Home Front by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Home Front” is the newest novel by one of my favorite authors, Kristin Hannah. I have been waiting for this book to released for months now, and I even had it written in my calendar – and circle in red pen.



And you KNOW things are important when they are circled in red pen!



“Home Front” is about Jolene and Michael Zarkades. They have been married for about twelve years and have two daughters. Their marriage is falling apart, because things are just so overwhelming– bills, careers, and raising a pre-teen daughter. Michael is a defense attorney, and Jolene is a military helicopter pilot (which Michael hates) in the National Guard.



Jolene gets deployed unexpectedly, and their home and family life are turned upside down.



Without giving any of the story away, this books really does a great job of showing the heavy toll war can take on this everyday family. The author does a fantastic job of making everything seem so realistic, and I couldn’t bear to put this one down. I finished it VERY quickly, and can’t wait for her next book.



This is a very emotional book. Really, all of Kristin Hannah’s books are emotional, but this was a completely different level than I am used to from her.



I definitely recommend this book!







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This is really only a drop in the bucket, people.

I am sensing you are like me, and thrive with a full plate? What is your secret to making it all come together? How about a few tips on laundry? Chores? Meal time?

Well, I’ll admit. I typed that out and realized that my husband will probably get a good chuckle out of reading my response. The truth is… I don’t have it all under control. Not even close!

As of this second, I have one load of laundry in the dryer right now, that I {might} get around to folding when I get home. There are 4 more loads that need to be washed/dried in addition to that. My biggest tip that I can share is something I need to follow as well. I can’t remember where I read this at, but here goes:

Do one load of laundry every single day, Wednesday through Sunday. If your household has more than four people, do two loads on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I have a chore chart on the bulletin board in our kitchen that has: 1) daily chores; and 2)other chores. The daily chores are the usual stuff, like making beds, feeding the dogs, cleaning rooms, etc. The weekly chore chart changes each week, and I have it on a rotation– this includes dusting, vaccuuming, and cleaning the bathrooms. I will admit, though, that I have a hard time sticking to it.

I write a lot of notes to myself in my planner, which I carry with me religiously. I leave myself reminders about changing the furnace filter, checking the batteries in the smoke alarms, etc.

Bottom line, I don’t have the perfect solution to making it all work. I like to TRY, but I am just not the type of person that is a stickler for an immaculate house. I am guilty of having to re-wash a load of clothes because they sat in the washing machine for too long. I am guilty of not making my bed, except on the weekends. And really? I could probably live out of a laundry basket.

We have piles of papers and mail on our kitchen table that we have to move out of the way to make room for dinner. We have a basket on our stairs that is pretty much always FULL of things that need to get taken upstairs and put away. I can walk through my house at any given time and find at least one dirty glass, plate or bowl that needs to be taken to the dishwasher. And, I would DIE if someone performed the “white glove test” on anything in my house.

So, if anyone out there happens to stumble onto the solution to making it all come together, please share!

I was sitting at work yesterday afternoon when I got the call. I always shut my cell phone ringer off when I am work, but then sit the phone next to my keyboard so I can see if someone is trying to call.

I recognized the number immediately.

In that second, my heart skipped a beat and my stomach felt like it dropped to the floor.

I grabbed the phone and started walking to a different part of our office, because I knew I would want some privacy for this call.

I noticed how sweaty my palms were , which was ridiculous, because we’ve been preparing for this phone call for MONTHS.

I answered the phone, and a cheery voice said to me,

“Hello this is ________ from Iowa KidsNet. I’d like to know if you would be interested in hearing about a long-term placement we have for a sibling group.”

I said yes, and she continued on to tell me that it was a sibling group of THREE. Three kids!!! There was an 8-year old boy, a 4-year old girl, and a 2-year old girl.

My heart fell, because I knew I was going to have to say no to this one. There is just no way we can handle three more kids, let alone when one of them is a two-year old.

I learned a lot in that short phone call.

I learned to stand my ground and only take on what I know we can handle.

And I know that there are so many kids out there in need of a home that they can’t get families licensed fast enough. Every single one of the families in our class that has gotten their licensed approved either already has a placement (or more than one), OR they have gotten a phone call about a placement.

It’s just crazy.

Here’s where you come in.

All 5 of you that read here regularly.

Wait, is it even 5?

Anyway, now is the time to help me out with curing my Writer’s Block.

INTERVIEW ME!

Leave me a question or two (or more) in the comments and I will start answering them next week. Nothing’s off limits!

Ready? GO!

I am starting this (again) TODAY. If anyone would be interested in joining me, you can join the group I belong to HERE. It’s not too late to join, and I’d love to more join in !

Save Me by Lisa Scottoline

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Let me start off by saying, I really wanted to LOVE this book.

I was intrigued by the teaser of this book. Rose McKenna is a mother to Melly (Melinda), who is in the third grade. Rose volunteers for lunchroom duty at the school because Melly has been bullied by some of the girls in her grade due to a large birthmark on her face. Every day at lunch, Melly is upset by bullying, taunting and teasing, so she retreats to the restroom to hide, or she eats lunch with her favorite teacher, Miss Canton.

One day as all the students are eating lunch, Rose notices a group of three girls making fun of Melly. As usual, Melly runs to the restroom to hide, and Rose becomes very upset. She goes over to talk to the mean girls as all of the kids are filing outside to go to recess.

Suddenly, there is a huge explosion in the kitchen and the entire cafeteria is utter chaos. As the whole place is in shambles and flames threatening to kill all of them, she must make a choice: Does she get those three girls out, knowing if she does– she won’t have time to go back in and save her daughter from the restroom? OR, does she let those mean girls fend for themselves so she can save her daughter?

What would YOU do?

I won’t give any spoilers, but I will say that this book was really good. Until about the halfway point. The second half is so unbelieveable and unrealistic that it turned the book from inspiring and thought-provoking to just plain annoying.

The last several chapters ended with such finality that I was continuously shocked to turn the page and find– ANOTHER CHAPTER! So many times the author could have ended this book and the reader would have been satisfied, but she just kept going ON and ON and ON.

Maybe others will like this book better than me, and judging from the reviews, the results are mixed. You will either love this book or hate it. Or you could be like me and simply be on the fence about it. I didn’t LOVE it, but it wasn’t a complete waste of my time or money, either.


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Our official home study and relevant paperwork has been submitted via email TODAY!

After speaking with two other couples that were in our class, we could have our official approval and license by the end of this week!

I’m feeling so darn blessed today!

I had my first Weight Watchers weigh-in on Wednesday, and I was really hoping for a huge loss my first week.

I lost 2.4 pounds! I’ll take it!

Well, finally some progress.

Yesterday, I got an email from our caseworker and she’s finishing up our paperwork for approval. She included one final task for us to complete, and it was a doozy.

Mark and I had to sit down together and make some big choices– what behaviors and disorders we would be willing to consider when a child is placed with us.

Here goes:

For each of these, we had to check “Willing to Consider” or “Will Not Consider”:

Behaviors:
Abusive/Aggressive to Others, Accident Prone, Bed Wetting, Cheating, Cling to Adults, Cruel to Animals, Destructive to Property, Fighting, Frequently, Fire Setting, Harmful to Self, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Lying, Nightmares, Obscene Language, Phobias, Running Away, Sexual: Masturbation, Sexual: Provocative with Adults, Sexual: Provocative with Child, Sexual: Sexually Active, Soiling, Stealing, Temper Tantrums, Truancy, Withdrawal

Emotional/Mental:
Adjustment Disorders, Antisocial/Other Personality Disorders, Attachment Disorders, Autism, Bipolar Disorder/Manic Depression, Conduct Disorder, Delusions, Depression, Gender Identity Disorder, Panic/Anxiety Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Schizophrenia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Sleep Disorder, Suicide Ideation Attempts

Neuro/MusuloSkeletal:
Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy/Seizures, Multiple Sclerosis, Orthopedic Problems, Paralysis, Physical Handicaps, Parkinson’s Disease, Spina Bifida

AIDS/HIV/STDs:
AIDS, HIV+, Venereal Diseases

Eating/Digestive Disorders:
Anorexia, Bulimia, Digestive Disorders, Feeding Problems, Hoards/Gorges Food

Respiratory Problems:
Allergies, Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, Cystic Fibrosis

Heart/Blood Problems:
Heart Defect, Heart disease, Hemophilia, High Blood Pressure, Sickle Cell Trait, Sickle Cell Anemia

Physical Problems:
Birthmarks, Cancer, Cleft Lip, Diabetes, Growth Disorders, Hearing Problems, Liver Problems, Paralysis, Prematurity, Problems Requiring Surgery, Vision Problems, Blindness

Learning Problems:
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Down’s Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, Mental Retardation, Slow Learner

Substance Abuse/Use:
Alcoholism, Drug Abuse (soft), Drug Abuse (hard), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Fetal Alcohol Effect (FAE), Prenatal Drug Exposure, Tobacco Use

Developmental Delays:
Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Social, Speech/Language, Sensory Integration Disorder

Abuse/Neglect:
Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Medical Neglect, Physical Neglect, Shaken Baby Syndrome

In addition to all of this, we also had to answer the following:

1. What types of foster placements are we willing to accept? Long-term, short-term, or urgent placements?

2. Are we willing to be respite providers?

3. How many children are we willing to accept at any one time? (Sibling groups, etc)

4. What gender are we looking for?

5. Finally, there was the race issue. Just so you everyone knows, the caseworkers are not allowed to ask you if you have a racial preference in a child. If you have any preferences, then you have to say so. They won’t ask you.

Last night, Mark and I went through the whole list of behaviors and disorders, etc. We each filled out our checklist separately, then compared answers. I was very thankful that we agreed on all but about 5 of them. We discussed those and came to a unified decision and I sent everything back in this morning.

Our caseworker hopes to have everything completed by the end of the day today.

TODAY!