Hillcrest Neighborhood, Louisville, KY HALLOWEEN HAUNTS!

On my way to an appointment this week I drove through this amazing neighborhood. I knew I had to fit in a run, so I figured after my appointment I would retrace my steps and jog through this neighborhood. They had selfie opportunities throughout the neighborhood, but I refrained as I was a sweaty mess. Here is what I saw on my C25k RUN---which I might add was one of the best miles I have run EVER--I ran a 9.15 min. mile. Unheard of. I'm so glad I was entertained on my run! I need to run somewhere like this more often....

Colts Game Pics!

Merry Christmas to our family! 

We bought eight tickets--four for our neighbors and four for us! We bought four tickets four rows up on the 40 yard line and 4 tickets up in the horseshoe section (located above Prince Charmings head.) Obe Wan and I volunteered to stay up in the horseshoe section and little J-Bird and PC stayed down below. PC and J-Bird couldn't quit grinning like idiots. It was SUCH a fun day to see both boys grinning like fools. Although the Colts lost to the Saints it will be memories will all have and hopefully can cherish. 

We drove up EARLY Sunday morning to Indianapolis---home of the Colts! Jen & I were in one car so we could talk/gossip the whole way and the boys all rode in the van. They have two boys; one is 17 and the other is 12. We truly enjoy their family and the three youngest hang out all the time together. We went to Palomino's Resturant for a Colts Brunch. It was yummy! They showed us around town: Pacers Stadium, Hard Rock Cafe, Veterans Memorial and a lot of homeless people. It was enjoyable. Very similar feel to downtown KS City. 

  And then we went to dah, dah, daaaaa--Lucas Oil Stadium. It was awesome!

We were early so we got to watch #4 Adam Vinatieri warm up his kicking leg. We got to see the General Manager schmooze with some people ALL BECAUSE WE WERE RIGHT DOWN IN FRONT!!!!
 Obe Wan and I did just fine from up above. We were directly over the entire field, so I thought we had better seats. We got to watch #12 Andrew Luck throw balls into the middle of NO where. It was awesome! What you don't get to see on the television was (I believe) the most exceptional for the boys to see---the entrance, the pregame events and the sounds in the stadium!

Thanks to our neighbors for orchestrating this event---I don't think we would have ever bit the bullet and bought such amazing seats. 

Book Review: These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

As we creep closer to Halloween I was intrigued by the title of Jennifer Donnelly's newest YA novel, These Shallow Graves, and wanted a good bone chilling novel to keep me awake at night. Although I enjoyed the book I am glad to say I won't be left with nagging or reoccurring nightmares. Instead, I am left with a sense of relief to know the innocent lives lost in the telling of the story get their due diligence in the end.

We start the story with three people digging up a corpse--apropos to the title, however it isn't the literal grave that Donnelly wants her readers to grasp, but the figure of speech. We all are subject to 'digging' our own graves and as the plot thickens we see how narcissist people can become.

Covered in dirt and standing with a shovel above a grave is our protagonist, Josephine Montfort. Jo is a 17 year old girl living in 1890s amongst the upper echelon in New York City. She is covered head to toe in dirt, but we are not told why, intead being transported to the past unveiling why our lovely and innocent protagonist is standing at a graveside at 2 in the morning. Jo's Father has been murdered; his partners in his shipping company have been murdered as well and it seems the business has been compromised by mysteriously missing shipping manifests. Compelled to become a reporter, Jo finds herself yearning to learn the truth of her father's untimely demise, as well as the truth to the shipping business.

Much to Jo's chagrin this is not the time when a young lady can ask questions or go anywhere without a chaperone. Jo is at the mercy of 1890 and has to discover how to illicit answers without shunning her family or herself. Thanks to her intelligence, wit and charm she manages to befriend a Newsie who has connections throughout the city. This friendship quickly evolves into a romantic relationship which will epically fail due to their lineage.

The historical aspect of this novel was compelling as was the plot development and characters. I felt like a winner because I knew who did what before Jo did, but that isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book. It was accurate in its depiction of the time and allowed for me to create beautiful images of the story as I read. Well, some not so beautiful as New York has a lurking evilness to its West side with its pick pockets and ladies of the evening--some of these settings allowed for great characterization to develop.

Out last week: Oct. 27, 2015

ISBN:9780385737654

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!