The Adventures of Three Hobbits

Spring Mill State Park

2010-07-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

After our quick camping trip in Hoosier National Forest on July 3rd, Collin and Annie and I met up with all of my siblings at Spring Mill State Park. We had a great time together visiting the pioneer village and talking with the artisans in period costumes. There were a lot of activities going on in the park for the holiday weekend, which made it extra fun.

Faith and Paul up by the spring that still feeds the huge stone grist mill.

Andrew, Annie, Collin and Jon check out the headwaters of Spring Mill Creek.

The centerpiece of the park is the huge grist mill built in 1817 (just a year after Indiana became a state!). The mill is still in operation today, and you can buy stone ground cornmeal for $2.00/2lb bag. It is fantastic cornmeal, too, and it makes some of the best pizza crust coating I've ever had. We really enjoyed talking with the mill operator, and he enjoyed showing us some of the old equipment they don't use on a regular basis. He wanted to take Paul on as an apprentice, but Paul wanted to become a blacksmith instead.

Annie checks out the view from the 3rd story window of the grist mill.

Most of the buildings except the mill and a couple others have been moved to the park, including this blacksmith's workshop.

While we were there the blacksmith was working on finishing the tip of this fireplace poker.

The village gardens were very pretty, and the sun was very bright.

Faith was so taken with the arched entry to the gardens that she asked Collin if he would kiss me under it so she could take a picture.

Inside the church meeting house a young woman had a craft station where you could make a fan out of craft sticks, ribbon, and calico fabric. She called it "old fashioned air conditioning." While the girls made fans, the guys sat around and looked bored.

It was very hot on this 4th of July weekend, so we spent some time cooling our feet in the creek. Annie loved it.

This wood carver was making a rolling pin. His work (displayed on the blanket on the ground) was very beautiful.

Collin, Andrew and Jon were all a little too tall for the inn's short ceilings. Ben and Kristen had to leave early, so they missed our height comparison photo.

Anyway, if you're in the Bloomington area, you should definitely take a summer Saturday to go down to Spring Mill. It's a lot of fun, especially with the costumed interpreters to talk with and learn about the pioneer way of life. Plus, you can buy some stone-ground cornmeal and that's almost worth the trip by itself.

Swiss Chard

2010-07-11T22:58:00.000-04:00

Ah, Swiss chard, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love your abundance, producing more than I need for dinner and for a huge church potluck quiche.

I love being able to decimate your crop, yet knowing that when I return home from vacation you will be overflowing your plot and ready to harvest again.

I love having bushels of you to bestow on friends when we are too sick of you to prepare one more chard supper.

I love your versatility, how you are delicious in salads, cooked southern-style like collards, and melted like spinach into everything else.

I love you in rice, and I love you with eggs.

I love you with chicken, and even in spaghetti.

I love your bright stems, the crunch they give to my food and how they save me from buying celery.

I love how you are a spring green which does not tire or grow bitter in the summer, and continues to produce bountifully until frost.

Swiss chard, I love you. May you always grow well in my garden.

Yarn Bombing

2010-07-10T15:45:00.000-04:00

Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti
by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain

This was a very fun book that I happened to find at the library. It was so interesting that I didn't want to throw it in with my regular monthly book log, because there are too many fun pictures that I'd have to skip.

The contemporary yarn bombing movement really took off when a tree sweater, knit by Seattle resident Erica Barcott, was featured on the cover of local alternative newspaper, The Stranger. Apparently Ms. Barcott saw a sad, lonely, wet tree in her neighborhood and decided it needed a sweater to stay warm. People saw the tree sweater and were so taken with it that it inspired other tree sweaters, parking meter cozies, bike rack decorations, and all sorts of unusual fiber arts for public enjoyment.

There are dozens of individual knitters and crochet artists involved, as well as small and large groups who dedicate hours of time to crazy cool projects. This tree cozy was knit by artist Carol Hummel and was on display from 2005-2008 in front of Cleveland Heights, Ohio's city hall. Clearly, not all yarn bombing is of the covert, guerrilla version.

Urban artist Magda Sayed of the group Knitta Please attaches a "tag" (yarn bombing word for a piece of knit graffiti) to a parking meter.

Yarn bombing can take many forms, and people have really let their imaginations go wild! This bus cozy in Mexico City is also the creation of Magda Sayed. Isn't it amazing?!

One really stunning piece featured in Yarn Bombing was the knit motorcycle created by fiber artist Theresa Honeywell. Talk about an unusual application of the traditional art of knitting.

Although these works are impressive, my favorite group of yarn bombers is Knitted Landscape. The pieces they knit are small and could almost be overlooked, but once you notice them they totally capture your attention and imagination. Let me give you some examples so you can see how utterly delightful this type of yarn bombing can be.

A fire ring at Glassillaun Ireland

Mushrooms in a field at La Foce (France?)

Diamond Hill at Connemara National Park, Ireland

Mushrooms sprouting from a wall at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland

Isn't it funny how, once you learn of something new, you see it all over the place? Like when we went up to Indy for a wedding a couple weeks ago we saw a beaded sweater around the leg of an end table in the church. Collin also said that he saw a piece on the pipe of a urinal in the men's restroom! I wish he'd taken a picture. Then, suddenly, we noticed a piece of yarn bombing in our own neighborhood!

Don't you love Annie's mischievous little smile? I'm afraid I might have a baby prankster on my hands.

Conclusion: Yarn Bombing is a very fun read and an interesting idea. I love some of the ways these artists have used knitting and crocheting to brighten up the urban landscape and bring whimsy to nature. I laughed so much while looking at the pictures, and was constantly telling Collin, "you've got to see THIS one!" But really, it seems like a lot of time to spend on something that doesn't do a whole lot of good. Personally, I'll stick to making more useful items, although I hope to remember and remain inspired by the whimsy and creativity of the artists in yarn bombing.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

Annie's First Camping Trip

2010-07-03T13:44:00.009-04:00

This Independence Day weekend we headed down south to the Hoosier National Forest to take Annie on a test-run camping trip. We're getting ready to go on an 8 or 9 day camping road trip next week, so we thought it would be a good idea to try camping somewhere near home and make sure we weren't crazy. Well, that and it was such beautiful weather that we couldn't wait to get out of town.

We found a great campsite to stop at. Campsites in the HNF aren't official, but have pull-offs, clearings, and sometimes fire rings. Unfortunately there are no toilets, even of the pit variety. But on the plus side, they're all far apart, and we didn't have to worry too much about Annie making a lot of noise in the morning.

Wow! Dad just built a little house in the big woods!

Collin built a nice big campfire and we roasted beer brats, crescent rolls, marshmallows, and potatoes. For vegetables we had pickles and ketchup, with mustard and cheese to round out the flavor selection. Not exactly the most nutritious dinner you can imagine, but it tasted good!

Annie likes her sippy cup, but her favorite part is chewing on the lid. On this camping trip we discovered that she drinks less messily from a bike water bottle.

All things considered, it was a great first camp-out with our baby girl! She went to bed at her normal hour, but woke up a little early because of a crow who stationed himself in a tree directly above our tent. We all got up before long and made breakfast (corn cakes with beer brats and a cup of Earl Grey for Collin), broke camp and headed down to Spring Mill State Park to spend the morning with my siblings.

Book Log: June 2010

2010-06-30T11:18:00.000-04:00

To be honest, I could make time to do a better book log than this, but the weather is absolutely beautiful and I'd much rather be doing anything other than sitting at my computer writing. This last month has been full of fun adventures (visiting family, white water canoeing, two out-of-town weddings) and many exciting projects (fixing and painting furniture, cooking new foods, gardening, harvesting, and preserving the produce, and of course knitting). This month has also brought its share of misfortune, and I'm only now getting over the worst case of poison ivy that I've had in a couple years.

All that said, I'm not going to write full reviews for the books I read this month. I'll just list the books with a few comments, and if any of you are curious to know more about the books, just ask me and I'll be happy to go into more detail.

The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart

I stumbled across this book on the Indiana Digital Media site, a website that is affiliated with several Indiana libraries and allows library patrons to check out and download audio books for free. I've become a big fan of this site, largely because I can peruse the titles at my convenience, read online reviews before I check it out, and not worry about Annie's yells disturbing other library patrons.

Anyway, this book is excellent. It reminds me a little of The Westing Game, in that it is a mystery involving some very vivid and disparate characters. I also thought of The View from Saturday, since it is about a group of four highly intelligent yet differently gifted pre-adolescent children. And it even reminded me, just a little, of The Blood-and-Thunder Adventure on Hurricane Peak, with its wheelchair-bound villain and its outlandish setting. Having compared it to those fantastic classics of children's literature (and if you haven't read any of those, I recommend them all), you know this book is in good company. In fact, it is my firm opinion that this book deserves a Newberry Award, even though it is too late, since it was published in 2008. To say more might take away some of your delight in reading it, so let me just say that this is the best new children's book that I've read this year.

Overall rating: 5/5 stars

Belle
by Cameron Dokey

Last month I wrote about how much I love the retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley, Beauty. After I re-read that, I ran across another version and thought I'd see how another author treated my favorite fairy tale. Let's just say I wasn't impressed. I know that part of the reason I disliked it was the poor quality binding (I felt like I was reading a dime-store romance, even though the words themselves were chaste enough). Binding aside, however, I genuinely felt apathy for the storytelling. It felt like the author was trying to flesh out the original story by adding lots of details and dialogue, yet she never found an authentic voice with which to tell her story. Belle and her sisters, for example, sound like modern day high schoolers acting in a poorly-scripted play. The beast, similarly, has little gravitas or appeal which would motivate Belle to leave her father and mother and cleave to him. It left me feeling as empty as a made-for-tv tween romance. If I were you, I wouldn't waste any time reading this book.

Overall rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Phantom Tollboothby Norton Juster

This is one of my favorite books from childhood that I re-read this month. Collin had never read The Phantom Tollbooth, so we read it together on our road trip to Wisconsin. Reading it with the eyes of an adult, I still appreciated its wit and cleverness, but was dismayed at the worldview it propounds. Basically, this is like Pilgrim's Progress for humanists. It lines up perfectly with the religion of this age, with education and enlightenment being the answer to all our problems. There is quite a bit of good mixed in it, as it teaches us to keenly observe the world with fresh eyes, to learn all we can from what we observe, to exercise our brains, and to beware of vices like jumping to conclusions and wasting time. It is excellently written, and has superb line illustrations throughout. Just be careful to use that awakened brain of yours and read this book with discernment.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

You know how sometimes you'll get a book recommendation from someone you trust, yet you put it off for a long time only to discover that it is one of the best books you've ever read and wonder why you didn't read it sooner? This was that book for me. Mom suggested that I try it about a year and a half ago, but I only got around to it this month. And it was fantastic! This was one of the best written contemporary books I've even read, and definitely the best since I read The Help in January.

The book is a (fictional) collection of letters written back and forth between a young author, the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and a few other friends. Primarily it is the story of how residents of the British channel island of Guernsey survived the Nazi occupation in WWII, and specifically how books helped them get through it. It's a fascinating, heartwrending, and sweet book, with a delightful collection of characters. Even the nasty correspondents write in such a way as to make the reader smile.

Overall rating: 5/5 stars

The Indian in the Cupboard

by Lynn Reid Banks

Here is another childhood book that I re-read as an adult. It is, of course, the story of a young English boy named Omri and his adventures with a magical cupboard which can bring plastic figures to life. Many reviews criticize this book for being "racist" or at best insensitive and inaccurate in their portrayal of Little Brave, the American Indian figurine. I didn't find Little Brave to be the offspring of a racist imagination any more than their portrayal of the American cowboy as a stupid, foul-mouthed crybaby was prejudiced against Caucasian Americans. Rather, all the characters (and caricatures) which emerged from the magical cupboard seemed to me ones which would naturally flow from the imagination of a little British boy in the 1980s who has learned his American history solely from watching western movies. It says more about the myth of cowboys and Indians than about their actual culture and history. As a book, it's somewhat imaginative and interesting, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

Overall rating: 3/5

And Then There Were None

by Agatha Christie

Collin and I read this together in several marathon sessions, since once we started we were hooked. I'd read it before, and seen the play as well, but it was Collin's first time and I was so excited to see what he thought about the conclusion almost as if it were my first time reading it.

This is Agatha Christie's most famous and popular mystery. In fact, according to "Publications International" And Then There Were None is the 7th best-selling book of all time. It is truly one of the best-crafted puzzle-type mysteries ever written, with an ingenious if unlikely plot. What it does lack is character development beyond the stereotypes and, especially, a good moral. In the end you can feel clever if you solved the mystery, be satisfied with a brilliant conclusion, and yet still feel empty because that solution lacks a sufficient statement of truth. It is right in pointing out that the law cannot and does not prosecute many instances of murder, moral or actual, but barely touches the reasons why it is wrong to play God and take the execution of justice into one's own hands.

By the way, the 1945 film version of this book (with the alternate ending written by Agatha Christie for the original stage production) is now in the public domain and available for online viewing, both legally and free. We haven't finished it yet, but so far it's been a very fun movie.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Whitewater on Big Pine Creek

2010-06-25T17:37:00.011-04:00

My older brother Andrew invited Collin and me to go white-water canoe/kayaking on the Big Pine when it was at 5 feet flood stage yesterday. The Big Pine is up near Lafayette where Andrew is still a graduate student in Engineering, and it has some of the best whitewater in the state. That might not be saying much considering it is still Indiana, but it had some pretty sweet waves when we went up.

We met up with Andrew and his friend Caleb and first checked out the water levels. Annie enjoyed splashing in the water while the guys got all excited watching some kayakers surf the waves.

Then we dropped the guys and their boats off upstream, and Annie and I settled on a picnic rock just below the first set of rapids to take pictures. Annie had a great time pulling up roots and wading in the water.

When we did finally see Collin, it wasn't exactly a pretty sight. Some of the waves were five feet tall, and a couple of those swamped and finally flipped the canoe. Fortunately, Collin, Caleb, the boat, and all their gear made it safely to shore. The only causalities were a bump, a scrape, and a couple bruises between them. Well, that and a lost shoe, but it turned up downstream.

Right below the rapids there was a quiet eddy where the guys could dump out the water and re-group. Here they're talking with a raft full of Purdue Outdoors Club guys (who Andrew knows), and comparing notes on the rapids.

Annie and Collin check out the downstream section during a break.

Collin and Caleb did a lot better on the second set of rapids. They went through them and over this drop perfectly.

This was as close to canoeing as Annie got that day. Hopefully sometime soon we'll be able to take her out on a quiet lake and see what she thinks about boating.

After the second set of rapids Andrew volunteered to hang out with Annie so that I could do the last (quieter) stretch of paddling with Collin in the canoe. We went through plenty of 1-2 foot waves and I got really soaked up in the bow, but we didn't take on too much water and never swamped.

It was dusk we finally reached the take-out point, and we were happy to pull out our picnic dinner and head home. Since we didn't reach home until close to midnight, we all went to bed without showering. Unfortunately, the result was that Annie, Andrew and I all got poison ivy to varying degrees. The moral of the story? It's never too late to shower. And canoeing through whitewater is pretty sweet.

An early summer harvest, Part 2

2010-06-22T16:10:00.001-04:00

Lavender

I only have two, two-year-old lavender plants, but between them they produced a huge amount of flowers this year! Although they were started from the same seed, the flowers are very different. The plant in the front produces a huge amount of light-colored long-stemmed lavender flowers, while the one in the back produces darker, more delicate stems. Because the plant in the front faces a busy road, I am using the one in the back for cooking and the one in the front for homemade massage oil.

I cut the long stems of lavender off at the base, then divided it up into bunches and hung them upside down to dry. Just that one cutting (pictured) from one plant yielded a large armload of flowers!

Here are my bundles, hanging up in the kitchen to dry. You can see the difference between the two plants - the smaller bouquets are from the back garden, and the larger ones from the front. After a week, they were ready to use.

Massage oil is very easy to make, and makes for very nice back rubs! All you have to do is take dried lavender flowers (and other dried herbs or citrus peel, if you fancy them) and steep them in vegetable oil (olive oil is nicest, but soy works fine too) for a number of weeks. Then strain out the flowers and bottle the oil into attractive, clean glass jars. You can get cute little corked glass bottles at JoAnn fabrics if you want to give it as gifts.

Lemon Lavender cake is my favorite culinary use of lavender. The recipe I use isn't mine to share, but it is basically just a pound cake with a tablespoon of dried lavender flowers and the zest and juice of a lemon. On this cake I made a glaze by throwing 8 lemon verbena leaves (roughly chopped) along with some granulated sugar into the blender until they made a fine green powder. Then I added about a cup of powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make a glaze. It was intensely flavored and delicious!

Honeysuckle Honey

This is a recipe I found in James Wong's book, Grow Your Own Drugs. It sounded delicious all on its own, but it is also suggested medicinally to use as a pain killer, to treat respiratory illnesses, sore throats, headaches, bronchial complaints, croup, rheumatism, and arthritis. It's also a cooling plant and can calm fever, hot flushes, and sunstroke. All that from a delicious smelling flower! All you do is fill a jar with clean, fresh honeysuckle flowers and buds...

Then you cover the flowers completely in honey. You want to make sure that the flowers are completely covered so that mold cannot grow on the flower. Because the sugar content is so high in honey, the honey will act as a preservative against mold.

After a couple hours the flowers will compact and float to the top.

When this happens you just flip the jar over and allow the flowers to circulate once again in the honey. Do this once or twice a day for two weeks, as the honey takes time to brew. Finally, strain the honey into a clean jar. Take a teaspoon or two as needed. I think this will be particularly good in tea, as the flavor is somewhat reminiscent of a good floral black tea.

So there are some of the kitchen projects I've been working on with the early summer harvest! How about you? Have you tried anything new and interesting this year?

Colors in my garden

2010-06-21T11:44:00.000-04:00

Our garden is bursting with so many colors right now that I wanted to share them with you. Generally I'm not into growing flowers simply for their beauty, but Collin has been teaching me to enjoy non-edible gardening as well as the vegetables and herbs. Pictured above is one of our bachelor's buttons, a flower that some suggest is edible but comes with so many health risks I wouldn't recommend it.

This is calendula, or "pot marigold," a flower that has many health benefits (it can be made into a gel to treat acne, for example) and is also used in cooking as a saffron substitute.

Nasturtiums are also edible, with a complex sweet and peppery taste. You might not like it (I'm not sure that I do) but it is a taste explosion that everyone should try. The leaves are also good in salads.

This is a traditional, non-edible marigold. "Marigold" is a name for a large variety of flowers, and as far as I know only calendulas are edible. Other varieties like this one are useful for repelling pests, and for making your wife smile.

These flowers will produce coriander seeds soon.

Another bachelor's button.

We grow sunflowers for sheer delight rather than for seeds. That way, we don't have to fight the birds for them.

Lavender flowers.

This beautiful orange marigold was a volunteer from last year's flowers.

Swiss chard has florescent stems which are textured like celery and add a lot of color to a salad or greens dish. We first grew Swiss chard last summer and were amazed at its versitility and longevity! We were getting huge bags full every week from spring to frost, and the leaves can be cooked like spinach or tossed fresh in a salad like lettuce. All that on top of the beautiful color they add to the garden all season long!

All our arugula has gone to seed, but the flowers are so pretty we haven't pulled it out yet.

One of our yellow nasturtiums. We're trying a climbing variety this year, and they're growing healthily although not growing "up" so much as "out."

Borage is a huge, hairy, ungainly plant which produces small blue flowers that taste something like cucumbers. They're a lovely garnish to salads, and bees love the plant so much that some people grow it just to attract pollinators.

Our raspberries are doing so well this year that I'm hoping to make some jam from them this week. We're getting 2-4 cups of berries from them a day! Needless to say, Annie loves them. She's even able to pick them cleanly off the bush, although getting them into her mouth without crushing them in her fist and dripping the juice all over her clothing is another story.

Finally, this pretty flower is growing next to our garden, not in it. It is named belladonna, or "beautiful lady" because it is so dainty and feminine, but in this case beauty is treacherous. Belladonna is more commonly known as Deadly Nightshade, and is quite poisonous, so we'll be pulling the vine down soon.

An early summer harvest, Part 1

2010-06-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

It's mid-June, and we've been harvesting the bounty from our garden for about a month now. This is actually a post I was hoping to have done earlier in the month, but hopefully it's not too late in the year for you so pick up some ideas and inspiration for your own projects.

Chicken of the Woods

This first recipe isn't for something from our garden at all. That bright orange fungus pictured above is actually a delicious shelf fungus called "Chicken of the Woods" or "Sulfur Shelf." We picked this up from a tree in a nearby county park (Collin called it a drive-by shrooming). Sulfur Shelf is a parasitic fungus so we were doing both the tree and our bellies a favor by harvesting the mushroom.

Chicken of the Woods actually does taste and look like chicken! All I did to turn it into an entrée was wash it, chop it into strips, and sauté it with garlic and a tiny bit of bacon for flavor. Then I made a sauce with a touch of flour, lemon juice, white wine and chicken broth. Served over noodles with a bit of mozzarella and even mushroom haters won't know the difference.

And, best of all, Sulfur Shelf produces so much mushroom that I only used half and we had plenty left over. Even then, the dinner had far more mushroom than we ever eat of meat in one meal. I chopped the leftover mushroom into similar-sized pieces and dehydrated them to use in camping meals this summer. I read that they freeze even better, but we didn't have space in our freezer at the time.

Of course, you should never eat a mushroom you can't identify for sure, so it's best to have an expert to show you how to recognize choice edible mushrooms. Collin, having taught Mycology at IU for two semesters, would be happy to help with your questions. (smile)

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

One last recipe that I have really loved this spring is for strawberry balsamic salad dressing. Strawberries and spring greens are still in season, and this is one of the most delicious dressings I've had recently to combine the flavors of spring. Try it on a bed of lettuce with an ample portion of sugar snap peas, and some chicken breast if you want to make it a meal. All measurements are approximate and flexible.

1/2 c. strawberries, de-stemmed.

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. red wine or white wine vinegar

2 t. sugar, or to taste

1/2 t. each salt and pepper, to taste

1 c. canola or olive oil

Blend all ingredients except the oil in a blender or Magic Bullet (all we have since our Cuisinart pooped out on us when I was trying to make paper out of blue jeans). Add the oil in a steady stream through the hole on top of your blender, or all at once if you just have a Bullet. Blend just long enough so that the oil thoroughly emulsifies. Taste for seasoning. Keeps for months in the fridge.

This post was getting a little long, so I decided to post it in two installments. Check back in a couple days for how to dry and use lavender, and how to make delicious and medicinal honeysuckle honey!

Anniversary Dinner, Take 3

2010-06-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

... Third time's the charm!

Wednesday night Collin and I finally succeeded in having our romantic dinner out at Le Petit Cafe. It's this little French restaurant right next to our neighborhood Bloomingfoods. I worked at Bloomingfoods for two years, and we've lived in the neighborhood for another year, but we were saving a visit to Le Petit for a special occasion. Finally, we decided that our two year anniversary was special enough. With Auntie Kristen again graciously offering to babysit for Annie, Collin and I skipped down the sidewalk to Le Petit.

Le Petit is a really neat, unconventional sort of place. It is in an old taxi garage, and is a little vintage-feeling inside. The owners/chefs/servers are a husband and wife who live upstairs above the restaurant. They don't have any set menu, but each night offer four entrées. When we were there, they offered a steak, a chicken, a veal, and a tuna entrée, and asked for vegetarians to identify themselves so a special meal could be put together. We opted for the veal in peach sauce and chicken in honey mustard cream. And the cheese pastries. Mmmm.

The food was most excellent! The sauce on my chicken was especially delicious, and the side dishes (roasted vegetables and a deliciously soft zucchini quiche) were superb. The restaurant is run by a French couple who came to IU in the '70s and stayed to open Le Petit. You can see the husband, Patrick, in the picture just over my shoulder. He was enjoyably effusive, while his wife, Marina, was quiet and delightful. When Patrick was picking up our bill he declared, "Thank you, Thank you..." (glances at Collin's credit card) "Forrest!" Then he took several steps away, turned around again and said, "For a moment there I thought this said your name was Forrest Woods, but that would be too much! I am glad it is not so."

Anyway, we had a great time. The food was a little pricey, but the whole dinner was a wonderful way to celebrate two joyful years of marriage. God has been so good to us in giving us one another. I couldn't imagine a better husband than Forrest Collin Hobbs.

Anniversary Dinner, Take 2

2010-06-16T10:11:00.003-04:00

Since Le Petit was closed on Monday, Collin and I made plans to go out on our date Tuesday night. Auntie Kristen was going to come over for a while after she got off work at the Tuesday Farmer's Market to play with Annie. However, around 5:30 the severe weather sirens went off again and the local authorities announced that they had spotted at least two funnel clouds headed from the west toward Bloomington. Collin rushed home from where he'd been volunteering at the Crestmont Community Gardens, and Kristen also was sent home from the market early. We sat on the porch watching the storm roll in, until it was just a couple minutes away.

At the last minute, we trooped down to the basement. You can see why we were reluctant. The basement is only accessible from the porch, and it is moldy, dirty, and the air is full of loose insulation. We only go down there when things are really bad. Once again, God spared us the worst of the storm and even our garden came out in pretty good shape.

After looking at the weather radar, we sent our babysitter home. The small, intense storm which had produced the funnel clouds was past, but a much larger front was on its way and we didn't want Kristen to be stuck at our house all night.

Since it was getting late and I hadn't made any dinner, we ordered pizza (there was a $5 special that night), which turned out to be an adventure all in itself. Collin and Annie wanted to walk, so I took the car to meet them at Papa John's. Before they'd made it halfway the second storm broke, and I found them sheltered under the awning of a store. We drove in the downpour to Papa John's, and as we drove we saw the lights of all the downtown businesses flicker several times. At Papa John's there was a long line of people waiting, because the computer system was down and they couldn't accept any credit cards. I could see my pizza, but I couldn't pick it up because we were a dollar short in cash. After another adventure getting to an ATM and another long wait at the pizza place, we finally arrived home, triumphant and tired, with our large sausage pizza. The evening ended in watching the first hour of Food, Inc. together, which was a little ironic after eating a very fast foody dinner.

So there went our second attempt at a quiet romantic evening. Here's hoping we actually make it tonight!

Anniversary Dinner, Take 1

2010-06-16T09:47:00.003-04:00

Monday, June 14 was Collin's and my second wedding anniversary! We are praising God for two wonderful years of love, struggle, and bearing one another's burdens. On our first anniversary I drove Collin to the airport at 4 a.m. to catch a flight to Seattle for a week-long trip without me, which was a major bummer (although we did go on a special date a couple days before to celebrate.)

This year what we really wanted to do was to go on a date to Le Petit, a French restaurant downtown that we've been hoping to go to since we moved into the neighborhood. Since our anniversary fell on a Monday, the day when most restaurants are closed after a busy weekend, we opted for a family picnic to Cascades Park. Cascades is another place very special to us. It's where Collin officially asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend, and where we have had many romantic, firefly-lit walks together.

We had a delicious dinner - White bean tuna salad, Fresh asparagus and roasted garlic salad, two flavors of homemade crusty bread, and the three types of Wisconsin cheese we bought last week (which were all excellent!) Unfortunately, as you will see later, all that cooking and the prerequisite grocery shopping in the morning took quite a long time. We didn't start our picnic until after 7:00, which turned out to be a little too late.

For dessert I baked a lemon-lavender cake, the same delicious recipe that Cindy Sparks made for our wedding. It has become one of our favorite cakes, and the perfect one to celebrate our anniversary. When I made it this time, instead of frosting it, I poured on a glaze made with finely chopped lemon verbena leaves. It was delicious! The daisies and lavender are from our garden, and made a nice topper even if this cake isn't nearly as beautiful as the yellow one Cindy made for our wedding.

We'd barely had time to eat our dinner and fully savor the cheese (Annie loved the 6-year aged cheddar) when dark clouds started rolling in. Then, sirens started wailing. We spent a few minutes trying to decide if they were severe weather sirens or the evening call to "OM" from the next door Tibetan monastery. Finally, I got too worried that the cake would be drenched by rain before we got to try it, so we packed up the picnic. Collin took the first armload to the car, got a better look at the clouds (they were green) and ran back to me shouting "Take Annie to the car and run!" As we ran to the car, Collin pointed at all the thousands of fireflies which were blinking like crazy in the quickly darkening sky.

That was the fastest storm we've ever had sneak up on us. Before we got in the car a torrential downpour was upon us. Collin wanted to get out of the wooded valley before either downed trees or a flash flood could leave us stranded. A few minutes later, we were home safely, and in a few more minutes, the storm had lessened considerably. We heard that a tornado had touched ground in nearby Spencer, and we were very thankful for God's protection. Even the cake came out dry (and very delicious!). Our only casualties were the strap of our picnic basket, which tore in a hurriedly slammed car door, and a broken spoke on Collin's nice umbrella.

After the storm, God sent us a beautiful double rainbow, stretching brightly across the entire sky, reminding us of His promise never again to destroy the whole earth in a flood.

There was also a really neat yellow light caused by the setting sun through the break in the storm clouds. It bathed our neighborhood in a warm glow.

Kirkwood Avenue, quiet and empty in the wake of the thunderstorms.

One of my favorite sights in our neighborhood is looking out across the street at the cemetery and seeing three crosses on the hill. It reminds me that God will always see His name glorified, even in a town which actively resists and hates Him. It reminds me that, in death, the only thing which matters is the cross of Christ. And on a night like Monday, it reminds me that every breath we take is ordained and given by God. He kept us safe in the storms. Praise be to God.

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 7

2010-06-12T11:25:00.001-04:00

Saturday, June 12
Eau Claire, WI to Bloomington, IN

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we finished packing Louis and started the trip home. Do you like the huge rusty tomato cages tied to the top of Louis?

Before leaving town, however, we stopped at the Eau Claire Farmer's market. The rest of the family came too, except Grandma Cathy who went back to bed after getting up at 4 a.m. to make us breakfast. If Annie also looks really tired in this picture, it's because she woke up crying at midnight and wouldn't go back to sleep until close to 3:00. My loving husband got up with her so I could get some sleep. Thank you, lover.

It was COLD in Eau Claire that morning! Even with a blanket around me and Annie, we were still freezing, so Collin and Lindsey stopped for some hot chocolate and coffee which we walked around sipping.

One of the vendors at the market was a local chocolate shop called Obsession Chocolates. They have gorgeous truffles, with exciting flavors like raspberry cardamom. We didn't buy any chocolates, but we did split a couple sticky buns.

Collin, Lindsey, Emma and Ellie gather around the sticky bun just outside the market area.

We bought a few vegetables to bring home with us, including these gorgeous bright red radishes. Many of the farmers at the market are Hmong, since there is a large Hmong community in Eau Claire. They grow really nice vegetables.

After a while with Lindsey and the girls, we ran into Forrest, Nomie, Eddy, and Dan (not in the picture).

Forrest enjoyed a bubble wand we ran across. Ostensibly, he was blowing bubbles for his grandkids, but I think Nomie is a little worried about his enthusiasm!

Also at the market this week was a huge crafts fair. We all especially liked these birdhouses made from pieces of roots. I wish I'd gotten the name of the artisan, but we were in a hurry to leave.

All the Hobbs men, plus Naomi!

When we finally got on the road, we were in a hurry to get home so we only stopped twice. Our most exciting stop was in Mauston, WI, to visit the Carr Valley Cheese Factory.

It was a really nice little place, with even nicer cheeses. They had a great variety of cow, goat and sheep cheeses, all clearly labeled. It was hard to decide what to get!

The ladies behind the counter at the cheese factory were extremely friendly and offered to let us try any cheeses that caught our fancy. In the end we came home with some 6-year-old aged cheddar, a nice hard sheep cheese, and (the one I'm most excited about) a black truffle goat cheese. We're going on a picnic (d.v.) Monday to celebrate our two-year anniversary, and I'm really looking forward to a meal with fresh crusty bread and Wisconsin cheeses.

After that stop we made really excellent time coming home, despite going in and out of enormous thunderstorms all the way through Illinois.

So there you have it. Our vacation and family reunion in Wisconsin. We had a great time, but we're so happy to be home and to be in our own beds again.

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 6

2010-06-11T22:24:00.001-04:00

Friday, June 11

Eau Claire, WI

On Friday the menfolk left to do a whitewater canoe and hemlock hunting expedition, leaving the women and children home on the farm. Since we didn't go out or do anything very exciting, I thought I'd share some pictures of the beautiful place where my husband grew up. As I'm sure you can tell, this is the front of the farmhouse as you come up the driveway.

Here's the back of the house, with the sun room and the master bedroom addition that Collin and his family built onto the original house. Collin said that the year they spent remodeling was like a year of intensive shop class. I'm very thankful for this experience, because now Collin's pretty good with building and fixing things. As the daughter of a home builder, that's something I really admire in a man.

There are the barns, off to the side and behind the house.

Inside the house, things were a little crazy. Here's Grandma Cathy, holding a baby, reading a book to a 3-year-old, and helping a 2-year-old with a puzzle. We were all very glad when our men returned home.

Meanwhile, the men had a pretty great time canoeing down the Black River. Actually, brother Dan and father Forrest came in saying, "We had a great time!" while Collin said dejectedly, "We didn't find any hemlock trees."

Forrest looking back at Collin.

Daniel shoots the rapids.

Even though it's far away, this is such a typical picture that I can recognize my husband without any difficulty. Collin is drifting down the river in a canoe, binoculars raised, scanning the bluffs for hemlock trees. Even though they didn't find any, I hear it was still a good time of male bonding and all that. When they returned, we celebrated our family reunion with a delicious grilled feast. It was a great way to wrap up our vacation.

Finally, just for fun, here's a video of Annie and the old family dog, Casey. Finally, a pet that doesn't run in fear from a baby! (Sorry for the terrible sound quality).

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 5

2010-06-10T22:35:00.041-04:00

Thursday, June 10

Foster, WI

On Thursday we held our first (and possibly only) Great Hobbs Strawberry Festival. What started with the suggestion that we visit a u-pick strawberry farm turned into a whole day event and a lot of deliciousness.

The only nearby u-pick strawberry farm which was open for the season was a place called Foster Farm's Strawberries. It turned out to be a great place to go! The berries were very reasonably priced (less than half of what they were going for at the Eau Claire Farmer's Market, which is a much more reasonably priced market than Bloomington's), and they let all the kids pick a quart for free!

Eddy and I picked our strawberries together.

Aww... cousin love!

Annie and I cheer about the two heaping flats of strawberries we bought. They didn't look like too many, until we brought them home and started processing them. In the end, we made 44 cups of jam (mostly from Collin's and my berries) and came home with 9 quarts of frozen berries. Such abundance! Later we also enjoyed strawberry angelfood cake and strawberry rhubarb crisp, courtesy of my sister-in-law Lindsey and her amazing culinary skills.

Annie looked really cute, sleeping on the drive home from the strawberry field.

We didn't take any pictures during the huge strawberry processing, but here's all the jam we made. We ended up cooking three batches of regular strawberry jam, one low-sugar batch, one low-sugar sweetened with honey, and a double batch of jam sweetened only with white grape juice. It all tasted good. Cathy (my dear M.I.L.) used to do a ton of canning every summer with the kids, so she still has a basement full of jars and equipment which made our huge project much easier. She even let us bring home one of her huge canning pots, so we won't have to borrow one this summer!

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 4

2010-06-09T23:42:00.042-04:00

Wednesday, June 9

Eau Claire, WI

Wednesday was one of our most fun days on our trip. It started out with a morning walk around the farm with Collin and Annie. We needed to get out of the house so we wouldn't wake Grandma and Grandpa up too early.

The path was full of these bright little orange hawkweed flowers. We have the yellow variety in Indiana (We saw them on our spring Leonard Springs Hike).

Along our walk, we found a huge patch of wild strawberries. I was skeptical about trying them, because all the wild strawberries I've had in Indiana have been dry, seedy, and flavorless. These tiny berries were bursting with tart sweetness! Strawberries grow really well in western Wisconsin's sandy soil, and these were no exception.

Look at how small they are! Annie couldn't get enough of them. They were perfect for snacking on, although sometimes a little sandy since they hadn't been mulched with straw.

For lunch the whole family (grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) caravaned out to Owen Park, down on the Chippewa river in Eau Claire.

Annie got to play on the fancy teeter-totter with cousin Eddy...

...and slide down the big twisty slide with daddy...

...and sit on the really cool hand sculpture. Now THAT was exciting!

There are hands like this, painted in different ways, all over the city of Eau Claire.

Eddy found a path to slide (on his butt) down to the river. We all joined him.

Even Annie got to go wading!

A whole bunch of ducks showed up, so we shared some of our picnic with them. I'm not really sure why Ellie is looking at the camera so grumpily, but it is a priceless photo of her. Notice in the background Auntie Nomie is letting Annie try to pet the ducks.

That's a better picture of Ellie!

Here's a fun video of the kids feeding the ducks. Eddy tended to eat the chips they were feeding the ducks more than share them.

Finally, we headed back out to the farm for a quiet afternoon and evening. The neighbor who grows crops on the Hobbs farm was there harvesting his corn from last year. We all wondered why he'd waited until the following June. Still, it was a nice summer evening, and fun for the kids to watch the combine bring the harvest in.

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 3

2010-06-08T23:06:00.006-04:00

Tuesday, June 8

Eau Claire, WI

Tuesday we just spent a quiet day at home. Most of the family hadn't arrived yet, so Collin and I helped his mom with her spring cleaning. It was a really nice, chilly, rainy day. We even lit a small fire in the wood stove.

Annie is having better luck with the animals at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They are all used to small people, so they tolerate her pretty well. Annie is in heaven, even with the little bit of animal affection.

Grandpa Forrest, Auntie Naomi and Cousin Eddy all arrived around dinner time, and we spent a quiet evening catching up. Finally, I tucked Annie and her whole family into bed. Goodnight Annie, and Giraffe, and Duckie, and Puppy.

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 2

2010-06-07T23:20:00.000-04:00

Monday, June 7
Lafayette, IN to Eau Claire, WI

After some delicious chocolate pancakes at Andrew's house and some *quality* time between Annie and Andrew's cat Bing (named after the singer, not the search engine,) we got back on the road and headed up toward Wisconsin. As a side note, I love this picture because it so encapsulates Annie's relationship with most dogs and cats. She doesn't hurt them, but they freak out around her. She's totally oblivious, though, and just loves them. It's the worst case of unrequited love ever.

The traffic around Chicago was pretty nasty, and the only down side of the route we took. At one point traffic really slowed down because a semi-trailer had run into a large microwave tower and knocked it right along the interstate. Oops.

Around supper time we arrived at Wildcat Mountain State Park, where we had an appointment with a large stand of hemlock trees. Annie was happy both to get out of the car and to have a big picnic dinner.

We thought this was a good sign, in both senses of the word. Hemlock trail wound its way up Mt. Pisgah, in and out of sandstone bluffs along the Kickapoo River. That is a very fun name to say, especially after... never mind.

I don't know if any of you remember, but Collin and I rate the hemlock stands we visit on a 1-10 scale. This place was a 9.5. It really was amazing, between the dramatic landscape, the plenitude of hemlock trees, and the perfect weather. Only some mosquitoes and black flies kept it from being a perfect 10.

This was also Annie's first hemlock hunting trip outside of the womb. She did really well, riding on my back in the Ergo pack for the two or so hours it took to collect needles and data from twenty sample trees.

The forest had some really gorgeous virgin forest.

After we were done collecting our samples we took a short break for Collin to finish writing his notes.

Here's the table for notes we take on the trees. We have to note the sample tree circumference, exact GPS coordinates, and any notes about the tree or stand. Generally I'm the note taker, and Collin's the data and needle collector.

Meet Annie, the Adventuress. Don't cross her, she's armed with sticks!

These bluffs are really gorgeous. We'd love to go back another time.

As the sun set, we drove the last leg of the trip up to the Hobbs homestead in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Home sweet home.

Wisconsin Adventures, Day 1

2010-06-06T23:22:00.000-04:00

Sunday, June 6
Bloomington to Lafayette

On Sunday afternoon, after church and after an impromptu small group lunch picnic in our back yard, we packed our little family into Louis and headed off on our first road trip of the summer. Our destination? Visiting family in Wisconsin. Never mind that none of our family exactly live in Wisconsin anymore. Mom and Dad Hobbs still own the family homestead, so we all headed that way, from Minnesota, Colorado, and (of course) Indiana respectively. Collin and I kind of took the long way there.

Road trips have really grown on me since I married Collin. We've both adjusted our expectations, and now I can spend long hours in the car and he makes sure to stop for food and keep driving stretches in manageable chunks. This drive was especially enjoyable, since we stretched the trip out over two days and went up mostly smaller highways through cute little towns. The sun-streaks in this picture are just outside of Romney, Indiana.

Sunday night we only drove two hours north, where we spent the night at my brother Andrew's house. Andrew started at Purdue the same year as I did, and we graduated from undergrad the same year (2007). He's still there, having just finished his third year in his doctoral program. He's about ready to leave. Andrew fed us a nice dinner of Beef n' stout stew, and then we went for an evening walk around the campus of my alma mater.

Walking around the campus where I spent three years of my life, this time with Collin and Annie was really nice, if a bit surreal. My life was really different three years ago. I like the life I have now better.

Collin and Annie by the Purdue bell tower.

I have a special fondness for the Lion Fountain outside of Stanley Coulter Hall, because it was closest to the classics department (located in the basement of the language building, since it was one of the smallest departments on campus). It was also where Professor Ipock had his "office hours," smoking his pipe on the benches by the fountain. Annie really liked playing in the water gushing from the lion's mouth.

Collin and Andrew were clapping to test the acoustics in Academy Park. You can't hear the snap that reverberates around the circle with each clap, but the it's worth watching just for the smiles and Annie giggles.

Finally, we made a stop by one of my other... old haunts... the Purdue Railroad club. By then Annie was getting pretty tired, so we went back to Andrew's and got ready for bed. It was only when I asked Collin where our toothbrushes were, after midnight, that we realized we'd left all our toiletries at home. Andrew and Collin walked to a nearby CVS, and finally, with cleaned teeth, we all collapsed in bed.

Book Log: May 2010

2010-06-05T17:50:00.001-04:00

Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies

by Steve and Candice Watters

I bought this book for several reasons. First, I was saddened by so many of my friends who were approaching marriage, or were in the first few years of marriage, who felt that it was important to wait a number of years before starting their family. In so many cases, these women didn't have good reasons why they needed or wanted to wait; they just felt that it was expected of them. There is this general feeling that somehow kids are a danger to new marriages. I've had many of these conversations, and I wanted to do some reading on the subject to know how to better talk with my friends. Second, I really respect the wisdom of the authors, Steve and Candice Watters. And third, it cost somewhere around $5 to buy this book from Amazon. I knew it would be well worth it for the insights Collin and I would glean, and also to have a copy to pass along to friends who needed this book.

The premise: Today's couples are postponing having children longer than their parents or grandparents did. Why? This book looks into motivations, rationalizations, justifications, and fears that prevent people from stepping out in faith and embracing the gift of children. It's full of statistics, studies, and personal testimony.

The good: Start Your Family pushes people in areas that the modern evangelical church and most Christians are afraid to address. Contemporary wedding services even leave out the line about marriage being "First... for the procreation of children to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy Name." We have relegated fertility to such a private matter that we're scared to talk about it at all, much less ask people if they are postponing children out of true need and faith in God, or out of faithlessness and fear. This book doesn't make hard rules about when and how to have children, and it really skirts around the issue of birth control in general, but it does question popularly held beliefs and push on idols of our hearts (money, success, and self-centeredness).

The bad: The writing style would sometimes irk us. The Watters backed up nearly every statement with a research study or statistic, which sometimes felt more like a term paper than an exploration of the truth on a subject. We were also a little uncomfortable with how they talked about birth control, not distinguishing at all between forms of conception prevention and abortifacients.

The conclusion: This isn't the best book that could be written on the subject, but it is exceptionally good and daring. We're very happy to have read it, and will be buying a few more copies for friends. Our copy is also available now, so if you'd like to borrow it I'd be happy to loan it to you!

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Brava, Valentine

by Adriana Trigiani

Since this is the second book in a trilogy and I already reviewed the first, I'm not going to spend a long time writing about this one. Suffice it to say that Valentine Roncalli continues her struggle to keep and grow the family shoe making business and fit love into a life which revolves around her work. There are changes, in the shoes she makes, in the people she works with, and in her lover, but if you liked the first book you'll probably like this one too. I thought that the sex, though still not graphic, was too present and was also put off by Valentine's annoying gay best friend/roommate/co-worker. Other than that, I enjoyed the book and am interested to see how the series wraps up. My prediction: just like the first two books each began with a wedding, so too will the third. And it will finally be Valentine's own wedding.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

The Wedding Planner’s Daughter

by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

The Premise: Willa is the middle-school only child of a very capable and famous wedding planner. Her mother is running from her own broken heart, since her husband died the day after they got married (Willa was a wedding-night baby). Every couple years they move somewhere new. Willa longs for nothing more than to live somewhere long enough to put down roots and find a father.

The Good: Father and mother hunger is the major theme in this book. Willa is looking for an older man to care for her, and along the way finds both a grandfather and a dad, and finally her mother's love. Adults (and there are more of those than of Willa's peers) are respected and become friends in a way you don't often see in contemporary children's literature.

The Bad: Willa sometimes sneaks around and disobeys her mother, finally running away from home and back to her grandmother. She also tells small lies to help get her mother married off. There are few consequences for her disobedience.

The Conclusion: If twelve-year-old girls told themselves bedtime stories to help fall asleep, they’d be like this book. It was really, really sweet, and totally unrealistic.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Gingerbread

by Rachel Cohn

This is not a complete review because I didn’t finish the book. Actually, I grabbed it off the young adult lit shelf at the library without reading much of the summary because Annie was fussing and I needed to find a book and go. If I’d even seen the front cover I might have changed my mind. As it is, I spent a little less than an hour reading and then skimming through the book. Here’s why I hated it.

It’s a book about a teenage girl who is the illegitimate daughter of an older rich man (who is not in the picture) and wanna-be model/dancer mother. After her birth, her mother married another rich man and is living as the perfect cold trophy wife. The girl goes through a cycle of rebellion and hurt, seeking comfort in the arms of boys and then reaping the rewards of that choice. Because of a sexual relationship with her first boyfriend, she has an abortion, the truth of which she keeps locked inside her and won’t even talk about in her own thoughts. She never finds anyone to help her through that grief, and deals with it mostly by denying the hurt she feels. Finally she meets her birth father and step-siblings, one of whom is a homosexual man who spends a fair amount of time making out with his partner. This is supposed to be a good thing. And the book ends with the girl going back to her second boyfriend – a hopeful ending? On top of everything else, it wasn’t that well written. What a terrible book. I couldn’t wait to take it back to the library.

Overall Rating: 1/5

Beauty

by Robin Mckinley

To me, this is the most romantic piece of fiction ever written. Certainly the most romantic piece of young adult literature ever written.

The premise: Like it says on the cover, this is a re-telling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. It follows pretty closely to the original story, with Beauty being the youngest of three sisters, all daughters of a rich widowed shipping merchant. Unlike the original story, Beauty and her sisters love each other very much, despite their differences. Saddled with an unfortunate nickname, Beauty is actually the plainest of her three sisters, and spends her days quietly, studying Greek and Latin and riding her horse. When her father's business collapses, the family moves far out into the country where the girls learn to work hard and begin their life over again. Of course, then comes the day when Beauty's father gets lost in the woods, steals a rose from the Beast's garden, and has to either forfeit his life or bring his daughter back to the Beast. The rest, as they say, is history.

The good: Beauty and the Beast is the antithesis of Cinderella. While Cinderella is the story of two Beautiful People meeting and falling in love on sight because they're just so darn beautiful, Beauty and the Beast is about falling in love with the hidden character of the heart. Neither Beauty nor the Beast is much to look at on sight, but as they get to know one another and fall in love, each becomes more beautiful not only to each other but to everyone around. And I do love the character of the Beast. Unlike the Disney movie (for which I have no love) the Beast is terrifying. His power is barely contained, and his relationship with Beauty is a wonderful illustration of how love and fear can coexist in a good relationship. It reminds me of the church's relationship with our bridegroom Christ, and any book which points clearly to that archetype is a fantastic piece of fiction.

The bad: Honestly, I don't have anything bad to say about this book. I love it.

Overall Rating: 5/5

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riorden

The premise: Perseus Jackson is a 12-year-old modern-day demi-god. After being attacked by a Fury and the Minotaur, Percy escapes to Camp Half-Blood, a summer training camp for other demi-gods. The camp is run by the very grumpy Mr. D (Dionysus, the god of wine) and the ageless centaur and hero-trainer Chiron. After a brief respite, Percy and two friends are sent on a quest across the United States and even down to the underworld to rescue Zeus's master lightning bolt.

The good: Fast-paced action, middle-school, summer camp and mythology mix to create a really fun book series. They're not deep, but they are breezy, refreshingly different, and highly enjoyable.

The bad: Percy alternates between being respectful and extremely smart-aleky toward the authorities in his life. Those authorities, mostly the Olympian gods, aren't exactly deserving of respect apart from their inherent position of authority. The gods are as much or more flawed than your average human. It's expected of most of them to have multiple children by multiple partners - hence the existence of so many demi-gods. The sexuality rampant in the original Greek myths is toned down and handled carefully, but is also treated in a very blasé manner.

The conclusion: I was a Classics major. Ancient mythology has always fascinated me, both as Story and as Archetype. There is truth we can learn from the lies of paganism, and it's fascinating to watch people creating gods in their own image and what it tells us about our own sinful hearts. So with that, and the years I spent at college studying Greek and Roman myth, you can see why I would like this series. Add to that that I have a fondness for children's and young adult literature, so these books are some of my favorites that have been written recently. That said, many other people (like my dear husband) can't quite understand the attraction. My 9-year-old brother, on the other hand, loves, loves, loves these books.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

The Demigod Files

by Rick Riorden

This is a supplement to the five Percy Jackson books, taking place between books four and five. It has three short stories and some "interviews" with some of the main characters in the series. If you haven't read all the other books, you probably won't want to read this book. If you're a huge fan, be my guest. It's moderately entertaining, but it doesn't deserve a full write-up.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Grow Your Own Drugs
by James Wong

Generally I don't include non-fiction books I read as reference materials (like gardening, crafts or cook books) in with my reading book log. I'm making an exception here because I really, really liked this book. Plus, it's got such a fun attention-grabbing title.

The Premise: This is an introduction to home herbal remedies. Really, it's just stuff our great-grandmothers learned along with how to pluck a chicken and can a cow, but like butchering and food preservation, are now lost arts. James Wong successfully takes some of the mystery out of herbal medicine and gives many recipes for everything from athlete's foot (Garlic Talcum Powder) to flatulence ("Four Winds" Tea).

The good: This book is very accessible, with a variety of recipes and plants to grow. Projects range from very simple and easy to more intermediate-level gardening and herbal brewing. The pictures in this book published by Reader's Digest are prolific and gorgeous, almost like a coffee-table book. Fortunately the book isn't quite coffee-table sized.

The bad: A lot of the remedy recipes require a lot of ingredients. It isn't always clear if they're all necessary, and buying or growing them all would be expensive and require a lot of work.

Conclusion: Whether you want to learn a little bit about some cool plants or are intending on systematically replacing your pharmaceuticals with natural remedies, this book is a beautiful and interesting read. Personally, I was very excited to learn about the health benefits of some of the herbs I already grow in my garden. I took note of a couple (chamomile and lemon balm) that I think I'll plant next year, and I'm just started brewing a batch of honeysuckle honey this week. Delicious and healing. Perfect.

Overall Rating: 5/5

Summertime with Annie Sunshine

2010-06-04T21:17:00.000-04:00

Annie and I have been having lots of fun together and with other people over the past few weeks. Summer is my favorite season because it means lots of fun time with Collin and a more relaxed atmosphere in our home. Here are some of my favorite pictures of days together over the past couple weeks.

Eating curry with daddy on an unplanned picnic by the Jordan River. Collin forgot his lunch at home, so Annie and I biked it to him and we all went outside to eat together.

Looking at this photo, you wouldn't know that was in the middle of a large university campus. As much as I appreciate the efficiency of my alma mater Purdue, there is something to be said for the beauty of IU's sprawl.

Have I mentioned that our daughter is a foodie? She likes her food to have flavor, thank you very much. Fresh fruit is fantastic, and curried carrots are super, but she'll pass on those plain pureed carrots.

Speaking of food... oh my goodness, does Annie love ice cream. This is Annie with our friend Candene outside of the Chocolate Moose on a girls night out.

Annie and her second cousin CeCe share a set of stacking cups at a family Memorial Day picnic. Cece is four months older than Annie and so, so cute!

Annie loves to swing at the park!

And Mama loves to lie under the swing and take pictures of Annie's feet!

What are you doing down there, Mama?

This week we received a new jogging stroller through Freecycle. Thank you, Aleisha! Annie loves it so much, when we stop she rocks back and forth to try and make it move again.

One of the most fun things about life with Annie is that she's always picking up new skills. This week she figured out how to cluck her tongue. Her new ability impresses herself almost as much as us.

Oh, it is fun to have a girly daughter! Last week I gave us matching manicures and pedicures.

So pretty!

This is a clip of Annie listening to music on my phone/mp3 player. I really enjoyed how, when she lost one of the ear clips, Annie's response was to eat the phone. Good thing her pacifier was in the way.

That's all, folks! Can't let blogging get in the way of our adventures together!

Bacon Cheddar Apple Pie

2010-06-03T12:05:00.001-04:00

Shortly after we began dating, I made a picnic dinner which Collin remembers as my greatest culinary failure ever. I was working as a cook at Bloomingfoods, and back in the kitchen we'd come up with a concept that (almost) all the cooks and bakers agreed sounded amazing. That concept? Bacon Cheddar Apple Pie.

I mean, think about it! Cheddar and apple are a classic combination. So are bacon and cheddar. And apples are one of the best savory toppings for a nice juicy pork roast. So shouldn't they be amazing together?

Well, like I said, that first pie was terrible. I think I tried to make it too much like a regular apple pie, just without the sugar. I piled raw apples into the pie crust, then topped it with sharp cheddar cheese and nice thick crisply cooked bacon. And it tasted terrible. The apples were too tart and crunchy, the cheese melted a little but stayed in little clumps and balls on top of the apples, and none of it tasted good together. Fortunately I brought some peanut butter and banana sandwiches along on our picnic as a back-up. Unfortunately I also learned that Collin doesn't really like bananas. For a very un-picky man, I really struck out that night. Fortunately he married me anyway.

But this pie has always remained as a sore point in my memory. Every time Collin brought it up I laughed along with him at how bad the pie was, but insisted also that it didn't have to be that bad. I'd just executed the concept poorly. Collin remained skeptical, and I was too nervous to try again.

Finally, last weekend, I did it. I made a bacon cheddar apple pie for dinner, and I didn't even make back-up peanut butter sandwiches.

There it is, right before baking. Here's how I made it:

Bacon Cheddar Apple Pie

6 slices bacon

1 onion, sliced

1 T. brown sugar

3 tart apples and 1 zucchini or 5 tart apples, peeled and sliced

Rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper to taste

Fry the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Lift the bacon out of the pan and fry the onion in the grease. When the onion is starting to brown, add the brown sugar and cook until caramelized. Add some rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Remove the onions from pan, leaving as much grease behind as possible. Finally, lightly cook the apples (and zucchini if you desire) in the bacon grease. Apples should still have some crunch, but be cooked enough not to oxidize. Add some more rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper to the apples, then remove from pan, leaving as much grease behind as you can.

Cheddar Pastry Crust:

2 c. flour

3/4 t. salt

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

5-7 T. cold water

Combine flour and salt in a bowl, then cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender. Once the butter is in chunks the size of a pea or smaller, add the cheddar cheese and continue to cut until the cheese is thoroughly coated with flour mixture and no clumps remain. Add water, a tablespoon or two at a time, tossing with fork. When the entire pastry forms into a ball, knead it once or twice to fully incorporate the flour and water. Roll out two crusts on floured surface. If you want, dust a small portion of leftover dough with paprika and cut out apple and some leaves for decoration.

Assembly:

Lay out bottom crust in a 9-inch pie dish. Spoon apples into shell, then spread out caramelized onions and bacon (broken into 1" segments). Top with second crust, fold edges in and crimp. Attach apple and leaf decorations with a few drops of water. Slice about 8 air vents in top crust. Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Serve with lots of vegetables so you can still feel good about yourself.

So there is the recipe. And here's how it went over:

Annie: Are you going to feed me some?
Us: Actually, you just get applesauce tonight, dear.
Annie: That's still exciting! I love food!

Me: Mmmmm. That worked just like I hoped it would. An herbed pork roast in a flaky cheese pastry. Delicious. Let me close my eyes to savor this bite.

Collin: Honey, you really like this? It's not working for me. Don't be so sad! The crust is really amazing! Is that real butter? You're a super cook, there has to be something you make I don't like. Don't cry! Here, let me eat another piece to make you feel better. Have I mentioned I really like the crust?

My husband is a good sport.

For the record, I fed the leftover pie to my older brother Andrew and he liked it. So I'm not totally crazy. But I don't think I'm going to try feeding bacon cheddar apple pie to Collin again.

Stray bicycle in need of a good home (free!)

2010-05-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

We are looking for a good home for a stray bicycle which showed up on our doorstep. That's not a statement I've could've imagined saying!

A couple of weeks ago we woke up to find an abandoned bicycle parked in the middle of the sidewalk in front of our house. Not such a great place to leave your bike. After waiting for a couple hours to see if anyone would come take it away, I called the police and asked if they knew of a stolen bike matching that description. They told me "No, and we don't pick up abandoned bicycles. If no one shows up to claim it, you can keep the bike."

We set it up on our porch that evening so that it would be out of the way, and still no one has come and taken it home. So now we're looking for a good new home for this bike.

This is a Schwinn Ranger, almost new except for a rusty chain and gears from being left outside. New it would retail for around $140, so it's definitely a starter-level bike, but it's in really good condition (apart from the chain, of course). It's got 26" wheels and the frame is about 17". It's a men's frame, and it would fit an average sized woman or a smaller man. It's a little too big for me, if that gives you any idea.

Does anyone know of someone who needs a new bike, preferably someone who would get lots of use out of it and have trouble affording a new one? We'll take it to the bike project if we can't find a good owner, but it's almost roadworthy right now so it's not exactly what they specialize in.

Bumper Stickers

2010-05-18T21:49:00.000-04:00

You know these bumper stickers?

I've seen them around Bloomington frequently, and often in our hippie neighborhood. I thought they were kind of clever, because honoring our mothers is a virtue that nearly everyone in America still applauds. Making the connection between our earthly mothers and "Mother Earth" is something designed to put warm fuzzies in the heart of all Bloomingtonians.

For quite a while I've had another bumper sticker in mind, and with Louis past his 200,000th birthday Collin and I decided it was time to order it.

It's not going to put any warm fuzzies in our neighbors hearts, but it might cause some to think, and it will definitely cause us to smile.

Now that we've broken the bumper sticker barrier on Louis, it's time to complete our collection. We've had a "Save the Hemlocks" sticker waiting that we bought on our honeymoon:

Then we need to buy one like this:

Somewhere in our office we have a Buy Local sticker from the Local Grower's Guild that we might add if we have space...

And, finally, the last bumper sticker that I really want would have to be another custom design. Think:

...but then replace "Love" with "Babies." Fruitful love is so much better than sterile hippie love!

So there you have it. My dream bumper. If you weren't worried about messing up the paint on your car, what would you put on?

For when I am weak, then I am strong

2010-05-17T22:28:00.002-04:00

For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10

Dear Readers,

Some of you have probably noticed that my blog has been off the Internet for the last couple weeks, and might have wondered what happened. Here’s the story.

On Tuesday, May 4, I wrote a short post about the day we’d had. Collin and Annie and I had a really great afternoon together, taking a family bike ride, voting in the state primaries, having a picnic in the back yard, and gardening until the sun went down. Not wanting to give the impression that we live a perfect life, however, I mentioned that Annie did throw a large temper-tantrum when it came time to go to bed, and that we had had to discipline her. It wasn’t a long, thought-out post on the whys and hows of Biblical discipline, and I didn’t explain what kind of age-appropriate discipline we used (merely slaps on Annie’s hand). It was just a short update on our life for our friends and family.

Wednesday afternoon, however, the blog suddenly got a flood of very angry comments from women I’ve never met who were accusing us child abuse. Presumably someone had stumbled across my post and told a discussion group to comment on my blog. Despite a number of comments in defense of our parenting from people who know us, the conversation quickly spiraled out of control, and after a few hours I pulled the post down to let people cool off. The hateful comments merely continued on older posts, so I shut the entire blog down.

The next afternoon we received a visit from a Department of Child Services worker. Someone, probably one of the anonymous commenters on the blog post, had made a report that we were abusing our daughter. I called Collin who immediately left work and came home, and together we talked to the worker who, after looking at Annie, formally unsubstantiated any claim of abuse. She told us that, not only were we within our legal rights to discipline our daughter, but also that we clearly had a very happy daughter.

Although we were exonerated of the claim of abuse, I was deeply shaken. Dozens of women who had never met me were telling me that I was a terrible mother, and everyone had an opinion about what I had done or should do. As a woman, it’s hard to let that weight of criticism slide off. Beyond that, God, in His mercy, used this event to reveal hidden sins in my own heart, including fear, self-righteousness, and a lack of love toward my enemies. That was really good, but it brought me near despair. For several days I was so deeply hurt I couldn’t even talk much with Collin about what had happened. But, in the end, the pain has made me even more certain about what I know to be true.

Collin and I are crazy in love with God and His word. God tells us all over the Bible that, just as He disciplines His children, so we are to lovingly discipline our own. We are well aware that our decision to discipline our daughter will be the stench of death to those who refuse to have God as their Father, but this is an issue where we are forced to choose between the approval of man and the approval of God.

We’re also crazy in love with our daughter, and we refuse to let fear prevent us from loving her by correcting her in her sin. This is foolishness in the eyes of the world, and even more so that we would risk being turned into CPS for the sake of following God’s commands. But, like I said in my previous post, I have seen the fruit of godly discipline in my own life, and I desire to see it in Annie’s.

Again, this is not a post on the whys and hows of Biblical discipline. That may come in the future, but I don’t want this post to become that discussion. I’m not ready to facilitate that yet. This is merely a testimony to God’s goodness through a difficult time, and an explanation of what happened and what is going to change.

So what is going to change? Well, my blog is back up and available publicly again. The controversial post and all the comments have been taken down because there is little profit in keeping it available.

I am also instituting the formal rule that, if you wish to leave a comment on my blog, you must use your real name and have it linked to your real profile so that there is accountability for what you say. I will not allow anonymous hateful comments to profligate as they did last week. If the blog receives a comment which breaks this rule, it will be deleted. If it becomes a problem, I may institute moderated comments for a time. I don’t want to do that, because under normal circumstances it’s a lot of trouble for me and slows down the conversation, but if it becomes necessary I will.

In the mean time, I want to leave you with an exhortation from 1 Peter 3:8-16 which I ask you to read before you comment on this post.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

"Whoever would love life

and see good days

must keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from deceitful speech.

He must turn from evil and do good;

he must seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Thank you for reading my blog. Please continue to pray for me and my family, that God will continue to use this for His own glory, that we will be granted wisdom in our care and raising of our daughter, and that we will be bold in our witness to the world.

In Christ’s Love,

Kara

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T16:42:00.018-04:00

In the days leading up to it, I wasn't looking forward to Mother's Day at all. I'd had a really tough week, and was incapable of summoning up any sentimental fuzzy feelings for the occasion. In retrospect, that was probably the best way I could've entered into the holiday. I was broken, humbled, and completely aware of my own sin as both a woman and a mother. Three things really helped me learn to rejoice:

1. We sang a new song at church which (unrelatedly) Collin had also e-mailed me the day before to encourage me after I'd been up late crying. It's called "I Asked the Lord" and you can find the sheet music here. To whet your appetite, here are the first two verses:

1. I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face

2. Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair ...

Read more

2. Pastor Tim preached one of the best (and most unconventional) Mother's Day sermons I've ever heard, looking at the Church as the archetype of motherhood. It really helped me think about the big picture of a God-centered worldview as opposed to a man-focused one. In a man-focused worldview we would talk about human mothers, how great they are and probably some exhortation to love and honor them, but nothing about the reason WHY we should love and honor them. Pastor Tim's sermon put everything back in perspective. I highly recommend that you take the 45 minutes it takes to listen to the sermon.That's something you could easily do while you cook dinner or fold laundry. You won't be bored, I promise.

One of the results of that sermon in our lives is that it pushed us to order the bumper sticker for Louis that we've been talking about for a year. More on that when it arrives..

3. Collin picked me a beautiful, huge bouquet of peonies. My husband is so loving to me. It also reminds me, once again, how much I love being married to a gardener. His broad love of plants is stretching my appreciation of flowers to the point that I even like roses and peonies! That said, daisies and sunflowers will never be replaced as my favorites.

Biology Lab Hike

2010-05-07T15:12:00.010-04:00

On Friday the IU Biology Clay Lab had their most exciting lab meeting of the semester. They went on a wildflower hike at Cedar Bluff Nature Preserve, and families were invited too!

The lower trail is pretty rugged, mostly consisting of scrambling over rocks along the bank of Clear Creek.

Clear Creek, in all its PCB polluted beauty (take pictures but don't eat the fish).

We stopped for a few minutes as Keith (Collin's advisor) told us how settlers in southern Indiana would live in hollowed-out sycamore trees like the one he's standing in front of while the settlers were constructing their homes. Don't you think that even in a tree that size you'd still have trouble lying down?

The late spring flowers were in their full glory. This is a Fire Pink. Stunning.

This is a kind of yellow poppy - a Celadine Poppy, if you want to be precise.

Wild columbine is a lot prettier than the yellow columbine flowers growing in our garden. I love the delicate complex shape.

Delphinium tricorne are also beautiful delicate woodland flowers which usually grow by streams.

These lovely Yellow Hawkweeds were all over the top of the bluff. Bright and cheerful like dandelions, without all the ugly dandelion leaves.

These are some pretty weird parasitic plants. They're called Squaw-root or American cancer-root, but I can't figure out if they have some medicinal use or got their name because they are like a cancer.

I'm not sure if those are baby spiders or some other kind of insect larvae or eggs. They are neat looking though.

Those definitely are hatched baby spiders. Hundreds of them.

Collin spent a long, frustrated time looking up this flower after we got home. Turns out it's a wild species of Valerian, although I don't know if it has the same soothing qualities as the cultivated strain.

After a while I had to take a break and feed Annie, so Collin hunted up fossils in the creek bed while he waited for us.

Collin and Annie (now full and happy) waiting for me to catch up so we can join up with the rest of the lab.

I found what we think might be a vulture feather, and stuck it in my braid like an Indian princess. A fun end to the best lab meeting this year!

... Although, come to think of it, it's the only lab meeting I've been to. Maybe they're all this fun and it's the best kept secret in Biology. I think, however, that on the whole I still like my job better. Annie and I have adventures together every day!

More Rainbows and Gardening

2010-05-03T20:59:00.004-04:00

Two rainbows in as many days! I love spring so much. After a day of perfect weather, sunshine, summer skirts, gardening and picnicking, God sent an evening rain shower to water the garden. Now the sky is blue again as the sun is almost down.

Ooooo, look up there!

So big and bright it even showed up on the camera!

On a side note, I've just got to say that I love the job that God has given me in being a wife and mother. Today, as part of my job, I planted seedlings and seeds in the garden, harvested and dried trays of sage, knitted an Indian headband and worked on writing the pattern for it, made dinner and ate it out in the garden with my family, and played guitar and sang to my daughter. If you can come up with a better job than that, I'll give you a free pepper plant.

It looks really small now, but in a few months it's going to be a jungle of edible beauty!

The bamboo on the side of the house is really taking off. Each segment represents a day's growth. You can almost see it grow!

And finally, the raspberries are going crazy out front. Today I planted an enormous zucchini variety and sunflowers along the rest of the porch, so by July or so it'll all be filled in well.

Now I have to return to the more monotonous part of my job - cleaning and doing a mountain of dishes. But it's all worth it for days like today.

Springtime Rainbow

2010-05-02T19:39:00.002-04:00

It's been raining all evening, but then, just for a few minutes, the sun came out and we got a huge beautiful rainbow! Sadly, it's hard to see in this picture, but you can see the light arc up in the sky.

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

Genesis 9:13-16

Book Log: April 2010

2010-04-30T23:14:00.002-04:00

Somehow my book reviews have gone from short to a little too-thorough. I'll have to work on that next month. Meanwhile, enjoy skimming through the six books I finished this month.

The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd

The premise: It is the summer of 1964 in the racially charged culture of South Carolina. 14-year-old (white) Lily Owens runs away from her abusive father, breaking out her (black) nurse Rosaleen along the way. They both find refuge with three bee-keeping (black) sisters, August, June, and May.

The good: August is a caring mother to Lily. She takes her under her wing, comforting her, teaching her, and challenging her. This is also a very compelling story. It's written well, and you really want things to turn out well for all the women and especially Lily. And in general (and on one level anyway) things do turn out all right. Also, I listened to the audio version of this book which had a wonderful reader. Her soft southern voice really added an important dimension to the book.

The bad: This book is a vehicle for feminist propaganda. August is the leader of a religious sect she calls "The Daughters of Mary," which syncretistically combines elements of Catholic Mary-worship with older pagan goddess worship and a bit of Black Power. All the men in the book are minor characters, and are either abusive (like Lily's father) or weak and submissive to the female leadership. It is the women in this story who must band together to save themselves, and that is a reality that is as dangerous as it is appealing.

The conclusion: Beautifully written, well-crafted, yet fatally flawed by an underlying hatred of our Father God and the way He created women to be - vulnerable and protected by strong male heads.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein
by Libby Schmais

The premise: 15-year-old Lotus is a precocious sophomore living in Brooklyn, NY but dreaming of being a fashionable journalist on the streets of Paris. This is her journal, of how she starts a French club, gets a job, falls in love, loses her best friend, and goes through all the normal trials and responsibilities of a typical American high schooler.

I've never seen a trailer for a book before, but I ran across this one and thought it gave a little flavor for the book:

The good: To be honest, I loved this book. In real life I would dislike Lotus, but the author created such a strong character that I just delighted in reading her words. Lotus was a total ditz-brain, drinking in the words of her idols (including Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauviore) and parroting them back without having any idea what they mean or what the consequences of living them out would be. As the book progresses, however she becomes somewhat disillusioned with her idols as she sees what living their lifestyle and having an "open" romantic relationship means. It's not a complete rejection, in the end, but she at least starts to see that ideas have consequences.

The bad: Lotus's parents totally abdicate their authority. When she goes to them for advice, in ways that most parents dream of, this is their response:

I knocked on my mother's door.

"Maman, how did you know that Dad liked you?"

"Lotus, if you're having sex, make sure you use a condom in addition to birth control. But don't go on the pill - you know we have a history of blood clots in our family."

I went to Dad's study,

"Hey, Dad, when you and Mom first got together, how did you know you were into each other?"

He looked up from the computer. "Lotus, your mother and I, we're not getting a divorce if that's what youre asking."

In desperation, I decided to e-mail the author of French Women Don't Get Fat for advice. Since she was French, she probably knew all about romance.

So, on the one hand, you have a girl who doesn't have a good respect for authority. On the other hand, you can't blame her very much since she's never been taught much about authority from her parents. In addition to this negative, there is also some mild language in the book, and hints at sexuality. Neither Lotus nor her best friend Joni do any more than kiss a boy in this book, but it's simply due to lack of opportunity.

The conclusion: On the whole, Lotus Lowenstein reminds me of Legally Blonde (which was a pretty smart movie) with an very different aesthetic. What I mean is that you have a character who seems kind of ditzy but turns out to be very responsible, capable and even intelligent, yet lacking discernment. Although it's a bit unclear how much Lotus has learned by the end of the book, the author did such a great job of creating a voice for her that you have to like her and love her pillow book anyway.

Overall rating: 4/5

Open House
by Elizabeth Berg

As I was listening to this audio book, I debated whether to give this book a 2.5 or 3 star rating. By the time I finished, there was no debate. It's a solid 2. As such, I'm going to keep this review brief because I don't think you should bother reading this book.

The premise: This is the story of a 40-something ordinary woman, Samantha, who is suddenly abandoned by her wealthy husband. The book is follows the thoughts of Sam as she copes with rejection and starts a new life.

The good: Divorce is bad. That's the best part of this book, as you see Sam sorting through all the consequences of her husband's adultery and desertion. The book has quite very good internal monologues, and you really feel like you're tracking Sam's thought processes. Sam gets a kind of fun job as a temp, working for different people in different jobs nearly every week. It's enjoyable to read about her going from working as a laundromat worker to a construction assistant to being fired as a telephone solicitor. She also finds a very kind elderly woman to be her house-mate, who finally marries her long-time sweetheart - a sweet December romance. Another good thing: this was a pretty short book.

The bad: I don't know where to start. Sam's husband David is a jerk, leaving his wife and son and taking a younger girlfriend. Sam immediately gets a crush on the mover who comes to collect her husband's things, although she doesn't admit or act on it till the end of the book. There is a scene in which she thinks about masturbation which I skipped, so I can't tell you how graphic it gets. Sam takes in several boarders, including a stereotypical homosexual man. Sam's best friend is crude and talks about having sex with some 50 guys in the early 1970s, has a very light view of adultery now that she is married, and rents a pornographic video to cheer Sam up. Near the end of the book, Sam discovers she is pregnant (by her husband before he left) and decides not to have an abortion (good!) hours before she miscarries anyway. Finally, Sam's husband David breaks up with his girlfriend and tells Sam he wants to come home. Unfortunately, he tells her in a thoughtless way and she turns him down without even suggesting they work through their problems. The book ends with Sam in the arms of that mover she met near the beginning, a rebound relationship that would never work long-term. Blah.

The conclusion: Don't read this book.

Overall rating: 2/5

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
by M.C. Beaton

Collin thought I ought to give this book a higher rating just for the title. He's not all together fond of quiche, or at least so he maintains. If I call it an egg casserole and stuff if full of cheese and spinach and bacon, that's just fine.

The premise: This is the first Agatha Raisin book. Back in February I read the 13th in the series and was rather confused. I thought starting at the beginning would let me see if the series is really any good. Agatha Raisin is a self-made, high-powered advertising executive who takes early retirement, sells her London business, and moves to a picturesque English village. In an effort to be noticed and make friends in her new village, Agatha buys a store-bought quiche and enters it in a local competition. Unfortunately, the unsavory judge dies (but it's ok, he really was a nasty man) after eating her quiche. Although cleared of murder, Agatha takes it upon herself to discover the real murderer and thus launches her career as a pushy, foul-mouthed 50-something Miss Marple.

The good: Agatha and all the people in the village of Carsely are vivid, interesting characters. You may not like many of them, but that's true of any town. And as a detective book, this one is pretty well written. Justice is served in the end, and along the way Agatha learns how to get over herself and make friends.

The bad: Agatha is self-centered, pushy, and unwomanly. Her only friend from her life in London is an effeminate young man who couldn't seem to make up his mind about his sexuality. There is also a brief, un-explicit but totally cringe-worthy scene in which the Carsely Ladies Society visits a male stripper show. That "field trip" was even arranged by the vicar's wife who explained that it was all for charity so that made it all right.

The conclusion: I'm a big Agatha Christie fan. I own all but one of her books (that's around 90), and I've read almost all of them. That said, I don't have any delusions that Agatha Christie was a great writer. She was a good writer, who wrote very enjoyable books. Agatha Raisin tries to be a modern version of Agatha Christie, and the writing equals the quality of an average Christie novel. The downfall comes in the moral center. In most Christie books there is a fair amount of sin - adultery, greed, lying, and of course murder. But in the end justice is served and people suffer the consequences of their sin. In Agatha Raisin, however, that moral center seems to be lacking. Murder is still bad, and blatant philandering is bad, but almost on a par with being really annoying or un-hygenic. Give me a Christie novel over that, any day.

Overall rating: 3/5

If You Could See Me Now
by Cecelia Ahern

This is not at all what I expected. I almost didn't listen to this audio book because it sounded very run-of-the-mill chick lit. It wasn't much like what the back cover made it sound like, I'm happy to say.

The premise: Elizabeth is the uptight adoptive mother of her alcoholic younger sister's 6-year-old son, Luke. Living in the small Irish village where she grew up and where her mother abandoned her at a young age, Elizabeth has put up strong walls against love - even loving Luke. Then Luke brings home an invisible friend named Ivan (driving Elizabeth to distraction) and everything changes. I don't really want to be much more explicit than that, because for me a lot of the charm in this book was in how unexpected it all was. I'll just say that this isn't really a fantasy novel, and it isn't a romantic comedy. It's somewhere between and in its own place too.

The good: Not to give away too much of the ending, but this book has a very satisfying but slightly tragic conclusion. Elizabeth learns to love Luke as her own son, forgives and starts a new relationship with her cold father, lightens up, and has the strong possibility of a very healthy marriage down the road.

The bad: One of the main characters, Ivan, is a grown man yet behaves, talks, and thinks much like a little boy. This is good to the extent that it helps Elizabeth lighten up and learn to love her son Luke, but bad when it comes to having an adult relationship. There is also some sexual innuendo, but it is very light for the chick lit genre.

The conclusion: I know this has all been pretty vague, but I meant it to be. It's a good book. I'm happy to recommend it. And if you're into audio books, that's definitely the way to go because of the lovely Irish reader.

Overall rating: 4/5

Shelf Life
By Robert Corbet

The premise: This is a collection of short sketches of 14 young people who work part-time in an Australian grocery store. Their stories intersect at some points, in the tradition of Erica Bauermeister's The School of Essential Ingredients (which I loved) and The Friday Night Knitting Club (which I didn't). Interweaving through these sketches is the story of the newest employee, Adam, who is trying to become man enough to impress employee-of-the-month Louisa.

The good: The characters are all extremely true-to-life. Even though I worked in a small local food co-op in Indiana and this book takes place in a larger supermarket in Australia, I've worked with many of these people. And there's a lot of good in the stories. You watch Adam change from a complete loser to a hardworking man, and see Louisa struggle to take care of her alcoholic mother, go through nursing school and support herself and her mother on a part-time income. Another character, Stephen, presents a sobering look at what happens to a young man when he gives himself over to a gaming addiction. In general, hard work and respect are valued and addiction and rebellion are shown in a cold, harsh light.

The bad: There is no hope in this book. Sure, there are some characters who improve their lives, but it's an empty improvement. In the end, you've just gotten a small glimpse into 14 lives who will live and die, some sooner than others, but all without hope. That adds up to being pretty depressing. Also, there is one stand-alone chapter in which a young woman finds her way out of serious depression by kissing another girl.

The conclusion: On one level, this book is fantastic. It's well written, observes people with a very keen eye, and makes you really look at the people working invisible jobs all around you. But in the end I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's extremely realistic, portraying broken, sinful people in their darkness. The problem is there is no light to expose and rescue them from that darkness. I pray that I will use this as a reminder to love those around me by telling them of the hope there is in Christ.

Overall rating: 4/5

Delicious Dirt

2010-04-27T18:31:00.000-04:00

Last night I had quite a bit of transplanting to do, potting seedlings and cuttings into 11 different pots. Annie was getting bored just sitting and watching, so I handed her an empty plastic pot with just a little bit of soil on it. A few minutes later, I looked up and saw Annie covered in and eating the dirt.

"Am I in trouble, Mom?"

"'Cause if not, you know, I think I'll just keep eating this dirt. It's almost as good as chocolate cake!"

Annie's Dedication

2010-04-27T18:26:00.000-04:00

Our church CGS is unusual in a number of ways, but one distinctive is that we permit both paedo and credo baptists to practice their convictions. As a matter of fact, we have three pastors and three views on what to do with babies. Pastor Tim says, "Baptize them!" Pastor Stephen says, "Dedicate them," and Pastor Max does neither. Without getting into a long discussion of why, Collin and I chose to dedicate Annie, so that we could publicly declare that Annie is a covenant child, vow to raise her up in the fear of the Lord, and receive the promise from our church family that they will help us in that endeavor.

We thank God daily for the good gifts that He has given to us, for the authorities he has placed over us, the church family he has given us, and for sweet (and sour) Annie Sunshine. We pray that she will grow up in obedience and will learn to trust and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127:3-5

Ice Cream

2010-04-23T21:34:00.000-04:00

Tonight Collin and Annie and I went out for ice cream at Bruster's. I'd never been there before, and they had a small menu (compared to Jiffy Treat, where we usually go) but amazing flavors! I got the white raspberry truffle, and Collin got a Strawberry Shortcake waffle cone. They were both great, and with a buy one get one coupon totally worth it. Annie got her first taste of ice cream in a cone and she went nuts. She just latched on, and started gnawing with an intense look in her eyes. No question, that girl has a sweet tooth!

Spring Planting

2010-04-22T23:31:00.000-04:00

Annie and I got bored today. That is a pretty rare occurrence, because I've usually got more housework, projects and obligations than I can keep up with. But today I was actually fairly caught up on my work, and so I got to take Annie out and introduce her to the beauty of a garden greenhouse. After all, it was Earth Day so what better time to check out all the beautiful diverse plant world that God created?

There were lots of beautiful plants in the various houses at May's Greenhouse. It was nice to look around at the exotic houseplants, sun and shade perennials, and annual flower baskets that scream "Mother's Day is in two weeks!" But it was the herb/vegetable house that I liked best.

Definitely the least showy house. But, oh, the varieties and delicious smells and tastes! I made a list of my favorite herbs that I want to grow soon:

1. Pineapple Sage. This plant really smells like pineapple! It would be so amazing in fresh cold summer salads or fruit salsa! Sadly, though, it's a tender perennial in this area, so it would need to be a container plant and come inside in the winter.

2. Lemon Verbena. Another tender perennial, this one grows into a large bush. What an amazing flavor, though! It's as strong as fresh lemon peel. Someday I'm definitely going to grow it.

3. Lemon and Lime Basil. Basil comes in all flavors, but the citrus Basils had the most significant flavor change that I could notice, and it was a great smell. Thai Basil also smelled great.

4. Marjoram. A delicious relative of Oregano and another tender perennial. I guess there are reasons I've never grown some of these herbs.

In the end, I just came home with a 4-pack of gorgeous marigolds and fennel and lemon basil seed packets. Collin planted them in the garden tonight. I'm so excited for summer! I think this is going to be our best garden ever.

I already bought some lemon grass and winter savory and calendula with Annie at the Bloomington Farmer's Market last Saturday, which are also new herbs to me. This year Collin gave me a patch of the garden just to turn into my kitchen herb garden, and I've loved filling it up! So far I've planted:

Borage
Calendula
Cilantro
Chives
Sweet and Lemon Basil
Dill
Fennel
Garlic chives
Lavender
(Lemon Grass in a pot)
Climbing Nasturtiums
(Mint in its own patch)
Oregano
Parsley
Sage
(Rosemary in a pot)
Thyme
Winter Savory

We're also growing seed poppies this year. I love poppies! They're so bright and red and cheerful and playful and intoxicating...

You know, until putting those herbs in alphabetical order I never noticed that Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme are alphabetical and next to each other in lists of common herbs. Anyway, I'll put up pictures of my little herb patch in a few weeks when everything is filling in. I can hardly wait!

Storybook Window Cabinet

2010-04-15T17:26:00.000-04:00

I've taken the last couple weeks easy on knitting and making things for Seasonal Arts. Instead I completed a project I've had on my "to do" list since Christmas: paint the auxiliary cabinet in my kitchen.

This is the before photo. As you can see, it's a pretty boring brown cabinet. It was from my grandparents kitchen, and I have many fond memories of seeing it in their house. There were tins of rubber bands and matches on it, and we had lots of fun with those...

Here's another before picture. This cabinet really has been a wonderful addition to my large but largely counter-less kitchen. It is my dinner prep station and holds my pantry. Nevertheless, there is way too much brown wood in my kitchen, and I needed some more color.

Here's my kitchen hutch with all my dishes and serving plates. I really love our dishes, and all the shades of bright yellow, spring green, dark red and deep blue. I decided to paint the cabinet in similar colors, but to play up the window shutter look and go for a fairytale cottage look.

Here's a during picture. This is after sanding and painting with primer. At this point I was getting worried, wondering if I'd ruined the cabinet and if it would really look the way I envisioned. Nevertheless, I continued to pour hours into the project and in the end it looked pretty much like I hoped.

...And there it is!

I love the blue shutters with sweet peas climbing up over white stucco sides.

Woohoo! I have more color in my kitchen, and I have my pantry and prep station back!

Mmmmm.

2010-04-13T19:16:00.000-04:00

After dinner tonight I inadvertently and finally discovered a food Annie can't get enough of. Bananas? Take them or leave them. Rice cereal? The same. Even ice cream got spit out. But a strawberry-blueberry-cranberry-yogurt smoothie? Annie suddenly turned into a baby bird with her mouth wide open.

Yum.

CGS Ladies Retreat

2010-04-10T23:36:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had a great time retreating with about 80 of the women from CGS down at the Hidden Falls Campground. It was the best retreat ever! Although I heard some stories of mice in some of the cabins, I could hardly have imagined of a better set-up. All the nursing mamas were given double rooms in the main building, so Annie got to nap on a pretty normal schedule. Plus, the grounds were stunning, the weather was perfect (sunny and upper 70s), and the conversations were most excellent. Here's a sampling of what we were up to.

There were lots of babies at the retreat. I counted at least eight nursing babies, and there must have been a dozen pregnant mamas as well.

It was so nice to see Elise breathing well and healthy.

I also loved seeing the ladybug pacifier clips in use on the twins.

Another thing I love about the women of our church is that babies are always getting shared. In none of the pictures above is the mama holding her baby. The love God has given the women of this church for each other and each other's babies is very sweet to me.

We had a really fun mixer on Friday night. Everyone was divided up into about 8 groups of 10 or so, and assigned a fairy tale. We then had 15 minutes to create a short skit of that fairy tale, using everyone as either an actor or a prop. We were also given aluminum foil and toilet paper for props. The results were hilarious.

It was only after hearing Lauren's operatic troll in "The Three Billy-goats Gruff" that I realized I needed to stop taking still photographs of the hilarious costumes and get some video footage. Through the laughter you can hear Lauren sing to each billy-goat, "Who's that walking on my bridge? Trip-trop, trip-trop on my bridge?" The only sad part is that from my angle you can't see Jessi's (the biggest billy-goat)amazing toilet paper beard.

This was a great version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Please note how well this team utilized their entire cast. They had three women as chairs, two women as beds, one as a table and one (The lovely Mrs. Curell) as a door!

After the events on Friday night I got Annie out of bed for a late night swim in the indoor pool. Despite her really cute new swim diaper, Annie was too cold to enjoy the water. When her lips turned blue and her cries of protest became loud, I took her out, dried her off, and wrapped her in her blanket.

Annie turned the pool changing-room shelves into a bunk bed.

This afternoon we were given a long lunch break after the morning worship and talks on Tamar and Rahab. (Our speaker, Mrs. Cindy Cochrum from College Church in Wheaton spoke to us about three Ordinary Women Fulfilling Extraordinary Roles.) Sara and Candene and Annie and I took a walk to explore some of the trails before lunch. I tried to introduce them to the delights of eating redbud flowers. Annie even tried them, although she didn't like them at all.

This was Candene's reaction at first. She decided eating redbud flowers wasn't so bad after a couple minutes.

Sara was tolerant, and agreed that pink flowers would look good in a spring salad.

After lunch Sara and Nisha and I took a walk down to the falls and suspension bridge. The camp's namesake "hidden falls" weren't even impressive enough to post a photo, but the suspension bridge was amazing! It rocked and swayed as we walked across, with just cables and a few boards between us and the ravine.

We ran into Marta and Allie on our way back to the main building. Isn't it fun how from the back you can't tell which one is the high schooler and which one is the youth group leader's wife (with a son in college, no less)?

Worshiping with these ladies was such a privilege. Just singing together was definitely a high point of the retreat.

I wish my little point-and-shoot camera could capture how lovely the singing was. I'm so grateful to all the women who put so much work into planning the retreat, and praise God for all the good conversations and deepened friendships.

This effeminate age...

2010-04-09T16:49:00.001-04:00

An exchange at the checkout counter of the hip eco-friendly baby store down the street

Man: What's the name?

Me: It's Hobbs, that's H.O.B.B.S.

Man: Calvin?

Me: (laugh) no, but that's what we told everyone we'd name her (gesturing to Annie) last April Fool's Day. Calvin Nathan, so she'd be Calvin N. Hobbs.

Man: (quite seriously) so what'd you name her?

Me: Annelise Sunshine.

Man: Not Calvin?

Me: No! I wouldn't name my daughter Calvin.

Man: I don't know, I think it could go either way...

Pink Flamingo

2010-04-06T22:41:00.000-04:00

Not that I have a pink flamingo fixation or anything, but just to prove my point about flamingos having potential not to be tacky, I present this hilarious whimsical bird. I'd never pay $34.99 for it, but it would look great on my Near-Westside neighborhood front porch.

Book Log: March 2010

2010-03-31T00:40:00.003-04:00

Schooled
by Gordon Korman

This is a weird book.

The premise: Capricorn Anderson is an 8th grade kid who was raised on an almost empty hippie commune by his grandmother Rain. Right at the beginning of the book, Rain breaks her hip and Cap has to be put in a foster home and go to public school. Cap, dressed in tie-dye, long strands of beads and shoes made of cork husks, and hair that would make the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical proud. This clueless kid, who is unbelievably unaware about life in the real world, is thrown to the wolves of middle school. Over the course of the book, Cap becomes the biggest loser at school, the class president, and finally a cult leader.

The good: As an outsider to mainstream American culture, Cap has some good insights on the sins of our culture. The obsession with materialism and the utter brutality of public school ought to be exposed. Also, the storytelling is really fun, switching between many narrators and taking a couple unexpected turns.

The bad: When I said, "unbelievably unaware"" I meant just that. This book is over-the-top. I can't believe that a kid who would score well on standardized testing could really have no idea what people mean when they extend their hand to you in greeting, or believe bull-fighting might be a middle school sport. I mean, didn't he read any books?

The conclusion: This book tells a lie. Most books do, in some form or other. The lie this book tells is the same one behind the entire hippie movement: you can be a good person without Christ, and spread love and peace and joy simply by being nice to people. Because of this lie, I think this book could be a good starting place to talk with your kids about the 1960s and the depravity of man... even kids.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

My Scary Fairy Godmother
by Rose Impy

I was sort of hoping this book was a modern-day fairy tale in the strain of My Fairy Godmother by Janette Rallison which I enjoyed reading last year. It wasn't.

The premise: Isabella is a 12-year-old mousy English girl who has to go live with her aunt, uncle and cousin when her mother becomes ill. Her ultra-cool, style-queen cousin Maxine (Max) gives her a makeover into rebel Izzy, and Izzy's attitude follows the new rebellious clothes.

The good: Things get sorted out in the end. Consequences follow destructive actions.

The bad: I couldn't decide whether or not in the end teenage rebellion was being endorsed. Generally, it seems that it's ok to sass and boss your parents around, just not to maliciously hurt them (who's to draw the line?) but it's not ok to hang out with the "wrong" crowd who might make your grades suffer.

The conclusion: Thoughtfulness toward friends and parents is endorsed on the one hand and getting your own way is touted on the other. Talk about mixed messages. This also simply isn't very well written. It isn't particularly bad English, but it isn't imaginative and there is nothing to set it apart from the vast quantity of children's fiction out there.

Overall rating: 2.5/5

Very Valentine

by Adriana Trigiani

I think it's interesting how super-long books intimidate me, but the idea of a trilogy (like Lord of the Rings, for instance) which is essentially an extremely long single narrative looks much more readable. Very Valentine is just such a trilogy, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes in the next two books (the second is already published, the third has yet to come out).

The premise: Valentine Angelini is a 33-year-old apprentice to her 80-year-old master shoemaker grandmother in the Angelini Shoe Company in Greenwich Villiage, NYC. Over the course of the book, Valentine struggles to keep the custom-wedding shoe shop alive, as she also discovers her talents as an artist. Along the way she falls in love and questions what her priorities ought to be.

The good: Valentine puts a strong value on her family, especially her grandmother. Her respect for the elderly is refreshing and inspiring. It's also nice to have a story about a craftswoman who cares about making something unique, beautiful and well-made. I personally was inspired as I designed my own unique knit items while listening to this book. There are also lots of interesting things about Valentine's views on sexuality - she loves it when the men in the book, from her father to her boyfriend(s) take charge and leave her free to be a woman. However...

The bad: Valentine is also determined to follow her own dreams, even if it is at the expense of a possible marriage. Her drive would be a lot more attractive in a man. Additionally, although there is no graphic detail, Valentine sleeps with her boyfriend on several occasions, even after she's realized it isn't going to work out. That relationship was simply painful to watch unfold, as neither Valentine nor her boyfriend were willing to sacrifice their dreams (of designing footwear or running a high-class restaurant) to form a life together.

The conclusion: What Valentine really needs is to marry a shoemaker. That way they can work together in the family business, just like in the old days when her grandparents worked together. As much as you don't want to see the family business fail (and I'm sure it won't, going by literary conventions), you also want to see Valentine embrace her womanhood and submit to a husband's leadership.

Overall rating: 4/5

So Brave, Young, and Handsome
by Leif Enger

Leif Enger's first novel, Peace Like a River, is one of my all-time favorite books. I would put it down with the best hundred books ever written, it was that good. If you haven't read it, you should read it. As such, I was waiting eagerly for Leif Enger's second book, which took a while to come out. It's reads almost like an explanation of why it took so long to come about.

The premise: Monte Becket is something of a one-hit-wonder. After the publication of his first book he can't come up with a satisfactory second. Sitting on his porch, writing page after page, he sees a man boat by on the river. At this point you almost wonder if Monte was supposed to be Leif Enger and everything past the point of seeing the boater was his imagination taking over with the story. Nevertheless, what follows is a good adventure tale. The man in the boat turns out to be an outlaw named Glendon Hale and Monte joins him on his journey to California to apologize to his former wife for running away many years ago. Along the way they take up with a young man who turns outlaw, and are pursued by a renegade ex-Pinkerton detective named Charles Siringo.

The good: Through the many twists, both expected and unexpected, we see Monte grow in love and appreciation for his wife Susanna. Enger also has a masterful command of the English language, with great turns of phrases like, "[we bought] a ripe old cheese that made no friends." If that doesn't put you right in the story, you have no imagination.

The bad: Not that this is a bad thing, it just was for me: this is more of a man story. While Peace Like A River had strong cross-gender appeal and several strong female characters, the women in this book took much more of a background role.

The conclusion: I hate to say it after going through the long ordeal of writer's block with Mr. Becket, but this book is not as good as Peace Like a River. It's well plotted and takes several unusual twists, but it lacks the strength of the first book. Don't get me wrong, this is a good story. It's well written. But it simply isn't as good as Peace Like a River.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happyface
by Stephen Emond

I started with a weird book with a yellow cover, and now I'm ending with a weird book with a yellow cover. Somehow that seems kind of poetic.

The premise: First of all, you need to see this book to appreciate it. Happyface is the sketch journal of a high school kid whose name we never learn. We never even see his face, because while he sketches all his friends and family frequently, he always draws himself with the mask of a smiley face head. Early on in the book something happens to the narrator that he says is so bad he can't write about it. You think you know what happened, but as the journal unfolds and Happyface (the narrator) lets bits drop, you are able to have a more full understanding of the event which rocked his world.

This spread is from Happyface's account of driving lessons with his mom. I really like how he is able to portray the difference in temperament between his parents through simple sketches, and how he starts writing in circles to get across the feeling of driving with his mom.

The good: The art is fantastic. This is worlds away from Diary of a Wimpy Kid which I read last fall and hated thoroughly. The plot is well crafted, as you learn bits and pieces about the past at the same time as you see how the past is shaping Happyface's present. This book also does a good job exploring father-hunger from the perspective of a young man who doesn't know he suffers from it.

Happyface speculates on where his father might have disappeared to, as he has completely cut off contact with Happyface and his mother.

The bad: There's a fair amount of crude language, including misuse of Christ's name, some swearing, and teenagers talking about sex. While Happyface never loses his virginity, it's not for lack of desire, and he is teased mercilessly for his lack of "experience." Happyface also isn't much of a man, never taking initiative in his relationships with girls or even asking them out on a date. Also, the book starts pretty slowly, though by the end it's hard to put it down.

The conclusion: Happyface needs to read The Art of Manliness. If he followed their first rule of winning a woman "Stop hanging out with women and start dating them," half of this book wouldn't have existed. Of course, it probably would've been a little less true to life since most 16-year-old boys without a good father are rather lacking in the manhood department.

Overall rating: 5/5 for the art, 3/5 for the story. I guess that averages to 4/5 for the book.

Spring Mud at Leonard Springs

2010-03-29T22:24:00.000-04:00

Our good friend and Collin's former roommate Forrest came over for dinner tonight. After we ate Ethiopian Mesir Wat (red lentil) pizza and the most amazing fresh baby greens from Forrest's garden, we piled in Louis and went for a late evening hike at Leonard Springs Nature Park.

The first spring wildflowers are starting to bloom in the midst of all the spring mud. This is cutleaf toothwort. Despite the unappetizing name, they're very pretty and the rhizomes are actually rather tasty.

The springs were rushing pretty hard.

Annie was a good sport, just chilling while Dad had to tie his shoe.

Twilight at the wetlands.

Instead of "cheese" we say "mooooo" to make Annie smile for the camera. It works pretty well.

Mooing for Annie makes us laugh too. What a beautiful evening!

Spring Break Adventures: Indianapolis Zoo

2010-03-18T12:53:00.027-04:00

Auntie Faith and Annie stare in wonderment at the penguins.

Yesterday Mom (a.k.a. Nonnie) took all her kids (except Andrew) and her grand-baby Annie on a science field trip up to the Indianapolis Zoo. We had so much fun! Because there are so many fun pictures from the day, I thought I'd take you on a virtual tour so you can see the zoo right along with us.

Here's the zoo map. We worked our way around counter-clockwise, then left for lunch and returned to the White River Gardens.

The Oceans

We stared with fascination at the moray eels for quite a while. They were so enormous - and disgusting.

The polar bear dripping water after dunking his head. Is he trying to wake up after a rough night? Cooling off in the hot 40-degree air? We'll never know.

Jonathan kissing a walrus.

The light in the atrium under the dolphin tank was really surreal and fun.

The Deserts

Light pours in through the roof in the warm desert dome.

A meerkat peeks up through his tunnel to stare back at the people staring at him.

Peter and Jon by a flowering crown of thorns plant.

Esio Trot.

Ben made friends with an iguana.

He was a friendly sort of fellow.

There were some lovely birds flying around the desert dome.

The Commons

Out in the center of the zoo was a pond with ducks and flamingos. When I first glanced at the flamingos I wondered why there was yard art in the middle of the zoo. Then I realized they were the real thing. I have this theory that is is possible to create landscaping in which a flamingo or two wouldn't look tacky. I have a couple neighbors who've almost succeeded - I'll have to take pictures sometime.

I love this picture because it's so typical of my brothers. Paul is being a daredevil and only just barely staying out of trouble. Peter, meanwhile, is standing in the background with his hands on his hips, acting the manager and making sure everyone is staying together and keeping up. Ben, meanwhile, is off in his own world. Who knows where his mind is? Africa? Florida? Mongolia?

The Plains

When Collin and I went to the zoo a little over a year ago in January, all of the plains animals were in their barns because it was too cold to graze. It was really nice to see them out on a warmer day. Giraffes are really cool, but seriously strange creatures. Isn't it amazing how the lines between their spots are never broken? God's creation is astounding.

Kristen, Jonathan and Annie are waiting for those rhinos to do something.

Oh, look! They finally stood up! For being enormous, dangerous creatures, they sure didn't move much.

I know it's hard to see with the chain link fence in the way, but there is a baby baboon lying on its mother's lap. Look at the mama baboon in the foreground on the left - see it? Way cute.

African elephants are enormous.

This guy wasn't as stately as the other elephant above. He spent all his time wallowing in a mud bath, squirting himself with mud, and having as much difficulty rolling over as Annie does.

Encounters

Encounters is the petting zoo/exotic livestock section of the zoo. There were some really neat creatures, like this Scottish highland cow, a cross between a Texas Longhorn and a Wooly Mammoth, close relative to the Himalayan Yak. Collin wants to get some of these for our farm someday, I'd rather just have a yak.

By the miniature ponies they had a way to measure yourself in hands, just like a horse. Mom was just over 16.5 hands.

This was hard to believe, but Peter dragged us all over to see the chickens. He was so wowwed by the cool nesting boxes inside, he wanted us all to admire them with him. Mom told Peter that he was welcome to build his chickens some new nesting boxes this summer if he wanted.

The Forests

Although there were gibbons, a red panda, birds of prey and a tiger in the forests too, none of them wanted to pose for photos like this bear. I'm not sure Alaskan Brown Bears even live in the forest, but they were fun to watch anyway. Look at those enormous paws!

That bear kept pacing up and down the rock cliff separating him from us. As he reached the corner he'd to this frustrated little hop like he wanted to jump across the chasm, but knew he wouldn't make it.

White River Conservatory and Gardens

Admission to the White River Conservatory and Gardens is included with visiting the zoo, but somehow I'd never been until last winter. The conservatory was gearing up for the opening of their butterfly exhibit (on March 20th, running through Spetember 7), so there were already many species of butterfly filling the conservatory. Because of my fondness for butterflies, I took lots of photos and dreamed of... er... killing them and adding them to my collection.

Newly hatched butterflies emerging from their chrysalides

Giant Swallowtail

Kristen pulled this drowning swallowtail out of the water. I'm not sure if it was drowning because it was ready to die or because it got itself in an unfortunate situation, but it perked up when she rescued it. Here's to hoping it lived another day!

Zebra longwing.

In March, the conservatory is much more happening than the gardens, but in a few months the gardens will be amazing. It's one of the most romantic spots I could imagine, full of private little corners with benches. I stopped to nurse Annie on one of them, while the kids ran off to explore the different gardens and walkways.

So there you have it, a virtual tour of the Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens. We had a lot of fun, and I suggest you go round up some kids and take a trip yourself!

Spring Break Adventures: Road Trip

2010-03-17T16:46:00.003-04:00

Collin and Annie buying cheese from Evalyn at the Swiss Connection

Since this week is Spring Break at IU, Collin has a lighter schedule (no teaching, just research), so we took Monday off and went on a short road trip.

Our first destination was the Swiss Connection Dairy, near Clay City, IN. I'd been out there with my family when I was in high school, and it was on my list of things to do with Collin for a long time. We bought four cheeses and one AMAZING dish of blackberry ice cream (the ice cream alone is worth the hour-long drive). It was fun being able to take a tour of the cheesemaking equipment, especially after our not-so-successful endeavors in the art of cheese making.

One interesting note about the Swiss Connection: their products are hard cheeses, grass-fed beef, ice cream and pet food. Pet food? Turns out that "pet food" includes all the raw milk products - milk, butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. While they can't tell you the "pet food" is really for human consumption, I can. And we're hoping to visit them at the Bloomington Farmer's Market this summer to sample some of the "pet food" which wasn't available during the winter months.

After making a stop in Clay City to feed Annie and note with sadness that the Clay City Pottery Co had already closed for the evening, we continued down south toward dinner.

As we drove, we read several chapters from a great book by Steve and Candice Watters called "Start Your Family." When we're done I'll post a book review, 'cause there's a lot of good stuff in it. I just wanted to put in a plug here, and note that I got the book as a bargain book from Amazon for $5.60, a price still available for a limited number of books. Even starving young couples can afford a book at that price!

On the way we passed through Coal City and were greeted by this sign.

They even identified the old grouch. A quick Google search found this one tidbit from the Spencer Evening World, August 20, 2009:

Jerry Sutton Once Again Coal City's 'Old Grouch'

The 2009 Coal City Festival was held this past weekend, with Jerry Sutton again named "Old Grouch," a title he has held for two consecutive years. More photos from the weekend festival can be found inside today's edition of the SEW.

So there you go.

We also stopped to see this covered bridge, a bit west of Crane NSWC. It was kind of cool. Collin sure liked it.

Finally we arrived at Stoll's Lakeview Restaurant, an Amish buffet-style restaurant north of Loogootee, IN and on the waterfront of Boggs Lake. The food was pretty good, kind of like what a church potluck would be like if everyone could afford to bring lots of meat and didn't care about making sure kids got enough fresh vegetables. The meat was excellent, especially the sausage in sauerkraut. The pies for dessert were also quite good - I had coconut cream, which was fine, and Collin had raisin pie which was... interesting.

Although the restaurant was geared more toward grey-headed folk, Stoll's was a great place to take Annie. Rather than ignoring her and hoping "that baby" would go away, Annie was the center of attention and the other customers enjoyed her smiles.

The best part of the restaurant, by far, was the lake view. It really was stunning. The restaurant had a couple dining rooms, all splayed out along the lake so most tables were extremely desirable. And, after dinner, you could walk out to one of the gazebos or onto the dock. If it were summertime, that truly would've been delightful.

All in all, even though it was far from a spring break in Florida, I think it might have been one of my favorite spring break trips ever. It sure was a wonderful afternoon to spend with my family away from our normal responsibilities.

Cutest bike on the block

2010-03-10T14:36:00.000-05:00

Annie's baby bike helmet arrived in the mail today! It's pretty cute on her, and she even likes it. Now we just need to find an affordable baby seat (I really have my heart set on an iBert) and we'll be back on the bike trail again! What a wonderful thought, on a 69-degree sunny day in mid-March!

I don't think Annie would mind taking a ride in the milk crate. She seemed ready to go!

Vanilla bean yogurt frosting

2010-03-08T13:58:00.001-05:00

Collin's 28th birthday was last week, and his favorite cake flavor is carrot cake. Carrot cake is made to go with cream cheese frosting, but that's kind of a problem for those who (like me) are lactose-intolerant. I've been experimenting with ways to substitute yogurt cheese (see below) for cream cheese in frosting, and this time I came up with a great result. Here's the recipe:

Vanilla bean yogurt frosting

3 T. butter, softened at room temperature

4 T. yogurt cheese*

2 c. powdered sugar

1 vanilla bean, split open and soaked in vodka (homemade vanilla extract)

1/2 c. toasted coconut, optional

*At least 6 hours, preferably the night before you need the frosting, strain ~1 c. of plain yogurt through a coffee filter. I just stack a coffee filter in a strainer in a bowl to catch the whey, stick it in my fridge, and empty the bowl of whey out when it's done. You now have basic yogurt cheese.

Combine butter and yogurt cheese in a bowl, beat with hand mixer until thoroughly combined.

Scrape middle of vanilla bean out with a knife, spoon or finger. A small amount of brown goop will accumulate, and will disperse into those tiny black specks characteristic of vanilla bean ice cream. If you don't have any vanilla beans, you can use 1 t. of any good vanilla extract, you just might need to add more powdered sugar. You can replace the vanilla bean back in the extract jar, there is still plenty of flavor left in it.

Add powdered sugar gradually until frosting forms a nice spreadable consistency. You might need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar. Beat frosting for several minutes to achieve maximum fluffiness (important).

Optional: toast 1/2 c. coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) in a dry skillet for several minutes, until fragrant and light brown. Cool and sprinkle on frosting just after icing the cake. If you wait too long the frosting will form a protective glaze and the coconut will not stick.

Will frost one 2-layer round cake. Frosting has a little bit of a glaze quality to it.

One note on the carrot cake: I was out of walnuts and pecans and couldn't get to the grocery store because of Annie's napping schedule. My substitution was 1/4 c. of flax seeds, ground in the blender. The flax fluffs up some when ground, so you'll have more than 1/4 c. of healthy texture to add to your cake, and between the flax and the three cups of carrots you can pretend that you're eating something healthy. Who cares if the recipe has the same amount of sugar as flour?

And, in case you were wondering, Collin blew all the candles out in one breath, without any assistance from Annie. Here's to a wonderful 29th year!

Book Log: The Art of Manliness

2010-03-05T11:14:00.000-05:00

The Art of Manliness

by Brett and Kate McKay

A while back I heard an interview with Brett and Kate McKay, the authors of the popular website and now book, The Art of Manliness. Their book sounded pretty good, so I decided that the MCPL could use a copy so Collin and I could read it. I kind of wish we'd bought a copy now that I've read it, but I'm glad it's at the public library so that we can tell all our gentleman friends that it's available for free there.

This is a fantastic book. I've been hesitating to recommend it, since it is a book for men, but it's so good even women ought to know about it so they can give a copy to their men. So let me tell you why it's so good.

The premise: Modern men have forgotten what it is to be a MAN. This is largely because of absent or slacker fathers who fail to teach their sons properly. This book seeks to remedy that lack of teaching by addressing eight main archetypes of manhood: The Gentleman, The Friend, The Hero, The Lover, The Father, The Outdoorsman, The Leader, and The Virtuous Man. Throughout they give extremely humorous but well grounded advise on how to be a better father, husband, suitor, and man.

The good: There's a lot of good in this book, but I think I'll just share some of my favorite quotes.

From The Hero:

"It's a familiar sight to anyone who has traveled this nation's highways and byways: the desperate motorist stranded at the side of the road without either the proper tools or the necessary knowledge to fix their car's malfunction. Will you drive on by because you also lack these things? Or will you play the role of the Good Samaritan and stop to help them on their way? Every man should know how to confidently perform two basic car repairs: jump=starting a car and changing a flat tire."

Is that ever a true statement. One of the things I find most impressive in Collin is that he can fix things that break. For example, a couple weeks ago, on a Sunday night, my washing machine broke. That could've been a catastrophe, especially since we use cloth diapers and laundry needs to happen every other day. But my manly husband took the machine apart, pulled out the broken belt, told me how to go buy a new part and had it fixed the next evening. That's a hot man skill.

From The Lover:

Bottom line: Start dating and stop hanging out [with women]. It really is not that hard to get a date with a woman. Here are some guidelines to remember as you take hanging out up a level to dating...

Asking a woman out on a date isn't rocket science. When you ask, though, do it in person or over the phone. If you're poking a woman you're interested in on Facebook, you're a white-livered weakling and lose any credibility as a man...

Prepare for rejection. Face it. Not every woman you ask out is going to say yes. Prepare for that. It's no big deal if she says no. Think about it. You're no worse off getting rejected than you were before you asked. You didn't have a date with her before, you don't have a date with her now. Your situation has not changed.

From The Father:

Being a dad is perhaps the manliest job you'll ever have. It's a role that requires you to call upon hundreds of manly skills and attributes. You have to display leadership, manly compassion and strength. You'll have to know how to fish, build forts and even how to braid little girls' hair. (Braiding is like knot tying. It's manly.)

From The Virtuous Man:

Is there a less sexy idea today than temperance? ... Many a manly man in history has enjoyed a drink or two. Yet somewhere along the way, it became acceptable for men to imbibe their spirits through a funnel and throw back shot after shot of Jagermeister. But there's nothing manly about being a guzzle guts... At the heart of manliness is the belief in personal responsibility.

In addition to all this great advice, most of the book is taken up with practical instruction. How to shave with a safety razor, how to wear a hat, how to clean a fish, how to be a good house guest, how and when to give a good man hug, how to break up with your girlfriend, how to defend yourself with a cane or a hat, even how to deliver a baby in an emergency.

The bad: This book upholds a Christian worldview but is not written by Christians. Thus, the reason behind why these actions are good for a man is totally absent. One example of that is from the (quite good) section on chastity:

While it is hard to discuss chastity without sounding like the Church Lady, the truth is that there are good reasons to pick up this virtue besides the fear of eternal damnation.

True, but not the most important point. There are consequences to our actions because we are breaking God's law, and we should strive for obedience and not simply the rewards of external obedience.

The conclusion: This is a great book and if I had more money I'd buy copies for my brothers and lots of other young men who would enjoy it. You can get it from the MCPL, order one from Amazon for $11.55, or get an autographed copy from the authors for $14.00. Or you could head over to The Art of Manliness.com and check out some of their articles for free.

Overall rating: 5/5

Book Logs

2010-03-04T23:04:00.000-05:00

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to keep an annotated log of the books I read. This is both so I remember what I've read and also so I have some accountability so that I won't read complete junk. Each month I'll post my log, along with a star rating. I just finished the January and February posts (they were hanging out in draft form too long) so you can click on the "books" label and see them.

Here's my star system (and maybe someday there'll even be nice star graphics to illustrate):

5 stars: You've got to read this book!
4 stars: I really liked it. Definitely worth a read.
3 stars: A nice book. Not worth going out of your way for, but a fun read.
2 stars: If you've got nothing else to read...
1 star: I couldn't finish it or wish I hadn't
0 stars: Burn the book.

Do the horse one again, Mama!

2010-03-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

Annie gets the giggles when I make animal noises, but there's something extra special about a horse neigh.

Annie at dinner

2010-03-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

Annie has a new favorite occupation during dinner.

While we chew on our food, Annie chews on the table.

Mmmm.

"Oh, hey Dad. What's up?"

Book Log, February 2010

2010-02-28T15:49:00.116-05:00

Viola in Reel Life

by Adriana Trigiani

I really enjoyed this book, like I've enjoyed most of Mrs. Trigiani's work, especially Big Stone Gap (the first novel much more than the sequels). Viola is a nice change, both because it is Mrs. Trigiani's first young adult novel and also because it's not about Italian-Americans. Don't get me wrong, writing about Italian families is one of the main reasons Mrs. Trigiani's work sparkles and what sets it apart from the myriad of other fiction available, but it's nice to see a change.

The premise: Viola is the daughter of two documentary film makers in New York, but when her parents need to go to Afhganistan for a year to make a documentary, Viola needs to go to boarding school. In Indiana. This self titled "queen of snark" starts out majorly upset about her new situation, but gradually learns to appreciate her parents' decision. Along the way, she makes friends with her roommates and films a short documentary for a competition herself.

The good: Like in most young adult books, Viola grows up during the course of this book. She starts out pretty self-centered, and gradually realizes that the world is not all about her. She also learns the value of contentment and thankfulness.

The bad: Viola gets a boyfriend and 5 kisses from him over the course of the year (she counts the kisses, many times). 14 is a little young for such behavior, but otherwise it's a pretty chaste book, besides assuming her grandmother is sleeping with her much younger boyfriend. There's a kind of strange ghost visitation that doesn't seem to fit the tone of the rest of the book.

Overall rating: 4/5

Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate
by M.C. Beaton

This is the first Agatha Raisin book I've ever read. One of my beefs with series books in general is that they rarely put the sequential number on the book cover. Thus, I unwittingly started off with book 13 in the series, and was a trifle lost at times. Just so you know, the first turns out to be "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death." Maybe someday I'll read that and it'll make more sense.

The good: Agatha Raisin is a little bit like one of Miss Marple's neighbors. She has none of the innocent blue-eyed twinkle of her elderly predecessor, but belongs to that stereotypical quiet English country village I suspect doesn't exist anymore. Written in the tradition of Agatha Christie, this book is good fun.

The bad: Although she does not have sex with anyone in the book, Agatha does not understand the concept of chastity, just public image.

Overall rating: 3/5

Miss Julia's School of Beauty

by Ann B. Ross

Another series I've read out of order, this is #6 of the Miss Julia series. Unlike the Agatha Raisin series, these work much better on their own. I like them pretty well, I'm sure I'll read more when I need a warm small town type book.

The premise: Miss Julia is an elderly Southern widow who just married her handsome suitor, Sam. Or did she? Miss Julia, always one to care more about public image than reality, spends the entire book worrying whether or not her wedding-chapel marriage was legal or not. A rather ridiculous but amusing farce ensues.

The good: Miss Julia is a big fan of legal marriage and traditional values, with an emphasis on tradition, and less on the reason behind those traditions.

The bad: Because of her doubts and fears, Miss Julia moves her new husband into the guest room, lies to various friends, and obsesses unnecessarily if her husband is attracted to other women or even wants to still be married to her. It's so silly, because whether or not a preacher is licensed isn't the most important thing when you're still saying vows before God. (Not that it isn't important to be legally married, but that's another issue.)

Overall rating: 3/5

The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger

Though not without literary merit, I actually couldn't finish this book. Still, having plodded through 12/16 discs of this book (and spent approximately 13.5 hours of my life listening to it), I feel like it merits a write-up.

The premise: This is the love story of Henry De Tamble and his wife, Claire. Henry has "chrono-displacement disorder," which causes him to time-travel unwillingly and uncontrollably at any moment. Narrated in a nonlinear yet clear manner, this is a fascinating romance dealing with love that really is for better or worse.

The good: Claire is deeply in love with Henry, and saves herself for him since she learns at a young age he will be her husband. After their marriage, she longs for a baby more than anything else. There is a strong emphasis on familial love. The writing style is original and crafted beautifully.

The bad: Obviously I couldn't finish it. This was for several reasons, but the main was I was tired of crying. I was emotionally wrung-out, as we learned about Henry's mother's violent death in a car accident, Claire's six miscarriages, and Henry's untimely death leaving Claire a young widow with a small daughter. That was when I finally gave up. I cried through the deaths of all those babies, through the exhausting and graphic pregnancy and labor of their one living child, and then Henry goes and dies? I couldn't finish it to find out how he dies - I'd had enough. Maybe someday I'll watch the movie.

Overall rating: 1/5

Louis turns 200,000

2010-02-27T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today, just as we drove through Judah, IN, Louis turned 200,000. We've been driving Louis since October '08, and we've put almost 30,000 miles on him since then. He's taken us to Alabama, New Mexico, Colorado, New England, Nova Scotia, and to Wisconsin at least three times. He's driven through desert heat and Midwestern ice (and handled the latter so well that this winter I've fallen even more deeply in love with him.) So, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I baked him a peanut chocolate chip rocky road birthday cake.

199,999 . . .

200,000!

We pulled over to take pictures and celebrate. TWO hundred thousand, baby!

Collin was pretty stoked.

Annie was also totally stoked.

When we arrived at Hobbys Inn in Bedford most of the Wininger/Wegener clan was waiting to celebrate Louis' birthday with us.

There we all are, eating Louis's birthday cake after dinner!

Happy Birthday, dear Louis!

...ok, it wasn't really a party for Louis. And even our family thought we were a little strange for bringing a birthday cake for our car. But most of them were happy to eat it anyway.

Mirror images

2010-02-24T21:05:00.003-05:00

You have to watch this video of Annie trying to get at that other girl in the mirror. It's hilarious, if a bit dark and grainy.