My 2010 Booklist

My 2010 Reading List.

I love to read, though I don't get to do it for pleasure quite enough.  My reading life is based on how crazy life is at the moment.  I read as part of my job every single day...but the books below reflect those that I have been able to curl up with, get lost in, and/or learn from in 2010.  I wish my list were longer.  And maybe someday it will be. Each page count is a link to my personal review of the book on this blog.

328 pages




325 pages




326 pages




336 pages




337 pages


241 pages

230 pages

329 pages
288 pages

320 pages

350 pages

The Third Quarter Status Updates

Here are my July, August, and September status updates from Facebook 2010:

July 2010

• No electricity for almost three hours today.  I'm thankful for electricity.  
• The dance camp theme this week is "50's and 60's"  and so LG asks me, "Do you know the songs "leader of the Pack" and "My Boyfriend's Back?"  I said, "Yes, the girls in my neighborhood were making up dances to them before dance camp was cool!"  
• It's blasted HOT out there!  My hair looks like I've been swimming, but I haven't stepped one foot near water today!  
• Everyone's tucked in:  DS 1 at Army training.  DS 2 at college.  DS 3 @ Student Life Camp.  DS 4 at Church Camp and LG will soon be tucked into bed.  Can you hear the joyous hootsa nd hollers coming from MY HOUSE???
• Another night of family fun...corn hole, hot dog roast, fireflies, s'mores and much love and laughter. 
•  New kitchen and bathroom is on it's way...old cabinets are gone!  Now to pick out a counter.  
• Gotta' go do dishes in the bathtub tonight.  Counters are ordered and shelving is up.  

August 2010

• I get annoyed with someone posts constant negative status updates!  C'mon there ARE positives everywhere if we just look! 
• The ducks are in the nest---including the new driver---I can go to sleep now.  
• I can see the hoop...I just don't feel like jumping right now.  
• Some nights it's the flash of digital clocks and the little charging lights on cell phones, laptops, and resting game systems that guide me through the cark house.  My how times have changed.  
• Overheard in our family room:  DS 4:  "A meteor is like dust particles flying through the sky and you can watch them."  LG "Do you watch it on TV?"  DS 4: "UH, NO, you watch it in the sky."  LG:  "OH"
• The tent is set up in the backyard for DS 4 and his friend.  The lanterns are lit...the bugspray is sprayed...somethings just not right about the extension cord that is running from the back portch out there to CHARGE the mini-laptop!  Now to take bets on whether they'll make it all night...HMMMM???
• Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal.  It's a way to live.  The law tells me how crooked I am.  Grace comes along and straightens me out."  (Dwight L. Moody 1837-1899)
• I know there's never a dull moment when you're raising one kid...but let me tell ya' raising FIVE of 'em almost means there's never a dull SECOND! 
• "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world" (Anne Frank) May we all start to improve our world today!  
• Found on my Dove Dark Chocolate wrapper during one particularly stressful moment last week: "Blessings only come to those who notice."  I LOVE IT!

September 2010

• Off to the Dollar Store and Michaels...I know, I know...you're jealous! 
• I think I've had more than 15 years of apple decor in my kitchen...it's a little hard to box some of it up.  
• Ended our Labor Day with a little "come to Jesus" room cleaning...now THAT chore's done and the labor was worth it! 
• Love this quote I saw on Twitter:  "Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders."  (Tom Peters) 
• Some days I think I need a "do-over"...today's one of 'em.  On second thought, I don't need a do-over...I need a "move on".  
• "When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly."  Patrick Overton 
• Grace and forgiveness is extended for all, but that does NOT spell automatic release from personal responsibility for hurtful and wrong actions. 
• "The difference between try and triumph is a little umph"  ~Unknown.

More Status Updates from 2010

And continuing my Status Updates for 2010.  Here's April - June:

April 2010

• Some days just kick you hard!  I give! 
• "Hope is a picture of a preferred future."  (Mike Fordham) 
• Watched DS 1's band play tonight...ate dinner with DSs 3, 4, and LG and now remember just how much I LOVE the Shrek movies!  
• For the record, Mom---I'm sorry for EVERY single morning I was hard to wake up as a tween and teen! 
• I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.  Voltaire 
• Faith is like a radar that sees through the fog.  ~Corrie Ten Boom 
• The power of music still amazes me.  I love those moments when you find "just the right song at just the right time" with just the right message! 

May 2010

• Love the nights when there's nothing to do but relax...now if I could just get my mind to relax with the rest of me!  
• Anytime we have all five kids in the house...feels complete! 
• OK Science Fair project printed and being attached to the board as I type.  So what if the bathroom has glow spots where clean-up was less than stellar...but hey...if you don't hold a blacklight in there it's all good!
• Today we're one step closer to being a forever family for a special little girl.  What an amazing journey the past few months have been!  
• DS 4 is teaching LG how to fold napkins like "The Ritz" after career day there.  I love this residual Ritz behavior!  Just wish it would last!  
• I've gotta' be honest...some situations make me wonder if my eyes and ears are broken...cause there should be NO way to have two people looking at some situations and creating or choosing a different outcome!  
• What a day!  Data...all...day....LONG...And in the midst of it...Midday call from DSs 1 and 2 informing me of a hospital visit for staples to DS 2's head.  
• "For I know the plans I have for you."  declares the Lord. " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, " declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity."  (Jeremiah 29:11-14a) 
• So thankful for the crickets and frogs and other night critters that sing me to sleep every night.  Goodnight Pond!  

June 2010

• I love it that my kids have large villages of adults who will step in...help out and/or care for them when I need it.  
• Watching "The Kite Runner" with DS 3.  A great quote from the movie:  "My friend, children aren't coloring books.  You don't get to fill them in with your favorite colors."  
• Thankful for the right words at the right time.  Friends who can do that are a blessing! 
• I'm avoiding doing something that I SHOULD do.  It would require diplomacy that I simply can't find right now.  I start, but then divert myself.  Yep, I'm still stubborn after all these years!
• Heading to Gainesville---DS 2 is going to have his appendix removed this morning.  He wants to be done to watch the US play in the World Cup Game at 2:00.  
• "Don't be afraid, I am with you...Don't tremble with fear...I am your God.  I will make you strong...as I protect you with my arm...and give you victories."  Isaiah 41:10 

Status Reflections

Whether you're a Facebook fan or not...it's here and it's part of our culture like so many other social networking venues on the web.  Recently, I archived my status updates for 2010 through a Facebook app.  I will NOT bore anyone with every single status update for the year, but I want to keep them and so I am going to give a glimpse of my life in 2010 through status updates three months at a time.  Here's January - March...

January 2010:

• I wonder if I could pay someone before next Christmas to go through my "pre-lit" tree branch by branch to find the culprit light (or lights) that makes parts of it go out!?!?
• DS 4 says he does not like pants, only jeans.  Since we're a uniform school, it's khaki pants or shorts. Well I say "Freeze then!"
• Is it my age or the kids' age that makes me FREEZE all the time and them act like it's a balmy 70 degrees outside?  
• I've typed three status updates and all sounded negative...so my status update this morning will be:  THINK POSITIVE!  (Thanks, I needed that!)
• LG's profound thought for the evening:  "Everybody's tired, but you GOTTA' get up!"  
• Just dove in and cleaned LG's room.  No less than 10 pound of "little trinkets and odds and ends" are now in the trash...ahhh the joy of "paybacks" from my own childhood!  ;-)  
• It is well with my soul! 
• "No one stays a tween/teen forever.  And no one stays the parent of a tween/teen forever." 

February 2010

• I don't think most of my colleagues from work will ever know how special they are!  It's so nice to work in a place where people truly care about one another.  
• "You've stolen my heart, yes you have--you've wiped away the stains, broke away the chains, yes you have."  ~Leeland 
• "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.  When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.  When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."  (Isaiah 43:2)
• "Oh happiness!  There's grace--enough for us and the whole human race!"  (DC*B)
• Watching DH and DS 4 play guitar together...so fun! 
• Back from the Japanese Steak House and a lovely Valentine's Day dinner with the family. 
• Good Morning Facebook!  I really wanted to say, "Good Morning Baltimore!" or "Good Morning Vietnam!" But neither really has much meaning other than they are good songs/movies!  I'll turn my thought filter back on now.  
• Some days are "tie a knot and hang on" days.  

March 2010

• I've worn my flannel pj's more in the last 3 months than all the other years put together!  Global warming??? Right! 
• Can it be that it really said "38 degrees...March 6th...AND Florida" on the weather page this morning?  And can it be that we are wearing mittens and scarves tonight?? It just seems so ODD!
• Psalm 91-1-2:  Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the Lord:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God and I trust him.  
• Great quote from Chuck [tv show] tonight:  "Despite our differences, all we have is each other, so let's stick together!"  
• I'm wondering just how many times I've said "no" to a cute little girlscout this cookie season? 
• "There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." (Deut. 15:11)
• Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.  ~W. Earl Hall.
• Oh my goodness!  LG is in my room watching TV and singing, "He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar."  LOUD!  So cute!
• I have to be flipping out of my mind to think about heading out to the shore in 66 degree waether!  But it's what the majority of the kids want to do, so here we go!  Forget the towel, I'm taking a blankie!

Pardon My Dust

Still re-thinking this blog design....so excuse the mess as it's truly a work in progress.

Greetings cards haveNOT been sent, but the Christmas rush is through....and I've been deciding what to do with my blog.  I think I've said that for every one of my last few posts--despite the fact that they have been few and far between.  I am wondering if a new focus and a new look will help.  I'm going to play with a new design today and see if I can update and change what I have.  Stay tuned...well...maybe I should say "retune".  I think I'm might have to do a little blog surfing to find some new blog friends and reconnect with old ones.

I DO miss it and plan to find a way to put a little ooomph into it.  :-)