Book Club

Hey Book Fans:

Unfortunately 2 of our members are undergoing some tragic circumstances. One had a death in her family and is headed home to Denmark, another member has a husband who is about to undergo emergency bypass surgery. Due to these unfortunate circumstances I am delaying any bookclub activity until October 1st. In the meantime if you have any questions, comments or concerns please e-mail them to me at krichard2@juno.com.

please keep our members in your thoughts,
thanks
kaye

Happy New Year

To me New Year does not fall on January 1st. Yeah, I know I am weird and all the teachers here will hate me, and no I have not completely lost my mind! The beginning of a school year always signified a New Year! There was so much to be excited about, new hand-me-down clothes, new crayons, new pencils, new paper, new teachers, and new classrooms that smelt of varnish and floor wax. The best part was seeing friends you had not seen all summer because they lived beyond your mothers “I can’t see or yell for you radius!”
After my kids were born it seemed like the new school year marked the passage of time, every first day of school made me feel so sad! Time was passing much too quickly! Now my son is a senior in high school and my daughter a senior in college. Where did all that time go? Next year my son will be a freshman in college and my daughter will be a graduate student in education. Even I myself kept up the going to school thing finishing an undergrad and then a graduate degree. I won’t lie to you going back to school with two kids, a husband, a full time job and a mortgage was not the least bit easy, but I HAD A FREAKIN BLAST!! Going to grad school teaches you that you can learn more than you thought your brain can handle!!! Plus your classmates will keep you going when you think you cannot take another step!!
I also celebrated the first day of school as New Years Day because, new years in New England usually sucks!! First off it is usually colder than you can imagine, and it more than likely will snow! You take down all your beautiful holiday ornaments so there is nothing entertaining to look at. If you are like me you spend the night in a crowded emergency room suturing idiots who have imbibed just a little too much! Yeah, there are some high points to New Years Eve in Worcester and Boston. You can go downtown and see the cultural performances, the ice sculptures, skate on the common, and if you go into Boston the BSO usually puts on a magnificent show that is followed up by a magnificent firework display. Even Worcester does have a have way decent job on the fireworks! BUT, if you do go into Boston you have to race to get on the commuter rail with the great unwashed masses and battle your way home. I do mean battle because don’t forget there is a lot of celebrating going on out there! After my kids were born I gave up on New Year parties and usually just worked, the money was better than the risks!
So you see September is a good time to celebrate New Year, (even if you are a teacher or a French teacher). I hope you all are enjoying your first week(s) back at school. I wish I were with you! Maybe that Phd is not so elusive after all!

Book Club Readers

Hello Fellow Lovers of Literature:

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be posting questions for our group until next week. I have been tied up doing the mundane chores that distracts one from what is truly important, and that is my book club. I am truly sorry and hope to hear from you all soon!!!!

be well,
kaye

Ted Kennedy
1932-2009

Dear Mr. Kennedy:
It was with great sadness I learned of your passing this week. We have never met personally, but I did get to shake your hand once when you came to my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. Mr. Kennedy, (may I call you Ted), I feel like I have known you my whole life. You see my maiden name is Kennedy and I have recently noticed that my own father bore a striking resemblance to you later in his life. In grade school whenever there was a project to be done that involved a senator or a president I was always assigned to the Kennedy family. But there were many things I did not know about you, things that did not involve politics…or your personal struggles. This week I learned that more than anything in this world you loved to be on your sailboat with your lovely wife, and your dogs Splash and Sunny. Nobody knew you baked the best cookies for your children, nieces and nephews. It was never made public that after the assassinations of your brothers John and Robert you became their surrogate father. My heart broke when I saw you carrying the ashes of John Jr. out to your sailboat to scatter them on the ocean he loved so much. Most importantly nobody knew how you gave voice to the voiceless, children, the elderly, the disabled and the poor. It was never made public the legislature that you wrote and put another senator’s name to it. Lastly, nobody knew about your love of the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, and the Patriots. Massachusetts will miss you Ted, your charm, wit, and intelligence made you our favorite son!!

Bucket List
I recently saw, on Facebook, that my good friend AngelSteph had posted a bucket list. Well this got me to thinking! Here are some of the things I want to do before I kick the proverbial bucket!
Write a novel! I have read some real junk that makes me think…hell, I can write better than that!!

Go to Greece and walk among the ruins UNASSISTED!!!!!!

Go to Ireland, maybe that is where I will write my novel. Did anyone say dual citizenship?

Spend a month with my brother in Nevada…when it is cooler of course.

Take another cruise next year. 2010 is a big year for our family! It is my 25th wedding anniversary, my daughter will graduate from Massachusetts School of Art and Design, and my son will graduate from South High School and begin his studies in nursing.

Ride my bike again!! Not just ride, but do the MS 150. MS is something we need to obliterate!

Go to England again and do the Jack the Ripper tour, and have another pint at Dirty Dicks Pub!

Dance at my kids weddings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hold my grandchildren, spoil them rotten, then dance at their weddings!!

STOP HAVING SEIZURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Well, that is my bucket list, what does your bucket list look like???

WELCOME TO OUR BOOKCLUB!!!

The first selection of the month is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I picked this book because it has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages begging me to read it. Also, because it has been released in paperback so the cost is cheaper if you purcase the book, and I called my local library and it is no longer backlogged. This bookclub is my dream because I have been wanting to join one for the longest time , yet there are none that meet in the hours I can get transportation. So I guess this is my version of a shut-in bookclub. It is my hope that it will grow and will enjoy lots of comments. This book will be fully reviewed on October 20th. On September 1 2009 I will start posting some questions for the club. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions for future reads, and any comments regarding the holiday months...should we plow through or stop and resume in January?? I hope you enjoy this club and help make it the success I am dreaming of. Any questions or concerns can be sent directly to me at krichard2@juno.com

Thanks again for joning,
kaye

Parenting...the toughest job you can do!

Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids!! I would give my own life so they could have theirs! My kids are now 21 and almost 18. They are beautiful, hardworking, responsible adults! When they are home it is the happiest time of my life! But it seems like forever before I got to this point. For those of you reading this who have young kids at home, I FEEL YOUR PAIN! I remember the days of hockey, soccer, bass lessons, art lessons and swimming lessons! Who can forget the cuts, the poison ivy, the scratches and the shrieks that sent me running to them in the middle of the night. Then it came time for school and we decided to send them to a Catholic school. Every time they stepped out of the car I thought there goes my month long stay in Carbo! School helped introduce them to all the good stuff like chicken pox, (my kids were too old when the vaccine came out), which my husband also got and was sick as a dog…he almost landed in the hospital he was so sick. School also gave us the other fun stuff like roto-virus, which lead to screams of “Mom, I threw-up in my bed.” So there you are holding buckets and washing sheets at three in the morning! They would recover quickly and want scrambled eggs, of course by then you are praying for death on the couch! What about those days you are so irresponsible that you forget the most beloved toy “Mr. Bear” in a hotel in southern Maine? Thank-God for responsible hotel workers who find him and next day air him too you!! Ah, yes, those were the days!! But, when I look deep into my heart I am finding that I miss those days!! I miss the giggles, and the laughter that comes from the bottom of the toes! I miss seeing the world through the eyes of a child. I even miss that teenage angst, although my 18 year old can still bring it when he needs too! Most importantly I miss them!! My 21 year old lives, works and goes to school in Boston. My 18 year old will be a senior this year, (he started late because of his birthday), but he is hardly ever home. He is either off with his band, or his girlfriend. Sometimes it breaks my heart not to have them here, but most times I am proud that they have found their wings and are learning to fly!!
Let me just take one more moment of your time to tell you about an old friend and her youngest son. This boy/man is 18 and just graduated from high school. I recently reconnected with his Mom via Facebook. This young man spent a semester in Israel and fell in love with it! He felt a deep commitment to his homeland and vowed he was going back when he graduated high school. Well he graduated and left last Tuesday. In my honest opinion he is one of the most courageous kids I know! Kudos to his mother and father for letting him fulfill his dream. His mom and I have been e-mailing back and forth and she seems to be doing well. I bow to her, I would be a mess!! This young man is going to do ten months of community service and then join the Israeli army for 3 years! YOU GO KID!! I will be praying for you!!In summary to all the new/young mothers out there wiping butts, catching vomit, breaking up fights, searching for toys, mending cuts, is the easy part. The hardest part is letting go!!!!!!!!

Woodstock 2009

This post is not intended to hurt anyones feelings...it is just some thoughts I had while watching a Woodstock special with my kids last night. Please do not take offense!!!!

Ahhh, it was forty years ago this weekend that the peace and love generation abandoned their cars and took their ten dollar tickets to get into one of the greatest shows every produced. Mired by the obstacles they persisted. Some walked ten to fifteen miles in bare feet just to get into the show. I was six years old but I remember watching it closely on the nightly new. At six I was already a violonist and loved music of all kinds. Thanks to my older cousins I was huge Beatles fan, but the Doors, The Who and the GREAT Van Morrison were not exempt from my musical taste. My daddy cursed "those goddamn dirty hippies, I so wanted to be there!!! "They should all be in the service fighting for our country,"he thought. I, however, thought it was the greast show ever, and I don't think it will ever be replicated. But here is what made me giggle. What if all the same people descended on Woodstock once again. All of us baby boomers are getting up there in age. I personally have had a stroke. Would we be able to walk 15 miles barefoot?? Or would our joint replacements and bad feet get in the way?? What about walkers and wheelchairs? Could we push them in the muck and rain?? I don't know about you all but I would bring a tent an and air mattress and an ample supply of bug spray. Then there is the issue of the drugs. I don't think we would be passing around LSD or mushrooms. I am guessing it would probably be Nito, and Viagra. How about the bands?? Many of the greats have passed. What is left of the Grateful Dead could sing A Headful of Grey instead of A Touch of Grey. We could all hold up our cell phones and MP3 players for light instead of lighters. God forbid we have a pig roast...PETA would shut us down!!! So we would all have to carry in our own water, soy, soy milk
and non-alcoholic beverages. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR FREE LOVING GENERATION? I guess in word responsibility to our selves and the families we have created. You no longer see a kid named Moonbeam, or Sunflower. Most of the bands we love look old and
cachectic. Woodstock was the end of an era, but also the start of something great!! We are now the ones who make vital contributions to society in all fields. I must add, there will never be another Woodstock again. If there is we either won't be able to afford it, or we won't know who the hell the bands are!!!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Hmmm, am I wild about Harry??? I think this movie, despite the hype, was a bit of a let down for me. Now I must tell you that it has been many moons since I read book six, but it did seem to me that this movie had some things missing. Let me tell you what I disliked first. Tonks! In the book if I remember right she played a much bigger role, and her hair changed color often, (like mine I must admit). If I remember correctly more time was spent at the home of Sirius Black and his house elf played a more prominent role in book 6. Wasn't it in this book that Harry began to discover his feelings for Ginny Weasley? Why do they keep leaving out Charlie and Percy Weasley who all had reasonably big roles in all of the books?? Did'nt Harry and Dumbledor search for more of the horcruxs before the end? There seemed to me to be a lot missing here. I am going to have to dig out book six and reread it! What I loved was the crisp clear picture, (we saw it on DB)! I have also loved the Weasley twins and all of their antics. They made me laugh out loud!!! Rupert Grint carried this movie in my honest opinion...especially when he ate the cursed candy!! The ending of this movie was just has I had imagined it when I read the book. All and all I am still wild about Harry and will wait patiently for 7 parts one and two. I must add a special thank-you to Jackie and Conor who let this old lady take them to dinner and the movie!!