Well well...when it rains it pours. That apparently is the case with life events and my blogging. I get behind, I stop blogging, I read books (or don't) and then it all catches up at once. This is a normal old blog post in case you subscribe in a reader (which I assume you don't, but it boosts my confidence to dream)...but there's nothing fun and literary. Not even pictures.

I know. I suck.

Last week was my last week of school. Yes. I cried. 

In fact, that may not even being to describe it. Wednesday went a little like this...get kids settled, FIRE DRILL @ 9:25 (not a drill, actually, a kitchen sensor went off and we had to evacuate...with parents in the building for an awards assembly), rush kids back in the building to start the 9:30 awards assembly, get them seated and realize that my awards are in the wrong order, squat in the floor putting them in the right order, get called up right after that, and get ready to present awards...oh, and I forgot to mention, get an email that leaves me hanging so I'm freaking out until I find out what it's about...awesome. Have I mentioned patience is not a virtue I possess? 

That brings me to presenting my awards. I love crowds. I also hate crowds. When I have to speak in front of parents/colleagues/administrators, I have a serious fear that I sound/look 12 years old and they think I'm an idiot. So, I start presenting my awards and thank all of my amazing parents/grandparents/students and then I get emotional and my throat closes up and my eyes water. *cue voice in my head* No, Jessica. Not right now. You have to stop looking like a wuss.*

Deep breath. Get it together. 

OK. Keep reading awards...finish assembly. Victory?

No. We got back to the classroom where I presented superlative-type awards based on talents that may not be academic/data-based. I had amazing kids (in case you didn't notice) who were silly, creative, artistic, athletic, sensitive, caring, and full of knowledge. I gave awards accordingly. So...all of the parents come in and stand near their child or in the back of the room. The kids are eager to know what other awards they're getting (they'd already received at least 2) and then the tears pour (yes, I used bold, italic, and underline--it was that bad) down my face. I tried to thank them for sharing their kids. I tried to talk about how great their kids were and how much I love them. I lost the battle. I actually asked them to give me a second because (oh yeah, my contacts completely disintegrated and I was wearing my glasses) I couldn't read the names/titles on the certificates. 

Pathetic.

To make things more insane...my good friend Jess called me asking if I had a place to stay because she needed to move out of her current housing and find a place until August 1st. Now, many of you may not know Jess but, she's awesome so it is super exciting to have her staying with me for 6 weeks. Many of you may not know me well but, I'm super broke, so the extra money helps. Yeah, yeah. I'm not a good enough person to let people stay rent free. Also, Jess is too wonderful not to offer. I tell ya, she rocks. Anyway, I've known Jess for years and it's super fun  to have someone else around. The cats LOVE it. Seriously, I'll take pictures of Cricket being INSANE because he loves having the attention of someone new. It's hilarious.

Also, my dear friend Brice and his lovely girlfriend, Emily were coming to stay for a wedding they were going to this past weekend...and I got way behind when packing up for the school year so I had to stay and pack things (still not finished) in my classroom that I hadn't thought I would pack. So...in 3 days I rearranged my shed, cleared out the guest room (don't look in my office), cleaned the bathroom, moved furniture, and packed up almost all of my classroom. Then I had 3 new people in my house (which was super fun), still had a boyfriend with poison ivy (finally clearing up after more than a week, poor guy-- did I mention my yard looks good?), and- oh right- took him home to meet my entire family. Then my stomach started killing me like it hasn't done in two months. As I drove back from Spotsylvania last night I casually mentioned to him that, oh yeah, my doctor said I shouldn't stress because it might flare up my stomach. Oops. 

Super upsides of the weekend: amazing company, a great new roommate, healing poison ivy, and getting to see two of my ADORABLE girls in a dance/gymnastics recital that they ROCKED! :-)

Anyway, today was the first day of summer. I went to two sessions that will take care of some professional development guilt that I had and tomorrow I'm going to pack the rest of my room. Wednesday? Beach? Obviously. 

falling behind...

As behind as I've gotten in my quest for 100 books, I've fallen even further behind in blogging about the books I've read. Apparently, my emotional ties to books are a lot to overcome and I had a difficult time figuring out how to talk about the next book I read...so I waited until I'd read even more after that to write the blog.

I finished The Time Traveler's Wife quite a while back. I did cry my eyes out...for a LONG time. Basically, I was inconsolable. I knew what was going to happen because I had seen the movie. I'd even heard that in some instances, the book was not as good as the movie. This is always hard for me to believe because I love the written word, but I can see that point of view after reading the book. Typically I hate watching movies if I haven't read books, but in this case I'm glad I did. For one, if I hadn't watched the movie I would not have been at all prepared for what was coming at the end of the book and I can't imagine how upset I would've been. For two, watching the movie helped me understand the jumps in time that you see in the book. It was much easier for me to understand what it meant that Henry was 33 and 42 (random example, not necessarily accurate) at a certain point in time because I could picture it from the movie. **Added bonus** Who doesn't want to picture Eric Bana multiple times a night? I know I sure do.

The book was awesome. I know a lot of people couldn't get as emotionally involved with this novel as with some others, but I was reeled in hook, line, and sinker. I thought it was well written and I appreciated that the book referenced the characters' hobbies/careers more. For example, Henry is a librarian and the book has excerpts and quotes from books, poems, songs, etc throughout. I really love that. Really. Love it. I just felt like the book had a lot of things that I generally love as a human being...and also a bunch of things I love in a book. I realize that may be the most vague way to describe the book. I liked Niffenegger's writing. Even though the time traveling bit was still confusing, she handled it well and after a while it made sense. I love the whole element of time travel because anything slightly supernatural makes me excited. 

As a love story, holy. crap. Claire & Henry are the stuff my dreams are made of. Unfortunately, I have bad dreams too. They fulfilled all of those quite well. Anyone who knows me very personally knows I have crazy concerns about tragic endings to life. Not like, "Oh, man, what a sad way to go. It would be so sad to lose my husband/boyfriend/significant other like that..." but like, "I feel like one of us will tragically die before the age of 35." Yeah. Paranoia strikes again. 

So the fact that Henry dies in his 40s, all of his biggest fears/worries come true, and they have limited time together due to the history of time traveling? Yeah. Basically cut straight to my heart. 

Again. Inconsolable. Ask Chris. He listened to me on the phone while I finished because I was too upset to finish alone. 

Next up! Bleachers by John Grisham

I read Grisham's book Playing for Pizza and talked about it here, and I really enjoyed it. It was light, simple, and not super emotional. I had heard I would like Bleachers even more-- and I did. It's about a high school quarterback 15 years later who comes back because his jerk of a coach has finally died. However, the jerk of a coach was the best coach the town had ever seen and the town revolved around football. I'm not a huge football fan by any means, but I am a huge fan of homecoming stories. I really liked it. That's about all I can say. I thought it really discussed the character's feelings without being overly mushy. I liked that it was about a guy because so many novels I read are about girls...and I thought the guy sounded kinda hot, not gonna lie. I also love old people, even if they're jerks. Needless to say an old man dying still gets me interested. I like a good back story. Grisham also did well explaining where the late coach was coming from after the fact, making everyone feel better about who he was as a person and a coach. Well done. Also--super easy to read. 

Last up for now...

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

Oh. Man. This book was unexpectedly good. Lisa Scottoline is a new author for me, I've never read any of her books but plan to start a.s.a.p. My lovely school nurse, Mary Poole, recommended this book to me and I literally couldn't put it down. I started reading it on a Sunday, got a crazy case of insomnia that night, and finished it at 3 a.m. Monday. Awesome. The basic plot is that a single mom has adopted a little boy and loves him dearly, however, gets a "Missing Child" flyer with his picture on it and realizes her child might not have been hers to take. Anyway, that sounds boring and super -esque...but it's not. It involves crime and murder and high drama. I love that crap. 

I super recommend it for anyone who likes crime/secrets/hot bosses/cute kids. I, fortunately, like them all. Great beach read too, now that it's the FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!!!!!!!! :-)

Happy Reading! I also apologize for the long wait...I'm reading a book that I'm pretty sure will make me cry. I'll be sure to post about it soon.