what is my problem?!!

Okay, so our library sale started Friday. We were there as the doors opened. Of course. So I'm walking around, scouring all the tables, and all the boxes under the tables, and all I could think was that this year's sale was a big disappointment. And this is where the "problem" comes in. See, I came away with 10 books! And I'm thinking this is a disappointment?!! I fear I may not have been happy unless I needed a U-Haul to carry my purchases away. I'm out of control. It's quite sad. I need help.

So anyway, here's what I got:



And yes, there is some blame to be apportioned:

*Sowing the Dragon's Teeth: Land Mines and the Global Legacy of War by Philip C. Winslow
*Troll Bridge: A Rock 'N' Roll Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple (Point for Nymeth. Okay, so she didn't actually review this particular book, but it is nonetheless her fault entirely. Because of this review for Pay the Piper, which I already acquired but haven't yet read.)
*Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen (Point for Becky, because of this review.)
*History of the Present: Essays, Sketches, and Dispatches from Europe in the 1990s by Timothy Garton Ash
*Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
*Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (Point for Alison. I was intrigued by this book the moment I first heard of it, but it was this review that assured that it would eventually make its way onto my TBR pile.)
*A Pocketful of Poems: Vintage Verse selected by David Madden
*Second Nature by Alice Hoffman
*The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli
*On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Point for Nymeth. Yep, this review.)

*****

And, for no reason other than I'm trying to put off making a science test, I thought I'd share some proof that spring is truly here in our neck of the woods:

seriously unable to get my act together

I can't believe that April is almost over. Yikes. Last week, it was spring break here, which is part of the reason I haven't been around reading everyone's blogs. I've also been busting my butt trying to get caught up with school. I really, really, REALLY can't wait until this school year is over! Seriously, I'm not complaining...I love homeschooling; I'm just ready for a break. The weather around here the last few days hasn't been conducive to being inside on the computer either. Man, it's been gorgeous! Weird, but gorgeous. It was in the 30s and snowing Thursday morning. It was in the 80s on Friday. Seriously weird.

Anyway, I never did review the books I read during the read-a-thon. So here's an extremely quick look:

The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. Sweet, funny, feel-good. Fairy-tail-esque. Perfect for read-a-thon. Perfect for Once Upon a Time. Not terribly deep or complex, but wonderfully enjoyable.








Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki. Okay, I will say that I absolutely loved this book. And I will say that Kim, the main character in this graphic novel, felt very authentic to me, and I really adored her. But other than that, I'm just going to wimp out and give you links to Chris's review and Annie's review. (We all read this book on the same day.)





The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Wow...bittersweet. I enjoyed this even more than The Tale of Despereaux, the only other of her books I've read. Yes, it made me cry, but it certainly left its mark on my heart. I know there's loads of reviews out there, but I'm trying to get this done before the boys get home from school so I'm going to skip linking them at least for the moment.



And this is also the reason, I'm going to keep the "blame" short and sweet.

In the bought/paperbackswap column:

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Point for Nymeth.
Skellig by David Almond. Another point for Nymeth.
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart.

And for Library Loot (thank you to our lovely hostesses, Eva and Alessandra!):

Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis by Ali Smith. Point for Nymeth.
The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot. Points for both Dewey and Nymeth.
Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories by Gilbert Hernandez. Point for Nymeth.
Shooting the Boh by Tracy Johnston. Point for Eva.
one of those books where the mother dies by Sonya Sones. Point for Becky.
Aesop's Fables: A Classics Illustrated Edition.
The Scaredy Cats by Barbara Bottner and Victoria Chess.
The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks George Hallensleben.
The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum by Kate Bernheimer and Nicoletta Ceccoli. Point for Nymeth.

good stuff...

*Being pleasantly surprised by a book. I was sort of dreading picking up Jane Eyre. But I chose it as Annie's first read for our new literature unit, so I had to dive in eventually. And yes, I admit that I've only so far read the first five pages...but I discovered that I actually enjoyed it! Here's to the next 400+ pages being equally enjoyable!

*Yesterday was a truly glorious spring day here! A high of 56 degrees and nothing but sunshine all day! Yes, it is supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow, but that's okay. Just makes days like yesterday all the celebrate-able, right?

*Chris's heartwarming post.

*Seeing four species of salamanders on our nighttime hike.

*Hearing the excitement in Mom's voice when she was telling me about their upcoming trip.

*Knowing I shall conquer the dirty clothes mountain today.

*The video that Renay has at her Herding Cats Challenge site. The boys have made me play it at least a dozen times, and we all still laugh every time.

ooh, me achin' back...

We were supposed to be on the northern edge of this latest storm. They said 1-3" of snow. They lied. We got about 9" overnight and it's still coming down.

But honestly, I've no business complaining. For one thing, as I begin day 7 of Rich's absence, this is only the second time we've got more than a couple inches and hence, only the second time I've had to shovel. Secondly, it was the light and fluffy type of snow. Not to mention, our driveway really isn't all that big. Yeah, and there's that thing about me really needing the exercise anyway. And finally, I absolutely love snow...so it's really no fair to bitch about it, is it?

Oh, and maybe best of all, as the boys are happily drawing and watching a Scooby Doo movie and Miss Annie has her nose buried in a book, I will feel no guilt as I go curl up with my own book and a large mug of tea. I worked hard enough for one morning...or at least that's what I'm telling myself. ;)

needing a quick dose of good stuff...

Never in my life has the Christmas season been this totally out of hand. (Scheduling the end of a school quarter for this time of year was definitely a HUMUNGOUS mistake!) I seriously feel on the verge of a breakdown. And what does that call for? Yep, a look at all the good stuff of the past week.

*SNOW!!! 19 inches in the past 48 hrs., with another 12+ called for in the next day and a half! So even if a warm front appears out of nowhere, we should still have a buttload left to make sure it's a white Christmas. :)

*Annie finished her first college class! She should find out her grade in the next few days. (Unless she totally blew her final project, she'll probably receive an A- or B+.) So proud of her for giving it a try and for facing the challenges with a smile.

*Jean! Not only did she send me two cards that put huge smiles on my face, she also sent me A Taste of Earth and Other Legends of Vietnam by Thich Nhat Hanh. It looks wonderful! Thank you, Jean!

*Zanna's Gift by Orson Scott Card arrived in the mail while we were away for the day yesterday. I simply had to order it after reading Chris's wonderful review.

*Finally finished all the Christmas baking, and Annie delivered tins of cookies to all the neighbors on Friday.

I hate so very much that I haven't had time to visit everyone's blogs to see how everyone else is fairing. I miss you all so very much! Hope each and every one of you is having a beautiful holiday season!!!

a few of this week's firsts

I should be so excited...it's list-mania day. But I'm just feeling kind of blah (nothing's wrong, just kind of dragging), and it's made it hard to come up with an idea for a list. Decided to just go with a list of firsts from the past few days...

*We watched our first son turn eight-years-old.


*We threw our first snowballs of the season this morning. Not a lot of snow, but enough for snowballs.

*I mailed my first package overseas. (Sorry it's taken me so long, Nymeth!)

*I tried my first 3 Muskateers Mint. Yuck!

*I wrapped my first Christmas presents of the season.

were the heck did fall go?

It seems I blinked and it was gone.

*nearly all the trees are now bare of their leaves (much to the boys' joy!)

*the high may reach the lower 40s today

*the 10-day forecast (which is always so accurate-HA!) is calling for four days, including Halloween, with snow showers

*the stores have Christmas stuff out

Yep, it just went by too fast...

in our neck of the woods...

Well, I got "off-schedule" last week because of the read-a-thon, and as my parents are coming up later this week, I may find myself off-schedule again. But I'll give it a go. So, what went on in our lives last week?

*For Annie and I, the read-a-thon dominated the week. From preparation to participation to recovering. Not sure the recovering is quite complete yet. We both had a fabulous time, got a lot of great reading done, and earned some money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

*Rich, Gray, and Max headed off on a boys' weekend. And, according to one and all, had a wonderful time. Rich taught his Friday morning class, picked the boys up early from school, and then they headed off for coastal Maine. They arrived Friday evening, hit the beach in the morning, then headed down to New Hampshire to visit a tidal pool.





*Max has learned to ride his bike! (Unfortunately, he caught us all off guard and no one had the camera.)

*Lucky continues making himself at home. His craziness is growing by leaps and bounds, literally and figuratively. One hour he's waking you by attacking your feet, the next hour he's waking you by rubbing his face against yours in order to get some pets. Even Aldo has fully excepted him now.

*Our glorious Indian summer has come to an end, and our lows are back to the 30s (and a few times upper 20s). I know it's that time of year, but somehow it just feels too early.

*Penn State is continuing to keep us happy! Of course, this week will be their real test.

in our neck of the woods...

*We're enjoying an absolutely glorious Indian summer.

*College football is treating us mighty fine this season. I know it only leads to heartache to get one's hopes too high, but oh my, how my alma mater Penn State is giving us a lot to cheer about so far.

*Rich took Annie and Gray to the Corn Maze on Saturday. Behavioral issues precluded Max and I from going. :(

























*I can't seem to finish a book to save my life these days. Maybe if I'd stop starting new ones...
On another sad book-related note, I'm afraid there's no way our "reading room" will be ready in time for the read-a-thon. But you know what, who cares where we'll be reading, right?

*Forgot to do a short story post yesterday, but hey, there's always next week...

Monday morning musings

*Weekends fly by much faster during the school year.

*I drink way too much coffee. But I doubt I'll cut back anytime soon.

*Gray just may gain some much needed confidence in himself. Most kids are both tying their shoes and riding a bike by age 4 or 5. But Gray, at age 7, was doing neither. The shoe-tying thing was greatly our fault, as we have always allowed the kids to pick out their own shoes. Until last month, Gray's always chosen ones with velcro closures. And it wasn't until last week that we told him that he had to start wearing his new shoes instead of the old, totally-falling-apart ones. Problem being, of course, he didn't know how to tie them on his own. The bike riding thing, well, he just hadn't wanted it bad enough to ever put in any effort. He is waaaay too big of a perfectionist for his own good.

Anyway, on Saturday, he decided he was going to learn to tie his shoes and to ride his bike. And I'll be damned if he didn't do it! We, of course, were very proud of him. But the pride he had in himself was just absolutely priceless!




*Fall is definitely getting the upper hand on summer. And I'm loving it.

*Those Dolphins really tried to give me hope in a better season this year, but ultimately failed. Thankfully, Penn State's keeping a smile on my face.

just another dose of useless rambling

*I finished up Grimms' Fairy Tales today. This little Puffins Classics edition only contained 55 tales...which leaves me very excited knowing how many more there are to read. Going to have to buy The Complete Grimms' Fairy Tales very soon. Before I ramble on to other subjects, I just wanted to mention that I think this may be the funniest start to a tale I've yet read:

Once upon a time a mouse, a bird, and a sausage took it into their heads to keep house together...

Okay, maybe it's just my mood, but I can't read that without giggling.

*I'm tired of the spring weather roller-coaster. We're currently in a dip, with a high of 48 degrees for today. And rain. Quite dreary.

*I finished up The Translator last night, but I am really struggling at writing a review. Hopefully by tomorrow.


*Our dryer died today. So now I have clothes hanging all over the house drying. Not terribly attractive, let me tell you.

*Baker is driving us a bit crazy. Last Friday, he found a rabbit's nest in the yard. He killed one of the babies before I realized. But from the kitchen window, I saw him carrying something in his mouth. I went and yelled out the door for him to "leave it" and he immediately dropped it. Turned out to be an adorable itty bitty bunny, about the size of a mouse. I got him into a box with some grass,



and then Annie and I searched and searched and searched the yard for the nest but couldn't find it. Didn't seem like it would be that hard as our yard isn't very big. Finally Rich came home and found it fairly quickly. So we put the baby back in the nest, and it appears the mama has been back and taking care of it. But until baby is grown enough to be leaving the nest and whatnot, we've had to take to chaining Baker up in the backyard when he wants out instead of letting him run free. (The yard is fenced.)

good stuff

*It's Friday!

*The library's spring sale starts today!

*The Flyers are up 3-1 in their series against the Canadiens!

*It's supposed to warm back up this weekend (the snow flurries this week were most unwelcome).

*Finding Gray's bad dreams weren't really bad dreams. He woke me up twice last night, yelling in his sleep. Sounded like he was having some really bad dreams. When I asked him this morning, he said, "I didn't have any bad dreams. All I remember is having a boxing match with a bear."

***edited to add***

*Me won the chocolate monkey! Me won the chocolate monkey!
Thank you Dewey!!!

good stuff

*The weather continues to be glorious...you'd swear by the temperatures that it was late June, not late April. Now the tulips are blooming along with the daffodils. And even the cherry tree and the pear tree are bursting into flower.














*The kids and I are off to the local nature park this morning for their Earth Day Celebration (a tree-planting ceremony, a black bear presentation, and some wetland ecology activities).

*Annie got some exciting news this week. (Do not feel obligated to go read my shameless bragging. Seriously.)

*Today starts Educator Appreciation Week at Barnes & Noble. Gotta love that 25% discount!

--Hope everyone has a super-fantastic weekend!

a few days away

Sheesh...you go away for a few days, and you come back feeling inundated, huh? So much blog reading to catch up on. Not to mention laundry...ugh.

And speaking of laundry, it's finally spring-like enough that I got to hang my first load of the season outside this morning to dry. Pretty cool, especially considering that when we left home Sunday morning it was snowing.

We headed off to first visit my parents in the northwestern corner of PA...and then crossed the state to the southeastern corner to visit Rich's mom. I'd been dying to take the kids to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for ages. And when I found out that they were having a special Frida Kahlo exhibit, I knew we just had to make a trip down there. (Annie and I had been learning about her in school.)

I absolutely love this museum, and I hadn't been there in probably 20 years. So this was an amazing treat for all of us. Unfortunately, they're doing a lot of work on the outside of the building so I didn't really get any great shots of it. (And you were not allowed to photograph inside the Kahlo exhibit itself.) But here's a just a few pictures from elsewhere at the museum.







And, of course, we just had to let little boys who behaved exceedingly well in the museum, do the famous run up the stairs. (Yes, even Rich behaved himself.)

babbling, mostly about books

Just the other day, Max sat scratching his little legs and said to me, "I hate winter! It's itchy and I can't ride my bike."

While I'm right there with him on the whole issue of dry winter skin, I really couldn't disagree more about winter in general. I've always loved winter. Heck, I love each and every season. But dang, this winter has been a real let-down. We've just had so little of the beautiful white flakes this year. They're saying that the storm that's arriving now should leave us with 12-16" by tomorrow morning, but at this point I'm not holding my breath. Crossing my fingers, yes, but not holding my breath.

But snow is not supposed to be the subject of this post. Books are. Book reviews, specifically. I'd really like to get caught up. Ah, but first I must admit failure in Kailana's Four-Legged Friends Reading Challenge. But failure's relative, right? I did read two pretty darn enjoyable books because of this challenge (Charlotte's Web and The Tale of Despereaux). Oooh, if I stick in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM (which wasn't on my list, but I did read) for Ginger Pye (which was on my list, but I didn't read), I could really count this as a "win"...but I guess that's kinda cheating at this point, huh? Anyway, thank you Kailana for a wonderful challenge!

Hmmm...what can I ramble on about now to get out of these blasted book reviews? Yes, I'm pathetic. Truly pathetic.


Oh O.K.--I Was a Rat, by Philip Pullman. Loved this book! Loved, loved, loved it! It was so utterly charming! I knew that Annie and I had to read this one for our fairy tale exploration after reading Nymeth's wonderful review. Yes, it is a fairy tale retold. But no, I won't tell you which one. You really don't want the surprise ruined, do you?

The story begins with the arrival of a little boy to the door of Bob and Joan, an older childless couple. Bob, a cobbler, and Joan, a washerwoman, had always wanted a child, but it just never happened for them. The little boy knocked on their door and announced, "I was a rat." No explanation, just "I was a rat."

Roger, as the couple starts calling him, is a sweet, lovable fellow, but one who tends to gnaw the most unusual things. And he has a knack for landing himself in trouble, though really through no fault of his own. When Roger first shows up on their doorstep, Bob and Joan try to do the right thing and find out where this little guy belongs. They try the police and the hospital, but really get nowhere with a host of very unhelpful people. The dear couple without openly discussing it, just take Roger in as their own. But then trouble strikes and Roger is lost. He encounters a host of quite unscrupulous characters, before Bob and Joan once again find him. And even then Roger isn't safe...it takes a princess to come to the rescue (this is a fairy tale, after all).

As I said, it is an utterly charming book. Perfectly delightful.

Though not my original choice, this book is filling in the animal category for Annie's What's In a Name Challenge. It also fulfills another slot in Ariel's Unread Authors Challenge...can you believe this is the first Philip Pullman book I've read (shame on me!). And last but not least, this will fill in the "I title" slot in Joy's A-Z Challenge.













Well, damn. Once again, I really wanted to get caught up on my reviews, and once again, I just can't seem to do it. Guess I'm only good for one at a time. There's always tomorrow, right?

good, bad, ugly...in reverse

What is with this winter? I feel like we've been unknowingly transported to a parallel universe or something. Everything about it has just been "off". We had way more snow than is typical for us in December. And here in January, when we normally have tons of snow, we've had next to none. We just had our second major warm snap, and are now paying the price as it comes to an end. So far in the last hour, the temps have dropped from 52 to 28, and they are supposed to continue to drop throughout the morning. So you can imagine what has happened to the roads since it rained much of the night. And just like three weeks ago, the winds are back. 70+ mph gusts. I guess the good news is that we're going to see some snow today as well. Just so abnormal. Has everyone's winter been so totally uncharacteristic?

****

Sweet little Maxidoodle never ceases to amaze me with his toughness. The poor fellow is really down and out. He first got sick early last week. Had a fever and some general malaise. But he was better and went back to school on Thursday. But then on Sunday, he started coughing a bit, nothing major. Monday I got a call from the school nurse. He had fever again. After I picked him up, he just lounged around on the couch. That night his cough went to scary new heights. My chest hurts just listening to him. The doctor isn't sure exactly what ailment(s) he's suffering with. Put him on an anti-biotic because he heard something in his one lung. Also took some nasal swabs (which got a scream out of the normally stoic little guy!), because he thinks he may also have this one particular virus due to the look of his eyes. Saying Max's eyes are bloodshot is an understatement! It breaks one's heart to just look at his sweet little face! And yet, does he complain? No. Not one little bit! As nice as it is in some ways (at least compared to his drama-queen sister who acts as if she's on her death bed with every case of sniffles), I really wish he would complain sometimes (well, about things other than his siblings and what I'm serving for supper, that is). Back at the beginning of the month, Maxidoodle had strep throat, and we never would have known to take him to the doctor if it hadn't been for the fever and the rash. Anyway, the doctor said that the Maxidoodle will probably be sporting this fever through the weekend. We're to be in touch tomorrow.

****

Eva gave me the You Make My Day Award. Some things just have a way of leaving a smile on your heart, and the things she said about me definitely did that! Especially coming from her...I've only recently "met" Eva, but she's one of those people who would leave me feeling intimidated (she's so intelligent and well-read) if she wasn't just so darn nice. So anyway, thank you, Eva! And I will be passing this along...hope to get to that post later today.

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!

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!

in the interest of impartiality and family peace

Argh. I was accused of playing favorites. And I'm afraid the evidence spoke for itself. Max, resident cat-fanatic, noticed that I posted pictures of each of the kids and a picture of Baker with the Christmas tree...but I did not post a picture of Aldo. I believe in his mind this borders on sacrilege.

So, in an effort to get back into my 5-year-old's good graces, I present Aldo...



And the weather most surely is doing its part to contribute to the old Christmas-y feeling around here. I took this photo when I took Gray out to the bus yesterday morning. It continued to snow throughout the day, and we ended up with about 16 inches. Sooooo pretty.

just some good stuff...

*A cold front is supposedly coming through this evening. We've managed to keep the house down to 84 degrees the past two days by keeping the blinds closed and whatnot, but still some cooler air will be greatly appreciated!

*Rich has a short day today and will get to be home for a late lunch!

*I spent one entire glorious hour curled up reading in peace this morning!

*It's cheap blueberry season!

*It's just one of those mornings where I feel on top of the world for no particular reason at all!