Last night I stayed up late to finish the latest book I have been reading. It is The Appeal by John Grisham. We are big fans of that author and read all of his books. I had bought this one for Darrell for Valentine's Day and had it on my "to read" list for a long time. Last week I finally got to it.
The book is typical Grisham with it being another lawyer/trial book. I loved the first page. It was such an example of writer's craft. The first sentence is a grabber lead: "The jury was ready." It goes on to repeat that phrase at least three times to make it another craft of "Power of Three".
Then the first full paragraph is a true example of description. It goes like this: "After forty-two hours of deliberations that followed seventy-one days of trial that included 530 hours of testimony from four dozen witnesses, and after a lifetime of sitting silently as the lawyers haggled and the judge lectured and the spectators watched like hawks for telltale signs, the jury was ready."
That first page was enough to sell me on the book. I was not happy with the ending. My good friend, Marsha, had warned me that it was not something she was happy with, so I was a little leary. She was right. I am thinking Mr. Grisham had a bigger picture in mind than just that I would have a "happily ever after" ending. I was to learn something about life. If that was his goal, it worked. I did.
If you are a Grisham fan, a Mississippi fan, a lawyer/trial fan...you will enjoy the book. Beware though, you may not be happy with the ending, but you will be glad you read it!
When we got to her house, Angie greeted us at the door with Audrey in her arms. She told us that Audrey had been a very unhappy baby lately and her daddy had gone to get her a swing to keep her occupied. I couldn't wait to get my hands on her and we had a little "grandma-baby-talk". She seemed fine to me. We could not believe how she now kept her eyes open and actually tried to look at us. Except for a few times of spitting up, she was perfect.
Grandpa and I took turns holding her and talking to her. She even got on her 4th of July dress and modeled it for us. Her little tiny arms were just waving every where. She is still very tiny, but also very alert.
Her daddy finally got the swing assembled and she went for her first ride. It was great, with lights, music and perfect swaying motions. She seemed to like it a lot. So after our last picture we took off promising we would be back soon before she got too much bigger!
Here he is this morning wondering what I am doing on the floor pointing a camera at him. He is so curious. In fact, we are afraid that might have been what happened and what caused his problems. We had gotten ant traps and if Nickey did what he usually does, he checked them out. Anyway, time and the meds helped this big boy.
"Okay, folks, what else is there out there to get into? I guess my owners really do love me!" The trials of being a pet owner!!!
I was so excited to hear Penny Kittle from New Hampshire. I had read many of her books and have her quote hanging above my desk at work. I knew she would be inspiring, but was still shocked to see what an outstanding speaker she was. She is full of enthusiasm and makes you feel like you've known her forever.
Today I got to introduce Georgia Heard. She is my favorite poet to learn from. I use her books to teach poetry to second to fifth graders. Today she spoke about her book on revision. I had forgotten some of the things she talked about even though I read her books several years ago. That is what is so wonderful about this conference: you just keep learning and learning. 
Cole is our youngest nephew. He is just a delight with his bright blue eyes and snowy white hair. He loves to smile and be active. Here he is trying to see what he can fish out of the stream by our picnic site.
Ben and Kate are first cousins and our great niece and nephew. They are busy trying to see if they can get into the stream without getting in trouble. I am afraid that getting into trouble is something they are quite good at, but they are adorable kids.
Nathan had fun playing with his nephew Jackson. I am not sure what they were trying to do here, but they were having so much fun just being with each other and seeing what they could find to do.
