Happy Easter, All You Who Are Far Away

I realize you aren't far away from where you are, but you're far from me, which is more important and makes me sad! I hope you all had a splendid Easter. Ours was quiet but fun; this was the first year Mara really grasped the point of an egg hunt. It was tremendously windy, so we all look as though we're a bit bedraggled!

love, kristin

Book Mania

I think I might have one (small surprise to those that know me). Scott plaintively asked a week ago or so if I might possibly move some of the books on the floor next to my side of the bed? He couldn't get the bedroom door properly open or closed! I think I redistributed approximately 20 books to various bookcases. Books that I've read recently, I mean. I read when Mara lays down for her nap (hah! Her time lying on her own bed, reading), I read before I go to sleep. I finish a book every few days.

Recently I've found two really good ones I'd like to share:

*With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray* -- this is apparently a classic in religious works, though I had never found it until I noticed a mention of it in a Grace Livingston Hill book. Murray was a Dutch Reformed pastor in the late 1800s. This book is incredibly accessible, and I've found it brought up serious issues about prayer life which I can't believe I never considered before. I've been highlighting/underlining/annotating, and I think it would be easier to mark the places I WASN'T especially struck -- certainly, it would save ink to do so.

*The Love Affairs of an Old Maid by Lilian Bell*--another oldie-but-goodie. I think mine has a publication date of 1901. I bought it largely for the great title and beautiful binding, but it's such an excellent read. In diary-type form (well, the narrator is speaking, technically, to her cat), Bell brings up the most thoughtful points about love and marriage -- classic advice and philosophy, no matter whether one is currently embroiled in either one or not! I'll read this again, many times.

love, kristin

Wonderful Magazine

I've discovered (thanks to several other blogs) a really fun and informative online magazine: Rhythm of the Home. They publish quarterly, and have beautiful photos, thoughtful home and parenting articles, and lovely craft ideas. It's fairly 'crunchy' as far as parenting goes, but then if you know me you know that I am an odd mix of traditional and hippie-style parenting! (Yes, I am the woman who nursed all my kids to 18 months. But look how smashingly they've turned out! Or something.)

Anyway, enjoy! Even if you aren't a parent the pictures are great fun and provide a quiet spot in the day ...

Love, kristin

Ah, But I Quit Too Soon!

The best bloomer was yet to come. One student, in writing about vaccination concerns, had this beauty:

"...parents claim that the signs of autism appear around 15 to 18 months, when babies normally begin commuting." [In teeny, tiny little cars.]

Oh, joy; oh, delight!

Student Bloomers for Monday

It's a grey day in the WW Valley (it's been a grey day in the WW Valley for at least the last month; in fact, it's the greyest winter I can remember here, and that's saying something!). So some time spent draped over my desk, crowing over these was particularly welcome:

"Most of us were young once ..." [This is, of course, as opposed to those born 90 years old.]

"Global warming is a heated topic." [I'm sorry to say this was NOT an intended pun.]

"In this paper I am going to say things about television." [A really outstanding paper thesis, generously shared by my next-door office neighbor, Jeremiah. I reminded him that she, technically, WAS going to say "things." We hope.]

I wonder if it would properly motivate students to be told that their best bloomers end up in cyberspace for the joy of others? Doesn't anybody ever read their papers over once they've written them (strictly rhetorical question)??

love, kristin

More Twins! (Our Family is Large-ish)

Once again, not mine, specifically. My nieces are carrying on nicely, thank you! Melissa and Michael returned from Ethiopia on New Year's Day with two very darling twin girls, Zuri and Zinea, to join Emma & Jake. Go see them immediately! There are several other entries with more pictures of the girls, but I think this is mostly just them. I can't wait to see them; we always see them in July when we are down for Oregon Campmeeting, but I think I might have a tiny implosion if I have to wait THAT long! This brings my dad and mom's total up to four great-grandchildren! They're doing rather well!

Back

I am, I mean. It's been an odd winter. An odd summer, fall, and winter, really. As I told RMW, I don't think I really realized how much Bev's death impacted me. Perhaps not just her death, but also the weeks of travelling back and forth, the holding together of my father- and brother-in-law, the abrupt precipitation into the quarter and the kids' school year, etc. I found myself around Christmas time realizing I had pretty much entirely missed the end of the summer and the autumn -- I hadn't done any of the canning and preserving I usually enjoy; I had missed the slow end of summer and the preparation for the school year -- the cleaning out, organizing, etc., I usually do.

I noticed at the beginning of December that I was completely exhausted -- not sleepy, just exhausted to the point of falling over. I managed to make it through Christmas, but without many of the things I like to do -- making rosettes, rolled cookies, homemade presents, etc. I didn't even get cards sent out, which I never miss -- not even the year Steven was born a month before Christmas! If Scott hadn't been handily doing things like planning presents, putting up the tree, hanging lights outdoors, etc., I'm not sure the holiday would have happened at all.

I seem to be coming out the end of the tunnel, though. There are two things that Scott pointed out to me are a good barometer of my well-being. If I am consistently making the bed and baking bread, it's a sign that life is good. The bed is currently tidy. I made bread for the first time in three months last week. It's the staff of life, you know.