1001 Books

My friend K. (no, not me) sent me a list of 1001 books I need to read before I die. Folks, I've read 56 of them. Yeah, that's right: 56. Darn, that makes me sad. What have I been reading this whole time??!! None of it counted! How can this be??!!(slap -thank you, I needed that)

Okay. I loves me a good challenge. I read about someone else, recently, taking on a book a week challenge. I mostly do that anyway when I'm really into reading so I'm going to modify my challenge. One List book a month. It will take me YEARS but, I have until I die, right? And really, some of the books don't look that interesting to me and I may hate others once starting them. My rule will be: give everything at least one chance but I don't have to read anything I detest. Slightly boring, yes, hugely lame, no. For those I don't read I will substitute one of my own. (That way I will definitely read 1001 books of worth before I die)*

There are quite a few that didn't make the list that should have, imho. Some I have read, some I have not. Here are a few that I would have liked to see on the list (mostly because I want to read them or did already and thought they were good):
Animal Dreams
Night
Me Talk Pretty One Day (okay, maybe not, but it was hilarious to listen to an tape)

I'm drawing a blank. What would you all put on your list?

On another note; I made an awesome new dish. Super quick and easy and a great side. Also perfect for a picnic.

Mediterranean Curry Couscous with Dried Fruit and Nuts

1 pkg Far East brand Mediterranean Curry Couscous
(cook according to directions on pkg)

Allow couscous to cool. Add
chopped craisins
chopped dried apricots
chopped walnuts

Stir and refrigerate until chilled.

Eat and be so happy

Did I mention, this is my new favorite dish.

*That's supposed to be funny. Surely I've read 1001 books already. Right? I must have.

Various and Sundry II

Because I don't have my Prophet Muhammad book with me today and can't use it as a reference, I shall peruse the calendar of recent events/happenings and let ya'll know what we've been up to.

• Grace started swim classes this week. This after a two-year hiatus from swimming. The last classes ended when she would curl up in a ball at the end of class and cry instead of jumping into the five-foot-deep end of the pool with all of her class mates. yeah. Poor sweetie, she just wasn't ready. Anyhow, she loves it now and is so excited to be in the water and moving around. When it came time to jump in, she couldn't wait. Grace is our new water superstar. I'm so proud.

• I've finally gotten mostly caught up on my assigned readings*, leaving only Muhammad and The Confusion to read. Then the nagging guilt of not having finished something can leave me be until the next time. (Because there is always the next time.) In the meantime (before I finish my assigned stuff) I will be reading The Uglies -thank you to Lorna for telling Maudie Jane and then to Maudie Jane for telling me. Followed by The Pretties and The Specials. There may even be a guest appearance by The Extras. Good times. Also, I'm easily distracted, don'cha know?.

• Justin has fixed our passenger door to close properly now. We can use the dome light once again, hurray! Also, he fixed the other passenger window to not fall down. Our poor car and poor Justin who has to fix it. We have stubbornly refused to buy a new car until it becomes absolutely necessary, which we hope will not be until the new year (calendar, not academic). So, Yay to Justin for being handy with tools!

• Green is my new favorite color. It's great. Clean, breezy, new, fresh, stimulating, fabulous, [other words I can't think of at the moment]. What are your favorite colors right now?

• Grace received a Good Citizen Award for the month of May. We had a home visit from the character development teacher and she received a Major Award. I'm so pleased that she is making good choices at school. She's a lovely child -I'm so glad to see her school recognize it as well.
  

• And finally, I have a random complaint. But first some background:

Grace's school takes her height and weight every year and sends home a report with their BMI and ranking. Fine. I find it annoying that the ranking is comparing the child's BMI to other children their AGE, but whatever. What sense does that make? It's not a helpful or useful number, to me. Weight to height is very useful it gives an idea of the child's growth relative to their own history. I can track that. Comparisons to Grace's age group do not help me. She is taller than all of the other kids. She is the height of most fourth and fifth graders.

So (I know this is getting long, sorry) here's the problem with the system:I get a note home saying that she is in the 80th percentile of BMI for kids her age (well, yeah -she's also taller than 95% of the kids her age. I would think her BMI is going to be higher) and being above the 80th percentile puts her at risk for being over weight or obese. No, actually, having a higher weight to height ratio puts you at risk of overweight/obesity.

Now you all know that I am both a nerd and petty.

*I assigned them to myself or told someone I would read them (which to me feels like assigning -I should never do that).

Need A Little Help Here

Last night while watching a particularly funny part of the movie "Saved" I called Maudie Jane to tell her about it, not knowing that she loved this movie and owed it. Lately I've been on a movie kick, not watching them, but recording them on our DVR (best invention ever!!!!). I've recorded some great movies : The Holiday, Ghost Rider, Bridge to Terabithia, Failure to Lauch, Catch and Release, Return to Me, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and some other titles I don't remember right now. (Okay so some of the movies that I've recorded I've already seen and love, but I'm still stuck watching the same ones.) Movies that I've wanted to watch, but part of me hesitates, what if I hate them, what if I've been waiting to see a movie that I'm going to get 20 min into and have to turn it off because it sucks!
Back Story: A month or so ago our old DVR died, and we had to replace it with a new one which was fine. But we or should I say "I" lost a lot of movies that I had recorded to watch and never did (yes I'm a PROCRASTINATOR). So I'm trying to learn from my lesson and watch the movies that I record in a timely manner.
But my problem is that no matter how many good movies that I've recorded to watch I still find myself drawn to a couple that I watch over and over. Like I said I watched Saved last night, and really liked it. But for the last couple of weeks or month or more I've watched about 3 movies over and over, P&P (both versions, it like watching 2 different story lines and I have things about both that I really like), and um, okay maybe it's only been 2 movies over and over, but I know that I like them and I know what to expect. Hubby is getting a little tired of the same thing on, and the kids moan everytime I turn one of them on. Miss Magoo calls them the "mommy movies" in other words movies that don't appeal to her.
I haven't been out to the theater since the 5th Harry Potter came out, so I'm alittle out of it as to new movies out there. So I'm asking for a little help, are there any movies that are must sees??
Are there any movies that you loved, maybe because they made you laugh, cry a little of both?
Tell me about them, I need to get out of my rut, for the sake of my hubby, please give the girl some help.

Any Given *Conference* Sunday

Thanks to all for the sympathy. I can feel the love. (Sending out air-kisses to you all)

Yesterday we went to stake conference in Altoona. To be perfectly honest, we are not regular conference goers. It's an hour ride plus two-hours of sitting plus another hour ride. Not that big of a deal, however, it always seemed to me a cruel thing to do to a little kid, not to mention my old bones can barely take all that sitting.

Grace was a perfect sweetheart the whole time. We read "Dragon Slippers" (Jessica Day George) on the way there and back. It kept us all entertained and I didn't even lose my voice. Hurray. As a side note, the last time I read out loud in the car, for an hour straight, I totally lost my voice for a few days.

I don't know if I was a perfect sweetheart or not but I did sit quietly and only laughed at the appropriate times (read: when everyone else was laughing). I don't want to tell tales, so I won't, but there were times...*

Elder Scott was visiting to reorganize our stake presidency. We got there a whole HOUR early (this is a big deal for us) to get a decent seat. (Okay, it's totally true that I went for the celebrity appeal of Elder Scott and not many other reasons. But is it really so bad to want to hear an apostle in person? No, it's not. Don't judge me.)

Anyhow, Justin found us a seat in the second row. Totally awesome and intimidating. Remember, our visiting apostle? Elder Scott of the piercing stare? Yes. Intimidating. Also totally great. There's a huge amount of love and compassion in that stare, I discovered. He spoke about love; between children and husbands and wives. In particular he strongly recommended that we tell our spouses that we love them and why - all the time. He gave many examples of how he and his departed wife would leave love notes. It was very touching. His message was so uplifting and gentle.

I was also happy because the above is something that Justin is an expert at. He just randomly tells both Grace and I that he loves us and gives specific reasons why. In truth, sometimes it's hard not to have a big head. According to Justin, I'm amazing. I love how he sees me. (Have I mentioned what a great husband Justin is? Well, he is. Don't hate me for finding him first. I'm sure your husbands are lovely, as well.)

Elder Scott also pulled two young women from the congregation to answer a few questions, in front of everyone. Namely:

• does your family read scriptures together?
• does your family pray together and how often?
• do you pray/read scriptures individually?
• why do you choose to dress modestly and is it difficult to follow through?

So, you know, a little stressful. Dressing modestly -check, scriptures and prayers -half-check. We've got work to do. I totally see the value in it and understand that it is important. I also know and understand the importance of exercise and not over-eating. Both are also works in progress. Not perfect but trying. Let's leave it at that, shall we.

All I know is, it could happen to anyone and now that I know that -wow. Either be super righteous when you attend a conference with a visiting apostle or you know, don't go. (I don't really mean that. Except, kind of.) Or talk to your kids in advance. What? I'm just saying...

No really, super righteous or not, I'm totally glad I went and not at all sorry for the reminder to do better.


*you can ask Justin or I via email or phone

Wee Beasties

Can you feel your scalp crawling? Because I can.

Yep. THOSE "wee beasties". Grace woke up with a itchy head and "sand" in her hair. EWWW. It's been going around her class* and I thought we'd missed it. Grace's whole classroom has had regular checks (and at home as well) and has instituted a "no hugging or standing too close" policy. Also, no stuffed animals or anything else the could harbor said beasties.

Poor Sweetie. Justin started stripping our beds immediately and I left for the store to get the treatment x 2 (just in case, what?!, we have a lot of hair in our family). Plus a few extra feel-better treats, ahem, reisen. Grace had to sit still for about 2 hours while I administered the medicine and then fine-combed out her hair.

Justin was fabulous, vacuuming all floors, mattresses, the couch, the stairs, the landing, remaking the beds, reassuring Grace that we're not mad and everyone gets it (mostly), and taking care of dinner. Lovely man.

Fifteen loads of laundry later, actually not later -our dryer vent is clogged and we're only half-way through. Perfect timing. The point is: it's getting done and there are FIFTEEN loads! Really. Now you should feel sorry for me. Please.

The good news is that, so far, Justin and I don't have it. YAY for small miracles. We'll keeping checking, of course, and I'll be re-treating Grace in two days and redoing our bedding again at the same time -just in case. I seriously considered cutting hair yesterday (sorry, Justin, but it's true). Then I remembered that not once in the two times that I brought it home, as a child, did my Mom cut my hair -or suggest it to me, out-loud.** Naturally, I should do the same for Grace. I have a standard to uphold, after all. Now, if Grace had been a boy?... (definitely)

The upside? I totally have a clean house. Awesome. Okay, back to laundry. Love you all.


*To the Halverson's: the incubation for lice is 10days, so she didn't have it in CA. Just to put your minds at ease, and mine too -I want us to still be friends!

**I know my Mom's a Saint but even saints are allowed to think whatever they want, right? And if she mentioned haircutting to other family members I either never found out or have blocked it out. No harm done. Perfect image of Mother still intact.

One Poke

Fabulous

**Disclaimer: I will probably mention the words "blood", "needles" and perhaps other things that are not for the faint of heart. Just so you know.**

I have my monthly medication appointment today. Every month, I go into the doctor's office and get stuck with an i.v. needle and sit, hooked-up to a drip-line. It's awesome. I recommend it for anyone with R.A. Quiet time. Books. Listening to other patients on their cell phones. Listening to soap operas that other patients are watching. Listening to nurses as they poke other patients. Being glad my poking is already over. Naps. Good times.

My previous i.v. treatment took anywhere from 4-6 hours of "chair time" and my current one takes one hour. Not too shabby. I feel the results within one-two days and it stays with me right up until the day or so before I'm due for a new treatment. Fabulous.

Usually, the nurse is totally awesome and gets the i.v. in on the first poke. The last two months, however, it's taken two-three pokes plus the inevitable horrific bruising that goes with it. Which, you may have guessed, is on a vein. Guess who gets to walk around looking like a new drug user? Exciting times.

Today, we're hoping for the one-stick plan. Less bruising, fewer comments (ie, OH MY GOSH, what happened to your arm/hand/wrist??!!!"), more discreet.

Anywho, what I was really starting to say was, I'm so thankful for all those scientists out there working madly on ways to slow or halt the effects of RA. Yay for you guys! And, of course, yay for me.

Wish me luck.

Mission Accomplished

Grace had her frenectomy on Wednesday. According to Grace it went well and didn't even hurt that much. According to the school nurse, Grace was practically hyperventilating from the anticipation while she waited for Justin to pick her up. I'm glad she only remembers the good stuff.

In preparation for the Event, and in the fine old tradition of great parents everywhere, I promised Grace any treat she wanted as long as she let the dentist work and didn't make a big fuss. Of course, we had to qualify what Not Causing A Big Fuss was:

• some tears but no wailing,
• asking one time only for a moment to collect oneself,
• sitting in the chair until completion of procedure.

After we defined the terms, Grace defined the treat (I love this): one house salad from Outb*ck, ranch on the side, no tomatoes, no onions, with croutons. Poor Grace, she loves a good salad and loves even more a salad from Outb*ck.

We haven't been there in over a year (a year and a half, actually). When last we visited there, Justin and I both came down with a serious bout of food poisoning. Justin ended up in the hospital for two days and I ended up in bed for a week. Not my favorite time ever. Since then, neither of us can bring ourselves to go back.

But now, Grace wants a salad. And, she endured the terror of the dentist's chair to get it. So, we'll compromise; Grace will get her salad via take-out. All settled.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Tooth Fairy Part II

Last Sunday night PJ lost another tooth. Actually hubby pulled it for him. To me there is nothing grosser that a loose tooth. But PJ of course thinks that it is so fun to gross mom out. PJ sat there showing me how he could make his tooth stick out until is was almost perpendicular to the gum line, ICK! Hubby offered to help him get it out. We got a white hankie and according to hubby it practically fell out into his hand, PJ didn't even know it was gone. Then of course came the whole "let's put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy thing". But I think that I've found a way to ban the tooth fairy from our house permanently. We conviced PJ that it was a better deal to sell his tooth to mom and dad for $1.50 instead of getting $1.00 from the tooth fairy. YEAH the tooth fairy is gone. I think I finally understand why mom and dad never introduced the tooth fairy into our house growing up. Can you imagine them trying to play tooth fairy to all of us. Trying to remember to get the money under the right kid's pillow and not wake anyone else in the room up at the same time. Smart Mom & Dad.