It's Monday, what are you reading?

And so, Monday rolls around again. I have not read nearly as much as I wanted to this week and I am not really sure why. It could have been too much time playing with my new kitten or a lot of time doing my Christmas Journal but anyway I haven't had much time to read.

I finished Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein and thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love her way of writing, love how the characters interact with each other, you feel that they are such good friends and you are included in their circle. I cant wait for another one of hers to come out. And this one was set in the New York Public Library and told you a lot about old books so really a double bonus! One of my favourite authors and one fo my favourite topics.

I also read a Silhouette book, called the Star Spangled Bride, which I havent done for years; but I picked it up at the fleamarket and read it within 2 hours! Thinking of getting a few more since it was actually quite nice to read something light and undemanding for a change. It will also beef up my 100 book count, lol.

I am halfway through Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan and hope to finish The Other Family by Joanna Trollope tonight. So, I guess that I have done a fair bit of reading, just not finished that many  books!

My to be read list is quite extensive; I think it has about 9 books on it including Cross Country by James Patterson, The Last Pope by Luis Miguel Roca, and Double Crown by Marie Heese, so I guess I will have quite a busy week!

New family member

Today our campus had their community involvement project, where we took food, blankets and toys to a childrens home about 20 minutes from here. They have really worked so hard and, despite the extreme heat, it went off really well.
While I was there I discovered 5 little kittens, I couldnt resist bringing one home. I would like to have brought them all :-( but that would have been a bit much!
So, without further ado, here is my new baby..............

She is unnamed as yet, but one of the students suggested I call her Mona, since she moaned a lot in the car on the way home. Brenda hasn't seen her yet since she is out at a sleepover.

Journal Your Christmas

It is that time of year again when JYC comes around. This year I am going to stick with a similar format as last year and have made a minibook (cover below). What I do plan on doing differently is to blog my journalling here each day. That will make it easier for me to keep up to date (I hope). I tend to get a few days behind and catch up throughout the month, so if I have notes already it will be easier. I plan on blogging the pages over on my craft blog, but we will have to see how that works out because I am notoriously bad at that! I will probalby make it sort of a mixture between JYC (Click on above picture for link) and Ali Edward's December Daily.

It's Monday. What are you reading.

I haven't taken part in this for ages, although I really enjoyed it when I used to do it. My reading has taken a bit of a backseat this year since things have been so busy. I am writing my last exam tomorrow and have my last group of students in this week, so hope that things settle down for the rest of the year.

I had hoped to read 100 books this year, but so far am only on my 70th so doubt I will manage it, but still holding out, lol. This week I have managed to read two books.

The secret of Excalibur by Andy Mc Dermott. He is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors. I love the way so much happens on each page! Really pageturning stuff.

Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan. This actually took me more than a week to read, but it finished this week. This is one of my favourite series, but this is my least favourite book in the series. It just seems to drag along.

At the moment I have Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein in progress and will be starting Knife of Dreams soon. I hope to have finished more by next Monday!

Girl talk blog hop

Whilst avoiding studying at all costs blog hopping this evening I came across the girl talk blog and decided to join in on this hop.

They ask you a question and you have to reply on your blog. This weeks question is if you were given $500 and had to spend it on yourself. You only have 24 hours to spend it what would you buy?



Well, this is actually a fairly easy question. I would absolutely love a digital DSLR. I have actually been saving for about 2 years and something always comes up instead so that is definitely what I would buy. I would really like the Canon 450D but wouldnt actually be fussy, lol.



Oh, and a portable hammock I saw the other day came a very close second :-)

One down and a destress

And one to go. I wrote my first exam today, and it wasn't too bad. The first, compulsory question was okay, but the second half I am not sure about. None of the questions I thought would come out were there, so there were only 2 out of 4 that I am sure I did okay in. The others are a bit hit and miss. Not to mention the fact that I slightly ran out of time in the end. I am also panicking a bit that I labelled my questions wrong, but I vaguely remember feeling the same after last years exam, so maybe it is just nerves. Nothing I can do about it now anyway.
Anyway as we were leaving my friend Andria suggested that we go to the movies. I havent been to the movies apart from a kids movie for ages, so we popped off to Suncoast , which I also havent been to for ages. We were a bit early so we went for a late breakfast and coffee first. The only comedy that was showing was You again so we saw that, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is about a girl who was bullied in high school. Many years later she finds that her brother is going to marry the bully. It was funny, sad, and really you could just see yourself in it. There was a part where I wasnt sure whether to laugh or cry. Later on in the afternoon my dad told me it had a terrible review in the paper, so I am glad I didnt read that first since I can thoroughly recommend it. Lighthearted and fun.
After fetching Brenda from school we stopped at Fego for a milkshake, she had vanilla and I had a Vanilla, cookie and Flake milkshake. Absolutely yummy, but really not good for the diet!

Keeping busy..............

Studying and helping Brenda make a musical instrument for her school project! After that we have to start on a morse code device. When will the project nightmare end? Anyone who said that OBE was easier definitely didn't consider the parents in the equation. I am also still in the process of deciding what to do for Journal your Christmas this year. I am really unsure about the format and have seen/heard of so many lovely ideas I am in overload! I havent got much time to think about it either since it starts on 1 December. Brenda is going to continue with last years one since she didn't get very far. I am also busying buying for my stocking swap on UKS, got so many ideas for it, but not enough time to put it all into practice. I am sure I will get there in the end. We have had a really strange week weather wise, hot and sunny one minute and then stormy the next. We even had hail on Thursday which is amazing since we had it two weeks ago! Very unusual for Durban!
Oh well, back to Intercultural communication and musical instruments..............

Test

Just discovered email blogging so am testing it out. A bit slow I know
Sent from my BlackBerry®

First of November resolutions!

It just struck me today that there are only 2 months left of this year. Here in South Africa the school year ends in December, so November is always filled with tests, projects, teacher present shopping, prizegiving, parties etc. Not to mention the fact that I am also writing exams and have lots of marking to do. I always feel that once November comes the year is basically over. It is like a torrent from there on that just sweeps you on. I have started thinking about Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas but am really unsure of what size to do, so will have to ponder it a bit more. Anyway, back to the Christmas season. A few months ago I came to the very belated realisation that I seriously need to do something about my finances and not go on spending money like water. This is not actually something new that I have learned but more that I have made a commitment to pay off all my accounts and curb my spending. Needless to say at this time of year there is so much going on that that can be very difficult. So, this year my Christmas resolution is that I am going to seriously curtail my Christmas shopping/splurging. Brenda is of an age where Father Christmas is more a formality than a real belief, so that can be cut down a bit and I am not going to go overboard with food and other things. I intend to draw up a menu and stick to it. I am also (this may actually be harder) going to try and not go out as much at this time, spend more time doing quiet, relaxing things at home, which should help me not spend money. Wish me luck :-)