Yeah, I like it too

I actually bought this book for Elise and Jake to read. Jake had read Dragon Rider, which is also by her. I had read The Thief Lord. Inkheart had been sitting in my bookcase for a while. The other day I decided to read it. I finished it that day, and the next day I went and bought the second book Inkspell. These books are charming and captivating. I have really enjoyed reading them. The characters are well written and the plot is pretty unique(which is hard to come by in a juvenile fantasy book). There is supposed to be a movie of Inkheart coming in 2007. I can't wait. I highly recommend these books. I think I'll read Dragon Rider next.

I bought a new book. I found it on amazon. I had read Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss and really liked it. My new book was listed as a "those who have bought this, also bought this other book". I have actually found a lot of books that way.

This book is about exactly what the title says. The author lists tautologies and then writes a little humorous remark about them, along with any similar tautologies.

Here are some of my favorites:

Armed Gunmen
When you need to distinguish between two gunmen,
one of whom is missing a couple limbs.

Forcible Rape
When permission to rape isn't granted.

Black Crow
The outcast in those large albino flocks.

Jewish Rabbi
More authentic than a Catholic rabbi.

Married to Her Husband
The fate of a wedded wife.

It's a really cute book. I recommend it.

Tomorrow is our open house. In preperation for this, Ben and I have been doing a lot of work. Ben has been doing the home improvement things, and I have been doing the cleaning. I've come to the conclusion that kids keep too much stuff. I've been trying to get rid of all the clutter in my house. The kids rooms are the worst. They have stuff crammed everywhere; old school assignments, art supplies, pieces of toys, and shoes. Something else I find throughout the house are their socks. They just can't seem to put them in their laundry baskets. I've found them under the couch, under pillows, behind furniture, and under beds. Their favorite place to hide them is under the couch cushions.

I threw out a huge amount of junk today. Despite that, there still seems to be too much stuff in our house. I'm not looking forward to having to pack. Oh well, I'll worry about that when we sell our house.

I am ready for this whole moving business to be over. I hope people come to the open house. We'll see.

Today I took Claire to visit a lady in our church. This lady had some russian nesting dolls. Claire LOVES to play with them. As Claire was playing, she told us that the dolls were having a "pightingwar". We had no idea what she was saying. After a few minutes of questioning her, we realized she was saying "fighting war". I asked her what they were fighting for. She answered, "So they can be like that." As she said this, she was pointing to one of the dolls that she had taken apart, the top half lying next to the bottom half.

I have no idea were she got this idea from. I found it a little disturbing that a 3 year old knew that much about war. I am going to have to keep my eye on her. I thought it was boys who had violent tendencies. Claire is into princess stuff and girly things. Maybe I should pay more attention to her pretend play when she plays with her toys. Maybe she isn't playing "fairy princess". Maybe it's Braveheart 2.

I have been feeling older lately. I'm not sure why. It could be the stress of selling a house. Or paying bills. Or worrying about loosing weight. Or hanging out with a 23 year-old who has never heard of some of my favorite movies. Maybe it's a good thing I don't get to socialize much with people my own age. Most 27 year-olds don't have 3 kids; the oldest being almost 9. I think it's time to dye my hair. That always makes me feel better. Some chocolate may be good too. Elise tells me that I'm not old until I turn 30. Maybe 27 isn't so bad.

I exercised 5 days this week! Now I just have the rest of my life to go! It feels good to have done my goal. Hopefully I can keep it up. It does make me feel better when I exercise regularly. I have more energy and I think it even makes me feel happier. Maybe I should buy something to reward myself. Hmm... the possibilities.

This is why I love Zappos. I got this email today, a few hours after ordering:

Good news!

Although you originally ordered Standard (4 to 5 business days) shipping
and handling, we have given your order special priority processing in
our warehouse so that your order will ship out today, and your order
should be delivered in 2 Business Days (from today) instead. Business
days are Mondays through Fridays, except holidays, so your order should be
delivered by Friday, June 9th 2006.

Please note that this is being done at no additional cost to you. It is
simply our way of saying thank you for being our customer.