December Book Review

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith- I have to say that I really, really, really loved this novel, but I only gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads because I absolutely hated, despised, detested, loathed, and was totally ticked off at the ending.  The book follows 17 year old Cassandra and her struggling family in what I think may have been mid-twentieth century England (I’m not sure that the author ever specified, but wanted the reader to feel the way one might feel when reading Austen or Bronte even though the time period was more modern).  The novel is actually Cassandra’s journal. She is trying to “capture the castle” (she and her family lives in a ramshackle old castle), in other words, describe the castle, the people in it, and their struggles and journeys during the six months or so that she journals.  I loved Cassandra and her lovely, descriptive journal entries, and it’s obvious that she grows and changes as the novel progresses, as her writing begins as sweetly naïve and optimistic, and eventually becomes resigned and somewhat bitter.  I hope you read it, and I hope I haven’t spoiled it for you by telling you I hated the ending, but it’s worth the read…maybe just stop before the last chapter and let your imagination finish the story for you.)

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan-I don’t even know where to being with this book.  First of all, I think it was brilliant.  That said, I had to force myself to read it, as the first third of the book was painfully slow, and I really just wasn’t getting it, but since it won last year’s Pulitzer Prize, I figured it must be worth plowing on through for.  The novel is somewhat/kinda/sorta about Bennie and Sasha, written from the viewpoint of a different character in each chapter.  The chapters seem completely unrelated to each other, and in fact, I think each could stand alone as short stories.  Chapters were not told in time sequence, and sometimes at the end of the chapter I’d think, “What the heck did that have to do with Bennie or Sasha?”, because sometimes you had to really search to see any relationship. Basic theme:  Time is a Goon.  It sneaks up on you and bashes you over the head.  Today’s stars are tomorrow’s has-beens.  By the end of the book, I could look back over the novel and as a whole, I was able to see the big picture.  I still didn’t feel like I knew a heck of a lot about Bennie and Sasha, but Egan’s message was clearly brilliant.  (Sorry to use that word again, but it was!)  By the way, one chapter was written entirely as a Power Point Presentation, and I was simply amazed at the truth, beauty, and depth of understanding Egan was able to portray with a power point.  Seriously, I couldn’t stop thinking about this one for a long time!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs-Can I just say that if I ever decide to become a man, I would like to have the name Ransom Riggs.  Is that a great name or what? Anywho, I read this one after reading Taradactyl’s review, and you can read her review of it here.  This novel is written for young adults, but can certainly be enjoyed by old adults.  However, an adult won’t enjoy it like she enjoys excellent YA literature like Harry Potter, but rather as she enjoys entertainment YA literature like Twilight.  The book is loosely based on old photographs of what I believe are circus freaks/turn of the century trick photographs that the author decided to string together to make a story.  I enjoyed his book, was annoyed that he ended with such a huge cliffhanger (he’s definitely writing a sequel), and would recommend it to you for an easy, enjoyable read.

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos- I love de los Santos’ other novels (Love Walked In and Belong to Me) so much, and was very excited when I saw she had written another novel.  I was so disappointed though.  I can’t help but think her publisher was breathing down her neck for another novel and she did the best she could to get him a (kind of boring, mediocre) book on time.  De los Santos writes with her usual beautiful descriptions and has such a knack for getting her readers to understand every facet of her characters, from what they wear, what they eat for breakfast, who broke their heart in 8th grade, and which fraternity they pledged back in college.  She still did that, but I found I just didn’t care.  I didn’t like her premise, I didn’t like her characters, I could have cared less about where the book was going, and only finished it because I felt I owed her the chance.  Bottom line?  Read her other two novels.  (Stephanie at Conversations from the Cul-de-Sac is a big fan of Marisa de los Santos too.  I’d like to hear your opinion on the novel after you read it, Stephanie!)

The King’s Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi-I decided to read this one because I recently saw the movie “The King’s Speech”.  (By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, please see it.  It is absolutely gorgeous.)  This biography was actually written after the movie was filmed (or possibly at the same time…the author wasn’t clear) but the movie was not based on this book.  Both book and movie, however, were about King George VI, (father to the current Queen Elizabeth), and his struggle to overcome his speech defect, and about Lionel Logue, the nobody from Australia who finally helped the king conquer his stammering and fear of public speaking.  I mainly read this because I wanted to understand the history behind the movie, and I was especially interested in the King Edward/Wallis Simpson affair, which the movie touched on and which I found fascinating.  The book gave me a lot of information on that, and also Lionel and King George’s  early years and then continued where the movie left off (the start of World War II) and continued to both of their deaths.  There were also a lot of pictures, which I enjoyed.  See the movie, and then read this if you want more information!

 

Happy Reading!

Instagram November

We started the month by celebrating this guy’s 45th birthday:

He’s blowing out his candles on peanut butter cookies, one of his favorites.

There were a lot of beautiful skies this month, and here are two of them:

                   Sunrise over the field near our house.                                                                  Sunset over the football field at the middle school.

I already showed you Maddie’s new braces, but she got glasses this month too!  They are just for seeing the board at school or seeing a movie screen more easily, she doesn’t need to wear them full time.  Jack went with us to pick out the glasses because Jack loves to go to the glasses store and try on frames.  He would love to be told he needs to wear glasses.

We found the perfect pair for him to wear when he gets the go-ahead from the optometrist:

                                                      Doesn’t he look like the old dude in Up?

These lovely ladies are my mom (closest) and my Aunt Betty.  We sat with them and with all of their Red Hat friends to watch the holiday parade (more on that in a future post).

After our Thanksgiving dinner we took a walk at one of our favorite walking spots behind Grandma W.’s house.  The floods back in September knocked a tree in our path.  Guess who decided to climb it?

We also saw The Muppet Movie over Thanksgiving break!  I loved The Muppet Show when I was a kid, and this movie did not disappoint!

I’m happy to add we had only one bathroom break during the entire move which I consider either a miracle or a sign that the world is coming to an end. 

We also went to Chocolate World and rode the Factory Ride twice and threw pennies in the pond and ate free chocolate and bought delicious chocolate chip cookies. 

On the last day of Thanksgiving break we visited our neighborhood Santa and gave him our lists.

Hello December!  I can’t believe Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Enjoy your holiday season!

Worm Massacre

My friend Jodi and I have been walking around our neighborhood most mornings. We chat.  We laugh.  We commiserate.  But today? We saved lives.

From yesterday into the overnight last night, we had a very heavy rain.  So heavy, in fact, that the rain flooded the worms from their earthy little homes and pushed them mercilessly onto the streets.  There were thousands of worms on the streets.  Some were smashed and some were already dried up, but many were waving their little heads at us, signaling, “Help us, kind ladies!” with their sweet little noggins.

First we walked carefully (and Jodi was pushing a stroller, so she drove carefully too).  Then we gave up on that because the street was littered with them.  After a few minutes, I admitted to Jodi that I really felt terrible about the worms, blindly writhing in agony on the macadam. 

She felt bad too.  We decided to save them.

That’s right.  We picked up the worms and threw them back in the grass.

We are heroes, people.

Jodi wanted to name them.  I drew the line there, and said we mustn’t get too attached to them.

But secretly, I named this one Mr. Longfellow.

Sometimes when you are busy saving lives, you become covered in gore and carnage.

                                         Jodi’s sneaker                                                                                                                                  Stroller wheel

Jodi sent me this one after she got home…seriously, how did the worms get up on her stroller? 

I can’t help but think some of them leaped onto the stroller in a Hail Mary move to save their lives. 

After our walk, Jodi and I headed to our own houses with mixed feelings.  Happy that we had saved so many lives that day, but sad that so many lost souls were beyond help, and also maybe a little skeeved out at the slightly gummy, sticky feeling our fingers had taken on.

Farewell, good friend with the kind heart and gummy sticky fingers.  I’ll see you tomorrow.

Christmas Card Rejects

I had a whole year to come up with a Christmas card photo. A whole year!  Why don’t we take a look at what happened…

Our first big photo opportunity was in Niagara Falls. 

Usually someone is looking kind of funny, but I struck gold with this one…and it’s blurry.  Bonus!

My hopes were probably way too high when I snapped this one after the Maid of the Mist.

During our trip to Lititz Park, I decided to take some pictures before we headed home.  We should have just headed home.

Jack=eyes closed:

Ben= eyes closed:

Maddie= eyes closed:

I give up.  Let’s go home.

The beach!  Why, that’s the perfect location to get family photos!

Two eyes open out of six?  Geez Louise.

I have about 50 more photos with somebody’s eyes closed.  I promise I won’t show you another one, but trust me, I’ve got plenty.

The beach at Cape May was crowded.  It was very hard to get a photo without another person… or shall I say family barging in.

This is a nice one.  Except for the couple right on top of Ben’s head.

Let’s try something else.

Or maybe not.

In October, I decided to put sweaters on them and head to a nice leafy location at dusk.  Good lighting, good background.  What could go wrong?

Why is this so hard?

Sometimes I tell them to say funny things to make their smiles more real, like “Okay, everybody say,' ‘Uncle Dave has diarrhea!’”  Unfortunately, sometimes it backfires.

About 130 pictures later, I had two photos that I liked.  And one is not quite clear.  Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Last week I threw some Christmas lights on the floor and told the kids to lay on their stomachs in front of them (I saw this idea on Pinterest).  First of all, I placed the kids at a bad angle and they all looked a  little bit spooky.  Second of all,  Jack just couldn’t take his eyes off the lights:

Also I don’t like the look of the carpet.

So now it’s the end of November and crunch time for Christmas cards!  Which do you think I should pick?

This:

Or this:

Or maybe a collage with these three:

Help!  What do you think?

Midnight Madness

I never had any intention of shopping at midnight.  That is crazy talk!  At midnight on any given night you can find me curled up in bed under my toasty electric blanket dreaming of carbs and sun-drenched beaches and being late for school and rushing to the bus stop only to notice I am in my underwear but hoping no one notices and getting on the bus anyway, and then realizing I can fly!

Anyway.

I do not do much at midnight besides sleep.  However, yesterday the Black Friday circulars arrived at my door, and I made the supreme mistake of looking at them.  The item Ben is asking for most was on sale at Best Buy for $100 cheaper than I’d find anywhere else.  Also there were lots of great deals at Target, and since I find it hard to resist Target on an ordinary day, I decided to head there too.

Full of turkey and pumpkin pie, I mapped out my strategy.  First I’d head to Best Buy, and although I knew there’d be a crowd at the door, I would be smart and sit in my car and watch those suckers standing in the cold, then when the workers open the doors allowing the crowd to push its way in, I’d unhurriedly exit my car and go get my bargains!  After Best Buy, I’d head to Target and then possibly Kohl’s if I still had the energy. 

My alarm went off at 11:15, I got dressed, kissed my sleeping family goodbye, and drove the 30 minute drive to Best Buy.  On the way to Best Buy I passed the Target/Kohl’s shopping center.  It was filled with cars.  I saw no open spots at all.  What?  Who the heck shops at midnight? I continued on to Best Buy.

The first thing I saw was the Best Buy parking lot, which was filled.  I needed to park at an adjacent parking lot for an LA Fitness Center, which was also filling up.  Right about then was when I glanced toward the Best Buy door, hoping to gauge how long I’d need to sit in my car before joining the crowd. 

I was flabbergasted.   There was a line, 3-4 people deep, that extended from the door around all four sides of the extremely ginormous box of a store.  It dawned on me that the line held way more people than the safe capacity of the store would hold.  Which meant I’d need to wait possibly hours in line as a safe amount of people shopped, then eventually get in the store to find my Doorbuster Bargain sold out. I was the sucker.

I decided to wave goodbye to my $100 savings and move on to Target, although I didn’t have high hopes for Target having already scoped out that parking lot.  And once I got there, I just did a drive-by, because the line into Target extended further than I could see, and the only parking spots available were somewhere in western Montana.

I drove home hanging my head in shame:  mortified that I even joined the crazed shopping masses to begin with, and disgraced that I didn’t have the fortitude to stick with it and bag my bargains.  And frankly, part of me is really ticked off that the merchants of the world made me do it.  I realize they didn’t twist my arm or hold a gun to my head, but why, why, why does the shopping get earlier each year?  We need to say NO to the MADNESS, people, and reclaim our Thanksgiving, our uninterrupted sleep, and our dignity! 

Also, if anyone knows where I can find an xBox cheap, I’d appreciate it.

Lately

I’ve been busy. 

Using Blurb.com, I’ve been converting my blog into a book!  I began this bog almost three years ago in order to scrapbook my photos and family stories.  I took a Scrapbooking class once and was really very bad at it.  I just didn’t have the artistic vision to make a page beautiful. However, my blog has helped me capture those photos and memories so well.  But what happens if someday Blogger’s server crashes (I’m not sure those are the right terms…but you know what I mean.)  My blog would be lost, like a scrapbook that turns to ash in a housefire.  Hence the decision to make the blog into a book (that could also burn up in a housefire, whatever, shut up.)

I have to tell you though, that three years of blogging is a lot to organize.  I’m having to rewrite some things, choose templates that fit the right number of photos and text for each blogpost, and on top of that, Blurb is really slow.  I don’t think it’s my computer, because it’s usually pretty speedy, but when I ask Blurb to delete a page, for instance, it will do it…after about a two minute wait.  I usually must wait 20-30 seconds after most moves (which seems crazy slow), but the Delete a Page move is the most annoying.  I’m enjoying the whole process though, and it’s fun to take a walk down Memory Lane (it’s mostly fun…but I’m embarrassed at how bad my writing was in the beginning, middle, and sometimes even the end.  Man, I use way too many exclamation marks!!!!)

So besides the blog business…

I found this ladybug inside my house, which I think means good luck.  Except, doesn’t the ladybug’s house burn down in the little nursery rhyme? Maybe I should rethink the book.  Anyway, I put her outside on a pumpkin for a nice little photo shoot, but she promptly fell off and scurried away, which I think means she’s taking her luck and/or housefire with her somewhere else.

Dave and I repainted the shutters on our house last month!  He did the top floor, I did the bottom, and then I also painted the bench, front door, and storm door (I had to as I also changed our paint color from Faded Pukey Maroon to Sherwin William Tricorn Black.  I think the house looks much better now as our old shutters were so faded from the sun.

Before:

After:

Also, I took the screens off the windows, hosed down the whole front porch, and then washed all of the windows until they were squeaky clean.  It’s probably the last time I’ll do that until we paint the shutters again in 2021,  just sayin’.

I’ve also had two photo shoots this month in an effort to get a Christmas card photo.  For the first one, I took the kids to Founders Hall where the foliage was blazing away.  For the second one, I threw some Christmas lights down on our living room floor and stuck the kids in front of them.  I got some good results for both, but I also got some bombs.  Here’s a sneak peek at some bombs (because I’m saving most of the bombs for my Annual Christmas Card Reject Post, click here to see 2009’s rejects and here to see 2010’s rejects):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School conferences were about a week ago, and they all went well.  Jack’s teacher asked if I noticed the Community Helpers bulletin board in the hall, which I hadn’t.  She thought I would be interested in seeing Jack’ s contribution to the bulletin board.  Oh boy.  Did I get a nervous feeling in my stomach. 

The theme of the bulletin board was how community helpers help people.  For instance, one child wrote “I would like to be a policeman so I can help children cross the street.”  Another child wrote, “I would like to be a teacher so I can teach children how to read.”  So admirable.

Jack wrote:

Hmmm.  Maybe I need to whine about the orthodontist bills at a lower volume from now on.