Monday, October 21, 2013

Books 71 and 72

I found another series to read!  Not a romance series but a mystery series (yes, another mystery series).  The heroine has a split personality.  It took a little bit to get into the groove of the different personalities that come into play just by turning the page.  But it made me laugh!  And I was so hooked that I've already got the next one waiting for me at the library.  Oh, you want to know the book title?  Me, Myself and Why? by Mary Janice Davidson.

On a completely different note, the next book I read is called Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.  It is historical fiction and it has just enough history to keep it frighteningly real.  In fact, several times I had to check the book binder to make sure that it was fiction.  But as I read the author's notes, the characters and many events are based upon diaries and testimonials.  I had checked out a nonfiction book about the same topic, the Leprosy colony on Moloka'i, however, I put it back into the library bag to return, cover unopened.  I just couldn't read another story about this devastating treatment of people.  It was easy to hang in with the book to find out how the main character survived her affliction.  She was such a likable character that I cried and laughed with her throughout the book.

Reach out and touch... #41

I got a lengthy email today from my cousin.  I haven't seen or heard from her in decades.  And she found my dad and visited my folks last month.  Then she emailed me.  So I emailed her back.  And she emailed me again!  So nice.  It made me reach out and email another family member that I hadn't heard from.  And she emailed me back.  It is so much easier to stay in touch with today's electronics.  However, I would venture to say that when there was no email, texting and FB, people stayed in touch better; they didn't take it for granted.  Today, I think we take it for granted.  Thank you sweet cousin for reconnecting with me!

Resolution #41 - Reconnect.  Reach out and touch someone you love that you may have left in the dust of today's busy world.

Living in the moment...#40

I've done it.  I've made some real changes to live in the moment.  Let's be honest, right behind hanging out with my kids, I love to read.  So many books, so little time!  But, right now, this is about the kids.

Over the summer, I was reading my blogs.  I think I may have even been tearing up because of something sad that I'd read.  LRHB wanted my attention.  I said I was busy.  "Whatcha doin?"  he wanted to know.  I replied that I was reading a friend's blog.  Of course he wanted to know if he knew them.  "Well, no, actually I don't know them either, except through their blog."  Oh.  And he wandered off.  Thankfully, I could finish my reading.

Upon reflection of this conversation, in fact MUCH reflection, I've pretty much stopped reading my blogs.  Yes, I feel awful for the woman that lost her little boy that lives across the country.  But I also feel awful for the lady around the corner that lost her son the same month.  Should I not be giving more time to the sad mommy I know quite well than I am giving to the woman I've never met.  By her own words she is surrounded by wonderful people.  Should I give more time to the other mother across the country that has lost her son?  My Sweet LM lost her daughter and we struggle to find time to be together; I should be getting my ducks in a row at home so I can run away with her.  There is a blog I follow about a mom that is so devout that really each time I read her words I commit a sin, I COVET my neighbor's religious devotions.  Seriously, that time would be better spent in PRAYER.

So Resolution #40 is GIVE UP A TIME SUCKING BAD HABIT

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Resolution 27

Clean Out the Freezer...

I had a flashback in the shower the other day.  It was Fourth of July.  I had a sinus infection and was feeling pretty lousy.  Everyone was headed in different directions or staying put.  I think it was during a car shuffle that I found it... an open freezer.  I just couldn't yell. The last one in had gotten a freezer pop for the sick momma.  Ugh.  How bad was it?

Well, I didn't have to throw anything away.  However, I was subjected to cooking and cooking and cooking for a couple hours.  Marinades.  Cooking meat.  Throwing stuff in the crock pot.  Grilling.  We ended up not venturing out to our events that evening and ate at home.  Crock pot baked beans and grilled shrimp and grilled pork roast.  An eclectic mix, yet there wasn't enough of either the shrimp or the pork to serve it on its own.

The upside (other than not having to cook for several days) was that everything was out of the freezer, it was hot enough to defrost the freezer and wipe it down.

It wasn't that I chose this resolution, rather it chose me.  So I will give it a number... 26.  As summer concludes and fall rushes in, this might be your last chance til next summer to thaw and clean your freezer.  Good luck!

Book 70

I wish I had made a note about where I got the title The Beginners Goodbye by Anne Tyler, because I might understand why I chose to read it.  Sure, Anne Tyler is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, but rarely does that motivate me to pick up a book.  Detour... I did some research and it was a Ladies Home Journal Magazine Book Club book.  Since for months while accompanying my son to therapy, I read all of the back issues of LHJ, that is probably where I got this book.  

"Why does she write about how she found this book?"  It is a such a detour from the frou-frou romances that we know I love.  Additionally, it isn't a memoir or biography which is my other choice.  It is fiction and addresses mourning and death.  It has a main character with tremendous personality and character flaws, yet he is compelling as he works through the tragic death of his wife.  He learns, grows and I won't spoil the end that was worth it.  It is a short book, however not really a quick read as I found myself pondering his situations.  

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Book Club Revival...

For reasons not to be discussed, our Book Club has been on vacation.  But I was just inspired by this:
http://www.bookitprogram.com/readyourheartout/promise.asp
So I am bringing our Kids Book Club back to life and renewing my Reading Promise to my LRHB.  Tell, me, do you need to renew a "vow" in your life?

(Also known as Resolution 26)