Library Strikes Back

I took the kids to the library last week, and it was a mess. I was immediately reminded of this post by Emily. I borrow quite a few books from the library, but I am one who orders them online, they tell me when the books are in, I go in and pick them up on my way to getting the kids from daycare. I do not traipse through the library with my hoard (of two) to “browse”. But a few weeks ago I picked up a number of kid books that we then enjoyed, so when I brought them back I thought I would let them pick out a couple books themselves. Henry *loves* books. He wants to hug and kiss each one, and pull everything down from the shelves and peer at the pages … I should have known this would be a problem. I should have known. Hindsight’s a bitch, right?

They got their two books each, and then I took them to the adjoining playground which was another crazy mess – me with a pile of books + purse and two children who didn’t want to LEAVE the playground after 15 minutes of slides. I got through it, and obviously didn’t learn anything because Monday Spencer asked to go to the library. He’s learning to read and we’ve mostly sworn off nighttime tv, so we read a book every night. I was excited that he wanted more books, so I agreed even though I remember how bad last week went. BUT! I went prepared. I said no playground. I brought a bag to put the books in so I wouldn’t be struggling. Still, 30 seconds in Henry was yanking books off the shelf and Spencer was running around picking books that I had no intention of reading him (the history of the Porsche, entirely in Spanish? Nothankyou). We settled on 3 books as quickly as possible for S and got the heck out of Dodge.

This post is designed to remind me to wait another three years before bringing them back to the library, especially if I plan on doing it by myself.

By the way, how are there so many terribly written children’s books? Who reads some of this crap? Who publishes some of this crap?

Friday list

• The guy down the street stole our lawnmower last month. We didn’t quite realize it for a while because he “borrowed it”. He came to the door and gave this whole long story about how he was new to the neighborhood and the HOA was on his case to mow his lawn (which was a little weedy, but not really that bad) and he didn’t have a lawnmower and none of the other neighbors were very friendly. So we let him borrow it, and while I kept thinking about it and wondering why he hadn’t brought it back yet (or mowed his weeds), we didn’t head over to get it. So last week my neighbor was over having a beer with me and I commented about it and it turns out that he has “borrowed” several lawnmowers in the neighborhood and looted a couple garages and everyone’s stuff has ended up at a pawn shop down the street. We haven’t really figured out how to deal with this yet. The mower isn’t at the pawm shop (it has been a month, it probably sold already). We spent a week finding out the guy’s full name, and now I assume that we’ll be filing a police report but I have the distinct feeling that we won’t be seeing our mower or our $200 for it anytime soon.

• I am running a 5k this weekend, and I am doing it by myself. It’s a very big event and I don’t want to go on my own, but it doesn’t appear anyone else I know is going and my running partners backed out on me. I’ve paid my money to get in, and I don’t want it to go to waste so I’m pretty sure I’m doing it but I’m not looking forward to attending on my own.

• I have a trial in Ft Lauderdale at the end of the month too, so I’ll be on my own for a week down there too. It will be nice to go to Ft Lauderdale and spend some time down there (Beach? Pool?), but I’m going to miss my family. And the reason that I’m going down there is not all sunshine and daffodils (I’m attending a trial that I’m not looking forward to attending). I will hope to get some reading done while I’m down there. That’s the first week of the Spring Reading Thing.

• The meds that I got on are totally helping. I haven’t been yelling at the kids quite as much, I haven’t been panicky about work hardly at all, and I’m not totally freaking out about the 5k or the Ft Lauderdale trip, so I think that they’re definitely working. I feel … caffeinated. I don’t sit as much, I don’t feel like sitting as much (although this does not bode well for my reading), and when I do sit (like at work), my knee is always bouncing like I’ve drank too much coffee. But I don’t shake otherwise, and I don’t seem to have any other effects, so I’ll take it. Maybe after it’s been in my system for a bit I’ll even out that way too.

• I’m not really a soup person. I like soup, but it’s just not a meal for me – it’s a starter. One of my favorite soups is Olive Garden’s chicken and gnocchi, and this week I tried to make it without even consulting a recipe for ideas … and I think I succeeded! I sautéed some onion in butter, and once they were soft I added flour and cooked that for a few minutes, and then added milk to make a gravy. Then once it thickened up I added seasonings, most of a bag of frozen veggies and some rotisserie chicken I had stored in the freezer, half a carton of chicken broth and a package of gnocchi that I got at Aldi last week on a whim. This is what it looked like: frankly, it was fantastic. It worked out nicely for dinner because I wasn’t very hungry and Hubby loves soup, so I had a small bowl and he had three. I brought the leftovers for lunch on Thursday.

• Other people take their kids to Sesame Street Live, or Princesses on Ice … nope, we’re taking the kids to Phineas and Ferb Live! I’m excited … possibly more excited than Henry but not more excited than Spencer. I haven’t told him yet (it’s next Thursday) because I will not hear the end of it. Ever. (PS – Spencer did go to Curious George Live two years ago and the TMBG kids concert, but this will be Henry’s first non-baseball event)

• I kept track of how many times I checked Facebook, Googlereader, personal email and Pinterest on my phone while at work the other day ... it wasn't pretty. Shhh.

February books

I've been terrible about reading this month. I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to sit still long enough to read. Here's what I've got:

Girls in White Dresses - Jennifer Close ... it was okay.

The Snowman - Jo Nesbo ... I tried to read this last year and couldn't get into it, but after seeing another blogger rave about it I tried again and loved it. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I had read the series from the beginning, but since none of the others have been translated into English I guess I'm outta luck.

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer ** ... I liked it okay. Bunch of crazy people. (non-fiction)

A Room With a View - EM Forster ** ... Hated it. Have I mentioned I hate classics?

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer ** ... More than halfway through, and I'm not sure how I feel about it still. I'll try to let you know next month.

And that's all she wrote. Or at least, all she read.

(**book club books)

Book club take two

Last year I was jealous of all my friends who belonged to book clubs who had fun discussing books every month without me.

So I started my own.

It was quite ambitious of me, which is new and different, and I really didn’t know how to go about it. I put a status update on Facebook asking any of my local friends if they would be interested in a book club. I got a good response and started a club page. Since we live all over the area, I thought we should have our meetings at a central area, pick restaurants to try out and get together once a month to enjoy each other’s company and discuss that month’s book.

So we’ve now been at this for over a year, and while I’m still excited about the prospect of my own book club, I’m disappointed in the turnout. I’m disappointed in the dedication of the members. We have 14 members, according to the facebook page, and at last month’s meeting only three of us showed up.

How do I change this? How do I address it?

On the other hand, two months ago I met a woman at a vender luncheon, and she immediately invited me to join her book club. This was the same Wednesday that my grandmother went into the hospital and passed less than a week later, so while I said yes and was excited about it, I didn’t really think about it too much. I picked up the book from the ebook library (Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakower), but I wasn’t even sure I would end up joining this club. I didn’t know anyone, and I just barely knew the girl who invited me.

But I went. I brought a bottle of wine, and I trekked out to the home of a perfect stranger to eat hors’ de oeuvres and drink wine and talk extensively about a book that I had lukewarm feelings about but enjoyed the discussion immensely. I was there for three hours! And probably half of that was spent talking about the book! And these were people from all walks of life, and all backgrounds and were so very interesting. Fourteen people attended! Raucous conversation on the idiots who climb higher than a plane cruises, knowing it’s more than possible they’ll die!

I’m definitely going back. I’ve already requested next month’s book from the library, and I can’t wait until the last Friday in March when I can do it again. And then the last Friday in April, when I can do it again.

So it was everything I wished for in a book club. It’s everything I wish my book club could be, would be. And the question is, can I turn my little book club into something like that?

(And on a slightly separate note, someone brought a quinoa and edamame salad to the group and it was AMAZING. It tasted like sushi on a spoon. This looks like the recipe and I can’t wait to make it myself to confirm)

Ten on Tuesday

1. What did you do this weekend? I had a pretty eventful weekend. Friday night was the first time I tried out my new, second book club. It was fabulous! I plan on posting about it later, though, so that’s all you get about that. Saturday morning I ran my first timed race since 12/3, and my only goal was to run the whole thing. While I jog about as fast as the average power walker, I did indeed run the whole thing. Not my best time (33:08), but that wasn’t the goal so I’m making myself be okay with that. Saturday afternoon we went to a first birthday party at My Gym, which I was unsure about but the kids had a blast. I recommend it. Sunday we hung out for a while (and my Hubby talked me into playing Skyrim, also a post for another time) before trekking downtown to a restaurant we have a restaurant.com certificate for (good food, terrible service) and to a grocery store on the other side of town.

2. Do you prefer short fingernails or long fingernails? My nails break when they get too long, so I keep them at a respectable longer than supershort length.

3. What is your favorite use to Pinterest? Recipes, baby.

4. Do you sleep with your mouth open? Most of the time.

5. Where did you have the best pizza you’ve ever eaten? I’m not a huge pizza fan, but Gino’s East in Chicago was it for me. Look at this pizza:

6. What do you eat for breakfast on weekdays? Sometimes I make an egg scramble and pack it for work, or have oatmeal, but usually my breakfast is a piece of toast with peanut butter and honey.

7. Do you watch awards shows? Why or Why not? I do, but I’m not diehard. I fell asleep during the Oscars but I actually stayed awake for the Grammy’s. I watch for the dresses but I don’t really care about the awards. Isn’t that how everybody is?

8. Can you whistle? Snap? Curl your tongue? Bend down and touch your palms to the ground? No, yes, yes, no.

9. What email service do you use? Yahoo primarily, but I have two gmail accounts as well.

10. What is your favorite outdoor activity? Reading on my back deck or having a beer with the hubby while the kids play.

How I've done #noshopping

I haven't posted at all on how I've been doing on #noshopping for February. But I'm doing pretty good! There have been a couple slip-ups. The only thing I got was a sandwich maker on Target clearance for Spencer ($7.49). But also I re-gifted a toy that Henry got for Christmas from his daycare lady that he already had to my neighbor's son for his first birthday, so I think I came out ahead on the actual items/money spent.

Food is a different matter. We already had Spencer's birthday dinner at Red Robin planned, and a fancy dinner at Armani's for Valentine's day/date night (we haven't been on a date in many months). After Spencer's four-year doctors appointment we hit Steak N Shake as an apology for the three shots he had to have. I had a lunch planned with some work friends that happened mid-month. Hubby and I went to Tijuana Flats for a lunch date on President's Day because I was off work and he was working from home, and he insisted on Greek food for dinner on Saturday night, since I had an exhausting day of running/biking/birthday parties.

The last thing I bought was something April, but I had to pay for now. Technically, it was planned. We got opening day baseball tickets -- woohoo! Against Stacie's Yankees, on Good Friday.

One thing I have done this month is window shop. Fitness clothes. Sports bras. Running socks. Beads for bracelets I want to make. I do desperately need a new sports bra or two (the ones I have are all from when I first started working out), but I think that I'm going to try to generally keep going on the lack of spending. No spending = good.

Elevens

Nearly two weeks ago I was tagged by Shea to do this meme. I knew I wanted to do it, but it's taking me FOREVER to finish! But, I have! Shea is a dear person, a wonderful teacher and the cousin of my hubby, and someone I'm glad to call a friend.

The Random Eleven

The Rules:

• Post these rules
• You must post 11 random things about yourself
• Answer the questions set for you in their post
• Tag 11 people (can't be the person who tagged you)
• Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
• Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them!

11 random facts about me:

1. I’m left-handed, as is my uncle and my late grandmother. When we all got together for dinner, it was interesting figuring out who was going to sit next to whom (PS – my MIL is also left-handed, and I think Henry is too).

2. If money was no issue, I would run a used bookstore in a small town center where I could sit and read all day and not care if anyone bought any of my lovely books. I entertain this fantasy approximately once a week.

3. I also entertain the idea of going back to school to get my Masters of Library Science. I don’t, because a) I’m a little short on free time and b) most librarians have to deal more with the administrative side of libraries, which I’m not fascinated with. I volunteered at a library reference desk for about a year and loved all the little tedious jobs that a volunteer is given: checking to see how many times a set of books are borrowed, pulling loan books, etc etc. If only my allergies weren’t such a problem when I was stuck back in the western section with all those 1980s paperbacks.

4. I never liked sports before meeting my husband, but now I am a diehard baseball fan. Some of my “dates” with my hubby last year involved baseball games, and we’re in for taking off work for opening day last year and this year, and I find myself watching baseball games when no one else is home. I’m also cultivating the love of baseball in Spencer, who has a mean pitch for a 4-year old. I’m also a fairweather football fan, but I’d rather have a good game than root for a specific team (Gators and Bulls notwithstanding). I’ve also been known to turning on Sportscenter when there’s nothing else on.

5. I have realized in working with Spencer for his homework and writing that I could absolutely not be a teacher. I was already pretty sure of this despite a short stint in the Education program in college, but seriously, trying to coach S through his letters makes me want to wring my own neck. It’s so frustrating!

6. I’m physically incapable of being on time to work. Even if I think I'm going to be on time, that will be the day that I'm out of gas and have to stop.

7. I lived with my in-laws for 6 months while we were looking for a house and right when Spencer was first born. Somehow during that time my email address got linked up with their physical address, and ever since I’ve received AARP emails for my FIL and china replacement emails for my MIL. I’ve tried to get them to stop, and we haven’t lived there in nearly four years but still, they keep coming.

8. It has taken me a solid week to come up with these random “facts” about myself. Obviously, I do not find myself to be that interesting.

9. I love editing. I would take a red pen to any newspaper, newsletter, Facebook page, etc. I have probably judged you on your grammatical mistakes. No offense.

10. I hate politics with a fiery passion. I have my own opinions about everything, but I hate listening to other opinions, I hate having to discuss my own, and I hate being belittled because of my views. I think that anyone too far to either side is bat shit crazy and I can’t understand why no one cares to listen to the other side.

11. These new meds I’m on make me feel like I’m pregnant. I know that the nausea is supposed to pass (all the research on it says 7-10 days) but man, it’s hard right now.

Questions from Shea:

1. What is your favorite book of all time? This is a hard one for me. I count McTeague by Frank Norris as my favorite, but Tender is the Night by Fitzgerald is also near and dear to my heart. And the two books I have read the most times are Beach Music by Pat Conroy and High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, and they are also both way up there. This was an unfair question, Shea.

2. You are stranded on an island and can only bring 3 things. What three things can you not live without? Oh, this is another question where I can never come up with a good answer and am amazed at what other people would bring. Okay. I would bring an axe, a giant supply of matches and a boat (to get off said island). If I can’t have a boat, a fishing rod.

3. Are you a shoe person or a purse person? Shoes, definitely. I’ve successfully culled my shoe collection down to about 50 pairs of can’t-live-without shoes. I have a number of purses and would love to have more, but I can definitely refrain from buying them. It’s hard for me to pass up a good pair of shoes for a good price.

4. What do you order when you go to Starbucks? I’m so boring. I order a tall Pike and add a little cream. If I’m really craving something foofy, I get a medium (is that grande? Venti? See, I don’t even know) skinny white chocolate latte with an extra shot. But that’s pretty much never.

5. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one important piece of advice, what would it be and why? I would tell myself to have more fun. I wasn’t the most outgoing highschooler/college co-ed, and when I hear stories about other people’s years I feel like I may have missed out on something.

6. What is your guilty food indulgence? My assistant at work always has candies and chocolates at her desk, and when I’m having a stressful day (which is most days lately) I raid the starbursts. And the dark chocolate. Currently there are Girl Scout Cookies.

7. What is your favorite candle scent? I like things that are clean and not overpowering, like Fresh Cotton, or tart fruit like Pomegranate.

8. Do you have a signature recipe or food item that people always ask you to make? If so, what is it? I always make stuffing for Thanksgiving, but otherwise not really. I tend to make the same things for gatherings: Hot wing dip, PW’s apple dumplings … I used to always make Chicken Bryan when people came over, but I haven’t done that in awhile either.

9. Do you have any pets? If so, names and types? If not, have you ever had pets? I used to have two lovely dogs, Lola and Jazzy. Right before Henry was born I was having a lot of problems with them and had a crisis where I had to go no-pet. I miss them dearly, although I don’t necessarily miss all that goes along with being a dog owner. I will eventually have another animal but I don’t know when or what. I just don’t know.

10. What is your favorite color? I seem to be drawn to teal and purple these days, but mostly jewel tones. Dark greens, maroons …

11. What made you start blogging? I’ve started and stopped a bunch of times. When I originally started in July of 2004, it was about keeping my writing up. Usually when I stop for a while and then start again, it’s because I notice that I think of things in terms of posts. I make a new recipe and think, ‘hey, I should take a picture of that for the blog’ or something cute happens and I want to tell the story on the blog. Or I need to rant and I turn to the blog.

The people I'm tagging, and your questions (if you don't do it, no worries!):

Stacie, MamaFuss, Ordinary Girl, Jessica, and Stephany

1. What fictional character do you most identify with?

2. What have you always wanted to do with your life?

3. What did you want to “be when you grew up”? (these really are two different questions, although I suppose they could have the same answer)

4. What is your favorite thing about yourself?

5. Are you giving anything up for Lent? What?

6. How devoted are you to politics? Do you follow politics? (this question is not to ask about your particular views)

7. How about sports? Do you follow any particular teams or specific sports?

8. What is one hobby that you have always wanted to take up but haven’t, and why not?

9. What is one of your favorite things to do when you have the time/money/energy?

10. What is your very favorite recipe or food to make?

11. What is the most rewarding thing in your life?

Enjoy!