Candid Diversions

Two Things I Didn't Expect to Hear

2012-02-23T11:05:00.000-05:00

1. "It's a boy!"

2. "There's no heartbeat. I'm so sorry. The baby has passed away."

More later, friends. But for now please pray for us.

In Which We Discuss All Things Downton

2012-02-20T09:51:00.002-05:00

Source: enchantedserenityperiodfilms.blogspot.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

I finished watching the 2nd season of Downton long ago so some things are not fresh in my mind although I've kept up by reading the recaps and blog posts about it as PBS aired it. (P.S. One reason why I do not like waiting for PBS to air British shows is they always edit them. Region Free is the only way to live if you actually want to watch what the Brits watch.) What say those of you who just finished - better or worse than the first season? I've made a list of my favorite characters (after both seasons), the characters I'm neutral on (could take them or leave them) and the characters for whom I wish the Spanish Flu might make another try (in other words: I can't stand 'em)

Favorites:

Violet, the Dowager Countess. Maggie Smith is amazing and, generally speaking, the best thing about whatever it is she happens to be acting in (the Harry Potter movies, for example. Absolute rubbish except for Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman).
Lord Grantham. Yes, I was yelling at the screen during all that business with Jane. And yes, I think he had a bit of a hissy fit / midlife crisis this season. I still like him.
Lady Mary. This is partially because Michelle Dockery is just such a good actress. She really sells this role. I can't help liking her, even when she's not likeable.
Matthew. Sometimes he's annoying but I still want him to be OK and have a happy life. (Preferably with Lady Mary)
Carson - Mary's confidant and Downton wouldn't be the same without him
Mrs. Hughes - she just seems so sensible and helpful
Mr. Bates - should be called Mr. Honorable
Anna - although, yes, I could have done without the pillow talk. (My eyes!)

Characters to whom I have no strong feelings, whether good or bad:

Cora - I find her voice annoying sometimes but I don't really mind her
Isobel Crawley - too bossy by half and annoying at times but a nice foil for the Dowager
Edith - if you would have asked me at the end of Season 1, I would have said I didn't like her. I see possibilities with this character now but I wish the writers would make up their minds what they're doing with her. (And no more kissing married farmers, please.)
Sybil - at the end of Season 1 she was one of my favorites. Now I could go either way.
O'Brien - I ought to hate her but I find her entertaining. She can stay.
Mrs. Patmore - eh. Sometimes funny but otherwise a non-factor
Dr. Clarkson - he's nice enough but his actual doctoring skills leave a bit to be desired
Mosely - always the bridesmaid, never the bride (or something like that)
Lavinia - has there ever been such a non-entity love interest before? Plus, her (SPOILER) death bed scene was a triumph of passive-aggressive last words.
William - gone too soon, earnest and likeable but boring

And now, for the list of characters that I hope go the way of Lavinia & William:

Branson - It doesn't help that Michelle Dockery (Mary) does more acting in one scene with her right eyebrow than this guy ever does. He's not even - in my opinion - good looking. As I told my husband, "If you're going to run away with the chauffeur, he should at least be extremely good looking." I have no idea what we're supposed to think here because the actors who play Sybil and Branson have zero chemistry together and I find their story petulant and annoying.
Thomas - He's evil and it's not fun any more. I seriously have no sympathy whatsoever for this character.
Daisy - The whiniest over-grown child in the kitchen
Ethel - your problems are Mrs. Hughes' responsibility how exactly? Go away and stay away.
Carlisle - sinister and just in the way
Vera Bates - yes, I know, she's already dead. But I can tell you this - if they hang Bates over her death, I'll want to dig up her body and murder her myself. All this creature lacked was a mustache to twirl.

Did you know that many historic mansions (like Downton) were demolished to make way for modern life?
This blog has a neat series: Dressing Downton. One of the best things about DA is the clothes, I think.
A roundup of links about the second season.
Perhaps you need some Downton Abbey trading cards?

And now, for the fan videos that I love the best (listed by song title):
With or Without You
With or Without You (longer)
I See The Light
The Scientist
Come Home
Fix You
Stay
Um, yes, I am a fan of the Matthew & Mary pairing. I admit it. (Hopeless romantic, here.)

So, what did you think about Season 2? Hoping for anything special in Season 3? (I am - I'm hoping Shirley MacLaine doesn't ruin it. She is not one of my favorite actresses.)

Weekend Links - February 18, 2012

2012-02-18T09:49:00.001-05:00

1. What I'd Tell My Daughter if She Wanted to Be a Blogger. Plenty of good advice there.

2. Mandi shares 9 Lessons Learned in 9 Years of Marriage. Having been married for almost 13 years myself (!) I can tell you that I wholeheartedly concur with her findings. I especially love her 3rd point: Date Nights are Overrated. Amen. We have four children. The chances for us to get away "just the two of us" are rare. The chances for us to spend time connecting at home if we're purposeful about it are great.

3. Prepare to fall down the rabbit hole: Wishbook Web. Philip and I spent at least an hour looking through the 1988 Sears Christmas catalog and pointing out what we wanted (and what we got). This site has catalogs from 1933 - 1988 so there's sure to be something you remember wanting for Christmas.

4. This is kind of silly but they caught my eye anyway: Renaissance Paintings of Modern Celebrities.

5. Soviet Space Propaganda Posters. Beautiful artwork, but then we'd expect nothing less from the propaganda masters of the 20th century, right?

6. This tool might be useful: What Size Am I? The site has both UK and US measurements and stores.

7. Another great post from Mandi (she was on a roll last week!): Why I Tell My Girls They're Beautiful.

8. Here's a nice infographic on Leap Year. One time Philip and I were in charge of games for a Valentine's Banquet at church and in our trivia game we asked if the year 1900 was a leap year. The answer was "no" (because 1900 is divisible by 4 & 100 but not by 400). There was an argument like you wouldn't believe about this! So, rescue yourself from potential arguments and familiarize yourself with this graphic.

9. For fun: Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became an Evil Overlord. Good advice for movie villains here. (Such as: "My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.")

10. Man refusing to perform Nazi Salute. What's that line from Kipling? If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs...?

Pins of the week:
I know my girls would love these Jello treats:

Source: joyofjello.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

and I'm sure they'd love to make their dolls some dresses out of sweater sleeves:

Source: findingpinsandneedles.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

So, what caught your eye this week?
This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.

Booking Through Thursday

2012-02-16T12:59:00.003-05:00

The question of the week on the weekly meme Booking Through Thursday is:
Have you every written any fan-fiction? If yes, why and for which book(s)? If no, would you like to and for which books(s)?
For that matter, do you ever READ fan-fiction?

And now I shall embarrass and shock you all by admitting that I was writing fan fiction before I knew it had a proper name. As a young teenager (and continuing on from then), if I liked a book or a movie I'd scribble a story about it or continuing it in my ever present spiral bound notebooks. (Nothing says "classy" like a $0.10 notebook, am I right?) I still *cough* have some of those stories. I like to think it was good practice.

Then as an adult, after the Star Wars movie prequels came out, I actually wrote and posted 3 different pieces of Star Wars fan fiction on the primary fan fiction website.

And because I know you are wondering, yes, they were well received and yes, I was proud of them. And no, I will not be telling you my fan fiction pen-name. (Although I just checked the other day and they're still up.)

I didn't actually post anything based on a book. I've read some REALLY good L.M. Montgomery fan fiction. Some of those writers could have done an excellent job if the estate ever wanted some more Anne, Emily or their kin type stories. I doubt that will happen but those writers could have done it.

My candid opinion is that most fan-fiction is bad. Some of it is teenagers writing themselves into Twilight so they can push that hussy Bella out of Edward's arms. Some of it is obscene and to be avoided at all costs.

But some of it is fun. And some of it is better than a paperback you might randomly pick up at the library.

What about you? Ever read or write any fan fiction? And did you share your work with anyone else?
This post is linked to Booking Through Thursday.

Weekend Links - February 11, 2012

2012-02-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

1. As a fellow challenged of stature (by which, of course, I mean height not reputation, ahem) female, I appreciate these ideas from Alterations Needed for Faking Fit.

2. This year is the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Retronaut has some pictures of some of the survivors.

3. These Jungle Adventurers are Solving Some WW2 mysteries.

4. Love Sarah's Parenting post on Loud Actions, Small Words. Here's one of my favorite paragraphs:

I think one of the gifts of mothering pre-teens and teens can be the chance for US to reevaluate our moral compass...on every issue, big and small. When I became a mom of a teenager I started seeing things through the eyes of a teenager. Did I want to settle, did I want to go with the flow and what it seems everyone else is doing, am I willing to deal with feeling different, and am I willing to set the bar at the highest level and then walk the walk not just talk the talk? That certainly was what I was telling and hoping my teenager would do-was I willing to do it myself?

I love that. If we want to raise children who do hard things, who challenge their culture, who are not willing to settle for less...then we have to be those kinds of people. What a fantastic challenge!

5. Philip and I have been doing a family budget for a long time. As in, since the first month we were married. That was an easy meeting: we have no money coming in, we can maybe spend "this" much of our savings, and Oh, Lord, please help us find jobs. (P.S. He did.) Our budget is rarely the same from one month to the next and these days we are even more reliant on some irregular income sources. So I appreciated the Simple Mom post On Dams and Water Towers (Budgeting on Irregular Income).

6. I am a comparer - extraordinaire so I needed Amy's post on Counterproductive Comparison.

7. What do you think about the news that Young People are Watching but Less Often on TV? I think if you count kids (teenagers) with their smartphones, people of all ages spend far more time staring at a screen than they used to. (And, just in case you couldn't discern my disapproving tone across your computer screen, I do not think this is a good thing.)

8. These old Autochrome pictures by Alfred Stieglitz are fascinating.

I didn't do a lot of pinning this week. To be honest, Pinterest is getting to be a bit much for me. All of a sudden a lot of my "real life" friends are on it and I feel like I'm honor bound to follow everyone and some of them (new to Pinterest) are Pinning Nuts. For instance: I have twelve pin boards. I've been on Pinterest since about 40 weeks ago. Some of my new pinning buddies had 12 boards up within a day.

Anyway, whine over (for now). I did pin this awesome alternative to baby doors:

Source: kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

Our church nursery has a dutch door so something like this might have occurred to me eventually but this looks so pretty I really do want to do this in the future (with our future new house and a future new baby, you understand. Miss Lili already knows how to open doors).

Stumble on to anything interesting this week? Do share! (And if you have any advice for not getting overwhelmed on Pinterest, I am definitely interested.)
This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci. Some see what others have stumbled on this week.

Words for Wednesday - On Boredom

2012-02-08T13:19:00.001-05:00

source

A generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation of little men...unduly divorced from the slow processes of nature, in whom every vital impulse withers. - Bertrand Russell

I'm friends with a lot of younger folks on Facebook (children and teens from our church's youth ministry) and if I had a dollar for every time one of them posts in their status update:

Bored.

Borrrrredddd.

So Bored.

Or something along that line (and not forgetting all the misspelled versions: "board", "bourd", etc. which is another cranky post for another day), then I could comfortably retire. For a little while I wanted to say something like "Read a book!" but I gave up on that. I have better things to do with my time.

Don't be a little man (or woman)!

Books of 2012 - January

2012-02-07T16:37:00.000-05:00

When you see this list you are going to think that all I did in January was read. And you would be...not far off. See January (whether cold / snowy / icy or just dreary / mild / breezy) is a blah month after the excitement of December.

Plus, we all had our usual Winter Cold season start in January. None of us have been sick enough to go to the doctor but we also haven't been able to get all six of us to 100% health either. So: we read. A lot.

1.The Princess of Denmark. Fiction by Edward Marston. Series mystery. These mysteries are set during Elizabethan England and concern an acting troupe much like Shakespeare's own. This was not the best in the series but I've read them all and always enjoy checking in with the memorable characters.

2. The Color of Death. Fiction by Bruce Alexander. Another series mystery. This is the Sir John Fielding series. Sir John Fielding was a magistrate and helped to found one of the first professional police forces, The Bow Street Runners. This series of books is a fictionalized look at some of his exploits and the narrator is his (fictional) adolescent "right hand man". They are well constructed stories, although the mysteries vary in quality.

3. Connected: Christian Parenting in an Age of IM and MySpace. Non-fiction by Peggy Kendall. The problem with writing a book like this is that the technology you're talking about it out of date before the ink is dry on the page. These are issues that parents must confront today: what is the prevailing technology and how might it affect my children? There are some good suggestions here, I suppose, but the "just say no" parenting technique that I prefer was sadly neglected. (Her opinion being that teenagers are going to be messaging or making MySpace profiles no matter what.)

4. The Woman in White. Fiction by Wilkie Collins. Collins was a contemporary of Charles Dickens and this is sometimes considered one of the first mystery novels (and certainly one of the finest examples of early "sensation" novels). This is as dense as Dickens but I confess I had trouble putting it down, I just had to find out what happened next. I'll admit I was a little disappointed at the ending (my favorite character seems somewhat neglected). This is one of those books that's been on my shelf for a long time and I'm glad I finally sat down to read it. This one gets to stay on my shelf in view of future re-reading.

5. Embers. Fiction by Sandor Marai. Translated from the Hungarian. Atmospheric and rich but ultimately unfulfilled promise. This is one bitter old man reliving his life in one evening. There are no answers and, ultimately, the reader does not really care what happens to any of the characters because they are all cold and remote. This is one that I'd had on my shelf for a long time (see also #4, above) and it has lost its spot. I will not be re-reading this one.

6. Overture to Death. Fiction by Ngaio Marsh. As a pianist, I've got to say that I love how the piano was the murder weapon in this series mystery. Cold chills! Well drawn characters and fascinating detection.

7. Death of a Peer. Fiction by Ngaio Marsh. Series mystery but I didn't enjoy this one as much as #6 above. I think the readers are supposed to be charmed by the perpetually "hard-up" Lamprey family but I was not charmed. I wanted to slap some sense into any of the supposed adults in this family. Micawber-ism is not a sound financial plan for a large family. ("Something will turn up.")

8. Gaudy Night. Fiction by Dorothy Sayers. Series mystery. This is part of the Peter Wimsey series but it is primarily about Harriet Vane. The descriptions of life at Oxford are fascinating.

9. Entreleadership. Non-fiction by Dave Ramsey. How Dave does business. Practical advice meant for folks running their own businesses (whether large or small).

10. Smuggler's Moon. Fiction by Bruce Alexander. Another entry in the Sir John Fielding series of mysteries. The "mystery" in this one is not all that mysterious but it was still fun to read.

11. Bright Young People: The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age. Non-fiction by D.J. Taylor. Absolutely fascinating and inspired a lot of related reading.

12. And Only to Deceive. Fiction by Tasha Alexander. First in a series and I'm reserving judgment until I've read at least one more. I tolerated but didn't love the heroine, I didn't exactly enjoy the construct, and it was not as suspenseful as I wanted it to be. But the second book is already on my nightstand so there must have been something there to catch my attention.

13. As the Pig Turns. Fiction by M.C. Beaton. Series mystery. I certainly have a weakness for these British cozy mysteries. Agatha Raisin is a delight - to read about, that is. I doubt I'd like her if she were real.

14. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment. Fiction by D.E. Stevenson. Mrs. Tim is a delight, if often naive. Vintage British Fiction is one of my favorite genres and this is a nice example.

15. The Confession. Fiction by Charles Todd.The latest in the Ian Rutledge mystery series. I think this was one of the best in the series: no Meredith Channing (can't stand her) and, I think, less Hamish (ditto). The "voice in Rutledge's head" construct got old a while back but it didn't bother me as much in this book so I think it must have been less than usual. I will say, not to toot my own horn, that I figured out the bad guy rather early on in this one. Maybe that's why I liked it so well? (I actually told Philip, "In these British mysteries it's always the..." but I'll leave that part blank for you so you can figure it out for yourself if you read it.)

16. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family. Non-fiction by Mary Lovell. This is one that was suggested by #11 above. These are six sisters (they also had one brother) born between 1904 and 1920. These are some of the most fascinating people I've ever read about. This book is a hefty 529 pages and I couldn't put it down. How and why these women were so brilliant, funny, obsessive, horribly misguided, willful, spoiled, neglected, brittle, devoted, flamboyantly public, intensely private, eccentric, relatively "normal" and so on (you could use almost any opposite adjectives you choose) is a huge subject but the author does a skillful job of presenting the evidence and making them live on (side note: the youngest sister, The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, is still living), without favoring one POV over another (several of the sisters wrote memoirs or novels about their family). This one inspired yet more reading (of which more in my February round-up).

17.The Wyndham Case. Fiction by Jill Paton Walsh. First in the Imogen Quy mystery series. I particularly wanted to read this series because the author has continued the Peter Wimsey series where Dorothy Sayers left off and I wanted to see how she wrote when the characters were her own invention. I liked this very much and will be reading more in the series.

18. Busman's Honeymoon. Fiction by Dorothy Sayers. No surprise here, I finished out the month with yet another series mystery (The Peter Wimsey / Harriet Vane series, in this case). One of my favorite parts of this book is that Bunter (Lord Peter's longsuffering servant) has plenty to do, unlike in some of the Wimsey books immediately preceding this one. I obviously read a lot of mysteries this month and that may be why I was not really impressed with the method or motive in this mystery.

There you have it: 18
Fiction: 14 (of which no less than 10 were series mysteries)
Non-fiction: 4

Book images in this post are Amazon Affiliate links. Action taken with these links could result in compensation for me. Opinions are my own.

Sunday Thoughts

2012-02-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

Sloth is the sin that believes nothing, cares to know nothing, seeks to know nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing...and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die. – Dorothy Sayers

Hebrews 6:9-15
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Weekend Links - February 4, 2012

2012-02-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

February already?! {insert cliche about the passage of time here} On to the links!

1. Should pajamas be banned in public? I have my own opinions about wearing p.j's in public (I tend to be against it, unless we're talking about babies or small children) but I'm not sure a ban is the best idea.

2. Two related posts: Where Have All the Men Gone? and Cindy of Ordo Amoris' thoughts on Where Have All the Men Gone? The comments on Cindy's post are varied and insightful as well. One big disclaimer: I do not agree with all the points in the original article. For one thing (and this is big to me), I do not think the problem has been "too much teaching". Far, far from it.

3. Being the Anglophile I am, I naturally have a fascination with the British Royal Family. One of my favorites is Queen Elizabeth II and here's a great article: Changing Tyres, Knitting Socks and the Making of a Very Modest Monarch. (Side note: you may want to avoid looking at the sidebar in that story. I have no idea what's in them today but sometimes they are...less than appropriate.)

4. It pretty much goes without saying but I'd love to visit all of these: 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World.

5. Henry Miller's 11 Commandments of Writing. Some great advice there.

6. Lost Island in New York. I've seen these pictures before but they are just so haunting and amazing.

7. Photos of Locations described in Charles Dickens' books. I can tell you from personal experience that it's not hard to imagine Dickens or his characters in some parts of London.

8. I am not as big a fan of Season 2 of Downton Abbey (which, yes, I'm completely spoiled because I saw the British second season long before it ever started showing here on PBS) but I still love the characters. Here's a fun compilation: Downton Stars On and Off Screen. Mr. Bates holding a baby! Mr. Carson riding a bike!

9. My husband wrote a post about Time Management this week. He's honest and he gives great advice.

10. I really like this idea from Mary at Owlhaven: Preparing Teens for Life. I'm storing this idea away for a few years.

11. Great, inspiring story about a boy with disabilities (FASD) and his Wonder Dog.

12. I'm wondering how Heidi's son got one of my daughters to write this note she shares in her post: Real. Some homeschool days are just not the visions of educational bliss we homeschool moms dream about. That's OK. We'll survive. Our kids will survive. (P.S. I think "You Can't Enslave Me" with the accompanying 23 exclamation points should be the new "Don't taze me, bro.")

13. And now for something completely different: Hat Etiquette for Women. I love Solanah's style! (and her dresses and her hats and her hat pins and...)

Pins of the Week:
I love, love, love this kitchen. Someday I will have a kitchen like this.

Source: oldhouseonline.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

These crepe paper roses are so gorgeous. I can just imagine hanging several of these in the girls' bedroom:

Source: danielleflanders.blogspot.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

Finally, Valentine's is coming. You know you need to drink some Red or Pink Hot Chocolate:

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

So, what did you stumble on this week? I'm linking this post to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.

Quick Takes Friday - My 4th

2012-02-03T10:37:00.000-05:00

1. Apparently turning 30 (which happened last May) means I'm old now. My girls have told me so and they're generally reliable. I now have further proof: I seem to have gone from 29 to 76 because I have a recurring pain in my right hip. Well, it's actually something like this:

Mine starts in my hip but I'm never sure where it will end up. It's not really that bad and I haven't Googled it lest I find out that it's actually a brain tumor. (Because that's always what it comes down to on WebMD: you've merely wrenched something or...DOOM!)

2. These unexpectedly mild days of Winter have allowed the girls (and the Fenster) to play outside the past few days. This is a good thing. Not such a great thing: all the sand from the sand box being tracked inside. A mom shouldn't have to deal with sand in January / February.

3. Favorite c.d these days:

This is on near constant play around here. Definitely one of her best albums in years and guaranteed to stick in the brain.

4. One thing about me that most people know: I hate change. And guess what changed this week? Dave Ramsey moved from a small radio station to the largest radio station in our city. I'm sure this is great for him, but it stinks for me. Because where he used to be on in the afternoon (that's when he actually broadcasts his show), now he's on at night. And I ask you, who listens to the radio at night? Not I. I wish people would consult me before making these kinds of changes. (She says with tongue in cheek although, yes, it would be nice if my feelings were considered before any and all changes.)

5. Miss Lili wore shoes to church Wednesday night. This is newsworthy as the girl usually won't leave shoes on her feet. When we arrived she just stood in the church entrance and stared at her feet until her Gram and one of our friends actually commented on her shoes. Then she stopped looking at her feet and ran off to play. This struck me as a very Sweet Pea thing to do. Sweet Pea always wants people to notice her new hair-bows or shoes or dresses.

6. Speaking of Lili did you see the scrapbook page I made? That's one of my all time favorite Lili pictures and I'm pretty happy with how the page turned out.

7. Anyone planning to watch that little football game Sunday night? I usually couldn't care less about football and, honestly, this year is no exception. But should Philip and I turn it on when we get home from church I will be cheering for the Giants because what I do know about football is I can't stand the Patriots or Tom Brady. I'm sure you were all wondering about that. Do you have Super Bowl plans?

This post is linked to Quick Takes Friday which is hosted at Betty Beguiles this week.

Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T10:41:00.000-05:00

It's Groundhog Day. Again.

And if you've never read Jonah Goldberg's excellent essay on the movie, you can find it here.

Words for Wednesday - On Grammar

2012-02-01T10:38:00.001-05:00

Source: learning.blogs.nytimes.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

Grammar is to a writer what anatomy is to a sculptor, or the scales to a musician. You may loathe it, it may bore you, but nothing will replace it, and once mastered it will support you like a rock. - B.J. Chute

Which may mean some of you feel like this author:

Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.
- Lawrence Kasdan

Reading Year 2011 in Review

2012-01-31T19:07:00.005-05:00

Totals for 2011: 159 (27 more than last year. Hooray!)
Fiction: 60
Non-fiction (including poetry): 99
That works out to 13.25 books per month or around 3.05 books per week.

Most books finished in: June (19)
Fewest books finished in: April (6)
Most non-fiction finished: this is a two way tie between January and October (11 each)
Most fiction finished: August (12)
Fewest number of non-fiction books finished: tie between April & August (4)
Fewest number of fiction books finished: four way tie because I only finished two in January, February, March and April.

Favorite mystery series: The Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy Sayers (my favorite might have been:The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, but really, they're all good)

Favorite trilogy:The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Favorite Trilogy Runner-Up: Matched by Ally Condie deserves a shout out here too. I've only read the first but I'm eagerly anticipating the next 2 books in the series)
Least favorite trilogy: The Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Second least favorite trilogy:Chaos Walking: The Complete Trilogyby Patrick Ness. Both of these series had interesting premises but that's the only nice thing I can say about them.

Favorite novel: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Most Hyped (and therefore, most over-rated):Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
Most Austen-esque:Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal ("Austen meets Bewitched")
Also somewhat Austen-esque:Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Best Book About Writing:If You Want to Writeby Brenda Ueland
Funniest: any of the books by Jean Kerr (such as: The Snake Has All the Lines)
Non-fiction Book that inspired more research:The Great Silence: Britain from the Shadow of the First World War to the Dawn of the Jazz Ageby Juliet Nicolson
Favorite Book / Movie Combo:Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre (movie:The Man Who Never Was) I think this was the only book / movie combo, to be honest.

Worst Memoir: The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairieby Wendy McClure. Almost sucked all the joy out of Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic books. Almost.
Best Memoir:A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matterby William Deresciwicz. Several disclaimers apply (language, intimacy) but this book manages to be self-aware without being ridiculously self-important.

Favorite Biography: tie between-
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slaveryby Eric Metaxas and
And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidmanby Lyle Dorsett

Number of books sent to me for review purposes: 2 (Practical Geniusand The Immigrant Advantage). This was a first for me. Of the two, I only properly reviewed the first so perhaps I am not cut-out for this position.

Books with fewest degrees of separation between the author and myself:
Counterfeit Gospels: Rediscovering the Good News in a World of False Hopeby Trevin Wax (we had the same piano teacher and performed in the same piano recitals. Also, our parents were friends.)
Loving the Everyday: Meditations for Momsby Elizabeth Barkley (the author was my sister's academic adviser)

Most Quotable: From the Library of C. S. Lewis: Selections from Writers Who Influenced His Spiritual Journeycompiled by James Stuart Bell. In other news, I just found out today that I'm getting a copy of this via Paperback Swap. I probably don't have to tell you but: free books = happy me.
Favorite re-read: The Blue Castleby L.M. Montgomery. And, as far as I can tell looking over my book posts, the only re-read of 2011.
Dickens finished in 2011: none! That challenge is over and I haven't gone back to re-read any yet.
Dickens-esque: none, really. But I did read several books about London / Great Britain. (And I've already finished a "Dickens-esque" book in 2012, so there you go)

I read several books I shouldn't have. I read a lot of series fiction. I didn't get as much research done as I planned. But, all in all, I'm fairly proud of this reading year. If you've got a post about your favorite books of 2011, please do share in the comments.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Action taken with these links could result in compensation for me. Opinions are my own.

How Better to Distract

2012-01-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

faithful readers from the lack of original blog posts than...

gratuitous pictures of baby daughters?

This page was made with My Memories Software and with several of their free design elements. If you would like to buy the software you can get $10 off using this code: STMMMS66176

Weekend Links - January 28, 2012

2012-01-28T10:55:00.000-05:00

Blogging has been light around here. I don't have a good explanation for this other than I have plenty to say, I just don't want to say it.

So, on to the links:

1. Online Games for Homeschool Math. I had never heard of any of these but I think we need to add a few to our "kid online" repertoire.

2. When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents? This reminds me to point out once again that Paul Revere did NOT actually say, "The British are coming!" (Which would have been like saying, "We're coming!" He is supposed to have said, "The Regulars are coming" (that is, the Army). Another thing I think is interesting about the American English vs. British English discussion is related to the movie Gone with the Wind (bear with me here): there was a bit of a fuss about a British young woman winning the Scarlett O'Hara role (although, seriously, can you imagine anyone other than Vivien Leigh in that part?!) Anyway, considering that Scarlet's father was supposed to be Irish and that in 1860 it had been less than a hundred years since the Revolutionary War...I'm thinking that Vivien Leigh's Southern accent got it pretty close.

End of this diversion and on to the next link. (Hey, it is called "Candid Diversions", after all)

3. Why Can't Some People See Magic Eye Pictures? I can't. But maybe I'll follow that post's advice and try to improve my technique. I really thought all you who claimed to see something in those patterns were making it up all these years.

4. Think your grocery trip is costing you more than it used to? You're right.

5. This was all over the interwebs this week: John Tyler's Grandsons are still alive. Yes, as in our 10th President John Tyler.

6. This post is thought provoking: How Much Do You Ask Your Older Kids to Help? I still have unresolved feelings about this question so Philip and I try to be very deliberate in what we require of our oldest children (and how we reward and or discipline about those requirements).

7. Here's another great parenting post: It Won't Always Be Like This. This is great news for those of us with more than one "strong willed child".

8. I always appreciate Jamie's open and thoughtful posts. This is a good one: When a Homeschool Mom Sends a Child to Public School. Here's what I think is the heart of her post:

I’m never really in control of my child’s education (or anything else), but God is.

See, some homeschool advocates have fallen into the trap of suggesting that, if you homeschool the "right way" (whatever that is, and they're perfectly willing to tell you all the ways you're doing it wrong) your children are guaranteed to turn out right.

Unfortunately that is simply not true. I love homeschooling. I love it for our family. I want to encourage as many parents as are able to at least try it (I usually say it is both easier and harder than you think). But I have no illusions that it makes our family perfect or will produce perfect adults at age 18.

Now then, that got a little heavier than I intended. On to a few pins!

Source: elmueble.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

Love this room set up with the long wall.

This would make a great Valentine's Day breakfast:

Source: hungryhappenings.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

We like to cut our PB&J sandwiches with a heart cookie cutter but it never occurred to me to cut toast with a cookie cutter - that seems like a great Valentine's idea even if you don't paint on the words.

So, did you stumble on to anything interesting this week? Feel free to share in the comments.
This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.

Life with Tigger and Fen

2012-01-26T12:00:00.001-05:00

Tigger, my occasionally reluctant scholar, really worked hard on her schoolwork this morning. She had a fantastic attitude and worked steadily to finish several different subjects. (I'm sharing this partially to remind myself in the future that, yes, it does happen this way sometimes.)

Fen missed his playmate and Sweet Pea just wasn't filling the gap. When Tigger finally finished her last subject, Fen was standing right there at her elbow.

"We better go play!" He said with a little cheer. (Subtext: before your mom gives you anything else to do.)

"We better go play!" Tigger echoed him.

"Okay!" He shouted back, as if it were her idea all along.

Never a dull moment, folks. Never.
(Picture: Tigger & Fen last September at Cumberland Falls.)

Words for Wednesday - On Ideas and Intelligence

2012-01-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

source

A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, any more than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers. - Nicolas Chamfort

And it is probably not coincidence that, on the same page of my commonplace book, I also wrote down this quotation:

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. - Goethe

Top 10 Tuesday - Books in My TBR Stack

2012-01-24T11:16:00.001-05:00

Since there is no prescribed theme at The Broke and the Bookish this week, I thought I would share my current "to be read" stack with you:

1.The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp.

2.The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David Ulin.

3.The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr.

4.The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice by Todd Henry.

5.God Is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China by Liao Yiwu

6.Busman's Honeymoon: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery with Harriet Vane by Dorothy Sayers

7.Wyndham Case (Imogen Quy Mysteries) by Jill Paton Walsh

Waiting for me at the library and almost guaranteed to jump up near the top of my stack:
8.The Confession: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery (Ian Rutledge Mysteries) by Charles Todd.

And two from my extensive "not in yet" holds at the library that I am eagerly anticipating, that will assuredly jump to the head of the line whenever they happen to come in:

9.Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

10.Crossed by Ally Condie

So many books, so little time...

This post is linked to Top 10 Tuesday at The Broke and the Bookish. The titles in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Action taken with these links could result in compensation for me.

Happy Birthday to Philip!

2012-01-24T09:48:00.001-05:00

There are many mysteries related to marriage and here's one that hits me every January 24th:

One of the best days of my life came four and half years before I was even born.

I don't claim to know how that works. I just know it's the truth.

Happy Birthday!

Sunday Thoughts

2012-01-22T08:21:00.000-05:00

O burning mountain, O chosen sun,
O perfect moon, O fathomless well,
O unattainable height, O clearness beyond measure
O wisdom without end, O mercy without limit,
O strength beyond resistance, O crown of all majesty,
The humblest you created sings your praise.
-Mechtild of Magdeburn 1207-94

(Psalm 30 ESV)
I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
By your favor, O LORD,
you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
To you, O LORD, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
“What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!
O LORD, be my helper!”
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Weekend Links - January 21, 2012

2012-01-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

1. Mary over at Owlhaven wrote a post that really encouraged me: Crackpot. I encourage all my mom friends to read it. Our hope can't really be in our mad parenting skillz. (The z makes it sound cool, don't you know) Our hope has to be in the One who created us and our children.

2. Here's an inspiring post for all of us living in our tiny houses: Tiny House, BIG Space.

3. I love this Carousel art. Gorgeous!

4. Here's a great post on marriage: You Never Marry the Right Person. Real love, love like Jesus' love...that's hard. It's work. And it is so worth it.

5. This struck me as funny and true: Correlation or Causation? Like Mark Twain said: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, d*mn*d lies, and statistics." For our time we have to add: "And charts that supposedly 'prove' something."

6. Did you hear that Hostess is declaring bankruptcy? Think it's because Americans are eating healthier? Maybe not: The Truth Behind the Possible Twinkies Bankruptcy. (H/T: The Common Room)

7. These sorts of articles are fun to contemplate every now and again: How Much is a Homemaker Worth? Short answer: if you had to pay us, you couldn't afford it. And I don't care what numbers they come up with in their article.

8. Got any unused curriculum sitting around? The Happy Housewife is hosting a Used Curriculum Sale on Wednesday, January 25.

9. Underground Architectural Marvels and Oddities. Fascinating.

10. Balance: The Downside and The Upside of Having a Large Family. So true!

11. You can now Reply to Comments in Blogger. I've changed my blog comments so that I can do this now. I've already replied to some of you. {smile} I hope this enables better conversations 'round here.

12. Just in case anyone is wondering what to get me for my birthday (a mere four months away...): World's Largest Emerald Up for Auction.

I've got more links but that's enough for one day.

Pins of the week:
Check out these bunk-beds!

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

I love the idea of turning Scrabble tiles into letter magnets:

Source: kinderpendent.blogspot.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

Now I need to watch yard sales and the thrift store for Scrabble games that I can bust up. These are so much cooler than those garish plastic letters. (Which, yes, if you're wondering, we have a set covering the front of our fridge.)

So: what did you stumble upon this week?
This post is linked to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.

Quick Takes Friday - My 3rd Attempt

2012-01-20T15:54:00.001-05:00

1. No one - and I mean not Sweet Pea, not Fen and definitely not Miss Lili - has taken a nap today. This is not normal and not appreciated by yours truly. Naptime should be inviolate. Why do they fight it so? How can they not understand the decadence of societal approval for laying down on your comfy bed in the day time?!

2. And, before I forget, I really want to say thank you to anyone who has been praying for my family since the recent illness and death of my uncle. All the prayers and encouraging words have really blessed us.

3. Sometimes Philip has to launch from his tutoring business straight into "Parenting Advice". One student he has right now is really struggling. Turns out that one significant problem is that this student's not getting nearly enough sleep at night. He gently suggested the family turn off the TV an hour or two before the student needed to be in bed. And then, you know, the student should GO TO BED. And it's not that this kid's guardians don't care. They do. Which is why this child is living with them. But it didn't occur to the adult that Philip deals with that kids need more sleep than adults and that the lack of sleep can affect school performance. Somehow this whole discussion just made me sad.

4. We are trying to pack up some superfluous belongings in preparation for a move. Sweet Pea is worried by this because some of our things are going to be stored at my sister's house. What if Aunt Princess doesn't give our stuff back?!

5. Polly and I were looking at pictures online of the Golden Globe Awards. (The dresses, specifically). We admired some but there were a few that were, shall we say, unfortunately less than modest. "Don't those women have any self-respect?" She asked me. "Does she know you can see right through her dress?" It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: I really hope she keeps this attitude throughout her adolescence.

6. We just got our first copies of Philip's new game: Kingdom of Solomon. This one was a lot more work to get produced but I think he is proud of the product. It looks great to me. (But, of course, I am not unbiased.)

7. Speaking of games, this is our current family favorite. It's easy to learn and, wonder of wonders, I've won both times we've played. Polly and Tigger really love it. The pictures are cool and have a lot of interesting depth. This is actually one of Philip's birthday presents. And yes, as some of you know, his birthday isn't until next Tuesday. We may make the girls wait to open their presents but Philip doesn't wait and we've all enjoyed this one.

So, there's my seven bits of randomness. What's up in your world today?
This post is linked to Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary.

A Day in the Life

2012-01-19T21:21:00.001-05:00

In which I share a "typical" day with you:

7:40 - alarm goes off. Philip's already gone (which I vaguely remember because he kissed me good-bye)
7:45 - I am up. Awake? Not so much.
7:50 - I pour a bowl of Special K cereal, a cup of coffee, and open my Bible
7:53 - that was a nice 3 minutes. Fen's here now. Sweet Pea gets up as soon as he comes in the door.
7:55 - Baby starts crying to get up
7:56 - pour bowls of cereal for the Littles, get a cup of milk for Baby, sit down to eat / read my Bible again
8:01 - cut up a banana for Littles. Fen is trying to eat his cereal with the largest spoon (a serving spoon) he could find
8:02 - Tigger is up. I "finish" my Bible reading, cut a grapefruit in half for her
8:05 - call for Polly to get up. This is unusual because she usually bounces out of bed in the mornings
8:07 - turn on the computer while everyone else eats breakfast. Make my bed.
8:10 - sit down at computer with my coffee to "check mail". Fen stands at my elbow talking and coughing. Then he informs me he has to go to the bathroom right now.
8:19 - put my contacts in while waiting on Fen to finish up in the bathroom. Give Fen 3 jelly beans for effort.
8:21 - back to computer
8:28 - up from computer
8:29 - kitchen is a disaster area. The big girls have mutilated 2 grapefruit.
8:31 - change the baby's diaper but decide to leave her in p.j's since it is so cold this morning. Put her back in her bed because she is super-grouchy.
8:34 - start tackling the clothes pile by my bed
8:37 - Tigger puts on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD - crisis! There's no sound! Wailing ensues.
8:41 - I fix it. They watch. I'm back to the clothes pile
8:46 - finish the pile - I can see my floor! - and head to the kitchen
8:51 - sit down with my current book (Bright Young People: The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age)
9:03 - finish the chapter I started last night before bed. Kids are still watching DVD.
9:10 - I put together a packing box and fill it with some items for our as yet theoretical Spring Yard Sale
9:17 - fold and put away my clothes from a small basket of laundry
9:21 - sit down at computer and find out my preferred presidential candidate is probably dropping out of the race today. Heart sinks. Kind of want to hit something. Not a good feeling. Attempt to be philosophical - maybe this time I'll get to be depressed about our country well before election day instead of on election day. Hooray. Remind me in four years not to vocally support any candidate for office, OK? My support must be the kiss of death.
9:30 - DVD is over. Fen immediately tackles Polly. Sweet Pea begins fussing about something. I tell the big girls to start their school work since the baby is asleep and they can't do their usual Morning To-Do lists.
9:35 - Polly starts school, Sweet Pea is still fussing, Tigger is still stretched out on the couch. "Too tired" to do school.
Click that "read more" button to find out how the rest of our day goes -

9:56 - Finally make Tigger start school - listen to her poems and scripture. I sharpen two pencils for her.
10:06 - sit Tigger down with her Math paper
10:09 - I am tidying up the living room. Sweet Pea and Fen are (miracle!) playing nicely together.
10:11 - Help Tigger with a Math problem (bad sign: it's the first problem on the page. She sat here for 5 minutes without doing anything other than write her name on the paper)
10:15 - dump some Baking Soda in the bathroom sink, continue picking up toys (Brio trains) in the living room, help Tigger with Math again, listen to Polly read some interesting History facts
10:20 - wipe out the bathroom sink, sweep the bathroom floor, grind up the grapefruit rinds in the kitchen sink garbage disposal, sit Tigger back down at her Math paper
10:32 Tigger finishes her Math sheet, struggles through a timed Subtraction facts sheet. Polly is still working on History.
10:37 - listen to Polly's History narration, help her write it down. Tell Tigger to start her Phonics sheet.
10:43 - Polly starts Math.
10:48 - Sit Tigger back down with her Phonics paper. Direct Polly back to Math. Fen and Sweet Pea have spread toys all over the floor. I file some school papers and (finally!) get dressed.
10:52 - I do Scripture and Phonics review with Sweet Pea. Direct Tigger back to her Phonics paper - she has finished exactly one problem on the sheet.
10:59 - Sweet Pea starts playing phonics games on the computer. (Starfall) Fen watches this.
11:00 - I put together 2 more packing boxes and pack 2 shelves of books
11:12 - Tigger finally finishes phonics while I stand right by her. I send her outside with recycling after this.
11:18 - I start Tigger on her handwriting paper. I sharpen 2 more pencils.
11:19 - get Baby up from nap and play Bristle blocks with her for a few minutes
11:27 - Polly finishes Math, I help Tigger with handwriting.
11:30 - Philip is home! He taught a half day of 7th grade language arts today. I send Tigger & Sweet Pea to get dressed & make their beds.
11:31 - Send Sweet Pea back to get dressed. Again.
11:34 - Sweet Pea is back out. Only 1/2 dressed. Polly is taking a shower & getting dressed. I'm packing up some of my breakable plates & china.
11:48 - send Tigger & Sweet Pea back to make their beds. Again. Polly's bed is made, she's reading her Bible now.
11:51 - give the girls a basket of laundry to put away.
11:55 - I sit down with a magazine. The Baby is emptying Polly's school box but Polly comes running to rescue it.
12:08 - everyone starts meandering toward the kitchen. Everyone wants something different for lunch.
12:14 - We give Lili her first ever cup of chocolate milk. This is a success.

12:47 - Lunch is over. We clean up Baby & Fen. We put those two plus Sweet Pea in the girls' room for a nap. They're listening to Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel today(Sweet Pea's favorite). The big girls are watching a DK Eyewitness DVD about the human body. I sit back down with my magazine.
1:26 - The big girls and I start Science.
1:35 - Sweet Pea and the Baby are up from their nap. Fen is sleeping. The big girls and I are working on Science projects and Sweet Pea plays Starfall on the computer again.
2:08 - Philip wants Polly to stop school work and come help him test a game. Yes, this happens frequently around here.
2:50 - I've been reading political blogs (Which I should really stop. Immediately. Tomorrow.) Must fight against "Doom. Doom and Gloom. Doom, I say!" feelings. Philip and Polly are finishing up their game. Tigger has started playing with legos in the living room.
3:02 - I'm hanging up clean dresses in the girls' closet (which is in our living room. Don't ask.) Philip starts a load of laundry because dirty laundry is starting to creep up our basement steps and it may try to open that door and take over our house next. Tigger and I return to Science and finish up an activity. Polly is now playing on the computer.
3:17 - Baby opens the door and goes into her room without us noticing. We find her in there patting on Fen and trying to climb in his bed. Miraculously, he is sleeping through this. We take this as a sign and put her back down. (Note: she usually takes 2 naps a day. She had a good morning nap today but she did not fall asleep earlier this afternoon.)
3:21 - Philip leaves for his tutoring job. I sew a button on Sweet Pea's dress coat.
3:30 - Things I have said to one of my children in the past few minutes:

I don't speak whine.
When you talk like that all I hear is, "please put me to bed".
Stop whining. Now.

All of that while I swept the kitchen floor. I'm guessing Baby didn't eat much breakfast because I sweep up enough Cheerios to fill a bowl. Mercifully, the whiner gives up about now because I just can't put her in her room because of the sleeping Fen & Lili.

4:22 - Polly has been reading an American Girl book. Tigger & Sweet Pea are still playing legos in the living room. We've been listening to Dave Ramsey all afternoon and the girls and I are talking about how our being debt free (except our mortgage) lets us have some things we want.
4:29 - while packing another shelf of books I find a sadly deflated balloon. This is leftover from Lili's 1st Birthday Party. Which was in September. #housekeeperoftheyearaward
4:33 - I start work on supper
4:56 - My brother-in-law arrives to pick up Fen. We have to get Fen up for this. Lili wakes up too. I get Fen ready to go. He leaves, reluctantly leaving the cup behind that he was using ("I can have it tomorrow?") and after insisting on giving me the full two kisses + big hug good-bye.
5:13 - Supper is now in the oven.
5:20 - Philip is home from his tutoring job. Plus, he picked up more packing tape. I can already tell that this whole "sell the house, move to a new house" thing is going to be quite the adventure.
5:45 - Supper: Chicken enchiladas which are popular with two and a half of our children (Lili likes the filling but not the cooked tortilla, Polly doesn't like any of it). We call this a success in our house.
6:00 - Philip puts a grouchy Lili back in her bed.
6:15 - Supper is over.
6:39 - Baby is up again and playing happily on her own. Sweet Pea and Tigger are back at the legos. Philip & Polly are playing a board game. I'm looking at the new library books Philip brought home.
6:45 - I do an impromptu sort of bunnies on a shelf in the girls' room. We decide on 3 to give away. Ten lucky bunnies remain on the shelf.
6:58 - I'm finishing loading the dishwasher. Sign of the times: all of the dishes do not fit. We almost need to run this silly thing twice a day now. While I'm working on this, Philip is changing the Baby and putting her into clean p.j's. For those of you keeping score: yes, Lili wore her pajamas all day. It was cold outside and we didn't have to go anywhere. Don't judge.
Polly takes out the trash and then Philip and Polly are going to get back to their game. I think I'll sit down.
7:02 - I change into my own pajamas while reading the first chapter of The Creative Habit, a library book Philip brought home.
7:45 - we finish a family game of Dixit. I win (again!). We send the girls to get their pajamas on while we start picking up toys.
7:54 - Family prayer time. Girls to bed for reading time.
8:30 - Girls turn out their light. Philip and I watch Parks and Recreation together.

Then I come here and finish up this blog post. The only thing left in my day is a little more web surfing and - if all goes as planned - and hour or two of reading. I ought to switch the laundry. Or pack some more. Or hand-wash some dishes. (Little hint: I am probably not going to do any of that.)

Looking back, it doesn't seem like much. I didn't go anywhere. Nothing dramatic happened. We didn't even have any major tantrums or melt-downs. I'm not sure where all my energy went but I can assure you: it went. I am done.

It all happens again tomorrow. And I type that with a smile on my face.

Words for Wednesday - On Happiness

2012-01-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight on you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Picture: my sweet Polly way back in '08 at a local butterfly exhibit.

Top 10 Tuesday - Brit Lit Edition

2012-01-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

Not familiar with (or a fan of) British Literature? These are my top 10 recommendations to get you started or to pique your interest:

1. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen. Bet you knew this would be on this list! Seriously though, this is considered one of the best novels of all time for a reason.

2. Hard Times. Charles Dickens. Much shorter than many of his other works so you won't be overwhelmed by the sheer length of it. Pointed satire and memorable characters. Or, if you're feeling more ambitious:

3. David Copperfield. Charles Dickens. Semi-autobiographical and very well crafted.

4. Tales from Shakespeare. Charles and Mary Lamb. For your first taste of Shakespeare. This book is accessible enough for children. A great introduction before you tackle the actual plays.

5. North and South. Elizabeth Gaskell. Much easier to get through than Mary Barton and a more cohesive plot than Cranford (although I must admit to loving both N&S and Cranford very much).

6. A Room With A View. E.M. Forster. This is Forster at his best and most optimistic and though I also enjoyed Howard's End, I do not recommend the rest of his work.

7. The Woman in White. Wilkie Collins. One of the finest "sensation" novels. I just finished this recently and it completely held my attention.

8. Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson. So fun. Would probably make a great read aloud, although I haven't actually tried it.

9. The Scarlet Pimpernel. Baroness Emma Orczy. We'll count this as Brit lit even though its author is of Hungarian descent. The hero is the quintessential British hero.

10. Whose Body? Dorothy Sayers. For introduction into the British mystery genre. Some folks might prefer Christie but give me Sayers any day of the week. (I think my favorite might be The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club but that is a bit later in her Peter Wimsey series.)

So, fellow Brit Lit fans - did I miss your favorite?
This post is linked to Top 10 Tuesday at The Broke and the Bookish and also at Oh Amanda.
The images in this post are Amazon Affiliate links. Action taken with these links could result in compensation for me. Opinions are my own.