Muddy Paws

They say April showers bring May flowers, but I say April showers bring muddy puppies. We're working really hard on teaching Polo not to run straight to the back of the yard where there is no grass aka the dirtiest, muddiest area. He does pretty well with the "just go potty" command, until he spies a squirrel or cat walking on the back fence. Then he takes off faster than we can shout "NO!" For this reason, we keep a ratty old towel ready at the back door for wiping his paws. Often times just wiping them off is not enough, and I have to take him up to the bathroom to get rinsed off. Fortunately, Polo actually likes this. I think he even knows it's coming because after I use the towel to dry him as best I can, he'll run upstairs and wait by the bathroom door. Maybe getting muddy is part of his evil plan to spend more time in the shower.

Waiting to be dried off

This photo doesn't really do justice to how muddy these paws really are

Ready for his rinse off. With the awesome shower attachment, I'm able to just get his legs and paws.

Take My Poll, Please

Dear Readers,

I hope you enjoy reading my book reviews. I've been enjoying writing them and trying to get better at the whole review thing. As I work on my reviews for April, I am wondering if you have a preference for how often I post. Please take the poll on the right to let me know what you think. Also, feel free to leave me comments if you have any ideas on how I can improve.

Thanks,
Amber

A Proverbial Lesson

When I'm not sure what to read next in my Bible, I use an old standard: read the proverb of the day. There are 30 chapters in Proverbs, so there is one for every day of the month (except that pesky 31st day when it comes around). Recently, I thought it would be a good idea to divide each chapter into twelve segments so that each month there is a specific few verses where I can camp out and focus my thoughts. Here's where that brought me on April 6th:

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

11 and poverty will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man.


For where I am in life right now, I found this very convicting. God has really blessed me with work this school year, and I have had a sub job nearly every day. I have even been fortunate enough to know about most of them at least a day in advance. Nevertheless, there are those few select nights when I climb into bed not knowing if I'll get a call the next morning for work or not. At those times, I am always tempted to turn my phone off, not set an alarm, and just take the day off. I find it so difficult to get up at 5:40am and start getting ready with the hope that my phone rings. Proverbs 6:9-11 is a good reminder to me that God values our hard work. Our work provides food, shelter, and clothing. Work also keeps us from becoming lazy. It is a blessing to be able to put the gifts and talents God has given me to use, and I will try to remember these verses on those dreadful, jobless nights.

A Roommate's Influence

Since moving out of my mom's house at the age of eighteen, I've had sixteen roommates (not including summer projects). While anyone can tell you that living with a roommate can be a great learning and growth experience, what I've noticed is that many of the things I think, do, or like I do so because of a roommate's influence. I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and see just what kind of an impact they've had on me. Because of roommates, I:

• know how to stretch my pants before I put them in the dryer so they don't shrink
• think being a vegetarian is a good thing
• know how to fold fitted sheets
• believe that Democrats and Republicans can actually live together and get along (and Christians and atheists for that matter ;-)
• have seen every episode of Buffy & Angel more than once and can sing along to the musical episode
• own all available seasons of Friends & Bones and know that getting a random quote via text can brighten my day
• value getting up a little earlier to read my Bible and pray
• realize that "eye, pirate, snake" can also mean I.R.S. 
• am aware that one way to conserve water is to follow the motto "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."
• am still watching Smallville in its 10th and final season
• wrap my sandwich in a paper towel before I put it in a sandwich bag so that I always have a napkin
• can play scales on the piano
• know that I love bulgogi and Chapagetti but not kimchi (I also know that kimchi is SUPPOSED to smell and should not get thrown out just because it stinks)
• can find my pulse on my wrist (seriously could not do this before)
• can tolerate watching Project Runway. No wait, I still can't do that
• am hooked on Grey's Anatomy
• know what the Millennium Falcon is
• believe Arrested Development should have had more than three seasons
• can't eat a candy cane without evaluating whether or not the curved part really does taste different
• think every trip to Disneyland should include as many silly hat pictures as possible

These are just a sampling of the infinite ways that I am different because of all my wonderful roommates. Thank you all for making me such a TV junkie! Really though, I am so thankful for each and every one of you who have put up with my idiosyncrasies and chore charts and helped make me who I am today. I dedicate this post to you.

Jackie, Jenna, Leah, Tracey, Krista, Beth, Katie, Melissa, Tania, Celia, Laura, Dustin, Mark, and Sharn - I love you all! 

March Book Reviews

Title: Les Misérables (Fantine)

Author: Victor Hugo

Genre: Classics, Fiction

Rating: *****

I chose to read Les Misérables for two reasons: it is a classic, and I love the musical. As an aspiring English teacher and a bibliophile, I try to read a few classics here and there mixed in with the other genres I love so much. I am finding that I enjoy them so much more now that I am older than I did when I felt forced to read them in high school. Les Mis is not a book that I was ever required to read, perhaps because it is so long, but I wish that I had a class on it now.

Because it is such a hefty tome, and because I was not able to renew it from the library, I only finished Volume I, "Fantine." Les Misérables is comprised of five volumes (Fantine, Cosette, Marius, St. Denis, and Jean Valjean), so my goal will be to read and review it in five installments. "Fantine" starts off with the story of the bishop, known as Monseigneur Bienvenu, and describes what a selfless, generous man he is. Nearly everything he has and any money he collects he gives to the poor. He always puts the needs of others above his own, and his door is always open to anyone who passes by. It is upon this door that Jean Valjean knocks after being released from prison having served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. Though he is spurned by everyone he passes because of his yellow ticket that identifies him as an ex-convict of the galleys, Jean Valjean is welcomed into the bishop's home where he receives a warm meal and a soft bed. Despite this kindness he has been shown, Valjean leaves in the middle of the night, taking the bishop's silver dishes with him. When he is caught and the threat of the galleys looms again in his future, the bishop tells the police that the silver was a gift and he gives Valjean two silver candlesticks as well telling him to use the silver to become an honest man. The rest of the book focuses on Fantine, who leaves her daughter with an innkeeper so that she can return to her hometown and make money to support the fatherless child. Fantine's destiny becomes entangled with that of Monsieur Madeleine, her boss and the owner of the town's factory to which the village owes most of its fortune.

Francis Bacon wrote, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested." Les Misérables is most certainly one to be chewed and digested.

Title: Lock and Key

Author: Sarah Dessen

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction

Rating: **1/2

A popular YA author, Sarah Dessen tends to pop up often in the middle schools and high schools. I see her books in the libraries and under the arms of kids walking down the halls. The name seemed familiar (I realized later that a couple of years ago I read Keeping the Moon by Dessen), and I wanted to check out her work. The only book of hers available at my local library last week was Lock and Key. 

Seventeen-year-old Ruby thought that she was doing just fine on her own in the months after her mom left her alone in the yellow house, but the social worker who found out about it thought otherwise and transplanted Ruby from her destitute surroundings to the opulent neighborhood where her sister Cora and brother-in-law Jamie live. Cora and Jamie take Ruby in and send her to Perkins Day, an exclusive and wealthy private school that couldn't be farther away from Ruby's comfort zone. After being separated for ten years, Ruby and Cora are unsure how to move forward in their relationship, but Jamie, as always, is ready to make the best of things and make Ruby feel like a part of the family, even as she struggles to define just what that means. To complicate her life even more, Cora and Jamie's neighbor Nate, who also goes to Perkins Day, keeps offering to help Ruby when the last thing she wants is to make friends or be indebted to anyone. However, accepting his help may be just the thing she needs.

Lock and Key was just okay. I didn't really like it or dislike it. It was a quick read, and I think it would appeal to its target market, but that is not me. Unlike most of the YA lit that I read that manages to cross the gap and appeal to adults as well as teens, Lock and Key is too juvenile in how it unveils its themes (Read: it hits you over the head with them.). Nevertheless, I think I remember enjoying Keeping the Moon, so I'm not turned off of Dessen altogether, and I would be willing to try another of her books sometime.

Title: Hoot

Author: Carl Hiaasen

Genre: Middle Grade, Fiction

Rating: ****

I picked Hoot up from a teacher for whom I sub regularly. She has a FABULOUS classroom library that I love to raid. Carl Hiassen is a very popular children's book author (and journalist and columnist), and Hoot is a Newbery Honor Book that I've had my eye on for a while.

Roy Eberhardt is the new kid at school, again. Disappointed with the Florida landscape and missing the mountains and wilderness of Montana, Roy just tries to keep his head down and get through each day without too much trouble from the school bully. When he happens to see a strange barefoot boy running through the yards by a bus stop one morning though, Roy grows curious. His investigation might get him into trouble, but it also leads him to meet Beatrice, discover the burrowing owls in danger of losing their habitat, and have one big memorable adventure.

I thought Hoot was a cute story. I can imagine really loving it as a kid and getting wrapped up in Roy's escapades. The book deals with themes that relate to bullying, the environment, family, and loyalty. Even as an adult, I really enjoyed reading it and can easily see how it is such a popular, award-winning book.

Title: The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Rating: ***

I really didn't think I was going to read this book. Though I enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, I thought (at the time) that that was enough Rick Riordan for me and that I would spend my reading time on new and different authors. However, I saw it on the shelf of that amazing classroom library I mentioned above and figured why not?

The Lost Hero features three main characters: Jason, Piper and Leo. Each chapter is told from one of their three perspectives. Jason wakes up on a bus full of troubled kids headed to the Grand Canyon with Piper asleep on his shoulder, only he doesn't know who she is or who Leo is, even though he says he is Jason's best friend. Jason doesn't even know who he is or what he is doing there. He has absolutely no prior memories. The action picks up quickly when the Jason, Piper, and Leo battle storm spirits on the Grand Canyon walkway. Annabeth shows up and takes them to Camp Half-Blood where they learn they are demi-gods and are quickly given a quest to rescue Hera, Zeus' wife, from mysterious danger. If they fail in their quest, Olympus will fall and the earth will be overtaken by the giant king.

Perhaps it is just the length, but The Lost Hero feels a little more grown up compared to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. More Roman mythology was introduced with the Greek, but no prior knowledge of either, or of the Percy series, is needed to understand or enjoy the book. Humor is used to break up the suspense, but the suspense is enough to keep the pages turning. I enjoyed the traditional quest tale and the mythological references.

Title: Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope

Author: Mary Beth Chapman

Genre: Christian, Non-fiction

Rating: *****

At a friend's house recently, I saw this book sitting on a side table. After picking it up and reading the back and introduction (because that's what I do when I see a book laying around), I decided I really wanted to read it. Fortunately, that friend let me borrow her copy right away.

Mary Beth Chapman is the wife of Christian singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman, and in 2008 the two of them faced one of life's greatest tragedies: the loss of a child. Choosing to SEE is Mary Beth's memoir sharing not only that tragedy but the whole roller coaster of a life that she would have never chosen for herself but that she has learned to embrace. She shares how her faith has affected the way she sees the twists and turns of a life filled with fame, family, travel, adoption, and one major tragic event. Though it is not the quiet suburban life she always pictured for herself, it is a life full of faith, hope, love, and redemption.

I remember hearing the devastating news story when it came out: driving up their driveway, Steven Curtis Chapman's son had accidently hit and killed his sister - five year old Maria Chapman. I remember praying for the Chapman family and wondering how they were going to get through such a blow to their whole family. Not only had they lost their youngest child, but it was at the hands of a beloved son. It came as no surprise to me as I read this book, that God gave this faithful family the strength to love each other and stay together through their grief. The book does not focus solely on this event in Mary Beth's life though. She shares parts of her childhood and growing up, how she met and married Steven, and how their family grew in unexpected ways. Much of her life is not the way she had planned it, and she is open and transparent about her doubts and questions along the way. Through it all, she trusts God and reveals how He has been faithful to her every step of the way. Her hope and belief are uplifting and encouraging just like this book.

Title: The Power of a Praying Wife

Author: Stormie O'Martian

Genre: Christian, Non-fiction

Rating: ****

I bought this book over a year ago after my mom suggested it to me. I've been slowly making my way through it ever since.

For each of the thirty chapters in this book, Stormie Omartian writes an introduction to the topic, shares anecdotes and teaching, provides a powerful prayer, and supplies relevant scripture. The topics range from work and family to fears and the future.

The book is actually fairly short and easy to read. The reason it took me so long is that I would only read a chapter at a time here and there. Now that I've finished it, I definitely plan to go back and use the prayers regularly. Most of them can easily be adapted for other people in your life as well, and if you are unmarried, you could easily use it to pray for a future husband, for a father, brother, or friend. Omartian shares how praying for her own husband has worked for her and how others have used prayer to see true transformations. I appreciate that the first chapter is devoted to praying for yourself and getting your heart in the right place as it reminds the reader that prayer is not a magical tool to make your husband act the way you want him too. However, it can be a powerful force in your marriage and a blessing for you and your spouse. I would definitely recommend it.

My Knight in Shining Versa

Polo and I went out for a run on Saturday afternoon. I knew there was a chance of thunderstorms, so I planned to go out for four miles, beat the storm, and finish with three more miles on the treadmill, which is about as much as I can handle indoors. With a gray, cloudy sky above, Polo and I ran down to the Scioto river in the slightly chilly air. I love running along the river and looking out at the gently flowing muddy water and the towering trees lining the banks. At the end of the west side trail, we crossed over the bridge and ran up the east side of the river. As we reached our turn-around point, I spotted numerous small, round white specks hitting the ground and realized it had started to hail. Fortunately, the hail was not coming down fast or hard, so we picked up our speed and headed back to the bridge. In my mind, I kept thinking about various scenarios and what I would do if the storm got bad.


Should I wait it out under the bridge? Should I flag down a stranger and ask for a ride? It would have to be a pick-up truck because no one wants a wet dog in their car. That's probably not safe. Should I run back through the neighborhood instead of by the river so that I can knock on someone's door and ask to borrow their phone and have Michael pick us up? Should I just say 'what the heck' and get soaked?


I did start running through the neighborhood after crossing back over the bridge, though I couldn't really imagine knocking on anyone's door for help. I'm not afraid of getting wet or anything, but last time I got soaked through in a sudden downpour, my Nike+ chip short-circuited, and I had to buy a new one. I also know that though Polo loves the water, he's not a huge fan of being rained on. With about a mile to go, the light hail had turned to a drizzle. We turned left onto the main street that leads into our neighborhood, and I spotted a black Nissan Versa driving toward us. Could it be Michael? He's slowing down. It is! He rolled down his window, and I said, "Hey, can we get a ride?" He was on his way to rent a video for us to watch that night. I put Polo in the back, hopped in the front, and we drove away. Less than a minute later, the sky unleashed a torrent that surely would have drenched us in seconds, but I had been saved by my husband, my knight.