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Hello to all of my happy readers!!!
Ummmm...wait! I simply can't believe that it is December. I feel like time is currently on hyperdrive. We hosted Ben's family and friends for the day before Thanksgiving, and it was a lot of fun: so much food and laughter and kiddos running around shooting us with Nerf guns when we left the dining room area. I loved hearing all the giggling.
I had such a truly lovely time at our Anniversary party. My team really worked so hard and I could not be prouder. Every year I am reminded of just how much my team is willing to do, and the sacrifices and hard work that go into that.
I know we have shared with many of you over the last year that our Jaycee had a family member that was fighting terminal cancer, and I am sorry to inform all that she passed on Black Friday. She was just 28 and she left 2 beautiful and young kiddos behind. They have some funds for now from a GoFundMe that was done while she was still alive, but I want to do something for these kiddos for when they get older. This is such a terrible thing that they have gone through and will suffer for many years to come. I would like to start a custodial account for each one of them and I would like to politely ask anyone that feels led to do so, please consider donating to it. You can either give the money directly to me, or I will soon have a location locally where you can go directly and make deposits there. I just want to do something for them. Please let me know if you have questions. Thank you for loving on our Jaycee. Also, a hug is good, a note left is nice, a coffee is lovely, but not talking about it at work is simply the best. It is very hard to carry these big feelings around all day.
On a bit of a lighter note... my boys are all coming home for the holidays!!!! I can NOT wait. I am so excited about this. I will work through Christmas Eve and then take off the week following Christmas to spend some time with my babies! And Janet has a birthday over the break as well!
Speaking of birthdays.. we get to celebrate one of my very favorite humans on this whole planet.....OUR AMBERLY!!! On Sunday, December 17th we will celebrate our sweet human in a private party celebration! Please feel free to stop in on Saturday, December 16th to wish her a very "Happy Birthday". She works Saturday and not Sunday.
I had a really good month of reading and listening to books - I read Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain, by Margaret Wilson. I very, very much enjoyed this book. Written by Margaret- she chronicles the life of real-life fishing captain, Thurídur. This book takes place from the late 1700s to the early and mid 1800s. There were moments where it was a little tricky with names, and some of it was on the dry side because it was so fact based. Overall, I learned a ton, I very much enjoyed this book, and it made me appreciate Iceland all the more. I also read Cinderella Evidence, by Bruce Rolfe. He asked me to read this book for my newsletter review. I like Chip the Handyman, the main protagonist, he is likable and a good grandpa and reminded me of my grandparents. The mystery is interesting and it moves along nicely. The dialogue could have been stronger and more organic, in my opinion. A good local mystery to read. I read Super Boba Cafe, by Nidhi Chanani- I read it to my daughter who is almost 9. Super Boba Cafe is a graphic novel perfect for ages 6 to 10. It is so fun and a really good read aloud. There is boba tea and prairie dogs- what is NOT to love! I listened to Nineteen Steps, by Millie Bobby Brown, I was soooo pleasantly surprised. This is a historical fiction novel that takes place during World War II. I will say that I liked all of the characters and the story was very interesting. The local people in this one area of London go down nineteen steps into the "tube", which is the name for incomplete train stations, to seek shelter from potential raids. This book looks at families, love, coming of age and forgiveness. I also listened to The Five Family Money Conversations, by Taylor and Megan Kovar. This book explained a lot about the different personalities that we have when it comes to money. I would listen to it again, and I would recommend it to my kids. I also would look at some of their other material. I listened to Check & Mate, by Ali Hazelwood. This is a young adult novel and it was so stinking fun I could NOT stop listening to it. It is sexy and there is sexy language, however the majority of the book follows this one character, Mallory- who was sort of a chess prodigy and she stopped playing for reasons revealed later in the book. Due to life happening she picks it up again and it is really fun. Reminded me a lot of Twilight but thankfully without the sparkle and the vampires. I also listened to In the Form of a Question, by Amy Schneider - I was soooooo wanting to read this book, I think this lovely human won 40 straight weeks on Jeopardy. This book is a very intelligent, transparent and a really honest look at someone who was assigned male at birth and did a late in-life transition to female. I learned so much and I gasped a lot. She spends a great deal of time talking about what being on Jeopardy was like and what it is like to become famous late in life.
This month I am going to read the new book from Laurie Frankel, Family Family. I have simply loved her other books and I am about 40 pages in so far. This title is not out till January. I will report later, it is a little longer than I like to read. I also want to read Annie Bot, by Sierra Greer, this title is out in March. It is an AI novel and if you know me, I am sooooo intrigued by books about AI/robots. I will report back. I hope to listen to Betting on You, by Lynn Painter- it is another YA novel and I could use something a little on the lighter side. I also hope to listen to Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson. This is the same author that wrote, Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone, I just really like the way that he writes. I also hope to listen to The Mystery Guest, by Nita Prose. I know very little about it, just peaked my interest.
Happy Reading and Stay Safe!
Brandy~
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