29 Years Young!!

Well, although it seems like it, I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

not quite yet anyway.
I spent the long weekend playing - in Las Vegas!
What a fun way to ring in a birthday.
We ate from one end of the strip to the next, went to see The Blue Man Group show and tried our hand at CSI Investigations. It was a blast.

Now I need another weekend ....

Love the Bellagio.....
After Sunday brunch we may appear just a LITTLE wider.
No. It's probably just the wide angle lens!
Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
It's only an illusion if you think I ate those chocolate eclairs....

The Bellagio Gardens were bedecked in Chinese New Year decor.
Incredible.

It will be the Year of the Dragon this Chinese New Year
and many of the fancy Casinos were celebrating.
I think this one wins for the most creative use of CHOCOLATE!!
Yep, every flower, petal, tree, scale, tooth and claw was pure chocolate.....
Oh my golly gosh!

They DO read in Las Vegas...even on the Strip.
What an interesting store for sincere collectors.
Can you spell, "cha-ching"??

My students would have loved this - a first edition, signed copy of
Matilda by Roald Dahl that sold for $4500.
It looks just like the old library copy I have in my classroom!!
(Okay, without the fancy signature and the clear plastic around it.)
I also loved the Beatrix Potter book.
I adored her books as a child and my own children were entranced as well.

My CSI - crime fighting companion!!
I love a man in uniform!!

How I love those mystery stories....
Here is the Crime Scene we got to research.
Think...
dry desert....old bones....fibers, seeds, hair....and a wedding ring still intact.
Hmmm.....I wonder who did it???

Gosh, How did Charlie's Angels get in here???
(I'm the short YOUNG one. Jenn's the gorgeous one who looks great in hats!)

The Venetian Italian Renaissance INSISTED on wishing me a Happy Day!!
Ha!!
Gosh, I wish I looked as good as these guys do in tights!

"Forever Young" with a 'Rod Stewart' in Vegas!!

Lest you think I was a total party-animal and not getting anything else done, please be aware that I have finished 2 book group books (Savvy and Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters) as well as attended Book Group and conducted a week of Parent-Teacher conferences!!

I also finished The Informationist by Taylor Stevens


A kick-butt character that frankly scared me with her edginess.
I enjoyed the book, don't get me wrong, but I always felt like it was with a wariness that I typically hold for people I am leery of.
Yes, leery.
Vanessa Michael Munroe scared me.
She was Mission Impossible, girl-style. She's Angelina Jolie-feminine and
Angelina Jolie-take-no-prisoners-tough.
The story was fast-paced; set in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, places I have little knowledge or experience with. I was caught up with the characters and the story in a few pages but I always felt a little off-balance. The plot was not only tight, it was taut. Yet sometimes so convoluted that I felt I needed a tour guide to keep places, directions and political/cultural ties straight!! All in all this book was a great introduction to a character I would pay to defend me but not invite to lunch.
Hmmm.
I saw that book #2 is out and #3 is on it's way. Do I smell movie rights???
Angelina, dust off your action-boots!
( Disclaimer: The language and violence may be more than a few want to deal with, but it all felt appropriate for the plot and characters.)

Vacation!!

Colorado Rocky Mountain High~

Can I say how much fun we had?? Nope.
Can I say how cool and green it was?? If you must.
Can I say how hard it is to come back to reality?? Never!

Denver is trendy...they're fit and under 40!
I swear!
Everyone rides bikes and walks dogs.
I felt like I was missing out by not having either one with me.
We loved it - the city is awesome!

We were so impressed by the kindness of everyone we met in Colorado.
We adventured daily and ended up on spur of the moment side trips.
I feel bad that there are no photos of our Segway tour.
I was camera-less.
It was my favorite event.

We visited The Tattered Cover Bookstore in downtown Denver
and spent 2 hours there searching the aisles.
In their honor I leave you with two short reviews on books I finished on vacation.

Savvy
by Ingrid Law

I don't think I can put into words how poetic this book is.
What a sense of voice!!
I was bowled over.
The book description does no justice to this book.
You just have to dive right in and get ready for some great writing.

Mibs is turning 13. That's the age when folks in her family get their "savvy" - their special powers. Mibs is waiting for hers. Will it be electrical, like her brother, Rocket's? Will it be a hurricane like her other brother? Will it be to always be perfect, like her mom? When Mibs gets hers she finds that it is not an easy one to live with, but like life, she learns to listen to the right voices at the right times.

This book was quirky and delicious - all at the same time!

I loved what the author had to say when she talked about sitting down to write the book -

" Well, when I started writing Savvy, I sat down one day and decided -- I knew I was going to write a new book. I didn’t know what I was going to write and I simply decided I was going to write the craziest sentence that came into my mind without editing it or judging it or anything. And so I wrote, “When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he'd caused it.” And it turned out to stay the very first sentence of the book. From that one line, the story sort of grew. That one line was the seed for the entire story.

However, I did have some other thoughts that went along with it after I came up with that line. I have been reading a lot of tall tales and I liked the idea of creating a story about magical children that never used the word “magic” and relied much more on a sense of big fish stories, tall tales, this sense of Americana magic, really, which is based more in the individual finding strength within them to overcome whatever their challenges are."

I recommend this one to teachers, writers, 4th grade and above students and those willing to read some delicious writing!

(PS - The author is from Colorado - what a great way to start the vacation!)


The Violets of March
by Sarah Jio

A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily’s good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

Pleasant and engaging. I enjoyed this companion of a book as we traveled. I really enjoyed how the book evoked my feelings and memories of growing up on Mercer Island in the Puget Sound. Predictable? Yes, but I was ready for that.

Welcome back to the surface of the sun!!!

(And on to paint at J&K's new house!! I guess that means the vacation is over....)