May Reading - DONE and DONE

I polished off A Tale of Two Cities a couple of days into May, which is fine because I'm already a book ahead in my book-a-month plan anyway. Stockpiling, if you will. Once I got past the very beginning where Mr. Lorry is trudging up that interminable hill, and I felt like I was trudging up it with him, I really liked the book. Something I like about Dickens is how he ties it all together in the end. No scene is a throwaway, and you'd better pay attention because that minor character is really a key plot point in the end.

As of today, I also completed Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This one was kicking around my "to read" list for the better part of a decade, because I'm a fan of NG from way back - since his Sandman days. I even had a Sandman t-shirt back in the mid-90's, and I don't think I'm going to forgive myself for getting rid of it, because I'd totally rock it with skinny jeans, flats, and a scarf. Sigh. Never listen to the experts who say to get rid of anything in your closet that you haven't worn for a year. That's the worst advice ever.

Anyway, Good Omens was a totally fast, fun read about the apocalypse.

I can't believe I'm publicly admitting it, but I'm reading Fifty Shades of Gray next. I have 3 reasons why:
1. Both my mother and my sister read it, and I can't stand to let them have a thing together without me
2. I want to be part of the pop culture moment
3. I'm expecting to get through it quickly, which will put me another book ahead in my "read a book a month" resolution

I'll let you know how it goes!

Parenting FAIL

Ok. So in my defense, I got almost NO SLEEP on Tuesday night, making me a teensy bit grumpy on Wednesday morning. El-D was his usual self on Wednesday. You know, not listening, arguing, and pretty much driving me nuts before school. Usually I manage it, but as I said, I was grumpy.

Then, on our way out the door, he asked why I yell at him all the time. I. Felt. Aw. Ful. I immediately apologized, and on the way to school told him that I'd stop yelling at him, and that I'd appreciate it if he'd listen to me and stop arguing with me all the time, and that we'd be nicer to each other. Then I asked him if I hurt his feelings when I was yelling at him, and he said "Is it ok if I say yes?". Holy Hades. The kid was worried about telling me the truth. I almost turned the car around then and there and bought him a puppy.

Here's the thing - I really want El-D to feel like he can always talk to me. He isn't very communicative about his feelings, being more a man of action, but if there's ever something really bothering him, I want him to always know he can come to me. Maybe getting no sleep and yelling at him over the course of an entire morning isn't the best way to achieve that.

Long time no blog

Here's the problem - my camera broke. Again. This time it wasn't dropped, but for some reason the LCD screen is totally smashed, and the focus is all off. I need to send it in to Nikon again, and because I just got it back after the last repair, and because the camera was a pretty expensive investment, and because I was just getting into taking more photos, every time I think about the camera I feel a little sick, so I'm opting not to think about it, which is getting in the way of blogging. The next few posts will probably be photo free.

My big creative push for the weekend was project garden. I put in all of my plants, and most of my flowers. I still need to plant a few more flowers, and on my mother's suggestion, I'm going to put marigolds in the vegetable garden to keep bugs away. Does this really work? I have no idea. All I know is that the plans have been in the ground for 24 hours, and I can barely sleep because I'm so worried about squirrels and slugs. How do people live with this kind of stress? I really do want to post photos, but luckily in this case waiting awhile isn't a big deal, since I'd like the flowers and plants to fill out a bit anyway. So excited to have the bulk of this done.