this week

So. I woke up Sunday with a sore throat, that generally means I'm getting sick. I decided to go to Target and Dollar Tree to shop for my Easter basket and start a spending freeze on Monday. I'll show you what I got on Easter. I bought a bug Easter basket on clearance years ago at Hobby Lobby. I'd been wanting it since I saw it at the beginning of the season. Here's a picture from last year:

How cute is he?
I don't know how much I paid for it, but I think it was about $15 or so to begin with. I had a few items in my Easter basket and then I'd get hungry and it would disappear. I covered my basket with plastic bags because if I can't see what's in there, I won't get distracted with it.
I don't recall much of what I did this week, I've been really tired and sniffly and sneezy and maybe a few other dwarves. I've been trying to go to bed early and just not do much, it's been really exciting.
Wednesday, I must have felt a bit better (it could have been the pop I drank after work) because I stayed up until about 1AM creating. I was trying to get some pocket letters done to mail out today. I've started having Fridays be my mailing days. I like just going to the post office once a week instead of multiple times a week. My job is a block away from the post office and I live about three blocks away, so it's not like it's out of my way or anything.
I did buy the peachy cheap deal today because it was a grab bag and that's the whole reason I signed up for the peachy cheap deals, I'll be interested to see what I get. I'm a little worried about getting dies, but I figure I'll find someone to swap with.
I got a $20 gift card for spellbinders through a YouTube video. I didn't realize I was getting a gift code/card to spellbinders when I signed up, I know I could have deleted my comment, but I didn't think about it. So, I won one of them, I've never found it so hard to find something to buy. I don't have a die cutting machine and I don't use stamps very much. I got my order today:

 Everything is out of their clearance section. The total was $19.45, I'm not going back to spend the rest of the $0.55, or the points they keep saying I earned.

 These are Media Mixage Birds One Metal Blanks, basically just four metal bird shapes, they were $2.99

 I didn't read the description on this but thought it was a 12x12. It's actually a 6x6 with thin double sided paper, it's called Media Mixage Ephemera Papers Two Paper. I picked up two at $2.49 each. The designs are nice and I'm sure I'll find a use for them.

 This is a three pack of trims, I also didn't really read the description, I thought I was just getting the second trim. It's called A Gilded Life Antique Gold Trim Embellishments, it was $3.99. I like the first and second trim, the third one is a little weird.
The last item I got:

Celebrations Enameled Elements Embellishments, they were $2.49. They're basically enamel shapes. I'm not sure how I'll use them, I don't use enamel dots.
Like I said it was rather hard to find $20 worth, and I thought they'd have more stuff than just dies, oh well. I know for next time.
I went to my first garage sale of the season today, mostly because it was close and they had Stampin Up stamps in their ad. I didn't buy anything. The stamps weren't marked and I hate asking prices, plus like I said I don't use a lot of stamps anymore.
Tomorrow me and mom are going to the ISU fashion show, I'm afraid I'll fall asleep as I'm still wickedly tired. Sunday, me and a friend are going to the International Food Festival on campus, I'm excited about that. I love trying new foods and these are pretty cheap, I mean you're only getting a little sample, but it's fun, and I love that I'm going with a friend this time. Last time I went, a few years ago, it was fun, but I think it would be more fun with a friend. We kinda have to hurry as my friend does have to work that afternoon, but we're hoping to get right in.
I finished one book this week: Washington's Monument and the Fascinating History of the Obelisk by John Steele Gordon. I thought it was just a history on the Washington monument, it was good, I just wasn't really that interested in the history of the obelisk itself.
I have way too many books checked out, I have 38 what I deem deep reading books, meaning they are over 200 pages. I accidentally renewed a hunk of them on Monday so I have a bunch due at the same time. I'm not doing very good at reading my books or watching my movies, I'm blaming it on being sick.

2014 favorite books

I keep putting off finishing this because I don't want to look up all the books on Amazon, so I decided not to. My first post of favorite books seems to be one of my most visited, so I thought I'd keep going with this one.
I've seen on other people's blogs that they're posting about the books the read in August, so I figured it was time to do my favorite books post from 2014. I read 82 reading books with an actual total of 126 books. Here are some of my favorites:
House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying by John Dean. This is about a teenage girl who goes to live with some neighbors and the mother proceeds to starve and beat her to death. There were quite a few books and some movies made on this story. It's based on a true story, and is very messed up on what this lady and her kids did to this girl. I read a lot of true crime and I'm sad to say I can't believe what people do to others.
Andersonville Journey by Edward F Roberts. This is about the Confederate prison camp in the Civil War that was in Georgia. Basically, the conditions in the camp were horrible, more than 13,000 prisoners died here during the Civil War. Basically, the commander of the camp didn't have the resources to provide what was needed and the results were horrible. I had this one on my staff picks for awhile.
Chernobyl by A Villesh. It's about Chernobyl, it was written not that long after the explosion, so it's more about what happened that day and the days after it than the years after it.
On the Trail of the Assassins: My Investigation and Prosecution of the Murder of President Kennedy by Jim Garrison. I really liked this book, I have a fascination with the assassination of President Kennedy, and this book does well to cover the facts. Jim Garrison is a lawyer and felt like he needed to prosecute someone for the death of JFK, unfortunately the conspiracy was not easy to figure out and the person he did prosecute was on the outskirts of it. It's interesting to read about everyone's views on this event.
Oddball Iowa: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places by Jerome Pohlen I really like reading about interesting places to visit in Iowa.
Doctors from Hell: The Horrible Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans by Vivien Spitz This was an interesting read, maybe not for the faint of heart.
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eicher I'm not sure this is the true story because he wrote it in 2013, and it happened in 1959, so there's a lot he doesn't know/can't find out about. I think his explanation works, but it doesn't sound like exactly what happened. I like how he basically tells their story up until the night they disappeared.
Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds by Dawn B. Sova I think it's interesting to see what people find offensive and what I've read. There's a week to celebrate banned books at the end of September and I've found I've read a lot of banned books. It's also sad to see what people think it so offensive that they decide other people shouldn't read it.
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell I find Jack the Ripper very interesting, maybe because they never figured out who he was even after he stopped killing. This book does a very good job of looking at the details in the cases and making a decision on who he could have been. I don't think we'll ever really know because there's so much that we can't find out, but it's fun to speculate.
A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer I don't know why, but I really like to read about how messed up people are and how they treat others. I know truth is so much worse than fiction and you can't make some of the worst stuff up. I'm appalled someone would treat their own child like this and so happy that he got out.
Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America by Kevin Cook this one is on my staff picks at the library. One of the things you learn when studying criminal justice (maybe not so much now) is the bystander affect: that if there are a lot of people that witness something, most people assume that someone else will call the police or intervene. This concept was based on the Kitty Genovese case. I always learned that quite a few people saw her get assaulted (they greatly increased the real number of people) and just assumed that someone else would do something. This book proves that wrong. That's not how it happened. Very good book.
A Brother's Journey: Surviving a Childhood of Abuse by Richard B. Pelzer This is Dave Pelzer's brother and his story about what happened after Dave got out. Again, a very sad book.
Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory: The Complete Story of Willy Wonka, The Golden Ticket, and Roald Dahl's Most Famous Creation by Lucy Mangan I'm stealing an review I wrote shortly after I read this book from another post. It's all about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, apparently we're celebrating the 50th anniversary this year. If you look at the pages of the book from the outside, you see there is a rainbow of colors, each one a different section in the book. There is an introduction from one of Roald's grandchildren about the wonderment of chocolate at his house. The book starts out with re...d: the background on writing Charlie and the Chocolate factory, then goes into orange: Charlie going to video and stage, next is yellow: focusing on the various illustrators of the books, and then blue: showing the effect on popular culture with various memorabilia including a LEGO Chocolate room and tiny dolls of Willy and Oompa Loompas. Purple follows focusing on chocolate, and how people tried to make Wonka bars and take chocolate to whole new levels, finally there is green: with the thoughts from critics and fans about the book. Throughout, there is illustrations from the book, movies, plays and fans creations. Very cool!
The Siege: 68 Hours Inside the Taj Hotel by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy This book stayed with me a long time after reading it. It's about the terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Toiba's attack on Mumbai in 2008 and focuses mostly on the terrorist group's attack on the Taj Hotel. It follows several of the people in the hotel and their horrible night.
Long Mile Home: Boston Under Attack, the City's Courageous Recover and the Epic Hunt for Justice by Scott Helman & Jenna Russel Have you noticed a theme in the books I read and the ones that really stick with me? I love the self-less acts of the people in this book.
My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate their Favorite Places to Browse, Read and Shop edited by Ronald Rice I also love reading about what other people love. I really liked this book with all the detail the writers put into describing some of their favorite places, it made me want to step through the book into the stores.
Cujo by Stephen King I don't read a lot of fiction books, but I saw the movie and my dad said it scared him so much, I had to see how different it was from the book. I enjoy reading Stephen King books, the detail he puts into things is great.

That was the last book I read in 2014. I'm up to 101 reading books (over 200 pages or with deep content) this year. I will do a post on favorite books for three or four months soon. What are your favorite books?

What I'm Reading

Awhile ago, Bargain Hunter asked what we were reading, and I have meant to do this post ever since.
Here are a few books I've found particularly interesting lately:
Rediscovered Treasures: A New Life for Old Objects by Ellen Dyrop. This book has some great ideas on how to use all that stuff you find at garage sales and antique malls. I find it really cool, because sometimes I don't just want to display my finds, but I'd like to use them for things.

I liked this idea of using an embroidered tablecloth to make a change purse. There's also instructions for some of their ideas in the back. I used a vintage scarf to make some pennants for a swap, if you'd like to see them, go here. Everything I used in making them is vintage.

Another cool book I've found is Beautiful Button Jewelry by Susan Davis. She shows you how to use vintage buttons to make jewelry. She also gives a little bit of history on groups of buttons.

My favorite buttons in the book are the Antique Porcelain and China Buttons. I actually found a button I have on one of the pages in this section.

As I'm trying to branch out and bake more, this book has been wonderful. It's the Bake Sale Cookbook by Sandra Lee. What I love about this book is she tells you to start with a box/bag mix you find at the store and then go from there. I really don't like to make everything from scratch, and it saves time.

One of my favorite recipes was the Pecan-Coconut Cookie Cups, even though I didn't actually follow a lot of the recipe for this one. Mine still came out great.

And this last book keeps my criminal justice background interested. It's The Boy in the Box: The Case of America's Unknown Child by David Stout. I only started reading it yesterday, but it totally pulled me in and I'm interested in reading the rest of it.

Since I work at the library, that's where I got all these, but I've made the titles of the books links to Amazon if you're interested in purchasing any of them. The Bake Sale Cookbook is at the top of my Christmas list this year.

On another note, as the holidays are approaching, I really want to do a gift swap. I started doing some Christmas gift swaps last year, and I really want to do more this year, or even making something for someone. Anyone have any ideas of where I can find these kind of swaps? I am following Swapbot, and all the blogs where I found the swaps last year. I may be a little bit early on these, but I love seeing how other people interpret my interests, and when is it not fun to send something to someone else?