Getting Healthy Christmas Eve

Here I am all fancied for Christmas Eve service.  I know I have more to go but I am feeling much better every day!

An Update on Getting Healthy

Even though the last two months have been crazy busy, I have not given up on getting healthy!

I have continued to walk and exercise nearly every day.  I am eating pretty healthy overall too.  I am indulging a bit on the sweets, but not going overboard. 

I actually lost 2 pounds between Thanksgiving and the middle of December! 

We are doing a thing with our work wellness that is called the Maintain, Don't Gain! challenge.  The way it works is you get 1 point each day for completing one of the 5 categories:
- sleep 6-8 hours
- be active for at least 20 minutes
- spend 15 minutes relaxing
- do a kind act
- eat a healthy breakfast

We will all tally our points and there have been drawings and prizes.  I haven't won either of the two prizes, but I am enjoying the focus on wellness including mental, physical and emotional well being.  I'll let you know at the end how it has gone for me, but I am pretty pleased so far!

Seems like I say this a lot...

...but I am not dead and we did not lose all access to technology for the last three weeks!  Things just got a little bit busy.

Tonight, the 27th of December, I am thinking about all of the things that we have accomplished in the last few weeks.  They include:
-finishing reading The Hunger Games for another time
-decorating the house
-cleaning the house like mad
-travelling to see family for the weekend
-wrapping presents
-Christmas Eve service
-having a quiet Christmas day together
-lots of phone calls and texts
-watching lots of movies
-doing lots of puzzle games 
-hanging out with Pup and taking her on walks

We are half-way through our Winter Break and the next week is also very filled.  Sunday's church service will be lessons and carols - something I don't think I have ever done before.  Then, my in-laws are coming for a second Christmas celebration Sunday afternoon.  They head back Monday and we will have a quiet New Year's Eve at home.  I'm going down to see my family again for a couple of days after that.  Our Praise Band will sing at service on the 5th so we will have at least one more practice before we sing on that Sunday.   There is laundry, dishes, chores, etc. to get done.

After all this it will be time to gear up for the January/February push.  There will be winter cleaning to do, taking down the decorations - basically getting back into a normal routine of life.  I am thankful that I have another week to rest before break is over, but I am ready for routine again!

PLOT TWIST!

It has been a very different weekend than we had planned!

This totally applies this weekend!

We started the weekend on Friday by putting up the Christmas tree.  Just getting the tree up and all the other boxes upstairs. 

My plan for Saturday was to do some errands and to decorate.  I woke up to more freezing cold (it has been in single digits or lower temps all week!).  My husband was out of town for the whole day at a conference.  Pup and I got moving and made a list of the errands that needed done and a plan for the rest of the day.  I left the house about 10:30 in search of Christmas gifts, stamps and some staples from Safeway.  By the time I got done with all of that, it was 12:30 and I was going to be going to a piano recital at 1:00!  Well, I was off to Subway for a quick sandwich then went to listen some of our favorite Wyoming friends play in their piano recital.

All that meant I didn't get home until nearly 3:00 pm.  So much for getting all the decorating done during the day.  I slept to the Jim Carrey Grinch movie.  My husband came home and we began the process of making dinner, decorating a bit and getting treats ready to take to church.  We couldn't find the baby Jesus piece of our favorite nativity or our favorite advent wreath.  We think they both ended up at church, but haven't yet had time to look in my husband's office.  We tried to put some laundry in the washing machine and...
PLOT TWIST
...the washer would not fill with water.  No water was coming out whatsoever!  Yikes!  Not quite sure what to do, we just decided we were tired and we couldn't deal with it until later.

Sunday morning was a busy one at church.  We had service, of course, and the bells played three pieces at the service.  They did a beautiful job.  We had the women's Prayer Partner reveal after church.  A good time was had by all.  A short nap and then we went to get real groceries. 

As we are getting ready to leave to go grocery shopping...
PLOT TWIST
...my husband says, "Your left ear is the one that has been bugging you, huh?  The earlobe and the outside parts of the ear are all red and puffy.  I think you need to go to the doctor tomorrow!"  So I guess I'm going to try and get an appointment tomorrow. 

When we came home we both ended up talking with our parents and have diagnosed the washer - frozen pipes.  We are doing some stuff to try and thaw them and hopefully it will work!

Here is to a better week with no plot twists!

November....so busy!

These last few weeks have felt insanely busy!  At the beginning of the month I had the opportunity to go to a series of lectures by one of my "historian heroes".  I was able to listen to Dr. Marcus Borg and Dr. John Dominic Crossan (insert nerdy squeals here).  They presented a lecture series called Jesus and Paul:  Then and Now.  I really enjoyed the talks as they addressed many different aspects of looking at the historical Paul and the historical Jesus.  Dom's main thesis was that Jesus was a revolutionary and many of his actions can be viewed as a rebellion against Rome (who had control over Judea at the time of Jesus).  I bought way too many books and had a very, very great time!

I have spent the last couple of weeks recovering from that nerd trip while my husband has attended two separate conferences (one each week) for the first couple of weeks of the month.  November is a very busy month for conferences and meetings since it is after the school year starts but before Advent and Christmas (followed by Lent and Easter not too much later)!

We have both been home without leaving for about a week.  The weather has been very, very windy - leading to lots of headaches, dry and itchy eyes, noses,throats and asthma.  Yuck!  We got snow this past week too.  It was too cold to take Miss Pup for a trip for a few days!  I was able to get out and get her a walk today though.

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving and Advent here.  We had the "hanging of the greens" at church today (decorating for the holiday season).  It will soon be time to get our house decorated for the holidays too.  But tonight, I am enjoying a quiet night relaxing and getting some more chores done.  

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Yesterday I finished reading another great young adult novel.  Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is in the same genre as The Hunger Games; it is a dystopian society with a strong female lead who is put against the government.

In the world of Divergent, there are five factions.  Each faction represents and elevates a certain characteristic - Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peacefulness), Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery) and Erudite (intelligence).  When a person is sixteen, they must choose which faction they wish to belong to.  They will then enter a training period, face a test and be initiated into the faction.  Most people choose the faction they were raised in.

Beatrice Prior was raised as an Abnegation.  During her aptitude test the day before the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice has an inconclusive result.  The simulation does not clearly show what quality she has most.  Her tester, Tori, tells her that she is Divergent - apt at many different qualities - but that this is a very, very dangerous thing and that she should never tell anyone.  At her Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice decides to leave the faction of her family and train to become Dauntless.  She knows this is a dishonor to her family, but she doesn't feel very selfless at all. 

Beatrice (now known as Tris) faces many trials thorughout the training and initiation process.  The Dauntless training focuses on combat skills, overcoming fears and navigating dangerous situations.  During this process Tris befriends and begins to like one of the trainers named Four.  Along the way Tris, and Four, start to uncover a plot where the Erudite are attempting to overthrow the government run by the Abnegation.  It is not going to be a peaceful take over - many will die and society will be twisted once again.

Tris must navigate the dangerous world of being Divergent and not letting anyone know, making a life and building an identity outside of her faction of birth, and deal with the knowledge that society and life is not all that it seems.  But Tris' biggest challenge is staying alive.

Divergent, was a great novel and very hard to put down.  (It also helped that our internet
was down yesterday, so more reading time!)  It is the first in a series and it is being made into a movie.  It is another dystopian, "teens fight the government", society vs. human nature novel, but I very much enjoyed it.

5QF ~ November 15, 2013

How is it already Friday again?  How is it the middle of November already?  Yikes!

Here's this week's 5QF!

Where do you not mind waiting?

 I do not mind waiting at home for something - either for someone to arrive or for a package to be delivered.  I look at it as bonus quiet time for myself!

What is your favorite movie line or scene?

I have watched Disney's Hercules (1997) a bunch lately.  So, my current favorite movie line is:  "Somebody call I-X-I-I!"

Who is the most famous person you have ever met?

I was so lucky to have met Dr. John Dominic Crossan and Dr. Marcus Borg (both New Testament scholars) a couple of weeks ago.  I got to have a few individual conversations with them and was able to ask some questions during the Q & A time.  ::::geeked out::::

What is your favorite potato chip flavor?

Easy.  Barbecue.

If you could project yourself into the past, were would you go?

I would want to go back to Rome in the time of the Augustan Peace (early 1st Century CE).  I would also go visit Civil War era America and early 1960s America.

The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott

This weekend I finshed reading another pretty good YA novel.  I saw The Alchemyst - the Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel, by Michael Scott, at a Barnes and Noble this summer and picked it up.  It was a good read.

This book is the first in a series of (I think) six books so far.  Twins Sophie and Josh are spending the summer in San Francisco working and saving money to buy a car.  Josh works at a book store and Sophie works across the street at a coffee shop.  One day Josh is busy in the basement looking for a book when he hears a lot of noise going on in the shop.  Nick, his boss, is having an arguments with a strange, pale, small man.  As Josh sneaks upstairs he is pulled into an amazing and crazy tale.

The book shop owner is Nicholas Flamel - a man who was born in 1300s France and who was still alive.  He was a scholar and an alchemist who discovered the secret to immortality.  He and his wife Perenelle are the guardians of a special Codex which the small, creepy man, Dr. John Dee (also alive since the Elizabethan age) wants more than anything in the world.  Sophie and Josh are sucked into a world of magic, mythological beings and the Elders' battle for control of the Earth. 

Michael Scott based many of his characters on real people - Nicholas and Perenelle, as well as John Dee, were real life people.  The Codex, also known as the Book of Abraham the Mage, was a real book that Nicholas spent his lifetime attempting to translate. 

I enjoyed the fact that the author blends together the ideas and gods of many world civilizations and historical characters into a thrilling adventure tale.  The first book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger and makes me want to continue reading it.  The adventure and journey are in the same genre as Percy Jackson, but Michael Scott takes a totally different twist.  Another great read.

Transformation - October

My journey during October.

5QF ~ November 1, 2013

Here is another week of 5QF!!

1.  Where is the worst place to be stuck waiting?
I have two:  the airport and in the room at the doctor's office.  You can't go anywhere, you are feeling uncomfortable and awkward, and it is an unknown wait time!

2.  What animal comes to mind when you think of a safari?
A giraffe and a rhino.

3.  What is something you do every day?
I make up songs about everything I'm doing.  Right now, I am singing a song in my head about blogging.  It makes my life like an opera or musical and that's always great!

4.  What language would you like to master?
I want to be better at Latin.  I would love to learn ancient Greek.  Otherwise, I think knowing Italian or German would be great - I can read articles about Classics without having to wait for the translations.

5.  What is the scariest scene you remember from a kid's movie?
 Anything from Return to Oz.  That movie was quite dark.  Dorothy being in that creepy insane asylum.  The Mombie woman with the room of heads.  The creepy Wheelers.  Yeah, out of control!

Wordless Wednesday: Then and Today

Wordless Wednesday: Awesome

Getting Healthy - A Journey

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Read more at http://quotes.dictionary.com/health_is_a_state_of_complete_physical_mental#6EcRAPRVWVKToD4V.99

April 2013

I am now recording this journey for the world to see on my blog.  It is both exciting and nerve-wrecking!  Since I have turned 30, I have been looking at my daily habits.  There are some things that I am proud of (being thankful daily, singing at home and at church, working a wonderful job) and some things I was unhappy with (my energy level, my weight, how I looked in clothes). 



I wanted to change these things that I was unhappy with and this blog is my first public declaration of it. 

I want to get healthy!

I found this quote today.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ~ Unknown

I love how health is described as a wellness of a whole person - physical, mental and social.   I'm doing a lot to be well rounded and happy, but my physical health needed a jump start.  I am so lucky to have surrounded myself with a great group of people who totally support my goals. 

First, I have my "coach" - a friend at work who pushes me to eat right and exercise...and doesn't take no for an answer.  We check in with each other on the weekends and on school breaks to make sure the other is continuing exercise and good eating. 

Second, we have an awesome group of ladies that are the "Morning Workout Club" - four of us who walk/lift/dance/laugh each weekday morning.  We use our morning time to get ready for the day, release some stress and laugh!  Again, "no" is not acceptable.  Also, we support each other in healthy eating habits (Did you have enough water today?  Eat an apple instead of a candy bar!). 

Finally, and most importantly, I have a wonderful husband who supports me, doesn't look funny at me or laugh when I do exercises at home and who will go on walks with our Pup too!  Of course, Miss Pup and her love of walks helps too!

I have set myself a series of goals.  I have my overall goal:  lose 35 pounds by June 1, 2014.  I have intermediate goals:  lose 5 pounds a month.  I also have given myself "incentive" goals:  I cleaned all the gross-looking, fat-lady clothes and purchased a few new pieces, I go shopping for something new when I have no pants that do not fall down without a belt, and I am not going to get another haircut until I reach my overall goal!

Down 4 - looking and feeling great!

This past weekend, I got to go to the "big city" and go shopping for a new pair of pants and a few tops.  I wore the first outfit to work on Monday and I got many complements.  One was from an amazing teacher that I have worked with for 3 years who said "Wow!  You look really thin today!".  That brought a smile to my face all day. 

I am down 4 pounds from the initial weigh in day.  That means I have 6 pounds to go by the end of the month, but I know these first few months are not going to be filled with huge losses - I am re-gaining a lot of muscle. 

I am also down 2 pants sizes.  These lost inches are the biggest sign of my progress this month!  I almost wish I had measured my waist, etc. before I started...but too late now!!

5QF ~ October 18, 2013

Here we are at another Friday, so here we are at another 5QF!! 

1.  What is your favorite Disney movie? 
Hercules (1997).  I know that they got some (most?) of the mythology wrong, but I love this movie.  I love the songs, the art style, the humor and the pop culture references.  Sorry Classics Institute nerds, but Hercules is still king of the Disney movies to me!

2.  If you had to pick, which of the Seven Dwarfs is most like you?
Dopey.  I am a goof-ball who loves to dance and make jokes.

3.  What kind of music makes you want to get up and sing?
Those cheesy, goofy, one-hit-wonder-type songs.  I walk with a group of ladies every morning, and we jam to some good music.  Our Friday Favorite is the Pitch Perfect soundtrack.  We just act silly (see question 2 for why) and sing our hearts out!

4.  If you could be a member of any TV-sitcom family, which would it be?
The Pritchett-Dunphey family from Modern Family.  They are hilarious!  If we are talking "family", I would say the Bones family.  They work well together, they have each other's back and they are just plain awesome.

5.  Do you prefer tea, coffee or cocoa?
Cocoa for a cold, chilly day.  Hot tea if I am tired and need some caffeine.  Never, ever, ever coffee.

Surprise Visit

This morning at church we had a huge surprise!  Our childhood pastor and his wife came to our service today.  We had no idea they were coming.  

It was wonderful visit and a thrilling surprise!

Nerds

(Warning-PG language in the comic). 

I saw this online and had to share it.   Nerds!!

Source:  http://www.mercworks.net/declaration-of-indecooldence/

OZ-tober!

We are about a week into one of my favorite literary months - OZ-tober! 

One of the original covers

I have begun to celebrate OZ-tober by re-reading the classic The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. It was one of my favorite books as a kid and I still love it today.  I have it as part of an e-book collection of the original 15 Baum-authored OZ books.  Yes, there are more OZ books that are not written by the original author - but these are the classics!  So, reading them all is on my list of things to do this OZ-tober.

1939 movie

I am also planning on watching the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz.  The classic, Judy Garland, technicolor movie is still a great film.  In love watching the hours and hours of special features and watching the movie over and over and over!  I received the 70th Anniversary box set 5 years ago and I love the extras that come with it - a color book, poster reprints, etc.  I love OZ so much that  I even splurged and got myself the 75th Anniversary box set that just came out.  (Of course, our lovely snow storm has delayed my package....I guess that's what I'll do Monday night then!)  OZ-tober also includes listening to the soundtrack to the 1939 movie.  All of the songs make for a great escape on a blustery fall day!

Such a great illustrated version

There are a few modern takes on OZ that I particularly enjoy.  I have a few graphic novel interpretations of some of the OZ stories. These wonderful additions, by Eric Shanover and Skottie Young, have an amazing art style.  They are also very true to the originals.  These books are a great way to introduce OZ to younger readers!  I have also read different short-story collections that put Dorothy, OZ and all our favorite characters into a modern context.  All pretty good.

A playbill/poster of the musical

No discussion of modern takes on OZ is complete without a discussion of Wicked.  October also marks the anniversary of Wicked on Broadway.  I have been very lucky and seen Wicked three times - once

in San Francisco and twice in Denver.  I wish I could go every year to see it, or that they would actually make the movie that has been rumored for years now.  Since I can't watch Wicked whenever I want, to honor the Broadway show I listen to the soundtrack very, very often.  If it was still the old days of records and cassette tapes, I would have worn more than one out by now!

Of course, the musical is based on the book Wicked:  The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire.  I picked it up on a whim at the store a number of years ago and found a modern classic that I couldn't put down.  Gregory Maguire took the classic story of Dorothy and OZ and imagined what life was like for the Wicked Witch.  Was she truly wicked?  Was she just misunderstood?  What events in her life led her down the path where she is hated by the Wizard and all citizens of Oz and that Dorothy would go and eventually kill her?  There are 4 books in the series (among others that Maguire has written) and I love them all.  The first and the last (Out of Oz) are my favorites of his.

 

 

 

The editions of the novels I have in book format.

I will have a very full OZ-tober this year.  But it is one of my favorite times of year too, so I will be wickedly happy!

Miss Perigrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

I just finished reading a pretty interesting novel.  In Miss Perigrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, Jacob and his Grandpa Abe have a very close bond.  When Jacob was a child his Grandpa told him lots of fantastic and wonderful stories about children that he knew.  There was the girl who could float in the air.  There was an invisible boy.  Abe even knew a girl who could create balls of fire in her hands - and she never got hurt.  Jacob loved his Grandfather very much, but began to doubt the stories that he believed as a little kid. 

One of the amazing vintage photos!

After Abe has passed away, Jacob and his father go to the small island in the UK that Abe grew up on.  While exploring the island one day, Jacob discovers a time loop.  Jacob ends up in September of 1940!  But that is not the only peculiar thing he encounters.  All of the children and all of the crazy stories his Grandfather told him are true.  They all exist in 1940 in this place.  There is just one more thing.  In the loop he goes into, it is always September 4, 1940.  Each evening there is a reset and the day begins again.

Jacob travels between his modern time and the loop.  He meets all these interesting people that knew and loved his Grandfather - and they are all kids about his age!  Of course, you have to have a twist.  The twist in this story is that there is a  group of beings that want to harm the peculiar children and abduct their caretakers. 

Will Jacob be able to fully realize his peculiarity and be able to save his new friends and keep his Dad safe?  Who in Jacob's life is actually peculiar?  Who is a friend and who is an enemy?  What will Jacob decide to do - stay in the past or return to the future?

This book was great!  It has a lot of vintage photographs that help the story along.  It was a great use of both text and primary media - the photos were all real vintage photos!!  There are quite a few of my co-workers who have read this book and they are super excited for the sequel to come out (sometime soon I hear).  It does end in a sort of cliff-hanger, so if you need a complete story, wait until the second book is out to start this one.  All in all, a great read.

5QF ~ September 27, 2013

My favorite 5QF blog is taking a hiatus from 5QF.  That makes me sad.  But, I am going to try and pull old questions that I hadn't answered (and maybe some I make up as we go along) to continue with 5QF.  So, here is today's attempt.

1.  What book influenced your thinking the most?
This one is easy.  A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn.  This was one of our texts in AP US History in high school.  The book, along with some awesome lectures and lessons from one of the best teachers ever, looked at history from the other point of view.  For example, we looked at the Civil War from both the point of view of the North and the point of view of the South.  Coach Mitch taught me to questions things, look at information from both sides of the conflict and always, always ask questions.

2.  Do you finish a book if it is boring or you don't like it?
Yes.  I almost never start a book and then don't finish it.  Sometimes I wish that I could do that, but it's just not my personality.

3.  What is your favorite time of day and why?
I love the early morning.  It is just me and Miss Pup up.  Things are quiet in the house.  I get a chance to wake up with the world (especially during fall and winter when the sun isn't up yet!) and prepare for the day ahead.

4.  What is your favorite zoo animal?
Hippos.  Hands down.  They seem to act like my pup, even though they are huge, dangerous animals.  I really just want to hug a hippo.

5.  Have you ever tie-dyed your own clothes?
Twice.  When we took chemistry in high school, one of our projects was to tie-dye a shirt.  I can't remember what chem lesson we were learning, but I got a pretty cool shirt out of the deal.  The second time was also in high school.  Our cross country team got together and we tie-dyed our team shirts for that year. 

Venus in Copper, by Lindsey Davis

This past weekend I finished reading the third book in the Falco series.  Venus in Copper, by Lindsey Davis, picks up where the second book leaves off.  It is a hot August in Rome and Falco has no money, no commissions, and is unsure of his relationship with Helena.

Falco is hired by a pair of freedwomen.  Their fellow freedman, Novus, is engaged to a woman who has had three husbands - each of whom left her a sizeable legacy.  Novus is set to marry Zotica and these two freedwomen want to protect their portion of their "family" wealth.  They hire Falco to expose Zotica and keep Novus safe.

As is the case, things are not always what they seem.  Is the freedwoman Zotica methodically going through men to get their money?  Is this woman just a person who has fallen under unfortunate circumstances? 

In the meantime, Falco rents a different apartment.  He is moving up in the world by moving down a few floors to live on the third floor in a better neighborhood.  (Don't know much about Roman apartments, look here!)  Falco desperately wants to continue his relationship with Helena.  She wants to be with Falco, despite the public/social "shame" it will bring to her family.  How will they work it out?

Venus in Copper is a wonderful third installm
ent in the Falco series.  The case is intriguing because it focuses more on the everyday social situation in Flavian Rome.  Yet this book gives the reader room to learn more about Falco and Helena.  We also get to see how our modern lives are not quite so different from Flavian Rome after all!

Wyoming Weather

This week our weather has finally settled into a normal pattern for fall.  Gone are the endless days of rain.  Gone are the daily thunderstorms.  Gone are the scorching temperatures!

The past week we have had much more sunshine.  Very few (if any) rainstorms and virtually no thunder.  Our temps have cooled off...we only hit the mid-80s this week.  Even Friday morning was a bit crisp!

The leaves haven't all started changing yet, but I saw the first yellowing leaves of an Aspen this week. 

Hopefully we will soon have fall weather - temps just perfect for jeans and a sweater, changing and falling leaves, no rain, slight breezes.  Fall is my favorite season and I am ready for it!!

Bones of the Lost, by Kathy Reichs

The latest book in the Temperance Brennan series was just released and I just finished it yesterday!  Bones of the Lost, by Kathy Reichs, starts with Tempe investigating a hit-and-run victim.  The victim, a young Jane Doe, appears to have been hit and then ran over - a sign of deliberate killing.  Tempe is working with Slidell to solve this mystery.  That is, until Slidell is pulled to work on a higher profile case.  Tempe feels badly about this unknown victim and takes it upon herself to investigate.  The investigation would be easier with the help of the police, but it just isn't possible.

Enter Pete:  Tempe's ex-husband.  Their daughter, Katy, has enlisted in the military and is stationed in Afghanistan.  After buttering her up, Pete asks Tempe to fly to Afghanistan and investigate an incident involving a nephew of a friend.  Frustrated with the Jane Doe case, and enticed with the possibility of seeing Katy, Tempe agrees. 

While overseas, Tempe meets up with some pretty crazy characters who all work together on the exhumation and re-examination of two Afghan nationals who were allegedly killed by Lt. Story.  This forensic mystery is investigated in the background of a US base in Afghanistan.  (I have a friend who is in the Air Force band and just got back from a tour in Southwest Asia.  Her descriptions of the types of travel that troops have are very close to what Kathy Reichs describes.)  Tempe is flown back to the States to be a witness at Lt. Story's Article 32 hearing (apparently the pre-cursor to a court martial).  Story gets off and Brennan finally returns to her home in Charlotte.

Now things start coming together.  Slidell is able to devote more energy and focus to the Jane Doe mystery.  Tempe has a chance to work more with the skeleton and help learn more about this mystery girl.  Detective work, and (very stupid) action on Tempe's part, brings the Jane Doe mystery to a close.  There are some unexpected connections between the two mysteries in the book.  And those twists and turns that make a Bones novel great.

All in all I really liked the book.  I had difficulty getting invested in the first part with the Jane Doe mystery.  The investigation overseas was very interesting.  I really want to find out if this procedure is often followed when investigating a death in a war zone.  Then, of course, you have your climax complete with twists and turns, action and suspense.  Good book!

Wordless Wednesday: pups

More Books I've Read!

Here are a couple of book reviews of Books I've Read!  I got a little behind, but now I'm catching up.

Shadows in Bronze, by Lindsey Davis, is the second book in the Falco series.  This installment picks up right where Silver Pigs left off.  Falco and Helena have both returned to Rome and to life as dictated by the norms of 1st Century Rome.  The emperor (Vespasian) has given Falco the task of cataloguing and selling the possessions of a traitor that was killed during the course of the last investigation.  This traitor (a senator's son) was also the ex-husband of our heroine Helena.  I don't know if it could get any more awkward!

Falco must travel down the coast to inform a public official that his brother was killed in a horrible temple fire in Rome.  This lovely sea-side area is in the shadow of Vesuvius before the major eruption of 72 CE.  On his journey, Falco is trailed by a mysterious figure in a green cape who is trying to kill him.  Falco must discover who this person is, deliver Vespasian's message, attempt to arrest a rogue senator all while traveling with his best friend's family and his (un?)lucky nephew!

In typical Falco-fashion, this great tale is the second installment in a 20 book series.  I love Ms. Davis' writing style, her pretty accurate portrayal of ancient Rome and the action, mystery and loves of her characters.  Look for more re-reads of the installments to come!


I then spent a few days reading And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie.  My husband suggested this book after we watched the TV series Whodunnit? this past summer.  In the book, there are 10 strangers who travel to a remote island off the coast of England.  Their host does not arrive the first night, but a strange recording is played that accuses each of them of murder.  However, these murders are crimes that can not be definitively proven and would not land these people in jail.  When two of the 10 guests die on the first night, the rest discover that there is a killer among them.  Who is this killer?  Why were these people called together and their hidden secrets stated for all to hear?  Will any of them survive until they can get back to the main land for help?

If I hadn't watched the TV series and if this book was not recommended by my husband, I am not sure that I would have continued to read it.  The language used (mid-20th Century British) and the writing style made for a frustrating first half of the book.  Things picked up in the second half and made for a good mystery though.

Late Summer in Wyoming: Hot temps, daily thunderstorms

This past week has been a hot and sticky one here in Wyoming.  It is late summer.  The weather is not pleasant, but at least it is predictable.  It is bright, clear and sunny in the morning.  It heats up to a skin-melting blaze by mid-afternoon.  Then, the thunder, lightning and few raindrops come in during the late afternoon or early evening. 

My days this time of year ususally go like this.

Morning:  Get up and dress for the extreme heat.  Take into consideration how much I will be outside and/or away from AC.  Leave the house and think about how beautiful the blue sky is.

Early Afternoon:  Be ready to head home and absolutely melt in my car.  It's like entering a pre-heated oven.  The good thing about my "commute" is that it is only 4 min or so.  The bad news is that my AC does not fully reach its potential in that 4 min!

Seriously?  103 in September?

Late Afternoon/Early Evening:  Comfort "Super Corg" because some thunder-rumble or two raindrops freaked her out.  Usually end up slobbered on and with numb or hurting limbs from her wanting to lay on me!

I hate thunder, I hate thunder!  (P.S. She did this herself with no help from us!)

Evening:  Do the chores it was too hot to do during the day.  Pick out clothes for the next day and wonder when that stinking snow is going to come here and cool this place down!

Night:  Attempt to get our AC to run just enough to cool things down, but not so cold that we are freezing in the night.  Toss and turn until I can find a comfortable place to be in the bed.  Fall asleep and wonder if it will be cooler tomorrow.

Sphinx Pose

Daisy and I did some stretches together.  Here is one of Daisy's favorites!

"Ya dead?!?" "Yeah Mon!"

Tonight as I sit here to write this post I am thinking of one of my fave movies...Cool Runnings.  The movie is funny, uplifting and silly.  The following exchange happens a couple of times in the movie.

Source

 That's how I feel about this blog the last couple of weeks!  Things have been fun and busy these last few weeks of summer.  We have been grateful to have been able to go see family a couple of different times.  We drove down for our SIL's graduation celebration one afternoon.  This past weekend we went to stay with my in-laws and go to the zoo with both the CO and WI sides of the family.  One of our favorite things to do in the summer!  (I'll post on that later when I get the pics!)  We also got a chance to have breakfast with my parents, see their pups and have a very, very brief conversation with my grandma.

We also had our annual Green Harvest Festival in town.  Our Praise Band sang for the closing concert on Sunday.  We had a long, but good set - we sang for about 2 hours!  The sprinkles of rain came but ended shortly before we were to start...so that was a blessing.

Things are busy around the house:  I'm back into a different routine for the school year, there are tons of chores that I can't seem to get caught up on, my husband is getting ready to get the cast off this week (yeah!!) and our pup is still freaking out over thunderstorms.

The weather has been pretty good.  Rumor has it (from my friend who farms and has for many, many years) it will snow in September.  I don't know about that, but I don't want feet of snow yet.  I just want temps that are in the 60s - not the 90s!

To sum it up:

• I am here and alive.
• I am really busy.
• I am squeezing every last possible ounce of summer activities in that I can.
• I promise to get back into more regular posting soon.

The Wide Window, by Lemony Snickett

This week, besides finishing the latest Hangman's Daughter book, I read the third book in the Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snickett.

This book follows the Baudelaire orphans (Violet, Klaus and Sunny) are sent to live on Lake Lachrymose with Aunt Josephine.  She has a beautiful house overlooking the late, but she is terrified of everything.  No joke...everything.  She won't use the stove or oven because she is terrified of fires - so they eat only cold foods.  She is scared of telephones so she not only doesn't answer the phone, she doesn't call anyone either.  She is terrified of cars, so they must all walk miles into town and then back up the hill she lives on.  She is scared of the Lake because her husband was killed by the Lachrymose Leeches.

One day at the grocery store the children and Aunt Josephine meet Captain Sham - a pirate who rents sail boats on the dock.  Captain Sham is really the evil Count Olaf (who wants to steal the Baudelaire fortune and dispose of the orphans) but no one believes the kids.  This wouldn't be called a Series of UN-fortunate Events for nothing!

The next morning the kids awake to the window being broken and a suicide note saying the kids should live with Captain Sham.  The three orphans then attempt to figure out what really happened, try to avoid being adopted and placed into the care of Captain Sham/Count Olaf and survive Hurricane Herman that is battering the island!

Things, of course, don't go perfectly, so the story ends in an unfortunate place for the kids.  This was a quick read, but it was really good.

The Dark Monk, by Oliver Potzsch

The Dark Monk:  A Hangman's Daughter Tale...a story about the stupidity of love, the death of a priest, a lost treasure, religious fanaticism, bandits and winter.

This is the second novel in the Hangman's Daughter series, by Oliver Potzsch. Set in 1660 in a small town in Bavaria, this installment again focuses of Simon, the town doctor,  Jakob, the town hangman, and Magdalana, the hangman's daughter.

Simon, the town's medicus is called to the local church in the middle of a blizzard - the town's priest has died.  Was the priest poisoned?  Or, did he just eat one too many cinnamon rolls before bed?  Simon intends to find out.  Along the way he meets the priest's sister - Benedikta - and together they begin to discover that the priest had made a fascinating and dangerous discovery.  The pair begin to follow the clues and believe they are in search of the lost treasure of the Templars. 

Magdalana, the hangman's daughter, is serving as an aprentice to the town's midwife.  She is assisting in a particularly difficult birth and the midwife sends her away.  As the hangman's daughter, Magdalana is seen as unclean and a bad omen.  The midwife, who does not believe such foolishness, asks Magdalana to go to Augsburg for some herbs.  Magdalana is dejected and feeling just awful when she sees her love Simon around town with another woman.  Now, Magdalana gets crazy jealous and begs her father to allow her to take the trip to Augsburg just to get away from Simon!

Meanwhile, in the midst of this brutal January  snowstorm, the town and trade routes are plagued by bandits.  The merchants keep getting robbed of their wares, beaten and murdered!  It is not safe for any merchants to send goods out of the city for sale, and no goods are coming into town either. The town is in serious financial trouble and needs to be rid of these bandits.  Who better to help round up, and kill, these bandits but the town hangman - a man already made unclean by his profession?!

It takes all of the smarts and bravery of all our main characters to solve these mysteries!  There is talk in the book (by the Catholic monks) about the heretics - the Lutherans! - destroying the church.  The characters must solve riddles, attempt to evade the bandits, figure out who they can trust, and discover this lost treasure.  All in the middle of a blizzard!

These seemingly unrelated story-lines slowly weave themselves together throughout the book.  I have the ebook edition, and by the time I was at 50% I could not put the book down!!  There are of course plot twists, shocks and great action.  This is a great read and you do not have to have read the first book in order to enjoy the story.  A great book!

Wordless Wednesday: Yard Work Makes Me Tired

Silver Pigs, by Lindsey Davis

I finished reading the first in the Marcus Didius Falco series - Silver Pigs, by Lindsey Davis - yesterday.

Marcus Didius Falco is a private informer in Rome under the rule of Vespasian (c. 70 CE).  One morning in the Forum, Falco literally runs into a girl of 16 (Sosia) who is attempting to evade some big, scary looking guys.  He becomes entangled in the mystery of where a silver pig (an ingot of lead/silver from the mines in Britanium) came from and why someone would steal one and attempt to hide it in Rome.

Falco meets Sosia's family and agrees to find out who brought the pig to Rome - and, in turn, who is attempting to overthrow the new emperor Vespasian.  Along the way, Sosia turns up dead.  This devastates Falco, who now has a more personal reason for solving the mystery because he wants to avenge Sosia's death and catch the person responsible.

His journey takes him to Britanium where Falco goes on a dangerous undercover mission.  Posing as a slave, Falco works in the mines in an attempt to discover how the ingots are being smuggled into Rome and who is involved in the plot in Britain.  His "home base" in Britain is the home of a local Roman official related to Sosia.  It is here that he meets Helena Justina, the daughter of the senator he works for and cousin of Sosia.  Over the second half of the book Helena becomes Marcus's ally, friend and eventually love.

The story then takes us back to Rome.  Parts of the plot are uncovered, but Falco does not have the full story yet.  The climax comes on the day that Vespasian and Titus are celebrating their triumph after the battles in Judea.  This public festival is the perfect time for the killers/conspirators to get their loot out of Rome and leave before they are revealed to the emperor.

Silver Pigs is the first of (I think now) 20 books in the Falco series.  Lindsey Davis is a great author who paints a great image of Imperial Rome's sights, sounds and smells, yet is accessible to people who know very little about Rome.  She is known for saying that her books were not intended to be used in history courses.  In fact, she appologizes in the author's notes to students who are forced to read her books for education not fun! 

I've read this one a bunch of times, but I have not ever finished the series.  So, I am off on another book series, interspersed with others of course!

Summer is Winding Down....

We are in the final countdown until school starts (Aug. 19th for me) and this past week has been incredibly busy.  It is time to jam all of the "end of summer" chores/events into life!

This past week I have:

• watched a bunch of movies - a great way to spend a summer evening when your dog is loosing her mind because 2 rain drops fell!
• read another book - because once school starts reading time is drastically cut down!
• continued to work on chores - the house won't clean itself!
• ran errands including checking in with various people about work stuff - because there will not be as many "business hours" to do this!
• went shopping for school supplies and clothes - because it is always nice to start the school year with new clothes and supplies!
• stayed up way too late - because I can!
• start getting up every morning - because I need to!

 I have a "book review" that I want to post later today, so be looking for it.  In the meantime, I probably better go get ready for another day!

Code, by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs

Geocaching.  Code Breaking.  Cotillion?

I just finished reading another Virals book.  This time I read Code, by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs.  The story again follows the Virals pack - Tori, Shelton, Hi and Ben - on a crazy adventure.

The novel opens with the pack finding a geocache on Loggerhead Island - the private research facility that their parents all work at.  This is no ordinary geocache though.  The cache contains a clue to where another cache is hidden.  The pack decides that they should go and find this second cache. 

The second site is different; it contains an iPad with a clue and is booby-trapped!  The Virals must keep following the Gamemaster's clues and win the Game he has set up.  If they fail to win the game or if they involve anyone else the lives of innocent people - and the lives of their own family - are at risk.

Code is a tale of clue breaking, detective work, and normal high school problems.  In the midst of the game, Tori (or main character and grand-niece of Tempe Brennan) has to deal with her dad's girlfriend Whitney moving in to their home, being debuted at cotillion (all Whitney's idea), figure out her friends and navigate the world of high school romance.  Oh, and a raging hurricane is predicted to hit Charleston. 

This is a great read and kept me turning the pages of the book.  I think this is the best of the Virals books.  The mystery started at the very beginning of the book and did not get solved until the end.  The resolution was a bit short for my tastes, but leaves us open for the next book.  Unfortunately for me, I have to wait until March 2014 for the next book to be released!!!

5QF ~ August 2, 2013

I can not believe it is already August!  I think I passed the point in the summer where I now am longing for school to start so that I can get back into a normal routine! 

This weekend my parents are here to visit.  We will spend the next few days at a local softball tournament, the county fair, watching movies, eating good food (Mom brought strawberry shortcake!), playing with Miss Pup and visiting!

I need to get off the computer and go take a shower so that I can finally get ready for today.  So, without further ado, here is 5QF!

1.  What is on your Summer 2013 bucket list?  There are a lot of things I still want to get done - go swimming more, take a vacation, watch all the movies I want to see in the theater...  However, I don't think that any of those things will happen.  Oh well!

2. What is the most useless item on back to school lists?  There are a lot of very useful things - tissues, pencils, paper...  The most useless?  In middle school here I would say it is the protractor/compass.  If you need one, you can borrow from the teacher, but it is pretty rare that you need one for homework or at home.

3.  What is the one reality TV show that makes no sense to you?  Survivor.  Why would you want to go live in a remote place with no contact with the outside world in order to backstab people and end up doing really gross stuff in order to attempt to win money?  There is not enough money in the world!

4.  What is one movie you can watch over and over again?  Why?  Lately I have watched OZ the Great and Powerful and Despicable Me over and over.  They make me laugh and I am still seeing things I missed before.

5.  What is your favorite back to school tradition?  Buying new clothes.  Now that I work at a school (rather than just attend one), I am still enjoying going clothes shopping and am really, really looking forward to it!

9 Years Ago

On July 31, 2004 we were married in the church we grew up in surrounded by the family and friends who watched us since we were small.  Our campus pastor married us on a day that was filled with smiles.  Standing by our sides were my best friend and my husband's uncle.

In 9 years we have moved 5 times, completed degrees, purchased our first home, adopted our wonderful pup, worked numerous jobs, watched many movies and TV shows and laughed.  We have survived many illnesses, a surgery, saying goodbye to loved ones and welcoming new lives.  We have gone on some amazing vacations - cruise, Disneyland, B & B in the mountains, Italy, Tahoe, Vegas.  We have spent vacation time visiting family, going to the zoo, seeing the museum.

We laugh a lot.  We do things together.  We support each other.  We do chores, yard work, and errands.  At the end of the day, we go to sleep saying "I love you" to each other.  I am grateful to be married to the best guy, my partner who knows me completely and supports me unconditionally. 

We are looking forward to many, many more years together filled with more of the joys and happy times.

Happy Anniversary!

Summer Time is Reading Time

My favorite part about summer is all of the time I get to spend reading.  Recently, I read another e-short (this time from the Virals series) and another book in the Lemony Snickett series.

Shift, an e-short by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs, lets us into the world of the Virals in a bit of a different manner.  This story was great because each chapter was written in the voice of a different character (the Virals books are written in the voice of Tory).  The Virals' pack, along with the adults at LIRI, have to find out who stole equipment from the labs at LIRI.  By using their powers, the Virals work hard to solve the crime before Tory's dad Kit and her great Aunt Tempe solve it. 

This is a great story as it shows a girl who wants to display her investigative skills and perseverance to her idol - Tempe...who also happens to be a relative!  This was a great one because each chapter was written in the voice of a different character.  It is a quick read and a great bridge between books 2 and 3 of the series!

The Reptile Room, by Lemony Snickett, is the second book the in Series of Unfortunate Events series.  In this installment the Baudelaire orphans go to live with their Uncle - Dr. Montgomery Montgomery - aka Uncle Monty.  The children think that they have finally found a place where they will be happy.  Living with Uncle Monty gives the kids something comforting and he has something each of the kids like to do. 

However, this wouldn't be an Unfortunate Event book without some misfortune.  This time it comes in the form of Uncle Monty's new assistant - Stephano.  The children are at home alone, working with Monty's reptile collection and preparing for a trip to Peru to find more snakes, when Stephano arrives.  There is a problem for the kids though.  Stephano is actually Count Olaf - the crazy relative who tried to marry the eldest girl and treated the kids horribly!!  The kids have to work to stay alive, keep Uncle Monty alive, and avoid the icy grip of Count Olaf. 

This instalment is great.  I like that these are books that don't have a totally happy ending.  The conflict is resolved, but the kids are still not living a "happily ever after" life. 

Kids Don't Hate History...

I saw the link to this post (Kids Don't Hate History) on one of the blogs that I read (Indiana Jen) and thought it was very true.  I believe that people don't like history because they think it is just memorizing dates and names and places.  The best part of history - the part that got me so hooked on history and the part that keeps me wanting to learn more - is the stories.  History is the study of the stories of real people in real situations in a time different than ours.  Anyway, food for thought!

Kids don’t hate history, they hate the way we teach it

by glennw on March 25, 2013

About 15 years ago, I had the chance to drive James Loewen around for a couple of days. He was in town for a two day workshop and afterwards had to get to Kansas City for a flight. As his chauffeur, I got the chance to pepper him with all sorts of questions. And much of what I wanted to know revolved around his most recent book at the time, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.
I was especially curious about the first few sentences in the book:

High school students hate history. When they list their favorite subjects, history always comes in last. They consider it “the most irrelevant” of 21 school subjects, not applicable to life today. “Boring” is the adjective they apply to it. When they can, they avoid it . . .

Once I got him started, Loewen went on to describe the incredible amounts of money being made by movie producers and book publishers who focused on historical topics. At the time, the viewing and reading public was fascinated with movies such as Dances with Wolves, JFK, Saving Private Ryan, and Gone with the Wind and books like Gore Vidal’s Lincoln and David McCullough’s John Adams.

Recent examples would be the recent movies Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty – or books like Unbroken and Killing Kennedy.
He was very clear about it:

Kids don’t hate history. They hate the way we teach it.

I couldn’t agree more.

Kids don’t hate history lectures. Not if it’s done in an engaging style with images and great questions and small groups and problems to solve. What they hate is required, graded outlined notes without context or purpose. They hate 45 minute monologues without a chance to ever interact with the content. They hate listening to what Loewen calls a list of stuff presented as “one damn thing after another.”

Kids don’t hate historical characters. Not when we tell them stories of actual people and how they survived the Kansas winter of 1874 or a teenager’s experience during the Montgomery Bus Boycott or a trip from Haiti to the Florida Keys on a homemade raft or an escape from a World War II concentration camp or . . . well, just about any event well told. What they hate are long lists of people that show up on the matching section of chapter tests for no reason at all.

Kids don’t hate maps. Maps tell incredible stories. They draw the viewer in with what Robert Lewis Stevenson called the power of “infinite, eloquent suggestion.” Miles Harvey, author of The Island of Lost Maps, understands what a good map can do:

Sometimes a map speaks in terms of physical geography, but just as often it muses on the jagged terrain of the heart, the distant vistas of memory or the fantastic landscape of dreams.

Kids hate adding all of the major rivers and bodies of water to a bare outline map of the United States. They hate being graded on whether they used the correct color for labeling the 108 counties of Kansas.

Kids don’t hate reading and writing. My older son and his friends are huge fans of The Game of Thrones. They’ve got the books, they write fan fiction, they read and comment on blogs. They read immense amounts of non-fiction and informational text. What they hate is not having any choice in what they read and write about. What they hate is writing for just their classroom teachers and not someone “real.” They hate using paper and pencil when computers and mobile devices are everywhere.

Kids don’t hate doing homework. Ask them to do something authentic like making an iMovie trailer or playing a video game or talking to Iraqi war vets and they will jump all over it. What they hate is dragging home packets of worksheets that are basically copy and paste with a pencil. They hate having homework count as 50% of their grade and being called cheaters if they work with others to solve problems.

Kids don’t hate memorizing stuff. Are you kidding me? They memorize stuff all the time. Songs, video game walk-throughs, movie plots, the names of every one of the kids in the 4th grade class they visit once a week for Big Brothers / Big Sisters. What they hate is memorizing stuff that they know they will never actually use. What they hate is that they know we know they will never use that stuff. They hate being graded on their ability to memorize stuff that they can find on Google or with Siri in 60 seconds.

They don’t hate history. Not when it’s done well – with relevancy and choice and small groups and engaging problems and interesting documents and outside experts and technology and authentic products.
They hate the way we teach it.

Two Book Reviews

This week I was able to finish the latest novel I read and a new "e-short" from the Temperence Brennen series.

I, Mona Lisa, by Jeanne Kalogridis, is a historical fiction work centered around the woman made famous by painter Leonardo di Vinci.  The story begins with a murder - that of one of the leaders of Florence - and follows the life of the people who have been left in the wake of that murder. 

Lisa is a young girl who grows up with a sick mom who she loves more than anything else.  Her mother shares a love of art with her daughter.  Lisa's father is a successful wool merchant who has political ties.  The story follows Lisa as she grows from a young girl into a woman. 

This is a great tale that includes murder, intrigue, love and many, many plot twists.  It's quite a long book at just over 500 pages, but definitely a must-read for those who enjoy good historical fiction and for fans of Dan Brown's Langdon series.

I also had a chance to read a new e-short from the Temperence Brennen series.  Bones in Her Pocket, by Kathy Reichs, is a quick read at under 100 pages.  This is a brief intro to Tempe and follows the investigation of just one case.  A body has washed ashore in a protected wildlife area and Tempe must identify this person.  Tempe and "Skinny" Slidel (a police detective who often works with Tempe) begin to look into the pasts of people involved with the wildlife/bird rescue, an environmental "activist" (who really likes to blow things up and cause problems) and the people in a graduate student's life.  Does Tempe discover who the murderer is?  Will she fall into some sort of trouble and need to save herself or others?  Give this quick story a shot if you love Bones as much as I do!

5QF ~ July 26, 2013

Welcome to 5 Question Friday!  Here we go...

1.  What is your best secret cleaning tip?  Redneck couch covers.  We got some new couches a while ago and did not want them to be covered in dog fur (okay, so Daisy doesn't shed much, but still...).  We took some old comforters and used them as couch covers.  When they need washed, they are easy to throw in the laundry.

2.  What is your favorite food to snack on during movie night?  If we go out to the movies - popcorn with extra butter.  If we are at home - cookies.

3.  If it was up to you, what would you have named the royal baby?  I would have gone with something normal, but a little less "old-person".  What kind of nickname will George have?  Really....none.  Plus, having 3 names is going to be a pain for Will and Kate.  Imagine them being mad at him and hollering "George Alexander Louis, come down here NOW!".  Not likely.

4.  If you could be any Disney character who would you choose?   I would want to be Aurora Rose because I love her name.  Speaking of names (question number 3), maybe one day I'll change my name to Aurora Rose.

5.  What is the most important part of a healthy relationship?  Laughter.  It doesn't matter what you guys like or share in common, but as long as you can laugh, you will (eventually) make it through everything.

Crazy Physics of Disney's Hercules

At the Summer Classics Institute of 2012 (focusing on Homer's Odyssey), we quite often discussed Disney's Hercules.  It is one of my favorite movies, although not very true to Greek myth at times. 

It has since becoming an inside joke and running gag among us Classics Institute members to mention Disney's Hercules at totally random times. 

Today, my husband sent me a link to an interesting article posted on Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective on the Physics of Disney's Hercules.  The author takes a few of Herc's heroic actions and determines just how heroic his actions were. 

This is one of my favorite quotes from the article:

To propel an average-sized donkey that high, the mass of the haystacks must have totaled 12,864 kg (28,360 lbs), which didn’t seem to faze Hercules, who managed its weight with one arm. What’s less clear is how Hercules’ father expected Penelope to lug over 14 tons of hay into town. Donkey rights have come a long way.

You can read the whole article here.  Or, if you prefer, just go watch the movie!  And remember that you can always sing along!

5QF ~ July 19, 2013

1.  What is the one thing you have too many of in your house? 
Flies.  I greatly dislike fly season.  At least Miss Pup has fun attempting to catch them (and we laugh at her stubby legs trying to catch something that can fly)!

2.  Did anything go not quite as planned on your wedding day? 
Two things. 
1 - Getting our hair done took longer than expected, so my BFF and I were racing to get to the church to get pics done before the wedding. 
2-  As we were leaving after the wedding, my husband says that he doesn't have a dress shirt for the fancy nights on the cruise we are leaving for in the morning.  So after checking in at the hotel, we went to the mall to get him a shirt.

3.  What is your favorite summer smoothie recipe?  
 Go to a fast food place.  Order a smoothie.  Drink.

4. What is the weather like where you are?  
 H-O-T.  I know it isn't as hot as it is other places (upper 90s most days) nor is it nearly as humid as anything else, but man oh man am I miserable.  Poor Pup isn't getting nearly as many trips as she would like and we are all just staying inside in the AC as much as possible!

5.  What is your favorite book to read to kids?
Whenever we have relatives here, I like to read Green Eggs and Ham to them.  My niece is getting pretty good at remembering the order of the "would you like them in a ..." lines.  Dr. Seuss is awesome!