wooden spoons and a bag of doritoes

The other night making dinner, I learned something new about my second child. For 30 minutes of amusement, just add a bag of unopened doritoes and a few wooden spoons, and he is a happy camper! Ah, the bliss of just being able to make dinner while the littlest one is completely occupied. Says something about all those toys you end up buying... you don't need fancy schmancy, you just need something a little noisy that they can grab on to!

It is really cool watching Connor develop. He can now sit for long stretches of time, and unlike Brandon, everything, and I mean everything is going straight in to his mouth. He does raspberries, and he blabbers to himself, and like Brandon, he is a happy little dude. A maternity leave spending time with my boys is pretty damn cool. There is a world of difference in me between the first time around and this time around. I am not so wound up, I hope I am better at going with the flow, and I still miss my full income paychecks. I nearly fell over in shock when I hit the grocery till the other day. I am a good shopper, with a pocket of coupons and the totals still shock me. It isn't like we are going to town and having steak every night, we have pretty reasonable tastes and yet it the money still seems to flow like sand through your fingers.

I just finished the latest Slade book, Red Snow. Damn it all if I don't have to wait until Slade finishes penning the next installment. It was a page turner. This one took place just before that big event that is happening here on the west coast, and the snow was definitely soaked in spilled blood. Part social commentary, part police novel, part thriller... I really enjoy these books, especially having followed the characters through 13 novels. I have read them completely out of sequence, so at some point I will go back and read them in order so I don't have to scratch my head seeking out some arcane knowledge from a past book.

Of course, once this book landed in my hands, out went the PD James book (actually with a gleeful laugh I chucked it down the hallway). That one was a slog. I had only made it through the first quarter, and the end was looking a long way off. I have no idea if I will go back to finish it. Yes, the language is beautiful - lots of big pretentious words and descriptions... but the pacing of the novel left a fair bit to be desired. I don't know if I am up to it.. especially since after a visit to the library I have my next book club read, The Prisoner of Tehran, and then the newest Sarah Dunant book lined up... I suspect that this book will be left in my reading dust.