Her Favorites: Books from my childhood

I thought I'd mention a few of the books that made me fall in love with reading as a little girl. There are so many more though, I may have to do a part 2 of this post!

The Complete Tales by Beatrix Potter

My grandmother has the box set that includes all the little books like Tales of Peter Rabbit & Tale of Two Bad Mice. I loved those books and they were the first thing I dug out of the closet when we went to visit her. I keep looking for my own box set that doesn't cost an arm and a leg because I'd really like to have these books. I think my grandma's set will most likely go to one of the other grandkids. 

 

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

I had the complete set as a girl. I'm hoping they're in a box somewhere but they may be lost forever. I loved the magic of these books. They are the first books that made me fall in love with the fantasy genre.

Point Horror Series by R.L. Stine 

Hmm. I'm starting to think that my obsession with series started at a young age. I own almost all of these books. The Hitchhiker was my favorite of them all. It ends with a piranha pit. Can't get any scarier than that! My sister, on the other hand, read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series, which we also watched on TV on occasion. I used to stay up late curled on my bed under the blanket, with a flashlight and these books, and nearly scare the pants off of myself. 

 

Space Witch by Don Freeman (also the author of the Corduroy books) 

I absolutely loved the story of Tilly Ipswitch who decides to travel to outer space with her cat. I was captivated by stories of witches thanks to movies like The Worst Witch. Wasn't that a great movie? 

Naya Nuki Shoshoni Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma

I have no idea what first drew me to this book but I must have checked it out from the Summit Elementary library a hundred times. I kept going back for it and reading it again and again. I was always disappointed when I would go to the library and find that it was already checked out. I started hiding it on other shelves just to ensure that it would always be there for me. I think I found her strength and her journey totally compelling and inspring.

Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself by Margaret Wise Brown 

This is a wonderful book. The story is sweet and funny and the illustrations are fantastic. Imagine my delight to find that Andy had read it as a kid too and that his mom still has a copy of it. Another example of a child being independent and taking care of himself. I was always drawn to those types of characters.

Bears in the Night by Stan & Jan Berenstain 

I loved Berenstain Bears books but this one was my favorite. Again, the illustrations and the slightly frightening storyline (well frightening as a little girl) excited me. 

Babysitter's Club series by Ann M. Martin

Another series love. I wouldn't be a typical girl in the 90s if I hadn't read at least one Babysitter's Club book (and also tried to start a Babysitter's Club of my own.) In fact, I owned several of these books. It was, of course, Mary Ann who I identified with the most, but I always wished that I was more like Dawn.

The Wind and Little Cloud by Susan G. Hancock

Another fantastic children's book. I found a reprint of it and it's great but I really wish I had an original copy. It's a story about a cloud and the wind who eventually become friends. Again, wonderful illustrations. 

The House That Had Enough by P.E. King

Little Golden Books were a staple at our house, as I'm sure they were in many homes. So many of them I loved, but this one sticks in my mind the most. It's a story of a little girl who never cleans her house, so it finally gets up and walks away. It seems that cleaning my room was a constant battle between my mom and I while I was growing up. I used this book to remind me why my mom was so adamant on taking care of my possessions by putting them away each day. It worked, because my mom's habits of cleanliness and respect for the things that we own is a big part of who I am today. She always taught us that we can show our gratitude for the things that we have been blessed with by taking care of them.

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

My fascination with far off places and traveling started at a young age. This book fueled that interest. It's the story of a doll and the journey that she takes around the world, the exciting things she sees and the many people who own and love her along the way.

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 

One of my favorite authors. My copy of this book is well worn and used. I'm not even sure how many times I've read it. 

Mr. Men & Little Miss books by Roger Hargreaves

Loved these books, the silly characters and the vibrant illustrations. I found a complete set of them at a used book sale here on campus a couple of years ago and bought them all up.

  

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Yet another series that I devoured as a kid. And what drew me to it? The character's independence and ability to look out for themselves. That seems to be a strong theme of my childhood. I know the reason for this so it doesn't surprise me that these types of books were favorites of mine.

  

From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

An absolute favorite and another that I can't count the number of times I've read it. I adored Claudia Kincaid's 'brilliant' plan for running away and living at a museum. This book began my fascination with museums and history. I owe a lot to this book.

 That's a lot of books! But there are so many more that I've loved over the years.

What's one of your favorite childhood books?

lately

I'm on a photo kick lately. I've shared nearly 150 photos with you this month and there's still more to come. Life lately is just chugging along. But that's a good thing. I'm grateful that our life is peaceful right now. This is what our life looks like most days:

 

Our life pretty much revolves around our furry babies. They run this joint.

  

I have no idea what happened to my lovely plants but I'm suspecting they've been mowed down by Ash in her haste to run to the gate.

  

Baked lemon tilapia for dinner, wedge salad covered with french fried onions for lunch.

  

I have two of these planters on either side of my front bench. I'm hoping the sweet potato vine does as well as it did last year.

So we have motion sensors on the lights in our office. The only problem is that they can't sense me from where I sit. Today I'm here alone and every five minutes I have to get up from my desk and walk to the middle of the room to make the lights turn back on. So annoying! I think it may just be easier to work in the dark all day long. It's going to be a long day.

PS- Please tell me something else I can use to edit/host my images instead of Photobucket. Preferably free. I am so over Photobucket's inability to function properly. I use Photoshop to edit  when I have access to it, but I don't have it at home so it's a little hard.

Let's just chit chat today.

* I say a lot of things like 'chit chat' that seem to get me funny looks. I also say 'good grief,' 'oh, for Pete's sake,' and 'gee wiz.' I know. It's not at all 'cool,' but I can't help it. My future children are going to be so embarrassed of me. I purposely use these phrases when I'm teaching dance, just to make the younger kids laugh. It's a silly way for me to make the point that they need to try harder. Let's say we're doing pirouettes and they turn the wrong way for the millionth time. Instead of getting frustrated, I will say, "Oh, for Pete's sake, girls. You can get this right. Even Pete knows you can," and then they will start laughing and almost always get it right the next run through. They know when I 'talk funny' that it's time to step it up a notch. Although sometimes this backfires and they do it wrong just to make me 'talk funny.'

* Are you on Spotify? First I convinced the hubby to get on there and now I'm going to convince you. I listen to music pretty much all. the. time. so Spotify is awesome. I've even pushed Pandora to the wayside in favor of it. The only thing I don't like is the sharing feature. I don't need everyone seeing that I listened to Lady Gaga four times in a row. What? Don't tell me you only listen to 'cool people' music all the time and I'm the only one who cues up Gaga once in awhile.

* These two books came from interlibrary loan today. I'm 185 pages into Divergent already. I know I'm a little late to the party, but you guys were right- it's good. I'm also aware that I have an obsession with trilogies of any kind (or series in general) and also an obsession with young adult fiction and now dystopia. I'll never grow up when it comes to books.

* Speaking of series and convincing my husband to do things- so far I have gotten my husband hooked on the following book series: Pillars of the Earth, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hunger Games, The Eye of the World, Game of Thrones, The Maze Runner, and Ender's Game. Our conversations these days go something like this:

Me: "Oh my gosh. You have to read this book. It is SO GOOD..."
Him: "It's part of a series, isn't it?"
Me: "Yes...but it's SO GOOD!"
(For some reason I have this uncanny ability to choose books without even knowing that they are part of a series, only to find out later.)
And then he groans saying that he'll never get through all those books, especially if I keep introducing new series to him. I'm thinking I may have to introduce him to Divergent next. muawhahaha!

*I've discovered how much I like wedge salads. Although I typically substitute the blue cheese for ranch. I like blue cheese crumbles but I'm not big on blue cheese dressing.

* So I was on Pinterest a lot for awhile there. Like a lot, a lot. I was on it so much that I finally had to create a brand new account because my pin boards were getting so full. But the minute I created the new account, I suddenly had no more desire to pin. So everyone is still gushing over it and some people are just discovering it and I'm totally over it. You can still follow me though if you want. I may get hooked again. My old boards. My new boards.

*If you're not watching Up All Night, you really need to. Hilarious. But watch from season 1, episode 1. You'll enjoy it much more. I promise. We are also hooked on Grimm and for the love of TV, I really need Walking Dead back immediately. Also, I had to call a help quit line to stop my obsession with Downton Abbey. Don't judge. I swear I never watch this much TV. Graduating college did something very bad to me. Ooh- have you seen that new cooking show, Around the World in 80 Plates? Me thinks I need to watch it. Plus the Bachelorette is back on.

I suppose I'll get on with my day now.

What do you plan to do with your Tuesday? Any random chit chat you'd like to share with me?

Her Weekend

Back to Monday but it was a good weekend while it lasted! On Friday and Saturday I had dance recital to attend. This year I taught first and second grade tap/jazz combination classes. The girls did great and I was really proud of them. We went to dinner Saturday night after the matinee but I was just so worn out that all I wanted to do was come home after and go to bed. 

{1st Grade Class} 

{2nd Grade Class}

{a goodbye gift from a student} 

I was hoping for a decent night sleep but that wasn't in the cards. Ashland woke us up with the sound of constant flapping ears. She's been having ear issues where it's like there is something in her ear and she can't get it out. As a result she will walk around the house shaking her head and flapping her ears. It's very loud and when it wakes her up in the night, it wakes us up. Poor thing just couldn't get any relief. 

We don't have kids, but we were up at 2 in the morning as if we did have them. It takes both of us to get the medicine in her ears and clean them out. She usually starts to feel better and can fall back to sleep after about 15 minutes. But then of course I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned all night long. 

By Sunday morning I felt like death warmed over. Andy suggested we head to Einsteins for a bagel and then hit the trail with the road bikes. I agreed hoping that some exercise would wake me up a little. 

The ride was great. We only did 10 miles but it was just the trick to make me feel better. Speaking of bikes- do you like our new door mat? We couldn't pass it up when we saw it. 

 

Pilates every day this weekend helped me keep my energy up. After I tried that Pilates class on Thursday and was disappointed, I came home and searched around online for some good videos to do at home. I really love a group exercise atmosphere but decided to take matters into my own hands. 

For the last three days I've been following along with Cassey at Blogilates and I love her workouts! They are super challenging but upbeat and fun at the same time. I also subscribed to her blog so I can keep up with new workouts as they come out. Her workouts are just what I've been looking for. If you want to try Pilates, her basic workout is a great place to start. On Sunday night we watched the eclipse through the welder's helmet. It was really cool. You can see some great pictures of it here. 

 

{attempted picture of the eclipse} 

{another attempted picture} 

Oh, and I also made blackberry crisp which we ate while watching a movie!

 


{after the movie Henry said it was time for bed}

What did you do this weekend?

Saturday Meal Planning

Picked up another Bountiful Basket this week and I'm still lovin' it! $15 for all this. You can't beat that. I love how fresh it is and the variety of stuff we've been able to try each week. Not sure how far into the summer we'll carry it. Probably another month or so. We'll have to see how our own garden does. 

So this is what we came home with this week:

6 Bananas (I'm having fun getting creative with the using all the bananas we've gotten recently-but we still love just plain old banana bread)
2 Red Pears
11 Apricots




Package of Blackberries
2 Lemons
Honeydew Melon




1 Cucumber
2 Green Peppers
5 Carrots




Cauliflower
6 Ears of Corn
5 Tomatoes
6 Yellow Onions








I also have: 
Leftover Jicama
1/2 bag of red potatoes
Mint

Recipes planned: 

Baked Lemon Tilapia 
Cauliflower Gratin
Roasted potatoes with lemon & dill (from Real Simple Magazine)
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Apricot & Almond Rice (from Real Simple Magazine)
Fresh Corn & Tomato Casserole
Grilled Chicken & Corn Salad with Avocado & Parmesan
Orzo & Cucumber Salad
Basil Spagetti with Cheesy Broiled Tomatoes
Chopped Greek Salad with Pita Chips
Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter
Potato Salad with Bacon & Parsley
Turkey Burgers with all the fixin's
Hibiscus and Mint Lemonade
Blackberry Crisp

What are you cooking/eating this week?

It starts today

Growing up a dancer, I'm accustomed to driving myself physically. I need to challenge myself physically in order to find be fulfilled. 

But I'm also lazy. I fall into ruts of inactivity. I make excuses.  I feel guilty. I crave that physical drive again and eventually I get myself moving.  It's a bitter and very unsatisfying cycle. 

I want to be physically active and feel healthy EVERY DAY. I want to take care of my body. If I die young, I don't want it to be because I didn't take care of my physical health. 

For me: physical health brings mental health. When I feel good....I feel happy. It's a wonderful way to LIVE. Physical health includes feeling strong...feeling flexible...feeling mental peace. It's about eating good food, staying active, enjoying the outdoors, and having fun. 

I have been sedentary too long. I feel that drive pumping again. I want to challenge myself physically again. But this time..I don't want to stop. I want it to become a way of life. I want it to be a bigger part of who I am. I want it to be important all the time- in action, not just thought. I want to stop thinking about it and begin doing it. TODAY.

How do you drive yourself physically and what motivates you to keep going?

stuff on a friday

-I was reminded the other day, as Lindsey and I drove up to Logan to visit my mom, how much fun it used to be to loudly crunk "Get Low" with my sisters. We missed Jen though- she's really the best at it. Oh man, good times! I miss being silly with my sisters.

-Oh my gosh. I need to see Rock of Ages on Broadway!

-It's Dance Recital tonight and then again for a matinee tomorrow. We had dress rehearsal last night. A culmination of the years work-it always feels like a huge deal and then it's suddenly over. I'm not dancing this year, just making sure my 1st and 2nd grade classes (combo Jazz & Tap) get on and off the stage all night.

-Sometimes going to teach classes after I've worked a full day at the library is hard to do. But when I get to the studio and I'm greeted with little bouncing, energetic, smiley 7 year olds and I'm greet with a hug from the shy, quiet blond who never says anything in class, I'm reminded why I love teaching these kids.

-Typically my students call me Miss Kim, Teacher, Teacher Kim or just Kim but there is one girl this year who has called me Mrs. Kim all year long. It's too cute. 

-I've been dealing with some knee pain for the last few months. I know I need to see a doctor but I just keep thinking about my sister and her knee surgeries in high school. Ugh. I hope that's not what this amounts to.

-I went to a Pilates class yesterday to see if I wanted to attend it regularly. I didn't feel that the quality of the class was what I needed. Lately I've been having a hard time finding group exercise classes that are up to par- the teacher is disorganized, the level of the class is too easy, the teacher doesn't stick to actual Pilates moves, etc. It's been very frustrating. 

-We have a solitary green pepper growing in the garden. I think I took 15 pictures of it, I was so excited.

Happy Friday

Just finished...Just starting

JUST FINISHED:


Murder on the Orient Express by Agathie Christie (★★★1/2)

Read for: The Eclectic Reader Challenge
Length: 336 Pages
Filed Under: European Literature, Mystery, Crime
Setting: Yugoslavia, Orient Express Train
Most Liked Character(s): Hercules Poirot-patient & clever; 
Most Disliked Character(s):  Mrs. Caroline Martha Hubbard-loud & dramatic; Cyrus Beth Hardman-purposely slow & unhelpful
Plot: A slow time for travel, the Orient Express is unusually full on the evening that Samuel Edward Ratchett is killed in his compartment. Stabbed several times while the train is immobilized due to a snow drift, it is obvious that one of his fellow passengers is the killer. It is Hercu Poirot who must unravel the mystery.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (★★★★★)

Read for: The Dystopia Challenge
Length: 324 pages
Filed Under: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Dystopian, Young Adult, Action
Setting: North Carolina, Battle School, Fairyland/the End of the World, Command School, and the Colony
Most Like Character(s): Andrew "Ender" Wiggin-level headed & compassionate; Commander Hyrum Graff-caring & a friend
Most Disliked Character(s): Peter Wiggin- hateful & cruel
Plot: A hostile alien force has set its sights on Earth. In order to fight this enemy, the government breeds child geniuses and trains them for war. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin survives this rigorous training in Battle School and comes out way above the rest of his classmates. Is Ender the general who will lead Earth to overcome the Buggars?


A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler (★★★1/2)

Read for: The Eclectic Reader Challenge
Length: 320 pages
Filed Under: Literary Fiction
Setting: Baltimore, Philadelphia and the train in between
Most Like Character(s): Opal Gaitlin-intelligent and forgiving
Most Disliked Character(s): Mrs. Gaitlin-dwells on past mistakes and makes others feel unnecessarily guilty
Plot: A troublemaker since childhood, Barnaby Gaitlin still can't seem to grow up and enter adult life. For eleven years he's been working for Rent-A-Back helping elderly people do odd chores around their home. When he begins to have a genuine relationship with his daughter, Opal and meets and begins dating Sophia (who he thinks may be his guardian angel) he starts to realize that his life really could be more. Throughout the book, Barnaby works to regain the trust his juvenile delinquency caused people to lose in him and prove that he really is the 'good guy.'


JUST STARTING:



1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies

Length: 649 pages
Filed Under: Non-fiction, Historical
Plot: On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China. Its mission was "to proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas" and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony. When it returned in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. Lost in China's long, self-imposed isolation that followed was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America seventy years before Columbus and had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. (taken from goodreads) 

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Length: 369 pages
Filed Under:  Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Plot: Orphaned while onboard a ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family. Eventually loyalties are questioned and Lavinia finds herself in a very difficult situation. (taken from goodreads)

 Your turn: What are you reading these days? What is on your to-read list next?