What I'm Reading Wednesday

Goodreads description

Brad and Robey are....AWESOME! Just reading one page of the book is inspiring. Not only is it inspiring, but also makes me giggle. If you haven't seen any of Kid President's videos, go watch every one you can on You tube!

Goodreads description

I am anxious to share this book with  my students! I may even read it to the whole class. For some reason I like the whole Jack and the Bean Stalk thing. I enjoy the simple humor that shows up often and the story is keeping me entertained.

Jordan inspired this post. Check out her super cute blog.

Top Ten Authors I've Read The Most Books From

It has been a long time since I have participated in Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish, but saw this one and got excited! I found my own list surprising but enjoyed reliving some of the moments with these books. There are reasons these authors made the list. Somehow each one has touched my heart in some way, provided an escape or just plain entertained me. A few of the authors will get a few more reads, and some sadly their writing days are over.

Here's who has won me over the most as a reader:

Janet Evanovich - 34 books
It helps that the Stephanie Plum series has 22 books alone! I have also enjoyed the little romance novels that she has written. She makes me laugh!

James Patterson - 24 books
Patterson was the first author that I though of when I sat down to make my list. I thought for sure that he would nab the number one position. It helps that he puts out a book a week! The Alex Cross series has 21 books in it and then he has a few other series that I haven't read. I have read some of the stand alone books.

Jeanette Oke - 16
I forgot about Oke until I was going through my list of books. One of my first adult books read was by Oke (I can't remember which one) and I think she is the reason I fell in love with historical fiction. A few summers ago I devoured the Love Comes Softly Series and wondered why it took me so long to do so. I even had my dad pick up one of the books from my library back home because I was going to be there and needed it! Might be time to pick up another one by her. (Oh Donnigan made the Man Meat list also)

Lynn and Gilbert Morris - 11
This is the Chenney Duvall Series that I feel in love with in high school and am rereading this summer. I even added Shiloh to my Fictional Man Meat list.

Nicholas Sparks - 10
For some reason I was surprised that I have read ten of Sparks' books. I knew that I read a lot, but there were other authors that I thought would have him beat. I haven't read one in awhile and just opted to go to the movies instead.  Another man meat list!

Lucy Maude Montgomery - 8
Anne of Green Gables Series. I feel like that is all I need to say about that. #1 Man Meat - Gilbert

Sharon Creech - 7
As an adult, Sharon Creech was my first favorite children's book author. I read Walk Two Moons first and fell in love. I have several others by her that I want to read.

Kate DiCamillo - 6
My second favorite children's author. I also enjoy reading her Facebook blurbs. I wait anxiously for her next book to be released.

Dom Testa, John Grisham and Rick Riordan - 5
Testa and Riordan each have series that I have read and enjoyed. My first John Grisham book was A Time to Kill and I could not put it down! I am sure that my boss at the swimming pool was not pleased to walk in the office and see me with my nose in this book! 

What author(s) have you read the most of?

Rise and Shine

Does anyone really wake up like this?

I have seven days left to practice waking up early.

I have seven days to fight off the nap ninja in hopes that I will be tired and go to bed early.

Could possibly be the hardest part about going back to school, right behind not being able to go to the bathroom whenever I want/need to.

This is more the feeling. I don't have a meat tenderizer though.

What's in the Box?

The other day when I was out and about on my travels, a motorcycle passed me. On the back of the man's bike was a brown box strapped down. What was in the box?

I decided to write a story.

"I have a package to pick up," the biker said as he stepped up to the counter at the post office. He handed the worker the slip and waited patiently. He was dressed in his full bike riding gear: black leather vest showing off his tattoos on each arm, black boots, dark sunglasses, black leather pants with his gloves hanging out the back pocket and a bandanna on his head. He would fit in at a biker rally, but he stood out in line at the post office.

"Here you go, sir," the worker slid a small brown package across the counter to him. The word "Fragile" was stamped in red all over the package.

"Thank you, ma'am," he responded picking the package up carefully and headed to the parking lot. Since he was riding his bike, he needed to strap the package down on the back and hope that it didn't fall off. He was certain that what was inside would shatter to a million pieces if it fell off, and the package itself wasn't going to let him forget it. FRAGILE! 

Once the package was securely strapped to the bike, he climbed on and filled the air with the rumble of the bike. He loved that sound almost more than anything in life. Riding his bike made him feel so alive and free. Humming "King of the Road" by Rodger Miller, he pulled into traffic headed west towards his destination. 

It had been awhile since he had traveled this road and scolded himself as he moved in and out of traffic. He needed to be better and would work harder since he knew the importance of his visits.

Thirty minutes or so passed and the biker pulled into a quiet little neighborhood that looked like it was the set of Pleasantville; white picked fences surrounding perfectly manicured green lawns, window boxes full of colorful flowers and a few garden gnomes here and there. Once again, he stuck out like a sore thumb. The roar of his motorcycle seemed to be louder in the neighborhood and he could see people peaking through their lace curtains to see what the racket was.

He slowed down and pulled into the driveway of 714 Blue Bird Lane, he was sure that address was on Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood. As he unstrapped the package from his bike, he noticed the neighbor across the street hurrying inside her house with a slightly frightened look on her face.

With the brown package stamped with FRAGILE in red all over it in his hands, he walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

He waited patiently.

The door opened and he was greeted with a beaming smile from ear to ear from his 85-year-old grandmother. "Maxwell! Such a surprise!" she exclaimed as she slowly opened the screen door to allow him in. He couldn't help but notice how slowly she was moving from the last time he had visited. He once again scolded himself for not visiting as often.

"I brought you something Granny," he handed her the brown package, all of a sudden a little shy.
"Well now, you didn't need to do that. You coming to visit is enough of a treat."
"I know, but when I saw it, I knew you would enjoy it," he responded as they sat down at the small table in the sunny kitchen.
She tried to pry the tape off, but her hands were weak with age and she wasn't successful. There was an abundance of tape on the package, probably because the contents were so fragile!
"Here, let me help," the biker said flipping open his pocket knife with a snap. With a fast swipe, he had the flaps of the box freed from the tape. She slowly opened the package and pulled out several layers of bubble wrap and then finally the contents of the box.

The biker had ordered two porcelain  tea cups with saucers. He ordered one for her and once for himself.

Growing up, he had always enjoyed looking at his grandmother's collection of tea cups that she had proudly displayed. On special occasions or when he need it, she would let him pick one out and then they would sit at the table and share a cup while talking.

Once the tea kettle screamed in protest, the two of them sat across from each other with their hands wrapped around their fragile cups; his large, callused and tanned from the sun, and hers small, white, crooked from years of work and fragile.

Motivational Monday

This weekend, I went to support my sister and three of her friends participate in the Rugged Maniac. I was in charge of carrying water and taking pictures. It was more of a workout for me than I thought it was going to be, but compared to what these ladies did, I can't complain at all!

Molly, Jen, Kerensa, Karen

This picture was right before they jumped the wall to the starting line. I followed them as far as I could until they went up a big hill and then I lost them for about 45 minutes. When I finally found them, I offered them water and was able to follow them around to the rest of the obstacles. I snapped their pictures as they ran up the warped wall and then down the water slide to the finish line!

I love this picture! They all look so excited and proud! Still makes my eyes a little wet looking at it now. I am very proud of them and admire them. Their hard work paid off from the weeks before the race and they should be proud.

They motivate me.

Sharing Is Caring

The last three days I have been on a cleaning/organizing/getting stuff done roll and I love it! Out of nowhere I got a surge of motivation, along with help from a few friends. I have completed projects both at home and at school. At the rate I am going, I won't have anything left to do soon!

Picture from this blog, and they got it from somewhere else,
so I don't know who gets the credit.

While working on my bedroom I came across some of my writing projects. I think some of them date back to middle school when my friend Holly and I decided that we were going to write a book. I know that there are some from high school and then some from not too long ago. I am excited, and a bit nervous to read through them. 

I got to thinking about these writings and my current writing state. What was so different from then and now? How could I sit down and write a whole "book" or scene and now I struggle to sit down to write a blog post. All I could come up with was the fact of sharing my writing. I guess when I wrote those, especially in middle school and high school, there wasn't much chance of anyone reading it. In fact, I think that the only one who ever read my Terry and Noelle story was Holly. I shared my swimming story with Leslie, but other than that, just myself. Blog posts are shared with whoever decides to click on it and take the time to read it. 

It isn't that I don't want people to read it, I guess I am just afraid of what they are going to think about my writing. I don't get much feedback on my blog from others to either discourage or encourage my writing, so it isn't like I know what people are thinking. So why should I care what people think? Plus, I have control over what people read or not. I can write it and then make the decision. In this world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and whatever social media vehicle and over sharing, we do not have to share everything in our lives with everyone. This is true for my writing too. I can write just for me!

I shouldn't. I should just write. I should write about whatever I want to.

This post is brought to you by random rambles in my head.

P.S. Side note, I HATE coming up with titles for posts. I don't think I will ever publish a book, just so I don't have to come up with a title for it!

What's Next Wednesday

Wednesday again? They come around so quickly! I should be used to this by now.

Anyway, last week I blogged my first "What's Next Wednesday" and let me tell you, not one thing on it happened. I guess I didn't mean what is next immediately! The writing summer camp didn't go very far, but I do plan on still working on it. I did go to the library to get the next Alex Cross book, but it was out. I put it on hold and came home with six other books. Confessions of a book addict. I also haven't been as active as I would like or should be. Since coming home from camping, my body hasn't been pleased, so a trip to the chiropractor today should help with that.

I am going to keep working on last weeks list, but here's what's next for now:

Tomorrow I get to go get my hair done! Thanks to some passed on DNA, I need to get my hair colored about every month to six weeks. I am not sure how long it has been, but it is time!

I always have to giggle, because older women will come in and complain about their gray hair. I tell them that I have more than they do, they don't believe me and my hair dresser has to tell them that in fact, I do.

This weekend my sister is coming to help me in my classroom and make me spaghetti! Who knows how much we will get accomplished, but it will be fun to be with her.

I will also finish my book at some point this week and start another one. I do have six from the library!

Not anything too exciting coming up, but I am looking forward to each event.

What's next for you?