Lazy Days

What a fantastic lazy day it was today. At least for everybody else. We got up today a little late, but we still had enough time to make it to the 10 o'clock service at church. Hubby didn't make it today. He hurt his back Friday (again, but in a different spot this week), and was feeling kind of gimpy this morning when he got up. But he did help me get the kids ready.

The four of us got to church and it was time for the kids to go to Sunday school. I like the time of it because I can sit through the service and the kids are somewhere else. Today the boy decided he wasn't going to SS. I told him he was. He kind of looked at me a little funny, but he went. It has been probably 4 weeks since I have been able to sit and listen to a service. And I felt like I really needed to today.

The last few weeks I have either been greeting, or teaching Sunday school, or helping out with the picnic, or something that has kept me from being able to focus on the message. I got to do that today and it was fantastic. I even got to eat in peace and didn't have to chase kids or clean up spills, or keep someone occupied. Are you seeing a theme? I am. Hubby is usually very good at helping, but the last couple of weeks he's been hurt. So there wasn't a lot of help, but that's ok. I know why and that makes it better. I needed to hear God's word today, though.

I love our 10 am service, because it's a pot luck. You're supposed to bring something to share. Some people buy stuff to bring. I don't care if they cook or buy. We usually make a breakfast casserole of some sort. But last week, we stopped and I ran into the grocery store really quick. I got a cheese danish and a maple walnut danish. I'm not a big danish person, but they were at the door and on sale. And darned if they weren't the best thing I put in my mouth. Goodness gracious, I ate most of the left overs by myself.

The kids made plates and I helped the baby carry her stuff up the stairs. Then I helped the boy get his stuff up the stairs. Then he realized he didn't have a drink, so I had to go back down, and therefore back up, the stairs a third time. Good thing I'm trying to lose a little weight. I could have been really mad. Thank God for my big girl. She is so fantastic to her Mama. She got all her stuff all by herself, and got it all upstairs. Woohoo! They finally got all settled and it was time for me to go back downstairs.

I got to sit by my friend Melanie. I don't always get to do that, and it was nice. She's the one that helped me get all my info for homeschooling. What a phenomenal woman she is. She has about the most even temper I have ever seen. I rarely see her fuss at her kids or raise her voice. She doesn't have to. But I'm getting off the subject (duh!). It was nice to be able to sit with adults, at an adult table. It seems like lately I've been sitting at the kid table alot.

When church was over, it was time to round up my heathen children and head home. I called my hubby to let him know we were on our way home. I told him he needed to kick all his friends out and the party was over. He laughed at me. Not alot of people come all the way out to our house. But that's ok, too. That's one reason we moved where we did. We had some people coming around that we didn't feel comfortable having around.

I worked my booty off while everybody else played. I folded the laundry from last week and started on it for this week. I folded 9 loads of laundry. Everybody has to put their own stuff away, but I fold it. I also hang all the clothes, except hubby's work shirts. I tell him I don't wear them, I'm not putting them away. Same deal for the kids, except their hang up stuff. They can't reach the bar to put the hangers on. I also loaded the dishwasher, cleaned off the counters in the kitchen, cleaned out the boy's half of the closet, went through a bag of clothes for him, got that stuff washed and put away, made a killer dinner, and got the kitchen cleaned up when I was done.

While the kitchen was getting cleaned, hubby put the kids in the shower and got them into pajamas. We had a movie night again tonight. We've been doing that alot lately and I like that, too. I popped pop corn, the real stuff not microwave, and we watched Galaxy Quest when the kids were done getting ready for bed. The oldest wanted her hair put into curlers, so I did that, too.

It was a very good day and alot got accomplished. The kids played, and kept the fighting to a minimum. I really enjoyed that. And we got to spend time together as a family. The baby fell asleep during the movie so she got to bed early. The oldest and the boy have decided they want to sleep together, so they are. Hubby is asleep watching fishing. And I'm headed to bed when I'm done with this.

If you get the chance for a lazy day, take it.

Have a great day!

Getting By

So, here it is Friday again. I like Fridays. We were at the park again today. We haven't been in a couple of weeks, and it was nice to get back to some sort of routine. There weren't many of us there today. Six families, and that was nice.

The boy had a couple of issues today. The group he usually plays with was trying to keep another kid away from where they were. The other kid isn't part of our group. Anyway, my boy and the other kid got into it. Apparently the other kid started hitting my boy. So what did he do? My boy grabbed the other kid by the arm and twisted it. Not enough to break it, but enough to have him running to his parents.

One of the boys came and told me what was happening,and there I go charging after my son. I was furious that he had hurt another person. So after he got a stern talking to, he told me about the other kid hitting him first. I tried to impress upon him that he should have walked away immediately. If there were continued problems, he should have come to get me. He needs to learn to not hurt people just because he is getting hurt. I'm all for defending yourself, but if you can remove yourself from that situation, then remove yourself. Violence doesn't solve conflict. I should know.

He ended up having to sit with us moms for about 10 minutes. That is forever for him. He can't stand it. All those kids playing and there he is, sitting. When he went back to play, the boy that told on him decided to start more trouble. Because one of our other friends came and said he was telling my son one thing and the group another. My poor boy was beside himself. We got that straightened out and he ended up playing for most of the rest of the afternoon.

Then later, about 30 miutes before we left, I hear him screaming for me. I thought he had broken something. No, there he was running straight for me. Apparently, some girl had been throwing sticks and pine cones at him. So he threw them back at her. She got mad, and chased him. Not nice. He had asked her to stop throwing things at him, and she didn't quit. I had to calm him down from that one, too. Bless his little pea picking heart. When I went to talk to the girl, she ran. And hid behind a tree. I guess her mom, or whoever, saw me go over there and wasn't happy about it. But she didn't come over and say or do anything. She just stood where she was and called for her daughter. She didn't come out from behind the tree until I left.

It was an eventful day for my sensitive boy. I had a pretty good day actually. I was a little upset that I didn't have more for lunch for us, but that happens sometimes. We were all pretty happy by the end of the day. The girls were fantastic.

My oldest had her feelings hurt a little. The boy was messing with a stick and a spider. He hit a spider, and she thought it landed on her. It didn't, but she was still creeped out a little. She got over it with a big mama hug. There is nothing like it.

The girls played so well today with everybody. Big kids, little kids, boys, girls, whatever. I love that. There is so much joy in the laugh of a child.

Have a great day!

Hand bells

The kids and I have been participating this summer in a hand bell choir. We thought it would be kind of neat to try. We love it. It has been the most fun. The kids are learning to read music, which is like learning a foreign language. We have a performance in a little over two weeks. I'm excited, and I think the kids are, too.

With my musical background, I would love for the kids to be exposed to playing an instrument. The problem with that is I have no idea how to fit them for an instrument. And we don't have the money for private lessons. I could actually go through the chool system and they can participate in one extracurricular activity. I would love for that to be band or choir. But that would be up to the kids.

Anyway, watching their eyes light up when they've done something right has been really cool. Watching them learn yet another new thing, and learning it well, has been incredible. I love to watch them when they realize they can do something new. Specially when it's something they didn't think they could do.

We've been learning the Doxology we sing in church. The Doxology is just a short praise song we sing after our offering. The first time we played it was awful. Some of us hit the right note, and some of us really didn't. But we have gotten better and better every week. I keep quizzing the kids on the note names and stuff. I finally had to give them some space.

There is no practice this week. Too many were going to be out of town. We were supposed to be too, but that didn't happen. Our homework is to use plastic or foam cups and pretend to ring our bells in the right spot in the music. So we have to "play" our part. We haven't done it yet, but that's on the agenda for today.

August 3, if you can be there, at the church on the corner, come watch out hand bell choir. We're awesome (well, awesome enough for us). We will be performing at the 8:30, 10, and 11.

Have a great day!

Lesson Plans

I was looking at our curriculum for the upcoming year (See previous post-Curriculum What?). I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. But we're going to give it a shot and see what happens.

For the upcoming school year I have science, history, math, spelling/vocabulary, reading comprehension/writing prompts, bible study,and grammar. That's a lot. I also want to throw in a foreign language. I have a small Chinese program, and a small Spanish program. But the great thing about homeschooling- we do what we can, when we can.

I love the freedom of deciding what we will actually get done versus what we have planned to do. I love that if we run out of time, we move on to other things. I love the fact that if we don't feel like doing Science, or history, or grammar, or whatever one day, we don't. I love the fact that we don't work on Fridays. I also love the fact that if we get busy, we can come back and do it later, or skip it all together.

When you were in school, did you have to do projects? I hated them. I still do. I don't like the fact that you are only given a partial week to research a subject and put it together exactly like the teacher wants it. I even had an argument with my oldest child's teacher about projects. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to voice my opinion that if the subject was taught appropriately, projects would be unnecessary. And if a project was necesary, why wasn't the student allowed to express their creativity, instead of being forced to do something somebody else's way? I can't imagine why we didn't get along. It is any wonder I pulled the kids out of school?

Our science curriculum will need some supplemental help from our local library. The good thing about that is that I can get on the Internet and reserve books. Then they'll be delivered to our local branch. I can pick them up once a week or so, or have my hubby do it on his way home. Or I can have them delivered to a branch near hubby's work and have him pick them up from there. Who says I'm not very flexible?

I also downloaded some podcats from iTunes (see previous post Dial Up Bites). I love the fact that curriculum can be supplemented from different sources. Through the school district, we have a membership to Encyclopedia Brittanica. The school district pays for it, and the students get to use it. There is also a great online magazine from Answers in Genesis. It is nature based and deals with alot of natural science issues but in a biblical way. It opens your eyes to a different way of seeing things, looking at issues, and deciding what you believe about God and creation.

Whch is another great thing about homeschooling. In public school, kids aren't taught that God has his hands in every situation. Why do we have a planet that rotates on its side? Because God wanted it that way. Or because a huge comet hit the giant gas planet and knocked it sideways. I know which way I believe.

And now the youngest is going to start learning with us. She gets to learn how to read. I really hope I can pull that one off. If she isn't ready, we'll put it down, work on some letters, and come back to it. She already knows all her letter names, her number names up to 12, and how to spell her name. She also knows how to spell her sister's name, and we are working on brother's.

So, in a nut shell, very full curriculum, teaching another child, and trying to keep my sanity. Pray for me. I can use all the help I can get. We start school on September 3, so look for updates.

Have a great day!

Friendship

I was reading a blog the other day. It was written by one of the homeschool moms in our group. She was trying to figure out the difference between friendship and acquaintanceship. It started me thinking about what the difference is myself. How many friends do I have, and how many acquaintances?

To me, a friend is someone you can call, day or night, and gripe about whatever is going on, and the other person doesn't hang up on you. A friend is someone you could tell your deepest, darkest secrets to and not judge you. A friend is someone who is completely honest and devoid of an agenda pertaining to your relationship. For instance, someone who uses what you have or give, and has no appreciation is not a friend.

I have people I call friends. I have people I call acquaintances. Have you ever found yourself saying, "My friend said..."? Isn't it easier to say "my friend" than "some chick I know"? I have friends I haven't talked to in several years, yet I still refer to them as friends.

I had a friend that was very close to me, and now we don't speak. For awhile the relationship was an every day thing. Call each other every day, just to see what is going on, and end up on the phone for three hours. But when that friendship fell apart, it fell apart into many, many pieces. Now there is mistrust, anger, and hard feelings between two people who were once close. But I haven't done much to try to repair it. I have made overt gestures, but I haven't come right out and said, "Let's let bygone be bygones".

I recently tried to renew a friendship that had lain dormant for too long. My best friend growing up was someone that was like my other half. But through time and distance the relationship started suffering. I saw her when I went back home, but there wasn't a lot of effort put into it when the disatnce was back. But that's definitely my fault as well. I wrote her a letter recently and she called me. She and I e-mail each other now. It's definitely not regularly, but at least it's a start in the righ direction. And it's better than what we did have.

I had a feeling one night that I needed to contact her. I felt like God had led me to write her a letter. I felt like the time was right for a line to be opened again. And I felt better by doing it. I wasn't there for her when she needed me and I didn't allow her to be there when I could have used her. I didn't call very often and only sent Christmas cards. But I still think about her on her birthday. Yes, I know it's the end of July.

But I felt like I hadn't been the kind of friend that she deserved to have. I felt like I had abandoned her. She may not have felt that way, but I did. And I felt pretty crappy about it. I know better than to let a true friend go. I hope to keep in touch. I would love to have her in our lives.

My sister is also my best friend. We were not close for so very long. Growing up we were super tight. But as family sometimes does, we grew apart as we got older. We didn't become close again until I was 21. It was a beautiful relationship until I screwed it up. I got to the point that it was easier to judge her and her actions than take a close look at my own life. So I did the stupidest thing I could do and I alienated her. It took a family health crisis to get us talking again. And it shouldn't be that way. I still haven't apologized for what I did. I don't want to drag up hurt feelings and damage what we have now.

So, Stacy, if you read this. I am so sorry for the things I said and the things I did. I love you so very much and you are the best sister I could have. I thank God that you are in my life. Please forgive me and know that I am deeply sorry for the pain I caused you.

I miss her. We like to joke when we get off the phone about coming to dinner. We'll tell each other what we're having for dinner and decide which house we're going to eat at. Or she'll say what's on the menu at her house, and I tell her I'll bring what we have, and we can share. I wish that could really happen. But when you live 1200 miles away from each other, it's not a quick trip. Sometimes, it would be nice to just a sister hug.

Who do I call when I need support? Who do I call when I need to hear a voice? Who do I call when the kids are out of control and so am I? My husband, that's who. I am very lucky that I married my best friend. We started as friends, and realized that we had a lot in common. Then it just progressed. We were always together, then it became exclusive. Then I fell in love. I'm not sure when he did, but I'm glad he did. I cannot imagine a day of my life without him in it.

I know that he is my support. He holds me up, he sets me down, he rubs my shoulders, and hugs me. He knows what I need when I need it, and he does it. He finishes my sentences, and reads my thoughts. He knows me better than I know myself. He allows me to be wild, or shy. Outgoing or introverted. Boisterous or silent. But he allows me to be me. I don't have to hide. I don't have to cover up my feelings or my thoughts. He is always there for me. I know he is laways there for me. He is a true friend.

So who are your friends? Who are your acquaintances? Who are people that you would like to move from one category to another? True friends or sometimes friends? Give $20 to or loan $20 to? Things to ponder.

Have a great day!

Bummed Out

Well, it's official. No vacation. Which means no reunion. I am so disappointed I cannot stand myself. Unfortunately, nobody else can stand me either. I am moping around the house, fussing at people. Nothing is making me happy. And thinking about it just pisses me off.

I missed my ten year reunion because I was two weeks away from giving birth to my oldest child. Now I'm not pregnant, can't get that way anymore, and I still can't go. I've been on the verge of tears all day. And it's not getting better.

I miss Texas. I miss my friends. I miss my family. And I'm ready to go home, even if it's just for a little bit. I want to see everyone, see how they are doing. I want to sit and reminisce with people who remember the same things I do. I want to see our new high school. I want a lot of things, but I'm not getting them.

I looked into flights for one and actually found one that after fees and stuff would only cost about $300. But that's still a lot for us right now. I don't want to go without my family, because I would love to show them off. I have beautiful children and a fantastic husband that deserve to be shown off.

My children are my gift from God. They are the reason I have hope for this world. They are smart, beautiful, funny, loving, kind, and sweet. They are wonderful and give this life meaning.

My husband is smart, handsome, funny, giving, loving, loyal, sweet, kind, and I could not imagine my life without him. He has seen me at my best and my worst and for some reason still loves me. I think he hung the moon just for me. He is also my gift from God. God knew when I needed someone who would love me for me. And He brought us together. How fantastic is that?

Right now I'm hiding in my room, blogging, while my children (thank you God) are playing and not fighting. They know I'm upset and are trying very hard to be good to their Mama. And they are doing a great job.

Class of 88, I love you and I miss you and I wish I could be there. I wish I could see you all and share a small amount of my life with you and have you share a small part of your life with me. Somebody needs to have a White Russian for me. I'm going to finish pouting (good luck) and continue on. Hopefully, there will be a 25 year reunion.

Have a great day!

Music, music, music

I've been rockin' out lately to a couple of songs I downloaded from iTunes a few days ago. For my birthday I got a gift card and I hadn'treally found anything I wanted to download. While I was watching TV the other night, a commercial came on for some countdown show (you know, the top 4 million songs of the last decade kind of thing), and Nirvana was on there. So I had to download "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Which led me to The Offspring, which led me to Godsmack.

As a side note: My husband and I were talking about the band name Godsmack. As a Christian, I love the name. Have you ever been Godsmacked? Sometimes when I'm dealing with an issue, I tend to be really hard headed and think I can handle it myself. Then I get Godsmacked, and realize I'm not leaning on who I need to lean on. Even as a non-Christian that would happen. I think that's how I got to be a Christian. Anyway, have you ever been Godsmacked? Think about it.

But I've been thinking about how much music has affected my life. I can remember my mother listening to what I call awful music. She loves old country & western. And I mean ooolld. I hated it. I still don't care much for it, but at least I try to appreciate it more. I felt like it got shoved down my throat and I don't much care for that either. I can remember when I got old enough to argue for a compromise. Mom would put on a station that played a little country and a little lite pop. That made me happier.

Some of my best memories of music are with my father. No matter where he was, he always found the other Hawaiians in the area. They would gather together at someone's house and play music all day. There were guitars, ukeleles, mandolins, whatever, and a lot of harmony and beautiful sounds filling the house. I discovered at an early age that I must be the only Hawaiian that can't sing. But what a fantastic experience that was. And to listen to the pigeon English was hilarious.

We would eat and listen and play and I can remember being fascinated that these people could do what they could. I would have loved to learn how to play. I would still love to learn how to play. I was all wide eyes and open mouth at the music that seemed to flow. And if you have never listened to Hawaiian music, grab a CD and start. It can be very relaxing, very grounding. The language itself is beatiful and melodic, but put it to music and there you go.

The first rock music I heard was Van Halen. The needle hit the record and there I was. In love with the sound of heavy guitars and deep, throbbing bass. I still love the music. The older I get I just know one day I might give it up, but not any time soon. I still prefer Sammy over Dave, but that's just me. You have your own opinion, this is mine. The eighties with all the hair bands was a beautiful time.

During my formative years, I was in band. I absolutely loved that. There was definitely a great feeling of accomplishment that came with playing a new piece of music and playing it well. There are some songs that you will always remember. I remember my 7th grade year, watching the marching band come into the stadium playing "Patton". They had a powerful brass section that just sold the song. I still get chills thinking about that. If you don't know what I'm talking about, rent the movie with George C. Scott and listen to the theme. I miss playing an instrument every now and then.

The Black Crows and "Shake Your Money Maker". That album helped me see through a very abusive relationship I was in at the time. Not physical abuse, but mental, which to me, can be worse. Candlebox got me from Texas to Las Vegas and kept me pumped up and awake. Casting Crowns "The Altar and the Door" has been helping me stay on a path. I got caught rocking out to Foo Fighters "All My Life" in traffic one day. It was on the radio, the volume was cranked, a little old couple next to me was watching my head bang.

I may not remember a lot of details about a situation, but I always remember what song was playing in the background. So go out, crank it up, and share your music with the world.

Have a great day!

VBS

Today is the last day of Vacation Bible School at our church. Whoohoo! This is the first year that all of my kids got to go. It's also our second of the year. We have one more in August and we are done for the summer. We use VBS as summer camp, and I like that. At least I know what they are learning about. And the kids get to do fun crafts, meet new friends, and see what other people believe. I'm hoping it opens them to new experiences.

I volunteered this year for VBS. I'm only doing registration, but I have a pretty rough job, too. The first day is usually killer. There are parents who haven't registered yet that want to do it that day. And we don't have a web site you can print a from from. You have to come register, or call. But there is still that dreaded form.

At first I was thinking how absolutely nuts I was to volunteer. Five days, two and a half hours each with no kids. I'm still kicking myself occasionally. But I have had a really great time. I have gotten to know some people I only had a passing relationship with. That has been a fantastic side bar to this whole thing.

Tonight is tear down night. After all the VBSers have gone, we get to rip everything off the wall. Oh, yeah! What took us five hours to put up will take us maybe thirty minutes to tear down. But again, isn't that the way. And tonight all the adults get to go out and have adult beverages for the after show. I'm looking forward to that as well. It's been a long time since I've had adult beverages. I'm hoping my hubby will meet us there so I can have a couple.

And then off to vacation.

Have a great day!

Vacation Time

So it's getting closer and closer to our vacation. We have been debating about driving or flying. We know gas is expensive, but so is air fare. Specially when your trying to buy 5 tickets. We have looked at site after site trying to find somethng reasonable. It's so not happening. So we have made the decision that driving is what we're going to do.

We are very lucky with the fact that our kids travel very well. They must have gotten traveling feet from both of us. I hope they don't decide to float around as much as we did. It's nice to have roots somewhere. We can pretty much throw them in the car and they ride well.

We have decided that we are members of a technological age. We were talking about the things we would bring on our trip to keep them, and us, occupied. It seems there are a lot of electronics. Between gameboys, lap top, iPod, MP3 player, and DVDs, we are full with things that go beep. Thank goodness most of them have volume controls.

I'm also looking into those funny looking travel pillows that go around the back of your neck. Our kids don't really have any where to put their heads when they sleep. Their poor little heads just hang, and then they wake up with a crick. I'm looking into getting one for the navigator, too.

As excited as we are to be going, we really are excited about the trip home. Isn't that always the way? Vacations are great, but there is something to be said for coming home and sleeping in your own bed. No matter how great the bed is, I really like coming home to my own. I like being able to cuddle with my hubby, and roll into the dent we've made in our mattress.

We are looking forward to seeing some people we haven't seen in a very long time. we're even looking forward to seeing my mother. I actually don't mind seeing her. She just bought a new house. We have really been wanting to see it, and pictures just don't do it justice. It's really hard to get a concept even with the best pictures.

So, here we go. Wish us luck. And hopefully you're one of the lucky people we get to see.

Have a great day!

20th Reunion

So I find out today that my 20th high school reunion is on the 19th. What a big giant bummer that is. Partly because I cannot believe that 20 years ago, I graduated from high school. Where the hell did the time go and what the freak have I been doing? Having a life, getting married, moving out of state, having kids, and who knows what else. But it got me really thinking about back then and about now. The other reason it's a bummer is because I don't know if we're going to be able to go.

I think back to when I was young and stupid and full of dreams for my future. My big dream that hardly any one knew was that I wanted to get my degree in Marine Biology and work with the dolphins at Sea World. I had my life planned out and knew exactly what I was going to do. And then life stepped in my way and there went all my plans. I have since found out that Marine Biologists do not work with the dolphins at Sea World. They are animal psychologists. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't have done it.

I loved marching band. Call me a dork, geek whatever. But the term I prefer is "band weenie". But I would like to see you pick up an instrument, play it well, play music from memory, and march at the same time. Specially in competition. That was so much fun. Besides, you have not had a good time until you have ridden on the school bus to an away game and made out with David Buell on the way home. Woowee. Yeah, my kids will not be reading this. The band always got made fun of, but let me see you have a really good time at a high school football game with out one.

I always wanted to be popular. But it took me until I was a junior to realize, in some weird, warped way, I was popular. Everybody knew me. I couldn't walk down the hall between classes without someone saying hello or stopping me to talk. I may not have been in the popular group, but I was popular with my friends. I even got special treatment from the principal because of who I was. But when you're part of a very small ethnic group, and you have a 4.0 grade average, the principal is pretty cool to you.

Of course, the first time people saw me with a wine cooler in my hand, you could have heard a pin drop. I believe the comment was, "I thought you studied all weekend". I never studied, but I still managed to keep straight A's. I won't even talk about what else was in my pocket. But some of you know ;). Anyway, just because I got good grades didn't mean I didn't have fun, too.

I am one of those strange people that had a really good time in high school. It makes up so much of who I am and who I became and what I've done. Who couldn't let an experience like that not affect them? Good, bad or other wise, it was fantastic for me. I even liked most of my teachers. Some of them were mentors that I will never forget. They were there for me when my mother couldn't be. They were there for me when I was heart broken, heart happy, confused, sick, down trodden, and what ever else.

Some might ask why I home school if I had such a great time in school. It is not what it used to be. When I see the state our schools are in today, it's not something I want my kids to be a part of. Some high schools may be fantastic, mine was. But the ones around here scare the crap out of me. I don't want my kids exposed to all the crap that goes on now. Do I want them in a bubble?Tell me you wouldn't keep yours in a bubble if you could. I don't want them in a bubble, but I don't want them in the rat infested places around here. I do mean the ones with two feet as well as the ones with four.

All in all, I had a great time and I love my high school. Hopefully, I'll get to see every one there.

Have a great day!

Reading and sleeping

So, I'm reading this book. It's about to kill me. I love to read. I will read almost anything I can get my hands on. Except science fiction and fantasy. That's not really my bag. But I like most everything else. I am a romance fiend by the way. And I'm not embarassed about it either. They are definitely not like your mother's Harlequin books. They even have a series called Blaze. And yes, they are hot. It's just this side of erotic fiction. But let me say, whoooooo!

Anyway, I started reading this book called "Angela's Ashes". It won a Pulitzer Prize for Pete's sake. But talk about a depressing, boring, hard to read, try to stay awake book. It's about a man who was born in America to Irish parents. When he is a small boy, his family packs up and moves to Ireland. He loses a baby sister and twin brothers to death, probably to starvation. His father drinks away any money he makes or gets. It does make you happy about whatever blessings you have.

But my question is "Who is the idiot that nominated this book for a Pulitzer Prize?". I know that apparently it is thought to be a fantastic book by a lot of people, but come on. I can't stand to not finish a book, no matter how bad it is. And I have read some really bad books. But I am this close to putting it down. I have to force myself to read it.

After I read the description (don't believe everything you read), I thought it was going to be a really fantastic read. My advice, don't waste as much time as I have. You would think with a shelf full of books and trip to the library every week I could find something decent to open. Unfortunately, our library is really small. I even joined a book club, but money has been so tight lately, I haven't been able to afford any books.

So my recommendation is this. Skip it. Unless you are in the mood to be bored and depressed, then I would move on to better and greener pastures. You should pick up a book called "The Cupcake Queen". It's a Harlequn. Feisty heroine, handsome hero, alot of tension, fighting, and making love. It's one of my favorites.

Have a great day!