Once again, back in the saddle

The last several weeks have been insane.  Between Teddy's birthday weekend and an unexpected trip to Philly/NJ for a funeral, I have barely had a chance to breath let alone get anything done.  While there is still a lot of chaos around me, I'm trying to feel revitalized enough to get everything done.  I'm still trying to come up with a plan of attack... I have some ideas, but I really need to sit down and write them out.  I need to come up with something to keep everything in as well.  I'm getting ready to head out for several errands, including running to Wal-Mart, so I may be able to find something that will help me out.  And tonight, Rich is taking the boys out to go shopping for my birthday (am I seriously going to be 37 on Friday?  Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so I might be able to get some of my organization done then.

I'm still staying about the same in the weight department.  I think I need to revamp my goals again, but that shouldn't be too difficult.  I'm still determined that I'm going to make the changes that I need to to be healthy.  The weather has been nicer, so I might be able to get out and walk more.  I bought another new pedometer - the one that I got with the DS program had the hook break off so it won't stay on my hip/shoe/whatever, and it doesn't do well in my pocket.  But the new one doesn't seem to be working right either.  I'll figure something out.  When I'm out at the store today, I'm going to pick up some more fruit so I have some healthier options for snacking.

I'm pretty behind in Swap-Bot again, in large part because of the trip to the NE.  I think tomorrow is going to be a Focus on Swap-Bot day.  Kids should be in PDO, so that should give me some time for taking care of things without the boys driving me insane.  I'm hoping to have everything back to normal on that end by the weekend.  We'll see how it goes, though.

I still have a lot of backlog with writing book reviews as well.  I'm going to write that up on a list as well, for the various things that I need to do.  That crosses over into Swap-Bot, since one of the swaps I'm in is a book log for the first quarter of 2011.  It shouldn't be too difficult, though, since most of the books I've read are graphic novels.  I did, however, listen to a couple of audio books on the trip, so those will count as well.

I have a grand plan for cleaning.  Rather than focus on a room at a time, I'm going to focus on a section of a room at a time.  The rest of the house might be a mess, but that isn't to worry about right now.  Instead, I'm going to start at one corner of the apartment - specifically, the far left corner in the kitchen.  I'm going to clean and organize from that point forward until I feel finished for the day, then I'm going to quit.  The next day, I can pick up from that point.  While I go, I'm also going to decorate - pictures on walls, things like that.  I won't have to be stressed because I don't have a specific amount that needs to be done daily, but I'll still be able to see progress.

There's fun worked in here as well.  Yesterday, before we got home, we stopped by GameStop to pick up our reserved copies of Pokemon: Black and Pokemon: White.  It's pretty cool because everything is brand new - new area, completely new pokemon, and I've been avoiding spoiling myself so I don't know what will be coming up.  Along with Pokemon, I'm finally downloading WoW to the new computer (which came in right before the trip to the NE).  So I'm going to make some time for that as well.  After all, I'm paying for it, I might as well use it.

I'm getting back into a few other things as well.  I finally got the 1st disc of Season 4 of Dexter, so I'm catching up on that.  I'm hoping that disc 2 will be in soon.  I'm also getting ready to start season 5 of Teen Titans.  I just have to send the latest disc back to Netflix.  We listened to Book 5 of The 39 Clues on the trip back and have decided that we really want to get back into those, so I have the first several of those on hold at the library.  Rather than spending a lot of TV time, we're planning on spending a lot of Audio Book time in the evenings.  It'll be nice, I think.  Plus, I need to make a trip back to Rick's Comic City to pick up a few new comics.  I haven't gotten a box yet, but I'm still thinking about it.  I could use more Green Arrow.

Speaking of which, Barnes & Noble is doing an online promotion of buy 3 get the 4th free on their graphic novels.  I'm debating picking up some.  I have a $20 gift card for B&N anyway, so it would be a good thing to buy.  I just have to decide what I want to get.

Re: the trip to Philly... for all that we saw family for a sad reason (my husband's grandmother's funeral), it was actually a pretty good visit.  We got to spend time with family and got to have fun with the boys.  I got quite a few cute pics of the boys and various members of the family, and I'm hoping to get those up on Picasa and/or Facebook next week.  I've got a few things that I'm hoping to put into the scrapbook as well.  That's another thing that needs to go onto my To Do list.

We'll be making another trip north this summer.  My in-laws have rented a house on the Jersey shore and we'll be there for a week.  We're hoping to go up to NY to spend time with my family as well.  I'm also hoping that we might be able to include a few days of visiting in Philly with friends and maybe making an extra stop or two at places in VA that we've been wanting to check out (including a super huge book sale that goes on 6 or 7 times a year).

It definitely looks like things are going to be keeping busy.  And that's good.  I need to keep busy.  Especially because Teddy will be starting Kindergarten in the fall.  And if I'm busy, I won't have to think about my little boy becoming a big one! :D

Now I'd better get going and run some errands.  Just too much going on and we all have to start somewhere!  :)

Have a great Fat Tuesday, all!

Book Review Number 17: Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

Another book in the Dexter saga, this time Dexter has come home from his honeymoon in Paris to be quickly embroiled in a series of killings that seem to be more about the "artful" display of the bodies than the killing itself.  They seem to have something to do with the tourist industry in Miami, which brings Dex and Debbie (his cop sister) to the door of one of the suspects.  Dexter watches in horror as a simple knocking on the door turns into a knife into his sister.  He catches the person he thinks responsible (someone by the name of Doncevic) and, temporarily, allows him to go to jail.  But once the guy is out, he lets emotion get the best of him and mets out his own special brand of justice.  His lack of preparation and research come back to bite him - he is taped by the real culprit while killing Doncevic by Doncevic's partner and lover, Brandon Weiss. is the real killer and now he has it out for Dexter.

I liked it better than Dexter in the Dark, but not as much as the first two.  It seems to be a common opinion of the readers of the series.  I had a difficult time getting into it and, honestly, only finished it because I had to return it to the library - I'd already had it out for 12 weeks.  But there were a few things that I did like - the consequences that come from Dexter not stopping to plan before a killing, Astor and Cody (Dexter's step-kids) steps along the path of serial killer-dom and Dex's attempts to keep them on the Path of Harry.  For all that Linsday continually states that Dexter has no emotions, it doesn't seem that way.  I think Dex is trying to fool himself.

Not a bad book, but not a good one.  You might want to stick with the first two.

Book Review Number 2: Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay

Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay at Amazon.com

It took me a few weeks (because I've been busier crafting than reading), but I finally finished Dexter in the Dark.  It's definitely a different book from the first two, and very different from the TV series.

I'd been warned by others that have read the series that this is a big turning point and most don't care for the series from this book on.  For me, while it was definitely not what I was expecting, it was intriguing.  There were several nights when I fell asleep reading it, not because it was boring but because I didn't want to put it down and my body had other plans.

Unlike the previous two books, Dexter wasn't after a run-of-the-mill serial killer.  His foe was much, much darker and much more... supernatural, I guess. And this intrigued me.  I've got a little research to do regarding some of the things in the book.

It was also interesting to see the relationship Dexter had with Rita and (especially) the kids.  I really hadn't expected some of the changes that were in there.  It was, however, good to see a lot of the same characters back again from the previous books.  (Even creepy Doakes.)

I'd have to say that if you like Dexter in general, like things a bit darker and like to border on the edge of paranormal/supernatural, then you'll probably enjoy this one.  At least give it a chance.

Current reading: Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong, Dragonlance Legends: Time of the Twins Graphic Novel by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman.  As of tomorrow, I'll also be reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan.

Book Review Number 1: Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

I just finished the second book in the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay - Dearly Devoted Dexter.  Like many others, I got into Dexter through the Showtime series (though I came into that late as well, just having started watching it within the last month).  I listened to the first book on audio and now have finished reading the second book.

The series is based on the first book, and the second goes in a different direction from anything seen on TV.  Frankly, that is something I enjoy quite a bit.  It doesn't feel like a re-read to me.  It's a bit darker than the first book, which doesn't bother me.  (I was an amateur Ripperologist for a few years, so dark doesn't bother me too much.)

There were a few revelations that shook me, though they make perfect sense within the story.  And, much like with the TV series, there are times that I think Dexter isn't quite as cold as he likes to convince himself he is.  Even if he thinks that showing affection for Rita (his girlfriend) and Deb (his sister) is just a mask, he does too much for them for it to be simply a mask.

It wasn't one of the most engaging stories I've ever read, in that I was able to put it down when I was getting tired. But it was still a good novel.  Linsday is a good enough writer than I picture what is happening as I read, seeing Dexter (who, I can't help it, looks like Michael C. Hall in my mind) sitting on the couch with drinking and, as he's unused to doing so, getting drunker by the second.

All in all, I'm ready for the next book.  I actually have it in my To Read pile, but where it shows up will depend on whether I read through the Graphic Novel that I have sitting here next or not.  (Thankfully, I managed to pick up quite a few books at the library today, so I should be set for awhile.)

Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, Amazon link