Coming Out of Hiding

Well, my entire life was consumed.

Consumed by, of all things, eight wonderful novels. As I've mentioned, I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse Novels. Well, for the past week, it's about ALL I've been doing. If you're looking for a good bunch of books, these are a great read!

I have to say, I am totally in awe of people who can write stories like this. The author, Charlaine Harris, has other books, too. And I'm sure I will eventually get around to reading them. I can't imagine being able to sit down and weave the stores, characters, settings, and everything else. And this woman is either an extremely talented, creative and dedicated writer OR she's something supernatural. I am amazed at how she has explored the supernatural, and made up the rules as she went along. Kudos to her!!!

If you don't know, I'm not really casual about anything. When I start reading something and enjoy it, I jump right in, both feet first. I was walking to the bus stop while reading. I stayed up until 2:00 am many nights so I could finish the book I was on. When something gets my brain going, it takes me over. Needless to say, other areas of my life have suffered. The house is a mess, the kids are ready to kill each other, and I haven't blogged (sorry) or tended to any of my other online ventures. As I finished book number eight last night, I had a whole mix of emotions. I was sad I was finished reading about Sookie. I was amazed that I got through these eight books while still feeding, clothing and tending to the kids and the restaurant. I was glad that I was going to go back to 'normal' life. Then it happened.

I went to the Charlaine Harris' website. Yeah, there's another one coming out next month. I pre-ordered Dead and Gone today. No big deal. What's one more book, right? Um, WRONG! If you look under the bibliography on her website, you'll see that there are quite a few books with short stories about Sookie (these stories sort of fill in the gaps). Yeah. Now I have to read those, too. I ordered one from Amazon. There is the great possibility that I will read the collection of short stories, find another author that is fantastic, and discover another five thousand books I want to read.

Oh well. The kids know how to get cereal for themselves.

If you remember, the whole reason I started reading this series was that it's the inspiration for True Blood on HBO. I really enjoyed the first season of the series, and from what I understand, the second season is supposed to start this June. However, the series and the books are completely different. Well, not completely. Many of the characters are the same. But things happen differently. I'm not going to give out any spoilers here, but let's just say I'm curious about what direction Alan Ball is going for the second season. I'll probably enjoy the series. I may quite possibly enjoy it even more, because I'll be so into the differences.

Anyway, for now, it's back to my little spot here in Collier Township, PA and out of Bon Temps, Louisiana. And I'll write more.

Promise.

My plan is to go on over to my friend Barb's site, Barb's Bookshelf, and post something on the forums over there. Many of the members there use CafePress, Zazzle,, and other POD's (that's Print-On-Demand for those who don't know). They're uber awesome, and make up a large portion of who I like to call my 'online friends.'

And they're frickin' funny!

OK, I'm gonna catch up on some of that housework. The girls are at the neighbor's house, running through a sprinkler. Yup, it's April and it's 86 degrees right now. But I'm not complaining.

Have a gerat weekend!

My Difference? My Personalities All Know Each Other.

As you might know, I'm not a huge tv girl. There are a few shows that I will record on the DVR and watch when I get time. But Tony and I do have a Sunday night ritual. It's been going on for years. Back when Sex And The City was on HBO, we started watching shows together on Sunday nights. Sex And The City was obviously my find, but I think Tony actually enjoyed watching it. Or maybe it was Oz. We've been through The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Deadwood. Sometimes we watch Entourage, too. But most times that's when we sit at the kitchen table and chat.

But anyway, back to the original reason for this post. I really like the newest show I've found...The United States of Tara. This is the first Showtime series we've really gotten into. We've only had Showtime for a year or so. And honestly, I was about to cut back on the cable. And, cue Murphy's Law. That's exactly when I found this show. Nothing against Showtime, but we just don't watch that much television.

This show just cracks me up. But it's serious, too. In a nutshell, it's about a woman who has multiple personalities. She has decided to go off her medication and just take one day at a time. She (and her husband) want to figure out WHY these personalities are coming out. It has John Corbett as the husband, and I just like him. Ever since Northern Exposure. Now if you haven't watched the show, don't read the next paragraph.

SPOILER: When Tony and I saw the writing on the mural a few weeks ago, I nailed it. "There's another personality." I said matter-of-factly. I can't wait to find out more about the peeing red poncho gremlin! ::END SPOILER:

I think that we all have multiple personalities. I have mommy-me, wife-me, bar owner-me, I'm just meeting you, so I'm going to be really fake-me, and on and on. But I realize that I have these personalities. And I can pick and choose them as I wish. So, I'm looking forward to our Sunday night tv time tonight! If you haven't seen the show, watch it! Grab it on On Demand, go to a friend's house with Showtime...whatever. And I think that True Blood is coming back on HBO some time late summer. I've started reading the first book that this series is based on. Maybe I can read the next one before the series starts up again!

Anything's better than Spongebob, Baby Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo. Although, I have to admit...Phineas and Ferb is pretty funny.

I Was Craving Some Brain Candy!

Well, I feel a little better now. Last night (after falling asleep with Becca in her room) I watched a new episode of 30 Rock that got DVR-ed (OK, I'm not sure if that's a word, but I'm going with it). It's been a few weeks since I watched some new television. I'm surprised how much I missed the little escape it brings me from the millions of thoughts bouncing around in my head.

I really don't watch too much tv. I'll watch True Blood when it comes back (I think in the Summer). I watch How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory on Monday nights and The Office and 30 Rock on Thursdays. If I happen to watch live, I'll get up and clean while the commercials are on. And I'm usually doing something on the laptop at the same time.

On to other things, Becca is going to a little cheer leading camp tomorrow. It's a fundraiser for the High School cheerleaders. They take kids K-5 (K and First in the A.M. and 2-5 in the afternoon) teach them a cheer and give them a t shirt. Then they get to perform their cheer all together at a basketball game this week. For $30, I thought she would have some fun. I'm interested to see how it all goes.

Oh, and to get back to some boring, serious, political stuff...I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that a judge told Dan Onorato that he couldn't use the money from the drink tax for anything other than mass transit. Finally, Score one for the restaurant owners! Of course, he's going to be a big ol' weenie about lowering it down below 7%. Which irks me. He just can't seem to be a big enough person to just admit that he screwed up and fix it. In fact, if he did just admit to his screw up and fix it, he may win back some votes later on down the road. But because of his pride (or male ego, or stubbornness...whatever) he won't. So now his budget is screwed, and it looks something like this:

ROCK DAN ONORATO HARD PLACE


Well, enjoy the snow that they're calling for this weekend! If you live in Pittsburgh, I'm sure you already made your mad dash for your milk and bread 'cuz you'll be stuck in your house for a whole whopping 24 hours.

Really, is it Monday?

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the season finale of True Blood. But now I can't wait until summer. Not just for the next installment, but because I'm about sick of the cold already. But I digress...

You know, I've been thinking about some of my friends who are about to become parents for the first time. I just thought I'd post some of my thoughts about how it might change their lives. First, the good ('cuz I'm a glass-is-half-full kind of gal)

• You can't even imagine the feeling of all that love. It's overwhelming.
  
• You always have somebody to cuddle with
• You get to play with toys again
• When they're an infant and you have them in the grocery store, you can have a conversation with yourself and it looks like you're talking to your baby.
• You get to buy cute little clothes
• You don't get bored anymore

Next is the not so good. Not really BAD, but different

• You will never (especially if you are the MOM) have privacy again. Ever. Unless you leave the house and go and hide in your car.
• You won't get nearly as much sleep as you're used to. Ever. My kids are 3 1/2 and 5 1/2. I still don't sleep, and I don't have insomnia or anything like that. But, the silver lining is that you get used to functioning on less sleep. You just get a little more 'dingy.'
• Your house will never be as clean as you want it to be. Ever. I could spend hours cleaning, and it would just get messed up right behind me.

OK, this is a short list. And as I'm sitting here with Chloe watching 'Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders' for the hundredth time, it's about as deep as I can go right now. But I wouldn't trade them for anything. Ever.

So, on a lighter note, I was using stumbleupon the other night, and I came across this site. And it really made me giggle. Here's the page (and I did pay the game, and did pretty well)

You can click on the link to play the game if you want to. That's completely a pet peeve of mine...the whole lose/loose thing. Really makes me crazy.

A Complete Waste of Time

Well, as if I needed something to suck up my time, I found this game to label images at Google. It is quite addictive. Google matches you up with another player, and you need to match tags for different images. Some images are pretty easy, and don't have any tags yet. But others already have some tags, and you can't use those words. I believe I've wasted at least a few hours over the past couple of days. It was easier to do that than clean my kids' play room. So, I've promised myself that I'm not going there today!!!! Here's the link: Google Image Labeler