Harry Potter?

Recently, Anakin has found a new hobby: Reading! I do have to say that I heartily approve of this new habit of his. It's been like pulling teeth to get the kid do sit down to do his reading for his monthly reading calendar for school. But all of a sudden, he likes to read. Instead of sit at the computer; instead of parking his rear in front of the TV, and instead of tearing around the house like a wild monkey. It's pleasant. His literary masterpiece of choice? Harry Potter.

In recent months (and in some cases, recent days) two of my cousins have insisted to me that I absolutely must read the Harry Potter series. Book seven (the last, apparently) is coming out this summer. And according to Nick, if I don't read the first six before book seven comes out, I won't know what's going on in the world. I certainly do not want that to be the case. So, I'm pondering.

To say that Anakin and I don't have a lot in common is an understatement. To say that we've had our rough patches over the past few years is an even larger understatement. Within a very short time span, he has begun reading H.P., and I'm being bugged relentlessly by my cousins to read H.P. Hmmmm.....maybe I should pick one or two....or six....up. We would have a common ground on something. And I would have something to read.

But here's the thing:

Fantasy is not typically a genre I enjoy. Give me a good mystery (or just plain wierd books) like Stephen King, Dean Koontz or Tami Hoag) and I'm good to go. Throw in a fluffy romance novel in every now and then and that's great. But fantasy? I just don't know. According to some people, you don't necessarily have to enjoy fantasy to immerse yourself in these stories.

It would give Anakin and I something to enjoy together, and me something to read, but I'd like some input. Any of my readers out there read the series? And if so, do you typically enjoy these types of books? Are they they kinds of books that someone like me (someone who likes enjoyable books, but that are somewhat easy to follow) would enjoy?

Input, please! And Allison, if you have the books, can I borrow the first one? :-)

What The Snow Has Uncovered...And Other Miscellaneous Tidbits

Shortly after Christmas, you may remember hearing about a small little blizzard that hit Colorado, thus requiring most Coloradoans to be housebound for quite awhile and make mothers of young children almost go insane. (at least this young mother). On her latest post, my Mom posted a picture of the comparison between our yard and the neighbors across the street yard. Because of where our yard is in relation to where the sun hits, we are blessed to still have quite a mountain of snow in our front yard. Our backyard, however is melting quite nicely and quickly. (If you consider 2 months after the snow came quick.) As the snow is leaving our yard, I am discovering some interesting items that have apparently made the blanket of snow their home for the past couple of months. How these things got in our yard and under the snow in the first place is a mystery to me. These items include (but are not limited to):

• A metal cooking bowl
• A spoon (I think these first two things were used by my children the first day of the snow to make "snow cones" and never got brought in)
• A Dr. Pepper can
• A shovel
• Christmas tree garland
• A couch pillow (pillow not cushion...there's a difference doncha know).
• Several stuffed animals
• Several (now destroyed) books
• A football
• And the kids' playhouse finally peaked its roof out from under the snow.

Now, I don't know if the wind from the blizzard somehow snuck into my home while I wasn't looking and threw these things into the snow, or if some little elves (in the form of Anakin, Care Bear and Feisty) took these items out when I wasn't looking and threw them in the snow. Who knows, but regardless, my yard (front and back) looks like a wind-blown rummage sale of destroyed items. I see a pretty big yard clean-up in my near future.

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I still haven't made a decision on the whole "private blog" thing. It's still rattling around in my head. I'll let you know soon. One of the reasons I'm contemplating this is because someone out there (in my neck of the woods) apparently is having fun stalking my blog and various other people's blogs. While I'm not terribly concerned about it, it's making me a little uneasy. Who is this person, and why do they feel the need to check my blog multiple times a day and never make their presence known?? This is to you, Stalker-person: "You must know me because you are also visiting other people I know....come out of the proverbial closet and make your presence known....please and thank you."

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I have made a couple of minor changes on my blog that (unless you are extremely observant) you may have not noticed, but the small changes have made my blogging life somewhat less stressful. One of these changes is taking myself out of "blog top sites". This little, tiny, miniscule thing on my blog was becoming an obsession for me to look at. If my ranking wasn't where I wanted it to be, it started to make me feel bad about myself and wonder why it wasn't where I hoped it would be. I know others who gave up this thing long ago; I should have as well. Who cares where my blog is ranked? Well, I did. Which is why I gave it up.

I also shoved Site Meter allllllll the way down to the bottom of my blog. While it is still there (for purposes of protecting myself and my blog), it is not quite so accesible and if I want to check it, I have to continuously scroll all the way down there, which, quite honestly, I'm too lazy to do.

Ever since I got the computer at home, I have found myself blogging almost every single day. When before, when I only had access at work, I'd blog 3, maybe 4 times a week. Blogging every day has become somewhat of a chore for me now; trying to figure out what to write about and consistently checking to see how many comments I have. This has also been a stresser for me. So now, I plan to write when I have something to write about....and only then. No more of this, "Crap....what should I write about today" stuff.

These little (albeit minor) changes have, unbelievably, made my stress level decrease. All of this to say, I may not be around as much, and I may. It all depends on if I have something to say. (whoa....I'm a poet and I didn't know it.)

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Enjoy the remainder of your evening and your tomorrow. Maybe I'll be around....maybe I won't. What a freeing feeling!

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**Edited to add: For the love of all things....it's snowing AGAIN! I didn't even get a chance to clean the yard and it's all getting covered over again. Shoot, the rummage sale is going to have to be put off. I know everyone is disappointed they could not come and purchase a dirty spoon or water damaged book!**

"Rebirthing"

One of my favorite Christian bands is Skillet. I love the song that is currently playing in the side bar. Here are the lyrics:

i lie here paralytic

inside this soul

screaming for you till my throat is numb

i wanna break out i need a way out

i don't believe that it's gotta be this way

the worst is the waiting

in this womb i'm suffocating

feel your presence

filling up my lungs with oxygen

i take you in

i've died

rebirthing now

i wanna live for love wanna live for you and me

breathe for the first time now

i come alive somehow

rebirthing now

i wanna live my life wanna give you everything

breathe for the first time now

i come alive somehow

i lie here lifeless

in this cocoon

shedding my skin cause

i'm ready to i wanna break out

i found a way out

i don't believe that it's gotta be this way

the worst is the waiting

in this womb i'm suffocating

(bridge:)tell me when i'm gonna live again

tell me when i'm gonna breathe you in

tell me when i'm gonna feel inside

tell me when i'm gonna feel alive

tell me when i'm gonna live again

tell me when this fear will end

tell me when i'm gonna feel inside

tell me when i'll feel alive

by Skillet

Private Blog?

There is a possibility in the near future I may be making my blog private. Meaning that if you want to read my blog, you would have to sign in to do so. I haven't decided for sure and wanted to throw out the idea to you all who read my blog to find out if I did this, would you want to still read me if you had to sign in to do so, or would it turn you off from reading me? I'm just thinking about it and I have a couple of reasons for contemplating this. I believe if you wanted to be able to access my blog, I would have to give you permission to do so. So, either email me or comment here if you would still be willing to read me should I go private.

Thanks.

Happy Valentine's Day

Even though the day is almost over, I couldn't let this holiday pass without wishing all of my wonderful blogging friends the very best Valentine's Day! I hope you get to spend it with whomever you love or consider special. I feel very privileged to know all of you and consider you my friends.

With Love,

Kristen

To My Dear Brother....on his 30th!

Dear Kevin,

Well, here you are. The big 3-0! I can hardly believe we are both in our 30's. Adults.

This birthday is especially meaningful to your family; because you are here. Here to celebrate with us in body and spirit!

I know that you and I didn't always get along as well as we could have as children. We were the epitome of sibling rivalry. Two completely different people. But I am happy to say now that as adults, I am happy and proud to call you my brother.

We have both gone through a great deal in our early adulthood and we have both come out on top. No one can ever tell us that we aren't determined people unwilling to let the world get the best of us.

I look forward to the coming years growing older and sharing experiences and stories as adults; enjoying our families together.

You and Sema are a beautiful couple and you are such a wonderful aunt and uncle to Anakin, Care Bear and Feisty. They love you so much. You have always been amazing with children; that has never changed.

I am so proud of you Kevin; proud of all you have been through and accomplished. I know the Lord has amazing plans for you. I can't wait to watch them unfold.

I hope you enjoy your 30th birthday to its fullest. This is the first day of the rest of your life.

I love you and I am so proud of you!

Love Your Big Sister,
Kristen

The One Where I Ask Kristi If I Can Be Her Campaign Manager

So, bummer for me, I did not make it into the Finalist round for the Share The Love Awards. It's all good, though. I'm just honored I was even a nominee. In order to move on, since I'm not a finalist, I would like to bring to your attention someone who is a finalist, whom I nominated *I pat myself on the back right about here*. (Although she could have been nominated by other people I am sure). Her name is Kristi and she writes a ridiculously funny blog called "Here In Idaho". I found her during a random search through blog top sites (you could say I was bored that day) and she was immediately added to my blog roll. In my humble opinion, she's funnier than Dooce. OK, now that I've said that and committed the mother of all blog crimes, go check her out. I think you may agree.

(Kristi, that is my speech. I hope you will choose me as campaign manager. ) Uh, yeah. I need to get a life.

The One Where I Finally Move Into 2007

To say that I am a procrastinator is putting it mildly. In most cases, I put things off until the last possible minute....particularly if the task is not a very fun one. In this situation, I believe I procrastinated longer than I ever have. Today, at approximately 10:30 a.m., my Christmas decorations finally came down. In only 9.5 months, they'll be going up again. I was just about to say forget it and decorate it with hearts and pink and white garland. And then in a couple of months, hang Easter Eggs and stuffed bunnies on it. In July, red and white lights and tinsel. For Thanksgiving, turkeys and orange and brown crepe paper. Then by the time Christmas came around again, I wouldn't have to wrestle that box back out of the garage and take an hour and a half putting each individual branch on my fake (albeit beautiful and real looking) tree. Sure would save a lot of hassle. But I think anyone visiting my house between now and next December may just think I have lost it. So they went down today. With the *ahem* help of my daughters. My house looks so plain now. But a good kind of plain.

Next year, my New Years Resolution will be to take down my tree.....before the bathing suits come out.

The One Where I Eat My Words

Whew!! Did I ever miss you all! (Insert sheepish grin, extremely red cheeks and nervous laugh right about here). OK, here's a tip: Never, ever under any circumstances known to man compose a post and then actually hit the Publish button after you have just had an argument with your husband about how much time he spends on the computer and when you're doped up on NyQuil. Yeah. Not a good plan. And if you do under any circumstances compose and publish a post such as this, make sure you get up early enough in the morning to hit the "delete post" button after you've realized what you've written. Just some friendly advice.

Let's just pretend I never wrote that post, shall we?? All will continue on just as before.....OK? (That is, if you haven't already deleted me from your bloglines).

(Shrinking away from the computer now.......don't think I'll take NyQuil tonight....)

The One Where I Say Goodbye....

For reasons that I do not feel at liberty to discuss in this forum, I need to take an indefinite hiatus from blogging. I don't know for how long (I guess that's what indefinite means, huh?) and I'm not saying I'll be gone forever, but let's just say I need to prove a point. So for now, I bid you adieu. You know how to contact me (my email address is on my sidebar) if you really want to keep in touch with me while I'm away.

This isn't the idea time to be taking a hiatus what with voting for the Share The Love Awards going on right now, but I've gotta do what I've gotta do. There's always next year, right?

Anyway, I love you all; I'll miss you all; and thank you for taking the time to read my blog no matter how dumb, sappy, mommy-esque, depressing or joyful it was.

I will be back.....I just don't know when.

Love to all,
Kristen

The One Where You Vote and Nominate

Here's where I throw in my shameless plug. Voting begins today for the Share The Love Blog Awards. I'm thrilled and honored and humbled to be a nominee in five categories. Thanks and love to whomever honored me with these nominations.

As well, nominations begin today for the first ever Hidden Treasures Award hosted by Everyday Mommy. Go there for details.

Happy Voting and nominating!!

The One Where You Pray For Me; Cross Your Fingers; Generally, Wish Me Luck

I'm singing a solo in church on Sunday.

I'm not typically a soloist.

I'm wondering now why I volunteered.

I heard a song on the radio that I liked that fit my range.

They (the band) jumped right on that opportunity.

I haven't sung a solo in church since I was Care Bear's age.

When I sung that solo, I kept looking back at the piano thinking someone was going to accompany me, but to my surprise, no-one was.

I sang acapella.

Sunday, I have my band backing me (thankfully).

My husband will be playing drums directly behind me.

I'm nervous.

I think I might be sick that day.

J.M. (my band-mate, fellow singer, friend, and general sweetheart) e-mailed me the other day and told me "You Rock!"

I hope she's right.

I wish my blogging friends and family were able to be in the audience cheering me on.

Wish me luck.

I'm up in a little over 36 hours.

The One Where I Have to Adjust---Again

Not too long ago, my Mom approached me with the idea of switching our schedules around. For those of you who may not know, my mom watches my kids when I work, which is 2.5 days a week. She asked me if there was a chance we could switch to doing half days every day saying that she feels it would be easier on her to watch them 5 half days a week as opposed to 2 full days and a half day. Initially, I didn't think this was going to fly with my office; part time jobs are few and far between and we had just arranged schedules with a fairly new person in the office, which was the reason I was uprooted not too long ago.

Surprise, surprise, my boss said she thought we could make it work. The catch being: I'll probably have to switch desks--again. No biggie....I'm used to it by now.

By the time my Mom got the go ahead from her peeps, I had plenty of time to think about this change. It's going to be a big adjustment, and if it weren't for my mom's "mental health" (no, my kids aren't insane....they haven't turned her schizo....but they are a handful), I think I would be backing out of this deal. Here are the cons:

• I will no longer...never again (after Thursday)....get an entire day alone with my daughters.
• I will no longer get to take Care Bear to pre-school.
• I will have to drive to my office (15 miles away) every day.
• I will no longer have the afternoon to myself with Feisty while Care Bear and Anakin are at school.
• I will no longer get to lounge in my jammies and fluffy socks til mid-afternoon or whenever the urge hits me to practice some personal hygiene.
• I can no longer procrastinate on doing laundry or dishes until mid-afternoon or whenever the urge hits me to practice good housekeeping skills.

I love taking Care Bear to school. I love seeing her go in to her classroom with excitement and anticipation of what the day is going to hold for her. I love watching her turn her name over on the "Who's Here" board. I love her excited face and ginormous hug when I come to pick her up. I like seeing the other moms.

I love having the afternoon with Feisty. She thrives on alone time with mama. It's rare that it happens and she takes full advantage of it...or rather me....and Care Bear's toys.

I love just being there two days a week with them. I wish I could be a full time stay at home mom and this will make me feel more like a part time mom.

This is by no means an effort to make my mom feel bad for desiring to change the schedule and it is be no means a guilt trip. My mom watches them for me out of the goodness of her heart...for free...and for that I am indebted to her indefinitely. I understand her need for good mental health. I'm just processing my thoughts on the whole thing and trying to make peace with this newest of changes in my life before it occurs next Monday. So in light of that, here are the "pros" of the change:

• I will get some adult time and conversation every day.
• When Care Bear goes to Kindergarten next year (*sob* this will be the subject of a very sappy post in the near future) I will get to take her every morning which with the current schedule would not have been possible.
• I don't have to witness their teary faces and death grips on my neck and legs when I leave them at the crack of dawn anymore (on those two full days).
• I will no longer have to set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. (just cuz I don't set the electronic alarm, however doesn't mean that my human alarms won't awake me at that time.)
• I will get to see them some of the day every day.
• I will get to take them to story time at the library on Fridays, which my mom has always done and I have always wanted to do but couldn't because I work(ed) on Friday mornings.

So starting next Monday, I will be reporting to duty every day at 12:30 sharp. Or 12:32 or 12:35 in some anonymous desk that is yet to be determined.....and in the meantime, I will enjoy my one (1) remaining full day with them on Thursday. Feel sorry for me; feel happy for my mom.

Uprooted

Due to changes in the office, I get to move my desk.....once again. I just got moved a few months ago, and I get to move again.....to a smaller desk.....that I have to share with someone. Yipee. I'm kinda bummed right now, for more than one reason. Oh, well. Hope the weekend is good for everyone. Peace.

No Time For Blogging

Work is crazy right now. Boss told us under no certain terms "no playing....on task at all times", which basically means that if we are caught on the internet.....big trouble. I'm risking a be-heading right now just writing this. So, until things settle down around here, I'll be MIA. I was really hoping to catch up on everyone today, but doesn't look like it's gonna happen. :-( I'll be back as soon as I can. Love to all.

Things That Make You Go "Hmmmm"...

The other day in the mail, I received something from our medical clinic that looked suspiciously like a bill. I had no desire to open it, but when I did, I discovered much to my surprise that it was a check issued to me for $20. Hmmmm.....

I owe this particular medical clinic money. How is it that they sent me money? I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth; but why on earth would they give me money when I owe them?

This was obviously on my mind the other night when I went to bed and dreamed that Hubby and I were friends with Clay Aiken and Clay had decided to pay off our medical bills. He overpaid $20, which is why I was issued the check. Hmmmm....

Do I cash the check and just be happy for a nice surprise in my mailbox? Or do I take the chance of calling the medical clinic and discover that it was a mistake and I have to give the money back? What a conundrum.

Hmmmm......

P.S. Thanks for all the great birthday wishes. I did end up getting to go out to dinner that evening with my brother and his wife and my cousin and her hubby. Good times.