Reasons I am so bad at posting these days:

Weekend To-Do List:

1. clean up this gross house
2. do yard work - inlcuding plant 2 new hydrangea bushes
3. grade a gazillion vocab quizzes that have piled up and grade the last 16 research papers from my Brit Lit seniors
4. purchase the rail passes for this summer's trip to Europe
5. go to Tea Leaf Green
6. get a visit from a college friend (inspired by #5 on this list) who is staying with me - Now you see the importance of #1.
7. purchase Mothers Day gifts
8. plan lessons for next week
9. re-read Cry, The Beloved Country so that I actually know what I'm talking about in class.
10. oh yeah, and sleep at some point. and grocery shop. and keep my sanity.

She's Here!

Emerson Mae (little Emmie Mae)

My sister with Peyton and Emmie - a few hours old!

"It's spring fever.... You don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” - Mark Twain

Long time, no blog. I'm finally back, though.


Life is crazy, and the pace at school is INSANE as it always is at this time of year. I'm trying to make some time for myself occasionally so that I don't end up at the end of my rope. Oh wait, too late for that. There are 9 weeks left in the semester, and my students are getting just as restless as I am. I'm pretty tired of them, and it's safe to say the feeling is mutual.....they are tired of me as well. I won't even tell you how many research papers I have to grade. Saying the number aloud makes me cry.


Anyhow, I wanted to post a review of Heroines from a while back. It's a fun little read, and I don't want to pass the chance to comment on it. The general idea is that 13-year-old Penny lives in rural Illinois in a B&B with her mother, Anne-Marie, literary heroines step out of their tragic lives to recuperate under Anne-Marie's care.

It gets interesting when a specific heroine's leading man comes looking for her, and long story short, young Penny ends up in a mental institution of sorts and ends up learning much much more about her mother and her mysteriously-absent father. The conclusion is such a fun surprise that I won't really say much else. I will say, however, that Eileen Favorite manages to craft a story that is both ridiculously unrealistic and completely believable for those of us who are book lovers. So many times, I have felt so close to a character that she might as well have been staying at my family home. Favorite just takes this connection to the next logical level as characters relate to real people, and we are reminded of why we read in the first place.


So what am I reading now? Well, I have a general policy that I don't re-read. (I have too many waiting in line.) But I'm re-reading a fabulous book I read about 3 summers ago. I just got an itchin' to read it again, and I am enjoying it almost as much as the first time. If you've read it, you know why it's worthy of a revisit; if you haven't read it, GO READ IT.

I've also ordered Jitterbug Perfume because I liked Skinny Legs and All so much, and I was in a Robbins mood. Anyone read it?


On another note, I should have a new niece next week! Pics will be up soon.

When it rains, it pours.

I'm still around and stll alive and reading.

It's been a crazy week or two around here. I've developed the same plague all of my students had - headache, cough, aches and pains, general ickiness. My sister almost went into premature labor. (She's at the hospital right not and they've stopped the contractions, but I am here with my niece until they release my sister.) Earlier this week, I also received some really sad news about a close college friend of mine and the much-too-early loss of her mother. On top of all of this, I have a scary stack of essays waiting to get graded and no time or concentration available to do so.

When it rains, it pours.

I'll be back to blogging at some point soon, I promise.

Back to the Usual Already?

So I really want to go do some Target and Trader Joe's shopping, but instead I'm waiting on the carpet cleaner people to finish up with my house, so I'm stuck here for a while. I figure what better way to pass the time than to update my often neglected blog?

I hope everyone had a shiny holiday season and a fun new year. You'd think that a whole 2 weeks off would mean I could blog every now and then, but the husband and I were busy busy busy around here. Christmas Eve was my family, Christmas Day was his, and then there was a fast trip to Chattanooga and a fast trip to Birmingham so by the time New Year's Eve was here, I was needing a holiday from my holiday! ....Not to mention those essays I brought home. Ahem, procrastination anyone?

On another note, I have a good feeling about 2008, lots of good things happening. I will have a niece number two this spring - YAY; we are traveling to Europe this summer for a long-awaited trip; there is talk of a much-needed beach reunion among some old college friends this summer, and I am finally feeling comfortable and settled after our move last year.

Life is good and I have an iPhone. I can't complain.

New Year's Eve turned out to be loads of fun as we spent it with some of our old friends....not that any of us are old but we've known these folks for quite some time.

Why do camera flashes love my fair skin?

I've now spent 9 New Year's Eves with this person. Scary, I know.

So all in all, I had a fabulous holiday and am looking forward to an even better year. I feel much more rejuvinated now that I have had a break from school, and I am excited that British Lit is a semester course so I can repeat what worked and change what didn't.

I received a number of great books for Christmas, so I have a lot of reading to do. I recieved On Beauty, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, and one crazy Brazilian I know gave me something new and different that I am anxious to crack open and begin. (On that note, I loved Heroines, and there is a review coming soon.)

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and you are easily transitioning back to the daily grind. Here's to a great 2008!