Dewey's Read-a-Thon is getting closer! Time to make pledges. :)

All pledges made to me will go directly to the school my daughter attends, Alpine Valley (http://www.alpinevalleyschool.com/ ). It has been such a lovely place for her to be (after visiting AVS for the first time she said, "Well,if I go to school that is where I'm
going to go.") and I know they will find a good use for whatever money I raise.(for more about the Sudbury model see: http://www.sudval.org/ )

For more info about Dewey's Read-a-Thon see:  http://24hourreadathon.com/

I'd like to offer three different ways to pledge and let each donor choose.

* pledge by minutes read (e.g. a dime for each minute I read)
* pledge by books read (e.g. $10 for each book completed during the challenge)
* pledge by pages read (e.g. a nickel for each page read)


Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Also, if there is a book you'd like to insist I read during the challenge, you can ensure it happens for the low, low rate of $15 a book. :) This is your chance, folks, to preach, to what may or may not be the choir, about your favorite book(s). Don't let the door of opportunity slam shut on your toes!

Five things to be grateful for...

Image by Metapratsch via Flickr

1.  people who help get our daughter to school
2.  brand-new soap as a present from Dara
3.  clean sheets
4.  safe travels
5.  winning T. Rex E-Z socks for our three-year-old housemate!

The only photo I took during a trip to the zoo with Alpine Valley School

Food was a large part of the day for Fiona and Tim.  :)

Happy Thursday

Tomorrow afternoon my husband and I will have our first appointment with a mediator -- I'm not completely sure what to expect.  My hope is that Kate, the mediator, will have a lot of experience with Denver County divorce forms and that that will be a part of what we work on tomorrow. 

I saw the doctor yesterday and she said that I'm ready to begin the settlement -- in other words, that this is as good as my body is going to get, that I'll need periodic continued care to maintain this level, but that I probably won't improve significantly from this point.  I e-mailed my lawyer this morning and asked him to start that process -- with everything else that is going on in my life, it will feel good to be moving on that. 

Fiona came home from school an hour ago and it was good to see her.  She had lots of fun with Jesse (a schoolmate with whom she carpools) running in circles around the car.  I love to see the way she can interact with all ages -- and I love the fact that she loves her school.  

In the morning her dad will come and get us both and we will take her to school and head back into Denver for our appointment.  Fiona will be with Jeremy until Sunday afternoon or evening.

Wishing you all a peaceful evening.

Ramblings on a Saturday evening

Image via Wikipedia

Read Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez today.  Good stuff.

Worked on divorce paperwork today.  Complicated stuff.

Been thinking about how, in some ways, I feel like the essence of who I am is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago.  I think I'm mostly okay with that and also aware of some things to continue tweaking.

Halloween party at Fiona's school last night.  Lots of people.  Got there late because I forgot her costume at home -- sorry to miss getting to talk to more people.  Good to have some more time in public with Jeremy (my husband from whom I'm separated) -- I feel like each time we do that, the easier it becomes.  We've spent the last 10 years together and so in some ways it still feels very easy and normal to talk to each other, while in others it feels forced and excruciating.  I'm concentrating on the goodness and thankful for the effort we are both putting in.

I need to contact my lawyer and see what he is thinking about the accident settlement.  Perhaps I'll know more after I see the doctor on Wednesday afternoon.

Hopefully Jeremy and I will be meeting with a mediator on Friday afternoon,  I believe we will try to complete the two initial forms for beginning the divorce process, after which, if I'm understanding it correctly, 90 days need to pass before turning in the rest of the paperwork (which is a ton).

So tired.  Will try to sleep soon.
 

Twenty-two hours, 27 minutes, 19 seconds

Definitely time for another post! 

I've slept twice this challenge -- I found it harder to avoid that with a 48 hour challenge as opposed to 24.  But I'm looking forward to jumping in and going full force for the rest of the day!

Sped through Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix yesterday afternoon, as I suspected I might.  If you've not read anything of hers, you should!  I'd start with either Running Out of Time or the Shadow Children series.  One quote to share from Double Identity (I know it's not the first time someone has said something along these lines, but I still like it): 

Science and religion deal with different questions.  Science is how things happen and religion is why.  The problem comes when people forget what they are asking of whom.  (p.117)

I have two discs left and then I'll be finished with The Woman in White as well.  Need to beef up my number of books read before the challenge is over, so I have a lovely amount to give to Alpine Valley. Getting ready to start Num8ers by Rachel Ward.  When my daughter wakes up, we'll probably try for some more of The Woman in White. 


Finished: 

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs by Heather Lende
I Am the Messenger  by Markus Zusak
Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix



My sponsors thus far:

Lutheran Lisa $1/book
Sara Sara and Raj Sara $1/book with a $10 minimum
Amber Owen Amber $2/book
Dara who I haven't met yet Dara $2/book (and an extra $10 if I can get my hands on To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis...)
Keely tiny dogs Wiley and Halston Keely $10 for finishing the audiobook of Woman in White by Wilkie Collins  (been listening to this one with my daughter -- this'll be a good incentive to finish it up!)

Beth's Mikaela $10 to read Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix!  (She knows I'm a BIG MPH fan.)

Starting line post for the 48 hour reading challenge

 MotherReader's starting line

My plan is to start at 1:30 p.m. MST today, June 4th.  My 48 hour period will end at 1:30 p.m. MST Sunday June 6th.  I will not be posting again until sometime after 5:00 today, as my husband will have the computer.  That means a few concentrated hours of reading without computer tasks to distract me!

My sponsors thus far:

Lutheran Lisa $1/book
Sara Sara and Raj Sara $1/book with a $10 minimum
Amber Owen Amber $2/book
Dara who I haven't met yet Dara $2/book (and an extra $10 if I can get my hands on To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis...)
Keely tiny dogs Wiley and Halston Keely $10 for finishing the audiobook of Woman in White by Wilkie Collins  (been listening to this one with my daughter -- this'll be a good incentive to finish it up!)


All funds from sponsors will go to Alpine Valley School.

MotherReader: Countdown to the Fifth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge

MotherReader: Countdown to the Fifth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge

Almost there! You can see my post detailing some of my ideas here.

So far I have a pledge from Lutheran Lisa (we know several Lisas so they each have to have extra information added to their names) for $1 for every book I read. Yippee for Lisa!

There have been rumors and murmurings from a few other people about choosing a specific title for me to read during the challenge ($10/title). I hope they pick books I can get my hands on before Friday!!

No matter what, it's going to be a good time and I'll have a bit of money at the end to give to Alpine Valley School!

Looking forward to the 48 hour book challenge!

MotherReader: Fifth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge

A few months ago I did a 24 hour read-a-thon -- Now is my chance to double that!  :)

Participants are asked to choose any 48 hour period from 7:00 a.m. on Friday June 4 to 7:00 a.m. on Monday June 7 -- It must be 48 consecutive hours but it is understood that not all participants will be able (or want) to read for that entire time.  I'm still pondering what 48 hour period I will choose, but I'm pretty sure I'll start at some point on Friday and end at some point on Sunday.  (As the date approaches I will have a more definite time period marked out.)  I'm hoping to read somewhere between 24 and 34 hours.  We'll see how that all works out.  :)

Books need to be at a 5th grade level or higher, graphic novels count, and participants may count one audiobook toward their time and book totals.

Some readers are asking for pledges to various causes.  This is my first experience, but I'm game! All pledges made to me will go directly to the school my daughter attends, Alpine Valley.  It has been such a lovely place for her to be (after visiting AVS for the first time she said, "Well, if I go to school that is where I'm going to go.") and I know they will find a good use for whatever money I raise.  

I'd like to offer three different ways to pledge and let each donor choose.

• pledge by minutes read (e.g. a nickel for each minute I read (see MotherReader's site for more info about what counts towards the goal))
• pledge by books read (e.g. $5 for each book completed during challenge
• pledge by pages read (e.g. a penny for each page read)

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Also, if there is a book you'd like to insist I read during the challenge, you can ensure it happens for the low, low rate of $10 a book.  :)  This is your chance, folks, to preach, to what may or may not be the choir, about your favorite book(s). Don't let the door of opportunity slam shut on your toes!

What to Eat, Halcyon Crane, and an overabundance of memes

I've finished my book for Tome's 500 page book challenge -- What to Eat by Marion Nestle.  It's not my favorite food-related non-fiction book I've ever read.  Nestle, a nutrition professor at NYU, certainly knows whereof she speaks, but apparently that wasn't enough to make me fall in love with this book.  I think it's a great book if you want to learn more about the politics of the food industry, labeling, product placement, etc., this is a great resource.  (As, I assume, would be Nestle's earlier book,  Food Politics.) 

I took this book along with me to various places while I was reading it.  When someone asked me about it, my response usually started with "The author is a nutrition prof at NYU and it's a very balanced book".  As funny as it is to admit, I think that very balanced approach is part, perhaps, of what turned me off.  Nestle acknowledges that there are very few hard and fast rules when it comes to food and maybe I like to have those hard and fast rules.  :)  I think I'd like to pick up Nina Planck's Real Food and Brian Wansink's Mindless Eating again and see if that helps me clarify what wasn't a draw for me in What to Eat.  I think this book would be a great pick for someone who hasn't thought much about basic nutrition, what influences food choices, why supermarkets are arranged the way they are, etc.

1. Grab the book nearest you right now. 

2. Turn to page 56.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like).  

5. Post a link with your post to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

She looked nothing like the Jackie Kennedy mother I had imagined.  It was not quite my own face but very close to it.  Madlyn Crane had long wavy auburn hair like mine, which in this photograph was blowing in an unseen breeze.

~From The Tale of Halcyon Crane, by Wendy Webb

If I didn't have a doctor's appointment this morning, I just might have stayed up late to finish this one!

Hosted by My Little Life

This week's questions are:

1. Do you have an iPhone and, if so, how do you get apps and what are your favorites?

I don't have an iPhone.  If I did, I think I'd mostly just love the camera and being able to check my e-mail on it.  But owning one is definitely not on the top of my wishlist.

2. What is your fondest memory of K-3rd grade?

Hmmm....  I remember walking down the sloped, red-carpeted hallway to the library in Madison Elementary and singing "come-ah, come-ah, come-ah chameleon" and thinking I was pretty cool to "know" the words to that song.

3. What makes you cringe at the thought of touching?

I don't think I cringe very easily.  Probably anything that might bite me if the bite would have serious repercussions -- something poisonous, not just anything with teeth.

4. If you could have any celebrity show up on your doorstep who would it be and why?

Well, the first one that comes to mind is Pierce Brosnan.  I really don't have very many celebrity crushes at all, but I liked watching Remington Steele when I was little.  In addition to that, I really do think he's good people from everything I've read and heard.

5. What would you say is your best physical feature?

 I'm gonna go with my hair and fingernails, though I have no idea what others would say.

To Play:

Answer my question, go post your own question
on your blog, then go link up at An Island Life and visit the other
players and answer their questions.

My questions is: What are you looking forward to in June?

And my own (overly long) answer: 

 

June is going to be a great month around here. My daughter's last day of school is the 4th and my husband should be finished with all of his grading by then as well.   I'm participating in MotherReader's 48 hour book challenge the 4th-7th.  

On the 13th my daughter will have her first Theater Explorers class of the summer at the Arvada Center -- she took the same class last year and decided to use her birthday money to take it again this year.  She is looking forward to starting and my husband and I usually use the hour each Sunday afternoon to walk in the art gallery, talk together, align our schedules, and simply talk together. 

The 18th-20th we are going camping with a group from my attachment parenting discussion board.  This will be the fourth summer we've done this and it is always a good time.   It will be our first time at Rocky Mountain National Park and I'm glad we will get the chance to explore a little bit more of Colorado.

June 23rd will be one year since I was hit by a car.  I am thinking it would be nice to have a giant everyone invited party/potluck at our apartment to mark the occasion.  Then my in-laws arrive on the 26th for a week long visit and I'm definitely looking forward to that!

I'll close for now.  Snozz, if you are still reading, I'm impressed.  :)

 

Happy Monday to All! And to All a Book Giveaway!

 Hello everyone!  I had a lovely weekend on retreat at Snow Mountain Ranch with my daughter's school.  {Didn't get quite enough game playing or reading in, of course, but I did get a good start on Marion Nestle's What to Eat -- which was like a little extra conscience in the presence of lots of food and comfy chairs -- "Should I have another piece of that yummy cake and then sit here and read some more?  No, I should have a banana and go for a nice walk in the sun."}.  It was a great opportunity to get to know other Alpine Valley families a little more.

I'm still pondering what kind of camera I am going to buy with my birthday money.  I have it narrowed down to four:

Canon Powershot SD780IS
Canon Powershot A3100IS
Nikon Coolpix S3000
Nikon Coolpix S230

Happily accepting advice!  

One last thing on this bonny Monday morning -- Lois Lowry's The Giver.  If you don't already know and love this book, your life has a small little empty spot.  I highly recommend you read it soon.  And here is a chance to win an autographed copy!