Thursday, March 26, 2009
Picture Perfect
I know we have all had bad moments at the photographers but nothing is as bad as what these people had. All of these people. If it takes a minute to load on your computer it is well worth it for the commentary alone.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
What are you reading?
This is a tag my sister-in-law started in order to add books to her reading list. I am always looking for more books so I decided to join. All you do is give a list of some of your favorite, recent reads. Feel free to join if you want, or not. Make it long or short, with reviews or just lists...I don't care. But if you do..please let me know so I can mooch off of your good reads.
What follows are some of my favorite reads from the last few months. Most of these fall in the "books I had to own" category, but not all. I try to give disclaimers if I can. And yes some of the plot summaries are from the back of the books and Amazon because I don't want to reinvent the wheel....and I'm busy/lazy.
Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
If you only read one book on this list, please let it be this one. This inspiring memoir tells the story of Greg Mortenson a mountaineer who drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakorum mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2(The second tallest mountain in the world.) He is taken with the children of the village and their determination to learn, even if it means doing math problems with sticks in the dirt in the freezing cold. In response to the kindness of the villagers Greg promises to build the village a school; a promise which snowballs into a life changing quest both for Greg and the hundreds of child en he ends up serving throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greg is an inspiration. His life is a testament to the goodness of people and that all children everywhere are God's children.
The Book Thief Markus Zusak
The book Thief tells the story of Liesel Meminger's life in Nazi, Germany. Her life is changed when she picks up a copy of The Grave Digger's Handbook, while still illiterate. Through this book and with the help of her foster father Liesel begins a love affair with books and words. A love affair that is appropriate because this book elevates the power of language with the very telling. The imagery created by Death, the narrator is haunting, striking, and humorous, view at a dark time in history. More than even the story --which is fascinating unto itself -- this book displays the power of words to affect not only the protagonist but the reader as well.
The Glass Castle Jeanette Walls
The Glass Castle is a memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. The fed, clothed and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered. This story shares the authors and hopefully all of our ability to love those in our lives that are less than perfect, overcome amazing obstacles to success and find joy in life, even when it seems impossible.
Gift from the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh
This is a book that every woman should read at least once in her life, but hopefully again and again as she goes through each of the stages of life described by Lindbergh in the book. This book contains the meditations on youth and age, love and marriage solitude, peace, and contentment written during a summer at the beach by Lindbergh after the kidnapping of her baby. The thoughts are framed around seashells giving beauty and validity to every phase of life. This book is surprisingly relevant to women today while containing thoughts written more than fifty years ago.
The Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield
This book is a masterful modern take on Victorian Gothic (Think Jane Eyre. Really.) Vida Winter famous for her collection of Thirteen Tales which contains, only twelve stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she mean to bury for good. This book has all of the elements of a classic story secrets, ghosts, sexual obsession, murder, and madness. I will admit there are some disturbing moments but well worth them for this fascinating read.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer and Ann Barrows
(Most of this review is from Amazon..Hey I have got other things to do today..:) The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation—and person to person . This is a delightfully uplifting and enjoyable read.
A Mercy Toni Morrison
(Much of this review is from Amazon.) Set at the close of the 17th century, the book details America's untoward foundation: dominion over Native Americans, indentured workers, women and slaves. A slave at a plantation in Maryland offers up her daughter, Florens, to a relatively humane Northern farmer, Jacob, as debt payment from their owner. This gift, while offered mercifully, is seen by Florens as the ultimate rejection by her mother. The ripples of this choice spread to the inhabitants of Jacob's farm, populated by women with intersecting and conflicting desires. Jacob's wife, Rebekka, struggles with her faith as she loses one child after another to the harsh New World. A Native servant, Lina, survivor of a smallpox outbreak, craves Florens's love to replace the family taken from her, and distrusts the other servant, a peculiar girl named Sorrow. When Jacob falls ill, all these women are threatened. This is a powerful book that forces you to look at the harsh realities faced by women of all backgrounds through the centuries. Note: This book contains some graphic imagery.
1000 White Women: The Journals of May Dodd Jim Fergus
(Okay this is from Amazon too...I'm tired. It doesn't mean I don't like these books, just that I've got other stuff to do. Promise.) Little Wolf comes to Washington and suggests to President Grant that peace between the Whites and Cheyenne could be established if the Cheyenne were given white women as wives, and that the tribe would agree to raise the children from such unions. Grant secretly approves the Brides For Indians treaty. He recruits women from jails, penitentiaries, debtors' prisons, and mental institutions offering full pardons or unconditional release. May Dodd, born to wealth in Chicago in 1850, had left home in her teens and become the mistress of her father's grain-elevator foreman. Her outraged father had her kidnapped, imprisoning her in a monstrous lunatic asylum. When Grant's offer arrives, she leaps at it and soon finds herself traveling west with hundreds of white and black would-be brides. All are indentured to the Cheyenne for two years, must produce children, and then will have the option of leaving. May, who keeps the journal we read, marries Little Wolf and lives in a crowded tipi with his two other wives, their children, and an old crone who enforces the rules. Reading about life among the Cheyenne is spellbinding, especially when the women show up the braves at arm-wrestling, foot-racing, bow-shooting, and gambling. While I think it was obviously written by a man the story is captivating and thought provoking. Not only at the collective shame of our history but at the individual lives of these women outcasts in their own society. Note: This book contains some graphic imagery.
What follows are some of my favorite reads from the last few months. Most of these fall in the "books I had to own" category, but not all. I try to give disclaimers if I can. And yes some of the plot summaries are from the back of the books and Amazon because I don't want to reinvent the wheel....and I'm busy/lazy.
Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
If you only read one book on this list, please let it be this one. This inspiring memoir tells the story of Greg Mortenson a mountaineer who drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakorum mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2(The second tallest mountain in the world.) He is taken with the children of the village and their determination to learn, even if it means doing math problems with sticks in the dirt in the freezing cold. In response to the kindness of the villagers Greg promises to build the village a school; a promise which snowballs into a life changing quest both for Greg and the hundreds of child en he ends up serving throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greg is an inspiration. His life is a testament to the goodness of people and that all children everywhere are God's children.The Book Thief Markus Zusak
The book Thief tells the story of Liesel Meminger's life in Nazi, Germany. Her life is changed when she picks up a copy of The Grave Digger's Handbook, while still illiterate. Through this book and with the help of her foster father Liesel begins a love affair with books and words. A love affair that is appropriate because this book elevates the power of language with the very telling. The imagery created by Death, the narrator is haunting, striking, and humorous, view at a dark time in history. More than even the story --which is fascinating unto itself -- this book displays the power of words to affect not only the protagonist but the reader as well.
The Glass Castle Jeanette Walls
The Glass Castle is a memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. The fed, clothed and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered. This story shares the authors and hopefully all of our ability to love those in our lives that are less than perfect, overcome amazing obstacles to success and find joy in life, even when it seems impossible.
Gift from the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh
This is a book that every woman should read at least once in her life, but hopefully again and again as she goes through each of the stages of life described by Lindbergh in the book. This book contains the meditations on youth and age, love and marriage solitude, peace, and contentment written during a summer at the beach by Lindbergh after the kidnapping of her baby. The thoughts are framed around seashells giving beauty and validity to every phase of life. This book is surprisingly relevant to women today while containing thoughts written more than fifty years ago.
The Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield
This book is a masterful modern take on Victorian Gothic (Think Jane Eyre. Really.) Vida Winter famous for her collection of Thirteen Tales which contains, only twelve stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she mean to bury for good. This book has all of the elements of a classic story secrets, ghosts, sexual obsession, murder, and madness. I will admit there are some disturbing moments but well worth them for this fascinating read.The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer and Ann Barrows
(Most of this review is from Amazon..Hey I have got other things to do today..:) The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation—and person to person . This is a delightfully uplifting and enjoyable read.A Mercy Toni Morrison
1000 White Women: The Journals of May Dodd Jim Fergus
(Okay this is from Amazon too...I'm tired. It doesn't mean I don't like these books, just that I've got other stuff to do. Promise.) Little Wolf comes to Washington and suggests to President Grant that peace between the Whites and Cheyenne could be established if the Cheyenne were given white women as wives, and that the tribe would agree to raise the children from such unions. Grant secretly approves the Brides For Indians treaty. He recruits women from jails, penitentiaries, debtors' prisons, and mental institutions offering full pardons or unconditional release. May Dodd, born to wealth in Chicago in 1850, had left home in her teens and become the mistress of her father's grain-elevator foreman. Her outraged father had her kidnapped, imprisoning her in a monstrous lunatic asylum. When Grant's offer arrives, she leaps at it and soon finds herself traveling west with hundreds of white and black would-be brides. All are indentured to the Cheyenne for two years, must produce children, and then will have the option of leaving. May, who keeps the journal we read, marries Little Wolf and lives in a crowded tipi with his two other wives, their children, and an old crone who enforces the rules. Reading about life among the Cheyenne is spellbinding, especially when the women show up the braves at arm-wrestling, foot-racing, bow-shooting, and gambling. While I think it was obviously written by a man the story is captivating and thought provoking. Not only at the collective shame of our history but at the individual lives of these women outcasts in their own society. Note: This book contains some graphic imagery.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Flying Southwest
It has been a long time since I have flown anywhere but if this is how it has changed then I need to start flying again soon.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Steak George
We had a wonderful time in St. George. We drove in Friday night and started playing Saturday. We went to an old childhood favorite of mine - Snow Canyon. We started hiking.
We let Abbie hike by herself on a mile and a half trail and she did amazing. She walked a little over 3/4 a mile. Of course this was at two year old pace which includes stopping every 50 feet to pick up rocks and dump sand in her shoes. 
After discarding her newly formed rock collection she solicited her dad to carry her the rest of the way.
After the hike we met up with Russ's sister Jen and her family to go over to the sand dunes. Large plots of soft sand are pretty much heaven to children, especially when they have a dad and an uncle willing to dig deep holes and bury them up to their necks.
Savannah loved the sand dunes as well. I spent the first hour keeping her distracted with food, but it didn't take long for her to crawl over and get herself completely covered in sand. She started giggling and cooing like she had won the golden ticket. Abbie made a new best friend in her cousin Dakota and even named her baby after him (Don't worry Lexi it is a different baby.) Abbie thought Dakota was the next big thing and followed him like a true fan.
Let me interject to say that part of what made this trip so great is that Savannah was an angel, despite how zoned she looked most of the time! She didn't get any naps Saturday and instead of being a grouchy crying mess, she laughed and smiled and played very well.
After the sand we took the kids swimming at a local rec center. They had a ball. Especially Savannah who hadn't been swimming much before.
Sunday we just hung around, went to church and drove home. (Not as successful as the drive there but still nice.) I am now missing the warm warm weather.
We let Abbie hike by herself on a mile and a half trail and she did amazing. She walked a little over 3/4 a mile. Of course this was at two year old pace which includes stopping every 50 feet to pick up rocks and dump sand in her shoes. 
After discarding her newly formed rock collection she solicited her dad to carry her the rest of the way.After the hike we met up with Russ's sister Jen and her family to go over to the sand dunes. Large plots of soft sand are pretty much heaven to children, especially when they have a dad and an uncle willing to dig deep holes and bury them up to their necks.
Savannah loved the sand dunes as well. I spent the first hour keeping her distracted with food, but it didn't take long for her to crawl over and get herself completely covered in sand. She started giggling and cooing like she had won the golden ticket. Abbie made a new best friend in her cousin Dakota and even named her baby after him (Don't worry Lexi it is a different baby.) Abbie thought Dakota was the next big thing and followed him like a true fan.
Let me interject to say that part of what made this trip so great is that Savannah was an angel, despite how zoned she looked most of the time! She didn't get any naps Saturday and instead of being a grouchy crying mess, she laughed and smiled and played very well.
After the sand we took the kids swimming at a local rec center. They had a ball. Especially Savannah who hadn't been swimming much before.
Sunday we just hung around, went to church and drove home. (Not as successful as the drive there but still nice.) I am now missing the warm warm weather.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Random Thoughts Thursday
We are going to St. George this weekend. We are all excited, but Abbie most of all. We had planned on keeping it a secret because the two-year-old concept of time would require explanations every ten minutes on exactly when we are leaving, why it isn't now, and when we are leaving again. My sister didn't know of the "secret" so she excitedly told Abbie about our trip. Now Abbie is walking around the house saying, "I'm going to Curious George, no I'm going to Steak George!"
This morning we had a drywall repairman coming to our house. Shortly after we moved in, our hot water heater leaked and ruined some dry wall in our ceiling. Russ repaired it, but having never done it before you could see the seam where the work had been done. We knew that if -- assuming that the housing market returns from the dead (in the good kind of way not the scary zombie undead kind of way) -- we would need to get it repaired properly in order to sell. The problem...I completely forgot he was coming. Thankfully no embarrassing moments occurred. I'm only holed up in the computer room trying to forget all of the errands I meant to run this morning. I am however very grateful to get it fixed! (Thanks Alex for the hook ups!)
If you love Pride and Prejudice you'll get a kick out of this. I don't know who thought of it but it makes me laugh. A lot.
As you well know I've whined a lot about my sleep deprived state with Savannah waking up at night. Things are slowly improving, and as I'm emerging from the fog I'm realizing that I really have not been the most pleasant person a lot of the time. (You know how much I've whined online you can only imagine what Russ has had to put up with.) Russ has not only dealt with whining/complaining/grumpiness without complaining, but also stepped up let me sleep in many mornings while he gets up with the girls, made sure that I get some time to myself and been all in all wonderful. So this is just to say thanks to him.
( I love this retro look!)
This morning we had a drywall repairman coming to our house. Shortly after we moved in, our hot water heater leaked and ruined some dry wall in our ceiling. Russ repaired it, but having never done it before you could see the seam where the work had been done. We knew that if -- assuming that the housing market returns from the dead (in the good kind of way not the scary zombie undead kind of way) -- we would need to get it repaired properly in order to sell. The problem...I completely forgot he was coming. Thankfully no embarrassing moments occurred. I'm only holed up in the computer room trying to forget all of the errands I meant to run this morning. I am however very grateful to get it fixed! (Thanks Alex for the hook ups!)
If you love Pride and Prejudice you'll get a kick out of this. I don't know who thought of it but it makes me laugh. A lot.
As you well know I've whined a lot about my sleep deprived state with Savannah waking up at night. Things are slowly improving, and as I'm emerging from the fog I'm realizing that I really have not been the most pleasant person a lot of the time. (You know how much I've whined online you can only imagine what Russ has had to put up with.) Russ has not only dealt with whining/complaining/grumpiness without complaining, but also stepped up let me sleep in many mornings while he gets up with the girls, made sure that I get some time to myself and been all in all wonderful. So this is just to say thanks to him.
( I love this retro look!)
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Children Updates
Abbie-isms
Abbie: Mom Guess what rhymes with sad?....Fad!
Me: Good Job! What rhymes with happy?
A: Fappy!
M: Good Job! What rhymes with book?
A: Fook!
(Note the pattern on which letter she begins her rhyming word with.)
A:Mom guess what rhymes with bucket?
Yup! We will work on different letters that rhymes can start with.
Me: Abbie I need to put Savannah down for a nap. You can watch T.V. for a few minutes, but when I come back we need to turn it off and I don't want you to whine.
Abbie: Okay, I will whine tonight.
Other exciting news. Last night Savannah slept until 4:00a.m. ...5:00 with the time change before she needed to be fed. I got six hours of sleep in a row! I am beyond thrilled!
Abbie: Mom Guess what rhymes with sad?....Fad!
Me: Good Job! What rhymes with happy?
A: Fappy!
M: Good Job! What rhymes with book?
A: Fook!
(Note the pattern on which letter she begins her rhyming word with.)
A:Mom guess what rhymes with bucket?
Yup! We will work on different letters that rhymes can start with.
Me: Abbie I need to put Savannah down for a nap. You can watch T.V. for a few minutes, but when I come back we need to turn it off and I don't want you to whine.
Abbie: Okay, I will whine tonight.
Other exciting news. Last night Savannah slept until 4:00a.m. ...5:00 with the time change before she needed to be fed. I got six hours of sleep in a row! I am beyond thrilled!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Radom Thoughts Tuesday
On my friend Mona's blog she said that potty training has been the single most difficult aspect of parenting so far. I feel that way about getting my kids to sleep at night. It has been over a year -- including the pregnancy night wakings - of not getting 8 hours of sleep. Ever. Not even once. Not only that Savannah will wake up once for a few nights, digress down to two times and last night she woke up four times. Then she will wake up at 6:30 and be ready for her day. I feel like I have tried everything and am completely helpless, and hopeless for that matter. And exhausted. I've been told by several doctors to just ignore all crying and stop night feeding her cold turkey. I'm almost to where I could do it...
Yesterday I we were driving home from the zoo and Abbie told me ."Mommy I peed on the floor."
"What?"
" I peed on the floor."
"In the car?"
"No at home."
I had not noticed or smelled anything.
"When?"
"When I was watching T.V."
"Did you pee in your pants?"
"No, on the floor."
"Did you pull your pants down and pee on the floor?"
"No I just peed on the floor."
"On the tile?" (Hopefully)
"No, on the carpet"
Later I asked her to show me where this was. She pointed "All over everywhere."
"I couldn't see or smell any evidence of this and am still confused.
I just finished reading The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.I absolutely loved it. Loved it. I don't feel like I could adequately summarize the plot but if you go here, Amazon does a nice job. Please read it, then call me, I need to talk to someone about it. Please. I will beg.
Finally a day of beautiful weather. And Savannah is actually napping for more than an hour. I swear she is trying to make me crazy.
Yesterday I we were driving home from the zoo and Abbie told me ."Mommy I peed on the floor."
"What?"
" I peed on the floor."
"In the car?"
"No at home."
I had not noticed or smelled anything.
"When?"
"When I was watching T.V."
"Did you pee in your pants?"
"No, on the floor."
"Did you pull your pants down and pee on the floor?"
"No I just peed on the floor."
"On the tile?" (Hopefully)
"No, on the carpet"
Later I asked her to show me where this was. She pointed "All over everywhere."
"I couldn't see or smell any evidence of this and am still confused.
I just finished reading The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.I absolutely loved it. Loved it. I don't feel like I could adequately summarize the plot but if you go here, Amazon does a nice job. Please read it, then call me, I need to talk to someone about it. Please. I will beg.
Finally a day of beautiful weather. And Savannah is actually napping for more than an hour. I swear she is trying to make me crazy.
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