Labor Day

I finished Labor Day this past Saturday afternoon. While some people have raved about Joyce Maynard's books, I wasn't overly impressed with this book. It was good but took me about 75-100 pages to get into the story. Once I got a bit more into it, I was able to quickly finish it. In the future I would like to try another of Maynard's books to see if I like it better. I used this book for the "read a book with a summer word in the title" for the SuBC. My challenge point total is now 110. I'd give this book 2.5 of 5 stars. Below is the B&N synopsis.

With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele—a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart.
But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for.
In a manner evoking Ian McEwan's Atonement and Nick Hornby's About a Boy, acclaimed author Joyce Maynard weaves a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy—and the man he later becomes—looking back at an unexpected encounter that begins one single long, hot, life-altering weekend.

Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange

I'm a little behind here! The home renovations and projects have taken my life over the last few days! I finished this book Monday and it was a great read. I've been having really good luck with my last few library picks. As always, I will only post the B&N synopsis so I don't tell too much. I thought the authors writing style was very similar to Toni Morrison's. I liked Amanda Smyth's style better though. She paints a very vivid picture as she writes which gave clear pictures of the characters and settings. I'd give this book 4 of 5 stars. Here is the the synopsis.

Men will want you like they want a glass of rum…One man will love you. But you won’t love him. You will destroy his life. The one you love will break your heart in two.So says the soothsayer, when predicting young Celia’s future. Raised in the tropics of Tobago by an aunt she loves and an uncle she fears, Celia has never felt that she belonged. When her uncle–a man the neighbors call Allah because he thinks himself mightier than God–does something unforgivable, Celia escapes to the bustling capital city.There she quickly embraces her burgeoning independence, but her search for a place to call home is soon complicated by an affectionate friendship with William, a thoughtful gardener, and a strong sexual tension with her employer. All too quickly, Celia finds herself fulfilling the soothsayer’s predictions and living a life of tangled desperation–trapped between the man who offers her passion and the one who offers his heart.

The Wedding

This afternoon I finished The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. It is the follow up to The Notebook. While I enjoyed the story, it was a typical Nicholas Sparks book. There was a little twist at the end that I wasn't expecting though. I read this book for the "wedding book" cateogory for the SuBC. I would give the book 3 of 5 stars.

Harry Potter the Prisoner of Azkaban

Last night I finished HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I used it for the "book with a teenager as a main character" category of the SuBC. I love how addicting these books are and the fact that the further into the series you go the better the books are! I told my husband last night that he was not allowed to talk to me until I finished the book because I had to finish it before I could go to bed! I have a book from the library to read first, but then I'll be moving onto the next book!

Driftwood Summer

LOVED this book!! I don't usually give a book 5 stars, but this one gets it! I think I could be a little biased because I loved the talk of the family owned bookstore/cottage and its environment. It's been my dream to someday open a bookstore/coffee shop and own a lake home and the book is my dream! I will only post the B&N synopsis of the book so I don't ruin anything for anybody! I could ramble on and on about the book. The one thing I will say is that I loved how the author dedicated the chapters to one of the two sisters. It allowed the reader to get more information and points of view about the same situations. I have to say I think this is the best book I've read so far this summer and I am excited to read more by Patti Callahan Henry.

Three sisters— responsible Riley, vivacious Maisy, and fun-loving Adalee—reunite to save the family's beach-community bookstore. But summer also marks the return of Mack Logan, whose choice of Maisy over Riley years ago destroyed the special closeness between the sisters...Now Riley, a single mom, is hiding a shattering secret about their mother. Maisy, a California designer, still blames Riley for ruining her one true love. And Adalee resents the family's intrusion into her summer plans. All three will be forced to confront the conflicts that tore them apart and the bounds of love and loyalty that still draw them together...

Dead Until Dark

I just finished reading Dead Until Dark. I read it for the category "read a book you first heard about on the Nest Book Club" for my summer book challenge. It's the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and is quite addicting. It's about a woman, Sookie, who falls in love with a vampire and learns more about the vampire lifestyle. There was a murder mystery tied in as well. My problem now is that I have started too many series without completing the whole series! I'm still need to finish the Harry Potter books and the Stephanie Plum series! Maybe after this book challenge I can focus on getting caught up with my series! I gave the book 4 of 5 stars.

My Attempt at Cards

I've slowly been making some cards to sell at a craft fair in October. My main focus is selling my Creative Memories, but I thought it might appeal to a wider range if I had some cards made to purchase.

B-Day cards
more b-day cards

winter cards

friendship cards

random cards

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I just finished the second Harry Potter book this afternoon. Finishing the book also means I finished another SuBC category. I will earn 15 points next week for completing the "read the 1st and 2nd or 3rd and 4th book in a series" category. I'm going to read a couple other books before I pick up the third book.

No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club

I just finished this book this morning and enjoyed it. It's written as diary entries by a 60 year-old woman. She loves her cat, wine, and talks about sex a lot. She doesn't want to take advice from friends when they suggest things she could do to fill her time. Parts of the book were laugh out loud funny! I'd give 3.5 out of 5 stars. Below is the B&N synopsis.

Marie Sharp is heading toward sixty and is just fine with it. She's already had plenty of excitement in her life: sex and drugs in the freewheeling sixties, career and children, marriage and divorce. Now she's ready to settle into a quiet, blissfully boring routine. No Italian classes or gym memberships or bicycle trips across Europe, thank you very much! Marie just wants to put her feet up and "start doing old things." She's even sworn off men! But as it turns out, life still has some surprises in store, the biggest of which is a new grandson on the way. What's more, Archie, her old childhood crush, suddenly reenters her life, and her closest friend falls seriously ill. Armed with a biting sense of humor, Marie wrestles with a life that refuses to follow her plans—and may still offer more possibilities than she realizes.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I finished reading HP and the Sorcerer's Stone on Saturday. I read the first three books in the series over 5 years ago. I decided I wanted to read the whole series before the baby comes in Nov. I forgot how addicting the books are! I'm using the first book as part of the category for "read 1/2 or 3/4 books in a series" for the SuBC. I started HP and the Chamber of Secrets last night. I should finish in a couple days so I can add my point to the SuBC total.

Buon Natale (Merry Christmas) 2008

I completed this layout a couple weeks ago and haven't gotten around to posting it. Unfortunatley, I ended up with far less pictures than I planned! I went to put the pics into my album, but they weren't in my PowerSort box. I could have sworn I printed them. I logged onto my Walgreens account to print them only to find that I never uploaded them! What would you know, I also deleted them from my camera. I had to make due with the pics that my sister had taken. At least I still had something!

Summer Book Challenge (SuBC)

I'm participating in a summer book challenge. There are several different categories worth different point values. You must choose a book to fit the category, read it, and earn the points. I'm excited to do my first challenge without having any grad school to get in my way. I did the winter book challenge, but didn't get far at all because of grad school.

Summer Sisters

I finished this book today and was happily surprised by it! I never really got to much into Judy Blume as a kid, so I didn't have high expectations for the book. At best I thought it would be OK. I was COMPLETELY wrong! The book was about two young girls, Caitlin and Vix. Caitlin invites Vix to spend the summer with her at her father's house. The summer months turn into a tradition for the girls. The book follows the girls through high school, college, and then into the real world. A special bond develops between Vix and Caitlin's father and his new wife. I read the whole book in 4 days and couldn't put it down. (Would have been faster if the home remodeling wasn't happening.) I don't usually give five stars to books, but this one gets five!

Handle With Care- Jodi Picoult

I finished reading Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult on Saturday night. I will only post the synopsis from Barnes and Noble so I don't tell too much and spoil it for anyone. Overall, this was one of my favorite JP books! I got very emotionally attached with some characters and wanted to scream at them! I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, well, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte should have known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, Handle with Care brings us into the heart of a family bound by an incredible burden, a desperate will to keep their ties from breaking, and, ultimately, a powerful capacity for love.

Winter Solstice

When we were in MN, Chris and I were able to go to our nephew and godson's school for the "Winter Solstice." We got to see Parker's classroom and school.

Christmas

We went to MN a few days before Christmas to spend time with Chris's family. We ended up leaving a little earlier than expected because of the horrid snow and ice. We weren't able to keep driving because it was so bad so we had to stop for the night. The next morning it was -18!!

Chris's B-Day

When Chris got home from work on his b-day I had a scavenger hunt set up for him to find his b-day present. Even though he made fun of me at first, I think he had fun reading the clues to find his present.

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

Grampa U loves to buy old John Deere tractors and refurbish them. There's nothing he doesn't know about those tractors! Dad, Chris and I went to watch him in an antique plow demonstration. It put a huge smile on my face to watch him come over the hill of the field on his tractor. He works so hard on them and you can tell the tractors are his passion. Right now he fleet it up to 13! Pretty soon he's going to need a new barn to hold his toys!

Ravioli Extravaganza

It's a tradition in my family that we make a ton of ravioli to eat for Christmas dinner. Mom, dad, Kaitlin, Chris and I spent the day at mom and dad's house drinking wine and making ravs. It was a lot of fun!

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

I just finished this book last week and give it 4.5 stars. Although it is classified as a young adult book, I found the content to be somewhat mature. The main character, Lizzy, was killed after being hit by a car. After her death, she was transported to Elsewhere, where she meets several people, including her grandmother. Each person teaches her a bit more about life in Elsewhere.

Carrie's Scarf

I made this seed stitch scarf as part of one of my good friend's birthday gift. I used Noro Blossom yarn on size 8 needles. I like the striping pattern of the yarn.

Cabled Hat

I made this hat for my sister. I used Malabrigio Merino Worsted yarn in azul. I love how soft the yarn is!