Eight Years

On the phone with Daddy

Happy anniversary to us! We got to say it to each other in person this morning and now Ash is in Denver. My trip went fine. I could add some more laments, but really, things were just normal bad. The unexpected good part was that all four legs of my flights were either exactly on time or 10-15 minutes early (Southwest). Hmm. That kind of drains all the complaints right out of me. When we got to Denver the flight attendant made sure we knew to be thankful - "We're early - remember that next time we're running late". Then the "Bong" went off indicating we were allowed to get up and she growls in her saucy Southern drawl, "Okay, Get Out!"

The conference was unexpectedly good. The talks were nearly all very interesting and useful. My favorite part though was seeing Rachael, Rebecca, Marian, Susan, Molly, Arnaldo, and staying with Ozge and Vanessa. Rebecca gave me one of the gorgeous leather cuffs she's been working on. I got everyone to try on the prototype toolbelts I've been designing, and they've agreed to field test my first completed batch. The last night there we went for Peruvian food and on the way back to the hotel Vanessa exclaimed that a new episode of Lost was on so we hurried back to curl up in our pajamas and watch tv until midnight.

Rebecca's tooled and painted creation

The boys did just fine. Mike picked Theron up from school two days in a row and they had a grand time. They watched Jurassic Park on video, ate Happy Meals, and went to a birthday party. Mike is a lifesaver.

Anyway, at least Ash and I were both here when Theron lost his first top front tooth. Someone elbowed him in the mouth. It's kind of like a tradition.

The Jet Setters

Something strange happened and both Ash and I got work funds to go to conferences. I go to Denver Wednesday for a conservation conference and 4 days after I get back, Ashley goes TO DENVER for a museum conference. I guess I should be happy to get to go, and I am, but I want to take a minute to complain. No, not complain, maybe lament is the word. I want to lament the days you could go to the airport and not have to stand in line "in your feet" as Theron would say. I don't like to wear socks and I really hate putting my bare feet on the same floor as all of America, or digging up a matching pair of socks just for the occasion. Also, I want to lament the days one could grab one's purse and a carry-on bag without having to clean out said purse, ridding it of knitting needles or sewing scissors and bagging anything wet or gel-ly. I don't want a clean purse. I don't budget time for cleaning out the purse into my schedule. I like my purse to be a bag of possibilities. I like to believe that when I rummage for something like a tape measure or Halloween candy it might be in there, I just can't see it. Also, I hate that I can't take my whole tube of toothpaste unless I check my bag because I can rarely find the brands I like in travel size and I end up using a Crest sample that came in the Sunday paper.

I'll have more laments on the way back.

Science Fair

Theron was very proud of his science fair contribution. Daddy mixed up the dirt using porcelain clay combined with sand and vermiculite. Theron placed the bones, then Ash put it in the oven since we were short on time. Theron did all the excavating and brushing himself. He used dental probes just like a real paleotologist. We all thought it looked pretty good.

Science Times

Remember when I asked you guys to save me chicken bones? Well now Ashley's asking you to save us road kill. Preferably fresh and ideally a raccoon or possum. But a deer or a squirrel would be good too, thanks. We had this great idea after putting together Theron's science fair contribution where he digs up the chicken bones with dental tools and a brush, just like a real paleontologist. We did promise that we would help the rest of the class have the same experience so we were talking should we have a little box of dirt for each child or have one big dirt box they can all work on at the same time? Ashley votes for the big box. Since none of you came up with chicken bones for me, I'm not optimistic about the road kill. You don't have to touch it, just call. Come on. And then stay away from our backyard for awhile.

On a cleaner front, Theron's doing great with harmonica. Most of the lessons involve reminding him to stop fooling around, but when this happens he actually does pretty well. He told his teacher last week , "I wish I were 20. I want to be a teacher and I want to teach music just like you". The teacher swoons. Then Theron adds, "Only not as bald".

I always forget how much I love this website: Cute Overload

Pug on Eames

Spring sheep in Devon - thanks to strategically placed feed and border collies. Here's the article about them in the Telegraph. The dogs have a tv series called Mist: Sheepdog Tales.

And my own cutie, reading a Snapple cap: "'Honey is the only food that never spoils'... That must be a fact". Takes a sip. "Not an opinion".

The story of my casserole

Tonight I made a yummy chicken/rice/green chili casserole. I really wanted to use brown rice but I couldn't remember if the rest of the casserole was yummy enough to cover it up. We have a lot of chicken around here to use up and by the way, if anyone is making a whole chicken soon and can take pity on us, please save me the bones. I'll come pick them up. Ashley and I had our parent/teacher conference yesterday and we accidentally volunteered to help the teacher do a fake fossil project. I thought we were just volunteering to give him a gift card to Office Mart and next thing I know I'm searching the internet to see if anyone would sell me a bag of chicken bones. And the answer is no. Anyway, everytime I use this casserole recipe I can't help but remember where I got it.

Years ago Ashley and I were house/petsitting and I found this and several other really nice recipes from the woman's stack of healthy cooking magazines. It's handwritten so everytime I read it I have to squint and wonder what is egg sw? Then I remember it was egg "sub" but I never remember how many actual eggs I use. Anyway -

This woman was/is super nice. One of the nicest. She had 2 or 3 cats and a dog. She gave us a bunch of instructions about feeding which we mostly forgot but we did recall that she told us they would all only eat their own food. I know better than this, but she seemed sure. Anyway, it should have been no surprise at all that feeding time was complete and utter chaos. And it was complete and utter chaos twice a day.

I don't think all the animals were really old but there was this one cat that was simply ancient. She looked flat, like road kill. I do remember that all the animals seemed a little crazy and you know things are bad when Ashley's complaining because Ashley LOVES animals. He's the sweetest to them. Things were beginning to feel a little out of control, not just because of the animals (mostly but not only), but we also couldn't remember the feeding instructions, the owner was out of phone contact, and everyone was eating something different - Except they weren't!!! It was beginning to look like maybe we had some extra cans even though we were slinging food everywhere and it seemed impossible but they were eating everything we threw at them. I considered throwing food away to make it look like we knew what we were doing.
I found the whole thing exasperating, but maybe a little funny, until the day we came home and found that the dog had eaten the crotch out of my underwear. That was it for me. I told that dog I'm not talking to you anymore, you can't do something like that and expect to stay friends.

On the last night there Ashley got up in the dark of the morning and was gone awhile. I remembered to ask him what that was about when we got up and he said the old cat sat by his side of the bed and pawed at his arm for about an hour. And I believe him. He felt like he was being tortured so he got up to feed her.

And then I got a delicious recipe from the magazines.

This recipe also reminds me of the time I made it for a potluck at work and there was a HUGE storm in New York. I sat on the freeway not moving for so long I grated cheese in my car. On my way home I drove two people who couldn't take the subway because of closures and Shira ate the cheese off the grater while we waited in more bad traffic because she thought we couldn't see what she was doing back there.

And that is the story of my casserole.

I wonder if we were to be around crazy pets now if we would even notice since having a little kid around has made us much more immune to chaos. This week I went to get ice out of the maker and I got frozen hash browns. I told Ashley and he just said okay. I didn't bother to make another drink because so what, potatoes don't really taste like much. Ashley dumped out the tray and told me one more glass and someone would have had a cup full of ground beef, too. Next time we can just throw in some peas and make it a Shepherd's Pie dispenser.

How many times until April 15th can I say "I'll do it tomorrow?" I think we're about to find out.

On the way home tonight Theron told me some crazy story about how his teacher told them to get some chicken bones and some clay from the dollar store and make a dinosaur, or something. I said, okay, when? And he didn't know of course, but he tried to talk me into getting a chicken tonight. I said, tell your Daddy, and he said, I did, after school when he picked me up. Anyway, when we walked in the door Ash had a whole chicken cooking on the stove, because he's such a good daddy. But we still don't know anything and this happens all the time. Theron gets some bizarre assignment and we don't ever know the details. When I do ask his teacher, he tells me but then he also says, Just ask Theron, he knows. To which I would say, Have you met my son? He forgot he was wearing pants with no underwear. So anyway, we're eating chicken for dinner.

The other thing about the boy is that he seems to be entering another growth spurt and he's like a little furnance. Lately he's asking for two breakfasts - he wants oatmeal AND an egg and toast. I put healthy snacks in his bag and when I pick him up he's begging for more. That's when I say, Can I interest you in a Dr. Andrew Weil protein bar? I thought so....

I got a new intern today, she'll be coming in one day a week until June. First days are hard, but it'll be fine. She's very nice and she's an extrovert. I showed her around and she was all smiles and acceptance. Then I told her what I tell everyone, I said, Oh, and I'm not fun. I didn't mean that I'm a bitch or anything, just that I'm not cool and I'm not funny and I'm not entertaining, but I am nice and helpful. Anyway, I said I'm not fun and usually I at least get a laugh, maybe my only one ever, but the look on her face - I can't even decipher it. Maybe confused? I don't know. Then I wanted to say to her, See? It's started already. This absence of fun.

More Akemi in Monterey

Back to Real Life

Well we sure had a great trip - short though it was. We definitely got our money's worth. We were scheduled to do two days whale watching but I got a reprieve because in Ashley's estimation we saw plenty of whales on our one day out and it was 3 hours out of the day we could be doing something else. My stomach was so relieved. Theron and Ash loved it though, they were at the very front of the boat riding the waves. I was at the back wishing I had a seat belt. It took me almost an hour to inch along the wall with my back plastered against it, just to visit them. Theron was the picture of glee.

It sure was nice to have some quality family time. We really just don't see each other enough, but my goodness, that boy can talk. When he's not talking he's singing. When he's not singing he's making sound effects. When he's not making any sound at all it's probably because he's sliding on his back under the dinner table. Oh, yes, and don't think just because we're on vacation and we love your little face more than life that you can't get in trouble. We needed that quality time just to remind this little person how to sit in a chair and use actual utensils. Ashley and I are going to invent a double-stick tape seat cushion for parents in restaurants.


Here's Theron learning how sea anemones catch their prey.

We explored tide pools, played at the beach, spent a day at the Aquarium, drove down 17 Mile Drive, saw deer and crabs and sea otters and sea lions, etc... We used the hotel pool, we ate A LOT. Ahhh... We stopped to see Grandpa Flip and Grandma Rita and got back on the train in San Luis. Ash and I finished the second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy The Golem's Eye (FANTASTIC!!!!) (I thought the skeleton was SCARY but Ash thought he was funny!)

At the Aquarium

Art and Entertainment

The recital went pretty well, though Ashley confirmed, very nicely, what I already figured - that it did sound like a bunch of amateurs, because it was. But it was still very grand. I started to enjoy it, hearing everyone all together, and I was so happy and then I lost my place and had to figure it out. Then I started to enjoy it again and lost my place a second time so after that I just gave attention to reading the music and all I really heard was where we were and when to play. We were told to come in formal dress and for some people that just meant skin tight jeans and black vans. I have itchy black clothing and adorable put-you-in-the-hospital shoes for various work events so it was no problem for me.

Then we left for vacation. We knew we wanted to go somewhere for Spring Break and Ashley so happened to get an email from the hotel we stayed at in Monterey two years ago (for a conference). They had a reasonable package going so we booked. I'll have to say I was so surprised Ashley would suggest it because then, as now, we had an ocean-facing room and while I found the sound of the waves to be absolutely dreamy, Ashley could not get any rest because to him the surf sounded like "a dumpster being dragged across a parking lot".

Anyway, then we got this great idea to take Amtrack up here. It is good and very inexpensive, but it's a LONG trip. Only two hours longer than driving and you can read or sleep or walk around, so it's better, but still long. Traveling these days with a 6 year old has a lot of advantages over traveling with a baby:

- He can carry his own bag of toys and treats

- We don't have to haul a car seat or stroller

- I know there's more but, hmm, I can't think of any right now

There are a variety of cons that mostly have to do with his mouth.


Here he is on the train being an angel. This picture was taken around 10:30. We were on the train from 10 to almost 7 p.m. Around 11 a.m. he puts the book down and says to me, "If we're not there in 6 minutes I'm going to start complaining. A LOT."




He did find things to do and one of the more entertaining things on any trip is to buy snacks at 400% markup. We went to the snack bar 3 times. I had a backpack full of treats and he did eat some, but we all know that food from home, nutritious and free, just doesn't cut it.

Anyhoo, our first day in Monterey we took a whale watching tour and saw a bunch of grey whales and some humpbacks. Of course in the Bay, close to shore, were otters and the ever present sea lions.


We did see a bunch of tail flukes but I couldn't get a picture because it happens too fast and I didn't think it was fun to stand there with a camera to my face the whole trip. So here are some whale backs. Theron thought standing at the front of the boat and riding the waves was super fun.

This is the view in front of our room where Ashley saw someone propose. We got their email to send them the picture.

Health and Welfare

Probably the only thing more fun than watching the guys eat brown rice for dinner is a mole check. The doctor said everything is fine, at least at this point, even after all those years of frying on the beaches of Southern California. Nothing needed to come off but she did offer to burn, freeze or cut off anything that was bugging me. She's great.

Theron had an appointment, too, at the dentist. Unfortunately he has to go back because he has two cavities, but he doesn't really mind so much because they have so many fun games and stuff. While he and Ash were waiting a little boy came in with his mom and Theron became the perfect host, "Would you like to come over here? They have lots of fun activities." Then when Ash wasn't looking, he disappeared and was in the treatment room interrogating the dentist, who was with a patient, about how to play the video game in the room. Anyway, we have to make two more appointments and can I just say I've probably had something done to every tooth in my head starting when I wasn't much older than Theron and at no time along the way has anyone ever offered me:
- cartoons and video games
- gas
- chocolate-flavored downers

I have to go and watch them drill his tiny little teeth - what about the mommy? I could use some relaxation.

Ashley said the x-rays showed his top front teeth close to coming through. A few days after the dentist Theron's second tooth, from the bottom front, finally fell out. The tooth fairy hasn't been by yet though because she needs to go to the bank and also she's exhausted because the time change caught her off guard and she needs 17 hours of sleep every day.

Theron and I have colds and we stayed home yesterday. Guess what was on Oprah? The episode was called The Truth About Food! How happy was I? I would have taken the day off just to see this one. It was good because our supplements were running low and I was losing some of my enthusiasm, only some, so Thank you, Oprah! Tonight we ate artichokes (fiber, iron, magnesium, vitamin c) and whole wheat molasses quick bread (more iron and fiber and calcium). I watch them eat and think 'yessssssss'....

I finished Kafka on the Shore. I only think I know what happened but I really, really loved it. Now I just need to have lunch with Naomi so we can discuss. She also recommended the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. It was with sadness that I finally put Kafka aside because it requires more than one reading to begin deciphering it, and I was reluctant to start something new, but the first book, The Amulet of Samarkand is immediately fabulous and I can't believe I haven't read these before.

Obsessed with Nutrition

Recently I read a book called The Crazy Makers and now every day I've been making the guys take extra supplements and most nights I go to bed reading about nutrition. Theron grew a quarter inch in about 7 weeks (before my current fixation) and I'm obsessed with putting good things into his little body to make it stronger, bigger, smarter. Before I fall asleep I think about what he ate that day, I look it up, and imagine how it's working in his body. I'm wondering if I can get him tall enough by September to look like an actual 3rd grader. Ash and Theron just eat what I give them. Fortunately we all like vegetables and non-meat proteins, etc, so it's not really a big battle. But it makes me happy. I made a batch of whole wheat chocolate chip cookies with a 1/3 less sugar. They look healthy and taste healthy, though I'm sure they're only "less bad" which is not really the same thing. Theron eats them, though and is willing to accept that they are "cookies".

Saturday there was a book fair at the school and Ash and I were so excited but Theron, a huge reader, was remarkably subdued. Going through the stacks I had a pang of a happy memory of book fairs past. Ash and I kept finding things we wanted to read but Theron was really only interested in the Hulk and a giant pencil with a pointing finger on it. The fair was in the little library and on the shelves we saw Big Duck's doppelganger (that's not really the right word, but I like it) - a newer, cleaner, more hair on his head, version.

Theron with Big Duck, his constant companion

The birds

Yesterday at Theron's school I saw a flock of wild parrots. Of course it was the one day I didn't have a camera. But we have our own beautiful birds at work. The native gardens around the building attract the most gorgeous little creatures. Here is a flowering bush.

What you can't see are all the little yellow birds going crazy on the blooms. When I got closer they flew away but until then it was like a fairy tale Christmas tree. Here are some grainy closeups from the same picture. My heart... they are so sweet.

Pictures from Scott's pirate birthday party.

Theron started harmonica lessons and learned the scales. If he works hard he gets to have a real chromatic harmonica. I hope he can hang on and do it. He really wants to be good NOW.

Not much has really been going on: Theron has a new loose tooth, Ashley had a birthday. Theron was excited to find a card that had a donkey with jiggly eyes that said Happy Birthday from your smart ass kid. I replenished my library hold list and started reading a recommendation from Naomi, Kafka on the Shore, which is already, just a few chapters in, so amazing.
Otherwise ho hum, not much of note...

President's Day

I would say Saturday and Sunday were pretty good overall considering neither Ashley nor I had to go to work. Since that has not happened for a while things were off to a good start. Sunday we all took a long walk and took pictures. Monday Ashley had to work while Theron and I were off, so I planned a surprise outing to Kidspace in Pasadena. When I told him we were going out he wasn't really that happy since he was in the middle of his online pirate game where he was trying to get to Cuba to pick up a voodoo doll. But he got over it. Here he is at Kidspace pretending to be an ant...
Climbing a tower



Serving up food at the Bug Cafe. Those kids were working hard. No sooner had we finished the Water Beetle Sushi than they were bringing over a fresh Dung Beetle Poo Poo Platter. They were busing the tables like pros.
Here he is in the water pretending to be King Kong looking for fish.

Then we came home and I bottled up some of my homemade grog for Scott's Pirate birthday party - Apple and Blueberry. Just joking! I buy my grog at Trader Joe's and paste my own label on it.

Art and Culture Week

these lights at night

This week many of us at work went to the member's opening of the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum, BCAM, at LACMA. You know, it's pretty much the exact opposite of the collection we normally see everyday, and it was very fun. Probably everyone's favorite was a Robert Therrien piece that is a giant table and chairs. Giant. You walk underneath and it's so delightful.

Wednesday after school I took Theron by the music school to meet my teacher. We've been a little worried about Theron's musical abilities, but my teacher says it's all just work and the most important thing is to get him started on something he really wants to learn. One thing he has talked about a lot is the harmonica and this is one of the many instruments my instructor teaches. So, it was very cute. Keith gave Theron (gave him) an inexpensive harmonica and told him it was his but he had to promise to play it. Then he taught him some fundamentals, such as that harmonica players don't suck, they draw. When Keith opened the case with his beautiful chromatic harmonica Theron looked like one of those cartoon wolves with the bulging eyes, heart-shaped pupils, tongue hanging out. He was told that if he's serious about playing this is the kind of instrument he will be using. He played some music for him and Theron spun around and collapsed in giggles. He will start lessons next week. In the meantime he's been using it a lot. He's composed something he calls The Popular Song and he is inventing a code: hole 4 means I love you, hole 6 means I understand, and hole 10 means I'm sleepy.

For Valentine's Day Ash helped Theron buy me a very thoughtful card and chocolate. Ashley and I made each other cds of our favorite new songs. I LOVE the cd he made me, probably my favorite track is Chuck Prophet's Freckle Song.

And now it's too hot... Saturday it was 86 degrees so we went to the park where they had 70 tons of manmade snow.

Can a person freeze at 50 degrees? We're beginning to think so, what big babies we are. This morning Theron and I bounced out of the house into the glorious sunshine and half a block away we realized we were icicles. Theron zipped up his coat and announced he was now bullet-proof.


In spite of the fact that both Ashley and I had to work this weekend it was still fun in places. We spent a few hours at the Natural History Museum per Theron's request. He was getting mad at us though because we failed to give the appropriate responses. The correct response was "Cool!" , etc. Also, we were rushing through the dioramas of mammals and Theron yelled at us for not giving him time to "read the inches and diets". He was mad at the coyote for eating a house cat.


Sunday I got to go to my orchestra lesson. I'm four times older than many of the participants. The teacher makes me laugh, though he's not trying. It's not all music instruction. A lot of it is him saying, "Stop kicking. Stop kicking. Stop kicking. Put your hand down. Turn off the phone and put it away". I know it's not really funny, but I'm amused. Also, though, it is really fun.

While Ashley was at work Sunday, Theron came out of his room and asked when his birthday is. I told him, he said thanks and went back to his room, shutting the door. After a few minutes I went to see what was going on. Theron was trying to sign up for an online Pirates of the Carribean game. He would have never managed it, but we did have to have the little talk about using the internet. He's 6! It's bad enough that time passes so fast we can barely keep up with one emergency to the next. Theron's advancement to second grade makes us feel like we've literally lost a year of his life. I know it sounds unreasonable, but in 7 months he starts 3rd grade!!! ??? Sunrise, sunset! Oh, well, maybe later this summer he can finally get us set up for wireless printing.

Oh, I finished all but one of my library books, so any recommendations, I'm ready for more. There's only one pending on my hold list now.

In spite of fear my cello teacher talked me into joining orchestra.

"It's fun", he says.

"It's fun", I repeat. "No one cries?"

"No", he says.

"There are going to be children there who can do this better than I can."

"No. Well, yes, that's true."

But I went and actually, yes, it was fun. In spite of how awful everything sounds right now, getting started, it's easy to imagine how wonderful it will be to have everything come together. Even out of tune and out of rhythm it was pretty great. I have a terrible time with keeping beat but Ashley says nothing fixes that faster than playing with other people. I didn't count but there are more than 20 of us. I am the oldest next to the teacher. Some of the kids are really good and some of them are like me. I think it will be okay. It's another weekend commitment but Ashley and I think this is a way for me to improve my overall skills and it's not forever.

Sunday we went to Costco where Theron saw a fort play set. "I need that to put in the front yard so I can go there when I need privacy."

"What? You have a whole room with a door you can close, how much privacy do you need?"

"But my room is too small and crowded."

"I think that means you have too much stuff. Or you could just clean it up."

"I can't clean up that much! My goodness, it's your house!"

Here's another book review, I'm almost done with this one. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. In this story computers and mathmatics can open doorways to alternative worlds where brilliant as well as idiot monsters are waiting to come through. The hero works for The Laundry, a government agency that deals with these things. The book is full of exciting and gruesome encounters. The hero may kill a tentacled creature that is trying to kill him and his new lady friend, but instead of thanks he is hounded by accounting who want him to explain why he came in late and to fill out the necessary paperwork justifying the expense of cleaning up the mess.

An embarrassment of riches

My friend, Naomi, and I loooovvveee the library and we looooovvvveee to use the online hold list so that exactly what we want to read comes right to our local library, right to the front desk. We keep the list stacked because sometimes you're the 400th person in line, or sometimes you're first but it still takes 3 weeks for it to show up from Sherman Oaks. It's a thing, too, because they recently made a policy that although placing a hold is free, if you don't pick up your book within 10 days they charge you a dollar. Perfectly fair and appropriate, but some weeks it becomes a giddy race to get there in time. Not because we mind giving the library a dollar - I frankly wish they had a donation box at the door - but missing the book would be a disaster especially if you've been waiting for the Omnivore's Dilemma since April.
Last week SIX books on my list came in and two more are on the way. So I am reading A LOT. You never know how long you can renew an interlibrary loan book until you try it. I regret that I skimmed through a couple I probably would have savored.

Look Me In the Eye by John Elder Robison - brother of Augusten Burroughs. It is his story of having grown up with Asperger's syndrome at a time when no one even had a name for it. Most touching was when he told how adults thought that he preferred to play alone, but really he never wanted to be alone. It was that he was such a failure at making friends that he knew he couldn't really be around other children and it was the most bitter disappointment of his life.

The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan. This novel revolves around a soldier during WWII who is in the bomb squad and he is sent on detail to Alaska to look into the mysterious bombs arriving stateside by balloon from Japan. The balloons, by the way, really came here but were not successful in a big way. Perhaps because the press agreed to suppress reports of found balloons, the Japanese may have thought it wasn't working. One balloon did hit the mark in Klamath, Oregon and was responsible for the only WWII casualties on the US mainland due to enemy causes.
Anyway, that's not really all the novel is about. The main character falls in love with a half Russian, half Yup'ik Eskimo woman. I can't say how they are connected without ruining the story, but it was very interesting and sad, and not at all trite and predictable. I didn't really have to rush through this one - it was very fast and interesting reading and it came early in the deluge.

I did rush through House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielwski, as much as you can rush through a book that is more than 700 pages and has 3 - 4 narratives going on at a time. Maybe I'll try to get back to it someday and I haven't turned it in yet because I'm not sure I'm done with it. Actually, I'm not going to try to explain too much. Reading it is not so much reading as it is strategizing. The basic story revolves around a documentary made about a house where rooms and hallways appeared out of thin air. Before calling in any authorities or the press the owner hires some men to come in and take an expedition into the depths of the house. They are gone a loooonnnnngggg time. The owner, his brother, and a friend go on a rescue mission.

There's more but that's enough for now. Back to the books.