Monthly Archives: December 2007

Hear ye! Hear ye!

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I hereby nominate Debbie for sainthood!

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but here in Oklahoma we’ve had a bit of an ice storm. They’re saying it is the worst natural disaster in Oklahoma. Ever. Including the Dust Bowl.

We woke up at 4:30 Monday morning with no power. We did a whole lot of nothing on Monday. Mike went to work, but came back home because they didn’t have power either. Debbie’s power went out about 11:30 that morning, but it came up about 9 hours later.

Our power came up for about 5 seconds at 8:00 Monday night. It was just long enough for me to start the happy dance. Then it went back down. Mike blames the happy dance.

We put extra blankets on the beds and extra clothes on all the people. It was a chilly night.

Tuesday morning, Debbie called and told us to pack up the kids and come to her house where it was warm. We took all the food that was starting to thaw in the freezer, and headed her way. We left her house on Thursday evening.

For 2 nights and 3 days, Debbie and her family put up with extra people in their house taking up space, eating their food, and controlling the TV. Her kids slept on couches so our kids could sleep in their beds. And Debbie conjured up countless sheets of paper, markers, scissors, beads, stamps, and stamp pads to entertain my five year old daughter. Also, I think their cat is permanently scarred by being continuously harassed by the aforementioned daughter.

Thank you Debbie for making us feel welcome. Everyone should have a friend like you.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

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I finally finished one! It’s taken weeks!

Special Topics in Calamity Physics But it was a good one. There was a mystery. Ok. Make that lots of mysteries. And the was hilarity. Well, maybe only I thought it was hilarious that the narrator cited various works to support her statements about people or events she was describing.

Blue Van Meer is a precocious high school senior whose father has moved her from one town to another every semester since she was 5 and her mother died in a car wreck. Just before her senior year, her father decided to settle in a place for the whole year. At school, Blue is befriended by a teacher who forced her exclusive group of mentees to include her in their group. It is a very bizarre group and they lead her a bit astray.

The teacher proposes a weekend hiking trip over spring break. The kids go along unwillingly. Blue gets separated from the group with the teacher, then the teacher leaves her in the dark woods and manages to get herself hanged from a tree. The other kids think Blue did it. Blue knows someone else was there. She decides to solve the mystery of what happened to the teacher.

I’m trying not to give away the best parts. That’s why it’s so lame a description.

I can’t go on!

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I really can’t take it another day. I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but it’s just all so gloomy. So depressing. The men are so mean and cruel and the women are so helpless. I’m seriously considering giving it all up.

If you’ve read Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White, please give me a reason to go on. I’m currently forcing myself to read a chapter a day. And some days, I just can’t get through it. I’m really not able to see how this could get better.