Katniss Everdeen, Girl on Fire

So today (well I guess technically yesterday, since it's 2:30 am lol) was the day. MOCKINGJAY, the 3rd and final book in the Hunger Games Trilogy came out.

We had a few failed attempts at trying to pick it up early. But, Becky was a superstar toting her son and my two kids to Barnes and Noble this morning to pick up our copies!  She kindly dropped mine off at my office for me where it sat and stared me down :-)

I had already read the first 2 chapters (during the failed attempts) and made quick time through Chapter 3 while eating my lunch.  So, as soon as I got home, I dove in, only resurfacing to make dinner, get a drink, kiss my kids goodnight... you know, the important things.  

I finished the book about half an hour ago.  There's not much I can/will say because I do not think a review should give away anything from the book and I don't think I'd be capable of sticking to that.  And also quite frankly, I am having trouble forming reasonable thoughts. 

I loved it!  That much I can say.  If I gave book ratings - this would definitely get 5 of 5 stars!

MOCKINGJAY does not disappoint. 

 If you haven't read the first 2 books in the serious (THE HUNGER GAMES and CATCHING FIRE) then get going! What are you waiting for??  :-)

 
Note:  In case you are interested....You can buy them all separately or together for great prices at Book Depository (they shop free to most places) or Amazon.  

What the Heck?

Ok so I am pathetic, yes it has been a really long time since I posted anything much here.  I said in my last post I was taking a blog break, which is itself sort of pathetic. I admit it.  And I've got no really good excuse.  What the heck is my problem??  I guess, sometimes real life gets in the way of things :-) 

I dreamt of a Summer Vacation from work and housework; I'd read, play on the Internet, Blog, Tweet, lounge by the pool, hang with the kids.  But here it is nearly the end of Summer and I have a messy house, laundry baskets of clean laundry which should be put neatly away, tons of issues with work, haven't read much at all and have two kids who are sick of coming to work with me and running around all the time. LOL, the American Dream :-)     HOWEVER, my glass is half full!    Let's focus on the positive....

Daughter hosted an Alex's Lemonade Stand this past weekend. I am so very proud of her.  Her BFF helped out as well.  The girls have raised about $300 so far! 

Jess met and exceeded all of her reading goals for the Summer. (i'm totally jealous)  I can hardly believe she's in 5th grade this year.  Man, I am getting old.

Son has had a big Summer.  After realizing he could do it all along, he learned to swim on his own.  He even 'helps' his cousin from time to time. (Nathan really doesn't need help, he loves to swim ;-)

BUT the biggest thing for Andrew this Summer??  He finally found a book series that he enjoys enough to SIT AND READ!  This, my friends, is huge!  He does not love to read (unlike Jess who never leaves the house without a book and would spend most of her waking hours reading if she could).  He normally fights our required 15 minutes of reading.  BUT he sat the other day for a good 45 minutes and read a book or two from start to finish!  The name of the books that have captured my 8 year old son... CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS lol.  Eh, as long as he is reading, I am happy!

I am so excited for the release of MOCKINGJAY next week! Sadly here in our little corner of the world there will be no midnignt release. Becky and I will instead drag our kids to B&N first thing Tuesday morning to pick up our copies. Even more sad is that it will sit on my desk and stare at me while I work on Tuesday - how will I ever concentrate? In preparation for the big release, Husband is reading the HUNGER GAMES! This makes me happy! Well. it's more like I am forcing husband to read HUNGER GAMES, but it still makes me happy.  He is the exact opposite of me and could drag a book he likes out over months (UGH!) instead of days or hours. I am going to push him into read this faster! It'd be like slow torture to drag these books out :-)    

Rebecca and I have spent lots of time on FallenArchangel stuff this Summer.  We are so ridiculously excited about CRESCENDO!  Seriously.  It is sooooo good!  And we'll be launching a new website soon (possibly within a week!) which is a lot of work, but hopefully will be well worth it.

So, there's my Summer in a nutshell.  In less than 2 weeks my kids will be back in school, I will be back to my regular work/office hours and life will return to the routine we all love to hate. 

I really do want to be better about blogging so if anyone has any suggested blog topics for me, please leave 'em and maybe I'll be inspired! OR maybe I'll try out FormSpring, we're having some fun with that on FallenArchangel ;-)