Sword of Truth Series

Finished!

I am finally finished with Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series.  It was a long journey.  I wish now that I would have made a mental note of when I started Wizard's First Rule so many months ago.  I honestly can't remember.  I think it was late summer last year or early fall.

It has been quite an adventure.  I have gotten lost in worlds beyond my own.  Traveled from Westland through the Midlands, toured the people's palace in D'Hara, envisioned the confessor's birthplace in Aydindril, compared the Palace of the Prophets to the largest libraries I've known, wondered what it would have been like to be a child growing up in the Wizard's Keep.  I've encountered many characters along the way including the Mud People, Sisters of the light & dark, the Keeper, and the pristinely ungifted people.

I've fallen in love again and again with Nicci and Cara.

If you haven't read the series yet but have watched the television series.....let me just tell you.....Darken Rahl, is only a drop in the bucket of bad guys.

As I was finishing the last book it was announced that coming soon there will be another book in the Richard and Kahlan Series titled, Omen Machine.  Now I have a little something more to look forward to.

Oh The Places We [Won't] Go

Pretty soon I'm not going to want to leave my backyard.
I'll be spending my evenings relaxing under the stars with a marshmallow roasting stick in one hand and tall glass of sweet tea in the other.
I can't wait.

Baby Steps

That's MY GirlChild.
Out where she can't touch.
Swimming with the big kids.
She loved every second of it.


Good thing, Burrito's idea of swimwear looks like this:

(Notice the jacket in July....I wasn't even kidding about that)

A Day at the Lake

Just one of those perfect, lazy days at Lahontan.

Complete with......

The Boy

The GirlChild

And a new footstool for Burrito

(And no....that's NOT our dog, thank you very much)

With love - Lakeside,
~Zeke

Marks on My Heart

Who Needs Play Equipment?

Who needs a swing or a slide when there is a ginormous pile of rocks in the driveway to play on? 
We've had more than one, "I'm king of the world" shouting contests.  Some of the rocks have gone into prepping for the new concrete pad outside my bedroom window.  The rest are slowly being moved into the dirt spaces in the front that aren't meant for growing things.

THIS MEANS YOU....WEEDS.

It's been slow going, because it's been soooo stinkin' hot.

Which you'd never guess by looking at this picture:

It's a hundred degrees outside and burrito won't go outside without his sweatshirt on.
Well....he might get heat stroke but at least I shouldn't have to worry about skin cancer.
Right?

Chats through the Rearview Mirror Vol II

Setting: Driving to daycare, Jason Aldean Big Green Tractor, Blaring on the radio:
Em: Mom, I want to be the back up singer for this guy.

Me: Okay, you better start memorizing the lyrics then.  And you need to sing louder.

Em: And maybe sometimes, he could be my back up singer and I could just sing it.  Its good to share sometimes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setting: Driving home from lunch on the birthday day:
Em: Mom, next time we go to Subway for lunch can I bring my backpack?

Me: Sure, but what will you put in it?

Em: I think I'll bring some books.  You were kind of boring at lunch.  If I had a book, I'd have something to do.

Me: Thanks, Em.  Love you back....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setting: Driving home from daycare the other day:
Em: Mama, I'm feeling a little sad.

Me: What's wrong baby girl?

Em: I'm sad because Daddy loves his chickens more than me.

Me: MmmmHmmm.....welcome to my club sister. (cough)  I mean, of course he loves you more than his chickens.  Remember how he ate that chicken last year because it was crowing so loud.....He'd never eat you.  That's love right there.

The Red Tent

This month's book club choice was The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.  It is a fictional retelling of the story of Dinah from the Bible.  The book is broken in the major segments of her life: the marriage of her parents and the birth of Jacob's children, Dinah's marriage (Rape?) to an Egyptian, and Dinah at the end of her days.

I really enjoyed the story.  And not just because I was already familiar with the story's characters.  I am, after all, named after Jacob's mother Rebekah.  But also because it's the same story we have been told and retold countless times in Sunday school, but from a different perspective.  It was charming to become lost in what it might have been like to be a woman in the time period where your bride price was paid in sheep, goats, and grain, and life was really in the details of everyday living.  I enjoy the simple and yet often overlooked detailing of what it took to exist in the world in those days. 

This fictional account followed the story in the Bible enough that I found myself trying to remember which pieces were laid out in Genesis already and which were invented by the author.  So much so, that I actually got my Bible out to study those passages.  I found myself making references back and forth and asking my mother questions.  AND reading the foot notes.

Now that, in my opinion, is a good work of fiction.


The only thing that I couldn't match up....and maybe it doesn't matter, is how much labor (time) did Jacob actually pay for the bride price of both Rachel and Leah?  I always thought it was seven years.  Because as an impatient person here, I remember thinking, No way is anything worth waiting seven years for.  Let alone twice over.  In the Red Tent it was seven months.  That, in my opinion, is complete do-able.  Maybe it's a translation difference?

This Guy

This guy is my sunshine.

He gives me a reason to wake up with a smile on my face, even though I am 100% NOT a morning person.

and

He told me he liked my hair today.....before I took a shower this morning.

Definitely a Keeper!