Home sweet home

Since I know that you're all dying for the answer to my previously posed questions, here they are.

Will we be able to fit everything into the SUV (sadly not a Suburban)?
Alas, no. The huge poinsettia wreath that I bought on clearance at Belk had to to stay at my mother's house to be retrieved at a later date. I tried to locate a soft-sided luggage carrier to go on the roof, but had no luck. However, we did manage to get all the Christmas presents back home and that was no small accomplishment.

Will the traffic be as heinous on the way back as it was on the way down?
Thankfully not. An enormous RV forced us off the interstate on the drive down and never saw us. Even though I was in a huge SUV (Chrysler Aspen). I've said for years that RV's shouldn't be allowed on the interstate. They're a menace. Traffic was much less frenetic today I'm happy to report.

Did I make 180 before the stroke of midnight?
In fact, I did. I finished #180 at 11:05 pm. Here are the remaining entries on my 2007 list.

#174 is The Curse of the Romanovs by Staton Rabin. A speculative look at what might have happened if Alexei could time travel (and was really the natural son of Rasputin). J got this one for Christmas. I knew that the hemophilia was inherited through his mother, but didn't realize that the Tsar was only related to the English monarchy by marriage. Victoria's offspring really screwed up Europe.

#175 is Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews. Weezie's best friend Bebe (pronounced Bay Bay) gets taken for all she's worth by a con man and has to rebuild her life. This one seemed appropriate to read since I was in GA.

#176 Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Landvik. A story about the strong bonds between a group of women set in Minneapolis. Laughter and tears and all sorts of unusual characters. What more can you ask for in light reading?

#177 is Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. A book based on the anecdotal supposition that Norwegian children used their sleds to smuggle nine million dollars in bullion past the Nazis and out of the country. M got this one for Christmas.

#178 is Testing Kate by Whitney Gaskell. A somewhat better than average chick lit about a woman's decision to attend law school in New Orleans in her late 20s. I may check out other books by the author.

#179 is The Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater. This one is subtitled "A Memoir of Life, Love, And Olive Oil In The South of France" and that's a fairly accurate summation of the book. The author is an English actress and writer and the book details the purchase of an old olive farm in Provence with her fiance (later husband) and their efforts to rebuild and reclaim the property. Lovely descriptions.

Finally, #180 is Extras by Scott Westerfeld. The fourth entry in his "Uglies" series. A look at what life is like in one city after Tally Youngblood has changed the world. Okay, but Westerfeld just doesn't do a great job maintaining the quality of later entries in his series.

Whew! I may take a little break before starting over again for '08. I think this may be my highwater mark books for number of books read in a year.

Home sweet home

Since I know that you're all dying for the answer to my previously posed questions, here they are.

Will we be able to fit everything into the SUV (sadly not a Suburban)?
Alas, no. The huge poinsettia wreath that I bought on clearance at Belk had to to stay at my mother's house to be retrieved at a later date. I tried to locate a soft-sided luggage carrier to go on the roof, but had no luck. However, we did manage to get all the Christmas presents back home and that was no small accomplishment.

Will the traffic be as heinous on the way back as it was on the way down?
Thankfully not. An enormous RV forced us off the interstate on the drive down and never saw us. Even though I was in a huge SUV (Chrysler Aspen). I've said for years that RV's shouldn't be allowed on the interstate. They're a menace. Traffic was much less frenetic today I'm happy to report.

Did I make 180 before the stroke of midnight?
In fact, I did. I finished #180 at 11:05 pm. Here are the remaining entries on my 2007 list.

#174 is The Curse of the Romanovs by Staton Rabin. A speculative look at what might have happened if Alexei could time travel (and was really the natural son of Rasputin). J got this one for Christmas. I knew that the hemophilia was inherited through his mother, but didn't realize that the Tsar was only related to the English monarchy by marriage. Victoria's offspring really screwed up Europe.

#175 is Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews. Weezie's best friend Bebe (pronounced Bay Bay) gets taken for all she's worth by a con man and has to rebuild her life. This one seemed appropriate to read since I was in GA.

#176 Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Landvik. A story about the strong bonds between a group of women set in Minneapolis. Laughter and tears and all sorts of unusual characters. What more can you ask for in light reading?

#177 is Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. A book based on the anecdotal supposition that Norwegian children used their sleds to smuggle nine million dollars in bullion past the Nazis and out of the country. M got this one for Christmas.

#178 is Testing Kate by Whitney Gaskell. A somewhat better than average chick lit about a woman's decision to attend law school in New Orleans in her late 20s. I may check out other books by the author.

#179 is The Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater. This one is subtitled "A Memoir of Life, Love, And Olive Oil In The South of France" and that's a fairly accurate summation of the book. The author is an English actress and writer and the book details the purchase of an old olive farm in Provence with her fiance (later husband) and their efforts to rebuild and reclaim the property. Lovely descriptions.

Finally, #180 is Extras by Scott Westerfeld. The fourth entry in his "Uglies" series. A look at what life is like in one city after Tally Youngblood has changed the world. Okay, but Westerfeld just doesn't do a great job maintaining the quality of later entries in his series.

Whew! I may take a little break before starting over again for '08. I think this may be my highwater mark books for number of books read in a year.