Monday, December 20, 2010

Stay With Me

Hey lambies- it's time for another book review. And this is a book that I think a lot of you will like so you should read this. :)

Stay With Me- Sandra Rodriguez Barron
Stay with Me: A Novel

Thirty years ago, five toddlers were found alone in a luxury boat tied up to a dock in Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane. No one knew who they were or where they came from. Now adults, raised by different families but connected by a special bond, David, Taina, Holly, Adrian and Raymond have always considered themselves siblings, even if their blood relations were unknown. When David is diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, the five brothers and sisters meet at Griswold Island off the coast of Connecticut at the family home of David's ex-girlfriend, Julia, a woman whose own deeply rooted family tree is a direct opposite to the siblings' hidden beginnings. However, while David's siblings think the trip is just a chance to spend quality time with Davide and help him get his mind off the disease, David has an ulterior motive for planning a vacation: The brain tumor has triggered flashbacks to the time before the hurricane and prompted a strong desire in David to find out the truth of their origins. He's determined to find out if they are siblings in blood as well as heart and the circumstances behind what happened to them those many years ago. The gathering is the first time they are all able to share and document the wisps of fading memory, all of it conflicting, all of it charged with emotional attachments to whatever truth they have each come to embrace.

OK. So if THAT doesn't make you want to read this book.. I don't know what will. Frequent readers of my blog will know that my big thing is that I'm absolutely convinced I will die of a brain tumor and recently I blogged about that. And the news I got about my dad came *literally* the day after I finished this book. I find it kind of bizarre that a lot of the books I'm reading all of a sudden take a turn for the personal afterwards. So because of that, I connected with this book.

The story of five seemingly abandoned children is sad and as a mother it pulls at you. I enjoyed learning about each sibling and how the experience of early childhood traumas such as abandonment really pave your future as an adult. It proves that every person handles stress and trauma differently and these characters were no different. I felt sad for David, suffering from brain cancer, because you see how horrible that is. Especially towards the end it scared the crap out of me.

The only part of the book that I thought was awkward was the really detailed descriptions of Griswold Island, the story could have been just as great without it. I kind of feel that overly detailed parts should be left out- if it doesn't really add to the story.

I do like how this book covered the emotions a person would feel if they didn't know about their birth parents and facing the option of finding out. I can imagine that is a hard reality for some to face, especially if you were abandoned. I really loved how Sandra was able to tie the book together at the end. Sure, David is dying and you know what is going to happen but I think she made his story close appropriately. Do you know how you read some books and feel like it wasn't really meant to end yet? I didn't feel that way with this one. I felt like it ended right when it should have. And I really enjoyed it.

But don't take just my opinion. You can go HERE to read the thoughts from other reviewers and you can visit Sandra's website HERE.

If you would like to have MY copy.... leave a comment on this post saying you want it, with your email address, and I will randomly draw a winner on Tuesday, December 21, 6pm.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

So I wasn't a complete lazy ass...

Well I don't know about you... but my weekend was pretty damn productive. I really needed to buckle down and get a bunch of stuff off of my to-do list because it was threatening to go to two pages and I can't function like that.

I'm participating in an Ornament Swap this year and because I'm all about even numbers, I signed up to swap two. And MY swap partners are UBBER lucky because they got a fun ornament I bought, one I made AND a set of cards. Lucky whores. I had one package done and ready to go, but the other package just needed a set of cards. So I made these. And wished I had kept them for myself.

 Then I got the thank you picture Olivia made for my Grandma into an envelope (only a week late), my two ornament swap packages and two gifts for out of town friends all ready to go. Now I just have to get it all to the post office. And I have three out of town packages yet to make. Eventually.
 But then yesterday I got my Christmas cards about half way done. I had to just stop because doing huge orders bores me. Oh- and I got a TON of cards done for my personal stash.... which I use as freebies when people buy stuff out of my Etsy shop. Speaking of my Etsy shop, go there NOW so you can see what else is new.

I wish I knew how to get video off of my cell phone and put it on here for you. Yesterday I was teaching Jackson to say all kinds of things, but probably the cutest was him saying "Go Broncos"... which I did for my friend Matt. Matt thought it was cute and it really was.

But even cuter was Jackson today- insisting on wearing a princess dress. At first Olivia said he could and he pitched a damn fit. So I found him this one and he was thrilled. He wore that thing almost all day. You'll notice his bracelet- which is a piece to some toy but he's telling me it's a bracelet.
But I haven't done much today. Yesterday was my real productive day. But I did get some baking done and just finished muffins for breakfast tomorrow. I'm eating peanut butter cookies for dinner and wearing the pajamas I never got out of today. Whatever.

This week is going to be hectic. I work every day except for Friday, so I'm hoping my paycheck is good. I have to go down to the vet and explain to them they need to stop calling me every day about the bill. Our bill was $1200 and some change and we're down to just under $700. Lay the fuck off- I can't pay you any faster than I already am you fucking scam artist whores. *sigh* It's just really annoying because I gave them everything extra I have. My checking currently has a little over $10 in it, my savings is around $40 and I'm eating peanut butter cookies for dinner. Matt's currently eating a hot dog bun. Quite frankly- I'm not sure where else the money can come from. He doesn't get paid until Tuesday and that is already spent.

I also got my tax escrow check in the mail which I want to spend SO EFFING BAD but I know my property tax bill is coming. It almost always comes the week of Christmas which just kills the spirit faster than your tree going up in flames. The check is for $1900 and I hope to GOD we don't owe more money for property tax. So I have that all set aside so we can just pay the bill (hopefully all) as soon as it comes.

And Matt's Grandma is pretty much going to pass away any day. She's in Northfield, MN which means that very soon we're going to be making a funeral trip. Which is easily $80 in gas, plus at least one meal, and not to mention- we both need funeral clothes. Neither one of us have anything even close to being appropriate for a funeral so we need to get some.

You know things are bad when you're too broke to even play the lottery. :/