In the past 2 weeks I have been able to read and read and read. Oh, and watch seasons 5 and 6 of The Office, but that's beside the point. Since I am not inspired to write about much right now, I figured I would make a few suggestions of books that are awesome. Keep in mind I work in Youth Services, so many of my book recommendations are heavy on the Juvenile/YA spectrum. Bite me if you don't like it.
1. Bumped - Loved, loved, loved this YA book. It is set in the future and like the Hunger Games, it is a dystopian society. Unlike the Hunger Games, it is not filled with blood and gore. The premise is that all females become infertile at the age of 18 and so it is not uncommon for girls to "go pro" and enter into contracts with families to conceive and give birth to babies in return for college tuition. There's a lot more to it than that, but I could not put it down. Luckily, it is the first in what looks to be a series.
2. Horton Halfpott: or The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening or M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset - How can you not want to read this book just based on the title? The author, Tom Angleberger, is also the author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda which was one of the best books my son read last year (or so he says). Fun, silly book for kids. (And their parents).
3. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Fun, complicated mystery story for the juvenile fiction crowd. Blaine is reading this, so I decided to read it at the same time so we can discuss it. I liked it so much I finished reading it before he got to chapter 3. Whoops. I plan on picking up the second book (yay! it's a series!) tomorrow at work.
4. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married - OK, I admit, this one was a re-read. This is one of my favorite chick-lit books of all time. It's chick-lit with a little bit more, in my opinion.
5. Smokin' Seventeen - I keep reading these Janet Evanovich novels even though they really are just the same book over and over again. They usually make me laugh and this was no exception. It took me about 4 hours to read.
6. Wither - another YA dystopian novel. As vampire novels were crazy popular a few years ago thanks to the Twilight books, dystopian novels are popular now thanks to the Hunger Games. I haven't finished this one yet but so far it's pretty gut-wrenchingly good.
This is just a sample of what I have read in the last 2 weeks. I have a few other books I'm in the middle of along with Wither. I always seem to have one fun fiction book, one literary book, one juvenile or YA book and one non-fiction book in different spots around the house and which book I read depends on the mood I'm in...and if there are any episodes of The Office I haven't yet watched.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Happy Birthday to Blaine
I have a 9 year old.
I'm not really sure how that happened. I mean, I know the mechanics of it all, but how did 9 years go so fast?
He's 9. And he will be in 4th grade. And he has an iPhone that he loves to text on. And he's brilliant and compassionate and wise way beyond his years. I learn something new from him every day, even if what I am learning is the limits of my patience.
He is my first born. Wished for, hoped for, prayed for. Years of trying with no luck and then one day two pink lines showed up and 9 months later (well, to be exact, 9.5 months, thankyouverymuchstubbornbaby) I held him in my arms. He was 10 pounds of perfect joy. Blue eyes that never changed. Tiny little hands that grabbed my heart and my soul and never let go. I read somewhere, and I don't remember where and I am sure I will get the exact quote wrong, that having a child is like taking your heart out of your chest and letting it walk around on two legs. At the age of 10 months Blaine was my walking heart. Or in his case, my running, falling, tumbling, oh my God he's scraped his face/knees/elbows again heart.
I remember looking at him in the hospital when I was trying to get his flailing legs and arms in his cream and blue baby outfit and thinking "well, what the hell do I do now?!?" and the hospital photographer, who was waiting for me to get him ready for the standard cone-head, red squinty-faced newborn shot offered to help. "I have three kids, it's gets easier" she said as she deftly tucked him into his outfit without breaking a sweat. I had a college education and getting him into that outfit was like quantum physics to me so I marveled at the ease with which she managed it and wondered if I was capable. A part of me was astonished when I was discharged from the hospital. They were letting me take this child home? I can't even get him dressed and they expect me to be responsible for him for the rest of his life? Are they nuts?
So I did what mothers since time began have done. I called my mother. And she came. And she cared for us. She still cares for us. She and Blaine get to enjoy and annoy each other on a regular basis and I'm so glad they do.
I remember years without sleep. Blaine was always a light sleeper and did not sleep alone in his bed through the night until he was 3 and I was pregnant with his sister. I was tired of having the bed hogged by someone so tiny, but then I missed him when he got the hang of it and no longer crawled in bed at 3 am and stole my pillow. He still crawls in bed with me some mornings when he wakes before I do, but not as frequently and not for as long. He's getting too old for that. Soon he will want me to drop him off a block from school and he will be embarrassed by me. I know that. I know all kids do that at some point. But I hope it isn't anytime soon because my heart still catches and skips a beat when he runs up to me when I pick him up from school and hugs me tight. I cherish each hug, each kiss, each "I love you" and I'm storing them up for the day the hormone monster steals my sweet, lovable boy and changes him into a surly teenager.
Blaine is the best big brother in the world. He eagerly anticipated the birth of his sister, bragging to everyone about the car seat, crib, outfits and toys we bought for Kyra before she was born. Though I worried that he would be jealous and would resent no longer being my only, he loved her with a fierceness from the beginning. He would get anxious when she would cry and would, on more than one memorable occasion, cry out "MOM! Kyra is crying! She is hungry! She needs to eat your boobie!" Ah, breastfeeding and an inquisitive 3 year old. What a fun and embarrassing combination. He can't wait for Kyra to start Kindergarten next year so that she can ride the bus with him and he can show her the ropes. He is, as all older brothers are, a schmuck to his sister sometimes, but he is also her protector, her teacher, her best friend and her lovey.
All in all, I'm the luckiest mom in the world. And I have been for 9 years. That is awesomeness.
I'm not really sure how that happened. I mean, I know the mechanics of it all, but how did 9 years go so fast?
He's 9. And he will be in 4th grade. And he has an iPhone that he loves to text on. And he's brilliant and compassionate and wise way beyond his years. I learn something new from him every day, even if what I am learning is the limits of my patience.
He is my first born. Wished for, hoped for, prayed for. Years of trying with no luck and then one day two pink lines showed up and 9 months later (well, to be exact, 9.5 months, thankyouverymuchstubbornbaby) I held him in my arms. He was 10 pounds of perfect joy. Blue eyes that never changed. Tiny little hands that grabbed my heart and my soul and never let go. I read somewhere, and I don't remember where and I am sure I will get the exact quote wrong, that having a child is like taking your heart out of your chest and letting it walk around on two legs. At the age of 10 months Blaine was my walking heart. Or in his case, my running, falling, tumbling, oh my God he's scraped his face/knees/elbows again heart.
I remember looking at him in the hospital when I was trying to get his flailing legs and arms in his cream and blue baby outfit and thinking "well, what the hell do I do now?!?" and the hospital photographer, who was waiting for me to get him ready for the standard cone-head, red squinty-faced newborn shot offered to help. "I have three kids, it's gets easier" she said as she deftly tucked him into his outfit without breaking a sweat. I had a college education and getting him into that outfit was like quantum physics to me so I marveled at the ease with which she managed it and wondered if I was capable. A part of me was astonished when I was discharged from the hospital. They were letting me take this child home? I can't even get him dressed and they expect me to be responsible for him for the rest of his life? Are they nuts?
So I did what mothers since time began have done. I called my mother. And she came. And she cared for us. She still cares for us. She and Blaine get to enjoy and annoy each other on a regular basis and I'm so glad they do.
I remember years without sleep. Blaine was always a light sleeper and did not sleep alone in his bed through the night until he was 3 and I was pregnant with his sister. I was tired of having the bed hogged by someone so tiny, but then I missed him when he got the hang of it and no longer crawled in bed at 3 am and stole my pillow. He still crawls in bed with me some mornings when he wakes before I do, but not as frequently and not for as long. He's getting too old for that. Soon he will want me to drop him off a block from school and he will be embarrassed by me. I know that. I know all kids do that at some point. But I hope it isn't anytime soon because my heart still catches and skips a beat when he runs up to me when I pick him up from school and hugs me tight. I cherish each hug, each kiss, each "I love you" and I'm storing them up for the day the hormone monster steals my sweet, lovable boy and changes him into a surly teenager.
Blaine is the best big brother in the world. He eagerly anticipated the birth of his sister, bragging to everyone about the car seat, crib, outfits and toys we bought for Kyra before she was born. Though I worried that he would be jealous and would resent no longer being my only, he loved her with a fierceness from the beginning. He would get anxious when she would cry and would, on more than one memorable occasion, cry out "MOM! Kyra is crying! She is hungry! She needs to eat your boobie!" Ah, breastfeeding and an inquisitive 3 year old. What a fun and embarrassing combination. He can't wait for Kyra to start Kindergarten next year so that she can ride the bus with him and he can show her the ropes. He is, as all older brothers are, a schmuck to his sister sometimes, but he is also her protector, her teacher, her best friend and her lovey.
All in all, I'm the luckiest mom in the world. And I have been for 9 years. That is awesomeness.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Text Me!
Blaine got an iPhone. If you were in my contacts list on my old (his new) iPhone you probably got a text from him before I transferred them. It probably was something along the lines of "my mom got a new iPhone and she gave me her old one and we can text each other all the time now isn't that great!" but with worse punctuation and spelling. And you may have been one of the people who texted back something like "Great! Who is this?" since the number had already been changed.
Sigh. I know, I know. An iPhone? For a 4th grader? In my defense, he is about to travel with his sister to a country far, far away. So far, in fact, that I don't think my apron strings will stretch the whole way. I was at the end of my cell phone contract and was upgrading my phone and I got the brilliant idea of giving Blaine my old phone. He wanted an iPod or iTouch for his birthday - well, he really wanted an iPad, but keep dreaming kiddo - and this way he gets a phone, a pod, and the iTouch games. The benefits of him having the phone is he will have access to email without having to ask to use a computer, the ability to text me when he wants or needs to and he and his sister can use it for entertainment on the long journey there and back.
It also gives me something else to take away from him when he acts like a butthead! WIN!
But the downside of Blaine and the iPhone is the text messaging. The constant text messaging. Thank God text messaging is free on our plan because holy crap, if I had to pay by the message, I would be looking for a second job or selling crack to cover the phone bill.
Blaine will text good morning to me even if I am in the same room. He will go through the pictures on his phone and text them to me one by one. He recently texted me a picture from the day we made donuts with the caption "ah, memrys!".
He texts and texts and texts me. He loves texting. Last Friday he texted me "MOM! Why arnt you texting back! I have texted you 4 times now!!!!" and I turned from the counter where I was packing his lunch and said "I'm busy, that's why". His answer was to text me again with his answer "I can wait".
Maybe the shine will wear off soon and he won't text me as much and maybe...oh wait, my phone is buzzing...I bet I have a text.
Sigh. I know, I know. An iPhone? For a 4th grader? In my defense, he is about to travel with his sister to a country far, far away. So far, in fact, that I don't think my apron strings will stretch the whole way. I was at the end of my cell phone contract and was upgrading my phone and I got the brilliant idea of giving Blaine my old phone. He wanted an iPod or iTouch for his birthday - well, he really wanted an iPad, but keep dreaming kiddo - and this way he gets a phone, a pod, and the iTouch games. The benefits of him having the phone is he will have access to email without having to ask to use a computer, the ability to text me when he wants or needs to and he and his sister can use it for entertainment on the long journey there and back.
It also gives me something else to take away from him when he acts like a butthead! WIN!
But the downside of Blaine and the iPhone is the text messaging. The constant text messaging. Thank God text messaging is free on our plan because holy crap, if I had to pay by the message, I would be looking for a second job or selling crack to cover the phone bill.
Blaine will text good morning to me even if I am in the same room. He will go through the pictures on his phone and text them to me one by one. He recently texted me a picture from the day we made donuts with the caption "ah, memrys!".
He texts and texts and texts me. He loves texting. Last Friday he texted me "MOM! Why arnt you texting back! I have texted you 4 times now!!!!" and I turned from the counter where I was packing his lunch and said "I'm busy, that's why". His answer was to text me again with his answer "I can wait".
Maybe the shine will wear off soon and he won't text me as much and maybe...oh wait, my phone is buzzing...I bet I have a text.
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