I will look at the bright side...

...I will look at the bright side...I will look at the bright side...I will look at the bright side...

We had our final walk-through early last evening. It felt disastrous. You want the whole ugly truth--I walked out of there and cried for half an hour straight. Over-reacting? Probably. I'm in the midst of a horrible fibro flare, I've been so stressed out for so long over this whole moving mess, and I've been more sleep deprived than normal...so my ability to look at things realistically is likely non-existent at the moment.

So here is my attempt at changing my piss-ass attitude:

*Okay, so it's a fixer-upper. We *knew* it was a fixer-upper. The fact that it's even more of a fixer-upper than we realized means that we get to make it even more into what we want in the end, right?

*Okay, so most of the backyard is now a big expanse of dirt and mud instead of grass due to the septic system replacement. But hey, we were going to have to rip up parts of it anyway to put in gardens. So essentially this just saved us some work, right?

*Okay, so I spent days scrubbing down every inch of our house so the buyer wouldn't have to do any cleaning before she unpacked and settled in, but the sellers of this house obviously feel that leaving it a *complete* shithole when they walk out is just fine. Hell, they weren't even close to having all their stuff out of there yet. Hmmm, so I guess I get the opportunity to get lots more exercise scrubbing the shit out of this house before we can begin unpacking...and who doesn't need exercise, right?

Yeah, this is a pathetic effort. :P To be honest, I think I'm over the trauma (melodramatic, aren't I?) of the walk-through. I'm not at all happy about the way the sellers are leaving the place, but what are you gonna do, huh? It is what it is. And in two weeks, hopefully my breakdown of last night will seem unbelievably silly to me.

But on another note, we had quite a unique experience last night. The fire alarms and flashing lights started going off throughout the hotel about 9:00 last night. We evacuated and stood outside freezing for the next half hour while the fire department came. They couldn't find the cause of the alarm though.

Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. I really could have lived without hearing the weather forecast just now. About 4 inches of slushy wet snow predicted for overnight and tomorrow morning. Just what we need for moving day. Combine that slushy snow with the dirt/mud yard we'll have to navigate to get any of the big stuff in--yep, we're looking at good times...

*sigh*

I promise to get myself out of this funk and write a happy post real soon. Really.

new beginnings...

After the turmoil that has been our life for the past few months, it's sort of hard to believe that we will again be homeowners in a little more than 24 hours. I'm sure it goes without saying that I'm excited. Whenever I'm showering or driving home from dropping Max off at school or some other such task, I find myself daydreaming about all the setting-up-house and redecorating and putting in of gardens we'll get to do.

But.

I don't think I'm as excited as I should be. I think that I've overplayed the whole "fresh start" idea. I think I've used that concept too many times in an effort to gain some sort of much-craved balance in my life. And I think that maybe in overplaying this card, I've lost some of the ability to believe it can work.

Something else that I fear I've overdone--the apologizing. For not keeping up with email, for not keeping up with commenting on blogs. I don't want the apologies to sound empty, because they are anything but. Maybe I really need to stop apologizing and trust that the people I love so much *know* that I love them...even when I drop the ball. Which I seem to be doing quite frequently as of late.

So anyway, I'll keep striving for that ever-elusive balance. And starting tomorrow, I'll be doing it in a brand new (to us, that is) home.

(Just to give you fair warning: There will likely be lots of before and after pictures as we go about turning this house into our sweet little dream home.)

*****
Just had to share these:

Are these hats totally adorable or what?!! They were made by the lovely and talented Pat for Ms. Annie. Pat, she absolutely LOVES them both!!! Thank you, dear lady!!!


















*****
And appropo of nothing:

This picture just never fails to make me smile when I see it. Taken shortly before we moved out of our house.

"But Mom, I swear I wasn't digging up the yard you made me promise not to dig up because the lady buying our house wouldn't want a big hole in the back yard."

what I'm not doing...and what I'm doing instead...

Holy freakin' crap! I am alone. I have approximately 1 1/4 hours all to myself here. Completely alone. Can't remember when this last happened. *happy sigh*

Yep, Rich is taking his vertebrate zoology class off on a field trip, so he picked up Gray and Annie to go along, and I have a little over an hour before I have to go pick up Maxidoodle.

So. I should be emailing Chris. I should be emailing Ana. I should finally be catching up on blog reading/commenting. Heck, all these things are even fun things.

And then there's the not quite so fun things. I should be working on school stuff since I could probably accomplish six times as much with no one here to interrupt every three minutes. I definitely should be doing our taxes. I should be making a list of of the practical shit we'll need to do in the next couple weeks as we move into our new house (you know, the utilities, school registration, etc.). I should be doing a load of laundry.

But instead I'm sitting here giddy over the fact that Once Upon a Time VI has started. Yep, Mr. Awesome Challenge Host/Mr. Great Guy/Carl has officially put smiles on faces around the world yet again.

I love this banner. Love. Love. Love. All the beautiful artwork that Carl is using is by Melissa Nucera. As a cool (to me) aside, I noticed, while I was drooling over all the beautiful artwork at her Etsy shop, that's she lives in Rich's hometown. (Yeah...I'm rambling...what's new...)

So, yes. Once Upon a Time. In its sixth year! Which means it was six years ago that I was meeting some of the people who have become my dearest, most loved friends. :D Oops, I guess that means it was actually five years ago that the first OUaT challenge began...right? Oh, whatever. Anyway Carl, the wonderful "bringer together of people" that he is, again wants us to remember to focus on having fun and sharing that fun with others. Seriously, how can this be beat--fantasy, folktales, fairy tales, mythology, old friends, new friends, growing wish lists...yeah, sort of heavenly, wouldn't you say?

As in the past, Carl has a variety of ways to join in the fun. I think I'm wimping out and just committing myself to The Journey...this way anything above and beyond that first book gives me a false sense of accomplishment. :P

Sad fact: Our books are in storage. Happy fact: I was to the library today.

And from the library, I picked out one book to fit neatly into each subcategory. For fairy tales, there's Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde, who, incidentally, is a local author that Annie has met a few times. This book is a collection of short stories all based on "Little Red Riding Hood." For fantasy, I picked up Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce, a book I actually own (thanks to Ana and Kelly) but haven't yet read. For folktales, The Girl Who Married A Lion and Other Tales From Africa, which is a collection of folktales from Zimbabwe and Botswana retold by Alexander McCall Smith. And for mythology, there's Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis by Ali Smith (another book first brought to my attention by Ana!)...this is the third time I've checked this book out, let's hope this time I actually get around to reading it.

When we finally get to move into our new house and get all our lovely books out of storage, I will likely make a whopping big pile of books to tantalize me through the rest of OUaT. And I'm probably post all about it here. Which is probably not necessary. But since this is my blog, I can do whatever the fuck I want, right? (Including just gratuitously throwing out the word "fuck" apparently.)

Well, that hour+ sure flew by. Time to just wish you all a HAPPY SPRING!!!! And a HAPPY ONCE UPON A TIME!!!!

Thanks yet again, Carl. :D

wrapped around her finger...

You'd think that after nearly fifteen years, I'd be immune to her charms...but nope. A couple of years ago, I crocheted Annie a pair of white leg warmers. She wears them quite a lot, so I thought I'd make her a few more pair for her birthday this year. I told her I was going to so she could pick out the colors she wanted most. Then I was hoping she would promptly forget all about it. Of course her young brain still retains a whole lot more remembering power than my old brain does...she hasn't forgotten. In fact, she managed to sweet talk her way into getting a pair of them early.

But I'm *not* letting her get her hands on the other ones yet! :P




















I didn't use a pattern to make them, just used the old make-it-up-as-you-go method. But in case anyone's interested, here's the details:

One pair took not quite a full 6 oz. skein of Caron Simply Soft yarn (one of the few acrylic yarns I both like the feel of and like to work with), using a K hook.

--Chain enough stitches to comfortably fit around part of leg where you'd like the top to come to. It is easiest to get the bottom edging even if you use a multiple of 4. (Annie's come to right above the knee--though she usually wears them scrunched down--and used 32 chains to start.) Join to beginning chain with slip stitch, being careful not to twist.

--Chain one. Half double crochet in same stitch. Half double crochet in each stitch around. Join to first half double crochet with slip stitch.

--Continue repeating previous row until leg warmer reaches desired length.

--Chain one. Single crochet in same stitch. *Skip next stitch, double crochet 5 times in next stitch, skip next stitch, single crochet in next stitch* around until only 3 stitches remain. Skip next stitch, double crochet 5 times in next stitch, skip next stitch, slip stitch into first single crochet. Fasten off, and sew in tails.

I so loved this book...

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.

Sometimes I get so utterly frustrated with myself. Seriously, seriously frustrated. I want so badly to be able to talk about the books I read with the eloquence that others seem to do so easily. (And yes, I do realize that most people likely work very hard at writing their beautiful reviews; they just make it look easy.) But it doesn't seem to matter how hard I try, I can never get all the scrambled thoughts racing through my head put down "on paper" in a way that does a book justice. And you what, for the most part, I've come to terms with that--writing a little blurb about each book I read in a monthly wrap-up post--yeah, I think that's going to work for me.

EXCEPT!!! What about those books that I just fall in love with?!! For those books that I just want to be able to explain why they touched me the way they touched me. Or for those books that seem important enough that I think everyone should read them. Or for those books that are so fresh or unique that they delighted me to the core. For all those types of books, I wish I could write. *sigh*

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is one of those books. I love it for the way it touched me. But why did it get to me the way it did? That's where I have trouble getting the thoughts out...

*It was a delight to take in the words on every page. Truly, there is something about Benjamin Alire Saenz' writing that is just plain beautiful. Beautiful in a straight-forward, uncluttered way. If I was still in the habit of writing down quotes I loved, I would have filled pages in my journal from this book. I really can't wait to try more of his books.

*At one point, I was maybe a quarter of the way through the book at the time, I mentioned in an email to Chris (he's the one who made me want to read this is the first place) that this book was reminding me of John Green. But try as I might I couldn't define, even to myself, why. Then as I was reading it the next night, it dawned on me. I thought, "It's because he 'gets' teenagers just like John Green does." And then followed that thought with, "Now that's a really stupid thing to say. As if teenagers were this one huge homogeneous group that can be understood as a whole." What I really meant was that he respects teenagers. As people. As individuals. With legitimate ideas. With legitimate feelings. With legitimate flaws. With legitimate fears.

*The characters in this book stole my heart. You know that feeling when you just wish so badly that a character in a book was more than a character in a book, but was a real-life breathing person and that that person was a part of your life. That's how I felt about these two teenage boys, Aristotle and Dante.

*I loved the recurring idea of ecotones, a term from ecology, extrapolated here to life in general. From the straddling of the boys' Mexican heritage and their American homes to the straddling of childhood and adulthood. Lots of borderlands, transitions of many kinds.

*When I first shut the covers on this book for the last time, I wasn't sure what I thought of the ending. I mean, I loved how it ended. But I wasn't sure I "bought" it. Obviously, I can't really explain without spoiling. But anyway, it's now been a couple of days since I finished the book. I can't stop thinking about it. And I think I've turned around a bit...I do think I buy the ending. (I still have one little quibble with one little thing, but that doesn't make the book "unbelievable"--I just happen to disagree with something a character said.)

And well, how about I just send you to Chris's review so you can actually find out what the book is about and some sensible thoughts on why it's wonderful...

I am...

...past the earlier crankiness of having gotten zero, absolutely zero, sleep last night...yep, past cranky and into punch-drunk...

...enjoying punch-drunk so much more than cranky...

...feeling paranoid about the idea that I'm going to forget to pick up Max from school...this may be related to the no sleep thing...

...tending to a sick little boy...if making tea and toast and letting him curl up on the couch, wrapped in his blanket, to draw instead of "doing school" counts as tending...

...worrying about two of the people I love most in the world, for different reasons...and hating that I can do nothing to help either of them...

...looking forward to reading the latest adventures of another person I love dearly as she tackles more of the world...

...wanting, yearning, craving to pick up Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe back up and read some more...and pondering the idea of leaving a little early to pick up Max so I can sit in the parking lot and sneak in a few more pages...

...silently giggling over having just read that Rochester is in the lead for the golden snowball award (it's a New York state thing) with the pathetically small amount (56-ish inches) of snow we've had this winter...

...thinking that I should probably stop procrastinating and get this load of laundry folded...

...trying to ignore that annoying responsible voice in my head...at least until I finish this mug of delicious cinnamon spice tea...

...dreading typing up a lecture/discussion/handout on the digestive system...in comparison, folding the laundry looks damn good...

...hoping that one of these days I'll actually have something better to blog about :P

randomness taken to the extreme...

*One of the those reminders of why I'm glad I live today as opposed to during colonial times. From The Witch of Blackbird Pond:

A young surgeon was summoned from Hartford to bleed her, and a nauseous brew of ground roasted toads was forced between her cracked lips, to no avail.

*I finished Annie's jacket! :D I am so very pleased with myself. I may not be able to hold out until her birthday to give it to her! Partly because I want to be able to take a picture of her wearing it so I can show you. :P As an aside, her birthday falls on Easter again this year. Sort of hate that.

*****

*It's really freakin' amazing how many posts can accumulate in just a few short days, isn't it?!! I think I have finally come to the realization that if I can't read blogs for a few days in a row, I just have to use that "mark all as read" button. No more trying to catch up. No more feeling guilty. No more making excuses. Just click and start over. It sucks, but seriously, has anyone ever come up with a better answer?

*I picked up Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe at the library last week. Yep, thanks to Chris. :D I'm not very far in yet, but I'm really loving it already. Lots of little bits that just speak to me. Like this:

I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn't get--and never would get.

And this:

Words were different when they lived inside of you.

*I'm having such fun watching Max watch Ghostbusters. His eyes will open wide, and then he'll get this huge smile on his face. A few minutes later his eyes will widen again. He is so obviously enjoying this movie. Sounds pretty silly, I suppose, but it's just one of those many "Mom" moments that make all the gray hair worth it.

*Just because she's cute, said with no Mommy-bias whatsoever ;)

*I wish like heck that Gray would stop turning off tweetdeck whenever he uses my computer. Either that, or I wish I could remember to turn it back on more often.

*****

*So it's really looking like the purchase of this house is really going through. *knocks on every wood surface available* There are still a couple things up in the air...it's really just a total waiting game on our part. Anyway, I decided that I'd better get on with figuring out what I needed to do with the kiddos' schooling. So yesterday, I found the registrar's website and printed out all the forms I need to fill out to get Max registered for school. Sheesh--you'd think we were applying to get him security clearance instead of just registering him for school. :P

*Been watching a lot of great stuff for school in the past week. Gray and I finished up with the Strange Days on Planet Earth series last week by watching both "Dirty Secrets" and "Troubled Waters." All six episodes are really awesome, and I highly recommend them! Yesterday, we finished up with the three and a half hour PBS special Benjamin Franklin. History is not one of Gray's favorite subjects, but he thoroughly enjoyed this movie/documentary/mini-series/whatever (as did I). Annie and I watched Good Night, and Good Luck Sunday afternoon. (We started a course on U.S. history since 1945 which we'll be continuing through next fall semester. And while I do have a textbook I really like, we're really only using it as a guide and are doing most of our learning through non-textbook books and movies and documentaries.) On today's agenda, Gray and I are going to watch Gasland. This makes me so happy--I've only wanted to watch this movie for the past year now (and have literally had it out from Netflix since last June--yeah, I know, how many copies of the movie could I have actually bought for the price I've paid having it out from Netflix for so long...*sigh*).

And now I suppose I should call an end to this particular spewing of randomness, huh? But how about you tell me a bit of randomness in your life right now??? (Seriously, don't you just love getting comments where people tell you stuff about them? Always makes me happy...even if it does make me feel rather boring in comparison. :P )

tidbits of a very random nature...

...because flighty little me can't seem to focus long enough on any one subject long enough to write a full post. :P

*Happy International Women's Day!!! I'm sure there are going to be loads of wonderful posts out there to read today, and that makes me oh-so-happy. (Will be so nice to counter all the ugliness being displayed at women in our own "enlightened" [yeah just typing that word makes me gag a bit] country these days!) Anyway, when I opened up my reader this morning, just to see how many posts there were, this incredibly beautiful post greeted me.

*The weather yesterday. Holy guacamole! Talk about glorious! We've had a ridiculously mild winter for these parts, but still, to have a day in the 60s...wow! I mean, come on, the previous morning it had been 12 degrees when I took Max off to school. Anyway, it's supposed to be another very warm day today, though windy and rainy. And tomorrow, back to snow showers. But that's okay. It's the uniqueness of yesterday (and likely today) that makes them such a very special treat!

*There is nothing like telling myself I cannot do something to ensure that I do it. (Wish that meant that I could tell myself that "under no circumstances are you allowed to lose weight," but unfortunately, I have to actually mean what I'm saying for this phenomena to actually work. :P ) Latest example:

This is the "one, and only one!!!!" book I was allowed to check out from the library. :P Oh well, we may now be slightly more crowded, but I've got a lot of really good-sounding books to dive into. I've read a bit of The Complete Guide to Making Cheese, Butter, and Yogurt at Home book--and it is so good that I'm definitely going to be buying myself a copy! I've also read the first couple chapters of Aristotle and Dante, and have a feeling I'm going to enjoy it immensely.

*Just a few shots from our trip to The Rochester Museum and Science Center on Saturday. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in the Extreme Mammals special exhibit. Rich wanted to check it out to see if it was worth taking his Vertebrate Zoology class to. And yes, they will be going next week. It was an awesome exhibit.

And since it is now time to take Maxidoodle to school, I shall be off and give you a break from my babbling...

elaborating, #1...

You all know the lovely Care, right? There's just something so very very special about that woman, I tell you. She's one of those people I long to be more like. In so many ways. Her positive outlook, her sense of humor, her kind heart, her generous and thoughtful ways. She's just a beautiful person, you know.

Anyway, yesterday she sent me an email with these words of wisdom:

Remember, the keys to happiness are
1) Someone to love,
2) Something to do,
3) Something to look forward to

Something about these words really spoke to me. It's seems so simple and yet somehow so profound. And I've sort of decided that whenever I'm feeling a bit on the blue side (today's version brought on by: lack of sleep, worrying about Annie who's having a tough time with her OCD and anxiety the last few months and it's showing in her grades, worrying about Gray who has been having some pretty major meltdowns as of late, and the stress of this house limbo), I'm going to pull out those words and elaborate. 'Cause you know, if my "keys" were translated into the tangible little metal things, my key ring would be far too heavy for me to even carry.

Key 1--Someone to love: See first paragraph.

Key 2--Something to do: I've been working on making Annie this jacket for her birthday. It's a bit more challenging than most of the crochet projects I do (as in, I actually have to pay attention much of the time, instead of just zoning out while I crochet :P ), but I'm really enjoying it. I so hope Annie will love it! I'm guessing I only have a couple of hours of work left on it now.

I just couldn't for the life of me get any decent pictures, but you get the idea, right?













Key 3--Something to look forward to: Okay, this may sound silly, but I'm going to say breakfast. Seriously, breakfast is one of the major perks of staying here. It's always so yummy, and such an indulgence to have a hot breakfast every day. Well, sometimes I just have a bagel and juice, but I *could* have a hot breakfast every day if I wanted! :D

And you know what, I really do feel better. Thank you again, Care. You are such a bright, warm ray of sunshine!!!

can I cry now...

Okay, I realize crying may be a bit of an overreaction. I'm just so frustrated. And my frustration is aggravated by my severe lack of sleep. Anyway, the frustration that sent me to the verge of tears is my email. Or lack thereof. *sigh*

We got our internet service through our phone company. Yep, we still had a landline (I don't even own a cell phone). And my email account was through them. When we called to have our phone/internet service terminated because we were moving out of the house, they assured me they would keep my email account intact through the period we were "homeless" since we would be using them again when we got to a new house. But well, that seems to have been a lie. Or more likely a mistake, I suppose. My email account is gone. My email account that I've had for nearly a decade. The email account through which I did everything.

I'm hoping that I can get it restored, but in the meantime, let me apologize profusely if you emailed me recently. :( I do have a gmail account that I opened for a very specific purpose a couple years ago, but only used it for about a month for that project. Hadn't checked it since then and when I went to it this morning, I found a bazillion blog comment notifications in the inbox. *sigh* Hopefully I can figure out a way to delete en masse...I started doing it one by one, but realized that's going to take hours. Anyway, should you need to email me, for the time being, at least, please use:

aldobakerlucky (at) gmail (dot) com

Thanks, and let me apologize again if it appears I'm ignoring an email from you. I promise you, I'm not!!!

Also on the frustration front is the house we're buying. Hopefully buying. The septic system inspection was done. There was a supposedly minor problem, which the homeowners were going to take care of, and then the county was going to come in and inspect it. Well, apparently when the county inspected it, they found major problems. From what we heard from our real estate agent, the home owners decided to just have the septic system replaced without even trying to renegotiate our deal. So that is totally awesome news. But we're afraid it very well may set back closing and leave us paying for our very expensive hotel room for even longer. :( And you know, I'm really not sure what it is that all these septic systems have against us. :P

Okay, enough complaining. Seriously. Life is good.

mini thoughts on the month's reads...February 2012...

Yeah, holy crap, I actually finished some books. :P

Hiroshima by John Hersey.

Wow. I never should have waited so long to read this book. It is just so powerful. (Understatement.) The horrible pictures that have been part of imaginings, that have haunted my mind every time the events of August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 are mentioned have turned out to be mild imitations of reality. And the thing is, I know that even reading these true accounts, accounts of what these six survivors lived through and witnessed, I still have only the most miniscule sense of the sheer horror of what it was like. I know it's quite a cliched sentiment, but this truly is one of those books that I think everyone should read.

Epic by Conor Kostick.

This book has been on my radar for years now--ever since Becky's review. I chose it to read with Gray for our unit on science fiction, figuring it would be a book he would thoroughly enjoy. And I was correct. What I didn't expect was just how much I would enjoy it as well. The dystopian setting is New Earth. But it also Epic. Epic is video game which all the inhabitants of New Earth must play. It's hard to put into words, but it's almost as if the people have two lives...and these lives are interconnected in nearly every way imaginable. It's a story of friendship, of family, of politics, of greed, of imagination, and so much more...

The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne.

One day shortly after Christmas, we headed off to B&N because everyone had gift cards burning holes in their pockets. But I was really not feeling well, so I just headed to the used book section, picked up the first book that sounded halfway interesting, and went to the cafe and sat down to read. I got through the first couple chapters before everyone else had satisfied their consumeristic urges...and by that point I was hooked enough that I had to bring it home with me. The Last Bridge is not my usual sort of read. But you know, I always feel a little weird saying that, because I don't know what "my usual sort of read" is. I am pathetically dense when it comes to genre. I tend to find far more similarities between all manner of fiction than I find differences. I mean I do get the idea of genre...but then again, I don't. :P Anyway, this book is the story of one very dysfunctional family. Alex/Cat arrives after ten years away to deal with details that need attending to after her mother's suicide. Her mother has left her a note reading, "He's not who you think he is." And while you're drawn into the mystery of what this means, the answers are never straight-forward. You know, the way life is never straight-forward...

RASL by Jeff Smith.

I hadn't heard of this until Heather's intriguing review. I immediately headed to our library website and put this baby on hold. But now having read it, what do I say about it? Well, it's completely different than Bone, for one thing. I had a bit of trouble figuring out what was going on at first. (Well, truthfully I'm not sure I totally have it figured out yet. :P ) But I am definitely more than ready to read the next volume to find out more! There's parallel universes, art thievery, and a lizard man--I mean what else can you ask for, right? ;)

Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Promise: Part One by Gene Luen Yang.

When Ana first told me this book was being written, I have to admit that I was equal parts excited and scared. The excited part--yeah, a no-brainer...MORE AVATAR!!! The scared part--well, could it really ever live up to the show? (I think I was nervous about this in part because I was a bit disappointed in the comic follow-up of Jericho.) But I am so very grateful to say that I needed have worried in this case. I should have known better, frankly, with Gene Luen Yang as the author. It was perfection...seriously. Everything about it was pure Avatar. The exquisite blend of humor with truly meaningful issues--still there. It's hard to talk about the actual story without giving away what happens in the series, but let me tell you, I could not have loved more the direction the story took! Which is to say it's not an "okay, everything is all of a sudden peachy keen and easy now" route. But I must admit, knowing now what is meant by the title "The Promise," my heart aches. Not that I believe this promise will really ever have to be kept, but the road is already a bumpy one. God, I love these characters... I'm not sure I can wait until June for the next volume.

On a side note, this book, along with Ana's enthusiasm and Ana and Jodie's incredible discussion, made it impossible for me *not* to start rewatching the series. Yesterday, Max (my awesome helper) and I spent our day alternating between packing boxes and watching episodes. We got through the first ten episodes of season 1, and hopefully today we'll finish up the first season.

Cut Loose: Break the Rules of Scrapbooking by Crystal Jeffrey Rieger.

While packing up my scrap area, I came across a small pile of scrapbooking books I'd never got around to reading. I decided to make it my mission to try to get them read this month so I could decide if I wanted to move them or if I should just pass them along. This was the first of the books. Verdict? I'm passing it along. Not because I don't think it's a good book or anything. Just that I've been scrapbooking long enough that this didn't really contain much that's new to me. And of course, that's also in part due to the fact that it took me three years to get around to reading it. :P It did have some great layouts. And I'm sure someone new-ish to scrapbooking would still greatly enjoy this one.

Mission Planet Earth: Our World and Its Climate--And How Humans are Changing Them by Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy.

Decided to give this a read to see if it would be a good book to assign Gray during our Envi Sci unit. And it definitely is! I really thought this book was excellent. Clear, accessible information about climate and all the myriad of factors that determine it. Clear, accessible information about all the myriad of things we humans are doing to affect it. Clear, accessible information about all the myriad of effects these changes are causing. And by clear and accessible I in no way mean that the authors are talking down to kids. Pretty sure Gray won't be whining over this particular school assignment.

Sweet Tooth 4: Endangered Species by Jeff Lemire.

Oh crap. That whole how-the-hell-do-you-talk-about-the-nth-book-in-a-series thing rears its ugly head. Yeah, so I'll just say that I'm still really enjoying this series and can't wait for the next one to come out.

Find Your Groove: A Guide to Discovering Your Scrapbook Style by Kitty Foster & Wendy McKeehan.

Second book from that scrapbooking pile. And second one I'll be passing along. Again, not because I didn't enjoy it. I did--it was a fun read. And had a huge variety of layout styles--some I loved, some not so much. But that was really the angle this book was playing up--helping one find their own style. If I was new to scrapbooking, I probably would have loved this book and held on to it for reference.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

I've really no idea how to describe this book, as it's just so incredibly unique. A surreal look at an immigrant's story. Fantastical. Beautiful. Disorienting. Frightening. Gorgeous. So very gorgeous. Heartwarming. Courageous. Visually stunning. There were times when I find myself absolutely lost in the exquisite artwork. I can see myself reading this a hundred more times...and finding new things to appreciate with every reading.

Scrap Simple by Hillary Heidelberg.

Third scrap book, and one of those instances of "third time's the charm." This one is definitely a keeper. And while I enjoyed reading it, it's really the layouts that are making me hold on to this one. While I love seeing layouts of all sorts, love admiring the talent of all sorts of life artists, it's the simple, often graphic, style that really steals my heart. And its really the style that I tend to embrace myself (though the results are nowhere near as gorgeous as the layouts in this book).







(Project progress: 2012 unofficial-for-me reading challenges, Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Reading Challenge [Hiroshima], Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic Challenge [Epic], Graphic Novels 2012 Reading Challenge [RASL, Avatar The Last Airbender The Promise Part I, Sweet Tooth 4 Endangered Species, and The Arrival], Immigrant Stories Challenge [The Arrival]
AND personal challenge to read the world, non-fiction setting for Japan [Hiroshima]
AND personal read Dewey Decimal style, 900s [Hiroshima]
AND 50x50, #37--Read 50 books I never heard of before buying/borrowing from library [The Last Bridge], #40--Read a book set in each of the 50 states-Ohio [The Last Bridge], #41--Read 50 non-fiction books, each about a different country-Japan [Hiroshima])