Precious Time

I have been inspired by another blogger, Noel, to give up something for a week and do something special with that time. I do not think I could go without reading for an entire week, so I was thinking of something else to give up. I was having a hard time, but then I realized what I should renounce: TV.

I am going to go a week without any TV. I don’t know how hard this will be, but I know it will be useful.

Now, I don’t spend insane amounts of time watching TV every day; in fact, during the school week I hardly have the time, but there are those few moments. I will be in the middle of something, and happen to walk past our living room where someone has the TV on. I will think a line was funny, and go in and sit down for a moment; and before you know it, a half hour of my time had disappeared. A similar thing happens on Saturday mornings: I will plan on just watching an episode or two, and the next thing I know it's time to eat lunch. All that valuable time wasted.

So, I am renouncing TV for a week. During that time I hope to read more, and maybe even start editing that novel I wrote a while ago. Who knows? Anything is possible, with the right amount of motivation and time.

Meet the Austins

This past month has been dark, wet, and a grumpy kind of month that caused me to be out of a reading mood. This is why I have been so long in getting this post in. Finally, someone suggested I read Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'engle, and I am glad I picked it up.

Maggy's mother died, and then just a few months later her dad dies. Maggy was supposed to go to Elena and Hal, but Hal died in the same plane crash Maggy's father died in; so she can’t go there. One of Elena's good friends and old collage roommates takes on the responsibility with her husband, Dr. Austin, and their four children, John, Victoria, Suzy, and Rob. Now, they all have to cope with another child, Maggy.

It takes all five children a long time to get used to each other, the Austins coming from 'a different world' than Maggy, but through the many struggles and problems they finally begin to understand each other in new ways.

My favorite character was hard to decide. It was between the oldest, John, and the youngest and most innocent, Rob. In the end I chose John because he was the oldest, and went through the most, and had to take and keep charge and order, and keep everyone safe. It seems to me he was the big brother that everyone looked up to.

I laughed along with all the characters, was upset when they got into trouble, and when frantic as they faced with many different problems.

(I have decided I am not going to 'rate' books anymore, it’s too hard for me to decide what number it should get, when I like almost any book I read.)