My friend Nicky is my most trusted ‘book recommender’ (I know it’s not a word but it should be). So last week when she told me I had to read The Other Typist so we could talk about the ending, I downloaded it on my Kindle right away.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut and stumbled through the beginning of this book too. Then when I got about three quarters of the way through, I needed to finish it. Immediately. So I read the way I do on vacation. I sat on the couch for a big chunk of time and read. Then I read the way I do when I’m not on vacation. I read while cooking, while waiting for the dog to go out, while reading spelling words out loud to Katherine. And as soon as I finished reading, I called Nicky.

I can’t tell you anything about the book. I think it is best that you go in to it not really knowing the plot. And to be honest, I am not ever sure I recommend it. I am pretty annoyed at the book right now. But I do know that I want to talk to other people about the ending. So go read and come back and tell me what you think really happened.

And in the meantime, what was the last book that made you feel this way? The last book that you just had to finish and the last book that you felt a strong need to talk about once you had finished reading? Do tell because I think it going to be hard to find something to read for a bit after this one…

 

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Last week the girls had three days off for the New Jersey teacher’s convention. It had been ages since we had visited my mom in Rhode Island so we headed up for a visit. We did lots of fun things but one of the most interesting for me was a trip to the house we lived in from the time I was three until a bit after my sixteenth birthday. I have not been back since the day we left.

When we moved from Long Island to Rhode Island in 1976, we rented a house on the property of St. Mary’s Home for Children, my mother’s place of work. We planned to stay for six months until we found a permanent home but we remained there for thirteen years. The house was built in the 1700s so it was full of cool features like winding staircases and fireplaces in nearly every room. When we left, St. Mary’s converted the house into offices so I knew that the space would look different.

I’m not sure though that I was totally prepared for how different but yet how similar it would be.

For example, here is my bedroom.

But at the same time, so many things were exactly the same. I learned that St. Mary’s has gone through very difficult financial times since we left so there have been next to no updates to the house. The sink and tub in my bathroom were exactly the same. The counter tops and appliances in the kitchen were the ones I remembered from my childhood. The popcorn ceilings that scraped my knuckles more than once were exactly as I remembered.

When the girls want to interrupt a conversation, they’ll often shout out “Pause!” as if the person they are talking to is a television show. I think I am going to opt to push the pause button on my memories of my childhood home and keep it just the way it was. Because in some ways, during our visit, I felt like a cliche. I always thought our entry way was grand. In truth, it was tiny. I always thought our kitchen was spacious. It was not. I am glad we went back. It was fun for the girls to see where I lived when I was their ages. That said, though, I think I am going to keep my memories as they were before. Before we saw my living room full of desks and my play room housing the computer server. I think am going to go ahead and push the pause button.

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…We are at my mom’s this week. I think we may need to get our fireplace up and running soon.

For more moments, visit Amanda’s Soule Mama where she describes her Friday posts this way, “A Friday ritual. A single photo-no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”

 

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As an only child, I marvel at the world of sisters almost everyday. There is a lot that I want to write one day about this. This idea of being an only child and refereeing sibling battles. And being an only child and witnessing the most amazing love between two people that I have really ever seen.

For now though, I want to write about how these two people can have such an amazing range of feelings towards each other.

The girls only had school on Monday and Tuesday so that their teachers can participate in the New Jersey teachers convention later in the week. Because of this, their teachers chose to give no homework this week. As a parent who would ok if there was never any homework, I really looked forward to these two days.

Monday night started well but pretty quickly the girls started to fight. And they fought pretty consistently until they fell asleep. And then Tuesday night, they played happily for close to two hours without complaint.

How? I don’t think I would have ever had friends or found a husband if I loved a person on one day with the same strength that I disliked them the next. For those of you who are siblings and who are raising siblings, do you find this back and forth unique to sisters and brothers?

 

 

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Last week something amazing happened.

Caroline checked out the book, Because of Mr. Terpupt, from the library. I have been meaning to read this book for ages now so I suggested that I would read it too. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wished I could put them back in because I could already imagine Caroline’s reply. She finds everything I do right now to be incredibly embarrassing so I thought for sure that co-reading would be a no-go. Surprisingly, she readily agreed.

On the first day, she told me what page she had read to so I could catch up while she was at school. And then she finished the book the next day while I was cooking dinner. So maybe co-reading wasn’t exactly what happened. It turns out that ten years olds have a lot more time to read than their mothers do but I did finish the book the next day.

As a result of this lucky turn of events, I learned some ready interesting things.

1. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but there is a super sad part of the story and some touchy subjects. We were able to talk about these things in the context of the book in a way that we wouldn’t have been able to talk about them without the story as a backdrop.

2. Caroline always reads the last sentence first. She really hates surprises and I guess this is her way to make sure that she has a sense of what is coming. This might explain why she doesn’t like reading mysteries and why she loves to re-read.

3. Caroline likes to alternate between difficult and fluffy reading. There is a sequel to Mr. Terput so in my excitement, I suggested that we read that next book. Caroline was quick to tell me that she wasn’t ready to do that yet. She said she needed to read something light next. Maybe even something she had already read.

If any of you have been lucky enough to have an experience like this, I’d love to hear what you have learned along the way.

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“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”

-L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

For mom moments, visit Amanda’s Soule Mama where she describes her Friday posts this way, “A Friday ritual. A single photo-no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”

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In the spirit of Halloween, a monster themed meme. 

Vampire: Someone offers you a chance at immortality. Do you take it, and why or why not? 

My answer to this question would probably depend on the day. Today I feel like I have a lot to work out so I will say yes. I need all the time I can get.

Werewolf: If you had to spend your life with just one person, who would it be?

I’ll have to go sappy on this one and say Rob while also assuming that if I say that, Caroline and Katherine would be included in the package.

Witch: If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

Income inequality.

Ghost: Do you have any regrets?

Losing touch with so many of my high school and college friends.

Frankenstein: Is someone telling you how to live your life, or are you an independent person?

I consider myself fairly independent.

Zombie: Do you miss anyone right now?

My dad. His birthday was November 1st so I’m thinking a lot about him.

Faerie: If you could get away with anything, what would you do?

If I could eat french fries and ice cream all the time and still feel great, I would do it.

Shapeshifter: What would you change about yourself?

I would make my upper lip bigger. It’s awfully thin.

Siren: If you could make anyone do anything, what would you make them do?

I would make the politicians in Washington talk to each other for long enough to get something accomplished.

Genie: If you had one wish that would come true and couldn’t be reversed, what would you ask for?

I would wish for the girls to have lives filled with happiness, confidence and people who love them.

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Today my first post is up at Great New Books.

I always have a hard time choosing a favorite book for the year but Me Before You may be my pick for 2013. It was so good, as I write in my post, that it ruined books for me for a bit.

My Great New Books post begins with…

The only problem with reading Me Before You is that it may ruin the next couple of books you try to read. After I finished reading it, I picked up multiple books before I could find one that I enjoyed even half as much.

Please come read the rest here.

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Every so often, I enjoy writing a fun list. Today I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite blogs. Some I have been reading for a long time. Some are pretty new finds. Some I read every day and some only every so often. How about you? Feel free to share some of your favorites too.

I love…

A Design So Vast for gorgeous writing about a life so similar and yet so different from my own.

Shana Norris for a new to me blog and a new blogging friend.

Design Mom for her inspiration to find beautiful things everywhere.

Walking on my Hands for amazingly thought provoking posts every single time.

Susannah Conway for inspiration to blog, journal and photograph.

Seven Impossible Things for amazing information about all things children’s literature.

Mystic Vixen for the most beautiful photographs.

SouleMama for a glimpse inside the homeschooling, farming world.

Dinner: A Love Story for funny and practical writing about family and food.

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