Well, once again I slept late. I realize I have not worked on my Latin blog all week. Oh dear. It is because it was something I'd do early in the a.m.
Anyway, got up, fed pets, got coffee, finished journal entry for yesterday, got kids up, prayed, ate cheese and crackers for breakfast, kids did copy work - quote from Churchill speech.
Escaped and finished up last little bit of Wizard of Earthsea - good book! Took quick shower. Math tutor came. Talked about atomic numbers, etc Becky knew more about it than Sean. Hmm. Sean worked on his physics test while B was doing math with tutor.
Read B the rest of Shadows on the Rock while S was with tutor. Yea! So that's two books finished today. Then B wanted to read a Georgette Heyer book so she selected one from my collection. I think she took Frederica.
S got a call from Ben Carson's campaign while he was in with tutor. He may do data entry stuff for them.
On Monday when talking to the tutor, we said that B could get high school credit for the course since it is considered either 8th or 9th grade by Kolbe Academy. So now she is getting really into science because she loves the whole idea of it being high school level. That kind of thing really motivates her. She asked if she could do high school in 3 years and I said yes. She thought that sounded really neat. She keeps her room neat now because we let her put a loveseat in it and now she thinks of it as her 'apartment.'' LOL. Why is it my girls want to grow up so fast but my boys are not like that?
While B was in science, S listened to Walden some more. Lunch was come and get what you want.
I read the chapter from This Country of Ours out loud. The French and the Spanish are fighting it out in Florida. Spanish founder of St. Augustine really had it in for those Huguenots. Not a high moment for Catholicism there.
B started doing my hair, got out her curling iron and we had some nice mother-daughter bonding. Then I took B to her friend's house. Bought Halloween candy on the way home.
Came home, hung out for a bit. Since it was just S and me, we got carry out from Chipotle. We put up all our Halloween lights (ceramic ghosts and little teas light; jack-o-lantern and our cauldron that smokes). S spent a long time trying to find a good movie to watch. We finally decided on Lifeboat by Hitchcock. It was great, but S went off soon after it started. We only got 2 trick or treaters! So depressing. This neighborhood never had a ton of children but now. . . . sad. I'm glad it happened when my kids were too old to really care.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Journaling the Day - Thursday, 10/30/14
I woke up at 7:45. That is late for me but it has been happening more and more lately. I did stay up late last night stupidly being on line and then playing scrabble until my eyes were killing me. So I didn't get to bed until 11:30. And then I was so tired, I couldn't read my book which I had ambitiously wanted to finish. Blah. Then R called at 12:30 to tell me he had safely landed in Portland.
So anyway, got up, fed pets, got coffee, woke kids, said morning prayers, gave them their copy work. B was supposed to come with me to drop S off at his lit class but the washer is acting up and hadn't finished draining. So we had to deal with that and then get her clothes in to the dryer. Not enough time. So I drove S to class and then came back, by which time she was dressed (the class is 30 minutes away).
Chatted with J who had to go out to get black pants to wear to his new job tonight working at Indigo Landing Restaurant. I hope he drives home safely. He won't get out until near midnight.
Anyway, @ 11:15 B and I hopped in the car and went back to pick up S.
Went to mass at St. Tim's at noon. Nice short but good homily. Then we ate lunch at Silver Diner. I had my usual Baja fish tacos. I had the roasted Brussel sprouts. My kids can't believe I think the Brussel sprouts are delicious.
Stopped by Michaels to buy a few Halloween things.
Came home and goofed around for a bit. At some point I took a 15 minute walk. S started listening to Walden. As I walked through the family room, S who can't stand this book, said "Now he's complaining that nobody reads anymore!" This book was written back in the 1830s or something. Nothing new under the sun! B decided to carve the pumpkin today since tomorrow she's spending the afternoon at some friends house and then the night at Stephanie's. So she did that which is always more of a production than you think it will be. Then B and S started working on math homework. The tutor is coming tomorrow because she can't come on Monday. Her kids have a school holiday.
Speaking of school! H got a long term sub job teaching special ed classes at a nearby middle school!
Made omelets for dinner. After dinner took B to rehearsal. I really can't see at night to drive. I was a nervous wreck going and coming. Then instead of sitting and reading my book nicely until it was time to go pick her up again, I watched stupid HGTV. S was immersed in something on the computer. Picked B up at 9:30, drove back home carefully. Said night prayers, meant to go to bed but then B decided she was hungry and started making food, got a weird phone call from the police - it was a robocall asking us to be on the lookout for a 77 year old Asian lady with dementia who had gone missing from her home a couple miles away from us. Poor thing! The temperature is dropping! I hope they find her! Then J came home a bit early so we had to hear all about his training and what life is like in the back of the restaurant. Then went to bed. Read some of my book but fell asleep before I got too far. Darn. I was very slow to warm up to this book but I don't understand why I keep putting off reading it. It is quite good! But it has a lot of foreboding in it. It is weird and scary and I am not into weird and scary books usually. Even if the writing is good. Maybe that is it. Plus my neighbors house is empty, R is gone and there is a 77 yo lady freezing in the dark somewhere in my area. Plus I can't read the news without hearing about somebody getting beheaded. It is the fashionable way to murder people now. The world is giving me the creeps.
So anyway, got up, fed pets, got coffee, woke kids, said morning prayers, gave them their copy work. B was supposed to come with me to drop S off at his lit class but the washer is acting up and hadn't finished draining. So we had to deal with that and then get her clothes in to the dryer. Not enough time. So I drove S to class and then came back, by which time she was dressed (the class is 30 minutes away).
Chatted with J who had to go out to get black pants to wear to his new job tonight working at Indigo Landing Restaurant. I hope he drives home safely. He won't get out until near midnight.
Anyway, @ 11:15 B and I hopped in the car and went back to pick up S.
Went to mass at St. Tim's at noon. Nice short but good homily. Then we ate lunch at Silver Diner. I had my usual Baja fish tacos. I had the roasted Brussel sprouts. My kids can't believe I think the Brussel sprouts are delicious.
Stopped by Michaels to buy a few Halloween things.
Came home and goofed around for a bit. At some point I took a 15 minute walk. S started listening to Walden. As I walked through the family room, S who can't stand this book, said "Now he's complaining that nobody reads anymore!" This book was written back in the 1830s or something. Nothing new under the sun! B decided to carve the pumpkin today since tomorrow she's spending the afternoon at some friends house and then the night at Stephanie's. So she did that which is always more of a production than you think it will be. Then B and S started working on math homework. The tutor is coming tomorrow because she can't come on Monday. Her kids have a school holiday.
Speaking of school! H got a long term sub job teaching special ed classes at a nearby middle school!
Made omelets for dinner. After dinner took B to rehearsal. I really can't see at night to drive. I was a nervous wreck going and coming. Then instead of sitting and reading my book nicely until it was time to go pick her up again, I watched stupid HGTV. S was immersed in something on the computer. Picked B up at 9:30, drove back home carefully. Said night prayers, meant to go to bed but then B decided she was hungry and started making food, got a weird phone call from the police - it was a robocall asking us to be on the lookout for a 77 year old Asian lady with dementia who had gone missing from her home a couple miles away from us. Poor thing! The temperature is dropping! I hope they find her! Then J came home a bit early so we had to hear all about his training and what life is like in the back of the restaurant. Then went to bed. Read some of my book but fell asleep before I got too far. Darn. I was very slow to warm up to this book but I don't understand why I keep putting off reading it. It is quite good! But it has a lot of foreboding in it. It is weird and scary and I am not into weird and scary books usually. Even if the writing is good. Maybe that is it. Plus my neighbors house is empty, R is gone and there is a 77 yo lady freezing in the dark somewhere in my area. Plus I can't read the news without hearing about somebody getting beheaded. It is the fashionable way to murder people now. The world is giving me the creeps.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Journaling the Day, Wednesday, 11/29/14
Woke up too early again. Got up, fed pets, made coffee, got on the computer for a while, cleaned powder room, shined up my kitchen sink, tidied up kitchen, ran dishwasher (oops - hadn't put it on last night)
Got kids up. Said morning prayers, made those crescent rolls in a can for breakfast.
Copy work was definition of simploce (combination of anaphora and epistrophe - rhetorical devices).
Math tutor came. B went first from 9-10; S and I read Ralph Waldo Emerson poetry. I just don't get his poetry. Too erudite and obscure for me! We also did some Latin. We read an entire page of Latin and then translated it orally.
S did math from 10-11. I read B some more of Shadows on the Rock - we'll finish it tomorrow finally. It took a month longer to read than I anticipated!
R is working from home today since he had a 9 a.m. conference call and then has to be at the airport by 3:30. He is going to a conference in Portland OR.
Put on a load of laundry so Rick will have enough clean clothes to last him through Saturday.
Did a little bit of Bible Basics with B while we ate lunch. Tried to do some Latin but for some reason she really couldn't focus so we gave up and decided to try another time.
Finished up laundry, R packed up and went on his way. Boo hoo. I think this is the first time he won't be home for Halloween!
Took B to her voice lessons/mother's helper job.
Came home and helped S with his poetry essay he had to write for his lit class.
Went back to pick up B. Came home. J had gotten home. He took B to Chick fil a which is on the way to her play rehearsal. I took S to get pizza. Totally forget that the town Halloween parade was tonight. Crowded. Came home again. S quickly put finishes touches on essay and sent it to his teacher. Took him to CLC. Came home again. Writing this now. J came home in the meantime and then went out again to pick up B. I am leaving in about 1/2 hour (probably just as he is getting back. Lot of driving and going hither and yon on Wednesday.
Can't wait to curl up in bed with my book. I just joined the WSJ book club and the book is The Wizard of Earthsea. Margaret Atwood picked it and she is asking the discussion questions. I don't even really like Margaret Atwood but I think the whole is really cool. I never would have picked this book to read, so it kind of gets me out of my comfort zone.
Got kids up. Said morning prayers, made those crescent rolls in a can for breakfast.
Copy work was definition of simploce (combination of anaphora and epistrophe - rhetorical devices).
Math tutor came. B went first from 9-10; S and I read Ralph Waldo Emerson poetry. I just don't get his poetry. Too erudite and obscure for me! We also did some Latin. We read an entire page of Latin and then translated it orally.
S did math from 10-11. I read B some more of Shadows on the Rock - we'll finish it tomorrow finally. It took a month longer to read than I anticipated!
R is working from home today since he had a 9 a.m. conference call and then has to be at the airport by 3:30. He is going to a conference in Portland OR.
Put on a load of laundry so Rick will have enough clean clothes to last him through Saturday.
Did a little bit of Bible Basics with B while we ate lunch. Tried to do some Latin but for some reason she really couldn't focus so we gave up and decided to try another time.
Finished up laundry, R packed up and went on his way. Boo hoo. I think this is the first time he won't be home for Halloween!
Took B to her voice lessons/mother's helper job.
Came home and helped S with his poetry essay he had to write for his lit class.
Went back to pick up B. Came home. J had gotten home. He took B to Chick fil a which is on the way to her play rehearsal. I took S to get pizza. Totally forget that the town Halloween parade was tonight. Crowded. Came home again. S quickly put finishes touches on essay and sent it to his teacher. Took him to CLC. Came home again. Writing this now. J came home in the meantime and then went out again to pick up B. I am leaving in about 1/2 hour (probably just as he is getting back. Lot of driving and going hither and yon on Wednesday.
Can't wait to curl up in bed with my book. I just joined the WSJ book club and the book is The Wizard of Earthsea. Margaret Atwood picked it and she is asking the discussion questions. I don't even really like Margaret Atwood but I think the whole is really cool. I never would have picked this book to read, so it kind of gets me out of my comfort zone.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Journaling the day 10/28/14
Woke up with headache @ 5 or so. Took advil, ate a banana, drank some coffee. Waited a while. Headache did not turn into a migraine! Alleluia!
Took care of some stuff on email. Drove to drugstore to get Sean's med. Not there! The dr. had not called it in. Came home, called doctor, left message.
Got kids up and had morning prayer. We had donut holes for breakfast. Copy work was quote from Fulton Sheen.
I had to go meet with one of my sisters to check out family graves at cemetery. I told B and S to work on their science while I was gone. Usually S has a physics class this a.m. but he didn't today for some reason, but he has a big old take-home, multi-chapter test he is supposed to be studying for and then taking. Becky also has a multi-chapter test she needed to take.
I took a quick shower and then headed over to the cemetery. We've been trying to pick out a gravestone for my aunt. While doing this we realized there are three more family members buried in the cemetery that had unmarked graves. So we had the guy managing the cemetery out there trying to find them. Two of them share a grave: my sister Jacqueline who died before I was born at the age of 6 and a little brother who died as a newborn named Philip. Then there is another that just says infant. We don't even know if this infant was a boy or girl. Anyway, we didn't find any actual signs that these graves were ours except that the old records (which aren't always reliable say that they are located in those spots). It was such a gorgeous day out that after the guy left, my sister and I spent a good 30 minutes just walking from grave to grave. This is the parish graveyard where many of our parents' friends are buried as well people we knew from school or their relatives. It sounds very gloomy but actually it was kind of peaceful to be in an old graveyard in the beautiful weather going down memory lane.
I came home and B and S had done nothing science at all. Bah!
I finally talked to the doctor, made an appt for next Tuesday and he called in the prescription.
I was really hungry and the day was so nice - we decided to go get lunch and then come home and work on science. So we went off to the little neighborhood subs and custard place. Yummy!
We walked over to the drugstore and then walked back and drove home. B took her science test and S studied for his. I was trying to help S study but I kept dozing off in the chair. He said he was really worried about me being so tired all the time. I said: 1) I have always been an afternoon napper, all my life 2) I got up at 5 with a headache 3) I went to sleep soon after midnight last night 4) I find physics deadly dull.
Finally, I gave up and went to bed. Read some of my book and drifted off for a bit.
Not sure what happened the rest of the afternoon. Day kind of fell apart. Hmmm. I know at some point S listened to more of Walden. B was probably reading, either the last Artemis Fowl book or Gregor the Overlander.
Josh came home from work. He is winding up his job at the marina. Thursday he starts his new job at the restaurant at the marina! But he'll be working nights initially, 4 p.m. to closing.
Anyway, had lasagna for dinner. After dinner B and S worked on math homework for tutor. S and I read a little Ralph Waldo Emerson for his lit class.
B made Halloween plans with her friend. She's going to spend the night over there. Josh will be working, Rick will be out of town, so S and I are going to watch spooky movies and hand out candy.
Rick and came home and we watched some recorded Jeopardy episodes. I was rocking! LOL.
Took care of some stuff on email. Drove to drugstore to get Sean's med. Not there! The dr. had not called it in. Came home, called doctor, left message.
Got kids up and had morning prayer. We had donut holes for breakfast. Copy work was quote from Fulton Sheen.
I had to go meet with one of my sisters to check out family graves at cemetery. I told B and S to work on their science while I was gone. Usually S has a physics class this a.m. but he didn't today for some reason, but he has a big old take-home, multi-chapter test he is supposed to be studying for and then taking. Becky also has a multi-chapter test she needed to take.
I took a quick shower and then headed over to the cemetery. We've been trying to pick out a gravestone for my aunt. While doing this we realized there are three more family members buried in the cemetery that had unmarked graves. So we had the guy managing the cemetery out there trying to find them. Two of them share a grave: my sister Jacqueline who died before I was born at the age of 6 and a little brother who died as a newborn named Philip. Then there is another that just says infant. We don't even know if this infant was a boy or girl. Anyway, we didn't find any actual signs that these graves were ours except that the old records (which aren't always reliable say that they are located in those spots). It was such a gorgeous day out that after the guy left, my sister and I spent a good 30 minutes just walking from grave to grave. This is the parish graveyard where many of our parents' friends are buried as well people we knew from school or their relatives. It sounds very gloomy but actually it was kind of peaceful to be in an old graveyard in the beautiful weather going down memory lane.
I came home and B and S had done nothing science at all. Bah!
I finally talked to the doctor, made an appt for next Tuesday and he called in the prescription.
I was really hungry and the day was so nice - we decided to go get lunch and then come home and work on science. So we went off to the little neighborhood subs and custard place. Yummy!
We walked over to the drugstore and then walked back and drove home. B took her science test and S studied for his. I was trying to help S study but I kept dozing off in the chair. He said he was really worried about me being so tired all the time. I said: 1) I have always been an afternoon napper, all my life 2) I got up at 5 with a headache 3) I went to sleep soon after midnight last night 4) I find physics deadly dull.
Finally, I gave up and went to bed. Read some of my book and drifted off for a bit.
Not sure what happened the rest of the afternoon. Day kind of fell apart. Hmmm. I know at some point S listened to more of Walden. B was probably reading, either the last Artemis Fowl book or Gregor the Overlander.
Josh came home from work. He is winding up his job at the marina. Thursday he starts his new job at the restaurant at the marina! But he'll be working nights initially, 4 p.m. to closing.
Anyway, had lasagna for dinner. After dinner B and S worked on math homework for tutor. S and I read a little Ralph Waldo Emerson for his lit class.
B made Halloween plans with her friend. She's going to spend the night over there. Josh will be working, Rick will be out of town, so S and I are going to watch spooky movies and hand out candy.
Rick and came home and we watched some recorded Jeopardy episodes. I was rocking! LOL.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Journaling the day - 10/27/14
Mondays are so nice. I used to hate Mondays but I don't this year. This is because 1) I am only homeschooling two children, both of whom are in much, much smoother emotional states than ever before! Hooray! 2) I have a math/science tutor who comes on Monday mornings.
Got the kids up at 8:00
Said our morning prayers. This week we are trying to get the Hail, Holy Queen down, which they both only know partially. We just never say a full rosary enough. . . . Catholic mother fail!
The kids ate eggs and toast for breakfast (but not much of either).
Copywork was the second verse of Dickinson's I'm nobody poem.
Tutor came at 9.
Becky had Algebra 1 from 9 - 10
During that time Sean and I hung out and did some Latin in a very relaxed manner. Cambridge Latin is really enjoyable.
Sean had Algebra 2 from 10-11
Becky chilled out for a while and then did some Latin with me. She is really enjoying Latin.
Becky had science from 11 - 12.
I put laundry away, showered and hung out on the internet.
We all ate leftover quiche for lunch. Sean listened to some more Walden.
I went grocery shopping, came home, put away food. Becky was in shower. Sean playing on computer.
Becky and I went to AHG meeting. Sean listened to more Walden. It is a lllooooonnnngggg book. Or so it feels, anyway.
Came home from AHG meeting and Sean was working with his physical trainer.
So Sean did math, Latin and lots of literature and PE
Becky did math, science, Latin and in AHG we learned about the Star Spangle Banner so history!
Becky has to leave for play rehearsal in a half hour. That runs from 7:00 to 9:30.
A good and busy day.
Got the kids up at 8:00
Said our morning prayers. This week we are trying to get the Hail, Holy Queen down, which they both only know partially. We just never say a full rosary enough. . . . Catholic mother fail!
The kids ate eggs and toast for breakfast (but not much of either).
Copywork was the second verse of Dickinson's I'm nobody poem.
Tutor came at 9.
Becky had Algebra 1 from 9 - 10
During that time Sean and I hung out and did some Latin in a very relaxed manner. Cambridge Latin is really enjoyable.
Sean had Algebra 2 from 10-11
Becky chilled out for a while and then did some Latin with me. She is really enjoying Latin.
Becky had science from 11 - 12.
I put laundry away, showered and hung out on the internet.
We all ate leftover quiche for lunch. Sean listened to some more Walden.
I went grocery shopping, came home, put away food. Becky was in shower. Sean playing on computer.
Becky and I went to AHG meeting. Sean listened to more Walden. It is a lllooooonnnngggg book. Or so it feels, anyway.
Came home from AHG meeting and Sean was working with his physical trainer.
So Sean did math, Latin and lots of literature and PE
Becky did math, science, Latin and in AHG we learned about the Star Spangle Banner so history!
Becky has to leave for play rehearsal in a half hour. That runs from 7:00 to 9:30.
A good and busy day.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Friday's Child - Book 43
I read this Georgette Heyer novel several years ago and thought I'd revisit it. It is up there in my top 5 of her novels - a very cute and funny romp. Lord "Sherry" as he is known, is in debt and in trouble, but he can't get his inheritance which is locked up in a trust unless he marries, so he asks Isabella, the Beauty or Incomparable, someone he has known from childhood, to marry him. But she turns him down. She's got a thing for Lord Wrotham, his friend. Piqued by this rejection Sherry announces he will marry the first woman he sees and that turns out to be Hero, or Kitten, as he calls her. She is also a childhood playfellow, but she is the penniless, orphaned cousin of the family on the estate next to his. She has just turned 17 and he finds her sobbing because she is to become a governess, something she dreads.
So Sherry whisks her off to London to contrive a quick wedding. He is helped by his buddies, Gil, Ferdy and George (Lord Wrotham). They all love Hero right away, for she is sweet, artless and fun-loving. She has no idea how to handle the intricate unwritten social rules of London high society and she is forever getting into scrapes. Lord Sherry saw this as a marriage of convenience and fully expected to continue his life as before, full of gambling, drinking and chasing bits of muslin. But Hero turns out to be a handful. Things get impossibly tangled and poor Sherry has a lot of growing up to do. This book has some truly, truly funny scenes. Just as in the Unknown Ajax, the last part of the book reads like a play, a Shakespearean comedy, where everybody is getting married, or at least winding up with the one they should wind up with.
There is a little of a problem with this book in that Sherry sometimes 'boxes' Hero's ears and once he slaps her. This is presented as two people who revert to being childhood playmates getting into a tizzy over something, but nowadays, you could not write this sort of thing into a novel at all.
One thing that really impressed me in this book is just how well developed Sherry and Hero and the other characters are. They are full blown human personalities who are growing and changing and yet they are also who they are. They just don't write characters with this kind of precision anymore. It is really delightful.
A really fun read. For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
So Sherry whisks her off to London to contrive a quick wedding. He is helped by his buddies, Gil, Ferdy and George (Lord Wrotham). They all love Hero right away, for she is sweet, artless and fun-loving. She has no idea how to handle the intricate unwritten social rules of London high society and she is forever getting into scrapes. Lord Sherry saw this as a marriage of convenience and fully expected to continue his life as before, full of gambling, drinking and chasing bits of muslin. But Hero turns out to be a handful. Things get impossibly tangled and poor Sherry has a lot of growing up to do. This book has some truly, truly funny scenes. Just as in the Unknown Ajax, the last part of the book reads like a play, a Shakespearean comedy, where everybody is getting married, or at least winding up with the one they should wind up with.
There is a little of a problem with this book in that Sherry sometimes 'boxes' Hero's ears and once he slaps her. This is presented as two people who revert to being childhood playmates getting into a tizzy over something, but nowadays, you could not write this sort of thing into a novel at all.
One thing that really impressed me in this book is just how well developed Sherry and Hero and the other characters are. They are full blown human personalities who are growing and changing and yet they are also who they are. They just don't write characters with this kind of precision anymore. It is really delightful.
A really fun read. For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Some Inspiring, Relaxed Homeschooling Blogs
Stories from an Unschooling Family - Sue Elvis writes about her family of many who unschool in Australia (Catholic).
Karen Edmisten - Karen writes about Catholic issues, poetry and writing, and her own take on relaxed homeschooling. (Catholic)
Take Up and Read - this is a joint venture between Willa Ryan and Chari Goldman Bryan who are veteran homeschoolers and good friends. Their blog posts have been spotty lately but there is much wisdom and many links to follow. (Catholic)
Melissa Wiley's blog - children's author and Catholic homeschooling mother of six. Vivacious, fun and smart
In The Heart of My Home - Elizabeth Foss is a longtime force in the Catholic homeschooling world.
Unschooling Catholics - this was a blog maintained by Leonie Westenberg, a long time unschooler of 7 sons. She's graduated them all into university (as they put it in Australia!). It hasn't got any recent posts on it, but it has some good material to read through to get a sense of how it's done!
Christian Unschoolers - this blog's last entry is in November 2013 but, again, there is a wealth of information and food for thought here.
Almost Unschoolers - This is a great blog with many inspiring posts.
Like Mother, Like Daughter - this is a wonderful blog full of beauty and wisdom, not just homeschooling, but everything! (Catholic)
Simple Homeschool - Lots of inspiration here!
Seven Times the Fun - Catholic blog that chronicles the adventures of homeschooling with joy and seven kids.
Michele Quigley - Mother of ten and creator of the Catholic Family Planner as well as co-creator of Mater Amabilis - she's pretty amazing!
Schole Sisters - a new blog that combines the talents of 4 great bloggers in the homeschool world. I love them because they are fans of the Circe Institute.
Brave Writer - a great blog with lots of wisdom, even if you don't use the writing curriculum.
Brave Writer - a great blog with lots of wisdom, even if you don't use the writing curriculum.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
My Own Relaxed Posts
I am just gathering all my relaxed homeschooling posts into one spot. I probably should make a page but for some reason I did it this way instead!
Some Resources for Gentle Parenting
These are resources that focus more on bonding and relationship, rather than punishment as a way to discipline your children.
St John Bosco's Preventative Method for Discipline (Catholic)
Parenting with Grace by Dr. Greg Popcak (Catholic)
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League (Founders were Catholic)
Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne and Lisa Ross (secular; vaguely Waldorf)
Biblical Parenting - this is not to be confused with supposedly Biblical methods like Babywise or Ezzo. Polar opposite! The folks at Biblical Parenting kind of sidestep the spanking vs. no spanking issue by focusing on ways to positively encourage virtue in your children, starting with learning to treat each other with honor. (Christian)
Hold On To Your Kids by Neufield and Gabor - these two doctors make an excellent argument for attachment parenting. (secular)
Dr. Sears' website is full of useful information.
How to Talk so Kids Listen & Listen So Kids Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
Siblings Without Rivalry by Faber and Mazlish
Teaching your Children Values by Linda and Richard Eyre
Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurchinka
The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman (Christian - excellent book!)
How to Really Love your Child by D. Ross Campbell (another Christian and excellent book!)
St John Bosco's Preventative Method for Discipline (Catholic)
Parenting with Grace by Dr. Greg Popcak (Catholic)
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League (Founders were Catholic)
Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne and Lisa Ross (secular; vaguely Waldorf)
Biblical Parenting - this is not to be confused with supposedly Biblical methods like Babywise or Ezzo. Polar opposite! The folks at Biblical Parenting kind of sidestep the spanking vs. no spanking issue by focusing on ways to positively encourage virtue in your children, starting with learning to treat each other with honor. (Christian)
Hold On To Your Kids by Neufield and Gabor - these two doctors make an excellent argument for attachment parenting. (secular)
Dr. Sears' website is full of useful information.
How to Talk so Kids Listen & Listen So Kids Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
Siblings Without Rivalry by Faber and Mazlish
Teaching your Children Values by Linda and Richard Eyre
Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurchinka
The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman (Christian - excellent book!)
How to Really Love your Child by D. Ross Campbell (another Christian and excellent book!)
Some resources for Catholic Relaxed Homeschoolers
Some Suggested Books to Read for Relaxed Homeschoolers (there are many more books on this topic out there, but these are the ones some of the homeschoolers on the Catholic Relaxed Homeschoolers group found helpful):
Homeschooling with Gentleness by Suzie Andres (Catholic)
A Little Way of Homeschooling by Suzie Andres (Catholic)
Teach Your Own by John Holt (secular)
Better Than School by Nancy Wallace (secular, written by
parent)
Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves by Allison
McKee (secular, written by parent)
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola (Christian)
Dumbing Us Down by John Gatto (secular)
Real Learning: Education in the Heart of My Home by Elizabeth Foss (Catholic)
Some suggested methods of homeschooling which are more relaxed than your typical school at home approach:
Saturday, October 18, 2014
55 Questions Concerning My Book Habits
One of my very favorite book blogs is Howling Frog books. I found this list of 55 questions there. It was fun reading her answers and thinking about my own. So it is a Friday night and I've nothing else to do (well, I could be actually reading) so I thought I'd give my own answers.
1. Favorite Childhood Book:
This is very tough. I think I have to go with the Little House series.
2. What are you reading right now?
Right now I am reading The Scarlet Letter with my 15 yo and Shadows on the Rock with my 13 year old. These are both rereads for me. I just started reading Georgette Heyer's Regency World and also a long essay on a failed homesteaders attempt called Farm Flop.
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
This is terrible but I have pretty much stopped going to the library. I only ever have overdue books where I wind up paying enormous fees. I used to go to the library all the time. I grew up going almost weekly and I took my kids all the time. But now my kids are older and we either buy reals books or download on our kindles. So, zero books on request.
4. Bad book habit?
Starting books and never finishing them. I went through a period a few years ago where I couldn't seem to finish a book. I could finish books that I was reading out loud to my kids, but not my own. But then I started blogging about the books I read and that made me more disciplined.
5. What books do you have currently checked out from the library?
Nada
6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yes and I love it. I resisted for a long time because I couldn't stand the idea of electronic books. I love books. I love bookcases filled with books. I love antique books. I collect them! But I have too many books and I keep needing to sift through them and give them away. And like I said above, I waste so much money in library fines, plus lots of times the library doesn't have the books I want to read. So I got a Kindle. Actually, Rick gave me one. And I really liked it. And now I rely on it so much. I only buy real books if I really want to own them. My eyes have gotten so bad. I love that I can adjust the print size on my Kindle. I love the soft backlight that allows me to read in bed without turning on the bedside lamp. I love that I can carry a virtual library around in my purse.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?
If I have too many books going I am sure to not finish them. I find I can handle four. I usually have two books going at once, one is either religious or historical in nature and then I usually something lighter, like a novel or memoir. I tend to read the 'harder' book during the day, for instance if I am waiting to pick up one of the kids or if I get a chance in the afternoon before I take a little nap. I read the lighter one at night. Then usually I can have two read alouds going for our home school at a given time. Anymore than that and I get overwhelmed.
8. Have your reading habits changed since you started a blog?
Well, they really changed when I started participating in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. I've been doing that for several years. It made me more intentional in taking reading as a serious hobby.
9. Least favorite book you've read this year:
I usually don't finish books I don't like. Hmmm. I really didn't care for Curriculum Vitae by Muriel Spark, which disappointed me. I like her novels but I found I didn't really care for her as a person.
10. Favorite book you've read this year:
This is hard. I've read a lot of good books this year. I would say the one that completely transported me to an exotic place was The Old Patagonian Express. I was completely absorbed in it.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
I think, as I get older, I read less outside of my comfort zone. There is so much crap out there. I am kind of tired of it. I want books that tell me about history, heal my soul, help me connect with others, delight my imagination. I don't really want anything dark or edgy or nihilistic.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Not sure what this means. I don't like a lot of modern books because I think they are poorly written, predictable and try too hard to shock by resorting to prurient themes.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Oh yes. I can pretty much read anywhere.
14. Favorite place to read:
My bed would be first, but also in the car waiting for kids, or on my screen porch when the weather is lovely.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
I don't have a policy. I tend to be very generous with my books. Often I loan them out and then don't get them back. So be it!
16. Do you dog-ear your books?
Depends. If it is a cheap paperback, yeah. If it is a nice hardback edition that I want to keep for a long time? Nope.
17. Do you write notes in the margins of your books?
Only if I am conscientiously studying the book. I tend to do this with spiritual books.
18. Do you crack the spine?
Only by accident!
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
Alas, I am only fluent in English.
20. What makes you love a book?
Great writing and great humanity.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
I recommend a book for many reasons. Maybe it is about a subject that someone is interested in. Maybe I think it will inspire them. Maybe I thought the writer was brilliant. Maybe I thought the book was hysterically funny or told a compelling story. Many reasons.
22. Favorite genre
Don't have a single favorite genre. I do love historical fiction, regency type romances, memoirs, travel books, books that explore theology, practical advice books, biographies, humorous books. classics, mysteries and lately I've really loved reading those back to the land type books.
23. Genre you rarely read but wish you did:
Unfortunately, I don't really care for fantasy or sci-fi. I am trying to like more fantasy. I think I'll never really get into sci-fi.
24. Favorite Biography:
Well, I recently read Mornings on Horseback about Teddy Roosevelt's youth. It was excellent!
25. Have you ever read a self-help book (and did it actually help?)
I have read some good books on raising children and also on organizing your life/house if you are ADD. They didn't make me perfect or anything, but I think they helped clarify my thinking and changed my approach a bit.
26. Favorite cookbook:
I have two but I seldom cook from them! I have a cookbook my aunt gave me called Almost Vegetarian. It has lovely recipes in it that feature far too many vegetables so I could never make them for my family! But I like to read it sometimes. I also have a Tasha Tudor cookbook which has recipes for dutch ovens cooked on an open hearth and the like. I don't use these receipts (as she calls them) either, but I like to thumb through the book when I am in the mood.
27. Most inspirational book you've read this year?
This one is easy! 33 Days to Morning Glory, a wonderfully down to earth, profound, and easy to read book about consecrating one's life to Jesus through Mary. Beautiful!
28. Favorite reading snack
Maybe ice cream? But that is too sticky. . . . I think I just like a cup of tea or a glass of cold water to sip while I read.
29. Name a case where hype ruined your reading experience.
Gee, I really can't think of an answer to this.
30. How often do you agree or disagree with a critic about a book.
I don't read a lot of new stuff. So usually I am reading literary criticism and not reviews. That said, I hate modern criticism which is always seen through the eyes of feminism or some other ism. There is a lot of anachronisms (ha!) in their view point. I find modern thinking pretty soul crushing because it is so based in materialism, deconstructionism, etc. I am really picky about my literary critics. My favorite favorite is Peter Liethart who I think wrote the single best analysis of Jane Austen ever.
31. I don't like to give negative reviews. Once I gave a negative review about a book and then deleted it later. But I don't usually have to give a negative review because I seldom finish a book if it is that painful.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
Latin for sure. I would love to be able to read all that history in the language it was first expressed in.
33. Most intimidating book you have read.
I found Dante's Inferno very hard. If I hadn't been watching lectures about it and hadn't been reading it in a group, I don't I would have stuck with it. I can't just sit down and read Shakespeare. I have to actively be studying it with someone else.
34. Most intimidating book you are too nervous to read.
I have never gotten more than a couple chapters into War and Peace. For some reason I don't get some Russian novels, though I have read a good number of the lesser known ones. And I did read Anna Karenina, but Dostoyevsky's novels and Tolstoy's War and Peace are too much for me.
35. Favorite Poet
Probably Gerard Manley Hopkins.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out from the library at any given time?
Well, it used to be 5 to 15 but lately it has been 0.
37. How many times do you return books to the library unread.
Back when I was a regular, there were usually two or three books I never got to.
38. Favorite fictional character:
I can't decide among Scout Finch, Francie Nolan or Elizabeth Bennett.
39. Favorite fictional villian:
I'll say Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility because I was just reminded recently of the scene between him and Elinor where Elinor learns to forgive him.
40. Books are you most likely to take on vacation:
I think it would be anything I felt like reading next. I don't think it would matter except whether it was too bulky or not. A few years ago when we visited France and Spain, I really wanted to bring the big fat paperback of The Song of Bernadette but I couldn't because it wouldn't fit in my carry on!
41. The longest you have gone without reading:
I have never gone a long time without reading, however, when I was busy having children and nursing, I grew to prefer reading shorter books and articles instead of long books. I just didn't have the attention span to settle into a long Victorian novel or read anything that was really deep.
42. Name a book you could not finish.
There are so many! I am ashamed to admit how many. But my biggest failure is Moby Dick. I have read it twice halfway through, only to give up. Then last year I got it on audio and I still couldn't get through it. But I loved the recent movie adaptation someone did. Maybe it was made for cable? I watched it with my kids and we all really enjoyed it.
43. What distracts you easily when you are reading?
My children. LOL.
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel:
The 1995 A&E Pride and Prejudice; The BBC's North and South. I also really loved Mr. Magoo's A Christmas Carol.
45. Most disappointing adaptation:
The Great Gatsby. They can never capture the powerful moral message of the book.
46. Most money I have ever spent in a bookstore:
I am sure I have spent hundreds of dollars in bookstores, especially at Christmas time, but it was never as much as the overdue fines I had to pay for library books!
47. How often do you skim a book before reading:
I think I usually do with real books but you can't really do that with Kindle books.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book halfway through:
Well, sometimes I simply don't have the concentration span to finish it. This was often true when I had many young children. Other times, it is because I've misplaced it. But currently, most often it is because I simply don't care for it.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I would like to keep them organized. In the past at certain shining moments in my history, my books have been organized, but mostly they are not. Mostly they are a mess, I am afraid.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or to give them away once they have been read?
I prefer to keep books. Sadly I have been giving away picture books because my youngest is now 13, though I am saving some of the most beloved ones in case of grandchildren. Every once in a while I do go through and give away the junkier books.
51. Are there any books you have been avoiding?
I tend to avoid books that are bleak with no redeeming theme. I also don't like racy, vulgar, violent books. So often I'll hear about a new book and think: well, that is one I'll never read!
52. Name a book that made you angry.
I can't remember the name but it was the Iliad told from Patroclus' point of view. He and Achilles were gay lovers and all the characters were twisted into flat, sissified, modern two dimensional metrosexuals. It was awful, awful, awful, awful. I will never forgive that writer, whoever she was!
53. A book you didn't expect to like but did:
Don Quixote. I loved it! I laughed out loud reading it. I was amazed at its cleverness. It was a far easier read than I anticipated.
54. A book you expected to like but didn't:
I am going to echo Howling Frog and say that I did not care for the Sherlock Holmes stories. I was reading them the same time as my husband and he loved them and I thought Sherlock was cold and weird. I couldn't warm up to him and so I didn't really care about the mysteries. The one exception to this is The Hound of the Baskervilles.
55. Favorite guilt-free, guilty pleasure reading:
I love Georgette Heyer. In fact I am in a Georgette Heyer phase right now as I have just reread Faro's Daughter and then read for the first time the Unknown Ajax. And now I am reading a history of the Regency era just because of her.
1. Favorite Childhood Book:
This is very tough. I think I have to go with the Little House series.
2. What are you reading right now?
Right now I am reading The Scarlet Letter with my 15 yo and Shadows on the Rock with my 13 year old. These are both rereads for me. I just started reading Georgette Heyer's Regency World and also a long essay on a failed homesteaders attempt called Farm Flop.
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
This is terrible but I have pretty much stopped going to the library. I only ever have overdue books where I wind up paying enormous fees. I used to go to the library all the time. I grew up going almost weekly and I took my kids all the time. But now my kids are older and we either buy reals books or download on our kindles. So, zero books on request.
4. Bad book habit?
Starting books and never finishing them. I went through a period a few years ago where I couldn't seem to finish a book. I could finish books that I was reading out loud to my kids, but not my own. But then I started blogging about the books I read and that made me more disciplined.
5. What books do you have currently checked out from the library?
Nada
6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yes and I love it. I resisted for a long time because I couldn't stand the idea of electronic books. I love books. I love bookcases filled with books. I love antique books. I collect them! But I have too many books and I keep needing to sift through them and give them away. And like I said above, I waste so much money in library fines, plus lots of times the library doesn't have the books I want to read. So I got a Kindle. Actually, Rick gave me one. And I really liked it. And now I rely on it so much. I only buy real books if I really want to own them. My eyes have gotten so bad. I love that I can adjust the print size on my Kindle. I love the soft backlight that allows me to read in bed without turning on the bedside lamp. I love that I can carry a virtual library around in my purse.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?
If I have too many books going I am sure to not finish them. I find I can handle four. I usually have two books going at once, one is either religious or historical in nature and then I usually something lighter, like a novel or memoir. I tend to read the 'harder' book during the day, for instance if I am waiting to pick up one of the kids or if I get a chance in the afternoon before I take a little nap. I read the lighter one at night. Then usually I can have two read alouds going for our home school at a given time. Anymore than that and I get overwhelmed.
8. Have your reading habits changed since you started a blog?
Well, they really changed when I started participating in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. I've been doing that for several years. It made me more intentional in taking reading as a serious hobby.
9. Least favorite book you've read this year:
I usually don't finish books I don't like. Hmmm. I really didn't care for Curriculum Vitae by Muriel Spark, which disappointed me. I like her novels but I found I didn't really care for her as a person.
10. Favorite book you've read this year:
This is hard. I've read a lot of good books this year. I would say the one that completely transported me to an exotic place was The Old Patagonian Express. I was completely absorbed in it.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
I think, as I get older, I read less outside of my comfort zone. There is so much crap out there. I am kind of tired of it. I want books that tell me about history, heal my soul, help me connect with others, delight my imagination. I don't really want anything dark or edgy or nihilistic.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Not sure what this means. I don't like a lot of modern books because I think they are poorly written, predictable and try too hard to shock by resorting to prurient themes.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Oh yes. I can pretty much read anywhere.
14. Favorite place to read:
My bed would be first, but also in the car waiting for kids, or on my screen porch when the weather is lovely.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
I don't have a policy. I tend to be very generous with my books. Often I loan them out and then don't get them back. So be it!
16. Do you dog-ear your books?
Depends. If it is a cheap paperback, yeah. If it is a nice hardback edition that I want to keep for a long time? Nope.
17. Do you write notes in the margins of your books?
Only if I am conscientiously studying the book. I tend to do this with spiritual books.
18. Do you crack the spine?
Only by accident!
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
Alas, I am only fluent in English.
20. What makes you love a book?
Great writing and great humanity.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
I recommend a book for many reasons. Maybe it is about a subject that someone is interested in. Maybe I think it will inspire them. Maybe I thought the writer was brilliant. Maybe I thought the book was hysterically funny or told a compelling story. Many reasons.
22. Favorite genre
Don't have a single favorite genre. I do love historical fiction, regency type romances, memoirs, travel books, books that explore theology, practical advice books, biographies, humorous books. classics, mysteries and lately I've really loved reading those back to the land type books.
23. Genre you rarely read but wish you did:
Unfortunately, I don't really care for fantasy or sci-fi. I am trying to like more fantasy. I think I'll never really get into sci-fi.
24. Favorite Biography:
Well, I recently read Mornings on Horseback about Teddy Roosevelt's youth. It was excellent!
25. Have you ever read a self-help book (and did it actually help?)
I have read some good books on raising children and also on organizing your life/house if you are ADD. They didn't make me perfect or anything, but I think they helped clarify my thinking and changed my approach a bit.
26. Favorite cookbook:
I have two but I seldom cook from them! I have a cookbook my aunt gave me called Almost Vegetarian. It has lovely recipes in it that feature far too many vegetables so I could never make them for my family! But I like to read it sometimes. I also have a Tasha Tudor cookbook which has recipes for dutch ovens cooked on an open hearth and the like. I don't use these receipts (as she calls them) either, but I like to thumb through the book when I am in the mood.
27. Most inspirational book you've read this year?
This one is easy! 33 Days to Morning Glory, a wonderfully down to earth, profound, and easy to read book about consecrating one's life to Jesus through Mary. Beautiful!
28. Favorite reading snack
Maybe ice cream? But that is too sticky. . . . I think I just like a cup of tea or a glass of cold water to sip while I read.
29. Name a case where hype ruined your reading experience.
Gee, I really can't think of an answer to this.
30. How often do you agree or disagree with a critic about a book.
I don't read a lot of new stuff. So usually I am reading literary criticism and not reviews. That said, I hate modern criticism which is always seen through the eyes of feminism or some other ism. There is a lot of anachronisms (ha!) in their view point. I find modern thinking pretty soul crushing because it is so based in materialism, deconstructionism, etc. I am really picky about my literary critics. My favorite favorite is Peter Liethart who I think wrote the single best analysis of Jane Austen ever.
31. I don't like to give negative reviews. Once I gave a negative review about a book and then deleted it later. But I don't usually have to give a negative review because I seldom finish a book if it is that painful.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
Latin for sure. I would love to be able to read all that history in the language it was first expressed in.
33. Most intimidating book you have read.
I found Dante's Inferno very hard. If I hadn't been watching lectures about it and hadn't been reading it in a group, I don't I would have stuck with it. I can't just sit down and read Shakespeare. I have to actively be studying it with someone else.
34. Most intimidating book you are too nervous to read.
I have never gotten more than a couple chapters into War and Peace. For some reason I don't get some Russian novels, though I have read a good number of the lesser known ones. And I did read Anna Karenina, but Dostoyevsky's novels and Tolstoy's War and Peace are too much for me.
35. Favorite Poet
Probably Gerard Manley Hopkins.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out from the library at any given time?
Well, it used to be 5 to 15 but lately it has been 0.
37. How many times do you return books to the library unread.
Back when I was a regular, there were usually two or three books I never got to.
38. Favorite fictional character:
I can't decide among Scout Finch, Francie Nolan or Elizabeth Bennett.
39. Favorite fictional villian:
I'll say Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility because I was just reminded recently of the scene between him and Elinor where Elinor learns to forgive him.
40. Books are you most likely to take on vacation:
I think it would be anything I felt like reading next. I don't think it would matter except whether it was too bulky or not. A few years ago when we visited France and Spain, I really wanted to bring the big fat paperback of The Song of Bernadette but I couldn't because it wouldn't fit in my carry on!
41. The longest you have gone without reading:
I have never gone a long time without reading, however, when I was busy having children and nursing, I grew to prefer reading shorter books and articles instead of long books. I just didn't have the attention span to settle into a long Victorian novel or read anything that was really deep.
42. Name a book you could not finish.
There are so many! I am ashamed to admit how many. But my biggest failure is Moby Dick. I have read it twice halfway through, only to give up. Then last year I got it on audio and I still couldn't get through it. But I loved the recent movie adaptation someone did. Maybe it was made for cable? I watched it with my kids and we all really enjoyed it.
43. What distracts you easily when you are reading?
My children. LOL.
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel:
The 1995 A&E Pride and Prejudice; The BBC's North and South. I also really loved Mr. Magoo's A Christmas Carol.
45. Most disappointing adaptation:
The Great Gatsby. They can never capture the powerful moral message of the book.
46. Most money I have ever spent in a bookstore:
I am sure I have spent hundreds of dollars in bookstores, especially at Christmas time, but it was never as much as the overdue fines I had to pay for library books!
47. How often do you skim a book before reading:
I think I usually do with real books but you can't really do that with Kindle books.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book halfway through:
Well, sometimes I simply don't have the concentration span to finish it. This was often true when I had many young children. Other times, it is because I've misplaced it. But currently, most often it is because I simply don't care for it.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I would like to keep them organized. In the past at certain shining moments in my history, my books have been organized, but mostly they are not. Mostly they are a mess, I am afraid.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or to give them away once they have been read?
I prefer to keep books. Sadly I have been giving away picture books because my youngest is now 13, though I am saving some of the most beloved ones in case of grandchildren. Every once in a while I do go through and give away the junkier books.
51. Are there any books you have been avoiding?
I tend to avoid books that are bleak with no redeeming theme. I also don't like racy, vulgar, violent books. So often I'll hear about a new book and think: well, that is one I'll never read!
52. Name a book that made you angry.
I can't remember the name but it was the Iliad told from Patroclus' point of view. He and Achilles were gay lovers and all the characters were twisted into flat, sissified, modern two dimensional metrosexuals. It was awful, awful, awful, awful. I will never forgive that writer, whoever she was!
53. A book you didn't expect to like but did:
Don Quixote. I loved it! I laughed out loud reading it. I was amazed at its cleverness. It was a far easier read than I anticipated.
54. A book you expected to like but didn't:
I am going to echo Howling Frog and say that I did not care for the Sherlock Holmes stories. I was reading them the same time as my husband and he loved them and I thought Sherlock was cold and weird. I couldn't warm up to him and so I didn't really care about the mysteries. The one exception to this is The Hound of the Baskervilles.
55. Favorite guilt-free, guilty pleasure reading:
I love Georgette Heyer. In fact I am in a Georgette Heyer phase right now as I have just reread Faro's Daughter and then read for the first time the Unknown Ajax. And now I am reading a history of the Regency era just because of her.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
The Unknown Ajax - Book 42
The Unknown Ajax is a another great romp in the world of Regency England by the queen of Regency romances, Georgette Heyer. This one isn't so much of a romance, though there is a bit of that, mostly it is a wonderful and sly character sketch of Major Hugo, the mystery cousin who suddenly enters the life of the Darracott family, as the heir to their estate.
Lord Darracott is a tyrannical old man, who has his entire family cowed by his temper and nasty tongue. Somehow, through a series of unexpected deaths, which I never could quite parse out, and which no one else in the family seemed to be especially mournful over, it emerges that a secret cousin now has become heir. This puts Vincent who thought he was now heir, a bit out of sorts. There is a whole cast of characters here: Vincent the languid, bored aristocrat, his clownish younger brother, aptly named Claud. Their regal, sensible mother Lady Aurelia. But these are actually rather minor characters. We also meet Mrs. Darracott, the widowed mother of Anthea and Richmond. Poor Mrs. Darracott is of a kindly and sensitive nature. Living under the testy rule of Lord Darracott, her father in law, has done bad things to her nerves. Having her sensible and feisty daughter nearby helps though. Anthea is the romantic heroine. She's smart and rather pretty and she takes after her grandfather in that she has a lot of gumption. But her tightfisted grandfather only let her have one season in London and she failed to catch a husband. So now, at 22, she's resigned herself to having to live under grandfather's despotic rule for the foreseeable future. Then there's her younger brother, Richmond. He is grandfather's favorite and he's been coddled and spoiled. He's a nice boy though, but of high energy and despairing of the fact that Lord Darracott has squashed his dearest wish of entering the army.
Major Hugo, the lowly weaver's son and mystery cousin, steps into this scenario and the Darracotts can't figure him out. He's a big man with a 'bovine' countenance. Is he really as mild and stoic as he seems? He's very pleasant and none of the temper tantrums and family squabbling seems to bother him. Even when he knows Vincent wishes him dead. And then there is the fact that Lord Darracott has decided Anthea will marry him whether she likes it or not.
Did I mention the smuggling going on? The estate is on the coast and this takes place just after the war with France. Smuggling French goods into the country has long been an established underground activity in the area. But we've got an especially gung ho Preventative officer determined to put a stop to this.
And then there are the rival valets all trying to outdo each other. Oh, and the ghosts.
All this weaves together into a delightful story. The last few hair-raising scenes in the book read almost like a play to me. They are almost all dialogue and are both suspenseful and very funny.
I really enjoyed this book. I think I have now read 21 Heyer books. She's definitely up there in my top ten favorite authors!
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
P.S. For those who love Heyer, there is a really fun facebook group for her fans.
Lord Darracott is a tyrannical old man, who has his entire family cowed by his temper and nasty tongue. Somehow, through a series of unexpected deaths, which I never could quite parse out, and which no one else in the family seemed to be especially mournful over, it emerges that a secret cousin now has become heir. This puts Vincent who thought he was now heir, a bit out of sorts. There is a whole cast of characters here: Vincent the languid, bored aristocrat, his clownish younger brother, aptly named Claud. Their regal, sensible mother Lady Aurelia. But these are actually rather minor characters. We also meet Mrs. Darracott, the widowed mother of Anthea and Richmond. Poor Mrs. Darracott is of a kindly and sensitive nature. Living under the testy rule of Lord Darracott, her father in law, has done bad things to her nerves. Having her sensible and feisty daughter nearby helps though. Anthea is the romantic heroine. She's smart and rather pretty and she takes after her grandfather in that she has a lot of gumption. But her tightfisted grandfather only let her have one season in London and she failed to catch a husband. So now, at 22, she's resigned herself to having to live under grandfather's despotic rule for the foreseeable future. Then there's her younger brother, Richmond. He is grandfather's favorite and he's been coddled and spoiled. He's a nice boy though, but of high energy and despairing of the fact that Lord Darracott has squashed his dearest wish of entering the army.
Major Hugo, the lowly weaver's son and mystery cousin, steps into this scenario and the Darracotts can't figure him out. He's a big man with a 'bovine' countenance. Is he really as mild and stoic as he seems? He's very pleasant and none of the temper tantrums and family squabbling seems to bother him. Even when he knows Vincent wishes him dead. And then there is the fact that Lord Darracott has decided Anthea will marry him whether she likes it or not.
Did I mention the smuggling going on? The estate is on the coast and this takes place just after the war with France. Smuggling French goods into the country has long been an established underground activity in the area. But we've got an especially gung ho Preventative officer determined to put a stop to this.
And then there are the rival valets all trying to outdo each other. Oh, and the ghosts.
All this weaves together into a delightful story. The last few hair-raising scenes in the book read almost like a play to me. They are almost all dialogue and are both suspenseful and very funny.
I really enjoyed this book. I think I have now read 21 Heyer books. She's definitely up there in my top ten favorite authors!
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
P.S. For those who love Heyer, there is a really fun facebook group for her fans.
Friday, October 10, 2014
A Literary Halloween
When I was growing up in the 1960s, Halloween was all about kids dressing up as hobos, gypsies, ghosts, witches, cowboys or Indians, (these were all homemade costumes) or sometimes your mom would splurge and get a cheapo costume from the 5 and Dime that had a plastic mask with a piece of elastic stapled on to keep it over your face and then a super cheapo costume to go with it. You could be Snoopy or Frankenstein or Mickey Mouse. As a teenager I stopped participating, except to open the door to the little kids in the neighborhood who were still trick or treating to hand them some candy. By the time I became a parent and had children old enough to trick or treat, things had changed. For one thing Halloween had come to be viewed by many as evil and as something to do with Satanism. That was among the religious. For the seculars it had become something that adults did too. Apparently, lots of adults put on stupid, sexy costumes and went to parties. I got mad at the baby boomers always either commercializing or polarizing every darn thing! Or taking it over from children, since the baby boomers decided innocent fun for kids wasn't important enough compared with their wanting to party.
Catholics seemed to have glommed onto a more fundamentalist perspective and many I knew no longer dressed up for Halloween. Instead, what was becoming popular were All Saints Day parties, where kids dressed up as a saint and went to a party hosted at a local parish.
Well, I never rejected the wholesome part of Halloween, but I did really like the idea of focusing on saints - after all All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation and indeed it is the very raison d'etre that Halloween even exists. Halloween, as you probably know, means Hallow's eve or holy eve. And following All Saints is All Souls, the day we pray for the dead.
In our homeschooling life, these three days emerged as a three day fest for us. We dressed up for Halloween - usually by having a costume that could be converted to a saint's costume - for instance a princess costume could also be made into a St. Elizabeth of Hungary costume. A nun's costume could be any number of saints. A knight could be St. George, the headless horseman could become John the Baptist. You get my drift. Sometimes we went to the All Saints parties and sometimes we were too hung over from our candy binge the night before. But we always went to Mass on All Saints Day. And for a while there I would have the kids research a new saint and then give an oral report about them.
For All Souls Day we always went and bought flowers, then visited the graves of their various relatives and prayed a decade or so of the rosary at the cemetery.
Here's a humorous video explaining Halloween and All Saints Day.
I was very uncomfortable with both the reactive rejection of Halloween and the secularization/adultification/satanic overtones that it has now adopted. So my response was to go literary. I decided October was a fine time to explore the classic genre of the ghost story. I don't like slasher or horror films, but a little spookiness is fun. And I don't like frightening stories about actual demented people who harm or kill others, but a good scare is fine with me. And I don't mind dealing with the supernatural as long as we realize they are just vehicles for a good story and don't take them seriously. Supernatural happenings have been elements in storytelling since time immortal!
Anyway, here are some classic things to read for a spooky October:
Fairy Tales - Andrew Lang, Brother Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson - not all of these are spooky, but a great many are surprisingly dark, full of magic and unexpected twists and turns. Some are too gruesome for me, so read them before you read them to your little ones and decide which ones are appropriate for their age.
Bunnicula - these clever, funny stories center on a vampire rabbit who likes to suck vegetable juice! Great books for kids who are just getting a handle on real chapter books.
Spooky Stories for a Dark and Stormy Night - this one only has one really scary story in it. I think it is the very last story. Most of them are gentle enough for young children. We read this book over and over again until it became quite dog-earred.
Jim Weiss' Spooky Classics - great audio recording of some classic tales.
The Flying Dutchman - explore the many retellings of this story in poetry, novels and even opera!
The Boggart - we loved, loved, loved this audio version and listened to it many times over the years.
The Canterville Ghost - read it yourself this time (a retelling for kids is on that Jim Weiss recording listed above). Here's a recent article about it.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - a good Victorian/Gothic young adult novel.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 'Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink!'
All things Edgar Allen Poe! Of course!
Goosebumps - This is a particular collection of short stories - my kids never read the Goosebump series. I had been warned that it was twaddle so I didn't encourage them and for some reason my kids never gravitated to them. However, somehow we acquired this collection of stories. I have no idea how. Well, one day I sat down to read them and much to my surprise, they were very good! We reread these many times.
One October we devoted ourselves to Trolls!
The Headless Horseman - This is a nice beginning reader that retells Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Something Wicked This Way Comes - book or movie - Bradbury took this title from a line in MacBeth.
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Jim Weiss has an audio retelling for children or you can enjoy the movie with Basil Rathbone - it is a good one! Or read the actual novel! Or the graphic novel version! Or color the coloring book!
Frankenstein - written by 17 year old Mary Shelley. A classic story of what happens when man plays God. Or if you want to get silly watch Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder (maybe middle school age and up?).
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - another cautionary tale about science and the evil it can do. You can find it in graphic novel form too.
Hamlet - ghosts and murder!
MacBeth - witches and ghosts and murder!
And while we are talking about plays, Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a good one for teens to read. I've never seen the movie or the actual play though.
I've listed a few movies above but some others that are gentle and for family watching come to mind are:
The Wizard of Oz
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Monsters, Inc.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Brigadoon
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
No October would be complete without The Great Pumpkin!
You can also do some music appreciation. Here is a list of 15 scary pieces of classical music. They include Night on Bald Mountain and Bach's Fugue in D minor but they don't include Stravinsky's Rite of Spring which I think has some really scary sounding parts to it. Nor do they include the theme song for Alfred Hitchcock Presents which is really Funeral March for a Marionette by Gounod.
And finally for a lovely, homey poem about autumn read this lovely picture book rendering of James Whitcomb Riley's When the Frost in on the Punkin.
Catholics seemed to have glommed onto a more fundamentalist perspective and many I knew no longer dressed up for Halloween. Instead, what was becoming popular were All Saints Day parties, where kids dressed up as a saint and went to a party hosted at a local parish.
Well, I never rejected the wholesome part of Halloween, but I did really like the idea of focusing on saints - after all All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation and indeed it is the very raison d'etre that Halloween even exists. Halloween, as you probably know, means Hallow's eve or holy eve. And following All Saints is All Souls, the day we pray for the dead.
In our homeschooling life, these three days emerged as a three day fest for us. We dressed up for Halloween - usually by having a costume that could be converted to a saint's costume - for instance a princess costume could also be made into a St. Elizabeth of Hungary costume. A nun's costume could be any number of saints. A knight could be St. George, the headless horseman could become John the Baptist. You get my drift. Sometimes we went to the All Saints parties and sometimes we were too hung over from our candy binge the night before. But we always went to Mass on All Saints Day. And for a while there I would have the kids research a new saint and then give an oral report about them.
For All Souls Day we always went and bought flowers, then visited the graves of their various relatives and prayed a decade or so of the rosary at the cemetery.
Here's a humorous video explaining Halloween and All Saints Day.
I was very uncomfortable with both the reactive rejection of Halloween and the secularization/adultification/satanic overtones that it has now adopted. So my response was to go literary. I decided October was a fine time to explore the classic genre of the ghost story. I don't like slasher or horror films, but a little spookiness is fun. And I don't like frightening stories about actual demented people who harm or kill others, but a good scare is fine with me. And I don't mind dealing with the supernatural as long as we realize they are just vehicles for a good story and don't take them seriously. Supernatural happenings have been elements in storytelling since time immortal!
Anyway, here are some classic things to read for a spooky October:
Fairy Tales - Andrew Lang, Brother Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson - not all of these are spooky, but a great many are surprisingly dark, full of magic and unexpected twists and turns. Some are too gruesome for me, so read them before you read them to your little ones and decide which ones are appropriate for their age.
Bunnicula - these clever, funny stories center on a vampire rabbit who likes to suck vegetable juice! Great books for kids who are just getting a handle on real chapter books.
Spooky Stories for a Dark and Stormy Night - this one only has one really scary story in it. I think it is the very last story. Most of them are gentle enough for young children. We read this book over and over again until it became quite dog-earred.
Jim Weiss' Spooky Classics - great audio recording of some classic tales.
The Flying Dutchman - explore the many retellings of this story in poetry, novels and even opera!
The Boggart - we loved, loved, loved this audio version and listened to it many times over the years.
The Canterville Ghost - read it yourself this time (a retelling for kids is on that Jim Weiss recording listed above). Here's a recent article about it.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - a good Victorian/Gothic young adult novel.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 'Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink!'
All things Edgar Allen Poe! Of course!
Goosebumps - This is a particular collection of short stories - my kids never read the Goosebump series. I had been warned that it was twaddle so I didn't encourage them and for some reason my kids never gravitated to them. However, somehow we acquired this collection of stories. I have no idea how. Well, one day I sat down to read them and much to my surprise, they were very good! We reread these many times.
One October we devoted ourselves to Trolls!
The Headless Horseman - This is a nice beginning reader that retells Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Something Wicked This Way Comes - book or movie - Bradbury took this title from a line in MacBeth.
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Jim Weiss has an audio retelling for children or you can enjoy the movie with Basil Rathbone - it is a good one! Or read the actual novel! Or the graphic novel version! Or color the coloring book!
Frankenstein - written by 17 year old Mary Shelley. A classic story of what happens when man plays God. Or if you want to get silly watch Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder (maybe middle school age and up?).
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - another cautionary tale about science and the evil it can do. You can find it in graphic novel form too.
Hamlet - ghosts and murder!
MacBeth - witches and ghosts and murder!
And while we are talking about plays, Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a good one for teens to read. I've never seen the movie or the actual play though.
I've listed a few movies above but some others that are gentle and for family watching come to mind are:
The Wizard of Oz
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Monsters, Inc.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Brigadoon
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
No October would be complete without The Great Pumpkin!
You can also do some music appreciation. Here is a list of 15 scary pieces of classical music. They include Night on Bald Mountain and Bach's Fugue in D minor but they don't include Stravinsky's Rite of Spring which I think has some really scary sounding parts to it. Nor do they include the theme song for Alfred Hitchcock Presents which is really Funeral March for a Marionette by Gounod.
And finally for a lovely, homey poem about autumn read this lovely picture book rendering of James Whitcomb Riley's When the Frost in on the Punkin.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
After the Wedding . . .
Hannah is getting married on Saturday. Out of town guests are already arriving. More come in tomorrow and Friday. Last minute reception stuff and, oh all kinds of little details are popping up and have to be dealt with. I think though, for us, we are doing pretty well. This is mostly because Hannah is a planner and she's getting it all done. Both she and Peter got sick this past week and they are still recuperating from a nasty cold. They'll be up their saying their vows and hacking away. . . . Hannah's also had stupid stuff to do like get her student-teacher application in today, which is a long and unnecessarily bureaucratic process (we've discovered is what educators are - bureaucrats, except for the teachers who are constrained absurdly by the bureaucracy). And other stuff is going on too. All I can think of is that my feet are going to ache; my cheeks are going to ache from smiling so much (as I am wont to do when in public display) and my heart too because the one who made me a mother is truly leaving the nest and starting her own.
Hopefully, all will go well!
For ages now though I've been saying to myself, after the wedding we'll do . . . .fill in the blank. I just have to get through the wedding before I can attend to certain things. The one thing I mostly have in mind is getting a better grip on how we spend our days. Both Becky and Sean are plugged into electronics way too much, as I am! So we all need a little reform in that area. I also really want to focus more on exercise, for all three of us. And Sean really needs to form the habit of reading independently several times a week. He still really struggles with focus and finishing books. It disheartens him. Also, I've got ideas for reforming Joshua as well. But all that comes after this huge event is over. . . .
I hope it is beautiful and I can't wait for it to be over!
Hopefully, all will go well!
For ages now though I've been saying to myself, after the wedding we'll do . . . .fill in the blank. I just have to get through the wedding before I can attend to certain things. The one thing I mostly have in mind is getting a better grip on how we spend our days. Both Becky and Sean are plugged into electronics way too much, as I am! So we all need a little reform in that area. I also really want to focus more on exercise, for all three of us. And Sean really needs to form the habit of reading independently several times a week. He still really struggles with focus and finishing books. It disheartens him. Also, I've got ideas for reforming Joshua as well. But all that comes after this huge event is over. . . .
I hope it is beautiful and I can't wait for it to be over!
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