love – Page 5 – Peaceful Reader

For the LOVE of reading.

Last night I was sitting on the quiet side of the dance studio where my daughter gracefully dances and I was reading a book. I’d brought two books with me; The Light between oceans by M.L. Stedman and Donalyn Miller’s book The Book Whisperer. I’ve been trying to read Miller’s book for the last two years as I’ve had many people recommend it to me. I’ve even had one friend tell me that the book sounds just like me! With that said and after only reading the first few pages I came upon this quote which DOES describe me to a T!

“I am a reader, a flashlight-under-the-covers, carries-a-book-everywhere-I-go, don’t-look-at-my-Amazon-bill reader. I choose purses based on whether I can cram a paperback into them, and my books are the first items I pack into a suitcase. I am the person whom family and friends call when they need a book recommendation or cannot remember who wrote Heidi. (It was Johanna Spyri.)

My identity as a person is so entwined with my love of reading and books that I cannot separate the two. I am as much a composite of all the book characters I have loved as of the people I have met. I will never climb Mount Everest, but I have seen its terrifying majestic summit through the eyes of Jon Krakauer and Peak Marcello. Going to New York City for the first time, at forty, was like visiting an old friend I knew from E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale. I wanted to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hide in the bathroom until it closed, and look for angels. I know from personal experience that readers lead richer lives, more lives, than those who don’t read.”(10-11)

I’ll stop there but I could even go into the next paragraph which furthers her (and my) LOVE of reading! I was crushed when we visited this summer and never made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art but in fairness I was there years ago as a teenager. I ask my children to take a book with them wherever we go-you never know when you might be stuck in the car or an elevator or in line and have just a few minutes to read a page or two. I can’t wait to finish typing this post so I can read my school lunchtime book, Ungifted by Gordan Korman. What has you inspired?

Happy Halloween

Alice’s Mad Hatter

We were invited to a neighborhood party for Halloween-not quite our neighborhood but darn close. Everyone gathers together and eats first (soup, salad, and bread with a few delicious Halloween desserts tossed in). I tried to two soups and they were both good and Groovy Girl polished off most of a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was fun to do something different in such a nice event.

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

Groovy Girl decided she wanted to make cupcakes to bring to the party. We searched online last night and found a perfect recipe and by that I mean a recipe she swooned over. We made the cake and frosting from Erica’s Sweet Tooth. Instead of the peanut butter cup on top she added one candy corn. She’s become quite an expert froster and the tiny cakes were a hit.

SuperGirl and the Mad Hatter

We’ve sorted the candy and have two large zip locks full, one of chocolate and one “other” and this year she even made a small bag of mom and dad candy-that includes Heath and Snickers bars. She truly has enough candy to last her a year. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

Interesting YA titles

I finished both of these in September and what ties them together is love and the power of acceptance; something most humans desire. One uses that power and the other makes it into a curable disease.

The List by Siobhan Vivian:

Filled with the craziness of high school it brought back memories of how BAD it can be. I thought it said a lot though for all that high school student’s experience-being popular is weird and being unpopular is just as weird. If only all high school students could learn to be themselves; a very difficult concept because most teens have yet to truly find themselves as it often takes years to figure it all out.

Mount Washington H.S. has this tradition of a published list plastered all over the walls right before homecoming. The list shares the prettiest and the ugliest female student in each class. At any level it is difficult to appear on either side of the list; yet both sides display negative behavior because they are on the list.

Siobhan Vivian relays the stories of all eight young women affected by the list and we learn just how being a member of this small group changes them. In order to ignore the list you’d have to be a very mighty girl! I was not a brave soul in high school and would have found it heart-breaking to be even mentioned. Even the young women chosen for the pretties side struggle with how to keep up with the image they think every one expects. My first thoughts were that the list must be written by a guy or a group of guys. The ending left me shaking my head and praying for a second women’s movement!

A quote:

She lifts her chin a few degrees. ‘I’ve decided not to take a shower for a whole week.’

‘For real?’

‘Yup,’ she says, making the p pop. ‘I’m not showering, I’m not brushing my teeth, putting on deodorant, anything. I’m wearing these same clothes, not just the shirt, but the jeans, the socks, the underwear, the bra. My last shower was on Sunday night, before I went over to your house.’ She folds her arms. ‘I won’t participate in any kind of hygiene until Saturday night.’ It feels good to say her plan out loud. Now there can be no backing out.

‘What’s on Saturday night?’

‘The homecoming dance.’ It sounds so utterly ridiculous, but she keeps a straight face. ‘I’m going as smelly and disgusting as I can possibly make myself, dressed in these clothes.’

Milo laughs and laughs, but when Sarah doesn’t join, he stops. “Wait. You’re not serious.’

‘I am.’

‘Why are you letting that stupid list get to you? You hate the girls at this school, obviously for good reason. And now you want to show up at their dumb dance? This isn’t like you at all.’ (101)

Even the young women chosen for the pretties side struggle with how to keep up with the image they think every one expects. The ending left me baffled and praying for a second women’s movement!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (2011):

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This is a glorious look at a future world where love has been deemed a disease. Can you imagine? They make a good case for why love could be perceived as a sickness. Lena is an orphan living in her aunt’s household waiting for her treatment that will prevent her from getting the disease. Many good plans fail to work out though and Lena meets someone that makes her feel all the effects of love which confuses her. Does she feel this way because she is now sick or are the people protecting her lying to her? As love often does her life becomes complicated as she balances her quiet life at home with her new desire to break the rules and see Alex as much as she can.

I enjoyed the relationship between Lena and her best friend Hana. They are good to each other but have a few struggles and conflicts throughout the story but in the end they find they can count on each other.

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I was named after Mary Magdalene, who was nearly killed from love: “So infected with deliria and in violation of the pacts of society, she fell in love with men who would not have her or could not keep her.” (Book of Lamentations, Mary 13:1).

We learned all about it in Biblical Science. First there was John, then Matthew, then Jeremiah and Peter and Judas, and many other nameless men in-between.

Her last love, they say, was the greatest: a man named Joseph, a bachelor all of his life, who found her on the street, bruised and broken and half-crazy from deliria. There’s some debate about what kind of man Joseph was-whether he was righteous or not, whether he ever succumbed to the disease-but in any case, he took good care of her. He nursed her to health and tried to bring her peace. (87-88)

I enjoyed how Oliver twisted our own biblical stories to create and re-enforce this new history and makes a convincing argument against love.

Both books were borrowed from my local library.

I’m reading Maggie’s Stiefvater’s sequel to The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, and love it. I downloaded it to my kindle to encourage myself to finish a book on this device. I love using it as a mini-computer and as a game device but have yet to finish a book on it. Dream Thieves will be my first and I’m proud to say I’m half way through or in Kindle-speak 48%.

Happy Anniversary!

{Amana, IA, 2013}

It’s so nice to be married to the one that you love. My husband came home the other day and shared some interesting facts about relationships. He loves sharing tidbits with me and this time he’d drummed up some frightening facts about marriage. Did you know that 73% of long-term married couples are not with their true love! Can you imagine? And that if given the chance they would leave their partner to get back to their true love. To me, that’s a little like, love the one you’re with…

We were married 12 years ago in a beautiful ceremony in Galena, IL. At the reception at the picnic shelter my husband with some musician friends sang an original composition to me. It was lovely and made me cry. We’ve had an incredible journey and hope for many more years together. Yesterday at church an older woman that we keep in touch with said to us “12! Try 61 years!” She was smiling as she said it but there was a wistfulness as her husband of 61 years died two years ago. How sweet love is, whether you have it for 2 years, 12 years, or 61 years.

If you find someone that you can live with, that brings you joy and laughter, make them yours. It isn’t about all the sexy stuff-it’s about eating breakfast together morning after morning, listening to them slurp their huge bowl of cereal and still rubbing your foot next to his before you head off to work. It’s about being a good listener even when you’ve heard the story before. We should treat our companions with the same respect we give our co-workers and friends.

My parents were divorced when I was a young adult. No matter what age it happens it tears you a part. My parents hadn’t been compatible for years. There was strife and anger about who knows what-and frankly I don’t want to know. I think my mom realizes now that they both could have tried a little harder, been more sympathetic, patient, or thoughtful. However you look at it; marriage is a lot of work and it takes being aware of that everyday and yet everyday needs a little fun. It’s up to you to remember to bring the joy in; maybe a smile, a game of cards, a movie to share together or just a hug in the kitchen. Don’t wait for the other person to provide your happiness.

{In Virginia, 2013}

Today we’ve enjoyed working in the kitchen together as I made three new batches of pesto with basil from my mom’s garden and he cooked a hearty breakfast with biscuits, bacon, eggs, and fruit AND then as I started on the 3rd batch he cleaned the kitchen right around me! As we cooked, blended, scraped, and wiped we played a whole slew of old country favorites like Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty and this other one by Conway Twitty that my husband sings me all the time. We are not actual fans of country music yet there are some classic songs that speak to us. Like this one by George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Classic. This one by Otis Redding also makes us happy, which then led us to this interesting reinterpretation of Otis’ song.

And yes, there was a little dancing going on in the kitchen. And a lot of smiling. So much so our daughter had to leave the room.

As Maya says: “We need just three things in life: something to do, something to look forward to, and someone to love.” We heard Maya Angelou speak for our very first date together and we hold her words close to our heart.

18th Birthday-Wow! That can't be right…

{3rd birthday with his hand-painted crown}

College Boy @ age 10
{look at that smile}

Happy Birthday little boy!

Eighteen years ago I gave birth to this amazingly beautiful baby. He was 4 lbs, 3 ozs of joy. My labor lasted less than 10 minutes. I know, crazy! Nursing came easy for both of us. Jealous yet? Well, the flip side is I spent almost a month in the hospital before he was born and a few weeks after as well. The day I was finally released from the hospital with him I ended back up in the hospital hemorrhaging and spent a few days away from him as they couldn’t readmit the him back into the maternity ward. I have high stress pregnancies because I’ve had 2 open heart surgeries and am on a blood thinner for my St. Jude’s plastic valve. Groovy Girl’s birth was just as traumatic with it’s own set of medical emergencies.

So after ALL that College Boy turned 18 today at 7:11 pm. We had an after church lunch together out on the patio in gorgeous weather! My husband grilled two good steaks that we shared with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and broccoli. The highlight though was this amazing chocolate cake from Averie Cooks. It was moist and super chocolatey! I believe it will be my go-to cake for all future celebrations as it was easy to put together. I didn’t admit how easy it was to the family though, making them believe it was an intense labor of love I was only willing to go through for special occasions!

{Best chocolate cake with ganache}

The cake is so incredible both my husband and I have been “evening it” out every time we pass it on the kitchen counter. I’ve had to cover it to save both of us and the cake. I followed all the directions to a T except I doubled the recipe. College Boy will want to snack on it all week long and the original was only a 9 x 9 size. I poured the doubled recipe into a 9 x 13 and it is perfect to the top with the frosting. The recipe called for yogurt and that makes the cake super moist. Oh no

In other news I finished reading Jodi Picoult’s Lone Wolf which was wonderful. I like wolves and feel like they get a nasty press. This book did a great job of explaining to me what I already felt; that wolves have an interesting social structure and instincts.

The weekend is almost over but I’m still linking this post to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme because I love being part of that community. Click the links to get to the chocolate cake recipe-you WILL want to make it.

Where cooking conversations lead…

It happens so easy, a conversation about books and food leads to the inevitable discussion of cookbooks which is exactly what happened this morning when our school’s lead, Mrs. Spratt, stopped in to pick up her saved book pile which included a cookbook. We’ve discussed our mutual love of food and recipes before and she happened to mention that another cookbook at the book fair, The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman had been written about in Cooking Light magazine. Interesting I said.

Now I’m spending all my free moments paging through it reading Ms. Workman’s cooking stories. I might have to purchase this one. Naturally I started paging through it back to front and the dessert section had several recipes I would love to try this weekend like a caramel sauce or the chocolate peanut butter squares. Yes. I can hear my kids now.

As we chatted more about food I explained about a recent baking fail I had with a cinnamon roll recipe that failed to rise. She said I need to google Ree Drummond’s cinnamon rolls. She said they are easy to make and make a lot. Just what I need. Don’t you just love that kind of gossip. I’ll be googling it later today.
What’s got you and your coworkers chatting today?

Edward Tulane!

I love how Edward looks-Groovy Girl does not like to look at these
beautiful illustrations while we read. It is all in the imagination for her.

I’ve had a writer’s crush on Kate DiCamillo for years. I loved Winn-Dixie first, then fell head-over-heals with The Tale of Despereaux, understood both Tiger’s Rising and The Magician’s Elephant more than most people and now I’ve swooned over The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane! Groovy Girl and I finished reading it tonight and were thrilled by Edward’s crazy long journey!

The quote that stuck to us:

“I am done with being loved,” Edward told her. “I’m done with loving. It’s too painful.”
“Pish,” said the old doll. “Where is your courage?”
“Somewhere else, I guess,” said Edward.
“You disappoint me,” she said. “You disappoint me greatly. If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless. You might as well leap from this shelf right now and let yourself shatter into a million pieces. Get it over with. Get it all over with now.”
“I would leap if I was able,” said Edward.
“Shall I push you?” said the old doll.
“No thank you,” Edward said to her. (189)

Okay, I know this quote shares the true meaning of this tale which makes it a spoiler but one I had to pass on anyway. I specifically marvel at the line “where is your courage?” If you’ve read it, you know it and if not, hopefully it will spur you to read it.

Buy it for a young friend for the holidays!

Edward Tulane’s website.
Judy Freeman’s Reader’s Theatre of ET.
Kate’s website.

Soaring with Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Ask the Passengers

A.S. King

October, 2013

I started my September ARC (advanced reader’s copy) challenge with a bang! This book seriously blew me away with how wonderfully-written it was. Carrying just enough sarcasm, wit,and angst mixed with profound love; it made me smile, laugh, shake my head, and cry in rapid secession, it gave me such HOPE!

Ask the passengers is Astrid Jones’ story. She’s a high school student in a small town where her parents have settled her after a major move from New York City. Her parents craved the hometown experience without realizing the affect it would have on their two young girls; Astrid and Ellis. Astrid feels she’s never quite fit in to this small-town, small-minded community. Ellis, on the other hand, seems to have made a life with the popular kids. In a way each member of the Jones’ family struggles with new identity after the move and they’ve gotten stuck in crisis mode. Eventually they come to realize it is just another way to not accept themselves. A.S. King weaves this drama around this family’s journey back to each other.

But first the gossip. Lots of gossip. Small towns are never as idyllic as they seem. Astrid’s family feels rocky and she takes her life cues from this. She’s busy keeping a major secret for her neighbor and best friend, Kristina, and her boyfriend, Justin. They fool everyone into thinking they are the perfect couple-prom couple perfect. But when Kristina and Justin go out on their cute weekly Friday double dates they actually are dating the other person. Yep. Kristina and Donna, and Justin and Chad have it all worked out. Nicely. Modern set up. Astrid keeps their secret. See how small towns are not what they seem to be…

What Kristina doesn’t know is that Astrid has her own secrets and she’s not ready to share at all. Instead she sends her love out to passing airplanes. Better to give it away than store it up or throw it away.

“So I send my love, and I ask the passengers: Where are you going? Can I come with you? I could finally feel at home.” (98)

When she talks to the plane passengers we get a message back, showing us the profound effect an outpouring of positive emotion can have. So while Astrid misses the big city idea and what that represents the plane people are having their own problems thousands of feet above her. And the small town people might catch her off-guard; people are filled with surprises as she discovers along her journey. Through her narration we hear odd angles like her humorous thought-process of small town gossip:

“They say: I bet her and that Justin Lampley will have some damn pretty kids. They say: I can’t figure out why she hangs out with that weird neighbor girl.That’s me. (Astrid)” (4)

The proverbial “they” is always a fear; whether in her mind or truthfully being told it’s hard to bear the fact that in small towns people are watching your every move. And one night the double daters and Astrid are caught in their secret world, busted, and tossed back to their families. Do they recover from stepping outside the small-town boundaries? Maybe. Yes. No. Out of negative we know that good often occurs and this book has so much good mixed in with everything. I could read it all over again!

I let a friend borrow it today-she sent praises within the hour! This book deserves much attention as a story filled with love, redemption, and what it means to be yourself where ever you live. I’m curious about A.S. King’s other titles-what wonderful messages might be revealed within their covers.

ARC received from Little, Brown, and Company. Thank you Zoe!

Friends and Salads

This is my friend Jennifer. We’ve known each other for 20 years. We’ve laughed and cried together. She’s seen me at my best and my worst. She was my maid of honor when I married Greg and she was there for the birth of my first child. We bumped bellies when our daughters were in utero-our girls are two months apart in age. I love her dearly and she truly is like a sister to me. I miss her terribly because some how we ended up in two different states; she stayed in Colorado and I moved to Iowa. We travel back there every couple of years but I’ve always wished our children could grow up together. These last few weeks I’ve been in Colorado for an extended stay and it was perfect. I hung out with her four beautiful children while she worked and when she was off we played. The photo above was taken at the Denver Zoo.

Some of my earliest adult food memories are shared with her. We used to make lunch together and one of our favorite meals was grilled cheese dipped in ketchup. Yep. Healthy. We were vegetarians together for years. We loved sushi with saki and Mexican food~usually accompanied by several margaritas. While we did make some margaritas one night our eating was a little more healthy this time around. She’s turned into a fabulous cook and whipped up several great meals while we were there.

She shared two recipes with me that we made together and I will make again soon

on my own, thinking of her.

(Our beet salad next to magazine photo)

Tomato and Beet Salad

(adapted from Everyday Food by Martha)

Roast 1# beets

Slice 2# garden fresh tomatoes

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Arrange tomatoes on platter

Remove beets from oven and run under cold water, using a paper towel to remove skin. Be careful-they are hot! Once skin is removed slice beets and add to platter.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup (or more) feta cheese crumbles over top. Add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Garbanzo Bean Salad

(We dug in so quickly we forgot to take a photo)

1 can garbanzo beans or soak your own

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced

olive oil (more)

red wine vinegar (less)

sprinkle sea salt

Mix together and eat. Yum.

Thank you Jen for such a fabulous holiday! You are courageous and even more amazing now! I love you and hope our friendship continues to grow for more years to come.

This post is linked to the ever friendly Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme hosted by Candace. Feel free to head over there by clicking on the link and read other food-related posts.

Happy Birthday, Theodor Seuss Geisel!

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=6650219631867189375&hl=en&fs=true

Brain Pop Jr has a great informative little video to share.

My favorite book: Green Eggs and Ham. I read it
over and over to my two younger brothers as I “taught”
them to read. Thank heavens for Dr. Seuss.