School teacher by day, Superhero by night

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:27:00 +0000

The Last Summer of the Camperdowns: A Novel
This book straddles the line between memoir, coming of age story and mystery--only instead of being a whodunnit, it's a why did he do it? On the cusp of 13, Riddle Camperdown (named after her father's hero, Jimmy Riddle Hoffa) witnesses a horrific crime and is terrified into silence. Over this summer, Riddle changes as the mystery slowly unravels, but so do the adults around her. As the novel unfolds, it's revealed that the mystery is bigger than Riddle and connects all those around her, showing her that no one is really what you think.

Capitol Murder
This is one of those books that is definitely a beach read or a summer read. I checked it out from the library's e-book selection because I didn't have anything to read at the moment. It was a good filler book and kept me engaged. The book focuses on Private Investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller, who are recurring characters in Margolin novels, but prior knowledge of the books isn't necessary. The book begins with serial killer Clarence Little who has a penchant for torture and women's fingers. Through a mistake in an early case, Little comes back up to trial. Brad was his original lawyer and begins receiving letters in the mail from him and is worried about what may happen if he is freed. Meanwhile, there is a terror plot that loosely involves the senator Brad currently works for, as well as PI Cutler. By the end of the novel, all plot points were tied together, somewhat too conveniently, but again, this is a good beach book, so you can't totally complain about that.

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
I probably don't need to give an overview of the plot because you've all seen the movie. But if you're like me and you've seen the movie a hundred times and never read the book, READ THE BOOK IMMEDIATELY. I'm a huge fan of reading the book before the movie, but it just never happened with this one and I never got around to it. I'm so glad I finally did. The author's voice is hilarious and it was great to see how much of it they kept in the screenplay of the movie. As always, the book goes beyond the movie and is worth a read for the asides and the clever description of the Zoo of the Death. This was a brilliant read and I kind of can't believe that I'm just now reading it.

Odd Interlude: A Special Odd Thomas Adventure
This was originally just an e-book but was recently released in print. So while it's part of the Odd Thomas series, it's not a complete installment. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and read through it in one sitting because it was such a great story. While this won't give you the full scope of Odd and his cast of characters who you've probably come to love (no ghost of Alfred Hitchcock or Elvis or Sinatra, for example), you still get enough of the Odd Thomas experience to enjoy yourself. Odd and Annamaria on their journey to their next location end up in Harmony Corners, where things are anything but harmonious. Intent on solving the mystery of Harmony Corners, Odd discovers several interesting characters: a brave 12 year old girl, a mummified creature, a super-smart computer, among others. Definitely a quick, fun read.

Bobcat and Other Stories
As with most short story books, some of the short stories were incredibly poignant while other were not as much. That said, most of these were really strong with varying subjects. Some took place in America, some in other countries, so the topics really did vary. What seemed a common theme in each of these stories was that they all revealed an uncomfortable look at human nature that any one can relate to.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:33:00 +0000

So I kind of forget that it's Wednesday. Hiya Summer!

Big Brother: A Novel
This is one of those reads that reaches into your heart. The narrator, Pandora, has a complex relationship with her dysfunctional family and when she goes to pick her recently fallen-on-hard-times brother up at the airport, she discovers that in the years since she's seen him, he's gained 200 pounds. To make this more difficult, Pandora's husband is something of a health freak--allowing no junk food in the house and compulsively cycling to keep his body lean and trim. Pandora finds herself caught between helping her brother not eat himself to death and saving her marriage, plus somehow saving herself. This book also takes an interesting look at the way our society looks at food and obesity.

The Other Typist
As an English teacher, I LOVE unreliable narrators. However, it's definitely a tool that can easily be overplayed, but when done right, it can be brilliant. And in this book? It was done right, literally, until the very last page, to the point where I flipped back because I was shaking my head. Rose, our narrator--possibly very unreliable?--is a typist at a police precinct in the 20s. Rose is very moral and has a certain sense of guidelines that she follows, until she meets the flashy and gorgeous Odalie and the two become the very best of friends, attending speakeasies and weekend getaways together. It's on a weekend getaway that things begin to turn dark for Odalie and Rose. Saying any more would give away major spoilers, but this is a great summer read to get absolutely absorbed in.

Ghost Stories from the Ghosts' Point of View Trilogy Vol. 1 (Volume)
[I was given a copy of this book for free, but the opinions contained in this review are my own]
I will admit that I am fairly ignorant on things relating to this topic, but that doesn't mean that I'm not open to the thoughts that there is a spiritual energy around us that some people can see while others can't. Growing up in a house that was built in the 1840s vs. living in a relatively new house is a testament to that, because my parents' house has a certain feeling about it that our house doesn't. A sense of history and energy, to say the least--and then there was the time that my green hairbrush relocated itself, but that was the only thing that ever happened to me. Mostly, the house just felt different and that's why this book interested me. The author is retired from a career in the Navy and this book is about helping ghosts who are stuck in this world cross over, after hearing their story. Usually, it's in places where history has happened--the Civil War, Native Americans, WWII, or where people have died in accidents and don't realize what's happened to them. I suppose that regardless of what you believe, this could be an interesting read to enjoy to even if you don't believe in ghosts.

The Devil's Arithmetic (Puffin Modern Classics)
I'm teaching this in the fall, so even though I've read it before, I re-read it to make notes over it. It's been years since I've read it, so it was like reading it for the first time. The title refers to the math that the Nazis had to do to achieve the Final Solution. The story itself is about a 12 year old Jewish girl, Hannah, who is bored at Passover and tired of remembering, embarrassed of her relatives who are ancestors and have outbursts over war movies and over the numbers on their arms. During Passover Seder, she's chosen to open the door to welcome Elijah and in the midst, she is transported back to 1942, where she ends up as a girl named Chaya and is quickly taken to a concentration camp. She befriends a girl named Rivka and she learns what it means to be a survivor. I love this book because it's one of the few age appropriate Holocaust books for 8th graders. It's just brutal enough about the subject material without being too difficult for them and the reading level is low enough that I can pair it with The Diary of Anne Frank and get through both in a month. It's definitely a good read for kids and adults.

What are you reading?

August-June

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:36:00 +0000

As a teacher, the 180 days spent in school span out so differently each year. There are some years that each day feels like a lifetime. There are some years that they fly by and suddenly it's Christmas-spring break-hey, it's May! That was this year.

As a parent, the years always fly by and Luke's first year of Kindergarten was no exception. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was taking a photo of this nervous little guy with his seemingly too big backpack and wondering how on earth I was going to put him on a school bus and send him off into the world.

Somehow we did and somehow we blinked and it was the last day of Kindergarten. The backpack shrunk and the smile wasn't really nervous anymore.

He came skipping home from school with a backpack full of papers, an award certificate for Analyzing Appetizing Avocados, and a report card full of S+'s. He had such an incredible first year of school. He's reading above grade level and has grown so much socially. I could easily brag on and on, but suffice to say, we had an excellent first year of school and while I'm hoping the summer goes by slooooowwwllly, I'm also so grateful for a good year for him and looking forward to many, many more.

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:11:00 +0000

Deeply Odd (Odd Thomas)
I love the Odd Thomas series, definitely one of my favorites. Odd is a fry cook who wants to JUST be a fry cook, but unfortunately, he has the ability to communicate with the dead as well as psychic connections that enable him to see tragedies that may happen if he doesn't intervene. While this novel definitely doesn't work as a stand alone, I appreciate that you don't have to have the others absolutely fresh in your mind when reading it. Remembering the major events is enough to get the references back to earlier novels. In this novel, Alfred Hitchcock is the dead spirit who Odd communicates with and the impending tragedy seems to involve children and a psychotic cowboy. If you haven't read any of the Odd Thomas books, I would definitely recommend this series. While they're written by Dean Koontz, they contain a little more humor and voice than his usual stories.

The Prophet of Yonwood (Ember, Book 3)
This was the third book in the City of Ember series, yet it was a prequel. It felt a little misplaced to me. While it tied in to the previous books, it didn't tie in until the very end and would've functioned easily at the end of the series, as most prequels are usually released. I'm not quite sure why it was released as book three out of four, but while it was an interesting read, I kind of wanted to continue with the story that I left off in book two and didn't feel like I was doing that.

The Diamond of Darkhold (Ember, Book 4)
The last book of the City of Ember series. This one ties it all together and helps the main characters unlock the mystery of Ember and discover how to help humanity along. Overall, I enjoyed this series. There is a lot better dystopian lit out there and it took a strange sci-fi turn that didn't quite fit, but for younger readers, it's a good series.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 29 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Southern Cross the Dog: A Novel
This book begins with an 8 year old boy who has lost everything in the flood waters of the Mississippi, including his family who no longer felt they could care for him. The story follows the boy as he grows into a man and how he feels he's been marked by the devil, who follows him every step of the way through his life. Although I've seen some critiques stating that it's obvious that this novel wasn't written by a southerner, I felt those were off-base. I mean, the author is obviously Asian-American and the book jacket states that he's from New York, so clearly he's not from the South, but that didn't make the novel itself less enjoyable. So, he's not Harper Lee--very few are. I still enjoyed that story that was woven of Robert's life, the ways that thematically, we all have our own devils, though some less dramatic than Robert's, but keep trudging through life, one way or another.

The People of Sparks: The Second Book of Ember (Books of Ember)
This book picked up where The City of Ember left off and was a great continuation in terms of YA dystopian lit. Like City of Ember, I felt it would be a good pick for a strong elementary school reader as well as a middle school reader. Much moreso than City of Ember, this book underscored a great lesson about human nature and how quickly as humans, we tend to turn against "outsiders," instead of remembering how we should all band together.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel
This was a book that I wavered on, because I don't know much about Chechnya and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to read a war book. But at the same time, there are very few books on Russia that don't often leave me feeling like my heart is beating outside of my chest, so I went with it. I am so glad I did. This is one of the best books I've read this year. The title refers to the medical definition of life and the novel weaves together the lives of three people in war-torn Chechnya: Akhmed, a doctor so bad he graduated in the bottom 4th percentile of his class; Havaa, his young neighbor whose father was taken to the Landfill (exactly what it sounds) and who is being searched for by the Russian soldiers); and Sonja, a surgeon running a hospital meant to be staffed by 500 by only herself and a long-retired nurse. Inexplicably, their three lives are far more connected than they realized and the story evolves into something really beautiful and sad all at once.

The Wilding: A Novel
As an English teacher, I love the lesser used conflict of man vs. nature, so the premise of this novel, three generations of men on a hunting gone wrong, spoke to me. While not necessarily a horror story, there were definitely parts of this story that set me on edge in that I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. My only complaint is that there was one character, an Iraqi war veteran, who was initially developed then fizzled at the end. He began as a strong character and seemed like he was going to add a component... then fell apart a bit. Aside from that, I really enjoyed this story.

The Woman Upstairs
Apparently, a woman upstairs is the unmarried, woman without children always on the fringes. The one who is a reliable friend and always there for others, but who others aren't always there for first. This is Nora. Nora is an elementary school teacher and from page one, Nora's voice is loud and angry. Nora's anger pulled me in immediately. I wanted to know why she was so angry. Much of the story is spent developing Nora's relationship with the family of one of her elementary school students, the mother a fellow artist. As the novel grows, so does the complexity of her relationship with this family, until the end when you finally learn the root of Nora's anger. This was definitely a page-turner and Nora's voice was strong throughout the novel.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:33:00 +0000

Oh, hey neglected blog. I didn't do a What I Read Wednesday week because I had the stressful week from hell last week. Seriously, I had to go back to the school twice in the evening, strep throat hit our house AND I was in an out-of-town wedding. In short, it was a whirlwind and I only read one book. But don't worry, in the meantime, I've read A LOT of books.

The 5th Wave
This book is a YA book about an alien invasion that slowly begins killing humanity off in waves. With each wave, humanity is left wondering how to survive to the next and if it's even worth surviving. The main character is a strong female, but the author doesn't skimp on strong secondary males, which I like. It was a really compelling read and I definitely didn't want it to end. Like many sci-fi novels, you're left wondering what's scarier: the attacking force or humanity itself.

Silken Prey
I discovered John Sandford's Lucas Davenport novels last summer and read my way through the whole series, so I was excited earlier this year when I saw a new one was coming out. This one focuses on dirty politics, computer hacking and murder and is engaging as the rest. The good thing about the Davenport novels is that although most of the main characters overlap, you don't really have to read them in any particular order.

The City of Ember (Books of Ember)
My students just finished an essay on the book Matched and one of the topic choices was to compare and contrast Matched to another dystopian YA lit novel. When I gave them the prompts and listed off several YA dystopian novels, someone asked about this book. Although I'd heard of it, I hadn't read it and wanted to so I could grade any essays on it. The book is about a group of people living in the City of Ember, an underground city that is running out of food and light. Two young kids are searching for a way out and a reason for why they're in Ember in the first place. I really enjoyed this book and although it's YA lit, I could definitely see an elementary school student who is a good reader being able to handle this one easily.

The Secret Keeper: A Novel
A teenage girl witnesses her mother commit a shocking crime. Years later, as her mother is on her death bed, she tries to piece together exactly what happened. The book flashes back through various decades as it weaves the mystery of what led up to the mother's crime. This was an ending that caught me unaware and left me reading the last few pages of the novel again to make sure that I understood. It was brilliantly written and woven together. This story captured me.

Red Moon: A Novel
When I first started reading this book, I thought it was a werewolf book. Or lycans, as they're referred to throughout the novel, but then as I read on, I realized it was so much more than that. I started to think it was dystopian, but then it became dystopian as the novel progressed, but it was also kind of a parable. Regardless of what genre it is, it was incredibly engaging. In the society created by Benjamin Percy, there are two classes of people: lycans and non-lycans. Lycans can transform into wolves. It's a disease that can be transmitted via blood or sex, like AIDs, and those who are lycans live amongst normal society. Yet, they're treated somewhat as second-class citizens. They're forced to take medicine to suppress their urge to transform and there are universities just for lycans. Without giving too much away, the novel was fascinating in the overall themes and messages that the author managed to weave in beneath the surface. This is a must-read.

Extinction: A Thriller
One of my co-workers was reading this novel and told me I would enjoy it. The main character is a main who makes prosthetic arms that respond to the neurons in the brain on their own, as well as have weapons concealed in them. His daughter is a computer hacker, who becomes to target of a sub-sect of the Chinese government who has created a computer that is run via the brains of lobotomized humans. What can go wrong there? Except... everything. This was a great sci-fi thriller!

Tommy's Team 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:45:00 +0000

Last week was an exhausting whirlwind of a week. This week proves to be even more of a whirlwind. I'm steeling myself for it with the promise of June and SUMMER. I can do this. You will not beat me, May.

Saturday was the Epilepsy 5k, which we did last year. I feel guilty because I didn't throw myself into fundraising like I did last year. My attention was on campaigning for the referendum that our school was trying to pass (which we lost. by 4 votes. DO NOT GET ME STARTED) and I will admit that fundraising fell by the wayside. Life is just so busy now. Luke is playing t-ball. His science fair was Friday night and that was honestly our focus all week. Although we did the research well in advance, we left the poster board until this week (rookie mistake). Since it was his science fair project, I let him do most of the poster board, except that he obviously couldn't type. Friday was hectic. I left work, ran to the grocery store to get stuff for his science fair and sides for the picnic to have after the walk, then straight to Luke's school to set up for the science fair. We didn't get home until 7, then I had to get things together for the walk.

I didn't find us a sponsor for shirts this year, so I bought shirts out of my pocket for the newcomers to the team. In hindsight, I probably could've found us a sponsor. I just didn't try and that's my fault, but buying shirts is the least I can do for those who do so much for us. Who give to a cause where their only connection to it is my son.
Like I said, I was so focused on campaigning for the referendum that the walk became secondary. Still, we managed to raise $1305. This is a lot less than we raised last year, but last year, I was very much actively fundraising and Tommy's epilepsy was not as managed as it is now. We also had more team members, many of whom raised a couple hundred dollars each. I'm proud to have raised over $5000 for the epilepsy foundation in the course of these two years.
I am beyond proud that despite how busy our lives are these days, despite two members of our family being at a t-ball game, we still made time to walk.

Maybe next year the weather will be nice?

When I started training for this 5k, I really wanted to race it. Even though it's untimed, I wanted this to be my comeback with regard to my injury. However, my feet have flared up for the eleventy-billionth time and have been an absolute wreck for the last week and a half. It hurts to walk, let alone run, so I haven't been running at all. I wasn't even sure if I was going to run, but I decided to give it a try and walk if I needed. The course was at beautiful Cantigny Park and wound past trees and flowers. Once I settled into an easy pace, I was so happy. There weren't many runners, just hundreds and hundreds of walkers, so it was peaceful. My feet were sore, but seeing kids in wheelchairs who are unable to walk at all because their epilepsy is so bad puts it in to perspective. So what if my feet hurt? I can RUN. The course was hilly, with a really steep hill just after the halfway point. A few people dropped to the side to walk, but I pushed myself up it and kept going, only to find out that the course looped around and made you go back up the hill. The second time I was mixed into walkers and a woman hit me in the face while she was taking off her sweatshirts. This made the hill even more fun! Soon, I was out of walkers and rounding the corner toward the finish line. Since I was going at such an easy comfortable pace, I wondered if I even wanted to push it, but I did and gave a double fist pump at the end. It was, by far, my most enjoyable 5k. I didn't race it. I didn't push myself. I didn't care at all about the numbers on my watch. I just enjoyed it. I watched the scenery go by. I read the facts about epilepsy on the signs throughout the course. I learned what the money raised for the 5ks does. I thanked all of the volunteers, which I don't usually have the breath to do during a 5k. Maybe I need to do more 5ks like this.

Afterward, I walked back to the last turn in the course and waited for the rest of our team, where I was stalked by wild turkeys (did you know that I'm afraid of turkeys? Cuz I totally am). Shelli, Martina, Lily and Tommy were the first to arrive, so I finished the course (again) with them and we waited for everyone else with cheers, then had a very cold picnic, followed by the kids playing on playground for, oh, four hours due to my sister falling and requiring an ER trip and stitches (she's fine!).

With the walk yesterday and for awhile now, I kind of felt like, should we be there? Because we've been over a year seizure free and he's no longer on seizure medicine, but then I saw a team with a sign that said seizure free since 2010 and I smiled. Of course we should be there because even though we it may not be a part of our daily lives NOW, we will always be touched by epilepsy. Always. We will always be a part of this community, a part of the community of parents who know what it's like to be so powerless against a disease you cannot predict. I will always remember the moment that I first held my seizing child in my arms and my heart stopped and stopped and stopped, and even though you never know what each day will bring, I realize that my God, we are the lucky ones.

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 08 May 2013 22:26:00 +0000

I read one book this week. Yikes!

Touch & Go
Lisa Garder is one of my favorite mystery authors. I like that her books keep you guessing until the end. This focuses on a family who is kidnapped and the how and why of it is slowly unravelled throughout the book, making you wonder just who is good and who is bad. I love detective novels and this was no exception. It would make a great beach/vacation read. Or in my case, standardized testing read.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

**on Thursday. I don't know. It's been a WEEK.

You
I'm not really a gamer, although back in the day before kids, I really enjoyed beating people up on Grand Theft Auto. I highly recommend that for stress relief. That said, even though I was lost of some of the gaming aspect of this book, I was still drawn into the story of the misfit band of kids who found each other in high school were games were rudimentary on Apple IIEs, one drifted apart, then he found them again and was thrust into a gaming mystery that threatened to bring down a huge company. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline.

Six Years
This mystery book was about a man who loves a woman, until she suddenly marries a man then tells him to leave them alone--no matter what. Until six years later, when he reads the man's obit, shows up to the funeral, only to find that the man apparently had a whole different family. What follows is an unraveling path of clues that leads every which way, most of them dangerous. I like books like this. They are fun and keep me guessing.

Life After Life: A Novel
I really wanted to love this book and the premise was fascinating. On the same night, two babies named Ursula Todd are born. Both have their cords wrapped around their necks. One lives by the snip of scissors, the other strangles. The surviving Ursula Todd lives constantly on the edge of almost death, somehow always surviving, always knowing what to do to change her fate. I loved the premise, but the actual writing was so tedious, so hard to follow. One moment she was in WWII Germany, best friends with Eva Braun (you know, Hitler's mistress), then she was a child again. It skipped around a lot and was difficult to follow. The last thirty pages of the novel were really beautifully written and I loved them, but most of the novel was a chore for me. It was an Amazon best book of the month for April, so I may be in the minority here.

Whirlwind (Dreamhouse Kings)
The second to last book in the Dreamhouse Kings series. It was good!

Frenzy (Dreamhouse Kings)
This was the last book in the Dreamhouse Kings series. It was good, but had an open ending to an extent. I don't normally mind this, but after six books, unless you're going to continue... tie it up!

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:37:00 +0000

The Storyteller
Sometimes I like to read Jodi Picoult books because I can turn off my brain. The plot twist is easy to figure out, the story is at least engaging enough to keep me going and I don't have to think too much. Which is not to knock anyone who loves Jodi Picoult, I'm just not a huge fan. This one was a good story, although somewhat cliched for Holocaust based fiction. Still, it was overall an engaging read.

The Distant Hours
I really loved The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton by the same author, but I didn't get into this one as much. Overall, I enjoyed the story of Percy, Saffy, Juniper and their controlling, addled father, but I didn't connect with them as much as I have the characters in her other stories. The ending finally grabbed me, but the first two hundred pages were slow for me.

Paper Towns
Obviously I really like John Green--this one was no exception. I would say this is also somewhat a coming of age story, but again, with a twist. Quentin is on the fringes of high school, a few close friends, but mostly harassed by the popular kids. His neighbor and former childhood friend, Margo Roth Spiegelman is popular and unattainable, until the night she appears at his bedroom window and leads him on an adventure, giving him hope that they can be friends again. Except that she disappears the next day, leaving him to piece everything together as his high school years wind to a close.

What are you reading?

Over There.

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:18:00 +0000

Guest posting today on Simplicity in the Suburbs, in defense of public education. Thanks to Samara for letting me share my thoughts on education!

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:15:00 +0000

All That Is
I wanted to love this story. I really did. And in some aspects, I loved it. The story itself was incredibly engaging, but parts of it fell flat. It was one dimensional. I found myself getting confused and burdened down by certain things, like the author's habit of sometimes referring to a character by his last name, sometimes by the first name. I couldn't connect with the characters like I wanted to. It just didn't click for me on the huge level that I felt like a storyline of this caliber should, one that spans from WWII to the 1980s, and that was disappointing. I really just wanted this one to end.

An Abundance of Katherines
This is another one by John Green, who is arguably one of the best YA lit authors out there and definitely one who can transcend the genre. The protagonist is a boy prodigy who has been dumped 19 times by girls named Katherines and sets out to create a mathematical theorem to determine if romantic relationships can be graphed and predicted from beginning to end. Although it's a coming of age novel, it's definitely the most original coming of age novel I've ever read.

The Interestings: A Novel
This was the novel that resonated with me this week. Six teenagers meet at a creative arts summer camp and remain friends afterward, though those friendships aren't without strings and troubles. What I loved about this novel was that it followed the character, but it also followed the time periods, too: Nixon's resignation, the AIDs crisis, and so on. It was woven together so seamlessly that you almost didn't notice the way the author worked it in. This is my must-read suggestion for the week! I definitely fell in love with the characters (or with some of them, not so much).

Gatekeepers (Dreamhouse Kings)
This is the third book in the Dreamhouse Kings series. It's a YA series about a family who lives in a house where the third floor is made up of portals that transport back into the past--but not just randomly into the past, always into dangerous places in the past. Onto the sinking Titanic, into gladiator arenas, in the line of a tank during WWII and so on. Although not the most brilliantly written books, they are enjoyable and I like that the two main characters are boys and that it's magical while still teaching about history.

Timescape: Dreamhouse Kings, Book #4
Not much to say here; it's the next book in the Dreamhouse Kings series and since I just told you about it, I won't repeat myself, as I assume you listen better than my students. I bought this on Kindle because I was annoyed that the person who checked it out at the library before me was a week overdue and hadn't yet returned it. So if you have a Kindle and are reading this series, let me know and I can loan it to you!

The Drunken Botanist
I love science that is interesting and easily understandable to the common person, making this book right up my alley. I've always found it fascinating how many plants go into our traditional medicines, so plants that make alcohol? Sign me up. This is a book that I wish I'd bought because it's not really the type of book that you sit down and read straight through because while the various facts are interesting, it's also chock full of recipes for not only drinks but simple syrups and herb garnishes. I loved this book because it was full of all sorts of random facts that I've now filed away to pull out at times that I need to prove that I'm smarter than other people.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:15:00 +0000

What I learned is that I need to stop saying that I don't like non-fiction, because I'm reading more and more of it. Are my tastes evolving? Is non-fiction getting better, maybe? Let's go with the latter.

The Still Point of the Turning World
This book tore at my heart, as I knew it would. The author's son was diagnosed with Tay Sachs as a baby, even though she had the screening for it while pregnant. At this point, she was powerless as mother to do nothing but stand by and watch him deteriorate. This book isn't really a memoir of her son Ronan's last days, because it was published while he was still alive. It's more her thoughts on grief. The pain of watching his eyes dull, watching him slip away. Knowing that he won't hit any milestones beyond what he'd already hit at his diagnosis. While losing a child is unimaginable, so is the thought of simply having to watch him go.

Looking for Alaska
Becky recommended this one because we both loved The Fault in Our Stars (please recommend me books--or if you do book posts, I've seen a few people doing that lately, too, link me up!). I loved this. It was a little more raw than The Fault in our Stars, but it was also real. The characters were humorous and heartbreaking and I loved the storyline. I absolutely love this author and I definitely think he's one that transcends that Young Adult lit genre.

The Dinner
Okay, blog readers, I want you all to read this book and then we'll discuss it. Seriously. This book, wow. Two couples meet over dinner to discuss something that happened between their teenage sons. The story goes from appetizer through dessert and the ending was not at all what I expected. That's all I'll say, but please, someone read this and email me so we can talk about it. Or if you have read this, email me. I want so badly to discuss it, but I don't want to say anything here. This was definitely one that kept me up late reading. It was great.

Her: A Memoir
Look, more non-fiction. I was interested in this one because my older sisters are twins. The statistic that when one twin dies, the other usually follows within two years was interesting. This is one twin's story of how she beat that statistic. I realize that there were some serious co-dependency issues, among other things, with these twins, but their story was interesting. There is a lot of survival and strength in this book.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
I love Mary Roach. All of her books answer those interesting, disgusting questions that you've wondered about but don't know who to ask. She asks them for you and answers them in a way that's scientific but understandable. Gulp is about food, stomach digestion and all other manner of disgusting but interesting things. As always, I loved it.

2 best friends | 679 miles | one virtual 5k [week 5]

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:32:00 +0000

This week was the best because it was spring break and I ran every single run in the SUNSHINE. Not in warm sunshine, mind you, but in the sunshine. It was amazing and thinking about going back to dark laps around my block makes me want to cry. Maybe one of these days it'll get warmer.

The high point of my week was probably running 7 miles. I haven't run that far since November, so I was a little worried. Somehow it seemed way further than 6 miles! I headed out early because I was meeting Luke at his school for lunch that day and the thought of running 7 miles after eating a school lunch was definitely not appealing. I set a steady, slow pace and tried to ignore my watch, focusing just on getting to 7 miles. At mile 3, I was running up a pretty steep hill that is usually the bane of my existence when a guy standing on his porch starting cheering and said, "Wow, girl! You're looking great. Keep up the good work!" I kept that one with me at mile 5 when everything started to hurt, my pace slowed, and I so badly wanted to stop. I didn't. I just kept replaying his words and thinking, "I do look great. I can finish this." And I did, managing to keep a sub-10 pace (just barely).

The low point of my week was probably the easy 3 miles on Friday. I'd already run 17 miles that week and my feet and legs were pretty shot, but mostly I'm frustrated because my pace on my long runs and short runs are exactly the same. I know my speed will return, but I would like it to return a little bit now. I did manage to start out my first mile a little faster than I have been doing morning runs, but I'm mostly just managing a steady pace for 3 miles, instead of pushing myself progressively faster each mile. Not for lack of trying, either! I know the speed will return and I am super excited that my endurance is returning, but injuries are dumb. I just want to say that. Injuries are DUMB.

Excuses, excuses... I hear a lot of them. Like how every time my students have a big paper due, printers always break or computers crash. It's amazing how that happens. But I digress. Keli and I also hear a lot of running excuses. When I share what I've run, it's never because I feel like other people have to run, too. It's because I like the encouragement--it helps keep me going when I've had a rough run or a long week. But what happens a lot is that the response I get is people telling me why they can't run. And hey, we all have our reasons for why we can't do things, but let's be real here: we're all busy people.

Heck, before I even get out of bed in the morning, I run through a multitude of excuses in my head:
1. It's early. My alarm goes off at 4:30. I'm tired. I don't WANT to get up at 4:30 and run. I want to sleep for another hour. Why do I willingly do this to myself? What sort of sadist am I? But then I remember that Keli is probably waiting at the other end of a text message and yeah, I'd better get up. Plus, I'll feel better if I run. I always do.
2. My feet are most likely going to be a little sore when I get out of bed. They still aren't fully healed. Sometimes they twinge a little. At the end of a work day, they ACHE. That's part of why I run in the morning. Still, I remind myself that a little sore is manageable and when they really hurt and I couldn't run, that was miserable. Or when I was trying to run and they were horribly injured, it was just about the worst. So I'm thankful now that they are just a little sore and that's all.
3. I'm busy. Well, yeah. I have two kids and I work full-time. I have to be at work by 7:20. I get there earlier because 7:20 is when the kids arrive and anyone who teaches know that it's a recipe for disaster to arrive at the same time as the students. Still, running is important to me, so I make time.

Maybe it isn't important to you AND THAT'S OKAY. You don't have to justify it to me, but don't assume you can't do XYZ because you can't find time. You can. Whether it's running or yoga or Wii Fit or a workout video, there is a way. You just have to find it. A really great site to get inspired is Another Mother Runner because there are a lot of busy moms on there finding time for themselves and honestly, at the end of the day, this is what it's really about for me. When I run, it's for me. I'm setting a good example for my kids and even for my students, but when I run those laps around the block... that time is for me and that's why I can sacrifice my morning sleep and warm bed. Think about all the things you do in a given day that could be cut out and find the block that can be turned into a workout. It's there. I promise. (Or sit on the couch and eat nachos, but OWN that.)

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:52:00 +0000

The Tie That Binds
After reading Benediction a few weeks ago, I decided to check out other books by the author. Of course, as often happens with library requests, they all came in at once. What I really like about Kent Haruf's books is that they aren't entirely happy, but they are true to life. They balance out joy with sorrow... and sometimes, there is more sorrow. This book starts out with an eighty-year old woman, Edith, who is charged with murder and then flashes back over her life. Growing up with a dad who values his kids as little more then possessions, her brother escapes, but out of duty and responsibility, she gives up her life and stays with her dad--miserable as it may be. This was heartbreaking, but also a beautiful story.
Like all of Haruf's books, it is set in Holt, Colorado and as I read more, I started to notice repeating minor characters, which I liked, too. He also used quotation marks in the dialogue in his earlier books, which made me happy!

Watcher in the Woods
This is a YA lit, sci-fi/horror novel, that is part of a series. I read the first book in the series (House of Dark Shadows) awhile ago when it was a free download, then I couldn't find the next book in the series because the library didn't have any of them yet. They finally do, so I was able to continue. The basic gist of the series is that a boy and his family move into an old house in a small town, to discover that the old house has a hallway on the third floor where all the rooms are time portals into dangerous periods of history. Unfortunately, they also discover that while they can go in, things can come out.

Where You Once Belonged
This is one of those books that packs a strong punch. The town's golden boy goes away to college, flunks out. Comes back and is still the golden boy, until the golden boy goes completely awry. It's kind of a perfect story in what happens when a small town over-inflates an ego--incredibly relevant with the recent news in Steubenville and probably something that happens in most small towns across the country.

Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm
I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but this one interested me. Prior to the mid-1800s, gorillas had rarely been seen by anyone by native African tribesman. This book is about the explorer who set out to find them and the struggles he faced with the evolution debate, racism at the time, as well as simply exploring Africa. Parts of it were a little dry, but overall, this was a really interesting read about a piece of scientific history that I don't know much about.

Plainsong
This book switches between several characters: a high school teacher whose wife won't get out of bed and his two sons; a 17 year old pregnant girl and the two older, bachelor brothers who agree to take her in; and Maggie Jones, the teacher who brings them all together. I fell in love with the characters in this story, particularly Victoria, the pregnant girl, and the McPheron brothers, who take her in. Their relationship was multi-layered and really beautiful. I loved this one so much that I was even able to get past the lack of quotation marks, which is saying a lot. There is no huge plot climax in this story. No dramatic moment. Instead, the moments in this story are found within the bonds of human relationships.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Two non-fiction books in one week! I really enjoyed this book--it was sort of like Tina Fey's Bossypants, but the serious, research-driven version. Although I'm not the COO of Facebook or anything close to important, I could relate to so much of what Sheryl Sandberg said in this book, especially when she talked about the way women hold themselves or the way women are seen. Two especially poignant pieces were that even at young ages, boys who are direct are characterized as strong or leaders. Girls who are direct are seen as bossy, even though they may hold the exact same qualities as the boys who are seen as strong or leaders. Something else that struck me is that when self-evaluating, women are more likely to mark themselves down than men. By and large, when I have my students grade themselves on a rubric, the girls will score themselves lower than the boys. Why? Why at the age of 14 do girls already question why they aren't good enough? Some of the criticism that I saw of this book was that the author is blinded by her privilege, that she can't really tell women to lean in, because she has no idea what it's like to HAVE to work. And while yes, this is a woman who continues to work because she chooses to do so and I may be in a different boat, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't still learn to hold myself with self-confidence while working--or that I shouldn't push myself to do better. That doesn't mean that I couldn't relate to her struggles about pumping at work or feeling like she doesn't measure up to stay at home moms because she can't volunteer at her kids' school. I'm not a millionaire, I don't have personal assistants, sure, but I can see eye-to-eye with her on both of those. And I could certainly relate to this:
"We all want the same thing: to feel comfortable with our choices and to feel validated by those around us. So let's start by validating one another. Mothers who work outside the home should regard mothers who work inside the home as real workers. And mothers who work inside the home should be equally respectful of those choosing another option."
Yes. Maybe once we stop tearing each other down, we will learn to build ourselves up.

Eventide
This is somewhat the sequel to Plainsong, as it continues the stories of the characters met in that book, but it also introduces new characters. Like Plainsong, it's not about huge moments, but rather about the small moments that forge human connections. Again, my favorite characters in this book were Victoria and the McPheron brothers, but the author introduced a set of mentally challenged parents and their children that somehow alternately gained pity and disgust all at the same time.

What are you reading?

2 best friends | 679 miles | one virtual 5k [week 4]

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:43:00 +0000

Week 4 was good to me because I actually completed every single run. I know! I'm as amazed as anyone, believe me. I did have to run four days in a row, thanks to snow and ice last Monday morning (I am so, so sick of this never-ending winter) but my feet held up much better than I thought. I was definitely ready to rest by the weekend, though.

The high of my week was the 6 mile long run on Friday. I didn't have huge expectations for this, because I haven't gone this far since November. Plus, this was day four of running and my calves were starting to feel it. So when I headed out, I told myself that I wouldn't look at my watch until the end of my run and would just enjoy running in the sunshine since I was off work. I did just that and although the last two miles were pretty rough, as there were four hills in the last mile and I was pretty much DONE, I was pleasantly surprised when my watch read 58:04 after it beeped in six miles. My 10k PR was 58 minutes and some change during my last half marathon and before I realized that I was injured, my plan was to get an official sub-60 10k PR. Being able to maintain that pace without having run 6 miles in so long gives me confidence that with a little more training or even just some race day adrenaline, I can still try for that 10k PR again soon.

The low has just been running in the dark. It's been a huge struggle. It's not so much the dark as it is the cold, actually. Winter doesn't want to let go and it's so exhausting to face cold and wind every single morning. I'm tired, my legs aren't moving very quickly and I just don't want to wear gloves and a headband anymore. I'm thankful that this week is spring break, so I have a slight reprieve from getting up at 4:30 (but not from running in the cold).

In things that are only exciting to runners, Keli got new shoes, causing us to have a discussion about the difference in drop between her old shoes and her new shoes. I currently run in Altra Intuitions, which are zero drop shoes. I chose them more for the shape of the toe box to help me get over my foot injury than for the zero drop, but I've discovered that I do actually enjoy the zero drop. My calves were a bit more sore at first, but once they adjusted, they weren't anymore sore than normal. I feel like it has improved my gait because I can feel my feet strike the ground a bit better than with old shoes. Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying that you should switch to zero drop shoes. I'd still be running in Brooks Adrenaline with a 12mm drop. That said, these shoes have been amazing for me and I would recommend checking them out if you're thinking of switching or if you've been dealing with any foot problems. They've been amazing for mine.

And like I said last week, COULD WINTER JUST PLEASE GO AWAY?

Bunny Pox

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:34:00 +0000

Remember that one time that even though Luke is always healthy, in spite of the petri dish that must be a kindergarten classroom, he got super sick on Christmas Eve (resulting in the worst Christmas break EVER)? Since then, he's been remarkably healthy. He had one tummy ache and a random throw up, but managed to survive the stomach flu that knocked the rest of our house down. In fact, he has perfect attendance and at this point, with two months of school left, I thought that perfect attendance award was in the bag.

Friday, we were all off school. We stuck around the house and cleaned to get ready for Easter, which we host every year. Friday night, we went to the park and then Dairy Queen. It was finally warm enough to be outside without coats, although we were a little chilly. In short, all was right with the world.

See? Tell me that isn't the most right with the world picture you've ever seen.

Friday night when I was tucking Luke into bed, I noticed two little bumps on his shoulder. I brushed it off as bug bites because we were outside playing a lot, he was out in the woods with my parents a lot that week, as they watched him since he was on spring break. And hey, what else could it be? Until the next morning when he woke up and the two bumps had spread from one shoulder, across his chest, to the other shoulder. And they were itchy. In my heart, I knew what it was, but I told Luke that we needed to go get it checked out because if he was contagious, we couldn't see his cousins and hunt Easter eggs with them that day as planned. His youngest cousin is only 8 months old, so I knew we couldn't risk passing anything on.

So instead of spending a beautiful Saturday outside, we spent 2.5 hours at Urgent Care. Yes, the wait was that long.

The whole time, Luke kept saying, "We should've been hunting Easter eggs an hour ago!" Multiplied by however much time had passed. And I kept thinking, "Why does this place sound like a TB ward? I wonder what other diseases we're picking up?!"

Finally, it was our turn. After reiterating that we hadn't used any new laundry detergents or tried any new food, I also reiterated that I normally wouldn't come in for itchy red bumps, but we were seeing family and I didn't want to pass anything along. The doctor looked at him, left and came back with a dermatology textbook and flipped right to the chicken pox section. Which I already knew, but I really, really wanted her to say, "These are mosquito bites. Are you stupid?" She said they don't really see chicken pox much anymore, so they have to look it up to remind themselves of what the first stage even looks like, but it was textbook perfect. At that point, Luke's face crumpled and he said, "So you mean we can't see anyone this weekend?" and he broke down in a way that I've never seen him break down, like huge sobs. Thanks for nothing, chicken pox. You're a huge jerk. The doctor tried to console him, I tried to console him, but he was just sobbing. She showed me a few other things that it could be, but it was pretty obvious from the pictures that it wasn't any of that and that it was chicken pox.

I carried him into the bathroom, washed his face and got him to stop crying with the promise of a Happy Meal, but he was one seriously sad kid. He'd been looking forward to hunting Easter eggs with his cousins and having them over to our house Sunday all week, so this was a tough blow for a six year old.

Fortunately, my parents opted to still come over to Easter dinner the next day, so Luke didn't feel like a total leper. It wasn't the Easter we had planned and not all of his pox have scabbed over yet, so as of today, his perfect attendance is null and void. I just can't believe we avoided the multiple rounds of strep throat and stomach flu that swept through his classroom only to get hit with chicken pox, of all things. Just like I wanted to return our Christmas plague from Santa, I would like to return this pox from the Easter Bunny.

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:40:00 +0000

Rage
Sometimes I just need a good crime novel to turn off my brain. When I was home sick with the stomach flu last week, I didn't have anything to read. So after wandering around Walgreens and buying four bottles of Gatorade, I also bought this book. Then I went home and slept for four hours, so I guess I didn't really need a book. This book is about a criminal psychologist named Alex Delaware who is the subject of many of Kellerman's novels. I was pretty easily lost in the story of who killed who and why, without having to think too much. I did think it ended a little too abruptly because I wanted to know a little bit more about some of the loose ends, but otherwise, it was a good story.

The House at Riverton
This is by the same author as The Forgotten Garden, which I reviewed last week. I enjoyed this one even more. This is told mainly through the point-of-view of an old woman in her nineties, as she reflects back on her time as a lady's servant. You get bits and pieces in the beginning of something tragic that happened at the House at Riverton involving the woman she served, but it isn't until the end that all the pieces are connected. It gives you a look into the British serving class during this time period, as well as weaving a really beautiful, sad story. I loved it.

A Week in Winter
I didn't realize until I finished that Maeve Binchy finished this book shortly before passing away. Like all of her books, it's about people going through hardships but managing to find comforts in one another, in their surroundings. This book read a bit differently than her other books. I wasn't sure where it was going through the first half, then it was almost like a short story book, the way it all connected in the end. Still, it was a great read, as all of hers are.

What are you reading?

2 Best Friends | 679 Miles | One Virtual 5k [week 3]

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:06:00 +0000

Week 3. Week 3 was a doozy. Or a wash. Or a complete and utter disaster. Whatever you'd like to call it. If you missed it last week, Keli and I were profiled on Another Mother Runner, which was the highlight of our life because Dimity and SBS are such huge inspirations. But as we both talked about in our posts last week, ever since we were contacted about the profile, everything has gone catastrophically wrong. I've held it together pretty well--until week 3.

My high point was also my low point (and was also my only run of the week, GAH). Week 3 had a fun workout scheduled for Monday and I'm not going to lie. When I see things like this, I think, "I work on my feet all day... CHECK" and move on. I'm awful. I will do something over the summer, but during the school year, I am lazy. On Tuesday, I decided to get the speed work out of the way. It called for a mile warm-up, 6x400s, and a mile cool-down. Okay, I would prefer to do these on a track, but in my neighborhood in the dark would have to work. Unfortunately, the weather has yet to acknowledge that it's spring and it was 5 degrees with wind gusts of 25mph. In short, it was absolutely miserable. Because I run these on the flattest stretch in my neighborhood, back and forth, I did half of them directly into the wind. By the last 400 (into the wind, naturally), I was running at what would've been a pre-injury mile for me. I finished the cool-down mile with my face stinging from the cold and stood under the hot shower for as long as I could without being late for work. It was miserable.

In the midst of this, the stomach flu was circulating through my house. My husband was sick Monday and I was doing my hopeful thoughts of, "I am going to miss this one, yes I AM." I was at work for an hour before my stomach started rumbling and I felt chilled. Well, of course I felt chilled. It was really cold when I was running. And maybe my stomach was just disturbed from running that morning. It became apparent that I was lying to myself after awhile, though I did manage to make it through the day of work. I got home as quickly as I could and was about to crawl into bed when the sitter called and said that my youngest had thrown up. I went to get him, wondering why I didn't get to be sick alone. We came back home and passed out together. Now, confusingly enough, my feet felt fine when I got into bed, but after two hours of sleeping, my feet cramped up and by the next day, my plantar fasciitis had flared up and my sesamoids were sore. I have no idea how the stomach flu caused my feet to start to hurt again, but somehow, these things happen to me. My friend Sarah, who is super smart and an amazing runner, suggested that it was probably dehydration and my mom thought that maybe the virus ache settled in the most recently injured part of my body. I think my feet are just jerks. At any rate, between my feet and dehydration from the stomach flu, I didn't manage to get another run in last week and that's pitiful. I thought I'd get back on track today, but I woke up to this.

You can't tell, but there's a layer of ice on the street. Come ON.

What we had in common last week was how tough it was, although Keli managed to get out and get some amazing runs in this weekend, but we were also talking about some things that we do differently. Typically, it's much colder for me in the mornings than it is for Keli, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's running in 70s in the morning. I like to imagine that she is because lately, I've felt like I live in the frozen tundra.
That said, we've found that even though it's colder for me, I run with less layers than she does. Unless it's really, really cold (single digits or below zero), I wear a long-sleeved tech tee and Danskin slim sculpt pants. I also wear Mizuno Breath Thermo Run Glove but my hands usually get so warm that I take them off and toss them in my driveway by the end of the first lap. I also wear the Mizuno Breath Thermo Headband . I do keep that on through the whole run and it is excellent for keep my head warm without being too hot. Otherwise, I don't wear anything else. I can't stand to have a ton of things on me, so I won't wear hats or extra layers. I do have a pair of Mizuno Running Women's Breath Thermo Layered Tight but they're pretty heavy, so I only wear them if it's really cold. The Danskin pants that I wear are thin and don't add any extra warmth. Obviously I'm not a layering person and prefer to start out my runs a little cold instead of overheating! The Mizuno line is great for winter running because it turns sweat into heat. I have no idea how it works, but it does.

Now, let's hope that winter actually goes away now, because honestly, I'd like to put the gloves and headband away!

2 Best Friends|679 Miles|One Virtual 5k [week 2]

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:40:00 +0000

My second week of week 2 was far more successful than my first week of week 2, in that I actually completed the majority of it.

My high point was that I managed my longest before work run of five miles around my block. Since my feet tend to fall apart by the weekend, I thought that I should get my longest run in during the week. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle that many laps around the block (it came out to something like 15 1/2, otherwise known as "AM I DONE YET?!), but I managed and kept my pace somewhere around a 9:30. I was afraid that I'd completely lag near the end, but I pushed myself. I also managed to avoid most work traffic, except for the time when I got hung up with the paper delivery person. If you run in the mornings, you know this is the WORST because there is really nothing you can do other than wait it out as they stop constantly. Other than this, it went well and I felt pretty good about getting five miles out of the way before most people were out of bed.

My low point was that I kept thinking, "Hey, you did five miles Thursday, why not get up and finish your last four miles Friday and take the weekend off?" Of course I was lazy and didn't, then Tommy was up throwing up all night Friday. I was exhausted Saturday morning and didn't get my run in because Luke had an early Little League clinic, then I chose to nap in the afternoon. Finally, I decided to run Saturday evening after a huge meal and while I managed to get four miles done, it was somewhat of a disaster with a full stomach and daylight running out. I did it, but I'm not sure it was an experience I would like to repeat! Lesson learned... sometimes it's better to run when you have a chance, because you never know when a stomach flu is going to hit your house (let's not even talk about what said stomach flu is doing to week 3 of the 5k plan).

Shortly after Keli and I came up with our plan to start this blog series, we were contacted by Dimity of Another Mother Runner, who asked if we were interested in being profiled as part of the the AMR Virtual 5k. Once we stopped squealing via text, we said YES. Our profile was published today. The hilarious thing is how catastrophically interrupted our running has been since we found out about the profile. Initially, our thoughts were that we would have no choice but to follow our respective plans religiously because HELLO? We were being profiled. And then, the universe laughed. Keli's kids got sick. My kid got sick and so helpfully passed his stomach flu along to me just as I was hitting my stride, but the good news is, neither of us is letting these road bumps stop us and we're still encouraging one another--all the way laughing at just how hard it is to be a mother runner sometimes.

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:36:00 +0000

I wasn't sure if I would get this post up today or not, but I managed to drag myself out of a stomach flu haze to get this done. Please admire my dedication to reading. Also, while at Walgreens buying all the Gatorade they had to offer, I paid $10 for a book because I'm between library holds right now. This is how much I desperately needed something to read while recovering from last night's horrible bout with the stomach flu. This $10 paperback better be amazing.

Benediction
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it was powerful. The story of a dying man, his regrets, the lives he's leaving behind and the lives he's touched, all woven into one story. I haven't read anything else by this author (but I'm hoping to correct that soon), but apparently the setting of this story is the central setting in two of his other stories, which is intriguing. My only complaint is that he's adopted the style of not using quotation marks, which drives me absolutely insane. Yes, it's valid prose, I GUESS, but it makes me batty. Aside from that, for a book about a man dying, the author treated it just as that: death. Death is a part of life and he faced it as that. There was no overreaching sentimentality, just a story of a family holding together as best they could, with subplots that were seemingly unrelated, yet tied together.

The Forgotten Garden: A Novel
A four year old girl is left abandoned on an Australian wharf. A family takes her in and raises her as their own, not telling her until she turns 21. Years later, her granddaughter continues the search for her grandmother's identity after her death. This book weaves history between the lives of generations of women, as well as the mystery of just who Nell was and how she came to be abandoned. I loved watching the story of this one unfold. It's not a short book, but I was hooked in and probably stayed up too late quite a few nights because I couldn't wait to find out if my guesses were correct.

Lost Girls
This is by the same author as The Demonologist, which I reviewed last week. The reviews said that this was a much stronger book. Overall, I enjoyed it much more. A lawyer is called to defend a man accused of drowning two girls. As he digs deeper into the story, he uncovers an urban legend about a Lady of the Lake, rooted somewhat in history, that the locals still believe in strongly. Overall, I did find this to be much more engaging than his other book and really enjoyed it, but my only complaint is that the ending seemed to unravel just like The Demonologist. Again, maybe this is done purposely, but it didn't even seem like that. Still, the story itself was engaging enough that I would still recommend it.

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
I really enjoyed this book. Set in southern Indiana (which may as well be the actual south compared to my part of Indiana), the book follows three African-American women (nicknamed the Supremes) and their friendships. Although they're older now, it does flashback to their youth and how they came to be friends. I was impressed at how well the author wrote women, but he said in the back that he wrote what he saw from watching his mom and her friends and relatives. This book managed to balance humor, sadness and supernatural really well. Is it an amazing work of literature? No, but I really, really enjoyed it. It had an amazing voice, especially for an author's first book.

Tommy's Team

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:17:00 +0000

Last year, forming Tommy's Team was a no brainer for me. Although the weather failed on us, with grey rainy skies, it was a beautiful day. One of the best I've had. To see all those people out there supporting us, supporting our cause--making it their own--was a feeling I can't quite describe.

This year has been a little different. So far, Tommy is still successfully off his medicine and although we hold our breath, breathing becomes a little easier each day.
Yet, epilepsy is still so prevalent, even if we no longer fill a medicine dropper two times a day for Tommy, even if he hasn't had a seizure in over a year. My best friend Keli's daughter was just recently diagnosed with epilepsy. As I texted with her and felt her pain from seeing an otherwise normal, healthy child go through all that she did in a single day, I thought back to our day of tests when Tommy was first diagnosed... and how no parent should have to go through that. But they do. Daily. Like it was for us, it is for them--unfair.
Friday, Shane came home from a work after talking to a student whose sister is epileptic. Like Tommy, she seemed to outgrow it around the age of four. Then when she went through puberty, the seizures came back and she had to go back on medication. In this way, epilepsy is one of the worst monsters ever, because it can lie in wait for years. And in this way, I know we will always be looking over our shoulders waiting for it to strike again.

For these reasons and so many more, we will walk again. To raise money so that someday, no parent will have to go through those tests again. Or that maybe when they do, someone will say to them, "Here is what we can do. Your child will never have another seizure again."

If you live in the area, I would love to have you walk with us. If you walked with us last year and have your shirt, please wear it again. I don't have a sponsor for shirts this year, but I'm going to do my best to get shirts for anyone new who is walking with us. If you can't walk with us, but would like to support our team, there are many things you can do. Donations of even the smallest variety are appreciated.

This year, we have some wonderful people supporting our team, too. Shrinking Jeans is currently hosting a DietBet weight loss challenge. It just started four days ago and runs for twenty-four more days, so you have lots of time to join and attempt to win the cash prize at the end. This is a great chance to jump start your spring weight loss. When Christy and Lissa emailed me and said they'd like to donate a portion of the earnings to Tommy's Team, I was beyond touched.
Another amazing piece of support is this beautiful necklace, created by Cameron. When she emailed me to ask if I was interested in her designing a necklace where the proceeds would go to support Tommy's Team, I was so touched and excited and well, I couldn't wait to buy one myself. Cam and I actually "met" when I bought a necklace that said "hope" from her shop while pregnant (pictured here) with Tommy--very fitting.

I am beyond excited and touched at this generosity poured toward Tommy's Team and moreso, toward the epilepsy foundation and epilepsy research. This year, as with last, we walk with hope for a seizure free future. In some way, I hope you will join us.

What I Read Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:33:00 +0000

The Thursday edition. All of my posts got pushed back a day because I was out of town Sunday and didn't get home until Monday afternoon/evening, so pretend you're reading this yesterday. In the interim, however, I read another book, so it works in your favor.

Schroder: A Novel
I really like this book. One thing that stuck with me was that you only ever get Schroder's point of view. I just finished reteaching my students about unreliable narrators and it struck me that this would be an excellent example of one. While you want desperately to side with Schroder, there are so many things that make you wonder if he's really reliable. You hear so little from his wife or from other people in the book that you aren't really sure if you can trust his perspective and while you're watching the events in the book tumble out of control, you're kind of powerless and have no choice but to trust him.

Firefly Lane
This is by the same author as Winter Garden, which I really enjoyed. Like Winter Garden, I did a full on ugly cry at the end. It explores to relationship between girls, best friends especially, as it follows two girls from 8th grade into adulthood and the complexities they face. It also looked at the struggles faced by both working women and women who choose to stay home. I liked this one a lot and found it really true to life. When I looked this up for the review link, I noticed that it's only $2.99 for Kindles, so this is a good purchase if you're looking for something easy and enjoyable to read (but keep the tissues close by).

Eleanor & Park
This is a young adult novel, but at times, it seemed thematically more than that. The main characters were young adults, but parts of it were heavy--though I can definitely see how it was geared toward young adult. Told entirely through the alternating view points of Eleanor and Park, this novel talks about young adulthood, children growing up with unsupportive/abusive parents, bullying and falling in love. I was pulled in to the storyline pretty quickly and this was one of those books that I was dismayed when I got to the end, simply because I wanted more of their story.

The Demonologist: A Novel
The main character of this novel, David, is a Milton expert who doesn't really believe in demons, until he's thrown headfirst into a world seemingly filled with them. While I loved aspects of this novel and was really gripped by certain elements of it, especially the relationship between David and his best friend, as well as David and his own inner demons, there were parts that I wish the author had expanded upon, especially the ending and some other character development pieces. That said, I overall enjoyed this book and was really gripped by some of the horrific aspects of it and how powerless David felt at points.

2 best friends | 679 miles | one virtual 5k [week one]

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:58:00 +0000

So week one is actually week two for me because as I said in last week's post, I started this whole thing a week earlier than Keli, not actually planning on following the whole training until I decided to do it virtually with Keli. Funny enough, I figured I'd end up needing to repeat a week somewhere along the line so I'd end up back on track. Well, it turns out that I'll be repeating week two this week, so you know. Let's hope that doesn't happen again. But more on that later!

My running week actually started out really strong and I would count that as the high point of my training last week. I hit some good paces and managed to run progressive runs twice, where each mile was faster than the last. I don't look at my watch in the dark, so I was running these entirely by feel and was just trying to keep my pace up and not fizzle out at the end. The 2x1 tempo run was also pretty strong, as I kept my paces under 9 minute miles--even though a car pulled out of a driveway when I was in the last tenth of a mile of my last tempo mile. That was maddening! Otherwise, I felt great and was doing that thing where I was all, "IN YOUR FACE, INJURY."

As so often happens with this ridiculous injury recovery came the low point. After two days of being on my feet constantly for ISTEPs, my feet were nagging at me. I could tell they didn't feel right, but I was able to run with them mostly feeling okay Thursday morning. However, after a day of teaching on my feet all day Friday, they were pretty much shot. I could feel that my heels were starting the beginnings of plantar fasciitis for the billionth time and when I woke up Saturday morning, stepping down killed my feet. So I stretched and rolled my calves and iced and skipped my Saturday run, which is really not what I wanted to do... but I've learned to baby feet. I would like to stop babying my feet someday soon, but it seems like the slightest disturbance throws them off. I'm starting to feel like they won't fully heal until summer. It's never running that bothers them, always working! After a few days of rest and not working, they feel much better... but I feel like it's a constant teeter totter. I already wear orthotics all day at work and sitting really isn't an option most days, so I'm not really sure what else to do. Knock it off, feet!

I'm sure this week's challenge will be running with the time change. Granted, it always looks like this when I begin AND end my run, so the time change doesn't affect me in terms of light.

But losing that hour of sleep is going to be tough.
A few people have asked me about running the morning. I also frequently get asked about in real life when I mention how I early I run, so I thought I'd cover a few of the things that *always* come up...

Don't you feel unsafe?
No, not really. Or rather, no less safe than any time than I'm running alone. I live in the back of a quiet subdivision, so I do laps around my block. It takes 3.5 laps around my block to get to a mile. There are two hills on my block. They aren't huge hills, but I hate them most mornings. Does this get tedious? A little, but it helps me feel safe because I am never very far from my house. Aside from an occasional neighbor starting a car, I don't see anyone. Truthfully, I've felt less safe running on a wooded bike trail in the middle of the afternoon. The only time I get freaked out is when it's windy and garbage day, because the wind rustles garbage bags creepily. Yesterday morning, I did almost stumble over a possum and that startled me a bit. Mainly because I thought it was a cat, until I saw the disgusting tail. Otherwise, I don't get freaked out by much. Although I will admit that when I line up at the end of someone's driveway to do speedwork, I do always wonder if they're peeking out a window ready to call the police on me for creeping around the neighborhood in the dark.

Okay, but aren't you exhausted by noon?
No more than usual. I get up at 4:30 to run, which is an hour earlier than my usual alarm, so I'm not losing that much sleep. Truthfully, I feel more energized than I do on days when I don't run. Running wakes me up, plus running at the end of a workday is beyond exhausting, so knowing that I get to leave school as soon as I'm done teaching helps keep me going.

Still, I couldn't get up that early!
Are you sure? I didn't think I could, either, and I started doing it during half marathon training because it was too hot in the afternoons to really push myself. The first few times were rough, but after awhile, my body acclimated. Truthfully, I prefer running at 8 or 9 in the morning, but because I work full-time, that isn't an option. So if you're having a hard time fitting a work out into your day, don't discount the morning. You might be surprised. There's a good feeling about knowing that you have your run done before most of the world is even out of bed. Now if I could just get my feet to agree with that...

Conferencing

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:33:00 +0000

Alternately titled: the many ways in which I can embarrass myself publicly.
Alternate alternate title: why I should not be allowed to leave the house.

A few months ago, I applied to go to a conference. Then I forgot that I applied to go to it until I got the email saying that I was accepted. I didn't entirely forget, I just did that thing where you don't think about something until it comes along and then you're like, "Oh hey, that!" The conference had to do with test setting and I can't really say more than that since it had to with testing and testing has to be confidential. Also, the only people who would find it vaguely interesting would be the two people who read my blog who are also educators. Even that is questionable. (Actually, it was very interesting, but I enjoy this kind of thing.)

At first, I thought I was going to have to leave very early in the morning to make it down to Indianapolis for the conference and I was all, "Way to sign yourself up for this, genius." But then, I actually read the email and realized that since I live more than 50 miles away, they would pay for a hotel room where the conference was being held. That's the point where I emailed Shane and was like, "HAVE FUN WITH THE KIDS." Actually, we considered all going together and Shane would take the boys to the Children's Museum, but Luke has perfect attendance in school so far and we hated to pull him out. It was decided that I would go alone, at which point I sent Shane the aforementioned email and selected that I would like a room with a king sized bed.

Truthfully, I've never been away from my kids AND my husband all at once. I've always had one or the other with me, so even though I was looking forward to it, I kind of wasn't... because I knew I would miss them. Still, king sized bed. I didn't know anyone else who was going (it turns out that I did, but I didn't see her until the meeting in the morning), so when I got down to Indy, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I had no husband! No kids! Who was I? So, I walked around and took pictures of buildings and tried to find an open restaurant.

Apparently I was walking the wrong way because I couldn't find any open restaurants. I did find a candy shop, where I bought Pez for my children and Keli's. I walked some more, but it started to rain and also, my feet are jerks so I didn't want to accidentally anger them by walking too much, so I headed back to the hotel. I thought I would get something at the in-hotel Starbucks, but that apparently closed at 1PM, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE. I looked at the room service menu, but paying extra for food to be brought to your room is kind of dumb and also, you can't get drink refills on room service. This was my main reason. Thus, I decided to head down to the bar and grille in the hotel... which turned out to be fancier than I realized.

I was wearing flip flops and yoga pants. I was also the only person there and the helpful waiter/bartender directed me to a seat with a couch because he thought I'd be comfortable there. This is probably what they do to all people who walk in wearing yoga pants. He was right. I was quite comfortable. I've never eaten a meal alone. I actually really admire people who can do that, but I'm not that person. It would stand to reason that when I decided to be that person, I would be the only person in the restaurant and way underdressed.
I also ordered skirt steak with chimichurri and french onion soup, because me and my yoga pants were going to LIVE.IT.UP. Throughout this all, I was still the only person in the restaurant, which meant that I got amazingly good service. Finally, I decided that it was probably time to stop eating alone and headed back to my room.

I discovered that the phone charger I brought with me didn't work, so I realized that I was going to have to go out to the [scary] parking garage and plug my phone into my car overnight, otherwise it would be dead by morning. Only, when I got into the elevator, I couldn't find the button for the parking garage. There was no G button. This was perplexing because I knew that I went from the parking garage elevator directly into the hotel lobby. I knew it was possible, but it was like Narnia. The entrance to the parking garage had simply disappeared. I got off in the lobby and loitered around for a few minutes, until I saw a guy walk out a side door. I sidled after him and, ah ha! The parking garage. I was still perplexed as to how I got INTO the hotel before, but I found my car and plugged in my phone. Then? I took the elevator from the parking garage back to the 11th floor of the hotel where my room was.
The next morning, I packed up all of my things and decided to take everything to my car before the meeting. I got in the elevator and punched the lobby button at the same time as another guy who hit the 3rd floor button. And guess what? THE THIRD FLOOR IS THE PARKING GARAGE. Only it doesn't say that, so I guess you have to go to Narnia often to understand how this works. So then I was all, "Oh, huh, I was going to check out and THEN go to the parking garage, but I guess I'll just go to the parking garage first since we're stopping here!" to save face. At the meeting, the teacher next to me expressed her confusion and annoyance at the whole confusing parking garage situation, so thankfully, it wasn't just me. She said she asked the clerk in the lobby and he acted like she was dumb, so I'm glad that I just chose to stand around like a creeper.

The rest of the day went pretty normally. We had lunch on the 21st floor with a great view.

When I went to leave, I realized suddenly that I didn't remember carrying my coat downstairs that morning. In fact, I was pretty sure I hadn't. Still, I checked in my car to be sure and yeah, no coat. So I was that person who had to ask the front desk to call housekeeping because they left their coat. It's amazing how when we travel with the kids, I organize their things and mine without trouble, but send me off by myself and I forget how to navigate elevators and don't carry my coat!