Q1 2008 Books

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I hope to read 50 books in 2008. Here is what I have read so far:

  1. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes I had never read any Sherlock Holmes, so when I finished everything on my nightstand I grabbed this one off the bookcase. Except for a few words I had to learn, from my husband, it was a pretty good read.
  2. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt I put off reading this for over a year. My mom got it for me at Christmas a year ago. Now that I am teaching Sunday School, I am more into religious stuff. It was a very interesting read. I know it is her fictionalized version of events, but I am sure she did her research on the times, so it was interesting to find out what it was like then.
  3. Angels Fall Just a quick romantic mystery. Pretty well written, good twists.
  4. Prodigal Summer I LOVE Barbara Kingsolver. So far I have enjoyed every one of the books I have read by her. This one took me a lot longer than I expected. It was a little hard to get into, but once I did I really liked it. It was a wonderful combination of 3 tales.
  5. Back Roads Heart-wrenching tale about a young man taking care of his younger sisters.
  6. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia)Having never read the Chronicles of Narnia, I snitched the whole set from my church library and am reading them one after the other. This one was very interesting. I saw the movie on DVD last year, but the book was totally better.
  7. Prince Caspian (Narnia) I liked this one a lot. I love that the kids got to go back. I missed the beavers though, they were some of my favorite characters.
  8. A Mango-Shaped Space For 2 days I took a little break from Narnia, and headed to the world of synesthesia. This well written Young Adult novel told the story of Mia, a 13 year-old middle child with synesthesia. For the first time, she admits to others that she experiences this phenomenon. It has it ups and downs, and I definitely cried. It is a great book for preteens, teens, and parents.
  9. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Narnia) Back on to Narnia. I liked this one best so far. It was a great adventure, with some interesting moments. Although sometimes I feel like he was half-asleep while he was writing and missed some parts.
  10. The Silver Chair (Narnia) Just started this one. Not liking it so much so far, but I have to finish it.

March 24 was the 365th and last day of the year in many European implementations of the Julian calendar.

My favorite Easter Candies

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  1. Brach’s Classic Jelly Beans – mostly the green, yellow, and whites ones
  2. Peeps – specifically yellow bunnies
  3. Reese’s Peanut Butter eggs– they taste better than cups
  4. Yummy sugary melty candies from a candy store in New York

Each Easter season, Americans buy more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps, shaped like chicks, as well as Marshmallow Bunnies and Marshmallow Eggs, making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.

Things I like to do

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Mom and Dad took off for Easter and left me home alone, so I am doing Mom’s list for today. Since she has told you all sorts of things about her, I thought I would tell you about me.

Things I like to do:

  • Sleep on Mom’s pillow
  • Chew the pond plants
  • Sleep on the futon
  • Eat
  • Sleep on the love seat
  • Explore the bathtub
  • Sleep on the flowered chair
  • Stick my head in the shower when someone is in there
  • Sleep in my soft box
  • Attack the trashcan
  • Sleep on the table
  • Chase the rainbow ribbon
  • Sleep on Dad’s pillow
  • Talk to the birdies outside
  • Sleep on clean laundry
  • Attack the rug
  • Sleep on the rug
  • Play with my toys
  • Sleep on Dad’s legs
  • Play with rubber bands
  • Sleep on Mom’s lap
  • Explore the porch
  • Sleep on the glider

Cats are the sleepiest of all mammals. They spend 16 hours of each day sleeping.

TV moments I remember

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I watch entirely too much TV. I will admit that. And yet…

I have very distinct memories of watching certain shows when I was a kid.

  1. I used to watch Dallas with my parents. I think it was because it was on Friday nights. I remember when they “shot JR” and brought on that guy pretending to be Jock.
  2. When Alex was moving out and Family Ties was ending. That was so sad.
  3. Matthew Perry, as Carol’s friend Sandy who died, on Growing Pains.
  4. The Mermaid, Terri Hatcher, on Love Boat.
  5. Did you see Nancy Regan on Diff’rent Strokes?

1980 – On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase “Who Shot JR?”

in Just-spring

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Today is the official first day of spring. Spring is my favorite season. It contains several of my favorite events:

  • My birthday
  • Mother’s Day
  • Easter
  • The end of the school year (most years)

I also love the change in weather.

  1. I get all jazzed up and happy.
  2. Everything seems better.
  3. The days are getting longer and brighter.
  4. School is winding up.
  5. Things smell better.
  6. Flowers are blooming.
  7. It is warmer.
  8. I can stop wearing socks.
  9. I can wear short sleeves with no sweater or jacket.
  10. New things come alive.

in Just-
spring       when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles       far       and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far       and       wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and
    the

            goat-footed

balloonMan       whistles
far
and
wee

	-- e. e. cummings

Common date of the Equinox. In astrology, March 21 the day of the Equinox is the first full day of the sign of Aries. It is also the traditional first day of the astrological year; and International Astrology Day.

Baby names

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We are watching last Thursday’s LOST.  It was a Sun and Jin episode.  There was a sweet little scene with them on the beach talking about getting ready for the baby.   Jin suggests they talk baby names, but Sun says it is bad luck.  I don’t know that it could be bad luck if you aren’t pregnant.

Names I like for our yet-to-be-conceived baby.   I am not going to tell you which one we have actually chosen for our first born.

Girls names are too easy.  I just keep thinking of them.  There are many ladies in our family that we would like to honor.

  • Abigail
  • Amelia
  • Bonnie
  • Betsy
  • Caroline
  • Caitlin
  • Ellen
  • Hazel
  • Ingrid
  • Isabella
  • Joy
  • Marion
  • Ruth
  • Sarah
  • Sylvia

Boys names have not been as easy.  There are lots of names that I like, but they either don’t go well with our last name or I have had a student with that name that was a problem.

  • Benjamin
  • Edward
  • Elliot
  • Eric
  • Ethan

1990 – In largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts

17 things that are Green

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  1. Grass
  2. Clovers
  3. My lunch bag
  4. Limes
  5. Mountain Dew
  6. Leaves
  7. The list next to my classroom phone
  8. My towels
  9. The “stone” in my class ring
  10. The walls at the Dummerston Grange AND the Putney Community Center
  11. My favorite color
  12. Spinach
  13. Emeralds
  14. Pickles
  15. Kakapos
  16. The Statue of Liberty
  17. Christmas Trees

1756 – St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).

Never could tell a joke

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A 22-year-old kid is sent to a maximum security prison for larceny. Benefiting from a cliché often found in prison stories, he ends up with an older, veteran cellmate who takes a liking to him and helps him get acclimated to prison life.The first night in the cell block, the kid hears something strange. Other prisoners are calling out numbers in the darkness.”Sixteen!”All the prisoners laugh, except for the new kid.

“Twenty-five!”

More laughter.

And so on. The kid asks his cellmate to explain what everyone’s laughing at.

“Well, at night, we’ve got nothing better to do than to tell jokes.”

“But they’re not jokes. They’re just numbers.”

“That’s all you know. Thing is, we’ve all been here so long that we’ve heard all each other’s jokes so often that we’ve memorized them. So rather than tell the whole joke again, we’ve numbered ’em all. Now we just remind each other of the joke by calling out the number.”

So the kid calls out, “Eleven!”

The entire cell block erupts in almost hysterical laughter.

Then the guy in the next cell calls out, “Fifteen!” Crickets.

The kid asks, “What happened?”

His cellmate answers, “That guy never could tell a joke.”

That is one of my all time favorite jokes. Just the line “That guy never could tell a joke.” can crack me up. And…sadly, it is reminiscent of me, I never remember the whole joke (unless it is short), but punchlines…I can do punchlines.

  1. “I pissed in its ear.”
  2. “It is dark in here.”
  3. “Wrecked’im hell, it killed ‘im.”
  4. Jesus Johnson
  5. “Anyone can roast beef.”
  6. “Sand”

1906 – Henny Youngman, American comedian (d. 1998)
1926 – Jerry Lewis, American comedian