Falling behind again

I spent the weekend catching up on a few projects that I needed to get done like updating the AYSO website and finishing up the YAW page for the homeschool yearbook. I also went through clothes for Jonathan and Matthew which ended up piling up the laundry. Of course, spending my time on that meant that other stuff was on the back burner and now the laundry needs serious attention, the top of the foot locker is getting cluttered again, as is the breakfast bar. The housecleaner was here this morning and left at 11:30a. By 1:30p, the boys had strewn food all over the living room and dining room floors. It doesn't even bother them in the slightest but man does it send me over the edge but it's those things that just reinforce what kind of uphill battle I face on a daily basis. *sigh*

And of course, it's another busy week and Mark is out of town. Matthew and Jonathan have a dentist appointment tomorrow and then Jason's counseling appointment is Wednesday afternoon. I'm taking Nico with me tomorrow and I'm going to try to bring enough things to keep him busy in the waiting room tho I'll probably take him for a bit of a walk at some point. Wednesday I'm hoping for good weather and I'll walk the boys over to the park a few blocks from the Drs office since I'll have all the kids with me. Hopefully that will keep them busy and off their gameboys for a bit.

And a quick update on the diet and exercise front. I'm doing pretty well with the healthier eating tho I have the occasional off day. Last week with our anniversary, Christopher's play, and Mother's Day it was hard but I'm right back on track. What I'm very proud of is that even if I have a little slip I've been getting back on track the next day and not letting one slipped up day turn into a week, a month, or longer. I know it's early on and it's something I will need to keep constant vigilance against but I am going to be happy that so far it's going well.

On the exercise front, we haven't missed a day's 10 Minute Trainer workout since we started on May 1. We've done at least one workout every day and have done our best to fit in a 2nd one whenever possible. I think we've been successful about 50% of the time so far. Last night we didn't get our first workout in until 11p. I was exhausted but Mark was going to do it anyway and since he had to be up at 4am and on a plane at 6:30a I figured if he could make it a point to do it than I had no excuse not to join him. He was right and I did feel good knowing I hadn't given in to the excuse. I got up and did my workout this morning after he left and just finished my evening one. The nice effect from this is that a pair of jeans that had been getting snug fit comfortably today. Made me feel really good that something right is happening.

On a side note, I called Beach Body today to cancel the subscriptions to their website and vitamin plan that you get free trials of when you place your order. I was chatting with the customer service rep and she told me that so many people order the programs but don't even open the package. Made me feel really good about the fact that we opened it the day it arrived and started the program the following day and haven't missed a day. It's funny how right now I'm having a harder time getting through the workouts because my muscles are tired from the consistnet workouts but I'm not coughing after doing the cardio any more and I'm not as tired or as sore for as long after working out so yet more proof that it's doing what it should.

I bought a pedometer last week. It looks like I average somewhere around 3000 steps a day when I don't go out of my way to get a walk in. That doesn't include my workouts since I don't wear it for that but still. With the weather starting to get nicer, I'm going to see what I can do about getting a walk in a couple more times a week.

Things that just sound wrong

On this Mother's Day, I'm reminded of some of the stranger things I've said since becoming a mom. None of them were ever meant the way they sounded and it was only after the words came out of my mouth that I realized how they could have been interpreted.

"If you don't stop running around like that you are going to get hit with the rope!" - said to Nicholas just this last week as he kept darting between Jonathan and myself as I was trying to help Jonathan with his Occupational Therapy.

"If you keep that up, you will end up with more staples in your head!" - said to Nicholas as he was yet again running around avoiding a diaper change.

"No more swim classes for you if don't stay down!" - said to Jonathan who was using the technique for climbing out of the pool for climbing up on the fridge.


I'm sure there are many more but those are the ones that spring instantly to mind. Anyone remember any others or ones you've said that in hindsight didnt' sound quite right? I'd love to hear them!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Especially to my mom Lisa and my wonderful step-mom Elaine, I wish all my friend's a very Happy Mother's Day!

104:43 Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

Dark and gritty are probably the best words I've heard to describe the world of Watchmen. The story revolves around the aging costumed heroes who have been forced into retirement, the death of one of their own, and their search for what is really happening. The mystery goes much deeper than simply the death of the Comedian tho and what they find is a man willing to sacrifice millions for a greater goal. Can they stop him and if they can, should they? These are some of the deeper issues at work.

Winner of the Hugo, one of Time's top 100 best novels, on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die...this is not your typical superhero comic.

Page count: 416p/11,852p ytd

104:42 Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin

This takes place immediately after The Farthest Shore. We meet back up with Tenar and watch as she takes care of Ged now that he has lost his powers. We watch their relationship grow and find out who the child she has taken in really is and what she will mean for the world of Ea.

I really enjoyed this one and you can see things are being set up for an even bigger battle for the world, one in which Ged will likely play a part but not the one it would have been when he was younger. I'm interested to see how this will all play out.

Page Count: 281p/11,436p ytd

Crazy Week

With Christopher's play rehearsal every day and all the other activities, the first play tonight, and just the general craziness that goes on around here I totally lost track of days and didn't realize I hadn't posted since Monday. I haven't been able to make any more headway around the house tho I have been maintaining what I did get done and I've been doing at least one 10min Trainer session a day (more if I can manage it). I've also been sticking to my new eating plan pretty well. A few cheats with our anniversary but nothing awful. Really working on trying to eat breakfast before noon (more like before 8a) and I got a new scale and pedometer in. The scale is actually accurate too!!! It's amazing how you step on it multiple times and all the weights are within a .5lb of each other instead of 10lbs of each other. I'm currently using the pedometer to see what my average number of steps is and then I'll work on trying to up them.

The big boys have Moin Pan again tomorrow and then the finals are next Saturday, the day after they test for their new belts. Yes, everyone but Jason did just test last month. Apparently like with swim, they are handing out new levels like candy to my kids. Christopher, Matthew, and Jonathan will be getting their red belts and Jason will be getting his yellow stripe.

Tons to do this weekend. I have a bunch of stuff to do for AYSO, plus all that bill paying and checkbook balancing stuff, and I want to work on cleaning my desk a bit and work on the boys room some more. At least we can still see the floor in there from last weekend. That's an improvement over the last 2mos where we couldn't walk in there without taking our lives in our hands.

Back on Track, Day 8

Amazingly no laundry today. Things went fairly smoothly considering I wasn't home most of the day. Jonathan had therapy this morning and his speech therapist was nice enough to pick him up so I didn't have to wake Nico. This also meant I was able to get a shower in after my workout instead of running around all sweaty and gross. I picked him up, went to the produce stand, picked up some stuff off Freecycle from a fellow homeschooler and ended up staying and chatting for almost an hour while the kids played (I just had the two youngest with me). Back home and to schoolwork then off to take Christopher to rehearsal, back home for just over an hour and then off to take the other three big boys to KSW and Nico joined me grocery shopping. He managed to be the first kid of mine to grab something off the shelf and break it, a bottle of terriyaki sauce. I personally think it was a statement about how that brand isn't as good as his dad's. He also surprised me by looking up at the aisles and telling us "number 1" or two or three or four. Huh?! This from the child who won't sit still unless it's to play some beat 'em up or drum it up video game knows his numbers?!?! And apparently he told his therapist today that he likes his blue pants cause daddy bought them for him. Ok, daddy didn't (I did about 5yrs for his brother Jonathan) but still. It's amazing how the more he talks, the more we learn about what he's been picking up (besides the ability to call his brothers stupid, dip, and tell them to shut up *sigh*).

My knee did start acting up today but I still did my 10min Flex Yoga dvd with Mark tonight. He hadn't done his cardio in the morning so he did that while I watched from the sidelines. Had it not been for my knee feeling wonky I would have joined him and done it a second time but it's just not worth the risk when it's feeling like that.

More play rehearsal tomorrow through Thursday. Anyone in the area, please stop on by the HMB High at 7p Fri or Sat or 2p Sun to see Christopher in Babies! It promises to be a lot of fun!

Rude Awakening

What is it with Nico and his love of disturbing my sleep? It's never at the expense of his own as he can always fall asleep after waking me up but he has this uncanny knowledge of when my alarm is going to go off and waking me up 30min before that so I never really get back to sleep, especially when he proceeds to squirm all over me for that 30min. My favorite is when he refuses to let me out of bed when the alarm goes off and I end up staying in bed with his squirming all over me for another 30min where I'm not able to sleep but I'm not able to get up and get my day going either.

It's annoying.

Really annoying.

But today he decided to do himself one better and during his morning squirm, he bashed me full force in the mouth with that hard head of his (I swear it's lined with adamantium or something) and he did this 5min before my alarm went off, 20min after he had squirmed into bed with me. So now I have a lovely fat lip and swollen jaw to start my morning with and he STILL wouldn't let me out of bed when my alarm went off!!!!

I swear, I'm finding a new place to sleep with a locked door and soundproofing.

Back on Track, Day 7

Well, it's been a week since I started getting back on track around here and things are continuing to go well. The sink is still shiny, the counters are still cleared (okay, clean dishes on one of them but hey, that's not a bad thing imo), laundry still caught up (despite my kids handing me three loads yesterday), and we've started making progress on the boys room as well. Today was mostly a paperwork catch-up day which seems to be how I spend most Sundays these days with making menus and grocery lists, clipping coupons, grading papers, doing lesson plans, copying whatever tests and other paperwork will be needed for the week, etc. I always think it will only take a few hours but somehow the end of the day comes and I'm still sorting stuff out and there is always a few things that didn't get done that I'll be scrambling about trying to do tomorrow. Obviously still a work in progress there.

My big frustration for the day (well, actually the last month) was trying to find the math program I want for Jonathan for next year from an "approved" Ocean Grove vendor. I thought I should just be able to tell my ES "I want xyz" and she should know what vendor would carry it (especially since it is a standard math program) and take care of it. Instead, she can't figure out which one from some weird list she pulled up from G-d knows where and tells me I need to find it. I find it on Amazon and email her the link and get told "No, they aren't an approved vendor, I need you to find it from someone on our list" except their vendor search engine sucks and I was going to have to go through several hundred vendors until I found one that carried it so I could give her the url, isbn, and price. I ended up stumbling upon the link that she must have originally used and clicked on the Math 54 link on the side and lo and behold found exactly what I wanted. I've emailed all that to her and she better be able to figure it out because I'm pretty sure that fits into her job description not mine. Oh yeah, and the Bright Minds stuff I ordered back when we first started on Feb 27 has finally all been placed and will be getting dropped off to her this week so hopefully we'll have that before summer break starts. I really freaking hope this is not the way things always are because 3mos to order materials in a simple transaction and then all this "I don't know, you need to do all the research and provide everything for me on a standard item" is really going to drive me insane. I don't know how anyone could teach their kids with this kind of crap to deal with so I can only assume that this is because we are starting mid-year with a brand-new teacher.

Please let that be the case.

10 Minute Trainer - Days 2 & 3

Did the morning Total Body workout yesterday using the 15lb band. Good workout. Mark and I got off the couch last night between catch-up episodes of 24 and did the Cardio which was listed 2nd for the day. It definitely gets your heart rate up. Looks like I'm definitely more out of shape than I thought as both times we've done that, I've ended up coughing with a tight chest afterward. Not awful and not enough to make me quit but definitely something I hope goes away as I get back in shape.

Day 3 is his down day with only one workout listed. 3 out of 4 weeks it's the Yoga Flex. That has got to be the easiest 10min I've ever done with Tony Horton! LOL I did most of those moves in my Power Yoga class years ago and I've stayed with occasionally doing them to keep some of that flexibility. I have to admit, it was kind of funny seeing Mark trying to get in some of those poses and hold them tho. LOL Nice to know there is something in our exercise regime that will be easier for me than him. (love you honey!)

Back on Track, Days 5 & 6

Yesterday was Jason's birthday so the day was chaotic. We had plans to go to Great America but the weather was all over the map, sunny one second and raining the next, so we decided to nix that plan and go see the new X-Men movie instead. Figured we'd catch an early show, let him see his family, then go to dinner and head home. Instead Mark had to go to work (he'd requested the day off weeks ago but we all know that means jacksh*t in the world of start-ups) so we had to swing by and pick him up at 3:30p. We didn't get out of there until 4p and barely got to the theater on time for the showing I had Fandangoed tickets for which was at 5p. Jason's mom and brother met us there so we were able to see it together. Then I had to take the birthday boy for a haircut since it had been a whole 6wks since he'd last gotten it cut. Mark took Mona and the rest of the kids to BB&B for an early mother's day gift (electric kettle which is AWESOME!!!) and then we all met up at the Korean BBQ for Jason's birthday dinner. From there we headed to his old house for a small birthday party with cake and a few of his friends but we ended up not leaving there until after 11:30p so we didn't get home until about 12:30a. Ugh!!! Talk about a long day, especially since I had been up since 6a.

The good news for my house was that we didn't leave until all the dishes and laundry were totally done and the living room and dining room picked up and vacuumed so we weren't coming home to a mess (like would normally happen). Definitely an improvement!

Today was hard to get started. With the late bedtime and Nico's early wake-up call, I didn't get out of bed until 7a (I know, I'm a lazy slacker) and we didn't get to our workout until 8a but we did do it! I was sore from yesterday's workout and even more sore from today's but I can tell it's doing something. On top of which, I had the energy afterwards to walk to the Farmer's Market after dropping the boys' off at KSW. Heck, I ended up dropping them off, driving past it to make sure it was open, and then driving back to KSW to drop off the truck so I could walk it. Yes, I am proud of myself!

The rest of the day was spent trying to find some energy to tackle things and tackling what I could when I mustered up energy. I stayed on top of the dishes and I thought I was caught up on the laundry until I had the boys tackle their room and they brought me three more loads from their floor. Ugh!!!

But yes, that means that we also started the great room pick-up again. We'll be working on this when we can during the weeks and we have time at home for the next several weekends so that's when the majority of it will get done. Today we concentrated on cleaning up the beds, folding blankets, putting the sheets back on, getting all the dirty clothes off the floor, and cleaning the rat cage area. We can now at least enter the room without taking our lives in our hands. Tomorrow we'll be tackling the game shelf corner. I'm praying there isn't an avalanche.

The best thing by far is that I've maintained everything I've gotten cleaned up this week! Yes, the house is far from perfect but the stuff that I'm getting decluttered and cleaned off is staying that way. The fact that some of those areas have stayed clean for almost a week is a miracle. I'm just trying to babystep my way through things and taking a few minutes out of every day to inspect those areas I've cleaned previously to make sure no clutter is creeping up on them.

My new spell..."Clutterious Begoneous!"

10 Minute Trainer - Day 1, morning

(I normally won't post all of this on this blog, mostly just a quick review of the day in the evening to show that I did it and the full write-ups will be on my SparkPeople blog if anyone is interested)

Got all the measurements done and took the before pictures. Just did the Cardio workout today and was totally huffing and puffing afterward. It's been about an hour now and I still feel a little tight in my chest but that could also be the cold that's going around the house trying to settle in. It really felt like a good workout tho and I'm really hoping to try and do another 10min workout later today. That's really going to depend on what we end up doing for Jason's birthday. If we are at Great America all day and then out for dinner and not home til 10p, I think I'll pass on a second workout for the day but my goal is to try and do one in the morning and one in the evening to start with and work my way up from there.

In other good news, when I did my weigh-in, it showed that I'm down another 1.2lbs from yesterday which puts my total at 2.4 lost for the week. I'm only counting my weigh-ins on Thursdays as official but still, it was awesome to see the number on the scale going down. I think part of that is being much more aware of what I'm eating and staying towards the low end of my calorie range and the other is making sure to drink the 8 cups of water a day.

Next on my list of things to do for me is to read You! On a diet, the Flat Belly Diet, and Body Clutter (and I'll probably reread Sink Reflections this summer) and I want to get in to see a nutritionist to try to figure out the best combination of fats/carbs/protein for me to eat. I look at my numbers and I'd really like to see the fat just a touch lower and the protein up a lot more than it is. My carbs are already at the low end and are mostly from fruits and veggies. I have one piece of whole wheat toast in the morning and some noodles or rice with dinner but I'm making sure to keep the portions on those small. The big thing is I'm eating enough of that to bring up my carbs to around the minimum amount I should have so I figure that's probably about right but again, I think this is where a nutritionist would be handy. I need to look at our calendars and then I think Kaiser has some we can meet with so I'll set that up.

104:41 The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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?!

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pics from Jon's 8th Birthday Party

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

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

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

Life so far with 5

So far so good. I'm still almost holding my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jason has been very well behaved, needs only mild reminders about getting his schoolwork done, and has been easy going about the craziness here. I'm just a little worried that it's going too well and he's holding too much in to put a brave face on and that's not healthy. I've set up an initial counseling session for him in two weeks (soonest we could get in). I know he's missing his friends and we don't have tons of friends up here either, especially not with teenagers. All of those have moved away which is a bummer for both Christopher and Jason. He still has some contact with his other friends via MySpace and email so I'm hoping that it's enough to keep him from totally feeling cut-off but not so much that the bad influences stick around. Maybe if he's not there, they'll move on and he'll see he's better off without them. I can only hope.
Otherwise, it's just been crazy busy around here. Jason is doing Kuk Sool Won and bowling the other boys and is bugging me to go to the beach. So hard to fit more stuff in and still leave time for schoolwork tho. I told him we'd try for this weekend and if not, would make a point of going over spring break. He went to our gym this morning and Christopher ended up going with him to learn how to lift weights. He hates being so scrawny and even tho we keep telling him not to stress over it, I think having a "little" brother who is so much bigger than him kind of rankles him a bit. So he'll go with Jason and the two of them will get some big guy time. They also want to go swimming in the pool afterwards. I told them it was fine so long as they were together. Man, that was hard to do. I know they are both good swimmers and they are old enough to do this but still, there's always that niggling voice in the back of my head that wants to be overprotective.
In other news, last Thursday we were at Park Day when Jonathan comes running over to tell me there is a poisonous snake there and I needed to come see it. Now I was pretty darn sure there was no poisonous snake around but I went to go check to see what kind of snake it was. Amazingly enough, it was a San Francisco Garter Snake which while not poisonous is endangered so that was really cool. Even more cool was the fact that I knew what kind of snake it was. Thank You Zoo Class! LOL

The big excitement for this week has been my dryer decided to stop heating. This is the same dryer that we've already paid for twice due to various other repairs. When the guy came out and told us it would $450 to fix it this time I reluctantly okayed it but when Mark heard he said absolutely not, we are getting a new set. He's done spending money on it. On the one hand, I agree that it's nuts that we have put so much into it in such a short period of time especially since all the repairs have been weird things that should never need replacing (drum, belts, springs, seals, and now heating element) but on the other hand, this is the first repair in a couple of years and everything else with it is fine. But despite my reservations we ended up going for it and buying a new front loader set from Costco that can be stacked so we don't lose any space. I'm a little concerned since the reviews are mixed with usually only about 75% good and willing to recommend it to people. At least we got it at Costco so if it's really awful we can take it back after doing some more research and find something better. We wanted to do it now tho before the sales tax hike takes effect and while there was a price discount at Costco. Here's hoping this works tho cause I sure do a lot of laundry here.

104:31 Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur

Newest in the Riley Jensen series. Picked it up on Monday night and finished this afternoon. As usual with this series, I couldn't put it down. Riley's powers aren't growing at an insane rate but they are growing as is her relationship with Quinn. It's nice to see that they've finally come to terms but can it survive her newest case?

Lots of fun and I definitely recommend the series if you like the romance/urban fantasy genre. This one has it all happening.

Page count: 352p/8690p ytd

104:30 Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton

Jason picked this book out for his reading time so I made sure to read it too. I always like The Outsiders but for some reason never picked up anything else by her. Rusty-James idolizes his big brother "The Motorcycle Boy" for what he seems but without understanding who he is. He tries to be tough, getting in fights, drinking, and eventually getting kicked out of school but somehow, he still never manages to live up to the Motorcycle Boy.

A definite coming of age story in which the protagonist never reaches his goal but rather ends up simply fading out and forgetting his past as much as possible because he can't understand what the goal ever was. I'm glad I had a chance to read it and I hope the message rings loud and clear to Jason.

Page count: 135p/8338p ytd

104:29 Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

The first in the Sisters of the Moon series about a trio of sisters who are half-human/half-fey. They are currently on assignment to Earth from the Otherworld (where the fairy and other magical races live). Unfortunately due to their dual nature, their powers are unpredictable which is bad when you are talking about a witch, a werecat, and a vampire. Now there's a danger that threatens both Earth and the Otherworld and they are the only ones who can stand up to it.

Fun urban fantasy tale, well woven, good universe(s), sex, and flawed characters with a sense of humor. I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the series.

Page Count: 276p/8203p ytd

Homeschooling with 5, Day 1 report

Was having problems with my computer and especially uploading pictures (or why the goat farm trip entry which was started on Sunday didn't actually get up until this morning) so sorry I haven't been updating properly our newest adventure.Things went really, really well yesterday and it's just helping to reinforce the decision that this was a good move. Jason is fitting in so well, polite and helpful, and doing everything he can to make the best of the situation. We talked a lot on Sunday about how school works here and my basic philosophies about things (family and school mostly). I dropped Matthew off with Jonathan and Nico at therapy so I could take Jason out to Starbucks for some one-on-one time with no little kids present so we could continue to talk. He's been wanting to make sure that what we do here will transfer back to his old school. It will and I assured him of that but I wanted to also be honest that the odds were not good for him going back to the situation he just left. We talked a little about some of his reasons for why he was acting out and he's sounding like he'll go to counseling and give it a shot which I think would be good for him. Something I need to look into getting started soon.


Since it was Monday, that means KSW here, especially since the boys are testing for their Red Stripes on Friday night. I gave Jason the option of trying the class for a week and seeing if he liked it.
He got some private time with one of the instructors and when I stopped by a few minutes before class ended, I saw them sitting on the floor talking and he was smiling and laughing. After class I asked how he liked it and he said he wanted to keep doing it. It was nice to hear him affirm that he knows he's going to be here a while so wants to have some fun activities to do while he's here. As I said, he's been proving to be remarkable about adapting to the situation and trying to make the best of it. So we've got him set up on our account and his uniform is ordered. The nicest thing was I picked up a new schedule which I hadn't done in months to find out that they now have family classes M-Th at 5:30p. This means on Tuesdays when Christopher is at his acting class from 5:15-6:15p just a mile from KSW, the rest of the big boys can go there rather than get dragged along with me to do the grocery shopping. Much nicer for everyone that way.

Today we have bowling. Not sure I'll be able to sign him up for the league but if nothing else, I'll rent him a lane next to the league bowlers so he can play and get a chance to hang out. He's also expressed an interest in surf camp which of course led Christopher to thinking it was cool (cause everything is soooo much cooler when your friend's think of it rather than mom suggests it *eye roll*). I looked into it and it's going to be a stretch to do it for spring break but I told both boys that I would be happy to sign them both up for one in summer. I think it'll be great for them!

Day at the goat farm (lots of pics)

Mark's former co-worker called us a few weeks ago to see if we would be interested in joining her and her son on a field trip to a goat farm. Of course, we said yes. :)
They currently have about 200 kids born with approximately another 200 due soon. We visited the pen with the moms who had already given birth.

All of those zoo classes for Nico really paid off as he was so gentle and used his "animal visitor" petting techniques.

Normally the kids are left with their moms for the first week to get the colostrum but are then separated and fed with goat formula so the farm can get the milk to use for other purposes. Not sure how old this one was that had been frolicking in the field and then came to pay us a visit.
This little guy had just been born this morning and we were allowed to visit him and his mom.
Here's Nico petting mom.
And one of the slightly older kids was trying to see if he could get some extra food out of someone's fingers.

I wasn't able to get over to see Matthew and Jonathan give goat milking a try so no pictures of that. Nico stood on the stool and didn't quite get the whole concept tho.
On the other hand, Jason did a great job.
We got to visit the kitchens where they make the cheese and of course, health and safety regulations require us to cover our hair...
The kids were all invited to help decorate a wheel of cheese with edible flowers. Here you can see Matthew with it...
While Jonathan looks on.
It was passed around the table for everyone to enjoy at the end. I didn't even get near it until it was more than half way gone.
It was a really fun day. Christopher wasn't with us as he was at a friend's house but the rest of us got to do several things we had never done before and had a great time. Afterward we bought some goat cheese and visited a local shop for some of their delicious bread that the goat farm uses to serve the cheese and then headed over to our favorite seafood place on the pier for lunch before coming home and getting out the Rock Band/Guitar Hero.

Gee, sounds like a typical day around here. :)

104:28 Cooking with Ergot by Luisa Prieto

Paranormal romance with the twist for me that it was m/m but written by a friend so I had to read it. Dominic is a witch whose finds his chosen who happens to be a seventh son of a seventh son who doesn't believe in magic and is part of a line of witch hunters. Unfortunately for both of them, his cousin does believe and is an active witch hunter.

Nice plot, story moved quickly and I'd be another 20% along without realizing it. Blaise, the stuffed tiger familiar, and the recipes were particularly nice touches. In short, I enjoyed it immensely.

Page count: 200p/7927p (I'm approximating since it's an ebook that I read on the Kindle which doesn't provide page counts)

5 Boys, Day 1

We picked up Jason today. It was hard to do in terms of knowing how much pain it was causing everyone but made easier by the fact that the pain was temnpered by the relief that he would be out of harm's way. It's daunting in so many ways because this is someone else's child that I've been entrusted with, not just my own. I'll be praying hard constantly that we are up for this and all will be well.

The day has gone well otherwise. Jason is quiet and subdued which is the better of the two scenarios we figured we'd be facing. I know what a shock it's been for him since it came without warning (btdt, unfortunately) but we are trying hard to make sure he knows that he can still have contact with his family and that we love him and want this to be as gentle on him as possible. I think the next week or two will give us a better indication of how things will go once the shock wears off a bit. I think he'll be okay in the long run since this will be the first time in many years that he's had a clean slate with school and people around him. I pray that he takes advantage of it and I'm very thankful for those there today that told him how much they wished someone had done this for them when they started down the wrong path. That really touched me and helped me further believe in what we are doing. I'm also thankful for all the support from my own family and friends and all their prayers for Jason. You all mean the world to me.

104:27 All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

Sookie goes with the Louisiana contingent of vampires to the big vampire convention in Rhodes. Amidst plots against the Queen of Louisiana, many others are plotting against the vampires as a whole and it's up to Sookie to help sort out what is going on and protect those she loves. The big question for Sookie is who exactly is that?

More political in the vampire world than previous books and less romance. That angle seems to be fading a bit tho it's still there, it's not all hot and heavy like it was in the first couple of books with Bill. A fun series and I'm looking forward to the next book coming out in paperback.

Page Count: 342p/7727p ytd

It's a boy!

I got the phone call from Mona tonight and she has asked us to come down and take Jason in. He's become too much for anyone down there to handle because he simply knows how to play them too well to get what he wants. His cousin has gotten him in with a bad crowd (she does drugs herself so it's not like she would know what a good crowd looks like) and he is staying out late, not letting anyone know where he is, and flunking most of his classes. She's been told that summer school is mandatory and very likely he would have to repeat 9th grade. The last straw was when he came home drunk after his cousin had given him alcohol.

So now we are getting him to get him out of a bad situation. I know it's going to be rough because this is a totally different environment than what he's had with a lot less freedom than he's used to and a lot more rules and structure. I am praying tho that with those rules and structure, in a safe, loving, nurturing, and stable environment that he will eventually become the man I know he can be.

Please pray that we can help him to realize his own potential. This is one of my other boys and I can't stand the thought of losing him.

I am NOT getting sick!

I don't have time to get sick so I'm really hoping this is the time change catching up with me but I woke up this morning with a nasty headache, stuffy nose, and still exhausted. The headache never went away and painkillers only dulled it for short periods of time. The stuffy nose didn't stick around but decided to move south and my lungs have been a little tight instead. I was so tired I ended up staying in my pjs all day and teaching school that way...when I wasn't napping in bed, that is. No bowling, no acting, no shopping. I'm heading back to bed since I actually feel like I might be able to go back to sleep. I just really hope I wake up feeling better because Nico has his zoo class tomorrow and I would hate for him to miss it because mom doesn't feel good.

104:26 Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

More vamp politics and less romance in this one. The language continues to be better so I'm not gagging as I read the first half. Sookie has finally learned a few hard truths and spilled the beans on her little secret. Continues to be a fun little series. I think it was trying to take itself more seriously in this book and the last and it just doesn't quite work for me for some reason but it will be interesting to see how it continues.

Page count: 324p/7385p ytd

Tired

The time change always kicks my butt even when I try to prepare for it weeks in advance. Of course this time, with how crazy things have been around here, that didn't happen and it's been awful. I think it's hitting the kids as well. Nico was in rare form today, all day, and the other kids were all having problems focusing. And to make it even more fun, it's pitch dark when I wake up which is not happy making.

Tell me again why we do this? And especially with only 4 months of standard time before going back to it????

104:25 Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

The 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. She's getting courted by lots of suitors now but someone is hunting down the shifters and thinks she might be one of them due to her associations. Eric is back and so is Bill, both vying for her attention. With so many hot men to choose from, whatever will she do? Best thing, duck for cover and try to stay out of the line of fire.

Definitely having more fun with this series now. It's bubblegum reading, total fluff but fun for all that and a nice rest from some of the more demanding things I'm reading right now.

Page count: 295p/7061p ytd

I win!!!!

That's what Nicholas told me today. I called him Nick and he told me "No, I not Nick, I Niklah Davih". I asked do you want to be called Nicholas or Nick or Nico and he told me Nicholas with a big grin. I asked him if he liked his name and he told me he did. I told him that was good because I liked his name too and thought he was the cutest, sweetest, most wonderful Nicholas in the world. When I said this, he stood up, threw his fist up in the air and shouted "YES, I WIN!!!" and then fell down laughing.

He cracks me up but you know what, he's right. He did win. He won a very special place in my heart the second I knew he was coming and he secures it every day with his smile, his hugs, his kisses, and that little voice that says "I love you mommy".

104:24 Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

I'm glad I decided to stick it out. With Bill no longer being her main guy, the awkward language was gone and it was much easier to just get involved with the story. The story was fun and it will be interesting to see how things progress after all the developments in this book. Good thing I have the next couple so I can find out. *grin*

Page Count: 291p/6766p ytd

104:23 Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

This book starts between chapters 14 and 15 of Ender's Game but has events in it from the Shadow series as well. It basically covers the period of Ender's trip to the colony (now named Shakespeare) and what he found there and then his trip to another colony as he starts his search for the right time and place to reveal what he's found. We also find out what happened to the last stolen child of Bean and Petra.

Not a bad book but it's continued the current trend that the Shadow series started which was the downhill spiral of the series. Ender's Game was an outstanding book filled with interpersonal relationships and the psychology of the game. In the Speaker series (at least the first two books before it got totally weird), we had the psychology of the different species learning to interact with each other along with the personal psychological stuff going on. Ender's Shadow had that but the recent books have lost that and what is there has been more forced and less substantive turning these books from the more heavy-hitting sci-fi they were to more of a bubblegum book. Still fun, just not as filling.

Page count: 377p/6475p ytd

104:22 1984 by George Orwell

Um, wow...Talk about a riveting but terrifying book. I can see how he got his ideas and have to admit that there have been times in the recent past when things felt eerily close to trying to go down that road but unlike that book, I'm hopeful that the human race won't allow things to ever get to that point where it could continue in that type of oligarchy. Please God!

Page count: 268p/6098p ytd

Also, this was the first book I read on the Kindle. It took me about a week to do while reading other things so I can honestly say, it didn't slow me down at all. The screen and epaper and eink are very easy on the eyes. I read for several hours over the weekend with no more eye strain than if I'd been reading a regular book. The whole thing doesn't totally disappear like I'm used to with paper books but it's close and I'm sure it won't be long before it does. I've already got 60 other books already downloaded on it and am currently going through all the ones I have downloaded to my computer to figure out which ones to move over according to my reading lists. My only complaint is I can't figure out where my .pdf files are that I downloaded to it and getting to the internet isn't quite as easy as they make it out and I'm still trying to navigate that part of it better but otherwise for a reading device, it's excellent. Not sure it's actually going to end up replacing my Palm but my wallet, Kindle, and Palm all fit very nicely in my small purse for a quick pick up and go so I'm not complaining. I'd never be able to read this much, this easily on a Palm.

104:21 Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

A fantastic adventure to share with your children. Darker than the Disney version (go figure) and expressing much more recrimination of the children for their heartlessness but also heaped upon the mother for her continued hope and allowing the children to walk over her. But still, a fanciful tale, wonderfully told to excite the imagination of children everywhere through the ages, both the ones that are physically still children but also those of us who refuse to fully grow up and keep a piece of Neverland in our hearts.

Page Count: 155p/5830p ytd