Secret of the Sirens

Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This children's book is a good start to a quartet- the conflicts in this book are resolved very neatly, but it leaves open possibilities for more adventures. It's predictable nature is a great pull for reluctant readers who lean toward fantasy when choosing something off the shelf, and I love it's Earth-friendly message it leaves its readers...


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Leo the Snow Leopard

Leo, The Snow Leopard by Craig Hatkoff

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Well, it's about a baby snow leopard rescue, so of COURSE I loved it! The pictures of Leo are fantastic, and so expressive. He was raised by people, and as a result is very friendly with his keepers- I find myself wistfully thinking what a career in a large zoo, like the Bronx Zoo, would be like taking care of big cats. Leo is so adorable, I wish I could sink my fingers deep into his fur! :)


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My "Real" Back

Earlier I'd posted that I'd put up a picture of my spine when I got the MRI disc back from my doctor. Well, here it is!

The top arrow is pointing to the L4-L5 disc, which is bulging (you can kind of see how it is pushing on the white spinal cord), and those two little dots at the tip of the arrow are pointing at the fluid leaking out of the tear on that disc (the tear is what was causing a lot of the pain, but hopefully it is healing quickly with the cortisone and steroids it received 3 1/2 weeks ago! It's not bothering me anyway...). The bracket underneath is the protrusion between the L5 and S1 vertebrae. The other thing you can see in this scan is how nice and full and light all the discs are above these two poor babies, and how dark the hurt ones are- that is because the fluid has leaked out and I'm not getting the support my spine needs... Kinda scary. And gross looking. :) But I am feeling SO much better and have been taking it easy- doing my stretches and exercises, plus walking and swimming almost every day.