If she had the proper words to say,

I've been reading a lot more this year, having joined up with a book group with several lovely ladies from our church in Nebraska. I've been posting over in the group (which is not LJ-based), but not also over here.

But I have to take a moment and sing praises in my journal for a certain book: Belong to Me, written by Marisa de los Santos. This book was one of those great finds from the clearance section at Barnes & Noble (isn't that always the way?), and I have deeply loved every minute in this story.

From the very first chapter, I felt like I was talking with a brand-new best friend. The primary narrating character lays out her quirks and her fears, and I loved her for it. The descriptions of other characters are so clear I felt they were in the room. The tense moments kept me reading long after I should've gone to sleep (I was already *in* bed, you see), and I laughed out loud several times. The mystery threw me at the end (and I hadn't considered it to be a mystery to begin with), but the resolution suited me. All told, it was a beautiful book.

Mine's a hardcover copy, but I'd like to send it on to a friend - it's too good not to share. I recently gifted another friend with a couple books I had just finished, and by the time I'd hit the halfway point of this one, I knew I wanted to pass it on as well. For starters, I've got my eye on you, traceylalala, for this one... are you interested?

How much yeast is in a "packet," I wonder? See, I use enough yeast that I buy it in little brown-glass bottles, but I'm going to have to figure this out before tomorrow. I'm making Refrigerator Rolls, and the recipe calls for 2 packets. ETA: 2-1/4 tsp. = 1 packet. Thank you, Google.

I made the prettiest cookies today. Well, I actually made the sugar cookies yesterday, but I iced them this afternoon. My cutter was a bit larger than I realized it to be, so I didn't get as many cookies as I'd imagined (and I made two batches of dough to start with). I'm toying with the idea of making another batch early tomorrow, but we'll see. I already do have a lovely dessert planned for Wednesday anyway.

Also, my neighbor and friend asked if I'd be willing to make either a cake or cupcakes for her baby shower this weekend. I'm waiting on one gift in the mail, but I have the others ready and have the perfect wrapping papers to match. I'd already RSVP'ed and was very excited for her shower... to now be asked to craft some goodies is just, well, icing on the cake! (Forgive the intended pun, as it is rather late.)

I received a cute package in the mail yesterday from sdaisyk. She sent me a handful of Coke caps, but she included TONS of little goodies, too. Everything is so sweet and thoughtful - thank you, Sarah!

The boys were out of school this past Thursday and Friday for a break, and it has thrown me all off schedule. It just seemed like yesterday should really have been Monday, you know? As we were passing the base theatre last night, I saw the marquee and read, The Toothfairy, getting all excited. On our way back, I told the boys to try and read for the showtime, but right as we passed it, I realized that it the showing was for Saturday night... and it *was* Saturday night. (The base theatre only shows each movie once.) Gah. In my head, it had felt like Friday all day. Bummer, too, as that's one I had really wanted to see in the theatres.

Speaking of theatres, Philip took the boys last weekend to see Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and they all really enjoyed it. A.J. had received the first two books of the series for Christmas, so when he mentioned wanting to see the movie, I told him he needed to read his book first. He then read it in two days, and then he read the second book in three days. We'll have to look for the other books for him to finish, and now Jack wants to read them, too. I wanted to read the book before seeing the film, and I hadn't gotten a chance, so I told Philip to take them instead. I'll catch it on DVD later. :-)

And then Diary of a Wimpy Kid comes out this coming Friday, and both boys have been stoked about that one for a few months. They both love the book series, and I'm sure the movie will be fun. I can get behind that heartily, especially as I'm hoping it will direct their interest completely away from Alice in Wonderland. Jack wants to see it, but I think it just looks... off? I love most of J. Depp's movies, but I have no desire to see this one (though I've previewed the soundtrack, and it is lovely). In this case, Jack's just going to have to "keep wanting," and that's as close as he'll get. *wink*

The boys used their monies a few weeks ago to reserve copies of the two new Pokemon games at GameStop, and they've been reminding us for the past several days that today was the pick-up date. I thought that was odd; don't games usually come out on Tuesdays, like music and movies? At any rate, we got an automated reminder call yesterday even, and I took them to the BX GameStop today to pay for the rest and pick-up their games. One bought the silver, and one bought the gold (that's as far as this Mom goes into the "geek-speak," heh!), and they both received little boxes with commemorative figurines, too. It was hard for them to buckle up seatbelts a few minutes later, due to how over-the-moon they were feeling. Ha!

It's been hours, and I am still SO stuffed from dinner. I made Pineapple Veggie Chicken (a favorite of ours for years), but I tossed in tons of extra amounts of veggies. I only put in half as much chicken as usual, so we gorged ourselves on mushrooms, snow peas, red and green peppers, and onions. Afterward, the boys made tonight's dessert: Tutti-Frutti Smoothies, and those were full of strawberries, bananas, and orange juice. Jack drained his large glass in seconds, I swear. I feel like I'm going to float away on fruits and veggies in my dreams!

Two nights ago, I puttered around in the office, knocking out a couple of chick flicks while Philip was at work. I watched The Women and The Prince & Me 3: The Royal Honeymoon (I *know*. It went direct to DVD, I think, if that's any indication. Still, I'm a sucker for that movie series, and it was total fluff.)

The next night, Tuesday, the boys and I worked non-stop for HOURS on their valentine boxes for school. When they arrived off the bus, I took them straight to the BX to pick out supplies. From there, we rushed to Jack's soccer practice, and then back to the BX for the actual valentines (how did we forget those the first time? Honestly!) We came home, and got down to business. Between coats of paint, they wrote out all their valentines, then bagged them up with candy. We'd not been able to find treat bags of any sort, so they used sandwich baggies that they decorated with valentine stickers. Seriously, they went to bed sooooo late that night, and even then, the boxes were only 1/3 finished, but no more could be done until the paint dried more. Later, I felt more tired, and I headed to bed at the early time of 1am, taking with me my new book. Hang on - I haven't written about that here...

Marissa and I first saw the trailer for Dear John several months back, while at the midnight premiere of New Moon. We saw it before subsequent viewings too, and each time, we remarked on how good it looked. She read the book a while back. The weekend before last, we were talking about it again over the phone, and she asked me if I read the book. I told her I still hadn't, and she asked me if I'd like her to mail me her copy. "Sure!" I replied. The next afternoon, she called to let me know that the book would be here Saturday or Monday.

On Monday, I received a package from Amazon.com. I'd been expecting one myself for some things I'd ordered, so I didn't open it until much, much later in the evening. When I finally did, I was thinking, "I don't think this is a big enough mailer..." But it was! It was because it was my own brand-new copy of Dear John, and Marissa had ordered it and had Amazon send it straight to me! Such a sneaky gal, she was!

So... since I was felt more tired, I decided to curl up in bed and read just a chapter or two to "wet my whistle" for reading it the next day. Wrong-O! At 5:30am, I closed the book, having finished it in its entirety instead. It was a good read, and I've got some thoughts swirling on it. I think I'll probably put those down in my paper journal, though.

So I slept for a bit, then got the boys off to school, and then I went back to bed. I got up for the day around 12:45, intending to head to the commissary for our bi-weekly grocery shopping (Philip had gotten home after PT around 9am, crawling straight into bed). While I was in the bathroom, the doorbell rang. (I didn't hear it, as the bathroom heater runs too loudly.) Philip did, and he threw on clothes and answered the door. It was a neighbor woman that I'd not met when delivering treats to the block a few weeks back, as only her husband had answered the door (he'd told me they were all down with the flu, and after I handed him the baked goodies, I came home and scrubbed LAYERS of skin off my hands, just to be safe!). I had told her husband to have her come by sometime when she felt better to chat, and that's exactly what she was doing. Philip ran upstairs to let me know, and I hurriedly dressed in the bathroom and came down.

It was an awkward start, and she saw my house in a state of disarray. There were painted objects all across the table, wire bits littering around them, and the entire "craft bin" was open and picked through on the bench in the dining room (we'd used markers, pens, wire cutters, paper, paintbrushes, tape, staples, etc). In the living room, both of the fluffy blankets we use for cuddling on the couches to stay warm were still out, having not been folded and put in the end table at the close of the evening. I had dishes in the sink - oh, it was just awful! Despite that, she and her 14-month-old were very, very kind, and we chatted for about three hours in the living room - even a little past the time that the boys arrived home on the school bus! Her little one conked out for a nap on the couch for a few hours of that, just so sweet. I was SO glad she stopped by, too. I mean, you tell people to drop by anytime, but it seems like they hardly ever do, you know? Especially when you've not yet met them!

I love how great the response has been since the boys and I delivered all those goodies. I baked for four days straight (I called it my "delayed holiday baking," since it was in January), and then the boys and I spent an entire afternoon delivering big trays of goodies to every single inhabited house on our block (eleven total). It was very, very cold and windy, and we had to come back after every third house to grab more trays, but it was so fun. Included with each tray, I had written our names, address, and telephone numbers on a card, and I let each family know to call if they ever needed anything. Everyone was so welcoming, and we were invited into so many homes for a bit of chatting. The boys took off their shoes in each house and immediately disappeared with the kids of that family. I'd been nervous about it being a Saturday afternoon, but since it was so very cold, every single family was home - amazing! I also learned that our entire block is new, as the earliest family here only just moved in at the end of October. We're all newbies, so we ALL needed welcoming. :-)

Once the boys were settled from school, we dug straight back into our crafting. We finished more "steps" yesterday, as there wasn't so much painting to do. Still, it's not a crafting afternoon until I have to clean wet, red paint (A.J.) off my wooden dining room floors, right? We worked for hours, stopping only to head into town to try a new Chinese restaurant for dinner (we were missing fresh lettuce and tomato for the planned meal, and the commissary had already closed). The food was great, and we were all stuffed when we returned home, going back to work.

I took pictures of the finished boxes this morning, and then I drove the boys to school. We didn't want to risk anything being crushed on the bus, and now they're good for tomorrow's valentine parties. :-)

Meanwhile, I ended up not grocery-shopping yesterday, so I'm headed to the commissary in a little bit. Philip is testing today, and then he may have weapons firing later this afternoon. Jack's got another game tonight, and it's his day to bring refreshments. I'm going to be so ready to curl up for a movie tonight with Philip - I need to relax! We watched The Taking of Pelham 123 (the newer one) a few nights ago, but tonight, I'm feeling more like a rom-com. :-)

There's been a heckuva a lot of snivelling, snotting, hacking, coughing, fevering, sweating, and aching around here the past 48 hours.

And it's all been me.

Hello, flu. How nice to see you again. What's it been... 19 months? My, how you haven't changed.

I pulled my shoulder out this morning in a coughing spasm. One of those sudden, 'I'm-sleeping-*choke*-oh-look!-now-I'm-fighting-for-my-life' coughing jags that happen from time-to-time.

I am bone-weary. Though I'd already logged 22 hours for the week by Tuesday, I was off work today. And tomorrow, a meeting has been cancelled due to my absence, and Philip will work my 3-hour lunch shift. I'll find a high schooler to replace me for Friday (they're out of school that day for inservice), and I'm off on Saturday anyway. So I have until Sunday night for my body to recover.

*collapses*

Philip is out right now, helping a friend move some furniture. On his way home, he's picking up The Lost Symbol for me, the brand-new novel from Dan Brown. I hope I have enough energy between near-constant naps to really get into it...

I'm so excited for the midnight showing of Twilight - just 24 more hours to wait! I'll probably get to the theatre in about 22 more hours, in fact...

*bounces*

My mind is going a million miles a minute lately, and what am I doing? Trying my hardest to get through the backlog of Parenting and Reader's Digest magazines collected in a basket atop my toilet. Why? Because I don't want Philip to know that I never read anything while he was gone.

...

A-yup. That's the stupidity of my being. And were he to find out, would he even care about such a silly thing?

Heck no.

But it's bugging me that he *might* think it, and therefore each of my potty breaks is now turning into a "30-minute-let's-recreate-the-bulls-eye-on-my-butt-with-a-bright-red-ring" event. However, I *am* making progress. In the last three days, I've read through and now tossed two Digests and two Parentings. Only one and seven more to go, respectively.

If you need me, you'll find me on the throne.

I am addicted to book clubs for children. It's been this way for eight years now, and I don't see this addiction going away any time soon.

Yow.

Dinner was good, and now everyone's gone. The boys went to bed before Andy and Josie left - it's a school night, of course. I've got my hair down, and I'm thinking seriously about turning in early. Or maybe just reading some Lord of the Rings for a while in bed... and THEN turning in early.

After going to bed at about 3:40am this morning, my eyes will be heavy before too long, I'm sure.

I need to download pics off the camera, too...

I finished Deception Point last night. It was a very good read, as all Dan Brown novels are, though it did take probably an extra 80 pages or so for me to get "hooked" into this one.

I went to bed last night with chapped lips, forgetting to put any Carmex on. I so wish I hadn't forgotten, as now my lips are really burning. I slathered some on today, but somehow chapstick just doesn't "heal" as well when I'm awake. (jakflak, you need to make a 'medicated' version of Spazzstick, one that will help heal already chapped lips.)

Philip took A.J. to school this morning, but then he forgot to reset the alarm for Jack and I to wake up for Parents at Home. Jack woke up and came in our room close to 9:45, and then it was too late to get there for the meeting (it starts at 9am). Jack was sad, telling me, "But today is my favorite day, and now I'm going to miss the picnic!"

Picnic! I'd really forgotten about it! I'd just told Jack yesterday that after the Parents at Home meeting, we were going to head out to the park with a bunch of the other moms and kids for lunch and some playtime. I told him not to worry, that we still had plenty of time to make it to the picnic at 11:30. So we dropped off Philip at Runza at 11am, came home and packed picnic lunches, and then we were off to the park. It was a perfect day (though a bit blustery, which didn't help my lips any), and Jack ran and played until just after 1pm. We had sandwiches, popcorn, juice, apples, cherry tomatoes and marshmallows (Jack picked the dessert). It was a nice afternoon.

It really is a gorgeous day today. Jack wants to fly his kite some, so it looks like we might be doing that after A.J. gets out of school in a bit.

Another marvel from Dan Brown, I just finished reading Digital Fortress. And just like his other books that I've read (Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code), it was utterly unputdownable.

New word, but it's very fitting. I'll say it again: unputdownable.

I love fast-paced thrillers.

Edited to add: I should also mention that reading this particular novel, one that was written before the religiously intricate novels of A&D and DaVinci, it is even easier to stand back from the scope of things and to truly appreciate what you are reading is a work of FICTION. Dan Brown is a mastermind at weaving fiction to read like truth, but his novels are definitely still works of fiction. And they should be enjoyed as such.