Book Review: Illuminae

Another book publisher I met! I felt like I was surrounded by rock stars. And as Sourcebook Publishing stated on the magnet they gave me: "Authors are Rockstars!"

Sidenote: This book is uber geeky in that it is a NOT a sit and read book, but has drawings, symbols, blueprints, IMs, emails, etc. I don't think I put as much emphasis in my review in regard to how truly unique the delivery of this book truly is!

Interstellar Galactic War Year 2575: A plague, a war and two broken-up teenagers who have to resolve their differences to save the lives of those left aboard their ships. Now, I hate to admit this, but I am a Star Trek fan, hence my excitement when I started reading Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Instantly I found myself a part of the nasty breakup of Kady and Ezra Mason, and by turning a page discovered they were under attack by a nation who wanted their planet exterminated.

The two star-crossed lovers are forced to join the ranks of the government, helping where they are needed. As they develop their strengths in their assigned tasks, they discover the government is fraudulent without any one person taking responsibility for the demise of the nation. AIDEN, the Aritificial Intelligence, has gone rogue. Kady uses her computer knowledge to hack into the main frame, while Ezra uses his pilot status to help discover where the corruption is coming from. They must let the past remain in the past to allow them to work together to help discover the enemy. I believe the love is not abandoned, but their own personal loss makes it difficult to have a stable, trusting relationship. (It is so hard not to spoil this….)

This is the first book in a trilogy. It was an extremely quick read as it is a compilation of military notes, spaceship blueprints, IMs, emails, journal entries and technical read-outs. The pages offer a variety of text, drawings and perceptions. I hope the next two in the series continue with this variation.

Full Review can be found at Books & Whatnot.

Boss Beth & her Coworkers

So, on my awesome trip to Chicago I got to meet Abigail and Jordan. We decided on the return trip from Chicago to KS City we would dine in the dining cart. Oh-la-la! It was real cloth tablecloths. We were high fluent-ant.

Jordan & Boss Beth

Ms. America & Abigail

Union Station was GORGEOUS! It is a massive place. I think it would have been fun to see it in its prime, but airplanes have made this a travel experience of the past. I was surprised by how many people were on the train. It wasn't full, but there were a good many people. The train we selected was the Chief Southwest. It goes from Chicago all the way to L.A!

Abigail went on the trip to run the Chicago Marathon.

As luck would have it my brother was in Chicago at the same time! How fabulous! Boss Beth had bought tickets to 2nd City--a wonderfully famous Comedy Club---and I managed to work my magic and conned her out of her ticket. She went to a dinner for me where she got SEVEN free signed books for me and I got to go out with my bro. We went out two nights in a row. He drove which was crazy---worse even than my big city life in Louisville, KY. We went to Portillos--a hot spot in Chicago known for its hot dogs and chocolate cake. It was pretty yummy. I didn't eat the cake at this time, but had it at the catered lunch the following day at Sourcebooks Publishing Company.

Since we didn't have desert at Portillos we found a Cheesecake factory and drove to it. (And I wonder why I keep gaining weight....) 

Book Review: House Arrest

I got to meet some of the Sales Reps from Chronicle and I couldn't quit grinning from ear to ear. What a dork! It was cool to meet the people who provided me the first galley I ever reviewed. (A galley is a book that has not be released, is still in the editing process and is not for everyone to have!)

On Oct. 6th this book was released. I am a bit late on my delivery, but Books & Whatnot had it out in time for its debut. As with all my reviews you can find them at Books & Whatnot because she is my boss and gets full rights to the entire script, where here is just me ranting and raving for those in Kansas to know what we are doing!


When you see this book on the shelves in the middle-grade section, with its aptly named title, you know you will be reading about a kid who is a juvenile delinquent stuck in his house; what this title omits is the raw emotion you will have hurled at you by page five. I suspected boredom and a rite of passage to be found in this blue-covered book. What I didn’t intend to find was a day obliterated by reading because I couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t stop being angry, couldn’t stop laughing, … well, I just couldn’t stop reading a journal written by Timothy, who is under house arrest for stealing a wallet in hopes there would be enough money in it to buy medicine for his extremely sick baby brother.

House Arrest, by K. A. Holt, is more than just a story of a kid gone wrong; it is a story told in verse of pride, humility and sacrifice done in honor of family. When Timothy’s baby brother is brought into the world, he cannot breathe. He had to have a tracheotomy, causing him to need constant care and endless amounts of medical supplies. All of this is too much for Timothy’s father, so he deserts his family, leaving the mom to support both boys financially, mentally and physically. As a mom, my heart was breaking. How do you balance a sick kid with one full of vitality and try to work to maintain the mortgage, the utilities and manage to sleep? As a mom, as a teacher, as an empathetic person, my head was reeling as I turned the pages of this emotional journal.

Through Timothy and his experiences I found his 52 weeks astounding–I discovered how pride can be strong even in one so young. Timothy doesn’t want to admit to his probation officer, his counselor or his friends his true struggle of living with shoes too small, a belly that is never full, a brother who is constantly turning blue, a nurse who is evil to the sick baby brother. Oh, my heart just aches trying to summarize Timothy’s amazing tale. I want to go into my classroom and ask, ‘Does anyone need shoes?’ But I know, thanks to this 13-year-old’s tale, that no one is going to raise their hand. No one is going to admit defeat. No one is going to show a teacher, a probation officer or even their friends how deep the sorrow goes and how much the need is present. Timothy is a hero and I’m sure there are many more unbeknownst to all of us.

Heartland Fall Forum in Chicago 2015 attended by Ms. America!

Thanks to Hachette, Penguin, Scholastic, Indiana Publishing and WiseInk for the Advanced Reading Copies (ARC) of books for YA, MG and little people in the next six months.

Thanks to my AWESOME boss at Books & WhatNot I was able to attend the Heartland Fall Forum in Chicago, Il Oct. 9-11. It was a blast.

I drove to Kansas to leave the Jedi Knights with their grandparents. I then met my boss and two of her co-workers from KMWU Wichita, KS and we drove to KS City. We spent the night there in order to catch  a very early AMTRAK train to Chicago.

I have never rode on a train before. What a fun adventure! WE packed snacks and drinks. It is more work than it is worth to drag all of that around to your final destination. Make sure you pack what you can eat!

I am happy to say I got to meet some amazing people in Chicago. I got to know my boss a bit more and her coworkers were pretty cool.

I brought home around 70 books in which I will read, review and add a Core Curriculum Activity before I deliever it to my boss at Books & WhatNot.

Penguin, Scholastic, Sourcebooks, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt were some of the BIG dogs I got to meet. I also got to meet people from Wise Ink, Indiana Publishing Company and multiple book sellers from around the midwest. It was such a great weekend and I am full of knowledge about the industry of owning your own book store. It is safe to say I never want to do that. Those people are truly wonderful in a world of Amazon Prime!

How to make a FOXY Cosplay Costume from FNAF! (Part Two)

Okay, I have to admit I thought I was in over my head with this costume, but with my craft-i-ness and my hubby's arts-i-ness we managed to get the costume done in time for the party in our neighborhood. I have to admit I believe it is our best costume yet. Last year Obe Wan wanted to be Steve from MineCraft and I thought that was a douzzzzy of a costume. I believe this will be his last year to Trick or Treat---thank goodness!

So, I completed the costume in around 24 hours. I didn't pull an all nighter--I'm too old for that, but between the shopping and the hours Prince Charming and I invested in the costume it was probably a full days worth! If you didn't see part one you can find it here: How to build a FOXY Costume (part one)

On to part Two: The body!


Step One: Gloves--These are pretty easy. I found a pair of gray gloves at Target. We used cardboard and Duck tape to make these. I let the 10 year old draw on them. I added wires with hot glue. Originally he didn't like it, but I thought it was cool and once he saw it he said it added a nice animatronic touch. (Whatever the heck that means....resume drinking....)









Step Two: Shoes. Now this was a little bit more tricky as I didn't want him walking around in shoe boxes and I knew I didn't want to use a pair of his shoes. The boy only has one at a time as he is super uber picky! We picked up a pair of women's slippers at the Goodwill. They had a solid sole on them and were solid enough to hold up for snow/ice. (We got that here last year according to the neighbors.) I also wanted him to be able to be comfortable for walking door to door. Thanks to Amazon I always have a box or two laying around the house. I cut up a box and spray painted it silver. I used the cardboard for the shoes, the hand, the hook and the eye patch! Super good to have a cardboard box around!

 The most difficult part of the shoes was attaching them to the slippers. I used my handy dandy wire again and sewed them together. Obe Wan wasn't happy about the wire appearing again, but he was satisfied as they stayed together as one unit. He was completely impressed with my ability to turn the 'ladies' slippers into usable FOXY shoes. Whatever. (Three Tequila shots---floor?)

Step Four: (OOPS, I mean three....) The next part was the other hand. The hook. Foxy is a Pirate you know. (Nope, must have missed that one....) So I rolled my 1" foam together and made a hand cozy. I thought about putting my beer in it, but decided that was just tacky. I rolled it together, sewed it together (by hand), cut a whole in the top for my hook to go through and then hot glued felt to the sucker! It looks pretty slick. I made the hook handle extra long so he can actually hold onto the hook and move it around. It is kinda cool. Oh yeah--I covered the hook with Duck tape. The spray paint wasn't as shiny as I would have liked. 

Step Four: The rolled foam gave me the idea for his arms. Since Foxy is an animatronic I knew the arms had to be robotic looking. I found a gray shirt in his closet to use as the body. I then cut out foam upper and lower arms. I made fleece slip covers again to fit the body pieces. I slipped them on, sewed them shut and then rolled them into a cozy again. They were like water wings, but not for in the water and not wings. 

I made sure to rip one apart and put black felt behind it. This gives the torn and shabby appearance to Foxy. These slipped right up his arms and were perfect. He kept doing a Roboto dance. It was hilarious!

Step Five: The 2nd most time consuming was the body itself. I wrapped the boy in 1" foam. I cut it to fit his upper torso. I then made another slip cover to cover the piece of foam. Foxy's middle section is a different color than his body, so I made sure to piece together two pieces of fleece. I then realized the velcro on the sides was NOT going to keep this on my son. I made overall like straps and sewed those on which also gave me away to attach the shoulder pads Foxy wears. I ripped out middle sections where poor Foxy was attacked by the Pizza Parlor owners when he starts killing children. We hot glued black felt and then attached different colors of wires coming out of his mid section as well. TOTALLY CREEPY. Obe Wan was grinning like a freakin fool!

The velcro works wonders! I forgot to put that on my shopping list. Sorry! This is stuff I just had laying around the house from other craft projects. I take for granted my endless amount of CRAP. We found shorts and running tights at the Goodwill. I will tape Duck tape to the legs on Halloween. We taped them on and he couldn't get the tights off. HA!

The ear went floppy when we took the final picture, so I will be sewing it up and on more sturdy. Woo-Hoo. A Mom's work is never done.

Overall the costume is amazing. Obe Wan owes me big for this one! HA! It is all in a days work of being Mom of the YEAR! I better go open a bottle of champagne to celebrate! 

How to make a Foxy Costume from FNAF! (Part One)

Well, I'm making Obe Wan a Foxy costume and I decided if he wanted to pick one of the most difficult costumes on the planet then he can help!

How to make a FOXY Costume from Five Nights at Freddys.

Step One: Watch as many YouTube videos as I can to figure out exactly what a "FOXY" is!

Step Two: Look at 100+ images on Google of what a "FOXY" is!

Step Three: Look at 10 year old who wants to be this "FOXY" and tell him he is crazy! :)

Step Four: Go to JoAnn's Fabric and buy 2 yards of dark red fleece, 1 yard of a lighter red fleece and 1.5 yards of 1" foam. Bring a 40% off coupon as the foam is pricey! Buy canvas mats to make Foxy's head. I already had embroidery thread, but if you don't buy this and some needles. You will be sewing by hand to make the mask! I assume everyone owns a glue gun and lots of glue, but if not, pick this up too!

Step Five: Go to a Lumber Store and buy two Springs for Foxy's ears.

Step Five.5: To save money you can buy some of these supplies at Wal-Mart too. I went there and bought two candle tea lights with LED lights and batteries. I also bought foam balls to make the eyeballs. You will need 1/2 yard of black felt. Craft paint in yellow, white, gold and black and paint brushes to paint this on! (I had all of this at my house, but I'm a crafter.)

Step Six: Start the process of drinking---a lot....

Step Seven: Measure your person's head. Cut 1.5" strips to make the mask. Sew them together as shown. This was true trial and error. It required a lot of yelling at the ten year old to come here and try this on again. I'm sure there is a more precise way, but at this point I was a few drinks in....hA!!

Step Eight: Warm up glue gun and have LOTS of glue ready! You will now take the glue gun and pieces of foam and start filling in the gaps. If you have gloves warm them. I burnt the heck outta my hands doing this only to have my hubby come along with T-vex gloves and help. Jerk. (More drinks needed....)

Step Nine: Cut out the eyeball wholes and put in your candle lights. You can glue these in as well. Make sure they work prior to inserting them in the eyes. We painted around the balls once we had shoved the candle lights into the foam.

Step Ten: Start covering the head with fleece. This is difficult. There is no easy way to describe this process. Cut and cover was our method. Make sure you make the muzzle a different shade than the head. Some versions used pink, orange and different shades of red. Use black felt to cover around the eyelids, make the eye patch, make dots for his muzzle and the nose. You will have to use your best judgement on these little gems as well. DID I mention I was drinking? Oh yeah, and I was drinking for about 3 days because this is how long it took.

Step Eleven: Making the ears was pretty simple. Yep. I had those babies done after I completed the foam around the canvas. I had hot glue from my left hand to my right and strings of glue everywhere. You know what I'm talking about. Stupid hot glue strings. I did sew these inside out and then slide them on like a pillow case. It worked wonders! I glued the springs in and set them aside. I also glued black felt into the middle of them to give them definition.

I thought about slip covering the side hairs, but decided it would be easier to cover them as apart of th mask. I did sew the hairs on the top of his head and stuffed them with foam.

Step Twelve: The jaw/teeth. So I did the slip cover thing again for the lower jaw. I cut two pieces of foam, glued them together and covered them with fleece. I used heavy gauge wire to attach it to the top of the mask. I made teeth from Duck tape! I painted them white and gold to match Foxy. The 10 year old did NOT want blood on the teeth as he claims he is cleaned up after he murders the children. (Take long drag on alcoholic beverage.)

 I inserted the teeth from the bottom up and added another layer of Duck Tape to the lower half. You can't see it as it is on the inside of the slip cover. Worked out pretty well. (I hope this makes sense. I am sober at this point....)






Step Thirteen: Sew the eye patch--I used a piece of cardboard. I sewed two pieces of black felt together like a slip cover again. Flipped it inside out and covered up the cardboard. I tacked it on by hand in the two corners so it can be flipped open and closed. As luck would have it the tea light under the patch started going wonky. Perfectly creepy! I couldn't have planned for that any better.

I blued pieces of black felt to cover up the seams of my red fleece. I did the same thing on the top as I did on the bottom. I made more Duck tape teeth, put them through the wholes I snipped and then reenforced them all with Duck tape. Glued this on the upper half and it worked like a charm.

Step Fourteen: Cut out 8 little circles for the muzzle. Hot glue them on.

 Step Fifteen: Cut out eyebrows and eye patch strap. Adhere with glue. (If you haven't glued your hands together yet!)

Step Fifteen: Admire your work and have another drink! 

Another visit to the Urologist

We have now visited the Urologist four times and we go every six weeks. It seems kinda crazy that we have almost lived in IN a year. Obe Wan is going on a new medicine--one that his diet can be open to the whatever. We will watch what he eats, but am more concerned with the amount of water he drinks and how often he goes to the bathroom.

The appointment concluded right at rush hour. Obe Wan couldn't grasp what "rush hour" meant, but once he saw the cars he did. LOL!

So, I decided to take him to Hammerheads, a greasy AWESOME dive, off the beaten path in Louisville. I can't imagine being the people that live above the resturant, but if they get free food it would be so worth it! It is amazing. He was ho-hum about it UNTIL he ate their truffle fries. Ah-MaZing.

J-Bird had a soccer game, so we missed out on the game, but enjoyed being just the two of us. The Jedi Knights rarely get time apart now that they are in the same classroom, so it is nice to have a break.

This kids cracks me up.....He was excited to be the only kid in a bar!

Obe Wan and I out on a date! (Without J-BIRD!!)