Monday, June 27, 2011

summer reading

the girls and i have been spending some time at our local small-town library...the girls are participating in their "summer reading program" and enjoying little prizes along the way.  today was the last day of the june storytime but, unfortunately, we were unable to go.  why?  well, there is a certain young lady who recently turned 5 and is in what i am dubbing her "sassafras stage" (or alternatively "i will never...stage").  i love that little thing to pieces, but her mouth makes my mouth say things i should not.  not proud of that.  or the fact this "stage" could resurface when she is in double digits.  or just stay.  **sigh**

anyhoodles, we have been reading a bunch this summer!  i have enjoyed some of my favorite authors and found a couple new ones to love.  i am finishing up jodi picoult's latest book and have an anita shreve book ready to be read next!  I also like to keep a list of books to checkout...sometime the are magazine recommendations, or a friend's, or on a blog...this following excerpt someone else posted and it makes me want to read the book - just from this paragraph!

what are your recommendations for some summer reading?

we change shape, she continued, we buy low-heeled shoes, we cut off our long hair. We begin to carry in our bags half-eaten rusks, a small tractor, a shred of beloved fabric, a plastic doll. We lose muscle tone, sleep, reason, perspective. Our hearts begin to live outside our bodies. They breath, they eat, they crawl and-look!-they walk, they begin to speak to us. We learn that we sometimes walk an inch at a time, to stop and examine every stick, every stone, every squashed tin along the way. We get used to not going where we were going. We learn to darn, perhaps to cook, to patch the knees of dungarees. We get used to living with a love that suffuses us, suffocates us, blinds us, controls us. We live. We contemplate our bodies, our stretched skin, those threads of silver around our brows, our strangely enlarged feet. We learn to look less in the mirror. We put our dry-clean only clothes in the back of the wardrobe. Eventually, we throw them away. We school ourselves to stop saying 'shit' and 'damn' and learn to say 'my goodness' and 'heavens above'. We give up smoking, we colour our hair, we search the vistas of parks, swimming pools, libraries, cafes for others of our kind. We know each other by our pushchairs, our sleepless gazes, the beakers we carry. We learn how to cool a fever, ease a cough, the four indicators of meningitis, that one must sometimes push a swing for two hours. We buy biscuit cutters, washable pains, aprons, plastic bowls. We no longer tolerate delayed buses, fighting in the street, smoking in restaurants, sex after midnight, inconsistency, laziness, being cold. We contemplate younger women as they pass us in the street, with their cigarettes, their makeup, their tight-seemed dresses, their tiny handbags, their smooth, washed hair, and we turn away, we put down our heads, we keep on pushing the pram up the hill.
Maggie O'Farrell, The Hand That First Held Mine

Friday, June 24, 2011

"cabin fever" or "justin beiber"?

while watching a muppet movie earlier today...the muppet crew of the ship in the movie started to sing a song about having cabin fever.

"cabin fever....ooohh, oh, oh.....we've got cabin fever!"

just after it began i hear the girls both yelling:

"JUSTIN BEAVER**...JUSTIN BEAVER...THEY'VE GOT JUSTIN BEAVER ON THEIR SHIP!"

(**yup, they call him "justin beaver".  nope, i have not felt the need to correct them.  nope, we do not have any of his cd's.  nope, we will not be getting any of them any time soon.  thankfully!)

and then they were disappointed that justin did not show up. 

i tried to explain "cabin fever" to them but they insisted that the muppets said "justin beiber". 

yup, i am certain there were no muppets saying "justin beiber" since this movie quite possibly was made before he was even born.  but it sure was a good laugh for this momma!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

sad & unnerving

this story is just plain sad.  and unnerving.

and it happened near where we live.  no, not our neighborhood.  not within a stoe's throw.  but close enough that it just sickens me.

the young girl who was assaulted and her brother are basically the ages as my girls.  now, i'd like to say that i would never have let them go to said park alone, but with a view from a window...hard to say.  i "think" i would not let them go there, just the 2 of them.....

i have made comments in the past such as:
"even if we do put in a fence the kids & the dog really won't ever be outside without me there, too."
(this stems from the fact that kids are not safe outside in this day & age, even just riding their bike in front of the house or running throught he sprinkler...yes, when we 3 are outside and I need to go back inside - bathroom, answer phone, get h2o or snack - all of us go in...because....)

"everyone i don't know is a pedophile or kidnapper."
(ice cream van drive?  yup.  any unfamiliar vehicle or person in the area?  yup.  those people who go door-2-door to tell you the end of the world is coming soon, or selling candy bars/books/candles to "better their lives"/earn a scholoarship?  yup.  the older kids scootering/biking/walking who i do not recognize as neighbors?  yup.  ev.er.y.one.  why do i say/believe this odd statement?  about 8 years ago i worked somewhere that counsels sex offenders (adult & juvenile) and there was a group therapy that met during one of my shifts each week...i also did transcribing for the psychiatrist...so not only did i know in general terms why each person - generally men - were there, i also had details because i typed up each psychiatrist visit...and i can tell you that a main characteristic of these offenders was simple:  kindness...they are kind because that is how they groom their victims!  and some of the people looked like regular, good-hearted people...not the greasy-haired, slimeballs that one might have in their imagination...gives me the heebie-jeebies...)

and the fact that the offenders in the horrible incident are reported to be 12 & 13 year old boys?  seriously??  sigh, sad. sad.  sad.  and i am not even going to write about my feelings about the fact that thoughts that these 2 juvenile sex offenders recorded - then tried, unsuccessfully to delete - the assualt.  and, if convicted, may not receive much in the way of punishment (probation is highly likely - in fact the boys are currently not incarcerated but where allowed to go home with strict terms:  no cell phones, no contact with younger children).

so until further notice i will remain hypervigilant when it comes to my daughters.  i am guessing this will not change any time soon.  unfortunate for what that says about the world we live in now, but good for the protection of those precious girls!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

linnea mariann...No. 5 birthday!

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go


































Gonna tell you how much I love you

Though you think you already know

I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm

You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born



You're beautiful baby from the outside in

Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again

Go on, take on this whole world

But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl



When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone

Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown

Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I Love You" in the moonlight at your door

As I walk away, I hear you say, "Daddy Love You More"



You're beautiful baby from the outside in

Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again

Go on, take on this whole world

But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl



Someday, some boy will come and ask me for your hand

But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know, he's the half

That makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man

I know he'll say that he's in love

But between you and me

He won't be good enough



You're beautiful baby from the outside in

Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again

Go on, take on this whole world

But to me you know you'll always be,
my little girl