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!

Sooo…last week my newly-13-year-old asked me to get her Flipping Forward Twisting Backward from the library. I’m not actually sure how she found it, but it’s a new verse novel about a girl who’s amazing at gymnastics but has made it to the 5th grade without anyone realizing that she can’t–not really–read. When her vice principal catches on, however, he offers her options she didn’t realize she had; the catch is that her mom has to consent, and her mother doesn’t actually believe her. (That last part was difficult for both the parent and the teacher in me, because really? I managed not to hate her by reminding myself that a relatively-recently-divorced single mother with an emotionally demanding job–surgeon–isn’t always thinking straight.)

I knew my girlie was excited about the book, but when it came in at the library on Tuesday, I took a good look at it and decided I could commit myself to read it quickly before passing it on. (If she’d been at loose ends for something to read, mind, I would have given it to her, but as far as I know, she’s solidly into at least two different books at the moment.) I started it on Tuesday and finished it yesterday, and I’m reviewing it before she gets home from school so that I can surprise her with it (she did seem a little glum when there weren’t any library books for her on library day). The best part is that it was beautiful. I especially appreciated the supportive friends and sister, and I think the intended audience is going to love it, since it won’t be judging the parents and teacher in the same way I can’t help doing. (Also, Flipping Forward packs plenty of feels into its 130-odd pages.) If you like verse novels, gymnastics, or Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s Fish in a Tree, don’t miss this one.

I finished Alison McGhee’s Dear Sister on Monday, and I have to say–its characterization of an older brother/younger sister relationship felt pitch perfect. It’s what I’m going to call a ‘highly illustrated epistolary novel,’ made up of cards/notes/pictures/etc. written (or drawn) by an older brother to his younger sister, from the time she was born to when he leaves for college. I loved the mix of comic aggravation and the honest growth of sentiment over time–such lovely feels! And that’s all I’m going to say about that, since it’s quite enough for you to be going on with as you read it yourself. Enjoy!

In the meantime, Friday’s PTA meeting is looming ever larger, but at least my de-junking around the house is bearing fruit! I suppose de-cluttering might be more accurate–I don’t know that I actually got rid of anything today–but either way, our game-and-coat closet now looks pretty fabulous inside, and every pack of face cards in there is complete. Wahoo! I did need a brief assist from my neighbor, who very kindly came over to fix a half-broken shelf, but I did it. What I didn’t do, however, is the dark load of wash I was planning on, and so I’m off to do that now. I hope your days were productive!

And here it is the 29th! I didn’t manage a post on the 25th because my hubby and I actually set aside the evening to watch “Top Gun: Maverick” together, and by the time it was done I was both tired and energized in an 80s music sort of way. I quite enjoyed the movie, which surprised me a bit; I saw “Hot Shots” before seeing the original “Top Gun,” and that warped my perception of it. “Maverick” did an impressive job of playing the nostalgia card while being a real movie with an actual plot in its own right, and creating a love interest out of a passing comment from the original movie was cleverly done.

The 27th, by contrast, was completely a family affair; we had a ward party in the evening for which we’d signed up to create a themed mini golf hole (AND bring a salad), so we spent the day doing regular Saturday chores and working on that and then the evening at the party, eating dinner and playing mini golf. We did a library theme, and it was fun, but I’m glad it’s over with. I get stressed about stuff that’s outside of my comfort zone!

Today I spent several hours at Fox Hills–my kids’ elementary school–working on the PTA membership drive and learning how to do the treasurer things that have to be done in time for our meeting this Friday. I am finally home, fed, and exercised, however, and that leaves me ready to review Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard, which was a lovely comfort read. Is the plot highly original? Well, no. Did I care? Nope, not at all. This is my second Katherine Center book, and both have featured female main characters with baggage (and difficult relationships with their mothers) who find love with the right guy. In The Bodyguard–which is nothing like the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston movie, thank goodness–the right guy is an actor with a sweater-knitting, corgi-obsessed stalker, and the main character is the bodyguard assigned to protect him. There is banter, action, downhome comfiness, and a strong “While You Were Sleeping” vibe, plus the happy ending one wants when one has more responsibilities than usual in the next month or so. If you want something fun, sweet, and satisfying, I’d totally recommend this one.

So. When I shop for Pie Night–Pie Night being the night before Thanksgiving, you remember–I always make sure to get plenty of whatever ingredients I’m buying, because who wants to go BACK to the store at the last minute? Not this girl. Ever since Pie Night, then, I’ve been in the possession of an unopened, unneeded box of vanilla wafers–Walmart brand–because I didn’t end up needing the second box, and vanilla wafers aren’t really something we all just sit around and eat. (Oreos, on the other hand…) They technically expired in March or so, which eventually pushed me to google ways to use a random box of vanilla wafers, which led me to this Vanilla Wafer Cake. Why not? After all, I had all of the ingredients, and cake can be shared in a pinch. I accordingly made a Vanilla Wafer Cake when school started, because after school treats, right? I toasted the coconut, because it was easy enough to let it toast in a skillet while I crushed wafers, and I used chocolate chips instead of nuts, because I love my oldest daughter (and DON’T generally love nuts in cake). I opted to use a cheaper bundt pan because I found it first, though, and therein lay the problem.

The cake did not come out of the pan nicely.

On the other hand, I thought the cake was amazing. So sharing the cake was less of a thing, because it was pretty much a mess, but hey, I got to eat more of it myself! (A lot more, actually. Because kids at school. Not so good for my cholesterol.) If you have a box of vanilla wafers to spare, you should totally try it, because SO GOOD.

Just remember to carefully prep your best bundt pan.

Googling can be a dangerous thing, right? One minute you’re talking to a friend about the Patricia MacLachlan book you’re reading, wondering about her age in comparison to the other Patricias of the Patricia Trifecta, and the next minute you’re facing the tragic reality that TWO of the Patricias have died in the last 14 months, and only Patricia Polacco is still gifting the world with new books. Seriously! Patricia Reilly Giff died in June 2021, and Patricia MacLachlan this past March. I mean, okay, neither one of them was exactly young–or, okay, middle-aged, since they were both born in the 30s–but still! The tragedy!

Okay, now that THAT’S out of my system for the moment, I finished listening to A Secret Shared a day or three ago, and it was a small but complete serving of a lovely, rich, old-fashioned dessert. (All of MacLachlan’s books, of course, are relatively small.) Old-fashioned mostly because Nora and Ben call their parents ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’, and dessert because it’s a gentle tale of sweet, loving people that turns out exuberantly happily. If you or someone you know is part of a family that includes both biological and adopted siblings, read this when you need the literary equivalent of a perfect cup of hot chocolate on a chilly day. As for me, well–at least I have more books to go before I’m done with either deceased Patricia?

We have survived the first two days of school, folks. Of course, it was two early days in a row for the elementary kids, and I mostly ran errands instead of accomplishing much at home, but we have survived. Next up–a full week, starting Monday!

Anyway. Last night I took the time to finish Steve Sheinkin’s last ‘Time Twisters’ novel–Amelia Earhart and the Flying Chariot. I wasn’t terribly looking forward to it, to be honest with you–I prefer Sheinkin’s stuff for somewhat older readers, which is brilliant, and Amelia Earhart isn’t a historical figure I’m passionate about–but I enjoyed it more than I expected to. The Earhart/Ancient Greece mashup works nicely, and elementary readers should enjoy the kinds of details of early Olympic competition that Sheinkin includes. The ending didn’t feel as much like a series finale as I was expecting–could more books be coming?–but it was entertaining. I’m hoping my 10-year-old son will enjoy it!

So…on Saturday the 6th the older girls and I went to see their cousins in a local theatre production of “Descendants”, after which they slept over with said cousins and I headed home. We did family dinner at my in-laws’ on Sunday the 7th–where we celebrated our immediate family’s July birthdays as well as the August ones, since July was crazy–and left for Kanosh on Monday morning to spend a couple of days with our friends there. (I watched my 7-year-old wander around outside in the grass and brush, playing with and cuddling their kittens, and it tugged at my heart–it may be the closest any of my children will ever come to experiencing what my own childhood was like.) We hit up the Merc for candy and went to the Indian bathtub–a dammed up swimming hole in Corn Creek–where I managed to bang my shin spectacularly while getting out of the water. (It was totally fun, though.) On our way home on Wednesday we grabbed my Provo nephew and took him to lunch; we made it home in time for an appointment at 3 and then the littles went to bed early (the older girls had Young Womens). On the 11th my oldest got her braces off (yay!) and her gums lasered (yuck), after which we headed down to Pleasant Grove to visit friends. On Friday I walked over to the school for PTA stuff, dropped my oldest off for an appointment at 11, and then helped with a birthday party to which my littles were invited while my hubby picked up my oldest, got her to the orthodontist for her retainer, and worked from home.

Last weekend, thankfully, was relatively chill–which was good, since on Monday my oldest took her permit test (and drove briefly around the church parking lot), my second went to the orthodontist and had her gums lasered, and my niece went swimming with all of the kids while I made dinner and tidied. Yesterday my oldest and I had the podiatrist at 8:30, so my hubby dropped the 3 younger kids at piano. After the podiatrist we headed to the high school for the oldest’s school picture and a brief schedule walk before picking up the other three and hitting the library and the pharmacy. We did manage a half hour at home after that, heading out to meet my hubby at the Pretzelmaker by his work around 1 for my second girlie’s (early) birthday lunch. We made it home from THAT just in time for my littles to go swimming with friends–although they ended up at a splashpad instead, since all of the rec pools apparently switched to non-summer hours this week–and then it was back to school night at the junior high, followed by a few minutes of child directions before I headed off to a bridal shower. Today we had a birthday breakfast for the birthday girl–I now have TWO teenagers!–and I dropped my son off at a friend’s at 10 before settling in to dishes and laundry and cleanup. I did manage dinner in the crockpot, followed by a brief lunch with the birthday girl and me, even briefer trips to the bank, the orthodontist, and Ream’s, and then back to school night at the elementary school at 4. After taking my kids to meet their teachers they walked home with an older sister while I helped man the PTA table. (This was crazy, and bless the other two board members for making the bank deposit afterwards so that I could get home and feed people, even though we didn’t end up able to do presents before YW.) My older two still aren’t home, which is frustrating–it was supposed to be a “short” activity–but the youngest is in bed, my hubby’s finishing up with our son, and I’m going to review Firefly Hollow, because I finished reading it aloud with my 7-year-old tonight before she went to bed.

You know those books that aren’t quite sure what age they want to be for? Alison McGhee’s Firefly Hollow is totally one of those. I could see story nuances in ways my girlie couldn’t until the very end, and yet the concept–a cricket named Cricket, a firefly named Firefly, and their friendship with a lonely boy–feels young. (Then again, the nature of that friendship AND the characters of Cricket and Firefly are more complex, so maybe it’s just less my thing?) There are occasional full page illustrations, which my girlie enjoyed, and at the end of the day, I think this is a Velveteen Rabbit sort of tale. (Only longer.) Animal lovers and thoughtful, perceptive readers should enjoy this one.*

*Sorry for the abrupt ending…it’s a long post and I just kind of petered out…

A prequel to the main post, that is, because we’ve been busy and I should record the gist of our busyness, only it’s late and I’m tired and I need to review PAWS: Gabby Gets it Together before returning it to the library tomorrow. Bottom line? It’s fun, full of animals, and deals with friend conflict successfully, if a bit rosily. (Optimistically?) I’m giving it to my birthday girl this week because I think she’ll enjoy it, even if it’s not as emotionally complex as might be ideal for her. (I’ll be interested to see how the sequel goes.) In the meantime, more another day!

We all have our happy places, right? Put me in front of a jigsaw puzzle with a good audiobook and I’m in a little piece of heaven on earth, because who could ask for anything more? (Until I get hungry. Then again, I’ve got more reserves than I used to, so that could take a while.) So there I was last night, putting together a trio of penguins and listening to the second half of Rajani LaRocca’s Red, White, and Whole–and then the blasted book made me cry.

Did you know that when you have to take off your glasses and wipe away intermittent tears, it seriously interferes with your jigsaw-puzzling ability?

Anyway. Red, White, and Whole is a beautiful book, mind–a gentle journey through the difficulties of growing up in America with immigrant parents and the resultant suspension between two worlds–but still, the tears, because MOM WITH LEUKEMIA. Thankfully, Reha’s friend situation is a positive counterpoint to her worries over her mother, and fans of 80s music will love the part it plays in Reha’s life. LaRocca’s verse novel is an incredibly worthy Newbery Honor book, and I’m terribly glad I read it.

Just–don’t read it in a situation where clear vision is essential.