Tag Archives for books

reading list: handle with care

this post could have easily been titled the mother of all headaches, but that would have been a little pitiful. i’ve been pretty down this week because i haven’t been able to shake this headache. it’s not really a pain, per se … more like just PRESSURE on the side of my poor little head. i’ve basically just been laying around being lazy and reading.

this book, for example, only took me a few hours to read. i just couldn’t put it down. i’ve been reading books by Jodi Picoult for as long as i can remember and they never get old. she really does her research and her books are always loaded with facts, even though the characters may be fictional – the story is always great and i always walk away feeling like i’ve learned something (without being beaten over the head with it, no pun intended).

here’s a brief description, per the author’s website.

When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain.

As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.

Handle With Care explores the knotty tangle of medical ethics and personal morality. When faced with the reality of a fetus who will be disabled, at which point should an OB counsel termination? Should a parent have the right to make that choice? How disabled is TOO disabled? And as a parent, how far would you go to take care of someone you love? Would you alienate the rest of your family? Would you be willing to lie to your friends, to your spouse, to a court? And perhaps most difficult of all – would you admit to yourself that you might not actually be lying?

this book gets a little touchy in places, but i think it’s a good read for anyone, no matter what side of the pro-life/pro-choice movement you’re on. i feel like a loot of women could inadvertently end up in this same position if some of the proposed bills against abortion that are on the table right now are passed. i can’t say what i would do in such a situation, but this book really makes you think about where you stand.
each chapter is told by one of the main characters of the book, as if it were being written as a letter toward the little girl with OI – a great strategy for a story like this because it really helps you get into the mind of everyone and see their opinions on the issue. i also love that you get exactly enough info on OI to understand the impact it’s having on this family without feeling like you’re reading a medical textbook.
if you’ve seen My Sister’s Keeper (Picoult wrote the book the movie was based on) then i can tell you the story runs along the same lines of making difficult choices. there are parts in which  started to drift off a little bit, but overall i enjoyed the story. if you decide to read it, be on the lookout for a twist at the end!
  • have you read this book or any other’s by Jodi Picoult?
  • if so, what did you think?
  • what are you reading right now?

the weekend in photographs 5.28.12

i hope everyone had a fabulous (long) weekend. mine was great for the most part … until the sickness took over. unfortunately, while most of you were enjoying your memorial day treats, this girl was suffering on the couch. the first bite of real food hit my mouth around eleven this morning – still no fun.

fortunately, i did get to enjoy a couple days with family, friends, and casey before i became bedridden. :)

kicked off the weekend early on friday with a yummy strawberry sundae at costco with my friend alyssa. a steal at $1.49. yummy!
also bought a couple of new books at a great used bookstore near my house. more on that later.

saturday morning casey went and bought a truck. don’t get me wrong, i was totally against spending the money at this point – but it’s totally worth it to see him so happy. after the rough few weeks he’s had it’s nice to see him smile. (not smiling here, unfortunately. traffic on saturday was killer).

saturday night, we hit the fair in our little home town with a couple of old friends. we very rarely get time off to go home on a saturday, so it was really nice to get out and about. btw, the ferris wheel was a phoney. i can’t get on board for a fair without a legitimate ferris wheel … this one was little baskets built for four that leaned precariously when two sat on one side. still fun, though.

me and my friend laura. this was shortly before i almost broke a rib on the himalayan. either i’m getting old or these rides are getting faster/more dangerous. we were both so sore on sunday morning but in total agreement it will happen again soon!

like a true man, my husband takes his bumper cars seriously. this photo was taken shortly before he slammed into an unsuspecting 10 year old. (i kid, i totally kid. but he was pretty serious about it.)

you can see what i mean about the phoney ferris wheel here. these are our friends laura and murray. aren’t they sweet? :)

tyson was cross eyed with happiness because he got so much attention this weekend.

just look at that face!

isn’t he so cute doing his man thing? (i always get stuck with the weed eating) in fact, that was the last thing we did before i got sick … do you think i can use that as an excuse to remove myself from future yardwork? nah, i didn’t think so either.

how was your weekend?!

FindingBeautyintheOrdinary.com

http://www.carissagraham.com/2012/04/miscellany-monday_23.html

coffee date

hello there, it’s been a while. i’m glad you’ve decided to visit again, even though the puppies were unruly last time :)

so much has happened since we last chatted, but please – let’s have some coffee and talk about you first. it’s been a long day.

the story is still the same – cream, no sugar. in fact, there is no sugar in any way shape or form in our house now. i’ll probably make you look in the pantry, just because i am so proud we’ve successfully made the adjustment. (please don’t judge me for the leftover reese egg i’m hiding in the jar on the table that casey never opens, sometimes a girl just needs her chocolate).

how is your week going? i’m sure you’re as happy as i am that it’s wednesday – lately it seems like i’m constantly counting down the days til the weekend. i hate that i wish my life away like that, maybe it’s jsut a phase.

have you read any good books lately? i’m thinking of downloading one to iBooks tonight and just curling up on the couch.

it’s been a rough few weeks here. finally, we have an answer to the health problems that casey has been having. i’m overwhelmed with pride that he has embraced the change and is making the sacrifices he must (that mt. dew addiction was fierce) to get healthy again. the scale tipped at 157 Sunday night, meaning he’s gained almost ten pounds in the one short week we’ve been managing his sugar levels. can you believe that my poor 6’1″ husband only weighed in at 148 pounds? i was horrified.

God has really blessed us that he was diagnosed with something that is manageable. when i think of the horrible things that could have been, it breaks my heart. i’ve been trying not to let my mind go there anymore.

let’s talk about something happier. can i tell you how excited i am that next weekend is memorial day? and that casey has three whole days in a row off? there i go, wishing my life away again – but there are no words for how excited i am. it’s very rare that we see each other for multiple days in a row that one of us is not sleeping. my heart goes out to all of the military spouses who must go weeks/months/or longer without seeing their loves.

and more exciting news, the company i work for has agreed to let us work cut hours for the summer, to spend more time with family. summer is an off season for travel planning (probably because people are actually traveling), so i’m fortunate enough that starting next week, i will only be working monday-friday. this came at a perfect time, because i was really starting to get frightened that i’m getting burnt out on my job. not that i don’t like my job, but that i’m just not that interested in working a 9-5. hopefully, one day i’ll be fortunate enough to turn this little blog into something that lets me stay at home. :)

do you have any exciting news this week? what are your memorial day plans?

before you leave, may i ask you to pray for me and my little family? the things that have happened in our lives over the past few months/years have been screaming at me to strengthen my relationship with God and i’ve been ignoring them. i would love for you to pray that i find peace from the stress that i put on myself. i will pray for you too, that you find as much relief in these coffee dates as i do.

just stick your cup by the sink – dishes will get done eventually. tonight, i’m going to relax.

thanks for visiting, dear friend. i hope you’ll come back soon.

hugs.

i really love these little coffee date posts. please, if you have coffee dates at your blog, leave me a link in the comments section, so that i may visit soon! :) </font>