Jen's Amazon Listmania Lists

I think I might start blocking people who don't have any entries in their xanga blog if I don't know who they are.  I can do that can't  I?   I hate to go protected!

Always a bad thing to stop at B&N, but I didn't buy a single book!!  I did copy down a number of titles of books I wanted to read.........

Lost in the Forest - Sue Miller

Sweetwater Creek - Anne Rivers Siddons

Riding the Bus with my Sister - Rachel Simon

Name all the Animals - Alison Smith

Just Checking - Emily Colas

Glass Castle - Jeanette Wells

Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

The Myth of You and Me - Leah Stewart

Ice Queen - Alice Hoffman

Highest Tide - Jim Lynch

Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson

Fugitive Wife - Peter C Brown (Minnesota Author I believe)

Marley and Me - John Grogan

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

Before You Know Kindness - Chris Bohjalian

Three Junes - Julia Glass

Never let me go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Snow Flowers and the Secret Fan - Lisa See

Gardenias - Faith Sullivan (Follow Up to Cape Ann)

The Man in My Basement - Walter Mosley

Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

Case Histories - Kate Atkinson

Painted Drum - Louise Erdrich

City of Fallen Angels - John Berendt

Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

Oh My Stars - Lorna Landvik (giving this author a second chance)

The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd (giving this author a second chance)

Have you read any of these???  What did you think??  Gotta fill up my MP3 player again!

In August we will be meeting on one members river boat.....(hoping she don't try to drive!!!)

In September we are going for 4 days to Emily, MN to a members cabin to discuss the book.

In October or November one member would like us to go to her house in Florida....AAAHHH....wouldn't that be nice.  All I would have to pay for is the flight.  I wonder if I could actually travel that far alone????  I never have!  Not sure hubby would go for that, but it sure would be fun!

The October meeting is at a haunted house.....we are going to the Author of House of Spirits and Whispers home nearby.  Should be interesting.....

What a fun group.......we also have started a monthly movie night.  

WEEKLY MENU

SUNDAY – Crockpot Lasagna   **Prepare BBQ Sauce and pasta Salad **

MONDAY- Crockpot Drumsick and Macaroni Salad

TUESDAY – Chicken Salad Sandwiches - Left Over

WEDNESDAY - Buffalo Chicken Pizza   ** Thaw out BBQ Chicken

THURSDAY – BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - From Freezer   ** Prepare Swiss Chicken and Refrigerate

FRIDAY – Swiss Chicken, Rice and Veggie – Bakes 40 minutes

SATURDAY – BLOCK PARTY

SUNDAY – Sloppy Joe Pasta – Bakes for 30 minutes

Let my weekend begin......no big plans for once for the weekend.  I do have a number of things around the house to take care of.   Gotta get ready for the block party a bit!  I hope to get a fair amount of reading done since it will be so hot!  Oh and I promised Tommy we would make a volcano!  Pictures to follow, of course, if I find my camera. 

Well it is nearly 7:00 and time for me to leave the office and head home!!   Later!! Have a great weekend!

I sure owe you all a real update!!   Thanks for all your kind comments and concern.   Life is hectic to say the least.  I can't wait until school starts and life has more of a routine to it. 

JOSH

Josh's party was great.  A bit stressful, everything leading up to the party didn't go so well, but the party was great.   The night before we still didn't have the DVD done and hubby was up all night trying to get it to work.   I got up at 4:00 and worked on rebuilding it until about 8:00.   Hubby finally went to bed around 8:00 until the party.   So I was on my own to get the things that morning.   I picked up the balloons first, one broke on the way home.  No big deal.....came home and decorated a bit, then went to Sam's Club to get the Cake.   This is where it all went down hill.  They didn't have a cake for me.  They couldn't find the order!   I was nearly ok...pretty much in tears in the middle of Sam's.  They quickly decorated a new one for me and gave it to me free of charge.   I then came home and did a few things and then went to Kowalski's to pick up the wraps....of course they weren't done either!!!   I was so blessed that my boss and a co-worker, both great friends came early and helped getting the food all ready and decorating!   Gotta love them!

The big party is done....WHEW...and Josh has started his work study job at the college.  He likes it  and they really like him since he is a hard worker.   He keep his other job as well.  So he is working two jobs and rarely home.   For a graduation gift, hubby and I got him a laptop for school so he is loving that!   My little geek boy.  He is going to be majoring in some type of computer program so he will get a good use out of this machine.  It is NICE!!...Nicer than mine....hubby did a good job building/selecting it.  This is also why Josh loves his work study job.  He is working in the computer department for one of the supervisors doing projects for him.   He unpacked 36 servers and computer the other night.  He is a great independent worker, so he gets a lot of projects to do. 

Today I am working from home so I can be with Erik as Josh and his friends went to Valley Fair.  Josh has been great and willing to watch Erik for us when he need to work and he isn't working.   It is pretty crazy trying to rearrange our schedules to meet Erik's needs.  But we are doing.

ERIK

Today Erik is not feeling well.  Hopefully he will be better tomorrow.   He finished summer school and the notes we got back from the teachers were very positive.  Though his math teacher said he needs to ask for help more.   We haven't gone on any vacations this year and Erik hasn't gone on one with his Mom either.  So he has been home most of the time.   He is no longer going to daycare so we are working hard to rearrange our schedules.  

He has been busy collecting aluminum cans and hopefully we can cash them in before the end of summer for him.  He will be greatly disappointed as he thinks he will be very rich after he sells them.   Reality will suck! 

Erik's Dr is coming up with a new behavioral strategy for us to use so we are very anxious for that.  Hopefully we will have good results!

TOMMY

My baby is growing up.  He is now too big (according to him) for many things.   He has been sounding out more and more words.  Last night I was doing homework with him and we had to stop to go to bed.  He got really mad and said, "you never let me do homework".  LOL   We are still getting the Brighter Visions educational boxes and he really loves them.   This month the set focuses on the Earth and we will be making a volcano this weekend.   It should be fun, I think even Erik will like it.  

Tommy is hard to keep in the house and yard.  He is off visiting friends alot.  Last weekend we both went swimming at the neighbors house and then we went to another neighbors to be in their new hot tub....LOL!!!  Our little social bug.  Boy...did he sleep well that night!

TEDDY

Our puppy has gotten so big and is still alot of fun.  He is not completely house trained, but we are getting closer.   He sleeps through the night and doesn't get me up to go out until 5:30am!   Much better.   He is doing well at puppy kindergarten.  I have never trained a dog so it is amazing to me how easy it is!   He is being clicker trained so maybe that is the difference.   He is able to sit and lay down on command.   We are still working on walking on the leash without choking ourselves, but that needs work!   We have class tonight as well.   I would post a picture of how big he has gotten, but my camera has gone missing again.  One of he kids much have it.    We kenneled him for the first time when we went o Duluth, and that wasn't that fun for us.  He was very happy to see us when we got home.  

HUBBY

He is very busy working and things.   He has been very nice and helping out around the house some.  What a difference that makes, I am very grateful for that.   I think his promotion has been pretty stressful for him among other things, but I think things are getting better for us all. 

ME........

I am doing ok....better actually.  I had the kidney surgery. It went fine and wasn't that bad.   A few days of pain killers when they passed.  I was suppose to go back the Dr after the surgery, but haven't done that yet.   The black cloud gave me a bit of a visit and actually more of a run for my money than usual.   I am trying to get back into alot of my routines and get things moving more smoothly around here again.    I am flexing my hours alot to make accommodations for various Dr appointments and Erik's need for supervision.   It is only for another month, I can do that!   So depending on the day, I am either going into work early to get home earlier or going in later and working until late.  I just have to get my 40 hours in a week. 

Work is good and I am feeling like I am getting caught up in many areas.    We have a new security system at work and I need to be out of the office by 11:00pm every night or I set off the alarms and the police will come.  If they come for a false alarm the county will be charged $200.00 so I am making sure I am out of the office by 10:00 every night!!   The security guards leave earlier too, but that doesn't bother me.  I can work in the building without them fine and have no concerns.   I have been getting quite a few new case and am serving just under 70 families right now.   So it is a must to try and keep up!    I also am developing a new home with a co-worker for   4 children.   So we are just starting that process as well.   Today I am working from home and tomorrow morning I will work from home until Josh gets home from work.   He is a life saver!!!  Thank goodness for a flexible job and boss.   But I always get my work done...that is the major thing they care about.   Just handled a huge crisis yesterday that took my whole day!  but it felt good to do real social work instead of this PW bull.   Gotta love government paperwork.   The big focus again in on revenues so I have to make the projected amount of money they expect each year.   I will find out what my projections is for this year in August.   I think my revenues are up so far.... I hope so anyways. 

And we have one more big event this summer.  The annual block party!   We are having it on August 5th ,but haven't gotten many RSVP's yet.  I hope they come in soon or we will have to cancel the party.  This is the 11th or 12th year of having it.  So this weekend I will be working on the budget for the event and getting the games worked out.   I didn't order prizes yet so I will have to come up with something there.  Might be more snacks than prizes this year.  We didn't rent a bouncy thing this year...not sure we have the money.   The kids really love the games!

Well I think that is it...........sorry I have been neglecting you all.  Know you are often thought of and appreciated greatly!!!   Once I find my camera I will share some pics........

SUNDAY - Roast Chicken and Rice Pilaf - Very Yummy!

MONDAY - LEFTOVERS

TUESDAY - London Broil Steak and Baked Pots

WEDNESDAY - Philly Cheesesteak Pizza and Salad

THURSDAY - Tacos

FRIDAY - Cheddar Chicken Spaghetti

SATURDAY - Buffalo Chicken Pizza

SUNDAY - Swiss Chicken and Rice and Veggie

 

SLOW DANCE

 

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

 

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

 

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

 

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say,"Hi"

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

 

Colossians 3:12