Weekly Wrap-up for April 29, 2012: The End of April and Some Loose May Plans.

This is a super late weekly post, but I worked an 8 hour shift earlier today at the park. And while I set my alarm for 6:30 so I could pump out a post this morning, I decided that hitting the snooze 15 times was a better option. :)

Anyway, things have been crazy busy around these parts. Since starting back up at the park last week, I've been running around like a nutso person. Thankfully I'm not working many weekday evenings (maybe 1 or 2 a week) until school gets out, so I will be a little less insane than I was at this time last year. But, all my "free" days on the weekend are gone. I forgot how much it sucks to have no days off. Oh well.

It is also hard to believe that it is already May! Time is flying by! I can't believe I've been teaching for two months and only have about 6 or 7 weeks left in the school year. Things have been going well in that department. Since I am teaching all English this year, I've noticed there is a definite difference in my workload (I taught 2 sections of history last year and 3 English, and this fall I had 4 English and the Student Government class). There are lots more essays to grade when you have 5 sections of English. But, I am really enjoying it and I am learning a great deal. It helps that I have great kids too. :)

In regards to reading, I have had a pretty steady month of finishing smaller books, but I completely failed in reading Clarissa. I have a post planned for tomorrow on that whole shebang and failure, but I'm really not that upset that I didn't finish it. There is still plenty of time left in 2012 to get through it. I have noticed that I have been spending a lot of time this month reading things NOT on my project list. I'm okay with that, but I do want to transition back to reading more of my project books in May. May will be a "free" month for me (June and July starts my Victorian Event-more on that below), so I am going to try and make some progress through a few challenge titles, etc. I've been craving some Greek literature, and since I have 4 smaller Greek pieces, I might get through those. I am also going to dive back into Nicholas Nickleby, since I set it aside in March and April to deal with school stuff. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I'll grab. Maybe A Passage to India and Kim? We'll have to see. All I know is I want short so I can feel like I am making progress.

It is also hard to believe that my Victorian Event for June and July is right around the corner. I've been neglecting getting the word out, so here is my lame attempt at reminding you. :) If you haven't signed up yet, please visit the sign-up page. I am going to be pulling some winners in the next day or two, so sign up!

I'd also appreciate it if anyone wanted to put up the badge on their blogs, tweet about the event and get some excitement stirred up again.

I am also still looking for people interested in hosting their own giveaway, or writing a guest post for me during one of the two months. I would love to have some featured posts on Victorian writers, etc, so if you're game, please send me an e-mail and let me know (my e-mail is on my profile page). And if you have e-mailed me, I'll be getting in touch with you this week so we can discuss.

Well, that's all I have for tonight. I'm going to try and get through a big chunk of An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer (a very rare book that I accepted for review) before watching Game of Thrones with the husband and a couple of friends.

Happy Reading everyone!

Weekly Wrap-up: Readathon and a Park Story.

Hey everyone-

I was planning on making one more post last night to officially call it quits on the readathon, but I just didn't have the energy. After my last update, I curled up on the couch with Matt because he wanted to watch a movie together. And yeah, I took time with my husband over reading because I just haven't seen too much of him recently. When our movie was done, I finished The Little Foxes and crashed in bed.

I did have to work this morning, so I couldn't stay up all night and still function at the park (more on the park in a minute).

Even though I finished 2 books during the course of the readathon, I don't think I was super productive. If I had the day off, I am sure that I would have read more, been more interactive, and entered more of the challenges. I need to make sure that I request future dates off so I don't get stuck like I did this time around.

I think I might do my own mini-readathon next weekend to makeup for my lack of reading yesterday. I still want to get through most of Clarissa, so I figure if I get ahead with all my school stuff, I'll be able to devote a lot of time to reading next weekend. :) We'll see how it works.

Anyway, my first day at the park was yesterday, and it was relatively uneventful. Today was also pretty boring until about 3:30, a half hour before I was supposed to clock out. A woman came to inform us there was a suspicious man in the woods and that her kids saw him burying something. Intrigued, I went down with my other supervisor to see if we could find anything. We discovered a bag buried under some leaves where the man had been, so I called the police to come take a look. I didn't want to open it, you know?

So, a police officer comes, as well as one of the full-time rangers from another park. I lead them down into the woods on the hillside where the bag is. The officer actually seemed all excited to find something good.

Imagine all of our disappointment when he opened the bag to find two water bottles, two bottles of juice, two wine glasses, a wine cork opener thing, and a bottle of Chardonnay all set in the bag full of ice. We all started laughing. Apparently our suspicious man was planning a date night of some sort...and we ruined it. We don't allow alcohol in the park, so there was no way we could leave it.

It was a funny moment and was a good way to get back into the swing of park life.

Alright, enough procrastinating for me. I have one small stack of papers left to grade, and I need to get them done! :)

Weekly Wrap-up for April 15, 2012.

After my mild panic earlier this week about lesson-planning, I'm feeling much better. Sometimes I panic and then it turns out it isn't so bad. I ended up reading the book I was discussing on Wednesday night (yes, the whole thing), and I met with another teacher on Thursday to go through the unit. Problem solved. I managed to figure it all out yesterday-worked out the kinks and figured out the small bits and pieces I need to fix before I actually teach the unit. I feel a lot better about it. So, crisis averted. ;)

I also planned out the rest of my unit on Ender's Game yesterday. So now all of my classes are planned through mid-May. I feel a big sense of accomplishment. :D

As for reading and the blog, well, I am still feeling like I am in a big ol' rut. Don't get me wrong, I've been reading, just not the books I'm supposed to be. I read The Color of Water by James McBride (teaching it), as well as The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (the book I am passing out for World Book Night). I haven't touched Clarissa in about a week, and I am starting to panic a little bit about finishing it in the next 15 days...

I'm still aiming to plow through it by the end of the month, but if I'm going to do that, then I best get on it, right?

Alright, I am off to clean and do some reading. I hope you all have a wonderful reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for March 18, 2012.

I am surrounded by piles of essays on Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (96 to be exact), so I know I will need to cut my blogging time down this morning. While it isn't possible to finish all those essays today, I do need to get through a full class set by Tuesday morning. But after just a few, my mind wanders in a million directions and I see images of Lennie and George everywhere.

School is finally starting to settle into a routine. My body is still adjusting to the sleeping schedule, as well as being a little more intense in my actions each day. After being off work for 3 1/2 months, it is a little tough to be mentally "with" it. I know it is just a phase and once I am used to everything, it'll be fine. I'm sure that transition will be this week. It also didn't help that in my first two weeks we had conferences twice, as well as all the state testing. Another teacher said that the weather is throwing everyone off. We've had a week of 60 and 70 degree weather, making it feel like May. It has made the teachers and students anxious...even though we have months of school left. :)

In my classes, I did a project all week with my junior English class on Night. It was a preparatory step for their essay they are starting tomorrow, so I hope it helped them think about theme. My sophomores spent the first three days of the week revising their essays. THAT was a fun experience. I met with each of them for a few minutes to talk about some of their issues, so I HOPE that this pile of essays are improved from what I saw.

And my elective class started the unit on The Hunger Games. We read Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" as a way to get into the idea of utopia vs. dystopia. They really liked the creepiness of the story, so that was good. We also spent a day discussing the background of the novel-setting, main characters, etc. as a way to get them used to some of the ides. We started it on Monday and they have to have part 1 finished by tomorrow's class, as they have a quiz. They're enjoying it so far. I have a few who are hesitant about it, but I think my own excitement about teaching it is inspiring them at least a little. We also started the game I created on Friday, so I will make sure to share a bit more about it later this week.

So, with all that school stuff going on, I haven't had much time for reading OR blogging. I think I logged into blogspot twice all week because I simply didn't have time. Now that things are calming down, I'm going to reinforce the idea of having balance to get back into blogging and reading on my own on a regular basis. That being said, if you have an awesome post from this past week, please link it for me below so I make sure to go visit. My reader is a little insane with the number of posts to read!

I did manage to finish A Clockwork Orange on Friday night (my thoughts will be up tomorrow), and I started Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth yesterday morning. I'm really liking it, but I figured I would since I loved 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea so darn much. I've set aside Nicholas Nickleby for a couple months. I don't have the focus to get back into it, so I think picking it back up in May or June is a better idea.

Lastly, I announced two big events taking place. One, the Clarissa readalong, it coming up rather soon. If you missed the post, you can read it here. Basically, Jillian, Adam, and myself are going to try reading the entire novel in the month of April (thus why I am putting off the Dickens title). We have a few other people who might be joining in as well.

The other big event is "A Victorian Celebration," taking place in June and July. I know it was early to announce, but I was a bit excited about it, so I wanted to spring it on everyone early. :) I have great plans for stuff during the event, as well as some prizes, etc. There is no minimum number of books to read for it, so if you are thinking of tackling a Bronte, or Trollope, or Collins, that is the time to do it!

I am also joining in on an event hosted by O at Delaisse. We e-mailed a bit over the last week or so, and she announced this week a readathon of Joyce's Ulysses this Bloomsday (June 16). She is far more eloquent than I could hope to be in her explanation of the event, so traipse over to her blog if you are curious about the event. Basically we will be attempting to read all of Ulysses that day in celebration of Joyce.

This week my plans are merely to finish the Verne title, as well as starting one of the other novels I had selected for Adam's Magical March Event. I'm leaning towards the Wells, simply because I haven't read something by him in a long time, but I might change my mind. ;)

Happy reading everyone!

Weekly Wrap-up for March 11, 2012: Big Breath.

I have a million and a half things to do today, so I am probably going to cut this short. This week has been crazy busy, and this is really the first time I feel like I can take a big breath and relax!

I successfully finished my first week back at school, and considered everything, it went really well. The juniors had ACT and MME testing for three days, so I was proctoring the exam two mornings. We also had conferences on Thursday night, so that was a fun time. They were actually the easiest conferences I've ever had since I had only seen the kids a couple of days!

I've been working hard trying to get everything set up and ready. I'm starting The Hunger Games this week with one of my classes, so I had to plan and prep the whole unit last week. I only have a couple of things left to do for it, but I'm confident the unit is going to be awesome. :)

I got in a little bit of reading. Since I was prepping for the unit, I read through The Hunger Games real quick. It was my third read of the novel, but I was still addicted. :) I also got through a bit of A Clockwork Orange yesterday, and I am going to finish it today (I'm only allowing myself to do a few necessary items for school so that I can actually relax a bit). It is an interesting read, and I had to read the first two chapters a couple of time to get into the flow and vibe of the novel, but now I am hooked. :)

The only other big news for the week is The Classics Club, started by Jillian. It seems to have blown up, which makes my classics-loving heart so happy. :) You can see my own list on the designated page on my blog, or by clicking here. I had a hard time trying to decide how many books to list for it, so I decided to combine the remaining 114 titles from my original list to any that came to mind. Altogether, I have 450 classics on the new list. I'm going to keep adding to it as I stumble across more titles I want to get to. If you haven't joined in on the fun, you should!

Anyway, I'm going to go do a few hours of school work while Matt is gone (he's working this morning), then I am settling in with A Clockwork Orange before doing some cleaning.

Have a great week and happy reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for March 4, 2012: Thoughts on School.

I'm feeling very tired this morning. I think part of it is because I stayed up a little too late last night. That threw off my plans to try and get get into a decent sleeping schedule before going back to school. With working only a couple days a week for the last three and a half months, my whole schedule got messed up. I would stay up way too late and sleep in. Not good. I'm sure I am going to be tired tomorrow, but hopefully my body will straighten itself out.

Today I'm going to be working on a few things for the placement. This week at the school is odd, since the juniors are going to be testing in the morning 3 days, and the other kids coming in just for the afternoon. Tuesday is just a testing day, so I won't even see my classes. Hopefully I can get back into it and get to know my kids relatively quick, since I also have conferences Thursday afternoon. Odd, right? It should be interesting.

Anyway, lots of planning to do today. I did want to say thank you to everyone who commented with ideas for The Hunger Games. I've been brainstorming all week, and I think I finally have some solid ideas. I'm going to be outlining and starting the plan today, so we'll see how it goes. I also have a few other things to get ready for tomorrow and such, so hopefully I can get everything ready so tomorrow will go smoothly.

I was a bit of a reading machine this past week. Knowing that I was going to be finishing up the very end of two units, I decided to read the books again. I flew through both Night and Kindred. I won't be doing too much with the kids on either of them except reviewing before a test, but I feel better with having them fresh in my memory. I also pulled The Girl who was on Fire off my shelf to read, even before you all suggested it. :) For those who don't know, it's a collection of essays on The Hunger Games. I was considering using one in class and reading it with the kids, but since all of them talk about the entire series, I can't do that (don't want to spoil the other two). I did find a lot of interesting passages I might use, as well as some quotes I think we're going to discuss in class.

So even though I didn't even touch Nicholas Nickleby or any of the books I am planning on getting to this month, I still think I had a good reading week.

I am going to cut this short, since I just seem to be rambling anyway. There will be another post going up later for Weekend Cooking. I tried to get it up yesterday, but I got sidetracked. And I'm sure it'll be much more interesting than this was. :)

Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for February 26, 2012: Playing Catch-up and Teaching Texts.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea that this month is almost gone. While I haven't been busy doing too many things, I still feel like I am far behind on getting anything accomplished. I guess I will reevaluate that when I get to March 1, right?

I ended up going to see a movie with my mom on Thursday night, which we haven't done in a long time! We went and saw One for the Money, based on the Stephanie Plum series. I read the first ten a real long time ago, and my mom, I think, it caught up on the series, so it was fun to see the movie. It was definitely a good choice-funny with cute guys-and we had a good time.

On Friday, our district had a snow day. We were supposed to get 8+ inches of snow. We got maybe 1. But, Matt had the day off, so we took advantage of it and went to see an early movie. We figured that by going early, we would miss a lot of the crowd (the movie was at 4:30), but we walked into a theater that happened to have a large group of my old students. They all said hi, stared at Matt a bit, and made it that much more fun. :) We saw Wanderlust, which was a little more...extreme than I had planned on (don't get me wrong, it was funny, but a little over the top in regards to the humor). After, we hit up a local seafood place for dinner. It was a good date night and we both needed it, since we never go out anymore.

I've also been doing a lot of reading this week. I knew I had my third Roots post to read for, but I swore not to touch the book until I finished David Copperfield. I managed to finish it Tuesday so I could read Roots all day Wednesday. I finished both books, which was exciting since it doubled my monthly book number. :)

So while I managed to read a lot this week, I didn't read as much as I wanted to. I would have liked to be done with a few more titles (maybe a challenge book or two), but I can't help it that the chunky books are calling to me. My next read is Nicholas Nickleby, so I suppose I just do these things to myself, right? I doubt I will finish Nicholas Nickleby by the end of the month like I want to, but hopefully I can hit the halfway point.

The only other exciting thing to happen this month was my meeting to learn more about my long-term placement on Thursday morning. I'm starting on the 5th, just over a week away, and I will be there until the end of the school year. I'm really excited to get back into it, especially because of all the wonderful books pictured below:

The only two books that are new to me are The Color of Water and Alas, Babylon. I don't know much about either, so if you've read them, please give me some pointers. I do think Alas, Babylon will fit into Adam's Challenge for March, so I'm glad it will serve double duty.

I've read everything else at least once. I probably won't read The Crucible again until we're reading it in class since I am fairly familiar with it (so excited to teach it again), but I want to read through everything else before we get to it in class. Two of the classes are in the middle of two books, Night and Kindred, so I have to finish up the units on each. I'm planning on reading both this week (I read Kindred when I was a high schooler and Night a few years ago).

And can I tell you how stoked I am to teach Ender's Game and The Hunger Games? Card's novel got me hooked on science-fiction, so I have a soft spot for it. And The Hunger Games is just going to be fun. :) They just bought the books and no one has used them yet, so I can't wait to develop a unit for the book. I'm going to be reading that one with the class for the non-readers, so it should be a fun time.

So, my last week before teaching is going to be full of reading, don't you think? In addition to making some good progress with the Dickens title, I need to get through those other two titles. We'll see how that goes. :)

Well, I am spending the rest of my morning and afternoon reading, writing, and doing a little lesson-planning.

Hope you all have a happy reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for February 19, 2012: Productivity, Good News, and Reading Plans.

This has been a cuh-razy week. I mean CRAZY. It finally hit me that the month was slipping away and I had made no progress on any of the plans I had to get things in order around here, so I told myself that by today, I had to get something done.

I tackled a couple of big projects this week. The first thing I did was organize my recipe binder (also jump started by the fact that Matt knocked my card box off the counter and broke it. After watching the cats bat my recipe cards everywhere-including under the fridge (that was fun to retrieve)-I decided to tackle this project this month instead of next). While doing my laundry at my mom's on Friday, I also tore through her recipes and wrote down the ones I wanted. I am still waiting for my specialty page protectors to come in the mail. As soon as they do and everything is perfect, I'll show you what I did. I foresee lots of cooking in the future. :)

My new goal of trying one new recipe a week is still completely successful. :) We've liked everything I've made so far, but the trick is going to be keeping this up as we get busier!

I also went on a cleaning/organizing RAMPAGE yesterday. We've been dealing with some clutter and mess in our second bedroom, so I finally decided to tackle it. Most of it was just tossing old magazines, filing bills and paperwork, and putting things away. I also cleaned out my desk and put some of the things away that have been out for no reason (like our Christmas wrapping paper. It was still out). From there, I got into a zone and tackled our bedroom. I did laundry on Friday, so I started organizing and putting clothes away. But then I was digging in my drawers and closet and wound up with a bag full of clothes to donate. THEN, I noticed my jewelry was a certified mess, so I spent 2 hours sorting out my jewelry, re-arranging, and setting aside a PILE of old jewelry for my nieces. I figured they would appreciate some new sparkles. :)

By the time I finished everything, I had a small pile of stuff to donate (I'm taking it all this afternoon), two bags of garbage, and it was 10:00 PM. I told you I was productive. But the apartment looks awesome and I feel really good about getting that all taken care of so I don't have it lingering over my head.


It also comes at the perfect time because I got some good news on Friday afternoon. If you were on twitter, you probably saw, but I got a long-term subbing position for the rest of the school year! :) I interviewed for the job on Tuesday morning, and they called to tell me Wednesday that they wanted a second interview next week. I was incredibly surprised to see the school calling me Friday afternoon, and the principal offered me the job! My mom and I did a happy dance.

I'm really excited to be going back into a classroom. The last 3 or 4 months have been hard with nothing to do. I'm even MORE excited that I'm going to be back in the school I worked in LAST year. It was a great environment, so I can't wait to be returning.

I'll be teaching sophomore English again (I get to teach The Crucible again! Yay!), a section of eleventh grade English (research papers), and a class called Exploring Literature. I'm really excited for the last class, since it is geared for students who don't like reading. I think it'll be a great avenue to push some books on kids and test my own abilities to engage non-readers. :) I'll know more about what I'm doing after our meeting Thursday morning.

But I am stoked. :)

I'm celebrating by reading all day today (and since I failed to read anything yesterday). I'm going to join in on the readathon going on with Literary Stars. Having other people reading today is good motivation, and since Matt has to work on homework, I know he'll leave me alone. ;)

Goals for today:
-Finish David Copperfield
-Read the third section of Roots for my post due Wednesday!

I hope you all had a marvelous week-Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for February 12, 2012: Lazy Days.

I'm feeling a little rundown today, so I'm not sure how long my little wrap-up post is going to be. Matt had a few of his guys friends over last night drinking and brewing beer (yes, brewing beer), so I hid in our bedroom most of the night and played on my Nook or read. Even with all of that, I stayed up too late and I'm feeling particularly cranky this morning.

Part of it is that every once in awhile my lungs act up. You might remember that I had two bouts of walking pneumonia last year (once in the Spring and once in the Fall). Ever since, my lungs will sometimes act up. I have a hard time breathing and my lungs feel tight-almost like I can't breathe out enough air. It is painful and uncomfortable and probably a side-effect from the illness. Anyway, they acted up last night so I spent a lot of the time in the bedroom concentrating on breathing.

And before anyone tells me to, I am calling my doctor tomorrow morning to see if I can get in. Perhaps there is something I can take to help, like an inhaler. I think that would be helpful, especially as I continue to work out (I've been having a hard time with cardio-my lungs start screaming at me after about 5 minutes on the elliptical-I've been sticking with low key workouts, mainly yoga).

In any case, since my lungs still feel a bit tender, I am putting off my cleaning job for today. I was going to tackle cleaning out and organizing our second bedroom, but I don't feel up to it and don't want to trigger another attack. Instead, I think I am going to catch up on some reading, since I really want to finish David Copperfield by Thursday, as well as some scrapbooking (working on my goals for the month). I also need to comment on all the Shakespeare Month posts, as well as pull a winner for the clothbound book. But, this should be a relaxing day.

This week I don't have any grand plans beyond finishing David Copperfield. Like I said above, I want to finish it by Thursday, then finish Roots, before moving on to Nicholas Nickleby for the rest of the month. I had intended on getting more read this month, but I read Dickens very slowly and since both of his books are chunky, they are going extra slow. We'll see what happens. :)

I hope you all have a good reading week. Let me know in the comments what you're reading and how things are going. I've been a little MIA from reading blogs and being on Twitter this week, so I feel like I've missed a lot. I hope to be a little more active this week!

Weekly Wrap-up for February 5, 2012: On Singing, Babies, Books, Shakespeare, and More.

I am tired this morning, but I did force myself out of bed to get some things accomplished this morning. I guess I have myself to blame.

Last night we went to a karaoke bar. Now, anyone who has been in a car with me, to a concert, or by me while I think I am alone knows that I cannot sing to save my life. My husband says I can't really call it "tone-deaf" since I can tune myself when I am playing my trumpet, but I cannot carry a tune (Yes, I play the trumpet. Matt and I play in a community band once a week. And yes, I am better than him. ;) Don't tell him that).

So last night was a little tortuous for me, since the friends we went with have not been graced by the beauty that is my singing voice. Needless to say, even with all their peer pressure tactics, I didn't get up on stage and sing. I stayed at our table and listened. Our friend Jay was a little scared of the stage as well, so we just pretended that we were way too awesome to let others hear our golden voices. ;)

It was a good time, and I am glad Matt forced me to go. I was ready to snuggle in bed with a book, as is befitting for a hermit like myself, but I had fun with everyone.

I also went to a baby shower yesterday for one of my oldest and best friends. I met Jenny in the first grade and we have been friends ever since (over 20 years?). She lives down in Knoxville now, but her parents live out in Ann Arbor (about an hour from me). It was great to see her and some other old friends. She doesn't know what she's having yet, so I am excited to see come April.

It seems like a lot of people I know are pregnant or just had a baby! There is baby fever everywhere! I was at one of the schools I worked in on Thursday, subbing, and discovered that three of their English teachers are pregnant! They are all due near the end of July/early August. They were cracking jokes at lunch about something being in the water over there.

Today I don't have too many plans besides recuperating from a busy day yesterday and selling back some books to my local bookstore. They only buy back used books once every couple of months, and the last time I was there, their used section was a little on the empty side (their new sections were also a little bare, which confused me). I still have all those books I culled in November (I missed the weekend buy-back by a week), and since this is the first weekend to sell back since then, I am ready to get these books out of here. 140+ books take up a lot of space when they are just sitting there. Hopefully they'll take most of them. The rest I am going to donate to one of the schools in the area. And, hopefully, I'll get some store credit to buy a few things I've been eying.

In other good, bookish news, I was accepted to be a giver for World Book Night! I don't know which book of my 3 choices I'll be handing out, but I am really excited. I am going to go in and give half the books to some old students (as long at the two teachers I worked for are okay with it), and the rest I am passing out in the area. I am going to hit up one of our local malls. It should be a great experience and I am so excited that I get to do this.

In regards to the blog, Shakespeare Month is wrapping up on the 10th (I extended it) and to be honest, I'm kind of excited to get it finished. I feel a little drained with all the posting, reading, and writing about Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare, but I am burned out. I read 11 plays, so I'm allowed. I still need to go read all the posts everyone wrote as participants, so that will be my main goal this week.

I am also planning a Victorian themed event for June and July. I have a lot of Victorian books to read on my list, so it is a good excuse. I've already started thinking about some prizes (you're going to love them), as well as 1 or 2 challenges to offer something different to the challenge. I'm planning on hammering out all the details in the next two months and announcing it in April. If you have some Victorians on your TBR, save them for June and July! :)

Well, that's all I have for this week. I am planning on catching up on some reading. I am in the middle of Roots by Alex Haley for the readalong, so I want to get to our goal for Wednesday before diving into something else. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should read David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, or one of the two biographies on Dickens. I was thinking of saving the bios (one is the Bicentenary book I showed earlier this week, the other is the Tomalin) for later, but now I am second-guessing myself...Any suggestions?

Happy Reading!!

Weekly Wrap-up for January 29, 2012: Plans and Some Book Loot.

It has been a bit of a crazy week. It wasn't that I had a lot to do. Since it was exam week in the districts I sub for, I had no sub jobs. But I feel a little drained and lazy. I guess that is what happens when you don't work with a normal schedule!

I have been making some progress on some of my goals for 2012. I started watching what I'm eating this week-making healthier choices and monitoring my calorie intake. I haven't decided if I am going to go on a "diet." I find that once I restrict my food options too much, I cheat. Instead, I want to have a healthier relationship with food, and I think that comes with watching what I am eating and how much. For right now, I am simply looking at calorie intake. I'll let you know what I decide in the future.

I also cooked three times this week-which believe me, is a BIG deal. I'm not the best cook, but I am slowly learning some new recipes and trying to be a little more proactive with my own eating. :) Speaking of-do you guys have any good, easy, and healthy recipes for me? I would love to pick your brains.

Anyway, I am gearing up for a productive February. I'm going to wrap up Shakespeare Reading Month on February 10, so I need to finish the last couple of items and posts I have planned for the event. I'm also participating in a Roots Readalong hosted by the lovely Christina at Reading Thru the Night. If you're interested, you should go sign up! I'm also planning on immersing myself in some Dickens, so we'll see how that goes. :)

Matt surprised me yesterday by taking me out to breakfast and then to the library for their used book sale! I had completely forgotten about it, so I was really excited.

Funny thing was, when I was scouring the classics section, I already owned most of them. :) I suppose that's a good problem to have, right? I did find some things, including some old editions that are pretty cool. Here is a look at what I brought home with me for $6 (It was their 50% off day)!

Lots of good things! I was really excited by the Twain collection, as well as the paper copy of Volpone by Ben Jonson (I am going to read it to round out Shakespeare Reading Month since he was a contemporary of Shakespeare's!). I also did a happy dance when I found that complete collection of Thomas Hardy's poetry! Hardy always believed himself to be a better poet than a novelist, so I snatched that book right up. :)

Well, I have some more reading to do and quite a few posts to write. I hope you all had a lovely reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for January 22, 2012: Home Sweet Home.

There is nothing like coming home after a week away! I am currently sitting on my own couch with my kitties clamoring and fighting for my lap. Sadly for them, my laptop already has that spot. :)

The drive home ended up being uneventful after we saw that there might be some nasty weather on our trip back north. Except for a nasty rainstorm just south of Atlanta yesterday, we didn't really encounter any scary weather. Thank goodness! Yesterday we drove for about 13 hours to get to Lexington, Kentucky and drove the remaining 6 hours today to get home. While I had a blast, I am glad to be back home.

Matt has left for the afternoon (closing shift at work tonight), so it is just me and the kitties for about 7 hours. In addition to cuddles (they missed me it seems), I also need to unpack. I might put that off until tomorrow. ;) I am in the mood for some reading, so I might try and get through both parts of Henry IV today.

I was going to write more, but we have new neighbors moving in downstairs and they are a bit distracting. I'm a little bummed about getting new neighbors...the others just moved out and into the townhouse attached to our apartment building, and I thought we might get a break from hearing noise beneath us. Apparently not. And they seem to have two VERY LOUD children. I have nothing against kids, but these are running and screaming up and down the stairs (which share the wall with our living room). I hope this isn't going to be a miserable experience.

I am going to head into the bedroom, listen to some music, and read. I'm sure I'll be back online later to update a little more about our trip.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Weekly Wrap-up for January 15, 2012: In Florida and the Halfway Point.

Hey guys!

I am writing to you from the table in our hotel room in lovely Orlando, Florida. It is actually Saturday night, but I am going to schedule to post this in the morning. I'm a little tired from two days in the car, so I want to take advantage of the fact that I can sleep in tomorrow. :)

Our drive down was pretty uneventful. We left Michigan bright and early on Friday morning. We drove for about 12 hours and decided to call it a night. We grabbed a hotel just into the Georgia border and slept till about 7 this morning. After a yummy breakfast, it was time to hop BACK into the car for another 8 hour drive. Blegh. But, we made it safe and sound this afternoon.

Tomorrow we're going to hang out around the hotel, see a couple movies, and go grocery shopping for Torrie (my sister). She has to check-in and move-in on Monday morning, so I'm sure tomorrow will be low-key and relaxed. The only other set plans we have for the week is for Tuesday. We're going to head to Epcot and "drink around the world." :D It should be a good time! Expect some lovely tweets and pictures.


I'm glad to be out of Michigan for awhile. Truth be told, I was in a bit of a rut at home, so being out of the house is a good change. I think that having this kind of space from all the negativity in Michigan will be good for me and perhaps I'll get over some of that depression.

Enough of that...let's celebrate for a moment, shall we?

Earlier today, the final post went up for The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, book 125 off my list. This is a huge milestone...

I am halfway done with my reading project! On one hand, I think to myself that I should be nearing the end by now! But on the other...well, I am pretty proud of what I have accomplished so far.

When I set out to read all of these titles, I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into. I didn't know anything about the book blogging community. I thought the only people who would read my lowly little blog would be my family (mainly my mom-she still reads-Hi Mom!). I never thought I would be here. I never thought people would care enough about my reading process to check in on me and read my thoughts. I am amazed every time someone comments, someone sends me an e-mail, or recommends a book to me.

I'm also in awe of the fact that I have developed so many meaningful relationships with some of you. Like I said, I thought only my family would read my blog, so knowing that there are many of you who read and care? Amazing. Thank you all for all of your support!

I also didn't think that I would be still going. I've never stuck with something so long. I'm pretty proud of how far I've come.

And I know I have a long way to go...125ish (I've read a couple since then) books to go. I am sure that I will learn even more about myself and who I want to be. And while I'm not positive yet, I know that I am learning more and more about the person I need to be. Sometimes I wonder where I would be if I hadn't started this...who I would be. And I am grateful that I set this goal for myself and I am carrying through on what I planned. It shows my growth. It shows that I am learning.

Here's to another 125!

Weekly Wrap-up for January 9, 2012: HP Marathon, Reading Goals, and an "Unofficial Vacation."

I meant to come to the library yesterday to write posts for this week, but I was feeling a little gross from all the sugar and laziness from Saturday. Instead, I went for a walk in the park with my husband, then came home to watch way too much The Big Bang Theory. It was a splendid Sunday.

But, here I am at the library, stealing their internet. We're still waiting for Matt's student loans to come in for the semester, even though he started last Tuesday, so that we can pay some bills. Yep, our internet and cable were turned off. Such is life, right? It happens.

Anyway, I'm here at the library, apparently annoying this "student" sitting at a table next to me. I should mention I was here first, and I purposefully picked a corral away from the other people because my keyboard keys are a little clacky. This butthead sat down at a table right next to me and it continually giving me dirty looks for typing. So now I am typing extra loud. :) He could have picked somewhere else to sit, right?

I have some posts to write before I go home, but I wanted to give a little update on the first week of 2012.

I have written in my journal a total of TWO times. Woohoo! :) I knew you would all be so proud. It is hard getting in the habit of writing on a daily basis, so I am shooting for a few times a week for now.

I finished three books this week, which is making my 2012 Goodreads Challenge page very happy. I finally got rid of the "You are __ books behind!" that greeted me every time I logged on last year. Gosh that was annoying!

(The "Student" just got up and is headed over to the reference desk. I wonder if he is complaining.)

Saturday was my glorious Harry Potter Marathon with a group of friends. It started out as three of us, but a few more people meandered over throughout the day. We had a great time! We didn't watch every movie. We unanimously agreed to skip the second movie because it was everyone's least favorite...

(Sorry, student came back. He glared at me.).

We also skipped most of the fourth movie and watched the highlights-the lovely scene where Ron and Harry discuss who to take to the Yule Ball and Snape bullies them a bit (Oh Alan Rickman, I love you). We also watched pieces of the Graveyard scene. We then watched 5, 6, and 7 Part 1 taking us to 1 in the morning. Everyone pooped out, so we were done. I ended up watched 7 Part 2 by myself yesterday.

It was a lot of fun, and had we watched all 8 movies, it would have been 20 hours of Harry Potter. o_O A bit much. We snacked on a lot of things and made some lovely adult beverages inspired by the movie. We all agreed the butterbeers were the best:

• 1 shot of Buttershots (butterscotch schnapps)
• 1 shot of Vanilla flavored vodka
• Top off with Cream soda OR root beer (for light or dark butterbeer).

The only issue was the mount of sugar. I don't drink regular pop (soda for you Southerners), so the sugar really tore apart my stomach. Lesson learned!

Moving on..

This week I have some lofty goals. I haven't been chugging through my Shakespeare plays as quickly as I thought I would, so I need to catch up. I am planning on finishing all of the remaining Shakespeare plays on my list this month, so I have 10 to go! They don't take long to read, so I just need to get to it.

I should actually have an easy time of it since I am going on an "unofficial vacation" starting Friday morning. My younger sister, Torrie, is interning at Disney this semester. My mom and I will be driving her down this weekend, then staying in Orlando for a few days. So in addition to a 22 hour car ride going both ways, my mom and I will be spending a lot of time by the pool reading. :) I will have my computer with me, so posts will still be going up, and I will check in every day or two. I should easily get through all of my Shakespeare, plus a couple of smaller things I want to read this month as well.

For those of you participating, I hope you are having a great time reading some Shakespeare! I'm excited by everyone's enthusiasm and when I have more time (probably in Florida), I will make sure to catch up on your posts!

(and student just packed up his stuff and left. He glared at me.).

I hope you all have a wonderful reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for January 1, 2012: New Year, Goals, and Readathon.

2012 is looking good so far! :) I spent last night at my eldest brother's house with some good friends and family. There was a lot of food, some drinks, and a lot of laughing. Even though I haven't been feeling good and would have preferred to stay in bed, I had a good time.

I'm feeling a bit better today, but still congested. I hate having colds. They make me miserable, and it always seems silly to feel so run down just because of a stuffy nose!

Anyway, I won't let that hold me back from some things that I need to get down this week. I just hope that I can start breathing like a normal person in the near future.

I'm really excited that it is finally January. I feel refreshed and ready to go in this New Year. Earlier in the week I outlined some of my goals for the new year, so today I am going to start putting them in action. I have plans for a walk a little later this afternoon to jump start some of my exercising. Matt and I actually live near a park, so I think a stroll this afternoon while listening to some Shakespeare is just what I need to start the year off right in regards to exercising.

Today is also the start of my little "Day After" readathon. I'm excited to get into 2012 by reading some good books. I still need to finish The Age of Innocence, book 125 and the book everyone selected in my poll. I've had a bit of a busy week, so I haven't spent any time reading. After the Wharton, I'm going to dive right into some Shakespeare. I think I might read Antony and Cleopatra first, then a biography I picked up yesterday, but I am going to play it by ear. :)

Well, I best get started on my reading. I will probably update my progress a little later this afternoon or into the evening. For those of you joining in, enjoy your books!

Happy New Year!

Weekly Wrap-up for December 18, 2011: Ask Me Anything.

I'm going to be honest and say that I don't feel up to writing a weekly wrap-up style post today. I've had a crummyish kind of week. To top it off, I had a migraine yesterday morning, and I can still feel the knots up and down my neck. I'm worried that if I stare at the computer screen too long this morning it'll come back.

Anyway, I've seen this going around (first seen at Fizzy Thoughts). The basic idea is that I am leaving this open to you all to ask me anything you wish! It can be about books, teaching, life-whatever you want! Ask as many questions about anything that pops in to your head! I'll answer them in a separate post later this week. Ask away!


Have a great reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for December 11, 2011: Small Bits.

Today's wrap-up post is going to be a short one, namely because I want to get back to reading! I suppose that is an excellent reason, don't you?

I was lucky enough to get some more work this week, and I actually spent a couple of days subbing in the school I worked in last year. It was wonderful to see my old students walking the halls (hard to believe my sophomore English students are Juniors!). Many stopped to say hello when they saw me in the hallway, and they seemed happy to see me. Being back in that school reminded me how much I loved being there, so we'll see what the future has in store.

This weekend I am in the middle of a very casual readathon. The goal was basically to get my butt in gear. I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that part of the reason I keep myself so busy is that it makes me more productive. Without things to do all the time, I become very lazy, and I have started to slip that direction. I can't have that. So, this weekend has been spent with a larger focus on reading rather than simply turning on the TV (I usually don't watch too much TV, but recently it has gotten out of hand). I finished The Portrait of a Lady Friday night, and I am about 50 pages from the end of Sense and Sensibility, so I am doing well with my goal. I am probably going to start Paradiso as well, but I'm not sure if I'll finish it.

Anyway, that's about it in the world of Allie. :) I hope you are all in the middle of wonderful books!

Weekly Wrap-up for December 4, 2011: November, Readathon Fail, and December Reading.

It is hard to believe it is already December! Where has this year gone??

The cold weather is finally setting in here in Michigan. While it snowed a little the other day, it wasn't enough to stick. I'm hoping for a big snow storm sometime soon-I LOVE snow. Plus, big snow storms are a great excuse to curl up in the chair and read all day. :)

December also brings the holiday season, which I love. Not only do I get to see lots of family, it is also going to be my second wedding anniversary (the day after Christmas). It is such a great time of year!

Anyway, lets move on to bloggy business.

November was not as awesome as I'd hoped it be. I did manage to read 4 titles: Inferno, Birdsong, Civil Disobedience, and Heart of Darkness. I'm proud of that, but I have very high goals for December reading, which I'll get to in a minute.

I attempted to participate in the readathon taking place yesterday, but I failed miserably. All morning I was distracted by various things and just when I settled into reading, Matt took me off to the bar to watch the Big Ten Championship Game between Michigan State (my alma mater) and Wisconsin. Needless to say, I barely read 100 pages yesterday.

Even with my failure yesterday, I have actually been reading a lot this week. I know that December, while busy, is also a month that I usually enjoy reading in. And without steady work, I have a lot more time to read. :) My Goodreads goal was set at 90 books for this year, and as of this morning, I've read 71. While it might be near impossible to get up to 90, I am going to push through and try. Not all of those books will be classics, of course, but we'll see what happens. :)

Right now I am in the middle of The Portrait of a Lady by James, which I absolutely love, and have Paradiso and Sense and Sensibility on deck. If anyone wants to have a pseudo-readathon at any time in the next few weeks, let me know! I'm game!

Happy Reading everyone!

Weekly Wrap-up for November 27, 2011: Whew.

It is a bit of a dismal day today. We woke up to rain, and it has been raining ever since. I usually enjoy these kinds of days, but I have had a lot going on this week, so I haven't spent much of the day lounging as I usually would.

To be honest, since finishing school on Tuesday, I have been constantly on the go. My only downtime was last night when Matt got off work. Beyond those few hours, we've been traveling, eating, shopping, or visiting with family. It is nice to be home, but I am staring at a messy apartment that needs to be whipped back into shape sooner rather than later.

Tomorrow morning it will be weird not to get ready for school and go into "my" classroom. For the first time in nearly a year, I don't have steady employment, and that is going to stare me in the face in the morning. I know I will adjust and the daily sub jobs will slowly roll in. Tomorrow, however, I plan to spend at home catching up on some things, getting some stuff organized around here (you know, the things I have shoved into closets), and some reading/writing. I haven't touched my Nano novel in nearly two weeks, and while I feel really confident in what I am writing, I don't think I want to rush through it to try and win by Wednesday at midnight. We'll see.

I had grand plans for reading this weekend, but since I have been a little busier than normal, nothing was really accomplished. The only "book" I completed was Civil Disobedience, which shouldn't count since it was only 30 pages. Buy hey, that's progress, right?

I still feel like I am in a rut, but I am going to power through the rest of my commitments for 2011. I have some "fun" things I have been meaning to read, so I think they will be my reward after finishing my commitment titles.

Here is what I am going to try and finish by the end of the year:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James: I started this early in the month, right before I had to collect a bunch of essays and get everything in shape for my departure. I really LOVE it, but I need to set it aside while I finish my Group Reads for November and December.
  
• Purgatorio by Dante: I'm halfway through. And I was supposed to have this finished by last week. I am enjoying it, but I keep getting distracted.
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: This is my fourth read and I hate it as much as I did the first 3. But I am going to get through it no matter what (I'm about 50 pages from the end).
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau: This is the second title I wanted to read for Transcendentalist Month, but I haven't started it and need to finish by the 15th. I actually really liked Civil Disobedience, so I am hoping this is similar.
  
• Paradiso by Dante: This is a December Group Read, so I have plenty of time to get to it. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy and finally marking The Divine Comedy off my list.
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: The other December Group Read. I am SUPER excited to get to this, since I haven't read it in ages and was just sent a beautiful new copy for review.

The Fun Reads:

• The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini: I pre-ordered the fourth title over the summer, but it has been so long since reading these that I don't remember them all that well. I really want to read the whole series again, so this will be my reward after I finish the list above.
• Brotherband Chronicles Book 1: The Outcasts by John Flanagan: This one also just came out (yes, I broke the book buying ban), and since I loved his other series SO MUCH, I know that this one will continue to eye me from the shelf until I read it. I best get that over with. ;)
  

I would also really like to finish Adam's 2011 TBR Challenge, but I am not making much progress. If I finish the James title above, I will have FIVE more books to read out of this list:

• Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
• Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
• Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
• Pamela by Samuel Richardson
• The Once and Future King by T.H. White
• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Hahaha. Those titles make me laugh. I think it might be impossible for me to complete the challenge, but I am going to try. I am probably going to set aside Lord Jim and Pamela for next year. Mainly because my current go-around with Conrad makes me want to stab my eyes out, and I think I want to tackle Clarissa by Richardson before Pamela.

I don't think I can do it. I mean, the Dickens title is over 800 pages. But, I am going to try. And at least I won't have to worry about picking out titles for the next month-I already have them set out! ;) We'll see how it goes. At least I know for next year not to procrastinate and to get some of these titles out of the way early on, rather than waiting until the end of the year.

Well, I best get started on finishing my cleaning. Let me know what you're going to be reading to finish out 2011, would you? I'd love to see. :)

Happy Reading.

Weekly Wrap-up for November 20, 2011: Reflective.

I want to let you all know in advance that this may be a rambling post. There is a lot going on in my life right now, and I feel like filling you in on all of the details.

Tuesday is my last day in my long-term sub placement. Starting next Monday, I will only be working as a daily sub. If I don't get a job for the day, I will be at home. This is going to be a huge transition, since it has been a long time for me since I haven't had steady work. Besides the obvious financial strains, this is going to be hard for me mentally. I have the tendency to be either an insane workaholic or a lazy bum. I am worried about not keeping busy.

More than all of that, I am really sad to be leaving my kids. While the start of this year was a little unsteady, I have really hit my stride in the classroom. Of course, I always question what I have done as a teacher. I focus on the negative things that have happened; I worry that she will return to the room, talk to the kids, and realize that I didn't teach them enough. I know that sounds pretty silly, but I worry anyway.

I also know that I am going wonder how specific students are doing. One of the things I pride myself on as a teacher is my ability to form relationships with my kids. I still think about the kids I had during my student teaching year. That will gradually lessen as time passes...

More than anything, the last year of constant teaching has shown me that I truly DO want to teach. I just need a venue. And students.

*sigh*

On day, right?

In the meantime, I will continue to use my blog as a way to talk about my subjects and hopefully teach you all something (even if it is only the title of a book to read). That might explain why I went "challenge crazy" last weekend and joined so many. The idea of not having anything to do sends me into a panic. :)

We're also reaching the end of the calendar year and that has also put me into a reflective mood. I like to think about just what I have accomplished. And while I cannot add a permanent job to the list this year, I have done a lot to feel proud of. You can expect that as we near January 1, more of my thoughts on the past year will come out.

In regards to reading...

I think I was lucky enough to read 10 pages of my current book (The Portrait of a Lady). I haven't touched Purgatorio or The Heart of Darkness. I fail.

But, starting on Tuesday, I am making some strict goals to get through some things by the end of the weekend-basically those three titles. I know that it has been quiet over here since last weekend, but I ask that you be patient with me for a few more days. Once Tuesday is over with, I will have lots of time to devote to blogging and getting caught up.

In the meantime, let me know what you are up to with your own reading. What are you in the middle of? What did you just finish?

(I will live vicariously through you until I can actually write a post).