Andrea: Wednesday Book Blog

The Wednesday Letters

by Jason F. Wright

This is not one of my "normal" types of books for reading, but when I read the review of it somewhere, something spoke to me and said "you have to read this book". So I listened and I bought it and I read it and loved it!

It is such a sweet sentiment, starting on their wedding night, the groom writes a letter to his wife promising to write here a letter every Wednesday. The story is told from the perspective of the bride and groom's children when they find 39 years worth of letters.

I always know a book and/or a movie is a good one by 2 things, 1. I don't want it to end and 2. after, I can't stop thinking about it. This book was both for me. It was sad, happy, full of love but not mushy and sweet. An easy and quick read but one that made my heart happy and I will admit brought a few tears to my eyes. A great touch is in the back cover of the book there is an envelope and inside is a Wednesday letter.

Andrea: Wednesday Book Blog

Almost every year around Christmastime Patricia Cornwell publishes a book from her Scarpetta series. This year under the Christmas tree I found the 16th book in the series that started in 1990. The latest book is entitled Scarpetta after the main character Kay Scarpetta, a private forensic pathologist.

I did not start reading the series in 1990, I think I discovered these books a few years later, but since discovering them, I have read all of them and each year I look forward to the next book. Although when I finish the book I don't like having to wait a whole long year for the next one. This book, to me, was again no disappointment. For me it is an easy and interesting read. The book has 4 main characters that are in every book and I love seeing the development of each character and how the relationships evolve amongst the group. I am not always happy with what happens but I see, as the story line progresses this is where it has to go.

So if you are a Scarpetta series fan, you will probably enjoy this book. If you are not a fan but are looking for a new author/series, I recommend these books. You can pick up any book in the series and follow what is going on, but I think it is better to start at the beginning and follow it through for the sake of the characters. I will warn you though, the books are suspense and mysteries and the main character is a pathologist so if you scare easily or don't like a bit of gore or murder, these books might not be for you. If you like mysteries, Law and Order and CSI, these books are for you.

Finding the Happy

We all make lots of resolutions in December and on New Years Eve for the year is about to start, and we make them with the best of intentions. But usually by now, only 17 days into the new year, we have already slipped up on well, maybe half of them.

So this year I made only 1 resolution (but I also made lots of intentions, it might be semantics here but it works for me). My one resolution this year is to be happy. Now I have written about this before and those of you that know me, know I am a pretty happy person but we all have our times and more and more I see my happy slipping and the grouch coming out and well frankly, I just don't like it or me when that happens, so I am focusing on being happy.

For me the way to do that is to just focus on the moment, be present and see the good in the moment I am in. When things overwhelm me or when someone gets under my last nerve, I take a deep breath and exhale it out and try to find the happy in the situation. It takes constant practice but I have really found that it has been working for me. Things that normally get to me, start to creep in and then I change my thinking and I find the happy.

This is not something new and profound to me or to anyone else for that matter, but it is a conscience effort and it is one that has been working and one that for me needs constant reinforcement and reminding. But I have noticed that the more I do it the easier it is and the less conscience an effort it is and more an automatic.

Coincidentally for Christmas I received from a very good friend the book "The Art of Happiness, A handbook for Living" by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler M.D. I am only about 90 pages into it but I have found it very interesting and very helpful in reminding me of my resolution, my quest and my happy. I do recommend this book even though I am only 1/4 through it.

So my happy for this moment (and at 1:46pm today I have had many already) is that I had hoped to have time to write this blog today and I did with some time to spare in my packed agenda today! Go me. I am happy.

Good Things in Life

Last night I had dinner at one of my favorite places with some of my favorite people. My family (well part of my family as I am lucky enough to have a large family I love very much) at Fat Cat in Norwalk. The dinner plans were last minute for me as I had other plans for the night that got postponed. So when my aunt called in the late afternoon to tell me the family dinner plans I jumped right on it excited for the unexpected dinner.

I was the last to arrive and as I walked into the restaurant I saw one of the greatest and happiest sites - My family filling up the whole back part of the restaurant (there was 13 of us) smiling, laughing, eating and generally enjoying each others company. And to make it even better, their faces lit up with hellos and hugs as I walked up to the table, even if I did not get to eat my favorite pizza, I would have been very full and satisfied right at that moment. I wish I had my camera with me to capture that moment forever as one of the best moments to start my new year.

The rest of the evening was wonderful, we ate delicious pizza, sipped on some vino, celebrated my aunt's birthday (happy happy again Aunt Patty), spent time with my cousins visiting from NC (good luck Jerry), caught up with my local cousins and tried to learn the game the kids were playing.

Even though it was a rainy, icy evening, the sun was shining last night in the smiles of my family as we enjoyed each others company. What better way to start the new year and even though I did not have my camera to take that picture, it will forever be in my memory as a great night.