Friday (um, Sunday) Five 11/7/11

1. So I sort of missed posting my Friday Five on Friday. Whoops. Last week was crazy. We’re totally swamped at work so I worked overtime there the days that I didn’t work at Second Job. It was a long week.

2. My birthday is coming up and Doug has to work the late shift that weekend, boo! But I’m off on my actual birthday so we’ll hang in the morning and go to breakfast or something. And then I think Sarah and I will go see Breaking Dawn sometime that weekend.

3. Also, pretty sure Breaking Dawn = train wreck. But we’ve put this much into the series so can’t stop now.

4. I am not going to hit my book goal of 111. I’ve realized this and come to terms with it. After my horrible total last year I’m content with where I am now, so anything extra is just great.

5. A lot of my friends are doing NaNoWriMo right now. I thought about it but I knew November is always such a crazy month for me and had a feeling that it would be worse with my new position and Second Job (looking like I was correct) so I didn’t do it. I wish this happened in January or February when I’m stuck at home due to cold and snow with nothing to do. Maybe I’ll do my own NaNo then.

Friday Five 10/28/11

 

1. I was off work again today and Doug has been on vacation all week, so we took a little trip up to the bigger city to visit a state park, eat lunch, and look around. We managed to buy a couple of Christmas presents while we were there. We also decided that it seemed too early to be thinking about Christmas and that just the mere thought of all the work involved in the holidays made us tired. So expect to see a little less Christmas spirit in the STCA household this year.

2. I’m not a huge baseball fan but I do love the Cardinals, so I’m fairly excited by the World Series. However I’m mostly annoyed by a coworker’s facebook statuses the last week. She doesn’t like the Rangers but she hates the Cardinals so all of her status updates have been cheering for the Rangers and bashing the Cards. She’s driving me nuts.

3. Speaking of sports, it has been a rough season to be a Colts fan. But last weekend was painful. Painful. Still a fan though and excited to see how the city handles the Super Bowl.

4. There was a post on my online book club this week that basically said girls read books and boys like technology. This made me laugh as this week I’ve: 1. picked up my new (blue) iPod that I won in a charity raffle at work and 2. have started reading a book about Richard Hammond – who is a co-host of the BBC’s Top Gear television program (a show about cars) who talks about cars (and car accidents). And I’m loving the book. So does this mean I’m a boy?

5. I’ve turned Doug into an Adele fan. I love this. He listened to Rolling In The Deep from my suggestion and then Set Fire to the Rain and fell in love. We were talking today about how awesome she is. I absolutely love that he likes her stuff now and she’s something we can listen to together. Also, since we’re both big music people it is so fun to introduce each other to new artists and then see the other one really start to like them. The last one I got to introduce him to was Mumford and Sons. I heard Little Lion Man on the radio and knew he’d love it, he did. At one point I sort of wanted to go into A&R as a career, so maybe this is just a little taste of that. It’s kind of like when I was growing up and I introduced my friend to ‘NSYNC. I’ve always been so helpful, lol.

Friday Five 10/21/11

 

1. We went to Indianapolis today. I love it there, such a cool city. We went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum which was awesome. Then we drove through downtown Indy. Apparently there’s a big FFA convention there this week. There were kids in FFA jackets everywhere. Still loved the town though. I really want to live there.

2. Speaking of IMS – Indycar driver Dan Wheldon died last weekend in a big wreck at the race in Las Vegas. I’ve been sadder than I feel I probably should have been consider I  never met the man. But everyone who met him just talks about how nice he was. Plus he has 2 young sons. Such a sad story.

3. We had a big fundraiser at work this week to raise money for a local charity. Part of it involved us getting raffle tickets for doing things like going to a meeting about the charity. You could put your ticket in to win prizes like a TV, an Xbox, an Ipod, etc (we do have to pay taxes for the item). Apparently I won the Ipod (I was off today but a coworker texted me). Yay! I’ve been worried that mine is on its last legs and this one is an 8 GB so I can add more songs.

4. I’ve already started thinking about Thanksgiving. I want to make a pumpkin spice cheesecake and I’ve been thinking about this sweet potato recipe I saw last year on Annie’s Eats. I’m trying to hold off talking to MIL about Turkey Day since I know not everyone plans ahead as much as me.

5. I got called mommy and ma this week at my job at the gym daycare. Apparently both kids call everyone mommy/ma but it was still pretty funny. I also got a nice “hello” from one of my little buddies – when her mom put her down on the floor she came running around to where I was standing and flung her arms around my legs. It was so stinking cute.

Friday Five 10/14/11

 

Some of my blogger buddies do Friday Five posts, so I thought I’d give it a try.

1. I got a promotion at work last week and officially started the new job this week. I was one of two people to get this new spot – I had to go through an initial evaluation, 2 rounds of testing, and an interview to get it. I was up against people who have been at the company since I was in middle school. So I was a wee bit surprised I actually got it. But I really like the work so far. It’s more of a challenge than what I was doing and I’m kind of excited about that.

2. I put myself on a book buying freeze after my overspending at Borders (which I still need to tell you about!) and Waldenbooks (and one book from Amazon)  last month. Well, I ordered a cd from Amazon for a road trip we’re taking soon and I sort of, kind of, may have added a couple of books to the order. In my defense I’ve wanted these books for a while now but had resisted.

3. I got a part-time job working a few hours a week in the childcare room at our gym. I’ve only been there a few weeks but I really like it. I’ve already made a couple of little buddies in there and I have so much fun playing with them. A couple of them loooooove me, which makes me very happy. I love little kids so this is such a great gig for me.

4. My mom is apparently getting her holiday shopping (and my bday shopping) list in order as she texted me today to ask what size I’m wearing now. I got to tell her a size that is quite a bit smaller than what I told her last year  

5. I’m obsessed with the show Top Gear – both the UK and US versions. My dad is a major car guy so I grew up around cars (weekend outings used to include driving by his friend’s car lot/gas station to see what kind of wrecks he had picked up over the weekend) but I was never really a car person myself. But Doug discovered the UK version on BBC America and the hosts are so funny and interesting that we’re both hooked now and have the DVR set to record the show the 65951446 times it is on during the week. We’ve also been watching the US version on the History Channel and love it just as much. I love me some Tanner Faust so that makes it even better. Seriously, even if you aren’t a car person these shows are so funny I think you should give them a try.

Book Review: The Help

I recently won The Help from Madame Bookworm and could not wait to read it. In fact I literally ripped open the envelope, pulled out the book, and started reading. I’d heard so many great things about this book and the movie previews look really good, so I was excited to read it. And this book did not disappoint.

Overview

The Help is about 3 women from Jackson, Mississippi, who join together to do something completely daring, unheard of, and illegal: write a book about what it is really like to be a black woman working for white people in 1962. In Mississippi. If you’ve taken an American History class you should have an idea of why this is such a major undertaking. The women, Skeeter – a white recent college grad who had grudgingly returned home and who dreams of being a writer, Minny – a maid known for her sass – which is not a good quality in a maid, and Aibileen – also a maid who has been thinking a lot about her life following the death of her son.

Together these women convince other maids in the town to tell stories of what they’ve seen while on the job and Skeeter, armed with a lucky break of a contact in New York, works on putting the stories together and sending them off to the big city. However once the book is published the trio goes from worrying about the book being published to worrying about what will happen once the women they’ve written about read the book.

The Help tells the stories of these three women and of those they encounter in their lives – both the other maids and Skeeter’s childhood friends who employ them. Throughout the book the women begin to view their lives in different ways and begin to think about the way things are and how they would like them to be – both on a personal level and in the greater scheme of Civil Rights and human interaction.

My Thoughts

I thought this book did a great job of getting you to think about what these women were going through and what was going on with the Civil Righters movement without ever feeling as though you were being preached at. I really enjoyed how historical events (such as JFK’s assignation) were mentioned in the book – they helped to keep you aware of where you were in time and gave you an idea of what was going on in the world around these characters.

I thought all the characters were very well developed and incredibly interesting. Even the characters who were less important to the plot were very well thought out. I grew incredibly attached to these characters and was so sad when the book was finished. I really wanted the book to keep going so I could see what happened to the characters.

I definitely recommend this book. It is well thought out, has great characters, and is incredibly well written. I cannot wait to see the movie as I’ve heard it is a great adaptation of the book. Overall I think this book is definitely one you should read.

In My Mailbox 09/04/11

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is an opportunity to share any books I have received this week in my mailbox, on my nook, or with my own hands.

Today’s IMM post actually has some books that came in the mail (shocker)! Plus I made 2 trips to Waldenbooks this week (the 2nd trip was to get something for Doug that I didn’t grab the first time).

In The Mail

The Help by Kathryn Stockett – I won this book from Madame Bookworm last month and was really excited when it came in the mail. I’m liking it so far.

A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris – my cousin Heather convinced me to sign up for paperbackswap.com recently and sent me a credit and this is what I decided to get first. I’ve already read the first book in the Aurora series.

With My Hands

 

 

These are all from Waldenbooks. Trip one:

I Drink for a Reason by David Cross (this is for Doug)

I’ll Mature When I’m Dead by Dave Barry

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (read it and loved it but didn’t own it)

I cleaned the store out on Diana Gabladon: Outlander 20th anniversary edition, Dragonfly in Amber, Drums of Autumn, Lord John and the Private Matter. I’ve read all except the Lord John book.

I almost cleaned them out of Jen Lancaster also: Bright Lights Big Ass, Such a Pretty Fat, My Fair Lazy, If You Were Here. All they had left after I was there were 2 copies of If You Were Here. I’ve read all except If You.

I also got Doug a big guitar magazine for $2

Trip Two:

I’m Dreaming of a Black Christmas by Lewis Black

In Fifty Years We’ll All Be Chicks by Adam Carolla. This is for Doug.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I love Dahl growing up (my favorite childhood book is Matilda) and I know I didn’t have a copy of this. So when I saw it for $2 I decided to get it for our phantom future child….ok so maybe it is just for me

I also bought 2 Borders reusable bags for 80 cents each. My reusable bag obsession is almost as bad as my book obsession.

Dog Days

Apparently yesterday was National Dog Day – I had no idea! So here’s a belated happy dog day to my little guy.