Yellow Wallpaper

Although many of my friends have blogs that seem to have fallen by the wayside a bit, I still have a few that regularly publish stuff. I really enjoy reading their blogs and every time I do I think "I should just write more." I shouldn't worry about waiting for a better title or a more coherent theme. I like writing about my life but I spend too much time trying to craft a fabulous post and not enough time actually practicing the craft of writing. The kids started school last week and we all started a new routine. So far things seem to be going along all right. They have made it to school on time every day and most mornings we have even managed to have scripture study first. I have been making a greater effort to get up early enough to manage the morning routine and I have also been trying to force them to stick with it. It still requires a lot of coaxing and reminding on my part, but I think we're making progress. Right now my main frustration is that when I leave ...

The end of summer is almost here. The kids start school next week; today the school posted the lists so that they can see what class they are in. S-Boogie has a teacher that I have heard good things about, but none of the friends she has spent the last three grades with are in her class. She has taken that bit of news well, thankfully, and at least they get lunch and recess time to hang out. Little Dude has a teacher that I'm not familiar with, but his friend is in his class so I think he'll be all right. I think we mostly had a good summer. It went by fast and I feel like I didn't do as much as I would have liked to. Next summer I should feel more settled in to my job and I'll have some time off, so that will help me be able to get a little more time for fun things. The kids did spend almost a week with my parents at their house, and then took another trip to California with my sister to go camping with my family. I am, as always, anxious for a new season to start....

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman I love historical fiction about World War 2 and its aftermath so this book was a perfect fit for me. I liked that it stretched from the war years into the next decade, because this a period in American history that is not often written about. My only complaint with the book was the fact that it jumps forward quite a bit in time and covers many of the same events from multiple perspectives; this made me feel like there was so much more to the story that I could have read about and I had a hard time just settling and really enjoying the book as much as I would have liked to. The Submission by Amy Waldman It's been a while since I read a book that pulled me in emotionally in the way that this one did. It is not a mystery in any way, but the twists and turns in the plot kept surprising me clear up until the end. I was also unhappy with the ending; that doesn't mean this isn't a great book. It made me angry, and sad, and frustrated, a...