Three Months, Really?

Hm. I always mean to update this thing. I really do. I have fabulous intentions and somehow I just get caught up reading other blogs and failing to update my own.We've had a fairly busy summer, our insanity doesn't begin for another week or so, so we're enjoying the slow(er) pace of the moment. Once August hits, every weekend is taken up with camping, or heading to visit B's parents/grandparents and begin the great hauling of the tractors to the fair and then to the tractor show. What? You mean your family doesn't attend a tractor show each year? You don't spend 3 days sitting in the middle of a field surrounded by the great orange, red-and oh yes, let's not forget-green machines? For B's family it's a tradition. Must come with the territory when the patriarch restores and repairs tractors as his main hobby. And owns roughly 40 or so of the beasts. And so we sojourn to the other side of the state to spend the weekend driving tractors, looking at tractors, watching tractors pull things, eating yummy (but irresponsible) things that are deep fried in goodness only knows what. Not to mention reconnecting with family. And yes there is quite a bit of family to reconnect with-the South Carolinians fly in, as does the Connecticut duo. I joke about it (hey, I'm a city girl, what did you expect?) but it really is a pretty great time. It's really great that the whole family shows such support for Grandpa's tractors.It's cold here in Michigan. Freezing by the standards of many, particularly for mid-July. It's some cruel joke Mother Nature is playing on us I suppose. But really I look forward to Fall, to the Long Winter and the cozy fires, craft time and more. Don't get me wrong, I love summer, but there is only so much sandbox time I can take before I get incredibly bored of it all. Of course, ask me two weeks into our winter hibernation and I will tell you basically the same thing. Impossible to please I suppose.Really that's it. We now are proud parents of two year old with all of the joys and trials that entails. I cannot imagine what these drama queen antics are saying about the future. In fact, shortly after Little Miss stormed off to her room, slamming the door and screaming all the way-after being told to sit on her bottom at the dinner table, I remarked to B that if this is ANY indication of what 14 will be like, heaven save us now. Of course I hear 3 is worse. Oh. Great.

Boredom Reigns

I'm all cooked out. For months I was doing a great job making weekly plans as to what we might eat for breakfast and for lunch. Since Brian works second shift, our big meal is the midday meal. For dinner, we all have leftovers, so I tend to make bigger meals so that we each can eat twice. But I'm bored. My list of around 45 meals just isn't appealing to me. Each morning, my darling husband looks at me and asks "what are we making for lunch". And I swear I want to have an all out tantrum. Sound absurd? Of course! I'm just tired of the same old thing. As Spring comes upon us, I'm craving some wonderful fresh veggies and light meals. So help a momma out! What can I do to change up the mealtime doldrums?

Long time no write!

It's been well over a month since last I wrote in my blog. I'm not sure what brought on the hiatus, but I'm glad it's over. I have so many things to share and write about! Let's do some bullets for catching up purposes.

• Remodeling: We are in the throes of a remodel on the whole house. What started as a simple painting project (begone baby poo green!) has turned into...well...a nightmare really. My entire house is coated in drywall dust and mud, various tools of the trade, and displaced items. But it's going to be worth it (I hope). In addition to the painting and repairing of the main areas in the house, we also installed tile in the family room. The hearth was carpeted which probably worked fine for the previous owners. However, for a family that burns for heat from mid-November until late March, it simply isn't practical. The next purchase for that room will be new carpet and it will be done!
• Hannah: I have discovered a few things about my darling girl. First, if we do not get out of the house at least once a day she goes stir crazy and throws the worst of her tantrums. She's also gaining quite a mind of her own. Which means it often takes us much longer to do tasks that used to be so simple. Things like dressing her or changing her diaper. We're working on incorporating more and more of The Love and Logic principles. If you have any ideas of how to adapt them for an almost 2 year old, we'd appreciate it!
• Reading: I still have an atrocious stack of review books to get to at some point. I often wonder why I even requested some of them. Ugh! However, I have recently finished two wonderful novels by Meg Wolitzer The Position and The Ten Year Nap. Both were great reads. I had picked up TTYN for my book club. I was a little surprised that I was one of only a few who enjoyed it, but it was a great discussion nonetheless. I am so happy that we reformed our book club to include more people. The discussion and the company has improved dramatically. It's a small price to pay to get up at 6:30AM to head to a great little restaurant with some fun ladies! What's sleep anyway?
• Work: Unfortunately, the economy has hit my job hard. I went from over twenty hours a week in February to this week-one hour. Yes. One. However, I welcome the break and relish being a "real" stay at home mom. Of course that doesn't mean we've really accomplished much due to the remodel, but relaxing with my babe in the evenings is much more fun than teaching sullen teenagers about synonyms and square roots! Thankfully, we have no worries when it comes to B's job. Ah, the joys of a state funded job.
• Money Saving: I am SO excited that a few of my friends from my MOMS Club have decided to join me on my money saving campaign. We did a first ever coupon matching party last week and as a result I saved almost $100. Now, when someone says that I always scoff and think...humph...whatever..they probably spent $200 or $300. But not me! I saved almost $100 and spent just under $100! A savings of 50% is nothing to sneeze at. And from our comparison emails after our shopping was completed, almost everyone did as well or better than me! This was definitely the first of many coupon parties! I can't wait!

And that's it in a nutshell! We're all doing great, but slowly going mad from the lack of order in our currently topsy turvy house. Soon, I'll upload pictures to update the family blog, so keep an eye out over there as well!

Booking Through Thursday on Saturday-Collectibles

Hardcover? Or paperback?
Illustrations? Or just text?
First editions? Or you don’t care?
Signed by the author? Or not?

I've not done these in awhile, but this one intrigued me. I am a collector of books-I'll buy anything interesting from a yard sale, a rummage sale, even the store if it interests me enough. Library sales are my favorite. I'll fill bag after bag of wonderful stories to read, memoirs to inspire, and even non fiction to educate. But I've never stopped and thought about my collection. It's a rag tag group of really old, falling apart tomes, crisp newer novels, well worn and well loved by many hands other than my own. But I don't care. I love them. There is a horrible battle that I wage with myself every 6 months or so. It's called The Clearing of the Shelves. I take everything off the shelves in hopes that maybe this time I'll create some room. And I go through the books one by one, rereading the backs, flipping to my favorite parts, or wondering "where the heck did this come from?". More often than not, the book is placed back upon the shelf to be read at another time. But sometimes they end up in my giveaway box. This box is for the MOMS Club exchange and the library. Somehow last year we ended up with over $400 in library donations on our taxes. This year I hope to make it higher. As I get older I have to come to grips with the fact that if I haven't read one of my beloved books yet-and it's been on the shelf more than two years, chances are I'm not going to read it. So they must come off the shelf, be relegated to the donation box and sent away. But I often wonder....have I ever given away and then purchased the same book again? Maybe even my own copy from the library sale? Eh...maybe I'd rather not actually know that one.

Book Club: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I had heard the buzz about The Time Traveler's Wife when it came out a few years ago, but never quite found the time to pick it up and delve into its pages. So when a member of our newly formed book club chose it for this month I was really excited. The book did not disappoint. I'll admit, I had my prejudices. I, as a general rule, do not enjoy the realm of science fiction. But I cast that aside in light of having recently finished The Host and the Twilight series. I figured, what's one more?

The story unravels the relationship between Clare and Henry over the course of Clare's lifetime. You see, Clare meets Henry when she is six, but he does not meet her until many years later. Though confusing to follow at first I did find that it became easier. You see, Henry is a time traveler. Since the age of three he has traveled through time sometimes interacting with a past or future self, sometimes interacting with past or future versions of those in his life. When he arrives, he arrives with literally nothing not even clothing. Which, as you can imagine, causes quite a set of problems. But the real story here is the love story between Clare and Henry. Showing that love does overcome any obstacle set before it. They struggle with never knowing when they will meet again, infertility, embarrassing happenstance, and more. It was a good read, one that should provide plenty of conversation.

Review: Forever Lily by Beth Nonte Russell

Though it has been on my shelf for a couple of months at least, I hadn't yet picked up Forever Lily. I'm not sure why, as the moment I did pick it up I could not put it down. It's the story of a woman who makes the journey to China with a friend to bring home a baby girl. However, once the baby is brought to them, the mother to be no longer wants her. Beth's heart goes out and she longs to take the baby home with her. Whether that is possible or not is for you to find out should you choose to read it. The story was great and I learned a great deal about policies in China, the living conditions, and worst of all the conditions of the orphanages. The point where Beth describes where Baby came from is the one point that I had to set it down. To picture hundreds of babies in the care of one or two caretakers, no sunlight, no interaction, no real nourishment either emotionally or physically was just heartbreaking. The entire book takes place over the course of the two week journey to China, but there is so much to tell and so much to learn that it never feels drawn out. One thing that was incredibly distracting for me was the dream sequences. Beth has some exquisitely detailed dreams, and she explored them with a mystic and through her meditation before putting them in words and discovering their meaning. Having little experience with dream sequencing and channeling, it was just not interesting to me-but did add to the story in an unexpected way.

I felt that as a mother I related more to this book than I would have before my daughter was born. In truth, I've found that with a great deal of my reading which is probably why my tastes have shifted to happier stories, happy endings, happy lives. The connection that Beth feels to Baby is not at all different from the way one feels connected to a child carried, loved, and nurtured for nine months. It was a great story, one I would definitely recommend.

It's been one week...

Anyone remember that song? Oh the 90s, what fun!

Once again a week has passed. What happened to all of the good intentions I had to post daily? Hm. Will need to find them! I have three book reviews to write. I've finished a book club book, and almost two review books. The first was okay, but a little heavy on dream sequences, and the second was poetry. Oh how I am loving poetry books! Strange since before I was a mom I just couldn't stand it.

It has been a long couple of weeks. Hannah is sick and with her sickness comes the "Iwanttobeasclosetomommaaspossibleeverysecond" and while I love it, I also long to use the bathroom alone. Just once. Luckily we're out of the clingy phase of sickness and into the snuggly phase. I love the snuggling, the hugs, the ray of sunshine she is in the morning. She's becoming her own person more and more every day. She doesn't have many words, but she can communicate quite clearly with her expressions. I just wish I could capture them on camera. Every time it comes outs, she just gets what we call "camera face". Look for the reviews to come soon!