Books read in 2008

I only started keeping track of the books I'd read as of May of 2008. Here we are:

May

1. Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
2. Gossip Girl: Because I'm Worth It by Cecily von Ziegesar
3. After Dark by Haruki Murakami
4. Size Doesn't Matter by Meg Cabot
5. The V Club by Kate Brian
6. Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine
7. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
8. Skin by AM Vrettos
9. Good Girls by Lauren Ruby
10. America Is Me by ER Frank
11. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
12. An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell
13. Follow the Blue by Bridid Lowry
14. Before Wings by Beth Goobie
15. Blue Skies and Gunfire by KM Peyton
16. Leaving Poppy by Kate Cann
17. Specials by Scott Westerfeld

June

18. The Rose and the Beast - Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block
19. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
20. The Drowned World by JG Ballard
21. Candide by Voltaire
22. Legend by David Gemmell
23. The Third Man by Graham Greene
24. The Invisible Man by HG Wells
25. The Music of Chance by Paul Auster

July

26. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
27. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
28. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
29. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
30. The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank by Ellen Feldman
31. Mr Vertigo by Paul Auster
32. Tommy Sullivan Is A Freak by Meg Cabot
33. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
34. The Intrepreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
35. Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice
36. The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
37. Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier (reread)
38. The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

August

39. Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld
40. Blue Moon by Scott Westerfeld
41. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (reread)
42. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
43. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
44. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (reread)

September

45. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
46. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
47. My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson

October

48. Old School by Tobias Wolff
49. The Rotters Club by Jonathan Coe
50. Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
51. Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day by Meg Cabot
52. Acting Up by Melissa Nathan
53. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
54. Man in the Dark by Paul Auster

November

55. Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine
56. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
57. Peter Pan in Scarlett by Geraldine McCaughrean
58. In Search of Adam by Caroline Smailes
59. Stop In The Name of Pants by Louise Rennison

December

60. Ruby Red by Linzi Glass
61. Double Cross by Malorie Blackman
62. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
63. Oracle Night by Paul Auster

Happy New Year!

We've got a few friends who have mentioned this thing they do. It could be a religious thing, it probably isn't. They start the new year with a clean house (maybe they just said 'clean' or possibly 'fresh' - could mean anything, a shower, new clothes) and maybe N and I are taking it too far and it's too much whilst we're all feeling a little poorly but it's a ball in motion at this point. We've already tackled the garage, the kitchen, the computer room and we're halfway through the bedrooms. And I've come across a scary realisation. But the backstory first:

I used to work in a bookstore. I love books. I used to live in house so filled with bookshelves (and books, naturally) it actually made me feel claustrophobic by the time we moved out. Two years ago, when we moved into our current house we decided to go down a more minimalist route. Despite having two large bookshelves (in the garage) and a smaller bookshelf all double-stacked, a bedside table that might buckle at any time, boxes upon boxes of books in the loft, a 'library-book' table and small book stacks in both the boys' rooms, it turns out that yes, I am still a crazy book lady.

It turns out that despite all of my dedicated book space, I've still hidden/stashed books in the stupidest of places. Take for instance ... Elliot's art cupboard. And my closet.



Is there help available to me? Probably not. But it seems like a nice time to get a little more organised and therefore, I've ordered a lovely third bookshelf for the garage. And we're moving a bookshelf into our dining room (possibly) so there will finally be some books on display. Maybe this will help.

Here's hoping you all have a fresh start in 2009!

So much fun to be had with wrapping paper

I wanted to post these photos before Christmas becomes an event so far behind us that speaking about it would seem silly. So, here we are - Christmas of 2008, wrapping paper edition:


Oldest, aged 3

Littlest, aged 9 months (first Christmas!)

Thankfully, we had a healthy, relaxing Christmas. Now that it's over, Littlest has conjunctivitis, Oldest has pus on his tonsils and is on antibiotics (sorry for that rotten mental-image!) I had a terrible fevery cold and now N is coming down with something. Thank god it all happened after Christmas, right?

Post Christmas

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. We certainly did. I'll be posting my wrapping paper photos soon enough, but I have a lot of catching up to do before. I didn't get a chance to do any book reading or blog reading over the last four days. My google reader is currently 566 new entries and I refuse to mark any blog as all-read, even the blog who posted 25 new entries in the last four days. That's dedication. Wish me luck. I also will not sleep until I finish the book I'm reading before the end of the year. Am off to watch the Gilmore Girls...

(soon I will find the time to sit down and write a proper post. And also to comment on all of your lovely comments!)

Breaking the (piggy) Bank

Our special project over Christmastime is to clear out our garage. It sounds like a barrel of laughs, doesn't it? I'm actually a little excited. When we moved 2 years ago, everything we didn't immediately find space for was shoved into the garage so now it's this treasure trove of interesting old things. And I'm thinking I'll be sharing quite a few things with you all over the coming weeks. (how exciting, eh?)

First off, I found this old teddy bear bank that I painted 9 years ago when N came to visit. We spent many hours at this pottery place in downtown Eugene. Loved it there, can't tell you why exactly. I wanted a really traditional bear. N painted the same bear but his is a pale-ish blue. I painted my name across the bottom.

When I moved to England, I still had some American change left over, and N and I did some travelling around Europe and who actually spends all their foreign coins, right? I had the bright idea to keep all that foreign money in one place. And you know? those French francs are pretty useless now! But not my American money. I plan to keep the change but send the teddy bear off to the charity shop.

What would I find in your garage? What exactly can you buy for $3.46 anyway? No, really, what can you buy?

Blog Advent Tour 2008 - A family tradition

Marg at Reading Adventures, and Kailana at The Written World are hosting the Blog Advent Tour 2008. Every day, participants post a bit of Christmas until December 25. Today it's my turn. And whew, have I been a little nervous about what to post.

Earlier in the month, I posted about the fact that I had no Christmas spirit, and in order to defeat that feeling, I was going to write about Christmas as much as I could. I took pictures of my tree and my kids, my Advent calendar, I elfed the family, I answered Christmasy questions... what haven't I written about already? I may have mentioned before that my family as a child didn't really celebrate Christmas, but clearly what I meant by that is that I don't remember our family celebrating Christmas in a traditional way. We very rarely stayed at home. We stopped putting a tree up after my brother and I turned a certain age. After awhile, our family grew apart and were hardly in the same house together.

Because of this, I'd love it if my children grew up remembering specific holiday traditions. Fun ones, things we did together as a family, things that could think back on fondly. The smell of baking, laughter. My husband N plays the piano and every year he plays for us and we sing carols together.

And I started one as well. It was difficult to remember, because it isn't a tradition specific to Christmas, but it orginated at Christmas and I carry it on every year. It happened by accident.

My oldest son, Elliot was less than 4 weeks old on his first Christmas. He slept through us opening his Christmas presents for him, he slept most of the day in fact. When the presents were all opened, I wanted a nice photo of him. Something that would remind me of this, his first Christmas. So I plonked him down on the wrapping paper. And a tradition was born. Every Christmas I do the same, take photos of him surrounded in wrapping paper. It works the same for birthdays.

The first Christmas

Elliot, aged 1

Elliot, aged 2

Sunday Salon - A library list (21 Dec 008)

I went to the library earlier this week and I'm quite proud of my selection:

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
The Grey King by Susan Cooper

Also new in the house recently, The Master of Petersburg by JM Coetzee, which I won in a giveaway from Matt! Thank you so much!

I figured it was about time I read The Dark is Rising sequence. I've heard enough about it. They didn't have the last in the series, Silver on the Tree, otherwise I would have picked that up as well. The rest of the books, Un Lun Dun aside, in the children's section didn't really appeal to me this time. I've been in YA mode for weeks now, it feels like the tide is turning now. Hence books like Schindler's Ark and the Paul Austers. I've tried The New York Trilogy before without success, but I feel in the mood for Paul Auster. I started reading Oracle Night earlier this week and I'm in love. I love the way Auster pulls me right into a story.

I've given myself until the New Year to read mainly for pleasure. Let 2008 finish before I get cracking on my new university course. The holidays are not the right time to start something stressful. So I'm hoping to fly through as many of these books as I can before I have to crack open the textbooks! Hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Christmases Past

My favourite ever photo of my brother and I.

Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house in California. Look at those glasses. Sheesh.

I still am that exciteable at Christmastime and opening presents :)
The last big family Christmas. The recliner was a family present but my mother ended up with it in the divorce. The big present in the corner wrapped in newspaper is a toolbox for my dad.

I have no idea, having no memories from this at all, but I think we were at a party hosted at a VFW center?

Cheesy Christmas stars

Remember when I said I baked to get me in the Christmas mood? Here's what I made. Cheesy Christmas stars. N bought me this big box of cookie cutters years ago and it's been collecting dust in the back of a cupboard ever since. When we moved two years ago, he held up the box and said 'should we give this to charity? you've never used it' and I quickly grabbed it out of his hands and promised that OF COURSE I would use them. And I never have, until last weekend.

Cheesy Christmas stars

150g/6oz self-raising flour
half a teaspoon of salt
75g/3oz butter or margarine
75g/3oz cheese, finely grated
1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk, beaten together
a star-shaped cutter
a greased baking sheet

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F/gas mark 6 before you start.

1. Sift the flour and salt through a sieve. Add the butter or margarine and rub it with your fingers to make fine crumbs.

2. Leave a tablespoon of the grated cheese on a saucer. Add the rest of the cheese to the bowl and stir it in.

3. Put a tablespoon of the beaten egg and milk mixture into a cup. Mix the rest into the flour to make a dough.

4. Sprinkle the flour onto a clean work surface. Roll out the dough until it is slightly thinner than your little finger. (?)

5. Use the cutter to cut out lots of star shapes. Cut them close together. Make the scraps into a ball, and roll them out and continue making stars.

6. Brush the stars with the rest of the egg mixture, then sprinkle them with the rest of the cheese.

7. Put the stars onto the greased baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for eight to ten minutes or until golden.

Recipe from The Usborne Big Book of Christmas Things to Make and Do. So tell me, what're your favourite Christmas recipes? What do you cook every year? Doesn't everyone love the smell of baking in the house?

Things I've Done

I've been through a different list years ago, but this one has been making the rounds lately, and I thought I'd do this one as well. The things I've done are in bold. Who's with me in thinking there's a lot on this list that I'd like to do?

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

I was going to write little notes about the things that I have done but decided against it. Ask me anything about what I've done, I'll do my best to answer.

I'll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours...

This is my Advent calendar. It hangs in our hallway. Every year N fills the pockets with chocolates, sometimes two. Elliot was given a Dairy Milk advent calendar by a neighbour, but also a Cars calendar similar to this one that N made for him. I like that he has to look for the right number first and that he gets quite excited.

Do you have an Advent calendar? Can you believe it's already the 17th?!

Christmas and family estrangement

Christmas is a hard time to be estranged from one's family. I was feeding Littlest lunch when the postman came this morning. In today's post was (happily!) a Christmas card from an old friend.

Oldest pipes in with: 'What does it say, Mommy? What does it say?'
Me: It says 'Happy Christmas'
Oldest (giggling): Happy Christmas! Happy Christmas Mommy!
Me: Happy Christmas Oldest.
Oldest: Say 'Happy Christmas' to Littlest Mommy!
Me: Happy Christmas, Littlest.
Oldest: Now, say 'Happy Christmas' to Daddy!
Me: Happy Christmas Daddy.
Oldest: Now say 'Happy Christmas' to Nana!
Me: Happy Christmas Nana.
Oldest: Mommy! Mommy! Say 'Happy Christmas' to Nora!
Me: Nora? Why would you say that? Why Nora?
Oldest: (looks confused)
Me: Oldest, why did want me to say Happy Christmas to Nora?
Oldest: Nora is in Timothy Goes to School, Mommy.

Yes. A perfectly reasonable explanation, Timothy Goes to School being one of Oldest's favourite television programmes, albeit one he hasn't watched anytime recently. And yes, Nora is a character.

But it's also the name of my mother. And I haven't spoken to my mother since before Joshua was born 9 months ago. Before that, I hadn't spoken to her in almost 2 years and then only briefly. I no longer have her phone number or address. It was such a shock to hear her name like that. I'm still a bit shaken more than 5 hours later. Was she already on my mind before Oldest mentioned her name? I can't really remember. But I'm thinking about her now.

Now really is the time when people reach out to their loved ones and say 'Happy Christmas' and I won't be able to do that with my mother this year. We've had our rough times over the years and we will never have a great relationship considering what we've both been through, but I'd have liked to be able to send her one of Oldest's homemade Christmas cards. I'd like her to be able to hear Oldest's sweet little voice shouting 'Happy Christmas' down the phone. Maybe next year.

That Elusive Christmas Spirit

The tree is up, the Christmas songs are on. I've elfed myself and my family. The Christmas presents are all bought, the Christmas cards have been sent out. The Advent calendars are more than halfway finished. The decorations are up, the Christmas books are being read before bedtime.

And yet, I still don't feel it.

Even watching the X Factor finals this weekend didn't make me feel like Christmas is getting nearer. Yesterday, I put on my most Christmasy jumper - a cream jumper with a green snowflake bought from Gap years ago. I even tried baking yesterday. I pulled out my recipe for waffles and plan on making them sometime soon. What else can I do?

Maybe when N is off work from this Friday. Maybe when we finally take the boys to see Father Christmas. Maybe when the in-laws arrive. Maybe when we see The Room on the Broom next week. Maybe when we head off to our first toddler Christmas party. Maybe. I hope.

Sunday Salon - Anticipation of a good book

This week has been slightly weird, reading-wise. I finished my last book about a week ago (Double Cross by Malorie Blackman) and I finally got hold of a copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which I've heard such great things about and I was really looking forward to it ... but I kept putting off reading it. I have no idea why. Was it the anticipation of it that I liked?I'm not normally the person who holds off on things to savour the moment. I'm usually the jump right in person. But with this, I waited. Was it because I knew I'd want to read it all in one sitting and knew I wouldn't be able to give it that kind of commitment? I'm not sure. And anyway, I'm loving the book. I think I love it even more after reading Neil Gaiman's Journal. Does everyone subscribe? You really must. I laugh at nearly every post. This is my third Gaiman so far, and now I'm trying to get my hands on American Gods and Neverwhere. I'm holding off on the graphic novels, because I'm still not sure graphic novels are really my thing. What about you?

Which author blogs do you read? When you find a great author, do you rush out and read everything they've ever written or savour their books one by one?

Year in Review

I did this last year and it feels like a tradition. I've taken the first sentence of the first post of every month last year and posted them together to hopefully give a general overview of this blog in 2008... I think it gives a fair representation - my kids, books, going back to school. Big themes of this year (and my entire life!) What does yours look like?


I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year, and hopefully 2008 brings everyone what they wish for.

If only things were this simple, right?


It's Mothers Day here in England, and I've had a great day.


On the day Littlest was born, it was a Thursday, and as usual, I went to toddler group with Oldest in the morning.


Over at Hidden Side of A Leaf, a new challenge has begun called Weekly Geeks.*


Here is my list of books that I read in May.


Also read half of A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, which I've put aside to finish another day (hopefully in July, but we'll see!


Last month I felt chained to the 1001 books list.


It's back to school time, and I've been reading lots of posts about other bloggers going to grad school or taking their kids to their first day at school and I feel all a bit left out.


As most of you are aware, it's Banned Books week in America.


..November is kicking my ass.


We held Oldest's birthday party at our house on Saturday.


*I actually welled up when I realised this would be included. I haven't yet talked about how I've felt in regards to dewey's recent death. I have no words to say that haven't already been said. She was a great blogger, someone who built a great community of book bloggers around her. I didn't know her very well, but I always meant to participate in more Weekly Geeks, the next 24-hour read a thon, sometime soon, I'll do the Carnival... The dewey-shaped hole that is left behind is a huge one. I will miss her.

A Christmasy meme

I saw this this morning over at Books. Lists. Life and thought I would steal it for my own whilst I'm working on other entries. It looked like fun. Let me know if you're doing it at your blog so I can have a look!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
You know, I would never consider a gift bag at Christmas. Why is that? It'd be so much easier. I will wrap anything. Actually, I just like wrapping paper better, especially if it's cute paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
I would love a real tree, but we have our artificial one. Maybe we can buy some pine scented something and hang it around the house. Also, where does one find mistletoe? I'd love to hang that somewhere!

3. When do you put up the tree?
The first weekend in December, whenever that falls. It's also the first time I'm allowed to play Christmas music.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Whenever N gets tired of seeing it. Around New Years? I don't remember. I hate taking down the tree.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I love eggnog, who doesn't? :)

6. Favourite gift received as a child?
Once, when I was really little, we went to a friend of the family's house for Christmas and they bought me the entire (the ones that had been published anyway) collection of the Boxcar Children. I spent the entire week I was there reading. Best present ever. I'm now waiting for my boys to be old enough to make use of some of my children's books.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
N by a mile. He never wants anything. Except this year I guess. (Santa brought him a Wii)

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Me. Definately. Or Oldest.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
I think we keep meaning to buy one but we're holding out for something really good. Or maybe we have one, but I just can't find it amongst all the other Christmas stuff everywhere. We do have quite a bit of Christmasy things still in a box in the garage. One of these days...

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail them. Except I always forget there's a last posting date to America (like this year) and now my dad will get his Christmas card late. And not for the first time, I'm sure. I think we might email him something as well. Oh. And I guess I do normally email a family photo with a short message to those people I don't know personally. Plus family, which is like everyone. So I guess both.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I can't really remember. There were quite a few where I opened them and thought 'who were you thinking about when you bought this?' but nothing so terrible that it stays in my mind.

12. Favourite Christmas Movie?
Oh, I don't know. We used to always watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas or that episode of Charlie Brown with the Christmas tree. But N and I always try to watch Christmasy films around this time as well. It worked out better before children. Funny how that happened. We also like watching holiday episodes of our favourite TV shows.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
In the Christmas sales sometimes, otherwise, during the year we'll see stuff, pick it up.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Not one that was for me personally, but possibly one of the children's presents.

15. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas?
Dessert. Always dessert. I tried to make a Christmas yule thing last year and it was horrible. I hope I'm not on dessert duty again this year. Oh! And mince pies, god, I love mince pies.

16. Lights on the tree?
Yes. We have fairy lights, coloured lights and blue lights. And they flash and chase each other. This year we debated about whether or not we put too many lights on the tree, but we still put them all up.

17. Favourite Xmas song?
Favourite carol? O Come All Ye Faithful. Song? All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Maybe one of these days we'll end up travelling. As it is, we stay at home and people come to us.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Comet? Vixen? Blixen? ... Rudolph? Dancer? Prancer? How many reindeer are there again? I think that's a no.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
We actually have a cute Eeyore dressed up as an angel on the top of our tree. I wouldn't have it any other way!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
I always try to convince N to open one on Christmas Eve, but I can't remember if I succeeded last year. I think he did cave, because we had guests coming around in the morning and there were too many presents for us there for it to be polite opening in front of them. Actually, we ended up halving Oldest's presents last year for that same reason!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Christmas shoppers. I hate going to the shops these days because I can't push my pushchair anywhere without bumping into someone and I always get elbowed or someone steps on my foot. I like my personal space, I can't handle ten million people pushing and shoving. Do your Christmas shopping earlier or online.

23. Favourite ornament theme or colour?
There is no central theme or colour to our Christmas tree. I'd like there to be one, but it will never happen. The biggest theme on our tree used to be the Winnie the Pooh characters, but we had too many of them, so now we only have our Eeyore ornaments up.

24. Favourite memory of Christmas?
I don't have one. I'm hoping this year, watching Oldest and Littlest open their presents will be my favourite one ever. Here's hoping.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
An iPod touch. Tales of Beedle the Bard. The new Enrique Iglesias CD. About four different Robert Sabuda/Matthew Rheinhart pop up books.

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like...

New into the house

I feel like a terrible person for not write about these new books sooner! The first, Darfur Diaries by Jen Marlowe is a book I recieved from the ever-awesome Natasha from Maw Books Blog. She took so much time and effort to raise awareness of the Genocide in Darfur and then gave everyone who participated a free book. When it came to choosing which books we were interested in, I knew that I wanted to read a book about Darfur. Because me? Still a little ignorant about the whole situation. A huge thank you to Natasha for doing something important and worthwhile and for posting this book to me!

The second book, is a book I won in a giveaway from Gayle over at Everyday I Write the Book Blog and I'm still shocked that I won. I never win anything. Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek sounds really good, and I look forward to reading it! Did I mention it's signed by the author? Yay for me! and for Gayle! and for Jayne Pupek who sent it out to me!

The last book there is The Call of the Weird by Louis Theroux. I saw it in my local library sale and what can I say? I heart Louis Theroux. Especially his Weird Weekends.


This second pile of books came today, and oh did it make me nervous. And excited and a bit like I was going to be sick. It's the first batch of textbooks and DVDs for my university course I'm starting in February. I wasn't expecting them until after Christmas, and now they're here. Look at them. This means that it's really happening. I'm going back to university. Me. God, what if I fail? What if I don't? It's all very scary.

And finally, this. Isn't it pretty? It's very comfortable. I've wanted this chair for years, but it was always just a bit out of my price range, and now that The Pier has gone into administration I've finally got the reading chair I've always wanted.

Racism

I've finished two books so far this month, Ruby Red by Linzi Glass and Double Cross by Malorie Blackman. Both dealt with race - Ruby Red was set during 1976 in apartheid South Africa and Double Cross of course being the fourth book in the Noughts and Crosses series where white people are second class citizens to black Crosses. I didn't intentionally pick up two YA books about race, but it got me thinking about how racism has affected my life so far.

When I was growing up, my brother and I were usually the only kids of colour in our school apart from two black kids and one half-Korean girl, all three of which were semi-popular and had more people to stick up for them. I didn't always feel out of place, but I've been called so many names. From the n-word to 'Mexi-fry' to Slant-Eyes. I've been made to feel out of place, unwanted, I've been stared at, bullied. My mother and her black boyfriend were kicked out of their apartment by racist thugs. I will never consider moving back to Eugene, Oregon after the way N was stared at every second he was there. Even here in England, the first day I arrived someone yelled a racist term at me as I stared out the car window on my to my new home. Customers at the shop I worked at called me 'black' in such an unpleasant way. I dread flying to America. I do. After 9/11, EVERY.SINGLE.TIME we go through security, we get stopped and searched. Without fail.

When will it end? I worry about my children. They're half-Indian as well as part-Tlingit. English father, American mother. Will they be OK? Will they be treated differently, has society come so far since I was a child that racism won't be as much of a problem?

What do you think? What are your experiences with racism?

My Fortune...

According to one of those palm-reading machines:

Your hand denotes a loving disposition. The course of true love never did run smooth, but in your case it does. Love is the most important thing in your life. Use a little more firmness, especially with the opposite sex. One of whom you stand rather in awe has a deep affection for you. Romance is very much in the air in your future. Show more will-power and concentration, as you lack these attributes. It would make for permanent success. Do not be over-confident, however.

I thought it was BRILLIANT when I read it. Love? Definately the most important thing in my life. And the part about lacking will-power and concentration? Totally true.

I'm not saying that the machine that must have been 50 years old that I paid a pound into whilst at a museum is accurate beyond belief. But when they get it right it's very creepy (of course I realise that it is very general and could apply to most people, but I'm choosing to not focus on that)! I would love to pay a visit to an actual palm-reader sometime. Or tarot or one of those other things. It seems like it'd be a fun thing to do. Have you ever been? Will you come with me?

Six (OCD) Things About Me

I was tagged awhile back by Emmie of Emma's Dilemmas and Great Expectations, a blogger that I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know over the last few months. It's meant to be six random things about me, but I decided to theme my answers in the shape of my OCDish behaviour. Reading this list makes me a little uncomfortable because they're all things that go on in my head or things about my family and childhood and I feel a little vulnerable about throwing these things out there. Making them just that little bit less private. Maybe one of the things on this list should be that I'm overly sensitive and paranoid about the things I write on my blog. I'm constantly worried about what others think of me even when so many have you have been really great about the things I write and everyday, with every new comment I feel that much better. You guys are great and so supportive. Here's my list:

1. I like to count things. It started when I was little and was on the swim team. I'd count how many strokes I needed to take to get from one side to the other, I counted the number of laps I was swimming, when the coach told me I needed to focus on my breathing, I counted the number of breaths I was taking. It just carried on from there. I like to count the number of steps up the stairs, the number of pages until the next chapter in my book, I like to count the number of postcards in my collection, the number of donkeys on display, the number of books I've taken out of the library. I don't remember the numbers at the end, I just like counting.

2. I like things to be equal. This is mostly to do with food. When I was growing up, it was all about who ever is fastest or pushiest gets the most food. I liked to sleep in on the weekends and sometimes I'd wake up and someone had made pancakes and the whole family had eaten them all without waiting for me or keeping some aside for me. Now, in my own family, it's all about no more and no less for everyone. Everyone gets equal amounts. When I'm pouring Coke for N and myself, I spend a lot of time making sure there is exactly the same amount in each glass. It makes me feel better.

3. I've mentioned before that I carry on a lot of conversations in my head, my inner voice is always active. This isn't the whole story, really. I also 'type' words and sentences in my head, especially when I'm writing emails or blog entries in my head. Not as much as I used to, but it still happens. I like knowing where the keys are on the keyboard. This is very comforting.

4. I also 'write' some words in the air when someone's speaking to me, but not so anyone can see me or anything. I'm discreet. N knows about it, and sometimes he asks me which words I'm writing. It's not every word and it doesn't happen during every conversation so I guess it is sort of interesting to keep track of which words are written and which aren't. Maybe those are only things that I find interesting?

5. When I was younger, I had an eating disorder. It wasn't exactly anorexia or bulimia but a combination of the two. From that time, I picked up a lot of food habits that have stuck with me. The biggest one is I feel uncomfortable sometimes when different foods are touching. I like clear separation between the meat and the veg and the mash (for instance). I also don't like combining foods. I'll usually eat one (the veg first) and finish it and then the next thing and then the next thing. It happens in other ways as well, we sometimes get the Muller corner yoghurts, and I HATE it when the yoghurt gets into whatever the corner thing is. My rule is that the corner bit goes into the yoghurt but never at any point must the yoghurt get into the corner bit.

6. I like writing lists. I have notebooks full of lists. Writing lists calms me down and relaxes me in some way. It's very anal and N teases me about the number of lists I write, but something about the order of it, the organisation of things into lists is something I can't stop doing. So N brings me home as many notebooks as he can. And I am grateful for every one of them.

A family (elf) affair

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A little bit of Littlest..

I feel like Littlest has been neglected a bit on this blog lately, especially after my emotional post about Oldestlast week. So I give you Littlest. Isn't he gorgeous? I read somewhere recently that most children smile roughly 500 times a day, whereas adults smile around 15 times. Apart from that being a sad statistic, I can guarantee that 500 is too low a number for my little boy. Happiest child I have ever met. He is so low maintenance that it kills me sometime. He seems more than happy to entertain himself or just watch Oldest running around.

He has the most irrestistibly kissable cheeks and the softest hair in the world. His eyes light up when he sees someone he recognises and he bounces with excitement when he sees his food. He is very adventurous especially now that he can pull himself up into a standing position and I can tell already that I am going to have my hands full with this little one. And oh boy, am I excited. Bring it on.

Wedding anniversary

Today is my 8th wedding anniversary! Happy anniversary N!

N doesn't like having his photo shown, so here is a photo of me on our wedding day, 8 years ago... It's been the best 8 years of my life and today especially, I feel incredibly lucky.

On Elliot's birthday party

We held Elliot's birthday party at our house on Saturday. We did have to limit the number of guests being at our house but we thought we could squeeze one more party in before we had to hire a hall. We always have too much food and too many decorations, and Elliot was absolutely thrilled so all the work and effort we put into it was definately worth it.

There was just one thing that annoyed me that day. And I will admit to crying. One of the mothers of the children we invited called up ONE HOUR before the party to say her son (Elliot's 'best friend') wasn't feeling well and they weren't going to make it. Oh I was annoyed. A mutual friend told me the day before that this boy was not feeling well earlier in the week, so why didn't the mother call me a few days beforehand (even the day before!) and say 'T is not feeling very well, if he still isn't better by Saturday, we won't be able to make it' or even Saturday morning when T has obviously woken up still not well, why not call me then? Why not do both? Why call an hour before the party to cancel? Why?

This is Elliot's best friend.. he had been saying 'T is coming to my birthday party' all week. If I'd known, I'd have prepared Elliot beforehand that T might not be coming. So, yes, I did start crying, thinking about Elliot being disappointed (god, I hate it when my child is disappointed or let down by other people), but then N came home and said not to be upset when other people do not live up to our own high standards. And I did feel a bit better and truthfully, Elliot was fine about T not coming. He danced and laughed and ate and had a great time. Me? I'm still slightly annoyed. Do you think I overreacted? What would you have done?