Book Review: The Chess Queen Enigma

Colleen Gleason has taken two infamous characters and created young, ingenious nieces who have taken up the gauntlet and followed in the paths of their family. Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are inspired by their namesakes to be a clever detective and a slayer of Vampires in the third installment of the Stoker and Holmes series: The Chess Queen Enigma.

Alternating chapters in the story, the girls tell us their prospective of the mystery set before them. Each girl is unique in her own talent and often times annoyed by the lack of this trait in her cohort. Regardless of their differences, they both loathe the Ankh, their nemesis, who they must capture before she brings ruin to the relationship between England and Betrovia.

The dark and dismal streets of London are described in luring detail as we follow our young detectives into the throes of darkness to find the missing chess piece which unlocks a treasure that has been hidden for decades. We meet Mycroft Holmes, his brother Sherlock and Bram Stoker among other Undead characters. The girls are not without mischief as they use disguises to sneak into a Gentlemen's Club to find clues to lure the Ankh out into open society. It is fun, fast paced mystery for any one enjoying a glimpse into the Victorian Era through the eyes of two crime-fighting young societal ladies.

You can see the full review at BooksandWhatNot.com

What does your husband do?

He measures stuff. He what? He is a Metrologist. No, he doesn't predict the weather. He is not a Meteorologist. He is a Metrologist. He measures stuff---no he is not a land surveyor. OMG.
Here ya go:

me·trol·o·gy

meˈträləjē/

noun

1. the scientific study of measurement.

He goes around the world and measures things. He worked at Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita, KS as a CNC machine operator. One door opened and then another and another. Prince Charming has always enjoyed computers and technology. He is extremely gifted at using his hands to build and his mind to see things others can't in the world of technology. It wasn't exactly odd when he discovered Application Engineer and it was all things together. He could use technology to measure things and put them in a 3D world on his computer. He is able to speak different computer languages and if he couldn't he researched and became self-taught. He is an amazingly humble man who doesn't realize his own God given talents.

This past month Prince Charming resigned from the job that moved us to Indiana. He believed he built the department to where it needed to be and it seemed it no longer needed him. He wanted to spread his wings and keep growing. He is now self-employed again working with other Metrology groups who will use his service through contracting. It is a bold move and I am proud of him. 

When a person becomes self taught and wanting to pursue higher dreams they spend a LOT of time away from their family. I am still working on my level of patience and flexibility with his pursuits. I did sneak out this week when he was scanning/measuring our neighborhood and catch a few pictures. He wasn't pleased, but oh well.

He is using a Leica Tracker full station. It was kinda fun to see how far away it could measure. Quite an impressive little toy!

Resurrected Go-Cart

J-Bird was patiently waiting while his Dad and his buddy finished putting the engine and the wheels on the go-cart. This was Prince Charming's go-cart when he was a child. It was covered in dust, dirt and many years of grime when Papa dug it out of the barn for me in March. Prince Charming wanted me to bring it Indiana so he could fix it up. FIX IT UP? Heck, the thing didn't even have an engine on it! So, we took our 20% off coupon to Harbor Freight Tools and bought a 2 stroke engine. Prince Charming took it all the way down to nothing. He primed and painted the frame. Fixed the seat. Bought new tires. I believe there is some money invested there, but I don't dare ask. HA!

One thing I asked was for a governor to be placed on it and the boys to wear helmets. I didn't realize the go-cart would be done so soon, so the Jedi Knights got to wear an old motorcycle helmet from their Dad's prime years!

J-Bird was the first to go on it. After a few passes to figure it out--he was balls to the wall! Prince Charming and his friend decided it was only going around 30, so it didn't need another governor. WHAT?!? Stock it will only go so fast---they ensured me. Okay, whatever.
Obe Wan couldn't quite figure it out and without a reverse he got himself stuck. We were all laughing. The boys had fun and that is all that matters. I have to decide if I will let them ride it when he is out of town....

Grandparents Day on the Knob!

All the grandparents have visited! YEAH! It has been fun showing each set our lives on the Knob. Obe Wan had a grandparents unit and he wanted to interview his Papa as he was the oldest and knew more history. When I called Prince Charming's parents and asked if they could come, they rearranged life on the farm and drove out. Obe Wan interviewed Papa on the phone, but he was able to show him off at school last Wednesday. Our school is smart as they timed this unit with the Scholastic book fair. Tee-Hee! Best book fair I have ever attended; I barely spent a dime! Obe Wan bought one book and J-Bird, well, he took advantage of Papa's wallet! :)

Father-in-law brought out 19 seedlings for me and we got them all planted! They were here for 2.5 days and 3 nights. It was fun for them to spend time with the boys---all three of them! Prince Charming was able to fix his Mom's computer and help with his Dad's carburetor. The boys were able to show them their school, practice Spell Bowl words and have them go to soccer practice. 

It was a nice visit--it was even better when Mother-in-law did my dishes! Woo-Hoo! 

Book Review: The Bear's Surprise

Little Bear is off on another adventure when he awakens from his winter hibernation to discover his family has gone missing. From Benjamin Chaud, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of the Year award author, comes another adventure of Little Bear in The Bear's Surprise. As with the other two previous books this book will take up more than a book shelf and will have your little one looking to solve the mystery for Little Bear. I was pleased to see the illustrations were as marvelous in this newest addition as they have been in the past. You know the illustrations are well done when you have to hunt for the cut outs in the pages before you can discover where Little Bear will have to go next. I found I could not read this book quickly or just once. I marveled at the minute details found within the illustrations and the humor found within some of the drawings. I never thought I would see a sketch of Lewis Carroll's famous characters in an adventure of Little Bear. (I won't tell you on what page--you will have to discover this on your own!)

Read the complete review at Books and WhatNot

Book Club for the Jedi Knights

This year the Jedi Knights have to be in a book club. Their school has a goal of 2 million minutes of reading for the year; the boys are supposed to read 20 minutes every night. They are reading a book as a class, a book with their book club and an independent book. Needless to say we are always reading. I'm glad I have one boy who would read ALL the time if he didn't have a computer. The other boy, well, it is a bit more difficult with him. I believe it is all about finding a book to interest them!

Last week they concluded the first book club read. Obe Wan read My Life as a Book. He enjoyed it as it is similar to the The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

His group had to act it out or something like that. He is vague on his assignments to me as he DOES IT IN CLASS. He is always telling me this and gets extremely frustrated when I just don't understand his assignment. BUT then he asks me for my help. Oh my goodness. He is a piece of work my Obe Wan.

J-Bird is playing Ball!

I told the boys they would have to be on a team this school year. I want them to learn how to share, work together and find humility. I'm not sure it is working out this way, but it was my attempt. J-Bird is small, quick and agile. It seemed only appropriate to get him on a soccer team. We missed the deadline for the soccer team in New Albany, but thanks to a conversation with my neighbor, we were able to get him on a team down the road in a town about the size of Rose Hill (where we moved from.) It is working out great!

He loved the new gear he got to buy. He got matching shoes, shorts, shirt and ball! Way to go ADIDAS. His shin guards are Umbro and they are the kind that slide into the sock. We tried the Velcro strap kind and they dug into his shins.

Now my other Jedi Knight knows how to work a system. He tried out for the School Spell Bowl Team and made it. (He is an excellent speller!) He proceeded to inform me he has made a team and this should suffice my requirements of a team sport. AHHHH! He got me alright! So, he practices nightly spelling ginormous words and has a weekly team practice.

Needless to say between piano lessons, team practices and maintaining a healthy dinner schedule is becoming more challenging than ever. Just kidding! I LOVE IT! The busier I am the more organized I am forced to be.

May the Force be with me....

Nana's Influence

Well, I can't say the apple didn't far from the tree with this kiddo. My Mom has always loved to dress up---well, in my mind she has. I don't know if this is because she doesn't like who she is, wants to live another life, or just wants to embarrass me. I will never forget the time we all (Mom and all four of us kids) dressed up in FULL clown costume to pick up my Dad at the Wichita Airport. We had signs and horns and were a sight to see! I do believe the man kept right on walking pretending he didn't know us. My poor Dad. 

It didn't stop there. I'll also never forget walking out of school one day and hearing a woman yell loudly, "OHHHHH, AMERICA!" I looked up to find an obnoxious looking clown yelling at me. This was in Middle School, did I mention that? OMG. That woman was crazy. She still is, but I believe she has tamed down through the years.

She flew out to visit us for a few days this summer. I don't know why, but I don't think I took one picture of her visit. I'm getting really bad about taking pictures....

The point of this post today is to give credit to my Mom for helping me have the nerve to dress up in FULL Pirate Costume and go up to the elementary school and read "A Pirate's Night Before Christmas." I was only intending to read to the three Excel classrooms, but I thought I should ask a few more classrooms---I ended up reading to 15 classes. What a fun Friday!

Why did I read? Well, because Sept. 19 is Talk like a Pirate Day! And to top it all off if you went to Long John Silver's you got a *FREE* fish basket and at Krispy Kreme you got a *FREE* DOZEN glaze donuts. I figured we needed to give our neighbors some donuts and I was going to a birthday party on Saturday night, so why not give her FREE donuts too?

I needed 3 people to get 3 FREE dozen donuts. At first the Jedi Knights were reluctant, but with the free fish offer they were game. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad I don't embarrass my Knights too much---yet, anyway....

Front Garden goes GREEN!

Remember this lovely garden I planted this spring and there were wonderful treasures hidden in the ground? It has been  few months and I wanted to show you what this has turned into!

 
I'm pretty impressed with the garden. My neighbors are always giving me compliments on it. I will say my water bill has gone up these past few weeks as we got into the 90s, but fall is upon us and I won't have to water as much.

I have a neighbor who has bee hives. The bees have found my fountain to be a free water spot! At any given time (during the day) you can usually see 20 bees sipping at the fountain. It is kinda intimidating to see so many bees gathered. It is fun to sit on the bench an watch them. I need to get more flowers to draw more butterflies.

I have a humming bird who visits the back deck, but I also have two butterfly bushes, pink gladiolus and a lilac bush. I think the pink is drawing the bird to the flower. It is beauitful to watch while I sip my coffee in the morning. I have created a peaceful place to enjoy nature and, best part, it is all in the shade in the morning and at dusk! And I don't even know which direction my house faces, so that is an added bonus!

Book Review: This Monstrous Thing

When Mackenzi Lee started her research on Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, she did not know where her path would take her, but was soon enthralled by the life of Mary; she was a woman ahead of her time: mischievous, daring, mouthy and intelligent. In her debut novel, This Monstrous Thing, Lee has created a moving tale of love lost, recreation of life and the souls that are left behind. The Industrial Era was becoming a reality in Geneva in the 1800s--the time and setting of our steampunk story created a writers haven for character development, plot and the overall theme of humanity. I am impressed with Lee's ability to maintain all these literary elements throughout her story despite her manipulation of times and events in our history.

The Finch Family owns a toy store as a front to their true ability and job as Shadowboys--those who could make limbs, lungs and body parts to function with the human flesh. They are shunned for helping the war veterans maintain a human life when they are more machine than man. Moving from place to place to keep their ability a secret, Oliver and Alasdair Finch, have learned to combat societal norms.

Watching his brother fall to his death caused Alasdair Finch soul wrenching grief. He knew he could not live in a world without him so he used his knowledge of gears, machinery and the human anatomy to reconstruct his brother thus creating our reimaging of Frankenstein. When brought to live Oliver is not the same. Alasdair has to flee Geneva leaving his newly formed brother behind. The angst caused by this decision has to be mended causing Alasdair to come back to Geneva. Upon his arrival he is met by friends of the past who have left animosity in their wake.

The depth to the characters in Alasdair's life were stunning. I felt raw emotion upon meeting Mary Shelly--as his first innocent kiss, to the adulteress and then to the manipulating deserter she becomes. Clémence, a passionate young woman who lead a contrary life for this time period, was a character who I was cheering loudly for as she fought for the equality of all people regardless of their mechanical parts. Oliver was the monster. He was self-centered jerk who I originally found foul, but one I could empathize with to a degree as he was no longer the good looking young man he was at death.

A wonderful retelling of a classic. I recommend this for the 9th-12th grade library. It offers action and mystery without difficult language. A wonderful prequel to the reluctant reader who has to read Frankenstein for an assignment.

You can see the full review at Books and WhatNot

Meeting Sue Grafton!

This was truly an exciting day for me! I got a new transmission put in my 2014 Honda Odysesey courtesy of Honda and I got to meet one of my favorite and long time authors. I had a horrible week with a tooth that needed to be removed from my head and still is in my mouth---this was a great relief. Prince Charming was also home to watch the Jedi Knights, so it made it even better.

I was introduced to Sue Grafton by my Mom. Mom starting working for the USPS when I was in high school. She worked at a remote data encoding center on 3rd shift. In this position you sit at a computer and type zip codes or state abbreviations when the package/letter cannot be read by the machines. It is an easy job and one where you can listen to audiobooks your entire shift. I was lucky enough to have mom's recommendation for this position myself when I was in college. It was a no-brainer job which paid way more than it should have. Christmas was a pain, but otherwise it was a great job. (It helped me pay for college!)

During these years at the USPS I was able to listen to every Sue Grafton book. She writes a series about a Private Investigator, Kinsey Milhoune. I grew to ADORE the voice of the Kinsey and have listened to most of the books multiple times. I never could get into Janet Evanovich's series even though many people have told me they are similar story lines. I don't think so people. Grafton gives her people depth and a reality of a single woman more than Evanovich. Personal opinion and no money exchanged hands for this opinion. :)

When it was my turn in line I had her sign the book to Mrs. America from Sue Grafton. I thanked her for her books and told her I listen to the audio versions. She warned me to always listen to the unabridged version of her newest book as the abridged version cut out an entire story line and she was a little upset as this was a great part of the book. The girl taking my pictures caught her lecturing me. It isn't my best side---shows my awesome weight gain, but hey it clearly shows her telling me what for on the audio book.

Library Room needs shelves....

 This is the library. It is a pumpkin orange color and white trim. YUCK. 

I was struggling with what to do with this room. I didn't even take pictures of it in its full glory with a shelf full of fish and remote controlled cars. I have a lot of books. I have a lot of stuff. I have this beautiful room with so much potential. 10 FOOT ceilings people. 10 foot. Unfortunately, one cannot find shelves of this magnitude. I have gone on Pinterest and found awesome inspiring ideas, but you have to have someone with wood working knowledge. I have that someone, but there is not enough money to buy enough beers to make him build shelves. I don't just want any shelves. I want cabinets and glass doors and TALL ones. Sigh.

Several months ago I found exactly what I wanted at IKEA, but they were out of stock everywhere. I even tried looking at the store in St. Louis and KS City. I drive through there enough I could justify buying them and making a trip! Thank goodness they were out of stock. No road trips for me. Well, as luck would have it, when I went online to find the shelves for my trip to IKEA they WERE IN STOCK. Sweetness.

Before:









After:

RC Plane crash

Prince Charming has really gotten into RC planes. We bought this large one for him for Father's Day last year. We have over an acre on the Knob and it is free of trees. Well, sorta. Around our house and the lake there aren't a lot of trees. Down at the end of the block there are trees.

I was down at the end of block--referenced in the above paragraph--visiting with the neighbors. We were all watching Prince Charming's plane and I was bragging how he is a pro at flying it. At about this time the plane comes by and hits a TREE. I'm not even kidding you! We heard the nice roar of the engines and all heads were turned to watch the gliding machine as it heads straight into the trees and goes EERILY silent.

So much for good flying. It was stuck. Hard core stuck. It was sad to look up into the tree and think of the money just stuck there. As it was evening and it was a school day, we all wandered back to our respective homes. We were assured our neighbors would check on it and it would eventually come crashing down.

Not more than a week later we got a dozy of a storm on the Knob. Horrible winds. Horrible sideways rain. I was at the dentist when this storm came upon us and had left my windows and sunroof open. IT WAS BLAZING hot when I went into the dentist. Not a glimmer of a storm on the forecast. I was so upset about my BOAT I didn't even think about how the plane would exit the tree.

I got a text from the neighbor. I drove the boat home and got our plane. My rear was soaked. My headliner in my car is still damp. Thank Goodness I have rubber mats in my car and they were easy to drain away. The car is fine. The plane has new parts. All is good once again on the Knobs.

J-Bird goes to Sky Zone!

Not surprising, but our little J-Bird has made two good buddies in his new class. He is thriving and enjoying life. It has taken longer than I anticipated for him to find his gang. I'm glad he is in the gifted magnet because they seem to 'get' his sense of humor. Not everyone gets it as it is a bit mature for the average kid.

He hasn't been lucky enough to find a replacement for his BF in Wichita who not only was an avid reader and constantly challenged him, but she also had a wonderful imagination and liked to "play." They would set up Legos, characters and have a hey day playing with toys. Apparently no one here wants to "Play" with J-Bird and this is kind of sad. We will be going back to KS for fall break and I will make sure he has tons of time to "PLAY" with his RH BF. 

IKEA Store Visit

Last Saturday we went up to Cincinatti, OH to look at a new car for Prince Charming. He sold his car in June and has been car-less ever since. I appreciated him helping us out financially for a few months---although this was him just saving his money until he found the next perfect car. Silly me! How dare I think he was saving the car money to buy me an amazing gift. He is a car guy; I should have known better! Tee-Hee.

So, if he was going to drag me to OH to look at a car, I was going to drag him to the furniture store of the world! I-K-E-A. HOLY cow. This place was crazy.

Obe Wan said it was more busy that any place he had ever been. I reminded him he has been to Disney World, but he swore this place was busier. (In hindsight, I almost have to agree with him!)

We were famished by the time we got there and some neighbors told us to try the Swedish meatballs and Portland Sister said we had to try the cinnamon rolls. The cafeteria was upstairs where the show room is located. We went for food first. Prince Charming had raw salmon, Obe Wan had cooked salmon and J-Bird/Ms. America shared a plate of Swedish meatballs. It was okay. I'm glad we didn't spend a lot of money because it wasn't really anything to write home about. The food was about as good as the food at Disney, but less expensive.

Thanks to Wichita BF I had a shopping list in hand. The upstairs is set up with everything they offer, but you can't buy it there. You have to write down (with convenient pencils and paper located in every department) what you want. It is located in an aisle and a bin on the lower level of the store. HOLY COW. It was crazy.

I found the items I wanted. I wanted shelves for my library. My ultimate dream was to be an Pinterest Queen and buy the cheap "Billy" shelves and have a master carpenter turn them into something amazing. Silly Me. I would have to get Prince Charming to buy into that ideology. I was just impressed I got him into an IKEA. I was tired and my ear/head/tooth was about to explode, so after only an hour we got our stuff and got out of there. I don't think I will need to go back any time soon. 

Book Review: The Curious Tale of the In Between

A perfect book for a younger child with a higher reading level and a spot-on middle grade read  is found in Lauren DeStefano's debut middle grade novel, The Curious Tale of the In-Between. Her three main characters are mature, independent and thought provoking individuals. They each have felt loss--one of them even having lost his life. The protagonist, Pram, short for Pragmatic, is born the morning her mother hangs herself from a tree. It is this gift of being born from the dead that allows Pram the ability to see and hear ghosts.

I was enthralled by the bit of creepy followed by the depth of emotion found in this story. Death can be a taboo subject and it is difficult for those ages 8-12 to understand the seven stages of emotions surrounding loss. Both Pram and Clarence have lost a parent and want to find them. It is in their search to find the lost, they meet Lady Savant: an evil woman who collects spirits to give her longevity. It is Pram's ability to see into the Spirit World that Lady Savant wants for herself and it is one Pram will have to defend. The children have to confess to the adults what they have been searching for allowing difficult discussions to ensue. I was comforted to know there weren't any lose ends with the initial losses in this novel. It does look as though the children will continue to look for Pram's father in another upcoming novel.

You can find the full review at Books and What Not