So I have this great reccomendation for everyone on an author's entire set of books. Usually, I'll enjoy an author's series, or a few individual books, but not every single one of them. This is not the case, however, with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (http://www.randomhouse.com/features/atwaterrhodes/home.htm). Every book she has done I have enjoyed.

Now, some of her books could be considered a little bit juvenille, but considering she wrote her first one at the age of 14, well, that's to be expected. However, for such a young writer, her ideas are concise, creative, and original. She also works this idea of sex into her books without being over the top like a trashy romance novel, but not too discrete that you can't get what she's saying. Her first four books, In the Forests of the Night, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, and Demon in my View, are mostly about vampires and vampire hunters. However, she manages to make them sound exciting and intriguing, not cheesey (I think).

Her next four books are part of a series, Hawksong, Snakecharm, Falcondance, and Wolfcry (this one I have not yet read). These books focus on shapeshifters, two specific species, birds (avians) and serpients, and how the two have warred for decades. The two main characters try to bring peace to the two people by intermarrying, and it tells of their successess and failures. Very good books, for teenagers, young adults, and up. Give them a try, most libraries have a copy or two of her books.

April 1st for most of you might be April Fool's Day, where you play pranks on your friends and famly, but for me, it's my wedding anniversary to my wonderful husband, Craig. We'll be going to visit Kevin and Amy this weekend, have some family fun, and to be able to ditch Brandon on our anniversary, but leave in capable hands. The kid has a tendancy to get himself into situations when it comes to leaving him alone on days that are important. The rest of the time he's pretty good, but it's always on the important days that we come home to a complete disasterous mess, or to find him cleaning up the soda he spilled on the computer and computer equipment, that kind of thing.

We're not even sure what we're going to do, just something that seems like fun I guess, lol. We'll play it by ear, but nothing fancy or froo-froo. We just simply want to enjoy our time together, alone and without worry...I think we can do that, right? I hope so...I love Craig, and this year has been so difficult for the two of us, but we made it past some pretty big odds, and we'll continue to beat them. Together. 

I love you honey, happy anniversary. I know we will have so many more to share together.

I saw them, and I couldn't resist...they're just too cute...

I wrote in a previous blog post that two of our cats, Abbey and R-Too were going to be spayed and neutered on Tuesday morning. We picked them back up on Wednesday, and they are fine. Abbey has sutures, obviously, and is a little tender. We're very glad we got her fixed when we did, because she was just barely pregnant. We don't want any more kittens (it's the reason we have five instead of two....). Abbey is currently going into hiding because the other cats can't stop bothering her, trying to comfort her I think, and sleeps on the floor in our bedroom by the heater. We put a blanket there for her so it's warmer, and I woke up this morning with her curled around my foot. Rascal was beside her, and everytime Seti came near to "investigate," Rascal beat him off. :P R-Too appears to not even know what happened. He's just as hyper as ever, playful, and purrs more now than he did before the surgery (if that's possible....). The only difference is that he's not spraying and not going after Isis, who is currently in heat.

Next paycheck we're going to have Isis fixed at the very least, and hopefully Seti at the same time, to get them done and over with. Then...it's done. Oh yes, Abbey and R-Too got their shots as well, so that's also out of the way.

I woke up early today with my husband so that I could watch an episode of Knitty Gritty that was all about aran knitting, and right after the episode, I found out that a biography that Brandon was working on, that was supposed to be turned in a couple of weeks ago, was not. I kept asking him about it, reminding him that he needed to finish it, and he even told me last week that he was on top of it.

Well, apparently not, because it's "end of term" and he can't turn it in anymore. Oh no. I don't think so. If it's one thing I'm going to impart on this boy, is that you finish what you start when it comes to things like that. His only responsibility right now is school, and that means that if he's not getting homework, and projects are being worked on together in groups in class, then he can do a simple biography. He's been banned from going to his girlfriend's house today, since she seems to be such a distraction, and he will wait until his father gets home, and they will work on his biography together (Craig is much better at editing than I am). But until his father gets home, he will have to finish tidying up his room, and if there's still time left, he can do something he hasn't done in awhile, play his viola. In fact, he can bring it into the living room and play it for me while I knit.

Then, he and his father can edit that biography to perfection. And when it's done, he can type it up and print it out. And he'll hand it in. I don't care if it doesn't get included on his report card. He started it, and he will bloody well finish it. That is one lesson he needs to learn, especially if he wants to go into the military like his uncle. His uncle Kevin got great grades in school, and Brandon is certainly smart enough to do so as well. He's even from Missouri, where last year, they learned this same stuff. He is technically ahead of them all, and I'll be damned if I sit by and watch his grades drop because he's bored. If he's bored, we've got plenty of challenging things for him to do at home.

So, because he's obviously not being challenged enough, Craig and I are going to be enforcing less time on the computer, playing games, and more time playing bored games, like chess with us, and playing his viola. We'll get him puzzle books and the like if he wants them. But if school can't keep his mind sharp, then we will. And maybe he doesn't want to go to college while he's in the military, but there is nothing wrong with leaving that option open to him anyways.