My Two Blessings

Salutations once more, dear Sonic fans and bloggers, today we will be looking at some Sonic-related literature. But we're not looking at fanfiction or comics, we're looking at books featuring Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, these are Sonic books: Sonic And The Tales Of Deception and Sonic And The Tales Of Terror, all of which feature some interesting stories, so lets talk about them. If you've been dreaming of reading Sonic books that aren't comics and wanted to get your hands on some Sonic books capable of telling fun stories featuring the blue blur himself, then you're in luck. In 2018, Penguin Young Readers and SEGA came together and delivered two books within the same year. The books are what we're talking about. Sonic And The Tales of Deception along with Sonic And The Tales of Terror are three chapters long separately and tell their own stories, from Sonic fighting nanobots inside Knuckles' body to dealing with a fake future version of the bl...

Good Morning!  Since I seem to be more in a sipping mood lately rather than feasting on one book, I came up with a bookish quest.  Find the oldest or an older book, meaning purchased more than a couple years or so ago, whether it be physical or e form and read it or at least start reading it this week. For Kindle, the oldest books in my virtual stacks are  Tent Life in Siberia , a nonfiction book of essays about Siberian travel adventures and survival and David Baldacci’s  The Innocent . On my nook, is K.M. Weiland’s  A Man Called Outlaw .   I already started sipping Michael Chabon’s  Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay  last week which has been lounging on my physical shelves for quite a while.   Think I’ll look through my  bookshelves  and pull another oldie but goodie out as a secondary.   I checked Audible and discovered a few started but unfinished books, so going with the oldest which is James Rollin...

I found my next read since I finished Trevor Hudson's Pauses for Lent : 40 words for 40 days.  It should have been a no brainer but it took me a while to come back round to it.  Pauses for Pentecost:50 words for 50 days . "Pentecost is a holy day when Christians commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early followers of Jesus Christ. Originating from a Greek word meaning "50th day," Pentecost occurred 50 days after Christ's resurrection. Before the events of Pentecost, Jesus had followers, but there was no movement that could really be called the church. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church. In Pauses for Pentecost, Trevor Hudson leads readers to focus on one word and scripture verse each day. He invites us to pause for just a few minutes to read the brief daily reflection and do a simple practice. The beauty of this book is its simplicity, and the thoughtful meditations guide us to a deeper understanding of the meaning of...

Josephine Wall I learned I learned to fly  sitting on a swing,  pumping my legs  until I touched the sky. I learned to read  books filled with  rhyme and reason, sitting on my daddy’s knee I learned to sigh  reading romantic novels  full of tragic heroines and muscular gentlemen  who filled their lives. I learned to laugh  in a house full of love,  and dance and sing along with the phonograph I learned to live as life is quite fragile and you never know  when it is going to end.

So many takeaways from A Year of Writing Dangerously .  Something I have to remember and practice is that no matter what is going on around me, I shouldn't let it stop me from writing it all out.  Instead of internalizing, which I still have a habit of doing, get it all out on the page. Just write. "Did you dive into the past and write the things you were told never to air in public?" Actually I did when I was leading the Flash Nonfiction course on WVU.  I bled on the page, experiences with parents, siblings, friends, life, all out there for everyone in the class to see.  Not only was it cathartic for me, but it opened the way for the other writers in the class to release their inner editor, their inhibitions and write.   "Did you find some humor in the chaos in your life?"  Most certainly.  Stupidly getting a sunburn the day before I donned a cookie monster outfit to entertain kids for a PBS event.  Was it worth getting sick? ...

Country Charm Coloring Book

This week is my short week at work so I actually get to relax a bit and get some things done.  Naturally that doesn't always happen.   Our schedule has remained pretty much the same with both hubby and I alternating days at the shop.  What hasn't remained the same is I feel like I'm going to the grocery store every other day to pick up more water, more milk.  It kind of defeats the purpose of the stay at home order when stores limit certain products to one item. Our town has horrible tap water and Brita has failed me more than once. Crystal Geyser has saved me and thankfully, the grocery store I frequent weekly knows me so they don't limit how many I get each week. Buying it in the store is much cheaper than delivery.  Unfortunately this local food store isn't at the top of the food chain and has been out of paper products for a month and eggs go pretty quickly. Sunday I went to Food Source for the first time and found what we needed along with multi...

Freedom In The Cross by  Olivia Lakis Published: April 2017 There's something that occurred on that evening at Calvary that created such a lavish stir in all of history. Upon that old rugged cross our Savior bared it all and offered himself a sacrifice to overspread humanity's fall. The sacred blood that was spilled wiped clean the sinner's slate. Christ paid the price for everyone and carried our weight. A willing heart endured the pain, and purpose paved His way. He opened the eyes of every man To whom He came to save. Though the tragedy of that day will be mourned by those around, our joy is found three days later when He arose from the very ground. And through that selfless act of love, we were given new life in Him, set loose from our bondages to experience true freedom within.

3 a.m. fragments No idea what woke me up, I try to fall back asleep. Images coalesce and scrape and scurry  across the backdrop of my mind. Are blades of grass like grains of sand with  a story in every one? A memory of childhood playing eye spy, fascinated by insects on the lawn.  A ladybug clings to the green before winging away.  A bug you can't quite identify, stalks an ant through the jungle of grass. Innocent hours while away the day. A far sadder thought knocks open another door. You took copious notes, two hours on the phone, as she reported another argument gone awry. Just when you thought she was out, she's not. The pastor thinks he can heal him, her, them. He promises again to change if she'll stay. He promises again they'll work it out..someday. Each day is different with he said, she said. The restraining order so painstakingly filled out as you listened to her cry; he lies, she tries. Remnants of their tattered tales...

Bell He sat in silence,  waiting for the bell. A single ring, a tone.  An alert to him know if he could move or go. Let him know he could get on with his life. All he had to do? Pick up the phone and listen. No words or questions, grunts or groans. Wait for a simple yes or no which would change  the rest of his life. Little did he know,  the line had been cut. An experiment to see  what he would do and be. The one on the other side didn't care one little bit. A dangerous tease just because he believed that  which he didn't know. He could have  picked up the phone, or walked out the door. Yet he sat and waited.  Useless, no initiative. Let himself be held hostage to those who didn't care. The one walked away, into the day, the week, the year, without a thought,  without looking back. Nor did the one wonder  how long he sat waiting for the bell.

Thinking - David Restivo  Convictions Why would you choose to go along like a sheep? Instead of a wolf and take an independent leap. They said, you must. But was it just, As you look back at reality. Who is the judge, who gave you the nudge to live conditionally? You've never been one to obey the rules. You bend, you lean, you turn around to find that which is out of bounds and make it fit to suit yourself. Why would you go along? It had never been asked, when you were tasked to take a stand,  to be strong. Why would you go along rather than sing an independent song?

Come on in, grab and seat, and join me for a margarita and let's talk books.  My reading slowed way way down during March.  I think everyone has been having a hard time concentrating on books lately.  I can't settle on any one book right now and have been dipping in and out of a few books:  Lee Child's Night School in his Jack Reacher series, Claude and Camille by Stephanie Storey, Arrows Flight by Mercedes Lackey between watching White House briefings, keeping up with our governor's latest, what's happening in our county, and general news.  I think I need to take a news break because it only creates more anxiety.  My 52 books group is diving into The Fellowship of the Ring , the first book in the Lord of the Rings series, which should serve as a great diversion.  During the month of May I read 6 physical books and 3 ebooks.  James and I are still listening to an audiobook of Godzilla , and I've been listening to Faith Hunter's 2nd book ...

One of the best resources we ever discovered was through Five in a Row created by  Jane and Steve Lambert, utilizing  outstanding children's books. There are different guides for different ages and each  volume has a choice of approximately 16 books. You pick a book from the guide and read it everyday for a week. The guide is simple to use and everything is laid out for you. They provide step-by-step instructions for teaching social studies, language, art, math, and science.  Some weeks we choose to simply read the book and talk about it. Other weeks we dove into the lessons and activities.  Many of these books came out in the early 30's, 40's, 50's so you may have read some of them when you were little.  Most of the books are available through Libraries on Overdrive, online stores in physical form as well as ebook and audiobook.  I prefered buying the books. We have a tendency to read the books over and over and over again.  We had ...

Kitten Cuddles Dawn, soon eyes open Warm pink skies, kitten cuddles bed too warm to leave

Hello, ladies and gents.  We are in an unprecedented time in which many, many parents are being asked to homeschool their kids for a while.  We started homeschooling our son in kindergarten and although we didn't plan on it, continued all the way through until he graduated from high school.  I won't say it was easy, but you really get to know your child, his learning abilities, his interests, and yes, the things he hates.  I decided to share a bit from our years of homeschooling in hopes it will help you, if even a tiny bit.  This is a repost from 2007.   What is your Learning Style?  The ladies and gentlemen (yes, there are stay at home dads) from the Well Trained Mind forums are a font of information. Some had been home schooling their children for a couple years to eighteen years. Yes, some people do home school their kids from kindergarten to High School. They guided me to so many different books to read about learning styles and ev...

"I write on paper with a dipped pen and ink and type on a manual typewriter in order to have three dimensional activities with my hands- but again and again, I discover how far words are capable of going, both in the world and on the page. " ~ Susan Minot. Paper and Pen dipped in ink. Words. Rambling and disjointed, pointed, purposeful. Images formed, a tale told and retold. Torn apart; blended, thoughts and plans ebb  like the tide. New elements of life abandoned, found. Circular, Ideas flow. Lessons to learn, Time to think. Paper and pen dipped in ink.