Bits and Pieces of Our Days

 “I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” 

— Blaise Pascal

* A year ago on Valentine's Day I didn't know what was coming. (Well, I guess by then we'd all heard of the coronavirus entering the country but I was still naive enough or stupid enough or hopeful enough to think it would be handled well and contained.) On this day last year I was blogging about creating black-out poetry, because I never have a lot to say about Valentine's Day. Atticus and I often forget that Valentine's Day is approaching, though we've always bought chocolate for our daughters because any occasion calling for chocolate will be observed in the Edmisten household. Our anniversary is at the end of January so we've just finished trying to figure out when to schedule the celebration of that (because —hello! — school year in full swing and National Honor Society induction meetings and speech season and my schedule in addition to his ... you get the picture) when Valentine's Day rolls around and we're left looking at each other and saying, "Again? We just celebrated our love, for Pete's sake. Now we have to come up with another creative observance?" 

Okay, we've never actually said that but that's how it feels. It's not that we don't like romance. We just don't like having it dictated to us on a timetable. I'm a Questioner (thanks, Gretchen Rubin, for coming up with the Four Tendencies. I kind of love you for this.)  Questioners need to have reasons to do things and I've always rebelled against being told I should express my love for my husband in a certain way on a certain day. I'm always perfectly happy to express my love for Atticus on Valentine's Day, but my rebel wing bristles a little at the world saying I should. 

Anyway, here we are on Valentine's Day, 2021, and Atticus and I told each other not to do anything at all. "Nothing, do you hear me?" He said he heard me but he also bought me a little box of chocolates and gave me a homemade Valentine. I gave him a card and told him he should buy that Wallace Stevens biography that he wants. 

So, happy feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Atticus. 

~~~~~~~~~~

* Recent reading: 

The Seven-and-a-half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (fun distraction) 

Life is in the Transitions by Bruce Feiler (a number of interesting stories about just how non-linear life is) 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (took a little bit to get into it but it ended up being very Backman-ish in its blend of humor and poignancy.) 

The pandemic robbed me of the joy of reading for a while but I've been getting back into a groove, I'm happy to report. 

Favorite reads from late 2020 that I probably haven't mentioned here: 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (haunting and stunning) 

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (she writes of grief with such piercing truth) 

 Book recommendations? 

~~~~~~~~~~

* December and January were a blur of Covid-related sadness and shock, prayers, practical attending to my parents, coming to grips with their reality, near-daily surprises and difficult decisions about their conditions, and re-learning that miracles happen. The blur this week is one of preparation: they are going home! My father, since early December, has spent time in a hospital, then a specialty hospital, and then a skilled care facility while my mother has been in a skilled care facility for the last six weeks. They are returning home, not unscathed by Covid, but with hope for the years to come. I am grateful beyond words. 

All in all, not a bad Valentine's Day gift. 

The Coronavirus Diaries: Bits and Pieces of Our Days

* I have no idea what day of social distancing we're on.

* I guess you could say ours started on March 7th, when Betsy was diagnosed with influenza A. Since she has asthma and a compromised immune system, we all rallied to start our social distancing before social distancing was a thing here. (All I could think was, "Is Covid-19 here, in our town? How disastrous could it be for Betsy if she contracted that on top of the flu?") By March 12, she needed to go back to the clinic. I went with her, and as we approached the front door, I had one of those moments. You've had those moments, too. The moments when you felt the seismic shift? Like you're now living in a movie you didn't want to see? On the door of the clinic was a sign that hadn't been there just two days before when I'd taken Ramona in for an influenza test. (Yeah, she had it, too.) The new sign told us to STOP. Call ahead if a cough is present. Wear a mask. Because I knew Betsy was dealing with influenza, we went in anyway. Should I have done that? I don't know. Shift.

* The first shift I remember was when Atticus and I went to Costco the day before Betsy got sick with the flu. March 6th. The employees were furiously wiping down carts at the entrance and I thought, "This feels weird. It's not really even here in Nebraska yet, is it?" It felt important, though, to stock up on a few things. They still had toilet paper at our Costco, but they were running low. Seeing Costco running out of things? A shift.

* It turns out that March 6 was the day the first Nebraska case was confirmed.

* I can't even remember what day it was in the midst of all this — early on — when I was at Target, thinking, "Maybe I should grab a bottle of hand sanitizer. We might be a little low." (Gone. Nothing. But you knew that.) I saw a man wandering back and forth, in and out of the aisle that normally held Purell or Germ-X. He looked bewildered. As I picked up a bottle of liquid soap, I said, "Washing with soap and water is better than hand sanitizer anyway." He looked grateful but disoriented.

* It's disorienting to have the ground shift beneath your feet. Especially the familiar ground of Target, which is supposed to feel so safe and mundane. 

* We're watching Lost with Ramona.

* We all feel lost sometimes. Other days are better.

* Some days I wish I had started a daily diary from Day 1 but I'm just not capable of that right now. It's not how I process, however much I wish it were. Sometimes I need to retreat, be silent for a time. Some days I need to journal about gratitude, other days I need to journal about fear. But I'm not doing either one every single day.

* I try to read, but it's hard for me to concentrate on a book. How did Sawyer concentrate on all those books he read on the beach?

* Working from home is such a blessing and a gift right now. I am so grateful to be a freelancer and also to work for Brave Writer. My work contacts and colleagues and students are a gift to me, now and always.

* I'm grateful for Zoom, and for my friend introducing me to the Marco Polo app.

* I'm grateful for all the people who are still working, providing us with groceries, trash pick-up, mail delivery, boxes from UPS and Fed Ex.

* My girls recently asked what I'll look forward to the most when things are "normal" again, when we can go wherever we want to go. I couldn't really even think of a specific place. It was more of a desire for a feeling. I want to feel like I can run to Target when the only thing I need is dishwashing soap or some Advil. I want to stop in at the store for lettuce. I want the whole world to not have to think about toilet paper. I want everyone to know how brave health care workers are, as well as grocery store clerks and mail carriers. I want people to care about people who are less fortunate than themselves ... people with asthma, and compromised immune systems, people who are in their 60s, people who might die from something that 80% of the population doesn't have to worry about. I want people to stop saying that we should just let this thing run its course so that herd immunity will handle it. Herd immunity might be the ultimate goal, but mass graves being dug in New York tell us that herd immunity doesn't happen overnight. I want decent, compassionate, human, federal leadership. I want to know that everyone believes that every human life is valuable and precious.

* I have no idea how many days of social distancing we have left. But I know that I will do whatever I have to do to protect the people I love, and people I don't even know, and people who are invisibly vulnerable. Because that's what decent human people do.

* It's disorienting to have the ground shift beneath your feet. But regaining balance is what human beings do. We just need to shift our weight a little. We can do this. We can shift.

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

June is doing its usual thing, and by "usual thing" I mean, "careening past me at an insane speed that should get it stopped by a state patrolman immediately and, possibly, it should even do some jail time."

~~~~~

We love our local arts center and last month Ramona got to sing at an arts center fundraiser. Her voice teacher is a dear friend of mine (and an amazing singer) and she had several of her students sing that night, which was lovely. Ramona sang "Stars and the Moon" (which I had never heard until her recital last month and now I'm obsessed with it. Beautiful song.)

When I started this blog, Ramona was three years old, and my reports on her went something like this:

from April, 2006, age 3:

She wanted a brownie last night. It was fine with me, and I started to cut one for her. She looked at the pan and an anguished look overtook her face. She threw herself down on the floor with a groan. 

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted a brownie!"

"I do-o-o-o," she whined from her pitiful spot on the floor. "But I was assuming they were frosted."

... and now she's singing about the men in her life. Well, okay, not actually in her life -- men in the life of the character singing "Stars and the Moon," but you know what I mean. Times have changed. The kid quotes are different these days. They still sometimes make it to Twitter or Instagram (because she's one of the funniest people I know and she can wickedly snark with the best of them), but I mostly try to respect her privacy. But some things never change. I posted this in January of 2006, and it's still true:

"Mommy, you'd be very sad without my fwiendship." 
       ~~ Ramona, age 3 

(Does she know she's providing me with material on a daily basis?)

Here's a recent, 16-yr.-old Ramona story:

Her: Mom, remember when we first watched Mary Poppins? When there was the run on the bank, I said I didn't know what that was, so we stopped the movie and for 15 minutes, you explained it to me, and we talked about the Great Depression, and then we finished watching the movie together. And that, in a nutshell, is my childhood.

Me: Oh! I'm sorry! Did I ruin the movie for you?

Her: No! I loved it. I meant that in a good way!

Indeed, I would be very sad without my daughters' friendship.

~~~~~

Recent reading: 

Oh, so many good books! They need their own post. I've read about 30 books so far this year, but when did I last blog about them? Where shall I start? Oh, dear, this is anguish on the level of a three-year-old who was assuming she'd get a frosted brownie. 

I'll start with a list of what I read in May, and thus far in June: 

Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner (Beautiful.) 

The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides (Not what I expected, had hoped for something...different.) 

Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess, by Shari Green (Lovely.) 

Harry's Trees, by Jon Cohen (Also lovely.) 

Introverted Mom, by Jamie Martin (Spot on and a fun read.) 

The River, by Peter Heller (Kind of a gut-wrench, but in a beautiful way.) 

The Plant Paradox, by Steven Gundry (Interesting. My family gets frightened, though, when I read a new book about food. They wonder what I'll be doing to our diet next.) 

I have not been doing justice to books here on the blog. I must remedy that. 

~~~~~

I'm teaching two classes for Brave Writer in the fall, and registration is already open. I'll be teaching The Writer's Jungle Online in September and Middle School Writing Projects (which is already filling up fast) in October. You can check out all the Brave Writer offerings here. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days: The Catch-up Edition

The last couple of weeks have been over-the-top busy, and this past week was jam-packed, featuring four consecutive days of four hours on the road each day. But this week will be less travel-laden, and, at the moment, I have a little time to reflect on what we've been doing around here when we're not on the road.


Besty graduated from college! 

The graduation ceremony was held outdoors, on a gorgeous day and we were glowing with pride over our Summa Cum Laude graduate. All would have been well if I had remembered the sunblock, but alas, I did not, and we were all glowing in a different way later (though "blazing" might be a more accurate word.) But the important thing is that Betsy is done and is in the midst of a job hunt. Whichever elementary school snatches her up will gain a treasure. 

Atticus Ran Another Half-Marathon! 

Here he is, crossing the finish line. Betsy and I were watching his time on the tracking app, and saw him hit 13.1 miles at 1:54:50, but his officially clocked "cross the finish line" time was an hour and 56 minutes. He felt pretty good about that time, and felt even better when he saw his cancer surgeon last week (just a follow-up, no worries!) and found out that he beat his surgeon's son's time. 

Endgame!

No spoilers, in case you care and/or haven't seen it yet, but Anne-with-an-e and I had fun creating this manicure for her. I think there's a nail for every Avenger, but I won't say which nails did or didn't survive. 

Gluten-free baking! 

Paleo bread, which was a bigger hit with me than it was with Betsy. Still on the hunt for a better recipe. 

Gluten-free chocolate cake (thank you, Pamela's Products!) and homemade, dairy-free frosting. What was the occasion? It was called, "Look! We can make a gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cake that tastes delicious!" The other occasion was: 

My birthday! 

And now we are 59. 

Well, Gumby's actually 66, but Ramona chose him as the bearer of greetings that day. We have a ritual of taking turns hiding Gumby where the other will find him. It was her turn, so she enlisted his help in wishing me a happy birthday and it was indeed a happy one! 

This is fuzzy because we took it with my phone (bleh, not a great camera), and then I cropped it (bleh, further worsening the quality), but I'm thinking of chopping off all my hair. What say you? 

Our School Year is Almost Over! 

No more math with candlelight (it does help, a little) and just a bit more of Hamlet to read and discuss, and then ... we're done! A sweet, math-free summer awaits. We. Are. Ready. 

And Finally, Happy Day, Whether You are a Mother or Not....

It's Mother's Day, and if you're a mom, I celebrate you. If you act as a Second Mom/Beloved Aunt/All-Around Awesome Woman to someone in your life, I celebrate you. If you desperately want to be a mom, but it hasn't happened yet, I've been there, and I understand. If you've never wanted to be a mom, I've been there, too, and I understand. If you are a mom to children lost through early or late miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, infant death, or at any stage in life, I grieve with you, and I understand. 

Let's all support one another on this day that celebrates mothers, even as we acknowledge that motherhood (and womanhood) has a million faces. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days — The Flood Edition

* The bit, the piece, the lead story is the historic and devastating flooding in my state (and other states in the midwest.)  This article in The Washington Post covers it and there are more pictures here, in The Atlantic. My family was lucky, as was my town. Although roughly 8,000 people (a third of our town) were told to evacuate their homes (we didn't have to — we live two miles from the evacuation boundary), we didn't experience the devastation that many others are experiencing. To say that rebuilding and recovery will "take time" sounds weak and feels inadequate. Lives have been lost. It's horrible.

* I spent an anxiety-ridden chunk of Wednesday afternoon wondering if Atticus was safe. His school dismissed early (he has about a 20-minute commute, to a nearby town) but by the time kids left and he headed to his car, roads were quickly closing. Every route he tried was flooding and he was either told by law enforcement to turn back, or the water itself told him to do so. He told me later that he plowed through some water he shouldn't have, but his only other option at that point was to stay in that spot on the highway and watch the water come at him from all directions. He finally made it back to his school two hours later, and soon all roads in and out were closed. As that small town was flooding, too, the school was being turned into a shelter for those who needed to leave their homes.

* I don't like water. When I was seven years old, we moved to Alaska. My father had been stationed near Fairbanks, and we were temporarily living in a basement apartment until base housing became available. After much-higher-than-normal rainfall that summer, the Chena River overflowed. Fairbanks was inundated. I remember that we had to get out of our apartment (I don't remember packing a bag or even grabbing anything) ... I remember that we headed upstairs, to our neighbors (I don't remember their names) ... I remember seeing the water begin to flow over our feet in that upstairs apartment (I don't remember what my brother, sister, and I said to each other) ... and then I remember someone rowing us away from that apartment. We left our home in a boat.

* Wednesday afternoon was an exercise in both accepting and controlling my anxiety. (Thank you to my dear friend who listened to me cry when I imagined my husband out in flood waters.) Atticus was safe, he had made it back to the school. It was inconvenient, it wasn't perfect, but he was safe. That was all that mattered. I had just taken another deep breath (breathe in slowly through your nose, blow the breath out slowly through your mouth ... again, Karen, again, he's fine) when I heard the garage door opening. (What?) One of the roads out of the school's town had been opened for a short time. The principal told Atticus, "The road's open, at least for now — go!" He made it to the main highway, which was, while not dry, at least not flooded, and then he made it home. If it had been me in that school, I probably would have gone to the library, found a Harry Potter book, and curled up in a corner for the night. Not Atticus. He was going to get home to us as soon as he could.

* I don't like water. But we're okay. My family and friends are okay. Not everyone is, though. It will "take time." Weak and inadequate as it sounds, I'm praying for a lot of other people tonight.

Bits and Pieces of Our Days: A Good Rainy Morning

 

This isn't my actual window (I'm a mediocre photographer so I'm thankful for Pexels) but it could be. This is the drizzle of our day. 

It will be punctuated by the sunshine of hot coffee and breakfast-out somewhere, to kick off the school year for Ramona and me. Anne-with-an-e and Betsy are free from work/school today and can join us, which is a delight. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Work, as always, is keeping me busy. I'll be teaching two six-week sessions of The Writer's Jungle Online for Brave Writer this fall. (There are still spaces open in the Oct. 29-Dec. 7 class, but the Sept. 10th class is full.) I've also been getting to tinker with just a wee bit of behind-the-scenes writing for Brave Writer, and that's a lot of fun. 

I might have a new book in the works; I'll keep you posted as things develop.

~~~~~~~~~~

I've mentioned our swallows before and wrote here about our resignation to their stubborn beauty.
And of course, you've heard of swallows returning every year to San Juan Capistrano?
What I may not have mentioned recently is our fear that the Edmisten home is turning into Edmistrano.

I give you Exhibit A:

~~~~~~~~~~

One night in mid-August, about 11 pm I think, at the height of the Perseid meteor showers, we drove out into the country to get a better look. It was worth the drive, but we actually ended up seeing the most spectacular shooting star after we got home. We were lying on blankets in the backyard when we saw one that looked like an amazing special effect. 

Again, not my photo. Again, thanks, Pexels.com. 

It was a needed bit of beauty in a rather hard month. 

There are a number of health things happening at Edmistrano, but one that's currently front and center is Betsy's autoimmune disease. 

In December, I shared that she'd been diagnosed with a chronic illness, but I don't think I ever shared the details. Betsy has Crohn's disease (I have her permission to talk about it -- oh, for the days of thinking only about cute kid quotes!) We thought it was being well controlled with a biologic that she's received every 8 weeks, since December, through an IV infusion. Although she'd had to leave school in the fall semester of 2017, she was back at it last semester, and went into the summer feeling good. She was in clinical remission, but testing in early August showed that she's not in endoscopic remission and symptoms were beginning to flare. So, after too much waiting and some stressful phone calls with the insurance company, she started a new biologic, which we hope will work. The girl who a year ago was deathly afraid of needles not only learned to deal with regular IVs, but now will learn to give herself injections. 

My daughters repeatedly teach me what real bravery looks like. 

Which brings me to the kitchen. 

I'm helping Betsy investigate an autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet, and these ladies are fast becoming my new best friends: Mickey and Angie, at Autoimmune Wellness, are a wealth of information and recipes. (Many thanks to my dear friend who steered me their way.) I've been listening to their podcast, too, which is super-helpful. I've been talking about Mickey and Angie so much that Atticus suggested I just refer to them as McAngie. 

For a vegetarian who was leaning toward veganism, learning to cook with high-quality proteins is a challenge, so wish us luck. And if you have any AIP diet stories to share, hit me up. 

In short, if I've been really quiet on the blog, it's at least in part because I've been so busy in the kitchen. 😮

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

Spring is finally here, so naturally I have to post pictures of lilacs. It's a law. 

Or a guideline, at the very least. 

~~~~~

 Where has Maggie O'Farrell been all my life? 

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death is a gorgeous memoir. I went straight from that to one of her novels, This Must Be the Place and I will assuredly be reading more of her lovely work. 

~~~~~

 Ramona's writing group! 

I gathered this collection of objects and we each did a freewrite based on the items here. Our local library recently did this and called the workshop "Chopped: The Writing Edition." It was such a fun idea that I had to steal it. 

For other freewriting ideas, you can always visit the Brave Writer blog. Loads of freewriting prompts! 

Speaking of Brave Writer, I absolutely love being a part of the Brave Writer team and teaching The Writer's Jungle Online. I'm on a little break right now, but I'll be teaching again in the fall, with classes starting on September 10th and October 29th. 

Brave Writer is developing new classes all the time. Check out the amazing array of what's available. 

~~~~~

A new book! A new book! 

Oh, how the Edmistens love the Penderwicks! 

~~~~~

This was one of my Mother's Day gifts from Atticus. 

As a middle child, I must say, it was deeply appreciated. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

Happy spring from my backyard to yours. 

Bleh. 

~~~~~

Despite the fact that spring hasn't fully arrived, Atticus has been out running (of course.) 

Last week he ran in a ten-mile race with 1,999 other people, came in 326th overall, and 2nd place in his age division. (I think they categorize our age as something like, "Old Enough to Be Called a Senior Citizen But Not Old Enough to Retire. Congratulations.") 

Anyway. I'm proud of him. The girls and I stayed with old friends and drank lots of coffee and ate scones. I was proud of us. We came in first in our division, too. We are the champions. 

~~~~~

Ramona has been drawing the imagined adventures of Kylo Ren and Rey. She calls them Kylo-Rey Doodles, and here are a couple of recent ones. The first one is called "Makeover Night": 

Porgs! 

~~~~~

On a serious note, Ramona finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank yesterday and we had to just sit down and cry for awhile together. 

~~~~~

Anne-with-an-e is truly, officially a librarian with true, official Librarian Superpowers. She told me that the other night at work, she was keeping an eye on some kids who seemed to be unattended and were starting to get just a little bit rowdy. As she pushed a book cart nearer to where the kids were, she overheard one of them say, "You guys! Is she a librarian?" The kids got quieter. A minute later, she heard, "You guys! There's a librarian coming!" and suddenly ... the Kid Noise was no more. 

~~~~~

Betsy is participating in April Camp NaNoWriMo. She's writing novel #8, I think. Or is it #9? I just asked her and she can't remember either. Lotsa novels. One of them is gonna get published one day. Perhaps it will be the one she's currently revising? She wrote it for Camp NaNoWriMo in July of 2016 and is on her third draft. I get excited for her every time I read it. It's a fantasy adventure called ... oooh, sorry! You'll have to wait till it's published to find out the title. 

~~~~~

It's April already, people! April! 

I blinked four times and March was gone. Of course, an hour was stolen from me via the inhumanity that is known as Daylight Saving Time, but still ... months shouldn't be allowed to careen out of control like that. 

And yet they keep doing it. 

~~~~~

Happy April, Happy Octave of Easter! 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days (The Picture Edition)

Ramona's been drawing again:

Howl and Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle

Wonder Woman! 

~~~~~

Speaking of art, she and I have been using the lovely and whimsical art from this page-a-day calendar as inspiration for our own doodles, too.  The calendar was a gift from dear old pal Lissa, and we look forward every day to the next thing in A Year of Tiny Pleasures. 

This one happened to fall on the same day we had a blizzard. 

~~~~~

Atticus has the best kids on his speech team. They gave him a Dundie!

~~~~~

Doggo is looking forward to spring, and to shedding her winter coat: 

~~~~~

Me, too. 

Poetry Friday, a Groundhog Day Shrinklit, and Other Bits and Pieces of Our Days

Since I barely blog anymore (or constantly ask myself, "Should this go on Facebook? Or Instagram? Is it a blog post? Do I remember how to blog, other than Poetry Friday?") I thought I'd cram several things into this so-called Poetry Friday post and then release it into the wild.

~~~~~

1. Atticus and I recently celebrated our 34th anniversary. And by "celebrated" I mean: We talked about how high school speech season dominates every weekend of January and February and part of March we will probably go out to dinner sometime in late March when speech season is over if we even remember at that point that we recently had an anniversary. 

2. Re. having to wait until March to celebrate our January anniversary:

Who cares? I'm merely ecstatic that my husband is alive and healthy and there's no more cancer. That's celebration enough. Pass the wine.

3. And here's a post from 2010 with a little tribute to Atticus. Everything in it is still true (plus an extra eight years).

4. I read five books in January while also teaching a Brave Writer class so I'm feeling like a champ of some sort. Time for a book post. Anyone read Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge?

5. It's Groundhog Day, so here's my annual Groundhog Day Shrinklit. It's time to watch the movie, methinks.

Karen's Groundhog Day Shrinklit

Phil: at first, a selfish jerk
Focused on his fun and work.
Women were a toy or game
Till every day became the same.

Quite suddenly, no rules apply
Steal some money, tell a lie.
Nihilism's worth a spin,
Then despair comes crashing in

Suicide just didn't take.
Surely something is at stake?
Could it be he'll find it's worth
Striving for a true rebirth?

Self-improvement: worth a try,
Though all past ways it does defy?
Selflessness for its own sake?
Turn away from all that's fake?

Helping, saving, giving, tears.
Authentic feelings, first in years.
Abandoning the ways of old
Lets in truth, releases cold.

Something genuine and kind
Allows this man his best to find.
Is this conversion? God at work?
Or one colossal cosmic quirk?

~~~~~

The Poetry Friday round up is at Mainely Write. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

As Imperceptibly as Grief, the Summer Lapsed Away....

~~ Emily Dickinson 

No one can nail it quite like my girl Emily. 

~~~~~

I didn't mean to let the last few weeks slip by without writing. It just sort of happened, in the midst of a crazy late-July/early August. Some of the craziness had us dealing with some hard stuff (I don't mean to vague-blog...I'm sure I'll be able to say more soon), and some of it was just the busy-ness of life.

Atticus, for example, is already back at work. He started on August 9th. And, as happens every year, I'm scrambling to remember what it's like to think about making dinner every night. Can't remember where on Facebook I saw this, but it is the perfect new header for my "What's for Dinner?" chalkboard:

Pros and Cons of Making Food 

Pros: Food 

Cons: Making it 

~~~~~

This is one of our baby swallows. They nest on our back porch every year, and this year we were privy to every step of the fledglings leaving the nest. The girls and I were enchanted. 

~~~~~

I think Ramona should be a picture book illustrator. Here's her rendering of Ten and Rose. 

~~~~~

I love having a daughter who loves to bake. 

~~~~~

One of the highlights of every  month for Ramona: a new ScrawlrBox. Worth every penny for my teen artist. 

~~~~~

This cup? 

When my girls were little, it sported a Cookie Monster design. Over the years and through thousands of washings the design faded (as imperceptibly as grief, Cookie Monster lapsed away.) 

The cup has remained in the cupboard but this week it's going with Betsy to her first apartment.

Serve her well, Cookie Monster cup. We'll miss you. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

Umm, where did the first half of 2017 go? Kinda sped by, no?

~~~~~

In May, Atticus ran his first half marathon. He'd run the distance before, but had never signed up for a race. A dear friend, who runs a couple of races a year, asked if Atticus wanted to run with him, so he tried it and loved it. Then he ran another half a couple of weeks ago. After we cheered his start, the girls and I went out for donuts and coffee. To my credit, I walked a lot that week. Really. I blame my aversion to running on bad knees that run in my family. (So to speak.) At least, that's what I tell myself ever since that time when I tried to run and my knees hurt. 

Anyway, now Atticus has plans for a third half-marathon in the fall. I see more coffee and donuts (and walking! Really! And podcasts while I walk!) in my future. 

~~~~~

My Brave Writer Kidswrite Basic class ended on June 16th, and I miss those kids! It was a fantastic and fun six weeks. I'll be teaching Kidswrite Basic again from September 25-Nov. 3rd. Registration for that session opens on July 31st.

~~~~~

Ramona's been busy and so was happy to get some down time the last few days. She helped with skits and music for VBS, took a cake decorating class, had a fun week with the Missoula Children's Theater, and did some citizen science one morning at a youth discovery camp. Whoosh! Time for a good book. 

~~~~~

Speaking of good books, Betsy has been revising her NaNoWriMo novel from last year. She's expanded it to about 72,000 words and I can't wait to read this first in-depth revision. I'm so happy for her! 

~~~~~

Speaking of revising, Anne-with-an-e has been helping me revise our books shelves. It's the Summer of the Great Bookcase Declutter. We're trying to be ruthless. It's not easy, but we've sent at least a dozen grocery sacks of books out the door. We are proud of us and we usually reward ourselves with an iced coffee and some reading time. 

~~~~~

Speaking of reading time, I need to pull a book post together. I recently read Marilynne Robinson's Gilead for the first time and it's become one of my favorite books ever. Beautiful. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

Late last month, Betsy, Ramona and I went to see the filmed version of the Broadway show Newsies. They're big fans of the movie (which I've never seen) and they couldn't wait to see the stage version (on film, that is.) It reallly was a lot of fun, and we had a great evening. 

For more than a week I couldn't get some of the songs out of my head. On Ash Wednesday, "Seize the Day" was still pulsing through my brain but as I fasted that day, my hungry, addled brain kept changing the lyric to "Feed the Day." 

~~~~~

I took my writing group girls to a coffee place last week. Our Brave Writer freewrite prompt was:

Imagine that the different kinds of food on your plate are angry at each other. Write a scene with dialogue so we can hear them fight!

Ramona wrote about the drinks we had all just ordered. Addressing the peach and cherry Italian sodas, 

Mom's coffee scoffed. 

"I will not trouble myself with such petty disagreements. I am the most mature, most robust, most sophisticated drink out there." 

Cherry Soda guffawed. "Yeah, right. You're bitter, and you stain teeth." 

I had no idea my coffee was so snooty.

She said she was channeling Jane Austen as my coffee wouldn't trouble itself with petty disagreements.

I love our writing group.

~~~~~

I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Discussion, anyone? (Tamara, I'm looking at you. Expect to be brought into an email loop for discussion.) Anyone else who wants to discuss it here? Leave a comment. 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

I like ice in my coffee in July, not on my road in January. But on the road is where the ice is today. School and work were canceled for everyone, but Atticus isn't exactly enjoying his day off. He was hit with a stomach bug last night.

Bleh.

And it's only been six days since I last complained that it's not spring yet.

Six days closer to spring? Yeah, we'll go with that.

~~~~~

I recently read The Highly Sensitive Person, by Elaine Aron. As Anne Bogel pointed out, the only (and ironic) problem with this book is that some of the case studies mentioned will bother a highly sensitive person. Still, worth the read if you can get through the stories of abuse and are interested in finding out more about yourself, HSPs in general, or your HSP child. 

After reading that, I couldn't decide what I was in the mood to read. I wandered around the house, perused bookshelves, started at least three different books (I'm in the mood for World War II drama! No, wait, I'm not at all. I may never be again. Tiny, Beautiful Things? No. Wait. More abuse. What else? A good bio? No! I don't know! What do I want to read? What do I need to read?) 

Suddenly, I spotted Anne's House of Dreams. 

Bingo. When you need a palate cleanser, run to Prince Edward Island. 

~~~~~

Last week, when I told Ramona that our break was over and it was time to face the resumption of math, all she could summon in response was a Hamilton quote: "I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory." 

(Not sure what I'll do with myself someday when my daughters aren't around to keep me laughing.) 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days: The Avatar Edition (Plus Jane and Pete)

Our current mom/daughter shared TV show is Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

The fun! The adventure! 

The laughs! The character development! 

I love me a good redemption story, too, so I'm enjoying the unfolding of this one with my girls. (They've already seen the whole series, so they are indulging me, watching it again.)  

~~~~~

Jane! Where have you been all our lives? 

Ramona and I are loving L.M. Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill. So good! Why did I wait so long to read this one? Oh, Superior Jane, you are our current favorite literary heroine.

In Avatar terms, this is how we feel about Jane: 

(via GIPHY)

~~~~~

We went with my parents a couple of weeks ago to see Pete's Dragon. We all thought it was lovely. I generally don't have to write movie reviews since Steven Greydanus reads my mind so handily.

His review is here, at Decent Films, for your (and my) convenience.

In Avatar terms, Pete and Elliot did this to us:

~~~~~

But back to Avatar! 
Here's what I thought when I saw the episode about Appa's lost days:

I could do this all day, but I really shouldn't. 

I need to get some sleep so I can read more about Superior Jane (I particularly like doing voices for Dad and Grandmother) tomorrow and gear up for some final battles. And there'll be leaf juice to be made! 

Bits and Pieces of Our Days: Of Art Journals, Ewoks, and Books, Glorious Books

Ramona and I have decided to do some drawing and sketching every day. We decorated the covers of our art journals:

and then we got started. Ramona drew a portrait of her sister Betsy as Rey (funny, because I originally blog-named her Betsy Ray of Betsy-Tacy fame) from The Force Awakens: 

I love the glasses. 

Here's another of Rey (I think Ramona actually did this one before we started the new art journals, shortly after our second viewing of The Force Awakens): 

And this is her sketch of a pushcart 

from our current read-aloud, The Pushcart War (which we are both thoroughly enjoying.) 

My subjects have been a little less exciting than Force Awakens characters, but that's okay. We're having fun drawing together, promising not to compare, and not lamenting that we're not perfect. 

My rendition of the pushcart, from the delightful Pushcart War: 

~~~~~

Speaking of read-alouds, Ramona likes to have something to occupy her hands while I read, so she decided to make (cross-stitch? Embroider?) an Ewok. 

~~~~~

In other read-aloud news, we finished The Titan's Curse and are now headed into The Battle of the Labyrinth. Ah, the joys of Greek mythology a la Riordan! 

~~~~~

What have I been reading lately? 

I fell in love with The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. It was lyrical and lovely. A timeless theme -- that the ordinary is actually extraordinary -- is handled with charm, humor, poignancy, and heart. Highly recommended. 

And for cozy, warm, better-than-a-comforter bedtime reading? Nothing beats a good, old Betsy-Tacy book. 

~~~~~

Anne-with-an-e just came home from the library with Connie Willis' Blackout. So I'm suddenly in the mood to read Blackout, All Clear, and Doomsday Book. 

But first, I have to finish reading Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone. 

Arrgh! Too many books! Not enough time!