Book Review: Son of Neptune

It took me a little longer to get through this book because I was sidetracked with rewatching The Vampire Diaries Seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix. It was similar to The Lost Hero in the fact that we were introduced to new characters and Percy lost his memory like Jason. Part of it was fairly predictable like all of his books, but it was nice to see some surprises and connections made between this book and the books from the Percy Jackson series. I'm already ready for the next book but it doesn't come out until NEXT Fall. I assume there will be at least 5 books in the series, but I'm thinking it'll be more along the lines of 7 books. If that's the case, it may be a long time before we figure out how it all ends.

The Last 24 Hours

Let me preface this by saying I AM SO TIRED. Last night we had some people over to watch the Saints whoop up on the Giants. Who knew the game would last til 11:00? Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with people and 11:00 isn't too bad (even though it was a school night). I figured, 11:00 - cool. that means I'll be able to sleep about 7 hours. Yeeeaaahhh. It would've been cool but when we let Lucy inside a mouse ran into our bedroom with her! I mean, seriously, it's 11:00, I have school tomorrow, and now we have to look for a mouse amidst all this clutter in our room. About midnight we gave up and went to bed. We figured it went in this little hole we found so we taped it up and tried to sleep soundly.
Then today, being exhausted to begin with, school seemed so long! I love my kids and most days I can find something to laugh about, but today I was just too tired. Plus Kaleb has had a low grade fever the past few days and was just fussy. I tried to take a little nap when I got home so my body would function properly, but that doesn't work so great when you have a toddler...even if you have the best husband in the world who would give up his nap time so you could attempt yours. After about an hour I got up and started thawing the chicken for chicken fried rice. Of course, the rice didn't cook right and it was crunchy so we ended up eating chicken and squash which wasn't that bad.
About halfway through eating Kaleb comes in from the office to tell us he has a booger he can't get out. Well, turns out "booger" is code word for button. Yep, there was a little green button in his nose. Everytime he would blow out so I could try to grab it, he would suck it back up. Super frustrating. Finally I got it out and it was covered in snot (as expected). So to repeat the beginning of this post, I AM SO TIRED. Tomorrow's got to be better. I'm going to hurry up and get there.

Sisterly Inspiration

When I go to Amelia's house I get inspired to make my house more interesting. Usually I just say that and then forget and go on with my bare walls and clutter. This time I'm going to set a goal for each room. Then, hopefully, I'll be able to post before and after pictures.

Living room: Cover the ottoman
Dining room: Cover the chair cushions
Kitchen: Put away the clutter
Laundry room: Put in a shelf
Office: Paint the walls
Guest room: Clean out closet
Bathroom: Art on the wall
Master bedroom: New night stand
Kaleb's room: Put up second shelf

Wish me luck!

My Favorite Place

The clutter fades (though three feet deep)
When I turn out the lights
And gently rock my son to sleep
And wish him sweet "Goodnights."

He tells me all about his day
in his sweet toddler prose
And though I understand most words
Some Heaven only knows.

But when his sleepy eyes droop down
And his head falls to my chest
I realize this rocking chair
Is the place I love the best.

Book Review: A Love That Multiplies

I actually finished this book a little while ago, but totally forgot to write up a book review. I didn't read the first book but this one was very interesting. I love watching the Duggars on TLC and they're so interesting in their beliefs and values. This isn't the type of book I usually read. I like books with plots. But it was nice to read something different, something about someone else's life. Iliked that there were recipes throughout the book and I even tried one of them after I read it. They have some pretty conservative beliefs and I don't agree with everything they do, but I respect them for sticking to their faith.

I Remember

I remember when I heard about the news of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York. I was a junior in high school at Jackson Prep. I was in math class when some news leaked about the crash. The teacher kinda said that sucks and we should pray for them, but then we went back to our daily business. During second period more information started coming in. We talked about it a little bit and started voicing our concerns that we were going to be hit next. Then we collectively realized that who would want to attack Jackson, MS? Our history teacher, of course, was very interested in it and was one of the only teachers who had the news on during the day and was letting students watch and discuss it. The other teachers tried to keep to their lesson plans as much as they could so I didn't really hear much about it until I got home. When I got home it was like the world was crashing down around us. Every station on tv (except Disney) was broadcasting about it. I watched the plane fly into the building countless times. I stayed on the station, not even wanting to go to sleep for fear I would miss something big. I saw the towers fall and heard about the people jumping out of the 90th floors. It was absolutely unbelievable. How could this happen? Why would this happen? What must the people in the buildings or the people with loved ones in the buildings be thinking and feeling? That was 10 years ago today. Now, more than ever, the impact of that event hits home. Now that I have a husband and a child, it becomes even more unfathomable. I can't imagine being trapped in a burning building, knowing I was never going to see Eric of Kaleb again. I can't imagine talking to Eric on the phone, hearing him scream, and then being disconnected forever. The American people did something that day ten years ago that is very rarely done. They united together. The tragedy of being attacked on our own soil sparked something inside us that should be apparant daily...pride and resolve. You could almost sense America saying, "Oh no they didn't!" Songs were written about it, books and movies stemmed from it, and a sense of that loss and pride rolls around this time every year. I wish we could harness that pride and resolve every day so that each morning we could say with conviction,
I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
So I proudly stand up, next to you
And defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA!

Bad Blogger Update

I've been a bad blogger lately. Ever since Kaleb's second birthday party I've kinda been super busy with my class and my students. Plus there's nothing really interesting about my life at the moment. This post is just going to be some random catching up.
On the book front: I'm rereading The Hunger Games in anticipation of the movie (that doesn't come out until March) and I'm on the last book. I only have a few chapters left to read so I'll probably finish that one today or tomorrow. I'm trying to pass the awesomeness on so I lent it to a friend. I don't know if he'll read it, but he said he would. After this I get to start my new book...the new Duggar book! I'm super excited to start reading it. I usually don't go for books without plots (i.e. Jesus books, self help, biographies, etc) but I like them so much and am so curious about their lives.
On the Kaleb/baby front: Kaleb's a handful! He's really able to express what he wants now, but not always what upsets or aggravates him. This leads to several meltdowns a day. We're trying to be firm parents and we're making him calm down before we give him what he wants and say please before we help him. There's no Baby Satterwhite 2 on the way. We're having to take a break from trying because of Brad's wedding this summer. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit disappointed. We got pregnant the first time without even trying so I thought it would be super easy this time. Turns out, not so much. I had to cry about it a little bit when I found out I wasn't pregnant because it meant I'd have to wait at least 4 months to start trying again. I really want to be pregnant and hold a newborn baby again. I just have to trust that God's plan is perfect and that I wasn't meant to get pregnant yet.
On the job front: School's pretty good. I've got a routine going and my students are really starting to get used to my style of teaching...which is a lot of groups. On any given day, at any given time, you could walk in and see kids in groups on the floor, desks turned around, and "centers" going. I don't think I could teach whole group all day long. It's just too draining on them and me.
On the September front: I've got class every other Tuesday night and lots of homework to do this month. I also have to sign up to take my comps in November and register to graduate in May. At the end of the month I'll be working at the children's market with my mom to make a little extra money. This is supposed to go towards paying off our bills. I'm sure most of it will. Football season has started which is good for NFL time but bad for WCHS time. Eric's gone every Friday night now. If I didn't have Kaleb then I'd go and hang out with him (and the other directors) on game nights, but with Kaleb it's pretty much impossible to go and enjoy myself. Contests start in October, so for the moment I'm just thankful I can still see him on Saturdays.
And that is my Bad Blogger Update.