ReaderChris

I'm a fourth grade teacher, a widow, living in southern Arizona but my roots - and family - are in New England, especially Maine. I'm a reader, a library-lover, a crafter, and have recently put bird feeders all around my house and yard because I'm really enjoying the many-hued finches. I've loved tracing my family tree ever since I was a teenager, I love genealogical libraries and cemeteries. I enjoy blogging about the books I've read and the movies I've seen and I'm learning to live my life alone without too much loneliness...

8-8-13 Just returned from a two-month cross-country road trip....I'm home and ready to start swappin' again!

10-22-12 One of these days, each and every one of us that swaps a lot will get a 1 or a 3, possibly for reasons beyond their control, make it up with all sorts of extras, and still have the receiver not respond, not change the rating, or change it from a one to a three because they're just plain mean. Then you'll have swap hosts that only see the one or the three and ban you without even reading the reasons or looking more closely at recent swaps. And there's nothing...not a darn thing...you can do. I, for one, will give people the benefit of the doubt, angel whenever I can, allow people to be a little late, and send birthday greetings to past swap partners whenever I get the chance. I solemnly swear. Yikes, guys!

Murder Mysteries, (Linda Castillo is a recent discovery, as is John Verdon)

Current Young Adult,

Loved State of Wonder (Patchett), A Discovery of Witches (Harkness), The Forgotten Garden (Morton), The Language of Flowers (Diffenbaugh) and anything by Billie Letts or Barbara Kingsolver.

My first love has always been children's literature, but I'm working really hard on my grownup TBR pile.

I love going to the movies.I try to go once a week. Recently I LOVED The Way, Way Back and The Heat. My all-time favorites are The Full Monty and High Fidelity. (Silver Linings Playbook was amazing!)

Right now I'm loving Under the Dome and Covert Affairs. Longmire, Mob Doctor, The Good Wife, Revolution, Haven...really look forward to them. I can't believe that In Plain Sight is all over. Bummer Not a fan of the reality shows. Other than the morning news, which I listen to as I get ready for work, I rarley turn on the tv except to watch something taped.

I alter books, create atcs, and dabble in scrapbooking. I love working with paper. I knit. I crochet. I mosaic. I quilt. I take road trips that take me from knit shop to fabric shop to book shop.

Contemporary Country.... Folk - particularly female. Lucinda Williams, Catie Curtis, Dar Williams, David Mallett, Greg Brown..... I used to be a hard rock fan, but living in the southwest my tastes have changed. Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Reba, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Chris Young.....

I'm putting together a deck of playing cards that are all different - every one from a different deck with a different picture or ad or whaterver. So if you have an extra PLAYING CARD from an incomplete deck to send me, I'd really love it!

Queen of Diamonds cards. I've decided to create a wall hanging/art piece made entirely of the Queen of Diamonds from lots of different decks.

Working on two quilts right now, and quilt fabric would be appreciated: I'm working on a Scrap Vomit quilt, so any 2.5 inch squares (especially 50 of 'em) would be great! I'm also making my grandson a rag quilt that needs 6.5 inch squares of boyish novelty fabric.

I'm also working on a 6-inch granny/non-granny square afghan for myself. I'm hoping to stick to silvers, grays, purples, and turquoise/aquas (I'll be bordering each with my own round of black). So if you feel like working me up a square, I'd love it!

I love anything Day of the Dead-y.

And cool pincushions, I've got a small collection.

I've slowed down collecting postcards, but I love cards that have anything to do with books or reading or authors. Also like funny ones, and they don't have to be "appropriate."

My favorite artists are Haring, Rizzi, and Kandinsky, though I pretty much like all art - give me an art museum any day.

Moose are cool.

So are saguaro cacti.

And cowboys...mmmm....I'm a cowgirl at heart (as long as horses aren't involved).

I love the entire National Park System.

I'm a map-loving traveler. Any opportunity for a road trip....

Therefore, I have a collection map postcards. I'd love to collect at least one from every state, and country, especially when people write about why they love (or don't love) about their place of residence. :)

I enjoy poetry a lot. I love hearing/seeing/reading cool poems that other people love.

I like to laugh."Inappropriate" stuff is fine....actually, more than fine..... too.

I'm finally eating differently (I don't want to use the word dieting!). I'm just trying to eat healthy and keep my carbs (of course, my favorite types of food) as low as possible. So I'd love to get some tried and true recipes that are low in carbs and fat!

Never been a fan of pink.

Flowery scents

Romance fiction (of the Harlequin or chicklit sort)

Nonfiction

Cutesy or kid motifs (cute cats and dogs, Disney, Winnie-the-Pooh, kawaii, Hello Kitty and all that)

People that won't give anyone a break but expect everyone to give them one.

I don't drink coffee at all, and tea only rarely, except for Starbucks Chai once in awhile or if I'm really freezing (which I spend as much time as possible avoiding), I do like hot chocolate, but otherwise I'm a Diet Coker all the way.

I would prefer to not receive food or drink items.

And please (please!), no Bible quotations or religious items.

Map cards, cards that give information about where to visit and why, cards with facts on them.

Cowboys/girls, arts and artists, books and authors...

Funny ones. Especially if they're in poor taste.....(I usually tend to avoid the cutesy dog and cat ones, though.)

Other than that, I'm pretty overwhelmed by my postcard collection.