Creative Juices

ABC Book Club Review: "The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship"

I have to be honest here...I didn't love this book.  I found the characters unmemorable and one-dimensional with an author trying her hardest to make them quirky and interesting and memorable.  Perhaps reviewing a book like this is unfair because I'm not really a HUGE fan of the "chick-lit" genre.  I like them well enough to read a few every year but I don't wait in line dying to get lost in another tale about friends, marriages-gone-awry, and the life with children.  It isn't that I hate all that, per se, but I tire from it easily and quickly.

And I tired from it in this book.  I found the girls to be annoying and not one of them were relatable.  They were just too stereotypical.

The other problem I have with books in this genre is they move along hundreds of pages and the end with barely more than a fizzle.  Ends tied nicely.  No loose ends.  No sadness.  No thrill.  No hardly wait until the last page feeling.

Blah.

Jo who had a hard childhood but rose above it to become a success in her job but, alas, boy crazy.  She is given a friends child to raise because this Rachel, who is so all-knowing posthumously, decides that Jo needs lessons more than considering what is best for her daughter? Really? And after a few, again stereotypical, falls (like hiring a professional chef for mac and cheese...really? Give me a break) the little girl is magically like a daughter to her now.  Ahhhhhh.

Sarah.  With the perfect doctor on a shelf only to find out he is really a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles and she has been idolizing him for 14 years.  Okay, who didn't see immediately that she was never going to end up with him?  Even as she flew to L.A. I knew she was going to end up with Sam.  Her and her nursing poor children in third world countries grew incredibly tiresome and it always seemed convenient, however, that Sarah was always around when she needed to be.  It is one thing I don't like authors doing: gratuitous character placement for the betterment of the story.  In another words: lazy writing.

Kate.  Typical soccer mom...ugh...even typing that makes my skin crawl.  I HATE THAT REFERENCE.  The underappreciated (what mom isn't?) mom who shuttles her children around endlessly and sets pretty table for Thanksgiving.  Who jumps out of planes and flys across the country on a whim only to feel guilty every minute of every day because her husband can't find little suzie's cleats and God Forbid the man can't figure out what to do when they run out of peanut butter.

Rachel.  Okay, I think I would have felt more connected to this character...which is the ENTIRE premise of this book...had I known Rachel before she was dead.  The fact that she sent these letters to her friends left me empty and uncaring.  Oh sure, we got tiny glimpses but what the writer did with this character is build her up to sheer perfection.  Rachel, according to this book, didn't have any flaws.  Okay, maybe slightly unorganized...what did happen to poor Gracie's birth certificate?

Let me tell you what else I didn't like about this book: the timing was off.  I wish I had dogeared it when I noticed it but there were a couple of times...when Sarah and Kate were in India and Kate had done all these things and expected hubby to be on a plane any minute and it sounded as if she had spent days doing all this stuff...only to have Sarah arrive the next morning from her romp with the infamous doctor-lover meaning only a mere 24 hours, TOPS, had transpired making Kate's list of all she did about impossible.  It happened again and I had to read back a page or two just to see if I missed something.  Again, LLAAAZZZYYY.  The writer didn't double check her timing.  She just wanted to get the information out and didn't bother to notice that the timing was off.  That's like having a battle of the Civil War outside your window in 1866,  It's those kinds of details that truly bug me.

And, it all ended just as I had expected it to.  Sarah flys out to meet her love, Sam, and will happily-third-world-style everafter.  Amen.  Kate confronts her hubby and they cry and they don't understand and you don't appreciate me, no you don't love me anymore, hug and kiss and have hot sex and agree to put the kids in less sports because mom's are people too and all that running around is just not a good idea.  Jo quits her big important job because raising Gracie is just more important.  Who needs jobs and money when you have...wow...an entire year saved up...good luck Josie-pie.  But! Wait! She gets hired back because her boss just thinks she is all that and a bag of chips too.  Apparently this book does not take place in present day.  (What? Bitter? Who me?)  And, Rachel.  Well, she is still dead and thankfully not sending out any stupid letters anymore.  RIP.

I gave the book three stars but it really deserved more like two, however, I gave it three because: 1) for people who truly enjoy the uneventful, totally predictable storylines about women and their many "challenges" in life ranging from career, friendship, marriage, and children, this book is probably right up your alley and you will totally dig it and can't see why I dislike it so much.  I almost feel it unfair to judge this book too harshly for the book club because I am sure it is the same for people who read historical fiction and yawn their way through the trials of the scullary maids.  2) I finished this book (and now typing this review post) in early June and if I have two stars on this book I'm afraid no one will want to read it.  Yes, I'm so sneaky.  After this post is pubished I will change my rating to Two Stars.

At the end of this book it gave a reading group guide...so here are some questions if you need a jumping off point to discuss...(and believe me, if you loved or like this book more than I did, please don't feel timid to share...you will most difinitely NOT hurt my feelings.  I love discussing books in where people have different opinions than my own.  That is what makes a fun and interesting and enlighting book club experience.  So feel free to speak your mind...)

1.  Which of the four women do you most relate to?  Is it the one whose lifestyle most resembles yours?  If not, why?

2.  Rachel chooses not to tell her friends about her illness because she feels she is sparing them.  Was this the right decision?  Is it ever right to keep the news of a potentially fatal illness from your loved ones?

3.  One of the themes of this book is that friends know you  better than you know yourself.  Rachel, in particular, has a good bead on each of her friends, but Kate, Jo, and Sarah also, in some cases, see each other more clearly than tey see themselves.  Do you know your friends better than they know themselves?

4.  Kate's fifteen-year marriage faces a crisis born of the stresses and responsibiities of raising a modern family.  Do you relate to her troubles? Would your parents relate to her troubles? What about your grandparents?

5.  Do you consider Kate's behavior...skydiving and traveling to India...to be irresponsible for a mother of three young children?  If you were in Kate's position, caught between a deathbed promise to an old friend and the responsibiities of family, how risky a task would you be willing to do?  Where is the acceptable line of risk for a mother? Is that line the same for a father?

6.  Why do you think Sarah clung to the memory of Colin for so long?  Why did she resist Sam despite the strong physical attraction? If Rachel's letter had not forced Sarah to seek Colin, do you think she and Sam would have ever gotten together?

7.  Rachel chooses to have a child as a single mom, using a sperm donor.  Knowing her lifestyle, what do you think about her choice?  Why do you think she chose to have a child at all?

8,  Jo's attitude toward Kate's busy life is skeptical and dismissive but chages quickly when she is forced to be a full-time mother to Gracie.  have you seen friendships between mothers and their working peers disintegrate under the same pressures?

9.  Rachel mentions that the friends have grown apart because they didn't properly maintain their friendship.  Rachel's three best friends have become so busy with their own lives that they don't realize what is happening to their friend.  But Rachel seems to understand.  Do you understand?

The Lovely Bones

I have wanted to read this book way before a movie was even whispered.  I finally got to the book.  And, while there were parts that I enjoyed, overall, I was somewhat letdown.

First, the parts I did like: I loved the point of view of the murdered daughter narrating the story from her own part of heaven.  I loved the descriptions of what "heaven" looked like for her.  I loved the notion that she could observe and watch all that goes on here on earth.  I loved the father and I adored Grandma Lynn.

However.

I didn't like a lot of the secondary characters.  I realize the importance of Ruth's role but she was all over the place.  Ray's mother drove me crazy with her come-fuck-me-quiet-mysterious demeanor and equally mysterious language.  I really disliked the author's way she chose to move the story along.  Her writing was choppy and at times confusing.  I found myself wondering where the hell she was going more than I care to in a book.  There were SO MANY times that I felt the "backstory" was not necessary to move the plot along and instead existed just to fill pages.  I LOVE descriptive prose in books but in this case the sentences were pieced together by duct tape and a glue stick.

The mother was an awful character who didn't want to be a mother and just picked up and left for the west coast after having an emotionless affair with the detective assigned to the case.  And all that traveling through the depths of the shopping mall...really? Why? Even before she ditched her family (oh, but look how she suffers: she looks at her children's pictures each and every day. Give me a break!) I did not like this woman.

Lindsey was all over the place too.  One minute she is melting down, the next she is allowing Ruth to climb into her bed at Smart Camp, and then she ends up all better at college with her boyfriend and it is all tied up nicely with a pretty bow.

Poor Buck.  How utterly screwed up is this kid with his sister dying and then mother leaving? I almost despised the mother more than I did Mr. Harvey.

I was glad to see Mr. Harvey die in the end but it was rather in a lackluster manner.  Perhaps that is better...he dies from a fallen (with a little help from above) icicle and is buried in the snow for weeks.  Okay.  Sure.  I wanted more there.  I wanted her body found and I was hopeful when the town began to deal with the huge pit.  I wanted him caught.  I wanted the cops to go into his house and run tests on the blood on the floor of the garage.  I wanted her body found in the safe.  I appreciate her wanting to experience true love with Ray but I wanted her to go to her poor father's bedside in the hospital and give them clues about who killed her and how.

The culmination of all the pieces left me rather cold.  Aside from an interesting premise and some interesting characters (Susie, the father, and Grandma Lynn) I was actually unsatisfied by the way the book wrapped up.  I gave it three stars but it really only deserves about a two and a half.

Your turn...what did you think of this book?   

Summer Goals, The Finale

I love having goals.  I also love watching goals brush past me as I drink more coffee and soak up the summertime sun.  Even though I would say a lot of the goals I made for summer didn't pan out exactly like I would have wanted, I am okay with it.  I am making a new set of goals for the "winter hibernating" months and move forward.

I am totally in love with goal setting and for me, it helps keep me focused and with a solid direction.  Now, that being said, I also realize these days that sometimes what I THINK I can get done doesn't always seem realistic and I knew that going into these sets of goals.

I guess I was enamored with the ideas of long summer days, frolicking in the sun without thoughts of homework and routines...sleeping in and eating a fresh dinner from our garden.  And, we did that.  The biggest snag, if you will, to my lovely list of summer goals was: Larry.  Back in late May when I set these goals I had no way of knowing that by mid-summer he would be traveling back home for good.  It isn't that that is a bad thing...quite the opposite...but, it did change up our daily (summer) routines and we ended up down path "F" instead of my normal little, unassuming path "B".

But, I am not here to make excuses...at all.  We have had a FANTASTIC summer, even though my goals are rather pathetic in what I did actually accomplish.  I will revamp some of these goals for the upcoming months, and the remainder of the year, and go from there.

Let's review...

1.  WRITING RELATED.  Here is where I vowed to write, finish chapters, edit, put finishing touches on a non-fiction book, fine-tune a historical novel, and work more on a book project I have not mentioned to anyone yet.

Hmmmm.  Well, let's see.  I did finish the chapters so I can send a book proposal out as soon as the kids go back to school and I can get back to my own version of work.  I have decided to shelf the non-fiction book for the time being because, quite frankly, I'm tired of it.  I would say I worked probably 90% on the book project that is currently a kind of secret and another 10% on making notes and jotting down more and more and more ideas and very (VERY!) rough outlines.  That's it folks.  I have told the kids that when my fingers are flying on the keyboard and you see text on the screen, quietly back out of the room.  Yeah, it worked real well. 

Mainly, I couldn't always get my ass out of bed early enough on a regular basis to make this goal happen.  I did a lot of organizing and setting up a plan for when I will have more quiet moments in my home office...we'll see how it all goes.

2.   PURGE AND ORGANIZE.  This was a goal to break tasks down one-by-one and get this house in shape. 

I believe this goal was right on the money.  If you recall all my "to-do list update" posts...I completed more than 60% of the 80+ items on my list! The house is looking great!

3.  GARDEN.  Grow, preserve, learn, and plan for a winter garden.

Again, this one was a success! I have frozen zucchini, cucumbers, herbs, and tomatoes. I have made spreads and sauces and dips and salsas.  Next up will be making some jams and chutneys.  Meanwhile, the garden keeps producing and we will have more than enough to last us through winter! YEAH! Oh, and the winter garden was planted a couple of weeks ago...more lettuces, kale, swiss chard, collard greens, parsnips, beets, and white onions.  Hardly wait to see how this unfolds.

4.  READ AT LEAST 12 BOOKS.

Another met goal.

5.  EAT HEALTHY AND EXERCISE OFTEN.

Oy.  I do feel I eat moderatly healthy meaning I don't munch on chips and cookies...however, we have made lots of desserts this summer, drank lots of wine, and maybe some meals weren't all that fantastic.  But, we are eating mostly all whole foods, produce from our garden, and no processed crap.  As for exercising: I hurt my chest early on in the summer...that lasted about a week...and it was enough to make me hesitant to go back to that kind of work-out.  Dammit.  I'm frustrated about this goal and MUST continue to focus more on exercise!

6.  STITCH A HANDFUL OF TOWELS.

I don't think I have picked up my needle and thread the entire summer! Between the pool and reading and organzing the house and Larry returning...I just haven't felt like picking any project up.  However, a couple of weeks ago I did finish a cute little project to frame for the guest bathroom and I brough out my embroidery basket full of towels that are waiting to be stitched in hopes it will inspire me to stitch more!

7.  SCRAPBOOK.  My goal was to finish 2008 and all of 2009 and do a page a day...

Okay, I started this goal off strong.  I finished 2008 (okay, except the month of December) and I was totally working on a two-page spread every day...it was actually  pretty fun...but then, again, I had a few snags along the way and then Larry returned and life just got busier and my focus and direction were not necessarily in line with scrapbooking.  But, I still managed to ALSO complete half of 2009.  Not bad!

8.   DO ONE THING EVERYDAY.  This goes along with #2 above...

I would say I was successful for this goal! I got a ton completed!!!

The To-Do-List Has Been Cut In Half

I had to go over my master list and create a new list (yes, I know...shut up) with the items that I have not completed yet (so I could see it easier!) and I realized I have completed about half my list.  Not bad.

1.  Organize DVDs in cabinet.  Technically Larry did this one and not only did he organize but he alphabetized as well.  He is crazy-ass too.  We make a good team.

 
2.  Organize drawers in nook desk.  Actually, it was drawers and cabinets.  Went through them all, threw out a bunch of crap, and cleaned.

 Here is the nook desk...

 ...which is just off the kitchen (hence "nook") and next to the back door. The files you see on the right side of the desk are my decorated file folders for my loose recipes waiting to be filed.  Cute, yes?

 The large cabinet where I keep mainly cookbooks and my recipe 3-ring binders.

 The center drawer is usually a "catch-all".  I have to work diligently with this sort of "habit" because otherwise it becomes a mess FAST!  There are baskets filled with tons of scratch paper, glue sticks, and a dictionary/thesaurus.  That's it.  Fingers crossed!

 The top drawer is for (my) recipe collections.  Basically, the green notebook you see holds my recent freezer inventory list, the current months menu plan, and the recipes for the month.  The basket holds loose recipes that need to be filed (which I shouldn't really need anymore because of the cute file folders sitting ON TOP of this desk, but I haven't ironed out the find details yet).  The small basket is for those little recipe bits I pick up at Winco or that come off packaging.

 The second drawer...filled with a drawer "organizer" that holds everything from paperclips to highlighter pens to erasers to scissors.  Desk-type stuff...

 Ah, the bottom drawer.  It is deep and large and prone to becoming a jumbled mess of a drawer in a blink of an eye! I like to keep one space (when the kids were younger the space was an entire cabinet...or two!) where I house a "boredom" drawer.  Stuff that they can easily get to and cure the boredom blues.  Stuff like workbooks, suduko books, crossword/word search books, embroidery projects, hand-held electronic games, and so on.  Open it up and find something to do!

 Another tall cabinet that holds my recipe 3-ring binders and an entire shelf dedicated to my Scentsy scents!!!

3.  Take pictures of kids school work/art for the past school year and box up.  Gawd, I hate this task.  Back in the day when Josh was the ONLY kid in school I used to take pictures of his artwork and school work every month.  Yeah, those days are LONGGG gone.  Last year before we moved from Pennsylvania I spent a week sorting papers and art from all three kids from previous YEARS of school work so I can take pictures and throw 89% of them away (shhh!).  My system is simple: I gather the ones I think I want to hold onto during the school year and then I lay them out and take a picture.  From there I decide if it can be boxed up or do I want it to go into a pocket in their scrapbooks?  Of all the collected papers/art I keep about 2% for their scrapbooks and box up and label the rest.

 The pictures get scrapbooked, a small portion of the actual art/school work gets placed in a pocket of their scrapbooks...and the rest get boxed up, labeled, and stored far, far away...

4.  Clean laundry room desk drawers.  I realized something this summer: we have too many friggin desks in this house!  Besides my office and Larry's "loft office" we have desks in both the nook AND the laundry room.  It is hard to keep crap out of all those drawers!!! Anyway, I FINALLY went through these drawers that have not been touched since I threw papers in there when we moved in last summer.  Now, I can breathe again.  Gawd, I love organizing!

  Some shots of the laundry room "problem areas". I'm so ashamed.

 The desk in the laundry room...

 The main cabinet: after.  The bottom shelf is where we keep some books, bills to pay, checks, glue sticks, stamps.  The middle shelf are the 3-ring binders, piggy bank, etc. and the top shelf is mainly envelopes.

 The middle drawer is where we keep warranties on everything from our garage door opener, the oven, and my mixer.  I also keep our recent "moving journal" because we still have boxes that have not been opened yet, and a handful of small notebooks that pertain to the house.

 The top drawer is dedicated to phone numbers.  I keep our subdivision directory, the directory that the elementary school hands out, a book I put together with all business cards I have collected along the way/years, and a basket to hold loose business cards I collect but haven't made it into the book yet.  Also, some hole punchers and a stapler.

 The bottom drawer is dedicated solely to...grocery bags (that I use for trash).  Okay, I realize that a large, deep drawer that only has one pathetic purpose like holding plastic bags is a bit silly but I have a hellofalot of drawers and cabinets in this house and so we can afford to dedicate one to trash bags.  

 The center drawer is now a place for school lined paper and divider packs.  Oh, and more scratch paper! We need scratch paper everywhere!!!

 Ta-Da! The way it looks now.  I love it!!!

5.  Go through baskets in laundry room.  Okay, so there was a basket on top of the laundry room island but I realized I couldn't keep the CRAP out of it (three kids, enough said) so I placed the basket (which kept somehow growing in crapdom) under the desk.  Then, a tote, also full of crap, joined the basket to keep it company in the dark.  Now, both basket and tote are gone.

6.  Clean out end table in family room.  We have an awful lot of drawers...even in our furniture! This was easy because the space was small and not nearly as stuffed full as I have seen it in the past.

 The end table...
 ...and the end table organized.  I like keeping paper and pens handy because ideas hit me everywhere and I like easy access!!!
 
7.  Make jams, sauces, etc. to freeze.  I made some great cucumber salsa and a cucumber sauce that will work great over some chicken.  I also made a grilled zucchini spread that would also work either over a meat/chicken/pork or on top of pasta (like a pesto) or spread onto some crusty bread and drizzled with a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese...yum.  I plan to make jams too but maybe once the kids go back to school.

8.  Organize wrapping drawers in laundry room.  I have two huge drawers where I keep stuff like bows and ribbon, tissue paper, bags, scissors, and tape.  The very large cabinet ajacent to the drawers is where I keep rolls of wrapping paper. 

 Bows, tissue paper...
 Bags...
9.  PAPERWORK.  Okay, this has been a sore subject for me (the photos are all above under #4/laundry room).  Normally we are so organized and I can put my fingers on most things we need but since we moved back everything has been a jumbled mess and because I was in a state of sadness/overwhelm I didn't touch any of it.  So, I put together a system in a cabinet where we keep our checkbook, bills to pay, stamps, paperclips, related books, envelopes, piggy bank, and 3-ring binders for organizing things like important documents, school records, and our yearly paperwork (see my rough draft post for more on that project!).

10.  PAPERWORK.  I had baskets (my head held in shame) in the master closet that just needed to be filed and put away and I put it up there because I didn't have to see it.  But, I did see it.  Every time I went into my closet for months.  Ugh.  Finally got rid of it all!  Feels SO GOOD to shred, file, and purge!!!

11.  Shred and throw out papers.  Okay, this was a separate item but it goes with both #9 &10 above.  We purged A TON and the rest either got filed properly or boxed up and stored.  Amen.

Daily To-Do List Update

Here is the list of items I have been working on over the past couple of weeks...

1.  Decorate file folders for (temporarily) filing loose recipes.  The idea here was to have something "pretty" to put my recipes in before they get filed into the 3-ring binders.  I thought the pretty file folders would help me get over my utter dislike of filing.  Plus, it gives the loose recipes a home until I can sit down and slip them into the sheet protectors inside the individual binders. 

2.  Hose cobwebs off house.  Okay, Larry did it, but it was on my list.

3.  Go through HUGE stack of magazines and tear out ideas and discard magazine.  Ever since the library has magazines you can take and share in the lobby I became a magazine whore.  Unfortunately, my stack was about knee high! I painstakingly went through each and every one of them! I no longer have any stacks of magazines whatsoever!

4.  Clean white built-in cabinets in family room.  Just needed a little cleaner to get rid of those fingerprints!

5.  Clean cabinet above washer and dryer.  I cleaned and organized.  I have two small baskets because Harrison asked to keep his sunglasses in there since the cabinet is right next to the garage door; and the second basket is for all those buttons that mysteriously fall off of clothes!

 Before.

 Where the cabinet is in the laundry room.

 After.

 The small baskets...

6.  Get stuff off floor in hall closet and organize all the shelves.  I made room for toilet paper and totes filled with decorative items for the (next door) powder room.  At least I can walk in there now... 

7.  Sweep patio and clean table.  We have done this several times already...and by we I mean Larry.

8.  Clean master shower and bath.  Okay, another one crossed off by Larry.

9.  Make dessert.  I have been regularly making desserts.  And, because of a recent dessert party our kitchen is filled with yummy goodies ranging from chocolate Texas sheet cake to strawberry trifles, lemon bars, and peach pie.

10.  Sweep and mop.  Again, a regular job I do weekly.

11.  Refrigerator.  It was time to clean and reorganize.  I like to do the refrigerator AT LEAST once a month. 

12.  Clean cabinet in laundry room.  This was just a little cabinet next to the sink that we keep misc. items in like Jennifer's hair clips, nail polish stuff, seeds for my garden, and medicine.   Before.

 A wider shot where the cabinet is located in the laundry room.

 After.

Daily To-Do List Update, Part Two

For starters I didn't take photos of everything I have completed so you will have to take my word on all that I completed.  You trust me, right?  Okay, good.  Secondly, I have had a bit of a hiccup in completing my daily list and there is one word for that: Larry.  Mid-June brought news that he received a new job here in Boise and for the following three weeks our lives were in kind of a happy-giddy whirlwind, ending this morning when he began his new job.  But, for an entire week this past week he was back home (and underfoot, but in a loving, good way, of course) and therefore our entire schedule was thrown off and set loose.

Nevertheless, I did manage to get a handful of stuff done.

1.  More weeding.  I go out there probably every week with my spray and a bucket and pull some and spray some.  I like to keep on top of those pesky weeds and it makes me happy to see a weed free yard.

2.  File loose recipes.  Holy hell, I had a lot sitting around waiting to be put back into my 3-ring binders (I hate filing more than anything).  I sorted them and put them back where they belong.  I have a few stragglers, but for the most part, I finished.

3.  Organize game cabinet.  We went from two huge built-in cabinets in our family room filled with a mess of games and other play things down to one cabinet neatly organized.

  The cabinets in the family room and the "before" shot.

 
 
4.  Sweep and mop.  This goes along with the weeding...I sweep and mop regularly so I can almost always put this baby on my list!

5.  Menu plan for the month.  I figured out our menu for the month of July.

6.  Clean/tidy pantry and make note of what needs to be used up.  Luckily, the way I shop and prepare/plan menus and meals means I don't have a lot of food, if any, that falls to the back of the pantry forgotten and alone.  I try to not overbuy just to fill my pantry unnecessarily (also a way to keep that food bill low).  But, I did tidy and straighten (and clean the cocoa powder that Josh left behind on the shelves).

7.  Go through cookbook binders and purge the recipes I'm no longer interested in.  This went well with filing the loose recipes.  It turns out that there were MANY that I was no longer interested in so this was an easy project to work on.

 
8.  Relabel cookbooks with new tape.  Instead of buying new tape for my label maker I decided to use a glue stick and re-stick the labels.  So far, so good.

 This is how it looked "before".  With them glued on, all the labels look nice and neat!

9.  Pick flowers for house.  I picked a beautiful bouquet of roses from the garden.

 
10.  Work on gardening notebook and keep updated.  This was one of those projects that would normally sit and sit and sit and the season would be over and I would be bummed out that I never did it.  So, I sat down one quiet morning and began gluing images and seed information into a cute book my friend Darcie made for me...drawing sketches of my vegetable garden and tracking what and where everything is planted, what died and what has been replanted for a second harvest, and what was newly planted to replace what didn't make it.  I made notes on small things I am learning, like the whole onion thing and tidbits I gleaned from the folks at local nursery's.  I even began planning for a fall/winter garden, on paper.  I went through my garden book and made quick notes on helpful tips and hints about growing the vegetables I have growing in my garden.

11.  Put together a gardening 3-ring notebook.  I love this! I gathered all my garden tips (on freezing, drying herbs, gathering seeds, creating compost, handling weeds, etc.) and all the recipes containing the vegetables I am growing and used tabs to separate them all.  For instance, if I have a ton of zucchini (already do) I can quickly go to the "Zucchini" tab and see a bunch of unique recipes using zucchini.  Ditto for tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, greens, herbs, onions, beans, peppers, and so on.  I also made a tab for fruit, even though I'm not growing any, because I usually will end up at some point with an overabundance of summertime fruit.

 
12.  Go through large cabinet in island of laundry room.  This was done by default, but done nonetheless.  We were actually looking for our GPS so Larry could take the kids geocaching so we removed everything from this cabinet and I put only the items I wanted in that cabinet back and took everything else out.  It isn't perfect yet but at least it is neat and not a thrown-up looking mess.

13.  Clean garage.  I didn't "technically" cross this off my list because all we did was straighten it up before Larry rolled into town, therefore the drawers and cabinets on his workbench are still a bloody mess.  However, we swept, tidied, and bagged up donations. 

  

ABC Book Club Review: "Wench"

 

You all finish this month's selection, "Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez?

I think this was a decent read with some heart-wrenching moments.  I'm sorta on the fence with this one.  It didn't knock my socks off but it didn't bore me to pieces either.  I have a total love affair with all historical fiction, this one being no exception, which is why it made it to three stars on GoodReads.

There wasn't a whole lot of anything going on (I think I just expect MORE sometimes!).  There were moments that left me scratching my head because I wasn't exactly following the author when it seemed like SHE knew the backstory but we were not privy.  And, there were moments that made me gasp from the horrors...which is one reason I love historical fiction...the real life angle as it once was.  I think the authors attempt at "cliffhangers" at the end of most chapters were weak at best but I can't say I was annoyed while reading this book.

I liked the character Lizzie and was totally fascinated by the inner workings of slave owners and their slaves.  I was equally saddened by the sheer amount of rape (my gawd, at every turn, those poor girls/women!) and children born to this woman and that woman and all of them never truly documented properly, nor buried properly.  As a lover of genealogy, WHAT A NIGHTMARE!

There were some characters that were not well plotted and I wanted more of that.  But, in the end I knew that Lizzie would never choose to be "free", even though she had several opportunities to escape, because she didn't want to leave her children behind.  I thought Lizzie truly exemplified what it means to be a MOTHER.  Your needs are put behind those of your children.  You would do anything for them.  You would be willing to die in order for them to have a better life.  It pained me when poor Lizzie was forced to watch Fran turn into a temporary mother to her children.  I was proud and happy with the way it ended...as much as I wanted Lizzie to be free, I knew that she just couldn't do that to her children.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this book...what did you think?

Daily Layouts

Over the past week I have completed four layouts for October (2008) and three for November.  Not a bad start for the middle of June! There are days when I simply don't get a chance to even walk into my office, let alone sit and scrapbook, but that's okay because there have been a couple of days when I can knock out two layouts before I have to go and refill my coffee cup!

I love it because I leave the stuff out and usually before I end for the day I loosely prep the next layout (I have been blessed with kids that have NEVER touched my scrapbook stuff...not even when they were toddlers...so I have none of those problems with leaving things out) so I can come in here at any time and crop photos or play around with pattern paper. 

If you remember, my goal for the summer is to complete all of 2008 (almost there and to be fair, I have not ordered December yet.  There is something about monthly layouts plus Christmas layouts plus pages for my holiday album that overwhelm me.  I will get them ordered soon but for now I will finish November and move onto January by tomorrow!)and half of 2009.  I have the photos for January-June already sorted and ready to be scrapbooked.

The layouts are super simple with very little bells and whistles.  My goal is to try and use up some of these old embellishments I've had lingering for years (and years!) and let's face it, get them completed so I can move on with more recent photos.  I have also not journaled yet on any of the recent layouts (I'd like to get caught up on my journaling, a whole other issue, and then scrapbook and journal at the same time to avoid the horrific pile up of layouts-reqiring-journaling which is what I'm facing now).

 Family album; October 08

 Josh's album; October 08

 Jennifer's album; October 08

 Harrison's album; October 08

 Family album; November 08

 Josh's album; November 08

 Harrison's album; November 08

(Working on Jennifer's November layout today and will share next week when I cross over into 2009.)

Mini-Album Inventory

I recently painstakingly went through my totes filled with unfinished mini-albums.  Oh, the ideas were all so good and fun at the time. 

But now, they feel like an overwhelming, refuse-to-go-away headache.  Oh, it ain't that bad but the totes are too full with these half-finished promiseland of projects.  Somehow, taking inventory forces me to face the music and work on getting them completed! I'm not putting a timeline on finishing these or anything but I do hope that by looking over this inventory from time to time may inspire me to sit down and work on a few and get 'em done once and for all. Amen.

When I take inventory I wanted to be very clear with where I was in the project, how I feel about working on it, what still needs to be done, and maybe a few extra notes.  You will see what I mean when you read my list...

1.  SHE.  This was an idea packet that I received about a hundred years ago from one of the "superstars" of yesteryear.  No photos pulled nor specific ideas written down.  In order to work on this project I would need to pull a handful of photos that represent things I might crave, what I cherish, what I love, places I love, what I struggle to find, a specific moment I want to remember, etc.

2.  A WEEK IN THE LIFE.  An idea on a step-by-step plan to complete a project about a week in my life.  No ideas pulled nor project worked on at all.  In order to work on this I would need to capture my life over the course of the week.  (Side note: I would actually like the kids to do a project like this during summer to capture their lives as they see it.)

3.  TEA PARTIES.  I have a simple slide-in album that captures one photo, maybe more, from each tea party I have given in California from 1999-2008.  There are a few years (2000 & 2001) that I need to scan the already scrapbooked layout to print out a photo.  I have red and green cardstock already cut for titles.

4.  52 WEEKS.  The book is already assembled and decorated...all I need to do is add journaling and photos ongoing throughout the year.  Maybe I can start this at any point in the year instead of just January.

5.  BYE BYE BIRDIE.  This is an already decorated album with spots for photos and lines for journaling.  The book was presented to me upon leaving Idaho for Pennsylvania in the summer of 2009 so some of the journaling reflects memories and kind sentiments about our departure.  What can I do with this album?  Add pictures from our going away party? Maybe document our life from Idaho 2004-09?? A snippet of memories of Idaho and our journey to PA?  Unsure.

6.  CHRISTMAS CARDS.  An altered book with Xmas card photos glued inside.  I am several years behind and I have stacks of Xmas cards that need to simply be glued onto the pages.

7.  HOUSE.  A complete project I received from designer many years ago.  The album is actually cardstock and wood in the shape of a house.  All the necessary design elements are included in the kit.  I need to assemble the album and fill it with photos.  Oceanside house? L.A. house? Idaho house? Not sure yet.  Nothing has been pulled for this project.

8.  DAD'S FUNERAL.  I have put together a raw Pickle album filled with pages...some of the pages have signatures of attendees at my dad's funeral.  My original concept was to fill the album with my dad's life: childhood, Navy, family, work, home, cars, etc.  I could also fill the book with the photos I took in late February, 06 as he lay in the hospital on those last days, through his funeral, and the kids at the beach writing in the sand how much they love and miss their papa days later.  I'm not sure what I want from this book and at this point I can't work on this album, especially the hospital/funeral shots.

9.  CHATTERBOX SENTIMENTS.  I have red and pink strips that need to be cut that state certain sentiments, such as: Who I am...what I am not so good at...etc.  I have no photos pulled nor album in mind but the sentiments are ready as well as pink ABC letters.

10.  THREE HEARTS.  Another CBX creation.  Yawn.  Either way, I have the step by step instructions and ideas and magazines needed to complete the project already pulled as well as a variety of ABC stickers and a CBX black page inserts that constitutes and complete album.  Would need to decide on photos, if needed, as it doesn't appear that is the purpose of this project but instead using magazines to pull sentences and snippets of words that create and help support the theme.

11.  SUMMER ADVENTURES.  The saddest of all my unfinished projects.  I left off in 2007.  I have all the paper and alphabets and have completed a handful of pages...mainly the opening first pages.  I believe only two "weeks" were completed and they were done right onto pages of a CM album (wish I didn't do that, oh well).  I need to order the rest of the summer of 07 photos.  Embellishments are in the bag, for the most part, although it appears that I used foam stamps and paint, which I no longer have (paint) so I might have to adjust or buy new paints.  Sigh.  The bigger problem is what to do about the pages themselves.  My thought since stopping in 2007 was to combine the years since then and put all the pages into a 3-ring binder.  (Side note:  I have decided to finish 2007 in the original state, working on CM pages as I once did over a decade ago and just move on and THEN combine at least 2008, 09, and 2010 in one 3-ring binder since those summers were spent in some degree of turmoil and moving across the country, twice.  As for this summer, 2011, the jury is still out.  I will either: a) add it to the 3-ring, if there is room in the 2008-2010 album; b) put it in a separate album altogether; c) begin a new summer album for the next several years...depends on how the summer plays out.)

12.  ALL ABOUT ME.  This is a project I packed to bring to Idaho when I visited my friends in May, 2010.  Each idea, 50 in all, are written down on a sheet of paper with detailed journaling notes, some have sketches in the margin, and all the photos are pulled and labeled in the back.  This project also has a variety of titles using up misc. ABCs already packed and labeled as well.  All is needed is creativity and extra embellishments depending on the page...a good project to bring to a crop since it is already packed up and ready to go and picking up new embellishments would be fun.

13.  COMPARING HOUSES.  This was supposed to be a quick little album, already more or less decorated and half completed with images comparing different elements of both  my houses (Oceanside and Idaho).  For instance, a photo of the backyard in Oceanside and our yard in Idaho.  Ditto for kitchen, views, a shot of the front of the house, etc.  However, it remains only partially completed.  And, I didn't pull the papers I used so I would need to figure out what would match.

14.  THROUGH THE DECADES.  This book I began when some SD friends came up for an extended weekend way back in 2005!  I love the idea but executing is kinda overwhelming, as are the pages (they are WAY busy and looks like pages did back in 05).  The idea is each two-page spread represents photos of that era.  I have all the papers pulled as well as many notes and scanned photos to use but I only have about half dozen pages actually completed.

15.  THE 70s.  Dammit to hell...I pulled the photos and began the pages long before I realized I wanted to separate photos by person instead of trying to scrapbook ALL the photos my mom handed off to me by decade, which is how I thought I would scrapbook them in the beginning.  Oh well.  I am about mid-way through the 70s capturing a collage of photos with pages including: holidays; highlights of the year; and birthdays for each year of the 1970s.  I have pulled paper, stamps, buttons, and photos all ready to go.  My plan at this point is to move forward and complete one CM album dedicated to the 70s only.  Why not, right?  The remainder photos I will simply add to the "people" 3-ring notebooks for later use.

16.  PA: MOVING ON '09.  Here is a simply decorated album that only requires some journaling and photos.  I need to print all the photos from our journey EAST in the summer of 2009.  I have many already printed but it seems like I was missing a couple of days (not sure, and therefore need to check my Kodak photo folders and discs and see if everything was uploaded to Snapfish for that trip).  This project would be an easy one to finish once I make sure I have all the photos together.

I have decided two things as it pertains to mini-albums:

1.  I will not start any other mini-album project until I finish some of these listed above so I don't just have MORE unfinished projects in totes.

2.  If I do happen to start a mini-album (hey, don't judge) it will have to be so that it is easily finished in one or two scrapbook crops (because, it seems after a couple of nights of working on a project I bore easily).

Beans For Company

I stumbled upon a beans with rice recipe that was so easy and yet SO GOOD it is what I would consider, company worthy.

I have been making beans with rice for years now primarily in the crock pot.  I love how easy they are to prepare, how healthy they are for you, how CHEAP they are to feed a family, and how they smell heavenly cooking all day in the crock pot.

This recipe is considerably different to the beans I normally prepare but the taste is truly delicious.

3 cups dried small red beans (I use only half the beans and even then we have TOO much leftover*.  I also don't just use red beans because I like a variety of beans so I use red, black, pinto, white, and kidney)
8 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, chopped
8 cups fresh water
1-2 ham hocks
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp. salt
pinch of pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 TBSP. parsley
1 bay leaf

1.  Soak beans overnight in 8 cups of water.  Drain.  Place soaked beans in slow cooker with garlic, onion, and 8 cups fresh water, and ham hocks.
2.  Cover.  Cook on high 12-14 hours**.
3.  Take ham hocks out of cooker and allow to cool.  Remove meat from bones.  Cut up and return to slow cooker.  Add remaining ingredients.
4.  Cover.  Cook on high 2-3 hours.
5.  Serve over rice with dollop of sour cream.

My changes:

I don't measure out the water I use to soak my beans.  I don't think it HAS to be 8 cups, but I make sure they are more than submerged.

I only half the beans and the water I use in the crock pot.  Otherwise, I leave all the other ingredients the same.

I like to saute my onions and garlic a bit in olive oil for added flavor.  Then, while I have the pan out I cook up some ground turkey to add during that last 2 hours.  I also like to add some kind of vegetable like spinach or kale and I always use brown rice nowadays.  Makes it a totally complete and healthy dinner!

I keep ham bones in my freezer specifically for these types of meals.  However, if I don't have a ham bone I will use whatever bones I do have for my beans...turkey, pork, beef...it is all good.  Personally, unless the ham is fresh I don't enjoy the "meat cut up" in the dish...it always seems to taste old and totally overcooked.  I prefer my ground turkey instead.

Seriously, the sour cream makes this dish! Believe it or not, it is delicious!!

* I use the leftovers in burritos for either lunches or a totally different dinner and it uses those beans up and the kids love them!!

** I have cooked the beans for a good 8-9 hours and then an additional 2 hours and that seems to be adequate.  But, you judge your own beans and crock pot and make a decision.