Book Review - Body Double

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen

I believe at the end of my last review I mentioned I was going for darker fare next time. This book does indeed meet that description. This is the fourth book written by Tess Gerritsen I have read, also billed as the fourth book in the Rizzoli & Isles series. This past summer, TNT started a new drama series called Rizzoli & Isles which I watched and enjoyed. Not until I did some browsing on their website did I realize that the show was based on a series of books. Naturally, I had to start reading them.

There are so many "spoilers" I could give away in reviewing this book, but I will try not to do that. While not everything in the book came as a surprise (the jacket cover tells you that the dead woman is Dr. Isles' twin sister), there were several times that a twist caught me off guard and it wasn't until the end that I discovered I was wrong about who the killer was. I LOVE it when I'm wrong about who the killer is. There was also more than one storyline going on here, sort of, and getting caught up in one made me forget about the other for a time. That's not a complaint, because when it came back up it was kind of thrilling to have one more mystery that had to be solved before the book could end. This is very good thriller/mystery and I highly recommend it. Unless you're pregnant. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE PREGNANT. Trust me on it. You won't rest easy if you disregard my warning.

Several of the book storylines have been covered in the TV series, and while this book deals with Maura's parentage and so did one of the shows, it is not nearly the same. Even so, that episode was called "The Beast in Me" which is a huge nod to the book.

If you enjoy thrillers, you might want to give this series a try. If you're more of a TV-watching sort, I think the last four episodes are still on TNT's website for viewing. The second season starts next summer.

The Mushroom Soup!

I LOVE soup. Something about making soup makes me feel all Rachael Ray-ish. (Although, I think she's more prone to making her "stoup" than regular soup.... I think it's just the chopping of vegetables and EVOO that sends me there.) There are several soup recipes that I adore, especially when the weather is chilly, but as a mushroom lover - this is hands-down my favorite. I've made it with the heavy whipping cream it calls for, but I also sometimes substitute half and half when my fat clothes are feeling a little on the snug side.

If you decide to try it, remember to add the garlic. It's in the ingredients list, but not in the recipe. Add it when you cook the celery and carrots near the beginning.

Crust up a loaf of french bread to dip in the soup. You'll be SO glad you did.

Link to recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/soups/the-mushroom-soup/

Book Review - The Wednesday Letters

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

Since the back cover SAYS they die, I won't be giving anything away when I tell you that the first chapter involves the death of the two parents, who die in each others arms. Sad. And enough to make me not want to read any more. I'm glad I kept going.

The rest of the book (except the last chapter) covers the few days between their death and the funeral. I will admit to shedding a tear or two, even though this was not one of those books that just drove me over the edge into a sobbing mess. It was very solid and very enjoyable. Now I want to tell John to go write me a letter every week for the rest of our lives, but that will probably not happen. This was a very quick read and I think I read the majority of the book in a single day. Once the children discover the letters, my reading really picked up. The letters ranged from simple little notes to revelations of all sorts, some of which are quite surprising and some which are shocking. It really makes me wonder how much of my own parent's lives that I have NO CLUE about. I'm sure there is probably a great deal. I recommend this book.

My next review will probably be darker fare. I've read too many feel-goods lately!

And could I use the word "probably" any more?? Probably.

Nobody Greater

Don't die of shock that I'm actually posting to my blog. Seriously, don't. I couldn't take the guilt.

So, this past Sunday morning I was all excited/scared/freaking out because I had the solo to the choir song. This happens approximately once a year, maybe twice if the choir is desperate...as apparently we must have been. I got to sing in the first service and it went off without any drama, which is a nice change. I could elaborate, but that's not what this post is about.

During the second service, the praise team started singing a song they had not sung in the first service. It was so fantabulous that the Pastor came up and took the mike (mic?) and we sang it a gazillion wonderful times. I won't get into the thrill that I felt when I realized the direction the service was going and that I wouldn't have to sing my solo again. I guess I just did get into it, didn't I?

ANYWAY, I felt that I needed to share this praise/worship song that was so awesome because I have been singing it ever since. So has my husband. So has every single church person I've come across in the past three days. EVERY one. Oh, except you Athena, since you missed it. :)

Enjoy.

Books Reviews - May 2010

1. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I have to say, I'm not sure why I saw this book and thought, "Hmmm.....a book full of demons? I'm SO there!" But, I did. I read this one quickly because it was interesting and I mostly liked the characters. This is part of a trilogy, but I am not going to go on. Why, you ask? Demons. That is really my only reason. The main characters were demon killers, so it's not like it was PRO demon, but still. The book was Twilight-ish in many ways, and there was a couple twists that turned out to be VERY Star Wars-ish. VERY. To the point I was thinking, "Really? No one thought that was a tad copycat-ish?" I'm really liking adding "ish" to everything tonight, can't you tell? It is 3:30 AM, yes AM. I am going to hate myself in about 3 hours. So, you will no doubt enjoy this book if you are into that whole underworld creature kind of thing. Otherwise, you probably want to skip this one.

2. A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen
There was wickedness and there was snow. I didn't write this review right after reading the book, so my thoughts are less than fresh. I liked it, but I really felt there needed to be more of a mother/daughter confrontation....or mother/aunt if you can forgive me for the gigantic spoiler. I have no other thoughts.

3. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
I am 2/3 of the way through "The 19th Wife" which is about Mormon plural marriages and so I'm going to cheat and go ahead and write the review even though I haven't finished the book. It goes back and forth between the history of the Mormons and plural marriage, and specifically Brigham Young's 19th wife....and then a more modern murder mystery also involving a 19th wife in what I guess you would call a "fringe" group that still practices plural marriage. I really enjoy the more historical story and find myself blowing through the modern chapters to get them over with and back to the other story. I would call this one....interesting.

Book Reviews - April 2010

About midnight or so tonight, I realized that we were already two/three days into the month of May and I hadn't posted my April book reviews yet. Mildly alarmed that I had missed my once-a-month reason to blog, I vowed to do it sometime on Monday. Who knew I would be doing it at 2:35 am? Storms and sleep don't mix, people. I'm always telling John we need one of those emergency weather radios, but he scoffs at the idea. Actual scoffing, I tell you. Satellite TV is totally unreliable in bad weather, and how on earth am I supposed to know if we're about to die? He is, of course, sleeping peacefully in the other room. I am totally resentful of this. SOMEBODY has to stay awake wandering the house and looking out the windows for twisters. And whatever happened to those nifty tornado sirens? If we had one of THOSE, I could at least lay down and close my eyes knowing the siren would warn me of danger. I could stay on this rant all night, but since I'm thinking I've only got a good 15/20 minutes before the laptop battery dies, I'd better move on.

I write these reviews as I read the books, so that's why the below mentions me drinking a cup of tea, which sounds calming, and I can promise you I am not doing right at this moment. I think the storm is passing, but I'll be up for another good 30 minutes, just in case I'm wrong. John and Samuel have no idea, but I am ON THE JOB.

Without further ado, the book reviews:

1. Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn
In honor of this review, I am sipping tea with half & half and honey, because that's how Pam Morgan told me they do it in England. I don't know if this is true or not, but I am totally on board. If I could smell or taste right now, I'm sure I'd be thrilled. I could really use a scone or shortbread "biscuit" at this moment. This is the third or fourth Sisterchicks book I've read, although it was a very long time ago when I read the others. I liked the other books, but never loved them enough that I wanted to continue with the series, until I saw that they were going to "Go Brit!". I have a thing about everything British, so I had to read this one. I really didn't love the book, but I did enjoy all the places in England that they visited and talked about. It was almost more of a travel guide than anything. I did cry when I read the last page, but I'm not sure that made the whole book worth it. You can't trust my tears since I tend towards the emotional side. So, if you have this Brit obsession as I do, you might enjoy it. If you don't, you probably want to skip it.

2. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

I think I established in the previous review that I am emotional. I didn't used to be this way, but I believe that while pregnant with Samuel he flipped some sort of internal switch while he was kicking around in there and the waterworks have been on ever since. It's not always very bad, but give me a small amount of stress or illness and I'm done for. Add that praise & worship song about Paul and Silas and mind prisons and chains breaking and I'm seriously undone. You are probably wondering what any of that has to do with this book. I started the book on Tuesday night while I was feeling really, really, really sick. I'm not sure how far in I started the crying, but I didn't read a lot that night and I know I had one good boo-hoo session before it was over. I was really missing my Daddy.

Flash forward to Wednesday. John and Samuel went to church without me because I was pretty sure no one would appreciate the volume of snot I was producing. I still felt horrible, but decided to read for a bit. It didn't take long for it to start again. I cried, I laughed, I cried, I laughed. One particular chapter ending had me weeping so hard that I had to put the book down and just wail for a few minutes. By the time the guys got home I felt about 1000 times worse than I had when they left, but I still couldn't put the book down.

I finished the book on Thursday late afternoon with no more tears.

I highly, highly recommend this book - especially if you are a little more stable than I am. It is funny and it makes you think a lot about your family and friends, and then it might make you cry a little too...or a lot, if you have issues. There are a few "F" bombs thrown in here and there, so be warned, but one of them did make me cackle out loud. This one is a keeper.

3. A Cry in the Night by Mary Higgins Clark
I love books by Mary Higgins Clark. I know I've read a lot of them, but probably because I read them so far apart, I have a very hard time remembering what I have read before and what is new. This was an old book I found at the used book store and the description did not seem familiar to me, so I took a chance. In several books of Mary Higgins Clark's that I've read, there is a twist or a moment where I am surprised by who is actually the evil person behind whatever is going on. That was not the case in this book. It was pretty clear from the get-go that the main character's new husband - Erich - was creepy. Really, REALLY creepy. So, even if there were a twist and he was not responsible for all the weirdness, she still needed to get away from him. So, I liked the book, but I like being surprised and I wasn't as much with this one. Mary Higgins Clark mysteries are very good and you can read them without fear of bad language or raunchy sex scenes or anything other than just a good suspenseful story.

4. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
This book was one my husband had me request on Paperback Swap. I knew nothing about it, but he read it and suggested that I would like it. I read a little over half of this book and really enjoyed it. And then I got bored with the never-ending hostage situation and crazy opera love and just wanted resolution. I tried going back to the book several times and never stuck with it longer than a page or two. Then I lost the book for a day or so, only to discover it had been in one of the many pockets in my mammoth purse the whole time. Finally, I just asked John to tell me what happened so I could read something else. And he did. Then we had this ridiculously long discussion about whether it was acceptable to have an affair if you were in a prolonged hostage situation in a third world country. Let's just say that one of us found the situation understandable, while the other one is COMMITTED TO HER MARRIAGE EVEN IN THE FACE OF THIRD WORLD TERRORISTS AND FAMOUS OPERA SINGERS. Reading is knowledge, people. Even if that knowledge is that you should never, ever, ever send your husband to a third world country.

When John wakes up and reads this, he's probably going to be perturbed that I typed that last part, but he can THANK ME FOR BEING ALIVE. The Riddle men can sleep like babies knowing I am watching out for them. Good night, dear friends.

Randomness on a Tuesday when there is no new LOST

No new LOST tonight, therefore I blog. It's this or cry, so this it be.

Stuff:

1. Couponing is WAY harder than it needs to be. Food should just be cheaper so I don't have to do all this mess.

2. Said couponing has led me to do something that hasn't started, but I'm already regretting. We signed up for the "Couponer's Special" of the Chattanooga Times where we get FOUR Sunday papers delivered to our house (and other papers during the week...) John's main concern is that our paperboy/girl/man/woman/person will HATE OUR GUTS. I fear he is correct. I predict we will cancel this service in 2 weeks.

3. I am watching the series "Bones" on Netflix and I'm in season one. My last point made me remember that in an episode I just watched, Angela says to Bones, "Love your guts, sweetie" and I just REALLY liked it. If that was how I rolled - telling people I loved them and using words like sweetie - I would SO be saying this all the time.

4. Every time I make hamburgers, I proclaim George Foreman as my hero. I wouldn't have thought of this one if I had washed the G.F. and put it away last night like I should have, but it is just sitting there on my kitchen counter in all it's day-old grease-covered glory.

5. I'm loving the book I'm reading, "Bel Canto", but I just really want it to be over with. I need resolution. Soon.

6. I'm starting to believe the P in PMS stands for Pre-, Post- and Potentially Permanent.

7. Is anyone else's kid bonkers for these rubberband bracelet things? It wasn't two weeks ago that Samuel was totally unfazed by them, but sometime since then they have become "cool" and he won't stop begging me to take him to buy some.

8. If I didn't have a DVR, I would never watch American Idol again. I can NOT STAND to hear all the talking, and sometimes not all the singing. Crystal Bowersox will no doubt have an album whether she wins or loses, and I will no doubt buy it. Of course, I said that about Danny Gokey and I still haven't bought his either. Now if there were a coupon for that...

9. Blogs I read nearly every day (or whenever they have a new post). There are a few others, but I read them more randomly. Let me know if there are any more good ones I should be reading.

Living Proof Ministries
Big Mama
The Pioneer Woman
Stuff Christians Like

10. I really need to quit reading blogs and go wash my George Foreman.

Book Reviews - March 2010

1. Maire - Linda Windsor
There was a time in my life I would have read every book in this series. Is it a series? Wait, I must conference with Google - PAUSE - OK, yes it is the first book in the Fires of Gleannmara series. I did like it. Do you have to learn anything about history for a book to be considered historical fiction? (That was just a side question and total irrelevant to this review.) What was I saying? Oh yes. Liked it. Did I love it? I think the fact that I put it in my purse and a week later realized that I had been reading a book and wondered where it had gone to pretty much answers "no" to that question. It was good though. Just not "can't put down" good. I promise I was not taking any drugs when I wrote this review.

2. A Form of Godliness - Shane Johnson
I really, really liked this book. I was also really, really freaked out by it. It begins with another 9-11 type terrorist attack (also known by it's date from that point on...) and then jumps 10 years later to show how the U.S. has changed and continues though all kinds of things that I can totally see actually happening. I can't deny that these kinds of books make me want to build some sort of hideaway and hoard canned meat and bottled water. I recommend this book highly.

3. Halos - Kristen Heitzmann
I read this book in just a couple of days. It is not horribly long and it kept my attention from the very beginning. It was somewhat predictable, and I was fairly sure who the "bad guy" was, although at one point she did make me wonder if I might be wrong about that. I liked it and recommend it.

At this moment I'm about 1/2 way through "So Long Insecurity" by Beth Moore and "Sisterchicks Go Brit" by Robin Jones Gunn. Also in my TO BE READ pile is "The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan, along with so many other books that it would take too long to type them all.

Book Wish List

I'm fairly certain I've mentioned Paperback Swap - or PBS - on here before (www.paperbackswap.com). One of my favorite things on PBS is my Wish List. I love getting an email that one of my wish list books is available. Here is a sampling of some of the books currently on my wish list, where my standing is on the list, and (if they gave it) the estimated time until I will be offered the book. I love to go check my list every week or two and see if I'm getting any closer to some of the books and where my position on the list is.

Some of the books I requested in both paperback and hardcover, because I just want it however I can get it first. In those cases, I've only listed one of those times. They only give you estimated times if that book has been posted on a regular enough basis to calculate an estimate. Some of these seem unreasonably long, but it goes faster than you would think.

If anyone has book suggestions for my list, I'd love to hear them!

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - 91 of 91, estimated 11 weeks

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin - 44 of 224

The Commoner: A Novel by John Burnham Schwartz - 37 of 37, estimated 13 weeks

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen - 292 of 293, estimated 146 weeks!!!!

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan - 2 of 4, estimated 1 week

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See - 68 of 678, estimated 17 weeks

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - 252 of 316

The Telling (Seasons of Grace) by Beverly Lewis - 47 of 182

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - 37 of 250

Glue, Don't Fail Me Now!

There are no pictures to show you of the science fair storyboard that we completed yesterday. By completed, I mean threw together in such a fantastic hurry that I knew only bad would come of it. We had reasons for the rush, for wanting to get it there yesterday, when we could have turned it in tonight. In retrospect, those reasons seem kind of idiotic, and mostly related to me and my impatience. Lesson learned.

Samuel got off the school bus this afternoon and announced to me that his project was "destroyed". We drove over and looked upon the mess. Labels, pictures and other things scattered on the ground. I whipped the glue bottle out of my purse and went to work. All while bent down on my knees on the gym floor in my black work pants with my rear in the air. I realized a little too late that my sweater had ridden up and every one on the left side of the gym could see my underwear. Including Samuel's teacher. And Science Club teacher. I'm sure they were greatly impressed with me. And my lack of adhesive skills. I should be ashamed to call myself a scrapbooker.

I don't care if it wins an award, I just want the thing to stay together until 8:00 pm tomorrow night.

UPDATE: As of 7:00 pm tonight, the board was still holding up. Only 25 more hours. Fingers crossed!

Book Reviews - February 2010

My second month of book reviews...and you thought I'd forget.

As last month, I will point out that I claim no professionalism or quality in these reviews. This is just what I thought - take it or leave it.

1. Casting the First Stone - Kimberla Lawson Roby
This book was my bookclub's February pick. During the whole first half of the book, I felt that the storyline following very closely to the storyline in "And the Shofar Blew" by Francine Rivers. The character's choices and the outcomes were different in the second half and it did not end the same. If the author's intention was to make me hate the husband, she succeeded. I spent most of the book wanting the wife to stab him dead. Due to the similarities with the other book, I couldn't help but compare them and I enjoyed Francine River's more.

2. True Colors - Kristin Hannah
I started this book at 8:30 am on a snow day and finished it (491 pages!) at 12:20 am late that night - less than 24 hours later. To say it kept my attention would be an understatement. I felt as though I identified with each of the three sisters in this book at some point, and I was very drawn into their story and relationship. This author has been compared to Jodi Picoult, and while there are some similarities, I did not see this as the same kind of book. While there were themes that were brought up that could be considered controversial such as what Picoult tackles in each of her books, this book was mainly focused on the three sisters and their relationship to one another. I recommend it.

I'm concerned that I only finished TWO books in February, especially knowing that one of them was read in a single day. What on earth was I doing all month? It wasn't housework, I can promise you that. Stay tuned for March reviews. I'm almost done with "Maire" and will shortly be starting on "a form of godliness".

Ten Minutes / Ten Years Old

Ten minutes of a somewhat unsupervised Samuel playing with the webcam on our new laptap. If you've been looking for a way to waste a considerable amount of time, you've found it. May your life be enriched.

And yes, that is a Snuggie he is wearing.

Insecurity at the Mailbox

I have a penpal in England. Actually, I have TWO penpals in England. Somewhere during the holidays I got a bee in my bonnet that I wanted a friend to write real - on paper - letters to. A gal around my age who had not already heard all my silly stories and might find me the slightest bit interesting and/or amusing. I found a website and put my info there. Within 24 hours I had two new friends with promises of letters on the way. One married woman with children, one single mom (mum!), both very close in age to me.

The fact that they were both in England was a complete fluke, but one that THRILLED me. I am obsessed with England. Everything I know about it is from PBS Masterpiece movies and various novels, so it must be highly accurate information, right? When I think of England, I think of tea. I love tea. If I had a friend that would come have "a spot of tea" with me every afternoon I'd feel like I'd gone to heaven. I don't fly....I HATE to fly....but if I had plane tickets to London.... Well, I'd still hesitate, but I'm pretty sure I'd give in and go.

Two weeks later, I had letters from BOTH of them on the same day - a Monday. I read them over and over and over. They were both absolutely delightful! By Friday, I had written each of them return letters and mailed them. That was weeks ago. I go through the mail every single day hoping for that little "PAR AVION" sticker. So far, no sticker. I have to tell you, I am extremely bummed about this. I know it hasn't really been that long, but every new day without a letter feels like a rejection. Was I too boring in my first letter? Did I talk too much? It is a complete mystery to me.

I thought I would just love, love, LOVE this snail mail thing, but I'm not sure my self-esteem can handle the waiting. What if they don't ever write back?

I may have to go buy Beth Moore's "So Long Insecurity" just to get through this.

Book Reviews - January 2010

I'm sure all four of my followers are wildly curious about what I think, and because it's an icky day outside and I need something to do that is NOT cleaning my house, I've decided to review the books I've read so far in 2010. Since it's January 30th, I figured I would act as though I intended to do a month review and not that it just conveniently fell that way.

If you are my friend and see a book you are interested in, and I haven't mailed it out on www.paperbackswap.com yet, then feel free to borrow it.

Oh, and by the way, do not expect these book reviews to tell you much or be uniform in any way. It's just whatever the heck I feel like saying about it. If you're looking for a professional review, go somewhere else!

And here we go....

1. The Lost Quilter - Jennifer Chiaverini
I believe this is the 14th or so book by Jennifer Chiaverini that I have in the Elm Creek Quilts series. I am particularly fond of the ones that go back in time and tell a story during a historical period, which this did. My heart was tugged and moved for the heroine's plight and I was horrified by many of the things that happened to her.....even more so knowing that these things - and worse - happened to slaves regularly. This book can be read on it's own (if you ignore the first chapter or so...) or in order of the series. I highly recommend it.

2. Untamed - Francine Rivers
This was my bookclub's choice for January. It's a small book that tells a fictionalized version of the story of Tamar from Genesis 38. This was an excellent book, and just another example of how much I adore Francine Rivers. I love the way she can take a story or character from the Bible and just bring the whole thing to life. She now has this story in a larger volume along with other small stories about women from the Bible (I can't remember the name.) Highly recommend.

3. Whitethorn Woods - Maeve Binchy
In this book, Maeve Binchy tells many, many different stories....with many characters....whose lives and stories all sort of intertwine and involve or mention Whitethorn Woods and/or the statue/shrine of St. Ann that is in those woods. My boss loaned me this book probably two whole years ago. I had started in once and put it down - not because it wasn't good - but I don't think my brain could handle it all back at that particular moment. When I picked it back up again I read through it fairly quickly. I recommend this book, but it may not be for everyone. Many of the stories are left kind of open-ended and that could just drive a person crazy. I have read several other books by Maeve Binchy and I have enjoyed them all probably a little more than this one.

4. A Thousand Words for Stranger - Julie E. Czerneda
Let me start by fessing up that I only made it to page 105. I used to read books to the end no matter what. Now that I turn 40 this year (gasp!!) I have decided that I'm not going to waste time on any book that I don't either really like....or at least am interested enough in to be compelled to find out the ending. (And I am NOT one of those people who just turns to the end of the book!) Having said that, this is not a bad book. Truly. It has been interesting. I feel for the character Sira. I've wondered about what is going to happen to her. But I just can't get into it. I do enjoy a good SciFi movie or show now and then, but this was my first attempt at a book that I would put in that category. Not for me.

If I actually remember that I did this for January, I might do it again in February. Unless, of course, I forget.

Basketball / Snow / Cake

It took me a couple of Samuel's basketball games to even get a picture he was IN, so I didn't mind that the quality was low when I finally was able to capture him. The fact that he had the ball in his hand was a huge plus. We will ignore that this was before the game started and no one else was around him, but it did make things much, much easier.

My second shot of Samuel was a great improvement. I can't remember what was actually happening at this point because I am totally incapable of paying attention to the game and taking pictures at the same time. I hope for more basketball pics at future games, but these two are enough for a scrapbook page if I never take another, which is entirely possible.

I was hugely disappointed this morning that school was not canceled due to inclement weather, since I had already informed by boss that I would be staying home if it was. When the schools decided to let out at noon, my excitement was barely contained. I know this doesn't look like a lot of snow, but it's a fairly good amount piling up outside now and it's still coming down.

We have bread, milk, and a lot of junk food should we be snowed/iced in all weekend. This is how Samuel and I celebrated:

We did save a piece for John, in case you were wondering.

Speed Scrapping and Eating (not so) Right

This will have to be a short post because I have another "speed scrap" in about 10 minutes. Or maybe I'm going to watch Fringe. I haven't really decided yet, and I feel like I haven't given my TV viewing priority lately. I would hate to neglect my DVR. It's very important to me and I think I need to let it know that every so often.

Speed scrapping is where you are part of an online chat and instructions are put up one at a time and you do whatever it says: "Pick three pictures. Make one large and two small" "Pick four papers" "Put a flower in one of the corners" and so forth and so on. You never really know what you're going to come up with. I always end up fudging a little bit because sometimes the instructions are just wonky. Since I have a boy not all instructions involving flowers and ribbons really work with him. These are my last two speed scrap pages:

I have a thing for buttons, if you haven't noticed.


John and I are doing well on losing weight in 2010. Last week at my Weight Watchers weigh-in I had lost FIVE, yes FIVE pounds. Of course, that was all weight I had gained during the holidays so I can't rejoice over it too much. I lost another pound this week. Then John bought a bag of mini chocolate chips because Samuel wanted chocolate chip pancakes. They have been my downfall for the past couple of days. I won't be satisfied until I have consumed them all and the bag is empty. It's a sad state of things, but that's just what be. I will get myself under control eventually. If I can just lose .2 of a pound more in January then I will have surpassed my goal for the month. Not too shabby... Now if I can just put down this bag of chocolately goodness.

Samuel is spending the night with his grandparents tomorrow. He looks forward to it because grandma always watches America's Funniest Home Videos with him. This morning he announced to me that he hadn't seen it in awhile and he was so glad he was going to get to because he "couldn't live without comedy!" After a moment more thought he added, "and chocolate milk!" At least he gets plenty of both around here.

I've suddenly become very interested in photography and I want to figure out what all my camera can do. I doubt it's much, but I need to find the manual around this house somewhere. This may turn out to be quite a search, but I'm sure it'll turn up.

A New Year

2010...you are finally here!! I'm not a resolution-maker because those usually fail. However, I do have a goal and it's not an unreasonable one. By the end of 2009 I had lost over 30 pounds. I lost more than 30, but let's face it, December didn't do anyone's waistline a favor so I have to go back a little bit. Since 2010 is the year I turn 40 (yeehaw!) I have made a goal to lose 40 more lbs. by my 40th birthday. I have just under 40 weeks to do it. I'm still a member of Weight Watchers, attending my weekly meetings and counting points so I'm not starting from scratch here. Anyway, my wonderful husband John has agreed to have the same goal. So, here's to losing 40 lbs by October 4th! Whoo hoo! I'm not going to blog specifics about my weight because I'm just not into the TMI, but I will try to put up at least a monthly update on how we are doing.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to 2010. Happy New Year!