I apologize for not keeping up with the blog lately. I’ve been grouchy. To clarify: more grouchy than usual. I was watching March Madness Sunday night, and at a critical point in the game a player dribbled the ball off his foot, sending it out of bounds and into the possession of the other team. This is not what I’ve been grouchy about. But it got me thinking. Have you […]
If this were a TV show, you’d have waited about 27 minutes from my first post showing the office in disarray to the final reveal. Real time is slower, but the reality of having this room in my house versus on the TV is just so much cooler. I finally figured out how to stitch some photos together, so I present to you the library as I first drew it: […]
Although the focus of the last month for me has been building a library, I’ve ironically done very little reading. So what kind of wind sprints are getting this flabby brain back in shape? you ask. Why, reality TV! I’ll answer. Specifically, American Idol. Don’t judge me. After performing my Triple C duties*, Mom could use a little downtime. A couple of the kids really stood out this week, and […]
“Mama, what are Us Centers?” The Girl is tugging at my pants insistently, breaking my concentration. We are standing in the Family Center of our church, where her big brother is preparing to join his Wednesday night CCD class. We are praying the Hail Mary as a group, and now is neither the time for conversation nor for puzzling out what she’s talking about. I shake my head, silently indicating […]
As I work through the process of hauling box after box down from the attic, I am coming to a realization: Holy Cow, I have a lot of books. I’ve had this vision of a perfectly organized library, and it started that way. I’ve got my sets in order, I’ve divided sections by subject area, and I’ve even put all my fake first editions* in chronological order by publication date. […]
I learned today of the terrible news that the infant sibling of twin classmates of my little girl sustained serious burns over the weekend when he pulled over a boiling pot of water. The little guy burned over 30 percent of his body, including his face. He’s only 10 months old. His mother and I volunteer together at “library time,” and she is a lovely person. I am heartbroken for […]
What a hockey game this afternoon — with 24 seconds left in the game, the U.S. scored the tying goal to take Canada to overtime, then Canadian wunderkind Sidney Crosby, 2010’s answer to Wayne Gretzky, dramatically scored in sudden death to send people pouring into the streets of Vancouver. I’m about as jingoistic as they come, but I couldn’t help feeling happy for America’s Hat.* They played a hell of […]
It has not yet been recorded that any human being has gained a very large or permanent contentment from meditation upon the fact that he is better off than others. Main Street, a 1920 bestselling novel by Sinclair Lewis* that I finished this week, includes several of these little bon mots, but this particular line leaps to mind today. I know people with bigger troubles, but that’s not taking my […]
The bookshelves, that is. I am blown away. I can’t even believe this is in my house: Here’s another shot of the coffered ceiling and the right side of the room: And let’s not forget that fabulous door: We were nervous about how this corner would turn out, but we feel pretty good about it now: We still need countertops and the trim that butts into this one. I’m hoping […]
Flabby Brain 