It was lost and now is found.....my motivation!

My motivation has been lacking lately. It occasionally happens in the winter. Today I think I found it. I got the storage room back in order and started cleaning our bedroom!  I'll admit it's pretty bad-very dusty. I'm surprised I've had such clear nasal passages most of the winter. It was just so dusty-I do not like to dust. It's starting to look better. I really dislike disorganization. I think we should just get rid of stuff. It's easier to keep a house clean when you don't have as much stuff. How much stuff does a person really need anyway??

I've been going through my books to make room for some of Bruce's books in one of our bookcases. I love books, but I don't feel the need to keep all of them. I do however stock up on them at rummage sales and the library book sale so I have too many. I have decided (and Donovan agreed) that we will not be going to the library book sale in March. We need to weed (this is actually a term libraries use to when they get rid of outdated books) through what we have and get rid of it before we bring anymore into the house. It does not matter if a book is super cheap-we will not be bringing another book into the house unless we get rid of a bunch first. A free or super cheap Nook or Kindle book does not count though, since they do not take up any actual space.

I have both book clubs this week. I hope to make it to my Monday night book club if my homework is done. I'll be working a good chunk of Sunday and Monday on it. We are discussing Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It was okay. I've enjoyed other books of his more. My other book club will be discussing The Transformation of Things by Jillian Cantor. I really enjoyed that book. There was quite the twist in it. Last night I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I enjoyed this book too. It also had a twist in it and it was different from anything I had read before so I will be passing that book on to someone else. If  I read anything tonight it will be in my textbook and it will be about school library budgets. That should get me sleepy.

This week went so fast because the kids didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday. It was a nice four day weekend, but it went so fast. This coming week we have a meeting for parents of freshman. It's not that we haven't had a freshman before, but this will be a first for us having our freshman go to the high school. I believe that's where freshman belong, but the change wasn't suppose to happen until the fall of 2015, so Aleah is a little anxious. I'm glad Gerrit will be there too. I'm also really hoping that he will have his license by then as well. I know I'm getting tired of driving and picking up at the high school and middle school. If I were working full time they might just have to ride the bus home.

Book list

So the last book I said I was getting ready to read (reread, I had read it in high school about a hundred years ago) was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I like it better the first time I read it. The characters were so self-absorbed. When we discussed it, most of us that had read it and liked it in high school didn't like it now.

The rest of the books are not necessarily in the order I read them-I did at least write them down so I would remember the ones I had read. Both my book clubs read Defending Jacob by William Landay. This was a good book that sparked a lot of discussion. I haven't read many good books lately, but this one is worth reading.

I reread Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado and Vince Rouse. This is the story of a Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes and were trapped there for 72 days. They had to resort to cannibalism to survive. It's an amazing story of survival. It happened in October 1972-so it was the 40th anniversary. There were 16 people out of 45 that survived and they're all still living. I had checked it out of the library for Gerrit to read but ended up reading it again since it had been a few years.

I sheepishly admit to reading Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Seth. This was someone's pick for book club. I never would have picked up this book to read on my own. This is what I love about book clubs-you read things you might never have picked for yourself. The book was surprising good.

Years ago I read The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I found The Nanny Returns by the same authors at the dollar store. I enjoyed the first book since I was a nanny for a summer in New York, and sadly the stories are true. I didn't like the second book at all. It was set ten years later and wasn't written as well. I'm not surprised it was at the dollar store.

My friend Wendy had suggested The Physick  Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. She had read it for her book club and it was pretty good.

I read The Christmas Wish by Richard Siddoway. I think I had read it before. It was okay, nothing special.

I got Home at Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball from a book club book exchange at Christmas time. It was okay. It was a second book in a series I guess. I don't know for sure that I'll read the others.

I read another book I got from the dollar store, Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch. Again I see why it's at the dollar store. I have got some good books from the dollar store but not lately.

I did read a free Friday book on my Nook shortly after Christmas called The Last Noel by Michael Malone. It was a really good book.

We read The Harbinger by Johnathan Cahn. It was full of prophecies from the Bible and how they are taking place now-especially with event of 9/11. I missed the discussion on that one because I didn't feel good and had homework.

I read I Still Dream of You by Fannie Flagg. I've read other books by her and she's a good author.  Her books are usually set in the south and are funny.

I just finished Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini. I've read all her other Elm Creek books and like those. This one was different because it is the fictional account of Elizabeth Keckley who was Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. It was okay. My mom and I saw the movie Lincoln a couple of weeks ago and she's a character in that movie too.

I still have both books to read for my book clubs toward the end of the month-Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks and The Transformation of Things by Jillian Cantor. I'll get to those soon. Right now I need to work on my homework by reading Practical Cataloging and Fundamentals of School Library Media Management-riveting stuff.

It's about time

It's been awhile since there's been a blog post. It's time to start again. Things just get so busy. I can't believe we're almost six weeks into the new year already! I'm writing this on my new laptop I got for Christmas from my mom. It seems like our home computer might be done for as of Tuesday night since the power went off for an hour. We haven't been able to turn it back on yet. I'm glad I have my laptop now since I need a working and reliable computer for my online classes.

Since the last time I blogged Gerrit started a new job. He works at McDonald's. He likes it and they don't give him too many hours which he likes. Donovan played parks and rec basketball. He also won his school geography bee. He took a written test to see if he advances to state. We haven't heard yet. They advance the top 100 scores to the state geography bee. Aleah will be headed to a confirmation retreat next month near Fergus Falls. Samantha is selling Girl Scout cookies.

For the first time in nine years Bruce didn't have a Pinewood Derby car to get ready last month. Donovan didn't do Cub Scouts this year. Samantha is still in Girl Scouts. I guess this is only her third year, but she's been going to meetings since she was a month old so it seems a lot longer.

Tomorrow is Sunday. We have a potluck lunch after church. Plans for the rest of the day include lots of homework for me. I'm not sure what the others have planned yet. Gerrit does work-he rarely works on Sundays but he does tomorrow. I think the temperature is suppose to be okay so Donovan and Samantha could play outside.

I do hope to at least list the books I've read since I last blogged. I have them written down. I will write about one now. My sister-in-law Kelly gave me the book Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic by Martha Beck for Christmas. It was the story of two Harvard professors that found out they were expecting a baby with Down's Syndrome. It was really good.