Big Tease!

Book of the week...

"What's the aging process for your kind?" Doc asked. "The natural life span?"
"We don't have one," I told him. "As long as we have a healthy host, we can live forever."

The Host by Stephenie Meyer



Yes, that's the same Stephenie Meyer. The author of the Twilight Saga apparently has a few more stories up her sleeve. This one is science fiction and I was surprised that I was so engaged. Based on the cover blurb, I had passed it over before. That's also how I felt about "vampire stories," though! This one leaves you pondering what makes you YOU? There's also a little food for thought about colonization and world domination...

Gift Card Holders

A bit of papercrafting today to celebrate the kids' teachers! I received a gift card from a friend in a most adorable holder that had fancy edging and sewn-on baubles and I looked forward to recreating the effect. The colors didn't photograph very well here, but you get the idea...
This was a great way to use leftover buttons, beads, charms and lace from other miscellaneous projects. Cute AND thrifty AND eco-friendly.

A Week of Rediscovery

I have had one of those weeks...
I stopped to think this morning, "Why do I feel so crazed? It was a short week and I'm exhausted!" Tuesday was piano. Wednesday was grocery-shopping with the kids, dance class, and tutoring. Thursday was a visit from my little friend, Caleb, receipts for the insurance company, a play in Owen's room, and refinancing the house. Today, breakfast with Diana, two trips to Home Depot, more banking, puppy to the vet, building shutters...
Sigh.
This weekend still has a big garage sale, a junior high play and Children's church.
Well, there's the laundry list. It's a lot, but not so far off normal. (The kids took turns being impossible, though.) What I will remember about this week, however, are these two things:


1) I rediscovered the joy of Jane Austen (via Hollywood.) I watched Pride and Prejudice and then Sense and Sensibilities. I was just tickled and remembered devouring and loving Jane Eyre as a teenager. I'll look for Pride and Prejudice next time I'm at the library. The movie was really good, but I'll bet the book is even better!

2) I reconquered my fear of power tools and had a blast building some new shutters for my little house. Some time ago, I bought a miter saw for Mark as a gift. I think he despises it because it represents all the ways he does NOT want to spend his time. But, I wanted to use it. And, I was scared of it. I took a lot of woodshop in high school. I liked it. My parents influenced me to take a clock-making course in 9th grade and I built a grandfather clock. Still, that was over twenty years ago (how did I get this old????) Today reminded me how much I love to build things.

Moments like this are truly good for my soul. It is heartening to learn or re-learn something. It feels good to get my brain engaged. Aging is a lot less scary when you can find great enjoyment...and sometimes even wonder...in your ordinary days.

Big Tease!

I am due for my first chemo on Monday morning. With a life driven by sports, sales, and Catholicism, my dad's MO will doubtlessly involve attacking it, staying positive, and having faith.

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

Big Tease!

The book of the week...

Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"He tried to teach her to be a real white, to revive for her his failed dreams of an American -born noble, to supress her fondness for pickled iguana and armadillo strew. He attempted almost everything except asking himself whether this was the way to make her happy."

------------------------------------------

Garcia Marquez is most famous for One Hundred Years of Solitude and for winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. He has an amazing flair for writing the fantastic as if it were common and everyday... "magical realism", I think they've named it.

Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Coal

Today...coal.

I am in a monumental funk. Two of my three kids raked me over the emotional coals today. I want to appreciate their uniqueness and I don't want to hold it against them when they aren't like me, but it goes beyond that sometimes.

They treated me with such disrespect today. One of them seemed in it for the drama, the other truly seems to loathe me. I don't know if I am more angry or hurt, but I can say for sure that no response I offered was productive. (Can you tell I'm writing in generalities for fear that someday they read this and realize exactly what I'm talking about?)

I just finished reading this post-apocalyptic book tonight and it didn't exactly lighten my mood, so here I am thinking about what these kids would say about me at my funeral.

I wish it would read like Katie's recent ode that I found on my pillow...

To: Mama,

I love you

your helpful

your pretty

you like naps

your funny

your good at cooking

Sincerely Katie,

I'm a little afraid, though, that they are more likely to tell stories about my general crochety-ness and laugh at the ways that I threatened them and how I used to scream this special scream at them that ended all tirades because it hurt my vocal cords.

Note to self: Add to my will the clause, "No biological child shall be permitted to speak publicly at my funeral or memorial service if said child wishes to receive the inheritance described below."

My Son Cracks Me Up

This is what Owen and I do together. So far, this is the only common ground we can find. He draws and dictates. I provide design help and technical support!