Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My Favorite night in Germany
This is a quick video of a boys' choir we stumbled upon in our wanderings around Frankfurt's old town one night after the conference. Take a look (sorry it's so blurry). The acoustics of the cathedral made for an awesome sound. We heard it from outside the cathedral and wandered in while the choir was practicing. We heard the concert later that night while we were walking home from dinner.
My Local Beach: Jupiter Point
Here's a picture of us at one of the local beaches, called Jupiter Point. We went on a beautiful Friday--70 degrees and blue skies. Next time we're going to bring our buckets and shovels and have a grand old time digging. This beach is a 10 minute stroll from our house, at the end of an exclusive cul-de-sac of houses (that I'm sure are vacation homes to many across the coast). We're lucky to live so close to the water, and pictures like this serve as a great reminder of fun times.
My Garden
With tons of thanks to my uncle, who spent several hours here on Saturday tilling an old garden, we are beginning to plant a new garden.
Any suggestions? It's now waiting for inspiration, and for me to haul two kids to the local Home Depot garden center. I'm tempted to let Toby have free reign of the whole thing and just let him dump seeds where ever to see what happens. But that seems a bit indulgent when you actually see how big the plot is. So we'll shoot for some sort of order....
My Son's Socks
Toby has issues with his socks. It's the weirdest thing but he can't keep a pair of socks on for a whole day. He's really good about taking his shoes off before he comes in the house (they always have mud on them). Once he's inside his socks will be off in minutes. But he's not so good about putting them back on; he'll just go get another pair of socks from his drawer if he wants to go back outside. So if we're coming in and out a lot (as we have been since the weather's been really nice) he can go through 4 or 5 pairs of socks a day! At the end of the particularly busy days I'll wander through the house to find his socks in the bathroom, our room, his room, the kitchen, and by the door. It's kind of ridiculous. Of course I should be reminding him to use the old socks, but sometimes I appreciate this new ability (and his enthusiasm) to get himself all dressed. Although, as is the case with the socks, it sometimes creates more work for me in the end.
Monday, April 13, 2009
My Late-Night Read
I stayed up until 2 am this morning to finish a book. Why on earth did I do that? Well, obviously, because it was a really good book. Very addictive, fast-paced sci-fi novel for young adults about a dystopic society that pits kids against each other in a fight to the death on live TV.
Weird, chilling, hauntingly creepy, yet strangely I couldn't get enough of it. I started reading it Saturday night once the kids were in bed, and then picked it up again last night. I thought I could read a few chapters and then go to bed but I got to the "point of no return" in the book--I'm not sure if anyone else has this quirk but there's a point in books where I get so close to the end that I figure, why stop now? It could be 40, 50, or even 75 pages from the end. I think it's the mark of a quality piece that the author can keep a reader hanging on like that.
Here's where I got frustrated....At 2 am this morning I get to the last page of the book and there are mountains of questions I have about the characters. What do I see there? "End of Book 1" I had no idea I was picking up a series book when I started. I feel deceived and cheated out of a good night's sleep. I guess maybe it's because I would have entered the book with a little bit more preparedness--thinking to myself, there's going to be questions that the author needs more time to get to. Things will get resolved by the end of the series. But instead I was just left hanging, so to speak.
So I go to the author's website to check when the next book will be coming out--not a word. Not even a mention that this book (called "The Hunger Games" by the way) is the first in a series. A trilogy? A 7-volume encyclopedic work similar to Harry Potter? There's no way to know and that's frustrating the heck out of me right now.
But you can be sure that this novel caught me in, hook, line, and sinker and I'll be at the top of the library's waiting list as soon as the next novel comes out!
On a side note, a few years ago when I read "Twilight" for the first time I didn't know it was a series. I liked the story so much that I actually started back at the beginning and read it again before returning it to my friend. That was a first for me. When I handed the book back to her she said, "Are you ready for the sequel?" I was so excited to get to spend more time with these characters and their story that I nearly squealed like a little girl. That was a week before the third book came out. So I got to enjoy a lot of the story with little wait time.
It's a whole different ball game starting at the beginning of a series and having to wait for the author to actually cook up the next book from scratch--with no hint as to when to expect the finished product.
I wonder if this is more of a testament to our instantaneously-satisfied society and need for information NOW than it is a commentary on why I'm frustrated for liking a book and staying up too late to read it.
Off for another cup of coffee to mull this over.
Weird, chilling, hauntingly creepy, yet strangely I couldn't get enough of it. I started reading it Saturday night once the kids were in bed, and then picked it up again last night. I thought I could read a few chapters and then go to bed but I got to the "point of no return" in the book--I'm not sure if anyone else has this quirk but there's a point in books where I get so close to the end that I figure, why stop now? It could be 40, 50, or even 75 pages from the end. I think it's the mark of a quality piece that the author can keep a reader hanging on like that.
Here's where I got frustrated....At 2 am this morning I get to the last page of the book and there are mountains of questions I have about the characters. What do I see there? "End of Book 1" I had no idea I was picking up a series book when I started. I feel deceived and cheated out of a good night's sleep. I guess maybe it's because I would have entered the book with a little bit more preparedness--thinking to myself, there's going to be questions that the author needs more time to get to. Things will get resolved by the end of the series. But instead I was just left hanging, so to speak.
So I go to the author's website to check when the next book will be coming out--not a word. Not even a mention that this book (called "The Hunger Games" by the way) is the first in a series. A trilogy? A 7-volume encyclopedic work similar to Harry Potter? There's no way to know and that's frustrating the heck out of me right now.
But you can be sure that this novel caught me in, hook, line, and sinker and I'll be at the top of the library's waiting list as soon as the next novel comes out!
On a side note, a few years ago when I read "Twilight" for the first time I didn't know it was a series. I liked the story so much that I actually started back at the beginning and read it again before returning it to my friend. That was a first for me. When I handed the book back to her she said, "Are you ready for the sequel?" I was so excited to get to spend more time with these characters and their story that I nearly squealed like a little girl. That was a week before the third book came out. So I got to enjoy a lot of the story with little wait time.
It's a whole different ball game starting at the beginning of a series and having to wait for the author to actually cook up the next book from scratch--with no hint as to when to expect the finished product.
I wonder if this is more of a testament to our instantaneously-satisfied society and need for information NOW than it is a commentary on why I'm frustrated for liking a book and staying up too late to read it.
Off for another cup of coffee to mull this over.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
My Evil "Stepmother"
So our vacation to Europe is completely over (and has been for weeks). I've had a chance to contemplate on the events of the vacation and there will be more pictures and stories to share soon. We just have to get Norah over her cold--she's sleeping lighter which means that she wakes up from her nap whenever I'm typing....
I think, like Cinderella, I have an evil stepmother. I have noticed this guilt hanging over my head whenever I choose to ignore a household chore (dishes, laundry) to do something for me when the kids are napping or otherwise occupied. This little voice in my head says "You're lucky enough to be able to stay home from work and raise your kids and keep the house but you still want more? You should make sure that your house is in order and clean and everyone else is taken care of before you do something for yourself." This is the voice in my head; it has never been communicated to me in any way by the people in my life.
But, it was nice to take a break from the "Cinderella" world of dishes and laundry for 10 days. No kitchen to clean up, someone else made my bed every day, no diapers to change--it was a refreshing break to say the least!
I think, like Cinderella, I have an evil stepmother. I have noticed this guilt hanging over my head whenever I choose to ignore a household chore (dishes, laundry) to do something for me when the kids are napping or otherwise occupied. This little voice in my head says "You're lucky enough to be able to stay home from work and raise your kids and keep the house but you still want more? You should make sure that your house is in order and clean and everyone else is taken care of before you do something for yourself." This is the voice in my head; it has never been communicated to me in any way by the people in my life.
But, it was nice to take a break from the "Cinderella" world of dishes and laundry for 10 days. No kitchen to clean up, someone else made my bed every day, no diapers to change--it was a refreshing break to say the least!
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