Discussion #2 Sammy's Hill

Welcome back to week 2 of Sammy's Hill.  Any and all are free to comment.

So, Aaron seems sketchier and sketchier. The plot seems more and more predictable and Sammy sounds like a girl I'd like to throttle.

Just one shining example of Aaron's jerkiness.. 

" However, when he'd complained about y going away with RG and I'd pointed out that he'd just gone to New Hampshire with Bramen, Aaron suggested that Bramen's trips were more important." pg. 111

SERIOUSLY???? And how about ignoring her when she got puked on at a bar? Dismissive of her roles. Ugh Ugh.  And it is so nauseating to hear her talk about their future daughter and everything.  Though, the few moments of her sanity when she mentions, how their future is somewhat cloudy, I'm like YES.  And why won't her friends just tell her he is fucking around?

Questions:
1.) Have you ever had an embarassingly blackberry/email whoops like Sammy does with her whipped cream summit message? Speaking of, what did you think of the article Charlie wrote about it and Aaron's reaction to the article?

2.) What was your reaction to Bramen's comment about RG and his staff not doing anything to help the bill they wrote? What do you think of Bramen? Do you agree with Sammy's assessment?

3.) Would you continually keep getting the same animal if you kept kiling it/it kept dying on you?

4.) When do you think Sammy will finally talk to Charlie about whatever he wants to talk to her about?

5.) Do you think Sammy's character is growing and maturing or do you think she is staying stagnant so far?


Next week we will discuss from Faded Luster to Breathe in Deep, It's all Fresh Air (pg. 299).  Lisa will be providing the post for us and I can't wait to hear what she has to say!  Don't forget to vote on a selection for the May Group Read.  I will be putting the poll up on April 17th!  If you would be willing to guest post in May let me know, and if a particular date works better for you let me know that as well!

Ten on Tuesday errr Thursday

Questions brought to you by the lovely Lisa via Chelsea's Ten on Tuesday..

1. If you work, do you drive to work or take public transportation?

Drive.. it is 10-15 minutes tops to whatever school I need to be at and public transportation here is so unreliable that they would either not pick me up or take much longer...

2. How often do you get your haircut? Do you go to the same person every time?
I basically get my haircut when it starts to annoy me.  I grow my hair out long and then the ends get yucky and I hack it off up to my shoulders.. repeat.. so sometimes once or twice a year.. my BFF is a hair dresser and since she moved I don't really have anyone I love or trust..

3. Do you read the newspaper? If so, a hardcopy or the online version?

I buy a newspaper every Sunday and read online news sources other days of the week.  I do occasionally pick up a paper when I am out and about.  Our local paper is horrid, so I only buy/read it if it has something I'm interested in, otherwise I find national news elsewhere.  We used to get it delivered on the weekends but like I said, the local  newspaper is horrid.

4. What is the best book you have read this year?

In 2011, I'd say The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen.. haven't read anything yet that I am raving about..

5. What is the best movie you have seen this year?

No Strings Attached.. but I haven't really seen anything to give it a run for the money.. Can't wait for Hangover 2 and the new Pirates movie!

6. Do you tend to crave sweet or salty foods?

Both! I do believe I said earlier this week, give me my salt & vinegar pringles and a snickers bar please!

7. Do you eat breakfast every day? If so, what do you have? Definitely now that I'm pregnant.. and usually when I need to work.. Work days I usually do oatmeal or cereal.. weekends. fried egg sandwiches.. unless we go out to breakfast and then I get them over easy with texas toast to dip.. yumm..

8. If you celebrate Easter, what Easter treat/candy are you most looking forward to?caramel cadbury eggs.. yummmmmm

9. How late is “sleeping in” to you? anything after 8 am i will call a good nights sleep haha.

10. Where are you going on your next vacation? Sadly, we do not have one planned...

Is anyone else as bad as me as far as getting their hair done? I simply just don't care that much!

35 weeks and why my name is not Grace

happy 35 weeks to me... ;(

So, I had an appt., today but I never made it because I fell on my way out the door.  I fell on my butt and really messed up my ankle.  I of course, in true fashion sat on the porch and yelled swear words at myself and looked around to see if anyone saw me fall, while I tried to figure out wtf to do.  My midwife sent me to Labor and Delivery and they hooked me up to some monitors to check on the baby for 4 hours.  Thankfully, I had no spotting/leaking of amniotic fluids and she had a steady strong heartbeat. 

I got xrays taken of the ankle and it couldn't be determined if I had a hairline fracture or a really bad sprain.  So I have an aircast, crutches and need to call my family doc tomorrow.

So, thankfully baby girl is fine but my ankle, not so much. IT FARKING HURTS! The support from the aircast does make it better though.  Not so sure how tonight is going to go sleeping/peeing/crutching.. should be an adventure.

How far along? 35 weeks.. which  means 35 days left!
Weight gain/loss: up 13 pounds...
Stretch marks? 2 that i've found..

Sleep? has been much better lately, still waking up about 3-5 times to pee, but i sleep around 7-8 hours a night

Best moment this week? getting the ceiling fan up in her room and the whole upstairs cleaned and organzied..
Food cravings: ive enjoyed some salt and vinegar pringles this week!
Gender: Girl
Belly button in or out? In
Movement? Yup, mostly late at night and after i eat
What I miss? not having restrictinos on my movement/flexibility but umm did i ever have control over that before?
What I'm looking forward to: my baby shower on saturday!
Milestones: 35/35 wooo wooo



Suggestions for May Group Read

It's that time of month again! Share your picks for next month's group read! Try to make something that is easy accessible (ie... library or cheap somewhere!)
Here are books we have already read....
Sammy's Hill
 In the Woods
 Shanghai Girls
The Weight of Water
Water for Elephants
The Color Purple
The One That I Want
The Secret Garden
House Rules
 American Wife
Firefly Lane
Middlesex
The Reader The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Awakening
Pride & Prejudice
 I See You Everywhere

Some random holiday's/celebrations in May that may spark a reading ideas:
Nurse's Week, National Police Week, Mother Goose Day, National Teacher's Day, Beverage Day, International Museum Day and Mother's Day.

Also, it was nice to have some fresh voices providing us our main post this month. For May, would anyone be interested in guest posting for the Discussion #3 on May 20th and Discussion #4 on May 27th? I am due May 18th and have already started writing some posts for May so it isn't complete radio silence around the time I have the baby. I don't foresee myself going early but ya never know. If you would like to guest post for either of those dates, I would need your post the Wednesday of that week to ensure that it will be posted on time. Thanks for all your help and for those of you who loyally participate even when the choices end up falling flat! I love talking books with you all! Suggestions will be open until April 17th and then I will add the poll!

Slows BBQ

When we were in the Detroit area enjoying our food tour, we saved quite possibly the best place for last.  (As in, it was soo good I was dreaming about it a week later.. yummmmmm)

Slows was featured on Man vs. Food back in 2009 which first sparked our interest.  It is located in a pretty rough looking neighborhood in Detroit.  The two buildings it took over have been around since the 1800s.  There is a sign out front, but the door can be easily missed as part of the wall, and is part of the charm.

Heck, the bathroom even was pretty cool.  I really liked how they reused a lot of things to make it usable now.

Back to the food.  Sadly, the husband and I got the same thing, with different sides but it was soooooo good.  We both went with the Carolina Pulled Pork (my mouth is watering just remembering it. ahhh.)

Here is a picture of my plate w/the pork and my applesauce!

The husband went with baked beans and Mac & Cheese for his sides and I went with Mac & Cheese and Old Timey Applesauce.. 

The Mac & Cheese was really cheesy and filling and the applesauce had a slight tart taste which was perfect and reminded me of my grandma's homemade applesauce!

We also enjoyed trying all the different sauces.  Trying to go from memory they had an Apple, a spicy jalapeno, North Carolina sauce, a mustard sauce and I can't remember if there were anymore.  But for sure, our favorite was the Apple.  It went really well with our pulled pork.  Oh, and we had so much leftover that we could share another meal the next day.  But we were very glad we had leftovers because it was too good not to have twice!

Slows has an interesting story in its relatively short existence (they've been open since 2005) and I would highly recommend it to anyone who visits the Detroit area.  Especially if you love BBQ!

Sammy's Hill: Discussion #1

Welcome everyone! This is our first discussion over April's Group Read, Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore.  Any and all are welcome to participate.  You can have already read the book in the past, currently be reading, start up and catch up with us, or if you just feel the need to comment on something mentioned.  We like to talk books.

Okay, so this is a painful read.  How stupid can one supposedly smart girl be? It hurts me to keep reading.  I mean really.  She is a fanatic about health care, yet is one big hypochondriac.  She is a domestic policy advisor, yet is incapable of  normal functioning half the time.  And has a HORRIBLE taste in men.  A disastrous approach to dating and I am sure if I thought some more I could keep 'em coming.  I think this is going to be a hard book to read for me because of how badly I want to wring her neck.

In theory, I love reading books about Washington and politics but this is just rough.   I want a smart girl, who makes smart decisions and kicks ass.  Not a klutzy, irresponsible, neurotic.

I think this quote from the NY times sums up how I am feeling...

This flighty bumptiousness makes ''Sammy's Hill'' a painfully frustrating read. Wacky behavior makes a poor substitute for comedy and strange tics for character; the many humiliations the author rains upon Sammy don't make her seem adorable, just slightly deranged. Sammy's little experiment in imaginary amputation, for example, results in her boarding the subway wearing nonmatching shoes -- and not just any nonmatching shoes ''but a tan sandal and a bright red sneaker.'' This is probably supposed to be a hilarious exaggeration of a mistake anyone might make, but the specifics here betray the other trait that undermines the whole book: Gore's maddeningly careless writing. I was more puzzled than amused that anyone able to dress herself could confuse tying a shoe and buckling a sandal. - Ana Marie Cox

1.) What do you think of Sammy's late night phone conversations with telemarketers? Have you or anyone you know started conversations with them? Or called them?

2.) What is your opinion of Aaron?

3.) Do you find it refreshing or heart-breakingly naive of Sammy to have such a positive/sunny view of her boss? How do you think she is going to recover from his 'betrayal' on the health care bill?

4.) Do you think that Sammy's quirks are funny and make her character or do you think there are too many quirks/weirdness that make her character unbelievable?

5.) What are your feelings on the current health care situation in America?

Next week's discussion covers Roadshow through Faded Luster (pg. 204) next Friday, April 15^th.

Bubi's Awesome Eats

Last Saturday when the husband and I were off gallivanting around the state in search of unique / Food Network approved / Man vs. Food approved dining experiences we decided to zip across the tunnel to Windsor, Ontario.

First, we headed over to Caeser's Windsor Casino and wandered around the LOVELY smoke-free casino. It quickly became my favorite casino EVEEEEER. Not that I frequent casinos enough to have favorites, but just saying. It was waaaay better than the Greektown Casino we quickly walked through earlier in the day. (No, we didn't gamble away our life savings, but the Greektown casino has free parking haha).

We decided to enjoy a free Pepsi and then gamble 5 dollars each on Video Poker. Fun times. The husband played away his 5 and when he was done I still had around $3.95 Canadian even though at one point I was ahead of the game, whoops.

We really wanted to get a picture of the Detroit skyline from Windsor so we joined the smokers on an outdoor patio so he could take some pretty sweet shots.

here is one that he took that he has cropped down a lot.. we had a lot of fun and got some great shots with the DSLR

Then we headed to Bubi's on a recommendation of an employee of the Casino's hotel. It was amazing. They are known for their burgers, but neither of us were really feeling burgers. We got some sami's instead!

me with my glass of water in a mason jar haha...

the really yummy side salad that I got with my sandwich.. you could pick between fries, salad or soup... I also got this garlicky ranch dressing they had which was really good!

here is a picture of the sandwich I got.. I cut it in half before I took the picture this is the Bubi's Master Melt Down.. It had grilled black forest ham, tomato, and melted swiss.. VERY good!

This is what the husband got.. Boss BLT. double the bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion with cheddar and mayo.. he really liked his as well! He also enjoyed a nice beer.

Bubi's was a really cool restaurant and I'm glad we stopped there. It had a laid back fun feel to it with some excellent food. I wouldn't mind going back and trying more!

What was the last good restaurant sandwich you ate?

34 weeks.. whoaaaa.

34 weeks! don't mind the fact that apparently my mirror is still dirty from last week..whoops.

How far along? 34 weeks
Weight gain/loss: 11 pounds.. that was quite the growth this last week!
Maternity clothes? in today's photo my top is a size larger shirt with a maternity tank underneath and maternity pants.
Stretch marks? 1 stinking stretch mark underneath my belly button
Sleep? horrid. the last week has been bad. up ridiculous amounts to pee and then usually around 3:30 i am up and cannot fall asleep... i get maybe an hour or so when my husband gets up but then i am EXHAUSTED by mid afternoon.
Best moment this week? having the weekend trip with the hubby!
Food cravings: anything sweet
Gender: Girl
Belly button in or out? In
Movement? all the time.. if i am sitting/standing/laying in a way she doesn't like she lets me know
What I miss? energy
What I'm looking forward to: getting some stuff around the house organized, a shelving unit set up in her room this weekend and then my shower is coming up in 2 weeks! \
Milestones: We started childbirth classes last night. Wasn't as graphic as I had been led to believe by my friend and I think it was a different one than she watched cuz ours as badly filmed as it was, was not from the 70s and hers was. I would put ours at early 2000s or late 90s.

Okay, and if the format on this is off.. I quit.. I swear to god blogger and I are fighting.

And we are no closer to a name this week than last! haha..

March At A Glance

Books Read

9. In The Woods – Tana French (March 4th) 10. To The Power of Three – Laura Lippman (March 19th) 11. Body Double – Tess Gerritsen (March 22nd) 12. Vanish – Tess Gerritsen (March 23rd) 13. The Mephisto Club – Tess Gerritsen (March 26th)

March has been my biggest reading month so far. I was puttering out towards the end and could have added The Keepsake to this list but my attention span has been reduced to even shorter bursts than normal. ;) I think my favorite out of these would have been Vanish by Tess Gerritsen with my least favorite being In The Woods by Tana French.

Currently Reading: Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore

Movies Watched: MacGruber

It was horrid soooooo freaking horrid. Do not recommend.

Favorite Photos:

31 week bump shot.. I love it.. ;)

Baby Girl at 31 weeks...

Favorite Recipes:

Pizza Casserole

Fruit Milkshake

Kinda like February, March was sort of a fail on my part for cooking. I just think my extreme laziness and desire to just eat things that are already prepared have taken over. I will say we went out to eat A LOT towards the end of the month and that was mostly due to my birthday / family birthday's and hopefully won't be as bad this month. I need to get back into planning weekly menus.

What were your highlights of March?

The Keepsake - Tess Gerritsen

In this installment of the Rizzoli & Isles series, Detective Rizzoli and her partner get a very interesting case when a recently found mummy turns out to be YOUNGER than anticipated.

Dr. Josephine Pulcillo is an Egyptologist (I didn't know such thing existed) who was hired by the Crispin Museum to help with the finding of Madam X, a supposed ancient mummy whose paperwork was nowhere to be found at the very old and neglected museum. Josephine is the focus of this mystery when after finding her missing keys, a dead body appears in her possession.

More and more details emerge about her and her past that have Rizzoli and Frost scrambling to figure out who the mummy is and why Josephine is in danger. I like that Gerritsen's books always have some kind of focus away from the mystery. This time archeology plays a large role and it is interesting learning about how mummy's were preserved and about other archaeological terms that I would not know about otherwise.

Have you ever read a book that included aspects of archeology? Besides of course In the Woods hahaha. I remember some book I read a looooong looong time ago about the hidden city of something but that was a long long time ago!

And for those of you that are sick of the Rizzoli & Isles updates, have no fear. I have one book left in the series but have to put it down for awhile to read our April Group Read, Sammy's Hill!