Goals

I've got some stories still to share regarding Jeremiah and the hospital stay, but I have not really felt like revisiting that yet - I am sure that you understand.

Here is what we've been doing around the house:

• Cleaning/Straightening up
• Sanding the bookcases/Preparing them to be sanded (removing hooks, staples, etc.). Roles have been reversed with this, and I am doing the sanding, which means it is going slow and steady. Too much with the sander and it triggers my muscle/joint problem.
• Trying new recipes - I made French toast stuffed with Biscoff and served with strawberries for Jeremiah on Sunday. We *might* get brave enough to try the spaghetti squash that came in our basket. Then again, maybe not. Also on the agenda - smashed potatoes.
• A shit ton of laundry. I had not done any colored laundry since before school let out. I finally did it over the weekend. We almost had to revert to bathing suit underwear. Or go without. Jeremiah.
•  I have been reading like crazy. 
• Swimming

And here is what is on the goals list:

• Laundromat to wash the larger rugs (then I can put the rug down in my room)
• Buying at least one new rug for the kitchen
• Maybe a rug for under the table in the dining nook?
•  Priming & painting the shelves.
• Hanging shelves, moving the bookshelves upstairs.
• Tear apart my bathroom (it will be a half-gut, meaning I can still shower in there during the remodel but not tinkle) for the remodel (there will be several posts on this)
• Paint picture frames, finish picture shelves & wall gallery.
• Buy cover for chair in my room.

 Jeremiah is doing well. He still has some pain, but most of the bruising is gone. He is able to swim with me daily, but he can't submerge his head in the pool. He can't get too much sun either, so he is bringing back the bandanna. We just make sure he wears neutral colors when we go out.

What's everyone else up to lately?

No. 2: Hooked on Phonics

You know I like to read. Or maybe you don't. If you've been reading the blog for awhile, then you know I set reading goals for myself. They are pathetic, but I don't have much spare reading time, what with classes, conferences, students, and house stuff. And the sickies. Let's not forget that much of 2011 thus far has been spent with useless hands. Which I find necessary with reading. You know, to turn pages and whatnot. I could make Jeremiah stand/lie next to me, hold the book, and turn pages for me but that might be crossing a line. Not sure.

Anyway, I met last year's goal, but I haven't done a book update for 2011 in months. And it occurs to me...

Holy crap. It's August. Almost September. Eek.

And believe it or not, I've been reading. Not tons, but bits here and there. My stack of books to be read is getting huge. I can't help it. I go to Goodwill, the used bookstore, wherever, and I see books that call my name. Borders is going out of business and I've been there twice. I can't help it. It's my sickness.

So here's what I've read recently, trying to make a dent in my huge collection:

• Janet Evanovich's Smokin' Seventeen  - I feel sad about this, but I don't think Evanovich is still creating great books. The story quality isn't the same as it used to be. Her yearly releases of this series are about as good as the in-between-the-numbers books, which are short little nothings. I keep reading, hoping that she redeems herself. Not a bad read, but nothing special.
• Lisa Scottoline's Look Again -  I was REALLY looking forward to this book. I was slightly let down. I spent a day reading it and I liked it, but I have discovered that I like Scottoline's series about the ladies at the law office better than the random stories.
• David Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed In Flames -  I love David Sedaris. I don't think he's written a book that didn't make me laugh out loud. At one point in this story I laughed until I started crying. Then I started coughing (asthma is a bitch). Then I peed my pants just a tiny bit. Freaking sarcastic genius. Great book. His recount of the time when he tried to use a catheter? Priceless.
• Laurie Notaro's Spooky Little Girl - Started sloooooooooow. Didn't love the characters at all. Maybe that is credit to/proof of Notaro's writing skills? To create characters that seemed really unlikeable? Who knows. About half-way through I got into the story and by the end I was crying a bit.  It was supposed to be funny but I thought it was more witty writing than hilarious humor.

 What's coming up: I don't really know. I've got LOTS of new books. I just have to clean them first. Because most of them came from someone else and that makes me nervous. Time to get out the Clorox Wipes!


For your enjoyment, a recent book convo between CLH and I:
 
Jeremiah: So are you sure you don't want built-in bookcases somewhere?
Me: But where? I don't have wall space in my craft room for bookcases (Which is true. It's the smallest bedroom in the house. I'm generous that way, leaving the bigger rooms for all of our Jeremiah's company.)
Jeremiah: We can put them wherever you'd like. But now they are kind of...all over the place (He says with as much tact as possible. I'm proud. He didn't even start to shake or anything.) .
Emily: But that IS how I'm organizing my books.
Jeremiah: Huh?
Emily: Well, the school/class books are in the hall closet or my craft room in the closet. The books I've already read for fun are on the shelves in the bedroom. The books that I WANT to read but haven't had time for are on the shelves in the front room, along with the reference books that I like to keep on hand and the coffee table books that I don't keep on the tables.
Jeremiah: (At this point he might be shaking slightly. Just a little.) So am I building shelves?
Emily: No. I've got it all figured out in here (Points to head.).
Jeremiah: Openly weeps in frustration at his organized/disorganized girlfriend.

p.s. I am NOT one of those people that can organize all their books by COLOR. Who does that? Sure it looks great, but how do you find your freaking books? I have some thoughts about the majority of these people and the thoughts swirl around the idea that the people that have this system might not actually read the books. I'm sure some do, but...

And I told Jeremiah about color-coding and he died a tiny bit. Jeremiah organizes his collections of music by genre and then by musician's name in alphabetical order. I might have told him this just to be mean. Because sometimes I am mean.

Does anyone have any book suggestions? I'd love to hear what everyone else is reading.

10 in '10, Revisited

Remember this post:
http://michigandersinaz.blogspot.com/2010/04/10-in-10-update.html?

Well, I finished off the year reading well over ten books, but not hitting the lofty goal of twenty.

To recap:
10. Marley & Me - I forget the author
9. Plum Lucky - Evanovich
8. Plum Spooky - Evanovich
7. Bright Lights, Big Ass -Lancaster

and newer reads:
6. A Sucky Book About PLC Interventions - I had to read it for work but it still totally counts. What a snooze.
5. A Sucky Book for the Suckiest Class Ever - The worst class I ever took offered me the worst book I've ever read. And I've read some sucky & difficult books (um, history of France in FRENCH? Sucky.).
4. My Fair Lazy - Lancaster - So darn funny.
3. Pretty in Plaid - Lancaster - Reflections of her road to adulthood.
2. Such a Pretty Fat - Lancaster - Hilarious. Actual lol'ing occurred.
1. Bitter is the New Black  - Lancaster - Hilarious, Disturbing, and Touching

Extras:
~ Sizzling Sixteen - Evanovich - Just okay. Didn't live up to my expectations. So sad.
~ Almost French - Turnbull - Interesting, especially if you're into France & the French.
~ Hate That Cat - Creech - It's in a story-telling poem form, and it is for older kids. I loved it. Very sweet. It is a sequel to her book Love That Dog. Warning, both will make you cry. 

Yes, you may have noticed a theme. That of Lancaster. She makes me laugh. She makes me want to be a better writer. She lives in my favorite city. She's snarky and honest and I love her style. If you are offended by swearing, she's probably not for you. Just sayin'. And here's her website, if interested: http://www.jennsylvania.com/

I am attempting a similar goal for this year - 11 in '11. We'll see. And if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them. Please share!



p.s. Books I'm already looking at:

• Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
• How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, which goes along with the incredibly moving story, In the Time of the Butterflies (Which I read and loved and had a wonderful hard-copy version, loaned out, and was promptly lost. And not returned. So sad.)
• The Devil Wears Prada - Love the movie, want to love the book
• The Calder Game - Which I started last year and didn't finish. 

Update, because I forgot this one:
p.p.s. I also read Flawed Dogs: The Novel: The Shocking Raid on Westminster, by Berkley Breathed. It broke my heart. I read it in a day because I kept hoping there would be something happy happening soon. I actually SOBBED. And it is a chapter book for kids. Not young kids. But still. Kids. Teens. 

Sew These are the Pillows...

Okey Dokey. One of my goals is to do at least one crafty/housey thing each week. This last weekend, I mentioned that boyfriend and I were uber crafty (or artsy, in boyfriend's case) and productive.

I made pillows!
This first pillow I actually did a bit more work to after these pictures were taken (I tightened up the edges/sides to make it fit more snugly around the pillow guts). I used a blue fabric with a fun, retro-y print on the front. I grabbed some felt while I was at Jo-Anne's and used that to make an E. Jeremiah asked if I used a stencil or anything. The answer is no, I free-handed it. Tip: I use white-eyeliner to draw on the felt. Comes off with a bit of rubbing.
On the back of the pillow is a brown fabric with polka-dots. I folded the front fabric over so that the guts could easily be removed when it was time for a wash.

This next picture is the second pillow I did. I actually found the pillow case (I got two of them) at Target on clearance for about $2.50. I bought them with the intentions of decorating them a bit. Which I finally did!
I used more felt that I purchased on Saturday, eyelinered myself some flowers, did a super fun stitch, then I grabbed the left over brown felt, made two small circles, and did ANOTHER fun stitch.
So there you have it. My craft project for the week. I love the pillows and I love that it is something I created. I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

10 in '10 Update

Totally should have done 20 in 10. 2010! I'm already four books in to my goal. Here's what I've read so far:
10. Marley & Me - Cried. So. Much. It is a great story about a horribly misbehaving dog. I thought a little of Spike (naughty dog) and a lot of Domino (best dog ever). Then I cried some more.
9. Plum Lucky - Completely hilarious between the numbers Evanovich book. Complete with a leprechaun.
8. Plum Spooky - See above. Minus the leprechaun. Plus a guy that has deadly toots.
7. Bright Lights, Big Ass - recommended by my friend Diana. Just finished it and found myself completely identifying with the author. And laughing while I was agreeing with Ms. Lancaster. That's the author, if you were having trouble figuring it out. I read a snippet to Jeremiah and I think he agreed. She doesn't like her neighbors, is a bit snarky, and has pet-children. She also has problems with rude people on their cell phones. We already know how I feel about that. Funny stuff.

And -

6. Calder Game - I've started this, but haven't finished it. It's a mystery for upper elementary/junior high students. So far, I'm enjoying it.

If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know. I've got a bunch of paperbacks that looked good (I bought them for 50 cents at SalArmy) but suggestions are always fun.