If you have to squeeze your whole summer into three weeks.....

You need to gather the boys and make use of the toys:

  A little KOA'ing at the hot springs - and yes, that is a hot-spring-heated outdoor pool!

A big ol' family reunion camping trip in Idaho.....

 And a nice, woodsy birthday week trip in the Gallatin canyon...in a silver Twinkie...

Where a "bobcat: almost at me!  (Go MSU Bobcats!)

HAPPY DAY OFF LABORERS!

How to start your birthday off right.....

Leave these around the camper...........

     It was a "no catch" birthday, but still the fun is in the trying. As much as I hate getting older, I absolutely loved being told by my 7 year old, Dakota, " You are two twenties and a one! "

Downshifting....and gearing up

I'm reaching a point in the seasons where I feel like I'm downshifting a big-rig on a 5% grade only to head straight back uphill - BUT - it's ALL GOOD!

Summer: My  exceptional students class, son's driver's ed,son's football, work 40, sleep 4, pass my class, start my astronomy, work, work work, then - ( cue angel's singing) my Mommy comes for a week and I take a week off from it all -except running son to football 2x/day. (shop/camp/hot-springs/yummy food/art fair).

Then back to work for a few days and off to camp/family reunion for a few more days in Idaho (bonus- 5 hrs of audio book time each way  - and lots of cousins, cousins, cousins - YAY!

Now the downshift and school shopping and squeezing in one more camping trip for my birthday.

I am SO looking forward to returning to my blog and reading everyone else's - I've missed your blogs! And here's the kicker:

I am taking two, TWO literature classes. I went to get my books and I was just GIDDY....count them....18 YA and MG fiction books plus two that were out of stock. If that doesn't make me certain I'm in the right major I don't know what will!!!

Booklist if anyone wants to share opinions on these - I haven't read any of them.
Inside Out and Back Again
Breaking Stalin's Nose
Return to Sender
Lord Rules
Why We Broke Up
Zahra's paradise
Chains
donovan's Big Day
I Broke My Trunk
Crossing Bok Chitto
One Crazy Summer
A long Walk to Water
Gemini Bites
The Lover's Dictionary
Soldier Bear
Where Things Come Back
Under the Mesquite
Over Sea, Under Stone
The Notorious Benedict Arnold
Amelia Lost
Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life
And there's a textbook or two in there.....something about Physics, Assessment and Math for Teachers - but, whatever.....

Heloooo Hastings!

So, I've been lamenting the closing of Borders Book Store for a year now. Finally, one of the boys told me about  his trip to Hastings when he was away at Grandma's. Finding ourselves in a time crunch and in desperate need of books for one of the middle boys, we decided to brave the decrepit shopping center Hastings is in. 


Can I say , WOW! Coffee shop, no crowds, tons of space for the family to spread out and all those novelties to keep the boys busy while I hang out in the teen/paranormal section. The only drawback is lack of the newest releases, but that can be dealt with.


They the best surprise of all: The Discount Membership for Educators/Education majors SWEEET! 25% off  books baby!

Not only that, you can pretty much put this kinda stuff on in there and the employees are likely to join you ........












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Thank you Blue's Clues for teaching me my planets in 27 seconds!

I can't tell you how many times I've listened to this when Josh was little and finally it paid off in Astronomy class this week! Best 27 seconds ever!

 

The Planets or see more Blues Clues Videos

If you want to see the really rockin' video of Steve and the Sun singing the planet song go here. (sorry, no embed code available for me to put here, just the link)

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This "Mom Monday" is all about.....

.......Mom!

Who says I have to drive a minivan? I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up.  I have to have SOME fun and it seems like all I do is run from classes, driver's ed, football and work.  This little bug  we got last week will be paying for itself in gas savings and fun, fun, fun all the way to school/work/kid drop-offs and pick ups.

What would YOU rather drive for all that runnin' around? What's your fun car?

Moving on from your favorite author

     Wow, it's harder than I thought. I have one author I've been reading for close to 20 years, racking up around 3400 pages read. A friend got me going on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I had never read such fascinating historical fiction and time travel mixed together. She also built a long-lasting romance of a married couple which is a rarity these days. From time to time, her books got a bit over the top (morally) and I'd set them aside, but over the years I missed the main characters and would pick up another book in the sequel. 


     Fast forward 20 years and the story of Jamie and Claire is still alive. Can you think of any author that can write 800-1400 pages per book in her series and keep a married couple living a life of adventure?


     It's just that. Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber were two of the best books I've ever read. Unbreakable connections, visions of historic Scottish battles, necessary separations ending with unforgettable reunions. They had it all. But somewhere along the series, it just became about the details. I thought it was just me, I was just being impatient. I would read one over the summer and give up the time it would take me to read seven other books.


     Last summer, I gave it another chance - spent a month reading through 1000 pages only to come away feeling once again that the characters weren't connecting anymore and the villain was just a blip in the pages. The volumes went from 630 pages to 1400?What about the editing?  I joined the fan site and asked the other readers if it was worth continuing and they promised it was, but this time I went to Goodreads and found that the future volumes are pretty much the same.


     It's such a downer to put down the series for good, especially when I have the next two hardbacks staring at me,  but here goes. The first two will always be in my top 10, but I am moving on.  Have you ever had such a nerdgirl problem? Ever had to finally accept that your favorite band, actor, or writer just wasn't all that anymore?


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