7 Out of 7

Lamest post ever right here.

I caught the plague from Husband. Not really a big deal and not nearly as bad as some of the things people are getting. But the sneezing and the fuzzy head is not fun.

Way back in high school I used to really like the Oscars but then somewhere I wised up and now I don't give a hoot about awards shows. I mean good for them, but so much politics and such go into who wins... never on merit and never based on true quality I think. I mean, A Beautiful Mind won and I can never get those hours back. Gross. One of the worst ever. So I will not be watching those tonight.

We'll probably watch something on Netflix. Maybe. We've been watching a lot of Full House lately since we bought the house. :) Delightful to relive all the fun and who doesn't love Full House? You know, when Walter was the kid who looked like a duck and Stephanie learned about hurting his feelings.

We're having a tasty dinner of bacon and banana chocolate chip pancakes which I am pretty excited for. Love breakfast for dinner. And that's what's shaking around here. Told you, lame post to wrap up the 7/7. Hope you all had a great Sunday!

They're Addicted and They Can't Stop

And here we are, made it to Saturday. A day many don't blog. (And the day I suspect many won't and the 7/7 posts will stop completely.)

So even though I have pretty much nothing to say, I am posting and getting it out of my system.

I know that this will make me the minority of my generation but I am starting to loathe the whole "25 Truths About Stay At Home Moms" or "30 Things That Will Make You Feel Old."

Pretty much Buzzfeed and the like in general. I don't need to hear vague reasons why I am old, I know that kids born in 1994 turn 20 this year. Because I can do simple math. And the generalizations of stay at home moms was true to an extent but really, anyone could write generalizations of any group and they'd be partly true.

Honestly, they make me a little bit mad. Why should we settle for these things to bring us entertainment?! Why aren't more people posting what books they've read or about Russia invading Ukraine instead of "What State They Should Really Live In" and so forth?

My generation of people is turning their brains to mush one stupid quiz at a time. And it's bad enough that if you take the quiz you can tell with the first question what your result is going to be. But posting it, then debating living in Seattle over Paris with the other drones who took the test is a little extreme.

Oh the internet, such a fabulous invention (Thanks Al Gore!) but such a time waster.

I have no solution and clearly I spend my time blogging and reading blogs so I'm really one to talk about wasting time on the internet. But I have at least expressed my feelings on the matter and now I can probably let it go.

Sort've Quick Takes

1. 7 Posts in 7 Days 

It sounds like a good idea, but really it just means we all force ourselves to write everyday and since every other blog we read is doing the same time, no one has time for any commenting or connecting. I know that we "all blog for ourselves" but we all love the comments. And I know that I have been a bad commenter this week. Next time I propose a 20 posts in 30 days challenge. Or something like that. Even 15/30 is half. OR a comment challenge. I don't know. Clearly Jen will read this and change her mind and the link up. Because, yeah right. 

2. Antics of The Toddler

It was a long week here in the household. Husband was on a business trip Monday and Tuesday so I was ready for the weekend by Wednesday. Luckily Cari wrote her "Keep a Toddler Happy During Homeschool" post which I decided was really a "Keep a Toddler Happy" post. We played rice on Wednesday for about 45 minutes and yesterday for about 25. 

3. Obligatory Take About The Horrible Winter That Won't End

While I am happy to bid farewell to February me thinks it's going to be a little more like this 

Than this

For a long long while. 

But a lot can happen in 31 days. Hopefully happy warm sunny kind of things!

4. In Which I Got Out of the House 2 Nights In A Row

To celebrate making it through the month of business trips I went to Walgreens by myself on Wednesday night. I didn't even stroll, I was a moseying. And it was glorious. I spent an hour just not doing anything. And promptly forgot to buy the envelope for which I based the entire trip about. Last night I had book club. It was great. A small group again. Which is good. So we could actually discuss the book. I really enjoyed it. 

5. Photo Shoot

I did a mini photo shoot this week. I have to show you my favorite. It's so toddler GQ! 

Sheer dumb luck he posed like that and actually looked at me. I just love how his hair is the right amount of tousled! So funny. Very biased Mom over here. 

6. Lent

I wish I could tell you we are super prepared and ready to embrace this season.  We'll get it together by Wednesday I think. I am giving up paper plates and that's going to be challenging. I've got to go stock up on the Mac and Cheese. Because I am not creative on Fridays. Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Cheese Pizza... I'm good with that. 

7. This Weekend

Oh I am ready for the weekend. I have no real plans. Which is the very best weekend. Husband and C are going on an outing tomorrow morning. They are excited about it. I am happy for them. I will sleep through it or maybe watch a show. Who knows? Best kind of weekend for sure. 

 

Theme Thursday: Fences

You may have noticed, (okay probably not, I am not that important and that is a really self-centered statement I just made) that I did not participate in Theme Thursday last week. I wish I had a good reason for you or something. But no.  I don't have any particularly interesting or pretty dishes. And I have written about this recently but as I hate washing dishes more than any other household chore, I love me some paper plates. And that's all good and fine but that makes for a really uninteresting picture. 

Then we got to this week and fences. Call me lazy or crazy but there wasn't a chance in *use your preferred strong word here* that I was venturing out of this house into the arctic to take a picture of an interesting fence. And while we have a chain link fence in the back yard it's about as interesting as tin foil. And since you could build a cool sculpture out of tin foil, the chain link fence is even less interesting.

And I just thought that maybe Theme Thursday and I were going to have to have a little alone time. It's not you, it's me kind of a thing. It's too cold, I'm not feeling creative enough, Husband always has the nice camera at work these days... you know, first world problems at their finest really. 

But I couldn't do it. Thursdays beckon me and I just have to. So here. Fine. It only involved going to the basement. 

Fences by August Wilson

August Wilson. Do you know about him? He wrote "The Pittsburg Cycle" or the "Century Cycle." 10 plays. One for every decade to explore the Black experience in America. They were not written in order of their decade but they are beautiful works of dramatic literature.

Anyhow, Fences, is the Pulitzer Prize winning story set in the 1950s. It's pretty good. Lots of symbolism. A tragedy at it's core. Nevertheless, it's the only Fence I have inside my house and so that's what I have for this week. 

I am just super failing at this 7 in 7 week. Clearly I blog differently than others because I don't have a bunch of unpublished drafts started. And Micaela is all "Link-ups don't count and must be in addition." She's got guts I'll tell you that because if link-ups actually didn't count I wouldn't have signed on.

Anyway, Happy Thursday. I will see all of you back here tomorrow for another post. Link up with Cari if you are more ambitious than I and have a picture of a fence.

WWRW: The Cuckoo's Calling and Wonder

So you remember back when there was that big "news" story that J.K. Rowling had "secretly" wrote and published a book but it wasn't doing very well. Then, remarkably, right after the "news" story the book became a best seller? Well I wasn't about to buy it. But I did put my name on multiple multiple Library lists. Having 3 different library cards gets you on 3 different digital copy lists and then 1 hard copy list because I only live here so it didn't make sense to try and get a 2 week book in Minnesota for instance.

And I forgot about it and read a lot of other books.

Then apparently Ms. Rowling got a little too far away from the limelight and had to stir the pot again with the whole Ron/Hermoine debacle. She is wrong.  All I can say is it's a good thing I already liked Harry because her antics wouldn't make me want to run out and read the books.

Then, the very day after a sequel was announced, I got the lovely email from the library letting me know my very own digital copy was available for 2 weeks! Delightful!

So "Robert Galbraith" wrote this book called The Cuckoo's Calling. And here's the scoop: 

It wasn't bad. There was a lot of British slang. And I think it went on a little too much. But overall it was not a bad book. The characters are well developed and interesting to read. You are curious about their back story but slowly the onion skin layers are peeled back and you're given what you wanted. I can even see how a sequel will be well received. It's definitely a whodunit and certainly I thought it was going to go a different way for quite a while. I am delighted that I am wrong. J.K. has strength is in believable dialogue. And while it all wrapped up a little too "cherry on top" there's a sequel so it probably isn't all sunshine and roses. Though I am worried for Robin's relationship and it's future, just sayin'.

Overall: worth a read. Not appropriate for kids. 

Also this week I got another email for another book from the library I had been waiting for. Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I feel like everyone's heard of this book at least. A 10 year old with a severe cranio-facial abnormality is switching from homeschool to traditional school for the first time. Along the way August (our main guy) discovers how the world works, mean people and all. He also works on his family relationships and creates lasting relationships. 

Was this book a little bit "happy ending you could see coming?" Yep it was. 

Are there some elements that seemed forced or trite? Yes. 

Was it all around a pretty accurate portrayal of fifth grade, ninth grade, family life and friendship? Yes. 

And I loved it. Yes, there are some happy happy parts and some people may feel that some of the "tragedy" seems forced but it just seemed like life to me. Things that sneak up on you when you least expect it, like not recognizing a family member is sick until much later. Life is full of ups and downs ranging from tragedy to wonderful, so it just felt realistic to me. Plus emotions are complicated. And it's written for youth so there's that. I think some reviewers out there are jaded souls. 

Wonder is not all written from August's perspective, it switches to his sister and friends occasionally. It isn't typical YA where it goes every other chapter either. Palacio uses the other voices to give more insight and clarity to situations so the reader is given a more well-rounded picture. Because everyone has a story to tell. 

The book made me cry, both of sadness and happiness, and I couldn't put it down. From start to finish it took only a few hours and I read straight through. I haven't done that in a long time. If Wonder doesn't fill your heart with kindness... well I don't know because it probably will. In high school I took a Modern Dance class and I had a teacher who always said "In this room we watch with love in our eyes." It stuck with me and I try, generally, to have love in my eyes as I go about my day because everyone could use a little less judgement. That's what Wonder reinforces. 

I'd say 10 and up would do well with this book but younger readers may have questions or a want to discuss with someone. There are some teenagers kissing (only mentioned) but that's about as racy as it gets. 

Linking up with Jessica for WWRW

3/7 for the week. Nice. 

Find Your Happy

So we are on day 2 of this 7 posts in 7 days journey.

My goodness. Have you seen the whole 100 days of happiness thing? You take and post a picture everyday of things that make you happy. I find this a worthy project but I don't like to tweet or instagram enough to take it on officially. But this doesn't mean something doesn't make me happy every day.

I wouldn't say that I am an optimist. Generally speaking I just focus on whatever is in front of me whether that is happy or sad. I am a realist however.

I also have high hopes. If I had a Native American name it would be Little High Hopes. If my hopes aren't met, I get incredibly disappointed. Which actually proves how much of an optimist/control freak I am. If I have made a plan or had an idea it should probably follow through. 

But I am working on letting go of that a little bit. The whole toddler thing is helping this, there's not a whole lot that goes exactly according to plan. It takes quite a bit of finagling to just get out the door on time but once we are in the car it's anyone's guess how the outing will go. I can't control it, but I can set it up for success. 

That's kind of like life though. We aren't really in control as much as we'd like to be. We can only prepare and hope for the best. And in that, it is my plan to find the happy. I mean why wallow? I hung out with my friend this weekend and realized everything she said was negative. That's sad. It is just sad. There has to be a glimmer of hope or enjoyment or really what's the point?! 

And it all started to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. "Waa waaaaa Waaa Waa" I don't know how to fix it or help her but I've got to do something. There's so much good in the world. There's plenty of bad too but if you let yourself get all swept up in it... that's not good. 

So here is a list of 10 totally arbitrary things that make me happy! Perhaps something will make you happy as well. Happiness is contagious after all! 

1. Rubber Duckies
2. Making cookies
3. Sunshine
4. Fresh nail polish
5. New socks
6. Blog comments
7. Getting real honest to goodness mail
8. Crafting
9. A delightful beverage
10. Hugs

So I challenge you, if you're reading this to find the happy today. Life is pretty awesome. You do not want to miss it! 

7 in 7: #1

So to kick off this little "let's all blog for 7 days in a row thing" I am just going to do a little run on blogging and go where my mind takes me.

So let's recap the Olympics. I LOVED the closing ceremony. I am a huge fan of Marc Chagall so I loved it. Plus the ballet, writers and everything. I still think I'd go to Russia. Very cool. I think that probably NBC should not have sportscasters announce the Opening and Closing ceremonies... they are pretty clueless when it comes to art. (Phantom of the Opera has not a thing to do with Russia but nice try.) Though... The Spice Girls in London were pretty great.

Who says Russia doesn't have a sense of humor?

I liked what I saw of the Olympics. Which wasn't much. NBC decided NOT to interrupt basically any of their everyday broadcasts for the Olympics. So if it wasn't in Prime Time I couldn't watch. And since I don't pay for TV I couldn't watch online either. Kind of pathetic NBC.

But anyway I will get excited for Brazil 2016! Woo!

We had a delightful night out on Friday. We went to see The Lego Movie, dinner with a gift card at Red Lobster and then ended the night with a quick run to the grocery store. Pretty snazzy. The Lego Movie was just fine. I didn't see anything wrong with it, I was just enjoying. There were lots of kids with us in the theater and we of course laughed at completely different times but that's to be expected. I LOVED the Lego ocean, so so cool!

Those were the weekend highlights. See you tomorrow for more blog fun.