Thanksgiving Break

[still so proud of my lattice work]

It's been pretty quiet on the blog, but in real life this week has been busy! I am fortunate enough to have the whole week off, which thankfully sort of took the edge of the mounting stressors I'd been trying to ward off. 

So, here's a lot of pictures and a few words:

[85 going on 60- this guy is a beast]

The weekend break started we had an 85th birthday party for my grandfather in Brea. My brother and his girlfriend drove to my house and we drove to Orange County together, which made the drive more enjoyable. There were lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins there, so it was nice to catch up and for them to see crazy Sawyer. We also hit up Chelo's Creamery on the way back in The City of Industry, which is one of the few places that that has rolled ice cream. It was good, but I think it's more of a novelty thing that will fizzle out.

The next morning my brother, his girlfriend, and I drove up to UCLA to do a 5k that is a charity run for The Special Olympics. This year it ended rivalry week with USC, so when you sign up you pick a school and your fees are in their pot, adding a layer of team competition to it. I ran it about thirty seconds or so faster than my goal, so I was definitely pleased. And, despite the numerous hills, I ran the entire time and had no pain, so I definitely entertained some half marathon fantasies on the way home.

I was able to see many friends while off, which made things even better. A good friend and I have the same birthday, so we left our little guys at home with their dads and had breakfast the weekend before. I met another friend with her little girl for lunch, got to spend a few hours with our friends from out of town that came home for the holidays, and then was lucky enough to see a few students-turned-friends. 

[chicken and waffles for breakfast; I think I need to try ones with better chicken...]

After talking Santa up extensively, I took Sawyer to see him the day before Thanksgiving. We rehearsed it many times:

Me: What are you going to say when you see Santa?

Sawyer: Hiiiii.

Me: And then you can stand by him and when they take a picture what do you say?

Sawyer: Cheeeeeese.

Me: And then what?

Sawyer: M&Ms

Me: Yeah!

I got this parenting thing in the bag. Obviously. It worked and I have an adorable picture of him, smiling, holding his own stuffed little Santa that he insisted taking next to the real deal. 

There was lots of food. Like "afraid to step on the scale" lots of food. It's Thanksgiving. What can you do?

As previously mentioned, I hosted Thanksgiving, which meant two days of cleaning and cooking. Everything turned out well and my oven burns are minimal, so we'll call it a win.

I finished Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Here I Am, which I enjoyed for various reasons and will discuss soon. I am also about half way through Arianna Huffington's nonfiction, The Sleep Revolution, and I am fairly confident my brain is turning to mush because of my horrible sleep situation. I somehow miraculously watched the entire four episodes of the new Gilmore Girls, and the ending made wanting more. I ran, I cross stitched, I graded far too few papers.

So, tomorrow we head back into the final four weeks of the semester and I am determined to jump back on the productivity train that I was riding before break started, so that it's not two in the morning the night before grades are due and I'm in the fetal position weeping. Because that would never happen.  

I'm also excited to get Christmas going around here! I had wanted to put up our tree today, but Sawyer napped late and I was trying to get things tied up. Next weekend will be Christmas-heavy, so, see above comment on me getting it together. ASAP.

Hope everyone had a  great holiday! 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

[comfort food]

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This will be half election based, half rest-of-life based. If you don't want to read about my thoughts on what happened last night, skip down to number 6. 

1. I am so utterly disappointed with the election results; we have set feminism, racial equality, environmental protection, education, and everything else that matters  back decades. I am, though, happy that the people I consider dear to me are also progressive, socially-conscious people. I am thankful that I live in California, where we, for better or worse, live in this sort of liberal bubble that will hopefully protect its inhabitants a bit. A lot of important propositions passed in our state last night, which was one positive (like prop 55 for education).

2. The third-party voters anger me very much. 

3. I bought many, many book on diversity for Sawyer today so that I can at least sit down with him now and start teaching him about how to be good to others and how to respect all types of people. (Post to come!)

4. I talked to a colleague today for awhile about what the senate can do to help; basically, from what I understand, the democrats need to stick together and filibuster every little thing that they can in order to stall as much as possible. 

5. The electoral college is an archaic piece of junk. 

(election stuff over)

6. I have found the best pie crust ever. There's more sugar in it than other crusts I have used, but I think that's actually a really good thing. It's absolutely perfection. I made it to bake a salted caramel apple pie this weekend that's in the picture above (the filling is from my basic cooking Bible, Better Homes and Gardens, and the caramel is from Sally's Baking Blog). 

7. The other day I took a few of Sawyer's baby things (high chair, exersaucer a ton of clothes, etc...) over to our daycare lady's house so she could give to a family in desperate need. I was planning on getting rid of them anyway, but I had a moment of serious teary-eyed-ness there. I am growing more and more sure that I don't want to have a second child, but I almost felt that I was making the choice at that moment on Monday night, and I'm not ready to 100% do that yet. Alas, I am not a robot after all.

8. As if the new Gilmore Girls episodes weren't enough, I just found out that Lauren Graham has a new memoir coming out later this month. It sounds like a great audiobook option to me!

9. I wrote a post on Sunday that was about a sort of issue I've had with one of my own problematic personal flaws lately, but I didn't publish it because I knew that there would be a possibility that there might be people IRL possibly rooting for me to be unsuccessful and unhappy and I didn't want to give them ammo (although background checks are required now in CA... badadadum). I often regret not making this blog anonymous, but that ship has sailed! My point? I am disappointed in myself for caring what other people think and say. 

10. This weekend Scott and I are taking our crazy little child to see Thomas and Friends or whatever the hell it's called. We have to get up early. We have to be around other families with small children. We have to drive almost 45 minutes to get there. We have to ride on a train that goes nowhere in particular. We have to smile and be excited. OH MY GOD PARENTING IS SO HARD.

Want-Need-Have-to-Have

Let's go window shopping, guys! 

I love, love, love a good flat and I have heard from a reliable source that her Tieks are worth every darn penny (in fact, she was on the verge of shelling out the cash for a second pair). The matte black option is probably the smartest, but the cardinal red ones are whispering sweet nothings in my ear... 

I am so very tired, down to the marrow of my pinky toe. I'll spare you the redundant details of working hard at work and at home (on top of things that don't fall into either of those categories), and just say that I don't foresee myself getting the sleep I need in the near future. Plan B? More coffee, please. I need a Keurig, now. I've been buying the premade iced skinny Starbucks kind from the grocery store, but they only lasts me a few days and are pretty expensive.  [Edited to add: by the time this posts I may have given in and purchased one; Target has them on sale and I AM TIRED... in case I wasn't clear before]

I've been on the lookout for a good blazer for ages, and I finally found the Elizabeth British Tweed Blazer at Boden. The Turquoise Herringbone is so pretty. 

[source]

Once upon a time I lived for ER nights (Thursdays, if I recall). I think maybe college (?) got in the way of my viewing, so eventually I sadly stopped watching. Unfortunately, you can't stream the episodes, but I recently stumbled around the box set. It's pretty pricy, but it is fifteen seasons worth... 

I sort of flip back and forth between chunky, beaded necklaces and more dainty ones. Right now I'm preferring the latter, so I'm definitely eyeing this little sunburst necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs:

[source]

I also need a new bottle of perfume. I recently, for the first time ever, actually ran out of the stuff I usually wear, so I've been relying on some backup. 

So, that's what greedy Christine is eying right now. I tend to hem and haw about buying anything over about thirty bucks (minus dresses from Anthro, Loft or Ann Taylor... my kryptonite), so in reality by the time I get around to deciding if I want to spend the money I'll be over these things! Nonetheless, if the money fairy gave me some spare hundreds, these would be towards the top of my lift (after I saved half, of course).

Top Ten Tuesday- TV

This week The Broke and the Bookish give us a sort of a TV-related freebie to write about. Personally, we canceled our satellite service a few years ago and have relied on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and my husband's purchases instead. It's much, much cheaper this way and I seldom miss having access to networks (I did during the Olympics, though!). I really, really don't watch much in general, as I don't have it on during the afternoons or evenings when I'm home from work hanging out with Sawyer and at night after he's in bed I would prefer reading, working out, or getting caught up on work. I hate excess noise! Plus I think, for me, having the TV on gives me an excuse to be lazy, and I don't want that for me or my kid. When I do watch, it's with Scott, and it's just something for us to do together. Before my son, I still watched very little, but I definitely did watch more (probably like ten hours a week then, compared to my two now). 

[source]

This isn't to say that I shun TV watching, at all (I know it sounds like it, I just don't think there's a point to spending 20 hours a week watching HGTV when I have a million things to do)! I just rather do other things and I have trouble sitting still for long stretches of time. There are several shows that I enjoy and will watch when I am on the treadmill, or cross-stitching, or with my husband. Here are ten that I either would like to catch up on, or start:

1. Downton Abbey- We are two seasons behind, but man do I love this show!

2. Sons of Anarchy- I've watched three seasons now (my husband stopped after the first) and am determined to finish the rest, in the next year or two or three.

3. The Affair- It's got Pacey in it, guys.

4. Chef's Table- I love this sort of documentary-series on Netflix on food and restaurants. It's beautiful and interesting.

5. The League- We love this show! It's hilarious. My husband has played in tons of fantasy leagues over the years and I've done hockey a time or two, so we both get it.

6. The Gilmore Girls- I'm re-watching the last season in anticipation for the upcoming episodes.

7. Grey's Anatomy- I am fully confident this show went to crap after I quit watching it (I think I'm maybe four or so seasons behind), but I am SUCH a sucker for medical shows.

8. House- Speaking of medical shows, I watched the first season or two of this one and loved it. 

9. The Sopranos- Oh man, can I be any more behind? I am fascinated my the Mafia, so the fact that I've only seen one season just doesn't make sense.

10. The Girls- I love to hate them. I really do. 

Can't wait to see what everyone else has on their list and what I'm missing out on! 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

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Preface: I have been a horrible blogger lately and have been considering pulling the plug... Last night it appeared that I was locked out of Blogger for FOREVER but then my husband helped me get back in and I decided that it was a sign I'd stick around for awhile longer. I had some time today to put together a calendar of post topics, so we're back in action.

1. I've figured out they key to make mornings tolerable: coffee x 2, a good outfit, and a bowl of sugary cereal (Golden Grahams right now). Every time I go grocery shopping I consider getting something healthy, but then I say, "Christine, if consuming 15 grams of sugar in the morning from a box with a cartoon character on the front is going to make you happy,  then you do it. Mornings are hard. The choice is easy." And then I buy whatever I want and I accept the fact that I will never be an egg-white omelet with whole grain toast kind of girl. 

2. I have four ideas for novels right now. I have negative four hours to work on them. It's frustrating and sad, but the challenge is compelling and motivating, at least sometimes when I don't feel like my eyelids weigh eighteen pounds... each.  

3. Last weekend my brother and his girlfriend came over to BBQ and I made three new recipes- Cilantro and Lime Marinated Chicken Kebabs, Grilled Foil Pack Cheesy Fries, and Unbelievable Peanut Butter Pie. All successes to be made again!

4. Sometimes I take a deep breath and I get this overwhelming feeling that it has been weeks, if not months, since my last one. It's the most wonderful and horrible feeling all at once. 

5. I made this for a friend last week and was pretty pleased with how it turned out:

6. I received my first subscription box of cookies from The Cravory last week and there were some plusses and minuses. First of all, their presentation was total crap- could they not have sprung for a cute box or at least some sort of envelope? Instead they were all in separately packed plastic and in a box with some haphazard paper confetti. Three of the six flavors were excellent, one was okay, one was on the lower end of mediocre, and one I haven't tried, since I really don't know if I can accept candied meat in my cookies. I'll do it again for a few months and see if I want to continue. 

7.  I just bought this shirt five seconds ago:

[source]

8. Today my husband had a procedure and needed a driver, so I took the day off and Sawyer went to daycare. I thought I'd end up with some free time and get some things done, but no. The damn place ran over two hours past the scheduled appointment. Punctuality is sort of a requirement for all things in my life, so this was certainly not pleasing. But, I kept my cool, escaped for a delicious acai bowl once they called him back, and then made some snotty Instagram Stories about the situation. What any normal human being would do, I think.

9. Last Saturday I took Sawyer to Pretend City (a really cool children's museum in Orange County) and as we were leaving he starts singing the Batman theme song, which is what he does instead of say "Batman." I sort of ignored it, since he does it pretty much every time he sees someone in Batman apparel, thinks about Batman, etc... But he kept doing it, so I turned around, and THERE WAS BATMAN. Holy celebrity sight for a two-year-old! He said "hi" several times and then when Batman said it back he sort of got a little clingy and shy. It was the cutest. 

10. Tomorrow is September! So many good things are happening this month. 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

[it's Chomsky's birthday!]

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1. I got some really great news last week- our daycare provider has agreed to take Sawyer on for one more school year, so I don't have to find somewhere new to put him in the fall. He'd be not quite two and a half and I knew that he would be too young for a lot of preschools, but I didn't want to put him in another home daycare and then pull him out the following year when he was old enough to go. Problem solved. It's been weighing on me heavily, so this has definitely been a relief. 

2. Last Friday I noticed a growth the size of a marble on the outside of our Golden's bottom gumline and knew that we should take her in to have it checked out. They had an appointment for Saturday afternoon, so I loaded up the neurotic dog and the energetic toddler to go to the vet. They confirmed that it needed to be biopsied, so we dropped her off on Monday for a dental cleaning and to have it removed. So now we wait for the results... a few days... a few weeks... They were pretty noncommittal but we're of course hoping for something benign.

3. Last Saturday was sort of a mess, in general, actually. We had to get our taxes done in Orange County and when we got back my husband had to head back into the office for the rest of the day and evening (that's why I had vet/kid/dog duty). I was extremely tired and really stressed about being so behind at life, so by the time dinner rolled around I was DONE. Sawyer and I ran to Chick-fil-a and when I got the window to pay the young lady started complimenting my physical appearance. She got some of her coworkers involved, just to make it even more awkward, plus completely untrue, as I looked like a total disaster. And as I was driving away it dawned on me- she knew that I felt like crap, that I was a tired, stressed wreck, and she was just trying to be a sincerely nice person. I could care less about what fast food employees think about my looks, but that the fact that she was making an effort to be legitimately sweet to a stranger made my chicken sandwich a little more enjoyable. Now if only her parent company didn't hate homosexuals and make me feel like a douchebag for giving them money (fun fact- I just went back again a few weeks ago after resisting for years). 

4. Guess what? Only two more days until Fuller House. If I had the time, and my friends and I were all available and childless, I'd have a watch party. Can you imagine the drinking games that will soon be in existence? How many times will Stephanie say "how rude!" Or Joey "cut it out"? It's going to be horrible wonderful and I cannot wait to see this trainwreck. I asked Scott if he cared if I watched it when I got home without him and the look I got from him made me think that maybe he doesn't care as much as I do...?

5. I must have parties on the brain, because we are talking about having some sort of gathering this summer. A few years ago we had one that was really, really fun, but now most of our friends have kids, so this one would be a bit more family-friendly (last time I flat-out told people that they couldn't bring their children, haha). I love having people over and it's nice with the pool, so hopefully we can coordinate something for a few months away.

6.  I've been listening to Stephen King's On Writing and it's been motivating me to at least think about some of the projects that I have floating around in my head. His perspective is different from mine, but it's definitely thought-provoking. He's mentioned Misery a few times, and, coincidentally, so has my husband recently, so I decided to order it. A writer, a stalker, and a farm? It sounds like a quick read that I might possibly get a kick out of for various reasons.

7. Freshly washed skinny jeans are quite possibly the most demoralizing thing ever.

8. To counter that, though, American Apparel's leggings are quite the opposite. I'm resisting the urge to buy five more pairs.

9. Sawyer has been quite the little artist lately and I'm loving it. He was into coloring last week, and then we moved on to sidewalk chalk this weekend (he was outside with it for an hour! Amazing!) and right now he's using one of those water paintbrushes to make pictures appear. I think he's going through some sort of developmental motor-skill sort of spurt (or whatever you want to call it) because he's been doing a lot better with building block towers, getting Duplo pieces to stick together, and trying to put clothes on. It's a lot of fun to watch and I love being able to introduce new things that he enjoys doing.

10. I'm still plugging away at Notorious RGB and still find it fascinating (I hated her for a minute when they mentioned her ability to get by on only a couple of hours of sleep a night, though). I've been trying to get a lot of grading done this week, though, since this weekend is starting to fill up, so my reading is suffering a little. Getting papers out of the way is a good feeling, though, and the grading period is up soon, so it's about damn time. 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

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1. My grading at work is at an actual manageable level. As in I have less than one assignment outstanding to grade. This hasn't happened since the end of last semester. It's an end-of-the-school-year miracle.

2. This essay from the New Yorker is really great- it's Pinterest personified. I wish I wrote it.

[source Fiona Crawford Watson via The New Yorker]

3. And now, because of number two, I think I'm going to subscribe to the magazine... again. I received six months as a gift many years ago and I got behind really quickly. But now you can do twelve weeks for twelve bucks, and you get the digital and physical copies. Done deal. I can become more cultured at one in the morning when I'm rocking the crazy baby back to sleep.

4. Something happened at work yesterday that really bothered me (not related to my students, which I find amusing, because you'd think the majority of a high school teacher's workplace strife would come from the 100+ teenagers they're with all day) and now I'm really, really, really ready for summer. 

5. I'm supposed to go to see Pitch Perfect 2 this weekend and I can't wait, no matter what the reviews say (and I don't even know what they say, since I haven't looked, but how often is a sequel that well-received?). I was so pleasantly surprised with the first one, so I'm looking forward to catching up with the girls, taking a purse out instead of a diaper bag, and being entertained. 

6. I'm sort of in love with washi tape, and I have no idea why. I just covered a notebook in it. Why? I have no idea. But it's so... cute.

[the possibilities are endless; source]

7. I ordered the The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marle Kondo, hoping it motivates me to organize the heck out of my house this summer.

8. Scott just gave me permission to watch the rest of Sons of Anarchy without him, since the last episode of the second season pissed him off. Whatever. Anyway, if I didn't have a child I'd be done with the who show in approximately one week. Because I love Jax. And motorcycle gangs. And when Jax hold his baby. 

[source]

9. We just started watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, with no knowledge whatsoever about what the premise was, except that everyone says it's funny. The pilot was funny and weird, but, in typical pilot fashion, it was a tiny bit... overdone. Or corny. We'll see what the next few are like.

10. If you've seen Easy A, you'll recall the scene where Olive hates the song "Pocket Full of Sunshine," but after listening to it several times she has a change of heart. This is me and "Uptown Funk." I want to hate it, and I tried to hate it, but I can't. Plus Sawyer always busts out his baby dance moves on, which pretty great. 

Reading Writing Watching Wanting

Reading

I just finished To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. I was disappointed.

I'm trying to put on my big girl panties to review this year's yearbook, but, as always, I get super nervous. This is only made worse by the fact that last year a nearby school district accidentally handed out their book, only to find out that there was a picture with a soccer player who was... hanging out... of his shorts. 

I've been reading The Nowhere Box by Sam Zuppardi to Sawyer lately and I can't wait until he's old enough to give a box and some crayons to. The possibilities are endless.

I also have a stack of timed writes my students wrote on an excerpt from Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. The ones that I've read so far aren't bad, making me feel that maybe I've done a little good this year. Or maybe it was just easy.

Writing

I wrote a guest post over at We Are Book Punks about coercing kids of all ages to read. Their blog has such a cool design to it- check it out!

I started my next project ("novel" makes me feel presumptuous), the one I wrote about a few weeks ago, complaining about how I had no clue where it was going to go. I finally bit the bullet when I was home with my roseola-rashed out child and busted out five pages. It feels good. The file is entitled "kale" right now. 

I'm also putting together a resource guide for a committee I'm on at school, providing teachers with places to go when they teach Night, Farewell to Manzanar, and The Lord of the Flies. 

Watching

I've started watching more TED Talks lately, since I can always find one at a length I have time for. Plus they make me feel a little more educated. I think after I watch five or so I'll put up a quick post with links.

Don't tell my husband, but while I was working last night I watched/listened to the movie he was watching, Whiplash, and I really liked it. It's about this tyrannical music instructor and his student. I need to play some clips for my students so that they'll be more thankful for my tactics.

Despite my irritation with Lena Dunham's memoir, we're still plugging away at Girls. And I still like it.

We need to also catch up on Jane the Virgin on Hulu. It's such a smart, light-hearted watch.

Wanting

I've had cabin fever lately (probably because Sawyer has been sick with his ears, fever, roseola for over a week), so I want to just go do something fun. Nothing crazy. Bowl? Go to the Huntington Library? See Pitch Perfect 2 in a few weeks? Things are in motion, the planning machine has been put in gear.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I want a set of wool dryer balls and some essential oil to take the place of our dryer sheets. I had no clue they existed until someone posted some of Instagram. They dry things faster and are better for the environment than dryer sheets.

The book Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill has hopped in and out of my cart on Amazon the last few days.  

Some peace and quiet. 

Nonfiction Nagging: Lena Dunham is a Piece of Work

Lena Dunham is not someone I'd like to be friends with, have as a daughter, have as a sister, or know as an acquaintance. And maybe this is because I have no patience and am not an empathetic person. Or maybe it's because I don't like drama, narcissism, or people who act like they are bigger feminists than they are. 

I do have to admit to loving Girls, and I will continue to love it. I did not realize it was quite as autobiographical as it is, but I can accept that and continue to watch it. 

I've been interested in Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl ever since I heard of the $3.5 million dollar advance it received. That's a solid chunk of change. Plus, as I aforementioned, I love her show Girls, and I consider myself a feminist, although not the stereotypical type that doesn't shave her legs, hates men, and constantly bitches and moans about the salary gap. So obviously it was pretty inevitable that I'd read her collection of essays. 

Some (mean-ish) things I thought while reading:

- Is she for real? Is she a real person? Please tell me she is embellishing her ridiculousness.

- Why are people putting condoms in house-trees? Is this a thing I'm just not cool enough to know about? Is this something that only artistic Oberlin people do?

- Oh. This is what people keep talking about when they say things like "white privilege." I get it now.

- You are not a feminist if you are that hung up on men and their validation of you. Just because you are too lazy to stay on a diet, shave, and develop a fashion sense doesn't mean you can wave around the feminist card. Or maybe this is just a new brand of feminism, for the millenials, or whatever it's called.

- Entitlement x 5325347584994

- There are some gross things that you should just keep to yourself. Fine, tell your friends if that's what you guys talk about, but do you really need to share private, weird, things about, say, YOUR VAGINA, with the whole damn world?

- I hope she doesn't reproduce. She struggles to care about anyone but herself.

- Ummm, where is Jessa? Marnia? Shoshanna? 

- *Pause* let's define rape, shall we?

- Your dad seems cool, but your mom seems sort of... difficult

- You are a slut, Lena Dunham

- Now I feel like less of a feminist for calling someone a slut, since everyone should get to explore their sexuality as they see fit, as long as everyone is safe and consenting. But still, she had sex with a lot of people that she didn't really know. 

- People who write memoirs before they're at least middle-aged have some serious narcissism problems going on. 

- There are some sections in the end that aren't as infuriating as the beginning, like on work, therapy, etc... But still. 

This book was really irritating, but it was also really fun to hate read. I think this would be an excellent book club selection, actually, since I'd anticipate some really strong feelings. She's not a bad writer, in fact I'd actually say that's she has a decent voice and style. She's just a serious pain in the ass. 

 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

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1. Why do people ruin things with raisins?

2. I'm currently reading The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion and while it's a quick read, and mildly entertaining, I think it's a bit silly and lackluster so far.

3. I've been listening to Serial, the Podcast by This American Life (NPR) and am completely hooked. For those unfamiliar with it, it's a true-life murder mystery from over a decade ago being investigated. The host, Sarah Koenig is perfect and the pacing so far impeccable. I actually don't mind being stuck in moderate traffic on the way home, since it means I get to listen longer (as long as Sawyer is quiet/happy/asleep).

4. I think I'm taking a stance against those little pouches of baby food that are all the rage. I've read a few articles that they're really bad for kids' teeth, plus are crazy expensive. Not to mention that I have a massive aversion to Gogurt, and these seem a lot like that. The one thing that is a bummer is that they have some really great, healthy flavors (like kale quinoa). Time to bring out the Baby Bullet!

5. Speaking the offspring, we've been reading Skippy John Jones Snow What and the Curious George Thanksgiving book. I am such a sucker for cute holiday books.

6. My husband and I made a small splurge on our financial diet. We shelled out the $16 to sign up for Cards Against Humanity's Ten Days or Whatever of Kwanzaa. Basically, they send you presents for ten days, and in the past they've been pretty cool. I love getting mail, so this should be pretty great. Sometimes you just need some comic relief.

7. I made this cake for my grandpa's 83rd birthday last week. I made the template for the numbers out of wax paper and everything. Alert the Pinterest.

[octogenarians love sprinkles]

8. I've started reading the Best American Short Stories of 2014, edited by Jennifer Egan and have really enjoyed some of the ones I've read so far, including those by TC Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, and Lauren Groff. I give so much credit to short story writers- it's so difficult to write a good one.

9. My husband and I watched the first episode of Jane the Virgin on Hulu the other day and it's pretty safe to say we'll be watching the rest. I can't believe something that witty and satirical is on the CW. Also, in TV news, what the heck Parenthood? WHAT THE HECK? You leave me hanging about Julia and Joel and then the next episode they're not even mentioned? What a bunch of ratings-grabbing crap.

10. I save the best for last: I think I'm going to a reading tomorrow night! The first since the little bambino was born. Rebecca Skloot, the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, is going to be at the University of California, Riverside campus tomorrow giving a free lecture, so I'm going to attempt to go. Fingers crossed the baby cooperates and I can leave him with my husband for a few hours.

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Link up below!

1. Some grammar humor (from the most inappropriate show ever):

2. Confession: I don't say the Pledge of Allegiance, nor do I make my students. I have no problem when people say it, but it's not something I partake in myself. No, I am not joining ISIS.

3.  I made these last weekend and they were delicious (spoiler alert: it involves apples and snickerdoodles).

4. When you complain and someone says "welcome to motherhood" or "welcome to teaching" or "welcome to the jungle" they're basically saying "you're not unique, stop complaining, shut your face."

5. It's expensive and wasteful, but I effing love parchament paper.

6. I hadn't thought about Chicago Hope, the nineties medical drama, in years, but for some reason really wanted to watch it last night. Instead I googled pictures of Christine Lahti, Mark Harmon, and Hector Elizondo.

7.  One of the most important things to learn when teaching high school students is to not take things personally. As I "attach" myself to groups of students this is something I have to remember. Teenagers are emotional, weird, opinionated creatures that don't always consider other perspectives or empathize well (heck there are a lot of adults who fall into the same boat).  But I still love them.

8. There have been a few different blog posts floating lately that run to the tune of "mom, yeah you're tired and put everyone before yourself, but you really should pay more attention to your husband and make him feel like the hot young stud he was when you started dating." Excuse me, but back that 1950s stand-by-your-man train of BS up. Most of them throw in a line at the end that tell men to "not forget your wives," but the sentiment is that we as moms should bend over backwards to make sure our husbands feel loved and special even when they don't. How about this? How about an article that tells husbands to start recognizing that their wives work their butts off all day, many going to work and then coming home and continuing the labor? Of course, not because then we'd be labeled as "feminist bitches" or "needy" or whatever insult whatever enraged man wants to spit out. Okay, I'm done now. I just don't need some stay-at-home mom who runs a blog called something like "Lace and Lollipops" (or whatever) to tell me that I need to rub my husband's feet when I get home, because "golly gee, he is a maaaaaaan." Now I'm really done.

 

9. My students are working on a batch of IOPs, a formal 10-15 minutes presentation on an element of the text we're working on. Presenting is tough, so I sympathize with them. Some of the most talkative, outgoing kids become the complete opposite- the other day I spotted one kid's hands trembling as he held his cards. Granted, some don't prepare adequately and don't research as well as they should, but I have noticed that public speaking is a skill that we're not teaching well enough in our schools. In the future I need to give a crash course on speech giving- body language, eye contact, etc... 

10. I want to learn how to sew better- I fantasize about making myself cute skirts and vintage- looking dresses. How awesome would that be? A yard or two of fabric plus the various notions runs less than $20. Unfortunately, all I can currently do it a basic straight stitch and buttons. I also want to start making scarves. If I had time I'd try to take a class or something.

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Howdy! Link up below.

1. I arrive at the babysitter's house at least five minutes early every day,  no matter how hard I try to leave early. Given the fact that it's her home, and her and her family are getting ready to start the day, I feel bad, so I either wait out front or circle the block once or twice. 

2. Lena's dress at the Emmy's was... something. She said it "looks like cake and feels like sweatpants." 

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3. Love these composition totes from Out of Print:

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4. I found this lemon poppy-seed recipe last weekend and was pretty jazzed that I actually had all the ingredients, including the ripe lemons my husband assured me had on the tree. Fast-forward a few hours later- he's out with a friend, Sawyer's fast asleep and I'm in the baking mood. I go out to pick a few lemons and THEY'RE GONE! Who steals lemons? My theory: the guy who does the lawns. He sees month after month of our lemons staying on the tree and he figures we won't miss them. Any other time he'd be completely right. Sadly, there has yet to be any lemon poppyseed bread.

5. Having to decide on a little boy hair cut in the future scares me. Albeit, we are putting the cart before the horse, since my baby is basically bald.

6. We were watching Parenthood (so good, so depressing) the other night on Netflix and the song Transatlanticism by Death Cab came on, and I instantly fell in love. And then Julie realized that she wasn't getting the baby she wanted to adopt and, if it weren't for my husband being in the room, I would have lost my shit. So now I'm facing a serious conundrum: download the song and bawl my eyes out every time I hear it, since I now associate it with all things sad, or go without.

7. I haven't been able to exercise as regularly as I am used to and feel like I am on the cusp of losing my shit. No joke. If anything, I am downplaying the severity of the situation. 

8. I added a "currently reading" line to my email signature at work last week. Number of people that have noticed: 0. Fucks I give: 0.

9. I've been doing my best to influence my students' reading habits, and I'm feeling relatively successful so far. I have two tackling The Goldfinch, two reading Five Days at Memorial, and two starting Let the Great World Spin (so many pairs... it's like the literary Noah's Ark).

10. My mom and other sister are coming into town this weekend! This sister hasn't met the baby, so I'm excited. She likes dogs more than people, so she'll probably play with him for five seconds before lavishing the dogs with attention.