Sunday, September 27, 2009

on my mind this morning

*Odontophobia anyone? *raising hand very high* I finally made myself make an appointment for a check-up. And I must admit I'm proud of myself for finally doing so. It's way overdue. The only problem is that I'm now having trouble sleeping and I feel like my heart is always pounding...and the damn appointment is still 2 1/2 weeks away. I am so afraid there are going to be major problems...

*I am not masochistic. Therefore, I will never watch Penn State play Iowa again. NEVER. Two years in a row of hopes shattered by them is enough. :(

*We've been trying to make this a fun weekend for Max (we don't generally do parties, but instead give them a weekend full of fun of their choosing). This, however, means I'm even further behind than usual in answering e-mails and reading blogs. But this probably won't be the day I catch up, as I've got much school work to sneak in between Maxidoodle requests.


Okay, and after all that whining, I do actually have something fun on my mind, too:

*I'm a big fat liar. Just a few days ago, I made myself a list of all the books I had to finish before starting new ones. But already I'm heading off course. See, the Stevens family has been inspired by Becky and Becky's Mom. We're going to try something similar to their challenges to one another, though we're picking out books we honestly believe the recipient will love. (We each have to have read the book we're recommending.) So Friday night, we drew names to see whom we would be picking a book for, and then yesterday while eating lunch at McDonalds (Ugh. But McDonalds playland is what Max requested.), we handed out our assignments.

--Max chose the Warriors graphic novel series Graystripe's Adventures by Erin Hunter for Annie.
--Gray chose Space Chimps: Mission to Malgor adapted by Lauren Alexander for Max.
--Annie chose Dramacon Ultimate Edition by Svetlana Chmakova for me.
--Rich chose Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling for Gray.
--And I chose The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness for Rich.

We've given ourselves about a month to complete our assignments. Then we're going out for pizza, where we'll discuss our reads and give out our next assignments. Maybe we'll even do fun little interviews like Becky and her mom. :D

*Also on the fun side of life, I'm finally getting back to work on the library. Doing some serious rearranging of books. Hopefully more weeding out. And Rich and I figured out a few places where we can add more shelves, and I designed something for him to build for the one area. I know...so not fair to poor Rich...I design and he builds. But believe me, it would be a disaster if we switched jobs. ;)

18 comments:

Eva said...

I hate going to the dentist too! :/ I just tell myself that I don't want to have to wear dentures by the time I'm 40, so I have to go! But if I floss my teeth every day, I consider that justification for pushing back a cleaning, so I try to do that. ;)

I wish I could join y'all for those pizza nights! That sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. :D My mom's really busy right now, but at the beginning of the year she asked me for some book recs and I pulled out a big stack of books (at least 20!) and put them on her bookshelves. She's been working her way through them, and it's fun to talk about them with her. :)

Amanda said...

That swap thing is awesome! I need to try that with my boys!! :D

Good luck with the dentist. I know how scary dentists are...

DesLily said...

how great to make it a family thing to choose a book for each other!! The amazing part to me is that everyone agreed to do it! In my family when they were younger like yours are.. there would always be one hold out not willing to do it... :o( You have such a cool family! (or obedient, not sure which lol)..O, and big shocker the book you chose for Rich! duh.

Kailana said...

Oh, yay, for Dramacon! I really enjoyed that series. :)

Anonymous said...

I just couldn't watch Penn State to the end last night. My heart was breaking.

Ana S. said...

Yep, definitely a bit of odontophobia here too :/

Your family is so awesome! I love that Annie is making you read Dramacon :D It's such a fun series...I hope you love it as much as I did!

serendipity_viv said...

Does Rich want to pop over to England and sort some shelves out for me too? No pressure!

I love the sound of the challenge you have set each other. What a great way to work as a family.

Care said...

Your family is just adorable. Have fun with the family challenger book club.

chrisa511 said...

I'm raising my hand very high with you Debi!! I'm scared to death of the dentist and I fear my next check-up from the time the first one ends :/ I hear you on the college football. LSU is actually 3-0 so far this year, but we're still playing like crap! It's going to be really REALLY ugly when we have to play Georgia or Florida, let me tell you. I don't know what's with us this year.

I've been such a horrible, horrible blogger and friend this year, but I do want to let you know that I've still been reading your post and I saw your beautiful sweet poem to Max on his birthday :) Please please please tell that little munchkin happy birthday for me!! Sounds like he's having a great weekend! I love the idea of y'alls little challenge! And I am THRILLED to hear that Rich will be reading The Knife of Never Letting Go! Hope he reviews it on his blog!

And of course, we'll get pictures of the new bookshelves, right? I'm all about new bookshelves right now!

Jean said...

I need to find the right box, and then there will be some goodies from the Book Festival coming your way. And I'll try to get a blog post up about it, too. Didn't do any signings this year, but did hear several very interesting talks.

Amanda said...

Just as a follow up to my last post, my family has gone ahead and followed your example. We drew names out of a sack and had to pick books for each other. My 7 year old picked Mr. Popper's Penguins for me. :D

Debi said...

Eva,
Well, I made it to 40 without dentures, but I'm not sure I'll make it to 50. :(

I wish you could join us for pizza nights, too! Of course, you would put yourself in the position of Gray drawing your name and assigning your Captain Underpants or something. ;)

Amanda,
Yay! How cool that you all are doing this, too! I hope you'll post about what books you all chose for each other. Mr. Popper's Penguins...what a cute choice!!! I sort of wondered what Max would choose for someone, because honestly he hasn't read that vast an array of books, but he ended up doing okay for Annie.

DesLily,
LOL...yeah, Rich sort of saw that one coming. But at least I really do believe he's going to love it.

Kailana,
Yep, I figure with you and Ana and Annie all loving it, I'm pretty safe on this one. :)

Lynne,
I wish I'd done the same...not sure why I felt the need to punish myself by watching every last second. :(

Nymeth,
You know, I was actually really surprised when she told me what she'd picked for me. I was trying to guess in my mind what she might choose, and this one never even entered my mind. I'm glad she chose it though, because I really have wanted to read it. But without this push I have a feeling it might have been awhile before I'd have made time for it.

Vivienne,
Well, I know he'd love to pop over to England... :D

Care,
You're so sweet! Thank you!

Chris,
TAKE THAT BACK! You have NEVER been a horrible friend!!!! NEVER!!!!

Okay, and football...I have to admit I haven't seen LSU play, but they definitely can't be playing as poorly as Penn State played Saturday night. It was distressing. As much as Rich and I love Penn State, we sort of agreed that after that performance they don't even deserve to be ranked. :( And hey, maybe Tebow will still be out when you all play Florida. (Though I know we all hope he's really okay.)

I know, I was so excited that I got Rich's name so I could "force" him to read TKONLG! And I don't even feel guilty about it, because I just know he's going to love it!

And I'm sure they'll be pictures, but I guarantee our shelves won't be a fraction as cool as your new ones are!

Jean,
Glad to hear you had such a good time! Can't wait to read your post! Did any of your guys go with you?

Shanra said...

Uhm... I can't even watch toothpaste commercials? (It's not that I'm afraid of the dentist, but I can't remember the last time I visited one and my teeth did not hurt like hell for most of the day afterwards.)

Soo... are you restricting the book challenge books to the ones in your house or are books you have to borrow from the library an option too? *curious* It sounds interesting, though, and I wish you all a lot of fun with it! ^-^

*huggles*

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I saw the adorable Pumpkin that you made for Pat and it really warmed my heart. I was wondering if you make them to "sell", too...I would LOVE to buy some from you. There is something so very dear about him.....I just LOVE him!

As to the Dentist: I can relate. I have spent so much time in the detists chair ever since I was 12 years old....I have had so much done it is rather appalling..But it was needed....And it wasn't neglect. I was told by the very first and GREATEST DEntist I ever had that whatever happened to me Happened in 'the utero'....My thoughts are with you on this one, for sure!

DesLily said...

Deb.. i sent you an email please check it right away..

Carl V. Anderson said...

I look forward to you sharing pictures of your designed and built shelves when they are done and housing the books they were made for. ;) (hint, hint)

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Oh how I long for a husband who will build me bookshelves. Just today I was in a fit of frustration when I was looking for a book I've read and couldn't find it because my shelves are double stacked. Whiner Whiner Whiner! :)

I LOVE the idea of the swap!! Which reminds me, my brother gave me a copy of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas months ago and I still haven't read it. What a bad sister! Other than him, I'm usually the one passing out all of the books.

And sorry about Penn State. I don't even check up on A&M anymore. They will always be my team, but why set yourself up for disappointment? :(

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