A to Z Challenge: N

N = Nadol, Nepa, Nieffenegger,
Northrop, & Numeroff

I was stumped, absolutely stumped today. I considered "No Idea" as well as books with an N title. Nothing really rung true. But I decided to stick with the book theme, and check out (via Goodreads) my list of N authors. Perfect!

Jen Nadol ~ Her debut novel, The Mark, came out last year. It was very good. It's first in a series, and I'm very much looking forward to the release of Book 2, The Vision.

Andrea Nepa ~ Last year I had the pleasure of getting to review her children's book, Red in the Flower Bed. It's about adoption, and it is wonderfully written. And the illustrations are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Their beauty is not adequately shown on any photos I've seen. When I opened the book, it is just breathtaking!

Audrey Nieffenegger ~ Author of one of the best books ever, The Time Traveler's Wife. This book was recently made into a movie, and it doesn't do the book justice. The book is so amazing. One of the best books ever – also one of the saddest ... but so GOOD! I'd like to say I want to read this again and again. But, I don't know. It haunted me for a while. Fabulous, fabulous book. I haven't read her others yet, but Her Fearful Symmetry is high on my list of books to read soon!

Michael Northrop ~ Fabulous YA author. I read his latest book, Trapped, last month and it was very, very well written.

Laura Numeroff ~ Author of several, very clever, fun children's books, the first of which (at least to my knowledge) is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The book is so cute, so clever. I find it fascinating. To come up with something like that would take painfully long! LOL My kids love her books, and we have several of them.

(In the interest of full disclosure, most book-title links in this post are to reviews I have written and posted on my book blog, Proud Book Nerd. If I haven't written a review, then the link goes to the Goodreads page for the book.)

A to Z Challenge: M

M = Music

Well, this one is easy for me. :-) I have always loved music, to the point of considering it one of my passions. I played the violin during 4th through 9th grade, quitting because of an injury. After that, it was choirs. I also played the clarinet in 4th and 5th grades. I think all of this experience in very different genres helps explain my quite eclectic tastes in music. And instead of me talking about music and you reading about it, I thought I'd share some of my current favorite songs.

Rebirthing by Skillet

Tiny Heart by Flyleaf

Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson (from Grey's Anatomy soundtrack)

Hanging on by a Thread by The Letter Black

I could spend hours doing this, so I'll just stop now. It's really hard for me to pick favorites. These are just some I've been listening to a lot lately. Ask me again next week, and I'd come up with a whole different list (although Skillet almost never leaves the list – just the song changes from time to time).

A to Z Challenge: L

L = Lilacs

I considered love, language, leaves, and other L words. But, decided on lilacs. You see, they are my absolutely favorite flower of all time. They are so beautiful and I LOVE how fragrant they are. The only thing I hate is that they don't last long. They bloom, hang around for a few days, then die and fall off. Then I have to wait another YEAR for more. But, I still love them, and maybe their brevity is partially why I love them as much as I do.

In case you hadn't noticed, lilacs are part of the design elements here on this blog. (<––– Look to the left.) And they were the inspiration for the color scheme, too.

Too bad the scent can't be integrated into a Web site ...

Speaking of the scent. Lilacs where the basis of Estee Lauder's Pleasures perfume, and it's Heaven in a bottle for me. I even wore it for my wedding. This perfume is so close to the scent of fresh lilacs that it's kinda nice to sniff occasionally when there's not a lilac in sight.

In short: Lilacs make me happy! :-)

A to Z Challenge: K

K = Kindergarten

There are so many K words I could have gone with: kids, kitten, kites, kitchen, kisses ...

I decided on kindergarten. Because I cannot believe my baby boy will start kindergarten this fall. I love my kids, and I just cannot believe how fast they make time fly. Well, I think it's more just the awareness of how quickly they're growing resulting in my being more aware of the passage of time. (I hope that made sense. LOL)

Anyway, Grant turned 5 in December, so he missed the cutoff for kindergarten during the current school year. That is a VERY good thing, as he had such a speech delay that I don't think he'd have done very well this year. His communication skills have improved a LOT this year, and I think he'll be ready in the fall.

But will I?

I don't know. Part of me is sad. My baby. Once they head off to school, the separating from the parents seems to speed up. A LOT. I know it's what's supposed to happen, but I don't have to like it! ;-)

I have more thoughts about this, but I'm going to stop now. In the interest of keeping this short for those who are trying to read all of the A to Z posts this month.

Thanks for stopping by!

A to Z Challenge: J

J = Jesus

This is an easy one. You see, I'm a born-again Christian. Have been for as long as I can remember. Jesus is everything to me. He means the world to me. I'd like to say that I'd give up everything for Him. I pray I'm never tested on that, though! ;-)

As a Christian, I am not perfect. I make mistakes, I sin – often willingly. Hey, I'm human, too. One of my worst habits is having a foul mouth. Sometimes, nothing feels quite as good as a well-placed F-bomb. I don't use that word lightly, but sometimes I feel it's warranted – I use it for emphasis. Or I'm just pissed and it comes out without my thinking about it. One thing I do NOT say, however, is the Lord's name in vain. If I type OMG, I'm saying Oh My Gosh! And I never, EVER say Jesus' name unless it's in reference TO Him or directed AT Him. I can handle most swearing, most crass language – even the use of "God" as an explanation. (Although I don't like it.) But, when Jesus/Jesus Christ/Christ is used as an expletive, that really, really, REALLY bothers me. I guess you could say it grieves my spirit  – BIG time. I hate it, really hate it. It is very rare that anyone says it in my presence, and I am glad for that. I want to speak up, ask the person to stop. But I'm too chickenshit to actually say anything. I wish I was stronger. I wish I cared a LOT less what others thought about me. I wish I wasn't such a chickenshit about stuff like this. Why can't I stand up for what I believe in? Why can't I ask people NOT to say that around me? I mean, most people are decent and would probably try to accommodate me in this. It's odd to me, how much it bothers me. It really, really does, though. It's like a punch to the gut. And often I can't take the disgust – or at least shock – off my face when that happens. I hate it. Hate it.

Maybe one day God will give me the strength, resolve – or whatever it is I need – to be able to speak up. Tell my friends, or whoever it is, that enough is enough. Jesus might not be real to YOU, but He is very real to me. He is the Lover of My Soul. My Lord. My King. My everything. Please, please, PLEASE respect that.

Top 2 Tuesday: Drinks

This Week's Topic: Top 2 Drinks (alcoholic or not)

My Answer: This one's pretty easy for me. Heck, I just posted about one of them last week ...

1. Dr Pepper ~ There are times I wish I drank coffee, but I hate the stuff. As such, Dr Pepper IS my coffee! I'd probably lose the weight faster, if I wasn't drinking all of these empty calories. Most days, I hate to admit it, but I take in 2-3 cans. Bad days, I drink 4. Occasionally, I limit myself to 1 or 2 per day. It seems like I go in spurts.
 2. Chai Tea Latte (preferably from Starbucks) ~ If I could get this EVERY day (probably once in the morning and once again in the afternoon), I think I could give up Dr Pepper. But, well, that's just too damn expensive! Plus, I looked it up – the calories are about the same. Granted, with tea it's not necessarily empty calories. But still. When you're trying to lose weight, calories are calories.

If you wanna play along, there's a linky HERE.

A to Z Challenge: I

I = IEP

Friday we have Grant's annual review of his IEP (Individual Education Plan), and for once I'm not all that worried. Those of you who know me know I've been worried about his development for since about when he turned 3. We even went so far as to have him evaluated by a team of doctors/specialists at the children's hospital in Iowa City (affiliated with the University of Iowa). You see, one of the speech pathologists we were talking to wouldn't stop talking about ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and putting him in a special education class for preschool. Neither of those sat right with me. I felt like she was pushing her own ideas. I think that when she first met us, she thought she had an instinctive inkling about him, and she saw what she saw based on that. Filtered through her initial impressions.

All along, our fabulous pediatrician kept telling me he thought Grant was just fine and was taking his time on the verbal development. Iowa City agreed with him, and flat-out denied any thoughts of ASD. All he needs is speech therapy. I felt like a butt for not having trusted our pediatrician, but he never once felt like I was doing the wrong thing. He agreed with our going to Iowa City – gave us the needed referral, etc. Even now when I talk to him about it, he just reminds me how very different each child is. (You see, Grant's sisters are both WAY ahead of the curve in verbal development.)

Since all of that went down, I have occasionally talked to Grant's teacher and speech therapist about concerns I had. Most of the time, they assured me that he's fine and just being Grant. We went so far as to have a long meeting in December, during which I asked if we should take him back to Iowa City. They didn't think so. They increased his speech therapy a little, but that's about it. And he's improving in huge strides as of late. (Part of my concern is that next school year he starts kindergarten!)

We are required to meet regarding Grant's IEP ever year – I think it's a state requirement. Every three years he has to be re-evaluated. (I'm thinking that when the time comes, we'll go back to Iowa City.)

So, on Friday we go back in to just update on how he's responded to changes made in December. From what I can see, it was just what he needed – praise God!

Sunday Stealing: The 5000 Question Meme, The Final Part

Taken from the-blog-that-encourages-stealing, also known as Sunday Stealing!

76. Do you prefer Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney

77. What is the first animal you would run to see if you went to the zoo? Whatever's closest.

78. Would you consider yourself to be romantic? Yeah

79. If the earth stopped rotating would we all fly off? I suppose so.

80. What is the one thing that you love to do so much that you would make sacrifices to be able to do it? Reading

81. If you (and everyone) had to lose one right or freedom, but you could pick which one everyone had to lose, what would you pick? I don't know.

82. If you had to choose would you live on the equator or at the North Pole? Equator

83. Would you rather give up listening to music or watching television? Watching television

84. What do you think makes someone a hero? Sacrifice, bravery, selflessness, inner strength

85. What cartoon would you like to be a character in? How to Train Your Dragon

86. Name one thing that turns your stomach: Vomit (like when the kids puke – just the smell of it!)

87. What was the last thing you paid for? A new purse and a few other things at Kohl's

88. Are you a coupon clipper? Sometimes

89. Get anything good in the mail recently? Sure. I get a book or two (sometimes a lot more than that) in the mail every week.

90. Which would you rather take as a gym class...dancing, sailing, karate, or bowling? Dancing

91. In Star Trek people 'beam' back and forth between different places. What this means is they stand in a little tube and their molecules are deconstructed and sent to another tube somewhere else where they are reassembled. Only problem is when the molecules are deconstructed the person is dead. When they are put back together it is only a clone that has all the dead person's memories. Is the person who gets beamed the same person on both ends? That is a good question. If we go with the Star Trek analysis, I guess we'd say yes.

92. What insects are you afraid of? Anything that can hurt me.

93. If you could print any phrase on a T-shirt, what would it say? You don't have to believe something for it to be true.

94. What's the most eccentric thing you have ever worn? I plead the Fifth ...

95. If you could pick one food that you could eat all you wanted but it would have no effect on how much you weigh, what food would it be? Chocolate or cake ...

96. What are your parents interested in? Um ... movies, music, their kids and grandkids

97. Have you ever caught an insect and kept it as a pet? No
Have you ever caught and tamed a wild animal? No

98. What is more helpful to you, wishes or plans? Plans

99. When do you feel your life energy the strongest? Not sure.

100. You are spending the night alone in the woods and may bring only 3 items with you. My cell phone, a tent, a book.

A Bitof Me(Me): School Time

Hosted by There's a Book, this is one question every week to help bloggers get to know each other. The latest post/question (and linky) can be found HERE.

This Week's Question: What are/were your favorite subjects in school?

My Answer: No surprise to anyone who knows me, my favorite subject was English. I loved reading, and was good at writing about it. It was one of few subjects that came very easily to me. I was actually inspired by my AP English teacher my senior, and I think he's why I chose to major in English.

I also really liked biology, and briefly considered majoring in it. Until my senior year (when I had a horrible teacher), I also really liked math – because I was good at it.

Finally, anything music-oriented, especially choir, was also a HUGE favorite.

A to Z Challenge: H

H = Heather/ham1299

That's me! :-) Ham1299, a "screen name" I acquired shortly after I got married. Mr. Ham and I celebrated our 12th anniversary in January, so I've been using this for quite some time. It's hard to remember me as NOT being ham1299. Even on my book blog, I go by ham1299. I rarely (if ever) refer to myself as Proud Book Nerd.

Sorry, no pictures this time. I'm not too keen on sharing pics of myself as of late. Has everything to do with the needing-to-lose-weight thing I have going on. (Now, if only I could find my motivation. If you've seen it, please sent it my way!)

Sorry this is such a short post today. I feel like this was kind of a lame half-ass post, but my mother's in town visiting, and I'm trying not to spend all of my time online or doing anything that isn't in some way interacting with her. I'll be back Monday with an "I" post – whatever that'll be about, I've no idea. I'll figure it out, though!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. In the near darkness shadows can be a bit freaky.

2. Mr. Ham might be on furlough til further notice.

3. But this time everything will be OK.

4. Please don't pee in the stream.

5. It's always nice when my mom comes to visit.

6. It's time for good food and pleasant company.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out with my mom, tomorrow my plans include a possible soccer game (depending on the weather) and more hanging out with my mom and Sunday, I want to catch up on reading (since that won't be the bulk of my weekend for once!

Wanna play along? Go HERE.

A to Z Challenge: G

G = Goodreads

Goodreads is an awesome site that I just thought I'd go ahead and plug. I first learned of it a couple of years ago, and quickly became addictive. If you love to read, this site is for you. Not only will it help you find books you'd never even heard of by all sorts of authors, but it will help you organize your reading. I've often had the problem of hearing about a good book and wanting to read it. But, when I was ready for a new read, I could never remember what I had wanted to read.

Enter Goodreads.

You see, I can – and do – use their site to keep track of the many (many, many) books I want to read. By default, there are three "shelves" (basically lists) for their users: currently reading, read, and to-read. You also can create more shelves to further help you keep track in whatever way you might want to. I have created a "want" shelf for books I want to own whether or not I've already read them, a "library" shelf for books I've gotten there, a shelf for each of the book-touring sites I am a part of, and many (many, many) more. As a book blogger, this a HUGE help. But even before the book blog, just as an avid reader, I found Goodreads to be a resource I just could not do without.

So, if you're a reader and you're not there already, check it out! While you're there, look me up. I'm ham1299 on there.

Some of what I've read

Heather's favorite books »

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A to Z Challenge: F

F = Favorites

As I have previously mentioned, I follow a blog called That's My Answer. Yesterday, it just so happened to ask a question I thought would work for today's post.

What are 10 of YOUR favorite things?

1. God/Jesus ~ My Faith is an integral part of me. It's so fundamentally part of me that there's just no separating me from it. God has always been faithful to provide what we need, whether it's money or a job or guidance. 
2. My family ~ I felt guilty when I realized that for "A" I didn't use Abby! :-( I can't believe I did that. But, that doesn't mean anything regarding the status of my family. My husband and children are the best things I've ever done with my life, the best gifts God has ever given me. 
3. Books/Reading ~ Just check out Proud Book Nerd, if you don't believe me. That is ALL me. I do that 100% by myself.
4. Music ~ It's probably equal to books/reading. If I had to choose between sight and hearing, I'd probably pick hearing. While I love reading, I can always listen to an audio book if I was unable to read.
5. Cats ~ I waxed poetic about them for my "C" post. They make me happy! :-)
6. Thunderstorms ~ I'll settle for any old rain, but thunderstorms make me especially happy. I've no idea why. They just make me think of God's awesome power, I guess. I love the smell of rain, the sound of the thunder, the way the grass is BRIGHT green after the storm is over. 
7. Starbuck's Birthday Cake Pops ~ OMGosh! Those are SO GOOD! I have to get less of my chai simply because if I stop for that I have to get one of these, too!
8. Dr Pepper ~ I don't do coffee. Can't stand the stuff.
9. Skillet ~ My absolute favorite musical group. I saw them in concert last year and the year before that, and they were phenomenal!
10. Lilacs ~ They are my favorite flower because of how fragrant they are. It's a shame they don't last longer in the spring!