Nov 13, 2009
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It’s not quite that dire, but I am another year older! Thursday was my birthday and I had such a great day. My birthday has been rough on me in the past. I usually get depressed and cranky a day or so before, lasting through the day after. When I’ve tried to analyze what goes on in the past, I come up with this. I feel like I desperately want someone to make a big deal out of my birthday, but I don’t want to have to ask. I want to feel that I’m important enough to someone to want to go, BAM!, but I hate myself for wanting that. Then, when nobody makes a big deal about it, I get all pissy & sad that no one cared enough, and then I beat myself up for feeling that way. Pretty psychotic, huh?
This year it was different. I don’t know what made the difference, but I woke up on Thursday in a very good mood. I knew I got to spend the day (until 2:30) with my mom, which is something I absolutely love. My mom is totally my best friend. I talk to her about nearly everything, I enjoy being with her and, while she doesn’t always understand what I’m talking about, she accepts it as me. So, after I took the kids to school, I went to her house & picked her up. We grabbed some coffee and headed to Crystal Lake. First we went to Hobby Lobby. She had some prints to get framed and I wanted to get a couple frames for both some art prints I bought and for some pictures I’ve printed for Steven’s room. And WHOOP-WHOOP, wall decor was all 50% off! I came across this gorgeous piece that’s like a canvas in a mottled burgundy. It’s got a decorative cross and says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. Loooooved it. Can’t figure out where I’m going to put it yet, but it’s going up somewhere. Found the frames for my artwork so I finally have something in my bedroom that I love. I love Gustav Klimt and have always loved his “The Kiss”. I saw another one that portrays motherhood to me, so I ordered those 2 and here’s how they look:
Yes. There’s a crack in the glass. Happened as I brought the frame into the bedroom. So, I’m going to have to go get another one, but I still wanted to get it up for now.
I absolutely adore this. The full print has mommy bre@st in it which I didn’t really want in my bedroom, so I found a cropped version that still conveys the feeling without all the breasteses. I just love looking at it and the feeling of motherly love and devotion it has. Yum.
After the Lobby, we went over to the hair salon so I could get a cut. I can’t believe how quickly time flies between my salon visits. It’s been about a year or so since I’ve had a cut, so my hair was out of control. I actually let the stylist have carte blanche and just do whatever she thought would look best. And it turned out pretty cute.
Normally, I don’t like my hair straight. I have a really, really long face and, right now with my weight the way it is, I feel like my head looks a little too much like the kid from Mask. Like, 3 feet long with a foot of it between my lower lip & chin. Straight hair really accentuates the length of my face, so I’ve usually gone with curly hair or big hair. Plus, no matter how hard I try, I fail at blowing my hair out with a round brush. I simply cannot do it. I do like the way it curves around my neck, though. I probably won’t wear it like this much, as I have a sensory thing about my hair being in my face. When it’s loose, it’s constantly in my face, sticking to my mouth and tickling me. I hate it.
After hair came the bookstore! Man, I adore a bookstore. Even if I can’t buy anything, I love walking around making notes about what books I’d like to get from the library. But my mom bought me some books and I honestly am having trouble deciding what to read first – I started 3 of them! Here’s what I got:
So…why did you get these, you’re asking. Let’s see.
I got the first one because it’s a humorous look at strange subcultures on the Internet. I find that kind of thing fascinating. This book is funny as all get-out. All I can say is the line, “You eat like a monster” had me laughing nonstop for 5 full minutes.
Mentally Incontinent I got because it’s written by a Peacock. No, not related to the ones I know, I don’t think, but I’m hoping it’ll be super funny. Looks good so far.
World War Z I got for one reason. The subtitle. “An oral history of the zombie war”. I don’t know if the book came before the script for True Blood or vice versa, but that quote from Jason is amazingly awesome. Any book that has that on the cover has to be great.
Cake Wrecks? Because it’s CAKE WRECKS, y’all. ‘Nuff said.
The Erma Bombeck books are CLASSIC. My mom had a couple of her books and a record album of her comedy when I was growing up. I thought she was hysterical and now, as an blogger, I strive to someday get to her level of awesome hilarity in my writing.
Then we went to lunch at Chili’s and it was time to come home & get the kids. For dinner, Steve brought home Portillo’s (YAY!!!) and my gift – a TiVo! Rock on!
I’d like to write more, but William’s fussing, so I have to sign off. I’m 41. And I’m okay!
Sep 24, 2008
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I have been reading like a FIEND. Call me “late to the party”, but I just discovered that I can request almost any book from the library and it shows up in a couple days. Since our library is small and doesn’t have a whole lot of books (especially newer ones), I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t find anything I wanted to read. One day, I tried looking something up on their online card catalog and they didn’t have it. Then I saw the little “Request It” button and clicked it. Enter my library card info and it’s on its way from another library. Rock ON. So….I’ve been requesting more than I can read, but I’m going for it. So here’s what I’ve read recently.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. The cover looked interesting. Yes, it’s a young adult series, but history has proved that I like young adult fiction. This is a really interesting concept. It’s approximately 300 years in the future. Civilization as we know it is gone. The powers-that-be have decided that our societal problems boil down to people being jealous of one another and that these problems will be solved by creating a mandatory operation at 16 – becoming “pretty”. From 12-16, kids live in “Uglyville” where they basically wait until they’re old enough to have the operation and move to “New Pretty Town”. We follow the story of Tally and Shay as they prepare for their 16th birthdays and the possibility of running away and never becoming pretty. I really liked this story. It’s the first in a trilogy and I was very excited to get the 2nd book. The best part was that, once I read it, I could pass it on to Maggie because there is nothing inappropriate in it. No sex, no real violence, no swearing. I’m impressed by this author because it seems most YA authors can’t figure out how to write an interesting book without those features, but Scott Westerfeld does it. Maggie LOVED it, too. My grade: A-
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. This is book 2 of the trilogy. I don’t want to give anything away, but suffice it to say this book continues the story of Tally and the journey she and her friends go through. Everything I said in the prior paragraph applies here, too. My grade: A-
37 by Maria Beaumont. Wow. I could SO INCREDIBLY identify with the main character in this novel. Fran is about to turn 37. She has pretty much abandoned her career to become a stay-at-home mom. Her life revolves around her children and her husband, to the detriment of the other parts of her life. After a series of really rough discoveries, she kind of gives up for a while – losing herself in drink and food. It’s really a great tale of desperately trying to rediscover your own identity after years of being “Mom” and “wife” – fighting tooth and nail to claim yourself and crawl back out of the pit. Though I’m not drinking, I do identify with the theme of having no identity apart from being “mom”. Kind of hiding behind your duties as a SAHM because you’re too afraid to step out and risk being an entity separate from that. I really thought this book was good. My grade: B+
The Hindi-Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan. Basically, The Joy Luck Club in India. But, don’t take that as an insult. I do love reading about cultures other than my own and this was no exception. The Hindi-Bindi Club are 3 Indian women (Meenal, Saroj and Uma) who became friends when they were young, after coming to America. They each have a daughter (Kiran, Preity and Rani) who was born & raised in America and there’s a lot of tension and conflict due to the difference in culture. Kiran, Preity and Rani are each having problems/issues/awakenings that bring them back “home” to reconnect with their mothers, their families and their Indian culture in different ways. We learn about what Meenal, Saroj and Uma have come through to get where they are now and how that colors they way they relate to their daughters. The coolest part? After each chapter is at least one recipe for a dish that was talked about in the chapter. Each chapter is told in the voice of the person the chapter’s about. I loved this. The strength of each of these mothers is really something else. How they overcome what they’ve been through and work to keep their families functional, loving and moving forward is impressive. This is one of those books where I felt like I really wanted to know these people in real life. I’d love to hear their voices, know their stories and watch them interact. The only thing I’d change is the cover photo. I think this book deserves a much stronger photo – something with more gravitas. It looks a little fluffy and “chick-lit” and doesn’t truly represent the story within, IMO. My grade: B+
What’s on deck?
Specials by Scott WEsterfeld.
Extras by Scott Westerfeld.
Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer
The Night Climbers by Ivo Stourton
Invisible Lives by Anjali Banerjee.
That’s quite a list. Plus, I just requested another 6 books at the library, so I’d better get reading!!
Nov 24, 2007
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It’s my birthday present weekend & here I am, enjoying myself at the local Holiday Inn. Thanks to Priceline & my thoughtful husband who knows that I need to just get. away. once in a while. It’s been…..interesting thus far.
I left about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, and spent some time in Borders, looking for book ideas for others to give my kids for Christmas. While I had NO PROBLEM finding books for Henry & Steven, finding a book for Maggie is nigh on impossible. Because she reads on a high school level, any books she hasn’t already read are either 1) way too emotionally mature for her, 2) filled with sexual situations or 3) filled with witchcraft. Seriously, what is up with that?? Of all the books found in the 8-12 year old category, probably 70% of them are about “magik”, witchcraft or something like that. And, without reading them all myself, there’s no way to tell which ones are harmless and which ones are totally inappropriate. You have the “His Dark Materials” series, the “The Dark is Rising” series, the Gregory Maguire books (that have the musical Wicked behind them, but are very different from the musical), the Septimus Heap series – it’s as if every 3rd book is about how cool it is to be a wiccan. Thanks, Harry. I’ve enjoyed you, but you’ve created a dangerous monster here. I did find some more classic-type books that I hope she’d enjoy. Because this kid has read EVERYTHING. Chronicles of Narnia, Madeline L’Engle, Artemis Fowl, Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe, Tom Sawyer – everything. It’s awesome & frustrating at the same time. Why aren’t there any cool books for her reading level that aren’t about middle school kids being sexual & defying their parents or how rockin’ cool it is to be involved in “magik”.
After that, I checked into the hotel & then went to see a MOVIE. In a movie theatre. With popcorn. There isn’t much out now (I thought Thanksgiving was a big movie release time?) so I saw “Dan in Real Life”. I really, really loved this movie. I cannot stand Steve Carrell’s character on “The Office”, but he really brought some chops to this role. I laughed really, really hard. I cried. It was great. The scene with Dane Cook & Norbert Leo Butz singing about “Pig Face” around the piano made me laugh so hard, I cried. While Steve Carrell is funny as the blazes, he was more of a straight guy in this & he nailed it. Though his, “This corn is an angel…” line was total “I love lamp!!” classicness. I very much recommend this movie.
Back to the hotel. I got a little bit of work done on a new kit. Watched TV. Played Zoo Tycoon. Then, at 11:45 pm, I was deafened by the fire alarm going off. THE LOUDEST ALARM IN THE HISTORY OF ALARMS. It kept going, so I put my shoes on, grabbed my coat & purse & walked down to the lobby. In my pajamas & with no makeup on. I was like the first person there, too. Just sitting there, watching people shuffle in – some totally awake & partying, some completely asleep with amazing bed hair. The alarm was SO. LOUD. Did I mention that? Poor parents dragging their little kids out, who are now FREEZING because the door into the lobby keeps opening. 2 little boys were wearing summer pajamas, so they were tired, confused and FREEZING. The firemen arrive and go to check it all out. I notice, across the lobby in the bar, a rather inebriated gentleman starting to get a bit loud with his bar-mates. I hear some person in authority say to him, “You’ve been here for a long. time.” So, I’m anticipating a scene from “Cops” about to unfold. I see one mom holding a 6 (or so) year old boy, so I offer her my seat, not only because that’s how I roll, but also because I want them out of the way if something icky develops. Security heads over to the bar (two of them) and starts trying to encourage Intoxicated Guy to make his way out of the bar. (Back to his room, I hope, not out to his car) And, in typical Intoxicated Guy on Cops manner, he doesn’t want to go anywhere. Neither does his Intoxicated Chickie-Poo. They are trying their best to get him out, knowing fully well that a lobby full of guests are watching, and possibly in the way. In walks another group of firemen, just in time to see Intoxicated Guy break past security & rush another guy in the bar, taking out a row of bar stools & starting to drunkenly pound on him. Security’s trying to break it up and the fireman just goes, “What the hell’s going on?” So the FIREMEN run over there to break up the drunken fight. And me & several of the other guests are laughing our behinds off. Because it was a completely surreal situation. It’s after midnight, we’re in a hotel lobby in our pajamas, and a scene from COPS is unfolding before our eyes. All I could do was laugh and keep repeating “Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!” Way too funny. Back to room, off to sleep. Then I wake up again at 3 am to ANOTHER FIRE ALARM. AUGGH!! Thankfully, it turned off pretty quickly & I went back to sleep. And slept until my phone rang at 11:00 AM!! Wowza. Okay. Got’s to eat something. I’se hungry. Happy Saturday, y’all. Avoid the drunks.
