A huge congratulations going out to Cori who just passed his MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) exam. Now we can all officially asked him for computer help! 
Connor is pretty proud because he was selected to be in safety patrol this year at school; the main duty is being a crossing guard.
I remember when Connor started kindergarten and the forth graders seemed so huge, so grownup to me, as they stood in the crosswalk making sure it was safe for the little ones to cross the street. Forth grade seemed so far away, a lifetime away, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine Connor that old, that big.
And now, we have reached the day when it is Connor holding up the stop sign, watching over the kindergartners who skip across the road, their little faces beaming, implicitly trusting the “big kids” to see them to safety. Somehow Connor does not seem all that big to me, not like the towering forth graders we encountered on his first day of school. I find myself trying to break the habit of reaching out for his hand as we cross the street; I know he can do it himself.
But, sometimes instinct takes over and I extend my hand out towards him - and I am grateful each time he reaches back and takes it - some habits may no longer be necessary - but that doesn’t mean we are eager to break them.
His warm hand resting in mine…the best feeling in the world!
Wow! I can’t believe it has been so long since I updated my reading lists - I was so motivated to stay on top of this …good intentions and whatnot.
I have already passed the point of being able to recall all the books I have been reading, so I will just have to go with the highlights.
I joined the book club at my local library and although it isn’t exactly what I hoped for, I enjoy it enough to continue attending. It only meets once a month so the difficulty for me lays in the timing - If I immediately read the selected title it is not fresh in my mind, buried under more recent reads. If, however, I wait until the date of the next meeting draws close, I run the risk of having to stop mid way through my current book to fit the selection in. Oh, the dilemmas of a book-aholic!
Since I have joined, we have read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My personal favorite was One Hundred Years of Solitude - a little difficult to keep track of all the characters - but I really enjoyed the story and highly recommend it.
Bridie also joined a book club at her school and they chose to read Uglies by Scott Westerfield. This book is part one of the trilogy Uglies, Pretties, and Specials which apparently due its popularity, has recently expanded into a quadology (what do you call a four part series anyway?). Bridie really liked this series and recommended it to me - I thought the books were pretty good and they certainly provoked a fair amount of discussion between the two of us. It is so great to talk to Bride about books - I love listening to her thoughts and sharing ideas and opinions. I feel so fortunate to have children who love to read!
Some of my other reading choices the last few weeks have been influenced by Bridie as well; Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells and Dracula by Bram Stoker are all required for a course she is taking. I had never read any of these books and this was as good a time as any.
I also read Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Not my first choice of genres, but it had some interesting ideas and some compelling elements. The movie version, The Golden Compass opens December 7.
Running late for school this morning - I had to scrape the frost from the car. Brrr! So it begins……
