Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Not that those are the ONLY things happening this week–it’s just that each of my kiddos is getting done on a different night this year, due to my oldest daughter’s work schedule and church youth activities, not to mention the difficulties of getting kids to dance. I’m the sort of person who really, really doesn’t like having things four evenings in a row, you know? I’d rather get things done first thing in the morning.

On the other hand, I went to the temple this morning and I’ve managed errands on Monday and Tuesday, so there’s that. And there’s no school on Friday! Now, if I can only work out our October travel plans to everyone’s satisfaction…

And it’s not even a full month late–go me! The ‘it’, of course, is my 15-year-old’s birthday graphic novel, which I finished–and then ordered–yesterday. Cassandra Calin’s The New Girl is the big winner (despite my lingering feeling that Lia’s pose and expression on the cover is eerily reminiscent of a pin-up from the ’40s or ’50s). It is, apparently, a semi-autobiographical tale of immigration to Canada from Romania, and it portrays with both poignancy and humor the difficulties of change, of learning a new language, and of balancing homesickness with the need to step into the new life that is–no matter how you feel about it–yours. It also deals with the unpleasant reality of early periods, in a way that’s both relatable and important. Add to that some well-handled friend issues, and you have a book for teen girls that entertains–AND matters. (And that is coming to live at my house!)

In other news, I’m desperately glad it’s the weekend–AND that my oldest isn’t working for it. We could all use some sleep and R&R! I do need to come up with a meal plan for tonight AND do enough laundry that my jaunt to a midday bridal shower tomorrow won’t throw me badly off-schedule, but those are both doable…ESPECIALLY when there are NO 90s in the 7-day forecast. WAHOO!!!!!!

I started reading Barbara Carroll Roberts’ Nikki on the Line aloud to my now-15-year-old because she picked it from a handful of choices; after the first couple of reading sessions, however, she “wasn’t that into it” and opted to move on to something else. I finally finished it myself day before yesterday, and I have to say–it was definitely her loss. Barbara Carroll Roberts’ debut novel is good.

To be fair, my girlie (as far as I know) has zero interest in playing basketball; I’m not actually sure how much she knows about the sport. She’s possibly my girliest girl when it comes to her hobbies, and dance is definitively her athletic activity of choice. That said, I was never particularly into basketball, either–I played church ball when our youth group played because, well, that’s what you did; I didn’t hate the game, but I hated how bad we were compared to most of the groups we played. The only sport I’ve ever played for fun is volleyball. Of course, having played church basketball, I have a basic working knowledge that my daughter possibly lacks, but perhaps more importantly, I frequently enjoy sports in literature. I may find, for example, watching baseball to be (at best) unexciting, but a pivotal game in a well-written book can keep me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps it’s my competitive streak?*

Anyway. The point is that I was a bit surprised my girlie wasn’t into Nikki, because it’s well written and blends humor and pathos quite nicely. Yeah, it’s about basketball, but haven’t we all had something we were good at, only to find that we reached a point when the competition got harder and we suddenly didn’t seem as good as we’d always thought we were? Add to that something about our family that feels embarrassing, plus a hyper younger sibling and some shifting friend dynamics, and there’s something for just about everyone in Nikki. I’m old enough to have grown impatient during her (completely realistic) bout of self-pity, but it was a pleasure to cheer her on as she figured out how to deal with a set of new challenges. In MY opinion, there’s something in this book for everyone, and I highly recommend it.

Now, to find out if Roberts has written anything else…

*My apologies for how scattered this paragraph is–I’m too tired to change it!

Remember when my deep freeze decided to temporarily not freeze over the summer? I still have food sort of divided between before and after, with before things like popsicles being added to smoothies, and before things like meat being, well–used up. (Because it didn’t thaw all the way, so it’s not spoiled, and I’m just too cheap to toss it all.) Yesterday, since my hubby was home for it, we tried these Grilled Kansas City Pork Chops for dinner, doing 5 pork chops instead of six because a)my oldest was at work and b)it’s what we had anyway. The rub got a little intense with only 5, although that may have also been because paprika isn’t my favorite…who knows. (By-the-by, I used smoked paprika because I like it better than sweet.) Overall, though, if you discounted the occasional freezer-y tasting bits around the edges, they were pretty good–although only my 15-year-old said she wanted them again. (Of course, my 9-year-old’s food votes are not to be relied on.) I think it probably comes down to whether the recipe sounds good to you–if it does, you’ll probably enjoy it, whereas if it doesn’t sound like your thing, you probably won’t.

Deep, right?

Because it didn’t feel like it. My oldest made a normal teenage mistake and then reacted in a way that made it clear her mental health has taken a nosedive, which isn’t really surprising when you consider her personality and the level of responsibility–both physical and emotional–she carries at the new job she started on the first day of school.

Which new job is turning out to see her coming home between 9:45 and 10:15–on at least one school night a week.

Did I mention that this is the child who struggles to sleep but desperately needs a certain amount of it to function well?

Anyway. We’ve been trying to help and take care of her (as well as, of course, her siblings, because they’re ALL our job), and that plus a range of other commitments has made for a busier week than I’d originally anticipated. We adjust, right? It’s just that my midweek blog post was one of the things that got adjusted out, so to speak.

The kicker is that I still need to get to Costco and back before the kiddos get home from school (and Friday is still early day for two of them), and so today’s book review is going to be short (although I will try not to phone it in, so to speak). A short review for a short book, right? I read The Friendship Matchmaker aloud with my youngest, and she was surprisingly into it; I, on the other hand, wasn’t expecting something quite so–tongue-in-cheek? Satirical? Yes, the concept of a school ‘friendship matchmaker’–one with a manual and specific rules to follow for the matchees–isn’t exactly straight realistic fiction, but still. Lara’s commitment to taking herself seriously is completely enjoyable for adults as well as kids, and if the ending is surprisingly low on drama–improbably so–it makes for a more fun reading experience. (Honestly, it felt a little like a re-write of a pivotal scene from Harriet the Spy with positive, likable kids.) The showdown between two ways of being (as represented by Lara and new student Emily) is actually seriously insightful, and yet it’s couched in the sort of humor that completely obscures the fact that solid life skills are being presented and analyzed. If you have elementary school kids, they may well get a kick out of this–and if you’ve ever had to deal with your elementary schoolers’ friend dramas, you probably will, too.

This past weekend was a strange mixture of relaxation and frenetic activity; the three girls and I went to my niece’s bridal shower on Saturday morning, which was relaxing and involved a good deal of enjoyable visiting; on the other hand, I wrote out recipes as part of our gift, and THAT involved a somewhat frustrating trip to Michael’s and a busy evening the night before. Saturday afternoon was all about laundry and tidying and household chores, and we taught Sunday School on Sunday; we had dinner in Clearfield, however, and my 15-year-old made our dessert, so I only had to bring and cut up a watermelon before focusing on eating and playing games. And yesterday my son helped me make his (very belated) birthday breakfast, after which I did dishes and more chores and went to Walmart with my oldest, but then a friend came over and we watched a movie with her while I cross-stitched, which was nice. When she left, however, it was back to chores again! This morning is a more straightforward day of chores and more chores and more chores; at least, however, I’ve gotten off to a good start.

And SPEAKING of that good start, I finished reading Kevin Henkes’ Oh, Sal aloud with my 9-year-old the other day, and since I’ll be returning library books later, I figured I’d best get it ready to go back. I have mixed feelings about Kevin Henkes’ non-picture-book offerings–he’s such a genius with few words that it’s like the more he uses, the more uneven the effect becomes–but the Miller family books are written for early elementary school readers, and I’ve tended to like them better as a result. Sal features Billy Miller’s younger sister–Billy has two books of his own with Sal as a supporting character–dealing with eminently relatable post-Christmas difficulties. Haven’t we all struggled with a particular relative and misplaced a gift we loved? (Not necessarily at the same time, yes, but haven’t we?) Sal is understandably upset, although experienced parents will likely suspect a bit of an adrenaline crash as well. She’s ALSO dealing with a new baby in the family, which is another doozy. How it all works out made for fun reading with my youngest, and while my personal tastes run more towards the true middle grade novel, Sal is excellent fare for its target audience.