Fablehaven by Brandon Mull:  This is a series and I read all five book, which include…

• Fablehaven
• The Rise of the Evening Star
• Grip of the Shadow Plague
• Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
• Keys to the Dragon Prison

This was a fun series to read and is often compared to Harry Potter.  I still think Harry Potter is better (you’ll have a hard time convincing me of much being better then Harry Potter) but Fablehaven has some unique and fun aspects to it that I really enjoyed.  This series is best suited for ages 9-12 probably, although I think anyone can enjoy it, I just found it slightly juvenile.

The Necromancer by Michael Scott:  This is book four in a series called “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel”.  While I’ve sort-of enjoyed this series, I can honestly say that this installment was a huge disappointment.  Nothing happens in this book at all, it’s really just a filler novel between books three and five (whenever that one comes out).  I really hate this type of book in a series, all it does is waste the reader’s time.  I strongly believe that individual books in a series that can’t stand alone without making some sense are poorly done.  I would rank this book among one of those, I was very disappointed.  I will probably read book five in this series, but something better happen or I’m going to give this series up.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar:  I picked this up to read because I’m a huge fan of the author, I love his writing style and his book Holes is one of my favorite books ever.  This book actually centers around the game of Bridge, which sounds like it might be kind of boring (and for some readers, probably will be) but I enjoyed this read.  It didn’t feature a whole lot of action, being about a card game and all, but it was definitely unique.

Runaway by Meg Cabot:  This is the third and final book in the “Airhead” series, for young adults (teenage girls mostly).  While I thought the first two books, Airhead and Being Nikki, were fun to read, this final book disappointed me.  The climax fell flat and I got the impression that the author might possibly have rushed out this final book just to get it done.  It’s too bad, Meg Cabot’s a fun writer, I wish she had put more effort into this book.  I had high hopes for this series, but because of the poor ending I’m not sure I would recommend it.

Insatiable by Meg Cabot:  This is Meg Cabot’s stab at a vampire novel.  Think “Twilight” for adults.  Cabot intended to write this as a tongue-in-cheek book and she does spend some time making fun of the vampire fandom surrounding the “Twilight” and “True Blood” series.  Partway through the novel takes a more serious turn and that’s where I didn’t like it so much.  If Cabot had stayed in spoof form I would have enjoyed it more.  However, I did find the ending of this book much more satisfying then anything I ever read in “Twilight”.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan:  This is also a five book series, I read all of them in about a two week span.  The books include…

• The Lightning Thief
• The Sea of Monsters
• The Titan’s Curse
• The Battle of the Labyrinth
• The Last Olympian

I have to say I had a lot of fun reading this series!  I just don’t know how else to describe it.  Again, this series often gets compared to Harry Potter.  Of all the books I’ve heard compared to Harry Potter over the years I think this series might get the closest.  Still, it’s very different from Harry Potter, centered more around mythology then magic.  I also think it’s not as complex as Harry Potter, but I loved the writing style, the action, and the characters.  These books are getting young boys to love reading, which doesn’t surprise me at all, this series is perfect for the young reluctant male reader.  But girls would enjoy it, too. (I did!)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:  My son had to read this for his summer reading project so I decided to read it as well once he was done.  This book officially ranks as the best book I read this summer (followed very, very closely by the Percy Jackson series).  I’m already planning on reading the rest of the trilogy, the final book is due to be released in about a week.  I timed that really well!

Now, now…I’m sorry if you stumbled onto my blog by accident looking for something else, but does that mean you have to stay and make pointless, rude, and unkind comments on my blog?  Also, I won’t make any apologies for my website failing to live up to your unknown expectations.  No one is forcing you to stay.

Your weird logic about giving this domain away to the Timidity++ project does not make sense to me.  I’ve owned this domain since 2002, if the project people want a domain they can easily go get their own.  Last time I checked timidity.com and .net were just domain name holders, that should mean they are up for purchase somewhere.  So why pick on me for no reason?  There is room on the internet for everyone!  Besides, you don’t seem to have anything to do with the Timidity++ project so why don’t you just butt out and let them worry about their own domain needs.

To anyone else who came across this website looking for Timidity++, you’ve obviously come to the wrong place.  Sorry about that!  Perhaps you would be so kind as to not follow Richard’s example?  Mean comments are not necessary.  Thank you so much.

So I spend plenty of time online, just not here.  Kind of make me wonder if it’s time to give up this domain.  Honestly, the main reason I keep it around is to maintain my membership in The Quilting Bee.  Other then that I really don’t use it much (however I just paid for another year of hosting so if I do give it up I’ll still keep it for at least another year, after that I’m just not sure).

I use Facebook to interact with my friends in a random, casual way.  I use Livejournal to blog about my doll collection (so I don’t bore the pants off everyone here with my ramblings on that subject).  I use Flickr to post photos of said doll collection.

I also use Etsy to maintain my doll clothing store.  I’ve been running it for a little over a year and just made my 200th sale!  So it’s going very well over there.  It’s just with all my attention being spent on these other places my domain has gone dormant.  I used to focus my energy on my domain but now these other online places seem to fill those needs (er…wants).

I don’t know.  It’s a tricky quandary.

I decided to cancel our newspaper because of what I consider to be a ridiculous rate increase.  I’m gutted about it, but at the same time I don’t know why I should put up with being screwed over (as I see it).  When push comes to shove I don’t have to give them money.  Here’s the deal:  I’ve subscribed to the Houston Chronicle for 6+ years.  I get the paper delivered daily and I pay every six months for the service.  Back when I first started as a subscriber it cost about $90 for the every six months.  Every once in a while there were rate increases, which is to be expected and eventually the last time I paid in June it was up to $102.  To me going from $90 to $102 isn’t that bad, it’s only $12 over six years…big deal.  But early in December my bill came again and now they are asking $132 for the same service.  I can’t be the only one who thinks that is ridiculous.  Maybe it’s a good price, but it’s not about the price, it’s about the price increase over such a short period of time (30% more since the last time I paid six months ago).  Anyway, I was totally annoyed and decided keeping it wasn’t worth it.

So, no more newspaper.

When I called to cancel they asked why and I said I didn’t like the price.  They said, “Yes, well there was a rate increase.”  My reply:  “That was some increase!”  They, of course, tried to induce me to keep the paper but they couldn’t give me a better deal so it’s done and over now.

Like I said, I know the economy is bad, but to me that’s just ridiculous.  How do they expect to keep customers and make money if they expect us to just take a rate increase like that?  I’m bummed that there will be no more paper, but we will be saving some money now so it’s not all bad.

Stupid economy makes people do stupid things, I guess…

I’m still selling doll clothing at my Etsy store.  Since that’s a project I work on all by myself it takes up a lot of my free time.  However, I’ve made over 100 sales since I opened so I’d deem it a success.  Or as much of a success as I was hoping for.  It gives me a little extra spending money for my doll hobby which is all I wanted.  AND it’s fun!

The holidays!  We stayed home for Thanksgiving.  We still did the full blown turkey dinner with all the trimmings and it was nice.  We were eating turkey for days, but whatever (isn’t that the point?).  Then I entered the Christmas zone…this can be good or bad for me.  Sometimes the stress is overwhelming for me, other times I handle it okay.  This year was one of the better years.  I planned ahead of time better and got things done faster so I’m not nearly as stressed out.  As we speak I’m pretty much done and ready for the big day (aka: Christmas).  I only have two things left to do:  Get my husband one last gift, which should be easy, and send out the Christmas cards.  Yes, I know that means the cards will probably be late, but I don’t see the sense in worrying about that too much.  I’m not much of a Christmas card person but I try and doing it just falls low on my list of priorities, that’s why I’m a little late with it.  I’m wondering if I should bag this tradition all together?  Hmmmm…

Then last week my sister and her husband came to visit us for a few days.  That was a lot of fun and I loved seeing my sister, it’s been a while.  She lives in Australia so it’s not like we can get together whenever we want.  Anyway, it was a short visit, but I enjoyed it.

This week I will just be finishing up a few more things and baking.  I love baking around Christmas!  I plan to do some peanut butter fudge, my kids have been asking for it.  That’s easy enough.  And we are doing a ham for Christmas dinner so I just need to finish getting the things for our meal.

We aren’t planning on doing any traveling this Christmas and just stay home for once.  I know this bums out certain family members, but travel is stressful and it’s been quite a few years since we just stayed home.  Plus, driving to see family this year probably isn’t the best idea.  Neither of our vehicles are in top working order at the moment.  Since my husband has some time off work his focus will be to get them fixed up and working well again.  I think his truck is done and better now, but my car (or whatever you want to call it, it’s a 4-runner) needs some work.  He tried fixing it yesterday…didn’t help.  I think we are going to have to take it to a mechanic and fork out the bucks to get it right.  *sigh*  Well, that’s just life.  Anyway, it just means driving travel like we do a lot of years for Christmas is out of the question.  Sorry…

So, that’s my life right now.  Told you it wasn’t exciting, heh.  I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  Take care. <3

Note:  I have my daughter home today with a fever and sore throat.  It could be strep, but a part of me is wondering if it might be swine flu, too…we’ll see.

Speaking of medical stuff, I’m about ready to fire my kids’ pediatricians.  I mean they are good doctors but if I need my kids to be seen for anything other then a run of the mill cold, a physical, or routine vaccinations I get the standard response from the receptionist/nurse, “We don’t do that here.”  The don’t remove warts or treat infected ingrown toe nails…I thought these were pretty basic procedures that any doctor can do…but no, I had to be referred to a dermatologist and a podiatrist for this stuff.  This is more expensive for me, way less convenient, and it takes a lot more time.  Plus, a lot of these specialists are far away.  Annoying.  The next time I call if they say, “We don’t do that here,” I’m tempted to retort, “Do you do anything?”  I see a general practioner and even he removed a mole for me right there in his own office himself.  I’m tempted to just start taking my kids to see him instead. :\

In better news, my mom is coming to visit soon so I’m really happy about that.  Also, my sister just told me last week that she and her husband are going to come see us in December!  I love having really great stuff like this to look forward to.

Here is my life right now:  My oldest son is about to start high school… :O  He spent the last three weeks at summer band learning how to march, etc…outside for much of that time in 100+ degree weather.  Yes, he’s still alive (and he has a nice tan) but he’s exhausted and school hasn’t even started yet.  He wasn’t feeling well today so I called him in sick.  I think he really is sick, he’s not one to complain usually and his throat is looking red.  No fever so that is good.

My middle son forgot to give me his information about summer band at the end of school last year so he completely missed it all!  Way to go…but his directors don’t mind.  Since it’s Junior High it’s less strict and not required.  Still, it would have been nice if he had been able to go.  Oh well, too late now.   We did make it to the ice cream social last night so that was good.

My daughter, the youngest, is the most excited about starting school (on Monday, by the way).  She is going to a new school, intermediate school for 5th and 6th graders.  They have been renovating the school all summer…but they weren’t quite done when she went for orientation so she didn’t get to find her way around or get her locker or anything.  It was a real let down and now she’s more nervous about school starting because she doesn’t know her way around at all.  I’m just annoyed by it all because going seemed like a waste of time since we only got her schedule but it means nothing since we couldn’t tour the school.

At least at the Junior High my middle son got his schedule and we got to tour the school, find all his classrooms, and locate his locker.  That did not waste my time.

So…on top of three separate school orientations and summer band we are trying to get ready for school and keep up with other stuff.  Also, my daughter’s birthday is Tuesday and I haven’t been able to get anything for her yet.  That is my priority next week.  At this rate I’ll be relieved when school starts just so it will be all done.  The house is also a total mess, don’t even get me started on that.

But it won’t be all done because of marching band which will continue all through the high school football season.  Ugh.  I have to work the concession stand for two games and help water the band for another game.

So…I’m just overwhelmed a little.  Can I cry now?

Because of the drought the city has imposed new water restrictions on lawn watering, which I totally get because a drought just makes people want to water the lawn more so it doesn’t die but it uses a lot of water which exasperates the drought problem.

Anyway, we aren’t anal about our lawn.  If there’s a drought and our lawn gets a little brown, to me it’s just the way it is.  We water enough so it won’t totally die, even if it’s a bit brown it will easily come back.  We have an automatic sprikler system to water three times a week.  Easy enough.

However, our neighborhood, in compliance with the city water restrictions, has asked everyone to voluntarily use an even/odd water rationing technique.  Basically everyone with and even address number waters on even days and odd addresses water on odd days.

That’s all fine and dandy…except for the fact that if we comply with their request we will actually end up watering more often (instead of less, which is what I’m guessing their goal is) then if we just leave our watering schedule the way it is now.

So does it makes sense to do as they ask, or just keep doing it the way we have been doing it?  It’s voluntary and since we are using less water doing it our way we’re just going to keep doing it that way.  I’m not saying water rationing is a bad idea, but perhaps it would have been better if they had just said, “Please don’t water more often then every other day,” which to me would have made way more sense.  The other dumb thing is they don’t specify limits on how long you can water.  So if someone was watering every day and has now moved to doing it every other day but keeping the water on twice as long, the water use is not being reduced at all.

Yeah, it didn’t make much sense to me either…

Example:  People send me things like hugs and then want me to return them.  I also got an invite to play some restaurant game (that I honestly have no interest in).  I said “ignore” on that invite, but a few days later the same person sent another invite for the same thing!  Can they not take a hint?  Another person sent me a “banana tree” for a game or something called “Farm Town”…I’m not making this up.  I don’t play this game, or any other type of trading game on Facebook, so I’m not sure why I’m being sent a tree or anything else unless it’s their way to get me to play.

I just don’t really know what happens when I push the button that says “ignore”…and is everyone going to start thinking I’m mean because I ignore all these requests?  My request list is getting all cluttered up with this stuff and I need to clean it out but I’m not sure exactly what to do.

Another problem:  I have one friend request from someone I totally don’t know.  I can’t fathom why they would friend me in the first place unless they think they know me…but for the life of me, I can’t figure out who they are.  Is it rude to messege them and say, “who are you?” because I’d feel bad and stupid if I should know who they are.  Or should I just ignore them, too.  I also have another friend request from someone I do know online but I’m not sure I want to be Facebook friends with them.  All of this makes me feel really mean…

Who knew Facebook could create such guilt trips!

Anyway, on the good side (because there is one, I promise) Facebook is helping me keep in touch with my family so that part I am really liking and makes getting one totally worth it.  I just wish I could do that without all the other distractions that seem to come along with it.  It’s not to say I don’t waste time online, I’m just not interested in doing it the Facebook way.

——

On a completely different topic, I’ve done most of my website clean up.  I know it doesn’t look any different really, but I like this design and didn’t want to change it.  Mostly I just deleted several pages that were outdated or useless (I don’t think they will be missed by anyone) and brought some of my other pages up to date.  I also simplified a few things.  I moved all of my pixels to the “Miscellaneous” menu, just FYI.  I still need to fix a few things, design wise, and I need to update a few more pages.  But for the most part, it’s mostly done…yay!

As requested, a link to my Etsy store can be found in the “Webmistress” menu.