Highlight of the Week and Meals a la Tobe!

How long has it been since I did one of these? Oh about 8 months. Yeah I'm slacking, but honestly Sunday has become my lazy day. It's also contradictorily my crazy busy errand day. So here we go... Highlight

J and I visited an awesome brewery Peace Tree in Knoxville, Iowa. J had some in the fridge from the last visit there. And man was it yummy! It's even better on tap. I had the Red Rambler (awesome red ale) and the Blonde Fatale. J had the Imperial Stout and the triple IPA. All amazing! We had to get some to take home. So of course, we filled the trunk with a growler of the Rye Stout and a case of the IPA. Now we have a fridge full of beer...

Lowlight

The reason we were in Iowa is my weekly lowlight. We drove the boys to the Mississippi to let my mom pick them up and take them back to Indiana and their dad's house. I won't see them until Thanksgiving. Sad day... but hopefully they adjust well to the new situation.

New Feature -- Meals a la Tobe

In my new place, J and I have made the commitment to cook at home more often. So I thought it would be easily to make a weekly meal plan. Two weeks down and it seems to be working. I'm determined to plan ahead, shop ahead, and eat all the leftovers. Hopefully this saves us money and time. While tooling around the internet, I found a great blog featuring weekly meal plans, This Week for Dinner. Using some of her recipes and plans, here's my upcoming meal plan:

Sunday -- Frozen shrimp and linguine meal (I was being kind of lazy)
Monday -- Pork chops, green beans, rice, rolls
Tuesday -- Leftovers/out
Wednesday -- Orange chicken, rice, carrots
Thursday -- Tacos
Friday -- Leftover/out
Saturday -- Salmon, black bean and corn salsa, salad, rolls

Extra fun notes from today

On the way home from the grocery store, The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" came on the radio. Awesome!
I had to stop on the highway to let 4 wild turkeys cross. Craziness!

July 2011 Wrap-Up

Books Read and Reviewed (10 books)

1,000,000 Page Goal

Monthly Total: 3294 pages Pages Remaining: 967,338 pages

Current Read

Cooking Up Murder by Miranda Bliss

Books I Gave Up On (0 books)

Light reading month, but some good books in there.

Comments

So this month didn't go exactly as planned. I only read 10!!!! books. That's just crazy for me. But it's okay, I got a lot of other stuff done. Moving really took it out of me motivation wise. And the boys and I have been trying to see the sights of our new town.

On the good side, I did participate in a readathon. And I read a lot of blogs. And I cleaned out my Google Reader. Finally, the books that I read were very good. Nothing got less than 4 out of 5 stars. Hopefully my reading amps up in the next month. I have high hopes!

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Queen The Iron Fey #3)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 2010

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 358

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Local Library; A to Z Title: I

My name is Meghan Chase.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.
This time, there will be no turning back.

Warning: Tread carefully if you haven't read The Iron King and The Iron Daughter.

What a way to end the trilogy! I was on the edge of my seat the entire book. It opened with a bang and ended with a bang. Constant action, or at least movement.

The book focused more on the war between the realms than the romance between Meghan and Ash. Thank goodness! I got very annoyed with the romance angle in the second book. Kagawa redeemed the love story by focusing more on the larger world than the inner insecurities of Meghan.

The return of Machina and Ironhorse, albeit not in physical form was a nice touch. I loved how Kagawa paints these characters are evil when we first meet them. But over the course of the trilogy we come to see that not everyone is black and white in this world. These characters had/have certain redeeming qualities. It just took us and Meghan a while to notice them.

The title of the book alludes to what happens in the end. Not that I minded the foreshadowing. I figured at the end of book one that Meghan would become the Iron Queen. It makes sense. Yet, when it happened, I was still surprised. Her transformation was wonderfully done. Congrats!

I've heard that there's a fourth book coming, The Iron Prince, focusing on Ash's story. Obviously at the end of The Iron Queen we get a bit of a teaser about Ash's new adventure/quest/suicide mission? I'm definitely putting it on my TBR list with an asterisk. (That means I really want to read it soon!) Great trilogy, Great world, Great characters!

I don't usually do this, but I had to share with you one my favorite lines from the book: "I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at the skeletons again, fingers interlaced in death as they had been in life. And I wished that, for once, faery tales--real faery tales, not Disney fairy tales--would have a happy ending." (page 38)

The Iron Fey

#1 The Iron King
#1.5 Winter’s Passage
#2 The Iron Daughter
#3 The Iron Queen
#3.5 Summer’s Crossing
#4 The Iron Knight
#4.5 Iron’s Prophecy
#5 The Lost Prince
#6 The Iron Traitor
#7 The Iron Warrior

Saturday 9: I'm Not in Love

Welcome to

Saturday: 9

What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

1. Have you ever been in love but tried to deny it? -- I don't think so.

2. Someone throws a party in your honor. The only guests are your past lovers. You're current spouse or significant other is cool with this. They ask you to speak and say something good about those assembled. Would there be someone there you could not say something good about? -- Yes. There is one person that I just cannot think fondly of at all. Just one.

3. How long can you go without your cell phone? Do you own a so-called “smart phone”? -- Just a few hours. I start breaking out in hives if I don't have my phone close by. It's pretty funny considering it's a crappy phone and hardly anyone calls me. I guess it just makes me feel safe and connected. And no, it's not a smart phone.

4. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? -- No. There are some acts where the person forfeits a second chance.

5. Would you rather spend a whole day with your mom or your dad? (If either or both have passed, answer as if they're alive.) -- I guess my mom. I do it often. Harder now that I live 700 miles from her.

6. Tell us one thing about your first boyfriend or girlfriend. -- A very bad kisser, even thought supposedly he had some experience doing it. Ugh!

7. Has an ex ever written something about you on facebook or their blog that was nasty about you? -- I don't think so. But then again, I'm not FB friends with all my exes.

8. What was the last thing you borrowed and never returned? --I'm sorry to say it was a book. I felt awful, but the person moved away and I lost contact. So I kept the book until I found someone who would love reading it and then passed it along.

9. Who is someone famous that you've met? -- Heather Headley, star of Broadway (Aida and The Lion King). She lived in my hometown when she was in school. I'm a few years behind her, but it was still cool to meet her after seeing Aida in NYC on my senior year Spring Break trip. Very cool and down to earth person!

Friday Fill-Ins #5

And...here we go!

1. Summer is ridiculously hot this year. Seriously, did hell break loose?

2. A book is unchanged magic. Release it!

3. Aargh! Postal office for not allowing me to send a package to someone in the military without actually talking to you in person.

4. Training for a temp job in the morning.

5. Seven: the number that eight nine.

6. There's always time for chocolate, don't you think?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to Peace Tree Brewing Co in Knoxville, IA, tomorrow my plans include errands? and Sunday, I want to read or maybe got see a movie (Captain America?)!

BTT: Night Owl

What’s the latest you’ve ever stayed up reading a book? Is staying up late reading a usual thing for you?

I've stayed up all night to finish a book. Two come to mind: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows and Eclipse. I was so into the books that I just kept on reading. Unfortunately, the day after reading Eclipse I still had to be at work and teaching by 8am. That was killer!

I am finding that my advancing age is cutting on the ability to stay up reading all night. Eventually my eyes tire out and I can't even see the words on the page. I try not to stay up too late reading. But it does happen sometimes.

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 2010

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 359

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Local Library; A to Z Author: K

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Warning: Contains spoilers for The Iron King.

I loved this book! The continuation of Meghan Chase's story was just what I needed. Anyone who read The Iron King knew that Ash would come to take Meghan back to the Winter Court per their contract. But from there, the story takes on a whole new dimension.

We meet some new and interesting characters. Well, okay, not necessarily new, but we didn't get a chance to meet Sage and Rowan in the first book. They only made an appearance at Elysium. This time we get to see all three Winter Princes. Very interesting. I guess who would betray them all, but I still liked the plot twist.

The action was good: fast-paced, but still leaving room for conversations and quiet moments. The large battle scene at the end wasn't overly descriptive, but gave enough to imagine it. (It kind of looks like the battle for the Fields of Pelenor from LOTR.) It was terrifying. I was riveted to the edge of my seat seeing Meghan try and get through.

My only issue with the story: the relationship between Meghan and Ash. In The Iron King, it felt like the Romeo and Juliet doomed romance. He was the bad boy of the Winter Court. She was the naive, but beautiful and powerful half-breed Summer Princess. How would they ever stay together? Throw in a dead love, Ariella, and another romantic interest, Puck, and we have a quagmire. After reading the first book, I didn't really want Ash and Meghan to end up together. I wanted him to continue being a distant asshole and her to wake up and see Puck. Unfortunately, this book makes the romance story even more complicated. It irked me. I hope the third book clears it up.

Can't wait to start the third one. So thankful the library had all three!

The Iron Fey

#1 The Iron King
#1.5 Winter’s Passage
#2 The Iron Daughter
#3 The Iron Queen
#3.5 Summer’s Crossing
#4 The Iron Knight
#4.5 Iron’s Prophecy
#5 The Lost Prince
#6 The Iron Traitor
#7 The Iron Warrior

Book Blurbs: Love Em or Hate Em?

I just finished reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa and absolutely loved it. I read it based off of the raving enthusiasm from Book Bloggers everywhere. So I picked it up at the library and sat and read, and read, and read, and shooed my kids away to read some more. I finished it. It was awesome. I grabbed The Iron Daughter so I could continue my reading. But before I did, I glanced at the back of the book. And here's what it said:

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny--one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school... or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's know is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth--that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, it stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face... and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

And my initial reaction was.... Way to give away the spoilers.

Are we putting too many spoilers in book blurbs? Do they give away just enough to entice readers to read books? I'm torn on this. On one hand, I definitely think this blurb gave away the spoiler of Meghan being a fey princess. However, I also see the need for publishers to try and encourage readership. If I was browsing at the book store and had never heard of this book, the blurb would have caught my eye. As it is, I didn't just find this at the store. Book bloggers that I follow have been raving about this trilogy since it came out last February. I didn't read their reviews (I don't like to spoil my views on the book while reading), but I did register that everyone gave it rave reviews. So I decided to read it. It seems like that's how I've been finding books lately. I skim through my GoogleReader notating when a reviewer loves a book and put it on my TBR list. All in all, book blurbs matter less to me now than they did two years ago. But does that mean we should be giving away "secrets" (truthfully I figured out Meghan parent issues in the first chapter, but nevertheless, I like the dramatic reveal) or being oblique to pull the reader? I've definitely been pondering this today. I imagine it'll be stuck in my brain for quite some time now.

Any thoughts on the subject? I would love to her comments.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen 2010

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 363

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Local Library; Fantasy

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Could not put this down. It's been awhile since I found a book I got completely absorbed in. I loved it!!!!

The story is intriguing. I haven't read much including faeries, so this was actually quite a refresher from my historical romances and zombie stories. I liked the change. it felt fresh. (Wonder if it will by the end of the trilogy?) The plot was fairly predictable, but it didn't detract from the great story line.

The characters were fun. I was always guessing what Puck or Ash would do next. They were forever at odds with one another, yet there was something else going on underneath all that maleness. (We find out, but I won't give away the secret.) Oberon and Titania and Mab are just like how I imagine them from myth: powerful, enchanting, self-absorbed. Perfectly drawn. Meghan was fun: feisty and innocent all wrapped up in a normal 16-year-old girl package. But my favorite is definitely Grimalkin. He reminded me of the Cheshire Cat, but that's okay because I adore the Cheshire Cat. Everytime we think he's disappeared, he comes back to help. It may not always be on Meghan's time or in Meghan's way, but Grim is truly a friend.

I can't wait to read the next in the series: The Iron Daughter. Good thing I got all three from the library!

The Iron Fey

#1 The Iron King
#1.5 Winter’s Passage
#2 The Iron Daughter
#3 The Iron Queen
#3.5 Summer’s Crossing
#4 The Iron Knight
#4.5 Iron’s Prophecy
#5 The Lost Prince
#6 The Iron Traitor
#7 The Iron Warrior

Music Monday -- Sean Watkins "Carousel"

Sean is 1/3 of Nickel Creek, one of my favorite bands. I even featured them on Music Monday a few months back. It would be logical to think that if I love Nickel Creek, I would love his solo stuff. And I absolutely do! It's a bit different, but you can definitely get the bluegrass influence in the background. He is also a part of Fiction Family with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. I picked this song, because it is forever getting stuck in my head. Enjoy getting it stuck in your head today!

Lyrics (my favorite lines in bold):

One more time around, I can't stop this carousel I've tried so long to no avail I've tried each horse on here, still no new scenery I'm dizzy, my stomach's sick, and I'm tired This I know, horses gold, won't take me home

Each horse here is painted so pretty

Lifeless beauties that orbit neatly

I see you go flying by, I've worn my heels down On this game of tug-o-war I'm loosingStepping down, kiss the ground that will take me home

Unfortunately, no video that I could find... So here's one from Fiction Family, just to entice you to listen more!

His Sinful Secret by Emma Wildes

Title: His Sinful Secret (Notorious Bachelors #3)

Author: Emma Wildes

Publisher: Signet Eclipse 2010

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 291

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer Romance - Historical

Betrothed to one brother, then married to another, Julianne Sutton finds herself a pawn in an unknown game. The enigmatic new Marquess of Longhaven knows all about the art of deception but he's baffled by innocence. His new wife is trusting, lovely, and utterly bewitching. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that she has secrets of her own. As he battles a ruthless enemy, he quickly learns that love has an entirely different set of rules.

This series just got better and better for me. I liked the first one, but wasn't ecstatic about it. I really liked the second one. And I loved the third one. I think it boils down to the male characters. Alex St. James seemed too nice, too gentlemanly (even if he was a rogue). Luke Daudet was interesting, but fairly bland. But Michael Hepburn has secrets. He's cool, mysterious, controlled, yet charming. I found him irresistible. (And I'm not even a 19th century debutante.) The story was intriguing. I didn't guess the big secret until the very end. it held my attention even through the sex scenes. And they were numerous. Fairly well done, but I admit that I skimmed through most of them. I wanted to get back to the story. That was much more interesting. I definitely recommend for fans of historical romance with a dash of action and suspense.

Notorious Bachelors

Saturday 9: White Wedding

Welcome to

Saturday: 9

What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

1. Tell us about the most recent wedding you attended. -- Pretty sure my last one was two years ago. It was a very fun wedding, possibly because a ton of old high school friends were there. We partied it up!

2. Do you enjoy attending weddings, or do they bore you to tears? -- They can be fun if the right elements are there: short ceremony, alcohol, good friends, good music, good food.

3. Does marriage in general make you feel confident and good inside, or skeptical? -- Ambivalent. I am a bit jaded when it comes to things like marriage. Seen too many fail.

4. Do you have a photo blog? (If so, feel free to share the link with us.) -- Nope, just a regular blog.

5. Do you find yourself driving less due to the high gas prices? -- No, but thankfully I don't have to drive much anyway.

6. What's the high temperature today where you are? -- 100 degrees with a heat index somewhere around 105.

7. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Agree, or no? -- I hate humidity. That's what makes it just so nasty out. Heat I can do, but 80% humidity has to go.

8. What's the hottest you've ever been in your life? -- Possibly at Disneyworld. it was nasty hot that day.

9. Non-temperature related last question: In your opinion... who's hot? -- Would it be cheating to say my boyfriend and his great big brain?

One Wicked Mistake by Emma Wildes

Title: One Wicked Mistake (Notorious Bachelors #2)

Author: Emma Wildes

Publisher: Signet Eclipse 2010

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 298

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer Romance - Historical

When blackmail turns to murder, Madeline May turns to the notorious Viscount Altea, a man used to dealing with men of ill repute, and a man she despises with every fiber of her being.
From the very moment of their first meeting-and one unforgettable night of passion-Luke Daudet knew she was different. And when he received her fateful entreaty, he knew he would not be able to stay away... -- From Amazon.com

Definitely liked this one more than the first in the trilogy, My Lord Scandal. That said, it wasn't the absolute best historical romance that I've read. Hmmm... how to describe this one? A bit of predictable romance. Oh come on, based off of the description above everyone knows Luke and Madeleine will end up together. Thankfully, there was political intrigue going back to the Napoleonic Wars. We also have an interesting side story about Luke's younger sister and their cousin Miles. Plus, we get a very unconventional older sister, Regina! I loved her so much! And we get lots of sex scenes. And when I see a lot, I mean like every two chapters a hot sex scene to enjoy or skip depending on your preferences. Finally, thankfully our main female lead wasn't a naive chit, but an experienced young and interesting widow. Phew... I thought I was getting really bored with the trilogy, but it definitely redeemed itself. Must read the third one now...

Notorious Bachelors

Friday Fill-Ins #4

And...here we go!

1. Life is like a raging ocean; grab something and ride the waves.

2. The library is one of the best places to people watch EVER because the weirdest collection of people hang out there...

3. if I was going somewhere, the one thing I have to bring is books, lots and lots of books.

4. I cannot eat this pie soon enough. Yum!

5. Next year, I would love to be getting ready for law school.

6. I was looking for multiple first books in multiple series at the library and I found the second or fifth, but never the first. Argh!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to pie and Monty Python, tomorrow my plans include a possible dinner with friends and Sunday, I want to go the art museum!

My Lord Scandal by Emma Wildes

Title: My Lord Scandal (Notorious Bachelors #1)

Author: Emma Wildes

Publisher: Signet Eclipse 2010

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 306

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer Romance - Historical

I picked this book (and the other two in the trilogy) up at a Border's closing sale. I wanted some fun historical romance. Nothing too deep, but something entertaining. And I think my $2 a book was good money spent. At least on the first one.

Alexander St. James may be a thief of hearts, but he is no burglar. Nevertheless, he must recover and item belonging to his family to avoid a scandal, and so he has stolen into the home of Lord Hathaway, only to come upon the beguiling and chaste Lady Amelia in her bedroom, wearing little but a look of surprise. Alexander leaves Amelia breathless-but is it from fear or excitement? Captivated by her beauty and charmed by her intellect, he ignores the scandalous whispers as he sets out to seduce the woman of his dreams... -- from Amazon.com

My Lord Scandal is a typical historical romance. We have the rouge who is secertly a good guy. We have the damsel in distress. We have the overbearing guardian (in this case a few). We have the sympathetic friend/relative (in this case an aunt). All well and cliched in the realm of historical romance. Historical romances can often be very predictable. I like them for entertainment, but most aren't very clever. It's like watching a movie for the millionth time. You know what to expect, but that doesn't mean you don't enjoy it.

But this book had a mystery. Lord Alexander needs to find this key, but he doesn't know why. We spend a good portion of the book unraveling this mystery. That's what caught my attention. The intrigue going back decades holds these two families together. However the two central characters don't know why. In the course of finding out, of course they fall in love. Their love is, of course, scandalous. And their parents are not approving of the match. An enjoyable read. Nothing spectacular, but decent addition to he genre.

Notorious Bachelors

#1 My Lord Scandel
#2 Our Wicked Mistake
#3 His Sinful Secret

Quote Wednesday -- FDR

"Books can not be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory...in this war, we know, books are weapons. And it is a part of your dedication always to make them weapons for man's freedom." -- FDR

Thank you Mr. President! Books are immortal. We shall use them to fight the injustice and the obstacles. We can do it. And you know how????

By supporting and patronizing our local libraries! I do it, and you should too!

Can you guess who just got a library card? Me!!!!! I finally got an addressed and postmarked piece of mail so I could activate my Omaha Public Library cards. The boys and I went in last night, activated them, received a prize for already completing the first summer reading program level, and checked out more books. I am a little disappointed in the selection. But that's because my old library was one of the best in the nation (and that's not just me talking, they were given an honor). Even with some slight shortcomings, I am still in love with the local library.

I already checked out three books. Unfortunately, two of them are part of a series (and it's not the first book). That's okay, I'll find the others in the series tomorrow when I visit another branch! I love the library!!!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: Reasons I Hate Moving

Top Ten Tuesday's topic was "Books You Believe Should Be Required Reading for Teens." I just couldn't think of any. My brain is not working well this week. Instead, I thought of my own Top Ten this week. As I just moved from Indiana to Nebraska two weeks ago, I present: Top Ten Reasons I Hate Moving

1. Realizing how much crap I have -- I organized my things. I had multiple trips to the Goodwill drop-off. I filled many garbage bags. And yet, I still have a mountain of crap. How did I acquire all this stuff? Now I have to go through it again. Weed out the important (I found the boys' savings bonds and my birth certificate, could come in handy), trash the trash. Finally, I have to figure out where to put all this crap. J definitely doesn't have enough room or storage areas.

2. Dust bunnies -- While loading and unloading the truck and unpacking, I sneezed almost constantly. Two days after moving, I got a cold. I blame you dust bunnies. Left to your own devices, you've taken over my stuff. You've irritated my nose and eyes and royally pissed off my immune system. Be warned, I bought a Swiffer. Your end is coming.

3. Losing stuff -- How is it that I pack everything I own in boxes and still misplace things while unpacking? It never fails. it used to be that my toys would go "missing" every time I moved as a child. I believed my mom when she said things just got misplaced. In my teen years, I swore that she threw my stuff away every move. Now, I don't know. I've lost things in this move. Hopefully they will turn up, but I don't have much hope.

4. Cardboard box paper cuts -- They are so much worse than regular writing paper cuts.

5. DMV crap -- Why exactly does the DMV have to kill me? They make it so hard to get a driver's license. I can't even figure out all the forms I need to bring. It's like a secret association. I feel like I need the code word to actually talk to a human being and get a straight answer. I'm dreading having to go this week.

6. Mail forwarding -- I changed my address online with the USPS. I got a confirmation; J got a confirmation. And yet, I don't think the USPS has actually forwarded my mail. This is just the most ridiculous system ever.

7. New crap -- It never fails. You move but somehow you have to buy more crap. The first day here, I realized J had no cleaning supplies (typical bachelor guy), ~7 hangers, no furniture for the boys. So we went shopping. Great fun! I like shopping, but not this kind of shopping.

8. Locations -- One of the first things I did... look up the locations of nearby grocery stores, Target, Old Navy, bookstores, and fast food restaurants. Essential places to know. Driving around this week, every time I've seen something interesting, I have to make a mental note of where this crap is.

9. New friends -- J has some friends, I've met them. They're awesome, but now I have to actually make friends with people without J. Very hard for a shy person like me.

10. Coffeehouses and bars -- Two essentials for me. I still need to find a good comfy coffeehouse. I'm really missing Firefly right now. And I need to find a comfy quirky bar with good alcohol. Another difficult task.

Honorable mention: Bruises -- I bruise at the drop of a hat. So imagine me attempting to pack and unpack boxes and load and unload the truck. I have bruises everywhere. I'm still finding them. And most I'm assuming I got while moving, but I can't actually remember how I got them.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Title: North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Publisher: Penguin Books 1854

Genre: Classics

Pages: 449

Rating: Book 4/5 stars Movie 5/5

Reading Challenges: 2011 - Way Back When; Page to Screen

Hmmm... I have some mixed feelings about this one. It's no Jane Austen. I think I've been reading too much Jane Austen style 19th century literature that it's hard to get back into other fiction forms. Reading the introduction, I learned some interesting things about Gaskell and the book. Did you know that Gaskell made a pretty decent living writing? North and South was originally published as a serial in a magazine, but she felt that the story was limited in that form and so expanded it for the novelization. And her editor was Charles Dickens. Yes that Charles Dickens! Taking all this into consideration, the novel was enjoyable.

The novel spent much more time on Margaret's thoughts on her father's change of situation. And we leaned much more about his change of heart. I think part of the problem was that the novel was very slow. We spent the first 50 pages still in Helstone. Milton didn't enter into the picture until extensive musing about the church, life in Helstone, and the upcoming move. Once we got into Milton, I liked the story better. We met the other players. Margaret was introduced to factory life. The story progressed, but definitely slowly compared to modern novels.

Movie

The miniseries I absolutely adored. It cut the longer introduction. It cut some of the discussions. But it kept the main storyline about Margaret and the change in life to the North. The casting was beautiful. Richard Armitage is just perfect as Mr. Thornton. (Although I kept seeing him as Guy from Robin Hood. Definitely not the same character.) Daniela Denby-Ashe was beautifully understated as Margaret Hale. She brought the quiet strength to the character. The book has that quality, but seeing her reactions on-screen made a much more interesting character. But by far, my favorite was Sinead Cusack as Mrs. Thornton. She's hard to like, but somehow I understand her motivations. That is the mark of a talented artist. The visual difference between Milton and Helstone is gorgeous. We instantly see the different atmospheres with color, architecture, and costumes. And that final scene... brings out the hopeless romantic lurking inside of me.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Title: Ender's Game

Author: Orson Scott Card

Publisher: Starscape 2002

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 324

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Science Fiction; 2011- With a Twist

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.
Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

My first recommendation from J for science fiction was a success. The story was inventive (at least for me). The characters were interesting. The setting was gorgeously described and constructed.

The entire story seemed familiar to me through the book. When I mentioned it, J said that it was the beginnings of the world from Stormship Troopers... ahhh that 's makes sense now. I could see the similarities in the worlds. But this one focuses on a boy, his siblings, and the search for a fleet commander. The story progresses slowly, but it's interesting. I usually like faster moving plots. This one covers almost 5 years of Ender Wiggins' life. We see his home life. We see his traveling to BattleSchool. We see his trials at BattleSchool. And we see his entrance into the next steps of his training. Although I never completely agreed with Ender's actions, he was a very interesting character. I loved his contradictions and struggles. It was hard to remember that he was a little boy. He seemed to be at least in his teens. Very strange how Card writes a character so young, yet with a soul and mind so old. Definitely an interesting combination.

Good choice for book selection. Stumped as what to read next.

Ender Wiggin

#1 Ender's Game
#2 Speaker for the Dead
#3 Xenocide
#4 Children of the Mind
#5 A War of Gifts
#6 Ender in Exile

Music Monday -- "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

It's been two weeks since I did a Music Monday. And there was a gap before that one. I'm slacking. I admit. When I first started writing this post, I thought of reasons why I hadn't written: I just moved, it's been nonstop since I got here, I have been job searching. But then I realized, those are all excuses, not reasons why. So, I'm recommitting myself to my blogging. And exciting news: I have a job interview tomorrow! Finally!

I feel like this an appropriate song for my mindset of the last year. I have been in a funk. It's been hard to have hope. It's been tough going. Yet, I keep trying to tell myself that someday things would get better. And so one of my favorite songs of all time. Beautiful, haunting, inspiring...

Lyrics (my favorite lines in bold):

Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high, There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow Skies are blue, And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far Behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon dropsAway above the chimney topsThat's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly Beyond the rainbow Why, oh why can't I?

Versions and ratings:

The Classic: Judy Garland -- Of course I have to include the classic. She's just so amazing. I love this scene in the movie. Definitely #1

A more modern version: Israel Kamakawiwo Ole' -- An island feel. Gorgeous. #3

Eva Cassidy: #8

Katharine McPhee: #7

Glee version: A fun version. I had to add something from Glee! #4

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: Of course we needed a punk version to add to the mix. #5

Josh Groban: I do love Josh Groban. #6

Jewel: I adore this version. #2