The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

Geeze Jessie couldn’t you read a new author?

I know, I know, there are already three of Gregory’s books I’ve done my tiny reviews on. What can I say? I love her!

For whatever reason reading about the royal families plotting to destroy each other and take the throne while using their children as pawns never gets old for me.

Would I recommend it? Yes.

On a different topic altogether in the background of the picture you can notice Piper sleeping on the couch (because as Johnny pointed out that is where she is usually to be found) and my stereo in the hole in my wall, (just because Corky asked).

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

I checked it out for you and I’m happy to report that book one of The Rain Wild Chronicles is just as good as the rest of Hobb’s books.

So, go get Assassins Apprentice and start at the beginning.

Would I recommend it? What are you waiting for? Assassins Apprentice, chop, chop!

Also if you really feel the need six of her other books can be found in the fiction archives, but they all say the same thing:

Gotta start with Assassins Apprentice.

Hundred Push Ups Anyone?

Once upon a time…

I found a website with a program where the goal was one hundred consecutive push ups no matter how many you could do to start with. I thought this was excellent and started the program. After a few weeks I was able to do 50 consecutive push ups.

Then I started having trouble with my back hurting.

Then I found out I was three months pregnant.

Then I quit.

The End.

Now I’m trying again, because…

1) Once my Mom told me if you are going to do one thing for exercise it should be a push up, and I always do what my Mom tells me to.

2) Spring is coming and I need muscles to do fun things like paddle,  move sheep and hang laundry on the line.

3) My jeans do not stretch quite enough to keep up with the stretching my middle is doing.

4)John hates push ups. Therefore he doesn’t want to do them with me. Therefore I will soon be able to do more push ups than him. This gives me bragging/teasing rights over my husband. This is always a good thing!

5) Lets be honest, being able to do a hundred push ups would just be pretty awesome!

So I’ve started the program again and to keep myself on task I’m telling all of you.  (Theoretically there is a push up logger that will automatically tweet things for me when I do my workouts, but right now it’s smarter than me…) Admittedly I’m also hoping someone might want to join me, anyone? anyone? If so, you can follow the link in the picture below to the website, it’s easy to get started, it’s only a few minutes three times a week, and all the cool kids are doing it…

Anyone?

Anyone?

 

Snow Dog

“We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.  And in return, dogs give us their all.  It’s the best deal man has ever made.” – M. Facklam

Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck

I love books that suck you in and teach you something new about things you didn’t even think you wanted to know about.

That was this book.

Before and after reading this book I have no desire to fly a plane (I chalk it up to this problem), but in the middle of the book…

…in the middle of the book it almost seemed like a great idea.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if only to find out what two teenage boys in an airplane do when confronted with prairie dogs, yes.

When Life Gives You Lemons… Get a Saw.

It doesn’t happen very often but every now and then I’m seized with a sudden urge that- THINGS MUST CHANGE NOW.  It wasn’t until a few years ago that I noticed the not so coincidental fact that those random room changes happened right when I felt that the rest of life was spiraling out of control.

Today it wasn’t until I had the saw in hand and was cutting a hole in my living room wall that I realized that perhaps my manic need to move the stereo into a separate in-wall shelf of it’s own and then rearrange the furniture accordingly had something to do with the rest of my day/week.

Tonight I’m feeling better, my couch is on a new wall and I have an in-wall-out-of-sticky-finger-range-stereo.

I’ve also learned something.

Know your target and beyond should also be a rule for falling drywall.

So, next time I get the urge to cut a hole in my wall I’m going to try not to drop the chunk of drywall on Clara’s head.

A Garden For A Groundhog by Lorna Balian

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Actually I’m not a big fan of Groundhogs day.

We live in Wisconsin, there is ALWAYS six more weeks of winter.

This Groundhogs day the groundhogs  at my house today may be  smarter than my husband.

My husband is on the road to work in the below zero wind chill, and blowing snow,  you know the blizzard that’s caused the state to declare a civil emergency in this area.

I’m certain the groundhogs are sleeping through the blizzard instead of checking for shadows.

So, who’s smarter John or a groundhog???

But, regardless  of my own feelings on Groundhogs Day (or my husbands activities) I thought the girls should have a book so they could learn the whole crazy Groundhog Day tradition. I picked the cutest looking one from the pile at the library and headed home not expecting much.

The book is about the O’Learys and their little farm.  On about page three I thought this book might have something going for it:

Then Mrs O’Learys response to Groundhogs Day really had me hooked…

By the time Groundhogs Day really rolled around I was loving it.

When spring came and Mr O’Leary put in action his plan to foil the ground hog I was planning a new blog.And by the end I was convinced that this is the best Groundhogs Day book ever!

Would I recommend it? Yes!

Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger

Well Corky since you asked…

I’d say this book has a classic example of why I think the little blurb reviews pasted on the covers of books are not to be trusted. This has one that says:

“The bitter cold can be felt emanating from the pages. – Midwest Book Review”

I’m sorry Midwest Book Review, but it’s not that cold in the book. The weather in upper Minnesota is getting near winter and there are a few nasty characters but, having apparently read much more gruesome books, I wouldn’t describe the baddest guy in here as “bitter cold.”

Would I recommend it? Eh… fifty-fifty…

I liked that it was set in an area I knew, the plot twists surprised me and I liked the main character. But I prefer my gruesome murder mystery’s to occur places that I don’t ever travel therefore reducing my tendency to jump out of my skin for no reason.

Nerdy Fun

Last April when I first started this blogging thing my very first post was about John.

Specifically it was about John being a chemistry nerd.

Because as much as he tries to deny it – he is.

Unfortunately most of his chem nerd skills are not especially useful on a daily basis.

Smelling different household chemicals to identify them is a neat trick, but it is not particularly useful.

He can do stoichiometry to figure out cooking conversions, but I think that is perhaps making things a bit more difficult than necessary.

Sometimes he can figure out substitutes for a chemical we need but don’t have.  This is useful, but I can only think of twice in the last 10 or so years where it was actually needed.

So while his chemistry skills aren’t a daily boon to us at home (Other than the whole job/paycheck bit, we all appreciate that!) there are times like tonight when being married to a chemistry nerd is fun.

Let me rephrase that a bit. I love my husband, and of all the nerdy chemists I have met he ranks very high on the fun scale. Being married to him is almost always fun.

-Except for when he falls asleep in .2 seconds while I toss and turn. That’s not fun, I hate that. What is it with men and being able to do that anyway? Anyways, as I was saying…-

Tonight there was fun, nerdy chemistry fun.

Tonight there were boxes of dry ice to be had.

A box of dry ice and a bathtub full of water, and we had a good 20 minutes of nerdy chemistry excitement.

Ivy almost had as much fun as John did. As she played in the smoke  she asked, what it was, what was happening, and why it was happening faster than John could spit out answers in three year old language.

On the other hand Clara was less thrilled, while John and Ivy played around she exited the bathroom.

I’m not sure if it was that she couldn’t see her feet, that the rest of her family was acting ridiculous or that she’s not cut out to be a chemistry nerd herself, but whatever the reason, Clara was not impressed!