Have you read . . .

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, have you?

I've read lots of books. I love to read. I don't think I've ever internalized a book before, not like this. I have spent the past three days reading this book, and each night, I've had dreams about the characters. Last night, I dreamed about Tariq and Laila and their children as they left Pakistan. Before I put the book down to go to sleep last night, that's what the characters were about to do - leave Pakistan to return to Kabul, Afghanistan. I dreamed they had trouble finding a place to live once they got back to Kabul.

This book has been difficult to read (what I mean is, I have loved the book, but it is difficult to read because of the raw emotions due to the true-to-life suffering described in the book), but so brilliantly written, and such an intimately woven story, that I hated putting it down each time that I had to. I enjoy books, but this one has really left a mark on me.

Let me know if you read it, and if so, what you thought.

Blue Like Jazz

I just finished this book a week ago. I loved it. Lots of my friends have read it. I kept thinking, "They read it. They love it. I should read it." But I hesitated, because it seemed trendy. I thought that maybe it was too trendy and too deep and that I probably wouldn't understand it. But it wasn't. It was edgy and raw and wonderful. I felt like I was sitting across from Donal Miller, maybe at Starbucks, sipping a white chocolate mocha and having a conversation with the man. It wasn't even like I was reading. Man, what a good book. Have ya'll read it? What do you think?

The Longest Post in America . . .

. . . and maybe even in Guatemala, but the research hasn't made it back yet. It's a long post, because I have many topics to cover today:

THE SRC - YARD SALE STYLE

Over the weekend, Buffalo Wings and I had our annual yard sale. We've been having these yard sales every year since we married. Sometimes we even have more than one a year. We reduced our stash drastically, and in the process made about $400 on Friday (and we nickel and dime our stuff, ya'll), but got rained out on Saturday. But let me tell you, we got rid of a TON of stuff. I never know how we can accumulate enough stuff to make a yard sale each year, but each year we surprise ourselves. But I add to the yard-sale pile all year long, beginning the day after the last yard sale. That helps. I'm definitely into the purging of our stuff. If, in the course of one year, we haven't looked at it, breathed on it, thought about it, read it, discussed it, worn it, smelled it, used it . . . then it goes.

DRESSING YOUR KIDS WELL - EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT WEALTHY

Number One: You should work at a department store. I get a great discount, even if the item is on sale or clearance. My favorite find: a complete three-piece winter outfit for Banana. It had been $36. I made it mine for $1.40.

Number Two: You should shop at Ross. I love Ross. Now, you have to go in with an attitude of determination. That's because nothing is where it is supposed to be, and you have to dig and look for the right sizes. I suggest going alone. Be persistent. The cutest stuff is always the stuff that's put on the wrong rack or that has fallen in the floor. And the prices are dang cheap. Truly. Dang cheap.

Number Three: Go to the yard sales!!!! Maybe that's why I always have such a good yard sale pile for next year. :o) I can always find great stuff for the kids, and stuff for all wearing capacities: Stuff for around the house, nicer stuff they can wear to town or whatever, and church clothes. That's because kids don't stay in their stuff long enough to wear them out, usually.

Number Four: Buy off the clearance racks and put it away from next year. This is especially helpful when combined with Number One. Buy a size bigger and put it in your large Rubbermaid container. When next year rolls around, you have a whole new wardrobe for your kids and you don't even remember shopping for it!

I'M ON A ROLL

And I'm losing the roll! I've entered the Biggest Loser contest at Buffalo Wings' school, and I am currently in fifth place. BW is in third. He's lighter by about 27 or so pounds now; I'm lighter by about 9. It's great for me, because trying weight loss and healthy eating just on my own has never really worked. I like the accountability and the encouragement, and BW and I working on this together has been wonderful.

POTTY PRINCESS

Noodle is doing great! We've graduated from the plastic-on-the-outside training pants to regular all-cloth training pants, with only a pull-up at nap and bedtime. She hasn't had one accident yet. I'm still waiting for the day when she comes up and tells me when she needs to go. But hey, her being taken to the potty and staying dry in-between is still reason to rejoice! We don't even set the timer anymore; I just take her when I feel like it's been long enough between the last time she went till now. It's working! Yesterday, she pooped in the potty so BW gave her some gum. She said, "You give me gum?" BW said, "Yes, and I have gum, too." She said, "Oh . . . you go to the potty, too?"

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A TALKING BANANA?

Well, our little Banana is surprising us every day with all the words he can say. I will try to make a list, but I can't even remember all the words he now knows. He can even form sentences. So far we have:
*Banana (the fruit)
*Banana (his name)
*Chicken Nugget (his sister)
*Noodle (his sister)
*Daddy
*Mamma (but he only says it at prompting - he usually calls me Daddy, too)
*Eat
*Cereal
*Out (as in, wanting out of his high chair)
*Lunch
*Outside
*Swing
*Bird
*Truck
*Dog
*Meow
*Dinosaur (and then he growls like a dinosaur)
*Light, light on, light off
*Bath
*Pappa (my dad)
*Sleep
*TV
*Dora, Maisey (his two favorite shows)
*Bear
*Daddy's at work, Daddy's home
*Go get Chicken Nugget (his sister)
*In a minute
*Help
*Read, read book
*Yay
*Woo-Hoo
*Sooiee (as in Pig Sooie, Razorbacks, a first in all my kids' vocabulary)
*Jump
*Run
*Baby
*Diaper
*Poop

And I really cannot remember all his words, but there's a sampling. He and Chicken Nugget were verbal very early - Chicken Nugget more so than Banana, but Banana's vocabulary is growing much faster than Chicken Nugget's did.

A REAL LITTLE READER

Last year, Chicken Nugget preferred to read Junie B. Jones. She's made quite a jump. She's been reading more difficult chapter books, such as Stuart Little. I found some Babysitter's Club books at a yard sale the other day and thought she might like them. I didn't start reading them till about the fifth or sixth grade. She's had no problem tearing right through them.

SOMETIMES EVEN I GET TO READ A BOOK OR TWO

I started reading Fannie Flagg's Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! at around Christmastime; I finished it sometime in February. It was really good. Then I read A Redbird Christmas, also by Fannie Flagg, and I liked it so much. It was such a good and heartwarming story, and the characters are so easy to get to know. Buffalo Wings is reading Simple Church, by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. Eric Geiger came to our church a few weeks ago to lead a seminar on the concepts found in the book, and it was refreshing and eye-opening. We are going to be working to be implementing some of those principles at our church very soon. It's exciting, and I can't wait. I also can't wait to read the book in its entirety, when BW finishes it, that is. I just started reading Wingspread; A.B. Simipson: A Study in Spiritual Attitude by A.W. Tozer. BW found it as he was going through his books for the yard sale, and he said it was worth the read. So far, I agree with him. I'm hoping to finish it over the long weekend.

A GOOD WORKOUT VIDEO

BW bought Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds, and it's great. It has about three different levels of walking - a one, two, and three mile, and each increases in intensity. Sansone has several workout videos out. I'd reccomend any of them, and they're resonably priced, or you could probably pick them up at your library or video rental store. Just in case you're looking for an exercise video.

LONG ENOUGH

So maybe this wasn't the longest post in America or Guatemala, but it was pretty dang close. Either way, it's long enough. So I'm going to stop now!