Review of “Born Wicked”

April 8, 2012 By Becky Leave a Comment

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

I was given the opportunity to review Jessica Spotswood’s young adult book Born Wicked, the first in a series about a trio of sister witches in an alternative society in which all women, not just those with magical powers, live lives full of fear, subservience, and emptiness. Girls are not allowed to attend school or in some cases even choose their husbands. They can be persecuted without cause and condemned without proof, and in the middle of it all is our protagonist Cate Cahill and her sisters with their powerful secret.

As an English teacher-on-hiatus, I enjoy juvenile fiction and will often opt to read this genre over the more depressing, serious novels of our time. They are quick and fun and interesting, and less expensive than their adult counterparts, so I have not only loved reading Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Eragon, and Percy Jackson stories, I have waited with bated breath for the next installment to arrive in my nearest bookstore. The Cahill Witch Chronicles fall a bit short of those lofty standards, but I was lightly engaged while reading Born Wicked. I read it quickly–a matter of hours–and as it went on I liked it more and more. If I didn’t have ulterior motives for reading it, I probably would not have continued with it after the first twenty pages or so because it has a slow exposition, but I was glad I continued reading once I got to the meat of the plot and Cate became more dynamic.

As a mother of a young girl, if Em came home reading this series one day, I’d be happy to have her read about strong-willed, determined, thoughtful young girls such as these, and this escape into fantasy is harmless and fun. I will not be waiting so breathlessly for the sequel to come out, but if I happen to see it on the bookshelf at the library, I’d be happy to pick it up and see where Spotswood takes our heroines and discover how their journey continues.

If you have read the book or are interested in learning more about the story and its themes, feel free to visit BlogHer and participate in the Book Club discussion going on this month!

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Thank You!

January 28, 2012 By Becky 8 Comments

I have reached 500 followers on Google+! Hooray! When my major form of communicating with my blog followers (GFC) disappeared in November, I was afraid I would never be able to replicate the kind of following I had worked so hard to build. But now, in less than two months, I have reached such a momentous milestone in this new form of social media–all I can say is thank you for keeping Rub Some Dirt On It going!

So to say thank you, I’m offering a reward.

As a thank you, I am offering to edit 25 photos 2x each for one lucky person who comments on this post between now and Tuesday, January 31st at 8 pm. I just had the pleasure of editing some photos for this beautiful family (you may remember them from my mini-shoots in November). It was so exciting to take what were some really great photos straight out of camera (SOOC), and then enhance them in ways the average person who doesn’t own photo editing software cannot.

All you have to do is leave a comment below to be entered, but you can earn extra entries by doing the following:

Entry 1: Leave a comment. That’s it! Thank you!

Entry 2: Follow me on Google+ and then leave a comment saying you did (or that you follow me already). I will be sure to follow you back.

Entry 3: Follow me on Twitter and then leave a comment saying you did (or that you follow me already). Leave your twitter username so I can be sure to follow you back!

Entry 4: Like my Facebook fanpage and then leave a comment saying you did (or that you like me already). If you leave a comment on my wall, I’ll be sure to come visit your pages as well and like you back!

I will randomly generate a number and the corresponding comment number will win the opportunity to send me 25 images which I will edit two ways–one in color, one in black and white, or two of each, etc. Whatever your preference. This is a service I provide for a very small fee, so if you don’t win but are still interested, please contact me and we can get to work on that right away!

Looking forward to sharing the love in this small, but I would say significant, manner. Once your photos are edited, it’s hard to go back to the way you were before! Thank you all so much for your continued support and love for this little piece of me. I truly appreciate it.

Review of “The Lake of Dreams”

November 30, 2011 By Becky 2 Comments

Disclaimer: This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

One of my favorite parts of participating in the BlogHer campaign is that I occasionally get to read and review popular books that, given the current state of my time management, I probably would not normally have taken the time to read. My first opportunity came with the book The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.

For full disclosure, I am one of the few people who did not read Memory Keeper; I was pregnant with Em at the time and for some reason, the cover art freaked me out. So The Lake of Dreams was my first interaction with Edwards as a writer, and I was absolutely impressed with her style and use of figurative language. Her use of simile, personification, and imagery were some of the best I have encountered in quite some time. However, as the words ran on and on in their beautiful, descriptive manner, at times I found myself wondering if the plot of the story would ever become apparent. Well, not the plot necessarily, but the conflict for sure. This book is certainly very character-driven, which led to a bit of monotony for me at times.

At one point, the main character Lucy, who is going through a personal journey throughout the book that is really the central story, is describing to her boyfriend all of the family history she had been discovering and delving into during her stay in her old hometown. She knew she didn’t have his interest and describes her story as “both confused and boring, too full of detail” (227). I laughed to myself then, thinking that that not only described how Lucy was conveying her tale to her boyfriend, but how Edwards was describing the tale to me! The beautiful narration, with all its detail and imagery, its convoluted twists through ancestral relationships, was all a bit of an anticlimactic blur to me. I often found myself skipping pages to get to the actual action, which was few and far between. The romantic interludes between characters were engaging, but they were halted in an unsatisfactory manner, which left me with little more than an increase in cerebral narrative.

The conclusion was satisfying and more interesting than the rest of the book, and overall I was content with my time spent reading this novel. If someone asked me if I liked it, I would agree that I did. I would describe it as “fine” and “well-written,” but for moms like me who have very little time to read for pleasure, I wouldn’t put it very high on my list of books to read at all. It was very nice and I’m happy that I read it, but would I recommend it to a friend above so many other fascinating, interesting novels that have both well-developed characters AND a complex or engaging plot? I’d have to say, unfortunately, I would not. For the average person, it’s a good book, and worth reading, but if you’re pressed for time, I’d say it isn’t exactly a must-read page-turner, and you may be happier spending your time elsewhere.

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Well, Lookee Here!

September 4, 2011 By Becky 6 Comments

So, everyone, what do you think of Rub Some Dirt’s new look? She’s not quite as basic or technically deficient as she used to be; she’s all grown up and looking smart!

I wanted to be sure to thank Julie from Deluxe Designs for her outstanding work! I was inspired to contact Julie after seeing the beautiful transformation she created at one of my favorite blogs, Ordinary Miracles & The Crazy 8 (stole the rotating header idea from there). Julie was wonderful to work with and literally was at my beck and call at sometimes the most random hours of the day and night. She answered all my questions, even the must mundane, and was even available for slight changes after the fact. I appreciated how much she wanted me to be happy with her work and wanted to create the vision I had in my mind. And did she ever! So thank you, Julie!

You can find her on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/deluxedesigns

What do you think? Are you happy with my dirty digs?

* * * * * * *

Also, I wanted to be sure to mention that my blog was featured over at Be @ Home as The Best of the Web for my crafts! Be @ Home is a site that is part of a directory of sites on www.become.com. that encourages how to be in style, connected, suave, green, beautiful… It’s an amazing resource and place to shop. You certainly wouldn’t regret it if you headed over there and kill some time!

Things are looking up over here, especially the fact that I am currently working on my brand new laptop! Happy to be back to work and back to normal!

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The Social Picnic $500 and Tablet Giveaway

September 1, 2011 By Becky Leave a Comment

As if I don’t have enough going on, here’s something else I am participating in this week! Come enter to win $500 or an Android Tablet!

The Social Picnic event is finally here, hosted by This Lil Piglet and Family Approve. To enter the giveaway, the Rafflecopter giveaway form will be located on participating blogs September 1- 12:01 AM EST – 8th 12:01 AM EST

Enter to win…

$500 Cash via PayPal

Next6 Android Tablet

If you like reading books, browse the internet, listen to music, view your favorite photo albums or videos, Next6 is your new best friend. Its sleek design, touch screen feature, 7 inches color display,and WiFi is nothing short of amazing. As an added bonus, Next6 also comes with 25 free preloaded books. With one touch, you can open your favorite book and enjoy it anywhere anytime. When fully charged, you can read for up to 10 hours.

Your new Next6 will come with the EBook Store App, so you can download eBooks directly from the web. Its crystal clear capacitive screen is easy to use and gives you crystal clear images especially when playing HD video. If it’s games that you prefer, there are thousands of free 3rd party apps available for you to download. Next6, it is all you need in a tablet!!

Rules and Regulations of the giveaway:

1. Each entry gains you one entry towards the winning prizes

2. The winning entry will be checked to ensure they have complied with their entry. If it is found that the winning entry has not completed the entry requirement, a different winner will be selected.

3. The $500 Cash prize is open Worldwide. The Nexbook Next6 Tablet prize is open to US and Canada residents only. One winner will be chosen and will win ALL prizes. If the chosen winner is located outside the US & Canada, they will win the cash prize only and a second winner will be chosen for the tablet.

Tips: If you’ve never used Rafflecopter before, it’s an easy way to enter giveaways. Keep in mind that Rafflecopter is run using Javascript so you must enable javascript on your computer to use. If you are having trouble, try a different browser or make sure you have updated your computer and browser.

Because of the amount of entries for this event, we suggest bookmarking this page and spreading out your entries throughout the course of the event.

Have fun and Good luck!

[Read more...]

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Sponsor Love!

August 17, 2011 By Becky Leave a Comment

What’s new with those beautiful blogs whose buttons grace my sidebar? Let me share the good word.

Don’t forget about Upper Valley Connections’s invaluable events calendar! If you’re local, you should absolutely be stopping there once a week to discover the hidden treasures going on in the area. For example, how else would you know that this Saturday alone, there is the Cornish Fair, the Outdoor Water & Bubble Theme Major Mess! at the Purple Crayon, Children’s Chicken Day at Billings Farm , Ride the Rails to the Montshire Museum from White River Junction, and four farmers’ markets! Not to mention, something I just discovered myself, that if you find an event in the future that interests you, you can sign up for a reminder and they’ll email you! God, I love that site.

Cherie, at Lots of Jewels, is on vacation right now, but as I was popping around on her site, I realized that she takes part in some awesome blog hops and weekly memes. I was getting addicted to scrolling down and discovering where she hangs out! You should head over to learn more about those hops and about Cherie herself! And let’s not forget her wonderful etsy shop! Here are two new pieces that definitely caught my eye:

Amethyst Jewel Ring Turquoise Flat Shell Coin Bead and Silver Earrings

Don’t forget she’s on vacation, so if you scoot over there right now and scoop these turquoise earrings up, remember she’s not shipping until after the 18th. Just FYI. And tell Cherie I sent you, just for fun!

Sinea over at Ducks ‘n a Row has a great opportunity right now, and she needs your help! She has the opportunity to become an associate blog for a bigger, more popular site, and she is really excited about it! In order to make that happen, she needs an increase in followers via GFC and on Facebook. Please head over to her site to peruse her amazing recipes and tips to create a happy, organized home, and feel free to follow away! I mean, when she shares a great idea like this:

which I am going to steal the moment I have an entryway (with photos of each family member rather than numbers), you really would be doing yourself a favor to become familiar with her advice!

Kelly from Creating a Family Home has only been part of the Rub Some Dirt On It family for a short time, but she’s already released a new knitting pattern for a market bag,

and recently shared her tips for the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever. Well, they look that way, anyway!

And her son, Nathan, looks about good enough to eat, too!

Her recipe for the cookies is found here, and I especially like the way she she uses cooking as an opportunity to create a meaningful experience for her and Nathan, building his confidence as she trusts him with greater responsibility. I can tell we parent similarly–I completely agree that meaningful interaction with kids is a hugely important task–but she is without question a better cook than I am! Those cookies would have been melted to the rack and charred onto the oven coils if it were me and Jax, but I’ll try to follow Kelly’s example!

Thank you, as always, lovely sponsors! Your sites are a joy to visit, and I hope some of you readers take a moment to investigate all they have to offer.

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Helping Dad Be A Hero

July 31, 2011 By Becky 3 Comments

Recently I was approached by a wonderful website about featuring my blog as a resource. Very exciting, yes. But what was even more exciting is, once I went to the site, how completely absorbed I was in all that I found there! The site is called WonderDads and it’s a resource for men (husbands, dads) to find great dad/child activities in their local city.

So you enter their website after choosing your closest city (I chose Boston), only to be whisked away to a smorgasbord of things for your kids to do with the men in your life (or if you’re a man, with you!). And the amazing part is that it is not only broken down by city, then by week–highlighting a few great things to do this coming weekend, it then breaks it down by neighborhood, and then by activity! So you can choose not only which city, but exactly where you want to explore, and what you’d like to do there! The categories are activities, restaurants (I love knowing the kid-friendly spots!), outdoor parks, sporting events, stores, and unique adventures. This is so valuable in a city like Boston that has so many smaller neighborhoods that I tend to ignore. They are rich in fun things to do with kids, as well! And usually they’re less expensive.

Here’s an example of something JDubbs (or I) could do with my kids this weekend, in a part of the city I don’t normally frequent.

Boston Breakers – Women’s Soccer Team Allston/Brighton

Harvard Stadium
Allston, MA 02163
(877) 439 – 2732 | www.womensprosoccer.com

If you’d like to take your kid to a Boston sporting event and not have to sell a kidney, this is a fantastic option. Fun stadium atmosphere and marketing geared towards kids, be a WonderDad and check this out.

What a brilliant idea! Why hadn’t I thought of that? Especially for people with kids who actually play soccer. What a great way to spend a day and support a local team, rather than re-mortgaging my house to take my kids to see the Sox?

Some of the other things I love about WonderDads are the gift ideas, especially the “Dad Products.” I am not compensated in any way for this review, so this is just my honest opinion. There is a “Prepared Dad Bag” for Dad to keep in the car, full of all the things that would probably never cross his mind as being important to bring with him, especially on one of these unique adventures. Check it out:

The Prepared Dad Bag is the one thing every dad should keep in the trunk of their car. In it, you will find the following items, some of which are for emergency type situations, others which are just super helpful in case you forgot something at home such as the sunscreen! The bag includes:

-Instant Cold Compress
-Antibiotic Ointment
-How to do CPR on a Child
-Sunscreen Stick
-Doctor Contact Info Card for Every Family Member’s Doctors
-Emergency Contact Info Card for each Family Member (Blood Types, Medications, Medical History & Other Info You Need to Have Ready)
-Band-Aids of All Sizes
-The Dad Multi-Tool (Screwdriver, Pliers, Blade & More)
-How to Treat a Broken Bone Before You Get to the Doctor
-What to do if Your Child is Choking
-Gauze
-2 Quarters, 2 Dimes, 2 Nickels
-Tweezers (Perfect for Splinters)
-Latex-Free Gloves
-What to do if Your Child Might Have Ate/Drank a Poisonous Substance
-Bottle of Water
-Antibacterial Hand Gel
-Thermometer

I kind of want one just for myself and I am down with most of this stuff! There is also a WonderDads Toolbox for New Dads, which I think is probably going to be my new go-to baby shower gift. Go and take a peek what’s inside!

So you get what this site is all about. I get a weekly newsletter from them now, giving me a head’s up as to what’s going on this weekend, whether JDubbs, myself, or both of us take the kids. They also publish several books for kids about their relationship with their dads, for all ages. I am in love with this one.

If I want to find a book for Jax about spending time with his dad, I would have no problem at all. But a book about dads and daughters? I bit harder to find, wouldn’t you agree?

Lastly, I would highly recommend you get a copy of the WonderDads guide to your local city. Great gift idea! I have the one for Boston and I think we’re just going to keep it in the car as a reference for where to go, shop, eat, and play while we’re in town. Again, it’s broken down by neighborhood, but there are listings of hundreds of restaurants, places to stop, ways to kill time, and those unique adventures, such as Chocolate Trolley Tours, that really make a trip with dad memorable.

Thank you, WonderDads, for approaching me, and for listing me among your list of “Best Blogs To Tell Your Wife About.” I am thrilled to be associated with this organization, and look forward to reporting back on many great adventures inspired by this site.

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Review of “Born Wicked”

Thank You!

Review of “The Lake of Dreams”

Well, Lookee Here!

The Social Picnic $500 and Tablet Giveaway