the one that made me chuckle.

Here's the thing.  I'm not particularly funny.  It takes a lot to make me laugh.  Commercials are dumb and I don't really get the Onion.  I really have to be in the mood.

I quite liked Tina Fey's Bossypants.  But I didn't love it.  The parts I DID love were the serious/intriguing parts.  i.e. reading about the Sarah Palin sketches.  The humor about growing old and women's bodies?  Been there, done that.  But at least I know what crotch biscuits are now.  Gross.

That said, A Mother's Prayer is pure genius.  Oh Lord, break the internet forever.


My favorite quote (and yes, this says something about me): "My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne."  I get it.  And that's funny.

the one that reminds me of the Armistice Blizzard.

Could there BE a more appropriate book to read this month than The Long Winter?
No, I think not.

This is the book where Laura & the children almost get lost on the Big Slough (how is that word pronounced anyways?) and Almanzo goes on a wild goose chase for the wheat.  Pa & Laura twist hay and the Christmas barrel comes in May.

Reading the Little House series is a good reminder of wants vs. needs and reminds me of the word constitution.  As in, "she has a Strong Constitution and had no trouble getting up the hill."  I lack constitution, especially in the cold.

This has been a rough winter.  Is summer ever going to come?

A Poll.

I'm nearing the end of the Little House series . . . and am excited for what comes next.

Possibilities:
The Boxcar Children
The first 10 novels of Nancy Drew
Winnie the Pooh
Betsy Tacy
the shoes series
Ramona and Beezus

Nap time reading is the most precious part of my day.  And what I will miss most next year.  Any suggestions for what to read little Miss Maren as she drifts off to sweet slumber?

another anna quote.

 Momfilter interviews Anna!

 












I should probably just re-name this blog "the I dig Anna" blog.  I love every word that comes out of this woman's mouth.  Mostly because it speaks of humanity, making mistakes, being real.

Especially what she says about parenting below.  And about being B+ . . . . 

"But I wish I had been better able to combine that with letting things go a little bit.  Nobody really needs a bath every night.  Nobody really needs a balanced meal for every meal.  I should have let the freak flag fly a bit more. It’s hard to be a Type A mom.  I wish I could have been a bit more B plus, for my sake and their own."

An awesome interview with Anna at the link above.

the one where Jack dies.

By the Shores of Silver Lake is where it's at.  So much happens in this book.
 - the family dog Jack dies.  Boo-hoo.
 - Mary becomes blind after scarlet fever runs through the house.
 - the Wilder boys come to De Smet.
 - short reappearance of Mr. Edwards.
 - Laura finds out that she has to become a teacher.
 - Reverend Alden returns and encourages Mary to attend the college for the blind.

Also, there was a lot of boring talk about geese.


"I wanted the children now to understand more about the beginnings of things, to know what is behind the things they see -- what it is that made America as they know it," Laura Ingalls Wilder once said.

Laura Ingalls was born in 1867.  She didn't write her autobiography until almost sixty years later.  Her first attempt, Pioneer Girl, was not picked up by a publisher.  Talk about an incredible second act.

Makes you kinda think it's not too late for anything.

On to The Long Winter.  Feels sadly appropriate right now.

the ones that have piled up.

More books about parenting headed back to the library.
They are overdue.  Skimmed through and wanted to absorb more.  But no time, no time . . .
Heaven on Earth is another book about finding rhythms and celebrating the home.
Child of Mine and Secrets are more about changing my unhealthy eating, setting an example.  I'm not a terrible eater but I have been a grazer.  O. V. E. R.  according to Satter, a nutritionist.
All three are very fine resources!

Heaven on Earth by Sharifa Oppenheimer

Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter

Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family

the one with many aha moments.

I have a habit of being too verbose.  It's hereditary.  My mom told "green bean" stories.

I'm going to let this book speak for itself.  81 little vignettes that gave me pause.
The Parent's Tao Te Ching
William Martin

I read one chapter each time I set Maren down for a nap.
One of my favorites:

Be Happy

If you have vast wealth,
it will be useless in teaching your children.
If you have great power,
it will be of no avail in securing their happiness.
If you have succeeded admirably in ife,
it will not help you keep your children safe.

Remember that you cannot teach
by preaching.
Try to live with peace, contentment,
love and compassion.
This will be your lecture.
This will be your lesson.

The happier I have allowed myself to be,
the happier my children have become.
The more I have become myself,
the more they have done the same.
This has occurred later in my life.
Don't wait.

eat, pray, love without the eat

My good friend Jordan gave me Poser: My Life in Twenty Three Yoga Poses for my birthday.  She fondly remembered my former life as a yoga junkie.  I'm still trying to find yoga as part of my life now.

I liked this book.  You would too.  That is, if you liked the middle section of Eat, Pray, Love.  This is basically the memoir Elizabeth Gilbert would have written had she stayed home, got pregnant and brought up kids in left leaning North Seattle.

Claire Dederer made me laugh at times.  Esp when she talked about the quest for perfection in motherhood.  The wood toys, the dansko clogs, the ultimate nap schedule.  I liked reading about the yoga too.  But the memoir part just didn't come together for me.

That said, I can really, REALLY get behind the ultimate message of the book:  We need less goodness in life, more joy.

p.s. I know my bookshelf needs some editing when I had to put this book (alphabetically) next to Great Expectations by Dickens.  Egads!

the one with the REALLY bad title.

I read this.  Against my very better judgment.
My excuse: I was inspired by her recipes lately.
And Matt's out of town so he can't make fun.
I know it's a lot of sour cream but seriously, dinner has been a delight.
Drummond can't really write but she sure can write a recipe.
Kinda hard to imagine being a cowboy's wife.
Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond




Sour Cream Enchiladas

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

the one that felt like candy.

Some people read Picoult, others Patterson, and then Evanovich.  And we judge those people.  Although we really, really shouldn't.  Reading the cereal box is still reading.  And reading is good.

Maeve Binchy's books are like cotton candy to me.  It's a little Irish soap opera that I love.  I turn green with envy when I read about the characters in St. Jarlath's Crescent.  Hardly anyone lives in an ACTUAL neighborhood anymore.  At least I can read about one.

That said, I'm starting to embrace my little Newport.  I've been going to some women's organizing meetings lately.  Our first project is a community garden.  And I've been walking with my 59 yo neighbor who (gasp) brought me over cookies the other day.  So I could identify when I read this book - a bit.

I'm almost approaching a Maeve Binchy shelf in my library.
I'm happy to add Minding Frankie to it.  I smiled when I read it.
I don't care if Maeve is Ireland's Jan Karon or Lorna Landvik, I think she's just grand.