My Thoughts on Egypt: We Need to Pay Close Attention

I am sure you have heard that Egypt is in a crisis or revolution depending on what news channel you are watching.  This story seems to be covered every minute by the stations that cover world news, and it should be.  This story of Egypt, of the people rising up, is a story that is important for the whole world. 

The importance of this crisis has nothing to do with Egypt being a country in the middle east, though it will probably effect oil prices, but has everything to do with Egypt being a country of educated, young, unemployed and disgruntled citizens that have had enough.  Why is this important, you may ask....because that describes many of the countries throughout the world, including many in Europe and maybe even the United States.  As a result, there are already protests of solidarity in countries around the world.  I am sure that many world leaders are shaking in their shoes right about now. 

Another important element of the whole crisis has been the use of the social media to gather the people together for these protests.  We bloggers realize the importance of social media, but maybe not to the scale that we could create a revolution with a well timed, organized and focused flash mob.  Yes, this is how it started, as a sort of "flash mob".  But people did not just show up to dance and sing together, they showed up to pray together at mosques in Cairo and then proceeded to approach government buildings in protest of the current government.  Even the organizers didn't expect 90,000 Egyptians to show up, and create a revolution like none we have ever seen.  I must admit that I find this both miraculous and scary. 

One of the fears right now for Egypt is how radical groups (some possibly terrorists) are trying to take advantage of the situation  and may be hoping to position themselves in some of the vacated leadership spots that are now available.  I am hoping and praying that the educated people of Egypt do not let this happen and that the new government will be of educated people who can represent the masses in a way that is respectful and enlightening.  Egypt wants change, and I hope that the change that they receive is good and that is is achieved through peaceful means. 

As far as the United States is concerned, we need to watch how the dynamics of this crisis in Egypt plays out and be receptive to the new government that will be forming with or without Mubarak.  We also need to realize that a down trodden people can rise up and oust their government without an election.  I know I look around and see a lot of people that are anti-government right now, and I fear what could happen.  We already have Representative Giffords recovering from a gunshot wound, and numerous police officers killed all over the country just this week.  Is this a coincidence, or has something already started, on a much smaller scale?  ......makes you wonder doesn't it? 

My First Guest Post

Today I have posted my first Guest Post over at The Girl Next Door Grows Up.  If you are not familiar with that blog, you need to check it out.  She is very funny and has a lot of giveaways and contests, so what more could you want.

In case you are wondering, my post over at The Girl Next Door Grows Up is about me messing with my kids.  You should check it out here...

Beautiful Day here in Florida

I am trying to be happy, the whole Egyptian thing on the news kinda has me worried, so I decided to take some pictures to cheer up.  There kids are with their dad so my dog got to be the victim. 

Also I took a pic of my rosemary blooming, the poinsetta on the porch (yes it grows here year round) and my yard and street. 

I hope you are having a great day!

Yoplait Gift Pack Giveaway & Coupon

I am so excited!  I am featuring my first giveaway. I have received a Yoplait Gift pack to give away to one of my lucky readers.  I also received a gift pack from Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.  The gift pack consists of a gym bag, a reflective wrist wallet, a pedometer and a VIP coupon* for a free cup of Yoplait Light Yogurt.

*This coupon offer for Yoplait Light yogurt is not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiant, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota and Tennessee. 

Here is a pic of the gift pack:  

Note that the entire back of the gym bag is mesh, so when you forget to unload your sweaty workout clothes, they will have already aired out and will not be a moldy mess (been there done that).  I will probably be using this bag at the beach.  The beach bags that I currently use get loaded with sand, so the mesh should solve that problem (no more sand all over my house...woohoo!) 




In addition to receiving the gift pack and having the giveaway, I also received all the yogurt I need (28) to participate in the Two Week Tune Up plan by Yoplait (thanks to Yoplait through MyBlogSpark again).  This is a plan to help you lose up to 5 pounds in two weeks by following the guidlines given in the plan.  All the details can be found at Yoplait.com.  I will begin the plan on Monday, Februrary 7th, so if anybody wants to do it with me, I would really appreciate it.  I will discuss the plan in further details in another post. 

So, back to the Giveaway! The random draw will be on Monday, February 7th, the same day that I am starting the Two Week Tune Up plan.  In order to be eligible for the giveaway, you must be my follower on Google Friend Connect (GFC) and comment on this post what flavor Yoplait Light is your favorite.  Please also include your email address so that I may notify you if you win. 

Since this is my first giveaway, I am not complicating it with additional entries, so only one entry each person. 

Also, Yoplait has provided a link for a Yoplait Light coupon** http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/1684/ for $0.75 off the purchase of four (4) Yoplait Light Yogurts.

**This coupon offer for Yoplait Light yogurt is not valid in Louisiana, Nevada and North Dakota. 

Feeling Like a Blogger

I have been blogging now for about 4 months and I had been wondering all this time when I would start feeling like a blogger.  My family writes it off as me just spending too much time on the computer and my "land" friends think that I am crazy (nothing new with that).  They all think it is a hobby that I will forget about when the weather changes.  In the meantime, they haven't even paid attention that my blog is growing.....

And now, I feel like a blogger.  Why?  You may ask.  Well, this week everything seems to be unfolding at once.  I got invited to do a review and giveaway (it involves hard work on my part), I got invited to do a guest post and I had someone else solicit me to be a guest on my blog.  And in addition to all this, I seem to get new followers everyday. 

All I gotta say is WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!  I am a blogger!  Yes, I know, a little over the top.  So my next question is, when will I be considered a professional blogger?   I am looking forward to that day. 

Stay tuned for my pending giveaway, details are coming soon.

When did you start to feel like you were really a blogger? 

Just Watched the State of the Union Address

I just finished watching the U.S. State of the Union Address and I was quite impressed.  Barack Obama is a great orator and he certainly showed that tonight.  I have watched his other State of the Union Addresses and I think this has been his best.  I don't really know if it was really a better speech or whether I was paying more attention to this one since I am currently unemployed and am looking for hope. 

I felt like President Obama was in his element as he laid out his plans for the country, especially in the fact that some of the items were pleasing to the Democrats, while others were pleasing for the Republicans. He actually took some bold steps away from being just a Democrat to being someone who could be very middle of the way and get work done.  I like the idea of America being a country of innovation, education and outbuilding our competition.  I think the U.S. has lost it's grip as far as being the country to be emulated and I think President Obama just put that back into perspective and gave us a goal to achieve.  I also hope that he can sincerely restructure our government so that it works more effectively and efficiently. 

I was a little concerned with the strong position that he stated he would take with Iran and North Korea, I felt like those were "fighting words", and I really don't want another war to start.  Overall it was a very good speech.  I am hoping that President Obama can get passed everything that he proposed and do it all without deficit spending.  Only time will tell. 

What did you think of the speech?

BlogFrog and The State of the Union Address

I took some advice from Collen from Mural Maker and More and joined BlogFrog. My understanding of the site is that you can build communities for your followers so that they can interact and get to know each other better.  You can have discussions and forums within the community and post pictures and links and all kinds of stuff.  The concept sounds really great, now I just have to figure out the details.  I did set up a community for Rules Do Not Apply and you can find it embedded within my community tab on this blog.  Please join my community if you are a member of BlogFrog and if you are not, consider it, it is a great format.  If you are experienced at BlogFrog, feel free to give me advice. 

Also, the big news today is the pending State of the Union speech tonight.  Are you going to watch it?  I will because I am curious of the direction our country is heading and also because Barack Obama is a terrific orator. I don't agree with all his policies, but I have to give the guy credit for sounding intelligent and be persuasive.  What do you think? 

Do You Belong to a Subculture?

Most people go through their life and really do not think of subcultures.  We drop off the kids at school, run to the store and pick up some items, maybe stop by Starbucks for a coffee then come home and get on the internet and read some blogs between checking emails before going back to school to pick up the kids.  In the meantime, we may have been exposed to numerous subcultures and not even realized it. 

When most people think about subcultures, they think of the bad and seedy subcultures, like gangs and drug users.  But there are a lot more out there.  As stolen from Wikipedia a subculture is defined as :

"a subculture is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong"

Therefore any like minded people becomes a subculture.  An example would be a church where everyone believes the same beliefs and live their lifestyle accordingly.  According to this definition there are subcultures everywhere, and I stumble across them everyday.  At my previous job, I learned from several male coworkers that there is a whole subculture around WOW (World of Warcraft) and they even have support clubs for wives.  Google it, it is amazing. 

Since I started blogging, I have learned that I am part of the whole subculture of "Mommy Blogs".  Until I started reading the blogs, I did not even know this subculture exists.  But it does, it is quite large, diverse and powerful.  Just look at all the products that are trying to influence the Mommy Blog community with giveaways and coupons.  Speaking of coupons, I have recently discovered that there is a whole subculture around Couponing.  There is some overlap between Couponing and the Mommy Blogs, but if you look hard enough, you will note that they are two distinct subcultures.  Another subculture that I have run across is the Prepper subculture.  I had no idea what a prepper was until I started finding blogs that focus on a Prepper lifestyle.  A prepper is someone who prepares for an emergency.  I ran into this term as I was researching on collecting more hurricane emergency supplies (I live in Florida) and water purification methods.  There is a lot more preppers than I realized because the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) are within this description as they teach their members to store food.  Of course, many of your militia groups and other survivalist fall into this realm as well.  I guess I am also on the fringe of the Green subculture (saving the environment) and they would overlap with the Vegetarians and Vegans.  And the list would go on, and on.....

So, as far as I can tell, I am the following subcultures:

Mommy (blog)
Couponing
Prepper
Green
and possibly others

What subcultures are you in?  And are there any subcultures out there you would love for people to know about? 

Being a Lefty

Yesterday, I was on a search for a first baseman's glove for a lefty.  Glad to say I did find one at Play It Again Sports.  I am so relieved that I did not have to search everywhere in a 50 mile radius to find one since left handed equipment is so hard to locate. 

Luckily I am aware of how hard lefty stuff is to find, because I too am a lefty, kinda.  Actually I am ambidextrous but write left handed.  And yes, I have that terrible lefty handwriting that looks like a 3rd grader is still in the house.  Growing up, I always had great grades, except for penmanship.  I blame it on my 2nd grade teacher though (I think it was 2nd grade).  I am old enough that when I was growing up, they tried to make all the leftys write right handed.  It probably took my teacher 3 or 4 months before she gave up on me and let me write left handed. In the meantime, I missed a lot of the fundamentals of writing. 

I did learn to do many things right handed because left handed equipment was just not available growing up or my teachers insisted I use my right hand.  I use right handed scissors, and play most sports right handed, except bowling and pool.  Whenever I learn a new sport, I never know which hand to start with, and when I get drunk, I never know which hand I am supposed to be using to throw darts (I am equally bad with both hands).   I can play pool right handed, but not as well, so the advantage is that I never have to use a bridge if my opponent allows me to switch hands. 

But in high school and college, I was that kid that always showed up to class early so that I could find that coveted left handed desk and I always had graphite smudged on the outside of my hand.  In fact I remember in college, a couple of time I had to move my desk away from all the other kids to take tests because the position that I sat to write (the lefty hook) had the professor convinced I could see the other students' papers. 

I was hoping when I had kids that they would be rightys and could lead a normal life.  But no, my son is a true lefty and my daughter is ambidextrous.  She also has the same problem as me as not know with which hand to try new things.  She does write righty but is left footed in soccer and can play tennis with either hand though her tennis instructor made her play lefty because of the advantage in competition.   Luckily, my daughter has not been in any sport yet where we need special equipment for her.  My son however, being a true lefty has had to find baseball gloves and I had to find a set of lefty golf clubs for him a few years back and those were a nightmare to locate. 

So, how many leftys are out there?  Statistics show that only 10% of the population is lefty with men more likely to be lefty than women.  So, I guess that makes me unusual.  Yay me!   

On a Search!

Well, I have to begin a search today, I hope it is easier than I anticipate.  What am I searching for? Of course it is something for the kids, right?  My son needs a used first baseman's mitt for a lefty.  Not only are used first baseman's mitts hard to find, but for a lefty it is even harder. 

I must say that I am happy that as a freshman my son has made the varsity baseball team at school and is the starting first baseman.  The problem of course is that he does not have a first baseman's mitt, and he is a lefty.  I will be checking Play It Again Sports and Craigslist, so I hope I can hit pay dirt.  But, the odds are, this will not be an easy search.  I anticipate that it will be as difficult as when I was looking for youth left handed golf clubs quite a few years ago.  Not an easy task.  By the way, if anyone has a need for barely used youth left handed golf clubs and is willing to pay for the shipping, or live in Central Florida, let me know.

And, if you happen to have a lefty first baseman's glove in your house, let me know, maybe we can work something out.  By the way, if you are donating a glove, we would prefer used but would not refuse a new one since we will eventually probably buy a new one.  Right now, we are looking for a used one now so that it does not have to be broken in. 

Disney, Disney, Disney!

I get up and watch the news everyday.  Mostly, ever since 9/11 I want to make sure our country is still there when I wake up and no major cities have fallen to some scary event.  So, needless to say that I take in a lot of  news.  Sometimes I get sick of it because there is so much negative news in the world, but lately, everything seems to be Disney!

Yes, I live in Central Florida so my news comes out of Orlando.  Well, let me tell you, Disney is making some moves to improve and get more people here.  Yay, because our local economy could use the tourists.  All the news started about a month ago when Disney started running a really great deal for Florida Residents to visit the parks.  Then, the brand new Disney Dream cruise ship came to Port Canaveral.  Everyone is in a tizzy over this new ship that can hold over 4000 passengers and is the biggest one owned by Disney.  All the press are currently on an inaugural cruise, so the Dream is all over the news.  More information on that is here.

Then Tuesday, Disney announced a huge expansion to Fantasyland.  The plans look great and I think it will be a great improvement to the Magic Kingdom since it will double he size of the current Fantasyland. If you want to see plans for the new expansion, you can go here.

 I know amazing right, Disney has been busy.  I also know that Disney is working on the land that used to be Pleasure Island and pulled permits to put restaurants and shopping in that area, so they are improving Downtown Disney too.  So, start your planning and saving so you can book a fabulous trip to Orlando because there is going to be a lot going on.  Of course, if you are not into Disney, I hear the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios is great too.  In fact about 2 weeks ago, they sold their millionth butterbeer....lol. 

If you get really ambitious, the housing is really cheap in Florida right now, so why not just relocate here or buy a vacation home.  Just saying, we do have all the parks, the beach and great weather. 

And no, I do not own stock in Disney, but I wish I did. 

Is 12 Years Old Enough?

I need some opinions.  My daughter is 12 years old and in 6th grade.  Currently, she is not allowed to wear makeup and she has not shown much interest until now.  She came home from a friend's house last night with makeup on.  I did not think it was a big deal until I noticed she still had the makeup on when she was leaving for school this morning.  Of course I questioned her on it, and she said it would not come off.  Being a woman that wears makeup, I know that if you want makeup off, you can get it off. 

I am not willing to allow her to wear makeup right now, but I am considering allowing her when she starts 7th grade (in the fall) and starts middle school.  She will still be 12.  Do you think this is too young?  If I do allow her, I will control what colors (muted) she would be allowed to wear.  If I remember correctly, I think I started wearing makeup in 8th grade, but that is so long ago, I am not positive.  What is your take on this?  I would really like your opinion. 

Trip to the Chiropractor Needed

Well, my body is reminding me today that I am indeed middle aged.  It's funny how mentally, I don't feel it, but my body sure lets me know it.  I guess between the excessive walking and stairs at the International Builders Show this weekend and picking up a 50 pound bag of rice at Sam's was enough for my body to go on strike.  I definitely pulled something in my lower back that triggered my sciatic nerve all the way down my leg.  Oh joy, now I walk like a 90 year old.  I will go see my chiropractor today and I am sure I will be all better soon.  But, in the meantime, I am humbly reminded that I am indeed middle aged. 

Dog Whisperer? No, More Like the Dog Shusher

Well, my dog sitting days are almost over.  The dog owners return today.  We will see if the little doggies take their new learned manners home with them.  I did not allow them to beg when we were at the dinner table.  In fact, they were shooed from the kitchen every time we ate.  That was a whole new thing for them, since their owners feed them while they eat.  Also, they did not bark much while they were here, as I would shush them when they started even a little noise that could escalate to a bark.

Overall, I would say that the little doggies were fairly good.  I established Alpha quickly when they arrived and the dog I thought would be the toughest turned out to be eager to please and became quite pleasant.  The other little doggie ignored commands and had some housebreaking issues which I was not pleased with.  Thank goodness I have tile everywhere.  I know my dog will be happy to see them go. 

Dog Sitting

We are dog sitting for 5 nights, with last night being our first.  The dog on the right is my dog, he is just thrilled to have the 2 little dogs staying with us (kidding, he is not thrilled at all). They are sweet little dogs, though I hope to teach them some manners here.  They bark at everything that moves, so I will be breaking that since I have squirrels all over my yard.  Also they are terrible beggars, I hope to break that as well. 

We think it is cute how all 3 dogs seem to be color coordinated, even though they are all different breeds.  It will be interesting since I do not have a fence.  I will have to watch them very closely or take them out on leashes every time they need to go out.  My dog has never needed a fence and stays in the yard.  He does sneak off occasionally to visit my friendly neighbors.  I have advised all my neighbors to let me know if he is a problem because I would put a fence up if needed. 

Actually I will be getting out of watching all the dogs for a long day on Saturday while one of my boyfriend's sons takes over the duty.  I get to go to the International Builders Show in Orlando.  I am pretty excited about that. 

Trying to Get Into Westshore

I had a parent meeting last night at Westshore Jr/Sr High.  I am trying to get my daughter into that school.  In this county, we have schools of choice and Westshore is one of them.  The school is great academically so everybody with good grades tries to get in.  The problem is that there are only so many spots in the school every year for new students and there are more applicants than spots.

So, we have to depend on a lottery system to get my daughter into the school we would like her attend.  It is so frustrating.  Last year they had over 800 applicants for 160+ spots.  Ridiculous, I know.  The school was ranked the 50th in the nation by U.S. News and World Reports last year for public schools. 

I have had my daughter's acceptance in the forefront of my mind for the last year because I really feel like you can manifest your destiny and can accomplish things if you stay focused on your goals.  I have said prayers for a little spiritual help in this arena too, yes I know that is petty.  But, this school could change the future for my daughter, so I am trying to do a good thing here. 

I think it would be great if I could get all my blogging friends in on this.  Why not, right? If everyone who reads this could simply have the thought "Michelle's daughter gets (got) accepted to Westshore" we can manifest this thing and I would be grateful.  I figure the more people I have wishing for this to happen, maybe the universe (God) or the stars will align and make it happen.  I know, maybe a little crazy, but maybe not...only God knows.  So, what could it hurt to only have a thought.  Are you in?  Thanks!

Blogging Friends

It is funny how we develop blogging friends, isn't it.  I know who's kids are getting potty trained, who just had a birthday, who just got a job and who is expecting.  It seems that I know a lot about my blogging friends.  And I do know a lot about what is going on in their lives as they know a lot about what is going on in mine.  And I think it is just great.  I love the fact that I can have blogging friends all over the world who are dealing with similar problems that I am dealing with here.  These are people that I would never have met if it were not for this wonderful thing called the internet. 

On the other hand, my blogging friends seem to know what is going on in my life more than my "real" friends.  None of my family or "real" friends read my blog that I am aware of, and most of my family (other than my kids and boyfriend) is so self absorbed that they have never known me at all.  I find it very strange, that these strangers that are my blogging friends seem to be more friends and family than my "real" friends and family.  So, the question becomes, what really constitutes a friend?  And do you really have to meet to be friends? 

I think a big part of friendship is listening to each other and interaction, which the internet allows, so that would make blogging friends "real".  What do you think? 

My 100th Post Already

I cannot believe that I am writing my 100th post already.  I had contemplated writing a blog for a long time, but was not sure what I would write about and stressed over it.  Then, I started my blog and have not shut up since...lol.  I don't know if that is good or bad, but it does seem I have some readers.  So, I guess it can't be all bad. 

Well, for this 100th post, I would like to say "THANK YOU" to all my readers.  I love your comments and encouragement.  If anybody has any topics they would like me to tackle, feel free to suggest them.  Now, if I could figure out how to make enough money from this blog to be a SAHM, I would be really happy...lol. 

Just A Little Bragging.....

I received an email today from the vice principal at my son's school that my son has made the President's list for the first 2 quarters of the school year so is therefore exempt from taking the semester exams.  Needless to say, I got up from my chair and did my Snoopy Dance.  Of course, this means that my son does not even have to go to school next week (except for baseball practice), so on top of the news of the good grades, I get to spend a week with him too! 

We have already discussed maybe going to the beach and maybe watching some movies together.  Of course all this is tentative because I am supposed to find out on Monday whether I got the job that I interviewed for yesterday.  If I do land the job, I am not sure how quickly they will want me to start.  Either way I will have a good week, either with my son or working...wooohooo. 

So, picking up my son today from school, I told him how proud I am.  He was just as excited as me too, because he is happy to get out of taking exams.  Then he says, "you know, if I keep it up, maybe I will make valedictorian".  Double Woohooo!!!!!   Of course, I did not act too excited in front of him and gave him the motherly, "you can do anything you set your mind to" speech. 

Let me remind you that this is from my brilliant son who has motivation problems, which is the reason he is in a military school.  (I'm doing my Snoopy Dance again).

Okay, I am done gloating....back to the blog in progress...

Starting a Food Journal Today

I gained a few pounds over the holidays on top of the weight I already needed to lose, so I am starting a food journal today.  I hate to say that I am counting calories, but I guess I am.  I have done this in the past, and keeping a food journal is the easiest way for me to lose weight.  You tend to reconsider letting something cross your lips if you have to take the time to figure out exactly how much of a serving you are going to consume so that you can have an exact calorie count.  If you don't feel like writing something down, you just don't eat it. 

Overall, I don't expect to find too many surprises since I eat fairly healthy anyway.  But the food journal will make me cut down on snacking tremendously.  I mean really, who wants to count out pretzel sticks every time they want pretzels.  You end up just not eating them.  I guess the easier thing is to buy those 100 calorie pack snacks which are a great idea.  Last time I did this, I ended up only buying the popcorn 100 calorie packs because they really filled me up.  The other 100 calorie packs always left me wanting more. 

Of course, I am not just using a food journal to lose weight.  I also have every intention of exercising too.  I have a treadmill and an exercise bike at home in addition to Wii Fit, so I need to get moving.  I have slacked off on walking through the holidays, but I definitely plan to get back into the routine of at least walking every day. 

The good news from all this is my boyfriend, John, is on board this time.  A couple of years ago when he wanted to lose weight, he and I both counted calories and lost quite a bit of weight.  So, he knows it works.  He is a terrible eater, so counting calories will make a huge difference with him.  I am sure he will kick my butt on the scale, but that is okay, he needs to get healthier.  I am really glad that he is on board because it is hard to be on a diet when no one else around you is.  I have tried in the past to do it alone and John would sabotage me every time, sometimes intentional and sometimes not.  It is so frustrating.  Anyway, wish me luck as I start day 1. 

Review: The Hunger Games

I bought The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for my 12 year old daughter for Christmas.  The book had good reviews and is considered young adult.  My daughter read it during Christmas break when she was with her dad.  I was surprised that she finished it since her Christmas break was very busy.  When I inquired about the book, my daughter said it was great. 

I sat down last week to read it, and she was right.  The Hunger Games is one of those books that sucks you in from the beginning and does not let go.  In fact, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to finish this book because I couldn't put it down.  The Hunger Games is book one of a series, so needless to say, I have already ordered the other two books and am waiting patiently for them to be shipped. 

The story is a familiar one, it is kinda like The Lottery, Mad Max and Lord of the Flies all wrapped up in one.  However the author's character development and the layout of the events is superb so it make the book feel original.  The story is about a 16 year old girl named Katniss who lives in Panem in a place once known as as North America.  She lives in one of the poorest districts and sorta acts as keeper of her family and illegally hunts for food since her father was killed in a mining accident years before.  She has a rather weak mother and a little sister she adores.  As it turns out, each of the 12 districts of Panem are forced to send a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 & 18 to the Hunger Games every year, and Katniss' sister gets picked.  Katniss steps forward to taker her sister's place in the gladiator type games where the teens have to fight to the death on live TV.  The book takes you through the whole event and it is nonstop suspense. 

I must mention as a parent that there is quite a bit of violence in this book, though the deaths are not depicted too graphically.  I think that most kids in this day and age are used to such violence in movies and video games that this book may even seem to be child's play to them.  I am not sure though that I would allow a child much younger than 12 to read this book.  In fact, it is written more for teens, though I have no problem letting my daughter read it since she is quite mature. 

Overall, I loved this book for both teens and adults. If you are looking for an action packed fast read, you may have just found your book. Also, when I was looking for a picture to add to this posting, I noticed that they are already making a movie about this book that will be released in 2011. I cannot wait.

Back to School Today

Well, it's back to school today for my kids.  They say they are not happy to be going back, but I know they miss their friends.  They will realize when they get back and hear how bored their friends were all break how fortunate they were to get to go on a cruise and generally had a very busy break. 

As for me, I have to readjust to getting up early again.  I got spoiled when the kids were on break and I could sleep in everyday.  Now, I have to get up by 6:00 AM everyday.  Oh the joys of motherhood. 

On a better note, I have a second job interview on Thursday that I am looking forward to.  Also on Friday I have an appointment with my allergist.  I am not looking forward to that since I no longer have health insurance, so that will cost way too much.  But, I do have a problem with allergies and I break out in hives if I am not on my meds (which cost a fortune by the way without insurance).  I guess I will have to be like those old people that choose between food and their meds.  Gee, that is a a weight loss plan that I am not looking forward to.  I had better get a job soon. 

The Kids are Home

My kids came home last night.  They were on a cruise with their dad and his wife.  I am thrilled that they are back, because I always miss them when they are gone.  I am really thankful that I have pretty well behaved kids however because my ex let them run amok on the ship they were on.  My 14 year old son has declared himself a party animal.  I verified that he was not drinking, however he did see several teens on board drinking.  My son claims that he was just running around the ship with the friends that he made and would dance all night at the deck parties.  My 12 year old daughter did a little of the same but had a smaller group of friends that were not quite as loud and flamboyant as my son's crowd.  They both told me that they did not get to their room until about 3 or 4 every night as their dad did not give them a curfew.  The kids had their own cabin so I asked if my ex every stopped in to make sure they were there. They said "no", they only saw him at dinner and excursions.  For me, the overprotected mother, this makes me very uncomfortable, and I thank my lucky stars that my kids get direction from me at home so that when they receive unlimited freedom that they do not go overboard (literally). 

Of course, I am not a total ogre.  When the kids, John and I were on a cruise this past summer, my daughter had an 11 curfew and my son had a 12 curfew, and I checked their cabin to make sure they were there.  If there were special events going on, they could find me to get their curfew extended, but they certainly had rules when we were on the ship.  I also checked their room frequently to make sure there was no stupidity going on.  I am so glad that the kids went on a cruise with me first so that they had an idea of what behavior should be expected of them. 

I am amazed in fact that they were given such freedom by their dad because they step-mom usually leans towards the controlling side.  Only this year were they allowed to start watching PG-13 movies at their house.  But I guess it is okay for them to run amok on a cruise ship, makes no sense to me. 

I am just glad they are home.