The List.

Hey, remember when I made a list of 101 things to do in a 1001 days and did them all?

Yeah, me neither.  To be fair, I have another year.  I've completed 30 out of 101.  Hmmm.  Not doing so hot.

Since I've last looked at the list, I've completed:

9. Start a college fund for Mo-mo Totally makes me feel like an adult.

15. Go trick or treating with Mo-mo  Gnomish cuteness.

20. Join a mommy group When I was between jobs, I met an awesome group of SAHM mom's from the neighborhood.

25. Learn to knit  Kind of?  I learned, but mostly forgot. 

47. Spend the night at the Lemp Mansion  Alas, no ghosts.  Just a very uncomfortable creaky bed and an interesting old house.

 

53. See something at the Fox Theatre  Wicked.  Yeah. (Note: Wicked as in the actual musical we saw, not the Bostonian adjective.  But it was pretty wicked.)

57. Do something amazingly special for our 5th wedding anniversary.  See above--we went to the Lemp Mansion

63. Start an herb garden Really?  This was a goal?  Huh.  I planted an herb garden, but I thought it was on a whim.  Oh well.  Still counts.

66. Purchase a matching set of living room furniture  Thanks, Craigslist.

84. Clean out everything from my room at parent's house.  Thanks, random basement flood.  Wait, I think there may be a couple things still in that closet. 

98. Purchase a new car for Batman  He is riding in style with his new Honda.  And by "in style", I mean that his bumper is no longer duct-taped to the car and he has air conditioning.

100. Find a "mommy friend"  Got several of them.  Hooray!  Friends, keep procreating.


I have to fess up--There are two that I did.  Then undid.

80.  Get at least 25 followers to my blog. 
Back when I was blogging regularly and had it under the original title of "The Whole Mommy Thing", this was true.  Then I got impatient and tried to switch platforms and realized that I suck at trying to code things so went back but didn't realize that it got rid of all of my followers.  So yeah. 

101. For every goal I accomplish, put away $10. When it hits Sept 19, 2012 do something fun with that money. 
See, last year when Batman and I had both just graduated from school, we were broke. We're still broke but less broke than we were then.  My parent's took us on an amazing vacation to Cozumel.  I had $200 or so saved up.  We broke the piggy bank and spent it on fun crap in Cozumel instead of waiting.

books I read in September

1.  Dragon Haven (Rain Wilds Chronicles, Vol. 2) by Robin Hobb (book one mentioned here).

While not a bad story, it's seems to be lacking when compared to the Farseer or Fool series by Hobb.  Maybe we have too many characters to get to as invested--but at least it's not as drearily bleak and depressing as the Soldier Son series.  It has all the elements of a good fantasy novel and she brings them together in a satisfactory manner:  dragons, outcasts, a quest, a forbidden love.    

2. Truthseeker by C. E. Murphy

 C.E. Murphy likes to weave the modern with fantasy:  her series The Walker Files is about a policewoman who suddenly that she has shamanistic powers, and her Negotiator series is about a lawyer who finds herself playing referee to the different races of the world (think dragon, gargoyle, selkie, etc.).  Along the same vein, this book is about a tailor who always knows the truth and is sought out by a prince of Fairie.  Satisfying read, good book, but I really can't see it being turned into a compelling series.   

3.  Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic) by Patricia Wrede

 

Juvenile fantasy novel set in an alternative pioneer world about a thirteenth daughter who has always been told she's bad at heart, and her twin who is the seventh son of the seventh son.  Vaguely reminiscence of Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son series, the story starts of strong but peters out towards the end.  Not nearly as good as some of her earlier work.

4.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The first time I tried to read this book, I got about 50 pages in and put in down because it felt too detailed oriented and didn't hold my attention.  When I picked it up two months later, I read it in about two days.  I'm excited to read the next books--my favorite character by far is the actual girl with the dragon tattoo, and she's a much bigger characters in the next series.  Summary:  Publicly shamed Swedish journal investigates the history of a wealthy family to search for a killer. 

5.  Summer House: A Novel by Nancy Thayer

The story of three generations of women and their loves--the grandmother and story of her relationship with her husband during WWII told as flashback, the mother who is struggling to forgive her cheating husband, and the daughter who is trying not to settle for a man.  While the writing was pretty strong and the characters engaging, there just wasn't quite enough to turn it from pretty good to great.  The character of Charlotte, the daughter, was especially one-dimensional and annoying. 

Books I Read in cough cough cough

Here's the list of books I read in coughcoughcoughavoideyecontact August.  Yeah, give me a break, I know it's already almost October. Better late than never, I always say.

Unless we're talking about an annual swarm of killer bees.  Then I say better never than ever.

I have a platitude for every occasion. 

1.  Rat by Fernada Eberstadt

 

While not wildly intricate or complex, this story about a 15 year old French girl is nevertheless well-written with interesting characters and story plot.  When "Rat" finds out that her adopted brother is being molested by her mom's boyfriend and her mother doesn't believe them, she and her brother set off to England to find Rat's biological father.  I wish this novel was almost 100 pages longer, as the author occasionally changed character perspective, and I feel as if she could have done that more often and given the story a bit of fleshing out.


2. Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson

 

By the same author of "Gods In Alabama", this novel is similar in the heavily southern story line and quirky set of characters.  Told in the first person by Nonny Frett, this book is about the ties of family, both the ones you were born into and the ones you create for yourself.  I'd definitely recommend this novel to people who enjoy  the "quirky and realistic" genre like authors Billie Letts and Joanne Mapson, and I'd love to read more books by this author. 


3. House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

 

 A sequel to Howl's Moving Castle-- so don't just start with this one (Howl's Moving Castle was actually made into a fairly decent anime film by Miyazaki of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke fame if you're into that sort of thing).  Young adult fantasy fiction, not quite as good as the first but still fun.


4. The Perfect Poison (Arcane Society) by Amanda Quick

 

 Amanda Quick is the pseudonym for romance author Jayne Anne Krentz when she writes (and I use this word incredibly loosely) "historical" romances.  It's a junk food book:  comforting, you know exactly what to expect, but no real substance.  This is one of the Arcane Society books, which revolves around a secret society of psychically talented individuals in regency England (and you can read about their descendants in some of her novels under the name Krentz).    


5. Digging to America by Anne Tyler 

 

 This is a story of two very different families who adopt babies from Korea, one of typical white-bread Americans and one of Iranian-Americans, and it deals with issues of identity and outsiderness.  It focuses mostly on Maryam Yazdan, the Iranian grandmother, but we get snippets of insight from almost everyone involved.  Well written with detailed character description, I definitely enjoyed it.

6. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

 

Chevalier also wrote "The Girl With The Pearl Earring", and this historically inspired novel focuses on the friendship of two female fossil hunters.  As one is a moderately well-to-do spinster and the other a working class girl, Chevalier does a fantastic job illustrating how both gender and social inequality plays into their friendship and their lives without ramming it down your throat.  

7. Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Book 1) by Julie Kenner

 

 Imagine Buffy the Vampire Slayer all grown up and trying to live a normal life in the suburbs with her kids and normal husband but demons start busting into her front window---and you get the premise of this book.  Cheesy but fun, I've been searching in vain for the next one and will soon have to give in and just order it online.

8. Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) - Library Edition by Suzanne Collins

 

Have I mentioned that I love these books?  Oh wait, I have.  I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading this book the day it came in the mail.  Great ending:  real.      

9.  Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

  

I liked Digging to America so much that I wanted to read some of Tyler's other books, so I picked this one up at the library.  While well-written and in-depth characterization, nothing really happens in the entire book.  It's the story of an elderly guy with a quiet life.  Not exactly a thrilling page turner.  

Updating the numbers.

Guess what?

That's right, I am awesome--so awesome that someone decided to hire me.  But not as a starship captain. Which is unfortunate.  Who cares that I never went to the Academy, I would rock at that job.

I will now have a lot less time to write mildly amusing blog posts about nothing.  Don't cry, I know how upsetting that will be for my devoted fan base of approximately four people (and one of them isn't even related to me!  Boo-yah!)   

On the plus side, I will be able to feed and clothe my family.  And buy books, which is always important.  Oh, and the job is actually very neat.

This leads to an awkward segueway....of a list update!

3. Get a professional job.
I have a job.  I'm using both my degree and professional experience, which is great.  I'm working with an education non-profit organization to plan events and raise money through individual giving.  Tons of work but I'm loving it.  

54. Go scuba diving

Cozumel.  Family scuba diving.  Evil Dr. Porkchop, stepmother, Batman, Meat, and ....stepbrother who needs a faux name all scuba-dive.  I hadn't been in over five years, back when I was in Fiji.  It was AMAZING!  I saw sea turtles, sharks, lobsters, mantarays, and lots and lots of little brightly colored fish.

Batman managed to brush up against some coral and come home with a nasty rash that spread and oozed and blistered for a couple of days.  He ended up scrubbing it out, pouring vinegar and rubbing alcohol on it, and it finally stopped spreading.  It's semi-healed now.

I bet you're so happy that I have a blog, so that I can share such marvelous stories about rashes with you. 


Things from the list I did but didn't blog about because I'm lazy and so feel guilty about not mentioning before now

1. Graduate with my master's degree with a 4.0 GPA

7. Become proficient in GIS mapping software.

11. Bring Mo-mo to the zoo

22. Plan and execute a successful 1st birthday party for Mo-mo

62. Have a garage sale

78. Update blog at least two times a week for four months

80. Get at least 25 followers to my blog

96. Move to St. Louis