Reading is fun again!

Well..over the past three years, I thought that I didn't like books anymore. Reading was a chore - no matter what I did. I had struggled through Book 5 of Harry Potter, the 6th book seemed like a fast read but still took me weeks because of interruptions. After I had finished the 6th book I began to think that I just couldn't read anymore. Too many other things interrupted and when I read, I sink myself into the book. When it's interrupted when I am not ready to be so, I find it is very difficult for me to get back into the book. Of course, I didn't realize this at the time. It's only now after having finished HP 7 - The Dealthly Hallows in the space of 2 1/2 days of glorious uninterrupted time that I now understand. My hubby was fully aware that when the Harry Potter book came out those oh so many weeks ago that that weekend was *mine*. He was fully aware that he would be a "Harry Potter widower" (as he put it) until such time as I got to the end.

What an eye opener it was to realize that it wasn't that I didn't like books anymore. It was just I loved them sooo much that I didn't cope with being torn away from them when I wasn't ready. Let me tell you, that reading HP 7 rekindled my love for reading again. I was on fire to find other books I had not read yet. This last weekend, I found 3. It's very evil to go to Costco (on so many levels). I picked up 3 books. The first one was The Gilded Chamber - story of Queen Ester. It's historical fiction based on a Jewish girl taken into the Persian royal court to be a concubine and ends up being Queen. A great read (am about 1/2 way through now). Another I picked is another historical fiction book. Unfortunately, my brain escapes me what the title is or what's it about. :) I'll update this post when I get home. The last one was one I have been dying to pick up along with it's predecessors and successors: The Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister . This one I just couldn't pull the trigger at Borders cause of cost ($14.00 for paperback, $3x.00 for hardback). Amazon's price was great but I wanted instant gratification. Turns out Costco has it for $8.69 for paperback. Even better than Amazon. :) heheh Needless to say, I am very content. I haven't been stitching, or watching TV, or playing games these past week. I've been happily reading.

BTW: Harry Potter 7 is GREAT! I finished my first run through that first weekend. I just finished listening to the audio book edition yesterday in the car. I seriously need to get the rest of the audio books. It's the only way I'll be able to take time with those books for now. Reading from a book seems to be only for the first time read it seems right now. Going back to book 5 has been really hard.

UPDATE: The last book is called The Garden of Ruth. It looks fairly interesting. Both this and The Gilded Chamber were $8.69. Turns out Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister was $10.88 or something close to that. About the same price as Amazon - but no need to wait for it to ship. Almost done with The Gilded Chamber - about 3/4 of the way through the book in 4 days!!!

Bedroom completed - mostly :)

Well here are the pics of her bed room. I have to say I am quite pleased. It came out really well. I just need to add some splashes of color in the form of room wall stickers with the different fairies of Tinkerbell. It was a bigger undertaking than I thought. It took us 2 full days to really complete. My dad was sweet enough to re-paint marcus' old toy box he had as a kid to a deep powder blue (she asked for blue). And then he put up her canopy. Thus the pic below


Ok. This one doesn't show the glory of the canopy though...so how about this one? :)

You'll also notice that she no longer has any of the little lady bugs/flowers etc on her walls. I decided to pull those down. I went to Disney Store and got her the Tinkerbell screen you see in the above pic (was on sale amazingly enough). I'll also be getting some of those sticker decals for the walls that are easily removable. Her room walls are still a bit stark for my liking. Below are the rest of the pics of the other sections of the room.


We switched where her chalk board is now to the other corner and then moved some of the toys from the living room to there. I then put her lamp over to the right of the book case (it used to live to the left of it - where the dresser now is).



The dresser did a 180 degree switch. We put it under the window and moved the bed over giving some space plus it keeps her further away from the window for winter purposes. And last but not least....

Not sure if we're going to keep the floor seat you see there. But it's a cute spot for "Bear" in any case. Hope you enjoyed the tour!

As I move towards vacation

Well finally! Summer vacation is here! I am so burned out you can find me no longer moo-ing out on the prairie. ;) . Mom's due out on Tuesday afternoon. The schedule? Get Irene's room reorganized. Her room is organized half way between little girl and baby/toddler due to left overs of baby changing station etc still there, but a bedside table and a wood play trunk sitting in the main living room waiting to be used but not enough energy on the weekends to get things moved around. I am seriously on a mission that this gets done. Am really looking forward to it. I hope the ideas I have make Irene excited about being in her room. I'll do before and after shots. Will post them so you can see what I did. :0)

I sit here watching my automation run and decided to fiddle with my blog page again ;). Like it? I think I need a new color setup and change again. Feeling like I need a fresh look. Can you tell I am so in vacation mode it isn't even funny anymore? :D If you don't see me for a few more weeks, it's because I never got off the vacation bus. ;)

It's amazing what you learn, just by reading other blogs

Well I've been so much fun with Google Reader that I found a nice little analog clock that Nick Hodges' blog had. So I added it to mine as well. It's got customizable colors and choices between 12 and 24 hour times. Ok..so I am easily amused. It's that time of ship hell...so I am easily amused while I wait for a download to finish.

Much has occurred since last I posted. Dealing with new concepts: cholesterol *gasp*. Found out Wed, that beyond going back to Weight Watchers to loose my weight, I need to actually choose different foods than what I am used to. :( Fortunately it is a situation and problem that will cause me issues 20-30 Years down the line, so the change I can make can be gradual. The 3 biggies:

* Lessen Starch *the hardest one for me*
* Get rid of stuff that contains the partially hydrogenated veg oil (some of the stuff in my house actually surprised me that it had it)
* Eat more veggies (this one will be hard too..although some things like pre-cut veggies will help).

There were additions too:
* Soy protein (YAY!!! I finally get to keep somethign I enjoy. BTW: Amber introduced me to the most awesome Soy milk called Soy Dream. Also advised the vanilla which I can sooo enjoy now.) * Irene LOVES Edemame so back to Trader Joes I go to get a couple more bags o that.
* More Fiber... Going to try that Fiber that ends up being clear in the glass.. See how that is.
* Dr. Suggested also oat bran. Not sure if that is just to add more Fiber or if it is for another purpose.
* Fish Oil tablets. Interesting. Guess Costco has a vat that works out well. I already take a ton of vitamins...guess it won't hurt to add one more *sigh*

So that'll be a big change. Hopefully it will help resulting in my weight loss a bit quicker than I anticipated as well. So we'll see. I have to go back in 6 months for another test to see if my changes will make a difference.

Let's see..Parents are coming out next week, so I'll be on vacation. Much needed before the big push. Looking forward to that.

Outside of that, the world is calm. :) Wow. Knock on wood.