Book Quiz II

Another book quiz. While this is one of my favorite books, I'm not sure how I feel about what it says about me, according to the quiz.

You're The Count of Monte Cristo!
by Alexandre Dumas

Though many are unsure of your identity, no one can deny that you show them a good time. You're a joker, a smoker, and a midnight ..., but you might want to hurt someone from time to time. While your life is hopelessly intricate and filled with tremendous intrigue, it seems that you see it all as a game. Not that you don't want to see justice done and people spared, but you ultimately think it's all about the adventure along the way. While you've always wanted a Mercedes, it's pretty clear that you'll never really own one.

Take the Book Quiz II at the Blue Pyramid.

5 Random Questions

1. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
I'd much rather take the pictures. I have to be in the right mood to have my photo taken. I particularly hate being videotaped.

2. Has anyone told you a secret this week?
Yes. Well, not exactly a secret, but something they weren't supposed to talk about. It has to do with office politics, a topic that's driving me nuts at the moment.

3. Do you get along better with the same or opposite sex?
In high school, I would have said the opposite sex. I didn't date, but I had several close male friends. Then I went to a women's college. Today my friends are about equally divided, but I would say I get along with women slightly better.

4. Last time you had butterflies in your stomach?
The last time I had a job interview, but I don't really get nervous until afterwards when I start to deconstruct how it went. The last time I had my heart in my throat was when DDL rolled off the bed and fell onto the floor. It was shortly after she had started being able to roll at all. I had walked out of the room and DH turned his back for 2 seconds. I walked back in and couldn't see DDL where she was supposed to be. We still don't know how she managed not to hit her head on the nightstand or in any other way hurt herself.

5. What one thing do you wish you had?
More inner peace. I can get very anxious about things. Strangely, becoming a parent has actually helped. I've been practicing staying in the moment a lot more.

Ladybugs

Here we are, all dressed up for Halloween. The girls had a great time at the daycare party. They weren't really into trick-or-treating, but they enjoyed standing on our stoop watching everyone come by. They were, of course, most excited by the dogs that came by.

Hope you had a great night.

Stitching Bag

Anna asked, "What's in your stitching bag?" Well, take a look.

How sad is it that I have bags within bags within bags? And this doesn't include my little bag that goes with me on trips.

(I'm not sure why some of these are posted sideways. Sorry about that!)

Food blogs

In addition to following many stitching blogs, I've started following a few food blogs. One of the most recent I've found is Octoberfarm. Lately, she's been posting pictures of western New York from this fall, and it's totally making me homesick. I miss summer and early fall in NY. I don't miss winter or spring, though. She's also doing a basket giveaway of all sorts of yummy things, so go check it out.

• October Farm
• Chocolate and Zucchini
• Pinch my salt

Do you have a favorite food blog?

JSC Christmas Issue

I *finally* picked up my copy of the ornament issue from my LNS over the weekend. Nearly a month after Anna posted her review. For the most part, I agree with her points about the issue. It is rather ho-hum this year. If I hadn't pre-paid for it, I might not have bought it this year.

I have to say, I'm not impressed with the new layout. I *liked* having all the pictures in the front, so I could look at all the ornaments together. I also liked having the patterns in alphabetical order by designer, as it made it easier to find the pattern I needed. I totally agree with Anna that the positioning of the charts and instructions needs to be improved greatly. I would also like a picture of the ornament next to its pattern as well as in the front. I would skip the stories, unless they were directly relevant to the design (for example, the story about the skating in Central Park ornament).

Since they did decide to keep the recipes, I'm glad they're all together in the back. I might actually use some of them this way. I'd rather the magazine dropped the recipes altogether and devoted more space to pattern layout. The most egregious example of pattern non-collocation is in the one for Moss Creek designs, where the main pattern spans pages 60-61, and the specialty stitch instructions are hidden at the bottom of page 74, not even with all the other specialty stitch instructions at the back of the magazine.

One thing I do like is that it seems this year that nearly every pattern provides DMC equivalents for the specialty fibers. I remember having to guess or track the conversions down in the past. While I'll use specialty fibers if I have them to stitch these, I won't go all the way to Baltimore and buy a skein of specialty floss for 13 stitches. On something that's 4"x4", having the upgraded floss doesn't make enough of a difference.

On to the specifics - the patterns I might stitch some day. I've broken them down, as Anna did, by section.

For Let It Snow, my favorite is the Mosey 'n Me "Rejoice", and I don't even have a thing for sheep. I can also see myself stitching "Snow Wishes" by Cathy Jean or "Merry Wishes" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

My hands-down favorite ornament in the magazine comes from the O Christmas Tree section. It is the ornament of the same name by Charlotte's Web Needlework. It's really the only ornament in the entire issue that calls to me. I might also stitch Amy Brueken's "Joy" (another sheep!), The Workbasket's "Christmas Forest" (finished as a biscournu), Erica Michaels' "Blessings", and Angel Stitching's "Santa's Buddies".

In Winter Wonderland, I'm drawn to finishing techniques. Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches' heart is beautiful. I'd be terrified to try to follow the assembling instructions, though. While I wouldn't stitch Thistle Threads' "Snow Globe", I like the finish and already have ideas for it. I can totally see myself stitching Ladybug Lane's "Plaid Greetings" (for a friend who's pet is pictured) or Brittercup's cat for myself.

I guess I'm not into the whole Blue Christmas idea. The only design I like is "Cross of Christmas" by My Big Toe Designs, although I'd probably play with the colors and maybe unemphasize the cross (I'm thinking it would be cute in alternating red and green). I'm surprised that I'm uninterested in Twitter Blue, but that bird is just funky. I tried picturing him in cardinal red, and he still doesn't work for me.

La-D-Da's "Merry Christmas" in the Old-Fashioned Holiday section is my second favorite in the magazine. My only problem with it is that those colors remind me of fall and Thanksgiving, not Christmas. I could see myself also stitching most of the other ornaments in this section, except Penny Angel.

Christmas Confetti - What's with that green? It detracts from the ornaments, making it hard to focus on them. Anyway, I like the quirkiness of monsterbubbles' "Day One". I would also stitch Ink Circles' "Pomander" and, adapted to represent the twins, "Visions of Sugar Plums" by Country Cottage. I like Prairie Moon's "Twist", but would never spend the time stitching it.

In Deck the Halls, "Caroline" by Miss Crescent's Crowne would be the only likely one. I discovered during the Bride's Tree SAL that I have a small thing for cardinals. I think it's the bright red that appeals to me.

I missed the section Joy to the World my first time through the magazine. Just another example of how bad the layout is. My favorite here is "Oh Christmas Tree" by Loopylou Designs (why isn't this with the other trees?). I also like Midsummer Night Designs' "Joy" (but I'd only stitch the ... sheep) and Nordic Needles' Hardanger Holly.

Hey, look, the Holly is stitched on white evenweave that looks suspiously like the unidentified white evenweave that I've been using out of my stash for the past two years for ornaments. Now I know that it's Lugana and will have to buy some more as I'm almost out of the stuff.

Thanks for playing along and getting to the end with me. Now you have a sense of what appeals to me. While many of the other ornaments aren't my style (dragons, anyone?), there are two that deserve comment. Charlette's Collectibles Candy Cane Horse struck me as soooo 1980s, which is really before I started stitching, and I find My Mark's "Christmas Stitching" to be downright creepy. What gives?

Did you have a favorite in this year's issue? Do you have one that creeps you out?

TUSAL

I've been an infrequent poster on this topic, but I have been keeping my orts. This time you can at least see that there's thread in there.

Check out the other partipants at Dragon My Needle.

Pumpkins

I like fall and Halloween. It's a fun and colorful time of year. That may explain why it is that I've done far more fall stitching over the years than for all the other seasons combined. Here's my latest effort. This is a fairly easy pattern. I basically stitched this up while watching two college football games.

JBW Designs, Alphabet Pumpkin
Judy Whitman, Designer
Stitched on unidentified 26 ct. white evenweave over 2
with 3 strands of WDW Terra Cotta and Seaweed.

I also carved pumpkins this year. These are the girls first Jack-o-lanterns, as I didn't get around to carving our pumpkins last year.

The girls are dressing up as ladybugs this year. I was given one costume, which made deciding what to do easy. Pictures when I get them.

Wishing you all a happy pumpkin season!

Swirligig

So, I didn't win Anna's challenge, but I had fun participating. Here is my contribution to the contest.

The fabric is 28 ct platinum linen. I stitched with 2 strands of WDW Confederate Gray and 1 strand of Kreinik Blending filament (100HL). Too bad you cannot see the sparkle - it's subtle even in good light.

The beads are leftover from another project. They're white or ice frosted seed beads from Mill Hill, I think. They look sea green because I attached them with the Confederate Gray thread. The finishing fabric is leftover from this project.

Reading List

My local alumnae reading group has posted its reading list for the next year. I'm excited about many of the titles on the list, but given my daily life, it's unlikely that I'll be able to participate with the group much this year. I'm just hoping that I will get to read some of these eventually.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - October
My Life in France by Julia Child - November
Olive Kittredge by Elizabeth Strout - December
Infidel by Ayann Hirsi Ali - January
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan - February
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery - March
I Do Not Come to You By Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani - April
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - May
West with the Night by Beryl Markham - June
The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe - July
Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents by Minal Hajratwala - August
A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure - September

There were a couple of other books they considered but didn't choose that I'm also interested in. They are:

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My Body, Their Baby by Laurie Miller
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Have any of you read any of these? What did you think?

Cross-stitch update

Finally, I have the time to post an update about cross-stitch. What a concept. The first photo is my August Rose for the Bride's Tree Stitch-Along.

Patchwork Garden (center part of design) by Ewe & Eye & Friends. I bought this as a kit and stitched it using the provided materials.

The next project is the start of a birth sampler for one of my nephews. You may remember that I've completed samplers for both of my nieces and two of my nephews. This is for a third nephew, and I have one more to do eventually. BTW, I know what I'm stitching as birth samplers for my girls, but haven't had time to work on them yet.

This is the Acorn Garden Sampler from Patricia Ann designs. I really love the colors in this piece. His birthday is in November, so I thought this was a great scheme.

Superlatives

For the past few weeks, Booking Through Thursday has asked about serious, best, and worst recent reads.


Serious: The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. The babes (who are now a year old, btw) don't go to sleep or stay asleep very well. We need all the help we can get.


Best: Since I'm not reading much these days, I'd have to say the fluff novels I read while flying to and from a conference in Texas last week. I read one going and another one coming back - it was sheer luxury. I also was able to do some Sudoku puzzles and cross stitch*, both while flying and at the conference. More joy.


Worst: the document I had to comment on for work this week. It was just dreadful. I sent in 14 comments on a 6-page document. Poke my eyes out with a pencil, will you?


*Pictures soon.

Funny and Not Funny Books

This week's Booking Through Thursday asks, "What is the funniest book you've read recently?" While I haven't been reading much at all recently, this is a great way to finish telling you about my 15 sticky books.

I'm one of those people who adores romantic comedy movies. I've seen quite a few and have a high tolerance for the bad ones (unless they star Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, in which case, I run the other way). I also like romantic comedy books. It's sometimes hard to find romance and humor in the same book, so I find it to be a treat when I do.

I'd mentioned previously my fondest for Elizabeth Peters. Many prefer her Amelia books, but give me the ones featuring Jacqueline Kirby any day. I also mentioned that Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun is delightful.

Therefore, when I stumbled across Jennifer Crusie's Crazy for You several years ago, I felt like I'd hit the jackpot. A new-to-me writer who's novels made me laugh -Yea! And from Crusie, I somehow found Rachel Gibson, another goldmine of funny books.

Shortly before I found Crusie, though, I'd also rediscovered a fondness of mine - travel memoirs. I think I've said before that I don't read much non-fiction, at least, not unless I have to. Reading on my own time is for pleasure and escape. Most of the time, that means fiction, but travel memoirs also fit the bill. The first such book I read in my new "era" was Under the Tuscan Sun. It is also a funny book, but I appreciated it for taking me to Italy. Also, we were in the starting phases of renovating our 100 year old rowhouse, and her descriptions of working with contractors and trying to accomplish repairs resonated deeply with me.

That leaves me with the last book from my list of 15 - the exact opposite of funny. I read 1,000 Acres my first year in graduate school. A close friend of mine recommended it. It was completely depressing and awful. Well-written, but awful. It's a book that I truly wish that I could forget that I read, but I'm afraid will stick with me. I've since learned that my friend prefers novels that deal with issues and social ills and have stopped taking recommendations from her. If her book club has read it, I tend to steer clear of it.

I can't leave you on that depressing note, so I'll mention one of my favorite sad-funny children's books. While dealing with a serious time in our history and some awful events, the family dynamics in this book will have your sides in stitches. I highly recommend The Watsons Go to Birminham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Weeknight Minestrone

This is essentially my take on vegetable soup with sausage. I never make it quite like this, as I adjust it to throw in whatever vegetables I might have on hand, especially the ones that aren't the freshest from the back of the fridge. The trick, though, is to add cabbage or broccoli to give the soup some body.

2 spicy Italian sausage links
1/2 a medium onion, diced
a box of low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cans mixed vegetables, drained and well-rinsed *
1 cup of shredded cabbage or broccoli **
Italian spices
1 cup macaroni (elbows or shells or something that size)
1 can kidney beans, drained and well-rinsed

Cut the sausage into bite sized pieces. Saute in a large soup pot for 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and continue cooking until the meat is cooked through and the onion is translucent. Add the broth, tomatoes, vegetables, cabbage, and spices. Add enough water to cover, if needed. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, then add the pasta, and simmer until the cabbage and pasta are cooked. Add the kidney beans and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the beans are heated through.

* I usually use one can of vegetables and a cup or two of fresh, diced vegetables.
** I use a large handful of pre-shredded cole slaw or broccoli slaw.

Preferences

Ok, so this is last week's question, but I find it more interesting than this week's question.

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Frivolous
Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperbacks
Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Fiction
Poetry? Or Prose? Prose
Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Autobiographies, preferably Travel Memoirs
History? Or Historical Fiction? Historical Fiction, if we have to do history at all (I know - sad for an archivist, huh?)
Series? Or Stand-alones? Either
Classics? Or best-sellers? Best-sellers
Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Not fruity
Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Plots
Long books? Or Short? Both have their place; well-written and well-editted are more important
Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Illustrated non-fiction; non-illustrated fiction
Borrowed? Or Owned? Owned (You never know if you'll be able to find it again if you don't own it.)
New? Or Used? Not beat up.

Update

It's hard to believe it's been 20 days since I last posted, but it's been a crazy month. Since June 22 and my not-a-vacation post, we've been down with illness. DH's bronchitis developed into pneumonia, DDA acquired a virus, I caught the virus, and then DDL caught it. DDL's then developed into pneumonia. We had 5 doctor's visits in 8 days with DDL, who took the last of her antibiotics this morning and is doing much better. Last week was the first week we've had since early June with the girls in daycare for the full week - it seems like a small miracle.

So, I've not been doing much besides tending to sick folk. I haven't been reading -- books or blogs -- much; there's been no soup (although DH made a fabulous Shepherd's Pie with leftover BBQ beef one night); and I've missed a fair amount of work.

I have done a small amount of stitching. I learned that I can work on small, simple pieces while holding a sleeping baby on my chest. I finished the stitching on my Swirlygig for Anna's contest. It still needs some embellishments and to be finished, but neither should take me long. I need to see if I can find one item to complete the embellishing (I have the rest of what I need), and then I just need to break out my sewing machine. I knew when I saw the pattern exactly what I wanted to do to complete this. Unfortunately, I can't show you pictures until after the contest is over.

Back to Books: College

I mentioned at the end of my last post on this topic that I had gone abroad as an exchange student. In fact, I went to Brazil and lived in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. When I came back for my senior year in high school, one of my big factors in considering colleges was whether the college offered Portuguese classes. When you're facing a large moving box full of college brochures, using Portuguese as a weeding criteria is actually very effective. I also wanted to go more than 100 miles from home.

In all three of the Portuguese literature classes I took in college, we were required to read Gabriela, Cravo e Canela by Jorge Amado. Amado is a prolific and varied writer. He's sort of a combination of Mark Twain, Louis L'Amour, and John Steinbeck. Gabriela is considered his seminal work, although I enjoyed The Violent Land more.

Another notable book from college was Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. This is the first book I ever purposefully did not finish. I just couldn't do it. I think I forced my way through until I was less than 50 pages from the end, and then I just gave up, sort of. Somewhere in storage, I still have the book, with the bookmark still in it. Maybe now that some time has past, when I retrieve it from storage, I'll re-read it and either finish it or give it 50 pp. and let it go. I've gotten better about the latter now that I'm older.

College also meant meeting people who shared my taste in reading. Several of my friends suggested books to me. It was like opening up whole new worlds, and I loved it. The challenge was not getting too distracted from my school work. Robin McKinley and Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters) are two of the new authors I met through friends.

Summertime Soup

It's been a strange month. Unlike last year's and many previous June's, this month's weather has been mostly moderate with a lot of rain. Usually it's just hot, humid, and miserable. We got a taste of normal June weather mid-week last week, which put me in the mood for some of my summer recipes. I made a batch of fresh-squeezed limeade (which is easy if you have the proper lime-squeezing tool). I also made my first bruscetta of the season.

For this week's soup, I made gazpacho. Some day, I'll have to tell you the story of how and where I had my first, perfect bowl of gazpacho. I've yet to recreate something similar, and probably won't ever do so, but it doesn't stop me from trying. I found this recipe last week. Here's my variation.

Ingredients

4 cups low-sodium V8 juice
6 ripe tomatoes, seeded
1 purple onion
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded
1 sweet yellow bell pepper, seeded
2 stalks celery
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small can of tomato paste (to thicken)
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Decide how pureed or chopped you want each of the ingredients. Put the veggies you want completely pulverized in the processor first, adding the rest in descending order.

So this is what I did, emptying each batch into a large glass bowl as I finished it, since my processor isn't big enough to hold a gallon of soup.

Batch 1: onion, celery, chives, parsley, 1 cup of the V8 juice
Batch 2: bell pepper, oil, vinegar, garlic
Batch 3: cucumber, tomatoes, 1 cup of the V8 juice
Batch 4: tomato paste, 1 cup of the V8 juice

Add the last cup of V8 and the rest of the seasonings and stir well. Use a spoon with large slots to pull out any large chunks of veggies and pop them back into the processor, if needed.

Store and chill overnight. Serve cold.

Serves 8.

Fantasy and Science Fiction Writer's Day

Last week's Booking through Thursday question was: Sharon Lee has declared June 23rd Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Day. What might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

I *love* to read fantasy novels. This is my "go-to" genre when I'm looking for something to read. I think it started with a love of fairy tales. I read some science fiction, but not the really hard core stuff. It's all about the quest for me: quest for identity, quest for knowledge, quest for gold, quest for true love.

Since the day is a celebration of writers, here's a list of some of my favorites. They're listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Lois McMaster Bujold
David Eddings
Madeleine L'Engle
Ann McCaffrey
Robin McKinley
Elizabeth Moon
Robert Silverberg

I couldn't decide whether to include C.S. Lewis, Philip Pullman, and J.K. Rowling to the list. I'm too new to Pullman and Rowling to know if I'll love their books over time, but I suspect I will. I haven't read the Narnia novels over and over again the way I have the works of the other authors listed.

An honorable mention needs to go to Sharyn McCrumb for writing one of the funniest books I've ever read - a murder mystery set at a sci-fi convention. If you've ever been part of Fandom and haven't read Bimbos of the Death Sun, go now and find a copy.

Sadly, this post will probably be the extent of my celebration of the day.

How Not to Have a Vacation

Last week, we went on vacation. I've taken to calling it not-a-vacation. In short, we had 3 trips to urgent care, 2 ear infections (the girls), 1 sunburn (me), 1 case of bronchitis (hubby), gloomy weather, a flat tire, and an overall lack of sleep by all 4 of us. And we came home to a dead phone line.

On the plus side, we had funnel cake, really good food overall, a bit of outlet shopping, excellent automotive service, a nice walk along the boardwalk, and one afternoon at the beach. DH completed his biennial shoe shopping (4 pairs of Clarks at the outlets).

The highlight of the trip for me, besides introducing the girls to the ocean (they were a bit overwhelmed by the openness), was stopping at a LNS (no website). I bought four charts, some 32 count linen, and some overdyed threads. The charts are:

American Chronicles by Liz Navickas (I'm planning on stitching just the flag.)
Flag 1998 by Bent Creek
Spring Medley by Elizabeth's Designs (I'm planning on stitching the tree sampler.)
Summer Welcome by Sam Sarah Design Studio

It seems I was in a bit of a patriotic mood.

So while the trip wasn't complete misery, it certainly wasn't the vacation we had expected.

Happy Father's Day

Wishing a Happy Father's Day to all.

Sunday Soup

Recently, the food offered by the cafeteria at work has gone down in quality and up in price. I also find myself buying fried stuff way too often. Therefore, I've decided that I need to bring my lunch more often. Given everything else going on in my life, I've realized that the only way that this is going to happen is if I make soup every Sunday. I might add some other leftovers in here and there, but rather than coming up with more complicated entries, I'm going to stick with soup for now. It's cheap, it's easy, and it makes a big batch. What more could I ask for?

This week's soup is a recipe that my MIL gave me several years ago. I make this a couple of times a year. My MIL likes it served cold with dill. I like it warm with lots of ground pepper and croutons. It's a very flexible and forgiving soup, and you can flavor it anyway you'd like. Just add the seasonings at the end, after you've pureed the soup.

Pureed Carrot Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 leeks (or onion, but it's better with leeks)
a couple of cloves of garlic, to taste
1 lb. carrots
3 med. potatoes
1 box of fat-free chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1 bayleaf

Chop all the vegetables. In the bottom of a soup pot, heat the oil. Add the chopped leek and saute until almost soft. Add the garlic and saute another minute or two. Add all of the other ingredients. Add enough water if needed to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook until carrots and potatoes are soft.

REMOVE THE BAY LEAF.

Using a hand blender, puree the soup. Add a little more water if the consistency is too sticky. Serve hot or cold.

11th Grade Books

Ah, the 11th grade. It was one of those years. I started school having had a complete makeover, and no one really noticed. It was also the year I landed in Miss K's English class. I can't say it was a completely miserable year, but it also wasn't very fun. Miss K was also the advisor for two of the afterschool clubs I belonged to. I couldn't escape her. I remember getting into a nasty fight with her about some activity (not course-related) during the year. I'm not one who gets into nasty fights, but she just rubbed me the wrong way.

11th grade was the year we moved further away from the course compendium volume and into more full length books for class. We read 8 or 10 that year. We read Alive. We read the Merchant of Venice. We read a bunch of books. We even were allowed to chose, as a class, one of the readings. That's how we ended up with Rebecca, and not Lord of the Flies. We were the first class in many years to read Rebecca, because our class was 1o girls and 2 boys (my entire h.s. class was only 100 students). After reading Alive, we weren't going to touch Lord of the Flies.

I read Rebecca straight through in two days. Why? Because I wanted to know the second Mrs. DeWinter's first name. In case you're wondering, it's not mentioned anywhere. I was *horrified* that she wasn't named. Even then, I knew that names were important. She had no identity except as an attachment to some other person. Looking back, I can see how reading Rebecca was my inaugural feminist moment. I still cringe, although less visibly now, when somebody calls me "Mrs."

To Kill a Mockingbird - one of the great masterpieces of American literature. A powerful book. An amazing movie. I'm always stunned when I discover friends who haven't read it. I've given it as a gift on more than one occasion. Despite all that, part of the reason it will always stick goes back to Miss K. You see, she got her revenge on us upstart teenagers. After we read the book, she showed us the videotape in class. There we were, on a Friday, watching the 2nd or 3rd installment, when she stops the tape a few minutes before the bell's to ring. And about 3 seconds before we get to see Boo Radley behind the bedroom door. Argh!!!!

The end of 11th grade was a different type of turning point for me. I spent the summer abroad as an exchange student and learned that I could escape the labels and the roles into which I'd been cast in the 4th grade and become someone I wanted to be. Senior year was bearable because I knew I'd be going away again soon.

Books I Read in 7th Grade

If 4th grade was the year I became a reader, then 7th grade is the year I began to devour books. It's the year that I branched out from reading children's chapter books to reading more young adult and adult novels. I don't think that there was any one event that triggered this, although I can think of several contributing factors.

7th grade is the first year that I really remember having specific assigned readings that were books. The Hobbit was one of them. One of the others was And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I read Ice Castles for a book report. (There, I just dated myself!) I didn't really enjoy the assigned readings, and truly did not get into The Hobbit. But I did enjoy another book given to me to read by the same teacher - A Separate Peace. This is one of the first "serious" books I read, which is how it made the 15 list.

What's odd about me not liking The Hobbit, is that I read a lot of fantasy. Many of the Tolkein's followers are authors that I love. Because of my dislike of The Hobbit, I didn't read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy until shortly before the movies came out. I didn't enjoy reading the LOTR trilogy, either, but I love the movies.

In any case, A Wrinkle in Time was a fantasy I read in 7th grade that I loved. I've read nearly all of L'Engle's work, including the nonfiction, and she's one of my favorite all time writers. I couldn't believe it when I was able to meet her when I was in college. She was the first really famous person I'd ever met. (I just thought about the number of children's book authors I've met in person. Given that only a couple of the meetings were at book signings, it's actually a fairly impressive group.)

Books I Read as a Small Child

In my post on 15 books that have stuck with me, I included Little Mommy by Sharon Kane (a Little Golden Book), the Little Golden Books' version of Jingle Bells (pre-school), and the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Why do I remember these?

Jingle Bells is hard to forget. This made my list, though, because of a photo. One year, probably the year I turned four, my mother took a photo of me in my rocking chair reading this. Despite the fact that the photo was taken during the summer, Mom sent it out that year with our Christmas Cards. I still have several copies of this.

Little Mommy was one of my favorites. I can still recite it, if I think about it hard enough. So can my mother. Imagine, then, my surprise and horror the first day of my undergraduate children's literature class when the instructor (Patricia MacLaclan) holds it up as an example of absolutely horrid children's literature. It is bad, I can't disagree with her, but that's my childhood she was mocking.

The Little House books made the list for two reasons. They are among the first books I read for myself and not as a school assignment and signal the point at which I really became a reader. They are also among the books I re-read every summer until I was in college.

May Cards

I'm a little late in posting this. Here's the card I made for May. May is always a busy month for me now. Between Mother's Day and all 3 of my sisters-in-law having birthdays, I need a lot of cards. I'm in the process of working on my June cards for Father's Day and male birthdays. At least the guys' birthdays are spread out throughout the year. Then in July, I need to work on cards for kids birthdays, as all of the children to whom I give cards have birthdays between August and December.

Stuck on 15

This week's Booking Through Thursday question is: “This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”

Here are mine in the order in which I remembered them. I've included information about when I read them, because there are patterns. I plan to do a follow up post to discuss why some of these stick.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (11th grade)
2. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (7th grade)
3. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (11th grade)
4. Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie (post grad school)
5. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (college)
6. A Separate Piece by John Knowles (7th grade)
7. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (college)
8. Patriot's Dream by Barbara Michaels (college)
9. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (post grad school)
10. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (grad school)
11. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (7th grade)
12. The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (4th grade)
13. Little Mommy by Sharon Kane (pre-school)
14. The Little Golden Books' version of Jingle Bells (pre-school)
15. Gabriela, Cravo e Canela by Jorge Amado (college)

Something Just for Fun

I've joined the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL). It's not really a SAL. Every month, at the new moon, members take pictures of their ort jars.

Here's mine for this month. You can tell that I've not been stitching much at all. Can you even see the few threads at the bottom?

So to entertain you, I thought I'd share my jar before I put it to use for my orts.

Second Time Around

Booking through Thursday asks this week: What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

This is an interesting question for me. I often re-read books. As a child, I only owned a few books and would re-read them each summer, and, as a result, I tend to forget the details of books fairly quickly so that I can enjoy them again. But, I still know that I enjoyed them the previous time, and, therefore, anticipate enjoying them again.

Ideally, what I would like is to experience the sense of wonder I had the first time I read many classics of my childhood. Reading them for the first time now as an adult wouldn't be the same as reading them in junior high. This would include books like A Wrinkle in Time; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; and The Eqypt Game. Even The Secret Garden. Books I came to later, but that still gave me that same sense of discovering something new, are the first Harry Potter book, The Blue Sword, and The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1964. There will always be something magical to me about children's and young adult books that tends to be missing in adult books.

Redefining Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and my first one as a mother. It was not what I had envisioned. Yes, there were the usual flowers, jewelry, and brunch, but these aren't things I necessarily get excited about. And I had to spend a good portion of the day with my MIL and SIL, neither of which I have much in common with. I had a whole discussion this morning with a coworker of mine about this, as she too had to spend a day in activities that weren't really of her choosing. We seem stuck in a model for Mother's Day based on previous generations' desires, which don't particularly apply to our modern lives. For instance, I don't feel like a kitchen slave (yet?), so going out for brunch, while nice, isn't exactly a special treat.

Even so, I had a good day yesterday, despite my initial trepidation. My MIL watched the girls for us in the morning, so I could sleep in and DH could a bit too. After brunch, my BIL came over to help DH install a mammouth window-unit air conditioner. As there was going to be much cursing involved, I escaped the house with the girls and went to the local park.

I truly enjoyed watching the girls at the park. They just turned 9 months old, and this weekend was the first time that they'd been out of their stroller in the park and on the grass. They were fascinated by everything -- the grass, the dirt, the feel of the blanket on their feet, the other kids, the cars, and most especially the dogs. It was fun to watch them discover the world around them.

So it wasn't the day I would have planned, but it all turned out OK.

In other news, the Social Security Administration released the 2008 list of popular baby names. I've been fascinated by this list for years, because I'm curious about names, and I viewed this over and over again as we were trying to come up with names for the girls. I was aiming for names that were in that middle ground between completely overused and too unusual or old-fashioned. Both of the names are at all time highs now on the list, with DDA's name climbing a little higher than I'd like. She may end up being "A in DC" in school, rather than just "A". L's unlikely to run into that problem, but we'll see. In high school, I was one of two C's in my grade, which wasn't surprising, although the fact that we only had one Jennifer was.

Love and Hate and Authors

This week's Booking through Thursday question: Which is worse? Finding a book you love and then hating everything else you try by that author, or reading a completely disappointing book by an author that you love?

For me, the answer is easy. The second one. I will usually drop an author quickly if his or her books don't keep meeting my expectations. If I've come to love an author, though, it's hard to let go. I find this to be particularly true of authors who have been writing for a while and who begin to earn enough money that their editors stop editing and just push to get the books to market. It's disappointing all the way around.

The example that comes to mind is the later Elizabeth Peter novels. I actually threw one of them against the wall one summer - a signed hard copy, mind you - because I was so angry with what she'd done. I must admit that I did buy at least one or two more after that, but I know that there have been later releases that I haven't.

National Library Week

This week is the ALA sponsored National Library Week. In honor of this, Booking Through Thursday, a weekly meme about books and reading, asks: How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Did you go to the library as a child? Do you have any particular memories of the library? Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?

Unfortunately, I don't use the public library as often as I should. Mostly I use it to check out books on tape or to stock up on light reading when I'm going on vacation. The last time I used it, I checked out some baby name books.

I don't believe the coffeehouse or bookstore has replaced the library. They offer different services than libraries do. Most coffeehouses don't offer books, for instance. I've seen articles recently showing that usage of public libraries is up due to the economy. As people continue to look for ways to cut costs, I think being able to obtain books and access to the Internet for free will continue to draw patrons into their local libraries.

As a child I used my school library a lot. I don't think I went to a public library regularly until I was in middle school. Once I conquered reading and really began zooming through books, my local public library became my favorite place to go. I used it a lot through middle and high school.

I prefer well-lit traditional libraries, with comfy chairs and all of that. I'm not one who ever really studied in the library, unless I was doing something with a group, so I also don't think that they need to be as quiet as a tomb, either. I'm really excited about this project at my alma mater and hope that they will obtain the funds needed to complete the transformation from stark office space back to cozy reading room, especially since the existing "reading room" is now used almost exclusively as a lecture space.

Finally, as someone who is trained as a librarian, I'd like to mention the librarians who influenced me over the years. I think meeting Mrs. Miller, the school librarian, when I was in 4th grade put me on course to going to library school many years later. She probably more than anyone else influenced me to become a reader. She was followed by Ms. Blair in middle school and Mrs. K. (Kelter? Keltzer?) in high school. Nearly everyone remembers Bruce at my alma mater, the most amazing reference librarian I've ever met. And then Margery, the college archivist who hired me one summer. I worked for her for 3.5 years and then went off eventually to library school so I could follow in her footsteps.

How have libraries and librarians influenced your life?

Happy Easter

We've been sick here. Both the girls and I have had bronchial infections. It's been a miserable few days. Fortunately, before we all got sick, I was able to make these. I'm not sure why this one looks so tilted; it isn't really. Of course, they still haven't been mailed. Maybe tonight, since we're all starting to feel a bit better.

I hope you all have a Happy Easter.

6 Things

Lee tagged me a while ago to list the 6 Things that make me Happy. I was hoping to track down more pictures, but time has gotten away from me. So here they are:

My daughters

My hubby

My friends

The yellow flowers of spring - daffodils, forsythia, etc.

Good chocolate

Crafting - stitching, stamping, etc.

I was going to tag some folks, but given my delinquency, I won't.

Firsts

Borrowed from Geggie.

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Dan. Who was also my date to the wedding where I met DH.

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
Nope. (Who?)

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
Beer.

4. What was your FIRST job?
Girl Scout Camp Counselor

5. What was your FIRST car?
1983 Ford Escort

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
Don't text.

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
The babies

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
I had 2 of them: Mrs. McNaboo and Miss Persons.

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
My first ride was from Buffalo to Atlanta, but I had several more flights until I reached my destination, Rio de Janeiro.

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
Jen Keller. Yes. She's a godmother to DDA.

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
Family: grandparents Friend: Jen

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
DH

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
Lisa and Frank's, where I took Dan as my date and met Paul

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Looked at the clock

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
Sheila E., the Oak Ridge Boys, and Kenny Rogers.

16. FIRST tattoo?
None, thank you.

17. FIRST piercing?
In fourth grade, my ears.

18. FIRST foreign country you visited?
Canada - it was less than an hour away.

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?
Bambi.

20. When was your FIRST detention?
7th grade. First and only.

21. What was the FIRST state you lived in?
New York.

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
My sister

23. If you had one wish. What would it be?
To have my grandparents meet their great-granddaughters.

24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance?
To play the piano.

25. Who do you think will be the next person to post this?
Brave Astronaut

Two Finishes

I promised you that when Lee received her package that I would share photos of my February finishes with you. She has, so here they are.

I finally found a teapot design I liked for the Bride's Tree SAL in a pattern book that a friend sent me this fall. When I went looking for a scrap of fabric to stitch on, I found the pre-finished jar cozies in my stash. Perfect, except, of course, that they're not ornaments. Oh well.

I only kept the general shape of the teapot from the original pattern. (It was blue, with a heart motif.) I chose the colors to go with the fabric, and I designed the poinsettia motif myself, based on some other patterns I had.

Here's Lee's gift. I included a chocolate bar, 6 different teas, 6 hand-made cards with envelopes, a card folio, and (not shown) a piece of ~8"x10" archival mat board, as well as the cozy.

In other news, I've started stitching my rose pattern for the SAL. I'm determined to get these done this year. To recap, I finished stitching January through July last year. I've started the November angel. I've now finished the September teapot and am working on the August rose. I have the October pinecone pattern ready to go, which leaves me with figuring out a December Santa. Both the October and November patterns are a bit intricate, so they may take me a while.

Stitchy Fingers

I've been stitching again. I started on two small projects two Sundays ago. They are essentially the same project done twice. One's for me, and the other's for Lee's gift. I knew I had to do them in tandem or I'd never finish the second one. I finished them last night. It's been so good to be stitching again. So good!

I'll post pictures when Lee receives her package.

Winner of the Giveaway

Thanks to the True Random Number Generator Powered by RANDOM.ORG, the Result was 4.

And the giveaway goes to... Lee!

Congratulations.

I'll post a picture of the giveaway once Lee receives her surprise in the mail.

Thanks to all who commented, especially those of you who de-lurked.

Milestone Post and Giveaway

Today marks two milestones for me.

First, and more importantly, it's the 6 month birthday of my girls. It is amazing to me how fast that time has gone by. As someone who was unsure about the whole parenthood thing, it has been an amazing journey. They continue to surprise and delight me. I couldn't have more wonderful babies.

Second, this post is the 100th post on my blog. When I started this blog, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, and I'm still figuring it out. I plan to continue blogging, so we'll see where it goes.

In honor of these events, I'm doing a little giveaway. I'm not sure what all I'm going to include, but there will at least be a couple of handmade cards and some edible goodies. Leave me a comment by Sunday, February 15, if you'd like to be considered for the giveaway. I'll pick a name randomly.

Post #99

I realized yesterday that I've been neglecting my blog again. I just don't have much to report. I'm not crafting at all these days, although I want to be. Baseball's not in season. The girls are keeping me busy. My spare time is currently devoted to finishing an article I started writing last spring. The drop-dead due date is February 2, so I'm under pressure to get the final revisions done. This is definitely a case where "good enough" will have to prevail, because I don't have the time to do all the recommended revisions. Sigh. I'm also wasting time over on Twitter. Who knew that 140 words could create such a big time drain? Ah, well.

My next post will be #100. I'm thinking about doing something special. Stay tuned.

Best of 2008

From Lee.

1. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) designers in 2008? And your favorite was? I think the only one was Casey Buonaugurio.

2. Same question - New Fabrics? I bought hand-dyed fabric for the first time.

3. Same question - New fibres? No

4. Same question - New finishing techniques? I made my first biscournu at the end of 2007.

5. Did you have a favorite "theme" in 2008? ornaments

6. Did you try any new gadgets? No. I'm not a gadget girl.

7. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) LNS in 2008? And your favorite was? No, but Donna just pointed me in the direction of one. The Stitching Post remains my favorite.

8. Same question: new or new-to-you online stores? I ordered from the Silver Needle for the first time.

9. Same question: new or new-to-you bloggers? I discovered a whole lot of new-to-me stitching bloggers through the Brides Tree SAL and Christmas Ornamenet SAL blogs. My favorite is Olenka's Stitches. I love her biscournu designs. For non-stitching blogs, I discovered Gov Gab. It covers a whole host of topics and points you to the federal resources available.

10. Same question: communities/forums? I really enjoyed the Brides Tree SAL and hope to be able to finish stitching my remaining ornaments this year.

11. Whose blog in 2008 was the most inspirational for keeping you stitching? This is a tie between Dani and Jennifer.

12. Whose blog was funniest in 2008? Anna continues to inspire me also and make me laugh.

13. Which blog's posts did you "star" the most in your reader in 2008? Lee's. She is always posting things that I want to go back and take a better look at when I have time.

Card Types - Results

Thanks to all who voted. The results were 4 votes for traditional seasonal cards, 3 votes for handmade cards, and 2 votes for photo cards. No one voted for my favorite - skip the card, send the newsletter. While I am a big fan of all interesting cards, especially handmade ones, I'd rather have the newsletter. DH and I have lived all over the world and have friends scattered across the globe. Christmas is often the only time when we here from some of our friends. I love the chatty newsletter telling me what someone's been up to. It's even better if it contains pictures, especially pictures of the adults and not just the kids.

Besides the totally preprinted cards, my other pet peeve is photo cards that only ever contain pictures of the kids. I appreciate the argument that only the kids are significantly changing from year to year, but the adults are generally the ones with whom I am friends, and I'd like to see a picture of them every couple of years too. My favorite photo card this year was one of DH's cousin's family taken while riding a flume at the amusement park. It made me wish it were summer already.

So, you might ask, what does C do for her cards? Well, for most of the years we've been married, we've sent out traditional cards with newsletters. Sometimes the newsletters have been incredibly brief - like the year in San Diego where I managed in 10 pt type to fit all of our news on the front of a quarter sheet of paper. In 2004, I switched to making cards (plus newsletters). This year, we did photo cards with a newsletter. Our photo cards had 3 photos - 1 of each of the girls plus a family shot. It's the best picture of me I've seen since our wedding.

What did you do this year? What was the favorite card you received?

Winter Sampler

Happy New Year All!

While I still haven't been stitching, I pulled the following piece out as part of our Christmas decorations. I'll leaving it hanging up throughout the winter.

The design is from Little House Needleworks, called Pinetop Lodge. I completed it in 2006. It was stitched on the recommended fabric. I substituted overdyed threads for the recommended DMC colors, because I wanted varigations in the colors. The center part of the design went together really quickly for me, but the outer border of leaves took me forever.

My stitching goal for 2009 is pretty simple: Start stitching again. If I can accomplish that, I will be doing well. I have one of my nephew's samplers in progress plus I want to finish the SAL ornaments. Wish me luck.