Books four and five

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Twirly Girl and I flew to Indiana last week to visit family. . .which means I had a little more reading time than I usually do. :D

  • Book 4: I finished reading McCullough’s John Adams, which my dad had loaned me a year or two ago. Loved it, absolutely loved it! I will definitely be reading more David McCullough as time allows, but I also feel the need to read biographies of Franklin and Washington as well as brush up on my early American history.
  • Book 5: I also read The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo. This is my second alternate book and was recommended by my friend and fellow pastor’s wife Carol E. It’s an amazing tale of forgiveness in the face of persecution (and a good reminder to me to stop whining about the normal aggravations of parsonage life!).

I also caught up on the most recent book in The Secret Keeper series because to be honest, that was a more enjoyable read on the plane than working on Gulliver’s Travels for my reading group. ;) I do need to read Gulliver, though, and then I’ll choose my next book for the reading challenge. I’m thinking it will be the Guernsey Literary whats-it-called if I get to the library, Holt or Gatto if I stay home and shop at the Kindle store. But we shall see! 8-)

Sing this.

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After attending a funeral last week, I’ve been thinking again about hymns for my funeral. I do this every time we attend a funeral (and I think either “oh no! let’s not sing that one!” or “yes! perfect!”). I also do this whenever we sing a suitable hymn on a Sunday morning. I have to admit I don’t really have any opinions on the readings–it’s the Word of God, it’s all good, right? ;)

So! For future reference, for anyone who outlives me and needs to plan my funeral (all numbers refer to the Lutheran Service Book):

  • Jerusalem the Golden, 672. . .although please know that I’ll be singing the TLH version in heaven (or maybe I’ll finally be able to remember the LSB version?).
  • An Easter hymn is always good. One of my favorites is Jesus Lives! The Victory’s Won (490), although I really like Awake, My Heart, with Gladness (467) if the congregation is willing to actually sing. Or there’s always I Know That My Redeemer Lives, if you like (461). Or. . .okay, that’s probably enough choices.
  • Then there’s the songs I sing to my babies at bedtime: On My Heart Imprint Your Image (422), Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow (805), and I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb (740). And while we’re talking sheep, there’s also The King of Love My Shepherd Is (709).
  • And a few more to choose from. . .Crown Him with Many Crowns (525), By Grace I’m Saved (566), Chief of Sinners Though I Be (611), A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (656, please, not 657), For All the Saints (677), In Thee Is Gladness (818), and Abide with Me (878).
  • I know that Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face (631) and At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing (633) are communion hymns, but. . .I think they work.

And if that isn’t enough hymns from which to chose, there’s always I’m But a Stranger Here (748). ;)

I feel like a taxidermist

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Blocking a penguin

(Ugh! Just because a gadget has a camera doesn’t mean it takes good pictures. But this one tickled my funny bone enough to share anyhow.)

This week, my used-daily 3rd generation Kindle was upgraded to a Paperwhite. :D I tentatively ordered a cover similar to the “official” cover with a smaller price tag. I had used an Amazon cover for my first Kindle partly for protection but largely for the integrated book light. Since the Paperwhite has its own light I wasn’t certain what kind of protection I would want. It took me about 60 seconds to decide to remove the cover and return it already; this has less to do with the cover than the size of my hands.

So what about my silly picture? I’m getting to that. . .I still wanted some sort of cover before I slipped my new Kindle into my purse. I had sewn a case for my first Kindle (prior to buying the lighted cover), which would work although it’s a little big. I decided to check Ravelry for ideas, and within about 30 seconds I had settled on this pattern. It’s sized for a Kindle Fire, which is about an inch taller and wider than a Paperwhite. A little bit of math, and I cast on Monday evening. I did most of the knitting yesterday; this morning I bound off. While I was blocking my penguin, the little boys searched my button tin for me. I didn’t have any white buttons I liked so will probably use the dark blue ones you see in the picture. Probably. It’s nearly dry, but I think I’ll wait until morning to remove the pins, seam the sides, and sew on the buttons.

I tell you, if some day I figure out how to read and knit simultaneously, I will be one happy girl! 8-)

Book three

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It’s tempting to claim this as books three, four, and five. . .but I won’t. 8-) Last night I finally finished reading Lord of the Rings. When I first put it on my list, it occurred to me that I could stop after Fellowship of the Ring, which only goes to prove that I had not read the books yet. They really don’t stand alone, but need to be read with the rest of the trilogy. Tolkien landed on my list because an awful lot of my friends love the books and/or movies. And while I had shelved his books many times as a library page, I had never really been tempted to read them. “Boy books” is what I remember assuming at the time. ;)

What do I think now? I don’t know. It took me a good couple months of bedtime reading to work my way through all three books, and with so many invented nouns I often lost track of who or what or where was meant. At times I felt like I was reading a book written in French. I could grasp the general flow of the action, but I knew I was missing a lot of important details along the way. I could reread the books, and I may eventually, but I have other books I want to read first. The other option would be to watch the movies, but no matter how well done I’m lacking in desire to watch three very long movies. So we’ll see.

Moving on

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Kris asked last week why we found a new home for George. I figured others might have wondered the same thing, so I thought I’d answer here rather than in the comments. :)

Long story short: we (the parents) felt George deserved a better home. We were both tired of endlessly reminding nagging the kids to walk the dog, feed the dog, scoop poop, and so forth. Most of the kids never played with him, maybe petted him now and then, but it was rare to see someone go outside and throw his ball. Twirly Girl would play with him if she was outside, but these days she’s more likely to have her nose in a book. Even Larry admits he never had much time for George; he made more time than the kids did, maybe, but he’s only home so much.

Further, it turns out that I’m not a dog person. An awful lot of people love dogs, but I don’t. I tried; I wanted to like having a dog. I finally came to the realization that because I don’t enjoy walking or playing with dogs, don’t even enjoy petting them (ew! did you see what he rolled in?). . .he was simply a furry responsibility. He tracked in paw prints, shed hair in every room he was allowed to enter, was always right under my feet when I was cooking, and took up space on my kitchen floor for his bed and board. He needed feeding, grooming, and letting in and out. And I could have put up with that longer, if the kids had shown more initiative in his care. But when I had to continually remind them to do things that I absolutely didn’t want to do myself, well, that was a problem.

We had talked off and on about finding a new home for George, but last month Larry was talking to an acquaintance whose daughter’s 4-H dog project had gone missing. They live in the country, so he’s got more room to run than our postage stamp yard, and hopefully the fact that she is making him her project will result in more attention than he got here.

Alright, so that wasn’t short. I suppose you could say I’m still processing the matter. . .I honestly don’t miss him, but I do feel occasional twinges of guilt that we “failed” at owning a dog.

Logistical nightmare

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No, not planning our annual vacation (I’m ignoring that job right now :D ). Instead I’m trying to rework the kids’ daily chore chart. Partly for the sake of variety, partly because we found a new home for George which has eliminated certain chores. It’s difficult to evenly distribute chores based on the kids’ abilities and how often a given chore needs doing and so forth. There’s also the kids’ individual preferences–oh, never mind, NO one likes to dry dishes. Or clean bathrooms. ;) Yeah, never mind. Like it or not, those things need to be done. Regularly. I think I’m close to calling it good and printing it; that is, as soon as I think of something for those two shockingly empty squares. 8-)

I’m not even ready to contemplate what happens to the chart when Drama Boy is working at Scout camp for nearly two months this summer. . .