Blog Stalking

Alison - inspired by your post today, I decided to give you a few more opportunities to blog stalk. You'll see that I've now officially posted my links list. I've managed to go one full year of blogging without a link list. I never did a list because I was fearful of the order of links - does toward the top mean you're closer to #1 on my list? If you are toward to bottom, then are you last on my preference list? How to be politically correct in the realm of link lists. I solved this problem by listing my links alphabetically so no one will ever know the order I read my blogs.

Then I worried about the people I added to my links. A couple of the blogs I never comment on, but always read. If you happen to come across my blog and see your name on my list and would like it off, just politely comment so, and I will remove. But I do enjoy your blog if you are up. I know if makes me feel nice to be linked, even if I don't know the people or not.

Last but not least, let me just say for the record how nice of an experience it has been for me to blog and "meet" people this way. I pratically don't need to make any friends here in Oregon, I have all my family and friends from Seattle and Utah who come visit me and then I have my blog sisterhood. What more could a girl want? (now that I re-read that last statement, it sounds sadly pathetic of me, doesn't it? oh well)

have a great night.

Na, Na, Na, Na, Na MOM!

Ha Ha!! You thought you were sending us back to school today

Well sucka, school is cancelled because it snowed 1/4 inch! Last laugh on you!

Vacation? Yeah, right

My husband has taken 10 days off work because of "use it or lose it" vacation time. He is spending his vacation at home. Jackson has been on pox vacation (see previous post) and Blake has had two weeks off school because of MLK day, teacher work day, and coughy/runny nose days.

So instead of the word "vacation" reminding me of this.......

It translates something closer to this for a stay at home mom who is used to her own routine and rhythm of her house....

Which is why, when they all go back to school and work, I'm going to do this ASAP....

You thought it was extinct...

but chicken pox still does exist!

Proof-

I know you're going to ask this, so I'll just answer before. No, I didn't get the vaccine for Jackson. At the time, it was a brand new vaccine and I didn't trust it. And then the years passed and he never got the pox - come to think of it - I never met one kid who has had chicken pox in the last decade. Anyway, I kind of forgot about it because NOW it is required by state law to get the pox vaccine and the younger boy did get it. So lucky Jackson - he is one of the last remaining few that will experience the wonderful itchy pox of the chicken.

Chit-Chat while you Pee-Pee?

(I tried to find a picture of a women talking on a cell phone while on the pot, but believe it or not, I couldn't find one in stock photos~)

Just returned from my wonderful little getaway to Seattle (I miss that city!) and I have to share with all of you my first experience with public restrooms and cell phones. Please click off now if this topic is TMI for you.



On my drive up to Seattle, I had to take a potty break. I decided to stop at a Target along the way so I could pick up some munchies in addition to my bathroom duties (also pick up some new floss, a couple of room fresheners, and some kids' sock - you know - car trip gear). Anyhoo, I'm in the stall in the Target restroom and another woman comes into the bathroom while talking on her cell phone. I hear her walk to the stall next to mine and continues to talk.



I think, "I wonder if she is going to get off the phone."



So I wait in the stall because I'm curious to hear how this is going to transpire.



She continues talking......about meeting this person on the phone to go to church on Sunday and this movie she went to last night, etc, etc.



Then I hear peeing.



And she is still talking on the phone about what she made for dinner a few nights ago.



Still peeing, she is.



And I decide to leave because I'm clearly far too amused for both of us to be next to each other at the sinks washing our hands - I was afraid I would laugh and be red-faced.



But seriously, this poses the question....do you still talk on your cell phone while going to the bathroom in a public restroom?



Apparently lots of people do it.

Thoughts on the upcoming birth

It's been a busy week. So busy, in fact, I haven't gotten on my computer for more than 3 minutes at one setting. This is not compatible with my typical blogging activities, but there you have it, sometimes even I get too busy to blog.


Two things have been keeping me away from the computer. First, this book "Birth" recommended by a fellow blogger has literally captivated me. And brought out another side of me that I didn't think existed.

Although I'm only about 100 pages into the book, I simply cannot wait to pick it up when I have a chance. The basic synopsis of the book is a history of how women gave birth over the ages. I don't find it to be too slanted in either direction of how women give birth (ie, natural vs. medicated) - it just shows how the choices we modern women face came about. I highly recommend this book to any women, esp. of child bearing age - even if you are not currently pregnant or hoping to get pregnant. Ever wonder how the whole concept of "hospital birth" came about? Do you know what "Twilight sleep" is? What is the history of midwifery? Why are midwives not as popular or valued now days? When we hear stories of the past of "women dying in childbirth", what does that mean? all of these questions and more are explored. Bridget- I love this book!

That being said, I am, once again, so grateful and glad I have chosen to go the midwife route with this upcoming birth. Many of my friends asked me why I wanted to and I think I mainly answered, "Because I've always wanted to and I thought why not?" But now I can come up with a more concrete option. Because midwives just "get it". This past week I had an ultrasound with one of the MD doctors in the medical practice my midwives are in and the minute the doctor walked into the room, the whole atmosphere changed. Not that doctors are terrible caregivers. Midwives just have another attitude when it comes to pregnant women and how they are treated. Every time I have gone to my midwife's office I have been in a bad mood or something emotional happens that day. And every time I leave my midwife office, I feel a million times better. I mean I know I have given birth three times before, but to be honest, I haven't been that satisfied with how all of those births happened. So I guess with this baby I wanted to take another route and see how the experience differs. And even though I haven't given birth yet with my midwives, I feel like they are going to make this experience come out great. I completely trust them. Read the book "Birth" and you can find out for yourself how doctors and midwives came about in childbirth history and where they stand today. Not that you're wondering or anything, but even though I have a certified nurse/midwife attending my birth, I will be delivering in a hospital birth center.

The other thing that has been occupying my time has been my intense nesting. My mom flew in this past weekend and we have literally shopped our brains out. Jeremy is taking a ten day vacation right now, and every morning my mom and I have woken up, gotten the kids off to school, and then left for 3-4 hours to scour the stores for baby deals and steals. Then, I come home and reorganize another closet or dresser drawer or plastic tub to put all the new stuff in. Wow!

Tomorrow I am even more excited to drive up to Seattle - by myself may I add - to stay with my bestest friends (and family) for a little girls' getaway. The whole motivation for the trip was to pick up my friend's old baby stuff, but it has turned into a "get-our-hair-done, close-friends'-baby-shower, and hanging-out-doing-girl-things" weekend.

Hopefully, when I come back, I'll have lots of fresh new stories to share. Until then- have a great weekend.

Let's Talk Money

Maybe because I'm anxiously anticipating doing our taxes, maybe it is because we are about to buy a new car, or maybe it is because we just paid off our moving debt. Whatever the reason, I have money on my mind. Because of this, I see money stories everywhere.

Did anyone see this Oprah today? I've stopped watching Oprah for the most part, but for some reason today my rest period was during Oprah and it was an update on a show that I watched a while back and still bothered me. I had serious heart palpitations and cold sweats while watching this show. Some fellow bloggers have claimed this to be the scariest show they watched all year. Nu-uh, for me, scary is when I woman would choose hair extensions over getting health insurance for her family. Scary is buying a new house without selling your old house (thus, two mortgages) and buying two new cars all in the same day. Scary is having Suze Orman come over to your house for a smackdown.

Then, I went online and saw this on the MSN homepage. Basically folks, we're about to head into a recession. So Mr. Bush's financial gurus are developing ways to help stimulate the economy so all of us middle classers will start pumping some serious cash into the economy. What does this mean? To quote a part of the article, "White House officials have been floating the idea of a one-time “tax rebate” of $800 for individuals and $1,600 for couples which would make up the bulk of the spending package." I don't know about you, but I would love to get a treadmill and Pres. Bush, I will gladly spend that money back into the economy if you help pass this bill along.

And last, but not least, I read this article the other day. It's about what it costs to raise kids these days. The most worrisome about all of this? A college education. I think I'm already planning on encouraging all my kids to go to mom's, aunt's, and uncle's alma mater - the good 'ol UW!

That's about all I have to say about this topic for now, and thankfully, for some reason, I feel a lot better after writing about it all.

I'm surprised you haven't been sold on Ebay

Inspired by this idea, I thought I would tell a little about one of my addictions - my habit of selling stuff on ebay.


A few years back I was faced with the dilemna of selling off all my baby items. I tried to garage sale them, but either no takers or I was offered $5 for my $80 baby bijorn. Thanks to this friend, I was introduced to selling off all my items on Ebay. I think I got $40 for my Bijorn, $20 for my extensive collection of Advent bottles, and $15 for a baby bouncer. Plus, they pay for the shipping. I was hooked.

Then, I began to move into another phase of selling on ebay. Selling off my clothes. I'm one of those that doesn't keep my clothes. I tend to edit my clothes quite frequently from my closet. Blame What Not to Wear, but if it doesn't look good the following season - off it goes - either on ebay or the goodwill. I also keep track of my family's laundry. What items do I see over and over in the laundry? those are the things we're wearing. What gets left in drawers week after week? those are the things that get tossed. I'm all about efficiency. Poor Jeremy is often the victim of my ebay purgings. In fact, here is one of my most unbelievable ebay sell stories. Jeremy wears only Levi jeans to work. And for some reason, he always wears a hole in the crotch. And then, of course, he can't wear them anymore. So we buy at least two new pairs of Levi jeans every month. The seams, the knees, everything else if perfect, just a hole in the crotch. So, feeling frustrated by such good jeans going to waste, I sold a lot of Levis on Ebay - with holes and all. Here are the pics I posted and I sold this lot for $20. Looks like I just bought myself a pedicure.

My kids are no more lucky than Jeremy. If they have a toy that I paid a lot of money for, but doesn't get used, it gets sold on Ebay within a few months. Of course, I provide adequate warnings, but if you ask them where many of their toys go - they will tell you - Ebay.

Sometimes, I admit, I make mistakes. Like when Blake never played with this Star Wars playset, I sold it to someone in Canada for $25 (bought for $30). He didn't notice it was gone until a few months later. Then when I told him what I did, he cried for days. Sorry....

Jackson ruined the control box that controlled this Lego train set. I sold this lot of train tracks for $80. I got a facial the next week.

Now I don't regale my tales of ebay to show how awesome I am, it is really just to show how a stay at home mom makes a little extra luxury cash selling off things her family doesn't use or need anymore.

The pinnacle of my ebay selling came this past christmas when I sold off our family's wii. Yes, I sold our Wii this past christmas. While everyone else was waking at the crack of dawn to track down Ninetendo's video game system at every store they could, I was selling off our prize possession. Mostly because we had bought our Wii the previous Christmas, and to be honest, my boys never played it. They preferred the 360. So week after week, our Wii gathered dust. I warned them that it may go, but they really didn't care. So I sold it for pretty much what we paid for it a year ago. I used the money to go into our vacation fund. The kids still play guitar hero and halo on the 360. Everyone wins.

When Jeremy went to work and mentioned this Wii episode and my other ebay adventures to his office staff, one of them said, "Jeremy, I'm surprised you haven't been sold on Ebay". Hey, like one of my previous posts - never say never.

Never say Never

My whole parenting journey has pretty much been a series of "I-know-I-said-I-would-never-do-this-but........(insert excuse for doing the thing I said I would never do)."



Quick background - right at the beginning of college I was exposed to the world of children and parents when I became a full-time nanny for a prominent Bellevue family. From there, I nannied for four years as full-time help, and then another two years as part-time help. I was young, haughty in my own opinions, and quite judgemental in my observations of the parents I worked for. Right from the start I developed a mental list of things I swore I would never do when I myself became a parent.



And then....God sent me....my two boys (with one angel boy in heaven) AND I learned to eat my words in many of my opinions.



Today, I'm doing one of those things I vowed I would never do. I'm taking Blake to the shoe store and buying Velcro shoes. Oh, if you only knew the judgement that is going on in my head. Not only do I often think these are ugly, but they are for LAZY PARENTS and lazy children. Well, bite me internal voices in my head, because I am sick of bending down every hour or so to tie a shoe. Often, I'm too overwhelmed by getting my boys out the door, I just throw Blake's shoes in the back seat and say I'll tie them when we get there. And once I get this newborn here, I'm sure one of the last things I will have time for is tying a shoe. So, voila, Blake is getting Velcro shoes until he is old enough to tie his own. And judge me all you want, but at least I eliminated a task I truly do not enjoy.

One for him, one for me, one for them - ALL THUMBS UP

We recently saw three movies that were intended for various members of the family and surprisingly, everyone liked them.

First up - We Are Marshall - with Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox (double drool). Jeremy picked this out for himself to watch with boys and hopefully me. I bawled through the first part, we all laughed in the second, and then cheered for the third (while I bawled some more). If you love the movie Rudy (which I do) - I highly highly recommend this. Jeremy thought it was the best sports movie he has seen. My kids want to play football now. A couple of s* bombs, but that is about it.

This movie - Stardust - with Michelle Pfieffer - was chosen for the kids. Okay, I'm going to give it a huge thumbs up and so will my kids, and so will Jer, but I don't think it is a movie for everyone. First, it reminded me a bit of Princess Bride although much more frightening. My kids can handle frightening, so if yours can't, I wouldn't rent. Second, there is a certain character in this movie that has some, um....,feminine innuendos. Jer and I couldn't stop laughing and the boys didn't get it, but if that sort of thing bothers you, this isn't for you. Also some romantic flirty stuff - so if you don't want your kids to see that, this movie isn't for you. But seriously, my boys watched this movie at least ten times over the weekend. We all enjoyed it.

Last, I rented Hairspray for me. I didn't know if I wanted to see this movie because I really liked the 80's Ricki Lake version and I was worried that this movie would ruin Hairspray. It doesn't. I loved it. The boys watched it with me and although the fact that they broke into song every ten minutes, they thought it was a great movie, we all laughed at John Travolta, and the movie provided a great lead-in to a conversation about segregation with my boys. Thumbs up.

Thank you Dear

Today I was walking out of the room when my husband said, "Hey! You're starting to waddle."

UNPLUGGED

One of my new year's resolutions (and this is a new concept since I don't make new year's resolution) was to have one day a week be unplugged for the family. I haven't designated a specific day because I just haven't gotten to that point yet. However, since Blake turned 5, we set a new limit on screen time during the school week as well as blocks of screen time on weekends. I never thought I would have to get that disciplined with monitoring, but since moving here to Salem, we've been having much more screen time than we ever have had before.

So yesterday, I told the boys after school that TONIGHT WE'RE UNPLUGGED. I had had a great day yesterday - a great midwife visit (once again, midwives make you feel so validated and awesome), and I needed the house to stay peaceful. The boys - believe it or not - were totally into the unplugged thing. They both did several art projects, they wrote notes to family members, they played games with each other. Then, at about 7pm, Jackson tells me to go into my room and hang out. Of course, I was skeptical, but truthfully wanted a moment to take a bath, so I agreed. He brought out his boom box and started playing music and before long, I heard Blake join in on the action. They kept shouting - "don't come out here mom until we're done - we're cleaning up for you!!"

After one whole hour of catching up with friends and family on the phone, they said I could come out. I seriously could not believe my eyes. And I WISH I was making this up, but this truly happened. Both boys had: picked up every piece of trash and clutter off the ground, they had not only cleared out the dishes in the sink -but handwashed them and put them back in the cupboards, rearranged several pieces of furniture, vacuumed, cleaned the floor, cleaned the piano keys (boy were they grungy), and make several notes for me and Jeremy saying "this is for you from your boys" and drawing pictures of me and the baby. The place looked amazing!!! I could not have done a better job myself. I was prepared to make a big deal of their effect before I saw the results, but when I actually saw the results I was almost speechless - I simply could not believe that two boys ages 5 and 8 could be so thorough in their cleaning and so thoughtful and mindful of what makes me happy and relaxed.

When I asked Jackson what inspired him to undertake such a task he said, "I was bored, so I just thought of something I could do to be less bored".

I know I'm not going to expect this sort of behavior every unplugged day - but I'm here to say that there is something to be said for unplugged day!

I can be so cheap

I have this problem. I can be really cheap sometimes. For instance - the handle on our microwave broke last week. We have been planning to replace all the appliances in our kitchen when Jer gets his bonus in October - so until then.......

I decided to super glue the handle back on. Looks like dried alien spit, but hey, it saves me from buying a new microwave.Also, about a month ago, I vowed that I would buy no more maternity clothes. My thought process was that since I would only be wearing them for a few months, I could get by with what I had. However, many of my exercise hoodies only came mid-belly. You know you look pretty bad when your 8 year old says, "Mom, will you please buy yourself some maternity clothes".

This killed me, but I shelled out $25 at Target for a maternity hoodie. All in the name of not embarrassing my children. That is how cheap I can be.
See - it covers my entire belly. Novel concept.

Why I feel so tired

Every day I fight the tired. Being pregnant was fun - up until about two weeks ago.

This is me at around 25 weeks. Still cute, still putting on makeup, a little bump.

This is me about a week ago at 32 weeks pregnant. Not cute hair, no makeup, pasty skin - I've almost given up here. That big bump is becoming more and more cumbersome. Kicker is - I still have two months left and according to my baby books, I'm supposed to gain a lb a week from here on out. 1/2 of a lb goes to the baby and 1/2 goes to my thighs and face. Joy.

When you the only girl in a house of BOYS

Tonight kicks off the "bowl championship series". I only know this because my husband informed me this morning that he needs to go to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and beverages in preparation for the bowl game coming on tonight.

Now here is where being the only girl in the house comes to a crossroads. You either beat 'em (or run away from them) OR join them. I have learned to do both. You see, on Monday nights during football season my husband will cook dinner for all of us, he will engage the children until bedtime, and I only have to watch fifteen minutes of pregame shows and commercials until I sneak away to my blissful bedroom for girly, mommy time.

On the docket tonight for my girl-time? I'm going to color my hair red, take a long candlelight bath, watch Hairspray, and then read more of my new book "What the Dead Know". Being the only girl sometimes has its advantages.

It's Mother Nature's way of making you CRAZY!

So I've taken a little break from writing in the blogs and I may just take a few days more because lately I've been invaded by that instinctual need to NEST! No closet, no pantry, no bathroom, no shelves are safe from my wild urge to clean, re-organize, make a list about it, and re-locate the items to a "better" location. I have cleaned out my entire garage - emptying the contents into my driveway and then putting them back into the garage storage - a task that laid me up in bed for about a day after, may I add. I have emptied out all of the kids' closets, reorganized and re-binned their clothes with new labels. I have revamped all of my hall closets and re-located every item to a new space. I also just recently freed up five baskets and shelves in Blake's room for the new baby's toys, books, and items.

I was trying to explain it to Jeremy last night that yesterday I woke up and I absolutely HAD to buy diapers, formula, and wipes by the end of the weekend. Never mind that the baby isn't due for another two months. Never mind that I'm sure if I had the baby early I wouldn't need to have these items on hand that very day. Oh no, I cleared an entire shelf in the garage storage and it must have a few boxes of diapers, formula, and wipes on it ASAP

I also went ahead and ordered the crib bumper and bedding for the baby's crib. Never mind that I won't be getting an actual crib until mid-May when my friend will pass hers down to me. Never mind that I had to have a crib bumper that cost close to $70 - oh no, I could not sleep or rest until that particular Pottery Barn crib bumper was on its way to me pronto. I also went ahead and ordered a new pack n play/bassinet online even though I won't need it for a few months as well.

Every day I literally count down the days until I drive up to Seattle to get all the wonderful and fabulous hand-me-downs from my friends. By Jan. 25th, I should have in my possession an infant carseat, a snap-n-go stroller, a breast pump, Avent bottles, a Bijorn, and other various baby clothes and accessories. It has taken EVERY LAST OUNCE of willpower to not drive up TODAY to get these items. I just would feel better if they were in my home and ready to go.

What is that all about?? I know that I'm known to be a little anal and organized and prepared, but this is seriously ridiculous. It may be mother's nature way to ensure that you are ready to care for your baby, but come on????

This is why I married him

I know I don't talk a ton about my husband or write lists about why my husband is grand - mostly because he is an intensely private person and I try my best to respect that. But this past weekend, he reminded me - yet again - why I married him ten years ago.

I needed a break. A real break. Not just a two hour without kids break, but a true honest-to-goodness be-by-myself-or-I-may-hurt-someone break. So he offered to take our two little tykes up to Seattle to visit his family - on the Amtrak train, may I add - so I could stay home and be alone and regroup.

this is how it feels to be in your house, by yourself, for 3 days and 2 nights.

Moms out there - I'm here to say - you don't need the fancy spas that cost a fortune. What you need is the joy of cleaning your house in the morning and have it stay that clean all day long. What you need is the reassurance that you will have total access to whatever you want because you don't have to fight anyone for computer time, TV time, alone time, be in your room by yourself time.

You don't have to find anything for anyone.

You don't have to wake up 1 hour early so you can get a cup of coffee in before the troups wake up.

You can exercise anytime of the day.

You can go shopping and there is no time limit and no children hanging on you.

You can take a long bath and no one will walk in on you asking when you are going to be done.

You can make what you want to eat.

Jeremy - you are one solid gold of a man. XOXOXOXO

Book Reports

So one thing I will say about the Writers' Guild strike that is happening in TV world is that my consumption of books has increased ten fold. I also finally figured out the Salem library system, so my main source of material is back in business (but I will say that King County library system in Seattle is absolutely unbeatable - I miss it terribly). I'm also needing to clean out my sidebar of "recently read" books, so I thought I would include a brief book report on all the books I read in December.

You'll find that in my book choices I tend to choose for the author's writing style almost as much as the book themselves. I enjoy complex characters, more real-life situations and interactions rather than made-up fantasy and unrealistic worlds (meaning mostly romance novels) and I have to say that I really prefer a good ending. I'm not into the whole Oprah-tragic-book-ending-devastation books that she adores. Give me a like able character, a character-building plot line, and a good ending and I'm happy.

You may also wonder how I can find AND read so many books - well, I have a system. First, I go to the library and browse the New Fiction section or the New Paperback section. I judge pretty much on the cover of the book (this is how I find my chick lit books). I also browse all of your blogs and see what you've read and recommend and I go to my library's website and put holds on all these books. I also go to Costco and see any new attractive paperbacks they have. Then I take the big load of books home (usually about 10-15) and I read. My rule is this: read the first 30 pages always. If I'm not hooked by page 30, I toss the book aside. Usually by page 30 you can tell if a book is going to appeal to you or not - sometimes I make concessions and will read the book to page 50 because it has a slow start, but good plot line. There was a book I picked up with this batch called - Slow Life with Husband - and even though I knew I could finish the book - by page 30 the characters were cheating and lying and being so negative that I knew I didn't really want to finish so I put it down. Don't be afraid to put a book down if it doesn't add to your personal growth in some way.

In Plain Sight - by Tom Smart and Lee Brown

This book was a recommend from a fellow blogger - it's about the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case and is written by her uncle. From my perspective, most of the book is a written defense of the Smart family's actions through the ordeal, but it is a great read. It is even more compelling if you are from Salt Lake City because you know the people, you know the landmarks, you know the scenery that is described and you cannot believe it happened and had the ending it did. I seriously read this book in ONE DAY!!

Guy Not Taken - by Jennifer Weiner

This was not one of her best books - she has her first one called, "Good In Bed" which is a million times better. Jennifer's characters are like able (most are plus size women who are trying to fit into a world made for "skinny" women) and the books all have good endings. She (jennifer) has been lumped as a 'chick lit' writer, and her books do read like chick lit, but she is extremely bright and dead-on in her observations on women and the world and I would like to be her friend in real life.

Miss Invisible - by Laura Jensen Walker

This is a book I stumbled on while browsing the New Fiction section of my library. She is a Christian writer and her books are peppered with Christian references, but her writing isn't "goody-goody", it seems to be a lot more real world with a dose of spiritual. Miss Invisible is about a plus size single woman who is trying to make a name for herself in her world while shedding the stereotypes given to her by her father and ex-fiance.

The Gift - by Richard Paul Evans

I normally am not a Nicholas Sparks or Richard Paul Evans reader, but my mom had this book at her house and I figured I would give it a try. Easy fast read, lots of references to landmarks in Salt Lake City, and of course, the sad tragic ending that brings a tear to your eye but makes you feel better too. If you want a nice, easy, heart warmer - go for this book. As for me, not enough character complexity for me.

How Starbucks Changed my Life - By Michael Gates Gill

True story about a rich, privileged man who made some bad choices and ended up losing everything and having to rebuild his life. He found his calling working at a New York City Starbucks. I enjoyed this book - wouldn't say I loved it or was inspired to change my life because of it - but his story has a great ending (I heard Tom Hanks bought the rights to this book, so you may be seeing it in the future as a movie) and gives me hope that even if you screw up your life, if you work hard and have a good attitude, you can turn it around.

Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella
Sophie Kinsella has a whole series out and I shamefully say I devour her books. I love British chick lit writers (I'm a huge fan of Bridget Jones books) and Shopaholic books are like reading People magazine - you don't want to admit you love it, but you love it. I needed a little brain pick-me-up after reading that Elizabeth Smart book, so I re-read Shopaholic and Baby in one night. But if you want to read a new series - don't start with this one because it is the last in the series - start with Confessions of a Shopaholic - and you will probably be hooked.

The Golden Compass - by Philip Pullman

First, I make exceptions to my "no fantasy books" rule if the book is so good you can't put it down. Harry Potter book apply to this rule. I had never heard of Philip Pullman - even though this movie was coming out. What inspired me to pick up this book was a series of emails I got from Christian friend encouraging me to "boycott" this book and movie for its anti-Christian message and theme. Well, I don't need a stronger recommend than that; I had to pick it up. First, if you've seen the movie, the book is a million times better. Second, the book is great!! And remember - it is fiction - it has some criticisms of church and state -but nothing a rational person could not handle. I'm about to start the second book in this series and I'll let you know. I hear the 3rd book is where the real anti-Christian themes kick in, but I'm excited to read them and try to decipher the fiction vs. the reality. To be continued...

Odd Mom Out - Jane Porter
recommend from a Seattle friend. So far, so good. I'm only on page 50, but I like it so far. Story about a single mom who lives in a very posh Seattle suburb and her refusal to fit in with the stepford wives of Bellevue while her daughter just wants to be one of the crowd. Makes me miss my Seattle - whine........