Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

Right Now...

Right now...

1) I am reading the book, "The Beauty of Different" by Karen Walrond:

 

It is one woman's perspective on meeting interesting people that have stories to tell and are each very beautiful in their own unique way. I love that. True beauty is not on the surface, but rather what is INSIDE. I know a lot of truly beautiful people.

2) I am still a GLEEK for "Glee Club":

 

The latest episode had the Glee Club preparing for a alcohol prevention school assembly while they experimented with the "juice" on the side. I shouldn't have been laughing BUT it was sooooo funny with uptight Rachel throwing a party and those Glee kids facing hangovers the next day. Seriously. Those Glee kids just want to "fit in". High school is so painful.

3) I am knitting a scarf.... for me:

I can't wait to wear it before winter is over... with a T-shirt and jeans.

 4) I just ordered this book on animal behavior from Barnes & Noble.com:

 

I already know that contrary to popular belief-- chickens are SMART (at least, Rodgers chicks are!). I have heard that mice and rats giggle when tickled, but at such a high pitch that we can't hear them. I know that many bird species sing, whales sing, why not bats too??  I can't wait to read more!

5) I am in love with these new oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies by Kashi:

 

Mmmmmmmm..... delicious!

6) Bill & I are laughing over Season 1 of "Modern Family":

 

We have caught random episodes here and there that were sooooooo funny that we asked ourselves,
"WHY aren't we watching this ALL THE TIME????" So we decided to start it from the beginning. It is TOTALLY worth it.... I can't wait for the episode where Cam and Gloria go out for dinner to get to know each other better (as extended family members). Gloria chooses a Mexi restaurant and Cam insists on ordering the same thing as Gloria-- Enchilada Diablo. The dish is soooo hot that he is sweating profusely, protests that he is "just fine", until he sees the waiter walking by with a water pitcher. He grabs the pitcher to pour it in his mouth and exclaims, "Please save me! My mouth is like THE SUN!" (insert hysterical laughter here)

7) I am counting down until this movie arrives at the movie theater:

 

Woo Hoo! Even Bill wants to see it! (That means we ARE going.)

8) I heard this song on the radio this week and it totally took me back to the '80s:

 

Yes, that's right. It plays in the "Sixteen Candles" movie near the end, when Jake finally finds Samantha and wishes her a proper Happy Birthday in his parent's house (that is totally trashed from the party held the night before). Oh how  I LOVE '80s music! This song is by the Thompson Twins.

9) I have a new puppet for my biologist toy collection:

It is a snail and it is so cute!

10) We woke up to 5+ inches of snow today:

And it is STILL snowing.... I love that.

Babies

I started reading "Eat Pray Love" last night by Elizabeth Gilbert. I noticed this book about a year ago but was not drawn to it enough to buy it. Now that it is coming out as a movie with Julia Roberts, I thought maybe I would reconsider the book before I invest in a movie ticket. You know the cliche' that "the book is always better than the movie"? I happen to believe it is true.

So, this is a biography of a woman in her 40s (check! I am in my 40s) who likes to travel (check! I like to travel) and is trying to find herself (check! I think I have been trying to find myself for the last couple of decades).  In the first chapter of the book, Elizabeth (the author) is explaining what led to her "search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia". She hints of a breakdown in her marriage and how she had the self-realization that she did not want to have a baby or be a mother (which may or may not have contributed to the end of the marriage). I put the book down for a moment to consider her statement. I IMMEDIATELY felt the opposite. I could not imagine myself NOT wanting to have a baby or to be a mother. Regardless of the fact that I married my high school boyfriend and had three babies before I was 25--if I had the chance to reconsider my life and/or the timing of events, I would do it the same ALL OVER AGAIN. I would want babies and I would want to be a mother. It is innate for me to love and care for something. [And I LOVE my 'somethings'.]

Today, I think I was subliminally continuing this thread throughout my day. Though I am very happy that my own kids are grown up and out of the house... I am in love with another baby. His name is Elijah and he is my son's baby: (P.S. I stole this picture from Angela)

 
  
This spring, an independent movie called "Babies" was showing at select movie theaters. I missed it here but I am patiently waiting for it to come out on DVD. It compares the early lives of four babies on different continents: (Tell me who can resist  the faces of babies??)

 

And I recently stumbled across the blog of a new mother who is on maternity leave from her career. She is not only in love with her new baby, but she wonders what her baby girl is dreaming about while she naps. She (the mother) creates these wonderful scenes with fabric and props around her sleeping baby, photographs them, and then posts them on her blog as  Mila's Daydreams . I adore her imagination and her photography! These images will be priceless in their future... (Of course, I wish I had thought of doing this with my babies!)

What exactly do I love about babies? Well, for starters-- how babies smell right after a bath. A baby's face while it is sleeping. The toothless grin of a baby. The wiggliness of a baby when you are trying to change a diaper. A baby laughing. A baby playing with toys. A baby that holds its hands out to you when you reach for it. A baby's hands holding onto your fingers when it learns how to walk on its tippy-toes. A baby holding a teddy bear. The way a baby rests its head on your shoulder when it is sleeping. A baby sucking its thumb. All of those things are priceless moments when it is YOUR BABY.

(sigh!) I [heart] babies.

It's Summertime...

SUMMER is my favorite season of the year.

Besides the sunshine, there are a lot of wonderful things associated with summer...

My butterfly bushes are blooming:

Starbucks is making passion tea lemonades (with a shot of raspberry) for me:

You can count on some random summer reading sprawled on the couch or coffee table:

My garden is in bloom:

In the late afternoon, I bring in freshly-collected eggs from my chickens:

I picked up some lavender and blueberry bush starts today for a side garden:

 
 And I am trying to decide where to put a new piece of art I bought in N. Carolina:

 This matted print is entitled "Signs of Summer" by Lorri Honeycutt. She owns the most delightful gallery in Carolina Beach, N.C. called Big World Photo.  She has a collection of miniature figurines that she poses on objects of different scales and photographs them. In my print, she has mini construction dudes setting up beach umbrellas (=drink umbrellas) from a mini-flabbed truck on a real beach. I love that!

And I [heart] summer! 
 

 

Five Things

Here are 5 things on my mind right now:

1) Nick played this song for me in N. Carolina, "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B., featuring Bruno Mars. I not only LOVE the song, the video is just as sweet.

 

2) Movie trailers for "Inception" are showing and I can hardly wait to see it!

3) Summer usually means reruns of our favorite shows on television. However, Wipeout! is back on and that means new obstacle courses, quirky contestants, and more fun with the big red balls ...

4) This  ["BP Spills Coffee"] is the funniest thing I have seen on YouTube lately. You should watch it!

5) When Bill & I travel, there is a good chance I will have time to read fiction. I read two books during our trip to N.C. and this is the one I finished first:

I give it a solid "B".

What is on YOUR mind???
 

Vampires On The Brain

I have always had a "thing" for vampires. This was my favorite vampire movie of the '80s:

 

During Summer 2008, I read all four "Twilight" books by Stephenie Meyer:

Then HBO debuted its series, "True Blood". I asked Bill to watch it with me-- it had potential.

We were both hooked! We watched every single episode of Season 1 until the finale revealed who was killing all of the innocent folks at Bon Temp, Louisiana. (Surprise! It was a human, not those new vampires in town...)  We told Jeremiah & Angela about it and they watched it. Natasha watched it. I think we even had Nick tuned into "True Blood" while he was serving his year in Iraq.

Last year we decided to cancel our HBO to save a few $$. Oh no! No more "True Blood"! We comforted ourselves with the thought that we could wait for Season 2 to come out on DVD.

This spring it was time to renegotiate our cable package and I was able to add HBO again, at no extra cost. After serious channel surfing, HBO began to air last year's "True Blood" episodes in anticipation of their upcoming Season 3.  Oh boy! Season 2!!

Long story short... Bill & I are on a mini-vampire marathon with "True Blood". We are 2/3 into Season 2 and we are captivated! The last three nights in a row, we have watched an episode before bedtime. Now we are both having vampire dreams. We just tell ourselves we will be "cured" once we are all caught up and can get on with our lives again. But, seriously. The trailers for "True Blood" Season 3 are killing me:

And...

And...

 

The tagline for these Season 3 teasers is... "Waiting Sucks". We are so glad we are almost ready for it!
 
 
  

Too Sad To Blog...

Anyone familiar with this story???

My name is Sherri and I have had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad WEEK.

We made the difficult decision to have our loyal dog, Shadow, put to sleep yesterday.

A dog getting walked in my neighborhood attacked one of my chickens yesterday. Poor sweet Chickita was in the wrong place at the wrong time,  is seriously injured and may not live to tell her story.

AND my parentals are arriving tomorrow to spend the weekend househunting. They are staying at our house all weekend.

I would really like to be Alexander and just go back to bed. I wish I could stay there until next Friday. And then take the next weekend to recover from my Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad WEEK.

Nerdy (After)Noon

Bill & I are having a fun Saturday...

We went out to lunch at Olive Garden and had our favorite soup/salad/breadstick lunch special. (Yum!)

Then we went to Bellingham to indulge ourselves in a long-overdue Nerd (After)Noon.  What? You don't know what this is?? (Look here.) We headed to Barnes & Noble and got lost for a couple of hours....

I bought this book, The Beginner's Guide to Edible Herbs by Charles Smith (2010):

 

Why? Because I want to plant more herbs in my garden this year and ACTUALLY use them. (What a concept!)

I bought this book, Why Evolution is True  by Jerrry Coyne (2009)  because I lectured on evolution this week in my Biology class and got hyped up about it all over again.

We went out to dinner with friends last night and had a fun conversation about evolution (amongst a bunch of other things). This book makes me want to read even more...

And I bought this book, Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph Hallinan (2009):

 

It says on the cover "How we look without seeing, forget things in seconds, and are all pretty sure we are way above average".  On the back cover, it also reads "This book not only offers valuable advice , such as how to remember where you've hidden something important for safekeeping, but also explains why multitasking is a bad idea, why men make errors women don't, and why most people think San Diego is west of Reno..." I am FASCINATED by these things! I would really like to know how I forget which step I have done in the shower (shampoo vs. hair conditioner) in a matter of minutes.  Don't you HATE IT when you hide something important and have to look in at least 3 "secret" places to find it??? Oh No! (gasp!)  Multitasking is bad? I THRIVE on multitasking!  

I also browsed through some of my favorite magazines (which is where Bill found me in the last hour). I flipped through the new issue of Real Simple and found out I am using both my left & right sides of my brain when organizing things in my life. I am both messy and anal at the same time- which makes me feel better. At least it shows SOME balance (ha!).

 I read more about the first sythetic cell in The Economist.

And I laughed reading the cover story on Entertainment Weekly:

They interviewed Jane Lynch, who plays that sarcastic, snarky cheerleading coach on the TV show, "Glee". [Note: I LOVE THAT SHOW!] Her character was actually an after-thought while the show was being developed. The writer said, "We need a villain... someone who really hates the Glee Club." And alas, Sue Sylvester was born. I have loved this actress in "Best in Show", "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and "Role Models". Her character choices are always weird and quirky and either you love her or you love to hate her. Her sneer is divine and she can deliver her lines with both a dead-pan face and sincere conviction.

We are ending our Saturday in our computer room-- I am blogging while Bill is WOWing. We have the "Star Wars" marathon playing on the TV and I just mimicked the classic line "Luke, I am your FATHER...." I laugh at Bill's "smack talk" to his friends  and we chat in between his battles. Does it really get any better than this? I LOVE weekends with Bill. :)

Feeling Guilty...

I was watching "Cake Boss" last night on TLC and he was baking this awesome cake for the New Jersey Botanical Gardens. They had an exhibit featuring carnivorous plants (example: the venus fly trap) and were honoring Amy Stewart, the author of the book Wicked Plants. I thought to myself, "I have that book SOMEWHERE!!!"

So I decided to look around for it tonight.  I stumbled upon the short stack of books that are waiting for me to get back to them, on my  bedside table.  They are all fascinating in their own way--I just haven't finished them yet. I feel so guilty...

Here is what is waiting for me:

* The Host by Stephenie Meyer. She is the author of those popular Twilight books and this was her follow-up book for adults. I started it but was interrupted by raising chickens. Natasha borrowed it from me and read it instead. She said it was really good, a good sci-fi thriller.

*The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten by Ritch Duncan & Bob Powers. I found this book at a Barnes & Noble "Nerd Night" with Bill. It has chapters dealing with "coming out" (as a werewolf) with your friends and family, questions whether werewolves can be vegetarians, tips on transformation (ex. remove all jewelry),etc. It just cracked me up!

*A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer by David Powell.  This is a biography of Powell who has been a man behind some of the great American aquariums (ex. Monterey Bay Aquarium in California).  I love the marine biology angle of how to bring the ocean and its wonderful creatures to the general public.  I should get back on this...

* Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. I took this book on a vacation and almost finished reading it on the plane. The author and her family move from Arizona to rural Virginia and dedicate themselves to living one year, eating only food that they raise and/or can be traded or purchased within their local community. She claims, "You are what you eat"; this was a great story of being "green" and healthy at the same time.

* I Can Make You SLEEP by Paul McKenna. I have confessed to having random episodes of insomnia (especially while Nick was serving in Iraq).  I thought maybe this book would have some new ideas/solutions.

* The ZooKeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman.  Diane is the author of an old favorite book called A Natural History of the Senses.  This book surprised me by the content but it is poignantly-written. She has researched the true story of the caretakers of the Polish National Zoo, who managed to save 300+ people from the Nazis by hiding refugees in the animal cages. I read most of this book while travelling on another vacation, but didn't quite finish it because my mom kept talking to me. 

* The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs. This book also appealed to me during a B & N "Nerd Night". It is a tongue-in-cheek memoir about a man determined to make his father proud by reading the entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z.  I am a nerd, I get this. Maybe I will have time to do this one day... (but not now, I am raising chickens!)

* The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. This is another bestseller by Pollan, who explores how Americans think about politics, survival and the pleasure of eating. It is provocative material, I just got stumped after the first few chapters.

As you might guess, my reading tastes are ALL OVER THE PLACE. I am interested in a lot of things! I'll get back to each of these wonderful books in my own time. I am using a lot of my "spare" time working on Christmas gifts & projects right now.... but as soon as I finish them I will get back to reading.

I promise.

                  

Another Movie Review...

Guess what?! I had another movie date today-- only this time it was with Natasha. I stood in line to buy tickets for.......... (wait for it).............."New Moon".

In case you have been living in a cave for the last year, this is the second movie based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series.

 

I read all four books in summer 2008. I loved the story setting:  Forks, WA-- Bill & I have been to Forks many times as it is next to some of my favorite beaches on the Washington coast.  The main character, Bella, is a high school girl who lacks confidence, who has to start over in a new town and what do you know? There are vampires living nearby. It is not a horror story; instead a sweet story of forbidden love. 

The second novel explores a conflict between Bella and her vampire "boyfriend", Edward. And it becomes a love triangle when Jacob, her best friend, wants Bella to love him instead.  Oh, and he is a werewolf.

These books have created quite a stir within the "tween" and teen groups--but grown women have read the books too! There is often a "Twilight" debate as to which of Bella's boyfriends you are drawn to-- if you find Edward (the vampire) dreamy, you are in "Team Edward"-- if you think Jacob (the new werewolf) is cuddly, you are in "Team Jacob".

So here is the line I waited in today .... just to be seated:

You ask, but what did I think of the movie, "New Moon"?

WE LOVED IT!!!  I give it a solid 8.5! The new director did a great job with the filming, the actors & actress really fit into their characters, and (gasp!) the movie actually followed the book storyline! What a concept!  It was totally worth all of the hype.  It was also funny to hear those "tween" and teenage girls in the audience giggle and go ga-ga over Edward & Jacob.

P.S. Both Natasha & I are "Team Edward" fans...

My October Distraction

Last year I created a photobook on Shutterfly as a unique Christmas gift. I ordered 6 copies-- one for each of our kids, one for us and one for each set of grandparents. Shutterfly photobooks come in two sizes: the 8" x 8" (my favorite) and the 12" x 12". I chose a theme, "A Year in Review" , and then uploaded a bunch of photos to fill in the designated spaces. What I loved about it was that I could choose and rearrange different page layouts, add my own text and document some of our travel and adventures from 2008. I could hardly wait to see the final product...

I was THRILLED when my order arrived! Here is what the front cover looked like:

 

Here is a peak at some of the inner pages...

And the back cover looked like this:

 

While I was working on my Shutterfly photobook, I received a coupon to try out a competitor's photobook. So I went to Snapfish, uploaded a bunch of our photos from our trip to Paris last summer, and built an 8"x 11" photobook. I appreciated the free photobook offer, but I was disappointed with the simple pages and the lack of options. It WAS a photobook, but it did not really tell a story.

So, long story short, I wanted to give my business to Shutterfly again this year. They were offering some awesome photobook specials last month (and free shipping!) so I decided to build a sequel for 2009 Christmas presents. I spent a couple of weekends collecting photos for my new theme and uploaded them into my Shutterfly account. I chose a different theme and customized the pages. The early bird specials actually expired last week on my surgery day-- so I stayed up until midnight the night before adding the finishing touches to my new photobook and placing the order. [Note: it was a great way to reduce pre-surgery anxiety!] I can HARDLY wait for them to arrive...

If you take lots of pictures--I URGE you to try this someday for yourself! I prefer Shutterfly, but you can create photobooks at Snapfish.com, Costco.com, scrapbooks etc.com and other services. Shop for the style and size that you want. There will be many pre-Christmas promotions for weeks to come... My experiences with both Shutterfly and Snapfish were both reasonable with delivery in less than 2 weeks. And you can build your photobooks at your own pace, you just save them to your account and place your order when you feel like it!

Sherri's bottom line:  I LOVE photobooks. :)

We {Heart} Zombies

My family has a healthy love and respect for many things to do with zombies.

We love them in the movies. For example,this was one of my favorite movies from the '80's.

A "girl power" movie.... only with zombies. (I need to order this from Amazon.com and add it to our collection.)

We love zombies in other movies, too--we liked both "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later" (both very edgy).  I think we all loved the dark humor and cleverness of the 2004 "Dawn of the Dead"-- you almost can't go wrong when you are stuck in a super mall. We love the plot of "Shaun of the Dead"-- where a British, deadbeat loser finds himself in the middle of a zombie outbreak and has to help his friends survive (one trick is to just walk like a zombie when you are trying to get somewhere = you "blend" in that way). And then came "I Am Legend"....

Nick and I loved it.  Will Smith plays a doctor who is living all alone in New York City... almost. He leads a careful life during the day, but at night has to deal with... you guessed it, zombies. Bill said, "Wait a minute! This is just a remake of "The Omega Man"!!" So we looked hard to find a copy of the 1970's movie, "The Omega Man", starring Charlton Heston.  And yes, the plot is near identical-- only the new movie has better special effects.

So, we all like zombies. Bill & I were having a Nerd Night at Barnes & Noble last spring and we stumbled upon this book.

 

Duh! We had to buy two copies and send them to Nick and Jeremiah in their next care packages. Nick and Jeremiah needed this kind of instruction guide. You see, they are both XBOX 360 fans and go online to play games together.  Wearing their headsets, they talk to each other and work through their game of choice several thousands of miles away from each other. (I love that.) A couple of years ago, they were playing "Left4Dead" and were scared silly while they went through all of the levels, killing zombies along the way. They have not been able to game together this last year with Nick in Iraq. They have plans to work through a whole list of games (including "Left4Dead 2") when Nick gets back this winter. There you go-- more zombies!

 

Natasha is not exempt from zombies.  Last year, she came down with conjunctivitus (commonly known as "pink eye").  Both of her eyes were so bloodshot that she literally looked like a zombie!  Bill told her that IF she wasn't his daughter and IF she didn't have a doctor's note that he would seriously have to consider eliminating her-- before she turned into a zombie.  [Note: this is logic speaking-- you have to be ruthless when there are zombies around.]

So, as self-proclaimed zombie experts-- we HAD to go see the new movie "Zombieland". I was TOTALLY entertained!  I jumped once in my seat (and let out a shriek). I laughed a lot. I loved the plot, I loved the quirky actors, and I LOVED the narrative throughout the movie that explained "the rules". For example-- Rule #4: Beware of bathrooms (where you are most vulnerable). And Rule #6: Always check the backseat. Without giving anything else away-- I give this movie a solid "9" on the Rodgers' movie rating scale (remember, "10" is awesome).

 

If you are a closet-zombie-lover.... you must see this movie. If you are a cinematography major... you must admire the opening credits and clips throughout the movie. If you are a Woody Harrelson fan, you will not be disappointed. Just go see it. You might find that you {heart} zombies... just like us.

Secret Messages

Bill bought the latest issue of "Psychology Today" and I was absolutely drawn to the magazine cover.

I thought it was provocative in both an artistic way and a self-image way. The cover story is" What signals are you sending?". It made me think about what signals I send out on a daily basis ... and others I hope don't show at all.

I tend to smile ALOT-- I hope that tells people that I am happy, that I am grateful for my life, that I am extroverted and approachable. I hope my face shows love when I talk about Bill, our kids, our friends & family, and the Rodgers pets (this includes chickens). I hope my face shows compassion when someone is having a bad day or experiencing loss. I hope my face shows enthusiasm when I am teaching or sharing something I enjoy doing. I hope my face shows strength when I need to be a leader or meet a challenge head-on. 

Sometimes I think my forehead is a blinking neon sign that tells complete strangers "Tell me EVERYTHING about your life..." (I totally don't mean for that to happen.)

There are other things that I hope I don't show... For example, I hope you cannot see my eyeballs roll inward over stupid people. I hope you cannot tell when I am impatient. I hope no one sees when I am jealous or envious of stupid things... (Darn it! Bill can.) Sometimes I manage to hide how much I miss both Jeremiah and Nick-- and other times, my heart must be bursting on my face for people will give me a hug for no reason.

I feel terrible when I show that I am frustrated, irritated or bordering on a "hissy fit".

I know I show fear when there are big, fat spiders hanging or crawling around (duh!) (see earlier post called "Arachnophobia").

I guess I would rather admit all of these things-- good or bad-- than to have the face of a 'Stepford Wife'.

What signals do you think you send?

Nerd Nights

I have been a NERD for years and years...

I was a brain in high school.  I was never part of the "popular crowd", but I did help many of them do their homework. I don't understand why Bill was interested in me back then-- after all, he was a jock, a smooth-talker, two years older and I was just a nerd, reading in the library.  However, he will tell you that THAT is what won him over.

Now, 27+ years later, he is a nerd by marriage. In our evolution together, we found that we both love to learn new things, we have many interests & hobbies, we are bookaholics, and we are passionate about education. So we came up with a new concept this spring-- a different kind of "date night"-- and it is affectionately known as a "NERD NIGHT".

Our definition of a "NERD NIGHT" is: 1) drive to Bellingham, 2) go out to dinner at a place we have not tried before, and then (insert drumroll, please) ...3) spend several hours at Barnes & Noble.

We used to have a favorite bookstore in town--but it closed. Barnes & Noble is totally worth the drive because you can get lost in there... and there must be MILLIONS of books inside!

 

Our rule of thumb is that we walk in together, split up, look at anything and everything we are interested in, then (several hours later) find each other and leave happy.

The enticing part of a "NERD NIGHT" is that we can stay late if we want too...

The magazine selection is huge. They have bathrooms. Sometimes you can find an easy chair to sit in (while looking at a pile of books), sometimes you end up sitting on the floor. Sometimes the Starbucks gals walk through the aisles with samples. Sometimes we make a purchase, sometimes we don't. However, it always gives us many things to talk about on our way home... I love that.

My Favorite TV Shows

I ordered a book called "My Listography" (Lisa Nola, 2008) earlier this summer and thought I would give it a plug.

It would make a perfect gift for a "tween", a teen, or anyone who loves to make lists to record personal information. What I love about it is that the topics are both simple (ex. "List your favorite friends", "List your favorite movies") and thoughtful (ex. "List 10 wishes you want to come true", "List things you would change in the world"). I thought it would also stimulate some good ideas for both my blog and for scrapbooking...

So here is my list for today-- My Favorite TV Shows 2009:

1) Grey's Anatomy

2) The Office

3) Heroes

4) Survivor (winter) / Big Brother (summer)

5) American Idol (winter) / So You Think You Can Dance (summer)

6) Battlestar Galactica (just ended this year)(insert sci-fi tears!)

7) Sex & The City (reruns)

8) Cash Cab

9) True Blood (HBO)

10) Home makeover shows/ What Not To Wear

What TV shows are on your Top Ten list???

Harold and the Purple Crayon

I have always been a bookworm. When I was a little girl, I rode my bike to our local public library and checked out as many books as possible so I could entertain myself at home. [Obviously, this was in the ancient days before computers, DVR, IPods & cell phones.] The librarians got to know me so well that they let me exceed the checkout limit of 6 books per visit.

Last summer, I made this cute mini-album entitled "Love To Read".I was on another reading streak with the "Twilight" series (!) and thought I would document some of my favorite books from past to present.

I scanned a lot of book covers from favorites that are in my collection and wrote mini book reviews using little library cards in little pockets.

This book showed up in my mini-album: "The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson.

This was one of my earliest favorites from my childhood. Not only do I love that Harold chose a purple crayon to draw with-- but he draws himself into an adventure with places to go...

and situations to get out of...

He finally gets back "home" and tucks himself in bed, where he feels safe.

 

We all have a lot in common with Harold. Life often presents us with opportunities and we must "draw" which path we take. We may find ourselves in uncomfortable situations and are forced to "draw" ourselves out of them. And at the end of the day, I think we all find peace and comfort in "drawing" ourselves into bed. So, which color crayon do you choose?  Like Harold, I choose purple.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I have a date with Bill for the movies this weekend!  I have been anxiously awaiting the movie "The Time Traveler's Wife" to appear on the 2009 theater schedule -- and it finally happened, opening up August 14th.  But this is more than just another chick flick. This is the movie version of a book that I have in my "Sherri's Top Ten Book" list. I have been in love with this book, by Audrey Niffenegger, for years. I have read it maybe 3 times, and cried each time. I love the characters, I love the original plot, I love the intelligent writing and the concept of fate, time travel, and soulmates. I will let you know if the movie lives up to this awesome piece of fiction after the weekend... until then, go find a copy of this book and read it. You will love it.