For today...Tuesday, January 31, 2012

On My Mind...can't believe January is over!!how did that happen?!...our administrator was "let go" on Friday and his replacement started yesterday. I'm not good with changes and Jack was both an amazing person and boss. He had been with the facility for over 10 years , which is fairly long for an administrator.

Outside My Window... it may sound crazy but I wasn't wearing a coat today when I got out of work! It 's been almost 60 degrees-crazy!

What We're Reading...I have about a hundred more pages to go in Breaking Dawn...we'll finish up Extra Credit this week and then he'll read The Homework Machine next.

What We're Listening to... finished Emma and now listening to Beloved . When I checked it out the librarian told me it was one of her favorites by Morrison but also very disturbing. I have to say I agree with that, especially listening to it.

What We're Watching...watching American Idol, Glee, Two and a Half Men re-runs...looking forward to Survivor and Amazing Race starting again...Tucker has been enjoying House Hunters on HGTV and we were excited to catch an Extreme Couponing marathon on Sunday...and of course, UCONN women basketball games.

I am Hoping...to sleep better tonight.

Around the House...not bad at all...laundry does need to be done.

Coming Up This Week...Family Movie Night at Tucker's school on Friday night...Tucker and I are going to a UCONN women's game Sat night.

Daybook

For today...Monday, January 23, 2012

On My Mind...just starting to feel human again after a 24 hour stomach bug.

Outside My Window... We finally got our first real snow of the year-almost a foot of the fluffy white stuff! Tucker and Michael worked hard on a fort but with the rain we're expecting tonight and the 40 degrees for the rest of the week, I;m thinking it won't be there long!

What We're Reading...I'm about a third of the way through Breaking Dawn...reading Extra Credit by Andrew Clements with Tucker.

What We're Listening to...almost finished with Emma and then Beloved is next.

What We're Watching...love that American Idol is back...also watching Undercover Boss, Biggest Loser, re-runs of Two and a Half Men.

I am Hoping...to continue to feel better.

Around the House...laundry waiting to be folded...dishwasher running...actually pretty clean.

Coming Up This Week...sleeping over Eileen's tomorrow to bring Doreen in for lap band surgery Wed morning...lunch and the art museum at UCONN with my friend Joan on Sat.

Celebrating my birthday

Not only did we celebrate my birthday on my actual birthday this year, amazingly, it didn't and hasn't snowed!!!!!

Eileen and my mom celebrate with their usual glass of wine...

the pizza extravaganza...

Doreen is prepping for lap band surgery so she's not eating pizza...

I got gift cards to JCPenney and Dunkin Donuts, a book by Kristin Hannah, and a shirt from my mom...

my mom and I ....

Doreen, Cassandra, and Eileen...

A family picture...

Daybook

For today...Monday, January 9, 2012

On My Mind..glad the snow is holding off although Christmas seemed strange without even a dusting.

Outside My Window... it is dark of course, and still warmer than it should be. This weekend was gorgeous!

What We're Reading...finished New Moon on Saturday and started Eclipse (about 1/2 way through)...Tucker is almost done with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

What We're Listening to...almost finished with A Thousand Splendid Suns and will be starting Emma next.

What We're Watching...watching Biggest Loser, Extreme Home Makeover, Storage Wars, Big Bang Theory, and A Gifted Man and we continue to watch episodes of The Wonder Years and Malcolm in the Middle.

I am Hoping...to sleep better tonight

In the Kitchen...scrambled eggs tonight, chicken brushetta, not sure what else

Around the House...laundry waiting to be folded...definiatiely could use some attention after Tucker and his firend had a nerf gun fight complete with forts made out of toys piled up!

Coming Up This Week...PTO meeting on Wed night...soccer playoffs Fri night...celebrating my birthday (on my birthday!) Sunday

Daybook

For today...Monday, January 2, 2011

On My Mind..Glad that I ad an "extra" day off because the holiday fell on Sunday but spent it being lazy and reading Twilight....really want to keep more up-to-date with my blogs but have already not taken pictures for the past two days!

Outside My Window... it is dark and colder than it's been so far.

What We're Reading...I just finished Twilight (started it on New Year's Eve) and just started New Moon after supper tonight...Tucker finished Return of the Home Run Kid and will be starting Diary of aWimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (he got it for Christmas)

What We're Listening to...I just finished The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman and started A Thousand Splendid Suns.

What We're Watching...We seem to be lost with reality shows!!! Although we continue to watch Storage Wars...I'm liking A Gifted Man and we continue to watch episodes of The Wonder Years and Malcolm in the Middle.

I am Hoping...to keep the blogs up-to-date as much as possible

In the Kitchen....we had chicken tonight, beef and macaroni tomorrow and chicken bruschetta Wed.

Around the House...laundry waiting to be folded...dishes in the dishwasher...everything's pretty neat upstairs though we need to find homes for the new toys.

Coming Up This Week...other than a soccer game Fri, it's a quiet week!

Picture Thought...Tucker and I had what he calls our "feast" on New Years' Eve.

Books I Read in 2011

1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2. The Pit and the Pendulum and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
3. The Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allan
4. Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curits
5. Small Island by Andrea Levy
6. The Outsiders by S.E.Hinton
7. The Girl Who Kicked the Dragon's Nest by Steig Larsson
8. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
10. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
11. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lundgren
12. GingerBread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
13. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
14. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
15. One of Ours by Willa Cather
16. Room by Emma Donoghue
17. The Kite Runner
18. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
19. Messenger by Lois Lowry
20. The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
21. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
23. Freedom by Jonathan Frazen
22. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
24. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynold Naylor
25. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
26. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kinsgsolver
27. Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
28. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
29. Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynold Naylor
30. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
31. While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty
32. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
33. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
34. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
34 Secrets of Eden by Chris Bojhalian
36. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
37. The Nobodies Album by Caolyn Parkhurst
38. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien
39. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
40. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
41. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
42. Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
43. Dirty Secret by Jessie Sholl
44.Saving Shiloh by Phyllis Reynold Naylor
45. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
46. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
47. If you Ask Me (which of course, you won't) by Betty White
48. Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
49. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy chevilar
50. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
51. The Reader by Bernhard Schilink
52. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
53. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
54. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
55. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
56. We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg
57. Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
58. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

59. The Lost Hours by Karen White
60. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
61. The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory
62. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
63. Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Greene
64. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
65. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 66. The Minpins by roald Dahl
67. The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

68. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
69. The BFG by Roald Dahl
70. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kassey
71. Matilda by Roald Dahl
72. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
73. Boy by Roald Dahl
74. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
75. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roadl Dahl
76. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
77. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
78. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
79. Dracula by Bram Stoker

80. Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
81. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
82. Matched by Ally Condle
83. Roots by Alex Haley
84. The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
85. The Wind in the Willows by Graheme Greene
86. The Quiet American by Graham Greene
87. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
88. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
89. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
90.. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
91. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
92. I Know why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
93. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
94. The Jungle Book I by Rudyard Kipling
95. The World According to Garp by John Irving
96. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
97. The Autobiography of Santa Claus

98. The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
99. Uglies by Scott Westerfield

100. The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice
101. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

2nd Annual Book Survey

2nd Annual Book Survey

I've seen this on many book blogs and like the way it sums up the years' reading!

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?

I couldn't chose just one! I would have to say: Room by Emma Donoghue, The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown and The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins


2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?

Because I so loved the Traveling Pants series, I had high hopes for Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares but it did not live up to my expectations


3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

I was mildly interested in reading it and it turned out to be great: Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe


4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

Without a doubt, Room and The Hunger Games series. Also Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua for my mom friends.


5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

Obviously The Hunger Games!


6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

I read a lot of classics for the first time; the "new" authors I discovered were: Willa Cather, Toni Morrison, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. I enjoyed Willa Cather so much that I'm planning to participate in a reading challenge that features reading one of her books each month in 2012!


7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed 20,000 leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne


8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

Room and The Hunger Games series


9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

I had heard so much about these two: Room and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother


10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?


There are two:




11. Most memorable character in 2011?

There were a few: Jack from Room; Griet from Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Katniss from The Hunger Games


12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke


13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua


14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?

Because I read a lot of classics for the first time this year, the list includes: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.


15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?

I don't keep track...

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?

The Hunger Games series, without a doubt. I';d also like to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with my son.


17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother almost got thrown across the room multiple times and Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult had some moments that made me crazy! Both were great though!