Hibernator closes out the year with new goals

Hi! I'm Rachel (the_hibernator). I am a homemaker, caretaker of aging parents, and crisis hotline volunteer. I have 2 step-kids (D: 8yo and M: 6yo), one biological son (IL: born in December - at least he'd better be), several nephews (J, B, C, N), a niece (L), 3 cats (Myra, Puck, Hero), and a husband (Aaron). I read a variety of books, and am trying to expand my horizons now that I have begun reading in earnest again.

Just plunking my weight-loss ticker down here. Once I give birth (presumably on the 5th) I will aim at losing 1lb per week. That would put me at my goal in mid-June 2020 right now.

Oops. Duplicate post. I guess I'll just say here that I'm considering reading a Shakespeare play a month next year. I am tempted to suggest a theme read (comedies Jan - Apr, histories May - Aug, tragedies Sep - Dec), but the last time I proposed a big project, I had an unfortunate bipolar episode the first half of that year and flaked out. So I'm reluctant to disappoint people again. Especially since who knows what my bipolar will do when the baby is born.

That said, Year of Shakespeare anyone? 😂🤣

2018 Books Read

1. American Psychosis, by E. Fuller Torrey
2. Incarceration Nations, by Baz Dreisinger
3. Roots, by Alex Haley
4. Against the Tide, by Tui T. Sutherland
5. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
6. Get Ready to Get Pregnant, by Michael C. Lu
7. Mouse Guard Fall 1152, by David Peterson
8. Shadow Land, by Elizabeth Kostova
9. Caesar's Last Breath, by Sam Kean
10. When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
11. The Princess Diarist, by Carrie Fisher
12. The Island of Doctor Moreau, by H. G. Wells
13. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
14. I Stop Somewhere, by T. E. Carter
15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling
16. Time Jumpers, by Brandon Mull
17. Hammered, by Kevin Hearne
18. Owl Diaries: Eva Sees a Ghost, by Rebecca Elliott
19. Kung Pow Chicken, by Cyndi Marko
20. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling
21. Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
22. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
23. No One Cares About Crazy People, by Ron Powers
24. Beyond Belief, by Jenna Miscavige Hill
25. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowling

2018 Books Read

26. Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan
27. Doctor Who: 10th Doctor Tales, by various
28. How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell
29. How to Be a Pirate, by Cressida Cowell
30. Grimoire of the Lamb, by Kevin Hearne
31. How to Speak Dragonese, by Cressida Cowell
32. How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, by Cressida Cowell
33. Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
34. The Mars Room, by Rachel Kushner
35. Going Clear, by Lawrence Wright
36. Hillbilly Elegy, by J. D. Vance
37. The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
38. And I Darken, by Kiersten White
39. Beyond These Walls, by Tony Platt
40. The Lions of Valletta, by Ursula Murray Husted
41. Them, by Ben Sasse
42. Cresswell Plot, by Eliza Wass
43. The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks
44. The Passage, by Justin Cronin
45. The Re-Origin of Species, by Torill Kornfeldt
46. Black Panther: Nation Under Our Feet, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
47. To Be a Machine, by Mark O'Connell
48. Storm Front, by Jim Butcher
49. Einstein's Cosmos, by Michio Kaku
50. Burning Magic, by Joshua Kahn

2018 Books Read

51. Witch of Willow Hall, by Hester Fox
52. The Soul of an Octopus, by Sy Montgomery
53. The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown
54. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
55. Make Way for the Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
56. Horton Hears a Who, by Dr Seuss
57. Thomas the Tank Engine, by Rev W. Awdry
58. I Love You So, by Marianne Richmond
58. Guess How Much I Love You, Sam McBratney
59. Snowmen at Night, by Caralyn Buehner
60. The Little Engine that Could, by Watty Piper
61. Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
62. Little Turkey Finger Puppet Book
63.Little Owl's Night, by Divya Srinivasan
64. Vaccine Race, by Meredith Wadman
65. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare

Goals for the rest of the year

ETA: Plans have changed dramatically

Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

This is a project starting in August 2018 – I would like to read books from a larger variety of international authors (especially books in translation), so I will keep track of the international authors I read, marking them on this map and listing the book below. I will only list one book per country – my favorite.

Spain

Don Quixote, by Miguel Cervantes

United Kingdom (UK)

The Island of Doctor Moreau, by H. G. Wells

United States of America (USA)

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

This is a project starting in October 2018. I would like to read a greater variety of nonfiction works - and especially to get some off of Mt. TBR. So I created a list from the Dewey Decimal system and am making an effort to read one of each. I will try to finish by the end of 2019, but I'm not going to force myself into it. I have lots to read. I'm not going to double-check that my books actually fall into these categories at a library. I'm being a bit fast and loose.

100 Philosophy - To Be Machine, by Mark O'Connell

120 Epistemology

150 Psychology

170 Ethics

200 Religion

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology

320 Political science

330 Economics

360 Social problems & social services – Them, by Ben Sasse

390 Customs, etiquette, & folklore

500 Science

520 Astronomy

530 Physics - Einstein's Cosmos, by Michio Kaku

540 Chemistry

550 Earth sciences & geology

560 Fossils & prehistoric life

570 Biology – The Re-Origin of Species, by Torill Kornfeldt

580 Plants

590 Animals (Zoology) -The Soul of an Octopus, by Sy Montgomery

610 Medicine & health

900 History

910 Geography & travel

920 Biography & genealogy

930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)

940 History of Europe

950 History of Asia

960 History of Africa

970 History of North America

980 History of South America

In order to increase the variety of fiction books I've read, I modified a list of genres and subgenres off of Wikipedia, and hope to read one of each. (Of course, I will read many of some.) This project started in October 2018, and I try (but will not force myself) to fill as many in as possible by the end of 2019.

Adventure novel
Romance
Historical romance –The Witch of Willow Hall, by Hester Fox
Contemporary romance
Historical fiction
Historical Mystery
Holocaust Novels
Prehistoric fiction
Literary fiction
Mathematical fiction
Metafiction
Slave narrative - Currently Reading Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan
Occupational Fiction
Political fiction
Pulp fiction
Christian fiction
Christian science fiction / fantasy
Contemporary Christian fiction
Historical Christian Fiction
Islamic fiction
Jewish fiction
Saga
Fantasy
Epic / high fantasy
Ancient history fantasy
Medieval fantasy
Low fantasy
Urban fantasy
Paranormal romance
Comic fantasy
Contemporary fantasy
Dark fantasy
Magic realism
Retelling myth/fairy tale
Paranormal fantasy
Superhero fantasy - Black Panther: Nation Under Our Feet, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Horror The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks
Supernatural / paranormal
Ghost story
Monster literature
Vampire fiction
Werewolf fiction
Occult detective - Dresden Files (series incomplete)
Science fiction
Alien invasion
Post-apocalyptic – The Passage (series incomplete), by Justin Cronin
Cyberpunk
Biopunk
Steampunk
Dystopian
Hard science fiction
Military science fiction
Parallel universe, aka alternative universe
Alternative history
Space opera
Speculative cross-genre fiction
Climate fiction (cli-fi)
Slipstream
Weird fiction
Suspense fiction
Crime fiction
Detective fiction
Mystery fiction
Thriller
Legal thriller
Medical thriller
Political thriller
Spy fiction
Psychological thriller
Techno-thriller
Urban fiction
Westerns
Women’s fiction
LGBT fiction

All done reserving spaces!

happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Rachel!

Thanks everyone! Good to have a last thread on which to put my new goals. :)

Happy new thread, Rachel, and good luck with your goals :-)

Happy New Thread, Rachel. I also loved The Hate U Give. The film has received very good reviews, as well. I will have to see it.

Happy new one, Rachel!

I see you had a Brian Sanderson on tap. Are you familiar The Way of Kings?

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel! And I love Shakespeare, but perhaps you had better reserve 2019 for lullabies?

>15 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

>16 msf59: Hi Mark! I am ambivalent about seeing the movie. I generally do not watch tear-jerkers. I'll read them, but movies, for some reason, I like to keep cheerful. But I enjoyed the book so much, it's temoting to try.

>17 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! I am not that familiar with Sanderson's work, no. I know he's popular, though, and I like the type of book that he writes, so I figured I'd snatch up the Audible deal. How is The Way of Kings?

>18 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

>19 banjo123: Yes, you are totally correct. I should. I admit to being hypomanic at the moment. (Evidenced by me being up at 2:47am, writing this.) My meds simply do not work as well with all these hormones rushing through me. I spent yesterday and Monday with racing thoughts about all my reading goals of next year and the rest of this year. For this year, I have an excel sheet logging what I will be reading to the day. Even on days I should be busy giving birth. 😂🤣 I decided on this Shakespeare thing on a whim. I signed up for a year long Dresden group read on the Category challenge, and a year long Robin Hobb group read on Litsy. Chances are, I will have post-partum bipolar symptoms. But, what can I do? The impulse is difficult to control, and at least I'm not doing stupid stuff that could harm the baby. The energy has to be expended somewhere. I'm trying to focus it on my to-do list, but I don't seem to have enough willpower to look at it given my distraction when my brain is racing like this. I have familial obligations today, though, so I have no choice but to do something productive, which is good. I had some yesterday, too, and accomplished them fairly well. Even remembered to fill my tank with gas, since I'd been driving on fumes for two days in my hypomanic state. That was something I was particularly proud of, since I felt like I couldn't be bothered by such trivial things as GAS. But, I'm doing the best I can, and at least I'm not depressed like the last several weeks....

Happy new thread Rachel!

The lullaby suggestion seems a good one;-)

Hormones can have a big impact can't they? Do you have someone who understands a bit about the interaction wit bipolar and can help you deal with it?

Making plans is fun, and you can always put them on the back burner again. I liked both your Dewey and fiction genre lists, but reading 12 Shakespeare plays would be a bit much for me.

>21 EllaTim: Hi EllaTim! I have a perinatal psychiatrist who has been very helpful in making small changes to my meds. My only objection is that she wants to put me on an antidepressant because I've had a lot of depression during my pregnancy. I've only had full manic episodes twice in my life, and the first one was when my general practioner put me on anti-depressants - before my diagnosis of bipolar. Some people with bipolar go manic on antidepressants. I am concerned that if I go fully manic while pregnant, I'll harm the baby. But apparently it's "sometimes" ok to go on antidepressants if on a mood stabilizer as well. I had just agreed to the change when I went hypomanic, and she said she was concerned about putting me on an antidepressant while hypomanic. *sigh

At least I'd rather be hypomanic than depressed. It's a much more cheerful state of mind - as long as the manic irritability doesn't set in.

The Shakespeare plan is probably a bit much, which is why I mentioned in the post up there that I might flake out. *shrug But I COULD read one for each trimester for a total of three plays, too. That wouldn't be so hard. 😊

Hi Rachel and happy new thread.

I cut and pasted your nonfiction Dewey and fiction classification lists to look at later and perhaps incorporate into my 2019 reading - although frankly my reading is totally self-indulgent and impulse-driven with the exception of the 12 books I'll be reading (or starting and abandoning) next year for my RL book club. Every time I've tried to plan my reading since joining LT I've felt confined and stressed, so have let it go and just read what seems to make sense at the time, with the very occasional challenge thrown in. What I end up reading when I look back over the year always ends up being just perfect for me. *smile*

You've got me a tad worried with your manic state right now, but with your psychiatrist on board and your strong self-awareness and concern for the baby, it's only a tad worried.

You may end up falling so much in love with the baby (as I did with Jenna) that an ambitious reading program becomes secondary, although I do remember midnight feedings with daughter in one arm and a book in the other.

Hi Karen! Yes, my mental illness is very counter-productive as during hypomanic states I can't actually read because my brain doesn't cooperate. I want to read, but my brain just says no. I like having goals, though I rarely reach completion. Sometimes I can get close. Nobody really seems interested in the Shakespeare project, which is sort of lucky. That means I won't drum up a group and then go fully manic and not be able to accomplish anything productive for half a year like with with the Bible project.

Just continue taking good care of yourself and the baby.

>25 karenmarie: I will Karen! :) I've been doing much better the past couple of days.

So something rather surprising happened over the past couple of days. On Wednesday, I had to check in my friend to the hospital for orthopedic surgery. He's a meth addict, and was very honest with the nurses and hospitalist on this subject when he was admitted. The next day, he had surgery, and upon waking up in recovery he was in a lot of pain (understandably, as orthopedic surgery can be very painful). He requested pain medications from the nurse, who ignored him completely, finished what she was doing, and then walked to the nurse's station and called his nurse upstairs saying "I'm sending {name} up, he's a drug seeker." This was loud enough for him to hear from his room, as well as for other people around to hear. He felt violated and embarrassed, as he felt that requesting pain medications once was a perfectly reasonable thing to do after a surgery.

I decided to call up the hospital complaint line to point out that his HIPAA rights had been violated, as the nurse shouldn't gossip about her patient within hearing distance of himself and other patients. I also pointed out that I felt the nurse was taking advantage of the stereotype of addicts not understanding their rights to privacy (which my friend unfortunately didn't). To my shock and awe, they took my complaint totally seriously. They had the head of surgery (with some other VIPs) in his room apologizing within hours. They called me back and (being very careful not to violate any privacy issues) told me that they knew exactly who was involved in this situation, and this behavior was NOT going to be tolerated.

All I really wanted is for the nurse to know that not every meth addict fits her stereotype - that there are people out there who know their rights to privacy. And that every patient deserves the same amount of respect as any other patient, as long as that patient is polite and respectful to the hospital staff.

I'm wondering now whether this is a normal response to a HIPAA violation complaint, or if the nurse had a history, or if our complaint just happened to bump up against another complaint and the hospital is trying to put out fires. I'm happy that they took me so seriously, but their response was much more than I expected. Not that I'm disappointed. It feels nice to be taken seriously. I just feel bad if the nurse got anything more than a lesson in politeness. I figured it was a "he said, she said" case, and that's the farthest my complaint would go.

Just finished The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Didn't get it.

Happy Saturday, Rachel. I remembered liking The Wasp Factory and I do not remember the details very well.

Have a good weekend, my friend.

>27 The_Hibernator: I'm glad your complaint had a better-than-expected outcome, whatever the reason!

Good for you for giving the hospital that feedback, Rachel! Lots of people wouldn't bother, and without feedback, nothing is going to change.

>27 The_Hibernator: Good for you, Rachel, for standing up for your friend and alerting the hospital administration to the issue. You wondered whether the response is normal to a HIPAA violation and I can't speak to that statistically but I can say that, as someone who directed mental health clinics on two different college campuses, I would have taken a complaint similar to that very seriously.

Unfortunately, I think Rhonda is right; so often people won't bother. OR they take their complaint to Twitter and bash the hospital or other care-providing entity. All this does is damage the entity's trust with the public without giving them a chance to legitimately address the infraction (as it sounds like the hospital was going to do) and carry on. I mean, they can still address the issue but your way of approaching it enabled them to do so while maintaining their reputation. An employee can misbehave. An employee can make a mistake. What you did was make the distinction between that nurse and the hospital as a whole. Also, I hope your friend's recovery goes well.

>9 The_Hibernator: I love that list. I was just about to copy and paste it but I've been telling myself I'm going to do fewer specific challenges in 2019 and just read off my shelves. I predict I will not be able to resist the challenges. Ha.

I love the Dewey Decimal list, Rachel. I am reading (and enjoying) more nonfiction these days but tend to go for the popular titles rather than doing a systematic search for NF books. I also liked the lineup of subgenres in fiction. I had no idea that fantasy and science fiction had so many divisions. I just kind of call them all out of my comfort zone. lol

Good for you speaking up for a friend. Drug seeker? Well who wouldn't be after surgery? Hopefully the nurse was just having a bad day and slipped in the compassion and privacy areas.

Oh My. Baby I will be here before we know it. Personally, I can't wait but you may be even more eager than I am. I hope you continue to feel well. I know it was tough a few months ago when your health was not the best. Best of luck in the final weeks.

>29 msf59: Hi Mark! You can see more when I get around to reviewing Wasp Factory. I think I really did get the main point, but I found the book disturbing and didn't understand what benefit I gained out of reading it. The ending was a bit strange to me. It seemed like the whole book was leading up to Frank's brother arriving in the area, and what would he do when he got there. And when he got there, it was anti-climactic, because we were distracted by the sudden revelation that Frank was a girl.

>30 _Zoe_: I am too, Zoe. And maybe that's just the normal way to respond to a HIPAA complaint - it may just be rare for people to actually make one. I am usually not too worried about my privacy in little phone conversations that nurses have, because it IS difficult to keep things entirely private. But this was just gossipy and rude. It was not necessary, and left him feeling violated and embarrassed. HIPAA is meant to protect against just those feelings.

>31 banjo123: I agree, Rhonda. As I said to Zoe, I generally don't worry about small infractions because I know (from working in healthcare for a short while) how difficult it is to be perfect about those rules. And even people who DO feel violated probably don't know exactly what to do about their feelings. Or as Ellen says, they just bash the hospital on social media and have done with it.

>32 EBT1002: Thanks Ellen! I think you're right. A lot of people would just bash the hospital on social media and not complain directly to the hospital. I DID consider calling the Joint Commission, but decided that's not fair to the hospital, which should have a chance to apologize and give a good talking-to to the nurse. As long as the nurse learned that not all drug addicts fit the stereotype of friendless and ignorant, I'm happy. She needs to learn to be more polite to people who are being polite to her.

Yeah, I'm trying to do fewer specific challenges myself. I'm trying SO hard not to focus on things like PopSugar and Read Harder next year. These challenges, though, work out pretty well for me because I have a huge variety of books just sitting on my shelves, and it will encourage me to read THOSE books instead of seeking out books by, say, LGBT authors. (Which I thought was a stupid prompt. How am I supposed to know the personal sexuality of most authors unless they are very open about it. Not all are. Shouldn't it matter more what the book is about than who the author is attracted to?)

>33 Donna828: Thanks Donna! As I was telling Ellen, I have a huge variety of books in my collection already, so I won't have to do much searching for specific topics. There are a few on the list that I'll have to specifically search for, but not many. And, anyway, I took out the subjects that I find particularly boring. I'm not going to read a book I find boring just to challenge myself. Books that are out of my comfort level, yes. Boring ones, no.

It is possible the nurse was having a bad day. And I hope they didn't come down too hard on her. Unless she had a record of HIPAA violations. Then she needed more than a reprimand.

I am actually doing quite well lately. The pneumonia of the second trimester and fatigue of the first trimester are in the past. I AM hypomanic, but I am tweaking my meds and my habits in order to decrease that problem as much as possible. I've been feeling much better yesterday and so far today, though it's possible that is just a crash from the hypomanic insomnia of last week. We'll see in a couple of days. :)

I AM excited about the baby, though it all feels a bit unreal to me right now. I have a hard time believing that after all this time - after I had given up hope of having a baby - that I'm actually going to have one. It's due in mid-December, which is coming up fast.

2018 Book #37: The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas

Summary: In this heart-wrenching book, Starr Carter witnesses the shooting of an life-long friend during a traffic stop. At first, she doesn’t want to talk about it with anyone, as the pain is too deep. But eventually she begins to learn that speaking out is the only way stop such things from happening again. Stuck between two worlds – that of her family and neighbors and that of her mostly white private school – Starr must learn to navigate a life that is all her own.

My Thoughts: Wow. I’m not sure what I can say about this book. I cried pretty much every time I opened the it because it is so tragic and realistic. This is the most powerful book I’ve read in years, and it was aimed at teens. There are some complaints among parents about the violence and the language in this book, but you know what? Teens need to learn what the world is like right now, or nothing is going to change. I think EVERYONE needs to read this book. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

For those who are afraid that this book is anti-police, Starr’s uncle is an officer, and he’s one of the good guys.



And, yes, this book is being reviewed out of order. I am currently on book number 45. Only 30 more books to go by the end of December! lol

This has been a fun two weeks. I got lots of books read, and got lots of fun stuff done. 🙂 Last weekend, we went to the pumpkin patch / corn festival and had lots of fun in the corn pit:



A couple days later, we carved our pumpkins. Mine had a few rotten parts, so I carved them out and pretended that I planned my pumpkin that way from the beginning. The kids were so confused!



On Wednesday, Aaron and the kids went trick-or-treating. D was Hermione and M was Batman. Unfortunately, I was feeling really tired that night and didn’t end up getting pictures for you.

We also had parent-teacher-conferences. M is doing very well in school – the teacher is thrilled with him. D is also doing much better than last year, though we still need to get the anxiety under control. I think part of the improvement was that she clicks better with this year’s teacher (who is calmer) than she did with last year’s teacher. Sometimes that happens – it doesn’t mean last year’s teacher was bad, just that sometimes students and teachers don’t click.

I’m down to 6 weeks more of my pregnancy, and will start weekly doctor appointments now. *le sigh* But at least I’m in the last stretch! Today, in fact, is our day-long birthing class. I was skeptical that taking a birthing class would be a good use of time, but decided that my anxiety disorder has been acting up quite a bit with this pregnancy, and I’ll probably be calmer if I feel like I’ve considered everything that needs to be considered.

Reading This Coming Week



Here are the books that I plan on making progress on during the next week. I know I read a lot of books at once. But that’s the way I roll. 🙂

Completed over the past two weeks



Over the past two weeks, I have completed 7 books – leaving me on track to get to my goal of 75 books this year.

Acquired



I pulled off quite the book haul over the past two weeks. The Lies We Told is my BOTM book for October. Scriptures of the World’s Religions and A Survey of Hinduism will be enjoyed slowly as part of my personal education experience. Washington Black is my Litsy Markup Postal Book Club choice for November. I received The Quiet You Carry and A Bright Future as NetGalley ARCS. (Eventually they’ll stop giving me ARCS as my percentage of books reviewed is 54%. I’m currently working on reading down my list while only requesting one book per release-month. I’m out to May in Nonfiction and March in Fiction.)

Happy new thread, Rachel! What great pumpkin carving! Your's is a bit interesting, a very good cyclops even if you hadn't intended that.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Hurray for the home stretch!! And for the great teacher conferences. You are having such a positive effect on your kids. Nice book haul and progress on the 75 goal-- you go girl!!

The corn pit looks like it was a lot of fun!!

I'm going to try the TIOLI November Challenge, though I don't know that I'll have the time to get through all (or any) of these books. But it looked like a good way to diversify my reading.

Challenge #1: Read a book tagged on LibraryThing as "horror" - started by SqueakyChu
The Twelve, by Justin Cronin

Challenge #2: In memorium: Read a book with a character called 'Kara', or in which the title or the author's first name starts with 'K' - started by lyzard
Einstein's Cosmos, by Michio Kaku

Challenge #3: Read a book with a World War 1 connection - started by lindapanzo
The Radium Girls, by Kate Moore

Challenge #8: Read a challenge that completes the phrase, "I am thankful for..." - started by Morphidae
The End of the Affair, by Graham Greene

Challenge #11: Read a book where the title contains something illegal - started by owlie13
American Overdose, by Chris McGreal Currently Reading

Challenge #12: Read a book with stripes on the cover - started by susanna.fraser
The Origins of Political Order, by Francis Fukuyama

Challenge 15: Read a book which doesn't just contain text (state the non-text element) - started by souloftherose
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 2, by Ta-Neishi Coates

Thanks Lynda, Kim, and figsfromthistle!

>40 The_Hibernator: Good luck with the Take It Or Leave It Challenge! I don't participate anymore but I did for several years when I was looking to diversify my reading and it was very helpful! Though I think your reading selections are already very diverse :-)

Hi Rachel! I am glad that the kids are having a better school year, and that you had a fun halloween. We saw The Hate U Give as a movie, now I want to read the book.

>42 norabelle414: Thanks Nora! You're probably right, I don't need to diversify much more than my goals already require, but I DO need to focus on reading books that I own rather than library books or newly purchased books. And I figure I can have a TBR-only TIOLI rule. :)

>43 banjo123: You should certainly read the book Rhonda!

>44 The_Hibernator: I DO need to focus on reading books that I own rather than library books or newly purchased books.
Yeah, it helped me a lot with that too.

Well, this is all I've accomplished today - which is a far stretch better than what I accomplished yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm still hypomanic, and not getting as much useful stuff done as I'd like due to racing brain. The doc has told me to take a tranquilizer EVERY NIGHT to help me get my sleep and tweaked my meds in other ways, and I haven't been getting worse, but I haven't been getting better either. *shrug* My last appointment was a bit stressful because she gave me a nice serious speech about how high my risk of post-partum psychosis is. :( But I'm doing the best I can!

Also, this weekend I took a birthing class and am now pondering having a water birth instead of an epidural. I'm not doing it for the crunch factor (I'm not all that crunchy), I just really love baths, and I think it sounds like a great way to ease the anxiety of the labor and birth. I will talk to my OB/GYN on the 12th and to a midwife on the 14th and hear both sides of the story. I'm not going to do it if it increases my chances of postpartum psychosis...but that's my main concern.

Today after wasting a good portion of the morning ordering and reordering my books on a spreadsheet (which seems to be how I spend my time when I'm hypomanic), I went across the street to vote. Then, being hypomanic, I just couldn't get myself to either go home and do something productive or to go through my out-of-home-errand-list, so I decided to drive to my parent's house and see if they needed a ride to vote. Dad had already walked there and back in the cold, dark snowy rain, and mom refused to vote. So I sat and talked and talked and talked at dad (another hypomania thing). Then, as I was leaving, I pretended like I hadn't already had this conversation with mom and said "So, mom! You wanna go vote now?" She answered "I don't know how." I told her "Oh! You just fill in the second bubble in each box - that's the democrat. You can do it." So she did. I feel a bit coercive now. But she would have WANTED to vote democrat if she didn't have dementia, so it's all fair, right? Then I talked and talked and talked at my dad some more. So here I am with almost none of the day left to do something useful. I'm thinking I'll use my last hour of kid-free time to read. Maybe. If I can get myself to concentrate that long. We'll see. We'll hope. Otherwise, I might delete everything I've done on my book spreadsheet so far and try to get it right this time. hahahahahahahahahaha

>40 The_Hibernator: I see you already removed your book Ink and Bone from challenge #18. It can be fitted NOW in Challenge #9 as the next letter there is i.

>47 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita! I got it in!

Ordering and re-ordering book spreadsheets seems like a not-so-terrible way to spend some manic time. Maybe I should send you over to my mom's house in Madison to catalog her books for her.

>49 norabelle414: YES! That's exactly the type of thing I'm doing! So, really, it's harmless and could be useful if I wouldn't keep changing my mind about how to order them. lol There's a lot worse I could be doing while I'm hypomanic - I just wish that I had the ability to concentrate on something productive like cleaning the house or reading. *shrug*

Good work on the voting front!

>51 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda! I was pretty proud about talking my mom into voting. She really wasn't going to do it. And at least our state's results turned out to my liking. :)

Well, today is a stay at home day. M has some sort of stomach bug. He has frequent runs to the bathroom and a bucket by his bed. This is my first time dealing with this sort of illness, so all I know is to keep him hydrated. *shrug* D seems to feel well right now, though she often gets psychosomatic symptoms whenever her brother is ill. lol. I had to cancel all my plans for the day - including my own therapist appointment and a desperate shopping trip which I've been putting off in my manic state. I don't know how manic I am right now, as I seem to feel ok at the moment, so maybe I can at least get some stuff done at home.

2018 Book #45: The Re-Origin of Species, by Torill Kornfeldt

Summary: With a hefty dose of skepticism, Torill Kornfeldt interviewed several scientists who are trying various methods to clone or genetically reinvent extinct animals - mostly for the sake of recovering their ecological purpose (for instance, mammoths knock down trees and stomp down permafrost, passenger pigeons devastate forests with the same (but less threatening) ecological benefits of forest fires, etc.) Kornfeldt briefly describes the science behind each project, but does not go into a lot of detail, so the book is good for someone who has very little science background.

My thoughts: I'm a little torn about bringing back extinct species. My instinct is against introducing potential "invasive species" which might not act exactly the same as the original animals did. There is, also, the worry that creating new animals will somehow create new viruses that can move to humans - though that may be worrying too much. Overall, I think the book was well-written and interesting, though it could have been more engaging at times. I liked Kornfeldt's mixture of awe and skepticism, which managed to present both sides of the story well. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in endangered species, as it really does provide some interesting food for thought.

Hi Rachel!

I'm sorry that you're tilted towards the manic, but it sounds like you're taking care of business. Sorry, too, that M is sick.

Take care.

Hello Rachel! I am also sorry to hear that M is sick and that you had to cancel your plans. Sick is no fun for anyone. I wish you the best and keeping him hydrated is good. My parents used to give me a small drink of coke or sprite. Apparently, the carbonation can assist in settling the stomach. small doses, though. Just a home remedy from the old days.

Hi, Rachel! Happy new(ish) thread!

>27 The_Hibernator: Love the story of your advocacy for your friend. There are times we all could use an advocate when we are dealing with agencies, especially hospital.

>46 The_Hibernator: Interesting you are thinking of a water birth. My daughter's due end of January, and she's got a midwife, a doula, and a hospital that provides a bathtub in the delivery room. She's also taking birthing classes.

I'll be interested in your thoughts on The Passage.

Hi Rachel! I think lists is a splendid way to spend time! And who wants to clean house, do dishes, or go grocery shopping anyway? : )

Sorry you had to miss you appt because the kiddo is sick. Sigh.

Have fun exploring birthing options--I hope you find one that makes you feel comfortable about the whole process.

Nice job on the voting front. ; )

>55 karenmarie: Hi Karen! My hypomania impacted me at the beginning of the week pretty strongly, but I seem to have crashed since then. Maybe I'll stay in the normal range for a while. Here's to hoping!

>56 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! I've heard the same thing about Sprite and Ginger Ale. I didn't give him any (he's a picky eater and will not try new things). His troubles ended around 10:30 after one last accident all over our couch. He was fine the next day, and no one else caught anything from him.

>57 Storeetllr: Thanks Mary! Yes, it's hard to advocate for yourself in the hospital, especially when no one is taking you seriously. I'm glad I stood up for him. I do not have a doula - in fact, hadn't heard of one until last week when I took my birthing class. I have not yet decided for certain if I'm having a water birth - not sure if my "advanced maternal age" of 39 will rule me out as high risk. We'll see. Good luck to your daughter!

>58 Berly: Lol. As far as mania activities goes, spending time on lists is pretty innocent. So I'm glad that I've been doing that rather than going out partying or driving on unexpected trips to Duluth and such. Admittedly, I did spend some extra money on upper middle class grocery stores - that wasn't strictly necessary. But again, it was food so it helped. Besides. They bag the food for me. I'm pregnant. I deserve that, right?

This week was busy as I had to deal with hypomania symptoms, a kid with a gut bug, finding a Girl Scout troop for D and a Cub Scout troop for M, and a trip to the ER on Friday night. That last one was mostly an accident. I had a headache starting around 4pm, took Tylenol and went to bed at 8pm (it was my second-in-life migraine by that point – the first being when I was around 14), woke up at 12 pm with it feeling even worse. This time, I thought of preeclampsia and took my blood pressure with the old monitor my dad had given me. It said 170 / 92 (or in that area) 3 times. I figured I should have Aaron drive me to CVS to check a different monitor, but decided to call the nurse line and ask if that was really necessary – surely I wouldn’t explode overnight? They, of course, told me to get to the hospital right away. 6 hours later, I was released with a clean bill of health for baby, a nascent headache, and doped up to a slow stumble. My blood pressure monitor at home was off by 50 points. No preeclampsia. Woopee! I went straight to bed when I got home, and woke up two hours later with a nascent headache but wide awake. I imagine I just over-stretched myself on Friday trying to rush around and get everything done.

Which doesn’t bode well for next week – on which I have two to four engagements a day. Don’t expect me to finish any books!

Today, I will be going to Book of Mormon with Aaron (provided he ever wakes up, poor thing) and then he and I will hang out with a good friend watching Doctor Who.

Reading this coming week



Completed last week



Acquired



No Country for Old Men and I Am Number Four were Audible Daily Deals. All that Remains is an ARC from Edelweiss. Influenza I accidentally requested from both Edelweiss and NetGalley, and got approved on the same day. lol Overstory, Vaccine Race, and American Eden are all award nominees that I plan on reading soon.

Happy Saturday, Rachel. Hooray for The Hate U Give. I loved it, as well and I am looking forward to seeing the film. I also thought Washington Black was excellent. I hope you feel the same. Cold in the Midwest, eh?

It certainly is getting cold Mark! I wore a dress to Book of Mormon yesterday and regretted it. But I did get a nice baby bump picture wearing it. Mostly I've been wearing baggy clothes.

I'm having trouble deciding whether to watch The Hate U Give. May be too intense for me. And I don't know anyone who actually wants to go with me.

Happy new thread!

>36 The_Hibernator: Exciting! Baby planning and reading planning. Um... what happens to that corn afterwards?

>60 The_Hibernator: Get your bp monitor sorted out before you give us another scare like that!

>62 The_Hibernator: Hope you enjoyed Book of Mormon; I saw it a couple of years ago.

Hello Rachel! I hope all is well with you.

>60 The_Hibernator: whew! I am glad to hear that your trip to the hospital had good results for you and the baby.

That Witch of Willow Hall cover is intriguing. the color scheme remind me of my grade school copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I look for ward to your thought.

I think just seeing I am Number Four here as solidified my desire to listen to it on audio as well.

>63 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle!

>64 humouress: Hi Nina! Hopefully the corn is used for mulch?

As for the bp monitor, I will buy a new one. My bp tends to run low, so preeclampsia wasn't something I've generally been worried about.

>65 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! Yeah, I'm glad we ended up getting rid of that headache. And The Witch of Willow Hall is excellent so far!

Having a stressful day due to increased anxiety symptoms. Really wish I had someone to talk to on a more immediate basis besides the kids. Though I'm not certain if it would do me much good in the long run.

My friend's brother's ex is acting psychotic, and I'm worried about their 3yo's safety. She thinks he's marked by the devil. The kid is afraid to go home with her. She has alcoholic rages. I just really want CPS called or for him to be put in therapy, but I don't think anything will be done. I called CPS myself, but only have 3rd hand info, so no go. It's just really stressing me out.

I haven't been able to read lately, despite being in the middle of some good books. I need to give up on my goal of 75, I guess. Maybe the pressure of a schedule is getting to me. Hopefully next week will be better what with the kids' schedules suddenly loosening up. 😁

>67 The_Hibernator: Sounds like a tough patch. I hope things are getting better with the anxiety. I share your concern about that 3yo.... 😟

>67 The_Hibernator: Sorry you were feeling stressed last week! I hope you're doing a bit better now. Don't worry about the 75! You're going through more than 75 books-worth of drama this year :-)

>68 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! Yes, last week was a rough patch, and this week I have a cold! But hopefully things will start getting better soon. I am still concerned about the 3yo, but right now the father has him at his house, and won't hand him over unless the mother is sober. Which is a hard task for her. My friend says she'll call CPS if she has to.

>69 norabelle414: Yeah, 75 at this point in the year was probably an unrealistic goal. But I could always hope, right? You are correct, I got married, got pregnant, dealt with my aging parents, and with the mental health problems of my step-children all in one year. Next year will hopefully be better. :)

Well, I had a fantastic time at the Book of Mormon performance last Saturday. I even wore the only dress I still fit into (it’s stretchy), and got a baby-bump picture. 🙂

This week was stressful, with two to four engagements every day. It was pressure week for First Lego League and our team met Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. The tournament lasted from 7:30am to 5:30pm, and luckily our team was proud of what they accomplished without moving on to the next level. Because I couldn't have dealt with the next level. Phew!

My baby bump is apparently too small for my progression, so I got to have an ultrasound on Friday. That was a lot of fun because the baby was so big and cozy-looking in there. Everything is fine - he's the right size, and I have the right amount of amniotic fluid. I'm just small. He even winked at us. Granted, it may have just been the eye coming in and out of focus rather than a real wink, but it looked like a wink, which is what counts.

Last week, my bipolar symptoms got almost out of control, and my psychiatrist wants me to check in to a partial hospital program made especially for perinatal mothers. It helps with the last weeks of pregnancy and/or with bonding with the baby afterwards. It is aimed specifically for people like me who have mental illnesses which are awakened by the pregnancy and post-pregnancy. On top of that, my OB has decided that she wants to get the baby out of me (because my mental health won't start improving until he's out) so she plans on inducing on my due date 12/12. I have a hard time believing that will actually happen - it makes everything seem so real to have a date (provided he doesn't come early), and of course there's the opportunity for my mental health to improve and that they'll nix that plan, right? Right? lol.

Anyway, I had a cold on Sunday and Monday - got checked for strep and flu yesterday just in case, but they're both negative - and I am feeling a bit better today. I will even attempt to get some laundry done. Technically, Aaron was supposed to be doing all that stuff, but alas. He is not very good at doing that sort of stuff when he gets home from work and is all tired. So the kids are currently wearing dirty clothes. lol.

Reading this Coming Week



Due to a need to rush through my library book (Stay with Me) and my Litsy Markup Postal Club book (Washington Black), I have decided to cut down on the number of books I’m reading for the upcoming week. That, and sometimes I just need to concentrate on a couple of books rather than 10, lol. Gulliver's Travels is actually being read by Serial Reader, but I was too lazy to screenshot the image correctly, so I'm using an audiobook cover instead.

Completed last week

NOTHING except real life.

Real life accomplished last week sounds like a lot!

I enjoyed catching up with you and all that you have going on.

Hoping for all the best for your hypomanic symptoms. Take care of yourself and your baby - everything else will fall into place.

>71 The_Hibernator: Love the picture! Glad to know everything is the right size. Looks like you may be carrying quite high. True?

>72 streamsong: I suppose I may be carrying high - I am not sure what I'm supposed to look like at this point, to be honest. However, the doc did say that he was not as low as she would have expected about this time, so that probably means I'm carrying high.

As always I am in awe of how you get things managed. And can't believe the birth date is almost there - didn't we just read about wanting to get pregnant like... a couple of weeks ago?!? Thinking of you, wishing you the best and crossing crossables already now - just in case I'll go AWOL again and next time I read here it's mid-December the baby is there. :)
(But I'll try to stay on track for the rest of the year somehow despite office internet monitoring...).

Just echoing Nathalie - it's come round really fast! Wishing you all the best with the last few weeks.

>74 Deern: >75 charl08: Thanks Nathalie and Charlotte! It's good to hear from both of you. Yes, I am a little overwhelmed that I suddenly have a birth date rather than a due date, somehow it seems like something that SHOULD be a mystery. Of course, I keep reminding myself that they might change their minds or that the baby might come early, lol.

Yesterday went well, I mostly stayed mentally stable except some anxiety throughout the day and a little flip to hypomanic at the end of the day. I took it easy, which means the house is still trashed, but I did get the trash and recycling out and all the laundry washed but not sorted/folded. I also went through all my starred emails (a month of them) and printed off stuff I needed to take care of (including paperwork for the hospital so I don't have to do it when I check in in labor). So now I have a huge pile of paperwork to fill out. When the kids got home, I took D to get her girl scouting stuff - she's SO excited about her Brownie vest and can't wait for us to put on the patches. And then we took M to therapy. We addressed a lot of lying and the fact that he apparently is worried his dad is going to die. Not sure where that came from.

Today, I have a therapy appointment at 10, then I'll go to mom and dad's and order their groceries online, then to Perkins for lunch and to pick up an apple pie for Thanksgiving. Then I'll come home and pick up my pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner from Cub (I guess we have to reheat it - I thought we could pick it up on Thanksgiving itself when I ordered it!). I won't actually go shopping, though, I'll do that by online ordering. I've switched to online for the time being because I'm so tired of all the rushing around carrying stuff. It's too much for me at the moment, and I needed some stuff off my table. Same with the Thanksgiving dinner - thus a precooked dinner. I just needed some stuff off my table. The house is trashed because Aaron was supposed to be cleaning it while I was trying desperately not to go insane last week. We need to get it into some order before mom and dad come over for Thanksgiving!

2018 Book 44: The Passage, by Justin Cronin

Summary: The Passage is a sweeping story that takes place over a 100 years, chronicling the beginning of a vampire-esque plague that mostly wipes out humanity. It begins with the scientific origins of the plague, the outbreaks of plague throughout the US, and introduces the main post-apocalyptic characters and how they have survived through the years. When these characters meet a strange girl with a signal embedded under her skin telling them to bring her to Colorado, the real adventure begins.

My thoughts: I have mixed feelings about this first book in the trilogy. I felt that it was a little longer than it had to be. The characters that it first introduced were given a lot of personality, and then they ended up not to be as important as you’d expect, given that most of the book took place post-apocalypse. On the other hand, the characterization did lead to a lot of personality for the book, which is part of why people love this book so much. (I am must a fan of brevity, I guess.) Overall, though, this book was fantastic. Though it had some slow points, I was mostly engrossed in the action the whole time, and very much want to read the second and third books to see how everything turns out.

Hi Rachel!

Birth date instead of due date - I can see how that really brings it home.

You've got way more going on than I did when my first-and-only child was due, what with 2 step- children, parent responsibilities, and your health issues. One thing that helped me a lot was to get the house cleaned every two weeks. It forced us to keep things a bit neater, but more important, it relieved us (meaning, mostly me) of actually cleaning and vacuuming. Might be something to consider.

>79 karenmarie: Hi Karen! A cleaning group is a good idea. Though Aaron's mom is coming out for 3 weeks around the time the baby will be induced - and she has mad cleaning skilz. So we'll probably wait on the professionals till after that.

Trying to decide what audiobook to listen to while in labor. Sense and Sensibility? Pride and Prejudice? A kids book?

>81 The_Hibernator: Maybe something funny? Do you like Bill Bryson?

Happy Sunday, Rachel. Good review of The Passage. I liked that one but did not care for the follow up, so I never did read the final one.

I hope you enjoy Washington Black as much as I did.

>81 The_Hibernator: Do you think you can listen to a book during labor? My suggestion would be a feel-good re-read.

And good luck with everything! You have so much going on, but the most important thing is to take care of yourself.

>82 rosalita: Hi Julia! Funny is another option. My reason for thinking of those two books is that they are books that I've read several times and can listen to while distracted. I don't expect I'll hear much while I'm actually having contractions (We can just turn it off then), but I might be too tired or distracted to give a listen well to a book I haven't read before between contractions.

>83 msf59: Hi Mark! Well, I already own the second one, so we'll see what I think of it before moving on buying the third. I am enjoying Washington Black quite a bit - am about half way through right now. It's a miracle I'm getting any reading done at all, even though this feels like a slow pace for me!

>84 banjo123: Hi Rhonda, unless the baby comes early, he will be induced on the 12th. Induction often takes up to 9 hours with a lot of wait time. (My sister took 12 at her induction, and was finally C-sectioned!) A lot of websites I've been reading suggest bringing reading material. I think that listening will be more up my alley than actual physical reading (though I packed a Harry Potter book just in case) because I won't have to focus as hard on it - it can just be going in the background if my mind wanders. That's why I'm suggesting books that I am intimately familiar with.

Well, the beginning of another week! This week will be thankfully easier than some in the past, so hopefully my symptoms will calm down a bit. Today (Monday) will be a doc's appointment in the morning, a mall-walk with my mom, and a Chuck-E-Cheese bday party for D. (Ugh, ok, that's not easy.)

Yesterday was a bit difficult because my mom had a seizure at church again. We don't know what's causing the seizures, but we didn't bother taking her in to the hospital because she didn't want to go and it would have been hours of waiting in which they probably would accomplish nothing and then release her. At least, that's how my dad felt about it. I thought we should take her in. Anyway, I sent a medical message to her neurologist yesterday, so hopefully we'll get a new appointment this week.

Hi Rachel!

>80 The_Hibernator: mad cleaning skilz Would she consider a visit to NC? *smile* For the first time in 25 years I'll be without a housecleaning service, starting January 1. I can't justify it any longer in my retirement (until I get too decrepit to do it). The $$ will come in handy.

You've got what would be to me an amazingly and stressfully busy Monday. I hope you have fun. Happy birthday to D.

Sorry to hear about your mom's seizure. I think not going to the hospital made sense, and sending a message to her neurologist was a perfectly good way to handle it.

Whew! You have had a lot going on. Glad you have a plan for the big day and someplace that will support your mental health before and after. Harry Potter sounds like a good choice for a print book. Any thoughts on an audio? Sorry to hear about your mom--hope they figure out what is going on soon. Good luck with Chuck-E-Cheese today! Happy Bday to D.

Happy birthday to D!

>87 karenmarie: Lol, Karen. She'll probably have to be cleaning her own house in January to make up for leaving her husband alone in it for most of December.

Yeah, the neurologist wants us to take her to the hospital next time to get some lab tests. But since we wouldn't have been able to tell the ER this time around what the neurologist wanted them to do, chances are it wouldn't have happened this time, anyway.

>88 Berly: Hi Kim! I decided upon Sense and Sensibility as my audiobook since it's my favorite Austen, and I know the story like the back of my hand (which at this moment is quite dry).

As far as my mom goes, it turns out that seizures are common in people with Alzheimer's. So I guess that's what's going on. *shrug

I'm pretty sure the partial hospital program has openings right now, so I should have a good network of mental health providers watching over me in the immediate post-partum phase. :)

>89 humouress: Thanks Nina!

So it turns out that I misunderstood. When the doc said to make appointments till the week before my due date, and then we'll induce, she did not mean she would induce on the due date, but that we would induce a week before my due date. So I'm being induced on the 5th, not the 12th. That was quite a shock to me, as it essentially took away half the time I had remaining before induction. I'm in a little bit of panic mode, trying to rearrange the next month's schedule to fit the upcoming birth and partial hospitalization. But the good news is that I am more likely to be able to fit into my heels on New Year's with an earlier induction. :) I promised a friend I would go out with him to a masquerade for New Year, as he has been feeling a bit glum lately.

Today, I have cleared my schedule besides reading, rearranging schedules, and putting paperwork in order. So it should be a relaxing day.

>91 The_Hibernator: I don’t know about anyone else but it took me a while to get rid of the tummy. I was still wearing maternity clothes for a bit after delivery.

Mind you, after baby number 2, I didn’t try very hard. Nine years later I’m still carrying some pregnancy weight - though I have been out of maternity clothes for a long time :0)

Woot!!! The 5th! Lots to do, but enjoy.

My son came 4 weeks early. We were totally unprepared. I had a bit of superstition about doing too much ahead of time and so didnt even have the crib set up.

So sorry to hear about your Mom's seizures. Honestly, I don't know how you handle it all!

>92 humouress: If you're referring to my quick-turnover plans to go out for New Years Eve, I'm more concerned about my ankles going down than my belly. I ordered an XXL dress which I'm thinking will fit me - and if it doesn't, then I can always wear the black stretchy one that I wore to Book of Mormon. My hope was to wear all red, but what can you do? After that, I plan on training for a walking marathon that will take place in September of next year. My original plan was training for the Tough Mudder, but then I realized that was ridiculous. Then I planned on training for a century ride, but realized that would be hard to do because I couldn't get one of those baby carriers attached to my bike, and would therefore have no time to train. The walking marathon seemed best since I can train with a baby during the days - at least until summer when the stepkids will be home. Then I'll have to figure out what to do. Maybe walk in the dark before Aaron leaves for work? And, of course, I'll attempt to motivate myself to do ab workouts - though I enjoy walking and don't enjoy ab workouts, so that may be a no-go in the end. If I don't lose the belly (my sister assures me that I won't) then I'll just accept and move on. lol.

I've been gaining weight ever since starting psychiatric meds, and my unrealistic goal is to get back down to where I was before psych meds by July 12th, 2020. That would be an average of 1lb per week. Of course, these plans were made when I am going manic, so who knows what will really happen. :)

>93 streamsong: I was the same way about doing too much ahead of time. It seems pessimistic, but it felt right to procrastinate a bit. Luckily, Aaron and I finished the nursery and packing the bags this weekend, because the induction (which we thought was planned for the 12th) was upcoming. I'm glad we did that, because we have a full upcoming weekend - and this will be our last chance to put any finishing touches on our plans!

I am sorry about my mom's seizures, but also am accepting that parents get older and these things start happening. I think that is how I am mentally dealing with the situation. My dad and sister is a lot more stressed (and a lot more in denial) about the decline.

>94 The_Hibernator: Good grief! That’s more energetic than I am now. Both of mine were C-sections and I wasn’t supposed to climb stairs for the first few weeks. The baby gave me enough to do, anyway.

Myself, I looked like I had elephantiasis when I was expecting, but then I’ve always had bad circulation. Even though I wore ankle to thigh pressure socks and slept with my legs propped up on pillows, my feet looked awful. Sometimes you don’t want to wear heels anyway. Be kind to yourself.

>95 humouress: probably wise advice about the heels. I have some red flats, too, but they may not fit either if my feet don't go down.

As for the energy - that's the mania. It'll subside with any luck, and then (sadly) so will my over-eager reading/exercising plans.

Oh .... my exercising plans are ambitious. It’s just the doing of that gets me.

>97 humouress: Indeed! I know that feeling.

Christmas list so far:

My dad: Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, hoping for another in the social justice realm

My mom: An Amish Homecoming, by Amy Clilpson and A Seat by the Hearth, by Amy Clipson

D: My Last Best Friend, My New Best Friend, My Best Frenemy by Julie Bowe; and The Complete Chi's Sweet Home Part 1, by Kanata Konami

M: Super Amoeba, Brave New Pond, The Power of the Parasite by Jennifer L. Holm; and Dragonbreath, Attack of the Ninja Frogs, Curse of the Were-wiener by Ursula Vernon

Aaron: Captain's Fury, Princeps' Fury, First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher

N (Nephew on Aaron's Side: The Stonekeeper (Amulet Series #1), The Stonekeeper's Curse (Amulet Series #2), The Cloud Searchers (Amulet Series #3), The Last Council (Amulet Series #4), by Kazu Kibuishi

C (Nephew on Aaron's Side): A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring Series #1), The Trap Door (Infinity Ring Series #3), Curse of the Ancients (Infinity Ring Series #4), Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring Series #2), by various

Liz (Friend): The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

Todd (Friend): American Princess, by Leslie Carrol

Today is my 10th Thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary!!

Congratulations, Rachel!

Happy Tenth Thingaversary, Rachel!
Any books acquired today?

Belated Happy big 10th TA Rachel! Did you also already make a list of 11 books for yourself?

Thanks figsfromthistle, Karen, Anita, and Nathalie! I have not picked out my 11 books yet. I will probably have to make a run to Half Price Books. :D

Reading this week



Still Serial Reading Gulliver’s Travels for my Educated Mind Project. American Overdose is an ARC that I am a few days behind on finishing (I’ll be more than a few days by the time I finish, but oh well). The Mark of the Raven is an ARC released on December 5 (yeah, I’ll be behind on that one, too). I’ll be listening to The Soul of an Octopus in general, but during my labor I decided to listen to Sense and Sensibility, since I can listen to that with great distraction and still understand what’s going on – I’m very familiar with the story. The induction will probably last several hours (inductions generally do), so maybe I’ll even get close to finishing it!

Completed last week



Finally finished Washington Black for my Litsy Markup Postal Book Club. Just in time to mail it out! Burning Magic was a cute little kid’s book that I decided to jump into because I was having readers’ slump. And The Witch of Willow Hall was an ARC provided by NetGalley and Graden House Books (Release date Oct 2). Review coming soon!

Acquired



This will probably be the last of my ill-advised over-requesting of ARCs. I think. NetGalley provided The Mark of the Raven (Bethany House), Roam (Central Avenue Publishing), and The Sisterhood (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). The Lathe of Heaven and The One and Only Ivan were on sale at Audible. Dopestick and Educated were purchased with kindle credits that were about to expire.

Hi Rachel!

My daughter read Educated for her college English class this semester. She talked about it so much that I've put it on reserve at the library.

I think you said you were going to see Fantastic Beasts this weekend? If so, I hope you enjoy it.

>107 karenmarie: Hi Karen! We have a surprise make-up tutorial for D today at 10am for her birthday. I don't like the idea of her wearing makeup, but we told her she can play around with it at home. After that, we will go to Fantastic Beasts.

Hi Rachel! Hope that you are having a great weekend, and that D had a good birthday.

Happy Thingaversary Rachel!

>99 The_Hibernator: I’m assuming everyone in your family likes books as much as we do. I think only my youngest would be thrilled (and he would be over the moon) to get books for Christmas.

>108 The_Hibernator: Ah, yes, young girls and makeup. My 13 year old niece was here from the States last week. She and her older sister wear make up, but ‘only a little bit and only when we go out’ but they wear more than I do just to go out shopping. Not that their parents are happy about it, but we also heard lectures on how they’re not like other parents, the girls’ friends’ parents are more lenient etc. Yeah, yeah, heard it all before. Kids! What can you do?

Happy birthday to D.

>109 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! D loved her birthday. The only downer was that there was a snowstorm, so she didn't get her ice-skating trip. Both kids (and adults) loved the movie. :D

>110 humouress: Hi Nina! I think D and M are well on their way to becoming readers, though it's hard to tell with M because he's just 6 and addicted to screens. I think he'll enjoy the graphic novels I got for him.

I'm not sure what made D (who turned 9) want to wear make-up and shave her legs. Her mother and I discussed it and agreed that she was NOT going to start shaving her legs, and that she was not going to wear makeup outside. But I figured since it is currently her dream to be a cosmetologist, it wouldn't hurt to let her actually learn how to put makeup on. 13 is probably the earliest I would let her wear make-up outside the house (except for her 9th birthday, where it was professionally done). Not because I think 13 year olds should wear makeup, but because at a certain point you need to stop fighting the truth - kids love makeup. Pick my battles, no? That way I'm actually likely to win some. She's going to be a feisty teen.

Well, it's Monday and induction is on Wednesday. It's coming up quickly! I had trouble sleeping last night because we had to have another talk to M about saying he wanted to kill himself. We knew he was still thinking about death a lot (and he has been drawing some rather disturbing pictures), but we thought the suicidal ideation had disappeared with his depression this summer. I guess not? He no longer seems depressed, but he seemed pretty serious about having suicidal thoughts. I DO think he's safe for the moment, though - the thoughts are passive.

He complained, strangely, that whenever he thought about suicide he had a pain in his ear as if a long needle were being stuck in his ear and he felt a lot of pain. I tried not to read too much into that, but of course with my anxiety as high as it is right now my mind went straight to schizophrenia. Of course, I know 6yos generally don't come down with schizophrenia, and a pain in the ear is probably just anxiety or depression rather than schizophrenia, or it could even be a migraine without the headache...but being so anxious I just worried about it all night long. And with the worry came stomach cramps. And then, of course, I thought I was in labor, which kept me awake even more.

*sigh

Anyway, on a happier note, we decided to let the kids have the day off school as a present before the baby is born. They will watch some TV for a while, then go to my sister's house and play with her daughter, L. (B will be at school.)

Hi Rachel!

Just think - you'll get to meet your son this week!

I hope M and D do well during this wonderful and stressful change.

Only a couple more days, Rachel. Amazing isn't it? I loved the photo with the baby bump. >112 The_Hibernator: Maybe M is anxious about the baby coming? It will change the family dynamic once again. Best of luck on the birth of your baby.

>113 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I know, tomorrow! Unless he takes a LONG time to be born. I'm going in at 7:30am tomorrow for induction. M and D are both excited, so that's a good thing. We already have plans in place to make sure they still feel like we are doing things both as a family and with them individually.

>114 Familyhistorian: I know, I'm getting nervous now! I do think that M is anxious about the baby, and that is what stimulated the resurgence in suicidal ideation. Hopefully it will go away rather than getting worse.

All the best for you today, Rachel!

Thinking of you! Hope it is an easy labor.

Hi Rachel. How exciting! December is a good month to have a son.

(No, not really - getting birthday parties organised is complete chaos. But you don't need to know that now. Breathe .... breathe ....)

>106 The_Hibernator: I really enjoyed The Soul of an Octopus, loved The One and Only Ivan and just saw Tara Westover speak today--can't wait to read Educated.

Good luck tomorrow, Rachel!!! And best wishes to the entire family. : )

God bless.

Thinking of you Rachel.

Sending positive thoughts northward from Iowa, Rachel. It won't be long now!

I'm thinking of you, Rachel, and sending hugs to you and your family.

Thinking of you!

I'm told I have a cervix of steel. Still being induced.

OMG! That must be very painful ... Good thoughts and prayers headed your way. Hang in there!

Wow, you're my new favorite superhero! Good luck!

Yikes. Good luck!

I'm told I have a cervix of steel. I bet you didn't want to hear that, Rachel! I hope things start moving along more quickly. Best wishes...

Two days?!? :O
Yes, you're definitely a superhero! Sending lots of good wishes your way and *CHEERINGYOUON*

Best wishes, Rachel!

I'm really missing Facebook's "wow" response right now. I hope things start moving along soon! And thank you for taking the time to update us in the middle of everything.

Yes, thanks for dropping a note! I'm sending lots of good wishes and little cheers ("Go, Rachel, go!"). Or maybe it should be, "Go, baby, go!"

Karen O.

p.s. I know you have been watching old Doctor Whos, as have my husband and I. We were kind of at a standstill (though we watched past it), a set called "Battlefield" with the Sylvester McCoy Doctor. Very rare at the libraries in the Twin Cities and hard to get a hold of. But, tada! It came today for me, ILL, from Chippewa Falls Public Library in WI! What a great system we have!

Best wishes, Rachel!

>125 The_Hibernator: Goodness! What are you doing here, now?!

Thinking of you, but I suspect it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to hold my breath. (I can’t manage it for very long at the best of times.)

Oh Rachel, what an ordeal! Thinking of you.

Well, he came on the 7th. Can't put up photos because we're still in the hospital. I'm typing on my phone. They're holding us till Monday (probably).

YAY! Hope Baby Hibernator is doing well, and that you and Aaron are getting lots of rest.

Congratulations, Rachel!

Congratulations Rachel and lots of good wishes for all the family

Congratulations, Rachel! I was just thinking that 12/12 is just a couple days away, then they were inducing earlier than that and then the little guy appeared just a few days early -- probably best for all. I'm glad this stage is all through and you and he can start getting to know one another "in person." Sending you lots of encouragement for wonderful things ahead. Enjoy.

Ian Loki - birthdate 12/7/18 6lbs 8oz

He's beautiful! (Imagine rows of hearts)

Thanks everyone! And thanks Janet for putting the pictures up for me. :)

Adorable!

Congratulations!!! Confetti explosions and ... (oh, wait, baby *hastily cleans all small non-edible items away*).

I’m very happy for you and your family. (Though you did confuse me with that July birthdate for a moment)

Congratulations Rachel! Such a cute guy! Best wishes for all of you!

Aw! Beautiful. Many congratulations to the family.

Awwww what a cutie. Congrats! Hope all is well and you're able to leave the hospital today.

Congratulations!!

So cute!

What a beautiful baby boy! Congratulations, Rachel and Aaron. All the best to you all!

Congrats Rachel!

Congratulations Rachel!

>142 streamsong: - What a darling boy!

Hi Rachel! Welcome to Ian Loki, congrats to you, Aaron, M&D, and the rest of your family.

Sweet pictures.

Yay, Rachel! Oh, he's lovely! Congratulations!

Karen O.

Congratulations! He’s beautiful.

Congrats Rachel! He is adorable
Hope you are all doing well and adjusting!

Ian is the epitome of Sweetness! You are in for the best times of your life in the years ahead. Best wishes for you, Ian, and the whole family.

Thanks for all the well wishes! As I already said, I had a bit of an ordeal during the 2.5 day induction. They actually ballooned my cervix twice, and I was having contractions on top of the balloon. Ow! But in the end he slipped out during the "practice push." They hadn't even gotten the bed ready, and the doctor was still getting her gloves on. They're like "stop, stop, stop!" and I stopped. But then he just slipped right out anyway, while everyone's back was turned. Luckily they heeded my warning, and the doc actually caught him.. I thought I would be released on Sunday, but his bilirubin levels were high, so he got light therapy for a day and a half. That was hard on me, because those light boxes make me go manic, and I got quite agitated between the lamp and trying to keep his goggles on, which he pulled off every 5-10 minutes. However, I was released yesterday. Yay! So nice to be home!

Pulling off his own goggles! He's a fighter already :-)
I'm glad you're home and everyone's doing well!

I'm glad you're home (finally).

I love the picture of Aaron, M, D, and Ian.

Congrats!

>142 streamsong: Ian is soooo adorable :) Congrats!

Congratulations Rachel and Aaron!
Happy to read you and Ian are home now.

Congrats on the new arrival, Rachel. How exciting. I thought I had been over heer all ready but discovered I had not. Bad Mark!

Hooray for Ian Loki!! He looks like a future reader!

>160 The_Hibernator: Sweetness! Hope you are enjoying some well-deserved rest.

Happy homecoming!

Nice to see you all at home and enjoying your time with Ian.

Thanks everyone! It's so good to be home. And what's more, I was discharged from the Mother Baby program for people with bipolar disorder already because I have had no symptoms of post-partum depression, anxiety, or psychosis. I can always go back if I DO have symptoms, but if I don’t need that level of care, the 5 hours a day 4 days a week was only causing more stress than it was solving. So, yay! more free-time than I expected in the first four weeks after IL’s birth. (Yes, I know you all know his name, but I'm still going to call him IL henceforth, lol.) Most of you probably know M and D's names too.) I look forward to at least some time to read.

Completed in the past two weeks

Despite good intentions of listening to Sense and Sensibility while being induced, I was too distracted to do so. I did get some Haunting of Hillhouse watched, though. 🙂 Aaron and I are about half way through now.

Acquired

>170 The_Hibernator: Great news Rachel, about the Mother and baby programme.

The new acquisition looks fascinating! Hope you get some time to read (if you want to, of course).

>171 charl08: Oh I totally WANT to get time to read. The question is, will I? :)

Congratulations, Rachel and Aaron! Baby Ian Loki is absolutely adorable. I look forward to watching him grow up here on LT. That is excellent news about your lack of postpartum depression. I hope things continue to go well with you and your family. Take care of yourself and get the rest that you need.

Hi Rachel! It sounds like things are going well - no depression, no anxiety, or psychosis. I wish you well, and give IL a little hug from me!

That‘s great news, continuing good wishes to you all! Lovely pics, IL is adorable. :D
Reading time though... Maybe more audios?

Love all the good news! Glad you had your precautions in place and that they were unneeded.

I'm loving all the photos!

Glad you're doing well, Rachel!

Echoing everyone in being happy to hear the good news. Long may it continue.

Hi Rachel! Just checking in on you and your growing family.

>171 charl08: Hi Charlotte! I am getting about 25 pages a day read, which isn't much, but it's all I can manage right now. I'm also getting a lot of audiobook listened to as quality time with IL. I am making sure that the books are appropriate for little ears, which means I'm reading an "appropriate" book and a "less appropriate" book at the same time. lol. So I'm guessing for a while audiobooks are the way I'm going to get things read.

>173 Donna828: Hi Donna! I'm still doing well with the post-partum mental issues. None yet! Yay! My psychiatrist says that some mothers with bipolar disorder are actually at their most healthy right after giving birth...it's just a roll of the die. But I'm glad I was prepared for the worst, anyhow.

>174 karenmarie: Thank Karen! I certainly will!

>175 Deern: Hi Nathalie! Yes, more audiobooks is exactly what is happening. As I told Charlotte above, I'm listening to an "appropriate" one while bonding with Loki, and a "less appropriate" one while doing housework. I'm actually getting quite a bit listened to that way.

>176 streamsong: Hi Janet! I'll try to keep everyone updated with photos, as babies grow fast. And of course, I'll try to include more of D and M, as well. I don't take nearly enough photos of them because they don't change as much as a baby does.

>177 EllaTim: Thanks EllaTim.

>178 humouress: Hi Nina (and again in >179 humouress:). We are doing great. D and M's issues seem to have calmed down a bit. I've got a baptism scheduled for the end of January. By attending it, Malcolm will get his reverence badge from Cub Scouts. His mom is a little put out, being an atheist, that Malcolm needs to get a reverence badge, but I kept the 2 of 6 requirements to things that he would do anyway - going to the baptism and feeding the baby. Well, actually, we can't even get him to hold IL right now, but he has promised to feed him before the end of January. lol. Otherwise, I am doing quite well, other than missing quality time with Aaron. M and D will be with their mother from Friday till half way through Christmas, so we can get some quality aloneish time over the weekend and during half of Christmas, anyway. :)

Oh! Huge congratulations! I know I'm late to the party, but want to tell you how happy I am for you and baby IL (love it!) and glad you are doing so well post-partum. What a beautiful baby! Ya did good!

Hoping your holidays are filled with good friends and good books

>181 Storeetllr: Thanks Mary! He is quite adorable!

>182 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda! I will be having a good holiday with my family, sister's family, and parents at my place. Happy Holidays to you, too!

Yes, this is another first day photo, but it has the happy parents in it. 🙂 Looking at this picture, I realize how much IL has grown already. He was 6 lbs 8 oz, and is now 6 lbs 15 oz. That doesn’t sound like much, but he is noticeably bigger. He is eating quite a bit! Unfortunately, we found out last night that he has hypothyroidism, so we have to figure out how to feed a newborn a crushed up thyroid hormone pill. I don't think the hypothyroidism is very profound, because he has none of the symptoms, and seems very healthy. We'll meet with an endocrinologist in a couple of weeks to get things checked out in more detail.

D & M are doing a great job of adjusting to their new life with a baby. D feeds him regularly, and M has agreed to feed him in the upcoming month to help earn his reverence badge in Cub Scouts.

D, sadly, had a stomach bug and missed school for a couple days. Probably being overprotective, I quarantined IL in his nursery until she was better.



My mom, and neice L with IL.



And my dad feeding IL.

Reading in the upcoming week



I am listening to two audiobooks: Fool Moon, for my Dresden Files Group Read, and Vaccine Race. I know I’m being too careful, yet again, but I don’t want IL to hear Fool Moon because it’s scary. A nice nonfiction work is so much more educational. 😊

My Serial Read is Scarlet Letter, and my work of fiction is American Overdose.

Completed this week



This was also considered ok for baby ears, and I got plenty of quality time with IL while listening to it.

(Or in other words, Happy Christmas, to you and yours!)

May you have a relaxing holiday!

Thanks for posting pictures. So cute!

Lovely pictures, lovely family! Many blessings in the new year to all of you!

Karen O.

>184 The_Hibernator: Lovely picture, Rachel!

Sorry IL is hypothyroid, symptoms are not seen in babies. A niece of mine was born without working thyroid. Sadly that was before it was checked right after birth. First symptoms came only after some months.

Rachel, I'm late swinging by to say how adorable Ian Loki is! Sorry there have been a few health scare/challenges but pleased to hear how well he is doing overall. Congratulations and Happy Holidays to you and the whole family!

>184 The_Hibernator: Adorable! Every one of you, and especially Baby IL!

Happy Holidays to you and your big family, Rachel!
Thank you for sharing those lovely pictures with us, you all look so happy and IL is adorable!

Congrats on you lovely little son, Rachel. He looks so cute. Have a wonderful time with him. Sending love and hugs xx

Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

Hi Rachel, what wonderful pictures of the proud parents with the newest addition to the family! Thank you so much for sharing them here. Hard to believe 2018 is almost coming to a close. Where did the year go?

Stopping by to wish you and your family peace, joy and happiness this holiday season and best wishes for 2019!

Thanks Rhian, figsfromthistle, Rhonda, Karen, Anita, Ellen, Mary, Nathalie, Barbara, Chelle, and Lori!

2018 Book 48: Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

Summary: Harry Dresden is America’s only Wizard. In addition to doing small occult detective jobs on the side, he is a consultant for the special division of the Chicago Police. When someone is brutally murdered, he must find out who the culprit is – making some enemies in the process.

My thoughts: This is my second time reading this book. I started the series over for my Dresden Files Group Read that I started hosting in November. (Anybody is welcome to hop in whenever they please, even if they have not joined us for the first few books in the series). I enjoyed this book as the pinnacle of Occult Detective series beginnings. Harry is likable, yet makes stupid mistakes all the time. The other characters are weak in comparison, but I know from experience that they will develop with time. The plot is solid, and mostly not predictable. It’s a fun book, suggested for anyone who likes urban fantasy.

2018 Book 51: Witch of Willow Hall, by Hester Fox

Summary: The Montrose family has moved to a small mill town to get away from the scandals of the big city. Lydia, who considers herself the less attractive of the sisters, suffers from the rumors that her more beautiful sister Catherine has brought upon the family. She feels she will never find someone who will love her and take her despite the rumors. When she meets a handsome and mysterious man, she wants desperately for him to love her, but knows that it is hopeless. On top of those problems, Lydia is realizing that she may be more powerful than she believes – there have been witches in the family…

My thoughts: I loved it. The romance was adorable, and on top of that, there was drama that added a lot to the plot. Highly suggested to anyone that likes non-smutty paranormal romances.

Very belated congratulations to you and Aaron on the birth of IL! And a merry Christmas to you, Aaron, D, M & IL (and the wider family)!

Merry Christmas to all of you Rachel!

Happy holidays, Rachel.

Merry Christmas to you and your family from Philadelphia, Rachel!

^I hope you are having a wonderful holiday with the family, Rachel. I am sure it is extra nice, to have the "new" addition to share it with.

Nice family photos, thanks Rachel.



Seasons Greetings from Singapore! Wishing you and your family joy, peace, good fortune and good health now and in the coming year.

Merry blessed first Christmas for IL and all your lovely family. Greet rubberducky for me!

Belated congratulations on the birth of IL, Rachel. So good to hear that he has arrived and there were no adverse affects to you (well, beyond the usual, that is.) I hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.

Thanks for the Christmas/holiday wishes!

I started my new 2019 thread, but will continue to use this one until the end of the year.

IL's hypothyriod medication may be leading to problems. He is now awake all night, having some shortness of breath, and diarrhea. I originally thought he'd caught D's cold, but it started right after the first dose of meds, he's not had a fever, and it hasn't stopped. I will call the doctor tomorrow morning and see what I can do about it. For now, I'll leave you with a nice picture of Aaron and IL catching up on some zzzz's after a long night of being awake.

I didn't realise babies could have thyroid problems too. Don't stress too much about it because babies give you enough to stress about :0)

I'm pretty sure I'm still stressing my parents (probably because they think I don't stress enough about their grandchildren).

>210 humouress: Hi Nina!

I know I shouldn't worry much. But unfortunately, hypothyroidism can be pretty serious in infants because it can lead to cretinism. (If that's till a politically correct word?) I would like IL to reach his full intellectual potential - whether that be average or genius. So it's important to me that we find a medication that works. I'm willing to put up with some of these problems if it will save him from severe or even mild intellectual impairment later.

Happy Christmas, Rachel! I'm glad everyone is home and happy and I hope IL gets his thyroid balanced out soon.

Hi Rachel!

Very sweet picture of Aaron and IL.

Calling the doctor is a good idea and doing everything possible to ensure that your adorable new baby has the best chance at reaching his full intellectual potential is perfectly understandable. I'd worry too - but it sounds like you are on top of things.

Hugs to you all.

Rachel, I am so sorry that IL is having a reaction to his hypothyroid meds. I hope you get it sorted out soon. Such joy having a baby around at the holidays. I look forward to watching him grow up and becoming a reader. Thank you for all the lovely pictures. The ones with your parents really warmed my heart.

Thanks Nora, Karen, and Donna.

We took Loki to the doctor yesterday and she found that the medicine is working - his TSH and Thyroid Hormone are just where they should be. We are switching to giving the during the day so that if it gives him insomnia, at least it's during the day. He DID sleep better last night, which is a blessing.

Good news, Rachel! I've been on thyroid meds since 1978, and I can attest that, when they work properly, they are life-saving! Heartfelt hope that IL's meds continue to work and that he (and you) continue to sleep at night.

>216 Storeetllr: That's good to know, Mary! I'm told everything will be fine, but I worry that his brain development was already slowed by the two weeks before we discovered his thyroid problems. I'll see an endocrinologist today and be able to ask some questions. :)

Summary: When of Harry Dresden’s students asks him for help to build a magical circle to enclose a beast, he refuses because he is afraid she will hurt herself. However, he is soon entangled in a murder case involving his student and her circle. As he searches for the murderer, he discovers all sorts of Werewolves and he has to figure out which are good and which are bad.

My Thoughts: This book is just as good as the first Dresden book. Although I hear he becomes more kick-ass in each of the following books and he eventually gets so kick-ass that he has reached the peak of kick-assedness and can’t go any further. I’m looking forward to seeing how kick-ass he can get. In this book, he is certainly more kick-ass than the first book.

Finally got a picture of B with IL:



My sister and nephew J “saved” a tame cat that had been out in the Minnesota cold on Christmas. Since they have two pitt bulls, I took the cat to my parent’s house, where they need a cat to scare off the mice. I put up a post in a few places, and found the owner, though, so my parents still don’t have a mouser. 🙂



Exercise and Weight Loss

This month I was told to take it easy with the exercise, so I have only been doing a little bit of mall walking with my mom. And a really small mall at that. I plan on doing a more rigorous exercise routine starting January. I am hoping to get down to 160 lbs before the end of this year, and down to 140 by the end of the following year. That may be asking too much, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Here’s a graph of my weight loss so far since the baby was born. The peak is, of course, my peak weight during the pregnancy:



Reading and Watching This Upcoming Week



Still working on The Vaccine Race, The Scarlet Letter, and moved on to Grave Peril – the third book in the Dresden Files (for my Dresden Files Group Read). In January for the 2019 Year of Shakespeare I’m going to read Twelfth Night. So I’ve decided to watch the movies available on Amazon. This is the first I started. 🙂

Completed This Week



Finished Fool Moon, the second book in the Dresden Files.

Acquired This Week



Here are my Christmas presents this year. I’m pretty excited about all of them.

Hi Rachel, glad to hear the new meds pattern might help with the sleep. I loved Milkman: great Xmas haul, look forward to hearing more about them.

Yay! Glad that little I's medications are working. He is so sweet. It's nice to have a baby around for the holidays, isn't it?

>220 charl08: Thanks Charlotte! I think I'll enjoy all of these books, if I ever find time to read them. Right now I'm only making progress on audiobooks.

>221 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! It is nice having a baby around in general. But it does make the holidays more special!

From now on I will post on my 2019 thread, as I doubt I'll finish anything more substantial this year. I will have to finish up this year's reviews over there, but I'll make it clear which reviews are from last year. :) I finished a total of 65 books this year (unless I manage to read 10 more books to IL today).

New Thread

Wishing you a new year filled with joy, happiness, laughter, and all the wonderful books you could wish for.