I went through a reading slump recently that was kind of driving me crazy. Really, it started in Halifax. I optimistically packed several books in my suitcase and then George and I ended up at a Chapters bookstore (oh Chapters, how I missed you) so I bought myself a copy of Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. What a crazy person I was.

There was no time for reading! Not really, anyway. I did manage to read a little here and there but I was too busy either trying to bang out all my work for the day as quickly as possible or else I was doing things like visiting Peggy’s Cove, wandering along the boardwalk in downtown Halifax, or you know, being my sister’s maid of honor. There wasn’t much left over for reading.

I think I read about 40 or 50 pages in the three weeks that I was there. Sad. Then when I got back home it took me forever to get through it which was a shame since it was actually a very enjoyable book. There was just so much going on when I got home that I couldn’t get into it until I hit the last third of the book, at which point I had trouble putting it down.

After I finally read the last page I then hemmed and hawed over what to read next, reading the first five or ten pages of different books before tossing them aside. I’m now currently reading Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts, a supernatural thriller – first in a trilogy – that I borrowed from my mother. The fact that my mother actually read a supernatural trilogy and enjoyed it is astounding to me because that’s not what I normally see her reading, but she did say it was good so I grabbed all three of them from her shelf.

I again had trouble getting into it even though I was intrigued. However, I’m now about a hundred pages from the end and I wish I had more hours in the day or needed less sleep or something so that I could just finish it. I’m eager to get started on the other two books.

I think part of my problem is that I’m missing my weakness. A couple of years ago I learned that I missed my calling and should have double-majored (or majored-minored, whatever) in Middle Eastern Studies and Women’s Studies. One of my favorite things to read is any book set in those two areas. It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction (such as my number one favorite book EVER, A Thousand Splendid Suns) or non-fiction (like Not Without My Daughter which I just re-read before starting my current book). If it takes place in a Middle Eastern country and features women as its main characters, I’m all over it.

I need to pick up a couple of those types of books I think. Then when I’m finished my demon-filled small town trilogy I’ll have something else waiting for me to fill the void.

What are you reading right now? What’s your favorite type of book to read?

Originally our Sunday plans included getting some breakfast from McDonald’s to eat at home (healthy, I know, but so good) and then we were going to go to a nice big park that has a pond, a play park, and lots of farm animals (including a pen with goats, where you can go in and pet them which is always fun).

Unfortunately when I took the dog out this morning, it was raining so that was out. Breanna already has a bad cough and I’ve gone and developed one myself so there was no way we were going out in the damp drizzle just to see goats.

We did get breakfast though, so at least there was that.

Since we were staying home anyway there was no way for me to continue to be in denial of the mess that was Hayley and Breanna’s room so I embarked on that once I was done with breakfast. After six hours I finally emerged, exhausted. However the bright side is that seasonal clothing has been switched out, with t-shirts and shorts being packed away and long sleeve shirts and jeans taking up residence in the drawers. I also threw out three bags of garbage (don’t ask what I threw out, even the kids don’t know what’s gone), packed up another garbage bag with clothing for the donation bin, and now the whole room is sparkling clean.

Let’s hope it stays that way for at least a week or I may end up in a padded room.

I’m exhausted after all of that. Between that, making supper, washing the dishes, and making a run to the store for toilet paper it was all I could do to say goodnight to the kids so I could crash on the couch with George to share some red wine and watch Criminal Minds re-runs on A&E.

And now I’m going to go watch the end of the show while sampling the dark chocolate with sea salt that I bought while at the store. People have been talking about it relentlessly on Twitter and God knows I can’t resist chocolate or salt, so together it should be perfect.

I hope your Sunday was more relaxing than mine!

Today at 11:00 am (well, okay, it was 11:15 but I don’t think the exact time is as important as taking the moment at some point on November 11th) I stopped what I was doing and gave thanks to all the people in the military – past and present – who have fought or are still fighting for freedom, for peace, and for our lives in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, wherever. I’m not exactly what you would call pro-war but I am pro-freedom and unfortunately just wishing that the world could be a peaceful place won’t make it so.*

Because war is something that we can’t necessarily avoid right now, I support the troops who serve wherever their missions may lead them. My grandfather fought in WWII (I wrote about that last year if you’re curious), and I loved and admired him tremendously so how could I not support them? Whenever I hear people slamming soldiers for what they signed on to do I can’t help but think, “yeah, and they fight for your freedom so that you can be allowed to say that.”

Hayley’s school was supposed to have a special assembly today with some war veterans and I offered my so-called services, volunteering to go take pictures. A friend of mine who saw the assembly last year said that it’s amazing and the veterans get very emotional when the kids read “In Flanders Fields”. Unfortunately the assembly had to be pushed until tomorrow because the veterans couldn’t make it to the school and to their own services. I’ll still be going and look forward to seeing it.

Breanna has been coughing for about two weeks now and woke me up at 4:30 am. We took her to the clinic so it’s a good thing the assembly was postponed anyway or else I would have been rushing too much – not to mention the fact that I’m exhausted. Luckily she’s generally fine. He checked her ears, throat, and lungs but everything’s clear and the cough is really the only thing that she has so he told me to just give it some more time and come back if anything changes for the worse. I knew it wasn’t H1N1 since she had no fever or aches, but I thought it might have been bronchitis, which she had two years ago. It’s good to know she’s not dealing with any infections.

In the meantime, here’s hoping that she won’t wake me up in the middle of the night tonight too. I can take much better photos when I can keep my eyes open!

Lest we forget… Have you remembered the troops today?

*I’m sorry, despite my serious post, I can’t stop giggling now that I’m picturing Captain Picard saying, “World Peace – make it so!”