Books Read in 2009

January:

1. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
2. Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn
3. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
4. A Little Scandal by Meg Cabot

February:

5. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
6. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
7. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer


March:

8. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
9. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
10. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
11. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
12. The Far Sweet Thing by Libba Bray

April

13. Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie
14. Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie
15. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
16. Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie
17. Welcome to Temptation



May

18. Faking It by Jennifer Crusie
19. Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn
20. Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
21. Silken Thread by Patricia Ryan


June

22. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
23. 4 Bodies
24. 5 Bodies
25. 6 Bodies
26. It Only Takes a Moment
27. Deadly Love
28. Too Good to be True
29. Gotcha


July

30. The Chicago Way
31. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
32. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
33. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
34. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
35. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
36. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
37. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
38. Holly's Inbox

August:

39. Catch of the Day
40. Fools Rush In
41. Finger-Lickin' Fifteen
42. Murder on Waverly Place
43. Secrets of a Lady
44. The Moving Finger
45. At Bertram's Hotel
46. A Pocketful of Rye
47. Foxtrot book

September

48. A Caribbean Mystery
49. Foxtrot book
50. Foxtrot book 2
51. Foxtrot book 3
52. Foxtrot book 4

October:

53. Foxtrot book 5
54. Tears of Pearl
55. And Then There Were None (school)
56. The Mousetrap (novella)
57. A Raisin in the Sun (school)

November:

58. Victoria and the Rogue
59. The Finishing Touches
60. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist


December:

61. Night (school)
62. Sovay by Celia Rees
63. Obsessed by Karen Robards
64. Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
65. Pursuit by Karen Robards
66. Walking After Midnight by Karen Robards
67. Bait by Karen Robards

For my sistah because I know she gets tired of my lack of posts...

While playing Apples To Apples:
Sister: I got something and I don't know what it is.
Brother: Well, you'd better ask your doctor.


Student: Hey, Miss A, it's not premarital sex if you never intend on getting married.


After I described The Scarlet Letter to my eleventh graders:
Student: That sounds really good!
Me (to myself): I told it ... wrong!


During class debate--the situation is You are a soldier in the Middle East. You've been ordered to cover your troop from higher ground while they make their way down a mountain. Your C.O. orders you to shoot anyone who looks suspicious. You see an old woman all by herself a few hundred yards from the rest of your troop. She is not walking but does not appear to be a spy. Do you follow your CO's orders and shoot her even if it turns out she may be innocent?
Student #1: You shoot her first, ask questions later.
Student #2: That's ridiculous. You can't just go around shooting people.
Student #1: Why not?
Student #2: Well, because then you're just Dick Cheney.


While watching Mamma Mia, one of the characters asks another, "Why haven't you ever gotten married?"
Mom: Isn't it obvious? She's a lesian.

Favorite New TV Shows

1. GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. The Good Wife
3. Community
4. Flashforward
5. Modern Family

Best Moments in Alias

Best Single Moments (for the emotional punch):
1. Sydney and Jack hug (standout line: "I was so stupid.")

2. Sydney and Irina hug

3. Sydney finds out Jack works for SD-6 (Standout line: "Get in!")

4. Sydney's first mission in the pilot episode (Standout line: "I like your tie.")

5. Vaughn tells Sydney the watch story (Standout line: "The watch stopped on October 2. The day I met you.")

6. End of season 2 (Standout line: "Sydney, you've been missing for two years.")

7. End of season 1--the enemy walks in (Standout line: "Mom?")

8. Sydney realizes her mother is still alive (Standout line: "I was breathing underwater for ten minutes.")

9. Sydney realizes her mother is the traitor ("I wasn't that agent, Sydney, you're mother was.")

10. Irina escapes and sends Sydney a message through Morse Code ("Truth takes time.")


Top 11 Alias Episodes (Season 1-4 only):
1. Pilot

2. Color Blind (Season 1: John Hannah guest stars)

3. Masquerade and Snowman (Season 1: An ex-boyfriend of Sydney's who also works for SD-6 turns up)

4. The Enemy Walks In (Season 2: Irina shoots Sydney; Sydney later finds Vaughn who survived a near-drowning; Irina turns herself into the CIA)

5. Double Agent (Season 2: Ethan Hawke guest stars)

6. Endgame (Season 2: Christian Slater guest stars, but the most interesting part focuses on another double agent)

7. The Two (Season 3: Sydney adjusts to life after being missing for two years and without Vaughn)

8. Remnants (Season 3: Will resurfaces for one episode after being in the Witness Protection Program for two and a half years)

9. Crossings (Season 3: Sydney and Vaughn are fugitives in North Korea)

10. Ice (Season 4: Kelly McDonald guest stars as ex-IRA trying to escape her past. Vaughn identifies with her)

11. Welcome to Liberty Village (Season 4: Sydney and Vaughn go undercover as a married couple in Russia pretending to be Russians who are pretending to be American)

15 Movies That Will Stick With You

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what movies my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note -- upper right hand side.) I hope you participate, even if you didn't get tagged!

1. Star Wars

2. The Sound of Music

3. The English Patient

4. Breakfast at Tiffany's

5. Mulan

6. That Darn Cat

7. Love Actually

8. Sense and Sensibility

9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

10. Anne of Green Gables (technically a miniseries, but whatever)

11. Pride and Prejudice (again, a miniseries)

12. The Wizard of Oz

13. The Bourne Identity

14. While You Were Sleeping

15. Amelie

Runners-up: Garden State, The Sixth Sense, Rebecca, The Lion King, Troop Beverly Hills, and Far and Away

To Read in 2009

Started this list on January first and never posted it. Obviously I got really far in it. Hmm...

To Read (besides my usual series):

1. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (read 17 January 2009)
2. Harry Potter series (read the 7 in July)
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan
4. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
5. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
6. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie (read 2 August 2009)

The brother

Me [walking through the living room to go to my room]: Hey, Bren.
Brennan [lying on the couch reading a book]: Are you going to talk to Mom?
Me: No, I'm going to my room. Why?
Brennan: Well, I have to talk to Mom, so I was going to say let me go down and talk to her first because I would hate to have to interrupt you.
Me [drily]: How ... selfless of you.

Shows I'll Be Seeing in the 2009-2010 Season

1. David Cook
2. Wicked
3. Rent
4. Cirque Dreams Illumination
5. The Lion King
6. August: Osage County
7. South Pacific
8. Jersey Boys

Things I Saw This Summer

1. Trinity College
2. Temple Bar in Dublin
3. Liffey River
4. King John's Castle
5. Shannon River
6. The Burren
7. Cliffs of Mohor
8. Atlantic Ocean from the West Coast of Ireland
9. St. Patrick's
10. Blarney Castle

11. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
12. London Bridge
13. Westminster Abbey
14. Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard
15. Kensington Palace and Gardens and Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
16. The Underground
17. Trafalgar Square
18. Piccadilly Circus
19. London Eye
20. Thames River

21. Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge
22. Sacre Coeur
23. L'Arc de Triomphe
24. The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe
25. The Eiffel Tower
26. The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower
27. Notre Dame
28. La Place de la Concorde
29. The Champs Elysees
30. Seine River

Funny Things That Happened in School This Week

Funny Things That Happened in School this Week:

Taylor and Brandi approach my desk from two different directions.
Me (still typing, not looking at either of them): what's up?
Taylor and Brandi in perfect unison: Can I go to the bathroom? [Look at each other.]
Taylor: Awkward.
Brandi: Totally awkward.
Taylor: Should we hold hands and skip down the hall together?


After I turn on my air conditioning which rattles and groans and makes noises like a popcorn popper.
Nicole [sitting the closest to it]: If that blows up, I'm gonna be the first to die.


Chelsea: Miss A, I haven't seen you in ...
Me: It has been forever!
Chelsea: ... pants before. Oh ...

27 Things to Do Before I Turn 28 ... or just sometime before I die...

On my 25th birthday, I came up with a list of 25 goals I wanted to do. I'm going to rewrite my list without consulting the last one, to compare how my goals have changed/stayed the same/been fulfilled. The top two have been on my list since I was in high school.

27 Things To Do Before I Turn 28 ... or just sometime before I die
1. Go to Ireland
2. Go to England.
3. Go back to Paris.
4. Go back to New York City.
5. Go back to Washington, D.C.
6. Go on a cruise.
7. Write another novel.
8. Get a novel published.
9. Publish "The Journey."
10. Get married. (Um, someday. Not any time soon!!)
11. Have kids. (I'd like several please. You just order them, right?)
12. Reread all the Jane Austens.
13. Get LA11 curriculum organized.
14. Get my reading endorsement.
15. Become more assertive. (This one may be hard to gauge, but whatever.)
16. See Wicked
17. See the Dixie Chicks in concert.
18. This one's private. For me only. (Okay, I cheated and looked at my goals from two years ago. I couldn't think of any more. But I remember what this one is and I still haven't done it and I still want to. But I also still want to keep it private.)
19. Go to a Meg Cabot book signing.
20. Go to a Jennifer Crusie book signing.
21. Take more pictures.
22. Keep organized photo albums.
23. Do a better job of keeping in touch with old friends.
24. Get curriculum for LA9 in order!!!
25. Reread Wuthering Heights.
26. Take a reading class or a 3 credit hour class.
27. Read more books!!!!!!!! (As always!)

Spring Break

My first spring break since college!! Now that I'm at a metro school I can enjoy one!

Saturday: Speech contest. Booo!!!! But the good news is: SPEECH IS OVAH!!!!! (At least until October when it starts all over again. Longest. Season. Ever.)

Sunday: Taken with Dad and Brennan. Very good. I heart Liam Neeson!!

Monday: Shopping!!! New pants that are petites and therefore won't need to be hemmed!!! Maybe I'll wear pants to work for the first time all year. (Okay, just to be clear--I don't go bottom-less. I wear skirts and dresses. Every day. I swear.) Finished A Great and Terrible Beauty. One of the best books I've read in a really long time, and that includes Twilight. (Which I liked.)

Tuesday: Had to go to library to get the next two books in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. SO GOOD!!! Dinner with Hayley. We meet at 3:30 and don't leave the restaurant until 9:30. It was fantastic!!

Wednesday: Inkheart with Dad. Very cute and fun! I want to read the book now. Spend much of the day uploading CDs and downloading music from iTunes which I haven't done since last summer. Discover Natasha Richardson was killed in a skiing accident. Call Tara to lament.

Thursday: Slumdog Millionaire. I laughed. I cried. I laughed and cried some more. Best. Movie. Ever. I love when the Oscars reward a movie that ends happily!!! Finished Rebel Angels. Began The Sweet Far Thing.

Friday: Last Chance Harvey. SO good!! And very different from most movies out there. I heart Emma Thompson. "A Room with a View." "E.M. Forster." "Yes, did you read it?" "No." "Middle March." "George Eliot." "Yes, did you read it?" "No." Took Brennan to the ER at 1 A.M. for a shot because he had another of his infamous migraines. Didn't get home until 4 A.M.

Saturday: Did nothing. NOTHING!!! Except read my book. More than halfway through but it's 800 pages, so once school starts again on Monday, it may be a while!!!

This Week

Sunday: Oscars! Yea, Kate! Yea, Hugh! Yea, musical montage!!

Monday: Book club at Sbrocco. Topic: Twilight. Very fun.

Tuesday: Parent/Teacher/Student conferences. Boo!!

Wednesday: Legally Blonde with Nicole. Oh my God, oh my God, you guys! Look like Elle's gonna win the guy!

Thursday: Tessa's Arbonne party at Nicole's

Friday: Long overdue grocery shopping and stay up waaay too late watching TV.

Saturday: Speech contest. All Is except for for six IIs. Graded all Romeo and Juliet tests (and only took from 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.).

Books Read in 2008

This list is incomplete as from August to December I did not keep track and therefore had to go by memory. This wouldn't be such a difficult task except that I tend to read as many old books as new, and it becomes difficult to remember whether I read them this summer, or last summer, or both. (I had all seven of the Harry Potter books on this year's list until I remembered that that was LAST year's list.) This is the least amount of books I've ever read in one year, and I'm chalking it up to moving and starting a new job and getting Tivo. On the other hand, maybe I've read 20 more books and just don't remember. Yeah, let's go with that one.

Number of Agatha Christies read in 2008: 11 (6 of them I'd read before, but I did read three that I've been meaning to read for YEARS: The Pale Horse, Toward Zero, and The Mystery of the Blue Train)
Number of nonfiction books (a new record for me. At least, since college): 5 (If These Walls Could Laugh, Don't Kiss Them Good-bye, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Home, and Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad. Plus, the next book I've got on my list is Wishful Drinking by Princess Leia. Er, Carrie Fisher)
Number of historicals: 9


January:
1. And Only to Deceive
2. Silent in the Grave
3. Birds of a Feather
4. Persuasion
5. Under the Mistletoe
6. The Cliffhouse Strangler

February:
7. Silent in the Sanctuary
8. Something Borrowed
9. Something Blue
10. A Poisoned Season

March:
11. The Tea Rose (yikes! Took me nearly an entire month to get through!)
12. This Pen For Hire

April:
13. Plum Lucky
14. If These Walls Could Laugh
15. The Little Lady Agency
16. Don't Kiss Them Good-bye
17. The Learning Curve

May:
17. Little Lady, Big Apple
18. Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day
19. Airhead
20. The Giver
21. Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
22. The Man in the Brown Suit

June:
23. The Secret of Chimneys
24. The Seven Dials Mystery
25. Little Lady and the Prince
26. They Came to Baghdad
27. Destination Unknown
28. A Fatal Waltz
29. Remember Me?

July:
30. Little Shop of Murders
31. Fearless Fourteen
33. Where Are You Now?

August:
34. A Consequence of Sin
35. Three Men and a Body

September:
36. When You Are Engulfed in Flames
37. The Edge of Midnight
38. Home: The Julie Andrews Story

October:
39. Towards Zero
40. The Mystery of the Blue Train
41. Mirror Image
42. Cat Among the Pigeons
43. The Crucible
44. Night

November:
45. The Pale Horse
46. Princess on the Brink
47. Princess Mia

December:
48. Boy Meets Girl
49. The Boy Next Door
50. A Raisin in the Sun
51. Size 14 Is Not Fat Either
52. Big Boned
53. Ordeal by Innocence
54. Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad
55. The Tales of Beedle Bard