UPDATE on Good Reads group..

First off, I'd like to congratulate my oldest daughter for making it in to her school's Book Club. They already have their first book to read and will be meeting after school once a week to discuss the stories and whatnot. She had to get at least 25 AR (Accelerated Reading) points. She made it just past the minimum amount.

Now, onward to the Good Reads group. I had initially made a "book club" for those moms that stay at home with their kids, being that I am one myself. But I noticed that even with the "re-vamp" of certain things to make it more active and organized, still, I had no real activity in there.

Now, I have opened the book club group to ALL mothers and grandmothers (and that includes Foster Mothers!). It is aptly now called Mom's Book Club.

Here is the description of the group, taken from the area of the site it's self..

"If you are a Mother (or Grandmother, a Foster Mother, or an aunt with minor children living with you that you are guardianship over) and love to read, then come on inside and join us!

We talk about books and everyday life, have an entertainment/Hollywood Buzz section and other areas to talk and maybe make a new friend or two.

Lots to see. Lots to talk about. Especially BOOKS! "

If this sounds like a group for you, then PLEASE click on the group's link, and click JOIN under the group's Profile Avatar.

I've lost a couple of moms that are SAH ladies. But that's okay. I see it as being "their loss" to making potential friends and finding some great new reads.

And I am currently working on a Stephen King/Peter Straub collaboration, "Black House". I also had bought a John Grisham book, as well as a couple of others today over at the Good Will.

Have a great day, and I hope to see you join me over at Good Reads, and in the Mom's Book Club group.

"Good Reads" Equals Good Times!

It's been a while since I hopped on here and had written. Not a whole lot in life around here has changed too much. So, there really isn't anything to whine, nag, or get angry about. For the time being, that is.

So, instead, I have decided to use my blog as an advertising tool. Namely for myself. Because it's MY blog and MY plug. (=

First of all, I have ALWAYS loved to read. Books are my BFFs. They always have been. And my girls (figures, it is always the girls lol) are avid readers as well.

So, I joined a site called Good Reads. I have my own profile. The link to it is Missy.

There are millions of books available to choose from. And you can break them all down in to "read", "to read" and "currently reading". You can give them ratings and reviews, too.

Also, there are groups. So many of them, it really is hard to choose from. I myself have started two of my own.

One is Stay Home Mom Club. It's just for Stay-At-Home mothers and even Grandmothers who are raising children.

My other group is for mothers as well. But for those that have children (be it an adult child or a minor, living with them or out on their own) that are disabled. The group can be found under Special Needs Moms.

In both groups, we talk about life, vent, and of course, about BOOKS! All genres.

Also, on FaceBook, I have started a new group as well for us book worms. Teens, men, women.. Everyone is accepted! And it's got a pretty unique, catching name. What is it you ask? Why it's Books; My Other Lover, of course!

We will have a weekly fun/random poll that won't necessarily pertain to reading. There's already a host of conversations to get you started in our DOC area. And we are chatting up a storm on the group's wall.

As of right now, I am also doing the Good Reads' 2011 Reading Challenge. I set a goal of eleven books to be read by the end of the year. After my current novel, I'll only have three more to go. Can I do it? Maybe.

Currently, I am reading the fifth book of the 'Left Behind' series, penned by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The installment is named "Apollyon".

The storyline is set in a post-Rapture world where many people that "didn't get right with God" were left behind, as their family members and friends who accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior had ascended to Heaven.

In this book, the fifth plague is coming upon the people. The Anti-Christ is doing all that he can, through his one-world-order to stop God from fulfilling His prophesy and trying to alienate those from Christ as to win over God's converts or potential converts.

There are lies told. Secrets unfold. Love blossoms. A new life on the way. And a nasty plague of scorpion-like locusts are about to take over.

"Apollyon" is a 403-page novel. I just started reading it on November sixth. Yes, TWO days ago! And I am about to pick back up on page 251. So, hopefully, I should be done with this book by the end of the day.

It has certainly held my attention, keeping me captivated and in awe thus far. The ride through the Rapture, the Tribulation and the impending battle of good versus evil as to the End of Days has been a bumpy, but exhilarating one!

So, I highly recommend the book and it's four parts before it, in the "Left Behind" series, if you are in to Christian-based Fiction.

And I hope to see you join one of, a couple of, or even all three of my groups that I had listed above. We'd love to have you join us!

Donation... Give the gift of Smiles & of Yourself.

A while back, I had written a post about an experience that took myself and my husband by surprise. We knew that when the time was right, we were going to pass on the gift of giving to someone. We have since been on the lookout of who and how we were going to "Pay It Forward" to.

This is a concept I already had in mind for myself though, since I had turned the age of eighteen. Since then, I have been a Registered Donor to donate anything I can in the event of my death.

Who knew that at the age of thirty-two, just fourteen years after becoming a Donor, that I also would be seeing the whole topic of Organ/Tissue Donation from the other side of the fence. You can read my Corneal Transplant Recipient story HERE.

But also, I have been able to "pay it forward" monetarily. And thanks to the donations that were all pooled together, a record twenty-five children were able to purchase books at the Spring Book Fair at school.

Hayley had found a $100 bill in the school's soccer field a while back and brought it home. Sure I got on her for not turning it in right away. But then, I myself constantly forgot to take it with me to turn in as well.

So, seeing as so much time has passed, we (Scott and I collectively) decided to donate the $100 to the school's Library for the Book Fair's "Students in Need" box. After the totals were counted, there was close to $190.00 to split between the kids. Pre-K through Fist grade students were able to spend up to $5 and those in Second through Fifth grade were able to spend up to $10.

It felt wonderful to see the long list and know that so many children were being helped this year. I'm NOT happy that they had to be on it, because of such financial hardships in their families. But I AM happy that these kids were able to continue on the path to a wonderful love and enjoyment of reading.

Although, there is something else, along with the love of reading that is very close to my heart. That is Organ/Tissue Donation Awareness. Not just because I am a Registered Donor, as is my husband. But because we as a family have experienced firsthand the miracles of Tissue Donation. To be able to regain (most of) my sight back is an honest miracle. And as a mother, being down just ONE eye is hard to deal with. No matter how much you do to "adapt".

Did you know that you can be a LIVING Donor? Blood, a piece of your liver, a kidney, bone marrow, tendons and other tissues.

Then, you have Donors that donate skin, corneas, major organs such as your hearts and lungs. Plus cadaver (deceased) donors can give their tissues, bones, livers, kidneys, and intestines.

Right now, in the United States of America, the statistics for Recipients CURRENTLY awaiting their "gifts of LIFE" stands at (provided by Organ Procurement & Transplant Network)..

All Organs 110,484
Kidney 88,087
Liver 16,164
Pancreas 1,384
Heart 3,188
Lung 1,758
Intestine 265

As a Registered Donor, you can potentially save up to eight people's lives, and enrich and better about 50 lives.

Giving has always been a part of me and of who I am. I give what I can, where I can, when I can. So signing up to be an Organ/Eye/Tissue Donor was a no-brainer for me. If you are interested in becoming a Donor, please visit OrganDonor.Gov or United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and find out more Organ Transplantation and becoming a HERO, and to find out how to register in your state or Provence.

Because to us, our Donors (living and deceased), and their families are indeed our HEROES!

I said I wouldn't Do It...

Since the kids had started to attend their current school, I have always helped at the Fall and the Spring Book Fairs.

It's a fun experience. Especially when you are working in the "store" with the kids from Pre-Kindergarten, through the Second Grades. They need the most help to navigate the areas, to write down what they wish to purchase and then actually help them make their purchases. It's very hands-on, one-on-one work.

But in reality, it's fun to see EVERY child from every grade level come in to the Book Fair and show their enthusiasm for their love of reading. I don't care if it's a "Pokemon" book or a "Clifford The Big Red Dog" book, or a trivia book. Reading is reading.

This year though, I had planned on taking a break for the entire year from doing the Book Fair. I'd gotten out of doing the Fall Book Fair, seeing as the school's PTO Board ran it this year.

And so I was just going to bow out and let others help run the Spring Book Fair as to give me a break from doing it a fourth year in a row.

No luck.

There aren't enough volunteers to help with the entire week's run. Even though when doing the Volunteer paperwork at the beginning of the year, we had several sign up to help with Book Fairs this school year. But most, if not all, backed out, even though they had ample notice of the dates to choose from as to help out.

Believe me, volunteering at a school's Book Fair is NOT easy. It's time consuming and even physically demanding. Especially when dealing with the little kids of the school. It takes time for them to look around and pick. They have SO many "favorites" and love so many different topics at the ages of four to seven, that it makes your head want to spin and pop off.

Between this year and last school year, I've noticed a decent decline in the number of volunteers that ACTIVELY volunteer at my childrens' school. There are even some people who are signed up to do tasks AT HOME. Like cutting out soup labels and box tops.

But it's becoming an alarming trend there, and most likely around the community's other schools, if not most everywhere in the school system, that when you "call upon" the volunteers that signed all the paperwork and went through the background checks to be an approved volunteer (yes, I to MUST have a BG Check every year) and ask to be called upon for which tasks that they signed up for, that they suddenly back out when you need them.

So my question is... Why sign up to be a School Volunteer in the first place? You are not only hurting us Volunteer Coordinators, but also the school staff (mainly teachers) and those kids. And ANYTHING, no matter how little or seemingly insignificant goes a LONG way. We (in our school's setting) have something for EVERYONE where volunteering is concerned. Even for those that speak a foreign language.

Next week will be MUCH busier than I wanted to have it be. Instead of my one day per week, I get to be there at least for three days of the week. The entire school day. So I'll easily pull in about 21 to about 32 hours of volunteering time next week alone. Depending on if I have to pull an extra day.

I urge you all to volunteer in your community. Be it at a school, a soup kitchen, the hospital or anywhere else that there are volunteering opportunities. You can't imagine how good it feels to know that you have touched someone's life.

To see the smiles on the faces of the children that I work with, especially during Reading groups when they "get it", correct THEMSELVES or read the entire book flawlessly (we are talking about KINDERGARTNER'S people!) it makes everything I do seem effortless and like I have helped them achieve.

Because believe me, copying those books and putting them all together for each of the four groups is NO fun and (literally for me) back breaking.

So to see all of OUR hard work (my putting books together, and them learning how to read them independently) makes it all worth while.

I have This New Bloggy Friend...

...Over at For The Love Of Blogs!

She is so very sweet! And loves books and poetry (which is a plus for me!). Also her writings are so eloquent and at times, even mesmerizing. And knowing myself that I am not a poll-kind-of-gal, I surprisingly LOVE taking polls on her page.

AubrieAnne over at Who's Your Editor? is a lovely blogger who VALUES her readers!

Last night as some of us were conversing in her comments section, it came to light (not by me at first) as to her color schemes, fonts and sizes of her blog text. After taking note that some of us (yes, including myself) were suggesting changing some things, seeing as it is hard to read what is written on the page, AubrieAnne entered the GIVEAWAY for a completely new blog design.

She'd even let us see a copy of her entry letter. And then stated that no matter what, she would shut down and have an easier page to read.

THAT my friends is a REAL writer, blogger and TRUE friend in the blogging world.

To listen to what your readers are saying (constructively). To fix a problem that your readers bring attention to, in any way that can possibly do so. To be willing (if you each follow one another) to comment on EACH OTHER'S writings here and there. (Not every day or even weekly..I can make do with once a month!)

Please feel free to stop by and see AubrieAnne over at Who's Your Editor?, especially if you are a lover of books, poetry and have a love for (very) good writing.

Book Review : 'Angels In The ER'

I'm not one that is extremely religious by any means. I have my beliefs and I'm a 'live and let live' kind of girl. Basically, in my "beliefs world", I don't judge you on whom you choose to love (be it a man/woman coupling or a same sex coupling), what belief system you choose to have (be it Christianity or Pagan...to name a couple), how you raise your kids (as long as they are happy, healthy and well adjusted...not abused, neglected or taught to hate others).

I'm a believer in angels as well. I think that they are all around us. You just don't realize this. It may be the poor homeless person on the street, a child at school, or a church member. Or just a kind stranger who is seeing your struggle and wishes to help.

'Angels In The ER' is a book penned by Dr. Robert Lesslie, whom is a Doctor of Emergency Medicine at a hospital in South Carolina. In all his many years at this hospital, he has witnessed many "angelic moments" within the ER. From fellow staff, to patients, to even Security Guards.

Dr. Lesslie tells tales of recovery, life's little lessons learned, lessons on God's miracles and more.

I'm not one that enjoys Christian reading that is inundated with an over-usage of Biblical passages/Scripture. I like small tidbits. And this book offers just enough to "taste" the Scripture. He (Dr. Lesslie) begins each chapter with a verse to show in "real time" it's meaning through his stories of life, death, and lessons learned about human nature.

If you are a Christian novel reader, I gladly suggest that you pick up this book. You can get it at any retail store.