Matt MADE my day!

It's true.... He did. This evening while we were eating our shepherds pie, he asked me the question of my dreams right out of the blue. The question: "Name the Forbidden Curses." By the tone of his voice I could feel him challenge my authority, but at the same time I sensed that if I didn't answer correctly his little heart would be crushed. We weren't even on the topic so I think he was trying to catch me off guard.

I am a Harry Potter Freak. My love affair with the books started over 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Sam. I was really sick. I had Hyper emesis gravidarum which means excessive vomiting in pregnancy. I couldn't keep anything down. I lost 60 pounds in one and a half months. When it was found that my kidneys were bleeding I wound up in the hospital for 10 days, being fed intravenously some kind of clear solution and a big bag of white fluid that looked like baby formula, which was full of lipids and proteins. Every day the doctor of internal medicine would check my blood to see where it was deficient before mixing up a new brew.

For the first part of the week my roommate was a crabby, thirty something woman who was jonesing for a smoke. I heard her and this guy who was there to visit her concoct a plan to climb out the window, onto the roof for a cig. I was shocked when her friend had the nerve to ask the nurse if he could help her do this. Of course the nurse said it was out of the question. None of her patients were going to take a puff on her watch and with a fresh incision this was entirely out of the question. Yes, I eavesdropped through the curtain.

For the second part of the week my roommate was a sweet little old lady who had at least one sometimes more members of her family with her 24/7. They were really nice people, but I was so sick and being poked and prodded hourly. And I was so LONELY.

I would wait all day for Matt to get off work. He would come straight to the hospital and stay with me until the nurse kicked him out at night. Then after I cried for 15 minutes he would go home and we would start it all over again the next day. My mom came to visit too and my sweet Aunts. I will never forget a phone call from my sister-in-law, Jeanna. I was so grateful, and impressed, and surprised that she tracked me down. She didn't really know me, Matt and I had been married less than 2 months at this point.

On one of my Aunt Kathy's visits she brought some lotion and some nail polish. She gave me a pedicure. I felt so bad for her. Not only were my feet and ankles swollen to the width of my legs because of all the fluids they were pumping into me, but my legs were hairier than Sasquatch. Even in my malnourished state I was still capable of growing hair on my legs. No wonder I was so tired. Aunt Kathy is a Saint.

Just before she left, she pulled four books from her bag of sunshine. I had her put them on the bedside table and then she left. I had tried to read the first Harry Potter book about a year and a half before but I couldn't get into it. By the time she had been gone 20 minutes I was already feeling desperate, so I cracked the first book open and I lost myself. I sat in that hospital bed and I loathed the Dursley's. My heart jumped when Hagrid told Harry his true identity as a wizard. I itched to slap that smirk off that little Malfoy twerps face. And I giggled with giddiness at Harry's first quidditch match when his wonderful friends made a banner that said,"Potter for President" that was charmed to change colors. I hung on every word. I consider them some of my best friends. I think it's safe to say, J.K. Rowling saved me from depression.

I remember a few days and two books later when the doctor walked into my room. He asked me if I had experienced a numbness or tingling sensation in my pinky and ring fingers. As a matter of fact, I had. He explained to me it was because I spent my days with the inside of my elbows resting on my by then (and I know this is hard to believe) jutting hip bones. This posture was causing muscle degeneration. From then on I had to stop every so often and do some laps around the nurses station while dragging my IV pole along with me.

And so Harry and friends have a very special place in my heart. Yes, I own a wand. Yes, I made myself a scarf in red and gold Gryffindor colors. Yes, I have read each book more times than I can count. I am not ashamed. I answered the question correctly of course, even adding what each curse does and the incantations to go with. (More than he bargained for.) So I put the challenge to all of you. Answer in the comments section, along with your favorite Harry Potter moment. I can't wait to find out.

Book Review - Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

One word....Depressing. I had high hopes for this book because it was chosen by the Today Show for their Book Club.... It's about a linguist, who loses his wife to a mysterious death,which is ruled an accident, and the only witness is their dog. There are several incongruities that he is not comfortable with, so he decides to devote all his time and energy to teaching the dog to speak - to literally speak English, so that she can tell him the events of the day leading up to and including the "accident". While his reminiscing is touching and the book is extremely well written I couldn't get past the terrible truths and and outcome within. The book has at least two F-bombs, and some inappropriate sexual content.

Book Review - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Holy Cow! This was a good book! When I finished at 1:05 am (because I couldn't put it down despite being totally tired) I wanted to start over and read it again. My friend Kim, whose blog link is to the left, recommended this book to our Book Club and so we decided to read it for the month of January's discussion. I can not wait!
This is the story of a woman, Margaret, who loves to read. (Someone I can totally identify with.) But she only reads dead authors. She works in her fathers bookshop and is an amateur biographer. When she receives a letter from the most famous contemporary author of her time who wants Margaret to write her biography, things get interesting. The story within the story, the references to other books, and the character development make for a very intriguing read. The story is seriously strange, and I feel like I should warn about a bit of incest.... Nothing graphic though. And the twist at the end is a big surprise that I never saw coming and I'm usually pretty good at being able to predict what will happen, though I don't usually enjoy books that are too predictable. Go figure.

My Lucky Day!

Today at school around 12:30 there came an announcement over the PA....."This is not a drill. Gather all of your belongings and go to your Home rooms. Once there evacuate the building immediately." Followed by an hour and a half of standing on slushy snow covered grass while we waited for each parent to show up and sign out their students.

All the while rumors were flying. "There was a water leak in the server room that started a fire." "There is a deadly virus going around the school - that's why half the students are absent today." " Did you hear that the PE teacher caught the virus and had to go home early?" "There is an alarm going off that tells us there is a methane gas leak." And so on and so forth.
I have received an email from the principal stating the following:

"The evacuation this afternoon was due to a suspicious odor in the building. We felt it was important to contact the fire department and gas company to have this odor identified. The Alpine Fire District Fire Chief made the determination to evacuate in order to safely conduct tests. After several agencies performed tests in the building it was confirmed that the odor was neither natural gas nor a CO2 leak. It is now believed the odor was caused by a large amount of stagnant standing water that had seeped into the building during this last storm. We have been reassured there is no immediate threat from today's situation."

One thing I find hilarious is that our school is a No Technology school meaning no cameras, cell phones, ipods, etc. Within minutes of the evacuation cell phones materialized out of thin air. I'd say there were over 20. People were texting and calling parents. And I saw four different kids with ipods. One of them had her ipod in her pocket, a small hole in her pocket allowed the headphones through her pocket,up her pants and shirt, down her shirt sleeve putting the little speaker just inside her cuff and she said she puts her elbow on the table and rests her head on her hand and listens to music during her classes. Unbelievable. No - I take it back - I believe.

While it was a bit cold and uncomfortable it was some excitement that has started our Christmas break a day and a half early. That's right, school is closed tomorrow!

AHHHHH!! Tradition!

Holy Cow! I can't wait for Thursday! We have been so busy. There is something going in every night this week. And more than one thing on some nights. But it's all good stuff so I really can't complain. And starting on Thursday I get TWO WEEKS off of work. It's going to be so nice. I've got some grand plans of sleeping in, reading, working out everyday, reading, reading and reading. I'm all ready for Christmas and all I have to do is wrap. And bake some cookies for my neighbors.
I am totally looking forward to all our little traditions as well as starting some new ones. We have already participated in some of the yearly traditions and it has been so nice. What is it about familiarity that brings us comfort? Certain songs, smells, tastes, and activities can bring so much peace.
One of the most memorable traditions of my adolescence was my dad giving us a hard time every Christmas Eve. For as long as I can remember we always opened a present on Christmas Eve. Just one. And starting around noon we would start to ask when we could open the Christmas Eve presents. Once we became teenagers and ever since , without fail my dad would say,"We don't open presents on Christmas Eve." The first year he did this we were aghast and really mad. How could he say that, we have always done this. Doesn't he remember? The next year we were on too him. And don't tell him, but I personally looked forward to him playing like he had no idea what we were talking about. I would have been disappointed if he didn't play his little mind games with us. Does that make me weird?

Book Review - Eve's Daughters by Lynn Austin

This book is about four generations of women from one family. It covers customs of the times and how those customs change, but also how the things that make us happy, content and close in our relationships don't change. I had a seriously hard time staying motivated to finish this book, but I don't think it had anything to do with the book. I've just been so busy that I haven't had time to sit (or lay in my bed as I prefer) and read. When I did lay down to read my poor tired eyes would slam shut. So despite my lack of time to really get into this book, I enjoyed it. It was a bit repetitive and extremely predictable, but I enjoyed the Christian theme and the discussion of relationship to God that went on through out the book. I would recommend this book.

Check it out!

My friend Sarah put this on her blog. I loved it. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/greeting_view?s=WfjtOe7tUCI&p=2862B4D46C3F8E75

It's Out

The Christmas Stuff is Out. I have to admit I was not looking forward to it this year, which isn't really like me. I have always thought I was a real tree kind of person, but this year I didn't want it. I hate going out to get it(It's been like four years since I went). I hate trying to get it in the stand. I hate vacuuming the needles into February - because we all know they still lurk around for months. I hate watering the dang thing. And besides the tree there are all the little Nick knacks that come out with the ornaments. Like I said, normally I can't wait and I anticipate the fun and decoration. But this year we have been so busy and the house has been kind of cluttered; therefore, I haven't been wanting extra stuff sitting around.

Today, I made Matt pick the tree up on his way home from work. Then, Sam and I commenced to decorate the tree/house while Matt read The Forgotten Carols to us. It was fun. It looks great. I don't know what my problem was. But ask me how I feel about it in a week when all the usual clutter is back.

On a different subject BOOK CLUB IS THIS WEEKEND! I can't wait. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my book club? This month we are discussing the book The Christmas Jars by Jason Wright. I read this book two Christmas' ago and I enjoyed it. It's a quick read and that is why it was a good pick for this busy month. Well, that, and it's a good book.

Book Club is at my house this time, so I guess it's a good thing we put out the Christmas gear.

Sam's Love Life

The other day Sam told me he is in love with someone at school. I asked him, "What does that mean, how do you know you are in love with her?" He said, "Well I told her that I love her." Shocked and amazed that my little 6 year old thinks about this and would feel like he needs to tell her I said, "What did she say?" He told me in a whisper voice that she said, "Don't tell anyone else!" Haha, she is a smart girl..... Keeping her options open I guess. I went on to tell Sam that this is not the time for him to fall in love and that he doesn't need to think about it until after his mission. He didn't seem convinced.

I don't remember worrying about that kind of stuff so young. I don't think it was until 4th grade that people in my grade started telling each other they liked each other and "going around". But I don't remember any talk of love.
Can anyone help me understand this? Fill me in, what do I do with this child?

"Go clean your room"= Instant Hysteria

Yesterday, Sam asked if he could invite a friend over. I said, " Don't you think you and your friend would be embarrassed to play in such a messy room? Why don't you clean your room today and invite someone over to play tomorrow." So he started the job, and it was a big job, and then after 15 minutes he asked for a break that lasted until bed time and then it was really urgent that he get back to his cleaning job. That was a NO GO.
Fast forward to today. I told him right after school that he had to do his homework and then finish cleaning his room. He begged me to help him. I told him no, I didn't help make the mess so I wasn't going to help clean it up. Then we worked on his homework. When that was done he said he wanted to watch TV. I told him he needed to clean his room first. "Will you help me?" "No."
He stalled for about ten minutes. And then I said if you don't clean your room you can't go play at the rec center. Instant Hysterics commenced. And again he said," will you help me". I said,
"Yes, I will help you learn that cleaning up a big mess is hard work, and so you shouldn't make big messes. I will help you learn this by letting you clean up the mess by yourself."
How a perfectly pleasant and happy child becomes such a wreck in a split second is beyond me. He went up and got to work and about ten minutes later he asked if I would tell him what to do. So I told him to pick up all the dirty clothes and put them in the hamper. A few minutes later he came back and said, "Done... now what." "OK, pick up all the transformers", etc.
I can't help but think that I deserve this. As a young child I shared a room with two sisters. Our room was atrociously filthy. The room was knee deep with junk. We didn't have a light switch and so our lamp was turned on and off with a pull chain. Our room was such a mess that my dad attached a 7 foot chain to the lamp, which hung around the middle of the room, so that he wouldn't have to walk in to turn off the light for us. He attached the end of the chain to the wall by the doorway. Needless to say we didn't get tucked in because it was such a mess.
One day during the summer my mom had had enough. She told us we couldn't go swimming until we cleaned up our room. So we went up and looked at the mess and tried to figure out a way that we could go swimming THAT day, if we had honestly tried to clean it up, it would have taken several days. We lived in an apartment attached to a motel that my parents managed. In our room there was no closet, instead there was one of those nifty shelf/hanger bars with the hangers permanently attached - like you'd find in a motel. So we decided to stack all the stuff up between the floor and that rack. Turns out it went all the way up to the ceiling. This pile of junk had a 5'x7' girth and the ceiling was probably 8 feet high. Then, because it would be way to obvious that we didn't really clean when she saw the pile we wedged a sheet between the pile and the ceiling to hide it. Like that's not obvious. Then we called my mom up for inspection..... AND SHE FELL FOR IT! I couldn't believe our luck. She looked right at the sheet and said, "OK, you can go swimming now." Wow! We were the smartest kids in America. And she must have been the most worn down mother in America.

Answers to the Goonies Quiz

Congratulations to Becky who got them all but one. Thanks for not letting me down!

1. What does the jail warden say at the very beginning of the movie?

"Lunch time. The longer you animals bark, the colder your lunch gets."

2. Name all of the Goonies.

Mikey, Brand, Mouth, Chunk, Data. Steph and Andy are more like honorary members.

3. What is the name of the "bad guys"?

The Fratellis

4. How did Brand earn money for his bike?

376 lawn mower jobs.

5. Why does Brand still need a bike?

Because he flunked his drivers test. But I will also accept that Mouth popped his tires. I guess that question wasn't that clear.

6. What does Chunk say the bullet holes found in a ORV are as big as.?

Matza Balls

7. Fill in the blank: "Slick Shoes ?! Are you crazy?!"

8. Where does Goonies take place?

Astoria, OR

9. What is the name of the cleaning lady who is there to help the Walsh family pack?

Rosalita

10. What is the name of Chunk's dance?

The Truffel Shuffel

11. What is the name of the Pirate?

One Eyed Willey

12. Where do they get the money to save the Goondocks? I'm looking for a specific place.

From the jewels hidden in Mikey's marble bag.

13. What is in Chunks attic?

Old Chanukka decorations

14. What is the name of the Pirate's Ship?

The Inferno

15. What is the name of the reclusive scavenger?

Chester Copperpot

16. What does Mouth say to let his friends know someone is there?

Jerk Alert!

17. Where does Brand say his mommy is?

"Down at the market buying pampers for all us kids."

18. What does Steph say about being in the basement?

" I feel like I'm babysitting, except I'm not getting paid."

Quiz on my all time favorite movie: Goonies.

1. What does the jail warden say at the very beginning of the movie?
2. Name all of the Goonies.
3. What is the name of the "bad guys"?
4. How did Brand earn money for his bike?
5. Why does Brand still need a bike?
6. What does Chunk say the bullet holes found in a ORV are as big as.?
7. Fill in the blank: "___________ _________?! Are you crazy?!"
8. Where does Goonies take place?
9. What is the name of the cleaning lady who is there to help the Walsh family pack?
10. What is the name of Chunk's dance?
11. What is the name of the Pirate?
12. Where do they get the money to save the Goondocks? I'm looking for a specific place.
13. What is in Chunks attic?
14. What is the name of the Pirate's Ship?
15. What is the name of the reclusive scavenger?
16. What does Mouth say to let his friends know someone is there?
17. Where does Brand say his mommy is?
18. What does Steph say about being in the basement?

Answer in the comments section....if you can.

???

WHAT IS UP WITH OLDER PEOPLE AND EXPIRED FOOD? I SEE IT ALL TOO OFTEN. IF THE EXPIRATION DATE HAS PASSED - THROW IT OUT! CLEAN OUT YOUR FRIDGES PEOPLE!





ps. I Love You.

Review - A Girl From The Limberlost

When Matt and I first met he kept calling me A Girl From the Limberlost, which through the years has been shortened down to Limberlost. I've heard him refer to my sister as this and other red headed people, as well as myself. Apparently Matt's parents had a movie (Feature Films For Families) while he was growing up of this title and the main character has really white skin and reddish hair.

While I was last at the library, Matt and Sam just happened to be with me. I wandered over to the Young Adult section and found the book, A Girl From The Limberlost. Well, of course I had to check it out, just to tease Matt a little. Turns out, I love this book.
It has a very unique story with a very familiar plot and excellent character development. I loved the characters. I finished the book less than 24 hours ago and I already miss them. I totally recommend this book to people of all ages. And I borrowed the movie from Matt's Mom. Guess what we're doing tonight!

On a red headed side note, a few weeks ago I was at a friends house for a special occasion and there was a girl there who I wasn't very familiar with. In this story she will be referred to as "The Stranger". My friend has a daughter with the curliest red hair I have ever seen. She is also one of the cutest little things I have ever seen. Anyway, The Stranger saw the little cutie and commented on how cute she is. She then looked right at me and turning back to the mother of the cutie said, "If you HAVE to have red hair, it's GOT to be curly." Just another one of those moments where I can totally identify with Elizabeth Bennett.

6 AM

I have been thinking lately (a lot!) about the fact that I need to exercise. I have gained back pretty much all 22 pounds I lost the last time I was pregnant and so it has been "weighing" on my mind.

As many of you know I have been working at the rec center in the day care on Tuesday nights so that I can keep my membership. If you work there it's not free, but they will deduct a little out of each paycheck, so it feels free. So, I've been working one night a week to provide this for my family but guess what. We don't have time to go. There is something going on every night and most Saturdays to prevent us from going. No time is a good excuse, right?

Wrong! I can't get it out of my head. I'm pretty sure I could and should be getting up at 6 AM and getting it done. But I seriously hate getting up in the morning. I would sleep in until 9:30 or later every day if I could. Plus, even though I know I would eventually get used to it and end up with more energy after like two weeks, I don't want to go through 2 weeks of dragging and being super tired. And I'm not looking forward to going out in the cold darkness.

So this weekend while I was surrounded by family, I took a little poll, asking what time people got up. Most people said they get up at 6 or earlier. I am amazed!

Please take my poll to the right (even if you were asked this weekend) and let me know when you get up. And we'll see, maybe it will give me the boost I need to get my Large Marge Booty out of bed every morning.

Book Review - Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy's Diary

My book club read two books this month, Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Darcy's Diary. I had read Pride and Prejudice before and I really liked it. While it is somewhat romantic, I would have to say it is one of the funniest books I have ever read. And I would not classify it as a romance.

I'm glad I read it again. I love the main character, Elizabeth Bennett, and I can totally identify with her. I won't give away any info here about the plot or character traits because I can't stand it when people spoil stuff for me. So, I'll just say that I love this book and I recommend it to everyone.
I also liked Mr. Darcy's Diary. I would sum it up with the word CUTE. As a Jane Austin fan I really enjoyed it, and I thought it was fun to see how someone else interpreted little things and went with it in another series of events of their own. I only recommend this book to those who have already read Pride and Prejudice. It's a fun,quick book.

The "C" Word

Last night (Sunday) we were invited to eat with a family from our ward. The evening was going great. Good food, great company, interesting conversation. The topic turned to New York because their 16 year old son and the mom were leaving the next day for NYC because the AF High school marching band will be marching in the Macy's Day Parade! Whooohoo! Let's hear it for the AFHS Marching Band!!!!!!!! Anyway, they had heard that I lived in NY while I worked as a nanny. I mentioned that I didn't live in the city though I went in a lot. They asked me where I lived and when I said Chappaqua the Clintons came up. But no, Clinton is not the "C" word as referred to in the title. I said the Clintons were planning to move in just as I was leaving. Matt said, "Yeah, the neighborhood went to crap as soon as Julie left town." They were shocked. Silence took over the room. You could cut the tension with a knife. Apparently Crap is a bad word at their house. The really funny thing is their kids are 20 something, 16, and 12ish. I'm sure they've heard worse. We all recovered and the evening went on and continued to be enjoyable.
Yes, Sam says crap. I can't think of a specific time but I'm sure he says it. Like father, like son. This was very evident tonight as we ate dinner. Sam was singing a little song as he ate his hamburger. "I love my mom, I love my dad, I love my cheese." (For those of you who don't know why this is so funny check out my husby's blog - link on the left - specifically the entry titled "Save Any Room For Dessert?".)

To Do List:

I just watched a little clip about a lady who thought to-do lists are intriguing and so she started a magazine and asked people to send her their to-do lists. Then she made a book and published the lists. It's called To Do List From Buying Milk To Finding A Soul Mate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us. So here it goes.
1. Travel

• Europe
• Mediterranean Cruise
• Alaskan Cruise
• Hawaii
• Disney Cruise
• Take Matt and Sam to New York and go to one broadway play per night/day.
• Take the full church history tour in a huge RV.

2. Get a college degree. Not sure what I want it in yet but I'm leaning towards majoring in English.

3. Suprise Matt with something huge. Not sure what yet.

4. Get my eyebrows waxed on a regular basis.

5. Love myself enough to exercise, not because I have a weightloss goal but because I want to feel good and be healthy.

6. Get rid of cable. This sounds weird, like just do it.... But it's a scary thought.

7. Get a TiVo. (OK, now you know my inner TV watcher is conflicted.)

8. Make memory books for each of us.

9. Be a more attentive friend. (call more often, send cards on special occasions,etc.)

10. Appologize to those I've offended. ( My main problem with this one is when you do it on a daily basis, it's hard to keep track and then I don't know where to start.)

11. Take an institute class start to finish for each of the four years. I want to Know.

12. Read.

Things you may not know about me

Four Jobs I’ve Had?
1 - Sales clerk for Tandy Leather
2 - Live in Nanny
3 - Day Care Associate
4 - Instructing Assistant

Four Movies I would Watch over and over
1 - Goonies
2 - Finding Neverland
3 - Any of the Harry Potter Movies
4 - Nacho Libre

Four TV Shows that I watch
1 - LOST
2 - Survivor
3 - The Office
4 - Jeopardy

Four Place I’ve Been on Vacation
1 - Disneyland
2 - Pennsylvania Amish Country
3 - Martha's Vineyard
4 - Oregon - we went crabbing, it was awesome

People who email me regularly
1 - Matt - my Husby
2 - Becky - my sister
3 - Kathy - My Aunt
4 - Myspace to tell me that Amy has posted a comment on my page.

Four of my favorite foods
1 - Pesto on french bread
2 - Crab legs
3 - Steak
4 - Sushi

Four Places I would rather be
1 - New York City
2 - Hawaii (though I've never been there so this is just a guess)
3 - On a Mediterranean Cruse
4 - California

Four Friends I think will respond
1 - Jeanna
2 - Matt
3 - Becky
4 - No one else reads my blog. Except for Holley and she already did it, and Kim,but her blog isn't for this kind of stuff..... But she could email it to me. :)

6 things you don't know about me:
1. I am a Harry Potter fanatic who spends way too much time thinking about it, but it makes me so happy I can't help it. I even have a wand. And Sam and I day dream about flying on broom sticks and having pet owls.
2. I never make my bed, and then at bed time my husband makes the bed over me. It's my most favorite thing ever. It feels good, you should try it.
3. When I'm flipping through the channels and I come across a rodeo, I secretly count to 8 to see if they are doing good. I am an under cover rodeo judge.
4. I can't stand it when I can see people's toes moving or wiggling or touching something or rubbing together, etc. It makes me violently crazy.
5. I think I'm turning into a bird because I am growing feathers out of my hips. No joke.
6. I am really mad that my Suave coconut shampoo doesn't make my hair smell like coconut. As much as I really don't like fruity smells I really want to smell like coconut. I guess I'll just have to wear my coconut bra everyday.

Out of the blog closet.

So I started the blog thinking I would make some entries, keep them to myself until I was completely comfortable posting, and then I would spread the word. Boy am I surprised at how quickly people have noticed. And it's OK with me. I thought I would be a little more shy and guarded about it than I have been feeling. But if you found this blog on your own without me telling you about it, which at this point would be all of you, please don't feel bad because I haven't told anyone. So feel free to add me to your list of favorites and lurk around as much as you like.
On Monday night I started the blog and made my first entry and then went to bed and dreamt all night about blogging. I couldn't wait to get home from work to poke around the blogger dashboard. While at work on Tuesday Matt decided to start his own blog. So yesterday and tonight the war of the bloggers has started and we fight over who gets to the use the computer first, shouting things like, "I call the computer!" or "No, I had it first, see, I already turned it on." Poor Sam is probably wishing he could have a turn.
Speaking of Sam, today after reading a book he said,"Did the author draw these pictures?" and I told him that he did. (The author happens to be my cousin who wrote the book in like fourth grade as an assignment and his teacher had it hard bound. We got the only copy!)So then Sam said, "He made some really good characters, while I was reading I totally went into that world."
I thought this was hilarious coming out of a six year old.
So today at work the teacher I work with had a children's book sitting on her desk. She is an art teacher and has books of all kinds around for the students to refer to while drawing. Well this book was called the Beetle Alphabet Book and I wish I could remember the author and the artist because it was awesome. Besides the beautiful paintings and the very interesting text I noticed words hidden here and there on the Beetles. At first I was confused..... Like am I really seeing that and am I supposed to be seeing that. I quickly caught on that there were words hidden on every Beetle and then slowly I realized that the words were song titles from The BEATLES. Then I read their dedications in the front and and was sure of it. This book could have kept me entertained for hours. I didn't find them all but I will.

Reading

For anyone who knows me they know I love to read. It makes me happy. I'm pretty sure that there isn't a day that goes by when I don't sit down and read at least a paragraph of something. Reading is an outlet for me, a meditation, a release, in a sense an escape. (Not that I need to escape from my own reality all that often.)

I belong to a book club and I love it. I know I'm really nerdy, but I can't describe how much fun I have reading by myself, but knowing that there are at least four other women out there reading the same book and collecting thoughts and ideas about the same book I'm reading.When I'm reading and I read a particularly good or interesting part I get so excited to discuss it with the club. I find it extremely fulfilling. In fact if I could somehow figure out a way to read for a living, especially in the book club sense, I would be a millionaire because I would be so good at it.

Since this is something I can't live without I find it really hard to understand people who don't enjoy reading. And I'm married to one of them.
Once I got Matt to read The Life of Pi, which is a really good book that I highly recommend to any and everyone. So he started and he liked it. He read every night and I'd say it took him less than a week to finish. I loved seeing him read. It gave me a weird satisfaction. I loved talking and discussing the book with him. So, Matt, will you read the unabridged version of Count of Monte Cristo? And will you finish the Harry Potter Series? These alone will afford me the chance to see him reading every day for the next year.

There is a young lady(19 years old) who I used to work with on a daily basis and I couldn't understand why she didn't read. So I gave her some homework, (I know, I'm a freak show) which was to get a library card and then I gave her a list of books to read. I can't remember all of the books on the list but tonight she told me that she read the Twilight series. That's three books! Yeah, they are fluffy and you really don't have to do much thinking while you read them but it's a start. She enjoyed them. So I gave her a gentle reminder of the list pointing out that books are awesome and she could and would enjoy others. She responded by rolling her eyes at me.

Now about a little boy who is near and dear to me. Last year when Sam was in Kindergarten I had to drag him, kicking and screaming to school everyday. By Christmas break he still couldn't identify the whole alphabet. A health situation with his teacher caused them to have a new sub every week or so. Then once the Christmas break was over and the new semester started they moved his whole class into another teacher . This was good because they finally had some continuity, but I know Sam never felt loved or at ease about this teacher. It was a blessing in disguise. Regardless of how much we worked with Sam at home on his letters he wasn't getting it and it was so hard for us not to get mad at him. It is extremely frustrating to spend tons of time on something and repeat yourself over and over again and still no results. "Sam this is a G. Say G. Look at G. What is it? ( Shrug of the shoulders) IT'S G, I JUST TOLD YOU IT'S G!" It was really sad.
But this teacher who didn't make him feel loved, welcome, and who he said talked mean to him, decided to teach him the sounds the letters make before she taught him what they looked like. BINGO! That did the trick. He knew them all with in two weeks and started reading. Now my little first grader, who has a teacher that makes him feel loved and welcome, and who is ready for school and begging to go an hour early every day, reads at a third grade level and told me the other day that he knows how to read inside his head and that no one had to teach him. I loved this! Now if we could just get him to stop writing in mirror image.

Title

So, I have finally decide to take the plunge. After lurking on other blogs for months, and in some cases years, I have dug up the courage to start my own. And so far things are not looking good. It took Matt (my husby) and I over twenty minutes just to come up with a title for the blog.
Some of our rejected titles include:

Tater Tot Tidings - Matt has called me a tater tot since we were dating. He calls me this because of my beautiful orange complexion. It was rejected because we didn't want to get sued by a tater tot company once this blog is famous.(Hee Hee)
Pennylane Princess - Pennylane is the name of the little community we live in. Matt came up with it and it struck me as cute at first but then I thought it sounded kind of bratty, to call myself a princess.
ExLax - because two minutes into the debate I was struck with the sudden urge.
Matt's Merry Maid - I vetoed that. No explaination needed.

The really sad thing is that's all we came up with in twenty minutes. But we finally decided on The Orange Oracle. Matt came up with it, I thought it was funny and dumb. So there you have it.
I know this entry is lame but it's late and taking the leap has scared the wit right out of me.
Rest assured I will be spending my days looking and thinking of things to share with the world.