Books: Kindle
May 25, 2010 | Books
Look what I got for Mother’s Day. Squee!
I’m almost done reading my first book on it. Love the Kindle. Love the book. I sort of feel like I’m cheating on books. Eh. I’ll get over it.
17
May 15, 2010 | Family
Photo by Sue Ranta
…
2 college degrees
1 park
1 judge
2 violins
1 photographer
2 forlover
10 Norwegians
30 people in all
1 vase
1 rose
6 cities
4 states
2 countries
5 fireplaces
2 spiral staircases
1 barn
3 motorcycles
1 minivan
1 dip with piranhas by the coral reef
2 sunburns in London
1 La Fête Nationale in France
1 hilarious rollercoaster ride
3 beautiful children
17 years of marriage
20 years of togetherness
Thousands of laughs
Some tears
Unlimited hugs
Never enough time
…
I totally stole this idea from Ilina over at Dirt & Noise.
…
Photo by Sue Ranta
…
Oh, how young and pretty we were. *sigh*
I removed my wedding dress from its sealed box two years ago on our 15th wedding anniversary. I could *almost* fit into it. I just needed a little exercise (or duct tape). I planned to rent a tuxedo, squeeze into my dress and have professional photographs taken. Then we moved to Iowa. I gained 40 pounds (and aged 10 years). So, yeah. Maybe in three years for our 20th. When we go back to Italy. I can lose that 40 pounds by then. I’m down 12 pounds since January, so that’s a start.
OK, but seriously.
I can’t remember where I found this, but I wrote it in a book I made for us 10 years ago.
Please take my hand
and walk with me a while.
We’ll talk of love beneath a tent of stars,
then journey through a life of golden days,
and I’ll be happy anywhere you are.
This is all I ask of life,
that our tomorrows be
as happy as the yesterdays
have been for you and me.
Just this I ask,
That every hour, each day, our lifetime through
will find you still in love with me,
as I will be with you.
To my husband: Thank you for showing me — every day — unconditional love, unqualified acceptance, true forgiveness, laughter, kindness, generosity and a beautiful human spirit. I’m so glad we found each other, oh, so many years ago. Happy anniversary.
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 5 Comments
Books: Walk on Water
May 12, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading Walk on Water: The Miracle of Saving Children’s Lives by Michael Ruhlman. My friend Karen sent me an autographed copy recently, and it immediately moved up to the top of my reading list.
I never would have picked up this book on my own, considering my experience with premature twins in the NICU and my unwillingness to relive it.
I had to put the book down a few times to regroup. The squirm factor was high (or maybe my tolerance level is just low). It was also hard to read without some tears. I felt deeply for the families who handed over their babies to strangers in hopes of saving their lives. I know how frightening yet necessary that is.
Ruhlman’s writing had a good ebb and flow to it, though. He balanced the emotionally difficult things to read with lots of statistics and complex information. That sort of allowed some breathing room.
There was a feeling of hyperbole about the whole “walk on water” thing. It was kind of irritating. But, hey, I’ve been known to gush about people whose talents I admire. And they’re only human, right? Yes.
Ruhlman truly admires these people he writes about. And, well, they DO things that very few people CAN do, so there’s something to the “walk on water” thing — just ask any parent whose child is walking the earth because of these people. Yet Ruhlman realizes that they are human. He tries to show all sides of them while trying to understand and explain what makes them different.
It’s a compelling read.
Even so, I’m relieved to be done with this book. While I feel privileged to have been invited into these operating rooms and the chests of infants and the dramatic events of everyone’s life, I’m glad to close the book and walk away. While I know I could never do that for a living, I am so grateful for the people who can. Because they’re the people who can make such a difference in people’s lives — people like my friend Karen. Her son had heart surgery four years ago next month, when he was 2.
Karen started an organization called Broken Hearts of the Big Bend, which offers support to other families affected by congenital heart disease. While I don’t have experience with heart surgery, I understand the need for support. I’m so grateful to know someone like Karen.
Reading this book also made me admire Ruhlman as an author. I’m reading his Ratio now, but I’m still trying to figure him out. Maybe a little math in the kitchen will help. One can hope.
Posted by Becky @ 2:09 pm | 5 Comments
Books: NurtureShock
April 30, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. I heard about this when someone posted a video with Merryman talking (mostly) about sleep and how devastating it can be to children who don’t get enough. That made sense. I remember when my children were babies, in one sleeping book or another, I read that if their sleeping schedules were off to try putting them to bed earlier instead of later. And it worked. After that, I’ve never underestimated the power and importance of sleep.
Anyway.
This book isn’t just about sleep. It’s about a lot of issues regarding children — from “why kids lie” to “the sibling effect.” It’s all about taking a different look at research and what it’s led us to believe. It provides interesting new ways to think about things.
Wine: Picket Fence
April 27, 2010 | Iowa,Wine
I am by no means a wine connoisseur, but I like to drink it, and I really like to try local wines. I was surprised to learn how many wineries there are in Iowa. We even have one just down the road from us. What’s better than trying the local flavor of your new home?
This isn’t a review. I’ll leave that to the experts. No, this is more of an American Bandstand Rate-a-Record opinion, “It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it. I give it a 98, Dick.” Only, you know. With wine. And without Dick.
I recently tried Picket Fence, a semi-sweet white wine by Park Farm Winery in Bankston, Iowa. It was recommended to me by Eric in the liquor department at Hy-Vee in Mason City. It was $9.99. (He was spot on with all his recommendations.)
On the bottle: “A crisp, clean, semi-sweet white wine. Our Picket Fence pairs wonderfully with fish, seafood, chicken and pork dishes; especially when cooked with butter or cream sauces. Not too dry, yet not too sweet, this wine is on the fence!”
I really liked it. I like white wines, especially German rieslings, but some of the Iowa whites I’ve tasted are way too sweet with a “homemade” taste to them. Picket Fence, though, was just the right balance for me. I drank it with a ham dish with a cream sauce — a recipe I got from @collisionbend (Thanks, Will!) — and it was tasty.
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 3 Comments
Books: How Reading Changed My Life
April 26, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen. It’s only 84 pages, but every word on every page spoke to me. Have you ever read her? If you haven’t, you should. She writes like a reader. A very well-read reader. I only disagree with her on Anna Karenina, which made her list of books she would save from a fire.
I thought about taking one of her lists and setting a goal to read everything on it. Each list has 10 books, and I’ve read a few on each list, so I’d have a head start. But I’m more tempted to make my own Anna Quindlen list, picking from each of her lists.
Here goes.
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
- The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
- The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
- Betsy in Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The BFG by Roald Dahl
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- The Group by Mary McCarthy
- Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
A reader’s dozen.
What should I read first?
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 4 Comments
Books: Honey for a Child’s Heart
April 24, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt. I read it because Ilina at Dirt & Noise wrote about it.
It’s a tad heavy-handed with the whole “separating the wheat from the chaff” ideas regarding books (and, in my mind, people), but I should have expected that, I suppose, from a Christian writer published by Zondervan, a Christian publisher.
But I like her lists for reminders and ideas. And, ironically, her definition of home is one of the least judgmental things I’ve heard in the last couple of years, and it’s a subject I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, “What is home? My favorite definition is ‘a safe place,’ a place where one is free from attack, a place where one experiences secure relationships and affirmation. It’s a place where people share and understand each other. Its relationships are nurturing. The people in it do not need to be perfect; instead, they need to be honest, loving, supportive, recognizing a common humanity that makes all of us vulnerable.”
I’d have to say amen to that.
