Birthday Cards for the Troops

So, Karen Giron has inspired me to get involved with Operation Write Home. I've got some ideas for getting my fellow local papercrafters involved as well, but for right now, see my contributions to this cause below.

It may not seem like much, but if this is something I can do to show my gratitude and appreciation for the people who risk their lives for my freedom, I'm doing it. I don't care how insignificant it may seem to us; it sounds like it means something to them.

My First Entry

I'm entering my first "Sketch Challenge". Karen at the sweetest thing... posts a weekly card-making challenge, but I've never actually participated. This week, however, I was inspired by more than just Karen's adorable sketch and example.

Here's what Karen posted that piqued my creative interest:

"The extra challenge this week is to create a birthday card and mail it to Operation Write Home and they'll send our challenge cards on to those men and women who are serving in the armed forces."

Thanks, Karen, for introducing me to Operation Write Home. I'm so excited to start creating handmade cards for our awesome troops!

Oh, and here's my entry:

One Year Down, One to Go

School is back in session, and while we are celebrating several important school-related milestones in this house, there is one that brings a sense of giddy anticipation: my husband has hit the halfway mark in his MBA program. That's right - he has two semesters left. Two semesters, albeit, of difficult work, long nights, study-filled weekends, and, for me, weeks filled with higher-than-usual hours of single-parenthood. Two semesters, and then we're freeeeee!!

Now, I know it's totally selfish of me to be so excited as I daydream about our lives a year from now. I promise, I love my family, and would (ahem, do) sacrifice my own hopes, dreams and desires in order to do what's best for them. I know my primary role as a mother is to chauffer, manage schedules, help with homework and piano practice, watch sports practices and games, and maintain our house's level of cleanliness. I know it and I love it. But I am excited for the day when I'm not trying to figure out how to be in two places at once; knowing that, as the kids get older and get involved in more activities, I won't have to juggle activities alone, or ask my parents to help out once again, helps get me through the day.

I also know I'm not alone in this eager anticipation. It's tough for my hubby to miss out on activities because he has homework or group meetings; it's tough on the kids when he's not able to put them to bed or take them to soccer practice. May 2011, we can't wait to see you - we shall ring you in with fanfare like no other month of the year!

I feel guilty for even thinking this way, let alone admitting it to the world at large, but here goes: I am looking forward to the freedom that will be added to my own schedule in a year. The freedom to spend more time writing, reading, hitting the gym, working on albums and creating cards, and maybe, just maybe, taking a dance class or two a week. When I don't have to squeeze 65 minutes out of every hour, when I don't have to feel guilty for leaving the boys at home with their dad when he has tons of homework. When I don't have to feel guilty for asking for help, even though I know the others in my life are just as burdened.

It will be glorious. But it's still 9 months away...

It's Been Awhile

Wow. This summer was insane. Lots of fun, but still crazy - I'm somewhat relieved that it's over.

We went on a bunch of cool trips between May and July: Disney World, several camping trips, a week-long camping tour of southwestern Colorado, and Comic-Con in San Diego. For the first time in a few years, I found myself without my laptop+Internet connection for days on end...and I was able to let go of my need to control everything, and actually enjoy relaxing time with my family and friends. It was incredible! [I will get around to blogging about some of these trips...eventually.]

Now that fall is near, school has started for two of my three guys - kindergarten for my oldest kiddo, and second-to-last semester for my hard-working hubby. In a couple of weeks, my baby will start preschool, and I'll be the only one in the house not in school. I get to manage the Family Schedule, chauffer to school/lessons/practice, and maintain our casa. Oh, and work three days a week at my new, totally amazing job at Crossroads Church...and, well, whatever else comes up for us over the next year.

It's going to be a crazy fall, full of changes and new adventures, but we're ready. I think. After I throw in another load of laundry.

Book Review: So Cold the River

**This book review is purely my opinion of the book after having read it. I would love to start some discussions about other readers opinions. Thanks.**

This is a review of So Cold the River, by Michael Koryta. Copyright © 2010; fiction. List price: $24.99. ISBN 978-0-31605-363-1.

Synopsis (from the publisher):

It started with a beautiful woman and a challenge. As a gift for her husband, Alyssa Bradford approaches Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a 95-year-old billionaire whose past is wrapped in mystery. Eric grabs the job even though there are few clues to the man's past--just the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he's kept his entire life.

In Bradford's hometown, Eric discovers an extraordinary history--a glorious domed hotel where movie stars, presidents, athletes, and mobsters once mingled, and hot springs whose miraculous mineral water cured everything from insomnia to malaria. Neglected for years, the resort has been restored to its former grandeur just in time for Eric's stay.

Just hours after his arrival, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase and draw Eric deeper into the town's dark history. He discovers that something besides the hotel has been restored--a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain its lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense with a racing, unstoppable current.

Analysis:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a great, quick read – suspenseful, with good characters and an intriguing plotline. From the opening chapter, Koryta captures the reader’s attention with vivid descriptions and flawed, but still likeable, characters.

I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks, secondary character points of view, and various characters’ back stories that were intermittently sprinkled throughout the main tale. Koryta uses these tools to move the story, to allow the mystery to unfold, and to foreshadow future discoveries by both the main character, Eric, and the reader. He allows the reader to be just a bit more omniscient than Eric for a good part of the book, while holding back some surprising twists that are revealed with perfect timing.

The supernatural elements of the tale are woven masterfully into the everyday natural events, and might be unbelievable had they not been written with such clear and realistic prose. Koryta’s descriptions bring these elements to life, and his ability to create such vivid scenes keep the reader on the proverbial seat’s edge.

Koryta’s background as a private investigator and newspaper reporter have served him, and his readers, well in his writing career. I will definitely add his previous novels (and any upcoming novels) to my “must read” list.

Book Review: Private

**This book review is purely my opinion of the book after having read it. I would love to start some discussions about other readers opinions. Thanks.**

This is a review of Private, by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. Copyright © 2010; fiction. List price: $27.99. ISBN 978-0-316-09615-7.

Synopsis (from the publisher):

The police can't help you

Former CIA agent Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily--and his staff of investigators uses the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases.

The press will destroy you

Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multi-million dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of 18 schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to home: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer.

Only one place to turn: Private

But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, Morgan has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans. With a plot that moves at death-defying speeds, Private is James Patterson sleekest, most exciting thriller ever.

Analysis:

It’s no secret, if you’ve read my book reviews, that I love mystery-thrillers. As one of the premier experts in creating tales of suspense and intrigue, Patterson, with Paetro, is continually on my reading list. This newest story takes its place among Patterson’s long line of terrific mysteries, and I sincerely hope the Patterson/Paetro team brings us more of Jack Morgan.

The story opens with a bit of Jack’s background – we learn that he was in the military, that he saw combat, and that he died. Intrigue? Check. We also learn that Jack is sort of the black sheep of his family – his father was in prison, and his brother is the “bad twin. “ Jack is smart; he’s not afraid of hard work, and he puts everything he has – mind, body, soul, and finances – into building his private investigation company into a worldwide resource of the rich and famous. He’s tough, but kind, and inspires the trust of both his clients and his employees.

But we learn that Jack, despite the above, is not perfect. He has commitment issues, and a guilty secret that weighs on him…even though he can’t remember the details. This story brings Jack enlightenment in several different ways – he learns uncomfortable truths about himself, his family and his friends, all while solving crimes and “whodunits” on several fronts.

This book is a fast-paced page-turner, perfect for reading at the beach, by the pool, or on the road. I cannot wait for a sequel...and a movie (Ryan Reynolds has my vote for the lead role).

Book Review: Love in Mid Air

**This book review is purely my opinion of the book after having read it. I would love to start some discussions about other readers opinions. Thanks.**


This is a review of Love in Mid Air, by Kim Wright. Copyright © 2010; fiction. List price: $23.99. ISBN 978-0-446-54044-5.

Synopsis (from the publisher):

A chance encounter with a stranger on an airplane sends Elyse Bearden into an emotional tailspin. Suddenly Elyse is willing to risk everything: her safe but stale marriage, her seemingly perfect life in an affluent Southern suburb, and her position in the community. She finds herself cutting through all the instincts that say "no" and instead lets "yes" happen. As Elyse embarks on a risky affair, her longtime friend Kelly and the other women in their book club begin to question their own decisions about love, sex, marriage, and freedom. There are consequences for Elyse, her family, and her circle of close friends, all of whom have an investment in her life continuing as normal. But is normal what she really wants after all? In the end it will take an extraordinary leap of faith for Elyse to find--and follow--her own path to happiness.

An intelligent, sexy, absorbing tale and an honest look at modern-day marriage, Love in Mid Air offers the experience of what it's like to change the course of one's own destiny when finding oneself caught in mid air.

Analysis:

There is something both liberating and frightening about this book. It was difficult for me to read – not because it was trite or wasn’t well-written; in fact, the opposite is true. This book is very well-written, with exceptional plot and character development, and the subject matter is anything but trite. The reason this book was a difficult read for me is that I could see people I know in its shadows. In fact, I have been the person who has, on several occasions, watched someone she cares for make it through the destruction of a loveless marriage. I have seen firsthand the consequences of affairs and betrayal; of two people falling out of love; of the mild madness that settles upon overwhelmed, overworked, undervalued women.

The fact that Elyse and her band of friends are middle class suburbanites brings this story even closer to home, since this is my circle of friends. WE laugh, we cry; we complain about our husbands and our kids, but we never come right out and say that we feel claustrophobic in our lives. I think every mom, working outside the home or not, has felt the panicky suffocation of too much to do, too few hours in the day, and not enough of whatever it is that makes us more than “just a mom,” or “just a wife.” As women, we give ourselves over to our families, beginning with our husbands, trying to fit into a mold of what we think they need, and continuing with our children, destroying our bodies to give them life. We put ourselves last in every aspect of life, and over time, our relationships can fray. While this isn’t necessarily the central theme in the book, Wright’s ability to piant this into the background of the story creates depth and empathy in the story.

What this story does is move beyond the overwhelming life of a mom, into the rarely visited, but no less prolific, life of a dissatisfied wife. Interestingly enough, Elyse doesn’t mind being a mom – she doesn’t use her daughter as a pawn or excuse, and she doesn’t complain about the responsibility. I love that both Elyse and her husband, Phil, are such good and devoted parents; it brings balance, and tells the reader that the problem does, in fact, lie in their dysfunction as a couple.

Wright uses Gerry as the vehicle, the spark that lights the fire under Elyse, spurring her to move beyond simply existing. I like that Wright leaves the ending so open; that Elyse has no illusions or delusions of the nature of her relationship with Gerry, and that she is content with this as it is. I also like the fact that Elyse does not move directly from one dysfunctional relationship into another – too often, I’ve seen real-life examples of this co-dependency, and its consequesnces. Namely, people simply end up with the same type of person, in the same type of life, with the same type of problems that they left. Instead, Wright implies that Elyse is evolving into a new person; that she is stretching and growing, and hopefully, improving.

The friendships between the four women is also true-to-life, from what I’ve seen of people in the world. For the most part, the relationship between the four as a whole is somewhat superficial. In pairs, however, the friendship is deep and meaningful – each individual has a “BFF” with whom she has bonded, and with whom she shares and relies upon more than she does the group as a whole. I think Wright truly understands the nature of women – we are strong and somewhat self-reliant, but we all need that one friend who is there for us, regardless.

This book was well-written, and the story was wonderful.