want books?

The first reviews from the A-Z Challenge. More to come.

B. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Awesome. Loved it. I fell in love with this book, and then it broke my heart. The narrator (Death) tells you the end of the book, so that's not a surprise, but it hurts more than you think it will, for many reasons.

C. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff. It was a bit dry at the beginning. There are many, many references to people, places, and events, most of them ancient, which took me a while to read and not feel out of the loop. Someone like my husband, who loves reading about ancient civilizations, would no doubt find it second nature to understand, but I struggled. I love the description of her education in Alexandria. It sounds incredibly rigorous and thorough—I'm jealous. I thought it was fascinating how much emphasis was placed on the art of public speaking and rhetoric, two skills almost absent in our school system. I was also a little horrified to realize how often they married, and killed, or both, close family members. There was no perfect world or golden age of the past; people have always been what they are. I am left wanting to know what was in Cleopatra's heart. Did she like being a mom? Would she give it all up? What did she think defined who she was? Excellent insights into this woman who was, from all accounts, a political mastermind, enthralling conversationalist, and quite plain-looking royal. I also learned what a diadem is...who knew all you needed to be royal was a white ribbon?

G. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Two Someones. I really liked it. It starts off with a light tone but has some very serious notes. There is a good humor throughout. I was drawn to the narrator, probably in part because it was a female in her early 30s (like me) and one who loves writing, but she also had an awesome wit and strong spunkiness. I never knew that Germany had occupied English territory during WWII, so I learned some new information. I enjoyed all the little facts that were, I'd bet on it, true stories from the German occupation of this English island. These were both good and bad, the best and worst of humanity. It had an interesting layout, composed entirely of letters, telegrams, and notes between the characters. There were quite a few surprises for the reader. You are led to assume some things and then realize the truth is almost the opposite. I liked it overall but it took a very serious time and topic and portrayed it in what felt like a light-hearted manner.

I. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Took me a while to get through it, but I did. I'm not big on non-fiction but I'm getting better. I particularly liked that this one also told the story of living people and their lives. It was hard for me to not judge them, based on their level of education and income, but more on their desires and misunderstanding of the world in general. The scientific aspects were well-explained and interesting. I'd give it a 7/10. I just never really cared that much, like I felt the author wanted me to, that this woman's cells had been taken from her and were now multiplying by the billions all over the world. Tons of people had cells, tissues, etc. taken from them. Hers kept growing. Should the family, 60 years later, be reimbursed for that? I did like the ethical issues and legal cases presented that related. I felt like the author clearly wanted me to feel one way but never came right out and said it. If anything, however, she accomplished her aim of telling the world who Henrietta Lacks was and what her family is doing today.

L. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. This story was stuck in my head for days! It had a slow start but then started linking lives of various characters into one another's fates and left me caring about each one. I've seen it on quite a few “Must Read” lists, and I don't know if I'd agree with that. But I did enjoy it.

M. The Misadventures of Augie March by Saul Bellows. Terrible. Read 10% and couldn't bear to go one more page. Too much description of boring mean people. Uninspiring main character. Still no plot after 50+ pages. Ugh. Maybe if I'd been stranded on an island with nothing else to do, I'd pick it up to finish, but only after a few weeks had gone by and I was bored of counting sand grains. It must get better, but I have too many other books I want to read.

O. Outliers: the story of success by Malcolm Gladwell. Reminds me of Freakonomics. Browsed through a couple pages and it got me hooked before I actually started to read. Liked it a lot! One particular section stands out to me. He is talking about education, namely in the U.S. and in Asian countries, and gives the actual days in class of students. U.S.: 180. Japan: 243. He also posits that some reasons for our slacking in education, notably math, is inherently linguistic in nature. Our numbers are confusing because of our names for them, while that isn't the case in Chinese. His overall theme is that it takes a remarkable intersection of timing, luck, hard work, and intelligence to be an amazing success, or “outlier” in life. He demonstrates this with the Beatles, Bill Gates, and others. I thought it was fascinating reading.

Y. You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. Stories (fictional) set around the army base of Fort Hood, Texas, that bring that mini-world to life. The wives left behind, the men in Iraq, the ways war has changed from the common stories we hear of WWII. It was well-written but left me feeling desolate, like one of the women with small children who knew she would be alone for the next twelve months. Is it good writing when I was irritable, depressed, and lonely after reading it? I felt their feelings. There were moments of poignant and tender truths, especially regarding motherhood and marriage. This life and culture came alive for me. I know some people in these circumstances, so I couldn't keep them out of my mind. I also thought a lot about what my own mom went through while we lived on an army base, though the US was not engaged in any war at the time and my dad was never deployed. When I was little, we swam at the Officer's Club pool and did our grocery shopping at the commissary. It was overall sad, heartbreaking—there are many casualties in a war.

a change of pace

I just wrote and sent off my official resignation to the school district. They should have received it yesterday or today. I am no longer a teacher. :( Not officially employed as one, anyway; I consider myself a teacher in my soul and always will be. Up to this point of the school year, I've officially been on a maternity leave. That enabled us to take advantage of health insurance and sick days and also gave us a cushion to make a decision, in case something drastic and unforeseen were to occur. None of that happened, thank goodness, and now it's time to make it permanent. But what I thought would be an easy decision hasn't turned out to be that way. I feel the pull of my job much more than I thought I would...for a number of reasons.

When I was growing up, I always assumed I would be a mom who was at home with her kids, because kids were a lot of work, and so was taking care of a household. My mom did it, her mom did it, etc., etc. I think that yes, men and fathers are very much an active part of caring for a home and children, but the primary responsibility lies with the mother. One, it's a practical thing. Breastfeeding takes up hours of the day for a newborn, and I still spend roughly two hours a day devoted to it. Second, can I just say how nice it is that one of us can take care of all those errands that we used to have to rush through in the evenings, when both of us were already tired and stressed and the last thing we wanted to do was sit on hold with the insurance company? Now, I take care of much of that during the day, in a relaxed state, which allows both Brian and I to enjoy our evenings more.

There are a lot of things I will miss about teaching. There are a lot of things that I won't miss about teaching. There is no day off from being a mom. There are certainly easy days, where everything seems to flow, and terrible ones where nothing gets accomplished except a stretching of patience.

We went over the pros and cons. Money and insurance: Obviously, having two incomes can lead to much more latitude in the financial department, whether it is in spending, bills, savings, etc. We figured out, however, that my not working will actually save us some money, because I won't have to get gas for my 50-mile round trip daily. I won't have all those hidden teacher costs like buying supplies for my room because it's such a pain to get ones through the school's system and when you do, they're poor quality and you rarely get the budget money approved, anyway. No daycare costs, leading to (hopefully) fewer colds and thus, fewer doctor visits (and bills) for Joseph.

The time is huge. Which leads to the energy factor, and the focus of attention issue, and on to sleep. All major and very real considerations. I also know that it was a good job with a good salary and good benefits, and that in this world, it's not easy to just give that up. I know that this means I will have to look and apply again at some point in the future. That thought fills my heart with dread because I loathe job searching. And, for Pete's sake, I'm still paying off my student loan from grad school. I liked being a part of an adult, professional world, even if sometimes I felt like I was a kid playing pretend. I have less demand on me to write various things, but more time to do so. My brain is engaged in ways it never has been before.

In the end, I'm doing it for a few reasons. Prophets have counseled that in situations where it is possible, mothers should give full-time care to their children. I would never have been able to write a blog this long when I was working full time. But mostly, it's for this:

Tag, you're it!

My friend Robin tagged me and I enjoyed reading hers...so here is mine.

1. Four shows that you watch:

• CSI -through Netflix
• Man vs. Wild -except we watched all the DVDs we own of it :(
• The Office -online
• Jeopardy -on Monday nights at Grandma's as part of FHE

2. Four things you are passionate about:

• the outdoors: camping, hiking, etc.
• family traditions 
• the gospel
• equal rights and respect for all people...I was trying to think of what I'm passionate about and I get furious and frustrated at almost ANY form of disrespect, including issues like women's rights, child abuse, misuse of power, gossip, on and on.

3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:

• I love you, Babe!
• the words to "My Heavenly Father Loves Me"
• What do you want for dinner tonight?
• What a good boy!

4. Four things you have learned from the past:

• I will always feel better after the workout. So just do it.
• I like to be bossy, too much sometimes. But being a teacher, this worked out well. I don't like people telling me what to do. I even got annoyed at the nurses at the hospital when Joseph was born. I need to relax sometimes!
• I am not perfect. But then, neither is anyone else. Cool. :)
• Laughter and a walk outside will improve any mood.

5. Four Places you would like to go:

• on a cruise again with Brian. It doesn't matter where...
• to visit Hungary again and people from my mission
• to Salt Lake to visit Amy when she has her baby in March
• backpack the Oregon segment of the Pacific Crest Trail. I think a month would be enough.

6. Four things you did yesterday

• watched Jeopardy
• held Joseph while he took a nap in my arms in front of the computer
• washed the dishes
• purposefully skipped flossing

7. Four things you are looking forward to:

• when we have our own house
• and I can plant a garden
• and eat tomatoes with that delicious garden flavor!
• Meeting future family members, those little ones about to be born.

8. Four things you love about winter:

• I love all the holidays because it means spending time with family and people you don't get to see much but who mean a lot to you
• I love the rare snowfall, though I've found it's much less exciting when I don't get a day off work
• I love going to see waterfalls that are roaring and bounding out of their banks
• I love the focus on our Savior

9. Tag four people to play along:

Ok, don't feel obligated, but I love learning about others.

• Amy
• Mom
• Heidi
• Dan

Life is more of a rollercoaster than a highway sometimes

What an up and down week. Sometimes, life just rolls along in a normal routine. Other times, it turns into an avalanche. This past week was one of those.

We started out last week in Portland with my family, ending the celebration of Christmas with our Time of Jesus dinner. Dad made chicken with garlic and a pomegranate vinegar sauce, along with the cheese, crackers, olives, and fruit that we always have. The grandparents came over. We even had a kids' table, though the youngest at it was 28. We packed up the next day and headed back home, where we were able to spend more time with family at FHE. The next day we had a Second Christmas with Brian's famly, opening our presents to and from them. We went and saw True Grit. We found out that their plane tickets home weren't for the 29^th, as had been thought, but the 30^th. Woohoo, one more day!

The 30^th started out like any other lazy vacation day. But about 4 in the afternoon, Brian was trying to help Joseph calm down by giving him some milk in a bottle. The phone rang and I answered, but his mom wanted to talk to him...it was important. She asked him how he felt about wearing white and getting wet. He said, “What are you talking about?” She asked him if he'd like to baptize his dad, who wanted to get baptized. That night. Now, the story of Reed's conversion could (and probably should) be an entire entry on its own. He'd mentioned to us about a month earlier that he was seriously considering it, but there'd been not a peep since then. We had simply assumed it wouldn't be any time soon.

When we got to the church, Reed was holed up with the missionaries, who were going over the entire set of discussions again because it had been over a year since he'd met with them. Even though it was an hour late starting, even though the audience was mostly family, even though they had to warm up the font by boiling water in the kitchen and carrying it down the hallway, the baptismal service was peaceful, joyous, and full of the Spirit. Brian baptized Reed and then Kyle, Brian's brother, confirmed him soon after.

Thursday evening, Brian and I took Joseph out to Shore Acres to see the lights. They have over 300,000 now, some in beautiful animated displays, and we want to make it a yearly tradition. Joseph's big, beautiful eyes and rosy mouth, along with his fuzzy white suit, led the woman taking our picture to say, “She's so beautiful!” Yes, he is. :)

That night, Joseph made the transition from bassinet to crib for the full night. He doesn't seem to care much at all where he sleeps, and this way, he wouldn't be awakened by Brian getting up early in the morning for work.

Friday morning, the 31^st, we woke to a world frosted and white outside. There was no snow, but we could skate down the street on the ice. We wondered what the weather was like in Portland, so I got online to check Facebook and see if anyone had mentioned it. The first post at the top of the page was from my mom, and she wrote that my cousin and her husband has lost their seven-month-old son. Little James was in heaven. I felt so much sorrow and sympathy for my cousin. I struggled with tears all day. It breaks my heart. I simply can't imagine it. I have no words for it.

We decided to do something to get us out of the house. Last year, we'd gone out to Golden and Silver Falls on New Year's Eve because it had been raining like mad so we knew they'd be roaring. This year, with the sun shining, they were equally powerful. Brian's dad came with us and Joseph rode along in the front carrier while we hiked to the top. Of course, we forgot the camera, but it was a beautiful trail.

On the way home, I had the thought that we should stop and look at a house we'd looked at before and liked. It was way out of our price range, but it seemed like the perfect setting for us. The sign out front had something new...the words “short sale.” Interesting. Obviously unlived in for a few months, we felt it was okay to peek in the windows and see what we could. When we got home, we looked it up online. There it was. The price had dropped by $120,000. Wow. Time to get serious. I don't want to get my heart set on a house, especially when our plan was to not look seriously or think about buying one for another two years or so. But maybe, just maybe. We sent an email to a realtor we knew. We'll meet with him today and see what he says.

New Year's Eve seemed to take a backseat to everything else going on, but we had a fun night with family, playing games and eating too much food. We rang in the new year with banging pots and pans on the front porch and trying not to wake the babies.

Sunday was yet another change as we switched the time we started church. We were all ready to sleep in, but we must have forgotten to tell Joseph. Darn it. My new calling meant I was back in RS for the third hour. I missed the young women.

Today, Brian is back at work and Joseph and I are back on schedule. We got the dishes done, worked out, and are getting to the laundry. Life is back to rolling.

All of these experiences will take some time to digest and get used to. Our one constant is the love of the Savior and Heavenly Father. No matter what life brings, we know we can always turn to Them. We are so grateful for our friends and family, who share this life with us. You all bring so much joy and happiness to our hearts!

Happy New Year!

Reading A-Z

I've been looking for some new things to read recently and came across quite a few lists of what are proclaimed as the "Top 100 Novels of All Time" and such. Here are some examples:
Time's Top 100
100 best novels by Modern Library
 I haven't read a lot of them. As a teacher, I started offering extra credit to my students when they read books from the AP English suggested reading list:
APliteraturebyauthor
I've read maaaaaaybe a fourth of these.

And since September, I've been in a non-fiction book club and have had my world expanded through reading these books:

1491

Freakonomics

and...

Skeletons on the Zahara.

Also, Meg recommended a series to me,  http://www.rangersapprentice.com, and I thought the first book was a little cliche but each one has gotten better since then. I'm in the middle of the series now and looking forward to getting to the library soon where the next two are waiting for me.

So, my question is now, what should be next? I know I'll finish the Ranger's Apprentice series and continue with the non-fiction because of my book club, but what else should round out my reading? I decided to add more of the "classics" to my pile, so I put The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow on hold at the library. I'm considering going through the alphabet in titles...what are your suggestions? I'd love ideas of books you read that surprised you, were emotional, made you think, or just stuck with you. Or, ideally, all of the above. :) Fiction or not, adult or juvenile, all are welcomed...share the treasures you've found!