Currently Reading...

I was selected to be a June Juror (huge smiles) for Elle Magazine. While my May Juror duties involved three fiction novels, this venture involves non-fiction titles.

I have chosen to start with If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Love, Murder, and Liberation by Janine Latus. The memoir begins with a heart-wrenching phone call involving the disappearance of Janine's sister, Amy. Janine immediately proclaims, "He killed her....that bastard killed her". And thus we move into Janine's past. Janine takes the reader on a journey into her childhood, where we meet her family and slowly piece together the experiences that are soon to shape her.

Janine's memoir thus far is heart-wrenching. She is brutally honest with her thoughts and experiences. From what I know of the premise, the memoir delves into abusive relationships, particularly the survival from one and the ultimate result of those who stay.

I honestly cannot put this memoir down. I will post my final comments once I have finished. As of now, this is a captivating read.


BTW,
Danielle & Judytta - you had both asked which books I read for the May Jury. I responded in the previous post's comment section.

I'm a Very Bad Blogger and Now I'm Being Punished For It!!!!

I admit it - I'm a very bad blogger. I'm so sorry for not being able to update as often as I should. I've learned my lesson now that I've been de-linked by some bloggers. Yes, I shed some tears, screamed, threw myself on the floor crying out "Whhyyyyy!! Whyyyyyyyyyyy!!", and then sniffled myself to sleep. I'm better now ..... not!!

I have been busy, busy, busy! Let's start with where I left off, shall we? Right after my last post, work grew hectic, my schoolwork became more demanding, and the holidays came full force. I had non-stop quizzes and assignments in Anatomy & Physiology, so a majority of my time was spent studying. In the midst of this, I learned that we were going to have out-of-town guests drive in for Thanksgiving. This meant that I could not spend Thanksgiving at my parents' because there were too many people to fit into one house. So, in the middle of exams, I had to hunt for a new dining table (as the one we had was strictly for newleyweds and not suitable for guests), dishes (serving platters, goblets, new wine glasses to match new plates, etc.), decor, food, etc. The food came out to over $400 - you calculate the rest. I passed out several times, as did my husband. I ended up making a 10-course Thanksgiving dinner all by myself (okay, so the hubby pitched in by cleaning). Needless to say, I did not make for good company come dinnertime. I'm surprised I held my head up that night. I did feel bad and was pretty sure I came off as a bitch as I had to force myself to stay awake and be a good hostess by laughing at appropriate times. It was worth it as they were great company. BTW - my food came out great! Too bad there weren't any left overs, though. As we watched everyone go for thirds, and then come back the next day for more, we suffered while they ate through what was supposed to last us for over a week in place of grocery shopping. It sucks trying to scrape meat off the carcass in the hope that maybe, just maybe, a chunk of white meat will come out. Sigh....

After Thanksgiving, I threw myself right back into studying. I have to say, it was very difficult to get a grasp of both the Urinary and Digestive System. Most people think, hey, one is for caca and one is for piss, right? Nope, there is soooo much more involved than you know. Take care of yourselves, people! EVERYTHING you take in counts! So, in the midst of this manic studying, I had to go over all of our accounts with the accounts manager. Who is in NY. I am in Arizona. We dealt with everything via IM. Get the picture? I gulped down some serious Advil during this time. The most important thing was to get all of our expenses together so that everyone in my office could get a bonus. I frickin' fought hard for our bonuses!! I should get a bonus just for the stress that I was under!!

We finally got our bonuses and then came the mad rush to buy Christmas gifts. BTW - I finished my A&P course right before this and got an A. Go me! Go me! I LOVED that course. My professor rocked. She is such an inspiration. She is a Naturopathic Physician, takes A&P courses just for fun, took a BioChem course just for fun while teaching and working, and homeschooled her kids. I saw her just the other day and she told me that she was in a Clinical Lab Program at ASU to keep busy while she prepared for her boards. Superwoman, I tell ya.

But all of this doesn't excuse why I haven't been blogging. I have been busy, in a tremendous reading slump ( I have literally picked books up and thrown them across the room), and soooooo homesick for NYC. February 16th make two years since I made the big move from NYC to Scottsdale. I feel sick. I miss NYC like crazy! I need to go visit. Soon. I have been seriously depressed over this. I take walks in my head all through the city....up Lexington, down Park Ave, along 5th Ave, down Union Square into the West Village, around midtown.....I miss the food, I miss the culture, I miss the open atmosphere, I miss the ability to be by yourself and yet have a fantastic time, I miss the indie theaters, I miss all of the bookstores, I miss seeing people reading on the train/bus/while walking down the street, I miss the mix of people, I miss me. I think that my homesickness has affected me in more ways than I know...I haven't been able to write, read, nor had any interest in trying to. So I'm hoping that I can get my act together and start blogging again.

To all of my new visitors - WELCOME!!!!!! I will be sure to visit each of your sites and leave a comment. And thank you for leaving comments for me - I love reading them! Seriously - please don't stop!

BTW - great news....I was selected as a May juror for Elle magazine. I'm in the middle of reading three books right now while studying for Micriobiology, so here's hoping my reviews come out good! I believe it was Danielle who had posted the link last year regarding the application - thanks Danielle!!

I hope everyone is well! I can't wait to visit your pages and see what you all are reading, too. Until next time, my fellow readers.....