A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

You know how sometimes you read a book that is just so lovely and perfect that you never want it to end? You intentionally draw it out so that it lasts longer? Even if you only have it on a one week hold from the library and you've now had it in your possession for 12 extra days? That was that A Homemade Life was for me. From the creator of the blog Orangette, A Homemade Life is a book of short essays, blog posts even. They average 7 or 8 pages long and each one includes a recipe to go with the little slice of life. Wizenberg writes about her love of France, her father's death, and her whirlwind romance and eventual marriage and through it all, her love of food.

From the very first essay I imagined myself doing one of those great posts that have a little recipe built into them. I'd take a picture of every step and we'd eat whatever it was with great relish and it would be a beautiful post. And then I never got my act together before our next library run, and I didn't do it. I put my name back on the list to check it out again though and it's on my wishlist at Paperbackswap, so one day I will do that post.

Bottom line: if you like foodie memoirs at all you should read it. I can't imagine not loving it.


A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
Simon & Schuster
2009
336 pages

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Paper Towns by John Green

Here we go with John Green: Take 3. Paper Towns is Green's most recent novel and with it, I've now read all three of his novels. (I haven't read the anthology yet, though it is on the TBR.) Paper Towns is about a smart teenage boy who is about to graduate and who is obsessed with his ideal of a specific girl who vanished. Wait. Isn't that the plot of Looking for Alaska? No, no, it's An Abundance of Katherines. Wait, no Colin had just graduated. Must be Paper Towns. So which one is it??

Ok, so here's what is says on the flap:

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar, so when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life- dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge- he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues- and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.

So. Margo disappears, but not before leaving some hastily thought out clues. Despite graduation and finals approaching, Q spends all of this time obsessively trying to figure them out and tracking Margo's every moment. He firmly believes that she wants him to find her and that she has set it up so that he will find her by a certain date. Q is likable. He's smart, but not brilliant. He is looking for Margo for all the right reasons- because he is worried. Q has a couple of friends- Radar the internet obsessed and Ben, the girl obsessed, who help him find Margo. For the first chapter or so I was certain that I would not be able to finish the book, Ben is THAT annoying. He isn't such a major character as the first chapter would lead you to believe though, so I was able to continue. I didn't so much like Margo, and the ending left me a bit angry at her. I understand what Green was trying to do, but it was too heavy handed and obvious and I didn't buy the ending. Overall, I enjoyed the book but didn't love it. I'd put this one second to Looking for Alaska (my review), with An Abundance of Katherines (my review) a distant third.

Here's the problem though- when you're reading the third John Green, and I believe this would be true if you read them in any order, it is impossible NOT to compare them. All three seem to follow the same formula- smart kid, senior year in high school (Pudge, Q, Colin.) An unobtainable girl (Alaska, Margo, Katherine.) Annoying friend (The Colonel, Hassan, Ben/Radar.) An intelligent gimmick (Famous last words, Leaves of Grass, Mathmatical formula.) Parents who aren't involved (Boarding school, road trip, shrinks.) This doesn't make them less enjoyable, but it is inescapable.



Looking for Alaska by John Green
Dutton Books
2008
305 pages


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Cooper.

I was planning to post my review of Paper Towns tomorrow morning, it's all written and ready to go and everything. Instead, I am here with some incredibly sad news.


Remember when I posted about Cooper and his fight with cancer? He lost. This morning Cooper passed away. He was three. All day long I've wanted nothing more than to scoop up my own boys and hug them close. It is heartbreakingly sad. Babies shouldn't spend more time in the hospital than on the playground. And they shouldn't die.



I don't usually quote from books but I did mark this one passage from Paper Towns on page 33. It seems appropriate to talk about it here instead of in my review.

"But then the life spans started getting longer, and people started having more and more future, and so they spent more time thinking about it. About the future. And now life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future- you go to high school so you can go to college so you can get a good job so you can get a nice house so you can afford to send your kids to college so they can get a good job so they can get a nice house so they can afford to send their kids to college."

Isn't that true? I keep thinking, "soon, soon we'll be all settled. Money problems will finally level out, the house will be like I want it, I'll figure out how to work 40 hours and have a life." When is soon? How about NOW? Instead of waiting for life to be right, instead of making the future perfect, why aren't I thinking about now? About being with my boys without worrying about the laundry and the checkbook. I'm going to stop imaging how things will be "when the boys are older." We're going to have fun now. We're going to stop and smell the roses. We're going to enjoy each other without worrying about all the things we "should" be doing. Loving each other and each other's company is going to come first, and the house and the laundry is going to come later. Life is too short to waste. Sometimes impossibly short.




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Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams

Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams is the book I choose to kick of my Read-a-Thon reading last weekend. As someone who bought their house just before the market fell, albeit in a much cheaper part of the country, I find it fascinating to read other people's account of their home search. I admit that I've watched my share of shows on TLC and Discovery about buying a home or selling a home or flipping a house. I am fascinated by what people do to a house- for example, in our basement there is a 3 foot high set of Rolling Stone lips painted on the wall. They were here when we bought the house and since it's in the storage/laundry room, we left them. Reading Williams's book is a little glimpse of that, a little bit of the nuttiness of the New York housing scene, and a well written account of what it was like to live through it.

Williams is completely up front about what they can afford and what they can find in that price range (answer: not much!) They aren't making a lot more money than we do out here in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. It takes three years of hunting, of open houses in places most of us would never even consider, and of changing their whole mindset on where they want to live for Williams and her family to find a home. I know nothing about New York City geography and neighborhoods. While it's true that I wanted to live in a certain part of my town, the truth is that it wouldn't have taken but an extra 10 minutes to get to work if we had bought a home on the other side of town. This is not the case for NYC. I don't remember if she ever tells the square footage of the home they eventually buy, but to me, it seems insanely tiny. (By comparison, the main living level of my home is 1380 sq ft, with an additional 1000 sq feet of "finished" basement. I paid less than a third of what she paid. )

Williams also talks a good deal about the stress of getting a mortgage while the mortgage industry is turning upside down. She writes in easy to understand terms of why it's so important to get a good rate and why so many people have sub-prime mortgages. (For the record, not everyone with a subprime mortgage was trying to get something for nothing and not every mortgage broker who offered one was trying to scam someone.) She breaks down what PMI is, and why you might have to pay it. If you are at all interested in reading about how the housing industry works and how it got to where it is now, this is a good book to pick up.

The book isn't just a dry account of finding a home though, it's also a memoir the three years of their life. While all this is happening, they have a second child. Williams's husband loses his job and finds a new one. Life goes on and it's all here in the book. I really enjoyed Gimme Shelter. This is my favorite type of non-fiction anyway, and this one is definately worth reading.

Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams
Simon & Schuster
2009
320 pages

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Random Friday

-Is that love? The Bug isn't so sure.

- The read-a-thon kicked my butt well into Tuesday. I'm still glad I did it but zzzzzzzz. I haven't wanted to blog much either, and still have three reviews to write up.

- I have UNsubscribed to at least a dozen blogs in the last week. The common denominator? All of them had partial feeds. I've been ruthless. I think there are only 3 or 4 left that I intend to save. There may be more that just haven't been noticed yet.

- It was beautiful and sunny in the upper 70s here for two days in a row. Tomorrow it is supposed to snow again, but hopefully only an inch or so.

-Last night I made popcorn for the Pirate on the stove, in part due to this post at Salt and Chocolate and this one at Soulemama. (If you aren't reading those blogs, you should be.) When I poured it out of the pan I burnt the hell out of my arm exactly where you arm rests on your desk if you're typing with lazy posture.

-Did you know you could subscribe to people's flickr streams in Google Reader?

-I made two more custom banners. They are seriously cute, if I say so myself. Now I need time in the sewing room to make some other things. Speaking of the sewing room, I sew in the basement. There are no windows and it's a pretty dark room. I almost have the layout just right- if only my cutting table were square or rectangular instead of round- but I need a way to make it more fun. I'm thinking paint. Anyone know a good color of paint for a windowless basement?

-I'm having some spacing issues with blogger (again), please excuse me if this post is super long and full of white space!

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Wake by Lisa McMann

Wake is the fourth book I read during the Read-A-Thon (for whatever reason I'm reviewing backwards). I read it from about midnight to about 2 am, and that should tell you a couple of things about the book right off the bat. A) I read it in one sitting. B) I read it WAAAY past my bedtime. C) I might not be so clear in the review, as my memory may be a little faulty, but here we go anyway!




Wake is a YA fiction title that had a lot of potential. Janie is a high school student who has a problem- when people around her fall asleep, she passes out and falls into their dreams. The blurb on the book implies that this will be a creepy book- she falls into someone's nightmare! Will this be the reverse of Nightmare on Elm Street?? Look at the cover, doesn't it seem kinda frightening? Eh. No. I saved it for the middle of the night because I was expecting a little scary creepiness, but it didn't pan out that way. Janie's mostly scared that someone will see her passed out and think she's a freak. Of course, this happens. And who is it that sees her? Her crush, Cabel, of course. (Note: Cabel? Really? I read it as Caleb at least every other time. Very annoying.)




Had I gone into this thinking "ok, YA title, girl meets boy, girl has unique ability, a little dose of high school, blah blah" I think I would have loved it. As it was, I expected something more paranormal and kept waiting for the big thing to happen. There's a bit of a love story to it, which I enjoyed. Caleb Cabel was too good to be true, but I loved the scenes with both of them. There is a subplot that looks to be greatly expanded in the sequel (Fade) that I didn't really enjoy, but again I think this was because it wasn't what I expected. There is a lot of drinking in the story, both as a way to forward the plot and just because the characters are having a beer. I was a little bothered by this. I know kids drink and party, but it was just so matter of fact that Janie would go home and have a beer. I completely hated her best friend/ next door neighbor and between the friend and the drinking I questioned Janie's judgement. Yes, I know, she's in high school. Still.

One other thing I'd like to mention is the writing style. I don't have the book here to quote from it, but it's very choppy. For example, and I am making this example up, the chapters will start something like "Janie needs to get some sleep." Other reviews have mentioned this as well, and it's kind of a mixed bag on if it's written that way on purpose or if it's just annoying. I found it annoying, but you do stop noticing it after a while.

I really thought McMann could have done so much more with this story. The idea of falling into other people's dreams has so much potential, but I think it isn't fleshed out well enough. It was good, but not great. I'll read Fade to see if she steps it up a notch because I love the premise but Wake itself won't go in my top ten.

Wake by Lisa McMann
Simon Pulse
2008
224 pages


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Read-a-Thon: All Done

The Read-a-thon was a lot of fun, but man I could use a nap! I ended up reading for a total of 9 hours and 43 minutes. I read 738 pages. I read 3 entire books and finished off a 4th. I totally could not have done it if Mike hadn't been so awesome and taken over kid duty for much of the day. I went to bed at 2:30, but I really think I could have made it all night if I hadn't started to worry about this morning. As you can maybe tell from my posting, the Bug was up before 6! Mike left home before 6 as well. I managed to get them both to doze until about 6:30 but it wasn't real sleep. I'm glad I took the chance to get those three hours sleep in! Today ought to be interesting, to say the least. I'm hoping the experience kicked off a nice binge of reading for me, but hopefully without the time-keeping!


Here are my answers to the wrap up questions:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Around mid-afternoon I got restless, which was probably the worst. I wasn't that tired when I went to bed, but I was worried about being dead today so I went.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? More middle of the night cheerleaders. After about 11 I had very few visits to my blog and I think it really would have helped.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I really liked the twittering.
5. How many books did you read? 3 whole books, and finished off a previous started one
6. What were the names of the books you read? Gimme Shelter by Mary Beth Williams, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, Paper Towns by John Green and Wake by Lisa McMann
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Gimme Shelter
8. Which did you enjoy least? hard to say, none were bad
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? n/a
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? if the stars align so that I have as much wonderful help as I did this time, I'd read again.

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read-a-thon: 5:45 am :the bug says good morning...

Good Morning Read-a-thoners!

The Bug wanted to wake up in time to tell ya'll goodnight!

Read-a-Thon: 2:30 am. I'm calling it.

I don't have the desire to start something new, and morning will be here soon. If I had tomorrow to myself I'd try to go the whole 24, but my boys both get up so early. I'll be alone with them for much of the day so I'm calling it. I had a blast. I'll write a proper wrap up tomorrow, I mean later today.

TRISH. Thank you for making me do it. *mwah*


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Read-a-thon: 2 am. Holy shit I'm awake at 2 am.

Blerg.

Hours 18-20:

Minutes read: 105 (I think. I'll have to check all this math tomorrow. I mean today. Later.)
Pages read: 210
Total minutes reading:583
Total pages read: 738
Books completed: 4 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and Paper Towns by John Green and Wake by Lisa McMann)
Minutes online:75?
Drinks consumed: Part of an energy drink.
Food eaten: some BBQ chips and some vanilla cookies
Coherent thoughts: not many

I could probably continue another hour or so, I think, but I'm starting to worry about tomorrow. I will be solo parenting for much of tomorrow, so it could suck. Is the coolness of making 24 hours worth a sucky day?

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Read-a-Thon: 11pm, the read-a-thon gets quiet

People must be dropping, after steady comments all day I've only had one in the last two hours!

Here's my updated stats:

Hours 16 & 17

Minutes read: 116
Pages read: 155
Total minutes reading:593
Total pages read: 683
Books completed: 3 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and Paper Towns by John Green)
Minutes online:0
Minutes lost:4
Drinks consumed: 1 water with flavor
Food eaten: 2 dove chocolates

Finished up Paper Towns by John Green. I think I like Looking for Alaska more. Will review it some time next week! Trying to decide what to pick up next- do I go for Sarah Dessen or something more exciting like In the Woods or The Hunger Games? If it's TOO tense I'll stop reading (hello! Freezer book!) but if it's too relaxed I might get sleepy.

I think I'm going to spend a little time online leaving comments- I'm not following twitter because it's too much and too distracting and the feeling of community is slipping a little. I hope all the rest of you are still going strong!

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Read-a-thon: 9 pm. The boys go to bed.

Recap for hours 13-15:

Minutes read: 131
Pages read: 150
Total minutes reading:477
Total pages read: 528
Books completed: 2 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg)
Minutes online:
Minutes nursing: 10
Minutes doing kid stuff: 20?
Minutes lost:
Drinks consumed: 1 Diet Mountain Dew
Food eaten: none

I picked up Paper Towns by John Green for my next book. For the first chapter I really didn't know if I was gonna be able to read it- Ben annoys the SNOT out of me. Fortunately, he's calmed down some and isn't as major a character as expected. I'm 150 pages in, and if you've read it- the boys just skipped school together to take a road trip.

I haven't been visiting many other bloggers, and I feel kinda bad, but I keep expecting to need to do that in the wee hours.

Thanks to everyone who agrees that the Bug is a cutie. He really is, if I say so myself. The boys have gone to bed for the night and the house is quiet. Now it's time to see how late I'll really make it. This is when the cheerleaders would come in really handy!


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Read-a-thon: 6pm Halfway

Totals for hours 10 -12

Minutes read: 87
Pages read: 110
Total minutes reading:346
Total pages read: 378
Books completed: 2 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg)
Minutes online: I don't know
Minutes nursing: 0
Minutes doing kid stuff: a lot
Minutes lost:
Drinks consumed: 1 Diet Mountain Dew
Food eaten: Twizzlers, Homemade Burger and fries
Trips to the store: 1

In the last 3 hours I've managed to read the last 66 pages of A Homemade Life, bringing my total completed up to 2. I didn't read the entire book today, which kinda feels like cheating, but ah well. I'm not sure what's next, probably something fiction. There's a couple more hours before the boys are in bed, then just the challenge of staying awake. I'm having a blast though, and hope everyone else is too.

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Read-a-thon: 5:15pm Intermission

I took a little reading break to play with this cutie. Then the rest of the house woke up from naps and I ran to the store for dog food and hamburger buns. Mike is making burgers and fries and I hope to be back in the swing of things around 6. I'll recap numbers before I start back in earnest.

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Read-a-thon: 3 pm. One finished, and a challenge

I finished my first book! I took the rest of the hour off to celebrate and did the following mini-challenge from The Curious Reader:

1. What is the name of your local library? What city is it located in? The Rapid City Public Library, in Rapid City.
   
2. How often do you go to the library? If you're a regular, do the staff know you? Every couple of weeks, more often if holds come in. No, the staff are pretty unfriendly.
   
3. Do you browse while you're there or just pick up items you have placed on reserve? I always browse the new releases, and occasionally the YA. I rarely browse the stacks unless I'm already back there for something specific.
   
4. What is your favorite thing about your local library? The COFFEE SHOP.

And my stats for hour 9:

Minutes read: 33
Pages read: 44
Total minutes reading:292
Total pages read: 312
Books completed: 1 (Gimme Shelter)
Minutes online: 27
Minutes nursing: 0
Minutes doing kid stuff: 0
Minutes lost: none!
Drinks consumed: 0
Food eaten: 0

Hey! I finished my first book! I'm a bit sad that it took me 9 hours of read-a-thon to do it! I've read for 292 minutes, which is what? almost 5 hours? I think I'm going to move on to something quicker next. I'll review the book itself later this week.

I think I'm due for a little pick me up, soda or Twizzlers maybe. The boys will be awake soon, and I'm sure my afternoon reading will slow down even more until after the Bug goes to bed. Even just reading one book in a day is a big deal lately, so if I stop now it's still a success. (No, I'm not stopping now. But I might shower.)

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Read-a-Thon: 2 pm. Getting back on track

Hours 7&8:

Minutes read: 39
Pages read: 52!
Total minutes reading:259
Total pages read: 268
Minutes online: heck if I know
Minutes nursing: 10ish
Minutes doing kid stuff: uh...
Minutes lost: a lot
Drinks consumed: 1 glass of water with flavor added
Food eaten: Triscuits, cheese, and hardboiled eggs for lunch, a handful of vanilla cookies

I kinda lost track of time from noon until about 1:30. I made lunch and ate it, walked outside. My family came home and I played with the kids a bit before putting them down for a nap (they are both asleep as I type, in the same room, and the Bug KNEW the Pirate was in there and still went to sleep! This is a first!) The Pirate got a new lightsaber and Darth Mater costume, both of which he conned his daddy into buying. Still wearing pajamas.

Reading notes: VERY close to finishing Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams. Still good, but I think I'm ready for something different. Starting to debate what order would be best for the rest of my stack.

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Read-a-thon: mini-challenge hour 7

Ok, I just said I wasn't doing the challenges. Then I looked and it was take a walk, so I walked out to the mailbox and across the street to check the creek. There wasn't anything interesting out there to take a picture of, except maybe me in my owl pajama pants, so I went to the back yard and took this picture of Scout. It's cold and rainy here (what? she WANTS to be outside!) so I didn't walk far.

Read-a-Thon: Noon. I should eat.

Hours 5 & 6

Minutes read: 74
Pages read:76
Total minutes reading:220
Total pages read: 216
Minutes online: 29
Minutes nursing:0
Minutes doing kid stuff: 10
Minutes lost:
Drinks consumed: 1 Starbucks Truffle Espresso
Food eaten: Nothing

Brief thoughts on current book: 100 pages to go on book 1 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams)

I am starting to get hungry, and I think I need to walk around some. I'm finding myself uninterested in the mini-challenges (I haven't even been looking at them) but I assume I'll be more interested later. Kids and spouse still gone, but it appears the Pirate talked the Sucker Mike (I love you honey!) into a trip to Toys R Us.

This all feels so strangely indulgent- to just read an ENTIRE DAY. I haven't even showered!


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Read-a-Thon: 10 am, the family leaves.

Hour 3&4 results:
Minutes read: 77
Pages read:80
Total read: 140
Minutes online: 25
Minutes nursing:4
Minutes doing kid stuff: 6
Minutes lost: ??
Drinks consumed: 1/2 Dr. Pepper
Food eaten: 1 package Pringles Baked Wheat sticks

Brief thoughts on current book: Gimme Shelter is still good, but I might take a break to finish A Homemade Life since I'm pretty close to the end. Still holding stead at a page a minute.

Mike and the Pirate went out for haircuts and a trip to the hardware store and the Bug slept most of the last two hours. They got back just before 10 bearing Starbucks for me. Mike just packed up both boys and took them to the mall to run in the indoor play area (it's rainy here) followed by a trip to Burger King ("The King") to play in THEIR indoor play area. Hopefully this will be followed by a nice long nap for both of them. (Have I mentioned how much Mike rocks???) (Also, The King has free wifi and Mike has a laptop like Frances. Only not pink.)

I'm having a hard time keeping up with my non-reading non-blogging time. Any tips?

The min-donuts are the crappy snack aisle kind! Trish, the phone does not have a name. It is lime green with a heart "tattoo" that says "love". Any suggestions?


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Read-a-thon: 8am, my Introduction

(No, I'm not gonna post every hour. Mike took the Pirate out for a couple hours and it's hard to concentrate on reading when the Bug needs changing and breakfast and stuff.)

My introduction:
INTRODUCTION MEME
Where are you reading from today?
Rapid City, SD

3 facts about me …
1. I have two brothers and two sons.
2. I drive a station wagon (Ford Freestyle)
3. I got a new cell phone yesterday and am now the person with the annoying ringtones.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
13, but hope to read 2 or 3

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
Not really, this is my first one and I don't know what to expect. To finish a couple books is about it.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?
This is my first!

Hour 2 results:
Minutes read: 16
Pages read:18
Total read: 60
Minutes online: 20
Minutes nursing:6
Minutes changing diapers and cleaning Bugs: 10
Minutes lost:8
Drinks consumed: 1 cup coffee
Food eaten: 4 mini donuts

Brief thoughts on current book: Gimme Shelter is still good.

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Read-a-thon: 7 AM, the family awakes

Everyone is awake now. Reading will get more challenging.

Hour 1 results:

Minutes read: 50
Pages read: 42
Minutes spent with 2 children and 2 adults lounging on the bed: 10
Drinks consumed: 1/2 a Dr. Pepper
Food eaten: None

Brief thoughts on what I'm reading: Gimme Shelter is starting off to be a great explanation of the housing market in general, not just NYC. As it relates directly to my job, I'm hooked.

Hour 2 predictions:
Gotta make breakfast, reading time will be at a premium.
Coffee soon.

Read-a-thon: 6 am, it begins.

And we're off!

My coffee is brewing and the family is still sleeping. Let's see how far I get before everyone wakes up and needs me.

I fully expect to only complete one or two of those, but since I like to read several books at once it's better to have too many. I purposely did not add any books that I have already started because that would make the accounting of what I read feel off to me.

I'm starting with Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams.




What are you starting with?


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The Bug has a new party trick

Today I took the boys for their annual checkups. The Bug got 3 shots,
and when she gave him the first one he did that big
gasping thing babies do- that thing that makes you say "take a breath
baby! breathe!" Only he DIDN'T. And he passed right out. He came to
asleep and snoring and did not wake up. He was very pale and his lips
turned white and he was super limp. The nurse (who is youngish, but not
new, she's been our nurse at least 3 years now) was a bit taken aback.
She had never seen a kid who passed out and didn't wake up
immediately. She brought in another nurse and they proclaimed him fit
to leave, but it was a bit shocking.

The terrible twos ought to be a LOT fun!

(You thought I was gonna say "Standing!", didn't you?

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Random Friday

So what's been on my mind this week...





- Everyone sick of my kids yet? How about one more picture? The traditional "give a baby cake for his first birthday" picture.

- A week or so I finished up a collection of little essays called First Kiss (Then Tell). This is a collection of YA authors retelling their first kisses. It's cute, but not worth paying retail for. Get it from PBS or the Library. The best in the book was Shannon and Dean Hale.



- Everyone all excited for the Read-A-Thon tomorrow? There are more than 150 of us! I just stocked up on snacks at the grocery store.



- I get off early today to take the boys to their 1 year and 4 year checkups. Poor Buggy will definitely be getting shots.



- I'm working on updating my "Books Read" list to include pre-blogging lists. I still can't find my first book journal, but thankfully I entered them all into Library Thing a while ago, and tagged them by year.



-This is not my wedding ring. I kinda wish it were.



- There are two new Pirate videos on YouTube. They aren't thrilling or special, but they are a very good idea of what we live with. If he is awake, he does this. He's actually quieter in these because he knows I have the camera out. (First one is more swordfight, second one is how a 4 year old tap dances...until he can't stand it and has to swordfight. Both under a minute.)

-What's your random thought for today?


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TBR Day: Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn

This one has been in the TBR forever. In fact, I'm pretty sure I started reading it in 2008! I'm not sure what the hangup was, besides the fact that I haven't been reading much at all. This is the fourth book in the Kitty Norville series and while I'll try to review it without spoilers, it is bound to happen a little.

Kitty and the Silver Bullet is (as I just said) the fourth book in this series. In this one, Kitty has been called back to Denver by her family and has no choice but to go. She hopes to lie low and escape unnoticed by the other supernatural beings, but if that were to happen we wouldn't have much of a plot, now would we? So Kitty and Ben head back to Ben's old apartment and try to stay out of politics. They are approached by a beaten down werewolf from Kitty's old pack, and since she reminds Kitty so much of herself, she has no choice but to help. This all goes terribly awry, of course, and now her old pack leader Carl knows she's back in town. While this is all going on, the vampires have a little revolt of their own happening with Rick and Arturo vying for position of Top Vampire in Denver. There is a little bit of treachery involved there (isn't there always treachery with vampires?) and some collusion between the werewolves and vampires to see who's toughest.

Kitty is a great heroine. I know, I say this alot, but in terms of werewolves, who seem to have two positions- alpha leader or beaten down submissive- Kitty stands out as both reasonable and aware. She is scared when she should be, she takes charge when she should, and she knows how to control her wolf when she should. There are several scenes in this one that show just how human Kitty still is (oddly those scenes are also the ones where the wolf wants to take over.) Her relationship with Ben is full of questions- are they together because they love each other or are they together because the wolves demand it? Vaughn almost gets a bit to obvious with this, but in the end works it out. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Ben, we don't get to see in his head and he pretty much does whatever Kitty wants. While this is great in your hero, it doesn't give a lot of dimension to the character.

The ending is satisfying. Things are changing for Kitty, and in a good way. Detective Hardin is a good addition to the story, reminding me a bit of Detective Murphy in the Dresden series (another series I really need to catch up in!) I look forward to seeing how Kitty handles her new position and the responsibility of it all. This probably isn't my favorite paranormal series, but it's pretty solid and worth reading.

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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

An Abundance of Katherines is my second book by John Green. I read Looking for Alaska in 2007 (review) and really loved it, but for some reason it took me this long to get around to my second. Unfortunately, I didn't love Katherines quite as much as Alaska. It was good and I read it in a short amount of time (which really counts for something when you tend to read 4 or 5 books at once.)

An Abundance of Katherines is about Colin- once a child prodigy, but not clearly on his way to adult genius. He's just broken up with the last in a very long string of Katherines and is obsessed with finding a mathematical formula that will predict when a couple will break up, and who will do the dumping. To distract him from this, his best pal Hassan takes him on a road trip to Gutshot, TN where the boys find a job and make some friends and, presumably, learn some Important Life Lessons.

I don't know why this one wasn't as appealing to me. I love the math bits (not REAL math, so don't be turned off by it!) and I loved Lindsey, the girl they met. I enjoyed some, but not all, of the interactions between Colin and Hassan. Reviewers seem to love Hassan's humor, but really I just found him a little annoying. The boys are fond of saying "Fugging" in place of another F-word, and they say it a LOT. At one point in the book another character asks why they don't say the real thing, and they have a reason, but regardless of reason it got annoying. (I'm not usually turned off by bad language, this just seemed silly to me though.)

Overall, it was ok. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it doesn't turn me off John Green. I have Paper Towns in my stack for the Read-A-Thon this weekend and I really hope to get to it. I'd like to see which of the previous two is the aberration.

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I'm IN for Dewey's Read-a-Thon!

Ok, so I'm probably crazy for attempting it- but I'm going to try to do Dewey's Read-a-Thon. (TRISH MADE ME!) I'm not sure how success I'll be, what with the two monsters, but Mike has agreed to help me out and I'm gonna give it a shot. The really scary part will be Sunday when my children wake up for the day and I'll just be headed to bed (HAHA, like I'm gonna make it until 6am!) Anyone want to babysit on Sunday? No? Trish? Right now there are 105 participants, so I'm sure if you read any book blogs at all you've seen this mentioned. If I'm crazy at least I'm not alone in my crazy!


I'm building a list of books that so far includes the following:



A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (Hehe, it's due tomorrow and I can't renew it. Sorry whoever is after me on the list!)

Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams

Paper Towns by John Green

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I Love a Man in Uniform by Lily Burana (Ordered it on Amazon.com today, hope it arrives!)

The last Sookie book by Charlaine Harris, the name of which escapes me.

In the Woods by Tana French (I think)

I don't expect to read all those, but these are the options. There are a couple more YA on my shelves that I might throw into the pile as well.


TRISH suggests a post template to make posting fast like lightning and a spreadsheet to track page counts and she said she'd make me Rice Crispy Treats to keep me well fed.


Is there any sort of real time chat group or IM group set up? Who's gonna keep me away all night?


(sorry for the funky spacing on this, blogger doesn't like me to save a post and then go edit it.)

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Fun little video for Monday morning.

Because I'm too scatterbrained from the weekend, I'm borrowing a link from It's Always Darkest Before I Open My Eyes. I love these things, there are several of them floating around, but this is a new one to me.

Sound of Music Train Station @ Yahoo! Video

The Bug turns One.

How is it possible?

My sweet little baby Bug turns one today. There must have been a time warp, cause he was born just yesterday.

The Pirate was a calm baby, just chill and laid back. The Bug? Not so much. The Bug is opinionated and when things aren't to his liking he is LOUD. He does not like to be left out of things and if you close a door on him he makes sure you know he does NOT approve.

He empties every bookshelf he sees. He plays with every electrical cord or usb cord he finds. He digs in the trash.

He loves his brother and lights up when the Pirate gives him attention. (For the Pirate's part, he is rarely annoyed by the Bug, and 99% of the time they get along beautifully.)



He is my baby and I'm not ready for him to grow up. I wondered how I could possibly love him as much, but "they" were right, and I do.



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Random Thursday

(can't do Random Friday this week as I have something else scheduled for tomorrow!)

- Guess what happened last night? (see above picture)

- I had to go the library to pick up a hold yesterday- A Homemade Life, by the author of the blog Orangette. I only get to keep it for 7 days, so reading it has taken priority. I'm about 40 pages in and it's very relaxing and feel good. I think I'll enjoy it a lot.

- While I was at the library, I also picked up The Hunger Games and The Truth About Forever. I blame Janssen.

-Last night as he was going to bed the Pirate asked me to make him a Batman costume while he was sleeping. When informed that that might be too hard, he asked for Mace Windu. Or Count Dooku? It's nice to know I'm magic.

- My boss flew to Florida this morning. I am jealous.

-I NEED a Cadbury Creme Egg. It's not my favorite Easter candy- Cadbury mini-eggs are- but I haven't had one yet this year.

- What is your favorite Easter candy?

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Please stay tuned for these commercial messages

I don't usually do full on commercials for myself, so bear with me for just a moment. I want to show you something I've been working on for a while now- Birthday Banners. I've made quite a few of them now, some for my boys and some as gifts. There's the one that says "Happy Birthday" (which you may have also noticed in this post, you can see the entire thing in that picture) that I'll be hanging for each family birthday.


Then I made one for each boy with their first name on them. I'll be hanging those in their bedrooms for the other 364 days of the year.


I'm quite pleased with the way these turned out. In fact, I made two more for my best friend's boys. I love that I could make them in the boys favorite colors. They turned out to be quite the personal gift. There is a good chance that this will be my go-to gift for families with new babies.


I've added both types of banner, the Happy Birthday banner, and the Custom Name Banner to my Etsy shop, so if you want a nice family tradition, or a gift for a new baby be sure to check it out!

A Pirate Looks at 4

Happy Birthday sweet Pirate!



I'd love to be one of those mothers who writes super sweet letters to her children on their birthday. I'd tell the world how smart and funny and creative my Pirate is. How he never ever stops talking or stops moving or stops reminding me of how much I love him.



He makes me crazy. He tests my patience. He Never Ever Shuts Up. Ever. He constantly fights an invisible foe. He has a sword or a lightsaber with him at all times.


He's the one who made me a mother. I love him so much.



Happy Birthday Pirate.

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Bloom by Elizabeth Scott

Bloom by Elizabeth Scott is the perfect YA romance. It's sweet and simple without a lot of unnecessary plot diversions. Lauren is your average high school student. She's not really popular, nor is she disliked, until she starts dating Dave. Dave is perfect. He's popular, he plays football, he has good grades, his family is blissfully happy with each other. He goes to church. He doesn't pressure Lauren to do things she doesn't want to do- in fact, he stops them from doing much at all. Lauren isn't particularly happy, but she's not unhappy either. There is nothing scary about the relationship, even if it's not going where she imagined it would.

Enter Evan. Evan and Lauren knew each other as kids, before he moved away. There is an instant attraction between the two of them. It's thrilling and scary and it rocks Lauren's perfect little world. Suddenly, Lauren has to choose between Mr. Perfect and Mr. Right.

There are other things that go into it- their families, the history between their parents, the expectations of Dave and his family- but mostly it's a sweet story about Lauren and about falling in love with someone who thrills you. This book jumped right to the top of my list for 2009 and I immediately started looking for more Elizabeth Scott. I won't be trading this one away because I'll want to reread the best parts when I need a quick romance fix.

Here's a little quote from the book, page 181. I marked this page because it felt familiar to me. If this doesn't make you want to read the book, I don't know what will.

And so nothing changes. It makes me a terrible person. I know that. But what is in my heart for Evan is wild, unknown, and what I have with Dave is easy. Safe. And I can't choose between them. I am too unsure. Too scared of what will happen to me if I do. I am not strong or brave or anything like I should be. I am just me.

These were two reviews that really pushed it onto my list:

Trashionista
bookshelves of doom

If you reviewed this let me know, and I'll add your link.

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The Sunday Salon for April 5

I've been on a bit of a reading binge the last week, so it seems appropriate that I do Sunday Salon this week. I'm a bit burnt out on reading blogs (sorry, bloggers!) and am reading more books instead. (There are a few little minor annoyances for me in the blog world right now and it's easier for me to just skim and avoid.)

So what have I read? I finished:

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass (review)
Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn (review scheduled for TBR Day- 4/15)
Bloom by Elizabeth Scott (review scheduled for tomorrow)
First Kiss (Then Tell) edited by Cylin Busby (review sometime week after next)
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (ditto)

(The week after next because this week is already full of blog posts and I don't generally like to post more than once a day.)

I'm not sure what I'm going to read now. I have a couple of half-read books but the only one I'm really interested in is For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. I'm kind of in a young adult mood, so I might move on to Just Listen by Sarah Dessen or Paper Towns by John Green. I've got a handful of interesting non-fiction here as well. It feels wierd to only be seriously working on two books, so I'm sure I'll start one or two in the next few days. We have a crazy busy week ahead of us, who knows if I'll actually read anything!

(Excuse me for not putting in links, my internets are not working well.)

(oops, meant to post this for tomorrow morning!)

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A snowy before and after

This is Friday.



This is the same view 10 minutes ago, from the other direction. There's a fresh 8 inches or so since last night.

I'm done with snow. Really.