Making nice

After being so harsh on literature yesterday, I tried to make up for it by going to the library and picking up an armload of books.

I added a widget on the right side of the page, which tells what I'm reading ..... if anyone wants to join me on GoodReads.com, that would be cool! Sort of like having a book club .... but we're all over the place!

I had to pick up one from the large print section. And as I was checking out, I told the lady I really enjoy large print books b/c I look really brainy when I'm reading such a THICK book at the pool. ;)

Raising the white flag ....

It's not often I put a book down in the middle. In fact, I can think of only one other time I've done it. But yesterday, I finally admitted defeat. For more than TWO MONTHS I'd been trying to power my way through this book on MP3 and I finally gave up on "Reading Lolita in Tehran."


Of the 120-some-odd "chapters" of the MP3 player, I made it to 79. So about 2/3 of the way through. Not BAD ... but I just couldn't finish.

The thing that gets me is ..... this was a bestseller. I'm not sure HOW, but it was. I'm not saying the book is bad by any means .... it's just .... slow. It starts in the present, then flashes back to her book club, then flashes back more and then flashes back even MORE. Um, confusing. And rambling. There was a point when she introduced a student, then went on for a chapter about the student's favorite book. I groaned OUT LOUD while I was on my exercise bike at the Y when this happened.

I feel like SUCH a jerk. Because the material is interesting. It's just SO SLOW MOVING. I told Erik I'd make a good person to abridge the book. Get out my butchering knife, because there was a lot of fat that could have been trimmed from the 2/3 that I read.

Just as a point of comparison (because I'm a dork like that), Harry Potter book 7 is about 21.5 hours in audio form. This book was 18.5 in audio form. Does that give you a feel for it? I couldn't get ENOUGH of HP7, but this ... zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Ok, I'm officially a jerk. Azar Nafisi, if you're reading this, I'm sure you're a lovely author ... your writing style is so lovely ... but it was just too long!

I feel like I need to make up for my literary meanness, so I'm going to head to the library and see what I can find today that tickles my fancy.

Crossover — Baby Kara

The last week has been fairly busy. Yay! I'm thankful to have sessions and assignments coming out of my ears. But then it begs the space question on my 'puter and external hard drives. Sheesh!

Anyhow, aren't Baby Kara + Mommy Michelle ADORABLE?!?!?!?? I think so.


And I LOVE it when I go to do a session and the nursery is awesome! I have to say, I've seen quite a few with the baby's name on the wall, and I rather like it.

For more visual treats, head on over to the Heartland blog by CLICKING HERE.

Easter 2009

Don't you just love these as place markers? :)

So, when we knew we'd go down to Wichita for Easter, I asked my sister if she'd be there. She said she wasn't sure ... why did I ask?

"Because I want to know if I'll be sitting at the kids table this time." I said to her.

My sister thought I was NUTSO, but c'mon! I'm a married woman!!!! I SURELY deserve to not be at the kid's table.

So when we arrived at the Sheldon's for Easter, this was what we found. Our OWN LITTLE table.


*sigh*


So sad.


But it was just a joke .... we got to sit at the big kids' table. Actually, we decided it was the "young adults" table ... because there were 2 set of twin girls under the age of 3 sitting at the "adults" table. ;)


And .... it was RAINY so the regular egg hunt was cancelled ... and so I hid eggs inside.

Chaos, pure chaos! :)

Allison's Kidd-O

Check out this looker! My friend and CCD-teaching partner-in-crime, Allison, had a baby this winter, but it wasn't until about a month ago when I could get to see the new little fella.


We got along rather swell!


I've NEVER seen a kiddo smile SO MUCH!

And here's a video clip .... ignore my chatter and being a dork! ;)

Esse's Hideout :)

Boog LOVES a good hiding spot. ;) This is what I made of our back tree awhile ago ...

My dad made this house for her about 4 years ago. Esse doesn't go into it much, but she sure loved on it for quite awhile.


See how good she is at hiding?


Silly kitty!

#59 — Go to the Grand Canyon

... CHEEEEEEEECK!!!!!!!!


But when Paul and I got to the Grand Canyon, this is what we saw .... clouds, clouds and more clouds.

Sheesh!


But we EVENTUALLY found some blue skies!


This is probably my favorite image from the day .... sort of .... my younger brother looking out, wondering what the future holds. Or it could be me being sentimental and reading WAY too much into things! ;)

Oh, and I have a TON of photos to share from our trip to San Diego .... but I'll share them once I have time to sort through them.

It's in the freezer ....

Every once in awhile, I hop over to the Riley County Extension's Blog. I like that they have a blog ... and THIS CLASS sounds so uber fun/practical ... but I'm not able to go. Too bad, so sad.

But I LOVE the idea of making dishes and pulling them out of the freezer. Yeah, I KNOW they make frozen dinners in the freezer aisle, but folks, those are FULL of extra sodium, not to mention they're 4x what it'd cost to make from scratch.

The idea behind the soup exchange was to have something I could freeze, then use when in a pinch. We've even got some of Erik's yummie chili in the freezer ... and some of that not-so-yummie potato soup. Erik's still looking for suckers to pawn it off on. ;)

VOTE!!!!!!!!

Ok, so I entered a photo of be being goofy into a contest (well, 2 photos). The idea was to take a photo of you doing a crazy exercise. WELL ....


Photo 1: yoga in the garden. Me doing the side plank. Ok, so truthfully, it was the first time I did the side plank, but the other positions wouldn't look too good in the visual sense, which is why I went w/ this pose. To the left is my strawberry patch. Directly in front of me is the lettuce, and at my feet is the zucchini. :) Oh, the ground is green b/c I mulch w/ grass .... I hug a LOT of trees. ;)


Photo 2: Me weightlifting paint cans atop a chair that is on my "to do" list of projects. So, the can's aren't really full, but it shows painting CAN be a workout! One day, my right arm was all sore and I couldn't figure out why. Well, I remembered I painted walls the day before .... which was probably why I was sore! Interesting, no?

I get a lot of duff from the "Move it Monday" crowd, but my comment is ANYTHING can be exercise. I go mow the lawn, that's 45 minutes worth of pushing/walking. I want to rent a movie? We walk to the Redbox .... anything can be made to move the body in good ways! :)

I realize I might be splitting my vote by having 2 photos, but GO HERE and vote ... I'm voting for Yoga in the Garden!

My Favorite Things — Wanchai Chinese Food

I love, love, love Chinese food. Well, the Americanized stuff.

A few months ago, there was a coupon for $1 off and so I picked it up ... and I totally still do. But luckily for me there are still coupons from time to time ...

This stuff makes a FANTASTIC quick and easy meal. :) Oh, but you gotta provide your own chicken. Poultry not included.

Admittedly, I'm stuck on their sweet and sour chicken. But today, I grabbed the cashew chicken. AND on the box it suggested throwing veggies in. So I rummaged through the freezer and found a bag of garden veggies, which I threw in. YUMMIE!!!!!

I don't do this from a box dinner ALL the time, generally just in a pinch .... but this makes it sort of special. Yeah, I'm busy, but it's a special treat.

In other news, I'm still working on the photos from last week. And LOVING them. :) Still can't share here ... SORRY! It's NOT easy to keep these under wraps!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll find some time to do a bunch of blog posts. :)