Epcot was the first park we went to on our Walt Disney World vacation. We flew out of Kansas City around 9am in the morning but the boys were so excited about our vacation that they woke up at 5:30am that morning. They were too excited to sleep on the plane or on the Magical Express bus that took us to the hotel. By the time we checked into our hotel and then got to Epcot, they were exhausted! But we had dinner reservations at The Coral Reef and then plans so watch the IllumiNations fireworks show which didn’t start until 9pm. Luckily the boys powered through. They were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel and then we had to get up early the next morning to meet Cinderella for breakfast!
Here the boys are in front of the restaurant at Epcot:
This week was really busy. Monday West had his five year well checkup and flu-shot. When Cash got his flu-shot a few weeks ago, he tried to bite the nurse! So unless West pulled a knife on the nurse or something, I was pretty sure he’d do better for his shot. And he did. He just sat in my lap, no restraints or reinforcements were necessary. He did cry but not until like five full seconds after it was over.
Tuesday was Grandparent’s Night at school. Grandpa Jim (my dad) and Grandma Celia (Travis’s mom) were able to come up for it. They visited the boys’ classrooms, made a craft with them and had a snack. It was a fun night.
Thursday was Open Library Night at school. Once a month the boys’ school library has a special night where families can come to the library and make a craft, have a snack and listen to a special storyreader. Students who attend also get to check out an extra library book. I love that Cash and West look forward to Open Library Night all month. I also love the sense of community at their school; I haven’t heard of other schools in the area doing anything like this.
Friday I went to see Breaking Dawnwith my girlfriends while Travis took Cash to his first Cub Scout meeting. He is so excited to be in Scouts. Travis and I have a few philosophical disagreements with the BSA but there is really no alternative in this area. We tried a Campfire Boys and Girls club a few years ago but then our regional Campfire office went out of business so we had to disband.
Saturday I spent most of the day working on our digital album of our Walt Disney World vacation. I pre-ordered the album before our trip (because it was a lot cheaper) and it expires on November 25. Disney gives you less than two months after your trip to get your shit together enough to edit all your photos and make an album!
Today I’m meeting some girlfriends for cropping and socializing at a local scrapbooking store. I haven’t gotten together with this group of friends in a long time because of being sick, having surgery, being in the hospital, etc. I’m glad it worked out that I could meet them this month because I’m going to have to miss our annual Christmas dinner next month. I found out after the dinner was already scheduled that I will be up at the Mayo Clinic during that time. It was too late to reschedule the dinner so I’m really bummed. But I’ll have a lot of fun today I’m sure!
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 was great overall but it had a couple of really bad, cheesy parts. There is a scene with the werewolf pack that was supposed to be serious and intense but the audience was cracking up at the absurdity of it. Not good.
I didn’t have a chance to re-read all of Breaking Dawn before I saw the movie so I can’t make specific comparisons between the book and the movie; however, I did notice that a few things were added that weren’t in the book. I didn’t think it detracted from my enjoyment of the movie though.
I wish the honeymoon scenes would have been more explicit but I guess they have to keep their PG-13 rating so screaming pre-teen and teenage girls can see it.
Make sure you stay for the credits. You will miss something important if you don’t.
All in all I was very pleased with how the movie turned out. I can’t believe we have to wait a whole year for Part II to be released!
Fifteen-year old Felton Reinstein can’t stop eating or growing. In just a few months, he’s gone from a small, scrawny boy to a tall, fast jock and he found a really cool girlfriend. That’s all well and good, but Felton has his share of problems too. For one thing, his dad hung himself in the garage when Felton was five years old. Also, he has an annoying little brother and his mom is suddenly depressed and won’t get out of bed.
Stupid Fast is a funny and emotional coming of age story, reminiscent of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diaryof a Part-Time Indian. It’s so real. Felton is the narrator of the story. I’m not a fifteen year old boy but Felton’s thoughts and the way his mind works seemed very authentic to me. I could not put this book down; it got very intense at times. I wanted to strangle Felton’s mother, some of the things she did while she was having her depressed episode had my stomach in knots.
There are so few good young adult books for boys – Stupid Fast is definitely one of them. I’m excited about my boys reading this when they’re old enough. I hope they’ll enjoy it as much as I did. If nothing else, they will think I’m an awesome mom after reading about Felton’s mom! Seriously, this book is fantastic – I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about it around the blogosphere. I highly recommend it for everyone.
It’s that time of year again – time to sign up for the next year’s challenges! One challenge I know I want to do for sure in 2012 is the What’s In a Name challenge hosted by Candace at Beth Fish Reads. It’s so fun to try and find books that fit into the different categories. Head on over to Beth Fish Reads for more details and to sign up!
Here’s the list for 2012:
1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title
2. A book with something you’d see in the sky in the title
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title
4. A book with a type of house in the title
5. A book with something you’d carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title
6. A book withsomething you’d find on a calendar in the title
Let’s see how I’m doing on this year’s What’s In a Name challenge:
Looks like I just need a book with jewelry or a gem in the title. I’ll have to check my TBR stack and see if I have anything that will work. What books have you read that have jewelry in the title?
I ended up with two copies of The Wandering Falcon so I’m going to host my very first giveaway for one lucky reader to receive my extra copy! Because I’m paying for shipping myself, this giveaway is open only to readers with a United States mailing address. To enter, fill out the form below by November 28. I’ll delete all of the information I’ve collected after I randomly choose the winner. Good luck!
The Wandering Falcon is the debut novel from eighty-year old Jamil Ahmad. The book is actually more like nine loosely connected short stories than a novel. The title character, Tor Baz, appears in most every story – briefly in some and as the main focus in others. Tor Baz was born to an adulterous couple who are caught and killed when he is five years old. From that point on, he wanders from tribe to tribe, never identifying with one specific tribe. Because tribal culture is so important in this region, Tor Baz is both a suspicious and mysterious man to everyone he meets.
Each story explores some aspect of the tribal culture in the Afghan/Pakistani region in the period shortly after World War II, of which I had little knowledge before reading this book. I really appreciated learning more about the culture even if I could not always fully understand it. Ahmad writes without judgment which made the stories even more fascinating to me. Ahmad’s prose is stark but even so I found his characters, especially the women, haunting. The ending gave me chills (in a good way).
The story behind how this book came to be published is just as interesting as the book itself. Ahmad worked for many decades as a civil servant in Pakistan. He wrote the first draft of The Wandering Falcon in the 1970s and put it away. In 2008, his brother convinced him to enter it in a writing competition. Eventually it made its way into the hands of an editor at Penguin and the rest is history. This Guardian article has a more detailed account of events. Now The Wandering Falcon is long-listed for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize. I hope that Jamil Ahmad keeps writing – I would love to read more from him.
It’s that time of year again – time for Thankfully Reading Weekend! Thankfully Reading Weekend is all about taking time over Thanksgiving weekend to get some reading in and cheering on others who are doing the same. There are no rules; it’s just for fun. You can sign up over at Jenn’s Bookshelves. I’m hoping to at least get some good reading in on Friday – I’ll need a break after cooking Thanksgiving dinner the day before!
I dabble in modeling and acting locally – and by dabbling I mean I go on a lot of auditions and book maybe one job every three years or so. Travis definitely needs to keep his day job! Anyway, a couple of months ago I worked on a video for a food service company called Treat America. It was really fun; I would love it if I actually could earn a living working like that every day.
It’s my hand grabbing the orange and turning the juice in the close-up. I find that funny because I burned my hand pretty badly on some hot charcoal that my dad dumped out in the middle of our backyard (don’t ask) when I was three years old. I’ve always joked about how the scarring from that ruined my potential career as a hand model – and then I actually get to do a bit of hand modeling! Who would’ve thought?
This year I’m going to participate in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap for the first time. Today is the last day to sign up so if you’re interested, click here for more information. I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun – I’m looking forward to finding out who I get to send a gift to!
