A really random book review for no particular reason other than the fact I've been hormonal and don't want to write a big whiny hormonal post

I am not a big re-reader of books. In fact, I hardly ever re-read any book. But, a couple of weeks ago I decided to re-read Gone With the Wind since it has been probably 10 years since I read it last. I was a huge fan then, and again I am convinced it is one of the best books EVER. I am already a historical fiction fan anyway, but this book is in a class of it’s own. It's no wonder it won the Pulitzer Prize.

I love the historical and cultural aspects of it, but what I really love is the characters. There are very few books that can develop a character to the point that you know all their flaws and inner workings, yet you are still deeply intrigued by them, admire them and yet are repulsed by them at the same time. There are few books that can develop its protagonists in such a way that they could easily be the antagonists, have them do things that morally you would object to, and yet, somehow you are still able to completely relate to them and also believe that the end justifies the means. I mean, how can you not love a dainty Southern belle who is ballsy enough to blow the face off of an intruder, marry men she doesn't love, and grate against the status quo in order to protect her family and get what she wants?

And I love the love/hate relationship between Scarlett and Rhett Butler. It gives you some of the most classic diaglogue of all time. The lack of sappiness and knight-in-shining-armor crap (although he is her knight in shining armor) that is usually in romances is replaced with the shrewdness of their characters and the utter rawness of their relationship as it develops over the years. They see each other for what they truly are (which isn’t always pretty), they say it like it is, and they have some dang hot chemistry, too. Ultimately, I think this novel could be considered a tragedy, but the grit and the gumption that permeates the entire book doesn't let you feel that it is.

Another plus with this story is that there are very few books that translate over into films that capture the core of the book so honestly. Gone With the Wind the movie is, out of necessity, a thinner version of the book, but I think overall it portrays the story and characters as they are in the book, which is why it is also such a great movie. My main pet peave with the movie is I think they make Ashley way too wimpy, when he should have come across as gentlemanly, handsome, and scholarly. The book is obviously more detailed and contains things the movie leaves out (like Scarlett having children by her first two husbands, for example, and some of the characters) and I think the book is a little less innocent than the movie, but overall it is a good adaptation. I don't think you get as much of the inner workings of the characters' minds in the movie, which to me is of huge interest in the book, but it is still a great movie and if you are not interested in reading a 1500 page book then I recommend at least seeing the movie so you don't miss out on the story.

To be honest, I have no idea where I am going with this or even why I am writing it. I guess to say that if you want something a little more meaty to read with lots of grit, drama, romance, and unflinching honesty, then I highly recommend this book.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ramblings

**Where do the days go? Seriously. I am up by 7:00 and usually go to bed between 11:00 - 12:00 and it seems like the days just speed by. I never watch TV during the day or something that I can pinpoint is a real time zapper, but it seems like all the "to do" things never get less. Does it seem that way to everyone else? JC asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day and I said, "A clean house," and he laughed and said, "No. Really." NO. REALLY.

**We've been having a house of sickies lately. Little Man came down with a low grade fever last Thursday and then it just went downhill from there. I took him to the urgent care on Saturday evening, because he had basically slept all day and his fever had spiked to over 103. He was SO lethargic and hadn't eaten hardly anything on Friday or Saturday. We were at the urgent care for 2 hours, and that entire time he just sat in my lap. I thought he had fallen asleep a few times, he was so out of it. They couldn't figure out what the deal was - his ears were fine, his lungs were fine, the strep test came back negative, etc. She told me that if his fever hadn't broken on Sunday then to take him to Children's Mercy. But that night his fever did break, he was drenched in sweat, and he seemed much better the next day.

Then yesterday I got a call from the school nurse that Big J was running a fever and had fallen asleep on the cot in her office almost immediately. So he came home and slept all day. His fever also went up to over 103. But today it is staying around 99.5 and he is definitely doing much better than he was yesterday. He's bummed because he is missing his field trip today, though.

So far Little J hasn't come down with anything except a cough that only pops up when he's laying down at night. Last night he sounded like a honking goose. And JC has kind of had a little cold thing going on this week, too. So...hopefully all this will clear out soon.

**What is up with Allison being voted off of AI last night? PLEASE! Danny was so terrible on rock night, I was embarassed for him. And he slobbers so much when he sings - it is gross. I was really hoping he was going home. This is my last time to watch AI. I'm just kind of over it. However, I will say I am excited for So You Think You Can Dance to start, even though that is the cheesiest name for a show ever.

**Have any of you ever watched the show Life? It is not returning next season and I am bummed. It was a smart show with good writing. I don't understand how shows like Scrubs stay on for years and years and shows like Life get cancelled. Some new shows I've started to DVR that I like are Castle and Lie to Me. Speaking of shows, I don't usually watch Medium, but JC's cousin, Davah, wrote the third episode of Medium's three-part finale. The first two episodes showed this past Monday and her episode will air next Monday (5/11) at 9PM. This was the last episode she wrote for Medium before leaving the show. So check it out!

**I am freaking huge and it is starting to bug and get really uncomfortable. I can't imagine my stomach getting any bigger and I cringe when I think of having 6 more weeks for this kid to grow. Half of my maternity shirts hardly fit anymore as it is.

**The kids only have 2 weeks of school left. I have several summer camps lined up, however. During the week Big J is at Cub Scout Camp, Little J will have Vacation Bible School during the mornings. Then Big J will have a science camp he will be at and Little J will have an art camp during the same time. A few weeks after that, they will both have swim lessons. And we are gearing up to start baseball for both of them. Big J actually had his first practice last night and missed it because he was sick. So hopefully there will be plenty of things to keep them occupied during their time off, but still have plenty of pool time, etc.

**My 11 year anniversary is this Saturday. We are celebrating by going to Little J's soccer game and having a BBQ for some friends that are moving. Yes, you should be jealous that you don't have as much romance in your life.

I could go on, but I'm sure these random ramblings will satisfy you enough for the time being. That is, if you are still awake after reading all of this... :-)

La Fiesta para Bebe

Last Saturday my awesome friends gave me a baby shower. They figured since my kids were all half Mexican we should welcome la niña in style, so we had a fiesta complete with virgin margaritas, a maraca-shaped cake, and a chili pepper piñata full of baby stuff. It was so much fun and I felt so spoiled. Everyone was very generous and this girl is going to be one stylin' diva! I literally received mounds of clothes for her. I didn't count all the clothing items, but I am estimating it was at least 60 different things, not counting the hair bows and socks and blankets, etc. etc. I also got a couple of super cute bags to tote all my stylin' things in. Even after having 3 kids, I have never once had a cute diaper bag so I am excited for it. It was such a fun party and I was glad to have good friends to celebrate with.

The spread

The cute hostesses - Sarah, Milli, and Daisie. (I don't know who that fat chick on the end is.)

The only picture I will post of me opening presents, just to prove I did.

So Much Excitement

Today, we made the leap and Little Man is now in a big boy bed. It's something that had to be done, but that I had been dreading. But now that he is potty trained and theoretically needing access to a toilet more readily, there was no more avoiding it. Not to mention the fact that he was going to have to be evicted from the crib sooner than later and so we might as well get on with it.

We found a great deal on a basically brand new mates bed with a bookshelf headboard on Craigslist yesterday and were able to snag it. And then a friend traded me an almost new twin mattress for a big bag (meaning a garbage sack full) of opened packs of diapers and a couple of packs of unopened Pull-Ups I had saved at the top of the closet since Little J was potty training. But since Little Man just kind of skipped over that, I no longer needed them, but her son could use them. So...we were set. Little Man was excited, but fell asleep quickly and easily tonight. I will say he was purposefully worn out and I did lay down by him until he was asleep, which was about 10 minutes. But hopefully he will stay the night in there and we'll be on our way.

On another topic...what would you buy with gift cards you got on your birthday? Little J's birthday was in March, and this year he got a lot of gift cards. He has already purchased for himself a $30 Lego set, a Scooby Doo movie, and a Rubiks Cube in previous trips to the store. Today, however, I can't stop chuckling at his great buys. Are you ready? They were:

1. A ream of printer paper

and

2. A pack of orange Tic Tacs

He was soooo excited to find out he could buy 400 sheets of plain white paper! I guess our huge scratch paper drawer full of paper and his 10,000 notebooks and drawing pads were just not good enough. The Tic Tacs were an impulse buy in the register line. Maybe Santa will have it easy this year and just leave him a big box of printer paper from Costco or something.

And not to neglect my oldest child, Big J had his first book report and book project due this week. They could read whatever book they wanted and then they had to write a report on it, present it to the class, and do an choose an additional "project" from the list. He decided to read Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and then dress up as Indiana Jones while he presented his report to the class. Do you know it is almost impossible to find an Indiana Jones-ish hat without paying tons of money for it?? I finally ended up buying a costume set that included a shirt, a hat, and a whip for more money than I wanted to spend, but justified it in the fact that I have 3 boys that will all at some point be Indiana Jones for Halloween and many times in between. (Hey, Little J went through a phase where he wore his Spiderman costume everywhere, every day, so I figure if I groom Little Man just right this will pay off in the end ;-)

In other Big J news...he informed us that he doesn't want to take Tae Kwon Do anymore. This isn't the first time this has come out of his mouth, but before he would change his mind after watching The Karate Kid or something like that. But I think he is really serious this time because he received a letter saying he could test for his orange belt this upcoming weekend and he didn't even care or want to. I don't like to see him quit, because it really goes against something fundamental in me, but at the same time, I am not going to force him to keep doing something he doesn't enjoy doing anymore, especially since he is involved in so many other things he is good at and enjoys doing. So, I guess that's that, unless he changes his mind in the next few days.

Now that you are sufficiently caught up on the extremely interesting goings on at our house, I guess I will go and finish the laundry. (So much excitement - can you handle it?? :-)

Sweet Boy

Little J picks flowers for me often. (Sometimes from places he shouldn't necessarily pick flowers from, but it is the thought that counts, right?) Often, he has pulled out of his jacket pocket a flower he picked up along the way sometime during the day. But today, he out did himself.

This is what he brought me home from school:

All picked during his recess time.

This and That

It's time for another addition of "Around the Water Cooler" - my version of a totally random and unrelated blog post.

Topic #1 - Oh No He Didn't! Mother of all Moments - For those a little behind on their DVRing, all I will say is two words: Tony Almeida. OH. MY. GOSH!!!!

Topic #2 - Crappy weather. Today I can't complain. Currently, it is a sunny 56 degrees, but yesterday it was in the 30s and raining. A couple of weeks ago, my kids were doing this:

Global warming? I think not. Atleast not in these parts. It's mid-April, for goodness sake! Let's get on with it!

Topic #3 - Easter. It was a weird Easter this year. We had Stake Conference, first of all. Then it was cold and gray and rainy. Just weird. We had the obligatory visit from the Easter Bunny and all that jazz and had some friends over and had a nice dinner.

Little J had a note from the tooth fairy saying she did indeed run into the Easter Bunny. But they didn't fight.

Traditional Easter pancakes