So many books

Hooray, I made it through BEDA again this year. Thanks for hanging in there with us everybody!

So now that BEDA is over, maybe I can get back into reading. Here’s what’s currently in a pile by my bed:

– Amelia Lost by Candice Fleming
– Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger
– Abandon by Meg Cabot
– Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway
– Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I’m also already working on these:
– Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
– Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson
– Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin
– Bumped by Megan McCafferty

*Whew*

– Jill

Sick Post

I made it through April posting every day!!!  Yippee!!  This is going to be a really lame post because I am still sick sick sick.  I am not sure what I have.  Now I am leaning more towards the flu or mono.  I’ve already had mono, but I have had it twice, so I’m pretty sure getting it a third time wouldn’t be impossible.  Stupid freak of nature immune system!  I have literally spent all day lying on the couch with my eyes closed.  Not really awake, not really sleeping.  Fun way to spend the day, I’m telling you.  The two things I have accomplished include taking a two minute shower and cleaning out my litter boxes.  I almost blacked out after doing both.

Ugh!  Enough complaining…..here are some things that are able to make me smile even when I feel awful.  This video is super awesome and very well done.  I love how the music is incorporated.

The next video also makes me very happy.  I love the song and it totally gives me the happy cry 🙂  I think it might be all the children and old people being so adorable.

Also, since I know all my girls are big Harry Potter fans, you HAVE to check out this amazing person who condensed the first four books into comic form.  So amazing!

I plan to spend the rest of evening lying around, maybe I might get up the energy to put the Tangled DVD into the player, but that would require getting up.

Hopefully my mommy will come and rescue me tomorrow.

Jen

The Queen

Well, I didn’t get up early to watch the Royal Wedding, and I didn’t even see any pictures until I got to work and people were talking about it. Sorry, I’m an odd girl who isn’t all that fascinated by big, fancy weddings. But I’m impressed by Jen & Sheila’s (and anybody else’s) ability to wake up that early! 🙂

But I still did spend some time with the royal family because tonight I watched the movie The Queen. It was nominated for Best Picture several years ago and basically tells how Queen Elizabeth II dealt with Princess Diana’s death and the new Prime Minister Tony Blair. I really liked it.

Helen Mirren is such a badass in everything she does, including being the Queen. I love the part where her car breaks down and she calls someone and explains what broke. He asks if she’s sure and she says, “Yes. I was a mechanic during WWII.” Ha, take that!

I also like how this movie incorporates real footage of Diana and the week after her death. I am completely fascinated by that. This movie is really interesting in seeing how the older, more traditional views in grieving, especially, compare to more contemporary public grieving. Part of me totally gets the Queen’s feelings. I really wonder how much of this is accurate. Particularly because I know virtually nothing about Diana’s life besides the fact that she was very charitable and friends with Elton John.

So now that I know I like The Queen and The King’s Speech, does anyone have any other Royal films to recommend? (And we all know I like The Princess Diaries too, haha.)

– Jill

P.S. Apologies for no pictures. I’m writing this on my iPod because my laptop is having issues with my wifi. Why my iPod will connect but my laptop won’t, I cannot say.

Phineas and Ferb Friday #5

I wish I could put more effort into my last Phineas and Ferb Friday, but I am super sick today.  You know when you can’t even enjoy being at home because you feel so miserable???  That is me today.

So in honor of the Royal Wedding that happened earlier, here is one of my favorite episodes, “Candace’s Big Day.”  The Doofenshmirtz plot is not that great, but I adore everything else that happens.

It has two of my favorite moments ever including Candace’s line, “Look at this cake!  It has a chicken in it!  And my hair!  I think it may also have a chicken in it.”

The other moment that I love is when Phineas points out that Candace is a great wedding planner and Phineas says he wants her to plan his wedding.  He says, “Ferb make a note.”  And then Isabella chimes in from off screen saying “I got it!”  This really only makes sense if you know that Isabella is in LOVE with Phineas.

So, without further ado, here is “Candace’s Big Day.”

Jen

Tom Haverfoods

I’m so sorry guys – I haven’t posted for like a week and I really shouldn’t have let that happen. I’m working on a post about Jellicoe Road and I have another post I’m working on that is v. v. important.

But I just had to share this website.

http://tomhaverfoods.com/

Some of my favorites? Beers are…. Punky Brewsters. Milk is…. cereal sauce. Muffins are….naked cupcakes. Grilled Cheese is….cheesy flip flips.

Enjoy!

Lindsay

Duct Tape Bouquet

I have a craft program coming up next weekend involving duct tape.  Teens can make a wallet, tote bag from a t-shirt, or flowers!  The flowers are made with pencils as the stems, so they’re useful too!  I love them and always get compliments and questions when I use them in public.

 

Kinda dark, but I hope you can still see them.

the bouquet

It’s a very easy & pretty cheap craft.  The duct tape can be a little pricey, but you can probably find coupons or just buy a few to start with.  If your pencils aren’t green to start with, you can wrap green paper around them if you want to.

To make the flowers, start with a strip of duct tape about 2 inches long.  Fold one corner toward the center, then the other, so it forms a point with a strip of about 0.5-1 inch of the sticky side of the tape visible along the bottom.  Wrap the sticky part around the end of the pencil with the point at the top.  That’s one petal.  Repeat as many times as you want.  After a few tight ones, it’s a good idea to wrap loosely, starting at an angle and pulling out a big.  That helps your flower open up.  Then when you’re almost done, wrap some more tighter like normal.

Don’t get discouraged if yours doesn’t look fabulous at first.  It takes a little practice to figure out how tight or loose to make the petals and where to place them.  But really, I don’t think they can look too bad.

If you’re having trouble visualizing my steps, check out this website.  They have very helpful photos for each step.  🙂

– Jill

I Have Royal Wedding Fever!!

Up until this week, I really haven’t paid any attention to the whole “William and Kate Saga.”  I was vaguely aware that they were dating and knew when they got engaged, but I didn’t have the Royal Wedding marked on my calendar.  Then I accidentally watched the William and Kate movie on Lifetime with my family (I say accidentally because we were all just too lazy to change the channel).  Then the next day we watched specials on TLC about Kate, Diana, and the Royal Family.  Eeeeeep!  That was enough to give me the fever!

After many hours of tv watching, I can practically tell you Kate and Wills entire romantic saga and I am eagerly awaiting the big reveal of her wedding dress.  I will be setting my alarm for 3:45 tomorrow morning, so I can catch all the goings on.  I want to be able to tell all of my great nieces and nephews what it was like to watch it happen live.

I feel like I have my own special connection to the wedding since I have seen all of the Royals in person (except for the elusive Harry).  I saw Prince Charles and the Queen at the September 11th Memorial at St. Paul’s Cathedral.  I actually saw William walking down the sidewalk in St. Andrews.  I literally passed by him on the same sidewalk.  We were only 4 feet apart!!!  I am proud to say that I remained relatively calm and it was my mom who freaked out and was poking me in the arm stage whispering “GET OUT YOUR CAMERA!”  He gave me a thankful smile as we walked past when I DID NOT do anything silly and American like whip out my camera.  Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.  I can still see exactly what he looked like in my head.  That was back in the day when he was still hot and had all his hair (but he was wearing a baseball cap so it didn’t matter).

Will you be waking up to watch the wedding??  I know several people who are taking the day off so they can watch it.  I wish I could do that, but I will just have to suck it up and deal.

Jen

Harry Potter 7 – P2 Trailer

Yes, I am doing two posts in one day.  I decided it was important to share the trailer for Deathly Hallows Part II with all of you.

And now I have a question I need advice on.  Should I re-read Deathly Hallows before the movie comes out?

I really want to re-read it because it’s been awhile and I have forgotten a lot BUT I am afraid when things are different in the movie, I will be confused and distracted.  I didn’t re-read before Part I, and I don’t feel like I was as excited or as into the movie as I would be if I re-read.

So…what do you think?  Arguments for and against?  GO.  🙂

Thanks,
– Jill

Family Traditions – Harry Potter

I saw a trailer for Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II and it reminded me of a sort-of tradition my family has:  If we can, we try to see the Harry Potter movies together.  It started back when Sorcerer’s Stone came out because so many of my family members had read the books.

I first discovered the books when I was babysitting two cousins.  One of them had borrowed Sorcerer’s Stone from a friend, and after the girls went to bed, I picked up the book and started reading.  From then we were all hooked and everytime I babysat, we would look up trivia, quizzes, and possible spoilers for future books (this was a little before Goblet of Fire came out).  I read faster than them, and I still remember when I accidentally spoiled Prisoner of Azkaban because I said I loved Sirius.  Oops.

So naturally when the first movie came out around Thanksgiving, a ton of family decided to all go.  By then a lot of them had read the books.  We had a group of at least 14 family members and family friends.  After the movie, on the drive back to one of our houses, I remember discussing with my cousins, and an aunt & uncle how the movie compared to the book.  I think we were able to all see Chamber of Secrets together too.  For some of the others, it was harder for all of us to get together, but I do remember watching the DVD for Prisoner of Azkaban A LOT with family because one of my cousins and I still quote “Why don’t you go play with your chemistry set” all the time.  🙂

I’m really hoping that when the final movie comes out, my family members will be able to get together to see it again.  Either way, I cannot wait for it!

– Jill

Am I Too Old To Go To “Prom?”

I spent last weekend at home with my family and I kept trying to convince my sister that we needed to go see the movie Prom.  I kept pushing her because I knew she was one of the only people who would not be embarrassed to go with me.  She is a 27 year-old who loves Justin Bieber and the Disney Channel (there is no doubt that we are related) so I knew she would be game to see this movie. I was devastated to learn that the movie doesn’t come out until THIS weekend.  Rats!  My great plan was foiled.

Now I will have to try to convince my much more mature local friends to see this with me.  I guess I could be the creepy old person who goes to a kids movie by herself.  I have been there, done that.  Or I could wait until Mother’s Day weekend and go with Anne then.

But really, I don’t know if I will be able to wait because the movie looks completely awesome.

I am pumped because it has the dorky glowing kid from Sky High in it.  Also, the totally hot guy with the long hair (come on, you know he is gorgeous) is like 24, so it is not inappropriate to drool over him.

I am going to see a grownup movie tonight (Water for Elephants) so I can make up for that by going to see Prom this weekend.

Jen