Okay, okay I'm joking. I'm going to give Santa a break and try not to ruin the magic for my kids by making it all about me. But really, is that sooo wrong?
Good news with the itouch drama. After all my moaning and groaning, my sister called me and is going to pay for half. So we're in!!! All I have to say is, when Emma opens that present, I hope she screams like the little girl she is.
We are heading down the pike here for Christmas. I think I am just about done here. Gary asked what I want for Christmas and I said:
a new house
an Audi Q7
uggs
xbox kinect
oh, and maybe a wallet.
Do you think that's too much? Really, we don't get much for each other for Christmas cause we just don't care. Let's face it; for adults, it's basically Christmas all year long. If we want something, we just go get it. And we are usually too busy making fun of the Kay and Zales jewelery commercials to do anything productive.
I know you have been eagerly anticipating my favorites for this year so I will not keep you in stitches any longer. Off the top of my head:
music: Metric (i KNOW it didn't come out this year), Brandon Flowers solo album, and The Lower Lights, which I am also getting for my Dad for Christmas.
books: I read a lot, but the two that stand out for me are The Passage (which scared the stink out of me) and Mockingjay. Also, Dark Road to Darjeeling, the fourth in the Julia Gray series.
tv shows: Fringe, The Middle, Modern Family (even though the gay couple has a robot baby--honestly no baby is that good. Okay, FINE I'm jealous.), my husband loves The Walking Dead but I spend each episode under the covers with my fingers in my ears, and any nerdy history/military documentary that comes on.
magazines: I am still weeping over the demise of Blueprint, Domino, and my favorite: Cottage Living. I am too bitter to pay any mind to this category.
Okay that's it, as jack is awake.
I will leave you with a fun link: The Jolly Porter's review of David Archuleta singing with the Mo Tab. It is hilarious. If you need any Mormon Lingo translation, I will be happy to provide.
Merry Christmas all!! Thanks for spending another year with me.
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLENE!! You are finally as old as I am now, so I don't feel so alone. At least for three months anyway.
Showing posts with label favorites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label favorites. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
2009 favorites--books
I read a lot of books this year. A lot. Reading is what helps to de-stress me. Anyway, since we DVRed the new episode of Lost (Yippee!!), I am going to devote my free time tonight to the two-hour premiere. Instead of thinking of something deep and meaningful to post here (and what's different about that, you're asking), I'm going to slap up a few of my favorite books from 2009.
Before this book, I didn't even realize that one of the small outlying British islands was held captive by the Germans in ww2. Lovely storyline and great history.
This is a YA novel from Neil Gaiman. He creates the most amazing worlds.
The amazing sequel to "The Hunger Games." A hard read, but a good one. I can't recommend this series enough. My review is here.
Yes, the cover art is truly awful. It's like a Gunne Sax/bodice-ripping nightmare. Don't let that deter you from the novel. It is the third mystery in a series, set in Victorian England. Loved it.
The Help was, in my opinion, a great novel that caused many, including myself, to ask hard questions about our family history. Again, often not an easy read, but worthwhile. I missed the characters when the book was finished.
My review.
This has become one of my favorites. A book that follows a tough young woman in frontier Arizona at the turn of the last century. If you can get through the heartbreaking first chapters, you'll be hard-pressed to put it down.
As always, you can friend me on Goodreads, where you will find all my books and reviews.
Before this book, I didn't even realize that one of the small outlying British islands was held captive by the Germans in ww2. Lovely storyline and great history.
This is a YA novel from Neil Gaiman. He creates the most amazing worlds.
The amazing sequel to "The Hunger Games." A hard read, but a good one. I can't recommend this series enough. My review is here.
Yes, the cover art is truly awful. It's like a Gunne Sax/bodice-ripping nightmare. Don't let that deter you from the novel. It is the third mystery in a series, set in Victorian England. Loved it.
The Help was, in my opinion, a great novel that caused many, including myself, to ask hard questions about our family history. Again, often not an easy read, but worthwhile. I missed the characters when the book was finished.My review.
This has become one of my favorites. A book that follows a tough young woman in frontier Arizona at the turn of the last century. If you can get through the heartbreaking first chapters, you'll be hard-pressed to put it down.As always, you can friend me on Goodreads, where you will find all my books and reviews.
*All pictures from Amazon.com
Thursday, January 28, 2010
catching up
Somehow the days have slipped by quickly quickly and I have not gotten around to posting. Is gotten a word? Anyway, here is the brief summarized version of what's happened around here.
We went to Disney. It "snowed."
We had actual freezing weather here. It killed our fish in the river. The past week it has stunk so badly that we couldn't go in the backyard. There are dead fish everywhere. It brought up memories of what I don't like in the winter up north. Freezing cold water out of the faucets and cold floors. Yick.
Jack got up five times in the middle of the night. He wasn't feeling well. I finally broke my rule and brought him into bed with me. It's called survival. I swear I'm too old now to share a bed with a kid. Plus I'm afraid I'll squish him. Anyway, for the longest time he lay next to me and stared out the window at the moon. It was nice because he doesn't typically hold still that long. Yes, I am a weirdo who took a picture of him sleeping in my bed. That is what happens when you are sleep deprived. Not to mention his eyes look creepy here, so really what was I thinking? Oh well, on to the next.
I have been eating at Moe's like crazy. Seriously, like twice a week. I had to finally break my addiction though, because I began my very serious exercise/eating healthy program. Really! I have been exercising six days a week for three weeks now and eating pretty mostly responsibly. Except for this crazy Nutella binge yesterday. Gosh, that was good. So I gave you pictures of Emma stuffing her face there. I spared you from a picture of me doing the same. Wow, I'm thinking of the queso right now. Must move on.
This is Jack playing on the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground at Disney. Obviously it should be placed up with the other Disney pic, but I have screwed up my blogger thingy somehow and can't move it. Or stop typing on the right of my pictures. Moving on.
Well we also went to the teeny tiny Manatee County Fair and I also got a haircut. But I haven't uploaded those pictures yet and I swear to you I am so tired from jogging and my four push-ups that I could just go and stick my head in that Nutella jar. So instead I'm going to go to bed. Night!
We went to Disney. It "snowed."
We had actual freezing weather here. It killed our fish in the river. The past week it has stunk so badly that we couldn't go in the backyard. There are dead fish everywhere. It brought up memories of what I don't like in the winter up north. Freezing cold water out of the faucets and cold floors. Yick.
Jack got up five times in the middle of the night. He wasn't feeling well. I finally broke my rule and brought him into bed with me. It's called survival. I swear I'm too old now to share a bed with a kid. Plus I'm afraid I'll squish him. Anyway, for the longest time he lay next to me and stared out the window at the moon. It was nice because he doesn't typically hold still that long. Yes, I am a weirdo who took a picture of him sleeping in my bed. That is what happens when you are sleep deprived. Not to mention his eyes look creepy here, so really what was I thinking? Oh well, on to the next.
I have been eating at Moe's like crazy. Seriously, like twice a week. I had to finally break my addiction though, because I began my very serious exercise/eating healthy program. Really! I have been exercising six days a week for three weeks now and eating pretty mostly responsibly. Except for this crazy Nutella binge yesterday. Gosh, that was good. So I gave you pictures of Emma stuffing her face there. I spared you from a picture of me doing the same. Wow, I'm thinking of the queso right now. Must move on.
This is Jack playing on the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground at Disney. Obviously it should be placed up with the other Disney pic, but I have screwed up my blogger thingy somehow and can't move it. Or stop typing on the right of my pictures. Moving on.
Well we also went to the teeny tiny Manatee County Fair and I also got a haircut. But I haven't uploaded those pictures yet and I swear to you I am so tired from jogging and my four push-ups that I could just go and stick my head in that Nutella jar. So instead I'm going to go to bed. Night!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Favorites--books
So, I keep forgetting to write on this blog as this week is a wee bit crazy. Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm trying to frantically read before book club next week, so it inspired me to list some favorites this week. Or whenever I can post. Anyway...
If you know anything about me, you know I have always loved to read. Thank goodness for the library. I have many memories of scouring libraries for the perfect book, from elementary on up. I had this gifted class in middle school where we read, "The Last of the Mohicans," "Through the Tunnel," "Fahrenheit 451," and I loved it.
Here are some of my favorite books I read around middle school time. I have a lot of happy times associated with these books. I'm a nerd. And I hope Amazon will forgive me for ripping off their pictures.
1. Little Women
This was my first "big" novel. I read my Great-Grandmother's 1912 copy curled up in her big wingback chair in the corner of her living room. I reread it every year when we visited her for Thanksgiving. When I turned fourteen, my Great-Aunt (her daughter), gave me the most beautiful leather copy with gold-leaf pages for Christmas. I still treasure it, and think of her everytime I open it. I can't wait for Emma to read it.
2. The "Wrinkle in Time" series by Madeleine L'Engle
I love this series. I was swept up in her novels, and as a struggling, dorky pre-teen I could really identify with Meg.
3. The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery
I enjoyed the LM Montgomery books, but especially her later books. I realize now as I type this, that Valancy was another ugly duckling. Hmmm, I'm sensing a pattern here.
4. Up A Road Slowly, by Irene Hunt
This is a great story of a girl's journey from childhood to adulthood. After her mother's death, Julie goes to live with Aunt Cordelia, a spinster schoolteacher, where she experiences many emotions and changes as she grows from seven to eighteen.
5. "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
I just reread this for the first time in years. I felt like I could really imagine what it was like to live in the 1600s in an oppressive Puritan society.
6. The Lois Duncan books.
I have always loved ghost stories. I began checking them out in elementary school, so it makes me laugh when I see Emma and her friends doing the same. Lois Duncan has some of the scariest novels for this age hands down. A couple have been made into movies.
7. The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck.
Here is another great series that has a ghostly theme. Set at the turn of the last century, it follows a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who partners in ghost hunts with a boy from an extremely proper upbringing. Blossom Culp is such a fantastic, feisty heroine. Her mother is a fortune-teller who finds their dinner in trash cans, she is persecuted by the popular girls in the "Sunny Thoughts and Busy Fingers Sisterhood," and through her discovery of her sixth sense, finds herself on the Titanic as it is going down. The book is hilarious, scary, and touching at the same time.
8. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Just bought this for Emma.
Here are some of my favorite books I read around middle school time. I have a lot of happy times associated with these books. I'm a nerd. And I hope Amazon will forgive me for ripping off their pictures.
1. Little Women
This was my first "big" novel. I read my Great-Grandmother's 1912 copy curled up in her big wingback chair in the corner of her living room. I reread it every year when we visited her for Thanksgiving. When I turned fourteen, my Great-Aunt (her daughter), gave me the most beautiful leather copy with gold-leaf pages for Christmas. I still treasure it, and think of her everytime I open it. I can't wait for Emma to read it.2. The "Wrinkle in Time" series by Madeleine L'Engle
I love this series. I was swept up in her novels, and as a struggling, dorky pre-teen I could really identify with Meg.
3. The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery
I enjoyed the LM Montgomery books, but especially her later books. I realize now as I type this, that Valancy was another ugly duckling. Hmmm, I'm sensing a pattern here.4. Up A Road Slowly, by Irene Hunt
This is a great story of a girl's journey from childhood to adulthood. After her mother's death, Julie goes to live with Aunt Cordelia, a spinster schoolteacher, where she experiences many emotions and changes as she grows from seven to eighteen. 5. "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
I just reread this for the first time in years. I felt like I could really imagine what it was like to live in the 1600s in an oppressive Puritan society.
6. The Lois Duncan books.
I have always loved ghost stories. I began checking them out in elementary school, so it makes me laugh when I see Emma and her friends doing the same. Lois Duncan has some of the scariest novels for this age hands down. A couple have been made into movies.7. The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck.
Here is another great series that has a ghostly theme. Set at the turn of the last century, it follows a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who partners in ghost hunts with a boy from an extremely proper upbringing. Blossom Culp is such a fantastic, feisty heroine. Her mother is a fortune-teller who finds their dinner in trash cans, she is persecuted by the popular girls in the "Sunny Thoughts and Busy Fingers Sisterhood," and through her discovery of her sixth sense, finds herself on the Titanic as it is going down. The book is hilarious, scary, and touching at the same time.
8. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Just bought this for Emma.
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