Veterans Day: Honoring My Father

2009-11-11T20:48:00-08:00

My dad, March 1966 in Chu Lai, Vietnam. He was a Seabee.

The above photo is part of a series of slides my father recently assembled from photos he saved from Vietnam, most of which I’d never seen. He married my mom just before his deployment. They celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary this year.

Thanks, Dad.

Sleep Training Is Making Me Into A Bookworm

2009-11-10T20:53:18-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I’m on Week Four, kids. Still baby stepping. Still failing in some areas and making strides toward improvement in others. I can now fall asleep within an hour or two of going to bed, however I may not go to bed until 4am. Like I said, baby steps.

One unforeseen side effect of the sleep training program is that I’ve been finishing a lot of books. Since I’m limited on what activities I am allowed to do in bed while I’m trying to fall asleep (no more laptop or online time), I’ve been reading. A lot.

Having an iPhone means that I can read my books using the Kindle application. This may sound horrid to those of you who don’t have experience using a Kindle or an iPhone, but it’s quite delightful, really. Think of having a book light built into your book, no pages to awkwardly prop open while lying in bed, no book to position around the pillow. It’s divine.

I fell in love with the Kindle app while reading Infinite Jest. It was a godsend with that book’s infinite endnotes and monstrous girth. I already owned a hardcopy of the book, but didn’t want to tote it on the plane ride to Chicago for BlogHer. Downloading the free Kindle app and the $9.99 book seemed well worth the convenience for the trip. Upon my return, I barely cracked opened the hardcopy again—usually just to get a visual on how much real estate I’d covered. The book’s that thick.

So, what have I been reading, you ask?

Califmom’s Sleep Training Book List:

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson
Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin by Kathy Griffin
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Have a Little Faith: The Story of a Last Request by Mitch Albom

And I started Anna Karenina last night. It’s my first time reading it, so I have no idea how it will go. I don’t finish every book I start. The books I listed above are all books I finished. Ethan Frome was the only book on the list I’d read before. I remembered loving it when I read it in high school and wanted to revisit it again as an adult. I still loved the way Edit Wharton painted the bleak winter landscape, mirroring her characters’ lives. Emo kids have nothing on Wharton.

If you want to keep up with what I’m reading or what my kids read, I keep track of it all on Goodreads.

Dreams of Our Fathers and Mrs. Butterworth's

2009-11-09T19:24:41-08:00

Dear Dad,

I really feel like we missed an opportunity here. Even bigger than the plans you had for all those empty Mrs. Butterworth's bottles you stored in the shed.

See: Sometimes Twitter Accounts About Sh*t Your Dad Says Get You TV Deals

Where do we go from here?

Love,

califmom

Veterans Day: Honoring My Father

Sleep Training Is Making Me Into A Bookworm

Dreams of Our Fathers and Mrs. Butterworth's