Busy, Busy, Busy!

Real life is affecting my blogging. Dang life. I'm in the middle of a four tier monster cake for Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet. Igor has an appointment at 12:30 today to have two baby teeth pulled. Hubby may or may not go to NJ this week. Hubby may or may not go to Dallas for training the end of Feb. I'm reading a book for review and I need to get my act together to review another product that was a win off of a website. Wow, I'm too busy, and I don't even have a "real job".

We decided to continue wrestling however which tournaments to attend is still up in the air. We'll see.

We will be back to regularly scheduled programming after "Cake Week".

She can bake a cake taller than her kid.
Winnie

To Wrestle or Not?

To continue wrestling this year or not? Gosh how we have debated that the last two days and cannot really come up with a reasonable answer.

We have the Pro list: Sonny Boy will get more experience in tournaments, and practice. He is at the top of his age range this year, next year he'll be the bottom of his age class. He really likes it. He can continue going to club practice as long as he's competing for no extra charges. It feels like the season is SO short only attending three tournaments where all other sports seem to drag out forever. The season ended on a dud with a third place finish (out of four) and the #4 kid up and left and didn't wrestle his last two matches, including one against Sonny Boy.

We have the Con list: Tournaments get kind of expensive. Entry fees are not too bad but the schlep of driving to where ever, eating out etc. The competition is going to get harder as the season moves on and he is less likely to do well resulting in hurt feelings and a let down with the sport. There is little in the way of additional practice in the area with the exception of the town club who is jammed with wrestlers who are competing and ask that you stop practice if you are not competing. (don't know if that's a pro or con?) All authorities say he is not ready for regional tournaments (I agree) which is really the ultimate goal of wrestlers at this age range. Poor Igor gets dragged to the tournaments and is pretty bored -as are the rest of us when Sonny Boy is not wrestling, which is about 5 minutes out of a 5 hour ordeal.


It's so hard to decide and we really kind of need to decide by tomorrow (the next club practice) We don't want to push him so hard that he dislikes the sport, yet we want to give him the opportunity to excel if he is capable (we believe that he is not a super star but above average, but lacking experience). Throw in the fact that I had NO opportunity to be really good at a sport as a child - lack of opportunity- and you get a whole mess of emotions.

What a middle class parenting dilemma hey?

She can be pinned by an 8 year old while throwing her back out.
The weakest woman in the world.
Winnie

Book Review: God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Please go rank my review here!

Blogging For Books
God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren

4.5/5 stars

A Sweet little book for the Expectant Sibling

Often young children have many concerns when a new sibling is expected in the household. God Gave Us Two tries to answer many of the concerns that small children have when a new baby is expected. Momma and Papa polar bears handled Little Cub’s questions wisely with sensible answers that explain that children are a gift from God and now the family will have two gifts. The story follows Little Cub as she discovers Momma’s lap is getting smaller and the day she spends with her grandparents when Momma and Papa go the hospital to have the baby. There is even a little plot twist at the end when Momma and Papa come home with a baby sister AND a baby brother prompting Little Cub to declare, “God gave us three.” Sorry to give away the twist!

I liked the book overall. It is well written and contains a “hook” that I think young children often need to grasp the overall lesson. The illustrations are lovely and detailed with many cute animals playing in the arctic snow. The overall quality is really good. I did not give this book a full 5 star rating for a few minor reasons. The book is rather wordy and a preschool or younger aged child would easily loose track of the plot. My eight year old son confirmed this idea as well when he declared it ‘said too much” by adding lots of detail. I also think the book may be geared more toward girls than it being gender neutral. Little Cub is a girl so everything references being a “big sister”. I also believe that the illustrations are a little feminine with many bows and ribbons illuminated in the text, not to mention Little Cub’s toys are all adorned with bows. I also wonder if a child might get the idea they will have both a baby brother and baby sister if the book is taken to heart. These are all really minor critiques and I would certainly add this to my children’s library if a baby was expected in my house.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review and it in no way colors my opinion of this material.

Review: Cricut Cake Mini

No, I didn't suddenly fall into cool review swag. (though I wish I would) I purchased the Cricut Cake Mini with my own funds. You can get a reasonable deal on them on Amazon, strangely new is cheaper than the used? Go figure that one. I'd been wanting one of these literally for years when I happened upon them being demonstrated on QVC in the middle of the night. I sat enthralled wondering if I should call in and get the easy pay option or not. My inner tightwad kicked in because at the time the thing was quite spendy. A few years later and a "mini" version have put this in a price level that is manageable for the novice cake decorator.

I can say I've been reading the reviews on the the regular Cricut Cake and then the mini for quite a while. It appears there are two camps for this, Love it or Hate it. After playing with mine and pushing a lot of buttons I think I'm in the 4 out of 5 star range. Many of the reviews I'd previously read had a whole host of tips that I followed so I had pretty good results right out of the box. If I hadn't researched so much I don't think I would have been as pleased with the results, as there is a definite learning curve when working with the machine. I found that allowing the fondant to dry out some and freezing got the best results with the cleanest cuts. I am not inspired with the detail when dialing down the size on intricate patterns. This could still be some of the learning curve part as I have not tried to use gum paste in the machine and that could have a different result than the softer fondant. The set I purchased only came with one cutting mat which slows things down significantly when you must allow for things to dry out and freeze. I purchased two more mats today to save that problem.

Of course when one gets a new cake making toy, one must make a cake!

Here I used the background fill and the detailed Fleur di Lei in a 3 inch cut. The yellow cut became distorted as I removed it from the mat because it had thawed and the fondant was too soft.

This is an example of the lettering that comes on the cake basics cartridge with the kit. A pretty standard block lettering. (Ignore the mess around "DO" I made a mess trying to pipe) This little 6 inch cake was a good practice for a giant four tier I plan to do next week for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. This is basically what the top tier is going to look like though I have been tinkering the design in the last few days. I may have totally changed my mind by next week when I start working on it.

The one drawback to any "caking" project is the utter disaster it leaves the kitchen in. Believe it or not I had been putting dishes into the dishwasher and my new fancy cake machine was already cleaned and put away when I thought to take this picture. Don't take on cake decorating without a dishwasher.

She can clean a trashed kitchen in under an hour.

The messiest baker in the world.

Winnie

Wrestling Tournament Pictures

A few pics from the recent tournament. I can't say these are the best shots ever taken. I was filming with my phone in one hand in hopes of putting a winning match on YouTube (he lost this match) and snapping one handed without really aiming.
In this pic you can see the other kid was getting an advantage. The first minute or so of the match I could hear Hubby yelling to the ref "Watch the choking!" It's pretty apparent Sonny Boy was getting a little strangled here. Unfortunately the ref never made a call on it.

Honestly can't tell you what's happening here (Sonny Boy on left) but you can see his face which is a lot more than in many of the pictures that were taken.

The results. Sonny Boy is #2. The kid that beat him is #1 and the same one that is in the previous pictures. Love the fact that #3 had already put on his snow boots to leave.

Her words carry wait that can put a chronic insomniac to sleep.

She's the most interesting woman on the web.

Winnie

Rambling thoughts in a Muddled Mind

Please forgive this if it rambles, has horribly bad grammar or punctuation (I probably already give English majors shudders anyway) or odd misspelling or two makes it past spell check. My head is pounding, but if I go to bed I'll just lie there anyway and replay what I'm writing so hey might as well ramble on the blog.

Today started REALLY early as we went to another wrestling tournament for Sonny Boy. This one was thankfully much closer so it didn't require rising before cock crow. Sonny Boy's first opponent was a fierce little guy who scored lots of points. We believe a few calls in Sonny Boy's favor were missed, but it really didn't matter as the kid beat him but not by a pin. The next two opponents Sonny Boy dominated, however he didn't get the easy pins as he had in last week's tournament. Sonny Boy placed second in his age/weight division so it was a good day. This week has been wrestling intense in the household. In combination with Sonny Boy's twice a week practice with the club, Hubby has been reinforcing the coaches directions and correcting some moves. Last night I volunteered to be the wrestling dummy. The size difference between Hubby and Sonny Boy makes it difficult for him to get a feel of what the moves should be like and honestly there isn't much size difference between Sonny Boy and I anymore. I was quite surprised as Sonny Boy knocked me on my kiester quickly. He also managed to anger a muscle in my lower back near my hip that has made just about any position uncomfortable. I will not be his wrestling dummy anymore. I also happened upon a documentary on Netflix called Takedowns & Falls that follows the season of a PA wrestling team. I watched if first and decided that even though parts might be a little dicey for a kid (some swearing, and general teenage boy monkey business) it was Ok for him to see after a big conversation about how some of the kids didn't make the best decisions for themselves or the team. If your into wrestling at all you'll probably like it. I know it sounds like we are suddenly eating and breathing wrestling, but the sessions with Hubby honestly last like 30 minutes.

I also managed to make it the grocery. Big woop, but I needed a major haul. Get this Salmon was CHEAPER than catfish. Never in my life....

Tonight I watched another move on Netflix that probably has a wider range of appeal. Mao's Last Dancer. It's one of those movies you've never heard of that is really good. I'm not gonna tell you much about it, but if you like even the tiniest bit of ballet you'll like it and if you don't like ballet the dance parts are really not long drawn out parts of the story.

I got a new toy! I finally broke down and purchased a Cricut cake mini. I've been eyeballing one of these machines for ages and the price and the fact they now make it in a smaller version made it somewhat affordable. I've played with it some and so far it seems cool. I haven't done any big projects yet, just putzed around with it to see what all the buttons do. Just in time as I'm going to do a BIG four tier cake for the cub scout Blue & Gold banquet. I might be kicking myself when I'm up to my elbows in buttercream the day before, we'll see.

Tomorrow Hubby plans on taking the boys ice fishing. He wants me to come along so he he can put up more tip-ups, your only allowed so many per licensed fisher. I really don't want to go shiver on the ice. Even though I have boots rated to -30 my feet are never warm when out on the ice. Beside having the house to myself to play with my new cake toy sounds fantastic.

Igor is trucking along. He's having a spell on jealousy that is driving us all bats. We can barely have a conversation with Sonny Boy without him interjecting himself into the conversation or being a general nuisance. Honestly I think he's a little bored. Like Sonny Boy it would have been ideal if we could have started him in Kindergarten at Christmas.

Well I'm rambling down. I'll have to save the tale of four hours of medical/dental phone calls for another day this week, you won't believe it and you won't believe I didn't curse at some hapless soul on the other end of the line either.

She bowls overhand (that's why her last score was 51)
The most interesting woman in the world
Winnie

Help the World!

Volunteer a little would you? You don't have to let Cub Scout stuff take over your kitchen table, most likely you don't have do much of anything except lend your name and a couple of hours of your time now and then. This isn't the first time I've railed about the lack of volunteers but it really gets my goat. My son's cub scout pack has roughly 50 boys in it. On average 4-5 people do the work. Not unusual by any stretch, most things are like this. What yanks my chain is that we have been begging at every meeting for someone (anyone) to step up and be the scoutmaster and of course we have no takers. Now to my knowledge I've never actually SEEN the scoutmaster DO anything. He even admits all he does is put on his shirt and show up at pack meetings once a month and hand out the handy dandy awards I spent three days preparing (see above picture) No one wants to do it. If I step up and do it my position will be empty and honestly my position is way more work. I don't get it.

Here is my challenge to you. If your child is in an organization - church, scouts, little league or whatever your poison may be, you owe it some amount of your TIME to keep things running. The next time somebody stands up at a meeting and says "we need a volunteer for XYZ" try it. If XYZ is beyond your current capabilities speak with person after and say "I can't do XYZ, but I'd like to help somehow. Do you have a job that takes X number of hours a week I can help out with?" I can assure you that you will not be turned down. You may think that because you work it gets you out of volunteering and that's hogwash. The stay-at-home-moms I know are happy to take on the time consuming tasks (such as sorting cub scout awards) if only somebody else will take on the task of filling a committee chair or spend two hours a month balancing the checkbook. Really your kids are doing the activity too.

Mother, Mommy, Mom, Momma

I make no secret of the fact that I'm a transplanted southerner. I was bred, born, and raised in the Arkansas Delta region. Not an area most people go to on vacation and an area most people flee as soon as they turn 18. Sadly it's an area in decline and that area of the U.S. will soon forever be changed from the one I grew up in. Generally I don't really mourn southern "isms". I do miss certain foods. REAL bbq is hard to come by in Wisconsin, decent catfish is as well. I haven't had green tomato relish in years and years and there is something to be said for the unwritten rule that nothing is scheduled on Wednesday nights or Sundays (though that is fading fast as well)

Perhaps the thing I miss most is Momma. No, not my actual Momma, though it would be nice if she were closer. I miss the fact that people have Mommas. Down south the woman that gave birth to you (or adopted you) is your Momma. Not mother, not Mom. Occasionally a young child may call her Mommy, but that usually morphs to Momma by age five or six. Momma is used in conversations by 45 year old men " I called Momma yesterday and she told me that Sissy is going to have another baby." Momma is used by children to address their mother " Momma, may I have a cookie please?" I used the term Momma freely, like my peers until I went to college and it was pointed out to me. I became self conscience of it and started saying things like "my Mom". Hubby, who was raised just about as far north as you can get has probably never uttered "Momma" in his life.

I mourn this. My children don't call me Momma. I am Mommy or Mom. I refer to myself as Momma but it doesn't really catch on. I guess that part of my southerness is gone along with the fact my children will pronounce "fire" and not "far" and will change flats on a "tire" and not "tar". I have taught them some useful southern phrases of which I am proud. Fixin' to, and ya'll are common in their vocabulary so at least I'm doing a few thing right.

A Busy Weekend for Sonny Boy

It was a big weekend for Sonny Boy. When I look back at it I'm amazed by how much stuff got crammed into two days and we didn't really go bonkers.

Saturday began early, if not necessarily bright, to get Sonny Boy off to his very first wrestling tournament. Hubby had done all the sign up stuff, registered him and then realized the tournament was at just over an hour drive away, not to bad when you don't have to arrive at 7:30 A.M. UG. Anyway we rolled out of bed and I managed to get myself dressed despite a raging headache I was in denial about. Grabbed a giant mug of coffee and out the door we went. About 15 minutes before we arrived I could no longer deny the headache and took some of my migraine meds in the hopes of salvaging the day. We get to the high school where the tournament was being held and Hubby and Sonny Boy went in to weigh in and make their presence known. I crawled in the back of the van, rolled out my emergency sleeping bag and told Igor to not press any buttons. Hubby wasn't too long and he took the worlds most potholed road (trust me every bump is felt when you are on an unpadded van floor) and we went to a local restaurant he'd heard about for breakfast. Luckily by now the meds were starting to kick in and I became human. Yay for the makers of Relpax who saved the day. We went back to the high school and figured out the ins and outs cause we are all new to this. Did I mention that all of Sonny Boy's wrestling coaches were involved with the middle school kids and were not available? Yeah, flying by the seat of our pants. Anyhow we figure out the program, get Sonny Boy where he needed to be and Lo and Behold he won 2nd place!

Pretty good for a kid in his very first wrestling tournament. The kid that won while not older or bigger had a few years of experience under his belt and Sonny Boy gave him a run for his money before he got pinned. Sonny boy did pin the other two boys he wrestled quite easily, but like him they were still very green wrestlers. I don't have any pictures of the actual match as I was too busy running the camcorder. Watching the tape it was apparent Sonny Boy was having a blast while wrestling the first kid (the one that beat him) as he is smiling ear to ear. I now have fliers to print up and take care of the registration for him at three more tournaments in the next few weeks.

Sunday dawned and we slept in. I had told Sonny Boy that we needed to work on his Cub Scout stuff and we have be neglectful of getting the requirements done. One of the requirements is that he build "something useful". Since one of the electives is also to put up a birdhouse and I found a birdhouse kit at Wal-Mart, there ya go.

Turned out pretty cute. However the screws that hold it together won't counter sink at all, they simply strip. Oh well, what can one expect for $8.00? We also sat down and went through several of the requirements in his handbook as well. Probably not the most ideal way to tackle the stuff in the handbook, but one must do as one must do.

The boys then put on their snow gear and spent HOURS outside playing in the snow. It was grand. Even though there is salt tracked in and wet mittens drying on the kitchen radiator it is so nice to send them out and they find something to do for more than 10 minutes that doesn't lead to injury or fisticuffs. I know I'll be complaining in March, but for now BRING ON THE SNOW!!

Finally, Snow.

Today is the first real snowfall of the season. We are only predicted to get 3-6 inches total. It's been snowing since about noon and we have about half an inch. The boys are excited and are out playing in the barely grass covering snow. I hope they wear themselves flat out. Igor is grounded from TV and Wii today due to some nasty behavior at Sonny Boy's wrestling practice last night, so it's been a pretty long day and will be a long evening.

Hubby is out of town for work, he left Tuesday morning and was due home by now. I called him Tuesday night and told him the forcasted snow totals and advised him to reschedule his flight home and he said he'd see. I called him yesterday afternoon and asked him about getting a flight out. He had ended up goofing around all day in the Houston TX area and it was too late to catch the last flight out to Dallas. "I'll just take my scheduled flight out, it's not a big storm." Famous last words. He flew to Dallas this a.m. sent me a message at noon that his flight out of Dallas was cancelled and the next flight he could get on was at 5:00 something. As of a couple of hours ago that flight was listed as "Delayed". I told him he needed to go reserve a hotel room so he isn't sleeping on the airport floor tonight and he has poo poo'ed that idea as well. I guess we'll see how that plays out. The thing that gets me is he's pulled this same stunt before but driving. Last winter he thought he could outrun the same snow storm that collapsed the metro dome in Minneapolis. He ended up just barely getting a motel room in western WI after 10 hours of white knuckled driving and not making any real distance. I don't know why he so totally dismisses the idea of working around the snow. Yes, I will totally agree things are handled much better here in the north in terms of snow clean up and it's not near as paralyzing as 3 inches of snow in Arkansas. It does however make the roads slick and difficult to drive, the airport runs a standard delay and frankly it's just wiser to avoid the roads if you can until the plows have a chance to run and catch up. I suppose it's a man thing. Not macho to watch the weather or something. I just got a text his flight is delayed 1.5 hours. Hope he likes Dallas Fort Worth airport.

I think it quite funny though, we still have several more hours of snow yet. The plows have not run down our street, yet the guy across the street is out running his snow blower, and a neighbor two doors down came shoveling down the sidewalk - she stopped at my property. This isn't one of those giant storms where shoveling in the middle of it is going to save you a lot of backache in the end. I guess people are just excited. I'll likely get out the snow thrower around 8:00 or so tonight. Hopefully the plows will have already made one pass and I can get the snow berm too.

The first snow of the year is fun though. It's so quiet. Traffic on our street drops to hardly anything. Only the distant sounds of kids playing on the sledding hill and my own screeching on the lawn.

Book Review - The Dirty Parts of the Bible - A novel

The Dirty Parts of the Bible – A Novel
Sam Torode

A Good Fun Read that Leaves You Thinking

The story’s hero is Tobias, a 19 year old who has finished school and is living with his parents in the midst of depression era Michigan. Tobias’s preacher father is injured in an unlikely accident and sends his son on a quest back to their former home in Texas. I won’t give away the story, but Tobias’s adventures on the road clashing with his strict religious upbringing, and meeting his long lost relatives and exposure to their form of Christianity is eye opening for the young man.

Mr. Torode has written an excellent novel that poses many questions that conflict with traditional Christian teachings, yet he has handled the material in a way that is sensitive to Christian teachings. I wouldn’t call The Dirty Parts of the Bible a Christian novel – language in sections would make grandma’s ears fall off – but there is certainly an underlying Christian / higher power component to the story without it being shoved in your face.

Memory Lane

Although you'll find our house a mess,

Come and sit down and converse.

It doesn't always looks like this,

Some days it's even worse.

I was thinking of this little poem the other night. It was on a little plaque my grandmother had hanging beside her kitchen sink for as long as I can remember. In the hours (catch that? HOURS) just before sleep odd things pop into my head. Wonder what happened to that thing? My mother doesn't have it up and she's now living in my grandmother's old house. I would imagine it got tossed, as I can concretely remember a large chip out of the border. I suppose these little plaques and samplers were the vinyl lettering of yesteryear.

What odd little item can you remember from your grandmother's home? Do you recall some little poem or saying she had cross stitched on the wall? Is there some common little thing that always reminds you of your grandma?

Bored

Yeah go figure. It's not like I don't have anything to do. I just don't want to do what's available. I feel like the kids, I want somebody to come up with something fun for me. That's usually when I tell the kids to do a chore, so I got up and started a load of laundry. Hey at least I'm being semi productive.

Hubby is watching a football game and I have no interest in that. I've surfed the Internet, reading random blogs a lot today. I've looked a cake website wishing I had the gumption to even attempt some of the masterpieces. I went and had my hair cut and colored - it needed it badly. Strange this feeling, it's really quite rare.

I have reading material, a book from the library that looks entertaining but I just don't feel like it.

Can you say winter blahs?

Thinking I may go start Downtown Abbey on the bedroom T.V. I've seen it before but they are starting a new season of it tomorrow night on PBS and honestly I don't remember a whole lot about the plot or characters. I just remember liking it a whole lot. If you have Netflix I recommend watching it.

Well, that's it for random thoughts. What is your go to when you normal time fillers don't make you happy and the idea of tackling a chore is less than appealing?

Death of a Friend

Last week a close friend died. I had known him for several years and we were molded as one. He had traveled with me to Ukraine to adopt my youngest son, he was there through up and downs in my weight and made my rear end look really good. My friend was my favorite pair of jeans. Now I’m on a mission to find a replacement friend, however I find that jeans are no longer made of the tough 100% cotton of their forefathers, they now have percentages of spandex and some mystery elastic blended into the fabric. I admit I have a few pair of these not quite denim jeans but they aren’t the same. I pour my blubber into them in the morning but by mid-day the crotch is hanging, there are pouches on my knees and I’m pulling them up every five minutes. These pseudo-jeans never look quite right in texture and unlike jeans of old that just got better with age they look worse.

A long internet search revealed that there are a few places to purchase 100% cotton jeans, but the styles lack much to be desired, most resembling something my 92 year old grandmother wears or caters to the horseback riding crowd. In desperation I ordered a pair of the “riding jean” in hopes that even if they are a little more fit for a game of barrel pick-up they’ll hug my curves in the same way my old friend did. Alas these jeans were of the super high waist variety and that feature was accentuated by the fact I’m only 5’1”. They were returned.

Mourning the loss of REAL jeans I went ahead and purchased a couple of pair of fake jeans and move on, still hoping to find some 100% cotton jeans. Good fortune smiled on me. I was in the Salvation Army store with my Mother-in-law when she came to visit for Thanksgiving. I was poking around at the knick-knacks on the top of the jean shelf and happened to see a pair of jeans the same brand as my close friend. I investigated further and found they were 100% cotton AND they were in my size, even with a short leg length! Needless to say I snatched them up, I didn’t care what the price was going to be, though they were marked at $5. I went to pay and discovered they were having some sort of clearance and I got them for $3.
I can’t say these jeans are my new friend yet. They are a little snug in the hips, they aren’t the same heavy weight denim and they have that fake whiskering on the legs. I do wear them though and think I will have to look at the Salvation Army jeans more often.

Attention!!

Announcing my "new" blog!

Not a real "new" blog, just an overhaul. Why you may ask? Life is moving along and the direction of my blog has gone from being an "adoption blog" to more of a real life blog. Honestly the adoption part of my life is not all of who I am. It's certainly a big part of me, but life no longer centers around the fact that one of my children is adopted. Like everyone else it's just a small piece of the puzzle.

Probably the biggest change you'll notice is the picture on the top. Yeah, really that is my dining room table and all it's mess. Honestly that's what it looks like most of the time. Litter. So that's what I'm going to write about - the litter of my life. The good stuff (the corner of my Kindle is in there somewhere) and the bad (there's some bills in there too).

You also likely noticed the little blurb under the flower picture over there. Yeah, I'm going to try and get some goodies too. That means from time to time I hope to review some products. I already review some books I get for free and I'll continue that as well. Honestly I don't expect a huge influx of stuff to come through the front door. In the meantime I'll continue on as I already do with a little writing about life, with a book review thrown in from time to time. I'll also start reviewing some stuff I purchase occasionally to get a little practice and hopefully to get some attention from the people who decide where to send the swag. Dear reader rest assured I will give my honest opinion on stuff. If I say I like something, I like it. If I say it's garbage, you can rest assured that's my opinion as well. The only thing that might change my opinion of a product would be that I suddenly found a flaw such as durability issues in something I previously liked or found a new use for a product I previously hated.

I may yet do some design changes to the blog as well. Honestly I'm not over thrilled with the way it currently looks. The bad part is I am all thumbs with that kind of stuff so you may well visit and see some crazy looking stuff. If you do, know that I am likely trying to fix it and it will look different a day or so.

I do hope to offer some of the swag back to you as well. I don't have the space or inclination to keep a ton of books or other items I don't have a real use for. Stay tuned and there just may be a give away soon as well!

Please don't run away because I am commercializing some. I'm still the same old Winnie, doing the same old things. Hopefully soon I'll be the same old Winnie with some new stuff mixed in!

I'm under construction!

Decided to make some changes to the blog. Please excuse any crazy stuff they may or may not appear in the next few days.

Blogging for Books The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck

My mother taught me “Say nothing at all if you can’t say something nice”. I hate to disappoint mom, but I don’t have much nice to say about The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck. This is typical formulaic pulp romance novel that anyone that has read more than a dozen books has come across more than 6 times. I guess that mush must sell, since writers keep writing it and somebody must be buying it.

I only recommend this book if you are a twelve year old girl who hasn’t read the same old story of boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl realize they really do love each other, boy/girl get married live happily ever after. The premise of every romantic comedy every made.

Ms. Y’Barbo does do a reasonable job of giving readers a feel for the era and the writing is well done. I found the book a total bore and pushed myself to finish it since it had such an obvious plot.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review and it in no way colors my opinion of this material.

Happy New Year!!

Well the new year is under way, I hope it's incredibly dull. Really, I don't want exciting. I just want to trudge along in a normal middle America life for a while.

The old year wrapped up with us taking a trip to the in-laws for Christmas. It was nice, but I think we stayed a few days too long. The kids were over tired and we had junk from one end to the other of Grandma's house. It was good to be home.

We are totally lacking snow this year. We've had a couple of dustings but nothing that even covers the grass good. I am now wondering why I spend so much money and energy looking for good snow boots for the boys. Though I know if I hadn't we'd have been digging out from an 8 inch snowfall daily.

Nothing really new to report. Like I've said before chaos is interesting. Daily drudgery is not, and you can tell the tales of your own laundry.

Take care readers. I haven't been much in the mood to post, but I am still alive and we are all doing well. If I get really energetic might put up a Christmas picture or two sometime before spring.