There are books and then there are books

I did not expect it to be New Year’s Eve already by the time I would get to blog again. But here we are, just six hours short of leaving the year 2009 and beginning a new and exciting year 2010.

The year 2010 will be a big year for me, what with my graduating from university with an MA and just in a couple of weeks I will be handing in my thesis, a 70+ page research paper which has been taking up most of my time in the past few weeks. It has been nearly two months since the last time that I read a book for fun. I have been doing so much reading for my thesis that I have not had the time or nerve to pick up yet another book when I am having some spare time.

And I really really miss reading. I have been doing so much reading but I still miss reading just for the fun of it, just because I love doing it. And the list of books that I am planning to read once I have handed in my thesis has just been getting longer and longer.

For Christmas, I received two books from my parents and one from my brother than I cannot wait to start reading.

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecilia Ahern

My brother gave me the latest book by Cecilia Ahern, The Book of Tomorrow. I used to look down on chick lit as ‘not proper literature’ and I remember a few years ago Cecilia Ahern was actually at a local bookstore signing books. I happened to be at the bookstore while she was signing books for a huge crowd of people and I had no clue who she was. She was popular already then, but as I said, chick lit was not my cup of tea. At some point I started reading chick lit and I have not stopped since. I would guess that roughly 50%, maybe more, of the books I have read in 2009 (and there have been many of them, my GoodReads account counts 75 books in the 2009 category) have been chick lit. It provides a relaxing contrast to the often demanding literature I have to read for school. I have read most of the books by Cecilia Ahern, Sophie Kinsella, and Marian Keyes, and I’ve loved most of them. I also read a book by a German chick lit author, Kerstin Gier, a few weeks ago, and I definitely want to read more by her.

Inneres Land by Maria Barbal

My parents gave me two books by the Catalan author Maria Barbal, Emma and Inneres Land (Inner Land/Country). Both are novels about strong women* and as some of you may know, I spent a year living in Barcelona, so my mom thought I might like them. I expect them not to be the kind of novels you can read in one sitting but I am very much looking forward to reading them.

*My thesis topic is also related to the finding of an identity for women in a patriarchal society, so that is a topic I have been dealing with a lot lately.

Emma by Maria Barbal

There are several other books I am looking forward to reading this upcoming year. A friend of mine is going to lend me the Aunt Dimity mystery series by Nancy Atherton once I have handed in my thesis (she made this a condition and that was probably an excellent idea). In May, book #10 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels will be released (and I cannot wait for that one!) and I have a whole list of other books I want to read this upcoming year saved on my iPhone. I am almost more excited about all these books I will get to read when I am done with my thesis in a couple of weeks than about finishing this mammoth project that my thesis has been. Though that is definitely exciting as well!

I am about to leave for my friend’s house where we will be celebrating New Year’s Eve, and have yummy raclette, so I am going to end this here, and wish you all a

Happy New Year 2010!

Have a great time tonight and be safe!

A very special guest post

One of the many reasons I love the blogging community: On opening Google Reader just a few minutes ago, three of the seven new blog posts were this one. I don’t know Brandy but her post and her plea touched me, so I want to pass it on. Maybe so will you.
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My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

What better way to start this new blog than with a post about Christmas?

This year’s Christmas season mostly went right past me. I was so overwhelmed with school work that I didn’t really get to enjoy the time leading up to Christmas. That is why I was so thrilled when I was on the train to my parents’ house on the 21st and my dad told me that they had yet to buy a Christmas tree. I immediately told him I would go buy it with him. So on the 22nd, we went and bought ourselves a beautiful Christmas tree.

As is tradition, we waited until the early afternoon of December 24th to decorate it, something I had done by myself for the past few years. This year, my brother helped me with it. I remember when I was younger it was my dad’s and brother’s job to decorate the Christmas tree, while my mom and I went to the afternoon service at church. Nowadays, we don’t go to church anymore and it has become my job to decorate the tree. And I love it!

On Christmas Eve, my brother asked my parents if the little bell would ring after the Christkind has brought the presents. The Christkind is our (German) version of Santa Claus. That’s right, we get our presents from baby Jesus himself! When we were kids, after the gifts were brought, a bell would chime letting us know that we were allowed back into the living room to unwrap our presents. My parents told us that they don’t even know where it is anymore. That’s how times have changed.

I am trying to remember if I ever really believed in the Christkind or whether I always knew it was really our parents who gave us the presents on Christmas Eve. I cannot remember a time I truly believed in the Christkind or a point in time when I stopped believing, so I am inclined to believe I always knew it was our parents, but I still believe it to be a beautiful tradition.

After a stressful Christmas season, I ended up really enjoying Christmas Eve. I got lovely presents (more about that in my next post!), everyone loved my presents (which made me so happy!), I indulged in amazing Christmas cookies, and I spent some time away from working on my thesis.

How was your Christmas? I hope you all had (or are having) peaceful and beautiful days filled with love and laughter.