Two in One Day

I know. Why in the world am I posting twice in one day on the last day of a 30 day marathon??
Because I have something on my mind that's been bugging me for months and I want to get it out there.

Book or reading clubs. I don't have the opportunity to join one in real life. I've tried a couple different ones online, like a Yahoo group for instance, and it leaves much to be desired. No offense if any of them are reading this. But we only have a few replies a month and some of them aren't even about books. We also have no direction. Additionally, some groups are just too humongous. How can you have an informed discussion about one thing when hundreds of people are commenting on it? I just don't know. As a result, I've been toying with the idea of starting my own online reading group. Is this a dumb idea? Have I just not looked around enough online? If so, does anyone have a suggestion for a good group to join?

I'm always looking for something new to read and I'm also always looking for someone to discuss a good book with. I figure an online group (since my butt is parked in front of my comp when I'm not reading anyway) would be the way to go.

Opinions, thoughts, suggestions? If you don't want to leave a comment, send me an e-mail.
wishinglibrary at gmail dot com. Feedback would be absolutely lovely on this subject.

Out With a Bang?

Today's the last day of NaBloPoMo. I made it with 34 posts I think. Not too shabby.

Anyway, I keep forgetting to mention that I started reading War and Peace last weekend. I'm reading the new translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky. It's a very hard book to curl up with in bed because of its size (it's 1296 pages). I also have to keep two bookmarks in it: one to mark the page that I'm on and the other to mark the page of notes that I'm on that are in the back of the book. I like it so far though. The back and forth between the French and the English takes some getting use to, but after the first 100 pages it becomes old hat to read the English translation in the footnotes. It also took me a bit to get used to the Russian names. I was confusing the characters so I made note cards to keep track of them, lol.

I also finished my Christmas cards. They'll be going in the mail shortly. I'm mailing cards to nine different states including: Ohio, NC, Florida, CA, Iowa, Texas, Hawaii, Indiana, and Arizona. None are going overseas though.

And lastly, it's chilly here at my house today which inspired to me think of good things about the cold.

Pros:

• Tap water comes out of the tap really cold so you don't need ice to chill it.
• Cold kills the bugs although it hasn't been cold enough here for all the bugs to go away yet.
• I can put my duvet on the bed which makes me feel cozy at night.

Cons

• The cold sucks.

And now that NaBloPoMo is over, I hope that all the people that were blogging because of it don't stop. There are no worries where I'm concerned. I may not blog every single day of the month, but I'll blog at least 5 days a week. Ya know. Like I used to.

I just read about Holidailies. It's another posting challenge. I have one day to decide whether or not I want to participate. Is anyone else going to do it or is it just too much right after NaBloPoMo?? I don't know what I want to dooooo!!

Thursday Meme

Here's our Thursday Meme courtesy of Booking Through Thursday

Do you get on a roll when you read, so that one book leads to the next,
which leads to the next, and so on and so on?
I don’t so much mean something
like reading a series from beginning to end, but, say, a string of books that
all take place in Paris. Or that have anthropologists as the main character. Or
were written in the same year. Something like that… Something that strings them
together in your head, and yet, otherwise could be different genres, different
authors…

My answer to this is a definite no. Other than re-reading a series of books from beginning to end, I can't recall a time when I ever read a book based on a previous book that I had just read. If I have, it was an unconscious effort. I read whatever I have on hand. Wanna see what I mean?

Right now I'm reading War and Peace. Before that I read, Killjoy by Julie Garwood, Killing Kelly by Heather Graham, Dark Harvest by Karen Harper, Lisey's Story by Stephen King, and Creation in Death by J.D. Robb. Pretty random I think.

One exception was the R.I.P. Challenge in October. Those books were themed but only because I was reading them for a reading challenge.

On Topic...Or Not

I don't know how people can pick one topic, all the time, and post about just the one thing. I can do it some days, but sometimes, like today and yesterday, I have too many things on my mind to blog about just one thing.

Check out the link below. This one is worse than yesterday's book link. I haven't read even one book on this list. Has anyone else read any of them? Am I missing out?

The 10 Best Books of 2007 - New York Times

I'm having computer issues today. I was trying to sync music to my phone and my computer started doing weird things. I tried restarting it and it would shut down but when it was booting back up, the welcome screen wouldn't even come up. I had to do a hard reboot. After that, I had what looked to be a normal desktop but when I tried to open a program, it wouldn't open. So, I restarted again. Normal start up but my comp was so slow that it felt like I hadn't restarted in a year. So, I had to do a system restore to yesterday since I didn't have any points saved today. Everything seems normal but since I don't know what caused the problem in the first place I'm kinda worried that it's going to happen again. We'll see.

And lastly, Pam at 30 Something posted this to her blog today. It has the potential to make you feel stupid, but it's fun and addictive. Give it a try. Geography Quiz After a few tries, I finally made it to level 5 but no further.

Hodgepodge

I don't have a specific topic for today but rather a bit of this and that.

Below is a link for:

Holiday Books
100 Notable Books of 2007

Published: December 2,
2007
The Book Review picks outstanding works from the last year.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html?ex=1353819600&en=a91112bfa8ccac62&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

I've read ONE book on the list, heheh.

I've discovered another flavor of white tea that I like: Snapple White Tea with Nectarine. So far, I don't like the green apple and asian pear flavors.

My semester is almost at an end. Exam week is Dec 7-13. I've never looked forward to my break from classes more than I am now. It's been a rough semester. I HATE ADVERBIALS!!!

My HD DVR pooped out on me Sunday night. All the recorded shows that I had on it were lost. I was NOT a happy camper. C and I picked up a new one yesterday afternoon. I watched the episode of Chuck that was lost online and I'll be catching up on Pushing Daisies online too. I love technology. Sadly, I'm not going to get to see the last episode of The Closer. TNT doesn't broadcast them online and I missed the encore presentation last night. Other shows that were lost I'm not too torn up about them. This is the third HD DVR that we've gone through in less than a year. I don't know if that means that we watch too much tv or that they are cheaply made. I'd get TiVo except that I don't have and don't want a land line. Oh well.

Now I gotta go and dope my headache and make dinner.

Frontline Sucks

I've been buying Frontline since May of 2005 and have been satisfied with it up until September of this year. And before anyone says anything about the "flea cycle" I use it consistently on both dogs every month for all the good it has done me. My dogs are absolutely infested with fleas. Despite what the people at Merial, the company that manufactures Frontline, it is not working. Looking at both of my dogs' bellies, you can see fleas swarming on them. It's not just the odd one or two every once in a while. We've also treated both the house and the yard and haven't seen any changes in the amount of fleas we have. My youngest child has probably 30-40 flea bites on her back, stomach, and chest.

I called the company today to voice my complaint. They offered no defense or excuses at all. It was almost as if the tech was resigned to the fact that the product isn't working. She did inform me of their one-time refund policy in which I could either get a full refund or have a replacement supply sent to me. I told her that I didn't want anymore Frontline because it DOES NOT WORK for us anymore but that I would like my money back. In order to get a refund, I have to send them an itemized receipt. Nice for me. I bought two, three packs back in August. I don't keep receipts that long and due to hackers, the pet store that I bought them at purges their system every night.

So, I'm out the $88.58 that I paid for both boxes back in August plus the money that I've since spent on treating the yard, the house, and for flea shampoo. I'm also at a complete loss as to what to do next. I can only imagine how much insecticide that we've absorbed in my mission to kill fleas.

Score one for Vermont. At least we never had fleas while we lived there.

5 of 6

For our fifth installment, I give you:

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

What they say:

from Barnes and Noble

Synopsis
Temperance Brennan, like her creator Kathy Reichs, is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist called on to solve the toughest cases. But for Tempe, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another assignment. Évangéline, Tempe's childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Évangéline was the most exotic person in Tempe's eight-year-old world. When Évangéline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was "dangerous."
Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she lost so many years ago. And what is the meaning of the strange skeletal lesions found on the bones of the young girl?
Meanwhile, Tempe's beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Three girls dead. Four missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio
A deft hand at balancing the emotional light with the dark, Reichs links the enchanting Evangeline and her Acadian heritage to the unsolved cases of dead and missing girls that have stumped the police for years. And even now, 10 books into the series, Tempe's strung-out affair with Detective-Lieutenant Andrew Ryan still hangs on the tensions that confound lovers in an atmosphere of violent death.

What I say: I've read around the net how people tend to be turned off by Reichs' use of technical jargon. I may not know what all the words mean (that's what a dictionary is for people) but I think it adds to the story. For me, it makes me feel the importance of what is being said. Reichs' latest installment to the Temperance Brennan series is full of jargon, suspense, and intense character interaction. In this book, however, we get to see more of Tempe's past which I enjoyed.

The Tempe/Ryan drama I thought was completely annoying. It was almost as if Reichs forgot she was writing a novel and not an installment on a soap opera. This would be my only gripe with the book.

Overall, it was a good book in the series. I gave it a 3 out of 5 on GoodReads.

I Think I'm Done

Do you know how hard it was to find a Blogger layout that I liked? I must've tried at least 20 different layouts. It was like Goldilocks trying to find the perfect porridge and bed. Some layouts were too dark. Some weren't customizable enough. Some were too plain. UGH!! I hope what I decided on works on everyone's browsers because I don't know if I have it in me to change it again.

So, what's different?

• The layout, of course. I went from a two column to a three column layout.
• The labels are in a drop-down menu.
• I added a ton of new links under "My favorite Websites" and made them scroll so that they don't take up a lot of room.
• Same thing with my favorite blogs. I read 40 blogs on a regular basis but only had a fraction of them linked. Now, most of them are linked and I added a scroll bar to them too.
• Snapshots are gone. They annoyed me.
• The title bar is a little different and needs to be fixed. I'll get to that another day.
• The weather widget is gone. It didn't look right with the new layout.
• My doggie slide show is on hiatus. It will be back.
• Last, my favorite posts widget is gone. I may bring it back, I may not. I haven't decided.

I think that's it. If I have any broken links or something just looks really bad, I'd really appreciate a heads up.

Something's....Different

I'm trying to make some changes around here. I've been itching to do so for a while and got a wild hair tonight and I decided to go for it. If I don't gouge out my own eyes and my skull doesn't explode from the raging headache that I've had all day, I should be done sometime this century. It's still readable and that's all that matters. Just bear with me.

Black Friday

I don't do Black Friday. I think it's absolutely ridiculous to go shopping at 4 am. Nothing is that important. And how much are you really saving? There are sales before, during, and after Christmas. Are Black Friday sales with having to get up at the butt crack of dawn to fight HUGE crowds in the parking lot, in the stores, and then at the checkouts really worth the savings that are supposedly so much better than any other day of the year? I sincerely doubt it. Call me pessimistic. I am. So what did I do today instead?

Well, we started out the day with a hunt for Christmas window clings. I like window clings. They're cute and easy decorations. Once we finally found window clings (I had to look in five different stores) we headed home to put up our Christmas decorations. We put lights in all the street-facing windows, around the pillars on my front porch, and across the front of the house. I also put big bows on the pillars and on the little corner fence in my yard. It looks really nice if I do say so myself and I will. I also put out all my Christmas stuff in the house too. No tree yet cuz we get real ones and I like to wait until we get a little closer to Christmas so it will last until Jan 1. We need one more strand of lights on the front of the house and then we'll be all set. I didn't get to decorate last year because...well, for a lot of reasons so we're going all out this year to make up for it.

I also stocked up on my new favorite drink. Does anyone like green or white tea? I hate all varieties of teas except for white and green tea and my favorite brand is Snapple green tea with mango and Snapple white tea with raspberry. I can't seem to get enough of it. YUUUMMMM!!

Lastly, I absolutely soaked myself giving the dogs a bath. They have FLEAS!!! We've never had fleas before and I CAN'T STAND IT!!! We've been using Frontline every month since May of 2005 and this is the first time we've had to deal with fleas. I called the vet and they said that everyone's having a rough year with fleas. I'm pissed though because Frontline costs $43 per dog so that's $86 down the freaking drain. Literally. And that's not mention the money we've spent on pesticides for the yard and carpets. I'm calling Frontline on Monday to give them a piece of my mind. I have a really hard time living with bugs of any variety. It makes me feel dirty and it's embarrassing. Ugh!

Happy Thanksgiving/Thursday Meme

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, friends, and blogger friends. I hope you all had a wonderful day.

From Booking Through Thursday...

Joanna and Brad are asking about “connecting words,” and they don’t mean conjunctions like “and” or “but.” No, what they’re looking for are unique, or treasured words that we’ve found out and about in our daily travels, words that might not be common usage, or often heard, but which struck a chord for some reason.

I've come across some strange uses for words but not really words that I've never heard before or since. In Vermont, they say wicked for everything. It's wicked cold. That's wicked neat. My friend Jennifer S. told me that in Wisconsin they call a water fountain, of the variety that you drink out of, a bubbler. In Ohio they call Pepsi or Coke, pop, whereas in California we called it soda and I also heard people call it Coke no matter if it was a Pepsi, Mt. Dew, or Sunkist. Another Vermont-ism is that they call soft-serve ice cream creamies or creemies. For the longest time I thought they were talking about Krispy Kreme doughnuts, lol. They also say "going to camp" when they mean that they're going camping in a tent or RV. Took me a while to figure that one out too. I just thought that an awful lot of people went off to camp for the summer, heheh.

That's all I can think of right now. My brain is still in a tryptophan haze.

Still Recovering

If the brain were a muscle, mine would be so sore that it wouldn't be able to move off of the sofa. After a three day marathon of intense paper writing, I'm still having a hard time with wanting to sit at my computer.

In a few minutes, I'm going to be abusing my feet. I always make my Thanksgiving meal sides the night before so that all I have to do the day off is pop everything into the oven. It makes the day much more enjoyable for me. What's weird is that we managed to not have any guests for the holiday. We usually have either Marines that don't have anywhere else to go over or family. This year, the Marines are going to another house and the family is eating at their houses in Ohio. Maybe next year.

What's on the menu? Well, we're having turkey (ham is for Christmas), stuffing, green bean casserole, scalloped corn, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs, a veggie plate, jellied cranberries (You know the kind that come out of the can holding the shape of the can. It's a tradition.), and pumpkin cheesecake. Can we say YUM?? And our turkey is a nice 20 pounder so if you're hard up for somewhere to have dinner, come on over. We'll have plenty to go around.

We had to do some last minute grocery shopping for our dinner. Yesterday, C hit the commissary on his way home from work and they were out of EVERYTHING. They didn't even have 1% milk. He bought what he could then we went to the Harris Teeter this afternoon for the rest. And that was a madhouse too but they had everything we needed including some stuff we didn't, heheh. We have a nice bottle of Merlot to go with our bird (Emeril recommended it) and all the trimmings. I couldn't be more excited. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. All it is, is good food and good company without the pressure of gift giving or costume buying or anything else. Me likes.

Under the Wire

I've been completely busy today. I had a 10 page paper due for my business class and grammar exercises on top of that. I also had to give feedback for a group project in my writing class. I'm so stinking tired of sitting at my computer and in this chair that this is all you get for today. Sue me.

Stealing Again

I saw this on Pam's blog today and it was too fun to pass up.

The Wikipedia Meme:

Go to Wikipedia and input your birthday (just month and date). Then write down 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday that you share your birthday with.

June 30

Events:

• 1864 - Pres. Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use and recreation."
• 1971 - Ohio ratifies the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowering the voting age to 18, thereby putting the amendment into effect.
• 1997 - First Harry Potter book is published.

Births:

• 1470 - Charles VIII of France
• 1966 - Mike Tyson (ick!)

Holiday:

• Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

4 of 6

I'm finally posting my thoughts on 4 of 6.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Published in 2004

What they say:
From Barnes and Noble

Synopsis
Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s
clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened -- of himself or some other fiend.

“It’s been years since there’s been a thriller as original as this one by Lindsay, who takes a tired subgenre—the serial-killer novel—and makes it as fresh as dawn.
Lindsay’s premise alone is worthy: narrator Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter specialist for the Miami cops, is also a serial killer . . . What makes this novel zing is the narration—humorous, self-deprecating, smart and sometimes lyrical, it’s a macabre fun ride . . . A gripping, deliciously offbeat novel that announces the arrival of a notable new talent.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“After finishing this novel, readers will have only one thing to say: Wow! Dexter, a likable fellow on the surface, firmly in touch with his own inhumanity, is one of the genre’s most original, compelling characters to appear in years. He makes a fascinating narrator, appealing, articulate, and ghoulish all at the same time. Long after readers finish this gripping novel, they will still be thinking (or dreaming) about Dexter.”—Booklist (starred review)

What I say: Dexter is a mass of contradictions. Even though he's a serial killer, you have a hard time hating him. He should be a monster, someone easy to loath but as I read the book, I oftentimes found myself rooting for him.

I suppose you would have to have a dark mind to be able to write a likeable serial killer. I've never seen Lindsay give an interview so I don't know. To top it off, Lindsay's characters are funny. It's just another contradiction of the story being able to find humor in the midst of blood.

Something else I find odd about Dexter is that the Showtime series is just as good as the books. If you've never seen it, watch it. If you've never read the books, hit your library. Both are worth your time.

We Won!!

Sorry Michigan, but we won!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

It was an awesome game. Fun for all. Well, unless you were rooting for Michigan, heheh.

We won!!

Oh! The Drama!!

It's done. I told Jane everything. I made her cry. I felt like a total turd but it had to be done and I'm not sorry that I did it. I wasn't fair in keeping things in for so long. I know that. But, that's all I'm going to say on the subject. It's depressing and I'm trying to be psyched!! And why, you ask? Because tomorrow is the OSU v. Michigan game!! Woot!! Woot!!

I'm already wearing an OSU shirt and have another picked out for tomorrow. I put up decorations in the house. I hauled out C's buckeye hat and his Brutus. I also printed up a door-sized banner and put it on our front door. See? Nifty, eh?



The OSU, Michigan game is always fun at our house. I just have to go out and buy the food and drinks for tomorrow and we'll be set.

4 or 6 is coming. Hold your horses and keep your pants on. Certain things have to take precedence. Priorities people!

Thursday Meme

Our meme is back this week. It didn't make the blog last week because I was too busy shamelessly bragging about my new phone. 4 or 6 will be posted tomorrow.

The meme courtesy of Booking Through Thursday:

Today’s question comes from Conspiracy-Girl:I’m still relatively new to this meme so I’m not sure if this has been asked yet, but I’m curious how many of us write notes in our books. Are you a Footprint Leaver or a Preservationist?

I'm definitely not a person who writes in her books. I don't dog-ear the pages either. It seems almost sacrilegious to me. In one of my classes that I took a semester or two ago, my textbook said to mark in your books; make them your own. I gave this advice a lot of thought before I decided that I couldn't ruin my books with notes. I'm not so obsessive to where I worry about creasing the spine of my paperbacks though.

When I was in high school, my mom borrowed a book from a guy that she worked with under the strict condition that she return it to him without the spine being creased. We both managed to read the book and not crease the spine, but worrying about it the whole time took some enjoyment away from the story. Well, at least it did for me. I'm not sure what my mom thought.

I consider my books a collection and take care of them the best that I know how.

3 of 6

(Technical Note: I know the colors and stuff are off but the post was starting to peeve me so I left it the way that it is before I decided to boot my comp out the smucking window. Thanks for understanding.)

And now for your reading pleasure, we're going to take a look at…

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Published in 2001

What they say:

From Barnes and Noble

Synopsis

Artemis Fowl is a one of the greatest criminal minds the world has ever seen. He is heir to the Fowl family empire—a centuries old clan of international underworld figures and con artists. He is arguably the most cunning Fowl of all. He is also twelve years old.

Artemis' interest in mythology and an obsession with the Internet leads him to discover proof of the existence of "The People"- otherwise known as fairies, sprites, leprechauns and trolls. He learns every fairy has a magical Book. If he can find the Book, it will lead him to "The People's" vast treasure of gold.

With his brutish sidekick, Butler, he sets his plans in motion. Artemis tricks a drunken old fairy woman into loaning him her Book, a tiny golden volume, for thirty minutes. He scans it with a digital camera and emails it to his Mac G6 computer. Back in his mansion in Ireland, he is the first human to decode the secrets of the fairies.

Artemis needs a leprechaun to help him with this plan. He and Butler hunt down Holly Short, a tough, female LEPrecon, part of a gung-ho Fairy commando unit, who is on a reconnaissance mission. He kidnaps her, and a major battle begins. It's satyr against gnome, man against elf, and for the first time in his life, Artemis must decide what he values most.

For fans of J.R.R.Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Philip Pullman, Artemis Fowl is a high-tech fantasy, mixing faries, leprechauns, and computers, in a brilliant, thrilling story that is destined to become a cult favorite.

USA Today

He can tell a story...Colfer offers some nice riffs in terms of creating a magical subworld of trolls, dwarfs and centaurs as well as some fun tech stuff.

What I say: This is supposed to be a young adult read, correct? Well, I enjoyed it just the same. I picked it up at the bookstore because of all the hype that I had heard about the series over the years and wanted to see what the fuss was all about. It was money well spent. The characters are engaging and funny. The fact that the main character, Artemis Fowl, is only twelve does take a little getting used to especially since he orders adults around all the time because they work for him. I often had a hard time remembering that he was only a kid. It was Colfer's intention to portray Artemis as being older than his years because of his upbringing and it came across well…A little too well at times I think.
If you're looking for a light and fast read this book fits the bill. It was fun and I intend to read the rest of the books in the series.

2 of 6

Our next book is

Wicked by Gregory Maguire.
Published in 1995.

What they say:

From Barnes and Noble

Synopsis
An astonishingly rich re-creation of the land of Oz, this book retells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn't so wicked after all. Taking readers past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature.
Newsday
Listen up, Munchkins. Stop your singing, stop the dancing. The Wicked Witch is no longer dead. But not to worry. Gregory Maguire's shrewdly imagined and beautifully written first novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," not only revives her but re-envisions and redeems her for our times.

What I say: I have hesitated saying too much about this book. It was really hard for me to get through having taken about 3 weeks total reading time and that's not counting the months it sat next to my bed after I read the first chapter, decided it wasn't for me, then decided I should finish it someday because I hate leaving books unfinished. I just didn't want to turn anyone off to the book because it was a good story. Maguire has an imagination that I have never seen before in an author. For Maguire to be able to write a story taken from such a classic as Frank L. Baum's Wizard of Oz and make his new tale a completely believable "what if" is an amazing talent in my opinion.

Yes, it was hard to get through but I am not sorry for the experience. I would say that it was probably just me but I've heard similar troubles from three other people who have or are attempting to read the book. I would still encourage people to read it and for those that are in the middle of reading it, don't give up!!

1 of 6

I have finished quite a few books in the last month and a half. 4 of them I already blogged about for the R.I.P. challenge. The others sorta got pushed aside due to my laziness. Now I just have to figure out where to begin. I think I'll go by publication date that way I won't be showing any favoritism, heheh.

Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart published in 1985.

What They Say:

Loudmouthed, redheaded Cee Cee Bloom has her sights set on Hollywood. Bertie White, quiet and conservative, dreams of getting married and having children. In 1951, their childhood worlds collide in Atlantic City. Keeping in touch as pen pals, they reunite over the years ... always near the ocean.

Powerful and moving, this novel follows Cee Cee and Bertie's extraordinary friendship over the course of thirty years as they transform from adolescents into adults. A bestselling novel that became a hugely successful film, Beaches is funny, heartbreaking, and a tale that should be a part of every woman's library.

What I Say:

I, of course, saw the movie way back when and I loved it. My sister and I used to watch it over and over and cry every time. I had no idea until my friend, Jennifer S., sent it to me as a gift that the movie had been based on a book. What a dunderhead I was. The movie didn't do the book justice but such is the way of movies adapted from books. Beaches was amazing. It was a bit darker than I had expected but it drew me in and I read it in a day.

To me, it was a story of what being a friend truly means. It's about tolerances, forgiveness, and loyalty. I can't wait to reread it again someday.

Don't Feel Like Posting

I had to drag myself in here. I'm not in the mood to post. I'd rather be reading my In Death book that I got yesterday, lol. I'm a little over halfway through it and it is so good!

The oldest child is giving me grief. I used to think 14 was going to be the age to dread but 11 is not exactly a picnic. She managed to get the grounding of her life today which is going to make the rest of November miserable for us all. Not that the first 11 days have been all that pleasant either. Sometimes I wish that parenting came with a handbook.

I'm going back to my book now and I'm going to try and ignore the rest of the living world.

The Book Signing!!

I'm BACK!! I had such a great time. Nora was awesome. She answered all kinds of questions and made jokes, and signed books. It was the best. What made it even better was that I got to share the experience with one my good friends. It wouldn't have been the same without her there.

I'll post more and reply to comments tomorrow. I'm so exhausted right now I can barely think. I don't like to post pictures of myself online, so you can tell just how excited that I still am that I posted that one. And that's my book on the table, lol.

In a Rush

I'm getting ready to head off to South Carolina for the Nora Roberts books signing (YAY!!) but I wanted to make sure and post just in case I don't get another chance today. I got my hair cut yesterday just for today, lol. It's a very nice cut though and I'm pleased.

I'm drawing a blank for anything else to say because I only have one thing on my mind right now. I hope everyone has a great Saturday and I'll post all the deets of today, tomorrow. One last thing, please keep your fingers crossed that the hubby has a good time with the girls today. M has been giving everyone a hard time lately and she's already being moody not even an hour out of bed. ::Sigh:: Tweeners.

Friday Catch-All

I used to like mornings believe it or not. Even in high school when I had stayed up till 1 in the morning the night before. Then, when the kids were little, mornings were usually play times after they had eaten their breakfast. Now, mornings suck. I spend the first hour of my morning constantly nagging at my kids to get ready for school. I don't understand why it takes them an entire hour+ in the morning to get ready. What do they have to do? Get dressed, have breakfast, brush their hair and teeth. What's so difficult about that? Even so, they almost missed the bus this morning. ARGH!! I can take a shower, do my hair and makeup, get dressed, and be out the door in half an hour. I just don't get it.

Also, M, the 11 year old going on 21, harassed me all week to walk to school by herself. We only live a mile away but there aren't any sidewalks and one of the streets is very busy. Yesterday I finally gave in on the condition that she call me when she got there which is in violation of school rules because they're not allowed to have cell phones. I didn't really care. All went well. Then she gets home and tells me that one of her friends picked her up on the way to school. What the heck! And this morning was such a fiasco that she didn't have time to walk. Geez.

Jennifer S asked me what happened to the Thursday Meme post yesterday. (I didn't see your text until this morning. C kept texting me from the other room and bugging me so I started ignoring them, lol. Sorry.) Well, I didn't want to post twice yesterday and I really wanted to post about my new phone so I skipped it. It was about reading more or less as an adult than as a child. I read more as an adult but that's only because I make the time (read that to say ignoring household chores, lol) to read. I can also read a lot faster as an adult than as a kid. Still, I've loved reading since I was 4 years old. I shove as many books into my life as I possibly can.

Lastly, I've decided to grow a pair and have it out with Jane. I have so many issues with her that I feel like making note cards so I don't forget anything. Depending on how bloody it gets, I might post the results. We'll see. Would it be too childish and petty to tell her that she can't cook worth a darn and to stop forcing her nasty food on other people???

Fullfilling My Gadget Addiction **Updated**

Guess what!! I'm getting a new cell phone today. Woot!! Woot!! This is exciting news for me for two reasons.

The first reason being is that I've had a sucky phone for the last year and a half. That would be 6 months after I got the damn thing. Something happened to the outside screen which causes the battery to drain. I get 1-20 minutes of battery life on my phone depending on how it wants to behave at the time. And sometimes it will power down with no notice. I HATE that.

The second reason is that I'm a gadget whore and getting a new phone speaks to my inner soul.

I've been debating for the last couple months over which new phone I want to get. It was a very hard decision. Do I want a smart phone which I really don't need but is very cool or do I want a regular cell phone which is more practical and will serve all my needs in a phone? What makes the decision even more difficult is that the hubby is getting a Samsung i760. It's brand new and does practically everything. Will I be able to stand having a regular phone while he has such a neat one? See my problem? Well, I've already picked out my phone and the sales guy at the Verizon even broke one out of the box and let me play with it the other day. I'll update my post later on today when I get home from the store. C has the day off because he had duty last night so we're going shopping in J'ville while the girls are in school. Woohoo!!





**Update**





We're back WITH brand new phones. We actually got back almost three hours ago but I've been playing with my phone, heheh. And the grand winning prize is....












A Black Cherry Chocolate Phone!! Woo hoo!! We got the best deal. My phone is listed at Verizon as $129.99. I got it for $89.99 plus a $50 mail in rebate. That's a total cost of $39.99 in case you need your afternoon caffeine. Why did I get it so cheap? Cuz the girl at Verizon "accidentally" printed me up a rebate form and we also got a military discount. So, to offset all the savings, I bought the music kit deal thing and a SD card for it. Go me! C got an awesome deal on his phone too. With the New Every Two, the $100 Internet discount which they gave to us in store, a $50 mail in rebate, and his military discount, he bought his phone for $149.99. I'm not sure what the list price is but it's a brand new smart phone so I'm assuming it's pricey. If you live in our area and are in the market for a new phone, I totally recommend the Verizon kiosk at the Jacksonville, N.C. Circuit City. They will treat you well. Even though it's a kiosk, it's a corporate store and that's why they are authorized to give so many discounts. If we had gone to a different Verizon, we would have spent twice as much. Literally, if not more.

I'm off to play with my phone. Yay!

I Have a Problem

I’m not the mean person that I wish I could be. Why would anyone wish to be mean? So that I could say exactly what I’m thinking when I’m thinking it instead of worrying about hurting other people’s feelings. Some people that know me will be thinking otherwise but that’s just because they had pushed me over and beyond the limits of tolerance and they took that brunt of that.

I have this “friend”. I’ll call her Jane. I haven’t known Jane for very long but it was obvious from the beginning that we’re two very different people. Jane’s parents are well off, they have a family summer home on a lake with the Clintons (the actual Clintons. I’ve seen pictures) for neighbors, and her parents buy her things and pay her bills despite the fact that she’s married and 29 years old. I had a very middle class upbringing. The only time my parents have helped out with my bills is when we were teetering on the brink and it’s been quite a while since they have done so. Both of my parents summer in Ohio like regular people do. My neighborhood was very white bread and bologna. These are by no means our only differences but it's fundamentally why I don't think we're compatible.

Jane, from the day that I met her wasn’t shy in telling me what she thinks. I like that in people and don’t consider it a flaw. One thing she said to me was that she doesn’t normally have friends who don’t have degrees. No offense. Well, I was a bit offended but decided to let it go. Then she tells me that all enlisted wives are white trash, tattoo covered, cheat on their husbands when they’re deployed, and uneducated. But lucky me, she told me that I was the exception to that because I like to read, I’m going to school, and I don’t have any tattoos. Score one for white trash everywhere.

Jane also has managed to manipulate me and the hubby in such a way that she’s borrowing our lawnmower (We're not using it anyway, so why should she have to buy her own), my Dean Koontz book (I hate loaning out my books because I never get them back. She’s had it for 3 months now.), our rake, a spare tv we have, and her husband gets free rides to work thanks to mine. At first I thought I was just being a good friend. Now, I want my stuff back and her husband can walk. It’s only seven miles and the weather’s nice enough. ;)

Also, when she calls to talk, I always get the feeling that when it’s my turn to say something, she’s just indulging me until she can get back to what she wants to talk about.

And she interprets things how she wants to. She wants us to run in this marathon in March. This is laughable in itself. Me? In a marathon? Puhleaze. But C said that it sounded like fun. Jane takes this, calls me and says that he’s committed to running in the marathon so I have to also. He never said that. That’s just how she interpreted “sounds like fun”. She does stuff like that all the time. And no matter how many times I tell her that I have no intention of running, (Running. Lmao.) in this marathon, she won’t listen.

My post the other day about being left waiting for three hours, that was thanks to Jane. I was pretty pissed. I blew her off for another outing the next day and ignored her calls. She also wants me to do her makeup for the Marine Corps ball Friday and I was all set and ready to not be home that day. Then she called me this afternoon and I answered. I only answered because I was going to tell her that she needed to come over so I could have it out with her. The conversation didn’t go that way because she told me, before I could get in a word other than “hello”, that her renter is doing the same thing to her that mine was doing to me. How could I not feel sorry for her after the hell that we went through? She also made me late for a doctor’s appointment because she runs on Jane Time.

I could go on because there's more, but this is long enough. I don’t know what to do. I honestly don’t like her and I don’t want anything to do with her anymore but I don’t know how to say it and not be mean. Her opinions are judgmental and offensive and she’s loud, pushy, and self-absorbed. Would you be friends with this person or am I just being judgmental myself? It’s especially touchy because our husbands work together. This is why I don’t like being friends with people he works with. I feel like I'm stuck with her.

Oh! The Pain!

The cascade effect of the WGA strike began Monday with late night talk shows becoming the first casualties. This morning I found out that it has killed two of my favorite shows: Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. The horror! Other shows that have been caught in the crossfire:

Back to You
Til Death
Rules of Engagement
Desperate Housewives
The New Adventures of the Old Christine
Carpoolers (I liked this one too)
And most likely after this week, Heroes

These are just the ones that I could find. It's not a definitive list. I need to hit the bookstore. I'm about 20-30 pages from the end of Wicked and the only other book in the house that I haven't read is the one that the hubby's in the middle of reading, lol. Oh! And Life of Pi. I guess this would be good time to get that one restarted.

And a funny aside: I just got an e-mail from the hubby at work. He's on duty today and tonight and he said that the guys from his shop have been prank calling him all morning. How funny. That's your tax dollars hard at work, lmao.

Not the Best of Days

Yesterday was rough. The morning was good, the afternoon was baaad and the evening was worse. I wasn't the only one having a bad day yesterday either. Was the moon full or something? Anyway, the following is a post that I typed up yesterday in response to my horrible afternoon. I saved it because I had already posted once yesterday, hehehe.

~

Which is worse? People that invite themselves over, people that show up unannounced, or people that make plans to come over and then don’t show up at all?

People. People SUCK! Alright. Certain people suck and some people suck more than others. But mostly, people just SUCK!

You know. I may have a small, insignificant, little housewife life. I don’t have a degree, I get carted around at the whim and inconvenience of others, I don’t work outside of the home, and I'm a lowly enlisted wife, but I do have important things in my life and a routine to my day. When somebody invites me to do something with them in the middle of my day, I have to make allowances for that and rearrange other things that I may have had planned for my day. Don’t call me ten minutes prior to our arranged meeting time and say you’re going to be an hour late, call me back three hours later and ask if I’m ready to go, and then expect me to be nice to you. At this point, I pretty much hate you and you can go crawl underneath a rock and don’t ever bother me again. And save your excuses. After three hours, if you’re still able-bodied enough to call to see if I’m ready, you don’t have an excuse that I want to hear.

This is not friend behavior.

Hold Up Your Signs

And get out the booze. The WGA is on strike. I haven't heard about any of the shows that I watch specifically, but the strike is going to affect all of television with the exception of soap operas in the short term, reality and game shows. I don't happen to watch any reality, game shows, or soap operas. The good thing about it is that CBS will still be airing all 7(?) episodes of Jericho which I can't wait to see. I'm disappointed and if I could muster the energy, I would protest the protesters.

I suppose the strike will give me the opportunity to pursue other hobbies. Discovering what those hobbies may be will be entertainment in itself.

1001 Books

Has anyone heard of the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die? Another blogger made a spreadsheet with all the books in it so that you can keep track of what you've read. Spreadsheet. I downloaded it, went through it, and discovered that I've only read 17 of the books listed which equals 1.7%. It also calculates, based on your age and sex, how many books you need to read a year and I need to read 19 to complete the list. Wow. 19 Nora Roberts or 19 Patricia Cornwells doesn't equal 19 of the books listed. I would estimate that it's probably double or triple that. There's no way that I could read War and Peace in one day which is how long it's going to take me to read J.D. Robb's newest which I'll be getting next Saturday, hehehe.



Could I read all 1001 books in my lifetime? Probably not. Moby Dick's on that list and I already know that I can't get through that one. But there are quite a few on there that I intend to read anyway and one, The Life of Pi, is already on my TBR list and I've read about a chapter of it. Do I plan on going out of my way to attempt to complete the list? Nah. But I intend to buy the book and use it as a reference despite the negative customer reviews.



I do need another book reading challenge though.

This is Me. And Us.

I snagged this from Literary Feline's blog. Fun times. I have to tell you, I have an OCD thing when it comes to surveys. I see them and I have to fill them out. E-mails, blog posts, MySpace, wherever. I don't know why. I suppose it kills the time and I like figuring out the answers. And with a survey like this, I can't get the answers wrong because it's about me. I also like to fill them out because I know how much they annoy my friend Jennifer S. How else am I supposed to needle her when she lives clear across the country from me??? ;)

The basic facts:
Who is your significant other? C
How long have you been together? We’ve been together for 12 years and married for 11
Dating/Engaged/Married? Married
How old is your Significant Other? 30

Which one?
Who eats more? That’d be a tossup these days.
Who says "I love you" first? It’s about even.
Who sings better? Neither one of us can sing worth crap, but if we were in a contest, I’d probably win.
Who's older? I am 70 days older. Exactly.
Who's smarter? We both have our strengths and we’re both pretty smart.
Whose temper is worse? I would say mine because while we both have a short fuse, I stay mad longer.
Who does the laundry? Me although he’ll sometimes wash his own pt gear.
Who does the dishes? The whole family takes on that chore.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.
Whose feet are bigger? He has bigger feet.
Whose hair is longer? Mine.
Who's better with the computer? That would be me.
Who mows the lawn? Neither of us does. We pay for lawn service, heheh.
Who pays the bills? He brings home the bacon and I fry it up.
Who cooks dinner? I do 99.9% of the time.
Who drives when you are together? Usually my husband.
Who pays when you go out to dinner? We both flash the plastic.
Who's the most stubborn? That’d definitely be me.
Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? Neither of us. We just wait for the other to forget what we were arguing about.
Whose parents do you see more? That’d be equal since all of our parents live in Ohio and we live in N.C.
Who named your dog/cat? I think we both decided on Bailey’s name. I sorta picked Hannah’s name since it was my idea to name her after Muhammad Ali’s daughter.
Who kisses who first? We both do.
Who asked who out? He asked me.
Who's more sensitive? I’m not sure on this one. I guess I would probably say me.
Who's taller? He is.
Who has more friends? Probably him.
Who has more siblings? We each have one older brother and one younger sister. How nifty, right?
Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think we share that. I’m not a traditional person so I’m not the type to allow a husband to lord over me just because he’s the man.

Ghost Stories

I know I'm a couple days late for this topic however, it didn't occur to me to share these stories until they were requested. While I happen to believe in hauntings I know how completely hokey it sounds to say it out loud and I tend to only tell people about my experiences that I know personally. I'm also a person that only believes in what I can see, hear, feel, touch, or taste. That happens to be why I believe in hauntings. Enough prattling. Here goes.

My first real encounter with something that I couldn't explain happened at the house that I lived in during high school. It was an old house that had used to be a duplex I guess you would call it. That made it a pretty big house with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath on the first floor, a living room, kitchen, and then an "other" room that was off of the stairs. Upstairs were two more bedrooms, a bath, and a second kitchen that we didn't use. My sister and I had the upstairs bedrooms. The shocking part of this whole experience is that I didn't kill myself on those stairs. In the 4 or 5 years that I lived there, I don't think I ever sedately walked up those stairs. I flew. They creeped me out like nothing ever has before or since. Once, I was in my bedroom and my stepmom was calling my name, or so I thought. Several times I heard my name called and being the lazy teenager that I was, I kept calling out "what" in response rather than go see what my stepmom wanted. Finally, my stepmom came to the bottom of the stairs and asked me what I wanted. She hadn't been calling my name. I don't know who was because we were the only ones home, but somebody had been.

My next story takes place in Jacksonville, N.C., ironically, when I was 16. I was visiting my brother for the summer who was stationed at Camp Lejeune at the time. My nephew had just been born and everyone was at the hospital visiting. A friend and I left the hospital and went back to their house for reasons that I can't remember now and we were the only ones there. I sat down on the coffee table that faced their entertainment center and all of a sudden, the stereo with all of its components, turned on and started playing Metallica. Amy (that's the friend) and I looked at each other with huge eyes and then I ran up and hit the off button real fast.

Later that summer, I developed a roll of pictures that I had taken and in a reflection on the glass of one of their framed pictures that was hanging on the wall, you could see a boy in a white t-shirt in it. We didn't have an explanation for who that boy was. Sadly, I no longer have the picture or the negative. I was an idiot and gave it to someone to make copies and never got it back.

Fast forward to when S was born in 1999. I was staying with my mom in Marion, Ohio. My mom was at work and I was alone with M who hadn't turned three yet and S who was only a few weeks old. M was taking a nap and I had S in one of those battery operated swings that had three settings in this order: Off, low, high. S was swinging away on high when all of a sudden, it shut off. The slider had moved from high to off by itself. I didn't tell my mom that happened until a few years after she had moved out because I didn't want to her to be creeped out living there by herself, lol.

Now, we're in California. Weird things started happening about two weeks after we moved into our base housing. The kids were still little with S being about 5 months old and M was 3. The first oddness occurred at night after we were all in bed. C and I were just dozing off when the hallway light turned on. The kids were sound asleep. Things like that happened the whole time, about 4 1/2 years, that we lived there. Another time, my mom was visiting and we were standing on our patio while she was having a smoke. The kids were in bed and C wasn't home. We looked up when we noticed the light come on in S's bedroom. She was still in her crib at the time and M was sound asleep. My mom freaked a little but by this time, I was used to it. Lights came on all the time by themselves. We had vertical blinds in all the windows. In the largest living room window, the very first panel on the end would start swinging and tap against the wall. I would usually get up and stop it but once I timed it to see how long it would go and it swung and tapped for over 30 minutes. There weren't any drafts and the window was closed. And it wasn't all of the panels, it was just the one on the end. Also, if you tried to get one to swing manually, it would for one or two taps and stop like it normally would. And the most weird of our experiences happened about 2 am or so. Again, everyone was asleep and then I was rudely awakened by a loud noise. I woke up disoriented, not being able to figure out where the sound had come from when I heard trickling water. By this time, I was thoroughly freaked and I woke C up. He didn't hear it because he sleeps like a log. He slept through a 5.2 earthquake once, heheh. Anyway, I made him get up and turn on the light because I wasn't about to leave the safety of my bed. That's when was saw the source of the noise. My glass floating candle bowl had split into two pieces and the water was everywhere spilling onto the floor. The bowl was a very nice one from Illuminations and it wasn't even a year old. When it split, there were no shards of glass; it was just two clean pieces of bowl. And as you can see in the picture, it was pretty thick glass. Maybe there was a defect in the bowl or something, but it had never been dropped or frozen or anything else. I was pissed because it wasn't cheap and I really liked it, lol. After that, I took the breakables off of my dresser that I didn't want to be mysteriously broken and put them elsewhere.

And that's about it. We haven't had any experiences since moving out of our base housing in December of 2003 and we've lived in three other houses since, one of which was a 200 year old Victorian that had suffered a fire. I was sure I'd feel something in that house, but I never did. Not that I'm complaining.

So, you can believe me or not but all that stuff really happened. C doesn't even believe it and he was there for most of it. I guess some people are just grounded that way.

To Clarify

I'm doing the NaBloPoMo challenge not the NaNoWriMo Challenge. 50,000 words in a month on top of three classes? I don't think so. At least, I don't think I think so. I have no idea how many words I type in a month but I'm not going out of my way to write cohesive, on topic, posts to equal a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. NaBloPoMo is much easier. I only have to post once a day, every day in November. Easy peazy.

If you were confused, so was I but I hope this clears it up.

Thursday Meme

Here's our Thursday meme courtesy of Booking Through Thursday.

What with yesterday being Halloween, and all . . . do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?
I thought about asking you about whether you were participating in NaNoWriMo, but I asked that last year. Although . . . if you want to answer that one, too, please feel free to go ahead and do both, or either, your choice!

First off, let me say how nice it is to start NaBloPoMo off with a ready-made post. It's a good omen in my opinion and it also answers the question on whether or not I'm participating.

As for reading horror, why, yes I do. I enjoy reading King, Koontz, Rice and others. I also liked the classic horror novel, Dracula. I know there are many others that I've read but am not thinking of right now. I like being scared. I spent a good portion of last week watching all the Halloween specials on tv and I also finished up the R.I.P. Challenge. I also believe in ghosts since I've experienced unexplained phenomenon in the past. I love the horror genre in all its varied forms.