tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36616742008-01-03T11:54:10.471-05:00LaraBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-16118526588638028052008-01-03T11:38:00.001-05:002008-01-03T11:50:08.916-05:00It's a new year and a new resolution to keep up this blog, we'll see if I keep it this year! To start, the 2007 book list. I did not keep track of magazines or kids' books this year - suffice to say I subscribe to (or read faithfully at work) about 6 magazines, plus those I pick up and read here and there. And I probably read 300 different kids' books (not counting re-reads!) - Emma has at least 200 on her bookshelf I would guess, plus many library trips, books in waiting rooms (3 yesterday!), etc. She and I knocked out the public library's summer reading challenge (15 hours over 2 months) easily, even with all of the other summer distractions. So, here is the list of "grown-up" books:<br /><br />The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell/Lilian Jackson Braun<br />Forensic Detective: How I Cracked the World’s Toughest Cases<br />Hidden Evidence: 40 True Crimes and how Forensic Science Helped Solve Them<br />Momfidence!<br />Face of Deception/Iris Johansen<br />The Killing Game/Irish Johansen<br />The Five People You Meet in Heaven/Mitch Albom<br />The Gospel of Judas<br />The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief<br />Buddhism for Dummies<br />The Science of Parenting<br />Color of Magic/Terry Pratchett<br />Carved in Bone/Jefferson Bass<br />The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers/Lilian Jackson Braun<br />The Light Fantastic/Terry Pratchett<br />You Suck! A Love Story/Christopher Moore<br />Going Postal/Terry Pratchett<br />Unnatural Selection/Aaron Elkin<br />It’s OK to Miss the Bed on the 1st Jump<br />It’s All Too Much<br />Mort/Terry Pratchett<br />Equal Rites/Terry Pratchett<br />Sourcery/Terry Pratchett<br />Cause of Death<br />Never Have Your Dog Stuffed/Alan Alda<br />The Creative Writing Murders/Heather Ross Miller<br />Murder 2: The Second Casebook of Forensic Detection<br />30 Days to a Simpler Life<br />The World According to Mr. Rogers<br />A Mind of its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives<br />A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg<br />Maria/Maria von Trapp<br />Making Money/Terry Pratchett<br />Tuesdays With Morrie/Mitch Albom<br />Meditation for Dummies<br />Beyond the Body Farm/Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson<br /><br />As you can see, I finally got hooked on Terry Pratchett this year. Took me long enough, Brian would say! Also the usual amount of forensic stuff and mysteries. I joined a local book club this fall, so the new year will likely bring a few variations to my usual fare. We shall see!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-62619052126410417542007-05-12T22:52:00.000-04:002007-05-12T22:56:56.250-04:00<a href="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/sign-796741.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/sign-796734.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I love the sentiment here! But I'm still trying to figure out where a potion was involved in the process. Is that what congee really is? Or maybe that was the unidentifiable soup in Guangzhou. Wait, I know! The Godawful Chinese cough syrup! That was definitely a potion of some kind!!!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-19764562495194232632007-04-17T11:37:00.000-04:002007-04-17T11:47:35.524-04:00<table style="color: black;color:black;" align="center" border="1" border cellspacing="0"><br /><tbody><tr><br /><td align="center" bg style="color:#a8ffb3;"><br /><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><br /><strong><br />Your Linguistic Profile:<br /></strong><br /></span><br /></td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#d9ffd8">60% General American English<br /></td></tr><br /><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#a8ffb3">35% Dixie<br /></td></tr><br /><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#d9ffd8">0% Midwestern<br /></td></tr><br /><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#a8ffb3">0% Upper Midwestern<br /></td></tr><br /><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#d9ffd8">0% Yankee<br /></td></tr><br /><br /></tbody></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/">What Kind of American English Do You Speak?</a></div>Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-78489647415292853532007-03-30T13:07:00.000-04:002007-03-30T13:20:55.985-04:00Now that blogger is finally letting me in again, a meme:<br /><br />The guidelines are: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what they are. They must be songs you are currently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.<br /><br />1. Anyway by Martina McBride - uplifting and pretty!<br /><br />2. Watching You by Rodney Atkins - a good reminder that I am Emma's model<br /><br />3. Anything on the Toddler Favorites CD - I am having so much fun listening to Emma singing all these songs in the backseat!<br /><br />4. Life is a Highway - because the dance is so much fun<br /><br />5. I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack - always a favorite, my theme song for Emma<br /><br />6. OK, see, I usually listen to the radio not CDs (except Toddler Favorites and Wiggles) so this is hard. If I think of 2 more I'll post them!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1168206058294068802007-01-07T16:25:00.000-05:002007-01-07T16:40:58.313-05:00I do not force reading upon my daughter. I merely provide books, and she chooses to bring me stacks at a time to read to her, over and over. Here are the books we read in 2006. (Listed only once each...though some of these we have read over and over. And over. And over. And...)<br /><br />Emma’s Story<br />Pooh and Friends Opposites<br />February Adoptive Families<br />Pooh and Friends Animals<br />Peek-a-boo Ladybug<br />Little Duckling<br />It’s Okay to be Different<br />Pooh and Friends 123<br />Pooh<br />Animal Signs for Babies<br />Chinese picture book – animals<br />I’m a Little Teapot<br />Animal Babies<br />A New Doll for Baby Daisy<br />Shapes: A Sparkly Board Book<br />Number Nine Duckling<br />Lift the Flap Farm Animals<br />That’s Not my Dinosaur<br />My Potty Book for Girls<br />Goodnight Moon<br />Scrub-a-dub<br />Zoo Babies<br />Find the Puppy<br />Rugrats It’s a Circus!<br />Hop, Dance, Jump<br />Little Chick<br />Chicka Chicka ABC<br />Pat the Bunny on the Playground<br />Dinosaurs Play’n’Learn Popup Alphabet Book<br />A is for Apple<br />Five Little Ducks<br />Noddy and the Lost Animals<br />Pooh and Friends Colors<br />Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?<br />Tigger Bounces Back<br />Bunnies<br />When Bath Time Comes<br />The Saltwater Bath<br />Knock Knock, It’s Pooh!<br />Up and Down Opposites Book<br />Where’s the Cat?<br />Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings<br />Usborne Look and Say Beach<br />Henry’s Numbers<br />Big Red<br />In My House<br />Winnie the Pooh First Telephone Book<br />Open the Barn Door<br />Little Grown-Ups<br />Here We Go<br />Haunted House<br />Touch & Feel Puppy<br />Dozer<br />Dad Mine<br />I’m a Forklift<br />Bye-Bye, Diapers<br />Thunder Truck<br />Ana’s Animals Playful Pets<br />My First Chinese New Year<br />The Belly Button Book<br />My Little ABC Board Book<br />Potty Book for Girls (different one!)<br />Too Big for Diapers<br />Bob the Builder: The Very Busy Day<br />Bunnies<br />The School Bus<br />Sally the Sea Ferry<br />Horns to Tails and In Between<br />Usborne Look and Say Farm<br />Diggers<br />From Head to Toe<br />Little Wings Duck<br />Spring Peeps<br />You Can Pilot a Submarine<br />The Way I Feel<br />Hop-Along Bunny<br />Freddy the Fire Engine<br />Opposites<br />Tractor-Trailer<br />Big Red Barn<br />Time to Eat<br />Drummer Hoff<br />Johnny Tractor’s Fun Farm Day<br />Wiggly Songs<br />I Love You Like Crazy Cakes<br />Pooh and the Big Storm<br />Wild Animal Baby 2<br />Chinese picture book - objects<br />Happy Baby Words<br />Jungle Colors<br />Baby Animals<br />Richard Scarry Early Words<br />Touch & Feel Baby Animals<br />Growing Up<br />What Do Toddlers Do?<br />The Great Parade<br />Puffy<br />Touch and Feel Cat<br />Touch and Feel Farm<br />Bear Loves Water<br />Thomas the Tank Engine Colors<br />What Is It?<br />The Zoo<br />Put Me in the Zoo<br />Wiggly Party<br />Thomas’ Magnetic Play Book<br />The Wiggles Starry Night<br />Are You My Mother?<br />I Am a Little Panda<br />Curious Cat<br />Dinosaur ABC<br />Goofy Shoelace Book<br />Peekaboo, Blue<br />Dora the Detective<br />The Going-to-Bed Book<br />Blue’s Bedtime Nursery Rhymes<br />The Snowy Day<br />One Monster After Another<br />Wiggles Block Board Book Numbers!<br />Wiggles Block Board Book Shapes!<br />Wiggles Block Board Book Letters!<br />Wiggles Block Board Book Opposites!<br />Wild Animal Baby 3<br />Jimbo<br />Little Bear<br />Mr. Pine’s Purple House<br />How Do I Love You?<br />Trucks<br />Angelina Dances<br />Things That Go<br />The Temper Tantrum Book<br />Frogs in Clogs<br />Just Like Me<br />Christopher Robin Gives Pooh a Party<br />Wheels That Go! Fire Truck<br />In a People House<br />Wiggletail<br />The Firefighters’ Busy Day<br />Diego and Click Take a Pic<br />Your New Potty<br />Monster Tales Pumpkin Patch Party<br />The Eye Book<br />There Was an Old Lady<br />Veggie Tales Colors<br />Say Boo<br />Kisses<br />Get to Work Trucks!<br />Down on the Farm<br />The Little Red Caboose<br />Five Silly Turkeys<br />Nedobeck’s Numbers Book<br />Tonka Construction<br />Corduroy Goes to the Doctor<br />Corduroy’s Busy Street<br />Little Bear’s Visit<br />Mama’s Wish/Daughter’s Wish<br />Great Day For Up<br />Smokey the Bear<br />Chilly Critters<br />My Big Dog<br />The Cat in the Hat<br />Green Eggs and Ham<br />Chipmunk ABC<br />Where is Baby’s Belly Button?<br />Dr. Seuss’s ABC<br />Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!<br />There’s a Wocket in my Pocket!<br />Hop on Pop<br />One fish two fish red fish blue fish<br />Will You Take Care of Me?<br />Pig Wants to Play<br />Clarence the Crocodile<br />The Mitten<br />Paddington’s Things I Do<br />One Duck Stuck<br />Loving<br />Time to Pee!<br />My First Kitten Touch & Feel<br />Thomas the Tank Engine’s Hidden Surprises<br />Who Will Guide my Sleigh Tonight?<br />Bob and 6 More Christmas Stories<br />Jingle Bells<br />The Night Before Christmas<br />Santa’s Christmas Surprise<br />Frosty the Snowman<br />The Gingerbread Man<br />Christmas Trolls<br />The Littlest Elf<br />Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel<br />Howard Hoots Again<br />What is Pink<br />I Don’t Care Said the Bear<br />Wheels Around<br />Some Smug Slug<br />Mary Wore Her Red Dress<br />The Cat in the Hat Comes Back<br />Try to Remember the First of Octember<br />Jolly Koalas<br />The Foot Book<br />One Baby Jesus<br />Christmas in the Manger<br />Frosty the Snowman (diff one)<br />The Night Before Christmas<br />There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly (diff version)<br />Wiggles Colors<br />Wiggles First Words<br />I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur<br />Love You Forever<br />Mommy Mine (diff version)<br />The Animal Boogie<br /><br />210 books! WOW!!!!!!!!!!! That's my girl!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1168052079301785572007-01-05T21:44:00.000-05:002007-01-07T16:41:29.153-05:00Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince<br />Relic<br />What the Corpse Revealed<br />The Way They Were<br />Forensic Files Casebook<br />Worms in My Tea<br />Good Blood<br />Stiff<br />Brimstone<br />Who Killed Precious?<br />Girlfriend's Guide to Toddlers<br />Emotional Blackmail<br />Toilet Training in Less Than a Day<br />Toilet Train in 3 Days<br />Mama Drama<br />Dance of Death<br />If Only I Knew<br />Poems of the Dance<br />A Rose For Her Grave<br />The Other Gospels<br />The Stranger Beside Me<br />A Dirty Job<br />Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother<br />Nails<br />Me & Marley<br />Bloodsucking Fiends<br />In Cold Blood<br />The Bone Lady<br />And Baby Makes Four<br />Trail of Bones<br />The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins<br />Where There's a Will<br />Friendship: An Expose<br />Healing Anxiety and Depression<br /><br />34 books. Not bad for someone who works full time and has a toddler at home! Definitely a slow year though.Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1167965792746049412007-01-04T21:27:00.000-05:002007-01-04T21:57:55.946-05:00<img align=left width=300 src="http://lara.littlenet.org/princess.jpg">OK, so it's been a while. The last month and a half in sum: Thanksgiving was good. We did 2 Christmas parades and got rained out of the 3rd one. They went OK. December brought the usual flurry of family get-togethers and whatnot. Emma loved Christmas - she got to sit on Claus's lap, and he gave her a sucker which she told everyone about for 2 weeks. For Christmas he brought her a trike among other things, and Daddy made her a toybox. We got her a kids digital camera and she has taken many pictures of the floor, feet, bellies, and occasionally an actual person! Christmas break was busy and over too quickly, and we are now back to work.<br /><br />I decided to keep track of everything I read in 2006 to see how much I would get read. (Keep in mind, I have a 2-year-old!) Some folks set a goal of 100 books in a year - I well exceeded that goal - if you count board books at least! The grown-up books, er, slightly less. :) Part one here is magazines, which I read many of since they are easier to pick up and put down repeatedly. So, the 2006 magazine reading (not counting the professional stuff I read at work):<br /><br />Parenting: Feb-Dec 2006 every month<br />Adoptive Families: Nov 2005, Feb, Jun, Oct 2006 (it's quarterly)<br />Discover: Dec 05-Jan 07 every month except Jan 06 (which I read in Dec 2005)<br />Parents: Feb 2006-Jan 2007 every month<br />Reader's Digest: Feb 2006-Jan 2007 every month<br />Scientific American April 2006<br />Woman's Day June, Oct, Nov, Dec 2006<br />Natural History July 2006<br />Mental Floss Summer & Fall 2006<br />Child Nov & Dec 2006<br />Working Mother Oct & Nov 2006<br /><br />Can you see a theme here? :) When you count that up, it's 64 magazines. And I only listed it if I read most to all of the articles. Not bad!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1164254268449551362006-11-22T22:49:00.000-05:002006-11-22T22:57:48.463-05:00You. Can. Only. Type. One. Word.<br /><br />No. Explanations.<br /><br />1. Yourself: generous<br /><br />2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): brilliant<br /><br />3. Your hair: frizzy<br /><br />4. Your mother: protective<br /><br />5. Your father: disinterested<br /><br />6. Your favorite item: book<br /><br />7. Your dream last night: unmemorable<br /><br />8. Your favorite drink: coke<br /><br />9. Your dream car: wagon<br /><br />10. The room you are in: messy<br /><br />11. Your ex: nonexistent<br /><br />12. Your fear: loneliness<br /><br />13. What you want to be in 10 years? director<br /><br />14. Who you hung out with last night? hubby<br /><br />15. What you're not? domestic<br /><br />16. Muffins: blueberry<br /><br />17. One of your wish list items: time<br /><br />18. Time: short<br /><br />19. The last thing you did: computer<br /><br />20. What you are wearing: sweater<br /><br />21. Your favorite weather: sunny<br /><br />22. Your favorite book: mystery<br /><br />23. The last thing you ate: tootsie<br /><br />24. Your life: good<br /><br />25. Your mood: depressed<br /><br />26. Your best friend: kind<br /><br />27. What are you thinking about right now? typing<br /><br />28. Your car: messy<br /><br />29. What are you doing at the moment? thinking<br /><br />30. Your summer: hot<br /><br />31. Your relationship status: beautiful<br /><br />32. What is on your TV? Animaniacs<br /><br />33. What is the weather like? windy<br /><br />34. When is the last time you laughed? todayLaratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1163698425055077212006-11-16T12:17:00.000-05:002006-11-16T12:46:21.256-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lara.littlenet.org/images/emmahall.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://lara.littlenet.org/images/emmahall.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />What is it with the world moving so quickly lately? In October we clogged at <a href="http://web.mac.com/dancinglibrarian/iWeb/Site/Autumn%20Jubilee.html">Autumn Jubilee</a>, and froze our butts off. Emma and I went to the beach with my Mom, and made many sand pies. Brian and I cleaned and reorganized the kitchen to within an inch of its life. Emma and Brian <a href="http://web.mac.com/blittle/iWeb/WE3/Emma%27s%20First%20Puntin.html">carved many pumpkins</a>. I finally got to meet my newest niece and nephew, Maya and Devin. And of course my little Captain Feathersword charmed everyone for Halloween! I went as a belly dancer courtesy of one of Ginger's old costumes. We had much fun trick-or-treating, at least until the damn kid in the ghoul mask scared Emma half to death. She is STILL going on about "Emma knock knock, big face". The first weekend in November Ginger and I went to Lake Cumberland, KY for a dance workshop that absolutely rocked. And now November is halfway over and we are up to our ears in parade prep. The first Christmas parade is in 2 days! How did that happen?? Well obviously I suck at blogging since it's been so long since my last post. But I swear September was just yesterday...wasn't it?Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1159400850925667652006-09-27T19:33:00.000-04:002006-09-27T19:50:30.173-04:00So I get into work for my evening shift. Immediately I am surrounded by my fellow librarians, beseeching me to please go open the big box in my office, they want to know what it is. I'm not expecting a big box, so this arouses my curiosity, and I head for my office.<br /><br />It is a BIG box. According to the side of it, it contains one of those outdoor gazebo tents. Now, we've been wanting one of those, but I'm fairly certain I haven't ordered one and forgotten about it. And I certainly wasn't expecting one to magically appear in my office. I pick the big thing up, and I'm confident a gazebo tent would be heavier than that. Much. Then I note on one end of the box, an address label: to our interlibrary loan department, from a neighboring public library.<br /><br />I am also fairly certain that I have not requested any items via interlibrary loan that would require a gazebo box to ship. (And if I were going to request such from the local public library, I would likely go pick it up!)<br /><br />So I open the box, surrounded by my colleagues. I pull out lots of newspaper used as stuffing.<br /><br />I pull out a large metal...THING.<br /><br />From the assorted stickers on it, we deduce that the thing is...a MOTORCYCLE PART.<br /><br />On INTERLIBRARY LOAN.<br /><br />I am ABSOUTELY certain I have not requested a motorcycle part on interlibrary loan.<br /><br />We all stare at it for a bit, and take turns wondering out loud just what the hell it is doing here.<br /><br />To make a long story short, I inspected the box and the assorted labels on it, and eventually determined that this thing was headed to a cycle shop in a neighboring town and could not be delivered. The mailing label to us was on there very loosely, so presumably it got on there by accident. What that accident was, and where the label came from, is still a mystery. My guess is that there is a small package floating out there somewhere, containing a book meant for us, that now has no address label. Or, more likely since we ILL folks tend to reuse envelopes, an older label addressed to the public library. The post office folks are keeping an eye out, and is also sending the big box back to its sender.<br /><br />Motorcycle parts on ILL. Just another day in the life of your friendly librarian!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1158798792843605992006-09-20T20:31:00.000-04:002006-09-20T20:33:12.856-04:00A student, working on the "Snakes on a Plane"-themed library scavenger hunt I created this year for the freshmen classes: "The weird thing is, this is fun!"Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1158458922197618262006-09-16T21:57:00.000-04:002006-09-16T22:16:17.420-04:00<a href="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4752-750190.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4752-747776.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4770-745913.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4770-742718.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />We had a great time at the fair. A couple weeks beforehand, Emma out of the blue asked to clog to the Wiggles. So at the fair we debuted her dance to Captain Feathersword (hence the hat, which she got at the Wiggles concert, which she LOVED). She did quite well, and of course she had tons of fun riding the rides ("Ride dat! Ride dat! I ride! HIGH!!!") both with friends and later by herself.<br /><br />Today we did 2 more performances at outdoor festivals. They went fairly well. Next up is Founder's Day next week, our annual "traditional" performance featuring hoedown outfits and all bluegrass music. Outside of dance things are crazy, as usual. Work is finally settling down though I still have plenty of classes scheduled this month. The front half of the house is actually clean at the moment. Emma is settling in to her new class. They are doing a "100 books this year" campaign - we have a sheet to keep track of books we read to her, with the intention of reaching 100 books by the end of the school year. We started the list the 2nd week of September, we're already most of the way down the back of the page, and we aren't even writing down re-reads. We may make 100 by the end of the month - too bad they don't have a "most books read" award! Starting this week we are going to resume our weekly library trip - I was going to take her last week but it was pouring rain. I'm so glad she loves to read, and intend to support that fully!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4739-755656.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4739-752132.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4721-762167.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/147_4721-759351.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1157074829851305102006-08-31T20:56:00.000-04:002006-08-31T21:40:29.913-04:00Well, since I haven't made a real post all summer, here's a summary!<br /><br />In June, the 3 of us went camping up the Blue Ridge. It was beautiful and we had a great time. During that week we celebrated our first Family Day, marking the anniversary of the day Emma was put in our arms. We read her "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes", a book about a baby adopted from China, and we all snuggled up together in the tent. We finished the week in Washington where we got to see dear friend Stacy as the Queen of Hearts, take Emma on her first zoo trip with Cyndie (who we hadn't seen in years) and her son, and saw friends Colby and Jim, the latter who we hadn't seen in 10 years. It was a great vacation. In the beginning of July, we danced in the 4th parade and Emma and I went with the group to a workshop in Wilmington. Ginger and I taught a couple dances and Emma spent lots of time in the pool. Brian built Emma a wonderful playhouse and swingset, and we spent some happy time on that. The last week of July was spent with a sick child, and the first week of August was spent with a sick me. The next week was spent in desperate preparation for the recital, along with doing the single-parent routine as Brian got to go to San Francisco for work. Then, just in time for faculty workshop, I got hit with the worst case of food poisoning I've had in my adult life. But I recovered in time for the recital, which went great, and Emma was wonderful in it. Now classes have started back and we're ready for fall!<br /><br />Oh, and let's see...BIL and SIL had their twins so I have a new niece and nephew, Maya and Devin. Other SIL had her baby giving me another nephew, Riley. And SIL #3 is pregnant again! My cousin had a baby earlier this week, and Cyndie's second is due in September. Babies out the wazoo! And no, we don't know yet if we're going to have another one. Right now the first one is VERY two. She is learning new words every day, speaking sentences, jumping and climbing around, throwing tantrums, and everything a typical 2-year-old does. And still eating us out of house and home of course! :) And she's still big for her age, 3 feet tall and 30 pounds. This from the tiny, undernourished baby we got a year ago!<br /><br />I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but oh well. Next performance is the county fair, 2 hour-long performances in one day. I hired a new student assistant today so hopefully work will go smoothly. Aaaaaand...that's all I can think of!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1153502111676785132006-07-21T13:12:00.000-04:002006-07-21T13:15:11.686-04:00Found in an old bound periodical:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/bookmark-738468.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.littlenet.org/lara/uploaded_images/bookmark-734509.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />At least they didn't leave the contents...Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1151723966537781102006-06-30T23:07:00.000-04:002006-06-30T23:19:26.576-04:00<a href="http://lara.littlenet.org/tractorwear.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://lara.littlenet.org/tractorwear.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Tractor clothes and purple high heeled flip flops!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1151434666559152192006-06-27T14:29:00.000-04:002006-06-27T14:57:46.626-04:00Okay, okay, I'm doing it...:)<br /><br />Reading Memories<br /><br />20 Years Ago: (I was 13) 8th/9th grades. I remember we read Great Expectations and I loved it. And Jane Eyre. Oedipus Rex which I also loved. I really don't remember what I was reading in the way of pleasure books at that particular time, but I guarantee I was reading plenty!<br /><br /><br />10 Years Ago: (age 23) I was in library school so I was reading stuff related to that, I particularly remember the Whole Library Handbook which was for a class but was so fun that I read the whole thing at the start of the semester. Somewhere around then I discovered Patricial Cornwell and Lilian Jackson Braun and started reading all of their books.<br /><br />5 Years Ago: (age 28) I was still reading plenty of mysteries. Peter Bowen, Kathy Reichs, all kinds really. And whatever else seemed interesting.<br /><br />Last Year: (age 32) One year ago this week I was coming home from China with Emma. Prior to that I had been reading books about adoption, China and babies. Once she came home, reading was nonexistent except for the picture books I encouraged her to look at. And parenting magazines. :)<br /><br />This Month: (age 33) Still reading the parenting magazines, along with my old standbys Discover and Reader's Digest. Mags are much easier to read lately than books. But I do have the latest Cat Who and the next-to-latest Kathy Reichs out of the library, hoping to squeeze them in at lunch. And of course, I read board books daily, frequently ones about trucks, often multiple times in a day. <br /><br />Booking some more<br /><br />3 Favorite Reading Locations:<br /><br /> * On the couch<br /> * Outside in the sun<br /> * On the bed<br /><br />3 Reading habits:<br /><br /> * I don't like reading just a little bit of a novel, I like reading big chunks at a time. Which means I don't read as much as I could, because I don't often have time for big chunks.<br /> * I tend to read magazines cover to cover just like books.<br /> * While I enjoy buying books, I make good use of the library!<br /><br />3 Things that distract me:<br /><br /> * Emma. You try reading with a 2-year-old in the room.<br /> * TV. Makes it hard to concentrate.<br /> * Cats. They have a habit of placing themselves between me and the book!<br /><br /><br />3 Characters I’d love to be:<br /><br /> * Madelaine from the Du Pre mysteries<br /> * Professor McGonagall from all the Harry Potter novels<br /> * Ramona Quimby<br /><br />3 Characters I Despise:<br /><br /> * Diogenes from the Pendergast novels of Preston & Child<br /> * Percy Weaseley<br /> * Any well-written bad guy<br /><br />Favorite Book Beverages:<br /><br /> *Whatever is handy!<br /><br />3 Favorite bookmarks:<br /><br /> * Magazine subscription cards<br /> * Old card catalog cards<br /> * Actual bookmarks :)<br /><br />3 Dead Writers I’d love to meet:<br /><br /> * Paul<br /> * Douglas Adams<br /> * Dr. Seuss<br /><br />3 Alive Writers I’d love to meet:<br /><br /> * J.K. Rowling<br /> * Christopher Moore<br /> * Peter Bowen<br /><br />So…now…what about YOU?Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1149018232142598322006-05-30T15:40:00.000-04:002006-05-30T15:43:52.150-04:00One of the high school teachers is over here checking research paper citations and catching the plagiarizers in his class. I gather he's found several already. And these are supposedly some of the "best and brightest". Wonder if the zeros will get their attention. If I ever catch Emma doing that, she will be grounded til she's 40. But I hope to raise her so that it would never occur to her to do it in the first place...Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1148950922369343792006-05-29T20:53:00.000-04:002006-05-29T21:02:02.386-04:00Boy, it's been a while! Life gets that way when you have a 2-year-old. On the home front, we are all currently healthy and hopefully will stay that way now that it's warm. DH is building Emma a swingset in the back yard and she has a kiddie pool which she had fun in this weekend. She is talking more and more. We attempted potty training this weekend, with exactly zero success. ***SIGH*** But she is running, climbing, and acting her age (tantrums and all) otherwise so I suppose we can wait a little longer on that part.<br /><br />We finally got to go on vacation! A 4-day trip to Sunset Beach. Emma had a blast digging in the sand and learned (sorta) to play Skeeball, which she loves as much as her mommy does. We went with friends Sue & Mike and Donald, and are already planning next year's trip. In the meantime, we're looking forward to a week of camping in the mountains and an extended weekend in DC visiting many friends!<br /><br />Emma is also, slowly but surely, starting to dance a little. She has her own shoes that Ginger gave her for her birthday, and after getting over her fear of falling in them she is wearing them some. We haven't done much performing lately, just a couple little things, but the season is gearing up. We have great plans for this year's recital in August!<br /><br />On the library front, things are busier now that school is out - how backwards is that! We are hiring a new librarian and that is taking up all of my time. Well, that and the post-semester periodicals room cleanout. I am sure getting my exercise carrying stacks of journals up and down the stairs. I need the workout - I have been putting on weight like crazy and little tiny me is about to go on my very first diet. I think I look great actually, but my dress that was custom made for me in China is too tight and I really want to wear it in a month when Emma is the subject of Children's Moments at Ginger's church!<br /><br />And on one final random note, I got bitten by a centipede this morning. 6:20am to be exact. In my OWN BED! Don't ever get bitten by a centipede if you can help it. I'll take the fire ants in the yard any day. OW!!!!!!!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1145544673367026002006-04-20T10:49:00.000-04:002006-04-20T10:51:13.376-04:00"Uh, I'm supposed to read something?"Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1143683612653033002006-03-29T20:49:00.000-05:002006-04-06T16:26:33.546-04:00Borrowed from <a href="http://tinylittlelibrarian.blog-city.com/index.cfm">Tiny Little Librarian</a>...<br /><br />Step 1: Get your play list together, put it on random, and play.<br />Step 2: Write down the first line (or close to it) from the first 20 songs that play.<br />Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song the lines come from. No search engines, please.<br />Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly<br /><br />So, leave a comment if you know any of the answers! I used the 2nd line for #s 5, 8 and 11 since the title was in the first line.<br /><br /><strike>1. When the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light you see</strike> <i>Sue got it, Stand By Me</i><br /><br /><strike>2. So no one told you life was gonna be this way</strike> <i>Friends theme, Sue again!</i><br /><br />3. I remember looking up to look up to him, I remember most the time he wasn't there<br /><br />4. I woke up early with a pounding in my head, I'd been out the night before with all my friends<br /><br />5. Is to save every day til eternity passes away just to spend them with you<br /><br /><strike>6. My child arrived just the other day, he came in the world the usual way</strike> <i>Cats in the Cradle - Sue's on a roll!</i><br /><br />7. I'm a little boy with glasses, the one they call a geek<br /><br /><strike>8. I'm headin' down the Atlanta highway lookin' for a love getaway</strike> <i>Love Shack - Sue again, but this one was easy! :)</i><br /><br />9. It’s been a long, long time, yeah Since I got you on my mind.<br /><br />10. Hey little guy, I can't believe you answered the phone<br /><br /><strike>11. None of this, gun in this, brotha runnin this, Buffalo soldier, look it's like I told ya</strike> <i>Concordian got Wild Wild West</i><br /><br />12. I gave you my young and my tender years, what more do you want from me<br /><br />13. You are so beautiful to me (well DUH, this is a dead giveaway, but there's not exactly a lot of lyrics in the song!!!)<br /><br />14. Got an old dog, he don't like me much<br /><br />15. I was standing in the grocery store line, the one they marked express<br /><br /><strike>16. When there's boulders up ahead and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed</strike> <i>You've Got a Friend in Me - Sue rocks!</i><br /><br />17. I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye<br /><br />18. I was walking home from school on a cold winter day, took a shortcut through the woods and I lost my way<br /><br />19. And I never thought I'd feel this way<br /><br />20. <strike>In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep</strike> <i>River of Dreams - Sue and I clearly have similar musical tastes! :) </i>Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1143599958426513022006-03-28T20:53:00.000-05:002006-03-28T21:39:18.440-05:00<div style="clear: both;"></div>Meme instructions : Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you'veread, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won't, underline<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you've never even heard of.<p><strong><u>The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown<br /></u></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger</span><br /><u><strong>The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams<br /></strong></u><strong>The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald<br /></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;">To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger</span><br /><u>(His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman)</u><br /><strong><u>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling<br /></u></strong><s>Life of Pi - Yann Martel<br /></s><strong>Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell<br />Catch-22 - Joseph Heller<br />The Hobbit - J.R. R. Tolkein<br /></strong><em>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon<br /></em><s>Lord of the Flies - William Golding<br /></s><strong>1984 - George Orwell<br /><u>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling</u><br /></strong><s>One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez</s><br /><s>Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden<br /></s><span style="font-style: italic;">The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini</span><br /><s>The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold<br /></s><em>Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut<br /></em><strong><u>Angels and Demons - Dan Brown<br /></u></strong><em>Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk<br /></em><u>Neuromancer - William Gibson<br /></u>(Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson)<br />(The Secret History - Donna Tartt)<br /><s><u>A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess</u></s><br /><u><strong>Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte<br /></strong></u><em>Brave New World - Aldous Huxley<br /></em><strong><u>The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis<br /></u></strong>(Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides)<br /><em>(Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell)<br /></em><u style="font-style: italic;">The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkein</u><br /><strong>Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte<br /><u> Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman<br /></u></strong><s>(Atonement - Ian McEwan)<br /></s><em>(The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zagon)<br /></em><u><strong>The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway<br /></strong></u><em>The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood</em><br /><s>The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath</s><br /><s>Dune - Frank Herbert </s></p><div style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 0.25em;"></div>Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1143596922005543322006-03-28T20:42:00.000-05:002006-03-28T20:48:42.016-05:00Well, naturally Emma got the stomach virus. So now I'm only 3 up on her in the illness department. Currently we both have colds and she is cutting her 2-year molars, so it's been a fun week. HA! But a couple weekends ago we did have fun - we took Emma to the beach for the first time. She loved digging in the sand and stomping in the puddles, and once she got used to it she had fun in the pool too. We're looking forward to going back when it's warmer so she can play in the ocean. <br /><br />Preparations are now underway for Emma's 1st AND 2nd birthday bash this Saturday. (We figured that since we missed her first one, we're celebrating both this time!) Lots of friends and family will be there and we are praying for a nice day and that she and I will be well by then!!!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1141956638281173652006-03-09T20:56:00.000-05:002006-03-09T21:12:57.490-05:00<img src="http://www.crescentcloggers.com/mainpic.jpg" /><br /><br />So Thursday we headed out to Pigeon Forge to the workshop formerly known as Spring Fling in Gatlinburg, only 2 hours behind schedule which is an improvement over last year! Of course all of our luggage was in a different vehicle which didn't get there for 2 more hours but hey, who needs all that stuff when the fun dance is going on? Well the first thing I did after putting my shoes on and stepping out on the dance floor was to fall and bust my butt. What a start to the weekend!<br /><br />Friday we took it kinda easy since we were doing our first-ever competition that night. Ginger and I went to several seminars about competing (hey, nothing like last-minute advice that it's too late to follow, huh?) But we got lots of ideas on how to improve our dance (this one is Gold Rush, it's a Ginger-written one) for future competitions and also ideas for using Devil as a competition dance. We did learn a few dances during the day and did our turn babysitting Nicole who had come down with a stomach virus. Oddly enough, I was never nervous. We were the very last group to compete, since we were the oldest age division (30-39, which needless to say is an average age since our dancers ranged from 13 to 68!) Well the picture tells the rest - 1st place in our division! We didn't make the top 5 overall which I personally think we should have, but just wail til next time.<br /><br />Saturday we learned several more great dances (here's a hint - expect to see cavewoman dresses in this year's recital) and babysat Sarah, who now had the virus. Saturday night was the big show...which we were invited to be in for next year! Sa-weet! Sunday we drug our tired butts home to begin the recovery...<br /><br />...which of course for me was lengthened considerably by, you guessed it, the stomach virus. And an ear infection as well, since we all know I can't just catch one disease at a time. I am now 4 up on Emma for the winter. I am more or less back to normal this evening I think. So, on to a nice weekend of ACC basketball, and next week...we'll start planning for the next competition!Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1140727622397253832006-02-23T15:34:00.000-05:002006-02-23T15:47:02.453-05:00Well, last night offered an interesting break from the normal routine here...<br /><br />Scene: 3rd floor hallway<br /><br />Me: Is that a dead animal in the floor? Hmm, it's a bat. Is it alive? *<span style="font-style:italic;">Nudges bat with foot</span>*<br /><br />Bat: *<span style="font-style:italic;">dirty look</span>* HIIIISSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! (Translation: I'm tryin' ta sleep here, leave me alone!)<br /><br />Me: *<span style="font-style:italic;">ponders whether or not to deal with this, goes downstairs and returns with gladlock containter left over from supper</span>*<br /><br />Bat: ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz.......<br /><br />Me: *<span style="font-style:italic;">sneaks up on bat, plops container over it, slides lid underneath container and attempts to slide lid underneath bat</span>*<br /><br />Bat: EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE (Tr.: #$%*%#&@^&!!!!!!!! )<br /><br />Me: Yeah yeah, watch it buddy, I freeze-dried your auntie! Now get on the lid.<br /><br />Bat: *<span style="font-style:italic;">gets on lid</span>* EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE *<span style="font-style:italic;">more dirty looks</span>*<br /><br />Me: *<span style="font-style:italic;">takes bat downstairs and out</span>* Now hush up, I'm taking you outside. There's no food for you in here. *<span style="font-style:italic;">What am I thinking, this place is full of bugs! Oh well.</span>*<br /><br />Bat: *<span style="font-style:italic;">more screaming, cussing and dirty looks</span>*<br /><br />Me: *<span style="font-style:italic;">puts container on ground, removes it from around bat</span>*<br /><br />Bat: EEEEEEEEEE (Tr.: It's cold and wet out here!!!)<br /><br />Me: I know it's cold and wet, but it's better for you out here, I promise!<br /><br />Bat: *<span style="font-style:italic;">One last dirty look, then silently stalks away</span>*Laratag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3661674.post-1140035965199565202006-02-15T15:35:00.000-05:002006-02-15T15:39:25.256-05:00Emma's illnesses this winter to date:<br />4 colds<br />RSV<br />Hand Foot Mouth disease<br />stomach bug<br />intestinal bug<br />Total: 8<br /><br />My illnesses this winter to date:<br />1 cold<br />RSV<br />3 sinus infections<br />ear infection<br />yeast infection<br />stomach bug<br />intestinal bug<br />Total: 9<br /><br />Unfortunately, I win. :(Lara