Category Archives: Events

I never lose a book (but I might lose me…)

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That is, since I re-did my bookshelves, I’ve always been able to find whatever book I’m looking for.  If it’s mine.

You see, if it’s mine it finds a home among other books of its type so I always know where to go when I’m looking for something.

But library books are another issue altogether.

Library books have no definitive home– because even when I put them dutifully away on the “library book shelf” in the living room their proximity to the ground seems to translate them, substantially, from Something-To-Be-Read (and let alone until read) into Things-To-Be-Carried.

Like all books in our house they are treated with utmost respect, but it is the respect Eliza Dolittle would get from Col. Pickering: genuine, but oblivious.

So I’ve lost the book I meant to finish next (A Curse as Dark as Gold, that I quoted from here), and it’s really annoyed me.  I’ve checked all the usual places and now all that’s left is to wait till this bug finishes its sweep and we dig out the corners again.

~

In the meantime I’ve dabbled with the idea of helping to organize a fundraiser that should take place in about 2 months.

The impossibility of this is emphasized on at least one web site: Nine women working together cannot produce a baby in one month! it insists. In the same way you cannot expect to put together a fundraiser faster just because you have more people.

But I have to wonder about the doom and gloom.

This particular event has been in place for more than 5 years, and involves (in an original stroke of genius) each hostess supplying both the food and guests for her table, so I think what’s left to us would be venue and program, mostly.

I said keep me in the loop, because I want to help the cause (our local CareNet Pregnancy Center) but when I shifted off my brain-storm document and back into my re-write I felt such a distinct chink of a fit it made me nervous.

Not about the fit of the writing, but about the fact that the other work was not.    With my life wound so tightly just now I wonder (almost fear) if I’ve stepped into a tripwire.

~ ~ ~

Found a redundant scene to cut. I’ll work the best parts into the later confrontation. Finished clean-up on 26 and 27.

Does this say something about me?

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I hit my favorite used book store’s annual 50%-off sale yesterday.  Came home with 40 kids books (picture books, schoolbooks and YA novels) for 25-cents apiece, and just over a dozen grown-up books for a dollar each.

I also picked up a crate of nice books that were individually priced because they were “special” and among these were

  • The complete Burton translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (6 volumes in 3 fat books) for $5 on-sale– awesome score for my collection, and
  • Dragons: a natural history
    • Mentioned because this one has already made me start considering whether I ought to change my lindorm’s appearance.  I’ll do a separate post about that when/if it’s confirmed.
      • What’s in question is whether the monster will have two limbs or none.  I have to work the math and see what side is better for the story as I can find either type useful.

Putting all those books away was plenty fun, and I had to laugh when during the process I noticed the audio course Argumentation, Part 1 was right next to an unread copy of Making Friends.

Oh, Right.

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Three years today.

Current stats:

  • 634 posts on Untangling
  • 279 posts at Family News

I’ll make my annual list of self-determined faves from the last year. . . eventually.

But mostly my mind– and mood– is still filled with #s 5-7 below.

So, while congrats are always nice, I desire your prayers most of all.  Especially for wisdom as I try to determine where my place of service is in this new balance of things.

A New Book

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I should mention that my determination not to buy books this year does not preclude receiving (or giving) them as gifts.

In the mail today I received my eagerly awaited copy of Stand-In Groom written by Kay Dacus, one of my on-line friends.

Some months ago I (along with her other blog-readers)  was offered a chance at a sort of “advance copy” of Kaye’s first published book.

I was told it would arrive in December, and when I didn’t receive it or hear anything at all I imagined I must have been bumped from the list (no hard feelings).   During a last minute visit to Barnes and Nobel I even asked after it, and was told it wouldn’t be available until January.

So I was delighted to begin a new book today– especially as I haven’t read any fiction for more than a week.

And especially having just got home from trip that begs more analysis than I’m willing to give it.  (I may blog about it eventually, but not today.  I’m waiting to first tell my husband the story, and he gets home from another trip tonight.)

I will say it’s a story about God’s goodness and provision.

Life-threatening illness, night-driving through driving snow and wind.  Ice, perfect timing, a state trooper’s affirmation and a tow-truck.  An earthly father’s attentiveness, and a 6-year-old’s epiphany.

And a small corner of the story is my realization that there are many milestones toward growing up that I had not realized when I was 18.  Like being the driver on a road-trip.  Though I’d guess most Americans reach that before they have three young children to placate for 400 miles.

I had a busier week than usual and am ready for a rest.

Many thanks Kaye.  I am delighted at your success and waving a purple-and-gold pennant for you. ;)

Cold Positives

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As we push into our… 3rd week, is it(?) of -40° here’s a picture from my bedroom.

frosted-windowsill1

That was solid frost on the left corner, but I broke the hole there in getting the curtain loose for the picture.

I agree with whoever it was that said “People who complain about the cold are really just bragging they survived it.”

And as part of my brag I wanted to point out the ways in which this cold snap (that may be record-making– I’ll know in a week or two) really isn’t as horrible as it could be.

  1. Except for Jay, we are a stay-at-home family.  We don’t have to cram tired children into snowsuits at any rigid time.
  2. We have a garage.  I never knew before we lived here how it completely would change my view of cold weather activity and living.
  3. Fuel costs are down.  Heating oil was up above $5/gallon at one point
  4. Just this fall we had our house checked and we are at a higher fuel efficiency and level of weatherization than most of Fairbanks.  I attribute this both to having a newer house– an interesting story for another day– and having a smaller home.
  5. We had a solid collection of snowfall before the temp dropped, so the plants have good coverage.  I remember the last time we had a really cold stretch with minimal coverage and it was very hard on the green.
  6. The green is apparently more hearty than the bugs, because these cold stretches are an efficient killer of the limited ickys we have here.  It was a couple/three years ago that we had a record-scary summer for wasps (two deaths, lots of ER visits).  It was directly attributed to a string of mild winters.  Whispers and fingers pointed to this latest evidence for Global Warming.  I wonder what they’re saying now…
  7. How cool is it that the 50th anniversary of statehood be commemorated by a historic(ish) cold stretch?  At least, since it’s not up to me I can try to think of it that way.

7 Quick Takes for the New Year

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~ ~ 1 ~ ~

Looks like it’s going to be another chilly entry into the new year: -30° and colder since two days after Christmas, and a bunch of highs near -40° through at least next Monday.

Anybody whose been complaining about your winter weather can be reminded now: It could be worse.

I’ve lived here most of my life, am very content indoors and we rarely have much wind on these cold days– So “it could be worse” even for me.

For example, this could (and has!) happen(ed) during a week when Jay had to drive to work each morning.  Thankfully he has this week off and we can hibernate if we so choose.

And the best part is a week of this and I’ll have no qualms about bringing in all the bedbuggy stuff still outside.  (Jay says he does, though, so I’m not sure what will happen.)

~ ~ 2 ~ ~

My “big” resolution, or goal, or… whatever you want to call it:

Nothing new this year.  Not even books– used or new.

This means not starting any new projects in 2009.

By contrast, in 2008, with an already-full life, I

The natural result of “nothing new” is no recreational buying.  No buying “on spec” (my gift shelf is well-stocked, my kids’ grow-into boxes ready, my homeschool books boxed and waiting.), and maybe even no buying without a list.

That last detail’s going to take more thought.

It means finishing the projects and books I’ve started (and bought to start), and training my mind to think first of what I have– even before the Library or other borrowing– because this isn’t first about saving money.  It’s about re-training my thinking.   The purpose of the exercise is to shift my thinking from “outward” and “exploring” to being more home- and contentment-centered.  Satisfied.

I have told myself I can buy books this year once/if I finish what I’ve already bought, but considering I’ve glutted myself a bit in the last two weeks, leading up to this challenge, that is even less likely to happen than is was last year when I tried the first time.

It is sobering to re-read that post and know my goal is exactly the same a year later.  But I also know that I made choices that led to discarding the effort, so (Lord willing) I’ll make a more purposed attempt this time around.

The first thing is to not go into a bookstore– because I *will* find something I’d like to buy (Yesterday I made sure to empty my B&N gift card and buy the one book left to complete the last of 2008’s series’ collecting).  The rest I guess I’ll figure out as I go along.

~ ~ 3 ~ ~

I just introduced the idea of “chore charts” to the kids yesterday, and made one for myself as well.

Since I felt it would be either overwhelming or depressing to actually list everything I must do, I just made a 3-point chart for me:

  • Read Bible
  • Exercise
  • Brush dog

I like having such a short list to look at; especially since I sometimes make serious to-do lists on the side.  My three little stickers at the end of the day feel so fulfilling I have no questions about why this works for children.

~ ~ 4 ~ ~

Starting the book Opening Your Child’s Spiritual Windows tonight raised a lot of questions in my mind.  Most about the nature of my relationship with my children.

Slantwise about the legitimacy of my writing and my desire to read so much YA fiction this year.  I (mentally) compared Fire Arrow with OYCSW and can see the value so much clearer in the second.

But unless I feel the call to write being withdrawn (which I haven’t) I have to assume they both are important.  Not because I expect FA to change my life (as OYCSW might) but because I need to be faithful to develop the skills God has called me to build.

~ ~ 5 ~ ~

I forget now where, but recently I read someone who insisted the way you become a better writer is 50% by writing and 50%  by reading.

Thinking on the implications of this I determined to keep it “before my eyes” (hence my massive reading goals).  I want to keep this in mind, because if I let my approach to the craft slip too much into writing alone (however important I know that practice to be) I fear I’ll fall into an underlying arrogance; that I might imagine I can improve simply from within, without external input.

And that goes against everything I say I believe.

~ ~ 6 ~ ~

My reading list– all books (though not all the books) that I have waiting on my shelves– is in my new right-hand column.

I have a new page listing what I’ve finished, what I’m reading, and a few thoughts on each as I go along

No reviews here, and no spoiler-warnings either: just the notes I want to keep for myself, and they won’t be spoilers for me.  Consider yourself duly (dully?) warned.

~ ~ 7 ~ ~

I *love* my new blog template.  It’s set up with all the changeable options (fonts, colors, widths) in an actual menu, so I don’t have to go digging though the style sheet to find them.

Anyone who’s tried to wiggle their own template details will understand when I say:

Absolute *delight* to work with.

More 7 Quick Takes at Jen’s place.

“Now it can be told.”

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I’ve always loved that “aside” in folktales.  (From Aladdin and the Magic Lamp by Kunstler:)

The magician howled and flew into such a rage the earth shook, and the boulder rolled back into place, sealing Aladdin inside the cave.

Now it can be explained.  This magician was nobody’s uncle at all but merely an evil schemer.  He had selected Aladdin only to help obtain the magic lamp.

~

A smile turned his thin-lipped mouth up at the corners as his bony hand grasped the ancient lamp….  And bidding the princess and her retinue good day he was heard to cackle with strange glee as the massive jade doors were thrown open for his exit.

Now it can be told.  This seemingly selfless peddler was none other the evil magician of Barbary, Africa.

~

It is with relief I may now exhale and say with joy that my family is whole once again.

Jay has been traveling the globe (or, at least the parts of it that lead to Antarctica) for the past four weeks, and I have been dealing with bedbugs, heartsick children, and a sick cat.  Alone.

And yet not alone, because there is always more to do than the emergencies.  What is to follow is the involved saga of the month of single parenting, condensed into a single post in order to spare any faithful readers the agony of being dragged through the content of the past four weeks in real-time.

Continue reading »

Try Again?

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Don’t know if I should reattempt last-year’s resolution.

I made it four months last year without buying books… for me.  I had said I’d go all year, because I had enough to read that I doubt I’d run out.

I even started a “worth reading” page that linked to the reviews of the books I’d read.

The whole of it became an embarrassment (of sorts).

I found I didn’t really want to write about every book I read or re-read, even when I liked them (Coraline and Sport were two examples in one week), and some books I wanted to read but wondered how it would “look” to admit I had.

This is legitimate, I think, on something like LibraryThing where observers might get the wrong idea of your mind and character (i.e., if you have a book there you bought to dissect rather than to feed you).

The niggling that ate me was slightly less mature.  Especially considering Coraline and Sport were examples of books I wondered on.

The trouble is that, on the whole, I seem to have excellent timing (or else, people are constantly throwing away good books– which is probably true), and when I see a book I’ve seriously considered picking up at full price, it seems silly to pass on it at $2-$7.

I bought nine of  those today.  Nine $2 books.  (Two were even on my Amazon wish list!)

And this I’ve been doing all year.  I have more than enough (unless my consumption pattern dramatically changes) to make it through the next year… but it’s so fun playing treasure hunt it’s hard to tell myself I won’t do it at all…

Dunno yet, but I still have time to think about it.

Rained-Out.

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Real-life resumes.

We had “unseasonal rains” all last night and the first half of today, stirring up enough silty mud to create a nice slick slime on the grounds where the Renaissance faire was to be held today.

It was canceled on account of the rains, so I didn’t do any (public) storytelling today.

Anyway, I am dying to get back into my novel, but I’m holding back until I get my house back in order

  • Sewing machine/projects away
  • Laundry folded
  • Next-size out for the poor child who’s been running about in capri pants not designed to be capris.

But then, Ah, *then.* All the sparks that have been nipping at me will be given their own little fire pits and we’ll learn how much flame they contain.