About "House Rules" By Jodi Picoult

I am hit or miss with Jodi Picoult. I think she often tries to have too surprising an ending to her books. (Did you know that they changed the ending on the movie "My Sister's Keeper" when they adapted it from her book because audiences didn't like the book ending?) So I'm always skeptical when I pick up one of her books. "House Rules" drew me in because it's about a high-school-age boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Working at a school, I know kids like this kid and was curious to learn more. I think she did a great job of explaining the syndrome, though she would often speak as that character and seemed to give him abilities he wouldn't really have by the definition of Asperger's that she had previously defined. Anyhoo...this book started out getting only 1 star. It's a slow starter, people. In the middle though I was totally hooked and decided it was worthy of 3 stars. In the end (mostly because of the ending), it got bumped back down to 2 stars. I contemplated only giving it 1 star because I HATE the ending. I won't give the ending away, because I'd love to talk to someone who has read it. Let's discuss!

The Relay

First of all, this post should have happened WEEKS ago, but it got lost in the shuffle.

Second, if you follow this blog at all, then you know the following about the prince:

1. Track is a social sport.

2. He's a thrower, not a runner, and with good reason. When he runs, he's what's known as a "thumper". He does not run heal to toe but rather, thump, thump, thump...

3. He will try almost anything once if it sounds like a good time.

And that's what happened at this meet. Back in the 80's it was politically INcorrectly known as "the fat man's relay". Thrower tend to be a little less lean than runners. Not all throwers, but a lot of throwers. This year the throwing coach did NOT call it "the fat man's relay" but did tell the boys that there were enough of them that they could form 2 teams in this relay (the long one where they each run a lap around the track, though I can't think of what it's called--4 X 1600, maybe?), and the team that didn't come in last (it was a given that they would come in last and 2nd to last) would get to skip conditioning the next week. The prince was all over that because he already had conditioning as a PE class with the HEAD FOOTBALL coach! He wanted that break from a second conditioning a day.

So what follows are the photos. They did get two teams. But each team had to recruit a runner, which in the prince's case, happened to be good buddy Daniel. When it was over, those throwers we sucking up air like they'd just run for their lives, and Daniel hadn't even broken a sweat! (KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS!) The kids seemed to have a pretty good time, and we parents were cheering fools in the stands!

That's the prince on the far right. Check out the Chucks. He would not normally run in Converse, but his locker lock was jammed, and he couldn't get his track shoes out so...

Getting a little last minute advice from the runners. (Runners wear the skin tight singlet--I don't know why--while the throwers are in black shorts and white tops).

As luck would have it, the prince was assigned the outside lane, which meant that he was able to start out in front. Yep, for awhile he was in FIRST PLACE!! ;)

If you click on this photo it'll be bigger. See the kids on the field in red? That's the prince behind them--STILL IN FIRST PLACE--with "real" runners on his trail!

Ready to pass on the baton! He did great, thumped right along, and his team came in NOT LAST so he didn't have to do track conditioning the next week! Good times in track!

And here are a couple of photos of what he really did at that meet. If you pay close attention to his shoes, you'll see that he had borrowed someones throwing shoes for shot but was still wearing the Chucks for discus!

I hope he goes out for track again next year. It's a good time!

Happy Birthday Little Richie!

Happy Birthday to the King!

We just love you bunches!

400 Cookies

Amid all the wedding preparations, my sister took it upon herself to bake cookies for the open house. She warned us that when we got there, there would be 400 sugar cookies to frost. I was adamantly opposed to such a chore. It doesn't go with my diet, especially since I'm known for licking frosting off my fingers when necessary. So I let her know often that I would not be frosting those 400 cookies. When we arrived she informed me that I would be frosting those cookies, but that there were only 200. Where I got the 400 is anyones guess. She did make 600 cookies (200 of 3 varieties), and in the end, I did frost 1/3 of those 200 cookies. I'm a giver. What can I say? I only licked my fingers a couple of times, and I'm proud to say that I did not eat ANY of the 600 cookies or additional 200 mini pretzels with Hershey's kisses and M&Ms melted into them (they were so cute!). I did have a couple of M&Ms though! Hey, a girl's gotta have some fun!

I was in charge of the green cookies.

Employee Of The Month

The Tech Department would like you to know that "laptop" spelled backward is "potpal"!

The Training Session

My sister taught my mother and me how to properly fan napkins before the wedding open house. It was much harder than it looks, and it was much funnier than it looks. We got it down eventually, but I must admit that my mom and I mangled a few napkins in the process. Shhh...don't tell Shelley, but we just put the mangled napkins at the bottom of the pile so she wouldn't see them in the garbage and know we had wasted some napkins! As luck would have it, there were plenty of napkins left over when the open house was over. If you ever need some lessons, my mom and I can "hook you up".

Dissecting Frogs

Wednesday the princess "got to" dissect a frog in her science class. These photos aren't too gruesome--I spared you. The prince spent most of the week dissecting a rat. Did you know that rat intestines are 1 meter long? Now you do. Luckily for you, I don't have any photos of that. And luckily for the prince, his allergies had him all stuffed up so he was not really able to smell the rat until the last day.

This is what she thinks of dissecting frogs! Me too!

Great Quote

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” ~~ Stephen R. Covey

Girls Vs. Boys

I think the girls win the "pretty" contest.

I think the boys win the "sitting around" contest.

Just sayin'...

Ballet Recital

These photos were taken by someone else at the ballet recital last weekend. Gotta love Facebook for stealing photos! ;)

The princess is in the front, far right.

Love the tutu!

Front, right again.

Middle Age Texting Codes

Shelley, who checks my blog daily, suggested this blog post. Love it! Thanks, Shell.

Middle Age Texting Codes:

ATD--at the doctor
BFF--best friend fell
BTW--bring the wheelchair
BYOT--bring your own teeth
FWIW--forgot where I was
GGPBL--gotta' go, pacemaker battery low
GHA--got heartburn again
IMHO--is my hearing aid on?
LMDO--laughing my dentures out
OMMR--on my massage recliner
ROFLACGU--rolling on the floor laughing and can't get up
TTYL--talk to you LOUDER

Wedding Photos

What follows are my wedding photos. Of course I took many more than this, but I'll spare you. Some events only have a couple of photos. There were more, but I wasn't sure if I should fill up blogger, and I also wasn't sure about putting strangers up here. And then there were the photos that'll show up later, in other posts, because I have "plans" for them. But these photos give you an idea of all the happenings, the decorations, and the fun! Matt is the first nephew/grandchild on my side of the family (or the king's for that matter) to get hitched, so it was really fun to get to be a part of it. Here's wishing them many years of happiness, joy, and love!

The BBQ

Someone had to bbq in the rain...it was a bbq, after all.

Well...it was raining.

The Open House

After friends and family stopped by to eat a cookie and wish the couple well, they got to open some of their gifts. One half of this duo seemed more excited about this than the other half.

The Wedding

The groom's handsome family.

The Luncheon

Apparently I was too busy eating to take photos!

Andy on clean-up duty!

The Reception

Snacks!

The cake.

Be nice.

Or not.

Becky hoping to catch the bouquet.

Becky didn't catch it.

Becky's dad cried. ;)

Good cake.

The groom was NOT happy.

His sister had done a much smaller job earlier in the day that he had already cleaned off before the reception!

Old McDonald Had A Farm

While in town for a visit, Grandpa headed north (next door) to check out their new chicken coop and chickens! Connor--age 4--warned Grandpa not to get too close! :)

Wild Child!

We should all be so lucky to have this much gorgeous hair! This is how the princess' hair looks after she blow drys it. Of course, then she spends another 20-30 minutes straightening it, but I was lucky to catch these shots before that happened because sometimes you need a big glass of juice before the next step in the beauty regimen. If it were me, I'd throw some hairspray in there, and say, "Welcome to the 80's, baby!"

Misc. Wedding Shots

These photos aren't great...some were taken with my cell phone, but I wanted to post them so I could get them off my desktop. Lots of photos to organize! A more organized posting (or several) will come later...when I get a minute...you know...when school's out in a couple of weeks.

There was an open house for the bride and groom on Thursday night. Many a frosted cookie were served. Andy was enjoying them. We took this to send to his cousins to make them jealous that they weren't there for the unlimited cookies. :)

Liz, getting ready for some outdoor photos--inbetween rain bursts.

Matt, entertaining himself and his soon-to-be nephew while waiting on his bride. Get used to waiting, Buddy.

This photo doesn't do justice to the flowers. They were real and bright. Still, wedding cake...YUM!