. Had your relationship with Kobe Bryant been better, do you think you would have been a Laker up until you retired this year?

Shaquille O’Neal: Yeah, probably. But, you know, as a leader you have to either worry about the task or about the relationship. As a leader I was more task-focused. The task was to win a championship and I was a leader, and I’m doing it my way. I didn’t care who liked it, you know? Leaders always have those two things to go up against. Like, if you’re in an office are you going to be nicer to this person because you want a better relationship with them, or are you going to do it your way? And, like, if you look at the outcome, the outcome was favorable.

PR.com: If you could go back in time to that period with the Lakers, would you do anything differently?

Shaquille O’Neal: Nope! I’d do it exactly the same.

PR.com: In the last several years of your basketball career you went from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns to Cleveland Cavaliers, and then on to the Boston Celtics for your final year in the NBA. Did you enjoy that variation or did you feel adrift and unstable?

Shaquille O’Neal: No, it was fun, it was fun. But a lot of people don’t understand that the reason why I went to all these different places is ‘cause I was still doing it my way. [They were] like, “Do this, do that.” And I’m like, “No, I’m not doing this shit. If you don’t like it, uh, I’ll go here.” Period.

PR.com: Two coaches that you talk a lot about in your book, Phil Jackson, your coach when you were with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Pat Riley, your coach from the Miami Heat, were two significant people in your life. What life lessons did you take away from each of those men?

Shaquille O’Neal: Phil Jackson was very cool, calm and collected. He was a guy that was being all respect and didn’t go and just do everything the same way. And I think because of that discipline we were able to win three out of four [championships]. And I think he never intervened between the whole me and Kobe thing because it did drive both of us. We were both so good, more than the other, that it made us play a little harder than everybody else, and he knew that, and he understood that.

PR.com: And what about Pat Riley?

Shaquille O’Neal: Pat was a great coach, he was a great motivator, but he was also a person that did it his way and in our case it was just the owner and the CEO didn’t see eye to eye. So, of course, the CEO had to be moved (referring to himself).

PR.com: For many years of your life, it seems that you had an internal battle going on between your ego and your heart. What are your thoughts on that inner conflict?

Shaquille O’Neal: I mean, it is true. I kind of believe the criticism out there drove me to become this great dominant big man. I come from a background where you never even think about quitting or giving up, you just have to fight every critic, fight every demon, and you just gotta fight, fight, fight.

Aderholt Statement on Administration's Approval of Nationwide Christmas Tree Tax

(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C. — Congressman Robert Aderholt ( AL-04 ), today released the following statement in wake of theugg boots on sale ugg boots on sale ugg boots on sale Administration’s approval of a new 15 cent on all Christmas trees, that is slated to pay for a nationwide, government sponsored ad campaign to promote the benefits of live Christmas trees:

“The federal government in the midst of the ugg boots on sale ugg boots on sale ugg boots on saleworst budgetary situation in recent history and while Congress looks to make $1.2 trillion in critical spending cuts and implement policies promoting private-sector job growth, the Administration’s new Christmas tree tax and ad campaign is clear evidence of misaligned and misguided priorities in Washington,” said Aderholt.

“As the House continues to fight for additional ugg boots on sale ugg boots on sale ugg boots on salespending cuts and free-market solutions, the Administration is once again challenging American liberty and now defaming the real meaning and spirit of Christmas. The size and role of government has already grown to epic proportions over recent years and the Administration’s use of the holidays to promote their goals of increased government intervention and a tax-and-spend agenda is simply unacceptable,” concluded Aderholt.

Aderholt currently serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security for the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is a member of the Committee’s Commerce, Justice and Science; and Agriculture Subcommittees, and also serves on the Helsinki Commission.

An Economic Interlude in Michigan, Super Committee Drama, Mt. Rushmore and Christmas Trees… Since the AM Note

Mt. Rushmore Reimagined – Here’s what Mt. Rushmore botas ugg botas ugg botas uggwould look like if every GOP candidate got their wish on who to add.

Michigan Debate – Now back to politics –botas ugg botas ugg botas ugg If we can stop thinking about Christmas trees and sexual harassment scandals for two hours tonight, the focus will be on the economy at a GOP presidential debate in Michigan. It will be a good day for the pivot – the DOW fell more than 400 points today. We’re trying to recall abotas ugg botas ugg botas ugg question during a Republican debate on the financial crisis in Europe. Hasn’t been one, we don’t think.

Wednesday was a day without a Herman accuser or a Herman Cain interview. All eyes are on Michigan, where the candidates will gather for a debate on the economy.

It’ll be a good opportunity to again put Mitt Romney on the spot in the state where his father was governor for his opposition to the auto bailout. He talked again about it to George Stephanopoulos yesterday. http://abcn.ws/ujonxk

Matt Jaffe’s preview: “Few states have been hurt worse by the country’s faltering economy than Michigan, where the unemployment rate still hovers at 11 percent, 2 percent higher than the national average. The automotive industry, so crucial to this state, has tried to bounce back after receiving federal bailout money, first under the Bush administration and now under Obama’s.” http://abcn.ws/s8s3OY

Debate Numbers - Notes Elizabeth Hartfield: Tonight’s debate on CNBC will be the ninth debate of the 2012 primary season. It is the sixth debate featuring the full GOP field. After tonight there are 14 more debates left on the books, stretching into the middle of March. March 19th is currently the last debate scheduled. (The Iowa Caucus, recall, is in early January).

Super Drama – With just two weeks until its deadline to reach agreement on cutting $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion from the federal deficit over the next 10 years, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction today reached a tense and prickly moment, according to John Parkinson and Sunlen Miller on Capitol Hill. But reports of demise are premature even though Rand Paul, who is not a member of the supercommittee, told ABC that the six Democrats who sit on the supercommittee are “no longer negotiating.”

“We haven’t stepped away from anything,” said Patty Murray, D-Wash. “There’s a lot of conversation and a lot of work going on.” More from Parkinson and Miller:

Major drag-racing titles on the line at NHRA's season-ending event

A champion will be determined in top fuel ugg boots for men ugg boots for menand funny cars this weekend at Pomona. Pro stock motorcycle crown also is up for grabs.

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Spencer Massey

Spencer Massey celebrates his fourth top fuel victory ofugg boots for men ugg boots for men ugg boots for men the season at the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals in Mohnton, Pa., on Oct. 3. Massey is looking to claim the top fuel title this weekend in Pomona. (Marc Gewertz / Associated Press via NHRA / October 3, 2011)

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By Jim Peltz

November 8, 2011, 4:55 p.m.
Several drivers are vying to win the championships in drag racing's two leading classes, top fuel and funny cars, as the NHRA holds its season-ending event this weekend in Pomona.

The NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway opens Thursday with the first of three days of qualifying rounds, followed by final eliminations Sunday.

In the top-fuel class of the National Hot Rod Assn.'s Full Throttle Series, Spencer Massey of Don Schumacher Racing leads by just two points over Chino Hills' Del Worsham of the Al-Anabi Racing team.

Massey teammate Antron Brown is 14 points behind and Worsham teammate Larry Dixon, a three-time title winner and the reigning top-fuel champion, is 44 points back.

Worsham has won a series-high seven races this season, including the most recent event in Las Vegas, while Brown has six victories and Massey four. To hear Worsham tell it, winning the championship will require one more victory in the Finals.

"I believe when it's all said and done, I'm going to have to win in Pomona," he said. "The competition out there is awful tough."

In funny cars, which like top-fuel dragsters reach speeds of 300 mph in less than five seconds, Matt Hagan leads by one point over Jack Beckman, his Schumacher teammate.

Two-time champion Cruz Pedregon is 26 points behind and Mike Neff, who drives for the team run by 15-time funny car champion John Force, trails by 34 points.

Unlike the powerhouse multi-car teams of Schumacher and Force, the 48-year-old Pedregon races only his own Toyota dragster.

"Somewhere along the line I'm probably at a disadvantage" to those teams, Pedregon said, but he added: "The fact that we're competing for a championship with a one-car team, I think it's phenomenal. My sponsors want me to win just like the other guys."

In the pro stock category, Jason Line already has clinched the championship, his second. But the title in pro stock motorcycle also remains up for grabs, with 2008 champion Eddie Krawiec leading rookie Hector Arana Jr. by 69 points.

The Glendora-based NHRA, celebrating its 60th anniversary, also plans several special events this weekend including autograph sessions with Force and other drivers and a car show featuring many of Force's dragsters over the years.

Force, 62, won his 15th title in dramatic fashion at the Finals a year ago, but this season he finished well behind the point leaders.

On Friday, Veteran's Day, the series will offer free general-admission tickets to those providing proof of active or retired military status. Children 12 and under also can obtain free tickets each of the four days when accompanied by a paying adult.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take part in test

uggs boots for women uggs boots for womenCHARLOTTE -- NASCAR has scheduled a special test for Nov. 15 at Daytona International Speedway to find ways to eliminate the uggs boots for women uggs boots for womentwo-car drafting that has become prevalent at restrictor-plate tracks.

Six to eight teams will be in attendance and NASCARuggs boots for women uggs boots for women spokesman Kerry Tharp said the teams will work on a variety of combinations of restrictor plates and spoilers to give teams a good baseline package to bring back for the preseason test inuggs boots for women uggs boots for women January.

Among the drivers participating will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. and one uggs boots for womenother driver from Hendrick Motorsports.

Earnhardt
Earnhardt

"Apparently, they put this test together last minute for a reason," Earnhardt said on Tuesday from the NASCAR Hall of Fame. "We'll go down there and they'll let us know exactly what they're wanting to do, what they're trying to accomplish, what they're trying to try.

"I want to be able to give them the best feedback I can to give them the solutions they're looking for so that we can, with confidence, go into Daytona in February and expect to put together a great show for the fans that will be there and that will be watching on TV."

Earnhardt expects much of the emphasis to be on running with a smaller spoiler, which several drivers said made the two-car draft more difficult during a recent fuel injection test at Talladega Superspeedway.

"I'm sure they're going to bring every feasible option and we'll try to get that out on the racetrack," Earnhardt said. "The difficult part is going to be simulating race conditions. Say they bring out a small spoiler, this, that and the other, we got to go out there and try to push each other around the racetrack with it, hope that that doesn't work.

"It could be potentially a dangerous situation. You got to be careful and you hope to have a safe test."

NASCAR has been under criticism from fans about the two-car drafting that has been referred to as the sport's version of Dancing with the Stars. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, acknowledged that concern during the Talladega test but warned, "you have to be careful because the cure can be way worse than the disease."

NASCAR had hoped to reduce the length of push time at Talladega by enlarging the size of the restrictor plate hole in order to increase speed and adjusting the pop-off valve in the cooling system to increase the threat of overheating.

Earnhardt, considered one of the best in the sport at understanding the draft, said he will do anything he can to help fix the problem.

"It's a little bit different than what your typical goals are when you go testing," Earnhardt said. "Most of the time they're a little more personal, like you're trying to do whatever you can to make your car fast, work with your team, learn, put together notes.

"This test ... you're working with NASCAR and the goals will be a little different. You'll have to open your mind up a little bit to try new things and try to give the best feedback you can. It's really important."

Book review: The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

When the sparkly cover of a Trisha Ashley book appearsoutlet ugg boots outlet ugg boots on the bookshelves, you know that the festive celebrations are not far away...

And what better way to anticipate the season of cosy fires,outlet ugg boots outlet ugg boots twinkling lights and fabulous food than a warm and tasty treat from the Queen of Christmas?

Set in a fictional Lancashire village, this yuletide yarn has all outlet ugg boots outlet ugg bootsthe essential trimmings ... lashings of northern humour, a liberal sprinkling of romance, a feast of mouth-watering recipes and a pantry full of warring cooks.

Ashley has turned enchanting tales of food, fun and folk outlet ugg boots outlet ugg bootsinto her trademark ‘dish’ and serving them up at Christmas gives us the chance to switch off , sitoutlet ugg boots back and enjoy.

Here we have Lizzy Pharamond whose life at Perseverance Cottage in the pretty village of Middlemoss would be idyllic if it wasn’t for her cheating husband Tom who spends most of his time away from home, courting a succession of lovers.

Lizzy is just waiting for her son Jasper to start at university and then she’ll be packing her bags and saying a farewell to Tom that certainly won’t be fond. But then tragedy strikes...

Luckily she has a welcome distraction in the Christmas Pudding Circle, a group of friends who swap seasonal recipes as early as August, and the support of her best friend Annie Vane who seems to have won the heart of the shy young vicar.

There is also the friendly, and sometimes not so friendly, rivalry with Tom’s cousin and noted cookery writer Nick, particularly over who will win Best Mince Pie at the village show.

There are times when Lizzy secretly thinks she married the wrong Pharamond ... her husband Tom is the ‘handsome and unreliable tomcat’ while dependable Nick is ‘just like Jane Eyre’s Mr Rochester would have been.’

But Nick is already married to his French wife Leila, a brittle acid-drop of a woman whose culinary skills are famous.

While excitement mounts in some quarters over the arrival of the rich and charismatic soap actor Ritch Rainford, who has moved into the old vicarage, the whole of Middlemoss gears up for the annual Boxing Day Mystery Play.

But who will play Adam to Lizzy’s Eve? Could it be the handsome Ritch, or will someone closer to home win her heart?

Add to Ashley’s delicious mix some wonderfully dotty locals, the mystery of the disappearing squirrels, a touch of pathos plus a few surprises, and The Magic of Christmas is well and truly here!

Oldest and youngest Verga brothers write children’s books

They will each be reading from and signing their new books at the Sawyer Free Library. Greg will read on Nov. 19 at 10:30ugg boots for kids ugg boots for kids ugg boots for kids a.m., and Mick will read on Nov. 12 at 11 a.m.
Greg Verga, the youngest Verga brother ugg boots for kids ugg boots for kids ugg boots for kidsand now a city councilor, has just finished writing a story about raising livestock that he started writing almost 20 years ago. At the time, he was working a 40-hour week and going to school part time for public relations. One of the possible electives he could take was children’sugg boots for kids ugg boots for kids ugg boots for kids literature.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be too challenging, like biology. It was more interesting and less challenging,” he explained. He and his wife had just started to raise chickens at their house on Revere Street, and so he based the story on his experience.
The book speaks from the perspective of a little girl who, with her father, starts raising chickens from the egg, just like Greg and his daughter. It teaches about cooperation and working together on a project.
Greg tried to get the book published after he finished it 20 years ago, but to no avail. “I was going to school and working full time. I didn’t have the time.” However, recently he has noticed a lot of individuals and families who are starting to raise their own livestock and produce. “It fits into the whole idea of being green, and being more confident in the product [the livestock] are giving you. It’s not just semi-rural areas that are doing it, either.” He heard a story about a woman in downtown Los Angeles who, in her tiny backyard, had carved out space enough for a small garden and a chicken coop.
Yet there was another reason why Greg wished to take his story out of his file-cabinet again. Readers will mention that the book is dedicated to Nana Martin, his wife’s grandmother. She would “always ask me, over the last 20 years, when I was going to publish my book. She died in April and that helped spark the revisit.”
With the help of Craigslist, Greg was able to find a woman, Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe, who checks the site looking for talent. She was able to find him an illustrator, James Balkovek. He hopes that the book will be sold in local bookstores and feed-stores in the area.
Mick Verga, the oldest son in the family, is proud to have just finished his story about adoption from China. Mick graduated from Gloucester High School in 1976, and took a job at Gorton’s. Thinking about joining the Marines or the Navy, he decided to just keep on working, never joining up or going to college. He worked the docks doing anything from fishing to pile-driving.
While working at Intershell, a Chinese friend of Mick’s showed him a picture of a pretty young woman he might be interested in. He asked where she was, and the friend replied, “China!” But that didn’t stop Mick from writing to her for two years. When they finally met in 1997, they knew it was meant to be. They were married, and a year later she was able to come to America. Now, they have a beautiful 9-year-old daughter, adopted from Chuzhou (pronounced Choo joe) in China.
While getting his degree in criminal justice, Mick also had to take an elective course, and like his brother, chose children’s literature. One of the assignments was to write and illustrate a children’s story.
“Now, the only thing I can draw is conclusions,” joked Mick. With the help of his wife, he completed his story based on adopting his daughter, Amanda, and when he reads it, “everyone gets teary eyed.” His teacher said it would make a great children’s book. He didn’t take action until the beginning of this year, but now the story is complete.
“The Lonely Little Horse” follows the life of a child abandoned at someone’s door in China, who is then put into an orphanage and later adopted. Like the child in the story, Amanda was found on the street with her “birth blood still on her, wrapped in a blanket.”
“I want people to see that adoption is a viable option, and so that kids can understand adoption better and be a little more understanding towards those who are adopted,” said Mick.
Is it coincidence that the two brothers are both now published children’s authors? According to them, they are both the only left-handed children in the family, and conversation was never stifled. This seems to be their opportunity to share that conversation creatively.