Maybe someday I'll do this on a more regular basis - then again, maybe not.





What I'm reading:


American Gods by Neil Gaiman - this guy is brilliant - I will be gobbling up everything else of his I can get my hands on shortly. And he's got stuff for the whole family - I'm going to read Coraline with Liv and I'll be reading Anansi Boys too and then I think I might re-read Good Omens (which was co-written with Terry Pratchett) and I might also read Stardust because I saw and loved loved loved the movie - so really, if the movie was that good how absolutely awesome must the book be?!





With the big kid I am reading Runaway Dolls by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin. It's the third in the series and we're really enjoying them - all about a family of living dolls that have been owned by succesive generations of the same family and their adventures. The first two books were: The Doll People and The Meanest Doll in the World.





I am knitting:


Swatching for a sweater (bolero really) for Liv - socks for me - hat for new baby across the street that I want to cast on today...





I am picking up my new car tonight - we are getting rid of my reliable but too tiny Kia Rio RXV and getting a Kia Rondo - which will allow us to go out together somewhere as a family including Maggie the puppy - it's really not good to have to choose between your puppy and your husband... It will also allow us to pack in some camping equipment with all the aforementioned people and get to a campsite somewhere and be able to breathe the whole way there... The new car is Java Brown - you can't go wrong with a coffee coloured car I say...





And just because I can here is a pic of my dynamic duo taken a couple of months or so ago:

That's it for now - until next time - I remain,

jennybookworm

Well, the whole blog for work thing didn't work out - got shut down faster than you can say 'I'm terrified of new technology and of anyone who thinks of something before I do'.

But they can't tell me to shut down my personal blog - so, here I am.

What I am reading:

For grownups -
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It's a book club pick - in other words I didn't pick it myself. At first I was resistant and concerned that I would, well, HATE it as I had read a bit about it and heard it described as a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis - the bible does not interest me let alone retelling parts of it... But I was so very wrong - it's a fantastic book, a really interesting story that covers a couple of generations of a couple of families and has fascinating autobiographical links to the author who grew up in the valley in California where the book is set and who's immediate family play a supporting role. Steinbeck's use of language has made me stop and re-read paragraphs and sometimes pages, he presents things in a very interesting way and tops it all off with drama, mystery and humour. I am very glad it was suggested and even more glad that I got past my preconceived notions about it - I'm not quite finished it yet, I have a hundred or so pages to go and book club is next week - it should be interesting to see what the others think of it.

For kids -
Over Christmas the big kid and I read When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke - we timed it beautifully and finished this seasonal story just before family descended upon us for the holidays. It was fantastic - a kids book that didn't pull any punches and tackled topics such as: bullying, family dynamics, friendship, courage, and perseverance all while also telling a beautiful Christmas-y story -- pretty cool.

time to go - until next time I remain,
jennybookworm

Life in the blog lane

Today I started blogging for work! We have decided to produce some newsletters that have been done previously within Word in a table run through Dreamweaver plopped into the intranet wysiwyg... and they never came out the way I wanted them to - spacing all off and no way I could control it no matter how many times I told Dreamweaver or something else to clean up html tags etc... - super frustrating. But now, using Blogger - hooray! Totally easy, great looking, fast! Love it!

What I am reading...

For grownups -
Just finished No humans involved by Kelley Armstrong - very enjoyable Canadian author has written a number of interrelated books under a loose series titled Women of the Underworld.
Just started Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin about a female doctor in 1170 or so in England - historical fiction type stuff - only on p.41 so no big opinions yet but seems pretty good so far.

For kids -
Just finished Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler - I read this book when I was a kid - and it was amazing to revisit it with my little girl. What a fun and funny book - we read the last third of it on Friday night in one sitting because we just didn't want to put it down!

that's all for today - I remain...
jennybookworm

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!



Again, been a long long while but that's ok...



Here is a hilarious little video I got in my Inbox this week - thanks Mom!
This one is for all the cat people...

Right now I am reading:

For Grownups:

Exit strategy by Kelley Armstrong - she has written a number of sci-fi fantasy type books and this one is branching out into a new genre/character for her - pretty good but I like the Wereworlves/Otherworld series she does better I think. She's an awesome Canadian author though - check out her website

Recently read Conquistador by S.M. Stirling - another alternate history/earth book by this really good author - I love his stuff and am soon going to read The sunrise lands which continues an earlier trilogy of an alternate earth after 'THE EVENT' ... great books ...

For Kids:

Last night I read BOO! by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko - seasonal favourite with the big kid at bedtime

Recently read The cowgirl aunt of Harriet Bean by Alexander McCall Smith - first chapter book read with the big kid, she loved the mystery and solving a crime and it was short enough to finish in a week of chapter-a-night reading.

That's all for now - I remain ...

jennybookworm

Hmmm...
Been awhile - seems I didn't quite get the blogger bug right off did I?!
What's happened since my last post? Lots and lots...
Had a baby girl last August - that brings my count to two - kids that is - both girls...
My big kid Olivia will be six later this month and the little kid (who is starting to fuss and has now gone upstairs for her nap!) hit eight months on Monday.

What I'm reading:
Bloodletting and other miraculous cures by Vincent Lam (Giller prize winner)
various magazines including: Canadian Living, Canadian Scrapbooker and Creating Keepsakes
bedtime stories including: Puppies on Board by Sarah N. Harvey and illustrated by Rose Cowles

What I'm scrapping:
Mini album in a tin of a great day skating on the canal during winterlude :

This is just two of the mini pages, it folds out like an accordion, didn't feel a need to show all the pages! I had bought the tin from a discount type bin some time ago and decided that since I had eight pictures of this day on the canal skating that I would use this format instead of a 12x12 (even a two page lo would have been crowded) I then went through my stash and gathered everything I could put my hands on that was blue, white or glittered a bit and then just got to work - very quick and easy project really - and I absolutely love using scraps - of paper and ribbon and the last leftover bits of embellishments like the last solitary blue button!




And here are some other recent pages:



Baby Charlotte at about a month old - lots of embellishments with buttons sewn on with embroidery thread, prima flowers, rub ons, and stitching on the page as well. I inked the edges of each square before adhering as well. Many of the items on this page came from a Scraphoria kit - I am currently subscribing and getting a kit a month from this company (scraphoria.ca) and really loving their kits!








Page of Olivia from several years ago but I just did the page recently. The duck in the corner is made with tacky tape and microbeads - it doesn't glow like this IRL but I guess the camera flash did it. The narrow yellow strips were a last minute addition - they are actually the bottoms of a couple of other pages of two-sided patterned paper - waste not want not! Everything on this page (with the exception of the title rubons and ink on all the edges) were from a Scraptivity kit.




Well, I'll save other lo's for another day.
until then - I am - jennybookworm...

who knew - click click click
you're a blogger
well, ok, LOTS of people know that - I knew it would be reasonably painless, but that was even easier than I expected!

I was inspired today when I read Rick Mercer's Blog to finally get my own.
Saw his show last night - the spoof of the Nike Hockey ad just about made me pee my pants - too funny - glad his show is back.

Hmmm - I did call it jennybookworm - gotta get some book content in here.
Ok - yesterday I finished reading Alice Sebold's 'The Lovely Bones'
Amazing book - borrow it from your public library, then read it.