Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  St. Patty’s Day has to be one of my favorite holidays. Don’t let my red hair fool you, though.  I’m less than 5% Irish! However,  I lived outside of Chicago for several years, and Chicago does St. Patrick’s Day BIG!  The Chicago River is dyed green (not too far from its orginal color!) and a pretty amazing parade occurs every year.

Tonight we’ll be having an authentic Irish-American dinner, complete with corned beef, cabbage & potatoes.  For dessert we’ll have shamrock cookies and green jello!

Tonight my boys & I will be reading Magic Tree House #43: Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne. Do you have a favorite St. Patrick’s Day book, or book by an Irish author?  Do you do anything particular for St. Patrick’s Day, or is it just another day for you?

And the winner is….WordLily!  The book she chose to win is The Gin Girl by River Jordan.  Congratulations, WordLily!

Yesterday, Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog posted an outstanding review of  Elissa Stein and Susan Kim’s fantastic book Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation.  Today she’s hosting a giveaway for one copy of the book! 

*WARNING*-if you are at all squeamish about a woman’s natural body processes stop reading here*

One of the things I enjoyed about Rebecca’s review is the discussion it started, both on her blog and on twitter.  Growing up, the whole topic of menstruation was an uncomfortable one to discuss (totally not faulting you, Mom!).  I grew up in a household with two younger sisters and an older brother.  Technically, since we out outnumbered the men we should have been free to discuss what we wanted.  But for some reason, we didn’t.  But then as we got older, we loosened up and became a bit freer in our topics of conversation.  When we needed Dad to pick up “supplies” at the store, we’d use code: B-52s were pads and tampons were referred to as “Thomases” (thank my little sister for that one!).  

Now that I’m adult (yikes!) I’ve definitely become a bit more open to discuss these sort of things.  Much to my husband’s dismay I talk to him about it all in great detail. Mostly it’s complaining. Not complaining about having a period because, don’t shoot me, I’m one of those women who LOVE to have their period.  It reminds me that I am equipt to carry a child! What a wonderous thing! But complaining about things associated with having  my period.  Here are a few of my top ones:

• Packaging: why must pads/tampons be sold in bright colored packages covered in flowers? Really??? Also…I don’t necessarily want THE WORLD to know when I’m on the rag.  Why is the individual wrapping so crinkly and noisy!?  There’s absolutely no chance of opening a pad or a tampon without everyone in the bathroom hearing, especially if there is an echo. 
• Why is there now an entire line of products referred to as “fresh”?  Apparently, they have a smell associated to them.  Are they insinuating I have an odor?  Because I should automatically want my crotch to smell like a field of wildflowers? If God wanted my crotch to smell like flowers then he would have created us all with a nice crotch bouquet. Besides,  a woman’s body keeps itself fresh..adding perfumes to it can cause serious health ramifications.
• “Sanitary disposal bins”–men, you are lucky enough to not have these in your public restrooms. These are the lovely bins attached to bathroom stalls for women to dispose of their “personal trash.” And really…they’re disgusting.  You open them up to drop something in and you can see what those before you have disposed of.  GROSS!  I guess it’s a good thing I’m in a bathroom stall at the time because I instantly start wretching.  Can’t they use something similar to a Diaper Genie? You drop something in, you turn the top, and away it goes, never to be seen again!
• Why must people (MEN!) assume that we are having our period if we are a bit cranky?  I don’t get cranky when I’m on the rag (my husband would say I’m cranky all the time).  Yes, a woman can get a little emotional once  a month due to all the hormones racing through her body, but really….what’s your excuse?

Ok, I better stop here before I get too carried away! Thank you, Rebecca, for inciting such a healthy conversation!

I’ve had such a wonderful time answering all these questions! I’ve learned quite a deal about myself! So, without further ado, following are the last of the questions submitted by you, my readers, for my “Get to Know Me Better” feature for my two-year blogiversary.  If you missed the first round of questions, you can view them here.

Note: There were some duplicate questions or questions with similar themes so I just lumped the answers all into one.

Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog asks: What was your biggest book nerd moment? If John wants to chime in w/ what he thinks it was, that would be great.

Believe it or not, I don’t think I’ve actually had a big book nerd moment.  Ok, maybe during BEA when I was literally surrounded by awesomemess: book bloggers & authors, all under one roof. But still, I was able to contain myself. I will confess that I was totally squealing on the inside.  

Probably the most recent “book nerd” moment was when I got the opportunity to interview Peter Straub, one of my favorite horror authors.  He’s one of my idols, his writing is outstanding. I learned over Christmas vacation that I would be given the privilege of interviewing Peter. We were visiting my parents and I vividly recall squealing aloud when I read the email.  I suddenly had the desire to reread all his (15+) books that weekend!  It was a wonderful experience.  Peter is so down to earth, very approachable.

And of course, John reacts to all of my “book nerd” moments the same way, by replying: “Ok, baby.”  He’s not a reader.  He has no idea.

Jen from Jen’s Book Thoughts asks: I’d like to know one goal (doesn’t have to be reading-related) you’d like to achieve – that you have not already – in your lifetime.

Leave it to Jen to give me a doozy! I have a lot of goals, some of them attainable, many of them not. 

I’ve always been interested and excited about providing books to underprivileged children or getting reluctant readers excited about reading, so I definitely want to start volunteering more.  The looks in the children’s eyes when they get their first book, or the enthusiasm in their voice when they are reading their newfound favorite book, it pulls at my heartstrings.  So basically, I want to help put books into hands of children! I am currently working on an author event at my son’s school.  He goes to a Title 1 school, so most of the kids get free or reduced lunch.  Many don’t have access to the library or books at home, so I’m really looking forward to doing this event and getting them excited about reading.  Check back later for a post about this event!

Marie asks: Where do you get the time to read?  I’m curious how many hours a week you spend on reading?

I sort of answered this one in the first post, but basically I make time to read.  I think it’s important to indulge yourself sometimes.  So, I read during my lunch hour, at night before bed, etc.  During the average week (not counting weekends), I probably read for about 10 hrs.  Weekends are my reading time, so I’d say I spend at least 3-4 hrs a day reading on the weekend.

Freda asks: What is your favorite part of being a blogger?

Definitely the community!  I’ve met (IRL and online) a ton of amazing people since I’ve started blogging.  I’ve also been introduced to a wealth of outstanding books I probably wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.

Seawytch asks: If you could go back two years what would you do differently as a blogger of books/reviews knowing what you know now?

I’d definitely be more relaxed about blogging.  About halfway through my first year I became totally overwhelmed with review copies and obligations.  I had to step back and remind myself that blogging is my passion, my hobby.  Not a paying job.  So, I set realistic goals for my blog.  I don’t have to review EVERY unsolicted book I receive.  I can say no to a pitch email.  That’s the best advice I can offer 🙂

Michelle asks: What is the one thing you have learned from blogging that you think every new blogger should know?

This sort of goes along with my answer above.  Be true to yourself.  Blog for yourself, not for others.  Be unique, create a brand for yourself and stick to it!

Carol asks: What was the first book you fell in love with?

Hmm…I don’t know if I can recall the FIRST book I fell in love with.  I’m sure I could ask my mom and she’d remind me :).  One of the first books I remember falling in love with is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I still have my Little Women boxed set.  It brings back wonderful memories!

Cindy from Cindy’s Love of Books  asks: When you first started talking to bloggers what was your first impression? Then after meeting them, what did you think?

To be honest, when I discovered the world of book bloggers I was very overwhelmed! I’m still overwhelmed.  I thought it was great that a community of people who loved books existed! I was in heaven!  Now that I’ve met probably about a dozen book bloggers in person, I don’t think my feelings have changed.  The friendships and discussions we had online carried over into the real world.  The real perk-we can converse using more than 140 characters 🙂

Thanks again to all who submitted questions.  Feel free to continue to send me questions as they arise, either my sending me an email or via my Contact Me page.