OTHER: what I'm reading

How in the world am I ever going to get back into the real world of work in September?
It takes me all morning to get through my 'reading' before I even pick up a book.

First, I roll out of bed, hopefully by nine o'clock. Seriously, I am so lazy these days and since my children have figured out how to pour a bowl of cereal themselves, I don't have to be up.
I read the local paper, focusing on the letters to the editor and the obituaries. (I live in a small community, and funerals and wakes are a big deal here.) Then I turn on the computer, my downfall. Check gmails. It seems the readers of the yahoo novel group stay up late chatting about their challenges, because every morning I need to take while to get caught up. There are new challenges afoot I believe, *rubs hands with glee*

I first started blogging on Livejournal, and I read my friends page there. With an assortment of communities, including recipes, teaching, and reading challenges - my first, the 50 book challenge is a great place to read reviews and get ideas, plus the coolest site: bento lunches. I get hungry there every day, and yet, still only manage to toss some grilled cheese in the pan for my own kids. C'est la vie of the lazy woman.

Next, I feed my TV fix with the snark that is Television Without Pity. They do hilarious recaps of shows, such as Hell's Kitchen and Big Brother,my summer TV fare. The forums are an abyss I try to avoid getting sucked into, because I could read for hours the analysis and speculations that go on there. This fall, the Lost stuff will really pick up, but there is almost too much to wade through.

For some reason, I have a compulsion to do the daily jobs at Webkinz everyday. Now, these are really my kids toys and games, but for a computer gamer like myself, it is quite addictive. Most parents I know reluctantly admit they play more on the site than their kids.
Luckily this summer I found out about blogreader on my gmail, which helps me not spend all day checking on my reader pal's blogs. It has helped me a lot.

In real reading news, I am 30 pages from finishing We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin and 80 pages from finishing Jane Eyre. These books have taken me forever, or 3 weeks to read. I think it's because I have to think a little more and cannot scan-read like I usually do. It's slowing me down, this real reading I'm doing. I can feel my brain growing though, three times its usual size.(2 points for the first person who gets that allusion)

Books I am hoping to get to before the end of August include:
Inkheart somthing about me challenge
The God of Small Things book awards challenge
Ender's Game something about me challenge
Cloud of Bones random house book
Special Topics in Calamity Physics nyt notable books challenge
and poor Never Let Me Go, dystopian challenge,which has been on every month's reading list since April. Maybe this month!

I think we are going to go here this weekend, with my sister and her family and my parents. Looks like a lot of fun. I'm definitely ordering a meal to be cooked at the table. mmm