Some Summer Reads

I do love the summer, and reading is my favorite summer past time. Now that I'm back from my travels home, I've got more time to devote.


A few of the books I've read recently:


I picked up Comfort Food in the Seattle airport. Lucky thing, too: I had a 12 hour delay trying to get out of Seattle to go to Atlanta. This book filled a need.

Comfort Food tells the tale of a world famous chef/ t.v. personality (think: Ina Garten or Paula Dean) who finds herself turning 50 and grappling with cable ratings, relationship issues with her daughters, and competition from a hot Latina cook. It's a silly little read, but it was enjoyable.

3 Stars.






This one was a bit of a surprise. Gloria Vanderbilt's newest book, Obsession: An Erotic Tale, ventures far from what I would expect to read from Vanderbilt. In the opening chapter, the main character's husband drops dead at their 10th anniversary party.



As the widow is reading through their past love letters, she happens upon a stack of letters from the husbands' mistress. Really, the mistress was sort of a hired lover housed in the lap of luxury by the husband.



This slim book is a series of letters and dreams... all pretty erotic. The tag line is accurate.

Rated "M" for mature... and "I" for intriguing?



3.5 Stars.



Cormac Mc Carthy is not known for his happy literature. It's usually dark and deep. He wrote All the Pretty Horses and No Country For Old Men, to name a couple of his better known works. So I kind of put off reading The Road.

I knew the premise: something has happened to the world in the form of fire or explosion, and there are very few people left. Two of the remaining people are a man and his son who are just trying to travel south on foot to survive the winter. There are certainly horrible parts of the book that make you think: oh man, it really would be like that! And most of the book makes you wonder just how much you'd like to suffer through before you threw in the towel. -But then you think, If I had a kid to keep alive, perhaps I would be this dogmatic about surviving.


What I wasn't banking on was the underlying, nay: PERSISTENCE of hope throughout the book. Even when there is not one good thing to hope for.


The movie is coming out October 16 (the day after my 30th birthday). I'm not sure I want to see some of those images, but I'm sure if the movie is half as powerful as the book, it will knock your socks off.

5 Stars.

The Last Summer (Of You and Me)

My aunt Diann gave me this book to read while I was home. The author, Ann Brashares, is the same person who wrote The Traveling Pants books (which I have not read). This is her first novel written for adults.

It's a bitter sweet story of three kids who grew up together summering over at their beach houses on Fire Island. But when they grew up, they found their friendships morphing into deeper relationships, and the issue then became: how do they deal with the complexities involved with those changes?

While it does not claim to be deep literature, it is a pleasant read, and it connects to readers on multiple levels.

3.5 Stars, in my book.

Sneak Peek

Yesterday we went to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done to see Margot, and We invited our parents along for the adventure. It's something to see Margot move around while feeling it at the same time.

She was a little stinker though... and she kept her face snuggled into the placenta most of the time. She would give little peaks at us, but nothing head on. It was a great experience with everyone cheering her on, "Come on, Margot! Let us see your little face!" -But she just couldn't be convinced. Some things will remain a mystery until she gets here.

But two fun pieces of info: we confirmed she is a girl. -Whew! I'm not sure how I would have dyed all those cute little pink clothes blue. And I am officially in my 8th month now.

The question on everyone's mind is: Does she have Bob's nose or mine? Wagers are being made even now... Can't wait to find out!

Summer Traveling

Tomorrow I'll be 31 weeks pregnant, and my time for flying is rapidly diminishing. So it was time to head back East to see friends and family.

So on June 25th I flew to Alabama to visit my old college friend Bev. She and her mom threw a beautiful baby shower for me that Saturday. I don't have any pictures from that... they were all taken on another camera. So I'll post those when I get them.

The next day Bev and I drove to Ft. Benning, Georgia, to visit my friends Robin and Joe. Robin is due about five weeks after me, and it was fun to get some belly shots. She's just SO DARN CUTE!

We were in the South for about a week, and then Bev, her fiancee Kevin, and I drove up north to visit my family. Bob flew in to meet me there.

On Saturday, July 4th, my mom threw a baby shower for her side of the family and some old family friends. It rained... but it was still a lovely time (indoors). Again, I don't have tons of pictures on MY camera.

Sunday, Bob's mom organized a shower at Bob's brother's house (which is an amazing house, by the way) for that side of the family. I'm not sure if there are any pictures of that day or not. It was a beautiful day and a great chance to catch up with people we haven't seen in a year and a half. Too long!

Yesterday, we met up with my cousin Christy, her husband Mike, and my Godson, Leo. We met at Newport on the Levy and visited the aquarium. Leo is just brilliant and adorable to boot. It's a great combination. Unfortunately, the sun is so bright that we are squinting terribly, and I look absolutely enormous in this shot, but what can you do? -That's what I get for leaning back on the railing and sticking out my gut...

And finally, I'll leave you with a picture Bob snapped yesterday, after I woke up from a nap on the sofa. I think it's not a bad picture, and lord knows, I could use a decent picture of myself SOMEWHERE on this blog. So here it is...

There's more fun to come... including a 3D/4D ultrasound tomorrow... I'm so looking forward to that! And dinner with old high school buddies, and swimming with my old, pregnant friend, Mindy, on Friday. I'll post more later in the week.

"Book Shower"

Last Saturday, my friends (who started out as co-workers) threw a book shower for Bob and I. Each guest was given a little book plate sticker to go in the children's books they brought. Each sticker has a little tree that matches the nursery and says "Margot's Library." How wonderful to have your own library before you're even born!

Lucky little Margot got SO MANY good books. Some we knew, and they took us way back: Curious George, The Hungry Little Caterpillar, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, etc. Others were new to us, and I'm sure we'll have gobs of fun reading to her.

And there were wonderful little blankets and outfits. It was just a perfect afternoon spent among friends and books.

The only thing I'd change: I look huge in the pictures! Why didn't someone tell me my dress was billowing up around me?! I easily look twice as big as I really am. I've got a few showers coming up: Bev's in Alabama and my mom's in Indiana and I think one Bob's mom, Betty, is throwing. Please, people, don't let me be photographed like that again! I know I'll get to be huge. But I'm not there yet.

Oh, my self confidence is slightly shattered...

"Olympia Pride"

So here's a funny story for you:

Last year around this time, Bob's parents (Bob-the-Dad and Betty) came out to Washington for a visit. Wanting to find fun things in the area to do to entertain our guests, I scoured the newspaper for local events. Lo and behold, I found something called "The Olympia Pride Parade." Well, I'm proud of Olympia. And who doesn't love a parade?

So we get downtown Olympia and are walking up to the parade, and Bob notices these men dressed in military clothes and carrying a rainbow flag. Bob says to me, "Those men are not in correct uniform!" I was like... "Oh, they're probably in the reserves or something. No big deal." Then Bob noticed the rainbow flags, and he says, "This is a gay parade!" I, looking to just enjoy the afternoon, assured him this was Olympia- and there are all kinds of rainbows around on any given day.

Then we rounded the corner to find float after float of rainbows and people with outstanding costumes. I was drawn like a moth to a flame... "Pretty colors and glitter!" while Bob shrunk back. Anyway, it ended up okay. We just rerouted and went to the Farmer's Market downtown instead.

I saw a banner for the parade again this year, and I had a good chuckle to myself. And I went down to enjoy the costumes (by myself) yesterday. For the most part it was extremely family friendly. -Except for the Village People look-alike guy who was wearing leather ass-less chaps. You just don't see a stranger's butt cheeks in public that often. The people around me were first intrigued (as was I) and then a little outraged. This was supposed to be for families and the community. There's one in every crowd who takes it too far.

Overall... I just enjoyed the fact that people can dress up in rainbow headbands and glittery wings and celebrate diversity. It was a beautiful day, and I look forward to attending next year with Margot. Diversity and acceptance of different cultures, races, sexual orientation starts at home. We've got to teach our kids how to love.

Don't worry... I'll be ready to hide her eyes in case the Village People guy is there again.

"Twins"

Last week at school was "spirit week," and Tuesday was twin day. So my friend and English teaching colleague, Kim, dressed up as my pregnant twin. She is not really pregnant, but she's got three kids, so she knew the drill. She walked with a swayed back and a waddle all day long. -Even though I don't do either of those yet.

We made little buttons that said, "Ask me about my pregnant twin!" That's how rumors are started...