Handmade Clothes

I miss my mom really all the time but it goes in waves. Recently I bought a second hand pair of  Loft jeans because I liked the fit and style. The only problem is they are too long for me. My mom used to help me out with this issue by cutting a chunk out and attaching the hem/bottom of the pants back on. I don't know how she did it exactly but I was happy with the end result.  I have asked a friend with a sewing machine to help me but I miss having my mom to do this simple task for me. She'd ask me to stand up on a chair with a back so I could hold on and not fall. I treasure the memory of her sewing my clothes or fixing them. 

Of course she was sick for a long time and didn't sew even before that but in my childhood/teens and into my 30's she sewed. I have a few school photos that feature me in handmade Judy dresses and peasant tops. In high school she cut triangles in the sides of a pair of jeans and added in flowery panels to make them flare with flair. She made me a gorgeous velvet dress for Christmas. 

I once saw her bring a dress home from Dillard's and lay that dress down on a bolt of similar fabric and then draw the outline with small ticks of chalk. In this way she made her own pattern and then returned the dress to Dillard's!  Later in life she took on needlepoint and knitting. Her mother/my grandmother was a major knitter throughout her life. That craftiness skill skipped right over me. I've tried to sew and knit and neither comes easy to me. Think big holes and uneven seams. 

I wish my mom was here today to help me with my jeans but also to talk about every day topics. She would be fired up about politics right now. I know my son Tristan misses talking Vikings football with her and she would be just as happy as he is on their fabulous season so far. Somedays I think of something and totally forget she's not on the other end of the phone. In fact my nephew has her phone which always makes me smile. All the above photos show me in handmade clothes. I had to go on a photo hunt to locate these gems.

I hope I can get my jeans hemmed and that I’m asked to stand on a chair to get them at the right angle! 

Photo 1: orange polka dot midi-dress that I wore for my school photo and a play at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre

Photo 2: Floral velvet dress but I know you are just focused on that out-of-control pixie cut! 

Photo 3: high school maybe junior year peasant  top that I loved and often paired with bell bottom jeans of course!

Photo 4: Red Christmas jumper with same pixie cut and my brother Mike smiling behind me. This is in Fairmont, MN with the family room fireplace. Above the fireplace is an oil painting of the three of us done by Jack Bender, a local Cedar Falls painter at the time.  

Book Challenge 2024

 I'm so excited to share that I've already completed my 2024 Goodreads Challenge. I've read 68 out of 65 books. I feel so accomplished but along with that I realize it's because I didn't do some of the work projects around my house-I read instead! By the way the projects are still waiting. I spent my summer reading a lot of good elementary fiction for school and then in August I read a few great adult books as I was eating my way around Italy. 

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (2024): What a fun concept! Lauren returns to her London apartment to be greeted at the door by her husband, Michael, except she knows she is not really married. A strange cast of characters and the revolving door of her attic keeps this debut novel popping! 

Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams (2024): Single mom Mallory Dunne gets the dreaded phone call that her young son has eaten a poisonous mushroom at summer camp and her world turns upside down as she cares for her child. Interwoven in alternating chapters is the story of Hannah Ainsworth, a Hungarian refugee, married to a cold-hearted British diplomat.  As Hannah and Mallory's stories collide we learn the truth about the choices both women made to keep themselves safe. 

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (2015): A little wedding mystery to shake things up. Mystery writer Leonora is invited to a girl's getaway in the English countryside. Her invite comes from an old university friend and Leonora cannot figure out why she's actually been invited to this particular bridal shower. This kept me reading late into the night to figure out what was going on!

I read all three of these books on my Kindle app through Libby. I'm not been the biggest fan of reading on my phone because it just keeps me on my phone more and it is easy to get distracted but in this case it worked and I didn't have to lug books around in my bags plus I could literally pull it out every time we were on the train, in an Uber, or at dinner one night when the conversation was beyond me. 

The end of August brought a few more great reading choices and that is what's pushed me over my final challenge numbers.

The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold (2021): My brother-in-law/SIL sent this to me for my birthday. It is a favorite of theirs and they'd shared about it on our family trip to Asheville. I loved that they just sent me their copy, dog-eared and loved. I loved Station Eleven and this one had similar vibes as a post-apocalyptic world set in New England. 20 years ago after infected flies have taken out most of the population.  The young cast of characters left behind are charming survivors who know far too much about the world and are on hopeful quests to find more of what is possible in this new world. 

Yellowface by R.F Kuang (2023): This story is a twisted tale of lies and let's us in on the world of publishing. I read this after Japhy recommended it; she listens to a lot of books through Libby. June and Athena both want to be world-famous authors but Athena is the only one with a rising star. When June gets her chance she snags what, she feels, is rightfully hers. So well done-I loved it. I want to go back and read Kuang's previous novel Babel. 

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (2023): This is one of my BOTM club picks that languished on my to-be-read shelf and then one day in September I just picked it up and started it. I love a really good meet-cute and this one was well-done. Based on the whole Saturday Night Live comedy scene with Sally as an older writer on the show and Noah Brewster, a world famous singer/songwriter who happens to guest on the show.  I loved learning about this comedy world and laughed throughout this book. It also touched me with it's raw emotion about women as we age and how we are viewed by others. 

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (2023): This is a riveting mystery set in 1970's Boston's Irish south side with a cranky, tough as nails narrator Mary Pat Fennessey as she searches for her missing daughter. The busing crisis to integrate schools  takes center stage as Mary Pat tries to figure out what has happened to her daughter as well  as questioning her own decisions and choices. Excellent writing. 

Truly Devious series #1 & #2 by Maureen Johnson (2018/2019): Japhy recommended this series to me as well. This mystery, set in an exclusive Vermont school, flips between present with Stevie as our budding true crime detective trying to solve a kidnapping gone awry back in 1936. This young adult series is a quick and adventurous read and I'm looking forward to book 3. 

Funny Story by Emily Henry (2024): Another romantic comedy set in Michigan with a cute twist on who is marrying who...? I like Henry's writing and this story revolves around Daphne's broken engagement to Peter and Daphne happens to be a children's librarian! Fantastic and fun with some definite sexy moments; the sexy librarian rules!

What I'm reading now: Mosquitoland by David Arnold (bc of Electric Kingdom) and The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. It's also a great time to. pick up a banned book and give it a read. 

A trip well-traveled

At the beginning of August I took a 10 hour flight to Rome, Italy with my friend Barb but the story actually begins years ago when she and I met in Denver, CO as waitresses. She ended up moving back to Chicago and we stayed connected by cards and letters (before the internet!) In one of those notes I said something about when we're older and walking around Italy with a glass of wine! She called me this spring after rereading this message and yelled "we need to go to Italy!" and so we did. Sometimes you need a kickstart to really get going; this was mine. We did some preliminary research, making decisions on where exactly we wanted to go but the rest of it was pretty spur of the moment. And really until I drove into Chicago with my family, went to a Cubs/Cardinals game on my birthday and then dropped off at Barb's I still had feelings of uncertainty.  And the next afternoon we headed to O'Hare and got on an Italia airplane! I remembered my passport and all other relevant things including a suitcase full of clothes and the trip began! 

I've never been on a plane that long and it made me a little antsy - doesn't the pilot get sleepy?- but we settled in with a glass of wine and a plastic container of decent lasagna. Neither of us had working screens so we watched Madame Secretary with Tea Leoni on Barb's phone because that's what she had in her downloads.  We tried to sleep to no avail-personally I was too excited and nervous. 

We landed in Rome, easily made it through customs because they had these great scanners and we only had to stop to get our passports stamped. At baggage claim we hooked up with Barb’s hairdresser who was also traveling to Italy. And we headed out into the Rome sunshine pulling our suitcases behind us.  We paid an Uber driver to tour us around the high points in Rome and with just one day there it was the easiest way to see everything. The Coliseum, St Peter's Square and the Basilica, the Fountain of Trevi, and the Spanish Steps were all amazing to see. Being near such old buildings, statues and monuments was awe-inspiring and it never got old. In Florence I walked through a perfumery that has existed since 1221.  We had.an amazing meal that evening at Trattoria Pommidoro dal 1890 tucked away in a little neighborhood and we sat on the patio and lazily enjoyed our meal and wine. I was still pinching myself that I was eating dinner in Rome.  We discovered a fountain near our hotel that had two cafes for croissants and cappuccinos.  

The next day we headed north by train to the beautiful Cinque Terre region to stay for three days in Monterosso, one of the 5 hill towns on the coast. We had a little AirB&B on the hill and we could walk down to the town but we always caught a ride back up. Because we were on the coast and the seafood was fresh a lot of our meals here were straight from the sea. The second day we took a boat ride around the 5 hill towns to see them from the water. We were there during a heat wave and hiking around the hills (the preferred method to sightseeing here) was just not going to happen. The boat ride was lovely and we loved Lorenzo, our handsome boat guide and that we were able to get in the water and swim in the sparkling water. We had several amazing meals in Monterosso and a delicious meal right off the boat at Ristorante Gambero Rosso in Vernazza. 

On the fourth day we headed back to the train and headed an hour south to Livorno, another coastal town where Barb and I were excited to see a concert that night. We stayed in a cool old hotel right across from the Fort where the Xavier Rudd concert would take place later that night. We cooled off in the hotel and then headed out for dinner and a cold bottle of Prosecco before heading into the concert.  We hadn't finished our bubbly so our server gave us plastic glasses to travel with as we traipsed our way down the cobblestones.  The concert was a very relaxed affair and one that I'm so glad we took the time to see. Nobody looked through our bags or cared that we had cups already in our hands. The sky was beautiful and the crowd was easily like family. It was a great place to people watch as we bopped our bodies to Xavier's music. 

The next day our adventure took us to beautiful Florence where we started our days with cappuccinos on the piazza and watched the fountains spurt out water and eventually made our way to the Uffizi Galleries witnessing masterpieces of art.  We also visited the Gucci museum and store which took us through the history of the artisitic brand. We had more delicious food including a meal at La Tenda Rossa. During our time here we also took a Walk About Tours cooking class in the Tuscan countryside and a vegan dinner in the San Gimignano region at a 600 years old farmhouse. We shopped at tiny boutiques where Barb and I bought matching silky dresses and I bought a beautiful linen dress.  We walked through dozens of leather stores with so many purses. I had a shopkeeper try and sell me very beautiful but expensive earrings, I had to walk away unfortunately. And Barb and I wandered through the Basilica di Santa Croce which is where Galileo and Michelangelo are entombed. We drank quite a few carafes of red wine, Prosecco, Limoncello and Hugo spritzers.  We enjoyed it all. I loved the trains and the sleek Uber cars/drivers. I also enjoyed seeing a world that treasured the old, embraced their history, had access to good food (great little mercados), and did their part for the world with recycling and compost bins everywhere plus everyone we ran into was friendly and happy to help us. In Livorno the front desk woman called her son in the U.S. to translate something for us.  

And then we took a high speed train back to Rome and headed to the airport hotel to spend one last night before flying home. We spent a funny 20 minutes in a gas station/restaurant and I will never forget the Prosecco and freshly made potato chips served to us as we waited for our Uber driver!  It was the trip of a lifetime but I plan to get out there more. I want to go to Spain and Portugal next...

Competition and Politics

We are more than halfway through summer and the Olympics are hot (go Simone!), and so are politics in our country right now. As a young adult my dad told me to try and look at anything from both sides. I’ve tried in our current political climate but full on am going to say we’ve arrived in crazy town. I have to think if my dad were alive today he would feel the same. 

I am most confused by religious people following this man like he is the second coming of Jesus. I could list off all the ways he is the opposite of Jesus except I don’t think it matters to his followers that he speaks about pussy grabbing, misogynistic and racist rants, and is cruel to most everyone except white cisgender men. He lusts after his daughter, he is uneducated, uncouth and most definitely not the person to lead our country. 

It makes me wonder everyday why regular people like him, why women in particular love him. Is it novelty? Is it  because deep down they are also racist and feel men should only be in charge? I used to understand why Republicans would vote for their candidate because they were one issue voters, trying their best to cancel abortion or they were just fiscally conservative. Those expectations are out the window (except for abortion) and DT has so much more up his sleeves like a creepy magician and one of his tricks is that his policies hurt his very base. He is not for the working class and instead will implement more tax cuts for the wealthy. The list is long of how he will dismantle programs that help the common citizen. 

Kamala Harris is not my first choice but there is a very real possibility that if the stars align she could be our first female president and I welcome that because it will open the door for other women like AOC and Gretchen Whitmer. I hope we can change her position on Israel (we should absolutely not be funding them or shaking hands with Netanyahu) and that she walks in the Oval Office with thoughtfulness.  Like ready to be a female president not just mimicking the vast amount of men who've held the position before her. 

I’d like to be able to persuade at least one person to jump sides right now while it still matters. This guy you “love” is a sham, a trickster, a charlatan and nothing good will come of a second term unless you’re a billionaire like Elon Musk or you hate women and consideration for others. Our two party system needs to go, the electoral college is no longer relevant, and we need to dismantle the system from the ground up; start over but for now we just need to make sure he who will not be named does not make it back into office. 

I am having a blast watching the Olympics. The opening ceremony was beautiful and I'm laughing at Americans judging it harshly because they've got to have their hand in everything. I love to watch the athletes compete and hear about their backstories. It's a mind break from politics.  

Fabulous Summer Reading List

When I was growing up I loved reading. My favorite characters were Pippi Longstocking, Ramona, Claudia (Mixed Up Files), Judy Blume books and The Borrowers.  I was constantly reading and spent a lot of time at our local library. I was in a library book club and I remember we read Watership Down and The Hobbit. I read Johnny Tremain as a kid and loved it. These books built empathy for me, made me laugh, and gave me the feeling of comfort and well-being. 

Today’s world of kids lit is like an explosion of variety! So many many choices! While we did have Cleary, L’Engle, Blume, and Konigsburg we didn’t yet have the brilliance of Kate DiCamillo, Allan Gratz, Katherine Applegate, Stuart Gibbs, Dan Geminhart, Jacqueline Woodson, or Jason Reynolds. That’s just a handful that come to mind and my library is filled with many other great authors. And furthermore we didn’t have graphic novels! Sure we had comics but that style was not my jam. I love graphic novels! 

The last few summers I've donated a lot of my reading time to reading elementary fiction books that are on our state award list. I love being on the committee to choose the next round of books because I have a good amount of young readers who love to read and challenge themselves to read the books on the list.  I get to read a whole batch of really excellent stories. I'm not going to tell you about each one of these stories but know they are excellent. 

I start off the list with Tom Lake by Ann Patchett which is adult fiction that I decided to listen to using the Libby app because I read that Meryl Streep narrated the story and she was amazing! This story focuses on summer stock theatre and the play Our Town.  The rest of the list is all elementary fiction with a few graphic novels thrown in.  Just Keep Walking was an adventure to read as the mother/daughter team hike The North Shore of Lake Superior. First State of Being is interesting science fiction tale about friendship. Half Moon Summer deals with a young boy watching his dad deal with an illness. 

Even amidst all this reading I am having a great summer. I've done a far amount of traveling starting back in the spring with a weekend trip to Cleveland to watch my nephew, Jasper, graduate from Case Western. And we just arrived home from a family trip to Asheville, NC. Road trips are the best; I like to drive as much as I like to sit in the passenger seat and read page after page. I'm headed to Minneapolis in a week to hear some live music with my brother and sister-in-law. And in August I am taking a very exciting trip with my friend Barb.  Summer is the BEST!

Whether you read the new stories or the classic stories be sure to keep reading...

Summer is here!!

 I’ve always loved summer. When I was young it meant spending many afternoons out on the lake in our boat or along the shore splashing and playing with siblings and friends. My dad was a big boat person which is amazing because he grew up in landlocked Iowa. He did fish in several rivers near here as a young man but where did he fathom the idea of becoming a boating man? It’s a wonder. 

We left Iowa for Fairmount, MN the summer before I started kindergarten and we bought a big old stucco house on a hill straight up from Budd Lake. This is where I remember splashing and playing in the water. We learned to water ski here starting off from shore with an adult holding on to us to keep us straight, skis up, arms out. In the beginning we were often dragged for a bit, faces full of water before dropping off. Eventually we got the hang of it and went round and round the lake pulled behind our red boat. We spent Sundays after church out on the lake where we would read in the boat with snacks in between skiing and racing around. 

There was a sense of freedom on the boat and the lake. It seemed charmed even though the boat was small-ish. Eventually my dad did buy a bigger boat but my mom was mad at him for weeks. Once we moved to New Ulm we started to travel with the boat. We found lakes and rivers  around that region to enjoy including the St Croix and Mississippi River and Lake Superior which was crazy with all the large cargo ships, three times our size. 

Eventually we moved to the Okoboji area in the NW corner of Iowa and that was a spectacular chain of lakes to enjoy. I spent many days on that lake skiing, learning to slalom, and racing around on our blue boat. 

I miss those days of adventure and joy. The sun strong on your body, the water cool and refreshing, and the laughter. Happy times. 

Now my happy times are traveling with my children. Three years ago we traveled to the Finger Lakes region of NY and Tristan’s choice was for us to rent a boat! We found a marina and did just that with both he and I driving the boat around. We jumped in and enjoyed the fresh water and enjoyed checking out the waterfalls around the south part of the lake. It made me happy that he was drawn to boating. 

I also love heading north to boat on Minnetonka with my brother and his family. He loves to race around the lake just like our dad did. We used to beg my dad to go fast which would make my mom yell as things (including us) would fly up in the boat. Such joy. 

Political moves

Over the last few years I’ve had the odd political call asking me if I believe so and so is doing a good job and I never gave it much thought as to who was making the phone calls or where they came from. Then my foster son Anton called me from the great state of Georgia telling me he and his cousin had been recruited to "canvas" through Marietta, GA with flyers against Biden. In fact he called it "Bidenomics" as in we can't take 4 more years of Bidenomics!  I said... whaaaaat? And he read from the flyer (as if he believed it telling me about the high cost of living, the price of gasoline, etc. I proceeded to explain how oil prices were not set by the president, that oil companies are making record profits right now and that prices were still high due to the pandemic not Biden. He listened and then we talked about how he came to have the job.  

They were recruited with posters in their neighborhood promising good wages for walking around Georgia. They were given plane tickets and housing in an AirBB with three other recruits from Florida; all immigrants from either Haiti or Cuba. All of them just looking for money, of course. They were told to look for houses with the American flag waving out front, to avoid confrontations, and to leave a flyer if no one was home. The Bidenomics flyer, that is. I know I live in LaLa Land in my head and that my brother will tell me that this is the way the world works but for me I'm just disgusted with an organization that recruits in economically-challenged neighborhoods to gather young people of color to push back against the exact president that stands for them. 

Right now I'm no fan of Bidens' myself but for deeper reasons like the genocide happening in Palestine and also he's really much too old for another 4 years. I don't know what to do about that except we need young people to keep moving through the ranks, willing to be involved. People like Maxwell Frost-who I donate to on the regular. 

Every single time I see a Trump sign posted or waving in someone's yard I see "crazy rapist" spray painted across it in bright cherry red letters. Can't help it. I cannot see the other side on this one; a man with so many transgressions, horrible character flaws, and now, 34 felony counts against him. We are truly living in some kind of wacky upside down world. We absolutely cannot have a convicted man run for the highest office. Imagine just for a minute if this were the other side. They would never stand for it except when it’s their rundown cheater. They plan to stand by their man. 

We can all do our part to make sure Trump is not re-elected. Vote blue, talk about it with your friends, and find a young politician to support. 

April Gifts

 She’s home! Our traveler returned a week ago and she’s happy to be home. She missed cooking in the kitchen so she’s made several fantastic dinners. It is so appreciated to have someone else making food to eat. That is an unexpected treat. She is very creative with her recipes. 

I love listening to her traveler tales and am grateful she had a positive experience each step of the way. She’s grown up a bit and seems to be more confidant because she’s had to be out there making her own decisions, figuring things out in a different country. I am very happy to have the next few months with her here before she steps in a new direction. 

It is finally feeling like spring out there and my tulips are showing their colors. My daffodils didn’t have much of a chance after blooming early right before a cold snap. The weather is very up/down, topsy turvy but I’m grateful for warmer weather. I love spring weather and it means summer is around the corner. 

My last three books made for great reading! 

1. The Maid by Nita Prose-fun little cozy mystery, I’m ready to read the second one.

2. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson-interesting family story, with alternating narratives, time periods, and countries.

3. Her Last Affair by John Searles - a creepy mystery with a set of bizarre characters!

Enjoy whatever gifts come your way…be it sunshine, a good book, or family time. 

Let's take a trip!

March weather was very up and down, freezing cold days mixed with sunshine, and snow. Tristan and I headed south for spring break-a rare treat for us-to visit Japhy in Mexico! In February she finished her yoga training and after a little extra travel there she headed north to Bacalar, Mexico to work at a resort. We decided this was a great opportunity to visit her. 

There are always multiple steps to travel for us because we don’t live near a major airport. We drove to Minneapolis, stayed in a park & ride hotel, took the shuttle early early in the morning and then waited for the airport personnel to arrive. Note to self: do NOT arrive before 3:30am for your flight as the airport will be empty. But once we made it through ticketing we were ready to board for our 6am flight and we made it to Cancun by 11:30am. Air travel is an amazing thing. 

Tristan was thrilled to take on the adventure of driving in Mexico- I was nervous but it turned out to be an interesting challenge with no problemas. It was like driving through a video game with lots of roundabouts, big speed bumps, and cars passing on both sides. Crazy and we made it. He and I stopped in Playa del Carmen and picked a place for lunch. First language mistake: I ordered a shrimp ceviche without realizing it-it said cucumber!  All I can say is we loved the cucumbers and I did eat a few shrimp. Luckily we had guacamole and chips as well. We both wondered about vegan options for the rest of the week. 

No need to worry as it turned into what Tristan coined our “Mexican Anthony Bourdain trip”! We feasted and ate almost exclusively vegan in Bacalar and our return two days in Cancun. The food was amazing and I’m dreaming of it still. We had vegan burgers at Mango Y Chili our first night and they were delicious. Here’s an overall list in case you need to go just for the food:

Madre Masa- Tristan and I had lunch here, we had yummy veggie sandwiches 

Mi Burrito- a hippie food truck with amazing food and great outdoor atmosphere

La Playita- dinner one night with Japhy and her friend Klara. I had fried avocado tacos- amazing and we sat by the lagoon. 

Salon OP69- went for an appetizer while we waited for our dinner place to open- this is the only place we sat inside, it was cool and Arturo, our wonderful waiter took good care of us. I had a fiery margarita. See picture below.

Nixtamal- Japhy and I split a delicious tuna with grilled pineapple and Tristan had a pasta dish. We each received a refreshing shot glass of house kombucha. 

El Manatí- last meal in Bacalar and it was a delicious vegan brunch. I had chilaquiles which were amazing and I hope to recreate these at home. 

It was very difficult to say goodbye to Japhy but onward we went back up the coast to Cancun. We ran into a major traffic jam that held us up for about an hour. After getting into Cancun, finding our Airbnb, Tristan located Las Cepages, a French restaurant that was walkable. This was our least exciting meal but the atmosphere was lovely and I enjoyed a good glass of red with my house special fish dinner. The next day we discovered Bao Vegan and we were so excited by the menu that we each ordered two entrees. I had a mashed potato enchilada with mole sauce. The waiter was adorable and laughed at us ordering such a lot of food. I would love to have several restaurants like this at home-why are we not able to support healthy and delicious food like this? 

Tristan and I made it home by nightfall and had a great time talking about our adventures. We did take a sailing adventure around the lagoon which was a lovely afternoon. Make sure to wear a hat as you are not allowed to wear sunscreen in the water due to its delicate eco system.  Japhy is still traveling around in the Oaxaca region of Mexico with friends and will be back mid-April. I am really ready for spring weather and flowers. Unfortunately because of the weird weather my daffodils are so confused. 

 

 

Goodbye February

 It’s been a crazy month and I’m not sad to see the calendar page turn. It’s been a weird work month with students. I think the recent snow moon factored into lots of behavior issues. Or that it’s a leap year…The weather has fluctuated rapidly. Bitter cold one day and the next 65 degrees. My daffodils and tulips are popping up and I worry for the little green shoots because we could possibly have more snowfall. 

And now March begins with a Scholastic Book fair where we try to get books into the hands of as many students as we can. Then Spring Break begins and I’m taking a trip to Bacalar, Mexico with Tristan to meet up with Japhy. I’m very excited to be in the sunshine but I’m also just a tad nervous for Mexico. I don’t speak Spanish fluently and I know there’s a lot of unrest in the country. I just hope all goes smoothly. I’m very excited to hug Japhy as she’s been gone since January. Her journey with yoga training and traveling through Guatemala and now Mexico have gone well. She will return home to us in mid-April. She says she’ll be ready for a real long hot shower. 

I’ve read one great book this month - We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. It tells the story of one Polish Jewish family through WWII. I’ve leaned quite a bit more about how the war affected this country. Many historical fiction stories about the war focus on Germany and the concentration camps or spies. My fifth grade students are researching WWII because we are reading Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen. There are so many layers to understand and my hope is they can see Hitler’s actions of dehumanizing a group of people and see how that can happen today as well. It’s always my plan to tie it into today’s world. Peace and love to you…

(Snow Moon resource)

Life Stories

My grandparents have been on my mind the last few days and my reflection is a mishmash of  my memories of them. My paternal grandparents Myldred and Edward Matz were an interesting couple. Edward immigrated from Russia when he was a young man. I don't know a lot about his story unfortunately because he never talked about it with us or my dad.  Myldred, on the other hand, loved to talk and she doted on her two sons, Roger and Jerry. I remember her love of jewelry as she always wore big earrings and matching necklaces. The above photo has me right next to my older brother Mike, Uncle Jack, my Great Grandmother Holmes, Myldred and Ed. My Aunt Virginia was most likely the photographer.  She was the cool aunt who moved to California and was back visiting. 

(three generations of Bruch women on my grandmother's back stoop)

I spent a lot more time with my maternal grandparents, LaVera and Ewald Bruch.  My grandfather died when I was in elementary school but I do remember him spending a lot of time outside with me. He would introduce me to the trees and other plants in their peaceful yard. He also let me wash his hair and comb it which I thought was great fun. I thought he was a very kind grandpa who liked to hold my hand and swing me up and around. Later in life I learned he had been an abusive father to my mom and her two brothers. It's very difficult to mix my memories of him with hers. I spent a lot of time with the two of them and then later, after Ewald died I spent my summer vacation with my grandmother and she was my person. 

For years my mom and I struggled to have a positive relationship (my middle years were rough) and my grandmother was my go-to person. I'm happy that I can hear her voice in my head;  I hear her say my name and I see the smile on her face as she looks at me. I learned so much from her like her love of gardening and good food. She knew all about pesticides and if she brought produce home from the grocery store she would rinse everything in a vinegar mixture before eating it or cooking it. She lived through the depression so saved everything. My cousin Linda and I loved to play in her basement for hours. There were many treasures. 

We played countless games of Rack-O and Spite and Malice as I grew up. I felt blessed to have such a warm and tender-hearted grandmother in my life.  She listened to me and I felt like a whole person in her presence. That was golden. If I could bring her back for just one day I'd love to sit and talk, play a game of cards, and lay my head in her lap. Life is full of wonder and hardship. I think my grandparents symbolize that for me and I must be feeling a strong pull toward this right now.

(My grandpa Matz being silly with me)

Best Books 2023 #2

I read quite a few great middle-grade fiction this year and before the month is over I wanted to share the best of those plus a handful of banned books from a variety of different lists that are worth reading. If you have young people to buy or recommend books these titles will be wonderful. 

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (2021) : This is my favorite historical fiction in 2023 because the story centers around close-knit siblings Anna, William, and Edmund after they are evacuated from London.  They remember their deceased mother and wish for a permanent family in this small countryside village. The three of them make the best of it even during their hardest times, remaining true to their hopes for the future. I recently ordered another Kate Albus historical fiction, Nothing Else But Miracles, which centers on the Lower East Side of Manhattan during WWII. 

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat (2022) : This is a Thai-inspired fantasy with amazing world-building as 12-year-old Sai apprentices to the last mapmaker and ends up on a high-seas adventure to chart unknown lands. This story captured my attention throughout Sai's journey. This author writes picture books, graphic novels, early chapter books as well as middle-grade novels. 

Starfish by Lisa Fipps (2021) : In this realistic novel-in-verse Ellie is tired of all the fat jokes about her weight. She loves to swim and free float in her backyard pool. She has lists of rules she is not supposed to do like no eating in public. With the support of her father, and a new neighbor Ellie starts to feel comfortable with herself. This is a fantastic debut!

The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye (2022) : This companion to The Turtle of Oman tells the story of Aref as he travels from Muscat, Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan to be with his parents. He misses his grandfather back home yet he is excited about his new life. I loved both these stories and offer them up to students who want to learn more about other cultures. 

The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart (2022) : This book defies labeling; it's part mystery, and realistic fiction, with a touch of magical realism. Ravani longs for neighbors and friends when one night as he looks out his bedroom window he sees a family move into the abandoned house across the street. Eventually, he is welcomed in by this mix of children and things begin to change for Ravani. I love Gemeinhart's entire catalog of books! 

Thirst by Varsha Bajaj (2022) : Minni and her family live in the poorest part of Mumbai where water from the pumps is often hard to get with long lines and shortages. When she takes over for her mother's cleaning job in a high-rise apartment she is astonished to see water running freely from the taps for this other family.  This is a very humbling book to show real economic disparity. 

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac (2021) : Set during the Pandemic this novel-in-verse tells the story of Malian, a young Wabanaki girl as she quarantines at her grandparents' house on the reservation. She helps around the house, learns the old ways, and begins to communicate with an old stray dog. Bruchac does a wonderful job of weaving in the history of other pandemics the Native population has survived as well as government schools and reservation life. His WWII story, Code Talker, is one of my favorites. 

School Trip by Jerry Craft (2023) : This beautifully done graphic novel is filled with micro-aggressions and life lessons like its predecessors New Kid and Class Act.  The entire series should be required reading for humans. Riverdale Academy students Jordan, Liam, and Drew take a trip to Paris with their classmates. This would pair nicely with Dan Santat's new graphic novel A First Time for Everything. 

Along Came a Spider by James Patterson (2003) : Maggie Rose and a friend go missing from their private Washington DC school and Alex Cross comes in to work the case. This is the first in the Alex Cross series and I cannot find the banned book list I originally saw it on. It's a gripping often gory tale. 

Dry by Neal Shusterman (2018) : California draught causes teenager Alyssa to make life-and-death decisions for her family.  This was intriguing and all too real.  

Gender Queer by  Maia Kobabe (2019) : Autobiographical graphic novel about the author's journey to understand more about their own gender identity. This was such a personally told story I was gripped with how difficult it is when young people don't feel comfortable in the prescribed norms we've conditioned ourselves to be. Writing/drawing this was a true act of bravery for Maia made even more difficult by hateful backlash. Listen to the NPR interview. 

Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman (#1-4) (2020) : Charlie and Nick fall in love in this sweet graphic novel. I can understand why this was made into a Netflix series because it is a heartwarming tale of friendship and love between two very different teenage boys. Highly recommend for all humans as well. 

As a librarian and compassionate human, I will continue to read more from any current banned books lists, and even though I've put myself on a book-buying ban I've used Libby and our wonderful public library.  Before the new year, I did buy copies of a few young-adult banned books to stick in my little free library. 

January Bits

(Our view)

Winter came in like a fury two weeks ago with lots of snow and cold temperatures. It’s beautiful out with the snow glistening under the bright sun. All the winter gear is necessary at this point; hats, gloves, big, long coats, scarves, plus warm beverages for your insides. 

Successfully getting ahead of a winter storm we took Japhy to Minneapolis so she could get on a plane to Guatemala. She will spend the next 4 weeks at a yoga center on Lake Atitlán to become a certified yoga instructor. I miss her desperately yet I know she’s on an amazing journey in a very cool place. Also it is 83 degrees there...very different from 3 degrees!

(Japhy’s view)

My mom’s birthday was January 15th and we celebrated her life with a Red Lobster lunch with friends, game of spite and malice with another set of friends, texts with my brothers,  and a toast over FT with my sister-in-law all to say we miss her very much yet are glad she’s not in pain anymore.  Her pictures flash up on my phone all the time and it all gives me a reason to pause and think of her for a brief moment. 

Today I'm sitting in front of a beautiful burning fire thinking about the last time she and my brother Jason sat in this same space and I'm thankful for the good things she brought to my life. While reminiscing I pulled out one of her Big Sky Montana cookbooks to browse and I found a little note on a recipe telling me when she made it and what she liked. While browsing I found a Brussels sprout and walnut recipe I'm going to make tonight.

Because of the temperature I've made soup to keep our insides warm and happy.  I made a cauliflower/potato soup and a red lentil soup last week and both were very good. I made the red lentil soup for book club on the 15th and then made it again on the 17th for friends visiting from New York.  It's easy to put together and I paired it with jasmine rice so it could be served as a dal and we had toasted pitas for our bread.  

Stay warm wherever you are and appreciate the little bits about your life…