I believe that I have been put on this Earth to help people. My kids, my family and my business are most important to me.
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I'd like to catch up with old classmates and see what is happening in every one's lives; what accomplishments they have made, where they have gone in life, where they want to go...I don't care who got fat, who works at the 7-11 or who still has pimples. I've grown up since 17, amazingly enough :)
I love most all types of music. Not a big fan of "gangsta' rap" and I can deal with Hip Hop as long as it doesn't sound like every other song out there. My MP3 is filled with everything from Roy Orbison to Sage Francis and Indigo Girls to Gwen Stefanie and Shakira to Sublime...
With the writer's strike, we are renting more movies lately.We just rented Evan Almighty - AWESOME! Hysterical with a really good message. It was even great for the kids - no cursing, very few innuendos...all around great movie!We watched Holiday recently - IT STUNK! Quite possibly the most wasted 2 hours of my life. It had so much potential...and failed, miserably.
I hate reruns and summer television has got to be the worst! I am a huge Grey's fan, One Tree Hill, CSI (all three of them) and the occassional reality show. The writer's strike kind of killed this season of shows for me...
Barack Obama's book Dreams From My Father - AMAZING! It is autobiographical but reads like a novel. Very interesting and enjoyable!I FINALLY finshed The Audacity of Hope (also by Obama) it is more of a political book and I tend to be a bit ignorant when it comes to government (who knew what a fillibuster was?!). It took me FOREVER but I thoroughly enjoyed it!The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time was AMAZING and if you don't know about autism and how it works that is a great book to read! It is a novel and entirely fictional, but there are so many realities in that book.Jenny McCarthy's book Louder Than Words about her son's autism diagnosis was great. She writes with humor and thought provoking detail. She says everything I wanted to say but didn't feel it was appropriate.The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns were both fabulous! I learned so much about Afghanistan and the people of that land - more than I ever learned in school or through the media - and the stories were riveting!Running with Scissors and The Glass Castle are both stories (true) of children growing up in incredibly disfunctional familes. While Running with Scissors is shocking and humorous (and you wonder often how true it is), The Glass Castle is easier to swallow but still horrific.The Time Traveler's Wife was great. A bit of a romance but a romance like you have NEVER read before. The Time Traveler's Wife is exactly what it sounds like...hard to explain but well worth the 500+ pages.Daniel Isn't Talking is WONDERFUL. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who has been touched by autism. Although fictional, the emotions are real and powerful!Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors and I just reread The Poisonwood Bible. It has an amazing way of making me want to learn more about the Congo and Africa and what we have done to ruin it.I also recently finished Bastard out of Carolina. It was written in the early 90's so it is not a new book but if you haven't read it, you should. It follows a young girl growing up in an abusive home, her struggles with her white trash family and the relationships she tries so hard to maintain.Right now I am trying Jennifer Weiner's In Her Shoes...not sure thus far...I'll keep you updated.To see all the books I have read in 2008 and my thoughts please check out my blog at www.craybickford.blogspot.com
My Dad is my biggest hero and running a close second is Leana (the STRONGEST woman I have EVER known). My kids, of course, are my heros - I learn something from them everyday!