slice of my life

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, April 28th

This week's theme is "Rare." If you want to check out others' take on the subject, click here.
I love this picture of my grandmother and her friends, taken back in the 1940s. My Grandmother Betty is the one on the right. She was in college at this time, before she even met my grand-dad. She grew up in Maryville, TN, and she went to Maryville College. Don't they look like they're having fun in their bathing suits? Those rebels!
I think this fits the theme of "rare" today, because as time goes on the pictures and memories will be more and more rare. My grandmother passed away on Sept. 11, 2001---just a coincidence it happened THAT day. Once someone is gone, you know there are no more photos to be made---making the ones you have a rare and precious treasure.
Please go look at my photo blog---Project 363---I've been working hard on a GREEN WEEK of pictures and just posted a Tabblo of B's softball.
Next week's theme is Childhood! I have some fun things for that one! ;-)

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Softball Pictures

These are the pictures I have of B's softball team so far this year. They are really coming along as a team. It'll be a good season, I think---we're done in mid-June.



Softball ’07 The Firecrackers

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Friday, April 27, 2007

Star Wars postage stamp

I just saw a cool link on another blog doing the Friday's Feast. You can vote on your favorite image for a book of Star Wars postage stamps here. They will have this star Wars stamp pane (with all the stamps) available May 25th, and the favorite one will get its own set of stamps later. Go vote! I voted for the classic Darth Vader one. Come on---it can't be anything but that if you have to pick only one!

Friday's Feast, April 27

Doesn't this look yummy?



Appetizer
How fast can you type?
Not very! Some would hesitate to call it "typing."

Soup
What is your favorite online game?
I like to go to Pogo and play "Tumble Bees." Letters drop down and you use connected letters to make words---the longer the better. They recently changed it, so you can get a spin for a prize more easily, but I like the old version better. It was more of a challenge! If I want to just zone out for a while (not often! not even once a week, nowdays), I will play Free Cell, Sweet Tooth, or Stack 'Em.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?
I really think I am at an 8.

Main Course
Name three of your best teachers from your school years.
Mr. Barnes---I took two science classes from him in high school, Anatomy and Physiology and Chem II.
My art teacher in high school (why can I not remember her name!)----lessons I learned in Art I have been applying to all sorts of things all through these years afterwards. I felt confident to take college art, and my calligraphy skills are still usable, and my ability to look at something and see details was all enhanced by her teaching me!
My mind keeps going back to my second grade teacher, Mrs. Smith at Horn Lake Elementary, Mississippi. She was strict, but I remember her singing with us in the bathroom into her hairbrush. She was the only teacher that ever gave me licks (with a wooden paddle). Twice!

Dessert
What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?
Tonight, B has a softball game, and the rest of the evening will be free. Saturday, B and her daddy will go to an Aggie women's softball game---so maybe I will too. I plan on working on my pre-school calss's end of year books a lot. Sunday, there's church, birthday party for B's friend, and church again in the evening. And we get a Monday, too!! I odon't have plans for that yet, but I'll have the kids with me all day, my activities will include them.

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Monday, April 23, 2007

Shakespeare's birthday

Did you know? It is his birthday today---or is it? It is certainly recorded that he died on this day, and because of debatable ideas about how old he would have been when he got baptized (the 26th), his traditional birthday has been the 23rd. There are celebrations all around.

I took Shakespeare as a class two times---once as a sophomore at A&M and then again at UNT. It almost got me in trouble come graduation time!! I had to cry in my adviser's office (some advisor! She should have told me before I took it as an upperclassman that they wouldn't accept it!) At any rate, I got to count it. After all, I did learn different stuff in each class, and went over different plays.

One thing I miss about the Dallas/Fort Worth area is the free Shakespeare in the Park plays. It was so romantic, and Lar was just as enthused as I was about going. I think!

J will be doing the Seussification of Romeo and Juliet in May. I can't wait!! He got the part of the monk that marries the star-crossed lovers. Monk Larry is the name in this play! He will begin heavy-duty practice May 1st, and his opening night is the 17th.

I just made a cool thing on Tabblo that I added to my Project 363 blog----Please go check it out! ;-) It's the beginning of the Week of Green.

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The week in review

I had to write this Sunday night and Monday morning. So if you haven't seen the new part, read on!

This could be a really long post, since I wanted to write all week and am just getting it done tonight! I will try to be brief---but alot has happened. Take a look at my 363 Blog to see one picture of every day of last week, too.

Monday---
I had arranged a fun ladies' lunch at The T Garden. These are all ladies form my workplace. Three of us were having April birthdays, so another 4 joined in. It was devine! I ate the salad sampler plate---fruit salad, the T Garden spinach salad (with candied walnuts, dried cranberries and house poppy seed dressing), and sweet chicken salad. That's me in the front in white sweater and turquois skirt.

That evening, I went to Freebird's with the family. Yea! a no-cooking day!


This picture shows J and Larry perusing the Houston newspaper---it has so many comics in it!



Tuesday---
I went to work, as usual, and taught my 16 pre-shoolers all the wonders of the world (sorta). But they surprised me at 1:00 with a birthday party! Look at all my presents. I was happy to receive so many homemade cards and gifts from the heart. Lots of different items!

Tuesday night B and Larry had practice for softball, J had Troupe, and I had a meeting about J's graduation celebrations. Unfortunately, his big Troupe production coincides with the same weekend everyone else voted for the grad dinner. :-( It was a really disappointing evening, as far as timing goes. I am so ready to just get J out of 5th grade and onto something different. Whew! I am praying for him to find a new friend or two that he really connects with in junior high next year.
Wednesday---
I got a package from my sister---filled with books and a present. You'll have to jump over to the photo blog to ses the present! I don't think anything else really noteworthy happened, just regular work and school and then church that evening. I almost kept both kids home from church. B was having bad mornings---she is not getting enough sleep, I think---so I thought she might want to stay home and go to bed early. Of course, she was the one begging to go to Bible class. J was having his last TAKS test of the school year on Thursday night, so I thought maybe he needed to get on to bed, too. But we went on to church, and no one was the worse for it. I am concerned about the family getting enough rest now that we're out so much in the evenings with softball and J's big production coming up. If I don't protect their rest, no one else will!! They don't appreciate rest (being kids!), and no one else thinks about that. I also don't know many other families getting up at 6 a.m. like we do. They may be okay going to bed at 9 if they get up at 7. But we're an hour short.
Thursday----
Another day of work and school for everyone, but the evening was filled with B's softball game. Here are some shots of her hitting and then the after game huddle. They won their first game this season, 6 to 2, on our home field. B was happy they won, but a little moody because she didn't make a hit this game. :-(
Friday----
The bad news of the day was that my new littel MP3 player I got from Larry just stopped working. I had tried to put some new songs on it, and it stopped. I was enjoying that present a lot! :-( That evening J and Larry went to a Troupe production by the Troupedore's group, and B and I stayed home for the evening. They enjoyed the show of songs from movies.
Saturday---
Larry had to work this day, so the kids and I had errands to run all over town.
J asked to go to the library. (I have been waiting for this day to happen!!!!) He said he is "addicted to these Animorphs books."
While there, we ran into the "Earth Day Celebration" downtown. The kids got free snow cones and cotton candy---how earth-friendly, right??? There were booths and activities. B did the climbing tower. Everything was free!
We also ate out at McDonald's. The kids can get free food for As. It's a wonderful thing! B got all As (her lowest grade was 97!!) and J got 4 As and one B. So B got a whole
Happy Meal, and J got the meal minus the toy, which I ate because he wanted an adult-sized meal.
Then we went to the bank and Hobby Lobby for supplies for the Girl Scouts meeting on Tuesday. And we looked for a bathing suit for J, but ended up buying a shirt apiece for the kids.
B wanted to wash our vehicles, so she did that and I took her picture. I still need to pay her a bit for the job!
Sunday----
We had our ususal church time and I had my nap---thank goodness!! I had one more birthday celebration in Tabitha Class!! We got to eat candy bars and have punch and they made me a card. We made friendship bracelets and Mrs. B had scriptures about friends. I think the girls were really listening! ;-) After that, J performed his dramam skit from LTC. They got their awards last night, and J got a gold on his drama skit! Yea for them!
So much going on ! Thanks for reading about us! :-)

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Friday, April 20, 2007

Friday's Feast, April 20


Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of bread?
I love breadsticks---like the kind at Olive Garden. Buttery and Garlic-y.

Soup
When was the last time you bought a new pillow?
I bought one right after Christmas. (4 months ago?)

Salad
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?
I bet I sit here at least 10 hours. I am afraid to add it all up! My big days are Mondays and Fridays, when I am off and I don't have anyone else home most of the time.

Main Course
What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?
Hmmm . . . if you asked about my kids, I could tell you it was probably 103.5. But me? I haven't run one in recent memory that would be anything interesting. I bet I have run some high ones, but I don't remember.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________.
When I have the exterminator coming over, I freak out a little about how cluttered the house is.
I need him to spray in those dark corners and I am sure he can't get to all the spider-y corners he needs to! I have the guy out in the yard right now, so I'm thinking about it! I'll feel much better when he's gone.

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Sunday, April 15, 2007

Tie-Dyeing with kids

This was my first time to try to lead the Brownies in a meeting. It turned out that the regular troop leader had her baby that day, so it was a good thing I was all lined up ready to go with this activity.
I could not have done this without my friend Tracy, who I worked with last year. She is pretty crafty at a lot of things, but this is one area she really is an expert in. So I recruited her to help---but she really had to take over and just tell the girls what to do.
Here is B tying up a shirt.

J even came with us that day---- I knew he'd want to make one, too. Each girl had a tray and a old towel piece to dye on. It really stayed pretty neat this way!


This is one tied shirt that I did at home----I was short a shirt when I ordered! This one came out really pretty.

The next day, B and I rinsed shirts for a half hour. We got half of them ready for the washing machine.


This is B's shirt. So pretty!


We were trying to rinse them in the sink until they ran clear---Tracy told me that it would be almost impossible to get them to this point, but to try as much as we could. Look at all those blue drops!

A little more rinsing. I do this in two groups so I could wash two loads.

This is the wash---blue bubbles! I used Dawn dishwashing liquid (per Tracy's advice).

I thought this looked neat with the water coming down onto the shirts.

I thought these two shirts came out the best! I tied those both, and B helped dye the little girls' shirt.

These three shirts were mine, B's and J's. The turquoise came out so beautifully when it dried. A lot of the shirts came out very green---our turquoise and yellow mixed for the nice green color.

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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, April 14th


Todays' theme for the hunt is Hobby.
Join in by clicking over to TNChick.
Look at others' take on the theme by clicking on the blogroll.
This is our little B enjoying her newest hobby---knitting. On this little piece, she was learning to purl, and is so pleased with herself. I realized after looking through her Brownie Try-It book, she can earn a Tri-It patch for her new hobby if she will "make time for her hobby" for a week, and do some brainstorming on paper about some other hobbies.

This knitting has been a really rewarding activity for the both of us! I just finished my scarf I was working on, and now I am making a dishcloth from a pattern one of the older ladies at church gave to me. She is sort of famous for those little dishcloths she makes, so I was honored she took the time to write it out for me.

I just updated my photo blog with pictures of my week. It involved tie-dyeing, folding clothes, and trains. Please have a look!

Next week's theme for the Photo Hunt is steps. I could interpret that in many ways!

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Friday, April 13, 2007

Slideshow---LTC and Easter


This is the slideshow from my webshots account. It is the LTC and Easter photos. I hope you can see them!

LTC and Easter


And I had to do this quiz I saw on another blog---

You are 87% REAL Texan!!

High five, you're a complete Texan. People from other states should tremble in your presence because they're simply not worthy. Let them bow before you and convey their undying adoration to you while they announce their true desire to be Texan.

How Texan Are You?




Take it and tell me how you did. I feel good considering I wasn't born in Texas! ;-) I'm a Tennessean---like half the guys who fought in the Texas Revolution.

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Friday's Feast, April 13th

It is Friday the thirteenth! My daughter thinks something unlucky might happen, but I don't! ;-)
Appetizer
When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite?
I used up my red crayon. But this isn't just a childhood thing----I still love red crayons!

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move?
Only a 1. I wouldn't move for my job at all! If it were my husband's job, we'd have to think about it, but the offer would have to include a Big change in salary, I think. We like our town!

Salad
Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total?
I got 60. I added the month (4) and the day(16) and my year, and each digit in my phone number. Oh! but without my area code! or maybe I should have used my cell phone? So many ways to do this, I can't imagine it means a thing! ;-)

Main Course
Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to?
I can't tell that!! I have too many friends who read! :-) Let's just say, yes, maybe I have done that.

Dessert
Name something you need from the store.
I am aready making a list this morning.
cheese slices
mushrooms
green apples
hamburger buns
sub sandwich buns
bag o' salad
cucumber
Ranch dressing
milk
fabric marker
Check out the new-ish website for Friday's Feast!!

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

LTC

These are some images of CTLTC in Houston, Texas. We were there on Friday and Saturday.












These are the guys in the skit called "Unstoppable Squirrels."











This is our B in the window in our hotel.




This is our church's chourus group.
And this is us waiting for the group to sing.
Here is another picture of J with a drink in his hand.
And this is B in front of the Easter display in the hotel. It got cold for Easter Eve, hence the brother's fluffy vest.
It was a fun time, although Larry didn't feel good. He had a head cold. We got to stop on the way home at Fudruckers for some yummy greasy hamburgers.

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Saturday, April 07, 2007

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, April 7th

Today's Photo Scavenger Hunt theme is Clean.

Check out the blogroll or learn how to get started yourself from TNChick.


This picture is from last summer. Zuzu is getting clean!

I am just getting to this, and most of the world is already onto Sunday---Easter Sunday! So Happy Easter to all. We were busy getting home from LTC (see the previous entry) and dyeing eggs (see that in an future entry!).

On this Easter Eve, we are getting SNOW! I know, it's unbelievable! To be honest, we can see snowflakes---big fat ones---but they are melting as soon as they touch ground. There is ice as well. Usually we have our last freeze in early March around here, and I think we might not technically get down to freezing here where I am. But in those upper levels of the atmosphere, it's cold enough for snow. I already called my parents, 3 hours northwest of us, and they sent pictures of their house. Cool!
Next week's photo hunt theme is Hobby. There are lots of things around here we could take pictures of!

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bloggin' on the road

Hahaha! I am blogging from a hotel in Houston, TX. Just down the road a couple of hours from our home. J is competing ing LTC----Leadership training for Christ. This is like a U.I.L event (if you even know what that is in your part of the world!) for kids who go to churches of Christ. Our event is Central Texas LTC. I am not sure how many people are here, but we have taken over the 3rd floor of the convention center and various parts of the Hilton hotel. Also sharing the hotel is a convention of fraternity brothers from apparently "traditionally African-American" Universities. Very well dressed men were lining up on the third floor of the hotel last night for one of the ballrooms, and I could smell something So delicious coming out of there. I think it was steak, or at least some manly beef product.

But I digress. J was in a Drama group----having to move up to the 7th-9th grade division because at least one of the other kids was in junior high. They were in the first group to perform in our room. There were three rooms with drama groups performing yesterday. They did really well, but do not knowwhat their results were. They can get "gold"for their best efforts, "silver" for somewhat less, and "bronze" for something less than that. I think they need a gold! :-) Mommy bias.

We had a quick sandwich supper in one of our friends' rooms, and then J was off to Bible Bowl. He had to study the book of Acts for this year, and he was ready to take the test. He was the only one of us from our church competing in his age group----we had a group compete as a 4 person team in the older group, too. J was odd man out, so he went and joined up with some other random kids! ;-)

J got an individual "gold"for his own score---he got 30 out of 35 right. (They were not easy questions! We followed along in the back of the room.) His team competed and got a "silver" which he was happy with. We had forced J into competing this year---he has a good memory, but he is not competitive unless he feels like it is worth it to him! So I didn't know how much he was trying or paying attention in their prep classes. But apparently he was paying attention pretty well!

So Yea J!

The kids went swimming UPstairs after Bible Bowl and loved it. Some of the older ones went, too. Larry supervised. I stayed in my room and watched the last of the movie "Cast Away" and knitted and ate some snacks I had brought.

Time to go get the breakfast!

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Friday, April 06, 2007

Friday's Feast, April 6

Friday's Feast has a new website! Check it out and post your own!

Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?
I guess I prefer car because that's how I travel mostly! I really enjoy flying, but it is expensive.

Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?
No one that I didn't already know before blogging. I think I'd like to, though!

Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?
I had a day last week when I had to get up still tired because I was awake to see every hour on the clock during the wee hours---1:35, 2:12, 3:45, 4:50, 5:47, and the alarm at 6:00. Does not make for a good start to a day! So by the end of that day I was really really tired. I think I even took a nap.

Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?
Maybe Scarlett O'Hara---she would put on a good dinner party! (And maybe Melanie would be there, the one I Identify with the most.) And I could get really dressed up in a big ol' southern hoop-skirted dress and wear some sort of bonnet. :-)

Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________.
The Mediterranean Sea

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Thursday, April 05, 2007

My weirdness

I have so many things to blog about, but not much time!

I was just reading up on synesthesia. I left a weird comment on Melissa's blog---enjoying life, and she told me I am a synesthete. It's really interesting-----I have been totally sidetracked ever since I went over there! Melissa talks about her associating colors with numbers. Sometimes it's helpful to her!

I apparently have two types---number form synesthesia and personification. I see numbers in a spatial way---it's complicated to explain, but I have seen them in this way from very young. I think it's why doing math in my head is sometimes hard. I have to really think hard and NOT think about where they are "in my mind's eye" so to speak, just to add some numbers together. I have tried to draw a number line map for Larry, but he just shakes his head and laughs at me. 1-12 go in a circle like a clock. From 12-20 the numbers go in a straight line from the top of the clock. At 20, the line makes a right turn, 90 degrees. This line goes straight all the way to 100. But there are lights, like overhead lights along the way! The 20s are dark, the teens still in the light of the smaller numbers. There is a light at 40, so the thirties are fairly bright. It's bright from 40 to 60, but it gets dark in the 70s and 80s. There's a light at 100.

It's almost like I can stand in this number space and look around, because when I am thinking about grades based on a 100% scale, I am standing at 100 and looking down the line at the grades getting further away from me. The further I got from 100, the darker it got! :-)

When I am thinking about ages of people, it's in the same configuration I described above. But the darkness starts at about 50. It's getting dimmer for me as I am getting closer to 40! I think about my parents, going into these dark years! Yikes! They are sitting there in their 50s in the dark! But here's a funny thing---it gets lighter at 80. And I always think about 85 being a good age to pass away. I'm sure my perceptions about getting older have tainted my placing of the lights. But again, I have looked at this the same way from very young.

Okay, I have divulged some craziness in my brain. But there's more! Yes! more!

In the personification synesthesia, I see letters and numbers as having personalities---or at least gender. Days of the week, too. Wednesday---a woman (I'm sure it's a W relation). Thursday and Tuesday? Both male, but Thursday is a grown up and Tuesday is a young boy. I'll just list my letter associations for fun.

A a mother
a a little girl
B a teen boy
b a little boy
C a woman
c a little boy
D a Daddy
d a little boy
E a man
e a little boy--playful!
F a man
f a teen boy
G a man
g a young boy
H a man, steady, strong
h a boy about 10
I a man
i a boy
J a grown woman (like me right?)
j a boy (should be a girl, but it isn't!)
K a Mommy
k a teen girl
L a man (my dad's name starts with L)
l a skinny teen boy
M a Mommy (obvious relation)
m an old woman (this does not fit my pattern, does it?)
N an old woman
n a little old woman
O A man
o a little boy
P a man
p a little toddler boy
Q a woman (like a queen)
q a little boy
R A woman (my sister's initial)
r a little girl
S a woman, motherly
s a little girl
T a tall man
t a teen boy
U an old man
u a little boy
V a fancy lady
v a little fancy girl!
W a woman
w a little boy
X a man
x a little boy
Y a mother
y a little girl
Z a mother
z a little girl

Whew! That's all strange, I know! Some of that makes sense, some seems so random. Some are stronger in their genders, like they are ingrained in me more or something.

I'd love to hear about your experiences if you do anything that is synesthetic. There are so many forms, and some of them are more interesting than what I have just described---people who associate sounds with colors, words with tastes, shapes with sounds.

Good things are developing in our Book Club. I am reading the book we are going to discuss in April---And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers. It really struck my friend P, and she recommended it to me, and she had gotten the book from someone else and I am handing it off to someone on Tuesday, after I am sure to be finished. :-) Lots of sharing to save money. This is a Christian author who I have never read. I do like it, and I do identify with the characters and the stuff happening in their church.

At the prodding of many commenters, I checked out To Kill a Mockingbird to read right after I finish this one. I anticipate having a lot of time to read this weekend---we will be off to LTC and waiting around for events to happen. More on that later. :-)

Have a happy Easter weekend!

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Monday, April 02, 2007

Stuff I sent is actually in the Philippines!

I was involved in a post card swap with some other bloggers, and I sent my package to a lady in the Philippines. She recieved it and posted a picture of it! Her blog is called simple pleasures. It was really cool to see that the stuff made it there---in only 12 days!

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Summer Reading List?

When I got to have a girls' night out Friday, my friend and I thought about starting a book club. We both have kids who are getting more independent and we really do have a bit more time to ourselves lately. I want to read more---and I long to have people discuss what I'm reading!! My friend recommended And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers. I am really enjoying it. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow and discuss the 100 or so pages I've read so far.

Today I saw a meme on Three Sons and a Princess which I have seen other places, too. Here is a list of Classic "must reads" and the ones in bold are ones I read (or read part of!)

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) part
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) only part
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible - never all at one time or even all in one year.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I also have these on my list----
The Mitford series (I read the first one)
When Invisible Children Sing (non-fiction)

I think that was 28 out of 100---better than I thought I'd do.

If you have any recommendations for me---or even more important, books to avoid!---leave me a comment. Do you think any of these would be good for a group to read in a month and then go out to dinner to discuss?

Any ideas about starting a book club? We thought we might pick a "hostess" for the month and then she picks the book and the place to go out to eat. We don't need anything too heavy, but I don't want to waste my time on fluffy-too-predictable books, either. I'm sure Christian fiction would be well recieved, but I really want it to be good stuff.

The first rule of Book Club is - you do not talk about Book Club. (I mean Fight Club---from the movie I never saw, but I can't get this quote out of my head for some reason!) I don't really need to keep a book club secret! :-)

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Sunday, April 01, 2007

ArtFest 2007

The school district's ArtFest was Saturday. We have gone for several years, even when the kids did not have anything in the show. I love to see all the different schools' artwork. Kids from Kindergarten to high school have their stuff displayed. All the Art teachers come and talk to the kids and parents about the things they've been making and learning about.

It's also fun because there are things you can make and take home. The kids supervising the "stations" I can only assume are Art Club members or something like that. I was in high school Art Club, so I always look at those kids with a sense of connection! This year, my kids really enjoyed making necklaces with round amulets to paint. The kids each made one for themselves and one for me. In this picture, the two tall kids in the middle are the high school kids, I'm assuming. My kids are on the outside edges of the picture. See them create?
This painting---a watercolor---was made by B's art teacher. She says she takes lessons in watercolor in the summer. Very nice!
I liked these Day of the Dead masks made by the high schoolers.

This is B's Storyteller Doll. Her art teacher said that they were learning about rhythm and form. The form of the grown-up doll, plus the repeating rhythm of the littler dolls on the big one. I saw a Storyteller Doll on Antiques Roadshow after B had been telling me about her project. B was really excited about her clay art, and talked about her progress week by week. (She gets art once a week.) Here is a link to some other student-made storyteller dolls. Here is a link to some authentic Pueblo Indian storyteller dolls. It's an interesting lesson, and B's teacher said they got a lot out of it. It was a 5th grade lesson, but she let those 2nd graders do it, and it paid off.

This next piece is J's bowl. He admits that he didn't intend for it to come out like this---it is low on one side--but sometimes unintentional happenings are what make things interesting and unique. I think it looks great. I especially love his colors and the choice of how he put his dots on.


The next one is B's crayon-resist painting. (I made that term up, but it's something like that!) She drew really hard with regular crayons, and then did a wash of black paint.
We saw several people we knew there and had a great time. I love Art!

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