Book Review: The Actor and the Housewife

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale: Here is a book that captivated me enough to get me to sit down and read it in one sitting. That right there should tell you that, even though I tend to be a fast reader, this book is a whole lot of fun and also that this is a book for entertainment and didn't require any note-taking or having a dictionary at close hand.
I really like Shannon Hale's storytelling. She has a way of keeping me looking round the corner to see what will happen next and just when I start to worry that things might get sappy and predictable, she throws a little something in to shake things up. One aspect of this book that I feel to draw attention to is her unabashed mixing of the culture and beliefs of Mormonism into a mainstream, not-intended-for-a-Mormon-audience book. It is essential to the story and she handles it very well in my opinion. She is respectful-nothing she chose to include made me, a Mormon, feel uncomfortable. She is forthright-she doesn't try to dumb down Mormonism or make excuses for what the main character believes. Try to imagine Fiddler on the Roof without Judaism. You can't. The story goes away. So, why not have a story in which the religious beliefs of the main character are essential to the story? Mormonism gets misunderstood and covered sort of weirdly by the mainstream media at times, so I like that this author decided to just write it as it is. Go Sister Hale!
Beyond the religious elements, the story was fun for me. This main character is a Mormon housewife who meets her favorite English heartthrob actor. Hello? who hasn't thought about THAT a time or two, Mormon or not? For me, the image in my mind was a sort of cross between Hugh Grant and Rupert Everett. It was interesting to vicariously live out this kind of fantasy and see where it led. Again, because of Hale's skill as a storyteller, it turned out well for me and made for a lovely day of utter escape and imagination. And really, isn't that why we read?

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13 Days

I had a convergence friends. A perfect storm of commitments, deadlines, fun, situations and all that. It was life in the fast lane, everything, all the time.
Here's what I did in the last 13 days.

• I finally DID can the tomatoes!

• I said goodbye to my darling sis and her darling kids. We miss them still.
• I discovered, while uploading photos, that my daughter looks for hearts in the wild. This makes me smile all the way to the sky. It is a veritable family tradition now. This heart is a rip in a rain poncho on the Pionner Trek my daughter was on.
• I've been madly proofing images from three photo shoots in rapid succession. I learned something from every shoot.
  
• I had a birthday that made me feel WONDERFUL. I got good wishes and love from all over the country along with treasures and treats that really lifted me up. Here's me on the original day:
• Corinne and I celebrated our neighboring birthdays by having a party at which most of us were wearing yellow, so those of us that weren't went and changed to get with the program. We ate crabs and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was good for my soul. We also had distinguished visitors in the persons of Generals Lee and Bonaparte.
• The next day we two continued the festivities by going downtown to get tickets to see Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at the fabulous Harman Hall. It was part of Shakespeare Free For All, and the Man Himself was on hand to welcome us. We bookended the excellent performance (at which we sat right behind the footlights in the FRONT ROW) with visits to two museums: The National Building Museum, with one of the most beautiful atriums I've ever been in, and the National Portrait Museum , which is housed with The Smithsonian American Art Museum. (If you look closely, you'll see that I'm standing next to the Preamble of the Constitution presented in license plates from each state, in alphabetical order!) What fun to browse the wonders of art with a sympathetic friend of similar sensibilities and be able to talk like grown-ups about things that are lovely and praiseworthy. It was a glorious day.
• In between all that , I knitted like mad on two major contract projects, got them finished, mailed, delivered, and in one case, photographed.
  
• I shopped for school clothes and school supplies and discussed schedules and in general got ready for school to start. Eric was a trooper, helping in major ways with school supply procurement and high-school schedule adjustments.
  
• I unpacked boxes over at my mom's.
  
• I ran most every day to get ready for the half marathon in 6 weeks.
  
• I started the process of setting up a professional photography website.
• I got rid of 4 big bags of garbage and 1 big bag of giveaway stuff.
  

And now here I am, on the eve of school starting, ready for that sigh, that deep breath that will come tomorrow at about 10 minutes after 7 am when the last child walks out the door to school. I'll feel that excitement that comes with a new school year-with dreams of what can be for my kids, what can be for me, and how all this stuff I do fits together to make the life that I live, to make me unique. I've been struggling a bit to focus for the last few weeks because the summer has taken me in so many directions, but I feel things coming back to center. I hope you all have a wonderful first day of school!

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Canning Tomatoes Part 1.1

The good news is that I found the equipment. The bad news is that it was (not really) hidden in a box of rings and lids that I had not only looked through to get lids, but looked through a LOT. Apparently I was only looking for lids, not other equipment.
Apparently, this is my brain:

This is my brain on motherhood: Sheesh. It was all there, hiding like some diabolical I Spy Book layout or a twisted Where's Waldo. Sooo, today should have been the day for canning, but it was moving day for my folks. The truck came and unloaded and so I was in and out of the two houses all day, helping out, watching kids, directing traffic, running errands plus doing all the usual mom stuff for my own family. Tomorrow I have to can the tomatoes because today I picked another 5 pounds of the things and I don't want to lose any. So, on Tuesday, early to the stove it is since it is not a running day.

Apparently, it is a really good thing that this is a hobby thing for me and that my family is not actually depending on my ability to reliably preserve vegetables.

PS, in case you're too young to understand my brain-egg analogy, here is where it came from.

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Canning Tomatoes Part 1

Well, I started this post last night with great enthusiasm. I thought I would have photos of lovely jars of tomatoey goodness as a reminder of a satisfying evening of good old-fashioned hard work. Not so much.
I was all ready to get down and dirty and get my 25 pounds of tomatoes put up into jars to savor all winter. I cleaned the kitchen. I counted jars and checked them for chips and cracks. I got out all the lids and rings. I set up my assembly line. I went down and got the canning pot from its perch on top of the basement refrigerator, feeling so pleased with myself that I had all the supplies, I could find them, and this batch of canned goods would be a true bargain because of the accrued benefits of past canning experiences. Yay me! And there my enthusiasm met an obstacle. All the small equipment for canning, a special kind of funnel, a rack for the pot, a special kind of tongs, and several other things were completely missing from inside my canning pot where they usually live. They weren't anywhere around. I thought about some solutions and substitutions for the missing items, but a couple of them so simplify the process that it would take me much, much longer without them. Plus, by the time I looked at bit and tried to figure out what to do, my window of time had closed and I went to bed. So, today my kitchen will rest for the Sabbath standing ready in canning mode for a new day when I will either remember where I stored all my do-dads or I'll go buy new ones. And you know what will happen don't you? After looking for two hours I'll decide to just go buy new ones. As soon as I buy the new ones, I'll find the old ones...


but not until after I've used the new ones.

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See, I always knew I was on the right track...

Read the following article and then for your own good, I recommend, out of extreme concern for you and your health, that you make yourself the following recipe. It really works and you'll be the better for it.

Chocolate cuts death rate after heart attack - Washington Times

Magical Internet 5 Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

Shared via AddThis

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Up Early

I have a little time to catch up. I fell asleep at 10 in an exhausted heap. Unfortunately for me, that means a 4:30 wake-up call from my brain as I am still not adjusted to life with more than 6 hours to sleep. That's okay, it's nice to have a little quiet time. Life is full right now as I strive to get through a knitting deadline, keep a youth program for 50 girls up and running and now try to turn some attention to helping my mom move. Another sister is in town to help and tomorrow is the big yard sale. The good news is that she and my dad are moving into a rental house right next door to us! I'm so glad I still live in my little house so that we get this time with them. It seems meant to be. They'll probably stay a year or so until my dad actually retires (the sale of the house came up and worked out about a year before they were thinking it would happen), then they'll move west and I'll be the only sibling left here. At that point, we'll most likely have to go to them rather than being visited, so I'm really grateful for the time that we'll have being neighbors. People are concerned about them living so close, but it will be fine. We both have our quirks, but for the most part, my folks are easy-going, supportive, respectful, wonderful parents and grandparents. They always go to all the kids' events, so this will save them a lot of driving. :o)

I have managed to do a bit of reading and even spent one day like the old days, completely lost in a book, unwilling to put it down till I finished. It was The Actor and The Housewife by Shannon Hale and it was an interesting bit of fantasy fluff. I liked it and I liked that I was focused enough to just sit and read. That hasn't happened for a while, in fact it makes a grand total of 2 books that I've completed since the beginning of June. June!! Of course I lost a day of deadline knitting that I'll have to find somewhere, but it seems okay that I took a day to just play in a book.

Today is a trip to the Dr. for my shut-in friend, a wedding photo shoot, then an evening of yard-sale prep. I'm hoping to have Sara come along for the photo shoot. In between will be knitting, cleaning and laundry. What can I say, it's the life. The kids are summering in old-fashioned idyllic splendor this week and frankly, they deserve it. They've been sleeping in, playing video games, having friends over, eating ice cream and staying up late and it has been way fun. High School sports start in a week or so and for Sam and Sara, the summer is over as they start possibly two-a-day practices for volleyball and cross-country.

So, I'm off to steal an hour of knitting before my run, then the day can really begin. I signed up for the Baltimore Half-Marathon in October, so hopefully I can stay motivated to keep running and keep the old metabolism going. I haven't lost hardly any weight but I'm wearing a jeans size that I haven't worn in nearly 20 years. I'm sure it's because the companies have changed the sizing over the years. I'm okay with that.

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