I got distracted by the busy day to day and haven't blogged like I told myself I would. I also haven't lost a good amount of weight like I told myself I would. I'm really good at cheating. And I like chocolate.
An out of town wedding, fun weekends, Halloween and Halloween candy lead to bad decision making on my part. My weight has inched down and occasionally back up a bit, but then back down. I am sitting at a 4.62% loss at this point (about a month and a half left of the challenge). Granted, that was my Friday morning weigh-in. It is now Wednesday evening. A weekend with a few glasses of wine and a fun size candy bar or two...or three... a night... has passed. So Friday morning weight of late is still registered and I hope I am back to that as of this Friday morning. On the positive side I have been more regular in working out. A few ladies at school have formed a work out group where we do some High Intensity Interval Training (cardio and non weight stuff) after school. It is always nice to have a group to join as it is much more fun and motivating to grunt and huff and puff and complain about the burpees with others.
What is your best motivator for making better eating choices? I know what I need to do but I just do not have good willpower. And I still love chocolate.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
Week 1 Down
Week 1 (and then some) is complete and I survived. In fact, down 3.24%. Granted, the "verified" weight I took was late in the evening and after one last delicious meal from Mazatlans with a margarita or two. But I will still call it a success or the start at least.
Got back to the gym and did some turbokick tonight which is a kickboxing/ dance cardio mix. I used to do a class similar to this at the Rec center at UNL when I was in grad school and it helped slim me down quite nicely. I was also watching my funds very closely and limiting extra food and drinks which I am sure helped. I was also a lot younger, things just don't work the same.
Enter obligatory "before" photos. Notice the sad face, arms at sides, shoulders slumped. Posed adequately to make the coming transformation look even better.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
A New Me ?
Once upon a time I fancied myself an amateur blogger. I thought I had some stories to tell and a little bit of humor to share. That went away pretty quickly...
Now I find myself slowly sliding back into it. Wanting to get back at it as this endeavor gives me a space for accountability and it also gives my mind a bit of relief when I am able to put my thoughts out there.
The accountability? I joined a weight-loss challenge with 4 other staff members (on my team) at my school. We are the Titan Toners! In this challenge, we basically bet on ourselves to lose a certain percentage of weight during the allotted time (3 months ish). The team with the highest percentage of weight loss gets $10,000 and if you lose at least 10% you get your money back. I would really like to get my money back. This is where you, the reader, comes in. Life gets in the way. I always have grand plans of weight loss as I've always been a little overweight. Add in a toddler, losing both parents in a short amount of time, moving, and every day stressors and this plan goes by the wayside. I weighed in on Friday and my weight was north of 165. I haven't seen that amount on the scale since I was pregnant with Scout! I know I have made some unhealthful eating choices and haven't seen the gym in a while. I need the motivation! I need you to know what is going on so I have nowhere to hide. Hence the accountability.
Middle of week 1: I find myself easily partaking in my new eating plans. I have even measured the amounts of food I put in my lunches to make it easier to log on myfitnesspal (where I can count calories or rather see how much I eat and guilt myself into not snacking on that one little thing I want to snack on).
Pictured is this weeks lunch, Craisin Chicken Salad. I even made myself some peanut butter protein balls, and cinnamon banana pancakes for breakfast. That is commitment, I just hope I can make it last.
Now I find myself slowly sliding back into it. Wanting to get back at it as this endeavor gives me a space for accountability and it also gives my mind a bit of relief when I am able to put my thoughts out there.
The accountability? I joined a weight-loss challenge with 4 other staff members (on my team) at my school. We are the Titan Toners! In this challenge, we basically bet on ourselves to lose a certain percentage of weight during the allotted time (3 months ish). The team with the highest percentage of weight loss gets $10,000 and if you lose at least 10% you get your money back. I would really like to get my money back. This is where you, the reader, comes in. Life gets in the way. I always have grand plans of weight loss as I've always been a little overweight. Add in a toddler, losing both parents in a short amount of time, moving, and every day stressors and this plan goes by the wayside. I weighed in on Friday and my weight was north of 165. I haven't seen that amount on the scale since I was pregnant with Scout! I know I have made some unhealthful eating choices and haven't seen the gym in a while. I need the motivation! I need you to know what is going on so I have nowhere to hide. Hence the accountability.
Middle of week 1: I find myself easily partaking in my new eating plans. I have even measured the amounts of food I put in my lunches to make it easier to log on myfitnesspal (where I can count calories or rather see how much I eat and guilt myself into not snacking on that one little thing I want to snack on).
Pictured is this weeks lunch, Craisin Chicken Salad. I even made myself some peanut butter protein balls, and cinnamon banana pancakes for breakfast. That is commitment, I just hope I can make it last.
 |
| In theory they sound great, tastes...okay... |
 |
| Delicious but plenty of calories per ball. Limiting to 1 is hard! |
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Sad dog and Payback Time
I originally started this blog thinking that I would be able to keep up with making posts. Once a week was my goal, once every other week would have been great too. EPIC FAIL. I still really like the idea of doing book reviews and restaurant reviews, life stories, but it may not be as often as I would like. I think I make myself way too busy. Amongst the 4 games of softball a week (Thad is one 2 teams, Thad and I are on another 2) we have the helpful dog obedience class for d'Artagnan, getting out to school to work library "stuff" once a week, I have an online class (only 1 left after this and the c'est la vie school.... for awhile?), and I decided that I really need to do something for others so I am doing volunteer work at the People's City Mission a few hours Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Doing day care. DAY CARE. For those of you that know me, you are probably cringing at the thought of me doing day care. You elbow a kid in the face one time and you get a stigma. But it is actually going really well. I'll admit, I still am not completely sure how to talk to 4 and 5 year olds, (or 7 and 8 year olds for that matter) however; I am figuring out how to explain why sharing is the best, good ways to do story time and slide in a educational perk with it (identifying colors in the room as well as counting) and when all else fails, getting mass amounts of coloring pages. These kids will color like 10 pages in 20 minutes, so when I say mass amounts, I mean mass amounts. I could probably wallpaper my entire house in coloring pages.
My goal this summer was to get through all the Nebraska Golden Sower nominees (in the young adult category) as well as a chunk of books that were popular checkouts and that I think might be popular next school year. I read the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver and thought it was actually pretty good. I don't know what it is about trilogies, but the first book is always the best, and then either the 2nd is just terrible or it ends just terribly. Why can't the series be made of equal goodness? Anyway, read it and you can decide which was terrible. Or it may be just me...
Here are the Golden Sower Nominees for this year:
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. Jefferson’s Sons. This one was actually really good, especially if you like historical fiction. It follows the life of Sally Hennings and her children by Benjamin Franklin.
Condie, Ally. Matched. Another trilogy issue, the book is great, I BARELY got through the second. The book is set in a futuristic society where you are matched with the person you will marry before being assigned to a specific job, life, etc.
Deuker, Carl. Payback Time.
Evans, Richard Paul. Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 I'm just starting this one
Falls, Kat. Dark Life. Also futuristic. People are starting to colonize the ocean floors, especially after a flood wiped out parts of the coast. Younger audiences will like.
Kalkowski, John. Red Cell.
Lu, Marie. Legend. I very much enjoyed this one. Dystopia once again, but I like the dual narration we get from June and Day.
Patneaude, David. Epitaph Road.
Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray.
Sonnenblick, Jordan. After Ever After.
THE REVIEW
Payback Time by Carl Deuker
I enjoy Deuker's writings, they are sports oriented and are great options to appeal to reluctant male readers. I gave his book Gym Candy to one of my reading strategies boys one year (he really didn't want to be in class or reading) and he devoured that text in a week. I recall him asking me if he could just spend one class reading rather than doing some of our activities. YES, was my jubilant response.
Payback Time is not as great as Gym Candy but I still think Deuker does a good job of drawing readers in to get interested in the story. The book follows the main character of Dan True. Dan is 5'4'' and over 200 lbs. He has always been overweight and because of this he gained his nickname Michelin Man, eventually being just called Mitch. It is the start of Mitch's senior year and he dreams of being a journalist so he is devastated when he doesn't win the editor position of the school paper. In fact, he gets assigned to be the sports reporter. Mitch thinks about quitting at first, but realizes that he can make the best of the situation. He goes to interview the coach, Coach McNulty about the team and their start quarterback and Mitch's former friend Horst Diamond. Along with school photographer Kimi, Mitch sees a student throwing far superior to Horst in practice and asks the coach about him. Angel Marichal is that student and to Mitch and Kimi, he looks suspiciously old. Also, when the coach calls him over, he doesn't play nearly as well as when he did when he wasn't being watched. As the season goes on, Mitch and Kimi develop a friendship and see that Angel is an outstanding player who doesn't receive much playing time or any recognition. They know something isn't right and do some investigative reporting to uncover the secret of Angel and coach McNulty. As the story develops we see that Mitch makes some efforts to get into shape and starts to shed his shy shell and that he really does have a knack for sports reporting. There is nice suspense woven throughout the story, but it is a little predictable. I do think students will enjoy the read and see how the main characters develop. I would have liked to see more about Angel's character in the end or even tie up some loose ends, but not knowing jives with the elements of the story.
Have a great afternoon! I am off to start Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25.
I'll leave you with d'Artagnan showing off his sad dog pose.
My goal this summer was to get through all the Nebraska Golden Sower nominees (in the young adult category) as well as a chunk of books that were popular checkouts and that I think might be popular next school year. I read the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver and thought it was actually pretty good. I don't know what it is about trilogies, but the first book is always the best, and then either the 2nd is just terrible or it ends just terribly. Why can't the series be made of equal goodness? Anyway, read it and you can decide which was terrible. Or it may be just me...
Here are the Golden Sower Nominees for this year:
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. Jefferson’s Sons. This one was actually really good, especially if you like historical fiction. It follows the life of Sally Hennings and her children by Benjamin Franklin.
Condie, Ally. Matched. Another trilogy issue, the book is great, I BARELY got through the second. The book is set in a futuristic society where you are matched with the person you will marry before being assigned to a specific job, life, etc.
Deuker, Carl. Payback Time.
Evans, Richard Paul. Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 I'm just starting this one
Falls, Kat. Dark Life. Also futuristic. People are starting to colonize the ocean floors, especially after a flood wiped out parts of the coast. Younger audiences will like.
Kalkowski, John. Red Cell.
Lu, Marie. Legend. I very much enjoyed this one. Dystopia once again, but I like the dual narration we get from June and Day.
Patneaude, David. Epitaph Road.
Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray.
Sonnenblick, Jordan. After Ever After.
THE REVIEW
Payback Time by Carl Deuker
I enjoy Deuker's writings, they are sports oriented and are great options to appeal to reluctant male readers. I gave his book Gym Candy to one of my reading strategies boys one year (he really didn't want to be in class or reading) and he devoured that text in a week. I recall him asking me if he could just spend one class reading rather than doing some of our activities. YES, was my jubilant response.
Payback Time is not as great as Gym Candy but I still think Deuker does a good job of drawing readers in to get interested in the story. The book follows the main character of Dan True. Dan is 5'4'' and over 200 lbs. He has always been overweight and because of this he gained his nickname Michelin Man, eventually being just called Mitch. It is the start of Mitch's senior year and he dreams of being a journalist so he is devastated when he doesn't win the editor position of the school paper. In fact, he gets assigned to be the sports reporter. Mitch thinks about quitting at first, but realizes that he can make the best of the situation. He goes to interview the coach, Coach McNulty about the team and their start quarterback and Mitch's former friend Horst Diamond. Along with school photographer Kimi, Mitch sees a student throwing far superior to Horst in practice and asks the coach about him. Angel Marichal is that student and to Mitch and Kimi, he looks suspiciously old. Also, when the coach calls him over, he doesn't play nearly as well as when he did when he wasn't being watched. As the season goes on, Mitch and Kimi develop a friendship and see that Angel is an outstanding player who doesn't receive much playing time or any recognition. They know something isn't right and do some investigative reporting to uncover the secret of Angel and coach McNulty. As the story develops we see that Mitch makes some efforts to get into shape and starts to shed his shy shell and that he really does have a knack for sports reporting. There is nice suspense woven throughout the story, but it is a little predictable. I do think students will enjoy the read and see how the main characters develop. I would have liked to see more about Angel's character in the end or even tie up some loose ends, but not knowing jives with the elements of the story.
Have a great afternoon! I am off to start Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25.
I'll leave you with d'Artagnan showing off his sad dog pose.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The bedroom murder scene- This Dark Endeavor
It has been awhile! I have finished a few books and I need to get better at discussing them. We are in full swing of speech season with tournaments each weekend so some of my personal reading takes a backseat...sadly...
This weekend the Titan Talkers competed in Minden, which was a 2 1/2 hour drive, which isn't so bad but it meant we had to leave school at 4:45 am, and so I left at 4:15 from my house. Nice early morning, although my husband coming home an hour and a half before I had to get up to start the day made it hard to actually get any sleep. The Minden tournament was excellent as many performers made finals and we won the tournament. Very exciting for the team!!
Last weekend my brother came up for a visit and brought his 8 month (ish) old chocolate lab pointer mix, Remington. Remy and Dart ( also a chocolate lab mix- but smaller than Remy already) love playing and got a bit too rough inside the house. Somehow Dart got a small cut on his ear and it bled like crazy. We eventaully got the bleeding stopped and put Dart upstairs to calm down (he still wanted to keep playing). When retreiving him from his/our room I walked into a massacre. Blood spatter covered a wall and there were blood drippings on the carpet. And there sat Dart, an innocent look in his eyes, blood dripping from his ear. Apparently the bleeding only stopped until Dart decided to shake. It honsestly looked like there was a murder due to the blood spatter. We didn't realize how much dog ears bleed and should have kept applying pressure. After a second incident with the same results, we realized what we were trying just didn't work. Using the internet to look up remedies to fix the bleeding, we saw that superglue is often used to stop the wound. While carefully attempting to close the small wound, we accidentally dripped some on the side of his ear. Apparently we didn't get it in the right spot though and the bleeding continued. The next remedy we saw involved dipping the ear in corn starch or baby powder to stop up the bleeding. Tried that, didn't work either. Now Dart has superglue with baby powder stuck to it on his ear and still bleeding. This is all on Saturday. We finally resort to sticking a bandaid on his ear (looked like an eartag used on livestock) which makes it rhough the night, for the most part. Come Sunday, we finally take him in to the emergency vet. I felt like a terrible parent having to explain the superglue/poweder residue but they didn't seem too surprised (they must have seen it all!). Dart received an excellent head wrap (to apply pressure to the ear and allow it to scab without him shaking it off) and 24 hours later, no more bleeding. But he does have to live with a bald spot and a wounded ego from the photos taken with the head wrap.
Most recently, I read the book This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel.
This is considered a "prequel" to Frankenstein. Normally I am not a big fan of books that someone starts to build off of another's series but I thought I would give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. The book follows young Victor Frankenstein, his twin brother Kondrad, their cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry. They are all around the age of 16. This group of friends comes acorss a secret room in their chateu that is a "dark library." They are forbidden to ever visit this room as the dark alcecmy that is covered in these books is considered illegal. But when Konrad falls ill with a mysterious illness that confound even the doctors, Victor takes it upson himself to seek a cure. He comes across a recipe for the Elixer of Life. The recipe is written in a secret language so he, Elizabeth, and Henry naturally start an adventure to find someone who can decode the language and create the recipe. They find an old alchemist in town who is willing to help them. Each ingredient the recipe requires gets harder and harder to acquire and eventaully Konrad gets better, for the time being. However, Victor wishes to finish the recipe. I don't like telling too much of the story because it is never fun to read a spoiler. The writing itself was good, it is aimed at a YA audience but I didn't enjoy seeing some vocabulary words I have taught in the past. The adventure is exciting and keeps your attention and their is a bit or romance intermingled as well. Knowing the story of Frankenstein made me keep wondering if we would see Victor slip from thrill seeking youth to mad scientist. There is another book out, that I haven't got to yet but the end of This Dark Endeavor gives a reason for why he would want to reanimate the dead. If you like the original, you may like the prequel.
This weekend the Titan Talkers competed in Minden, which was a 2 1/2 hour drive, which isn't so bad but it meant we had to leave school at 4:45 am, and so I left at 4:15 from my house. Nice early morning, although my husband coming home an hour and a half before I had to get up to start the day made it hard to actually get any sleep. The Minden tournament was excellent as many performers made finals and we won the tournament. Very exciting for the team!!
Last weekend my brother came up for a visit and brought his 8 month (ish) old chocolate lab pointer mix, Remington. Remy and Dart ( also a chocolate lab mix- but smaller than Remy already) love playing and got a bit too rough inside the house. Somehow Dart got a small cut on his ear and it bled like crazy. We eventaully got the bleeding stopped and put Dart upstairs to calm down (he still wanted to keep playing). When retreiving him from his/our room I walked into a massacre. Blood spatter covered a wall and there were blood drippings on the carpet. And there sat Dart, an innocent look in his eyes, blood dripping from his ear. Apparently the bleeding only stopped until Dart decided to shake. It honsestly looked like there was a murder due to the blood spatter. We didn't realize how much dog ears bleed and should have kept applying pressure. After a second incident with the same results, we realized what we were trying just didn't work. Using the internet to look up remedies to fix the bleeding, we saw that superglue is often used to stop the wound. While carefully attempting to close the small wound, we accidentally dripped some on the side of his ear. Apparently we didn't get it in the right spot though and the bleeding continued. The next remedy we saw involved dipping the ear in corn starch or baby powder to stop up the bleeding. Tried that, didn't work either. Now Dart has superglue with baby powder stuck to it on his ear and still bleeding. This is all on Saturday. We finally resort to sticking a bandaid on his ear (looked like an eartag used on livestock) which makes it rhough the night, for the most part. Come Sunday, we finally take him in to the emergency vet. I felt like a terrible parent having to explain the superglue/poweder residue but they didn't seem too surprised (they must have seen it all!). Dart received an excellent head wrap (to apply pressure to the ear and allow it to scab without him shaking it off) and 24 hours later, no more bleeding. But he does have to live with a bald spot and a wounded ego from the photos taken with the head wrap.
Most recently, I read the book This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel.
This is considered a "prequel" to Frankenstein. Normally I am not a big fan of books that someone starts to build off of another's series but I thought I would give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. The book follows young Victor Frankenstein, his twin brother Kondrad, their cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry. They are all around the age of 16. This group of friends comes acorss a secret room in their chateu that is a "dark library." They are forbidden to ever visit this room as the dark alcecmy that is covered in these books is considered illegal. But when Konrad falls ill with a mysterious illness that confound even the doctors, Victor takes it upson himself to seek a cure. He comes across a recipe for the Elixer of Life. The recipe is written in a secret language so he, Elizabeth, and Henry naturally start an adventure to find someone who can decode the language and create the recipe. They find an old alchemist in town who is willing to help them. Each ingredient the recipe requires gets harder and harder to acquire and eventaully Konrad gets better, for the time being. However, Victor wishes to finish the recipe. I don't like telling too much of the story because it is never fun to read a spoiler. The writing itself was good, it is aimed at a YA audience but I didn't enjoy seeing some vocabulary words I have taught in the past. The adventure is exciting and keeps your attention and their is a bit or romance intermingled as well. Knowing the story of Frankenstein made me keep wondering if we would see Victor slip from thrill seeking youth to mad scientist. There is another book out, that I haven't got to yet but the end of This Dark Endeavor gives a reason for why he would want to reanimate the dead. If you like the original, you may like the prequel.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Things That Go Bump in the Night
January is flying! I can not believe that we are already in the middle of the month. Sometimes 3rd quarter can drag as it is cold, it gets dark early, and there is still a whole quarter and whatever is left in 3rd quarter before summer break. Methinks a snow day should fall upon us just one more time. Last school year- no snow days. It was wonderful to get out 5 days earlier for the summer; however, it is really nice to have that unplanned day to sleep in, catch up on grading, clean the house, read a book (uninterrupted). With that being said, yes we did have one snow day on the 2nd to last day of the semester in December, and it was magnificent. I could still use one more. During the last week of January would be fine. We could still get out 3 days early. Make it happen. Thanks.
This week my life has been composed of syncing iPads. Normally, it is a one day process for me to sync one cart with all the new apps we've downloaded. I am still not sure of the reasoning but this sync is on day 2 1/2. I blame the new iTunes. It wasn't as easy to see that some of my new apps weren't making it on the iPads even though "automatically sync new apps" is checked. Sorry to go on a "techie" rant, it was just much more user friendly previous to the new facade. oh well, I suppose I just need to get out of my comfort zone.
On to a new review!
I did just finish Life of Pi and it was wonderful. Reads like journal entries. I enjoyed the way he combined religious viewpoints and utilized rich descriptions. Definitely worth reading.
The review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd, illustrations by Jim Kay
I ordered this book back in Oct/Nov but hadn't picked it up until this week. The cover is black/grey image of a monster in the distance and with the title, didn't look like my kind of read. While doing some book review research to find new books to order, I read a review about A Monster Calls and found that my perception and the story itself were quite different.
A note before I start my review. The author, Siobhan Dowd, had the idea and some plot elements in notes before she passed away. Ness uses her ideas to convey this beautiful story.
The story follows a young boy (middle school age I am guessing) named Conor. Conor starts having a recurring nightmare after finding out his mother is diagnosed with cancer. One night, at 12: 07 AM Conor finds the yew tree from his backyard coming into his bedroom. Another nightmare, right? This is what Conor thinks until he finds leaves from the Yew tree all over his room. He tells the monster he is not scared of him "I have seen worse" which surprises the monster. The monster puts forth a deal, he will tell Conor 3 stories, but then Conor must tell him a story. The truth about the recurring nightmare Conor has.
During the day, Conor goes to school where he is greatly bullied by three boys and grows more distant from a good friend named Lily, who is the daughter of one of his mother's friends and he has been friends with forever. His grandma doesn't really understand him or any children for that matter. She hints at the idea of him going to live with her, which he definitely doesn't want to do. His dad lives in America and has a new family there, and doesn't think it would be good for Conor to live with them.
As the monster comes to tell his stories, Conor's relationships fall apart. His anger shows in his actions. His classmates begin to ignore him and he is afraid to let go.He doesn't seem to be able to really talk with his mom about what is going on. The monster's tales do have a point, but it all comes together in the end as well as what is Conor's nightmare.
I do not know how to accurately sum up this book. It was beautiful and symbolic. The illustrations are magnificent. Have a tissue handy and give it a try.
This week my life has been composed of syncing iPads. Normally, it is a one day process for me to sync one cart with all the new apps we've downloaded. I am still not sure of the reasoning but this sync is on day 2 1/2. I blame the new iTunes. It wasn't as easy to see that some of my new apps weren't making it on the iPads even though "automatically sync new apps" is checked. Sorry to go on a "techie" rant, it was just much more user friendly previous to the new facade. oh well, I suppose I just need to get out of my comfort zone.
On to a new review!
I did just finish Life of Pi and it was wonderful. Reads like journal entries. I enjoyed the way he combined religious viewpoints and utilized rich descriptions. Definitely worth reading.
The review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd, illustrations by Jim Kay
I ordered this book back in Oct/Nov but hadn't picked it up until this week. The cover is black/grey image of a monster in the distance and with the title, didn't look like my kind of read. While doing some book review research to find new books to order, I read a review about A Monster Calls and found that my perception and the story itself were quite different.
A note before I start my review. The author, Siobhan Dowd, had the idea and some plot elements in notes before she passed away. Ness uses her ideas to convey this beautiful story.
The story follows a young boy (middle school age I am guessing) named Conor. Conor starts having a recurring nightmare after finding out his mother is diagnosed with cancer. One night, at 12: 07 AM Conor finds the yew tree from his backyard coming into his bedroom. Another nightmare, right? This is what Conor thinks until he finds leaves from the Yew tree all over his room. He tells the monster he is not scared of him "I have seen worse" which surprises the monster. The monster puts forth a deal, he will tell Conor 3 stories, but then Conor must tell him a story. The truth about the recurring nightmare Conor has.
During the day, Conor goes to school where he is greatly bullied by three boys and grows more distant from a good friend named Lily, who is the daughter of one of his mother's friends and he has been friends with forever. His grandma doesn't really understand him or any children for that matter. She hints at the idea of him going to live with her, which he definitely doesn't want to do. His dad lives in America and has a new family there, and doesn't think it would be good for Conor to live with them.
As the monster comes to tell his stories, Conor's relationships fall apart. His anger shows in his actions. His classmates begin to ignore him and he is afraid to let go.He doesn't seem to be able to really talk with his mom about what is going on. The monster's tales do have a point, but it all comes together in the end as well as what is Conor's nightmare.
I do not know how to accurately sum up this book. It was beautiful and symbolic. The illustrations are magnificent. Have a tissue handy and give it a try.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Wanted: Heroine, Not Whiny
Welcome to 2013. Excited to spend the next month remembering to write dates with a 13 instead of a 12? It takes me awhile to make the adjustment also.
Here is to 2013 being an outstanding year! New Year's Resolution (as it is every year) get into better shape. That doesn't mean huge diet and massive weight loss. It just means I need to be consistent with my gym appearances, maybe say no to the fries and ranch dressing when eating.
We have once again signed up to do the Lincoln Half Marathon, which means that I have extra motivation to get to the gym. I only shaved 2 minutes off my time last year from the previous year (2012- 2h 29 min), so I think I am actually going to try to train with a bit more vigor than the casual Sunday long distance runs, and occasional skipping of a weekday run. Walking into the gym after work this week, I have been greeted by a plethora of new faces, making it hard to find an available treadmill. Hitting the gym is a common resolution, but it never lasts long. I've seen this phenomena each year I have been a member of Prairie Life, and once February rolls along, quite a few eager treadmill and weights enthusiasts have gone back to their original sedentary lifestyles... I can stick it out.
Review Review Review Review Review Review Review Review Review Review
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I finished City of Bones over my break from school. Along with a few James Patterson's (my guilty pleasure). I previously reviewed Clockwork Angel which was a prequel book to the this text and the Mortal Instruments series. City of Bones and the other books in the Mortal Instrument series were written first, and then came Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and the highly anticipated Clockwork Princess (March 2013 I believe?) which are called the Infernal Devices.
I quite enjoyed the Clockwork books, and the time period they were set in. After reading City of Bones, I found I haven't been as excited to pick up the next book in the series as I was with the prequel. This one does take place in modern times in New York City. It follows Clary Fray a 15 year old girl. Clary lives with her single Mother, (father passed away before she was born), and has a best friend named Simon, whom we know is in love with her yet she is too dense to figure it out. In the beginning of the story Clary and Simon are partying at the Pandemonium Club when Clary notices some attractive teens engage in strange behavior. She follows them, they kill someone. But it's alright, it turns out they are demon hunters and the person they killed was a demon. A bit shocking, yes. What is a teen to do? Mull it over but just go home and not worry about it.
Clary's mom and her get into a fight when she gets home, her mom is also acting strange. So she does what any good angsty teen will do, leave to a poetry reading with best friend Simon. While there she runs into one of the teens from the club, a Shadowhunter (what the group of demon killers are called) named Jace. She gets a call from her mom that sounds like an attack. She gets home, mom is missing, place is torn to pieces, and a demon tries to kill her. She kills it instead. She starts to realize that things going on around her aren't always as they seem. She can see through the "mists" and see things for what they are. Demons and other downworlders such as vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc exist, but they simply blend in to us unknowing "mundanes." Jace takes Clary back to the institute. She meets more Shadowhunters. They get into more trouble as her new found friends help her hunt for her missing mother. There is so much that goes on, but I really don't want to spoil it. Here is a quick list of events: (spoiler alert with last few bullets!)
Here is to 2013 being an outstanding year! New Year's Resolution (as it is every year) get into better shape. That doesn't mean huge diet and massive weight loss. It just means I need to be consistent with my gym appearances, maybe say no to the fries and ranch dressing when eating.
We have once again signed up to do the Lincoln Half Marathon, which means that I have extra motivation to get to the gym. I only shaved 2 minutes off my time last year from the previous year (2012- 2h 29 min), so I think I am actually going to try to train with a bit more vigor than the casual Sunday long distance runs, and occasional skipping of a weekday run. Walking into the gym after work this week, I have been greeted by a plethora of new faces, making it hard to find an available treadmill. Hitting the gym is a common resolution, but it never lasts long. I've seen this phenomena each year I have been a member of Prairie Life, and once February rolls along, quite a few eager treadmill and weights enthusiasts have gone back to their original sedentary lifestyles... I can stick it out.
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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I finished City of Bones over my break from school. Along with a few James Patterson's (my guilty pleasure). I previously reviewed Clockwork Angel which was a prequel book to the this text and the Mortal Instruments series. City of Bones and the other books in the Mortal Instrument series were written first, and then came Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and the highly anticipated Clockwork Princess (March 2013 I believe?) which are called the Infernal Devices.
I quite enjoyed the Clockwork books, and the time period they were set in. After reading City of Bones, I found I haven't been as excited to pick up the next book in the series as I was with the prequel. This one does take place in modern times in New York City. It follows Clary Fray a 15 year old girl. Clary lives with her single Mother, (father passed away before she was born), and has a best friend named Simon, whom we know is in love with her yet she is too dense to figure it out. In the beginning of the story Clary and Simon are partying at the Pandemonium Club when Clary notices some attractive teens engage in strange behavior. She follows them, they kill someone. But it's alright, it turns out they are demon hunters and the person they killed was a demon. A bit shocking, yes. What is a teen to do? Mull it over but just go home and not worry about it.
Clary's mom and her get into a fight when she gets home, her mom is also acting strange. So she does what any good angsty teen will do, leave to a poetry reading with best friend Simon. While there she runs into one of the teens from the club, a Shadowhunter (what the group of demon killers are called) named Jace. She gets a call from her mom that sounds like an attack. She gets home, mom is missing, place is torn to pieces, and a demon tries to kill her. She kills it instead. She starts to realize that things going on around her aren't always as they seem. She can see through the "mists" and see things for what they are. Demons and other downworlders such as vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc exist, but they simply blend in to us unknowing "mundanes." Jace takes Clary back to the institute. She meets more Shadowhunters. They get into more trouble as her new found friends help her hunt for her missing mother. There is so much that goes on, but I really don't want to spoil it. Here is a quick list of events: (spoiler alert with last few bullets!)
- suspect she is a shadowhunter herself
- talk to psychic that lives next door to get more info and missing mom
- see mom's best friend Luke (like an uncle to her) is being questioned by people associated with those her took her mom (the bad guy is Valentine, he is looking for the mortal cup- which Clary's mom took)
- Go to the High Warlock's party, find out that he had been helping erase her memories (she is the daughter of Shadowhunters, and her mom didn't want her in that world)
- They find out where the mortal cup is
- Valentine comes and steals Jace
- Jace is her brother (making her pining really disgusting)
- Valentine is her dad, wants her to join them in evil
Ok, so there is much more but those are probably the main points. Throw in some interesting adventures with Simon, the head of the Institute doing some backstabbing. And Clary herself being quite whiny. I still liked it, just not as much as Clockwork Angel. I feel like in much of the modern YA lit I have been reading that follow the fantasy angels/vampires all the heroines really like to complain. Why not take some of that out? Just fall in love, have a little angst, and kick butt? But, as I sit in my library listening to the Teens during their down time, maybe complaining is just what they do. :)
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