Annie at 5:30 this afternoon:
Monday, June 27, 2011
over the weekend...
I took my dear friend Jean's advice and took the whole weekend off from school stuff. And I'm glad I did. I feel ready to jump back into today, as opposed to feeling resentful about it.
I wasn't a total slacker over the weekend though--just focused on other things. Spent a good deal of time both days working in the travesty I call my scrapbook area. Seriously, I can't even figure out how it's possible for that "room" to have gotten in the state it's in. But slowly, slowly I hope to whip it back into usable shape so I can actually have some fun in there again.
Saturday evening we took Annie out to supper to celebrate her finishing up her school year. And then we hit B&N...where I was a very bad girl and bought books. I'd been doing pretty well lately, but I just broke down. I'm calling it a reward for surviving the school year. Yes, I am pathetic in my rationalization attempts, aren't I? (Picked up Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, The Old Man and the Swamp by John Sellers, and Bees by Candace Savage.)
And yesterday, we hit the farmers market. Gray asked to join us, which was a treat. He needed to resupply his honey stash. :)
And I made blueberry jam. Six pints canned with a little left over in the fridge.
And the Maxidoodle finally got a new bike...he had long ago outgrown his old one.
So all in all I'd say it was a fairly relaxing, and yet not totally unproductive, weekend. Here's to lots more of that this summer!
I wasn't a total slacker over the weekend though--just focused on other things. Spent a good deal of time both days working in the travesty I call my scrapbook area. Seriously, I can't even figure out how it's possible for that "room" to have gotten in the state it's in. But slowly, slowly I hope to whip it back into usable shape so I can actually have some fun in there again.
Saturday evening we took Annie out to supper to celebrate her finishing up her school year. And then we hit B&N...where I was a very bad girl and bought books. I'd been doing pretty well lately, but I just broke down. I'm calling it a reward for surviving the school year. Yes, I am pathetic in my rationalization attempts, aren't I? (Picked up Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, The Old Man and the Swamp by John Sellers, and Bees by Candace Savage.)
And yesterday, we hit the farmers market. Gray asked to join us, which was a treat. He needed to resupply his honey stash. :)
And I made blueberry jam. Six pints canned with a little left over in the fridge.
And the Maxidoodle finally got a new bike...he had long ago outgrown his old one.
So all in all I'd say it was a fairly relaxing, and yet not totally unproductive, weekend. Here's to lots more of that this summer!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
a week's plus a day's worth of progress...
I have to admit that I totally love the way that the 50x50 keeps chugging along without much conscious effort. I realize that eventually it will take concerted effort to get some of these goals done (heck, some I still don't have a single thing checked off for some), but for now I still seem to be able to make progress without really even trying. :)
Anyway...in the past week...
*Mission: 50x50
#3-Visit 50 parks. On Father's Day, we went and took a short hike at Mendon Ponds Park. And had a lovely time, I might add. :)
#8-Donate 50 trunkloads to charity thrift store, etc. YES! Another full trunkload of stuff out of this house!!! I tell you, I get such joy getting to check the items off of this one. :D
# 13-Drink 50 different mixed drinks and/or wines. Had a Tom Collins Sunday night for the first time in ages. And then, I may or may not have had another one every night since...
#15-Try 50 new recipes. I think this goal is bound to be the first one I actually finish. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake I made this week brings me up to 28 items for this baby! :)
#28-Make 50 different things for us/our home. I finished Bacon's placemat. Which was also one of my summer goals. Yay me. :P Yes, he always manages to have it bit scrunched up, but it seems to serving its purpose of not having a puddle of water dribbled onto the floor every time he takes a drink.
#31. Take 50 photos I absolutely love. As I said in the disclaimer, these pictures do not need to be of high quality or any such thing...they just need to be pictures I love. And I absolutely adore this picture I caught of Max at his soccer game Wednesday night.
#37 and #42-Read 50 books I never heard of before buying/borrowing from library *and* Read 50 memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, etc. Not sure why, but rarely read this type of book. The not sure why part comes in because I actually find that I do generally enjoy them. Anyway, I saw The Wisdom of the Radish by Lynda Hopkins on the new non-fiction shelf at the library a couple weeks ago and just couldn't resist. Thoroughly enjoyed this book--the story of 20-something woman and her boyfriend starting up a small farm and trying to make a living selling their produce at a farmers market. She writes with humor, a bit of irreverence, and a lot of heart. I spent 90% of the time envying the hell out of her and 10% of the time being utterly grateful that I was not living her life. I realize it's not a book for everyone, but I can think of a few darling friends who would probably love this one, too. (Yes, of course I'm looking at you two, Chris and Heather!)
#45-Read 50 short story collections. I finished up How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity edited by Michael Cart. I have to admit that I found this collection to be really uneven. Some stories I really didn't like much at all. But others I absolutely loved. Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved. My favorite story of all was "Dear Lang" by Emma Donoghue. (Between her novel Room and this story, I'm sort of convinced that I need to read everything she ever wrote.) But I also loved the stories by Gregory Maguire, Julie Anne Peters, Jennifer Finney Boylan (who I'm sorry to say that I'd never even heard of before), Francesca Lia Block, and Jacqueline Woodson. Pretty awesome line-up of authors there, huh?
*Mission: De-clutter.
YES! Another "area" done! The hall closet. Which probably doesn't sound all that impressive an accomplishment, but I assure you it is. Two whole liquor boxes full of papers to be recycled. Four large bags of things to donate to the thrift store. And a decent-sized bag that really could go nowhere other than the trash can.
Anyway...in the past week...
*Mission: 50x50
#3-Visit 50 parks. On Father's Day, we went and took a short hike at Mendon Ponds Park. And had a lovely time, I might add. :)
#8-Donate 50 trunkloads to charity thrift store, etc. YES! Another full trunkload of stuff out of this house!!! I tell you, I get such joy getting to check the items off of this one. :D
# 13-Drink 50 different mixed drinks and/or wines. Had a Tom Collins Sunday night for the first time in ages. And then, I may or may not have had another one every night since...
#15-Try 50 new recipes. I think this goal is bound to be the first one I actually finish. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake I made this week brings me up to 28 items for this baby! :)
#28-Make 50 different things for us/our home. I finished Bacon's placemat. Which was also one of my summer goals. Yay me. :P Yes, he always manages to have it bit scrunched up, but it seems to serving its purpose of not having a puddle of water dribbled onto the floor every time he takes a drink.
#31. Take 50 photos I absolutely love. As I said in the disclaimer, these pictures do not need to be of high quality or any such thing...they just need to be pictures I love. And I absolutely adore this picture I caught of Max at his soccer game Wednesday night.
#37 and #42-Read 50 books I never heard of before buying/borrowing from library *and* Read 50 memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, etc. Not sure why, but rarely read this type of book. The not sure why part comes in because I actually find that I do generally enjoy them. Anyway, I saw The Wisdom of the Radish by Lynda Hopkins on the new non-fiction shelf at the library a couple weeks ago and just couldn't resist. Thoroughly enjoyed this book--the story of 20-something woman and her boyfriend starting up a small farm and trying to make a living selling their produce at a farmers market. She writes with humor, a bit of irreverence, and a lot of heart. I spent 90% of the time envying the hell out of her and 10% of the time being utterly grateful that I was not living her life. I realize it's not a book for everyone, but I can think of a few darling friends who would probably love this one, too. (Yes, of course I'm looking at you two, Chris and Heather!)
#45-Read 50 short story collections. I finished up How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity edited by Michael Cart. I have to admit that I found this collection to be really uneven. Some stories I really didn't like much at all. But others I absolutely loved. Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved. My favorite story of all was "Dear Lang" by Emma Donoghue. (Between her novel Room and this story, I'm sort of convinced that I need to read everything she ever wrote.) But I also loved the stories by Gregory Maguire, Julie Anne Peters, Jennifer Finney Boylan (who I'm sorry to say that I'd never even heard of before), Francesca Lia Block, and Jacqueline Woodson. Pretty awesome line-up of authors there, huh?
*Mission: De-clutter.
YES! Another "area" done! The hall closet. Which probably doesn't sound all that impressive an accomplishment, but I assure you it is. Two whole liquor boxes full of papers to be recycled. Four large bags of things to donate to the thrift store. And a decent-sized bag that really could go nowhere other than the trash can.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
happy day ramblings
I'm not even sure where to start--there's just so many things making me smile this morning. Woke up this morning to find that our state senate finally put the marriage equality bill up for a vote. And it passed!!! I'm still sort of in a state of happy shock. If you don't live in New York, or if you just don't care much about the issue, you probably don't realize just how long the past couple weeks have seemed. As I said to Chris, it's been path of two steps forward, one step back. But those forward steps finally made it the finish line. I often wonder if it does a damn thing to write to one's legislators, and yet I keep writing anyway. Today I'd like to believe it really can make a difference, that the letters I wrote to our state senator helped contribute in their own very small way to his crucial changed vote. I'd like to believe that all us "little people" can put our voices together and change things. Today is one of those days where that belief seems justified.
And this was the news that started off my first unofficial day of summer! A few days early! Annie took her history final yesterday and handed in the last of her assignments, thus allowing me to put the final touches on her fourth quarterly report. I spent about 20 hours in the last three days on homeschool paperwork alone--Annie's final quarterly report, Annie's and Gray's letters of intent for next year, and the vast bulk of both Annie's and Gray's IHIPs (essentially the plans for what you intend to do for each and every required subject). Yes, New York has some of the biggest pain in the butt homeschool regulations in the country, but without question, I make things waaaaaay harder on myself than I need to. But I use the IHIP preparation as a chance to truly get myself organized. It gives me the outline of all the plans and preparations I need to conquer. And obsessive little me *must* be organized when it comes to homeschooling. Anyway, while delivery of the quarterly report and LOIs will have to wait until Monday (after which time I will get the cover form to fill out to go with their IHIPs so I can then deliver them as well), I still feel incredibly relieved to have the hard part of the paperwork done with. And ahead of time at that! :D
The boys had their last day of school on Wednesday! And for Gray that meant his last day of elementary school. And quite possibly his last day of public school period. Despite the fact that I've been trying to squeeze in odd moments here and there for the past few months working on plans and preparations for Gray, it's only now really hitting me that this is real! That Gray is going to be staying home for school next year! But for now, I am going to cherish the lazy moments of summer. Not that I have a clue how to truly be lazy. :P But I will enjoy every morning that I don't have to awake by the call of an alarm clock, every afternoon that I don't have to play prison guard making sure the boys do their homework, and every evening when I don't have to listen to arguments about bedtimes. Sounds pretty darn heavenly.
The boys' first day of summer vacation also signaled the start of our summer reading goals.
Pretty hard to see what this is, I suppose. But a new sheet like this adorns our pantry closet door each "season"...it's where we each keep track of our books read. For all the other seasons, we each have the same goal for number of books to read. But during the summer, we each set our own. Annie, of course, always aims far higher than the rest of us--this summer she's shooting for 50. And in the two days since we've started this, she's already cranked out her first two reads. Show off. Gray and I both set our goals at 20, while Max and Rich have theirs at 15. On my first day of summer, I plan to relax, relax, relax, and finish up at least one book to get my list started.
Our garden is finally giving us some nibblies. Not much so far, of course.
Annie's first itty bitty strawberry. Her strawberry plants actually put out quite a few strawberries this year. However...we will not be eating many from her little patch. No, the bunnies beat us to them. :P Yes, we even have her strawberry patch fenced, but I swear, 90 percent of the berries decided to grow right along the fence where the little rascals could just grab them anyway. Good thing they're so stinkin' cute.
Rich and I have been eating radishes from the garden (the kids don't like them). And let me tell you, they've really got a bite this year. And this one(?) Rich is holding here--we'd never seen one like this before. :)
And very soon we'll be eating fresh jalapenos, too! We've got lots and lots of babies growing now. :D
I suppose I really should just shut up now. I apologize for the excessive rambling, but so few days as of late have started off with me feeling this unburdened. Yep, I've got shitloads of stuff to get done in the next couple months, but for today, this one day, I'm going to ignore it all. Yep, today marks my latest fresh start. I don't even care that it's about the third time already this year that I've declared a fresh start. Every fresh start feels mighty good...
And this was the news that started off my first unofficial day of summer! A few days early! Annie took her history final yesterday and handed in the last of her assignments, thus allowing me to put the final touches on her fourth quarterly report. I spent about 20 hours in the last three days on homeschool paperwork alone--Annie's final quarterly report, Annie's and Gray's letters of intent for next year, and the vast bulk of both Annie's and Gray's IHIPs (essentially the plans for what you intend to do for each and every required subject). Yes, New York has some of the biggest pain in the butt homeschool regulations in the country, but without question, I make things waaaaaay harder on myself than I need to. But I use the IHIP preparation as a chance to truly get myself organized. It gives me the outline of all the plans and preparations I need to conquer. And obsessive little me *must* be organized when it comes to homeschooling. Anyway, while delivery of the quarterly report and LOIs will have to wait until Monday (after which time I will get the cover form to fill out to go with their IHIPs so I can then deliver them as well), I still feel incredibly relieved to have the hard part of the paperwork done with. And ahead of time at that! :D
The boys had their last day of school on Wednesday! And for Gray that meant his last day of elementary school. And quite possibly his last day of public school period. Despite the fact that I've been trying to squeeze in odd moments here and there for the past few months working on plans and preparations for Gray, it's only now really hitting me that this is real! That Gray is going to be staying home for school next year! But for now, I am going to cherish the lazy moments of summer. Not that I have a clue how to truly be lazy. :P But I will enjoy every morning that I don't have to awake by the call of an alarm clock, every afternoon that I don't have to play prison guard making sure the boys do their homework, and every evening when I don't have to listen to arguments about bedtimes. Sounds pretty darn heavenly.
The boys' first day of summer vacation also signaled the start of our summer reading goals.
Our garden is finally giving us some nibblies. Not much so far, of course.
I suppose I really should just shut up now. I apologize for the excessive rambling, but so few days as of late have started off with me feeling this unburdened. Yep, I've got shitloads of stuff to get done in the next couple months, but for today, this one day, I'm going to ignore it all. Yep, today marks my latest fresh start. I don't even care that it's about the third time already this year that I've declared a fresh start. Every fresh start feels mighty good...
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
why am I posting about pie?
Seriously. Posting about pie is *not* one of the 18 items still left on today's to do list. Nor is it one of the 32 things already listed on tomorrow's to do list. Posting about pie just isn't high on my list of priorities here. And yet here I am posting about pie.
But it's a damn good pie! Like blueberries? Then you really need to try this fruity little delight. Not kidding one bit here.
I made this for Rich for Daddy's Day. He *loves loves loves* blueberries. Like the rest of the crew. Except for me, that is. I can take them or leave them. But I can't leave this pie.
Added bonus #1--super duper easy! Added bonus #2--does not require having the oven on for long periods of time in the summer heat.
First, put 30 gingersnaps and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the blender. Blend until you've got fine crumbs.
Put the crumbs into a 9" pie plate. Melt 5 tablespoons of butter. Pour it into the crumbs and stir until the crumbs are moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides.
Bake crust for 8 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool on wire rack.
Meanwhile, dissolve 2 tablespoons of corn starch in 2 tablespoons of cold water in a large heavy saucepan. Add 3 cups of fresh blueberries and 1/2 cup of sugar.
Heat over medium high heat, mashing your blueberries against the side of the pan with your spoon (or cheat and just use a potato masher like I did). Bring to a boil, then continuously stir while it boils for a full minute. Remove from heat.
Stir in three additional cups of fresh blueberries. (Don't crush these ones.)
Pour into your crust and chill for several hours.
Eat a huge slice of it, and don't even bother feeling guilty.
On a side note: Is it even possible to see the word "pie" and not think of the lovely Care?
But it's a damn good pie! Like blueberries? Then you really need to try this fruity little delight. Not kidding one bit here.
I made this for Rich for Daddy's Day. He *loves loves loves* blueberries. Like the rest of the crew. Except for me, that is. I can take them or leave them. But I can't leave this pie.
Added bonus #1--super duper easy! Added bonus #2--does not require having the oven on for long periods of time in the summer heat.
First, put 30 gingersnaps and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the blender. Blend until you've got fine crumbs.
Put the crumbs into a 9" pie plate. Melt 5 tablespoons of butter. Pour it into the crumbs and stir until the crumbs are moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides.
Bake crust for 8 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool on wire rack.
Meanwhile, dissolve 2 tablespoons of corn starch in 2 tablespoons of cold water in a large heavy saucepan. Add 3 cups of fresh blueberries and 1/2 cup of sugar.
Heat over medium high heat, mashing your blueberries against the side of the pan with your spoon (or cheat and just use a potato masher like I did). Bring to a boil, then continuously stir while it boils for a full minute. Remove from heat.
Stir in three additional cups of fresh blueberries. (Don't crush these ones.)
Pour into your crust and chill for several hours.
Eat a huge slice of it, and don't even bother feeling guilty.
On a side note: Is it even possible to see the word "pie" and not think of the lovely Care?
Sunday, June 19, 2011
with all his heart...
I could easily sit here and make a list a mile long of all the things that make Rich such a great Dad. It's just such a big part of who he is. But to be perfectly honest, I don't have time today to write such a list. So I'm just going to mention one of the things that has always meant the most to me. It's not the fact that he changed explode-o diapers or wiped big old green globs of snot, that he reads to the munchkins and checks homework, that we wipes tears and soothes fears...yes, he did/does all those things and a million things more. But what I love most, isn't *what* he does, it's *how* he does it. With overwhelming love. Without ever acting as if he's doing me some kind of favor. With all his heart.
I love you beyond all words, Rich. Happy Daddy's Day. And thank you for everything.
*****
And to completely change the subject, a quick apology to everyone I feel I've been ignoring in the past few weeks. I am so very sorry! I'm sorry that so many emails have gone unresponded to and so many blog posts have gone unread in the last few weeks. Life is just so goshdarn freakin' crazy right now, trying to finish up the school year, both in the homeschool realm and the public school realm, dealing with everyone's health issues, etc. But the boys' last day of school is Wednesday, and Annie and I should finish up in a week and a half at the latest. And then I hope I can be a better friend to all of you I love so much.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
a happy ending...
Principles. Those ideas we hold sacred. As important as they are to us, what happens when they butt heads with protecting those we love?
Pink is for girls, blue is for boys. Ballet is for girls, football is for boys. Romance novels are for girls, sci-fi novels are for boys. <----AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGH. This is a thought system we fight very hard in this house. And despite our vocal vigilance against these sort of ideas, they still creep in--through school, through TV, etc., etc., etc. But we talk about them and do our best to make our kiddos see the foolishness of such distinctions.
Then came the pants. A pair of black leggings from the thrift store. That Gray fell in love with. Not with how they look, but with how they feel. He has Sensory Processing Disorder (Sensory Integration Disorder). While people with SPD all have sensory issues, there are many different manifestations. Different senses are affected differently in different people. For Gray, tactile sensations and proprioception are the areas that are most strongly affected. (Proprioception, put simply, is sensing where one's body parts are in relationship to one another. This is why Gray falls out of chairs on a regular basis. It is also why he continues to use a fist grip to hold a pencil.) But it's the whole tactile sensation thing that comes into play here. Physical sensations are multiplied exponentially for him. Things I can hardly feel even with conscious effort drive him absolutely crazy! (Thus the reason why the seasonal switching from long sleeves to short sleeves and vice versa that I've mentioned before is always so difficult around here.) And these pants--well, they're just the most comfortable things he's ever owned!
Do we care that he's wearing pants typically marketed for girls? Of course not. We wouldn't care no matter what the reason he chose to wear them. But here's the thing. This sweet child also has major anxiety issues. Not as in, "he's just on the shy side" or "he doesn't like to get up in front of an audience" or "he's a little worrywart" type of thing. No, he's been handed a slew of diagnoses. (Diagnoses that I'm happy to say his psychologist uses *not* as labels, but as tools to help decide what strategies may best help him be comfortable in his own skin.) Anyway, all this said to explain that he is every bit as sensitive emotionally as he is physically.
So...do we set this child up for more bullying and ridicule by allowing him to wear this pair of pants he loves so much, this pair of pants that take away a point of regular discomfort for him? Or do we invalidate everything we've continuously tried to teach them about the idiocy of gender stereotyping by telling him that his pants are "girl pants" and he shouldn't wear them to school?
Well, he wore those pants to school. And the first day, no one said a word. I breathed an inner sigh of relief. And washed the pants--because every other day is about as long as he can stand to be without them. Second day at school in them, a different story. Kids started teasing him about wearing tights. :( But in a feat of bravery, he just said he didn't care. And he's continued wearing his tights, as he now calls them, every other day to school.
I don't pretend to think that standing up for one's principles will always pay off so well. Life is rarely that simple. But this is a happy ending I'm going to cherish. I tell you, that kiddo just makes my heart burst with love and admiration...
Pink is for girls, blue is for boys. Ballet is for girls, football is for boys. Romance novels are for girls, sci-fi novels are for boys. <----AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGH. This is a thought system we fight very hard in this house. And despite our vocal vigilance against these sort of ideas, they still creep in--through school, through TV, etc., etc., etc. But we talk about them and do our best to make our kiddos see the foolishness of such distinctions.
Then came the pants. A pair of black leggings from the thrift store. That Gray fell in love with. Not with how they look, but with how they feel. He has Sensory Processing Disorder (Sensory Integration Disorder). While people with SPD all have sensory issues, there are many different manifestations. Different senses are affected differently in different people. For Gray, tactile sensations and proprioception are the areas that are most strongly affected. (Proprioception, put simply, is sensing where one's body parts are in relationship to one another. This is why Gray falls out of chairs on a regular basis. It is also why he continues to use a fist grip to hold a pencil.) But it's the whole tactile sensation thing that comes into play here. Physical sensations are multiplied exponentially for him. Things I can hardly feel even with conscious effort drive him absolutely crazy! (Thus the reason why the seasonal switching from long sleeves to short sleeves and vice versa that I've mentioned before is always so difficult around here.) And these pants--well, they're just the most comfortable things he's ever owned!
Do we care that he's wearing pants typically marketed for girls? Of course not. We wouldn't care no matter what the reason he chose to wear them. But here's the thing. This sweet child also has major anxiety issues. Not as in, "he's just on the shy side" or "he doesn't like to get up in front of an audience" or "he's a little worrywart" type of thing. No, he's been handed a slew of diagnoses. (Diagnoses that I'm happy to say his psychologist uses *not* as labels, but as tools to help decide what strategies may best help him be comfortable in his own skin.) Anyway, all this said to explain that he is every bit as sensitive emotionally as he is physically.
So...do we set this child up for more bullying and ridicule by allowing him to wear this pair of pants he loves so much, this pair of pants that take away a point of regular discomfort for him? Or do we invalidate everything we've continuously tried to teach them about the idiocy of gender stereotyping by telling him that his pants are "girl pants" and he shouldn't wear them to school?
Well, he wore those pants to school. And the first day, no one said a word. I breathed an inner sigh of relief. And washed the pants--because every other day is about as long as he can stand to be without them. Second day at school in them, a different story. Kids started teasing him about wearing tights. :( But in a feat of bravery, he just said he didn't care. And he's continued wearing his tights, as he now calls them, every other day to school.
I don't pretend to think that standing up for one's principles will always pay off so well. Life is rarely that simple. But this is a happy ending I'm going to cherish. I tell you, that kiddo just makes my heart burst with love and admiration...
Saturday, June 11, 2011
summer goals (aka "I obviously hate myself")
The other night I was trying to slog my way through yet another chapter of our world history textbook. Don't get me wrong--I actually enjoy reading about world history. Textbook style reading may not be my favorite, but it's okay. Anyway, after trying (and failing) all manner of tactics to get myself to focus, I just had to give up and take a break. Said break consisted on writing up a list of summer goals...because, come on, writing a nice, juicy list is always a good way to break the tedium, don't you think?
Thing is, I saw my list laying there today and picked it up to read it again. All I could think was, "You are a freakin' masochist!" For the last couple months I've been living for the start of summer (which by my definition starts either June 30th or July 1st, depending on when I get Annie's final quarterly report written and delivered). The very thought of summer has been keeping me going, keeping me sane. (Though said sanity might be disputed by others in this house.) Summer--a time to relax, to breathe a little easier, to have some real honest-to-goodness downtime.
Ummmm...so what's with the list, Debra Anne?!!
Here's what I hope to accomplish:
Homeschooling:
*Write both Annie's and Gray's IHIPs.
*Get all of Annie's first quarter plans and preparation done.
*Get all of Gray's first quarter plans and preparation done.
---Note: This category alone could seriously take up my entire summer. Despite the fact that I only have to prepare two classes for Annie for the fall, because she's taking the rest at MCC.
House (the bigger projects):
*Finish decluttering the entire house. This is well underway, and yet there is still much to do.
*Paint the living room/hallway.
*Paint the kitchen.
*Paint the shed.
*Reroof the shed.
Garden/Kitchen:
*Can enough tomatoes to last us until next summer.
*Make and can enough tomato/garlic/basil sauce to last us until next summer.
*Make and can enough salsa to last us until next summer.
*Make and can enough jam to last us until next summer. (Will need to buy berries for this, because we won't grow nearly enough.)
*Chop and freeze enough green peppers to last us until next summer. (Though if our pepper plants don't spring back to life, this may not happen. Or I'll just buy them from the farmers market and do this anyway.)
*Chop and freeze enough jalapenos to last us until next summer.
*Freeze enough blueberries to last us until next summer. (Will have to buy these as well. Our blueberry bushes died, and we eat far too many anyway.)
*Make and can enough applesauce to last us until next fall. (It makes me so ridiculously sad to say that we will have to buy our apples this year because our tree just isn't going to give us its normal plentiful bounty.)
*Make and can enough apple butter to last us until next fall. (Again, buying the apples.)
*Can enough pears to last us until next fall.
Scrapbooking:
*Catch up, then keep up with Project Life album.
*Finish last summer's stay-cation album from Chris's visit.
*Make time every week to record whatever stories are most inspiring me.
Crafting:
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #1.
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #2.
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #3.
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #4.
*Christmas gift for sister-in-law.
*Christmas gift for other sister-in-law.
*Farmers market bag for us.
*Placemat for Bacon.
Reading:
*Finish at least 6 books I've started and set aside. (Reasons for the "setting aside" vary. Some were non-fiction books that Annie and I used for school but only read certain chapters of. Some are books that I started but then got overwhelmed by life and had to set aside. Many are simply short story books that I haven't finished yet. Some books I can pick up where I left off, others will have to be started over. Anyway, according to my Library Thing, I have close to 40 of these books, so even finishing 6 of them isn't much of a dent.)
*Read at least 8 books from this arbitrary "I really want to finally read" pile: Parasite Rex, Peeps, The Amber Spyglass, The Rape of Nanking, Paper Towns, The Time Traveler's Wife, Never Let Me Go, The Love We Share Without Knowing, The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Eaarth, Garbage Land, Freakonomics, Half the Sky, Singled Out, Woman: An Intimate Biography, Garden Spells, Essex County, The 10PM Question, Animal Vegetable Miracle, The Waiting Place, Saplings, Shine, The Search for Wondla, The Wind-Up Girl
*Read at least 6 books totally on a whim.
"Summer" lasts approximately 10 1/2 weeks. I think if I clone myself *and* give up sleep for the entire time, I may just have a shot. Or maybe not.
Thing is, I saw my list laying there today and picked it up to read it again. All I could think was, "You are a freakin' masochist!" For the last couple months I've been living for the start of summer (which by my definition starts either June 30th or July 1st, depending on when I get Annie's final quarterly report written and delivered). The very thought of summer has been keeping me going, keeping me sane. (Though said sanity might be disputed by others in this house.) Summer--a time to relax, to breathe a little easier, to have some real honest-to-goodness downtime.
Ummmm...so what's with the list, Debra Anne?!!
Here's what I hope to accomplish:
Homeschooling:
*Write both Annie's and Gray's IHIPs.
*Get all of Annie's first quarter plans and preparation done.
*Get all of Gray's first quarter plans and preparation done.
---Note: This category alone could seriously take up my entire summer. Despite the fact that I only have to prepare two classes for Annie for the fall, because she's taking the rest at MCC.
House (the bigger projects):
*Finish decluttering the entire house. This is well underway, and yet there is still much to do.
*Paint the living room/hallway.
*Paint the kitchen.
*Paint the shed.
*Reroof the shed.
Garden/Kitchen:
*Can enough tomatoes to last us until next summer.
*Make and can enough tomato/garlic/basil sauce to last us until next summer.
*Make and can enough salsa to last us until next summer.
*Make and can enough jam to last us until next summer. (Will need to buy berries for this, because we won't grow nearly enough.)
*Chop and freeze enough green peppers to last us until next summer. (Though if our pepper plants don't spring back to life, this may not happen. Or I'll just buy them from the farmers market and do this anyway.)
*Chop and freeze enough jalapenos to last us until next summer.
*Freeze enough blueberries to last us until next summer. (Will have to buy these as well. Our blueberry bushes died, and we eat far too many anyway.)
*Make and can enough applesauce to last us until next fall. (It makes me so ridiculously sad to say that we will have to buy our apples this year because our tree just isn't going to give us its normal plentiful bounty.)
*Make and can enough apple butter to last us until next fall. (Again, buying the apples.)
*Can enough pears to last us until next fall.
Scrapbooking:
*Catch up, then keep up with Project Life album.
*Finish last summer's stay-cation album from Chris's visit.
*Make time every week to record whatever stories are most inspiring me.
Crafting:
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #1.
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #2.
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #3.
*I-can't-talk-about-it-here Project #4.
*Christmas gift for sister-in-law.
*Christmas gift for other sister-in-law.
*Farmers market bag for us.
*
Reading:
*Finish at least 6 books I've started and set aside. (Reasons for the "setting aside" vary. Some were non-fiction books that Annie and I used for school but only read certain chapters of. Some are books that I started but then got overwhelmed by life and had to set aside. Many are simply short story books that I haven't finished yet. Some books I can pick up where I left off, others will have to be started over. Anyway, according to my Library Thing, I have close to 40 of these books, so even finishing 6 of them isn't much of a dent.)
*Read at least 8 books from this arbitrary "I really want to finally read" pile: Parasite Rex, Peeps, The Amber Spyglass, The Rape of Nanking, Paper Towns, The Time Traveler's Wife, Never Let Me Go, The Love We Share Without Knowing, The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Eaarth, Garbage Land, Freakonomics, Half the Sky, Singled Out, Woman: An Intimate Biography, Garden Spells, Essex County, The 10PM Question, Animal Vegetable Miracle, The Waiting Place, Saplings, Shine, The Search for Wondla, The Wind-Up Girl
*Read at least 6 books totally on a whim.
"Summer" lasts approximately 10 1/2 weeks. I think if I clone myself *and* give up sleep for the entire time, I may just have a shot. Or maybe not.
Monday, June 6, 2011
holy crap--I finished a book
Actually, I finished five over the weekend! Okay, not as impressive as it sounds, as three of those already had good dents in them and none of them were all that long. But still, for me, that's pretty darn exciting. My productivity levels have been down soooo much the last few months, reading included. A whole big mix of physical, emotional, psychological reasons. I only finished seven books in April and May combined--and more than half of those were for school. :/ But it was because of the reasons behind the lagging productivity levels that I decided that I just needed a break from life. I know I'm not alone in being bad about doing this--giving oneself a day off now and then. And it had really caught up with me. So I wrangled Rich and Annie into lazily, unofficially participating in Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge. Yeah, not a lot of arm twisting was needed. ;) The three of us were quite sad that Ana couldn't join us and quite happy that Chris could. Anyway, there was no effort made on my part to give up sleep, I still cooked and washed dishes and did some laundry, and there were, of course, the boys to provide regular interruptions (including one major, not-so-pleasant one)...but otherwise, I just allowed myself to read. And I must say that it was heavenly.
Good heavens, I can ramble, huh?
To the books...
First up, I finished Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. But I'll be chatting about that one later (with four of my favorite people in the world).
Then there was Shivers, Wishes, and Wolves, which is a collection of five fairy tales told in comics form. I was actually a tad disappointed in this book, but this cannot be blamed on the book. No, this was just one of those instances where I expected something different. I had it in my head that these were going to be fractured fairy tales, and I was just really excited about that. Why I assumed this, I've no idea. Instead, these stories are really just fairy tale tellings--Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood, and Rumpelstiltskin--and obviously, there's nothing wrong with this, like I said, I just expected something different. What I loved, loved, loved about this book was the art!!! A different artist for each story, and every one of them awesome! Unfortunately, I couldn't find any inside images to share, but I think you can get the idea from the cover.
The art at the top of the cover there is from Hansel and Gretel, which was my favorite of them all. But all of them were lovely. :)
And then there was By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters. What a powerful book. I have to admit that I had a hard time reading it...not because it wasn't good (it was incredible!), but because it just ripped me apart. Julie Anne Peters has a way of telling stories that really effing matter. And she tells them with such brutal honesty. Bullying plays a big part in this book, and let me tell you, she made it real. This is not some play-on-your-emotions kind of book. It's just from-the-gut honest.
Next up was Priceless: The Vanishing Beauty of a Fragile Planet written by Bradley Trevor Greive. I'm not sure quite how to describe this book--at it's core it's really a book of some of the most amazing wildlife photography I've ever seen. All images by Misuaki Iwago. But weaved through the images is almost a plea, a plea to wake up and see what it is we're destroying. It's not only beautiful to look at, it's beautiful to read. His message isn't didactic, he doesn't try to beat the reader upside the head. Yes, it's in ways very sad, but his ultimate message is one of hope, not despair.
And last, but oh-so-not-least, was Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman. I wish I could do this book justice. Oh, how I wish that. It's not that I'm surprised that it was wonderful--after reading Ana's review, I knew it would be. And yet, I was still caught off guard by just how truly special this book was. I couldn't help but be reminded of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness--yes, there's some similarity in subject matter, but it goes beyond that. And if you know me at all, you know how enormous a compliment that is! I couldn't really put it into words when I emailed Ana, but she knew just what I meant. And I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her, but she always finds a way to put my mish-mashed thoughts into coherent sentences--
"I can totally see why it made you think of A Monster Calls, btw... yes, in many ways they're very different, but they do share the same kind of absolute emotional honestly. I wish more writers treated children with such respect."
Me too.
Good heavens, I can ramble, huh?
To the books...
First up, I finished Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. But I'll be chatting about that one later (with four of my favorite people in the world).
Then there was Shivers, Wishes, and Wolves, which is a collection of five fairy tales told in comics form. I was actually a tad disappointed in this book, but this cannot be blamed on the book. No, this was just one of those instances where I expected something different. I had it in my head that these were going to be fractured fairy tales, and I was just really excited about that. Why I assumed this, I've no idea. Instead, these stories are really just fairy tale tellings--Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood, and Rumpelstiltskin--and obviously, there's nothing wrong with this, like I said, I just expected something different. What I loved, loved, loved about this book was the art!!! A different artist for each story, and every one of them awesome! Unfortunately, I couldn't find any inside images to share, but I think you can get the idea from the cover.
And then there was By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters. What a powerful book. I have to admit that I had a hard time reading it...not because it wasn't good (it was incredible!), but because it just ripped me apart. Julie Anne Peters has a way of telling stories that really effing matter. And she tells them with such brutal honesty. Bullying plays a big part in this book, and let me tell you, she made it real. This is not some play-on-your-emotions kind of book. It's just from-the-gut honest.
Next up was Priceless: The Vanishing Beauty of a Fragile Planet written by Bradley Trevor Greive. I'm not sure quite how to describe this book--at it's core it's really a book of some of the most amazing wildlife photography I've ever seen. All images by Misuaki Iwago. But weaved through the images is almost a plea, a plea to wake up and see what it is we're destroying. It's not only beautiful to look at, it's beautiful to read. His message isn't didactic, he doesn't try to beat the reader upside the head. Yes, it's in ways very sad, but his ultimate message is one of hope, not despair.
And last, but oh-so-not-least, was Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman. I wish I could do this book justice. Oh, how I wish that. It's not that I'm surprised that it was wonderful--after reading Ana's review, I knew it would be. And yet, I was still caught off guard by just how truly special this book was. I couldn't help but be reminded of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness--yes, there's some similarity in subject matter, but it goes beyond that. And if you know me at all, you know how enormous a compliment that is! I couldn't really put it into words when I emailed Ana, but she knew just what I meant. And I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her, but she always finds a way to put my mish-mashed thoughts into coherent sentences--
"I can totally see why it made you think of A Monster Calls, btw... yes, in many ways they're very different, but they do share the same kind of absolute emotional honestly. I wish more writers treated children with such respect."
Me too.
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