Books 2024: Part 4

This is the last group of books I read this year. I made it to 40! It's been a long time since I've read this many books in a year. Overall, I enjoyed it. I think that's one of my main "reactions" to the books I read - enjoyment. In school and even college, it was hard to find joy. We were reading books, cranking out essays, and poring over the smallest of details. Under that much work, I think anything enjoyable would lose its joy. Not being forced to read has made reading fun, and thus in turn, has made me read more. 

31. The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood - I put this book on my to-read list just randomly after browsing a list of popular books to see what new reading I could find. Then, I was talking to one of my friends and she was telling me how she really likes this author's books because of her strong female characters in STEM. Her books are fun. I enjoy how she can write arguably cliché predictable novels with added twists of excitement woven throughout. If it makes me want to keep reading, I'd say she's done a great job from an entertainment perspective. I pulled a quote out of this book which stood out to me. In reference to grief: "You don't ever lose the sadness, but you learn to be a part of it." 

32. Love Theoretically - Ali Hazelwood - Another one of those fun reads. I like when she has surprise cameos from her other books and everyone's worlds kind of collide just a little bit. 

33. A Novel Love Story - Ashley Poston - My thoughts after reading the entire book: It has a good idea behind it, but the execution fell very short in my opinion. The beginning of the book was all over the place. I didn't really get into the story/start enjoying it until the last 30% of the book. I normally don't read book synopses if I'm reading multiple books by the same author, so that may have added to some of my overall disjointed feeling. I don't think reading a synopsis needs to be a requirement before starting a book to understand what's going on. Sadly, this isn't a book I would recommend and although I remember parts of the book, it wasn't memorable.

34. Love on the Brain - Ali Hazelwood - This was fun. After reading a book which didn't captivate me, it was nice to have that again with another Hazelwood book. I like that her books are cliche and predictable with little tidbits of surprise thrown in. This one had a lot of random facts on the life of Marie Curie. I'd like to think the random bits of knowledge in my head can one day help me with my own slum dog millionaire story.

35. Georgie All Along - Kate Clayborn - This was fun, too. A random find while scrolling book lists of similar authors. Not sure I'll remember anything from this book a year from now, but sometimes reading is just a fun way to immerse your brain in a story just for a little while. 

36. The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah - I found this book on a random book-search scroll through the library catalog. I've read one her novels before. I don't feel any special affinity to her as an author, but I decided to give this book a read. It's another historical fiction book. As I was reading it, I kept thinking the story line was going to go one way, and it never did. Not giving any spoilers, and not saying I actually wanted it to go that way. Some deep themes to grapple with in this book. 

**

There were two books I tried reading in between. One was too medically accurate for my liking and I just didn't want to continue after reading about amputations and sutures in detail. The Winter Soldier - Daniel Mason.  The other is a good book which I hope to pick up again at a later time. But the chapters were just too long for me to be motivated to continue. The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro. 

**

37. The Wishing Game - Meg Shaffer - This was a fun, lighter read compared to the books I attempted in between. I wish the setting of this book actually existed. We had taken a vacation to the area so I was able to better understand some of the regional specifics of this book. Overall, this was a fast read with a well-executed story line. Enough thinking to feel engaged, but simple enough to be enjoyed for fun.

38. The Bodyguard - Katherine Center - Another fun, light read. This book gave me a different perspective on people who are bodyguards. I guess you really don't have to be a big, tall, macho-looking guy. 

39. Felix Powell, Dog Boy - Erin Estrada Kelly - I found this book as an audiobook while browsing the library catalog in the car on a road trip. I was hoping to find something the kids could listen to (like a short 5-10 minute book) but those don't exist as audiobooks...probably because kids want to look at the pictures. So I came across this book. We ended up not listening to it until after we returned. I started it while waiting in the car with my son and then both kids finished listening to it in the car on the way back across a few school days. It was fun and cute. I liked the book and went on a rabbit hole to find other audiobooks by her.

40. You Go First  - Erin Estrada Kelly - This was another audiobook I found originally for my kids to listen to. I listened to it first myself to see what the reading level/content was like. It turns out this book was written for a few levels higher than Felix Powell was. I finished the book myself and enjoyed it. It's a great book that delves into the lives of what it's like to be a teenager in middle school. As an adult, these same themes still apply, just in a more mature sense. You still navigate friendships, life changes, and dealing with your emotions. I can't let my kids listen to this book yet, but it may get shelved for later as they grow older. 

There were two books I didn't get a chance to finish yet before the end of this year so they won't be a part of this list. But chances are, they will be on next year's list.  😀

Books 2024: Part 3

I posted part two here. These are the next 10 books I read and the order I read them.  

21. The Seven Year Slip - Ashley Poston - I really enjoyed this book. It was another one of my fast reads - less than 36 hours from start to finish. Again, the beauty of listening to books on 2x. This book brought back The Time Traveler's Wife vibes. It was a little confusing in the beginning, but I liked it a lot. 

22. Sacred Rest - Saundra Dalton-Smith - This was a book recommended from a friend who read it. It took me a few weeks to finish because I wanted to actually read it for content. My favorite part of this book was the mosquito and bee comparison. I'll have to elaborate about this on a different post. (Not going to lie...I have forgotten what the comparison is. I should have been more specific when I wrote this synopsis after finishing the book).

23. Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame - Olivia Ford - A friend of mine read and loved this book. I got it and give it a read. I liked it. Maybe not as much as he did, but it was a fun book to read. I thought the ending was slightly anti-climactic. The book did such a wonderful job leading up to the ending that the resulting conclusion didn't feel like it matched up. I feel like many books I've read this year have this same problem.

24. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett - One of my friends from high school gave me this book when she was cleaning out her things. I kept it in my collection but never read it. I always felt obligated to read it because there was a music staff on the front cover. Because of the title, I always thought it had something to revolve around music. The book does in fact revolve around music but not at all in the way I thought it would. I was kind of disappointed when I finished the book. I didn't feel satisfied or "complete" after finishing the story. It was a very strange way to resolve what had so much potential. The way she built up the book, I felt like it deserved a different ending. Oh well.

25. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes - I found this book because I saw a clip of the movie from Facebook randomly. I looked it up and decided I'd read the book. It's a very sad book, but I actually didn't get weepy with it like I thought I would. I watched the movie a few weeks after I finished the book. It was a good movie. Hit all the right points. There was a lot of extra character building included in the book which they left out of the movie. I think it simplified things for the movie which made it more enjoyable to watch. But it left out a lot of the depth of character which the book was able to provide. This is pretty typical of what happens.

26. Habits of the Household - Justin Earley - This book was recommended to me by a friend and I enjoyed what he had to share. It's always refreshing to hear about other people's struggles and knowing my own flaws and weaknesses are not individual to me. I'd like to say this book is going to help me become a better parent, but we all know it's not an overnight transformation. Less than a week after I finished this book my 4 y.o and I had an intense moment at the dinner table regarding finishing his meal and dessert. But reading this book reminded me that our time together is short and we are both getting older by the day. 

27. Divine Rivals - Rebecca Ross - A friend recommended this duology to me, and the second book kept becoming available before the first. I had to keep postponing it, and finally, the first one became available. I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it because there's a fantasy aspect to it. It turned out very enjoyable. The ending leaves you hanging so don't start unless you plan on reading both books!

28.  Check & Mate - Ali Hazelwood - Quick read. I had placed a book by this author on hold completely by accident. While waiting for it, I had a conversation with a friend about the books we were reading and she came up as an author my friend enjoyed. So I put more of her books on hold. This was the first one available and I enjoyed it. And I came to the conclusion that professional chess players probably can and should overthink as much as possible in order to be successful, but they need to contain their thinking in other areas of life in order to stay sane. It's a life lesson I'm continually learning and growing through myself. 

29. Ruthless Vows - Rebecca Ross - This was the second book to Divine Rivals. I couldn't stop reading after I started. A lot of the reviews for this book came out negative because they were expecting more of a romance. That's not at all what the second book was. I felt like I was in the middle of an action film the entire time I was reading. And because of that, I enjoyed it.

30. The Dead Romantics - Ashley Poston - I enjoyed this book. I was getting vibes of other books I'd read before in the past, but the cliche moments were still enjoyable. I'm learning to appreciate the entertainment side of reading for fun and not necessarily every book needing to be unique, exquisite, and one-of-a-kind. Her story line was interesting enough despite including some over-used themes and predictable elements. 

 

I'll put the remaining books in one post after this. 

Achievement Unlocked

I've been a mom for almost 7 years, and only recently did I unlock a new achievement. I'm not sure every mom unlocks this achievement, but I'm sure a good number do at one point or another.

We washed a good number of stuffies in the washing machine recently. I don't tend to wash them in the machine because it rips up the fur, the stuffing gets displaced, and they don't look or feel the same after they come out of the machine. Yes, they're cleaner, and yes, they smell (so much!) better, but it comes with different costs. 

When my daughter's penguin came out of the wash, I noticed her beak had a piece of the fabric going threadbare, slowly forming a hole. A few weeks passed and then she showed me her poor penguin with a tuft of fluff coming out of the beak. She asked me to sew it up, and I said I would. I forgot for the entire day until we were getting ready for bedtime. I pulled out my sewing box, found the closest yellow thread I owned, asked if it was okay (it was), and sewed up the hole after stuffing the fluff back in.

My sewing skills aren't great. I sew for functionality, not aesthetics. So now, her penguin has a double beak. It's not horrible, and my daughter doesn't mind. So I won't complain. This wasn't the first stuffed animal I sewed for her, but it's the first time I've sewed a precious stuffed animal. 

I was reminded of a stuffed animal my mother sewed for me. I've posted about this teddy bear before. She is now 24 years old! I can hardly believe it sometimes. She's been stitched behind the ear, but the one I remember most is the stitching on her leg. It was the last stuffie my mother stitched for me. 

My mother did a nicer job than I did. In my defense, I didn't have a seam to stitch from. I just had to pull two sides of the torn fabric together and mend it the best I knew how. Teddy's leg looks a lot neater and cleaner. And the stitches have lasted over two decades. 

I don't think about my mother often anymore. I don't think it's anything negative. There's still thoughts to that regard which I need to process and may one day end up on the blog. For now, I was just thinking about a mini rite-of-passage I've experienced. And in some ways, it's like I got to walk in my mother's footsteps for a bit. 

 Here's to the last stuffie she mended and the (almost) first stuffie I've mended. They're friends. 😊

Books 2024: Part 2

 I posted part one here. These are the next 10 books I read and the order I read them.

11. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

Somehow I escaped the need to read this in high school English class. Maybe it's a good thing. I think had I read it too early, I may not have understood the depth of the themes within this book. At the same time, because I read it in my 30s, it left a deeper impression on me, one I will probably never shake off completely. It's not a book I could ever reread.

12. Everything Sad is Untrue - Daniel Nayeri 

This was a recommendation from a book swap I attended this year. It was a really hard book for me to follow. I liked some of the stories told within, but the author's style was way too confusing for me. Honestly, as I write this 6+ months later after reading, I actually forgot I had read it this year. I think the cover art is beautiful and the title is intriguing, but the story didn't stick with me.

13. The Unfinished Angel - Sharon Creech 

 

Saw this randomly on a shelf at the library. I've always been a fan of Sharon Creech's books. This one was hard for me to get into at first, but once the story started, it was a fast read. I think it's best left for the children. I'd peg this as a more advanced 2nd-3rd grade read or a less advanced 4th-5th grade read. Being an adult, you just know too much and it's not as novel anymore. 

14. Our Missing Hearts - Celeste Ng

 

I had seen this book in someone's reading list and looked it up. It sounded somewhat interesting so I gave it a read. It ended up different than how I thought it would be, but it was a good book. While reading this book, it felt like nonfiction to me. Maybe I wanted it to be nonfiction. The author wrote a note addressing this at the end of her book.

15. Artifacts of an Ex - Jennifer Chen 

This was a random find from the library one day. The cover and title seemed interesting so I gave it a read. Definitely YA literature. I think 15-year-old me would have enjoyed it. As an adult it's a good "brain break" book. But it didn't have content which stuck with me.

16. Anxious People - Fredrik Backman 

From the title, I really thought this was going to be some kind of nonfiction self-help book. That's not at all what it was. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and stayed up far too late to finish it in about two days. It was one of those books which made me want to keep reading to find out what happened next. I think it was also very complex and the closest version to a Korean drama in book form. Kdramas are notorious for adding extra story-lines and problems throughout the series, even close to the very end. The successful ones resolve them all at the end. This book did just that. The complexities increased as you kept reading and made you want to read more and more to figure out how it ended. 

17. Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

When I saw another book she wrote in someone else's reading list, I searched the author and saved a few of her other books. This was one of them. Backstory: When the hold became available at the library, it became my backup book because the book I was listening to was returned before I was able to finish it. I put myself back on the waitlist for the book I needed to finish, but in the mean time, I started this one and finished it before my other book became available again. I liked it. It was an exciting read. One of those books which made me want to stay up at night just to finish another chapter. The ending was slightly unsatisfactory. The book did such a good job building up all the complex story lines woven into each other that the ending didn't seem to match up. It ended....too simply.

18. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus

Finished this book in just over 24 hours. The beauty of an audiobook and being able to change the playback speed. I enjoyed this book. Lots of deeper topics within. It almost ended too soon for me. I wanted to keep going with the character's stories. I wonder if there will be a sequel. I kind of hope there is. Who knows.

19. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann

The further I read into this book, the more infuriating it became. Ironically though, I can't say I was surprised. From what I know of the legal system today, much of what happened 100 years ago is a mere foreshadowing to what the future today holds. It's sad, nonetheless. I'm pretty sure Osage was never mentioned in my US history textbook though. 

20. The Little Liar - Mitch Albom

This book was supposed to be book number 17, but it was returned before I finished it as audiobooks do not renew if there are holds. So alas, I had to get back on the waitlist in order to finish the remaining 30% of the book. It took about a month, but I was finally able to finish (and read 3 books in the interim). I didn't realize this book was historical fiction when I started reading. It was just another Mitch Albom title I put a hold on and started reading to see what it was about. The reading level of this book is probably equivalent to YAL, but the themes you can analyze go well into an entire lifetime of wisdom. 

Books 2024: Part 1

2024 was my year to read! Wow, I even impressed myself. Audio books make such a difference. So although my physical reading speed may not be the fastest, (I don't think it ever was), I've still been able to enter many magical worlds and play movie filmstrips in my head for every book I've listened to. 

This year I read nearly 3x as many books as I did last year. They spanned all genres from fiction, nonfiction, biography, and even some children's books - the longer ones. I will split my books into four groups and post them in chronological order which they were finished. Bolded books were read physically.

1. Every Good Boy Does Fine - Jeremy Denk 

I saw this book posted in one of my teaching forums and decided to give it a read. I really enjoyed it. I especially loved the audio book because they inserted excerpts of the pieces he was referring to. It was wonderful to be able to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like for a concert pianist to grow up, experience piano lessons, and see their struggles. Too often, we see the finished piece performed on stage to perfection, and it's hard to imagine someone so well-known or experienced can struggle just like the rest of us.

2. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto - Mitch Albom

I looked up Mitch Albom books randomly and saw this listed as one. I wasn't excited starting it, but I actually ended up really enjoying it. About halfway through I wanted to put the book down and stop reading because I was so affected by something I never saw coming. But I'm glad I finished it. This is a book I now recommend to my high school students and even gift to some graduating students. I do tell them to read with discretion and wouldn't hand it off if I didn't think they were mature enough to handle.

3. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig 

I was recommended this book by a friend who read it. I enjoyed the beginning. The middle had some slow parts, and the end was okay. I read a very similar book last year (2023) so the idea wasn't actually new to me. Personally, I liked the other book better. Or maybe it just happened that I read it first so this one didn't seem as insightful. 

4. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - Nabeel Qureshi

This book was recommended by a few friends. Good read. As someone of faith, I'm a little jealous at all the ways he received dreams and visions from God. At the same time, I have my own moments in life when I'm sure God was there lending a hand into the situation. Although not as profound as the ones shared in the book, they are still impactful and part of my own story. I was sad when I learned he had died 7 years ago. If someone asked me if I could talk to someone who's already gone for a day, I might pick Nabeel. His book had so much conviction. I can only wonder how dying and entering the afterlife has affected that conviction. I want to hear how much he got to experience its truth.

5. Tom Lake - Ann Patchett 

I saw this book on a reading list online and finally read it this year. "Good marriages are never as interesting as bad affairs." We need to remember that when everything is fine, days are "the same", and when nothing interesting happens, it isn't a bad thing.

6. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry 

 

I didn't really have a desire to read this book until after his death. Then I waited for it on hold from my local library. I don't know how to feel about it. Honestly, I can't say I enjoyed it. He had a hard life and hard struggles. I'm sad for him that the help he got couldn't help him in the ways it needed to. He had big demons to fight.

7. Democracy Awakening - Heather Cox-Richardson

I can't say I enjoyed this one because history is not my thing. But maybe that's why it was helpful because a lot of it was summarizing the past history of our country and then explaining how much of it is replaying out now in today's world. I would have probably learned a lot more about our country's history by reading this book rather than reading the textbooks we were given. Supplement with a few extended details and I think it would make a successful history course.

8. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom 

This is a reread. I read this in high school for the first time. I remember liking it, but besides knowing the premise about a guy (the author) meeting with his old professor who was dying and writing this book on life lessons, I couldn't remember any more details. This time, I remembered that Morrie's mother died when he was young and it affected him his entire life. This time, I picked up on the theme of Mitch bringing food to the house even though Morrie couldn't eat any of it. Being an audio book, the new 25th anniversary included an excerpt of his original tapes and hearing Morrie's voice. That was special. 

9. Little Penguin Rescue - Rachel Delahaye 

I checked this book out from the library for my children to read only to realize it was above their reading level. Well, I ended up reading it to my daughter and she sat through every chapter with me over the course of about a week. It was actually kind of nice reading a little-kid chapter book again. Some moments felt a little contrived, but I don't think my five-year-old (now six) picked up on it.

10. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller 

I read his book Blue Like Jazz about a decade ago and really enjoyed it. Sadly, I can't remember much about the content, but I remember enjoying it. I should put it on my reread list for next year. This one honestly was hard to get through at first. Maybe it felt like that on purpose because of what the author was trying to explain - it didn't feel like he understood the purpose of life until he discovered what it meant to live in a way with meaning. "You can't have a story without conflict...if you don't make the story hard on your protagonist, your story will never inspire anybody." 

Stay tuned for part 2!

Defying Fast Fashion

Ten years ago I went Black Friday shopping with my husband. It was our first Thanksgiving as a married couple and we went shopping at a bunch of stores. I was excited someone else could help me pick out clothing and give me feedback on how they looked. He has always been – and still is – better at fashion than I am. 

Facebook reminded me of this trip because it showed up on my newsfeed as a memory. I had conveniently spread out the items and taken a photo to “show off” my purchases. There were 10 items total which I had purchased. 

- 1 pair of flats
- 1 pair of black booties
- 3 sweaters
- 1 dress
- 1 blouse
- 2 pairs of pants
- 1 pair of jeans 

Original purchases in 2014

I was drawn to these flats because of the price, the quality/brand, and the style. They were priced well and I wanted a versatile pair of black flats. The last pair I owned last me many years and I knew they didn’t scratch the back of my ankle like many pairs of flats notoriously do. The unfortunate side was the color – an off-white suede. It was going to attract lots of dirt and dust over time and wouldn’t look bright for long. That’s most likely the reason why they ended up on the clearance rack. Fortunately for me, I’m not a fashionista and I didn’t really care. If they could be functional for me for a decent period of time and priced well, I would be satisfied. I enjoyed wearing these flats for many years. I even wore them once through mud by accident. They were never quite the same after that, but I kept wearing them for about a year before saying goodbye. They lasted me roughly 4-5 years if I remember correctly. That’s not a bad longevity for a shoe which cost me less than $50 and was in my rotation about 50% of every year. 

These black booties were my first pair of short boots or booties. At this time, I was still diversifying my closet so I wanted to own a pair. These were priced well, my size, and looked cute. With a three-inch heel, they were pretty killer paired with a pair of skinny jeans. I wore them every now and then, but there are limitations to how quickly you can safely walk when in three-inch heels. I tend to like walking faster than slower, so that did limit the number of times I wore these. They were almost treated like dress shoes. 

I bought three sweaters on this shopping trip because I was building up my sweater collection. Sweaters were not my thing growing up. I didn’t like wearing bulky clothing. However, as I got older, it grew on me when I found the proper style, material, and fit. One of these sweaters was labeled dry clean only. I wore this sweater very sparingly until I decided one day to wash it at home in my machine. It came out not looking too different than before from what I could tell. From then on, I wore it a lot more knowing I could wash it at home with little or no consequence. One of these sweaters ended up being very scratchy and I didn’t enjoy it. After years of storing it season after season to maybe be worn 1-2x per winter, I decided to say goodbye. The third sweater has a more baggy fit. Sometimes I’m not in the mood to wear something so loose-fitting so it’s not necessarily a go-to item in my closet, but I don’t have a reason to get rid of it. 

This dress was not a great purchase. It was heavily discounted which is what led me to purchase. However, it didn’t fit extremely well and I wasn’t in love with the design. I remember wearing it occasionally, but sometime in the last decade, it has been scrapped. At 24 years old, I was still clinging onto lower priced items and hadn’t yet learned the value of spending worthwhile money. This dress was not worthwhile money and shows because I have no recollection of ever wearing it (although I know I did at least a few times) and I no longer have it. 

I really liked the blouse when I bought it. This was when I realized I liked the material chiffon in my blouses/tops. I have worn this blouse many, many times. My most prominent memory in this top was at my company Christmas party a while back. I haven’t worn it recently because I have inherited/found other blouses of similar material which I enjoy more. This particular blouse is also starting to wear due to the many washes it has endured. It’s still in my closet, but it may be retiring in the near future. 

The two pairs of pants I bought from this photo have served me well. One of them was a light pink pair of jeggings. The other was a pair of khakis. I wore my jeggings a lot. They’ve been through many work days with me where I could dress them up to be less casual. Over time, the light pink has faded into more of a dirty white. This pair of pants has also been relegated to a corner of my closet because I have other pants/jeans I prefer over them. However, I haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of this pair. The khakis have been one of my favorite more formal pants in my closet. They too have come to the office with me on many days. I’ve worn them to perform at festivals as an accompanist. The waist was rather large at first – large enough to be big, but not large enough to be unwearable. Over time, and with the changes in my body, they’ve fit better. I don’t necessarily wear this pair of pants all the time, but it’s a comfort to know they’re in my closet. They probably won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. 

Lastly, my jeans. Oh, this particular pair of jeans. Looking at this photo, I almost couldn’t pinpoint which pair of jeans it was. But I knew. They have faded severely over time. I loved these jeans when I bought them. It was extremely unfortunate they were the pair I was wearing at the time of this project. I really thought that was the end of them, but I have continued wearing these jeans for the last three years. They are on their last leg and will be recycled or donated soon. 

I spent less than $200 on these 10 items from Black Friday 2014. About half of them are considered “fast fashion.” I impressed myself at how many pieces I still have in my closet today. 

Editing aside, everything has faded a few shades...

 

Much like everyone else, I do get bored of the same clothes over and over again. But I am also frugal and pragmatic. If something can be bought once and last me forever, I am inclined to want to do so. Clothing, sadly, will never meet those requirements as even the most carefully worn and washed fabrics will show age over time. But I will take care of them so they can stay as long as possible. 

I wonder how many of these I will still have in another 10 years...

For the Need of a Plastic Bag

Life as a mostly stay-at-home mom with some part-time working on the side is pretty mundane for the most part. I pack lunches. I grocery shop. I do laundry. I wash dishes. I clean toilets. And then I get my 3-4 hours per day where I feel like a competent, knowledgeable human being. Honestly, I love it. It's the best of both worlds with my two dream jobs which occasionally compete with each other.

But sometimes, the mundane has small excitement. 

I was at Costco this week picking up a few items (yes, I mean "a few" in the Costco sense. Six to be exact!) and had an interesting encounter. A man came up to me and said,  "Excuse me, where can I take this one?" *tugs my bag gently*

His actual reference was to locating the red plastic bags used for meat/seafood. In truth, I myself had been darting my eyes around looking for them just minutes prior. So I pointed my finger in the direction of where they were. He saw them, his face lit up, and then he went on a mild sprint to get them and return back to where I can only assume his cart was. 

I forgot to take a picture of the meat in my cart, but here is a representative pack of meat in a plastic bag, similar to the one the man was asking for. 

 

 

 

 

Now I'm not going to lie. There were a few seconds there where my brain was actually wondering if he was politely asking if he could take the ribs I had just chosen and bagged for myself. Or if he was asking me where he could find the ribs. (I was standing right next to them). English was not his first language and with the way he had phrased his question, it could have been misunderstood in a few ways.

His use of the word "take" was not the most appropriate. "Find" would have been the ideal word choice for his request. "Take" is the word which led my brain to wonder if he wanted something I had which was more valuable than a plastic bag. He also tugged at my plastic bag which made me wonder if he wanted my actual item/the bag with my item in it.

Our encounter was actually cute. When I think back on the way he approached, his mannerisms, his voice, it brings a smile to my face. On the contrary, I can see how someone without an understanding for language and patience for differences could have been annoyed or even angered at this situation due to a misunderstanding if his or her brain led them to the possible conclusions I listed above.

I've always believed the primary purpose of communication is to be understood. I still believe that. Through all the language barriers, nonverbal gestures and reading body language can communicate a lot in itself. However, the piece often overlooked is the bias the person receiving the communication adds to the situation. If I had an issue with someone touching my things or reaching into my shopping cart, I could have gotten very defensive very quickly without meaning to. If someone is triggered by grammatical errors in speech, an initial response might be one of shutting down or getting angry.

The more you know, the better you can be. Never stop striving to know.

Choosing Kindness

Kindness is hard to come by these days. Everyone is busy with their own lives, their own kids, their jobs, their vacations. So when you do come by kindness, it's rare and special. I'm not just talking about the kindness of using kind words when talking to people. I'm talking about going out of your way to do something nice for someone else that you have no obligation but wish to do so by personal choice. 

I went to Costco this week to pick up a few things. A few things always turns into a few things + a few more things + a few more things. I had two legitimate items I needed. I left the store with....6+ items. But when Costco discounts Halloween-themed ravioli for $2.50 a pound, you buy it! (unless your children won't eat black and orange food. That's a different story...). I love Costco, but I'm digressing.

I checked the ingredients - no artificial colors to get orange and black!

When I left the store, I was running slightly behind and needed to go get my daughter from school. However, I also knew that when I rush things, I mess things up. So I was talking to myself as I was loading the groceries into the back of the car - take your time, do things right. I made sure to pack the cold items into my cooler properly so nothing would puncture or leak - nobody wants to bring home cracked eggs. And I loaded everything else carefully in so as not to touch the muddy stroller wheels.

Then, I realized I had a drink and three hot dogs to put into my car. So I picked up the food and drink, went to the side of my car, and attempted to ask my son to open the door. Of course he couldn't hear me because his door wasn't open and only the trunk was. So I rearranged my hands so I could swing open my door and put the food in the car. As I was placing the hot dogs in the middle tray by my seat, I heard a man call out to me that he was going to help me return my cart. I saw him pull my cart away. Initially, I thought he was going to go shopping with it, but then I saw him take it to the cart return located a few spots down from my parking spot. 

When I returned to my trunk to close it, he had just finished putting my cart back and was walking back to his car. I called out another thank you and waved. I don't know his name or who he is, and he doesn't know who I am. We probably won't run into each other again, and if we do, we may not even recognize each other. But his gesture was very kind and I won't forget it.

Choose kindness for someone. They may not forget it either.

The Third Life

Central Market hosted a special tasting activity for kids in celebration of their 30th anniversary earlier this year. I signed the kids up to go and it was a fun mid-morning activity for us. They enjoyed all the samples (as did I!) and getting to decorate a cupcake at the end.

Central Market did such a wonderful job planning this event. I couldn't stop marveling that each cupcake came in a to-go container perfectly sized for the cupcake. Not only did they plan to-go containers, but the containers had a little "moat" around the border of it to catch the excess sprinkles and toppings the kids were using to decorate. Talk about genius. Whoever is on their design/marketing/packaging team better be getting the recognition he/she deserves. 

Along with the free samples and cupcake decorating, they provided each child with a vegetable planted in a mini pumpkin. Can you tell they really put thought into planning this event? And it was free 😱

My kids got a broccoli plant and a kale plant. Having some experience with gardening and growing plants, I knew the vegetables weren't going to last long if they stayed in the pumpkin. I was already finding it difficult to get them enough water because they'd wilt within 24 hours. The roots needed more room to expand and grow if the plants were going to stay alive. I have a garden, right? Why not plant them there?

That's exactly what I did. I cut the pumpkins open carefully and transplanted my kale and broccoli to my patio planter. They would be neighbors with cilantro and pepper plants. Not bad, right? 

It wouldn't have been except all the leaves on both my plants got eaten within a few days. I was merely left with stems and the babiest of leaves. I wasn't entirely sure who the culprit was, but I knew it was someone who could reach the patio planter. To no surprise, they left my pepper plant and cilantro alone. So with their first life claimed, I removed them from my planter and transplanted them back to small nursery pots and placed them about 3 ft higher on my plant shelf.

My vegetables started growing again atop the shelf. I saw more leaves peeking out, and slowly, they grew. After a few weeks, I decided to move the broccoli back into the patio planter. I put some strong smelling herbs around the plant to deter pests in hope that they'd leave the leaves they wanted alone. 

One evening, I felt the urge to check my garden at night. It was around 10:30 pm, and I decided to walk outside to take a quick look.

All the leaves were gone, again. The second life was claimed. 

I moved the broccoli back into a nursery pot and it stayed next to the kale. For those of you who do not plant and aren't familiar with the ins and outs of growing, growing speed is exponential, not linear. Less leaves = slower growth. More leaves = faster growth. Due to having all the leaves chewed off yet again, my poor broccoli plant had to start over on its third life. 

I kept it up on the shelf and have not transplanted it into any larger container yet. This is what she looks like on her third life.

I'm not expecting to eat any broccoli this winter, but I might get to eat some of the leaves if I'm lucky. It's too bad my plants can't talk as I'd really like to hear the story of the first two lives first-hand. I guess it will forever be nature's secret. 

My plants remind me to start anew when possible. Because the alternative is death. Just keep growing.

The Lifeline

My children love playing outside and I love letting them play outside. I had posted recently about our backyard transformation which has allowed our children so many hours of fun outside. 

One of the things I've been able to do is to put potted plants on our patio. This way I can grow my plants, move them as the weather changes, and my husband doesn't have to do creative mowing between pots if they were sitting in the grass. 

I can't remember why anymore, but one day, I allowed my children to use my gardening scissors outside to cut something. I told them what they could cut and then let them loose. Well....as kids are, they started cutting some things which I didn't say they were allowed to cut. For the most part, it didn't bother me. However, I later realized my son had cut all the pink flowers off of my plant and put them into his bucket.

 

 

His gesture was sweet and genuine - he liked the flowers and he wanted to cut them all off so he could collect them and save them in his bucket. I read a book in college about this mentality gone wrong. In a four-year-old? Cute. Grown man? Inappropriate and disturbing. I don't remember there being anything graphic in the novel itself, but if it were not in my list of required reading for my class, I would never have thought to read it. 

My son got an earful from me about how I didn't say he could cut the flowers off my plant. And how flowers die when you cut them off the plant because they are separated from their life source. Their outdoor play ended shortly after and we all went back inside.

That evening, I was outside for something completely unrelated and I noticed the plant was already starting to push out new buds. You can see the little pink beginning to emerge and blossom.

 

Plants are resilient. They will grow back given the proper environment. I actually took my son out the next morning to show him the plant and the new flowers that were growing on it. I think he was semi-scarred I was showing him the plant he wrongly cut so he got weepy again. But in no time, he was outside playing as normal and forgetting that he ever cut them in the first place. 

I'm still learning as a parent that reactions are more memorable than actions. I myself am a product of a childhood of negative reactions, ones I hope not to pass down to my children. It's an uphill battle, one I lose more often than I'd like to admit. But this plant was a reminder to me: if you are connected to the lifeline, you will grow and renew.