End of summer catch-up

I don't mean to have such long times between posts. I'm always shocked when I see how much time has passed!

A lot has happened since my last post. 

David is now a Lieutenant. His schedule has been much more regular lately. We went to Washington together for a little mini-vacation that started with my work trip for the Mariners' game.  It was fun to have David there. He had never been (usually conflicts with the salmon derby).  We spent a couple days in Seattle, a couple days on Whidbey Island visiting Brucilla and her new partner, Gareth. David is going to their wedding later this month, down at Cape Disappointment in southwest Washington. I am staying here.

Kyle came down and fished the derby with us.  David also took him shooting.  It was fun to have him here.  I caught a 40-pound halibut while out on the boat a couple weeks ago. We have some fish in the freezer but not enough to last the winter. We're hoping Dave can catch a few more before the winter sets in and we have to put the boat up.

Dave is rebuilding our awning on the back deck to cover not just the hot-tub (like before) but to cover pretty much the whole deck, so we can more comfortably barbecue, hot tub, sit and visit, whatever.  It will be nice when he finishes.  It has not been dry enough to paint the house this summer. Hopefully next summer we'll be able to get that done.

We sold my Toyota last week.  Wally is giving me her 2001 Chevy Impala. It's very nice of her. David is going up to get it in 2 weeks and will drive it down. Kyle is installing a new stereo in it that has iPod connectivity.  I'm actually really looking forward to it, even though it is more than 10 years old.  It barely has any miles on it and has been very well maintained by Wally.  I'm certain it will be a great car for me.

My friend, JoAnne's husband passed away in May. She is back to work now, and we are trying to be normal.  I'm sure it's been very hard for her.

I've been working with a personal trainer and watching my calories. I've lost 11 pounds so far. But then just 2 days ago on Saturday during my workout I tore my gastroc muscle. It's Labor Day weekend, and I took an extra day off. But it feels like a waste, because I haven't been able to do anything.  I haven't been watching my calories much since that happened, but I don't think I've been too bad.  Tomorrow I have to call the orthopedist and try to get in to see him. I've been icing and elevating as much as I can.  It's hard to sit still so much, though.

As always, I'm going to try to write in here more. I'll try to make it a habit.  I feel like there's a lot pulling on my attention though, so i will have to focus on it to make it happen.

Adventures in Reading, a returning college kid, and upcoming Christmas in Spokane!

Recent adventures in reading:

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This was a great book. Interesting premise, and great love story.
• Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler.  I think I have read all of her books.  I really enjoy her writing style and her genre of "tragicomedy."
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Elizabeth Howe
• listened to audiobook version of Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch (which then spurred me into re-watching the movies Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.)
• listened to the audiobook version of Bossypants by Tina Fey.  I love nerdy girls like me.

Reading right now:

• still..... REAMDE by Neal Stephenson - it's just really big and it's kind of a gun-happy adventure book, almost masculine in nature, but I do enjoy it... it's just a long haul.  it's like 900 pages and i'm at about 390.
• Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart - I've just barely gotten started with this... no real opinions yet

• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen - I just started this yesterday. Franzen really paints a detailed picture of his characters and their surroundings. looking forward to continuing on with this.
• Listening to the audiobook version of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. I really enjoy listening to these types of books in my car, even though it is in really little spurts, since driving time in Juneau is pretty minimal no matter where you are going. :-)  I am NOT complaining about this.

Organized the humongous stack of miscellaneous books on my night-table and found a couple of books I need to finish and return to my dear friend, Lynne.  I'll throw those in the mix of my reading, too.

Just imported my other blogs: VWFC, Wish List, and Family Blog into this blog and now there is only one. :-)

One week and me and the boys leave for Spokane. I am really looking forward to spending some time with my parents, grandparents and sister.  I miss them all, and it will be really special to spend Christmas with them.  David will join us on the 23rd.

Tyler is returning to Juneau to live this coming Friday. He attended UAA fall semester and has transferred to UAS for spring semester. His education at UAS will be FREE if he lives at home, with the tuition waiver benefit from my job, and the Governor's Alaska Performance Scholarship that takes care of the rest (fees and books), and then some.  I am really looking forward to having him home.

I'm going to try to add to my blog more often. I noticed that I didn't do ANY posts in 2010.  I may try to recreate 2010 through Facebook export.

~~~klc

doing it for myself - this was written a couple months ago and was sitting in drafs

I go back and forth as to whether or not to even keep a blog. but i've never deleted this blog since i've created it. I like the idea of having a visual, interactive way to document my life, no matter how dull it is. I do this not for readers, but for myself. My husband is gone for 2 months. I get to go down to see him this coming Thursday. I'm very excited to see him. I really really miss him. He is my best friend and soul mate, no mater how cliche that sounds. It's true.

What I'm reading: two books right now. The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay, and REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. They are both OK but I haven't really gotten to the point in either where I can't put them down. I think that point will come.

I'm taking a class this semester, Introduction to Public Administration. I am not really enjoying the subject matter. My instructor is very dynamic, and makes the topic sound interesting during class, but apart from that I find it really hard to stay interested while reading the materials or doing the homework.

thoughts on recent and not so recent adventures in reading

so it's been a touch over 2 years since my last blog entry. my last post was a list of books I wanted to read. Out of that list I have since read:

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult - I found this book interesting, especially since a lot of the book has to do with dog racing in Alaska, which I had no idea was a part of the book when I started reading it. A lot of times when Alaska is used as a setting, I immediately turn on my critic switch, ready to dispel any myths that are about to be presented in the forthcoming pages. However, with this book I remember being pleasantly surprised that it was well written and seemed to be well researched as well. I haven't ready anything else by Jodi Picoult, but I may give her another chance in the future.

White Noise by Don Delilo - I remember reading this book but also remember it being kind of depressing. I didn't really feel any connection to any of the characters and found them all to be just sad.

The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith - I just finished this one recently. I received it from my sister for Christmas this past year. I enjoyed this book even though it, too was kind of sad. It had to do with a little boy and his mother who had cancer. I thought it was an accurate reflection of what a child might be feeling and how he comes around to understanding in the end.

I do have The Historian on my bookshelf ready to be read but I think I had started it and then got bored... maybe will have to revisit it.

I spent Christmas break reading all of The Hunger Games books, as well as Matched . All of these are categorized Young Adult Fiction. I really really really enjoyed all of these books. Prior to those books I read the entire Millennium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.) and really enjoyed those as well. I am very much looking forward to these books being made into American movies. I have watched the Swedish subtitled versions and enjoyed them as well.

After those engrossing series, I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, which was extremely entertaining and enlightening. Some of the things I felt I could relate with the author on, although of course her childhood experiences were very much more intense than mine. I'm sure all of us have times of extreme embarrassment caused by what our parents make us wear, or how they cut our hair, or what we are allowed to do or not do or listen to, etc.

I felt like continuing on in a lighthearted vein so I read Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever. I enjoy everything she writes.

Since I finished her book at a time when I could not go to the store to pick up a new book, i revisited my bookshelf in search of something to re-read. I found The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and remembered that I had brought it along with me a few years back on a trip to Seattle. I had read about a third of it, and had gotten bored with it. But that night on revisiting the bookshelf, decided to give it another go. I really enjoyed it this time. I event put the movie in our queue, so will be watching that soon, too.

Oh, and I also read Never Let Me Go also by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I enjoyed too. Thought provoking about human rights and all that. Movie is for rent on-demand right now. I'll probably do that.

Right now I'm reading I Am Number Four, another young adult selection.

Reading Wish List

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
Lorreta Lux' Aperture
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
What You Have Left by Will Allison
The Canon by Natalie Angier
The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs
Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin
White Noise by don delillo

June 1-11 posts

Friday, June 5

Cody graduated from 8th grade today! He got the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence, which is for kids who have maintained 3.5 GPA over their 3 years in middle school. We went to lunch with the Johnson's at Tokyo Steak House. It was great.

Something sad happened last night, though. Fortunately I did not know these kids, but we had 3 kids who just graduated from high school get into a one-car accident. There was alcohol involved and the one who died was not wearing his seatbelt. Another is in the hospital in Seattle, and the girl walked away unscathed. We got the call at about 3 AM, but David didn't have to go in. Emily Johnson knew the kids, but not well. David said that the one who died was an oxy dealer in the school and had been in a lot of trouble recently.

Saturday, June 6
Slept in late today. Supposed to go to a wedding today, but when I checked the time (I was thinking 7 pm), there was all this stuff on their blog about get there early - like 4:30, and it sounded really bossy and was really off-putting. Dave wanted to go out on the boat, and that sounded like a better idea to me, especially since it is about 80 degrees and beatiful! Cody started his job at 12:45. He rode his bike. Tyler and I dropped Dave off at the barber, then we went to Fred Meyer to buy him some shorts and sandals. We picked up David and then went home to get ready to go on the boat. After lunch, we headed out, and got the boat in the water over by False Outer Point. We didn't catch any fish, but I had a lovely time sitting on top of the boat, drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade and eating CornNuts, and I even got a bit of a sunburn.. Just a little. We came back home, and Cody got home about the same time. We had a nice evening together.
Sunday, June 7
Another beautiful day. Cody had to work at 3 PM so I dropped him off. Then I saw a bear try to cross the road. I bought some shrimp from Superbear and created my own marinade and rice combination to go with them. David went to pick up Cody but somehow they missed each other and Cody ended up walking home without telling anyone that he was doing that. He was grounded. I know he felt bad. I stressed the importance of communication to him, and reminded him that is why he has a cell phone. I reassured him that we would never just NOT pick him up. He needs to let someone know what he is doing.

Monday, June 8

JoAnn is back from vacation. Apparently the kids that were in the car accident last week were close friends of her son, Kevin. In fact, one of them was supposed to go on this road trip in the van with them. She is very upset. It was hard to watch several people ask her about it, and watch her try to hold it together all day.

Tuesday, June 9
I kept thinking today was Wednesday but it's only Tuesday. David was going to go out on the boat with Ed tonight, but right before he was to get off, he ended up having to stay at work and didn't get home until about 11.
Wednesday, June 10
I'm just waiting for this week to be over. I ordered food for next week's Portland Event. I still have to order food for Seattle Mariner's Game. But that can wait until next week. Once again David had to work late. He didn't' get home until about 1:30 AM. The kids were both gone. Tyler and Wil were camping out at Montana Creek, and Cody was camping on the trampoline at the DeWitt's with Travis and Chandler (who is visiting the Johnson's from Arizona). Cody did stay and eat hamburgers with me. I cooked them on the grill, but the grill ran out of propane when they were almost done, and so I had to finish them on the stove. After Cody left, I played around with my new cable remote, specifically the On Demand function, and watched an enhanced version of the first episode of True Blood, which we had missed when it first aired. It was awesome. I love that show. The first episode of the second season is next weekend. I don't know if I can wait until David gets home from Shelter Island like I should.
Thursday, June 11
So now I'm caught up for June. Right where I should be now, in the moment. I think this One Note system is going to work pretty well, because of the screen clipping capability. I don't think I'm going to go back into previous months on Face book. I don't really have anything pressing in there anyway. I think I'm just going to plow forward from this point. I may import some stuff from my blogs from previous, though.
I'm kind of bored at work right now. I think next week will be pretty busy but this week is pretty boring so far. I have a headache that has been here pretty much since yesterday morning.

How we met in Vegas

Pretty cool video that Chris made about our trip to Vegas in April 2009:
How We Met in Vegas
I had a bad cold on this trip, and the whole thing is stewed in prescription-strength Sudafed and Vodka Cranberries. It was awesome.