Monday, October 24, 2011

Three Men and a Plano

After years of scouring Craigslist and yard sales with no luck...we finally have a Piano!!!! (or as my son says a " plano")
I believe that music is one of the most important things in our lives. I feel it's right up there with learning to read and write and count your fingers and toes to get (hopefully) to 20. I also feel that if it's not introduced at an early age you run the risk of not being able to really pick it up at all (like my husband, no rhythm). So even though I haven't really played any instrument, other than the radio in over 10 years I felt the strong desire to have my children learn to play...like I did. (a hundred years ago)

So, when my friend Rachel asked if we wanted an old piano....for free, my immediate answer was "YES!". I didn't care that it needed tuned, some of the key possibly replaced and maybe some other cosmetic touch ups.....because it was Free! But then I figured, I should ask Ryan first...because communication is good in this sort of thing. And I'm sure I talked to him about it in passing, but then we sort of forgot about it. That is, until Rachel called again and convinced me that Now is a good time to take it off her hands.

We arranged to have my husband, her husband (who is our Home teacher) and our other home teacher bring it from their house to ours...I figured it would be three guys lifting it on to a trailer and then lifting it off and putting it in place...apparently I was wrong!
This operation (and it was an operation) needed ramps to be constructed. Along with a plan...something they realized after they got it out of Rachel's house....
The first think I hear is "I'll get the other pieces out after we get the whole thing in." *Um What?!*
I guess there was a ramp malfunction getting it out of the house.
So when they arrived here, they proceeded to construct a ramp that would make any disabled person cringe with fear...


They literally screwed the boards together and placed 2X4s underneath for support....but hey, it worked (sorry, I haven't figured out how to rotate the pic)

Once they were sure that it wasn't going to break(unlike the last one), by using the scientific method of jumping up and down on it,  they proceeded to bring it in.
Slowly....Slowly
I think the best part of the whole thing was watching my son try to direct them and instruct where to put it. (it was about his time my camera batteries died) But believe me, it was cute.

So, they got it in and were all but pulling straws to see who was going to pull the dolly out from under it...so I did it...Phh,wimps.
Then I went on the hunt for more batteries...These things must be documented!

Now we have the task of trying to rearrange our entire house to figure out exactly were it belongs. Because this thing is Huge! But my kids are already in love with it....as you can see here...



And now I will leave you with a little treat...I have a feeling I will be  honored with (subjected to)  something like this every day.

Oh dear....What was I thinking?! I wonder if the lock over the keys works?

Monday, October 17, 2011

"hush, hush"

So, this will be my first "official" book review. I've left comments on other sites about my opinion of books but never on my own site. So let's hope this works.

The Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick currently consists of three books. "hush, hush", "Crescendo", and "Silence." There is a fourth expected around this time next year :(

I wanted to talk about each book individually. But I realized that most of the initial allure is in the first so I think I will just focus on that one. And I will try to do it in a way that doesn't give too much away. (I hate it when reviews basically tell you exactly what happens, including the ending in not so many words and then says "Now, go read it."
Great! Now I don't have to...thanks a lot!  :/ )


So, here's what it's about....

Besides the fact that her father was murdered a year earlier, Nora is your typical high school teenager with simple goals. Study hard and get good grades so she can get a scholarship to a decent college and hang out with her best friend Vee. She has her life pretty well planned out and on track...that is until her biology teacher abruptly changes the class seating arrangement, so she is now forced to partner up with the new transfer kid named Patch. From the start he is dodgy and will not answer her questions yet he seems to already know a lot (too much) about her.
It's also at this time that she is starting to have very lucid hallucinations about being attacked by a masked man and has the feeling that she is being followed. Could it be Patch behind the mask? He is mysterious and elusive about his past. But is he the one stalking her? And if so, why? And, wait, did he just speak to her with his mind? Everything about him screams "danger" but there is something about him that is almost irresistible. And despite the fact that people warn her to stay away from him she has to find out the truth. The more she finds out the weirder things become. And the more she must question everything and everyone in her life.....
-------------

Ok, so, I have a rule that if I'm reading a book and I have to put it down for some reason or another and then I have the choice to either do something else or pick it up again and starting reading. If I choice to do something else then it's not really a good book and it didn't hook me enough. But if I'm constantly itching to read more and get it finished as fast as possible, no matter what...then that's a good book! (I hope that made sense)
Anyway I finished the series in a week....I liked it...a lot.

The story keeps you guessing.(Que the dramatic music) Who is the masked man (or woman)? Is Nora just going crazy? Who can she really trust? Is Patch just messing with her or does he seriously mean what he says? And why won't he be honest with her about his past? Is he really as dangerous as everyone keeps saying he is?

One might ask: Is there any romance or is it all just shadows and mystery?
To me, it has enough romance to make your tummy tingle but not where you would need to go to confession. (so to speak) In fact, just the description of Patches abs is enough to kept me going for a while. (hey, I'm a girl...sue me) :) And despite the fact that the library copy I borrowed has a sticker with a boy indicating with an "O" face that it's a horror book, to me, it had more romance and mystery than "boo scary".

If I had to point out anything negative it would have to be Nora's friend Vee. She is a bit too impulse and if Nora wasn't there to keep her in check would most likely be in juvie...although I do like her way of dieting. I take that back. It's not so much Vee that is the problem, it's that Nora is very inconsistent and overly stubborn. She really doesn't know what she wants and when she does, she usually talks herself out of it. This happens a LOT in the second book, but that's a whole other post...

All in all I'd give this book 4 out of 5 starts....

There, so what do you think? "Now, go read it!" (hehehe)

Saturday, October 15, 2011

And it seems like it's been such a long long time...maybe because it has?

So, I realized the other day that while I go on probably a bazillion blogs a day I haven't really updated or visited mine for a while. So I checked it and looked at the date from the last post....oops.  So I guess I've been slacking for a little while (over a year)...my bad people, my bad.


Maybe it's been so long because I've been busy with my family? No, that's not it.
Maybe I just haven't had things to document and wave around for the whole internet (all 10 of my followers) to see...nope, I've had plenty to (complain) post about.
Maybe I've just been completely lazy and staring at Facebook waaaaaay too much? Ok, that could be it but I really don't want to go there....let's move on.

Alright, I'm thinking I want to change the current status quo and post more often. I'm thinking I want to turn this into a blog where I can share what I'm doing and since all I really seem to do beside hang out with my kids and fight the good fight at the store, is read and cook. I thought I could maybe give you all a little heads up on what I just read and or discovered for my tummy and what I thought of it (because that sounds like a fresh idea, right? What? You say there are all sorts of review blogs? Well guess what Rainy Day, now there's one more! ;). I will also most likely post other random stuff as well, but who knows. That might take more effort than I'm will to put in.

Anyway, if I really want incentive to continue with this, I'm going to need more than 10 followers. So now that my computer has refreshed from it's blue screen of death (thank you auto save) I am off to facebook to beg.