Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Not as often as I’d like right now, it’s true, but it does happen. To wit? Yesterday I finished listening to Freya Sampson’s The Busybody Book Club, which was quite gripping towards the end. I don’t know whether to call it character driven fiction or a cozy mystery–I suppose it’s a mashup of the two–but it follows Nova Davies, who runs a (very) small book club at a community center in Cornwall. When a large sum of money is stolen on the same night that a book club member rushes out partway through with no explanation, Nova’s work habits come under scrutiny, and she allows herself to be drawn into her book club’s amateur sleuthing in hopes of getting the money back. The sleuthing, however, puts a strain on her relationship with her fiance, and when murder enters the picture, things get even dicier. How it all comes out is a captivating ride, and the name/plot dropping of an impressive number of mystery and romance titles makes it all the more entertaining. Book lovers and fans of found family plots should enjoy this one.

In the meantime, my son’s schedule was successfully changed yesterday, tonight is freshman orientation, and I’ve already taken a nap today. (In my defense, my almost-17-year-old had to be picked up at 10:45 last night and taken to dance at 5:45 this morning.) I’ve got wash in the dryer, my youngest has a friend over, and I did some very good work in my kitchen this morning. I’m pretty sure my audiobook is calling me…

I did mean to post yesterday–truly, I did. But the morning started with the AC/Furnace people coming before 9–NOT to measure, as I thought, but to install. Which entailed my almost-17-year-old finding a ride to seminary council, since I didn’t want to leave the littles home with the installers first thing, plus dishes and then a warm house by the time they were done and the AC was on again. My oldest was blessedly on her way home and close to the high school when her sister was ready to be picked up, but between doggedly cleaning the living room (my youngest was sure she was going to die), taking a child shopping, and finding time to eat meals, well–it was a day. And I never do well when my expectations of the day undergo sudden and significant revisions first thing in the morning.

On the other hand, here I am now, right? And on Tuesday–starting while the littles and a friend apiece were at Classic–I read the start of a delightful new graphic novel series by Deborah Underwood and Jorge Lacera. The Fairy Tale Fixers: Cinderella owes some of Cinderella’s character to ‘The Princess and the Frog’, but it’s got mice, an evil stepmother and stepsisters, and a handsome prince. One of the mice, in fact, gets the plot rolling–she’s so tired of all the yelling at Cinderella that she employs the Fairy Tale Fixer to get Cinderella out of the house so she (the mouse) can (hopefully) get some sleep. Unfortunately, the handsome prince is an incredible bore, so the initial fix needs some serious fixing. The plot is highly entertaining, the illustrations are fun, and at 120 or pages, it’s got crossover appeal between early readers and solid ones. Check it out when you’ve got a chance!

The good news is that I am making progress. The (temporarily) bad news is that I have bags upon bags of clothes waiting to go to different people and places, so not half of the things designated to leave my house have actually left yet. One step at a time, I guess…

Anyway. It was a full weekend, what with a work event Friday night, fetching the middles back from Provo early Saturday morning (together with all of their laundry), teaching adult Sunday school, Sunday dinner in Clearfield with my and my August birthday girlie’s birthday dessert, and a devotional to drop the middles off at afterwards. Today I’m allowing myself a slower pace while still accomplishing things, which is why I made myself this Old Fashioned Kidney Bean Salad to have for lunch (I wanted higher protein and fewer carbs today). I halved it, since I wasn’t sure anyone else was going to be excited about it, and when I read the blogger’s note that it would have a deviled-eggy sort of vibe, I decided to add a teaspoon each of horseradish and mustard, both of which are in my deviled egg recipe. That worked for me, but I ended up wishing I’d salted it more liberally (I wish ‘salt and pepper to taste’ always came with a ballpark amount to start with). I’m not so sure about the texture of the beans (oh, I used red instead of kidney, since kidney beans are unkind to my digestive system), but they do add a significant portion of the nutritional value, so there’s that. It wasn’t instantly amazing, but it’s good enough to tinker with. Let me know what you think!

You want to say that with the emphasis on the first syllable, because I really have been working on projects. My middles are off at FSY–sort of a church camp but at a college–and so I’ve been working with my youngest to clean up the stuff that’s been taking up space in her brother’s room. (To be clear, she still has things in her brother’s room–the goal is just to clear out everything she doesn’t want and get the rest into drawers and/or bins.) There was a great trying on of shoes earlier in the week that saw a very full kitchen garbage bag’s worth of shoes leave our house for other homes; this morning saw a great trying on of shirts, and all of the too-small shorts have already left. Tomorrow will need to see more trying on of shirts–she only had so much in her–but by the time we’re done, I’m guessing whatever short-sleeved shirts that are still too big are going to fit into the same bin the too-big shorts are in. Hallelujah!

In the meantime, I’ve been reading less because of the projects, but I did read Planet Omar: Operation Kind aloud with that same youngest while we were in Idaho visiting family. (No link because it appears to be out of print, but you can find it used on Amazon for pretty cheap if you’re interested.) A novella written for ‘World Book Day’ in 2021, Operation Kind fits into the middle of the Planet Omar series and follows Omar, Daniel, and Charlie (together with a helpful adult or two) as they encounter a series of obstacles while trying to give Daniel’s sister, Suzie–who is in and out of the hospital–an amazingly fantastic surprise. There are some typos, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable ride!

And now, my friends, it’s back to the projects–or rather, the daily things that struggle to get done while I’m working on the projects. All you can do is eke away at things, right?

We’re back! After a crazy week (plus), we’re currently all back from visiting family, and I’m up to my ears in laundry. While driving to Idaho and visiting my parents, however, I wanted audiobooks I was already familiar with, and as I was scrolling through the ‘available now’ list of titles, it suddenly occurred to me that it might be entertaining to revisit some of the Louis L’Amour novels that I read in junior high.* I ended up listening to both Utah Blaine and Kiowa Trail while I was in Idaho, so here are my thoughts!

First of all, L’Amour heroes definitely have a type. They’re broad of shoulder, lean of hip, rugged and honorable–you get the idea. Utah Blaine is a former soldier who saves a rancher from a lynching and undertakes to protect his land from a whole town of greedy men who want to get their hands on it. (Hence the lynching.) Conn from Kiowa Trail works for the woman he’s loved for years, and when her younger brother is shot in the back for daring to pay a call on a townsman’s daughter, he backs up her planned revenge on the town. In general, the bad guys get more or less what they deserve, the good guys get the girl, and there is a surprising lack of death by infection for the number of people getting shot. Utah Blaine has some fairly impressive insta-love, but like I said, westerns are formulaic. You know what you’re getting. There are definitely original elements within the formula, however, which is what makes L’Amour fun. Both books have flaws–Utah Blaine suffers from insufficient falling action and Kiowa Trail has a noticeable streak of racism unsurprising for the time and subject–but if you go in with your eyes open, both books still have entertainment value. Anybody else out there go through a western phase at some point in their life?

*Why was I reading westerns in Rhode Island when I was in junior high? Well, we had a downstairs cabinet holding shelves of them, which I found out recently from my sister used to be my dad’s ‘graduation’ books. (As in, he would buy one and read it during graduation at RIC, since college graduations when you’re only there as a professor and don’t know anyone actually graduating are deathly boring.) And when I was in junior high, I still had plenty of free time, so I read a whole lot of books that we owned simply because they were there. Plus, westerns are comfortingly predictable–the hero wins every time.

After a double session last night and a marathon today, I finished reading Penny Draws a School Play aloud with my youngest–and it was lovely. Seriously–I really do love Penny! Her anxieties are relatable and her sense of humor is a hoot. Author Sara Shepard’s illustrations are bursting with personality, and Penny’s own travails subtly encourage readers to deal with their own struggles healthily. In the series’ second book, Juice Box seems to be struggling with the idea of the coming babies, Penny is horrified that she has to have a part in the 5th grade play, and then their parents drop the biggest bomb of all. (No spoilers, though!) My girlie was not best pleased at the cliffhanger ending, but at least the next book is only a library away.

In other news, it looks like I’m going to be busy with some family things for the next week or so, so it’ll probably be radio silence until the 24th. AND our AC isn’t working properly (did I mention it hit 106 here yesterday?), which is going to be far more expensive than we were hoping for. I’ll take good thoughts if you’ve got them…

That’s what I keep telling myself, folks. It doesn’t make Sunday’s projected high of 106 more palatable, necessarily, but I’m trying to count my blessings!

On the other hand, it is perfect weather to send kids to the pool when you’re trying to finish the audio version of the book you want to give your son for his birthday, and that’s exactly what I did yesterday. My 16-year-old supervised my littles, together with my youngest’s bestie, and a friend of hers met them there (we gave him a ride home). I dropped them off and settled in with a puzzle and the last 40% of Steve Sheinkin’s Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team, and while I picked them up before I finished it, I polished off the last bit while chopping veggies for dinner.

It was fascinating.

I suppose football fans would know a decent amount of the information in Sheinkin’s book, but it was pretty much news to me. (Except, sadly, the part about boarding schools intentionally separating Native Americans from their heritage. That I knew.) From the disturbing number of deaths that took place in college football games to the rule shifting over time, Undefeated is a treasure trove of history that doesn’t get talked about much. I had no idea that Jim Thorpe was in the Olympics, let alone what happened afterward. Honestly, I feel like everybody in this country ought to read this book, but that goes double for football fans and those specially interested in Native American history. Thorpe’s story deserves to be known.

That said, my son is a football but not so much a reading fan, so I’ll keep you posted on how THAT goes. Wish us luck!

In case you’re wondering, we’re still desperately trying to reclaim the fridge from reunion food; today I cut up half of the watermelon we inherited (I have no idea who brought it), but I haven’t the fridge room or the large containers to cut up the other half. On the other hand, the lemon chicken orzo soup we brought for the soup contest is officially gone, I emptied one container of frozen watermelon for a lunch smoothie, and the chicken levels are dropping! (We had leftovers for lunch and we’re having leftovers for dinner, in case you’re wondering.)

I’ve also finished two ‘Baby-Sitters Club’ graphic novels in the last three days in a similarly desperate attempt to move some short books out of my bedroom; while I don’t always review those here (they really are quite short), Dawn on the Coast was on the longer side (comparatively), so that’s what you get today!

I actually have mixed feelings about Dawn on the Coast. The plot is pretty straightforward–Dawn goes to California to visit her dad and brother and, reminded of what she loves about it, is tempted to stay. What will she decide? On the one hand, I think the book’s target audience will vibe with Dawn’s dilemma (friends in both places, etc.), but on the other hand, I wish the author had found a way to talk through some of the issues with her. One of my favorite things about intermediate fiction is when the author uses the plot and other characters to help the main character gain deeper understanding about his/her life; done well, it can be an invaluable way to help the character gain added maturity and the readers to get a useful life lesson without realizing it. (Many of the issues Dawn faces don’t lend themselves to that in such a limited setting, true, but it did feel like she could have remembered that while her brother was thrilled to have her visiting, living with a sibling is never all sunshine and roses.) And of course, on a more personal level, I can’t relate to most of the California draws, so to speak–I’m Team Connecticut all the way. My 11-year-old thinks it’s probably a 5 star read, however, so there’s that. I’ll let you decide!

I’m still abominably tired, but here’s a quick rundown of our family reunion…

Tuesday–cooked and prepped food until I was beyond sick of the smell of taco meat. And my daughter was helping!

Wednesday–cleaned, prepped, packed, and drove to Bear Lake (okay, my hubby drove). My soup did not place in the soup contest, but it wasn’t creamy and had onions, so that wasn’t shocking. Once I wound down a bit it was a fun evening.

Thursday–family video, games, chilling, family pictures, and Fear Factor. My kiddos were brave–I was proud of all of them!

Friday–my amazing hubby took the kids to the lake. I stayed and chilled and played games and avoided the sun. There were shakes before dinner and karaoke before bed.

Saturday–we packed up and made it home by lunchtime. We were all so tired it was a blessing no one really lost it; we watched “Back to the Future” together and went to bed early. Hurrah!

Fast Sunday–still so tired, but hey, leftovers were ready to eat at dinnertime!

Today–so. much. laundry. Also Costco, and I started a new book with my youngest.

A final note–I am so blessed to love my in-laws. We had a grand old time, there were no major conflicts, and no one puked in the car in either direction. WIN!

We have an abundance of family time slated for this week, so I’m going to be radio silence until Monday. Here’s a fun fact I learned this week, though–“Eleanor Rigby” (yes, the Beatles song) has no percussion. None. The strings keep the beat.

You learn something new every day, right?