Starting Over

Due to being unemployed I have come across a great program. I am able to go to school and get certification for my skills. Which for me is a great thing to have when all one has is a high school diploma. I have found it hard, especially in today's job market to get a job due to lack of education, and not necessarily experience. I have lots of experience, but I will get passed over to someone who has a better education than I do. It's a sad world we live in when I can't seem to find a simple receptionist job without having any type of education, even though most say "high school diploma" for the education portion. mybe I'm just being paranoid because I've been out of work for a year now, it sucks.

So, here I am starting over and getting some sort of education and I won't have to pay a cent. It's a nice thought. I might just continue it. Who knows. Good luck to those looking for work.

The Sleepover

So my six year old daughter has her friend sleepover for the second time. Which is cool, I love having her here. They have a lot of fun together. However, I have house rules that need to be followed by and my daughter knows this all too well. You know the usual, no jumping on the bed (her room is on the second floor), no jumping off the bed and launching yourself into a pile of plushies, etc. Especially the no running, jumping, hopping, or playing on the stairs...this is not followed and it's guaranteed to get someone (or both) time outs. Yeah, I know what some of you are thinking, "time out, does that even work anymore?". Yes, it does, especially when said children are at an age where they must run and jump around like monkeys. Seat them in a chair that is not attached to any other objects they can come in contact with and it works just fine.

So anyway, the girls are playing downstairs, and with rules such as jumping running about not applying to the downstairs area, they run amok. Which is good. However, as I'm listening to their conversations, I guess the friend had done something that my daughter had deemed not good by my standards and says "No, don't do that, that's inappropriate". I actually fell off the couch laughing so hard after hearing that. Where in the world does a 6 year old get "don't do that, it's inappropriate" and use in the correct context?!

Well, if you are a parent and reading this, you would know what I mean and how funny it is that a child says such adult things. If you have anything to share, come one, share it. I love to hear stories of what children say and do, they always catch me by surprise.

Reading Binge

Okay so it's been a while since I actually picked up a book rather than a manga and read. Don't get me wrong I love reading my mangas, but as any anime addict will tell you it's an expensive hobby. With all the manga, dvds, music, and everything else that has to deal with anime.

Last year I decided to read the Twilight series due to the upcoming film Twilight. I just had a feeling that reading the books would give me more insight prior to seeing the movie, and I was right. I ended up reading all 4 books in 3 days. Yes, my family did not see much of me for those 3 days. Sad but true. I had borrowed them from my daughter, and I also wanted to make to get them back to her fairly quickly or I would end up keeping the books forever. Well, in light of the new movie coming out New Moon, I felt the need to read the series again, this time taking my time to read it all. Nothing had changed of course. Still, it took me 6 days to read them all, without sacrificing my housework.

Still after reading them all, I felt compelled to pick up other books to read. I felt the need to read. So since Aug 10th, I have read 11 ebooks and 9 books, and 1 graphic novel. It sounds more like an obsession, I can see that. It's just once I start reading a series I cannot stop until I have made it to the last book in the series. I am currently on my 10th book, trying desperately to take my time reading so I don't need to make a quick stop at the library, Walmart, or Barnes and Noble (whoever has what book I may be looking for at the time) to pick up a new series of books to read. If anyone is interested here's the list of books I've read with a quick synopsis of the first books only. As you can see, there is a theme. ^_^

I can say that I have loved all of the books here or else I would not be recommending any of them. Although it's so much easier to purchase the ebooks and have them the instant you want them, it makes it difficult to take with you. Unless of course you have a PDA you can download to and hope that it is compatible with your new PC (which mine is not since it's Vista, we won't go there). Maybe I will invest in that new thing on Amazon, the Kindle...I'll have to save up for that one...sigh...

Anyway, here are the books I've read, in order. I know scary huh?!

• The Mortal Insturments: City of Bones, City of Glass, & City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing — not even a smear of blood — to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

• Cassandra Palmer Series: Touch the Dark, Claimed by Shadow, Embrace the Dark, and Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with revenge in mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. the undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire- and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.

• Mercy Thompson Series: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, and Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.

There is also a graphic novel called Mercy Thompson Homecoming which leads to the first book Moon Called.

• The House of Night Series: Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, and Hunted by PC Cast and Kristin Cast (a mother-daughter writing team, it's really cool!)

Zoey Redbird is a newly marked fledgling who enters the House of Night with some very special gifts, but must look deep within herself to have the courage to stand up for what is right and to defeat evil.

Coming Oct 27th Tempted.

• The Immortals Series: Evermore, & Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, 16 year old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact and suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new school - but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Coming February 2010 Shadowland

• The Darkest Power Series: The Summoning & The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…

Currently Reading:

• Marked Series: Eve of Darkness, Eve of Destruction, and Eve of Chaos by S.J. Day

What was once a sexy fling for Evangeline Hollis has become a Mark of Cain. The formerly agnostic Evangeline finds herself struggling with her new life, her new demon-killing job, and her two loves - Cain and Abel.