Adams Wife’s Weblog

Apparently the BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read.

2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE.

2b) Add a ‘@’ to the ones you HATE.

3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.

4) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen [+]

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien [*]  I’ve read part of the trilogy

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte [+]

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling [+]

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee [x]

6 The Bible [x]  I’ve read parts, but never all the way through

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte [@] Hated this - never completed the book

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell []

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman []

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens []

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott [+]

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy []

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller [ ]

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare []Â

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier [@ ]Â

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien [*]

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk [ ]

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger []

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger [ ]

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot []

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell [] Started to read this - BORING!  Loved the movie

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald []

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens []

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy []

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams []

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh []

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky [ ]

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck []

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll [x]

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame []

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy [ ]

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens []

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis [x]

34 Emma - Jane Austen [x]

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen [*]

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis [x]

?37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini [ ]

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres [ ]

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden []

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne [x]

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell []

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown [x]

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez [ ]

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving []

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins []

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery []

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy [ ]

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood [ ]

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding []

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan [ ]

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel []

52 Dune - Frank Herbert [ ]

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons [ ]

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen [+]

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth [ ]

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon [ ]

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens []

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley [ ]

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon [ ]

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez [ ]

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck [x ]

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov [ ]

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt [ ]

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold [ ]

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas [ ]

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac [ ]

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy []

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding []

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie [ ]

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville [ ]

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens []

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker [x]

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett [x]

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson []

75 Ulysses - James Joyce []

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath []

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome [ ]

78 Germinal - Emile Zola [ ]

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray []

80 Possession - AS Byatt []

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens [x]

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell [ ]

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker []

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro [ ]

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert []

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry [ ]

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White []

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom [ ]

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle []

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton [ ]

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad []

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery [x]

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks [ ]

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams [ ]

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole []

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute [x ]

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas []

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare []

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl []

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo []

Read - 21

Loved - 5

Hated - 2

Want to read - 3

Cricket from Cricket’s Hearth has acquainted me with Search Engine Stories.  Selma posts a topic each week, taken from actual search engine terms, and asks us to write about that topic.  This week the topic is Sweet Dreams.  Please visit her site and check out the pictures she posts for inspiration - also check out some of the other posts while you are there.

Sweet Dreams

We all have dreams as children and teenagers about what our lives will be.  As children we are frequently asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I knew that adults were asking about careers when they posed this question and my stock answer was that I wanted to be a nurse.  

What I really wanted to be was a wife and mother, a homemaker like my mom.  I dreamed of my own garden, my own bottles of fruit and vegetables on the shelves for use during the cold winter months.  I dreamed of sewing for my little girls and making them pretty things to wear.  I dreamed of being the mother other kids came to because they couldn’t talk to their own parents.  I dreamed that my home would be a refuge and a haven for all who enterred there.  In other words, I wanted to be just like my mom, to do all the things that she did for us, and to love as she loved.

As I reflect on my life today I realize that my dreams came true.  I did not become a clone of my mother - there were times when I had to leave my home to help support our family.  I was proud to be able to hold a job and to earn a wage, but I preferred what I could do at home.  I never became a nurse, but that was never really my goal, anyway.

I raised a beautiful daughter for whom I was able to sew some beautiful things.  I had a loving husband who I loved dearly.  One of my greatest joys in life was doing something special for him because he never forgot to thank me and to say how wonderful it was.  I have cooked some mighty fine meals, canned thousands of bottles of fruits and vegetables, made quilts and afghans and other useful and pretty things.  All in all I’d have to say that my dreams all came true.  Not exactly as I pictured it, but isn’t it great when reality is better than anything you can dream?

 

I’m still coughing, but I’m finally feeling better.  I actually got out of the house today and I’m going again later today.  The cough has affected my voice.  My grandchildren keep laughing at me because I sound like a pubescent boy - sometimes bass, sometimes squeaky. Â

I have missed a chiropractor’s appointment three times in the last three days.  The first time I was not feeling well enough to go , so rescheduled.  The second time I was thinking about my glucometer that had stopped working and needed to be replaced immediately so I could check my blood sugar.   This morning I just misread the time.  I thought it was an hour earlier than it was and missed my time again.  So, I’m going at 2:00.  I am keeping a constant eye on my clock (so is my daughter - it gives her a good excuse to laugh at me.)

My four-year-old grandson has decided to spend some time with me.  He is talking up a storm.  As long as I answer him coherently occasionally he keeps telling me every thought that comes into his head.  He’s playing with a skateboard and keeping me informed all about skateboards and how the work.  It’s so much fun.

I found another meme at FaceBook this morning that I wanted to share with you.  It’s silly - that’s why I like it.  

 

Another Meme - I found this one at FaceBook.  Not tagging anyone.  If it appeals to you please do it and leave a note in Comments so we can see what you’ve written.

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!!

 

1. Did you date someone from your school?
Didn’t date at all

2. Did you marry someone from your high school?
No

3. Did you carpool to school?
Yes to Seminary

4. What kind of car did you have?
I didn’t even drive!  My folks had a Studebaker wagon that my sister drove us around in.

5. What kind of car do you have now?
Ford Escort

6. It’s Friday night…where are you? (then)
If it’s basketball season, I’m at the game.  Otherwise probably babysitting.

7. It is Friday night…where are you? (now)
Home alone

8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
Babysitting and my Senior year I checked groceries

9. What kind of job do you do now?
Now I’m retired

10. Were you a party animal?
Only amongst the tamest group in the school

11. Were you considered a flirt?
*rolls around laughing hysterically* no

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
Yes

13. Were you a nerd?
Never called that, but yes, I pretty much was

14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
No

15. Can you sing the fight song?
Of course

“Varsity, varsity!  We are all from Twin Falls High…”  lol 

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher?
I loved my biology teacher, Mr Barrus and my German teacher, Frau Dahl, and my English teacher Mrs Erickson.  In fact, I loved most of my teachers in high school

17. Where did you sit during lunch?
D Hall

18. What was your school’s full name?
Twin Falls High School

19. When did you graduate?
1967

20. What was your school mascot?
Bruin

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Maybe

22. Did you have fun at Prom?
Didn’t go to prom - remember I didn’t date in HS

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?
N/A

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
If I live that long.  lol  The 40th was a real blast!

25. Do you still talk to people from school?
Yes - our class has a website where we keep in touch

  Happy Valentine’s Day to all my bloggie friends!  I hope you all have the opportunity to cuddle up with a sweetheart and share some hot kisses. 

I know I have neglected you all shamelessly.  It’s been a bad year for me health-wise.  I finally wore out the cold/flu that had me miserable for about a year and a half.  I had one full week of feeling really, really well, and then I developed a horrendous cough.  I’ve coughed so hard and so often that I’ve rattled my brain and have a headache, too.  I am so looking forward to Spring.  A cessation of snowfall and resuming of warm temperatures.  Maybe my body will respond to that stimuli and I will feel better finally.  If I had any money I’d go to Florida and bask on the beach.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on a singles site.  Not really looking for dates, but it is interesting to visit with other singles.  We talk about the octomom, how many dates does it take to establish you as an “item,” how difficult or easy it is to cuddle in different movie theaters, and how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop.  Last night I was invited to chat with a 32-year-old who said he hoped I wasn’t put off by the age difference but he was just so attracted to me.  We messaged back and forth for a minute and then he abruptly left the conversation.  I think he must have realized that he had misread my age by 20 years.  Oh, but it made my day for a minute there.

There is another guy who seems to like to chat with me about his dates with other site members.  I’m not sure why he chose me to be his mother-confessor, but it’s ok.  It gets me out of my misery for a few minutes and into another world and it frequently makes me laugh - out loud even.  Laughter is something that is very important to me.  It makes me feel better for those few seconds while the chuckles last.  (Of course, right now, it also makes me cough - everything makes me cough.) lol

I had intended to go out and do something fun tomorrow.  That was before the cough came to stay forever.  Now I’m just looking forward to staying home and having the house quiet (daughter is planning to take the kids and go to a friend’s house).  I hope your Valentine’s plans are more exciting than mine.

 

 

 

1. If you had to move to a deserted island, and you were only allowed to take one THING (= an item, not a person)
What would you take?

I would take my scripture quad combination.  I love to read and a book of scripture is something that you can read over and over again and get something new each time.  At first I thought I would take my Kindle because you can download new books to it.  But then I remembered that it has to be charged up regularly.  So I’ll stick with my scriptures where I can find something new each day no matter how many times I read the same passage.

2. If you could pick ONE memory from your life and relive that sequence of your life all over again, what would you choose?

I would choose to relive the year I travelled with Ed full-time on the semi (a big truck with 18 wheels).  We saw a lot of the country, visited many states.  We met some really nice people along the way.  And we got to spend every day together and sleep in the same bed every night.  We got to eat three meals together each day, sometime I even prepared our meals in the little “stove” that plugged into the cigarette lighter.  It was a time of sharing, and caring, and laughter and fun.  

3. If you could make up your very own “perfect-dream-day”, what would it look like and what would you do?

My perfect dream day would be sunny and bright, but not too hot.  I would putz around in the garden in the morning, and then work on a quilt in the afternoon.  I would listen to my granchildren’s laughter and hear my daughter singing as she worked.  I would take a walk and say “Hi” to my neighbors.  Maybe I’d go out dancing with some handsome man in the evening.  Then I’d crawl into bed and read myself to sleep.

4. What was your favorite toy when you were little? Do you still have it?

I don’t recall having a favorite toy.  I remember one year mom and dad got us cap guns for Christmas.  I liked that.  And we had a swing set that we could play on.  That was fun, too.  Since my birthday was in the Spring one year we got a basketball, a tether ball, and a croquet set for my birthday.  Dad put up a basket and a tether ball pole in the backyard.  We had hours and hours of fun with those toys for the next several years.  Sometimes mom would even play basketball or tether ball with us.  That was the most fun!

5. What’s your favorite dessert?

That would have to be home made ice cream.  Not that it tastes so much better than anything else (although it’s awfully good), but that when I was a kid home made ice cream was always associated with a gathering of the whole family at grandma’s house.  We always made two freezers full and all the uncles took turns cranking.  As we got a bit older they let us have a turn, too.  The love and the family togetherness and the laughter and fun we had added a special flavor to that ice cream that nothing else can match.

So, the groundhog saw his shadow.  I guess that means we’re in for more winter weather.  We did have a bit of sunshine today.  It’s supposed to warm up into the 30’s the next couple days.  I can hardly wait.  35 degrees seems very warm - the snow will be melting.  If it would stay at the temp for a few days maybe the roads and sidewalks would be clear again.  I’m very, very tires of snow and cold.

I am finally feeling better in all ways.  I’ve even managed to shake the paralyzing depression that grabbed hold of me about the second week I was down with this cold/flu.  I think this kind of depression was designed to protect us in some way and keep us out of harm when our bodies are not functioning at full tilt.  It tends to keep you in out of the weather and away from predators.  lol

  Me and some of my friends.  

I can dream of sleeveless dress weather, can’t I?