Tweaks? Twi-Hards?

Speaking of books...and then books being made into movies.....and then movies becoming filled with craze-filled fans.....

Are you a Twilight fan? 

I resisted.  I really truly resisted.  Years I resisted.  No way.  Vampires?  Puh-lease.  Werewolves?  Are you serious? 

BUT, I've caved.  This past spring, a co-worker/friend (can I call her a co-friend?  co-worker who becomes a friend?  so then would I have to refer to my husband as a co-husband?  nevermind.) brought the four books of the series to me to read while I was on maternity leave.  Yeah yeah yeah, I'll get to them if I have time.  I leisurely finished my books that I had out from the library.  Looked around the house and my eyes settled on these big black books with red and white stuff on the covers. 

OOOh spooky design.  Uh huh.  I'm still battling in my head whether I want to or not.  So many friends had said they were great books, even my sister who doesn't strike me as liking fantasy fiction stuff.  But even the reviews says things like "teen drama" and "teen romance" and there are posters in the Teen Room at the library.  Fine.  All right.  I'll do it.  I'm 32 years old, and I'll read Twilight.  [And really, the whole "teen" thing should bother me as I am addicted to what my husband calls "teen dramas" - The OC, 90210, Gossip Girl, to name a few.] 

So I sat down to read while babycakes was napping.  And I finished the book that same day.  Woah.  Powerful stuff.  I am sure that I looked like an idiot with my mouth hanging open in a half smile as I'm reading.  Way to go Stephenie Meyer!!! 

I immediately start New Moon.  Again, can't put it down.  I think my family is lucky I was even able to take care of myself much less the baby while I was reading!  Enthralled.  Mesmerized.  Bewitched.  Spellbound.  Enraptured.  It was all I could do to put it down to tend to the kiddo's basic needs.  Though, I could potentially place the blame for this on him as well - he was napping ON me.  For hours.  I couldn't move for risk of waking him up.  Handy excuse, isn't it?  Hee hee. 

Anyway.  So yes, I finished all four books of the series in about a week and a half.  I managed to tear myself away from them for longer periods of time so that I could get some basic housework done.  But I could hardly wait to sit back down and pick up where it left off!  AND THEN, wouldn't you know it - I read all the books and then Starz has a free weekend on our cable so I can watch Twilight the movie!  AND THEN, New Moon came on PPV three days later!  So yes, I read all four books and watched the two available movies.  All after I decided was that I *might* read the first book.  Good grief. 

So I go to her website and start snooping around.  Holy crap, there's a version from Edward's point of view I find out (again, from my co-friend).  It's called Midnight Sun and I read it just as ravenously as I read the books.  It's not complete as it was leaked online and she never finished it.  I honestly hope she does finish it and does the same for the subsequent novels as well!!  There's also a novella about Bree Tanner!   

Now Eclipse is in theaters.  I know people who went to the midnight premiere.  I was not one of them.  Will I see it in the theater?  Perhaps.  I might wait until it's out on PPV though.  Will I end up buying the movies?  Probably.  I returned the books to my co-friend and promptly went out and bought my own.  It's true.

So are you a Tweak (Twilight freak) or a Twi-Hard (die-hard, obviously)?  I think I'm just a fan.  Maybe a big fan, but not quite to Tweak status and definitely not a Twi-Hard. 

GO TEAM EDWARD!!!!!

Books, Nooks and E-Readers, Oh my!

A friend's status on Facebook triggered this post.  She questioned "Kindle: Y or N?" and it reminded me that I want an electronic reader.  But as of right now, I'm too cheap.  I have heard that books are $10 for a download and plus the cost of the reader and whatnot, I didn't want to invest that much money into something when I can go to the library for free.  I used to buy books all the time - until I realized I had bought the same book multiple times (at least I know my tastes didn't change much, eh?). 

So as some of her friends and myself are commenting back and forth on her status, one of them recommended checking with our local library to see what they do for ebooks and the like.  Hmm, good question.  So I go online and see that yes, our library DOES participate in ebooks - they'll download to your computer for offline reading or direct to your portable reader!  WOO HOO!!!  This makes me happy!  As of right now, it doesn't look like they'll do the Kindle, but they specifically mention the Nook, Sony Daily Edition and Sony Digital Readers.  And something called COOL-ER.  

So I bring this up at work today as one of my co-workers is an avid reader as well.  She thinks it's worth waiting for the iPad to be more readily available around here.  And then you could do all sorts of things just on one portable unit, rather than juggling so many things.  Makes sense.  Do I have the patience?  Do I even want to spend the money?  I feel like I'm behind the times (I don't even own an iPod or a Zune or a Blue-Ray player!) but I think eventually I'll get with it! :)  I think I'm too chicken to take the plunge!! 

Murphy's Law (for Parents)

Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  Thanks Wikipedia.

In my view, early on a Sunday morning (real early, like some friends were probably just getting home kind of early), this can be changed to: If a kid's going to wake up, it's on the weekend.

I don't know what it is.  All of our children go to bed roughly at the same time every night, weeknight or weekend.  Doesn't matter.  We've got our routine down, and we stick to it.  But somehow - and here's my adaptation of Murphy's Law coming out - my children will sleep in every weekday and wake up early every weekend.  Parents, are ya with me? 

I am dragging their little booties out of bed every day of the workweek.  And then on the weekends, I can hear their little feet charging up the stairs a good hour before they wake up during the week.  ARGH.  Seriously!??!

And the little one.  He's still confined in a crib, so he basically just makes noise until you come to him.  I guess I should be thankful that he *usually* sleeps all night during the week when we have to get up for work, but dang it would be nice for him to sleep through on weekends when we can potentially sleep in.  So today - up at 4am.  And again at 6:30.  COME ON!! 

While we keep the boys on their same bedtime routine on weekends, we don't stick to it for ourselves.  So it's my own fault that I'm tired.  I know this.  But just let me blame the boys, please!??

RoadKill Cafe

I hate roadkill.  And road construction. 

As of right now, they are intertwined in my head.  I live in an area that has the longstanding joke that there are two seasons - Winter and Road Construction.  Since there's no snow right now, you know what's going on.  Road construction.  Of my 12 mile commute to work, 10 of it are under road construction.  If I'm going to daycare, then my commute hops up to probably 20 miles.  And 15 of it is road construction.  I do need to admit that these are estimates - I don't usually measure in miles, I measure in minutes it takes.  I am a girl.  Anyway, I can't escape it - the road construction, not the being a girl.  Well....hmm.  Nevermind.

The other day, I had to go through neighborhoods that I've never been in to get to my favorite grocery store (yes, it's a chain and they have other locations, but I LIKE my store and yes, I will get there however long it takes).  It's got 2 main roads that meet right by the store - both of which are under construction.  I'm following detour signs and kids on bikes and finally see it shining like a beacon in the orange.  Phew. 

So that was a lot of info and I haven't even gotten to the guts [heh heh] of the post.  Back to the roadkill. 

I swerve to avoid anything that might try to cross the road in front of me.  Big animals (of course), but also gophers, mice, squirrels, etc.  I will flinch if a bird swoops in front of the windshield.  Probably not the best way to drive.  Right now, on the one section of two-way traffic on my drive, there are 3 dead raccoons and 2 deer.  Unfortunately, they are in the middle of the two-way traffic - not off to the side of the road where I don't have to look.  So yes, I close my eyes (or avert them) when I see that I am getting close to where they are. 

Who is responsible for removing roadkill from the highway?  Is it the DOT or the DOW or the construction company that is out there every day seeing them?  Let me google it.  Well, first I binged it.  I'm not a binger, I'm a googler.  I need to stay true to my roots here.  Let's google.  Huh.  I don't think that I need the menu from Texas Roadhouse.  Really? 

I can't find crap.  Here's what I found. My state is very hard to find actual regulations (after being re-directed etc).  There are websites with pictures or videos of roadkill.  Gross. 

Does anyone know?  Or will I have to continually close my eyes while driving?  Is that better or worse than texting and driving?  Food for thought. :)

Good ol' Mickey D's...

I was *extremely* disturbed by an article on MSN Money the other day. It was about a group that is planning on suing McDonald's for including a toy in their Happy Meals. The gist is that Happy Meals aren't the healthiest for our children and now they're (McD's) forcing parents to feed their children crap because the kid wants the toy.

You can read the story here. If you want to read it first and then come back, go ahead. I'll wait. I would hate for my opinion to color your impression of the article. Mm, that's not true, I'm hoping you are as PO'd as I am about it. Ok, go ahead and read and come back.

Done yet? Can I go on? No? Ok. I'll give you another minute.

Now? Ok, good. Here goes.

First off, I think this group has too much time and money on their hands. What are they hoping to accomplish? Hmm, let me think....LARGE SETTLEMENT. That's why they're going after McD's rather than the rash of other fast food joints that offer toys with their kids meals. And yes, Mickey D's has set a precedent of settling outside of court on other issues. But still.

Second, REALLY??!?!? I'm pretty sure that I'm the adult in our car when we're looking for something to eat. My children are not holding a gun to my head to make me drive to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. If a little toy from a popular movie or tv show is going to make the kids happy, and I feel like a quarter pounder with cheese, no onions extra pickles, then I'm all for it. Remember, it's called a Happy Meal. It makes the kid happy, it makes the car quiet and then yes, a happy mom.

Third, they are going for the shock factor. Comparing McDonald's to a child molester? SERIOUSLY? Ok, I'll give you that Ronald McDonald is a little freaky with his bright red/orange hair and the whole clown thing that people have a phobia of (it's called Coulrophobia), but c'mon.

Where does it end? Pretty soon they're going to sue restaurants for serving wine. Dangit, sometimes I need that wine. You better leave them alone.

Am I a Blogger?

Over the past few years, I've been told quite a few times that I should start a blog. This is based on the fact that I am a Facebook addict. I can't help it. They make it too easy. So yes, I update my status quite regularly. People start to worry if they don't see a status update in their newsfeed. I can't help it, I am who I am and I don't hide that fact on Facebook or elsewhere. My dad was mortified when I posted that I had ran out of gas on the street outside of Sam's Club. He couldn't believe that I would put something so embarrassing. I however, had no qualms about sharing. :) That's just who I am.


SO. Rather than work this afternoon, I am dipping my toes into the blogging world. I've had a blog in the past that was mostly pictures and sharing cute child quips with the world. This time - you're getting my thoughts. Brace yourself, as a lot of the time I have no idea where they come from. I hope you smile, laugh, or even just a solemn nod if something hits home for you. What am I going to blog about? I'm not even sure.


The title of my blog is based on the fact that I've got three boys now (well, four if you count their father). A lot of my life revolves around them of course. Being a mother has been absolutely life-changing and such a blessing (oh, don't pounce on the use of the word "blessing" - yes, I believe in God but I don't go to church and won't have preachy posts about religion on here - to each his own). Anywho. I think that being a mom has made me even more random than before - I didn't think it was possible. I've always been the girl who gets distracted by shiny objects and couldn't sit by a window in class or else I'd be in la-la land most of the time. And I might be raising my sons to be random as well. Or is that just the way that kids are? I don't know.


So yeah, I might be a blogger. We'll see!