{School} Reading Saturday

My bigger kids just finished their latest school fundraiser-- a Read-A-Thon!

I was actually kind of excited for this one, because reading is totally doable, no one was selling lame over-priced junk, and all the money actually goes to the school instead of some little fraction.

We did warn people, though-- think carefully before you give them a "per minute" pledge.

The example/suggestion was 10 cents per minute.

No big deal, right?

Until you start doing the math....

That's a dollar every 10 minutes.

If anyone had gone that route, here's what they would have owed my kids:

MeiMei-- $72

Mister-- $132

Boo-- $198

That's right, my kids read 720, 1320, and 1980 minutes respectively.

In like 2 or 3 weeks.

Because hey, they're my children. ;)

Rebecca Toone Read-A-Thon TOMORROW

Wanted to pass on this Read-A-Thon message from a friend of mine:

"Friday is the Read-a-Thon in honor of my niece, Rebecca Toone! She loved books and would have turned 7 on Friday! In honor of her please read a book to your children or just read a book yourself! We miss her and her little sister, Rachel, so much! Invite your friends! We want LOTS of people to participate! Please show her family they will never be forgotten!"

Rebecca and her sister passed away a couple of years ago when a toxic pesticide pellets were planted in their yard by a technician from an extermination company.  (If you're in UT you may remember the story.)


More info on Facebook- Read-a-thon even page.

Readathon-- Wrapup

Well, my 24 hour mark has come and gone... I think I slept through it. lol

Started Endless Steppe like I planned, but didn't get very far and hence didn't pick up a Nancy Drew either!

SO.... final stats.

Spent about 12 hours reading.  Maybe a bit more.  Not too shabby.

Finished 3 books (one that I had started already) and started a fourth.  Not terrible, but I'm a little bummed because I can usually read faster than that.  And I've managed more books in a day before, so it feels very anticlimactic.

Blogging time-- about 2 hours.  Did very few mini challenges and commented on other blogs very very little.  I can't seem to do both the reading and the commenting!

HUGE THANKS to the cheerleaders!  You're awesome!!

GOOD LUCK to everyone still reading!

I'm going to bed!

Readathon-- Checking in...

Books finished- 3
Hours read-- abt 11 1/2
Hours blogging/etc-- 1 earlier.... not sure how long I'll stay on this time around.

I was going to go through and catch up on memes and mini challenges and such, but I just don't feel like it.  :D  I want to go pick another book instead!

For those wondering how I'm getting any reading done at all-- my husband, wonderful man that he is, took the older monkeys out and about for much of the day!  So Baby J and I have spent much of the day just chilling....  Reading and reading and reading... with the new Ninja Warrior on for company!  (Are we the only family addicted to that show?  Poor Nagano missed the final stage win by just a second!  Boo LOVES to watch Ninja Warrior.)

Anyway, I'm gonna write a couple reviews and go pick a new book... I think I might need a Nancy Drew.... or maybe I'll read Endless Steppe and save the Nancy Drew for the home stretch.... after all, I hit the 24 hour mark at 11 pm!

Readathon-- Hour 2 Mini Challenge

Kick Off of Champions!

What's my kick off strategy?  I actually did have one.... sort of.  Settled myself on the couch with everything in easy reach so I could nurse the baby and not interrupt my reading. 

Hospital mug full of cold water? Check.

Granola bars?  Check check.

Book? Check.

Baby?  lol check!

I decided to start a bit early... 11 last night.  I've only managed about 5 hours of reading though.  Apparently the "I'm not getting any sleep anyway so I may as well stay up and read" idea wasn't really sound.....  kept dozing off.  Go figure.

How's everybody else doing?

Readathon-- Hour 1 meme...

Hour 1 mini--
Where are you reading from today? Mostly my big green couch :D


3 facts about me … Um.... I have a three-week old baby.  I have 2 other kids.  I am already tired. lol

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?  I don't really have a set pile... I'm just going to grab whatever library book or arc catches my fancy.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?  I honestly don't.  I want to read more than 12 hours, but I'm trying to be realistic.... I tried starting at 11 last night, but here I am more than 9 hours later and I've only read about 5 hours and about half a book.... pretty sad for me.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?  Don't start with something difficult!  (This is my first official readathon, but I sort of did my own last time around and that was my big mistake.)

24 Hour Readathon

Aw, what the heck.  I'm in.

I'm not sleeping hardly at all anyway.....

I think I'll start this afternoon/evening though.  Planning to maybe go back to church Sunday (no sense in keeping the baby home forever) and don't want to be totally dead.  :D

Have YOU signed up yet?  Check out the sign-up for Dewey's Read-a-thon!

Readathon Wrapup

So I finished my third book a little before 9 last night-- just shy of 12 hours reading.

And decided I was done.

Yes, I could have read more, and yeah, it was kind of disappointing to only read 3 books... especially since I've managed three books in a day other days too...

But really, I wanted to chill with my husband. Go figure, huh? He works long hours and we don't get to just chill as often as we'd like. So I figured it was a good place to stop. :D

I did read a book I own, AND a Reader's Choice book, so those are good things. :D

Next time around I hope to play for real!

An Evening Update

2 and a half books. That's progress, right?

In 9 hours.

Give or take. Since again, I didn't bother adding up all the little distractions... Though I did take a full hour off to help clean up toys, fix dinner (well, nuke it), and put away clean laundry. Clean laundry is my nemesis. I simply cannot keep up with putting it all away. With young children I literally do laundry at least 3 days a week and often have 2-4 loads sitting around waiting to be sorted and put away. Sigh. But I put 3 loads aways tonight. More or less.

Other distractions include Mister needing a diaper change and cuddles after his nap. He always needs to sit with me for a bit after a nap. Also, Boo getting her slinky caught in her hair. Again. Letting Mommy DO her hair would prevent this, but whatever. I'm not great at doing hair and she knows it.

But, heaven be praised, she did find Mister's Nemo book. Which is good. It's been AWOL for 2 naps and one bedtime and they weren't pleasant, I tell you. He has very strong feelings about having to go to sleep without his Nemo book. Maybe I should buy a spare... Last night we had to let him take his new tugboats to bed as consolation. All three of them.

I have weird children.

Back to my mystery/thriller/Reader's Choice that I'm halfway through!

Update 1--- Mildly Discouraged

Five hours. And only one book read. And it's not even a long book.

Sigh.

But hey, I finished it. (It was Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers.)

And I didn't track how much of that 5 hours was really spent on distractions.... Mister got new toys last night at an extended family birthday dinner and they just HAD to be opened. Boo can't find a doll she hasn't even thought about in months and months. (I got rid of it. Shhhh, don't tell her.)

And for some strange reason they both wanted lunch at the normal time. Demanding children. :D

I now need to find something more substantial to eat than the flavored wheat thins I've been eating....

And then I have to keep from dosing off. That's the other reason I've only finished one book. That whole waking up at 4:30 thing is killing me. Started to dose a few times already!

Alright, off I go again!

My Little Readathon-- Here We Go!

So it is just after 7 am my time. I've been up since 4:30.

Oh good, you're thinking. What a great jumpstart on reading, right?

Um, no. I've been up that long because my sinuses are once again invading my brain... and because Mister has decided that he needs to get up before 6 daily.

We are NOT morning people at my house. My brain does not function before 7, plain and simple. Anything earlier than that is simply TOO EARLY.

BUT, it is now AFTER 7. I have taken as much medicine as I can without causing myself problems and I've had almost all my requisite chocolate milk.... So it's time to really get started.

Even though I'm a couple of days late (what's new, I'm always late...) I'm going to include some of the memes from the weekend for updates!

Beginning with, the little mini challenge that got everybody going on Saturday.

1. What are you reading today? Um, I don't know. Sad, huh? As soon as I finish this post I'm going to go look at my library stack and pick something.
2. 3 facts about me-- I refuse to function before 7 am; I could probably eat my weight in Cheetos; my desk is an absolute disaster area.
3. How many books in your TBR pile for the readathon? I didn't make one. I have my library pile of... 17 or so books plus a stack of review books plus all the over 200 books I own but have never read. It's all fair game.
4. Do you have any goals for the readathon? Um, no. Because really at this point I have no idea what the day will bring. I'm just going to read as much as I can.
5. The last question is not applicable as this is my first "readathon" and we're stretching that as it is.

So off we go!

**If you aren't interested in Readathon updates, that's all you're going to get from me today. Sorry. I have a review scheduled for tomorrow though!**

Readathon Weekend!

CONGRATS to everyone who's finished up the Readathon!! Hours and hours read. Thousands (literally!) of pages!!

In the "better late than never" category, I spent last night and this morning reading posts and commenting-- I commented on a good 100 posts! (Since I usually sign up for comment emails, this also resulted in literally hundreds of emails!)

I tried to get all the readathon posts in my google reader, but my computer started having conniptions, so I know I missed a few. Sorry!

Also in the same category, I'm going to see how much reading I can manage tomorrow! Sadly, Shannon Hale's Bayern books haven't come in yet (I have the first three on hold!) but I've got lots of other options. It's also the last week for Reader's Choice, so hopefully I can get through a bunch of those.

I'll probably post a few times throughout the day tomorrow, but I'm not letting myself get on Twitter. And I probably won't check my Google Reader until Tuesday.

:D

My Own Little Readathon

So this weekend is the 24 Hour Readathon. And of course it had to be this Saturday. The Saturday when I already have 4 overlapping things to do/places to be. At least.

Sigh.

So I'm going to hold my own little readathon on Friday. Well, I might start Thursday night. We'll see how it all goes.

Pulling an all-nighter is out of the question this time around, but I'll bet I can read a good 12 hours. Maybe. If my kids let me. :D

For everybody else participating, good luck! Have fun! Read lots!

With any luck I'll get through a few more Reader's Choice books before the end of the month...