The Nightingale

Finished another book, but as you can tell it took me some time. I loved this book and the story, but it is a tough story at times to read.

  

 It begins with an elderly woman (we do not know who) whose son is moving her from her home to assisted living. She has accepted this as her cancer has returned once again. All she wants to bring with her is a trunk...full of memories. This is were the story beings.

  Vianne and Isabelle are sisters. Their mother died when they Vianne was young and Isabelle just a toddler. Their father, who was "damaged" from a previous war, no longer wants to care for the girls so he ships them off. Vianne can't care for Isabelle as she believes an older sister should, but she, too, is in the midst of her grieving and can't stand the crying, screaming and demanding Isabelle. Eventually, both girls go their separate ways, but the war has suddenly forced them together one again. Vianne now with a family and Isabelle still the rebel. Vianne husband goes to war along with her best friend's, Rachel, husband. She and Rachel support each other as only friends and single mothers in such a horrific situation can, but Rahel is Jewish.  Isabelle joins the Resistance, never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others and in doing so, places others lives in jeopardy. There are parts that are just heart wrenching and at times, I had to take a break from reading.

From Amazon:

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war.   The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women.

Warm Weather Needed...

The other day I found the boys boxing a red solo cup.

What???

This is how it worked...first they put a string through the bottom of two cups. Remember making telephones with a string between the cups. That is exactly what the boys did with the red solo cups!

 Jack or Sam would hold one cup over the balcony while the other cup dangled just in reach of the boxer.

Round one.

Sam was actually hitting the cup with his bare hands, but soon found out that hurt. So, off he went to get his Lacrosse gloves. Now he is Rocky Ready!!

 Jack would dangle the cup over and Sam would swing.

 Then they would switch roles. 

The most difficult part wasn't when the holder would pull the cup up right before you hit it, it was when the holder would drop the cups and the boxer had to pick them up!

I suggested to Jack that he pick up the cup and not the string!

We sure do need some warmer weather!

Who Ya Gonna Call

The boys' new favorite place to see movies is Flix Brewhouse. It is a restaurant and comfortable movie theater. We try to get there 30 minutes before the movie to order food and eat most of it before the house lights go down. I have found it difficult to eat after the movie has started...hard to see my food!

 

Another bonus of Flix is that they show "old" movies on the big screen. I remember when Jason lived in Kansas City and found a movie theater that showed old movies and he loved it! So you can imagine his glee when Flix announced the same idea!!

The boys love Ghostbusters and wouldn't you know it...Flix was showing it for one night only and nothing was going to stop them from attending.  

 

 As a bonus, everyone attending received a Stay Puff Marshmallow Man glass. Jason was over the moon excited!

  

We tried to get Jack to wear his Ghostbusters Halloween costume, but he was a no go with that idea. 

But, wouldn't you know it...there were loads of people in full costume! Walking out, Jason asked if these gentlemen wouldn't mind posing for a picture.

 

Can you tell Jack was enjoying himself with fellow Ghostbusters? After the photo op, Jack told Jason, "I SO should have worn my outfit." Wonder if he would wear is Indiana Jones outfit for Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade or dress up as Micheal J. Fox in Back to the Future. Both coming to Flix!

Old School Video Gaming...

Sam had his last basketball tournament in the same town that Old School Pinball and Arcade is located.  So you know what that means, gaming between games!

 

I got to join the boys and must admit, I really didn't mind playing some of my old favorite vids from the good old days!

I am going to share photos of the some of the games I played. 

Can you guess which ones they are?

I apologize for the following three pictures...I was trying to play and take pictures!  

So, how did you do?

 I will ask you, what Jack asked me when we left, "Does it bring back any good old memories?"

It sure did, Buddy!

But I don' think I ever got my name on a high score like Sam! 

So proud!! :)

Answer Key:

Qbert

Donkey Kong

Ms. Pac Man (they didn't have Pac Man)

Dig Dug

Turbo

Galaga

Centipede (my favorite!!)

Ouch.

Have you ever experienced a pounding headache after a night of indulgence? Your head actually pounds with each heart beat. You feel as if someone in your cranium has a little sledge hammer that they are enjoying pounding in one area over and over and over.  You just want to go back to bed, go asleep and pray that your head isn't going to explode off your neck, though, if that would make you feel better, you would actually go for it.  

Well, that's a bit how my migraine headaches are, but unfortunately without overindulgence in beverages and fun from the night before.

And unfortunately, I have been battling them since high school.

(Jack sitting at my feet while I had a headache one day. Jack read his book while I tried to grab a little shut eye, but could not because my head hurt too bad to fall asleep. Should he be reading The Simpsons? Probably not. But at that point he could have picked up a Stephen King novel and I would have been ok with it as long as he didn't make a sound!)

In high school, I would get a warning before a headache would come on, called aura vision. It is actually when my peripheral vision is gone. I can only see straight ahead. If you cup your hands around your eyes, that is what it is like for me...but I can't see my hands, only black on the sides, with little "light" spots floating in the rest of my vision. You know how you see a little floating light after a camera flash? That is what my vision will do...that's the "aura vision" part. The loss of vision isn't painful at all, but I do get an upset stomach jut thinking about that pain that is going to be coming in about an hour. The "loss" of vision lasts about an hour and  slowly goes away. I then have about 30 minutes max. until the pain starts. Then I am done for the day. 

 (Moose lays by the couch when I have a headache. It's as if she knows something is wrong.)

What do I mean about being done for the day?
I can't do anything, but try to sleep. There are days that I cannot sleep because the pain is so severe.

I try everything to get rid of a headache. Ice packs, heat packs, pushing against my head, caffeine, water, pressure points, hot baths, no light, Tylenol, ibuprofen, sudafed. I finally went to the doctor and got a prescription. Nothing. Did not work. So frustrated!!

Went back to the Dr. and we tried another prescription.
 Finally, some relief!! It was the best feeling ever to finally get some relief from the pain! I have to say, that I am a "lucky" migraine headache sufferer. I have friends and know people that have chronic migraines and cannot get any relief or have headaches for days. My heart goes out to them. 

My friend's 12 year old daughter has been diagnosed with chronic migraines. She can get through 3-4 half days of school due to the pain being so intolerable that she needs to go home and sleep. She often sleeps all day on Friday and then will get up on Saturday, still with a headache, but a tolerable one.  She is an example of someone who isn't able to find relief from medication. It's heart breaking and at this time life changing, and so unfair. 

I have had people say things to me like:
Just take a Tylenol.
Your headaches can't be that bad.
Can't you work though it?
You just don't want to (fill in the blank.)
You'll be fine in an hour.
You just want to nap.

To those people I have a few words:









 

Ahhh...

What can I say?

 I love my bed.

:)

My sister sent me this in an email stating, "This is SO you!"
 
It's just a lesson that you should never be a jerk.
:) 

My mom actually gave me this saying on a little plaque. 

 

It's one of my favorites! There are days when I look at my calendar to see if I will be able to take a nap or not on the following day! 

It makes me happy!  

What a Pair!

Jason and I have reached the age where we both need glasses. Well, I have had glasses since seventh grade, but have added bifocals to my prescription this last year.

Jason's eyes have been "going bad" for awhile and he has  recently added bifocal glasses to his attire. Doesn't he look handsome!!And don't we both look so smart! :)

A Funny!

This made me laugh out loud! And I can't stand glitter!!

I showed Jason and all he said was, "Gross."

Go Carts and Video Games...

Last weekend the boys went on a Guy Field Trip of Go Carting and Video Games. Who could ask for anything more?

First stop, Go Cart racing.  Not far from us is an indoor go-cart track. The boys got there nice and early and happily ended up being the first ones on the track.

The boys had a little lesson on how to drive and then to their helmet fittings.

"Oh, my head! Why are the helmets always so small for my head?"

 Dude. You are driving a go-cart, not going to a Grateful Dead concert!

In order to race the "adult" race, you need to be 13 years old. Sam is 12 and was not happy about being 5'8" and having to race other kids, AKA: Jack. But once he got going, he was fine.

The flag fell and off they sprinted...in circles! Sam got 10 laps in before the end of the race.

 Jack finished right behind Sam.

 After the boys raced, Jason participated in the "adult" division race. 13+ years. Unfortunately, he got pretty dizzy going in the circles (because he was so fast!) and didn't feel right for the rest of the day. Typical.

After racing, they headed to a new video game arcade. You pay a flat fee and can play vids all day. You are actually able to leave the establishment and come back later to play even more! The best part is that the arcade is full of "old" classic video games Jason and I enjoyed playing when we were younger!

It didn't take Jack long to get comfortable. He told me that he didn't play video games. Well, he played a few video games, but mostly just pinball and pinball is not a video game...no screen.

 Sam fell in love with Star Wars.

Are you kiddin' me? Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac Man? Score!! Jason was happy to report that there also a Centipede game! Be still my heart!

 I must share that Jason took all these pictures and sent them to me while they were on their Field Trip!  He made up for his ISU game picture. :)

He even took a picture of Sam and Jack by their favorite pin-ball games.

Jack chose Indiana Jones.

 Sam loved Lord of the Rings.

 And Jason picked The Walking Dead!

 The boys would love for me to join them at the next Guys Field Trip. I don't know if playing video games for three hours is my definition of fun...that is why it's a GUY thing. Now if we were going to go shopping or scrapbooking for three hours, that would be another story! Maybe the boys would like to join me for that after three hours of video games!

A Little Visit...

Poor Moose hasn't been herself lately. So off to the vet we went for a check up. As you can see, Moose was not excited to be at the vet.

After the check up, the vet suggested that we wait on her shots and sent us home with an antibiodic for her toenail. (Which, at the time I am writing this, has made her sick to her stomach.) But, when I told her no shots today! She was more herself!

And gave me a little smile.