Just what I needed

When we left for Portland on Friday afternoon I was having serious doubts about our decision to get away for a weekend. It was snowing, Little Dude spent most of the car ride picking off his band-aids and complaining about owie fingers, and what should have been a three hour trip turned into six thanks to a major traffic jam and a very slow waitress at Shari's. But our usage of a Shari's coupon paid off after we got to our friends' home and broke out our free marionberry pie. It gave us the fuel we needed to stay up until two thirty in the morning talking. Yes, four responsible adults who knew that there were six kids in the house all primed and ready to wake up at seven threw caution to the wind and stayed up insanely late. Then we spent all of Saturday in our pajamas ignoring the kids and talking some more. We even ate the rest of our pie while they were in the other room watching a movie. It was a blast.

I'm glad we took this little break since I'm heading off tomorrow to take the kids to Vegas by myself and I know it won't be that kind of a vacation. We spent Friday night and Saturday with our friends, then headed into the city Sunday morning to hang out with my sister for the morning. After brunch (more impossibly slow service--don't servers realize a toddler in a restaurant is a ticking time bomb?), Mr. Fob and the kids drove home and I got to hang out with my sister. We spent the rest of Sunday talking, eating raspberries and cream, eating chocolate covered almonds, and watching Once. Then today we ate breakfast here (chocolate croissant), lunch here (caprese panino with basil, tomato, and mozzarella), bought way too many books here, and then I rode the train home. It was fabulous.

Also this morning I went to a Jeopardy! tryout (yes, I have done this before). And I'm back in the contestant pool for another eighteen months, so keep your fingers crossed that I'll be on television sometime soon. The tryout was a lot of fun, but I can't say much about it because they like to keep their secrets. So the verdict is that I just had one of the most fun vacations I've had in a long time. I just need good friends to talk with, good food, and intellectual stimulation. And apparently only a little bit of sleep.

Bad Mommy

So I was going to write a somewhat humorous post about the "bad mommy" I am sometimes. The kids didn't have Easter baskets so I just gave them each a paper bag to take to the egg hunt on Saturday. And I didn't buy them any Easter candy or tell them about the Easter bunny, but on Monday morning I bought Mr. Fob and I several bags at the clearance sale over at the drugstore. So I've been eating candy all week and reading all my friends' posts about the wonderful, generous things they bought their kids for Easter.

But then this afternoon I had one of those sad moments where I really did (and do) feel like a bad mom. When I get ready for work in the afternoon I've gotten in the habit of plugging in my curling iron in the bathroom, shutting the door, and going in my room to change while it heats up. So far my carelessness has worked out fine because usually the kids are in the other room watching TV and Little Dude doesn't know how to open doors yet. By now I'm sure you can tell where this is going. This afternoon S-Boogie had a friend over playing and they decided that Little Dude was the "bad guy" who needed to be shut in the bathroom. I was in the bedroom with the door closed and Mr. Fob was in the living room, so before we realized it Little Dude had grabbed the hot iron with his little hand. I feel so, so bad. Especially since I had to run off to class to give a final shortly after it happened. Apparently he spent much of the evening crying and holding up his little hand, hoping someone could make it better (thankfully Daddy figured out that keeping it in a glass of cold water helps). Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow and I will be too. I hate knowing that my carelessness hurt my sweet little guy like that.

Our vegetarian Easter feast

I really love to cook, and I especially love to cook for the holidays. For me one of the things that makes a day special is a tasty home-cooked meal spent with those you love. This year I really thought hard about what to eat for Easter. We both love ham, but we're trying to move away from commercially processed meat.( Plus it was only us and the kids, so I didn't feel like making a ham just for four people and I just did ham for Christmas). But then I found a cool recipe in The Joy of Cooking for "baked stuffed eggs". Basically you just make a white sauce, make deviled eggs using a few spoonfuls of the white sauce in place of the mayonnaise, and then bake the eggs in a pan with the rest of the sauce poured over them. I thought it was pretty tasty, although I think next time I would like to add some fresh herbs and perhaps some sauteed onion to the sauce. We also had roasted asparagus, a fruity jello with strawberries and pineapple, and rolls (shaped like bunnies). S-Boogie ate up all of her food and was very impressed with her bunny roll. I was worried that she'd be traumatized by eating the Easter eggs she'd just dyed, but she thought that was cool.

For dessert we had Easter basket cupcakes. I actually made them because I had to contribute a dessert to a dinner our ward was sponsoring over at the Ronald McDonald House and cupcakes seemed like a fun idea. They weren't spectacular in taste, but they were certainly festive and the kids enjoyed them. S-Boogie ate everything except the frosting and coconut and Little Dude only ate the frosting and coconut from his. Kids can be so weird.

We did have a somewhat spiritual Family Home Evening between dinner and dessert. S-Boogie can remember a number of details about the Easter story, although when we told her the picture was a tomb not a cave she retorted "well, I call it a cave". She also made up a song about the Easter Bunny when I said I didn't know one. I did take pictures of our egg hunt experience on Saturday and their new Easter clothes; they're on the kids' blog. If you want to know where to find it, just email me.

Happy Easter

One day when I was still a relatively new missionary we stopped by a member's home for some reason. Her neighbor was visiting, so we talked with her for a while about our missions and about the church. She said something to us that I had heard before from people, but the pain on her face as she spoke has really stuck in my mind. She told us that she could never talk to God or feel good about herself because she was such an abject sinner. After all, when God came to the Earth we rejected him and crucified him instead of worshiping him. Having grown up in the Church, I had never looked at Christ's life in that way before. I had been raised with the idea that Christ voluntarily gave his life for us; even though the crucifixion was horrible, it was part of the plan and it allowed us the opportunity to return to God. I've often thought about this woman and wished I could somehow give her more of the feeling of hope that I have in the love of God for me and for all of us as His children. Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays because we celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus. I'm grateful today to remember Him once again and to feel his love for me and for all of us.

Humility sure costs a lot

I got my driver's license when I was nearly seventeen, and I really didn't want it. For a number of years I was slow, cautious driver because driving totally freaked me out. It also didn't help that I was car-less for three years of college and the another nearly two years for a mission. In the past I would have characterized myself as a reluctant, law-abiding driver. Unfortunately my greater familiarity with driving over the last few years has given me a new level of confidence. I've become an impatient speed demon at times, especially when I am tired or stressed.

I also have an irrational phobia of running out of gas. Our car has a little light that comes on telling us to "check gages" when it hits empty. As Mr. Fob constantly reassures me, there are usually still at least three gallons left, but the little red light on the dashboard combined with the "E" sends me into a state of panic every time. Tonight the light came on shortly after I got on the highway to come home. I kept trying to reassure myself that I only had about 15 miles to go, so I would be fine. Plus the highway is not an easy one to get on and off of. I've made the mistake before of trying to get off for gas only to find myself wandering around lost somewhere in Bellevue in the dark. So I spent a long time debating with myself while trying to ignore the light on my dashboard. Finally the phobia got the best of me and I got off on the last exit before the bridge. It's really the bridge's fault; I have to cross a bridge that is very narrow and it would be horrible to run out of gas in the middle of the bridge. And my cell phone had died and was in the middle of being charged by the car. So I made the mistake of getting off the highway. Sure enough, I soon found myself on a dark street in a very hoity toity neighborhood with no signs of civilization anywhere nearby. The street was fairly wide and I started speeding up and down the hills. Yes, I allowed myself to go much faster than the posted limit of only 25 (which I think is totally stupid, by the way). And yes, I got pulled over.

The police officer was very nice, and I'm sort of glad he was able to help me out because otherwise I probably would have run out of gas while wandering around in the dark. But I really didn't not appreciate getting a ticket for $150 (he clocked me at 37). Like I have that kind of money just sitting around to throw at the traffic court. So now that I have a lovely moving violation on my record and an empty bank account I guess it's time to start being more humble about my driving.

High on a Bargain

I know I've posted some grocery shopping tips on here before and I feel like I spend way too much time on my blog bragging about shopping, but I love saving money and I love food! I have really gotten into stocking up my pantry and saving money, so I get excited when I can do that. Today I went to the grocery store and managed to save 35 dollars while spending 40. I love it when I do that. First of all, I've recently realized (duh) that many dairy products like cream cheese and sour cream are sold at least a month or so before their expiration dates. So now when I see them on sale, I buy a few packages and just keep them in my fridge for when I need them. For example, I've decided that I really like Daisy sour cream since it has no additives. Our store had it on sale for $1.50 off the regular price, so I grabbed three containers this week. Same thing with cream cheese; I'd rather buy a few bricks while it's only a dollar each than suddenly need it and have to pay $3.00. Today I was most excited about the fact that the store had five-pound bags of flour on sale for $1.00 each. I totally stocked up; now if there's some kind of disaster I'm ready with flour and cream cheese. Oh, and coconut. It was also a dollar a bag and I like to use it in granola or cookies. The coconut is a good example of how you don't have to buy tons of one product to stock up. I often think of stocking my pantry as spending lots of money for mass quantities of food. But things like coconut or chocolate chips don't used up that frequently. Even still, spending four dollars for four bags that will last about six months is a great idea. Also, if you are patient, most things eventually go on sale. Our store seems to rotate which brands of dairy products are on sale and so every few weeks I can count on the brand I like being available for cheap. I'm almost embarrassed to post my most exciting bargain. As I was leaving, I noticed a cart full of discontinued health and beauty items that were all one dollar. I found a tube of my favorite toothpaste, and then I found a package of Monistat cream. I know, that's kind of gross. But it usually costs ten dollars and I got it for one dollar. It doesn't expire until next September and knowing my body, chances are good that I'm going to need it. Don't worry, I won't tell you about it when I do. I'll just gloat over the fact that I got it at such a deal and that it's waiting in my house for that awful moment late at night when you realize you need to run to the drugstore and cough up insane amounts of money to feel better.

For Your Information

I finally got my rejection letter from Berkeley today. So it ends up that I only got into one of the three schools I applied to. I will admit a tiny bit of wounded pride over the fact that I don't have people fighting over my brilliance, but I'm glad that we have the opportunity to go to Davis. It really seems like a good fit for our family. Now we just need to figure out what we're going to do this summer when we're both unemployed. Maybe we should join the circus.

A Sense of Place

The other day at the grocery store I bought two containers of strawberries. I always check the label to see if they are from Oxnard, CA; this time there were two options, and I chose the Oxnard berries. Purely sentimental reasons. We moved to little Port Hueneme, CA (which is surrounded by Oxnard) when I was in fifth grade and stayed through the summer before my final year of high school. The smell of strawberries reminds me of the fields surrounding town, not just of strawberries, but onions, broccoli, lettuce, celery, and other vegetables. The drive to the stake center in a neighboring town was perfumed by farm smells. I'm sure that many of those fields have been covered in houses now, but Oxnard continues to produce a lot of vegetables. When I think of Oxnard I also think of the smells of eucalyptus trees, the feel of the ocean breeze on my face, the smell of rotting fish at the pier, hot Santa Ana winds, and the smell of wet earth from spring rain. My childhood memories are full of other sensory input from the rest of the places we lived--sagebrush in Idaho, papery bougainvillea blossoms in San Diego, blazing orange leaves in Maryland. I don't know if I'm unique in my sentimental attachment to smells, colors, textures, and tastes.

I have been thinking about this lately because I just read two books on the importance of nature in our lives. The first, Last Child in the Woods, talks about what the author terms "nature deficit disorder" in the lives of children. He discusses changes in the way that children interact (or don't) with nature and ways we can change our society to encourage a "sense of place" in our children and a better attachment to their local environment. While I found a number of his points interesting, I actually had a little trouble reading the book and it seemed disjointed at times. The other book I read, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, was much more fun to read. The author is certainly enthusiastic about her subject and I can understand why the book is generating so much positive press. She describes her family's efforts to spend one year eating only seasonal food that they have grown themselves or acquired locally. I loved it because I love food and I would love to learn about gardening, plus the writing is really that great. I have heard it presented as somewhat of a how-to or call-to-arms sort of book, but if you read closely you will find that Barbara Kingsolver spent a number of years in preparation for her year-long experiment. I don't think that I'm feeling fired up about raising and killing my own chickens just yet, despite having read this book.

Reading both books reminded me of the extent to which nature really influenced my childhood. On the one hand, I grew up in the city. I've never lived on a farm. I've also never been a particularly active person and didn't spend a lot of time hiking or communing with nature in that way. On the other hand, I spent a lot of free time outside in unstructured play. I walked to school for most of my childhood, even through high school. My mom grew up on a farm and we often visited my grandmother's farm in Wyoming. I know that milk comes from cows, carrots grow from seeds planted in a garden, and raspberries come from bushes and are only best in July. My mother is also very committed to the importance of fresh food, gardening, and canning. We even had our own chickens for a time; I have vivid memories of a dish of eggs in our fridge that had come out of the insides of the chickens we'd just slaughtered. I thought it was the coolest thing ever--shell-less eggs directly from the chickens. We also spent time as a family camping, hiking, exploring tide pools at the beach, and other outdoor activities. I'm grateful my mom valued nature and made it an important part of our lives.

The main thing that bothered me about the first book was that the author never really was able to answer his main question: why is nature important for children? What benefits do they get from spending time outside, getting to know local plants and animals? He pretty much takes it for granted that time in nature is good, and I agree. I just can't figure out why, and maybe no one ever will. I think one benefit I've had was a sense of place; I know how to look closer and really savor things that make each part of the world special. The world is getting more homogenized and globalized, and I think it's good to preserve the unique features of each area. Both authors point out that our understanding of science and natural processes like evolution of species or the life cycle of plants is seriously damaged by a lack of exposure to animals and plants. I actually don't have a lot of experience with observing these things up close, but I think that experiencing the death of pets as a child or the difficulty of trying to grow a garden helped me deal with change. Animals get old and die; sometimes an early frost kills your plants; nature can humble us and teach us that we are not all powerful.

This post is getting really long and I'm not sure what my point is. I'm feeling like I've lost some of my connection to nature and I'd like to get it back. I especially want to do this for my kids. Every year I think that we'll try camping or go for a hike or start a garden, but it never manages to happen. Hopefully I'm finally building up the energy to make a change this year. Last year we tried picking our own blueberries and the end result was enough mosquito bites to send S-Boogie to the emergency room with a badly swollen hand. I hope that we can start having more positive experiences with local food, and the only way to do that is to keep trying. Of course we'll be taking baby steps, because as long as California strawberries are only three dollars a package I'm going to consider that as "local". It sure smells like home to me.

I'll show you mine, now you show me yours

The first time I heard about the Color Code personality test was when one of my new freshman roommates asked me about it on our way to Shop Ko to buy dishes for our apartment. She was very, very "yellow" and was sure I was "white". She was right; according to the test I was mostly white, with a little blue mixed in. Over the years I've migrated to being fairly split between blue and white, but I'm definitely not red or yellow.

I've taken other personality tests since then. I find them interesting, but I don't feel like they define everything about a person. Today on another blog I read, someone pointed out in the comments that you can often tell a person's personality by the way they respond to conflict on threads. Several people referenced the Myers Briggs test, which I don't think I've taken before. So I decided to take it. It apparently measures four different areas with two possibilities in each area and so is thought to be somewhat more comprehensive than other tests. I took this online test and it labeled me as ISFJ, which means that I am "Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging". According to them, my preferences for introversion and judging were very pronounced, while the sensing and feeling were a little more towards the middle (the other options there are Intuition and Thinking). So, what does this all mean? According to this test I am:

Introverted: Many tests I've taken have described me as introverted. I'm still not sure I agree. On the one hand, I can be socially awkward and I hate large crowds. I would rather be home reading a book than out in the middle of a big party. On the other hand, I've become increasingly more comfortable leading discussions, teaching, and drawing attention to myself. I'm usually one of the few people commenting in classes at church and I have no problem expressing my opinion in public. That is, after I get to know people first and feel comfortable with the group. So I guess I'm not necessarily "introverted" in the sense of being shy, but I would say I am more inwardly motivated and need to reflect before acting.

Sensing Function: Apparently what this means is that I prefer information that is concrete and able to be perceived with the senses. I am interested in data more than hunches or intuition, which is definitely true. At the same time, I have been known to go on a hunch, but that's usually after thinking it over for a while and finding some kind of outward confirmation. I also have a hard time with the theoretical and abstract; when analyzing literature I tend much more strongly towards historicism or formalism than the theoretical. It's also why I like translation and grammar so much.

Decisions based on Feeling: This means that I prefer to make decisions based on some sort of sense of equality or balance, with an emotional attachment to the problem rather than viewing it from a detached, outside perspective. I can agree with this one; I always find myself thinking "it's about priorities--what do you value?" and "you have to go with what feels right to you".

Judging: This is based on how we interact with the world; apparently people who use their judging form and base decisions on feeling are more "empathetic" than logical. I'm not sure I agree with that. On the one hand, I would like to think that I'm more logical and that I stick to rules. On the other hand, when I interact with other people I tend to have a very hard time telling them anything negative and I often feel "squishy" with my students. It hurts me very much to make people uncomfortable and I have a hard time being firm with my own kids too.

According to the test I took, people with my personality work well in education, religious life, and translation. I guess I'm on the right track after all.

This isn't really a meme, but I'd invite my readers to take the test and find out what their personality is. I'm curious.

Helpful Hints

One of the best pieces of advice I got when I first had a baby was to layer the extra sheet and mattress pad on the crib under the top sheet (mattress, sheet, pad, sheet), so that when your baby poops all over the sheet at 3 in the morning you don't have to dig through the closet to find a new sheet and put it on. I thought that was great advice and I'm glad someone told me about it. Also, now I share it with everyone I know who is going to have a baby in the hopes of improving their lives a little bit. In that spirit, I'd like to share a few things about blogging that I've picked up along the way:

1. Blogger has this cool feature where you can embed links into your posts. I love linking to things, but I hate to draw attention to them. I'd rather just add a link, with perhaps some sort of textual clue like "I read this article the other day." Notice how the words "this article" were highlighted in the sentence; that means you can click on them and go read the article that I am referring to. That will give you some context to understand what I am talking about.

2. Also referring to context, it's important to look at the entire context of the piece. Sometimes inflammatory words like "birth control" or "school vouchers" or "gay marriage" or "Holocaust survivor" will jump out at you and get your hackles up before you even read any more of the post. I've been guilty of dashing off angry comments before stopping to understand what the person I was responding to was even trying to say. I'm getting the feeling that my last post would probably have been much less inflammatory if I had merely mentioned that the man was an observant Jew or perhaps an immigrant from Germany. I honestly meant no offense, merely solidarity with other religious people.

3. A third note about context: know who your author is. If you've spent the last few years reading my blog and feel like you understand all about me, then feel free to hate me and to let me know how arrogant I am. I already know that I say rude things and think prideful thoughts all the time. Sometimes I don't express myself well. The point of the last post really had nothing to do with social drinking or my lack thereof ("word of wisdom" is another common inflammatory topic). It actually wasn't until today that I really understood what my point in that post was. My husband stopped attending church over a year ago. Many of family members no longer attend either and I have a number of friends who no longer share my strong faith in the gospel. It gets very lonely. And not just in a "oh no, I'm a dork who doesn't drink coffee" sort of way. I just used something a little less personal as an example of the isolation I feel. Choosing to follow the gospel doesn't just mean that I feel self-conscious at parties; it means I feel left out by some of the people I love the most. Many days I do want to just follow the "easier" path, but I just can't at this point in my life. So, that was what my post was really about; doubting whether or not the choices you make really will be worth it in the long run.

Living with ideals

The first thing on my agenda in Davis was a lunch with some of the current graduate students. One of them asked me a question about my last name and my heritage, to which I replied that it was my husband's last name. That got me some fairly strange looks. Then there was the fact that I didn't order coffee after lunch with all of them. And then there was the awkwardness (more than once during the last few days) of trying to explain why I lived in Spain for over a year and didn't see any movies, go to any plays, or study at the university. Oh, and the fact that I don't drink wine and even though I'm not quite thirty I have been married for almost seven years and have two kids. Man, I am such a weirdo.

I lived in Utah for so long that I became very comfortable in not having people think some of the things I do are strange. It was challenging this week to be back in an area where people questioned my choices and I had to explain "I'm a Mormon" (yeah, I know we should say LDS, but Mormon feels more comfortable when I barely know people and don't want to explain a lot). My students that I teach know I'm a Mormon, but they've usually been fairly accepting; I think it's because they didn't really find out until we'd gotten to know each other over the course of the semester.

When I am in social situations that involve things like coffee, I do feel uncomfortable. As I've said on here before, I don't like standing out. I also don't want people to feel like I'm judging them negatively for their choices. I'm going to have to relearn how to deal graciously with difference. As I was pondering this last night, I read this interesting article in the New York Times. It's about Holocaust survivors who emigrated to the United States shortly after the Second World War. One of the couples profiled ran into difficulty because the husband could not change his work schedule to accommodate his Sabbath observance. Although quitting his job could not only mean a loss of income but also deportation, he took a chance and quit. He ended up getting another job and went on to have a successful career in engineering. Now looking back over fifty years later, his wife said:

“It is worth living with ideals, even though it’s sometimes difficult. It’s worth fighting for a meaningful life.”

That quote from her really gave me hope. Even though sometimes it's difficult for me to keep living the gospel when so many people around me don't, it is what make my life meaningful. My testimony is very important to me and I will keep choosing what I feel is right, even if it makes my life awkward sometimes. I hope that in fifty years I can look back and say that I have lead a meaningful life.

Decision Time

Mr. Fob brought today's mail with him when he came to pick me up at the airport. I'm glad he did because there was a little letter from the University of Oregon: they didn't accept me to their program. This is fine because I made up my mind this weekend to accept the offer from Davis; getting rejected from Oregon just makes things easier. I've had several people tell me--and not just the ones working for Davis--that Berkeley's program is really not great right now and they don't give a lot of support to students. And if we're going to live somewhere expensive I'd rather go for the city that's only 150 percent above the national cost of living versus 180 percent. We'll miss being neighbors to the Ttheed family, but maybe we can convince them to move out to the valley with us. Did you know there's a housing development there that not only boasts solar power and communal gardens but also has streets named after Middle Earth geography? I'm already saving my money for a down payment so we can live groovily ever after. Now I just need to get my Birkenstocks fixed up so I can walk down to the Farmer's Market for some organic goat cheese and local wild mushrooms. California, I'm coming home.

Serendipity

According to my horoscope in Southwest Airline's magazine, "The March 7 new moon plants pleasant surprises in your path, urging you to embrace serendipity rather than kick it to the curb." This afternoon I decided to spend a little time looking at apartments here in Davis on craigslist. A listing popped up for a two-bedroom apartment at a somewhat reasonable price available on August 5 ; not only that, but it was within walking distance from my hotel. So I hurried on over and gave the complex a looking over. We were hoping for something a little bigger, but it's a nice complex and we would have two bathrooms and a dishwasher. Oh, and air conditioning (a big plus during the hot summers here). We have until Monday to decide if we want to sign a contract. The somewhat serendiptious nature of finding the apartment leads me to want to take it, but I'm afraid of placing too much stock in what could just be a coincidence.

On the other hand, the summer we spent trying to find an apartment in Seattle was horrible. I don't think we have the time or money to come back down here in a few months to search for housing. Plus most contracts here seem to start in September, but S-Boogie needs to start school during the last week of August. And if I want her to get registered for the Spanish immersion school, I need to have a signed lease as proof that we're planning on moving to Davis. If I sign a contract next week, I have a much better chance of getting her into the program. Unfortunately one of the cons of the apartment is that is on the other side of town from the kindergarten that I want. It is, however, down the the street from In-N-Out. If that isn't serendipity, I don't know what is.

Don Fob de las calzas verdes

Well, I guess he has medias verdes, not calzas, but I still think he's pretty sexy. Mr. Fob's education this school year is being paid for by a "foreign language and area studies grant", which means that he gets to take Spanish and European Studies classes along with his library ones. Last quarter he took a class on Golden Age drama, and now this quarter he's in a continuation class that will be presenting three short plays in Spanish next weekend. While on the one hand I've been a little stressed about the whole deal because I have to get babysitting next week while he practices every night, I think it's pretty cool that he's going to be in a play. Actually, two plays. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, he's Chanfalla in El retablo de las maravillas and then he gets to portray "El Occidente" in a loa by Sor Juana (I think it's El divino narciso).

Last night when I came home he was in the process of making an oversized scroll to go along with his costume for the first play. And I was reminded once again about how much I love his creativity and artistic impulses. I always dreamed about marrying someone who played a musical instrument or who sang well; unfortunately Mr. Fob has not been blessed with those talents. But I've gotten over it because he sure looks cute in green tights.

Shoe Store Epiphany

Hopefully this is the end of my shoe-buying saga and I can move on to blogging about something else. Last week I ordered some Softwalk shoes from Endless.com; they came on Thursday and I wore them around for a little while. They really felt tight, both in the toes and the heel. So I tried ordering the next biggest size. They came today and I excitedly put them on; the toes felt great, but my heels were popping out every time I walked. I got really frustrated and decided that I was never going to be able to find shoes that fit. Then I remembered a coupon for a nearby shoe store that had. I decided it was time to get over my fear of sales people and go shopping. Mr. Fob was here doing homework and Little Dude was napping, so I ran away to the shoe store for a little while. At first things didn't go well. Things were either crushing my toes or flopping off my feet. I think the sales clerk was getting a little frustrated. Then he brought out these shoes in an 8 1/2 wide. I slipped them on and couldn't believe it: they felt totally comfortable. My toes weren't squished and they didn't flop off the back. I have hardly ever felt that comfortable in shoe. I'm so excited to have finally found shoes that fit me well. I'm going to wear them around the house today to make sure, especially because they are a little high in the back and I worry about that rubbing my heel. They're also a bit dressier than I had envisioned, but I don't care because I am in love. The best part? They were on sale for nearly forty dollars cheaper than the ones I tried ordering online.

Reading Roundup: February 2008

Emma by Jane Austen

This was our bookclub pick for this month, and even though I've read and analyzed it a few times in the past I thought it would be good to reread it. I still like it quite a lot; I think it's one of my favorite Austen novels. The only thing I don't like about is that the age difference between her and Mr. Knightly is so large that their relationship seems a little skewed. Nevertheless, I still like all of the characters and think they are well-developed. It is one of Austen's longer novels and took a long time to get into, but I found myself enjoying the story despite knowing how it was going to end.

Ghosts of Spain: Travels through Spain and Its Silent Past by Giles Tremlett

This book was pretty long and took me a while to read, but I enjoyed all of it. Well, I'll admit to being distracted by some sloppy editing (like switching referents between kilometers and miles in the same paragraph). Other than that I thought it was an excellent book. Tremlett has lived in Spain for nearly twenty years and so offers a perspective that is both outside and inside. I learned a lot more about recent Spanish history than I had known before. And, not surprisingly, I found myself longing to return to Spain.

The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konisburg

Edgy recently reviewed this book, so when I saw it on the shelf at the library I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately I picked a cranky day to read it. Plus one of the main characters really irritated me; I'm not a fan of books packed full of eccentric characters with little method to their madness. But, Konisburg is a good writer and I managed to like this book despite some annoying characters and somewhat implausible coincidences. Perhaps if I read it again I might like it even more.

Here if You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup

I keep finding great memoirs by women; I think it's my new favorite sub-genre of books. This is another fascinating one. First of all, the story is interesting. The author was widowed suddenly and left a single mother of four children. She decided to go to seminary to become an ordained minister and ended up getting a job as the chaplain for the Maine State Warden Service, which oversees search and rescue missions as well as wildlife control. Not only that, but she's a good writer. The book is a collection of thoughts on the nature of God and mortality, search and rescue in the woods, parenting, and the meaning of life. It's hard to describe, but very compelling reading (if you have recently experienced a traumatic event or unexpected death you may not want to read this right away, however).

Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America by Laura Shapiro

This book was not what I expected it to be. I had my expectations of cooking and food in the 1950s, but they turned out to be wrong. This book was actually quite interesting and taught me a lot of new things about what I thought I knew. It would probably be most interesting to people interested in food and the history of "foodie" culture, but I got a lot out of it about the evolution of food and nutrition in American popular culture.

Coming Together, Coming Apart: A Memoir of Heartbreak and Promise in Israel by Daniel Gordis

I don't know much about life in modern Israel, and anything beyond the current conflict with Palestinians rarely shows up in US media. This book was an interesting look at the life of a family that has recently moved to Israel from Los Angeles and I learned a lot from it. Sometimes I didn't particularly like the author's prose style (it's a bit hyperbolic at times), but I generally thought it was well-written and illuminating.

A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotsen

For a "fluff read" this was surprisingly good. Sure it had the stereotypical story of the ordinary, poor, humble girl who meets a fabulously wealthy and handsome man who falls madly and inexplicably in love with her. Yes the coincidences and turns of the plot were a little ludicrous. But it was fun to read and I genuinely liked both the main character and her love interest. My only real objection is to the cover; the heroine is continuously described as plain and humble, but the person on the cover is way too sexy to remotely resemble her.

The Babes in the Wood by Ruth Rendell

I managed to acquire this book somewhere for free and have had it sitting on my shelf for nearly a year now. It wasn't until I decided to read it that I realized it was part of a series of mysteries about a British detective. I'm not really a mystery fan, and I didn't particularly enjoy this one. It was well-written, but I didn't like most of the characters. For some reason I can handle world-weary police officers and dysfunctional families a lot more on television than in books.

Movies

Mostly Martha

The cover of the DVD bills this as a "romantic comedy", but it certainly doesn't follow American comedic conventions (it's German). Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, although the tone was somewhat darker than I had expected. I also spent way too much time in needless suspense because I was expecting more American-style angst and drama.

I Know I'm Not Alone

This is a documentary by Michael Franti, a musician who travels to Iraq and Palestine to play music and meet people. I was a little nervous to watch it because Franti is very left-leaning, but despite a few cringe-worthy scenes (singing anti-war songs to a room full of American troops), I thought it was quite enjoyable. He meets some fascinating people and it's fun to share the journey with him. For a little preview of the movie, watch this.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

I checked this out from the library to see if it was still good now that I'm not a mopey fourteen-year-old girl. I still like it a lot; it's a sweet little movie and Leonardo Di Caprio is amazing.

Plan 9 From Outer Space

After watching Ed Wood last month we decided it was time to watch this movie. It turned out to be pretty boring and we only got about halfway through it before giving up and watching the interviews that were also on the DVD. The best of the DVD was actually the trailers for some of Ed Wood's other movies, like Glen or Glenda.

Bringing Up Baby

I think I'm just not a fan of screwball comedy, because this gave me a terrible headache and left me feeling frustrated for hours. I can see how this film inspired so many future romantic comedies, but I hate romantic comedies and other things based on misunderstandings. I will admit that I laughed during a few parts, but mostly I just wanted to scream.

Juno

We made our annual pilgrimage to the movie theater and I think this was a worthy choice for such a momentous occasion. We both enjoyed it; it managed to be funny and serious at the the same time. The story is interesting, the characters are all great, and it's a good "adult" movie that manages to be fairly clean in content.

Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut

Apparently Richard Donner directed the first Superman movie as well as most of the footage for the second before being booted from the project. Then, two or three years ago, people decided it was time to find and restore all of his footage to make his movie possible. I thought this was pretty good and felt like I enjoyed it more than I remember enjoying the other version of Superman 2. Either way I think that both of these movies are way too cheesy for my taste.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Another movie watched simply to increase my cultural literacy. Mr. Fob and I both agree that this is an excellent movie; it's pretty dialogue heavy and feels like it could be a play rather than a movie, but the characters and story are fascinating. Some aspects of it seem dated, but generally I feel like the issues it raises are still relevant today.