The Everything.

*This blog is beginning to look like a book review blog.  Reading has been taking over my life.  My mother says reading could be my way of escaping from reality.  I say better then smoking crack.  My mom jokes.  I do not.
Do you do that?  Put off everything and anything and pull yourself into one thing to avoid the everything.  I am so guilty of this.  Soo guilty.  Of course I blame the anxiety, because it is so easy to blame the anxiety.  Of course I realizing I should be working through the anxiety, but sometimes, like now sometimes, I am so sick of it.  I hate that I have to plow through and except.  I hate working on my feelings first.  Sometimes I want to just do and when that anxious feeling comes to play, I retreat.  Does that mean I let anxiety win?  Probably.

*On Facebook I magically joined a group that is connected with my high school.  I didn't request and/or approve to be apart of the group.  It's all good though. 
One thing that I realize is that I do NOT recognize over half  the people.  They are like "Remember when our small little organization, that this Facebook group is based on, did that one time-specific thing?"  And I am like "OH yeah I remember when our small little organization, that this Facebook group is based on, did that one time-specific thing!  But who the fuck are you???" 
Is this bad? 

*My (cough cough-ahem)-teen year high school reunion is this year.  I think the concept of school reunions are weird.  I think the whole concept of having a desire to meet up with people you couldn't wait to get away from is weird.  I really wonder if in going to a reunion you have the desire to relive some of those days from your younger, more carefree days.
Although I admit there is a few bitches, from those carefree days, I won't mind slappin'.

*I voted today.  Did you?

Semi-Sweet: A Sweet Story

Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney
Release date: April 25, 2011
Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Just in time for that self-induced sugar Peep coma you will so wonderfully enjoy this Easter Holiday I bring you more sweet sweet goodness.  No worries this little treat will not add those dreaded "L.B.s."  It's a book.  A good, super sweet book.  But not super syrupy sweet.  It's a subtle sweet.  Like a nice little sea-salt caramel truffle.  Sweet and salty melt in you mouth goodness...mmmm sea salt caramel.*

Top 5 reasons why I love this book:

5. The little sugary sweet stories that were sprinkled throughout the book.  As much as the main character's story was important, so too were the supporting cast of characters.  Every character played a role in the story and in a way each person's actions directly effected the next character. The author did a great job pulling you into everyone's story and weaving all the characters' story together.

4. CUPCAKES.  Keep a few on hand while reading this book.  Okay, you might add a few pounds, but it's all in good fun.

3. You will stand and cheer for the main character, Hannah.  It's a perfect boy leaves girl, girl kicks boy's arse in game of life kinda story.  I love when girl kicks arse.
Hannah didn't really kick guys arse, but she did overcome a HORRIBLE break-up while starting her own business.
See kick arse.


2. It takes place in Ireland.  I love stories that take place in Ireland, they make me feel all happy and stuff, and Irish people love to say arse.  Thank you Frank McCourt for introducing me to that wondrous word.


1. CUPCAKES.  Oh dear lord the diet starts tomorrow.
Funny thing about cupcakes, they go right to my arse.  Sorry, it couldn't be helped....

You can go to the author's website to find out more information on Semi-Sweet and her other books.  Pre-order at Amazon here.

*If you would like more information on sea-salt caramel truffles go here.

Summary from Amazon.com:

Hannah Robinson is just about to open the doors to her new shop Cupcakes on the Corner when out of the blue her boyfriend Patrick announces that he's leaving her for another woman. Faced with starting a business on her own, Hannah begins to wonder if her life-long dream has just turned into a nightmare. So her best friend Adam sets his birthday as a deadline - seven months to make her shop a success, or walk away from it all. And as Hannah immerses herself in her new business, she soon discovers that she's too busy to think about Patrick and his now pregnant girlfriend ...or to notice an increasingly regular customer who has recently developed a sweet tooth for all things cupcake. But while Hannah is slowly piecing her life back together, family friend Alice's is falling apart. Her husband Tom's drinking is getting out of control and things are about to get a whole lot worse. As the seven-month milestone approaches, Hannah must decide her future. And while she's figuring out what's really important, it becomes clear to everyone that happiness in life, and in love, is all in the making.

Made to Play

Photo from MadebyJoel.com

I had the unique opportunity to preview a copy of Joel Henriques' new book Made to Play  (release date Oct. 11, 2011).  I do so enjoy children's crafts, as you well know...or if not go here.  Or maybe see here...

ROAR!!

Or if you happen to be a neighbor of mine you were already on the receiving end of my manic Kool-aide-Glitter-play-dough-making festivities this week.

Good times. Good Times.

I am a crafting nut.  So this book was right up my alley.  I am in no way an expert at the fine art of children's crafting.  I know this much though, a novice I am not.  I recently graduated from the Tacky Glue Group to the Glue Gun Crew last month.  Proud day. 

OH NOES!  "I can't craft!"  you say.
"No worries!" I say!
That is what makes Made to Play by Joel Henriques so great, there are crafts for every skill level.

Glue Stick Brigade?  How about some animal finger puppets?  If you can trace and cut and glue you are set!

Don't even know what the heck glue is?  How about some portable zoo animals, trace and cut and you are set.

These are just not crafts, these are toys that are to be played with and treasured.

The beauty of Joel's book is that everything in it is simple, clean and free from all the noise that plagues modern day toys.  Truthfully our children crave simplicity.  On Christmas morning, among all the bells and whistles of today's toys, our children gravitate to the boxes those noise-making toys come in.  It is in their nature.  Isn't our job to nurture that?

Toys are to be played with and enjoyed, and the toys I make bring my children great joy.  The toys we create together makes memories. What's better then a toy made with love by you?  A toy you made and played with together.

Check out and pre-order Made to Play today!  And check out the author's blog here!

Mumford and Sons

My new music love?  Mumford and Sons.
I can has banjo?

umm of course!

Take a peek over at NPR and hear a LIVE recording of them.
No political approval or disapproval of NPR just linking a really cool recording.

Books I Love

One of the things that has been keeping me from blogging is reading.  Reading actual books.
Books are a funny thing, aren't they?  I sit down and watch a good movie and it leaves me the next minute, hour or day. I read a good book and it sticks with me forever.  I love books.

Here are a few of those good books I've read....

Swallow  by Tonya Plank

At first glance I didn't know if I would like this book.  No gimmicks, no mystery.  Just a woman facing big change in her life.  Those changes and past hurts manifests themselves into a physical aliment, the inability to Swallow.
I loved the main character and all her flaws. So many women character's, in modern day literature, come across as very weak and although the main character had issues you always felt an underlying strength.


The Dirty Parts of the Bible: A Novel  by Sammy Conner

I couldn't resist the title and cover.  Who could?  You know what they say, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, and it's true: this book was so much more than it's cover.  So much better then I expected.
Once you get over catchy title and cover, deep within the pages of this book is a wonderful, funny story.


The Overnight Socialite: A Novel by Birdie Clark

A modern day Pygmalion, aka My Fair Lady, set in the social scene of New York City.  A fun weekend read or, as the weather gets warmer, a fun beach read. 
I love this new breed of smart "chick-lit". 


How I Learned to Love the Walrus  by Beth Orsoff

Another smart chick-lit book, and one that will inspire you to take a chance, that leap of faith.  I loved LOVED the main character in this book, she was beautifully, wonderfully flawed and strong.  Do you see a theme here?

And I saved the best for last...

The Last Block In Harlem by Christopher Herz

I don't think I can put into words here how GREAT this book is.  I mean SUPER great. This is on my list of favorite all-time books, somewhere around The Red Tent and To Kill a Mockingbird.
I know this is a big claim I am making here.  I rarely go all out for a book.  It's been years since I had the urge to buy every one I know a copy of  a book- but I do, I do, I so do wanna buy everyone I know a copy of this book.  
But alas I can not- you should have seen the husbands face when he saw all the Amazon digital charges on our statement last month.  Not good.

What is my favorite book you ask?

The Outsiders  by SE Hinton

This is the book that started by love of reading.  For that I am forever grateful.

What is your favorite book of all-time?
and If you have any book suggestions?  Let me know.


 

How I Learned about Being Taken Advatage Of.

When I was in high school I never had the "normal" job of dishing out soft-serve or deep-fattening french fries.  I was socially inept at best and I didn't cling to those things my peers did.  My weekends were not spend out partying, they were spent out baby-sitting the children of the neighborhood, as their parents enjoyed a night off.
I was good at baby-sitting and the only time I turned down work was when I had another baby-sitting commitment.  I was the go-to girl for most of my mom's friends, and I enjoyed the money I made.  My success was that I allowed the families to set the rate, and most of the time I walked away with more than if I set my dollar per child I had considered.  For the most part, people were honest and paid accordingly.  They rewarded hard work and appreciated the service that I provided.
Notice I said for the most part.  Because sadly, someone is always ready to take advantage of another's gesture of good faith.
Entering the summer of my eighth grade year, "Desert Storm" began.  I was baby-sitting one of my regulars when the wife got the call that her husband was called to serve.  Serve as border patrol off the coast of Flordia. 
Okay so he wasn't n the heat of battle but he had to leave his wife and two young children, and there was no stopping him being sent overseas.  In our little microcosm it was a BIG deal and we all tied on a yellow ribbon.  We all played our part, and after a talk with my mom I decided to offer this family free baby-sitting services.  Being a one parent household was not going to be easy for this family and I was there when needed to make their live a little easier.
Or so we thought.
What started off as a gesture of good-will became any thirteen-year-old's worst nightmare.  Almost every day I was there.  Sometimes all day.  Suddenly more children entered the deal.  Instead of two, I would have four or five baby-sitting charges.  One hour here and there turned into eight to twelve hour days.  My Saturday's became their Saturday's and I came home tired and empty handed.  Not a penny. 
I found I couldn't say no, I was a kid and this family was far worse off than me.
I couldn't say no, but my mom did.
The last straw was when I started my day there at 7 am and didn't get home till 2 am the next morning.
My mom put her foot down.  This lady was suppose to be a friend and she took advantage of others' kindness.  And took advantage in worst way by doing it to a child.
Honestly when we started this my mom and I thought I'd be there if she needed to run to the grocery store, or needed a night out every once in awhile.  We thought that even though we were offering this service she would pass a dollar or two, or maybe a thank you card.  I got nothing.  My mom knew enough was enough and if I continued on this path I would burn out fast.
I walked away from that situation learning two things.  One, it is okay to offer your help but is equally okay to walk away if that help is taken advantage of.  And two, when someone offers kindness you should always, in your own way, repay that kindness.
Never take advantage of those who have come to help you.

Since my last

A House Divided.

I have been struggling to write here lately.  I have a lot of half written posts in my dashboard that will never see the light of day.  Really life happens and goes on and I have come to the conclusion that I don't have to blog about it.  The passion left and it is sad.

I live in Wisconsin so you think I would have plenty to write about.  I do trust me.  But truthfully my opinions are mine and living it everyday wears on a person.  It is in my face 24-7.  Having family and friends affected by it makes it harder to separate the policy from the personal. 

Having a husband who has the exact opposite opinion as me makes life at home at times unbearable.  I don't want to always agree on things, that would make life boring.  But sometimes I want to be in my home and have it feel like a home.  I have passions and strong opinions and sometimes it's hard to separate my feelings for a policy and my feeling for another person. 

There are two sides to every story.  There is no way of knowing who's story is right.  Which story will lead us down the right path.  All I know is I hold my values close to my heart.  My value for equal rights and equal education and fairness for the richest of the rich to poorest of the poor shapes me into the person I was, am and always will be. 

Thin

I grouchy and crotchety and mean. 
I am spread thin these days and some days I can bearly keep my head above.  And I hate it.  It will get better, that's what I keep saying.  This has been my mantra.  "It will get better.  It will get better.  It will get better."

Some days I am so down on myself that I can't even function as a normal person.  I know what and when things need to be done, but I don't have the motivation to do them.  I give up and then I am consumed with guilt that I gave in.  I curse my conscience.  I would like to meet the people who give it all up, and in, and ask how they did it without the guilt eating them up inside.  Must be nice.

At this time in two weeks it will be better and I a lot of  the stress will be gone.  But till then keep my sanity in your thoughts and prayers.

Vampire Lover

There I said it.  I like vampire.  Vampires.  Vampires.  Vampires.
Twilight.
Sookie I love you Sookie.
Sparkly.
Swedish.
Viking.
Civil War fighting.
True Blood drinkin'.
Animal blood suckin'.
Vampires.
Sometimes you just need an escape and those creatures of the night can be an entertaining bunch.  Add in werewolves and fairies and witches and you got a PAR-TEE.

It all started a few years back, I was on a short vacation, I picked up a paperback copy of "Twilight" to see what all the crazy talk was about.
Two weeks later I finished the series.
Not high-brow literature mind you, but fun and funny and an escape.
The one thing I didn't like about that series is that Bella was a bit of a whiny thing.  I get deep-true love but man get a job.

Then my sister turned me onto The Sookie Stackhouse series.
I devoured all the books in the series and I am patiently (?) awaiting the next book to come out this summer.  I loved that Sookie was strong and independent.  She embraced love but didn't take shiz from anyone.

 So in other news, and still related to this vampire-otherworldly creature-orgy-love fest, I got my...
KINDLE!!!!!!!
It is awesome.  I almost kissed the UPS man. Granted the men in trademarked brown are usually hawt, and this one was, the fact that he held my hearts desired, well made me love him. 
I opened that sweet little box and the angels sang. I swear I heard Ode' to Joy.
I held the Kindle in my hands above my head and proclaimed "I HAVE A NEW GOD NOW!"
Okay I am a tad dramatic.  But it is totally awesome although I am convinced they will add a verse in Genesis that states "And on the one billionty day the earth was made God, with the help of Jeff Bezos, created the KINDLE"

So I got down to downloading many free books and I read like crazy.  Then I thought I'd one up myself and go for some great $.99 Kindle books.
And I found this....

 

I know they say never judge a book by it's cover.  But I do.  It's like food.  You eat with your eyes first.  

Well of course you read with your eyes first.  Whatever.  How could I resist that cute cover?

And it was $.99!  And truly I'd pay more if I had to.
So I got down to reading and I fell in love.
So the next day I downloaded the next book in the series....

and devoured it in a day.
The Jolie Wilkins books are a perfect mix of fantasy, romance and cute manipulative vampires that don't sparkle.
Wait it gets better.
So I was on Amazon and I happen to see the author's, H.P. Mallory, web site linked so I followed it. I read her blog and just had to email her and she responded back.  Guess what?  She is super cool and awesome and loves her readers!
She loves her readers so much that she makes them characters in her book!
I highly recommend both Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, and Toil and Trouble for a fun weekend read!

*Disclosure:  I was neither paid nor asked by the author or publishing company to write this post.  Both books were purchased with my own money.  and really why are you sitting here reading this boring disclosure when you could be reading those two great books I just linked.  Go.  NOW! 
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble was $.99 on the date this blog post was published and price is subject to change.

Felt Board Fun!

I got the idea for this...

Here.

A few changes.
Use a piece of flannel for your background fabric, not felt.
And instead of adhering the flannel to the back of the picture frame, use a thin piece of cardboard or poster board to put the flannel on, then stick the flannel in the picture frame then put the back of the frame on.


Cut out felt figures, shapes etc.

I used iron-on transfers to make a farm set.  Make sure your transfer paper is safe for felt, try Avery Light Fabric Transfer Sheet.
For the farm images go to DLTK.
Now have fun!