The Hunger Games

I finally persuaded my husband to get an e-book copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for our Nooks. He's been half-disinterested in reading it. I hadn't made up my mind until I considered it for a little while. Everyone I know who has read the books--every last one of them--LOVED it. That's never happened with any book I've heard my friends speak about before. Some of them LOVED the Harry Potter series, a lot of them thought it was too shallow for them. Some of them LOVE the Dresden Files books, many are lukewarm-ish to the ones they've read. Ayn Rand, most of my friends actually really hate her books. There's a couple of people who like them. All the books we were ever assigned to read in classes. There's never once been a case where absolutely everyone agreed. But everyone I've spoken to LOVED The Hunger Games. And I finally caved in to peer pressure, and started reading the first book last night. I am currently five pages away from the end. I can honestly say, it isn't just the story line that drew me in. The story is mesmerizing, don't get me wrong, but the voice with which it's written caught me completely off guard. I enjoy first-person narratives, and particularly this one, because it's a lot less like a story and a lot more like a conversation with my sister. The one part of it my husband and I discussed was from a very early point in the book. I'd been reading a free sample, and I could only describe the author as very blunt. My husband was intrigued by one of the subtleties the author had laid for us. After talking about it for a moment, we discovered he'd used the word "subtle" to describe the same exact sentence in the book that made me call it "blunt". If that makes any sense. Anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, at least as much as one CAN enjoy a book about a post-apocalyptic fight to the death involving children. And I think it's mostly because the way Collins tells the story (through Katniss's eyes) feels so very raw. So. That's today's odd little bit of sunshine.

Memorial Day

Today's post could only have been about one thing. As I understand it, Americans have a global reputation for being greedy, slovenly, bloodthirsty, arrogant, ignorant, pretentious--the list goes on and on. And that is a pity. I have a hunch that the majority of the people who hold that opinion of our people have never been to America, or if they have, have never made it out of a major city. Or perhaps they've never met an American; or if they have, they've only met the poorest examples of Americans. So seeing these examples and saying what they do would be rather like me reading one article about a French person and calling the whole country drunken and debauched. It isn't true. I've not been to France, but it seems like it would be a lovely country with wonderful traditions, and I'd love to have the opportunity to see it someday. But this country I know a little something about. And I've met many examples of greed, and laziness, and arrogance. But I've met far more people who are generous. Helpful. Humble. Innovative. Intelligent. Open-minded. I've seen volunteers who feed the hungry on a regular basis, because it's the right thing to do. Many of my friends speak at least three languages. (Personally, I will confess that I am no longer fluent in Spanish, and I speak just barely enough Japanese to get myself into trouble.) As a student at a STEM-focused university, I met extremely intelligent students with invention ideas that, should they come to fruition, will change the world. American researchers have made great inroads into scientific discoveries. I wish the world could see these examples. I'm not sure when opinions about America and her citizens took such a hard left turn, but it pains me to see it, because I love this country. We are ultimately blessed to have things like clean water, access to fresh food, the right to voice our opinions, choose our own church, go where we want whenever we want...the list, again, goes on and on. And a large number of these things we would not have today were it not for the bravery of our soldiers who have fought to keep our land safe. Starting today, I renew my promise to not take these things for granted.

Sunday Fun

So I mentioned that, every once in a while, my daily drop of sunshine would be something personal. And today is one of those days. After lunch today, we took the kids to the public pool for a couple hours. The local public pool is actually a really nice one. It was very warm today, and surprisingly enough, the pool was not really all that busy. We had plenty of space to play. I spent the entire time up at the toddler pool with A2. My husband was down at the main pool with A1 for most of the time. They had a lot of fun and got a bit sunburned (but mostly they're okay, which is saying a lot for two kids of Scandinavian descent on a bright day), and played and played and played. Afterward, I asked my husband if he wanted to go anywhere else...and he said no, until I mentioned the idea of ice cream. :) So we went to Dairy Queen, and got some treats. I got the kids chocolate malts--partially because I thought they would enjoy them, but mostly because they'd have lids and straws and let's face it, they're messy critters. On the way home, A2's cup started to tip over. She righted it, then started to lick a dribble of chocolate from her hand. And as she stuck her tongue out and put her hand to her mouth--she slowed down, her eyes dropped shut and she fell asleep. With her hand in midair and her tongue hanging out. We all enjoyed a good laugh there. Anywho, they also wore themselves out enough that they're good and asleep now. And probably will be all night. :)

how do you choose a favorite charity?

I had the best problem the other day. One of the newsletters I subscribe to is Tastelite. Every time he gets ready to leave for a cooking gig (he's a yacht chef), he starts a contest that he calls ”Where in the World is Chef Jeff”. We get one clue. This time, my guess was San Diego. My prize was $100 donated to my favorite charity. It's tough to choose one! I could have chosen something related to my sorority, because our centennial Convention is fast approaching. Or to veterans, because I believe that our country has a responsibility to care for the people who have fought for our freedom. Or to breast cancer, because my mother's birthday is also fast approaching and she would have been 59 this year. Or any number of things. It's tough to choose, because there are so many things that mean a great deal to me. I eventually asked that the money be given to St. Jude Children's Hospital, because what they do there is amazing and well worth supporting. This is the best problem to have, and I'm grateful it was one I had.

I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win.

It's nerd time!

One of my friends pointed out that the original Star Wars film debuted in theaters 35 years ago today.  I was not there--I was still four years away from being born, so I have an excuse.

Since then, being a Star Wars nerd has kind of turned into one of my defining characteristics.  I didn't realize it until one Thanksgiving when we were at my parents' house, and my husband and father were discussing something.  I rounded the corner in time to hear my husband say, "Barbara will know, she's a Star Wars nerd!  Who was it that played Obi-Wan?"

My response was, "Okay, first of all, I am NOT a Star Wars nerd, and second of all, it was Sir Alec Guinness."

Mom laughed so hard she snorted.  Which got us all laughing.

But it's true, and it makes me happy.  I love most everything about the series.  My favorite movie is The Empire Strikes Back, and I actually don't hate the most recent movies like everyone else seems to.  They aren't the best, but I definitely enjoyed the stories.  If they could be done over again with a different cast, they'd be far better.

I'm off to start watching the series again.  See you all tomorrow.

removing Jello stains

I can't speak for other people.  But some days, my daughter's clothing is a good introduction to her...

"HI!  Today I had a cold but I also ate a hot dog and some jello and some chocolate milk and played in the grass and scraped my elbow and accidentally got into the brown sugar and crawled under my bed and I like to draw!"

Today, it was the jello one that had me really freaked out.

She was wearing one of her favorite shirts today--my husband got it for her during his last business trip to California.  It has his company's logo on it, along with Elmo.

Usually, if she's going to be eating something messy, I'll take her shirt off of her before she starts eating, because she is NOT a neat eater.  Especially with Jello.  ESPECIALLY with raspberry Jello.

And I did.  And she still managed to get stains everywhere.

So I tried everyone's favorite quick stain remover, in a modified version.  I made a thin paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and dabbed it on her shirt.  A few minutes later, I rinsed it off...and now I think I'm gonna have to soak her whole shirt in a solution like this, because WHOA it removed stains I could not even see.

Wonder if this will work on the carpet where she dropped a big blob of it.

Remind me, why do I feed her Jello at all? Oh, right, because they love it and because it's summer....

Super pretty magnet time!

So remember the magnets I had holding up the Summer Cricut sign a few posts ago?

I made more today as an end-of-year gift for my son's teacher.  And here is the tutorial!

I found this idea originally on Pinterest.  It is super easy, super fun, and super cute.

First up, assemble your supplies.  You will need:

(please ignore my daughter's lunch at the edge there.)

• some scissors
• a pencil
• a sheet of scrapbook paper that you like
• a bag of large clear flat glass stones (available in the floral area of your craft store)
• a tube of E-6000 glue
• a glue gun
• some good strong magnets (the magnets I have pictured are ideal for this--strong enough to hold something to the refrigerator, but not so strong as to rip works of art)
• a nice cup of tea

Trace the stones onto the paper.  I would suggest doing a few at a time--they aren't uniform in size or shape, so that kinda makes this step a tedious one.

Cut the circles out.  Put a glob of E-6000 on one of the stones, squish its paper circle onto the glue.  Repeat for all the stones.

While those dry, enjoy your tea.  You've earned it.  :)

Break out your glue gun, put a dab of hot glue on the back of the paper, and add a magnet.  Once again, repeat for all the stones.  (Realistically, you can use whatever kind of adhesive you think will work best here.  I used Krazy Glue on these--I don't recommend it.  It leaves a dark-ish spot on the other side of the paper that you can see through the magnets.)

And...that's it.  You're all set!

I'd post a picture of the finished product, but I haven't figured out the packaging yet (and I can't find my real camera--had to use my phone for the one I got).  Hopefully tomorrow?