10 lists

I'm going to attempt a "10" list. Let's go!

10 things I did in March:

1. Went to my cousin's daughter's bridal shower. I used to babysit my cousin's kids all the time, so to know that they are capable of weddings and offspring makes me feel incredibly old.
2. Wished Shane's grandpa a happy 85th birthday. The man can still run on the treadmill and weed his own yard. He is amazing.
3. Went to the funeral of our baby sitter's baby. He was born 9 weeks premature. They are an amazing family. What a terrible trial.
4. Found a new babysitter a mere 2 days after losing our old one. We were sad to move, but have found a great lady who will watch our kids. I think we will be happy there.
5. Went to the Draper Temple dedication. It was something I had looked forward to for a long time, and I was so grateful to be there.
6. Went the whole month without Dr. Pepper. Who knew I could do it? I better get some serious blessings for that.
7. Visited my dad with my niece Lyndsay. Sigh, I wish he didn't have to go through this trial.
8. Went to a play with my mom, two sisters, and a niece. Fun!
9. Went to lunch with a friend from my gymnastics years who I haven't seen since before high school. Her name is Emily, and I have many fond memories of sleeping out on her trampoline and riding bikes to the gas station. It was awesome to see someone who I knew in my gymnastics days. We could hardly eat our lunches because we had so much to say to each other.
10. Got my hair colored. Oooh, it's so dark! I love it. I'll post some pictures one day.

9 people/things I was grateful for:

1. Obama's tax relief. It's always nice to see a few extra bucks on your paycheck, right?
2. That my food storage is coming along nicely. After reading a frightening book at the end of last year, I've been stepping it up and getting more prepared. It feels so good!
3. Hot chocolate. Particularly from 7-11, where they have mini-marshmallows and powdered vanilla. I had to replace the Dr. Pepper with something!
4. My mom for watching my kids while we went to the fateful wedding reception. It was fun to drop the kids off at her house; we live so far away I don't normally get to do that.
5. Shane's mom Vonnay and Phil for treating us to a lovely dinner at Applebee's. Totally unexpected. Extremely pleasant.
6. My cute crocus coming up in my yard.
7. The week of warm spring weather.
8. I finished reading the Book of Mormon. I started in January, and was aiming to finish before Easter.
9. Lent. I think I will keep up the tradition. It makes me feel happy. I'll almost be sad when Easter comes because I have enjoyed it so much.

8 People who made a difference in my life in March:

1. Thomas. He learned how to ride a bike, finally. I am so proud of him! It has been a long time coming.
2. My mother-in-law Vonnay. She is a great example of kindness.
3. My friend Mara.
4. My niece Lyndsay for taking the time to come and visit me. I miss you living nearby!
5. My friend Shelly, who watched my kids for me without flinching when we lost our babysitter.
6. Tricia, another neighbor, who called me out of the blue to ask if she could help watch my kids when we were baby-sitter searching.
7. Our new babysitter. She was a god-send.
8. Shane. For putting up with me. He does so much; I don't know what I'd do without him.

7 things I'm looking forward to:

1. More warm weather.
2. A Sunday off this weekend for Conference.
3. Easter.
4. Thomas being off-track in a few weeks.
5. The end of winter.
6. More runs outside before it gets hot.
7. Eating more banana splits. I'm addicted to them lately. That and tater-tots.

6 things that sucked:

1. I got a ticket for my car windows being too dark a few weeks ago. Who gets pulled over for window tinting? Seriously.
2. Paying $96 to get the old tint off and new put on. Just what I wanted to spend my money on.
3. The fact that I haven't sewn anything in ages. Where did my creative spark go?
4. Missing a girls night with some friends so that I could go to a wedding reception. I wish I could have come!!
5. I've been in the same piano book for a year now. I'm such a slow learner. Thomas will pass me soon, I'm sure.
6. Going to my ob/gyn for the last time. I will miss him a lot. He is such a good man.

5 new songs on my iPod:

1. Jane Says, Jane's addiction
2. Rocket Man, Elton John
3. Crack the Shutters, Snow patrol
4. Glycerin, Bush
5. Bad, U2

4 songs I want on my iPod:

1. Black, Pearl Jam
2. Heart and Soul, Tepau
3. Give a Little Bit, Goo Goo Dolls
4. Can't think of a 4th. Any recommendations???

3 things to do tomorrow:

1. Try and catch the train instead of driving to work. We have been late all week!
2. Go to our elementary school's dedication.
3. Get our carpets cleaned.

2 books I'm reading:

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (not loving this)
2. The Gathering, Anne Enright

1 question I've been pondering:

1. Will I go back to drinking Dr. Pepper????

Further close encounters of the ex-family kind

This is one of those posts that I don't know if I should push the "publish" button on. Part of me wants to put it out there, and another part wants me to write about it and then lay it away somewhere safe. I don't want to write anything I'll one day regret. We'll see.

Remember my chance encounter? Well, we all came face to face this past weekend. Just writing this puts butterflies in my stomach. I won't go into the details of why this situation is the way it is, or how the people involved are related to me, but know that I was once in daily contact with these people. We were supposed to be family. My kids spent a lot of time at their house. I called them when I had a dumb cooking questions. She once bid on a breast pump for me over ebay. You know, special things.

That being said, we all ended up together at a church this past weekend. Someone in the family had gotten married, so Shane and I and my dear mother-in-law Vonnay went to the reception. All was fine and good when we arrived; we couldn't see any cars that looked familiar, and we didn't see anyone when we walked into the reception itself. The bride was beautiful (because they always are) and I took a few pictures for Vonnay. I thought about cake and punch and nut cups.

I could almost feel Harry and Sally (not their real names) (one of my favorite movies, by the way) when they came into the room. Jane, another person who came with Harry and Sally, walked up to me and Shane and hugged us. I was so grateful for Jane and for her integrity, for her willingness to still talk to us despite the estrangement that has overshadowed the relationship with Harry and Sally. My heart started to beat a little faster, and the butterflies began rolling. I figured that I could stay on my side of the room, but a few minutes later I found myself talking to Jane and Vonnay with only a few few feetseparating me from Harry and Sally.

That is when I knew I had to try. Seriously, I could almost hear "Choose the Right" playing somewhere in my head (darn those primary songs). I was supposed to go and talk to them, despite the 3 years that had passed, despite the things that had been said, despite the fact that I ran from them at Sam's Club and wondered if they wanted to run me over. So, my heart beating so hard and fast I thought everyone would see it through my shirt, I walked over and said hello to both of them (I called them "you two." I couldn't even bring myself to say their names.)

I wish I could have heard what they were thinking in their minds. Harry looked a tiny bit receptive, but Sally did not. I told Sally that her hair was cute. Her response, "Thanks. It's been like this for a LONG TIME." She said this with such a surety, such a confidence that I didn't belong in their life, and hadn't, and probably wouldn't, that it almost made me want to run.

To this awesomely receptive comment, I said (while trying to remain calm and friendly and 500,000% more confident than I really was): "Well, it's been a LONG TIME. Anyway....Byeee!!"

And I ran out of the church.

It sounds pretty pathetic as it is. Who cares that I told a family member I liked her hair? But for me, it was a little triumph. It was as close to passing them the peace pipe as I could muster (especially in a church.) I knew I wouldn't be able to make everything all better. I knew I was probably wasting my time and energy and precious heart beats. But I had to do it.

After it was over, I felt like I could have run a marathon. I didn't scurry away from them. I didn't stand in the middle of the road and wait for them to decide if they were going to run me over or not. I got to decide a part of the nature of our relationship and how I would react to their silence. I decided.

And now I'll publish. Please say I won't have to regret this one day.

I think it's really coming.

Thomas had karate tonight, and Tuesday is my night to drive. I usually spend the hour reading in uncomfortable plastic chairs while the air is puncutated with kicks, grunts, and numbers spoken in korean. Yes, the fact that Thomas knows how to count in Korean is a little strange to me.


Anyway. Tonight I dropped Thomas off at karate and ran a few errands. As I headed toward the library, I saw it: a beautiful pink-laden, blossoming tree brightening up the otherwise dismal street. I could hardly take my eyes off it to drive.


I love flowering trees in spring. I have a gorgeous snow-fountain cherry that droops white blossoms for a few weeks in March. Two pink, later-blooming trees adorn my parking strip. The streets of my town are lined with these beautiful trees, and I oh and ah over every one.


My crocus are a few days beyond their prime, so I'm looking forward to daffodils, hyancinth, and tulips bursting in the next few weeks.


I think we can say it's officially here. So what do you look forward to about this lovely, pink and purple season?

Book reviews (again)

I have a few book reviews to do. Here we go!

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Oh, how I love the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers series. I've found so many incredible books thanks to it.

The Help is one of these books. Set in Mississippi in 1962-1964, it tells the stories of three women, two of them black, one of them white. Aibileen and Minny are both maids working in the homes of Skeeter's friends homes. Skeeter has just returned from graduating from university and is trying to find something to write that is worth her time.

The three write and publish an anonymous book about the lives of maids working in white women's houses. As they are writing, you see the lives that they are living and the trials and burdens they bear.

It is a great portrait of this troubled time in history, right on the cusp of so many cultural changes. I had never thought of how close the civil rights era was to the hippie culture, and how they influenced one another to help shape our modern world. One one side of the country you have free love and peace rallies, while the other has lynchings and initiatives against people of difference races sharing toilets. It's no wonder they happened all at once; good old boy's filled with racial intolerance and bigotry came against revolutionaries unafraid to speak out and the whole country boiled over. It must have been both a terrifying and exhilarating time to live.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I had read several reviews of this book on other blogs, so I was curious. It's been a few weeks since I finished, but I still remember that this book made me feel happy. It is told through the use of letters going back and forth to different characters, telling the story of Guernsey Island. During WWII, Guernsey island was taken over by the Germans. The people were kept from any outside news or contact. A group of friends invent a book club one night to foil a German soldier who catches a few of them out after curfew. Thus the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is created.

Juliet Ashton is a writer living in London who starts to correspond with the members of the Society. She is drawn into their world and the life that they lived during the war.

I like how this book was written. It tells a little-known tale of the people on Guernsey Island, giving them a voice and a record of their experiences during the war. I think it was a clever way of telling their story. It is one of the better WWII stories I have read, because I like knowing the human side of the war and how individuals and families were affected during this time. I'm not much for distinguishing between battle or victories or losses; I think everyone eventually loses from a war, despite who is the victor.

Skeletons at the Feast

I finished this book a while ago, but I still wanted to review it. It is another WWII story, set in the western edge of Poland at the very end of the war. It tells the story of a family trying to outrun the Russian army, which is advancing on Germany from the east. The family hopes to make it to the American and British forces where they will surrender and hopefully be saved from the brutality that has preceded the Russian Army.

I think that the author tried to find as many horrific stories from the war as he could find. The tales of the Russian Army and what they did to civilians is horrific. It made me incredibly glad that the Russians were on our side, not the Germans. Had they not been, I doubt we would have won the war, and our world would be incredibly different. What a blessing, whatever our relationship would be with them 10 years later.

I thought that this book was good despite the horrible stories. As I said about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society: I like war stories that show the toll the war had on human and civilian life. This book illustrates the deprivation that families went through. It shows that not all the Germans were hateful to Jews. But it shows the cruelty that the war brought out in both men and women on both sides of the war. I wouldn't say this was one of the best books I've read, but I enjoyed it.

Still Alice

Still Alice tells is about a woman who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. It was a fascinating read, and incredibly personal for me. It made me wish I had been closer to my dad in those early days, before he was diagnosed. I remember right before I had Ben that my dad was not okay. He was withdrawn, quieter than normal, and seemed to fade right before our eyes. We didn't know what was wrong back then, and wouldn't for 9 months when he would finally be diagnosed. I wonder if he experienced some of the events that befall Alice in the book.

I cried through a lot of the book. It has a lot of human moments that show the person behind the label of Alzheimer's. That they still want and deserve love. That we should give them every bit of ourselves that we can before they fade. That their erratic behavior can come from their frustration with their world changing from something they understand to something foreign.

I just hope, like one of the daughters in the book, that my dad can still understand that even though he doesn't know who I am, I am someone who loves him. He doesn't have to know my name, because I know it for him. Just that he knows I love him is enough.

Don't count the Sundays

I’ve always been fascinated by other religions.  I’ve said for years that if I had a back-up religion, I’d probably be catholic.  The splendor, the tradition, the mystery, the cathedrals: all appeal to that part of my personality that gets a little bored during high-councilman talks. Another part of me wishes I was pagan: worshipping the sun and moon tides, practicing fertility rites on midsummer’s-eve (my husband really wishes for this one.)  Ah, to be so free.

 

But, as it is, I’m living the life of a Mormon girl in Utah.  But I don’t let it keep me from introducing other traditions into the fabric of the way I live my religion.

 

This year I decided to practice Lent.  I’ve wanted to do it for years, but never had a reason or the gumption.  But this year I found a way to celebrate this 40 day (not counting Sundays) period:

 

I gave up Dr. Pepper.

 

Further clarification: I gave up soda altogether.

 

That is right. I haven’t had a sip of soda since February 24, when I sucked down my last 32 ouncer.  I went on an absolute binge for the week prior to Ash Wednesday (the official start of Lent), having soda almost every day.  Since, I’ve been driving past the local Maverick with longing in my eyes.  I’m no longer missing the taste, but the habit that I enjoy so much of the obtaining of Dr. Pepper is still prevalent.  Eating at a restaurant is pitiable without anything dark and bubbling to wash it down.  Don’t you feel bad for me?

 

Anyhow.  I will say this: I sleep a little better at night without the caffeine.  And it doesn’t seem like I’m as hungry as I was before.  My husband is relieved that I’m no longer drinking my particular brand of “sludge,” as he likes to call it.  And when I read an article in the Sunday paper about women who drink soda being more likely to have kidney problems, my stomach didn’t clench up the way it might have before.  It makes me feel a little closer to God, knowing that I gave up something in honor of his resurrection.  Good things have to come from that, don’t they?

 

The 2 million dollar question is this: come Easter Sunday, will I continue my walk in the Dr. Pepper-free wilderness?  Will my 40 days-without-counting-Sunday’s cure me of a lifetime of drinking cold ones?  I don’t know.  It’s a little like when I decided I wouldn’t smoke or drink anymore.  Every day after that day was one more day “since.”  Now that it’s been years and years, I wouldn’t want to give up my ongoing streak, if only for the fact I’d have to start over with the counting.  But it’s hard to say never again.

 

But I’ve got this 40-day thing down pat.  I think I’ll make it a tradition, to find something to do during Lent to bring me closer to God.

 

So have you ever celebrated Lent?  Or given up something you really loved for blessings?  I know you have, so share!

 

Because I've always wanted a finger mustache...

And me an Ben have always wanted to wish The King a happy birthday while wearing one.



(Sorry for the bad photography. Must work on self-portrait setting.)

Happy Birthday, Mr. King!! Sorry this is late.

The time I wanted desperately to say "Don't you know who I am?"

I've mentioned before how much I love my gynecologist. It borders on obsession (ok, maybe not. But I did name my son after him. Not a grandpa or favorite uncle or president of the USA. The ob/gyn who delivered him, thank you very much.)

So anyway. My dear doctor is retiring this month. I hate that he's doing the with a passion, but nonetheless, I made an appointment for my special, ahem, exam, 6 months early just so I can go in and say good-bye (what a way to say good-bye, mind you.) I got thinking last week that while I was there, I might just talk to him about switching my IUD so that I don't have to find a new doctor to do it next year when it expires. So I made a call to the nurse. The conversation went like this (mind you, I was on the treadmill at the time.)

Nurse: why are you calling me?

Me: (sucking air) Sorry, I'm on the treadmill. But I want to get a new IUD next week when I visit Scott so that I don't have to worry about finding a new doc when it dies next year.

Nurse: can you repeat that, you loud-breathing person?

Me: blah blah repeat repeat. Can I have a new IUD next week?

Nurse: let me find out.

Me: Um, does that mean your going to preauthorize with my insurance?

Nurse: Yes. (Click.)

So. I wait 24 hours and get this call:

Nurse: Hello, patient. Your insurance doesn't cover IUDs, so you are on your own. (Click) (Ok, so no click, but it might as well have been click.)

My desired response: DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM? (But I assure you, not what I really said.)

Scott loves me. He tells me so each time I meet him for my whoopdi appointment. He talks to me about all the other ladies in the neighborhood that he knows (a significant number, btw). He asks about my husband and sons. He tells me I'm like his daughter. He's offered to not charge me for my appointments before because he didn't know if I had insurance. When I thought I was going to have to leave him while pregnant with Ben, he found a way to deliver Ben.

So, I was nice to the mean nurse who rebuffed my request. I calmly hung up the phone and planned to talk to Scott the next week. He wouldn't tell me I was on my own, and I knew it.

Fast forward 1 hour. Scott calls me on my cell phone, heralding me as his favorite patient. He tells me that he'll give me the IUD at his cost. I ask his cost (more than I want to spend, thank you very much) and we chat. He tells me to come in and visit with him anyway next week.

I sat there, smug in my triumph over mean nurse, knowing I was anything but on my own; well, at least for a week. Then he'll be retired and I'll have to try to like one of his partners as much. Hmph.

So, no new IUD for me this time. And I have to find a new doctor. But what if I'd actually said that to the nurse? Wouldn't it have been awesome?

Have you ever been tempted to ask someone, Don't you know who I am?

Post-publishing edit: I hope that this post doesn't sound snobby. I'd probably never actually say "Do you know who I am" because, you know, I'm not really anyone. But it was funny (in my mind). Now I'm all paranoid, 6 hours post-publishing. I really just like my ob/gyn, and will miss him a lot. That is all.

Chance encounters.

Just seeing her car (and now thinking about it) put butterflies in my stomach.

There Shane and I were, driving home from work together. There was an accident on the freeway, so I took a different route home. As we passed a certain bank, he said, "Hey, there's a black Sebring in the drive-up of blah blah bank." I looked at him in disbelief, then craned my neck around while we waited for the light to change. I was granted a vision of Herself, pulling out of the drive-through and heading for home.

I know all families have issues. Some of them are easily looked over, and others aren't. A few years back, a chasm broke up part of our family. It was all he said, she did, I'm mad, you suck. You know: typical, selfish reasons that seem really important and good until a few years have gone by and children have grown up and still no phone calls. No invites to Chrismas dinner or Easter brunch. Part of it makes our lives easier; after all, one less family to throw into hectic holidays. A few less birthday gifts to purchase.

But all the same, it sucks. It sucks walking across the street to the Sam's Club entry and looking into the eyes of individuals who you used to talk to on a daily basis, all the while wondering if they are secretly wishing they could run you over. Thinking about the fact that the child holding your hand has no idea that those people are related to him. Seeing a car at a bank and a glimpse of reddish hair and thinking of the life she is going back to. Getting butterflies in your stomach because it all rises up again in your heart how stupid and childish and pointless it all is.

And yet still being a party to it. Unwilling to mend it, because so much has passed and I know they won't forgive (forgive what, I want to scream, but I know they have their Reasons. I imagine them cradling them to their hearts at night, snug in their justification.) Remembering the time between, before we knew that we had been banished, wondering at the sudden silence of unreturned phone calls.

I know those butterflies are messages from my spirit, which is uncomfortable in having unresolved family issues. Which knows that families should be together, not strangers in the aisles of Sam's Club. But I'm weak, and I can't do it all. I can't apologize for things taken out of context or choices wrongly percieved.

So I'll just wait for the light to turn, and rehash it all again for a moment with the only other person who knows it all. Be grateful for the family who hasn't shut me out, who has returned my phone calls.

And when the light turns, I drive on home.

I stole this from my sister Amy. It's pretty fun.

***20 YEARS AGO (1989)***
1) How old were you? 13
2) Who were you dating? Hmm, dating? Not even. I probably liked Jared C, who was a total dork, but he probably didn’t know who I was.
3) Where did you work? I didn’t work. But I spent 5 hours a day doing gymnastics. It would have been the year I first competed optional routines (meaning I had a routine different from anyone elses), like you see in the Olympics. Only I couldn’t do all the cool tricks, unlike the 10-year-olds in my class. Sucks being 13 and tall in the gymnastics world.
4) Where did you live? With my parents and sister Amy.
5) Where did you hang out? Gymnastics.
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? Yes.
7) Who were your best friends? School, Amber, Bethany. At the gym Jessica, Mindy,
8) How many tattoos did you have? None
9) How many piercings did you have? 2.
10) What kind of car did you drive? Didn’t drive.
11) Had you been to a real party? Nope. I don’t think I’d even been to a birthday party in years. I was a loser, remember?
12) Had you had your heart broken. Nope.
13) Were you Single/Dating/Taken/Married/Divorced? Single
14) Any kids? No, but I had 3 nieces. Jacqui was about a month old.

***15 YEARS AGO (1994)***

1) How old were you? 18.
2) Who were you dating? Eric C. Oh, March was a bad month. I think we broke up for the first time that month. I remember skipping school and drinking a lot of coffee at Salt Lake Roasting Company. Oh, wait, I always drank a lot of coffee at SLRC. It was a month and a half before I would meet Shane.
3) Where did you work? University of Utah Bookstore.
4) Where did you live? In an apartment on 7th south in Salt Lake with Cindy (future wife of Eric C.)
5) Where did you hang out? Coffee shops, Eric’s apartment
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? Yes.
7) Who were your best friends? Cindy, Rebecca, Janna, Angie
8) How many tattoos did you have? None
9) How many piercings did you have? 4, in my ears.
10) What kind of car did you drive? Toyota Tercel.
11) Had you been to a real party? Oh yes. Every weekend was a party.
12) Had you had your heart broken? Yep.
13) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Taken and broken up all at once. It was the story of that relationship.
14) Any kids? But I had 5 nieces (BreAnn was 13 months old).

***10 YEARS AGO (1999)***
1) How old were you? 23
2) Who were you dating? Married to Shane for 1 ½ months.
3) Where did you work? At a credit union.
4) Where did you live? In an apartment in Holladay
5) Where did you hang out? With other married friends at their houses.
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? Yes.
7) Who were your best friends? Amy, Rebecca, Angie
8) How many tattoos did you have? none
9) How many piercings did you have? 4 earring holes, but only 3 occupied
10) What kind of car did you drive? A green Saturn without power steering, but with air conditioning, which beat all my other cars
11) Had you been to a real party? Yes.
12) Had you had your heart broken? Yes. But not recently.
13) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married
14) Any kids? Nope. But we had a fish. And the nieces/nephews count had jumped to 6 nieces and 2 nephews.

***5 YEARS AGO (2004)***
1) How old were you? 28
2) Who were you dating? Married to Shane for 5 years.
3) Where did you work? Insurance company.
4) Where did you live? In my house
5) Where did you hang out? At home with John and Melanie.
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? Yes.
7) Who were your best friends? Amy, Rebecca, Melanie
8) How many tattoos did you have? none
9) How many piercings did you have? 4 earring holes, but only 3 occupied
10) What kind of car did you drive? An Xterra
11) Had you been to a real party? Yes.
12) Had you had your heart broken? Yes. But not recently.
13) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married
14) Any kids? 1, Thomas. But we had 2 cats. And the nieces/nephews count had jumped, but I can't remember how much.

***TODAY (2009)***
1) How old are you? 33
2) Who are you dating? Just my husband
3) Where do you work? Insurance company
4) Where do you live? In my house.
5) Where do you hang out? At John and Melanie’s, and at home.
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? Yep.
7) Who are your best friends? Amy, Melanie, Shelly, Rebecca
8) How many tattoos did you have? None
9) How many piercings did you have? 4 earring holes, 2 occupied
10) What kind of car did you drive? Mazda
11) Had you been to a real party? Yep.
12) Had you had your heart broken? Yes, but it’s been a long time
13) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Married
14) Any kids? 2. Well, 3 if you count Shane, and 6 if you count the kids, Shane, and the cats. And the nieces/nephews count stands at 17, including nephews-in-law and great nieces and nephews. Whew. We've been busy.

My inability to spellcheck.

Yes. I admit it. I've had some misspelled words of late. Partial words. Dangling participles. What has happened to my grammar?

The problem is that I think I don't need spellcheck. I'm an excellent speller, I thinks to myself. But, I'm not an excellent, error-free typer. Yes, I'm fast, but I make lots of mistakes. And I've been lazy lately at editing myself.

So. Sorry for all the misspelled words of late. I'll start using that little ABC button more often. Like right now. Of which I just discovered "typer" is not a real word. Imagine that.

Carry on with your day. Be hopeful for me.

Book review a-rama

Hello. I leave blogging for weeks at a time and then return only to give book reviews. Sorry.

Sea of Poppies, Amitav Ghosh



Holy cow this is a good book. It is set in the 1830's in India at the beginning of the Opium war that China had with Great Britain. It intermingles the stories of numerous characters (a runaway widow and her lower-caste lover; a high-caste former Rajah who is convicted of a crime and banished from India; a mulatto American who passes himself off as white after all his former shipmates die off; a french orphan and her Bengalize foster brother, and more) who are all set to board a ship called the Ibis, sailing for the Maritius Island(s) (I can't remember if it is a single island or a group; sorry.)



The story is long--over 500 pages--and very detailed. But the details are so entertaining and make the characters incredibly real. I can't imagine how much research went into writing this novel; it is impecuously written, using the dialogue and lingo of sailers from this time. When I read the original review, it talked about how there aren't many books these days that truly tell a story. This book fits the bill and more. Check it out if you really want a mouthful. (It took me almost 3 weeks to read it, and I was trying. That's saying something!)








Ah, Toni Morrison. I love her writing for so many reasons. One of my favorite college courses was a class on Morrison and Alice Walker. I've read almost all her books, and was excited to read this one. She didn't disappoint.



A Mercy is a slave-narrative, but not in the traditional way. It explores all the facets of slavery. How, in a way, we are all slaves to something or someone. The man who must cowtow to the people who give him employment. The wife who is subject to the whims and desires of a husband. The slave mother who must give away her children to keep them from harms way. The slave child, who must live a life away from her mother without knowing why. The adolescent girl who loves a man who will never love her back.



Of course the writing is poignant. Of course it makes you want to weep and nod your head and laugh all at once. It's Toni Morrison, after all. If you have enjoyed her other books, pick this one up. If you've never read one by her, pick this one up. It's less than 200 pages, and reads incredibly fast. But it strikes a chord on so many levels.



Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham


Can I be an english major and NOT know about Maugham? Apparently. Anway. I read this for my last SDBBE book, and it was fabulous. It tells the story of Kitty, who's affair with another man is discovered by her husband.


The realities of adultery are prominent in this book. That the man you cheat with will never leave his wife. That the fun and excitement wear off when you think your husband is outside the door.


I really enjoyed Kitty's story and watching her grow from a self-centered little cheat to a woman. I thought that the transformation time was a little fast, but it is fiction afterall, so I'm willing to overlook some of that. I think I'll check out a few more of Maugham's novels in the future.


Anywhere. I'm starting the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (or whatever it is called) now. Onward and forward!

Ode to Whirlpool

Right now, my counter tops look like this:

This is the detritus from a batch of cookies, some hard-boiled eggs for egg-salad sandwiches, cheese and ranch for a quesadilla for Ben, and a box of corn dogs.

It looks like this because of what I had delivered this morning by the Lowes truck. It looks like this:When we built our house almost 10 years ago, Shane decided that a self-cleaning over was overrated, so we opted for the manual model. I told him that he could be the one doing the manual labor. Now, after all this time, he's tired of scrubbing the oven out. I've often referred to our stove as a "Shane-cleaning oven" just for fun.

He wasn't having fun. So we found this little friend at Lowes and they delivered it today. I consummated the relationship by baking cookies and boiling hard-boiled eggs. Both were delicious. If you were here, I'd have shared.

Shane is really excited because the top is flat, so no more scrubbing cooked on rice from the dripper pans under the burners. I bet he can't wait to scrub the top of this baby.

Anyway. Here's to self-cleaning ovens and hot chocolate chip cookies!