Lagniappe 11/19/2016

I've been home for a week and I'm so content. I'm really such a homebody these days. My month with my parents was good. They are recovering from their surgeries well. It was great to see my brother and his family again, too.

• I got back into Wisconsin exactly a week ago. I expected Patrick to pick me up from the airport, but actually, he and both kids picked me up!! Yay! I felt very loved!
• Patrick signed up for Blue Apron while I was gone. He made several of the meals and liked them. He and I made the last one together on Thursday and it was delicious! The only problem is that we didn't make the beet-cranberry agrodolce because the beet was all squishy because we should have made it about four days earlier. Besides, something with both beets and cranberries would have been very "challenging" for my palate. After the first of the year, we'll be trying some more of the Blue Apron meals. And, it turns out that Patrick and I do a really good job cooking together!
• Chris got into Concert Choir for next semester!! He told me last week that the audition was last Thursday and then he let me know the audition results at the airport!! I'm so happy for him. He has worked really hard on his sight-singing and aural skills this semester.
• Lydia is now working full-time at her job. She spent the first three months technically working for the temp agency that got her the job. Now that she's officially working for the company, she gets next Thursday and Friday as paid holidays (something that never happened when she worked in hospitality). And, a couple of weeks ago, she got moved to a job that she wanted (doing inventory) in which she is not constantly on her feet and that starts at 8am instead of at 6am. And, it came with a raise! Overall, she's pretty happy with her work status.
• Lydia was also very excited this week because she got a turkey at work! Of course, she can't even think about cooking it in her tiny oven, but it's 12 pounds, so we'll just use it for our Thanksgiving turkey. One less thing for me to buy!
• I spent my first couple of days at home not sleeping well and just getting a bit done here and there. Finally, on Wednesday, I decluttered part of the living room and cleaned the kitchen. I had major plans for the rest of the week, but I woke up with a migraine on Thursday that has not let loose since then. Ugh.
• LSU lost to Florida today. It's not good for me when Florida wins. So many of my high school friends are from UF (I grew up in West Palm Beach) that my FB feed turns blue and orange when Florida beats LSU. Not good.
• I'm knitting my fingers to the bones. It's getting time for Christmas presents!! And I've chosen some lovely yarn, so it's fun for me to knit!
• Big news: I got all seven of the Harry Potter novels on audio from Pottermore! Yay!
• And, I learned something while listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We learn about the vanishing cabinet in Borgin and Burkes, which I already knew about. But, we also learn about how the vanishing cabinet in Hogwarts gets broken! Harry gets in trouble with Filch and is taken to his office. To distract Filch, Nearly Headless Nick has Peeves cause a distraction, which is to drop the vanishing cabinet in a classroom directly over Filch's office. Filch exclaims that Peeves has now broken a very valuable vanishing cabinet! This becomes important in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when the Weasley twins stuff Montague into the cabinet. And, it's of major importance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince because Draco Malfoy repairs it so that the Death Eaters can enter the school. Wow. Rowling really planned this thing out.
• Christmas Mint M&Ms are out!! I'm really trying to limit myself. Really.
• Next week is Thanksgiving, so I'll be cooking and cooking and even more cooking!! 

More later about politics, books I'm reading, and things Jesus is teaching me. What are you up to? Comments are always welcomed!!

CCM

. . . And Moving On . . . .

Election day is over. For the vast majority of us, that means we go on living our lives as usual. Barring any great catastrophe, the checks and balances placed on the branches of government by our founding fathers mean that there won't be any dramatic changes in our lives based on the election results anytime soon. I am so blessed to be in a family that believes in love, tolerance, and patience. But, one of my "adopted" daughters has received some hateful messages on Tumblr because of her sexual orientation. Please remember that there are some out there who are vulnerable to other peoples' rudeness, hate, and persecution; and pray for them when you can.

My mom and dad are recovering well from their surgeries. Dad has his catheter out and had a very good visit with the urology clinic today. Mom has been able to drive since Monday, which is good since I've had an intermittent migraine for about five days. Mom still has some pain from healing, but she's managing. She likes to pick up things that are too heavy and doesn't do well with resting, but she never has . . . 

Mom bought a new microwave today at Home Depot. It was the last one of the floor model, so it came without a box. She had someone load it into the car at Home Depot. When she came home, though, I brought it upstairs, which wasn't very hard because it's not all that heavy. But, then, I moved the old microwave from the shelf to the floor of the living room. It was heavy. Then, I put the new microwave in it's spot and life was good! And my nephew gets to move the old microwave downstairs. Because I'm old. 

I've been working on some knitting projects that I'm not at liberty to discuss because Christmas!!!

Speaking of Christmas, I made a Christmas music playlist on my phone!! I'll rotate between that and Hamilton when I want to listen to music. 

I was going to recruit my nephews and work on getting Mom and Dad's Christmas tree and a few decorations up, but I woke up with such a bad migraine yesterday that I couldn't do it. We might try again Friday after school. The stuff is up on a high shelf and I think I need my 15 year old and very tall nephew to help!

I've also been reading. My brother loaned me Disinformation by Ion Mihai Pacepa and Ronald J. Rychlak. It's a book about how the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc misled the West during the cold war, but particularly about how they tarnished the image of Pope Pius XII. It's a pretty good book, but I wasn't getting much reading done. I came across Church of Spies by Mark Riebling in Overdrive, which is an audiobook also about the Catholic Church's true role in WWII. I decided to listen to this one instead since I'm doing more listening than reading right now.

My other two books are The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight which is excellent and Seriously Dangerous Religion by Iain Provain about reading the Old Testament which is also excellent. I also have The Big Short by Michael Lewis from Overdrive, but I haven't started listening.

Tomorrow, it's back to normal life. Hopefully, I wake up without a headache. Help Mom clean house. Do some knitting. Maybe check out a yarn shop. Love the people I come in contact with. Wonderfully boring. And I'm glad.

How are things with you? Anything interesting? Do share.

CCM

. . . And Moving On . . . .

Election day is over. For the vast majority of us, that means we go on living our lives as usual. Barring any great catastrophe, the checks and balances placed on the branches of government by our founding fathers mean that there won't be any dramatic changes in our lives based on the election results anytime soon. I am so blessed to be in a family that believes in love, tolerance, and patience. But, one of my "adopted" daughters has received some hateful messages on Tumblr because of her sexual orientation. Please remember that there are some out there who are vulnerable to other peoples' rudeness, hate, and persecution; and pray for them when you can.

My mom and dad are recovering well from their surgeries. Dad has his catheter out and had a very good visit with the urology clinic today. Mom has been able to drive since Monday, which is good since I've had an intermittent migraine for about five days. Mom still has some pain from healing, but she's managing. She likes to pick up things that are too heavy and doesn't do well with resting, but she never has . . . 

I've been working on some knitting projects that I'm not at liberty to discuss because Christmas!!!

Speaking of Christmas, I made a Christmas music playlist on my phone!! I'll rotate between that and Hamilton when I want to listen to music. 

I was going to recruit my nephews and work on getting Mom and Dad's Christmas tree and a few decorations up, but I woke up with such a bad migraine yesterday that I couldn't do it. We might try again Friday after school. The stuff is up on a high shelf and I think I need my 15 year old and very tall nephew to help!

I've also been reading. My brother loaned me Disinformation by Ion Mihai Pacepa and Ronald J. Rychlak. It's a book about how the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc misled the West during the cold war, but particularly about how they tarnished the image of Pope Pius XII. It's a pretty good book, but I wasn't getting much reading done. I came across Church of Spies by Mark Riebling in Overdrive, which is an audiobook also about the Catholic Church's true role in WWII. I decided to listen to this one instead since I'm doing more listening than reading right now.

My other two books are The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight which is excellent and Seriously Dangerous Religion by Iain Provain about reading the Old Testament which is also excellent. I also have The Big Short by Michael Lewis from Overdrive, but I haven't started listening.

Tomorrow, it's back to normal life. Hopefully, I wake up without a headache. Help Mom clean house. Do some knitting. Maybe check out a yarn shop. Love the people I come in contact with. Wonderfully boring. And I'm glad.

How are things with you? Anything interesting? Do share.

CCM

What I'm Up To

School is about to start which means that Chris (Wild Man) is about to go off to college (although I expect he'll be home a lot of weekends) and Patrick (PWM) will be back to teaching. And, I'll be home with the cats during the day. What's someone with chronic migraine to do?

What will I do with myself? I thought about taking a seminary class on Genesis or New Testament Survey. The problem is that my headaches tend to show up at inconvenient times - like when papers are due or when online discussion groups are scheduled. I might try it another time, but I've got a few other things to keep me busy until then.

It turns out that I have a bunch of books that I've purchased or that have been given to me that I haven't read (or started and haven't finished) yet. This fall seems like the perfect opportunity.

• The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight (almost done)
• Hearing God by Dallas Willard
• A Fine-Tuned Universe by Alister McGrath
• C.S. Lewis: A Life by Alister McGrath
• Confessions by St. Augustine (Lydia and I are reading this together and getting together for discussions every month or so.)
• The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
• Serious Dangerous Religion by Iain Provan
• Darwinism and the Divine by Alister McGrath
• Ancient-Future Time by Robert E. Webber
• black and white bible: black and blue wife by Ruth Tucker
• The Heaven Promise by Scot McKnight
• The Epistles of St. John by F.F. Bruce

Now that I look at the list, it seems a little daunting. It might take more than the fall, especially since I plan to continue to reading some fiction from the library on the side. As always, friend me on Goodreads (Catherine Martin) to see what I'm reading and what I've thought of my recent reads.

Of course, I'm going to knit. I've got a few projects planned for the next year or two.

• Christmas presents - No, I won't tell you what they are. Some of the recipients read this blog.
• A Fair Isle sweater from a kit from Knit Picks. I actually made this sweater several years ago in XL. Unfortunately, when I was washing and blocking it, I thought I could get away with spinning it in the dryer for a couple of minutes to get a bit of the water out of it. No. It felted. I ordered a couple more balls of yarn and I'm working on another sweater. I've got the sleeves almost done. I'm much more confident on this sweater now that I know how to knit and cut steeks.
• I love modular knitting. I found a cool pattern in a book that I have and I actually have enough yarn to make it!! It's a short sleeved sweater, so I'll probably try to make it for spring.
• I'm working on a double-knit scarf. I wanted to enter it in the County Fair this year, but I've only got six inches done so far and the Fair is next week. I'm on row 70 out of 500. Yeah. I'll enter it in the Fair next year. But, I'll work on it this year.
• For when my head aches and I don't want to think, I'm making a blanket that's mostly garter stitch.
• When I get another itch to organize something I'll organize all my works-in-progress (WIPs).

Other things I want to do between headaches

• Coloring! I've got my coloring books and pencils that are great for a rainy day.
• Pokemon Go! I am having a great time with this game. I've changed my walking routine so that I can stop by a couple of PokeStops for PokeBalls a couple of times.
• Internet Monk (www.internetmonk.com) is doing a study on the book of James that I'm following along with.
• Clean out the basement. We have stuff that needs to be given away and stuff to be thrown away.
• Clean the upstairs closet. This will take all of 30 minutes once I set my mind to it. I hope.
• Re-organize my room. When we made Lydia's room into a room for our exchange student, we emptied her desk's contents into a box and left the box in our room. I need to deal with that box along with other stuff in our room.

Right now, though, the Olympics are on, so I am going to watch the Olympics and knit.

What are your plans for the Fall? Anything interesting?

CCM

Book Reviews–June 30, 2013

Yep, folks, it’s that time again! Book reviews! I don’t promise any consistency in my likes and dislikes, so take it with a grain of salt.

Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl by Susan Campbell. I really enjoyed this book, but I felt like it was disorganized and scattered. I realize that memoir isn’t held to the same linear standard as autobiography, but this book was more confusing than I would have liked. But, I enjoyed it. As spiritual memoir goes, this was a pretty good one. B

The Dressmaker: A Novel by Kate Alcott. The story of Tess, an apprentice to Lucille Duff Gordon, is told against the backdrop of the events of the sinking of the Titanic. When controversy erupts around Lady Duff Gordon, how should Tess respond? Fascinating book. A

The Shadow of the Titanic by Andrew Wilson. After I read The Dressmaker, I got on a Titanic kick, so I read this book. It really is fascinating to see how clearly the class lines were drawn one hundred years ago. It’s also fascinating to see how the Titanic disaster affected the rest of these people’s lives. A

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright. This is a well-written book about Scientology and it’s fascination with Hollywood and celebrity. All the names and places can get confusing, but I think Wright does a good job with helping to keep things sorted out. I’m fascinated by various religions and why people believe or stay in them when they’re clearly abusive. The book provides a glimpse into a system that is clearly dysfunctional for many people, yet they choose to stay. Fascinating. A

Until I Say Good-bye: My Year of Living with Joy by Susan Spencer Wendel. I went to high school with Susan. She was drum major in our band the year before I was. Otherwise, though, we were in different circles of friends, so I was surprised to hear that she had been diagnosed with ALS, although I wasn’t surprised to hear that she was a successful journalist at the Palm Beach Post. This book is a memoir of a year that she took to deliberately spend time with her family and friends before her disease became too debilitating. It’s funny, poignant, and sad. I highly recommend it. A+

Rapture Practice: A True Story by Aaron Hartzler. Aaron grew up in a Fundamentalist Christian home and went to a Fundamentalist Christian school. Somewhere along the way, he didn’t turn out to be a Fundamentalist Christian himself. That’s what his memoir is about. It’s well-written, funny, and full of insight. A

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life in Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill with Lisa Pulitzer. This true story is about a woman whose family is high up in the Scientology hierarchy and who grew up in Scientology and how she got out. It’s a fascinating look at how a religion can overwhelm one’s common sense. My only complaint is the title – her leaving Scientology didn’t seem much like a “harrowing escape”. Otherwise it was a good book. A-

Chosen by Ted Dekker. This is a young adult novel that we read aloud as a family. A small group of forest dwellers are fighting to defend themselves from the desert dwellers who surround them. A group of new, young soldiers are sent into the dessert to retrieve an item to prove themselves, but an adventure follows instead. It’s an exciting adventure story. The Christian story parallels may be a little heavy-handed, but our family enjoyed it. A

The Central Park Five: The Chronicle of a City Wilding by Sarah Burns. I’m old enough to remember the case of the Central Park Five – five teens who confessed to the brutal rape and beating of a woman out jogging one evening in Central Park. The problem is that they didn’t do it. But, they confessed. And that is the problem with our legal system. This book goes through the events of that night which explains why the boys would have confessed, why none of their confessions at all matched, and who the real perpetrator was. All of them have now been released from prison, but this has obviously had a negative impact on their lives. This is an excellent look at the problems with our justice system. A

I’ll have some movie reviews coming up soon. And, if I can remember the audiobooks that I listened to, I’ll include reviews of those! In the meantime, keep reading!! And share your recent book and movie favorites in the comments!

Glorious Ruin–Book Review

Rarely will I call a book a “must read”, but I think this is one. Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free by Tullian Tchividjian is a short book but packs a lot of truth. Of course, I wanted to read it. Having chronic headaches makes me feel like quite the “sufferer”. The fact is, though, that life is full of suffering, even those of us born to middle class American families. It may not seem as big or bad as the suffering of those in third world countries or those in our country struggling with illness or other problems, but our suffering is real nonetheless. And this book helps us to face it head on and deal with it.

Tchividjian starts by making the point, as I noted above, that suffering is inevitable and it is serious, even that suffered by middle class Americans. He next moves on to remind us that our suffering is not part of a big payback and reward system. God wants to save us, not just make us feel better.

He also introduces the ideas of the “Theology of Glory” – working our way up to being good enough for God to take away our problems – and the “Theology of the Cross” – accepting the grace God has given us through Jesus’ finished work on the cross, including the grace to walk with us through suffering.

In the chapter “Suffering Honestly”, we are encouraged to face our suffering, but not to obsess over it. In fact, Tchividjian makes the point that the more we focus on what we are learning from a given situation, the more we become inwardly focused. When we do this, we start to think about how we should respond to suffering instead of focusing on Jesus.

Our tendencies in dealing with suffering are to either moralize it or minimize it. Moralizing suffering is the Christian version of karma – if we do all the right Christian things, God pays us back by taking away our suffering. Prosperity gospel at it’s finest! (And total bunk, by the way.) Minimizing suffering is our tendency to reduce or downplay our own suffering. In both minimizing and moralizing suffering, we’ve left God and his grace out of the equation, assuming we can manage on our own. But, we can’t.

I’m not going to tell you the entire conclusion – read the book!! Suffice it to say that the final answer to everything is the Gospel. Not a few selected verses, but Jesus. Our suffering brings us closer to Jesus and teaches us a new way to view the world.

So, get this book and read it. You will be glad you did.

Book Reviews–November 21, 2012

I haven’t done book reviews in a long time, so these will be short and sweet. I looked through my reading history on Infosoup (our library website) and realized that I only read about half the books I take out of the library these days. I’m finally getting a little selective in my reading. I also haven’t reviewed all the books I read – just the ones I think you might find interesting.

Flunking Sainthood: a year of breaking the Sabbath, forgetting to pray, and still loving my neighbor. I enjoyed this memoir of a woman who tried a different spiritual discipline each month. She wasn’t terribly successful with each particular discipline, but had insights about her own spiritual growth with each one. Well written. A

Discovering God: the origins of the great religions and the evolution of belief. by Rodney Stark. An examination of the origins of monotheism. Fascinating. A

Catherine the Great: portrait of a woman. Robert K. Massie. A very long and dense book, but worth it. I really felt like I had some understanding of why she made the choices she did. A

Sybil exposed: the extraordinary story behind the famous multiple personality case by Debbie Nathan. I had seen All about Eve, but wasn’t very familiar with the Sybil case, which was famous because of a TV movie. This book was a rather critical review of the “Sybil” case, suggesting that the doctor and writers involved may have not been completely objective. Like any psychiatric issue, multiple personalities or fugue states are complex. This book was an interesting read and the author did a pretty good job trying to get a handle on the issues. B+

I’m Eve by Chris Costner Sizemore. This book is by the subject of the movie, All About Eve. She describes her life and the disruption caused by her multiple personality disorder. This was written with her cousin and clearly has a biographical flair. Quite interesting. B

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson. A novel by one of my favorite authors. A mother, daughter, and granddaughter are brought together in the crisis over one of the women’s identity’s. Deep characters, a moving plot, just an amazing book. A+

Unorthodox: the scandalous rejection of my Hasidic roots by Deborah Feldman. We don’t often consider a religion like Hasidic Judaism to be a cult, but it can be just as stultifying as any other coercive and stifling religion, especially for women, according to this author. In her memoir, she describes a life with little opportunity for her as a woman and how she worked to get the education and freedom she desired. Illuminating. A

Trail of the Spellmans: Document #5 by Lisa Lutz. Another side-splitting addition to the Spellman novel series. Lutz is a very funny writer. I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone but adults because there is a fair amount of alcohol and drug humor, but otherwise, it’s hysterical. A

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. Another of Jackson’s wonderful stories of life in the South, with all it’s good and bad and ugly. A+

Drop Dead Healthy: One man’s humble quest for bodily perfection by A.J. Jacobs. Jacobs took a year and tried to become more healthy, choosing a different health area on which to focus each month. I love his writing and I learned a few things. A

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Suffice it to say that this is one of the best selling fantasy books for a reason – it’s excellent. It’s also the beginning of a series of young adult books that are also worth reading. Our family has read most of them out loud, which has been great for sparking discussion. Some of the books touch on significant topics like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and genocide. Others of the books are more action and adventure. Even when the books seem light, though, there are threads of ideas that make us think. Rosie Girl is studying World Religions this year, and we’ve also discussed how we can see some of Card’s Mormonism underlying the stories. Overall, an excellent series of books. A+

City of Scoundrels: the twelve days of disaster that gave birth to modern Chicago by Gary Krist. If you are interested in American history, this is a good book for you. The author describes the people and events that occurred in the early 20th century that were critical for the future of Chicago. B

The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain. A midwife commits suicide and her friends are left to sort out the reasons behind it all. I absolutely loved this book. A+

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain. A woman has to deal with her past – and all the consequences. It’s much better than that summary sounds! A

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: a novel by Deborah Moggach. An Indian businessman and his Anglo-Indian cousin set up a retirement home in India. The personalities of the people who end up living there are as different as possible, but the story works beautifully. A

The Resignation of Eve: what if Adam’s rib is no longer willing to be the church’s backbone? by Jim Henderson A good book showing that women are doing more than half the work in the church, but are the unsung heroes. The author also uses scripture to show that women can play more of a role in the church than they currently are. A-

The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in homeschooling by Quinn Cummings. This book is a memoir of a family’s first year of homeschooling their daughter. In addition to the usual homeschooling issues, Quinn did some exploring of other home education philosophies and techniques – quiverfull, unschooling, etc. I enjoyed her style of writing and the book in general, but there wasn’t much new here. We’ve homeschooled for 13 years now, so the angst about doing it “right” and the various ways to homeschool are kind of old hat. But, it was a fun read. A-

Winter of the World by Ken Follett. I expected to like this one more than I did. I enjoyed The Fall of Giants, so I was kind of disappointed by Winter of the World. I think the book was too wide-ranging. I never got comfortable with the characters because I felt rushed from one part of the world to another. There was not a comfortable balance between the world events and the intimate events among characters. Overall, though, not bad. B-

Goldberg Variations: a novel by Susan Isaacs. An aging business owner of a beauty business decides to leave her business to one of her three grandchildren whom she barely knows. She brings them to her home for the weekend and tells them that she will decide that weekend who will get the business. She is shocked to find that none of the three want it. And it goes from there. Three young adults and their grandmother trying to dance their way into or out of each other’s lives is the plot of this book. And it works. A

So, what have you been reading lately??

Growing Up

About a year ago, I read Escaping the Endless Adolescence, a wonderful book that deals with the issue of young adults and their lack of maturity.  Having two adolescents in my home made this particularly pertinent for me.  This week, I’ve seen the authors’ thesis played out in front of me.  Basically, the authors point out that teenagers are not maturing as we would expect them to because they are given very little real challenge in their lives.  How can this be, when they are taking AP classes, playing sports, and generally being very busy?  Teens are having trouble connecting much of what they do with “real life”, so they feel like they are (and, in many cases, really are) living in a bubble.  Many adolescents spend most of their time around other adolescents.  They go to school, practice sports or music, and maybe even have a job, but they have a hard time connecting it to their anticipated adult life.  Yes, their grades are important, but college stands between them and “a real job” in many cases.  The authors point out that teens quite often “step up to the plate” when given adult responsibilities with appropriate feedback.

So, how does this relate to my life?  In the last week, The Knitting Nest started getting our yarn and other product shipments.  Earlier this week, Wild Man helped PWM inventory and price a bunch of the yarn as well as put together the wire display cubes and putting the yarn in the cubes.  You can tell that it’s Wild Man’s work because the yarn balls are all lined up nice and straight.  Yes, he likes order.  Rosie Girl spent all day today working with PWM to price and display more of the yarn.  (And they’re not done!)  Both kids have been very proud of their work in the shop during the last few days.  Wild Man was sick last week and watched more TV than anyone should watch, but he didn’t seem to miss his daily dose of Disney Channel this week.  The kids have been paid with drinks from the local coffee shop; clearly, it’s not money that’s motivating them.  They enjoy seeing that their effort is important.  All the yarn that they price is yarn that PWM and I don’t have to price.

One of the reasons that we teach our kids at home is because we don’t think that a school environment where kids are with their peers all day every day is the best thing for them.  We want them to be comfortable with people of all ages.  We also want them to learn to work.  We’ve been deliberate about giving them work to do here at home, including their own laundry.  Wild Man works at the Senior Nutrition Site helping to get Meals on Wheels ready as well as being one of the helpers in children’s church.  Rosie Girl works with our Worship Arts Director, helping with paperwork and making chord sheets.  It really seems that home education works in our favor in this case.

I have no idea how my kids are going to “turn out” – that’s largely between them and God.  However, based on what I’ve been reading and how I’ve seen my kids interact with the world, I’m pretty optimistic.

7 Quick Takes Friday – 2/25/2011

 

1. I got up this morning to find Wild Man at the table doing his copy work, his least favorite kind of schoolwork.  I told him that I’m not a young woman anymore and that he shouldn’t shock me like that!  Waking up to such a site could do me in!  (He has appropriately apologized and promised to return to his usual level of laziness first thing Monday Morning.

2. Wild Man has been studying India, so we watched Gandhi this week.  Wow.   What a powerful movie.

3. I watched The Last Days of Sophie Scholl, the story of Sophie Scholl who was a Nazi resistor.  The story encompasses her crime (writing and passing out leaflets), arrest, and execution.  It was inspiring and depressing at the same time.  One of the things that made an impression on me was how the prosecutor/judge kept saying things like “The Reich paid for your education and you repay them with sedition!”  We are very fortunate to live in a free country, but we have to be vigilant to preserve those freedoms.  It also reminded me that no one can say that the government paid for their education since we have chosen to homeschool.

4. I need a new “dream writer”.  I have been having lots of vivid and strange dreams lately!  Last night, I dreamed that I was somewhere in Florida and that there was a 14 foot alligator terrorizing people.  There were several helicopters that managed to hoist up the alligator (killing one person, unfortunately) and take him somewhere else.  I think you’ll agree that my subconsious needs new personnel.

5. We watched “Despicable Me” a couple of weeks ago.  The kids’ new favorite saying is “It’s so fluffy, I’m gonna DIE!!!”  Completely silly.

6. Our current read-aloud is The Hobbit.  I just LOVE Tolkein’s work.  Well, except maybe the Simarillion – I had a hard time with Tolkein’s writing style in that book.

7. The kids are watching Phineas and Ferb and the song playing right now is “It’s so much fun not knowing where you’re goin’”.  I feel that way rather often!

Check out what others are saying at 7 Quick Takes Friday.  And have a great weekend!

7 Quick Takes Friday – 2/18/2011

1. A migraine cure?  I watched a PBS special on the Donner Party this week.  Margret Reed was a member of the Donner party.  One reason that the family wanted to go to California was because Margret was plagued with “sick headaches”.  During the terrible winter in the mountains, however, she not only survived, but was considered one of the most brave.  After the family arrived in California, Margret had no more headaches.  Should I subject myself to a terrible winter ordeal in which half of my friends die in order to get rid of the migraines?  No, don’t think so!  (It’s unclear from what I’ve read whether or not Margret was one of the members who resorted to cannibalism.)

2. Rosie Girl is finishing her last Driver’s Ed classroom session tonight!  Her first drive is scheduled for next week, although she’s already driven around the school parking lot and then back home with PWM.  (And she did amazingly well – 100% – on the written test last week.)

3. I just finished listening to The Sisters Who Would Be Queen about Lady Jane Grey, Katharine Grey, and Mary Grey.  I am fascinated about the Tudor family and their role in British history and really enjoyed listening to this book while I was knitting.

4. Wild Man cooked dinner tonight for the family!  I’m so glad that my kids are learning these important skills.

5. My dad sent me a document a few days ago that was written by my great-aunt about my paternal grandfather.  My grandfather (known to everyone as Cavie) died before I was born, so I cherish this glimpse into his life and personality.

6. Rosie Girl and I have been listening to the music from Wicked since we went to see the show.  Wild Man has become hooked on The Dick Van Dyke Show.  He watches as many episodes as I’ll allow him each day!

7. I’ve been reading The War On the Weak, which is a history of eugenics in the US.  It’s really scary how far along the movement got.  Many of the leaders would have been happy to have all Native Americans, African Americans, and those of many other nationalities exterminated.  Unfortunately, we’re doing some of the same thing by allowing (and encouraging) abortion of children with birth defects (and even those who are just inconvenient).  If we don’t respect all life, we respect none.

Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are up to!

Molly Weasley Is My Heroine!!

Wild Man and I have been listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix again on CD.  I LOVE the Harry Potter series for many, many reasons, not least of which is all the great characters created by J.K. Rowling.  Of all those characters, my absolute favorite must be Molly Weasley.  Mrs. Weasley manages a large family and home with grace.  Yet, she’s not “June Cleaver” – she’s much more down to earth.

I love Molly’s love and support for her husband.  She doesn’t understand his love of “muggle artifacts”, but supports his work at the Ministry of Magic.  She is never heard to reproach him about their modest standard of living.  When Arthur Weasley is seriously injured in Order of the Phoenix by a snake bite from Nagini (Voldemort’s snake), Molly goes immediately to his side at the hospital, stays with him until he’s more settled, and then visits frequently over the couple of days in the hospital.  Molly and Arthur are seen to disagree at times, but never to take pot shots at each other.

Molly loves her family.  She has six children and loves and cares for all of them.  In the series, it appears that Molly’s being at home with her children is by choice.  We see her cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, and generally managing her family’s affairs.  When one of the children gets out of line, she’s not afraid to pull them back into line, even sending a “howler” to Ron during his second year at Hogwarts.  In Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince, Percy has rejected his family which leaves Molly devastated.  In the last book, when Percy changes his mind and comes back to his family (during the Battle of Hogwarts) his mother is one of the first to welcome him with loving arms.  In The Order of the Phoenix, Molly takes on a boggart, which changes into the thing of which she is most frightened.  The boggart takes on the form of her children as dead, one at a time.  The sight of her children dead, even though she knows it’s not real, is devastating to Molly Weasley.

When necessary, Molly fights for her family.  She’s an active part of the Order of the Phoenix, taking guard duty in turn with everyone else.  In the final battle scene, Molly screams at Bellatrix LeStrange to leave her children alone and then, pushing Ginny and Hermione away, she duels Bellatrix herself – and wins!

Hospitality is one of Molly Weasley’s strengths.  Not only does she act as a mother to Harry (and not just because he’s famous), but she seems to enjoy having extra people around the Burrow (her house).  In several of the books, Harry is shown spending part of the summer and/or Christmas with the Weasley family.  Molly hosts her son’s wedding, involving having lots of extra people staying over as well as the wedding and reception itself.  When someone needs a place to crash, Molly Weasley is happy to invite them to the Burrow.  In Order of the Phoenix, she provides meals for the Order as well as sprucing up Sirius’ house to make it a pleasant (as possible) place to live.

Molly knits!!  On top of everything else, Molly Weasley knits sweaters for her kids and Harry each Christmas.  Granted, she can use magic to knit, something I wouldn’t argue being able to do!  OK, her kids aren’t always thrilled with the final products, but that’s OK.  The fact that Molly knits for them shows how much she loves them.

If I could be any literary character, it would have to be Molly Weasley.  She’s not a perfect mom, but she’s a “real” mom (or at least as real as she can be given that she’s a character in a book).

So, what about you?  Who is your favorite Harry Potter character?  Or other literary character?

Book Reviews – 1/1/2001

What better way to start the year than with book reviews?  Hope you enjoy!

Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers by Mark Regnerus – I loved this book.  Of course, it says something about my my academic background that I enjoy reading books about sociology.  I am fascinated by this topic, especially since I used to have a number of young women in my practice whom I was treating for sexually transmitted infections and whose babies I delivered.  I really want my own kids to delay sex until marriage for medical as well as religious reasons.  I’ve seen the devastation that early and frequent sexual activity can wreak.  But, is the Church being effective in helping our teens make good choices?  This book tried to answer this question, among others.  The author showed that abstinence pledging by teens, despite being a sacred cow of Evangelicals, is simply not very effective.  It appears that the teens who are least likely to be sexually active and to have fewer partners are those with high personal religiosity levels.  It appears that the “programmatic” approach to the problem of teen pregnancy taken by many churches has failed us.  So, what is the answer?  There’s not a simple one, but we need to get past the naivete of thinking that kids who are involved in youth groups will automatically “wait for marriage”.  Our churches and families would do much better to focus more on helping our teens develop a closer walk with Jesus with less focus on “good behavior”.  A

The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag Return after Stalin – by Stephen Cohen – Millions of people were sent to the “Gulag Archipelago”, a network of prison/work camps scattered across Siberia, during the reign of Josef Stalin.  Many of them died, but many returned home to try to reintegrate into Soviet society.  I read this book knowing almost nothing about the USSR after Stalin, so it was highly educational on that front.  What made it a good read, though, was the stories.  The author writes about a variety of people who were in the Gulag for varying amounts of time, but focuses on their life after the Gulag.  They had to deal with the memories of the Gulag, but also with fitting into a society that was changing.  Definitely worth reading.  A

The Whale Rider by Witi Tame Ihimaera – I had heard of the movie, “The Whale Rider”, but didn’t know much about it.  When Wild Man was studying Australia and New Zealand, we needed another read-aloud, so I chose this.  And I’m very glad I did.  The whole family enjoyed the story of the girl who was not loved by her grandfather because she wasn’t a boy.  By the end of the book, though, the girl has shown that she is the next “Whale Rider”.  A

The American Evangelical Story by Douglas Sweeney – This was a good overview of the history of Evangelicals in America.  It was very good to see how the Evangelical denominations shaped and were shaped by the development of this country.  Definitely a good read, especially if you enjoy social history.  A

Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge by Don Lattin – I was looking up the Jesus Freaks book by D.C. Talk, but this one came up in the list.  I just couldn’t resist checking it out.  It’s a true story about a cult that is only tangentially related to Christianity.  It was a pretty good book.  B

Jane Austen in Scarsdale by Paula Cohen – This story takes the general plot of Persuasion by Jane Austen and transposes the story to Scarsdale, NY.  The main character is a guidance counselor in a high school in an affluent area who is constantly dealing with difficult parents and anxious students as she tries to help her students navigate the college admission process.  The real fun begins when her ex-boyfriend moves into town with his sister and her son, who is a high school student.  And, if you’re a Jane Austen fan, you know where the plot goes from there.  Yes, it’s formula, but it’s a nice, pleasant read.  B

Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance by Sara Poole – A young woman becomes the “poisoner” to Cardinal Borgia in the days before the pope dies and the Cardinals must go into conclave.  Not only is the poisoner required to protect Borgia during this time, but she also learns a secret about her father that leads her to try to prevent the expulsion of the Jews from the city.  Well-written, intriguing plot.  A

Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean (audio) by Richard Logan – In the early 1960s, the Duperrault family from Green Bay, WI chartered a boat and captain to take a trip through the Bahamas, with the idea of eventually purchasing their own boat.  However, things went terribly wrong.  A few days after the boat was last seen in the Bahamas, the 6 year old daughter was found in the open ocean floating on a styrofoam float.  The girl was terribly dehydrated and required hospitalization.  The story that she told while in the hospital was one of murder and her desperate struggle to survive.  The perpetrator, the boat captain, answered an inquiry about the loss of a boat, but then committed suicide, apparently because the little girl survived.  This story tells not only about the 6 year old girl, Tere, but also the family and the boat captain.  Absolutely fascinating.  A

The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz – I just love the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz.  In this installment, Izzy Spellman is taking over the family business, but also trying to put up with a series of blind dates set up by her mother, dealing with phone calls from her favorite octogenarian from Florida, and asking the family why random bits of the house (like door knobs) keep disappearing.  It’s another hilarious and funny installment.  Definitely read it!  (Warning: Language alert – Not safe for kids!)  A

From Asparagus to Zucchini – This is a cookbook produced by the Madison Area CSA Coalition.  It’s an alphabetic listing of the veggies that are likely to show up in your CSA bag along with suggestions on how to store, clean, and cook them.  I highly recommend it.  A

So, go check out a book from the library and get reading!

Book Reviews – 12/27/2010

In the last few months, I’ve listened to three books by Lisa See (on mp3 while I knit).  I have to say that she is one of my favorite authors.

Shanghai Girls – This novel tells the story of two sisters who grew up in Shanghai during the 1930s, but are forced to leave when the Japanese reach the city.  They had both been married to Chinese men who lived in Los Angeles, so they make their way from Shanghai to Hong Kong to San Francisco and then on to Los Angeles.  The rest of the story is about the sisters and their husbands’ family’s life in Chinatown.  The author does an excellent job of developing believable characters and drawing the reader into the setting.  I learned quite a bit about Chinese culture and the persecution faced by the Chinese at the hands of our government in the mid-twentieth century.  A

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Snow Flower and Lily are two girls growing up in medieval China who become “old sames”, life-long friends with a ceremony performed when they are children.  We watch them grow up, get their feet bound, learn to perform household tasks, and even learn “women’s writing” (since women were supposed to be illiterate).  The story continues through their marriages as one moves up in society and the other down.  Again, the author has given us characters with whom we can sympathize and shows us a part of Chinese society that most of us would never learn about otherwise.  A

Peony in Love – This is the least “conventional” of the three Lisa See novels that I have read.  Peony, a girl engaged to be married, becomes enamored of a man she believes that she cannot have because of her engagement.  She then becomes obsessed with “The Peony Pavilion”, a popular opera.  This story takes place in the 17th century and explores deep emotions and women’s desire and need to express themselves.  We see the contrast between the reality of women being relegated to the “women’s chamber” and the desire of the women themselves to be heard by the outside world.  A

In addition to enjoying the books themselves, I liked listening to them being read by Janet Song.  Whether you choose to read them or listen to them, I think you’ll find it worth your time.

 

 

Book Reviews – 12/26/2010

In the Land of Believers by Gina Welch - Here's another look at Evangelicalism from an outsider who went "undercover".  Gina Welch pretended to be a Christian to be able to more closely observe conservative Christians at Thomas Road Baptist Church (the church founded by Jerry Falwell).  There is a whole discussion to be had about the ethics of how she inserted herself into this group of people, but that's for another day.  Ms. Welch takes the reader through her own journey of distrust toward Christians to a deeper understanding of (at least) this particular group of Evangelicals.  She never converts but does make some real friendships in the singles' group that she joins.  Her final conclusion is that we would all do well to make an effort to get to understand each other.  Ms. Welch came away from the experience with more understanding of Evangelicals and less of the contempt with which she started.  I would have liked to read more of her thoughts about the Single’s ministry and her perspective of women in that section of Evangelical culture.  A-

I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirby - This is a pretty good book about a family that is raised in one of the tight-knit Hutterite communities in Canada but chooses to leave.  The author does a nice job showing the advantages of communal living but also the disadvantages, particularly as regards authority structures.  The family's struggle to fit in to a world that they don't understand and that doesn't share their values is well-described.  An enjoyable book.  B

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg - My review: Another pleasant read from Fannie Flagg. The story revolves around a real estate agent and former beauty pageant winner in Birmingham, AL. As usual, Flagg gives us a cast of characters that we can care about as well as an engaging plot.  B

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I hesitated to read this series at first because the premise was so depressing: in a futuristic North America, the government requires each province to choose one boy and one girl to compete each year in The Hunger Games, a to-the-death competition which is televised (and required viewing) in all the provinces.  Only one boy or girl can win.   But this year, Katniss takes the place of her sister, whose name is chosen in their province, and competes (with and against Peeta, a boy from the province) in the Hunger Games.  The games, designed to show the provinces the strength of the Capitol, test the nerves, skill, and resourcefulness of Katniss and Peeta.  They also test their character as only one person can win.  A very well-written book that quickly drew me in to the plot.  The characters are well-rounded, so I would love and dislike them by turns.  I strongly recommend this books for high schoolers.  I think it’s rather graphic and dark for younger kids. A

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – This second book in the Hunger Games trilogy is another stand-out in the young adults category.  The character(s) from the Hunger Games who survived are given the usual honors and awards, but then are in for a big shock when the time comes for next year’s Hunger Games.  Again, I was impressed with the depth of the characters.  The plot was very edge-of-your seat – I was completely surprised at the ending.  And, for good measure, there’s some romance – of course, it’s romance complicated by the politics of the Hunger Games.  A

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – I listened to this conclusion of the trilogy on audiobook.  My daughter didn’t like the reader, but I actually did.  In any case, this book tells the story of the aftermath of the Hunger Games and the subsequent civil war.  Some of the characters are calling the shots, while Katniss is questioning what her role should be.  The climax of this book was, again, a complete surprise.  But, everything was brought together in a satisfying dénouement.  This was a good conclusion to a very strong series that prompts the reader to consider the role of the state in the lives of it’s citizens.  A

With Friends Like These by Sally Koslow – From the author of The Late, Lamented Molly Marx comes another light, entertaining novel.  The story follows four close friends who had shared an apartment when they were younger.  Now they are getting older, having children, advancing their careers, etc., but not without some strain.  The four women consider themselves close friends, but selfishness and deception rear their ugly heads.  How they resolve the actions motivated by their selfishness and deceit provides plenty of fodder for the plot.  The characters are a little flat, but the story moves quickly and is worth the couple of hours it takes to read it.  B

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow – This entertaining read is told in flashbacks from the perspective of the deceased Molly Marx.  Molly was a young mother who lived an upper class life in Manhattan.  When she was killed while on a bike ride, she thought she had it all: a good marriage, a lovely daughter, and an up and coming career.  However, as she reviews the events of her life, she realizes that all was not how it seemed.  Definitely a light read, but pleasant.  B

I hope to post more reviews later in the week.  I’ve listened to a number of books on mp3 while I was knitting this year,  so I’ll review those as well.

 

 

Christmas Books!

We are a family that likes our books – and Christmas books are no exception.  Here are the ones we have.

1. What Happened to the Donkey after Christmas? by Joseph LoBianco – This little book was written by an acquaintance of my father-in-law.  It traces the life of Jesus through the eyes of the donkey that carried Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.

2. Mary Did You Know? by Mark Lowry – This is a little gift book that includes a CD of Mark Lowry singing the song of the same name.  It includes the lyrics to the song, some thoughts by Mark Lowry, and quotes from several other Christian writers.

3. The Best Christmas Story – This book is actually a board book with slide-out panels that tells the Nativity story.  I haven’t had the heart to get rid of it, even though the kids are “too old” for it.

4. A Season of Joy by Susan Card – Michael Card’s wife wrote this lovely book that includes such things as the story behind some Christmas carols, the Card family’s favorite books, and chapters on such things as simplifying the holidays and keeping the birth of Christ in the front of our minds.

5. The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado – This story of a lamb who was present at the birth of Christ is a lovely display of God’s love for everyone, even though we are imperfect.

6. Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien – I am pretty sure this has to rank as my favorite Christmas book!  It is a compilation of letters that Tolkien wrote to his children (from Father Christmas, of course) along with pictures.  Tolkien’s imagination and creativity come shining through this book!

7. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson – It looks like the Christmas pageant will be ruined by the Herdman kids, the worst kids in the world.  Or, maybe not.  Maybe it can actually be the best pageant ever!  A wonderful read-aloud!

8. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – I’ll be honest, we’ve never actually managed to read this book the whole way through as a read-aloud.  It’s not easy to read out loud, but the story is just wonderful.

9. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Woiciechowski – We received this book as a Christmas gift from one of my partners in the medical group when I was working.  Jonathan Toomey is a bitter widower who is asked to carve a nativity set by a widow and her son.  The miracle that occurs in Jonathan Toomey’s heart during his carving the figures is beautiful to see.

10. Santa Who? by Gail Gibbons – This book explains the various Santa and Santa-like Christmas traditions around the world and their history.  A very good read-aloud.

11. Silent Night by Margaret Hodges – This telling of the story of the hymn “Silent Night” and the accompanying illustrations are just gorgeous.

12. Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury by Jan Brett – Five Christmas stories that are either written or adapted by Jan Brett are included, along with Brett’s wonderful illustrations.  This treasury also includes Clement Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas”.  (We also have the exact same The Night Before Christmas as a separate book that we had gotten before we received the treasury as a gift.)

Now it’s your turn – what are your family’s favorite Christmas books?

Lagniappe – 9/5/2010

 

1. LSU won last night – barely.  And the other team was missing half it’s starters because of an NCAA investigation into academic misconduct!  Those Tigers need to get things together – quickly.

2. There is a lot of Lego Star Wars playing going on in this house.  Wild Man got the full Lego Star Wars game in the mail this week.  It includes all 6 episodes, not just the first three.

3. PWM read the latest Artemis Fowl book to us this last week.  I love family reading time!

4. Ice is one of the best non-medication treatments for my migraines.  It makes quite the fashion statement.  (Besides, I figured that if I posted a picture of PWM in Wild Man’s clown stuff, I’d better post some of me looking silly, too!)

5. Today at church, everyone got clapping on beats 1 & 3 instead of 2 & 4, which is when we usually clap and which sounds better.  I was telling Rosie Girl about it and saying that it made me . . . Rosie Girl supplied “twitchy?”  Exactly.  Clapping on the “wrong” beats makes me “twitchy”.

6. The weather was cool enough today for me to wear a light sweater to church, but not boots.  Unfortunately, the sanctuary was a little chilly and I wished I had worn my Uggs!

7. Lee Strobel is coming to Waupaca High School a week from Saturday and will preach the sermon in our church on Sunday.  Little rural Waupaca!!  Totally exciting stuff!  Please pray that many will be reached by his story.

8. It’s time to start working on Christmas presents.  I’ve gotten most of them figured out – except for my closest family members – PWM, Rosie Girl, and Wild Man!  Ideas?  (Remember, I’m a knitter.)

9. Wild Man stayed overnight at a friend’s house last night.  On the way home from church, I heard all about their gun battles.  He’s such a boy!

10. I got my yarn ball winder and swift (the wooden thing that holds the hanks of yarn while I’m winding) this week.  I wound a couple of balls on the first day and then Wild Man wound several more while PWM was reading one night.

Ten is a nice, round number, so I’ll stop here.  There’s always more excitement than one family needs around here.  I’m sure I’ll have more later. 

So, what’s up with you?  Comments make me happy!!

7 Quick Takes Friday – Book Edition – 9/3/2010

 

For today’s post, I’m going to give you a little insight into my life by telling you about some of the books I’m reading and that the family’s reading.  Besides, I haven’t done book reviews in a while!

1. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss.  I read this several years ago, but I’ve assigned it to Rosie Girl as her grammar text.  It will only take her a couple of weeks to read since it’s short.  I loved it – it was funny and informative – but Rosie Girl isn’t very thrilled about it.  Ah, well, she’s a teenager! A

2. Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer.  This has been our family read-aloud for the last week or so.  It follows Artemis and his friends dealing with yet another threat to the fairy people.  We love Colfer’s humor.  The one thing we’re not crazy about is his hyper-environmentalism, but it gives us a chance to talk about appropriate care for God’s creation. A

3. The Septimus Heap books – Magick and Flyte – by Angie Sage.   We read these books as a family right before the Artemis Fowl book.  Ms. Sage has created a rich, magical world that feels like Medieval Europe, along with fascinating and well-rounded characters.  Wild Man and I are both listening to the next set of books on our mp3 players, while Rosie Girl has read them before. A

4. Lord Foulgrin’s Letters by Randy Alcorn.  This book was modeled on C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters.  Honestly, I prefer Lewis’ take on things.  In Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, the author includes the letters from his fictional demon, but also has short chapters about the life of the “subject”.  I think part of what I didn’t like about this book is that it was so blatant about all of the evangelical “hot button” issues – the characters have to deal with abortion, p*rn, satanic ritual, etc.  Everything was also very “spelled out” in this book where Lewis left far more to our imaginations.  Everything felt very stereotyped.  Not a bad book, but definitely not up to the level of the original. B-

5. Escaping The Endless Adolescence by Joseph Allen and Claudia Allen.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough to parents.  Most of us realize that adolescence is lengthening – children are growing into adolescents before they’re ready and young adults are still behaving like adolescents when they should be adults.  As a parent of a teen and a pre-teen, I want to know what I can do (if anything) to help prepare my kids to be adults and not to act like a teenager forever.  The authors assert that our teens today need REAL exposure to the adult world instead of being always stuck in the “teenage bubble”.  Teens know that they need good grades for college, but that’s such a vague and faraway goal, that it’s hard to keep in sight.  In contrast, being involved in activities that are part of the adult world and that really make a difference – volunteering or working at a “real” job – gives kids the immediate feedback that they need.  You really need to read the book.  I was encouraged that a lot of what we do naturally as homeschoolers is what they recommend.  A+

6. The Red Queen by Phillipa Gregory.  This book is a historical novel about Margaret, the mother of Henry the Second, in contrast to her last book about Elizabeth Woodville.  Not only is it just an interesting read, but it’s a great history lesson about the Wars of the Roses.  B

7. The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett.  I listened to this on audiobook and enjoyed it, despite the length.  It’s the story of the building of a cathedral in 12th century England.  There’s plenty of sex and violence, so it’s not for the faint of heart or children.  Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the book.  I also watched the mini-series on Netflix, but it was more graphic than I would have liked and it ended about halfway through the book.  I wonder if they have more episodes planned.  B+

Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are up to!

Reading Tonight – 7/22/2010

Tonight, PWM read aloud to us from What You Didn’t Learn From Your Parents About Christianity by Matthew Paul Turner.  Of course, since PWM was reading to the whole family, our kids won’t be able to say that they didn’t learn all this stuff from their parents, because they are learning it all now!  (Did you follow any of that?)

PWM likes reading this as a family because it has started some rather interesting discussions.  For example, my kids were aware that the “Sinner’s Prayer” is not actually in the Bible verbatim, but is more like a distillation of what we believe about salvation.  They also got to hear how I got down on my knees by my bed probably 5 or 6 times between the ages of 10 and 17 to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” again since I wasn’t quite sure that it “took” the first time – even though I’d been baptized and everything!

Then we got to the section of quotes about Jesus.  My favorite, of course, is this one by C.S. Lewis (from Mere Christianity):

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God."

Rosie Girl didn’t immediately know that the quote was by Lewis, but she said it sounded very familiar because it was just like what the professor told Susan and Peter about Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Here is a very small section of the passage (but you should read the whole thing because it’s very good):

“Logic!” said the Professor half to himself.  “Why don’t they teach logic at these schools?  There are only three possibilities.  Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth.  You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad.  For the moment then, and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.”

I love family read-aloud time.  And I love it when fiction teaches us truth!!  Do you have any examples to share?

More Book Reviews – June 19, 2010

Here are some reviews of books I’ve read in the last couple of weeks.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Nifenegger - Henry is a time traveler, or a chrono-displaced person.  Basically, he isn't stable in time due to a genetic disorder.  This novel is the story of his time traveling adventures and how they affect his wife.  This is the most well-thought out book about time-travel that I've come across, but also the least fantastical.  For example, Henry can't take his clothes or fillings or anything not part of his body with him. So, when he travels, he shows up wherever he is completely naked.  Henry becomes adept at breaking and entering and becomes a good runner as survival strategies.  I was impressed with the intricacies of this novel, not just in how Henry survives the time-traveling, but the emotional issues that come up around the time traveling.  It's a great story and it's well-told.  There's a lot of adult language, so I'd recommend it for high school and above.  A

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer - I listened to this book on mp3 and truly enjoyed it.  The book is structured as a series of letters among the characters in the years immediately following World War II.  The main character plans to write an article about the experiences of the people of the Channel Islands during the German occupation during the war, but the article expands into far more.  Excellent book.  A

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - A taut novel about a man who solicits a mail-order bride, the woman who comes to him under false pretenses, and the son with whom he tries to restore family ties.  The author's style of writing, unfolding each bit of the novel bit by bit, giving us each piece of information in a precise order worked quite well.  The suspense was maintained throughout and the numerous storylines all woven neatly together.  My real complaint was the  excessive explicit sexuality.  It wasn't necessary.  I recommend this for adults who are looking for a thrilling novel.  Definitely not for the under 17 set.  B-

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni - This novel is based on a fantastical interpretation of several Biblical passages that have to do with angels and the "nephilim".  In this scenario, there are creatures in the world that are the offspring of humans and fallen angels.  The angelologists are a group of humans that have existed since the time of Noah who are dedicated to destroying these creatures.  This novel revolves around a convent in New York state, a group of angelologists from Europe and the US, and a precious artifact.  I love fantasy literature, but it so often is filled with adrenaline-filled action a la Dan Brown that I find it hard to read.  This book is more fantasy with less action which is more spread out - much more to my taste.  I enjoyed it very much.  It ended in such a way that a sequel is expected, if not required.  I am definitely looking forward to it.  B

I have a whole new stack of books (as you can see on my Shelfari shelf) so I hope to have more reviews in a month or so.  In the meantime, let me know what you’ve been reading and what you recommend.

7 Quick Takes Friday – June 18, 2010

 

I should call this “7 Quick Take Friday – The Semi-Coherent, Post-Migraine Edition”.  I was up till 4am with a migraine, so I slept till after noon today.  I’m still amazed at how exhausted these migraines can make me.  Well, you can amuse yourself by trying to see how many grammatical/spelling/logical errors you can find in this post and then blame it on the migraine and the meds!

1. Two more days till Rosie Girl turns 15!!  Since we’ve got other things planned for tomorrow and Sunday, we let her open her gifts today.  Her party and cake will be next week.  She’s a very happy girl since she got a Nintendo DSi and a gift card to Barnes and Noble.

2. I got new lenses in my glasses this week and can actually read small print again!!  I have to get used to the fact that every time I get new lenses I’m a little dizzy when I walk for a few days since I have progressive lenses now – AKA trifocals without lines.  My eye doctor is also very good at saying that I’m getting old without actually using the word old.  When I was working (as a family doc), I had about 3 or 4 techniques, but I think this optometrist must have 10.  In any case, I’m really enjoying something resembling normal vision again without having to bob my head up and down to get the item into the correct part of the lens.  With the new lenses, everything is “magically” in focus!!

3. Wild Man is now in Monterey, CA with his cousins.  He’s no longer calling us two and three times a day.  I wonder why?  It sounds like he’s having a blast, though.  I’ll post more photos next week, including the one of him with his foot in the Pacific Ocean.  He’s now had his feet in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the last month.

4. Mere Churchianity came in the mail yesterday and I started reading it.  So far, I’m loving it!!  I also got Evolving in Monkey Town today so I’ll be reading that one next.  Between my library books and new books, I have no reason to complain of boredom in the next few months!

5. A dear friend had a hemorrhagic stroke about a week and a half ago.  She has actually been doing quite well, so she was transferred yesterday to a rehab center, instead of a nursing home – Yippee!!  One sad thing is that the director of the Nutrition Center in our small town is moving (temporarily, we hope) to the Nutrition Center in the larger town because the friend who had the stroke is the director of the Center in the larger town.  So, our smaller town’s Center is getting two new women who will be splitting the job.

6. I’m just about finished with the hats I’m knitting for my friend who’s undergoing chemo.  This is good because I want to knit some socks for the friend who had the stroke who’s now in rehab.  I really think that handmade garments make one feel very loved, which is so important when one is very ill and trying to recover.

7. My mom wants me to make her a sweater like the one I made myself for Easter.  She’d better start praying that no one else gets sick!!  And, it is about time to get started on Christmas gifts!

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