still with nothing of importance

tidbits of a very random nature...

2012-03-08T08:28:00.000-05:00

...because flighty little me can't seem to focus long enough on any one subject long enough to write a full post. :P

*Happy International Women's Day!!! I'm sure there are going to be loads of wonderful posts out there to read today, and that makes me oh-so-happy. (Will be so nice to counter all the ugliness being displayed at women in our own "enlightened" [yeah just typing that word makes me gag a bit] country these days!) Anyway, when I opened up my reader this morning, just to see how many posts there were, this incredibly beautiful post greeted me.

*The weather yesterday. Holy guacamole! Talk about glorious! We've had a ridiculously mild winter for these parts, but still, to have a day in the 60s...wow! I mean, come on, the previous morning it had been 12 degrees when I took Max off to school. Anyway, it's supposed to be another very warm day today, though windy and rainy. And tomorrow, back to snow showers. But that's okay. It's the uniqueness of yesterday (and likely today) that makes them such a very special treat!

*There is nothing like telling myself I cannot do something to ensure that I do it. (Wish that meant that I could tell myself that "under no circumstances are you allowed to lose weight," but unfortunately, I have to actually mean what I'm saying for this phenomena to actually work. :P ) Latest example:

This is the "one, and only one!!!!" book I was allowed to check out from the library. :P Oh well, we may now be slightly more crowded, but I've got a lot of really good-sounding books to dive into. I've read a bit of The Complete Guide to Making Cheese, Butter, and Yogurt at Home book--and it is so good that I'm definitely going to be buying myself a copy! I've also read the first couple chapters of Aristotle and Dante, and have a feeling I'm going to enjoy it immensely.

*Just a few shots from our trip to The Rochester Museum and Science Center on Saturday. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in the Extreme Mammals special exhibit. Rich wanted to check it out to see if it was worth taking his Vertebrate Zoology class to. And yes, they will be going next week. It was an awesome exhibit.

And since it is now time to take Maxidoodle to school, I shall be off and give you a break from my babbling...

elaborating, #1...

2012-03-06T07:49:00.001-05:00

You all know the lovely Care, right? There's just something so very very special about that woman, I tell you. She's one of those people I long to be more like. In so many ways. Her positive outlook, her sense of humor, her kind heart, her generous and thoughtful ways. She's just a beautiful person, you know.

Anyway, yesterday she sent me an email with these words of wisdom:

Remember, the keys to happiness are
1) Someone to love,
2) Something to do,
3) Something to look forward to

Something about these words really spoke to me. It's seems so simple and yet somehow so profound. And I've sort of decided that whenever I'm feeling a bit on the blue side (today's version brought on by: lack of sleep, worrying about Annie who's having a tough time with her OCD and anxiety the last few months and it's showing in her grades, worrying about Gray who has been having some pretty major meltdowns as of late, and the stress of this house limbo), I'm going to pull out those words and elaborate. 'Cause you know, if my "keys" were translated into the tangible little metal things, my key ring would be far too heavy for me to even carry.

Key 1--Someone to love: See first paragraph.

Key 2--Something to do: I've been working on making Annie this jacket for her birthday. It's a bit more challenging than most of the crochet projects I do (as in, I actually have to pay attention much of the time, instead of just zoning out while I crochet :P ), but I'm really enjoying it. I so hope Annie will love it! I'm guessing I only have a couple of hours of work left on it now.

I just couldn't for the life of me get any decent pictures, but you get the idea, right?

Key 3--Something to look forward to: Okay, this may sound silly, but I'm going to say breakfast. Seriously, breakfast is one of the major perks of staying here. It's always so yummy, and such an indulgence to have a hot breakfast every day. Well, sometimes I just have a bagel and juice, but I *could* have a hot breakfast every day if I wanted! :D

And you know what, I really do feel better. Thank you again, Care. You are such a bright, warm ray of sunshine!!!

can I cry now...

2012-03-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, I realize crying may be a bit of an overreaction. I'm just so frustrated. And my frustration is aggravated by my severe lack of sleep. Anyway, the frustration that sent me to the verge of tears is my email. Or lack thereof. *sigh*

We got our internet service through our phone company. Yep, we still had a landline (I don't even own a cell phone). And my email account was through them. When we called to have our phone/internet service terminated because we were moving out of the house, they assured me they would keep my email account intact through the period we were "homeless" since we would be using them again when we got to a new house. But well, that seems to have been a lie. Or more likely a mistake, I suppose. My email account is gone. My email account that I've had for nearly a decade. The email account through which I did everything.

I'm hoping that I can get it restored, but in the meantime, let me apologize profusely if you emailed me recently. :( I do have a gmail account that I opened for a very specific purpose a couple years ago, but only used it for about a month for that project. Hadn't checked it since then and when I went to it this morning, I found a bazillion blog comment notifications in the inbox. *sigh* Hopefully I can figure out a way to delete en masse...I started doing it one by one, but realized that's going to take hours. Anyway, should you need to email me, for the time being, at least, please use:

aldobakerlucky (at) gmail (dot) com

Thanks, and let me apologize again if it appears I'm ignoring an email from you. I promise you, I'm not!!!

Also on the frustration front is the house we're buying. Hopefully buying. The septic system inspection was done. There was a supposedly minor problem, which the homeowners were going to take care of, and then the county was going to come in and inspect it. Well, apparently when the county inspected it, they found major problems. From what we heard from our real estate agent, the home owners decided to just have the septic system replaced without even trying to renegotiate our deal. So that is totally awesome news. But we're afraid it very well may set back closing and leave us paying for our very expensive hotel room for even longer. :( And you know, I'm really not sure what it is that all these septic systems have against us. :P

Okay, enough complaining. Seriously. Life is good.

mini thoughts on the month's reads...February 2012...

2012-03-01T14:39:00.002-05:00

Yeah, holy crap, I actually finished some books. :P

Hiroshima by John Hersey.

Wow. I never should have waited so long to read this book. It is just so powerful. (Understatement.) The horrible pictures that have been part of imaginings, that have haunted my mind every time the events of August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 are mentioned have turned out to be mild imitations of reality. And the thing is, I know that even reading these true accounts, accounts of what these six survivors lived through and witnessed, I still have only the most miniscule sense of the sheer horror of what it was like. I know it's quite a cliched sentiment, but this truly is one of those books that I think everyone should read.

Epic by Conor Kostick.

This book has been on my radar for years now--ever since Becky's review. I chose it to read with Gray for our unit on science fiction, figuring it would be a book he would thoroughly enjoy. And I was correct. What I didn't expect was just how much I would enjoy it as well. The dystopian setting is New Earth. But it also Epic. Epic is video game which all the inhabitants of New Earth must play. It's hard to put into words, but it's almost as if the people have two lives...and these lives are interconnected in nearly every way imaginable. It's a story of friendship, of family, of politics, of greed, of imagination, and so much more...

The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne.

One day shortly after Christmas, we headed off to B&N because everyone had gift cards burning holes in their pockets. But I was really not feeling well, so I just headed to the used book section, picked up the first book that sounded halfway interesting, and went to the cafe and sat down to read. I got through the first couple chapters before everyone else had satisfied their consumeristic urges...and by that point I was hooked enough that I had to bring it home with me. The Last Bridge is not my usual sort of read. But you know, I always feel a little weird saying that, because I don't know what "my usual sort of read" is. I am pathetically dense when it comes to genre. I tend to find far more similarities between all manner of fiction than I find differences. I mean I do get the idea of genre...but then again, I don't. :P Anyway, this book is the story of one very dysfunctional family. Alex/Cat arrives after ten years away to deal with details that need attending to after her mother's suicide. Her mother has left her a note reading, "He's not who you think he is." And while you're drawn into the mystery of what this means, the answers are never straight-forward. You know, the way life is never straight-forward...

RASL by Jeff Smith.

I hadn't heard of this until Heather's intriguing review. I immediately headed to our library website and put this baby on hold. But now having read it, what do I say about it? Well, it's completely different than Bone, for one thing. I had a bit of trouble figuring out what was going on at first. (Well, truthfully I'm not sure I totally have it figured out yet. :P ) But I am definitely more than ready to read the next volume to find out more! There's parallel universes, art thievery, and a lizard man--I mean what else can you ask for, right? ;)

Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Promise: Part One by Gene Luen Yang.

When Ana first told me this book was being written, I have to admit that I was equal parts excited and scared. The excited part--yeah, a no-brainer...MORE AVATAR!!! The scared part--well, could it really ever live up to the show? (I think I was nervous about this in part because I was a bit disappointed in the comic follow-up of Jericho.) But I am so very grateful to say that I needed have worried in this case. I should have known better, frankly, with Gene Luen Yang as the author. It was perfection...seriously. Everything about it was pure Avatar. The exquisite blend of humor with truly meaningful issues--still there. It's hard to talk about the actual story without giving away what happens in the series, but let me tell you, I could not have loved more the direction the story took! Which is to say it's not an "okay, everything is all of a sudden peachy keen and easy now" route. But I must admit, knowing now what is meant by the title "The Promise," my heart aches. Not that I believe this promise will really ever have to be kept, but the road is already a bumpy one. God, I love these characters... I'm not sure I can wait until June for the next volume.

On a side note, this book, along with Ana's enthusiasm and Ana and Jodie's incredible discussion, made it impossible for me *not* to start rewatching the series. Yesterday, Max (my awesome helper) and I spent our day alternating between packing boxes and watching episodes. We got through the first ten episodes of season 1, and hopefully today we'll finish up the first season.

Cut Loose: Break the Rules of Scrapbooking by Crystal Jeffrey Rieger.

While packing up my scrap area, I came across a small pile of scrapbooking books I'd never got around to reading. I decided to make it my mission to try to get them read this month so I could decide if I wanted to move them or if I should just pass them along. This was the first of the books. Verdict? I'm passing it along. Not because I don't think it's a good book or anything. Just that I've been scrapbooking long enough that this didn't really contain much that's new to me. And of course, that's also in part due to the fact that it took me three years to get around to reading it. :P It did have some great layouts. And I'm sure someone new-ish to scrapbooking would still greatly enjoy this one.

Mission Planet Earth: Our World and Its Climate--And How Humans are Changing Them by Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy.

Decided to give this a read to see if it would be a good book to assign Gray during our Envi Sci unit. And it definitely is! I really thought this book was excellent. Clear, accessible information about climate and all the myriad of factors that determine it. Clear, accessible information about all the myriad of things we humans are doing to affect it. Clear, accessible information about all the myriad of effects these changes are causing. And by clear and accessible I in no way mean that the authors are talking down to kids. Pretty sure Gray won't be whining over this particular school assignment.

Sweet Tooth 4: Endangered Species by Jeff Lemire.

Oh crap. That whole how-the-hell-do-you-talk-about-the-nth-book-in-a-series thing rears its ugly head. Yeah, so I'll just say that I'm still really enjoying this series and can't wait for the next one to come out.

Find Your Groove: A Guide to Discovering Your Scrapbook Style by Kitty Foster & Wendy McKeehan.

Second book from that scrapbooking pile. And second one I'll be passing along. Again, not because I didn't enjoy it. I did--it was a fun read. And had a huge variety of layout styles--some I loved, some not so much. But that was really the angle this book was playing up--helping one find their own style. If I was new to scrapbooking, I probably would have loved this book and held on to it for reference.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

I've really no idea how to describe this book, as it's just so incredibly unique. A surreal look at an immigrant's story. Fantastical. Beautiful. Disorienting. Frightening. Gorgeous. So very gorgeous. Heartwarming. Courageous. Visually stunning. There were times when I find myself absolutely lost in the exquisite artwork. I can see myself reading this a hundred more times...and finding new things to appreciate with every reading.

Scrap Simple by Hillary Heidelberg.

Third scrap book, and one of those instances of "third time's the charm." This one is definitely a keeper. And while I enjoyed reading it, it's really the layouts that are making me hold on to this one. While I love seeing layouts of all sorts, love admiring the talent of all sorts of life artists, it's the simple, often graphic, style that really steals my heart. And its really the style that I tend to embrace myself (though the results are nowhere near as gorgeous as the layouts in this book).

(Project progress: 2012 unofficial-for-me reading challenges, Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Reading Challenge [Hiroshima], Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic Challenge [Epic], Graphic Novels 2012 Reading Challenge [RASL, Avatar The Last Airbender The Promise Part I, Sweet Tooth 4 Endangered Species, and The Arrival], Immigrant Stories Challenge [The Arrival]
AND personal challenge to read the world, non-fiction setting for Japan [Hiroshima]
AND personal read Dewey Decimal style, 900s [Hiroshima]
AND 50x50, #37--Read 50 books I never heard of before buying/borrowing from library [The Last Bridge], #40--Read a book set in each of the 50 states-Ohio [The Last Bridge], #41--Read 50 non-fiction books, each about a different country-Japan [Hiroshima])

home, suite home...

2012-02-29T11:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, that was just pathetic. It's been a hellaciously hectic and stressful couple of weeks, so hopefully you can forgive my mushy brain.

So...what's been going on...

*We walked out of our house last evening for the last time. Closing is just a few hours from now. It's a happy, happy thing. But you know, it's also kind of weird and unsettling. Pretty sure I'll get used to it though. :D

*We moved into our hotel last night. It took hours to set up "house," but it was so worth it this morning to get up and not have suitcases and boxes of school books and bags and coolers of food sitting all over the place.

*We upgraded our digs. Gray called his friend the other day to tell him where he was going to be. Here's what he said:

Dad got us a room with twin beds and Mom got mad and now we're staying in a 5-star hotel.

I cracked up so hard when I overheard that. :P While not a precise account of what happened, there's definitely a strand of truth running through it. We are not staying in a 5-star hotel, but Rich did manage to find us a bigger place to stay for the next month. Yep, definitely more expensive but I think for sanity's sake alone it will be well worth it.

Yes, we brought our own bookcase to the hotel--figured it was well worth the funny looks we got carrying through the lobby to not have all these books, etc. scattered all over the floor.

*Oh my, how we all miss our furry friends. :( We took Bacon and Lucky and Aldo to my parents on Saturday. And I can't even count how many times one of the kids has pulled up iPhoto on the computer just to look at pictures of them in the few days since then.

*I checked google reader this morning, all determined to finally catch up. Ummmm...what the hell was I thinking?!! Over a thousand unread posts. Yeah, not happening. Mark as read--start afresh--do better job from now on. Thus is my sincerest wish anyway. 'Cause dammit--I miss you all!!!! And now I have a favor to ask you since there's no hope of me ever catching up on the past month's blog posts...tell me posts I have to go read--what awesome things have happened and what horrible things have happened (I sooooooo hope no one has anything to say for that one!) and what books I need to add to my wish list and well, anything else I really ought to know.

*Hope everyone is having a truly fun and fabulous Leap Day!!!!

9 things that have me smiling...

2012-02-13T07:53:00.001-05:00

(I didn't pick "9" because I couldn't think of ten things, but just because "9" is my favorite number.)

Life if absolutely freakin' crazy here these days. I have questioned my sanity often during these past couple of weeks. The term "overwhelmed" has seemed inadequate. My physical health has suffered as well---I pretty much knew my future would eventually involve high blood pressure meds but the past few weeks seem to have accelerated their arrival. Add to that a not so pleasant reminder that fibro is now a part of my life.

The "story" (in abbreviated form): Selling our house has thus far been smooth sailing. *knocks on wood* But buying a house has not. The deal we had going fell through because it was discovered that the seller was trying to pull a fast one when it came to the septic system on the house. As traumatic as this has all been to have this fall through with so little time left before the closing on our house, the alternative of not discovering it before the purchase went through would have been far worse. But the result of what has happened sees us technically homeless come the end of this month. As in we won't really have an address, but unlike so many, we will have a roof over our heads. In the form of a hotel room. Yep, all our "stuff" will be in storage units and the five human members of this family will be sharing a single hotel room for at least a month. Please keep your fingers crossed that we all survive. :P I hate to say anything for fear of jinxing it, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel--we're in the beginning stages of (hopefully!) buying a different house.

For now, there is still much packing and moving of our possessions to be done, still many odds 'n' ends (such as writing the superintendent a letter requesting that Max be allowed to stay in his school for now, renting a P.O box, etc.) to be taken care of, still homeschooling to be kept up with...so I likely won't be around much for the rest of this month. But hey, March should allow me plenty of time to finally catch up with everyone, right?

In the meantime, a reminder to myself that life really is good:

1. The aforementioned fact that we did find out about non-existent septic system *before* the purchase went through. It hasn't been fun, but the alternative would have been so. much. worse.

2. I've come up with a way to try to make our hotel stay less daunting. I've decided to create a scrapbook to document our time there entitled "Adventures in Togetherness." (Of course, I will only be taking the notes for it while there as there obviously isn't room to bring my scrapbook supplies with us.)

3. Winter has finally decided to put in another brief appearance. Oh, how I've missed you, dear winter!

4. Due in large part to Ana's contagious enthusiasm, I decided to rewatch all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yesterday, my awesome helper Max and I alternated packing boxes with watching episodes. We got through the first 10 episodes of season one, and hopefully we'll get to at least a couple more episodes today.

5. Our annual "Happy Birthday, Darwin!" cupcakes. (Not to mention that goofball I'm married to. :D )

*****
Ooops...got sidetracked yesterday. But here's the rest of the list:

6. This mug. Seriously, it is just so freakin' pretty. It was a Christmas gift from my dear friend Chris, and it makes me smile every single morning when I pour my coffee. Every single morning.

7. And while I'm on the bird theme, there's this picture. Every time I open my computer, I see this little thumbnail on the desktop. There's really no reason it should be there, other than I've been too lazy to clean up the desktop of no-longer-needed images. But perhaps it will stay even when the other unnecessaries get cleaned up, because well, it just makes me smile! (They were a gift I made for one of my dearest friends, and I think I just may have to make myself a matching set.)

8. I know I've said this before, and I'll probably say it a thousand times more before I die, but I really do have the best friends in the world. The. Very. Best. I don't deserve them, but I am ever so grateful for each and every one.

9. Despite all the stress and the complete meltdowns our decision to move has caused, is currently causing, and likely will continue to cause over at least the next month or so, I still believe it was the right decision. I am so happy to be leaving this neighborhood.

And now, because I'd love even more reasons to smile, would you share with me what's making you smile today? Pretty please with sugar on top.

a little break...

2012-02-06T07:39:00.000-05:00

Seems those little gods of mischief have me in their sights these days. As if it weren't bad enough that they seem to be desperately trying to leave us without a home to live in come the end of the month (trust me, you little fiends, that is more than enough stress---you really could have left it there and counted your mission a success!)...but they decided to throw in a little more fun and give me what I assume is the flu. I was sitting there finishing up an overdue email to my dear friend Chris Saturday afternoon, when BAM! I'm floored with an powerful headache and literally shaking with chills. Over the next hour my temp climbed to almost 102. Needless to say, productivity plummeted and I lost one of the last remaining weekends I had to work on packing up this house.

Anyway, I'm not telling you this to complain. After all, this is life is life is life, right? But I did want to let you know I'm taking a blogging break for a time. It's already been days since I've kept up with blog reading, and while I know it's silly to feel guilty about that, I do. I hope that life soon settles down and I can catch up with all the doings in your worlds again. Until then, take care and have the best February you could ever imagine!!!!!

(And btw, I do promise to respond to all the other overdue emails I have to send as soon as this sickness takes its leave. Like to thank Pat for a very lovely, very unexpected surprise. You're too sweet, dear lady!)

on a less grouchy note...

2012-01-31T08:17:00.000-05:00

The good stuff:

*Several inches of the fluffy white cover the ground for one of the few times in this very, very bizarre winter.

*Ana's truly gorgeous post on Mrs Whatsit from A Wrinkle of Time. Just gave me that totally warm and cozy feeling.

*These two:

*And these two:

Lucky feels the need to groom everyone these days. (Though Max is definitely his favorite.) Baker isn't thrilled, but is always a good sport and puts up with it. :)

*A whole day ahead with nothing on the schedule but homeschooling planning/prep. Will hopefully at least be ready to start the next quarter tomorrow, even if I don't get as far ahead as I'd like.

*Am reading so many varied, and satisfying on one level or another, books at the moment (Hiroshima, Epic, and Cane Toads and Other Rogue Species to name a few).

*Dean's Beans coffee is just such a good (and necessary) way to start the day.

*Having kept up (so far!) with my goal of reading an essay, a poem, and a short story every week this year. (Even if I did forget to post about it last week.)

*My warm and comfy fleece polar bear pj pants.

*Getting even more excited about putting in new gardens when we move, thanks to posts like Chris's. Heck, he's always getting me exciting about gardening. His enthusiasm makes me smile hugely. :D

*Starting this for Annie's birthday. Hopefully will even finish it in time. (If not, there's always next year, right? :P )

*Jean's promise to come visit this summer. :D

*Phineas and Ferb. What can I say, it never fails to make me laugh.

*My bread machine. Think I need to whip up a loaf of Italian Herb Bread for supper. Mmmmm...

*It's the last day of January. This means that barring tragic and unforeseen events, we've only got one month left until we move. :D

...Okay, tis almost time to take the littlest munchkin to the bus stop, and then I will need to buckle down and dive back into the homeschool groove (Gray is taking full advantage of his 4-day weekend and likely won't wake until noon, and Annie is off at MCC taking classes today)...but it was nice remembering that the good things in my life really do outnumber the bad...

just whining...please ignore me...

2012-01-30T18:13:00.002-05:00

Homeschool planning and prep is sucking the frickin' life out of me...Fibro is kicking my ass, and my thighs, and my neck, and my shoulders, and my back, and my upper arms, and...Our plumbing estimate (though we don't even have an exact number yet) has sent me into shock...

Okay. Good to get that out of my system. Hope to return tomorrow in a less grouchy state of mind...

tidbits...

2012-01-23T19:19:00.001-05:00

*Was supposed to have a doctor's appointment today. Car would not start. Battery stone cold dead. Felt horrible calling to reschedule at the last minute like that, but they were very understanding. Even told me I didn't have to pay the fee for late cancellation.

*Spring semester started for Rich and Annie. (Well, not for Annie's at-home classes--we start our third quarter on Feb. 1st.) At the community college, Annie's taking a health course called Emotional Wellness, Precalculus Mathematics with Analytic Geometry, and Literature of the Holocaust. Bet you can guess which class she's most looking forward to, huh? (At home, we'll be continuing with Biology, doing a half-year of Phys Ed, and starting a class on U.S. History Since 1945, which we'll be continuing with next fall.)

*Meeting with a plumbing contractor at the house we're buying on Friday. Am ridiculously scared to find out what kind of estimate we're going to get for all the work that needs done. But I sort of figure knowing the size of this price tag is a better kind of stress than not knowing.

*Have so many ideas for projects for our soon-to-be new-to-us home. Am going to concentrate on one room at a time. First up will be the dining area...well, not counting the bathroom which needs help beyond our piddly DIY skills. Starting with the dining area, partly because it's pretty much the first thing you see once you walk in the house from the sunroom, and partly because I just have it pictured so well in my imagination. I couldn't resist getting started. I had an image in my head of placemats I wanted to make...but I couldn't find a pattern anywhere that was quite like what I wanted. So I decided to just come up with my own pattern.

And I must say, I'm thrilled with how they're coming out. It took some playing around to get the pattern of stitches correct so they would lay flat, but it wasn't too difficult overall. Each one is going to be done in the same colors, but the order of the colors is going to be different for each one. Figured why not--our chairs are all mismatched and so are our dishes. :P (I also plan on making coordinating coasters.)

I'm thinking about making DIY posts for some of the projects we do. Which I realize likely won't interest anyone, but I'd kind of like to have a chronicle for myself of bringing our dream house to life.

*Just want to wish dear Heather a very happy birthday one more time before the day's is out. Happy Birthday!!!

You know, January has produced some amazingly awesome people...in addition to Heather, there's Ana and Renay and Jason...yep, I think I just gained a much greater respect for January as a month after this realization. :)

end of week hodge-podgey wrap-up #2

2012-01-22T08:11:00.001-05:00

Project Life:

Week Two complete! :D

*****
New-to-me words:

*sigil-a sign or image supposedly having magic powers (from Epic by Conor Kostick

*allogrooming-another term for social grooming among animals (from Guide to the Planet by Matthew Murrie and Steve Murrie)

*****
Music from Ana:

This past week's song from Ana's list from my happiness project was Edward is Dedward by Emmy the Great. My thoughts jotted down throughout the week:

*Already knew I loved her voice. Just more confirmation.

*This is one of those love-at-first-listen songs. And one which I suspect will only become more loved with more listenings.

*Okay. This song is breaking my heart. It's beautiful. Just feels so fucking real. So real. So sad. So beautiful.

*I think the lack of "sentimental" makes it more loving than anything else could ever be. (That probably makes no sense outside of my head.)

*Does it sound weird to say that I think this is one of the most beautifully written songs ever?

*I know this sort of thing changes an a weekly/daily/hourly basis, but right now, Edward is Dedward is my favorite song.

*Another day, and it's again my favorite song.

*Note: I wasn't able to find this song to download, but instead repeatedly listened to it through this youtube video:

(Project progress: Happiness project, Ana's list of songs, Item 2-Edward is Dedward by Emmy the Great)

*****
This week's mini reads:

Essay-
"Rendezvous 8: Lemurs, Bushbabies and Their Kin" and "The Aye-Aye's Tale" from The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. I enjoyed this one profusely. And not just because he quoted from Last Chance to See, one of my favorite books ever. :P (And I must thank you again, dear Ana for introducing me to it!) Anyway, this is where we meet Concestor 8, the grand ancestor of all primates. Mostly what we get a look at is the uniqueness of Madagascar. As Dawkins puts it "The Aye-Aye's Tale is about Madagascar, textbook showcase of biogeographical natural experiments...."

Short story-
"The Protectionist" by Meg Cabot. Again, from What You Wish For. And again, a first-time-for-me author. Okay, I have to say that I ended up really liking this one. And it was one of those times when I didn't realize it until the end. I mean, I was enjoying it as I read, but it wasn't until I'd shut the book that it hit me how much I enjoyed this story. That seldom happens, but when it does it's just the neatest little gift. Does this ever happen to anyone else?
I don't want to say too much about the story in case anyone goes on to read these book, but suffice it to say that the main character is...well, quirky. His heroes are an early 20th century economist and a BMX extreme athlete. And he's a bully target. But it turns out he's not immune from making surface judgments of his own...

Poem-
"The Herbalist's Nightshade Song" by Katrina Vandenberg (from Atlas). It took a few readings for this one to grow on me...but grow on me it did. In fact, it's one of my favorites from the collection, and believe me, that's saying something...

(Project progress: Misc. Projects--Read one short story a week, Read one essay a week, and Read one poem a week)

lookie what I got...

2012-01-19T17:34:00.000-05:00

A Moving Fairy!!! Is she not the cutest stinkin' thing ever?!!! (And truthfully, she's even more adorable in person--my camera seems to have washed out her colors a bit.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you Care! She is going to be our little good-luck-smooth-sailing-all-the-way-put-a-smile-on-my-face Moving Fairy!!!

Okay, me and my fairy are off to pack a few more boxes...

The Fault in Our Stars...totally random thoughts...

2012-01-17T19:20:00.015-05:00

*I realize even voicing this thought could bring threats of bodily harm, but I have to admit I was getting a bit sick of all the hype over pre-ordering and signed copies and blah, blah, blah. But thankfully, the minute I cracked open my pre-ordered, signed in purple, copy of the book and started reading, I viscerally remembered how much I love the mind of John Green.

*John Green chooses the. best. names. for his characters. Hazel Grace. Sheesh, I want to have another child just so I can name her Hazel Grace! Or Augustus. But especially Hazel Grace.

*Why does Hazel have to take classes at MCC?!! I know how stupid this sounds, but every time "MCC" is mentioned, I get pulled out of the story because that's the name of the school where Rich teaches/Annie takes classes.

*A bit that made me cringe a little:

...It was kind of a boy movie. I don't know why boys expect us to like boy movies. We don't expect them to like girl movies.... (p. 35)

*One of many, many, many brilliant bits:

...I guess I had been looking toward the Encouragement above the TV, a drawing of an angel with the caption Without Pain, How Could We Know Joy?

(This is an old argument in the field of Thinking About Suffering, and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries, but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate. (p. 35)

*Page 90: First tears shed. Sweet tears.

*Page 98: Shed first throat-on-fire-from-trying-not-to-cry tears.

*My guess is that nearly everyone's life has been in one way, shape, or form been touched by cancer. In many ways, shapes, and forms. I have never personally had cancer. I can't pretend to know what it is like. And of course, there is no universal this-is-what-it's-like-to-have-cancer. Yet while acknowledging all of that, I can't help but believe that John Green somehow managed to get it right. I don't know for a fact, but I'm guessing there are at least bits and pieces that many teens with cancer can relate to in Hazel's and Augustus's and Isaac's stories. I wish I could ask my cousin Dee, but I can't because she died of leukemia when we were teens. I can't count how many times this book has made me think, "Was this how you felt, Dee?"

*I really like Hazel's parents.

*Page 245: First all out sobbing.

*So I just finished reading. As in just. As in I'm typing through tears. Tears that hurt. But also tears that love. Tears that hope. Tears that feel gratitude for...well, for many things. I don't know what to say about this book that could ever convey what a beautiful treasure it is. This seems profoundly absurd to me, but if I had to choose my three favorite books of fiction that I've read in the last twelve months, they would very likely be A Monster Calls, Two Weeks With the Queen, and The Fault in Our Stars. Why does this seem absurd? Because each of these books deals with cancer. But see, that's not it. That's not what makes them so profound. They're aren't wonderful simply because they rip your heart out and leave you sobbing. No, not one of them uses cancer as an easy way to loosen the tear ducts of its readers. No, what got to me, what won my heart over, was the truths that each of these books told in their own special way. Not truths about cancer. But truths about love. About people loving people in so many different ways. About the truths that seem too hard to admit but make us human. About the truths of loneliness. And the truths of being understood.

*I love this book.

(Project progress: 50x50, Item 8 from #40-Read a book set in each of the 50 states [this one was Indiana]
AND 2012 unofficial-for-me reading challenges, What's in a Name 5, category 2-a book with something you'd see in the sky in its title)

you'd think I'd learn...

2012-01-17T06:37:00.000-05:00

Not to assume, that is. How many freakin' times do I have to have my assumptions proved wrong before I quit making them in the first place?!!

This time around--I assumed I wouldn't like a particular movie. The Village. I remember when it first came out, and I wanted nothing to do with it. Well, Chris "assigned" me this movie for my happiness project. He was even so kind as to send me the movie! On top of all that, Annie had been dying to watch it. So on Friday night when Rich hauled the boys off to go ice skating, I decided the time had come. Annie and I had a mini girls' night. We popped it in...and much to my surprise, I was immediately taken with it. Slightly confused at first, but very intrigued. And wow. I totally ended up loving this movie!

Far-fetched? Maybe so, but I loved it anyway. :)

The only downside: Every time I see M. Night Shyamalan's name, I am reminded of the whitewashing of The Last Airbender. This still greatly saddens me. :(

Anyway, thank you so much, Chris!!! I really did know deep down that you wouldn't steer me wrong! :D God, I love this happiness project. :D

(Project progress: Happiness project, Chris's list of movies/TV shows, Item 32-The Village)

tidbits...

2012-01-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

*This past week+ has sucked me dry. It has been stressful x 10,000. It has been aggravating, frustrating, infuriating. And it has also been ridiculously exciting. But last evening, we seem to have reached the practical end of this leg of the moving journey. There are still a few i's to dot and t's to cross, but essentially it appears that we shall be selling this house and buying another on February 29th.

*I have not yet learned to give fibromyalgia its due respect. I don't blame myself for having this condition, but I must take the blame for not managing it very well. I hurt. I hurt. I hurt. And I'm tired of not having my brain in functioning order.

*I finally finished a project I've been working on...and I want so much to share a picture but I must wait until the intended recipient gets it. So hope it makes you smile as much as it makes me smile, intended recipient!

*The Fault in Our Stars is surpassing all expectations. I shall probably finish it today, which makes me both happy and very very sad.

*Nervous as hell to see what the engineer's inspection report will reveal. I suspect it will be novel-sized. :P Yeah, we know the house we're buying has problems! Despite this, we're so freakin' excited about it. The house definitely has character--and yes, you can take that in both the positive and the negative connotations. Besides actual problems, there is much, much, much redecorating to be done...but that's the part I love, making it our own. I know it will be an exceedingly slow process, but that's okay. (Ana, I can't help but think of you whenever I picture the currently existing purple dining room...and for this reason, I will be sad to change it.)

*After a wonderful long weekend of frigid temperatures and snow, we're headed back to unseasonably warm temperatures in the low 40s for a few days. I so hope it doesn't melt all the snow. Has this been the freakiest winter or what?!!

end of week hodge-podgey wrap-up #1

2012-01-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

Project Life:

Week one of our 2012 Project Life. I am determined to follow through for the entire year this go round. Determined. And I've accepted that that means most weeks will look much like this. As in very plain, very simple, little or no eye candy. That's okay. Sure, I wish I had time to beautify and play, but that's not in the cards right now.

*****
New-to-me words:

*vorpal-deadly (from Epic by Conor Kostick)

*polymorphism-the simultaneous existence, in a population, of two or more alternative versions of a gene, where neither is rare enough to be just a recent mutant (from The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins)

*augury-an omen or portent (from Epic by Conor Kostick)

*****
Music from Ana:

I love, positively love, every single one of the lists I asked my friends to make me for my happiness project. But the list of songs from Ana is just so incredibly special to me. I can't really even put into words why. For one thing, you'd all think me utterly sappy and sentimental if I tried to explain.

Anyway, I am utterly unqualified to talk about music. I don't even have the vocabulary for it. So when I talk about the song I spent the week experiencing, it will not be in any polished or knowledgeable way. It will simply be the random notes I jotted down during the week. Interesting to no one but myself, I'm sure. And maybe Ana.

So...this week's song was "Vesuvius" by Sufjan Stevens.

*Whoa. This is so different from what I was expecting. Not different as in "bad." But different. I'm not quite sure if I like this or not. Am eager to spend more time with it finding out.

*Decided to pull up the lyrics and read along while I listened this time. Glad I did. After reading through with this song once, I'm no longer catching myself just trying to understand a word here or there. I hate being jarred out of a song's flow when I do that.

*Love that I now know how to pronounce his name! (The living in a cave thing rears its ugly head yet again.)

*This song is definitely growing on me. More and more with every listening.

*I can't believe I've gone from not even knowing if I liked this song to totally loving it. Makes me wonder how many songs I've written off without even giving them a fair shot.

(Project progress: Happiness Project, Ana's list of songs, Item 1-Vesuvius by Sufjan Stevens)

*****
This week's mini reads:

Short story-
"Pearl's Fateful Wish" by Jeanne DuPrau. As with last week's story, this one came from What You Wish For: Stories and Poems for Darfur. And like last week's story, I'm just sort of meh about it. It's not that I dislike it by any means...but it definitely didn't wow me in any way, shape, or form. I'm wondering if part of my problem so far with this book is a matter of my own faulty expectations. This book was displayed in the teen section of the bookstore, and yet these first two stories read much more like stories aimed at younger kids. Don't get me wrong, I love middle grade fiction! But I think in this case I was just caught off guard because I was mistakenly expecting something else. I've still got high hopes for the rest of the collection though--both because of adjusting my outlook and because there are some pretty amazing authors still to come.

Poem-
"Wishes" by Jane Yolen. Also from What You Wish For. It wasn't my plan to read this this week, but when I saw that the next selection in the book was a poem instead of a short story, I just couldn't stop myself. And I'm glad I didn't. I've actually read "Wishes" a number of times now...I love it. I really really love it. I'd hoped to be able to find it online so I could share it here, but I didn't have any luck. :(

Essay-
"Rendezvous 7: Tarsiers" from The Ancestor's Tale. This one was much shorter than last week's, and for me, much easier to read. We meet up with Concestor 7, and we learn about the tarsiers and their very large eyes.

(Project progress: Misc. Projects--Read one short story a week, Read one essay a week, and Read one poem a week)

a bit of babble...

2012-01-11T13:15:00.001-05:00

I was so proud of myself for the first handful of days there at the start of January...I felt like I finally had my act together when it came to blogging--I was keeping up, for the most part anyway, with blog reading and commenting and was even doing okay posting myself. What's that saying--pride cometh before the fall? Yep, that seems to be me. :P

The last several days have been a roller-coaster of emotions. Stress bursting through the eyeballs. But then what did I realistically expect from the whole process of selling/buying/moving etc. I thought I was prepared...but I wasn't. The twists and turns and ups and downs of the last five days have just about done me in. (That's only a slight exaggeration.) And where do we stand now? Well, we've accepted an offer on our house (after many backs and forths). The engineer's inspection is tomorrow, and if nothing from that report makes the buyer change her mind, we'll be closing on or before Feb. 29th. I keep telling myself that this is a good thing. It *is* a good thing. It's what I've been eagerly wishing to have happen for so long now. But. We have nowhere to go. Nowhere. We decided that the property we were madly in love with was just too much of a risk. For a lot of reasons. We just didn't think we could realistically deal with all the stress that place would bring on any number of fronts. We're viewing another property later this afternoon. We have high hopes...but we also know that high hopes can lead to big disappointments. In the meantime, we keeping our eyes pealed for some really big cardboard boxes--though I doubtful that they come large enough to house a family of five along with the menagerie.

Anyway. Being my "year of just because," I'm trying not worry about the blogging thing. But that doesn't mean I don't miss it...

mini readings...random thoughts

2012-01-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

The first week of this new year is nearly gone already. Time--will you please slow the f*ck down already?!! Sheesh.

One of my hopes for the new year is to read at least one short story, one essay, and one poem each week. I don't want to call these goals, because that might lead to this being a stressful "oh crap, I failed at yet something else" kind of thing. And that is so not what I want.

I'm doing this (or hoping to, anyway) both because I truly enjoy this kind of reading and don't do nearly enough of it and because I have so many books of short stories, essays, and poetry started and it would feel good to actually finish some of them.

With the first week about to come to end, I'm happy to say that I'm having a successful run so far. (I know, big deal--it's just one week. But I'll take whatever successes I can get!) I didn't however, totally stick to script. Yes, I read from a book of poetry I already had started. And yes, I read from a book of essays I already had started. But the short stories...well, I couldn't resist cracking open a shiny new book that Rich was sweet enough to get me for Christmas.

What You Wish For: Stories and Poems for Darfur is a collection of short stories put together to help Darfuri refugees by supporting library development in refugee camps. From the jacket flap:

Each story and poem has its own affecting power and celebrates the simple wishes--home, family, safety and love, things we all wish for--of the Darfuri refugees this collection honors with incredible grace, beauty and oft-times humor.

The first story in the book, the one I read this week, is titled "The Strange Story of Bobby Box." This is the first of Alexander McCall Smith's writing I've ever read, though I've long wanted to give him a try. While I didn't fall completely in love with this story, there were definitely things about it that I did love, most especially its folktale-ish feel. I've got great hopes for this book overall--how could I not with its incredible list of contributing authors, including among many others, John Green, Nikki Giovanni, and Jane Yolen.

My poem for the week came from Atlas by Katrina Vandenberg. Frankly, it's positively disgraceful that I haven't finished this book before now. I started it so long ago, and was loving it to pieces...but then somewhere along the line it got set aside and buried in one pile of books after another. This is my opportunity to finish it. Finally.

I'll never be accused of being very poetically literate. Don't get me wrong--I love poetry. Well, some poetry. But I have to admit that I don't like to have to work very hard at it. And I've no earthly idea how to talk about it. This week's poem was "The Problem with the Pills." Stark, depressing, and so very realistic. While not my favorite poem thus far from this collection, it's definitely affected me and I find it entering my thoughts unexpectedly.

And finally, my essay came from The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. Another book I started long ago, but set aside for far too long. This is one of those books that I really, really, really wanted to read for a long time, yet it scared the living crap out of me. I was so afraid that it would be over my head. Rich tried to reassure me that this was Dawkins writing for the layperson, and I didn't need to be afraid...but well, I sort of doubted him. :P But I shouldn't have. This book really *is* accessible. Which isn't to say that it's always easy reading for me. I definitely have to be in the right frame of mind for heavy concentration while reading most of these essays. (In other words, this is not a book I can read late at night or while in the midst of a bout of fibro fog.)

This week's essay was "Rendezvous 6: New World Monkeys" and "The Howlers Monkey's Tale." It was incredibly interesting, its focus on color vision. But it was one of those that demanded full attention. Okay, more than full attention--some paragraphs took two or three readings. And unfortunately for me, I likely won't retain much of what I learned for long. This book is just so jammed-packed with fascinating information. So much information. And my memory just ain't what it used to be. :( But hey, even if I only remember a tenth of what I learn, I'm still enjoying the journey, right?

So anyway, hooray for me--one week successfully completed. :D

(Project progress: Misc. Projects--Read one short story a week, Read one essay a week, and Read one poem a week)

2012-01-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

I'm not even sure I should be writing about this. Because I really don't know what to say. But my heart is so heavy. It's aching for a lovely woman. And her family. And a class of fourth-graders, most especially our Maxidoodle.

It was not even two months ago that they suddenly lost a classmate, a sweet beautiful friend, to pneumonia. She is still so missed every day in their classroom, and in their hearts.

I think I've mentioned before how they've been trying out a new approach, called the "family model," in Max's school. How it works is that for 3rd through 5th grades, the kids stay together as a class (also kindergarten through 2nd grade). They have a new teacher for each grade, but the teachers work together. As in, Max's 3rd-grade teacher, his current teacher, and his teacher for next year all collaborate on any number of things. And the classes from the different grades get to participate in some things together. Thus, the "family" in family model--a 3rd grade class, a 4th grade class, and a 5th grade class, along with the three teachers.

Well, yesterday this wonderful group of kids, Max's fourth-grade class, got news that their teacher from last year, part of their school family, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She's an incredible lady, and I know she'll fight like hell to beat this cancer. She's even hoping that she'll be back teaching before the school year is out. But I know the journey, even if successful, won't be easy.

And I know it's not easy for Max, trying to make sense of it all.

I have been remiss...

2012-01-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

Here we are nearly a week into January, and I haven't even mentioned how happy I am that Carl is again helping us to indulge in several weeks worth of sci-fi reading with his Sci-Fi Experience. Well, better late than never, right? So, let me just say right now--I'M SO HAPPY. :)

Just a few years ago, if anyone had asked, I'd have said that I simply wasn't a fan of sci-fi. Which I now realize is just plain silly. Sci-fi is so much broader than my previous ignorance had me believing. I'm still pretty ignorant, truth be told, but I'm having fun learning.

So what am I hoping to read during these next couple months?

--Epic by Conor Kostick (Gray and I have just started reading this one for school, so I know I'll actually get this one done. :P )
--The Search for Wondla Tony DiTerlizzi (Maxidoodle and I are currently reading this one together. When I bought it, I thought it was fantasy, but thus far I'd say it leans more sci-fi. So far [we're only about 50-ish pages in] we are both loving the heck out of it.)
--Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. (I just reread Ender's Game last month, and I'd really like to get around to this one before too much time slips by again. Plus, this is one of Chris's picks for me for my happiness project.)
--Syndrome by Blake Leibel, Daniel Quantz, R.J. Ryan, and David Marquez (Rich got me this graphic novel for Christmas. I *think* it's sci-fi, but am not a hundred percent sure of this. If all goes well, I'll find out soon.)
--Three Days to Never by Tim Powers. (I've been wanting to read this one for ages. Hopefully it will finally happen.)

And that's it. Yep, I'm being realistic here. There's quite a pile other things I want/need to read in the near future, so there's no point in setting myself up for disappointment, right? Of course, I do also fully admit there's a fairly decent chance I won't even get to all of these.

Thanks Carl! I know it's going to be a great couple of months. :)

tidbits...

2012-01-04T10:24:00.000-05:00

I finished my first book of the year the other night! (And yes, that fact is deserving of an exclamation point...because let's face it, who knows how long it will be until I finish another. :P )

Mercury by Hope Larson.

Overall, I'd say it was a good book to start the year with. It didn't knock my socks off or anything, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's two stories, really. Separated by 150 years, connected by place and bloodline and a necklace. The stories alternate throughout the book, but it's never difficult to follow either. A Nova Scotia setting, a touch of magical realism, and lovely black and white art--lots of plusses. It kept me turning the pages, but never with an overwhelming enthusiasm.

(Project progress: Misc. Projects--Read the World, setting-Canada, fiction
AND 2012 unofficial-for-me reading challenges, Graphic Novels Challenge, book 1 of 12)

*****
This winter is driving me crazy...it just doesn't feel like winter at all. :( We'll have a day or two of cold weather (like yesterday and today), but then it warms up again to unseasonably warm temperatures. But what's even worse is the severe lack of snow. While December here is not generally super snowy, it's definitely not as lacking as this December was. In fact, it was the least snowy December since 1939. :( And while we're only a few days in, January sure isn't making up for lost ground...and the forecast isn't giving me much hope either. I grew up in the Great Lakes snowbelt, and was so grateful when we moved back nearly a decade ago (though to a different Lake). Not having "real" winters in the South always left me feeling unsettled. And it somehow it just seems worse having that unsettled feeling here in upstate New York.

*****
Will someone please buy our house?!! I am soooooo ready to move. (This is truly not news, is it?)

and we're off...

2012-01-03T06:50:00.002-05:00

I'm off and running (well, running might be a bit of an exaggeration) on my happiness project. And it's already bringing me so. much. happiness.

First off, thank you Heather! Heather was kind enough to make me a list of fun/interesting/challenging things to do...and on that list was "7. Learn to knit, if you haven't already." I had taught myself to knit (just the basics) a few years back, but hadn't done any knitting since. Which of course meant that I didn't remember a darn thing. :P So I adapted this to "relearn to knit." And what project would be more appropriate than to make something for my dear friend Heather, right? Sooooo...

...my chubby little fingers set awkwardly to work. I had such fun relearning, and honestly, without Heather's prompt who the heck knows when I might ever have picked up the needles again. And you know what, maybe the stitches aren't all so perfect, but I'm pretty darn happy with how it came out.

But then, darling Ms. Heather could make anything look wonderful. :D

(Project progress: Happiness Project, Heather's list of fun/interesting/challenging projects, Item 7-Learn/relearn to knit)

*****
Next up. Thank you Chris! Chris made me a list of scrumptious sounding books, all of which I'm dying to read. Well, okay, a few of them scare me...but that just makes it all the more fun. Anyway. As the days of 2011 were coming to an end, I managed to squeeze in my first read from Chris's list. And what an incredible little read it was!

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. This little book was an out-of-the blue surprise from none other than Chris himself. It includes not only "A Christmas Memory," but also two other wonderful stories titled "One Christmas" and "The Thanksgiving Visitor." I really loved all three stories, but "A Christmas Memory" is by far my favorite.

Oh my goodness. If you haven't read this before, please please please treat yourself to it next Christmas season. Not that you have to wait until then, of course. It's a sweet (but not of the saccharine variety), beautiful, touching story of a unique friendship. Seriously...it dug itself a cozy little spot right in the depths of my heart.

And as I'd hoped with the whole concept of my happiness project, the joy came from more than just the story itself. It came from knowing as I read every page that this was a treasure I was sharing with Chris because he picked it out for me to read. This particular story came with a bonus bit of joy...because it wasn't just Chris, but Ana as well, that stayed in my thoughts as I read. While this wasn't one of the books she'd picked for me, I know it's a story she loves as well, and it was because of her that Chris read this story in the first place.

Sheesh. I'm feeling mighty sentimental, aren't I? I'd apologize, except for the fact that I'm not really sorry. :P

(Project progress: Happiness Project, Chris's list of books, Item 32-A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
AND Misc. Projects--Read Ana's List of Midwinter Reads, Item 5-A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote)

*****
And that's it for now. I have a few more Happiness Project items started...some of which should be finished soon, some of which will take a bit longer. But all of which I'm having great fun with.

Small Wonder...random thoughts...

2012-01-02T09:09:00.001-05:00

Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver.

Why have I not read anything by her before? Why? Why? Why?!!! It's not like I've never heard of her. It's not like I didn't know how much some of my dearest friends love her Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. *waves to Chris and Heather* Heck, it's not even like I don't have easy access to her books, as many of them are residing right on my own shelves.

Alas, I can't go back in time to change it, so I shall just rejoice in the fact that I finally discovered for myself the beauty of her writing. And beautiful it is. Understated and gorgeous. This essay collection covered a variety of subjects, but the beauty of her writing was an unbroken thread throughout.

But it wasn't her lovely writing that made me fall in love with her. It was her heart. As it was straight from there that she wrote. And in a very unsettling, yet very pleasant way, it felt as if she were writing from *my* heart. If I had the talent, these are the essays I would write. She covered so much ground in these essays, from war to the environment, from food sustainability to evolution, from reading to motherhood. And oh so much more. I admit that I can find myself feeling depressed, feeling angry, feeling hopeless when I ponder some of the issues she so eloquently writes about. But that's not how I read her essays. Instead, the feelings I came away with were awe and reverence and hope.

Ms. Kingsolver simply doesn't seem the type to dwell on blame. Instead she focuses on what can be done. Especially on what can be done in her own life, with her own family and community. Don't get me wrong, I shed tears on more than one occasion. But it's not the tears that will shape the way I remember this collection...it's the love and the hope that will.

(Project Progress: 50x50, #45--Read 50 short story or essay collections, item 7)

the year of just because...

2012-01-01T09:07:00.000-05:00

Yep, that is what I have declared my 2012 to be. Just Because.

As in, I will buy that little something that reminds me of someone and send it "just because" I hope it will make her/him smile.

As in, I will not wait until Christmas to make the kids Fairy Drops but instead will bake them "just because" they think these cookies are a slice of heaven.

As in, I will read that book "just because" it's calling my name.

You get the idea.

Yeah, I know there's a huge pile of things I must do (homeschooling prep and the like), but this is my year to make a concerted effort to figure out the difference between the things that really are musts and the things I've added to that category that don't necessarily belong there. I think that this may be the very best thing I could do for myself, both in terms of my physical health and in terms of my mental health.

This doesn't mean that there aren't things I'm hoping to accomplish in 2012, of course. (But I making no resolutions!) I hope 2012 will see me:

--leaving our current abode and setting up the home of our dreams

--restarting Project Life and really following through for the whole year

--really diving in and relishing every minute spent with my happiness project (and my other projects, as well, but it's my happiness project that has a special place in my heart)

--continuing to find ways to live more sustainably and to be ever kinder to our beautiful planet and all its inhabitants, human and nonhuman alike

--adapting habits that will make me healthier

--blogging, both reading and posting, on a more regular basis

--saying goodbye to guilt over the things that won't get done (For example, I've decided that on my "just because" journey, I'm no longer going to get birthday gifts for those outside my immediate family...but yes, this makes me feel guilty. But I'm hoping that as the "just because" attitude starts blossoming that this guilt will subside.)

--appreciating all the small and wonderful moments that life throws my way

Yep, if I could conquer even a portion of those things, I think I would see my happiness quotient rise. And face it, I've already got soooooooo much to be happy about as it is.

And as I said yesterday, I hope that your 2012 finds you on a wonderful journey to make your dreams come true as well!!! HAPPY 2012...really, from the bottom of my heart.

goodbye 2011...hello 2012...

2011-12-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

The hecticness of the holiday season is coming to a close. Rich, the boys, and I arrived home last night from a stay with Rich's Mom. Annie will be arriving home today from a week spent with my parents. When she arrives, it will be the first time in two weeks that all of us have been together in our home. There will be yet another round of unpacking when Annie arrives home (having the house on the market doesn't allow for the "when I get around to it" course of action). There are also approximately 6,000 loads of laundry to be done. But then. Yes, perhaps then we will have some time to sit.

It's with sadness that I just hit that "mark as read" button again. As my parents will be here for the day, there won't be time for catching up on blog reading. But this is one of those times of year when hope just springs anew---and I'm hoping that the new year will be the start of a better blogging year for me. Better, as in making more time for blog reading and commenting. Actually I'm hoping to change a lot of things in this new year. Or maybe it's just a matter of changing just one thing--my attitude--that will allow many other changes to just fall into place. I'll talk about that more tomorrow.

So how about you? Are you happy or sad or indifferent about saying goodbye to 2011 and saying hello to a whole new calendar year? Do you have big plans and hopes and dreams for the new year?

Whatever they may be, I do hope you have a wonderful journey making those dreams come true in 2012!!!

happy everything

2011-12-23T09:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I've reached that point here in my little world...what isn't done for this holiday season just isn't getting done. Surprisingly, I'm okay with that. When Max gets home from school this afternoon, I'll send him and Annie off to deliver cookies to the neighbors, and then we will be hitting the road. We're off to my parents' to spend the weekend. It feels odd--they've always come here for Christmas, but with the house on the market we figured this was just better all around. It will be wonderful to see Gray and Baker again--it's been so very strange here without them (they've been at my parents' for the past week). Just not the same without that sensitive, creative soul here to add to the joy.

Anyway, I really just wanted to pop in to wish everyone a lovely holiday. Whatever holiday(s) you might be celebrating. And if this is a holidayless time of year for you, have a beautiful time celebrating this awesome thing called life.

projects progress...more on the 50x50

2011-12-19T19:02:00.000-05:00

#7. Make a donation to 50 different charities (monetary or otherwise).

Item 6. Crocheted two hats for the hat and mitten tree that Max's school puts up every year. Had hoped to get more done than that--but well, when you wait until the last minute, that's what happens. Perhaps for next year, I will try to make one each month so I'll be way ahead of the game.

#11. Watch 50 documentaries.

Item 7. Gray and I watched Planet in Peril for school. And we both thought it was really good. Though I think we'll watch Strange Days on Planet Earth soon, because I think it's even better.

#16. Bake 50 different kinds of cookies.

Mmmmmm...these cookies are so incredibly yummy. (Of course non-cranberry fans likely wouldn't agree.) I used the not-freezing-dough-ahead-of-time method. (And they're scrumptious without the chocolate and nuts, too...not that I snuck any before the dipping phase or anything...)

#37. Read 50 books I never heard of before buying/borrowing from the library.

Item 4. The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers by Scott Carney. A total impulse grab off the "new non-fiction" shelves at the library a few weeks back.

My random thoughts:

*This is one of those books where I'm tempted to say "I really enjoyed it" except that "enjoy" just isn't quite the most accurate word. It was utterly fascinating. And horrifying. And eye-opening.

*I'd never even heard the term "red market" before this book. The red market refers to the market in human bodies, living and dead, and human body parts. After an introduction to the whole concept of the red market, Carney begins the book with a personal story from his life, the death of one of his students. It was her death and what happened in the immediate aftermath that led to his interest in the red market. Each subsequent chapter focuses on a different sub-market--blood, bones, eggs, children, and much more.

*He admits right from the start that he's focused on the problems that crop up in the red market.

By and large, I have not focused on the millions of red market transactions that go right every day. There is no doubt that without transplant technology, blood collection, and adoption programs there would be terrible human fallout. We don't need to follow the stories of people living happy lives because of something they bought on the red market. That is the story of tissue demand. It is far more important to understand how tissue makes it to the market than how it is used. This book is an exploration of the supply side of the economic equation...

*In some ways, it might seem unfair to only look at the problematic. But he makes what to me is a very convincing argument overall. Part of what he has to say:

If we want to live in a world where human lives are priceless and in some ways equal, then the market cannot be the best decider of which people have the right to other people's bodies. Inevitably even the best systems of donation break down at some point and let in criminal elements. Even if most of the time it works without people being exploited, the crimes, when they happen, are so extreme that they undermine the benefits of the entire system to society at large.

And extreme they are. Some of the stories are just mind-boggling. If I'd seen them in a movie, I'd have found them unbelievable...and yet these things are happening. And of course, they're happening to those most vulnerable, the world's poor.

*On the lighter side, I did want to kick the author at one point. He gave away what I can only assume is a major spoiler for Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, a book I was hoping to read very soon.

Dear Christmas Season,

2011-12-18T07:20:00.000-05:00

Oh how I love you, Christmas season. I adore you. Really, I do. All the baking. And card creating. And gift making. And wrapping. All the packages to mail and stockings to fill and cookies to deliver. Yes, yes, yes, I love it all.

But... Oh Christmas season, you are exhausting. Someday, I would really love to learn balance. To learn to leave time for sitting back to relax and enjoy you peacefully. Not that I want to give up the self-imposed bustle entirely, mind you. But honestly, there must be some happy medium. Isn't there?

Look, I'm not blaming you, Christmas season, for it's ultimately my own fault... *sigh* I haven't finished a single book this month. I hit the "mark as read" button so many times it's scandalous...I haven't even a clue what my dear friends are up to these days. I haven't had a good kitty pet session in ages. And scrapbooking--ha!

Oh, if only you weren't so tantalizing, Christmas season. But since this has obviously not been the year for me to tame my obsession with you, I will just have to settle for wishing that all my so very deeply loved friends are enjoying all you have to offer. (And trust that they all still remember me when I finally escape your clutches.)

Before I go though, I really want to thank you. Because, yes, despite all the hustle and bustle, you bring so much joy to so many. And for that, Christmas season, you have my undying gratitude.

With love,

Debi

project progress...a 50x50 update

2011-12-12T11:52:00.000-05:00

Not a lot, but every little bit helps.

#9. Give away 50 books.

Item 4: In a box of miscellaneous goodies I *finally* got in the mail to my much-loved friend Ana, I stuck a book I read a little while back called Pixerina Witcherina. Much of the book featured the artwork from a show about female roles in fairy tales. And it also contained three essays, one of which was written by Maria Tatar. It very much made me think of Ana. :)

#16. Bake 50 different kinds of cookies.

Well, with Christmas season here, lots and lots of cookie baking is going on. And I've been busy trying out some new additions to the repertoire this year.

Item 21: Cinnamon Crackle Cookies (Not my new favorite cookie or anything, but different enough that I will definitely be making them again. They're reminiscent of ginger cookies, but these have nutmeg as the predominant spice.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsps. baking soda
2 tsps. cream of tartar
2 tsps. nutmeg
2 tsps. grated orange peel
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Cream butter, shortening, and sugars. Add egg and extracts; mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the next eight ingredients. Gradually add to the creamed mixture.

Shape into 1" balls; roll in sugar. Place 2" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (or until lightly browned).

Item 22: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Good, but nothing amazing.)

Item 23: Double-Chip Cookies (Again, nothing fancy. But seriously yummy.)

Item 24: Nutty Orange Snowballs (Seriously good. Not too sweet with a subtle citrus flavor.)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1/2 tsp. orange extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts

Cream butter and 3/4 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in orange peel and extracts.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in nuts.

Shape into 3/4" balls. Place one inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Removed to wire racks to cool completely.

Place remaining powdered sugar in a bag. Add cookies to the bags, a few at a time, and shake to coat.

Item 25: Chocolate Espresso Oatmeal Cookies (Oh. My. God. Amazing. The recipe came from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times.)

#20. Buy 50 fair trade gifts.

Again, this one's pretty easy, being the Christmas season and all.

Item 7: A handful of ornaments for various people.

Item 8: Java drops for Tony.

Item 9: Coffee beans for a few coffee lovers on our Christmas list.

#23. Give 50 "happy something unexpected" gifts.

Sent my dear friend Ana a box of assorted goodies...but I can't say just what because it hasn't made it across the pond yet. :)

#43. Read 50 award-winning books.

Item 5: I reread Ender's Game. I "reviewed" it when I first read it. Absolutely loved it when I first read it. And you know, I can honestly say I still loved it. (I worried that I would let my very strong differences of opinion with its author affect my reading--differences I knew nothing about during my first reading--but luckily that didn't happen.)

#47. Watch 50 different seasons TV on DVD or Netflix.

Item 9: All the crocheting I've been doing for Christmas gifts has allowed me to zoom right through season 6 of Criminal Minds.

And that's it for now...hopefully I shall be checking off many more an item as the Christmas season progresses.

day 2...for real...

2011-12-03T18:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's pretty darn pathetic how ridiculously proud of myself I am for keeping up with our December Daily for two days straight. Just think how I'll feel if I actually make it through all 25. Yeah, yeah--no need getting ahead of myself now, is there? :P

(Day 2)

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Because he is absolutely as sweet as they come, Chris agreed to Christmas-a-thon with me again this weekend. Either that or he was sick of my whining and just wanted to shut me up. :P My goal is to get the darn Christmas cards made and addressed, do some more wrapping, bake at least two kinds of cookies, and crochet and/or knit my ass off. It's scary to think that there's really only about two weeks left to get gifts finished that must be mailed. No, scary is not a strong enough word...if I counted correctly, I have ten gifts to complete by then. And then a pile more that need to be done by Christmas itself. Will I ever freakin' learn? Ever?

How about you? Are you all prepared for the holidays yet?

more of that happiness project...and the start of December Daily...

2011-12-02T15:38:00.002-05:00

Leave it to Jean to go above and beyond. :D

While I will, of course, be adding this list to the master happiness project list found here, I just had to share the list that Jean made for me. I asked Jean for a list of creativity prompts...and damn, did she deliver. Not only did she email me the list, but she made me little cards that I can randomly pick from.

And here's the list itself. Her sons helped a bit by adding a few interesting suggestions of their own. :P

1. Look out a window. Write a haiku about what you see there.

2. Write a limerick about someone or something that upsets you.

3. Draw a picture with your non-dominant hand.

4. Wash your hair, put it up in old-fashioned pincurls, and let it dry. Take a photo of the resulting ‘do.

5. Open a cookbook to a random page and select a random recipe. Make it.

6. Make a pie combining two (or more) fruits that you have never eaten together.

7. Design your own mixed drink. Make it.

8. Graffiti your name on a wall (or a large piece of paper, posterboard, etc.).

9. STEVE: Make an illustrated children’s guide to more than one way to skin a cat.

10. Make a figure from things you would otherwise recycle or throw away. Take a photo of it then recycle or throw away the items.

11. On a round plate, make a face out of food items. Eat it yourself, or share it.

12. Devise a code or cipher. Write a love note to Rich using it. If he can’t decode it, you can give him a clue to help him.

13. Dye some wool yarn or fabric using KoolAid. If you need directions, see http://www.thepiper.com/fiberart/koolaid/basic-howto.html

14. Make greeting cards based around a knock-knock jokes you get from Max and Gray (one joke from each). Let each of them decide to whom the card should be sent.

15. STEVE: Make a dinner that is against the teachings of as many major religions as possible.

16. DON: Plan and execute the perfect crime. (Jean says that you don’t have to do the “execute” part unless it’s a victimless crime.)

17. DON: Become the supervillain “The Noodler.” (Jean’s alternative: Choose a superpower and design your own superhero or supervillain. Be that hero or villain for an hour.)

18. Make a name bug. (Fold a piece of paper. Write a name in cursive using the fold as the line. Be creative with letters with tails. Cut out the name including any openings in letters. Open the fold. The resulting shape is the name bug.)

19. What can you put into a cookie (bar or round variety) that you’ve never put in one before? Make them.

20. Write a love note to Rich in Pig Latin.

21. Create your own clown persona. Be that clown for an hour including making one phone call.

22. Save the seeds from all the fruit you eat in a day. Plant them and see what comes up.

23. Make and decorate gngerbread people. Eat them creatively.

24. Design some mutant animals ala Jean’s Beanie Baby Mutations (on paper is fine).

25. Make a fruit sculpture. Serve it.

26. Using torn tissue paper and white craft glue, make a collage.

27. Take a photo upside down, looking between your legs.

28. Write a letter in a circle, from the outside to the inside.

29. Make up a song even if you can’t write the music to it.

30. Take a white-on-white photo (e.g., a white cup sitting on a white saucer on a white countertop).

31. Step in paint and make footprints on a large piece of newsprint, posterboard, etc.

32. Tie-dye a shirt. (You may use a kit.)

33. Origami something.

34. Make a list of things or people that annoy you. Destroy it creatively.

35. Take a funny-walk walk (ala “Walk Like an Egyptian”).

36. Do a self-portrait. Oh, you only have two minutes in which to do it, so you had better get started.

37. Make a meal that can be served and eaten without utensils.

38. The Soundtrack of Debi’s Life. What songs would be on it? What would the liner notes be? The cover art? If you really get into this, burn it onto a CD and add the liner notes and artwork.

39. Come up with a family motto and devise a family coat of arms.

40. Write a song parody ala Weird Al Yankovic.

41. Take a night-time photo, painting with your camera by moving it while looking at the lights of a city, a Christmas tree, etc.

42. Take 26 photos, one for each letter of the alphabet. Example: A rolled-up hose hanging on a wall can be an “O.”

43. Make a sock puppet. Have it be your voice for an hour.

44. Draw or otherwise make a maze.

45. Randomly choose one herb or spice from your herb/spice cabinet or rack. Randomly choose a vegetable from your supply. Google them along with “recipe,” and make one of the top three recipes the search yields.

46. Make a purse out of a bra. For help getting started, see http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Bra-Purse

47. Make a greeting card based on a sentence diagram or the art of sentence diagramming.

48. Open a dictionary to a random page and choose a random word. Make a greeting card based on or using that word. Let Annie decide to whom the card should be sent.

49.Make a greeting card based on a rebus.

50. Discharge dye something. (A bleach pen is a great way to start.)

Looks like I definitely have some fun in my future, doesn't it?

*****
And changing gears, I am so proud of myself! I actually started our December Daily album!

(the front cover)

(Day 1)

Yep, last night we put up our tree so that definitely trumped anything else I might have wanted to document for December 1st. As usual, we had a ton of fun. The kids carefully(?) hung all the ornaments as we talked about who had made this one or that one. We had Christmas music playing, and we contributed some not so professional singing to the mix. And the trimming was followed by the traditional eggnog. And there was the bonus prize of fresh-baked Snickerdoodles. And as usual, it took Lucky all of three seconds to plop himself in his favorite cozy spot.

a good old dose of rambling...

2011-12-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

In another of those "It can't possibly be so!" moments, we find ourselves in the month of December. December, already.

I don't know about you, but despite the good intentions of having most of my preparations done before December arrives so I can sit back and just relax during the holiday season, again it just hasn't happened. Not that I haven't been hard at work, just that I put way too much on my Christmas plate once again. But you know, I'm not sure I'd be content to have it any other way. Because, yes, it's stressful to have so many added things on the to-do list, but really these are the things I find such happiness in doing. Making gifts and handmade cards and wrapping paper, baking more than an entire town should probably eat, wrapping, wrapping, and more wrapping, decorating all the nooks and crannies...

There's a monkey wrench in the system this year. A good monkey wrench though! Our house officially went on the market Monday, and thus there's now a necessity to keep the house as immaculate as possible. Hard enough with three kiddos and a multitude of other animal friends, but with so many projects in process...*sigh* it's exhausting.

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Our internet has been on the flake for the past couple weeks. That's putting it mildly. It has been driving us freakin' crazy. As in it's out far more often than not. As in it often stays on for only minutes at a time, and that makes it hard to actually do anything, like respond to an email or read an entire blog post or do certain homeschool activities or watch anything on Netflix streaming... I'm simply going to have to use that "mark as read" button, as sad as that makes me. Today, they are delivering a new modem, which they say *must* be the problem as they've tried everything else. How it took them two weeks to come to this conclusion is beyond me, as it's what I, computer moron extraordinaire, suspected from the start. Good news being that hopefully today will finally bring an end to this particular annoyance.

*****
Why, hello again internet connection. Nice of you to pay another visit. (Particular annoyance not yet resolved.)

So...December 1st. Today brings so many fun things with it. The start of our Advent goodies that my Mom prepares for us. She even makes an Advent bowl for Baker. :)

Tonight we shall be putting up our Christmas tree--an event Gray proclaims to enjoy as much as Christmas day itself. (Our traditional drinking of eggnog as we decorate the tree may just have something to do with that. :P )

I'm also hoping that this will be the year that I finally make our first December Daily album. Well, my album itself is already made--I made it back in November of 2008. But December 1st of that year was the day I learned that my dear friend Dewey had died. Needless to say, the album didn't get filled that year. So much didn't get done that December... Anyway, I hope this is the year I finally fill the album with a snapshot of our lives in December.

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Cookie baking has begun. Thus far, I have tried two new recipes--one for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and one for Cinnamon Crinkles, both of which are yummy but not ones that will break into the favorites list.

I've also baked three batches of the base part of our all-time favorite holiday cookie--Fairy Drops. Our freezer is fast filling up. (I'll share the recipe for these when I get to frosting phase.) These are the cookies that I give to all our neighbors, the library staff, the staff at the kiddos' dentist office, etc. They're both pretty and ridiculously delicious. Anyway, I have several more kinds to whip out over the next week and a half (today is Snickerdoodle day...mmmm...), and then I shall move on to snack mixes, and then candy... December is a busy kitchen month. :)

*****
Okay, I really ought to shut up now... How about a kitty pic instead?

projects progress...a 50x50 update...

2011-11-23T11:22:00.000-05:00

While I haven't written an update lately, I have been continuing to check things off the old 50 x 50, at least when I remember to. It's now been a little more than a year since I began, and when I look over my progress I think I'm fairly satisfied. Certainly some of the goals are coming along much more easily than others. I can't believe I have two which are at least halfway done now (goal #8--Donate 50 trunk-loads full of stuff to charity thrift store, etc. and goal #15--Try 50 new recipes). And there are several more that I'm at least a fifth of the way through (goal #10--Support 50 different independent local businesses, goal #16--Bake 50 different kinds of cookies, goal #18--Can/freeze/dry/otherwise preserve 50 different things, goal #30--Do 50 different environmentally friendly things, and #38--Read 50 books borrowed from someone else). Of course, these are balanced out by several goals that I haven't even begun yet. ;)

Yesterday saw me adding to a couple of goals. I managed to add two things to goal #22--Make 50 one-of-a-kind gifts. But truth is, one of them might have to come off sometime in the future. Yeah, this was not a well thought-out goal...because how can I always be sure that I won't eventually make "another" of something even if I don't have plans to at the moment. Oh well, for the time being, I added this chunky hat that I made to put in Annie's stocking:

Gray graciously offered to model it for me. I didn't realize he had this goofy face in mind, but who am I to complain--as I had no other model available at the time. :P But this is actually a hat I could see myself making again sometime. It was super quick to make (gotta love chunky yarn!) and I think it's a cute little hat. I used this free pattern but did make a few changes to it.

I also whipped up a dishcloth for my Mom's stocking, using a basket-weave stitch. Probably won't make another of these...I love a basket-weave stitch for a lot of things, but am not thrilled with for a dishcloth. Oh well, live and learn, huh?

Last night, I also managed to knock another off goal #11--Watch 50 documentaries. Though it might be considered cheating, as it's actually the third time I've watched this particular movie. (It's the first time I've watched it since starting the 50x50 so I've decided it's legit...and since it's my project, I make the rules, right? :P ) Anyway, I asked the boys if they wanted to watch a Christmas movie last night. They went to the movie cupboard, and came back with Food Inc. Yeah, not exactly a Christmas movie, but they both really wanted to watch it, and the rest of us had no objections to seeing it again so we went for it. I have to admit that I thought there was a possibility that the boys were going to tune out, but that definitely wasn't the case. Gray, especially, loved it!!! Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised though--Chew On This (Eric Schlosser's young people's version of Fast Food Nation) is one of his all-time favorite books. He was at times enthralled, disgusted, shocked, and inspired watching Food Inc. (Yeah, pretty much like me even during my third viewing.) We had to pause the movie multiple times, as he asked so many salient questions. And as an added bonus, he came away with a desire to actually help us in the garden next year. :)

Today should see me adding another check to goal #15--Try 50 new recipes. I'm going to try out a recipe for Ribbon Pumpkin Bread to take to my parents' tomorrow. If it's as divine as it sounds, I'll be sure to share the recipe. And in the meantime, I hope all of you celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow have a positively peaceful and relaxing holiday! And for those you not celebrating, I hope you have a damn fine day as well!

one step forward...

2011-11-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

Oh okay, it's not as drastic as "two steps back." But yeah, I'm feeling overwhelmed.

*sigh* I just want to move SO. DAMN. MUCH. And today was to be the last major hurdle before putting the house on the market. Getting the new carpet installed. The installers came, and they worked their butts off doing a fantastic job, right down to vacuuming the carpet when they finished. And it was when the nice gentleman was vacuuming that he noticed that there was a flaw in the carpet. So it's all going to have to be redone. :(

Honestly, I know I'm counting far too heavily on this move. But it's where I am mentally, and having to postpone yet again is just a crushing blow at this point. Yeah, melodramatic old me, huh?

Blah.

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On the brighter side, our Christmas-a-thon went smashingly! I didn't finish all I'd hoped to, but then that's par for the course when one is simply incapable of writing a realistic to-do list. :P

Lots of shopping done, lots of wrapping done, some wrapping paper made, my Christmas card list made along with 1/7 of the cards themselves (until I think of people I forgot to put on the list, that is), and some crafting done, including two more hats. I think nearly every male relative I have is getting one of these hats. :P

But best of all, it was a really fun thing to do "with" my dear friend Chris. Someday, I'm determined that we'll be able to do all these fun things together in person (yes, I like to dream)...but until then, I'm going to be grateful for this amazing miracle of the internet.

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Well, as the day is now half over and I've barely begun my chores due to all the chaos around here, I guess today will not be the day that I catch up on my blog reading. Perhaps tomorrow? Is it even possible to "catch up" on blog reading? Seriously, do you ever feel like you're caught up...or is simply a matter of occasionally being less behind?

and so it begins again...

2011-11-18T10:32:00.002-05:00

A winter tradition. Okay, a silly winter tradition. But still, when Max and I walked out to wait for the bus this morning, I could not help but smile when I saw the window on the van:

All winter long, Rich writes messages in the snow. And Max takes great delight in somehow transforming the message. As here, where he simply added "not":

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I am so. damn. excited. about this weekend. Chris, who is just as sweet and thoughtful and freakin' awesome as they come, emailed me about a month ago with this super fantabulous idea. He told me that it just made him so sad how stressed out I was last Christmas season. So he came up with the idea of a Christmas-a-thon, where we'd pick one weekend in November and spend the entire time working on Christmas stuff! Is that not brilliant?!! Not to mention ridiculously fun. :D And this is the weekend we settled on. I'm starting this afternoon--when Rich gets home from work, we're headed out to do a pile of Christmas shopping. Sans munchkins. And we're going to eat supper out, just the two of us. And then do more shopping. I have lists galore made, so hopefully I'll put a major dent in the shopping I have left to do. If I've any energy left when we get home tonight, I'll knit or crochet away on one of the bazillion gifts I'm hoping to get made. And tomorrow...well, I'll just wait and see what I'm in the mood for--wrapping? making Christmas cards? crafting? deciding on what I'll be baking this year? putting up some decorations? a little of each? Oh yes, the possibilities are endless... :D

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I haven't finished much in the way of gifts thus far this week, but I have been working away (mostly while watching Doctor Who episodes with the family and watching "school" videos with Gray).

I finished a Cthulhu (awesome free pattern found here...and still have two more left to make...

I also made a crocheted cowl for my Mom. But when I asked Annie to model it for me so I could take pictures, she fell in love with it. So I think I'm going to surprise her by giving it to her instead and making my Mom a different sort of scarf.

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I so hope you all have a lovely, lovely weekend!!!

2011-11-15T17:32:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love about Max's school is that the classes are small. And they travel together as a class for two to three years. And when a class really meshes, it makes for some pretty tight-knit friends. Max is with a wonderful group of kids, each special in his or her own ways...as all kids are.

But now they are missing one of their friends. It's still hard to comprehend. Seriously, how does one comprehend the sudden death of a sweet little nine-year-old girl?

Max is not a big talker, so I didn't expect a long drawn out answer when I asked him how school was today. I wasn't surprised when he simply said, "It was different. And really sad." I was surprised by the tears that welled up in his eyes though. And was even more surprised when he said he wanted to go to the viewing. Surprised, and relieved. I have no idea where he got his little stoic streak, but I'm glad to see it crumble a bit. Not that I want him to hurt, of course. Just that I don't want him to try so hard to hide it when the hurt is there.

my happiness project

2011-11-13T16:57:00.006-05:00

A.K.A. "my friends project"...that's what I've been calling it as I've been putting it together. And it's certainly apropo...as it's been put together by some of my dearest friends. But "the happiness project" is definitely hitting the nail on the head as well. To be frank, I've been having a shitty time lately. A combination of life, my body, and my brain---mostly my brain. I've been struggling so very hard to pull myself out of this funk, but it is a struggle. I'll get there, I know I will...I'm already on my way. And my wonderful, generous friends are so much of the reason why.

This mega-project came about thanks to inspiration from Chris. See, he often sent me emails telling me that I should really watch this movie or that TV show. It dawned on me one day that I should really be writing these all down into a list. But instead I took the lazy way out and asked him if he would make me a list. :P A list of 50 movies/TV shows that he thought I should watch before I die. Then a few weeks later, during one of those many nights where I was laying in bed unable to sleep, I had a brilliant idea. An idea that made me so happy I could hardly stop myself from waking Rich up to share it. :) I decided to ask a few of my favorite people for lists.

I sort of feel like I should explain *why* I asked each person for the particular list that I did, but I don't think I could do the explanations justice. The reasons are just so personal. Not personal as in secret. But personal as in they have to do with some of the things I admire most about her/him and am continually inspired by in her/him and...oh, just so many intangibles that I would fail to express adequately in words. The reasons I asked different people for the same list are as different as each of my beautiful friends are themselves.

Before I post the actual lists, I want to thank each of you who spent your precious time making these lists for me. I really have no earthly idea if any of you know how much it means to me. And even more, how much each of YOU mean to me. I can't imagine my life without each of you in it. And I look so forward to thinking of you as I work on my "assignments." :)

So here are the lists (what I have of them to this point...I'll continue to update). There is no meaning in the order of these lists, other than I put them in the order I received them.

***Chris's List of Movies/TV Shows***
1. A Single Man
2. Party Monster
3. Stay
4. Phoebe in Wonderland
5. The Fabulous Beekman Boys-season 1
6. Murder Ball
7. Volver
8. X: The Movie
9. Brother and Sisters-seasons 1 thru 4
10. Downtown Abbey mini-series
11. Sherlock (BBC version--3 episodes)
12. Ru Paul's Drag Race-season 1
13. Lost in Translation
14. The Virgin Suicides
15. Marie Antoinette (directed by Sofia Coppolla)
16. Bend It Like Beckham
17. Daniel Deronda mini-series
18. Ratcatcher
19. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
20. Millions
21. Kill Bill 1
22. Kill Bill 2
23. Igby Goes Down
24. The Science of Sleep
25. 28 Days Later
26. Velvet Goldmine
27. Amelie
28. Firefly-complete series
29. Doctor Who-seasons 1 thru 5
30. Children of Men
31. Signs
32. The Village
33. The Lion in Winter
34. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zasou
35. Donnie Darko
36. Dot the I
37. Bad Education
38. Roswell-seasons 1 thru 3
39. Ponyo
40. Princess Mononoke
41. Everything is Illuminated
42. Chasing Amy
43. Glee-seasons 1 thru 3
44. Dancer in the Dark
45. Babel
46. The Hours
47. The Kids are Alright
48. Drop Dead Gorgeous
49. Black Swan
50. Requiem for a Dream
51. The Tree of Life

***Chris's List of Books***
1. Mirabilis by Susann Cokal
2. Interview with the Vampire by Annie Rice
3. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
4. The Bone People by Keri Hulme
5. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
6. Lisey's Story by Stephen King
7. Greenmantle by Charles de Lint
8. the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
9. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
10. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
11. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (essays)
12. The Sound of the Waves by Yukio Mishima
13. Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell
14. Norwegian Wood by Murakami
15. The Book of Flying by Keith Miller
16. The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
17. The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Fleweling
18. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (essays)
19. Bonk by Mary Roach (non-fiction/science)
20. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
21. Dream Homes: From Cairo to Katrina, An Exile's Journey by Joyce Zonana (non-fiction/memoir)
22. A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle
23. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
24. The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson (non-fiction/memoir)
25. Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
26. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
27. The Screwed Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson
28. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
29. Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters
30. The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
31. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
32. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
33. Luna by Julie Anne Peters
34. Looking for Bapu by Anjali Banarjee
35. Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis
36. Push by Sapphire
37. Transformations by Anne Sexton (poetry)
38. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (non-fiction/memoir/environmental)
39. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
40. The Bells by Richard Harvell
41. The Armless Maiden and Other Tales for Childhood Survivors edited by Terri Windling (short stories)
42. London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp
43. The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson
44. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
45. Wicked by Gregory Maquire
46. Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
47. The Radiation Sonnets by Jane Yolen (poetry)
48. Habibi by Craig Thompson
49. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
50. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

***Pat's Lists of Old Movies***
1. Murder by Death (Peter Falk/Alec Guinness)*
2. Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves (Maria Montez/Jon Hall)
3. Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.)
4. Cry the Beloved Country (James Earl Jones/Richard Harris)
5. Dune (Kyle MacLachlan)
6. The Fisher King (Robin Williams)
7. The Grass Harp (Piper Laurie)
8. Her Majesty Mrs. Brown (Judy Dench)
9. Hope Floats (Sandra Bullock)
10. Marnie (Tippi Hedren)*
11. On Golden Pond (Henry Fonda)*
12. Patch Adams (Robin Williams)
13. Regarding Henry (Harrison Ford)
14. The Man Who Would Be King (Sean Connery/Michael Caine)
15. Whales of August (Bette Davis/Lillian Gish)
16. An American Quilt (Winona Ryder/Ellen Burstyn)
17. As Good as It Gets (Jack Nicholson)
18. Harvy (Jimmy Stewart)
19. Mr. Holland's Opus (Richard Dreyfuss)
20. My Left Foot (Daniel Day-Lewis)
21. Nell (Jodie Foster)
22. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Jack Nicholson)*
23. The Secret Garden (1949-Margaret O'Brien OR 1993-Kate Maberly/Maggie Smith)
24. Robin Hood (Errol Flynn)
25. Fried Green Tomatoes (Kathy Bates/Jessica Tandy)*
26. Cocoon (Don Ameche/Wilford Brimley)*
27. Batteries Not Included (Jessica Tandy)
28. The Law and Jake Wade (Richard Widmark/Deforest Kelly)
29. Arsenic and Old Lace (Cary Grant)*
30. The African Queen (Katharine Hepburn)
31. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Spencer Tracy)
32. Boys Town (Spencer Tracy)
33. Little Lord Fauntleroy (Freddie Batholomew)
34. Ben Hur (Charlton Heston/Stephen Boyd)
35. The Grapes of Wrath (Henry Fonda)
36. To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck)*
37. David Copperfield (1935-Edna May Oliver)
38. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (W.C. Fields/Edgar Bergen)
39. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939-Basil Rathbone)
40. The Quiet Man (John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara)
41. Casablanca (Humphrey Bogart)
42. The African Queen (Katharine Hepburn/Humphry Bogart)
43. The Thin Man (William Powell, Myrna Loy)
44. Love Finds Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney/Lewis Stone)
45. Grumpy Old Men (Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau)*
46. The Odd Couple (Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau)
47. Enemy Mine (Dennis Quaid/Louis Gossett Jr.)
48. The Abyss (Ed Harris)
49. Silence of the Lambs (Jodie Foster/Anthony Hopkins)*
50. The Lion in Winter (Peter O'Toole/Katharine Hepburn)
51. Medicine Man (Sean Connery)--bonus prize :)
(*Indicate movies I have already seen. Pat graciously offered to replace them, but since this was her original list, I opted to stick with it. After all, what a great opportunity to rewatch them, as I loved every one.)

***Annie's List of Books***
1. Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
2. Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oats
3. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
4. Higurashi When They Cry: Demon Exposing arc by Ryukishio7
5. Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayer
6. Other by Karen Kincy
7. Family by Micol Ostow
8. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
9. A Fair Maiden by Joyce Carol Oates
10. Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates
11. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
12. Luna by Julie Anne Peters
13. She Loves You, She Loves You Not by Julie Anne Peters
14. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
15. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
16. Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
17. Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
18. Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan
19. Goth by Otsuichi
20. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
21. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
22. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
25. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
26. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
27. Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz
28. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
29. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
30. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
31. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
32. Wake by Lisa McMann
33. Undone by Brooke Taylor
34. Terrier by Tamora Pierce
35. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
36. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
37. After by Amy Efaw
38. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
39. Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner
40. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
41. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
42. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
43. Daemon Hall by Andrew Nance
44. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
45. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
46. Possessed by Kate Cann
47. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
48. Cursed by Kate Cann
49. Vacations from Hell by various authors
50. Am I Blue? by various authors

***Heather's List of Books***
1. Illyria by Elizabeth Hand
2. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
3. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
4. Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue
5. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
6. Shine by Lauren Myracle
7. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
8. Hate List by Jennifer Brown
9. Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk
10. The Position by Meg Wolitzer
11. The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni
12. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
13. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
14. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
15. Beautiful by Amy Feed
16. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
17. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
18. Wise Children by Angela Carter
19. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
20. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
21. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
22. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
23. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
24. My Last Days as Roy Rogers by Pat Cunningham Devoto
25. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
26. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
27. Sleep, Pale Sister by Joanne Harris
28. The Color Midnight Made by Andrew Winer
29. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
30. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
31. Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence King
32. The House of Gentle Men by Kathy Hepinstall
33. Embers by Sandor Marai
34. Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
35. Storyville by Lois Battle
36. Fearless Girls, Wise Women, & Beloved Sisters by Kathleen Ragan
37. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
38. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
39. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
40. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
41. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
42. Ireland by Frank Delaney
43. Margarettown by Gabrielle Zevin
44. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
45. The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
46. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
47. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
48. West with the Wind by Beryl Markham
49. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
50. Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
---
The bottom two come from a back-up list Heather made me in case I'd read any on the original list. And since she so sweetly made this back-up list, I'm adding all the remaining ones I haven't read. :D
51. Mister Pip
52. The Kite RUnner by Khaled Hosseini
53. The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
54. Heaven Lake by John Dalton
55. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
56. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
57. The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh

***Heather's List of Fun/Challenging/Interesting Things To Do***
1. Make Tomato-Basil Jam (recipe from Heather)
2. Bake an apple pie from scratch
3. Make a strawberry cake from scratch
4. Grow five things you've never grown before
5. Paint a self-portrait
6. Make a huge granny square blanket (many pieces or one huge one)
7. Learn to knit, if you haven't already
*I'm making this "relearn to knit" because while I taught myself the basics a few years back I don't remember how
8. Crochet something you've never made before
9. Try a food you've never tried before, either make yourself or have someone else make it
10. Grow orchids
11. Learn how to make candles (Heather, you're going to do this with me, right?)
12. Learn origami
13. Finish one scrapbook album
14. Preserve five things for winter
15. Reupholster/refinish one piece of furniture
16. Make cheese
17. Make butter
18. Read a Pulitzer Prize winner
19. REad every book by your favorite author
20. Start keeping a journal of only good things
21. Visit a museum
22. Hike a trail
23. Go to the mountains
24. Go to the beach
25. Go camping
26. Buy yourself something you really want, but wouldn't usually dare buy
27. Get something new that you really need, but have put off
28. Go see a symphony orchestra
29. Go on a shopping spree (doesn't have to be a big one)
30. Get a manicure and a pedicure
31. Go on a picnic
32. Pick a month and blog every day
33. Try NaNoWriMo in November
34. Try NaNoBloMo in November (if NaNoWriMo ain't your cuppa)
35. Write out your (and your husband's) life story for your kids
36. Watch 10 movies you've always wanted to watch
37. Go on a second honeymoon (doesn't have to be anywhere fancy)
38. Try Marzipan
39. Go to a Christmas parade
40. Take a class in something you have always wanted to learn about/how to do
41. Make 20 cards
42. Make Heather an amigurumi fox
*this may be my favorite one of all :D
43. Take 50 pictures every month (can be of anything)
44. Grow a new fruit tree
45. Get a henna tattoo
*I got one at the Renaissance Festival last year and I totally want to get another one
46. Get a massage
47. Throw a surprise party
48. Take a cooking class
49. Get a makeover
50. Make everyone you love a least one present this year
---
And because she so sweetly made me bonus ones, I'm including them. :D
51. Have fresh flowers in you house at least once a month
52. Take a day (or half day if you have a hard time doing it) off every month to do something for yourself
53. Read 20 graphic novels you've never read before
54. Learn a new crochet stitch
55. Do 5 crafty projects a month
56. Try 5 new recipes a month
57. Write a poem
58. Write a song
59. Learn a musical instrument
60. Make Apple Cinnamon Jelly (recipe from Heather)

***Ana's List of Books***
1. The 10PM Question by Kate De Goldi
2. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
3. Paper Towns by John Green
4. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
5. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
6. Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt
7. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
8. Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
9. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
10. Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
11. Possession by A.S. Byatt
12. Cold by Bill Steever
13. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
14. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
15. Among Others by Jo Walton
16. What Good Are the Arts? by John Carey
17. Temeraire by Naomi Novik
18. Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
19. Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay
20. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers
21. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
22. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
23. Kraken by China Mieville
24. Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
25. The Magician's Book by Laura Miller
26. Woman by Natalie Anglier
27. The Odd Women by George Gissing
28. Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
29. Alas, Poor Lady by Rachel Ferguson
30. Consequences by E.M. Delafield
31. Passion by Jude Morgan
32. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
33. Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons
34. Love by Toni Morrison
35. No Name by Wilkie Collins
36. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
37. Atonement by Ian McEwan
38. Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
39. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
40. The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
41. Fledgling by Octavia Butler
42. The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson
43. The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
44. There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
45. Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith
46. Gifts/Voices/Powers by Ursula Le Guin
47. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
48. Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank
49. Emma by Kaoru Mori
50. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

***Ana's List of Songs***
1. Vesuvius by Sufjan Stevens
2. Edward is Dedward by Emmy the Great
3. About Today by The National
4. Heads Roll Off by Frightened Rabbit
5. Ocean Breathes Salty by Modest Mouse
6. No Key, No Plan by Okkervil River
7. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Honey
8. Passing Afternoon by Iron and Wine
9. I Feel Like the Mother of the World by Smog
10. Where the Birds Always Sing by The Cure
11. O.K. With My Decay by Grandaddy
12. Go Long by Joanna Newsom
13. Tear in Your Hand by Tori Amos
14. Virus by Bjork
15. Thickets by Patrick Wolf
16. The Butcher by Owen Pallet
17. Rambling Man by Laura Marling
18. Behold! The Nightmare by The Smashing Pumpkins
19. Friends as Lovers by Zwan
20. Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith
21. Let Down by Radiohead
22. Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie
23. Lost Verses by DEath Cab for Cutie
24. Uncle Joe by Red House Painters
25. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
26. Tonight We Fly by The Divine Comedy
27. Summer On the Westhill by Kings of Convenience
28. Finish Line by Fanfario
29. Listzomania by Phoenix
30. Njosnavelin by Sigur Ros
31. Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town by Pearl Jam
32. The Only Living Boy in New York by Simon and Garfunkel
33. Somewhere There's a Feather by Nico
34. Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend
35. Take You on a Cruise by Interpol
36. I See a Darkness by Johnny Cash (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy cover)
37. Samson by Regina Spektor
38. The Jeep Song by The Dresden Dolls
39. Instant Street by dEUS
40. Lady of the Flowers by Placebo
41. The Owl and the Tanager by Sufjan Stevens (Live in Gateshead)
42. The Bleeding Heart Show by The New Pornagraphers
43. Caring is Creepy by The Shins
44. My Lady Story by Antony and the Johnsons
45. Neighborhood #2 (Laika) by The Arcade Fire
46. Lost Cause by Beck
47. Wrapped Up in Books by Belle and Sebastian
48. Maria's Little Elbows by Sparklehorse
49. Cold Winter by Malcolm Middleton
50. Killing All the Flies by Mogwai

***Kara's List of Books***
1. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
3. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
4. The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
5. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling*
6. Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro
7. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
8. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
9. The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett
10. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
11. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
12. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
13. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins*
14. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger*
15. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
16. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
17. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
18. Native Son by Richard Wright
19. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
20. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
21. Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding
22. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
23. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
24. Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
25. Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan
26. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
27. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
28. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
29. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
30. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
31. Pet Sematary by Stephen King*
32. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
33. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
34. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
35. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
36. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
37. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
38. The Green Mile by Stephen King
39. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
40. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
41. Jemima J by Jane Green
42. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
43. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut*
44. The Firm by John Grisham*
45. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
46. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair*
47. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
48. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
49. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams*
50. Holes by Louis Sachar*
(*Indicates books I have already read. But instead of crossing them off immediately, I've decided to reread each of them.)

***Kelly's List of Canadian Books (Authors and/or Setting)***
1. The Romantic by Barbara Gowdy (I love Gowdy. She is an auto-read.)
2. The Weird Sister by Kate Pullinger (It’s about witches... She has never written anything like it since!)
3. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (A classic you may have all ready read...)
4. The Birth House by Ami McKay (Takes place near where I live.)
5. All Families Are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland (This book is just so strange that it is wonderful...)
6. The Girls by Lori Lansens (This book was a fresh take on relationships that you don’t generally see.)
7. The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (Fantasy... The list looked strange without him!)
8. Jolted by Arthur Slade (I don’t even know what to say about this book. It is one of my favourite YA books ever!)
9. Turtle Valley by Gail Anderson – Dargatz (From the book description: ‘Part ghost story, part mystery, part romance, the novel transcends these genres and carries its readers into new territories of forgiveness and acceptance of the difficult choices we all must make in finding our way through life and love.’ )
10. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (This book was a bit strange. It got a lot of attention when it came out.)
11. Ghost Rider by Neil Peart (Non-fiction. Even if you don’t like the band, I am determined to prove this book is worth reading!)
12. Madame Zee by Pearl Luke (I am not sure what to say about this book.)
13. The Outlander by Gil Adamson (Chris also read this and enjoyed it.)
14. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan (Set in Niagara Falls and really good historical fiction.)
15. Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb (Not set in Canada, but Canadian author!)
16. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (First book in the Women of Otherworld Series.)
17. Cool Water by Diane Warren (This book is really good and went over really well when it was released.)
18. Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue (I simply like this better than Room, her famous book. I guess I just prefer historical fiction...)
19. Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright (Historical fiction.)
20. The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce (Sort of set in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotian author, though.)
21. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (All sorts of awesome!)
22. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Dystopian)
23. The Republic of Love by Carol Shields (Anything by Shields is good, actually. It’s been ages since I read anything by her!)
24. Kit’s Law by Donna Morrissey (Captures the east coast of Canada very well.)
25. Mercy Among the Children by David Adam Richards (I am afraid I read this book about 10 years ago and don’t entirely remember why I love it, but I know I did!)
26. Icefields by Thomas Wharton (I really did not go into this book expecting to enjoy it as much as I did...)
27. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson (I love Lawson’s writing!)
28. From Bruised Fell by Jane Finlay – Young (I stumbled upon this one time, really enjoyed it, but I still don’t think the author has written anything else...)
29. Heave by Christy Ann Conlin (Set in my neck of the woods.)
30. Saints of Big Harbour by Lynn Coady (Another book that captures the East Coast well.)
31. Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King (This book is just, well, random...)
32. This is My Country, What’s Yours: A Literary Atlas of Canada by Noah Richler (Best way to see Canada.)
33. Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam (Interconnected stories. Actually very different than most of the other books on this list.)
34. The Princes of the Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet (Fantasy...)
35. The Gravesavers by Sheree Fitch (Also set in Nova Scotia.)
36. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald (I remember when this was on Oprah. She is from Nova Scotia, so I was a bit excited!)
37. Galore by Michael Crummey (Newfoundland. He’s a great writer!)
38. A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore (Gothic novel that I just recently read for R.I.P. VI based on Eva’s recommendation.)
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49.
50.

***Rich's List of Books***
1. The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
6. Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer
7. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
8. The Passage by Justin Cronin
9. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
10. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
11. Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
12. A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky
13. Life in Cold Blood by David Attenborough
14. A Brief Tour of Consciousness by V.S. Ramachandran
15. Sleepless by Charlie Huston
16. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer
17. Bedbugs by Ben Winters
18. A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
19. Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation
20. Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn
21. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
22. Flush by Carl Hiaasen
23. A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo
24. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
25. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
26. The Sex Lives of Cannibals by Maarten Troost
27. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
28. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

***Eva's List of Non-fiction Books***
1. Uncle Tungsten's Memoir by Oliver Sacks
2. News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. A Midwife's Tale by Laura Thatcher Ulrich
4. A Human Being Died that Night by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
5. The Far Traveler by Nancy Marie Brown
6. My Mother's Wedding Dress by Justine Picardie
7. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Wellen Levine
8. Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum
9. Shooting the Boh by Tracy Johnston
10. Complications by Atul Gawande
11. Samba by Alma Guillermoprieto
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

***Eva's List of Documentaries***

***Jean's List of Creative Endeavors***

***Renay's List of Multimedia Goodies***

***Carl's List of Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi Books***

Yep, that's a lot of stuff to read, watch, listen to, do, etc. However, this is not a stressful sort of to-do list, but it's antithesis. I am going to revel in completing each and every one of these items. So many of these items have me downright giddy with excitement. And sure, some of the things on these lists scare the living crap out of me. And yet somehow, in this context, I think I'm going to having facing up to those fears. I know I said it earlier, but I just have to say it again--THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH each and every one of you who agreed to participate in my project. I love you all!

we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

2011-11-10T08:27:00.000-05:00

Yeah, who am I kidding--like there's ever anything "regular or scheduled" around here. Haphazard all the way. But I had planned on finally posting about my mega-project today.

Yeah, but upon finding treasure in our mailbox this morning, that post will just have to be postponed...because I just have to share...

Is that not the cutest thing ever?!!! Created by my incredibly talented cousin-in-law/friend (with friend being the really important part). Seriously, is it any wonder that Jean is a constant source of creative inspiration for me?!! This is one of her latest endeavors--she's been making these beanie baby mutants. Here are some of her other incredibly awesome creations. Is she not just amazingly talented?!! And you know what--her heart of gold surpasses her talent, and damn, is that saying something!

(I haven't yet come up with a name for my little elefly/butterphant...I'm waiting for her/him to reveal it to me.)

good stuff...

2011-11-09T16:28:00.002-05:00

...I may just have The. Sweetest. Mom. on the planet. She called a little while ago, and asked me if tomorrow or Friday would be better for her and Dad to come up so she could polish the hardwood floors in the bedrooms. I tried to argue with her, but well, it's no secret in this family that it's from her that I inherited my stubborn streak. "Mom, there's no way I'm going to ask my 70-year-old mother to drive three hours up here to polish my floors!" Her reply, "You're not asking. And I don't want to think about how hard it would be on you to do them yourself. Look, your pain is not your fault." At which point, I fought back the tears and asked her what they'd like to eat while they were here.

...Decided to go ahead and get a bit of a head-start on the quarterly reports today. The kiddos still have things to finish up tomorrow for this first quarter so I couldn't actually complete them, but I made a pretty darn good dent in them. And that makes me a happy girl!

...Three boys on a bag.

...It's Criminal Minds night. And I shall squeeze in some crocheting while I watch. Good x 2.

...I *finally* finished a book this month. Jericho Season 3 Civil War. Yep, enjoyed it. Though I couldn't recommend it to anyone who wasn't really familiar with the TV series. And being an enormous fan wouldn't hurt either. :)

...While I still don't have all the "data," I think I'm about to post about my newest whopper of a project. I simply can't hold it in any longer. :P I don't imagine anyone else will be terribly excited about it, but that's okay--I'm excited enough for the whole world! :D

...Ana has started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. Of course, I will be heartbroken if she doesn't end up loving it like I do. (Just kidding, Ana. Mostly anyway. :P )

...We have an install date for our new carpeting, which is the last big hurdle before putting the house on the market. And it totally doesn't hurt that it's only costing us about half what we thought it was going to!

...Am starting to feel a bit excited about Christmas--was so worried that I just wasn't going to this year, and well that simply would have sucked.

...Just so stinkin' cute. (Not the best photo, but I had to take it through the window.)

on the hook...

2011-11-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

So I finally sat down and made a list of all the gifts I wanted to get made for Christmas this year. (Well, not counting the "kitchen" gifts--haven't gotten that far yet.) Anyway, said list comes in with 38 gifts still needing to be made. Sadly, I honestly can't see that happening, so adjustments will be made as the time continues ticking away. But I did spend a great deal of time crocheting this weekend...and even managed to finish a couple of things.

Yep, another farmers market bag. This one for one of my sis-in-laws.

A hat for one of my brother-in-laws. (Thank you to my adorable model.)

And while this is far from a finished gift, it may be the progress I'm most happy about. I've been wanting to make Annie a soft, snuggly throw for her reading chair ever since we redid her room this summer. And I knew just how I wanted it to look. But the problem came when I couldn't find any thick black chenille yarn like I wanted. I finally thought I'd found some, and it was even on sale, so I immediately ordered it. Trouble was, it was a much lighter weight than I thought. So the throw I'd had in mind was out. But I figured I could easily come up with a plan B. Well, I was wrong about the "easily" part. First idea I came up with just wasn't cutting it. Second idea was a bit better, but still not at all what I wanted. But in one of those "third time's the charm" instances, I think I've come up with something I like. (Not that this photo does it justice. How do people take such great pictures for their etsy shops and such?!!) I'm really hoping this baby will be ready to make it under the Christmas tree this year. We'll see.

How about you? Making any/many gifts this year? And are you in better shape than I? (If so, try not to rub it in too hard, okay? :P

(Oh, and sorry about the cheesy title.)

we seized...

2011-11-03T19:57:00.000-04:00

There just hasn't been enough "seizing of the day" around here lately. Not nearly enough. But yesterday, the younger monkeys and I seized. We blew off the stuff we were "supposed to be doing" and did what wanted--we headed out to the local nature park and spent a couple hours just goofing off and enjoying an unseasonably warm fall day.

Yeah...there really needs to be more seizing around here...

I smiled...

2011-11-02T20:17:00.000-04:00

...when Annie not only came home from her Library Teen Advisory Board meeting in high spirits (she'd had a really down day), but related this amusing story. One of the events the library is sponsoring next year is fashion show in coordination with the local Goodwill store. The teen librarian asked for volunteer models, and apparently a few kids thought it would be "gross" to wear clothes from the thrift store. Yeah, whatever. Anyway, when Annie said she'd be happy to do it, the woman said, "Oh good, Annie. I was really hoping you'd do it because you have such a fun, unique style." She went on talking before Annie had a chance to tell her that 99% of her clothes really *do* come from thrift stores. :)

...at the sweet joy in Gray's voice as he sat alone in the living room reading one of his brother's Garfield books. "Oh Garfield, you never fail to make me smile," was uttered with what could only be interpreted as true love.

...when I got to read Chris's NaNo chapters so far. OMG. I am so in love with his book so far...I swear I'm not going to want him to take the weekend off from writing. In just two days I think I've become a junkie and will go through withdrawal without my morning fix. :P

...when I finally got to crack open the cover on the Jericho: Season 3 Civil War graphic novel last night. Of course, along with making me smile, it also made me sad because I so wish that show had lasted.

...when Aldo jumped up on the table trying to get at Gray's waffles. Okay, so I really shouldn't be smiling at a cat on the kitchen table (and I didn't allow her to stay), but her waffle obsession totally cracks me up.

...when I realized how very little of the leftover Halloween candy I've eaten.

a bit of rambling to get me restarted...

2011-11-01T08:51:00.000-04:00

November 1st. First day of a new month sounds like a good time to jump back into this blogging thing, doesn't it? Though I *really* must find a way to change the messages I send myself inside my own head. I'm fairly sure that when I restarted with "Still Nothing..." I promised myself that it had to come with less self-induced stress. Less guilt over how many blogs I can and can't get read any given day. That didn't happen. Anyway...time to try again.

Well, October was nothing if not busy. Halloween, Gray's birthday, Baker's birthday, doctors' appointments galore, homeschooling stuff, public schooling stuff...you know, the usual stuff of life. But it also saw us jump into "sell this house" mode in overdrive. We've spent the past 3 1/2 weeks working our butts off to get this house into shape. We've painted, we've ripped up carpeting, we've put the vegetable and flower gardens to bed, we've trimmed trees and bushes, and mostly we've packed and moved tons of stuff to a storage unit. Probably close to a third of our furniture and possessions are now elsewhere. Including over a hundred boxes of books.

Of course, all this physical labor is a positive thing. The sooner we can move, the better. As melodramatic as it sounds, my sanity depends on it. We're almost done with the things we need to get done...and most certainly will be by the time the new carpeting is installed in a few weeks. Then this baby goes on the market.

All this labor has not been kind to my body though. I've not quite got the hang of living with fibromyalgia yet. Hell, I'm nowhere close. And I really think I need life to slow down a bit so I can get on with taking responsibility for managing this condition. On the bright side, pain takes away my appetite for the most part (of course, the things I do crave are those bad-for-me comfort foods). Anyway, I just discovered that I've lost 12 pounds in the past month/month and a half. I don't look any different--12 pounds isn't much difference on someone as big as me--but my pants sure fit differently.

Anyway, I'm so hoping that November is better month for me. Mentally, that is. (Though physically would be nice, too.) I'm sick to death of this awful funk I've been in. But I have a couple of things coming up that have me so. ridiculously. excited. And having wonderful things to look forward to really does help. :) I have a post started talking all about one of these things (I call it "my happiness project" and "my friends project" interchangeably)...I'm just waiting for it to come together a bit more before actually publishing it.

Well, ramble I can do, huh? And I suppose I've done more than enough for one day...

yes, there's still good stuff...

2011-10-04T16:11:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it's just harder to appreciate though. How sad. I think my brain is just a little warped these days. It will pull itself back into shape sooner or later though...I hope it's sooner.

I'm letting anxiety paralyze me lately. It's so hard knowing that the worries that are consuming me are *not* worth making myself miserable over and yet being totally incapable of stopping it all. And the stupid cycle that I find myself in, the seeming overwhelmingness of everything, the guilt I feel over everything that I'm not getting done...*sigh*

The head-start I'd had with homeschooling prep is fast dissipating and as much as I love homeschooling Gray and Annie, there is a certain resentment over how much of my life it seems to eat up. Feeling that resentment makes me feel guilty. I've opened up both google reader and my email a few times over the last several days and felt so utterly overwhelmed that I've just shut them off without connecting with anyone. And of course, the more emails I fail to respond to and the more posts I fail to read, the guiltier I feel. The one thing I want more than anything right now is to move (I hate our neighborhood so much!), and I have a list of hundreds of little things and big things to do to help that happen. The list leaves me feeling overwhelmed, especially when it seems things get added to it faster than they get taken off. So I feel guilty for feeling so miserable about our living situation when I don't seem to be doing anything to change it. My brain seems to have left town. To the point that it's sort of scary. I know some of it is because I can't sleep. More guilt--if I could just sleep, then I'd be a more productive person.

I know it's counterproductive to hate myself for being miserable, but I can't seem to turn off the ugly voices.

So here we go...a look at how lucky I really am...a glance at the things that are good...a reminder that I have much to be grateful for...

*I put all my canning supplies away until next year. Not that I mind canning. But it is time-consuming. And while I didn't get as much canned this summer/fall as I'd hoped, I did okay:
--12 half pints of strawberry jam
--6 pints of blueberry jam
--6 pints of blackberry jam
--16 quarts of tomatoes
--5 pints of salsa
--35 pints and 7 quarts of applesauce
--1 half pint and 12 pints of apple butter

*Joann.com had their yarn on sale so I ordered some for gifts. It arrived--and there is just something so happy about a box of yarn.

*Today was library day again. Sometimes I think we should just go to the library every day--I just feel less stressed while I'm there.

*We've kept up our Monday night RIP picture book reading since early September. Each of the kids reads a picture book aloud, then I finish up with a chapter from our current read. Last night we started early so we'd have time to watch The Corpse Bride afterwards. Believe it or not, it was the first time I've ever seen that movie. Aren't I pathetic? But hey, better late than never, right?

So how about you? What's your good stuff right now?

more good stuff...

2011-09-27T15:29:00.009-04:00

Because I need to remember there *is* good stuff. Because being on the lookout for it somehow seems to help. Because it's better than bad stuff.

*sigh* I am so not in a good place right now. But I'm working on it. I know things will get better. I do. But in the meantime, I think I need to use this place to help me focus on the good stuff. Because it really is there, even when it overwhelmingly feels like it isn't. So anyway, for the next little while, that may be all that gets posted here.

*Today was library day. As in the day that Annie volunteers at the library, and I get to hang out there for two hours. We load up our bags to make the most efficient use of our time while there, but it's not as productive for me as it used to be since Gray is now present to provide a healthy dose of interruptions. :) Still, this is one of my favorite parts of our school week. You know, because LIBRARIES = AWESOME!

*Fresh picked garden goodness.

And we didn't even plant cucumbers--just a rogue plant from our compost.

*Chris's apple butter! Mmmmm...

*I read three short, incredibly fun, graphic novels over the weekend while we were off "sort of" camping.

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things

Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics

Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom

Annie had picked up these books at a used bookstore many moons ago...and when RIP rolled around, she put them in my pile and told me that I *had* to read them. Thank you, Annie! According to whomever decides these things, these are middle grade books. But they are by no means entirely tame. There's delicious darkness within the pages. And I enjoyed every minute of my time with them, more and more so as I read further along. Enough so that I'm really hoping I can come across the next volume more sooner than later.

*Also while pseudo-camping, I finally finished a farmers market bag for us. You know, just as farmers market season is nearing its close for the year. :P (Thanks for modeling for me, Annie.)

Strong Poison...random thoughts...

2011-09-25T17:27:00.000-04:00

Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers.

Okay, we all know I couldn't "review" a book to save my life. At least I couldn't review one in any sort of polished, intelligent way. So yes, it's back to those random blatherings for me.

*Super quick "what it's about": Woman on trial for poisoning her former lover. Woman happens to be a writer of detective stories and has just written a book with an eerily similar plot. Hung jury. Determined man decides to prove her innocence before the next trial. He engages some interesting characters to help him. And so on.

*If you want to read a real review, you need go no further than Ana's. It is her I have to thank for this delightful RIP read. And it will be her who continues to pile up blame points as I continue to buy the rest of this series!

*By about the end of the second chapter, I was craving a roaring fire in a big stone fireplace, a comfy chair, a fuzzy blanket to wrap up in, and a big mug of tea. A kitty on the lap wouldn't have hurt either. Yeah, it was just one of those completely comfortable reads. Not quite comfortable as in light and airy, if that makes any sense. I mean, in a sense it was, but at the same time there was plenty to sink one's teeth into, plenty to keep the mind active...while still giving one the feeling that this book was an old friend.

*I was completely taken by surprise by how much this book charmed me. It's not that I expected something stodgy or dense, but I was caught off guard to find myself chuckling aloud on more than one occasion. And the language! Oh my...totally charmed. I can't put my finger on *what* exactly it is that I adore so much about her way with words, but I often just found myself reading passages over again just for the sheer joy of it. Some of it is likely that delightful way of the British, but I'm sure much of it is just pure talent on Sayers' part.

*Rich has decided that he really wants to read this book...and it always makes me giddily happy when we both read the same book. While we're both avid readers, we probably overlap books well less than 10% of the time...so I appreciate the ones we really get to talk about all the more. :)

*I love Miss Climpson. Love her. Love her. Love her.

*Confession: While I'm really, really, really happy I finally read this book, there is a teeny part of me that still bristles at the fact that I didn't start at the "beginning" of the series. :P And since it was you, dear Ana that turned me into such a rebel, I'm counting on you to remind me which book it is that I need to get next.

good stuff...

2011-09-22T09:53:00.000-04:00

While it may be premature to say that I've vanquished the self-pity for good, I can say that I'm feeling much better mentally today. And there are just so many things I have to be thankful for...you know, the good stuff.

*After I hit the publish button yesterday, I sort of regretted it. Who wants to let others see them wallowing in self-pity, right? I mean, I was wallowing, but did I really want my friends to see it. Thing is, no one told me to snap out of it. Instead I got supportive comments and emails...and yeah, ended up feeling loved even in a bad moment. Which just added further proof to what I already knew--I have THE BEST FRIENDS AND FAMILY EVER.

*This post. Ummmm...just wow.

*We're leaving to go camping after school today! :D Why? Not that one needs a reason, of course. But in this case it's because my "baby" is turning 9 this weekend! 9-years-old? Seriously? Yeah, time has yet to slow down. Guessing it's never going to. But anyway. Camping was Maxidoodle's request for his birthday weekend, so camping it is. Not just any camping though--it has to be at the place Rich has taken the munchkins the past couple years over spring break. So we're headed for Delaware. Unfortunately, their weather forecast is calling for nothing but rain the entire time...but we'll see how it goes. I've packed a humungous bag of books and some crocheting and some cross-stitching (which I have done in years) and only a very little bit of school work. I plan on using this time to refresh. Yeah, sounds soooooooo good.

*Pinterest. So I resisted joining for a few months, and was rather proud of myself for doing so. :P But then darling Heather started talking about how much she loved it and well, my resistance went right out the door! But I'm so very, very glad it did! I *love* this place!!! It's a happy place. It's so fun to go to your personal boards and see nothing but wonderful things that inspire you! And of course, it's fun to look at others boards and see what inspires them, too. :D

*Ana's done! I'm just this massive ball of happy for her!!! As in, every time I think about it my cheeks start hurting a little because it's hard to wipe the smile off my face! :D

*Despite how draining it is, and despite the fact that the head-start I made for myself in planning and prep is soon going to be gone, homeschooling really is still going pretty smoothly this year. Mornings are possibly the easiest they've ever been in getting everyone ready to go, because this year times are staggered. And because Max usually wants to buy his lunch...expensive, but wow, what a difference it is not have to pack lunches most days.

I know if I sat here longer, I could think of many more things to add to this list. In other words, I have plenty to smile about, and today I am feeling grateful. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

pardon me while I feel sorry for myself...

2011-09-21T10:57:00.000-04:00

As I stepped into the shower this morning, I realized I needed to shave my legs because I was going to wear shorts today. That simple realization sent me into a flood of tears. It wasn't because I hate shaving my legs or anything, it was just that it was one. more. thing. to. do. When it hit me that I was crying over something so pathetically stupid, it dawned on me (for the hundredth or so time) that things have to change.

Ahhh, but there's the problem. I know things have to change. I even have a doctor's "prescription" for changes I need to make to help me learn to manage my new life with fibromyalgia. I must follow an exercise plan of brisk walking. Check. I must get at least seven hours of sleep every night. Huh? I must reduce the stress in my life. Double huh?

I understand that these things are essential for managing this condition. And I keep telling myself that I will get the hang of this. I will learn to pace myself. I will learn to take a break when I need to. I will learn to let go of some things.

But it's just not happening.

The fact of the matter is that for the past couple weeks the PAIN HAS BEEN WORSE THAN EVER AND HAS BEEN RIDICULOUSLY UNRELENTING and to make it worse, I KNOW IT'S IN GOOD PART MY OWN DAMN FAULT BECAUSE I JUST CAN'T GET THIS NEW LIFE FIGURED OUT!!!!

The thing is, I know for a fact that I'm far from the only person who has 5,043 obligations. Everyone may have different balls that they're juggling, but most of us are juggling a hefty amount. So why do I feel like I'm the only person who can't keep them all in the air?!! How is it that other people seem to make it look so easy?

Housecleaning is the ball I tend to let fall first, and I can live with that. At least for a while...but it eventually overwhelms me and leaves me feeling more stressed than ever. Second ball that usually falls is my friends...and you know what, that is simply unacceptable. Yes, I get stressed when I see the google reader number inching endlessly upward. But even worse are the unanswered emails, the cards that don't get made and mailed, the packages that sit for literally months waiting to get to the post office, etc. And the failings don't end there...

So I'm begging you, please tell me how you do it. From the simplest organization tricks to your best time-savers...please share!!!

(And btw, thank you for listening to my ridiculous bout of self-pity.)

2011-09-16T22:37:00.000-04:00

The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss and illustrated by Nate Taylor.

Upon reading Carl's review of this amazing little book, I immediately had to hop over to my library's website to see if they had this book. Lucky for me, I was able to order it from one of the county branches. But even though I've now had it for a week, it wasn't until this evening that I was able to crack it open. But my. oh. my. was it ever worth the wait!

I'm impressed that Carl was able to review this book in the first place. He captured it perfectly. And it couldn't have been easy. Because this book is so deliciously deceptive.

Honestly, I can't add anything to what Carl already wrote so wonderfully. But I just had to say how much I adored this book. Adored it. Adored it. Adored it.

And yeah, perfect for RIP.

one week down...

2011-09-14T09:26:00.000-04:00

The first week of school has officially been put to rest. To be honest, I'm amazed at how smoothly things went for Gray and I during his first ever week of homeschooling. He's a bit more exhausting than Annie ever was for a variety of reasons. Okay, more than a bit. But at least I am now confident that we can really make this work.

A few shots from his first week:

something missing...

2011-09-13T11:06:00.000-04:00

It hit me the other day just how much I missed having picture books be a part of my daily life. I'm not sure when it happened really, but I guess it was to be expected since "my babies" are far from being babies anymore.

But that doesn't mean we really have to say goodbye to picture books forever. I decided that RIP was the perfect time to reintroduce them, so each week I'm grabbing a few from the library. To be honest, I had no idea how the munchkins were going to react...was I going to get eye-rolling from Annie combined with a chorus of moans from the boys? Thankfully, I didn't. In fact, there wasn't a single complaint to be heard.

First up was Ollie's Halloween by Olivier Dunrea. The story? Well, this is definitely aimed at the very young, and we didn't get much from it. But that mattered not one bit. Because all of us were completely charmed by the artwork. Adorable as freakin' adorable can be. The sort of cuteness that has one wanting to reach through the pages and hold the characters in one's own hands. :) I wish I could have found images on-line to share, but if you can get past Max's goofy face, maybe you can get at least a tiny idea of what it's like from the book cover.

Annie read Annie Was Warned by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. A bit more of a story to this one...a girl who is warned not to go out of Halloween night but chooses to anyway. Again, I'm guessing that the story would be much more appreciated by a younger set. But also again, the art was enough to make us glad we read it.

Monster Mischief by Pamela Jane, with illustrations by Vera Rosenberry, was our favorite by far! Yet another book with awesome art, but this one had us interrupting the story with comments, had us laughing, had us enjoying the rhythm of the story. This was one of those picture books I'd like to own ...simply because it made me happy. :)

tidbits...

2011-09-11T13:40:00.000-04:00

*Great first half-week of school all-around. Annie likes her classes. Max said it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. :P And his teacher called just to let us know that he's adjusting to fourth grade wonderfully--"He's great at following directions and listening. He works extremely well with others. And he's just an incredibly sweet kid." Awwww...way to melt a parent's heart. And Gray, the one I was most apprehensive about, did wonderfully! Better than I could have asked for.

*My week ran soooooo much smoother than I'd anticipated. I was really worried that homeschooling two, plus the requirements that go along with active participation in Max's schooling would be more than I could gracefully juggle. I know that there will be weeks (probably many of them) that won't be as bump-free, but I'm so grateful for the start we had. It gives me hope that we can all manage this.

*The work it took to make this week go smoothly (not just lesson-planning, but meal/snack/packed lunches planning and execution, canning, scheduling of outside stuff, etc.) took its toll on my body. By Friday evening I was so physically miserable I just wanted to crawl in a cave. I've not yet learned how to pace myself. How does one do that? Seriously, how? *sigh* And of course, there was loads of cooking to do (partly for the week ahead), cleaning to catch up on, more lesson-planning, laundry, etc.--you know "life"--to get done this weekend. Sleep, as usual, is evasive. All this leaves me currently hating my body...and my body hating me. But I know there's a learning curve here, and over time I'll manage to make what I can better and to accept what I can't. Life is always a work in progress, right?

*Possibly the most amusing/most not-amusing thing to happen this past week occurred last night. We'd all settled in to do a little RIP viewing. After much debate (mostly involving the boys try to convince us to watch movies that are way too gory), we decided to try out an episode or two of Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes. We successfully made it through the first episode and were about to start the second, when from outside we heard Bacon barking/whining. It was obvious that something was wrong with him...and well, all it took was opening the back door to find out what it was. Silly dog went and got himself sprayed by a skunk. :(

Rich whipped up some "skunk shampoo" and Annie helped give the goofball a bath.

*Now that I've gotten over the back-to-school-end-of-summer funk, I'm starting to enjoy all those signs of fall. Geese honking away on their way south, goldfinch feeding on the coneflower seeds, even the first leaves starting to change.

off to a good start...

2011-09-08T18:30:00.000-04:00

I sort of feel like I'm cheating saying that I've finished my first three reads for RIP. I was all but about fifty pages through the first book before RIP started, and the second two are mangas. But already I'm feeling the huge loss of "fun reading" time now that school has started, so I'm just going to take what I can get.

Abandoned by Cody McFayden was my first RIP read, falling in that suspense/thriller type category. This is the fourth book in this series featuring Smoky Barrett. Even at book four, this series has not lost its touch. And by "touch," I mean the ability to totally creep me out and leave me feeling completely unsettled. Every book leaves one feeling as if they know this group of FBI agents even better than before. None are perfect. In fact some of their flaws are hard to get past, and yet these people are all the more real because of them. And yeah, I do like them. But the stories...whoa. Think Criminal Minds on steroids. Seriously, they are that disturbing. So what does it say about me that I get so sucked into these books, that I absolutely never want to put them down. I don't know--after much pondering, I still haven't figured it out. All I know is that I can't wait until the next book is available. :)

Higurashi When They Cry, the Abducted by Demons arc, was disturbing in its own way. These two books cross genres--they are a mystery and/or a horror story and/or supernatural. And that is part of what makes them so fun. It depends on how you read them. The ambiguity is enticing, and it leaves one wondering what it is that is really going on. Is there a curse? Are the residents of a small Japanese town really committing murder? Is the narrator simply going insane? You read them and decide. Annie sort of forced these on me. :P But I'm not at all sorry that she did.

So, where am I heading from here for RIP? Well, I've started (or should I say restarted) reading Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers, though my decreased reading time has only allowed me to get about three chapters in. And thanks to Carl's review, I put The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed on hold at the library and was able to pick it up today. Am giddily excited to crack it open! And who knows, maybe this weekend we can even make time for a spooky flick.

Oh, before I forget yet again...could anyone tell me if The Book of Lost Things would be appropriate for RIP? Or is more of a Once Upon a Time kind of book?

and a second first day of school...

2011-09-07T19:26:00.000-04:00

So today was the start of new school year for Max. I can't even quite explain how heartbreaking it was sending him off on that bus this morning. I mean, he's my baby! And yes, he's 8-years-old and starting 4th grade so it's not like this is the first time sending him off. But somehow, having him the only one heading off to public school this year just made it hurt all the more. And it didn't help that he really didn't want to go. At all. See for yourself:

These were the absolute best I could do. Thing is, he doesn't want to be homeschooled, so feeling guilty about that is useless. He's not one of those kiddos who absolutely loves school...but he doesn't hate it nearly as much as he sometimes pretends to. I really think the low spirits this morning had more to do with the end of summer than with an absolute dreading of school. There was no fighting, no tantrums, nothing like I became accustomed to with Gray. It was just plain old sadness.

The good news though--he came home happy and even admitted that it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. (Though he wasn't thrilled to get both math and reading homework on the first night. :P )

And it was not only Gray's first day of school, but it was his first day of homeschooling ever. Obvious from these first-day-of-school photos, he was not nearly as upset as his little brother:

To be perfectly honest, as happy and excited as I was to be starting this journey with him, I was also more than a bit apprehensive. Gray can be...well, how shall I put this...obstinate...and argumentative...and horrendously pessimistic. But I needn't have worried, as we had absolutely the best day imaginable! He was upbeat and hard-working and fun to be around. (Having one's beagle and one's blanket surely doesn't hurt.)

I'm not silly enough to think every day will go this well, but it was wonderful to get off on the right foot!

*****
And in other news...Gray got his stitches removed today. One would think this would be good news, but I'm sorry to say Gray came out of there feeling worse about his leg than he has in days. :( His doc told him that it was nowhere near healed yet and that he was going to have to remain on alert taking great care not to have anything hit that spot or it would burst right open as if it had never been stitched to start with. He glued it and put on some steri-strips, hoping that will get him another four or five days worth of healing in. I understand that he wanted to make sure that Gray was careful, but oh my. The poor kid is practically back to being as upset about it as he was when he first got home from the hospital.

*****
Also managed to turn this lovely goodness from our garden (with the addition of an onion, some cilantro, and limes)

...into two pints of canned salsa plus a nice size bowl to eat fresh.

So all in all, a busy productive day. And overall, a pretty good one.

happy new year...

2011-09-06T17:43:00.000-04:00

Jean has talked about how her life has tended to revolve around the school-year as opposed to the calendar year. And it's prompted me to just embrace the notion. I mean it is the truth, after all. So today marks the start of the new year!

I'm not sure who was really "happy" about it though. :P

Rich simply couldn't muster up a smile for me as he headed off to start a new semester of classes. (Honestly though, he was just teasing--he actually loves teaching with a passion.)

Annie wasn't happy that her sleeping-till-noon days were over, but she survived. And she even put on an adorable back-to-school outfit despite the fact that this was an at-home day. This semester she has biology and civics here at home and college algebra, literature of horror, and German III at the community college. Not hard to guess what class she's most excited about, is it? :)

Max doesn't head off to 4th grade until tomorrow. And Gray is starting his homeschooling tomorrow as well. Figured it was easier to stagger Annie's and Gray's start days. And as Annie will be off at MCC all day tomorrow, Gray and I will have an uninterrupted day to get started. Well, except for a trip to the doctor to have his stitches removed, that is. :P

In other news, I got to start my "new year" with a visit to the rheumatologist and an official diagnosis of fibromyalgia. While I was still holding out a bit of hope that I was going to get an easier answer (as in something curable), I think I've really spent the past two months coming to terms with it. No, I'm not happy that I have a chronic condition. But if I try to look at the bright side, there *are* some things to be thankful for. For one thing, while some days it might not physically feel like it, there are far worse medical diagnoses out there. This is not life-threatening. Something else I have to be grateful for--I got to live a lot of years before developing it, and many people with fibromyalgia don't get to say that. Anyway, I'm not trying to be all Pollyanna or anything--I know that my life has changed, and I know that there will continue to be some really, really miserable days, but...I'm really trying to stay positive about this. After all, being anything else won't change it, right?

more project progress...

2011-09-05T19:56:00.010-04:00

Two weeks worth. Sorry. :P

Mission: 50x50

#2. Visit 50 new places. Both the state of New Hampshire and the state of Maine are new-to-me places to visit.

(New Hampshire)

(Maine)

#3. Visit 50 different parks. Three new ones to add here.

(Odiorne State Park, New Hampshire)

(Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, Maine)

(Ferry Beach State Park)

#4. Visit 50 museums. I can't believe this is the first one I'm knocking off this list.

(Seacoast Science Center)

#6. Walk/hike on 50 different trails. A lovely hike at Mendon Ponds Park for Rich's birthday.

(The Quaker Pond Trail)

And a beautiful walk on a beautiful day in Maine.

(The Carson Trail)

#10. Support 50 local independent businesses. Popped into Hyatt's-All Things Creative, a local art supply store, to pick up some clay for an art project Gray's going to do for school.

#12. Try 50 new restaurants. Going on a little mini-vacation certainly helped this one.

(Flatbread Company All Natural Pizza in Portsmouth, NH--it may well be my new favorite restaurant of all time, good food and good worldview)

(Margaritas in Portsmouth, NH)

(Maine Diner in Wells, ME)

#38. Read 50 books borrowed from someone else. Actually added on a pile here. I read both The Darker Side and Abandoned by Cody McFayden, both borrowed from Mom. And I read both Higurashi When They Cry, Abducted by Demons Arc, Volumes 1 and 2, both borrowed from Annie.

#39. Read 50 classics. Not sure if anyone else considers this a classic, but since this is my list, I get to decide, right? And I've decided that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles does indeed qualify. :)

#44. Read 50 science/nature books. As with The Hound of the Baskervilles, I read this for school, but I don't suppose that means it shouldn't count, right? Science Detectives: How Scientists Solved Six Real-Life Mysteries by the editors of YES Magazine.

#49. Take pictures of 50 different animals in the wild. I've no idea how I've missed checking things off this one before, because I've definitely taken several pics that would count for this since I started. Oh well. I'll count this one as number 1 checked off the list. So a seagull isn't all that exciting, but it was pretty cool that we saw him catch this crab and proceed to rip it apart and eat it.

Mission: Tackle the TBR Pile

This is not going well. Not well at all. My last update on Aug. 10th had me at 1,199 books. Now I've got 1,252. I'm blaming Chris. :P

And well, that's it--I didn't accomplish anything else off any of my other projects lists. Oh well.

it's that time again...

2011-09-04T22:54:00.002-04:00

Back-to-school time really makes me sad. While summer inevitably ends up just as busy as any other season, there's still a laid-back sort of quality to it. Less things that must comply to someone else's schedule, I guess. Anyway, for the past several years, Carl has softened that back-to-school blow by hosting what may well be my favorite reading challenge of them all. (Unless you ask me during the spring, then I'll likely say it's Once Upon a Time.) Actually, there are many, many things I adore about fall, but RIP is really the thing that cheers me up at a time when I need cheering.

Should some complete stranger stumble upon this and wonder what the heck I'm talking about, do head over to Carl's intro post for this year. I promise you won't be sorry. In fact, that's one of the very best things about Carl's challenges--his welcoming spirit and the sense of community he builds during his challenges. I'm seriously having to bite my tongue here...I want to gush away about what a great friend, great person period Carl is...but he might be getting sick of hearing it. :)

So I know I'm really late in getting up my post here, but I have already started my reading. In fact, I believe all of the Stevens' have begun...because yes, of course we're all participating! And maybe this year I'll be better about actually getting everyone to talk about what they read. Maybe.

Anyway, I love the variety this challenge encompasses: Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. Dark Fantasy. Gothic. Horror. Supernatural. In the past, I've stuck mostly to the horror and supernatural, but this year I'm really hoping to mix it up. In fact, I'd love to try to read something that would fit each of those categories...but well, I really need to stop setting myself goals that I tend not to meet. :P Nope, the only goals I have are to 1.) have fun (easy goal to meet!) and 2.) read as many books and short stories and watch as many movies as I can (even if life gets in the way and the actual numbers aren't that high).

Oooh, oooh...now comes the fun part--making a book pool! My choices are more limited as I've packed up about half of my fiction in our hopefully-we're-moving-next-year preparations. But more limited choices might actually be a good thing in this case.

Abandoned by Cody McFayden. (suspense/thriller)

Higurashi When They Cry Abducted by Demons Arc Volumes 1 and 2 by Ryukishio7 and Karin Suzuragi. (mystery/horror/supernatural)

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. (horror?) And yes, I already went and bought this because of Chris. RIP tends to do a bit of damage to the old wallet. ;)

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. (mystery) I actually started reading this book several months ago, but set it aside. Not because I wasn't enjoying it--in fact, I was loving it. But as sometimes happens, life got in the way. Anyway, I'd really like to start it over and actually finish this time. :)

Sunshine by Robin McKinley. (supernatural?)

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft and Locke & Key: Head Games by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. (horror)

Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures by Bill Schutt. (okay, so this doesn't really fit one of the categories, but I think it still fits the spirit of RIP, right?) Started this book ages ago. About time I finished it.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. (horror/supernatural?)

Carrie by Stephen King. (horror/supernatural) Because I've decided I want to reread all the Stephen King books I've read and finally get around to reading all those I haven't.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. (gothic/mystery?) Wonder how many times I can put this on my RIP list and still not read it. :P

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley. (horror?) I was so excited to see this book on my shelves when I went in search of RIP reads--I'd totally forgotten I had it.

A Soul in a Bottle by Tim Powers. (dark fantasy?)

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. (horror?)

Bliss by Lauren Myracle. (horror/mystery)

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. (horror)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. (gothic/mystery)

Fledgling by Octavia Butler. (horror?)

Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block. (horror/supernatural?)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. (mystery)

Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie. (suspense?)

The Wyvern Mystery by Sheridan Le Fanu. (gothic/mystery)

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. (gothic?)

Nightmares & Fairy Tales: Once Upon a Time... by Serena Valentino. (horror?)

House of Mystery: Room & Boredom by Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham, and Luca Rossi. (horror)

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. (mystery)

Okay, so that's ten times as many books as I'll likely get read. But that's what a pool is for, to have choices, am I right? And of course, the possibility that I'll actually end up reading books not even included on the list (as in books that other people read for RIP and I find myself helpless to resist) is quite strong. As always. And as for the short stories and the films, well, I'll just wait and see what grabs me.

Happy haunted reading! And thank you, Carl, for bringing so much fun to so many people!

feast or famine...

2011-09-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

I swear it seems like when I have no time to post, I have about a hundred posts I want to write. When I actually have time to post, well, there's nothing I feel like babbling about. Does that happen to anyone else? I'm sure it must. I guess on the surface it makes sense--I mean, if there's a lot going on then it seems like there ought to be a lot of fodder for blogging and vice versa. But that really doesn't seem to be the case. The things that are keeping me busy are not the things I feel like blathering on about.

Anyway, we have had a busy couple weeks. Some really good stuff. Some decidedly not-so-good stuff.

Highest on the not-so-good list would be Gray's bike accident. (If you're not in the mood to be grossed out, I suggest skipping the rest of this paragraph.) Last Sunday, Rich and the boys went on a bike ride. They weren't really gone all that long before I get a phone call from Rich saying that Gray had fallen off his bike and we needed to get him to the hospital as soon as possible. I could tell from his voice that it was bad. But then I also knew that it wasn't catastrophic or Rich would have called 911 instead. Anyway, I jumped right in the car and drove the few miles to where they were. Gray was sobbing and shaking and scared to death. Rich told me not to even look at his injury. It was hard to tell how long the laceration was simply because it was so deep it just gaped open into almost an "O" shape. They needed to put in four stabilizing sutures inside and then there were eleven more surface stitches. As bad as it was though, it could have been worse. Oddly enough, he was wearing long pants (not that it's odd for Gray to be wearing long pants--the whole sensory processing disorder thing) and yet the pants were not cut or ripped at all. Maybe the cut would have been no worse had he been wearing shorts, but if he had he would have had to see the injury the whole time. And that was the last thing he could handle. (He couldn't wear his pants home though as there were chunks of fat and tissue stuck on the inside of them. Warned you it was gross.) But what was *really* lucky was the exact place he landed on that handlebar, because had it been on an artery or on his abdomen things would have been considerably worse.

Anyway, it's healing well, as you can see in this recent photo. He'll have a nice scar, of course. And hopefully by next summer he'll even have the desire to hop on his bike again. (At present, he swears he will never ride a bike again.) Poor kiddo.

As for good stuff, we decided somewhat spontaneously to head to Maine for a few days. Well, our hotel was in Maine, but we spent most of the first full day in New Hampshire and then most of the second full day in Maine. The weather was positively scrumptious! Seriously perfect. It took about 11 1/2 hours to get there, when it should have taken 7. This was due to all the flooding from Hurricane Irene--while here we felt no effects from Irene and the coast where we were going felt very little, much of the in between part was devastated. A 120 mile stretch of the New York thruway was still closed and, of course, so were many of the smaller roads, so it was tough to get around it. But we just kept telling ourselves that we were incredibly lucky to have travel delays and traffic jams be our only problem when so many people were truly suffering.

Okay, here's the photo inundation:

Day 1 (total travel day)

The view for much of the day.

Picnic supper at a truck stop. They looked so thrilled, don't they? :P

Okay, this is one of those "you had to be there" moments. Driving down the Massachusetts Turnpike, Rich and I were admiring this lovely great blue heron flying by overhead ahead of us. Seconds later we were bombed. Seriously, I have no freakin' idea how a single bird could have so much to unleash. The worst of it hit the windshield. Wish I could have gotten a picture, but of course Rich had to immediately hit the windshield wipers and use lots of spray to get it off because it was covered. Even in this picture you can't tell that it goes down each side of the car and back the roof. I swear I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. I know--I am easily amused. :) I'm really going to bummed when it gets washed off by the rain because it still makes me smile every time I see it.

Day 2:

Odiorne State Park.

Seacoast Science Center.

A brief swim in the Atlantic at Rye, New Hampshire for Annie and Max. (Gray couldn't because of his stitches.)

Tidal pools in Rye, New Hampshire.

Day 3:

Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine.

Ferry Beach State Park in Saco, Maine...where Rich took Max and Annie swimming in the Atlantic...

and Gray and I went on a photographic nature walk.

So yeah, our little mini vacation definitely qualifies for the good stuff category. Hopefully these last two days of "summer" will add a few more good things to the list. Along with way too much to do to prepare for the first day of school, there's still more laundry to catch up on and canning to do (hopefully both some quarts of plain old tomatoes and some pints of salsa). But I also hope to send a few long overdue emails, join RIP :D, catch up on some blog reading (finally!), hit the farmer's market, and do some just-for-fun reading. Should be a full weekend!

I so hope everyone else is having a truly fantastic weekend!!! And I can't wait to get around to see what you all have been up to. :D

scrap that old list

2011-08-25T08:59:00.000-04:00

Less than two weeks left of summer. The unofficial version, that is. The version that comes to a screeching halt the day that school starts back up. In those days before unofficial summer actually began I made a ridiculous list of summer goals. Not ridiculous as in "I don't really want to get these things done" but ridiculous as in "Who the eff do you think you're kidding proposing that you could actually accomplish all that?!!"

And well, I haven't managed to put much of a dent in that damn list at all. While that upsets me to some degree, it doesn't upset me nearly so much as the fact that most days I simply forgot to appreciate the gift that is summer. I worked too much and played too little. Not that there weren't some fun times...how could I consider Chris's visit as anything other than purely delightful, after all. And this Tuesday, we went on a lovely hike for Rich's birthday, and that was a relaxing respite from the overwhelming crush of school prep I've been fighting through. But my overall impression of this summer is one of painting, school prep, and pain. Not the image I want to carry around.

I *need* to pull out that old cliche and really, truly "stop and smell the flowers." Seriously--need.

So here's my promise to myself: I will take time every. single. day. to do something fun. Something relaxing. Something that puts a smile on my face. Or better yet, a smile in my heart. I will create. I will read for fun. I will play games with the kiddos. I will be outside in the glorious natural world. I will count my blessings.

Yep, those are my summer goals for these waning days before that first proverbial school bell rings.

yesterday I...

2011-08-21T13:11:00.000-04:00

...sincerely missed having Chris around

...took Gray "back-to-school" clothes shopping at the thrift stores...he scored four pairs of comfy pants and ten non-scratchy shirts all for about $50

...pondered for the thousandth time that never-ceasing phenomena of "they grow up too fast"

...celebrated a successful shopping trip with a donut and coffee, just Rich, Gray, and I

...dove back into heavy-duty lesson-planning...this included starting The Hound of the Baskervilles...am loving it so far...even better, I'm guessing Gray will love it as well

...did lots and lots of laundry as I'd blown it off all week while Chris was here

...sadly marveled at just how fast summer is slipping away

...marked my google reader all read...again...*sigh*

...allowed the kiddos to have cereal for supper because no one was particularly hungry

...decadently ate chips and homemade salsa with Rich while we started watching Raid on Entebbe

...crocheted a few rounds on a farmers market bag for myself

...struggled for literally hours to fall asleep...just one of those horrible pain nights

Yep, another day of goods and bads and in-betweens...pretty much how life should be I suppose.

the blessing of friends...

2011-08-19T21:58:00.000-04:00

It's a somewhat sad evening here in the Stevens' home. We had to take Chris to the airport a few hours ago. If last year was any indication, we'll keep feeling the emptiness of his absence for a while. But when you think about it, this is such a happy thing. Not that Chris had to leave, of course. But that he got to come and spend his week with us in the first place. And it just fills me with such overwhelming gratitude to have him in my life. Those people who continue to doubt the validity of relationships formed through the internet just don't get it. And you know, I sort of feel sorry for them. My life would not be the same without the very, very, very dear friends I've made because of blogging, especially, though certainly not limited to, Ana and Chris. That is not an exaggeration. Not even a little.

Anyway, I've sort of gotten off track here. As I have a gift for doing. I really just wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures from this past week.

Okay, so it's blurry, and Chris hated this picture, but what can I say--I *love* it because it just screams "happy!" :D

Mount Hope Cemetery is soooooo beautiful.

Taughannock Falls.

Ithaca--one of my favorite cities ever.

Buttermilk Falls State Park.

Wickham Farms.

And even though this was taken at the airport, I absolutely adore this photo.

the power of doing...

2011-08-13T08:46:00.001-04:00

Maxidoodle is a self-proclaimed soup hater. Matters not that there are hundreds of varieties of soup out there all with their own unique tastes, if it's soup he hates it. Period.

Well, on Thursday I needed to whip up a big batch of minestrone soup. (Rich's Mom is having her other hip replaced on Monday, and we'd been trying to prepare a bunch of frozen meals to help her a wee bit through her recovery. Rich is away delivering them this weekend.) Anyway...I asked Max if he wanted to help me make the minestrone. He was all over that! He loves to help in the kitchen, and the fact that this involved using sharp knives just sweetened the situation in his eyes.

He patiently peeled carrots, chopped onion, sliced celery, and tore baby spinach. And wow, he turned out to be a natural at mincing garlic. (Probably because it was the biggest knife yet.)

He measured and stirred and learned the old adage, "A watched pot never boils."

And when it was done, he *voluntarily* tried it!

His verdict:

Okay, truth be told, he only ate about ten bites of it. But hey, that's nine bites more than he would have eaten otherwise.

Today I'm going to have him help me make soap...maybe then he'll voluntarily use it. :)

amidst the pages...

2011-08-12T19:31:00.001-04:00

My oh my, but has my reading been slow as of late. Life works that way sometimes though, doesn't it? And you know, despite the fact that I haven't spent much time reading this past week, I did manage to finish two books. Of course, that's because I was most of the way through both of them before the week began. ;)

M Is for Magic by Neil Gaiman. I actually started this book of short stories a couple of years ago. But as I am apt to do with books of short stories, I read a few and then got distracted for a few (or more) months, picked it back up and read a few more, got distracted again... The silly thing being that this time around I picked it up and found that the last two stories (or rather one story and one poem) were ones I'd actually read before. I read them again though...because they're both delightful. :) In fact, his poem "Instructions" is one of my all-time favorites and I find I only love it more with every reading. A couple of my other favorites from this book--"Don't Ask Jack" and "October in the Chair." So...what did I think of the collection as a whole? I adored it! Simply adored it. I don't think there was a single story that I felt let down by...and really, how often can you say that about a book of short stories.

Well, turns out I can "almost" say it about the other book I finished this week, too. Another book of short stories, in this case fairy tale retellings. Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue. I did like some of the stories more than others. I'm afraid I can't be much more specific though as I can't remember their names and it was a library book which I already returned. I can say that the more I read by Emma Donoghue, the more I'm convinced I need to read everything she ever wrote. :)

After finishing both of those books, I figured I deserved to start a new fiction read. (Yeah, like I ever seem to need an excuse to start a new book no matter how many I have going. :P ) Anyway, I started The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen, the third in his series featuring Smoky Barrett. I'm only one chapter in, but already I'm hooked. I realize I don't read as many psychological thrillers as I once did, but damn--can this guy write a disturbing, engrossing book!

On the non-fiction side, I've been dipping back into The Householder's Guide to the Universe by Harriet Fasenfest. Oh how I love this book. Yes, I love the kitchen and gardening stuff, but what I really love is her worldview. It's just really nice to pick up a book and just unexpectedly find that someone shares your thoughts on so many things. Sure I expected to find that she loved gardening and canning, etc. But I didn't expect to find a kindred spirit when it comes to how we view our whole economic system. Anyway, I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book, but I'm enjoying it immensely.

And aside from textbooks, the only other thing I've been reading this past week is The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard. I can't thank Ana enough for reviewing this one. I've only read the intro and the first chapter thus far, but let me tell you, it is SO. DAMN. GOOD. I can't for the life of me imagine it not making my top five favorite books of the year. Despite the fact that it is so utterly depressing.

And you? What's the best thing you've read this week?

tidbits of a very random nature...

2011-08-08T10:21:00.000-04:00

Holy crap...and now the first week of August is gone, too. Please slow down summer--you're moving way too fast! It was another week of home improvements around here, but we managed to slip in some moments of fun as well.

*Thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad for coming up and working your butts off again! We wouldn't have gotten half as much done around here this summer if not for both of you! Really, there just are no words adequate enough to expression our gratitude. Love you!

*Thank you, thank you, thank you Ana. You know why. No, I don't have it all figured out...but I actually feel like I'm on the way to happier me now. I love you!

*The biggest project during the past week was getting the living room and hall painted. And it looks fabulous, if I do say so myself. (Unless you look at the baseboards, that is. We did not repaint them because we're going to have the carpet replaced in the spring and would just have had to paint them again. So we'll do it when we pull the carpet out, but before the new carpet goes in.) The walls are a very subtle shade of sage green--but they look anywhere from beige to green to taupe depending on the light. And all the wood trim and the closet and hallway doors are now a crisp white. And damn was there a lot of wood trim! My hand pretty much gave up on me holding a paintbrush before we finished. Now we just have to put the room back together. Will be ever so nice to get all these boxes out of our bedroom, Max's room, the kitchen...

*One night after all the brushes had been washed, we sat down at the kitchen table and played a rousing game of Apples to Apples. So much fun. :)

*Blackberries are my most favoritest berries in the world, and I've been dying to make blackberry jam but haven't been able to get any at the farmer's market. But last Monday as Rich was driving home from work he saw a elderly man sitting by the side of the road selling them. He came and got me and we went and bought the gentlemen out. :D So instead of finishing up the packing of the living room, I spent Monday afternoon making and canning blackberry jam. Six pints of jam with enough left over for a cobbler. :D

*The ridiculously wet summer followed by this ridiculously dry summer has not been kind to many of our plants. Everything from brown rot for our cherry tree to blossom end rot for our tomatoes. (Though I do ~~think~~ hope like hell that we nipped the blossom end rot in the bud and only lost about a dozen tomatoes to it.) Anyway, we've still been enjoying a few fruits of our labor. Lots and lots of jalapenos. And there's a handful of green peppers ready to pick. And if the rest of the tomatoes make it, we'll have plenty for fresh eating and for canning. Can't wait till they start ripening! Made some fresh salsa the other night. The onion, garlic, cilantro, and jalapenos all came from our yard. :) In a few weeks, the tomatoes will, too...and the only thing I'll have to buy will be the lime.

*Before we painted, I let Max have one last day of climbing the walls. ;)

*I am trying very, very hard not to panic over how unbelievably much school planning and prep I have to do over the next few weeks. As I said earlier, please slow down summer!

*We've got this really pretty fungus growing on our compost pile.

*I still haven't gotten much blog reading and catching up done, but I'm trying.

*I've yet to finish a single book this month. *sigh*

*And last, but by no freakin' means least--I am so over-the-top giddy thinking about next week. Why? Because that's when Chris will be here. The only down side--he's not staying nearly long enough!

Yep, that was pretty random.

goodbye July

2011-07-31T11:44:00.000-04:00

I simply can't believe that summer break is half over already. :(
July both flew by in an instant and seemed to last forever. You know how that can be.

Our July seemed to break down into three big categories--sports, health-related issues, and home improvement...

Sports:

*Annie's and Max's soccer seasons lasted through most of the month. So Monday through Thursday evenings were reserved for soccer games. Until this past week, when Max had his end-of-season party on Monday (which we had to plan and execute since Rich was the assistant coach, and the head coach was out of town). Annie had a game Tuesday, and then her end-of-season party Thursday. Max's party was held at the town park, right near the huge playground. Max overdid the enormous spinning tire--after an hour of nearly non-stop spinning he started throwing up. And throwing up. And throwing up... Poor kiddo. And yet I'm fairly sure he didn't learn anything from it. :P

*Gray had basketball camp, and thankfully he had a fantastic time. He's always excited about new things as long as they're far off in the distant future, but as the time to actually start something approaches, his anxiety kicks into full gear. But despite not knowing a single one of the hundreds of kids there, he stuck with it and enjoyed it. (With only one major breakdown.)

*Max and Annie had track camp. This was Annie's third year attending. Max has wanted to go ever since Annie started, but this was the first year he was old enough. I guarantee it won't be his last! Annie had fun, but Max was absolutely in his element!!! By the end of the second day, he was telling us that he wanted to be a track coach when he grew up. :) Oh my gosh, and the track meet at the end of the week--SO MUCH FUN!!! Annie placed fourth in both the long jump and the triple jump, and second in the 200 meters. It was funny--watching her run on that track I couldn't help but marvel at how much she'd changed even from last year. Such long slender legs. And Max, our little track star, placed first in every event he entered (the 400 meters, the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and the pole vault). The 400 meters was the first event, and we were afraid that maybe that would wear him out. But the 100 meters followed immediately after, and he still managed to blow everyone away (despite the fact that none of the other kids in the 100 meters had even entered the 400 meters). As for the pole vault, I really don't have any idea idea how they judged that one, as not a single kid in his age bracket even cleared the lowest setting of the bar (I'm guessing they judged on form and how close they were to clearing it, but I really don't know). Anyway, Max may truly have found his calling. :)

Health-related:

*Both the boys had their 6-month dental cleanings/checkups. And all was well...hooray! Annie also went in that day just to make sure all was well with her newly braces-free teeth, and all was.

*Gray was to his psychologist. Overall, things are going pretty well for him. Of course, knowing that he doesn't have to go back to public school helps immensely.

*Annie saw her neurologist. Her left hand is back in the normal range. And her right hand showed 50% improvement. But despite the good news, he did warn us that she's bound to get worse again once school starts and she's back to writing and typing all the time.

*Rich's knee starting hurting him, and eventually started swelling up quite a bit. The doctor said it was tendonitis. He was supposed to stay off of it as much as possible for a week (definitely no jogging and no basketball with the boys), but with all the work we'd been doing around the house it's proved a little tough to really give it as much rest as he was supposed to. It is improving, just not as fast as we'd hoped it would.

*I kept my promise to Rich, which was that I would go to the doctor if all my physical problems didn't resolve themselves with the end of the school year. My doctor has given me a tentative diagnosis of fibromyalgia. After much blood work, etc., she still thinks that's what's going on. (Along with the fact that I have severe anemia--but that's easily treated.) She's referred me to a rheumatologist to confirm the diagnosis. Though frankly, I'm still holding out hope that the rheumatologist will find that there's something different going on--you know, as in something curable. In the meantime, I'm living in this sort of contradictory state of trying to accept the fact that I will have to learn to live with a chronic illness while still holding out hope that I won't.

Home improvement:

*Rich and I have worked a lot on decluttering and cleaning up the garage, but while a lot of progress has been made, we've still got a long way to go. We did clean out a huge set of storage shelves in our basement. And I've worked a bit on decluttering and cleaning out my little craft/pile-everything-that-I-don't-know-where-else-to-put-it room. It, too, has a long way to go. (Proof that we've been getting rid of tons of stuff can be seen on my 50x50 list--nine overpacked trunk-loads of stuff hauled off to the charity thrift store this month.)

*My parents generously came and stayed with us for five days, and helped us conquer many a project! The guys re-roofed our little toolshed, replaced our broken ceiling fan in the bathroom, fixed the pipe that had burst in our basement, and removed the dead garbage disposal and re-piped the sink. My Dad is a freakin' home improvement guru. :)

*My Mom helped with the big switchover. We moved Gray's bedroom to Annie's old bedroom, Annie's bedroom to the old library, and the library to Gray's old bedroom. Actually what she helped with was the painting. It seems like we painted everything in the house, though we actually only painted one full room (Annie's new bedroom). But we painted parts of Gray's ceiling and we painted tons of furniture. Ugh. But I never ever could have done it all without her help--my shoulders/upper arms/neck won't let me reach high for long at all, and I can't seem to put enough pressure on a roller to get anything close to decent coverage, and my hands can only grip a paintbrush for so long. :/ Anyway, aside from a few more little projects--whipping up a pillow to match the curtains I made Annie, framing another print for Annie's room so we can hang some things on her walls, and sewing up a door panel for Gray's room--we're about done. And the results have made us all very happy. :)

This was Gray's old pigsty of a room:

It is now our new library (we boxed up close to half of our books to get ready for moving):

This was Annie's old bedroom:

It is now Gray's bedroom:

And this was our old library:

It is now Annie's bedroom:

*****
All of the above left little time for the things I enjoy, however...things like reading, crafting, and being online. Hell, I didn't even get much done in the way of school prep, which is so not a good thing. And sadly, I don't think I'll get much of a chance to do any of those things for the next couple of weeks either, as my parents are coming back midweek to help us with a new round of projects. *sigh* Someday I will get to catch up with all of you again. Someday...

on hiatus

2011-07-10T08:36:00.000-04:00

Didn't realize I was going to disappear for a while there, or I would have said something. Like I am now, because my brain is finally accepting the fact that I likely won't be back to blogging until late this month or early next month. And while it doesn't really bother me that I won't be posting, it bothers me immensely that I can't read all my lovely friends' blogs and keep caught up with what's going on in all of your lives.

The stress of the past several months has stepped up a notch. 1.) I finally grabbed the bull by the horns and went to my doctor and we're in the process of trying to find out what's going on with me. (I'll explain later) 2.) We are in overdrive trying to get this house ready to sell next year. 3.) I now have two different curriculums to plan and prepare. And frankly the health issues of #1 don't even allow me to do nearly as much of #2 and #3 as I *need* to be doing.

Anyway, I don't mean to sound complaining, because honestly life is good. I just wanted to say that I miss you all...and I really can't wait to catch up with you all in August!

HAPPY JULY EVERYONE!!!!!

bye-bye braces

2011-06-27T18:33:00.000-04:00

Annie at 3:30 this afternoon:

Annie at 5:30 this afternoon:

over the weekend...

2011-06-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

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!

a week's plus a day's worth of progress...

2011-06-26T09:09:00.001-04:00

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.

happy day ramblings

2011-06-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

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...

why am I posting about pie?

2011-06-21T11:46:00.002-04:00

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?

with all his heart...

2011-06-19T11:55:00.001-04:00

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.

a happy ending...

2011-06-14T12:34:00.003-04:00

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...

summer goals (aka "I obviously hate myself")

2011-06-11T14:38:00.002-04:00

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.

holy crap--I finished a book

2011-06-06T12:11:00.001-04:00

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.

still with nothing of importance

tidbits of a very random nature...

elaborating, #1...

can I cry now...

mini thoughts on the month's reads...February 2012...

home, suite home...

9 things that have me smiling...

a little break...

on a less grouchy note...

just whining...please ignore me...

tidbits...

end of week hodge-podgey wrap-up #2

lookie what I got...

The Fault in Our Stars...*totally* random thoughts...

you'd think I'd learn...

tidbits...

end of week hodge-podgey wrap-up #1

a bit of babble...

mini readings...random thoughts

I have been remiss...

tidbits...

and we're off...

Small Wonder...random thoughts...

the year of just because...

goodbye 2011...hello 2012...

happy everything

projects progress...more on the 50x50

Dear Christmas Season,

project progress...a 50x50 update

day 2...for real...

more of that happiness project...and the start of December Daily...

a good old dose of rambling...

projects progress...a 50x50 update...

one step forward...

and so it begins again...

my happiness project

we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

good stuff...

on the hook...

we seized...

I smiled...

a bit of rambling to get me restarted...

yes, there's still good stuff...

more good stuff...

Strong Poison...random thoughts...

good stuff...

pardon me while I feel sorry for myself...

one week down...

something missing...

tidbits...

off to a good start...

and a second first day of school...

happy new year...

more project progress...

it's that time again...

feast or famine...

scrap that old list

yesterday I...

the blessing of friends...

the power of doing...

amidst the pages...

tidbits of a very random nature...

goodbye July

on hiatus

bye-bye braces

over the weekend...

a week's plus a day's worth of progress...

happy day ramblings

why am I posting about pie?

with all his heart...

a happy ending...

summer goals (aka "I obviously hate myself")

holy crap--I finished a book

The Fault in Our Stars...totally random thoughts...