Fall Reading Wrap Up

Happy Winter! I didn't start the Fall Reading challenge on time, no reason to end on time. My list for fall reading was very short (two books) and I finished them pretty early. Honey and I started reading the Steve Jobs book, Honey finished, I'm going to wait for the movie.

Here's a wrap up of the books I did finish...

A Voice in the Wind and An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers - loved 'em!

Grave Yard Games by Sheri Leigh - this one was ok, not great but it was free.

The Oak Leaves by Maureen Lang - also free and pretty good.

Pig Island by Mo Hayden - free, that's good because I didn't like it, I kept thinking this has got to get better, not so much.

The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson - this would make a great Lifetime Christmas movie, short and feel good.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - loved it! Pie!

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I have a long "To Be Read" list maybe I should pick something from there rather than check out what's new on the shelves. But it's not to early to start my list for the Spring Reading thing. Thanks to Katrina at Callapidder Days for hosting these challenges! Happy Reading!

Rant and a Challenge

The post-Halloween sugar crash just hit and my kids are already dreaming of sugar plums. The Star and the Bullseye stores are opening at midnight on Black Friday. But what about this guy?

Have we completely forgotten about Tom Turkey? Poor guy. I know he's not as cute as little ghosts and goblins and not as jolly as St. Nick but doesn't he still have a place on our calendar? We're done buying the costumes and candy, now on to garland and lights. I love Christmas as much as much as anyone else, my family might say more (I have been know to start watching White Christmas in August). Are we so busy planning and doing that we just don't take the time to be thankful? How can we appreciate what we will get for Christmas if we don't appreciate what we already have?

No, I won't be getting up at the crack of you-have-got-to-be-kidding to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I've done that. I just don't think the deals are worth fighting the crowds, hoping the store has what I went for, and standing in line for hours to pay. Have we forgotten the reasons for the holidays? Really, is all about who's getting what, who has the best costume, decoration, candy, football? Have we forgotten that holidays are about more? They are about family, friends, laughter and love. I'm done ranting now.

So, my Thanksgiving challenge for all of us is to post, tweet, facebook, write on the calendar, on a post-it note on the fridge, one thing we are thankful for everyday from now until Thanksgiving Day. That's 24 days, I know you can do it! Leave me a comment to let me know you are going to play along!

Today I am Thankful for my family; the one I was born into, the one Honey and I have created, our extended family and the friends who have become family.

Fall Reading Challenge

It's one month into the Fall Reading Challenge (although I didn't officially join this year) and I finished my list! Yes, the list only had two books on it but I really didn't think I'd be able to "get into" them.

Both are by Francine Rivers the first was A Voice in the Wind. My friends kept telling me to "just keep reading, it gets better after chapter seven". It took me until chapter 11 to be able to read more than a page at a time. By the time I got to chapter 17, I couldn't put it down! It only took two and a half months and starting it three times to finish. The second book was An Echo in the Darkness. I finished that one in a week! They were great! As Sure as the Dawn is the third in the series. I'm not sure if I'm going to jump right into that one.

Honey and I just started reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. He's reading it on his iPad, I'm reading it on my Kindle. This is the first book we've tried to read together, should be interesting!

A Puppy's Tail

Yes, I'm a dog person. I don't have anything against cats as a species, but when it comes to a companion, yep, it's a dog.

Max is my furry little companion animal. Honey is pretty sure I'd give him away before I'd give my dog away. Ummm...no comment.

Max was a puppy mill rescue, he was suppose to be put down but was saved along with 15 other puppies. It's been six years since Max adopted us. I found the rescue through Petfinder.com. I took both kids to visit two puppies the rescuers thought would work for our family. I told Honey we were just going to look, of course he knew better, I was bringing home a puppy.

When we arrived this little white fuzzy bundle of excitement met us at the door I couldn't get the Bean down to the floor fast enough for the loving to begin. Stumpy, as he was called, was all over us, jumping, wagging, wiggling, giggling (the Bean) and kissing. The puppy wasn't afraid of Bean grabbing at him or the noise a 2 1/2 year old can make. We visited with the other puppy too, he was a little smaller and a bit timid. I'm sure he would have worked for our family when he got comfortable with us, but Stumpy was a better match for our busy young family. So Maxwell Edison became part of our family.

Max had a few fears to over come, going through doors, walking in the grass and he was afraid of people in baseball caps. With patients, time and gentle guidance he's gotten over most of his fears one step at a time. I know, just like Max, with patients and time I can get over my fears and short comings too. It just takes one step of faith at a time.

September Project Wrap Up

Wow! I can't believe it's October already! I've been tracking my trips to the Stuff Mart for nine months now. I'm surprised I've stuck with it this long.

The most significant change I've noticed, is that I don't automatically think "I need to run to Stuff Mart and get that". Sissy still thinks we should run up there every time she has a "need" but I'm getting better at telling her "not tonight". On those occasions she really needs something she's big enough to go in by herself. One less trip for me. She can only buy something if she has enough cash (because Mom's not there to buy her other stuff).

The Bean is a little better about saying "next time we go to Stuff Mart can we look at..". He has also found out you can check prices on the computer, so he knows how much money he has to save. Sometimes things are cheaper on Amazon, saves me another trip.

I have four more months of limiting my trips to Stuff Mart, I think after the first of the year it will continue to be more natural to just not go. In September I made 8 trips, the total for the year so far is 48, average of 5.3 trips per month! At this rate I'll be under 70 trips for the year! When I looked at that number I was surprised! I was sure we were going just as much as we did last year. Our monthly average spending is down by 40% for September! Now that doesn't mean we're saving that much, but we are spending less at the Stuff Mart and I hope supporting smaller local businesses more.

I've very excited to see how the last 4 months of this project will go. Wonder how I can save and track the money I don't spend at Stuff Mart next year?

Fall Reading

Happy Fall! OK, I know I missed the first day of fall and the official start of Fall Into Reading hosted by Katrina at Calladidder Days. I'm not officially joining but I do like making my list and seeing what happens to it by the end of fall. I have a very short list, again but they're long (really long) books.

I was told that The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers is very good and I should read it. My friend loaned me the first two books and warned me that it takes awhile to "get into the story". I started A Voice in the Wind in August, then read a couple other books (one I requested from the library so I had to read it). I started it again at the beginning of September, and decided that I really just needed a lighter read. I read a couple more books. Now it's the end of September and after some friendly guilt, oops I mean, encouragement I'm starting again. Third time is a charm, right?

So without further explanation, here is my reading list.

A Voice in the Wind

An Echo in the Darkness

As Sure as the Dawn (well, maybe) All by Francine Rivers.

If I read those three then I can choose from one of these. I think that will keep my busy well into next fall, unless I find something else I just have to read.

Thank you Katrina for hosting the reading challenges and encouraging us to just keep reading!

Time for hot cocoa, my blanket and A Voice in the Wind. Happy Reading!

The "J" List

The "J" list is like Oprah's "O List" only cheaper, much much cheaper! It's some of my new or new to me favorite things!

On the left is "The Green Album" cd! It's Muppet songs, sung by current popular artists! How can you not have a good day when you start it listening to Mahna Mahna? Bean thinks we should listen to it every day on the way to school and Sissy already has it on her iPod! (It's not on mom's iPod but that's a post for another day.) There's also a "Kermit Unpigged" cd!

The odd pink thing is a poo bag holder. I saw a diaper bag dispenser (just like this one just labeled differently) on Another Ten Miles blog. Heather pictured it on her "Baby Must Haves" post. I saw that and thought perfect "in the car" trash bags! They're small, contained and refillable! No more hunting under the seat for a stuff mart bag! Woo hoo! I found the pet version in pink at Target! Thanks Heather!

Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover! We have big bugs and they leave big squish marks on the car. No more squish spots!

Greeting cards from the Dollar store! My friend Laurie told me about them! I'm very excited! I spent $14 on 3 greeting cards! That's crazy! I really want to be able to make card and have them ready on time (ha) but just in case that doesn't work out...Dollar store here I come!