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Books

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Visiting the Old Familiar

February 1, 2012 2 Comments by bekahcubed

Following directly on the heels of Carrie’s L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge, it’s time to kick off Barbara’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge.

The first books that I remember reading independently were Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” books. I remember passing our blue covered paperbacks back and forth through the thin shaft of light that crept in through the cracked bedroom door after light’s out, dying to see what would happen next–or eager to savor again what I knew was coming.

My favorite books were Farmer Boy and The Long Winter—Farmer Boy for its put-an-ache-in-your-belly descriptions of food and its detailed depictions of day-to-day, mostly-self-sufficient farming; The Long Winter for its tale of perseverance in the face of adversity.

Farmer Boy was probably responsible for my early-teen obsession with back-to-the-land homesteading—an interest that had me checking endless 1970s tomes out of my local library. I studied animal husbandry, gardening, small farm machinery, candlemaking, soap making, fabric weaving. I was ecstatic when my high school organic chemistry class had me dyeing wool with homemade herb-based dyes—just like in Farmer Boy.

One of my favorite games during the height of my “Little House” passion was taken from the title of the first chapter of The Long Winter. “Make hay while the sun shines,” I would proclaim as I hurriedly raked the lawn and bundled up leaves.

Pa and Laura said those words in jest, never knowing how prophetic they would be. I did my personal haying in full awareness of the long winter that was coming.

I dreamed of my full larder being salvation for a needy family, just as Almanzo Wilder’s seed wheat provided food for the starving Ingalls family.

But just because Farmer Boy and The Long Winter were my favorite books didn’t mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy the others or draw useful bits from each. No, the whole series would come to color my activities, dreams, and plans.

This month, I plan to read through at least Little House in the Big Woods (if not a couple more of the series), sharing my childhood remembrances and my current day realizations as I read. And I plan on doing something from the book.

If I have lists of every item mentioned in the “Anne” books (which I do), I also have lists of every “skill” mentioned in the “Little House” books. Buttermaking. Pig Butchering. Rifle Loading. Onion braiding. Cheesemaking. Jack-frost-picture-playing. If it happened in the Little House books, I have it on my list–and I’ve wanted to do it for practically forever.

I’m not sure which of the many options I’ll take this month. Will I make molasses candy in a frypan of fresh-fallen snow? Will I make butter and color it orange with a carrot? Will I try whittling a whatnot like Pa did? Maybe I’ll make a rag doll or a needle book. Maybe I’ll have my sister-out-law teach me how to play the fiddle. I don’t know–but I’m eager to find out during this Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge!

Books

L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge Wrap Up

January 1, 2015January 31, 2012 9 Comments by bekahcubed

Does anyone else accidentally call this the “Anne of Green Gables Challenge”?

I know that L.M. Montgomery has written other things. I’ve read those other things (all that my library owns, at least). But “Anne” will still (and always) be my favorite and the first to pop into my mind when L.M. Montgomery is mentioned.

And so, this year, I read Anne. Anne 1 and Anne 2, otherwise known as Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea.

I wrote a few posts with quotes as I went:

On Taking Risks
Regarding Bedrooms
On Contentment

Addie doll with carpetbag

And I made one more piece for my small collection of Anne paraphernalia.

This year, though, I’m doing something special. I’m making a second of this lovely carpet bag to share with ONE OF YOU!

Addie doll with carpetbag

That’s right. I’m giving one of these away.

If you want to win, simply post a comment below. I’ll be keeping the comments open until February 10 (because surely I’m not the only one who sometimes takes FOREVER to get around to all the link-ups in a challenge like this!) and will draw a name from among the commenters on the tenth.

So now, get commenting–and get yourself over to Carrie’s L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge page to see what others did for the challenge!

The Week in Words

WiW: Scared to Pray

January 30, 2012 4 Comments by bekahcubed

Have you ever been afraid to pray?

“I turn the pages a my prayer book to see who I got tonight. A few time this week, I thought about maybe putting Miss Skeeter on my list. I’m not real sure why….

The thing is though, if I start praying for Miss Skeeter, I know that conversation gone continue the next time I see her. And the next and the next. Cause that’s the way prayer do. It’s like electricity, it keeps things going.”

~Aibileen, from The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I’ve been scared to pray.

Scared to pray because I know that God will expose my evil intentions. Scared to pray because I know God will judge my unrepentant heart. Scared to pray because I know that God will call me to act.

Prayer is a scary prospect.

It’s coming face to face with the Holy King of the universe.

It changes us. It changes circumstances.

It changes things the way God wants them instead of the way we want them.

It’s absolutely terrifying.

But if prayer is like electricity, an unpraying Christian is like an unplugged lamp–decorative but useless.

Lord, I’m scared, but I’m gonna choose to pray anyway.

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

2012

2012: Week 4

January 29, 2012 4 Comments by bekahcubed

Wear a scarf in a Chain Knot
Wear an Upside-Down Smokey Eye
Teach Hosea and Joel
Become a member of my church
Make Summer in the Winter cobbler
Play Skip-bo

First Row: Chain Knotted Scarf (90) and Reverse Smokey Eye (91), New Jewelry Organizer (104)
Second Row: Summer in the Winter Cobbler (94)

Listen to Straight Thinking Podcast #142-Did God Create the Universe? Part 3
Listen to Straight Thinking Podcast #143-Truthers Steal Al Qaeda’s Thunder
Stay overnight at work
Survive state survey at Facility #1
Listen to Straight Thinking Podcast #144-The Devil’s Weapon #1: Pascal on Indifference
Listen to Straight Thinking Podcast #145-The Devil’s Weapon #2: Pascal on Diversion

My ear being pierced (108), My ear once it’s pierced (108)

Make Apple Cranberry Oven Pancake
Remove The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks from my TBR list
Make a new jewelry organizer
Remove The Help from my TBR list
Watch Courageous
Get a flag for in front of the house

First Row: Shelf in Garage (108), Rolled Paper Snowflake (112)
Second Row: Rolled Snowflake Ornaments (113), New Flag (107)

Assemble shelving unit for garage
Post a “Sleep” themed Flashback
Pierce my ears
Spend face-to-face time with Anna
Make a Rolled Paper Snowflake
Make a rolled paper snowflake ornament (Cheating? Probably. But I don’t care.)

Flashback Friday

Flashback: Counting Sleep

January 27, 2012 1 Comment by bekahcubed

Prompt #4: “Where is the most unusual place you’ve slept? Do you sprawl out or curl up when you sleep? Do you snore, talk in your sleep, or sleepwalk?”

How many odd ways have I slept?

Let me count the ways:

On the floor of the nursery, not long after falling off the changing table. I couldn’t be awakened. My mom was terrified. Nothing was wrong. I was just tired.
In the closet of my childhood bedroom, on top of a foot-thick pile of dirty laundry. I got tired of my sister tickling or kicking me out of our shared full bed–and moved into the closet.
On my mom’s swing out back, having fallen asleep with a book in late evening only to be locked out at night.
On a bench seat in my parent’s van after having been locked out at night.
Draped over the console in my car, taking a catnap halfway through my commute because I’m terrified of falling asleep while driving.
On an office floor after a long night of cleaning.
In my car with my seat stretched as far back as it would go and a blanket tucked closely around me so I wouldn’t freeze. This was out of desperation after I DID fall asleep while driving.

In normal life, I sleep in a bed, on my right side with my right arm tucked under my head, a thin pillow folded in half (to give it body) between arm and head. If it’s cold (and sometimes if it’s not), I’ll bring my left arm over in front of my face and under my pillow too. My knees are bent and I bring my left leg further over than my right, so that my spine is in a twist–sort of like that one spinal stretch where you’re on your back and your knees are on the side, except my shoulders are perpendicular to the bed, while my pelvis is almost parallel. Someday I’m going to destroy my back sleeping that way, but no matter how hard I try to break myself of the habit, it never lasts.

I’m not a consistent snorer, sleeptalker, or sleepwalker. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t done any of the above.

Apparently I spoke and walked in my sleep on my first trip to Mexico. I have no memory of the event–and my memory of what I was told I did and said is also vague. Sorry.

Less vague is the story of Rebekah the snorer.

Most of my family has nasal allergies of one sort or the other, and snore on one occasion or another. I am no exception. But I’ve never been told that I’m a consistent snorer.

My dad, on the other hand…

As the story goes, my sisters were enjoying a book on the lower level of our bunk-bed, I was sleeping peacefully in the upper level, and my dad was sawing logs in the room above.

I let out a single loud snore.

Dad startled, causing a sudden break in his snoring pattern. The girls heard his sleepy exclamation: “Huh? Wha? What’s that?”

Yep, that’s me. The snorer. Totally waking up the whole house.

Or something.

Flashback Friday

Flashback Prompt: Sleeping Arrangements

January 26, 2012 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

I’m not going to lie. I’ve had some strange sleeping arrangements this week–and my sleeping habits are all out of whack. Which makes it a perfect time to move from my childhood bedroom to sleep.

Tomorrow’s prompt:

“Where is the most unusual place you’ve slept? Do you sprawl out or curl up when you sleep? Do you snore, talk in your sleep, or sleepwalk?”

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Done

January 26, 2012 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

Is anyone else sick and tired of hearing me talk about “state”?

Heaven knows I’m tired of talking about state.

But, in God’s great mercy, they are gone.

This first survey of the year is done.

This week I’m thankful…

…for state’s Fridays off
Yes, state takes Fridays off. Every Friday off. Do I mind? Sometimes. When I need a day to make sure I don’t get too terribly behind in my other buildings? Not at all.

…for a great play to see on Friday Night
Joshua performed the part of the guard in The Lincoln Community Playhouse’s “Twelve Angry Men.” It was a great show, very well-performed. If you’re in or around Lincoln, I recommend getting tickets–they’re playing again this weekend.

…for time with my brother(s)
I had a great time shopping with Tim (brother) and Steve (almost brother) this weekend–and taking them to The Egg and I to thank them for helping me pick out a tv.

…for kids paying attention
My Sunday School class has an on-again-off-again attention span. What with how tired I was this week, I was immensely grateful that this was one of their “on” weeks.

…for lunch with friends after church
Is it ridiculous to say that I’m people-starved when I only had four days out of town last week? Nevertheless, I felt like I hadn’t seen my peeps for forEVER. So I’m thankful for a great time after church with Anna, Ruth, Beth, Jon, and Kathy. (And appreciative for their humoring me with a game of Skip-Bo.)

…for a razor blade
Let’s just say that I spent some quantity time with a razor blade–leaving me with little time or quality for sleep that night. But trying to do the job without a razor blade? I can’t even imagine.

…for abundant mercies on the road
I probably should have gotten a hotel for an extra night, but I didn’t. I fell asleep on my drive home. No persons or objects were harmed. I am overwhelmingly thankful.

…for a day of catch up
I’m working from home today, allowing me to catch up on some vital at-home activities (can anyone say, “Thank you, Lord, for clean underwear?)

The other catch up isn’t quite so easy–catching up on work, sleep, housework, homework (for my systematic theology class), and relationships.

But at least state is finally done.

…that 2000 years ago, Jesus shouted “Done” and died
His “done” like my state “done” didn’t mean there wasn’t still more to come. But it was the down payment on the house, the signing of closing papers, the transfer of the deed. Jesus’ “done” is what gives me the strength to keep going.

Everyday Life

A Classy Guest

January 25, 2012 3 Comments by bekahcubed

It’s been over five years since my stint as a hotel housekeeper, and most of the lessons I learned have faded from my memory.

Such is the nature of memory, even in one as young as I.

Blogging station in hotel

But a few nights spent in a hotel during state survey are enough to bring back a few notes I’d filed away in my mind from my housekeeping days.

Particularly, notes on what makes for a classy guest.

Personal belongings

A classy guest, you see, makes herself at home in her hotel room–but not too at home. She hangs her clothing in the closet, leaves her toiletries beside the sink, sets her Bible beside her bed, and maybe has a pillow or blanket of her own laying across her bed. She does not trash the room, leave her personal belongings strewn across the floor, or cover all available surfaces with half empty food and beverage containers.

?Clothes in hotel closet

A classy guest takes advantage of amenities–but does not abuse them. She acknowledges the pretty bottles of shampoo and conditioner, uses them while showering, and leaves them in the shower for the next day. Should she end up with a partially used bottle, she’ll tuck it in her bag, but she’ll never systematically empty the room of amenities every day, hoping that the housekeeper will refresh them. She might take home a bottle or two, but never seven sets of bottles.

Sewing basket by hotel chair

A classy guest honors the hotel’s property enough to leave her luggage on a luggage rack rather than hoisting it onto the bed where it’ll destroy the mattresses lifespan. She has a sense of fitness and chooses to put things where they belong instead of dropping them willy-nilly wherever they fall.

Luggage rack

A classy guest leaves the bed looking slept in, but neat. She understands that the housekeeping staff are going to make assumptions about who she is and what she does, but she isn’t keen on revealing secrets to the staff. If wild midnight romps occurred here, she’s not sharing–which the staff certainly appreciate. On the other hand, she recognizes that the staff make beds for a living–and she isn’t going to try to make the bed just for them to remake it every day.

Personal belongings on hotel bed

A classy guest leaves a kind note or a tip (or both) for her housekeepers. It needn’t be much–although coins are not particularly appreciated unless accompanied by a handwritten note from a child. Most housekeepers are raising their families on meager incomes, struggling to make do in a nation whose language is not their native tongue and whose customs are not their own. Some are refugees, some the more “ordinary” immigrants, others are honest but less-educated natives. Either way, they can use a kind word and a couple dollars to ease their monotonous days.

Tip at a hotel

Does anyone else have any hotel experience? Do you have any pointers to add?

What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (January 2012)

January 24, 2012 10 Comments by bekahcubed

Sigh. Here I go again, almost missing a Nightstand. But I suppose this time it’s justified since state left my facility last night and I got 3 hours of sleep on an office floor the night before. Apparently I needed sleep more than making sure my Nightstand post was ready to go.

What I read as of the 15th (when I last updated this post):

Adult Fiction

Dana’s Valley by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan
It took me a bit to get into this book about a young girl whose sister is battling an unknown disease (well, unknown at the beginning.) Once I got into it, I was hooked and I cried and cried. This book marks the close of my reading of Janette Oke at Eiseley library (except, of course, for books co-written with others and cataloged under their names.)
Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner
I put this on my TBR list after reading Barbara’s review–but had forgotten what it was about by the time I got it out of the library. I wasn’t disappointed though–this was a lovely tale of two women, Lady Jane Grey and a modern day Jane, dealing with very different life circumstances, but coming to similar conclusions. A great pick for lovers of historical and/or Christian fiction.

Adult Non-fiction

The Dangerous Book for Dogs by Rex and Sparky
A hilarious parody of The Dangerous Book for Boys (which is, by the way, a great book), The Dangerous Book for Dogs includes everything a young dog needs to know to be a REAL dog–including how to break up a dinner party, the meaning of the most common chase dreams, and a record of the experiments Alexei and Sergei (two Russian scientific dogs) performed on Ivan Pavlov. (More extensive review here)
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
A fascinating look at everyday life through the lens of economics. Except that economics seems a weird way to describe it. (Sort of like using the term “home economics” to refer to cooking class or sewing.) Actually, this is more about analyzing (sometimes disparate) data in unique ways. The authors ask sometimes bizzare, sometimes straightforward questions like “What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?” (exploring incentives and cheating), “Where have all the criminal gone?” (actually, they’re dead), and “Would a Roshanda by any other name smell as sweet?” (how names make their way through society–and reflect ones’ social stratum).
It Looked Different on the Model by Laurie Notaro
Very funny. Clothes you try on but can’t get off, awkward neighborhood parties, feeling like a child when you go back to your parents’ house. Everywoman’s story, except to the nth degree. (More extensive review here)
Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! by Scott Adams
Yeah, I pretty much wish the author had taken the helpful advice he ignored (the title of the book.) I just didn’t think it was that funny. (More extensive review here)

Juvenile Fiction

Behind the Curtain by Peter Abrahams
Second of the Echo Falls Mysteries (I’d already read one and two.) Generally good, not too suspenseful, but enough. A good transition, I think, from the Nancy Drew-type mysteries to adult mysteries or psychological thrillers.
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
A Cybils nominee (in YA fiction) that didn’t make it to finalist. Boy at boarding school borrows from Moby Dick while journaling his story. He watched his best friend die. He ran. He might have been responsible. He certainly feels responsible. But then another friend makes a plan and the (female) teacher he has a crush on pays him special attention (because she knows he’s not telling something about how his friend died? because she likes him back? he doesn’t know.) It’s a pretty good story, but has a lot of YA-y material (homosexuality, masturbation, and sexual fantasies are all addressed/included at length.)
The Secret of Pirates’ Hill by Franklin W. Dixon
Young Cam Jansen and the Dinosaur Game
Young Cam Jansen and the Double Beach Mystery
9 Children’s picture books

Juvenile Non-Fiction

Brave Deeds: How One Family Saved Many from the Nazis by Ann Alma

Rescuers defying the Nazis by Toby Axelrod
1 book about math

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

The Week in Words

WiW: Anne on Contentment

January 23, 2012 3 Comments by bekahcubed

I thought that the quotes I had flagged in my copies of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea were to no purpose. But now that I’ve got them written on the same page, I see they have a theme after all: Contentment.

“The ice cream was delicious, Marilla, and it was so lovely and dissipated to be sitting there eating it at eleven o’clock at night. Diana said she believed she was born for city life. Miss Barry asked me what my opinion was, but I said I would have to think it over very seriously before I could tell her what I really though. So I thought it over after I went to bed. That is the best time to think things out. And I came to the conclusion, Marilla, that I wasn’t born for city life and that I was glad of it. It’s nice to be eating ice cream at brilliant restaurants at eleven o’clock at night once in awhile; but as a regular thing I’d rather be in the east gable at eleven, sound asleep, but kind of knowing even in my sleep that the stars were shining outside and that the wind was blowing in the firs across the brook.”

~Anne Shirley, in Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I think I agree. I do so love having a variety of experiences–but for everyday life, I’d really much rather be Rebekah of the House of Dreams, watching the sun sink over the lake and then slipping into sleep myself in my own bed.

“Did you see all the diamonds those ladies wore?” sighed Jane. “They were simply dazzling. Wouldn’t you just love to be rich, girls?”

“We are rich,” said Anne staunchly. “Why we have sixteen years to our credit, and we’re happy as queens, and we’ve all got imaginations, more or less….You wouldn’t change into any of those women if you could. Would you want to be that white lace girl and wear a sour look all your life, as if you’d been born turning up your nose at the world? Or the pink lady, kind and nice as she is, so stout and short that you’d really no figure at all? Or even Mrs. Evans, with that sad, sad look in her eyes? She must have been dreadfully unhappy sometime to have such a look. You know you wouldn’t, Jane Andrews!”

“I don’t know–exactly,” said Jane unconvinced. “I think diamonds would comfort a person for a good deal.”

“Well, I don’t want to be any one but myself, even if I go uncomforted by diamonds all my life,” declared Anne. “I’m quite content to be Anne of Green Gables, with my string of pearl beads. I know Matthew gave me as much love with them as ever went with Madame the Pink Lady’s jewels.”

~Anne and Jane, after the Hotel Concert, from Anne of Green Gables

I can sympathize with Jane’s feeling that diamonds must be comforting. I’ve felt that way about wealth myself. I’ve imagined myself not having to work for a living, able to devote myself to the various and sundry interests and cause I care about. But I must come to Anne’s conclusion: I’m quite content to be Rebekah Menter, RD, working-girl. This is a good life that God has made for me, and I am content to be here.

“Do you think you will ever go to college?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Anne looked dreamily afar to the opal-tinted horizon. “Marilla’s eyes will never be much better than they are now, although we are so thankful to think that they will not get worse. And then there are the twins….somehow I don’t believe their uncle will ever really send for them. Perhaps college may be around the bend in the road, but I haven’t gotten to the bend yet and I don’t think much about it lest I might grow discontented.”

“Well, I should like to see you go to college, Anne; but if you never do, don’t be discontented about it. We make our own lives wherever we are, after all…college can only help us to do it more easily. They are broad or narrow according to what we put into them, not what we get out. Life is rich and full here…everywhere…if we can only learn how to open our whole hearts to its richness and fulness.”

~A conversation between Anne and Mrs. Allan in Anne of Avonlea

I love Mrs. Allan’s dreams for Anne, and how these dreams remind me of the many women I love so much who have encouraged me so much.

“I would like to see you go to college,” Mrs. Allan says, but I should best like that you would be content wherever you are.

In the same way, I feel the blessing and encouragement of dozens of women whenever we speak of my dreams (and even when we don’t speak of them.)

“I would like to see you in your own home, married with children,” they say, “but I would like best to see you content wherever you are.”

And by the grace of God, I am and shall be.

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week–and Carrie’s L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge to see what everyone else is working on.