Books I read in October 2017

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys ****

We read this for book club and I'm glad I read it, even though it was sad and depressing.  It's about a part of World War II I know little about.  It was about a group of refugees from Lithuania and Poland and Germany who were being squeezed between Germany and Russia.  They escaped and made their way onto a heavily overloaded cruise ship.  What followed was the worst maritime disaster in history that I'd never heard of previously.  The characters were great and the book was interesting.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley ***

I am 90% sure I had already read this book (the amnesia is real sometimes) but I couldn't remember how it ended so I went ahead and read it anyway.  It is about a great character Flavia de Luce who is eleven years old and fascinated by death and chemistry.  She feels misunderstood by her absent minded dad and mean older sisters.  And she also solves murders.  It was delightful.

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith ***

I thought Alexander McCall Smith and Jane Austen were a match made in heaven.  Maybe my expectations were too high because Jane Austen remakes usually don't work for me.  This one was really good but the end fell a little flat.

End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher ***

This was a really short book but just simple and nice and Rosamunde Pilcher can always be counted on for homey domestic scenes and beautiful countryside.  Sometimes that is exactly what I'm looking for.  It's about a girl from Scotland who was living in America with her dad.  She gets called back to Scotland by her grandmother and familial drama ensues.

My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella ***

I loved this book but am holding off on 4 stars (like that really matters to anyone) because this book was definitely not PG.  The language was not fabulous, let's just say.  It was a great story and wonderful characters just like everything Sophie Kinsella has ever written.  It's about a young woman trying to make it in her career in London.  I loved the office scenes and also her parents who lived in Somerset.

Why I blog

Sometimes I don't have much to say (you noticed?).  I still try to blog anyway.  I want to keep up the habit.  I want to be an observer and recorder of my life.  I want to write.

But then sometimes, I'm reminded of something because of my blog that I never would have remembered otherwise and I realize THAT is why I blog.

The other night Emma stopped by for dinner (Red. Letter. Day.) and Adam was telling us some things he had read on my blog.  We laughed and Emma and Mark looked at each other knowingly and smiled because this is our history.  This is us.



August 25, 2008

Emma wanted to feed the ducks. I told her we didn't have anything to give them and she said she had some wheat in her purse. She carries a purse with reading and writing material and apparently...wheat in a small box. What will never be clear is why? Why?

***

March 2, 2009

Mark was telling Emma all about what he'd seen and Emma with all the patience of a self centered 10 year old sighed deeply and told him that she doesn't LIKE Star Wars. It is all about fighting and there is no point.

Mark said, "Emma, you know the best thing to do when Star Wars is bugging you?"

She said, "What?"

"Deal. With. It."

***

October 6, 2009

I had Braeden call Emma.

I carefully, carefully, explained to her (because she, like Amelia Bedelia, has to have things spelled out) how to start the oven, how to get it to the right temperature. I had her put the potatoes in right away, even while the oven was preheating. I wanted to make it easier for her, to remove a step.

The plan was when Adam got home, he would grill the pork chops and we'd have a lovely meal.

Adam called me when swim practice was about over.

There was a problem with dinner.

When the oven had beeped (after three and a half minutes) to indicate it was preheated, Emma had turned it off. She didn't want to overcook those potatoes.

So our sweet potatoes had cooked for exactly three and a half minutes.

***

May 22, 2014

When we picked up Mark we were all munching on a bag of crisp snap peas, the weird fried cracker type.  I don't really like them but they are sort of addicting at the same time.

Adam offered Mark some and a few minutes later Mark handed up the empty bag.  I must have looked somewhat alarmed and by way of explanation, Mark recited a maxim of scouting, "Leave no trace."

I'm just not sure it's supposed to be applied to food.

***

May 23, 2014

Later, Braeden and Mark were talking about it and Braeden said, "Mark, I think we bonded over that.  Shared idiocy really brings people together."

***

October 24, 2014

His friend, Nathan, a certifiably Really Nice Guy, found Braeden at lunch.  He said, "Come with me."

Braeden did because he's up for anything.  It turns out Braeden was picked for the mission based on his size.  There was a girl and boy in some sort of altercation.  Like it was a movie, Nathan said, with Big Braeden standing behind him, "Is there a problem here?  Is he bothering you?"

The boy and girl both said everything was fine.  Nathan said to the girl, "Well if you need us, just yell and we'll come and help you."

Braeden is big but he's the most gentle teddy bear I know.  I can't imagine him getting into an actual fight.  He has never even really fought with his siblings.  I said, "I can't picture you and Nathan doing that.  I don't think either of you are all that tough."

Adam said, "That's OK, they are actors, they just had to act tough."

Except I don't really swear

Several years ago, my dad bought a new saddle blanket that he uses for a rug and I had him get me one as well.

Then they both slowly unraveled over time in the corner.  Which was disappointing.  My whole life my parents have had saddle blanket rugs and they have always been sturdier.

Anyway.

Last time my dad was here he told me how he'd repaired his rug, with a sewing machine.

I was immediately skeptical because I have a very rocky relationship with my sewing machine.  I mostly keep it on a shelf so that neither of us gets hurt.

Yesterday I decided it was time to take matters in hand though.  I found some thread the same color as the rug.  I pulled the sewing machine out (even pulling it out of the closet was stressful because it was really wedged back in there).

I had to clear the bobbin of white thread and it kept getting in a tangle.

Then I wound the new turquoise thread and it was wonky.  I pulled it off and started again.

I finally got the bobbin properly threaded.  After several missteps I stuck it in the machine correctly.  I tried to slide the rug under the presser foot but nothing doing.  Too thick.

I raised the presser foot as high as I could (I had to have Adam loosen the screw).

I decided to take off the presser foot.  Do you really need that thing anyway?

Apparently.

The tension went all haywire and there were big loopy turquoise threads everywhere and the needle snapped in two.  I could feel it deep in the recesses of the wool rug but couldn't see it.

Finally I found it by feeling around and poking my finger painfully on it--it was not as enchanting as Sleeping Beauty though. I cut off all the errant threads and put my sewing machine away.

If I was a different sort of person, I think it would have been an occasion for colorful language.

Instead I retreated to read my Sophie Kinsella book for awhile.

Nobody can be uncheered by Sophie Kinsella.

(And next time I go to my parents' house, I'm taking my rug with me.)

Meatloaf

I love meatloaf.  Mark doesn't.  Whenever I've made it, it doesn't matter what kind, he doesn't like it.  He won't eat it.

When he wasn't the only kid home, I often just ignored him if he didn't want to eat something.

Now, I need him to eat things or we will have too many leftovers.

And also, meatloaf.  I want to make it because I love the stuff.

Last night I was planning meatloaf for dinner.  I told Adam, "Mark won't like it."

Adam is a wily one.  He said, "I'll have him help me make it."

That sounded fabulous to me.  Because guess who didn't have to make dinner?

Adam called Mark to the kitchen and enlisted his help.  When I enlist Mark's help it is nothing exciting.  When Adam does, it seems more like an honor (unless it's mowing the lawn...Mark is not excited about that).

So Adam, the trickster, told Mark they were making "spiced meatballs" which is really what meatloaf is.  I was upstairs trying to unravel my family history and I could hear them talking while they cooked together.

Mark not only didn't complain about his meatloaf, but he ate it too.

(He didn't have seconds.)

(But still.)

Highs and lows

I miss having three kids at home.

But...

I love texts from our kids (they are funny and use gifs and memes advantageously).

We have been playing a lot of backgammon around here.

But...

I have been losing at backgammon--if this keeps happening I'm going to demand we play boggle instead because I always win at boggle

Our washer is broken.

But...

A repairman is coming tomorrow.

The insomnia has been real lately.

But...

I'm reading a great book.

I am impatient.

But...

And I am still impatient.

(I'm working on it.)



P.S.  Sam the Handyman sent me a follow up email.  I wrote him back and said that I was indeed Thelma, but not the one he was looking for.  So I sort of have an Australian pen pal now?

Not my email

It's been awhile since I've posted one of these.  I unsubscribed from a bunch of emails that weren't intended for me so I get less email.

It's nice.

Every once in a while, one makes its way to my inbox though.

For example:

Some people have birthdays only once a year, some people (like our kids) have birthdays twice a year because we celebrate their half birthdays.

I could celebrate my birthday at least monthly because I get so many greetings intended for other people.

I'll take it.

I just wish they sent me a cake too.

Then Nancy ordered a chair.  I don't know why the email came to me.  I wanted to see the chair I didn't order but the link didn't work.

It's arriving today though.

I hope it's a good chair.

And whoever this email was intended for is having some work done on their house. I spent too much time analyzing this bid for home repairs.

The wording seems British but it in in dollars.  Maybe Australia?  I looked up the phone number (I'm telling you, I spent more time than reasonable on an email not intended for me.)  And yes, Sam is in Australia and has a website called Sam the Handyman.

And finally proof that sometimes a picture isn't worth a thousand words.  Someone sent me this picture.

I didn't know if it was a warning or a cry for help.

Fall break

It's been admittedly a little anticlimactic.  There was nothing big or exciting, but I did learn how to play backgammon.  So there's that.

We went to BYU to visit Braeden and help him cement his plans for next semester.  He likes the moral support.

We were hanging out in the law building, laptops open.  Mark was across the way.  We spotted a person dressed like french fries so Braeden indicated to Mark to take a picture.  Then Mark texted Braeden this.

Brothers.

Friday night we watched Hello Dolly at the Hale Theater.  Amazing.  After we went to McDonald's for hot fudge sundaes and as it turned out chicken nuggets because we have children that are always hungry.  A group of kids rolled in, dressed to look tough (or as tough as it gets in Utah County).  They said "Hey" to Mark and he did that head nod thing that boys do to acknowledge each other.

Braeden said, "Of course, the neighborhood toughs come in and they know Mark."

My mom said once when Mark was a preschooler that he should be a politician because he walked around shaking hands with people at church.

Saturday night we watched Wall-E.  We were in the mood after Hello Dolly.

The kids borrowed the van for the weekend so Emma, the star girl, could go in the canyon for the Orionid meteor shower with her friends and so Braeden could take a group to a corn maze.

I was mostly sick with a mild cold all weekend (that prevented me from being enthusiastic about getting up at 5:00 AM to go to Arches National Park on Saturday like Adam and Mark wanted to do).  Instead, they made me chicken noodle soup for lunch.  There was a bit of a chicken bouillon mishap and the soup was salty but it made me feel better.  Adam said maybe what they really made was soup concentrate.

Also Saturday Emma texted me this picture:

She was part of a mock disaster drill and had makeup to make her look like she had brain trauma.

It broke my heart.

Then she sent this picture:

Adding some abrasions to the brain trauma.  Lovely.

The smile did help me feel a little better.

Yesterday our college darlings came for dinner and Braeden asked if he could invite one of his roommates.  The answer will always be yes.  The more the merrier.  I tried a new recipe which was a flop.

Maybe the answer should always be OK, but it may not be very good.