Monday's Check-in

Andy's taking a class all this week, so his alarm goes off at six, thus waking the kitten, so I was up by 6:25--scratched and a little grumpy, but up. Monday, Tuesday, and Wed. are due to be either showery or outright wet, so my to-do list will be influenced by that fact. Today Nate and I will probably try to get the six window boxes planted (they'll like two days of rain to adjust) and save getting flooring estimates for Tuesday (80% chance of rain). Maybe I'll get some portfolio dress work done, too! And a run. . . . So far, nice mix of action and lolling.

Managed to change the dining room from this:

to this:

in one afternoon, so that's a pretty big check mark!

And here's my latest reading discussion:

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

At last, I found a fluff book that was a good example of the genre. The last 4 Stephanie Plum books really read like Evanovich had written them in 5 minutes--or hired an assistant to do it for her. This one, for some reason, just had more coherence--the story line (at least at first) was not completely over the top, and Evanovich seemed to be aiming to tell a story and not use a cute euphemism or get off a one-liner every other sentence. Oddly enough, this made a nicer read, one more reminiscent of the first three books in the series than the later ones.

I also have Explosive Eighteen out from our library. We'll see how that goes! But 17 is an entertaining romp. Great food descriptions!


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A Rather Curious Engagement by C.A. Belmond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another quick grab from the on-going book sale shelf at the Ellsworth Public Library, A Rather Curious Engagement was a blend of innocence and innocuous adventure. The author thanks Margaret Atwood in the acknowledgements and is apparently a recognized screenwriter, which made the overall "gee whiz!" tone of the book more unusual--at first I assumed it was a self-published "I like escapist stories with no swearing" sort of effort. Here are a few sentences I thought worth noting as exemplars: "Penelope's Dream sliced through the water like a sharpened knife." I didn't know the sharpness of a knife had any effect on how it cut through water. . . . Then:  "Inside [the box] was a beautiful glowing ruby, surrounded by sparkling diamonds and set in that lovely antique gold which has the look of endless time."  Gosh: rubies glow, diamonds sparkle, antique gold is lovely. . . I'm with you there, but. . . what exactly is "the look of endless time"?  Parts of the book read as if the author was deliberately attempting to write a completely obvious book, avoiding any possible sense of irony or originality. A lovely couple inherits money. Where do they go? To the French Riviera, of course. Then to Lake Como, Italy, with a requisite jaunt to Corsica. There's a 1920's era luxury yacht, a wheelchair bound German count, numerous black-clad peasant women (German, Italian, and Corsican), and even seers who crop up to tell fortunes and cast curses. Belmond is lavish in her references to what Penny's "English blood" has brought her and how her French father is (of course) a natty dresser and a great cook. The book reminds me, as do some of Lauren Willig's (she offers a glowing review on the back cover) weaker offerings, of something my sister and I might've written in our teens, before we'd ever left Poland, Maine.

And this is a Penguin book?

HOWEVER: it does suck one in! The plot is interesting enough to keep the reader involved, and the characters are likable, if very, very flat. While Belmond's writing lacks the zip and humor of, say, Jennifer Crusie's or Marian Keyes's novels (to pick works in a similar genre), it generally moves along smoothly, presenting a travel agent's picture of life along "the Med" and a lottery agent's view of life after jackpot. If I were to spot either the third installment ("A Rather Charming Invitation") or the fourth ("A Rather Remarkable Homecoming") on the 50 cent book sale shelf the day before a vacation, I'd have no qualms about scooping them up.



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Summer Vacation, Day One! June 23, 2012

Well, this is a new look for Bravexperiment! Not sure how all the updated blogger stuff will work, but this is the first day of my summer vacation (exams ended last Friday; last teacher day was Tuesday, but I had learning area/district work meetings until yesterday), and I've been thinking about how to reflect on and organize my options. I think I'll work on creating a wishlist for this vacation--so I'm hoping to write it out here ad then keep track of my progress all summer. We'll see.

Summer Wish List--edited August 6 for an update

1. Two times a week: bake or cook something new. Well. . . . I've been doing a good job on feeding people well, but the "new" part slipped a bit. 

2. Finish my portfolio dress that I started cutting out in May. Done! Starting second!

3. Finish Moth's cardigan (can't find a link to the pattern, but I like it a lot: Knit Simple Winter 2010/2011; Comfort Cable Cardi). ETA: FOUND THIS PICTURE! ((will, of course, lengthen the arms. Sheesh.) Working on it. At armholes on fronts.

4. Read. A. Lot. Oh, yeah. Got that done. 

5. Observe family movie night on Fridays. Mostly. Some live theater (Nate's play), some Thursday night movies, etc, but a shared experience at least once/week. 

6. Go to at least one new exercise class. Four yoga classes, baby! (Next time, don't schedule so many things on Wed. mornings. .  )

7. Ride my bike for downtown trips. Yup! 

8. Go to the Farnsworth Art Museum. Not yet. Hmmmmm. 

9. Reorganize/replant my front flower garden.  On the list with Julie OR after the phlox stop blooming.

10. De-clutter the clutter that's my responsibility: mostly magazines and books. Better. Need a tune up.

11. Commit to working at our church's free suppers on Wednesdays, however they need me. THAT'S been tough. Hard to work at something that is poorly organized. Hmmm. 

12. Get to Gram's camp at least twice this summer. Trip #1 is scheduled for Friday. We'll see. 

March 1, 2012: Snow Day #2

Didn't really want this one: wanted to take the students to see the simulcast of "Comedy of Errors" (from the National Theatre of London!) and then get the incredibly exhausting 8th Grade Parents' Night OVER. . . but alas. Here I is. At least now it's snowing, and I fit in a swim, I finished reading Mockingjay, the 3rd of the Hunger Games books, I walked with Andy and Zeus down town to return library books and get a free cookie with my coffee from Rooster Brothers, the family saw "Comedy of Errors," AND now I am going to see about a brief nap.

Happy snow day. Would be glad if it were the last for the 2011/2012 school year. I have personal days I can use if I need them, thank you.

February 23: Vaaaaaaaacation. . .

It's a calm, grey, rainy morning--a Thursday, which is my favorite day of the week during my regular life. During a vacation, it's often a taking stock kind of day: have I been doing what I want to be doing? Have I been wasting too much time on the computer or futzing around? This week, the answer seems to be that things have been unfolding just about the way I'd like them to: some school work yesterday (what a relief it is to actually get down to it! I always have to rediscover the joy of NOT procrastinating, but it is a joy); a good run; a few letters and thank you notes written; soup and bread made for dinner, and a good chunk of knitting done while reading a fluff book from the library.

Today features rain all day, apparently, so it's nice that my run happened yesterday. . . I plan to swim around noon, then maybe head to the Moo for some ice cream. School work for an hour or so, possibly some sewing (sewing is what often gets squeezed out, possibly because I can't manage to truly multi-task as I do it, while with knitting, I can), and maybe some small neglected tasks around the house: putting up a swing arm lamp over the couch in the living room so I can read, and replacing two missing buttons on a favorite sweater. Such global plans.

Time, I've decided, is what I love about vacation. I love my job, and I miss the hubbub and people of school when I'm away from it, but the sense of potential and option is rich and alluring during vacation time. It's almost, and very unrealistically, unlimited: I truly believe that I can plan future courses AND do my prep AND do my correcting AND sleep in AND knit and read AND. . . . But it's lovely to have that rich dream!

February 21, 2012: Well, Hello!

It's Tuesday of vacation, and a lovely, sun drenched chilly morning. . . I am ensconced in "Silas's chair" by the window, and am just feeling like documenting a little! Ten updates over the seven months since I last posted:

1. Lyle is ecstatically settled at Skidmore--he got straight A's in his first semester, plus a dose of mono and a great time on the swim team. He has found a niche that challenges him and supports him at once. We are delighted.

2. Andy is 1/2way through his sabbatical, working away on "instructional technologies," with most of his coursework being on line. He fills his time with odd jobs, working out, and picking up a lot of the house hold work. Yay!

3. I am knitting more than ever before, really. . . have just started the Honey Cowl of Madelinetosh Yarns fame, and made Zinnia mittens for Julie for Christmas, only about a month late! Having a bit more money to invest in really nice yarn makes a difference in the pleasure level, for sure.

4. Just got back from a weekend in Portland (3rd Annual!) with Julie: this was maybe the best one yet, since we planned a trip to Reid State Park in the middle so that we had a great outing. The weather was spectacular, and the food was great. Nice to be home again, with the week lying out before me.

5. Feel like I am growing up in my leadership: the "this sounds fun" Library Trustee position has suddenly become more of a task, as . . . well, in the interest of being professional I'll just say that we're tackling more difficult questions, and keeping us focused and moving forward has become more difficult and more important at the same time. Department headship at school is also time-consuming but valuable, so I am flexing muscles that I haven't: dealing with conflict, attending meetings, etc. Whew.

6. Have ordered the DVDs of both seasons I and II of "Downtown Abbey". Too many raves to avoid this one, esp when they turned up for sale in the Daedalus catalog. If I never want to watch them again, I'll give them to the Library. Otherwise: knitting fodder, and we keep discovering how much fun it is to watch stuff as a family! On the big screen! Instead of separately, plugged in. . . can you tell that's a hobby horse of mine?

7. Tonight is Shrove Tuesday, the pancake dinner at church (after which I will go to the Trustee meeting . . . full of sisterly love and ready to go!), which means that Lent begins on Wednesday. Haven't decided what I will give up or take up for this Lent. I had thought about trying to do 2 minute meditations in the morning. . . but I tend to do better with a written meditation. Hmmm.

8. Nate, Nate, Nate. . . What fun to get to see that boy blossom. He is busy, he is talented, he is a goofball. I'm so glad we've had this extra time with just him at home.

9. Running! I've been able to do it about 2x/week for the last six months or so with no major issues! Not sure if this is the result of a year on glucosamine/chron. about 4x week, the knee exercises that I've been doing fairly regularly, or what, but I am loving it! Lori and I are planning to run the Flattop 5 K, but I'd be happy if I could just keep doing my bi-weekly 3 miles!

10. Things just seem settled and good. I had a probably hormonally-inspired rocky stretch around Christmas, distinguished by my first-ever round of really bad itchy skin/hives/skin bumps/weirdness, but once I got my head wrapped around the fact that it would probably flare up then die back down, I treated the symptoms and dealt. Again, I find that lack of light, stress (even good stress), and hormones (which seem to do something spectacularly different about once every 4 months or so) usually results in a measurable blip on my radar. But. Things seem to have settled right now.

Off to read and to do pattern row #2 on my honey cowl in Madelinetosh's "tart"!

July 21: Curtains for Curtains (I hope)

It's hot already--due to be a humid, nasty one, so my plans of finishing the curtains, going for a walk for exercise and then adding a cross-and-back swim topped off by some school work seem to be right on track.

The Curtain Project has been going well: I love the material and the only place I got stymied was on mitering the corners: I finally went with a plain square corner. Bah humbug--they're GUEST ROOM CURTAINS. Sheesh. Otherwise, my standards have been high and I think things look good. I used some quilting techniques to keep things (I hope) square and straight, and I'm looking forward to a good final iron and the Big Reveal! The tabs are all done (thanks to Nate who was able to turn them inside out at great speed)and I just need to sew them onto the top hem. That might be a struggle, as there will be a lot of layers of fabric involved, but I trust my loyal Pfaff!

(Victorious?) Pics to come!