the week in blurbs

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. Too busy and too boring...that about sums up why. I could live with a little less busy, but have been grateful for the boring.

*First and foremost on my mind is my wonderful husband's return...just one more day to survive! His plane lands shortly after 10:00pm, so if all goes well, he should be walking through the front door by 11:30.

*I have been immensely thankful for the incredibly abnormal January weather we've been having. Only having one 3" snowfall during a two-week stretch on January is simply unheard of. What I did to deserve it I'll never know. The lake effect snow machine is supposed to kick in this afternoon and last for at least several days, but that's just fine with me. As long as I'm not the designated shoveler, I adore snow!

*I had a totally "ick" moment this week. I don't often get those mmmmmmm-type feelings about celebrities. I've been crushing on Joe Sakic (of the Colorado Avalanche) for many years, but recently it's all about Skeet Ulrich. So, where does the "ick" come in? Well, a few days ago the latest TV Guide showed up in the mail. (Now, why we get TV Guide is beyond me...we never ordered it, we never paid for it, heck, we don't even watch much TV...but it just started showing up a couple months ago.) Anyway, Annie starts flipping through it and comes to a picture of the hot Mr. Ulrich. She says, "Mom, isn't this the guy from Jericho? He's cute." I simply said, "Yep, I think so, too." And she says, "No Mom, I think he's really cute!" Hence, the "ick" moment...realizing that I have a celebrity-crush on the same person as my 10-year-old daughter. Something just not quite right about that!

*I got the coolest surprise in the mail this week...a great new book-bag from Jean, my incredibly sweet cousin-in-law whom I've never even met. (Is cousin-in-law really a word?) She made it with a technique called discharging. (Jean, please correct me if I got that wrong...for whatever reason, I keep trying to call it dispatching, but I know that's not right.) She also sent Annie a bag, but I'm too lazy at the moment to go get a picture of it.


*I'm a big, fat liar. I know I said that I wouldn't be buying any new books until at least my birthday. Well... See, B&N just had to send an e-mail flaunting their big clearance sale. So I just popped over for a quick minute. That turned into two minutes, then three... Come on, I know you can relate! Anyway, I came away with this pile of seven books for a mere $25! Hey, I needed something to put in that cool bag, right?

But now I mean it, really...NO MORE book buying until my birthday!

*Annie and I finished up the second quarter of the school year...woohoo! Halfway through 5th grade! I even managed to get her progress report written, which is always a big relief. Now I guess I'd better figure out what we're going to do for the third quarter, huh?

So, as you can see, certainly not an earth-shatteringly exciting week. But in my mind, survival is always a good thing!

just babbling...

Over the hump. I've passed the half-way point now. And while it seems a million and three little things have gone wrong, nothing major has. Max did not break his fingers when he slammed them in the door (at first I was seriously worried that he might have)...we did not have to live without power for four days like many people just a few miles away did...heck, I haven't even had to shovel snow thanks to this freakish January weather we've had to this point. So, all in all, I'm extremely grateful!

And yet still I must say...I sure do miss my darling husband! I love getting his e-mails each day. It is so funny...I can tell how guilty he feels for leaving me with everything for two weeks while he's off in the sun and sand. It would be one thing if he was teaching a field class up in the Great North Woods or something, but to be in the Bahamas... He wrote that he will be putty in my hands for the next 4 to 8 years. Hmmm, I like the sounds of that.

I had to give Baker a bath this morning. Being within olfactory range was nausea-inducing. It honestly smelled as if he'd rolled in something dead. But frankly, I'm not up to going to check the back yard to see if this is true. I also think I'll skip dragging out the ladder to climb up on the roof to get down the goldfinch feeder that Gray just tossed up there. Yep, I'll just be saving those jobs for my guilt-hidden husband.

But I suppose it would be a good idea if I go finish the laundry and then rustle up some supper for the monkeys...

I knew it couldn't last...

the peaceful, easy days, that is. Day 2 didn't go quite as smoothly as Day 1. Minor annoyances, like half a dozen eggs dropped and smashed on the floor and a cactus needle stuck in the thumb. (Is it any wonder that my mom affectionately calls me Grace?) Major patience-trying episodes, like Max's full-blown over-the-top tantrum. Sadness, like the death of one of our sweet, little mice. (Not at all unexpected, as she'd already lived far longer than normal life-expectancy for a mouse, but very sad nonetheless. She was such an incredibly sweet girl.) And worst of all, a hanging-one's-head-in-shame lapse in parental judgment. As much as I hate even admitting that I now sport a large Scarlet B (Bad Mother) on my chest, I do have a reason for it. Because, after I explain, I'm going to ask for your help.

So, what happened? I let Annie read a book that I shouldn't have. I figured it was bound to happen sooner or later. She reads so darn many books, and many of the books she reads are teen/YA books. And in general, I don't have a problem with that...there are so many good books out there in those sections of the library/bookstores. But all of these books are obviously not appropriate for a 10-year-old. I can't possibly read everything before her...she literally reads twice as fast as I do, and has far more time to do it. But I do try to read jacket covers and reviews, etc. to get an idea. But a review doesn't necessarily tell me what I need to know.

But I have to admit that what happened was even worse than one slipping through the cracks. Tithe, by Holly Black, was actually a book I'd read! I remembered the story in general, remembered liking a lot of the faerie aspects while not being overly impressed with the book overall, and even remembered that there was a fair bit of swearing in the book. But there was something I didn't remember. And I should have. She asked me about it, and we had an honest discussion. But she never should have read it to start with. And I let her.

Last night at supper, Annie and I came up with an idea. We thought we'd just ask you. Like I said, the last thing I want to do is stop her from reading YA books altogether. She reads at a very high level (she tested at a high school level all the way back in 2nd grade), so difficultly is not the issue. Maturity is. And since so many of you are such avid readers and have undoubtedly read some of the books we're unsure of in her TBR pile, we were hoping that maybe you could give us some advice.

So, here's the list at this point:
*The Blue Girl and
*Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint
*The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (though I'm pretty sure I already talked about this one with Nymeth...I know it was her review that sold me on it!)
*The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (though I'm pretty sure it was Jean who recommended this one for Annie...am I right, Jean?)
*Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
*The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Any thoughts on any of these books would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. And thank you, Carl, for the heads up on Blood and Chocolate. (We've set that one aside for a few years.)

Wonder how long it will be before I can remove this big ugly B?


***And by the way, Rich, sorry to inform you this way, but Max wet your side of the bed last night.***

one down, thirteen to go

Survived day one of Rich's absence unscathed. Actually, I think the boys must have been feeling sorry for me or something...they couldn't possibly have been more delightful than they were for most of the day. By supper, the rowdiness level had surpassed comfortable levels. But that may have been my fault...we made monkey bread during the afternoon. And of course, it's a well known fact that massive doses of sugar lead to elevated rowdiness levels, right? The rowdiness continued through bathtime, but I have to admit it could have been worse...I didn't even have to change my clothes afterward. Finally, during our chapter of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, they mellowed a bit.

Gray always feels the need to fight bedtime, partly out of habit and partly out of a true feeling of injustice, I think. But the battle wasn't too bad, especially after my sweet helper, Annie, agreed to go into my room to read. (Gray sleeps on a mattress in our room, because he is petrified of being alone, and of the dark, and of...) Of course, that's when Max reminded me that I said that "maybe" he could sleep in bed with me while Daddy was gone. "Maybe" turned to "yes"...surprise, surprise. So here's who's keeping Rich's side of the bed warm for him in his absence...




On a totally unrelated note:

I have decided to drop out of Becky's Jane Austen Challenge. I know, I know...what a quitter, huh? But I tried. Really I did. I got Sense and Sensibility out of the library last week, and started reading. But I just couldn't get into it. I feel like I really gave it a chance, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I was not enjoying it at all, and figured that there are way too many books I do want to read to make myself suffer through something I didn't like. Not like Jane Austen...I suppose that makes me a heathen, huh?

and it begins...

My two weeks without my sweetie, that is. Yep, Rich left a little while ago for the airport.

But you know how I've been bemoaning the fact that I'll be stuck with extra duties, especially snow shoveling, while Rich is gone. Well, I must be living right or something. Here in our little piece of the Great Lakes snowbelt, January and February typically bring one to four inches of snow nearly every day. Not many big snows, just small snows that need to be dealt with on a daily basis. But this winter, things seems out of whack. We had far more snow than we normally get in the month of December, but January has been off to a very slow start. And how's this for fortuitous...it's forecast to not only be above freezing for the next few days, but possibly with record-breaking highs near 60 by Tuesday. So scratch all those complaints, at least for the time being.

I suppose I should warn you, for the next two weeks, this blog will probably be filled with photos of my little hooligans. There are no phones at the research center, and no cell phone reception. (There is an emergency number that one can call and leave a message between certain hours of the day...how comforting.) Anyway, at the small library at the compound, there is a computer that supposedly has internet access. So I promised to keep Rich up-to-date with our goings-on right here on my little snippet of the blogosphere.

So, here you go, Rich. A photo of the time you will miss most...when they're all sleeping, deceiving you into believing they're angels!