Friday Five: Favorite Bible Verses

Songbird posted this Friday Five at RevGalBlogPals:


Twenty years ago, I was on a Pastoral Search Committee, and one of the questions we asked the ten candidates we interviewed in the first round was to tell us their three favorite passages of scripture. I loved hearing the variety of verses quoted and even learned some that I didn't know, such as the last line of one of this week's lectionary passages:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8) 

For today's Friday Five, list your five favorite passages/verses from the Bible and tell us something about why you love them.

At different times of my life, different verses have been my favorites because they spoke to me in the place I was at the time.  My first Bible, a Revised Standard Version, was given to me in 1962 by the First United Church of Christ,Congregational in Milford, Ct.  I used that Bible for many, many years and it's marked up, highlighted and written in.  It's a wonderful record of my spiritual journey.  Some of the highlighted passages leave me wondering what it was I wrestling with at the time.  Obviously it was soul-churning at the time, but from 40 or so years later, the question or problem is gone from memory.  Other highlighted passages take me right back to some of my darkest nights.  I use a different Bible nowadays - the New Oxford Annotated Bible, NRSV -- most of the time, and some of the same verses are marked.  So here, in no particular order, are some of my very meaningful passages:

1.  Psalm 121:  This is the RSV which is how it's ingrained in my memory

	I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come?
	My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
	He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber.
	Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
	The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
	The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
	The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
	The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.

This is a psalm I've always liked probably because it was one of my mother's favorites. Despite life-long Sunday school classes, I wasn't ever required to memorize scripture, but this comes close to a memorized passage.  I've always loved the images in this psalm. As a child I loved the language too - especially verse 6.  I still go back to this psalm at times of great anxiety.

2.  Psalm 51: 10

Create in me a clean heart , O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Bound Book Congregational Church, Bound Brook, NJ is where this verse first found me during the 1964-1965 school year.  Ms. LeNorth's 5th grade Sunday School class, to be precise.  I don't remember the activity, I don't remember the gist of the lesson, I just remember this verse which I've prayed many, many, many times since then.

3.   Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,^* by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual^* worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world,^* but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.^*

This passage was the theme for the UCC National Youth Event in 2004.  I was co-leader of The United Church of Jaffrey, UCC's senior high youth group and the pastor and I took a group of our youth to this event.  We spent the year before the event fundraising:  we sold nuts, we flamingoed parishioners' lawns, we held car washes, and the congregation "voted" through cash donations in jars what color the pastor would dye his hair and appear in the pulpit with.  (Pink was the winning color!)   It was a year of fun and fellowship, and especially growth in faith, as we all wrestled with this passage and what it means to be transformed.  

4.  Psalm 141:3

 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD, keep watch over the door of my lips!

This verse became a mantra with me when I was in college.  I can be outspoken at times, but I am someone who processes ideas by talking it out.  People who know me well understand that about me.  They understand that when I am confronted with a new idea or challenge, I often start reacting and speak my thoughts.  Frequently my initial reactions morph into completely different reactions once I've talked  it through.  People who don't know me hear my first thoughts, and are "turned off" to me.  It took me a long time to understand that about myself, and then change my  ways.  I don't always succeed.  At the very least, I am usually able to preface my immediate reactions with "my first reaction is, but I have to think about it --- and I'm thinking aloud here.. ." or something to that effect.

I also need this verse in my role as a classroom teacher.  Students don't always hear what we mean.  They miss the tone that is used; they hear only part of what we say; they misinterpret what we say.  Words can hurt, especially when some of our students have language disabilities.  It's important for teachers to be very mindful of not only what we say but how we say it. 

5.  Luke 24:13-32

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." 25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"

I love this story because it reminds me how often we (I!) don't recognize God among us, within us.  We don't recognize "our hearts burning within us" until we're slapped over the head with it.  And it also reminds of the times when I do recognize God breaking through.    Even when we're most disconsolate,  God reaches us and the Spirit makes Itself known to us.  This passage made its first impression on me during college.  I was struggling with choosing a major, finding a path to follow, and I was having a great deal of trouble with a roommate.  My best friend invited me home one weekend and I made my first trip to the state that would later become my home.  She took me to her tiny American Baptist church that Sunday and the pastor preached on this text.  Suddenly I felt that "burning" and realized that I wasn't alone.  I had this wonderful friend, I had a supportive church group at college, and of course, I had God.  The 2nd time this story deeply affected me was several years ago when I co-taught Confirmation class with the pastor.  We used this text as one of the foundation texts for the year-long class.  When the confirmands led their confirmation service, they used it to describe their individual faith journeys.  The openness and honesty of their testimony ( I can't think of a better word, despite my sometimes negative reaction to that word) brought us all to tears.  How we long for the burning of our hearts, despite the fact that our response leads us to places we might not want to go.

Bonus:

Micah 6:8 

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?


I love this verse. It keeps jumping up and waving its hand in front of my face.  From a Sunday school class as a kid, to a sermon I preached in college, to a gathering I attended at Andover Newton, to the NYE 2004 event where Ken Medema sang a song based on this text, to its appearance in the lectionary . . . it pops up continually to remind me what my task is.

View from the Kitchen

Just testing out how quickly I can upload pictures now! Amazing!!! It took only seconds. With my dial up it would take at least 45 minutes for one picture to load, if I were lucky!!

And a New Era is Ushered In

Just a brief moment of exultation!

We now have high speed internet, after years of dial up.  I feel like a kid in a candy store!  I have been having fun looking at videos, and photos, and am just amazed at how quickly every thing moves.  And I am so proud of myself for hooking up everything correctly without any help other than the diagrams sent with the modem.  My next project will be to make sure the wireless works correctly.

Book #5 for 2011

Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I downloaded this on my Kindle at the recommendation of a blog friend.  It's a new author for me,or team of authors as it's a duo who write under the pseudonym of Jefferson Bass. One author is Dr. Bill Bass who founded the Anthropology Research Facility aka the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee.  His writing partner is Jon Jefferson, who is a journalist and documentary filmmaker.  While I am not a fan of detailed gore, I do enjoy the detective work that forensic pathologists and medical examiners do.  The fictional Dr. Bill Brockton is a forensic anthropologist and professor at the University of Tennessee, home of the famous (infamous?) Body Farm. He is called in to investigate an unusual find - the perfectly preserved body of an unknown female deep inside a cave in the Tennessee hills.  He is thrust into the middle of corrupt county law enforcement and longtime family feuds.  Is Jim O'Connor as aboveboard as he seems or is he the seat of the corruption?  And what about Tom Kitchings, the Cooke County sheriff and former star UT quarterback?  I enjoyed the plot and I didn't expect the twist at the end of the book.  The actual description of the forensic work was pretty detailed; I did skim a few sections, in the way I cover my eyes when surgeons start to operate on TV, or something particularly grisly shows up on the screen.  I will look for the next book in the series.


View all my reviews

As an aside:  I've been to the University of Tennessee 3 times, most recently in 2005.  All 3 times I was chaperoning groups of children.  One trip was for the UCC National Youth Event, and the other two were finals for a problem solving competition.   I was completely unaware of the existence of the the Body Farm.  As I read this novel, however, I recognized the stadium  and remember someone telling me that there were classrooms under it.    

Friday Five: Books!

This is one Friday Five from RevGalBlogPals that is definitely right up my alley!

So tell us what you're reading, what you would and would not recommend--five books or authors! And if you don't want to do that freestyle, here are some questions:

1. What books have you recently read? Tell us your opinion of them.
I've read 4 books so far in 2011.  I am an avid reader and I comment on just about every book I read at goodreads.com and in this blog. For the most recent comments, check out a post earlier today on Mary Roach's Packing for Mars. I've also reviewed a couple of mysteries earlier this month.
2. What books are awaiting your available time to be read?
 I am currently reading three books:  The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny and Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass, and  Zero, The Biography of a Dangerous Idea.  In my physical books-to-read-soon stack I have a Martha Grimes from the library, Half-Broke Horses, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Confessions of a Knitting Heretic, Death of a Perfect Wife, and Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis.  I also have a number of books on my Kindle waiting to be read - Trollope's Barchester Chronicles, Five Little Peppers and How they Grew, Hospitality the Sacred Art, The Goddess of Fried Okra



3. Have any books been recently recommended?
Just about all of the books on my list are books that have been recommended by my blog and Ravelry friends, my in-person friends, and a few are titles from a Fred Wolff series of writing workshops I've attended.  

4. What genre of books are your favorite, along with some titles and/or authors you like best?
I've been an eclectic reader most of my life, but lately I've taken to reading series that feature strong detectives and murder mysteries.  Most of them are set in another time/place - The Inspector Rutledge books by Charles Todd, the Kate Shugak novels by Dana Stabenow, the Armand Gamache books by Louise Penny, the Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear, the Inspector Jury series by Martha Grimes, the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma Jones series to name a few.  I also really enjoy historical fiction set in England.    I DISLIKE books that glorify violence and gore or that dwell in darkness.  I stopped reading Patricia Cornwell because I felt nothing but darkness when I read them.  I also have never cottoned on to the James Patterson books, Sukie Stackhouse books or Dean Koontz which seem to be popular with some of my colleagues at work.

5. What have you read lately that you have a strong urge to recommend? (or to condemn?)

I definitely recommend Louise Penny's books, Stiff and Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, and At Home by Bill Bryson.  I also highly recommend Sara Miles' book Take This Bread . It's one of the best books on communion I've ever read.

Meeting One of My New Year's Resolutions

A resolution this year is to read more nonfiction.  As of today,  25% of books read for 2011 have been nonfiction, so I'm feeling virtuous.  (Of course, that's ONE book out of a total of FOUR!)   This was a great first step towards my somewhat amorphous goal.


Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading and thorough enjoying Stiff, I had to pick up Mary Roach's new book when I saw it on the "Featured" shelf at my library.  I'm glad I did.  Mary Roach is a science writer who makes science topics interesting because she's not afraid to ask the questions we wonder about but don't ask.  How exactly do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?  How do they bathe?  What does it feel like to hurtle through the atmosphere? As someone who grew up during the 1960's I was glued to the TV during the space flights, and I was actually visiting Cape Kennedy in 1969 when the first men on the moon splash landed.  I found this book fascinating.   Roach experienced astronaut training first-hand - from vomiting in the zero-gravity chamber, drinking recycled urine, and to using the space toilet on camera.  While on some level I understood that in zero-gravity everything "floats" I didn't really understand how that impacted bodily excretions until Roach's detailed descriptions. "Fecal popcorning" is not one of the terms NASA shared on TV when kids asked how astronauts went to the bathroom.  I also had no inkling of just how prevalent motion sickness in astronauts is. Her chapter entitled "Throwing Up and Down" details the great lengths NASA has gone to in order to minimize the nausea and to deal with the vomit that results.  Other chapters describe some of the early space flight experiments involving animals, the psychological problems of being in space, and the physical effects of zero-gravity on the human body.  Her chapter titles are witty: "Separation Anxiety - The Continuing Saga of Zero-Gravity Elimination" deals with toileting issues, while "Houston, We Have a Fungus" discusses how astronauts attempt to stay clean (or not!).

I love her description of gravity.  It starts with a basic science definition "Gravity is the pull, measurable and predicable, that one mass exerts on another."(p.85) and goes on to explain

"Gravity is why there are suns and planets in the first place.  It is practically God.  In the beginning, the cosmos was nothing but empty space and vast clouds of gases.  Eventually the gases cooled to the point where tiny grains coalesced.  These grains would have spent eternity moving through space, ignoring each other, had gravitational attraction not brought them together.  Gravitation is the lust of the cosmos.  As more particles joined the orgy, these celestial blobs grew in size.  The bigger they became, the bigger the pull they exerted.  Soon (in a thousands-of-centuries sort of way) they could lure larger and more distant particles into the tar pit of their gravitational influence.   Eventually stars were born, objects big enough to pull passing planets and asteroids into orbit.  Hello, solar system.
  Gravity is the prime reason there's life on Earth.  Yes, you need water for life, but without gravity, water wouldn't hang around.  Nor would air.  It is Earth's gravity that holds the gas molecules of our atmosphere -which we need not only to breathe but to be protected from solar radiation - in placer around the planet.  Without gravity, the molecules would fly off in to space along with the water in the oceans and the cars on the roads  and you and me and Larry King and the dumpster in the In-N-Out Burger parking lot."  (pp. 85-86)

This book introduced new information to me, clarified some ideas, put old ideas into a new light, and made me laugh.  I call that a pretty great book!


View all my reviews

Two Mysteries

The first mystery on tap is A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd.  The author is actually a mother-son team who write under this pseudonym.

A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Inspector Ian Rutledge faces a challenging problem when he is confronted by the strong possibility that his police work led to the hanging of an innocent man.  Reopening the investigation is thorny when he realizes that by doing so he puts his supervisor's skills into question, and the last thing he needs is to have another reason for Bowles to hate him.  At the same time, he's sent off to Kent to investigate the murders of several disabled veterans of the war.  While the characters are as sharply drawn as ever, and we see more and more flashes of Rutledge's mental recovery, the mysteries themselves were rather ho-hum.  This installment didn't grab me the way others have.  It won't stop me from reading on however!


View all my reviews

The second mystery is by Louise Penny whose Inspector Armand Gamache series is presently one of my favorites.  Set in Quebec,  Penny uses the cultural and natural environment to create a strong setting for her hero.  Gamache is thorough in police work, intuitive as far as human nature is concerned, and wrestles with the real existence of good and evil.  He is a highly moral man with a good understanding of the frailties of human nature.  

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Inspector Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are celebrating their wedding anniversary at an exclusive lakeside auberge.  Other guests at the lodge include the Finney/Morrow clan who are gathering for a family reunion. Armand and Reine-Marie are pleasantly surprised to discover that Peter and Clara Morrow are part of the Morrow reunion.  However, their idyllic vacation comes to a screeching halt when one of the Morrows is murdered by a falling statue.  How this was accomplished and who managed to do so, makes for a compelling, page-turning read.  Along the way we learn much more about who Armand Gamache is and what makes him tick.  The writing is wonderful, and I very much appreciate the jewels of poetry that are sprinkled through the text.  This series is much more than "cozy mysteries."  Although the coziness is there, there is a darker edge that is quite satisfying.

View all my reviews

All Things in Moderation?

I am really trying to strike a balance between work and play.  With the 3 day weekend I probably managed it a bit better than on other such occasions, but it still felt a little heavy on the have-tos.  Saturday my husband and I trekked down to Elder Son's home (about 2 hrs away) to deliver the "old" snowblower to him.  We took Elder Son out to lunch and then I took him grocery shopping.  Elder Son recently went through "job elimination" so he's battling that shock. He'd worked for a really good company for 5 years, with glowing reviews and promotions, and then he went into work the Tuesday before Christmas and was told that his job had been eliminated effective immediately --- no warning, no severance, no nothing.  So despite the fact that he is a VERY frugal man, and has a healthy savings account plus some investments, panicking parents felt the need to supply him with groceries!  We had a pleasant visit, but it did involve the whole day.  And the traffic was quite heavy on the return trip which makes the drive more tiring. It's not that I don't want to see our son, but sometimes he has the attitude that we have more time to travel than he does.  It's a 4 hour round trip no matter who makes it!

Yesterday was church.  I am now the moderator of my church and one of my responsibilities is to chair our monthly Council meeting.   I've attended Council for the better part of 25 years as chair of one committee or another, and over the past year or two I've chaired several meetings as vice moderator.  But yesterday was my first outing as the new moderator.  One of my pet peeves about Council meeting is the pacing.  Sometimes they drag on as discussion bogs down into everybody saying their piece multiple times.  My goal as the meeting facilitator is to find that balance between making sure everyone who needs to speak does and making sure we're not belaboring a point.  I was successful yesterday, and not only did we get through the entire agenda, but we finished in record time!  (It helped that we'd just had Annual Meeting on Thursday so there wasn't much new to report.)

After church my husband and I had a quick dinner, and then he took off on a sports trip.  (He drove the bus for the team.) I spent most of the afternoon grading papers and doing laundry.  I would have preferred to accept my friend's invitation to go over to house for a knitting session, but those papers don't grade themselves.    I don't like grading papers and I especially dislike grading late work.  I have a group of students this year who do not complete assignments.  I've been struggling with this:  We need to stay in constant communication with parents about their students' grades but it gets old fast when only 5 students turn in assignments on time. There are days  I spend more time contacting parents about missing work than I do correcting on-time work.  That's a problem.  Yesterday I graded 4 sets of papers,  made a list of missing work for 15 students, and started thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in the classroom this week.  I finally sat down with my knitting and Netflix at 6 pm.  I was in bed at 10, but I couldn't sleep since my husband was still out on the sports trip.

Today is "my day off" - and it will consist of a doctor's appointment that will consume most of the morning.  This afternoon I still have some school work to finish, and there is some business bookkeeping to deal with.    I am also supposed to get to the pool at 5 pm for water aerobics.  After reviewing all of this, I don't think I hit the balance I was looking for between relaxation and work, but I didn't spend ALL weekend on have-to's.  Just a lot of it!

First Knitting Project of 2011

I have temporarily abandoned a major knitting project because I am trying to locate some more yarn in the appropriate dye lot.  I've tried Ravelry, Ebay, and several on line knitting stores.  I've managed to locate 1.25 skeins so now I'm just waiting for the yarn to arrive, and I'm hoping that that will be enough.

In the mean time I decided to use up some stash. I knit the Listado Cowl from Nelkins Designs.  I used leftover yarn from a previous project, "Audrey" from Shaefer Yarns in the color Indira Ghandi.  Since the yarn was slightly lighter than the suggested yarn, I went up needle size and used 8's.  It was  very quick and easy pattern, and I wore it to school today in the 7° F weather we had.  It worked perfectly!  I may use this pattern to whip up some Christmas gifts for next year!

One Down, 51 To Go

We're already arrived at the second week of the year.  Last week felt very long and my immune system was battling a number of attackers!  One of the reasons the week seemed long was the fact that I attended our local school board meeting Monday night.  The board is planning to make a series of budget cuts that will severely impact how we deliver instruction next year.  A core teacher in my current grade level will be cut, and the plan is to change our organization.  Currently we are divided into "pods" or teams of two teachers.  Each pod shares about 40 students, and each teacher teaches two subjects.  I teach social studies and language arts and I see each of my students for a minimum of 10 hours a week for core instruction. Next year, teachers will teach just one subject, and will teach the entire grade level.  So one teacher will be responsible for the instruction of approximately 110 students every day.  Under this proposed structure, I would see each student for about 4.25 hours each week.  A big difference in instructional time, but more importantly a huge change in being able to really get to know your students and build the personal connections that are so important at the middle level.  A group of us went to the board meeting to ask them to reconsider the proposed cut.  It was a long meeting, and a very long day!

This coming week is also going to be a bear.  I have a district level committee meeting on Monday after school, a regular staff meeting on Tuesday, the church's annual meeting on Wednesday, and on Thursday I have 3 obligations -- a board meeting, a church committee meeting, and the school district budget hearing.  In between I have to write sub plans as I am supposed to attend a day-long workshop on Wednesday.    I'm glad next weekend is a 3 day one!

As far as trying to balance have-to's and want-to's I didn't do a great job this past week, and it doesn't look like this next week will be any better!!  However on the want-to's --- here's a report!

I have abandoned a sweater I've been working on for several months until I can locate more yarn of a compatible dye lot.  If anyone has any Plymouth Royal Llama Silk in color 6605, dyelot 30007, I need 2 skeins!!  I did start a cowl from some leftover yarn which I will probably finish up later today.  I have to find the camera to get some pictures.

As for reading, I plowed my way through Ken Follett's newest, Fall of Giants.  My review is below.  I told my husband, maybe I should keep track of pages read, not just books read.  This tome was 985 pages long!


Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this first installment in Ken Follett's planned trilogy.  The novel spans the years 1911-1920, and follows the fortunes of five families.  The five families represent major social groups affected by World War I:  a Welsh coal mining Williams family, the English aristocratic Fitzherberts, the Russian peasant Peshov family, the German von Ulrich's, and the American Dewars.  Within these families are feminists, Conservatives, Bolsheviks, White Russians, Labour party members, warmongers, and peacemakers.  Many of the characters and their situations are a bit cliched.  Ethel Williams is the fiery housemaid who has an affair with the Earl and bears his child.  The Earl's sister is an ardent feminist and is in love with a German, her country's enemy.  I was compelled enough by the plot to keep reading, but I have to admit to some serious skimming through all the battle details, and some of the political machinations. At 985 pages, the story got derailed now and then, and I think some judicious cutting would have kept the important ideas and moved the story along a little more efficiently.


View all my reviews

Time Flies

It seems like yesterday, that first digit in the year changed!  I remember all the hoopla surrounding the millenium, and the worries about whether or not we'd be able to access our bank accounts.  And here we are 11 years later.  Where has the time gone?

I don't usually make resolutions for the New Year, although I do usually take at least a few minutes to take stock of where I've been, and where I want to go.  I've been so busy this year that I haven't really done that.  Yesterday's Friday Five did get me thinking a bit, however.  The following aren't really resolutions.  I guess I'm calling them goals --- that sounds less daunting to me.  I  set goals all the time for my students and  I have to set professional goals each year.  None of us always reaches our goals, but at least we try.  Failure isn't absolute, because we've at least made some progress even if we haven't met all of them.  So here, in no particular order of importance, are my goals:

1.  I'd like to read 125 books.  I read 118 books in 2010.  Most of them were pure escapism, and in the category of "brain candy", but I read a lot.  In addition to reading 125 books, I'd like to add a few more books with some meat in them.  One way I'm helping myself is setting up a nonfiction shelf on my Goodreads. com site.  For those of you interested in my books, you can find me there at dswgr6.  As some of you know, I review many of the books of the read, although not all!

2.  I want to take better care of myself, physically, emotionally, spiritually  This is a multiple approach goal!  I'm not setting any weight loss goals, I'm not "going on a diet" (although I desperately need to), I'm not changing my exercise plans.  I don't feel as good as I used to, I'm starting to feel "old", and I never have any energy.  I do plan to be more intentional all around -- about what I eat, how much I eat, how often I exercise.  I think if I just PAY ATTENTION to my body, I will be much more successful in taking care of myself physically.  In the other areas of my life, I am going to continue the practice I've started of saying no when I really can't or don't want to do something.  I'm taking on a huge responsibility in two weeks, of being the moderator of my church.  There will be many tasks that I will have to do in that role, but there will be many tasks that I can delegate.  "I" do not have to do them all --- I can allow someone else to do them.    I need to balance the have-tos  and should-dos with the want-tos and I am going to try not to feel guilty when I sometimes allow myself to do the want-to instead of the should-do.  I am going to schedule time EVERY weekend for at least a half hour of business bookkeeping.  That should help me alleviate some of the time crunches I get into. (We'll see!)  I also want to pay more attention to the spiritual side of my life. I've been struggling with the fact that I don't feel fed when I go to church.  Sometimes I've avoided attending church because I come home so frustrated.  I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that, especially considering the role I'm taking on, but I'm hoping that a lot more intentional prayer will help!

3.  I want to really be intentional about getting rid of "STUFF". We have a huge house and it's filled.  This goal will take some help from my husband who suffers from the same "It might come in handy" syndrome that I suffer from.  But we've both come to realize that we need to de-clutter and divest ourselves of some of the flotsam and jetsam we've accumulated throughout the years.  We CAN DO THIS!

4.  I want to continue to get together with my family --- our sons, my sisters, my brother, my aunts, my cousins.  We saw  a lot of each other this year - more so than in years past, and I want to continue that habit!

5. This goal I can't blog about.  It's the one that is the most challenging.  I have some ideas about how to reach  it, but there's a lot about it that I have no control over.  So, for that goal, I will need a lot of patience, and a lot of prayer.


May you reach (or make steady progress towards) the goals you have for 2011.

Friday Five: New Year's Eve

From RevGalBlog Pals:


For some of us, this has been an incredibly difficult year; for others it has been a year of many joys. For all of us, there have been challenges and questions and there have been blessings and--maybe even an answer or two! As we say our goodbyes to 2010 and look towards 2011, share with us five blessings from 2010 along with five hopes or dreams for 2011.


My blessings for 2010:


1.  Having a chance to visit with all my sisters and their families over the July 4th holiday.  We all live in different states - NH, NY, MI, and IN- so it was a wonderful blessing to gather in MI with all 3 of my sisters and enjoy some wonderful family time.


2.  Having a chance to visit with my "little" brother and his family also in July.  He wasn't able to join us for the MI reunion earlier in the month, but my husband and I were able to go down to Virginia Beach to help his daughter celebrate her engagement.  


3.  Having my 2 of my sisters and their families, both my sons, and one son's girlfriend spend Thanksgiving with us.  I miss having big family gatherings.  My MI sister and my NY sister and their families were able to come for Thanksgiving, as was my Los Angeles son and girlfriend, and our MA son.  We had a wonderful time and everyone when home with a great story "The year Aunt Debbie (Mom, Deb,) tried to burn the house down."  I had a huge grease fire in my oven as the turkey cooked.  My MI sister gave me a fire extinguisher for Christmas.


4.  Having our health is always a blessing.  My husband had a heart attack 10 years ago, and I appreciate every year we have together.


5.  Being able to complain about work!  With so many people unemployed or under employed, it's a blessing to be able to have a job to complain about.  And my husband is an employer so it's a blessing that he can offer 35 people jobs.


Hopes and Dreams for 2011:


1.  That  Elder Son find new work quickly.  His job was eliminated as of Dec. 23rd.  He was told Dec. 21st.  He is optimistic, and in relatively good financial shape at the moment.  My dream is that he finds the type of job he wants, quickly.


2.  That both my sons find happiness with someone who loves them.


3.  That I am up to the task of taking on a new role as church moderator.  It's a huge responsibility, and I have huge shoes to fill.  


4. That I can find a way to be happier with my current work situation.  


5. My hope is that I will take better care of myself -- physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.  I need to find balance, and I need to find ways to feed my spirit.


Not too much to hope for, and mostly things that I have to rely on others and lots of prayer to accomplish!

Blizzard Books

A couple of great reads to keep you occupied while the winds howl and the snow piles up!

The first is Fannie Flagg's new book. I've read all of her books, and this one is terrific!


I Still Dream About You: a Novel by Fannie Flagg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hysterically funny, quirky, and vintage Fannie Flagg.  Maggie Fortenberry, former Miss Alabama and current real estate agent is planning a major life change.  She's closed her bank account, given away her belongings, and has left messages for all her friends.  Now is the big day!  But wait!  Babs Bingington, aka "The Beast of Birmingham", and Red Mountain Realty's archenemy, is about to obtain the listing for Crestview, Maggie's dream home. Crestview symbolizes all the best that Birmingham offers, so she delays her departure in order to steal the listing from Babs.  A mysterious skeleton and Turkish Whirling Dervishes also get in Maggie's way.  As Maggie tries to wind up her affairs and sneak away we get to know her friends:  Brenda, her African-American partner in the real estate agent, and aspiring mayoral candidate, Ethel, the nonagenarian purple-haired office manager, and Hazel, the midget who founded Red Mountain Real Estate and who rescued Maggie from failure.  I really loved this book!


View all my reviews

And other favorite author of mine:

The Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again Lindsey Davis delivers a fast-paced novel of intrigue featuring Marcus Didius Falco, Procurator of the Sacred Geese, and imperial informer.  Falco and his entourage (Helena, his daughters, his sister Maia and her children) are still in Britain.  They are now in Londinium, visiting Helena's relatives, when Falco is asked to investigate the odd murder of a disgraced British courtier.  Petronius is also involved in the investigation, and we meet Chloris, the famed ropedancer and an important former girlfriend of Falco's.  Needless to say, Falco's investigative powers land him into trouble but as usual, he is able to disentangle himself and solve the puzzles presented. Along the way,a major tragedy brings Petronius closer to his new love.  I will be sorry when I run out of the books in this series!!

View all my reviews

Twas the Day Before Christmas

And all through this house lots of busy-ness.  I was up at 6 making my final lists.  I wrapped 2 gifts by 7 am, showered, and got a load of laundry going.  I headed out the door about 8 am to finish up some shopping.  One of the difficulties I have each year is getting a chance to go shopping in a timely fashion.  Aside from a local Walmart,  and a few speciality shops, I have to travel 20 miles or more to go to a store that stays open past 6 pm.  And when I don't get home most nights till at least 6, that limits my shopping opportunities.  Someday I will get to Christmas Eve day with all my shopping done and all the gifts wrapped. . . but that won't be for a several years at least!  I have this "vision" that when I retire, I will have my house tastefully decorated, my Christmas cards written, and all my shopping and wrapping done by Dec. 15th or earlier.  I will spend the week before Christmas baking goodies to share with friends and family.  I will sit in quiet peace in the late afternoon with a cup of tea basking in tree lights and Christmas music.  That's my fantasy at least!!  Instead I rush around the 2 days between end of school and Christmas trying to shop, bake, wrap, etc.  My tree didn't get home until last Saturday, and then the lights went on it Sunday.  That's it.  No other decorations.  It's the most beautiful tree I've had in years with perfect branches for my ornaments, but it's just not going to happen.  It smells heavenly, and at night with the lights on it, I'm completely content.  During the day, it's a bare naked tree!

I'm waiting right now for the Best Buttermilk Pound Cake to finish baking.  This has been a tradition in my house for almost 30 years.  It came from a recipe my mom found in a Farm Journal magazine at least as long ago.  It's really simple -- butter, Crisco, sugar, flour, eggs, good vanilla, and buttermilk, and it makes the most tender rich pound cake I've ever had.  I dust it with confectioner's sugar and serve it for breakfast on Christmas morning.  It's one of the must have recipes in our household.  I try to bake it a couple of days before Christmas because the flavor improves with age . . .

Other must have offerings include Swedish meatballs on Christmas Eve.  I started making these years ago.  I put them in my crockpot, and then it didn't matter when they got served.  It's not really a recipe - it's ground beef with onion, celery, nutmeg, garlic, etc. shaped into meatballs. I usually bake them and then throw them it into a crockpot with a cream of mushroom soup base, with a little sherry, paprika, and sour cream.    We serve them over egg noodles. My kids used to complain that they hated them because of the mushroom soup.  One year however, I decided not to make them since they complained so much.  I served ham instead.  My kids were livid -- how dare I not make the meatballs!    So ever since, I have to make them.  My sons are now 29 and 30 and they say the meatballs are a dish they love to hate!    There are 4 kinds of cookies I "have to have" on Christmas too --- "Mrs. Greenhill's Shortbread"  which are a recipe my little brother came home with one year from his 2nd grade teacher,  Ginger Crinkles which are a basic molasses cookie, "Aunt Crissie's Butter Cookies" which are an icebox cookie that you roll out and cut into shapes, and the newest member of the must-haves, "Cranberry-Almond Biscotti."  I used to make Pecan Tassies, too and Magic 7 Layer Bars, but we've pared down over the years!   This year's baking has been off --- my shortbread tastes terrific, but the cookies themselves cracked and crumbled when I sliced them before baking.   The biscotti crumbled too.  I'm not sure what the problem is/was.  They look awful, but they taste good!

So now I'm waiting for Elder Son to arrive.  He's actually in town, at the office with his father, setting up a new office computer.  Younger Son stayed in California.  He and his girlfriend were here at Thanksgiving, and couldn't afford a 2nd trip back east.  We plan on a quiet and relaxed holiday.  My church service is at 6 tonight which is a bit of an awkward time for us this year.  It's always been at 7 or 7:30, and for some years we had both an early service and one at 11 pm.  I miss the 11 pm service -- it was the final cap on the best day of the year.   I actually like Christmas Eve better than Christmas Day. I've decided that it's the anticipation I enjoy -- I love seeing the wrapped gifts under the tree, thinking about how my family will enjoy what I've gotten them.  I love the waiting.

More Book Reviews

Impossible by Nancy Werlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of my 7th graders read this book as part of her independent reading program.  Her comment on her reading log intrigued me.  "I loved, loved, loved, loved this book. I've read a lot of books and this is definitely the best.  You HAVE to read it!"  So she loaned me her copy.


Lucinda Scarborough is cursed as were her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and so forth, ever since Fenella refused the advances of the Elfin Knight.  Until a Scarborough woman can fulfill the impossible tasks listed in the ancient ballad we know as Scarborough Fair, all Scarborough women will bear an illegitimate  child and go mad.  Lucy has been raised by a loving foster couple, and when she is raped on prom night, they stand by her as she chooses to keep the baby.  Along with Lucy's best friend Zach, they also help her try to break the curse.  Is Lucy able to make her true love a seamless shirt without any needles?  Is she able to find an acre of land between the sea and the strand and plow it with a goat's horn and one kernel of corn?  Can she accomplish all these tasks before the birth of the next Scarborough female?  I found the writing strong and the characters quite likeable.  I was really drawn into the story.  I certainly understood why the book appealed to my adolescent student so much!  I can't put this on my classroom library shelf although I know other girls who would enjoy this book -- the rape and later, the  references to marital sex (although very subtle) would not meet school criteria.  I will say that the author handled the rape scene very sensitively, and I think that some of my more naive girls might not "get it" until later in the book when the characters talk about it.


I love being able to "talk books" with my student readers, and I especially love it when they recommend a book to me!



View all my reviews

Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead by Nick Drake

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I chose this book because two colleagues recommended it.  I also love historical fiction set in ancient times so I looked forward to reading it.  As my 2 stars indicate, it was okay.  I wanted to like it more.  It's a detective story set in ancient Egypt.  Nefertiti is married to Akanaten who has dared to start a new religion, with himself as the center of it.  Rahotep, a detective from Thebes, has been hired by Akanaten to find his missing wife.  Several gruesome murders occur before Rahotep finds the missing queen, and he is tangled up in a life-threatening web of intrigue.  The author creates a believable setting, and captures the flavor of ancient Egypt well.  But I found the story itself plodding and not particularly compelling, and I didn't really feel connected to Rahotep who is telling the story.  I have the 2nd book on my kitchen counter since I checked both of them out from the library at the same time.  I haven't decided if I will read it. 

View all my reviews

Arggh!!

Here it is the fourth Sunday in Advent, and I am still at Thanksgiving as far as preparations physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  I hate the relentless pace I set, yet it seems there is little I can control as far as slowing down.   I put in long hours at school, and then work what amounts to a second part-time job in my husband's business.  I try to get to our Wellness Center at least twice a week for some serious cardio exercise.  Those are the have-to's.  In between, I try to put decent evening meals on the table, occasionally do some laundry and basic table/counter clearing, and get to bed at an early enough hour that I can get 6.5 hours of sleep.  I wish I could find time for more sleep, but 6.5 hrs is all I can eek out.

I hate that the weekend before Christmas I had to spend 4 hours doing the business bookkeeping, rush to finish the shopping  and wrapping for gifts that have to be mailed, and then rush to get to the bank and post office before noon to get everything mailed and deposited.  I had to find time to do several loads of laundry, grade several sets of papers, and run a number of errands.  We FINALLY got a tree yesterday, and we got it put up.  It's not decorated--it's a beautiful ceiling scraping balsam fir, perfectly shaped, very fresh -- and it's bare naked.  I don't think it will get decorated, although I hope to get a string of lights on it tonight . . .maybe.
I wasn't able to get to church this morning, although I made it to our council meeting.  Then we went to a gathering to honor a young couple who were married earlier this year in CA but are home for the holidays.  So now it's Sunday night, and it's back to work, and I still don't have a decorated tree, or cookies, or cards done, and I'm just not ready for it to be Christmas.  I'm not ready in my heart either - I need time to sit and be still and be silent . . . .and there has just not been the space for me to do that.

I'm not sure where I was going with this -- I got interrupted by a phone call and then a minor crisis which is resolved.  I was going to delete it all, and then decided to let it go out into the ether.

Books #110 and #111

The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Cruellest Month is the third book in the Armand Gamache series. Gamache returns to Three Pines to investigate the death of a woman who was apparently scared to death at a seance. The more compelling part of the story is the turning point in the "Arnot Case" plot line. The previous subtle attacks on Gamache become very public, and Gamache must deal with the fallout. His enemy is revealed, and in a very interesting plot twist, those who are loyal to him are also revealed. The familiar inhabitants of Three Pines all make an appearance, and Ruth Zardo shows a completely different side of her personality. I stayed up late one night to finish this one!


For something completely different, this book definitely fits the bill.  Aside from the odd choice of topic, the writing is brilliant.


Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most fascinating, interesting, funny, serious, and gross books I've ever read. Mary Roach researched the "after-life" of human cadavers and all the various ways they have been put to use.  From organ donations, to medical school anatomy labs, to industrial research, and military research, human remains have been an important resource.

Her writing is clear and descriptive, and she has a knack for imagery which can sometimes be off-putting.  The book is infused with a wry humor also, some of it from the people who actually work with cadavers, but often it's her own humor. Yet the reader never loses the sense of the enormous respect, Roach and the various researchers have for the real people who (usually) allowed their remains to be used.  A warning:  there are some passages that can make one squeamish.  I think the best line in the book is at the very beginning, when Roach compares a human head to the size of a roasting chicken.



View all my reviews

Some Middle School Reads

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Red Pyramid is the first book in Rick Riordan's new adolescent series Kane Chronicles.  Carter and Sadie Kane are brother and sister who have been raised in different homes since their mother's death.  Carter has been accompanying his Egyptologist father around the world, while Sadie lives with their mother's parents in England.  Each teenager wishes they had the life the other has.  Carter and Sadie are reunited when their father takes them to the British Museum where he causes an explosion and disappears.  The two are questioned by the authorities about their role in the explosion and the disappearance of the Rosetta Stone.  They are rescued by their uncle Amos who divulges a family secret.  Carter and Sadie are direct blood descendants of the last Egyptian pharaohs, and they have an important task:  prevent the ancient god Set from destroying North America.  The book catapults the two protagonists across time and space to ancient Egypt, the Egyptian House of Life, and to modern America.  It's full of suspense, magic, Egyptology, and lots of action to please most middle school boys.  There's some romance too, to please the girls.  I had a hard time with this book.  I wanted to really, really like it, the same way I loved the Percy Jackson series.  But I just couldn't get into this.  I think it was partly because of the dual narration.  I think it's also hard to write the same great story twice.  Teenagers who are part ancient gods who have to save the world has been done by Riordan already.  I know it appeals to my middle school readers though.


View all my reviews

And this one is not only terrific reading, but it's a wonderful resource for modeling good writing!

Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best pieces of nonfiction writing for young people I've ever read.  In Chasing Lincoln's Killer James Swanson paints a vivid, engrossing picture of the Lincoln's assassination and manhunt for James Wilkes Booth.  His description of the actual assassination pulls the reader right into the scene.  My middle school boys especially are glued to the book.  The research is meticulous and my readers are fascinated by the sepia toned pictures of Lincoln, the conspirators, and the newspaper accounts.  One young man even asked if I had a magnifying glass so he could see all the fine print in a newspaper clipping pictured.  Swanson has written an adult book Manhunt about the same subject.  Both are riveting.

View all my reviews

A New Mystery Series!

Still Life by Louise Penny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Still Life is Louise Penny's debut novel and introduces Chief Inspector Armand Gamache from the Surete de Quebec.  He is an intelligent, highly literate, and confident man who believes in teamwork and collaboration.  He is sent to the small village of Three Pines, a village so small that it doesn't appear on maps. to investigate the mysterious death of Jane Neal, the retired village school teacher.  Three Pines is a very close-knit, friendly community where doors are always unlocked, and everybody knows everybody else's business.  Despite its closeness, it's an open and welcoming community; its leading citizens include Olivier and Gabri, gay B&B owners, a famous angry feminist Canadian poet, a set of bohemian artists, and a black woman who gave up a lucrative psychiatric practice to run a used bookstore.  Who would want to murder a well-loved neighbor?  That is the puzzle facing Gamache.  He reminds me a bit of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple.  He uses his innate knowledge of human nature as well as well as forensic evidence to solve the puzzle. As he ferrets out his evidence, he mentors the members of his usual team, as well as a very unsatisfactory new agent.  I really enjoyed the start of a new series, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.


View all my reviews

My Friday Five: Christmas Traditions

This is the current RevGalBlogPal Friday Five:  Whether a RevGal or a Pal most of us in this cyber community have enhanced responsibilities during this time of year. We also have traditions - religious and secular - that mark the season for us in a more personal way.

For this Friday Five please let us know five of the things that mark the season for you.

 

1.  Music:  I have an enormous collection of Christmas music which I do not allow myself to play until the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I held out until Advent this year which is a goal I had set for myself.  I have to admit that reaching that goal was more an accident of circumstances.  Had I not had Thanksgiving company, a Saturday full of busy-ness, I most likely would have caved.  My husband complains a bit about my collection because it's 97% traditional carols, classical, and religious, and only 3% secular holiday music.  And by traditional carols, I mean carols sung by choirs or by the great standard vocalists of yore: Andy Williams, Tennessee Ernie Ford ,  Perry Como, for example, or instrumental versions (Windham Hill recordings, Manheim Steamroller, and recently the Transiberian Orchestra) of the same. My absolute favorite Christmas album is one from childhood.  It's a recording of a concert by the Harry Simeone Chorale.  The music selections followed the scripture readings for the season --and the carols are interspersed with the readings.  Unfortunately the vinyl is scratched in several places, but I still listen to it several times a season.  A couple of years ago, a CD with the same name by the same choir was released, but the music selections were changed and the scripture readings were omitted.  Not nearly as good!  Another must-listen is also from the past - John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album based on a TV special from way back when.  I've branched out a bit, with Jewel, Charlotte Church, and a few other more modern musicians, but I definitely trend traditional.    The last time I counted, I had more than 50 CD's and about a dozen vinyl recordings on the Christmas shelf.  

2. My tree:  Our tree is huge, and it's live. I prefer balsam fir which is readily available here in New England.  We plan to go pick it out today, but it probably won't be put up until next weekend.  My tree never comes down until Epiphany, or the Saturday after Epiphany.  My  Cuban father taught us that the Three Kings didn't arrive on Christmas, but on January 6th when they arrived bringing gifts for Jesus.  If he had had his way entirely, we wouldn't have received presents until then, but my stubborn Yankee mother convinced him that Santa Claus arrived on Christmas Eve after we were fast asleep!  We did occasionally put straw out for the camels on Epiphany Eve when I was really young.  Our tree is full of a grand mishmash of ornaments - many handmade by our sons over the years, some collected over the years on their behalf --- for many years our tree was full of Star Wars ornaments, but they have found a new home with the son to whom they belonged, assorted antique glassblown creations, and sundry others.  Every year I think I want to do a theme, but every year I realize that the pastiche of ornaments represents our life.  And the lights on the tree have to be multi-colored, tiny, and non-blinking!

3. Stockings:  In my childhood home, we hung our stockings on the mantel or stair banister in the houses that didn't have a fire place.  Sometime during the night Santa came and filled them.  He placed them at the foot of our beds.  We were allowed to wake up early (but not before 4 am!) and open our stockings, but we had to stay in bed until at least 7 am!  I have such wonderful memories of tiptoeing over to the windowsill to turn on the electric candle in the window, and then my sister and I (we shared a room) would go through our stockings in that warm, dim light.  When my parents FINALLY awoke,  all 5 of us children would all gather on their bed and share the delights of our stockings with them.  They were always, always convincing in their surprise over the treasures we'd received. That's probably one reason why naive, trusting me didn't know for sure the truth about Santa until I was 14!   My own kids enjoyed a similar tradition but they went one better once they reached high school.  They started filling a stocking for us.  We love the stockings our kids fill for us!  They give us the most ridiculous gifts which we thoroughly enjoy!

4. The Manger:  Growing up my mom had a cardboard stable with a fold down flap.  Inside were plasterish figures of Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus.  On the fold down flap were the stable animals, shepherds, and the Three Kings.  Somewhere along the line, Mom acquired 3 plastic Wisemen on brown camels.  So our Nativity had SIX wisemen.  Over the years, the plastic camels lost a leg or two, and were propped up with matchstick or popsicle legs.   Who took ownership of that manger scene when we were clearing out my parents' house after their deaths was one of the toughest decisions we made as siblings!  A couple of years before my mother died, she bought me a Willow Tree nativity which I treasure.  It's on the sideboard in my dining room where we can see it daily.  It's the first decorating I do for the season.

5: Window lights:   I have 24 windows that need window lights during December and most of January.  It's the chore I hate most about decorating, but it'a also a must.  I spend the better part of an afternoon plugging in all the lights and setting all the timers, and then spend the better part of the week, getting all the timers synched.  Some day I will splurge and buy the automatic battery operated candles, but so far, the budget doesn't stretch to the outlay of cash, although I think in the long run they will cost me less.  My lights have to be warm white too.  And no twinkling!!

And the bonus? Tell us one thing that does absolutely nothing for you.

Blinking, flashing, garish light displays, especially when accompanied by music.  A new local tradition is a huge light display on the local Catholic school that has been choreographed to music. It's a donation from a prominent business in town, and it draws many visitors. But it does nothing for me.   I don't like garishness, I guess.

A Proposal

I posted this on my FB account earlier this week, partly in jest, but partly in earnest.  I propose that Congress move the date of Thanksgiving into early October.  It really bothers me that Thanksgiving gets lost in the Christmas shopping advertising blitz that starts right before Halloween.  I am sick of going into the grocery store or the big box store Halloween week and hearing Christmas music.  I'm already sick of seeing the poinsettia and Santa decorations in those places too.  I want to see turkeys and Pilgrims and pumpkins!  So if we were to move Thanksgiving into October, the merchants would have free reign to advertise all they want for 2.5 months!

.  In my own way, I try very hard to keep to more traditional practices.  I don't start decorating for Christmas or play Christmas music until Advent begins.  I rarely even begin to think about gifts until Thanksgiving weekend.  I have never participated in Black Friday sales, and don't ever plan on doing so.  My tree goes up usually the about 10 days before Christmas, and remains up until Epiphany. I light an Advent wreath, and I participate as much as possible in all the Advent events at church (music, services, study groups, crafts, etc.)  My choice for Christmas music skews way towards the religious carols and hymns and classical pieces. I want to keep Christmas special  with the emphasis on the spiritual aspects.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the decorations, and the lights, and a lot of the hoopla --- but I like it during the month of December, and during the season of Advent.  

I'm not sure if moving the date of Thanksgiving would make things worse as far as the commercialization of Christmas, but I suspect that it might help make Thanksgiving a major holiday again, instead of the bump in the road in the marketing season.

Another Book Review

Red Herring: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since I've read one of the Joe Gunther novels.  Joe, the former police chief of Brattleboro, VT is now the head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation.  The series follows Joe's career and relationships with his staff as well as the relationships in his personal life. It's set in VT and Vermont's culture and politics are very much present in all the novels.


In Red Herring, Joe and his team are investigating three suspicious deaths that turn out to be the work of a serial killer.  The plot is pretty straight-forward, involving solid police work and some high tech forensics.  There's a shock ending too.  I think that my enjoyment of the book suffered because it's been so long since I've read something in this series.  It took me a long time to reawaken my memories of the subplots and backstories which makes reading a series so enjoyable.  I also was really disappointed in the denouement.


View all my reviews

Friday Five: Pie-ola!

Rev.Songbird posted some questions about pie this week over at RevGalBlogPals:  


1) Are pies an important part of a holiday meal?
Definitely!  They are the highlight of Thanksgiving in our family.  We always have apple, pumpkin, mincemeat, and pecan, no matter whether there are 2 people or 20.  In the last few years I've also had to have a chocolate cream pie for younger son.  His first Thanksgiving break from college he came home and insisted that I make chocolate cream pie since it was his favorite.  So 10 years later I'm still adding that to the repertoire.  Yesterday we had 2 pumpkin, a mince, a pecan, and chocolate cream for 14 people.  We particularly enjoy pie for breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving.2) Men prefer pie; women prefer cake. Discuss.
That is certainly true in my household.  I actually did  a non-scientific survey this morning which supports my hypothesis.  The females unanimously chose cake, all the males chose pie, except for one who replied ice cream.  It's not that I don't like pie, but when there's a choice, I always take cake.  My favorite pies are pecan, lemon meringue, and key lime -- all made from scratch.  
3) Cherries--do they belong in a pie?
Why not?  But I can't say that I have a real like or dislike for it.4) Meringue--if you have to choose, is it best on lemon or chocolate?
Definitely on lemon.  You have to have real homemade whipped cream on chocolate.
5) In a chicken pie, what are the most compatible vegetables? Anything you don't like to find in a chicken pie?
Carrots, potatoes, and peas, most definitely.  You can add celery and/or green beans too if you want.

One Hundred Books

I've reached 100 books read for 2010.  It's too bad that Book #100 wasn't worthy of that milestone!  I didn't hate it, but I would have preferred to at least really like it!


A Taint in the Blood by Dana Stabenow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed in this installment of the Kate Shugak series.  Kate is hired to clear a dying woman's name of a deadly arson conviction from 30 years past.  She heads to Anchorage to investigate which is where the book takes place.  She is accompanied through most of the book by Jim Chopin.  The mystery was only mildly engaging, and I missed the park and wilderness setting in this one.  I also felt like the book's purpose was more to develop the sexual relationship between Jim and Kate than to investigate a mystery.  It's my least favorite book in the series.


View all my reviews

#99

Party Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somehow I missed this one when I was growing up.  I devoured many others in the Streatfield's "Shoes" books. It's World War II in England.  Selina's parents are in an internment camp in the Far East so she is living with cousins in rural England.  She receives a package from her godmother which contains a beautiful party dress and shoes.Of course there's no place to wear them.  The children hit upon the idea of staging a pageant that will allow Selina to wear the dress and shoes.  Over the course of the year, the children write and rehearse the pageant which grows from a small production to one involving what seems like a cast of 1000s.  It's not one of Streatfield's more engaging books, and I never really connected with any of the characters.  I do enjoy the descriptions of the mundane events of life:  tea, chores, school tasks, etc.  I also enjoy her writing style and tone, very "stiff upper lip" and proper.  It probably won't appeal to most of the readers in my class because it is dated.  But a few might enjoy it.


View all my reviews

98 and Counting

I set an ambitious goal for the year - to read 125 books.  I don't think I'll make it, and may not even make my last year's total.  Oh well.   Maybe a more interesting goal would be to count the number of pages read!

At any rate, here's book #98.  I really enjoy Bill Bryson's writing.


At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bill Bryson's book is a fascinating compendium of social history.   Using his 1851 Victorian parsonage as the organizing structure of the book, Bryson proceeds to share a wealth of research about the development of "life as we know it."  As he travels room by room in his house he covers such topics as plumbing, garden design, concrete, telephones, the buttons on suit jackets, evolution, archeology, architecture, the treatment of the poor, hair styles, sanitation, heating, and spices, just to name a few!  I think I drove my husband crazy with all the interesting tidbits of information that intrigued me.  It's packed with information that might sound dull and dreary, but his breezy,conversational, and humorous style is quite enjoyable.  One of the bits of information I learned was that Thomas Edison bought a concrete company and attempted to build concrete houses.  I was also fascinated by the engineering involved in the construction of the Eiffel Tower.  Some of the connections he makes between the room he's in and the topics he's covering are little stretched, but it doesn't really matter.  Sometimes this book reminds me of the current commercials on TV for the Bing internet search engine, where some hapless information consumer wanders off into stream-of-consciousness linkages.  But it's all good!


View all my reviews

And Now For Something Different . . .

It was actually a good week, especially at school.  We had a 4 day week due to Veteran's Day which made it a short week, but what made it "good" was the fact that I had 2 days in a row of relatively well-behaved students. Most days I've considered myself lucky to make it through a class without a disciplinary write-up, but I actually made it through 2 whole days.  I'm not sure what the difference was - I certainly wasn't doing anything different management-wise.  Maybe the message is starting to get through that disruptions to learning aren't tolerated, or maybe the moon was in the right quarter, who knows?  I am grateful for it!

Other little things made me happy this week too.  I ordered 2 dresses from an online source (Vermont Country Store) and they arrived promptly and they fit.  They are way too long as are all my clothes since I'm barely 5 ft 1 inch, and clothing manufacturer's don't grasp the fact that very plus-size women can also be very short.  I can hem pants and dresses if I'm so inclined, and for most of my life I've done all my hemming, but I discovered a local seamstress who hems pants for $6 and skirts/dresses for $8.00.   It's an easy decision:  take an hour to pin up a hem myself using the guess and check method, hunt up the fabric sheers to cut off excess material, drag out the ironing board to press in a new hem, and then take another 1/2 hour or so to actually stitch the hem or, spend a few dollars and let a professional do it!    The dresses got dropped off at the alterations shop.  Meanwhile I took a chance and ordered a pair of tall leather boots from Zappos.com.  Now this was a risky venture.  As a short fat woman, I have very round calves, and I've never been able to wear tall boots.  Over in Ravelry,  one of my groups was having a discussion on wide calf boots, and several people recommended Zappos.  I took the challenge, and these arrived on Thursday:







They fit perfectly!  Another "good thing" as Martha Stewart might say.  I've never owned a pair of boots  that went above the ankle.  They literally fit like a glove, and they are comfortable.  Pricey, but I know I will get years of wear out of them.

Other good things which I really can't mention yet occurred too.  Suffice it to say, that if all goes well, two members of my family will have some celebrating to do.  (No, there are no weddings or births involved!)

So here's to a good week for a change!

Book Review Alert

Turn and Jump: How Time & Place Fell Apart by Howard Mansfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Howard Mansfield is a local author.  My husband regularly runs into him at the local wellness center, and one day came home and asked me to get him a book Mansfield had written.  My husband is not a reader, so when he asks to read a book, it is a momentous occasion.  I immediately purchased another of Mansfield's books, The Bones of the Earth, which my husband devoured.  When Turn and Jump was published, I was sent back to the bookstore to buy a copy of that.  I haven't read Bones of the Earth yet, but I just finished this newest one.  I really enjoyed it.  Mansfield uses local history to illustrate the concept of how our ideas of time and place have changed.  His first essay traces the development of how we measure time: first, by the placement of the sun, moon, and stars; next by clocks with each village keeping its own local time; and the eventual standardization of clock time.  Along the way, he comments on skills that are lost or changed.  Another essay describes the evolution of a store, from a general store to a department store to its demise.   The development of vaudeville is described and its relationship to the railroad which gives the book its title.  Part of my interest in the book of course comes from the local history aspect, but I've always been interested in how concepts/places have evolved and changed.  I am looking forward to reading The Bones of the Earth and other books by Mansfield.


View all my reviews

Home before Dark!!

I had my annual mammogram appointment today so I had to leave school "early" -- about 45 minutes after the kids left. I got my appointment early, was taken immediately (didn't even get to sit in the waiting room and read a 6 months old magazine!), and was finished with the appointment five minutes past the original scheduled time.  I stopped to get gas on the way home and walked into my sparkling clean kitchen (cleaning lady day!!) at 4 pm.  It was still light outside despite the pouring rain.  I actually made a lovely cup of tea (Upton's Cranberry Black) and read the newspaper.  I also found time to use up some leftover rice and extra eggs in rice pudding, and we feasted on shrimp pad thai.    It's barely 6 pm and I feel relaxed.  My husband did a great job cleaning up the cooking debris I leave behind, and I can actually take some time to enjoy a stressfree evening.  Wish I could do this more often!  Of course, I'm not as ready for tomorrow as I'd like, but I'm not going to think about that now. I will bask in the extra time!