Author: Jaclyn

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 8, 2017)

Morning, friends.  Everyone have a nice weekend?  We did – a low-key one, even more than the last few.  We stuck close to home base all weekend and didn’t do much of anything productive.  (Well, I didn’t.  Steve put together a new armoire for the bedroom and set up a sandbox for the kids, much to their delight.)  I’ve been particularly stressed at work lately (probably more stressed than I even should be, objectively speaking) and I just wanted to chill, so that’s what I did.  We took a walk to the farmers market and picked up some strawberries, asparagus, and a gorgeous bouquet of orange and yellow ranunculus – pictured above, and it’s actually two bouquets; the kind flower seller told me to go get another one for free after I paid for the first bunch, and also gifted Peanut with a white rose – and several walks to the playground, and on Sunday we also ambled down to the waterfront and saw the fire boat deploying on a call.  I spent both Saturday’s and Sunday’s naptimes reading, despite feeling vaguely guilty for not working, cleaning, doing food prep or making progress on anything I “should” be doing.  Whatever!

  

Reading.  Good reading week over here!  Last Monday, I finished A Field Guide to Awkward Silences, which was absolutely hysterical.  With some library deadline pressure eased, I went back to the books that I owned and was partially through, and finally finished Barchester Towers, and adored every moment of that reading experience.  I don’t know what took me so long to come to Trollope, but I’m now a convert and couldn’t be more delighted to have so many more of his books to read.  After Barchester Towers I picked up The Hate U Give, which is pretty much the opposite of Barchester Towers, but incredible in completely different ways.  I’ve been flying through it and it’s riveting, heartbreaking, and – as the cover blurbs promised – searing.  I’ll finish it in the next day or so, I’m sure, and I think at that point I’ll probably go back and finish A Gentleman in Moscow.

Watching.  New obsession alert!  After checking periodically with no success, last week I finally found The Great British Baking Show on Netflix.  I’d had a stressful day and watching British people bake cake seemed like just what the doctor ordered, so I requested that we check out an episode.  Steve and I are now both completely obsessed and spent most of yesterday evening, after the kids went to bed, glued to the TV watching the show that has understandably captivated Great Britain (or, at least, captivated the English book bloggers I follow, and one of my sorority sisters who lives in London).

Listening.  Hmmmmm, not much to report.  A few podcasts.  But with our SafeTrack surge over, I’m not standing as long on Metro platforms and I’m able to get a seat so I can pull out my book on the train again – plus I’ve had so much noise in my head recently that I haven’t felt like putting more in via my earbuds.

Moving.  Nothing to report here.  Still pedaling my DeskCycle and taking walks around town, but nothing more interesting.  Steve started the Couch to 5K program, so he’s doing better than I am at the moment.  I’ve got to get into a routine before the summer heat makes running really unpleasant, or else I’ll be writing the same non-update until fall.

Blogging.  Musings on life in “the Tired Thirties” coming up for you on Wednesday, and an overdue recap of our Easter Sunday in the tulip fields on Friday.  Enjoy!

Loving.  I’m trying to rein it in, but lately I can’t get enough canned sparkling waters.  I put them on the grocery list every weekend, and every week I run out by Wednesday.  La Croix grapefruit is a favorite, as is La Croix coconut and Wegmans coconut-lime.  I’ve never had a problem drinking still water, so I don’t need to use these to trick myself into hydrating, but they’re just so darn tasty and fun that I can’t stop pounding them.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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Garden Notes: The Early Bird Catches the Rosemary

It’s only April, and already the garden has been a bit of a comedy of errors – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Peanut and I were both chomping at the bit to start our garden this year.  We planted a garden two springs ago, as a fun way to get in some one-on-one mother/daughter time with a new baby in the house.  It was fun, and we got a decent amount of food out of it – quite a few salads and lots of herbs, although the tomatoes struggled and then were all eaten by backyard pests once they’d finally sprouted.  Last spring, we were living in temporary housing while we planned our move back home, and planting a garden – even a container garden – just wasn’t in the cards.  Peanut didn’t say much about it, but I know she was disappointed.  So this year, she was doubly excited when I asked her if she wanted to garden with Mommy again.

As soon as the calendar turned to March, she started begging to get plants for the garden.  I wasn’t sure when would be the right time, so I did a little research and concluded that by mid-March, if the weather was looking good, we should be fine to get plants into pots.  Clearly, I was wrong, because we visited multiple nurseries in search of tomatoes, basil, etc. – and everyone looked at me as if I’d sprouted another head when I asked where the edible plants were.  We finally found a few things – some sugar snap peas, cold weather lettuce, and rosemary – at Holly, Woods & Vines down by our old house.  I snapped them up because if we left another greenhouse empty handed, Peanut was going to lose her mind.  We’ll supplement in a little bit, when the warmer weather plants are out.  (Please ignore the pink-haired mermaid photobomb above.)

We got home and got ready to plant.  Steve had nicely prepared the pots earlier in the week, setting them out in the sunniest spot on our back patio and filling them with mulch and then topsoil.  My little gardener and her mermaid were ready to get their hands dirty!

Since the plants we came home with weren’t the plants I was intending to come home with, I did some fast thinking about what should go where.  First thing into the soil was rosemary – the only herb available so early in the season – in the smallest pot.

(Don’t mind the big red splotch on Peanut’s fleece.  That’s her school jacket and it has the school crest embroidered on it.  It was hard to see in pictures but still, I don’t plan to announce to the entire internet where my kid can be found during the day.  Since my photo-editing skills are basically limited to zoom, crop and Instagram, it’s totally obvious that I scribbled over it in red “paint” – but whatever, it does the trick, right?)

Rosemary planted, it was time for the lettuce to go into the big pot.  It’s already pretty much doubled in size since we planted – we’ve had so much rain!  Can’t wait to start eating some backyard salads again.

Last pot – sugar snap peas.  I had no plans to plant peas, but like I said, we had to get something or Peanut would have lost it.  Now that we have them, I’m enjoying watching them curl their little tendrils up the tomato cage, and I hope that we get to enjoy some fresh peas all season long!

And – that’s it for now!  We gave everything a quick “welcome home” water with our new orange watering can and have just been having fun watching things grow and change ever since.  We might need to add a planter once we’re ready for tomatoes, but all in good time.

Anyone else get a ridiculously early start on planting this year?

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Reading Round-Up: April 2017

Reading Round-Up Header

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for April, 2017…

The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3), by Agatha Christie – When Colonel and Mrs Bantry wake up to a house in confusion and the body of a young woman they’ve never seen before on the floor of their library, there is only one person who can sort out the mess – Mrs Bantry’s friend, Jane Marple.  Miss Marple applies her trademark knowledge of human nature to solve a particularly confusing crime.  One of the things I love about Christie is that she doesn’t conceal clues.  You have to be smart to sort out the correct clues and solve the puzzle, but you’ll never read a Christie sleuth declaring “I knew ___ was the murderer as soon as I discovered that [insert clue the reader is learning about for the first time here].”

A Circle of Quiet (The Crosswicks Journals #1), by Madeleine L’Engle – I’ve long been a fan of L’Engle’s work – remind me someday to tell you about the time I met her, when I was twelve, and she gave me writing advice – but my experience with her was pretty much restricted to her writing for children and young adults (the Time Quintet, the Austin Family series), aside from one Christmas compilation.  So I figured it was time to read L’Engle for adults.  A Circle of Quiet is indeed quiet, but lovely, ruminative, and containing so many gems.  I can’t wait to read the other three Crosswicks Journals books.

The Princess Diarist, by Carrie Fisher – Having always liked Star Wars, I was intrigued to read Fisher’s memoir of filming A New Hope.  I’ve never read any of her other memoirs, but this one has gotten great reviews, and like everyone else I was unabashedly curious about the relationship Fisher calls “Carrison.”  An affair between Fisher and Harrison Ford had long been speculated, but neither party confirmed it – until now.  Fisher takes the reader through her painfully awkward first encounters with Ford and shares every thought that was in her mind for the duration of the affair.  It was a fascinating – if sometimes confusing – read, which is par for the course with Fisher, I hear.

Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America, by Jeff Chu – I’d been meaning to read this book for awhile, because I thought it sounded interesting, but when it was given as an example for the “person of color goes on a spiritual journey” category in the 2017 Book Riot Challenge, I bumped it up to the top of my list.  It was a fascinating journey indeed – Chu travels the country speaking to everyone from the leaders of gay churches to “fallen” pastors and homophobic megachurch members, all in an effort to reconcile his strict Christian upbringing with his sexuality.  I did find myself wishing the book was just a little bit shorter, but I think that was more to do with the fact that I was exhausted and overwhelmed with work while reading it, and less to do with the book itself, which was comprehensive and excellent.

Emily’s Quest (Emily #3), by L.M. Montgomery – The final installment in Montgomery’s Emily Trilogy is one of her darkest books, not only in the trilogy but, I think, overall.  Emily is back home at New Moon after graduating from high school, and trying to make her way as a writer while her friends Ilse, Perry and Teddy are conquering the world.  She spends a lot of time lonely, gets engaged to a man she doesn’t love, and experiences some difficult losses.  I wrote about the book here, as my April contribution to Naomi‘s readalong.  The Emily Trilogy has long been, and still is, my favorite of Montgomery’s prolific writings.

Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee – Another one I read for the Book Riot Challenge (multiple points of view, all people of color), Pachinko follows three generations of a family of Korean expats in Japan before, during and after World War II.  At the heart of the story is Sunja, a young woman and only daughter who finds herself pregnant out of wedlock; Isak, a minister who marries her to save her from ruin and then falls in love with her; Hansu, Sunja’s wealthy lover, who watches her from afar during her marriage to Isak and reenters her life after Isak’s death; Yoseb and Kyunghee, Sunja’s brother- and sister-in-law; Noa and Mosazu, her sons; and Solomon, her grandson.  It’s a beautifully written tour-de-force and I did enjoy it – I just keep forgetting that multigenerational family sagas aren’t my favorite genre.

Hag-Seed (Hogarth Shakespeare), by Margaret Atwood – I absolutely LOVED Hag-Seed, Atwood’s take on The Tempest.  Felix Phillips is a washed-up theatre director.  Once lord of his realm of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival, his second-in-command betrayed him and Felix found himself out on his ear, living in a hovel and mourning his daughter Miranda, alone (or is he?) for twelve years.  Then one day he takes over leadership of a literacy program at a local prison and begins teaching the inmates Shakespeare.  After a few seasons, he gets the idea for a spectacular revenge on his betrayers, aided by the Fletcher Correctional Players in their own rendition of The Tempest.  Hag-Seed was astonishingly creative (I’d expect nothing less from Atwood) and such good fun.  I haven’t even read The Tempest, but just being moderately familiar with the plot I was able to spot dozens of parallels – I can’t imagine how many more inside jokes I’d have caught if I knew the play well.  What a delight, and a great way to end a month’s reading.

April was rather a slow month in reading, as it turned out.  One audiobook (The Body in the Library) and six in print, for a total of seven – not exactly a high for me.  I was a little stressed out with work and family stuff, and both consumed a lot of attention this month and left me with diminished ability to focus on books.  As a result, a few of the choices this month took longer than usual and didn’t wow me as much as they probably would have if picked up in a better month.  But there were some highlights.  The Princess Diarist was gossipy and fun, Emily’s Quest a fitting end to my favorite series of books from childhood, and Hag-Seed a joy to read.  I’m hoping for a happier and more bookish May, but with some big work things on the horizon, that might be wishful thinking.  Still, you know I’ll share!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 1, 2017)

Mornin’, friends.  How were your weekends?  Other than flying by as usual, ours was nice.  We started Saturday morning off with a walk to the farmers’ market – something I would really like to be in the habit of doing, but that we hadn’t made happen in too many weeks.  Our market is year-round, but it definitely gets bigger in the warmer months.  At the end of April, spring produce was everywhere, and I finally got the asparagus I’ve been craving for weeks now.  We also bought some pastries, and Nugget stole my spinach croissant and made hilarious faces as he ate the croissant while carefully avoiding any vegetables – ha!  The rest of the day, we mostly stuck around home.  It was a scorcher – 95 degrees! – so we kept the kids in air conditioning.  I did a run out to Lowe’s to pick up some supplies for the garden, and spent a very hot hour dragging patio furniture around and transplanting a few plants into larger pots.  I’m pretty sure I killed our snap peas.  (Hoping for a miracle.)  Sunday was a little bit cooler – not much, but enough – so we drove down to Leesylvania State Park to explore the trails.  It’s not a huge park, but it’s all on the water, so the views were gorgeous – witness above.  The park is on the Potomac, but downriver a ways, where the waters start to open up as they get closer to the Chesapeake.  There was a sandy beach where people were already swimming, and a few boat launches.  So it was a lovely, albeit short, hike.  We ended the weekend splitting up the kids – Steve helped Peanut clean her room while I took Nugget for a bike ride to the playground – and then I stayed up way too late finishing my book, and am now of course exhausted to start the week.  What else is new?

  

Reading.  So, a pretty productive reading week.  I finished Pachinko early last week and managed to get it back to the library without an overdue fine – hurray!  Turned then to Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood’s retelling of The Tempest for the Hogarth Shakespeare Project, and absolutely loved it.  I’d expected to like it, but was surprised by just how much I enjoyed the reading experience.  Finally, I quickly blazed through A Field Guide to Awkward Silences, Alexandra Petri’s memoir of all of the ways she has embarrassed herself, and as expected, it was a hoot.  (Petri is well-known inside the Beltway as a humor columnist for The Washington Post, but she deserves to be more widely known, as she is a riot.)  I finished it late last night, so next up, I plan to go back to one of the books I’ve shelved (literally) to make time for these library books – all of which had loudly ticking deadlines – so I’ll either resume my acquaintance with Count Rostov or with the people of Barchester.

Watching.  Not much this week, since I was trying to push through the above-noted library books before their deadlines.  But we did watch the thrilling conclusion (no I’m not kidding) of Pride and Prejudice, and I think Steve really enjoyed it.  He loved seeing Lizzy tell off Lady Catherine.  And on Friday night, I was craving an old movie – I really wanted to watch Bringing Up Baby, my all-time favorite film.  Sadly, our DVD has not turned up post-move, and neither Netflix or Hulu obliged.  So we ended up watching To Catch a Thief, which is nothing like Bringing Up Baby, but still a good time.

Listening.  I think the only listening I’ve done all week was to the Sorta Awesome parenting confessions episode, which I listened to in the car on the way to and from the gardening center over the weekend.  I just have been wanting a little more quiet recently, so Audible has mostly been off.  But I did enjoy the one podcast episode I listened to.  Perhaps more listening to come this week?

Moving.  Well, I realized that as busy as my work-weeks are, the only way I was going to get any kind of movement in was if I worked it into my workdays.  So I dusted off my DeskCycle and got some pedaling in every day while I worked, and squeezed a couple of yoga routines in at lunchtimes.  That, plus Saturday’s gardening and Sunday’s hike, made for the most active week I’ve had in awhile.  Still not what I’d like, but at least better than wishing for movement!

Blogging.  I had fun sharing poems every Friday in April, and I hope you liked my choices!  This week, back to regularly-scheduled programming.  On Wednesday, I’ll share my April reads, and on Friday, the first of what I hope will be many garden updates.  Check back!

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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Poetry Fridays: when faces called flowers float out of the ground

I’ve been enjoying exploring Robert Frost’s poems and finding many new favorites – but I’m breaking my own rule and posting something else for this final Friday of National Poetry Month.  I know, I know, I’ve already shared an e.e. cummings poem with you this year (I have to do at least one every April!) but how could I not also share:

when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having –
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
– it’s april(yes, april;my darling)it’s spring!
yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly
yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be
(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound
and wishing is having and having is giving –
but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense
– alive:we’re alive, dear: it’s(kiss me now)spring!
now the pretty birds hover so she and so he
now the little fish quiver so you and so i
(now the mountains are dancing,the mountains)

when more than was lost has been found has been found
and having is giving and giving is living –
but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing
– it’s spring(all our night becomes day)o,it’s spring!
all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky
all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea
(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

e.e. cummings

Happy spring to all!

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No Woman Is An Island — Not Even Emily Byrd Starr

Reading Emily’s Quest for the umpteenth time, I was struck by a thought about the social nature of L.M. Montgomery’s heroines.  Many of her heroines – including her most famous, Anne Shirley – have a rich inner life, where they dwell in “marble halls” of their own building.  A Montgomery heroine’s inner sanctum is a rare place, and to be admitted there is no common favor.  Emily Starr is no exception.  As a poet, Emily has a keen eye for natural beauty and she is prone to experiencing bursts of creative energy that she calls “the flash.”  You’re less likely to find Emily neglecting chores around the house in favor of daydreaming – like her literary sister Anne would and frequently did – but Emily will travel worlds in her mind while pulling onions from Aunt Elizabeth’s garden.

Yet as inwardly-focused as a Montgomery heroine can be, they are not solitary creatures.  They may often be found alone, conjuring up fanciful worlds, but they are just as often found in a group of friends.  Anne Shirley and Sara Stanley are, I think, the most social Montgomery heroines.  Sara runs in a pack throughout The Story Girl and The Golden Road.  And Anne’s life is immeasurably richer because of the bonds she forms, not only with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, but with all the people of Avonlea – her “bosom friend” Diana Barry; enemy turned friend turned love Gilbert Blythe; college pals Stella, Priscilla and Philippa; fellow Avonlea girls Jane and Ruby; even Mrs. Rachel Lynde and all the many people she meets as a young wife.  When a Montgomery heroine is missing those social bonds – like Jane Stuart during her winters in Toronto in her grandmother’s big unfriendly mansion – she feels the lack very deeply.

Warning – spoilers!

Emily spends most of Emily’s Quest feeling very lonely and solitary indeed.  When the story opens, she has returned to New Moon after three years at Shrewsbury High School, and the solitary life she dreaded in Emily Climbs, when it seemed that all three of her closest friends would be going to high school without her, is now upon her.  Teddy and Ilse have moved to Montreal to study for their chosen careers as artist and actress, respectively, and Perry is an apprentice lawyer in Charlottetown.  Emily, meanwhile, has declined Janet Royal’s offer of a position on a magazine in New York City, and is back in her old room at New Moon, looking to climb the Alpine Path.

Of course Emily is not completely alone.  Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy all remain at New Moon – although everyone is getting older.  The people of Shrewsbury make sure to include Emily in the town’s social life, since they’re all concerned she’ll “put them in a book” if they offend her.  And creeper Dean Priest is still coming around, sometimes seeming like the only friend Emily has left.  He’s far from a friend, though – jealous and possessive, he lies to Emily about the merits of her first book, telling her that it is, basically, clunky and wooden – because he hates and is jealous of her writing.  (A very Mrs. Kent-ish thing to do, although neither Emily nor Dean seems to realize that.)  The result is that Emily burns her book and then takes a near-fatal fall down the New Moon stairs.  When she recovers, Dean proposes to her and she accepts, even though she knows she does not love him.  The only person who is really happy about this turn of events is Dean.  The New Moon elders aren’t thrilled but don’t feel they can do anything to prevent it.  Emily herself is determined to make the best of things and insists that she will be contented as Dean’s wife and mistress of the Disappointed House, which he buys for her.  Yet after a supernatural episode in which she prevents Teddy from sailing on a doomed ship, Emily realizes that she cannot marry Dean, because she loves Teddy – even if he does not love her.  She breaks the engagement, and then Dean confesses that he lied to her about the merits of her first – still burnt – book.

Emily was solitary throughout her engagement to Dean – cut off from her friends, bearing alone the pain of knowing that she was engaged to marry a man she did not love – and she is solitary after it ends.  She feels freer once the engagement is broken, but she is soon burdened again by sadness – this time brought about by her misunderstanding of the relationship between Teddy and Ilse.  Believing Teddy to be in love with Ilse, Emily draws back from both old friends, but Teddy in particular.  There are several misunderstandings that contribute to the situation, and Emily’s “Murray pride” makes everything worse.  When Ilse announces her engagement to Teddy, Emily makes a heroic – Elinor Dashwood-style – effort to be happy for her friends, silently heartsick with the prospect of a lonely life for herself.  Of course, enough misunderstandings and you’ll find yourself back on course; when a wedding guest blurts out that Perry Miller has been killed in a car crash in Charlottetown, Ilse – with ten minutes to go before she is supposed to become Teddy’s wife – bolts to the side of the man she has always truly loved, leaving Teddy free and Emily to pick up the pieces and smooth over the scandal. (Don’t worry – Perry is actually fine.)

Emily’s Quest is one of L.M. Montgomery’s darkest books.  No sun-drenched picnics with school friends here – Emily labors alone through her days, and much of the book takes place in the bleakest months of fall and winter, matching Emily’s emotional state.  Even as Emily racks up career successes – more thin envelopes containing acceptances than fat ones containing returned manuscripts these days – she feels the loss of her friends and her chance at love.  I have always thought of Emily as one of the more self-sufficient heroines in literature; I think she is – but she’s no hermit.  She may understand that walking the “Alpine Path” to fame as a writer is a solitary pursuit, but Emily needs to come down from her heights occasionally and bask in the love of her family and friends.  Ilse, bless her, does not realize this at all, believing Emily to be single-mindedly devoted to writing and without a care for any human of the boy variety.  Yet Emily wants friendship – she wants love – and she spends most of Emily’s Quest starved for both.  It’s a reminder to those of us (raises hand) who sometimes daydream about living the hermit life of a modern-day Thoreau – no woman is an island.

But I can’t close on a bleak note.  The writing in Emily’s Quest is just as evocative and transporting as the writing in the first two Emily books – and, indeed, in all of Montgomery’s work.  So I give you my favorite passage from this installment in Emily’s journey:

I picked strawberries on the banks of Blair Water this afternoon among the windy, sweet-smelling grasses.  I love picking strawberries.  The occupation has in it something of perpetual youth.  The gods might have picked strawberries on high Olympus without injuring their dignity.  A queen – or a poet – might stoop to it; a beggar has the privilege.

And tonight, I’ve been sitting here in my dear old room, with my dear books and dear pictures and dear little window of the kinky panes, dreaming in the soft, odorous summer twilight, while the robins are calling to each other in Lofty John’s bush and the poplars are talking eerily of old, forgotten things.

After all, it’s not a bad old world – and the folks in it are not half bad either.  Even Emily Byrd Starr is decent in spots.  Not altogether the false, fickle, ungrateful perversity she thinks she is in the wee sma’s – not altogether the friendless, forgotten maiden she imagines she is on white nights – not altogether the failure she supposes bitterly when three MSS. are rejected in succession.  And not altogether the coward she feels herself to be when she thinks of Frederick Kent’s coming to Blair Water in July.

That’s it for me!  Thanks very much to Naomi for hosting #ReadingEmily and giving me an excuse to visit with my favorite Montgomery heroine again.  It’s been fun not only to re-read the books, but to meet new friends and read others’ take on “that proud Miss Starr.”

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 24, 2017)

Weekend, please don’t leave us!  Who else needs another day?  Everyone?  We had a really nice weekend, and I for one am not ready for it to be over.  I’ve been feeling pretty burnt out lately and like I don’t have enough attention to spare, but I was hoping that if I could just dig out of the hole at home, at least, things would feel a little easier.  So Saturday’s theme was productivity.  Mainly during naptime, I finally finished cleaning out the bedroom – long overdue, and it felt like a real accomplishment.  I still have clutter on top of my nightstand and dresser, but that’s a project for next weekend (or one evening during the week) and won’t take long.  When we lived in temp housing while we were planning our move back home, we never unpacked our bedroom – so we’ve been sleeping amongst boxes since January of 2016.  It feels great to be unpacked, finally, and our room is so bright and airy now.  On Sunday, we took the kiddos out for a walk around the neighborhood.  We stopped by the fire house and Nugget got a tour, which was way too much fun.  The firefighters showed him their extra ladders and hoses, turned on the lights on one truck for him, let him “drive” and stand on the back of the truck, and inducted his tricycle into the company.  (It’s now “Tricycle 205” per the battalion chief.  So adorable!)  We also hit the playground and the pizza joint, and I ended up falling asleep on the couch while the kids napped away the afternoon.  I didn’t get much done, but sometimes you need a day like that, right?

 

Reading.  Last week was another busy work week and slow reading week.  I started out the week, as I said I was going to do, with Count Rostov.  But while I was still really enjoying A Gentleman in Moscow, I had to – once again – set it aside, because the deadline for returning Pachinko to the library was creeping up, and since it has a miles-long waitlist, I can’t renew it.  So I’ve spent most of the week with the Baek family in Osaka, and while Pachinko is beautifully conceived and composed, and I am enjoying it, I keep forgetting that multigenerational family sagas… aren’t really my thing.  Why do I keep trying to make them my thing?  But don’t let that turn you off – Pachinko is wonderful.

Watching.  We are still working our way through the BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.  We’ve watched five episodes out of the six episode miniseries, and so we’ll probably finish the adaptation tonight or tomorrow.  I’ve seen it many times, of course, and I’m so excited that Steve has finally agreed to watch with me.  I think he likes it!  Not sure what we’ll watch after we finish this – I might want a break from TV so I can finally finish some of the partially-read books I have laying all over the place.

Listening.  I listened to a couple of podcasts earlier in the week, but I was really fancying something a bit more involved – but not an audiobook at the moment – so I used my April credit on The Great Courses Classics of British Literature.  I’m about four lectures in now (with many, many more to go) and listening to the lecture on Spencer’s The Faerie Queene (which I need to read).  I’m kind of chomping at the bit to get to Austen, but I have a long way to go, I think, because we seem to be going chronologically beginning with the Anglo-Saxons.

Moving.  Nothing to report this week, except that I was sad on Sunday because the GW Parkway Classic took place and I didn’t run.  I wasn’t even remotely trained – so, maybe next year.  It’s been hard to do anything for myself recently and running has taken a backseat – I haven’t really run regularly since Nugget was born.  I want to get back to it, because I miss it, and I need to figure out a way to make it work in my schedule.  My plan had been to train for the race in the mornings before everyone else woke up, and during lunch breaks – but the mornings have been mostly spent logged on to my firm’s remote access, working until it’s time to do things like make lunches and wrestle small feet into socks, and lunch breaks – well, those are not a thing that exists in my life right now.  But I know I deserve to run if I want to (and I do want to), so I need to find a way to make that happen.

Blogging.  I have more spring adventures to share with you, but they have to wait a little longer, because I am all books this week.  On Wednesday I have my final post for Naomi’s Emily readalong, and on Friday, one last poem to share for National Poetry Month – and it’s not Robert Frost!  There’s another e.e. cummings poem coming, because it’s too perfect not to share.

Loving.  The cutest thing ever happened as I was putting Nugget down for his nap yesterday.  I always sing him a song and we pretty much rotate between Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, This Land is Your Land and I Love the Mountains.  Yesterday, he asked for Winnie-the-Pooh and as I started singing it – HE SUNG ALONG WITH ME.  You guys.  It was.  So sweet.  That I almost passed out.

Asking.  How was your weekend?

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Poetry Fridays: Spring Pools

Spring Pools

These pools that, though in forests, still reflect
The total sky almost without defect,
And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver,
Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone,
And yet not out by any brook or river,
But up by roots to bring dark foliage on.
The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
To darken nature and be summer woods—
Let them think twice before they use their powers
To blot out and drink up and sweep away
These flowery waters and these watery flowers
From snow that melted only yesterday.

Robert Frost

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Spring at Mount Vernon

Spring is widely regarded as the most spectacular season of the year in D.C.  I haven’t been able to really enjoy it in the past, because I always got hideous allergies – it’s no fun to spend a month with runny eyes, itchy throat, and a completely blocked nose.  For whatever reason – knock wood, and I’m almost afraid to write this for fear I might jinx it – allergies seem to have passed me by this year.  I think it may be because I spent three years out of the area, and it takes awhile for pollen to become familiar enough to my immune system to make it freak out.  I’ve also had another baby, and pregnancy does all kinds of weird things; I’ve got to say, if one of the side effects of Nugget was that he cured me of my allergies, even for a little while, well, I already love the little guy but – that’s awesome.

All that’s to say, since I haven’t been spending my days sneezing and popping Claritin – yet – I’ve finally gotten to go out and do All The Spring Things, and D.C. has totally earned its reputation for being a spring wonderland.  The weekend before last, we took advantage of a crisp but cloudless morning to drive down to Mount Vernon and check out all the glories of spring on the estate.

Rows and rows of tulips, daffodils, and more flowers in the upper garden – flowering trees all over the grounds – and baby animals in almost every enclosure!  Does it get better than that?

We started out with a walk around the upper garden and then down past the Mansion to go check out the animals – always the kids’ favorite part.  We actually went into the Mansion this time, because we found a slot between tour groups and it wasn’t too crowded.  Peanut loved it, as expected, and Nugget was a menace, also as expected.  I think in the future we’ll just send Peanut inside with one parent, and keep Nugget out with the other.  Fortunately, no property damage was done, and he didn’t even get yelled at for banging on doors like he did at the Lee-Fendall House.  So… a win?

Headed down to the animals and right away spotted lambs!  WAY too cute.  I apologize in advance for my terrible photos.  The sun was just too blinding.  I assure you, they were much cuter in person.

My lambkins were enthralled by the sweet little woolly babies

Next we continued down the hill toward the Heritage Farm, and on our way, we discovered – piglets!

Again, pictures do no justice to the cuteness of the real thing.  These little ones were only five days old!  And already scampering and playing in their little lean-to.  Poor Mom looked exhausted.

Made it down to the river!

It was such a gorgeous day.  I could have stayed outside all day long.  Sunshine, birdsong, flowers, and baby animals – what’s not to love?

A little too sunny for some people.  Look at these spoiled kids, being towed backwards so the sun doesn’t get in their faces.  It’s the life, right?

Eventually we had our fill of the (grown-up) sheep down at the Heritage Farm and headed back up the hill, stopping about halfway up to let the kids out of the stroller – they’d had enough riding.

Yes, they’re almost the same height.  And Nugget weighs as much as Peanut does now.  It’s frightening.

Found a little grove of Virginia dogwoods!  (It’s a tree and a flower. #andrewshepardismypresident.)  I pointed them out to Steve, who had been wondering about how to identify them just the week before.

Mount Vernon is really the perfect family outing for us.  There are flowers for Peanut (and me!), animals and plenty of lawn for both kids, and a delightful walk for all.  I’m so glad we’re living close to the estate again (although I miss being just a ten-minute bike ride away!).

Where do you like to go to soak up spring?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 17, 2017)

Happy Easter Monday to my friends who are celebrating, and happy spring to all!  How was everyone’s weekend?  We were on the go for pretty much the entire weekend.  On Friday, I worked from home to help juggle childcare, since Peanut’s school was closed for Good Friday, Nugget’s nanny was on vacation, and Steve’s mom was arriving at the airport right in the middle of naptime – what a circus!  But I got a surprising amount of work done and got to start my weekend early with a late afternoon stroll over to the playground, Grandma in tow.  It had been way too long since we’d seen her, and the kids were over the moon that she was here.  (Nugget in particular – totally obsessed.)  I closed out the week with a 90 minute marathon phone session with my Aunt Maria – so good to catch up with her.  On Saturday we were out the door early for a visit to Grandma’s favorite spot in D.C. – the National Zoo.  It was fun, but absolutely crawling with people, and someone got the bright idea to set up a security line to get in, which was a new development.  As a result, we had to wait in line about 45 minutes just to get through the gate, and the kids were sort of nuts all morning as a result.  I don’t know what the rationale was for that, but I sincerely hope it was just a temporary thing to deal with the extra crowd of spring breakers.  It sort of ruined the experience, and from what I overheard in the line, we weren’t the only people who were frustrated.  But once we got in, we had a great time – got to see the big cats (my favorite!), sea lions for Peanut, and great apes for Nugget.  Sadly, the pandas were not out – bummer for Grandma, who loves them.  On Sunday, Grandma was off to the airport early – it was much too short of a visit! – and we headed out to Haymarket to visit a pick-your-own flower farm, which was absolutely stunning.  I was sorry to miss Easter services, but – let’s just say that Peanut and Nugget are not church material at the moment.  Working on it.  Anyway, we thought that it would be appropriate to celebrate Easter surrounded by gorgeous flowers, so that’s what we did.  I’ll have a post coming, with lots of pictures, but it won’t be for a few weeks – I have a lot to catch up on.  And now it’s Monday and another long stretch of working and running around.  Of course I’m starting it exhausted, because I was awakened by weird road work noises – humming? what is that? – multiple times during the night.  Here’s to the weekends!

  

Reading.  Sort of a slow reading week.  I’ve been pretty overwhelmed with work and family stuff, and entertaining – as fun as it is – also takes a lot out of me.  Over the course of the week I finished up Does Jesus Really Love Me?, which I had wanted to read anyway and tossed in my library pile when I realized I could also count it toward the Book Riot Challenge.  It was excellent – well-written, well-researched, sensitive and thorough – but I started finding it a bit tedious and wondering if the author couldn’t have shaved a few stops from his spiritual pilgrimage itinerary.  That’s due to my own (exhausted and overwrought) state of mind while reading it, no doubt – because it’s really a wonderful book.  Needing some comfort reading, I then turned to Emily’s Quest, the third and final book in the Emily trilogy, and I’ll have a readalong post for you next week.  Finally, I went back to A Gentleman in Moscow, which I’d had to lay aside in favor of library books, and I’m starting the week with Count Rostov.  After that – I think I’m going to read Pachinko, which I’ve got out of the library and will have to read quickly as it’s got quite the waiting list.

Listening.  I was sort of stressed out all week, from a few things, and it manifested in a lack of attention for long audiobooks – so as a result I’ve rather taken a break from The Once and Future King.  Made my way through my podcatcher and subscribed to a new podcast (The Mom Hour) which I’m looking forward to discovering.  Highlight of the week was Sarah McKenzie and Greta Eskridge discussing books to get kids interested in nature on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast.  They mentioned Thornton Burgess, which brought back such memories of my own childhood that I had to fly off to Amazon to order Old Mother West Wind and The Burgess Seashore Book for Children for Peanut.

Watching.  Ladies, I have a coup to report.  Steve has decided that it would enrich his life greatly to watch THE COLIN FIRTH PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ADAPTATION!  We’ve been reading the book aloud, because he’s nice and wants to know more about my favorite books, but he’s found it hard to keep track of the characters and decided that he might enjoy the book more if he’d seen it on screen first.  Personally, that’s not my style, but I won’t complain about my husband wanting to watch Colin Firth smoldering as Mr. Darcy.  Last night we watched the first episode and I think he liked it, although he is convinced that Caroline Bingley is a man, and he was mystified every time I shouted “FORESHADOWING!  OH, POOR CHARLOTTE LUCAS!”

Moving.  Another slow week.  I was feeling a little tense from work and family stress, so I did squeeze in a yoga practice, which helped.  And there were long walks around the zoo and Old Town with Grandma.  Strolling with a beloved family member much beats powerwalking or running alone.

Blogging.  I’ve got a fun post about spring at Mount Vernon for you on Wednesday, and another Robert Frost poem on Friday – check back!  This has been such a fun spring and I can’t stop myself taking millions of pictures or writing paragraphs and paragraphs about it.

Loving.  It’s been so wonderful seeing everyone in their Easter finery on social media over the weekend.  I was a bit lame this year – I did baskets for the kids, because I always do, but didn’t color or hide eggs, host a brunch or even make it to church – too stressed and angsty over things to make any of that happen.  But I have so enjoyed watching from afar-ish as my friends celebrated.  Next year, I will try hard to do a better job at being in the Easter spirit.  This year, I’m just enjoying living vicariously through people who have their acts together more than I do.

Asking.  How was your Easter, if you celebrated?