S’More Reading

The only real difference to this list is that it’s going to be “S’more Reading” (as in I’ve already got a ton to do already for classes, but hey why don’t I add on some more, personal reading? Sounds like fun to me!). I figured that sounded close enough to the original to be kinda funny. Since I didn’t read them when I wanted to.

I’ll be reading them in no specific order. I am however grouping them by topic and author. I figure it’s not a bad idea to start getting my brain used to lots of reading, in different directions, and especially with “exercises”. So I’ve got a nice stack of books ready to go! And what a better way to share, but in a Thursday Thirteen post, too (though this is the only way you’ll know, LOL!) I’ll be back to edit it as well! If you’d like to read along, just click on the name of the book (I’m not getting anything from it, it’s just to show you what the book looks like!)

So, here you go:

Christian:

Stormie Omartian:

1. The Power of a Praying Woman

2. The Power of a Praying Wife

3. The Power of a Praying Parent

4. Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On

Cynthia Heald:

5. Becoming a Woman of Faith

6. Becoming a Woman of Purpose

Joyce Meyer

7. The Confident Woman

8. Look Great Feel Great

Debbie Macomber

9. Knit Together

I’ve got several other Debbie Macomber books, but they are her fiction ones. Since I plan to ALSO be reading fiction along with all these, I’m not going to include them here. I didn’t mention that? What, you don’t think I can do it? Just you wait and see. I’m also working on reading the bible (as I joined a Read the Bible in 90 Days bible study group at church).

10. Faithfully Fit – Claire Cloninger and Laura Barr

Flylady (since her movement, she’s a subject on to her own. Plus she’s a real person, so she fits under the author sectioning):

11. Both Sink Reflections and Body Clutter

“Feminist”

12. The Meaning of Wife - Anne Kingston

13. The Second Sex – Simone DeBeauvoir (NOT in the original French)

Bonus

The Mommy Diaries - Tally Flint, Ed.

Just over a 5th of the way there!

Yay! I’m currently at (officially) 15,297 words. It’s been fun so far. And it’s still flowing.

The test today didn’t go the way it should have. I don’t know why, but I totally messed up on one question.

And now I’m super tired again. Also don’t know why there. Good thing it’s almost time to get this place picked up and go to bed! I’ve been battling a headache off and on.

Take care, later.

100 Word Challenge – Writ Large

A day late, but it’s justified and I got a pass from the teacher, so I’m good. I didn’t get the idea for this one until I was talking to a friend and telling them I had NO IDEA what I’m going to do with this one, but the suggestion I made to myself (to her) sparked this one. I hope you enjoy. It’s a continuation of the Clifton Saga, specifically the entries for Lemonade and Rain (if you’d like to go back and check them out.). Enjoy!

Michelle thought it would be harder to find her birth mother; that the woman wouldn’t even want to see her. But when she called, her birth mother jumped at the chance to see her.
So here Michelle was, sitting inside Writ Large, a café at the college. Her birth mother had suggested it, but Michelle had spent many a late night here while working on her degree.
The bell on the door rang, and Michelle turned around. No wonder her mother picked here, she used to work the counter.
Her birth mother spotted her.
“Michelle? I’m your mother.”

House is not a cure for end of the weekend itis. Sleep is.

It’s been a fairly dull weekend, but I’ve been busy the whole time. What have I been busy doing for the majority of my weekend? Sitting with my laptop in my lap, typing away. I joined one of many who decided to throw all caution to the wind and write a novel.

Yes, a novel. That means NaNoWriMo. And I’m in good company. The person whose participation made me decide to join in was Velvet Verbosity’s (btw, I’ve got this next challenge’s piece written, I’m just giving it a couple days to stew and veg before I go back and look it over and decide if it’s really the one I want to post. But chances are pretty good it will be, because it’s right along in the flow of the Clifton Saga ). I’ve seen other people who are joining in too:

Susie over at Susiej
Jennifer, who is forever writing to survive (though you know, some of us write just so we can breathe, because without it we would die. Or feel like we were dead. Which is something I’m starting to realize…)

Oh heck, ya know, it’s really late, and I’m really tired. I should be doing some studying, but I’ll just check it out later, in the morning at college.

If I missed people, it’s just because I’m tired and I’m sick of leafing through my blogs over at Bloglines.

Currently my word count is 12,367. I’m a bit behind where I should be, but I’ve got things still flowing and scenes boiling around in my head, so it’s not like I’m never going to get there. I think, if I slow down and have some problems on how to jump the short distances to my few background scenes for these boys lives, then I’ll do the big leap and do the big finish, because I do want to get to that too. It’s going to be interesting. And I have an inkling that it’s going to be a big portion of this story.

The good and important thing to remember is that editing is for December. For now, I’m just trying to make sure that the names are in the right order, so I know who is in what scenes.

Wish me luck. It’s bed time!

Food 4 Thought and Friday Fill-Ins 11/6/09

Breakfast
What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Before flipping through the channels and deciding to watch Ancient Discoveries on The History Channel, I was watching the end of Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN.

Lunch
Do you speak more than one language?

Ha. Ha ha ha. I took 4 years of French in high school, but can I speak it? Fluently? In a conversation? NO!

Dinner
What are your favorite websites to visit?

Right now, the 3 main websites that are CONSTANTLY open in my web browser are

1. Gmail. Love it!
2. NaNoWriMo – so I can keep my word count updated (right now I’m up to 5,115)
3. Facebook – so I can keep my games from losing. I play Cafe World, Rollercoaster Kingdom, Mafia Wars, Farm Town and Farmville. I also dabble in Hatchlings, Sorority Life, Island Paradise, Treasure Mania, Tetris, and Bejeweled Blitz.

Another place I like to visit a few times a week:

Bloglines – I have dozens of blogs I look at on there. The craft ones are the ones I like to look at the most often

Midnight Snack
You have won a prize. The prize has two options, and you can choose either (but not both). The first option is a year in Europe with a monthly stipend of $2,000. The second option is ten minutes on the moon. Which do you choose and why?

I’d pick 10 minutes on the moon, because there is no way I’d be able to make ends meet in France, which is where I’d like to spend the majority of my time in Europe, on just $2,000. Assuming that’s $2,000 American, then it’s only about $1,350 Euro, and it’s impossible to find a hotel and be able to EAT, let alone see any of the sites, on that much. Or that little.

Recipe of the Week(instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for this week?)

Faking it until I make it.

1. Plans and schedules are great and have their place, but I also really enjoy being flexible and spontanious .

2. I’m happy when things run smoothly and everyone agrees. You’re right, I’m often disappointed .

3. The last thing I drank was water .

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my family—my husband, my daughter and my son .

5. I like just cheese and pepperoni on my pizza.

6. Dear November, we’ve had our adventures, haven’t we? Let’s celebrate one more year (on the 18th!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to writing and a review for a test (already been to both), tomorrow my plans include writing, writing, writing, cleaning, more writing, more cleaning, more writing—making most of my way to the 10,000 words I’m supposed to be at— and Sunday, I want to go to church, help my dad with the leaves (for the second week in a row, LOL!), and more writing!

Windy (well, really, rainy…) Wednesday.

My day started with my daughter not feeling well. She got to stay home. I got to go to school. Which is fine, because I enjoyed it. As always, it was a good day.

I also managed to do some writing. I’m 900+ words into the novel. I already had 4 pages written, from back when I first started the story.

And I started finding the quotes for the next American Constitutional Law class. This next test looks like it’s going to be better because I’m getting time to study before and we’re into the material more, having already gone through this once.

I found that there’s a knitting group that meets at the store I have items at for consignment. I went to see if anything had sold (no, but I also asked if he was going to do the Farmer’s Market in the winter like last year, and he said yes and would keep me informed), and there they were sitting there. I had a project in the car (one of the pairs of socks I’m working on) and so I grabbed it and sat for a while. I’ve got a class when they meet, next semester, but I’ll definitely return next week and when I can until next semester. What wonderful yarns some ladies had brought back from an excursion to Connecticut (some convention or something).

Almost time to get P.

Wordless Wednesday – He’s some kinda storm, that’s for sure!

When my son was asked what he wanted to be, this is what he said (this is the best I could do to fulfill his wishes!):

Guess what it is?

What a nice day, and it’s a Monday?

Yup, today’s been a good day. And it’s even Monday. I was really productive today. I think it started when we helped my dad do leaves on Sunday. That actually felt good. We did windows too.

You’re going to have to forgive me, I started this in the evening but ended up working on my take home test (finishing it…I did start it last week) until 2 am, because I ended up talking to my sister-in-law for nearly an hour about our husbands, learning things I had wondered about and learning I’m not alone in the world of T and T2 (I’ve used that for my BIL before ).

Anyhow, what I’ve done today—made a REAL dinner (pork enchiladas, with peppers), picked up all the clothes in the house (that I have control over), washed was what in the washer, transferred it to the dryer, then washed a load of T’s shirts and hung them up on the rack in the washroom, and then washed yet another load, this time of his uniforms. Collected garbage, walked to the Park and Ride instead of taking the bus after class, and scrubbed one of the walls in the bathroom, posted D’s old bikes on Freecycle (and had who I WANTED come and pick the bikes and P’s trike up), reposted about the treadmill (and had a bite), and posted D’s old clothes on Freecycle too and (of course) had several bites. It sucks when you get more than one bite, and half way down your list resides the person you actually want to get the clothes This time it’s a guy who says he has 3 girls and needs the clothes.

And signed up for NaNoWriMo. Do I need to add more things? I just need, now, to figure out what to write about. Would it be bad to work on the Why, AZ book now?

100 Word Challenge – Falter

Wow, this was quick. I don’t even have the take home test for Ethics done! Enjoy (no real commentary for this one). If you want to join in, visit Velvet Verbosity

His love and protection of his family had been a point of pride, and he always smiled when he thought of his success at those jobs.

When he held the birth certificate in his hands and knew the truth, his world fell around him, and the pride and joy in his heart faltered.

He’s back to face his past.

Watching her machine breathe for an hour, her face a mask of deep set sorrow and pain, her youth and sweetness and vibrancy are a distance memory. He wonders at his role in this.

Now he needs to find his sons.

Still trying to work through it all

Yup, I’m still working on figuring this getting out of this apartment thing. Most of the day I contemplated moving into my classmate’s apartment when she leaves, but I haven’t made that phone call yet. What phone call I did do was calling a Realty Management Company that my upstairs neighbor told me about, that she had actually used to get this place. I’m going to stop over there sometime soon (hopefully tomorrow between classes) and check it out, plus maybe a couple others.

My day went pretty well otherwise. My classes were interesting, and I even spoke up with my own views in my Intro class. The Judicial Conference (and especially the professor) in my American Constitutional Law class this morning was good for a few laughs.

I finally folded all those clothes that have been sitting in the washroom—washed, in baskets—this afternoon after I came home. Now P’s drawers are stocked with pants (because yesterday around the time I did the rug, I also sorted through our bedroom—no, that was the day before—and the boxes I had with his extra/winter clothes in, now one of those boxes has his shorts and sleeveless shirts in it) and shirts. I also went through the one cupboard in the kitchen that wasn’t closing because of all the stuff in it. P had commented on it the other day—I don’t remember what, but I told him it wouldn’t close because mommy has to sort through it. So she did. When I did our room, I also sorted my clothes and have a nice size box of clothes to donate. I’ve got to go through the trunk of the car sometime soon, hopefully when it’s not raining out…LOL!

Something else I’m proud of—I think I have my entry of the most recent word for VV’s 100 Word Challenge already written! That feels kinda good—now I just have to sit down and really work on the take home test for my Ethics class. Due to the democratic process, the due date for that was pushed back. Now it’s due on Tuesday. I’ve poked at it, and basically have what I want to put down, I just have to flesh it out.

I have at least 4 inches worth of the sock done. I work on it mostly in between taking notes in class, LOL!

Okay, I’ve got to go to bed, so I can get up tomorrow and start this all over.

I’ve got to measure that window, too, so I know how big of a window to get.

Take care

Trying to keep up with it.

(Note to self: don’t use Quick Press if you’re essentially going to be writing a full length post. It doesn’t save for you, and if you mess up with your control commands because it’s dark where you are and you don’t have your glasses on, it will wipe out all your work.)

You can tell I’m feeling better. I’ve started to do more than just walk around in a funk—I’ve actually done some cleaning around the house. I vacuumed, I’m keeping the floor fairly well picked up, and I’m keeping most garbage (especially kitchen garbage) contained. Now if I can just find us a new place. Oh yeah, and I’m posting here. Har har…

I had seen a commercial for a Rug Stick on tv the other day, and checked out if they had them and how much at the store the other day. They cost $13 a piece. I decided instead to get a can of Foaming High Traffic Carpet Cleaner instead…the generic is just $3. So I took to the carpet with it this afternoon between classes. It’s fumes gave me a bit of a headache, so I’m going to try a homemade cleaner instead (I haven’t made homemade laundry detergent lately, the bucket and the ingredients have been sitting on my kitchen counter for weeks, probably a good couple of months!). It worked pretty well, and instead of the apparatus of the Rug Stick, I just used the scrub brush part of my mop to work it into the carpet (not a damp one like the can said).

Also, I went to the Career Development Office before classes and made an appointment. I need to start working on getting me an internship, and I need to work on my resume and interviewing skills. I knew one thing I wanted when I started with this major was to get an internship. One way or another, they are very helpful—my internship at the Seneca Library is my one bit of experience working in a library, and at least I have that!

VV finally has a new word up, I’m going to have to start working on that, plus the take home midterm for my Ethics class. T joined me in there today because D went to a friend’s house (and thankfully seems to have stayed there the whole time! I was worried, and do you really blame me?).

I have a sock on the needles. From my original Learn to Knit Socks book. I’m going to have to dig out some different yarn to work with Socks A La Carte. I don’t want to go to bed now, I’d rather stay up and work on some craft. But it’s bed time. So I guess that’s where I’m going to go. Plus, the battery is going to run out on me here soon, so I might as well go