what i've been reading

i have come across some real treasures lately! now that i have a kindle, as well, i am actually able to read even more. no i won't use it exclusively, but i am surprised at how wonderful it is. for those who wonder, it does actually feel like a book and the type resembles a good old-fashioned paperback.

- The Liar's Club:Mary Karr. read this in advance of daughter needing to read it as summer assignment for sophomore english. i really embraced it. this gal takes some really bad situations and mines the humor out of them in order to make herself a better person. also, i was impressed with the bravery displayed by the teachers who assigned this work. surely they got complaints?
-LIT: also by Mary Karr. 3rd in the series of her memoirs. profound, changed my life, left me a different human being.(not engaging in hyperbole)there were lessons she learned that i needed to benefit from and the time was right. plus, that title works in 3 different ways, which is also an indication of the brilliance of the book.
-Particular Sadness of lemon Cake: i wanted to like this book, after all i waited for weeks for my turn at it through the library. in a word, it was awful.
-Star Island: Carl Hiassan this is one of his novels for adults and it is just fun, plain and simple. oh, and it is also filthy.
-The Red Queen and the White Queen: both by Phillipa Gregory. She is really a master of historical fiction and in this duo she backs up a generation or two from Henry the VIII and looks at those involved in the War of the Roses. Both are as wonderful and engaging as her previous works.
-Composed: Rosanne Cash. She is a poet and a true artist with a voice independent from her famous father. i have loved her music for years and this book made me love her more.
True Porn Clerk Stories: Ali Davis Um, really a little nugget of comedic wisdom and a meditation on human sexuality, feminism, and the human condition. Ali succeeds in writing about her experiences in such an arc that each chapter contains a very satisfying pay-off. (wonder how she knew that would work?)still, not for the faint of heart!
- I Remember Nothing: Nora Ephron. If there is a writer who more deserves the mantle of Erma Bombeck for truth-telling disguised with humor, I am not sure who it might be. in this slim-volume, Nora takes on aging and how she sees herself, and others, from the vantage point of 69 years old. the writing is brief, precise, moving and truly funny, no matter what alec baldwin may post on huffpo!

things that make me go hmmm

i think that people who compromise deeply held beliefs for a short term gain, wind up without either....

the big 4-0

...and the view is quite lovely. last year i talked about how i was going to keep counting the years, and not put a "hold" on myself at 39 and i still feel that way.

my sis went out of her way to surprise me with a very big party. the setting was desert-moonlight-outdoor-under the stars-amazing, and because MA organized it, everything was pitch-perfect, in one of those, *I'll never even hope to have night like THAT* kind of ways. what an evening! lots of wonderful people, whom i love, dancing and fun. it was amazing to be in the company of so many fabulous people who "get" me and love me anyway.

thanks to all of you who lift me up in so many ways!
-peace

pausing to remember

it's about more than the WTC...don't forget the pentagon and a field in shanksville, pa...and the more than 5,000 lives that followed the tragedy of 9/11...

where i've been

...or respecting the ebb and flow...
um, i've missed this space, and have tried to get back, but life just kept standing in the way of the quiet it takes to come here.

but, i'm here now and rereading some posts i've written and smiling...just like i hit a *wall* in my running from time to time, i hit a *wall* with my writing and wanting to share.

i have a good friend who blogs as part of his job, and it becomes an exhausting demand. i once referred to it as the "beast who must be fed". however, i come here by choice...

let's catch up, old friend...
still running, only sporadically. it just doesn't fit with my level of exhaustion right now. i had planned to do my first marathon next month, but my body and mind did not handle the increase in mileage well, and i am no elite athlete, so i'll do the half and be content at being out there.

teaching- still love it. i do have to admit that doing two curriculum at one time is the thing that leaves me most drained. and, as i start a new school year, the gulf between the two grades is huge and i find myself stretched way too thin.

in addition to teaching, i was elected to serve my teachers' union. it is a really interesting learning curve and i am proud of our local chapter and how hard people work for others.

the kids are great. busy, like everyone else, but still funny and rebellious and loud, just the way i like them, even when it aggravates me.

the mister is good. new school again, and trying to find his place, but always with his students' best interests at heart and focusing on doing right by them.

all in all...things are really good!
-peace

closing out the "aughts" and welcoming 2010

this blog is about lots of different things, mostly it is about me- which is as it should be! (self-indulgence is awesome, no?)however, i don't think i need to review my year with you- you've been here all year, you know it's been kind to the mooklettes...

as a universe, i don't think the 00's have been great(unjustified war, torture, subverting the constitution, etc), and this year, in particular, has stolen a great deal of entertainers and others. so, i totally get everyone getting excited about the 10's...

in our little corner of the world, the 10's will bring a great deal of change and it is more than a little unsettling/thrilling. obviously, none of us know what is coming next, but life unfolds in some predictable patterns- sometimes...

by the time this decade is over, i will be turning 50, our kids will have gone to college and c. will be a teenager! along the way, there will be many more changes large and small to cope with.

no matter what comes down the pike, i will try to appreciate it in the moment and be thankful for the many, many blessings that come our way.

so, thank you for traveling this road with me- whether i've met you *for real* or not! i am a lucky girl looking down the long end of a new decade...
peace

grape Hi-C, pipes, beer in a goblet, and cribbage

my godfather passed away this week, and while i am joyous for him that he has found the peace that alluded him and that there was no lengthy illness, i just need to take a moment and recognize that a gigantic chapter of my life is closed.

aunt Bette and uncle Don are fixtures in my life. my mom's sis and her husband. my godparents. my faux grandparents, as i didn't really have any. unfortunately aunt bette died almost 20 years ago, and uncle don's passing bring back every bit of the anguish I feel at having lost her, too.

the thought of the house in richfield being empty after so many years makes me weep. it is the only house i have deep attachments to, as we moved homes so many times when i was young. i use to love sneaking out to the kitchen really early in the morning to have breakfast with my uncle.it was the only time i got to have grape hi-c.(the kind out of the metal can) i didn't love getting woken up early for Sunday Mass, but i did love the chocolate chip buckwheat pancakes that aunt bette made after.

then it was out to play in the back yard. if it was winter, they would rubber band bread bags to my feet to keep them dry. in warmer weather, there was a huge apple tree to explore and no fence around the yard to keep me in.

in later years, it was listening to wcco on the radio, playing cribbage and i still liked blowing out their matches from their cigarettes or from his glorious pipe- nothing smelled better than that pipe.

shortly after i started dating my husband, aunt bette passed away, but on my wedding day, i had breakfast with uncle don- just like always and he was there for visits as i started my own family. my kids remember him as the purveyor of lemon drops.

i have my godparents to thank for my love of reading, radio, erma bombeck and games, and a boundless love of a little girl.

that is what i'll remember

peace

ode to my running buddy*

...except it won't be a poem...i'm not that creative...

it has been 3 years since, in a fit of frustration at being heavy from having the baby & never having successfully run more than a block, i said i wanted to run a half-marathon.

exactly one person in the universe thought i meant it: kath.

in the time that has passed since, her faith in me has sustained me over thousands (literally) of miles, aches and pains, hitting the wall, and anytime that i lost faith in myself.

for real, she looked at me huffing & puffing away and told me i was awesome, that i could do whatever i wanted as long as just kept getting out there. on race days, she leaves me gu and gatorade, she made her hubby drive 30 mi to find body glide for me.during races, she helps keep my head in the game. when we don't run together, we text each other words of support.

most importantly, she saw in me what i certainly did not see in myself. words can really never repay my gratitude at her willingness to step up.

along the way something wonderful happened: no, it isn't all the weight i lost (i didn't) or the medals i've won (haven't- only finisher medals). it is something worth so much more and yet, invaluable at the same time: we became really good friends. we opened our hearts to each other, have seen each other at our best and worst, and talked through every single problem imaginable and laughed and laughed and laughed.

she is a gift.
- peace
*running buddy: actual person who runs with you, not the euphemism for, well, never mind...