Snow Gypsy's Adventures

Sabotage!-5/25/10

2010-05-25T20:15:00.006-04:00

At random points while reading this blog, tilt your head to the right. It will help center the top two pictures. I have no idea why this happened and what I find really perplexing is that I retook pictures of each book, renamed the picture file something completely different, and it still happened. That's freaky. The computer doesn't actually know what's in the picture so why did it do it again only on these books. Notice the third book is fine. Hummmm. I do not try to discover the great mysteries of computers. Here are the next three books I wanted to review as I count down 52 new books read this year.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz

Sorry, Christina, but I was not a big fan. I found the book really dark with very little lightness to balance the pace. I got tired of the heaviness and stopped caring as much about the mystery behind the main characters. Without giving away the ending, I will say the plot works on paper and is well thought out. I just hadn't found any reason to fall in love with her characters. They were just sad. The setting of the book is a beautiful place and I would have loved for more description of the lakes of Wisconsin too.

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
I love this series! This entire series is the opposite of the above book. Mr. Smith does a beautiful job of balancing difficult issues with insightful lightness. Some may say he ignores the issues of Africa but how many popular books are even set in Africa? International readers need to be exposed to Africa in a positive way. I love the main characters in this series and the wonderfully human way Mr. Smith writes them. I've actually read some books from another series by Mr. Smith and I didn't find them half as enjoyable. If you need a book that makes you feel good about the warmth of the human spirit, try the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

I've liked the writing of Barbara Kingsolver for a long time. She has evolved through her books and become more involved in social and political issues. This book was excellent and left you with much to think about. The use of Diego Rivera, Frida Kalhlo, and Leo Trotsky as main characters throughout the story was beautifully done. Ms. Kingsolver painted these historical figures accurately and endearingly. The fictional main characters were intriguing and engaging. This book made the reader think about the role of media in our lives and how the media has deeply affected the course of our history.

52 Books in a Year-5/20/10

2010-05-21T20:56:00.010-04:00

I wish I had an old picture of me as a kid with a book in my face. That would sum it up well. I love to read and one of the great regrets of adulthood is that I have let "life" get in the way. Sure, I still read, a book for book club here and there, a favorite author's newest installment, but I haven't really read since I began working. The kind of reading that keeps you up at night and keeps the nightstand a rotating library. I decided the other day that I want to change that. Start reading again for the sake of reading. I've always been a bit goal-oriented, though I'd argue I'm not inherently a Type A. So here's my goal, oh, you saw it in the title. I want to read 52 books this year. That's new books, no repeats and they all must be for me. I've read into the thousands already if we count children's book, but we aren't. I hope to use this rather orphaned blog to keep me honest. I've been doing a great job of updating my other blog, http://cookingmagmommy.blogspot.com/ but this one has sat empty since Obama was sworn in. Tonight, I'll review the three of the books I've read so far, leaving me only 44 to finish by the 31st of December. That's not quite as intimidating as it sounds. In my heyday, I would read 3 to 4 books a week and not blink. I may not be able to pull off that pace but I can sure read 6 to 7 a month without a problem. War and Peace may be out but other than that...

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

This book had popped up on all type of "best book" lists and we needed a change for Book Club. It's 80's is probably one of the first things I could say about it. Reminded me a bit of "Still Life with Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins, trying desperately to be deep and remain obscure at the same time. I'm not saying I didn't like it. It was compelling and the characters were very vivid. It's funny how the main character was asexual, whereas now he would be allowed to be gay. Those themes just really weren't touched on yet. Authors were still afraid of censure. I did make a big mistake in reading this one though. I read a bunch of book reviews so I knew the end from the very beginning. If you are looking to read this one, don't do that! The end is much more climactic if you don't see what's coming.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This one was another book club choice, our book club and half the book clubs in America. I really enjoyed this book. The characters fit into some pretty established fictional steriotypes but the author did a good job of not making her white and black characters smarmy. It helped that the ending just ended and didn't waltz off into happy racial harmony. Sorry if you haven't read it and that is what you hoped for! I found it interesting that it was marketed in the U.K. with different cover. The U.S. is trying a bit too hard to be politically correct which in and and of itself, is not very politically correct. Can you be open-minded if you hate close-mindedness? Sorry, I digress.

Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin

Sorry for the lack of a personal picture on this one. This book was our most recent Book Club books and I forgot it at Jennifer's last week. My actual cover had an actress on it because Temple's story has been made into an HBO special. It kind of irritated me. In her own book, Temple is replaced by an attractive actress. That was totally contary to the whole point of the book. Autism is considered a "dis"-ability but Temple argues, quite successfully, that it is in fact, her ability. Don't expect a narrative. This book is not that and it does jump around, occationally leaving you to go back to see where you missed the jumping. This book is inspirational and helps everyone who knows anyone with autism (that's pretty much everybody) understand the nature of its tendancies. Some say it's idealistic about the treatment of slaughter animals in this country but I found it heartening to know that someone like her cares as much as she does for our food.

New President Resolutions

2009-01-22T10:24:00.003-05:00

I missed the whole New Year's Resolution thing this year. Just kinda flew by and now it's January 22, 2009. So I'll reflect on my 2008 priorities and make some new ones in honor of the new president...

This was 2008's priorities:

How did I do?

1) Daily pray for my daughter, both for her health and safety now and success in the future.

Pretty good, we always pray with her right before she goes to sleep!

2) Have at least one "childless" date night with Richard a month. Get a babysitter.

Not so good. Weekend sneaks up on you and don't want to hassle. Didn't think it was a big downer to our relationship though. She's in bed by 7 most nights so we get "couple time".

3) Find a church to attend consistently. Become involved in some aspect of church life.

Yes on going, yes on a small group, still some questions though.

4) Train for and participate in 2 sprint triathlons.

Just one but I did a 10k and several 5ks.

5) Go to at least 3 new highpoints and visit at least 3 previously visited highpoints with Eyrleigh.

The Canada highpoints weren't quite as clear cut as we thought, but we did get AZ and Eyrleigh also did AL and NJ for her 3 firsts.

6) Eat at home an average of 5 nights a week! Count only those meals eaten downstairs. Use my 2008 prayer diary to document.

Pretty good at this if I do say so myself!

Now for 2009... Ok, so I'm cheating with some repeats but whose counting...

1) Daily pray for my daughter, both for her health and safety now and success in the future.

2) Have at least one "childless" date night with Richard a month. Get a babysitter.

3) Train for and participate in 2 sprint triathlons and a 1/2 marathon.

4) Go to at least 3 previously visited highpoints with Eyrleigh.

5) Eat at home an average of 5 nights a week! Count only those meals eaten downstairs.

6) Submit at least 3 manuscripts for publication and attend a children's author event.

7) Create a blog about daily holidays/events all over the world based on earthcalendar and other sites information.

...It's in writing, now I just need to follow through:) That's the fun part!

Playing with Pictures!

2008-08-05T14:16:00.002-04:00

No one reads my blog since I rarely add anything of interest so I will take this opportunity to fumble my way through adding pictures to my blog and if you do read this and there are no pictures, you will know I failed. Anyway, I am (attempting to) attach two pictures of a little makeover experiment I did way back in June. Yes, I know that was over a month ago but 1) I was on vacation for much of the time between then and now and 2) Eyrleigh was super cranky and I need to keep myself occupied while she fusses a little b/c she really needs more sleep.

I bet you can guess which picture is before and after, I worked very hard to look that horrible:) The after actually wasn't all that different from what I can do, despite seeing a professional, extremely flaming, make-up artist who was wearing the same mascara as he put on me (and yes, you could tell he was wearing mascara!)

Full Time Mommy Wanted: Apply Within

2008-05-20T20:39:00.002-04:00

My last post was about heading back to work. This post is my celebration post. I survived 70 days of teaching and I now will begin my next career. Full time Mommy! I'm so very excited to get to spend every day with my little girl. The last 4 months have been tough. I don't like leaving Eyrleigh every day, even when I totally trust my mom, Richard, or Alicia. I want to know what she's doing everyday and I hate coming home tired and worn out and seeing her for 3 hours max before she goes to bed. I've hated the rush in the morning, trying to get everything done in not enough time.
I'm so excited for the time to spend with Eyrleigh and watching her change and grow each day. I know this new job will be tough in its own way. I've got to find a good schedule and purpose, not just aimlessly start each day not knowing what I will do. I can't wait though. I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing! Here's to 3 more days of school!

Back to Work

2008-01-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

After 11 weeks of maternity leave, I return to work on Monday. I actually went back today to do Raptor Store with my kids this afternoon so that Monday morning can be somewhat normal. My long-term sub did a great job so I can go back into my routine right away. The thing that I'm thinking about most is not how work will go but how much I will miss my little girl. So many people have told me so many things that I need to keep telling myself to get through Monday.
1) I will miss her much more than she will miss me!
2) She won't remember that I "left" her but she will remember me.
3) She is with Richard, her daddy, and my mom, her grammy and will feel just as loved as she does with me.
4) She will smile at me just the same and I will see her for several hours every day and I will never go more than 3 weeks without having an extra day off.
5) Spring Break is just over 2 months away and summer vacation is less than 4 months away!
6) Next year I will go 1/2 time or find something that allows me to be a mommy 24/7!

Wish me luck on Monday!

New Mommy's Learning Curve

2008-01-14T19:44:00.000-05:00

There is a learning curve to being a new parent. I'm guaranteed to mess up something almost daily but hopefully, I'm learning daily too. Let me give you just a few examples and if you have kids, you'll remember yourself in some of these and if you don't have kids, maybe you won't have to make these mistakes, you'll just find new ones:)
I received some premixed formula bottles in the hospital and decided to put one in the diaper bag for emergencies (ie., when I can't comfortably breast feed). Two Fridays ago, I went into school after going out to eat with Lynette and Eyrleigh started fussing. I pulled out the formula bottle and though she didn't act thrilled, she eventually drank several ounces and the formula appeared to do the trick. Several hours later, she threw up all the formula all over me. Whoops, guess I shouldn't have shocked her little system with formula when she hadn't had it in over a month. Now I know...
I calculated last Monday that for the first 57 days of Eyrleigh's life, she spent only 15 of them without houseguests to spoil her. She had gotten very accustomed to falling asleep in someone's arms and had never really had to nap in her bassinette or crib. Last Monday, I decided she should learn to nap in her crib and following the recommendations of a very well known baby book that shall remain nameless, I lay her down in her crib and let her cry. Babywise (whoops) said she should fall asleep within 15, at most 45, minutes of crying. An hour and a half later, I was really going crazy. I realized that was not working. Now I know...
Tonight we began the process of transitioning Eyrleigh to take a bottle during the day. Let's just say, she is not sold. She didn't take it from Richard and she really didn't take it from me. She screamed until she was red in the face and let's just say, one wasted pumpeing. This will take some work! Know I know...
Mommy's learning!

Priorities 2008 (Otherwise known as resolutions!)

2008-01-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

I often hear people say they don't do resolutions because they set up failure when not followed. That may be true so instead I will create a list of things I want to prioritize for the New Year.

Here they are!
1) Daily pray for my daughter, both for her health and safety now and success in the future.

2) Have at least one "childless" date night with Richard a month. Get a babysitter.

3) Find a church to attend consistently. Become involved in some aspect of church life.

4) Train for and participate in 2 sprint triathlons.

5) Go to at least 3 new highpoints and visit at least 3 previously visited highpoints with Eyrleigh.

6) Eat at home an average of 5 nights a week! Count only those meals eaten downstairs. Use my 2008 prayer diary to document.

Here's to a great 2008!

A Year (and a half) in Review!

2007-12-31T22:23:00.000-05:00

Some things work to blog about, others don't. 2006 was a year of stuff you wouldn't want to blog about. Surgeries, miscarriages, death of family members, sure there is a place for talking about those things but the public forum of a blog is not one of those. But...

2007 though was worthy of much blogging and yet I didn't do it. Why? All sorts of lame reasons.

Here, though, is my 2007 in review! January and February 2007 did not start off much better than 2006. Our house was broken into and we did IUI with our fertility doctor but it didn't work. (Don't ask for details:) We went downtown to Piedmont Park for St. Paddy's Day and I went light on the libations "just in case" though I knew the chances of me being pregnant after 3+ years of trying were pretty slim. Hope springs eternal, I suppose! The next day, almost just to humor myself, I took a pregnancy test. It was positive and the excitement/stress began!
Because of my history (see first paragraph!) I began blood tests every 3 days. Everything looked good (minor panic over dropping hormone numbers aside) and by May, I was able to tell my very supportive principal to go ahead and tell my co-workers.
The pregnancy was fine, by pregnancy standards, and on November 12, we welcomed our little girl, Eyrleigh, into the world. (See beyond05.blogspot.com for a LOT more detail!) The last 7 weeks since then have been unlike any other. Yes, life has changed but not just simply in what I can and can't do and when. It's changed in that I can happily sit for hours and hold a little person and stare at her face and never question if I'm bored or what else I might have to do. I've started a habit some might say is indulging, but I let her nap on my chest and the only things I can do take only one hand and can only be done laying down. I don't mind, in fact, there is nothing else I would rather do. There will be time for disciplined naptime, now is not it. I'm having too much fun:) Am I tired? Yes, but it is a different kind of tired, a tired that doesn't stop you from doing what you have to do to be the person you need to be for your child. We've celebrated the holidays in these 7 weeks and it's already more fun to open presents and she doesn't even care yet! Every day she notices more and more and it's so fun to see each little change. Yep, it was worth it! I wouldn't have changed a thing!

As icing on the cake, 2007 had a few other highlights. Richard's company went public, giving us a financial windfall that brought real security to our plans. Richard's aunt who passed away in 2005 left Richard an inheritance, another windfall that we had no idea was coming. We had a wonderful trip to the British Isles with our new friends, Kent and Jess and had some other small but fun trips. We felt the love and support of many family and friends at 4 baby showers held throughout the fall and the amount of gifts was amazing. Richard had Lasix and doesn't need contacts. Richard did triathlons to keep in shape and I did nothing but had a good excuse (Oh, I hiked and walked but nothing strenuous.) There were other great things in 2007 that I've forgotten for now but will remember in time. I will miss this year, it was such a gift! But with an hour of it left, let me take this blog to say,

GOODBYE 2007! May 2008 bring as many wonderful things to my life!

My Impressions

2006-08-27T20:47:00.000-04:00

I suppose it is my fault for just letting Richard speak for me. I have been a willing participant in all the hikes that he religiously reports about on his blog. But my impressions, though similiar, are not identical to his. Yesterday, Richard and I continued our goal of hiking on a consistent basis by hiking Rabun Bald, the second highest mountain in Georgia. At 4696', it is quite a steep hike for this region of the United States. Honestly, I didn't notice the steepness as much on the way up as down, when my knees reminded me that "Yes, this is steep!". The recorded distance was 2.9 one way and I sometimes question distances but this seemed pretty accurate. We pushed really hard on the bottom and the top .3 were a little rough as I was running out of gas. An hour and 1/2 up was a good time for this hike. We saw no one on the trail but met several parties that had come up another way on the observation tower at the summit. One very nice couple, Cinnamon (cool name!) and JR, seemed interested in our highpointing and may pick up the hobby. We've met more people in the last month hiking than we have in the last year and 1/2. It's a shame none of them live within 500 miles!
After a pretty uneventful descent of Rabun and a pretty backcountry drive through Northeast Georgia and maybe a total of 2 miles in North Carolina, we drove into the Tray Mountain Wilderness to climb Tray Mountain. Tray Mountain is not over 4,000...Check that! While doing a little research to give you information, Richard and I realized we bagged another 4,000 footer yesterday and didn't know it until I blogged. Check that out, my blogging led to a important realization, maybe I will do this more often! In fact, Tray Mountain is the 8th highest mountain in Georgia. I guess we didn't think it was as high because it was such a short hike. At only 2.3 total, it took us only 25 minutes to get to the top. Perhaps it was the cooler weather and softer light later in the day, but I enjoyed this summit much more. A rocky ridge across the very summit was surrounded by shorter trees and you could see quite well through the breaks. We could even see the summit tower on Brasstown Bald through the haze. We walked a little farther to technically stand on or near the high point of Habersham County that was on the mountain a short distance from the summit. The summit of Tray Mountain is the high point of White County. Richard is adding to the list county highpoints though at times I see this as a bit anticlimactic. Backyards of people's houses do not really have the allure of mountaintops.
It was a quick walk down Tray and rock slide drive down to the main road. We had a German inspired dinner in the always tacky Helen, Georgia but at dusk, some of the tackiness can be ignored. We arrived home at 10:20, a little behind Richard's prediction of "around dark". I was wiped and crashed immediately. Richard pretended to have energy to watch baseball and confessed this morning that he to was asleep within minutes. Eight miles of hiking and almost 200 miles of driving takes a little out of anyone.

Summertime and the Living is ...

2006-05-30T16:39:00.000-04:00

I admit that I may be one of the world's worst bloggers but I have made a summer resolution (like a New Year's Resolution, but much more practical for teachers!) I will blog more this summer for several reasons, 1) I will have uninteruptted time each day to write about my goals and adventures and 2) it will help me slow down was always feels like the fastest time of the year. I always look at the summer that first week of August and go "Where did it go?". A blog should help me see at least what I did for some of it! Today was my first official day of summer break and the long Memorial Day weekend would have been a break for anyone. We spent an enjoyable weekend up in Pennsylvania with Kim, Bill, and Connor and pictures from that trip are on Richard's blog. I did what any rational person would do at the start of summer vacation and slept in this morning though I am realizing that sleeping in doesn't mean as late as it used to. Ok, ok, I almost made it to 9 but still, I could sleep in with the best of them just a few years ago. That time will probably get a little earlier as I get in a summer schedule.
To help with my organization of summer "stuff" , I made a list that consists of the things I really want to get done this summer. Here's the starter list:
Blood work at Dr. Toledo's
Do Laundry
Lift-Biceps and Back
Use cardio machine 1/2 to 1 hour a day
tennis practice
work on stories for some time each day ( I should give this a time minimum!)
mow yard
play golf once a week
read "The 360 Leader"
weed under pine trees and around fence
work on front walk garden
work on back deck garden
work on "pond" garden
work on vegetable garden

It's not a complete list but it's a good start. I've got a lot of yardwork goals as that has been ignored some for the last few years and the gardens need some help. The first 6 things on my list were to be accomplished today and I 've got the dr.'s finished, the cardio and lifting done, the last load of laundry is in the dryer, and I can count this blog entry as some of my writing for the day! WHOOHO! So far, so good. I want this summer to be not only relaxing but one where I look back as say, look at how much better everything looks because I worked hard! I'm now going to take some pictures for my blog of the gardens in their current state and even each room of the house as it is. Some rooms are done and some need work but since we never truly took before and after pictures we'll do now and then! Wish me luck! MR

Point Made... and Won!

2006-03-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

There are no religious readers of my blog because there is really never a blog to read. In fact, if you notice my previous post appear to cut off in the middle, that was on purpose, sort of... My point in that was that I never blog because of all the other distractions and priorities in my life. As I was writing that blog, Richard came home from something and well... interupted my blogging. He noticed it unfinished later in the evening and with a laugh, I said "Just post it, it will illustrate my point".
About points, I do want to note that my tennis mad husband is not the only winner in the family. He hasn't posted about our victories together as effusively as his singles wins but he and I played 3 times together in mixed doubles and were victorious each time. We played together very well together and communicated when we were frustrated with one another. This avoided those famous meltdowns that many couples have and never play together again. The mixed season is over so we won't be able to put another victory under our belts together for awhile.
I am playing on an Alta ladies team for the next 2 weeks before surgery. Today was our first day and our captain, Melanie, and I played together at line 4. We got down 0-3, tied it up and won 6-4. In the second set, we were up 5-4 with 40-15 the score in the 10th game and lost. AHHH! We then lost 7-5 in tie break. NOT 3 SETS!!! Yep! We closed the door in the 3rd, 6-2. Phew! With my 2 week only season, I wanted to make sure it was a good one.
Speaking of surgery, I will have my tumor on my uterus removed on March 31st as well as my endemetriousis cleared out. I will be in the hospital for 3 days and then out of work for two weeks. I'm really not looking forward to the pain part but honestly, having a two week break from work sounds pretty good right now! I love my job but sometimes you've just got to get away. Hopefully, I'll feel good enough to actually rest and relax in that 2nd week. Let's hope so!!!

Bogging Failure

2006-03-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

I admit I am a bit of a failure as a "bloggist". I can find so many other things to do and when I do sit down to blog so

Colonoscopies, Old Friends, and Getting Older

2006-02-03T23:51:00.000-05:00

Monday was a day of new experiences. It seems though that my new experiences lately involve coming face to face with the sad realization that I am getting older. I had my first colonoscopy. I will not go into the gory details but I will offer my services to anyone who would like some words of wisdom when they must endure this procedure. The preparation is the worst part, once you are through that, you're home free. Ask for the pills, not the nasty drink stuff, at least then you won't want to get sick on top of everything else. Also, tell your doctor you need to spend time in a public place soon after the procedure, they will make sure you are more socially acceptable if you get my gist.
I also spent some time this week emailing with an old friend. He told me of his family's medical issue and I realized that those simple concerns of my high school, even college years, were really so silly compared to the actual anxieties of adult life. The things we struggle with now are more lasting, more complex, and more frightening than anythings we dealt with as young people. We are getting older and we need to accept it! It's not a bad thing, just a fact of life. True, true.

Adventure #1

2006-01-25T23:29:00.000-05:00

Our family blogs have been the result of New Year's Resolutions. Last year Richard wrote a blog to document our goal of achieving the U.S. highpoints and to better document his life. This year, one of his resolutions was to help me create a blog. This resolution was as much for me as for him but in the early stages will require some of his assistance. It's not that I lack a desire to learn all things technical. It's that I lack the desire to prioritize learning all things technical and I have not received the most patient teacher as my guide. Richard tries, for a few minutes at least, to be tolerant of my questions and ineptitude. But when he is expected day in and day out to help others use the computer for a job, it becomes quite a drain to do the same for his wife. I am sure I will learn quickly but I have yet to learn.

Another difficulty with my advent into all things technical is my own schedule. I am a classic overcomitter. I enjoy many things, tolerate even more, and refuse to say "no" to almost anything. Even now, I think of the papers I could be grading, the weights I should be lifting, and the floor that lays unvacuumed. I fear maintaining a blog will end up being much like writing emails, something I do out of guilt, because someone has written me and I have waited weeks, even months to respond. I do not expect a degree of success in my blogging of Julie and Julia fame but I do suppose this could help me replace that diary I had as a anorexic teenager, the one time in my life I religiously chronicled my daily events.

Already I see that this initial blog has allowed me a certain degree of freedom to say things that perhaps, in common company; I would feel sound quite self-absorbed. Maybe that's the essence of blogging. To say what you want with the fulfillment of an audience but no fear of retribution. Ahhhh, I have arrived! Hello Blogging World!