Room

     Room

by: Emma Donoghue

  Summary:

In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way–he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue’s Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time.

My Thoughts:

This book broke my heart on so many occasions. The lengths that a Mother will go to in protecting her child are profound. She not only must protect him from a very evil man but also finds a way to give him what he thinks is the most normal life a boy could have. It is somewhat difficult to read in the beginning because the story is told from the point of view of the 5 year old boy. But soon enough, you adapt to his way of telling the story and somehow it just makes it more real. If you are a Mother, then this is a great story because you can relate to some of her choices.

Roses and Rainbows

Why do I continually expect certain people to behave in a certain way when I KNOW that they aren’t going to?? My brain just can’t seem to accept that they wont see the error of their ways. I keep thinking that their heart will lead them down the right road and they’ll just automatically know what’s right and wrong. *sigh. It just doesn’t happen though. I guess some people are so wrapped up in their own mess that they don’t smell the stink of it any more. How can someone be so unhappy and seemingly not even know it? My world is filled with roses and rainbows and I guess I just don’t have a way to relate to that type of person. How did I get so lucky and they did not …….

Rewards

It is so amazing when I teach Tori something and then I see her apply it by herself somewhere outside of our schooling. Growing a child’s mind is just as important as feeding their bodies. We had such a good day today over her school work. We laughed a lot and learned some great things. I was excited to see the surprise in her eyes when she spelled “authenticity” correctly the first time. Spelling is a weak subject for her but she felt completely accomplished today and that made my heart smile. =-) And I especially felt thankful for the huge hug she gave me after lessons were done and her sweet words rang in my ears for hours later ..”Mom, I love home schooling with you. I’m ready for the entire year.”

Home School Monday ..

Well, tomorrow starts this years worth of home schooling. Tori (who is 12) has mixed feelings about her summer break being over but I know once she gets in the swing of things she’ll enjoy the learning. I actually don’t have to teach much math this year as I bought her the teaching text books and OHMYGOSH are they amazing! The Cd’s have a teacher lead lecture for every single math problem in book. It’s very well put together. Our other focus is going to be heavily on writing. She wrote a lot of mini-stories over the summer and so I think we’ll take some of the them and flesh them out more over the course of the year.
As for myself, I’ve been pretty busy with knitting and crocheting orders. I’ve just finished a rather large shawl that I’m dearly in love with. ❤ I've been very fortunate this year with my hobby/business. ❤

Away ….

That’s the problem with these online blogs vs. the old pen and paper kind. I sometimes forget it’s here and then I’m left with larger gaps in time that make me feel like I don’t know where to pick up from. Anyway, maybe I’ll stick around here for a while again. =-)

Left Neglected

  LEFT NEGLECTED

Lisa Genova

Wow. I have never even heard of the condition Left Neglect. Can you imagine trying to live your life not being able to see the left side of anything? Not just the left side of your body or things to your left; but not even being able to see the things on the left side of the right?? Not being able to read because you can’t find the left side of the book or not eating anything on the left side of you plate. And it’s not just that you can’t see it, its just that it literally doesn’t exist to your brain. You don’t even realize that you are not registering the left side of your life! The thought just overwhelms me completely. And even though this story is fiction, the condition is not. I suggest reading this book not only to learn about Left Neglect but for the inspiring story of a woman learning to see everything around her because of her Left Neglect. It’s a very heart warming story.

Sarah Nickerson is a 37-year-old, overachieving multitasker with a Harvard MBA and a demanding job as vice president of human relations at a Boston
consulting firm. Her husband, Bob, works at a struggling tech start-up and shares in the upbringing of their three young children in an affluent suburb. Then there’s a car accident on a rainy November morning, and a traumatic brain injury leaves Sarah with “left neglect,” a lack of awareness of anything to her left, including the left side of her own body. The one person who can help when insurance runs out is Sarah’s mother, Helen, yet their relationship has been rocky ever since Helen was a virtually absentee mother for Sarah after Sarah’s brother, Nate, died in childhood. As Sarah’s struggles parallel those of her 7-year-old son, Charlie, just diagnosed with ADHD, there is healing of body, mind, and mother-daughter relationship and acceptance that “normal is overrated.” Neuroscientist enova (Still Alice, 2009) once again personalizes an actual disabling brain condition to create irresistibly readable and moving fiction.

Your Roots are Showing

This is just the most fantastic book! It has plenty of love, betrayal, frustration, emotional turmoil and ups and downs. I was hooked on Lizzie the minute I met her on the first page. At times I wanted to shake Lizzie for being so drawn-out but it was well worth the wait. 🙂 I loved this book and will read any others that this author puts out. As I understand it, this is her first novel. I had to keep a word journal for this book because there are so many differences in the language. Read them, some of them are a hoot! lol

Your Roots are Showing

                   Elise Chidley

Story summery– Lizzie Buckley has a life many women dream of – a gorgeous husband, a beautiful  home and darling (when they’re not fighting) three-year-old twins. But ever since the birth of her children, she’s had a fantasy about locking herself in her bedroom for twenty-four hours with a good book and a box of chocolates. Unfortunately, her husband James doesn’t understand her feelings. And when Lizzie unburdens herself in a flaming email to her sister Janie, then hits send at the wrong moment and accidentally shoots it off to James instead, her fairytale life gets a big dose of reality. With the word “divorce” ringing in her ears, Lizzie finds herself moving out and embarking on a totally different life – working hard to reinvent herself as a runner, a gardener, and a writer of children’s books. But despite transforming her body, her neglected career, and her libido (courtesy of the local landscape gardener), Lizzie can’t get over her soon-to-be ex. As Lizzie discovers, sometimes the fairytale ending is just the beginning of the real story.

Word Journal –

Gloucestershire –  England. The setting of the story

Digestive biscuits – sometimes referred to as a sweet-meal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit originated in the United Kingdom and popular worldwide.

 Rescue Remedy – Bach flower remedies are dilutions of flower material developed by Edward Bach, an English physician and homeopath, in the 1930s. The remedies are intended primarily for emotional and spiritual conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress.

Gobsmacked – utterly astounded

Swot – student or a way of studying

Swanned out – Someone that is the ultimate lame; truly a ham. Don’t expect much out of  them.

Gone off of – to have given up on or to be done with someone

Minutiea – (mi – new – shuh) the details of something

Reddybrek – is an oat based breakfast cereal

Self-flagellation – the action of flogging oneself. Excessive criticism of oneself

Cottoned-on – to understand, usually after some initial difficulty

Kitted out – dressed from head to toe with accessories

Kith and kin – ones acquaintances

Habitué – a resident of or frequent visitor to a particular place

Cotswolds – a farmer will define the cotswolds as an area of gently sloping hills good for arable and sheep farming

Wellies – a type of boot. (wellington boot)

Splashed out – to have splurged money on

Punters – customers

Squiring – a man who attends or escorts a woman

“a right charley’ – an idiot.

Knobs on – to be excited about and to show enthusiasm

Nip up – go somewhere quickly. To be right back after going quickly

Hold-all– a suitcase

Maintenance payments – alimony

Obdurate – stubbornly persistant

Croft – small plot of ground adjacent to a house and use as a kitchen garden

Doggerel – comic verse composed in irregular rhythm

Fait accompli – means a course of events that has already been completed and cannot be undone

Remonstrate –  Make a forcefully reproachful protest

In flagrante – is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence

Whinge-pot – I think it might be a temper tantrum or something

Recalcitrant – A person with such an attitude

Dosh – A contempory slang term used for an amount of money

Situ – site or location. I think a lake perhaps

Hobnobs – Mix socially, esp. with those of higher social status

Octogenarian – A person who is from 80 to 89 years old

Alacrity – brisk and cheerful readiness

Mot juste – the exact, appropriate word

page 3,287 from my Journal

August 16th, 2011
I can hardly believe that school starts tomorrow. I am both excited and a little sad. I always enjoy the first month or so but then after that, sometimes the days seem to drag on a bit here and there. I am often very happy when Tori comes home from school and fills my ears with the days events while I sit and marvel at what an interesting person she is turning out to be. When she is recounting the highlights of class around a mouth full of milk-soaked cookie, I am also reminded of only yesterday, when her older sister sat in the same dining room chair and shared HER day with me as well. Now, my oldest is entering her second year of college while living on her own in an apartment she pays for an hour away from our home. Sometimes it seems the universe lives and breathes in that distance and I worry constantly for the day when it grows even further. But I take solace in her beauty both outwardly and inward. She is a remarkable young woman and I am proud to be her Mother.
The beginning of school seems to always mark the passing of yet another year more so than any other day of the year. Perhaps that’s because I know it’s only a few years until I am sitting in those bleachers at the high school, waiving away at the last baby bird to leave the nest. Thank god that day is still some years away.
I do look forward to the stolen lunches with my Husbeast, the quiet afternoons on the porch and the smell of a wonderfully clean house all day long. I do enjoy the time alone that school affords me – but I also know that one day, that is all that there will be and I wonder if it will be so enjoyable then ….
My wishes this year for my children are;

• for Sarah … I wish for her to not have to work so hard between her two jobs and for understanding to happen easily for her in some of her classes. I hope that she finds time for herself and keeps her goals in mind and doesn’t forget to be human once in a while.
• for Tori.; I hope that all of the distracting-ill-mannered children are placed in the OTHER class (lol). I hope that she finds someone to confide in that is honest and trustworthy and her own age. And I hope that she learns to forgive herself for being human once in a while.

And to all the other Mothers, if you find Father Time, please let me know. I’d like to negotiate with him ……..

Let Me In

I just finished reading this book last night and even though I posted it to my book shelf here on my blog, I just had to write more about it. The story is written by a Swedish author named John Ajvide Lindqvist and the book I read is the English translation of his story. It was also made into a movie, oh which I have not seen yet. I don’t know if I want to or not because the book was so engrossing that I can’t imagine anything being cut from it. The writing style is much different from what I’m used to and the cadence of the characters is somewhat had to keep up with at times. That is, until you get far enough into the story that it no longer matters. lol.

I think what I loved most about this book was the fact that the main character, Eli, is a child vampire. Not so much that he/she is a vampire but that Eli is a child. It’s a different perspective for an age-old tail. I also loved watching the relationship between Eli and Oskar develop. This is a must read if you like horror fiction. But do be advised that it’s pretty graphic and sometimes down right gross. Just the way I like ’em. lol

“I’m at my best when you do it for me.”

I shake my head (yet again) at the antics of faux parenting. Our daughter Tori (who is 11) wanted to go to the public pool today with her friend. On a 103* day I think it’s the perfect place for them to be! So we drive over to her friend’s house so they can ask for permission to go and her parents say that she can only go if I’m going to sit there with them. I tell them that no, I wont be there … that tori is a wonderful swimmer and she is perfectly fine to go by herself. They know that this is always the case because she’s gone with tori before and I’ve told them THEN that I don’t go. Anyway, the girls really want to go together but they remain firm on needing an adult to supervise. So I suggest that one of THEM go and sit with the girls for 2 hours while they swim. They instantly changed their minds and decided it wasn’t so important to have a parent go along.

This makes me go mental inside because how is that you seem to know what is best for your child as long as someone else is doing the job, but the very minute you have to get up out of the chair you’ve been in all day, it’s a different story. I just don’t get it. I don’t mean to be so irate about it but it just amazes me that parenting seems to an option with most people. And to top it off, I had to pay (AGAIN) for her to go with Tori. There is something seriously wrong with this arrangement.