Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Sometime in the last ten years or so it occurred to me that coming up with a book title is hard. I can’t remember what book I was thinking of, but my thought process went something like, “That was a terrible title for that book, really, it SHOULD have been called…ummm…ummm…oh, snap…” On the other hand, published authors have editors and such on hand to help with that, right? which is why I only feel a little guilty saying that I totally enjoyed Katherine Center’s The Lost Husband, but dang, that was a lousy title for the book in question. For one, the husband is most definitely DEAD, and that’s not a spoiler–he’s already dead when the book starts. For another, well–the book’s not about him. It’s about Libby, her two children, and their journey to a different life with their Aunt/Great Aunt Jean, an honest-to-goodness farmer. There are a few other characters that matter, of course, but really, this is Libby’s journey, and the book focuses on her relationships with her mother (another difficult one, making me wonder about Katherine Center’s own mother), her aunt, her children–AND the hairy handyman who milks the goats with her. It’s a lot about healing, dealing with life’s challenges, and coming to terms with yourself–and a little about cheese. The Lost Husband is a thoroughly enjoyable book about a positive emotional journey, and I’d definitely recommend it as a thoughtful but cozy comfort read.

On the other hand, it’s NOT about a lost husband.

In other news, I missed Saturday and Monday because we spent Saturday prepping for Monday, and Monday working and hosting a BBQ. My hubby’s side of the family–just about all of the Utah ones PLUS the Virginia branch that flew in Monday morning–came to help us move our shed, fill it back up again, and prep and rock our park strip. (As in, put rocks down…although other interpretations are amusing to contemplate!) They came early to beat the heat, and since I had trouble falling asleep Sunday night and woke up at 5 on Monday with weird dreams and couldn’t get BACK to sleep, I was completely exhausted last night. On the other hand, my shed is no longer crooked and currently VERY neatly organized with room to spare, my garage is clean and I AM PARKED IN IT!, and my park strip is mostly rocked (we did run out before we were done). Not to mention that my fabulously helpful in-laws also demolished the weeds by my fence and reinforced our sagging mailbox. (No joke–family is an unimaginable blessing.) And if there were a few casualties of the drive to get rid of stuff, well–they pale in significance to what was accomplished.

That pretty much brings us up to date, folks. I can’t promise a post tomorrow, even though I’ll try, but in the meantime, have a lovely short week!