by Sarah | Mar 15, 2009 | Weekly Winners
Weekly Winners is the brainchild of the wonderfully Sarcastic Mom, Lotus
This week Sookie is home…and I created a recipe…and READ the latest installment of my fav YA vamp series…
1. Homemade-self-created yumminess (Chocolate Orange pufflettes – recipe coming this week)
2. Hunted – The latest in the House of Night Series. Just released Tuesday. Devoured in 3 hours and made me realize Twilight – SUCKED. There is no kind-of like…I was desperate for vamps. It cannot compete.Â
3. A timeout that went way too long….she actually fell asleep.
4,5,6. Sookie is home and settling in…isn’t she beautiful?!
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by Sarah | Mar 9, 2009 | All About Kennedy, Cystic Fibrosis
Two years ago right after Valentines Day was a rough time for our family. Archie and I had separated – he was living with a friend. I was just starting to experience life as a single mother to three children. It was for sure known that Riley was special needs – she’d been seeing a specialist for months for her FTT. He’d said the words “Russell-Silver Syndrome”, and we were beginning to look into autism. We had just recently started Angel in Early Intervention because of her muscle tone – although we didn’t know the depth of that yet.
The day after Valentines I posted on the mommy forums I visited asking when it was appropriate to call a doctor for a cough. Angel had developed a cough, very light and dry – but it was becoming more barky. My first two kids hadn’t ever had a cough, so I didn’t know what to do.
A few days later I took her in. The ped said it wasn’t in her chest, and not to worry. Three days later the cough was worse. I took her back in and we started with regular breathing treatments (every 4 hours) using albuterol.
For a month we went on that way. Breathing treatments, doctor’s appointments. We tested for Whooping Cough – we treated for asthma…we had no idea what was making our previously happy baby so miserable and coughy…
After a month of coughing without explanation our pediatrician referred us to a pulmonologist. If anyone could find the cause – it would be her.
To be continued….
by Sarah | Mar 8, 2009 | Weekly Winners
Weekly Winners is the brainchild of the wonderfully Sarcastic Mom, Lotus
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t call it Aww Sookie because the name isn’t official yet…but who cares…It’s the front runner 😀
Today we went to the Humane Society to see about our dog. We had the choice of two beautiful little girls. The series of pictures are:
1. (left) Ethel Mae and Nellie sitting on my lap.
2. (middle) Ethel Mae and Nellie giving me wonderful puppy kisses (and bites)
3. (right) My angel baby puppy – the former Nellie – and future puppy of our home (quite possibly named Sookie)…isn’t she BEAUTIFUL?!?!?!?!
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We’ll pick her up to bring her home next weekend. They won’t let her go until she’s had her girly parts removed. She was just sweet and loving and curled on my lap most of the time. She gave kisses and suckled on my finger and played a little bit. Her sister was a bit more rambunctious 😀
by Sarah | Mar 6, 2009 | All About Me, Crap
Due to a grievous injury I stupidly caused to myself…
I’m currently hopped up on pain pills and unable to bring you the post that’s been sitting in my drafts for the past two days. It will be presented at my earliest convenience…and lucidity.
And yes, I will tell the FULL story of my own stupidity soon. seriously, you’ll laugh your a$$ off – my mother did.
by Sarah | Mar 4, 2009 | Random
(I continue to refrain from naming the series because it has enough publicity. If you don’t know what 4 book vampire series for young adults I’m speaking of, you seriously live under a rock. Email me if you really don’t know.)
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Holly made the comment to me that I was “biased” against a certain exceptionally popular vampire series because I refused to read it based on its obnoxious popularity (I did the same thing w/ HP). I hate being challenged like that, but it gets me motivated. I picked up book one of this 4 book series within the week.
I read book one pretty quick, I have to give it to the author – her books are very fast reads.
I hated it. Yes, all of you can collectively pick your jaws up off the floor, I speak the truth. I really did hate it. It was all back story forced into interview style conversations. The main characters annoyed me, and the writing was not good.
But – on my very own I committed to finishing the series. For the mere fact that book one was nothing but backstory, I had to hope that the rest would be better. I refused to pay for any other books, so I sought to borrow them.
For three days I immersed myself in the remaining books. My housework suffered, I spent all day with the text staring back at me. I spent the next week in what I call the “honeymoon period”. I thought about the books and characters. I mulled them over. I actually thought I might have liked the series – and that why I’ve waited so long to post.
Looking back now that I’ve had time to fully digest the series I can honestly say that I did not hate it. I can see why so many people are so obsessed with it, I can truly see where it comes from – but I do NOT feel it.
There were characters I liked (and one or two I LOVED)…and characters that truly deeply annoyed me (seriously, there’s only been one other novel that I’ve disliked a MC as much as I dislike the lead female here). The plot lines were pretty darn predictable – but the author DID manage to throw in a few surprises for me.Â
Overall I’m glad I read the books just so that I can say I can. When I saw my neighbor at the store and she mentioned she was reading them, I could carry on a decent conversation with her. I did not let my bias prevent me from reading them.
But I won’t re-read them. If I see the movie, I see the movie…I’m not going to be racing to the store to get it, nor participating in any ‘parties’ in honor of it. I read them it’s done with…and I can move back to the other vamp series that I DO love, and that I AM rereading…
Over this series, there are two other vampire series that I recommend:
The House of Night Series – P.C. and Kristin Cast. If you prefer YA fiction with a little bit of an edge – this is it. Within ten chapters there’s mention of a BJ…well, actually it’s witnessed, but I digress. Zoey is the MC and while she’s got a lot on her shoulders as a very special vampire – she’s still 17 and fallible. She makes mistakes, but tries to atone for them. One of the things I love about the series is the lore behind these particular vamps. It’s not your typical blood sucker story. It’s going to be a 9 book series, books 1-4 are published, but you can preorder book 5 for its release date of March 10.
And, of course – I would be totally remiss to not mention Sookie Stackhouse novels (Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries). My BFF tried to get me to read these a while back (she says) but I don’t remember that. Last year she finally got through to me and I bought the first book. Within a week I’d bought the rest of the series and read it up. I’m counting down the days to the May 5th release of book 9! They are fun, and as my BFF says…Vampire porn for women. Love Bill, Eric, or Quinn…you’ll love debating their merits for days!!
