Book Review #2

Well, here we go. Again, I want to apologize before hand, just in case I am dissing your favorite book or author. These are nothing but my opinion and while I think it is pretty darn good, you just may disagree with me. That's ok - I'll like you anyway.

Birdsong - This book just wasn't my thing. It was the tale of a young man who has an affair with a married woman which - big surprise here - doesn't work out. He joins the army and fights in the war and while the writing is fairly good, the book never left me feeling like I got to know any of the characters. It was just words on a page after a while.

The Time Traveller's Wife - Love stories have always been a favorite of mine and this one was very good. Once I figured out how the whole time traveling thing worked, I really enjoyed this book. You want everything to work out so badly that you end up biting off all your fingernails - oops, that might just be me. Anyway, read this one this summer - it's a story not easily forgotten.

Brideshead Revisited - Again, another book I couldn't really get into. No happy ending, no happy people, no happy anything. Not that I always need happiness but I definitely think there is a lot more to life than this book had to offer.

Persuasion - On Mother's Day my mom had given me the movie Pride and Prejudice (the newer one with Kierra Knightley) and I watched it right before I read this book. After watching the movie I was so filled with romanticism that I danced around the room with a dopey grin on my face picturing myself being carried away on the wings of everlasting love and happiness with Mr. Darcy. Then I heard Owen ask Mark "What's wrong with Mommy? Did she fart?" (my boys are obsessed with bodily functions). I was brought back down to earth and so I sat down and began to read Persuasion. My romantic giddiness carried over into the book and I really enjoyed it although it can't touch Pride and Prejudice in my opinion. That Jane really knows how to make a love story work.

The Kite Runner - Now this one was truly surprising. I didn't think I would like it at all. The main character and most of the book are set in Afghanistan and, not to be ignorant, but that culture and life style have never interested me in the slightest. But, since it was on the list, I went ahead and read it. It has been my favorite book so far. I liked it even better than Gone With the Wind. The author is amazing and his writing is truly captivating. It is a sad tale about love and loss, about betrayal and redemption. It made my heart ache with sadness and it made me angry enough to close the book and swear I wasn't going to read any more and it made me happy enough to cry. That is why the book is amazing - it makes you experience all those things and come away better by having done so. Read it - today if you can.

That's all for now. I am currently reading The Grapes of Wrath and trying not to fall asleep. That's probably not fair, after all, I am only on chapter 3. It's just that I am prejudiced against old John Steinbeck. In Junior High I decided to read one of his books - The Red Pony. The horse, the beloved red pony of a little boy, died in chapter 2 or 4 or something like that. What kind of crap is that I ask you!? I didn't even finish the book and in my anger I swore a blood oath (not really - I just swore) that I would never again read a John Steinbeck novel because he obviously couldn't write. Now I find that I still have those feelings of unresolved anger against him and so I am taking it out on The Grapes of Wrath. We'll see if my opinion of old John changes by the end of this book or not.

Oh @%$#!

Yesterday, out of nowhere a car came flying around the corner of somewhere or other and the mirror ran right into the side of Mark's pick-up.
Wait, that's not right. Yesterday, out of nowhere another truck pulling a white horse trailer backed up into Mark's pick-up. Oops, that's not right either. Would you believe a mailbox was picked up in a freak windstorm outside of Hermiston and slammed into the side of Mark's pick-up?

I didn't think so. Ok... here's what happened. I did it. It was me. Well, me and a mailbox that (sigh) happened to be perfectly stationary.


Need a closer look?

Mark had entrusted me with his baby so that the boys and I could go to Hermiston to pick up some big chairs that wouldn't fit into the car. Caleb, Owen and I had a great time, honking and waving at all our friends, speeding down the highway, mooning the semi's (just kidding on most of that). Then it came time for us to head to Aunt McMolly's for a BBQ. I pulled up in front of the house and decided that the truck was too close to the road. I didn't want anyone to even come close to hitting Mark's baby or a stray rock being kicked up and finding it's way into the truck's paint job so I decided to back up and pull into the driveway. Big mistake that backing up. I looked in my left mirror, in my right mirror, in the rearview mirror. You name it and I looked in it. Then I proceeded to back up. Things were going great and then I felt a bump. I don't even know how to describe the feeling that came over me. It was a combination of vomit in my mouth, heart in my throat and pee in my pants. I quickly pulled into the driveway and got out of the truck to see the damage (and to see whatever it was that I had hit). Apparently there are mailboxes to the left of Aunt McMolly's driveway. I had never noticed them before. I think they must have been further down the street and then, when they heard me put Big Red in reverse, they came running down and planted themselves right where I would hit them. They, of course, were fine and I think I even heard one of them laugh at me and say something in Spanish about me not knowing how to back up.

On my way home after the BBQ, Mark called me on the cell phone.

Mark - "Hey hun, where are you at?"

Me (the guilty one)- "We're almost home. I'm getting ready to head down The Hill."

Mark - "How's the truck?"

Me - (How the hell did he know!? He must have some kind of mental link with the truck and it's tattled on me already!) "Gooooood" - I say cautiously.

Mark - "It's fun to drive isn't it?"

Me - "Yeah, it really is." (No, it really isn't - too much pressure!).

Mark - "I'll see you soon babe."

He was waiting for me in the driveway when I came home.

Mark - "Hey babe, you sounded a little weird on the phone. Are you ok?"

Me (with an outpouring of tears and a rehearsed speech) - "I need to show you something."

A stillness came over his face as he walked towards me and when I pointed to the damage I had done, not a word was said. He bent down and carefully touched the scratch and dent(s). Then he straightened back up and looked at me. I tried to squeeze out some more tears (I am a shameful manipulator when I have to be). When he reached for me, I made sure not to flinch. I figured I deserved whatever punishment he chose to hand out.His arms grabbed me and pulled me close. Then he hugged me and said he still loved me.

Thank goodness. He passed the test and he didn't even know it! He did tell me that I have been assigned 10 hours of backing up lessons though before I can drive Big Red again. OK - if I have to. He also said someone had called Oregon State Police to report a red truck speeding down the highway with a 5 year old driving, and what looked to be his mommy, mooning semi's. I said I didn't know anything about that.

Counting Down

I remember being a kid and counting down the days. Oh, how I loved counting down the days. It was my Type A personality in it's infant stage. I counted down everything.

The days I had to wait until my birthday.

The days I had to wait until Christmas.

The days I had to wait until school started (I've always been a nerd).


With my students, I hear them doing the same thing.

"Mrs. G.! There's only 13 days until my birthday!"
"Mrs. G.! There's only 10 days until Christmas!"

They are totally into the countdown.I get to hear the countdown all year long as different events are occuring in their lives. Halloween, birthdays, weddings, spring break, new brother/sister,etc.

I am currently on 2 major countdowns:

The last day of school - June 12th. I don't want to let this class go. They have been so good and so much fun that my heart is already breaking at the thought of sharing them with the third grade teachers. I just know they won't love and appreciate and laugh with them as much as I do! (Actually I'm sure they will but I still don't want to share).

Mark and I's cruise - June 26th. This is good and bad. Good, because I get all giddy with happiness bubbles in my stomach at the thought of being in the Caribbean. Bad, because I am trying to lose a few pounds before we go. My belly button has been talking with me again and it has said to stop eating so much (sugar) and start doing some sit-ups. In the winter when it talks, I usually pretend I can't hear it and muffle it with a sweatshirt or two but now that it is warming up, my tank-tops don't quiet it down as much. I decided I had better listen. I have 1 month. I can do it. I'll think of my self-depravation as training for when I am on Survivor.

(If you didn't understand about the talking belly button please see my earlier post in March called scale scars. Beware - it's graphic and jiggly)

Loving Well...

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."
Matthew 22:37


This last weekend I had the pleasure of going on a Christian Women's Retreat up to Wallowa Lake. (I said "hi" to your mom Sarah!) The above verse was our focus and I am humbled by how much I needed to reflect on what it means. We talked about learning to Trust in God, learning to Commit ourselves to Him, Sacrificing and saying No to "Self" and yes to God and having Obedience to God - doing the things He has told us to do. We talked about who we are called to love and even when it is easy to justify why someone doesn't deserve our love, it still isn't right to deny them that very thing.

I came home with a happy and full heart - a heart renewed and a spirit ready and willing to Love Well.


I'm not even going to tell you how beautiful it was up there or what perfect weather we had because I really don't like to brag.

I'm not going to tell you how much fun I had because... I think bragging is just bad manners.

I really don't wish to share that my best friend (and the sister of my heart) and I laughed until we almost peed our pants, how we stayed up late talking about nothing and everything, or how we painted our fingernails and had such a great time together - as always. I mean who wants to hear about all that anyway?

I mean, seriously, I hate to tell you that it was a perfect weekend and that, while I missed my husband and my children (and my dog), I need to have weekends like that in order to appreciate them more.

Now that I think about it - NOT bragging is over-rated and I really should have told you what a great time I had. Maybe next time I won't be so modest... (smile).

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

Ahhh... Mark is home and all is right in my world again. The children are no longer trying to pee outside, the dog is no longer trying to pee inside, and I'm ... well... I'm just happy that I now have time to pee.



Reason #328 of "Why I love my husband" - Whenever Mark is gone away from me, he always brings me home a surprise. Some past gifts have been a bag of cashews, scarecrows to add to my fall decorations, a matching bra and undie combo from Victoria Secret and videos of "Friends" (my all-time fav. show). This time he brought me home some new books.

I have been wanting to read The Last Lecture for a while now and I had happened to tell Mark about it a couple months ago.

He remembered.

I know - he's awesome. A Lifetime of Secrets was one I have never heard of. The author has a website where he has invited people to send him creatively decorated postcards bearing secrets they have never revealed before. Some secrets are sad and some are happy but they are all interesting. What I love about them is how much can be conveyed in so few words. Here are some samples from the book:

The book is fascinating and I LOVE IT!

The authors website is postsecret.blogspot.com

Check it out and think about what secret would you reveal?

Is it OK?

... to wish I was the one at a week long training, not Mark?

... to turn up the radio so I don't have to hear the boys fighting in the backseat for the nth time?

... to long for it to be the end of the school year already?

... to wish I was rich enough to just go buy new clothes and not have to keep washing
(and wearing) the same ones?

... to be grossed out by your new student's lice?

... to have no idea what to say when Owen tells you his butt is hot?

Today is seems like Friday (and Mark) can't get here soon enough!