Sunday, December 14, 2008

Sunday Pie

No real pie, this weekend (darn -- the strawberry rhubarb is all gone), just a jumble of life . . . and I haven't sat down to make a button, so you're looking at one of Bookfool's outdoor decorations instead of anything pie-oriented. Yes, it's true; we have a light-up deer with a moving head standing smack in the middle of our monkey grass. He's kind of cute, really, even though I never would have thought to buy a light-up deer, myself. It's the husband's doing.

Speaking of the husband . . . I had him string some new snowflake lights across the porch and he opted to add the deer, plus colored lights on each of our two porch columns (which sounds uppity, but it's not a big porch). He asked me to look at the lights before he was completely finished and asked, "What do you think? Are we veering toward white trash, here?" Snort. Actually, it looks really pretty. We've only decorated the porch, not the entire length of the house, and I think it's kind of nice -- probably good that we're not being entirely Scroogey, for once, when you get right down to it.

We are immersed in cleaning, decorating, tossing out possessions, folding laundry, wrapping gifts, yardwork, moving furniture and trying to clear out our floorless den in preparation for painting and reflooring. The reading has suffered a bit, although I did manage to finish three books and review them all, this week, so I'm happy about that.

Currently reading:

Fear in North Carolina: The Civil War Journals and Letters of the Henry Family - I set this one aside for a week, thinking I'd seriously better focus or I was never going to finish any of the books in that 7-book pile I was juggling. It worked; I managed to complete and review three books. Now I can read about Cornelia Henry's life, again.

So far, I'm finding it interesting the way Cornelia wrote about everyday life as a wife and mother, life and death around her, news about the war, weather, problems with the servants, etc., in a clipped manner and yet managed to record just enough info that the reader feels acquainted with her. Of greatest surprise has been the amount of sewing she accomplished -- typically an average of at least one or two items of clothing per day. So far, they've had a terrible time getting the loom to work right.

Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion - About a road trip in a luxuriously converted bus. I've only read a few pages, but will focus more on this one during the coming week. We just left the UFO Festival in Roswell, New Mexico -- I'm still on their practice run in the new bus-slash-home-away-from-home. I was particularly fascinated by the way Orion's husband insisted that she shouldn't make eye contact with anyone at the UFO Festival.

Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte - Nearly finished with this raucous tale of pet ownership, but I have a headache and can't guarantee I'll be done with it by the end of the evening. Still fun, although occasionally the author's sense of humor gets a tiny bit tiresome. I should note that it's typical for me to become weary of consistent wit; even Dave Barry gets to me, after a while. And, I love Dave Barry.

Perfect on Paper by Maria Murnane - Just started this one, a few days ago, although I haven't gotten far, simply because my reading has been so sporadic. I've been pleasantly surprised. It's not trite or redundant for a chick-lit type of book, in my humble opinion. The writing is excellent and so far it hasn't been overly predictable.

Marketplace Memos by David and Jonathan Shibley - I think this is made to be read as a devotional, but I never read anything in the morning and every single day, the way I'm supposed to. I read a chunk when I feel like it. The jury is still out on this one.

Hurricane of Independence by Tony Williams - It may simply be the timing, but this book is not grabbing and holding my attention. I'm going to give it a few more days and if I can't get into the book, I'll pass it on.

I just realized Queen of the Road is not in my sidebar, so I'll have to amend that. Maybe tomorrow. The migraine fuzz is starting to really get to me. I think I'm going to clear off a space on the futon (I've been using it as a folding table) and read. Hope everyone's had a great weekend!

16 comments:

  1. I think the deer is perfect for Mississippi. So far I have not seen too many this year. We decided not to put any decorations up inside or outside this year. It is just my sister and me at this house. I look at other peoples. :)

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  2. I like the deer! Goodness that's a whole lot of books, hope you enjoy them!

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  3. Anonymous8:16 PM

    How do you read so many books at one time? It's all I can do to read one at a time.

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  4. Brittanie,

    That's a good point! Deer are perfect for MS. I resisted getting any because they were everywhere for a couple of years and I'm all for bucking the trends, haha.

    I've been kind of Scroogey and skimpy on the decorations in recent years, but my mother was in the respiratory ICU in Oklahoma City, last year, so we spent Christmas in the hospital -- yuck. We pretty much had no Christmas at all. This year, I thought it would be better to decorate and really work at creating joy, so to speak, rather than focusing on the fact that there's one less person to celebrate Christmas. I think it's really working nicely. I'm not sitting around thinking about the fact that my mother's no longer with us. Instead, I'm just enjoying the season. :)

    Tink,

    Thank you! He's kind of growing on me. I like the way the hubby stuck the deer in the middle of the monkey grass, like he might lean over to graze at any minute!

    I'm really enjoying all of my books, thanks!

    Kathy,

    I'm really just a total ADD reader, honestly. It's harder for me to focus on one book than to balance several. What I usually do is read a little of one, set it aside, read a little of another, set it aside . . . on and on. When I get to the point that I'm close to finishing one, then I'll focus on it till I'm done. But, it's very seldom that I'll just sit down and read a book from cover to cover.

    Note that I almost never read two of the same genre at the same time, to avoid confusing storylines.

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  5. we did that today too, and I use the term "we" loosely. Tore apart the oldest boys room today, cleaned it, then put it back together. I can breathe easier tonight.

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  6. Too bad that Hurricane of Independence isn't holding your interest. When I saw the cover I thought I'd like to read it.

    Luckily, our daughter put up the tree and some outside decorations.

    I'm glad to read that you are enjoying the season and holiday preparation.

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  7. Bookfool -

    Good for you, doll. You're doing exactly what you should be doing - what you think is best.

    The deer is cute. I've wanted one for some time now. One of these days I'll break down and get one.

    cjh

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  8. How festive is that? We have a Rudolph whose nose blinks. The neighbors think we've gone insane.

    Happy Holidays to one of my favorite bloggers and readers.

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  9. Good lord, that's alot of books to be going at one time!! I'm bowing in your presence!!

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  10. I like him. The deer's very cute.

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  11. Jessica,

    I'm working on the kiddo's room, although not completely tearing it apart -- I'm just foraging for dirty clothing. There's this problem teenage boys eventually have, in which their rooms begin to smell like stinky socks. Ours needed an intervention.

    Booklogged,

    I haven't given up on Hurricane of Independence, yet, but the problem is that he leaps around a bit and loses me on some of the stories within the story. It might just be a book I need to read before I get sleepy; I do most of my reading at bedtime. The cover is marvelous, isn't it?

    My husband and son can reach the outdoor hooks but I can't because I'm a shrimp. If they ever quit helping, I'm stuck. LOL It's great that your daughter took care of your decorating.

    Thank you! I really am having fun. :)

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  12. CJ,

    It's all worked out very nicely. I sort of substituted mother gift-giving with Salvation Army, so I wouldn't feel like I had nobody to shop for, also. That was great. You get to go back to buying bouncy balls, children's books and such, which I always loved.

    Really? You wanted a deer? They've become pretty inexpensive, so you should definitely go for it. David bought ours at the after-Christmas sale at Home Depot for $10, last year.

    Cupcake,

    I've never seen a blinking-nosed Rudolph! How fun!! Neighbors always think everyone else is insane, near as I can tell. LOL

    Thank you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!

    Stephanie,

    It's called "ADD reading". Not sure it's anything to brag about, being a lack of focus thing, but thank you. :)

    Nikki,

    My deer and I thank you. :)

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  13. I like the deer too. I wouldn't mind one out front this year but now it's too cold to go out there for anything let alone putting out any more Christmas decorations-lol.

    That's quite the load of books you've got going. I'm the same though. I read at least 4 at a time, sometimes more. You never know what you might be in the mood for.

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  14. Dar,

    I just read your tweet about the weather. Wow. We were sweating, yesterday, just doing housework and raking. Today, it's colder and rainy, but at about 60 degrees warmer than your temps. I'd stay in and put my deer up early, next year, if that's typical December weather for you!

    I usually don't go much higher than 4 books at a time, but yep . . . I'm a moody reader. And, there isn't much that keeps my attention for long, so I go from book to book. I should do a post about the rare books that have kept my attention, some time.

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  15. Love the new header AND the lawn reindeer. We did very minimal decorations this year (the tree and villages), and opted out of the outdoor lights. I'm kind of sad, but it's dark by the time I get home from work and I got tired of nagging the husband. But I do love those reindeer and I will be looking for one hopefully one post-xmas clearance!!

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  16. Trish,

    Thank you! We usually get ours up about a week before Christmas, at best, so I was really pleased that the husband trotted right out the door with kiddo and started putting lights up almost as soon as I came home with the snowflake lights (we had the reindeer from last year's post-Christmas sale . . . or maybe the year before). It's not nagging, it's "reminding". :)

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