There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island. ~ Walt Disney ~

First a quick follow up to my last post. Operation body clock reset has been at least partially successful. I got up around 10:30 am on Monday and stayed up all through Monday night. I was planning to meet a friend to do some crafts on Tuesday so I knew that I would be busy and it would be easier to stay awake all day if someone else was there. Thanks Vicki for keeping me occupied and awake. I made it until 9:00pm and then went to bed and fell asleep immediately. I did wake up for a couple of hours at around 2:00am but then went back to sleep until around 9:00. I felt better than I had in months and had a pretty productive day on Wednesday. I was in bed before midnight and only read for a little while. On Thursday morning I woke up around 8:30 and reached over to my nightstand  and grabbed my book for a few minutes of reading before I got out of bed. 

I had just started The Hunger Games the night before and only read a few pages before falling asleep. Upon picking it up again in the morning I was sucked in. I spent the day reading then forcing myself to put it down and get something else done only to come back to it again and again. I finally finished the book at around 5:00am (so much for that reset) but it was worth it.

  

"Outside a dog, a book is man's best friend.

Inside a dog, it's too dark to read.~Groucho Marx

 This is my nightstand.

Can you tell that I love books and reading?  Since I have been unemployed it has been my books and my crafts that have kept me sane. I love to escape to another world where I can be magical, supernatural, or explore another time and place. Books let me live out dreams that I could never have imagined on my own. They teach valuable lessons on life, relationships, history, and what is possible if only you have the determination and courage to follow your dreams.

I recently subbed in a third, fourth and firth grade classroom where I took in a creative project. We made book marks using famous quotes about books and reading. I am including a few of my favorites in this post.

"I often feel sorry for people who don't read good books; they are missing a chance to lead an extra life." ~ Scott Corbett ~

A closer look at the books currently on my nightstand. 

 

Here is a list of some of my recent favorites and what I thought about them just in case you're a bookaholic too.


1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I loved this book but I will be the first to say it is probably not for everyone. It is about a future world where a controlling Capitol requires teens from 12 districts to fight to the death in a yearly televised game. It is captivating and I could not put it down. There are some great lessons to be learned here but you have to be in the right state of mind for it and I would not recommend it for anyone under 13. 
2. Water For Elephants by Sarah Gruen -This was a great story that I have had on my bookshelf for over a year and never gotten to. It is a about a traveling circus in the 1930s. The characters are memorable and the story is a little taste of history with some adventure mixed in. 

There is no friend as loyal as a book. ~Ernest Hemingway

3. The Time Traveler's Wife - by Audrey Niffenegger - I had read this one when it first came out a few years ago and enjoyed it. Then I saw the movie and couldn't remember how it differed from the book but I knew it did. I picked this up again and liked it even better the second time around. After seeing the movie some of the time lines were easier to follow and the story made more sense.
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - This is a wonderful story about a time not so long ago. It gave great insight into the lives of the black maids and "help" in the 1950's. I have a much better understanding of what was going on in the south during that time and an even greater appreciation for all the progress we have made since then. I am so happy I live in a time when I do not have to choose my friends based on the color of their skin.

So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall. ~Roald Dahl

5. The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorcerer and The Necromancer by Michael Scott- If you like Harry Potter then you should pick up this series. It is about the immortal Nicholas Flamel who is mentioned in the first harry Potter book as the creator of the sorcerer's stone. Nicholas Flamel was a real person and he and his wife Pernelle lived in England. Their home still stands as one of the oldest in London and now houses a restaurant. What I love about this series is the extensive research Michael Scott has done to create this series. Only the main characters Sophie and Josh Newman are fictional. All the other characters are real historical or mythological figures. The stories are fast paced and exciting and left me wanting to find out more about history and mythology.
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling - What can I say about this one. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Harry Potter freak. This one is my favorite of the series by far. I have read it at least five times so far and will probably read it again before the movie comes out in November.


 "Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."   ~ Maya Angelou~
 
7. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert- I read this one because of all of the hype. Everyone said it was great. I liked it but can't say it was one of my favorites. I loved the eat part in Italy, struggled with India's pray portion and ended up enjoying Bali and the love sound there.
8. Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortensen - These books were real eye openers, great examples of how one person can make a difference.
9. Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris - This series is the one that HBO show True Blood is based on. While I have only watched a couple of episodes I found it much to risque for my tastes. The books are much more PG-13. Vampires, werewolves and fairies..oh my!  

Life happened because I turned the pages. ~ Alberto Manguel 

~

10. The Percy and The Olympians Series by Rick Riordan - Another great young adult series. Lots of Greek mythology, suspense and action. The books are WAY better than the movie.
11. Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer- Since I am a Mormon and Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon author I was reading these books long before they weer so popular. I have read the entire series multiple times. Team Edward...nuff said!
12. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - I enjoy Nicholas Sparks books but I know I need to be ready to cry when I pick one up. This one was no exception. I finished this one literally within minutes of meeting a friend to see the movie. What was interesting was that at the end of the book the author explains how the story came about. It was actually written for Myley Cyrus who wanted a story similar to A Walk to Remember. He actually wrote the screenplay first and went back and wrote the book later. I found this very interesting when comparing the two. I almost always like the book better but in this case there were parts of both the book and the movie that I loved.  


I could keep going but this is enough for one post. Leave me a comment and tell me what you've been reading.

The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.~Dr. Seuss

It's been a hard day's night

image found here

I am an admitted NIGHT OWL. I have been ever since I can remember. I love staying up late and usually I am very productive in the wee hours. When I was young I remember writing many reports and papers and studying for tests long after everyone else was in bed. 

As a young parent my late nights were ME time. After Ashleigh was in bed I could watch something "adult" (not that kind of adult... but I was a sucker for Melrose Place and the original 90210). I could clean without someone messing it up immediately or sew, or do crafts or eat cookie dough, you get the idea. 

As she grew up it became harder to get my late night ME time. It seemed I was raising another night owl who was all to willing to stay up with me. So during her school years on weeknights I would fight to get her in bed at a reasonable hour and on the weekends we would enjoy late night movie watching, game playing, etc. We still enjoy late nights together when she is home and when she is not home it us not unusual for her to call me at 1:00-2:00am to catch up because she knows I will most likely be up.

While I have NEVER been a natural morning person, there have been times in my life that early mornings have been a necessary evil. I did what I needed to do to get Ashleigh to school and myself to work on time on a fairly regular basis. I may not have enjoyed it, but I did it. Even when I was getting up early it was rare that I went to bed before midnight, and I did just fine on an average of six hours of sleep a night.

What I have noticed though is that as I get older my night owl tendencies are not serving me well. I started having sleep issues a couple of years ago. I have a hard time falling asleep before 2:00am and once I am finally asleep I don't always stay asleep. I have tried all kinds of natural remedies and even some prescription meds all of which failed to provide the ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's I need on a regular basis. 

When I was laid off I thought, great now I don't have to fight it for a while. I can stay up as late as I want and sleep in and it won't really matter. At least that is what I thought. But as the months have rolled on I have been staying up later and later. I thought nothing of reading or scrapbooking or watching movies until 3:00, 4:00 or even 5:00am, no big deal...right???  WRONG!!!

Now I can't even get to sleep then. I find myself staying up all night several times a week and I have totally messed up my internal body clock. I feel like a newborn who has their nights and days mixed up. I have no energy, I eat at strange times and am starting to feel depressed. I know it is all related to my sleep or lack there of but I can't seem to find the reset button  (it is 3:14am as I am typing this).  

A friend of mine suggested that I try staying up for 24 hours and then go to bed at 10:00pm and then force myself to go to bed at a more normal time for a week to reset my body clock. I am going to give it a try this week...wish me luck. 

If this doesn't work I may be looking into moving to Australia, France, Germany, Hungary or Korea. I know people living in all of those places right now so at least I'd have friends.

Would you likey some ear bling?

My friend Reb is having a fantastic giveaway for some sweet earrings. All you have to do is leave a comment on her post here. Good luck!

And hey if you don't win those you can go to http://www.diamondearrings.org/ and get some for yourself.Now tell me what girl wouldn't like a little extra sparkle.

There is no FUN in unemployment

If you are reading this blog because you actually know me you probably know that I have been unemployed since April 1st. I never thought I would become a statistic or a victim of the crappy economy but alas here I am. I was fortunate enough to get some severance when my company decided to close the Denver office and I had an awesome summer being magical at Hogwarts for 144 young witches and wizards. All of this (and some help from family) has enabled me to go without collecting unemployment benefits until now. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for unemployment, but I am also very frustrated by the entire process.

I filed for unemployment the week after I was laid off but because of my severance package and working over the summer my claim was postponed. Did I mention that unemployment benefits comes at a price, there are lots of hoops to jump through and rules to follow. In order for me to reinstate my claim I needed to call in and talk to someone...yeah right!

cartoon image found here

After two and a half week of calling in every time I thought about it throughout the day every day (avg 6-8 tries per day) I still had not spoken to anyone and had only gotten though once only to be cut off after 35 minutes on hold. The money was running out and I was getting desperate.

Finally I decided one day that I was getting through if it killed me and I got nothing else done that day. I woke up at about 7:00 and got all of my paperwork in front of me and started dialing at 7:30 on the nose. Each time I got the recorded message that all agents were busy and to try again later I hung up and hit redial. I did this for three and a half hours straight (I lost count but I think it was somewhere in the range 150 calls)!

So I had finally gotten through and thought I was making progress only to have my hopes dashed when I heard, "Due to the high volume of calls your expected wait time may be up to 120 minutes."...Seriously!!! A mere 110 minutes later I finally got to talk to someone. Who took all of my information and reinstated my claim in under five minutes. UUUGGHHHHH!!!!

A new leaf

Awesome pic of fall colors by my cousin Christopher Eberhart (shamelessly stolen from facebook)

I don't really consider myself a blogger, I am just someone who has a blog. I love blogs. I love reading about other people's lifes and adventures. Yes, I sometimes blog stalk people I don't even know. I am outing myself as a bit of a blog stalker right here and now. I get excited when I see that one of my regular stalking stops has a new post, it makes me happy. I read about the every day lives of other people but never think that my everyday life is anything anyone else would want to read about.

I started thinking differently after reading this post from my DD. I realized that I don't blog for anyone else. I am NEVER going to be a cJane or a NieNie or Pioneer Woman who has thousands of readers and followers. I blog for me, as therapy and to remember what is going on in my life and in my head.

I was never good at consistently keeping a journal so when I started this I was hoping that the blog would be easier... but not so much. It's fall, a time of change so I am going to change my blogging habits and turn over a new leaf. I have decided to take Ashleigh's idea of posting at least once a week from now until the end of the year. That shouldn't be too hard but we'll see.

If you do stop by and read my ramblings leave me a comment so I know you were here. I love visitors comments make my day. You'll get no judgement from me even if you are a friend of my daughter's roommate's neighbor's cousin and I don't know you at all.

Peachy keen...

Where did the summer go?? It seems like I am always saying that this time of year. Summer is always crazy busy and this year was no exception. Ashleigh came home for a few months, it is always great to have her around. We had 150 kids come to summer term at Hogwarts season #8 and even enjoyed a couple of froomie visits from afar.

I know the summer is over when the house is too quiet again and it is just me, myself and I. I enjoy fall though. I am happy to say goodbye to the scorching summer heat. It is my favorite time of year to make use of the convertible and ride with the top down. It is also the time of year when the earth presents it's harvest. I love all of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are available this time of year, especially the peaches. Having grown up on the western slope of Colorado peaches are a fall staple. In Grand Junction when I went to high school (way back when) the school year even started later so the teenagers could help with the peach harvests. I always bring a few back from my fall visits, but they go fast.So when a friend from church said she had a connection to get western slope peaches for $18 a 25# box I signed right up. Then I realized...it is just me, myself and I...how am I going to eat 25# of peaches?? My friend Mindy wanted some too so she agreed to split the box with me but that still leaves 12.5#. Then I remembered that I had to bring a dish to my monthly CTMH meeting and I already had these in the fridge.
So here is what I made. A super yummy raspberry peach cobbler. I couldn't find a recipe that was exactly what I wanted so I combined a few and came up with this. It was a hit and I will make it again for sure. Here is my recipe if you are interested.
Raspberry Peach Cobbler-Crisp
Filling:
3 cups sliced fresh peaches
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
3/4 cups sugar
Gently mix peaches and raspberries. Add sugar and set aside.
Cake:
1/2 stick softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
Topping:
3/4 stick softened butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup granola
Cream together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients before adding and then add slowly alternating with milk.
Grease a large casserole dish with cooking spray and add fruit. Top with dollops of batter and spread as evenly as possible.
Mix topping ingredients with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
For the very best results serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy...I know I did!

New Blog!

I have decided to move the crafty stuff to it's own blog. Check it out Dudleychick Designs for lots of new pictures of my crafty stuff and info on upcoming classes etc.

In the meantime this blog will be getting an overhaul and probably a new name...more to come on that.