First book read in 2011 and several other miscellaneous stories . . .

I had a very busy day today and I am happy to announce that according to my Dreaded To Do List it is now December 1st.  Seriously, only 5 weeks behind now.  On a positive note, in many cases there are only one or two chores on each date so they are going to be crossed off quickly as long as I can stay focused.

Mom and I went to an OBA basketball tournament at Saunders Secondary in London today to watch Austin play and Greg coach.  It was a very exciting game and I was able to capture a some nice shots.

Greg & Austin

CYO Lynx Basketball Team

Triumphant

I've been dealing with fibro fog for a few days but it seems to be getting better today.  Yesterday I was so screwed up that I looked at a left turn sign, saw the left turn arrows on the street and still told Mom to turn right.  Fortunately there was no right turn so she ignored me and turn left. 

I've been reading a lot in the past couple of months.    The Hundred Secret Senses is my first book read in 2011.

"The wisest and most captivating novel tan has written." -The Boston Globe
Set in San Francisco and in a remote village of Southwestern China, Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses is a tale of American assumptions shaken by Chinese ghosts and broadened with hope. In 1962, five-year-old Olivia meets the half-sister she never knew existed, eighteen-year-old Kwan from China, who sees ghosts with her "yin eyes." Decades later, Olivia describes her complicated relationship with her sister and her failing marriage, as Kwan reveals her story, sweeping the reader into the splendor and violence of mid-nineteenth century China. With her characteristic wisdom, grace, and humor, Tan conjures up a story of the inheritance of love, its secrets and senses, its illusions and truths.
Newsweek:  Tan has once more produced a novel somewhat like a hologram: turn it this way and find Chinese-Americans shopping and arguing in San Francisco; turn it that way and the Chinese of Changmian village in 1864 are fleeing into the hills to hide from the rampaging Manchus. . . .The Hundred Secret Senses doesn't simply return to a world but burrows more deeply into it, following new trails to fresh revelations.


Biography:  With her acclaimed 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club and its successors, Amy Tan succeeded in revealing the Chinese-American sensibility to readers in unprecedented numbers. In mystical, winding prose, she draws the boundaries and commonalities between generations of women who are related, but born worlds apart.

We are discussing this book at Bookworms Reading Group.  I found this book to be a little slow and confusing at the start but I am so glad I stuck it out.  By the time I was at the middle of the book I was so engrossed that I was staying up at night until my eyes were too tired to see just to find out what Kwan's next story was going to be. (Hmmmmmmmm . . . now that I read this, I wonder if this might be why I've been so "foggy" the past few days.)

I love the ending; very bittersweet and nothing quite proven.  I would recommend this book to anyone as a great read.

I spent a couple of hours working on my second untitled manuscript today.  I should come up with a working title one day.  I'm very excited about how it is turning out.

I completed 4 scrapbook pages today, the first scrapbooking I've done in 2011.  Nothing fancy, but I like them.



Looking Forward Looking Back
I used 1/2 of a page kit that Mom designed for a Black & White Page Kit swap.
The photos were taken at a New Year's Eve party 2008 at Deb and John's.
The ladies in the photos are Anne and Connie.



Funny Deb
This paper and several other matching papers were on my Christmas list.  I know you may be surprised that I actually liked a Dollar Store paper but it was so ugly that it was loveable.  Hal bought the papers for me and added 12 matching cardstocks.  I know I will have as much fun creating with it as Deb is having riding the "mechanical bull" at Hal's birthday party 2008.

John
Deb gave me these patterned papers and a matching album as a Christmas gift.  I love them.
John often seems like a quiet man but he can be incredibly playful and funny like he was at Hal's birthday party November 2008.
Do you like the cowboy boots paper piecing?  I sell paper piecings for scrapbooking money.

The Judges
This is more of the patterned paper in my gift from Deb.
We went to karaoke night at Ollee's back in January 2009 because Rachelle's bucket list wish was to sing karaoke . . . sober.
We had such a great time.

 I also found time to work on my tablecloth.  Only 3 more rows of 12 motifs each . . . I think I can . . . I think I can . . .

See ya
Pam