Theme Thursday: Scary

You know what actually scares me? The fact I live in a town that doesn't celebrate anything on the actual day.

St. Patrick's Day is always a Friday and Saturday. Before. After. Doesn't matter as long as it's Friday and Saturday. (So I guess every once and a while it will actually fall on the correct day but not typically.) Christmas? Well the Festival of Trees ends after Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving. Not only does that not even come close to the actual Christmas Season but it only barely sneaks past into the corporate Christmas season. It doesn't even make it to cyber Monday and it's an event designed to make you happy and bright.

Halloween. That was yesterday. And it was a bust. It wasn't cold. This wasn't another repeat of the Halloween blizzard of '91 which for the record is still my favorite Halloween of all time. But it POURED. It was so rainy I thought our basement was going to start taking on water. All during the designated trick or treat times.

Do you think that deterred my boys though? Nope. I played into the theme a little bit, safety pinned a banana to a green umbrella so that it would be a banana tree for my little monkey and sent them out for C's first realish Trick or Treat.

They went to 6 houses which is up from his 1 of last year. I suppose it wasn't super real though since he couldn't say trick or treat yet and because of all the rain, Husband wouldn't let him walk. But he enjoyed it. I stayed home where I made chicken patties on a bun for dinner and waited in vain with Kathryn for trick or treaters to arrive. Alas I got none. Zero. I was incredibly disappointed. But I watched Hocus Pocus and Addam's Family Values in true spirit so I bucked up a little.

And because our area is so weird and wonderful, the next town over has Halloween good and proper from 5-7 tonight so we get another go around. PLUS his friends Mason and Owen are having a Halloween party this afternoon so we're pretty excited for that!

But do you know what's really really scary? This candy bowl is full of only half of the 369 pieces we bought in anticipation of living in a good neighborhood this year. Plus Kathryn gave us her Twix because even though she likes chocolate, caramel and cookies apparently when they are all together as candy that's no good.

Admit it. That's pretty scary. 

Linking up with all the other scary Halloweeny fun over at Clan Donaldson. Happy Halloween! May you get a better turn out than zero.

Rollin'

So yeah this picture has nothing to do with anything. But it made me smile so... there's that.

I am on a roll today and I just wanted to shout it out! I did a massive clean last Thursday, and it felt great. Everything was put away, dusted, vacuumed etc. So now I am in maintenance mode and so far so good.

After half a bushel of apples was made into sauce yesterday I've got the kitchen pretty clean so we can make it messier tonight with pumpkin guts. I'll go back to applesauce in the next few days though. I've got dinner all figured out and that always feels good too!

I've got some more to do and only a short little bit of nap left to do it in so... back to it I guess. It's just so nice to get in a groove with some music and feel accomplished.

PLUS it is the one year anniversary of our house! Yay!

PLUS it is 100 Days until the Olympics! Yay again!

The Cows and Chickens Are Going to the Dickens

We went to the orchard this weekend. Husband's family owns an apple orchard. They have many different varieties of apples, which is great because I love apples. I love to cook with them, I love to eat them, I just love 'em. Husband, after growing up with apples has kind of a "meh" attitude. But that's okay. I love the apples enough for the 2 of us. Anyway, we brought back apples. Because, why not.

And far from overkill we brought back 90 pounds of apples. A bushel and a half just for me to make applesauce. A bushel and a half. Not even a bushel and a peck. Nay Nay. 90 pounds. 5 different kinds of apples.

My first pot of applesauce is in the works. C had an apple for breakfast. He is in heaven--he's teething anyway so gnawing on an apple is kind of the best deal ever. Especially since they were free dollars and free cents.

Plus we saw that side of the family and we actually had a really good time. It helps we were only there for about 24 hours. But still, it was good. Which is an added bonus as far as I am concerned. Because let's be honest, I went for the free fruit. Hey-o!

Getting Ready for the Holidays

In prepperation for the holiday season, it is time to scope out your plans. Are you traveling? Visiting for the day? Staying put? Hosting? All of those details that need to be sorted out so that you can make the most important decision: what are you going to eat. 

Perhaps you are the anti-holiday family and you celebrate Thanksgiving with Chinese. Or tacos.

Perhaps you are uber traditional. 

Maybe you like some quirky to go with your meal. If that's the case then I've got an idea for you. A Cornucopia of Carbs.

We like a good theme. And carbs. 

Some people use their cornucopia to serve their vegetables and dips (which does look festive I admit) but since we were not planning on serving veggies last year we made it a themed bread basket. It made a great centerpiece for my not exactly Martha table. If you DO put veggies in it I have read that you should put plastic wrap on the cornucopia otherwise it gets soggy. 


So... instructions?

1. Husband made pizza dough. And cut it into strips. You could use refrigerated breadstick dough but we are cheap and Husband makes really delicious dough. (Not that we ate the cornucopia.) Use whatever breadstick/pizza dough you fancy.
2. I took heavy duty tin foil made a cone with a swoop and stuffed it with more tin foil. Then I sprayed the heck out of it with PAM.
3. Then we took strips of dough and wrapped it around the foil making sure the dough overlapped and fused together. 
4. We braided three strips for the opening.
5. We used an egg wash to act as glue to keep things together as well as make it pretty and brown. (We just used a beaten egg ourselves but use whatever kind of egg wash you're comfortable with.)
6. We baked it. We watched it like a hawk and wound up covering it with tin foil in sections so that it wouldn't get too brown. It took tops 15 minutes.
7. Then when it was cool we took the tin foil out with a little wiggle. (The swoop needed the wiggle and you'll be glad you used all that copious PAM) 

And you know what? I think it turned out pretty cool. We're going to make one again this year. 

Linking up with the Thanksgiving Recipe Linkup host by Cari. Stay tuned next for my "secret" cranberry sauce recipe.

Theme Thursday: W

What Will We all post for W?

I don't know. But I am posting about... 

This wascally wabbit.

f/6.3, 1/80, ISO 3200

Her name is Hermanagilda* and she lives in our yard.

I could have posted a picture of our former president.** Or taken a picture of the W on my Minnesota Wild Sweatshirt.** Or the breakfast burrito/wrap** we had for dinner last night. But nope.

You get a picture of my*** wabbit.

f/6.3, 1/80, ISO 3200

I mean it's not a pig named Orange but she's still pretty sweet. She was out hopping all day because she was just as thrilled as any of us that Tuesday's snow was melted mostly. (All of it in the backyard melted, some of my front yard snow is hanging on for dear life.)

Linking up with Cari at Clan Donaldson for this exciting W Theme Thursday.

Next week is SCARY followed by a whole new unknown set  of themes for November/December. Though a while back I decided thanks to Cari's post and Rebekah's comment that the unofficial first week of November's theme is shaming.

Have a great Thursday.

*Hermanagilda was the very best first name I discovered while working in the customer service call center.
**All subjects I considered for this week.
**Hermanagilda is a wild animal who is skittish and besides hopping away really fast has never had any contact with me. In fact, without the macro lens I wouldn't even have these pictures.

WWRW: Allegiant and Pouch

As promised last week, Allegiant, Roth's final piece of the Divergent Trilogy was released on Tuesday. It actually came to my Kindle early, which was good for me. I read it in one fell swoop. (Can we thank Mr. Shakespeare for such a delicious phrase? I know he had a lot but that is a pretty good one.) So my final thoughts with absolutely NO SPOILERS.

I can't decide if it was the most brilliant way to end it or if I am really sad about it. 

Obviously, I will need to read it again and perhaps discuss it with people. Sometimes it is really hard reading quickly. I was this way after every Harry Potter release too. I'd go to the party, get my book, get home super quick, read it all that night... and then jump around and wait impatiently for my family to pass it around for the next 2 weeks before I could discuss it. By Deathly Hallows I wised up and bought 2 copies so I could at least reread it before someone else was done. 

In other book news this week... well really the past month and a half. C has been just obsessed with Pouch! by David Ezra Stein. 

Do you have Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in your area? It really is a sweet sweet deal. From birth to age 5 they will send you a book a month. For free. Now I love free stuff. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE free books. And the best part? They have different book lists every year, and they go by birth year. So if you have more than one child you will not get multiple copies of the same book every month. (Unless they're twins.) And the other exception is that every child gets the same first and last book. So when you're enrolled you'll get The Little Engine That Could and when you are about to phase out you will get Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come.

It is possible for other books to perhaps repeat down the line, but it's free and kids are hard on books. If I ever get 2 copies of the same book, I will hide one and keep it nice in case. 

So Pouch! came in May, so even though we've had 5 books since then we are just in love with it. It is simple. It is fun. The illustrations are intricate and simple all in the same breath. I just love reading this book with C and he loves reading it with me. We act it out a little if you will. He "hops" and then comes back to his mama as we read. 

My favorite part is saying "Pouch!" but tomorrow my favorite might be that on every page you can see the other animals Joey meets in the illustrations even though they become abstract and/or tiny. Friday my favorite might be the opportunity to count in a non counting book. I like bonus learning moments. So, if you don't have a 2012 birth year child or you're not enrolled in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library I highly recommend this book. 

Linking up with Jessica and the group for What We're Reading Wednesday! 

What We're Up To

Two early in the week posts that are non-linkups? I know. Where have I been?

Fall is always so busy for me. I don't know why it goes so darn fast? Except I swear C has been 16 months longer than any other month of his life. I am sure Saturday will be here faster than I know it.

In the past few weeks I have been out and about a lot. I had book club, the pumpkin patch, went to a movie/Chipotle/Target with Kathryn, went to visit a friend during the day so C could socialize with a group of boys, had family pictures and now I am battling Captain Screaming Stuffy Nose. Though to be fair, we could omit the screaming part of the title today since he did very very well last night.

I had it as a well oiled machine. First I ran the shower as hot as possible with the door closed. After the bathroom was all warm and steamy I ran his bath and he took a really good one, playing and breathing in all the steam. He got saline nose drops, baby Vicks and a little bit of baby Advil. THEN he had his humidifier with Vicks steam and his crib mattress was propped with a pillow. While in his favorite pajamas and sleep sack. It was like bedtime royalty. And it paid off because he slept GREAT. Oh and a big shout out to the creator of boogie wipes because those are so much better than Kleenex!

Which is good because Husband and I never went back downstairs after bedtime. We stayed upstairs, in our room and crashed. Pretty exciting.

Anyway... there is little to report here. Pretty much same old, same old. C is babbling/talking. He does have actual words but my favorite is when he says "Gullah Gullah Gullah." I haven't figured out what it means. He had not watched Gullah Gullah Island until he started saying that so he is not asking for a television show. When he does want one, he ask's for Peppa. He has perfected the stairs, up and down and pretty much is as active as always. He has favorite books now, which is fun until it isn't.

But yeah, nothing really that interesting to report. Other than the fact it is snowing. In October. It's not sticking but it's still snow. Don't worry I did try to deny it was actually snow for the first 15 minutes but now... it's snow. Glad I bought C's winter coat in a panic last week. I'm pretty sure Husband thought I was crazy. I didn't even know snow was in the forecast either but I was concerned he wouldn't have a coat when it was time. Guardian Angel nudge I guess. Love moments like that.

Bullying

When I was in sixth grade we had D.A.R.E. (All together now, Drug, Abuse, Resistance, Education.) One hour every week.

It was a big deal. Booklets, stickers, worksheets, a coveted lion stuffed animal Daren that went to someone in each class for a week until the next visit from Officer Anderson. There was even a graduation ceremony. All the sixth graders in the district were bused to the high school auditorium. Speakers were chosen. (From my class it was Ashley P. I was jealous.) The D.A.R.E. tee shirts were worn by everyone. And the mayor shook our hands and gave us our diplomas.

There was even a graduation party at Skateville. Where all the proud graduates could skate and play games in a supervised capacity after school hours. I remember that evening vividly. I remember one of the songs during the "Snowball" (the boy/girl partner skate) was K-Ci and JoJo's "All My Life." (I still know all the words.) And that I rocked out/skated out HARD to "MmmBop." And during the hokey pokey I won a free pop. So like I said, it was a big deal.

And you know what? In all my years in this same school district and even well past that up to now, nobody has ever offered me drugs. Not even a cigarette. Which means, I have never, in the 15 years past sixth grade, had the chance to "Say No to Drugs." Okay I know that by not seeking out drugs that I was effectively saying no. But the slogan, and all the practice role playing situations in class never paid off.

I think someone, somewhere is going to start a bullying version of D.A.R.E. because the way the world tells us these days, drugs are not the biggest problem facing the youth of today, it's bullies. There will be the catchy slogans, and guest speakers. Probably a graduation ceremony and party of sorts. And you know what? It will be as effective as D.A.R.E. was for me.

People are awfully quick to judge things as bullying these days. This is not meant to be a "I don't believe bullying doesn't exist." post. I know that there are bullies. And sometimes it is severe. Occasionally however I think kids are just being kids. Middle school/junior high sucks. For everyone. Girls are teased. I was certainly teased and I was definitely not popular. And there were girls who were mean and rude. But, I survived.

In seventh grade there was a very weird scheduling thing that made my gym class the only group of seventh graders in Lunch 4. One gym class of seventh graders in a lunch room full of eighth and ninth graders. Want to know how that turned out? We were four tables, near the edge. Two girl tables, two boy tables, split by how athletic people were. Me and my table of 3 other girls, were certainly not popular. We were left out of jokes. We weren't invited to the parties the other kids were at. By today's standards, we were bullied.

I am still friends with one of the girls at my table. And you know what? One of the girls from the other lunch table was her maid of honor. Because seventh grade sucked but it is not an accurate representation of life. Are there some genuinely mean kids? Yes. Absolutely. But we may all be a little quick to call it an epidemic. Sometimes, it's just kids being kids. Learning who your friends are and aren't is a part of life. It might hurt your feelings as a child but it's real life.

Honestly bullies are bad. Horrible even. But that's the root of the problem. The real problem is suicide and why kids, teens and adults feel like there is no other solution to the bullying. (Or other contributing factor to the suicide.) Yes an authority figure should have stopped the bullying. But also shouldn't the bullied be able to say to someone, anyone "This hurts me so much, I don't feel like living anymore." There are very few people in the world, where no one would miss them if they were gone.

Perhaps our society should have a class on suicide awareness. How to reach out and ask for help. How to reach out and stop someone from making a choice that could very well be their last. How to recognize mental illness and get help. How to cope on the bad days. Perhaps teenagers accounts on social medias, instead of being littered with ads for things they don't need, should consistently see an ad to help them with their complicated, quick to judge emotions.

Saying no to drugs is one thing. Stopping people from bullying is good too. But keeping kids, preteens and teenagers from killing themselves on purpose seems a worthy goal. I know not all bullying leads to suicide but it can lead to mental duress or illness and that also needs to be addressed before it escalates into something more serious. Parents cannot control everything their children do. They can't even really stop their child from bullying. (They sure can try however and they should if there's a problem.) But they can intervene if someone is going to cause harm to themselves. They absolutely can and should.

The fact of the matter is I don't have the solution. Or the answers. But these are my thoughts on the subject. So while a D.A.R.E. like anti-bullying class is great, I think there's more to be done. And it might not be as fun and there may not be a skating party at the end. But what D.A.R.E. and this made up class have in common is they both want kids to stay alive.

Theme Thursday: Orange

I am probably going to be one of many posting pictures of their child(ren) by pumpkins for this week's Theme Thursday of Orange. And all I can say is... okay. I am alright with that.

No really. My mind has no further capacity this week and we just went to the pumpkin patch. Pumpkins are orange. Why am I searching any farther? Normally I do try to challenge myself, and learn something about the way my mind works or the camera and this week... just didn't happen. And that is just fine I think.

He thought peeking through this wooden pumpkin was pretty great.

This setting was great. Look at that lighting. You can't fake that.
He did not participate in looking at the camera and smiling however.
So looking at the pumpkins was the best we got.

So serious. This is already on my living room wall.

So linking up with Cari at Clan Donaldson. I am going to stretch myself with creativity next week for "W" I promise. Happy Thursday. Nearly there to the weekend!

WWRW: Some Rereads and A New To Me

Well this week was a busy one for me.

I began the week by rereading Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. The third and final book comes out next Tuesday so I was reading them in preparation.

So... Divergent, if you haven't already read them, is another one of those teeny dystopic trilogies. The first movie comes out in March. I have mentioned before in passing that the concept is the most interesting to me. In many of the similar books, the characters are being led by their society and government and wind up rebelling against the world in an ultimate power struggle.

In Divergent the characters are in a destroyed Chicago split into 5 groups based on archetype.  (Honesty, Bravery, Selflessness, Knowledge and Peaceful.) When the children of the society reach 16 they are tested and told which section they would best benefit. Here's where it gets interesting though, every individual can either choose to stay with their families or pick a different group to live with forever. The very fact that Roth let her world have some choices made it different.

In this series, Divergent is pretty good. It has the same training progression that Hunger Games had into the beginnings of the revolution you know is coming. There's the same relationship aspect and violence aspect that you would expect by this type of series. Insurgent gets a little messy with the revolution and at times is hard to follow. But like ALL of these series, I'm now invested and I have to know how it ends.

If you haven't read these books, the series will be complete on Tuesday. And the movie comes out in March. I like to read books before I see movies. That way I can be good and disappointed in the adaptation. I am already sure to dislike the movie because the main character is played by the actress from ABC Family's Secret Life of the American Teenager. And well... nobody on that show could act. But I'll see the movie anyway.

Also this week I jumped into another Jessica recommendation, and for realsies it is incredibly thought provoking. I am pretty sure I have found my book soul mate.

So anyway, I read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell and oh my gosh. I don't even know what to say. It basically is a probing non-fiction book to look at the common factors that make certain people extraordinary. It's so obvious and yet so much is based on small factors that we really have little control over.

This is not a cuddle up and read it all in one sitting kind of book. Unless it is for you, I guess I don't know your reading preferences. But for me, with the numbers and situations, especially in part 2, I couldn't digest more than a chapter or 2 at a time. There's a really interesting look at airline crashes and while it was fascinating it was a lot to chew on so I needed to ruminate on it for a few hours before I could keep going.

But don't let this deter you. It's a book well worth reading.

Linking myself up to Jessica over in her corner of blog world for another edition of What We're Reading Wednesday. So I wonder... what are you reading?

Not related to what I am reading but in answer to the question what am I watching or really what did you watch, the answer is Gravity. I went last night with my friend to take advantage of $5 movie Tuesdays. Which is an event I don't go to often. In fact the last time I went it was to see The Heat. In case you're curious, it is not a coincidence that they are both Sandra Bullock movies. I just really love her. 

So in case Gravity was on your list of maybe go sees I'll say this with no spoilers: I liked it up until the end. Really. Up until the last 5 minutes I was a fan of the movie. I got it. I understood all the award jabbering. 

I will say in fairness, I put absolutely ZERO stock in ANY award because A Beautiful Mind won Best Picture once and I can never get those hours of my life back. And then we had to watch it in math class one year because math wasn't already my least favorite hour in the history of ever. But even still, I got why everyone said Gravity was good. Until the end. It was a good movie.

We wound up seeing it in 3D. I don't think either of us realized that movie time was a 3D showing, and normally 3D makes me a little sick. The 3D previews did and I was really regretting the movie choice but then it actually started... and it wasn't sickening at all. It was very very pleasant.  So it has that going for it as well. 

Have a delightful Wednesday. 

Theme Thursday: Double

Look at those two feet. This sorry sight is how you'll find me most days at 5:15ish. Past when I know Husband is on his way but he's just not home yet. 

Notice the candy wrappers? Those won't be there today. Because we're out, not because I'm being noble or healthy or anything. Notice my foot reclining as well? 

C is going through a pick me up all.the.time stage. And also a "you're sitting at the computer I want to TOO" stage. And usually by 5:15 I'm done and we sit like this, with a reclining baby unbuttoned onesie and all, watching YouTube until Husband walks in the door. 

Yesterday the interwebs stopped working. It wasn't pretty. 

I know I should spin this into something cheerful like "someday he won't want to snuggle and cuddle and sit with me all day long so I should cherish these moments." And seriously, while I understand that statement is 100% true. All I can think about is not having a mini me/stunt double. 

I was going for the 2 feet as my double but stunt double works too. Would you look at that? Okay. He is demanding that he be picked up now so... I'm off. Link up with Cari.  She's pretty awesome. She wrote a book.  And I liked it. 

WWRW: Bitter and Sweet, Pope Awesome... both winners.

So when we last met, I was getting ready to pick my book club's next book. Well as it happens, book club was rescheduled for tomorrow instead of last week so I had plenty of time to really consider my choice. I would up picking Jamie Ford's  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I don't know why I was hesitant about my reading experience on this one but it was a surprise for me. I mean it was on a few lists for ideas and Jessica recommended it but I was still not convinced I would like it. I'm not sure what put me off but I am glad I did not judge this book by my prior feelings.

This book follows 40 years in the life of Henry Lee. One moment in 1985 takes him back to his childhood in Seattle during WWII. As a Chinese-American Henry is in a precarious place as the American Government begins displacing those of Japanese heritage to interment camps, including his one friend Keiko. Through flashbacks the story examines all the complex relationships a person can go through: parent/child, first loves, deep friendships among other things.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the book. It was captivating and brilliant and I didn't want to stop reading. While I wasn't anticipating the love story element it still didn't come off as just a love story, it is deep and complex, in all honestly like real love stories. I think that is the part that I really respected, unlike Nicholas Sparks, this felt real.

I am very interested in how my book club reacts to it. The fact of the matter is this book appeals to a broad audience, the sappy readers will certainly be pacified. The history buffs will love the truthfulness and harsh look at one of America's blemishes. The lover of novels will be happy the book is more in depth than some of the teeny bopper books we've read, while the readers who love the teeny bopper books are also going to be happy. This book really has it all. Honestly I am shocked I haven't heard more about it because I am totally late to the party on this one.

Also this week I read Pope Awesome and Other Stories by non-other than Cari Donaldson herself. Imma go out on a limb and say that if you are reading this blog post you probably know who she is and probably have plans to read the book yourself. So instead of a real review or plot description I will give you a few thoughts only and still insist you read it for yourself.

• I was not the biggest fan of cover 2 when it made it's appearance on the blog in the voting. But I like the spacing of the Futura font 100% better now and I am glad Cari ditched the cartoony font. 
• If you have read through a lot of her blog a lot of it is old hat, but in a more complete way. You can read the birth stories and conversion story but not in the same cohesive, detailed way. 
• I laughed audibly several times. 
• There was one paragraph that I highlighted (in Kindle world) and I am DYING to make it a Facebook status, tweet it, put it on postcards and maybe make it a tee shirt. But I am waiting until the hard copies are available so I don't scoop anyone. But it'll probably be a meme soon so... there's that. 
• If you didn't already want to meet this family you will soon. 

So that s what I read this week. I have another Jessica recommendation that I literally, as I type this, just got from the library. (Love those ebook wait lists.) 

Link up what you've read recently (or currently reading) with Jessica. Feel free to comment and give me more recommendations. Also I think maybe we should start a link up (or maybe once a month as part of WWRW) where we all pick the same book and put a list of open ended question up for people to answer? Like an online book club? Huh? Anyone even remotely interested in that idea?

Theme Thursday: Secret

I hope someone has some awesome dish to share... but it isn't me. 

Nope. From me you get deodorant. Which granted is right up there with indoor plumbing in my book but nevertheless that's what you get from me. I used to be a Dove Girl. But they stopped making my kind. I special ordered it when it was discontinued to use for my wedding but since then... back to Secret which was my original deodorant choice. Dove also discontinued my body wash so Dove and I have a bad history like that.

Okay, so now I have dished about toiletries and I know you were DYING to know about that. Happy to help.

Perhaps some others have some way more interesting secrets over at the Clan Donaldson Thursday Party. Check 'em out. Maybe it'll be like a PostSecret week? I used to love that in college. Then it got all commercial, depressing, liberal and redundant. I bet Theme Thursday won't be redundant however.

Coming up is: Double. Maybe I'll take a picture of gum. Keepin' it real exciting and making sure to have you stop by again. 

WWRW: My Book Club Pick

Well it's my turn to pick for book club. I have until tomorrow.

My book club generally picks happy, uplifting or YA novels. There is one person in general who just won't read the book if it even goes past mentioning... ahem, intimate relations and has very little tolerance for curse words. Of course she is also the person who stuck us with Legend this month so... I don't know how much I care to cater to her. But overall they like good clean books.

Or at least we haven't in my 2 years come up with many that do not fit that description. Off the top of my head we have read: Ella Minnow Pea, Legend, The Matched Series, Fablehaven, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Man's Search for Meaning, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Wednesday Letters, Princess Academy, The Walk, Time is a River, Dewy the Library Cat, The Power of Un, Mrs. Mike, A Long Way from Chicago, The Red Tent, and Bel Canto (This one was a huge controversy and the woman who chose it hasn't been back since. Too racy.)

My past two picks have been memoirs: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. My goal was to stay away from memoirs this time around. Which is actually too bad because I found a few that look good and I am excited about reading them by myself. (So stay tuned for those.)

I had no idea so I set out to find a book pick. First I scoured online lists and recommendations and then looked at Jessica's books. I tried for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet--it's even a book club kit but I'm still on wait list for the book and I don't feel comfortable picking a book I've never read. I just got off the wait list and I'm knee deep in it. Since I don't have to choose until tomorrow it is still possibly a contender if I finish in time and find it captivating.

So in the past 24 hours I devoured Every Last One and Persian Pickle Club.

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

Well. It would make for a good discussion I think. It follows a typical family having life. And then there is a major tragedy. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone but it is just an unspeakable tragedy, that while not completely shocking because you do see the lead up, it's still somehow completely shocking because of what it is. The second half of the book is coping with the aftermath.

It was well written. I think as a mother, even as one of a toddler, it was deeply touching and thought provoking--which leads to good questions to be answered. It's mostly clean--a few references to encounters but nothing even remotely vulgar. And what little language there is is said by teenagers and promptly shot down by a parent.

This book is not a warm and fuzzy book, in fact it made me cry, but then it redeems itself with hope. And sometimes hope is even more real and good than a happy ending. I am very glad I read it and would recommend it. This book is not fast paced. It really describes a typical parenting life which both makes it real and relatable but not exactly a page turner. But underneath all the normalcy is the beauty in every day and it really is something to remember and cherish in our own lives. The way I see it, any book that makes me cherish my own life is the greatest takeaway from something I've read. I love books that become a positive reflection for yourself.

Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas

Well. I started this book based off of recommendations online and put it down after about four chapters. But picked it up again after I finished Every Last One. The story follows a quilting club in this small Kansas town during the depression.

A new girl, Rita has moved to town freshly married and she wants to be a news reporter so she digs around for scoop and tries to solve a murder. At the same time this whole thing is going on the Persian Pickle Club is helping each other and quilting and living their lives.

Here's what you should know: Persian Pickle = paisley fabric. I am not spoiling a darn thing by telling you this but I wish I didn't have to wait so long to find that out. (Probably could have just Googled it too but I was reading late at night and I wasn't that on top of it.) Dallas wrote quite a lot of characters, it follows the whole club plus a few extras which may get confusing. The language and behaviors of these women is a hoot. If it's not true to life of small town Depression era ladies... I can't imagine what is more accurate. Just the rhythms, style and slang are engrossing. The characters are small town gossipy without ever being vicious or hurtful but as the reader you sure get all the scoop about everyone.

Overall the message of friendship and loyalty is stressed which isn't at all a bad thing but this book was a little bit harder for me to get into. I can't put my finger on it. It is reminiscent of Ya Ya Sisterhood and Fried Green Tomatoes but different enough to not completely lump it in with those two. It's supposedly going to be a movie soon... I don't know. It was a good light, sort of mystery, fast read. Oh. Persian Pickle is fairly clean. There is some alcohol use and talk of indiscretions but overall this is not a racy book.

I didn't dislike either book. Based on my particular group of ladies in book club they would certainly like The Persian Pickle Club better but most of the people who come to book club say "I really liked this book," then read a sentence that struck them and chat the rest of the time so that's not really a selling point for you. Both books are books I feel safe recommending here.

Basically my pick boils down to picking a book they may actually read all the way through or a book they'd put down. On that alone I should go with Persian Pickle because lame discussion is better than no discussion right?

I am linking up with Jessica  this week again. Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave me a comment with suggestions you think my finicky book club will enjoy. Recap: clean, happy, not too long.

Ravioli Update

So not a whole lot to report here. I am in the process of adjusting C's schedule a little bit so that his nap comes after lunch and more in the afternoon. If I am successful it will give us more opportunities to do things in the mornings:story times, classes etc.

Just wanted to post the finished product picture of the ravioli. (If you missed the beginnings of the ravioli saga.)

I am a little sad to say this was not one of our attempts to make our own sauce because if we had everything on the plate would be homemade. But alas, Prego is just so easy. And really, the bread and the ravioli are homemade so that's still pretty good.

I've got to get back to my Tuesday. Pretty good day so far.