OMG, Blackout was awesome (and it didn’t take me a week to read it because JMP went home. The only bad thing about this book was that it signals the end of the series.
Wah!
I want to know what Georgia and Sean are doing in Canada. I want to know what happens next with the entire team (well those who didn’t die, of course.)
TW spotted Grandparents Illinois Style when we were at the Brookfield Zoo with JMP (the first time) — I went right home and ordered it. (Crazy, I know.)
It’s a nice book, particularly if you need inspiration for things to do with your grandchild… I don’t really need any inspiration but I still had fun reading it. (I do want to quibble about putting the Kohls Children’s Museum in the same category with the Children’s Museum that’s at the Navy Pier — they are not the same thing and they are not suitable for the same ages… younger kids will like Kohls a lot more than older ones.)
Grandparents Illinois Style Read More »
TW put a package of Chewy Chips Ahoy Brownie Filled cookies on my desk right before my last conference call. I didn’t know whether to thank her or yell at her. It was lunch time and I wasn’t getting lunch but Chewy Chips Ahoy Brownie Filled cookies aren’t really lunch now, are they. Heck, they aren’t even as good as you might think they’d be. They’re certainly not as good as I thought they’d be. I was feeling bad because Jenn had shown interest in them while she was here and we never opened the package for her to try them — now I don’t feel bad because they’re such a let down.
Maybe my standards for cookies are too high?
I won’t eat raw cookie dough, which annoys TW quite a lot. We got three free packages of Nestle cookie dough at Target awhile back and she was annoyed with me because I ruined the dough by baking it. Turns out, I probably should have just let her eat it raw because the oatmeal butterscotch flavor wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.
I thought I might ruin the last package of the cookie dough by baking it, since it’s just plain ole Nestle Tollhouse flavor, that should be good, right? I’m not going to find myself let down by another cookie, am I?
What the hell is wrong with me and cookies right now? So weird. I never used to be this picky (or was I and I just didn’t realize it?) Or maybe it’s just that I should stick to Oreos. Oreos haven’t let me down yet — even the birthday flavor Oreos (in both chocolate and golden cookie variety) have been just as yummy as I expected them to be.
Maybe I should make a few of my old favorites — snickerdoodles, no-bake chocolate oatmeal, coconut macaroons, just to be sure I still like those? Or maybe I shouldn’t… just in case my cookie taste buds have died or something.
It’s kind of scary to think about.
On Cookies and Cookie Dough Read More »
We have a barking problem. It got worse when the neighbors got a golden doodle who they don’t do a very good job of trying to teach not to bark. Even without that darn dog (and the #asshat neighbors), we’ve got Lola who does not like squirrels or birds and will bark at them non-stop if we don’t bring her in.
So, TW threw the Bark Off thing (she’s a sucker for “As Seen on TV” stuff) into the cart when we were at Petsmart last week and I didn’t growl at her loudly enough to prevent that from happening so… here we are with a $6 gadget that I was pretty sure was not going to work.
Turns out it works really well on Skeeter… too well. She’s terrified to go into the backyard now. I’m not exaggerating.
She goes into the cold room, which leads to the backyard, and stops right inside the door and shakes until we all come back inside. She won’t go any further than just inside the door unless she’s dragged out.
Lola, on the other hand, just keeps on barking at the squirrels and trying to climb the trees.
I made TW turn it off and hide it.
Poor poodle, she’s just so sensitive.
UPDATE: 24 hours later, Skeeter is no longer afraid of the backyard and was happily chasing Lola around and barking at squirrels alongside her.
The Poodle Is Sensitive Read More »
Obviously, since my stream is full of photos about dogs and status updates about dogs and if JMP isn’t around, it’s all dogs all of the time.
Even the Petsmart clerk was taken aback by the 30 dog toys we bought a couple of weeks ago. She is very sure she’s never seen anyone buy so many dog toys at one time. (Which kind of scared me but hey, we’re those people now so I am just gonna go with it…)
The next level of being those people is happening tomorrow. We’re walking a 5k, with the dogs, to help raise money for Wright-Way Rescue (the shelter that brought us Skeeter and Lola.) It’s gonna be HELL because Skeeter and Lola aren’t well leash trained (Lola isn’t leash trained at all, when you get right down to it.) They both see crowds of dogs and think “off-leash dog park, let us go!!!!” so I have no idea what’s gonna happen when they’re in a crowd of people, and dogs, and we force them to walk with us. Thank goodness for harnesses and dual leash clip thingies.
Think good, happy thoughts — it’s gonna be wild, but also fun.
And if you like and have the funds, a donation would be very much appreciated. Too many dogs (and cats) are put down every year and I’m thankful for Wright-Way for giving us the opportunity to bring these two wild (and oh so cute) beasts into our lives (and yours.)
Yea, We’re Those People Read More »
It took me pretty much a full month to read Deadline and JMP is pretty much the only thing that could have caused that to happen because I love this series. Love, love, love.
I was afraid I wasn’t going to love this one, after Georgia’s death … even though I knew what was going to happen. Not because I saw a spoiler I just KNEW it.
And then last night, when I finished Deadline at 11:45pm I really wanted nothing more than to stay up all night and read the next (last! wah!) book in the trilogy.
The ending was exactly where the ending needed to be to entice you into the third book.
Ohhh boy. It’s something else when the zombies aren’t really the baddest of the bad guys…
Pretty much the only thing I had the energy to read while JMP was here were picture books — and boy we read a lot of those. I’m not sure this is the complete list (plus the ones I already blogged, a couple of weeks ago) but it’s a start. I’ll figure out the rest… later.
From the Usborne touchy – feely series, two books that JMP loved — Diggers and Dinosaurs (that’s not one book title, that’s two books.) He loved them so much that I’m tempted to break my no Usborne books rule and buy the entire touchy feely series.
Hamsters Holding Hands came from the library and was an impulse check out on my part. I thought the hamsters might look enough like prairie dogs to interest him. He liked it but not that much.
Hippopposites is the most fascinating children’s picture book EVER. I’m ordering a copy of this one and you should, too.
The Pigeon Has Feelings Too — oy. I’m kind of anti-Mo Willems, generally speaking but I figured one pigeon book wouldn’t kill us. It didn’t.
Harry the Dirty Dog was one of my favorites when I was a kid and was one of my kids’ favorites. JMP likes it but he doesn’t love it (yet).
We bought Farts in the Wild from some bookstore or toy store long, long ago — and we’ve been holding it here until JMP is old enough for it. He’s not yet but our friend Emma who will be three in December loved, loved, loved it and JMP was fascinated by it, too. It’s a great book.
TexasEbeth sent us “Who Flung Dung” and then we spent the next three weeks yelling “WHO FLUNG DUNG” and pushing buttons on the fart book I mentioned above. Hahaha. Want to know what to buy for a pre-schooler or kindergartener? Who Flung Dung and Farts in the Wild. HUGE WIN for the whole family.
Extra Yarn is a book from the Cybils Shortlist. I didn’t think JMP would like this one but he did. He sat all of the way through it without too much wiggling or trying to flip too quickly through the pages. I thought it was pretty cute, too.
Infinity and Me is a Cybils Shortlister and I loved it. JMP, not so much. Math is hard and too much for a 16 month old. We might try this one again next summer when we can really talk about Infinity.
Chloe and the Lion is a Cybils Shortlister and it caused me to roll my eyes. JMP liked the lion but that was pretty much it.
One Special Day is another Cybils book and it made me go awwwwww and then it made JMP’s mom say “maybe I should have another baby”. JMP didn’t love it or hate it. We’ll try it again if/when he becomes a big brother.
Tons of Children’s Fiction, Some are Cybils Read More »
Book three, Pardonable Lies was not my favorite Maisie Dobbs and not just because the narrator changed between book two and three (we’re doing this series on audio, now.)
Maisie was… not herself, which is probably as it should be but it made for a less fun adventure and a more serious, thoughtful story. I want the fun adventure with only a little bit of serious and thoughtfulness.
I also flipped from #TeamDean to #TeamInspector, Andrew Dean bugged me a lot in this one.
On to book four!
Maisie Dobbs: Pardonable Lies Read More »
A so-so month, all things considered and it sure could have been worse.
I read a 16 books (thank goodness for children’s fiction!)
2 were audio.
6 were for the Cybils challenge.
2 were non-fiction.
2 were YA.
4 were children’s fiction.
And, still nothing from my own stacks. Gah.
Johnny Mac Pippin and I started putting a dent in the stack of picture books from the Cybils shortlist. He liked three of the four we read today.
Black Dog was his favorite — probably because he likes dogs and I said the word dog a lot, so even when he couldn’t see the dog (or couldn’t tell that great big thing was a dog) he knew this was about dogs. Fun story.
Creepy Carrots was amusing for me and JMP liked it, too — though probably because I used some weird voices to make the carrots creepy.
A Home For Bird was cute. He liked this one too, though I doubt he’s ever seen a cuckoo clock. He did enjoy saying Cuckoo, Cuckoo over and over at the end.
The book he didn’t enjoy was Balloons Over Broadway. We didn’t finish that one together. The illustrations weren’t enough to keep his attention and the story was beyond him. Older kids, particularly those who have seen the Macy’s parade will probably like this a whole lot more than JMP did.
4 Cybils, 3 JMP Approved Read More »