Monday, October 31, 2011

mixed bag

The soccer girls won their sub-state game and will head off to play in the state tournament! Woot!!  No overtime this year was required to defeat the other team, and we walked off the field with a decisive 2-0 victory. Both girlies are going, both will be sitting the bench, and I hope they have a blast. Sister bonding time framed by soccer...those moments are winding down for them and this will be the last one they share.

In other news, the 2012-2013 leadership for the Friends is still in a bit of a mess. I met Friday with some of the current officers and some of the nominating committee and we managed to identify 13 members who could run the group. The list was handed off to the past president as she was tapped to make those calls. She got to #3 on the list, who is still thinking about it after emailing me and asking for more information. Which, I provided in great detail yesterday morning. No word back yet. BUT, we do have an ace up our sleeves as one of gals on the nominating committee volunteered to serve and is willing to serve.

We went from zero to possibly two candidates. High grade problem to have.  I have faith it will all sort itself out...hopefully before 1:00 on Wednesday.

The boy, who seemed to be so much on the mend Friday that I canceled his doctor's appointment,  spiked a fever last night and will be home from school yet again. UGH. Hubby is fielding this one, but I need to see what I can do about missing work on Tuesday if needed. Good grief. I guess I should be thankful that I've gone 6 months without having someone home sick while I have to go to work. I hate this part of it.....hate it, hate it, hate it.

And that is how we are starting our week. Soccer, sickness and a new president quandary.  Mixed bag.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

when it just isn't good enough

The girls lost, yet again, to their arch rivals last night. They played hard, the best they have all season, but a questionable call lined up a penalty kick from their star player and the game finished 2-1. Tough. Tough. Tough. Loss.

But, they are still in the chase for state as last night's game was for seeding purposes, and if they win on Saturday, will head off to face other teams from other regions.

In other news, a tummy bug has hit me and a virus of some sort has hit the youngest. Lovely. Hubby went and got the kid from school yesterday and I wound up leaving work an hour early to come home and try and will myself not to get sick. Partially succeeded.....still have the headache, but the tummy queasiness has lessened. The kid has a cough, a slight fever and just a general feeling of 'ick'.

The local drama with our football coach has now gone national. Bottom line: my kid needs her honors pre-cal teacher back. Pronto. The court of public opinion seems to be tilting in favor of the coach. Some interesting discussions about it on the sidelines of the soccer match.

Okay, over and out for today and for the week. What a weird one it has been.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

talking trash

Two trashy topics for this morning.  First, saw on the news last night the huge trash island floating in the Pacific. This is all the 'stuff' that was swept to sea after the tsunami in Japan. Wow. It is supposedly twice the size of Texas. Wow.  Of course no mention was made of what anyone is going to do about this hazard. Where would you even begin to try and clean up this mess?

Second, you need to be careful of what you say these days, even in locker rooms. Not being an athlete, I've always had a cliched vision of what a locker room is like at halftime. I've heard coaches yell at players; I've heard coaches yell at my two players. Can't say I've ever heard one yell like the audio tape a local high school football player posted on the internet for all to hear. But, what I heard more or less jives with what I expected to hear from a high school coach "talking" to a bunch of high school boys. This incident made local TV news and it was in this morning's paper. The coach has resigned from the football team and is now on paid administrative leave.

Guess this wouldn't be such a fly in my ointment except he teaches the honors pre-cal class the middle kid is taking. So, her teacher is now out of the classroom for who knows how long.

All because of trash.

Monday, October 24, 2011

halftime is over

Wow. That was a great fall break. It is amazing what an extra day off did for me. I accomplished a ton, feel rested and ready to roll. The next two weeks will be a bit crazy and then I head off on my first every 'business' trip to Louisville, KY. Fun stuff.

The only thing I didn't do a lot of this weekend was read. I  cleaned, cooked, baked, shopped, watched, talked and a whole bunch of other things, but didn't crack open one book.

And that is okay. I will have plenty of time to read once soccer season ends....which didn't happen last week as the girls won in overtime 3-1. Whoop. The march to state continues.

Life is good. Fall is great. All is well.
Happy Monday.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

my friday is today!

I'm so excited for my 6 hours at work to fly by today as I'm taking my first PTO day tomorrow. Yippee!!  I'm ready to enjoy a little bit of Fall Break with my kids.

So, Happy Fall to y'all!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

holding pattern

I'm craving some holding patterns. I'd like to have a few days that bordered on boring. A day without a major event, crisis or 'new' thing to tackle would be most welcome.  But, it seems, this fall is anything but monotonous either at work or at home.

So, we adjust and we adapt and we keep moving along with a routine that is anything but, routine.

Book reviews........The Schoolmaster's Daughter by John Smolen is up first. I had high hopes for this book pinned solely upon the fact it was a historical fiction novel set during the American Revolution. I ended up being disappointed. The setting was wonderful, but the characters were flat and never drew my interest. Bummer.

The next book was Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich. This latest addition to the Stephanie Plum saga is good for a few laughs, but I've been more entertained by other 'numbers' in this series. Maybe I was just in a grumpy mood when I read it,  but I'm starting to get irritated with the whole romantic triangle thing between Ranger, Morelli and Stephanie.  

So, that is it....here we are at Tuesday. Have a good one!




Monday, October 17, 2011

fall break

The kids are on fall break this week, so it rather odd for me to have to go to work and have them home. I'm so out of the summer swing that it seems a bit strange to know they aren't at school.  But, I am taking Thursday off, my first PTO day, to spend with them. I'm looking forward to that 4 day weekend!

I finished reading two books over the weekend. The first one was that historical novel set during the American Revolution. The second was Janet Evanovich's latest.

More on those later. I need coffee first and the newspaper next.

Reviews to come tomorrow.....if all goes well!

Happy Monday.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

book club

Our Friends group agreed to fund the book club in a bag program again in memory of my friend, Anne B. I was quite happy about that and had already compiled  a list of possible titles for the book club group to consider.  They meet today, and I'm going to try and attend so we can get that all ironed out and begin the whole process of ordering the materials and setting up the bags for 2012.

I also need to work a bit on some publicity for the group and on the guideline document I'm creating for the next president. It is way past the time when the how and why of what we do is written down.

Looks like I will have a busy Saturday!

Enjoy your day and the weekend ahead.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

worth it


Back in the day, before digital cameras, a little girl got asked to play in the goal. Because she wanted to help her team, she did as she was asked. Soon the goal became her place to be, her spot on the field, her identity on her team.

And this continued for many years until she celebrated her senior night with her varsity high school team.

She's still the same little girl to me, but she's not so little any more. She played in the goal last night and then in the second half played as a forward and scored her first ever high school goal.  It was a magical night filled with memories and lots of pride.  Soccer isn't always easy and sometimes it isn't fun, but if you hang tough and take the good with the bad, it changes you. It makes you stronger, more confident and most of all you learn that effort can pay off in ways the scoreboard doesn't always reflect.  The ladies won last night 7-0, yes, they kicked some butt against a weaker opponent. But, last night was about more than the score. It was about celebrating what soccer has done for those seniors. They are all solid soccer players, but they are amazing young women.
Happy Senior Night to my oldest......YOU ROCK, on and off the pitch!!

xoxo,

Mom

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

ghost story

Not sure how I did it, but I managed to finish reading "Ghost Story" last night. What a read! I adore the Dresden Files series and this latest addition to Harry's stories is great fun.

Action. Action. Action.  One thing Jim Butcher does really well is to keep the pace of his plots at break-neck speed. Harry barely has time to regroup before the next dire event happens. The most dire event happened in the final pages of the last book. Harry was shot and fell into Lake Michigan off of his brother's boat.

This book opens with Harry in an afterlife experience and he chooses to return to Chicago as a ghost. Quite a bit has happened since Harry and team wiped out the Red Court vampires at Chichen Itza. The power vacuum left when that court was destroyed has enabled some nasty creatures to make life in the Windy City quite miserable.

I don't want to spill any more details than that, but be assured that if you enjoy this series, this title carries on the Harry Dresden tradition in fine style.

Monday, October 10, 2011

the new TBR pile

I made it to the library last week and checked out three books and then while I was working the book sale on Friday, I managed to find four books I wanted to read.  So, by TBR pile is again a force to be reckoned with on my small nightstand.

Up first is the latest Harry Dresden adventure from Jim Butcher. I adore the Dresden stories and this one is no exception.

Following my foray into a magical version of Chicago, I will travel east to see what is up with Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovich's latest, "Smokin' Seventeen."  Yep, old Steph is up to trouble as she always is! Fun stuff.

Then I selected a historical fiction novel from John Smollens titled "The Schoolmaster's Daughter." Brand new author to me, so that is always exciting.

From the sale I came home with:
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - a current book club favorite.
The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho - enjoyed The Alchemist so figured, why not.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - decent movie, the book has to be better.
Precious and Fragile Things by Megan Hart - I liked the snowy road featured on the cover.

So, there you have it, what will keep me busy in my 'spare' moments for the next several weeks.

Happy Monday!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

thursday

Thank goodness it is Thursday. For what was supposed to be a quiet week at work, I've been swamped with things to do, although it has been quiet in regards to the sound level. Tonight is preview night at the book sale. I have to work that from 5-7. Then tomorrow I'm supposed to be back to work the fiction room, but we are having an unexpected guest visit. Hubby's Aunt S is flying in for the day, more or less. She is picking up a car and driving it back north, so she will be with us until Saturday.

Going to be a busy weekend.....yet again.....I need a day off.

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

book sale time

They will begin pulling books out of boxes today for our fall book sale. This is my favorite day of the sale 'event' as i love organizing those books. But, I won't be there this year except to swoop in for the meeting and then swoop out to return to work.

I am going to work the presale event Thursday night and then will be on hand all day Friday.

Big soccer games tonight as both the girls' teams face off against their crosstown rival. Big plea to the soccer gods that everyone leaves the field injury free. This will be a very physical game....high school girls soccer isn't for wimps and in a game like this, it can get a bit rough if the referees don't set a no nonsense tone early. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen too often.

I was lucky enough to find the latest Jim Butcher book featuring my favorite 'grown up' wizard, Harry Dresden. I also found a historical fiction book set during the American Revolution. Score!

Happy Wednesday.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

sadness and scones

I made a batch of cranberry orange scones yesterday when I got home from work. My baking efforts were totally fueled by the fact that I learned I will miss the soccer banquet this year due to my trip to L'ville. The oldest's senior banquet....no mama there.

This really bothered me, probably more than it should have, but that seems to be the way of things right now. I talked to her about it and she was fine with it as daddy will be there.

The good thing is I will be there at senior night for the game and all of those festivities.

The scones turned out well, I will make that recipe again. In fact, I hear one calling my name.

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

It has been a while since I devoted an entire blog post to a book review and true to form, this will not be a long and in depth look at "Blood Red Road." Other reviewers do a much better job of that. But, as this is a YA title, and the blog was originally filled with YA book reviews back when I worked in a YA library department, I thought I'd indulge myself and share my thoughts.

Dystopia is the one of the current rages in YA due to the success of the Hunger Games. The post-apocalyptic setting in Young's debut novel is different from Collin's world in HG, and I kept getting a strong Mad Max vibe from her descriptions of the places Saba, the protagonist, experienced. Saba is catapulted into a quest when her twin brother is kidnapped by four men on horses. Just a bit of symbolism there. From that point we have a journey across the desert, death match cage fighting, amazon-esque warrior girls and plenty of looney-tune crazy people. There is a bit of romance, a bit of family/sibling loyalty issues, plus David vs. Goliath themes in this plot.

The book is a page tuner and the action is nonstop. I was cheering for Saba from the start and she is a tough and resourceful heroine.

However, if you have any problems reading dialect or reading a book without punctuation to indicate who is speaking, you will want to bypass this novel. The book contains quite a bit of violence, but I wouldn't have a problem letting my middle school kid read it.

Of course, as is usual these days it seems, this is book one of a series.

So, two thumbs up for "Blood Red Road"...as far as the current YA dystopian crop goes, it's a winner.