You may have noticed my absence from writing reviews these past couple of weeks. I have a new job! I’m pursuing my dream of becoming a college instructor and have been hired by Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay to start the new Environmental Engineering Technology program. I love Environmental Engineering even more than I love Jane Austen, so I am very excited about this opportunity. I have been teaching a class as an adjunct instructor this semester and have really enjoyed it. I’ll be spending the summer developing curriculum and will start teaching the environmental program this fall. This past month has been particularly hectic trying to finish up work for my past job, start my new job full time, and also finish up teaching my class (on a separate contract). Things will get slightly better after this week when my class is finished and I just have one full time job. Well, technically I am still employed by my previous employer on a part-time as needed basis, but I will have zero hours for now.
What does this mean for Laura’s Reviews? Going from part time to full time with three kids will leave me with less time for writing reviews. I will hopefully still be able to write over the weekend and post at that time or during the week. I now have a 50 minute drive to work and a 50 minute drive home from work each day. . . which means more audiobooks!! I’ve got a few already on back log that I need to post reviews.
So please bear with me during these changes. I will hopefully have the winner for Mr. Darcy Forever posted soon and also the link for the May reviews for the Victorian Challenge. Until then, just post your reviews on the April link. Thank-you for your patience.
Showing posts with label About Laura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label About Laura. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 2, 2011
How can you read so much?
I am often asked the question, “How can you read so much?” or “How do you have so much time read?” I often puzzle wondering, how can I not read so much?I admit there are times when I read more than usual. This year I’m reading a lot as I nurse my newborn daughter, but won’t have quite as much time to read when I’m done with nursing. When I lived in Milwaukee, I took the “Freeway Flyer” bus to work and had a solid 45-minutes to read twice a day on my way and from work. It was so much better than fighting traffic.
I think overall though is that there is always time for me to read because I make it that way. I have read before I go to bed every night since I was about eight years old. When other people watch TV to relax, I pop open a book and read. When the kids want to watch “Bob the Builder,” I sit with them, but am reading my book instead. When I have to sit in a waiting room for any reason, I always have a book with me to read. When I’m in my car for a trip alone (which only seems to happen for work related reason these days), I listen to an audiobook. When the kids are with me, we listen to kid audiobooks. When I’m doing the dishes I listen to an audiobook. Wherever I go, I have a book with me. Even if it is for a minute, I’ll open it up and read it.
I’m good at being able to open a book and only read a bit and put it down. My husband is not, once he starts reading, he can’t stop. This is a problem. I do sometimes run into this at night when I’m really into a book and spend half the night reading it instead of sleeping.
I think I also must be a fast reader compared to most. I have no basis for this besides great reading comprehension test scores in my youth and the fact that I seem to be able to read a lot of books throughout a year. I have noticed other readers/bloggers online that put me to shame though on how many books they are able to read!
Are you ever asked the question “how can you read so many books?” What is your answer?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
What’s in a Name? Welcome to Penelope Rose . . .
I had my baby this past Friday, Penelope Rose Ger
old. Penelope is Ben and my third child, and our first daughter.
Unlike our sons, Ben and I had a hard time agreeing on a name for a daughter. I discovered that Ben is very picky about girl names. When we went through the social security’s list of the top 1000 girl names, Ben only liked maybe two names on the list. We had named the boys after family members, but Ben vetoed almost every family member name. So where did we get the name Penelope Rose?
A few years ago, I was listening to an audiobook in the kitchen and Ben wandered in. The main character’s best friend was named Penelope, but she was often called Pen or Penny. Ben heard the name Penelope and said, “I like that name.” I instantly took note as it is not often that he likes a girl name.
I’ve liked the name Penelope since I was in middle school and obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology. I loved Penelope in the Odyssey. Although her husband, Odysseus, is gone for twenty years fighting the Trojan War and having quite the adventure trying to return home, Penelope remains a faithful wife. She is a strong and smart female character. After Odysseus fails to return home after the war, Penelope is beset with 108 suitors. Penelope tells her suitors that she cannot remarry until she finishes weaving a burial shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes, and undoes her work every night to delay the time when she will have to pick a suitor. Eventually Odysseus returns and they are happily reunited.
I also admit to loving the name Penelope in more modern entertainment too. Ben and I
loved Lost, and I loved the romance between Desmond and Penelope Widmore. In fact, I always wondered if her name was chosen by the series writers as a nod to the faithful Penelope of the Odyssey as Penelope Widmore remains true to Desmond throughout the years and continues her search for him until they are happily reunited. Penelope might have to endure
“Not Penny’s Boat” from us in future years and wonder what the heck we are talking about.
We chose the middle name Rose after Ben’s great-grandmother. We had two names selected as finalists, and we let our son Kile chose the final name. He selected Penelope Rose and is very proud of himself for getting to name his baby sister. He says we cannot call her Penny as her name is Penelope. We’ll see how long that lasts!
The boys are excited to have a new baby sister and Penelope is a very mild baby so far. Three kids four and under is a lot of work; therefore things may be a little slow on this blog for the next few months. Please have patience and know that I am still reading and watching, but it may take a bit longer to post my reviews!
old. Penelope is Ben and my third child, and our first daughter.
Unlike our sons, Ben and I had a hard time agreeing on a name for a daughter. I discovered that Ben is very picky about girl names. When we went through the social security’s list of the top 1000 girl names, Ben only liked maybe two names on the list. We had named the boys after family members, but Ben vetoed almost every family member name. So where did we get the name Penelope Rose?
A few years ago, I was listening to an audiobook in the kitchen and Ben wandered in. The main character’s best friend was named Penelope, but she was often called Pen or Penny. Ben heard the name Penelope and said, “I like that name.” I instantly took note as it is not often that he likes a girl name.
I’ve liked the name Penelope since I was in middle school and obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology. I loved Penelope in the Odyssey. Although her husband, Odysseus, is gone for twenty years fighting the Trojan War and having quite the adventure trying to return home, Penelope remains a faithful wife. She is a strong and smart female character. After Odysseus fails to return home after the war, Penelope is beset with 108 suitors. Penelope tells her suitors that she cannot remarry until she finishes weaving a burial shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes, and undoes her work every night to delay the time when she will have to pick a suitor. Eventually Odysseus returns and they are happily reunited.
I also admit to loving the name Penelope in more modern entertainment too. Ben and I
loved Lost, and I loved the romance between Desmond and Penelope Widmore. In fact, I always wondered if her name was chosen by the series writers as a nod to the faithful Penelope of the Odyssey as Penelope Widmore remains true to Desmond throughout the years and continues her search for him until they are happily reunited. Penelope might have to endure
We chose the middle name Rose after Ben’s great-grandmother. We had two names selected as finalists, and we let our son Kile chose the final name. He selected Penelope Rose and is very proud of himself for getting to name his baby sister. He says we cannot call her Penny as her name is Penelope. We’ll see how long that lasts!
The boys are excited to have a new baby sister and Penelope is a very mild baby so far. Three kids four and under is a lot of work; therefore things may be a little slow on this blog for the next few months. Please have patience and know that I am still reading and watching, but it may take a bit longer to post my reviews!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Where is Laura?
I have been missing in action from my blog for awhile. If any of you followed my blog back in 2007 and 2008 you will notice similar disappearances. I am expecting Baby Gerold Number Three on October 23rd . . . so there will probably be another disappearance from me later this year!
While the new baby is good news, the bad news is that I have Hyperemesis gravidarum for the third time. From my friends at Wikipedia, “Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a severe form of morning sickness, with "unrelenting, excessive pregnancy-related nausea and/or vomiting that prevents adequate intake of food and fluids." Hyperemesis is considered a rare complication of pregnancy. Estimates of the percentage of pregnant women afflicted range from 0.3% to 2.0%.” I have lost 20 lbs so far and am feeling far from fine. Needless to say I haven’t been able to spend much time on my blog.
I have been reading a lot and have a couple giant stacks of books next to my computer that I need to complete reviews. In order to do this in a somewhat timely fashion my reviews are going to be in brief until I catch up. I also have winners to announce from the past three giveaways. I promise that it will happen sometime in the next couple of weeks. So bear with me and hopefully things will be back to normal soon!
While the new baby is good news, the bad news is that I have Hyperemesis gravidarum for the third time. From my friends at Wikipedia, “Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a severe form of morning sickness, with "unrelenting, excessive pregnancy-related nausea and/or vomiting that prevents adequate intake of food and fluids." Hyperemesis is considered a rare complication of pregnancy. Estimates of the percentage of pregnant women afflicted range from 0.3% to 2.0%.” I have lost 20 lbs so far and am feeling far from fine. Needless to say I haven’t been able to spend much time on my blog.
I have been reading a lot and have a couple giant stacks of books next to my computer that I need to complete reviews. In order to do this in a somewhat timely fashion my reviews are going to be in brief until I catch up. I also have winners to announce from the past three giveaways. I promise that it will happen sometime in the next couple of weeks. So bear with me and hopefully things will be back to normal soon!
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