The Book Meme: Page 56, Nearest Book

The rules for this meme thing are :

• Grab the nearest book.
• Open it to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

My book is A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. I just finished it late last night and it’s in a pile of books to return to the library.

The fifth sentence on page 56 of A Walk in the Woods is “The sun was shining.”

Which totally doesn’t capture the spirit of the book, so let’s try this one, two sentences earlier: “Peggy had almost persuaded him to persevere, to try for just another week, but in the end he had broken down and wept quietly and asked from the heart to be let go home.”

I’m now supposed to ask 3 bloggers that I know of to do the same:

• Susan
• Jan Tallent
• Nessie

Jump in if you want to, and leave a link with your comment. Enjoy!

WFMW: Best Book Light

Okay, you guys. This little thingy SAVED MY MARRIAGE. Or at least made it more bearable.

I’m a VORACIOUS reader. If there’s nothing else around, I’ll read the back of a cereal box. So I used to read myself to sleep a lot before I got married.

That didn’t work out for my husband, Mr. Hoagie, too well. No matter what little gadgety thing I tried to let me read after lights-out, it kept him awake. Which kept me crabby. Him too.

Then I saw this little beauty, called LightWedge, featured on Oprah when Nate did a room makeover. I found it in a local bookstore, and snapped it up. The beauty of it is that it shines the light only across the page, not splashed all over the room.

I might have to pick up one for 7 year old Big Sis, now that she’s reading herself to sleep at night, too.

Voila! Marriage survives intact.

Check out lots of other great ideas from Shannon’s readers at Rocks in my Dryer. Fun redesign, too!

RANT: Sick of it all.

I’ve had it!

I am SO sick to DEATH of having to do EVERYTHING for EVERYBODY!!!!!

AAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!

I’m tired of always being responsible. I’m wiped out. Weeks of hospital visits…running the kids to tumbling and dance lessons…stopping by my mom’s to visit…off to the library for a kids program…driving Mom to the doctor…another dance lesson…return phone calls…plan menus….

Oh, and let’s not forget that on top of all that, Supermom here is supposed to cook, clean, shop, do laundry, dishes.

Oh, and lose a little weight. Did I mention I’m a stress eater?

My house is trashed. I HATE being here. Tired of tripping over dog toys, broken Happy Meal toys, assorted laundry that never made it to the hamper because my family is apparently BRAIN DAMAGED. Tired of trying to remember which pile in which quadrant of our kitchen that phone number or schedule is located.

Did I mention that all the stuff that belongs in our (nonexistent) attic is (still) in my bedroom? Has been for over 4 years, since Little Sis was born and we had to turn “the attic room” into her nursery. I hate waking up and looking at that sh*t every day. I trip over it on my way to bed. I knock it over on my way to the bathroom every morning. It includes a large bag stuffed with gift bags that we’ve received over the past 7 years that are intended to be reused. It mostly contains “new baby” themed bags that we could NEVER POSSIBLY EVER USE UP IN OUR LIVES. We won’t ever have to give gifts to 78 babies. Did I mention that this teetering pile of crap prohibits me from even using my own dresser?

Wishing I could return some favors…all the playdates that were hastily arranged to I could see my mom in the hospital…the backyard sleepover I’ve been promising Little Sis for months (“When school’s out, honey.” “After vacation, baby doll.” “When your grandma gets out of the hospital….”). I think about planning our somewhat-annual ice cream social (I even bought invitations!), but I can’t bear the thought of adding it to my workload, even though it’s the world’s easiest party to throw.

But I don’t have enough patience for my own kids lately, let alone someone else’s too.

My book club book is gathering dust on a side table. The chaise lounge I splurged on ($30 at Sam’s Club) never made it to the deck. We never got out the grill…who has time?

Summer’s whizzing by, and I’m missing it.

On the bright side, I have (expensive) Jimmy Buffett tickets for Tuesday, but right now all I can think about is my extensive to-do list. Clear out minivan so six adults can comfortably fit. (Maybe get the car detailed? I hate doing it myself.) Make sure sitter can run Little Sis to dance class. Plan menu. Shop. Pack in coolers. Be at airport by 11:30 am to pick up my sister and her (new) boyfriend. Worry that new boyfriend won’t like me or that he’ll be disgusted when he sees what shape I keep my home in. Arrive at concert. Unpack. Cook. Feed people. Drink (heavily?). Try to remember to relax and enjoy myself. It’s Jimmy Buffett, for Pete’s sake.

I’ve had it.

Is this stupid antidepressant even WORKING? Hellooo?

I’m tired.

Quick update

It’s been a crazy couple of days! Here are the bullet points:

Mom was released from the hospital yesterday (after my keys got locked in my car and my husband came home early to unlock it). The scope of her bladder was clear except for a raging bladder infection. She was put on antibiotics and has to wear a foley catheter for a month, but she’s at home. A nurse is (supposed to be) checking on her daily. Though mom mentioned today that the nurse wanted me to do her job twice a week. We’ve been through this before….

The AC is fixed. Yay! Just in time for a cold snap: it’s been in the 60s this week!

I’m still on Weight Watchers; I only gained 0.4 lbs over our vacation. And I ate ice cream almost every day! Of course, I did walk all over Walt Disney World, plus a good amount of swimming. And I tried to watch my portions.

Also, I teamed up with my next-door neighbor for a friendly WW competition: For each pound we lose over the course of a month, we’ll each earn one hour of babysitting from the other. So if I lose 5 and she loses 8, she’ll watch my kids for 5 hours and I’ll watch hers for 8. We can use them right away or bank them. Plus, we decided that 14 hours equals one sleepover! Plus, when I reach my first 10% goal, I’ve got my eye on a sweet little iPod nano.

Took the girls to their first summer tumbling class today. The liked it, but I was a nervous wreck! They had my four-year-old trying back walkovers, or something! Anyway, they looked a little uncoordinated compared to the other girls, but it was only their first day. It’s a pretty serious gym dedicated to tumbling and cheering. So far, so good….

And met with my book group tonight. It was fun…a bit of girl talk, a bit of coffee (or in my case, a chai tea latte), a bit of book discussion (Around the Bloc).

I’ve been running since 6:30 am, and I’m done. Time to snuggle on the couch with my husband and Jon Stewart!