#Writer's Post: Summer

I may be a week overdue, but here goes a post about my favorite time of year, Summer. This go around, I'm spending summer recuperating from surgery behind books, those of others and the one I'm writing.

I've read five books so far this summer. One was a silly little kid read I'd somehow missed over the years. I'm talking about Frindle by Andrew Clements. This author has never been one of my favorites, but Frindle is pretty good. I admire the author's ability to create believable characters and challenge them to grow. Plus, who would of thunk of a kid causing a school revolution over what to call a pen. It's downright stupid of the teacher to play this challenge. As a teacher, I would've just gone along with the thing and call it small stuff.

Next, I read the dirty series that I mentioned a few posts back. Knowing the freakish  nature of Christian Grey, what would he do with a pen? Oh, I can't go there but am wiggling at the thought. And I finally made up my mind. I want him! Armie Hammer has got to take the role of this dark, sexy character. Yep! They'd be swooning in the theatre. He's almost as hot as my dear husband. I say almost.

My latest read was a salute to Ray Bradbury with his fireman story. This was a bit deep for a post surgery gal. I guess I read kid's books and trash because I can't wrap my head around literary works.

So what's next? Hmm. I have a stack of books on my nitestand. (No, I didn't misspell this word. My dad was in the furniture business and that's what the tags always said). I've always wanted to read Bud, Not Buddy yet Stanford Wong has been waiting for a year. Vicky's book Cleopatra's Moon is another possibility as is Uprising. I love Margaret Peterson Haddix, so maybe I should grab her novel. 

I've got a plan. I'm going to read the first page of each of these. The one that won't let me go wins. Done. Oooo. Bud, Not Buddy was so tempting and I even went two pages in, but alas, Depression Era. I don't know after just reading the dark, depressing novel Fahrenheit 451. I need something light and uplifting, so I'm going with Lisa Yee's story about a goofball kid flunking English. 

Hello Mindless Summer!

Wordless Wednesday: Surgery

On June 7, I had a hysterectomy and hospital stay.

I was in that bathroom every 1-2 hours thanks to a drippy IV.

The nurses kept a board with medical notes. When they wrote morning blood test, I threatened to erase the red pen.


To keep from getting pneumonia, I had to do regular breathing exercises. Keep the blue ball bobbing. I messed up by leaving the torture device at the hospital--feeling raspy.

 I received beautiful flowers.

I'm home, but our power had been off for a full day. We just got it back.

#GBE2: If I had my life to live over...

This topic is supposed to be filled with the age old wisdom of one who's tasted the ups and downs of life and has now matured to a quiet understanding. Yeah, right!

If I had my life to live over, there are a few things I might do differently:

(1) I would not have cried softly in Kindergarten after not getting to pet the snake but rather stood up boldly and announced, "Hey! You missed me!"

(2) Everyday in second grade, a classmate asked me to lend her a dime. Being timid, I gave it to her while knowing she'd never give it back. I probably gave her at least $2 - $3, with the interest rate from the sixties and adjustment for inflation... Hmm. I need to send her a bill or at least link this post to her Facebook page to prove I'm no longer that wimp.

(3) In a do over, I would have pitched a fit and refused to wear that polyester, light blue gym uniform because my mom didn't want to spend $7 to buy me a new one. In my childhood, a parent's "No" meant no without an argument, but that was important enough that in hindsight, I should have fought it or paid for a red one myself. That embarrassing uniform with my sister's initials scarred me for life! This morning, I searched the internet for a uniform as ugly as that one. I couldn't find anything THAT bad.

(4) I didn't need to date him or be intimate, but I wish I would have gotten to know him as he stood in the corner with his fraternity buddies and radiated his handsomeness. It might have been enriching to have become his good friend and vicariously enjoyed his rise to fame and fortune. He missed his chance. Brad Pitt and I went our separate ways.

I should have said, "Hello" as she sunbathed in front of her sorority house across the street, but Sheryl Crow also missed the chance to know me. We were all just kids not knowing which one of us was going places. If I would have listened to my professor and majored in education like he told me to do, I probably would have known her well. Ironically, I'm a teacher and she is not.

I know Yakov Smirnoff, and he's more fun than Brad Pitt and Sheryl Crow put together.

(5) When my husband gave me a compound sentence, "Will you marry me and live in Memphis?" maybe I should have negotiated the Memphis thing. Yes, I love him, but back when, I didn't quite get the full picture of what he was asking for. This red state of Tennessee can be a bit much. At least as of last Thursday, I no longer have a uterus for them to mess with.

Oh, Beth meant big stuff like career decisions, etc? I'm sure I never interpret her challenges the way she intends us to. Honestly, I don't have a clue about that. It's far too deep for me.