Books 4-7

Here are the most recent that I've read, and what I think about them.

4) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

There were parts of this book that I really really enjoyed, but a lot more that were just "meh." It was set in Sweden, and I know that had something to do with the parts I didn't enjoy that much - if it had been a place I was more familiar with, the landmarks and other situations would have made more sense. Also, most of the beginning and end deal with finance/journalism, and I really don't have much interest in either. And the other thing that threw me off was all of the casual sex. It wasn't graphic, and usually sex/violence/language don't bother me. But there was just SO MUCH sex, and a lot seemed thrown in there for no reason.

However, there was a murder mystery in the middle that I found VERY intriguing. It was by far my favorite part of the book, and I was actually disappointed when that was wrapped up and there was still about 1/4 of the book left. I made it through the rest, and I have book two here waiting, but can't bring myself to start it quite yet. Overall it wasn't awful, but it definitely wasn't the best book I've read recently.

I give it 3 books.








5) Snow White and the Seven Dead Dwarves: A Zombie Fairy Tale by Bob McLain

Oh. My. Goodness. This book was written by a guy who loves Disney stories and zombies. He started with the awesome story of Snow White, took it back to it's gruesome roots, then threw in a few Disney-like twists. It was very quick, and I loved it. It's definitely not high brow reading, but it was definitely fun, and a great way to spend the time while I was waiting on Cadence at the dentist. He is supposed to be releasing a full length novel called "Once Upon A Zombie," a story about zombies taking over the rest of Fairy Tale Land, and I can't wait until it comes out.

I give this one 5 books.





6) Alice in Deadland by Mainak Dhar

I'm apparently on a zombie kick at the moment, because this one was a combination of Alice in Wonderland and a typical zombie story. It wasn't a direct retelling of the story, and that gave it a nice twist.  I really enjoyed this story, and finished it in one afternoon. There were parts that were predictable, but overall, I enjoyed it.

I give this one 4 books.





7) Mile 81 by Stephen King

This story was very short, and ok. It definitely wasn't a typical Stephen King story, and was pretty predictable, but wasn't awful at all. It was a nice distraction for a Saturday afternoon, but something I'm glad I didn't spend a ton of money on.

I give this one 3 books.

She's a star!

Cadence in her first school production. Her lines start with "I think it's time we went to see the doctor." :)

Something that made me smile

This is an email I received from a co-worker this morning. She is the recreation director at the church, and is over Upward Basketball (Cadence had Upward practice last night.)

Hey-just thought I'd tell you that I know as parents we are always looking to find our kids doing something "right".....last night I was still in the gym when it was practice time for Cadence's team-Brent wasn't there yet.........she asked me to lower the goal for her and I did--- she thanked me several times and we had a nice little visit.  I told her I'd be glad to do it and what nice manners she had. Just thought I'd tell you so you could brag on her. I also told her I was hungry and ready for my girl scout cookies and she thought that was funny!

It is always nice to get emails like that, especially since there are lots of times I wonder if the manners I'm trying to teach her are actually sinking in. And it was also nice to know that even though her coach hadn't arrived yet, I can trust her to act like a big girl and not get in trouble. I just love her so much!

We got it!!!

We have talked about getting something bigger, but since we don't have a car payment at the moment, couldn't justify the payments on anything we looked at. On Friday, they had something come through wholesale that was perfect. It's a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, completely fully loaded, owned by an older couple, low miles and extremely well taken care of. It literally has every feature available at the time - leather, navigation, Sirus, power sunroof, adjustable pedals, heated seats, you name it. And since it came through wholesale, Mike could get it for $6,800.

We went over the weekend to make sure all three car seats would fit (they do), and he had it inspected on Monday (passed with flying colors.) He spent most of yesterday afternoon at the bank getting the money, but after it was all said and done (taxes, trading my 2004 Sentra, tags, etc) we ended up paying $4,115 for it. Our payments are going to be crazy cheap, and this is by far the nicest vehicle either of us has ever owned. We got it last night, and went through putting car seats in, setting the seats for me to drive, setting the automatic garage door opener and doing all those other little things. Cadence is so excited, and informed me last night that she doesn't miss my car at all, because this is much more awesome.

I'm a little sad to lose my car, because I bought it brand new, and I've had it for the last 7 years. And I've only ever driven little cars - a 91 Pontiac LeMans, 2000 Mazda Protege and then the Sentra. Driving a Cherokee is going to take a little time to get used to, because it's about twice as big as my car, and sits A LOT higher. I really really like it, though, and am so happy to have a place to put all three girls when #3 gets here!

Good thoughts, please?

We've been wavering on the car issue since I found out I was pregnant. Three car seats won't fit in my car, and while they will fit in Mike's Cherokee, it's a 1993 model with 230,000 miles on it. However, both cars are paid off, and we really don't want and can't afford another car payment.

Yesterday, a 2004 Grand Cherokee Limited came in through wholesale at CarMax. It was owned by an older couple, has low miles, is fully loaded and will hold all three car seats (we tried them today.) The best part? After we trade my car in, it will cost us less than $4,000 to get it. Mike is getting it inspected on Monday, and if all that pans out ok, we're going to start the process of getting it. I'm really really really hoping it works out, because I would much rather drive it than Mike's Cherokee. And it would by far be the nicest vehicle I've ever owned! I mean, even the pedals adjust in this thing!! We should know something Monday, but please keep your fingers crossed!

It's cookie time!

Girl Scout cookies officially went on sale here on Saturday, and we already have 25 boxes ordered, and I know more are on the way (including about 10 from Mike and I.) Cadence has decided that she wants to sell 1500 boxes so she can get ALL the prizes, but I've convinced her to please knock her goal down to something smaller. We decided on 500 (which is still an awful lot of boxes!), and at that point it will give her the first electronic prize in the list - a portable dvd player. I don't know that we'll hit 500 (and don't know that I want to see 500 boxes of cookies at my house), but I guess we'll be trying.

No new news on the baby front. Still no name, and even more have been vetoed off the list (Violet, Mary James, Eliza Jean, Sophia/Sophie and Hannah.) The only name combos that I've actually gotten a maybe on are Alice Miranda and Mary Alice. Abigail, Madeline, Marissa and Felicity are also now on the maybe list, but with no middle names. She'll have a name eventually. I hope.

I've also hit the halfway point, and have gained a total of 6 lbs. Most days, if you didn't know me, you wouldn't know I was pregnant. I'm getting a little round in the middle, but my stomach seems to be stretched out really long. It's definitely not the "beach ball" look I had with Amelia. I've had three people since Friday comment on how small I am, and my response has been that she's apparently hiding and doesn't want anyone to know she's here. Heck, she didn't even want ME knowing for the first 14 weeks! Still not a lot of movement, but I feel her enough that I'm sure she's still ok. Right now we're just waiting.

Not much else is going on around here. I feel like all I do is cook, clean and start over again the other day. But, boring is good, and I'll take that any day.

Book 3/24: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

3) 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Wow. That's about all I can say. It was long (about 850 pages), but so worth it. Basic story is that the main character finds a portal that sends him back in time, and he decides to try and stop the JFK assassination. During the course of the story, I really came to love him, and all the people he became associated with. I was also in tears by the end, and even though I wanted it to end differently, it really couldn't have. Also, it seemed to go very quickly - much more quickly than you would expect an 850 page book to go. I've read a few other of his books, and there were some I really think could have been a few 100 pages shorter and still had been awesome. However, I think this one could have kept going and I would have been just fine.

I loved it. I give it 5 books.