in

the

City

Happy Birthday to Me

11/18/08

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a pleasant day, the weather was clear, if cold, and my kids were all helpful and nice.

In the morning I dropped my boys off at their friend's house and I went shopping! I bought myself some shoes and a new bike:

The color is called Root Beer (haha). It's a men's bike, but it's the right size for me. Strangely enough, about 90% of the women's bikes weren't big enough for me. It has a nice comfy seat and I can sit upright on it and it rides like a dream. I'm quite pleased with it. Even if it is an odd color. All of my birthday money was pooled into this, so I didn't really get anything else except some books from Aunt Raylene (which I've already read since Sunday! Thanks! I love them), and gift card to Amazon.com from my brother Casey (still deciding what to get with that...)

Mark had a late meeting, but was wonderful and brought me home some flowers and dinner for everyone. Yay! I Didn't have to cook.

Amber cleaned the kitchen, Spencer picked me flowers from my own yard, and Carter agonized over what he should get me but I told him I would consider it a birthday present if he were a good boy all day (he didn't buy that, he didn't see how it could be a birthday present).

I got cards, messages, and calls from friends and family all day.

All in all, it was a nice day.

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NaNoWriMo

11/09/08

November is National Novel Writing Month. Check it out at www.nanowrimo.com. Some person came up with the idea about ten years ago and now hundreds of thousands of people practically have to self-flaggelate themself to get 50 thousand words written between November 1st and November 30th (sounds like great fun, doesn't it?). The first time I did it was back in 2002, so I figured it was time again, especially since I had a new novel I wanted to work on anyway, so I'm attempting to hit the word mark this year.

Current word total for this year's attempt: 14,700

/cracks knuckles and gets back to work

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Halloween 2008

11/05/08

My kids had a fun Halloween this year. For school Amber decorated a pumpkin and entered it in a contest at school. Her Mummy Pumpkin won the award for 'Scariest Pumpkin.'

The cousins came over to come trick or treating with us. Amber was a witch, Carter a Power Ranger, and Spencer was a ghost.

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Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

10/27/08

The boy Tavi has no magic to call his own, which among the people of Alera makes him something of a cripple. He can’t call a fury of the earth or of wood, like his Uncle Bernard; the fury of water like his Aunt Isana; and neither can he use a fire, metal, or air fury like his friends. To make up for his lack of magic he has to be brave and clever: characteristics which become crucial to the events happening in the Calderon Valley where he lives.

On another side of Alera, the spy Amara is on a mission to find proof of the rebellion of Alera’s nobles against their king. What she finds is much more comprehensive than she would have ever imagined--it’s a full-blown bid to overthrow the king, the enemies of the crown even recruiting the barbaric Marat to invade and throw the country into chaos. Amara races against time to find the truth and warn the Count of Calderon Valley about the incoming invasion.

Starting out the novel it felt like the same old fantasy. And in many ways it is, but it’s those basic elements of fantasy that appeals to its readers, plus some fresh twists, that makes Furies of Calderon worth reading.

Butcher’s prose flows easily from page one and carries the reader along a story that moves quickly—so much happens in such a short time than you can’t believe the book only covers a few days. While it starts out a little slow to establish the setting and core characters, enough happens to keep you engaged until everything hits the fan. Sometimes you go from event to event, the tension building to have something completely different happen; Butcher attempts plot twists that sometimes come across as a bit awkward, but if you just go with the flow and don’t think about it, they resolve satisfactorily.

The characters are well drawn and interesting, with enough background story to keep you curious about them as their lives are slowly revealed. Tavi in particular is fascinating as the black sheep among a magic-dependant society, who has to find ways to prove himself. Amara I found rather obnoxious, however, as she was not very realistic for me; Butcher tries to make this a society where women aren’t equal to men, but then has this woman as a high-powered spy with aggression to spare, but fortunately her inconsistencies didn’t ruin the story.

The magic system is the most interesting aspect of this book. When everyone has magic it makes not only the everyday living, but the fighting and interaction much more remarkable between the characters. The Marat horde, who once occupied the Calderon Valley, don’t have fury magic. Instead they bond with animals unique to this world (and the more common to us, including horse, wolf, fox), taking on some of the characteristics of their animal companions. How do the furycrafters fight the animal ferocity of these barbarians? How can two completely different races possibly communicate?

Despite it being the first in a series, Furies of Calderon ends with a satisfying conclusion, wrapping up the most important elements that are introduced at the beginning of the story, without solving the overarching dilemma of the series.

Furies of Calderon is the first book in the Codex Alera series.

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Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson is out

10/15/08

I went to the first book signing last night for the release of Hero of Ages at the BYU Bookstore and had my book signed.

I was in line for 2 1/2 hours. With my kids (Mark was working). Needless to say we were pretty tired by the time we got home, but it was an interesting experience.

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Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik

10/11/08

At the end of book 4, Empire of Ivory, Temeraire and Laurance have saved not only the English dragons from disease and death, but at the risk of being named traitors, delivered the cure to the French. Despite it being Temeraire's plan, Laurence is the one who suffers imprisonment and the loss of his aeral corp rank. But when Napleon invades the shores of England, Temeraire and Laurance must join the fight because England needs every dragon it has to battle Napoleon's new scemes.

Novik diverges quite a bit in this book from the real history of the Napoleonic wars, but to great effect. Napoleon's invasion of England is interesting in its details and strategy, and she makes it feel real--from Napoleon's actions to the response of the English citizens. And, of course, there's an exciting battle at the end of the book well worth reading.

Temerarie, despite spending the first part of the book seperated from Laurance, continues to be frustrated with the prejudice that England's men and women have for dragons--that they're dumb animals only worth using in combat. Temeraire, despite all this, feels a sort of patriotism for England and takes the initative to help his country. I really enjoyed watching the interaction between the dragons, which was much more common than in previous books; Temeraire's natural leadership ability really shines. Novik's characterizations of the dragons and their roles in war and within their own little dragon culture really makes this story interesting.

Poor Laurance, however, is still branded a traitor among his peers and suffers for it despite the risks he makes for them. This reality affects his choices and attitudes throughout the story, and his struggle feels real. He knows that the hanging due for a traitor is only a matter of time, and as a result goes about his tasks with grim determination. He worries most about Temeraire and what his death would mean for his dragon, and about how it will affect his family; you can't help but pity the guy, who spends his time worrying about others more than himself.

As usual, Novik's swift pacing and engaging prose carries you along the story. If you liked the style of her first books, she continues on very consistently here. The voice is easy reading and pulls you into the era nicely. Events take turns you don't expect, and by the end you feel satisfied that Laurance and Temeraire have done everything they could to save England. And, of course, by the very end you know they have a new adventure right around the corner.

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Updates and Excuses

10/06/08

*Embarassed laugh* Wow. It's been two months since I last posted. My bad. Well. I will endeavor to catch people up on what's been going on around here and try again to keep current.

New Computer/New Desk

The first thing that caused my delinquency is the fact that we got a new laptop. This was clear back in June, but over the months I've gotten used to using it more and more. We have it in the living room where I can surf/write/play/watch movies on it while in the same room with the kids. I've gotten so used to it that I don't use the desktop much anymore, it's just not as convenient. The problem? All my blogging, writing, and photo editing programs are on that computer. I have been sooooo lazy about transferring over everything to the laptop because I knew it would be a hassle (and it was). But now everything is where it will be used so I can do my blogging updates regularly, without the excuse of not using the desktop anymore.

Of course, having another computer means having another desk. Mark got it for me for Mother's Day and I LOVE it!

School

School began at the end of August and Amber is in the 4th grade and Carter is in Kindergarten. Aren't they just the most good looking kids you ever saw?

Carter's Teeth

Carter lost his first tooth just a week ago, and then a couple of days later lost his second!

Gardening

This year has been very successful! We've been swimming in tomatoes, which I've been canning. I grew my first watermelon this year and it was delicious!

A few of the carrots got HUGE! My kids eat them as snacks they are so tasty!

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Disneyworld: DownTown Disney and Epcot's the World of Tomorrow

08/05/08

We spend a few hours in DownTown Disney one evening as we waited for our dinner reservation at the tasty Fulton's Crabhouse to come. In the meantime, we shopped. A lot. Including at the amazing Lego store (the girl next to Amber is made of legos!). The kids have been playing non-stop with the legos we bought there since we got home.

We spent the morning at the newly re-vamped World of Tomorrow in Epot, where there were a ton of hands on activities for kids.

As well as a ride in The Land about conservation. I was drooling over their fancy greenhouse things they were doing. What a cool way to grow lettuce!

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Disneyworld Trip: Hollywood Studios

08/01/08

I don't have many pictures from Hollywood Studios to post. This place has a bunch of rides and it's hard to take pictures during that. Esp during the Rockin' Rollercoaster that goes from 0-60 in, like, 2 seconds. I love that ride.

At the entrance:

These aren't statues, there were really guys walking around as stormtroopers. Carter was scared of them, but agreed to stand there so I could take a picture (look at his face! "Mom, are you sure this is ok? These kinds of guys are mean, aren't they?")

And Carter on a speeder. This place was heaven for him. We got him a Star Wars t-shirt here that says "Rebel Alliance" and had to spend time explaining what that means. Haha.

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Disneyworld Trip: Magic Kingdom

07/30/08

Our longest day was the second day. The Magic Kingdom opened early for those staying in a Disney resort so we get there at 8am and stayed there through the night fireworks until 11pm. It was a long day, but the kids loved this park the best. Their favorite rides were here (Amber's was the Thunder Mountain Railroad and Carter's was Space Mountain). We did several rides twice, here.

One of the few pictures with me in it:

The jungle cruise ride:

The Buzz Lightyear ride was way fun. You got to shoot things from your little vehicle.

And, of course, the carousel:

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Disneyworld Trip: Animal Kingdom

07/29/08

We just got back from our fabulous Disney vacation last night. This week I'll post pictures.

Today's feature is the Animal Kingdom. It has some fun rides and shows, including the new Expedition Everest rollercoaster that Carter loved (it was a great ride!).

There was a walking tour of some of the animals, including tigers and other African beasties.

Carter played with everything he could get his hands on.

The Safari ride was the first we took and there were lots of animals to see.

There was a petting zoo with goats and sheep. Carter loved the baby goats.

Unfortunately Animal Kingdomw as cut short that first day due to a thunderstorm late in the afternoon (we came back on Sunday to finish off the rides before we went back to finish Epcot). Fortunately, I was prepared with ponchos for everyone. Although they took up a lot of room in my purse, they were worth of the effort of toting around. They came in handy often. The tropical storms off the coast proved to be a nuisance, but it wasn't too bad with a couple of late afternoon thunderstorms we waited out in our cozy hotel room.

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Camping with Grandma & Grandpa

07/21/08

We found a Geocache not far from where we were camped.

Trial Lake in the Uinta Mountains

Roasting marshmallows

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Main Front Flowerbed

07/05/08

Blooming now: Rose, daylily, lavender, daisy, Black-eyed susan, petunia, salvia, marigold

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The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs

07/04/08

Magic in Aren’s world is generally mistrusted. It doesn’t help that the bloodmages go a little crazy in the process of using their magic, nor that they take gifted children from among the population to train in their questionable practices. Many years ago the bloodmages bound the land’s natural magics to control it, because they and the rulers feared it; what good is it to have a populace with as much magic as those in charge? But in the process they banished all magical creatures—ghosts, goblins, and other ghouls—and it seemed like a fair tradeoff.

Until the bloodmages lose control of their binding.

Aren’s grandmother had a knack for healing, but it was never very strong, it simply made her a better midwife. Her brother had a talent for finding things, until the bloodmages found him and he rathered die than go with them. Aren, herself, has a more discrete talent—she can ‘see’ or predict things, but because of the binding she can’t see much that is any help. At least, until the binding lifts and suddenly she can see with stunning clarity events from not only the future or the past, but also as they happen. That is how she knows when the raiders came and killed her husband.

After the unbinding she doesn't see the point in hiding her true abilities any longer. But it makes her a sudden outcast among a village in chaos after the raiders and an unexplainable ‘natural’ disaster changes the mountain range so drastically that their normal trade routes all but disappear. Aren, a traveling minstrel, and a solider of the local lord travel across the mountains to try to make contact with the other villages, but in the process come across some truly frightening creatures—and one friendly one, the Hob, who becomes crucial to Aren’s and the village’s survial in the following turbulent events.

Patricia Briggs knows how to write heroines with flaws, but still have the strength to do what needs to be done. In her Mercy Thompson series, Mercy has special abilities and can kick some butt, yet at the same time there’s no question that she’s a woman with a woman’s needs, feelings, and behaviors. Aren is just as well drawn as Mercy and you can’t help but be carried along her plight as he tries to save a village, despite their hostility to her magic abilities.

Another of Briggs' strengths is her magical setting. She doesn’t overdo it, the magic has limitations, but is an integral part of the story. She adds enough detail to make the magic interesting (even though it isn’t actually very original, but neither is it original in the Mercy Thompson series, but it does not hinder how well she weaves it into the story), without making it a burden to the storytelling.

Aren’s story begins quickly and moves quickly. Briggs doesn’t lag at all in her pacing, and it’s consistent throughout the story. There’s always something happening, or Aren learning something new. It all builds up to an exciting climax that resolves events to the reader’s satisfaction.

But Briggs is not a prose writer, it’s all about story and Aren and how she has to learn how to control her magic if she’s going to surive and help her village survive—as well as her relationship with the Hob. There is no really amazing prose here, or really in-depth characterization or setting (which are still adequate to the story). While her writing style will not trip you up, and she’s not cliché (like in the annoying Kris Longknife books), it’s not Bujold, either.

If you’ve read the Mercy Thompson books and liked them you’ll like The Hob’s Bargain. It’s not as good as those books, in my opinion, but it’s still good, clean fun.

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Vanessa's Flower of the Day: Roses

07/03/08

There is no flower with the sheer variety as the rose, which, along with its beauty, is the reason why it's the most prized garden flower.

Roses come in all sizes from this white Iceberg above which can grow to 8'+ to the 1' high miniature roses below. They come in nearly every color available to flowers, from white to near black. They bloom all summer long, from June clear into October. Roses love sun and need lots of water to bloom well.

There are roses with scent, climbing roses, bush roses, tree roses. What isn't there to love about this versatile flower? Well. Perhaps its maintenance.

Roses do require a lot of maintenance, so clearly their beauty and versatility has its tradeoffs. They require regular pruning, especially in late winter as they begin their spring growth. Some are susceptible to mildew, fungus, or insects so will need preventative spraying. For more specific information on the needs of roses (there is too much to cover here), check your local library.

But is all that work worth it? Absolutely.

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The Garden: June 2008 Edition

06/15/08

These pictures were taken today. Here's the front Xeric flowerbed all in bloom! The other front yard flowers aren't quite as spectacular yet, so I'll have to post pictures of them another time. Click the picture to see a larger version.

Here's the vegetables so far. The potatoes are doing fabulously and we've already eaten a bunch of spinach and will be eating yummy lettuce salads with the mesclun mix this week.

My herbs are finally filling in some, although this bed still needs some work.

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Vanessa's Flower of the Day: Jupiter's Beard

06/11/08

Here's another easy-care perennial that self-seeds, and its cheerful color and form makes it a great companion plant for many gardens.

Jupiter's Beard comes in pink or white and does best in well-drained soils. It doesn't like being overwatered or moved (like flax and Caifornia poppy, it may die if transplanted). It's drought tolerant and only needs a deep watering 2-4x a month during the summer, althought it's happy with more. It does best in full sun.

It's blooming now, but if you dead-head it after blooming it should bloom again later in the summer. You can sew the seeds any time or else purchase plants from a local nursery.

It self-seeds itself so if you don't keep it dead-headed it will spread; but if you leave them to go to seed that's an easy way to fill up a bare patch of garden in a short amount of time. It doesn't need to be pruned except for dead leaves in the spring.

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Various New Stuff

06/10/08

New trellis for the climbing rose in my backyard. I made it myself and Mark helped me put it up on the wall. I'm predicting that this rosebush will one day completely cover the trellis.

The quilt for Brent and Becca's wedding. It's a lap quilt in the colors/pattern that Becca chose:

And our new garage door. The old one went kaput this week and I found a great deal on last year's model at a local place. It's a good quality one with insulation, windows, and it seals the garage nicely. Should help in winter, then the cat's dish won't freeze.

Here you can kind of see what it used to look like. It was wood. I like how the new one blends in a little more.

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Kris Longknife: Mutineer by Mike Shepherd

06/09/08

The daughter of a governor to a settled planet, Kris enjoyed a life of luxury and prestige--but she felt it was more of a prison than anything. In an effort to make her own way in the universe, she joined the marines. Unfortunately, the military of the outer rim planets lacks the support it needs to continue operations, as there isn’t much conflict like there used to be.

After a spectacular rescue of a little girl from terrorists on a neighboring planet, Kris is relegated to humanitarian duty on a planet whose environment has gone haywire from man-made interference. She realizes that her assignment may not be coincidence, and that her brush with death on the kidnapping rescue mission may not have been coincidence, either.

When I picked up Kris Longnife: Mutineer off Amazon, I did it because a lot of people seemed to like the book, the cover is cool, and it’s about a woman military type and I think it’s cool for a woman to be able to fight. Not very good reasons to choose a book, as I found out. It’s not a poorly written book, but neither is it stellar writing, and after coming off the high after reading Bujold’s Curse of Chalion, it was hard not to compare the flat prose and boring characters.

The opening chapters are slow and pedantic. It’s supposed to be this exciting rescue mission, but we’re instead jerked out of the here-and-how with too many flashbacks from not only when her brother was kidnapped and murdered, but her troubled teenage years.

Shepherd's prose is basic, rife with cliché and not descriptive beyond the required setting elements and sci fi technological details. This story is all about plot, no doubt, as one event after another occurs, strung along as we follow Kris’s travels from one planet to another. You’d think that all this information was to build up for a spectacular ending. But…the climax events have little direct relation with Kris’s actions in the rest of the book, which, as a plot-based book, should have tied more directly into the main body of the story.

The characterization is little more developed than the setting. Shepherd attempts to give Kris flaws, but this 21-year-old woman is a know-it-all with better solutions than her more experienced senior officers. It goes so far beyond reality it suspends belief. She always knows the right thing to do. I don’t remember being that mature and smart when I was 21. Shepherd tries to write Kris as a woman, really he does, but in essence she’s a man in a woman’s body with a few irrational emotional episodes tucked in for good measure. I had a hard time identifying with this woman on any level. Kris does have issues she struggles through, it's just that Shepherd isn't very subtle about it.

If you like a good adventure, perhaps compared to Gemmel's books, where your hero is a truly heroic, then you will probably like this book. Otherwise, I probably won't read the rest of the books in this series, just because I can't care enough about Kris to do it.
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Vanessa's Flower of the Day: California Poppy

06/05/08

These wildflowers are drought tolerant and hardy. You will often see them growing on the side of the road, but they also make great filler in your xeric garden.

Like flax, the California poppy does not like to be moved--I have never had a transplant survive--it does best when you seed it straight into the ground. Unlike flax, however, it's an annual and will die, but it re-seeds itself for next year just as readily as flax does.

They require very little water, but, of course, will flower more often with more water--and they flower off and on from June until late summer. They need full sun, although they do fine in part-shade, too. They are great in the front of the flowerbed because they don't get very tall, about 10".

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Vanessa's Flower of the Day: Clematis

06/02/08

To be honest, I'm still learning about what makes a clematis tick. This is the first one that I have had grow successfully (let's not count the rotting corpses of my failures, and they are legion...). But the wait was worth it.

These flowers are easily 5-6" across and they are a pleasing shade of purple with frilly yellow centers. Clematis come in a wide variety of colors and bloom times, so it's important to keep that in mind when shopping for one.

The trick to clematis is this: location, location, location. The roots cannot get too hot, which means that they can't get much sun, but the flowers need and love the sun. Often, as in my case, this is solved by planting it behind another plant so that the roots are shaded, but the rest of the vines get the sun they need. Fortunately this isn't too hard, since clematis is a vigorous climber and can easily grow higher than what you have in front of it and will reach for the sun it needs.

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Seattle Trip

05/27/08

Last night we got home from a 4-day trip to Seattle for Mark's brother's wedding.

On Friday we went to the Seattle Center and played in the park:

And went to the Experience Music Project and visited the Science Fiction Museums. They were way fun!

On Saturday was the wedding at the Seattle Temple.

Picture of all the Christenson cousins:

On Sunday we went to church. Afterward we went to Discovery Park and visited the lighthouse and beach:

On Monday we went to the pier where we visited the Aquarium, shopped, rode the merry-go-round, and ate yummy food.

It was a full weekend!

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Vanessa's Flower of the Day: Iris

05/22/08

The iris is one of those flowers that evokes memories of your grandmother's garden. But its paper-fragile appearance betrays a sturdiness your grandmother understood all too well and that's why she had so many of them.

This is because not only is the iris beautiful, it's dang near indestructable. You can plant it in a hot, dry, unfertile spot and it will still grow and bloom and multiply.

Certainly it doesn't have the best scent, and it tends to leave disguting things on your table if you put it in a vase (if you've done this you know what I'm talking about....otherwise, take my word for it), but it's incomparable as a filler for those spots in your yard that just won't grow anything else.

They are blooming now and will bloom in succession for the next few weeks, at which point you'll want to cut off the stems because they get ugly. Otherwise, the leaves provide a nice green that you won't have to touch unless they go brown (cutting them back doesn't hurt them, and is actually helpful when transplanting).

You can transplant them any time they aren't blooming. Dig them up and divide ther the roots with a sharp shovel or knife. Gentleness is not required. They multiply pretty quickly so you probably have a neighbor or relative who has more than she knows what to do with---and who can resist free starts?

Iris comes in many different colors, styles, and bloom times. Dwarf iris is as small as 6" and blooms early with the tulips. Bearded iris (above) blooms in late spring--which is great because by this time the tulips and daffodils are done and withered and the roses, peonies, and other early summer plants haven't started yet.

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Happy Birthday Spencer!

05/21/08

My baby turns four today and is now a Big Boy. We had a party with friends, a train cake, and lots of fun toys.

First thing in the morning he opened his PlayMobil castle set (courtesy of Grandma Kennington's birthday money) so he could have something to play with all day. And he and Carter were at it from the time they woke up clear until the party.

In the afternoon, his friends came over to eat cake and play with trains. It was a fun day! (I'll post pictures later.)

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Vanessa's Flower of the Day: Flax

05/20/08

One of the few true-blue flowers, flax is a prized garden plant because of its rare color. But it can be a little finicky.

Flax is best grown when sown directly from seed and doesn't tolerate being moved. Sometimes it likes where you've put it, sometimes it doesn't. And if it does bloom, it will re-seed itself into a more preferred location. After a few years it will die, but by then you should have a few new flax plants growing nearby. I planted an entire packet last year and it's not until this year that they've germinated and are filling up the empty spots in my xeric flowerbed. This one is the largest, but the others will grow bigger and provide blooms for most of the summer. The plant itself usually gets about 18" tall and about that wide, in a vase-like shape.

It's blooming now and will bloom off and on all summer. It's drought tolerant and requires full sun, like many wildflowers, and once it's established will do fine on little water. Its best bloom-time is in the morning, as the petals fall off during the day. New ones will bloom the next day.

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The Host by Stephanie Meyer

05/19/08

The Host takes place in the future where a parasitic alien race who call themselves 'souls' has taken the minds and bodies of humanity, continuing the lives of their hosts relatively unchanged. Melanie Stryder is a 'wild' human without a host, living in rebellion-until she's caught and Wanderer is inserted into her spinal column to take over her body. Only Melanie's presence refuses to disappear and Wanderer has to deal with the overwhelming emotions she had for the men in her life-her younger brother Jamie and her love, Jared.

Instead of Melanie succumbing like she's supposed to, the tables are turned and it's Wanderer who finds herself incapable of continuing her life without Jared and Jamie. Melanie's memories and feelings cause her alien parasite to become so overwhelmed with emotion that she sets out to find them, almost killing herself in the process.

I'll have to grant Meyer one thing, she can sure get into the nitty-gritty emotions and minutiae of the agony Melanie/Wanderer go through as they try to cope with their situation. The characterization is interesting-particularly how a host's body influences the souls in them, how not only memories and mental personality, but the physical differences of a host influences a soul. She explores this concept with satisfying detail as the soul's fundamental personality is changed by Melanie's presence.

Meyer's prose is consistent through her novels. She has great flow and description and that continues here. There are descriptions of the different planets Wanderer has lived on and the hosts she's lived her life through. The concept behind it is interesting and the alien race's approach to things is written logically and straightforward without too much boring extras.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the setting. Melanie/Wanderer are able to find a group of humans in the Arizona desert in underground caverns. There they grow food and are well enough hidden away that they are safe. Unfortunately, the Seeker who is assigned to Wanderer won't give up, convinced that her charge didn't die in the desert.

Sadly, like Meyer's vampire novels, you read about 400 pages of 'oh I feel so conflicted' before anything happens. And Wanderer spends so much time feeling scared and passive to only have occasional moments of aggressive behavior that her actions seemed contradictory. Meyer does her best to explain away these inconsistencies, but I was still left reeling and incredulous at times.

The last quarter of the book the pace picks up and the 400 pages of build-up promise an exciting conclusion-to only deliver a forced happy ending. Ah well. It was fun while it lasted.

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Garden Progress

05/13/08

The daffodils are done, and the tulips are on their way out, but the allium is just starting. When I first planted them I only had a dozen bulbs, but now there are easily three times that many blooming now!

The lilac bushes are finally doing well, after a year of rejuvination. I really love this bi-color variety.

The fruit trees are blooming, including the apple. For two years I've struggled to get the apple tree back in shape. I pruned it back by 2/3 last summer, put in fertilizer stakes, and I have a regimin planned for preventing disease/bugs. So far I don't see any scale on the leaves yet! (Cross your fingers.)

New this year is a drip irrigation system for my vegetable garden. And while it still needs a little tweaking, it's working great!

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