reading

For the last month friends have been sending me Flickr and Facebook requests for "25 Random Things" so I'm finally getting around to it.  Figured I'd post it to my blog as well...why not!  So if you have a blog, post your 25 Random Things and pass it on!   It's kinda fun.  I'm cheating a bit and using my Flicker "16 Things" to get me started.

Here's the deal: Once you've read this, you are supposed to write a blog post with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, comment on the blog you read this on, to let them know to read yours!

1. My first name is Christy but most of my family calls me Dawn, which is my middle name.  Most of you will notice that Jason calls me Dawn as well.
2. I moved a lot growing up resulting in living in 4 different states and going to 8 different schools.
3. I hate most types of cheese.
4. My college degree is a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration focusing on Computer Information Systems.
5. I love organizing things...it's fun...you should see my craft room.
6. My fingernails and toenails are off limits - nothing touches them and certainly nothing goes under them.
7. I drive a Ford F-150 Lariat pickup.
8. My average body temperature is 96.8 - I'm always cold.
9. I have a tattoo of a black panther on my right ankle.  I would like another one day.
10. All three of my dogs have birthdays that fall on holidays.
11. I have been pulled over 4 times but have never gotten a ticket.  Three of the four times I was pulled over for turning left on red.
12. I read four books a month, on average. Almost all fiction and trash.
13. I love to eat raw biscuit dough.
14. I used to own and maintain one of the largest pet rat web sites on the Net.
15. I can wiggle my eyeballs and freak people out .
16. Jason and I had a massive cake fight at our wedding...I started it.
17. I have a green belt in Kenpo karate.
18. Jason and I own a 6 acre plot of wooded land in Southern Indiana called "Dog Woods" that we use for camping.  We love it there and go often when the weather is nice.  We bought it partially to make it easier for our dogs to go camping with us without being leashed the entire time, hence the name.
19. I basically have 3 full time jobs - eBusiness Developer at my day job; owner of a web design/development company; Mom to a 16 year old human, 3 dogs, 3 mice, 1 cat and 1 fish.  Now you know why it has taken me so long to do this!  :P
20. I have an abnormal fear/dislike of clowns.
21. When Portia is out of high school (in 2 years), Jason and I plan to buy a 30+ acre plot of land to live on within a one hour drive of Louisville.
22. Jason and I are kicking around the idea of adopting, or possibly fostering, a fourth dog.  Preferably one with enough energy to play with Lois Lane.
23. I never had allergies until I moved back to Kentucky.  Now I have to get allergy shots to keep them at bay.  But they do wonders!
24. Jason and I joined a co-ed volleyball league and play for our local chiropractic office - go team!
25. A couple of years ago I did one of these that was "100 Things About Me".  In reading back through those things I'm surprised at how many items in that list have changed!

About ten minutes ago I finished the fourth book of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.  I really had no intention of reading them.  But the week of Christmas I took Portia and her friend to see the Twilight movie.  I was going to drop them off to see Twilight and then head to see something else on my own, but the girls talked me into seeing it.  I'm usually not into the whole vampire thing, but Portia had already read all of the books and knew I would probably like it.  So due to curiosity and the diminishing occasions where Portia actually wants me to be in her presence, I decided to give it a shot.  And then I was hooked.

After we got home I immediately asked Portia for the books.  I was in the middle of reading one of my book club books, and since I can't read more than one book at a time (personal affliction I have), it was well into January before I got a chance to start the first book.  Within about 20 days I finished the entire saga - all 2,560 pages.  I'm not a slow reader, but I'm not a particularly fast reader - I just couldn't put them down (much to Jason's dismay).  Plus they are in the "young adult" category, so a fairly easy read.  Now I'm reading the beginnings of "Midnight Sun" online, the Twilight book rewritten in Edward's perspective.  It's not complete, but it's interesting to read from a different character's view point.  If you're interested, you can download the PDF from Stephenie Meyer's blog.   (Go to the end of the first section of the page - right before the first horizontal line - and click on the link that says "Midnight Sun Chapter 1".)  It's a 246 page draft of what she was going to publish.  Her blog explains the reasoning behind not publishing it, as initially intended.

Now after reading the books, I'm interested to see the movie again.  I believe I read that it comes out on DVD on March 21.  Twilight party, anyone?  ;)

Our first book club meeting was tonight. It was fantastic! I managed to read the entire book in two hours yesterday. (I am the queen of procrastination!) Jennifer cooked a wonderful dinner of grilled swordfish with rice, salad and various dishes the other group members brought. I usually don't care for any kind of seafood, but YUM was it good!

This is my first book club experience so I really didn't know what to expect, but it was so much fun! If any of my blog readers are here local and want to join let me know. We meet once a month on Tuesday evenings for dinner and discussion. The next book is "The Moonlit Cage" by Linda Holeman and the next meeting is July 29 (*hint hint to Jenn Lee!*).

I'm also looking for future book recommendations, so if anyone has any good ones let me know! I'm already raiding Pigs' list for the next meeting deliberations. :)

Something I have always wanted to do is join a book club...and now I'm a member of one! As we were having dinner with our friend's Jennifer & Scott last week I found out that she was starting a small local book club. She asked if I was interested and I jumped at the chance to try it out. We'll be discussing our book over dinner and wine for our first meet-up. The first meeting is next week. The book of choice this month is "Amsterdam" by Ian McEwan. If anyone has read this book I'd love to hear opinions.

I have the book, but I haven't even read the first page yet, but it's only 193 pages so I should be fine. I'm already in the middle of a Patricia Cornwell book and I hate to start a new book when I'm in the middle of reading something else, but I guess I'm going to have to due to lack of time to sit and finish the other one first. I tend to stick with authors that I know and like and don't venture out much unless something is recommended to me, so I'm hoping this club will open me up to trying new authors and different types of writing styles. We'll see what happens!