Our Island Family Life

Carol asked me what book series I liked and my brain just about exploded. There are so many! My shout box was just not enough to express my thoughts. So, I thought I would do another weekly thing (as time permits) of books I like. Since life has been pretty tough lately I have been in no mood to read anything about the middle east, poverty or any fiction about the struggle of the inner person. I am currently doing that thank you very much I want pure escapism.

This book doesn't come out until March so that gives you time to save up some money to buy it or to put it on hold at the library. In the meantime you can read the other book of a similar vein to this one by the same author, Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. There is also, Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters by Ben H. Winters. These books follow the classics pretty closely with a bit of the supernatural thrown in. I really loved PP&Z. The newest book is supposed to be in a biographical style like McCollugh and Goodwin. Since I love a good bio book I am hoping this will be a good read. I showed this to Cade and he wants me to read it to him since he is such a presidents buff. In my xmas pictures I posted Cade was holding up a huge president book. He is proudly on chapter two and loving it. Check the link for a review:

http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Vampire-Seth-Grahame-Smith/dp/0446563080

Let's start off with some good news. I got my laptop back. It's fixed and it works. Bad news, won't connect to the internet unless plugged in....now I need to figure out the problem. It means a phone call to the provider which always ends in misery...for me. Oh and I might need a new battery and/or adapter. Still cheaper than a new laptop. More good, called the DHHS hot line and the money was collected yesterday. Bad news, still not in my account even with direct deposit. Called DHHS back and was told it can take up to seven days for it to be dispersed. Good news, the mechanic came and looked at the island car yesterday...finally. Bad news, it still isn't running. Good news, it isn't the wiring. Bad news, it might be the battery after all but not sure yet. It says it's charged but it might just be too old. Good news, the guy thinks he has one at his house in town and is going to get it for me...for free. More bad news, while talking to DHHS found out they still do not have verification of Sean's job and there is not a wage attachment in place yet. So, in theory after I get this money I will be going through this process again. As it stands they are going to let him make payments to them himself. I pointed out that was why they had to do this bank attachment in the first place because he wasn't paying. I was told they are just waiting for the verification. I pointed out again they have been waiting for almost a year for one of them and since the beginning of August for the other. What does it take to get the places to answer them? I was told that they will just keep doing bank attachments every month if they have to. Riight. Because it worked so well this time. Giving Sean some points he did make a payment at the end of September all on his own outside of the attachment. That was added to the payout yesterday. I give points where they are due. Still, his numbers are very low. I guess I get to call them next week. I am thinking I am going to have to call the school myself. I really am not the kind of person with the skill set to do this kind of thing. It raises my stress levels big time. More bad news, got my credit card bill and those places I called before that I had charges from that I didn't make are still charging. They "said" I was refunded and off the records. I called one place twice. Now I am going to call the credit card company. I am so mad then tired at the same time. More phone calls. ick. Even though there is more in the bad news side I feel as if I am taking some steps forward. That may sound weird but maybe I am just feeling optimistic right now. I guess that's a good place to be...oh more good news. My new books rock! I am so happy they are so fun to read. It makes me happy and I need all I can get in the makes me happy bucket. Connor said I made him sick when I finished one book in a day. I told him he was just jealous and he laughed. He was teasing me. That was nice though. It's good to see him connecting. Speaking of that, more bad news, one guy on the island Connor is pretty close with got real sick on the boat ride home yesterday. They have EMT's on the boat and they stopped at the nearest island and met up with the fire boat that took him to the hospital. We don't know yet if he had a stroke or had an allergic reaction to some meds he had that day. (He had some teeth pulled) He is in his 70's but still works for the government and it's a real shock. Healthy guy. I will hear more today.

I have been so busy I haven't had time to do much to fix this blog back up. I will have some free time tonight and hopefully I will be able to just have some fun with it and not see it as a chore. There were some problems with people getting back on from a direct link but it seems to be working ok now. I am not sure what happened but I am not going to think about it much or I will feel really sad. From time to time I would go back and re read stuff I wrote just like a regular journal. I could see how far I have come or things I wish I could be better at. I am at work right now so I can't write much. I just wanted to do a little update. I have been reading a lot. Total escapism. I really needed it. At the expense of a clean house and cooked meals as opposed to sandwiches. I am weaning myself off the books now. I read 4 books in as many days with the help of a really cool clip that keeps the book open and your hand free. I did dishes and everything with it. I still ....too much of a good thing you know.