I read this book recently. The first line, alone, caught my interest - but it also made me wonder just what type of book it was!

It all started with a vibrator.

I was amused, and embarassed at the same time, because I was using that book (which I'd never read before) to show my boss my new Nook Tablet. And... that is the first line she saw on the screen. Oops!

I immediately gained the curiosity of what was inside it - was it a romance? It wasn't, though there was a love interest and other happenings in the book.

It's full of a woman making some rather... bad decisions while growing a backbone and, essentially, gaining her independence while chasing another woman - one she'd thought was a friend - after she stole her identity. I found myself going, "Don't do that. It will only turn out bad," in my head repeatedly as I read the book. But it kept me wondering what would happen.

It is the first book I read on my Tablet, prompted by the rather embarassing episode with showing my boss that dreaded first line, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I admit that I got through the about 350 pages in a single day - but then, my son was also home sick from school, so I had PLENTY of time.

I hadn't written here in a while to let you know what I'd been up to, so I figured telling you about the book I read might at least do a little.

I'm tempted to start a blog just about the books that I read, and talk about whether I liked them or not, etc. Sometimes updating a blog with much more is really hard - I just don't have the time or energy. We'll see what I decide.
 

Today is the 2nd birthday of "Reviewing Reviewers"  [E]! I'm very excited, as it is my first group that has been successful - if you can measure success by it being the only group that has survived longer than about three months. >.<

I have wonderful members, though, wonderful leaders, and just all-around good people that participate in it. Thank you to all that have made the group possible, and still allow it to thrive, even in our non-obligation ways.

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Also, for those interested, I have still been keeping an off-site blog when I have an opportunity to update it. You're welcome to stop by, I'd love to have you!

http://sjdaydreamer.wordpress.com/
 

I actually wrote this for an offsite blog yesterday, and I had the intentions of posting it here, but it just didn't happen. A day late, a dollar short? Perhaps not - I think some of you will still have interest in it. Some, probably not so much.

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I now have students coming through my classrooms who don’t remember what happened on September 11, 2001. The majority of these children were between 1 and 3 when the tragedy struck our nation, and while they have been told about it every year that they have been in school, they have no recollection of where they were or what they were doing that day. Within the next year or two, I will have students who weren’t even alive on that day. My own children weren’t even alive that day.

I don’t know, truly, if it is a tragedy or a blessing to these children. A bit of both, I suppose.

It is a tragedy, because they do not know how the country truly solidified together on that day. You couldn’t tell now with the arguments between the political parties, but for a while after this horrifying attack, the country was truly unified. More unified than I had ever seen it before, and honestly, more unified than it has ever been since then. Republican or Democrat didn’t matter at that time. I find it discomforting that this country has stooped to arguing about everything, never coming to any kind of compromise, and throwing blame and mud at one another constantly. It’s never their fault, it’s always the other person’s fault! That’s not politics, that is war. It used to interest me, but anymore, I’m tired of the blame games and the name calling. I never identified myself with one political party or another, and am still a registered Independent, because I choose to judge someone on their own actions and words rather than what side they choose to settle with. I miss the times when the issues were actually the issues, and not just a way to blame one another for whatever they want to twist it to be that day.

It is also a blessing, though. To these children who are growing up without the memories of the terror, the screams, the news reports, the sight of people jumping from the buildings in an effort to save themselves despite the length of the fall, the shock… to them, this country is still “safe”. They do not remember a time when this country was attacked on its own soil. The murders and shootings that happen on a nearly daily basis in the larger cities, that is one thing, but an actual military attack on our soil - infiltrating our own systems to launch an attack in an attempt to truly set us off balance – they do not remember that. All they know is that getting a plane ticket and actually getting on a plane is a pain in the butt BECAUSE of what happened then with the heightened securities that have remained in place since that day.

On September 11, 2001, this country hit its knees. They prayed to God for support, for guidance, and for their loved ones. People cried out to God searching for hope and love. People screamed to God in anger, asking why this had to happen. People admitted his existence! Even if they were incredibly pissed off at Him.

Since then, there have been court cases where people have tried to remove “Under God” from our pledges, because they believe it violates their child’s right when they have to state the pledge in school, because they don’t believe in God. It didn’t matter, to them, that this country was created – and one of the rights created with it was religious freedom. It didn’t matter, to them, that our Congresses still start every session with a prayer, no matter the religion of the senators and representatives sitting within that room. (At least, the last I heard, they did.) It didn’t matter, to them, that this country was founded on the fact that they should be allowed not to believe if they didn’t want to, and they couldn’t be persecuted for it! Fact is, that child has the right not to say those two words when they recite that pledge, and there is nothing anyone can say about it. But… BUT…. removing it because they don’t believe puts their belief above everyone else’s, and that is a violation. Putting one person’s religious beliefs (or lack thereof) above everyone else’s is a violation, and that is something that was stated would never be allowed in this country. We allow the religions of the people who have openly attacked us on our own soil, why would we not allow the religions of those who founded this country?

There have also been people who have tried to remove any reference to God from our currency.

People have been called “stupid” for their political beliefs and religious beliefs. Is that acceptance and tolerance? No. It is an insult based on the fact that someone believes differently than they do – and I’m sorry, difference of opinion is not equivalent to stupidity.

As the end of the school year approaches, I find myself getting more and more tired. It's harder to make it through the day and (believe it or not) harder to remain awake.

Every school year, this seems to happen. We approach the end of the school year, and I begin to become a daily zombie. Granted, I'm still making sure we have plenty to do in class, I'm just tired as I make it through the day. Before I had children, I'd quite literally sleep for a few days once the school year was over. I don't have that same opportunity now - the kids would love to be by themselves all day long, but I would be afraid of the consequences of THAT.

So... I wonder how hard it would be to get my nearly 7 year olds to agree to daily naps...

Yeah. Right.
 

So, I've been playing with photo manip lately. Well, not really lately - I've been playing with photo manip for a very long time. I just recently took it up on a more regular basis.

This month, there is a contest by DeviantArt where you have to take a picture of a cat, a picture of a fruit, and a picture of a clock and merge them somehow in photo manipulation. You are allowed to use other images, as long as you have full rights to them. You can use any medium for the rest, but you MUST use three of their nine offered pictures, and they must be recognizable.

It's still amazing to me that so many people don't follow the rules. There are a ton of submissions where the images aren't used at all, or where they aren't recognizable at all. One person entered a lemon - just a lemon. That's it.

It has been a very long time since I've updated this little blog. In my defense, I have been updating my offsite blog on WordPress on a rather regular basis, but it's never been as personal as this one. That one is designed for people that do not know me to read and enjoy, whereas this one touches a little more on my personal life (when I feel like talking about it.)

Back at the very beginning of September 2010, I woke up one morning, and I couldn't get from my bedroom to the bathroom without growing winded. I had no energy, no drive, no -- well, no anything. It was so bad, in fact, that the scary phrase "Chronic Fatigue Syndrom" was being tossed around. As there are varying levels of that, I was pretty much terrified.

Since CFS has no way to diagnose except with elimination, I had to go through tons and tons of tests. I owe the hospitals around here a whole lot of money, and that includes with the help of my insurance.

Finally, they sent me to a sleep specialist. Turns out, I have something called "Sleep Apnea", and I have for who knows how long. I may have gone for as much as 10+ years without getting proper sleep. Wow!

I wasn't diagnosed until early November, and then I didn't get the treatment (a machine that I have to sleep with every night) until I a week before Thanksgiving.

I couldn't tell a difference. My husband said he could.

Last weekend, I had two nights I didn't sleep with the machine. It was the first time since I received the machine that I went without it. Neither was intentional, though they were likely avoidable.

I was a zombie the third day. Utter... zombie.

I guess the machine DOES help!

I never realized how much getting good sleep really can change a person. As I was gradually recovering, I didn't feel the difference -- but going two nights without proper sleep hit me like a truck. I was emotional, I was dozing off all day long, I didn't want to do anything at all! I was a mess.

I put the machine back on, a few days later, I felt great again!

So... hmm. 1) Wearing a machine sucks, BUT 2) it sure makes my days go better.

I'm so glad I have an understanding, patient, and tolerant husband. He's been nothing but supportive, and he doesn't even mind sleeping with me with the machine. Though, if my mouth opens, air escapes through it and I sound something like Darth Vader. He just reaches over, closes it, then falls right back to sleep.

(Granted, he's sleeping better, too. He has been worried the entire time we've been married -- he would constantly kick me and tell me I wasn't breathing. He doesn't have to worry anymore.)

Why'd I write about this? No idea, but it feels good to tell people what is going on.

 

So, I've developed an off-site blog that I'm promoting through facebook and other things. Not necessarily for any particular purpose other than me wanting to get my name out there and entertain people.

Several have asked my goal, and truthfully, I don't have one really in mind except satisfying a more recent promise to myself to write at least once a week. The offsite blog will update every Thursday.

Why don't I put it on here, you ask? Well! The blog on here is more personal and informal, and I rather like it that way. I tend to think of those people that I know on WdC as friends, rather than people to solicit for blog reads and to advertise to. (No, my blog doesn't advertise anything, but you get the idea.) This blog is informal, and the other blog is more formal - intended for those who don't know me. Whereas this one is intended for those who DO know me.

The link to the facebook page, however, for those that use facebook, is as follows:

Things Worth Saying? Blog Facebook Page  

Feel free to "like" it if you like it, and you'll get updates through facebook whenever I make a blog post.

The direct link, for those who don't facebook, is:

Things Worth Saying?  

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And I'm back. Sorta. I'm going to start my "being back" rather slowly, and gradually build to (hopefully) my old level of activity. The health issue has been handled, and I'm slowly regaining my energy. Let us hope?
 

But I got this in my email, and it made me giggle, groan, and roll my eyes right when I needed distraction.

Puns for Educated Minds

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine.

21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'

22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'

23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

 

I freely admit that I haven't updated either log of mine in quite some time. I suppose I haven't felt inspired, or maybe it's even a lack of motivation, in general. I use up so much energy during the day when the school year begins, I swiftly come home and become a blob of jello stuck to my plate of a recliner. I read, or I play a game, or I watch television (after feeding my family, making sure the homework gets done for the kids, shooing them off to bed) - and I'm completely useless. My mind is mush!

Hopefully, soon, I'll figure out how to better balance my time. THAT is what I am the worst with. Until then, Adios! I'll try to update a little more often, if nothing else.
 

I'll admit - I'm writing this more for one person than for anyone else, but I thought some of you curious people might want to know why I'm so behind in everything.

My house is a mess. My classroom hasn't yet been cleaned out - and that was supposed to be done a week ago. I haven't updated "Reviewing Reviewers"  [E] in I don't know how long. I have about 40 - 50 reviews I need to respond to. I have several signatures that are owed people - either through my shop or through the winning of some things. I owe reviews. I have newsletters to write. I haven't updated my off-WdC blog in forever. This is the first time I've updated this one in a long time. I haven't been able to give the attention to anyone that they deserve. I'm teaching summer school, and I'm taking other kiddos for extra tutorials for two and a half hours in the afternoon, as well. I'm overwhelmed, and I hardly know where to begin.

I go out of town for a few days, then my net goes down, then I concentrate on catching up with things... and then I have about 20-30 reviews sitting in my review box. I have a LOT of responding to do! I just wanted to let those few who read my blog know that I haven't forgotten. I know they are there, and I will get to responding as soon as I have the chance.

It was a nice surprise, though, to find all of those reviews. I want to thank Simply Positive and their leaders for choosing one of my pieces to put up for review. You rock.
 

... who wants a blog entry, I have this feeling. In all fairness, he wrote one about me, so I'll return the favor. (I also owe one to someone else, I think! But I'll wait until I know that one better.)

Pretty much when I first arrived on WdC, I met this man who hid behind the guise of a man who milks cows. (Either that, or the guise of a cow, which was even more interesting!)

At the time, he was running a contest called the Decathalon, and because I was a contest junky, I joined in. (I met a lot of interesting people during this competition, some whom I still talk to and adore - including one who kicked my behind, W.D.Wilcox © ¿ Φ . Man is he good!)

After this contest, which I greatly enjoyed but got my behind slaughtered in, I asked to see if I could be a judge the next year. Well, I wasn't a moderator (now I am!), so I couldn't be - that was his one rule. I think I wasn't even a yellow case, then. I was black.

Anyway, that's how the relationship started. We started chatting, goofing off, and inspiring one another to be - for a lack of a better term - incredibly silly! We both have entire blog entries of us asking one another questions, and then answering them - or making one answer the questions FOR us, and then saying if they were correct or not.

He is a very dear friend who I don't get to talk to as much, but I still remember the times we did. Now we share more of our real lives than we did at the beginning, but I think that is the natural progression of friendship. (And yes, we can still be plenty silly.) We've shared good times and bad, been there for each other when we've really needed someone, and just generally been good friends for... well, several years now.

Thank you, MOO for President for your friendship. WdC wouldn't be the same without it, and neither would I.
 

My children are a source of endless entertainment, truthfully. I started writing a blog entry in my wordpress blog the other day about them, and I just couldn't get through it. Well, I finally got through it today.

Boys Vs. Girls  

I'm getting a lot more writing done lately, and it feels really good. It's not fiction writing, it's not working on my book, it's not doing short stories or poetry... but it is something! Blog writing is still writing - I'm not having to struggle to pull it out of my fingers or my mind, so it does feel really good. (And by golly, it's a lot of fun!)

I've really wanted to get into writing Children's books, and now have the resources to do so. Maybe I can develop this... "article" type writing that you'll find in my other blog, if you click my link, into something that can actually be productive, uplifting, and... well, fulfilling, I suppose.
 

Yes, yes, I know it's a little childish to state it in such a manner, but I really am excited!

Many of you who know me may not even know this, but I really, really want to be a children's author. I know that some people think that those writing children's books aren't "serious" authors, but I am a firm believer in bringing up children with a love of reading. That way it will last (hopefully) through the crazy pre-teen years, the uphevel of being a teen, and the definitely unexpected chaos of being an adult.

Children think it's so much easier being old. In some ways, they are correct. In some ways, they are VERY, very wrong.

I received three books in the mail today. I live in the middle of nowhere, so ordering things online is a necessity. I got the following:

I wrote an article on my other blog today, and I thought I might share it with you guys. My blog here is much more... personal and relaxed, I suppose, which is why I go ahead and keep the pair of them. (Plus, I know people here that read it - and that's fun!)

Anyway, I had a blast writing this article, so I thought I'd go ahead and share it with you:

http://sjdaydreamer.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/how-i-can-tell-im-getting-old/

It does reveal a little bit about my current symptoms of the disease we all know as "getting older". We all face it, and all of us handle it a bit differently. The article touches on my old rockstar dream, my breakfasts from high school and college, my loss of fearlessness, and my need for more sleep.
 

No, I admit that I'm not really going to talk about animal noises. I've been doing a lot of grumbling and grunting today, but I swear I'm not trying to be animalistic. It's more like... my knee hurts more than it has in years, and so it makes moving rather difficult. I get to go into the "Big City" tomorrow for a check up, so hopefully I'm moving a little better by then.

Of course, it would be the knee on the foot that uses that gas pedal that is bugging me, right? I guess I'm glad for cruise control. It's not really the driving that's intimidating me, though. I can manage sitting for an hour and a half at a time. What terrifies me is.... Wal-Mart.

I never get to go by myself, so I'm going to take advantage of the fact that I can wander in and actually look at GIRL things. Or, I will... if I can walk. I'm considering pilfering one of those little motorized carts, except that I'd drive people insane. I always change my mind, so I'd constantly be "beep, beep, beep"ing and going backwards to change direction.

On second thought, I think I'll just... suffer, and get some good pain meds.
 

So, I'm bored, itchy, achey, and everything else... so what do I do? Well, I do two things. First, I write another blog entry in my wordpress blog: http://sjdaydreamer.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/allergies-are-the-devil/

Yes, yes, I know... keeping two blogs is a little silly. I swear you guys get to see things a little more personal over here.

The second thing I do is create a second wordpress blog... mainly because I really, really miss http://saidinbed.com since they stopped updating more than a year ago. Mine will, very likely, not be as popular, but anything is worth a try, yes? In case you are curious, here you go: http://didyoujustsay.wordpress.com/

I think boredom, for me, is a dangerous thing.
 

I don't think I've ever been so frustrated in my entire life!

Well, I lie. I have probably been more frustrated. However, I have never been to the point where I simply refuse to leave the house - but today, I am at that point. I refuse to leave.

Yesterday wasn't so bad. I had hives on my knees and on my elbows, but not really anywhere else. Speckles on my stomach and legs, but everything could be covered. As such, I went about my day regularly, and did what we planned to do. However, as we were starting home yesterday, my lip began to swell. It was a very slow process at first, and by the time I picked up the kids from the sitter, I looked like I'd had a little botox injected. No biggie, it was just a little swell.

By the time I went to bed, my lip was swollen about three times this size. I went to bed, upset and just hoping that the next day I'd wake up and everything would be okay - well, it's not. My forehead and cheeks are covered in blotches, there are hives all over my scalp beneath my hair, and my nose is swollen with hives. AND my bottom lip is still swollen.

Not only have I never had this sort of reaction to anything before (yes, I'm already on medication for it - I can't imagine what it would be WITHOUT the medication), and nothing has ever, ever, ever driven me to so much embarrassment that I refuse to leave the house.

I don't think it's vanity, it's more that I don't want to field the questions about it. People aren't going to laugh around here (most everyone knows me because of my job at the school), but they'd be worried and asking a million questions. Most people haven't figured out that when someone is miserable, it's not the time to answer questions - leave them alone!

Now, we have state testing this week. My mere PRESENCE would be a distraction to the students, if this doesn't go away by tomorrow. I'm simply at a loss - I have no idea what to do. I thought reactions like this only happened in the movies...
 

... I'm just going to post a link. >.< Forgive my laziness, and click if you actually want a glimpse into my own political views. I don't venture into those very often:

http://sjdaydreamer.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/obama-response/

Sara Jean


I am a teacher, and I can say one thing about the profession.
While it is sometimes frustrating, it is never boring.