New Reads

One of my favorite things to do is get lost in a good book.  It can be a bit dangerous when you have small children since all hell breaks loose as my nose was buried in a historical novel (that was my favorite genre when my kids were little,  loved the Morris series!)  I couldn't put it down as I was involved in the main characters lives & would say to myself,  just one more chapter.

But soon,  I had to give this up for light reads or 5th grade chapter books (since my kids were girls,  I started reading the American girl doll series,  I actually liked them).  I have tried to keep up with what my kids  were reading & have been surprised that I've liked them.  One of my rules with movie going was that the book had to be read before seeing it on the Big Screen.  Most of the time,  the kids agreed with me that the book was better.  Now that the kids are older,  there are more opportunities to read again.  This weekend was State Swim meet (Superstar got another medal to add to her collection).  This meant lots of opportunity to sit & read as we waited to watch her swim less than a minute.  I started reading   Divergent.

 I know my kids want to see the movie & have read the book already.  So,  I picked it up at the library (along with an audio book by John Grisham,  made the long drive go faster).  But,  I digress,  the books I've been reading lately have been those that my teenagers have been caught up in.  They seem so realistic.  That's how I felt about Hunger Games & now how I'm feeling about this book.  This stuff could really happen.  And it makes me long for Jesus to come before any of this tribulation stuff.  Sigh.... scary.... though I know who is the Victor,  I still do not want to have to fight.  But I guess that's what makes it a good read.

It should have been another snow day... but it wasn't... AAUGH!!

One of my best friends lives in Oregon & once told me that if she had to wait for it to stop raining to go out,  then she'd never go out.

I thought of that yesterday when I was shoveling the driveway at 6 AM (yup,  in the morning when it was still dark outside & the temperature was in the single digits)  in anticipating getting my car out of the garage to commute my hour drive to work.   I was a bit miffed that when I looked back at what should have been clear cement was lightly covered in snow.  That's right,  it had not stopped snowing while I was out there.  I felt like Charlie Brown when Lucy snatches the football out from his kick.  ARGHH!

I thought at least my kids don't have to go to school today & be out in this mess.  But the school call never came.  And so my 2nd born,  Superstar,  got the pleasure of driving out of the garage first to be at school at 6:45a.  She has a zero hour class,  it's honors english... it's for superachievers.... which is why she is a Superstar... but I digress... My kids had to go to school & I had to go to work.  It really should have been another snow day.  

Snow Day..... AGAIN

There were peals of "hurrahs" & "yipees" when the call for school reach came on Monday night saying that the administration had decided to cancel school the following day.  SNOW DAY!

It meant they didn't have to pack their bags for a swimmeet or plan a lunch to avoid cafeteria food.  It meant that they could sleep in & not worry about "that" test or turning in "that" paper.  And I let them have their "day off",  but when the call came again, for another snow day, they were actually a bit disappointed knowing that they had to shoulder some of my responsiblities while I had a full day of work to go to.  It didn't seem as fun when it was too cold to go outside & play.  And frankly after building one snowman,  it didn't seem worth the time & effort to make anymore.

So,  when ANOTHER snow day was announced for today,  I think they were seeing the consequences.  They'd have to stay in school until June.  They were missing all the chatter of their friends at the lunch table.  They were missing out on much needed practice both for swimming & show choir.  All the pleasure of snow days had lost it's shine & now I was hearing groans & sighs ( I was going to write "peals of groans.... but that didn't sound right).

There is a spiritual analogy here somewhere....

yup,  CS LEWIS wrote it.... a much better analogy than I could have come up with... one of my favorite books

awww.... that's an idea for a snow day,  to curl up in front of a fire with a good book & a cup of tea