How Nancy Drew Saved My Life

Spoiler Alert!!! My discussion of this book will include the ending, so be warned.

This book was a great summer read! I enjoyed the references to Nancy Drew (my girlhood hero) and the Jayne Eyre-ish plot line. It didn’t take long to read and I finished it on our trip to the San Juan islands, just in time to write up something before month’s end.

I read some of the reviews on Amazon, and they were definitely mixed. This is not classical literature. It never will be. However, it was a fun, fast read for the summer and just what I was looking for. I especially enjoyed the ending of the book where Charlotte Bell actually ends up solving a mystery of sorts. I didn’t see it coming and that is one of the marks of a good read, in my opinion. When we find out that the daughter of the ambassador is not really his daughter and that she is in grave danger, it’s really great how Charlotte saves the day.

I would probably have preferred that she didn’t end up pregnant at the end, because this is something that really bugs me. I hated that part of Cold Mountain as well. Ugh! And having a child does not complete your life. I just spent one summer teaching alternative high school and spending time with the teenage girls that had babies so one person would love them. It was enough to break my heart for life thinking of those kids. Charlotte’s reaction to finding out she’s pregnant is just too close to that. It also means that she won’t be able to take the world by storm in the near future. I was really hoping for her to have more of a transformation into someone more like the girl detective. It was fun anyway though, so I’ll take it as it is.

Let me know what you thought of the book. I can’t wait to hear!

Do Something Nice -- Give Blood!

I just got this note from my friend Becky (written, incidently, only three days after having her fourth baby). She's referring to an accident involving her uncle that she wrote about on her blog last month.

Some of you know of my Uncle's accident. He is still in harborview but doing better. The first few weeks were so overwhelming for the family that they had to stop giving out any info. In fact, I had reporters calling me here in oregon because of a little blip I wrote on my blog, who new anyone read it, ha ha.

I just want to encourage everyone, not necessarily for his sake, just in general, to donate blood. Nathan has always been an avid blood donor, me I passed out once after giving blood so I haven't done it in a while, but an accident like this reminds us how important it is to donate blood if possible.

So-if you are able I encourage everyone to donate blood and help save a life. Nate worked at the Puget Sound Blood Center for a few years and really saw how short the supplies can get, they aren't joking when on the news they talk about being short of blood.

Becky !!

I've been irritated over the last few months by the Puget Sound Blood Center stalking me at home and at work with phone call after phone call to get me to go donate blood. I had a bad experience a couple of months ago where they couldn't get the needle into my arm after about a dozen painful tries. It soured me on giving blood. It was the first time I'd tried after years of not being able to (because of the risk of Mad Cow Disease from living in Switzerland in the late '80's). They finally lifted the ban and I thought I should go back to giving blood regularly.

I used to give blood all the time and never had a problem. I guess it's time for me to bite the bullet and do it again. Hopefully you'll join me in the small act of service. It takes less than an hour and you can do it 6 times a year. Easy peasy! Will you go if I go?

Two, Yes Two, Years!

The DH and I were married on August 27th, two years ago. It was a wonderful day! We celebrated our anniversary together and enjoyed time away from work and our every-day life.

I love you DH, even more today than I did two years ago.

Shout Out to the SIL on her Birthday!

Let's hear it for SAM!!! Sam has a birthday today, so you should all be sure to wish her the best. She's my first SIL and she's also one of my very best friends. It also helps that she has great taste in clothes, movies, books, and friends. We aren't celebrating until Saturday, but today's the real deal.

Happy Birthday SAM!

Very Cool T-Shirts

How fun is this? I totally want this t-shirt! This great site Threadless has such fun and creative t-shirt designs that I fell in love at first site. Who wouldn't want a shirt showing the your refrigerator is running? Nobody I know, that's who.

Second Try at The Winery

My second try at seeing a concert at the winery was a much bigger success than the first try. The SIL and I got tickets to see Diana Krall and it was a wonderful evening for an outdoor concert. The temperature was mild and the sun was shining. We had nice friendly people sitting around us (though I did experience that on the first try as well) and a blanket to cover up when it started to get chilly as the sun went down.

I think my favorite part of the concert was when Diana said that she was going to play a song by Cole Porter. There was mild applause, so she said "that's about the same reaction I got in high school. Everyone else was playing songs by ... Elvis Costello." She paused for effect, then said, "I got the last laugh." I thought it was pretty clever. (For those of you who don't know, she's been married to Elvis Costello since 2003 and they had twin boys last year.)

Her music was wonderful, as usual, and Sam put together an amazing dinner. The best part was this really intense apricot jelly that we ate on crackers with cheese. YU-U-UM!

Do You Need a Snow Day?

It's finally feeling a little like summer in Seattle, but I know many of you have been sweltering for weeks now. If you need to feel cool, get a pack of Pep-O-mint lifesavers and make yourself a snowflake. Just go to Popular Front and make all the snowflakes you need to cool off your day. It's really fun! Just try it, and let me know if it was as fun for you as it was for me. You can also look at my snowflake by going to "find a flake" and searching on Lucy van Pelt in Seattle.

I Joined the Crock Club

So, last week I got Crocks. I didn't realize that it was like joining a club until I wore them to the Mariner's game. The parking attendant went on and on about all her pairs of crocks and the paint splat accessories that she added. It made me laugh. I just got them because they are amazingly comfortable and you can clean them off with the hose in the back yard. I also decided to get them when I found a pair with a flower pattern on it. I thought it was fun and kicky. The DH got some too. He thinks they're so ugly they're cool, so he got UW crocks in purple. Well, they really are ugly.

Hooray for Fun Mail!

Cricket at Sensational Six sent a wonderful package that came in the mail today. I won the contest to name her blog when the family of five turned into a family of six. Cricket is fabulous with the home made cards and she sent a big stack of them. They're SO wonderful! She also sent a great little gift wrapped and crafted package of Tic Tacs. So fun and fabulous. Thanks, Cricket!

If We Were Cartoons

I just had to jump on the Simpsonizing bandwagon. I probably won't see the movie in the theater, but I couldn't help but check out what the DH and I would look like if we were in the Simpson's movie. Thanks to my bro for hippin' me to the URL. It's http://www.simpsonizeme.com/ if you're itching to get a look at what you would look like in the Simpson's movie.

Aren't they just funny?

Fun Four Meme

I was tagged by my good friend at Sensational Six for this fun four meme. Here are my answers...

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Training Development Manager at a large software company in Redmond, WA
2. Technical Communications Consultant in Seattle, WA
3. High-School English and German teacher in Meridian and Eagle, ID
4. Building computer circuit boards and testing RAM at two companies in Boise, ID

Four places I have lived:
1. Seattle, WA
2. Boise, ID
3. Provo, UT
4. Switzerland

Four favorite T.V. Shows:
1. Gray’s Anatomy
2. Gilmore Girls (Wah! It’s over now.)
3. CSI
4. My Name is Earl – This is my favorite show to watch with the DH. We both laugh so hard.

Four favorite foods:
1. Bread, especially good hearty, crusty bread
2. Chocolate
3. Ice cream
4. My favorite meal is my mom’s homemade fried chicken, new potatoes and gravy, and corn on the cob. It’s the best late summer meal ever. And I mean EVER!

Four websites I visit:
1. My three personal e-mail websites (I know! I should only have one, but I don’t)
2. My favorite blogs (and there is a list of about a dozen, so I won’t call them all out here)
3. My online banking site
4. The Seattle traffic web site

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In bed sleeping
2. In Friday Harbour with the DH celebrating our anniversary
3. Spending time with the extended family (with the DH included, of course)
4. On vacation just about anywhere

Four movies I love - I like a lot of movies, so here are some that we own:
1. A Room With a View
2. When Harry Met Sally
3. Sleepless in Seattle
4. Princess Bride

Four people I tag:
1. Annzy
2. Penny Longstockings
3. Sam
4. The DH

Quit yer Moanin'!

I got tagged for a meme by Lizzy at My Ice Cream Diary. Hers was pretty entertaining. Here's mine:

4 things that should be removed from off the face of the earth:
1. Prostitution and pornography. I hate anything that exploits women, especially since it's usually women with very few choices in life.
2. Domestic abuse, especially child abuse. Perhaps it's because it's just so horrible.
3. War in Darfur. It's just wiping out an otherwise pleasant enough country.
4. AIDS. It horrifies me to see what the virus is doing to communities in Africa.

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently:
1. Yell at or bellittle their children in public. I think there's a time to discipline your children, but it's rarely in a public place.
2. Gossip about people or situations that are speculative at best. I guess I don't like gossip even when it's spreading information that's true, but it's especially bad when it's speculative.
3. Act like jerks in traffic. I think traffic wouldn't be such a bad thing if everyone would play nice. I guess that applies to a lot of things in life though.

2 things you find yourself moaning about:
1. Work. And I have no place whining about it. I have a great job at a great company with great benefits and a great salary. I have NO EXCUSE. If you hear me complaining about work, tell me to knock it off.
2. Getting up in the morning. At least I have a good reason for this one. No one in their right mind should be getting up at 5:00 a.m.

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself:
There are so many people in the world in situations that are much worse than mine that I really shouldn't be caught moaning at all. My life is really great! This makes me think I need to add one more thing to the meme that wasn't there before...

5 things that are great about my life
1. I have a wonderful husband who loves me A LOT.
2. I have an amazing family that supports me and has come to my rescue in many ways.
3. I have a great job that gives me lots of temporal blessings, like good food, a gym membership, a nice house to live in, plenty of heat in the winter, and all the other good things I have.
4. I live in a beautiful place. The pacific northwest has so much to offer and I've taken advantage of only a fraction of it.
5. I have amazing friends that I love and that enrich my life in ways that would take much more than a meme to describe.

So, I challenge myself and everyone else to quit yer moanin' and focus on the really great things we have. It would also be a good idea to see what you can do locally and globally to help get rid of some of that ugly stuff. But don't just moan about it. Do something.