It's my blog and I'll post what I want to

So, I finally got to the good part in Duma Key and couldn't put the book down last night. All Stephen King aficionados realize that his books start out slowly and gradually build until it's 2:00am and you have to get up in four hours but just want to read one more chapter... You would think I could have seen this coming and put the book down at 9:00pm like a good girl. In fact, I did set the alarm for 9:00pm. I just chose to read one more chapter.

Of course, I scared the hell out of myself and couldn't sleep after I turned the lights out. But then, that's what I have dogs for. Something tells me that they don't mind sleeping in the bed every now and then. In fact, I believe they would buy me more scary books if they could. And even though I know that Casey is a big wuss, I am confident that she would at least bark at any ghosts/scary strangers, and Blue would leap to my defense. They make a good team, those two. Between those two, and Laney who patrols the house for tiny threats (i.e. spiders, ants, random other creatures with more than four legs) I think I'm safe. It's a good thing since I've got about 100 more pages to read tonight.

< Side note >: my boss thinks it's HILARIOUS that I love to read scary books, watch scary movies, own pit bulls and am terrified of cockroaches. I tried to explain the definition of phobia to him, but he just kept saying, "If you know it's irrational, can't you just talk yourself out of it?" Well, at this moment, yes. When faced with a cockroach, not so much.

His wife then pointed out, "You know that when living in a house, you're going to have to deal with spiders, roaches, mice, etc. Right?" Hmmm... No, actually, I hadn't thought of that. Mice? Meh. Spiders? Well, Laney's getting older, but she is still the spider killer. (with the unfortunate tendency of leaving her conquests in my shoes....but still, dead spiders are better than live spiders.) But roaches? Um, no one signed me up for roaches. Yeesh. Can't wait until I see my first one of those. Anyone willing to be my emergency contact cockroach killer? < /Side Note >

After a rough period of adjustment, I think I'm okay with summer life sans school. For a while there, I was not doing a damn thing. My body seemed to think that if I didn't take advantage of the free time while I had it, I would never have it again. I think I've now convinced myself that I have a few months, and it's okay to move around some....I do not have to permanently affix myself to the couch. Oh, and I can read books that aren't school related. Yay for books! And movies! Now that I can do irresponsible things like read until 2:00am with no severe repercussions, I can surely go to the first showing of this movie. It's at 12:01am on Thursday, May 22nd. Who's with me?? (Oh, and if you're not super excited about that movie, we can no longer be friends...)

I do find myself more choosy with movies and books now, however. I never claimed that my taste in books was flawless, but I do have some relationships with authors that go way back and have stood the test of time... They're my tried-and-true-buy-the-hardcover-version-when-released relationships. Luckily, they don't demand exclusivity, and I've had the occasional casual dalliance with other authors in the past. If these new authors disappoint me, meh. It's not like we're exclusive. However now - while I am getting used to the free time, part of me also realizes that it's not forever. If I'm going to get involved with an author, it's got to be worth my time. So while I had a casual fling once with Emily Giffin, she burned me once, so now I'm not so sure I'm willing to spend time on her latest endeavor. Does anyone have any sure-fire suggestions that I can spend my precious free time on? I've already got the Chronicles of Narnia on my list (no, I never read them when I was young) as well as the Golden Compass series. I would also like to read the latest by Khaled Hosseini, The Other Boleyn Girl... The list goes on and on, but I'm always open for suggestions. Anyone? I've got this $25 gift certificate to amazon.com just burning a hole in my pocket.

Finally, to wrap up the randomness, it's confirmed that Blue is here to stay.
I can officially no longer foster, dogsit, adopt, or even LOOK at another dog. I am full. I am officially the crazy lady with all the animals. Sigh. But in my defense, here's a picture of Blue's "piggy face." This is how he looks when he's completely content and curled up on your lap. How could I resist?