A book you got for free: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (Feb 28-Mar 3). Kathy lent it to me and kept asking if I'd read it yet, so she was pleased when I finally did haha. An intriguing mystery!

A book about a cult: The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (Mar 4-17). Best one in the Cormoran Strike series!! The suspense had my heart racing haha (note to self: don't join a cult O_o). The new book is coming out this year, yay!!

A book that fills your favorite prompt from the 2015 PS Reading Challenge (a mystery or thriller): The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (Mar 17-21). The plot in this series is kind of far-fetched, but they're so entertaining and funny! Osman got the idea for the Thursday Murder Club when he went to the "retirement village" his mom lives in and was like "this would be a perfect place for a murder!" Haha what! I think the new one in this series is coming out this year too! A good year for book releases :D

A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee: The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman (Mar 21-26). One of the main characters is from Egypt. Here's an example of why I love the series: "Well, they would bleed out very quickly, says the Forensic Officer. "So putrefaction would also occur fairly quickly. The smell would be awful for the first, let's say two months, then gradually things would return to normal." "Bit of Febreeze every now and again," says Joyce. I definitely had to LOL at that! So fun :P

A book about an overlooked woman in history: Ten Days in A Mad-House by Nellie Bly (Mar 27-28). She pretended to be "insane" so she could report on what the asylums were like. Her answer? Not good. They were beaten, strangled, forced to take cold baths, made to eat disgusting food, etc. If they weren't "insane" before (which most weren't..they could get thrown in for speaking their mind to their husband..ugh), they definitely were if they stayed long enough. So awful :(

A book about soccer: Love Puppies and Corner Kicks by Bob Krech (Mar 28-29). If I have to read a book about something I don't care about, it might as well be a shortish kids book. :P I was actually looking for books with stuttering characters and this one showed up. Perfect! (The Running Grave had a stuttering character too, though I didn't know it beforehand.) I'm glad I enjoyed it and didn't pick a boring one :P

( the topics )

Not the best reading month, but I lost Abby (devastating, some of the worst depression I've ever felt), The Running Grave was very long, I got sick, and I got Curti, who goes nuts around 9 or 10, so I have to play with him while trying to read at the same time haha. March was a crazy month lol

The other day I saw the word "withheld," and thought it was weird because of the two Hs together, and now I keep seeing it everywhere haha. When I was doing taxes that would was there, and "side hustle," which I was very surprised at..I just thought it was slang haha. I showed mom and told her what it meant, and like an hour later she started laughing and said the video she was watching said "side hustle." So weird how that works lol

Curti is so cute!!

Awwww. <3 I titled it "cat and mouse" on Facebook haha

29. Have you ever run away from home? No

30. Who is your role model? Cherry, Vicki, positive people, etc

31. Your favorite movies: LOTR: Return of the King, Cutthroat Island, Interstellar, Twister, 1917, Wall-E, Les Miserables, etc

April 1: Best practical joke you've ever played: When I was in high school I was in Tech Theater for a semester, and one day we made fake bruises on ourselves. When I got home I showed it to mom without any context and she was like "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!?" I told her right away and was sorry I panicked her lol

I probably haven't seen a lot of these (or like one episode), but I love lists like this, so I'll do it anyway :P

+ Bold all of the following TV shows of which you've seen 3 or more episodes.
+ Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode.
+ Asterisk if you have at least one full season on tape or DVD
+ Exclamation mark if it's an all-time fave.
+ Add up to 3 more shows that are not on here.

24
The 4400
Abbot Elementary
A League of Their Own
The A-Team
The Addams Family
The Adventures of Pete and Pete
Agent Carter (! I watched it again a few months ago I think and one of the characters had a four-poster bed!! Don't remember that from before haha)
America’s Next Top Model
The Americans
Angel
The Andy Griffith Show
Arcane: League of Legends
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: Legend of Korra
Arthur
( the rest )

Earlier this week I found a book I might be interested in, and when I started flipping through it I saw "fussbudget," a word from the Biz Bee last week!! I don't remember ever seeing it before, and just right after the Biz Bee?? That's crazy haha, what are the chances?

On Tuesday before book club, mom and I went to a Chinese restaurant, which was closed on Tuesdays (huh??), another that had closed for the day, and just went to the Mexican restaurant across the street. I wanted ice cream after, so we went to Sonic, but they were out of ice cream. Mom was like "uh ok, there's nothing here I want then" and I said "don't be rude!" We then went to another place and the guys said they stopped making ice cream. I was like "...but this is an ice cream shop!" Mom and I were dying of laughter when we got outside..she was like "you literally did what you just told me not to do!" We went to Cold Stone (mom joked they were probably out of ice cream too, and I'd just have to get a bowl of sprinkles LOL)..it took like 30 minutes and were late for book club, but at least we had an amusing story to tell :P

It's been sooo nice out this week..not looking forward to the birch pollen though D:

20. How Much Control Do You Think You Have Over Your Fate? Some, you do have some control over your decisions, anyway..

21. How Do You Try to Reduce Your Impact on the Environment? Not litter..I should probably do more :/

22. How Do You Celebrate Earth Day? I don't really

23. Did Your School Have A Dress Code? Are School Dress Codes a Good Idea? Yeah. To an extent..banning band shirts seemed ridiculous though :/

24. What Have Your Parents Taught You About Money? *shrugs* General stuff??

25. Are You a Good Driver? I don't drive, and I don't think I can, because when I get surprised, I freeze and can't react for a few seconds (sometimes I can't speak at all, like when I saw a bear charging at mom's car), which could mean the difference between accident or not. It just seems scary anyway haha

The Literacy Council got first place at the Biz Bee on Friday!! (Denise, Evan, Tasneem) The winning word was "leman" (a lover or sweetheart). That's only the second time we've gotten first place! (The last time was 2015, when I was one of the spellers, and Denise was on the team then too.) People kept on passing "transmontane" to other teams..it seemed pretty straightforward to me lol. Denise was buzzing (ha ha) after we won..so much fun!

The other day someone came into the bookstore who lives in the neighborhood in the hills that we used to live in, and she said the people that bought our house are a young couple with a baby, who seemed to be enjoying it and taking care of it..awesome! I wonder if they ever watch the Northern Lights from the bedroom like I used to do lol. I miss the tamaracks!

( april 16-18 )

Today's trivia: Putting sugar on a cut will make it heal faster. The granules of the sugar crystals will absorb any moisture that bacteria thrive on

1. Would you rather have the unpredictability of live theatre or the predictability of a movie? Hmm..it might depend on my mood lol
2. Do you prefer the symphony and/or opera to a live band or the other way around? Live bands are more fun, because you can dance and jump around haha
3. When you go to a museum, where do you head first? Hmm..maybe somewhere near the entrance, or wherever else sounds more interesting lol
4. Would you prefer a pub crawl or a sampling of beer or wine in one restaurant? In one restaurant
5. When you visit a new place, what is the first thing you like to visit – something recommended by a travel agency/travel book or something recommended by a friend? The first thing I want to do is eat something or relax haha, so a hotel or a restaurant :P

Yesterday was the Literacy Council's annual spelling bee fundraiser..it's always amazing how the words go from not too bad, like "phenomenon," to WTF words like "sudoriferous" and "camelopard." There were 19 teams, and we got third place! (I wasn't up there, it's gotten too stressful and scary for me lol.) The last two teams battled for quite awhile..one of them was the Co-Op Market, who are SUPER smart and who are pretty much always in the top three (I remember battling them the year we got first place lol), but those words were too crazy even for them. Finally they got "niveau" and "saffian" right (you need two in a row to win), and they got first place! I love how excited the lady on that team always is haha. In the silent auction, I got a nice glacier painting and some socks. Hopefully everyone else had fun too lol

( feb. 15-21 )

...you see SIX people/groups of people you know at Fred Meyer. It's common to see someone you know there, but SIX is definitely a record haha. Mom was like "do you know the whole store?!" haha. When I moved here I knew no one and felt sad and left out, so I always appreciate seeing someone I know in public

I never really paid attention to the term "High Street" (I was going to say I'd never heard of it, but when I looked at a map of London I recognized "High Holborn" from previous visits..that was very near where I stayed the first time I went there!), but ever since going to Wheathampstead I'm seeing it everywhere now lol. It was in the last Flavia de Luce book I read, and it was mentioned in the show The Frankenstein Chronicles. I also keep seeing words relating to sepulcher, like "sepulchral." So weird how that happens lol

Mom got a job at another craft store! That's cool, I know she was sad when the other one closed. She has a LOT of fabric now lol (like me working in a bookstore :P)

( April 2 - What is the best prank you ever pulled, or had pulled on you? )

Today's trivia: When Teddy Roosevelt was running for president, he was once shot while giving a speech. The bullet, however, was greatly slowed by Roosevelt's speech transcript, which he kept in his breast pocket. He proceeded to speak for another hour before being taken to a hospital. It is believed that the Roosevelt would have been killed if not for the placement (and thickness) of the speech transcript

I'm pretty sure I'm the Queen of Coincidences lol..I just read a book that kept saying things were "Lilliputian"..eventually I looked it up and it said "Lilliput" is a fictional city with tiny people in Gulliver's Travels, so "Lilliputian" basically means "small." The day after I looked it up I found a copy of Gulliver's Travels at work..I opened it and sure enough, the first part of the book is set in Lilliput! Weird how I came across it the day after I looked the word up haha

For whatever reason this year, Fairbanks is having a vole infestation. Dad says Greyboy keeps getting them, and they're all over the place at work (I've seen them at work before, but never this many at once). I saw one at the door and was like "aww, come here little guy!" And Paulette was like "NO don't come here!!" haha. Paulette had to buy traps today..that part makes me sad :(

( pics for june 20 and 21 )

Today's trivia: "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles was the only single to feature Ringo Starr on lead vocals

Yesterday was the annual Biz Bee fundraiser for the Literacy Council (last year I was in Hawaii, and my coworker Liz took my place. They got out on the word "dieffenbachia," a type of plant. Liz was so upset because she has two of them in her house lol). Denise took this year off and Liz was on the team again. I'm always so nervous before spelling, especially since the Literacy Council was spelling first and I was the very first speller (they do a drawing to determine the order of the teams). I just kept thinking "stick it, stick it" to myself..it was distracting at least. :P The first word was "collage"..eaaasy lol. The first two rounds were pretty easy (especially since we did a lot of studying/practice), but the words just got insane after that. Two teams got out during the second round, misspelling "sayonara" and "mahatma." Our word during the third round was "tectonosphere," which wasn't too bad, but other ones like "caulicolous" and "addax"? Jeez haha. One team threw out the word "dactylology," which I had spelled correctly and I wished they had passed it to us lol (Liz had an I instead of a y, but I was pretty positive with my spelling, since "dactyl" is a root word I've seen before). On the next round we threw out two words that we definitely would have gotten wrong ("pneumatocele"?? Whut) and passed one to another team in the hope of getting an "easier" word, which amazingly worked, because the next word was "blastema"! I was so happy when they said I was right after spelling it, phew!! One team got out on "faja," which seemed simple to us lol (once they said it was a Spanish scarf, we knew it was a j instead of an h). Thenn came the next round (5th??), where only three of us were left (once the third round started, the teams dropped like flies), the Literacy Council, the library and the Co-Op Market (luckily we were all in the same area, so the lady with the microphone didn't have to keep walking all over the place lol). Our word was "gallinazo," which none of us knew how to spell and we got out on that one (it seems obvious now that I see it written down and I'm not under pressure lol). I'm just glad none of us misspoke or skipped a letter (at least one team did, ouch), or got out on a word we practiced on. Third place is still great though! Liz was especially happy..she'd never gotten over misspelling "dieffenbachia" lol. To win, a team has to spell two words in a row correctly (the judges mentioned one year two teams battled each other for TWO HOURS..yeah, I remember that and the judges we so not happy..they wanted to go home LOL). This time was like 5 or 10 minutes! The Co-Op Market won after spelling "acetylcholine" and "quokka." WOW. They are amazingly smart!! We battled them in 2015 when we got first place..they are smart and tough! They definitely earned that win lol. We were happy just to make it to third place lol. I'm not sure how much money we raised since I took today off, but I hope we did well. It was fun but I'm always glad to get it over with..stressful lol. I saw the Northern Lights when mom drove home too!

Here's a pic of us!

Mom (our awesome coach), me, Jackie, Liz. Yay us lol

( i don't feel like doing the picture meme now, but here's the pokemon update lol )

The spelling bee last night was pretty fun. My parents, Bjorn and Kathy all came to cheer me on. We were the third team to spell..I think our first word was "recidivist" (I don't have the list with me). The sentence they used was "Justin Bieber is a recidivist and should be deported." LOL. It was kinda annoying seeing the teams misspell or throw out easy words ("Farenhight"?!? Really??). I guess they didn't practice. It's always nerve wracking being the one to spell..I make sure to spell super slow so I don't mess up (some people spelled fast! D: That freaks me out haha). We also had words like "hellebore" and "physiotherapist" (perfect for Denise, since she works for a chiropractor haha). One team got bivouac! I was so jealous, I wanted a mountaineering word haha! The team numbers kept getting lower..then there were three left, including us. That team got their word wrong, which left only two left, us and a rotary team!! OMG I was shaking like crazy haha. To win you have to spell two words in a row right..we got our word wrong, so it passed to the rotary team (conveniently they were located right below us haha). They got both their words right and won (the winning word was wharfinger). OMG we were SO happy to get second place though!! Mike said that's the best the LCA has ever done! My team is awesome, we all have different areas we're knowledgeable about (Denise is good with Middle Eastern words since she used to live there, Jackie has been involved with spelling bees a long time so she knows the words well, I'm good with Latin..). It definitely worked well for us! We got a plaque and $15 gift certificates to the bookstore. In all we raised over 23,000!!! A very successful night :) (I also finally met Layla (laylalawlor), who came too! Yay, I love meeting LJ friends hehe)

( pics! )

The spelling bee went well yesterday..we had 20 teams this year! (Last year we had 16) We didn't win, but we stayed in a long time! I think we came in 6th place. Mike (the executive director) said that's the best the Literacy Council's done in a long time. Our first word was "bolshevik" (eaaasy). There was another word we passed to another team who passed it back to us..we weren't sure but we decided to go with it..and got it right! The word was "einkorn" (like a grass or something). It was my turn to spell so people were like "good job Ms. Einkorn!" Haha! We also had words like "brilliantine" and "intaglio." Eventually the words just got crazy impossible haha..like the word we got out on was "horologium" (a constellation). After we got out Mike came over and gave us high-fives..he was really impressed. I'm proud of our team too. :D Another team got out on the word "adiabatic." I knew that word from reading mountaineering books and just articles online (it's a type of wind, kinda like a Chinook). I wish that was one of our words haha. The last two teams kept battling it out for a looong time..we all just wanted someone to win haha (it was past 11 and even the judges were tired). Maybe if they didn't choose impossible words like "brankursine"..lol. Maybe they finally figured that out since the winning word was "bioacoustics" (eaaaaasy!). ;) The winners were from the Alyeska Pipeline..their first year in the bee! Nicee. I was soooo tired when it was over..I had a huge headache..ow. People at work today kept saying how awesomely we did. :) LCA raised over 21,000 too ($1000 more than last year!). Niceee

( 170. Underworld )

One of my coworkers bought two baby chickens and brought them to work today to show the preschool kids. I got to hold them..they were sooo cute hehe. They fit perfectly in my hand and were chirping..awwweee *squees*

Dictionary.com's word of the day today is "bivouac"..so awesome haha

( Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you )

Would you rather have 14 fingers or 16 toes? 16 toes?

Today's trivia: A Belgian couple got married by SMS because text messaging played such a big part in their relationship