Cold Winter Reads

While others spend their entire weekends watching football, planning trips, shopping for one more bulky sweater and awaiting the arrivals of babes, I indulge in my favorite winter pastimes: movies and popcorn with Little Boy, snuggling with my Beardy Man, maybe a little online shopping and of course, reading......lots and lots of reading!

My most recent finishes are quite varied and both well worth the time.

I found my way to The Key to Rebecca because I so love Ken Follett's other books and am just killing time until the 2nd in his Century Trilogy emerges sometime this year. Being a spy thriller set in World War II it is definitely not my typical pick, but I did enjoy and was definitely engrossed in the last 50 or so pages. I always think it's worth it to read a book like this just for the straight learning alone....I really knew nothing of the Desert Fox before this book. Hey, don't blame me.....point your finger at the fine NC education system!

And as for This is Where I Leave You......well this was just a lucky find in a bargain bin. A damn lucky find. This book is as funny as it is heartbreaking and relatable to almost anyone I know....if they're being honest. As a family sits Shiva, they learn more about each other and themselves than they probably ever wanted to know. I have always loved a good down on your luck story. Gawd knows I've been there. I don't know if it's a misery loves company thing so much as sometimes it's just nice to see the imperfections of people. Facebook and all the Real Housewives spin-offs have lead us to believe that everyone around us lives these great and fantastic lives full of great friends, great trips and perfect children. All. The. Time. Reading about real people with real flaws.....well.....it kinda just keeps me all the more real.....just like Pinocchio or the Velveteen Rabbit.

And as for realness......

Next up is Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. Given his track record and my love of Fight Club, I can't imagine this will be a miss.

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Reclaiming Your Childhood: Priceless

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My dog Rumor was an experiment. A trial offer. And all parties knew that going in. Except for maybe Rumor. Rumor was an outdoor country dog. His given name was Ruger (named after a firearm if you don't know, I didn't) which made sense for a dog raised in hunting country. He was a stray that came to live with a loving family at about the age of 1. He lived outdoors, slept in a garage crate at night, frolicked with an older dog pack and had a lovely life. We think he was about 4 years old. He had been neutered, had vet care and was by no means a "rescue". His dad offered Ruger to me on a give-it-a-try basis. He knew I wanted a dog. He told me Ruger would be sweet to me and also be my protector. He was right on both counts. He told me if it didn't work out, I could bring Ruger back to him and his wife. I could tell they were a little sad when they dropped him off. It made me glad to see that Ruger came from such ...

NYE for $200, Alex

Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays? I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays. I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive". To me, most NYE parties feel that way. The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds. Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money. AND you usually have to the leave the house. ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late. It's a big F.U. from me on all this. I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone. I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE. I rememb...

Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

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