Bargain Basement

Another CVS trip

2008-02-23T08:21:00.000-08:00

Spent $2.83 and bought:

1 Palmolive
HUGE bag of sweet tarts
candy bar sized M&Ms
bag of Hershey's minatures
sleep mask

received $15 back in Extra Care bucks.

Giveaway for some cool plates:

2008-02-19T07:34:00.001-08:00

http://www.pippinparty.com/2008/02/pippin-birthday-plate-contest.html

Frugal Friday

2008-02-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

On Friday I spent a day of thrift shopping and such. I got too many good deals to list, but here are just a few. . .

spent $7 at Goodwill. Got myself two shirts, and two books. One of which was Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio which is my favorite book and I always pick up copies at $1 or less to give to people.

At my favorite thift store they had a grand re-opening, and I didn't know that before I went. I was given a $4 off my purchase coupon. I loved the new set up, they were able to display so much more. My big find there was a 2007 writer's market for my mother for $1.

I went to Family Dollar and used a $5 gift card I had recently won. For 2¢ I got a four pack of bowls with lids and 3 candy bars. (Two were for my mother and me, and one for a friend who is a missionary in Russia and I send his family items from time to time.) My mother had asked me to keep an eye open for some bowls like that and what is better than getting them for 2¢?

Just my 2¢

2008-02-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

Just my 2¢ is all I paid at CVS.

After a coupon and extra care bucks I bought:

2 packages of 9 rolls of toilet paper
2 packages of 8 rolls of paper towels
a bottle of vitamins that were 75% off

I used a lot more extra care bucks than I received back though. I used $25 and only got back $5, but when you can buy something for pennies, it's a great deal!

62¢ at CVS

2008-02-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

I didn't do as well today at CVS as I did last week. But I didn't do bad.

For 62¢ I bought:

5 boxes of baby asprin
1 bottle of Gatorade G2
1 bottle of T-Gel
2 boxes of CocoaVia bars
1 box of Glucerna snack bars

I say I didn't do as well because I used $20 in Extra Care Bucks and only got about $11 back. But that's still not bad. We use a lot of baby asprin, and the CocoaVia and Glucerna bars were for Mom and were on sale.

My receipt said I saved over $35 today, so I guess it wasn't too bad, but I usually try to get more extra care bucks back than I did today. I did have a $4 off a $20 purchase coupon and a coupon for the T-Gel, so that saved $6 right there.

CVS shopping trip

2008-02-09T03:01:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to CVS. I love CVS and their bargains.

I left the store buying:

2 large bags of M&Ms
2 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste
2 boxes of 100 ct. Excedrin
eye shadow
Theraflu
Triaminic
SIX bottles of Palmolive

I had $9 in coupons. I also had over $28 in "Extra Care Bucks". Then I had $4 in CVS gift certificates I won from a sweepstakes recently.

My final total was $1.40 out of pocket, which takes me to about $8 spent at CVS this year out of pocket. I left the store with $32.50 in "Extra Care Bucks" to use next time I shop!

Good deal on cereal & free photo book & shampoo

2008-02-08T00:35:00.000-08:00

I recently ordered 4 boxes of Kellogg's Special K Protein Cereal from Amazon (this link goes directly to it.) For $15 I got 4 boxes of cereal. Then there is a special offer where I will be e-mailed a free code for Shutterfly for a free 8x8 photo album. Then When the cereal arrived, I saw that each box had a special promo on it, and I'll be able to send in the forms and the product purchase codes and get TWO free Freeman shampoo items! Not bad for $15. The books are usually $29, so that's more than the cereal cost! To top it off, I used gift certificates I won from so my total cost was FREE for everything! Even if I would have paid $15 for the cereal, I think this was a great deal!

today's shopping trip

2008-01-31T23:27:00.000-08:00

Anyway my day:
Dollar General #1 -- nothing of Christmas that interested me
thrift store stop -- again nothing of interest

Dollar General #2. JACKPOT. They had SO many of the Christmas cards that
were 90% off. I bought 45 boxes of cards, each one has 28 cards in it. So
that's 1250 envelopes and card fronts I can turn into postcards. Also
bought 6 stockings, planning on doing stocking for everyone in the familly
next year. Cost of cards $9, cost of stockings $1.50, so final cost
(pre-tax to make it easier to figure) was $10.50. Original price was
$105.00

Michael's -- very little to pick from, no calendars, etc. Did get a
journal, a clearanced journal, a couple candles, and another item. Paid
$2.10. Original price $5.00

Lowe's -- needed a tub for Christmas tree storage, a couple knobs for a
stand. Also got a bonsai tree. Had a $10 off coupon. Pre-coupon price
$31.21, after coupon $21.21.

Waldenbooks -- had 2 $5 cards from Vanilla Visa to spend. Had a number of
books in mind I might get, but they didn't have ANY. Couldn't even find
anything for Mom for her birthday.

Chick-fil-a -- redeemed a coupon for a free chicken sandwich. pre-coupon
price $2.79 (I think), final cost: free

Lowe's #2 -- a couple items for plants and a cactus (figured it might be a
good prop for a 'cowboy' scene for the guinea pigs sometime -- I'd just have
to keep them away from the cactus. pre-coupon price $9.27, after coupon 83¢

Barnes and Noble -- JACKPOT again. Unfortunately I must have missed the
biggest sale, and my Einstein calendar was sold out, and there wasn't a
whole lot left in the way of items in clearance, not like last year anyway.
I bought:
2 puzzles (one a Ravensburger), jump into fitness kit, a holiday 'jellies'
kit, 2 Charlie Brown Christmas uno games, tai chi card deck, journal, circle
journey photo book/journal, and a calendar of Wonders of the World (I love
travel and travel calendars help motivate me through the year to enter. Not
that I need another calendar, I have 4 in my bedroom, 1 in the living room,
and 2 more that need to go up. Maybe I'm a calendar junkie!)

Pre sales price at B&N: $125.11. After sales: $17.17, member discount
$1.80, gift card left from Netwinner: $2.76, and instant rebate for having
a Barnes and Noble Mastercard: 72¢, so final cost was $13.69

GetGo -- filled the car up with gas. Saved $2 from "fuel perks", paid
$28.90

Target -- didn't find anything of interest.

Wendy's -- I didn't really want to eat, but Mom did, so I got a plain baked
potato and extra large diet lemonade. Total cost: $8.69, had a gift card
from a win, final cost $0.

After that I skipped the other places I wanted to go. I had a shopping trip
planned at CVS where I would have used Extra Care bucks in the amount of $20
and after my coupons, I would have received $32 in ECBs back.

Anyway, final totals for the days:

pre-sales/coupon prices: $317.97 after discounts: $77.23, and that
included a tank of gas!

Family Dollar 90% off Christmas

2008-01-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

I hit the jackpot tonight. I found Christmas cards 90% off at Family Dollar. I use tons of envelopes and postcards, so I was buying them as low as 28 Christmas cards for 20 cents. (I spent about $4.) I use the fronts of the Christmas cards as postcards, and then I use the envelopes. In all I got about 500 Christmas card fronts (postcards) and about 500 envelopes!

Crockett

2007-12-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

Our newest guinea pig, we got him on November 30, 2007.

My precious guinea pigs

2007-11-09T06:10:00.000-08:00

It's been a rough couple months. I lost two of my precious guinea pigs. On Sept. 19, we lost Archie.

Then October 29, we lost Pepin.

I miss these little guys so much. Anyone who has ever had a guinea pig knows what wonderful pets they can be.

2007-04-19T00:44:00.000-07:00

2007-04-11T01:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.myheritage.com

Winzy

2007-03-06T01:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while, been very busy. But I wanted to add a Winzy button. I get points for each person who looks at it. So take a look! LOL!

Ken Jenning I am not, Part 2

2007-02-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

Aye! Aye! Aye!

I must make a correction to my last blog post. My e-friend Marci is "only" a one day Jeopardy champion. Still, that's quite impressive to me, especially after seeing that online test.

I was telling a friend about the test. He's an English professor, and was telling him proudly how I almost wrote down Ophelia as Hamlet's wife, but at the last second remembered it was Guinevere.

He said softly, "Um, I hate to tell you this but Guinevere is Arthurian legend. You should have written down Gertrude".

Geesh. Another one wrong I was sure I had correct! LOL!

I've been playing at NETWINNER tonight. It's a lot of fun and you get earn free gift cards to Wal-Mart, Target, and Barnes and Noble!

Ken Jennings I am not.

2007-01-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

I will not be appearing on a TV near you anytime soon. I took the online test for Jeopardy tonight and I am pretty sure I failed. I did get a question about Hamlet right, but only in the last seconds because I realized I had confused mother and daughter. If "The play's the thing by which I'll catch the conscience of the King", oy! 'The test's the thing wherein I'll show my ignorance." I also missed some pop culture questions. That is totally not my area. I also missed a geography question. Miss Geography bombed out on that question.

I did, however, get a question about a book I read this summer. So at least I didn't totally bomb. I probably got 40-50% correct. They don't tell you the score, but this was my first time taking the test, and I think most people fail several times before they pass it, so I'll keep trying each year.

I have more respect for Marci (her blog is listed to the left.) She's a five time undefeated Jeopardy champion, and now is my hero! :)

Yardsale fever

2007-01-19T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm itching to have a garage sale. I had tons of stuff boxed up last year to have a sale, they are priced, and just waiting for us to be able to have a sale. Because of Dad being so sick last year I didn't have a chance to have the sale, even though I even placed an ad in the paper.

So, I'm already gearing up for this year. I have gathered up THREE more boxes of stuff to have for the garage sale. The money will be likely used for home improvements. It would be a "home improvement" just to get this stuff out of here with some extra money, no less! :)

Mom and I have started a box for gift cards we've won that can be used for home improvement items. So far all that is in it is a $10 Land-O-Lakes pre-paid Visa that I won. Hopefully we'll be winning more before long that we can use for home improvements.

Oh, if this doesn't beat all. . . I was doing some searches today on winzy (a search engine where you search and can win prizes) and while I was searching someone won an iPod shuffle. Now why didn't I search a few seconds differently and maybe I could have won that shuffle.

My Warm Up America squares.

2007-01-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

They aren't anything special, but I wanted to finish them quickly. Here is the square I knitted for the afghan.

And her is the one I crocheted for the afghan:

I'm actually hoping to do a few more before the project is over on PBS but these are my first ones. And I even used up some oddball yarn I had lying around!

Wii, Wii, Wii all the way home

2007-01-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited. This morning I played a code off of a Slurpee at the 7-11 site and it said I instantly won a Wii.

I'm so excited because I was hoping for one of these, not for myself but for our volunteer fire department to donate to them for their annual raffle. They did such an excellent job of Dad's funeral, and Dad was always so involved with the raffle, I thought this would be a great way to honor Dad.

I've been floating on Cloud Nine all day, and all over a Wii.

I can't believe a lady died in California trying to win one this weekend. Water toxcidity is a very real thing, although I know some people deny it. My way of winning a Wii was much safer, all I had to do was put a code off of a slurpee cup in a form and it told me I won.

Knitting and crocheting

2007-01-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

On Paperbackswap.com there is a group doing some knitting and crocheting for Warm Up America. The great part is everyone only has to complete one 7 inch by 9 inch square. They will then be joined into a full sized afghan. This way it's not a huge undertaking for any one person, and by all of us doing a small square we can help contribute to the larger afghan.

I read a book this week about knitting for others. Really a cool book.

Here's some more crafting links to donate items you have made:

Knit for Kids (A.K.A. Guideposts Sweater project

Mother Bear Project

Project Linus

Care Wear (knit for preemies)

And finally, here's a HUGE list of charity crafting links for knitting, crocheting, sewing, and more:

Charity Crafting

Amazon Fillers

2007-01-10T03:05:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wished you could find something quickly and easily to put in your cart at Amazon that would bump you up to free shipping without spending a lot more than you planned? I have done that PLENTY of times, so I decided to make life a little bit easier for myself and everyone else. I made a webpage tonight of items Amazon sells that are $1 to $4.99. All are eligible for free shipping when you spend $25, so it's the page to visit when you're so close to getting free shipping. I know sometimes it's cheaper to put something else in your cart and get free shipping than to pay their shipping fees!

So, here's my new webpage:

AMAZON FILLERS

And your pain is?

2007-01-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

When I was reading From Chunk to Hunk last year, I came upon where he wrote about what his pain was when it came to losing weight. I thought about this for some time. Someone's pain isn't wanting to fit into a smaller bikini or another "cosmetic" reason for losing weight. Your pain is a health related item. Which, if you are losing weight for a health related reason (maybe wanting to be able to play basketball with your son and not getting so out of breath), you're more likely to stay on a weight loss program and then keep it off. So, if you haven't come up with what your "pain" is, you need to get something in mind to be able to remind you "Do I want this chocolate cake or risk getting heart disease". It gives you more incentive to lose weight.

I found the book From Chunk to Hunk very inspiring and I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend the book Winning By Losing by Jillian Michaels who used to be on Biggest Loser. She shows a safe way to educate yourself to lose weight on your own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't like limiting myself to diet related posts. I'll still make some from time to time, but blogging is much more fun when I can tell about whatever is going on in my life, such as our leaking utility room I discovered today when I went back to get some items out of the pantry for dinner. ARGH!

Identify your cravings. . .

2007-01-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

Over the next few days I'm going to give some of the weight loss tips. I lost over 60 pounds last year and I'll give some advice on it.

One of the biggest things is to identify your cravings. Sometimes you have an emotional cravings where it's something you're wanting to eat, and sometimes you have physical cravings where you are wanting something your body needs.

I learned to identify if I was wanting something citrus-y (usually a physical craving for vitman C), sometimes I wanted cereal (usually a craving for milk), sometimes I wanted a certain texture. . . and here's some great diet snacks for different cravings:

crunchy:
air-popped popcorn
rice cakes (I love the white cheddar kind)
cereal (Malt-O-Meal is low in calories, I once measured out a serving size and it was more than I wanted)

creamy:
sugar free pudding
sugar free hot chocolate

sweet:
sugar free pudding
sugar-free Popscicle
sugar free hot chocolate
ONE Hershy's kiss (25 calories)

spicy:
Southwest Sizzle popcorn topping on air-popped popcorn
salsa

If anyone else has any ideas of great low calorie snacks, just leave a comment! :)

Resolutions vs. Lifetime Goals

2007-01-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a resolution maker. In fact, I don't even make them, but I do have a list of lifetime goals I want to reach. I have about 50 of these goals. The stuff on there is varied, such as "Get a cow milking degree'. I was watching Jeopardy one night and someone mentioned she got a cow milking degree somewhere in Scandanavia. I thought it was the most facinating thing, and so I wrote that on my 'lifetime goals' sheet. Because my hobbies and interests are ever changing, I revise my list nearly each year. Many of the goals are travel related. I don't think we can truly understand the world until we've done some traveling. I understand Isralei/Palestinian politics much more since I stood in East Jerusalem and was stared at by a camel while gazing at the third world living situation around me, when just a few miles back it was a first world country. Walking down the streets of Budapest four years ago gave me a much closer reality of WWII, seeing the damage on the buildings, and then visiting the synagogue where there was a memorial museum in the basement. To see the clothes made out of the Torah made me cry as well as the other exhibits. Visiting Yad Vashem in Israel brought WWII even closer. To see the rocks near the memorial exhibits, I knew there were people who had been there who lost loved ones in the Holocaust. Traveling teaches you more about the world than you can just read in a book.

Some of the places on my lifetime goals to visit are Norway, Russia, Iceland, and New Zealand as well as Australia. I'm hopefully going to be able to cross Russia off my list this year because I'm wanting to visit my friend Donnie and Blythe who ar missionaries there. (You can check out their blog here: http://www.masonsinrussia.blogspot.com/

Other goals are to reach 10,000 feedback on eBay. I currently have 3714, so this is not something I'll accomplish this year or next, but I can keep working at it!

I want to meet a current or former President of the United States. (Probably meeting President Carter would be easyiest as he teaches Sunday School at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, GA and after worship service he will pose for pictures with anyone who wishes to get their photo taken with him, and of course, it's open to the public!)

I'd also like to get on a gameshow. I'd love to be on Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

I am also on a quest to reach my ideal weight. Again, that likely won't happen in one year since I'm doing a lifestyle change and not a radical weight loss. I lost 60 pounds last year, and my goal this year is 53 pounds, which is less than what I lost last year, so I know I can do it!

How about anyone else? Any lifetime goals?

Here's my link on 43 things if you want to check out my other goals.

http://www.43things.com/person/frequentreader

Overflowing toilets and midnight laundry

2006-12-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

After shopping all day on Friday, I was just about ready to go to bed after my long (but productive day.) I flushed my toilet, and I had a major overflow. I'm talking MAJOR. There was water all across the bathroom, and I even got the water going into the toilet turned off quickly.

So I had a huge mess to clean up before I went to bed, and then I decided to do laundry of the towel I use as a bath mat since it was soaked.

So, I didn't get to bed until real late. I was so happy to see my bed that night! I was so tired I think I was asleep before I even got to bed!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

Eleven months, 3 weeks, and 4 days until Christmas. Can you believe I almost have my shopping completed? I start early, usually in January, but this year I started today.

I hit sales at Bath and Body Works, KB Toys, Lowe's, Target, and Barnes and Noble. I bought lots of stuff at Bath and Body Works as their body was was only $3 for a full sized bottle. Can't beat that price, and with three people in my family who love Bath and Body Works, seemed like the time to start buying gifts. (Even though I don't have the Christmas decorations down yet!)

I need to get the Christmas decorations down. I haven't turned on the tree in days. It just seems like it shouldn't be Christmas with Dad gone this year. I miss him a lot.

99 listings on ebay so far, 99 listings. . .

2006-12-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

Everyone sing with me:

99 listings on eBay so far, 99 listings to go, get one listed and ready to go, 100 listings on eBay so far. . .

Okay, so perhaps yesterday fried my brain a little. It was a discounted listing day on eBay and I tried to get a number of things posted. In years past I have had up to 707 listings on eBay at their holiday listing day, but yesterday I ended with 138.

I'm hoping to put the money I make towards visiting my friends in Russia. You can view their blog here: http://masonsinrussia.blogspot.com/

Just have to check out what I'm selling? Then go here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZebooksandbargains

I tried putting things on eBay that have been sitting around for a while. I did some relists as well. Plus there are some things I have dreaded packing, but it all adds up to visit friends. :)

Happy Hanukkah!

2006-12-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

Another big news story to come out of our household recently was that my mother won NPR (National Public Radio's) create a Menorah contest. Her prize hasn't arrived yet, but it's a book, cd, and a $20 bookmark. (It must be some bookmark.) Her menorah was "The Miracle of the Oil Prices" and it commemorated the high gas prices at the pump this year. The menorah was to tie in a news story of the year with a working menorah. One of the judges is an editor of Crafts magazine.

So, I wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah, or as my 8th grade Gifted teacher used to call it -- "Chan-ooo-kah". He also told us it started on December 4th annually, and it was a Hawaiian holiday.

So regarldless of what holiday you celebrate -- Hanukkah, Chanookah, Yule, or Christmas, I hope it's a great one.

Our family is headed here in a half hour to eat and then open gifts. I can't wait. Personally I'm hoping for stamps and cash. I'm saving to visit my friends in Russia. You can visit their blog by clicking on "Mason Jars" on the side of my blog. I talked to them this morning, although I called a wrong number and who knows what country I called -- maybe Djoubiti? I got a message in French. As far as I know Russia hasn't changed their national language to French, so I can only guess what country I dialed with my wrong number!

Oh, the memories of concrete

2006-12-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting win this week. . . I won an atlas from a contest sponsored by the American Concrete Pavement Association. I had to write about a memory of concrete pavement, and honestly, doesn't EVERYONE have a favorite concrete memory? LOL!

I wrote about the time Dad took a back road to Ohio, making a trip six hours that should have only taken 2 1/2 at the most. After that time, every vacation I'd see the sunrise over the Interstate as he never took a back road again.

I shared my entry with Dad not long before he died, and he really grinned remembering the time we took a back road through West Virginia to get to the Ohio border so we could ride a ferry across the Ohio River. The ferry, as I remember it, was a rickety wooden thing we drove the car onto and then it was about one minute until we crossed the river.

At least now I have an atlas to help me find the Interstates now and I can make more concrete pavement memories. :)

Wow! Great book sale

2006-11-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

I happened to run on to the Green Valley Book Fair today. I was passing through the area, and knew nothing about it. But it was a fun find. I got several books I've been wanting. I found some books I "needed" but didn't yet know existed. I can't wait to start reading. But I just got home from a trip, and can't start reading tonight because I need to get to bed!

Search chips

2006-11-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

I'm finally checking in. I'm thinking that I need to make this a blog about more than just what I read or I'll never post. I didn't get to read much this summer, so I'm hoping to make up for it soon. Since Tammy added her wish list for Christmas to her blog, I decided to make one as well. Just click HERE

Anyway, I wanted to make a post about the new and improved searchchips! I've been a member of searchchips for quite some time and have won numerous times from them.

Since they have changed it, it's only gotten better. I've won SIX prizes in less than two months. One of them was because someone I referred cashed in her chips. Oh, that's another new thing. . . you earn chips for each search you do. You can save them up and cash them in for cool prizes like iPods, digital cameras, or Playstation Portables. If someone you referred cashes in their chips for a reward, then you get a $25 pre-paid Visa. How cool is that?

If you haven't checked out searchchips, just click on the button here:

A GREAT book about losing weight

2006-09-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

I read Winning By Losing and I can't say enough about it. I learned so much about weight loss, what works, what doesn't, how to go about it healthily, exercise, etc. I've lost 50 pounds this year, and this book was very inspiring to me because I knew I could do it!

Israel

2006-09-15T01:47:00.000-07:00

I guess since I mentioned that I was in Israel for a while it should come as no surprise that I read some travel books on the area. They were all informative in their own way. I readCulture Shock Israel before I went, and was prepared for things such as seeing soldiers in the streets carrying guns, etc. This was an excellent book that helped me prepare for things like the slower paced lifestyle, etc. In the rental car office, we were wanting to leave, and the man looked at us and said, "Ah, what is your hurry?" Our hurry was we had already been there for over 30 minutes and the paperwork was done, we just needed the keys to our car. The most helpful travel book was, of course, Lonely Planet Middle EastI even did something I'd never done before -- ate at a place recommended by a travel guide. We decided the food was mediocre, but the view was excellent. We had a great view of the Dome of the Rock from the rooftop cafe, but the food wasn't anything very special. Christian Traveler's Guide to the Holy Land was helpful in being able to find out what happened in the different places we visited. Where was the Dead Sea mentioned in the Bible? What about Ein Gedi? Massada? This book made it easy to look up and find the answer, even if we did sometimes look it up after the fact.

Lose weight by BREATHING?

2006-09-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

This is the strangest concept in weight loss I've ever heard. I know people it worked for them, but soon after I started it, I hurt my back and got out of the habit of using things I learned in Be A Loser. The book is based on the BodyFlex system, and if you have never seen the BodyFlex videos, they are hillarious. So I don't know if this helps you lose weight or not, as I didn't really try it, but I did lose weight with other methods this year!

Christian cartoons

2006-08-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I found this book at a book sale during a $2 a bag sale. It wasn't anything much to speak of, but I did read it. Rev. Fun's Someone Stole My Locust was not a book you could judge by it's cover -- it looked better than it was. Still it only took about 10 minutes to read. I read this in May.

A Pentecostal Episcopal Church

2006-08-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

In May I read Fire In the Wax Museum. It was a book about a Pentecostal Episcopal church in Florida. It wasn't that exciting of a read, but it was kind of interesting. At the time I read it, I'd never been to a Pentecostal Anglican church, but I was in Jerusalem. Christ Church is the oldest Protestant church in the Middle East, and I was there on Pentecost. So I guess it was an appropriate day to visit a Pentecostal church. Here's a picture inside Christ Church.

Christian woman's book

2006-08-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted, but I'm going to try to get everything up to date. I spent two weeks in Israel, thankfully before the war with Lebanon, and May was spent mainly getting ready for that trip. So, I'm going to blog once a day to catch up. :)

I read Captivating back in May. It was a wonderful book for Christian women, and I highly recommend it. Made me glad to be a woman.

This was quite a find as I got it for 10 cents at a book sale. How neat of a find is that? :) I love finding good books cheap at booksales!

A bio with knitting thrown in

2006-05-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

I was very disappointed in Knitting Heaven and Earth: Healing the Heart with Craft because I thought it was going to be a book about how knitting helps you recover from things, using the soothing repetitive motion. Instead I found a biography where the woman basically told stories and occasionally threw in some knitting. Okay, maybe it was more than occasionally, but I was more interested in the things she had knitted than hearing about her and her relationships with others, etc.

The parts where she talked about her knitting were facinating, but I would have prefered the book left at that. In fact, I only finished the book because I got it from an inter-libarary loan and felt obligated since the library went to the trouble of getting it for me.

More Weight loss

2006-05-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to reading The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim People I had it around for some time, but hadn't gotten to read it yet. I didn't think it was as great as I had heard online at one time. It was average. I wouldn't exactly recommend it, but maybe some people would benefit from it.

Rich Mullins

2006-04-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

Nearly every year I re-read the book Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven because I think it has such good stuff in it. I rarely re-read books, but this is one I have referred to time and time again. There are some quotes in it that are so good, too. Because I'm now Episcopal, I appriciated some of the things it said even more than before. Rich Mullins is my favorite recording artist, and unfortunately I never got to hear him in concert.

A "Plain" book

2006-04-24T02:24:00.002-07:00

I recently saw Christmas in Plains at and decided to order it. I wasn't disappointed. This is a fun little book about Jimmy Carter's Christmas memories, from a boy growing up in Plains until he was President and spending Christmas at Camp David, to his post-presidential years helping build a house for some people in Plains. I know this is a book I'll enjoy again in the future, and will likely pack it with my Christmas items so I can enjoy it every Christmas.

Amish gone wild

2006-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

I recently received Devil's Playground from Netflix. I never realized all the trouble that Amish teenagers are allowed to get into -- with a blind eye from adults! This documentary would probably be rated R if it were rated. There's a lot of bad language, sexual situations, and the main boy it follows is fighting a drug addiction. Who would ever think an Amish boy would be addicted to drugs? It was a facinating look into the world of Amish teenagers, though!

Yet Another Newberry book

2006-04-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a number of children's books as well as enjoying books set in the past, and A Year Down Yonder was both! Mary Alice is sent to live with her grandmother in a small town, very different from the Chicago city life to which Mary Alice has grown accustomed. Small-town happenings are quite different, and Mary Alice soon adjusts, which is hard because everyone in town is scared of her grandmother!

A bad church

2006-04-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

I saw When a Church Goes Bad in a thrift store for 25¢ and I thought it looked interesting. It was basically about a man who started out in a good church, and was even an elder, and eventually a pastor in the church, but over the years it went from being a good church to being very cult-like. I've read books on this subject before, esp. on the abuse of power by ministers, but this it the first one I've ever read from the pastor's perspective.

Another Newberry book

2006-04-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I never read Plain Girl as a child, but somehow I missed this book, and I loved it! The copy I read was from the library in the drab 1950s cover, the same copy in our library for 50 years, so maybe that's why it didn't appeal to me as a child. It's a book about how an Amish girl goes to school and she's fearful of the "first step away" that will spiral her out into the non-Amish world.

Another Christian Diet book

2006-04-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

I recently ran across the book How to Flip Your Flab--Forever I started laughing the moment I picked it up. It wasn't meant to be a funny book, but I laughed nearly the whole way through it. I'd never heard the devil refered to as 'sleu foot' before in a book. And his alleteriation was hillarious! I know it was suppossed to be a serious book, but I thought it was funny. It was from the late 70s and I actually bought it for a gag gift exchange but I had second thoughts in case some "Porky Patty" might be on the receiving end. (That's the type of names he used the whole way through the book!)

Everyone loves Ronald Dahl

2006-04-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

I have thought Ronald Dahl was cool since I was eight years old and wrote him a letter and sent him stamps. He sent them back saying I should have known the United Kingdom used different stamps than the United States and didn't I learn that in school already? (I thought maybe he'd someday be traveling and it would be a way to 'pay' him for his postage to write back to me.) So, he's been a bit of a hero to me since that time. So when I saw the book Boy : Tales of Childhood I couldn't wait to read it. It was great, and I couldn't wait to finish it. It told about his beating by schoolmasters as well as summers in Norway. (I now hope to visit Norway someday after hearing his accounts of it!) This was an excellent book and I finished it quite quickly.

Several movies

2006-03-31T20:41:00.000-08:00

I've gotten behind in posting, so I'll review several movies at once.

I thought Walk The Line was a bit long, but otherwise an okay movie. Of course, I'm not the Johnny Cash fan in the house.

The book is undoubtably my favorite fiction book of all time, but it's hard to adapt The Visitation to the large screen. However, I did think it was a fairly good job, but the book was much better. Of course, it's hard to pack a 500 page book into 90 minues.

Greedy was funny, but it had a predictable plot. I laughed out loud several times in this movie.

I sort of enjoyed Monty Python's the Meaning of Life but the jokes were rather raunchy, even for me!

Very different, America's Heart & Soul was a look at the different people who make this country great. They interviewed a sculptor of metal, a blind mountain climber, a man who was once in jail and now works with kids in the inner city so they don't make the mistakes he did. It was really a different, unique, and facinating look at the people who live in this country. I would have liked to have seen more about the bike messanger in New York City, however. I thought that was a neat job!

Finally, I have a new favorite movie. I checked Heavyweights our of the library today, and it was WONDERFUL. I don't know when the last time I laughed so much at a movie! It's pretty much as if Ernest would have gone to fat camp. I have a feeling it's going to be one of those that the more you watch it, the better it gets.

Childbirth

2006-03-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why I picked up this book except some friends talked about what an amazing book it was. It was pretty much a Word Of Faith book where you have a pain-free birth. My friend claimed it worked for her not once, not twice, but three times. Supernatural Childbirth is an interesting concept, but I figure I'd freak out and forget everything I learned! :) But if it works for some, great!

Write Away!

2006-03-30T07:03:00.000-08:00

I was a bit disappointed in
Journal Keeping: Writing for Spiritual Growth as I expected it to be more of a book about exploring our ideas about God, but it was more of a book where we were expected to know the right answers and just develop them. It wasn't much of anything I hadn't heard before. I suppose it was a good book but it was very mainstream and I was hoping for a book that would spur me on to being a bit more creative in the spiriutal journaling process, but this wasn't it. I wanted something that would help me want to develop the ideas where I'm unsure about God, helping me to look into these ideas and write what I find. But this was more of a book where some of the suggestions were, for one thing, copying Bible passages because it claimed you'd see new things as you write slowly. I suppose some people may enjoy this type of book, but I wasn't too impressed.

Another Episcopal book

2006-03-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

I ran on to the book The Ways and Teaching of the Church which was used for Confirmation preperation in the Episcopal church. Of course, it was a more facinating read than the one my priest loaned me. (I've read more interesting cereal boxes than that last book!) :) This book was more of what I was looking for when I borrowed a book from him. There were illustrations in this one even. LOL! Between the two books, I have few questions for the moment. I'm sure my priest is happy about that because I'm one that always likes to ask, "WHY?"

Dry theology

2006-03-27T21:42:00.000-08:00

I asked my priest for a book about what our church believes, and he loaned me What Is Anglicanism? It is a pretty boring book, but did answer a number of my questions. I felt like I was back in college, and had to read it sitting in a straight-back chair so I wouldn't fall asleep. Oh well, it was informative, and SHORT!

Happy Clappy book

2006-03-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

I know I'm odd. I enjoy upbeat Christian books from the 1970s. They are just so different from what is printed today, and are often so corny! But I like reading them. I will leave opinions of theology out of my review. I recently found Clap Your Hands! A Young Catholic Encounters Christ at a second-hand store. I thought it looked fun, and I enjoyed the read. Basically the man who wrote it grew up Catholic with all the ritual involved, but it didn't mean anything to him. He spent 12 years in Catholic schools. Then he was in a rock band. One day his car broke down and a man gave him a ride to Uni, and invited him to church. He went and eventually got saved. Then he started speaking in tongues, and this is the account of then how he tried to bring renewal to the Catholic church. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I like this genre (yes, I know I'm odd) but it was well-written, and it was interestring throughout -- I only skipped a couple pages where he was witnessing to others because the conversations are typical of the Happy Clappy Christian genre of the 1970s.

Dear America

2006-03-22T22:39:00.000-08:00

Last summer I discovered the "Dear America" series and loved them. They are a fictional diary of girls from different periods of American history. When I heard about Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: The Diary of Molly MacKenzie Flaherty (Dear America) I definately wanted to read it because it was hard for me to immagine history in the 1960s. This is set during the Vietnam War, the girl's brother is fighting in the war. I have thought some of the Dear America series have been kind of graphic with violence, but this one took the top honors. It was only one line in it, but it was enough for me. I can't immagine a child reading this book with that graphic description of war. While I realize war is violent, I also remember this is a children's book. Other than that, this is one of the best Dear America books I have read.

The Prize Winner

2006-03-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

FINALLY! The long awaited movie finally came out on DVD. I wanted to see this in the theater last year, but it didn't come to this area. The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio was a great film adaptation of the book. This is my favorite book, and I hoped they would do the book justice. It is hard to pack in just an hour and 37 minutes, and of course some scenes got delted, including my favorite where the boys take the car -- without knowing how to drive -- and drive to the hospital to visit their dad. There was language in it that is unsuitable for children, but that is because the dad is an alcoholic. It's truly amazing to me that she was able to raise 10 kids just entering contests. I love to enter contests, but I haven't won nearly as much as that lady did! She's truly an inspiration to me!

Win a Date!

2006-03-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

I typed in "contest" in Netflix to see what came up since entering contests is a hobby of mine. It pulled Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! up in the searches. I decided to put it in my queue. It was a fun movie, a romantic comedy. I don't know I'd want kids watching it, but it was pretty innocent as most movies go these days. A girl from West Virginia enters a contest, wins, and gets to go on a date with a movie star who falls in love with her, while the boy she grew up with is also in love with her. I laughed out loud several times, which is rather uncommon for me to do in a movie.

An odd allegory.

2006-03-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how to review this. I bought the book a few years ago and never got around to reading it until now. I had the opportunity to hear Kay Arthur speak about 10 years ago, and I have loved her Bible studies and teachings, but this book fell somewhat short of my expectations. As reading, Israel, My Beloved was a great read. I learned much about the Jewish people in the Diaspora, however I thought the theology fell short. Also, I wasnt' sure I liked the allegory of God having a wife, even if she was to represent the nation of Israel. For history, I would give the book a thumbs up, for theology, look elsewhere.

Getting Past The Author's Name was HARD

2006-03-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

The author is Jack Frost. Everytime I picked up the book I wanted to sing a song that was on a Snoopy Christmas album when I was little about "Every Christmas we'd all be lost without ole Jack Frost". If I could ignore the cover where I saw Jack Frost, this book was excellent. Experiencing Father's Embrace: Finding Acceptance in the Arms of a Loving Father -- In my experience I've heard far more about the judgment of God than I have about the love of God. I remember someone asking me one time if I believe God loved me. This was years ago. I said no because I never had heard anything about the love of God in all my years in church. So this book was a wonderful read because it was basically saying what it says in the Bible -- that God is love. God has a lot of qualities, and sometimes as Christians we tend to focus on certian ones and exclude other attributes, so I thought this was a great book because it was so different from what I've been used to hearing in church growing up. A friend recommended this book to me, and I am so glad he did!

Doogie!

2006-03-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight I finished watching Doogie Howser, M.D. - Season One I loved this show when I was younger, but since I was in college, I didn't get to see it real often. I didn't remember the number of sexual references in it, but I still enjoyed watching it. It's been a long time since 1989!

I love a controversy

2006-03-08T22:23:00.000-08:00

I'd heard so many controversial things about To Train Up a Child that I thought I'd give it a read. Surprisingly it wasn't much like I'd heard. Not that I think that everything is a great idea, but it's not the horrible book like some reviewers say.

"House" party gone bad

2006-03-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

Typically I have loved the historical "House" series. However Regency House Party has been my least favorite. The concept was there would be a group of men and women who come looking for a spouse 1800s style. It was very pointless and all based on status. The women had to look pretty and be proper all the time while the men were required to do things like vomit because it was good excercise. Another day the men walked back and forth between two posts for five hours in a competition. All I have to say is I am glad I live when I do and that I didn't have to subject myself to all this.

The Bride Wore White

2006-03-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

I was disappointed in And the Bride Wore White: Seven Secrets to Sexual Purity -- sometimes I think Christian "dating" books go too far one way with courtship, but it wasn't even mentioned in this book, nor was the fact the earlier you start to date the more likely you'll have have sex before you're married. Although I suppose this was an okay book for Christian teens who date, I wouldn't really recommend it.

Missionary Book

2006-02-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

Another book from the Sonlight homeschool program, And the Word Came With Power is an absolutley amazing book about a Wycliffe Bible translator who went to the Phillipenes and translated the Bible. A span of about 20 years is covered in this book, and once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it. It was facinating as to everything that happened in this lady's life and during her time on the mission field!

What's for dinner? Pickles and Jello!

2006-02-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

With WWII over, what do you do with all the left over canned meats? Why, you market them towards American housewives, of course! There was only one chapter in this book I didn't enjoy. I'd never heard of Poppy Cannon, and so her life didn't much interest me. The book Something From the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America was a facinating read, and one that would entertain anyone who likes to read about cooking, marketing, psychology, or the 1950s. I loved reading about some of the worst recipes from the era, such as strawberry jello and pickles. Or all the things mayo was added into. There were times I wondered how people actually ate some of the stuff described, but I suppose someone did! I'm glad I live in a time where you don't have to worry about going to a church pot-luck and maybe getting pickles or mayo in your jello! :) Or visiting someone and getting half a cinnamon doughnut with strawberry jam on it, covered in cottage cheese!

Eudora

2006-02-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

When I say Eudora, most people likely think of the e-mail program called "Eudora". But I recently read a book by the program's namesake. I was required to read One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty in my final English class in college. I wasn't too excited about the book before I started it, but I had skipped out on reading the book required the week before, and I had failed my quiz on it, and I couldn't afford any more bad grades. (I got an A in the class, by the way.) I remember so much of the literature assigned that semester. We read The Metamorphosis and The Lottery and George Orwell . Not all that we read was depressing. I loved the class so much I would say it was one of my top 10 favorite classes in college! But back to Ms. Welty. . . I was introducted to her in late fall of 1995, and didn't really want to read the book because it meant another book had to be purchased. (I decided to check it out of my home library.) Her writing is so vivid. I felt I was actually traveling down the road to Ohio with her and her family in their car. She spoke so highly of the series of books she had when she was a child, I looked them up on eBay to see what they looked like. I cried when her father died. She is an outstanding author, and while the re-read on this book wasn't *quite* as good as the first, it was only because it wasn't new to me.

I remember this book as such a lovely piece of writing, I asked when I entered Alabama recently if there was a museum for Eudora Welty. (My memory didn't serve me correctly. She was from Mississippi rather than Alabama.) Still the lady at the rest stop and I chatted for a minute about her, and when I asked if the rest stop had postcards, I came away with a huge stack. It was then I realized that if I could think of a writer just because I was entering the area of the country she lived in, it was certainly time for a re-read of this book.

Roald Dahl

2006-02-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

I remember and LOVED Charlie and the Choclate Factory when I was a child, so I expected that the short book, The Vicar of Nibbleswicke would also be a delight to read. Unfortunately I was disappointed by the 'potty humor' in this. A village gets a new vicar, and he suffers from a form of dyslexia that causes him to say things backwards. Some of it is funny, like when he tells the women who knits, you STINK. But some of it is just potty humor, and while I'm sure some children enjoy that, I didn't. Stick with Charlie Bucket.

Realizing God isn't a "check counter"

2006-02-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

I finished reading this book, and I've been wondering what I'm going to say about it. It parallels my journey so much. The author says when she was growing up during Sunday evening children's church they were given slips of paper and there were 8 things to check off -- things like did they read the Bible every day, etc. This book is about her journey from trying to live for preforming for God and earning "checks" to learning to love God and to enjoy His love. I know some people have considered her a feminist, but I have learned a lot from all her books, even if I don't agree with everything in them. I loved God's Joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved because it was so much like my life. I remember I used to have a system where I graded myself each week on being a Christian. Know what? I failed almost every week. There are things that are good to do, but that's not going to make God love you more or less than He already does. I find her books slow reading, which is difficult for me since I'm usually a fast reader, but I still enjoy them.

More Skippy

2006-02-12T21:49:00.000-08:00

This weekend was spend with Adventures of Skippy, Volume 2 . I must say I'm not in too huge a hurry for the third disk in the series. I really enjoyed the first volume, but this one got a little much. I suppose kids would enjoy it, but this volume was a bit too "Pollyanish" for me.

North to Alaska!

2006-02-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Travelers' Tales Alaska -- a collection of true stories of travel and life up north. This was certainly faster reading than the Australia book, but it still got slow at times. I think the problem with the Travelers' Tales books is the books about specific places aren't as varied as their theme books. For instance, the prevailing theme in the Australia book seemed to be man vs. the desert and in the Alaska book it was man vs. the cold and man vs. wildlife. The stories that were a bit different are the ones I remember, such as the story about camping at Wal-Mart. Still, since I'm hoping to go to Alaska this year, it was a good read.

Alrighty.

2006-02-09T02:02:00.000-08:00

This is an example of why I enjoy CHRISTIAN diet books. This one took the most radical approach of any Christian diet book I've ever read. Just the title is an indication of it being a bit on the interestring side. Help Lord, the Devil Wants Me Fat is a book all about how if rebuke the devil and go on a 10 day fast you can lose weight. It does mention a bit of healthy eating and excercise in it, but it treats being overweight as a purely spiritual problem and that we don't know how to resist the devil, therefore people are fat. Really a bizarre book as it was a diet book but mainly on spiritual warfare.

Tamar Myers read again. . .

2006-02-05T23:24:00.000-08:00

I finished another book in Tamar Myer's Pennsylvania Dutch mystery series this week. This time the book was Assault And Pepper . Someone has murdered Rev. Shrock, but who? I must say I'm thrilled with the changes in the storyline. I hate to see Rev. Shrock written out of the picture, but I certainly won't miss Lodema. I'm glad there's a change of characters coming. I'm looking forward to the next book, that's for sure! :)

Finally finished with this one.

2006-02-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

I dont' always read only what I agree with. I don't always read what I disagree with. I think this book falls in the middle. It was interestring reading a different perspective of women and ministry. More than that, I'm happy to move it to my "read" pile. I picked this book up over a year ago, and recently when I was culling my bookshelves, I noticed I had a beautiful bookmark in it that needed liberated, so 25 Tough Questions About Women and the Church was delegated to my nightstand so I could finish it quickly. I finished it last night, and I'm so glad. I've been reading too many books lately that I find difficult to read straight through. Some of the travel books I enjoy are a collection of short stories, and it's hard to get into one of those books. It seems like my reading lately has been choppy, a chapter out of this, a chapter out of that, etc. I'm really needing to read something that I can read straight through. I'll have to sort through the books on my nightstand to see which one peaks my interest nest. (I only have about a dozen books on my night stand.) :)

Science class anyone?

2006-02-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

Normally I love documentaries, but I'm not much of one for nature documentaries. Mom said she'd like to see March of the Penguins so I put it in the queue at Netflix. I didn't really enjoy the movie, but it wasn't too bad either. I'd still rather watch a DVD of a TV series than a regular movie or a travel documentary. Still the penguins were kind of cute, but I think I penguined out when I was growing up. I loved penguins and watched everything immgainable about them, so I think that's part of the reason I didn't enjoy this movie more. Also, the narrator reminded me of my 9th grade science teacher.

Skippy the Kangaroo

2006-01-31T21:22:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of reading several books at once right now, which means I'm not finishing anything to tell about. So, I'll tell about the latest Netflix rental. I am a lover of all things Australian, so it's no surprise that I put The Adventures of Skippy, Volume 1 in my queue. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it or not, but it was great. It is a TV show from the 1990s fron Australia. (There was an original Skippy in the 1960s, but I don't believe that is on DVD, and if it is, it's not available in the USA.) Skippy is like an Australian Lassie. It's a great family show, and it's also wonderful to be able to see the day to day life in Australia -- the public school uniforms, the orange pay phones, even the telephones that sound two short rings instead of one long one.) Skippy is a cutie, but I keep trying to think of Skippy as male, when she is female. :) The twins, Lou and Jerry, get into several adventures and, of course, learn lessons like not to ride a dirt bike in a national park, why heritage is important -- only after they find Aborigese paintings in a cave they decide to make into a 'cubby house'. It's good family entertainment, but I think that older kids and teens might be a bit bored with it. I enjoyed it, but then again I enjoy Australian animals, and I would rather something be a little predictible than a lot of sex and violence.

1979 Newberry Award Winner

2006-01-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

I am probably the only non-parent who pours over a homeschool catalog. I love reading the Sonlight catalog, and if I ever have kids, I will definately use their program. It's based on books -- for most subjects instead of giving kids a textbook, the required reading is through fiction and non-fiction books! They have a great selection, and I can go down the catlog and think, "Oh, that was a great book", or "I loved that book", or "That one made me cry", etc. I'm using the catalog to help formulate a wish list of books because I want to read more they think are great books for those in school.

It was no surprise for me to find that The Westing Game is reading within the Sonlight catalog. It's far fetched, but it's a wonderfully spun yarn. There is an apartment building built with certain people in mind -- all of whom may be Westing's heirs. After Westing is murdered, there is a game to see who can solve the murder and become the sole heir of the Westing Estate.

This is a wonderful book, and I don't know how I never read it when I was growing up. My guess is that our library didn't have it, as they didn't get many newer books in. (One of my favorite sections of our library was the "Childhood of Famous Americans" section, and most were the original 1950s editions.) I would have loved this book as a child, but I still liked it as an adult. As a child, the sense of wonder and "Wow! That could happen to me" would have been there, but unfortunately, that leaves when you grow up.

It's a great book, and I highly recommend it to anyone, esp. if you have children!

Guess what is coming!

2006-01-25T22:42:00.000-08:00

The last book I finished was Expect a Miracle : 7 Spiritual Steps to Finding the Right Relationship . I didn't find anything in it I didn't already know. I needed a few dollars to bump an Amazon order into free shipping, and it looked more interestring than it was.

Coming in July! I'm so excited. . .

I can't wait to get this!

Another mystery. . .

2006-01-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

I was in a thrift shop the other day and saw Stranger in the Woods: A Hattie Farwell Mystery for 25¢. I thought it looked interestring, and bought it. The only bad thing I have to say about the book is this: the dialogue doesn't seem natural. For instance, Hattie tells the police office she saw a hand "protroding". Wouldn't the more natural thing to say is "Sticking out from under the leaves"? The dialogue that seemed forced was at the beginning of the book, and this was a real spine tingler. The basic story is a man is stalking a lady who just moved into a new sub-division -- so new that her family is the only one living there. Hattie solves the mystery but not in time before . . . I won't give the ending. The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the dialogue in the beginning, but if you can look past that, you'll have a great read!

A childhood favorite.

2006-01-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

I love children's books. In fact, I took a children's literature class in college for the mere reason I enjoy reading children'd books.

I always loved the Fudge series when I was growing up and always wished there were more. Well, immagine how happy I was when I recently found out there was a new one just published in the last few years! Double Fudge by Judy Blume was my most recent read.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It was rather far-fetched in places, such as the Hatchers going to D.C. and then finding a long lost cousin who comes to stay with them for a while. I didnt' like the fact that it seemed like the cousin's family was portrayed as plain weird including homeschooling, but then I realized the original Hatcher family was pretty weird and they went to public school, so I guess the Hatchers are just strange if they homeschool or not! LOL!

It may be because I'm no longer 8 years old, but I didn't think this was as good as the original Fudge books, but then again adults aren't the target audience here. :)

Motorcycling around the world

2006-01-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

After a DVD from Netflix arrived busted, I decided to watch Long Way Round -- a DVD set where Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman ride their motorcycles from the UK through Europe, into Asia, and then get on a plane, fly to Alaska and ride to New York City. It's not something I would have chosen to watch, but there was nothing on TV and I had recently been sent this as a contest win. This was unedited in language and there was some nudity when they were washing in rivers. Overall, it was a really neat series. It was so amazing to see how different people lived in Mongolia than across the border in Russia. I tend to think of myself as someone who can eat anything set in front of me. I may be a bit pickier at home, but if I'm a guest somewhere I can pretty much force anything down. However, they were served male parts of animals different times, and I don't know if I could have eatten that. They did try them.

It's a shame that Mongolia can't be a tourist destination, at least not easily. I think it would be a facinating place to visit, although I don't know I would want to eat Mongolian food! There are only 80 miles of paved roads in the entire country of Mongolia. Isn't that incredible to think about?

It was also amazing when they were in Russia how there was so little and the roads were so difficult and impassible at times. After a short plane flight to Alaska, they were able to buy anything they wanted. Amazing how a few miles of water can make the biggest difference.

Yes, milady. . . Part Three

2006-01-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

The long anticipated final disk of Manor House arrived, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the other disks in the series. I think this was by far the best "House" series I've seen yet. I realize the people upstairs had no clue how hard they were making life for people downstairs and I wonder what they thought when they saw the DVDs. It's amazing that people lived like that. The parties and such were such extravagence. It seems so wasteful to have such parties. To think that we could still be living like that if it were not for industrial revolution and WWI just boggles the mind.

Just so everyone knows. . .

2006-01-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

I have somehow had my blog so that I didn't see any comments left, so if you left a comment, I never saw it. I believe it is fixed now.

What a blonde thing to do, and I'm not even blonde. LOL! In honor of my blunder, I'll share this BLONDE JOKE that Tammy posted on her blog.

Christian dieting?

2006-01-19T21:55:00.000-08:00

Let me begin by saying that I don't agree with all that is in these books. (Do we ever? If we agreed with everything we read, why not just write it ourselves? LOL!) I read the book Lay Aside the Weight this week. I don't agree with T.D. Jakes on a lot of stuff, but this was a good book, anyway. However, I looked at his website, and see he has re-gained much of the weight he lost. (Although he still appears to be thinner than what he was before this book.) I think one reason I liked this book is because of the more practical approach it takes with weight loss. (Much like the book First Place: Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever does.) I've seen more impratical Christian guides to weight loss. If I'm hungry, I'd prefer the knowledge to eat a healthy snack instead of praying as More of Jesus, Less of Me seems to promote. (Knowledge is power, and in the case of Christian dieting, knowledge is weight loss! I never had any nutrition lessons when I was in school, and so I need to learn the basics of healthy eating!) Even with the pray instead of eat weight loss program I felt this book seemed to promote, I thought it was still better than God's Answer to Fat: Loose it. Yes, that is correct, loose and not lose. I don't know why, but I've always had an interest in Christian diet books and the approach they take -- is it more pratical? More spiritual? A combination? Does it include how to handle church dinners? :) I've been known to enjoy reading weird stuff, and I guess this is one of those quirks. Anyone else enjoy reading Christian diet books?

Swapping books

2006-01-19T01:24:00.000-08:00

I signed up for Paperback swap tonight.

After hoping for books in trade at

Bookcrossing.com and getting an e-mail back saying they had already been traded at paperback swap, I decided it was time for me to sign up.

God is Love

2006-01-17T20:20:00.000-08:00

I finished reading God: A Good Father -- I'm not sure I agree with all of the theology or the every way the author used to approach the subject of God being good, but I think this book is definately needed. I've heard so many times that God is just watching for us to mess up -- when I was growing up my church used to sing "Be Careful little eyes what you See" as "The Father up Above is looking down below". It wasn't until I was an adult I heard it sung "The Father up Above is looking down in love". I've been afraid of God for so long I'm just now beginning to be able to enjoy His love.

G'Day Mate!

2006-01-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been so relieved to finish a book? I am thrilled to report that last night I finished Australia : True Stories of Life Down Under (Travelers' Tales) as it is a thick book. Three-hundred sixty-four pages to be exact. I'm no stranger to literature from Australia (I actually read The Tree of Man by Nobel Prize winning author Patrick White as well as other fiction from Down Under.) One thing that Australian fiction seems to have is melancholy. When you think about it, it's no wonder. This country is isolated, and it's a very unforgiving country. The last story I read in this book was about a hurricane that hit during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. I believe the isolation and melancholy made this book difficult to wade through at time, but there were stories that I really enjoyed. I loved the story of the mice infesting the van in the Outback, although I'm not sure I would have loved the story had I experienced it first-hand. The Travelers' Tales series is a fun series I enjoyed last year with interestring bits of travel writing compiled into theme or place. I have a few more and not sure which one I'll start next!

Play it again, Spam

2006-01-16T00:35:00.000-08:00

I finished reading Play it Again, Spam which was a gift in a Christmas exchange. I was a bit disappointed, as I have read better books in the PennDutch mystery series, but it was still enjoyable. Still, too much Magdalena Yoder too close together can cause a type of indigestion from books if that is possible. (I say read only 2 books near each other and give yourself at least a three month break between them.) That is not to say they aren't good, but a bit predictable. I enjoy the author's humor, but she does have a tendancy to repeat the same jokes in each book. I received two other PennDutch Inn mysteries for Christmas, and I think I will keep them until I go on a trip somewhere. They are rather light reading and I could easily follow along even if I got bumped into by a drink cart going down the ailse of an airplane! LOL! I would say this is probably the least favorite of the PennDutch series I've read, but as I said, it still was funny in places. I don't think I would ever try the recipes using Spam, though! :)

Yes, milady. . . Part Two

2006-01-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, the mail will not run on Monday because I can't wait for the next disk! :) I watched the second disk of Manor House tonight. I'm wondering what will happen. The family is seemingly becoming accustomed to having everything done for them (there's even help to put stockings on for the lady of the house!). The servants are becoming incressingly upset at having to do so much work. Even the butler, who has been siding with the family has become upset with the way things are going at the moment. I can't wait for disk three. There are only "houses" to watch from two more eras, and I'm not too happy at that. I have really enjoyed these.

Since it's fallen off the front page, here's another link to join Blingo. It's a great search engine, and you can win prizes. It's for real, and I've won EIGHT prizes with them!

40 Below in Fairbanks

2006-01-13T00:03:00.000-08:00

I found this video at the library this week, and I must say there's much to be said for my Netflix subscription. :) The video looked quite familiar, and it's possible that I may have seen it when I was a child. (After all, it from 1986.) The video itself was okay, but the music scared the guinea pigs. My aunt lives in Fairbanks, and it's possible she sent this as a gift for the family at one point because it did look familiar, though I cant recall ever watching it before. I'm hoping to take a trip and visit her this summer, but I don't think it will be 40 below when I visit since I'm aiming for summer.

Sushi, anyone?

2006-01-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was in the library and the book Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat caught my eye. I'm not a huge fan of Asian food. I like Chinese maybe twice a year, and I had my first sushi in September at a greasy chopstick in Florida. (Just joking, the food was actually very good.)

I wasn't sure what to think about this book, but I found it facinating. Granted, I probably won't be fixing wasabi anytime soon, nor any of the other dishes that are mentioned, but the author does a great job of explaining some of the reasons that the Japanese don't have an obesity epidemic like the United States does. Some of the reason are quite obvious -- such as walking most everywhere you go. One thing she suggests is to serve each type of food in a different dish, and to get smaller plates. She said the looks of a meal are as importatnt as the food, and the different dishes add beauty. With the small plates and bowls she comments you can have seconds or thirds and still be eatting less on average as one average American plate.

She also goes through the different foods that are important in the Japanese diet saying why they are so important and gives tips for cooking them if you are so inclined. There's plenty of recipes to help you out should you wish to do so.

Also, she recommends eatting with chopsticks. I know this slows down eatting, and when you eat slower you often don't eat as fast. (Plus, some people find eatting with chopsticks pretty impressive.) LOL!

Yes, milady. . .

2006-01-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight was spent in front of the TV again. I love my Netflix subscription, and today's mail brought disc one of the Manor House DVD series. It was facinating to watch. I'm so glad I didn't live in Edwardian England. I wouldn't have wanted to have been a scullery maid, nor would I have wanted to have spent five or six hours a day dressing to be proper for the meals and such. There are still two more discs to go in the series, and I cannot wait to see them. I thought this was much more interestring and enjoyable to watch than The 1900 House although I did enjoy 1940s house this is still much more interestring than either of those. (I liked the Dad getting his dream of building an Anderson shelter in the 1940s house. It wasn't as he had expected.) I cannot believe the extravagence of Edwardian England. I wonder if our neighbors across the pond would still be living like that had there not been the world wars. Since I only have disc one so far, I'm wondering if they will get a scullery maid who will stay, and even wondering further why anyone would volunteer for such a project knowing they would be the scullery maid! I suppose to each his or her own, though.

A movie about bingo?

2006-01-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

I am weird. I enjoy documentaries. I saw on Netflix Bingo! The Documentary and I just had to add it to my queue. It arrived today, and I really enjoyed this. I know it wasn't suppossed to be funny, but it had me laughing more than most comedies. Why? Because the people reminded me of people I know. I'd say, "Hey doesn't that look like ____" and before you know it, someone else reminded us of someone else. I'm not sure I'd ever want to watch it again, but I do enjoy documentaries, and this was no different. I don't know why it caught my eye. I don't play bingo. Well, I did one summer when I was young with my grandmother at a local carnival. She paid for my cards, and I won almost every night, and she let me keep the money. I haven't played since as I prefer Scrabble!

All about the people you find in church. . .

2006-01-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

Last night I finished reading this book: See All the People Under the Steeple by Jacob D. Eppinga . It was a fun and enjoyable read. He did a good job of letting us see the shortcomings of those of us in churches, yet it wasn't a book where he made fun of people. There were times I laughed outloud, and times I smiled as I read about his experiences with different people who are in the church. Be it the wall that came down, went up, and came down, or the firemen who replaced lights in the church, you could tell that each memory was held precious to him, even if he was exasperated at the time. Definately a fun read!

Addicted to Religion?

2006-01-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished reading the book When God Becomes A Drug by Leo Booth. I've written two reviews online about this book already, but it was an excellent book about an addiction that isn't very thought about. Booth doesn't mean the average religious experience in any religion, but looks at it the extremes, such as donating so much money it would send a family into bankruptcy, preaching against things you secretly indulge in, etc. He notes that addiction to religion can happen in any religion, not just ones that would most likely come to mind.

Look inside a life with Autism

2006-01-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

I recently saw the book Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism at Goodwill and thought it looked interestring. This was an absolutely amazing book. I would say it's one of the best I've ever read. I could have done without the details of the inhumane treatment in some slaughterhouses, but it's amazing that a lady with autism has helped changed the meat industry. To be honest, I wasn't as interested in the part about her work as much as I was in the accounts of how she thinks, social interactions, etc. This is an excellent book, and one I will recommend to several people.

113 books this read -- FREE

2005-12-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

I love to read. That much is obvious. But I buy many books at book sales, garage sales, etc. through the year. Of course, there is sometimes a book I want to read that is new or I can't find at the library or a book sale. In that case, I will order it new. On my shelves at the moment are four books I bought new, paying full price.

I'll sell what I can after I read them to re-coup losses. (Most people will tell you that reading is an expensive hobby.) I keep a chart to see how much reading costs me for the year

However, last night I sold the book Authority Abusers . What made this significant is that is not only did I get the last little bit back that I needed to make this a year of FREE reading, but I also made two dollars on my hobby of reading this year. Not a way to get rich, but it's always nice to finish the year in black on anything, including how much spent on books read this year!

Blingo -- a good search engine with REWARDS

2005-12-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

I've heard it over and over. People are skeptical of the word "Free". I've heard, "There's no such thing as a free lunch" and "You get what you pay for." Well, that's just not the case when it comes to blingo. I've won some great prizes with them. Back in May I won my choice of an Amazon gift certificate or $25 cash. I've won movie tickets, too. They also give away iTunes downloads, and larger prizes such as iPod shuffles, playstation portables, and portable DVD players. All you have to do is use it as your regular search engine, and sometime you might find yourself with a screen that says you win. It's happened to me EIGHT times! How cool is that? It's one of the neatest sites online.

Click here to sign up:

Civil War Virginia

2005-12-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

I was tired last night and decided to pick up whatever book was on my bookstand. There were library books there. I spent time in the children's section last time I was there, and on top was another "Dear America" book. Last night was spent with When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864

Reading a book set in the south during the Civil War was very different. I've always heard how the Union was the right side. I never really thought about how the south thought they were right, their dead, etc. I still don't agree with the south, but it helped me think about the fact they were people, too, and not just statistics.

Once again, I'm not sure I'd want a child reading this book, at least not until they were in their teens. The book opens with the girl's brother dying, and before the book ends her mother, uncle, father, and baby cousin all die. I know this was life during the Civil War, but it still was a depressing book.

Journey to Opportunity, Idaho

2005-12-26T11:47:00.000-08:00

I have discovered I love the "Dear America" series. It's a fiction series where a girl writes a diary about the events of that time period. I just finished reading West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883 I enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure I'd want children to read it. One of the two authors of the diary, a young girl, dies on the way to Idaho. I think children's books should be a little more upbeat. I know death is a part of life, but in a children's book where one of the main characters die, who is likely younger than the reader? I recently read Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan--The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 and prefered it much more. Although the main character goes blind in this story, there isn't the hardships that are recounded in the "West to a Land of Plenty" book. Still, it was a good book, and I have to admire the pioneers who went west.