Things Kids Say, #1

Today, we went to a birthday party for one of Big Sis' friends. She turns 7 on Wednesday, but since it's the day before school starts, the party was today. This is a conversation that transpired while we were all eating pizza.

Friend: "Big Sis (well, she said the real name), have you ever been baptized?"

Big Sis: "Yes."

Me: "No, you haven't."

Big Sis: "Yes I have! I was watching my fan and it was going round and round."

Me: "Honey, she said 'baptized' not 'hypnotized.'"

I had a very hard time containing my laughter. However, now, while typing it again (I did post it to Facebook), I'm laughing again!!

Because of Winn-Dixie

Last April-May, I was in charge of the 2nd grade Reading Group. We read Because of Winn-Dixie.

As the only adult in the group, I thought it was pretty good! It's about a little girl who moves to a new town with her Preacher-father. She's very lonely until she finds a stray dog. It's a very moving coming-of-age story. I have not seen the entire movie yet, but I'm sure that it's not as good as the book. (Are they ever?)

My 7-year-old, who was in the group with me says, "It's a great book. It has lots of experience. And I like the characters."

This book falls under the 100+ Reading Challenge and the Young Adult Reading Challenge.

Trying Hard

I'm trying to get my blog organized with the proper links. I am missing one book review (for Because of Winn-Dixie) and then I need to link all my reviews to the Challenge links and add the reviews to the Challenge posts.

*sigh* this is going to take some time.

The Sky Was Falling!

So, according to several news sources, the Perseid Meteor Shower was at its peak the last two nights, August 11 & 12. Tuesday night, I had the worst caffeine-withdrawal headache (that's another blog post in itself), so I ended up falling alseep pretty early. I did wake at 3am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, so I stepped outside for about 15 minutes to see what I could see.

Now, I live in Borrego Springs, which is, according to the International Dark Sky Foundation, the second-darkest night sky in the country, behind only Flagstaff, Arizona. What this means is that we have minimal light pollution from city lights. Considering we're a valley and surrounded by mountains and our "downtown" is less than a mile long, it's pretty awesome.

However, at 3am Wednesday morning, the moon was high, so I couldn't see much. Plus, I was still half asleep, and my eyes were taking a while to adjust to the light, or lack thereof.

So last night, Wednesday night, I went out at about 9:30 pm. My boyfriend (another LONG story) brought his truck by, and we sat in the back looking at the sky. My apartment complex has a few lights on, but at 10pm, they shut off, which made looking at the meteors much easier. The moon rose at 11:15, but it didn't hinder us until about 1am.

We saw so many meteors! Some that stretched the sky with bright tails, and others that were just quick "shooting stars." Some were green, and some were red. Some tails hung around for a few seconds, and others were quick to disappear. Then there were the few that looked like fireballs heading for Earth. It was the coolest thing I'd seen in the night sky, and I've seen my fair share of lunar eclipses and even the International Space Station fly overhead (which, I missed the sighting this morning at 5am, since I didn't get to sleep until after 2am).

There is supposed to be another meteor shower in December on my birthday. I just hope that the winter weather cooperates so I can see it!

I'm back

Hi all! After taking a break from blogging, I've decided it's time to come back.

Since my last post, I've read a few more books. I finally finished the Shopaholic books: Confessions of a Shopaholic (which is in a separate post below), Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, and Shopaholic Ties the Knot. Every time I read these books, it really puts into perspective my own shopping habits. However, I really wish my life would turn out like Becky Bloomwood's -- meet a sexy, rich man who loves me despite my shopping habits and who is willing to marry me. Ahhh....if only life were like Chick Lit and/or Chick Flicks. I still have yet to see the Confessions movie, but it's on my list.

All three of these books fall under the 100+ Reading Challenge.


I also attempted to complete the Harry Potter series before Half Blood Prince hit theaters. I started with Sorcerer's Stone, then went onto Chamber of Secrets. By June 1, I was just starting Prisoner of Azkaban, and I realized that there was no way I was going to finish the next 3 as well. So I skipped the rest of PoA, as well as Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. Even though it was summer, I was just not finding the time to read like I wanted (I blame Facebook). I finished Half-Blood Prince on the Monday before the movie came out.

That being said, I was disappointed in the movie, compared to the book. So, instead of waiting to read Deathly Hallows before the 7th movie came out, I read it immediately after seeing the 6th movie. This way, the details won't be so fresh in my mind, and (I'm hoping) I won't be so disappointed.

The four Harry Potter books I read (SS, CoS, HBP, and DH) fall into the 100+ Reading Challenge and the Young Adult Reading Challenge.


I am currently reading The Lovely Bones. I read this book before, but it was back in late 2002 or early 2003 (I know this because there is a Gymboree coupon inside with the expiration date of 3/31/2003). I left it at home last week, though, when I came to visit Grandma, so I haven't been able to read much.

Sadly, I've only hit the 10 book mark by this time of the year. I was hoping to be around 50. I'll just keep on plugging away and start fresh next year. My goal is to be at least to 25 by the end of the year.

I will be working on updating my lists on the sidebar for the challenges, however, I really don't have any reviews of the books to link them to.

If you're on Facebook, I have a book group where we can discuss books. It's called The Laughing Book Nook, and it's an open group. If you're on Facebook, feel free to join!

Until next time...