Silly Bands and the Coolness Factor

I'm wearing two silly bands as I type this.
Now if you know any kids of elementary school age then you know that these are all the rage!! Now I am hip. I am uber-cool to have my OWN silly bands. One is in the shape of a frog and the other a dog. These were given to me by two very "cool" students who wanted to share their "coolness" with me. (All students who don't keep them on their arms at all times "get" to share their "coolness" with me....but, I'm losing my focus... these two were freely given, lest you think poorly about the behaviors in MY class!! :))

Now to my point. I think I am pretty 'with-it'. I am not totally in the stone-age. I keep up with a lot of the trends. I am aware of new candy bars, that Reese's peanut butter cups won the Candy-smackdown. I try to be at least aware of some of what is slightly in fashion - so I don't make the Don't s list somewhere!! Heck, I even have a DroidX phone (Name dropper - name dropper!) This makes me super-super cool-Hey, I realize that my kids have to help me and give me pointers all the time, but it's the fact that I OWN it that is so cool, right?!?!?

Ooops, I got off track again.

Well, the other night while we were trunk-or-treating, a sweet little spider (who shall remain nameless) sat down beside me and said, "YOU have silly bands? YOU know what they are?" Ack! I was crushed. What did this spider think? That I'm old or something? That I'm out-of-it? Gosh, my silly bands even glow in the dark (which I discovered last night in the middle of the night ! I had to hide my arm from myself so I could go back to sleep!)

All this has started me thinking. I'm pretty comfortable marching to the beat of my own drummer, I thought. I do follow some trends like ... well....at least I am aware of what's the coolest color in house decor!! And I do try to keep up with the book world. Or at least I thought I did. (I mean I read Mockingjay - only a month after it was released. ) I guess more than anything was that I was comfortable in my own skin until I saw myself through the eyes of another. That was just weird.

But the more I thought about things the more I decided I still like myself. I like most of the choices I make. I am still becoming who I want to be but I am not finished yet. Maybe I'm still experimenting, courtesy of my Maker. So, in the meantime I may surprise some by wearing cool silly bands, by decorating in urban chic, and I may read something totally off the wall - for me! It keeps people wondering about my coolness factor.

PS. Tatiana de Rosnay's book Sarah's Key is totally cool.
PPS. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni is also totally cool.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

(We graphed my reading for last year to practice line graphs!!)

My 3rd graders know I'm a Book-a-holic. They know I love to "get in the zone" and just read. They know how excited I get when the weekend comes and there's time to read.

Yep, I'm indoctrinating them. (Hope I'm teaching them too - just a side thought!)

But weekends have been busy with lots of activities and reading time is taking a bit of a back seat. Here's the evidence....

A trip to Tombstone and Helldorado Days. (They do have a library!!)

Ride'em Cowboys!! (and girls...)

Doc Holiday was quite the reader and loved a soliloquy or two, but the day of the Gunfight at the OK Coral he was a troublemaker extraordinaire!

Three adorable Primary performers!! What fun to sit in church and cuddle with these lovelies. The trip to your house was worth every mile!

Halloween decor at every turn in my daughter in law's house.It was so much fun to be there and see the traditions of their family. Jenn, can you come decorate for me?? I love every detail!!! (Look at the apothecary jars carefully...one contains eyeballs!!)

My partner (in crime & life) knows that I'm still a cotton-pickin' Texan down deep, so when I spied cotton growing off the highway on our journeys, he pulled right over for a great photo -op!

Books are still traveling with me though...right now I'm working on 3-4. Well, a girl's gotta have some fun!



A book group book that is humorous, intriguing and very readable.

Awesome!!


I'm still avoiding reading reviews and holding my opinions on this one. I think I need a little more time to fall "into the zone" with it, hmmm....maybe this weekend!~

(Now that Parent-teacher Conferences are over, I may even sneak in a little midweek reading too....)

Fall Break Reading

Fall Break reading is fantastic!! I'm finding time to read a little non-fiction, some ""just for me" books, a little Dave Ramsey, and some escape books..... Here are the most recent finishes:

A twist on a fairy-tale, Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry is full of beautiful writing, an intriguing story line and characters begging for more depth. Isn't that the way it goes sometimes....you have all the makings for a really good book and somehow it just doesn't all come together the way you hoped it would?!?! It's like the dessert that needs a little more - -oomph!

I truly enjoyed a lot of the story. Lucinda, our Cinderella character, was orphaned at age 5 and now lives with her aunt and uncle in a run-down jewelry shop. Lucinda's world changes when a mysterious customer, known as the Amaranth witch, visits the shop and entrusts a precious and powerful stone to their care for repair. Lucinda's life becomes even more complicated at the visit of the crown prince and is quickly followed by an encounter with a quick-witted street ruffian. The story was really intriguing then; I do love a fairy tale twist, when it took a left turn.... I just wasn't ready for the other worldly twist. I felt like the story lost a lot with this stretch and the characters and their development suffered because of it.

Lucinda was likeable enough, I just never really felt invested in her. Peter, the "Aladdin-type" ruffian, on the other hand, was full of quick wit and reparte. The book was fun and fast paced when he was around. However, my favorite character was "Dog" the goat!! Now I would read another book just about him!

Julie Berry's writing is beautiful. I truly would enjoy reading more of her work but I hope for a little more ... a pinch of something, a dash of this or that, you know - a little more oomph!

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay was a book I found hard to put down. It was intense.

(Let me give you a language alert though, this has frequent rough language that may put more than one or two people off. I was willing to read past it as the story was intense but it may not be for many readers. Just beware.)

Taut writing. Twists and turns. A good ol turn the page mystery. I had some of the plot figured out along the way but I was truly intrigued to see where the author would go with it, how it would all pan out. The ride was a wild one, that's for sure.

David Harwood, a small town newspaper journalist, husband, father, has his life unravel before his eyes when one Saturday afternoon outing turns into an unexplained disappearance. David now becomes the news he has often reported. The more David uncovers the worse things look, for him!

I don't typically frequent books with such blue language but it was fun to have a good storyteller. I'll be looking for another book by Barclay in the future, I just may need to check my language-meter, I may not be quite old enough to read some of those words!!

I'm a little behind on those darn Report Cards. Geez, I wonder why!?!?!

Plans in the Making

Am I going anywhere over Fall Break this year?!?!? Well, let's see. Right now I'm in Promise Falls courtesy of Linwood Barclay. I've a towering TBR pile to choose from for my next destination too. Reading is TOP on my list of Fall Break plans!

Other assorted items on the agenda....

Report Cards - 6 a day!

A pedicure

Paint the bathroom

What's next......

* A date or two with my BFF, Rich. (I love a mid-week date!)

* Catch up with a few close friends - let's do lunch!

* Shop with Jennie :) (Hint, hint!)

* The State Fair starts Friday. Entrance is free that day and the Fry Bread is tempting me already.

* Helldorado Days in Tombstone on Saturday.

Gosh, doesn't the week sound awesome?!?!?!?

Monsoon Madness

Hello Dorothy!! Didn't I tell you this isn't Kansas??
(This baby was spotted a mile from our home!)

It was a wild ride when storms hit two separate times at school.... of course the last big storm hit at dismissal! Can you say pandemonium? Arizona kids squeal at the sight of rain.

But, the ride continued. When we arrived home we discovered that 19 power poles had fallen in our area. Trees were down up and down the street and neighbors yards were full of roots and branches. We were afraid to turn into our driveway! We were lucky. This is what we found:

(The wind picked up this baby and threw it 15 feet through the window!! You may doubt it, but this is not how or where we store our trash cans. Granted, it would make taking out the trash easier, but I just have a small issue with that!)

Needless to say, our backyard is an ocean and our side yard is full of blown off roof tiles and refuse from neighbor's yards. Wow! I know the animals were glad to be inside for this storm! We feel more than blessed. Our trees remain strong and true and the insurance adjusters will call tomorrow. Until then, I'll sweep up the glass, we won't stand under the corner of the roof outside where three more tiles hang precariously, and we'll count our lucky stars that no power lines were down...we couldn't bear to be without our dear Internet!!

October

I love October!!

• My brain says fall even when the thermometer says 104! That's okay...my brain is pretty powerful and the rest of me believes it (most of the time!)
• 
  
• It's report card time.
• 
  
• Football - football - football!! I can even hear the band play and the announcer at the high school a mile away each Friday night. That brings back great memories. (It might be dangerous to picture me in my cheerleader outfit NOW, but it fit really great back then...pompoms and all!)
• 
  

• It's Conference time!! Twice a year our church broadcasts a weekend of meetings; special messages of guidance and counsel from Salt Lake City to around the world. I love attending conference but this year we chose to stay home and save some dollars. I miss the fall leaves and the smells and the traditions so I was thrilled when the doorbell rang last night and a sweet friend brought over some NEW traditions~~~ a box of scones and muffins for Saturday breakfast, a recipe book of goodies she makes every year AND this spectacular notebook for recording my thoughts during conference!! (As IF I would write a word in this beautiful baby!)

• October Break!!!! Yes, it's almost here..... I'm feeling a roadtrip urge, a magnetic pull from a stack of books, a desire to smell a campfire, loving the Halloween candy shelves, and celebrating all the possibilities. Yippee!

• Gosh, I love October!!