Wow! Time goes by fast!
I can't believe 2 months have gone by and I didn't write a thing. I've read 17 books since then (or listened to them) Some of the ones I really enjoyed were Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt which was a cute story about a 12 year old girl with a mom who was bipolar and what she went through and how she was rescued by an aunt. I didn't read Peace Like a River recently but it was another book that I really liked. It's a story about a young boy whose brother shoots someone and goes on the run and his family tries to find him. Great book about sibling love. I have been listening to Eragon and the other 2 books on tape to get ready for the 4th and final book that comes out November 8th. I love that this book was written by a 16 year old boy and the ancient language that he just made up. The whole time I'm listening to it, it amazes me of his incredible imagination. I haven't seen too many movies lately but I did see "Moneyball" last night and highly recommend it. It was a great story and based on a true one at that. Okay, did I mention that I get obsessed about things. Well, at this time in my life it is thrift stores. I have been able to pick up so many books for next to nothing. Living in Dallas and traveling as a Home Health nurse, there are thrift stores everywhere. I've gotten Sweet P over 50 books and tons of hardly worn clothes, coats and shoes. Not to mention all the baby clothes for Cute C and he hasn't even been born yet. Now, I'm going to look for some things as Christmas gifts and suggest my girls do the same. None of us need anything so this would be fun. I'm going to leave you with a favorite recipe of mine and will try to do better and write more often.

I love this recipe. It's a great dish to go with cooked out hamburgers. Yes, you can use low fat cheese and sour cream, but it's definitely not as good. :)

HOMINY CASSEROLE

2 cans hominy, drained
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 8 oz. carton sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Mix hominy, chilies and sour cream together. Place in 1 qt. Casserole dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 350’ for 20 minutes. (I usually put 1/2 cup of the cheese in with the hominy and the other 1/2 cup on top)

Starting out

My kids all have a blog and I thought it might be fun to have one and just write down thoughts. I thought I would start with reviewing books I've read, movies I've seen, restaurants I've tried, recipes and just see what happens. I love to read and always have. There was a time that I wasn't able to read. I couldn't focus long enough to get through a book. I could read a magazine article or the newspaper but not a whole book. I'm glad that time has passed because reading has become my passion even though I usually only read fiction. Last year I read 37 books and this year as of today, I've already read 37 books. I belong to several online sites where I can get book reviews and list the books I've read and it keeps track of them. The two sites I visit are www.shelfari.com and www.goodreads.com. I have also belonged to www.paperbackswap.com for about 3 years. You can request books and send books. All you have to pay is the postage to mail them out. For each book you get one credit and each book costs you one credit. I'm not much on keeping books or movies that I know I'll never read or watch again and I love that I can provide someone else the pleasure of reading a book I don't want anymore. I know books are becoming obsolete since Kindle but I still love books. I have an IPad but haven't downloaded a book yet. This site has been good. The only drawback is that a really popular/new book takes forever to get. I have started going to thrift stores looking for books that I know are popular and I can trade. I've gotten some really good books for $1.oo. I like to go to shelfari and click on Most Popular Books and see what everyone is reading. Then I click on the book and get a review. If it gets 4-5 stars and it sounds good, I go request it on Paperback swap. My daughters also call and say "Mom, can you get this book for me" so it's fun and it's my new obsession. I do have a tendency to obsess about things. When my youngest was little, it was "Beanie babies" and I scouted all over town trying to find the bears. It's so crazy now when I think about all the time I wasted and the money but it was something for us to do together. She made clothes for them and furniture and I still have most of it and probably 50 beanies that I'm hoping to share with my grandchildren. I've already shown them to "Sweet Pea" but she's 2 and not quite into them yet. Back to books...I am a Home Health nurse and travel a lot so I've started listening to books on tape. I finally got a library card and figured out how to request them online. Today I finished "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and really liked it. It was about a young boy who lost his dad in 911 and a quest he goes on to stay close to his dad. It also involves a relationship between his dad's parents. Even though it was fiction, it made me so sad to think of all the people who really did lose their dads, moms, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, etc. and what a horrible thing happens when countries are at war. I gave it a 4. Mostly I save 5's for books that I absolutely loved and think about for days and days and would read over and over again. There aren't many like that but I'm embarrassed to say they are usually fantasy books about different worlds like: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight and Eragon. There are some other books I have given a 5 like: Secret Life of Bees, Same Kind of Different as Me, Sarah's Key, The Book Thief ,Water for Elephants, Left to Tell or anything by Bodie Thoene or Mitch Albom. I have been known to be reading several at one time. I love to read!!