For the love of books

My Indiana book club— miss you girls!

I went to my first bookclub in Iowa last night. I had been part of a bookclub in Indiana and really enjoyed it. Reading has always been one of my passions. I remember heading to the library as an elementary school student and actually coming home with a paper grocery sack full of books which I would then turn in two weeks later to bring more home. (How I physically got home with all of those books I don't remember!) OOOHH how I love libraries. The smell, the quiet, and the sheer excitement of all of those books just sitting there waiting for you to read them and unfold their story within. My mom can tell you stories of putting me to bed and hearing a click in my bedroom. When she'd come to investigate, she would find me with a book and a flashlight hidden under the covers. If I got caught there, I would then head to the bathroom for a long visit in which I would take my book with me. With that combo light/fan running, no one would ever hear me flippin' pages in there! What can I say—when you had to go to bed at 7:30, while it was still light out, and all the other kids were still outside playing, what else could you do? Well, there was also that thing my sister and I did where you would lift up the blankets and then "run" with your legs under the blankets to create sparks on the flannel ones... anyone? anyone? ...but that's for another day.

So, needless to say, I was very excited to be part of a bookclub again. We discussed The Time Traveler's Wife. It was good, though I would not say I loved it. It really was a literary feat for this author to be able to write this book and skip timeframes back and forth like she did. Our next book will be The Life of Pi. In the meantime, I am squeezing in a quick 1,072 page book by Stephen King— Under the Dome. Ya know, just a quick read. I have read Stephen King for as long as I can remember. I have always admired his wit and humor, which if you've never read Stephen King, you probably don't realize permeate his books outside of the scare factor. However, his style/characters/names have become so familiar to me, it almost feels like I've read this one before and some of the excitement is gone for me. But, I have been a loyal reader for so long, I don't feel like I can give up on him now. I do love that feeling of well, I suppose, this COULD happen that you get when you read one of his 'wild and improbable tales'. Anyway, if any of these wild and improbable things ever do happen, I consider myself well prepared.

He's still not goin'

An oldie but goodie; how could you not love that?

Here's a conversation I just had after dropping Jack off for school:

Me: "Bye Jack! Remember, treat everyone like you want to be treated! I love you! Bye!"

Luke: "I am NOT going to go to school!"

Me: "Yes, you are Luke, when you are 6 you are going to go to kindergarten."

Luke: "No, I am NOT!"

Me: "Yes, you are, you have to go to school or you are breaking the law."

Brief interlude here to drop head in hands and say, Please, don't let this day be miserable...(and that was not me saying that)

Luke: "I am NOT going to school, and I am NOT going to law. I am going to the other law! Mom, what are the other laws in this town?"

Me: "Well, you can't speed, don't hurt anyone, you can't steal anything, and you have to go to school. That's all I can think of right now."

Luke: "Hmm, I am going to pick law then!"

Okay, then.
Lord help me.

This and that

Life is fairly uneventful on the plantation right now, but I felt I still owed you a quick hello and update. Friday night we were fortunate enough to secure a babysitter to have some actual adult conversation out on the town which was great! And would you believe I am hard pressed to find a recent photo of Rob and I together to post? I even took my camera with us on our date but forgot to take a picture. Stay tuned for that....

We saw The Blind Side at the movie theatre, which was very good. It seems hard to still find "feel good" movies anymore but this was one of them. Then we hit the local casino which Rob has frequented a few times but I hadn't seen yet, which was very nice. We were also able to stop by Pier One quickly so I could get my Mother's Day present. You read it right folks, my Mother's Day present. You see, we are in one of those necessary but evil "crack down, no frivolous spending, pay off debts" sort of modes which don't allow you luxuries such as home decorations, new clothing, or extravagent dinners. However, I found this which I really wanted so I was able to finagle it as a future gift. Thanks honey! It matches our room and new bedding PERFECTLY! Sometimes it's easy to become paralyzed with the overwhelming task of making a room just how you want it and you find yourself not being able to make a decision on anything, so it was refreshing to see something, love it, and know just where you want it to go.


Tonight we took the kids to a nearby town which has a non-profit $.99 theatre and saw Planet 51. It was alright, but I didn't think it was necessary to have a scene involving a brain almost being removed via a saw, and all of the shooting. Is it just me, or is it hard to find even an animated movie anymore that isn't somewhat violent? Cars was the ultimate kid movie. Great message, no violence or bad guys. Enough already— listen up Hollywood!

I've included a picture of Jack— he has been especially helpful lately and loves to help me cook. As much as his dear brother is a staunch advocate against anything you tell him he's going to do (go to school, grow up and become bigger— try fighting this one), Jack is the complete opposite. He is a pleaser and will give me twice as many kisses if he sees his brother refusing me them. He is working hard now to earn stars on his chore chart each week in hopes of receiving that weekly allowance and getting himself closer to a Nintendo DS. Everyone else has one and it's been killing him to be the only one without. I have been hesitant to grant this wish on the grounds that it will be another electronic that he'll be begging to play each day which then equals less time actually using his imagination and playing. So, our solution has been for him to save his money and earn it himself. This should also accomplish a goal we are working towards which is respecting and appreciating things, and hopefully through the long process of earning it himself, this will come.

I'll close with a picture of Pierre, a young French gentleman I met recently who bears a strikingly strong resemblance to my young tyke Luke.

Have a good Sunday!

The basement is finished

In August, we started our basement remodel; about 1/3 of the basement was already finished, but the other 2/3 was not, so we set out for a new and improved basement. We hired a quiet but very skilled man to take care of this for us since the majority of this project is still out of Rob's scope (and time ability) despite his hardworking character. Incidentally, Luke embarked on a love affair with said man. Now, said man has no children, so he wasn't quite sure what to say when Luke said things like, "Can I hold your hand", or "Let me give you a kiss!" but he did his best with a response, like, "Oh! HA HA!"

Walls were removed and added to open the area up as much as possible, and we are thrilled with the end result; it turned out even better than I'd hoped. In Rob's defense, he did do a bang-up job on the tile, and we did all of the painting ourselves. Now, we just need carpet, and 'voila, a finished basement!

I am especially proud of this area—this little nook looked like it could either serve as a confessional, or a wine cellar, but I tried to think outside of the box and turn it into a special play area for the boys. I asked for a barn door, which is reminiscent of the barn door on my grandparents barn. The lower door has a ledge for puppet shows (note to self—get some puppets), or playing drive through window, etc. Aah, how imaginary play has evolved since we were kids. Eventually, I might turn it into a craft room with a chalkboard, wipe-off board and bulletin board on the walls inside.

View from the stairs— the white line on the floor shows where a wall was removed

Just look at that tile! It was left from previous owners— just the right price for us!

Give thanks

It is really, really beautiful here right now. The kind of pretty that sort of takes your breath away. Due to whatever weather forces have to come together to make this happen , the trees are all standing in frozen attention and I can't stop taking pictures of it. These are the times you wish you had something other than a simple point and shoot camera, because you just can't capture it in photos. This started Saturday morning, and as soon as you think it can't get any more breathtaking, you wake up and it is even more stunning than the day before. I am sure the trees are groaning with the weight of the snow/ice on them, and I am sure any day now, the sun will pop out, it really will hit 30 degrees like the forecast insists it will, and it will all melt, but in the meantime, I just can't get enough of it.

I also want to include a word about my husband. About a month ago, I was at a White Elephant Christmas exchange with a bunch of women, and we were asked what we thought we were going to get for Christmas, and what we really wanted for Christmas. I was surprised at how many women wanted a project to be finished in their house... "I really want my basement bathroom to be finished", or, "I really want my bathroom to be painted". I guess I was surprised because I am lucky enough not to have that problem. My husband is a go-getter, or as my sister calls him, a "git r' done" sort of husband. If you give him a wish list, he tackles it like a Thanksgiving feast and it's done. Not only does he work really, really, hard at his job all day, but come the weekend, he will finish anything that needs done or is asked of him. And, that is really, really nice. So, I want to also give thanks for a really hardworking husband who helps keep this plantation running in tip-top shape.

My Bucket List

Grandpa's tobacco shed on the farm

If you've seen the movie, The Bucket List, you know what this means already. This was what Morgan Freeman dubbed the list of things to do before you die, and I think the name "The Bucket List" sounds much more appealing than the name "Things to Do Before I Die", so I have finally gathered the thoughts I've had floating around in my head on this topic to post a list. I am sure as time goes on, I will gather more of those floating ideas to anchor them here, but for now, this is what I have.

I LOVE to travel so many of these either are travel, or will require some travel, to accomplish.

Rachel's Bucket List:

• Travel Route 66

All of it? I don't know--I haven't done the research yet to see what this would take! If I intend to start before retirement, I might have to hit it in tolerable chunks that kids could handle. But the idea of stopping whenever I want, wherever I want, taking in the beautiful countryside, hitting roadside diners and meeting the locals sounds right up my alley.

• Visit all of the states

This is a shared goal for Rob and I, and we are well on our way there. We have a map with pins stuck into all of the states we have visited together. And by visited, our requirement is that we did not just drive over the far corner of the state on the way somewhere else, but we actually spent some time there to get a feel for the place. AND, we had to both go together, so individually we each have been to more, but together, we are at 24 so far. Hot on our upcoming list of conquests are Washington or Oregon, and we have yet to hit most of the east coast starting with the Virginias and moving up.

• See the northern lights

We were just watching a special on this the other night which reminded us how neat that would be. Apparently, Anchorage, Alaska is a great viewing spot. Checkmark, Alaska.

• Dogsled

While in Alaska (see above), we can try this. I read an article in Country Magazine, written by the editor, which inspired me to add this to my list. It sounds like an exhilarating and dizzying experience, and since the older I get, the less risks I am inclined to take, I needed to add something a little more "daring".

• See the space shuttle launch

The idea of the space shuttle, or frankly, airplanes in general and the crazy reality of that monstrously heavy machine floating in the sky, has always fascinated me, so I would love to see this sometime.

• Climb a mountain

No folks, nothing like Mt. Everest, but just something that qualifies as a mountain. I think it would be great to challenge myself with something physically, and since I'm not a runner, maybe climbing something would be the way to go.

• Visit Italy

I am easily inspired by experiences I have, and I think the book, Eat, Pray, Love made me want to visit Italy even more than before. When I will have time, though, after all of the U.S. traveling mentioned above, I am not sure!

That's it for now. Maybe you will consider making a bucket list for yourself to post and dream of!

White crayons and other annoyances

We have a rule in our house. No one can get out of their bed before that first number on their clock says 7. No, not the last number Luke, but the first number; the one before the dots. Somehow, ever since the time changed this fall, this has been very hard for us to do in our household. As soon as Rob goes into the kitchen to grab his granola bar or get his vitamin, a stealthy little blonde wakes up. I mean, this boy sleeps lightly. If you check on him on your way to bed and, say, take the wooden hockey stick out of his hand and place it on the bed, he'll open his eyes and ask you what you are doing. So, if it is 6:00 or anytime after that, he will hear movement and be up. And, unfortunately, that means we all be up at 6 a.m. And mama ain't no mornin' person. So, I growl my way upstairs to remind any small children sitting in their bed and waving at me that their clock does not indeed say 7 yet and they need to remain in their bed until such time. Then, I return to my bed, fully awake, and wait for the time to change again this spring.

On an unrelated rant topic:
What's up with the white crayon? I mean really, if you only have, say, 16 or 24 slots in the crayon box, why does white make the cut? Am I the ONLY PERSON who has had to argue with a 4 year old that YES, white DOES WORK, just not on that white paper you are using? Or then to have to pull it out of the trash can because he insists he is going to throw it away because it doesn't work?

I'll leave you with a few more Luke-ism's as it seems he is providing me with the most material lately:

Questions on the way to a MOPS meeting this morning:

Luke: "Mom, is the MOPS building this size of pounds?" (then demonstrates with hands)

Me: "Uh, hmmm, "

Luke: "Who is going to live in my house when I'm dead?"

Me: "Uh, I'm not sure..."

Luke: "If the snow melts, will it melt my nose?"

Me: "Ah, I don't think so...."

It's Time to Pray

Yesterday, I had a bad eating day. I mean, a really bad, pizza/donut/cookie/candy bar/beer sort of day. In fact, the gravity of the situation must have hit Jack when he saw me eating breakfast. I have taken the idea from both my mother and my friend Cindy, both of whom I have seen eating this before for breakfast, to eat what you want to eat even if that food doesn't "fit into" the stereotype of what you should eat for that particular meal. So, when Jack saw me eat pizza for breakfast yesterday, he said,

"I can't belive my own mother is eating pizza for breakfast."

Geez Jack, sorry to disappoint you so severely. I will work on that!

On another note, Luke has declared that he will not learn when he goes to school. No ifs, ands or buts, this one is settled. I told him then he would have to go to extra school if he refuses to learn at school, to which he replied he would not go to extra school either. So today, we toured a preschool that he will attend this fall since I don't feel he is quite ready for kindergarten. As we discussed it at lunch, he said that indeed he would not go to this preschool when he was 5, to which I replied, Yes, you will.

At this point, he found it necessary to drop his head into his hands and begin to pray: God, please don't make this be a big fight. I don't want to fight about going to preschool. Help us to not fight. Amen.

How perfect! Maybe sometimes they do learn from us despite how hard they might try not to learn!

He followed up his prayer by asking me,

"Is left quicker?"

You see folks, this is what I'm talking about with Luke. I am sure at some point in our lives, there was a conversation, which involved the fact that indeed, left might be quicker. However, the time and places these tidbits of conversations reemerge make it somewhat difficult to follow his train of thought. So, generally, my answer is "Luke, I don't know how to answer that."

Somehow I suspect the time will come soon where I will be told "Gee mom, you sure don't know many answers to my questions!", and I guess I would just have to say, "Luke, I don't know how to answer that."

A cold weekend in Iowa

Friday, after 3 days stuck in the house either due to sickness or school cancellations, we decided to venture out for a family outing to the bowling alley. There was a two hour special for all you could bowl, including black lights/disco balls, so we were in. Due to his pro form and impeccable style, Rob took game 1 with a score of 132:

Jack, while thoroughly enjoying bowling at first, lost interest and became focused on lemonade refills and fake playing the video games after about a game and a half:

while Luke decided that he should hold this pose, after throwing releasing his ball, until his ball struck the pins: And let me tell you, that sometimes took a VERY LOOOOONNNNNGGGG time to happen. There was more than one occasion that we had to throw a second bowling ball down the lane to get his ball moving again.

Saturday Rob had to work, so the boys and I went to the mall to run a few errands and to Target. This always seems like a fairly easy venture but never turns out that way. I don't know, maybe I have too high of expectations, but after 3 hours of, "Luke, stop running!", "No, don't put that in your mouth after you've dropped it", "SSHHH! Inside voices", "No, we are not buying that!", "Luke, stop running!" I was sort of exhausted, so after Rob came home, we headed to church, and then back home for a fire and a few movies.

Today, after Jack had to work at the Legion for the annual Scouts pancake breakfast fundraiser, we returned to the house for more of the same. Sundays always feel very slow and sleepy to me, and once Luke's down for a nap and Rob and Jack head to the basement to play the Wii, the couch by the fire always lures me in.

I'll leave you with a few Luke-ism's this weekend:

"Luke, what do you want to be when you grow up? A truck driver? Doctor?"

"Nothing! I want to be a stay homer!"

At church, I pointed out a small newborn, probably no more than a few days old, to Luke-Look, isn't she cute?

"Yeah! Oh, she's so cute! When she grows up, is that baby going to hurt me?

WHAT?!?

Chuckle for the day

2009 In Review:
It was a year of Hope -- at first in the sense of "I feel hopeful!'' and later in the sense of "I hope this year ends soon!''

And so begins Dave Barry's recap of 2009, which was published in my newspaper last Sunday. I have been meaning to post a link to this article all week and am just getting around to it. If you have never enjoyed Dave Barry's humor, you are missing out. He manages to be very funny to both sides of the political tightrope. Warning, the article isn't short, so read it over your lunch break/kids taking a nap break, but it's worth it. Too funny.

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/story/1397654.html

The tooth has arrived

Jack lost his first top tooth 1 year ago, January, 2009. That loss was quickly followed up by the loss of the other three on top, so Jack has had the toothless top look for close to a year with no sign of any new ones coming. Sooo, without further adeau, let me introduce Jack's new top tooth-FINALLY! This one's for you Aunt Heather; those bulging gums with no new teeth were of high concern to Aunt Heather so I knew you would be much relieved to know they are finally here and we won't have to surgically pull them down! I guess when you start getting your teeth at three months (OUCH! You know what I'm talking about!) it's no surprise to start losing them at 4. These new teeth are always large and awkward in little kids' mouths so should be interesting to see how it fits in!

On a sidenote, school was cancelled two days this week due to snow and cold. And yes, I did have to physically chip the ice chunks out of my eyebrows after snowblowing the driveway Thursday morning. But, you still have to admit, it is pretty beautiful...

Has anyone seen my duck?

This is Luke. He is a four year old, fun-loving, convention bucking guy who often leaves us scratching our heads. He doesn't care much for "fitting in" or "making others like me"; he would rather just do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. Probably fantastic traits for a future leader or way-paver, but for now, he can sometimes be tough to manage. He stores bits and pieces in his head like Rainman, and inserts them into conversations whenever he pleases. Sort of like this:

"Mom, where's my shirt?"?

"Gee honey, I don't know, I haven't seen it."

"You BLOCKHEAD!"

Or, try this one today riding to preschool with his friend Abry:

"Abry, I hate it when you call me your big baboo."

"What are you talking about, I didn't even say that?"

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Do you think maybe we should watch a little less Charlie Brown? Anyways, he does give us some chuckles along the way, that's for sure. This is how he looked the other night when I checked on him before going to bed...

What has posessed him to tuck his "guys", as he and Jack affectionately call the stuffed animals such as Duck that they sleep with, into the front of his pants before falling asleep, is beyond me. He's even taken to upping the ante-the record is now six guys stuffed in his pants. The only question Rob had when I showed him the picture is, "Wow! Who's the lucky fella?"

Go figure.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Seriously. This is what Rob and keep saying when we look at the temperature, and then look at each other. Seriously. WHAT were we thinking? Iowa officially marks itself in the Miller history book as the coldest place we have lived in. We are just really tired of seeing this when we look at the temperature gauge:

It was actually -18 on our van driving to church Sunday morning. And folks, that's not -2 but "feels like blah blah blah with windchill". This was just straight up, -18 degrees. Seriously. It's too cold for the birds to even come to our birdfeeder lately. We have snow frozen onto the INSIDE of our front door jam. Yikes. So, while we love to do things like this in the winter:

The hill/cornfield behind our house

Rachel and Jack

Luke loves his new purple sled

Lately, we've been "stuck" in the house doing things like this instead. Not a bad trade-off, huh?

Ring in 2010

We were lucky enough to have some old friends come to visit us to ring in the New Year; Liz and Scott came all the way from Memphis to see us and let me tell you, our temperatures were scaring her silly. You see, this girl is from Puerto Rico, and though she survived a noteworthy stint in Milwaukee, which is where we met back in '95, she's gotten a bit spoiled with the warmer weather.

Liz and Scott

However, we kept ourselves warm mainly by eating and drinking nonstop, and I was able to utilize both Liz and Scott's techie skills to start this blog (view Liz's blog here).

We also were visited by our equally old friends, the Rieds, from Milwaukee, who we also met back in '95. We have been spending New Years Eve's together with the Rieds on and off (mostly on) since then, and keep a record of what we did and where we were each year, so we were able to add this visit to our growing list.

Scott and Kathi

We lasted till 2:30 am with lots of laughing and storytelling from the past, along with a lot of good natured teasing. Of note was the eruption of laughter and astonishment when I pulled out my video camera to record some of the festivities. Now, you may remember from a previous post that technology is not my passion; we received this video camera for a wedding gift 10 years ago, and it has quickly turned itself into an antique. I knew I was embarrassed to pull this thing out in public and plug it in since the battery will no longer hold a charge, but when I was asked if it recorded sound or was just silent, if I needed a key grip, and if it used a tripod, I became convinced it is time to update.

Old Faithful

So, despite frigid temps, sick kids, and very little sleep for all, we managed to have a wonderful time together as usual and party like it was 1999 (note the year our hats said?). There is something special about feeling like your face always remains on the verge of a smile when you are with old friends. That comfortable feeling of slipping on a worn pair of shoes and knowing you can be 100% yourself never gets old. Thank you for making the trip my friends!

Liz, Kathi, Rob, Scott, Rachel, Scott