This week... Started reading: Legend The Violets of March Still reading: Pride and Prejudice Completed: 50. The Girl Who Chased the Moon 49. Shepherding a Child's Heart 48. Shiver 47. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie 46. Forbidden 45. Instructing a Childs Heart 44. Stuff Christians Like 43. Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose 42. Gone Girl 41. Matched 40. Days of Blood and Starlight 39. Daughter of Smoke and Bone 38. The Hole in our Holiness 37. Romeo and Juliet 36. The Night Circus 35. Alone With God 34. What Angel's Fear: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery 33. The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 32. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy 31. Frankenstein 30. The Lotus and the Cross 29. Desiring God 28. Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys 27. Among the Gods 26. The Deadliest Monster 25. Faith of My Fathers 24. A Good American 23. They Say/I Say:The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing 22. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking 21. Insurgent 20. Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints 19. The Strength of His Hands 18. The Meaning of Marriage 17. Funny in Farsi 16. The Constantine Codex 15. What the Dog Saw 14. What is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission 13. Gods and Kings 12. A Skeleton in God's Closet 11. My Hands Came Away Red 10. The Omnivore's Dilemma 9. Dead Heat 8. Redeeming Love 7. Family Driven Faith: What it Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God 6. Organized Simplicity 5. Year of Wonders 4. The Holiness of God 3. The Paris Wife 2. The Peach Keeper 1. Relic I set a goal of 52 books and I am in the middle of book 51 and have book 52 on my iPad ready to go and still 7 days to go so I will definitely make it this year. I am so excited!!!!! I probably won't finish Pride and Prejudice in time but it will be book 1 in 2013. My favorite fiction this year by far was the Lynn Austin series Gods and Kings. Those books were amazing. Second would be Gone Girl. My least favorite fiction was Forbidden by Ted Dekker. I didn't like the last book I read of his but my friend convinced me to give him another try. Ugh. Just awful. Favorite non-fiction: Quiet, and The Hole in our Holiness. Least favorite non-fiction: I really like all that I read this year! Goals for next year: 52 more books!!!

Sheesh, isn't that the truth. As an American citizen, it took us two years to get an immigrant visa for our own daughter!

The punishment in Malaysia for owning a gun illegally is up to 7 years in jail and fine of about $3500 USD.

Double post

That is actually not true. Malaysia has far less crime and very, very few citizens with guns.

Well the beach is not really near KL...a few hours drive actually. Definitely see and go up in the Petronas Towers. Go to the Suria KLCC where the Petronas Science Center is. It is really great. There is Sunway Lagoon. The Aquaria aquairum. The Berjaya Times Square complex actually has an indoor amusement park with rollercoasters! And an indoor archery range and a bowling alley and a million other things to do. KL Menara tower, Batu Cave, the Bird Park Those are just the places I have been. There are more. You will love it but expect HEAT... it is very, very hot this time of year.

I like Angelica. And I like Quinn. Also, instead of Viola, how about Violet?

Well, we will be next right after Australia. My family has already made a date to watch "2012" on DVD on December 22nd. :)

Very eye-opening video regarding all those "responsible citizens" with CCW permits... http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=8QjZY3WiO9s&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8QjZY3WiO9s As a professional educator, someone who has spent the last 18 years working in schools, I will NEVER carry a gun into a school. I will quit first.

Nothing goes under the tree until christmas eve and all the kids are asleep... then Santa comes. :)

You are so right about not seeing it when you are mired in it. It hit me hard when I went back this past summer and watched the news...it was so filled with killings and all were with guns... and the gun stores all over the place... and all the bumper stickers on cars that say stuff like "You will have to pry my gun from my cold, dead fingers!!" etc. etc. It all came off as being so...I don't know... RABID almost. It's like we're paranoid that at any second we will need to kill someone so we need to be ready. As an outsider (which I feel like now), you get this impression that Americans sleep with their boots on and hugging their guns. It was just so alarming and sad. And like you, I was upset with myself for never having noticed it before. Then Sandyhook happens and FB explodes with posts and memes of Charlton Heston and pictures of the US flag with guns next to it as if american=guns. And my word, the gun hysteria has just gone through the roof. Anyone who even HINTS at the idea that maybe, just maybe, there are too many guns in America and maybe, just maybe, they are too available is instantly labeled unpatriotic as if I am dressed in red and dancing on the graves of the founding fathers by even thinking it. I am American. I love America. I never thought too much about gun control because guns were so normal to me and it never occurred to me that there is another way... that other countries live quite peacefully without guns for everyone. So it is still surprising me that I am even typing all this. But we Americans have a blindspot and it is heavily guarded by well-armed, constitution-toting citizens. Until we acknowledge that, and attempt to have an honest, intellectual discussion about this mentality, the killing will continue.

Hi Adrienne, What part of Malaysia? that will help with planning ideas.

Gosh I can't believe I am about to post about this but, here goes... As many of you know, I am a conservative, über-republican, Jesus freak. I come from a family of avid hunters. My parents and my brothers own guns. My ds was a competitive sharp-shooter before we moved. My family is backwoods Alabama for goodness sake and I grew up in Detroit. Guns are just a normal part of life in my world. But something has happened to me while living here. All guns... even BB guns, pellet guns, etc.... are illegal to own without a license which is pretty much impossible to get. And after being here almost 4 years I've discovered that...well... I really prefer it that way. Ok, here is where Ted Nugent bungee-jumps in and yanks my NRA card. Guns are such a part of American DNA that I am not sure we can even think rationally about it any more. It was only removing myself from gun culture for a while, and seeing how non-gun cultures live, that I was able to really think about the other side of the argument more clearly. According to statistics, Malaysia has 370,000 total guns owned by civilians or 1.5 guns for every 100 people. In America there are estimated to be 270,000,000 guns or a rate of nearly 90 guns per 100 people. The number of gun homicides in Malaysia is around 50 people per year. In America there are more than 9000 gun deaths per year. It is nearly impossible to own a gun legally here. The restrictions on it are heavy to say the least. In America you can buy one at Walmart. Malaysia is number 20 on the Global Peace Index out of 158 countries. America is 88. I feel myself drifting to the dark side... I have never typed these words before: I am no longer in favor of gun ownership. I promise I am still just as republican as I ever was but I just can't understand the gun obsession any more. I prefer life without them. The whole argument about if regular people don't own guns then only the criminals will have them just doesn't hold water here or in a lot of other countries. I'm not really against hunting or collecting, etc. But one for every person? I think we can see how well that's going. Ok, I'm going to go hide from my American friends now.

Most if not all funding for gifted programs in public schools has been cut and billions is poured into special needs programs, etc.. So the general mentality is that the "upper level" kids are already smart and will be fine so we don't need to do too much for them. We need just need to bring the other kids up. I think this philosophy is very short-sighted.

wow. That list made me physically ill. I was in high school at the time of both Detroit shootings at Murray-Wright in Detroit and I remember it clearly. But honestly, there are so many shootings of teenagers in Detroit that it was news but not "big" news. just awful.

sigh... Bill, I already answered that up thread. You waxed poetic about the virtues of physical activity and playing a sport. Quill made it clear that the boy DOES play sports, a lot, and loves it. He just doesn't like wrestling. What's the big deal? At this point, if the father INSISTS that the sport MUST be wrestling, then yeah, he is pushing his own agenda over the happiness of the child which is wrong. If you can't see that, then I don't know what to tell you. I tell you what, if my ds had said "I really hate piano but I would love to play violin (or guitar or drums or trumpet or whatever)" then I would have let him switch.

Oh, well this just cements it for me. The boy is athletic, DOES like sports and is very physically active. He just doesn't like that particular sport. I would let him quit after this season for sure. It's one thing to ditch all sports but he isn't. He just doesn't like wrestling. His father continuing to force him into one particular sport just because it is a sport the father loves steers this into a negative situation. The father needs to let it go and support the son in his love of OTHER sports. Let the kid devote his passion and energy and ability into getting really good at a sport he actually enjoys. You might still end up with a college athlete... Just not a wrestler.

Come on Bill. You're smarter than that. I made it very clear that the main thing is getting to the heart of the problem. My example included: "if" the child is just being lazy about something then it might be a good idea to force the issue (Like my son's piano lessons) But "if" there is more to this than just simple laziness then it might be a good idea to let it go at least for now... He's only 8yo. I suggested she find out which it is and act accordingly. And I DO believe that parents often try to live vicariously through their children. So the dad was a great wrestler when he was younger. So what? Wrestling isn't for everyone, not even someone who might share your DNA. Maybe he is not trying to relive his glory days through his kid. But that won't be apparent until Quill figures out if her kid is just being lazy or really, really hates this sport for other reasons. And if he really hates it, the dad should let it go and find something else to bond over. There ARE other things males can bond over besides sports. Lots of kids don't play organized sports and grow up just fine with no "consequences" to speak of. I was one of them. Let's not be melodramatic about it.

Always...ever since I was a kid. I would find the presents, unwrap them, and wrap them back up. I don't like surprises. Knowing doesn't ruin it for me; it brings me comfort. It's like once I know, then I don't think about it. I can just relax and enjoy. I'm weird, I know.

I think this is a very wise approach. He finishes the season to honor his commitment. You let him take time off from wrestling for now until he is a little older and he might possibly appreciate it more ( he is only 8yo, he has plenty of time!). Maybe when he matures a bit he will decide he wants to try again or maybe he will fall in love with a different sport.

He is an 8yo boy... he is not going to win an argument with his father. He needs an advocate...someone to speak for him...his mom. Now, my questions would be WHY does he cry when it is time to go to wrestling? WHY does he hate it so much? you need to get to the crux of the issue. My 14yo ds argued with me about going to piano lessons every week for 6 years but I would not let him quit. Now he loves it and he is so glad I made him go. I made him go because i knew the only reason he wanted to quit was because he was being lazy, didn't want to practice, would rather play video games, etc. However, when we signed him up for sports it was a different story. He is not an athletic child. He hated it because he was uncoordinated and miserable and felt humiliated and other kids made fun of him, etc. So we let him quit. I don't think there should be a "kids should never quit anything ever" rule or a "kids should be allowed to quit whatever whenever" rule. It depends on the kid and the activity. Get to the bottom of why he hates it so much then tell your dh to stop living his dreams through his son. He had his turn. It's his son's turn to be his own person now.

750... this is a favorite toy in our house. Even my dd gets in on the action!

Declan Luca Liam

Oh give me a break. I am MORE subservient because I have a career? Hardly. Because I have an extensive education and a professional career I have OPTIONS. I don't have to be subservient to ANYONE. If my boss is being a jerk, I will quit and get a new job. If my dh is mistreating me, I can leave him and be able to support myself and my kids. I have choices. A boss doesn't automatically equal angry tyrant-dictator. I should know. I am a boss. And employees don't automatically become slaves crouching in fear of the boss. This quote is a sweeping generalization that does nothing more than suggest taking options away from women under the guise of making us more "free". Blech.

I like them both but not together. I don't like rhyming sibling names. Too cutesy and cliche for my tastes.