Family

Hugo Cabret and the Kitchen Table Reviews

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Debora

If you have, or know any, kids who love to read, I have two wonderful recommendations for you.

The first is a really nifty book called The Invention Of Hugo Cabret. It looks a little intimidating for younger readers (it’s about two inches thick with a rather grown-up look about it), but there are pages and pages with no words at all, or only a few words; this story is told as much in the illustrations as in the text. The three of us read it aloud together, a few chapters every night, lingering over the beautiful images, and got through it in just about a week. Both kids were mesmerized by the story, and when it was done it sparked a lot of discussion and thoughtful speculation. If you know any young readers (the published say it’s for ages 9 — 12, but Luke loved it possibly even more than Elizabeth did), check this one out!

My second recommendation is the website where I first learned of Hugo Cabret. One of my all-time favorite bloggers has landed a terrific new gig talking about children’s books with her two kids; it’s called the Kitchen Table Reviews, and it has definitely been enriching our library selections. This is a great resource for anyone who’s looking for family-friendly reading suggestions.

Enjoy!

Categories: books, Family, kids, Life, Reviews | 3 Comments

Ad Interim

Posted on August 25, 2008 by Debora

Last night I headed to my bed only to realize that it was still unmade and my sheets and pillowcases were still in the dryer. I fetched them and put everything together, and was just about to pull the comforter onto the bed when I noticed a small nondescript something on the turned-over underside of the duvet-cover. I took a closer look and saw…

…a scorpion.

Let me just say that again: there was a scorpion on the UNDERSIDE of my comforter. If I hadn’t noticed it, it would have ended up UNDER THE COVERS with me.

Ack ack ack.

The worst part? It was so tiny. And I don’t know if it was tiny because it was a tiny variety of scorpion, or because it was very young and its fellow hatchlings are still hanging around nearby. Perhaps in that pile of clean laundry on the far side of the bed that I haven’t gotten around to folding yet. Or in my sock drawer.

In other news, today is the first day of school. Elizabeth is going into the fifth grade and Luke is starting third. I wanted to capture the occasion for posterity, but the kids were in a goofy mood and this was the best I could get:

You can’t see them in this pic, but Elizabeth is wearing a very pretty pair of ballet flats today. It was like pulling teeth to get her to even look for new shoes in the girls’ section, but there are times when wearing boys’ sneakers just isn’t going to be appropriate and I wanted her to have at least one pair of “girl shoes” in her closet. Luckily for both of us she fell in love with the silver “dragon scale” flats at first sight.

But we did not find find them in the girls’ section. Oh no. All of those shoes were too small for her. We had to go to the women’s section to find something that would fit her. At ten years old my daughter wears the same shoe size as me. Women’s sevens.

Eeergh.

Last and least, here’s a pic I’m throwing in just because I like how it came out. Gericault in B&W:

What a handsome fellow he grew up to be!

Categories: Animals, Dogs, Family, kids, Life, Wildlife | 4 Comments

Forward Motion

Posted on August 23, 2008 by Debora

One of the items Luke requested for his birthday was “a real first aid kit.” I was happy to oblige, and found him a splendid 299-piece kit with a zip-up case.

He also requested “a real Swiss army knife,” which, after some thought, I decided he was probably old enough and responsible enough to use wisely. His Destructo-Boy years are long past, thank goodness.

Predictably, getting the hang of the Swiss army knife soon necessitated the use of a band-aid or two from the first aid kit. I think Luke was delighted to have such an early opportunity to put his kit to use, and he’s kept it at the ready ever since.

I’ve spent the past few days tackling a long-neglected section of the yard where random objects have been piling up for ten years — on top of all the crap that was already there when we bought the place from an old woman who was apparently unable to throw anything away ever. It’s like an archeological dig. I kid you not, I found an actual gold pocketwatch at the bottom of one pile the other day.

Anyway, there’s this heap of old scrap lumber out there that I’d been sorting through until I unearthed a wasps’ nest; then I moved on to other junkpiles and resolved to address the lumber/wasp situation very soon and then kind of never did. Because I’m ON THE BALL that way.

So today I was carrying an armful of historical finds to my “stuff that’s probably worth keeping” pile behind one of the sheds, and being just a smidge preoccupied of late I forgot all about the wasps’ nest and walked right over the top of it. Naturally the wasps took umbrage at this, and swarmed up angrily around me, and one of them stung me on the arm.

My first thought was, “Wow, Luke will be so happy about this.”

I jogged into the house and called, “Luke! I need your first-aid kit, I just got stung by a wasp!”

He flew into the living-room at Mach 3, practically quivering with excitement. “Stay right there, Mom, I’ll get the stuff!!” He rifled through the kit until he found a packet of “Insect Sting Relief,” tore it open and carefully swabbed my booboo with the little medicated towelette. Gotta say, those things really work; a half-hour later you couldn’t even see where the sting was, and there was just some minor itching.

Luke felt so invigorated by this incident that he pulled out his new chemistry set and asked me to help him find something complicated and scientificky to do with it. Not feeling terribly gung-ho about the yard-clearing at that point, I agreed. We flipped through the little experiment guidebook and found a recipe for…CHEMSLIME!

How cool is that?? Luke is calling it his “Pet Blob.” I’m just glad he doesn’t have carpeting in his room, because you know that thing’s going to…

…and as I was typing that, Luke called me into his room with complaints that his Blob was “getting all over everything.” Yes indeedy, looks like I’ll be washing bedding tonight.

Still? A good day. We’re having more of those lately; just a general sense that life is getting better and forward progress is being made. I think I’m actually going to accomplish my goal of having the entire property cleaned up and organized by the end of the year!

I’m not quite out of the tunnel yet, but I’m definitely seeing some light up ahead.

Just going to keep on walking till I get there.

Categories: Birthdays, Family, kids, Life | 1 Comment

Sometimes The Truth Hurts…

Posted on August 22, 2008 by Debora

…A lot. But it’s still better than stumbling along believing the lie.

I haven’t posted this week because I’ve been struggling to wrap my mind around something Steve told me last Saturday.

I should start off by mentioning that even though I don’t talk about it a whole lot, my faith is very important to me. It’s the foundation that I’ve tried to build my life on. I’ve always believed that if I just make good choices and try to do the right thing, God will take care of the rest.

Steve has always played rather heavily on that. If I can’t instantly forgive and forget some transgression of his, he tells me I’m being a bad Christian. Because he knows that being a good Christian is my biggest goal in life, he is quick to point out when I’m failing to live up to that perfect ideal.

Last Saturday he brought it up again, and I was angry enough (over the thing he’d just done that I was supposed to be instantly forgiving because once again he-was-sorry-and-it-would-never-happen-again) to turn it back around on him, which is something I generally don’t like to do. “What about you,” I asked him. “Do you see yourself as a good Christian?”

“No,” he shrugged. “Actually I consider myself to be nonreligious.”

This blew me away.

And explains freaking everything.

Now don’t get me wrong — I have atheist friends. It’s not a problem for me. But to PRETEND all these years to be Christian? To stand before God with me and speak holy vows that mean nothing to you, because you don’t believe in anything bigger than yourself? To use MY faith to manipulate me, while having no such standards for your own behavior or actions?

This was a bigger deal to me than finding out about all the adulteries. Which, just for the record, I did NOT know while we were still together that Steve had been cheating on me almost the whole time we were married. I found out about it MUCH later, and I was devastated.

But this was actually worse.

I made it clear to Steve that I didn’t want to see him again, and I haven’t. Probably because he wouldn’t get out of my house just because I told him to, so I illustrated the sincerity of my desire for him to Get The Fuck Out by taking a heavy flashlight outside and putting several good dings in the side of his beloved truck until he got the hint and left.

I spent the rest of the week just kind of dealing.

It’s been a fairly productive week, actually. I did a ton of cleanup around the property — it looks great. I went riding with Julie and took the kids to the library and the park.

Inside my head, I couldn’t stop shuddering. I couldn’t find any other, easier word for his deception besides “evil.”

My love for him…I would like to say it died, because that would have been much less painful than the way it curdled and twisted and remained lodged in my heart like a toxic thorn I couldn’t quite reach to pull out.

I think I’ve almost come to terms with it now. I don’t have to deal with him anymore except to send the kids down to his house most afternoons. He’s still mightily pissed off about his truck, so I don’t expect him to try and come back and try to bullshit his way back in again this time. I can focus on moving forward and building a healthy life for myself.

That’s the plan, anyway.

It’s good to finally know the truth: I keep reminding myself of that.

And any day now I’m going to actually mean it.

Categories: Christianity, Family, kids, Life, Love, Marriage | 7 Comments

Happy Birthday Luke!

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Debora

Happy 8th, to my not-so-little-guy!

You are one of a kind. May your creative spirit let you sail buoyantly over life’s roughest seas, and your integrity and boundless determination always bring you safely back to port.

I love you so much!

Categories: Birthdays, Family, kids, Life, Love | 1 Comment