Magic is fading, people no longer remember the true words or the songs of life and it's up to Ged along with Arren to help set things right. Their journey takes them to the farthest shore in Ea and then beyond, to the farthest reaches of death itself.
While I really enjoyed this one, I found it a bit harder to get into it. I kept trying but found myself easily distracted from it and then having a hard time finding my place in it. In some ways, that almost added to the experience since it so closely mirrored what was going on in the book. Definitely a very powerful story tho the first still remains the most powerful in my opinion.
Page count: 159p/11,155p ytd
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Back on Track, Day 4
Woke up just feeling super tired this morning and it took until late this afternoon for the feeling to wear off so I could just feel normal. I did get some school done with the kids but I'll admit, I spent more time than I needed to futzing around on SparkPeople trying different ideas and checking out other features. The one thing I am proud of tho is that I had all the kids get their ChorePacks on and do them, even if it did take Nico 90min to do his for the simple reason that he took 75min to not eat his breakfast and I had to keep chasing him down to try and get him to sit and take a bite. Ugh!!!
But I can proudly report that I did totally maintain for the day. No major decluttering but nothing got worse so that's a big deal on it's own. I did little declutterings here and there but at least it was something. There is currently laundry in my dryer but that's because I didn't have enough to run loads until later in the day and since we are going to be gone tomorrow (not sure where yet since our original plans may get rained out) I didn't want to have it hanging over me tomorrow so I'm doing as much as I can now (and hope to have it all done and put away before I go to bed). The dinner dishes are already cleaned up, the sink is shining, the kitchen is wiped down and the boys are doing their chores so the living room and dining room are picked up and vaccumed.
The most exciting thing about today though is that a) I've been using Spark People every day since I started back on track and been totally sticking within in my ranges and b) the 10-minute Trainer with Tony Horton package we ordered arrived today. Perfect timing on that since it means that Mark and I can start together in the morning. It even has a 10-minute travel routine and Mark is going to get some extra resistence bands so he can take those with him. I'm hoping to get him to use some of the meal ideas as well since he eats so horrible when he's out and about.
In other exciting news, Nico earned his blue ribbon at swim class today! It means that he is doing up-faces on his own for 16' with fins on which is a great accomplishment.
As I'm taking an hour to try and write this post between my slow computer and children constantly needing my attention, I'm seeing a direct correlation between their "bedtime" and how annoying they've been. Tuesday, bedtime ended up being around 10p and I was fine with it. Last nigth, the wild things descended and I started trying to get them to bed around 8:30p but didn't succeed until after 10p and was in a foul mood as a result. Today, the wild things were back from the time they woke up and I was counting down the minutes until 8p when I could tell them to start getting ready. I think I need to point this out to them, either that or drug them into silence. Either way, something's gotta give cause they've had a serious case of the crazies the last 24hrs and I'm done with it.
But I can proudly report that I did totally maintain for the day. No major decluttering but nothing got worse so that's a big deal on it's own. I did little declutterings here and there but at least it was something. There is currently laundry in my dryer but that's because I didn't have enough to run loads until later in the day and since we are going to be gone tomorrow (not sure where yet since our original plans may get rained out) I didn't want to have it hanging over me tomorrow so I'm doing as much as I can now (and hope to have it all done and put away before I go to bed). The dinner dishes are already cleaned up, the sink is shining, the kitchen is wiped down and the boys are doing their chores so the living room and dining room are picked up and vaccumed.
The most exciting thing about today though is that a) I've been using Spark People every day since I started back on track and been totally sticking within in my ranges and b) the 10-minute Trainer with Tony Horton package we ordered arrived today. Perfect timing on that since it means that Mark and I can start together in the morning. It even has a 10-minute travel routine and Mark is going to get some extra resistence bands so he can take those with him. I'm hoping to get him to use some of the meal ideas as well since he eats so horrible when he's out and about.
In other exciting news, Nico earned his blue ribbon at swim class today! It means that he is doing up-faces on his own for 16' with fins on which is a great accomplishment.
As I'm taking an hour to try and write this post between my slow computer and children constantly needing my attention, I'm seeing a direct correlation between their "bedtime" and how annoying they've been. Tuesday, bedtime ended up being around 10p and I was fine with it. Last nigth, the wild things descended and I started trying to get them to bed around 8:30p but didn't succeed until after 10p and was in a foul mood as a result. Today, the wild things were back from the time they woke up and I was counting down the minutes until 8p when I could tell them to start getting ready. I think I need to point this out to them, either that or drug them into silence. Either way, something's gotta give cause they've had a serious case of the crazies the last 24hrs and I'm done with it.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Back on Track, Day 2
Things went pretty well today. No zoo class as Nico was coughing out a lung last night and this morning so I ended up doing a lot of cleaning in the morning time since I was home. Already posted about most of it but also managed to get the breakfast bar cleaned off as well as everything else previously mentioned and did a bunch of shredding of last years documents that we don't need any more.
Had to take all the kids with me to Jason's therapy appointment. I was going to take them to do a quick Costco run with me while he was there but when we got to Costco, there were giant construction machines and no parking lot. Apparently they are tearing down the one that is there and rebuilding bigger and putting in a gas station as well so no more shopping at that one for a couple more months. :( We ended up hitting the organic fruit/veggie stand across the street and I ended up spending quite a bit more than planned but they had some of the best stuff I've seen in a while including the colored cauliflower (the only kind I'll eat), blood oranges, kumquats, and beautiful berries. As luck would have it tho, we got back to the therapists right as Jason was letting out.
Since I knew we would be getting out around 5p and fighting rush hour to get home, I took the boys over to Taco Bell drive-thru for dinner. I am proud to say, I didn't order myself anything and limited my nibbling to one piece of Jonathan's quesadilla and 2 granola bars. We then stopped at BR31 for their $.31 scoop night. I had planned on abstaining but found a delicious cappucino chip light ice cream so indulged in a kid's scoop of that. Quite tasty. I came home, entered everything into SparkPeople, modified my dinner plans and came in perfectly on target in all areas (and that's with having two pieces of chocolate tonight which I'm still debating).
My sink is shiny, my washer and dryer empty (and everything folded, hung up/put away). The kids have done their chores (tho that seemed to involve a whole lot more wrestling and ice packs than I think necessary). I have a cup of tea ready to go and good chocolate calling my name. Now if the kids would actually go to sleep so I could enjoy them in peace. All in all tho, a good day.
Had to take all the kids with me to Jason's therapy appointment. I was going to take them to do a quick Costco run with me while he was there but when we got to Costco, there were giant construction machines and no parking lot. Apparently they are tearing down the one that is there and rebuilding bigger and putting in a gas station as well so no more shopping at that one for a couple more months. :( We ended up hitting the organic fruit/veggie stand across the street and I ended up spending quite a bit more than planned but they had some of the best stuff I've seen in a while including the colored cauliflower (the only kind I'll eat), blood oranges, kumquats, and beautiful berries. As luck would have it tho, we got back to the therapists right as Jason was letting out.
Since I knew we would be getting out around 5p and fighting rush hour to get home, I took the boys over to Taco Bell drive-thru for dinner. I am proud to say, I didn't order myself anything and limited my nibbling to one piece of Jonathan's quesadilla and 2 granola bars. We then stopped at BR31 for their $.31 scoop night. I had planned on abstaining but found a delicious cappucino chip light ice cream so indulged in a kid's scoop of that. Quite tasty. I came home, entered everything into SparkPeople, modified my dinner plans and came in perfectly on target in all areas (and that's with having two pieces of chocolate tonight which I'm still debating).
My sink is shiny, my washer and dryer empty (and everything folded, hung up/put away). The kids have done their chores (tho that seemed to involve a whole lot more wrestling and ice packs than I think necessary). I have a cup of tea ready to go and good chocolate calling my name. Now if the kids would actually go to sleep so I could enjoy them in peace. All in all tho, a good day.
The Last Hurrah
It's a sad day but I think this shirt needs to be retired:
I'm bummed since it was such an appropriate shirt for him but I guess after 32yrs, we can say it had a really good run itself.
I'm bummed since it was such an appropriate shirt for him but I guess after 32yrs, we can say it had a really good run itself.
The strange things you find when you clean in odd places
So this morning I woke up feeling a bit sick but allowed the energy to flow and went back to the spring cleaning. Since I had already done a lot to clean off the top of Nico's dresser yesterday, I decided to finish the job this morning and turn it over as a regular dresser, getting rid of all the diaper changing stuff.
In order to do the flip, I had to take all the dresser drawers out, something I don't do on a regular basis which was immediately apparent based on what I found hidden behind the bottom drawer.
A newborn diaper:
A cover to the baby swing which we got rid of almost 2yrs ago:
Three brand new bibs for Nico's first holidays which were 2½yrs ago:
I have managed to clean off both boys' dressers in our room, make a good start on the top of our dresser, finished clearing off my nightstand of things that don't belong there, and cleaned off the top and the piles on the sides of the footlocker.
Now that it's almost noon, I'm off to grab some breakfast and tea since I haven't eaten or drank at all this morning but dang, I feel good for getting so much done!
In order to do the flip, I had to take all the dresser drawers out, something I don't do on a regular basis which was immediately apparent based on what I found hidden behind the bottom drawer.
A newborn diaper:
A cover to the baby swing which we got rid of almost 2yrs ago:
Three brand new bibs for Nico's first holidays which were 2½yrs ago:
I have managed to clean off both boys' dressers in our room, make a good start on the top of our dresser, finished clearing off my nightstand of things that don't belong there, and cleaned off the top and the piles on the sides of the footlocker.
Now that it's almost noon, I'm off to grab some breakfast and tea since I haven't eaten or drank at all this morning but dang, I feel good for getting so much done!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Getting back on track, Day 1
Not like my life is going to slow down any time soon tho at least with this being the last week of bowling and the second to last week of acting, I am starting to see a few hours a week free up for a month or so. *deep sign of relief* And in that interest, I'm really trying to start getting things back on track around here, starting with myself. The first thing I really want to tackle is the clutter so I have gone too with a vengence and dropped 4 boxes of stuff off at Goodwill today and another two at UPS and another will be dropped off at a friend's house tomorrow. I'm definitely feeling good about the start that I made on that. I really want to start FLYing again with serious motivation.
My second thing to tackle is the body clutter. I find that I'm getting out of breath way too easily when chasing Nico (okay, a marathon distance runner would get out of breath chasing that child, but still...) and I'm just not feeling healthy these days. I think between the 2½yrs of sleep deprivation that child bestowed upon me and now the stress of Mark's job and everything else, I've really stopped taking care of myself at all and it's showing. I haven't been to Curves in 2mos and with his current schedule, I don't see when that's going to change. Mark hasn't been able to get any workout time in either (I felt only marginally better upon hearing that) so over our weekend getaway, we ended up ordering the 10min Trainer series by Tony Horton. We have his Power90 DVDs but not the bands so were just doing the cardio workouts but again, the time commitment was brutal with everything else. We are both hoping that with the shorter workout times, it will be easier to get started and stick with it and then we can eventually move up to longer workouts. I've also started tracking my food intake on SparkPeople again and I want to take a look at our schedules and figure out when I can go and talk to one of the nutritionists at Kaiser to get a better handle on how to manage my intake to help me best. (oh, yeah, and figure out when I can get myself to the dentist, Ugh!)
So in all, big plans as always but I want to start with baby steps so they can be achieved. Tomorrow is crazy but my big hope is to keep tracking my food intake, keep up with drinking my water, and just not lose any of the ground that I gained today. I am heading to bed with all the laundry totally caught up, the dishes done and sink shiny, and I made sure to put away all the groceries immediately upon coming home. I even did half of Jason's mending and hope to do the second half tomorrow night. That should be manageable, right?!
My second thing to tackle is the body clutter. I find that I'm getting out of breath way too easily when chasing Nico (okay, a marathon distance runner would get out of breath chasing that child, but still...) and I'm just not feeling healthy these days. I think between the 2½yrs of sleep deprivation that child bestowed upon me and now the stress of Mark's job and everything else, I've really stopped taking care of myself at all and it's showing. I haven't been to Curves in 2mos and with his current schedule, I don't see when that's going to change. Mark hasn't been able to get any workout time in either (I felt only marginally better upon hearing that) so over our weekend getaway, we ended up ordering the 10min Trainer series by Tony Horton. We have his Power90 DVDs but not the bands so were just doing the cardio workouts but again, the time commitment was brutal with everything else. We are both hoping that with the shorter workout times, it will be easier to get started and stick with it and then we can eventually move up to longer workouts. I've also started tracking my food intake on SparkPeople again and I want to take a look at our schedules and figure out when I can go and talk to one of the nutritionists at Kaiser to get a better handle on how to manage my intake to help me best. (oh, yeah, and figure out when I can get myself to the dentist, Ugh!)
So in all, big plans as always but I want to start with baby steps so they can be achieved. Tomorrow is crazy but my big hope is to keep tracking my food intake, keep up with drinking my water, and just not lose any of the ground that I gained today. I am heading to bed with all the laundry totally caught up, the dishes done and sink shiny, and I made sure to put away all the groceries immediately upon coming home. I even did half of Jason's mending and hope to do the second half tomorrow night. That should be manageable, right?!
Monday, April 27, 2009
104:40 Your Ten-to-Fourteen Year Old by Louise Bates Ames, Ph.D.
Some good information but a lot of very repetitive stuff that wasn't helpful. Sorry but I wasn't looking for lists of words they commonly misspell at each age in the range. I found the first half much more informative than the second half of the book but still didn't seem as well planned out and organized as the other books in the series.
Page Count: 323p/10,996p ytd
Page Count: 323p/10,996p ytd
The let down after the vacation
Yeah, I know it's gotta be kind of rough coming back to kids and home after 30hrs away but still, I don't think it had to be quite like this.
* The kids are either having summeritis or still can't get in the swing of things with Jason here and are getting harder and harder to keep on task and the work is sloppy when done at all.
* Some a**hole tore up the one iris I had that was actually going to produce a flower for me. They do this every year to the first bloom.
* My stupid hockey team never bothered to come back after the All-star break and apparently thought they had slept through the 1st round of the playoffs so choked early this year.
* The kids managed to drink up all the milk over the weekend so I had to drive to the store at 10:30p tonight to get some so I could have it in my tea in the morning.
* Leia has decided that laundry works much better than her catbox and it doesn't matter if it's clean or dirty so I'm doing tons of extra laundry with extra cycles to try to keep her from destroying out clothes.
* Mark is leaving in the morning for another 3 days in SLC.
I'm done for the week. Someone wake me on Friday.
* The kids are either having summeritis or still can't get in the swing of things with Jason here and are getting harder and harder to keep on task and the work is sloppy when done at all.
* Some a**hole tore up the one iris I had that was actually going to produce a flower for me. They do this every year to the first bloom.
* My stupid hockey team never bothered to come back after the All-star break and apparently thought they had slept through the 1st round of the playoffs so choked early this year.
* The kids managed to drink up all the milk over the weekend so I had to drive to the store at 10:30p tonight to get some so I could have it in my tea in the morning.
* Leia has decided that laundry works much better than her catbox and it doesn't matter if it's clean or dirty so I'm doing tons of extra laundry with extra cycles to try to keep her from destroying out clothes.
* Mark is leaving in the morning for another 3 days in SLC.
I'm done for the week. Someone wake me on Friday.
Our weekend getaway
So in celebration of our upcoming 15th wedding anniversary, Mark and I decided to get out for a weekend without kids. The last time we were away overnight without children I was in the hospital in labor with Nico. Not exactly a relaxing weekend away so we figured we were about due for some reconnect time. My saint of a brother, Mike, agreed to stay with the kids and we decided to check out the new fancy hotel and spa down the street. With Nico's sleep still not totally settled we figured being close was good but not so close we could hear the kids. :)
Well, we got to the hotel at 2p on Saturday and found out that somehow they had never gotten the reservation I had made through Travelocity. Thankfully they weren't full and actually upgraded us to a 2nd floor room with a view right over the ocean which was lovely. Unfortunately, a lovely view coincides with having HMB Brewing Co right next to you and getting to listen to their live music even with all the windows closed. :( Not quite the romantic atmosphere we were going for but we managed. The room itself was nice but I found it strange that in one furnishing they would go for elegant but then have another piece doing rustic. It simply didn't work for me. Also the shutters in the bathroom looking into the bedroom were a bit weird. Not quite sure what the designer was going for there.
But we did have a lovely time. We slept in and had breakfast in the room while lounging in the complimentary bathrobes. We left around 11a and headed up to the city where we did some shopping (me - chocolate, him - whiskey, go figure LOL) and then headed to Chinatown for lunch as he had a craving for baked pork buns. From there we walked back down to the Metreon to see Watchmen.
We decided that since things were going so well that we would go to Japantown for dinner and some shopping (didn't find what we were looking for) and then since the sun was just setting, we cruised back along the Great Highway since we were in the convertible. A quick stop at Ranch99 to pick up some pork buns and other treats for the boys and we scored in finding the bowls we were looking for.
A lovely 30 kid-free hours with the man I love more now than I did 15yrs ago. It was so nice to reconnect and remember who we are when we aren't busy being mom and dad to all the kids. Our lives have been so seperate with this new job and it was apparent how much so with this trip so I'm really hoping we can at least start a monthly date night to make sure we stay connected as he is the most important thing in the world to me.
Well, we got to the hotel at 2p on Saturday and found out that somehow they had never gotten the reservation I had made through Travelocity. Thankfully they weren't full and actually upgraded us to a 2nd floor room with a view right over the ocean which was lovely. Unfortunately, a lovely view coincides with having HMB Brewing Co right next to you and getting to listen to their live music even with all the windows closed. :( Not quite the romantic atmosphere we were going for but we managed. The room itself was nice but I found it strange that in one furnishing they would go for elegant but then have another piece doing rustic. It simply didn't work for me. Also the shutters in the bathroom looking into the bedroom were a bit weird. Not quite sure what the designer was going for there.
But we did have a lovely time. We slept in and had breakfast in the room while lounging in the complimentary bathrobes. We left around 11a and headed up to the city where we did some shopping (me - chocolate, him - whiskey, go figure LOL) and then headed to Chinatown for lunch as he had a craving for baked pork buns. From there we walked back down to the Metreon to see Watchmen.
We decided that since things were going so well that we would go to Japantown for dinner and some shopping (didn't find what we were looking for) and then since the sun was just setting, we cruised back along the Great Highway since we were in the convertible. A quick stop at Ranch99 to pick up some pork buns and other treats for the boys and we scored in finding the bowls we were looking for.
A lovely 30 kid-free hours with the man I love more now than I did 15yrs ago. It was so nice to reconnect and remember who we are when we aren't busy being mom and dad to all the kids. Our lives have been so seperate with this new job and it was apparent how much so with this trip so I'm really hoping we can at least start a monthly date night to make sure we stay connected as he is the most important thing in the world to me.
Crab Landing review
So this weekend we tried out the new Crab Landing restaurant across from the Princeton harbor and I thought I would share my thoughts.
Appetizer ~ We ordered the Tuna Poke. Disappointing is the kindest word I can use. It was a martini glass filled almost to the top with lettuce with a small serving of badly marinated tuna, mango, avocado, cucumber, and cilantro over top. The mango had sat too long with the tuna and left slimy mango residue on the fish which overpowered the flavor of the tuna. The cucumber added nothing to the dish and the cilantro was actually a detriment. We also ordered two sushi rolls (Philadelphia and Hawaiian). Again, disappointing. The rolls were not even and one piece would have almost nothing but cream cheese and a sliver of fish and another would be the opposite. I got one piece of Hawaiian that actually had macadamia nuts in it.
Main Course ~ Both Mark and I had the salmon special with prawns. He had the asparagus and rice as sides, I went with asparagus and mashed potatoes for mine. The salmon was a beautiful cut of fish, cooked to perfection but then ruined with too much of the creamy dill sauce. The flavor of the sauce was light but still too much of it overpowered the delicate flavor of the salmon. The prawns did not mix well with the sauce. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes were delicious.
Dessert ~ Chocolate Ganache was the best part of the meal. Beautiful texture served over a nice cream sauce that went wonderfully with it.
We were happy with things when we showed up, nice atmosphere, low Pink Floyd music in the background but then the "live band" showed up and they were LOUD and then they piped the loud music upstairs. It was impossible to have a conversation with each other without raising out voices. Normal vocal levels were impossible to hear. The plate we were served the bread accompaniments was chipped. The food was all high quality ingredients but it's clear that they don't know what to do with it. They are trying for fine dining but falling woefully short in the execution with chipped plates, loud music, and food that doesn't live up to the prices they charge.
In short, we don't plan on going back anytime soon.
Appetizer ~ We ordered the Tuna Poke. Disappointing is the kindest word I can use. It was a martini glass filled almost to the top with lettuce with a small serving of badly marinated tuna, mango, avocado, cucumber, and cilantro over top. The mango had sat too long with the tuna and left slimy mango residue on the fish which overpowered the flavor of the tuna. The cucumber added nothing to the dish and the cilantro was actually a detriment. We also ordered two sushi rolls (Philadelphia and Hawaiian). Again, disappointing. The rolls were not even and one piece would have almost nothing but cream cheese and a sliver of fish and another would be the opposite. I got one piece of Hawaiian that actually had macadamia nuts in it.
Main Course ~ Both Mark and I had the salmon special with prawns. He had the asparagus and rice as sides, I went with asparagus and mashed potatoes for mine. The salmon was a beautiful cut of fish, cooked to perfection but then ruined with too much of the creamy dill sauce. The flavor of the sauce was light but still too much of it overpowered the delicate flavor of the salmon. The prawns did not mix well with the sauce. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes were delicious.
Dessert ~ Chocolate Ganache was the best part of the meal. Beautiful texture served over a nice cream sauce that went wonderfully with it.
We were happy with things when we showed up, nice atmosphere, low Pink Floyd music in the background but then the "live band" showed up and they were LOUD and then they piped the loud music upstairs. It was impossible to have a conversation with each other without raising out voices. Normal vocal levels were impossible to hear. The plate we were served the bread accompaniments was chipped. The food was all high quality ingredients but it's clear that they don't know what to do with it. They are trying for fine dining but falling woefully short in the execution with chipped plates, loud music, and food that doesn't live up to the prices they charge.
In short, we don't plan on going back anytime soon.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The brain is mush
We've had Jason for a month now and I've noticed that my blog entries have basically been my book reviews and little else since he joined the family so I thought I'd try to find a few minutes and update on life here. Obviously it's been crazy busy. Jason has his own needs in terms of therapy plus extra help with his schoolwork and adjusting to life here, add in helping to smooth things over between him and Jonathan and Christopher on a regular basis due to misunderstandings in their interpretation of the way he plays around, trying to keep the other four from killing each other on a regular basis, trying to do all the school stuff for the other three, all their activities, Mark's travel schedule, and Mike's visiting....Well, yeah, life is just a tad crazier than usual. Top all that off with I was sick for a couple of weeks with a stupid cold that just left me drained and the house went to hell in addition to everything else. I'm just now finally starting to feel like I'm getting my head back above water and getting things done around the house and even occasionally managing to find some time for my book database project. Still trying to get a schedule together so maybe we can actually manage to get more accomplished during the day and maybe, just maybe, I can find time to start working out again. This last 2mos have not been kind to my waistline. :(
In good news tho, Jason is adjusting to us and the other boys are adjusting to him. It's a slow process but it's happening and I'm hopeful that things will continue to get better. I just signed everyone up for all their summer activities today so there went a ton of money out the door. Thank goodness for tax refunds which paid off a credit card and helped pay off the summer camps. Here's our current schedule:
Jason - one week of surf camp in June. He's been offered other things but has so far turned them down. I'm hoping he finds at least one more thing that he'd like to try so hopefully he can find some new friends out here.
Christopher - Is going to be attending a writing workshop at a college in SC. He'll be gone for two weeks so this will be his first overnight camp and it's a doozy of a one so I'm praying he does well but he's very excited by the idea and it looks like a fantastic camp. He'll be learning all about world building in a fantasy/sci-fi universe with published authors and taking classes with college professors in history, religion, and physics in order to make the world believable.
Matthew - Is going to College for Kids again this year. He'll be taking classes in claymation, ooey gooey science, and cartoons & comics. Gee, sense a theme here?
Jonathan - is signed up for a week of KSW camp as well as soccer and an engineering camp using erector sets. Hopefully that will keep him busy.
Nico - poory guy is not currently signed up for anything. I was totally unimpressed with the camp and class choices for him so I'm really hoping something pops up for him. Otherwise, I think we are going to need to spend a lot of time at the park and pool to keep him from spending the whole summer in a video game haze.
It's going to be another short summer for me since technically Christopher won't be done with school until June 16 and Jason will need summer school in order to catch up. Add in that with Ocean Grove our school year will start around August 20, and well, yeah, it's a short summer for mom. My biggest hope for the summer is to get a few things done around the house and get all the research done for curriculum choices for the kids and schedules in place for the start of the school year. If I can do that much, I will definitely consider my summer a success. Heck, maybe I'll even get a little blogging done. LOL
In good news tho, Jason is adjusting to us and the other boys are adjusting to him. It's a slow process but it's happening and I'm hopeful that things will continue to get better. I just signed everyone up for all their summer activities today so there went a ton of money out the door. Thank goodness for tax refunds which paid off a credit card and helped pay off the summer camps. Here's our current schedule:
Jason - one week of surf camp in June. He's been offered other things but has so far turned them down. I'm hoping he finds at least one more thing that he'd like to try so hopefully he can find some new friends out here.
Christopher - Is going to be attending a writing workshop at a college in SC. He'll be gone for two weeks so this will be his first overnight camp and it's a doozy of a one so I'm praying he does well but he's very excited by the idea and it looks like a fantastic camp. He'll be learning all about world building in a fantasy/sci-fi universe with published authors and taking classes with college professors in history, religion, and physics in order to make the world believable.
Matthew - Is going to College for Kids again this year. He'll be taking classes in claymation, ooey gooey science, and cartoons & comics. Gee, sense a theme here?
Jonathan - is signed up for a week of KSW camp as well as soccer and an engineering camp using erector sets. Hopefully that will keep him busy.
Nico - poory guy is not currently signed up for anything. I was totally unimpressed with the camp and class choices for him so I'm really hoping something pops up for him. Otherwise, I think we are going to need to spend a lot of time at the park and pool to keep him from spending the whole summer in a video game haze.
It's going to be another short summer for me since technically Christopher won't be done with school until June 16 and Jason will need summer school in order to catch up. Add in that with Ocean Grove our school year will start around August 20, and well, yeah, it's a short summer for mom. My biggest hope for the summer is to get a few things done around the house and get all the research done for curriculum choices for the kids and schedules in place for the start of the school year. If I can do that much, I will definitely consider my summer a success. Heck, maybe I'll even get a little blogging done. LOL
104:39 Tomb of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
Obviously setting up further stories between the characters of Tenar and Ged as this story is mostly about Tenar's life and her meeting with Ged. I wasn't as enthralled with her backstory as I was with Ged's but my guess is that she (and possibly her story) will be much more important later on. It was nice to see Ged so at one with himself and seeming at peace once he finally entered the story.
Page Count: 115p/10,673p ytd
Page Count: 115p/10,673p ytd
Monday, April 20, 2009
104:38 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A very different look from what is offered in George Orwell's 1984 but with very much the same premise, just different ways the "government" went about achieving it. I'm glad I read them in close proximity to each other so the comparisons were very vivid. I think of the scenarios offered between the two books, this one is the more likely outcome and definitely something to be guarded against. I definitely found myself routing for the savage and agreed with him that "civilization" was hardly something to be applauded. I found the end somewhat unsatisfying but I think that fit well with the whole book and it's definitely one I'll remember for a long time to come.
Page Count: 288p/10,558p ytd
Page Count: 288p/10,558p ytd
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
104:37 Night Huntress by Yasmine Galenorn
Not my favorite by a long shot. I did not like the character development between Delilah and Chase one bit and I felt it made her look weak and needy. The ending battle was disappointing as well since the story is told from Delilah's pov and she ends up on the astral plane battling one monster while everyone else goes after the Raksas that's been plaguing them for 2 books now and we don't get to see any of that battle.
In all, this was the weakest of the series in terms of a lot of things. I enjoyed the first four and can only hope that the next book brings a return of the characters I really enjoyed rather than this new doormat called Delilah.
Page count: 307p/10,330p ytd
In all, this was the weakest of the series in terms of a lot of things. I enjoyed the first four and can only hope that the next book brings a return of the characters I really enjoyed rather than this new doormat called Delilah.
Page count: 307p/10,330p ytd
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
104:36 Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
So I remember reading at least part of these eons ago and all I could ever remember from it was the shadow that scared the beejezus out of me and I've never picked it up since. Well, my brother has been waxing poetic about it and it was part of the English course I'm doing with Jason so I sucked it up, put on my big girl panties, and dove in.
Yes, the shadow is still scary but I don't think I ever made it to the end as a child. I really enjoyed the whole book and the deeper meanings within it. I'm glad that I finally made it a priority and read it and I'm even more happy that Christopher and Jason have also read it and we get to share it together. Beautifully written in a rich world with richer characters. I really look forward to reading the rest of the series and other books by LeGuin.
Page Count: 145p/10,023p ytd
Yes, the shadow is still scary but I don't think I ever made it to the end as a child. I really enjoyed the whole book and the deeper meanings within it. I'm glad that I finally made it a priority and read it and I'm even more happy that Christopher and Jason have also read it and we get to share it together. Beautifully written in a rich world with richer characters. I really look forward to reading the rest of the series and other books by LeGuin.
Page Count: 145p/10,023p ytd
Thursday, April 09, 2009
104:35 Dragon Wytch by Yasmine Galenorn
The characters have come full circle and we are back to Camille's point of view. In this book, Smokey has come to claim his time with her, Trillian goes missing, another spirit seal is found, and Titania and Morgaine are out to bring back the courts of Fae on Earth. Throw in a unicorn and more demons and a host of goblins and it's just another week in the life of the D'Artagio sisters. Camille handles it in her usual sensual self and we learn more about her journey to become bound to the Moon Mother.
Again, I just really enjoy this series. It's fun and I enjoy the characters. Total bubblegum but hey, what's life without blowing bubbles?
Page Count: 280p/9878p ytd
Again, I just really enjoy this series. It's fun and I enjoy the characters. Total bubblegum but hey, what's life without blowing bubbles?
Page Count: 280p/9878p ytd
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
104:34 Darkling by Yasmine Galenorn
The third in the Otherworld Series, this time told from Menolly's point of view. You learn more about her past and how she became a vampire and get more insight into how she deals with her life. I'm continuing to really enjoy the series and seeing how the story is growing. My only complaint is that they always defeat that books bad guy by the end and it's usually condensced down because most of the book was taken finding him. There is the big bad guy that we have heard about but not seen but that's the only one. It might be interesting to see them go against the bad guy but lose and have to regroup and then go back at him the next book.
Page count: 281p/9598p ytd
Page count: 281p/9598p ytd
Friday, April 03, 2009
104:33 The Collected Poems of Emily Dickenson
I love the seeming simplicity with which she conveys such depths and opposite meanings. I know I will end up reading this again because I know that there will be more nuances that I catch in each reading. I particularly enjoyed her nature poetry and the images she conjured. Those were by far my favorite.
Page count: 349p/9317p ytd
Page count: 349p/9317p ytd
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
104:32 Changeling by Yasmine Galenorn
This is told by the middle sister, Delilah, who is a shapeshifter. The battles with Shadow Wing's forces continue and war has broken out in their homeland so they can't count on any help there.
Really enjoying the series. Moves fairly quickly, fun characters (I love their quirks), interesting story development. I like the additional characters that they are keeping around and the fact that there are prices to be paid for what our heroines end up doing. Keeps it "real" in a sense. I'm glad I have the next three sitting here waiting to be read but I have to go catch up with the reading for the boys' literature classes first.
Page count: 278p/8968p ytd
Really enjoying the series. Moves fairly quickly, fun characters (I love their quirks), interesting story development. I like the additional characters that they are keeping around and the fact that there are prices to be paid for what our heroines end up doing. Keeps it "real" in a sense. I'm glad I have the next three sitting here waiting to be read but I have to go catch up with the reading for the boys' literature classes first.
Page count: 278p/8968p ytd
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