An excerpt from The Thirteenth Tale

It's practically the middle of the night.  Certainly too late to be up on a school night.  Especially on a school night that precedes a 13 hour work day.  Open House is tomorrow night.  But here I am, reading this book that I cannot put down.  I am a binge reader.  And this is a book for book lovers.  I keep getting lost in the language of this novel.  I love books like that and I read very few that do that to me. It makes me wish I spent my days in a library, or better yet, had my own library at home where I could curl up with this (or any other) good book and slip away while being surrounded by some of my most favorite things.  My books.  Here is a passage that I especially love...

"Of course one always hopes for something special when one reads an author one hasn't read before, and Miss Winter's books gave me the same thrill I had when I discovered the Landier diaries, for instance.  But it was more than that.  I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage in my life, and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy.  And yet, I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child.  I still believe in stories.  I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book.  Yet it is not the same.  Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential than that.  When I was a child, books were everything.  And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books.  It is not a yearning that one ever expects to be fulfilled.  And during this time, these days when I read all day and half the night, when I slept under a counterpane strewn with books, when my sleep was black and dreamless and passed in a flash and I woke to read again -- the lost joys of reading returned to me.  Miss Winter restored to me the virginal qualities of the novice reader, and then with her stories she ravished me."

See what I mean?

A Perfect Day

I love Saturdays.  Almost as much as I love Sundays.  I especially love Saturdays that are not crammed full of errands to run.  Little things entertain me.  Here is my today...

I woke up in time to kiss my handsome hubby goodbye as he went off to work.  He works every Saturday.  The past couple of weeks he's been working 8-5.  It's nice having him home a little bit earlier, but I really can't wait until he gets his normal shift back (10-6) so he doesn't have to wake up so early in the morning!

Anyway, I made a gourmet breakfast of cereal and bananas for my little darlings and had myself a cup of coffee.  Then I went to meet my best girl, Rebecca, for some shopping.  We went to Starbucks, Target, and Old Navy.  The only thing I got that was on my list was my mocha latte!  It's frustrating sometimes when you look online and find just what you want to buy, only to find out it's not actually in the stores.  But I got this really cute outfit at Old Navy instead.

I love that Spring is almost here.

We even managed to make it a record shopping trip.  Only about an hour and a half.  I could spend the entire day with my bestie, but it wasn't in the cards for today.  I got home in time to make lunch for the darlings.  My dad sent me out to pick up lunch for us.  His treat!  Yay!  I could eat at restaurants for every meal, I think.  We had chinese food.  My fortune cookie said, "Be happy.  It's another way of being wise."  Life has been so good the last few months, that I think I might can feel myself wising up!  Hey, it's possible!

Now the littles are napping and the bigs went down to the park to play baseball.  I am thinking after naptime, we'll go for a bike ride and I will make Chinese stir fry for dinner.  I know, I had Chinese food for lunch too.  But I love it.  We are going to have movie night with The Karate Kid and popcorn tonight, and then maybe the handsome hubby and I will finally watch the Survivor season premiere.  My 2 all-time favorite Survivors are on again.  Rob and Russell.  This promises to be a great season.  I can feel it!

So that is my perfect day.  Nothing fancy, but it makes me happy.  And right now, I think I am going to paint my nails and listen to a little Vampire Weekend.  Do they have any non-awesome songs?  I didn't think so.  Until next time, bloggy friends...

Relay for Life

I am participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life because I want to make a meaningful difference in the fight against cancer.

Almost everyone has been touched by cancer, either through their own personal battle or through someone they love.

Every day, the American Cancer Society is helping us stay well by preventing cancer or finding it at its earliest, most treatable stages. They assist families in finding the best resources to help their friend or loved one deal with a diagnosis and their journey to get well. The American Cancer Society is also rallying communities (like ours!) through events like Relay For Life, to fight back and find cures for this disease.

Please join my team or make a donation to help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together, we can help make sure that cancer never steals another year of anyone's life!

If you are unable to donate online, please print a donation form to mail in your donation.

Here is the link to my page.  http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11PL?px=19212569&pg=personal&fr_id=32651

Lists, Randomness, and Other Genius Ideas

1. This week has been a whirlwind, but I am too tired to go into all the events.  Just busier than normal.

2. I have gotten 16 Word of the Day text messages and then no more.  Not one in 2 weeks.  What?  Did dictionary.com run out of words?  16 words is hardly a dictionary.  It's more of a vocabulary list...

3. Thinking about the Words of the Day and a random comment made by my handsome hubby got me thinking...  I think I want to try to find an "On this Day in History" daily text message.  That would be fun.

4. My handome hubby's random comment was that yesterday was Thomas Edison's birthday.

5.  I am starting up a book club and I can't wait to get my hands on the first book and meet with my girls over coffee.

6. I am currently reading Stargirl by  Jerry Spinelli and loving it!  My 7th and 8th graders will be reading it soon.  I think it'll be a nice, breezy choice after the heavy topic we've been studying... The Holocaust.

7. If you've never read Stargirl and you like Young Adult Lit, check it out.  I am about half way through and it doesn't disappoint.

8. Also, if you like Young Adult Lit and the Holocaust, you definitely have to read Anne Frank and Me by Cherie Bennet and Jeff Gottesfeld.  It was delicious!  Oh, and if you do read it... No, that is not the novel my students read in class.  It's a smidge inappropriate for a middle school audience.  I am a very conservative teacher.  Read it and you'll understand what I mean.

9. I wish I was one of those people who was together enough to carry around a notepad or something to jot things down when I have a great idea.  I have thought of, I am sure, nearly a million great ideas for blog posts this week, but when I finally sat down to write a post, I could not think of a single one.  Maybe a pretty little notepad with a matching colored pen...

10. I really am all out of things to say, but 10 is simply a better number than 9.  If you don't believe me, ask Mr. Monk.

Hushpuppies

Tonight was Daddy's Fish Night for dinner.  Robert made fried catfish, hushpuppies, and homemade cole slaw.  It was delicious!  Theodore couldn't wait to get his hands on those hushpuppies.  He gobbled one right up and announced, "I love meatballs!"  Charlotte matter of factly replied, "Those aren't meatballs.  They are flushpuppies!"  We laughed a lot over dinner tonight.  My kids are pretty awesome.

Isabella Marie

Meet my new niece!

Welcome to the club, Heidi and Armando!

Frozen

Maybe we should have covered this one too...

Snow Day?

It's a major weather emergency here in the south.  I thought we'd get up this morning, bundle up, and head outside for a snowball fight and a mini snowman project.  Then, we'd come inside for hot chocolate and I would post all the cute snowbaby pictures on my blog. 

That didn't happen.

Instead, there is no snow, and it's too cold to go outside.  We are just sitting here in our warm house, watching the news coverage of the cars who, for some reason, are trying to drive on the overpasses.  I am to the point now that I can't wait to see someone slide into the guard rail!  It's like watching a sporting event!

I am a bit dissappointed we are not playing in the snow, but I am glad school was canceled today.  I don't want to drive on these icy roads at all.  Maybe we'll have that hot chocolate anyway...

100th Day of School

Today was the 100th Day of school!  Oliver's first grade class did it up big!  All the students were supposed to dress up like a 100 year old person.  What do you think?

My conversation with Oliver after school today:

Me: Hey Oliver, how was your 100th day of school?
Oliver: It was horrible!  Mrs. Burright kept calling me by the wrong name allllllllll day long!  And it made me mad because she KNOWS my name!  Every single other first grade teacher came to my class to see me and they all gave me compliments.  But not Mrs. Burright!
Me: What did she call you?!
Oliver: She kept calling me "Handsome!"
Me: Bwhahahahahahahaha!  (*stifle the laugh*)  Um, Bud, let's talk about what handsome means...

I also asked the poor kid if he was totally traumatized.  After I explained what that means, he said yes.

So, there you have it.  Happy 100th Day, friends.  I am off to find a therapist for my middle child...

These Little People of Mine

I love the things they do. 

Like when these guys...

...decorate my house like this.

Or when my sweet girl has a picnic...

And this kid?  Well, I can't really explain him.  But I do love him!