Let's Read!

Summer Reading List - July 1 to August 31

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

I plan on reading as many books as I can this summer and recording them here, just like the program my local library used to have when I was a kid. And I encourage others to do the same!

I am currently baking a pecan pumpkin pie. Why? Just for the hell of it. I figured I should graduate from cookies to pies. I didn't make the crust though, that will be my next step. But I did make the filling myself, it wasn't a premade one. Now we'll just have to see how it tastes.

Also, I have weight news! I decided to measure myself again and I really can't believe the numbers. I think they're lying.

Old Measurements, from December: (181 lbs)
Bust - 42
Waist - 35
Hips - 42
Stomach at the largest point - 39 1/2

Today's Measurements: (152 lbs)
Bust - 39
Waist - 30
Hips - 36 1/2
Stoamch at the largest point - 35 1/2

I can't believe I've lost that much, but the tape measure (and my old clothes) don't lie. The other day I noticed that I could take off my old jeans without undoing them. And my board shorts (that I pretty much lived in when I was in Texas) don't even stay on my body anymore.

So now I've just got to work on my upper arms and back, which is still a bit chunky. But on the plus side, I no longer have side rolls if I scrunch up my body, so yay! :D

I'm sad because we were supposed to be playing baseball tonight, but it's rainy. I've been asking nature to bring out the sun by this afternoon, but I don't think it'll happen. And it was our last game before the tournament too! Boo-urns!

But aside from that minor upset I have to say that I am quite enjoying myself these days. I remember last year when I used to just sit on my computer for hours on end on my days off and do nothing else. Now when I have time to myself I exercise and read and cook and work on my novel and go for walks (if it's nice out).

On Sunday me and my dad went out on our little boat and just puttered around. He says he's going to sell it soon because he never uses it anymore and I realized that I hadn't been on it in over four years so I wanted one last jaunt. It was very pretty on the water, even if it was a bit chilly.

So that's real life for ya. I may be friendless and husbandless, but at least I'm in shape and enjoying reading and cooking and making a little bit of money too. I'm just laying the foundation for future wedded bliss. Learnin' the skills and workin' on the bod. It won't be long till I snag someone. ;)

Multifandom Icons
1-12 Carwood Lipton (Band of Brothers)
13-24 Eric and Jessica (True Blood 2x03)



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( Thoughts on tonight's True Blood )

Arrrrg, a week is too long!

I'm currently reading a book called The Rainbow Chasers that I highly recommend to everyone. It's about three brothers who go from Washington to Alberta to BC with their dad to build the perfect homestead. It's like Little House on the Prairie for grown-ups. :)

And my birthday book came in the mail! I decided to get a book about the 3rd Battalion of the 101st Airbone, called Tonight We Die As Men. I've just started it, so hopefully it'll last me until my other books arrive.

I've been going crazy getting books from Amazon. So far I've ordered: Little Women, Island of the Blue Dolphins (loved it as a kid), Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain 1942, Cold Mountain, Articles of War and A Little Love Song. All for only $40! (Most were used and cost only a penny, plus shipping and handling)

I'm all set for a summer of reading!

In weight loss news, I'm only 13 lbs away from my goal. I'm 153 lbs right now and my new work pants (that I bought in May) are already getting too big for me. I can't wait to buy all new clothes! :D

And I'm well on my way to becoming housewife material. The other day I cooked dinner for my family, a real dinner. I have pictures and everything! I made these sliced baked potatoes with cheese and herbs and I cooked up some ground beef in a frying pan (my first time cooking raw meat) and added some cooked peas. And the other day I made sugar cookies in the shape of hippos.

So now I've got cooking, cleaning, laundry, childcare and I'm getting in shape, the only thing left is sewing. I told my mom that one of these days she has to teach me how to sew clothes and dolls and such.

Then I just need to learn how to milk cows and ride horses and I'll be ready to live on my dream farm with my hard working blue collar husband. Yes, chopping wood, feeding chickens, darning socks, making a nice home cooked meal for my man. These things make me all excited. I would seriously be the bestest little Susie Homemaker ever. Because I love to make the people I like happy. I love to do stuff for them.

I keep saying that it's too bad I didn't grow up in olden times where my parents could just marry me off to some acceptable suitor. Now I'm supposed to be all independant and live on my own and work and if I don't want a career I'm apparently defective.

I think I need a time machine.

Okay flist I need your help!

I need you to recommend some good books to me that have an old fashioned love story where the guy is all manly and awesome and the girl is swoony and lovestruck. But not a romance novel! I mean an actual book with a plot, that also happens to have a love story.

Or if anyone just has a great book recommendation in general let me know.

I've been buying cheapo books off Amazon for like $6.00, but so far none of them have met this criteria. :(

Multifandom Icons
1-10 Derek and Cameron (Sarah Connor Chronicles)
11-22 True Blood 2x02



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Today a cougar attacked a little girl not far from my house. This is just after another cougar attacked and killed a leashed dog in front of its owner on a hiking trail. This is really strange because we don't usually have cougars coming into town and a daylight attack in front of other people is pretty brazen.

News story here.

I had three different newspapers phone my house afterwards, asking if I had any information. I talked to The Province and The Calgary Herald, but I didn't give out a lot of details or sensationalize anything so they'll probably use someone else's quotes in the paper.

In other news, I've been watching Russian Language videos on Youtube and trying to teach myself. I can now converse with any Russian customers at work and ask things like "How are you?"

I also signed up for a Russian Penpals thingy online. Maybe I'll meet my Russian Figure Skating Coach Who Looks Like Liev in Defiance. You never know!

Multifandom Icons
1-6 Zus Bielski (Defiance)
7-11 Inara Serra (Firefly)
12-20 True Blood Season 1
21-26 True Blood 2x01



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( Thoughs on last night's True Blood )

All in all, a good episode and a great way to start the new seasons. Sunday is now my favorite day!

You know some people might say that I own too many movies/tv shows. But I'll let you guys be the judge.

( List of Amanda's DVDs )

And just so you don't think I'm a total couch potato, I now weigh 156 lbs. (For those of you new to my journal that's a total of 36 lbs lost since the fall! :D)

Title: Victor and Logan
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Logan just wants to find a home somewhere
Author's Notes: This is a series of vignettes that follows the boys from the beginning of the movie to their introduction to Stryker.

( Part 3: Nebraska )

Multifandom Icons
1-4 Winifred Burkle (Angel)
5-8 River Tam (Firefly)
9-24 True Blood
25-40 Zus Bielski (Defiance)



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Thank you to everyone who gave me birthday wishes, you guys are awesome!

So I'm in Interior BC right now, visiting a family friend with my parents. I'm using a Mac and the keyboard is really annoying and hard to use. (Along with everything else, I mean srsly this is like the most pointlessly annoying and inconvenient interface EVAR. But I digress...)

So it's been nice and hot here for the past week, around 35 C, which I think is 96F? Just beautiful weather. Me and my mom went up to the lake the other day and had a picnic lunch before I went to work. Also, I would like to point out that British Columbians are way tougher than Texans because we don't have air conditioning in every house/building/vehicle. My family's idea of air conditioning is "open all the windows and close the blinds." We drove five hours today in a car with no air conditioning. And I kind of got sunburned from the open windows. So there.

Okay so I hate to admit it, but I kind of have a crush on the guy from Paranormal State. I don't know what it is, cause he's all melodramatic about demons and shit and he's not even really that cute, but still. I think it's just the fact that the people he visits are all scared of ghosts in their house and then Ryan comes in all calm and informative and they're like "You're here and everything is going to be okay!" See, I want that. I want Ryan to tell me my night terrors are demons trying to take my soul and I'll be like "OMG! ;_;", but then he'll be like "No, it's alright, I'll burn some sage over you and speak in Latin and everything will be fine." And then I fall into his nerdy, ghost-busting arms and we makeout.

Okay seriously when did this post become an elaborate fantasy about Ryan Buell? Because it did not start out that way. Anyway, I think I should fake a haunting and make scary pirate ghost noises with a piece of cheese and a comb all Scooby Doo style so that PRS will come to my house and I can makeout with Ryan Buell. Sounds like a plan.

U guise I need to come up with a name for my kink. Earlier I said "damsel in distress", but I don't always want to be rescued, sometimes I want to be menaced, but not in a hurty whips and chains kind of way, more like a pinned against a wall like in every one of my fics kind of way. Manly man fetish? 1940s life fetish? Big guy who's sometimes an asshole, but also adores me and puts up with me hanging off him all the time and even when he's yelling at me for being a stupid c-word I'm like "yay attention!" and then we move to Russia and I don't have to work fetish? That seems like a mouthful.

Well I'm going to go see what everyone is up to downstairs, I think they're about ready to do to bed. Perhaps I should do that also. Goodnight, lj peeps!

So first order of business, I'm 158 lbs! Whoo-hoo! That's a total of 34 lbs lost since the end of October. Only 18 more to go now. :D

I played baseball today and we didn't lose too terribly. Sadly the people I have crushes on weren't there. Well I guess it's kind of good because one of them I really shouldn't have a crush on. I didn't get on base at all, but I at least hit the ball so I'm happy.

When I got home my mom informed me that one set of stupid hippie neighbours had been playing the same song over and over again for the past hour and it was driving her crazy. She tried phoning them several times to ask them to at least change the song, but they never picked up. So I decided to blast my music to teach them a lesson. So here is my "Annoy Your Neighbours" playlist:

Devil in Disguise - Flying Burrito Brothers
I'll Tumble 4 Ya - Culture Club
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go - Wham!
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
S Club Party - S Club 7
Dr. Jones - Aqua
Rio - Duran Duran
Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
Lucky Star - Madonna
9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
Candyman - Aqua
Take on Me - A-ha

I went for a walk in the evening and some random hippie told me I needed a tan. Seriously I fuckin hate granolas. They're just as bad as white trash hicks in my opinion. Both are stupid and inconsiderate and let their dogs and children run all over the place and have shitty yards with random crap strewn all over them. Just different sides of the spectrum.

Multifandom Icons
1-10 Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2
11-19 Band of Brothers
20-24 Sara Tancredi (Prison Break)



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