Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Keen-eyed readers may notice that I've already done a review of this book with this picture.  That was a summary of the whole series (albeit with the blurb from this book) done from memory as I do really like these books.

This time, however, I was recommending this book to someone and because it's been a long time since I have read them, I have decided to reread them, not only to refresh myself of the story, but also to see the story now that I know how it ends.  (Don't worry, no spoilers here!)

I am not disappointed!  It's amazing how much detail there is in the book that I hadn't noticed the first time through.  There are hints as to what is ahead, both the short-term and also longer-term in other books of the series; and all the riddles and deciphering of old texts make perfect sense.

I read this book in just a few days (eight to be exact, according to goodreads) and even though I knew what was coming, I couldn't put it down.  There was much more packed into this first book than I remembered, and even though I remembered the overarching story, there were some details (eg about Nosy) that I had forgotten.

If you enjoy reading fiction, this book is for you.  It's filled with drama, twists, hierarchical society, battles, raiders, royalty, assassinations, love, honour and a smattering of magic.  Even though I intended to alternate between rereading this series and reading new (to me) fiction, I've already started on book 2 because it is so gripping.

Weekly Update Y2w4

I'm really happy with my weightloss this week!  It's not a lot - I've lost more in previous weeks - but it is consistent.  And I haven't been depriving myself, just trying to be more mindful about what I put into my mouth.

I have even eaten our this week (and chose a starter with a side, because I didn't need to have a main course), went out drinking with a friend (and chose to have spritzers, rather than just alcohol), had puddings at home and eaten chocolates (which I've shared with family). I think this mindfulness is probably the key to long term weightloss.

I have had 'bad days' in between too - on Saturday I was absolutely starving, to the point of feeling sick.  I had planned to go straight home after taking DD2 dancing and make myself a big bowl of porridge, but I couldn't manage it, and had to stop in Aldi to get some food (I needed to buy the girls lunch anyway).  I ate half my sandwich in the car, so I was able to drive home.  Then when home, I ate the other half and the popcorn I had bought for myself.  That's probably when I should have stopped, but I also ate 2 sausage rolls (200kcals each - who knew!?), half a packet of cookies and had a yoghurt.  One mistake (meal!) doesn't mean the day is a write-off, and I brought it back at dinner time, simply having some prawn party food.  I didn't need to eat anything more!

Because I'm feeling good about losing weight today, I decided to look ahead and see what will happen if I continue losing weight at the same rate.  My current rate is 'slow' but I'm hoping that means that when it does all come off, I will have created enough good habits that it won't all pile straight back on again.  The main thing I need to watch is that when my weight stabilises for a while, or even if it increases for a few weeks, I don't give up altogether.  This is slow, but so worthwhile.

I have guestimated my rate of weightloss (roughly 1 kilo every 10 days), but looking at the top graph I think that's a fair estimation.  If I continue at that rate, I won't hit my target weightloss until the very end of the year.  So, it's the long game I'm playing and I need to keep that in the forefront of my mind.  But, if I do reach it at the end of the year, I'll be in a good place to arrange my mastectomy and still get it done before I turn 40.

Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers

This book was lent to my by a friend from church.  It is fiction, but follows the stories of five Biblical men and imagines what they would have thought, said and done.  It is very cleverly written, and really brought the characters to life, as well as linking in other people who were around at the time, and plenty of Biblical truths during their conversations.  At the end of each book (this is actually five books in one), there is a chapter that can be used for personal or collective Bible study or reflection - I confess to having skipped straight over those bits.  I was reading this as my fiction book, rather than a study book.

The blurb says:

In this five-book compilation of the popular Sons of Encouragement series, the New York Times bestselling author of Redeeming Love and A Voice in the Wind illuminates the lives of biblical men who stood behind heroes of the faith and quietly changed eternity.

Aaron--the priest who stood in Moses' shadow but had the courage to cover his brother's fears.
Caleb--the warrior whose words stirred men's hearts and brought God's people to the Promised Land.
Jonathan--the prince whose humility led him to befriend the man who would become king in his place.
Amos--the prophet who heard when God called and spoke to a nation unwilling to listen.
Silas--the scribe who surrendered his wealth to record God's Word, even as those around him were silenced.

Each faithfully sought God in the shadows of His chosen leaders. They answered God's call to serve without recognition or fame. And they gave everything, knowing their reward might not come until the next life. Be challenged by these faithful men whose stories we must never forget.

Each novella includes an in-depth Bible study, perfect for personal reflection or group discussion.

At first I found the book to be very slow, and if I'm honest, I didn't like Caleb's story to be immediately after Aaron's because I felt that a bit too repetitive.  (Caleb's and Aaron's stories are interlinked, and the order of these books follow the order of the Bible, so chronologically it is correct.)  However, I think both of these points could be because I was reading a real book (dun dun dunnnnnn!), and being five books in one, it is a hefty size!  In the end, I bought the Kindle version myself, returning the original to my friend, and that made everything go a lot smoother and much more enjoyable.

The five books are all independent, and follow secondary characters to those written about in the Bible itself.  It allows for some poetic license, but Francine really brings the characters and struggles of these people to the forefront.  I particularly enjoyed the story about Amos.  In the Bible, Amos is a fairly short book, all about prophesy, encouraging the Israelites to repent and return to God.  There is not much there about the character of Amos himself, so it was good to spend some time thinking about what he could have been like as a person, following God's will, spreading a message that many others did not want to hear.

Would I recommend this book? Yes.  I'd go so far as to say that you don't have to be a Christian to enjoy these stories.  If you have the slightest interest in the Bible or ancient history, then this book would be a good read to help set the scene and see the different challenges that would have been faced in those times, but even if you don't, the writing is good enough to draw you into the story and relate to their experiences.  I do have to repeat that this is fiction, but highly recommend that if you enjoy it, you read the Bible itself afterwards, so you can see how accurate it is for yourself.

Musings about The Greatest Commandment

In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked "What is the greatest commandment?".  Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

If I'm asked to summarise the Bible, I'd respond:

• Love God
• Love your neighbours
• Love your enemies

I have always struggled with the phrase "Love your neighbour as yourself" because I have always taken it to mean "Love your neighbour as much as you love yourself", and because I don't tend to love myself, in my head I have always thought it should be (because, obviously, I know more than the Son of God...<eyeroll>) "Love your neighbour more than you love yourself".  I've not had a problem with that thought, and I don't think it has harmed others to think that.  

Recently, however, I have come to think that the phrase has more practical implications.

I may not feel all lovey about myself, but I do show myself love - when I am hungry I get something to eat, thirsty and I get something to drink, cold and I put a jumper on.  Even if I don't feel love for myself, I do show myself love through these small ways.  Even if I may not like myself in the moment, I can still show love for myself, and it is this showing of practical, real, hands-on love that Christians are called to share with their neighbours (and their enemies).

Becoming Fearless by Michelle Aguilar

This book was in my list of Christian books that I hadn't yet read, and with the subtitle of "My Ongoing Journey of Learning to Trust God" that is the book I was expecting.  Whilst that was surely delivered by this book, I wasn't expecting it to also be a book about weightloss.   It wasn't until I started reading this autobiography, that I found out that Michelle had won the reality TV competition The Biggest Loser in the US, so it also chronicles her trials and triumphs as she aims to lose weight.  (Remember, until I got my newfangled Kindle, I could only judge books by their title and nothing more.)

The blurb says:

Michelle Aguilar's inspiring story goes beyond her grand-prize victory on the immensely popular The Biggest Loser. Becoming Fearless is about having faith in God when you've lost faith in yourself. It is an encouragement to "feel the fear" in any obstacle in life without being paralyzed by it. Finally, it is a story about reconciliation between Michelle and her mother, an exploration of the difficult and freeing work of forgiveness, and a reminder that what you learn on the journey is even more important than the destination.

I really liked this book; it was much more than I expected it to be.  There is a strong theme of trusting God throughout, as Michelle shares her history, her struggles and inner turmoil.  It is about stepping out in faith, in order to do everything you are called to.  Though there is a lot about her weightloss, the book is very clear that it was done in the bubble of a TV show, rather than the real world, and now she has to keep up the motivation to eat properly and exercise, now she is back in the real world.  Ultimately, as Michelle learned to trust God, she was also able to learn to trust others and herself too.

Weekly Update Y2w3

My general curve is still going down *and* I hit a low for the year!

I have eaten out twice this weekend, and stopped tracking (naughty me), so that explains the increase the past couple of days.  Overall I am pleased with my progress so far, and hope to build on it this week!

The first meal out was for a steak dinner with my husband whilst our girls dance on a Friday night.  We ate a steak each, but shared the sides and didn't have chips.  It was lovely, and I didn't miss the carbs.  We did share a dessert too, but eating out should be enjoyed.  Despite all this, I didn't go over my calories for the day, so I was doubly pleased.  I shared that on one of my support groups, and was promptly told off for trying to stick to 1200 kcals limit, which isn't enough for anybody.  Whereas I was posting more to say that it was possible, and I didn't feel like I had denied myself anything that day, as opposed to aspiring to stay under that amount.  I know there are many people who think My Fitness Pal's suggested calories are not conducive to healthy weightloss.  I, however, find them to be accurate for my activity level (ie lazy bum) as if I eat much more, I do tend to gain weight.  That, of course, doesn't stop me from eating more, as I'm only using it to track, rather than to be a hard limit for the calories I eat each day.  I also think it's more important to be aware of nutrition and to eat mostly nutrition-dense foods, rather than calorie-dense.

The second meal out was a Murder Mystery evening in Abingdon, thanks to Dine Naked Oxford and British Naturism, with characters played by the Oxford Imps.  The food was Moroccan, so a mixed starter that was placed in the middle of the table.  I allowed myself one half of pitta, hummus, and probably too many almonds.  The main was chicken tagine with cous cous, and the dessert was Moroccan style rice pudding.  The Murder Mystery itself was quite good fun, as it was improvised and there were plenty of jokes.  Our table did guess the correct murderer, albeit for the wrong reason, so we didn't 'win', but enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

This week, we have lots of food in our Freezer that we are going to try and eat up; most of it portioned out already.  Unfortunately, the writing has come off all the boxes, so we don't know what we're eating until it's defrosted, lol.

Engineering

Both mine and my husband's degrees are in engineering (technically, mine is Engineering Science, and his is Engineering and Computer Science) as that is how we met.

One of the benefits of home educating is that we can follow our children's interests, and up to very recently, their interests haven't followed ours.  Since DD1 has started school, she now loves maths and has realised she's quite good at it (duh! No surprise to me, she's always been good at it, but hasn't seen the point of doing it so refused to be pushed).  Since the summer, DD2 has decided she wants to be an engineer, prompted, probably, from watching youtube videos from Mini Gear or The Q.  I think had DD2 developed this interest earlier, then DD1 would have discovered a more practical use for maths, but it wasn't to be. I'm just glad she no longer hates it.

So for Christmas this year, being the good parent I am (last Friday excepting), not only did I buy DD2 some engineering books, I bought her a load of cardboard too.  Totally forgetting that almost everything arrives in cardboard, so now our conservatory is overflowing with the stuff!  I also bought her a robotics kit and last week, with Daddy, she made her first robot.  This robot is on two wheels and rolls forward at speed.  Our floor, however, is too shiny/slippery and the robot can't get a grip and ends up rotating ridiculously fast, but is fun to watch.

I have to admit, that when I saw how much fun she was having, I have ended up buying a load of other motors, wire, connectors, switches, and lots of other geeky stuff that I hope she will end up using.

Today DD2 and I started making a hydraulic arm together.  It is actually surprisingly hard following directions from a youtube video.  I would much rather have some written instructions, rather than the continual play, pause, rewind, play again, oops missed it, start again process that we are having to go through.

DD2 is actually being really helpful.  I was worried that I would end up doing it all (not that I mind in reality - it's actually quite fun), but she has been measuring and cutting out the cardboard, getting the next pieces ready, helping glue etc.  I have used the glue gun and the drill myself, though tbh even that I think she could have done. We have stopped half way through (we've actually gone slightly further than this pic, because we have started attaching the syringes for the hydraulics), but after a good few hours, both DD2 and I were ready for a break.
It's looking good so far!