Keeping Cool

Whoops! I totally missed June’s blogpost about Rachel. At least 17 months without a miss is pretty good. Here’s how Rachel’s doing.

I love how Rachel’s hair is growing. It’s growing thicker, which makes it much easier to do her hair. The problem is, she’s very wiggly and doesn’t like me messing with it. I do love how it is curling up at the back.

We flew to Utah for the 4th of July and Rachel did well on both flights. She especially liked playing with the tray tables and got upset when we wouldn’t let her put them down because we were taking off/landing. Hopefully she’ll do as well for us when we go to Colorado later this month. She had lots of fun playing with (and getting in fights with) her cousins. It’s too bad she doesn’t get to see most of them that often.

In June, our ward had an activity at Lake Meridian, so I put Rachel in her swimsuit and let her go wading in the water. She hesitated at first because it was so cold, but then emjoyed following the little kids into deeper water. Once, she got into almost shoulder deep water before I could retrieve her. We also went swimming in the hotel pool while we were in Utah. Rachel did not like that at all. She clung to me the entire time. She must have been scared of the fact that she couldn’t touch bottom. This picture is when we let her stand on the top step right as we got in.

Rachel’s favorite toy in nursery is the kitchen. So, we’re thinking about getting one for her birthday (shh! Don’t tell!) She also likes playing with her cousin Lily’s doll stroller. We got her a little baby doll of her own, but she doesn’t play with it that often. What she most likes playing with are things she gets out of my kitchen cupboards, such as stirring a spoon in a pot or cup.

Rachel’s continuing to learn new words, and I’m picking up some of her half-words too. She says “goak” for yogurt (one of her favorite foods) and “buts” for buttons (specifically remote control buttons or keyboard buttons). Her favorite word is probably “up” since she likes to be in my lap while I’m on the computer, or just climbing on everything.

I’ve got more pictures on facebook from the trip, if anyone wants to see. Now, hopefully I won’t miss out on another update next month!

How to Find Time to Write With Children

Maybe I should try this.

I’m kidding… partly.

Review: Abinadi *****

Title: Abinadi
Author: H.B. Moore
Why I Read This: It sounded good, and it won a Whitney Award.
Short Summary: As King Noah leads his people into wickedness, Abinadi is called to cry repentance.
Website: http://www.hbmoore.com

Buy Abinadi at Amazon

If you’ve read the Book of Mormon, you know the plot of this story, even though Abinadi doesn’t get his call as a prophet until 2/3 of the way through the book. So, there are no surprises here. Still, there is some suspense as the characters deal with Lamanite attacks and flee from King Noah’s wrath.

The real gem of this book came from the characters. They were so well created. I could feel Abinadi’s hopes and doubts. Alma’s character arc was great, and I love that Moore decided to use his personal life to parallel what was happening with the people. He’s pulled in to the wickedness of the court, then comes to realize that this life is empty, and starts to make changes, so he’s ready for conversion when Abinadi makes his climactic speech before King Noah. Racquel, the daughter of Amulon, and love of Abinadi, is also strong and interesting in her own right.

Moore decided to set the Book of Mormon lands in what today is Guatamala, and has a map to show it. She says in the preface that this is “one favored location for the land of Nephi” though the notes at the back are written as if it is the location of the Nephites. That rankled me a little bit, because I believe at this time, nobody can know for certain where the Nephites lived. Still, Moore used this setting to do some painstaking research to make the story of Abinadi come to life, by describing the smallest details of life, including what foods they ate and what clothes they wore. That, I really appreciated. For those afraid that a book like this would cause them to forget what’s real and what’s just made up, the chapter notes list what scriptures are referenced in each chapter.

This book ends with Alma planning to baptize the people in the waters of Mormon. The sequel to this book, called Alma the Elder, will come out Fall 2009. There is also a third book planned for Alma the Younger.

There is no swearing in this book. Alma does get involved with harlots, but acts are not described. There is some violence, but nothing in great detail.

Overall, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Fablehaven 4 *****

Title: Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
Author: Brandon Mull
Why I Read This: I enjoyed the other books in this series
Short Summary: With the Society of the Evening Star seeking new artifacts, Kendra and the Knights of the Dawn must race the Society to the key to the next vault
Website: http://www.fablehaven.com

Buy Fablehaven 4 at Amazon

I’ve reviewed book 3 of this series before, and because I enjoyed it so much, I was looking forward to reading Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. I wasn’t disappointed. When I started reading, it was hard to put down. This book has the imagination, action, intrigue, and surprises that I had come to expect from the other books.

This book is definitely easiest to understand if you’ve read the previous books, but this one has it’s own major conflict that is resolved within the book. However, because book 5 will conclude the series, Mull did include a cliff hanger at the end of book 4. It’s not a huge one, but it does leave me anxious for Keys to the Demon Prison, which I’m guessing will come out next year.

In previous books, almost all the adults become incapacitated so the teenagers have to save the day. Also, in the middle of the book, an adventurer will swoop in and help solve the crisis. I liked that in this book, neither of those two happened. It made it so that it didn’t feel like the books were following the same pattern. Also, the absense of the adventurer there to save the day made the triumph better.

There is no swearing or sex in this book. There is a bit of actiony violence (including people dying) but nothing graphic.

Not much else to say about this book, except that overall, I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Rogue and Gambit: Scene 1

Author’s Note: This scene was inspired by a dream I had of Gambit showing Rogue his powers. It was so fun that I had to write it down before I forgot it. I’m sharing it here, since if I do decide to turn it into something (which I am getting some intriguing ideas for) I’d have to tweak it a lot to not infringe on X-men. Enjoy!

Even in the airconditioned mansion, Marie felt hot. She set her bags down and loosened her scarf for a breath.

Ahead of her, the man in the wheelchair turned to look at her. “Am I going too fast for you?”

“No, sir,” Marie picked up her bags in her gloved hands. “I’m good to go now.”

“I can wait if you wish to take off your scarf and things.”

“Thank you, sir, but I’m fine.” She followed the man, Professor Xavier, into the elevator and they silently went up two floors. As they exited the elevator, Marie saw a man and a woman turn to look at her. The red haired woman whispered something to the man, who wore red-tinted glasses. Sunglasses indoors? Marie thought. Maybe I could be accepted here even though I cover every inch of skin.

 The professor led Marie past several doors until they reached one that was open. “This will be your room. The bathroom is at the end of the hall, which you’ll share with the other girls. If you need anything, ask for Storm. She’s in charge.”

Marie set her bags down and entered the room. It was smaller than her room at home. The desk was simple, and her bed didn’t even have a headboard. At least it had sheets and blankets. Momma had worried for nothing then. Still, it would be nice to sleep under her own green comforter instead of the plain brown one.

“Thank you sir, it looks nice.”

“Hey, prof, you wanted to see me?” A boy who looked a few years older than Marie appeared in the doorway.

“Yes. Remy, this is Marie. Marie, Remy. I’d like you to give her a tour of the mansion, introduce her to the other students, help her feel welcome.”

“Sure thing, prof.” Remy held out a hand to Marie that was covered with a glove with the fingers cut off. “Pleased to meet you, cherie.”

“The pleasure’s mine.” She shook his hand, though was surprised that he didn’t attempt to grip her hand at all. A very weak handshake.

“I’ll leave you two be, then.” The professor turned his wheelchair around. “I have some business to take care of. See you at dinner, Marie.”  He took off down the hall.

Remy lounged against the doorframe, hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat. “So, I guess we should start by getting to know each other.”

“I guess so.”

“Why don’t you start by taking off your scarf, cheri?”

“No, the scarf stays.”

“Come on, you must be roasting in that thing.” Remy took a couple steps closer.

“Believe me, it’s better for it to stay on.”

“Why?” Remy snatched an end of the scarf before Marie could step away in time.

“Let go! You don’t know what could happen if I touch you!” Marie twisted to keep the scarf around her face while she tried to yank it out of his hands.

“Sure I do. I just don’t plan on touching your face unless I was going to try for a kiss.”

“Who told you?”

“The professor of course.”

“He said he would let me keep my secret!”

“I’m sure he intends to. He just made an exception in my case.”

“Then you should know that you need to leave me alone!”

“Then take off the scarf, cherie, so I know who I need to leave alone.” Remy twisted and tugged. Suddenly, the scarf started to glow red, starting at Remy’s fingers and shooting it’s way up towards Marie. “Shoot!” Remy dropped the scarf and backed up a few steps.

“What did ya’ll do to my scarf?” Marie could hear a faint buzzing. Marie moved to lift the end of the scarf better in to view, to see what could possibly make each individual thread glow.

“Don’t touch it!” Remy’s voice was so stern, Marie immediately froze. Remy ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. His eyes darted here and there around the room. He started to say something, but kept stopping and changing.

“Look, just tell me what happened.”

Remy sighed and thrust his hands into his pockets. “It’s easier if I show you.” He pulled a playing card out of his pocket. “No red glowy.” He threw the card against the wall. It bounced off and fell to the floor. He pulled another card out. He held it for a moment, and the edges started to glow. “Red glowy.” He threw it against the wall. It burst into a brief flame, destroying the card and leaving a char mark on the wall. Remy rubbed the mark with the side of his hand. “So, unless you want that scarf to blow up in your face, you better let me take it off, cherie.”

Marie looked from the charred wall to her glowing scarf. “Isn’t there a way to turn it off?”

“Sorry, cherie. None that I’ve found.”

“Then make it quick.”

Remy stepped over and tenderly untwisted the scarf, starting with the end that wasn’t glowing. “For what it’s worth,” Remy said. “The professor told me about your ability because he thought that we could help each other, since we both have problems with touch.”

“So why don’t ya’ll do us a favor and wear real gloves?”

“I’ve tried that, cheri. I’ve exploded more gloves than I care to count. My fingers are safer in the air. There, now I can see your pretty smile.” Remy grinned as he pulled the scarf free. Marie gave him her best pout.

Remy shrugged as he wadded the scarf into a ball. The red glow spread until it engulfed the entire scarf. Marie took a step back as Remy looked around. Then he threw the scarf in a perfect hook shot into the metal wastebasket. He pumped his fist into the air as it exploded in a burst of flames.

“Ya’ll owe me a new scarf.”

“Sure. I’ll give it to you at Christmas. Now, is there any chance of you lowering your hood?”

Marie yanked the strings of her hoodie tight. “You touch it, you die.”

“Fair enough. Now, how about a tour of the school?” Sticking his hands in his pockets, Remy sauntered out of the room.

Marie scowled and followed, her curiosity winning out. If he tried any more funny stuff, maybe she would touch him. He certainly deserved to get drained.

How Well Do You Know Me?

On facebook, the rage is to make a quiz to see how well your friends know you. Well, for those who don’t do facebook, here’s the quiz I made. I’ll put the answers in the comments section. Let me know how well you did. So far, the high score is 62%.

1)	What is my middle name?
a)	Sarah
b)	Sherry
c)	Sally
d)	S

 

2)	Where was I born?
a)	Portland, Oregon
b)	Dayton, Ohio
c)	Oxfordshire, England
d)	Lancashire, England

 

3)	What is my bachelors degree in?
a)	Early Childhood Education
b)	Computer Science
c)	English
d)	Physics

 

4)	My favorite color is
a)	purple
b)	pink
c)	blue
d)	red
e)	green

 

5)	How are the carrots and broccoli I planted doing?
a)	All are growing well
b)	Most are growing well
c)	A few are hanging on
d)	All are dead

 

6)	How many kids do I want to have?
a)	2-3
b)	4-5
c)	6-7
d)	8+

 

7)	What cell phone network do I use?
a)	Sprint
b)	Verizon
c)	T-mobile
d)	AT&T

 

8)	What is my favorite genre of books
a)	fantasy
b)	mystery
c)	historical
d)	romance

Summer Reading Thing 2009

LDS Publisher is hosting another summer reading challenge especially for fiction by LDS writers. I had fun with last year’s so I’m signing up again. It runs from June 1 to August 31 and involves prizes every week. If you’re interested in joining me, see the full rules here.

My list for this year is:

• Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull Read June 15 (my review)
• Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack
• Abinadi by H.B. Moore Read June 22 (my review)
• The Host by Stephanie Meyer
• Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
• Traitor by Sandra Grey
• Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Depending on how fast I read these books, I’ll add more.

If you’re interested, this site has a list of recently published books by LDS authors. Also, this site runs an email group that sends out the first couple chapters of various books by LDS authors.

Happy summer reading!

Hatchlings and a Story Idea

Recently, I got addicted to a Facebook game called Hatchlings. It’s a game where every person who adds the application has a little nest that eggs are hidden in. Every time you collect an egg, another egg gets hidden elsewhere in the application. When you find an egg, you can incubate it until it hatches into a hatchling, feed it to a hatchling (which keeps it happy so it won’t run away), or give it to a friend. Besides the regular eggs, there are some 200 special eggs that you can try to collect. Currently, I have collected 445 total eggs, have 51 hatchlings, and 40 special eggs.

While playing today, I wondered what would happen if there was a magic system that worked like Hatchlings. Here’s my version. On this world, fairy eggs are valued for some reason (maybe they are vital in magic spells, or in creating potions) Anyone can build a nest that fairies will lay eggs in, though only one egg will occupy a nest at a time, so you have to continually gather the eggs. Some people would get lazy and give their nest to someone else to monitor. Some of these people that monitor multiple nests might safeguard their nests from other people trying to steal eggs. But others may say “I pilfer from your nests, but I will leave mine open so you can pilfer from mine in return” (which people do say in the game. In fact, they’re mad at the people who hide their nests, but raid other people’s).  The fairies that hatch could get stronger powers by eating other fairy eggs.

I just wanted to jot down this idea before I lost it. It’s not enough to make a whole novel yet, but if someone wants to take it and run with it, feel free. Just put me in the acknowledgements.

Nursery Time!

Recently, we had a ward activity where the festivities included hair braiding by the young women. We had them give Rachel a tiny braid on top of her head, and I found that the tiny rubber band was perfect for holding barrettes in her hair! I am so excited that I can put things in her hair that she can’t take out! It’s surprising how much of a difference a little barrette makes in her hair.

Rachel had her first full week in nursery this past Sunday. She went in without any problem. She may be a bit shy at times, but she doesn’t have stranger anxiety or fear of being away from us. All she needs is something to play with. Other people told us she did well. Although when I changed her diaper the next day, I found bits of crayon in it. That’s why we don’t have her color very much at home. She does, however, do fairly well with pens, which she can’t eat.

We also took Rachel to the temple grounds on Friday. Sadly, we didn’t get any pictures of her there. She had fun running around the little garden areas they have. She really liked the fountain and probably would have climbed in if the bushes hadn’t been in the way (smart move gardeners!)

Speaking of gardens, we’ve been working on ours. The first step has been clearing the garden beds, since they’ve been fallow for at least the past year. While we’ve been outside doing other yardwork, Rachel has enjoyed climbing into the cleared garden bed and playing in the dirt.  Hopefully when I put plants there she won’t terrorize them too much.

Rachel is learning a couple new words. She can say “shoes” and “juice” without my prompting now, and she’ll say “cheese” after I say it. Daniel was so proud of her when she repeated the transformer’s sound “ki-ki-koo-kuh-ki.” We’ve also been teaching her to fold her arms when we pray. I was surprised that it only took a few times before she was doing it on her own, as well as bowing her head (which she only knows from watching us). She’s also learned how to do zippers, so I have to hide my purse from her or she gets everything out.

April 2009 Writing Challenge Wrap Up

Here’s how things worked out for this writing challenge.

• Finished Phoenix Princess – 1,675 words
• Finished How Daniel and Andy Fell in Love – 1,889 words
• Brainstormed for The Tailor Magician – 5,316 words
• Total written for the month – 8,880 words

I didn’t hit my goal of 13,000 words. I found it was really hard to produce a ton of words while brainstorming. Oh well. I’ve at least got a good idea of how I want the novel to go, so I think I’ll probably start drafting in the next couple months. It’s kind of funny that I’ve got a better sense of the characters than I do of the plot though. I’ve been studying Jane Austen for some research, and that’s been fun.

I’m also trying to figure out a puzzle in my family history. We can’t figure out the parentage of my 3rd great-grandmother Esther. On half her children’s birth certificates, it lists her maiden name as Greenhalgh, and on the other half, it lists her maiden name as Hampson. She was married with the last name Hampson, but in the 1861 census (one year earlier) she shows up with the name Greenhalgh. Thankfully, her name is uncommon, so we’ve got all 5 of the birth certificates of Esther Greenhalgh or Hampson at the time period. I’ve been able to rule out 2 of them as they appear elsewhere in 1861. The other three, though, stump me. I’m trying to gather information about each of their families to better track them down. If there was an easy way to find their deaths, I think it would help things tremendously.

So, that’s what’s kept me busy lately. Now, back to Emma.