Castle in the Clouds

Main Reading Goals Update: January is always a good reading month.  I think it's because the holidays are over and the demands on my time really ease up.  That or I simply find the new year to be invigorating and throw myself into reading with a renewed gusto.  Whatever the reason may be, I managed to read eleven books in the first few weeks of 2019.  (As I write this, there's a very real possibility that I will finish at least one more book, but I'll just throw that on the February list if necessary.) Picking a favorite this month is difficult.  I enjoyed a number of these books.  If pressed, though, I guess I'd have to say that as much as Firefly filled me with warm fuzzies and I hope that the series continues, I think I'd have to say that Strange the Dreamer was the best read of January.  I plan on adding the sequel to my February TBR - thank goodness the library has it available in Kindle! That really was harder than you'd think.  I re...

This is not an easy post to write.  It's hard to talk about the fact that I was at my all time heaviest on January 1, 2019.  I know there's probably some value in writing down and sharing the number with the world, but I'm not going to do that.  My weight is a number.  An embarrassingly high number, but a number nonetheless. Here's what I am willing to disclose.  First, let's take a look at this picture.  It was taken at my family Christmas party. I love it and hate it all at once. I love it because this is my family (minus Gage's girlfriend, who couldn't join us because she had a party of her own to attend).  You can tell something just happened that everyone found funny.  I mean, look at those smiles, they're not fake.  There's laugh lines visible on each face.  I love this! But then I notice how I look and some of my joy in this photo fades.  My face is as round as the moon.  My waist is thick.  I look puffy ...

I'm changing things up a bit for 2019.  While I'd like to read more than 75 books, I really do think this is the most reasonable and attainable number, so that number remains consistent.  So, too, does the five classics; although, I really anticipate reading more than five if my book club keeps going.  I also kept the Kindle TBR number the same. What did I change then? The mini-goals are new.  I thought writing them down would help me be more fiscally responsible and help me get through my backlog of unread books. I also removed the non-fiction and re-read a series goals I had in 2018.  Instead, I want to force myself to get into the holiday mood come fall.  This means I'm adding in some mandatory Halloween and Christmas books.  I also upped the number of physical books I want to get through.  The bins are overflowing and need to be tackled.  This is the year I am determined to focus on making some legroom for myself under my scrapbookin...

When last I posted, this is what my 2018 Reading Challenge looked like: Read 6 books from my physical TBR piles. Reread 1 series.   Read 10 Kindle books purchased prior to 2018.  Read 28 books total. Let's see how I've done in the months of September, October, and November. Not bad!  September and October were low numbers but I definitely seem to have made up for that in November.  Granted, several of the books I read in November were either short stories or novellas.  The only full-length novels from that month were The Boy on the Bridge, Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star, and The Kitchen House .   Given everything I read this fall, here's what I still need to accomplish in December.  Wish me luck! Read 8 Kindle books purchased prior to 2018.  Read 10 books total. If you're curious, I counted The Girl with All the Gifts and The Boy on the Bridge as my series re-read.  I had or...

Overall, it was a good reading month.  Four of the books pictured above got solid five star ratings. One of the books, though, was just dreadful.  Let's get the book I least enjoyed out of the way first. I was so looking forward to this book. On the back cover there's a blurb comparing it favorably to the The Left Behind series, which I quite enjoyed when it read it back in the late 90s/early 2000s.  Even better, this one took the story into space, which completely appeals to the science fiction and fantasy lover in me.  Yes, this should have suited me very well. Unfortunately, it was just not for me.  I had a lot of issues with the one dimensional representations in this book.  I also found the Christians in this book to be, well, not very Christ-like.  My unfavorable impression of this book is disappointing because I have it's sequel sitting in my TBR pile and, despite the promising premise, I fear I will be disappointed once again if I dare ...

I was so happy to see sunshine and decent temperatures on Saturday.  Michigan has been rather cold and rainy of late, so this was a pleasant and welcome surprise.  No need for the girls to wear their winter coats or for the boys to carry umbrellas to keep their beautiful dates dry.  Thank goodness! I took too many photos.  (pssst...there's no such thing!) I also tried to grab little videos throughout the day to commemorate this milestone in my youngest boy's life.  This wasn't just another dance, after all, it was his first prom.  His first tux.  His first and very likely only...crowning! Gage and Addi were voted as the Junior class's Prince and Princess! This was so very unexpected.  By me.  By Gage.  We had even talked about who would get the crowns for their class.  We had a couple of likely candidates, neither of which were Gage and Addi.  So imagine my surprise when he walks into the house and tells me to ...

So, the youngest boy has prom on Saturday.  We've picked out his tux and his girlfriend has a beautiful baby blue gown that she's going to wear.  They are going to look amazing even if he has a black eye or two from getting his broken nose fixed.  On the bright side, he gets to take the nose splint off for prom!  The docs gave him an extra one that can be put on after the dance and Splash Village pool party. He sent me this picture after surgery.  LOL I am going to be a nervous wreck about him being in that pool with a bunch of rambunctious teens.  He needs time to heal and will have to be very careful for the next couple of weeks. Doctors even put him on weight lifting restrictions for the rest of this week (he's trying to bulk up for football, the skinny little thing).  Here's a few pre-surgery photos for your entertainment.  Add caption