Sometimes when I'm hanging around the school yard it seems like I'm the only parent that actually looks forward to the end of the school year. Everyone seems to be asking, "What am I supposed to do with my kids all summer long?" And while I know that most people are joking, I can't help but feel like there's a little hidden truth in their voices.

So, today in honor of it being our last day of school, here are my Top 5 Reasons I Love the Last Day of School...

1. No More Alarms!
  I've never been a morning person, and despite the fact that I normally wake up before the alarm goes off, I can't help loving the idea that there's nothing I absolutely have to wake up for. That's pure bliss in my book.

2. No More Packing Lunches!
  Lunches can be a big headache in our house. If Cole could take PB&J everyday, life would be simple. However, the no nut policy at school puts an end to that pipe dream, so I'm often left scrambling to find something he wants to eat. With summer here, Cole can eat PB&J everyday and lunch will be smooth sailing.

3. No More Homework!
  Sure, we have stuff we're going to do this summer. Math, reading, journaling...all that stuff that keeps your kids from going brain dead during the summer months. But homework this year made me want to rip my hair out at times, so I'm happy to be finished with it for a couple months.

4. No Set Bedtimes!
  Now that the sun stays up late, we've had a heck of a time getting the kids to go to sleep at a reasonable time so they can be up early for school the next day. I'm looking forward to tossing bedtime out the window and going with the flow.

5. No Set Schedules!
  The last day of school, means the end of routine for us. Summer days hold endless possibilities, so I'm excited to get out and explore and see where the wind takes us.

It's a hot one today. Or as my good friend Ann Maria would say, "It's a scowrcher." (She's from Boston) The thermostat says 30 and I've been swimming in sweat since early this morning.

Despite the heat, I headed out to run errands after dropping the kids at school. I went to the bank. I picked up some stuff at the Farmer's Market. I started delivering thank you notes to all the people who donated items to our Funfair. And I randomly happened upon my Mom Mojo while I was out trudging through the heat.

What?

Let me explain. 

Mom Mojo is the thing that runs me. It's what gets me up with the alarm every morning. It packs lunches and snacks for school. It makes the grocery lists and decides what we're having for dinner. It does the dishes and the laundry and it doesn't complain. In short, Mom Mojo is responsible for the smooth running of our household.

Well, if the truth be told, I lost mine way back in April (right around the time I started Funfair stuff) and our house has been in chaos since then. Laundry has piled high. Grocery lists have been incomplete. Dinner has been shot from the hip most nights and I have been an all-around wreck when it comes to doing mom-things. It's been just like when Dr. Evil stole Austin Power's Mojo in The Spy Who Shagged Me....except the part with the giant Scottish henchman.

Anyway, while I was out and about running errands today, I felt my Mom Mojo kick back in. Maybe it was the heat, perhaps I finally sweated out all of the chaos that has been multiplying in my cells. Or maybe it was just going around and saying thank you to some really great people. All I know is that somewhere in there, after blocks and blocks of walking, I could feel Mom Mojo pumping through my veins. My walking gait got a little bit faster. I started organizing lists in my head. I started thinking of things I could make with the items in my fridge. I even decided on what we're having for dinner tonight and it was morning! For some people this may all seem a little weird....but it's pretty normal for me and a clear sign that my Mom Mojo is back in business.

Thank goodness!

Back in the good 'ol days of college I used to study art history. And I remember longing to see the great cities of Europe that are knee deep in famous statues, painted ceilings and frescoes. I wanted to walk down the cobbled streets of Italy, sit at a table of some tiny cafe, sip espresso and breath in the history around me. 

What can I say? I'm a romantic. 

Unfortunately, I've have yet to see Europe. Family life has taken a precedent to traveling. Go figure. Ironically, I did travel a bit when I was younger....both times to third world countries that were steeped in chaos more than anything else. Apparently, the romantic in me is never around when I actually decide to leave the country.

Anyway....

I often forget that I actually live in a historical city now. Kingston is an old city by New World standards and the streets are alive with history. Everyday I walk by buildings that are well over a hundred years old and I never bat an eyelash thinking about it until the summer comes and the giant tour buses come rolling into town.

The tourists come from all over the country and all over the world to visit our little city on the river. And I can't say I blame them. Kingston boasts an impressive past. It was the first capital of Canada. It is the home of Canada's first prime minister. It's on the Rideau Canal system. And it's full of cool things like Fort Henry and the Royal Military College which is the equivalent of West Point. 

Now, I don't remember studying any famous Canadian artists in those art history classes (though I dare say there are a fair few). It seems that Canada, like the rest of the  New World, missed out on the great art movements of history. But while there may not be a statue on every corner, Kingston can claim a rich past and I'm happy to call it home.

If you read my post on Petoskey, MI you probably remember that we visited the American Spoon Cafe. Well, we also visited the American Spoon store right next door.

As you can see, the store sells jams, chutneys, relishes, sauces, salsas, etc. They have everything available to sample with crackers & chips and the nicest people are on hand to help you out. We went in specifically looking for some jalapeno jelly to spread on top of crackers and brie cheese and came out 4 jars later...

We each picked something out. Cole went for the Marionberry fruit spread for his PB&J sandwiches. Isabel picked out Milk Caramel to eat with apple slices. I wanted the Jalapeno jelly and Clay picked out the Dill and Caper relish (which makes awesome tuna salad). It was certainly pricier than buying Smuckers from the grocery store, but the taste is worth it. Plus, we were on vacation and we chalked the purchase up as a souvenir. 

If delectable spreads aren't your thing, consider giving a jar of something tasty as a gift to someone you really like. They'll thank you for it.

You can check out all the possibilities at www.spoon.com

So my reading hiatus lasted all of 3 days...maybe 4. I should have known from the beginning that it was a completely absurd idea. I love reading and that's not going to change, so I think I'll just do it. Everything else will get done eventually. Anyway, the point of today's post is not to berate myself for my lack of follow through. The point is to talk about how I find the books I'm reading.

I have a few people that I'm always talking books with, so we pass titles back and forth. Plus, I'm always open to suggestions from my friends and family that live far away. I like to check out the local Indigo store to see what they have in the staff picks section and on their display tables. And it's always interesting to see what other people on Amazon "have also bought" when I look up a book. But, my number one go to place for new material is the library. 

If you haven't noticed, I love the library. It's one of my favorite spots to visit on a weekly basis. There are books and CDs and DVDs, all mine for the borrowing. And my favorite part is that it's always free! Sure you can rack up fines if you're late returning your items, but I'm a toe-the-line kind of library user - no fines for me. However, despite the euphoric sense of bliss I get while wandering up and down the books shelves, it can all be a bit overwhelming sometimes. I mean, there are thousands of books to choose from and they can't all be worth my time. So often I get stuck reading the same author(s) over and over again because I'm not that confident when it comes to just grabbing something off the shelf in the hopes that it might be good.

Luckily for me, our library recently introduced NoveList into the search engine on it's website. When I look up a book or author, I still get all the basic information like whether or not a book is available and where it's located, etc. However, in addition to the basics, I also get book and author recommendations based on my search and it even give me reasons as to why it is recommending each book and author. I wish I could show you. It's brilliant.

If you're looking for something new to read, you should check to see if you're library is using NoveList. If not, you should ask about it and you can always go to my library's website at www.kfpl.org

I hope all the mothers out there are having a wonderful day....and if not, hang in there, it's almost time for the kids to be in bed.  

We have been having a great day here in Kingston. Isabel started the day off right by not waking me up in the middle of the night and I got to sleep in until 8:30 a.m. When the kids finally pulled me from the blissful comfort of my bed there was breakfast waiting for me. Both the kids made special gifts for me at school and they were very excited to share them while we ate.

We went for a walk in the morning and enjoyed the Sunday antique market. Then we came back for lunch, went 10 rounds with writing homework, and planted the flowers they bought me yesterday at the farmer's market. 

Finally, we ended up back downtown at one of the theaters to watch Loony Toon Cartoons on the big screen and afterward we went out for dinner.

Now, it's almost 8:00 and the kids are getting ready for bed. Sherlock is on tonight and school starts up in the morning. What more can a mom ask for?

I have had a wonderful Mother's Day! I hope you have too.

I'm taking a break from reading...at least until City of Lost Souls comes in at the library. Then I'll probably quickly read that before declaring myself off books for a while. Sadly enough, I find that every once in a while I have to quit them cold turkey because nothing really gets done around here when I'm reading a book.

Oh sure, laundry gets done and dishes too. Food finds it way into lunch-boxes and onto the table at dinner time. But I'm always sneaking a few pages into the cracks between those activities. And if there's no pressing need for clean underwear, there's a good chance I might forgo laundry altogether in favor of a few uninterrupted hours of reading when the kids are at school.

I'm shameless... 

It's rainy and foggy and Isabel is sick.

That pretty much sums up my day. We've been super low key in the hopes that it would help her little body fight off the sickies, but I'm not feeling too hopeful right now. She's taking her second nap of the day and it's almost 5:00 p.m...nope, I'm not feeling very hopeful at all.

These are the days I'm grateful that we live so close to school and work. Clay was able to walk Cole to school and pick him up, allowing Isabel and I to stay home so she could rest. It's a small thing, but it makes a world of difference for us.

Well, I'm off to try and finish out this day. This is one we just have to get through and I will be glad to put it behind us. I hope everyone else to fairing better than we are. 

Cheers.

Today is our 9-year anniversary. And I really wanted to say something meaningful about marriage. Something about commitment and love and trust and faith and all the time and energy that goes into it. Something warm and heartfelt and memorable. 

But honestly when I start reflecting back on the past 9 years, all the thoughts go out of my head and I'm rendered speechless. Not because I'm stupefied or dumbstruck, far from it. I'm speechless because when I stop and think about it, I realize that I'm still filled with the feeling of pure joy that I felt on that day 9-years ago.

I'm so thankful to be sharing this moment with my best friend.

Happy Anniversary, Professor!

In case you haven't noticed...I have a reading problem. If I had my choice I would spend several hours a day with my nose stuck between the pages of my latest read. Actually, I'm not far off of that anyway. I read just about every chance I get - while eating lunch, while cooking dinner, before bed...and countless moments in between those.

Most of those times I'm reading my most recent acquisition from our local library. But every now and again I'm in the mood for one of my favorites, a book right off my own shelf because the truth is I don't just love to read books. I love to own books! I'll never own an eReader. They are far too modern for my taste. When it comes to books, I want the feel of thick printer's paper in between my fingers and the smell of paper pulp and dust and an earthy sweetness lingering in the air. I want to hold the glossy book jackets that hide plain dark covers with metallic writing.

I dream of someday having a large study in my house that's lined with bookshelves from floor to ceiling packed full of books of every size, shape, color and genre. It will be my favorite room in the house.

Anyway, I digress...

The point is I thought I would share what's currently sitting on my shelves. These are not the only books we own, far from it! But these are the ones that made the trip to Canada with us and the ones we've bought since being here. They are the books I turn to time and time again.

Shelf #1 - The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

I don't care what anybody says about these books. I love them. I've already read them several times and I'm certain to read them several more....and I'm not sorry about it.

Shelf #2 - The Kushiel's Dart series & The Kushiel's Scion series by Jacqueline Carey

Written by a woman I know from college, these books are lush with adventure, intrigue, and romance. The heroine is completely unique and never gets wishy-washy. They are easily some of my favorites.  

Shelf #3 - Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and Delirium/Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Harry Potter is a must have for us. Clay and I both love it and I can't wait to share it with our kids! Lauren Oliver's books were recent purchases for me and I'm excited to be able to revisit them whenever I want.

Shelf #4 - Boris Akunin books, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

This shelf belongs more to Clay than me, but I've read most of the stuff on it and when I'm in the mood for a good mystery this is the shelf I turn to.

Shelf #5 -  Janet Evanovich, Cassandra Clare & Jane Austen

When I'm in the mood to laugh out loud I alway turn to Janet Evanovich. Her Stephanie Plum series always has me in stitches. The Mortal Instruments books are recent additions and I'm happy to have them on our shelves. I hope that someday Isabel will read them and enjoy them as much as I have. And Jane Austen is always a solid choice when looking for a witty romance.

So, there it is. By no way is this list exhaustive. We have lots of books - on shelves, on floors, on tables...everywhere. But these are the ones that have a place to call their own. 

What books do you keep?