When it Rains, it Pours!

Bad things happen to me in threes! Then one good thing will happen and then THREE more bad things follow.....PROOF:

1. My credit card got entered into an Internet Scam and now the CC company thinks I owe them $70.00 which is collecting interest and I have to take time out of my life to write a letter and gather evidence to get rid of the charges.

2. I spilled a cup of water on my alarm clock and it stopped working. I love it because it was an ipod dock with dual alarm features too...

3. I put a rental truck on my Credit Card for work and we ended up not needing it!

Good thing: When I took my alarm clock in for warranty repairs, they had a black one just sitting there and said I could just take it!

1. When I got the alarm clock back to the house and set it up...it isn't exactly the same radio....it doesn't work with my ipod and the face plates aren't the same colours as my last one :(

2. My car started making a grinding noise so I took it to Can Tire for service and it turns out I needed all new brakes all around, new routers, new callipers......$600.00 later....

3. I had the worst day ever at work....no details needed! Stu is unemployed and we are having money trouble during Christmas.....while having for fork out cash for my stupid shitbox of a car...

Good thing: Stu liked his coat I got him for his birthday and I was so worried he wouldn't like it. I also feel I had a successful Christmas shopping season...good gifts all around...

1. At Stuart's B-day party I had a bad bout of drinking and became drama girl & I broke my glasses- nough said. Ok....well, worst hang over of my life too...lol

2. Nothing fits me right now....everyone wants to wear pretty Christmas outfits this time of year but it is hard when you are stretching your wardrobe....literally.

3. Still waiting on the third. I will keep you posted......
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Ok and the chronicles continue.....Number 3..... A BIIIGGG number THREE is that my car broke down. My year of car has a glitch in the passlock system where the fuel injection is disabled because it thinks it is being stollen. So my ignition cyllinder needs replacing.

Good thing: I got my christmas bonus! Yay!!!!

Readers Digest.....or Digested by Readers.

I ate my advent Calandar. The whole thing. I couldn't help it...

Every year I wish I had started my Christmas shopping earlier…I think if I could just dedicate some time to clicking around on E-bay I could get everyone what they wanted and have it shipped right to my door step. As it is, you have to leave yourself at least two months to allow for shipping and complications. This year I am only just starting to shop now, in mid December, just like last year and the year before. This is when prices are highest and stock and choices are lowest. So despite the shipping dilemma, I still did the majority of my purchases online. They are local stores with a 2-3 day shipping promise, so my fingers are crossed. I mean, who has time to honestly navigate through the crowds and parking lots when they have jobs and gym requirements and social obligations.

So I have been reading a lot of books in the past 6 months. I found a way to integrate reading into my workouts. I have figured out how to read and jog at the same time without tripping over my feet. Here is the list of some of the books I have read post Twilight Saga in the past 6 months (in no real order):

Sophie Kinsella- Remember me?
Patrick Ness- The knife of Never Letting Go
PC Cast- House of Night (series)> Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted…(to be continued)
Charlaine Harris- Sookie Stackhouse (series)> Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse, Dead and Gone, A Touch of Dead (…to be continued)
Cassandra Clare-The Mortal Instruments Trilogy>City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Bones
Libba Bray- Gemma Doyle Trilogy>A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing
Scott Sigler- Infected, Contagious
Richelle Mead- Vampire Academy (series)> Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow kiss, Blood Promise…(to be continued)
Kathy Reiches- Devil Bones
Richard Matheson- I am Legend
Jodi Picoult- My Sister’s Keeper
L J Smith- Dark Visions
Joy Fielding- Heartstopper
Sherilyn Kenyon- Acheron
Cormac McCarthy- The Road

That is 37 books and I know for a fact that I missed a bunch, because I either lent them out and can’t remember their names to ask for them back (ie. they are never to be seen again), or I left them at the gym or managed to ruin them while reading in the bath. Yes I do that. With wet fingers. I am a book ruiner. My books always look like they have weathered a damn storm. In fact it annoys me when people keeps their books looking so pristine…with stiff spines and crispy pages. Books should be loved and abused. Stuffed into knapsacks and left open on the nightstand to the page you left off on. So I am averaging a little over 6-7 books a month (if I count the ones I can’t remember). Which is a little less then 2 books a week. That sounds about right. I don’t exactly relish the fact that I read at super-speed. It costs me a lot of money and gives me a short attention span. It means I finish a book and then right away I need something different to read and consume. It is sort of like a fire…it spreads and consumes every book in my line of vision.

Anyway, I thought since I am so well read, I might as well review a couple of them. Then I decided I don’t have the patience for that…so I will drop a couple lines, but nothing worth publishing. I like reading what is classified as ‘teen fiction’ because the characters are easy to understand and rarely deal with the politics of adult fiction. Just the fun stuff, like drama, flirting, polygamy, danger and other teenage anx.

So if you liked twilight, then I’d recommend the House of Night Series- which consequentially was ripped off by Rachelle Mead’s Vampire Academy. They both essentially are about a vampire finishing school. There are good and bad vampires…the similarities between these books are remarkable. In fact, I don’t know how there isn’t a lawsuit somewhere between these two Authors. The bad guys are both dead ‘red’ vampires. The young good vampires control and harness the power of the elements. The main female vampire in both series controls ‘spirit’; a rare and powerful element. They both have a friend that is intuitive to them. One sees visions, one feels emotions. They both play the Field and have more then one boyfriend. The bottom line is, they are both good, but the storyline copying will DEFINITELY frustrate you.

Ok, now to get away from the childish junkfood reading. I recently read Cormac McCarthy's book- The Road, which has also been made into a Movie that just came out. So lucky for you, I will give you a quick review of both. The book was a dark enthralling read. It was like seeing a storyline in a poem. It is essentially the journey of a father and son in a post apocalyptic world. You never learn the source of the Apocalypse or the names of the father and son. But you learn them through their experiences, their reactions to danger and the struggle that ensues to find food and safe shelter. Needless to say, i found myself weeping while riding the bike in the gym. I finished the book in 1.5 days and it seems people has watched me because the moment I closed the book, the white haired lady beside me on the bike says "sooooo......what did you think?"
I was in such shock, still wiping the tears away I said "huh?...sorry, what?" and then she proceeded to tell me she had just finished the book and had the same reaction I was obviously having. "I wanted to see the movie" she said, "but i figured I couldn't eat popcorn or drink a big fat coke because I would be riddled with guilt..."

It's true. After reading it, I was suspicious of every person that passed me in the street and was able to appreciate the clothes on my back and the warm bed I got to climb into every night. At least for a week....

Thinking maybe I will take a break on the book reading for a while. Maybe watch more movies. I really want to see Avatar. Opens Friday......anyone wanna see it with me?
Ok, all for now, loyal blog readers.....