What Would Kerrie Read? (WWKR?)

Look, I don't want to become of them thar book bloggers or anything, but I do like to share what I'm reading ... or attempting to read whilst the kids run around me and I try to entertain a writing career and keep a smokin' hot guy happy (by keeping the house picked up and cooking meals, dirty minds!).

I'll update this sucker whenever I'm into a new set of stuff and will put the newer stuff at the top. Since I like to have several books going at a time, hopefully you can find something interesting that applies to your life. And in the interest of full disclosure, I might make a little something if you click the link and buy the item from Amazon.com. Or check it out from your local library Kerrie-style!

And YES -- sheesh -- I do realize I have too many books at one time and should leave some in the library for the rest of you blokes. I have an addiction! My library card is like a Reading Credit Card (don't ask about the fines).

Here we go:

April 2013

 

Coping With OCD by Bruce M. Hyman, Ph.D., LCSW
My 10-year-old son has OCD, which popped up in 2010 and went away quickly. It has reared its ugly head again and is proving harder to get rid of. Yes, he is in some therapy for it. Yes, we are reading books about it and trying to help him at home. There are hard days and not-so-hard days. I'm betting we will end up writing our own memoir or help manual about OCD someday. In the meantime, there is this.




The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
A classic, I hear. I can't wait to read this winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007, first published in 1962. This is the story of a divorced single mom in 1950s London. "Fearful of going mad, she records her experiences in four coloured notebooks. The black notebook records her writing life, the red her political views, the yellow notebook her emotional life and the blue everyday events. But it is the fifth notebook -- the golden notebook -- that brings the strands of her life together and holds the key to her recovery." She  has written tons of things, including a novel called The Fifth Child. The Golden Notebook seems like it could be a little Margaret Atwood Blind Assassin-ish with a story in a story.



The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
Borrowed from Cousin Tresa. When I can get 2 minutes to read it, I love it, and it makes me laugh. When I tell people about it, they seem annoyed, like this guy is trying to be perfect and misconstrue the Bible and make all of us look bad. This book is highly entertaining so far!


Checking out the above book on Amazon.com led me to this, which will be going on my list soon: A Year of Biblical Womanhood (this should be verrrrrry interesting!)


The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
I've been trying to get past page 62 in this one for a long time and just can't do it. I'll let you know if I finish it. Kingsolver is an icon these days, and this is one of her earlier works, so I hope I love it and that I will also love her other works.


Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
I'm reading this to Joel for our Newberry Award book club with our Imagine Homeschool group, and it makes us laugh but also makes us very sad and makes us appreciate the family that we have and the things we have such as a home, food, transportation, safety, health and more. Set during the Great Depression and told from the viewpoint of a young black boy, this one will make you think.


Around the Writer's Block (Using Brain Science to Solve Writer's Resistance) by Rosanne Bane
I'll be showasing some of my findings from this book over at my Make Money to Write About Your Kids blog, but the cover says it will handle issues like: procrastination, paralysis, perfectionism, postponing, distractions, self-sabotage, excessive criticism, overscheduling and endlessly delaying your writing. Guilty, guilty and check!



Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool through High School by Rebecca Rupp
Just got this in the mail and am super excited! I only have the "What Your X Grader Needs to Know" up to Grade 6, and this book covers basic benchmarks from PreK through high school and offers resources you can check out at the library or go to online. Basically if you use this book you could homeschool for ... mostly ... FREE!

Coming up in May if I can get through April's

 

Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne with Lisa M. Ross



Get Organized, Stay Organized by Christine D. Shuck



War's End by Christine D. Shuck



The War on Drugs: An Old Wives' Tale by Christine D. Shuck



Voices of Autism

People Who Don't Believe in God

Today Callie whispers to me, "My friend X says she doesn't think [our mutual friend] believes in God."

And do you know what Catholic me said?

"So what?"

Then I asked her what she thought of this person. She said she is a very nice person. She's a good mom.

I asked her if she remembered some of the times that Christians have been mean. Of course she remembers.

Then I got to drive home the point that we are all sinners, we are all just trying to be better people and get along and we often stumble but that just because someone does not believe in God we don't stay away from them.

Their un-Godness won't rub off on us, and we don't try to convert them to our point of view. I happen to really like this person, and her husband, who I believe is agnostic or maybe even atheist. I'm not sure, and I don't care. We sit around and trade homeschooling info and I consider these people to be our friends.

I want my kids to be able to hang out with all sorts of people.

Great Aunt Eva's little dolls. Funny how there are 3 boys and 2 girls like I have now!

*Sidenote: just because I DON'T handle you, doesn't mean I CAN'T ... I'm just trying to be nice and get along. Although I am considering making this coming summer the Summer of Handling People's BS on the Spot. I have a lot of trouble reconciling the Old Testament eye for an eye with the New Testament turn the other cheek. Am I the only one who is bipolar about this?

Endometritis After Childbirth

Okay, so this is a picture of me in October of 2009, about a WEEK after giving birth to my 5th child, Samuel. The poor wittle guy took a week-long trip to the NICU for meconium aspiration (story here) and I just was not losing weight.

I mean, you are supposed to lose SOME weight after you squeeze a 7-ish-pound baby out of you, right? Then there's the placenta and all that goo.  But I was losing NADA and my ankles were getting more swollen. It was freaky.

So I finally went to the doctor because I had all these other symptoms both before and after birth that were puzzling me and making me feel like crap. I really don't think he knew what it was, but he diagnosed me with ENDOMETRITIS (not endometriosis), gave me an antibiotic and I was dropping weight and feeling better within 24 hours.

So if you are feeling crappy after childbirth, please don't ignore it and call it plain old postpartum junk. Please go see your doctor, for me!

And no, this is not an April Fool's post!

Happy Easter & All Natural Jelly Beans

Yeah, I'm kind of hooked on Trader Joe's after one visit. Well, I went in 2002 in Scottsdale, Arizona but could not fully appreciate it then. Now I realize what an incredible array of stuff they have. Sweet potato fries! Quinoa chips! Oh, that smooth and creamy hummus!

On a lark I picked up these all natural jelly beans. I have friends who swear their kids act like total heathens when they eat food dyes. And I'm like, um, okay, but your kids act the same when they don't eat food dyes! Anyway, moving on because we are all entitled to our opinion and I am no Perfect Parent ...

... so on a day when I had a few extra kids around I whipped these out so I could get some work done. My daughter proceeded to play Easter Bunny, fill eggs and pass them out.

And I am happy to report the children (some of whom were not mine, mind you, so they were in the Control Group) were all calm and kind and sweet and did not run around like heathens.

Yeah, right.

Happy Easter!

Weight Loss Buddies

I am a contradiction, I know.

I like to be around people but I also like to be alone.

I like to sneak into my Weight Watchers and sit in the back of the room.

This morning I was standing in line and heard, "Kerrie, is that you?" I dreaded turning around.

But it was someone I know and like! [I know it's not AA, but I won't "out" her unless she wants me to.]

I didn't know how she felt about being alone at meetings, so I asked her if she'd like to sit with me.

We sat next to each other and laughed and shared ideas. We talked for 1/2 hour after the meeting. It felt weird since for so many years I always feel like I have to get right home to my littles.

Just like how I met a fellow published writer at an Easter egg hunt yesterday and that felt cool, it was nice to see someone I know in Weight Watchers, sharing my struggle and encouraging me.

I think we all need someone like that, someone to tell us they ate all of their weekly 49 points in one sitting last night when stressed or sad. Someone we can relate to. Then the next week they might tell us how excited they are that they worked out every day and lost a pound ... or even a fraction of a pound.

With Easter coming up I was feeling crummy and not in control. She told me how great I was doing and how far I had come in the last 6 months.

So this is a shout-out to my new weight loss buddy. I think I'll try to start attending the same meetings she does. This blog post is her warning so she can switch if she doesn't like to be stalked.