Review: Masquerade

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The second book in the series seemed just as good as the first. It didn't summarize everything in the first book (thank you!!) like some series books seem to do.

In this book Schuyler is trying to find out more about the Silver Bloods and throughout all the twists and turns in the story readers are trying to figure out just who the bad guy really is. My gut feeling from the first book seemed dead on, on both counts...so don't expect this story to throw you for a loop.

However, it was still good. It stayed away (mostly) from the mushy romantics and kept me interested. And just like all good series (unfortunately, I really am a sucker for series), it left me wanting to read the next one, which I promptly started about 1 minute after finishing.

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The Million Dollar Dog.

We'd been looking for a house. Mom and Dad wanted to move, Mom said she wanted to live out in the country and the road by our house was just getting to busy with all the traffic. So that Saturday morning we all piled in the Geo and drove down the road.

Of course, I thought we were going to look at a farm. Let me just tell you now, I was in no mood for this. The last thing I wanted was to move. Especially out in the country!

When we pulled in the driveway Mom and Dad told us we were there to pick out a puppy. Maybe it was because we weren't expecting it, or maybe it's just because no one can resist an adorable fuzzball, but we shot out of the car and made for the puppies! They were cute, of course, and so tiny. I wanted one of the fat little fuzzy guys, but of course my brothers chose the skinny one. That day we welcomed Buck into our family.

This has to be about 13 years ago. We still lived in our old house, so I can't be more than 11. Oh, and my family is weird :)

Why did we call him the million dollar dog? If only you knew. It all started with an innocent game of baseball, when Buck happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hit in the eye with a baseball bat and for the rest of his life was blind in one eye. But did he complain? Nope! Seriously, you might think I'm a horrible person right now, but I swear he was the happiest dog alive.

Not long after the bat incident, Buck came down with Parvo (he got this while at the vet recovering from his injury). So, Mom nursed him back to health. A few years later Buck got lime's disease. Then I accidentally ran over him with the truck.

I know, I know. But picture this. We (my Granddaddy and I) were driving the red rocket (that's what we called the old farm truck) through the field. Dad had just finished building a new pond on the back of our property and we were hauling a truck full of square hay bails out to spread over the dam so the grass would grow. Buck (the million dollar dog) and Jenny (our somewhat annoying dalmation) were riding happily on the top of all those bails. What happens next? For some reason Buck decides to run off the bails, but instead of going off the back, he takes a shortcut over the cab of the truck, onto the hood, and straight off the front. Of course, I freaked. "Oh my GOD! I just killed our dog!!" I'm sitting there crying while Granddaddy shook his head saying, "Damn dog."

Buck and Jenny. They loved each other. :)

I dried my tears when Buck simply got up and ran off, still heading towards the pond. I tell ya, that dog was tough.

Well, we got Buck when I was about 11 years old, which means he was about thirteen last year when Marly & Me came out in theatres. E and I went to see the movie and I bawled at the end. You see, Buck was getting old. Poor guy hadn't been able to jump in the back of the truck for about a year - and boy did he love the back of the truck. He'd sit there for hours.

Oh yeah, he was spoiled, too. :) Right there? He's eyeing the ice cream.

He was old. We'd been talking to Mom about ending his suffering, but times were tough at the moment, what with the loss of our other favorite dog, Sneaker. It was just too tough to talk to Dad about it. He gets a little attached to those of the furry variety. Just a little ;)

When I was home this weekend Mom asked if I noticed if anything was missing. It took a moment, but when I noticed the empty dog bed in the garage I knew Buck was finally at peace. He really was one of the best dogs. A big furry lug who just loved taking walks around the farm, was the perfect size for a big hug, and loved everyone he met...well, except for our old real estate agent. I'll miss you Buck. You were one of the good ones.

Such a beautiful dog. Seriously.

Review: Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So I've been trying to read books that my female students seem to be in love with and I picked this one up. After reading Twilight I was wary of this one, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Unlike Twilight, which was ridiculously corny and mushy (sorry, I'm just not that girl), this was refreshing. I feel in the future this book will probably be challenged because of it's view on vampires and their ex-role in Paradise, but it's an interesting twist on the story.

I'm not going to try and explain the complicated vampire history, but I'll point out a couple things I enjoyed. I really liked how the author tied the vampire's history back to the beginning of the New World (Roanoke) and before. History's just cook, okay? Obviously, as with most teen novels, there are always sections I just kind of skim over - those would include all descriptions of designers, makeup, etc. I'm not interested, so I try not to let those interfere with my opinion on the story. So, that point aside (and the fact that some characters are incredibly shallow and will most likely end up as the "bad" guy), the plot was interesting, kept me reading, and I'll be finishing the series.

:) But then, I finish every series. I even suffered through Twilight.

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I'm lazy,..

but at least I'm posting something! I think I deserve the 4-day weekend though, or at least that's what I tell myself! Thank you school.

We had parent teacher conferences Thursday after school. Those are always fun. Lemme tell you, some parents share WAY too much information. I don't need to know every detail of your personal life. It's uncomfortable. One situation that made me especially uncomfortable? The ex-wife of my spinning instructor (from the gym) came in and talked to me about her daughter who I have in Sports Literature. Their daughter's really smart, just a real good kid. Well, her Mom talked to me for at least 20 minutes and brought up how horrible the situation was with her "biological father" many times. It's just weird. I mean, I know him and he's a great guy, and he loves his kids, and they seem to have a great relationship. The worst part? She came in with one of their children and the kid had to listen to her Mom talk poorly about her Dad, which I'm sure happens often. It just sucks, for the kids, I mean...really.

In other more uplifting and fun news? A look at a couple projects we're doing? Of course!

This was dinner. How come my pictures of food never look as good as the professionals? Anyway, Bubble up pizza casserole. Easy and really yummy.

New shelves in the kitchen.

The shelves aren't done of course (well, the one with my cookbooks on it is, ain't it cute? E just built the shelf next to the dishwasher today while I was supervising the kiddos in Hermann, and although it's not painted and has no door (yet) I love it! And yes, yes, I know...we still haven't grouted the backsplash. Tomorrow?? We'll see. I love our kitchen.

Oh Diet Coke.

So I attended this health seminar at my gym the other night after my bootcamp class and learned a lot. A couple interesting tidbits?

1. Don't wait until you're hungry to eat. My bootcamp instructor is a big advocate of eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day. She says that if you wait until you're hungry to eat your metabolism has already gone into the "starvation mode," thinking it won't be getting food for awhile, so it takes longer to kick back into action.
2. Everyone should eat (minimum) 9-14 fruits and vegetables a day. Woah there. And it should be a 2-1 ratio, twice as many veggies as fruits.

She also talked about soda. Now, I'm a soda drinker. Big time. I did manage to give up soda for lent a couple years ago, but it was tough. I've been hearing everywhere lately that even diet soda (Which is all I will drink, regular soda? No thanks!) actually contributes to weight problems. Something about the fake sugars they use in diet sodas triggers the brain into thinking you're hungry. Check out this article if you're interested in learning more...my ability to summarize valid points is pretty lame. :)

So, my goal is to quit diet soda. Maybe allow myself one a week. I'd like to quit cold turkey though. My little bro did, and he doesn't miss it. My problem is that I rarely drink water. I know I need to just suck it up and do it, but if I make myself do things before I'm ready, I generally wimp out. Like with Weight Watchers, I gave myself a few months to get used to the idea, so when I committed, I knew what I was getting into and I was ready for it.

(By the way, as I write this, I have a can of diet coke open beside me. Darn you addictive soda!)

Currently Reading: The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Some finished projects.

Before...
After...
Things we did to the outside (front): painted the shutters, added flowerbeds (can you say NO landscaping?), took out the dying - and ugly - evergreen bush, got a new, prettier front door.

Before...
After...

What didn't we do in the bathroom? We: plumbed for a 2nd sink, added electrical for a second light above a second mirror that we installed. Replaced the subflooring and added the tile (ew, I'm not a big fan of laying tile, but it is pretty). Painted cabinets and added new cabinet hardware. Replaced the countertop with more tile. Painted the walls. Added pictures I took (and developed) at craft camp :). Um...that's all.

Before (a different view)...
After...
I can't wait until I can show pictures of the kitchen. You'll be floored by the change. Seriously. I am. When I look at old pictures I'm like "What?!"

Oh, and here's a closer look at the amazing flower bed E's mom planted for us. I'm not joking when I say I got home from work one day and she'd planted the whole day while I was gone. She also moved two railroad ties by herself. Two! By herself! Do you know how heavy those are? Amazing.

The flowerbed:
Currently Reading: Just finished Becoming Anna, what next?

No excuses

I could say it's been awhile, and that would be true. I could try and come up with excuses, but my only excuse is that instead of blogging, I've been doing one of the following: reading, playing with my puppies (yes, that's plural), working on our house, or watching recorded episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond like the amazingly awesome person that I am. I keep telling myself to update, and then I put it off. Maybe now that I've done it I won't put it off for so long anymore.

First news: New puppy.

Her name is Sadie, and she's adorable.

We got Sadie about a month ago and we've discovered the following little jewels of information. She licks. A lot. Zoe loves having a playmate. They're both adorable (that was an easy lesson). Taking two dogs for a walk is a bit more of a commitment, and therefore doesn't get done as much. We (well, at least I) love it!

Reading. Wow. I've read so many books over the past few months. Just a few: North and South, Love and War, Heaven and Hell, Beastly, The Chocolate War, The Earth Children series (again!), Olive Kitteridge, Thin Wood Walls, Home of the Braves, Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery, Peak, The Appeal, Luna, Someone Named Eva, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, whatever the name of the book I'm reading right now, and at least 10-15 others which I've forgotten the names of at the moment, so look forward to just a couple reviews comin up. :)

Work on the house. Our bathroom is officially complete. Yay! We now have a dishwasher (which we got for free) installed in our kitchen which has new countertops and backsplash. We should be done painting the kitchen and putting the grout on the backsplash by next weekend, so I'll add some pictures then. We've also got a new flowerbed (pretty!) which E's mom planted for us, and it's awesome. Some advice? Take free plants from people. At least if you're not a greenthumb like me. It's awesome, and if they like it? More power to 'em!

E, Dad, and I competed in the Sedalia Fall duathlon this morning. It was pretty good. Besides the fact that I sucked it up on the bike portion (no surprise since I haven't been biking...at all...). It was pretty cool. Second in my age group, out of what...maybe two?