Oliver says, “Happy Friday!” We made it through another week, an interesting one. Hopefully the next few weeks can only become more enlightening. He also says, “bark, bark…which means feed me or be a good person & don‘t defend people who do bad things.”

Yup that‘s me. I do not watch the news but do read the news from reputable sources. A few years ago my husband was saying that we don‘t watch the news. My MIL was aghast. She asked how we knew what was happening. My husband said that we read the news from places like the AP. This is the woman that watches Fox News all the time & calls it “news.”

“An erasure of history was an erasure of personhood.” This is one of those books that just takes your breath away. The story is loosely based on real transgender people living in Germany during WWII. It wasn‘t a lighthearted book since it dealt with the many atrocities that trans people faced (trigger warnings about assault & Dachau). Learned that the Allied forces after WWII were rounding up & imprisoning trans persons. Eye opening book about

#wdncw when we say bring on the season of watching The Holiday where Jude Law wears glasses, is a book editor & his bookshelves are full of interesting books. I‘m ready for some good holiday movies.

#wdncw I said what I said & don‘t care….I miss him. And the other day greeting the plane full of veterans 🥹. I miss uneventful news days & days not filled with scandals. It‘s been an exhausting year

💔 it‘s so sad that this is happening today. The war on trans people is despicable, then & now. It‘s sad that there has to be a war on people just wanting to live their authentic lives. It doesn‘t take anything away from my life if other people are happy.

Last week was a week full of emotions. My 10 year old daughter has been dealing with stomach pain & nausea for the last 2 years. Initially it was thought that it was celiac, but the tests came back negative. An ultrasound of her abdominal area was also negative. The GI dr we saw in Boston chalked it up to anxiety. When we moved to MD last year the pediatric group we‘re with also chalked it anxiety also. On a recent visit for another reason we‘d

I‘m happy I finally took the time to read this one (definitely would like to read her new book). I learned a lot about that part of the world. I am sad to say I do not know a lot about the area & haven‘t read enough books about either. Sad but inspiring story.

My 16 year old wanted to listen to an audiobook when we went to Ohio last month. We listened to it for about 2 hours & didn‘t get back to it, I of course had to finish it. It‘s been a while since I‘ve read a Dan Brown book. I love the combination of different parts of history & art history (symbology was always my favorite part of art history). It was a decent listen but it is also a reminder of how far technology has come since this book was

Really liked this one, easy & relatable. Can I also say how much better info is for young girls today. I remember that horrible pamphlet that I was given about my changing body in the 80s & I don‘t think I learned a thing. Not to mention I grew up in a conservative Catholic household where sex & your body were not discussed (I love my mom dearly but she failed miserably in this portion of my life). This one is very body positive & does say

My youngest is 10, so bought this & another book to get her ready. She‘s an avid reader & I want her to feel empowered about her body & the changes she‘s about to go through. I know it‘s hard to discuss these things with your parents (we do have open dialogues in our house but still kids are kids). I would much rather her have books that provide accurate info, than the internet. It‘s a good comprehensive view of what‘s to come. Easy & relatable.

#wdncw when we say that Mamdani‘s win last night was amazing to see. My 21 year old & I had talked about him a few months ago. Mamdani & candidates like him are the future. The younger generation like my son are excited about candidates like Mamdani. They want to see someone who addresses their concerns: affordability, supporting immigrant & LGBTQ+ communities, supporting women, taxing the rich, protecting the environment. They believe in social

#truth I slept decently last night because I felt so much relief from the last few months of turmoil. It was joy to see the pushback against hate & repudiation of all the horrors of the last few months. It‘s still a long road & lots of work to be done but it was a start. So happy to see massive voter turnout & saying no we‘re not ok with this whether it was a small local election or big state election. Thank you to all the voters & poll workers.

Trick or treating is done, puppy is tired. Winding down with a puzzle & a snack of pretzel chips with quinoa crisps (my favorite sweet treat since they are allergy friendly, I have several food allergies which always made Halloween not fun as a kid). #FridayHappyReadingHour

Happy Halloween from this little devil. I‘m surprised he actually sat there long enough for me to take a photo. It‘s extremely windy here today & he isn‘t sure what to make of it. Besides trying to try & chase every leaf that flies by.

#wdncw nothing else, just this (I just can‘t some days with the current state of the US & what is happening to so many people). I‘m a Jersey girl & my father‘s daughter, so I swear a lot.

Tonight my daughter & I went to the RL Stine event sponsored by our local library. We weren‘t lucky enough to be chosen to get a book signed. It was a great event. RL Stine was really funny & had some great stories. My daughter did buy a new book & the library gave out bookmarks.

Effin‘ Birds is my mood. #MondayMood

#wdncw Daily mood #fthepatriarchy

Mood every day. Not measurable. Somehow every day I can‘t imagine it getting worse…somehow the day before is topped by something more outlandish.

A win yesterday! #readbannedbooks #readingispolitical #resist

Happy Diwali! Our neighborhood goes all out for Diwali, fireworks have been going off for over an hour. Oliver is not a fan at all. Our kind neighbors shared sparklers with my youngest. I also love that my daughter was telling me all about Diwali because they learned about it at school. She was saying that tonight is the best night because of all the fireworks & that it‘s light driving out darkness. We had one rude neighbor who came out &

#resist #NoKings #readingispolitical

Oliver has discovered sticks. Kids in our neighborhood have been playing with them & leaving them outside, so Oliver naturally wanted to join them. I had texted my oldest some photos of the dog since he‘s in college. He said it looks like the dog is giving you the side eye. I texted him the 2nd photo & said he‘s always giving me the side eye. Oliver has also tried peanut butter & he‘s in love. He has some days where you think wow this dog is so

This was a meh for me, the 10 year old really liked it. I don‘t know what it was but I didn‘t really like reading it. I don‘t know if he was to make the next hero of a series be a female (like the next Percy Jackson). Or that the female character had her period during the story & it was written exactly how a man would right about a girl going through her period (although I think it‘s important to highlight what girls go through I think that

Listened to this over audio & loved the narrator. Such a sweet, cozy story perfect for this time of year. Similar to House in the Cerulean Sea. Are there really too many stories about finding your family/the ones you call family, keeping each other safe, understanding past traumas & having the room to heal? Especially since we know that there are too many people in our society that have been hurt by being told they were too different.

That & OMG WTF is going on around here, some days hourly.

#wdncw it finally feels like fall in northwest MD. That means time to bring on soup season & cozy, comforting meals. I am also learning how to make bread from scratch (have you seen the cost for a loaf of French bread, at Wegmans it‘s almost $4).

Per Janet from “The Bad Place.” Reminder on Indigenous People‘s Day that Columbus was not a good guy. He killed & exploited people, not to mention he didn‘t discover America. #realhistory #honesthistory

This is beyond frustrating/devastating/inexcusable. It has been bad enough that they have pretty much dismantled the civil rights division for the OSE. This is just another FU to parents of disabled children. You can‘t administer the law that abides IEPs & 504 Plans if you‘ve fired everyone. I know that this is a developing story but wanted to put it out there to call your reps please. This is Eugenics. #ranttime

This book is more relevant than ever. Reading this is like reliving every day of the current administration. It‘s horrifying to know we‘re watching Facism unfold in real time. This is the book for you if you want to learn how to combat against Facism, know what we‘re up against, & continue to push back on this new unsettling reality. “Facist politics preys on the human fragility that makes our own suffering seem bearable if we know that those we

Southern Poverty Law Center‘s Learning for Justice program has lots of great resources. Especially about teaching what can be hard history subjects. The FBI has also recently cut ties with the SPLC. Which is a bit sad & scary since the SPLC monitors hate groups in the US. Just wanted to share additional info that could be beneficial: https://www.learningforjustice.org/

Since it‘s been another long week & it being Nobel Prize week. I thought I‘d share some cute puppy photos. Oliver is now 20 pounds & growing quick. He has his good moments: sleeps in his crate thru the night, lets us know that he has to go out. The other exhausting moments: he‘s in full teething mode, he tries to eat everything off the ground when he outside (mulch, rocks, flowers, dead worms, dead baby snakes, leaves). He‘s a great dog, just

#wdncw about sums up 2025 so far.

#wdncw It‘s been a long week & again it‘s only Wednesday. I feel this way everyday but also it‘s like a train wreck you can‘t look away from.

Another Banned Book, reason- it shows the elf‘s butt. My daughter absolutely loved this book when she was little. She thought it was hilarious & silly that you could see the elf‘s backside. How people get from something like a part of anatomy that we all have to the point that it‘s pornographic is beyond my level of comprehension. It‘s a silly story & when read in silly voices that‘s all it is. I feel bad for kids who are denied the silliness of

Banned book: This is a favorite in our house. A few years ago I started buying more diverse stories & this one was love. My daughter wanted to know if I knew how to make fry bread. I never understand the whole, we have to ban this because it makes kids feel bad. It doesn‘t make kids feel bad, it makes them curious. They want to know if it‘s a tradition we share. The only people it makes feel bad is people that become defensive over the past.

As we all know it‘s Banned Book week. This is from some of the highlights from the linked article. One positive in all this mess is that for the 87 book challenges last year there were 70 pushbacks on those challenges. #readwiththebanned #readingispolitical #realhistory #honesthistory #readingisresistance

The APA (American Psychological Association) wrote an article in July about the importance of kids reading diverse books. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/07-08/fighting-book-bans-censorship?utm_source=...

“Ahead of her time, she challenged a patriarchal system & a doctor-dominated world, compelling both to be better & fairer. She did it all alone, bolstered only by her belief that she was right, in a world that continually told her she was wrong. She fought every day of her life to make things better, dedicating her life to others, wanting justice for all.” Finally finished this #shesaid selection. So good, nonfiction that doesn‘t read like NF.

#wdncw because it‘s been a week & we‘re only halfway through.

#wdncw that I am very excited that Bad Bunny will be doing the halftime show for the Super Bowl. Although I have conflicting views on the NFL. I am happy that whoever is picking the halftime shows is making bold choices. Representation is important & matters. No matter what some may think we live in a multicultural world. 🇨🇺

Time to read more scary sh!t. Few pages in & it‘s like a playbook for the current administration. Attacking universities, promoting anti-intellectualism, twisting propaganda, creating a mythic past (our country was once great) & creating a state of unreality where conspiracy theories & fake news replace facts.

In case you haven‘t heard Reading Rainbow is coming back with Mychal the Librarian! So happy that he‘s going to be able to share his love of books with more kids & families.

My daughter could start in band/orchestra this year at her school. She chose the cello. The instrument is about as big as her but she is excited. We are trying to match her enthusiasm as we listen to the sweet (screeching) sounds as she‘s learning how to play. She was adamant that she wanted to play the cello from the start. She‘s also seen someone on YouTube play “Pink Pony Club” on cello & it‘s motivated her more.

Picked this up at the DC book festival since it is Maryland‘s One Book selection. The book is a collection of poetry about the authors deep dive into searching for her family‘s roots to slavery in MD. Her family is connected to one of the largest landowner in MD. Frederick Douglas was enslaved by this family. The poems highlight the authors family, the house, Douglas, Harriet Tubman. The book also holds very artistic renderings of the past.

The similarities to today & what happened 100 years ago are eerily similar. Replace the white hoods with red hats. My hope with this story is that the white hats were defeated. That through the persistence of journalists, lawyers, & others pushing back they were able to defeat the one group trying to destroy our country from within. The only problem is that too many people in this country (SC, lawmakers) are too afraid to stand up. I guess they

Lesson #17 is our current state: “Listen for dangerous words: Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.” There were 4 shootings in 24 hours this weekend. When the violence is done by another white male, there is an excuse. But no laws are made for gun control. Instead anyone on the “left” has now been labeled as an

It‘s the best when you can read your favorite Halloween books to your new love. She was reading him The Hallo-Wiener.

Finally mailed my Fall card swap cards. Sorry for the delay between my mom being at our house for a week & then being sick I lost track of time.