Lisa Marie Pottgen's Blog, page 6

Review: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3) by Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments, #3
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on March 24th 2009
ISBN: 1416972250
Genres: Young Adult, Lifestyles, City & Town Life, Fantasy & Magic, Social Issues, New Experience, Social Themes
Pages: 541
Format: Kindle
Source: Shared Library
Buy on Amazon Goodreads

Love is a mortal sin, and the secrets of the past are deadly. Plunge into the third installment in the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and prepare to be hooked. (Entertainment Weekly).

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters; never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City? Whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of bestselling series the Mortal Instruments.

Includes an exclusive sneak peek of the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series: City of Fallen Angels! And don't miss the teaser from Clockwork Angel, the first book in the Infernal Devices trilogy, the prequel to the Mortal Instruments series.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Hmm, what to say. I truly had several “what the hell just happened?” moments throughout this particular installment of the series, to be sure.

I read a few other reviews that were bothered by the fact that the author was seemingly playing out an “incestuous” relationship, but I wonder if they read through to the end and realized that it actually had a purpose. Generally speaking, I am not a fan of playing out that angle, but my gut told me to stick it out and it would be worth it. It was.

I also know that in blogger circles, this author is one that has a bit of a reputation, and while I am aware of that, I chose to ignore it for the time being. I read and reviewed the stories on their own merit, and not what others thought.

I loved the world building. In some cases, it may have seemed a bit like an info dump, but I think it was necessary. At 541 pages already, to gradually describe some things in the story, this would have been much, much longer, which would have seemed tedious.

I think that the characters progressed along nicely, and that the events that took place, while unpleasant, were necessary to the story line.

Overall, so far I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and cannot wait to read the next installment.


About Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices trilogy, and coauthor of the Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. She also wrote The Shadowhunter’s Codex with her husband, Joshua Lewis. Her books have more than 36 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | Tumblr

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My Piece of the Puzzle (2) Special Autism Awareness Day Edition: What the People Working With Our Kids Wish We Would Realize #autism #autismawareness

Each day and each experience when living with a child with autism is different.  Each child with autism is different.

For those who don’t know what autism is:

Autism is a developmental disability, which is defined as a syndrome. A syndrome is simply a mix of signs or characteristics that can be used to show a particular condition. Autism is a lifelong condition that combine both developmental and behavioural features.

Translation: Autism is a series of developmental issues in socialization and communication that affect each person differently.

Normally I run this feature on Sundays, but in honor of Autism Awareness Day, I have decided to run this today, Saturday, instead.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who is a paraprofessional, and I had the opportunity to sit down with her this week and have a chat with her about the things that she wished that parents of kids on the spectrum would realize when dealing with paraprofessionals, or in general.  Due to the nature of the type of work she does and the nature of the type of the things that could come up in the interview, she requested that she remain anonymous, but she has worked with special needs children for over 9 years, so she is very definitely qualified to speak on this topic.  As she requested to remain anonymous, I refer to her in the interview as Autism Angel, because I feel anyone who works with kids like mine is an angel and a savior in my eyes and deserves all the praise in the world.

 

ME:  It really takes a special person to posess the ability to take on working with children (or even adults) with special needs.  What made you choose that career path?

Autism Angel:  Honestly? It was a job I could work and be home when my kids were home. I started when my youngest was in kindergarten. I was involved with Special Olympics when I was in high school, so I knew that working with special needs kids wasn’t going to be an issue for me.

 ME:  What would you say has been the most rewarding part of working with autistic kids?

Autism Angel:  That’s a tough one to answer, because each of my kiddos with autism are so different from each other. One of my favorite moments was when it one of my kindergarteners finally remembered my name without me telling him. It took from August until almost Christmas break for that to happen.

ME:  That is amazing about remembering your name!  I probably would have cried.

Autism Angel:  I teared up a little!

ME:  What about the most heartbreaking experience?  Or the hardest part of the job, if the most heartbreaking experience is too hard a question?

Autism Angel:  Another kindergartener that I worked with had severe behaviors. He would hit, he would bite, he would kick, and if he couldn’t reach you, he would spit. It was really difficult to not know how to fix it so that he wasn’t so upset.

ME: I take it his communication was delayed?

Autism Angel: Yes.  He was verbal, but delayed.

ME: So he wasn’t able to just tell you what he was feeling or what was bothering him very easily. 

Autism Angel: Right,

ME: That had to be very difficult.  I consider myself lucky that my daughter has the language skills that she does.  She only lacks the pragmatic.  She struggles with the emotional and social language, so feelings and conversational language are still hard for her, but I know that so many children have it so much harder

ME: Are there ways that parents could make your job easier?

Autism Angel: If there is something that your child really, really dislikes, something that will “ruin your child’s day,” please let us know. Sometimes we don’t know that so-and-so doesn’t like to sit on the green chair, or so-and-so doesn’t like dinosaurs. Knowing things like that would be very helpful to avoid meltdowns.

Conversely, if there something that your child really, really loves, be sure we know that as well.

 

ME: Can you give an example of what a typical day looks like?

Autism Angel: Hmm. With what type of kiddo with autism? One who would’ve had an Asperger’s diagnosis when that was still around? Or one who has a more severe diagnosis?

ME: Which is more common for you to work with?

Autism Angel: I am more often with Aspie kids (and kids with CP, and ADHD).

ME: Go ahead and answer about a typical day for Aspie.

Autism Angel: Well, One of my favorites was a fifth grader we will just call J. I worked with him, a boy called N (who had an ADHD diagnosis), and a girl, V, (who had reactive attachment disorder). On a typical day, I would meet the three of them in the classroom and make sure all three of them emptied their backpacks. Then I would help J and N get organized for the day. If there was to be a test, the four of us would go to another room for extra review beforehand and they took the test there in our small group.

 All three got extra time on tests and extra help from me with projects.

But to say a “typical” day for my job is really hard to define.

It is very dependent on the kiddos. Did someone not sleep well? Miss breakfast? Fight about getting on the bus? Have something awesome happen the night before that they HAVE TO tell me about?

I go with their flow and do my best to keep them on track with school stuff.

ME: Haha yeah, I guess using the word “typical” when asking about autism is a bit….out there to begin with.

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that question down!

ME: Can you tell me some things that you wish parents would realize about what your job really does entail?

Autism Angel: I have had really good parents who are quite understanding about what I do all day.

If you have a more severe child, know that I am there (with the teacher) scheduling their day, oftentimes down to the minute.

Because ALL of my kiddos with autism need that

I do everything I can to ensure that your child has a great day educationally, emotionally, and socially.

When your child has a meltdown, it often breaks my heart because I may have done something that set it in motion.

When your child has an awesome day, or does something awesome, I am jealous that it’s the teacher who gets to call and tell you. 

ME: What about things that they need to know are NOT a part of your job description?  Are there any things that you feel like parents expect of you that they should be doing themselves?

Autism Angel: Communication between the school and home has to be through the teacher unless otherwise stated. Depending on the child, the school, and the program, it is not necessarily my job to make your child their lunch.

ME: Has that actually happened??

Autism Angel: Yes.  Although, with my kindergarteners, because of the type of program we were in, we did warm up lunch for them.

ME:  Well, but with Kindergarten, we are talking about 5 year olds.  And then if that was a written part of the program, then that is a different story.

Autism Angel:  And they were in an individualized instruction class. Exactly   I can’t think of anything, else, really.  Not with my spectrum kids. Their parents are all awesome.

ME: With today being Autism Awareness Day, is there anything else you think that people in general should know about kids with autism in general?  I live by the motto that an autism diagnosis doesn’t mean that your child is “broken” or “damaged” or needs to be “cured” but that it just means that your parenting style needs to adapt and evolve.

Autism Angel:  In my opinion, kids with autism aren’t weird, they just run a little differently than we non-spectrum folks. Kids with autism aren’t sick and therefore do not need to be cured. And if people would take the time to get to know them, kids with autism are often some of the best kids in the school.

Book Blogger Hop (2): Comfort Zones

About the Book Blogger Hop
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended December 31, 2012.
 
I didn’t want the hop to come to end, and with Jennifer’s permission, I’ll relaunch the Book Blogger Hop on Friday, February 15th, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt just like before. The hop’s purpose will remain the same as it will give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

 This week’s Question:   Have you ever ventured out of your comfort zone in terms of reading a genre you have never read? If so, did you get hooked on that new genre ?

This is a tough one.  The short answer is yes and no.  It’s hard for me to answer because I don’t know if I really have a comfort zone?

I guess I have in a way because I swore for a long time that I didn’t like romance, but now I can do romantic suspense without wanting to gag.  But I have to be in the mood for it.

Beyond that, though, I am really not sure that I have much of a comfort zone.  There really is not a lot that I won’t read.  But I am a mood reader and I tend to go in…shifts, I guess.  I tend to get into a genre and then stay with that for a long time.  Then I will pick something up in another genre, and I will stay with that for a while.  Like, I read a dystopian novel, and then everything I read for a while was dystopian.  Then I read the first of the Sue Grafton novels, and then it was nothing but mysteries for a while.  You get the idea?

So it’s not so much a comfort zone thing, but I get into reading moods.  If I am in a certain mood, and I try to read anything else before my “mood” changes, I won’t be able to get into the book.

What about you?  How have your forays out of your comfort zone worked out for you?  Successes?  Failures?  Tell me in the comments!  I would love to hear your thoughts.

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ARC Review: Runes by Ednah Walters

Immortals by Ednah Walters
Series: Runes #2
Published by Firetrail Publishing on August 5th 2013
ISBN: 9780983429777
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Young Adult, Love & Romance
Pages: 342
Format: Kindle
Source: Borrowed
Buy on Amazon Goodreads

 Nothing can stop Raine Cooper when she wants something… 

Raine finally knows that her gorgeous neighbor, Torin St. James, is a legend straight out of Norse mythology, and that her feelings for him are strong. Torin is crazy about Raine too, breaking the one rule he lives by: Never fall for a mortal. The problem is he no longer remembers her, his memories erased by Norns—Norse destiny deities—to punish her for defying them. 

So Raine comes up with a plan...

She will make Torin forget his one rule a second time and fall in love with her all over again. But she quickly learns that well-laid plans do not work when dealing with deities and supernatural beings. Desperate, Raine makes choices that could not only tear her and Torin further apart, but lead to the destruction of everything and everyone she loves.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Runes was a quick, fun and easy read. This was the first book by this particular author I had ever read, but I am eager to see how this series plays out.

I enjoyed the involvement of the Norse mythology, as that is something I felt was unique to this story and I had not seen a lot of in other series.

Some of the content was a little mature, so I would caution those recommending the book to keep in mind that it may be better suited for the older teen readers. There are situations and circumstances and a small bit of language that would caution toward a bit of maturity in the reader.

The story played out in unique ways, but was also fraught with teen angsty romance that many following the YA paranormal genre would come to expect.

The ending was a total cliffhanger and left me with a total “what in the hell just happened?” moment. I both love and hate the author right now for the ending.


About Ednah Walters

Her award-winning, International Bestselling YA Paranormal Romance—Runes Series—started with Runes and has a total of 6 books to date. The last one, Witches, released in March 2015, was a Readers Choice Awards winner. Her most recent addition is Demons, A Runes Companion Novel (Eirik Book 1). Demons is the story of Raines best friend and former crush Eirik Seville.

Her international bestselling YA Urban Fantasy series, The Guardian Legacy Series, focuses on the Nephilim, children of the fallen angels. The series started with Awakened and has a total of 4 books to date. The latest Forgotten was released in June 2015.

She also writes Contemporary Romance as E.B. Walters-from The Fitzgerald Family series and Infinitus Billionaires series.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | Pinterest

Rating Report


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Task it Tuesday (1) Let’s Get My Life in Order!

Welcome to Task It Tuesday! created by the Awesome The Geeky Blogger

Hosted by Michelle at Because Reading is better than real life!

What is Task It Tuesday? It is where every week I list a task or tasks that I would like to accomplish on my blog or in Real Life before next Tuesday. It can be big or small but the goal is to get something done that will make my blog/reading life/challenges run smoother, faster, or more efficient and/or get those simple or complex tasks done in my real life. I will also be sharing organizing tips and linking with posts from bloggers that have some great tips and tricks for keeping you and your blog/real life organized.

 

Well, For any of you who actually know me, organization is not my strong suit.  So here’s the thing.  I decided I would jump on the bandwagon with this Task it Tuesday deal.

I kind of jumped the gun and started on Monday a little.

GENERAL

Continue working on the Daily Schedule – I realized that the only way I am going to gain any balance between my working and blogging life is if I put myself on a schedule.  So I went back to using a Pomodoro Timer (Tomighty specifically) and alternate my tasks.  I spend 25 minutes working, take a 5 minute break, then do another 25 minutes of work, take another break, and then spend 25 minutes on the blog.  Then I work, then I do blog tasks and so on and so forth.  Yesterday, I got 1700 lines completed for work, and I got all of the blog tasks I wanted to done!  I created templates for all of the blog memes I might consider participating in, including this one!

BLOG

Work on My Piece of the Puzzle Posts for April
Work on some discussion posts
Work on getting posts updated into UBB format
Get tags updated
Autism Awareness Day post
Research planner organization ideas
Update Author section

Home

Organize closets
More cleaning and straightening of the bedroom
Organize family records binder
Organize notebooks shelf
Brainstorm charging station ideas

I am not sure how this week will go because my kids are back from their dads and they always are a bit out of sorts when they spend a full week with their dad and have a hard time adjusting back to a more…structured routine.  Hopefully things will go smoothly and yesterday’s awesome progress will continue.  I even managed to get in some exercise and I am hoping to be able to get some in today as well!

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Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Switched by Amanda Hocking
Series: Trylle #1
Published by Macmillan on January 3rd 2012
ISBN: 9781429956529
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy & Magic, Love & Romance, Paranormal
Pages: 336
Format: Kindle
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon Goodreads

Amanda Hocking is an indie publishing sensation whose self-published novels have sold millions of copies all over the world, and Switched is the book that started the phenomenon. Prepare to be enchanted...

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She's not the person she's always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken...though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she'd ever admit. But it isn't long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he's come to take her home.

Now Wendy's about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that's both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she's meant to become...

As a special gift to readers, this book contains a new, never-before-published bonus story, "The Vittra Attacks," set in the magical world of the Trylle.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

I cannot believe I never reviewed this when I first read it. I just recently did a reread, and read all 3 books in the series in about 72 hours. I adore this series and pretty much everything this author has ever written.

Switched is an interesting take on fantasy. AFter all, when you read about trolls, you usually get the picture of how they were described in Harry Potter; grotesque, ugly, huge creatures. Or the Billy Goat’s Gruff concept, but these real trolls do not live under bridges and they look largely like you and I.

I had a little bit of trouble because there were some editing slips in this one, but the story was interesting enough for me to overlook them and keep reading. Those who know me realize how huge that is.

If you are a fan of young adult, fantasy or a fan of both then this series will have something for you. There is action, adventure, romance. It really is a must read. Plus, I got to interview the author and she just rocks.


About Amanda Hocking

Amanda Hocking is a lifelong Minnesotan obsessed with Batman and Jim Henson. In between watching cooking shows, taking care of her menagerie of pets, and drinking too much Red Bull Zero, she writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

Her New York Times best-selling series the Trylle Trilogy has been optioned for films.  Her zombie series, The Hollows, has been adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite. She has published over fifteen novels, including the Watersong quartet and My Blood Approves series. Frostfire, Ice Kissed, and Crystal Kingdom  – all three books in her latest trilogy, The Kanin Chronicles – are out now.

Her next book will be Freeks – a standalone YA paranormal romance novel set in the 1980s that follows a travelling sideshow. It will be out sometime in 2016, with the St. Martin’s Griffin.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

Rating Report


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Overall:

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And the Spring #Bloggiesta 2016 Comes to a Close! :(

You may remember I posted back here about my participating in my first official Bloggiesta and committing fully to it.  And I had posted this big old ambitious list of goals:

Finish up and schedule all of these drafted posts.
Participate in Twitter chats
Participate in Mini challenges
Do some serious blogger networking and commune with my fellow book lovers.
Clean up my blog roll
Clean up my sidebars
Add missing tags and categories to posts

I had decided to break tasks down to daily things I needed to accomplish, so it ended up looking something like this:

Monday:

Participated in Twitter Chat!
Joined Mastermind group.
Did two of the mini challenges:

Signed up for Libib and created my libraries (still need to get all of my books added, though).
Joined three blog memes!


Wrote and scheduled posts for the above mentioned blog memes!
Came up with an idea for a new, original feature and brainstormed with a friend about a banner for it.

Tuesday:

Schedule a Review Post
Schedule a Review Post
Schedule a Review Post
Schedule a Review Post
Participate in Twitter chat.
Visit blogs and comment.   I commented on a bunch of blogs, I think 8?  I lost count, though!
Try to do at least one more challenge.
Tag posts with missing tags. – I only got through about half of these so I am not striking through.  But I think I still consider it a win because I had a LOT of posts with no tags.

Wednesday:

Try to learn how to use UBB
Work on getting old reviews set up in UBB
Schedule Review
Schedule Review
Write post for new feature.
Check on status of banner.
Twitter Chat!
More visiting and commenting
More tagging
Tweak theme a bit
Clean up menus
Mini Challenge
Clean up sidebars
Remove extraneous categories

Thursday

Now that all those extraneous categories are gone, re-categorize posts
Tag posts
Re-configure posts with UBB so they are in archives
Write post for new feature.
Twitter party?
More blog visiting and commenting

Friday:

Tweak post for new feature – still in progress
Tagging, tagging, tagging – still in progress
Categorize, categorize   -FINISHED
Update reviews into UBB for archiving  Still a work in progress
Visiting and commenting.
Twitter chat

Saturday/Sunday Goals

Tagging
Update reviews
Schedule remaining 10 drafted posts
Figure out how to make a banner for new feature.

Overall, I got all of the above that have the strikethrough done, plus some general tweaking done.  The others are works in progress.  I also have the mastermind group to keep me accountable and help keep me on track moving forward and I think that is going to be awesome!

I made some amazing new friends.  I went to every Twitter chat except Saturday, and even Tweeted from the road today.  I actually feel a sense of loss and boredom now that it is over.  I really just don’t know what to do with myself without my Bloggiesta friends and all the tweeting to each other that we did!

How did everyone else do?

The post And the Spring #Bloggiesta 2016 Comes to a Close! :( appeared first on .

My Piece of the Puzzle (1)

Each day and each experience when living with a child with autism is different.  Each child with autism is different.

For those who don’t know what autism is:

Autism is a developmental disability, which is defined as a syndrome. A syndrome is simply a mix of signs or characteristics that can be used to show a particular condition. Autism is a lifelong condition that combine both developmental and behavioural features.

Translation: Autism is a series of developmental issues in socialization and communication that affect each person differently.

The Journey to Diagnosis

In my house, every single day is different, and every single day is an adventure.  My daughter is 5.  She was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum when she was 3 years old.  But I knew when she was a baby.  I really do not know how to explain that other than that I just knew.  She never made eye contact.  That social smile that parents get all excited about just really wasn’t there.

But the doctors didn’t listen.  She was in a children’s hospital at 3 months old because of suspected seizures, and that is still a concern and still something that has not been diagnosed.  The pediatrician thought the development would catch up.  It was not until she was almost 3, still not really talking, and barely walking, when the pediatrician noticed on our 5th head injury follow up that Lauren was making repetetive hand movements.  Finally we got a referral to a new neurologist and early intervention for evaluation.

I hear a lot of people say that the autism diagnosis comes like a crushing blow.  To me, oddly, it was a relief.  It was validation.  I knew from the beginning that that was what the answer was going to be.  I had spent nearly three years researching, talking to family, reading everything I could.  Asperger’s syndrome is prominent in a few other family members, so I knew the genetics were there.

On genetic screening, Lauren came up as a carrier for fragile X syndrome, which means either her father or I carry the gene as well.  We still haven’t figured out what the implications of that mean. But finally we had started to get some answers.

We had a battery of tests.  MRIs, EEGs, brain scans.  There were a million forms to fill out and behavior assessments.  The entire process took nearly a year, but in the end, the answer was exactly what I had suspected. But there was more that I hadn’t.

What Comes After the Diagnosis?

So now we had a diagnosis, an answer.  Lauren was classified as autism spectrum disorder.  She was not classified as the milder form, Asperger’s syndrome, or high functioning autism.  She is not particularly low functioning, either.  She is moderate severity autism.  She may always need a little bit of help, but anything is possible.  They also diagnosed ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, and OCD.  She has a severe pragmatic language delay.  She lacks independent and self care skills.  

The next step was meeting with the school district to get her qualified for services.  This was another 4 months of evals and screenings.  But after all was said and done, she qualified for a full day program 5 days a week with transportation in a regular school, where she receives physical, occupational, language therapy and aquatherapy and special education instruction.  She started school at 3-1/2.

Fast Forward to Now

Lauren has actually thrived in the educational environment.  We had to make the difficult decision at 4 to medicate her ADHD and to put her on medication for sleep because she completely STOPPED sleeping.  Children with autism and ADHD absolutely thrive on structure and routine, though and this has been critical for us.  Everything has to be at EXACTLY the same time each day for her.  And EVERY Friday we have to have spaghetti for dinner, her favorite food.  If we don’t, all hell breaks loose.  Trust me, the atomic bomb has nothing on this girl’s meltdowns.

Academically, though, Lauren actually functions at a 1st grade level and she is only in Pre-K!.  She can read, do simple math and even basic word problems.  She can tell you the path food takes through the digestive tract and even understands the basics of American Sign Language and Spanish, and has been working on teaching herself Mandarin.  The languages are all self taught.  These are some of her obsessions.  She loves to learn.  She just prefers to do it alone.  She spends a lot of time on learning websites on her iPad, which has been a godsend when an anonymous angel gifted it to her last year.  She makes videos with it of herself doing fun things, and sometimes she lets me share them.

She is our light in the darkness, my piece of the puzzle.  Each week or two, I will come back here and share a bit about our adventures.  I want the world to see that an autism diagnosis does not mean that your child is damaged.  I want to show that this just means that you have to learn a different way of doing things.  I hope you enjoy getting to come along and join in our adventures!

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Bloggiesta Saturday Goals/Updates

You may remember I posted back here about my participating in my first official Bloggiesta and committing fully to it.  And I had posted this big old ambitious list of goals:

Finish up and schedule all of these drafted posts.
Participate in Twitter chats
Participate in Mini challenges
Do some serious blogger networking and commune with my fellow book lovers.
Clean up my blog roll
Clean up my sidebars
Add missing tags and categories to posts

I decided I needed to break it out a bit. and do it day by day.  So this is what I did for

Friday:

Tweak post for new feature – still in progress
Tagging, tagging, tagging – still in progress
Categorize, categorize   -FINISHED
Update reviews into UBB for archiving  Still a work in progress
Visiting and commenting.
Twitter chat

Sunday Goals

Tagging
Update reviews
Schedule remaining 10 drafted posts
Figure out how to make a banner for new feature.

I actually got a bit done.  All posts are in categories.  I made every weekday Twitter chat.  I got the chat client set up for my mastermind group.  I am going to have to figure out how to get a crash course in learning GIMP today that starts Sunday, but I will figure that out somehow.  Anyone want to get on Skype and show me how to make banners?  I know nothing about graphics but I am trying.  I have an idea in my head of roughly what I want, but no skills to make it happen.

I won’t make the remaining Twitter chats because Today’s is too early and Sundays is at the time I will be on the road.

Anyhoo, how is everyone else’s progress going?

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Spring #Bloggiesta Friday Goals/Updates

You may remember I posted back here about my participating in my first official Bloggiesta and committing fully to it.  And I had posted this big old ambitious list of goals:

Finish up and schedule all of these drafted posts.
Participate in Twitter chats
Participate in Mini challenges
Do some serious blogger networking and commune with my fellow book lovers.
Clean up my blog roll
Clean up my sidebars
Add missing tags and categories to posts

I decided I needed to break it out a bit. and do it day by day.  So this is what I did for

Thursday

Now that all those extraneous categories are gone, re-categorize posts – Started but not finished 
Tag posts – Still not done.
Re-configure posts with UBB so they are in archives – Still a work in progress.
Write post for new feature. – I started writing it but it needs some tweaking and I still need my banner.
Twitter party?
More blog visiting and commenting
Work through at least 3 modules on “Make WordPress your Bi***”
Get header image to a readable size.

Thursday was kind of my lost day.  I remembered to like up my “Beyond the Books” post to the linky.  I even visited and commented on other posts!  I added and tweaked some plugins from the WordPress course.  And I made it to the Twitter chat.  But my sleep schedule got all screwy and work got all crazy and I just didn’t get much done.  But I have been super productive all week so I am okay with having an off day.

What I plan to do for

Friday:

Tweak post for new feature
Tagging, tagging, tagging
Categorize, categorize
Update reviews into UBB for archiving
Visiting and commenting.
Twitter chat

How are you guys doing with your Bloggiesta goals???  Let me know and link me below and I will come visit.  I love comments!

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