TW liked The False Prince more than I did… I wanted to like it but I was a little (lot?) bored. I knew immediately what was going to happen with the “Prince” and I didn’t particularly like it/him/any of the characters.
Imogen had possibility. So did Mott. But not enough to keep me really interested in the series. (shrug)
Ooops. April slipped up on me. Well, not really, it’s just that this post slipped by me. (Which is what happened last year, too. It’s just not a habit yet, but I’m working on it.)
So here’s what my reading looked like in March, (it really looked like Non-Fiction month, is what it looked like):
Total: 22 books
7 were non-fiction (three of those were travel)
2 were audiobooks (YA/Middlegrade)
1 was From the Stacks
2 were graphic novels (YA/Middlegrade)
1 for the Book To Movie Challenge
4 were YA and 2 were middle grade fiction (including what’s mentioned above — 4 of them were for the Cybils Challenge.)
I really loved several of the books I read in March. I didn’t hate any but I did dislike a couple pretty strongly.
Overall: good month for books since I don’t generally read a lot when I’m sick or on vacation, and both happened in March.
It’s puppy weather.
Not super cold. Not super warm. Not super icy. Not super muddy.
That’s the important part, the not super muddy part.
Skeeter does not like getting muddy.
She does like getting dirty, though. She’s happily digging holes all over the backyard. I was hopeful that adding some fresh gravel in areas where she normally likes to dig would dissuade her from the digging. No luck. She’s a happy digging dog.
We’re considering some fencing in back but I’m wondering if what we need is a puppy sandbox…
I bought a little jar of Bea’s Ho-Made Applesauce and OMG, it’s gone and I’m in mourning. Worse, I don’t see it on their website. Maybe if I call them, they’ll send me some?
I never thought I’d be hyperventilating over an empty jar of applesauce.
Do you like applesauce? Where did you get the best you’ve ever tasted — or did you make it yourself?
I finished Golden Legacy last night … boy that sure took a long time… and I have a lot to say about it, but I’ll be saying it over on BlogHer. (Don’t worry, I’ll Chatter/Tweet/Facebook links when that starts.)
I’ve always wanted to go to Menards (and The Crafty Beaver, but that’s another post entirely), even before I started couponing seriously and learned about the couponing opportunities, but have never managed to go. It’s so big and not as close as Lowe’s and Home Depot, so I always put it off. Until today.
I took an early morning work break and we headed to CVS for TW’s meds and some peeps, stopped by Starbucks to get our morning coffee (where a nice barista informed me that Menards is JUST LIKE HOME DEPOT OR LOWE’s) — he’s full of shit.
Yea, it’s a home improvement store similar to Lowe’s and Home Depot but it’s not the same at all. They sell food at Menards. And books, (novels and kids books and stuff), and greeting cards. They sell health & beauty items like toothpaste and deodorant, for goodness sakes.
They also have a whole lot of cool stuff — like this recycled tin flamingo and this recycled tin taxi. I want them both! (I actually want pretty much all of their recycled tin yard art, sigh.)
I even liked these little frogs and turtles. How cute, right?
Instead, we went home with the peat moss, mulch and gravel on our list (as well as a toilet flusher thingy, a bag of hot dog flavored potato chips for Elly and a big of cinnamon jelly hearts for me.)
We might have to go back for a backyard fence for Skeeter andthat flamingo might jump into my cart on our next trip… maybe.
It’s Not Just Like Lowe’s or Home Depot, Damn It Read More »
I’ve decided to cancel all holidays unless we have three or more of the six kids (and/or their friends and/or JMP) in attendance. I much prefer the empty nest and let’s just skip all of the traditional stuff over the a couple kids are here so we’ll do the whole thing stuff.
With just the two little girls here, it was far too quiet. The kitchen never got messy. Never. Not once. I barely had enough dishes this morning to run the load. I don’t have enough dinner dishes to run a load tonight. That’s madness. Really.
And everything just feels off without a house-full.
It wasn’t a bad Easter, not at all. We laughed a lot. We ate great food, (including asparagus that the girls and I fought over…RJ doesn’t even LIKE asparagus and I think she had three helpings.) But… yea.
No Prince J. No Michelle-Belle. No Chris. No Jenn. No JMP. No stray kids showing help. Hell, even TW’s mom was gone.
Bah humbug. Some people had better show up for the next holiday or I’m cancelling it.
It’s Official. I Prefer the Empty Nest Read More »
I finally read Beautiful Creatures, (for my Books to Movie challenge), and am wondering what the heck took me so long. I loved it. In part because of the fictional small town South Carolina setting –I’m a sucker for South Carolina — and also because the Sisters are fabulous characters. I love them.
I have one issue with the story … if you were Ethan and Marian the Librarian told you that it was your (dead) mother who gave her THAT special librarian job, wouldn’t you have had a conversation with her about that? Your mother was involved in the Caster world? Enough that she had the power to give someone a job as head librarian? Hello, someone would have had to explain to me just how that happened and what my mother was doing in that world.
I know Ethan (and Lena) had a lot on their minds but it was October — still a good bit of time til mid February. Plenty of time for a one hour discussion. I just don’t understand why that did not happen. Why Ethan didn’t even attempt to force that discussion.
That made no damn sense to me.
But it’s fiction, and I really enjoyed the book. Must reserve the next book ASAP… and either decide whether I want to drive into Indiana or somewhere that it might be playing in theaters or wait til the DVD release in May… I’ll probably wait but I’m looking forward to watching the movie…
Beautiful Creatures Read More »
That’s not really a title I would ever expect to type, but there you have it. Weird stuff happens in my house every day.
Elly was practicing signing a song, (yes signing, not singing), a school project that she has to be ready to do after spring break. She’s pretty much got it down. This is the song she chose.
But after practicing over and over again for ages, she was sick of that and decided to try signing something else. Of course she was doing all of this IN MY BED (she’s worse than Skeeter, I tell you) and she decided she really wanted to learn the “Rick Roll Song” (which caused me and TW to crack up.)
But, she did not seem to appreciate me singing as she signed, so I decided to wander around youtube for some Elly-like songs that she could sign.
We started with Creep:
Then, Drops of Jupiter:
Which led to Hey Soul Sister:
Which led to Bow Chicka Wow Wow:
Which led to… hold onto your ears (and eyes) and turn the sound up as loud as it will go… Barbie World:
And for the next two hours all I could do was sing “It’s a Barbie Worllllllld”. I love that song but it sure does get stuck in your head. I think it’s worse than that song Rick Springfield sings… (don’t say it out loud, don’t even think it or it will get stuck in your head!)
If only I could find an ASL video for Copacabana…
ASL Induced Earworms Read More »
I will admit that I was prepared to be not-so-impressed with Wonder. Books that have glowing reviews cause me to put my hackles up and be overly critical.
But, it was tough to maintain that detached, critical air. Wonder was just too nice. Nice story. Nice characters. Nice family. Nice. Nice. Nice. Just typing that makes me want to NOT like Wonder but I just can’t do it.
Maybe because we listened to it on audio, and finished it up during our happy vacation to Door County — everything was awesome, including the happily ever after ending of Wonder.
Hell. Just go read it.