I'm lovin...

• my hubby
• a fresh haircut
• the change of seasons
• holiday sales
• pizza and a good movie
• college Football
• facebook games w/ friends
• secret Santa
• my nephews
• twilight books
• that the elections are OVER
• fuzzy socks

I can't wait!

New Read

So far so good

Great Read

I can't put this one down...maybe that's because it's not a textbook.

So B. It

I read this book in one day (I'm on Spring Break). It was really good and a quick, easy read. It's a great book to teach students compassion for all people. Here's a summary:

Heidi It has gotten to be 12 years old without knowing any but the sketchiest information about her background: her mentally disabled mother, who insists her name is So Be It, showed up with the week-old Heidi on their neighbor Bernadette's doorstep seemingly out of the clear blue sky, and Bernadette, who is severely agoraphobic but also bookish and generous, has been looking out for Heidi and Mama ever since. Somehow Heidi and Mama never get billed for rent or utilities, and besides, Heidi has an almost magical ability to play slot machines, which, in their native Reno, can be found even in the local Sudsy Duds laundromat. But as the novel opens, Heidi has begun to chafe-she is no longer willing to live with Bernadette's complacency about the mysterious past ("What happened before [I met you] doesn't matter," Bernadette tells Heidi. "It's just something to be grateful for") and Heidi is determined to find out what Mama means by the strange word "soof." When Heidi uncovers an old camera with a roll of undeveloped film, a host of clues to her identity send her on a solo cross-country bus trip to confront people who not only do not expect her but have taken pains to insulate themselves from her existence. Suspension of belief is beside the point: readers will probably respond to Heidi's voice and determination, get caught up in the mystery and feel wiser for the mild tear-jerker ending.

A New Website

I came across a great website called All Consuming by way of Progoddess's blog. All Consuming is a website that watches weblogs for books that they're talking about and displays the most popular ones on an hourly basis. This website allows you to create a list of books you're currently reading, books you have read, favorite books, or books you plan to read. You can also use this site to add a list of books to your own blog and you don't even have to know HTML!

The Santaland Diaries

Justin and I went to the Horizon Theatre last night to see The Santaland Diaries written by David Sedaris (one of my favorite authors). The play was great and so was the cast. Harold Leaver played the lead as "Crumpet". Justin and I both thought that Harold looked like a forty-something David Spade. It's crazy how much they look alike! The theatre was small but nice. I found out about the play from Mary at All Kinds of Everything.

I finished wrapping Christmas presents tonight. Soon it will be time to write "thank yous". I hope to get some scrapbooking done over winter break. I have been busy visiting with friends, shopping, and cleaning that I have not had time to sit down and scrap. I have a few unfinished pages that just need the journaling part. That is my least favorite part of scrapbooking. Why? I don't know. It's not like I don't know who is in the pictures or what the event was.

We had snow flurries on Monday! Tonight it's just cold and rainy. I think I will go make some tea, snuggle in my flannel sheets and read a book...

Something from Sting

Last night I was reading Sting's book Broken Music and was able to relate to the following passage.

"I will become so swept up in these journeys of discovery that I will continue to read and read, long after the academic need has passed. There are no books in my house apart from a Bible and some equally unfathomable engineering texts from my father's apprenticeship, but soon books will become for me an acquisitive passion filling up rooms and rooms with their dusty and inert bodies. Like my grandmother, I will never throw a book away, storing dog-eared paperbacks from school or college, year after year, stacked like hunting trophies on makeshift shelves in my room. For to sit in a room full of books, and remember the stories they told you, and to know precisely where each one is located and what was happening in your life at that time or where you were when you first read it is the languid and distilled pleasure of the connoisseur."

I love, love, love this passage! I had never been able to express my love of books as well as Sting has. It's true! I can think of a book I read and remember what was going on in my life at that time. Like Sting, I too love being surrounded by books, see June 9, 2004 posting.

I am off to finish reading Broken Music.

New Stuff

Ok, so I went to the Emory Spine Center. They diagnosed me with Spondylolsis...I don't really know what this is. I do know that it has to do with my neck/shoulder area. I have to go to physical therapy twice a week for a month. The physical therapy referral form noted that I would be doing the following therapeutic exercises: stabilization, strengthening, stretching, and soft tissue mobilization...sounds interesting.

Tonight I went to one of my favorite places, Barnes and Noble. I LOVE to read and listen to music. It’s kinda weird and maybe a little freaky but I get the best feeling when I am in the store. I can’t totally explain it. I feel relaxed, smart, motivated, and excited. I also feel a little overwhelmed because there are so many things that I find myself wanting to read!

In the music section they have this new listening center. You can listen to the top selling 100 CD’s. You are able to listen to the whole CD! I heard of a relatively new artist, Jem. It’s not the Jem from the Jem and the Holograms cartoon many of you may remember. This Jem is from Wales and her debut CD is “truly outrageous”! All kidding aside, the CD is really good. This quote regarding Jem’s music was taken from her website, “a fresh and distinctive new sound. Jem's music is a combination of bright melodies, soul-searching lyrics and diverse rhythms that grab you from the first listen. Her seemingly innocent lyrics contain those closely observed details that are as much about optimism as they are about discovery.”

I also purchased two new books: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews. I can’t wait to read them…by the pool…if Atlanta ever has another sunny day…