Book Recommendation & an Extra

Update below!
a long way gone.....Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Not an easy read by any means; Ishmael Beah fought a war in Sierra Leone as a child. What he and his friends saw; what they were forced to do is absolutely unthinkable for an adult, let alone a young child.

Ishmael, who was 26 when the book was published in 2007, "tells a powerfully gripping story: At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, and finally, to heal." (from the book cover)

While the story is harsh and we don't want to believe what is happening, we see that, in the end, there is a silver lining and many of the young men who were forced by circumstances to participate in the horrible war were able to be rehabilitated. Beah is a real success story!

My daughter was fortunate enough to hear this young man speak in Washington, DC, and she lent the book to me. It is a worthwhile read.

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I was going to do another separate post and title it "I Was a Thai Food Virgin" (until today)but I decided to tack it on to the bottom of this one. Today I met Tiff for lunch at Champa Thai in Brier Creek Shopping Center, and it was good! The coconut soup was excellent; in fact I could have enjoyed a BIG bowl of that with maybe a spring roll or two. I had Shrimp Pad Thai, which was good also. I think I'll be going back there with mr. kenju, and sampling the catfish or tilapia. Yuuuummmmmm........I wonder what the calorie content is? Maybe I shouldn't ask.....LOL.

After lunch I went to TJMaxx (my favorite haunt) and Home Goods, where I found a new set of sheets for my guest room. Don't you want to come visit and sleep on the new 460 count sheets? Last time I bought 400 count......I guess I'm going to march up the thread count ladder slowly. The guest room bed also has new shams, all blue and white Jacobean designs....just lovely. Now if I could only find new curtains and get the room recarpeted.......

Update: I am certain now that none of you would want to come and stay in the guest room because of what happened after dinner. I was running a load of clothes through the washer (including the new sheets) and cleaning up after our meal. The sinks all of a sudden began to fill with icky looking water, so I ran for the guest bathroom to get the plunger and that's when I discovered a floor full of even more yucky water and a toilet still overflowing. The dirty water was also rising in the bathtub. I put down about 30 towels, but it is an awful mess. We have a call in to the plumber, but I suspect it is a backed-up septic system. Arrrrrgggh! We may have asked for it. We've lived here for over 25 years and the septic tank has never been cleaned out. We don't even know exactly where it is. I may cry myself to sleep tonight.