Another book

Between a late night last night and the long wait in the doctor's office today I was able to make a pretty good dent in another book which I ended up finishing tonight. This was a different kind of book for me. Not since "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey have I read a book like this one. This book was "Living on the Edge of Madness" by Sonny Kramer and Linda Wakeman. Mostly Sonny telling the story of Linda. She came into his life when he was 52 and she was 28. She was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. A "little" something passed down from her father (with a touch of it in her mother) and his family. Linda introduced him to a woman of wit, intellect, charm, and beauty but also a woman of deceit, infidelity, manipulation and madness. When she was well she was wonderful, but when she wasn't they lived a nightmare. The devotion of Sonny to Linda is heart wrenching. He recorded their lives together and put them in this book for others to understand what living with and having this disorder is like.

Finally...post op

I got in to see the doctor today and it took a few hours of waiting even though that was the reason for the cancellation on Friday. He told me that the "DO NOT DO" list was too rigid in his estimation and I was okay with doing more than it allowed. What a relief! I can return to work if there was work to do. We'll see! The bills from the procedure are coming in and what a shock! I better find some work that pays. Anyway, I asked the doctor what exactly he had done during the surgery since I hadn't wanted to know prior to the operation. He showed me an x-ray that he had taken of me after the surgery and there was a spacer of bone in my spinal column that wasn't there before. I asked him where he got the bone and he said "out of a jar." Funny guy! I mentioned that I thought maybe he had stopped by the morgue on his way to surgery and he said that it is donated bone that is sterilized, etc. I mentioned that my cousin had bone removed from her hip to replace what she needed and he said they don't have to do that now and it is a very painful procedure. He was impressed that I hadn't needed any further pain medication. Mentioned that most patients use pain killers for months after. Maybe they're just looking for more time off work or they're addicted.

I finished "The Seduction of the Crimson Rose" which is the last to date of Lauren Willig's books. I was hoping for a wrap up but it doesn't sound like it will end for a while. I'll have to wait a year to get the next one though. This one followed immediately after the last in story line and picked up on two other characters and their involvement in the search for the Black Tulip spy working for the French and the Pink Carnation who is working for England. Still set in 1803 with flash forwards to the present and the graduate dissertation research. I hope I remember all that's happened in these last few books when they release the next one.

Post Op

I'm three weeks post op and still waiting for my two week appointment. It was to be today at 12:15. I've had this same appointment even back when I first met with the doctor and we thought I was getting better on my own. Because of his vacation last week, the appointment time seemed to coincide with what his needs were so I kept it. Originally it was a follow up to our first meeting and then became my post op. I got a call yesterday from his office stating that he was 170 percent overbooked for Friday and unless I wanted to wait in the office for two or more hours, could I make my appointment for Monday. I guess they don't care that you've had surgery and should be checked to make sure all is well. What's three more days when you're already over a week overdue? So now I'm scheduled for Monday and hoping no further delays come along. In the meantime, I'm still not supposed to do any driving, etc. because it's on the "DO NOT DO" list that I'm supposed to follow until I see the doctor in post op. I'm driving myself to the appointment, so there! After all, I have this great back up camera to try out.

I finished "The Deception of the Emerald Ring" by Lauren Willig. It was the book I put aside to read Jodi Picoult's. By the way, if you email Jodi she answers your email. I did it when she wrote "My Sister's Keeper," never expecting an answer, just letting her know I loved it. I got a nice chatty email back. This time, I just let her know I felt it was her best to date and got a two line answer. She's much busier now and all, but she still answers. Anyway, Lauren Willig's books are all sequels that are about spies in the early 1800's. The time frame is still 1803 and it involved new characters that were known to the last two books' characters. This time it centered around the Irish Rebellion of 1803 that the French were backing so that England would be at their mercy when they were attacked by both the Irish and the French at the same time. History, again, with a little fictional storyline running through it. The novel flips between the 1803 time period and current day with it's own storyline. The modern day version is the supposed author of the doctorate on English spies with her own story to tell. So far only two weeks have passed in the time frame of these three novels. I have the fourth book waiting to be read and I hope it's the last. It's an interesting concept but it's time to put it to rest. Good read. Hard to say it's thought provoking after what I just finished from Picoult, though.

Picoult does it again

I finished "Change of Heart" tonight and I just don't know where to start! It was absolutely my most favorite book to date. She even topped "My Sister's Keeper." I mentioned the build up to page 30 and after that it only got better. I know I'll be reading more about Gnosticism. I can't say more. I've thought about it and if I mentioned more it would ruin the story. Now I have to wait another year to read her next one.

Jodi Picoult

I was in the middle of another book but raced out, well not raced, to the bookstore yesterday to get Jodi Picoult's "Change of Heart." I started it on the drive home and by page 30 there had already been a fatal car accident, a double murder, a conviction and sentencing. I'm not even half way yet but I know this is definitely a good read. If I could have kept my eyes open later last night I would have been farther along. I think I was actually hoping for insomnia last night so that I could get up and read but I'd had a bout the night before which is what made me so tired last night.

I'm ready to drive! My hubby bought me a back up camera for my car so I won't have to turn my head so far to see behind me when backing up. It took him two days and he had to recruit my step son to help him to install the equipment. I'm a little concerned about theft since all of these things, GPS included, are enticements to theives to break in vehicles. Now I'll have two reasons to have that happen. Not to mention all the cords that are now all over the dashboard. The camera is mounted on the license plate which unfortunately sits off to the side on my car. That means you don't really get a good view of the whole back side the car and if someone is walking up behind from the passenger side you can't really see them so it will mean a lot of mirror checking in addition to monitor viewing.

Back to my book!

Book II

I finished "The Masque of the Black Tulip" by Lauren Willig. It was a sequel to "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation." It's been a little while since I read the first and there are four books now. I will probably try to read the other two fairly soon so I don't forget what happened like I did with the first one. The setting was 1803 and it was during the Napoleon days. Set in England it went from current times to flashes back in history. A modern day graduate student, Eloise, achieved the academic coup of the centruy when she unmasked one of history's greatest spies, the Pink Carnation, who save England from Napoleon. But now she has a million questions about the Carnation's deadly French nemesis, the Black Tulip. She is granted access to private documents that lead her to these secrets. Even though I know that there were no such spies it was a fun read. The next one is "The Deception of the Emerald Ring." I'll read that one until I get Jodi Picoult's "Change of Heart" which comes out tomorrow.

Back to work, sort of...

I held an open house today for my daughter's house. I drove myself and did fine. Unfortunately backing up is still a problem. Hard to turn around and see behind me with a stiff neck. Mirrors were of little help. Oh well, little steps! The open house wasn't to productive so we'll keep trying.

Yesterday was fun! Had my grandchildren for a while. My granddaughter's gotten into sewing and I got some material and pillow stuffing and let her make some pillows for her new bedroom. One's a 30x30 and the other a small for a sofa or chair. She did an excellent job! Hope she stays interested in it as a hobby.

I'm enjoying my latest read but I'm just not making a lot of head way. Not a real long book; just not finding the time I usually have for reading. I put it down quicker at night because I get tired sooner. I really want to finish it since Jodi Picoult's new book is due out in two days and I'm anxious to read it. If this one isn't finished then it will have to sit there while I read Picoult's. She trumps all!

Vacation time is sneaking up on us and no plans have been made. My brother is pressing me for a commitment to go fishing somewhere. Our large family trips have dwindled to a very small gathering and it's just not the same. From 18 to 4 or 5 is just not fun! I know my brother wants to seek revenge for the big fish I caught on the last night of our vacation last year which beat out his catch by a couple inches and pounds. I'm loving the status and am not anxious to forfeit it. I'm hoping that by next year we'll have the Hawaii son and daughter-in-law back in the area and the rest of the family ready to go again. I'm think Glacier National Park! Fishing and rock hunting make for a good combo.