Everyone is doing it! Reading lists, Best music list, best movies, diets, goals for the new year!
The creation of a reading list for me has been quite easy, I got some amazing books for Christmas, and so the 2014 reading list was started with these books:
-The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a historical look at the falling out of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William H Taft.
-Freaknomics by Steven Levitt and Steven Dunner . A book that Mike refers to quite often when he sees a problem un-sloved because of a lack of incentive.
-A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. A book similar to "lies my teacher told me" that is more of a setting the record straight kind of book, from our elementary learnings to actual grown up explanations about science and history.
- The book thief by Markus Zusak. Which I will read and then proceed to watch the movie.
- Mother Teresa: A complete Authorized biography by Kathryn Spink. A present from my Sister-in-law and her husband.
I also accompanied Mike to go pick up his law books for this semester of school, while I was waiting for him to get his book, I wandered around the GW bookstore and these two books caught my eye.
- Homage to Catalonia, Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. A short book that talks about the authors experience in Spain during the Spanish Civil war in 1936. I really enjoy reading about the spanish civil war, and I try and tell others about it as much as I can, I feel that it gets overshadowed by WWII, and so very few Americans ever hear about it.
-Eisenhower 1956: The Presidents Year of Crisis- Suez and the Brink of War. The title pretty much says it all, but Eisenhower is one of the presidents that I have a growing interest in due to reading the biography on J. Edgar Hoover.
The rest of my list is roll-overs from 2013, I either didn't find them at the library or they didn't seem as interesting at the time I needed a new book, or they have not been finished/published yet.
- The Way of Kings: Words Of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
- Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Bolivar: American Liberator by Marie Arana
-The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717 by Alan Gallay
- A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronals C White Jr.
- Henry Clay: The Essential American by David S Heidler
I was talking with my sister, and she mentioned that a lot of times, if she does not have a non-fiction book on her list to read, she feels like she should, and therefore never reads a fiction book, even if there is one that has caught her eye.
Reading is great no matter what you are reading, AND, if you need a good fiction book to read, I recommend The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. They are a great fiction read.
So, what is on your list?
* All links lead to Amazon. Hope they are helpful.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Tis' the season
kindness
we all say we have it; but as I work retail this holiday season i find that kindness is in short supply this time of year.
others of you who work in retail/customer service will probably second this.
What is it about this time of year that makes it harder for people to be kind?
we all say we have it; but as I work retail this holiday season i find that kindness is in short supply this time of year.
others of you who work in retail/customer service will probably second this.
What is it about this time of year that makes it harder for people to be kind?
Friday, December 13, 2013
J Edgar Hoover
This last month I read "J. Edgar Hoover" by Curt Gentry.
I saw it while we were visiting the Library of Congress back in Sept/Oct. There were several presidential books, and biographies. I used my Goodreads App bar code scanner to quickly file books that looked interesting. I just happened to scan this book. Its a great read!
I recently discovered that I do enjoy reading biographies. Once I realized this, I stopped and thought, back in high school I read a biography on General George McClelland, and I remember really liking it and going through it really quickly. Had I realized this back when I was in college I probably would have maybe majored in History, or taken more History classes.
A while back I also read "American Lion" a biography on Andrew Jackson we picked up on our way to DC from Joplin when we stopped in Tennessee. We got it at the gift shop at The Hermitage, thought we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money to take the tour of the actual house, nor did we have the three hours it takes to tour it.
So, back to the book. J Edgar Hoover lived from 1895-1972. So he is an adult during a time in history when everything is changing, and not only does he live during these years, but he has a very important job, with lots of political leverage. During his time at the FBI he sees 10 presidents come and go, and serves directly under 8 of them as director. The amount of history that he lives, and creates is honestly astounding. More importantly, the amount of corruption not only in the FBI but across all branches of government at the time is a real eye opener. There are things that the author talks about, that when you can wrap your head around the fact that they really happened, just blow your mind again. It brings into perspective our political world today.
As I was reading it, the new about NSA spying on Americans and also foreigners broke. For once, I was actually so unsurprised by this because, well, its nothing new. Really! To get all the details you will have to read the book!
One of the things I also like about these two biographies is that a bulk of the persons life is lived here in Washington DC. The places mentioned in the book are places I have rode my bike to, sat and read in, and driven by as I take Mike to Law School on rainy or snowy days.
I now am having a hard time deciding what my next biography should be. A couple of contenders are:
- Simon Bolivar
- Nelson Mandela
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Abraham Lincoln
- Benito Juarez
- Thomas Jefferson
Note that Bolivar and Lincoln I have already picked out books for. The rest I have not had a recommendation for a certain book. A Mandela bio is a new one on my list.
Do you have any recommendations on my other want to read? if so, please let me know in the comments.
I recently discovered that I do enjoy reading biographies. Once I realized this, I stopped and thought, back in high school I read a biography on General George McClelland, and I remember really liking it and going through it really quickly. Had I realized this back when I was in college I probably would have maybe majored in History, or taken more History classes.
A while back I also read "American Lion" a biography on Andrew Jackson we picked up on our way to DC from Joplin when we stopped in Tennessee. We got it at the gift shop at The Hermitage, thought we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money to take the tour of the actual house, nor did we have the three hours it takes to tour it.
So, back to the book. J Edgar Hoover lived from 1895-1972. So he is an adult during a time in history when everything is changing, and not only does he live during these years, but he has a very important job, with lots of political leverage. During his time at the FBI he sees 10 presidents come and go, and serves directly under 8 of them as director. The amount of history that he lives, and creates is honestly astounding. More importantly, the amount of corruption not only in the FBI but across all branches of government at the time is a real eye opener. There are things that the author talks about, that when you can wrap your head around the fact that they really happened, just blow your mind again. It brings into perspective our political world today.
As I was reading it, the new about NSA spying on Americans and also foreigners broke. For once, I was actually so unsurprised by this because, well, its nothing new. Really! To get all the details you will have to read the book!
One of the things I also like about these two biographies is that a bulk of the persons life is lived here in Washington DC. The places mentioned in the book are places I have rode my bike to, sat and read in, and driven by as I take Mike to Law School on rainy or snowy days.
I now am having a hard time deciding what my next biography should be. A couple of contenders are:
- Simon Bolivar
- Nelson Mandela
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Abraham Lincoln
- Benito Juarez
- Thomas Jefferson
Note that Bolivar and Lincoln I have already picked out books for. The rest I have not had a recommendation for a certain book. A Mandela bio is a new one on my list.
Do you have any recommendations on my other want to read? if so, please let me know in the comments.
Getting ready for Christmas
I enjoy Christmas,
growing up I enjoyed Christmas because it was a family centered time, with great food, and lots of presents. We never had snow or even cold temperatures in Mexico, in fact, one Christmas I remember having to scavenger hunt a gift and we went outside and I was too warm in my sweatshirt and jeans.
My family lived in the US only one year of my childhood, it was my 7th grade school year. That was the first year that we actually experienced snow with our Christmas season. There is something about the snow that makes Christmas just a little more special, the coldness driving people inside and so more time is spent together. Also, though I complain about it, the shorter days, make Christmas lights a bigger show piece.
Everyone has certain things that make December actually turn into Christmas. Its the traditions that we do that make this time of the year special. For me growing up it was:
- Decorating sugar cookies, ever since we were little its something we have always done, and not just a few, my mom and grandma would bake dozens of them that we would then have to decorate, it would take several hours, and cover more than one table.
- Pie. Thanksgiving and Christmas was the ONLY time we ever had pie, pumpkin pie. This year I have made 4 pies, and I have plans to make one more before Christmas. And then at least one more for Christmas dinner.
- Decorating. When we were little my mom would decorate, once we were bigger, us girls did more of it. We would take down all of our regular wall hangings and put up Christmas themed decor. The Christmas tree would be covered in ornaments and lights. I liked trying something new each year.
- Watching mom and dad "drain" the turkey all day on Christmas to get the juices for the gravy. It was a mixture of english and spanish, some concern about it being hot or missing the receiving container, and always a bit stressful it seemed. They now have it down pat, a twice a year routine that they do flawlessly.
- Opening presents. It was always a nice and orderly affair. Everyone opening presents in turn and everyone else watching. My younger sister used to be the present distributer, and last year it was Ela, my niece, that took over that honor.
- Stocking presents. There were three girls in the family. On Christmas morning, we would wake up, get our stockings, dump all the presents on the bed, then proceed to open them according to what they were. Each year we were pretty much guaranteed to get a new tooth brush, chap stick,or a small perfume. They were all the same, and so we would say "lets open the big square one" or "lets open the tooth brush".
As a grown up there are things that I now do, that I have added to the list.
- Present shopping. I enjoy trying to think of a lovely gift for each person. Something that they need, or that I think they would like. Its a challenge, a fun challenge. Since I work now I actually have a little to spend on people, when we were kids, there was a lot of gift making to compensate for our lack of funds.
- The snow, the last Christmas I had in Mexico was in 2003, ten years ago. Since then we have celebrated this season in the US. So along with Christmas there is cold, ice, and snow.
- Time with family. There have been a few Christmases we have not all been together. One year Erica and family were in Tennessee, and Amanda was in Illinois. It was just my parents, grandmother and I that year. The Christmases since my grandmother has passed have also felt a bit incomplete. After these things, all of the Calderon's being together has been a lot more special.
These are the things that make December into Christmas for me.
growing up I enjoyed Christmas because it was a family centered time, with great food, and lots of presents. We never had snow or even cold temperatures in Mexico, in fact, one Christmas I remember having to scavenger hunt a gift and we went outside and I was too warm in my sweatshirt and jeans.
My family lived in the US only one year of my childhood, it was my 7th grade school year. That was the first year that we actually experienced snow with our Christmas season. There is something about the snow that makes Christmas just a little more special, the coldness driving people inside and so more time is spent together. Also, though I complain about it, the shorter days, make Christmas lights a bigger show piece.
Everyone has certain things that make December actually turn into Christmas. Its the traditions that we do that make this time of the year special. For me growing up it was:
- Decorating sugar cookies, ever since we were little its something we have always done, and not just a few, my mom and grandma would bake dozens of them that we would then have to decorate, it would take several hours, and cover more than one table.
- Pie. Thanksgiving and Christmas was the ONLY time we ever had pie, pumpkin pie. This year I have made 4 pies, and I have plans to make one more before Christmas. And then at least one more for Christmas dinner.
- Decorating. When we were little my mom would decorate, once we were bigger, us girls did more of it. We would take down all of our regular wall hangings and put up Christmas themed decor. The Christmas tree would be covered in ornaments and lights. I liked trying something new each year.
- Watching mom and dad "drain" the turkey all day on Christmas to get the juices for the gravy. It was a mixture of english and spanish, some concern about it being hot or missing the receiving container, and always a bit stressful it seemed. They now have it down pat, a twice a year routine that they do flawlessly.
- Opening presents. It was always a nice and orderly affair. Everyone opening presents in turn and everyone else watching. My younger sister used to be the present distributer, and last year it was Ela, my niece, that took over that honor.
- Stocking presents. There were three girls in the family. On Christmas morning, we would wake up, get our stockings, dump all the presents on the bed, then proceed to open them according to what they were. Each year we were pretty much guaranteed to get a new tooth brush, chap stick,or a small perfume. They were all the same, and so we would say "lets open the big square one" or "lets open the tooth brush".
As a grown up there are things that I now do, that I have added to the list.
- Present shopping. I enjoy trying to think of a lovely gift for each person. Something that they need, or that I think they would like. Its a challenge, a fun challenge. Since I work now I actually have a little to spend on people, when we were kids, there was a lot of gift making to compensate for our lack of funds.
- The snow, the last Christmas I had in Mexico was in 2003, ten years ago. Since then we have celebrated this season in the US. So along with Christmas there is cold, ice, and snow.
- Time with family. There have been a few Christmases we have not all been together. One year Erica and family were in Tennessee, and Amanda was in Illinois. It was just my parents, grandmother and I that year. The Christmases since my grandmother has passed have also felt a bit incomplete. After these things, all of the Calderon's being together has been a lot more special.
These are the things that make December into Christmas for me.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Getting back to it.
Before we moved to DC I wanted to write a blog about the changes we were about to go through. I started, that was the easy part. But I was unable to motivate myself to continue writing after the first few posts. Im looking at my blog now, and in the last 4 months, I have written 10 posts. My goal was to do 2-3 a week, so I really should have more like 24-36 posts up by now.
It's a combination of things that has brought my writing to a screeching halt, and I am ok with haven taken the time to go through those things with out over analyzing them in order to be able to write about them. I'm still not sure I should, but Im going to start with the easier things.
Job hunting frustration. I enjoy working. (Correction!) I have enjoyed my last few jobs. Which makes it a lot easier to climb out of bed in the morning and go. I have been job hunting since we moved, and I had expected it to take a while for me to find a job that I would enjoy enough to motivate me most days; but not this long.
I havent found it.
Im still looking.
Its a frustrating situation.
I applied to a major retail store that I had worked for previously, because I was going crazy sitting at home trying to keep myself entertained. As I started working I put a lot of pressure on myself. In my mind I realized that this was only a part time, keep me busy while Mike is busy, don't really need it, kind of job; I wasn't treating it like that, with such easy expectation and flexibility. I became a working machine while at work, and picked up many more hours than I should have (thats a LOT of standing I was not used to). To the point that one day before work it all hit me, I didn't enjoy this job. At all.
I had put to much pressure on myself I was trying to make it something it was not. I was trying to make it more.
I was frustrated.
I had to have a talk with Mike, and then a lot of thinking and re-arranging expectations. Since then I have limited the amount of hours I will work at once, and how many shifts.
Im looking at this job now as I should have the first few weeks.
I am much less frustrated.
I have lowered my expectation of this job, I doest not have the fulfillment level that my previous jobs had, and I'm beginning to be ok with it.
I hadn't admitted it at first, but its a step back, a big step back in my "career".
I was trying to make it a step up from my previous jobs, and I think that is what was the most frustrating. Its not a step up, its definitely a step down.
But, I have found my motivator: to be able to quit this job, because I have a better job!
Thats what keeps me going, I cant wait to go in and quit this job.
It's a combination of things that has brought my writing to a screeching halt, and I am ok with haven taken the time to go through those things with out over analyzing them in order to be able to write about them. I'm still not sure I should, but Im going to start with the easier things.
Job hunting frustration. I enjoy working. (Correction!) I have enjoyed my last few jobs. Which makes it a lot easier to climb out of bed in the morning and go. I have been job hunting since we moved, and I had expected it to take a while for me to find a job that I would enjoy enough to motivate me most days; but not this long.
I havent found it.
Im still looking.
Its a frustrating situation.
I applied to a major retail store that I had worked for previously, because I was going crazy sitting at home trying to keep myself entertained. As I started working I put a lot of pressure on myself. In my mind I realized that this was only a part time, keep me busy while Mike is busy, don't really need it, kind of job; I wasn't treating it like that, with such easy expectation and flexibility. I became a working machine while at work, and picked up many more hours than I should have (thats a LOT of standing I was not used to). To the point that one day before work it all hit me, I didn't enjoy this job. At all.
I had put to much pressure on myself I was trying to make it something it was not. I was trying to make it more.
I was frustrated.
I had to have a talk with Mike, and then a lot of thinking and re-arranging expectations. Since then I have limited the amount of hours I will work at once, and how many shifts.
Im looking at this job now as I should have the first few weeks.
I am much less frustrated.
I have lowered my expectation of this job, I doest not have the fulfillment level that my previous jobs had, and I'm beginning to be ok with it.
I hadn't admitted it at first, but its a step back, a big step back in my "career".
I was trying to make it a step up from my previous jobs, and I think that is what was the most frustrating. Its not a step up, its definitely a step down.
But, I have found my motivator: to be able to quit this job, because I have a better job!
Thats what keeps me going, I cant wait to go in and quit this job.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Fantasy Football
This is the first ever time that I have participated in a Fantasy Football league. Don't judge, it had always seemed like a guy thing, and I didn't want to invade any bro-ness by asking to join. Also, Im Mexican, and it its not "futbol", didn't really seem that interesting. (unless you got to see it live)
My brother-in-law made this league for the family and a couple of close friends, so I have been very carefully keeping track of what is going on Sunday and Monday's NFL football.
This week I had my first loss. It was tragic. I had been undefeated. Last week when I went up against my husband's team we were both undefeated, but only I came out victorious. But now that I have lost a game, I find myself re-thinking my wholestrategy line up, (I really have no strategy). My WR, which ever they are, in my head I just call them my winged runners, don't ever seem to make the points they are supposed to.
Which brings me to the whole projected points thing. Its a mess, there really is no way to predict who will make points during a game, and so they change constantly.
Beggining of the game. It was pretty even, I had a 1% advantage.
A little further into the game, I had no player left, so my score was not going to go up. I was the underdog. I only got 81 points, I had been projected to get 114, you should know i was pretty stressed at this point.
But here we are at the end. His remaining players didn't score the needed amounts, and I won!
In my game against my husband, which was week 4. I was projected to loose by about 15 points. I ended up winning by a margin on about 50.
This whole thing is quite entertaining, unpredictable, and fun.
Even after my loss last week, I am still in first place in the league because I have the most points, and no one is undefeated.
My brother-in-law made this league for the family and a couple of close friends, so I have been very carefully keeping track of what is going on Sunday and Monday's NFL football.
This week I had my first loss. It was tragic. I had been undefeated. Last week when I went up against my husband's team we were both undefeated, but only I came out victorious. But now that I have lost a game, I find myself re-thinking my whole
Which brings me to the whole projected points thing. Its a mess, there really is no way to predict who will make points during a game, and so they change constantly.
In my game against my husband, which was week 4. I was projected to loose by about 15 points. I ended up winning by a margin on about 50.
This whole thing is quite entertaining, unpredictable, and fun.
Even after my loss last week, I am still in first place in the league because I have the most points, and no one is undefeated.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
October
Today is the first of October, which means its been too long since Ive written a post.
Im gonna keep it short today, and just share with you my recipe for smoothies. Mike and I got a blender as a wedding gift, and I hadn't used it before these last couple of weeks. I don't know if it will crush ice, (growing up mom had a blender, and it was quite old, it couldn't handle crushing ice).
For my smoothies I don't use ice. So it doesn't really matter.
It a really easy recipe, and you can play around with it and add what ever you want to it.
Recipe:
1 cup of milk
1 cup of frozen strawberries.
1 teaspoon of sugar (or artificial sweetener)
We have also made some where we add a scoop of frozen sherbet. We have tried it with orange and raspberry. I like the raspberry better.
Im gonna keep it short today, and just share with you my recipe for smoothies. Mike and I got a blender as a wedding gift, and I hadn't used it before these last couple of weeks. I don't know if it will crush ice, (growing up mom had a blender, and it was quite old, it couldn't handle crushing ice).
For my smoothies I don't use ice. So it doesn't really matter.
It a really easy recipe, and you can play around with it and add what ever you want to it.
Recipe:
1 cup of milk
1 cup of frozen strawberries.
1 teaspoon of sugar (or artificial sweetener)
We have also made some where we add a scoop of frozen sherbet. We have tried it with orange and raspberry. I like the raspberry better.
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