No subject applies

I get myself off kilter by ONE DAY and then all of a sudden I haven’t blogged in over a week. How does that happen? I actually started a post last Monday, but now all that information is old hat so never mind. Here’s what you need to know about the last 10 days:

Henry is now fully potty trained. We went to Disney on Sunday and he is now happily on board. Yesterday he told me he needs a car booster seat like his brother instead of his harness because he’s a big boy. Sorry, kid. You’re never leaving that harness seat.

Chuy’s is awesome, and now that I know there’s one in Orlando, we might never eat anywhere else.

Also, you need to make yourself miso butter. You owe it to yourself.

Blathering is in THREE DAYS. Also, I’m taking Wednesday off too, so I have approximately 15 hours left of work before I get six days off. I feel like it’s a dream. Dream time, ahoy!

Here are some pictures of the last 10 days.

Learning to ride a two-wheeler is not an easy thing.

Look at our towers!

Time to put away the blocks

This is my life.

Baseball!

Cousin time

Look at that boy ride!

Cousins (the little one is 9 months or so younger than H)

Muppets! Mommy, take a picture!

Aladdin and spitting camels

And the piece de resistance:

My ham.

In the throes

We are currently about 24 hours into potty training at this house. We've tried before but it was terribly frustrating and we put it off after a non-cooperative toddler. Also, with our weekends at Disney we have been happy to not have the bother of finding a bathroom every five minutes, as you do with a training child. This weekend C had to work on Saturday so we (I) decided that we would stay home this weekend and power train. The foundation had been set: he's been training at daycare for at least a month (although he's been very non committal at daycare as of late) and between diaper changes he's been running to the bathroom.

As of about 6pm last night, we are a daytime diaper-free household. I've been saying "Henry, do you need to go potty?" so many times I'll probably start saying it in my sleep, but we've had no accidents so far (it's early).

I had an obligation for a couple hours this afternoon so I left the kids here with working C. While there, I mentioned (slightly complained) about potty training and one of the ladies said "embrace it. blah blah blah my kids out of the house ..." Bah. WHY? I embrace a lot of the time with my kids. I hope I don't actually remember potty training.

You remember everything. I'll just remember the good.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The heavens opened up, and other stories.

Yesterday I got home with the kids and everyone was whiny. Like, get thee ass to bed, whiny. Instead I decided we were all going for a walk. C was working late (in the home office, which always needlessly annoys me) so we all got in shorts and headed down to the trail. The trail near us is about ½ mile from the house, and the trail head has big water jug thing (please inform me of what this is called. We just say “going to get water” even though we have perfectly good water at home).

Sometimes we get there and continue to walk the trail a little and sometimes we just head back home, but it’s a good destination. We got there and I took my usual photos of the boys on the bridge, we got water and then I noticed a strange gray cloud.

It looked like it was moving away from us, but then there was a roll of thunder and I told the boys we had to head home. We were ½ a mile from home, you understand. We took about ten steps and the heavens opened up.

When I say we got wet it is the understatement of the year. I have never been that wet in full clothes. I have never been that wet and not have been in a pool. The rain was so hard I COULD NOT SEE. It kept coming between my sunglasses (ha! Sunglasses) and my eyes and dripping into my contacts and BAD. IT WAS BAD.

After I fell for the comedy of the situation and had secured my phone in my very wet pocket, I tried to just walk the kids home. We were already wet anyhow, right? Well they complained the whole darned time like they were the wicked witch of the west (And I was my mother: “just shut it, you aren’t going to MELT, child”) We were one block from the house when C pulled up and drove us home.

So home, dried and cooking dinner I thought of all the things I SHOULD have said in my vlog. Obviously I’m not going to do it again – so here are more answers to previously answered questions:

1.   I love James Taylor. I’ve seen him three times in concert and sit like a lovesick teenaged girl while I listen to him sing. I’ve cried in the audience. I don’t know HOW I forgot about Carolina in my Mind. I feel ashamed of myself, in all my James Taylor loving glory. Obviously I need to get tickets to a fourth concert, pronto.
2. I think that next year we need to book an auditorium instead of a hotel so we can all room together. Because I love my roommates and I’m excited to room with them but every time we get to the roommate part of the vlogs, I’m all “oh that sounds like such a fun room too!” So. Auditorium. Big sleepover. Floor mattresses. Diggin’ it.
3.  I’m also disappointed in myself for screwing up the who Perfect date-Miss Congeniality quote, because I was right about the date.

I hate to hear myself speak - I'm doing this for you (and you!) Blathering vlog

Goodness, it’s time for another edition of “This is more embarrassing for me than it is for you”. I not only recorded this, I refused to redo it when I messed up at LEAST three times and Carla, just so you know – I recorded this in my car. Again. Obvously lunchtime at work is the only time I get up the nerve to record myself speaking. No lunch sitting next to me this time though, but I could not figure out where to look so I'm pretty sure I only looked at the camera maybe never.

For reference, here is last year’s vlog.

And I apologize in advance. Again.

But without the booze.

I was lying in bed yesterday morning trying to decide what the heck I could feed my family. I was out of fruit, most vegetables. I finally realized there was a peach and an avocado in there, so the kids got leftover blueberry muffins and split a peach, and C and I had breakfast sandwiches w/ laughing cow and avocado. But after breakfast I cleaned up the kitchen and took to my fridge: I figured as long as it was empty, I should clean it. I had the refrigerator of a college sophomore, minus the booze. One tomato, three lemons, two ears of corn. Leftover Chinese takeout, an array of condiments. A tiny tub of sour cream, nearly empty. Baking soda. (does that really do anything?)

Spencer broke his backpack (4 days after he broke his lunch box) so we he and I headed out to replace it, as well as do some other errands. I took him grocery shopping where he talked me into Danimals and pudding and cookies.  I realized something: All conversations with a five year old are either amusing or frustrating. I decided to try to feel more amused by conversations with him.

Then, of course, we got home and that was shot to hell.

It was a good weekend, mostly. Saturday we did a combination Disney day: Spent the morning at one park, the afternoon at a waterpark, then had dinner (and Henry passed out in the car) and then the evening was at a third park. I wouldn’t recommend this for an everyday Disney experience, but we got to do a little of everything and it was so fun!

By Sunday night, I can tell you the same thing as last week though – we are no longer good at being home. I’ve been trying to keep us home on Sundays so C can watch his beloved football. I had him fill up the kiddie pool so the kids would have something to do that didn’t include watching tv all day. But by about 4pm (we got home from the above errands at 1:30p), the fighting and the whining and the yelling (me) were just … it wiped out a perfectly good day. Then there was two hours of trying to get Henry to take a nap he sorely needed, obviously, which he didn’t take, and I was so exhausted that even though I had just filled up my fridge with food so it looked like it belonged to adults, I couldn’t bear to cook. I made popcorn and a variety of fresh fruit for the kids and they watched a movie, and C and I had alcoholic beverages with pepperoni, cheese and crackers.

This week I’ve only got to get through to Thursday – I took a “just because” day off for Friday. C is off because he works Saturday, so we’ll end up probably having a day date that will at least be lunch and a movie. The last couple of times we’ve tried to see a movie it hasn’t worked out, and I’m not so much a theater person but C LOVES to see movies in the theater. 

Friday bits

Tuesday’s objective was to keep my new white jeans clean.

I’ve been doing a little shopping lately. It was inadvertent, as I haven’t been feeling great about myself. I’ve gained some weight back and I haven’t been driven to work out and I’ve been making poor food decisions. This all would normally have me putting off shopping until I lost weight, but since that’s not happening I just went for it. Oddly (I know, right?) new clothes that fit made me feel better about myself, even if they were in a different size.

Then Thursday I bit the bullet and got a haircut with a new stylist because my old stylist had the gall to move back to Indiana where her family is. That new baby doesn’t need grandparents! What about MEEEE? But new stylist was chatty and different but gave me a great cut and I’m good. Still miss old stylist but I think I can deal, now.

A long time ago (before marriage and kids and 1,871 other things that come with being a grownup), C and I used to tent camp. We would go on 9-day excursions around the Deep South armed with everything to make tent camping *not* roughing it. We haven’t been camping since 2006 or so, and I’ve been trying to get him up for camping with the kids. Now he’s fully on board, but this also means that he wants to go buy new everything for camping. New tent! New propane grill! We have EVERYTHING YOU MAY EVER NEED FOR CAMPING in our attic. This isn’t even an exaggeration. I have two giant bins of camping supplies that basically just need to be aired out. So. This might be our weekend agenda (you know, when we aren’t at Disney).

Of course, though, our first “camping trip” is likely to be to Fort Wilderness. Disney camping, anyone? He’s right, it would be a good first trip to try it out with the kids, but they are going to be so disappointed when we start camping other places and there’s no water park or Chip and Dale sightings. Just the great outdoors: cue the sighs.

I took a day off next Friday, for no good reason. Lately I’ve just been feeling like I need a day off, and instead of thinking every day if I should call out I decided to schedule some “me” time. C is off that day too, so maybe we’ll have a bit of a day-date while the kiddos are in school. Honestly I could use time to MYSELF, but the next day I’m going to a mid-day Mary Kay mimosa party, so I’m going to count that as my time alone. And then to balance that out, I’m taking the kids on my own to Trader Joe’s which is 1.5 hours each way (C is working that Saturday).

I posted SIX TIMES last week. I thought I was getting into a groove, and then something happened Tuesday so I wasn't able to post and streak broken. I guess Stella's gotta get her groove back.

I’m reading Twelve Rooms of the Nile, and it’s historical fiction supposing that Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert were friends. I’m not a historical fiction sort of girl. I recognize that it’s well written and I keep thinking I’m getting into it but then my mind wanders. I think it’s just that I’d rather read Fangirl again.

Monday Funday

I thought I’d have a real post today, but my brain keeps skipping over little things. So here’s a bunch of little things again.

There are some of those words that you just can’t spell to save your life. Mine? Nuisance. I don’t know why I have such a mental block about spelling that word but if it wasn’t for spell check I would never get it right. Sometimes I spell it so badly that spell check can’t figure it out either. Unfortunately, for my job I write that particular word often. It’s such a … nuisance.

They are remodeling the bathrooms in my building. Last week and this week is my floor, so I have to go somewhere else whenever I need to use one. You’d be amazed how you can decide it’s just not worth it sometimes.

Speaking of bathrooms! (like that segue?), Spencer went a whole week with no accidents at kindergarten. We pep talk it every morning, and this morning I went through the whole routine again while he was putting his shoes on and he was all “mom, I know all this. I did it fine last week”. He also has decided that he doesn’t want me making him breakfast in the morning which I’m not entirely happy about even though it frees me up for makeup in the morning. The breakfast at school is not satisfactory to me. No proteins! No fresh fruit! But I’m giving him some of this week and then I think we’ll have to come to a compromise.

ALSO. Spencer’s on the campaign to get me to buy him prepackaged Lunchables for his lunch. ”But so-and-so has them!” I give him some packaged snacks (Cheez-its, fruit snacks) but why do kids want Lunchables? They aren’t even very good! I know, I ate them as a kid! (This is not a judgment on parents who give their kids Lunchables. ) As with everything, compromise. I think I’m going to start giving him one a week – maybe Fridays? Also, I’ve broken down on Danimals (so much sugar! And he likes Greek Yogurt fine!) because he asks for them for every lunch. I bought them when they were BOGO, but now I’m just looking for coupons. And does anyone know a healthier alternative?

When is it that children start sounding like their parents? I thought it was about the time you have kids, but yesterday the boys were playing in their room, and Henry was talking and Spencer said “What?” and Henry yelled “I JUST TOLD YOU SIX TIMES!” So.

After our super busy Saturday, Sunday was lazy and lovely. The kids slept until 7:40!!! We cleaned house a little and then ran over to Macy’s to check out their sale (I got a couple tops, a pair of shorts, a pajama skirt and a nice dress for work) and Ulta (still no Milk pencil in stock) and BB&B for k-cups. And then we were home for the rest of the day. I cut Henry’s hair and the boys played in the shower. Afterward I put them in pjs for the rest of the day (it was 3:45p). Spencer was not happy about this – he is very much a boy of rules, and one of his things is that pjs are for sleeping in, not for hanging out. You do not run to Panera in the morning in pjs and you do not put them on in the middle of the day. But he dealt with his disappointment by being allowed to watch tv all afternoon while we watched football (and I read) in the living room, and I ran laundry. Okay, so it wasn’t a lazy day but it was a home-most-of-the-day, which is obviously rare for us.

Anatomy of a Saturday

6:53am Someone is in the living room. I try to ignore but I can't. Should probably get moving anyhow. Shoot, did I wash my face last night?

7:10am Lucky Charms all around! Too bad that's the last of it, kids. Mommy's been eating them for dessert after you go to bed. They also share a leftover cinnamon roll, a banana and an apricot Chobani (checked the recall numbers). Made my favorite breakfast for C and I (good thing he likes it too, right? You get what you get when you don't cook.) Toast w laughing cow, avocado and a fried egg. Bacon on the side. Yum!

7:45am Start scrambling bc we need to be out of the house by 8:30 at the latest for a 90 minute drive to an old friend's son's birthday party. I sold it to the family based on proximity to Disney.

8:43am Everyone's in the car and I'm programming the GPS while C fixes whatever's wrong w the tire pressure. Turns out the drive is 2:02 hours. Whoops! Watch your movie, kids. I read 115 pages of Me Before You, and believe I am a robot because I haven't started crying yet. Am I supposed to be crying yet?

10:40am We pull into the park parking lot. It's hot. Birthday baby is screaming. Get to the splashpad, kids. Spend 2.5 hours reminding people that we've all known each other for 20 years. Also, I haven't showered in three days and someone keeps taking pictures of me every time I'm scolding my kids. Those pictures are ending up on Facebook or mailed the DCF, I'm sure.

1:15pm Winding down, we decide to head out. I'm carrying Henry and realize my shirt is wet. And yellow. Shoot, that's pee. Smell it ... Not pee. Damn you, swim diaper, for not being a better poop container.

1:25pm Thankfully I am wearing my bathing suit, because I'm not wearing that shirt. Ever again. C has rinsed it out well but that shirt is not touching my body again. I might burn it.

2:15pm We decide since we're in bathing suits anyhow to go to Blizzard Beach. But what? They close at FIVE now? On a Saturday? What the fresh hell is that? We go anyhow. Grand time. Thunder closes the park at 4:20 anyhow.

4:58pm We have decided to hit House of Blues for dinner. We scrape in for happy hour, which is good because their water is seriously terrible and I am forced to drink wine. I'm back to wearing the poop shirt, which does look better and doesn't smell and I'm trying to forget about the poop. may still burn it later. Henry insists on ordering chicken tenders even though he really wants Mac and cheese. This is a family affliction.

6:15pm As long as we're in the area (who am I kidding, we knew we were going to SOME park). We head over to Hollywood Studios. I would like to take this moment to complain that now that it's "off season", Animal Kingdom closes at FIVE and Magic Kingdom at SEVEN. What bs, seriously. But we get in a few rides, and it's cool.

8:10pm Ice cream mickeys (the mouse, not the drugs) and we follow the sheep into Fantasmic for the water and lights show bc Henry had never seen it. Stand around for 20 minutes before they let us in right before it starts but still get really good seats.

8:30pm Fantasmic starts.

8:40pm Henry falls asleep.

8:55pm Run out of the show five minutes before the droves of people follow. The Park is closed now and all those people will be headed to their cars too. Carry 34 lbs of dead weight a mile to our car.

9:10pm Run into 7-11 to get my Smartwater fix. 2.99 for 800 more ounces than the $4 bottle at DHS. Yes.

10:36pm Home. Carry the smaller dead weight into bed while C finagles larger dead weight into his top bunk bed.

10:41pm Think about a shower, decide to do it tomorrow. Wash face, change into pjs. Burn poop shirt and climb into bed.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday Bits and Pieces

I can cautiously report that this has been a good kindergarten week. Every day we recite that we go potty when we need to go, and always after lunch. He’s eaten most of his food every day, come home in the same pants he started with, and seems to be enjoying himself. His homework is easy (tonight is “practice tying your shoes”, which he already knows how to do. Other assignments have included counting small amounts and writing his name). We’ve been reading every night, sometimes me to him and sometimes him to me. I think (cautiously, again) that we needed to get in our groove but we might be okay. We might live through kindergarten.

**

I have three library books to read, and then I think I’m off the library for a little bit. I got so overwhelmed that all my books were coming in at the same time and I have so many books already on my ipad that I’m not reading. So after Me Before You, Sisterland and Twelves Rooms of the Nile, I’m going back to the 1,871 downloaded books I have to read. Do you have anything I should put on my wishlist for afterward?

**

I just deleted an almost comment on a friend’s post about when S was younger and I had a six month old too and how I don’t even remember that time. I deleted it because she’s struggling with miscarriages and I felt like that comment would remind her about that and I don’t even know. I don’t know how to be the proper amount of respectful and still contribute to a conversation sometimes. I love my friends, and I hate that they have to struggle with this. Hate it. I feel blessed to have never had a miscarriage (although I have had prior experiences I would be glad to share in person but not on my blog). It was an innocuous comment, but what if it hurts?

**

A funny Henry story:

We’ve been putting off potty training Henry because he simply isn’t interested, and we’re lazy, and all sorts of other reasons. The other night I was cooking dinner, C was in the office on the computer and the kids were in the living room, playing. All of a sudden Henry starts yelling:

I NEED TO GO POTTY, I NEED TO GO POTTY!

So we both start scrambling to help him. I mean, we send him to go every day but he’s never taken initiative. This is great! He’s ready to train!

So I come around the corner to help him and he yells at me. “No! The girl, she needs to go potty!”

He was playing my old Gameboy Advance and had started playing Sims. The girl in Sims needed to use the bathroom.

/facepalm

Time (after time)

So today I woke up at – wait for it – the first alarm! 6:00am, people! This might be late for those of you who go to work in the mornings, but I previously had streamlined my morning activities to be getting up at 6:30 and out the door by 6:45. Unfortunately, this was before I started actually taking care of my skin, wearing a reasonable amount of makeup, and most importantly – before kindergarten.

My alarm goes off at 6:00am, but I am conditioned to not hear it – C wakes up and gets up, crosses the room, hits the snooze and comes back to bed. Two or three times, actually. (we found when then alarm was next to us, we turned it off in our sleep). I either get up at 6:18 or 6:27, rush around and do what I can. There’s often a lot of yelling as I’m trying to get Spencer to get his butt out of bed. I don’t have to get them ready – C will do that since he works from home most of the week and always takes them to school, but I want them started.

Since school started, I have been late 4/5 times a week, which obviously needs to stop before they make me change my schedule (ahem, again). Yesterday I got up at my usual time but I forewent my makeup routine and instead threw on some clothes and made breakfast for the boys. They were so pleasant that I decided I needed to actually get up earlier so I could get myself ready before making breakfast and having sweet boys instead of sullen and irritated slow-to-get-up children.

And it worked! I’m sure it won’t tomorrow, but today was beautiful. I rose at 6:00am on the dot. I leisurely did my makeup and decided what to wear (I have a meeting so I needed to dress nicely but of my black skirts I have one that’s a size 6 and one that’s a size 16. I am somewhere in the middle. Gray pants it is! My beautiful Calvin Klein blouse I paid too much money for but love love love! Done!) C got up (6:18) and took a shower and I got the kids dressed (while explaining to Spencer that while his uniform clothes are mix and match, if he wears the navy top with the navy bottom he will look like the janitor).

I made breakfast for them – Spencer is obsessed with Dunkin Donuts egg and cheese wraps, so his favorite breakfast for me to make him is an egg and cheese tortilla, and I gave them Greek yogurt and banana with it. Henry doesn’t eat eggs so he got cranberry walnut bread. I packed some breakfast for myself and left exactly on time, kissing all my boys and out the door. It really was a loverly morning.

Exactly on time. You know what that means though, right?

First I forgot my phone. I was in my neighborhood still, so I doubled back and picked it up. No problem.

Then there was a pedestrian hit on my route to work. A shoe and a backpack in the road, a damaged car, unknown status of the pedestrian and cars as far as the eye can see.

Yeah, didn’t make it on time.

BBTW: Food

Well, the easiest way to get me to link up to anything is to get me to talk about food. I love food, I love to eat and I love to cook. So. Food! Yum! So this BBTW is right up my alley. 

• Avocado. There was a time before kids when I didn’t like avocado. I thought it was slimy and weird tasting and just ugh. Then I got pregnant with Spencer and all of a sudden I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. Six years later this obsession is still going strong (much like my love for chicken wings, specifically Winghouse wings, which also started when I was pregnant). I love it in all things, on all things, and in all forms (here is my delicious guacamole recipe which is requested at most parties). LOVE. Favorite thing ever.     
• I had this sandwich once at a local Italian market and it was simply amazing. I recreated it with some success, but it’s a little time consuming and I’d rather they just made it for me. I still dream about this sandwich. Here’s what it was: a real Italian focaccia (I pick one up at the same Italian market), grilled chicken (bonus points for marinating in Italian dressing), pesto sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese. Drool. 
• Sometimes I’m a child about my favorite meals. I adore macaroni and cheese, in all forms. My favorite recipe is in my battered old Betty Crocker cookbook for baked mac and cheese, but I will gladly eat mac and cheese any time, made any way. For any meal, for that matter. 
• Eggs. My children ask for breakfast for dinner all the time, and what they mean is pancakes but what I want is eggs. Again, I’m not picky on preparation – I like over easy or poached best, but scrambled with veggies and cheese is my most common prep. My FAVORITE is a piece of toast with a wedge of Chipotle laughing cow, half an avocado and a fried egg on top.
• I tried to be less of a cliche, but bacon has to be on the list. I only buy Wright's because it's so good I can't possibly screw it up, and I buy in 1.5 or 3lb packages (every wonder who pays 16.99 for bacon? That would be me) and I freeze it laid out individually in a freezer bag so I can cook 3-4 pieces at a time. Or take out two pieces to chop up and add to a pasta dish, or Brussel sprouts. You get the idea. 

Bring Back the Words is the brain child of the lovely Ginger.

A week of lists

I’m feeling a little fractured this week, so I think the best way to show that in blog form is just to post lists, right? Ginger has already helped out with that by posting two BBTW prompts that deal with lists. And here is today. What’s with TODAY today?

** I’m totally overwhelmed by this whole kindergarten thing. Like, crying at work overwhelmed. We had another meltdown this morning because he left his lunchbox at school and so I gave him mine to use – a totally not girly red and tan lunchbox, mind you. He was hysterical. And he’s had three bathroom accidents in two weeks after only having an accident maybe once every 4-5 months before that. A kid hit him the first week, the second week another kid “accidentally” cut his shirt. He says he’s enjoying school but I am so stressed about it. Everyone else seems to be having a grand time with their kids in kindergarten – aside from the first day tears (of which we didn’t have any). Please. I need to know I’m not alone.

** We spent another weekend at Disney – is this getting boring for you? Because oddly, it’s not for us. Sunday we spent the day at Typhoon Lagoon (not my favorite waterpark, and I was a raging PMS monster but everyone else had fun) and Monday we went to Magic Kingdom which was full of awesome and 10-minute lines. We went on nearly everything. Seriously, 10 minutes for Space Mountain. On a holiday.

** The organic farm down the road has CSA memberships available and I always thought it was too expensive. It is a little pricy, but I was thinking if I do it every other week it’s half the cost (or if I can get my neighbor to go in with me on a full membership). I’m kind of hyping myself up for it. Fresh, local organic produce for 30 weeks! Talk me into it!

** I painted my fingernails. Aqua. I am not a painter of fingernails, but I rather like these. I have a work meeting on Thursday and they are not particularly professional so I think I’ll clean them off by then, but I think I’m enjoying blue nails.

** Henry spent his first two years totally attached to his father. Now he’s obsessed with me. I love the extra snuggles and to be honest I love his company but sometimes two children attached at the hip to me is a little much, you know? Spencer has opted occasionally to go w dad, but otherwise I have two children fighting over holding my hand or sitting next to me at dinner. It’s a little maddening.

Books I read: August

58 Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan I actually read this the last day of July. Drivel. Pure, horrible, goes-on-forever drivel.

59 Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan This was super cute. I put it off because the reviews. Oh, those reviews damn it. It was good. I wouldn't say it was mind-blowing, but very entertaining.

60 Cold Magic - Kate Elliott I enjoyed the first two books in this series. I felt like the characters should have had a little MORE in the beginning because I had a hard time caring right away, but I really enjoyed the complicated relationship of Kat and Vai. So many books fall into a trap of love at first sight, and I really liked that just because she was forced to marry him she didn't love him or even like him right away. I thought her journey to caring and respecting him was very realistic in a strange steampunk world.

61 Cold Fire - Kate Elliott See above.

62 Her Dark Triumph - Robin LaFevers I'll be honest, when I realized that this book wasn't about the same main character as the first, I was extremely disappointed. And then I absolutely fell in love with this book. Better than the first, and that's a hard line to say about a book about nun assassins.

63 The House Girl - Tara Conklin I couldn't get through this - it theory it was just so much more interesting than it really was. There are so many better written books. I wanted to know what happened to the characters, but I had it on ebook and I couldn't just flip to the back so I stopped. I didn't care that much.

64 Gameboard of the Gods - Richelle Mead Honestly, if anyone else had written this book I would have dropped it. Richelle Mead is one of my favorite authors and this was just flat for me. The world was too vast and the things they used were unlike current items but were not described. I just couldn't picture any of it. The characters were not fleshed out, the "secrets" they were keeping from eachother meant she kept too many secrets from the reader and didn't start explaining anything until 250 pages in. There were moments of brilliance ... in otherwise just not a well written book. Maybe it would have been well written for someone else, but she's capable of so much more. Yes, I'll read the next one.

65 The Supremes at Earl's All-you-can-eat - Edward Kelsey Moore I heard good things about this, but I just didn't get into it.

66 The Silver Star - Jeannette Wells This was NOT AS GOOD as her memoirs. But it was pretty good. Predictable, but well written and I really liked the main girl.