Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I requested an ARC of Leza Lowitz’s Up from the Sea because it’s almost perfectly my thing–a verse novel dealing with real events and how they change our lives.  I was excited to start it, I loved reading it, and I would have finished it MUCH sooner if my baby would only go back to sleeping through the night again.  (Being up every night affects how quickly I do what has to be done, which cuts rather deeply into how much time I have left over to read.  Sadness.)  Nevertheless, I stayed up past midnight to finish it last night, and I wasn’t disappointed–it ended as well as it began.

Up from the Sea is narrated by Kai, a seventeen-year-old boy who loses his mother and his grandparents in the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck coastal Japan in March of 2011.  As he struggles to cope with their loss, not to mention the loss of his home, many of his friends, and most of his teachers, he is invited to visit New York and meet with young people who lost their families on 9/11; while there, he reaches out to his American father for the first time since he left Japan.  His first attempt is unsuccessful, but with time and effort, he is able to reconnect with not only his father, but with parts of himself that he abandoned after his father abandoned him. That connections brings healing for Kai, who in turn finds a way to help his community heal as well.

Here’s the awesome thing about this book.  You like survivor stories?  Check.  Stories about overcoming adversity?  Check.  Stories about tragedy bringing people together?  Check.  Stories about father/son relationships?  Check.  Classic underdog sports stories?  Check.  What’s not to love?

It’s a good book, friends, and it comes out on Tuesday.  Don’t miss it!

I WAS going to blog about last night’s ham and noodle casserole, but today was just plain too weird.  In the interest of brevity, the high was going bra shopping BY MYSELF (thanks to my amazing carpool friend!) and finally replacing the cheap, hashed bras that I’ve been wearing for years.  A few thoughts on the process…

1)Buying a bra is WAY more complicated than it feels like it should be.

2)Why does Victoria’s Secret think I’m a D?  I can assure you, NO ONE ELSE ON THIS PLANET thinks I’m a D.

3)Trying on a slew of $40-$50 bras made putting my old bra back on a very depressing experience.  If I’d had time to change at the store after paying, I totally would have.

The low point of the day was having someone pull into my driveway, steal our ladder out of our (open) garage, and make a clean getaway while either the kids or I or all of us were in view of the front windows the entire time.  The kicker is that we didn’t see anything–a neighbor got suspicious and came over to talk to us about it.  (I should probably point out that a rather large bush obscures our view of the driveway from the front windows, but still.)  Ugh.

The rest of the day was just an odd mix of an unexpected nap on the couch, a sad nine-year-old who lost her new waterproof Christmas mittens at school, and a fussy baby.  (Incidentally, if that fussy baby is up in the night the way she has been the last two nights, we’re going back to the pediatrician’s tomorrow.) Perhaps I’ll talk about ham and noodle casserole tomorrow; in the meantime, the sooner I shower, the sooner I can sleep.

Theoretically.  (Again with the fussy baby…)

Rapunzel’s Revenge was easily my girlie’s favorite of the 5 graphic novels she read as possible genre report subjects.  Picture the tale of Rapunzel as a western (with the heroine wielding a very impressive lasso of you-know-what).  Throw in a sidekick from another fairy tale, a few monsters, and a whole lot of action, and you’ve got a story my daughter adored.  My hubby really liked it as well, while I, well…

Here’s the thing–it was good.  I can’t actually come up with anything I didn’t like about it.  It’s just that I don’t love the format of a graphic novel, and while the western setting worked PERFECTLY, that’s not so much my thing either.  I’m going to have to go with an honest “it’s not the book, it’s me,” for this one.  I can totally recommend it–it’s worth your time–because my mind knows it was excellent.  (With an impressively strong female lead to boot.)  I just–I wasn’t feeling it.  But I know I should have been.

Maybe I’ll have more insight when I read the sequel.  Have you read it?  What did you think?

Today?  Let’s see…

I didn’t get to bed until after midnight last night, since the baby was up.  She was up again at 12:30, and then again at 4.  I suctioned her and fed her and held her, but it took an hour to get her to settle, which meant that I got under an hour’s sleep before my three-year-old came into our room to throw up.  Then there was diarrhea…and the realization that food sounded unpleasant to me…and the making of a doctor’s appointment for the baby at 7 pm, so I could leave the other kids with Daddy.

That sounds sad, right?  Here’s the thing–it is what it is.  Some days of parenthood are like that–we all know it.  And while yes, I’m all about today being over, it could have been SO much worse.  My son threw up into my garbage can and then had diarrhea in the toilet–no cleanup for me!  I ate very little today, but I haven’t thrown up.  My amazing carpooling friend picked up a few things for me at the grocery store–the very most important things–and we got Amoxicillin for an ear infection at the doctor’s, which is FAR preferable to hearing that it’s a virus and there’s nothing to be done.  I am looking forward, then, to a better day tomorrow, and eventual WELLNESS for the baby (although that’s a lofty goal this time of year).  Maybe even more sleep tonight.

Hope springs eternal!

1)Semi-annual sales are a blessing and a curse.  I really need a new bra, so I’m planning on hitting Victoria’s Secret soon, but oh, how tempted I am by Yankee Candle’s 5 large candles for $55!

2)Today my hubby bought me cream puffs from Costco and exercise pants.  Talk about counter-productive…

3)And lest you think he was being anything other than sweet, I do exercise, I don’t have clothes for it, and these pants say Sexy Redhead on them.

4)I’m pretty sure letting my 9-year-old stay up on New Year’s Eve wasn’t worth it.

5)My carpool friend is going to take the kids to school on Monday morning, which is usually my thing.  The Monday after Christmas break?  Hallelujah!

6)As much as I rather enjoy listing random thoughts, it’s Saturday night and I have to practice my hymns for Sunday.  Goodnight all!