April Book Reviews

Mmmm... I love books! Don't you?! I often go to the library and just pick one section to stand in front of and then randomly choose books to read. That's what I did this month and I found some interesting selections. 


The Soldier's Wife was set in World War II and it took place on an island in the English Channel - Guernsey. Eventually the island is occupied by the Germans and the main character must make choices that will impact herself greatly as well as the lives of her two young daughters. It's a love story but also a story of compassion. The war intrudes on every aspect of this mother's life and how she deals with the realities of it are what keeps the reader going. I loved it and gave it a 9 out of 10. 


                                                           

Because I was such a big fan of The Hunger Games, a fellow book club member recommended this series to me - the Maze Runner. The main character of this story is a boy who can't remember anything besides his first name - Thomas. He wakes up one day to find himself surrounded by a group of boys who also have problems with their memories but they are working together to survive in this new place called the Glade. The Glade is surrounded by a maze that seemingly has no end. At night there are things that come to kill you and just when Thomas is getting a handle on things, a new person is introduced to the Glade. a girl. A girl who claims to know Thomas and also a way out of the maze. 

I heard or read somewhere that this book is geared more towards boys if you compare it to The Hunger games and I can kind of see that. There is a lot of adventure and survival stuff but also death and killing. You won't see a lot of romance or emotional stuff. You will see friends being killed, friends going insane, and friends begging to be killed. Betrayal after betrayal will make you not want to trust anyone. Overall, I really liked this book series because I never could predict what was going to happen next. As the series continued more and more twists kept coming up. Definitely interesting! I gave the series an overall 7 out of 10. 

One of the more interesting books I picked up this month was The Strain. When I skimmed the back it sounded similar to the movie Contagion. A virus spreads quickly across New York, then across the United States, and then across the world kind of thing. The twisty thing that I discovered with this book is that the virus is actually one that kills your mind but leaves your body alive as a vampire. Interesting. These were not nice vampires either. They were more the killing machine kind. The first book was suspense to the max - it was a solid 10. The first few chapters are perfect. Main characters are all solidly written and I love the mix of people that end up together fighting for life as we know it. The following two books are also good but in my opinion the first one is the best. The series is an 8 out of 10. 

                           

Don't breathe a word was a book that had high potential but ended up falling flat. A young girl disappears and her brother is now an adult still dealing with the secrets of what happened. There is some allusion to evil faeries as well as evil family but where the story disappoints is in the wrap up and ending. The climax is very anti-climatic and the whole book loses any magic that is had started with. I gave the book a 4 out of 10 but I did like the cover shot - great image!

My grandma got me started on Sandra Brown novels and I have read several that I like a lot. They are always full of people who aren't who they first appear to be and just when I think I have everything figured out - I realize I don't. This book was a typical Brown book which means... I liked it. A widow woman (she's a second grade teacher!) who's husband was a police officer (crazy!) is suddenly involved in things that are way over her head when a man shows up at her house looking for something her husband hid right before his death The widow then recognizes the man from the news because he is wanted for the death of 7 people who were innocent in every way. Or were they? 

9 out of 10.

I have a whole slug of books on my "to-read" list so we'll see what I can get through next month!

Happy reading!

House Update!

What a beautiful day!

Even better, what a beautiful day to work at the house!

Last week, Mark met with Kevin our builder and he told Mark some great news:

Start packing because this is the month we are moving!

We still have some projects we have to finish before the house is done so we played hookie from church this morning and got busy. We finished caulking and then we power sprayed the entire house so that on the next sunny day we have, we will be painting the outside. 

The inside stuff that we had to do is finished and all the other projects are quickly getting done as well. The stairs were added in the garage and only need a few more things.

The master bathroom is almost finished and is just awaiting the plumber and electrician this week. 

The kitchen is also in it's final stages. Some more grout work this week and then just plumbing and electrical stuff.

The fireplace only needs a few more touches.

The large beam in the family room has been set and now just needs the electrician to hook up the giant fan we bought. 

The front door is only needing it's doorknob and a little more trim around the tile.

The living room tray ceiling is almost finished as well. A little paint and the rope lights added and then it will be done.

Mark's room is looking great. It just needs the spot lights for his head mounts added in along with the tracks for his pocket doors. 

The closets have been built in the boys' rooms and the desks only need the tops on them. The lights will be finished in their this week also.

The bathroom for the boys is just needing it's counters, and sink finished (along with the toilet).

Lots done and just a little needed in each room to finish it up. We have 4 people working each day and this week we add in the electrician and plumber. Carpet should be going in at the end of this week or the beginning of next. We still need to pour the concrete for our front sidewalk and garage driveway but then the outside stuff is almost complete as well. I'm amazed at how fast this has all gone and I still can't really picture us living here! It seems too fancy or something...I'm not sure but I know that first night in the house is going to feel so unreal!

Until then, we will all keep plugging away at projects and I will start packing up our little rental so that when we get the word - we are ready! 

Oops! I almost forgot! The boys have been helping in every way they can as well. They helped fill in holes that we dug for irrigation, collected nails, checked gopher traps, helped paint and spray for weeds. 

I read on a blog to try white vinegar on your weeds as an alternate to Round-Up. It was supposed to cost a lot less and be a lot less toxic to everything else. Honestly, it was the cost a lot less that pulled me in and so we tried it today on the weeds along our driveway. I am going to keep a close eye on it and if it truly works, I will let you know!

Things College did NOT prepare me for!

As I was sitting here on my couch reflecting on my day, I came to the conclusion that college was great for teaching me how to write a lesson plan but it certainly didn't have a lot of training in some other crucial areas.
Information that I think would have helped me greatly better understand this profession I was getting myself into. Things like...

1. The fact that little kids love to pick their nose and (horror of horrors!) eat it! I have tried everything that I can think of to persuade one sngelic, blue-eyed boy in my room to give up the habit. I've ran the gambit from the idea that boogers are bad for the digestion to the fact that a small monster lives up his nose and could bite his finger off. He just looks at me and tells me he's hungry. Ewww.

2. The children with lice are the ones that like to hug you the most. I noticed one of my sweet girls digging away at her head and I had an instant flashback to the many times in the last two days where she has come up behind me while I'm sitting in my chair and given me an "ambush hug" (one from behind that I don't see coming). I'm making Mark check me tonight.

3. When children are not feeling well, they will wait until the last second to tell you before they vomit everywhere. (Twice. Last week alone. All over my carpet and a little on my shoe.)

4. Without fail, I will be sneezed on or coughed at by at least 2 of my cherubs. My immune system is running at full throttle 24/7. I am amazed that I haven't been sick all year. I have had the occasional cough and a runny nose one time that was ridiculous but nothing that has made me miss school, which leads me to the next number.

5. I would rather cut off a limb then write sub plans. Seriously. Who knew how hard it would be to make plans for someone else to follow. Plans that account for every second of a whole school day. Plans that tell another person how to take care of 27 little kids all with their own personal agendas for the day. Who goes home with whom on what day, when to send which kids at which time to which place to see which teacher. Who needs medicine when and who does not get to use the bathroom 500 times a day. What to do if it is raining, what to do if the computer is not working, what to do if ... my brain starts to hurt just thinking about writing sub plans. The last time I was gone, my plans covered 5 pages - and that was just directions on how to turn on all my technology for the day.

6. My celebrity status. I am always greeted with shock and awe and lots of attention accompianed with hugs whenever I run into any of my students. It doesn't matter if they're in middle school now or if they saw me just an hour earlier. They still greet me with so much excitement that I can't help but think it's the highlight of their day (and it's secretly mine when they greet me that way!).

7. Their conviction that everything I say should be treated like gospel. An elementary school teacher has super powers unknown to those in middle school and high school. Our students believe us with no questions asked. According to them, we are the end all and be all when it comes to "everything". I have had numerous parents tell me that their children argue with them about how to do something because "it's not the way Mrs. Golter taught us how to do it." With great power comes great responsiblity! I have to be super careful about everything I say because you never know what will be shared over the dinner table that night at my student's houses!

8. My students examine every little thing about me. If I have had my hair cut, my nails painted (a little girl told me this morning it's time for my toenails to be painted - I agreed). They want to know everything about my dog, my children, my husband (who came in this week to talk about police officers - they were all very impressed with the taser! If only I could use one as well...). One Halloween it was discovered by some of my students where I lived and before I knew it, half my class had shown up on some pretext of "having" to come and see me. (It was really cute...).

9. How much I love them. From booger eater to lice girl, they are all mine and I love each and every one of them. How could I not when they believe everything I say and share all their germs with me? I don't know if it's the unreserved love they shower me with or the simple fact that they love to learn, but I find them all irresistible. They make everyday fun (sometimes tiring too!) and I always find it hard to let them go at the end of the school year.

Luckily, I have 2 months of time off to nurse my broken heart. That always helps. Plus the fact that I get all new cherubs to love the next year.

Teaching rocks. Seriously.

Back-Rubbing Turkeys

The occasional glimpse of brilliant blue sky, the vibrant yellow of the daffodils, the zing of warmer breezes in the air...

all things that most people associate with this season we call "Spring".

My children on the other hand associate this season with the time that the wild turkeys come in and give each other "back rubs". 

Yup. Back rubs. 

The other night we were out for dinner at Mom and Dad's house and the boys were thrilled with all the wild turkeys in the yard. They were quite the distraction (the turkeys not the boys) and we would pause eating dinner in order to watch them and talk about them. Mainly the best ways to hunt and kill them. 

I just liked to watch them and observe how funny they were. 

I really don't know a lot about turkeys. In fact, I had never seen them this close until Mom and Dad started feeding them in order to lure them into thinking this was a cool place to be (right until they shoot them during turkey season out the back door which is another story for another time). 

Here are my (astute!) observations.

Male turkeys, called Toms, have beautiful feathers that they puff out in order to show off for the ladies. While they are puffed, if you listen closely, you can hear them making a sound like the slow leak of air from a bicycle tire. They strut, they preen, and they think pretty highly of themselves. 

They have very colorful faces, red (yucky-looking) wattles, and a hairy chest which Mark tells me is actually called a beard. (On a side note, Mark also told me that hunters will collect the beards and that the bigger/older the turkey is, the bigger beard he will have. My reply? "You're weird".) 

This guy is a looker. He has the strut, the long-manly beard, and he has lots of ladies to choose from. 

Only thing? No matter how regally he stands, how hard he flaunts that tail of his or how much he pushes his chest out, the ladies just aren't too impressed. That, or they have playing hard-to-get down to a science!

"Wait Girls! (gobble, gobble, gobble) I just want to umm... talk". 

"Look! I can turn my tail feathers this way..."

"I can love you better than that guy! He's got nothing on me! (gobble, gobble, gobble)

Don't walk away! We were just getting to know each other!".

The younger Toms have to sit back and watch these antics from the sidelines. They practice their puff and silently smirk at the efforts of their comrades.

"Did you see that, Bill? Edward totally just got shot down! That's like the 115th time today!

"That Jacob's got game though, I tell ya."

But just when you think all hope is lost and the Toms have been working hard for nothing, a female will take notice and give her consent for the "back rub."

The Tom will stand on the hen's back for a little while just looking around, enjoying the view I guess, and then he will scootch down a little further and ... the back rub... will continue to another level. 

Children,shield your eyes!

 Just kidding, there really isn't much to see. In fact, I'm not even sure how feathers are rearranged down there but nothing uncomfortable is visible. 

Hence the reason for the following conversation:

"Mom, what are those turkeys doing? No, not those ones. No, not those ones either, Mom. 

Mom! Quit pointing to all the other turkeys and look where I am pointing!"

"Oh! Those turkeys. I thought you were more interested in looking at the other ones that were walking in the opposite direction. 

Hmmm... let me see. It appears to me that they are...umm...it looks like the two of them are... well, I would have to say that they are kind of giving each other a back rub."

"Is that why one is on top of the other?"

"Yup, that's exactly why!"

(FYI - Mark does all the "back-rubbing" talks in our house. He answers all the boys' questions as well as mine).

After much ado about nothing, the Tom hops off, the hen fluffs all of her feathers and then gets back to eating. The Tom then gets ready to start all over again. 

"I'm sexy and I know it! <I work out!> gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble Yeah!"

And with that you have all that you ever need to know about wild turkeys in the springtime.

Unless you are a super-intellectual-turkey specialist who begs to differ from the scientific observations and conclusions that I have drawn. If that's the case, then I ask that you please refrain from telling my children what is really happening!

We'll save that conversation for when they are ready for it. 

Like age 25 or so.

Weekly Update #10? 11?

Now that all the "big" things are done around the house, it is time for all the little stuff to make itself know. Little stuff that always adds up to lots of time that is! 

Mark has started the irrigation process and we had to plan out where the garden, orchard, chicken coop, and berry patch are all going to be (I can't wait!). Then he got busy.

The irrigation system for the yard will probably be on hold until we move in and the whole system for the pasture will also be waiting for a little longer. 

Inside the house, things have been moving along.

Flooring in the kitchen and dining room.

Tile in the entry way.

Cabinets and counter tops in the kitchen.

Lots of work in the master bathroom. Travertine, tile, and cabinet work.

The boys have been busy also. Studying every dirt pile intently, lobbing rock after rock into the creek, and of course, looking for critters to catch.

Like so:

Everyone keeps asking us our move in date and in all honesty, neither Mark nor I have asked our builder what he thinks. I would rather it be a pleasant surprise then told a certain date only to have that date be pushed back further and further. Things are so close to completion that it is becoming harder to be patient but I think that Mark and I are both content simply because we know that it won't be much longer. 

If I had to place money on it, I would say we will be moving in June sometime. Mark's guess is the beginning of that month, but I'm thinking the second week.

We shall see who is right!