Big Read List

As part of my goal to read more Classic books, I thought I'd run through Andrea's list.

As seen on Who Has More Fun Than Us?:

Here’s how it works:
Look at the list and bold those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (it’s a work in progress, but I’m going to bold it anyway!)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (if I read part, it counts right?)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I’ve read a lot of them…)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (yeah, not happening.)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables-Victor Hugo

What the heck have I been doing?!

With my general absence from blogging lately, you might be thinking that I've accomplished everything on my Goal list - not so much! While I did have another jam packed weeked of Oktoberfesting, funeral/family time, and walking the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure at Fashion Island, not much has been accomplished:

Clean & organize our garage - nope
Clean out and organize all of our closets - nope, just bought more clothes to fill them!
Continue to contemplate getting my MBA - still contemplating
Get down to a size 8 - not yet
Go to the gym 4 days a week - nope, but I argue that my polka-ing and walking should count for something!
Paint the Kitchen and Dining Room - thinking of delegating this to the renter in exchange for a rent discount
Print, frame/album, & backup pictures for the last year - nope, but I did print and album vacation photos!
Read at least 2 books a month - so far so good. I'm also attempting to add some of the Classics...struggling to get into Wurthering Heights. Emphasis on struggling.

I have lots of posts pending...I just need to get the pictures uploaded first...

Must buy!

Trust me, if you like candy corn, buy these!

Good Golly Miss Molly!

My "cousin" Molly had knee surgery on Monday. How cute and sad is this all at the same time?

Yes, that's a pink cast.

Must buy!

Trust me, if you like candy corn, buy these!

No, I am NOT in Houston

I just worked so late the lights turned out and I forgot to turn on my desk lamp before it happened.

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

Rachel (of Rachel Made Me Do This fame) is currently in Maui celebrating her birthday and anniversary. If she's not having a fantastic time, I'm very surprised!

It was only when trying to find a picture of Rachel to add to this post that I realized I had more pictures of Kim and I together, than of Rach and I. Please keep in mind that Rachel and I have spent 40 hours a week in the same office building, and averaged going to lunch together at least once a week, for the last 5 years. Not so subtley, I cornered her in the office and had someone take a picture of us shortly before she left for the airport. Rach, this is why :)


Rach, thank you for being such a great friend!! I still blame you for my addiction to blogging though :) Let's try to take more pictures together this year!

It Sure Beats Hot Wax

Rachel and a few other girls at work have been RAVING about eyebrow threading ever since it was introduced to them by one of the Indian guys that works here. Not being a big fan of waxing or plucking, and seeing Kim's excitement to experience eyebrow threading when Rachel told her about it, I figured I should suck it up and try something new. Off to Ziba we went...

When we first walked in it was pretty empty so all of the threaders were standing around staring at us - totally intimidating!

First, you assume the position:
Your eyes are closed, so you miss all the action, but the lady basically rips out all of your stray eyebrows (or any other hair) by twisting/rolling thread over them.
They them trim them up...
The whole process takes about 5 minutes and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as waxing. I will definitely be doing it again!

Striker Strikes Again!

Only this time it was Wii bowling...

Take that Vince Wood!

When Jenn Goes Shopping

I HATE shopping for clothes for myself. I'm disproportionate, so sizes mean little to me. I always have to try tops on, which I hate doing, so when I find a style and size that fit, I buy as many as I can so that I can avoid shopping again for as long as possible. This makes for a fairly boring wardrobe, but Pickle says that I do well for what I'm working with. (It sounds sort of mean, but really it's not!)

I've lost a lot of weight fairy quickly, so it seems that I no more buy a pair of pants or shorts and they're too big within a few weeks. I know, I know, it's a good problem to have.
The above pictures are of my bargain finds: 2 pair of shorts $3 each and 1 dress $10. Life is good!

I got an A in Auto Shop...really!

While the hubby was putting air in one of my tires a few nights ago after my Pilot's warning light came on, I commented that we needed to check for a leak, because this particular tire seems to have a slow leak. It generally irritates him that I know a good amount about car maintenance. He knows it's a combo of what I learned from my dad, my first boyfriend, and...taking Auto Shop in high school.

When I was relaying this story via BBM to Queen B, she was perplexed that I'd taken AS in HS. Testing this reaction, I then relayed the story to Kim1Champ, who had the SAME reaction. Thus I am posting this so that you all can know this odd tidbit about me.

It seems very practical to me - I can change a tire, change my oil, and take apart and (possibly still) put back together a carburetor. Granted, I have AAA and would just pay someone to do all of this for me, but if I was ever stranded, I could survive. (I was stranded once, but that is a story for another day). I did get an A (both semesters) and I swear it has nothing to do with the fact that I was one of 2 girls in the class. :)

When the lights go out...

Most normal people replace a light bulb when it burns out. Others wait until they all burn out. :)


This light is in our bedroom, on our ceiling fan. I sorta like the dimmer lighting in the bedroom. I'll get around to replacing them when they all burn out...maybe :)

Who the heck is Queen B?

First, Kim1Champ became Sydney's Mom (Example A and Example B). Now I'm not sure what has happened to Queen B, but she is suddenly OBSESSED with calling me at work. For the last three days (and really, ever since we had our first conference call with Kim), Queen B has made it a point to call me each afternoon (or at least thought about it so much she told me she was going to (Wednesday). We have spoke on the phone more this week, than we have since we've known each other.

The Queen and I have "known" each other for quite some time now - almost 2 years or so. The number of hours spent in the same vicinity is less than 48, but we have conversed countless hours via the blogs (Example A, Example B, Example C), BBM, and AIM.

You'll note that none of our usual methods of communication actually involve verbal communication. Perhaps this is why we get along so well with Kim (and here's further proof in case you need it). This also explains why, when I finally met the Queen (in person) in January, I was shocked that the Texan sounded like she grew up in Southern California. You can witness this phenomenom next Tuesday when we join Striker for his blog radio show. Details can be found here. You can even call in and ask to hear the story about how Queen B gave me my stage name of Polly!

Congratulations to Striker!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

What does that mean? He bowled a perfect 300 game his first game of his new scratch league! Somehow I don't think they are going to like him much.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see it since the league doesn't start until 9:00 PM :(

Have a Sea Doo

Or 4!

My Winning Photo

Well, I'm declaring it the winner of the competition at least!

I understand that it's not great photography, but it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen!! I was at a great little bar in Chino Hills on Friday night with my sister, hubby and some friends drowning the terrible week I'd had with a few beers and shots. (My hangover the next day reminded me why I don't mix shots with beer, anyhow back to the story.)

Out of nowhere, 3 little old ladies walk in and head on back to where they were doing karaoke. They sat down at a table and were there for about half an hour before getting up and leaving. Instantly, my sister and I KNOW that capturing these three little old ladies in the bar (where my 27 year old hubby was one of the oldest people present) will virtually guarantee my victory since the photo that would have surely won, was taken on my vacation prior to the official start of the contest. I'll post that here too since I love it!

Why do I love these so much? They are part of the series that Kim1Champ started with the three little old ladies at the airport (however I cannot for the life of me find that post). Apparently little old ladies travel in packs of three - which of course makes me happy!

A Trip to the Fair with Mr. and Mrs. KFuj

As reported by KFuj, the Striker and KFuj couples attended the LA County Fair on Saturday. Several things were proven by this excursion:
1) You can fry just about anything
2) $100 per couple is barely enough
3) Fairs are great places to practice discrete photography
4) Fairs are great places to film episodes of What Not to Wear
5) It's worth the $10 extra to park in VIP parking
6) None of us should ever go on the Amazing Race together because we'd do terrible

KFuj elaborated on #1 & 2, if you've ever been to a fair, you can elaborate on #3 & 4, so let me elaborate on # 5 & 6.

Since the KFuj's are practically our neighbors, it made sense to drive together and save some cash on parking. We needed to stop for gas and cash on the way there and the hubbys debated over how much cash to get. We all figured we'd be safe with $100 per couple.

Upon arriving at the fair, we were faced with the following options for parking: $10 general, $15 preferred, $20 VIP. Since our point was to save money on parking, we went with the $10 lot. It didn't look that much farther - besides, there was a tram. Except, it was full when it went by and didn't even stop. So we walked/hiked/trekked on over to the Yellow gate, paid our admission, and entered fried food paradise.




We had a marvelous time eating, drinking, and wandering our way through the fair. By 9:00 pm we were exhausted and wallowing in the fact that we knew we were getting old because our bodies ached from walking around the fair. We looked over the map and figured that since we were right by the Blue gate and it appeared to let us out right near the back of the parking lot where we'd park, it was worth a shot to leave through the Blue gate instead of the Yellow.

We ended up across a busy street in a very dimly lit parking lot. Not our parking lot. If you were lucky enough to follow along our adventure via our Frequent Facebook Status Updates, you know that we:
climbed a fence

crossed a poorly lit but busy street, walked a little over a quarter of a mile down said Pomona street

and then pleaded our case/told our story to a security guard who surely laughed about our adventure for the rest of his evening.

Lesson learned: pay the $20 for parking and avoid getting lost.

Striker's First Trip to Pinkberry

It's the 2nd Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

What time is it? Oktoberfest! Oh how I love me some polka and good beer!

Oktoberfests that I will be attending this year:
Phoenix Club in Anaheim 9/26
Phoenix Club in Anaheim 10/3 (possibly the 4th too with Pickle)
Big Bear Lake Convention Center 10/18-19

What do all of these Fests have in common? The Express Band! They played at our wedding and are wonderful! (They play stuff besides polka too.)

Tales of my drunken escapades and general trip shenanigans will be coming to future posts. If you are lucky, photos will be included. ;) You're all welcome to join me! Oktoberfest attire encouraged, but NO chicken hats please.

BBB 10.26

I don't think that Dan's beach trip could have gone better for him. It will be interesting to see what Michelle reports back to the Jury House. Still think that it's going to backfire for Dan when Jerry/Keesha/Memphis find out that he took Michelle.

I am BAFFLED that Memphis actually won POV. As soon that I saw what it was, I said there was no way he was going to win.

Memphis is an idiot. He should have evicted Jerry. This pretty much guarantees that he won't win the money. He made Dan look like a good guy! I guess he's just playing for second place.

I hate endurance HOH competitions...thank goodness for After Dark!

BBB 10.25

First of all, I was really annoyed that tennis took over the BB time slot. Thankfully the hubby and I were going to watch live and figured it out so that we could record the rest of the evening.

A Sumo Wrestler? Really? I must say it was creative though.

Really disappointed that Jerry started lying to everybody to try and save his rear. Didn't he call Dan Judas? And how stupid was he to point out that Dan used to be "fat"?

How sad that they declared Ted the Spider their pet, but when they fed him the moth it was rather entertaining. Keesha shrieking...kinda annoying, kinda funny.

Jesse as the big dumb ape...sorta fitting.

Dan is a GENIUS! "Berry the Hatch-It" was the best guess AND it was right! But how funny was it when Jerry's guesses kept getting covered up right after he made his guess? Picking Michelle was a good choice as she's probably the most influential in the Jury House. Not sure that it was smart not to tell everyone that someone from the JH would be there...it could have been safer to just say that someone would be there, but he didn't know who.

Dan's nominations were brilliant because Jerry and Keesha totally bought into the fact that Dan and Memphis didn't have a deal. It really couldn't have gone better. Let's hope they don't start thinking too much. I totally want Dan to win!

Caption This Picture

That's my sister on the floor of our hotel room in Vegas after burning her hand on her straightener. She was sober!

It's Not Starbucks...

...but it's in the hotel. Yummy vanilla latte!

Proud New Owner of...

...a library card. Why didn't I get one months (if not a year ago)?

BBB 10.24

Jerry's outfit: red hat, burgundy A&M shirt, teal shorts.

Did anyone else notice that right after Jerry talked crap to Keesha about Memphis playing all sides, he turned around and followed suit?

Watching the catty girls in the jury house was just sad.

Did Ollie really say that he'd have April with him for the rest of his life? It's a showmance!

How big of a ham is Renny? She's totally quirky, but she definitely grew on me!

I am going to have to watch the HOH competition online because McCain's speech screwed up the recording. :(

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

This is the actual title of a book, on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was written by a guy named Tucker Max based on his experiences which he's blogged about on his website. Mothers, please don't let your children view the site or read the book!

Basically, the guy has made himself into a brand and created an empire that has now evolved into a movie. All from blogging. It's his full time job. And he's not a nice person. He doesn't do nice things. He's a big fat jerk. And this is how he makes his living and lives in New York.

Sadly, I found his book amusing on my flight home from Cleveland on Monday. I checked out his website and found that it was also well done. It's sort of addicting. He even has a Wikipedia page.

Sigh, should I be ashamed that I am hooked or that I aspire to get paid to blog?

Quiz Answer

I'm surprised that no one has harassed me about this yet (maybe you guys just don't care?) but I will now tell you the answer to my Quiz.

The significance is...drum roll please...This is a drawing of an ornament that was on the chair that George Washington sat in during the Continental Congress. Ben Franklin made this comment (paraphrased - obviously): "I've been sitting here trying to decide whether the sun was rising or setting on your chair. After the things that we have accomplished, I now know that it is rising." It's also all over Historic Philadelphia.

That was your history lesson for the day and one of the things that I learned on vacation :)

Happiness is...

...surprise visits from a Starbucks bearing Kim1Champ with Sydney! (Don't you all wish you worked with her sister in So Cal?)

Entertainment is watching KT when she realized that I had just witnessed her further proving that she is Sydney's Mom. She was talking to Sydney while changing her diaper and when I pointed out that she was SO Sydney's Mom, she then proceeded to "mommy talk" to Sydney to tell her that someone just caught her. The worst part? I know I'm going to be just like her one day (hopefully).

BBB 10.23

Poor Jerry falling in the pool...how could you not laugh?

I'm glad Memphis finally started playing the game and making deals.

Dan torturing Renny was far too easy.

POV - How pathetic was Renny? Memphis winning was the perfect scenario. And yes Queen B, I did notice Jerry's shout out to you and ABBA in his A&M shirt. :)

Happy Birthday Dan!

Memphis is making me nervous because he's playing all sides a little too hard.

I can't wait to see the Jury House!

BBB 10.22 (Sunday's episode)

Poor Jerry! He was so sad and desperate before the HOH.

I LOVED watching Dan and Memphis argue with Renny over the time zones. Classic!

The montage of Keesha's laugh...also a classic moment.

The HOH competition was super hard! Memphis' comment that "At least Dan was winning. Because (I) suck", literally made me LOL. However, Jerry winning HOH just made things VERY interesting. HOWEVER, this also means that there's no way he's going to survive next week. Yay!

With Keesha and Dan nominated, I am NOT happy! Let's hope Dan wins POV and Renny goes up. I'm pretty sure Renny would go home.

Vacation Stats

11 days
4 hours of video
474 pictures
2,473 miles driven
4,100 miles flown
2 very tired people

We had a blast and more pictures and posts will be coming this week, but for now, I'm going to bed!