Finding My Way...

The Perfect Year

"It's New Year's Eve, and hopes are high
Dance one year in, kiss one good-bye
Another chance, another start
So many dreams to tease the heart..."

-The Perfect Year (Sunset Blvd.)

 

August. That was the last time I posted anything here. And the last few posts are nothing impressive. I think it's fairly safe to say I have few followers at this point. I think I can hear an iECHO. For B's birthday in late December, I took him to see Sunset Boulevard at Signature. Signature is a marvelous theater just outside D.C. in Arlington. The first show we went to together was Sondheim's "Company" at their old location in a renovated auto garage. They have a gorgeous new facility in the heart of Shirlington, and I strongly encourage you to go see something there. But I digress...as I begin a post about a new year, the song from Act I of Sunset Boulevard played in my head.

We were just recovering from a nasty stomach bug, and didn't travel to visit family for New Year's Eve as we traditionally do. So we stayed home with nothing much to do. I opened up MS Publisher and whipped up a couple of worksheets with some cute clip art to get us thinking and writing about the "Top 10 Events from 2010" and "11 Things I Want to do in 2011". I couldn't quite come up with eleven things (I fizzled around 6), but the first thing on my list was to read at least 25 books for pleasure in 2011. Not only do I have about a dozen sitting on the bookshelf by my bed waiting to be read, but I have the Kindle app for my new iPad (received for my birthday in September), and another dozen or so waiting there.

I finished my first book of the year on the 3rd. A stellar start. It was nothing wonderful, only 2/5 stars, but I love being able to make a check on a list! I have also updated my activity on GoodReads and added some new friends. I discovered their book swap feature, and I have sent my first book, and have one on the way. I hit up Amazon's $5 sale on Kindle editions and a frugal friend led me to 4 free titles to add to my list. This bibliophile is quite happy.

But wait! There's more! I added Flipboard to my iPad and that got me back into the blogs I follow, namely The Literate Housewife. She directed me to the 2011 Where Are You Reading Challenge at Book Journey. So I messed around a little on Google Maps tonight, and I have gotten my map started.

 

View Where Are You Reading 2011 - SDB in a larger map

It's pretty small so far, I'm in the middle of my second book of the year, so just New Jersey and Wisconsin are represented so far. Click the icon below to learn more about the challenge and join in!

Harry Potter must NOT go back to Hogwarts!

In anticipation of the upcoming Harry Potter movie, I have been re-reading all of the Harry Potter books.  The first two went quickly, just a day to read each.  Last night I went to bed shortly after Lucius Malfoy tossed Dobby here a sock and inadvertantly gave him his freedom.  Today I am working on The Prisoner of Azkhaban, and I am surprised by just how much I am enjoying these books a second time.

Fell off the wagon, did ya?

Yup, I did.  Between a weeklong visit from Dad and the Easter holiday my eating and exercise suffered.  I even skipped a weigh in at WW because I didn't want to know the number.  But I'm back on track this week with a HUGE training walk on Saturday.  So watch for Photo Finish Friday this week.  Thanks to the friends who noticed it was missing and wrote to check in on me.  Knowing that folks are following along and cheering me on makes a world of difference!

Still collecting used books for my May fundraiser!  Going to be making pickups in Northern Virginia on Saturday, May 2nd.  E-mail or call to arrange a pick up time!  Williamsburg pickups can happen anytime!  Looking especially for kids picture and chapter books, local Virginia interest/history books and paperback fiction.  Thanks!

To my friends in Virginia...

I have decided to try a used book sale as a fundraiser to support my participation in the Breast Cancer 3-Day.  I am signed up to participate in a couple of indoor flea markets throughout the spring.  I am looking for used book donations to help out.  Kid Lit from birth through youth is especially welcome, as are Virginia Local Interest and History titles.

I will be up in Northern Virginia the weekend of May 1-3 to cheer on one of my 3-Day teammates as she runs in her first 5k!  I would be happy to pick up books from you that weekend.  E-mail or call!  Local friends here in the Burg can call any time!

I Love Spring Break!

I love to read, but most often I read in fits and spurts.  Spring Break always seems to present me with lots of time to read.  For the second year in a row, we drove down to Alabama to visit my husband's grandmother and lots of other family.  We stayed with his Aunt and Uncle.  His Aunt has a fabulous collection of Christian fiction.  I especially like to pull down the Beverly Lewis books, set in Amish country.  This week I read the "Annie's People" trilogy.  I also picked up a story set in the time of the Gold Rush of California called The Measure of a Lady.  I finished each in about a day apiece.  I feel so indulgent when I get to read lots like that.

I had been on the lookout for a new devotional.  I need to add more quiet time with God to my day, and I have been looking for something to read as a part of that.  I picked out A Place of Quiet Rest: Finding Intimacy with God Through a Daily Devotional Life to help me get started.  Then I selected Going Places with God to read afterwards.  It's a 90 day journey through places in the Bible.  I'm looking forward to them both.  A couple of Sundays ago, Rev. J. preached about deeper understanding of the Word by praying the Bible.  She shared a verse she intends to pray daily for a year.  The idea of selecting a verse or small selection of verses and praying them for a year was intriguing to me.  I have been reading the letters in the New Testament for a verse to pray, but nothing has jumped out at me.  This week I plan to look through some of the books of the Old Testament, starting with Isaiah.

I want to finish with a small word of encouragement to my friend Angie.  She has been looking forward to the Easter holiday, as she and her husband have been preparing themselves to join the Catholic church.  Though I am not Catholic, I have been following this part of Angie's faith journey, and it has helped encourage me to re-examine my own.  So today I say a prayer of thanks to Angie for inspiring me to find my way a little closer to God, and for blessings on Angie and her family as they take this step of joining the church.

Freedom to Read

Libraries are wonderful, aren't they?  Drop in and find books on just about any subject.  Fact or fiction, romance or suspense, for kids or adults.  Have you ever read any of these books?

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Forever by Judy Blume

Any Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Cujo by Stephen King

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford

Each of these books is on ALA's list of most challenged books.  The American Library Association's website says, "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials."

There are a couple of days left of "Banned Book Week" for 2006.  Take a moment to be thankful for the freedom to read about any book you choose, as well as the freedom to complain about books you don't think are suitable.

I'm just wild about Harry!

Finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yesterday and it did not disappoint.  Full of suspense and thrills, and an ending no-one could predict.  Can't wait for DH to read it so we can discuss.

Off to my Mom's for the weekend.  Hope to do some shopping.  The house we move into in August has a small eat-in kitchen with little counter space or cabinets.  I am needing a buffet in the dining room to store the less frequently used dishes and a cabinet of sorts for the kitchen to store my massive Pampered Chef collection.  I have found a kitchen cart from JCPenney that may work in part for the kitchen.  So we're off to the outlets in Leesburg.

Have a good weekend all!

A moment alone with Harry...

I picked up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the day it was released.  It has sat on a table and taunted me since then.  I know when I sit down to read it I will need a long stretch of time.  It is so hard for me to put a good book down once I start it.  We've just been on the go since we got home, and I haven't even cracked the cover.

Well this morning Emily is at VBS, B is off meeting with a friend, and my FIL has a doctor's appointment.  I have at least four hours of time with a quiet house all to myself, and I think it's time I gave Harry a little of my attention...

A Room Without Books...

...is like a body without a soul." -Cicero

We are getting ready to move.  I don't WANT to move this much stuff home.  I know we are going to end up in a place smaller than what we are used to because of the housing market right now.  So the purge begins.  I decided we should start with books, as the Co-op Preschool on base is having a used book sale at their bazaar next week.  But it is so hard!  To say our family loves books is an understatement.  Heck, Em's Kindergarten teacher razzes me regularly about having "every children's book known to man."  Can I help it if I love children's literature?  :o)

I started with the shelf in my room.  Got rid of some trashy stuff I bought in the airport to pass the time on long flights.  That was easy.  Next came the early childhood professional books.  I parted with a few I've had since college, a couple that came with a professional journal subscription.  I'm feeling good about myself!  Then comes the general professional/self-improvement shelf.  The "highly effective" titles and the "how to" volumes.  I think I pull more out that I want to read again then find ones to donate.  No matter!  Move down to the bottom two shelves: Christian study books.  Can't part with a one.

Take my measly pile out to the huge shelves in the living room.  Clear out a little more fiction.  Purge a few books on living in Japan that were hand-me-downs we won't need for much longer.  Finally part with one of the THREE books we received on the topic of diagnosing childhood illness and injury.  Can't even toss What to Expect the Toddler Years.  There is still a nagging hope that there will be another toddler and I will need help.

I would need a coffee table in every room in my house to accomodate all of the coffee table books we own.  I get down to those bottom shelves determined to reduce our shipment weight.  One.  I can begrudgingly part with one.  And I can't even think about the dozen or so boxes of books in storage back in the US.

Donating books is like giving away good friends to me.  With fiction in particular, I not only remember the story with fondness, but often what was going on in my life at the time I read it.  The Poisonwood Bible reminds me of the fascinating discussions in the book club I was in with teachers from the international school I taught at in India.  Jan Karon's series were read largely during Emily's toddler naps, often in one hand while rubbing her back with the other hand.  The Dale Carnegie series takes me back to the most intense course I have ever taken in my life.  A course in public speaking and developing relationships that continues to serve me to this day.

So I have two moderate stacks of books to donate to the preschool.  Perhaps my husband will go through his personal collection of history related books and presidential biographies and weed some out.  Maybe a few of Emily's paperbacks will make it into the pile.  The same nagging hope mentioned earlier keeps me from donating the 50 pounds of board books that are in a box in the closet, long abandoned by my new reader. 

Well, at least my soul is satisfied.