What I'm Reading - October 27

The Almost Moon is Alice Sebold's follow-up to the Lovely Bones. Lovely Bones was incredilby graphic and hard to take. Almost Moon is, conversely, easy to read and incredibly real. The protoganist begins the story by explaining how easy it was to kill her Mother and works backward. No offense, Mom, but after reading this I definitely side with the daughter!

Look Me In the Eye is the first novel by the brother of the man who wrote Running With Scizzors. Look Me In the Eye is a non-fiction account of his Asperger's situation and how his life has unfolded. Since the author is in his 50's he didn't discover he had Aspergers until his late 30's. He explains his incredible coping mechanisms and how he has managed to become a successful adult. Incredibly interesting and a must read for individuals with Autism spectrum people in their lives.h

Addie's confirmation

What a day! Addie received the sacrament of Confirmation - which is the early adult form of baptism in our faith. I had such wonderful memories of the day that Addie got Baptized! We had our wonderful priest, Father Spychala. My grandmother was in attendance and we took pictures of four generations of Otto/Felling/Smith women. So many incredible friends were there - Kristen, Wendy, Cheryl, Bruce and Eleanor, Phil and Brian, etc... It was a glorious day at St. Mary's in Old Towne Alexandria and a glorious day at All Saints in Manassas.

On another note, Maggie wore a new outfit today. Sounds pretty superficial but it's not. I acquired Maggie's outfit when she was in utero. When she was in the NICU I many times thought of throwing it out. When she was in the PICU I often thought of the wonderful home it could have at the Salvation Army - many times at 2 and 3 a.m. I thought that she would never wear it and that she wouldn't be large enough to wear it. Eight and a half years later - here she is. Unbelievable. Have a great day.

I visited Seattle, Washington this week attending the annual Educause. I think this is my 15th consecutive attendance! In between sessions I ran down to Pike Place Market and was able to see the fishermen throwing fish just caught that morning. What a trip! Seattle is a gorgeous town and I was so fortunate to see many old friends, clients, partners and the like.

While at Pike Place Market my friend, Laurel and I ate at the diner where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed. If you look closely at the pic on the left you'll see that Tom Hanks sat in the left seat and Rob Reiner sat on the right one. The food was good, the view of Mt. Olympus was incredible and the company was super. I haven't been to Seattle in 6 years and can't wait to get back.

What I'm Reading this Week

I probably couldn't have selected a worse book to read while fasting but this week relished the book Eat. Pray. Love. This non-fictional work follows the one year journey of newly divorced Liz who receives an advance from her publisher to write a book. She decides to travel for a year and journal her trip. Each third of the book is dedicated to a different country - Eat is Italy, Pray is India and Love is Indonesia - specifically Bali.

In Italy Liz literally eats her way across the country gaining 23 pounds in 4 months - that's a feat! She doesn't exercise, learns how to speak Italian and comes to grips with her newly divorced status. In India she lives on an Ashram and learns how to talk and more importantly listen to herself. She also figures out how to leave her imploded marriage behind her. As you might guess she learns how to love again in Indonesia. Love completely unlike what she has experienced previously but incredibly fulfilling.

Don't read this book when you're hungry, but do read it when you want to be transported to another place where a woman comes into her own.

The Ten Day Master Cleanse

Wow! The past two weeks have been interesting. After copious research I decided to undertake the 10 day master cleanse. What is a master cleanse you may be thinking? A master cleanse is 10 days of drinking voluminous amounts of body cleansing fluids, including a LOT of water, and ingesting absolutely NO food. Why on earth would an individual undergo something so tortous? There are many reasons but the ones that appealled to me involved the cleansing of internal organs that results in more energy, more restful sleep and a healthier outlook on life.

How was it? I'll be honest, I was tired, hungry and unable to exercise but I knew inside that on the 11th day I would be renewed inside and out. I would liken the 10 days to when I competed in a marathon a few years ago. Going 26.2 miles isn't equal parts physical and mental - I'm convinced that it's 80% mental - just knowing that you can conquer this feat is such a large part. That's exactly how the Master Cleanse was for me - I knew I could do it - I did waver a few times but at the end I was left with a renewed sense of confidence in myself and my abilities.

How do I feel? In a word - GREAT! I want to eat only healthy food, I am sleeping like a rock and have energy long past where I was a few weeks ago. My mental acuity is fresh and revitalized. I'm glad I did it and am the better for it.

What I'm Reading

Wow! Many thanks to United Airlines for the unexpected six extra hours of reading I got in last week!! Got to love those "delayed" flights! Here's what I've read in the last couple weeks. Feel free to comment if you're interested or let me know what you're reading:

1. Wikinomics - awesome book if you'd like to understand the many aspects of networking available on the web these days. If the terms Facebook and MySpace are foreign concepts or if you have a fledgling teen in your family this is a must read. I also wholeheartedly recommended it to my audience last week at ACCT where I presented on Social Networking and it's impact on the Community College.
2. Expecting Adam - a poignant work of non-fiction from a Harvard professor who discovers the child she's carrying has Down's Syndrome. Clearly this topic is close to my heart, but I found this tome to be remarkably uplifting and refreshing.
3. Glass Castle - I'm on a non-fiction roll right now! If you've ever read Angela's Ashes and enjoyed it this work is for you. I'd classify it as Angela's Ashes set in American Appalachia. A fascinating look at incredibly bad parenting with remarkable results for their children. Really thought provoking.
4. I Was a Great Mom Until I Had Kids - this is hysterical. For any mother out there who has had guilty thoughts about running away from it all - this one will have you in stitches! The two authors interviewed thousands of mothers from all walks of life and have come up with some incredibly funny stories.