Giveaway winners!

I know that I promised to announce the LIW A to Z Challenge giveaway winners after the end of the challenge, but, as it is, life happens and I've been away much of the past two days.

So, without further delay -

The winner of the maple syrup giveaway is:

Trini Wenninger

I want to try your maple syrup on my almond pancakes!

And the winner of (coincidentally) Trini's book Rose Wilder Lane's San Francisco is:

susanlulu

I am SO enjoying this daily post - learning lots of useful information - and hope to win a giveaway!!

Congratulations, Trini and Susan!! Email me at asimplehappylife at gmail dot com and your prize will soon be on its way!

And the winner of The Sun Also Rises is...

Criminey! I always wish I could give something to everyone, but alas I only have one copy of The Sun Also Rises and the winner is...

Ann Best of Ann Best's Blog

who, coincidentally, I just wrote about yesterday. Congratulations Ann! Please email me your address at asimplehappylife at gmail dot com and I will send this out to you.

Check back again. There will be more!

Reading - In The Mirror, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets by Ann Carbine Best

I "met" Ann Best and found her blog, Ann Best's Blog (now at wordpress) through the A - Z Challenge in April. I discovered that she had written a memoir titled In the Mirror, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets and ordered it as it sounded like something that would be a really interesting read.

I was not disappointed.

Ann Carbine and Larry Best fell in love and were married in 1961. She thought it would be forever. After having four children and sharing their life together, she found out that he had been having affairs with men. Ann was devastated, but they still wanted to save their marriage. Following her through her journey of pain and heartache, trying to help Larry and stay married, I felt such sadness when it finally ended. Ann was forced to start her life over as a single mother of four kids and decided to move to a new place to begin again. It wasn't long before tragedy struck again and Ann had to face the anguish of almost losing two daughters in a car accident that seriously injured one and permanently disabled another. There is so much more and it is well worth your time to read Ann's story and discover just how strong one woman can be when faced with no other choice.

Books - Reading, Writing, and Giving Away

At the beginning of the year, I made a plan to read one book a week and to write a summary on each book.

FAIL.

 I think I've read 14 books and blogged about two or three if you count my latest giveaway book, The Sun Also Rises. 

I think I have a fear that when I write a post about a book that I've read and enjoyed, that maybe I just can't do it justice. But, you know what, if I like a book (or if I don't), I still want to talk about it.

So I am.

Once a week I'm going to try to write a post about a book that I've read this year. Occasionally, I'm going to give a book away. Some of the books that I read I keep and some I lend to family or friends, others I will send to one of you!

The Sun Also Rises

A couple of months ago, our book club decided to read The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I was looking forward to it as I'd never gotten a chance and had always wanted to read Hemingway. I have to say that it was not my favorite read...
Maybe more of a man's read?

From Goodreads:
The Sun Also Rises was Ernest Hemingway's first big novel, and immediately established Hemingway as one of the great prose stylists, and one of the preeminent writers of his time. It is also the book that encapsulates the angst of the post-World War I generation, known as the Lost Generation. This poignantly beautiful story of a group of American and English expatriates in Paris on an excursion to Pamplona represents a dramatic step forward for Hemingway's evolving style. Featuring Left Bank Paris in the 1920s and brutally realistic descriptions of bullfighting in Spain, the story is about the flamboyant Lady Brett Ashley and the hapless Jake Barnes. In an age of moral bankrupcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illustions, this is the Lost Generation.

I'm not in the minority here as my daughter and sister-in-law had the same opinion. I'm not writing off Hemingway completely. I own The Nick Adams Stories which I do plan to read (hopefully this summer).

So...who is up for Hemingway? I bought my copy new and it has only been read by my daughter and I.

If you'd like a chance to win this very book:

Be a public follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me what your favorite summer activity is. You have till June 13. I will announce the winner on June 14th!

Remember -- you must be a public follower of my blog to enter! Good luck!

Fancy meeting you here and a big thank you!

Back in April, I wrote about doing a book giveaway here and asked a question. I have too many books so that after I read them, I usually like to give them away so that someone else can enjoy! I can't possibly keep every single book that I buy, although there are a lot that I do keep! ☺ So I asked:

Would it matter to you if I did a book giveaway and the book had been read once?

I had a very positive response and a lovely comment:

Mama Hen said...

What a great idea!!! We who love books do not mind if they have been previously read. My town library is going to be undergoing renovations for the next 9 months, so they will be closed, and not accepting donations (which is what I usually do with the books I'm not going to read again). So, if you don't mind, I'd like to use your idea and copy you! Would you mind? And if you send me your address, I'll start with a giveaway to YOU, if you like, just for being such a neat person with generous ideas!

Now, Mama Hen (aka Teresa) has a lovely blog over at Hen Scratches and we "met" through our blogs, and also through a lovely series of coincidences. When she started following my blog, I hopped on over and checked out her blog. She had made mention of some blogs that she enjoyed, not only mine but also A Happy Honeybee, who headed up the Little House Christmas Stocking swap that I participated in over at swapbot.com. What a coincidence is that? And then, on another post, Mama Hen talked about the Little Town on the Prairie Read-Along going on at Beyond Little House and, when I commented on that one, I found out what her "name" is over there too. So, not only are we blog friends, we are Laura Ingalls Wilder friends as well!

Back to that there comment up there ↑ I did end up sending Mama Hen my address and....well just look at what she sent me!

First the box. The box was beautifully adorned with old -timey pictures having to do with books and reading. Loved it!!

Including this bookmark, which she had in safely wrapped in plastic so that I could use it. I love the picture and the quote Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

And she couldn't decide which book to send...so she sent five! And I haven't read any of them and they all look really good. I can't wait to read them!

Plus, she had written a lovely note on a postcard that she had gotten from The Happy Honeybee in a swapbot swap. And she also included her own personal namecard which she received in the same way! I was so flattered that she chose to share them with me. I think that Teresa and I must be kindred spirits!

So...a big thank you to my friend Teresa (aka Mama Hen, aka TLynn). You are awesome! And I'll be optimistic and say that I can't wait to meet you at LauraPalooza next year!!

Winner of the Little Town on the Prairie book!

I took all the correct answers and numbered them in the order they were posted. There were four correct answers and random.org chose....#4!

Patty C said...

Xanthophyll is from the Spell off in Little Town on the Prairie. It is in the Literaries chapter. Thanks for posting fun contests....it is fun to see what other fans know and their thoughts on her works. Patty:)

May 1, 2011 9:24 PM 

Patty, congratulations and email me your address! I will send your book right out to you!
Thanks to everyone who entered.

X-anthophyll

When you ask for for an X word, what is the first one that comes to my mind? Xanthophyll.

Definition of XANTHOPHYLL (from Merriam-Webster.com):
any of several yellow to orange carotenoid pigments that are oxygen derivatives of carotenes; especially : lutein

Do you know what book (and the chapter) this word is featured in? For some of you this will be very easy.

Hint #1: If you know me, either personally or through this blog, it shouldn't be that hard to be able to narrow down the author of the book.  ;-)
Hint #2: The definition has nothing to do with it. Just thought I should add it. It's always good to learn a new word, right?

What's in it for you? If you can tell me, in the comments below, the author, book, and chapter this word is found in, I will put your name in for a drawing. I will send the winner a copy of the book with color illustrations. If you're familiar with this author's books, you know that this book is available with color illustrations. I'm not talking about those dumb photograph covers, but the original illustrations in color.

*I'm trusting that you don't look at the other comments! ☺

You have until May 5th and you MUST be a public follower of my blog. One comment, one chance! Good Luck!!

Stones for my Father winner

Mama Hen - you won a copy of Stones for my Father! Please message me with your address so I can get it out to you.

Yes. There were only three people who commented and were eligible to win a book...

Stones for my Father Blog Tour

I'm really honored to have been chosen to take part as one of the hosts for Trilby Kent's Stones for my Father book blog tour. Thank you to Tundra Books and Sylvia Chan for giving me this opportunity!

Stones for My Father

Written by Trilby Kent
Hardcover | Ages 11+ | 176 pages
ISBN 978-1-77049-252-3
eBook 978-1-77049-260-8

Corlie Roux’s farm life in South Africa is not easy: the Transvaal is beautiful, but it is also a harsh place where the heat can be so intense that the very raindrops sizzle. When her beloved father dies, she is left with a mother who is as devoted to her sons as she is cruel to her daughter. Despite this, Corlie finds solace in her friend, Sipho, and in Africa itself and in the stories she conjures for her brothers.

But Corlie’s world is about to vanish: the British are invading and driving Boer families like hers from their farms. Some escape into the bush to fight the enemy. The unlucky ones are rounded up and sent to internment camps.

Will Corlie’s resilience and devotion to her country sustain her through the suffering and squalor she finds in the camp at Kroonstad? That may depend on a soldier from faraway Canada and on inner resources Corlie never dreamed she had….

What did I think?

~I've always enjoyed historical fiction and was not disappointed with Stones for my Father. I was drawn in from the first pages and held till the last. As I don't know much about The Boer Wars, reading Stones for my Father was actually a learning experience too. Ms. Trilby writes her characters very well. It did not take me long to feel compassion for Corlie as she is so cruelly treated by her mother, which is about how long it takes for me to want to rescue Corlie. I spent the rest of the book wishing someone would save Corlie, not only from the soldiers, but from her mother.

I also think that Ms. Trilby wrote the backdrop, the landscape, the emotions, and feelings so well. You could see the beauty of the landscape, but also feel the baking sun even though I have never been to South Africa, I felt as if I had been there. She made it so familiar. I felt such compassion for the children in the internment camp because the situation was portrayed with such feeling.

As I have included the summary above, I won't go into too much more. I don't want to give anything away! I will say that you will want to keep reading and there is a slight twist. Worth the read and an excellent book for a young person who is already interested in or to get them interested in a part of world history that they might otherwise not learn enough about.

I was hoping to do an interview with Trilby Kent, but because of illness and bouncing emails it just didn't get to happen in time. We will try to get it within the next week or two and I will post a follow-up to this with an interview!

TRILBY KENT was born in Toronto, Ontario, but grew up in cities on both sides of the Atlantic. After completing degrees at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, she worked for a time in the rare books department at Bonhams before turning to journalism and writing novels for children and adults. Her first book, Medina Hill, is also available from Tundra Books. Trilby Kent lives in London, England.

Would you like to win a copy of Stones for my Father by Trilby Kent? Just leave a comment below and you will be entered. You only have until midnight tonight and you must be a public follower of my blog! You can also click on the link in my sidebar to enter to win one of five copies being given away through Goodreads! Good Luck!

V-iolets

This last week of A to Z...it's a challenge.

Once again, I will fall back on my good friend -

Laura was running straight toward the south. Grass whipped soft against her bare feet. Butterflies fluttered over the flowers. There wasn't a bush nor a weed that Grace could be hidden behind. There was nothing, nothing but grass and flowers swaying in the sunshine.

If she were little and playing all by herself, Laura thought, she wouldn't go into the dark Big Slough, she wouldn't go into the mud and the tall grass. Oh, Grace, why didn't I watch you? she thought. Sweet pretty little helpless sister - "Grace! Grace!" she screamed. Her breath caught and hurt in her side.

She ran on and on. Grace must have gone this way. Maybe she chased a butterfly. She didn't go into Big Slough! She didn't climb the hill, she wasn't there. Oh, baby sister, I couldn't see you anywhere east or south on this hateful prairie, "Grace!"

The horrible, sunny prairie was so large. No lost baby could ever be found on it. Ma's calling and Pa's shouts came from Big Slough. They were thin cries, lost in wind, lost on the enormous bigness of the prairie.

Laura's breathing hurt her sides under the ribs. Her chest was smothering and her eyes were dizzy. She ran up a low slope. Nothing, nothing, not a spot of shadow was anywhere on the level prairie all around her. She ran on, and suddenly the ground dropped before her. She almost fell down a steep bank.

There was Grace. There, in a great pool of blue, sat Grace. The sun shone on her golden hair blowing in the wind. She looked up at Laura with big eyes as blue as violets. Her hands were full of violets. She held them up to Laura and said, "Sweet! Sweet!"

Laura sank down and took Grace in her arms. She held Grace carefully and panted for breath. Grace leaned over her arm to reach for more violets. They were surrounded by masses of violets blossoming above low-spreading leaves. Violets covered the flat bottom of a large, round hollow. All around this lake of violets, grassy banks rose almost straight up to the prairie-level. There in the round, low place the wind hardly disturbed the fragrance of the violets. The sun was warm there, the sky was overhead, the green walls of grass curved all around, and butterflies fluttered over the crowding violet-faces.

By The Shores of Sliver Lake, Chapter 30: Where Violets Grow

by: Laura Ingalls Wilder

I love the rest of this chapter, but just had to share this part...the Violets.

O-range

These are a few of my favorite things:

O is for Oranges.

     It seemed that the Woodworths used that room only for eating in.
     Eight places were set at the table and on each of the plates was a soup plate full of steaming oyster soup. Ben's place was at the head of the table, Jim's at the foot. Mrs. Woodworth told each of them others where to sit, and said that she would wait on them all.
     Now Laura's feet were under the table her hands had something to do, and it was all so bright and gay that she was no longer bashful.
     In the very center of the table was a silver castor holding cut-glass bottles of vinegar, mustard and pepper sauce, and tall salt- and pepper-shakers. The plate at each place was of white china with a wreath of tiny, many-colored flowers around the edge. Beside each plate a white napkin stood up, folded in such a way that it partly opened out like a large flower.
     Most marvelous of all, in front of each plate was an orange. Not only that; for these oranges, too, had been made into flowers. The orange's peel had been cut down from the top in a little pointed sections, and each section was curled inward and down, like a flower's red-gold petals. Held within these petals, the flesh of the orange curved up, covered with its thin, white skin.
     The oyster soup alone was treat enough to make a party, and to go with it Mrs. Woodworth passed a bowl of tiny, round oyster crackers. When the last drop of that delicious soup had been spooned up and swallowed, she took away the soup plates, and she set on the table a platter heaped with potato patties. The small, flat cakes of mashed potatoes were fried a golden brown, She brought then a platter full of hot, creamy, brown, codfish balls, and then a plate of tiny, hot biscuits. She passed butter in a round glass butter dish.
     Mrs. Woodworth urged generous helpings, not once, but twice. The she brought cups of coffee, and passed the cream and sugar.
     After all this, she cleared the table again, and brought in a white-frosted birthday cake. She set it before Ben and placed a stack of small plates beside it. Ben stood up to cut the cake. He put a slice on each small plate, and Mrs. Woodworth set one at each place. They waited then until Ben had cut his own slice of cake.
     Laura was wondering about the orange before her. If those oranges were meant to be eaten, she did not know when nor how. Still she had eaten part of an orange, so she knew how good an orange tastes.
     Everyone took a bite of cake, but no one touched an orange. Laura thought that perhaps the oranges were to be taken home. Perhaps she could take home an orange, to divide with Pa and Ma and Carrie and Grace.
     Then everyone saw Ben take his orange. He held it carefully over his plate, stripped off the petaled peeling, and broke the orange into its sections. he took a bite from one section, then he took a bite of cake.
     Laura took up her orange, and so did everyone else. Carefully they peeled them, divided them into sections and ate them with the slices of cake.
     All the peelings were neat on the plates when supper was finished. Laura remembered to wipe her lips daintily with her napkin and to fold it, and so did the other girls.

~Little Town on the Prairie - Chapter 20 - The Birthday Party

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

 What a treat that was for Laura. A whole orange! So much so that when she got home she had to tell Ma:
     "Oh, Ma, each one of us had a whole orange!" Laura couldn't help saying then, but she saved the rest to tell them all together.

L-aura Ingalls Wilder

These are a few my favorite things:

L is for Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I had planned a long and loving post about my forever friend, Laura Ingalls Wilder, but this dreaded carpal tunnel is making a big time comeback and I am only able to type one handed. Not an easy task! I need to rest the hand...

As she is one of my very favorite subjects, I will come back to her. For now I will refer you to an earlier post. Or...I have written a little about my Laura feelings and experiences at Beyond Little House. :-)

I'll be back...

K-indle

These are a few of my favorite things:

K is for Kindle.

Okay. I've had some rather loooong posts of late, so today will be relatively short. Kind of. We can only hope. ☺

I love books. Always have and always will. Nothing can replace a good book. Or going to a bookstore and buying a book that you've been looking forward to, or one that you just came upon quite by accident. Either way...nothing can compare to cracking open a brand new book. The glory of it all!

That's why I went back and forth about getting a Kindle. I really wanted one, for the ease and convenience, but I didn't want to risk being "one of those" who caused the downfall of real books. But I did really want a Kindle! ☺

I wouldn't spend that money on myself though, and didn't really have it to spend. That's why I was completely and totally surprised when I was opening gifts on my birthday and...

I got a Kindle!

Still...nothing can compare to a book, but it is so much easier to carry a Kindle in my purse (don't like to risk bending up a book by carrying it in my purse). Sometimes my life is hurry and wait and having a book right there waiting and ready when I need it is the absolute best.

Another great thing is that my Kindle was so easy to set up and start using. There was nothing to it! I'll admit that I was a little worried since I'm...a bit technology challenged. This thing? I turned it on and started using it. It really was that easy!

I do have one problem though, if you can call it that. I have a hard time spending money on the Kindle so I've downloaded mostly free and very inexpensive books. Plus, sometimes I can get a real book cheaper than on the Kindle and sometimes I just plain want the book version.

But I really do love my Kindle. And now I'm done.

G-iveaway - but not quite yet!

These are a few of my favorite things:

G is for giveaway - but not right now!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a giveaway here on my blog. I wanted to make it easy for anyone who wanted to enter. To enter my first giveaway you didn't need to be a follower, you simply needed to comment, plus I gave extra opportunities for extra entries. My giveaway is done and the two jugs of maple syrup that I gave away are safely en route to some fine people that I hope will enjoy them.

There are only a couple of drawbacks to doing a giveaway. First, and most important, I wanted everyone to win! It's hard to only give away one thing. That's why I ended up having a runner-up. Next, when someone enters and you don't know them and they tell you that they shared about your giveaway because that will gain them another entry...well they're not always telling the truth. And that's disappointing. I don't mind at all that I don't know everyone who enters, because I love to meet new people. But...please don't cheat to win something, especially from an everyday simple gal like me who just likes people and wanted to share a part of her life with them.

So that said, for my next giveaway, I have to ask that everyone be a public follower of my blog. Commenting will get them one entry and sharing on their blog and then coming back to comment and providing me with the link will get them a second. I would love to offer extra chances for extra entries, but, just like when we were kids in school, one person can ruin it for the whole class and I would love to do giveaways an a regular basis, but not to cheaters.

After I reach 50 followers, I'm hoping to do a book giveaway. But I have a question...

These are only some of my books. I have many more. And I'm continually buying more. I mean...who can pass up a library sale when you can get a bag of books for a buck??

I have tons of books and, quite honestly, the majority of them I will only read once. Then I give them away. The other day, I thought to myself, "When you read a book that you're not going to keep why don't you give it away to one of your blog followers?" People love books.

Would it matter to you if the book had been read once?

I would love to buy new books or other things and give them away, but to be totally honest, our business is slow, times are tough, and I really can't afford to spend a lot of money right now.

So, what do you think? Do you mind if I have giveaways for books that have been read once. I will be honest. If I didn't necessarily like a book I will tell you! As a matter of fact, that is the case with the first one I have chosen. However, it is considered a classic and it was written by a famous writer. It just wasn't my kind of read. Someone else may be thrilled with it!

B-ooks

These are a few of my favorite things:

B is for Books.

I love books. Always have and always will. I'll show you:

First and most importantly are my Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My very first set, which I collected one or two at a time for gifts or as I saved my allowance. Little House in the Big Woods is a Scholastic book and I had always wished that I had a matching set. I cannot say how many times I have read these books. I ♥ Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I now own several sets of the Little House books. These are a few. Yes, I finally got my matching set. ☺

This bookcase holds my books that are Laura Ingalls Wilder related, by and about her or her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Except for the top shelf. That has my books by Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Maud Hart Lovelace and Rebecca LeeAnne Brammer.

I also collect books that are talked about in the Little House books. Pa's Big Green Book, Millbank, Tennyson's Poems.

More Laura-related antique books.

And just so you don't think that I'm totally obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder. Here are the rest of my books. A little messy, I know, and I'm constantly rearranging them. I have history, historical fiction, biographies and autobiographies, Michigan books and James Herriott books. And a few others.

I just bought this not long ago. Never really needed one before. Then I got old and forgetful. Yes, that is another set of Little House books behind the dictionary. That's my desk set. ☺

Last and most importantly. I have been reading this more through Lent. As I should be. It sits on my desk.

I admit there are more books packed away here and there. I love to read and have only recently had the time to actually do it again. Books...one of my favorite things!

Exciting announcement!

This came in the mail yesterday and I was pretty excited.

 

You see, when Tundra Books tweeted, a month or so ago, that they were looking for blogs to host a day for the book blog tour for Trilby Kent's Stones for my Father I signed up right away. I didn't expect to hear back, but I did! 

I will be hosting on Tuesday, April 26 so mark your calendars! ☺

I've never done a book blog tour before and hope that I do a good job so that I can do it again.

It looks like a good book, so I'm excited to get started.

My Laura (Ingalls Wilder). I can find her everywhere!

Jim and I stopped at the maple syrup supply store on our way home from the convention last Wednesday. They have everything you need for your maple syrup operation. Jim had to pick up some things that he needed and while we were waiting, I decided to browse through the maple syrup cookbooks. Over the past few years, I have learned to use maple syrup in my cooking. It's not just for pancakes!

I decided to buy a cookbook so that I could expand my maple syrup cooking expertise.

This was the first cookbook that I picked up. I decided to take a look.

I let it fall open in my hands so that I could page through it. Do you see the page it fell open to?



Take a look! Do you see it now?



Okay can you see it now?
I just had to buy this cookbook. Something told me that it was THE one! ☺
I showed it to Jim and he said that I just had to get it. He knows me!

It's true. Laura Ingalls Wilder fans can find connections everywhere, whether it's as obvious as the one I found or not so obvious like the ones where your family rolls their eyes... 

My boy, the "wild thing"

My boy (age 20, not so much a boy, I know ) takes after his dad. He does not enjoy reading. My husband only reads things like the newspaper or woodworking magazines or trade magazines. Basically things that he has to read to learn about something. Jon does not even read that much, which worries me. I hope that as he gets older and more mature he'll realize that reading is necessary and, of course, I would hope that he would learn to enjoy it. But then, I know he's too much like his dad. I have to jump in here and mention that they are both very smart and very good at what they do. Both of them have jobs that require them to use their brains. I think people don't give enough credit to others who choose to work at physical jobs. They are not all brawn with no brains. Okay, off my soapbox now! One thing that Jon did enjoy was being read to. I would read to him before he went to sleep and he always seemed to enjoy that. There came a time when I thought he was too old for it and should be reading on his own. I realize that was a mistake on my part as he just plain stopped reading. There was this one very exciting year in 6th grade that he had an awesome teacher. She had actually, several years earlier, been a bank executive and my boss at the bank I worked at. I never really liked her as she talked down to us and treated us like no-brainers (that's actually what she referred to our jobs in bank records as). After this bank ceased to exist she made the choice to get her teaching degree. Terrible boss but excellent teacher. I was worried at the beginning of the year, but was quickly put at ease. I would rank her up there with one of the best teachers that either of my kids experienced. Anyhow, she loved to read and somehow that struck my son. Never mind that I love to read! He read book after book that year! I was in my glory, looking for new and interesting books for him to read! He must have impressed this teacher because she nominated him for 110% student that year. A handful of students are nominated and honored at a lunch and have thier photo on a prominent bulletin board for the remainder of the year. I was able to read her letter of nomination. Like I said before, excellent teacher. She was able to teach my son to enjoy school and enjoy reading, something he hadn't done since maybe second grade and something he didn't really do again, except when he discovered his love of metal machining in his senior year (which doesn't mean he enjoyed his half day of classes that year!). I had hoped that the love of reading would carry on, but, no, he is a doer and I'm still trying to learn to accept that. We are having a terrible time getting him to continue taking college courses. He works full-time and is learning and loves it. He's very good at it too, actually. Won a national competition in his field two years ago, if I may be a proud mom for a moment! That's the part of him that loves to learn by doing, not by sitting in a classroom. We really think that if he had gone off to college, like we (and he) had originally planned that he would have ended up dropping out. It would have been too much. So, we can only hope that we can continue to encourage him to take a class or two at a time until he either earns a degree or realizes that the degree will benefit him in the long run. Why am I thinking about my boy and reading this Saturday morning? One of Jon's favorite books that I read to him (nearly every night for a very long time!) was "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I learned that they are making it into a movie. Without young children or grandchildren (yet) I have no excuse to go see this. I wonder if my boy would want to...oh, but I know he would never admit it. http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/buzz-log-wild-things.html