More Reading: Fall Book List

I work as an administrator for a bunch of faculty and each spring I make sure their course goes off without a hitch.  This includes attending weekly meeting on the upcoming classes.  While I order catering for these meetings, I always supplement with some homemade baked goodies.  It's really just an excuse to bake for the cookie blog and then get the calories out of the house (and not into Dave or I).  As a thank you, I received a very generous Amazon gift certificate which I put towards buying myself a Kindle Fire 7", LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB.  I picked it up over the summer and was in love.  I've literally plowed through books (most of them free!) by reading on the train, on the cardio equipment at the gym, and instead of watching the crap TV that was on over the summer.  I also love that because there are so many free books (and the Lending Library through Amazon Prime), I've exposed myself to different genres and if I don't like a book, I don't feel committed to finish reading it.  I just delete it and move on to something else.

There are too many books here to do a review on each, so I've broken it down into how much I liked it.  The "Definitely Read" books are ones that I could not put down and am so glad I downloaded.  The "Good If You're Bored" books were fun, mostly quick, reads that are a good one to grab while your waiting for something from the wait list at the library or waiting for a new month to begin to get something new from the Lending Library.  And for the record, I consider "chick-lit" fun, sexy stories about young women still finding their way in the world and "women's fiction" to be a more mature look on being an adult and the life they lead.  In no particular order, here's what I've been reading.

Definitely Read

• Swimby Jennifer Weiner--short story, chick lit; a prequel to her new novel, The Next Best Thing
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--fantasy, science fiction, teen fiction (finally on board and I loved it)
• Summer of Firefly Memories by Joan Gables--women's fiction, family relationships
• Golden Lies by Barbara Freethy--women's fiction, mystery, romance, family relationships
• I Think I Love You (a humorous romantic mystery) by Stephanie Bond--chick-lit, mystery, family relationships (Stephanie Bond may be one of my new favorites)
• Crossroads Road: A Novel by Jeff Kay--(disfunctional) family relationships, humor
• Never Buried (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series) by Edie Claire--mystery, slightly chick-lit (and it's set it Pittsburgh!)
• Tales from the Crib by Jennifer Coburn--women's fiction, humor

Good If You're Bored

• Charlie In Love by LC Zingera--chick-lit; romance (I did not expect this to turn into the new generation of Harlequin romance, but it wasn't awful)
• The Enemy's Son by Kristen James--chick-lit, mystery, romance
• The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom by Robyn Harding--women's fiction, mystery
• More by Heidi Marshall--chick-lit, romance, Christian fiction (but in the slightest sense)
• Whispering Hills (Whispering Hills, #1) by Taryn Browning--mystery, teen paranormal fiction (I had no idea, I swear!)
• Sleeping with Paris by Juilette Sobanet--chick-lit, romance
• Welcome to Scranton by Greg Halpin--coming of age
• Chop, Chop (Chop, Chop Series - Book 1) by LN Cronk--Christian fiction, coming of age (I really wanted this book to be more, so I read it through the end but was left unfulfilled.  But it could be good for the right person.)

I can lend most of these books once--leave me a comment with your email address and I'll hook you up!

Only in Pittsburgh

This past weekend, Dave and I took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my Dad and watch a little football.  We were excited to see Pitt pull of a huge upset over Virginia Tech by a score of 35 to 17.  While we were there, Dave got hungry so we stepped out to get some stadium grub at Heinz Field.  Dave opted for something more substantial than my soft pretzel: The Allegheny Burger.  A burger topped with keilbasa and a perogi.  Few things are more Pittsburgh than that.

The next day we went back to Heinz Field, this time to cheer on the Steelers during their 27-0 win over the New York Jets.  It was wonderful.  But the entertainment truly started before we even got into the stadium.  In order to direct the massive crowds of people crossing the streets separating parking from the stadium, and to make sure the cars could get through without hitting people, police officers managed to make everything run smoothly.  They were there for the Pitt game, too, but on Steelers game day, they carry equipment other than their whistles.

Yup, that policeman is directing traffic with his Terrible Towels.  So was his friend, but I only got on shot.

I love seeing the crazy that is Pittsburgh. It makes me feel at home with my peeps.

Oh, and then I totally dominated fantasy football this week...to make up for the fact that I lost to JR the week before.  

Three Years is Personal Flotation Devices

Three years ago today, I married a man with infinite patience and a sense of humor enough to let me make fun of him publicly on the internet.  He's quite the catch, this man of mine. 

For a while, like several years, Dave and I talked about buying kayaks (one for each of us, because you know we each need our own boats).  Over Labor Day weekend, we redeemed a Groupon to try out the sit-on-top variety of kayaks, which we quickly dismissed upon being soaked from the water splashing into the boat and the complete lack of control (we were both listing in various directions).

After that excursion, we visited an independent outdoor store, New England Backpacker, and got some very good information about the type of kayak we'd want and why.  Seriously, we are so glad we went there because if left to our own devices, we would have royally screwed up the purchased.  Additionally, they said we could test-paddle the kayaks we were interested in by renting them for a day and if we decided to buy them, the rental fee would be taken off the purchase price.  Which was already on sale since it's the end of the season.  Score.

So last Saturday, we rented our desired kayaks, hit the same lake as the weekend before, and proceeded to paddle in absolutely terrible conditions.  It was super windy, the waves were choppy, we were paddling with the wind which meant we'd have to battle against it to get back, clouds threatened to unload on us, and on top of that we weren't exactly pleased with each other.  So we took a break, got out of the water and regrouped. 

Then we bonded over the two meatheads trying to get their small jet boat launched.  It was awesome. The one guy had no clue and the other guy had no grasp of telling his buddy what to do.  This thing was old and after he got the boat trailer in the water, the guy had to jump it with a battery box to get it started.  The engine sounded awful.  Dave watched, and actually helped at one point to give the guy a line to the dock, ticking all the various things they were doing wrong.  The best part was that they knew there were a bunch of rocks at the launch that needed to be avoided, at which they were successful.  Until they finally turned the boat the leave the launch and scraped the bottom over the rocks in the most fantastic of ways.  The sound was horrible and it could have easily been avoided, but at this point we knew they had no clue what they were doing.

Their boat was something like this--but older and more full of idiots.

After enjoying that show, we got back in our kayaks, got rained on a bit, but toured the rest of the lake before the winds got particularly heinous.  We really got a chance to figure out our kayaks and decide if we really wanted to get them.

By the time we got back to the shop to return the rentals, we decided we really wanted to buy these kayaks.  We have a lot of fun paddling, and there are a lot of opportunities for us to try different rivers and ponds not far from our house.  The guys at the shop were great hooking us up with everything we needed, sizing us appropriately and making sure we were comfortable.  When we paid for it all, I turned to Dave and said, "Happy Anniversary!"  Maybe molded plastic and life vests will be the new contemporary third anniversary gift.

So, there you go Dave.  You now have your own boat.  Please stop asking me for a sailboat, because I don't know which anniversary nylon and dacron are given.

Looking for Zebras

So my car died.  Well, not completely, but it's not working.  I got off the train last night, walked to my car and unlocked it--no problems.  Then I tried to turn it on and got nothing.  Didn't even pretend to turn over.  I double checked that I didn't do anything stupid like leave the lights on (nope, that was all copacetic).  So I called Dave, mildly frustrated, who was at home and could get to me quicker than a tow truck.

Being handy with cars, Dave of course wanted to investigate the problem a bit.  So he poked around, tried starting the car himself, watched the gauges (as they did nothing) and poked at all the connections and fuses running from the battery and the power distributor.

Hungry and in need of a bathroom, I was growing cranky at the examination.  So I texted Stacy, my one friend who knows about cars and boys trying to fix problems without success.

Me: I love my husband by my car battery seems to have died in the train station parking lot and rather than jump it, he's been checking all the fuses for the past 10 minutes.

Stacy: LOL.  Breath deeply, he's a "c" personality, he's checking all the little things to be sure it's just a jump you need and not a tow.

Stacy: He hears horses but wants to look at all of them in case there's a zebra.

Me: Best. Line. Ever.  I do suppose I have to love him.

I did convince Dave to at least try to jump the car because he was ready to leave without even doing that.  Not wanting to call a tow truck only to find out we could have been done and over with it, I asked if he'd at least try to rule out the possibility.

Me: Well he was right. I do need a tow.

Stacy: Zebra!!!

I laughed and got out of my car-trauma induced funk.  Stacy's good for that.  Plus she's a Spanish teacher who does a wicked funny Russian accent and will whip it out at random occasions with a whole Russian "old country" persona.  Everyone needs a friend who will randomly change accents and pretend to have lived a different life.

Dave and I left the car in the parking lot, went home and had dinner.  Then we called AAA for a tow and headed back to the car to wait.  Dave brought a volt meter this time and confirmed that the battery had plenty of power so clearly the problem was something electrical or with the car's computer.

About an hour later, the tow driver came and essentially ran through all the checks that Dave did and then some.  Eventually he either ran out of ideas of Dave wore him down by repeating, "Yeah, we really just need a diagnostics check, so let's just tow it to our mechanic."  Meanwhile, I texted Stacy again.

Me: The tow truck driver was looking for zebras too.

Me: He did not find any.

Stacy: LOL.  Alternator?

Me: Probably electrical.

Stacy: Bummer, replace 10 fuses cuz one blew.  I hate that!

Me: He checked all the fuses.  It's probably a wire or computer issue.

Stacy: Not a zebra.  A Horse of Many Colors.  Silly boys, mislead by hoofbeats.

Me: I'm imaging you saying this in a Russian accent.

Stacy: Good.  Is much funnier, ja.

I cringed watching him hook my car (unnecessarily--the driver was very cautious) and we drove off to leave our mechanic a reason to scratch his head in the morning about why our car randomly showed up.  I still don't know what's wrong with it, but Dave will talk to the mechanic this morning.  I'm not sure how he feels about horses and zebras.

Monday Morning Soundtrack

So it's Monday and this morning I learned that my train would be up to an hour late, so I decided to drive into work.  Not exactly how I wanted to kick start a work week and a Monday morning, but at least I found out BEFORE I was stuck on the train.

And then things got even better.   I'm a testament to my generation and I love to rock out to the 90s station on Sirius XM.  I usually know all the words and I get to amuse/embarrass Dave with my car-dancing routines. No joke, this is the playlist I enjoyed, in order, for the first part of my ride this morning:

• En Vouge--Free Your Mind
• Pearl Jam--Daughter
• Ice Cube--It Was a Good Day
• Alannah Myles--Black Velvet

And yes, I totally sang along.

Liam Neeson Failed Me

Dave and I enjoy movie night.  On the weekend, at least one night is devoted to sitting on the couch together with a big bowl of popcorn and the latest from Netflix.  Dave doesn't do chick flicks, but that's ok because I LOVE action movies.  I'll watch anything with a car chase or a fight scene (although if it's really bad I'll watch through my hands or look away until Dave says the coast is clear).  I love the adrenaline rush (and the pretty boys...like Jason Statham...sigh.)

So of course, most movies with Liam Neeson are winners.  Taken comes to mind.  Batman Begins.  Even The A-Team because we really liked him as Hannibal.

But wow.  The Grey.  The movie was just bad.  I'm going to give you spoilers because THERE IS NO REASON ANYONE SHOULD WATCH THIS MOVIE.  Seriously, by the end Dave said he was rooting for the wolves.

Long story short: Neeson plays Ottway who is a wolf-sniper for a bunch of oil riggers (? or maybe loggers?  I never really understood their job) in the middle of nowhere Alaska.  He picks off wolves as they try to come near the crew.  They are all done with this particular job, so they get on a plane home and end up crashing in an even bigger middle of nowhere Alaska.  A handful survive only to be hunted by a pack of wolves.  Ottway becomes the defacto leader because he's the only one who has an sense, but then by the end of the movie you realize he's an idiot.  There's a sense of a love story, but it's cryptic and you're left thinking maybe this woman Ottway is pining for is or was his wife and she may or may not be dead now.  Suspension of disbelief is huge in this movie because you're expected to believe that the surviving men are able to brave the arctic elements and still be able to walk, trudge, run and jump their way through the forest for a couple of days.  The don't have the gear they need, have little to no food, no water.  Some of the guys aren't even wearing hats.  But frostbite and hypothermia apparently aren't an issue.

One by one the survivors are picked off by the wolves and/or their own misfortune (read: stupidity).  In the end only Ottway survives, trudging through the woods only to eventually stop and seemingly give up hope. He has a moment remembering his fallen comrades and then looks up to realize he's literally walked right into the wolves' den.  Seriously? 

The movie ends with Ottway prepped to battle what looks like over a dozen--maybe two--wolves in hand to paw (hand to big nasty teeth?) combat.  But they don't actually show the battle.  However, this movie was so bad I know exactly what happened.

He died.

The wolves looked at the blade he taped to his right hand and the airplane alcohol bottles taped and busted to sharp edges to his left, laughed, and then lunged at him and ate him to death.  Because by this point even the wolves were bored with Ottway and his gang of misfit survivors.  No really, I'm pretty sure the Alpha Wolf was like, "Really, dude?  This movie's gone on way to long.  You really should just succumb to the elements and let us eat you.  And how dumb are you to walk right into our den.  Did you not notice that there were more of us the further you "ran away"?  Who put you in charge?  You're a terrible leader."

We had to watch this over two nights, a week apart.  Halfway through the movie, I turned to Dave and said I didn't think I could watch anymore that night.  Then we kind of never made time to watch it until the following weekend when we wanted movie night again.  Apparently neither of us wanted to finish watching it but didn't really say so.  So we ended up watching the rest in spite of ourselves only to turn to each other and say immediately as the screen faded to black, "That was a terrible movie."

So apparently Liam Neeson isn't as awesome as I once thought.  But I found a mentor for him.  Without giving away any spoilers, I think Neeson should watch The Bourne Legacy for a true lesson in how to deal with wolves.  After all, Bourne is our generation's 007 and might be my favorite action movie franchise...until I get obsessed with something else.

I'm Sorry I Made You Cry (Not Really)

This is an apology to my friend Lisa. Except that it'll probably make her cry again.  And I'm not actually apologizing.  But it's not my fault--she's pregnant and hormonal.

My dear, dear friend Lisa is having a baby!  I'm so excited for her and her husband Larry.  Their little girl is due at the end of September.  When Lisa texted me an ultrasound picture in March, I bit back a scream (Dave knew immediately from the gasp when I said it was a message from Lisa and since we were in the car--he was driving--he kindly asked me not to scream to loud), called her immediately and told her it would be a girl.  I could just see her looking at me funny through the phone and wondering why I thought that, but I knew.

See, in January after my Mom passed, I took all her crochet materials, yarn, unfinished projects, and brought them home.  As I started going through them, I found the very beginnings of a pink baby blanket, including the large ball of pink baby yarn and the pattern for a beautiful blanket.  My mom had always made a crocheted blanket for every baby--no matter if it was the first, second or fifth baby, family, friend, coworker or acquaintance--a blanket for every baby.  It's a tradition I started once I learned to crochet and my own friends started having babies.  Racking my brain, I couldn't come up with anyone she may have known who was expecting, or at the least who was far enough along to know they were expecting a girl.  But for some reason I was compelling to finish the blanket because clearly it belonged to some little girl...eventually.

Fast forward two months later but I couldn't tell Lisa why I knew she'd have a girl.  Then in May she told me my prediction was right, and still, I wasn't ready to tell her why I knew in my heart of hearts that Lisa would soon have a daughter.

Since Lisa lives in Florida and our friends are scattered everywhere between here and there, a traditional shower just wasn't logistically possible.  So I did the next best thing and enlisted our friends to quite literally shower her with presents, all shipping her our gifts in the same week.  So I put together a package of adorable outfits, a book, a stuffed moose (Dave had to pick out something), a few things specifically for mama-to-be, and this blanket.  I included a note to the baby, as well as a note to Lisa where I explained the origins of the blanket and why my convictions were so strong.  I will say, for my part I did write a line in the card to tell her to stop crying, it was just the hormones.

So yeah, I got a text from Lisa, scolding me and telling me I was in trouble.  But that's ok. Sometimes the only way to tell a friend you love them is to make them cry.