I stand...

Re-listening to some old favorite cds tonight, and falling in love with some new ones as well. May I recommend some to you?

Idina Menzel - I Stand
Love, beyond love, this album. Her voice is amazing. A small sample, if you will: "I Stand" - title track.


Mark Salling - Pipe Dreams
Yes, this is the same Mark Salling who plays Puck on Glee. I didn't expect much when I listened to this, but I was very pleasantly surprised. My first thought - "Why don't they let him do more solos?"


Erin McCarley - Love, Save the Empty
Seriously, it just doesn't get much better than Blue Suitcase.

I'd rec more, but knowing me, I'd be here all night... and why waste time? Go listen to the awesome stuff I listed! Shoo!

52 books in a year

52 Books in a year

1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)

2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

7. Dead Beautiful, Yvonne Woon (1/16/11)

8. Ophelia, Lisa Klein (1/17/11) 

9. Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick (1/23/11)

10. A Certain Slant of Light, Laura Whitcomb (1/24/11)

11. Hex Hall, Rachel Hawkins (1/25/11)

12. Companions of the Night, Vivian Vande Velde (1/25/11)

13. Paranormalcy, Kiersten White (1/27/11) (loved this one!)

14. Firelight, Sophie Jordan (1/27/11)

American Idol

So I'm in my bedroom, watching the recorded episode of American Idol from tonight, and my husband is in the next room, watching highlights from the Steelers' win this past weekend... and someone particularly bad begins to sing, and I hear:

"MAKE IT STOP! GOD! ARE THEY KILLING A DOG IN THERE?!"

DYING.LAUGHING. OMGSRSLY.

52 Books In a Year

52 Books in a year

1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)

2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

7. Dead Beautiful, Yvonne Woon (1/16/11)

8. Ophelia, Lisa Klein (1/17/11) 

9. Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick (1/23/11)

10. A Certain Slant of Light, Laura Whitcomb (1/24/11)

11. Hex Hall, Rachel Hawkins (1/25/11)

12. Companions of the Night, Vivian Vande Velde (1/25/11)

52 books in a year

52 Books in a year

1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)

2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

7. Dead Beautiful, Yvonne Woon (1/16/11)

8. Ophelia, Lisa Klein (1/17/11) 

9. Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick (1/23/11)

10. A Certain Slant of Light, Laura Whitcomb (1/24/11)

oh, and -

WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL, BABY!

♪♫ Here We Go STEELERS...Here We Go ♫♪
☼─╔╗╔╗─╔╗╔╗╗╔═╔═║─╔═╔╗╔╗─☼
☼─║╦║║─╚╗─║─╠═╠═║─╠═║─╚╗─☼
☼─╚╝╚╝─╚╝─║─╚═╚═╚═╚═║─╚╝─☼

52 books in a year

52 Books in a year
1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)
2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

7. Dead Beautiful, Yvonne Woon (1/16/11)

8. Ophelia, Lisa Klein (1/17/11) 

9. Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick (1/23/11)

oh, and -

♪♫ Here We Go STEELERS...Here We Go ♫♪
☼─╔╗╔╗─╔╗╔╗╗╔═╔═║─╔═╔╗╔╗─☼
☼─║╦║║─╚╗─║─╠═╠═║─╠═║─╚╗─☼
☼─╚╝╚╝─╚╝─║─╚═╚═╚═╚═║─╚╝─☼

Holiday

So today the kids were home from school on holiday. Normally we would do something ohsoawesome and totally educational to celebrate and learn why the nation deemed it a holiday... but today we have just been slugs. Seriously. I got off of my butt long enough to start the crockpot to re-heat the chili I made the other day, and make some fresh noodles for the non-chili eaters in the house for lunch... and we made 2 more jars of lotion... and I finally got to talk to my stepdaughter today... but otherwise - slugs.

Sometimes it's nice to have a day off and actually take the day off.

Yesterday I read 3 books in one day, so today I have a massive headache (I don't have insurance, have had the same pair of prescription glasses since 2002, and I can't wear them because the lenses are scratched... therefore reading gives me massive headaches). You'll notice my latest book on the 52 books list (previous post) says it was finished today and not yesterday, but that's a technicality. I finished at two minutes past midnight, so I had to count it for today.

But now I am also out of books to read. I have some on hold at the library - but it's also closed, due to the holiday. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, which promises to be a busy day - and not the fun kind of busy, either.

My oldest daughter is about to switch ADD medicine, and she's super nervous about it. Nothing I say or do really seems to comfort her or allay her fears... so she has retreated into the world of House of Anubis, and I'm not going to disturb her from it. The longer she doesn't have to worry about it, the better. Sigh.

Got two whole tops of baby doll quilts pieced together. Need to get off of my lazy slug butt and go finish blocking the last two quilt tops, so I can have my sister show me how to finish them off on Wednesday when she comes.

52 books in a year

52 Books in a year
1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)
2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

7. Dead Beautiful, Yvonne Woon (1/16/11)

8. Ophelia, Lisa Klein (1/17/11) 

52 books in a year

52 Books in a year
1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)
2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

7. Dead Beautiful, Yvonne Woon (1/16/11)

52 books in a year

52 Books in a year
1. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey (1/2/11)
2. Impossible, Nancy Werlin (1/2/11)

3. Blood Feud, Alyxandra Harvey (1/4/11)

4. Out For Blood, Alyxandra Harvey (1/12/11)

5. Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin (1/13/11)

6. The Candidates, Inara Scott (1/16/11)

Welcome to the New Blog!

Welcome to my new blog! I have a couple of different gmail accounts, and it was a pain in the butt that every time I wanted to update my other blog, I had to log out and log back in under my old username. So here we are... part deux!

Today was a productive day, even though I've felt flu-ish all day. Achey and gross, ugh. I made 7 batches of homemade lotion (tangerine scented, ohsoyummy). Then I made 2 different kinds of sugar scrubs, which my girls used as soon as I made them (seriously, they made up excuses to get into the shower immediately after I made them). I also made some copycat Wendy's chili in the crockpot so I don't have to keep getting up, since standing makes me feel woozy right now.

Unfortunately, my feeling woozy and achey and general ooginess caused me to have to call church and tell them that I couldn't volunteer tonight (I volunteer every Saturday night to do check-in for the childcare). That sucks, because that's one of the highlights of my week.

...and now that the girls are enjoying the homemade lotion and scrubs, they are in there plotting evilly about what mom's next batch should smell like. They have also informed me, in no uncertain terms, that I am going to make homemade deodorant and homemade chapstick.

Now it's off to watch the Steelers/Ravens in their dogfight, and pray that the Steelers win - otherwise my husband is going to be impossible to live with for the next several weeks....