It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 7.14.14

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

This was a strap it down and read week!
I read quite a bit of picture books, but didn't fit them all in on this post.  Be sure to check out my Goodreads site for more!

Picture Books


The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
4/5 stars
This was a very sweet story about a special nighttime library.  Who could not love a book that says, "And the little librarian and her three assistant owls helped each and every one find a perfect book!"


Alfie Runs Away by Kenneth M. Cadow
4/5 stars
What drew me to this book was the illustrator - Lauren Castillo.  Ever since I read Troublemaker, I've wanted to get my hands on more books by/illustrated by her.  This book was cute, Alfie decides to run away because his mom wants to give away his favorite pair of shoes!  Lucky for him, his mom helps him pack for this big trip away from home. :)  Don't worry, Alfie doesn't get too far!


The Reader by Amy Hest

This book would be perfect to use with young readers to talk about what does it mean to be a reader?  What characteristics do readers have?  What is this reader doing that you envision for yourself as a reader?


The Tree House that Jack Built by Bonnie Verburg
3/5 stars
My Goodreads Review:  I loved the first page of this book that showed the biggest layout of the treehouse.  I would have LOVED to have a treehouse as big as that, with multiple levels to play on and explore.  It reminded me of the 13 Story Treehouse series.  But kind of like that story, this book ended up being about something else besides the treehouse, even though it was the treehouse that drew me into reading the story.  This book was about the animals, but I really wanted it to be about the treehouse.


Memoirs of a Hamster by Devin Scillian
4/5 stars
Memoirs of a Goldfish was one of the first stories I used with reluctant readers when I started using texts instead of just intervention materials a few years ago.  I loved that book and thought it was so original.  The follow up, Memoirs of a Hamster, while laugh out loud funny is good, it doesn't quite catch the magic of the original.  However, what I did like about this "sequel", is it had a different formula that the first.  So often, the follow-up book just copies the original, but I'm glad this one was a little different.  I loved Seymour and the evil Pearl (figures the villain is the cat, haha!).


Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly
5/5 stars
An absolutely amazing book that deals with divorce in a kid-view way.  I think it's important that Emily still has other things that she concentrates on during this difficult time, even though her sub-conscious is clearly dealing with her parents' divorce.  So many of us read books about families or have a family unit at the beginning of the year.  This book is a very important book to include because this book is some of our kids.

Informational Texts


Gifts from the Enemy by Trudy Ludwig
5/5 stars
I'm beginning to think that Ludwig absolutely pours heart and soul into her books and then leaves them there!  Her books are always so touching and rarely can you leave them after one sitting.  This book is taken from a longer text about a Polish man who as a child was taken from his family and put in a camp.  However, the big part of this story is the kindness he receives from a stranger, from someone unexpected.


Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas by Lynne Cox
4/5 stars
Again, I was drawn to this book because of the illustrator, Brian Floca.  I'm a huge fan of his illustrations.  Something about the soft colors, the not-real-but-not-comic people that he draws.  This has a cute story about a very stubborn elephant seal to go along with the lovely illustrations!


Middle Grade


This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy Cavanaugh
5/5 stars
I have been on a roll this summer reading fantastic middle grade books.  This one is no exception!  The most amazing part of this novel is the fact that entire thing is written in a "journal" that Ratchet has written.  Each "chapter" is a writing exercise that Ratchet has completed.  It moves the story forward without it every appearing to be a story.  Beautifully done.  Middle grade readers will relate and understand Ratchet.


Chained by Lynne Kelly
4/5 stars
I chose this book to read because it's one of our 2015 Illinois Bluestem Nominee books and I am making it a goal to read all of them - as many as I can before school starts - by voting time.  Mostly so I can talk about them and book talk them, of course!
This book took me a little bit to get into, but once I did, I was transported to India and was part of Hastin's and Nandita's world.  It ended up being a beautiful story about human and animal nature, what is right/wrong with animal and children treatment and the human spirit. There were some heartbreaking and heartwarming moments.
I think fans of Ivan will really like this book!


Graphic Novels


Squish:  Fear the Amoeba - Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm
5/5 stars
I really loved this Squish!  Worried about seeing a scary movie?  Not wanting to appear wimpy in front of your friends?  Team Holm captured this perfectly!


Comic Squad Recess!
5/5 stars
Wonderful compilation of short, graphic novel stories.  So glad to see there will be more!  And did you see the dedication?? To the #NerdyBookClub!  That is awesome!


Earlier chapter books


Arnie the Doughnut and the Invasion of the Ufonuts by Laurie Keller
4/5 stars
Probably not as clever as the first one, but I still really love Arnie!  I really like that Keller includes little arrows on the talk bubbles so young readers will know the order to read them!


Currently Reading


The Land of Stories:  The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer
Thoroughly enjoying this one!


Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok
I loved her Girl in Translation book.  Looking forward to this one!


my PD books:

           


And what are you reading?

Celebrate This Week! 7.12.14

It's always good to end the week on a positive note.  Sometimes we concentrate on the negatives.  We have a choice.  Choose positive.  Choose to celebrate.  I will be joining Ruth Ayres and her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week.  Check out all the other celebrations HERE

It's been an interesting week, but lots to celebrate!

Celebration#1:  nErDcampMI
I've already blogged about my reflections of this wonderful camp HERE.
I love the concept of an ed camp, but an ed camp run by Nerdy Book Club people?  Done!
A fantastic part about this camp were all the authors that came:

I met Donalyn!

Love these Chicagoland authors - Michele Weber Hurowitz and Liesl Shurtliff

My daughter getting her Arnie book signed by Laurie Keller

Jess Keating

This was my daughter's 2nd time (my 3rd!) time meeting Liesl Shurtliff.

Nancy Cavanaugh

The authors that were there were so wonderful with the kids and with us!  Genuine people who think about kids!

Celebration #2:

It was my daughter's 9th bday yesterday. She had a couple of options, but what she wanted most of all was to take a trip to Anderson's Bookshop and meet Chris Colfer.  Chris wrote The Land of Stories series and the third one just came out this past Tuesday.  Anderson's is a good hour plus change away from us, but it's always an experience being there.  I tried to make good use of our trip down there by meeting up with my Grandmother who lives in the next town over.  Chicago traffic went against us.  So that hour plus change trip went up to over 2 1/2 hours.  No nice long dinner.  Quick bite to eat and off to the bookshop.  It was a mob scene!  So many people!  I had been told on the phone when I got our tickets that he would talk before he signed.  Either that person didn't get the memo, or it was changed.  No talking and no taking pictures with him and no personalization of the books.  He would sign copies of all 3 books as long as you had purchased the third book.  I got the quick snap of him below before we were allowed up to talk to him.  Once we got up there, he was actually very kind.  My daughter told him it was her birthday so she got an extra star drawn in her book :) I asked him about the research he did for the books and he told me the third book was the one he had to research the most - the Brothers Grimm and other middle European fairy tales.  I would have loved to talk to him more about his writing and reading life.  I told him I was an educator and I enjoyed passing off his books to readers.  He asked me what I taught and said thank you for sharing his books.  I did not expect such a genuine conversation.  He was a cool author to meet!

Celebration #3:

We had a lot of injuries this week.  You might have read about my daughter's fall and stitches.  We went to the dr today to get them removed but it was a no go.  He said he didn't want the wound to reopen and I 100% agree, so they are on until Monday.  Bummer.  But I remind myself, this could have been so much worse.  Broken jaw... broken arm and cast for the rest of summer... broken leg would have been a trip to FL to see her ortho dr.

Then on Wednesday I took my first bike spill.  I've been anticipating this happening.  Look forward to Tuesday's SoL.... I think this is a blog post waiting to happen!  So I'm celebrating our injuries not being as bad as what they could have been!

Celebration #4:

I think the rest of the summer is going to be a little bit quieter now.  We'll still be busy with the day to day things, but no more road trips.  I'm looking forward to getting some things done at home!

I sincerely hope everyone has a good week!  I like the feeling when there are no downs, and no really high highs, just when things go well....

Reflections on nErDcamp 2014 - I'm coming home

There are so many amazing things I can talk about in my reflection on #nErDcampMI 2014. The amazing speakers.  The fantastic new learning that occurred.  The new books I brought home.  The awesome time my daughter had at nErDcamp jr.  But I'm going to narrow it down and focus on something that went hand and hand.  Passion and community.

As we drove into Jackson, MI, I told my husband that it was the strangest feeling.  Even though I was only going to know my one friend and colleague at the camp, I still felt like I was going "home", I was going to be with people who shared my passion.

See, as a kid, I was an avid reader.  I read and I read.  I learned so much about life and the ways of the world and the ways of other worlds.  The older I got the less I read until my 30s.  I picked up reading and felt like I was falling into an old friendship.

A few years ago I pondered my reading life and the reading life I saw at our school.  Our teachers are busy and while reading is a part of our students' daily lives, it wasn't promoted, or talked about or shared.  I slowly worked on changing that.  I read more "kid books" so I knew what was popular and fun to read.  I started getting more books in kids hands.  I started talking about reading more.

Then last summer I stumbled upon some blogs.  I found Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn's blog.  I felt like they were talking to me.  A passion for reading ignited and I kept it aflame.  I soon found Katherine Sokolowski's blog and I started reading these blogs daily.  I started reading more and more children's literature.  My TBR list started to grow.  I pre-ordered Donalyn's Reading in the Wild and book talked it to colleagues.  I found the It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday and found links and links of people who all thought like me.  By early January I had started my own blog and entered the world of Twitter.  The last 7 months I've had numerous conversations with these literacy-loving colleagues and as Donalyn and Beth Shaum said, "I found my tribe." 

Most people I work with don't have the passion that I have.  Some are starting to read more and asking questions.  But I don't have the same conversations with them.  

Walking into nErDcamp, I immediately say Niki Barnes, and although we had met one other time, it was nice to see her again. Then I ran into Mr. Sharp (after all those Sat. videos, that's how I think of him) and I introduced him to my daughter who frequently tweets in to the #sharpschu book club.  He was very kind with her and she thought she was meeting a celebrity.  Then I did meet a celebrity - I finally met Donalyn.  I asked to take a picture with her, I needed to record this moment!  And then she had a conversation with me!  She was so kind, listened, asked questions.  Listening to her speak later - I was cracking up and nodding my head with everything she said.  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  I'm with people who get me.
I met Franki and Katherine, they really have no idea what they did for me.  I came from just loving books by myself, to opening me up to this community.

My daughter had a terrible fall after day one.  She ended up in the Jackson, MI emergency room (and if you're wondering, they are as slow as every other ER I've been to).  She needed 3 stitches to close up a gash on her chin.  I tweeted about it the next morning.  Many people responded, including Jess Keating.  I saw her once I got there on Day 2 and after introducing myself to her, she immediately asked about my daughter.  I ran into Mr. Schu shortly after.  He gave me a hug and also asked about my daughter.  Community.

Because that's what it was, a community.  Every presentation I went to, each time I walked down a hallway, I found others that I've tweeted with, blogs I've commented on, but now I spoke with them.  People who live many many states away were here, all because of the same reason.  They love literature.  They love teaching.  

The passion and energy in each and every room was felt.  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Here were people, participating in something during their own time, over summer.  And excited about it.  I wish I had more colleagues there.  I wish they could have felt the energy.  I wish they could remember the excitement they've had when thinking about teaching.  When I think back to my time at nErDcampMI, that's what I'm going to remember the most.  I'd love more time to talk to everyone.  Maybe next year!

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday 7.09.14 and #cyberPD week 1

          

We know that a big part of the CCSS is to include more informational texts into ourstudents' reading.  I quickly discovered I had a "gap" in my reading diet - the genre of informational texts!  To help me fill the gap this year, I am going to participate in Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesdays!  This is a great link-up hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy.  Please visit this website to see other educator's link-ups.  My goal is to read at least one informational text each week and post information on the blog.  The more books and subjects I read, the more I can encourage (my #OLW for 2014) other teachers to use in their classroom! 

I'm reading what you're reading!  Part 2:  Longer nonfiction texts

I love this weekly post because it has added to my nonfiction reading.  But sometimes it takes me seeing a book a couple of times in a post before I pick it up.  All of the books I'm spotlighting originally were reviewed on someone else's blog or their Goodreads post.  I'm showing them again because maybe for you, seeing it here will be what gets you to read the book!



Food Trucks! by Mark Todd
This book is so timely as these trucks are becoming more and more popular!  Each page spotlights a truck and gives it an appropriate name.  The Taco Food Truck is "Amigo", the Barbecue Truck is "Bubba Q"....  The food trucks are drawn to perfection - decorated just right and many have menu boards that give more examples of items found on the truck.  The description is told in verse with just the right amount of information, and not overloaded with details.  If you do want to know more information, there are captions around the food truck illustration that gives more about the food truck or about the food it carries.  While not a very long book, if reading all of the information on the page and discussing the illustrations, I imagine this book would take a few days to read out loud.


Wow!  I Didn't Know That:  Surprising Facts About Animals by Emma Dods
You could probably stretch this book over a couple of days, but it would be a long read for younger readers in one day.  Really fun and interesting facts, many left me saying "really???"  For example:
* did you know a gorilla can catch a common cold??
* how about some cats are right-pawed and some are left-pawed?
* or did you know a crocodile's tongue is stuck to the bottom of its mouth??


Shimmer and Splash:  The Sparkling World of Sea Life by Jim Arnosky
Arnosky wrote and illustrated this book after doing research by spending days observing water from a small boat and wading in shallow water.  You can tell his interest in the subject by his descriptive writing.  He often "talks" straight to his reader, as if having an invested conversation with a close friend.  The illustrations are vivid, bright and eye-catching.  I love the beautiful paintings and the small sketches are fascinating to look and see the details.  Any ocean unit should include this book.


Deadly! The Truth About the Most Dangerous Creatures on Earth by Nicola Davies
Davies does a great job compiling deadly animals and then writing about them in a way that shows why they are important, how they are deadly and how one is always worse than the other!  The entire book can be used as a read aloud, or just to research a particular animal, or a particular deadly way of protection!  Illustrations instead of photographs, some are more graphic than others!

This week is the first week of #cyberPD.  Many of us are reading Donalyn Miller's newest book Reading in the Wild.  It's not a new book for many, some have already read it, but it's great to go back, reread or read for the first time AND discuss!

I read this book back in January, but I'm excited for the opportunity to not only reread, but also discuss with fellow bloggers and people on Twitter.  To see the links for other bloggers, please visit Cathy Mere's blog Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community.

Here are my {random} thoughts about the Intro and chapters 1-2

Introduction

* Something that stood out to me is the notion that kids must think of themselves as readers.  Amongst a few other things I read, I guess I never really thought about what kids think of themselves in this regard.  I teach, they learn.  That's it right?  Not really.  Not if we want our students to continue what we're doing at school in their own time.  It's a mind-shift for me, but one I want to remember.  I know from my other reading and research that if kids think of themselves as readers and develop reading habits at home during the school year, they are more likely to continue those habits during school vacations!

Something to remember for this school year:

* I am one of the reading specialists in my school.  Instead of just providing reading interventions, I also work with teachers in their classrooms to continue to develop reading practices in their rooms.  A question I would ask that I would like teachers to ponder this year is "When thinking about your classroom, what do you do to foster reading habits with your students?"

Chapter 1:  Wild Readers Dedicate Time to Read

What I want to remember:

* We cannot expect parents to continue our reading structure from school at home.  Sometimes they do, and that's great.  But often, life gets in the way.  We need to show students who they are as a reader so they embrace that and then understand how to continue this even when they are not around school.

* I love this quote "We cannot tell children they need to read more and refuse to offer any time for them to read during the school day." pg 9.  But isn't that what we do?  Time to make a conscious change!

* Donalyn talks about how so often kids who receive interventions are taken out of independent reading time for their intervention.  Kids who need time to read the most, aren't getting it!  We were not doing this at our school, but we were taking the kids out during reading block time.  Were they missing instruction?  No, but is there a better time to take them out?  Yes!  And I'm happy to report we are going to try something new this year.  We'll see how it works!

* I love the idea of teaching kids what "reading on the edge" is.  Carry books around.  When are you sitting there doing nothing when you could be reading?  Put electronics away (especially in the car) and read!  Every minute counts and adds up, it doesn't have to be in succession.

* I liked the Independent Reading Observation idea - taking time and data to analyze why a student isn't reading.  Great for talking with students and parents!

* I also liked the status of the class idea.  Don't have to use it all year, but great to get kids started!

What surprised me:

* The idea of talking to students about their reading habits and their reading lives.  Wow.  This could be powerful!  I'm thinking the difference it can make in students to think of themselves as having a reading life!

A question:

* When I first read about "reading on the edge", I talked to so many reading students, and even parents, about this.  But no matter how hard I tried, it's very difficult to get students who struggle with reading to actually spend time reading.  We are also coming from a school that relies on guided reading.  All independent reading time is done without teacher conferences.  I know that could be the pinnacle of making this work, but right now we do not have that model.  We've made changes with making reading more visible and getting things going in the right direction, but it's baby steps.  I've worked with struggling readers and tried getting them hooked on books and given them a choice, but getting them excited about reading, or reading outside of school has been tough.  How do you promote this with kids who really struggle?  Those kids who decode independently on a first or second grade reading level?  Any primary teachers, do you have any thoughts?  Please leave them in the comments!

Chapter 2:  Wild Readers Self-Select Reading Material

What I want to remember:

What I'm noticing as I read this book, is so much of it is common sense, but Donalyn takes it to the next level of making sure it makes sense to the students and making them be more reflective about themselves.  I think a lot of teachers have rules for their classroom library (although I really liked the one about "sliding" your book in and out of places) but I liked some of her thoughts about dividing them up by genre, knowing what the popular and current series are, and I loved Mr. Schu's recommendation for weeding out books with the MUSTIE acronym.  

* I think teachers try to recommend books and put good books in their reading corners.  But take it to the next level - discuss with students, where do you get book recommendations from?  Make sure they know how to get book recommendations!

* Students need to learn how to choose books for themselves.  If they have places to get recommendations, it will be easier for them to get book choices.  Do they know what kind of book they like?

* I thought this quote was powerful, "Students who cannot successfully choose texts that meet their personal and academic reading goals fail to develop a vital skill that all wild readers possess." pg. 47

* When talking about read-alouds (especially as a tool for book recommendations) make sure you vary the genre you read aloud.  If all we do is fiction, that's all you are exposing your students to!

* Lots of great ideas about creating a reading community.  Very powerful when students think of themselves as being part of a reading community.

What surprised me:

* The idea of abandoning a book and talking to students about how this is ok is not new.  But, I liked the idea of teaching kids strategies of how to get through the "draggy parts".  I had not thought of that before!

* The concept of never giving students just 1 book idea - always give them a choice.  How many times in the past have I done that?  Recommended one book and said "oh you'll like this one."  I guess that student really didn't have a choice but to like it???

Lots of good thoughts already!  An idea that is sticking to me already is the concept of talking to students about their reading lives.  The more aware they are of one and what it is, the more they will understand themselves as a reader.  This could be a powerful transition this year!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 7.07.14

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

I hope everyone enjoyed the (hopefully) long holiday weekend with friends and family!

I had a pretty good reading week.  I'll describe some of my favorites and note others that I read.  You can always check my Goodreads page for more description!


Picture Books


My Teacher is a MONSTER! by Peter Brown
5/5 stars
Peter Brown can do no wrong as far as I am concerned.  I love his illustrations - Creepy Carrots and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild are some of my favorites.  This one is just as good.  And the story?  I was laughing out loud. I love when the kid is out in public and he runs into his teacher, and what does he do?  Raise his hand before he talks to her.  So many good parts.   I can't wait to read this with students in the fall.  Great for point of view and characters changing.



The Change Your Name Store by Leanne Shirtliffe
4/5 stars
Wilma Lee Wu wants a new name.  Where do you get one of those?  The Change Your Name Store, of course!  But before you walk away with a new name, you have to "try them on gently, then go for a ride" in the name's country of origin.  Great book to use in a social studies unit and talk about cultures.  Great book to share in a primary classroom.


Zoe's Jungle by Bethanie Deeney Murguia
4/5 stars
Imaginative play at a park is at the center of this book!



Mister Bud Wears the Cone by Carter Goodrich
3/5 stars



Five Trucks by Brian Floca
3/5 stars


Informational Texts


Food Trucks! by Mark Todd
4/5 stars
I read this book in preparation for day 2 at nErDcampMI next week - 3 food trucks are coming our way for lunch!  This book was great - I loved the fun illustrations, they were very detailed.  Short verse that gives a little bit of information about the food truck and additional info is offered in captions around the illustration.  


I Am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer
4/5 stars
I like this series, but I have some difficulties with it as far as it being used as informational texts.  I know they are drawn in a comic book style, but I don't like how the main character is always depicted as a younger character - dressed in an older style but drawn younger.  Also, there has not been any source notes or info about how the author got his information.  This book, while still showed Rosa as a young girl even during the infamous bus scene, had text that was more rich in information than Meltzer's previous books.  There was a clear theme and clear understanding of what Rosa Parks stood for.  At the very end of the book there are some original photographs of Rosa.  I'm glad those were included.  I think this series has the potential of being a good introductory biography series, but with maybe a couple of tweaks.


Middle Grade


How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes are Untied by Jess Keating
5/5 stars
My Goodreads review:  This has been the year for debut authors.  It seems that I've read several this year that have just stuck to me in different ways.  This one was no exception.
Jess Keating gets middle school right.  It's hard.  It's full of kids who get pleasure from cutting down people.  It's full of times of your friends being the ones to bring you up.  It's full of times of your parents embarrassing you, but also times when your parents show you who you really are.
And Jess Keating shows all of that in her book with plenty of witty comments.  Here are some of my favorites, I laughed out loud to all of these:
pg. 49 "I swear, if there were a place called Bright Side, my mother would be queen.  Complete with a little crown of stars and glitter and happy unicorns of opportunity."

pgs. 70-71 "Next year's students getting to see my work?  That would be like someone seeing inside my doodle notebook.  That's practically like seeing someone in their underwear."

pg. 73 "For the first time in my life, I didn't even want to draw, which probably meant I was dying from some awful disease that I'd picked up from crummy math class.  I always figured integers were contagious." {I am so with you, Ana!!}

pg. 86 "You can't stay anonymous and stand in front of a crowd of people at the same time.  That's like vanilla ice cream wanting to be mint chip.  And I am so sticking with Team Vanilla."

pg. 149 "I bit my lip to keep from saying anything.  I was still too emotional, and there was no way I was going to get all Sweet Valley High on her." {oh, how I laughed at that one.  That had to be meant for the teachers and parents - a SVH comment???  Love it!}


Currently Reading


This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy J. Cavanaugh
I am more than 1/2 way done and am loving this book so far!  And she has a new one coming out in August, yippee!

for different cyber PDs, I'm reading:

          
Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller
Read Write Teach by Linda Rief

and I'm going to really make an effort and get through

Readers Front and Center by Dorothy Barnhouse
She has some great thoughts in this book!

On Deck


The Land of Stories:  The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer
I need to plow through this one - my daughter and I are going to meet him on Friday!

So many books.  Just need time :)
What are you reading?

Celebrate This Week! 7.05.14

It's always good to end the week on a positive note.  Sometimes we concentrate on the negatives.  We have a choice.  Choose positive.  Choose to celebrate.  I will be joining Ruth Ayres and her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week.  Check out all the other celebrations HERE

"How has your summer been going?"
"We've been so busy! I think we're busier now than during the school year!"

I've caught myself saying that more than once, how busy we are, we haven't been home, I'm filling in time with all of the things I don't get to do when the school year is here.

I almost sound like I'm complaining.

But wait, what are we busy with?

Swim team, swim team party, my master's swim group, going to the neighborhood pool, golf lessons, dance recitals, family photo shoot, Twitter chats, trips to the library, trips to the bookstore, family vacation to Colorado Springs...

Trips to Target, Mariano's (our new grocery store!), eye doctor, pick up new glasses, oil change for the car, working out, haircuts...

Anything bad in there?  Nope.

You know, sometimes, being busy is a good thing.  We don't always see it that way, but when you think about the alternative, it's good.  I like the things I'm busy with.  I could always do with more time in my life.  But I also like what I am doing.  School will come soon and another kind of busy time will take over.  For now I'm going to say thank you.  Thank you God, thank you family, thank you friends.  Thank you for keeping me busy with good things in my life.  I celebrate.