That's Life...

2011 in Review

2012-01-10T08:00:00.022-05:00

2011 was a year of ups and downs to say the least.

In February we decided to investigate moving out east or even overseas while I finished my business degree. After much research I applied the UPEI and anxiously waited to hear back. Unfortunately, because of the way the University handles transfer credits, I was unable to accept my position in their program without setting myself back by over a year academically. We were definitely disappointed, and still talk often about moving there sometime soon.

In April we went on our first all-inclusive vacation to Cuba. To say that we loved it would be the understatement of the century. We enjoyed every single second of swimming, eating, drinking, relaxing, reading, snorkelling, scootering and sleeping, and we can't wait to go back.

In May, I attended my first book signing with Veronica Roth and Lauren Oliver. I was a total spaz, but it was really cool and got me prepared for the nerdy adventure of a lifetime that was to come later in the year.

In July we spent Canada Day with Weezer and the ever incredible Tragically Hip. They were fantastic as always, and it was the perfect way to celebrate being Canadian.

In August, we spent our vacation at "camp" with my Dad and step-mom just outside of Thunder Bay. While we never seem to have great weather while we're there, it's still a ton of fun. This year included boating, lots oc campfires, ghost hunting and definitely a lot of beer. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures... but we really had a great time.

September brought with it an epic trip to Decatur (Atlanta) Georgia for the Decatur Book Festival. It was a whirlwind weekend of book love, good friends, good food and nerdy wonderfulness.

I also spent a weekend refinishing my kitchen cupboards which, to most people, would be really boring... but I had wanted to get it done for 3 years, so it was really nice to finally accomplish the task I'd been dreading.

September also brought the most life altering piece of news I've ever received.....

nothing has been quite the same since that exact moment.

After the absolutely amazing news of September, October not only brought first trimester morning sicknss and exhaustion, but also the news that my job was being eliminated. The panic and then almost comatose state that followed brought the longest two months of my life. It wasn't until December that I really started to pull out of it and get back to "normal".

Luckily, November had it's high points as well. First we had an epic trip to Staniel Cay (in the Bahama's) to attend my favorite Uncle's wedding. I still haven't done a full post on that trip and really need to get around to it so I can record it for memory, but here's sneak peek.

Yep- those are swimming pigs. In the wild.

Our cottages

And just one week after returning from our wonderful vacation, we got our first peek at this little thing....

Cute, right?... RIGHT?!

What do you mean it looks like a blob? I think it's the most adorable baby EVER.

December was jam packed with a crazy exam schedule and then the holidays... it just flew by.

So, here's to 2012. The year that I start many new adventures. The year I start a new career, the year I become a Mom and a year of many unknowns. The one thing I know is that 2011 made me stronger, smarter and far more appreciate of the little things. I what I've learned will last.

2011 in Books

2012-01-09T17:43:00.001-05:00

I know this is late coming. Actually drafted this blog almost 2 weeks ago and didn't publish... so here it is.

While I read disappointingly few books in 2011, I did have a great year in terms of some really great 4 and 5 star reads. As always, I thought I'd recap my favorites, and some disappointments, of the year.

The Best of 2011 (5 star reads)

The Bronze Horseman - Paulina Simons

Delirium - Lauren Oliver

Divergent- Veronica Roth

Lola and the Boy Next Door- Stephanie Perkins

Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen

Anna and the French Kiss- Stephanie Perkins

Forever- Maggie Stiefvater

Disappointments of 2011

Crescendo (Hush, Hush # 2)- Becca Fitzpatrick

Shadow Hills - Anastasia Hopcus

Book Review- Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy

2011-12-27T10:31:00.002-05:00

The only word I can really think of to describe this book is cute. It's not so much an educational book on pregnancy as it is a book to tell you that you're not alone. It was refreshingly (and humorously) honest, and totally bang on in a lot of areas. I had many "YES!" moments when she'd describe a symptom or emotion that I'd been feeling, but wasn't sure was normal.

The writing isn't spectacular, but I don't think that's the point. It's written in a conversational way that makes you feel like you're chatting with a girl friend over drinks, and you almost forget that you're reading.

It's an easy, short read that can be finished in one quick sitting, and for any one who, like me, is waiting for the "magic" of pregnancy to kick in (you know, like those women who loooooved being pregnant...???) it's reassuring to see that you're not the only one struggling a little. Even for someone with the money and time for personal trainers and stylists and gym memberships, pregnancy wasn't always the miracle happy time that we're often led to believe that it is. If the weight gain and exhaustion and emotions and self consciousness get the better of even a former Playmate, there may be hope for me yet.

I really recommend this to all women who are expecting or who are TTC. BUT.... be prepared. She's crass, super blunt and she doesn't hold back. This book certainly isn't for the more conservative crowd. She tells it like it is, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My Christmas wish for everyone this year.....

2011-12-24T08:00:00.014-05:00

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

Next year all our troubles will be out of sight.

Update: Getting back in the (new) swing

2011-12-20T09:54:00.001-05:00

So, with the exception of yesterdays poll, it's been over a month since my last post and yet again there have been many changes. I'm at place now where I feel like I can share what was troubling me so, but I won't bother with the long and drawn out details. Just a general gist and an update.

At the beginning of October, I found out that I was going to be laid-off. After a long and drawn out couple of weeks, I learned that they planned to keep me until the end of they year, but then I would be jobless. This news on its own would normally have been difficult enough to hear, but it was shared with me exactly 7 days after I found out that I was expecting our first baby. 7 days of sheer, over-the-moon joy (and shock) were replaced by panic and the most severe depression I've ever fallen into. Then to add to it, I got very sick. Exhaustion and nausea day in and day out.

I knew that the pregnancy and its required time off with many doctors visits, impending maternity leave (etc.) made me a less than attractive candidate for new work. To add to that, I applied for several jobs everyday for a month and only got one interview out of the whole batch. I was so terrified that I was bringing this baby into the world at a time where I wouldn't be able to provide for him or her in the way that I had always planned. How would I buy the supplies we need, or pay the bills, or even afford to buy maternity clothes? All these questions weighed heavy on me to the point where I was having difficulty with normal day-to-day tasks.

But, by mid-November, after over a month of living in a state of total anxiety, the words of my parents and friends started to sink in. I realized that, regardless of what my job situation was or how much I worried, this baby was still coming in June and I needed to pull myself together. I have an awesome family, a great husband, and we'll make this work. It will be a struggle and I'm still terrified (and stressed), but I've been able to find the joy in my pregnancy again, and have started to function at a somewhat normal level.

So, with work winding down (although there's talks of more temporary work with the same company after the holidays) I'm just trying to get prepared for the year or so to come. Trying to work out a budget, trying to figure out what my options are in terms of a job... all that jazz. It's still a work in progress, but there's a small part of me that excited for the unknown. It's the first time in my life that I haven't had everything planned out, and it's refreshing on some level.

So that's it. I'm coming back. Slowly but surely. And for all my followers, don't worry. I don't plan to bore you with endless details about my pregnancy and baby. I've started a new blog for the express purpose of journaling my pregnancy.... and I don't expect followers. Online friends, please don't feel pressured. It's just way for me to keep track on what I'm thinking and feeling. I'm also throwing the odd belly picture in too.

Hopefully I'll be back to update on some book reviews and on what's gone on over the last few months; including a whirlwind trip to the Bahamas that I need to document before I forget the details.

Oh! And Happy Christmas Week. It's my favorite time of the year.

Christmas Poll

2011-12-19T09:56:00.002-05:00

I stole these questions from my friend Tameka. I thought it might help to kick off Christmas week.

Whats Your Favorite Holiday Movie?

The Family Stone

Whats Your Favorite Christmas Color?

I love white. The snow, white lights... so pretty.

Do You Like To Stay in Your PJs Or Dress Up For Christmas?

I'm pretty casual on Christmas, but no PJs. We do too much running around.

If You Could Only Buy One Person a Present This Year Who Would It Be?

My husband. But it would kill me not to get something for my Mom.

Do You Open Your Presents Christmas Eve Or Christmas Morning?

Christmas morning. My parents used to let us open one on Christmas Eve from time to time, but my husband is dead set against it.

Have You Ever Built a Ginger Bread House?

I want to say yes, but I'm not totally sure. Probably.

What Do You Like To Do On Your Time off at Christmas?

Listen to Christmas music. Cook yummy food. Watch Christmas specials. Read.

Any Christmas Wishes?

To find peace with all of the changes going on in our lives.

Favorite Christmas Smell?

Turkey cooking at my Mom's. It smells like home and happiness.

Favorite Christmas Meal Or Treat?

My Mom's mashed potatoes. They include cream cheese, cheddar cheese and sour cream, and are basically heaven (and a heart attack) on a plate. Give me those and some plain turnip and I'm a happy girl.

Do you celebrate a holiday other than Christmas?

Nope- just Christmas. Actually, I guess I technically celebrate Festivus (Seinfeld reference FTW- especially since I despise that show)

What are you doing for the holidays this year?

This week is full of festivities! Tonight is a Christmas Social for a club my husband belongs to. I'm having Christmas lunch with some ladies tomorrow. Thursday is the annual Christmas dinner with my two besties. Christmas Eve will be dinner with FIL's family. Christmas Day is always a quiet Christmas morning with just us (Bub, myself and the dogs). Christmas Day we will stop by to see MIL and then head to my Mom's for dinner.

What's your favorite holiday drink?

Cranberry and Gingerale

Eggnog

White Hot Chocolate

Candy cane or Gingerbread men?

Candy Cane- but only the fruity flavoured ones.

What's your favorite holiday/Christmas song?

The Christmas Song- Nat King Cole

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland

It's the most wonderful time of the year - Andy Williams

What's the weirdest gift you've ever received?

My husbands grandmother gave us a joint gift one year. It was a pink plastic purse. For both of us.

Have you ever made a snowman?

Of course, although not in a long time. It's practically a required childhood activity around here.

What is at the top of your list this Christmas? (or whichever holiday you celebrate!)

hmmm... clothes I think. I'm down to 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of yoga pants. My next post will explain.

What is most important to you about the holidays?

The family time, with good food and traditions, is absolutely the best part about the holidays for me. I cherish it each and every year.

Weakness

2011-11-04T09:01:00.002-04:00

*Please understand in advance what a rambling mess this post is. It's simply word vomit in an attempt to make sense of what I'm feeling. Followers- please don't feel it necessary to waste your time reading this. It's purely for my own benefit*

Life is hard.

The 21 days since my last post (and even the week before that) have been filled with a lot of tears, a ton of stress, and almost overwhelming sadness, for reasons that I'm not quite ready to delve into in detail yet. I'll just say that the last month has been, without a doubt, the most trying, exhausting and plain awful month of my life. I'm trying to count my blessings, I really am. I have my health, I have my amazing family, and they have their health (a fact that, I assure you, does not escape me. I understand how lucky I am in that way). BUT there's something about the way that my brain is wired that make the bad overshadow the good, and in this case, I can't seem to shake the darkness.

In a family of people who suffer from depression, I've had my share of "funks". I'm not a stranger to overwhelming feelings of sadness which, most of the time, don't seem to have a specific cause. Each time is awful in it's own way, but each time I've been able to fight my way through it with a chin up and carry on type of attitude. It's definitely not easy, but I get through it. This is different. This one is really bringing me down, and it has me in a hole so deep I can't seem to find my way out. I struggle through each day on the verge of tears, just praying for it to end so I can go back to bed. I wake-up through the night, totally distraught, and then have a very hard time falling asleep. I don't want to see my family, I can hardly bring myself to talk to my friends, I'm living in a disaster zone, and I haven't had fresh air in days. I just don't care.

I know that many people would be able to just power through the situation I'm in. I also know that many people are going through a lot of things that they would say are much worse than what I'm dealing with. I don't doubt that at all. I understand that allowing myself to get this deep into a depression over this is a huge indicator of my weaknesses. I don't need to be told that. I think that's the biggest part of my problem right now. I'm coming to terms with my failures and poor decisions and the fact that I'm not, nor will I be, the person that I thought I was or that I wanted to be. Turns out, that's a pretty tough thing to do.

I'm lost right now... and I'm exhausted. I'm not really sure what to do with myself. I need to get it together, I just can't figure out how.

Lola and the Boy Next Door

2011-10-13T09:00:00.062-04:00

Oh Stephanie.... how is it that you write such swoon-worthy boys? Is the boy in your real life the inspiration behind these crush inducing characters? If so, congrats to you. Seriously.

On Thanksgiving Monday I was feeling a little under the weather. Summer paid a final visit to Southern Ontario and the weather was absolutely perfect but I was lacking in energy to get out and enjoy it, so I opened all the windows in the house, grabbed my dogs and settled in bed with Lola for the day. It was just what I needed.

I really adored this book. I'm trying to decide if I loved it more or less than Anna, and I can't honestly decide. It's a total toss up. I think a re-read of both is in order so I can put the debate to rest once and for all (read: have an excuse to give my husband when he sees me pick these back up).

Stephanie writes imperfect characters perfectly. I really think the reason I love her books so much is that they seem totally and completely possible. Like she's simply re-telling a story from her teen years. All the characters have flaws, some more than others, and all of them evolve through the story in a very real way. Love isn't always easy, and it's not always obvious, and Lola really captures that. The romance is just sweet enough, with a little heartache thrown in, and that is my favorite kind of love story.

Cricket is simply perfection. I love his dedication and loyalty to his sister, and I especially love that he's been pining for Lola all this time. Like seriously, I think that was my fantasy from pre-teen up. Who doesn't want an attractive, intelligent boy making moves for them? I certainly wouldn't have minded. Heck, I still wouldn't mind, provided the age was adjusted a little.

I don't think there was a character in this book that I didn't love and the setting, which is somewhere I've always wanted to visit, just drew me right in. I loved Lola most because it really touched on a lot of things that I wanted as a teen, and a lot of things that were important to me. I ate it up and it left me hungry for more.

5 stars for sure. If you haven't read this yet, go do it now. If you haven't read Anna and the French Kiss... why are you reading my blog? KIDDING! Kinda ;)

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

2011-10-12T15:30:00.001-04:00

I'll start my review by saying that I really, really loved Sisters Red, and I really adore Jackson Pearce. Her vlogs and Twitter feed never fail to entertain me and I think she's someone who would be pretty cool to hang out with IRL.* It kind of baffles me that we're the same age. I feel like, she's got three published books with two more on the way and I, well.... what have I done?

I was more than excited to meet her at DBF and happily came home with my signed copies of Sisters Red and Sweetly. I was finally able to tuck in to the latter recently, and I was more than excited given my past love of Sisters Red.

Sweetly was a modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel, a story that I honestly didn't know a ton about other than what I learned from the short version I had as a child. But I loved Jackson's spin on Little Red Riding Hood, so I was excited to dive into this story.

I have to admit that, with the exception of the beginning of the book, I didn't fully get the connection to Hansel and Gretel. It seemed to be a pretty big deviation from the original story, at least what I know of it. It was less a modern retelling, more a story inspired by a fairytale. That being said, I enjoyed it and it was a fun read with some very interesting characters, and I would recommend it to others for sure. I just didn’t love it the way I thought I would and admittedly, it’s quite possible that my expectations were way too high, and that some personal stuff going on in my life while I was reading this kept me from really enjoying it the way I could have otherwise. I just couldn’t quite give it 4 stars, but it was so, so, so close.

If there’s one thing Jackson can write, it’s an awesome bond between siblings. I loved Ansel and Gretchen’s relationship and how they relied on each other, and knew each other so intensely. Individually, Gretchen was a pretty interesting character too. Lots of scars from the past and yet still pretty badass. Her conflicting feelings about Sophia were my some of my favorite parts to read (next to the steamy little side romance that was a lot of fun too).

Not a real complaint, just an observation: I would really have loved to get a little more insight into what’s happening with Rosie, Scarlett and Silas. I know it would be sort of pointless, and wouldn’t have contributed anything meaningful to the plot, but I’m nostalgic like that.

In the end it was a good read that’s would be perfect for a little rainy afternoon escapism. I’m looking forward to Fathomless which is based on the original Little Mermaid story and is the final in the retelling series. If you like fantasy-type stories set in the “real-world”, I suggest you pick up both this and Sisters Red.

*Is that weird of me to say? I'm totally NOT a stalker. I promise.

My fresh new kitchen

2011-09-22T09:29:00.000-04:00

*disclaimer- all photos were taken with my phone... so they're not so great. We'll have to deal.*

Lately, it feels like the walls of my house are closing in around me. After 3 years, it feels like none of the rooms are actually "done", with the exception of my office and the powder room on the main floor. I don't love any of the rooms and nothing is exactly as I want it. All re-decorating projects for the other rooms are started, but nothing had been completed. I'm either waiting to find that perfect piece of furniture, or I've been putting off doing anything because, well.... I'm lazy.

When we moved into our house 3 years ago, our kitchen cupboards were the originals (our house was 19 years old) and two drawers were missing from the bank. We thought it would be easy to replace the drawers, but we were VERY wrong, and we didn't have the money (or desire) to replace all the cupboards. We finally had someone come in and make custom drawers for us, that sat unpainted, for months. Finally, this past weekend I decided it was time to freshen them up.

So began operation make my house lovable.

Bubba helped me take the doors off before he left on Saturday morning. You can see in the below picture they they are cheap melamine, with the typical late eighties wooden handles.

As you can see, I'm not great at cupboard organization.

Luckily it was a super nice weekend weather wise, so I was able to setup my project in the backyard. With the heavenly help of my super handy Mom, I scrubbed each door with TSP, sanded it, scrubbed again, primed with super sticky primer and then painted.

(note: the above picture was taken approximately 2 minutes before Lola ran across the drying doors on that towel, towards the open sliding glass door to the house, with paint covered feet. In reaction, I knocked over that table, including the full can of white primer. Awesome)

It took us the better part of Saturday and Sunday, but by Monday morning they were dry and ready to be re-hung. Bub tackled that, with the help of his Dad, while I was at work. They also attached new hardware!

I came home to this:

I'm so happy with them. They're not perfect, but if I had a proper before picture, you would understand how much better this looks. It's just much cleaner.

So, what's left in the kitchen? New table, new window coverings and a new dishwasher. So, lots to do still, but this is definitely one big step closer to being happy with my house for the next couple of years.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

2011-09-20T10:31:00.001-04:00

*WARNING: While I promise not to spoil any of the major plot points, I can't talk about this book without some small spoilers*

I loved this book so much! It has been so long since I've read something that has affected me this deeply. I experienced a huge range of emotions while making my way through this tale. The story of Tatiana and Alexander is truly heartbreaking, wonderful, beautiful, sad and breathtaking. I couldn't stop reading it, and yet I had to set it down because my heart couldn't take another page. Incredible.

Their love grew organically enough to be 100% believable, and yet so intensely that you couldn't help but to be wrapped up in it. Unlike a typical romance, this was not an overnight love... but it was overwhelming and passionate and the kind you can't live without. I adored it.

Alexander was, simply, perfection. From the moment we meet him standing across the street watching Tania eat her ice cream, to the very last pages of the book, I ate him up and fell a little in love with him myself. Perfection.

I found Tatiana's character very difficult to peg. In the opening pages of the story, I thought she was a young child. Through her survival struggle in Leningrad, she seemed much older, and then at the cabin by the river, she seemed like that child again. It was really interesting how her circumstances changed her actions and reactions. When she needed to grow up, she could, but she could still find that young girl when she needed to.

Beyond the epic love story though, there was the story of Leningrad and a story of war. That, on its own, was heartbreaking to read about. The detail made the story seem to so real that I found myself actually dreaming about some of the horrors faced by those trying to survive the war in Leningrad. It had some of the same elements of one of my deepest fears- the end of the world. I know that sounds dramatic, but I'm terrified of that feeling of your whole world crashing down on you, and simply waiting to die in surroundings that were once familiar and full of life. That's the ultimate in fear for me and they were living it in Leningrad.

In all, the writing is superb, the story is excellent, the characters are wonderful, and the love is heart wrenching. I loved this book and I can't wait to dive in to the next.

Nesties do Decatur

2011-09-13T11:52:00.005-04:00

It's taken me a little while to be ready to write this. I was processing. I think I'm ready now.

My weekend in Decatur was absolutely full of awesome. Not only did I get to meet some amazing authors and sit in on some really great panels, but I also got to hang out, in person, with some of my favorite people and fellow book lovers. I cannot tell you how amazing this was. To be able to make reference to things like "DG", or "Friday Confessions Post" and not have to explain myself, for a full 48 hours, was heaven. These are my people. I spend a good portion of my days with them, more so than with my non-nestie friends, so it was like coming home. To steal a quote from Julie (I think), it was like returning to "the mother ship". I loved every minute of chatting and laughing with them, and I can't wait to do it again.

While I know the other ladies have posted this picture on their blogs, and other nesites are probably getting sick of seeing it, I'm posting it... because, aside form the fact that I'm standing at a very weird angle and look...large, I love it.

Tameka, Jacki, Crystal (and me)

Julie, Jennie, Heather

I was, yet again, to chicken to ask for photos with any of the authors, but I did get to have a nice little chat with Libba Bray and she helped play a joke on my husband (who has a reputation with his reading and choice of television shows). Her panel with absolutely hilarious. I would pay to have just 1/2 of her energy. Also, her "why I became a writer" story? So inspiring.

She signed my copy of Beauty Queens "To B___, You're beautiful just the way you are. Love Libba" Hehe.

After Libba, we met with Lauren Myracle, who is pretty funny on her own as well. But alas, no pictures. I did get a beautiful signed copy of Shine, which I can't wait to read. It's also on my husband's TBR list.

Lunch on Sunday.... Crystal, myself, Tameka.

Jacki, Jennie, Julie

My highlight was the Jackson Pearce, Rachel Hawkins and Victoria Schwab panel on Sunday afternoon. Everyone knows that I adored Sisters Red, and pretty much adore Jackson Pearce, whose blog/vlog and tweets I follow religiously. Needless to say, I made of fool of myself fangirling over her any time we saw her over the weekend.

Hex Hall and Demonglass are pretty books awesome too! I haven't read The Near Witch yet, but I purchased a copy to have signed and will read it soon!

Rachel writes the cutest messages in her books.

My friends made sure to let Jackson know of my fangirl status, and then convinced her to take a picture with me outside at the end of the festival. Poor Jackson.

Lastly, we saw in on the Stephanie Perkins panel and OMG I love her. She's seriously the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Unfortunately, we missed out on snagging early copies of Lola and the Boy Next Door, but I had Anna and the French Kiss signed, and made a fool of myself by telling her that I'd loved it so much I hugged it when I was done. She's too sweet. Finally, at the end of the weekend, I had the guts to ask for my own picture.

First of all, her sense of style is flawless. Secondly, she's super tiny and gorgeous, and makes me look like I'm having an allergic reaction to something. But I love this picture anyway.

Some other awesome things:

adorable bookstores

shoe tree art

Homemade Harry Potter cookies from Jacki.

I was all "oh, they're so cute I can't even eat them."

But then I did. And they were awesome. (T, I stole your pics)

Such a great weekend! I'm lucky to have had the chance to go and spend some time with these awesome ladies, and I'm excited to see them all again soon.

"That" Moment - Remembering September 11th

2011-09-11T14:40:00.002-04:00

10 years ago today I was a regular grade 11 student, starting a regular morning, at my regular high school. I'd made my home from home, probably kissed my boyfriend, laughed with friends at my locker, and worried about our plans for the weekend. Shortly before 9 am, I was sitting in my first period class when the wall phone rang. I remember Mrs. Waddell laughed at something one of us said as she walked to the phone and answered it. After a few short seconds, her face fell, she grew pale, and she opened the door, wrapping the cord around the wall, walking into the hallway. Moments after that, she returned to the class and said "a plane has hit the World Trade Center in New York City." For many of us, this had little meaning. For our teacher, her terror came from the fact that her husband was a commercial airline pilot and was flying to the US that day. We, as students, didn't know what the WTC was, and we assumed that it was an awful accident until, a short-time later, the wall phone rang again and we were informed about the second plane and the second tower.

We were quickly moved to our second period classroom where my English teacher, Mr. Welch, had set-up the television and had it tuned to CNN. We, along with 2 other classes, jammed into our tiny portable, sat in silence, and watched the remainder of the mornings events unfold on live television. I cannot explain to you the horror and confusion I felt when I watched those towers fall. I knew in that moment, that I was literally watching thousands of people die, and I had no idea why.

During the late lunch period the hallways were eerily quiet, and the line at the pay phones was huge. I stood in that line and called my Mom at work. I had to talk to someone because, in the halls of my high school, the whispered rumours and speculation were terrifying. Would they attack the CN Tower? Of course they would! No, they have no cause to! They already have, it's burning now! I'll never forget the relief I heard from my Mother when said "I am so happy to hear your voice". The only thing I could say to her between my tears was, "what's going on"? She had no answer.

The morning of September 11th is "that"" moment for me. Prior to 9/11, my Mother's moment was the assassination of JFK. She told me she could remember exactly where she was when she heard the news, and remembers in detail the reaction of her parents and grandparents. She was 3. For me, at 16 years old, the events of September 11th are both ingrained in my brain with crystal clarity, and pass in a blur of images and sound bites. But I will always remember exactly where I was, who was with me and what I was doing when I first heard the news.

For days after we were glued to the television, trying to get answers to our whys. In the weeks following the attacks, I did a lot of growing up, I did a lot of learning, and I did a lot of crying. I still have a hard time watching news reports of the attacks, and images from that day. The shot, from the ground, of that first plane hitting the tower, reduces me to tears, without fail, every time I see it.

But what I remember today, 10 years after the attacks, is those who lost their lives and those who still suffer because of the attacks. Whether they lost a loved one in one of the buildings or on one of the planes, whether the ran terrified away from the falling towers, or ran terrified IN to the burning ruins, or even into the cockpit of a plane piloted by terrorists with nothing but boiling water and butter knives.... so many people were directly affected that day, and today I will think about them and their bravery and sacrifice. Mostly, I commend the American people as a whole for coming together to repair and heal. Their strength as a country is proof that, although almost 3000 people died that day, the terrorists did not win. The country was not broken.

I will never be able to wipe the images of that day from my mind. I don't want to. I will never forget.

The Search by Nora Roberts

2011-09-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

This was the "fluff" that I chose to read at the same time as Columbine, knowing I would need brain breaks. I got exactly what I was looking for out of this book... an escape.

The story was entertaining, with a good mystery and just enough suspense to keep the pages turning. I actually found the dog-training information really interesting, and very enjoyable to read about.

I really liked Simon. Contrary to typical male romance leads, he was extremely flawed, even to the very end of the story. He was rude, blunt, and short-tempered... and then plants "the damn trees". He was just pretty fantastic. I know for a fact that I would have been drawn to him if he were real. I find that Roberts tries to write different characters in each book, instead of the same person over and over, and I think that's why she is my go to for those quick, in-between reads. They don't necessary fit the same predictable romance novel template.

While I've been struggling to find a female lead that I really connect with lately, I found one in Fee. Her independence, her strength, her loves of dogs and simple things.... yep, that's totally me (or at least, who I would like to be). She new how to handle Simon too, and that made me like her even more.

I couldn't get enough of the banter between the two leads. I especially loved their "compromises" in the last half of the story. And of course, there was one especially delicious scene (read: in the shower at Simon's) that was full of Nora's patented "spice". Loved it.

Spoiler below
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The end was a little unbelievable for me. I had a hard time really buying that the FBI would have allowed Fiona to go out on her own with the dogs to track Eckle, and not have at least assigned her an agent or two. That rubbed the wrong way, but it made for some suspenseful reading, that's for sure. My only other complaint was that the book was too long. The story could have been told in 100 pages less and probably improved my rating.

Aside from those things, The Search was an enjoyable read that fans of Nora Roberts will adore.

Columbine by Dave Cullen

2011-08-31T14:45:00.000-04:00

I'm not really sure how to start this review. One, because I'm not quite finished processing the information yet, and two, because it feels somehow strange to say that I "loved" this book. The subject matter shouldn't really be loved, and I don't think that's the right word for it. So here's the best I can come up with... this book is excellent.

I was in the eighth grade when the shootings happened at Columbine, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember watching the terrifying news footage (especially of the boy, whom I now know was Patrick Ireland, being pulled from the library window), I remember watching a hysterical Rosie O'Donnell on her show the following day, and I remember most the crazy theories and rumors the media was feeding the public in the weeks following. It's because I remember those things most that this book really shook me. It was an intense and sad read, but it was, most importantly, incredibly eye-opening.

So many myths and so much misinformation circle around the events of that day, the killers, the motives, the investigation and even some of the survivors. It was really astounding to take all this new information in. It's difficult for me not to sit here and write in detail about each and every misconception... but that's not the point of this review. Cullen does a great job of opening your eyes, without shoving his agenda or bias down your throat. I truly felt I was reading an honest, well-researched and well written account, and I'm so glad I finally picked it up.

Fair warning.- it's not an easy read. I had to alternate between Columbine and a much lighter "fluff" read, and I even left it behind when I went on vacation for the simple fact that I couldn't handle it all at once. The story of Eric and Dylan's evolution, and the level of anger, hatred and planning really got to me. It was terrifying and so incredibly sad.

I think this book needs more attention. I think that everyone involved deserves to have the true story told, and I think that one way we can prevent tragedies like this in the future, is so help people understand. As much as it can be understood.

I highly recommend this book... and I hope that Cullen has no cause to write a similar book in the future.

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

2011-08-17T10:25:00.000-04:00

Brain candy.... that's exactly how I would describe these books. Oh, and hot.  These books are definitely hot. Elkeles sure knows how to write a sexy lead and an exciting story that sucks you in for an evening of guilty pleasure. I greedily lapped it up in a sitting last night.

This story follows the youngest Fuentes brother as the family returns to Illinois. I had a little trouble buying the idea that Mrs. Fuentes would return to this city while her youngest was still so susceptible to the gang violence that plagued her husband and two eldest sons, but it was what it was and I moved past it.

I really liked Nikki and I loved her attitude, especially when Luis re-enters the picture for the first time. The beginning of their relationship seemed a little rushed, but the passion of the whole thing made that easy to overlook as well.

I loved reading about these two and how Luis fit in with his family that we've already read about.  I really enjoyed the sneak peak we got into Alex and Britney, and Carlos and Kiara's lives. It made me happy that while the older boys have "settled down", they still have that bad boy (super sexy) instinct and attitude that makes them so yummy to read about.

My favorite part of these books is the inevitable "we can't be together" fight that is always part of forbidden love stories. Elkeles writes these so well. I literally ache with the characters and feel the pain in the dialogue.

So yeah, the writing and plot are a little cheesy and the end is a little rushed, but it didn't stop me from enjoying every page of this book.  A steamy romance, an exciting conflict and a little action = an awesome escapist read for a warm summer night.

Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 3) by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-08-15T11:11:00.003-04:00

So I finally sat down to finish this book over the weekend and boy did I love it. I think it may have been my favorite of the three (although as me again when I re-read # 2 and that answer may change).

The pace of this story was really interesting. It was slow, although very engaging for most of the book, but then in the last 60 or so pages... BAM! Heart stopping action. When I settled in the backyard yesterday to finish up, I tweeted the following:

"Just settling in to read the last pages of Forever. I have a feeling it will be intense."

15 minutes later...

"Oh my gosh this book is so not good for my blood pressure."

A few minutes later....

"@mstiefvater - you. are. amazing.

I guessed it was going to be intense and I was right.

I think Cole really stole the show with this installment. You really get to know him as a character is his own right and learn that his strengths fill in the gaps that Sam's weaknesses leave, and vice versa. And, he's a perfect compliment to Isabel who was another spotlight stealer. I loved the chapters from their POVs.

The relationship between Sam and Grace changed a little for me this book. They were both somehow more cautious with each other. I think they really felt the fragility of their relationship and time together, and it showed in the way they interacted with each other. It was no less intense, just different. I loved it.

Maggie's writing is truly knock-your-socks-off good. There were so many lines in the book that I found myself saying "THAT'S how you describe that feeling out loud" having never been able to put it into words before reading Maggie's. Her writing is just so beautiful and poetic. In my opinion, she's one of the best writers inYA right now.

This is a 5 star read for sure. A great ending to a really enjoyable and unique series.

While I'm sad that there will be no new stories of Mercy Falls to look forward to, I'm very excited to read some new material from Maggie, and really look forward to the release of Scorpio Races in the fall. In the meantime, if you haven't read Shiver, Linger and Forever, go do it now!

Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

2011-08-05T08:00:00.007-04:00

First of all I have to say that the cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous. It's the type of book that I would buy just to display on my shelf. Unfortunately, that's about the only positive thing I have to say

about it.

I tried... I really, really did... but this book was just not for me. Obviously, because I didn't finish it, I can't give a full and proper review, but I can, however, explain my reasons for not finishing it.

I read a lot of YA. In truth, the majority of what I read is probably YA, and I have a great appreciation for the talent of a lot of current YA authors. Their ability to write for those who are truly YA, while appealing to those of us who are not, speaks to their ability as writers. Unfortunately, Tris and Izzie did not have that same appeal. The writing was very choppy, with little flow, and the story felt like it was being made up as it went along. The characters and story-line were flat and a few of the plot points seemed to come out of nowhere. The writing seemed very amateur.... like the author was trying way too hard. It was as if I was a reading a 9th grade creative writing project, and in all honesty I didn't enjoy it at all.

Perhaps this was truly written with only a child reader in mind, and if that were the case I wouldn't discourage one of my nieces from picking it up, but I would not recommend this to a friend as a book with YA crossover appeal.

Going Dark

2011-07-20T13:27:00.001-04:00

After sitting through my last statistics II lecture last night and coming up to my 2 final accounting lectures, it's heads down until the semester and exams are over in 2.5 weeks. From here until Aug 5th, I'll be locked in my home office studying, with little time for much else (aside from, you know, my job).

See you on the flip side.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

2011-07-19T11:00:00.004-04:00

My first Lowry experience was when we read The Giver in sixth grade, and I adored it (it remains one of my all-time favorites and started my obsession with all things dystopian/utopian). Later that year, we had to choose an author we'd already read and do a report on another of their books. My aunt had just given me Number the Stars for Christmas when she'd heard how I'd loved The Giver, and so the choice was easy. I loved it then, and I loved just as much this time around.

This story takes a child's perspective on the war and the treatment of Jews. At the same time, there's no "talking down" to the intended audience. It's just a "real" portrayal of the events from a young girls point of view. Lowry nails her level of understanding and misunderstanding, never making her younger than she is or failing to give her credit for her level of maturity.

While much of the events of this book are tame in comparison to what came in later years of the war, I think it's an important story to tell. It's a story of how people risked their lives, even in the face of death, to do what they felt was right. Small or large, every action was a risky one and took courage. I think that's what Lowry conveys in this book. That no matter how insignificant you think your actions are, you can always work to change the things you think need changing.

The diversity of Lowry's work and her ability to write (well) about such a broad range of themese is really interesting to me, and I'd recommend her books to anyone.

Like losing an old friend (Harry Potter DH- Part 2)

2011-07-18T11:10:00.001-04:00

*no spoilers*

Back in 1999 my Mum, ever eager to feed my reading habit, presented me with a book called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. At the time, I was really in to romance novels (unbeknownst to my Mother), and so the colorful, childish cover of this newest book didn't appeal much. But, while spending Christmas at my Dad's in Northern Ontario, I cracked open the book one night and began to read.

From that moment on, Harry Potter, his friends and the fantastical world that JKR created have been a very special part of my life. For 12 of the 26 years of my life I've been anxiously awaiting the newest book or the next movie, and to this day, even though it's been 4 years since the last book was released, I spend a lot of time discussing all sides of the story with friends. I feel like I know these characters, liked I've lived in their world, and like I've grown up with them. My attachment to this story goes beyond "my favorite books". I can't explain it, but these characters, their world and its author are important to me.

So, when I woke up on Thursday morning, I felt more than a twinge of sadness knowing that, that night was the last ever time I would get to experience something Harry Potter for the first time. Does that make sense? Yes, I will always have the books to re-read and the movies to re-watch, and I love them all, but there's something special about the anticipation and experience of the first time. Watching interviews with the cast and crew talking about their final shoots for the movie and seeing footage of their goodbyes on set just broke me down. I was weepy all day. Literally.

With 2 packages of Kleenex in hand, my husband and I attended the midnight premiere one last time. Now that I've had some time to process, all I will say is this. Perfection. I could start dissecting every scene and comparing each to the book like many people seem to be doing, but I don't see the point personally. The movies can never be what the books are, so I treat them as separate aspects of the Harry Potter experience and appreciate them for what they are on their own. DH2 conveyed the conflict, emotion and intensity of the end of Harry's story perfectly, and I can't complain about a single part. It gutted me emotionally and I cried for nearly two hours, but I loved every single second of it.

So that's it. It's over. I have to admit that it feels like I've lost an old friend. But I will continue to re-read this story until I'm old, grey and withered and have to have my grand-children read it to me. It has taught me so many lessons and given me hours of escape to a world so rich with detail and emotion that I can't believe it came from one woman's mind. And so lastly, to her I say....

Thanks, Jo. For all of it.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

2011-07-11T10:39:00.002-04:00

Lauren Oliver is one of those writers I would like to throw in the faces of all the YA nay-sayers. Some of the passages from Delirium literally gave me goose bumps and proved, beyond any doubt, that there are some brilliant people writing in this genre.

What's that you say? You need an example? Can do!

"I run for I don't know how long. Hours, maybe, or days. Alex told me to run. So I run. You have to understand. I am no one special. I am just a single girl. I am five feet two inches tall and I am in-between in every way. But I have a secret. You can build walls all the way to the sky and I will find a way to fly above them. You can try to pin me down with a hundred thousand arms, but I will find a way to resist. And there are many of us out there, more than you think. People who refuse to stop believing. People who refuse to come to earth. People who love in a world without walls, people who love into hate, into refusal, against hope, and without fear. I love you. Remember. They cannot take it."

And just one more...

"Somewhere deeper in the city a motor is running, a distant, earthy growl, like an animal panting. In a few hours the bright blush of morning will push through all that darkness, and shapes will reassert themselves, and people will wake up and yawn and brew coffee and get ready for work, everything the same as usual. Life will go on. Something aches at the very core of me, something ancient and deep and stronger than words: the filament that joins each of us to the root of existence, that ancient thing unfurling and resisting and grappling, desperately for a foothold, a way to stay here, breathe, keep going."

I mean, come ON people! That writing is perfection.

Delirium is just an awesome book! I enjoyed every single word, from page 1 to the end.

I tried to go in with a very open mind and few expectations (ignoring the comparisons to The Hunger Games that seem to run rampant) and I'm so glad I did. I was able live the story through fresh eyes, with no bias, and authentically experience Lena's journey and growth. And oh, but I how I adored that journey. To be truthful, I didn't like Lena in the beginning. I thought she was spineless and brainwashed. But as the story progressed I realized just how "real" the brainwashing was to her, how it was her norm, and I respected her for her growth. What I found interesting was that she never really stops believing that Love is a disease... she just sort of accepts that she has it and that it's worth having.

Alex was an interesting character to read. While I didn't fall for him myself, I loved the relationship and I loved that they fell for each other. I appreciated him for his flaws and for his honesty, but with himself and with Lena. The relationship felt real and in no way perfect.

The story itself is such an intriguing one. So many elements that will make for great reading in the coming novels. I think Oliver left us in place that will make for an incredibly exciting, and very different, book 2... and I can't wait!

Delirium was a really great book, and definitely one of the best of 2011. I can’t wait for Pandemonium.

Canada Day with The Tragically Hip!

2011-07-06T12:42:00.000-04:00

The best way to spend Canada Day is with great friends, beer and The Tragically Hip.... and that's exactly what we did this year.

6 of us jumped in a borrowed van and headed to Toronto for the concert which also includes Buck 65, Hey Rosetta, Broken Social Scene and Weezer. We tail-gated in the parking lot for a while, drinking beer, playing Frisbee and chatting, and then headed in to the actual concert.

Lots to do and see, prizes to be won, games to be played., and Weezer put on a great show, but the highlight was definitely The Hip. They are just unreal live. This was my fourth or fifth time seeing them live and I swear they just get better. Definitely my favorite band of.all.time.

Here's some pics from the day.

We sucked at Frisbee, but it was still fun.

Bubba (sporting 1 of 6 new pairs of sunglasses we came home with) and Blake.

We staked out a spot in the grass with our towels.... it was comfy enough that I had a nap between bands.

Weezer!!!

Love the random creeper looking over Bub's shoulder

The Hip!

If you don't know who The Tragically Hip are.... I feel sorry for you. ;) Check them out.

The List

2011-06-28T10:30:00.014-04:00

So here it is... I'm already coming in to the home stretch of my summer semester. Crazy, no? It seriously feels like I just started, and yet it's quickly coming to an end... not that I'm complaining. In preparation for the end of semester I'm posting a list of things left to do over the next 4 weeks, aside from regular classes, purely for my own benefit. It helps to get it down "on paper".

Assignments and Tests

~~Stats II quiz # 1 - chapters 8 and 9 (linear programming and sensitivity analysis)- June 28~~
~~Practice questions for chapter 10 for tutor~~
~~Stats II quiz # 2 - chapter 10 (transportation-) - July 5~~
~~Practice questions for chapter 11 for tutor~~
~~Stats II quiz # 3 - chapter 11(integer linear programming) - July 12~~
~~Finish practice questions for chapter 12 for tutor~~
~~Practice questions for chapter 9 for tutor~~
~~Accounting Assignment - July 17~~
~~Accounting Mid-Term # 2 - July 17~~
~~Accounting Lab 7 - due July 29~~
~~Accounting Lab 8 - due July 29~~
~~Accounting Lab 9 - due July 29~~
~~Accounting Lab 10- due July 29~~
~~Accounting Lab 11 - due July 29~~

August Exams:

~~Stats II Final- Aug 2nd~~
~~Accounting Final- Aug 5th~~

And when all of that is behind me, I'll have four glorious school-free weeks (1 of which I've booked off of work as well) until fall semester begins and I'm back to three classes. Better get to work.

The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood

2011-06-17T13:13:00.001-04:00

I was lucky enough to receive an advance galley of Julie Garwood's next book and anxiously dove right in.
This story had all the typical Julie Garwood romantic suspense elements... perfect man of the law and strong sassy and successful woman. As much as I know that her books repeat that pattern, I still love them for the quick escapist reads.

The good:

Max was certainly a "entertaining" *wink, wink* character to read about. I was hooked on him from the first conversation he had with Ellie at the hospital.

The romance was a good one. The connection between Max and Ellie was intense and immediate, and I bought it right away. Julie Garwood sure knows how to make me blush!

The not-so-good:

The end. Everything thing felt rushed; two story lines tied up within pages of each other, one of which that had been ongoing for 11 years? I just didn't buy it. Everything (the romantic elements and the suspense) was just too.... easy. The book was just suddenly over.

I didn't buy the family either. It was as if she was really close to them, but yet knew nothing about them. I came away confused about Ellie's relationship with her parents. It didn't seem genuine at all. I suppose this comes from her separation from them, but it was just awkward.

Those things aside, it was still a fun, guilty pleasure read and I really enjoyed it. It had a cute romance and some good suspense and it was certainly entertaining. I would recommend it to Julie Garwood fans, or fans of romantic suspense in general.

Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy # 3) by Nora Roberts

2011-06-13T15:19:00.004-04:00

Face the Fire was a great conclusion to what has been a highly entertaining series. The story, the setting, the characters... I loved every piece of these books.

Mia is a really intriguing character. I love how Roberts was able to portray her as an infallibly strong and confident character in the first two books, and then realistically show the reader her weaknesses when it came time to tell her story. It made her seem more real, and yet never weak. Plus, the fact that she, a) owns a bookstore, b) lives on a quaint little island, c) has a house and gardens over looking the sea, and d) has an incredible shoe selection means that I basically want to be her. It's like my dream life.

Sam was just delicious. His desire for Mia and the way that he knew her, even after all that time, was just about the sexiest thing I've ever read about. Their connection was palpable.

One of my favorite parts about this series, was how Roberts wrote the relationship between the characters that were not involved romantically. I loved the scenes between Mia and Mac, or Nell and Sam. It was a great way to drive the group bond home.

Face the Fire definitely had a much stronger paranormal feel than the first two books. Where they dealt with evil in human form, this took more imagination. It was certainly creepy and may have caused one small nightmare during my read through.

I wish that there was a way for me to peek into the future of these characters just to see how it all turns our for them. I really enjoyed this series and look forward to another NR book soon.

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

2011-06-09T12:55:00.002-04:00

While I didn't like Demonglass quite as much as I liked Hex Hall, it was still a really enjoyable read packed with that snarky Rachel Hawkins wit that I love so much. It's definitely got a few laugh out loud one-liners, and I appreciate that in a book.

I still loved the characters. Jenna is probably my favorite. I love her on her own, and I love the relationship between her and Sophie.

My complaint and lower rating are due to the "cliffhanger" ending. I'm a true believer that there is a difference between a cliffhanger and just picking a particularly suspenseful part of a book and stopping. In this case, I felt like the end was contrived to create a cliffhanger that wasn't really necessary or natural. The plot had really just begun to pick up and it was over. It just didn't feel right to me for some reason.

Spoilers....
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This installment takes us out of Hex Hall and deeper into the world of the Council. It was interesting to get to know Sophie's Dad whom I was determined not to like, but who eventually won me over. His revelation about still being in love with Sophie's Mom really got it me.

I have to say that I still love Archer. His appearance in the alley and at the party were my favorite parts of the book. But I do have to admit that I really love Cal too. He obviously harbours a lot of feelings for Sophie and I want to see him get what he wants... but I'm torn. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

I'm anxious to see how the story develops around Sophie's Mom and if/how they can work together. I have a feeling that what Sophie is about to learn with tick her off, but will make for an interesting third book.

In the end, another enjoyable read from Rachel Hawkins. I'm very anxious for the next book.

Motivation

2011-06-08T11:41:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, I need a little nudge in the right direction. Last night while sitting in my Stats II class, I was getting more and more overwhelmed at the amount of information that seemed to be going right over my head. I kept thinking that I'd never be able to catch on, and was beginning to panic about my mid-term next weekend. I kept thinking, well there goes my rock solid GPA. But then, at the end of class, my professor handed out our first assignments and I was shocked to see that I'd pulled off a 93%! I practically skipped out of the classroom. They assignment wasn't worth much (6% of our mark I think), but it was enough to let me know that if I work really hard, I can get through this.

Then, this morning, my accounting professor posted the grades for our mid-term from this past weekend and I got....100 freaking percent! WHOA?!?!?!?!?! It was the last kick in the butt to let me know that I need to hit the books hard over the next 10ish days and get my arse ready for that mid-term next weekend to keep my marks where they are. I can do it, I just have to find the discipline somewhere. We shall see.

It's The Little Things

2011-06-06T12:49:00.004-04:00

The further I get into my studies, the more I realize how much the little things in life really matter. As badly as I wanted to return to school, and as badly as I want to finish and do well, returning to school full-time and keeping my full-time job means that I have very little time (or money) for anything else. While I've made a promise to attempt to complain about it less, it doesn't stop me from noticing.

For the first two three years of our marriage, Bub and I had it made. Both working Monday to Friday with few obligations, we were able to spend a lot of time together, take a lot of weekends away, talk long walks and eat dinner together every evening, go to the gym together every morning and spend a lot of time with friends and family. As we approach our fifth anniversary, things couldn't be more different. Bub is now on shift work with a constantly changing schedule, keeping him at work late into the night and on weekends. As for me, I'm constantly running between the office, class, the library for tutoring, and home to get caught up on assignments, studying or reading. I usually have some appointment or another and there's a never ending list of errands to run. Meals have become rushed, the house is neglected, the dogs don't get walked (they get loved, just not walked) and neither of us has set foot in the gym in well over a year. And suddenly I'm dealing with very ticked off family and friends who don't like the fact that they rarely see us anymore (awesome... like it isn't hard enough to balance my time without being made to feel guilty about it).

Now I get that this probably sounds like it's one big complaint.... but I promise that's not my intention. It's a simple statement of fact about the state of our lives at the moment. I only bring it up because the the change in our schedules and in our lifestyle has really made me appreciate the little things in life that tend to bring me peace that are often taken for granted.

I miss sitting out in the backyard, sharing a few beers and talking about everything or nothing until the it was too dark to see each other. Now, we finish a quick meal and I head upstairs to my home office to work on some school related thing or another while Bub cleans-up. I miss hopping in the car on Friday nights and heading to the cottage (we haven't been once yet this year, and likely won't get there until July). Now, Bub heads off to work on Saturday mornings and I close myself in my office for the day. I miss the impromptu solo drives I used to take in the country, windows rolled down, music turned up, where the drive home from my nephews baseball games, which should take about 15 minutes, took 2 hours for all the detours. Now it seems when I leave one place, it's always a race to get to the next. I miss having time to get my waxing done. It seems now I have to plan it and book it weeks in advance to make sure I can fit it into my schedule. I miss having a clean house and laundry. This is probably the thing that bothers me the most.

I like to be busy, I really do, and honestly, I'm truly very thankful that I was able to return to school when so many people wouldn't be able to. To be idle for any long period of time makes me crazy....but I won't say that I don't often think about how nice it was to have the evenings and weekends to myself to do things that made me happy, just because. I miss the simple things. I miss tea and toast on my back deck early on a Saturday morning before anyone else is awake. I miss waking up every now and then with absolutely nothing on the agenda, knowing that they day is my own to do whatever I want. Not having to check the clock every 5. Like my buddy Charlie Sheen I now operate on one speed, and one speed only...GO!

I know I chose to enter this race, and I'm happy to be doing it... but I can't wait to hit the finish line so I might have just a little more time for the simple things again.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

2011-05-31T12:46:00.003-04:00

What a great book! Divergent is one of those great first novels that really keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat right to the end... and desperate for the next in the series.

My love of dystopian books is no secret, and this one didn't disappoint at all. I found the story to be unique, engaging, definitely exciting, and I can't wait to continue with the series (why oh WHY did I read this so early... now I have to wait a year for the next one). I thought the story was really able to set itself apart from other dystopian tales making its characters and setting stand out. I found the world Roth created to be totally unique and yet almost believable with references to real world landmarks from Chicago. I loved how she mixed those into to remind the reader of where they were.

I have to say that I would totally be Dauntless if I lived in this dystopian Chicago. Jumping off of buildings, epic games of nighttime capture the flag? YES PLEASE! I'd love to be thrown into the fear simulations as well. I think it would be interesting to know what my greatest fears are and then to learn how to face them.

The characters in this book we absolutely fantastic. Tris was pretty kick-ass, but I love that she had a vulnerable side to go along with her toughness. I loved the hate characters like Eric and Peter and was really conflicted about Al. And Four.... mmmm, yes please again!. He is such an awesome character with a lot of depth and texture. Loved him.

I really appreciate authors who aren't afraid to "go there" with their characters and with their story lines. Those who don't necessarily tie everything up in a bow by the end...and Veronica Roth definitely one of those authors. She took some risks and threw some curve balls and they totally worked. The book wouldn't have been the same without them.

What I found most interesting as I read through this was that the plot didn't really "go" anywhere for the first 375 pages of the book, and yet I couldn't tear myself away from it. I was so engaged with the story and the characters that the "where is this going" question didn't really come-up. But then BAM.... the excitement tripled and I read the last pages in one super fast gulp. I love that I have very little idea of what will happen in the next installments and that the reader is left to speculate.

In-all, one of my favorite reads of 2011 so far.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

2011-05-27T10:00:00.001-04:00

I decided to finally read The Forest of Hands and Teeth when I found a PB copy at my favorite used book store. I had heard very mixed reviews about it so I was apprehensive, but I wanted to read something different, something out of my comfort zone, and boy did I get that with this book.
The premise of this book really freaked me out. Not that I'm a stranger to post-apocalyptic tales (although this was my first zombie apocalypse story), but The Forest of Hands and Teeth is written in a way that really got to me. Not in a bump in the night kind of way, not in a "oh my god the zombies are going to eat my brains" kind of way, but in a "what would you do if the world as you knew it ended and you were one of what could be the last 6 people on earth". Does that make sense? I think it was the fact that they really didn't know what was out there that freaked me out. It's the same reason that the idea of space (as in outer-space) scares me to this day... the major unknown factor is super creepy and it's makes me very uncomfortable. Ryan skillfully crafted a story about desperate isolation in a giant and strange world. Creepy.

There's definitely a lot of excitement in this book. Although it starts out slow, the adventure begins rather suddenly and is spread through the rest of the story. It's not exactly "scary" but man, the unconsecrated are gross. There's no cheese factor to these zombies.... they are just plain nasty, and the world Ryan creates where life is constantly surrounded by death is just a little terrifying.

Along with the adventure and suspense comes a lot of really intense writing about personal emotion, life, love, sacrifice and really, the reason for existence. It's a very interesting combination of themes and somewhat surprising in a YA novel.

When I finished last night my husband asked me if I had enjoyed the book. My response, after thinking for a few moments was, "yes! definitely. But I never want to read it again and I won't read the next books". It's one of those stories that I'm glad I read, but it just made me too uncomfortable to want to revisit.

Dystopian Tour 2011- Veronica Roth and Lauren Oliver Signing

2011-05-19T12:07:00.003-04:00

Last night I got the extremely rare opportunity to attend a book signing at my local Chapters with YA authors Lauren Oliver (author of Before I Fall and Delirium) and Veronica Roth (author of Divergent). To say that I was excited would be a gross understatement. First, a dystopian tour? Yes please! Can't get enough! Second, we get very few authors in my little hometown and even in Toronto, the list of author signings that I actually care about is rather small. So, when my fellow book nerd and friend Jessica sent me a tweet with the signing details, I was pumped.

It was very cool to listen to the author's talk about inspiration, influences, and the business. I found out some cool tidbits like, did you know that Lauren wrote Before I Fall on her Blackberry? Yeah. Seriously. She wrote it on the NYC subway while commuting between her full-time job, part-time job and full-time grad school and emailed it to herself each night. Now that's dedication to your craft.

I had some questions I was burning to ask (like if and how they've had to deal with YA nay-sayers and why they think YA lit has exploded the way it has, especially with adults) but I was too chicken. I was also completely awkward when I went up to have my books signed. I didn't have the nerve to ask for a picture and, although I wanted to say something incredibly intelligent and witty, I couldn't think of a single thing to say beyond "hi" and "thanks". It was pathetic actually. Lauren did tease my husband a little about being dragged along to a book signing, but other than giggling at that and giving the standard greetings... I said nothin'. Totally forgettable. *sigh* I'm such a loser.

In the end, I got three beautiful new signed hardcover books that I can't wait to read, and got to meet two very cool YA authors. All in all, a great night for a book nerd!

Delirium and Before I Fall signed by Lauren Oliver

Divergent signed by Veronica Roth

I also got a swag bag filled with Delirium and Divergent related trinkets and other assorted junk. I LOVE free stuff!

Heaven and Earth (Three Sisters Island Trilogy, book # 2)

2011-05-14T19:19:00.002-04:00

After really enjoying Dance Upon Air, I was excited to dive back into the World of Three Sisters Island and the lives of its characters. Even though I had just finished Nell and Zack's story, I was excited to see how Ripley's part played out, because she had been such an independent and spirited character in the first installment.

When the story started, I was hooked immediately. Geeky and clumsy Mac had me intrigued from the beginning and I loved him right through the entire book. I think he was the perfect, calming, rational yin to Ripley's yang.

I have to say that my enjoyment of the book faltered in the later chapters due to Ripley. My patience for her attitude and arrogance started to wear thin and she really began to annoy me. Her back and forth feelings about her powers started to get old. I hope that in the next installment, she's a little more at peace with them.

My only other wish for the book is that we got a little more of that small-town, cutesy island feel. I really adore the setting and would like to read more about it.... have it remain an integral part of the book.

But at the end I can say that I truly did enjoy the book, even if not quite as much as the first, and I am excited to finally hear Mia's story. In my opinion, it has the potential to be the best of them all.

Heirlooms

2011-05-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

I celebrated Mother's Day with my Mom at her house over brunch. My Step-Dad did the cooking, I did the cleaning and Mum just relaxed. I had picked up a Zero Gravity Chair as her gift after years of listening to my Mum talk about getting one (seriously, if you don't have one, you need one), so we had a really nice time sitting in the backyard chatting on what turned out to be a gorgeous day.

Part way through the morning, my Mum hands me a tiny little ring and asks me if I would wear it with my wedding set. I tried it on and when the platinum band fit nicely under my rings, I agreed. Then she proceeded to tell me that it's my great-grandmother's wedding band and it's over 75 years old. So now of course, I had to take a better look at it. You can see that there used to be some kind of engraving on the band that's now worn off.... but it's still absolutely beautiful.

Mum had me promise to wear it. She said it was too big for her and she was afraid to have it sized give it's age and delicacy... but that she didn't want it to sit in a box anymore. It's too big for me as well, but tucked under my wedding set, it's in no danger.

I've spent a lot of time staring at the ring, trying to imagine the history of my family that it's seen. Did they buy it together as a young couple anticipating their wedding? Was it on Gram's finger when my grandmother was born or got married? Did it accompany her to the funeral of my great-grandfather? How long did she wear it after he passed? How many birthday parties, weddings, Christenings and funerals of my relatives did it attend? I know it sounds cheesy, but this ring represents the love that is responsible for my family. It's responsible for my grandmother, then my Mum, and subsequently... me. The idea of that fascinates me.

So now I'm wearing three rings on the ring finger and I'm excited to have a little piece of my family's history with me everyday.

Cayo Largo 2011

2011-05-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try to keep this a brief as possible because if I don't make a conscious effort, this post could be incredibly lengthy as I detail the entire trip minute by minute. So, here comes the condensed version.

We napped, we read, we lounged by the pool, we rented scooters and toured the whole (tiny) island twice, we took a sunset dinner cruise, I swam with the dolphins, we snorkeled at a coral reef and shipwreck, we visited and iguana sanctuary island, saw a live crocodile, we ate a lot, we drank way too much beer and too many pina coladas, we swam, we body surfed, we sat in the rocking chairs on our balcony listening to the ocean, I held a starfish and a baby sea turtle, we were pulled over by the Cuban police on our scooters and we took many walks on the AMAZING beaches. We had perfect weather.... not a single day of clouds. It did rain twice, but only overnight so the puddles in the morning were the only indication. We just.... had an incredible time.

The beaches on this island are indescribable. The sand is perfectly white, the water is amazingly blue (and so warm) and they go on forever. Cayo Largo was actually named to have the most beautiful beaches in the world by a UK travel magazine. I loved every second of this trip and I can't wait to go back.

Resort: Grande Caribe Playa Blanca - ex: Barcelo (4 star)

Here are some of my favorite pics:

(This is actually in Toronto, at baggage claim. But it was just too appropriate)

Dance Upon Air by Nora Roberts (Three Sisters Trilogy Book # 1)

2011-05-03T13:21:00.002-04:00

Whenever I need a quick read that can carry me through a rainy weekend or a bout of sickness.... Nora Roberts comes through. I can always count on her to write something that will keep me entertained and that's hard to put down. Dance Upon Air was no exception. Roberts crafted a charming, yet mysterious setting, likable characters and a storyline that grabbed me right from the beginning.

I think I was even more drawn to this story than some of her others given that I have a long harboured desire to live on a tiny island (hence my recent attempt to transfer to the University of Prince Edward Island) so I could easily imagine the settings as they were described, the little cottage, the house on the cliffs.... all of it is what I want someday.

I've always had a little fascination with Witchcraft as well, so I found many of those aspects very interesting. Roberts wrote about them in such a way that they didn't overshadow the story or throw it into the "fantasy" genre. I felt it was basically a romantic suspense, with a little paranormal thrown in for good measure.

I especially liked the conflict in this story. The abused wife on the run, taking her life back and finding happiness is a plot that I love to read.

Was it a great work of literary fiction? No. Was it predictable as all romances are? Yes. Did I love reading it anyway? Absolutely. I'm already working on the second book in the series and can't wait to spend some quality time with it.

Congo by Michael Crichton

2011-05-02T13:14:00.000-04:00

This was exactly the type of book I've been looking for lately. Talk about a page turner. I've come to the realization that I'm a HUGE fan of adventure books and I think it's why I'm so drawn to many dystopian stories. For example, I could have continued reading about the Hunger Games arena endlessly and loved the journey in the novel Unwind.... all the running, hiding out, close calls and nail-biting moments. Harry Potter 7 was my favorite of the series for just the same reason. I devour the adventurousness of it all.

I decided to ask around for good adventure stories. Congo (along with Michael Crichton in general) was on the of first books recommended to me so I grabbed an old paperback copy and my local indie.

I LOVED IT! Such a fun and suspenseful adventure. From the first page /first attack, to rafting on the river, to surviving through the night, I loved almost every second of it.

I really enjoyed many of the characters as well, especially Amy. Many of her little comments made me laugh out loud. Her quite literal interpretation of life was comical and really insightful. I also loved reading about Munroe and Peter's relationship and conversations with Amy.

The only tiny complaint I had was the shear volume of scientific and historical data that was thrown at you. In my opinion it didn't really add to the story. I understand that the author needs the reader to have a basic understanding of the details behind the expedition but the amount of it was not necessary it my opinion. Many of these parts of the book would drag... but not enough to make me dislike the story. I simply found myself skimming through them to get back to the main plot.

In all, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more Crichton soon. It's exciting to find an author that I like so much... especially when he has such a large selection of books to keep me busy for a while.

If you like adventure, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen

2011-05-01T23:19:00.002-04:00

This book has been on and off of my TBR list for ages because I couldn't decide if it was something that I truly wanted to read, or if it was really my "style". Then, with the movie coming out there has been quite a bit of buzz about it, so I finally decided to pick it up for my vacation.

Oh how I adored this book. The characters and setting are so rich and well written that I literally couldn't put it down. I created the scenes in my head in immense detail and could see, hear, and even smell and feel the words as they jumped off the page at me.

I must admit that several parts were very difficult for me to read. Gruen writes about the life of circus animals in a way that made me extremely... uncomfortable. However, it wouldn't be as honest and believable as it is without those aspects and truths. I fell in love with the animal characters, Queenie and Rosie especially.

What I think I enjoyed most about this story were the relationships. Not just that of Jacob and Marlena but also between Camel, Kinko, Rosemary and Jacob (to name a few). The bonds and fights and intense emotion made them fascinating to read about. I could really imagine old Jacob reliving these scenes as he contemplates his life.

I truly loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone for while. A rock solid tale of love, adventure, choice and life. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favor and go pick it up. Personally, I can't wait to read more from Gruen in the very near future.

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

2011-04-30T01:10:00.001-04:00

I was so disappointed with this book. I really enjoyed Hush Hush and expected to be sucked right back into the story with the sequel, but I just wasn't.

I found the story line to be far to outlandish for my tastes. Perhaps it means that I'm starting to tire of paranormal YA? I'm not sure and I think it's too soon to tell, but what I do know for sure is that Crescendo didn't live up to it's potential for me. I was very happy when I finally finished and could move on to something else.

What bothered me was Nora's utter stupidity. Something major and terrifying would happen and she would carry on the next day as if nothing had occurred. I found this issue to be a major hole in the story and one that kept occurring. She constantly put herself in bad positions and didn't seem to have much of a backbone or depth in this installment. I found her, and many of the other characters for that matter, to be very flat. And in general, I just don't like the direction the plot is going.

To be fair, it may be partially my fault. It took me FAR too long to read this book, making it difficult to become invested in the story. However, if I was enjoying it I don't think it would have taken me so dreadfully long to read.... so it's not so simple as one might think.

I will say that several of the scenes between Nora and Patch were steamy (to say the least) and I do enjoy that aspect of the writing.

Overall, I just didn't enjoy Crescendo. I won't be continuing with the series as I find myself completely indifferent to the fate of the characters.

Weekly To-Do

2011-04-18T10:56:00.003-04:00

~~Book hotel for May wedding~~
~~Get Mum's TV hooked up properly~~
~~Drop off baseball $$ to Mum~~
~~Return dress, sweater and dishes to Mum~~
~~Clip dogs nails~~
~~Get Bub some vacation reading material~~
~~Return cake taker to MIL~~
~~Banking~~
~~Pick-up waterproof camera~~

This post has no name

2011-04-13T14:26:00.001-04:00

It’s been too long. I think a three week blog hiatus must be some kind of record. School really kicked my ass this semester, but I made it and it’s all over with for a little while. So here’s what’s been going on:

-I wrote final exam on Thursday night. It was the dreaded STATS exam and BOY WAS IT HARD!!! Actually, it was so much that it was hard as it was LONG. 900 people wrote the exam and 99% of us were still sitting there when it was over. Basically no one finished, so my Prof assured us that they would take that into consideration when they were marking them. I went in with an 85ish though so I have a little wiggle room and I’m not overly concerned. I did my best and worked my butt off and I’ll get what I get.

-Still no news back from UPEI about the additional credits from the missing transcript issue. I’m over it now. I’ve registered for summer classes at my current University and am just carrying on.

-I decided to cut down to 2 classes per semester, at least for the summer. This past semester was way too much and as the classes get more difficult, it will only become harder to balance my time.

-We had a great celebration for Bub’s birthday. We did Sushi with a group of friends and then had about 20 people at our place for drinks. It was a lot of laughs for sure. BUT… I fail as a wife because I didn’t take a single photo of the festivities.

-WE’RE GOING ON VACATION! We leave next Friday morning for CUBA!!!! We’re heading to the tiny island of Cayo Largo for 7 nights and I am soooooooo excited. We’ve never done the all inclusive thing before, so it should be fun. We have a catamaran tour, snorkeling, horse-back riding, scooter renting, swimming with the dolphins and lots of drinking and reading planned. Seriously… the beaches on this island are incredible. Look at this…..

Appropriately named“The Natural Swimming Pool”.

Can’t wait!

Other than that, I’m just trying to enjoy my three weeks of freedom from school (and 1 from work!). Bub’s working every day until our vacation so I plan to get a lot of reading and napping done.

Happy Hump Day!

Good thing I haven't booked our vacation yet....

2011-03-21T15:32:00.000-04:00

I received an email from UPEI today notifying me that the reason I hadn't received any transfer credit from my original studies (right out of HS) is because they didn't ever receive the transcript from the college!!!!

So.... looks like PEI isn't 100% off the table yet. I re-requested my transcript from Seneca (that I originally requested and was charged for on FEBRUARY FREAKIN' 15TH!!!) and emailed UPEI back to let them know it was coming.

Yeesh! I'm happy to know it's back on the table, but at the same time.... it's really frustrating.

Now I Know

2011-03-14T13:36:00.003-04:00

The envelope I’ve been waiting for finally came. I’ve been accepted to the UPEI BBA program. But…

We’re not going.

The transfer credit calculation was the deciding factor. Because it’s not an apples to apples transfer in terms of my major, I’d be losing a year’s worth of credits that I’ve already earned at my current school and from my previous studies. I knew this was a possibility when I applied given that the program I’m in and the program at UPEI are not identical. This means that I’d be studying 2.5 years with a full course load (5 or 6 per semester) in PEI as opposed to 2.5 years I have left with a partial class load(3 classes per semester) here. The difference? I can handle paying tuition on a part-time basis without going into debt because I can still work full-time. If I start studying 100% full-time, I’d be taking on more student loans because I wouldn’t be working. Thus, it’s just not practical. I was willing to do it for a year, but 2.5 would be a lot of debt that we don’t need, especially when I’ve already earned equivalent credit elsewhere. It’s pretty complicated, but in the end it boils down to this: it’s just not worth it for us at this point.

Am I disappointed? Yes. Do I wish it would have worked out? Absolutely. Is there a part of me that’s a little bit relieved? Definitely.

Not going eliminates the stress of having to deal with either selling or renting our house, it eliminates the cost of moving, the stress of trying to secure a home and employment across the country and it frees up the small stash of money we started saving for the move for other things that we need it for (a vacation, new shingles for the roof, etc). Don’t get me wrong, if it had worked out with my transfer credit, I’d be willing to handle all those things and I’d be really excited to do it, but there is that small part of me that’s breathing a sigh of relief.

I’m not going to lie, I’m really disappointed. We were really excited for the possibility of this adventure, for the change, but I know that everything happens for a reason. For now, I’m just going to concentrate on getting through my degree here and then we’ll see what happens. Maybe we’ll move out there when I’m ready to apply for grad school? Who knows… we may still invade the east yet!

Still waiting...

2011-03-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

I'm still waiting to hear back from UPEI. I got a letter form them last week asking for additional information (which I had already forwarded to them)... and I'm once again waiting for a reply.

I will admit though, that I don't have high hopes. I think that the math credit that I don't officially have (I did an admissions waiver course at York in lieu of a 12U advanced functions math) will likely be my downfall as they may not recognize the credential that York awarded me. My only hope on that front is that I've already completed and done well in 3 classes for which the 12U math is a prerequisite. However, even if I get in the course requirements are so different that I may lose out credits that I've already earned. I'm willing to lose a few, but I don't want to forfeit too many and be starting from scratch.

Ugh... I just wish I could get an answer. I know I'm being impatient and that it has only been a couple of weeks, but the wait is killing me. I'm crossing my fingers that I get an answer this week (the website says it usually takes 1 week after all documents have been received) so that I can get a move on one way or the other in terms of moving or not, transferring jobs or not.... etc.

I need a drink.

The Pagan Stone (Sign of Seven Trilogy- Book 3) by Nora Roberts

2011-03-06T21:42:00.001-05:00

I really, really enjoyed this final installment in the Sign of Seven Trilogy. I felt like it was well rounded and took some risks that typical romance books don't normally take.

The paranormal elements throughout the series, but especially in Pagan Stone, were definitely a little more out there than I'm used to but by the end I was really enjoying some of the darker elements. Roberts sure knows how to make my skin crawl.

I have to admit though that I'm not 100% sure what exactly happened at the very end in terms of HOW it happened. I feel like maybe I need to go back and re-read the last chapter for clarification. Regardless, I'm not in a huge rush because I don't feel like I missed anything spectacularly important. I know the general outcome and I was pleased with it.

As much as I loved Fox and Layla, and Cal and Quinn, I've been looking forward to reading Gage and Cybil's story through the whole trilogy. Equally feisty and quick witted, their relationship dynamic was a blast to read about. Some of Gage's snarky one-liners were the best parts of the book. (example: "Gage, we need you're blood"... "I'm using it right now")
I recommend this book to all fans of paranormal romance. It's got some hot lovin', some sexy characters, a good mystery and "BIG EVIL BASTARD" is sure to satisfy those looking for the truly creepy elements as well.

I'll certainly be reading more from NR in the future.

Crunch Time

2011-03-02T10:02:00.020-05:00

This post is solely for my own benefit, so please feel free to disregard. Actually, to tell the truth, this entire blog is for my own benefit- an outlet of sorts- but this post specifically is for me so I can wrap me head around what's expected of me over the next few weeks.

I'm in the home stretch of SemesterFromHell (hallelujah!) and have a lot going on. It's probably time for me to break out the Microsoft calendar and task out what needs to be done, day by day. But for now, here's what I have to complete for school over the next 4(ish) weeks.

~~Complete discussion submission for marketing lecture 9 and submit by Friday (March 4)~~
~~Edit parts 2 and 3 down to finalized form for marketing plan~~
~~Marketing contributions assignment due Friday (March 4)~~
~~Do some practice exercises for stats chapter 12 before tutor~~
~~Marketing Lecture 10, reading and notes to be completed this weekend (March 5 & 6)~~
~~Tentative- find a time on the weekend to meet w/ tutor to make-up for this weeks cancelled session (March 5 & 6)~~
~~Practice exercises for stats chapter 13 before Thursday March 10~~
~~Submit discussion questions for marketing lecture 10 by Friday March 11~~
~~Complete marketing project Part Four w/ group by Monday March 14~~
~~Stats quiz # 2 on Tuesday March 15th~~
~~Submit marketing lecture 11 discussion questions by Friday March 18~~
~~Marketing final exam Saturday March 19th~~
~~Complete marketing project Part Five w/ group by Monday March 21~~
~~Stats assignment # 2 due on Tuesday March 22nd~~
~~Finalize, submit and present Passage Analysis Paper for MODR by Monday March 28th~~
~~Complete stats chapter 14,15 and 16 practice exercises before Thursday March 31~~
~~Finalize and submit full marketing project w/ group by Monday April 4~~
~~Stats final exam Thursday April 7~~

Eeek!!!!

Yep- definitely time to get the calendar out and break this down. I sense a lot of late nights in my future. The one thing getting my through is that my final exam is April 7th, and summer classes (assuming that I will even be continuing at that school) don't start until the first week of May. If I don't get into UPEI and we stay in Ontario, I'll have three blissful, school-free weeks in April to catch-up on all the sleep I'll miss over the next little while. Can't wait! I'm going to take lots of weekend naps. Or maybe I'll sleep for 3 weeks straight!

Where my brain has been lately....

2011-02-25T10:03:00.002-05:00

Several people have asked us why we would want to move to PEI. Why not one of the bigger cities on the east coast... like Halifax. My answer?

This.

And these...

And because...

-it's called "The Gentle Island"... who doesn't want to live on the Gentle Island?
-the total population of the whole island is about the same as the city I currently live in
-Chef Micheal Smith calls it "Food Country" and says that PEI is one big amazing farm surrounded by gorgeous beaches (heaven for me)
-because I could go sea kayaking and whale watching in the morning, horseback riding on the farm in the afternoon, a feast on the freshest of fresh seafood for dinner
-the scenery is spectacular
-they have a good University that offers the degree that I really want
-it's a totally different way of life from what we have now
-everybody and their brother moves out west... we want to go east.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

2011-02-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

*high 3.5 stars*

Dragons.... Draki.... huh.

They're definitely something I'm not used to reading about, and I have to say I was a little unsure of what to expect. Aside from the Hungarian Horntail and crew from Harry Potter, this was my first experience with Dragons (excuse me... Draki) and it was definitely intriguing.

First, I was immediately in love with Will. From the cave scene through the rest of the book, I simply adored him. The connection between him and Jacinda was a powerful one to read about and kept me hooked. When he could "sense" her.... *shiver*. Loved it.

Jacinda on the other hand? She got on my nerves a little. It felt like a good portion of the middle of the book was her flip flop from one extreme to the other about her feelings for Will, her desire for Pride life and her relationship with her family. I know that she was struggling to adjust, but it went on to the point of aggravating. This is the main cause of my not quite 4 star rating. I feel like this book was really just a build up for the rest of what could be a really goo series.

I'm still a little unsure of how I feel about Draki. When the book talked about Jacinda manifesting, I pictured her turning into some gigantic dragon, but then there was explanations about Cassian being larger in Darki form than he was in human, and I thought, "well.... yeah?!?!?". I think I need to adjust my mental image of before the next book. I'm not generally a fantasy reader, so I guess I just need some time to create the right world, characters and images in my head.

The end of the book is what really did me in. The final scene was heart wrenching to read and made me desperate for the next installment. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but ugh... I seriously love Will.

In the end, Firelight was a fun read that kept my interested and wanting more. I really look forward to the sequel.

The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

2011-02-22T10:48:00.001-05:00

I have to admit that I was putting off reading this book. The Dark Divine was one of my favorite reads of 2010, but I read it so long ago that I couldn't really remember the details. I had every intention to re-read it but eventually I had to give in and admit that I just didn't have the time to be re-reading books.

So... I dove in to the Lost Saint and hoped for the best. For the first little bit of the book I had a hard time remembering details of the first installment, but Despain does a really good job of reminding you of the major points without re-telling the whole story.

I really enjoyed this next phase of Daniel and Grace's story. I think it was a good continuation and took some interesting twists. I had a bit of difficulty get used to the new "tough" Grace, but I think that was part of the point. She's struggling to figure out who she is and who she thinks she should be and so the reader feels some of that frustration.

The new characters are really interesting and the tension between Daniel and Grace is what kept me reading. The final scene left no doubt that I will continue with the series and really look forward to the next (and final, I think) installment.

A waiting game

2011-02-22T10:20:00.003-05:00

I'm just a big old ball of nerves and excitement lately. Why, you ask? I submitted my application to UPEI early last week and to say that I am anxious to hear back from them is the understatement of the year.

I know I have the marks to get in without a doubt. I had honors in high school, graduated college the first time around with high honours and my lowest mark since returning to university is a B+. My concern is more related to how many transfer credits they will give me (I don't want to lose out too badly) and whether or not my math credential course earned through my current school will be accepted by them as the math pre-req required for business programs.

I sent a whole package of detailed paperwork to them explaining my situation, I've requested all my transcripts be forwarded to the school and and waiting on pins and needles to hear back. Everything is on hold (house hunting, job searches, etc.) until we hear back from school. If the transfer credits don't add up or the math credential course isn't accepted, we're not going anywhere. I'm not setting myself back in school. However, if everything works out then we can make decisions about the house and when to leave and Bub can inquire about getting a transfer out there.

For some reason we have our hearts set on PEI... so I didn't even apply anywhere else yet. Not smart, I know.

The family is mostly supportive. Both of our mothers and my Dad think it's a great idea. Interestingly enough it's my step-dad and Bub's Dad that are not keen on the idea. This is interesting because both of them, at one point in their twenties, picked up and moved across the country themselves. My step-dad asked my Mom to "talk us out of it" and my FIL just got grumpy when we told him. He literally got this disgusted look on his face and said "why would you want to move there"... ummmmmm for the same reason that you moved out west in your twenties. Because we can and because we will enjoy the adventure of living somewhere that provides a totally different lifestyle to what we have now. I know it's going to be a battle with him and that he's going to fight us all the way. As a bonus, he's totally passive aggressive so nothing will be straight forward... it will be all "you know it rains out there a lot right?" "you know that the housing market out there is not really as good as here right?" blah blah blah... YES! Did you ever consider that I've been doing research like CRAZY? That maybe just because you're finding out about this for the first time doesn't mean that we haven't been looking in to this in detail for a long time?

Hello FIL, have we met? I'm the super obsessive and uber cautious DIL that you often brag about? Remember me? Do you really think that we haven't been putting a TON of thought into this?

Regardless of anyone else's opinion, we're making this decision on our own. We will definitely ask for feedback but ultimately no one will be able to talk us out of it. It's frustrating to hear my FIL and step-dad talk about how wonderful it was to the live out west for a couple years, but then to have them react like this when we say we're going east. It doesn't make much sense to me.

Anyways... my fingers are still crossed and my hopes are still high and really, no one can talk me down. I know this is the right decision for us. If we put our work in and if it's meant to be, it will be...regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Now... I'm off to buy some Wellies for our big move. ;) What do we think...

traditional?

or something a little more funky?...

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

2011-02-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

My stats professor is officially the fastest grader in the world. We got our exams back in class last night.

I knew I did ok when, as I collected my exam from her, she said "excellent work" as she handed my package to me. I immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief. BUT, that sigh of relief was nothing compared to what happened when I actually opened the exam and looked at the mark.....

86%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could it be true!?! Honestly, I had to choke back happy tears. I never thought it was possible, but I guess I was wrong. It was the ultimate validation of my decision from last semester. Now I just have to hope that the second half of the course goes just as well. *fingers crossed*

The right decision.

2011-02-14T11:54:00.002-05:00

When I decided to drop my stats class last semester, I was really worried about whether or not I was making the right decisions. I had a 60... I was passing. But for me, 6 is not an acceptable mark. I agonized over whether or not to drop the class before I had a mark recorded and re-take it. Eventually, I made the final decision and pulled myself out, but not without reservations.

Well, I'm back at it this semester with a few changes. Instead of taking it as my online class, I'm taking it in person and I hired myself a tutor who I meet with once per week. MAN have I realized that I made the right decision. I got an 85% on the first assignment (up 10% from last semester) and I got 80% on the first quiz (which we didn't have last time around). But most important, I wrote the mid-term this past Saturday and WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Last time I froze up. I left most of the exam blank, I was panicked and I bombed it. This time around, I answered every question without exception, was confident through the whole thing and was the second person to finish (including re-checking my answers and calculations) with 45 minutes to spare. No rushing, no panicking, no crying.... just relief and confidence when I left the exam. I honestly think I did well on it. I'm not going to say I did AWESOME, but I know that I'll be OK with the mark.

It's for this reason that I know that I made the right decision. Now there's not so much pressure going into the second half of the course and I'll be much better prepared when I have to take Stats II within the next few semesters. Honestly, I couldn't be happier that I made the decision I did. I took a step back, took a few deep breaths and started again with a different approach, and boy was it worth it. I still have a struggle to get through the last test, assignment and final exam, but atleast this time my mark at the mid-term won't be working against me.

An Adventure? Maybe.

2011-02-07T12:53:00.004-05:00

Bub and I are at a turning point. Not in our relationship with each other, but in our lives in general. Lots of changes in both of our professional lives have caused us to take a step back and think about what we really want... and it has been eye opening.

We've owned our home for 2.5 years now and we love it. We love it because it's the first house we bought together and because it's been home for so long now. But, we've been tied to it since I returned to school. Every decision we make has been based on the house and if we will be able to continue to afford it. I know this is normal but it's really getting to me lately. Career decisions, academic decisions..... everything revolves around the house and I realized recently that it really bothers me.

So.... we're moving. And I mean MOVING. Like across the country or overseas like we've always wanted to. Or at least, that's the plan right now. The fate of the house is yet to be determined. Ideally, we'll keep it and rent it out because we do plan to return in a couple of years, but if we have to sell, then we will. Owning is wonderful, but it's not everything and I don't want to miss out on life experiences just so I can say that I own a home.

As of last night I am officially researching universities out East and in the UK. And can I tell you... I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! I've looked at The University of Prince Edward Island's and Dalhousie University's Bachelor of Business Administration programs and both look really good. I'm leaning towards UPEI at the moment for a few reasons but it's still in the very early stages of research. And for those who say that moving from Ontario to PEI wouldn't be a big change... I say you need to do your own research. The two provinces couldn't be more different. Next, I'll pick a few in the UK and then I'll submit mass applications. Obviously, staying in Canada would be much easier for many reasons, but if we could make the UK work for a year or two, I'd be all over it. Wherever we end up, I'd like to rent a little house, get Bub working full-time at some funky job (like a corner pub in England or something)and I'd tackle school full-time. I just want to experience life in a different way for a little while.

If this is going to happen, it's going to happen quickly. I'd be applying to start at the new school in September and taking the summer off of classes at my current school to pickup a 2nd job to save. But honestly, I've never been more excited about anything. I think this is a big opportunity for us to go and experience something totally different than what we're used to. I'm hoping that it's meant to be and that fate will be on our side. Fingers crossed.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

2011-01-30T16:17:00.001-05:00

Oh my god I LOVED this book. Seriously, I couldn’t stop reading. I was half prepared to be disappointed because there’s been so much hype around it, but I just wasn’t . At all. It was awesome.

There was a time when I would have given anything to have Anna’s story as my own teen life. The foreign place, the cute boys, the great friends... all of it.

Etienne is totally swoon worthy and I was addicted to him as much as Anna was. I found myself craving more of his story when he was absent from scenes and getting little jolts of happiness when he’d appear. I haven’t had a literary crush like this in a while.

Anna was really interesting to me. She was outgoing and yet shy, she was smart, but not a genius... she was a character I found to be made up of a lot of contradictions and I think maybe that’s why I liked her so much.

In all, the writing was just really great, the story was so fun and everything just had an element of realism that was fantastic to read. I’m really excited to see more from Stephanie Perkins in the future.

My favourite parts....warning: spoilers to come

.

.

.

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-Thanksgiving weekend- honestly, I would have given anything for such a romantic (albeit sexually tense) weekend when I was in my late teens. The sleeping together scenes gave me tingles.

-the Christmas emails <3 .... um, adorable and at the same time made me want to scream “HE TOTALLY LOVES YOU ANNA, HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT?”

-The confrontation after the kiss in the park... gut wrenching

-THE scene at Notre Dame... um, ya. Swoon, cry, butterflies in my tummy. SO ROMANTIC and such a relief that they are FINALLY together.

Oh man... I loved this book. I already want to re-read it.

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

2011-01-26T10:08:00.001-05:00

Warning: This is not a good review. I don't often give reviews like this but I'm not really sure what else to say about this book:

It took me 25 days to read this book because I really wasn't a fan. Or.... perhaps I wasn't a fan because it took me 25 days to read it? Whatever the explanation, I just couldn't connect with these characters or the story at all.

Firstly the story line seemed to be all over the place and totally unbelievable. I finished the story with a sense of "um........ how did we go from point A to point E to points X and Y"? Nothing seemed to flow or really make sense with the original direction of the story. I think the author was trying to do too many things at once.

The characters were very flat and I didn't particularly care about any of them, even by the very end. And I really didn't buy the romance. In fact, all the relationships felt forced.

I really can't think of much more to say about this book other than that I'm sure it will be hitting the pile bound for the used book store and hopefully it will find someone to love it there.

Another one?

2011-01-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

Well, since it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post I thought I should find some time to post... something. Here's just another mass update (I seem to do a lot of those lately):

School:
I'm starting week four of SemesterFromHell and so far, so good. After class tomorrow I will have 4 stats classes, 1 quiz (on which I scored 80%!!), and 1 assignment behind me- leaving only 7 classes, 1 quiz, 1 assignment and 2 exams left for that class. I have a paper due next week in MODR which I have a good start on, and the ball is rolling with our marketing plan (although, I'm still really not looking forward to it). I'm still iffy on whether or not my stats tutor is going to be of much assistance, so we'll have to wait and see. I do know that physically being in the classroom is a lot better than taking it online in this case.

Health:
I've really gotten back into working out and eating well again. I gained some weight over the holidays so I knew it was time to get back on the wagon.

The exercise bit has been pretty good this time around. I've found a tiered, 3 level mixed cardio routine that I really like and that I can do it in my basement. So, I've been doing that 4 times a week. I'm 1 session away from stepping up to level 2 so we'll see how that goes later this week. It's really nice to have something I can do at home since a) it's -1 billion out, so running is incredibly uncomfortable (and sometimes dangerous) and b) I can't afford a gym membership right now.

I've even convinced Bub to get back to it as well, and he's now working out more than I am (with the exception of last week when he was sick as a dog).

In terms of my diet, I'm trying to stay under 1550 calories per day (with a minimum of 1200), really trying to cut out a lot pre-package/processed foods and trying to make sure that I'm eating a variety of foods from across the food groups.

Example menu:

Breakfast: 2 slices of sourdough toast w/ light margarine (a fave of mine), tea w/ milk
Snack 1: either raspberries (1/2 pint) or 1 banana
Lunch: spinach salad (baby spinach, low fat cheddar cheese, cucumbers, carrots, turkey w/ classic herb dressing)
Snack 2: veggie sticks and yogurt dip and/or banana
Dinner: whole wheat pasta w/ tomato and meat sauce and low fat cheese (extra lean GB, low sodium diced tomatoes, blue menu tomato sauce base)
Snack 3 : a couple of crackers, frozen yogurt

Tonight I have a turkey and sprout pita for dinner (school night) that's is really, really yummy and surprisingly low in calories.

I had a physical last week (my first in 4 years) which went well:

I got a rec from the doctor for physio and massage therapy for my shoulder, but unfortunately, she gave me a rec for a location who's hours I can't fit into my schedule. I'll have to go back and get a general requisition so I can find my own place to go. I'm really looking forward to tackling this issue.
She found a lump in my breast, but since I've had one before and it turned out to be nothing, she wasn't overly concerned. I go back in 3 weeks to check it again and if it's still there then I'll be sent to the hospital for an ultra-sound and mammogram. I'm not really concerned.
I got my shots up-to-date and got a script for the HPV vaccine which I haven't filled yet because I'm unsure how I feel about it (it's really new so that makes me nervous)
my weight and blood pressure are "excellent" according to the good doctor!!
Everything else seemed fine

I'm also taking a multi-vitamin again and I'll be making an appointment with my dentist sometime this week. I figure that with my crazy schedule, my body can use all the help it can get keeping me awake, energized and healthy, so that what I plan to do.

Life
My resolution to be more positive and not let things bother me is going pretty good. I'm trying my best to see the bright side of things and it's really made a difference. I highly recommend it.

Our nephew Oscar turned 1 last weekend and we had a good time at his birthday party. I can't believe a year has gone by already.

That's pretty much it! I've been working like crazy this month and other that Forget You which I read on New Years Day, I haven't even finished a book. I have about 50 pages left of my current novel so hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a review to post and then it' on to Anna and the French Kiss I think.

Ok, now I'm back to work!

Semester 5 (aka: Semester from Hell)

2011-01-06T11:23:00.001-05:00

I can't believe starting my fifth semester since returning to school. Honestly, it feels like I just started and I can only hope that the remainder of my time in school goes just as quickly.

Here's the class line-up for this semester:

Monday nights: MODR- Reasoning in Women and Sexism (continues)
Tuesday nights: Quantitative Methods I (aka- stats I- again)
Online: Marketing I

I'm looking forward to marketing, and I love, love, love my MODR class... so why has this semester been dubbed "Semester from Hell"? Well, simply because of the over-the-top workload.

Stats *shiver*
-2 tests
-2 assignments
-mid-term
-final exam

MODR
-conceptual analysis paper
-another conceptual analysis paper
-in-class presentation

Marketing
-15 discussion board postings per class (so, per week)
-responses to fellow students discussion board postings
-2 assignments
-group marketing plan (HUGE assignment we work on all semester)
-final exam

Of course, this is all on-top of readings and lectures, plus a one hour per week stats tutoring session that I'm in the process of setting up today. Oh! and I work full-time. Did I mention that? And this is all going down in the next 12 weeks.

Pray for me.

I'm not complaining though. Not yet anyways. I'm just stating the facts as I see them right now and I find it better to get it "on paper" so that I'm clear on what needs to be done. And I have my new office at home to comfortably study/work on assignments and Bub is picking up a padded lap workstation for me today that includes a light, cup holder and pencil holder so that I can comfortably read and highlight textbooks in bed. I've taken on a new outlook about school and I'm hoping it lasts. I will work hard, but I won't let it run my life. I will be OK with whatever marks I get as long as I know that I did my best and I will take it one semester at a time.

So here I go... diving head first into another semester and counting down the weeks until this one is behind me too.

New Years "Resolutions"

2011-01-05T11:11:00.001-05:00

I never take NY resolutions seriously. They're usually just a listing of things that I want to do anyways that I'm "resolving" to do in the coming 12 months.

Not this year. I'm making them fun, nothing too serious, so hopefully I can get them crossed off.

1. This one was actually Bub's idea: Try 1 new meal or dish, never before cooked by either of us, at least once every 2 weeks (which is once per grocery shop). We both love to cook and to try new things, but this will force us to do so.

2. Have more fun and be more social! Stop being a hermit and go out when friends ask. Visit bestie even though she's 40 minutes away (in the boonies). Host a BBQ and bonfire with friends in the summer.

3. Have 3 adventures. Ideas: take scuba lessons, go bungee jumping, go zip-lining, go whitewater rafting, go backpacking/deep woods camping/canoe tripping... something to get the adrenaline pumping. Perhaps an encore skydive is in order?

and finally

4. Don't take everything so seriously. If I don't get an A on a school project, it's not the end of the world. And ...mind my own business when it's something that doesn't concern me. I won't get upset with stuff that's not my problem this year.

So... here's to a fun 2011!

2010 Recap

2011-01-04T12:25:00.001-05:00

2010 was quite the year. Although it did have it's great moments, I can't say that I'm sad to see it go. I will however, do a quick post recapping the major events of the year.

January

-Our nephew Oscar was born on Jan 15th (Bub's step-brothers son)

February

-The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver! Incredible, incredible, incredible. I was so proud to be Canadian (as I always am) for those two weeks. We rocked the house, we showed off our beautiful country, our over the top patriotism, our incredible athletes and WE KICKED SOME AMERICAN BUTT IN HOCKEY!!!

-My Baba is hospitalized having multiple heart attacks and strokes. She is put on life support and the family is told that it's the only thing keeping her alive.

-My Aunt in hospitalized with what the doctors suspect is advanced liver cancer. The doctors tell the family that it's "likely she won't make it much longer"

March 2010

-Baba is taken off of life support and her feeding tubes are removed. We are told it won't be long until she passes.
-At the request of her sister, Baba is put back on life support and her feeding tubes are reinserted.

- The doctors confirm, then deny, then confirm, then deny that my aunt has liver cancer. Her biopsy is scheduled, and cancelled and rescheduled and then cancelled again. She is transferred to a cancer center and then back to her home hospital. She starts to show improvement after about a week as is eventually released from the hospital to bed rest at home at the end of the month.

-I receive the following text message from my husband "They found cancer in my Dad". This starts a 6 month roller-coaster of good news vs. bad news.

-Somewhere in here my sister decides to separate herself from the family altogether and stops speaking to my Mom and Dad

April

-I wrote my second set of exams.... it was much less stressful than my first round.

-Camping in Algonquin! Bub and I spent a day and night in Algonquin in early spring warm spell and nature watching. So fun!

June

-FIL is informed that he will definitely have to have surgery to remove part of his esophagus as "he's playing with fire and the cancer keeps returning". This is after 3 visits in which he was told he is "cancer free".

-A weekend or two at the cabin

-We spend an amazing weekend at a Muskoka Cottage resort to celebrate the long-awaited wedding of Bub's cousin Shannon and her fiance Bryan. It was an absolutely beautiful and unforgettable weekend.

-I play my first round of golf (and LOVED it) and then golf for the first time in the Annual T-Games.

July

-A couple of weekends at the cabin!

-FIL is given the all-clear that he is cancer free and won't require surgery.

-Vacation on Muldrew Lake.... wonderful as always.

August

- I wrote my third set of exams

-SIL's bridal shower and bachelorette parties are a success!

- A couple of weekends at the cabin.

September

-Begin 2nd full-year of University

-Travel with the whole T family to Niagara Falls for the weekend to celebrate Bub's Gramma's 80th birthday. Great memories.

-I buy my first Coach bag (yes, this is important enough for me to mention!)

October

-SIL's wedding goes off with just a few minor hitches.

-We host our first Halloween party and it's a blast

-I fail (or come very close to failing) my first exam EVER

November

-I make the decision to drop my stats class and retake it later with the help of a tutor

December

-Bub and I celebrate our 10th anniversary (with a weekend getaway to Niagara Falls/Niagara on the Lake)

-Most importantly... Baba spends Christmas day with My Dad and step-mom, my Aunt Bonnie spends Christmas Day (cancer free) with my Nana and cousins and my FIL wakes up Christmas morning still cancer free.

I think those are big signs that 2011 is looking pretty good!

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

2011-01-02T13:45:00.001-05:00

Whoa boy.... this book was certainly able to raise some color in my cheeks. There were a few steamy scenes that made me forget I was reading a YA novel. Yowzers. I read this book from cover to cover in one lazy day, alternating between napping and reading; stopping only to eat a couple times. I really enjoyed it, but I can't say that I loved it.

First, something about Zoey really got to me. The book flap said she was something of a control freak and perfectionist, but I didn't get that. I know the story is based around a really chaotic time in her life where it would be difficult to be in control, but I didn't even buy the fact that she tried. Some of her decisions and actions through the story made me furious. I thought she was smarter than the choices she was making and it thoroughly annoyed me. On the flip side, I really felt for her when it came to her relationship with her father. He infuriated me and I'm glad that I didn't have to read much about him later in the book.

Doug, on the other hand, was fascinating to me. I felt instantly drawn to him from the morning after the accident right through to the final pages. He was real and flawed and yet somehow still managed to be perfect for Zoey. And he was HOT! At least, the Doug I created in my mind was. I really enjoyed spending time with this character.

The sexual tension in this book makes it a tantalizing read for sure. It's definitely a book written for the older YA fans and not something I'd be allowing my young teen to read. But on the other hand, it did tell the truth about sex, especially the first experience, which is refreshing in comparison to some other YA novels.

All-in-all, I enjoyed this book, but I think I was just disappointed that I didn't fall in love with it. Based on several other reviews, I fully expected to so it's disheartening to realize you're 3/4 of the way through the book and it hasn't happened yet. I do recommend it to all fans of contemporary YA and those who like to read those steamy scenes!

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

2010-12-31T14:35:00.002-05:00

*3.5 stars*

First let me say... I'm totally in love with the cover of this book. How gorgeous is that?

I really enjoyed reading this book...but yet there were several things that kept me from giving it 4 stars.

I'll start first with my complaints:

-It was waaaaaaaaay too long. It has what I call "Beautiful Creatures syndrome" in that it was a good story could have been told in 100 less pages.

-Bethany did no strike me as divine. She had far too many flaws and was far to naive for me too really buy in to the fact that she was an angel.

-Would The Archangel Gabriel really be sent to some podunk town? Wouldn't he be put to better use elsewhere where there are major issues? Maybe not... I don't pretend to be an expert on Christianity or angels. That was just my take.

-As much as I thought Xavier was adorable, I didn't really feel the intensity of his relationship with Bethany. Something was missing for me. It was cute, but I didn't feel the depth. It felt like a typical high school romance to me.

I know that sounds like a long list of whiny complaints, so let me assure you that I did enjoy the book. It was an intriguing story with types characters that I haven't read a whole lot about. It was also really interesting to hear the descriptions of heaven, hell and angels. I actually found that part fascinating and it's largely what captured my attention in the beginning. I read through it fairly quickly given that it's pushing 500 pages (about 150 longer than my average book lately) and I look forward to the next installment. The epilogue leaves a little cliffhanger that makes the reader, or at least made me anxious to see what happens next and what's in store for these characters.

All-in-all, I recommend this book to all fans of paranormal romance. A cute read.

2010... as read by me

2010-12-30T23:58:00.000-05:00

If I finish my current novel Halo, by Alexandra Adornetto, by midnight tomorrow (which I fully intend to do -hooray for vacation) my book count for the year will be at 36, not including the 13.5 audiobooks I've finished. Although this isn't the huge totals that some of my other book nerdy friends will close the year with, I'm happy with it considering the amount of reading and work I had for school over the course three full-time semesters.

I thought I'd round out 2010 much the same as last year... with a listing of my favorite and least favorite books of the year.

2010 has been a really good reading year. Eight new 5 star reads, two new 5 star audiobooks and re-reads of some old favorites like Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Harry Potter (I'm currently in the middle of Half Blood Prince on audio). Plus, I have a hella-lot of 4 star reads. I've not really disliked anything I've read this year and I feel very lucky for that. For a full listing of 2010 reads click here (or here for my audio list).

Favorites (5 stars) of 2010

in order read

The Dark Divine - Bree Despain

Sisters Red - Jackson Pearce

In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez

The Summer of Skinny Dipping - Amanda Howells

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Disappointments (2 stars) of 2010

Paranormalcy - Kiersten White

I Just Want You To Know - Kate Gosselin

The Line - Teri Hall

So... on to 2011. With the sequels to The Dark Divine, Sisters Red, Hex Hall and Linger on the pile for this year, I'm really looking forward to it. Now, to dig into the pile of gorgeous books I received for Christmas.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

The Hollow (Sign of Seven Trilogy - Book 2 ) by Nora Roberts

2010-12-27T00:11:00.001-05:00

*3.5 stars*

I didn't think I really cared about Fox and Layla's story... boy was I wrong. I just wanted to nom Fox the entire time I was reading, and Layla really impressed me. She seemed to be quite the spineless pushover in the first book, but came through pretty strong when she needed to in this installment.

Again, I found myself struggling with just how "out there" the paranormal aspects were. I'm honestly having a a little difficulty keeping up with what's going on in terms of Twisse (sp?), Hester... and that crew. I'm hoping that it will all come together in the final book.

I LOVED the humour in this story. Especially between Fox and Layla and his family. The "this is excellent news" scene with Sage in the office cracked me up.

I've become quite attached to these characters and am DYING to find out what will happen with Gage and Cybil. The tension between those two is killing me and will hopefully make for some steamy reading.

Can't wait to finish off the series!

Happy Christmas

2010-12-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

It's my absolute favorite time of the year. The decorations, the food, the gifts, the music.... the traditions. I'm rarely happier than I am around Christmas. This year brings 3 family dinners and 1 family brunch... with the possibility of 1 more dinner if my Dad decides to visit next week... and I'm going to enjoy every crazy, chaotic moment.

I hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe) holiday season and enjoys lots of time relaxing and with family and friends. Enjoy! -xxoo

I think I'm in love

2010-12-14T14:27:00.003-05:00

Well hello Jarrod Gorbel... I love you. Just so you know.

When it comes to music, I like what I like. Sometimes it's some little local band, sometimes it's top 40, sometimes it's country, sometimes it's classic rock..... I just love music. If it makes me think, dance, cry... if it incites some kind of reaction from me, I like it. That's what it's all about. There's nothing better to me than that song that comes along every once in a while that I just can't get enough of, and I found a new one today. Lucky for me it's from an artist that I wasn't familiar with before now. This is especially exciting because it opens up a whole slew of possibilities for future can'tgetenoughofthissong candidates.

Annnnd... special bonus? Jarrod is super easy to look at in additional to his killer abilities as a musician. I'm kind of mesmerized by him.

Do yourself a favor and check these songs out.... start w/ 10 Years Older because it's INCREDIBLE!

I suck...

2010-12-13T11:57:00.001-05:00

...at taking pictures. Well, I suck at a lot of other stuff too, but especially at taking pictures. This has not always been a problem for me, but it seems to be getting worse lately.

Bub and I took off to Niagara Falls for the weekend to celebrate our 10th anniversary and I didn't take a single picture of either of us. There were many picture worthy, Ishouldwanttocapturethismemory moments.... but I failed to remove the camera from my purse even once with the exception of 1 shot of Santa Claus in the parade we stumbled upon. And honestly... why did I want a picture of Santa?

I also snapped a pic of this cute guy with my phone who was watching the parade with his people:

He was very proud of his sweater (and if you can't tell.. that's a little stuffed snowman on his back). Too cute!

Bub and I headed down on Friday night, making pretty decent time, arrived to check-in to the hotel, have a beer and then head out to Mick and Angelo's- hub's fave restaurant and a Niagara Falls night # 1 tradition- for dinner. It was to die for as always (although I'd HATE to see the calorie count on the calzone that I get). We walked down Cliffton Hill to see the falls and watch the fireworks and then strolled around a little before stopping for ice cream (yeah... not a good idea in December in Ontario) and then headed back to the hotel where I spent the rest of the night in the jacuzzi.

Saturday was spent first at the breakfast buffet, then outlet mall shopping, a drive through wine country (seriously... I want 90% of the houses that we drove past... gorgeous!) and then strolling through and shopping in Niagara on the Lake. It's such a quaint little village and was so cute all done up for Christmas. We happened to be there for their Santa Claus Parade, which was the best I've seen in a long time... great marching bands and drumlines!

We headed back into Niagara, stopped on the way for a late lunch and then spent the afternoon in the jacuzzi back at the hotel. After switching rooms because we had no more hot water we got ready for dinner at Canyon Creek overlooking the falls. It was an incredible meal with a great view and not terribly priced. We spent the night planning our fantasy dream house. Mine included a huge great room with a big fireplace, a full library, a hot tub, stables and horses, a seperate family room for the television.... Bub's included basketball and tennis courts, both an indoor and outdoor pool, a hot tub and a theatre room. It was fun to dream a little.

We had every intention to go skating at "Rink on the Brink" which is an outdoor rink right at the falls, but when we went back to change, I got in the tub and that was it.... by 10pm I was out cold in the kingsize bed!

Sunday we left early and got Timmy's for breakfast on the road because some nasty weather was supposed to come in. When we got back, we ended up spending the day with my Dad who was coming through town on business (he lives 13+ hours away and I haven't seen him since my Aunt was sick last winter). So it was a really nice surprise and a great way to round of the weekend.

I wanted to spend tonight picking up my last 2 Christmas gifts and then completing my wrapping... but the laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping that didn't get done this weekend can't wait. We have no food and we'll have nothing to wear if I don't do a load or 2. So that's what I'll be up to tonight. However, it will be nice to be at home "puttering" around with the dogs rather than at school like I would usually be on a Monday night. Maybe I'll even get a little bit of reading in??
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

10 Years of Goofy Love

2010-12-07T11:22:00.002-05:00

On this exact day 10 years ago, sometime around 7:30 pm if memory serves me correctly, on ICQ (remember ICQ?? "uh oh!") a boy who I'd been kissing and drinking hot chocolate with after school for about 2 weeks asked me if I would be his girlfriend officially. And I said yes. Little did I know that 10 years later, I would own a house and car, have 2 dogs, 3 nieces and 3 nephews and be 4 years deep into a silly, fun and exciting marriage with that same boy.

Honestly, if the average Joe could see into our house on a normal night when it's just us and the dogs, they'd probably think we were crazy. We dance and goof around and play fight and call eachother names..... and just laugh together. A lot. We've gone through some stuff in the last 10 years, but he's really my best friend and I'm so lucky to be able to go home at night and unload a share of my troubles on him.

I can't believe that it was December 7th 2000, way back when I was in the 10th grade, that it all began. And now here we are on December 7th 2010 and I'll be going home to that same boy... probably not kissing him tonight cuz' he's sick... but definitely celebrating a decade of the most goofy love most people will ever see.

Oh! and look what was waiting for me when I got up this morning......

A (giant) homemade card to add the collection I have which includes 1 for every month of our first year together and every year since then.

*sorry for the crappy quality- my BB camera sucks*

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

2010-12-07T10:23:00.002-05:00

Oh how I wanted to fall in love with this book. I wanted to open it and get sucked in and finish it in a sitting and want to talk about it for ages. But, I just didn't. I totally thought it would be another one of those Hex Hall-like surprises where I think "meh... I might as well see what the fuss is about" and then finishing with "oh my god, I loved this book, it was just so much fun!", but it wasn't.

Maybe I shouldn't have gone in with that level of expectation. Maybe it was just "too fantasy" for me with the souls and the glowing and the fairy paths.... I really don't know. But whatever it was, I finished this book feeling pretty blah about it (blah = very academic, critical literary analysis term).

I think what bothered me most was that it was almost as if White was trying really hard to be anti-stereotypical-paranormal-YA. I found it obvious in a lot of places. I'm all for trying to bring something fresh and new, but not when it's so obvious that you're working so hard to do it. It felt... forced, and it kind of annoyed me.

I also finished it thinking that I was glad it was all wrapped up, and then thought "huh?... I don't really understand what happened". Maybe I missed something or maybe you're supposed to be left in the dark for the sequel (and you know how I feel about series books that leave you confused... confused is NOT the same thing as cliffhanger)... but either way I was no clearer on Vivian, Reth, Lend or Evie's full stories by the time I finished. I feel like I missed a chapter that did a lot of explaining or something.

Ok- enough of the negative. What did I like? Um... LEND! What a cutie and very believable. Regardless of what he was, I easily bought into him as a teen.

I seem to be in the minority on my opinion of this book so I won't discourage others, especially fans of paranormal YA, from reading it. I know it's right up some people's alley and I think White has done a great job writing it in such a way that it's "safe" for young readers. It just wasn't for me and I won't be continuing with the series.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

2010-12-01T12:09:00.001-05:00

I admit, I may be slightly biased when it comes to this Christmas classic. My father had a dramatized version on vinyl that we used to listen to when I was growing up (something I believe he had listened to when he was a child). We'd turn the lights off, but for the Christmas tree, and sip hot chocolate and listen to the spooky story. I remember being quite scared at certain points but I loved it... and still do.

What can I say about this story? It's a perfect Christmas lesson and a perfect depiction of the joy that Christmas can bring. I love everything about the Christmas Season, so Scrooge's turnaround at that time of the year is particularly special to me.

I don't have much more to say about this book except that if you haven't read it, you should. It's one of those classics that everyone should experience and enjoy for themselves. And then rent the movie or a dramatized audio book sometime around the holiday season. The newest animated version with Jim Carrey is great... but nothing beats the creepy old black and white original.

They're definitely good entertainment while telling a wonderful story. Great read!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

2010-11-26T11:35:00.004-05:00

I think I’m finally ready to talk about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Had I posted a review before today it probably would have gone something like this:

Wow. Like seriously… wow. So good. I mean with the… ya. And the…? Wow. And then I cried. Like, they just did such a good… ya. Wow.

As you can see, that wouldn’t really have told you much except that I loved it to the point of speechlessness.

Best movie yet by far. The acting was just incredible, compartively. As much as I love Emma Watson as Hermione, she kinda bugged me at times with her overacting in the films previous to this one. But not in DH. She was on point the whole time. The tension between Ron and Hermione is palpable and I loved it! All of the characters did a really great job this time around. You really sense their connection, their loyalty to one another.

If I could choose three words to describe DH it would be dark, intense and sad. I’m happy that I hadn’t read the book recently because I was able to go into the movie with few expectations or “I hope they do this scene” etc etc. I was able to just sit back and enjoy it and let it all come back to me as the movie went on.

Some of my favorite parts (MOVIE AND BOOK SPOILERS TO FOLLOW):

The first (and only scene, I think) with Harry and Ginny… I wanted to shout out, “don’t worry! You’re gonna get married and have lots of babies!!!” But honestly, I think it was a really good way to set the record of where they stood with each other.
The scene with Fred and an injured George… “Saintly… see, I’m holy?”…. classic Weasley twins! I think I liked this because, for the first time, you see the deep connection between the brothers. Another classic Weasly moment was the “just trying to diffuse the tension” line at Privet Drive. LOVE!
Harry and Hermione dancing: some people found this cheesy, but I loved that he did this for her. Just shows how much he cares for her and how close they are.

Friggin’ scary, but awesome nonetheless parts:

The wedding: when Kingsley’s Patronous arrives to warn everyone “The Ministry has fallen… Minister for Magic is Dead…. They are coming”… *shivers* So creepy-awesome! The voice gave me chills.
Godric’s Hollow: seriously, the old lady is really bloody creepy. And then in the bedroom? God, I knew it was coming and yet still jumped about 10 feet out of my seat.

The hardest parts to watch:

Ron and Harry's fight followed by Ron's departure. I wanted to SCREAM for him to take the Horcrux off (but then one of my favorite parts was his return... excellent part of the book and movie).
Hedwig! Poor, sweet, loyal Hedwig. It was not a long, drawn out scene but Oy! I couldn’t stop the tears. I seriously ached.
Dobby’s death. I cried again…. and kept on crying. Good lord they did it well. It just ruined me.

My only complaints:

I was sad that we didn't get to see Kreacher's turn around.
I have to wait 8 months until the bittersweet end.

Such a great movie that I absolutely cannot wait to see again!

Blood Brothers (Sign of Seven Trilogy - Book 1) by Nora Roberts

2010-11-25T09:57:00.001-05:00

I hadn't read Nora Roberts in a while so when browsing through the library one day (in between holds) I decided to pick these up. I'd heard The Sign of Seven Trilogy was a great series.

Book one is a very quick read which introduces you to the 6 main characters (gee... I wonder where that's going to go, with 3 men and 3 women in a romance book?). This book focuses on Quinn and Cal and the relationship that they develop.

It was enjoyable, kept me engaged and I read through it rather quickly, but I didn't LOVE it. It was just a good, entertaining read.

I'm not sure I can point out specific complaints without posting huge spoilers so I will avoid that for now. I will say that some of the paranormal element was just.... to "out there" for me to really buy. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against paranormal and read a lot of it, but this stuff was just a little... eh.

Aside from that I really did enjoy it. The characters were quirky and flawed, as NR usually writes them, and therefore very fun to read about. The romance between Cal and Quinn was equal parts cute and steamy which is just how I like em! I'm excited to see where the Cyb and Gage story goes. I like their attitudes and I think a relationship between them would be really interesting.

I have The Hallow (book 2) checked out and waiting at home and am looking forward to diving back into Hawkins Hallow after a brief break to finish something else. All in all- this is a good romantic thriller that I recommend to all NR fans.

Feeling a little pissy today....

2010-11-23T10:15:00.001-05:00

....I'm trying really hard not to be, but it's just not working and the stabbiness is winning out. I'm feeling... betrayed, for lack of a better word, by someone who I thought was a good friend. I don't want to be mad at him, but I just am. I'd love to call him out on it but I can't for one reason or another, so I just have to sit and brood about it. I honestly don't know whether to cry or throw something.

The problem with days like today is that I have a hard time separating the thing that's bothering me from everything else. So, I'm short tempered and agitated with everyone who has the misfortune to get in my way. I know it's not fair, I know that it's childish, but I can't help it most of the time. When I'm in a mood, I'm in a mood and there's no coming out of it until I'm done being mad. Bub knows this well. My famous line is "I'm not finished being angry yet so leave me alone". And when he's knows what's good for him, he does.

When I'm mad, I like to deal with things. I like to confront the issue, sort it out and move on. When I can't do that, my mind twists and turns (usually along with my stomach) and sends me to the point of complete distraction. That's what's happening today. I feel like I might BURST with the frustration.

So.... I just have to try to move past it and get through the day so I can go home and vent my frustrations to Bub (poor guy- he doesn’t know what he's in for). Until then, I’ll be a nervous ball of dirty looks, snarky comments and impatient gestures. Lucky co-workers!

Ugh. It's going to be a long day.

Ordinary Miracles

2010-11-22T13:47:00.000-05:00

Three sweet little lives were welcomed to this world today... and although they gave their Mama and Daddy (and everyone else who loves them already) a big scare making their appearance at only 28 weeks, they have put a big goofy smile on my face today. I've even shed more than a few joyful tears. Want to hear something really cheesy? I've been humming this all day too, but I believe it.

I'm so happy for Jenny, her husband, and their new family that they've been waiting so long for... and I'm thinking of and praying for those sweet babies to stay strong and get healthy so they can go home with their parents.

Congrats Mama and Daddy! And welcome Tobias, Eleanor and Callista!

Fall Update

2010-11-22T10:45:00.001-05:00

I'm SUCH a slacker when it comes to posting pictures of events, so I'm going to do another ones of those fall update posts.

First, in September, we took off to Niagara Falls for the weekend to celebrate Bub's Gramma's 80th Birthday. She'd had her big party for her 75th, so she wanted to do something different for her 80th and choose gambling in Niagara.

It turned out to be a great weekend. We were supposed to stop at a Becca Fitzpatrick signing on the way down, but Bub was suffering from a nasty headache that day so I let him sleep and drove right through to Niagara. Well... almost. I pulled off in Milton for a pee break and Bub happened to wake-up. Headache pretty much gone, he requested that since we were in Milton we had to find "Halifx Donair"... a restaurant we had heard about on TV that apparently made donairs just like out east. So, we took a drive down Main Street and low and behold, we found it. So Bub got his donair and I got a chicken ceasar salad and we picnic'd in the car.

This picture was taken moments before the ORANGE sauce ended up in his lap and on my passenger seat.

Much of the T family was able to make it for the weekend, which included a big family dinner at the casino buffet on Saturday night. It was a blast. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pics. Here's the one and only time my camera came out that weekend.

Bub'a Aunt and Uncle, myself and SMIL walked from the hotel to the liquor store for supplies... but we got thirsty on the way and stopped for a margarita!

We had a great time with the family, and then the cousins and their spouses went out drinking and dancing Saturday night at a little dive club! Wish I would have taken some pics. We had a great time.

I also treated myself while we were in Niagara..... I really couldn't afford it, but I LOVED it and it really was a GREAT deal thanks to a 20% off sale and the Coach outlet!

We immediately moved from birthday to wedding festivities for SIL. Being part of the wedding party, along with Bub, meant I didn't capture any of my own pics... but I stole a few from FB to post here.

We're missing a bridesmaid here... but you wouldn't know it.

Bub stood up for SIL on her side so really, he should be in this pic as well.

Super uncomfortable dresses, but the colors were very pretty. The day went ok, the weather was perfect and the wedding beautiful and a lot of fun. As much as I hate to say it, it was a relief to have it over with though because it took up a huge amount of time and money that I didn't really have.

The bride and her million pound dress and train.

We definitely celebrated though... drinking and dancing the night away.

Myself and my 3 nieces gettin' our groove on at the beginning of the night.

The weekend following the wedding meant we finally got some peace and quiet.... along with some down time. So we took full advantage of it. But not long after, I woke up to this....

This was taken from my bedroom window on Oct 22nd.

It didn't last of couse, but it definitely hit home that an Ontario winter was on the way.

Preparations began for our Halloween Bash. It was a TON of fun, despite having to miss the prep and beginnig of the party due to my stats exam. Everyone had a good time, with lots of food, drinks, Rock Band (with an epic group rendition of WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE) and even some karaoke.

Here's a few pics from the night:

The food all ready to go. Bub took a pic for me since I wasn't home to see this. We even made candy apples!

Bub and BIL aka Wayne and Garth. I hate this picture because it's so unflattering for MH but it's the only one I got of the two of them.

McSteamy and Little Grey! Love It!

Myself and bestie # 2.

I'm really not wearing that bat on my head... it just looks like it.

A Fallen Angel and Snooki! Caaabs are heeeeya!

SIL and Sammy in the worlds tightest Bam Bam costume.

Junior- Hippie Love

Some of the other crazies at the party.... ya... I don't really know what to say.

All in all, a fun night... but we're not sure we'll do it again. It was a lot of work and really expensive, but a blast. We'll see.

So, we're now headed into the Christmas season! My favorite time of the year! Hopefully I'll be a little better with the camera this time around so I can document some memories for myself.

Time to start counting the "sleeps til' Santa comes"!

HARRY POTTER, HARRY POTTER, HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!

2010-11-19T13:48:00.001-05:00

By the title of this post, you might think that I'm getting a certain movie to be released today confused with this classic...

I assure you... I'm not (great movie though).

Then why the need for a title in triplicate you ask? Well in all honesty, if you don't know (or can't figure it out), then I'm not sure you deserve to read my blog. (I'm kidding of course!)

My excitement today is due to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I.

I'm honestly giddy with anticipation for 10:15 tonight. The trailers honestly give me chills! I get Ron fix, and a Lupin fix.... and I'm just all around excited to spend a couple of hours beyond the muggle world!

Unfortunately, seeing the movie on release day means seeing it in sold out theatres and waiting in lines... but it's well worth it. I'll take a book, my DS and my BB and keep myself and Bub entertained while we wait. We've done it for all previous HP releases, for Avatar and for the Twilight movies... so we're old pros.

Unfortunately I didn't get to finish my series re-read, and it's been quite some time since I read this book (the day it was released) so I'm a little foggy on the details, but I think that will just make it all the more enjoyable!

Can't wait! I'll be sure to post a review ASAP. Now... if I can just make it through the next eight and a half hours.......

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Edge of Sight by Roxanne St. Claire

2010-11-18T10:31:00.001-05:00

*First reads win, Nov 2010*

Ok- so this story gets almost 4 stars... call it 3.5. It was a really good read and I enjoyed it a lot, but there was just something keeping me from giving out that full fourth star.

The storyline was definitely a winner. Very suspenseful and intricate enough to keep me turning the pages. Sure it was a little cheesy at some parts, but we're talking about a romantic suspense, so you know there's going to be a certain degree of cheese at some point (whispering words of love in Italian during "you know what"... CHEESE).

The main characters were likeable and engaging. I didn't love Sam, but I didn't dislike her either. She was a good enough MC. And I, of course, loved Zach. The bad boy with a heart of gold, and a tortured soul. Swoon!

I think what has me hesitating is a) the supporting cast. It seemed like this book spent way too much time setting up for future books (with "The Guardian Angelinos") and it didn't seem authentic and sometimes didn't really flow with the storyline. And b) the love story evolved a little too quickly for my liking. One minute they couldn't be together and it was torturing them and then they just were and it was all happy and kisses. It was a little rushed for me.

Other than that, I really did enjoy the book. It was a nice change of pace from my last book and I couldn't wait to get home in the evenings to crack it open while soaking in the tub.

Another fun first-reads win!

A Quitter...

2010-11-12T09:20:00.002-05:00

...that's what I am. Well, I'm sure it's how some people will see me.

I dropped the stats class. Somehow, I managed to pass the exam, but I was not impressed with a 52% (bumped to a 57% since the Prof gave us all a free 5%). I know I can do better, I just have to approach the class differently.

So, after almost 2 weeks of agonizing, talking to tutors, talking with the family and most importantly with Bub, I decided to drop the class and take it again next semester from scratch, even though it was against the advice of some of my family.

I'm taking a different approach this time around. For one, I'm not taking it online. Clearly for this class, I need to sit in front of my Professor to be able to ask questions as we go, and secondly, I'm getting a tutor to walk me through the class from week one.

I know this may seem like quitting to a lot of you, and I think some members of my family will be incredibly disappointed, but I have many reasons for dropping the class. Anyone who's taken the class seems to understand exactly where I'm coming from. It's those who've never been there that don't get it and think I should just "push through and get the pass" to "get it over with". But I don't want to just "get it over with". I need to protect my GPA and I need to set myself up to actually learn something in this class and in the future.

Sure, I've now lost the time and money I spent on the class for this semester (which I HATE), but I think the other stuff outweighs it.

a) I can't afford to have my GPA drop drastically, especially while I'm waiting to have my degree change approved. If the degree change doesn't get approved, I'm done because I can't continue in the program I'm in on a part-time basis.

b) I don't have the time, energy, money or brain power to meet with a tutor 2 or 3 times a week until the final exam on December 14th, which is what would be required in order to get back on track with hopes of just passing the exam

c) I don't understand the new material because I don't understand the old material. The hole is just getting deeper and deeper the further we go.

d) I have to take Stats II.... so if I don't have a basic understanding of this stuff and just "get the pass" I'll struggle just as much, or more, with Stats II.

So.... I made the decision and dropped it. I think it's best for myself because I know that I can start from scratch and do better with a little more planning and a different approach. I wish it had turned out differently, but now I know how this class is and I'll be more prepared the second time around.

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T09:33:00.000-05:00

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the guns fell silent.

This is why we choose today to remember the brave men and women who have fought, who are fighting and the many who died for our freedom as a Country.

I'm so proud to be a Canadian. There's isn't another country in this world that I would choose to live in and my pride lasts 365 days per year. So, on this day I have to give thanks and remembrance to those who have ensured that it remains the amazing and free country that it is.

So I say simply.... Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the sacrifices you made or are making (and for those who will make them). I am forever grateful.

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies grow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

*My own tribue to our war heros.*

How I Live Now- Meg Rosoff

2010-11-10T11:06:00.001-05:00

*I wish I could give this book both 3 and 5 stars*

I really struggled in deciding whether to give this book 3 or 5 stars. Yes, you read that correctly. Not 4 or 5, or even 3 or 4... but 3 or 5.

The first way to describe this book is, in my opinion, strange. Very good, but definitely strange. This story is about love, lust, family, perseverance, survival, war, eating disorders, depression.... ya, it's all over the map. That combined with the very unique (and slightly annoying at first) writing style with run on sentences, improper punctuation and random capital letters, is what makes this book so different and hard for me to rate.

At first, I thought "nope- this is just to different for me, I'm not going to like it", but by about the middle of the book I was captivated and totally engaged with the characters. Seeing a story of war from a child perspective, with very little adult influence was very fascinating and very honest.

Daisy is an incredibly interesting MC with a lot of flaws. I think the most interesting aspect of the story is watching her grow and mature emotionally out of necessity for survival. He commitment to Piper is incredibly interesting and I think it's what saves her and gives her the power to keep going.

The Edmund story line was..... just..... weird. Perhaps I missed something, but I really didn't understand the necessity of their familial ties. I got the intensity, but why in inappropriateness? This is where I struggled.

However, this book takes you on an emotional journey that's both sad, terrifying and hopeful. It's the uniqueness of the book that makes it so captivating and I really recommend it.

Failure

2010-11-08T11:31:00.001-05:00

The past 2 weeks have been absolutely crazy as far as school goes. My accelerated class was winding down and is now officially done (I wrote the final on Saturday) and I am in mid-terms for my other classes.

I write my MODES test tonight and am not worried about it. I really like the class and pulled of 93% on the last test so I think I'll be ok.

I wrote my statistics exam last Saturday and boy did it S.U.C.K. I spent hours and hours studying, crafting an effective reference sheet (we were allowed to take 1 page of formulas into the exam) and running through practice questions. As hellish as it was, the studying went really well. Too well actually. In the days leading up to the exam, I mentioned to Bub a couple times that it was "too easy" and it was making me nervous. Well... my gut was right. It was too easy.

I arrived at the exam and the nerves hit me the a load of bricks. I had major butterflies in my tummy, my palms were sweating and I'm sure a good wind would have caused a sandstorm in mouth it was so dry. I normally get a little nervous before exams, but this was beyond anything I'd experienced.

The first part of the test was multiple choice. I got through the first 5ish questions pretty easily and my confidence started to increase..... but then reality set in. My system for MC is to go through and answer all the questions I'm sure about first, leaving little ticks beside questions I'm not sure about so I can go back and think about them later. By the time I reached the end of the section, I had more ticks than I did completed questions. PANIC. That's the only word to describe it. I felt my face flush and my heart start to pound..... and I froze. I gathered my wits enough to make some educated guesses (and even more random guesses) and then move onto the next part- the short-answer/problem questions.

The first question was a breeze. I answered all but 1 part (that I had never even heard of) and was feeling better thinking "okay- I'll make up the marks with the problems". WRONG. I answered question 1, maybe 1/4 of question 2 and questions 3-5? Blank. Yep.... blank. I had no clue what I was doing. I didn't even know where to start with them. I spent the last 45 minutes of the exam flipping between the questions and my references sheet desperately trying to see something that I hadn't yet seen. I was waiting for the lightbulb to come on and it never did. Finally, with only 15 minutes left to write and feeling my blood pressure at a boiling point, I gathered my stuff and handed in what little I had completed, and left.

I felt defeated, shocked and ready to curl up in a little ball to cry for hours. I've never EVER done so poorly on an exam.... and I knew I had failed or come extremely close to it. However, as some may remember, we were hosting a Halloween Party that evening which had already started without me (pics and post to come later this week), so I had to suck it up and get home to help Bub. I called him, told him that the exam went terribly and I didn't want to talk about it when I go home and then we went on with our plans as usual.

I have to say, it really took the wind out of my sails for a couple of days. I was so upset and disappointed with myself. I was embarrassed and just really really sad. I woke up Sunday morning clutching my stomach and thought many times of just giving up on school altogether.... because of one class. Yeah... I'm a little hard on myself when it comes to school. I realize now that that's not a solution and am becoming more at peace with it... but I still have a hard time thinking about how poorly I did after all my preparation.

My plan now is to wait and see what the mark is. If I somehow pulled a passing grade out of my rear (which I'm 99.9% sure I didn't) I will pay a tutor, continue with the class, and just try to get it over with. It's a mandatory class so I might as well push through. If I didn't, I will be dropping the class to re-take at a later date. I can't afford a) the pressure it would cause to bring a failing grade up to an acceptable level, and b) to have a grade from 1 class pull my average down the tubes while I'm still trying to have them approve my degree change.

So... I'm waiting it out. On the plus side, my HR class is done, after tonight I will only have 1 more test for my MODES class this term (in December) and if I drop the stats class I won't have to worry about it..... which all means that I'd have 1 class per week with no assignments or tests to worry about until December and no exams during the exam period! That does sound kind of tempting doesn't it?

Book Lust and Cover Love

2010-11-02T15:13:00.001-04:00

I'm in the process of making my annual Christmas booklist for my husband and family, which is always fun and always about 100 books long. It's also a little frustrating because and it reminds me of just how long I have to wait for a lot of books that I'm really looking forward to. This time last year I was trying to get my hands on a copy of Shiver, and was anxiously awaiting The Dark Divine's release. This year, my list includes books like Crescendo, Beautiful Darkness, Torment, Pegasus, Halo, The Replacement, Paranormalcy and The Lost Saint. But those are just the books that I can hope to unwrap on December 25th (or thereabouts). I'm frustrated by the reminder that I have to wait an eternity for books like Demonglass, Forever, and Sweetly (which I found out today was pushed back to August!). Honestly people, it's torture. I have added a few more to my TBR list in browsing Goodreads and, I have to say, I've fallen in love.

Can I just say OH.MY.GOD. I'm in love with this cover. Honestly. Is this not one of the most stunning covers you've ever seen?

I came upon this kind of randomly on GoodReads, but I know that I will definitely be picking up a hardcopy for my collection, simply based on the cover art. So gorgeous. Luckily, the synopsis sounds really interesting as well. I'm all about retellings lately.

Entwined by Heather Dixon-

Azalea and her younger sisters dance in the mysterious silver forest every night, escaping from the sadness of the palace and their father’s grief. What they don’t understand—although as time passes they begin to get an inkling of the danger they are in—is that the mysterious and dashing Keeper is tightening his snare with deadly purpose. Luckily, Azalea is brave and steadfast. Luckily, a handsome young army captain also has his eye on Azalea. . . . Lush, romantic, and compelling, this debut novel by Heather Dixon will thrill fans of Shannon Hale, Robin McKinley, and Edith Pattou.

I cannot wait to get my hands on this!

I'm still (albeit barely) alive!

2010-10-25T15:40:00.002-04:00

I'm such a slacker lately when it comes to my blog. Unfortunately, due to my accelerated class coming to an end (and therefore approaching the final exam) and mid-terms for my other classes, I'm swamped (even that's an understatement). We've had a crazy busy fall too with my SILs wedding, Bub's grandmothers 80th birthday trip etc etc etc..... I do plan to do a big catch-up post with pictures (or lack thereof) ASAP, but it's probably going to have to wait until after Nov 6th when I write the final for my HR class. I get a few weeks reprieve at that point to gear up for finals in December. I'm going to try to post some pics of the Halloween party we're hosting on Saturday... to which I will be late due to a 6pm exam... but I'm not making any promises.

In the meantime... since I don't even have a new book review to post (I've read a grand total of 1 book for October), I though I'd leave you with a few links to some stuff I've found interesting/funny/exciting/cute lately:

John Green Making Adorable Music - Um... ya. I want a band worth of these immediately.

You May Now Kiss... Yourself. - strange? yes. But in an odd way, kinda cool.

Advice from 10 Canadian Women in Power

For the gadget geek in me: 100 Greatest Gadgets of All Time

Rules of Attraction- Simone Elkeles

2010-10-18T10:48:00.001-04:00

Did I love this book because it's such an important piece of literature? No. Did the writing/story knock my socks off? No. Did I feel the need to run out and tell everything to read this book? No. BUT....did I blush a little while reading some of the super steamy make-out scenes and finish it in one guilty sitting? Hell yes!

As with the first book in this "series', Perfect Chemistry, this story is a total guilty pleasure. A super fast read filled with hot guys (seriously... the sexy Spanish mixed in with the dialogue is HOT), and steamy lusty make-out scenes. The story-line is engaging enough that I read the book in a sitting and loved it.

The characters in this one were pretty interesting. I really liked Kiara.... from her boyish wardrobe to her stutter, I really wanted her to be happy. Carlos is just as yummy as his brother was, but I didn't quite fall for him as much as I did with Alex. He was definitely more rough around the edges, and yet vulnerable too. And um, the car scene in the rain (see book cover)? Ya... LOVED it. I did love Carlos' relationship with Tuck, whom I was very happy wasn't the typical over the top gay best friend. I'm getting a little tired of that. He seemed pretty real to me.

As cheesy as it is, I love the epilogues in these books. For a romantic like me it's really cute to be able to peek into the future and see what happens with these characters.

So, was this a great literary masterpiece? No. But I really enjoyed it and will definitely being reading the final Fuentes brothers story when it is released.

The Sky Is Everywhere- Jandy Nelson

2010-09-29T10:22:00.004-04:00

I really, really adored this book. It's a very real story about death, grief, love and truth that pulled at every sensitive bone in my body.

I have to start by saying that it's worth reading if for nothing more than to experience the style, flow and beauty of how the author writes. It's poetic and just incredibly well written. There were lines of this book that took my breath away (ex: the sky starts at your feet). Some were so simple and yet had a profound impact on the story, the characters or (as cheesy as this is going to sound) me. According to the book flap, Nelson is a published poet. I would like to find some of her work. This however is her first novel so I'm excited to see how she grows from here.

This story gave us some fascinating characters. I loved every.single.one without exception. With Lennie, I was able to feel her pain, confusion and excitement right along with her. I genuinely liked her as a main character. Bailey, although we don't actually "know" her, is probably my favorite character in the book... spunky, happy, full of life and full of love. You can't really help but want to hang-out with her. The boys both had me swooning, but in very different ways. They both represented a different side of Lennie's emotions and I was kind of fascinated by it. Gram, Sarah and Big were great supporting characters with their constant love and concern for Lennie, as well as adding some quirkiness to the plot.

I think what I loved most about this book was its honesty. It really captured the tumult that a person goes through in the wake of a major loss. My heart broke for Lennie and the family at certain parts and yet I'd be snorting with laughter in the next paragraph. It's a true depiction of the confusion of death.

I truly enjoyed this book and will definitely be re-reading in the future to savor and appreciate the writing some more. I can't wait to see future work from Jandy Nelson. Please go pick up this book. You won't regret it.

Happy Birthday to my Furry Soulmate!

2010-09-23T10:51:00.000-04:00

My little Lola Bean turns FIVE today! I seriously can't believe it. Feels like just yesterday that I feel instantly in love with the 3lb ball of cuteness.

Lola - Christmas 2005- 3 Months Old

Lola- April 2010- 4.5 years old

Happy Birthday Beaner! We'll have snuggles and some peanut butter toast tonight to celebrate! (ya.... my dogs are easy to please)

The Teen Read Awards and My First Book Signing

2010-09-21T10:03:00.000-04:00

Since I live less than an hour north of Toronto, you would think that I'd get to attend some pretty cool book signings in the city. Well... that couldn't be further from the truth. For whatever reason, authors and their managers/publishers avoid Toronto like the plague (really people... it's only cold here in the WINTER). So, when I heard about the Teen Read Awards I was so super excited I couldn't contain myself. That is, until I found out that you had to be UNDER 18 to purchase tickets. Yep, seriously. I was going to miss my chance to rub shoulders with the likes of:

Becca Fitzpatrick
Alyson Noel
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Kelley Armstrong
Alexandra Bullen
Carrie Jones
James Dashner
Lesley Livingstone
Melissa de la Cruz
Tim Wynne-Jones
Ally Carter

::tears:: Honestly I was so disappointed.

BUT, I was perusing the Upcoming Events page on Indigo.com and saw that Becca Fitzpatrick will be doing a signing at a bookstore in Toronto at noon the day of the show!

HOORAY! I LOVED Hush, Hush (read my review here) and am anxiously awaiting the release of Crescendo, so I'm super pumped to have her sign my copy. We're actually going out of town on Saturday for the night (family thing) but have to drive through Toronto, so I'm hoping the timing works out and we can make a stop! I've never been to a book signing before, so I'm really happy that my first one will be with an author that I'm really genuinely excited to meet.

Then Sunday is the annual Word on the Street Book Fesitval downtown Toronto. I'm not super impressed with the list of authors posted so far, but there are a few authors I'd like to meet... so I think we'll make a stop there on the way home. I can only hope that some of the authors in town for the Teen Read Awards will make a stop at the book festival!?!?! Fingers crossed!!!!!

Man! I'm so excited I can't even contain myself. I'm such a nerd!

What have I gotten myself into?

2010-09-17T11:13:00.000-04:00

With this new accelerated class, I have 4 classes per week until the first week of November. This doesn't sound too bad until I remember that I work full-time, own a home, have a husband and 2 dogs and friends and family whom I rarely see to begin with.

So... with all the readings, classes, assignments, tests and exams coming up over the next 6 weeks, I had to do something to organize myself and stay on track. I created a calendar detailing what school related tasks needs to be done each day from now until the end of the semester. Luckily, after my accelerated class ends the first week of November, it doesn't look too bad at all.... but until then, it's friggin' scary! I literally have something to do every.single.day, and many days have more than one thing. I've even broken it down to when to start studying for tests and which chapters to study which days. I have even worked it out to include assigned readings for all of my classes, but usually by the end of the semester I have given up on that for the most part strictly due to the fact that a) it's the exact same content from the lectures because the professor is usually the author b) I don't actually absorb most of what I read because it's so dry. You know... you finish the paragraph and have little clue as to what you just read? Ya. That's me with much of my school material. However, I have good intentions this semester so we'll see.

Hopefully I can stick to this calendar. I need to stick to this calendar or I will fall way behind and my schedule does not allow for playing catch-up. Sometimes my OCD comes in handy.

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

2010-09-15T09:45:00.002-04:00

I have big love for Maggie Stiefvater, so I was really excited to learn that I had won a signed copy of this book from my awesome friend Tameka through a giveaway held on her blog.

I will start by saying that I enjoyed it. I was drawn in and definitely intrigued from the beginning. I didn't love it like I did Linger, but in my opinion they are totally and completely different books. Even the style of writing feels different to me and therefore you can't really compare them.

Where I struggled a little with this was in trying to follow along. I felt a little lost for the first 1/2 (possibly more) of the book. I understand that not knowing Luke's history and identity is part of the story, but it just felt like something was missing and that sort of stayed with me for the rest of the book because even when it all came together, it didn't totally... well.... come together for me. Everything seemed to happen very quickly with little explanation and by the end I felt like there were a lot of loose ends that were never really tied up (I don't want to get into spoilers).

I did love Luke and his back story. I love the idea behind his history. Dee was a little frustrating for me but I could sympathize with her by the end. James was a great best friend character. I think I've come to realize that where I usually hate female best friends, I have a big soft spot for male best friends. There's just something genuine about them.

I was drawn in to this book though, and I was eager to find out what happened. I just can't say that I really loved it when I was left feeling slightly lost by the end of the book. I may pick up Ballad in a little while to see if it can answer any of my remaining questions.

The "Fat Girl" Mentality.

2010-09-14T09:50:00.003-04:00

Ummmmmmmmmm.... so I'm wearing a new pair of jeans today... in a size fricking SIX!!!!

WHAT?!?! I don't wear size 6, I wear size 18. I'm not the thin friend. I'm the overweight but loveable one. I'm the big one in the bridal party. I'm the bulging bride. I'm the girl who's always tugging on her clothes never quite comfortable.

But wait. None of that is true anymore. 60lbs and 12 dress sizes later I should be able to say with confidence that I am now officially thin. I should be able to look in the mirror and see the skinny girl that I always dreamed of being. But it doesn't always work that way. I still cringe when I catch my reflection before getting in the shower. I still see major flaws; stretch marks, jiggly arms and a flabby tummy (I'm not imagining these things either... they're still very much a problem). I still don't wear a bikini or anything with spaghetti straps and I certainly don't think to call my other thin friends to borrow a dress or cute outfit when I'm in need. In my head, although I've been successfully keeping the weight off for 2 years now, I'm still the fat girl. It doesn't depress me the way it used to because I know, when I actually think about it, that I'm now a healthy weight and size, but sometimes I forget and it's more that I'm just conditioned to think like I used to... as an overweight, underconfident person.

That's why, when my Mum says she picked me up a pair of jeans and I look at the tag and it says size 6, I scoff. But then when I try them on and they zip right up I can't help give an audible squee. There's part of me that wants to walk around with the tags still on so that people can see what size I am, or respond to "cute jeans" with "Thanks! There a six" and then happy dance out of the office.

The fact is, my body is not perfect. I did a lot of damage to it when I gained so much weight so quickly. I'm covered in stretch marks that will never go away, I have pockets of jiggly leftover skin that will prevent me from ever having that killer stomach and I have the emotional scars that come from really hating my body and being uncomfortable in my own skin..... but I now consider them my battle wounds. I worked really hard to lose that weight. Over 60lbs came off because I walked, swam or ran daily. Because I changed my eating habits and took control over my addiction to food. I never deprived myself, I never cut anything out, I didn't use any diets or pills or surgery... I just changed my lifestyle and worked my butt off.

My body knows that it's thin now. My body knows that I'm a size 6 (or 8 or 10.. depending which jean designer you ask). I just wish that I could get my brain to catch-up.

Eeeeek!

2010-09-13T14:59:00.000-04:00

Well.... to make a long story as short as possible, I've made quite a drastic change to my timetable. I dropped my marketing class for this semester (Thursday lectures) because of a conflict with my schedule (it's all group work and presentations which would be horrific for me based on my distance from the campus as well as the fact that I work full-time. I picked it up online for next semester and took an accelerated HR this semester online instead. This means that the mid-term is in less than 3 weeks and the whole thing is wrapped up at the end of October, BUT..... I'll have to complete at least 2 lectures per week. So... for the next 6-7 weeks I'll have to do 4 lectures per week after work. It's gonna be crazy.

The nice part is that I now only have to drive down there once per week (Mondays) which saves a ton of $$ in gas and parking costs. It also means that once I get through the initial craziness of the accelerated class, I'll only have to worry about 2 classes at the end of the term going into winter exams which will be nice.

I'm freaking out a little though.... because my registration just submitted for this class today, I can login to the website yet. It may be the end of the week or the beginning of next week before I can... which is terrifying considering I'll have less than 2 weeks to do 1/2 of the course content and study for the exam. YIKES! I can do it though. It's just going to be really rough and involve a lot of late nights.

Okay- you probably won't hear from me for the next little while (no book reviews, no random posts)... but I'll see you on the flip side!

As summer winds down...

2010-09-13T11:49:00.000-04:00

It has certainly felt like fall lately. We went from sticky blistering 40 degree days (that's 104 fahrenheit for all my lovely American friends) to relatively chilly 13-18 degree days almost overnight. I can't say that I'm upset about it though. I love the seasons and am ready for fall. I wouldn't complain if summer hung around a little while longer.... but I'm not crying about the changing leaves either. I love autumn for the crisp air, Thanksgiving, halloween and the gorgeous scenery. It makes me think of yummy food and hiking and warm drinks. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

photo credit: Huntsville Adventures

We had a good summer. Around work and school we spent several weekends at the T-family cabin, we got to spend a week at the cottage with my Mum, we spent a weekend away for a beautiful wedding, we golfed, we swam we just hung-out. It was crazy busy, but good.

Since last year, fall also means back to school. I've been off for 5 weeks since I wrote the final exam of my summer semester and it's been great. It worked out as a fluke this summer that I got so much time, and I won't be getting it again so I really wanted to enjoy it. I can't believe that time went by so quickly. I am however looking forward to going back tonight (remind me that I said that in a couple of weeks okay?).

What's in store for me this semester?

Mondays- Reasoning in Women and Sexism (my final gen-ed class!... but it goes all year)
Thursdays- Introduction to Marketing (apparently the prof is terrible, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt)
Online- Quantitative Methods I (yep... that's a fancy way of saying STATS ::shudder::)

I head to my first lecture tonight. I'm anxious to get wrapped up at the office a little early today so I can make the hour drive down there as early as possible. I have to go to the library (I'm borrowing one of my textbooks until the one I ordered from The Book Depository arrives), then the bookstore, then the registrars office to drop off some paperwork. Of course... I have to make sure to leave enough time to get a tea and to find my class which is in a building I've never even heard of before (for reelz... I go to the 2nd largest University in Canada so the campus is friggin' MASSIVE and therefore this could take a while). The fact that each place I need to go before class is on a different part of the campus coupled with the inevitable lines at the bookstore on the first day of classes means I'll need as much time as possible. *fingers crossed*

We've got lots going on this fall too. We're in final preparations for SILs wedding (10.10.10). It's in less than 4 weeks and our dresses, along with the fabric for the guys ties, have not yet arrived. It's going to be a mad scramble to get alterations done. We're also getting ready for another wedding ceremony this Saturday (we're skipping the dinner/reception) and then I'm heading out with my girls for a friends birthday. The following weekend we're off to Niagara Falls with the family for Bub's grandmothers 80th b-day celebrations. Should be fun (but expensive). And then of course there's Thanksgiving and Halloween (we're throwing our first big bash) in October. *sigh*.... I have to fit assignments and readings for school in there too.

Because of this crazy schedule, I wanted to get a ton done this weekend and I DID! I got the whole house cleaned as usual, the backyard and yard waste cleaned-up, filled in under the playset so we're not battling weeds all the time, trimmed the trees hanging over the fence, weeded and turned dirt in the gardens (front and back), painted our new door frame and the kitchen window frame, washed the bedding, reformatted our desktop, installed new OS, got internet working again and installed all the updates it needed (all 123 of them),took pics off my camera and stored on the computer as well as burnt to cd, and organized the spare bedroom closet. Oh! and Bub cleaned the garage as well! I also went out with my Mom to get some plants. I came home with 2 mums, a snowball bush and a hydrangea bush. LOVE! Can't wait to get them planted. All the while I had Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on audio to keep my company.

On top of all that I had time to read a little, watch a movie, play nursemaid to my dog (who caught a bee in her mouth and ended up getting stung), take a couple of baths and have dinner at FIL's. It was a very satisfying weekend.

Still left to do:
-organize basement/under stairs
-sort donate/toss/recycle/sell and then do dump/hazardous waste, e-waste and goodwill runs, and post kijiji listings
-scrape and paint the rest of the window/door frames
-take annuals out of the garden and turn the dirt over 1 more time (and of course, when the leaves begin to fall we'll be raking like crazy)

Hopefully I'll have time to fit all this stuff in around work and school and all the other crazy plans we have.... but I'm determined to enjoy the season, hopefully get some hiking in not get overwhelmed like I did last fall.

What about everyone else? Are you ready for summer to be over or are you dreading the leaves changing?