scaifea's thread #9

Hey, everybody!

From the Introductions Thread:
I'm Amber, a one-time Classics professor, turned stay-at-home parent/lady of leisure, turned part-time library assistant, turned once again Classics professor. I spend my free time sewing, writing, knitting, baking, and, of course, reading.

My reading life is happily governed by lists, which means that I read a healthy variety of things across various genres.

I'm 45 going on 12 and live in Ohio with my husband, Tomm; our 11-year-old son, Charlie; and Mario the Golden Retriever.



Favorite Books from 2019
Next of Kin
The Book of Boy
Ficciones
Night Watch
The Name of the Wind
A Monster Calls
Check, Please! Book 1
Art Matters
The Heart's Invisible Furies

What I'm Reading Now:
-So Anyway... (a book from my Read Soon! Shelves)
-There Will Come a Darkness (Morris Honor Book)
-Holding the Cards (romance genre list)
-Adam Bede (audiobook)
-Little House on the Prairie (Charlie's bedtime book)
-Our Eddie (Newbery Honor Book)
-Sapiens (books I'm reading with my friend, Rob)

Books on Deck:
-Purl Up and Die (series read with my mom)
-Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare re-read)
-Peyton Place (Banned Books)
-The House on the Borderland (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy list)
-Lord Foul's Bane (BSF Award)
-The Experience of Insight (Buddhist reading list)
-Uncle Silas (books by year - 1864)
-Guard of Honor (Pulitzer list)
-(an unread book from my shelves)

The five-ish or so books I have going at once and the On Deck books nearly all come from the following categories and lists:

1. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

2. A children's book, for Charlie's library. I'm trying to collect books from various award lists, and I like reading them before reading them to Charlie or deciding to add them to Charlie's shelves. For this category, I’m currently working through three lists:
a. 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die
b. The Newbery Honor books
c. Cooperative Children's Book Center list

3. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

4. A list I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob: The Hugo/Nebula/WFA/Bram Stoker (and other) lists (combined, in chronological order)

5. For this category, I cycle through 9 different stacks:
a. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
b. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
c. John Boyne bibliography (in chronological order, sort of)
d. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
e. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
f. Maggie Stiefvater's bibliography (in chronological order)
g. The NEH Timeless Classics list
h. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
i. The Pulitzer list (in alpha order by author)

6. An unread book from my shelves.

7. A book from my Read Soon! shelves.

8. A book on Buddhism or from the Dalai Lama's bibliography.

9. Book-a-year challenge: Three years ago, along with a few others in this group (*cough* Paul *cough*), I made a year-by-year list to see how far I could go back with consecutive reads. I've since been trying to fill in the gap years.

10. A book from the couple of series that I'm reading together with my mom.

11. A full-on re-read through Shakespeare's stuff.

12. A read-aloud-to-Charlie-at-bedtime book (or two).

13. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

14. A romance novel, using as a guideline an excellent list of authors and works curated by lycomaflower (I know virtually nothing about this genre, but I now work in a library where many, many lovely people come through to check out books of this genre, and I want to know something about it).

15. This slot is reserved for books that just grab me and shout that they need to be read Right Now.

Books Read

JANUARY
1. Still Life (Read Soon! Shelves) - 9/10 = A
2. Breaking Stalin's Nose (Newbery Honor Book, audiobook) - 8/10 = B-
3. The Golden Name Day (Newbery Honor Book) - 7/10 = C
4. Lumberjanes #2: Friendship to the Max (series read) - 10/10 = A+
5. Lumberjanes #3: A Terrible Plan (series read) - 10/10 = A+
6. Lumberjanes #4: Out of Time (series read) - 10/10 = A+
7. Lumberjanes #5: Band Together (series read) - 10/10 = A+
8. Lumberjanes #6: Sink or Swim (series read) - 10/10 = A+
9. Lumberjanes #7: A Bird's-Eye View (series read) - 10/10 = A+
10. Lumberjanes #8: Stone Cold (series read) - 10/10 = A+
11. Lumberjanes #9: On a Roll (series read) - 10/10 = A+
12. Lumberjanes #10: Parents' Day! (series read) - 10/10 = A+
13. Lumberjanes #11: Time After Crime (series read) - 10/10 = A+
14. The Adventurous Eaters Club (Read Soon! Shelves/Christmas gift from Charlie) - 9/10 = A
15. The Black God's Drums (Alex Award) - 9/10 = A
16. Call Down the Hawk (Read Soon! Shelves) - 10/10 = A+
17. Mr. Justice Holmes (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B
18. I Shall Wear Midnight (Discworld) - 9/10 = A
19. The White Stone (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B-
20. The Corn Grows Ripe (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B-

FEBRUARY
21. The Book of Essie (Alex Awards) - 9/10 = A
22. Lumberjanes 12: Jackalope Springs Eternal (series read) - 10/10 A+
23. Lumberjanes 13: Indoor Recess (series read) - 10/10 = A+
24. Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks (series read) - 10/10 = A+
25. Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass (series read) - 10/10 = A+
26. Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship (series read) - 10/10 = A+
27. Mooncakes (recommended by Laura (lycomayflower)) - 9/10 = A
28. Vanity Fair (audiobook) - 7/10 = C
29. They Called Us Enemy (Read Soon! Shelves) - 9/10 = A
30. The Rattle Bag (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B
31. Queen of the Sea (impulse library checkout) - 8/10 = B-
32. Pumpkinheads (impulse library checkout) - 9/10 = A
33. Snuff (Discworld) - 9/10 = A
34. Agnes Grey (audiobook) - 8/10 = B+
35. New Kid (Newbery Medal) - 10/10 = A+
36. Telephone Tales (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
37. Pawn of Prophecy (Charlie's bedtime read) - 10/10 = A+
38. The Girl Who Smiled Beads (Alex Award) - 7/10 = C
39. Cranford (audiobook) - 8/10 = B+

MARCH
40. Best Friends (impulse library checkout) - 9/10 = A
41. Old Ramon (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B-
42. Bloodlust & Bonnets (impulse library checkout) - 9/10 = A
43. Raising Steam (Discworld) - 8/10 = B
44. The Terrible Two Go Wild (Charlie's nightly read-aloud) - 8/10 = B
45. If You're Reading This, It's Too Late (Charlie recommendation) - 8/10 = B
46. Me in the Middle (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
47. The King of the Copper Mountains (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B
48. The Specter in the Magician's Museum (Charlie's bedtime read) - 9/10 = A
49. Green (Alex Award) - 9/10 = A
50. Thistle and Thyme (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
51. The Fearsome Inn (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
52. These Old Shades (romance list) - 8/10 = B
53. The Wise Man's Fear (Read Soon! Shelves) - 10/10 = A+

APRIL
54. Mary Barton (audiobook) - 8/10 = B
55. The Slow Regard of Silent Things (Read Soon! Shelves) - 10/10 = A+
56. Pride and Prejudice (Read Soon! Shelves) - 10/10 = A+
57. Read It and Weep (series read with my mom) - 8/10 = B+
58. The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare re-read) - 8/10 = B
59. Secondhand Souls (Moore bibliography) - 9/10 = A
60. Candyfreak (Unread Book from My Shelves) - 8/10 = B-

MAY
61. Yarn Over Murder (series read with my mom) - 7/10 = C
62. Henry VI Part 2 (Shakespeare re-read) - 9/10 = A
63. The Graveyard Book (Charlie's bedtime read) - 10/10 = A+
64. Shiver (Stiefvater bibliography) - 9/10 = A
65. Family Don't End with Blood (a gift from one of my favorite people) - 9/10 = A-
66. The Thief of Always (an unread book from my shelves) - 9/10 = A
67. The Art of the English Murder (a book from my Read Soon! shelves) - 8/10 = B
68. This Book Is Not Good for You (a series Charlie and I are reading together) - 8/10 = B+
69. On Borrowed Time (series read with my Mom) - 8/10 = B+
70. Henry VI Part 3 (Shakespeare re-read) - 9/10 = A
71. The Shepherd's Crown (Discworld series) - 8/10 = B+

JUNE
72. The Beast under the Wizard's Bridge (Charlie's bedtime read-aloud) - 8/10 = B+
73. Winter Wonderland (Romance list) - 8/10 = B+
74. The Silence Between Us (Schneider Award) - 8/10 = B+
75. Of Human Bondage (NEH list) - 9/10 = A
76. The Duke I Tempted (Romance genre list) - 8/10 = B+
77. Genesis Begins Again (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
78. This Isn't What It Looks Like (Charlie book) - 8/10 = B+

JULY
79. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Charlie's bedtime read-aloud) - 9/10 = A
80. Any Duchess Will Do (Romance list) - 9/10 = A-
81. Other Words for Home (Newbery Honor Book) - 9/10 = A
82. Bleak House (audiobook) - 8/10 = B+
83. The Folio Society Book of the 100 Greatest Portraits (unread book from my shelves) - 9/10 = A
84. The Tower at the End of the World (Charlie's bedtime book) - 9/10 = A-

AUGUST
85. Coraline (Charlie's bedtime book) - 9/10 = A
86. Frankly in Love (Morris Honor Book) - 8/10 = B+
87. Potent Pleasures (romance genre list) - 7/10 = C-
88. I Kill Giants (impulse library checkout) - 8/10 = B+
89. You Have to Stop This (Charlie series recommendation) - 9/10 = A-
90. The Shop on Blossom Street (romance genre list) - 8/10 = B-
91. Tom's Midnight Garden (Charlie's bedtime book) - 10/10 = A+

Best Frens:



Mario's Quarantine Mood:



And here's the first photo I ever uploaded to flickr, in 2007, the ever-serious, always-amazing Tuppence:

And the last two favorites from the Folio Portraits book:

Ambroise Vollard by Pablo Picasso, 1910:



This one is exceptional for the simple fact that, in general, I loathe Picasso. But this one is gorgeous.

La Reproduction interdite (Edward James) by René Magritte, 1937:



Magritte is one of my favorite artists for his clean lines and lovely-but-strange subjects. On the surface his paintings seem simple, but there is always so very much going on in them. I love it.

>5 scaifea: Same, Mario, same.

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Amber!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Amber my dear, sending love and hugs to you all from both of us dear friend.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread!

>6 scaifea: Oh, I like that Picasso too. It reminds me of a couple of Georges Braque paintings I saw at the Bellagio Art Museum in Las Vegas (yes, that is correct) years ago. (I think they were on loan from the Guggenheim at the time.) They each did several featuring musical instruments, and I'd have a hard time telling which artist did what. This is one of them:

Thanks, everyone!

>13 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Oooh, yes, that one's nice, too. I particularly like the colors there, I think.

Nice new thread, Amber. I love the artwork of course, but also love the B&W photo of Charlie & Mario. I'm glad to see Tuppence making an appearance as well.

>15 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura!

Happy New Thread, Amber! Love the still life topper, along with the Magritte.

>17 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Aren't those lovely?

Happy new thread, Amber.

>5 scaifea: Always enjoy the photos but I had to smile at the Mario photo - who'd have thought a dog's face could be so expressive!

>19 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

Ha! Tuppence was always the one with so many different expressions, but Mario has a few in her repertoire as well, clearly.

Happy New Thread, Amber!

Thanks, Roni!

Charlie and I finished up his new student orientation yesterday and he says he feels all set to go. We also did our school supply shopping on the couch (not quite as fun as usual, but still, it's school supplies!). I sat through a couple of Learning Coach webinars yesterday, too, and have a couple more this week, plus I got a bit of work done on the Latin course prep. Charlie made dinner last night and, as usual, it was delicious (pasta with olive oil, parmesan cheese, and peas):



On the reading front:
Not much reading going on here, still, although at least now it's because I'm busy with school prep and not because of a reading funk. I did manage a few pages of Frankly in Love last night and I'm still very much enjoying it. We also finished up Coraline last night - mini-review to come.

Happy new thread, Amber.

When school starts I hope you'll post a photo of Charlie in his school space, maybe eating lunch from his lunch box and then maybe he can give us a photo of you teaching Latin. :)

>24 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: *snork!* I was just thinking that I should post a photo of Charlie's new school space!

85. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (Charlie's bedtime book, 194 pages) - 9/10 = A

Coraline, whose parents are well-meaning but inattentive, finds a usually-locked door in their apartment one day unlocked, and she walks through it. If that isn't enough for you to be going on with, then mentioning that Neil Gaiman wrote it should do. And it is typical Gaiman fare: clever protagonist up against clever monsters with thinly-disguised mythological references as clever sidekicks to help in clever ways, which means that as a whole it is, in fact, quite clever and lovely and wonderful. Treads the line between delightfully creepy and downright scary with all sorts of agility. And the writing is gorgeous, because of course it is.
Second time through for me, first time for Charlie. He loved it, of course. Because of course he did.

>24 RebaRelishesReading: Seconding this!

Happy new thread!

Chloe and I need to do some back to school shopping as well. I am debating throwing masks on a going to the mall or shopping online. I imagine online will win out

>28 ChelleBearss: Chelle: I'm not brave enough to try shopping in an actual store right now here around Columbus, but I suspect things aren't as dicey up there right now...

Happy new thread, Amber!

>5 scaifea: Lovely picture of a boy and his dog :-)
And Tuppence.... (((hugs)))

>6 scaifea: Magritte!!!
After watching a Dutch tv-series about Picasso I appreciate his work more than I did before.

>30 FAMeulstee: Hi, Anita! Thanks for the hugs.

Magritte is amazing, no? And yeah, I just can't stand Picasso's general attitude and self-importance. Blerg.

I try to keep the person and her/his work separated. Does not always work ;-)

>32 FAMeulstee: Anita: Agreed!

Yesterday was filled with more orientation stuff for Charlie's school (Learning Coach stuff for me), filling out all those beginning-of-employment forms for the Latin gig, reading some history and science with Charlie (we read about totalitarian governments pre-WW2 (and discussed current similarities) and about the planets in our solar system (and I waxed semi-poetic about how My Very Educated Mother used to Serve Us Nine Pickles)), and I managed a bit of prep work on the Latin course, too.
Today is Charlie Baking Day again, so I'll put on my sous chef hat for a bit and then spend most of the rest of the day working, plus I have one more Learning Coach session this afternoon.

On the reading front:
I finally finished a book! Mini-review to come.

What We're Watching:
It was Tomm's pick last night, so more Agents of Shield. That show is getting weird, but I kind of like it.

>34 scaifea: My Very Educated Mother used to Serve Us Nine Pickles
Now that's one I never learned. Roy G Biv, yes. but the planets were left to rote memorization. That's a great way to remember them. Except ... didn't Pickles get relegated to non-planet status a few years ago?

>34 scaifea:, >35 lauralkeet: It was nine pizzas when I learned it.

>35 lauralkeet: Laura: Indeed, Charlie had to endure my sad tribute to the loss of those pickles.

We don't mention Roy G. Biv in this house. It makes the resident physicist nuts (apparently there is no indigo in the rainbow? I can't remember his argument, which is funny because I've heard it at high volume multiple times).

>36 lycomayflower: Laura: Yes, I've heard that variation! I always thought the Pickles must have super health benefits or something that only My Mother knew about, being so Very Educated and all. (No, really, I did make that assumption when I was a kid.)

86. Frankly in Love by David Yoon (Morris Honor Book, 556 pages) - 8/10 = B+
Frank Li is finishing up high school in California, feeling the pressure to do well on the SAT and to get into Stanford, navigating the rollercoaster of feelings brought on by teen love, all while trying to figure out his place in the world as a Korean-American who feels neither fully Korean nor American.
I enjoyed this Morris Honor Book a great deal. The characters feel accurate and real (the teenagers aren't overly precocious, even as head-of-the-class types), the dialogue is a clever hoot, and the story moves along as a good pace. Happily recommended.

I'm so far behind on threads. Offering my congratulations on your Latin teaching gig. Hoping you'll be able to return to the library as well.

>39 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

Red yellow green blue indigo and VIOLET! I learned that by rote...but with RHYTHM, like a cheer. And whaddya mean, no indigo in the rainbow? WE didn't have orange. Now I have to go look that up. Are you bent on educating the whole world, lady?

>41 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: *snork!* Nope, that one is all on Tomm. I'm indigo-inclusive, but play it low-key here at Scaife Manor.

Happy new thread, Amber!

My Very Earnest Mother also served me Pizzas. Never learned Pickles, though Pancakes would've worked well too. Funnily enough, I still remember the phrases to read music too... Elephants Get Big Dirty Feet for the for the lines and FACE for the middles in treble clef.

I learned the rainbow by color and never really thought about indigo until I was an adult, though I always did include orange. By the way, did you know when there's a double rainbow, one of them is in reverse? (I just learned this a couple of months ago, but I'm sure it's something Tomm knows too).

Hope all the school prep continues to go well for you and Charlie. When's the first day?

Double rainbow - yep, knew that. And have done the math... 😀

Plus, I’ve taken pics.

Happy new thread, Amber. The pasta looks good - it's just about supper time here. Good luck with all the school planning.

>43 bell7: Mary:
If was Every Good Boy Does Fine for me, but I like yours better!

And the list of things that Tomm knows that I don't know and don't know he knows is likely quite long, and I suspect it includes rainbow details.

Charlie's first day is August 17; my first teaching day is August 24.

>44 drneutron: Jim: *SNORK!*

>45 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! That pasta was delicious!

More of the same here yesterday (and today): Latin prep, mostly. Charlie made is first Swiss Roll yesterday, with a peppermint-flavored filling. It turned out pretty tasty.

On the reading front:
I spent some time with John Cleese's memoir (so funny, of course) and started I Kill Giants which is very good so far, too.

What We're Watching:
I introduced Charlie to one of my all-time favorite movies: So I Married an Axe Murderer. I'm happy to say that he loved it, too.

>43 bell7: no elephants on my treble lines, it was "every good boy does fine" for me too. I'll try to learn the one for the planets because I never have any idea what order they're in -- will have to look to see which M is which :) Also had no idea about double rainbows -- in fact I know very little about physical science.

We recently watched a multi-part documentary on Monty Python -- quite interesting.

Return to school is getting very near, isn't it. I must call the two "big" grandkids and find out when they go back (back on line I expect).

Be well!

My Very Educated Mother served Pizzas, as well. Now, I hear, she just serves Nachos and leaves it at that.

I also learned that Every Good Boy Does Fine (or Deserves Fudge), which can be flipped around for the bass clef, Good Boys Do Fine Always, and FACE for the treble clef spaces, while All Cows Eat Grass for the bass. Fat Cats Get Down And Even Boogie gives you the order of sharps in treble clef, but flats I learned by rote (BEADGCF). None of this has helped make me a more competent musician, by the way.

I learned the planets as My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.

And music as Every Good Boy Deserves Fun and FACE.

I used to have a good mneumonic for the countries of South America, but I can't remember it (so I guess it wasn't that good - ha!).

>48 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: *facepalm* I just spent too much time wondering why you mentioned a Monty Python documentary and then went from that to, "Oh, I should tell her that I'm reading Cleese's memoir" to "Oh, aha!" Quality brain skills today, clearly.

>49 foggidawn:: OH! I'd forgotten about All Cows Eating Grass! YES!

>50 katiekrug: Katie: *SNORK!!* I absolutely love that you can't remember that good mnemonic. I. Love. It.

87. Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James (romance genre list, 778 pages) - 7/10 = C-
Yeah, nope. This was all sorts of shady for me: A heroine who seems delightfully independent on the surface yet who keeps making questionable decisions about the dude she's in love with; meanwhile the dude she's in love with has some massive issues with anger management. But the real clincher for me was his obsession with his wife needing to be 'pure' and his conviction that if she's anything else she's automatically a worthless whore. It's a shame, really, because the writing was nice and some of the other characters were fun and lovely. But yeah, just NOPE.

NB: Despite not liking this one much at all, I will likely give James another go at some point because I have it on several good authorities that she does have some worthwhile reads out there.

>52 scaifea: - You might need to stay away from older historical romances, as most of them are very Problematic. I'm reading one now that I first read as a teenager, and it's making me cringe. A lot of newer authors, and well-established ones like James, are now writing with, for lack of a better description, a more modern sensibility.

>53 katiekrug: Katie: I had my suspicions that such may be the case. Of course I felt I had to start at the beginning of her list, publication-date-wise, but yeah, I may need to rethink that strategy.

It took me some time to figure out why you all have "Very Educated Mothers". A different mother tongue can be confusing sometimes ;-)

>55 FAMeulstee: Anita: Ha! That's so funny! Do you have one in your mother tongue for the planets? I'd love to know what it is!

>37 scaifea: I can't remember his argument, which is funny because I've heard it at high volume multiple times.

That made me giggle :-) I have subjects like that too...

Every Good Boy Deserved Favour in my day. But then my grandma was *literally* born in the 1800s.

Sorry about the Bad Romance up there.

Charlie and I went to pick up his shiny new saxophone yesterday from the band director and he is so excited! And the school supplies we ordered came in in the mail yesterday, too, so Charlie was flying high. He's got one more week of summer before school starts but he's ready to get going. I, however, feel like I need every second of the next two weeks to prep for this Latin class, not just to get the lectures and quizzes and exams ready, but mostly because I still need to figure out how to run a zoom meeting - something I've never done before and I still don't have access to figure it out! Wooof. I don't actually think it will take me long to sort things out for myself once I do have access, but it's still an effort not to panic about it at this point.

Today will be weekly bill sorting, grocery pick-up, more Latin course prep, and calling Charlie's old school to let them know that he's enrolled elsewhere.

On the reading front:
I started The Shop on Blossom Street yesterday, which is a re-read from way long ago for me. I remember enjoying it but I never continued with the series (I'm not sure I knew it *was* the beginning of a series back then), so I thought a restart was in order. I don't remember there being much in the way of actual romance in this one, but Macomber is on the Romance List and I thought I'd just (re)start here with her. I read a bit more of I Kill Giants, too, which is pretty excellent so far, although some of the panels are a bit difficult to suss out visually. I don't mind a bit of a challenge sometimes with graphic novels in trying to figure out what's happening in the pictures, but this one has a couple of spots so far where it almost seems impossible to understand the action. Story and characters are clever and good so far, though.

What We're Watching:
It was a Great British Baking Show night for us. Love that show.

>56 scaifea: The names of the planets are almost the same in Dutch: Mercurius, Venus, Aarde, Mars, Jupiter, Saturnus, Uranus, Neptunus, Pluto. Only Earth start with a different letter (Aarde).
This is the Dutch version: Mijn Vader At Meestal Jonge Spruitjes Uit Nieuwe Pekela
translation: My father ate usually young sprouts from Nieuwe Pekela (Nieuwe Pekela is a place in the north of our country)

>57 susanj67: And now I had to search for Every Good Boy Deserved Favour, LOL. Found :-)

>57 susanj67: Susan: Oooh, I like Deserves Favour. Classy!

>59 FAMeulstee: Anita: Neat! Thanks for sharing!

>44 drneutron: Wait, there's... math involved? Really?

>46 scaifea: Ha, I didn't mean to imply that Tomm would know that and you wouldn't. Though in all seriousness, I have thought to myself that if I ever get married I want my husband to be smarter than me about something. Not everything, but enough to keep me from acting like a know-it-all.

>49 foggidawn: I learned Alley Cats Eat Garbage for bass clef. And I'm still garbage at reading music quickly.

>59 FAMeulstee: Oooh, I find it fascinating that the planets can have different names in other languages, that's not something that ever occurred to me. I love that there's still a mnemonic involving a parent and food in Dutch.

Good luck on getting all your last-minute prep finished, Amber! The summer really flew by, didn't it?

^Which I know you do...Have a great day with the family, Amber!

Happy birthday, Amber! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Pluto's orbit is very elliptical, sometimes bringing it inside the orbit of Neptune. I mention this because I remember it happening when I was in elementary school, just after we had learned what Elderly Mothers Serve (Peaches, I think). Our teacher solved the problem by announcing that her Mother Just Saw Us Play Nurse.

Which I thought was weird because I'd never heard of playing nurse but knew what it meant to "play doctor" and that wasn't the sort of thing teachers talked about Elderly Mothers watching. And I must not have been the only one confused, because later she sternly informed the class that Nurse is a card game.

Much later when Pluto was deplaneted I figured, "Well that problem is solved."

And happy birthday!

Happiest of birthdays, Amber!

>61 bell7: Mary: Tomm and I have a really nice balance of knowledge bases, I think. He's the scientist and I'm the Humanities gal. Works out really well, especially for helping Charlie with school stuff.

Aw, those poor alley cats! They deserve better.

And thanks! I've got the first four weeks of class stuff ready (except for the online business, for which I still don't have access), so I could relax a little about it, but I know that once Charlie's school starts up I'm going to want a little prep time for my own course as possible and I'd like to get all the lectures and quizzes and such settled before then.

>62 msf59: Thanks, Mark!

>63 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura!

>64 swynn: Steven: *snork!!* Elderly Mothers watching games of Nurse is a little disturbing...

>65 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

Okay, so Charlie is officially unenrolled here (the admin assistance was so kind and funny, and we joked and commiserated over the phone about how nuts all this is) and I made some good progress on the Latin course prep yesterday.

Today I'll be making my birthday cake: Lemon Torte with Raspberry Jam Filling, which is one of my very favorite things. Tomm offered to go buy a cake and said he feels weird about me making my own cake, but I set him straight: I want what I want and I want this cake and I don't mind making it myself at all. Besides, he's grilling steaks for my birthday dinner, so that's good enough, right? I haven't decided what else I'll do today, but I'm leaning heavily toward lots of reading and tea drinking.

On the reading front:
I didn't do much reading yesterday, but I did manage a few pages of I Kill Giants, which seems to be heading down the tear-jerker highway. We'll see. It's quite good so far.

What We're Watching:
Last night was Family Game Night, so we spent half of the evening playing Wii Resort games and then switched to watching a couple of Gilmore Girls episodes.

88. I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (impulse library checkout, graphic novel) - 8/10 = B+
A young girl is convinced that there are monsters and that she can kill them with her special, homemade weapon despite the fact that this belief isolates her at school and causes problems at her already-troubled home. It also has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her mother is dying of cancer. Nope. Just like this story will definitely not lead the reader to tears. NOPE.
I liked this graphic novel tons. Barbara is such a great character, and I lovelovelove that whether or not the monsters are real or are in Barbara's imagination or both is left open to interpretation. But the art was too...sloppy? There were many panels that I stared at for far too long trying to suss out what exactly was going on and that irritated me enough to pull me out of the story several times. A shame, really, because otherwise this would have been close to a 5-star read for me.

(Also, how cool is it that this is my 88th read, finished on 8/8?)

Happy Birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day!

>69 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle!!

>61 bell7: >66 scaifea: a balance of knowledge between spouses is very nice but so is a similarity :) Hubby and I are similar enough that we co-taught a course once, which was fun :)

>67 scaifea: Hope you have a very happy birthday!! Steak followed by Lemon Torte with Raspberry Jam filling sounds wonderful enough but maybe you should ask Charlie to make you a nice green salad just to make the nutrition gods smile :)

Have a lovely day!!

>71 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: How dare you suggest that I eat vegetables on my birthday, lady. How. Dare. (I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie forces a salad on my anyway, for that exact reason. Such a weird (in a good way) kiddo.)

Happy Birthday, Amber!

>73 ronincats: Thanks, Roni!

Happy birthday Amber my dear and no dodgy Gif's in sight, lol.

My birthday cake:



Turned out pretty great, if I do say so.

>75 johnsimpson: *snork!* Thanks, John!

That is pretty much my ideal cake. Looks fantastic!

>78 katiekrug: One of these days, Katie, I'll make one for you.

It looks like I showed up just in time for cake! Happy Birthday, Amber! :D

>79 scaifea: - I can make it to the Columbus area in a day, easy *grin*

>61 bell7: Sure! It’s a fairly straight-forward refraction problem. 😀

Happy birthday to my favorite classicist friend!

Happy birthday and what Jim said.

>76 scaifea: That does look a bobby dazzler!

That cake looks fantastic, Amber. I can see why you would insist on having it and even making it yourself.

Cheers, and Happy Birthday, Amber!

Happy birthday, Amber! Your cake looks fantastic.

Thanks, everyone! I had a really nice day, and I've already had another slice of cake for breakfast this morning.

>80 Ape: Stephen: Yes! Help yourself!

>81 katiekrug: Katie: Well, a day's drive may not exactly be worth it just for cake, but there are some amazing bookstores here that I could take you to...

>82 drneutron: Jim: Oh, sure, very straightforward. Uh-huh. I know exactly what you mean. *ahem*

>84 PaulCranswick: Paul: A bobby dazzler! I'll take it!

>85 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! I like baking anyway, and this is actually a really easy cake to put together, so I didn't mind at all.

My carpal tunnel-symptomed wrist is acting up on me again, so I'll likely spend the day trying to rest it (aka: reading and sipping tea) while wearing my wrist guard thing.

On the reading front:
After finishing up the graphic novel yesterday I spent some time with John Cleese. I love the bits where he explains how he came up with certain MP skit ideas from childhood memories, generally of adults being ridiculous in some way or another.

What We're Watching:
More Agents of Shield last night. Such crazy things happening on that show right now (right now being the 4th season for us), and I kind of love it.

Happy Belated Birthday, Amber

We are into the 4th season of AoS too - somewhere in the middle. And it is quite strange with the LMDs and Framework stuff. My husband wants me to hurry up and catch up because the series finale comes out shortly.
He also said I need to start watching The Umbrella Academy with him

>90 jayde1599: Yes! That framework stuff has me a bit cross-eyed but it seems to work logistically in the end? I think?

I keep thinking that I'd like The Umbrella Academy, too.

>72 scaifea: *ducks head and slinks away*

>93 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: I'll have you know that I also requested french fries. And birthday french fries count as a vegetable. *nods head decisively*

(quietly from behind the door)"I like vegetables"

but you can count anyway you like on your birthday

Happy birthday! Gorgeous cake.

>95 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: I do, too, actually. Just being silly.

>96 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda!

Well, I spent a good deal of yesterday working on prepping the Latin class and the Charlie and I worked on putting together a daily school schedule for him (it's up to us to make sure he puts in the 5.5 hours a day required by Ohio law). We had Chicken Biriyani for dinner - one of my favorites - and then a nice walk with Mario round the neighborhood.

On the reading front:
A read a bit of The Shop on Blossom Street and You Have to Stop This last night, but I didn't get much of either accomplished. I think my brain is still adjusting to a full-ish day of Work and I was pretty tired.

Belated happy birthday! That cake looks delicious.

>99 foggidawn: Thanks!! It was really good!

Dagnabit, I missed your birthday! Your cake looks delish and your day sounds like it was a nice one. Congrats for making it another year — that seems like more of an accomplishment than ever these days.

>101 rosalita: Thanks, Julia! And yup. *sigh*

I'm very belated in my birthday wishes but I'm happy to see that it was an utterly lovely day.

Have you and the Scaife men watched Agent Carter? Because Peggy is THE BEST.

>103 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

Tomm is a fan of Agent Carter, but I haven't watched any of them. Maybe someday?

>104 scaifea: The whole show is on Disney+ so it's much easier to access than it used to be. :)

>105 MickyFine: Micky: Good to know - thanks!

Morning, all!
I've been busy working on the Latin course and haven't read much of anything in a few days. The IT folks finally got my online access up and running so now I'll likely spend this weekend figuring out how to work the online course system, uploading stuff, and finishing up the syllabus.

On Friday Charlie and I made our traditional Last Day of Summer Fettuccine Alfredo lunch, which was delicious. Tomm's been on vacation this week and has been working on renovating his office space, picking paint colors and building his own built-in bookshelves. He's also going to pull up the carpet and put down hardwood flooring, which he'll eventually do in most of the house, but this will be the first time he's tackled that particular job and wanted to do it in a smaller space (his office is one of the smallest rooms in the house). So, lots of work going on around here lately and not much leisure time for reading.

We've still be taking our daily after-dinner walks, and starting Monday Charlie and I will add a pre-lunch walk with Mario, too, as part of his PE requirement and to get him out of the house and into the fresh air in the middle of his school day. He is *so* excited to start school on Monday and that makes me happy. I know Tomm and I are ridiculously lucky that we have a kiddo who loves school and also seems to thrive in the at-home online schooling thing. Whew. He's made up his daily schedule (because of course he has) and wants to start at 7:30 every morning, and he's a little annoyed that the school wants students to wait until 10am on the first day before logging in. Ha! He has his school area all sorted, with his new desk all decorated and everything in its place, but I still need to sort out a place for my course zoom meetings since my office has no doors and is too much a part of the open floor plan of the front hall/dining room area. I think I'll set up a space in my sewing room for that.

What We're Watching:
More Agents of Shield, more Gilmore Girls, and more GBBS, plus last night I chose the Disney animated Alice in Wonderland, since we hadn't watched it in a long time. Comfort watches are still big here at Scaife Manor.

Glad to hear all things are well in your realm. Enjoy Charlie's last weekend of summer vacation!

>109 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

Charlie has this hilarious method for counting weekends: in his world, summer vacation ended on Friday, because weekends are always just weekends and you have them off from school anyway. It makes sense in an interesting sort of way...

Happy Sunday, Amber! I hope all is well at the Scaife Manor. I also hope that wrist is healing up.

Well my day yesterday was full of watching How To videos for the uni's online system, after which I was all ready to get started prepping my webpage for the class when I realized that they don't have me set up as the instructor yet and I can't do anything. Meh, should be fine, right? I mean it's not like there's only a week left before classes start or anything. Yoicks.

Charlie has asked if I'll make Carrot Salad to go in his lunches this week, so I'll do that today, and I had planned on making Curried Carrot Soup for dinner tonight, so it's going to be a very...orange...sort of day. We're all doing our various house cleaning duties today, and then I need to sew Charlie's new patch on his backpack (it's a Hamilton one that says "Rise Up"). I may follow that up with more time in the sewing room or reading, or possibly a little of both.

I ended up working most of the day on the Latin class again, since I worked out how to start a draft of my page pre-official-access wise. So another day without any reading to report. Eventually all this will settle down, I hope, once Charlie and I are both relaxed into our school roles. And Charlie starts today! First Day Photo to come...

First Day of Sixth Grade:



He's grown just a little...

Fifth Grade:



Fourth Grade:



Third Grade:



Second Grade:



First Grade:



Kindergarten:



4-Year-Old Kindergarten:



Preschool:

Wow, that’s a great set of pictures!

>115 drneutron: Jim: Right? He's changed just a bit since that little nugget who was off to preschool...

Happy first day of school, Charlie! That was always my favorite day of the year — my second favorite being the last day of school. :-D

>117 rosalita: Julia: *snork!* I'll pass along your good wishes!

What a wonderful series of photos!! Gave me a warm feeling with which to start the day! Hope you both have a successful school year! Is this middle school for Charlie? or last year of elementary? or does your area have 1-8 then high school?

He sure has sprouted and the pre-teen is definitely showing. :)

>119 RebaRelishesReading: Aw, thanks, Reba! I love looking back through that series of photos, too. This is Charlie's first year of middle school! If we were still in Wisconsin, it would be his second.

>120 MickyFine: Micky: Oh, definitely with the pre-teen look. So funny. And you should hear his voice! It's so deep already!!

Does anybody else think Charlie's part is creeping toward the middle a little bit more every year?

>123 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: *SNORK!* Even *I* didn't notice that! But...I think you may be right...

>121 scaifea: Interesting how different schools are. Here "middle school" is grades 6, 7 & 8. When I was in school in L.A. we had 'junior high school" which was grades 7, 8 & 9. Catholic schools were all K-8 in the same school and then their high schools were 9-12. Anyway -- happy new school year to you both!

>125 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: When I was in school we had Junior High, too, but it was just 7th and 8th grade. High school was 9-12.

And thanks!

>114 scaifea: Wow, what a wonderful sequence! Charlie has certainly done the growth spurt thing! Best luck to him this school year!

>127 quondame: Thanks!!

I hope Charlie's first day was a good one! Wow, he really has grown up, huh? Hard to believe 'way back when we first started following each others' reading, you were mostly reading picture books with him. Love the first day sequence too.

>129 bell7: Mary: Well, we still read picture books if you can believe it! He did have a good first day and I'm really happy about that. He's excited to get started again this morning already!

Lots of studiousness going on at Scaife Manor yesterday, with Charlie's first day and my continued hustle to get the Latin course ready. I'm almost there now, with just a handful of quizzes left to create in the online system. I may even hope for a relaxing, do-nothing weekend...

On the reading front:
Still nothing to report. Soon, maybe?

>114 scaifea: Love it that you put all Charlie's pictures up with the new one, Amber. And he has grown so much again!

>131 scaifea: Good luck with the last efforts of the Latin course.

>132 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! I love looking back at all the First Day photos. So fun.

And thanks for the Latin luck! I'm nearly there, I think...

>130 scaifea: I love that, actually! There are some fantastic picture books out there that take an older audience to really appreciate (Pink and Say for example or even wordless ones like Flotsam), and I wish more people realized that. Hooray for a great first day, and hope the year continues positively.

>134 bell7: We've stopped exploring new releases since the library shut-down in March, but we've been revisiting old favorites and they're such comfort reads. I LOVE that he's a nearly 12yo boy who still believes in the pleasure of picture books. Either that or he's just very tolerantly humoring his silly mom, and I'm okay with that, too.

Wow, Charlie really has sprouted up this year! Glad he's enjoying the online school experience.

>136 foggidawn: He is *so* tall. It's nuts. And yeah, he's having a good day today again so far, so yay!

Well, the course prep continues. I'd like to say that I'll wrap it up today, but then I'll likely disappoint myself. Soon, though. I'm creating quizzes in the online system at this point, which is only slightly tedious...

Charlie's second day went really well! He's met all his teachers now via "Live Lessons" (their version of Zoom meetings) and he loves them all so far, especially the science teacher (his first male teacher) and his social studies teacher, both of whom he says seem really fun and funny. We spent an absolutely wonderful 45 minutes yesterday morning poring over the list of recommended novels to pick out a book for his ELA first reading project. We highlighted all the ones we already have on our shelves, then talked a bit about the ones I've read, and then he read reviews of some of the other ones that looked interesting to him on Goodreads (he has a Goodreads account already - we're in discussions about getting him up and running as a 75er, too...). He's decided on Eragon, he thinks. And he is over-the-moon excited about having a weeks-long novel project to work on.

So things are going pretty well here. I need to work on setting up my Zoom space today, since I'll have a department meeting tomorrow morning. Otherwise, more of the same today.

On the reading front:
Soon. I'll start reading again soon...

What We're Watching:
We recently rewatched the Disney cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland, so last night we watched the Johnny Depp version again. Depp does a great job, and I love Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, and Michael Sheen in their voice roles, but otherwise it's not a huge favorite for me. Charlie *loves* it, though.

>138 scaifea: we're in discussions about getting him up and running as a 75er

YES! You know we've all been waiting years for this, right?!

>139 lauralkeet: Laura: Ha! He's really excited about the idea, too! I think there's an age restriction (13, maybe?) but I've been thinking hard about it and I assume that's both to protect the kiddos and keep a certain level of maturity in the threads, but of course I'll be right here with him all the time and watching him like a momma hawk, so I don't think it would be an issue. And if for some reason he goes nuts and starts acting completely out of character, I would pull him out so fast his head would be spinning. So. there may be some rule-flouting...

I'm glad Charlie's first couple days have gone smoothly. Having good rapport with teachers, especially when distance learning, is going to be so great!

Good luck with getting your course fully set up.

>141 MickyFine:: Micky: Me, too! I'm so happy that he seems to be doing so well with this format.

And thanks! I've finished up the quizzes this morning and just have the exams to go...

>138 scaifea: Most interesting that Charlie has teachers. I didn't realize there were home-schooling providers that included that. I'm glad he likes them. It sounds like he is going to have a great year.

Good luck with finalizing preparation for your class. I'm sure that will go well too.

>143 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: Charlie isn't being homeschooled, actually, at all, which would mean that Tomm and I would be in charge of all curriculum, testing, et al. He's enrolled in an Ohio public school - a charter school that is wholly online. So in every other sense, it's just like any other public school.

And thanks!

>144 scaifea: Aha -- I misunderstood and thought he had opted for home schooling -- although you two certainly have the education to home school well (as opposed to many who choose to do so imho) this sounds like a better option all around.

>145 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: Yeah, I'm with you there. I don't really think full-on homeschooling is a good thing, in general. Teachers have degrees in education for a reason.

I finished up my course prep yesterday - woot! - and will now spend a few lovely days trying to catch up on some reading before the course actually starts on Monday. Charlie continues to do well with the online school and we're starting to settle into a good schedule there.

The weather here is wonderful right now: 70's, sunny, and breezy. I feel fall coming on and I am *here* for it! Our walks the last couple of days have been so lovely.

On the reading front:
Again, nothing to report from yesterday, but I'm hoping to start getting back on track today.

What We're Watching:
More Gilmore Girls last night. Such a comfort watch, that.

I'm with on you comfort watching GG. What season are you on?

>148 MickyFine: Micky: We're toward the beginning of season three right now.

>114 scaifea: Love those photos. It has been an honour to follow Charlie's progress through school and as his hair gets longer and longer and longer xx

>150 PaulCranswick: Paul: *snork!* Tomm is not a huge fan of the hair, but I'm a firm believer in His Body, His Decision. Plus, I like the long hair.

>151 scaifea: It is funny Amber because Kyran and his mother have the most fights about her constant nagging for him to cut his hair! I am in your camp and have never told any of my three that they should or shouldn't trim, curl, chop off or extend their locks. Even when Yasmyne died dyed her hair pink at the ends I managed a weak smile.

Our rule was always that as long as the hair was clean, it was the son's choice. Not too long ago, he asked why we "let" him have his hair so long while in high school. I just laughed... 😂

Hi, Amber. Love the photos of Charlie through the years.

I see the hair discussion. We had Dr. Jim's approach. Jesse had purple hair and green hair at various times during high school. It looked good, actually. Now he's follicle-challenged like his father, so I'm glad he took advantage while he had it.

Do you know the animated movie "The Garden of Words"? 45 min's long, with beautiful animation. I first heard about it in a Murakami reading group, and I liked it a lot. It's Studio Ghibli- quality.

My parents always told me I could do whatever I wanted with my hair, but I was never very adventurous. I've never dyed my hair -- I like the color that it is. I've often said that when I have more noticeable grey hairs, I will dye them fun colors. Now, my parents have had a hand in the raising of one of my cousins' teenage daughters (long story), and she dyes hers every color under the sun! Right now, it's cropped very short on the sides and longer on the top, and the short sides are pink. They manage, as Paul said, weak smiles.

>152 PaulCranswick: Paul: I *love* the look of partially-dyed hair like that!

>153 drneutron: Jim: Yep, same here: he just needs to keep it clean and he can do what he likes. I love that he blames you for his past hair decisions! Too funny!

>154 jnwelch: Hi, Joe! And thanks! I love the year-by-year comparisons.

My mom always wanted me to have long hair and wouldn't let me cut it. I *hated* it and vowed that I'd let my kiddos do whatever they wanted with their own hair - and bodies in general - as long as they were being healthy about it. I get friction from my parents about Charlie's hair but I'm happy to stand up for him now when I wasn't brave enough to stand up for myownself back then.

I've heard of The Garden of Words but not watched it. I think I need to track it down...

>155 foggidawn: When I go all grey I definitely want to dye it rainbow-style. Charlie is horrified at the idea but, well, my body my decision!

When I was very small I had blond ringlets (the natural curl was at its best then). My Mom was recovering from a miscarriage and I guess I had more freedom than usual because I decided to use the grass shears to give myself a haircut -- leaving one ringlet in the back (I imagine I couldn't reach it). My mom alternated laughing and nearly crying about that incident until the day she died (and I have no memory of it at all). It's the only radical thing I ever did to my hair.

>157 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: Grass shears - wow! I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself! Although I badly wanted to cut my hair, I was also always so anxious to please my parents that I would *never* have taken it upon myself to try. I knew I'd be in big trouble if I did!

>158 scaifea: Actually I was young enough that I don't think the thought crossed my mind that there was anything wrong -- I may have thought I was being helpful. I too was a child who was always anxious to please.

News, everyone!
I actually got some reading done yesterday! And it felt so good! I decided to spend my precious reading time with the comfort re-read I had started a couple of weeks ago, The Shop on Blossom Street so I sat on the front porch with it in the breezy shade yesterday afternoon and it was just lovely. A perfect treat for getting my course all set to go.

Charlie had a pretty great first week of classes and I'm so proud of how organized and motivated he is. He's happy to have the weekend to relax but he's also excited to get back to it on Monday. Love that kiddo.

Today is Tomm's birthday, so we're quietly celebrating with a couple of presents, peanut butter-chocolate fudge, and pork chops on the grill this evening. RIght now he's out for an exploratory walk on the nearby bike path, scoping it out for crowds and ease of access in case we want to make it a frequent outing this fall.

So today I'll be making the birthday pan of fudge, a Brown Sugar Cake for Charlie and me, and then settling in for more reading this afternoon, I think.

I think I forgot to share Charlie's 'classroom' space - the desk area we set up for him for this year:



You can see how happy he is about having his photo taken yet *again* on his first day, and also note that the Teacher's Aide makes an appearance...

Yesterday was the first Friday After-School Treat of the week - Cake Mix Cookies:



Charlie requested I make them with a strawberry cake mix - the Funfetti version is all the grocery had in stock, apparently. I think it looks...festive, though, yeah?

Love Charlie's school space (and the comfy footstool to go with it)! That Funfetti cake mix made with cinnamon vanilla yogurt in lieu of eggs is my new favorite guilty pleasure :)

>163 RebaRelishesReading: Reba: His desk is just in the room next to my office, so we're office mates now!

Oooh, cinnamon vanilla yogurt sounds really good on it's own, too!

>164 scaifea: -- It's my favorite. I get the "less sugar" Greek version from Chobani -- really yummy.

Chiming in to say that I also love the Chobani cinnamon vanilla yogurt :)

>165 RebaRelishesReading: >166 katiekrug: Reba & Katie: I'll have to try it! I've been using low-fat vanilla yogurt for my smoothies and for my breakfast of yogurt + Grape Nuts. I be cinnamon vanilla would be great in both of those.

Happy birthday to Tomm, Amber.

>165 RebaRelishesReading:, >166 katiekrug: note to self: Chobani cinnamon vanilla yogurt. That sounds delish!

Hope the birthday celebration was everything you hoped for!

>168 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! I'll pass along your good wishes.

>169 lauralkeet: Laura: Right? I'd forgotten that I wanted to add it to my grocery list - I should go do that now before I forget again...

And thanks! Tomm is never one for big celebrations, so it was a pretty low-key day although nice all the same.

Yesterday was relaxing and fun. Tomm loved his presents (a Lego set of the London Skyline, a Lego board game, and an Agents of Shield mug) and we had an excellent dinner of grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, and peas (Tomm's choice, of course). The Brown Sugar Cake turned out lovely and I'll definitely be keeping that new recipe - it's just a simple no-frosting cake that goes really well with a cup of tea, and Charlie loves it, too. I managed some reading time and spent it with You Have to Stop This, which I hope to finish up today.

Today I need to send out an email to my students as a sort of Welcome to Latin! and to remind them how to find the Zoom link to our first class tomorrow. Then I'll do some more baking (Cinnamon Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake for breakfasts this week), the usual laundry, and then hopefully an afternoon of reading.

I like frosting-less cakes. Where is the recipe from?

>172 katiekrug: Whereas I like cakeless frosting. :-p

>172 katiekrug: Katie: I don't remember, to be honest. I took a photo of the recipe out of a cookbook I'd checked out of the library who knows how long ago and didn't make note of the title. I'll eventually type it up for my records and if I remember I'll post it then.

>173 rosalita: Julia: *SNORK!* Me too!

>173 rosalita: - LOL!

>174 scaifea: - No worries! I'll see what I can find on Mr. Google...

>175 katiekrug: Katie: I had a quick look on Google before responding earlier to see if I could find this recipe or something similar, but all I found were pound cakes. *shrug* I'll definitely try to remember to post it this week.

Seriously, don't worry about it. You'll have enough to do this week. And I shouldn't have cake anyway :)

>177 katiekrug: Katie: Ha! Well, I'm eventually going to type it up to put in my Keeper Recipes binder anyway, so when I do I'll try to cut and paste it here. Not really any work at all beyond the trying to remember it part.

Shouldn't have cake? Shouldn't have cAKE?! What kind of a world do we live in? Isn't it bad enough already without you putting such awful restrictions on yourself?!

>178 scaifea: - I'm trying to lose weight! Discipline is not my strong suit - if I could make one piece of cake, that would be fine. But I'd have to make the whole thing and then I'd eat the whole thing. So, best to avoid temptation :)

>179 katiekrug: I'm sorry, Katie! I know you're trying to eat healthier - I was just trying to be funny.

After getting the baking finished yesterday (the coffee cake turned out delicious!) I puttered around but mostly read and I managed to finish up a book! Woot! Mini-review to come.

Last night I introduced Charlie to the wonderful world of John Cusack movies from the 80's with Better Off Dead. Gosh, I love that movie, and I am happy to report that so does Charlie!

89. You Have to Stop This by Pseudonymous Bosch (Charlie series recommendation, 344 pages) - 9/10 = A-
Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji get caught up in a mummy heist at the local museum, which turns out to be linked to their quest for The Secret.
A clever finish to a clever and fun series. The plot is fun and inventive, but the best thing about the series is the narrator, who inserts himself into the story frequently and adds a goofy meta-ness to the whole affair. I highly recommend the series for those who like MG-level mysteries with a touch of the supernatural.

>180 scaifea: - Don't apologize, and you were funny! I just have to do a lot self-talk (sometimes out loud, sometimes typed...) to keep encouraging myself because I have very little will power.

ANYWAY, have a great first day today!

>183 katiekrug: Katie: My will power is rubbish, too, but that doesn't stop me from baking. Ridiculous life choices, I know, but I reason it out by saying that I have a healthy-eater kiddo who deserves treats...

And thanks! Apparently Zoom is experiencing world-wide issues today, so that's AWESOME. We'll see how it goes...

Apparently Zoom is experiencing world-wide issues today

Because *of course* it is!

>184 scaifea: oh shoot, that sucks Amber. I hope things go okay for you!

>185 katiekrug: exactly.

>185 katiekrug: Katie: YUP. Apparently it's back up and running now so fingers crossed.

>186 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! It's working again, they say, but I'm quickly teaching myself Google Meet just in case...

Happy first day of school for you, Amber! Was there a portrait? ;)

>188 MickyFine: Oh, excellent point — first day of school requires a photo for teach as well as pupe, don't you think? We got the pupe pic last week, now it's the teach's turn!

>188 MickyFine: The question on EVERYONE's mind....thanks for asking it for all of us!

>188 MickyFine: >189 rosalita: >190 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! Sorry, I didn't take a photo of myself! But the first class went really well. They seem like they'll be a fun group.

>191 scaifea: I'm glad your first day went well Amber! I guess we will forgive the lack of photo.

>192 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! I'll try to remember to take a screenshot tomorrow...

Amber, it's good to hear that everyone at Scaife Manor is enjoying school :-) How is the charming Teacher's Aide going to divide her time between you and Charlie?

So the first day of class is over and I think they will be a good group. They laughed at the proper times and asked surprisingly good and frequent questions, and that's always a good sign. I've asked them to answer a few getting-to-know-you questions as part of their first homework assignment and the four or so students who have already turned in the assignment have given promising answers. I asked them for the title of the last book they read and so far one has told me he's trying to work through Ulysses (poor soul), one claims Wendell Berry as a favorite author, and another listed Persuasion and Jane Eyre as comfort reads that she's brought to campus with her. I like these little Latin cherubs already.

Not sure what I'll do today beyond keeping an eye on Charlie's work. I've got chicken marinating for Chicken Tikka Masala tonight, so dinner's already sorted. Maybe some reading is in order. Oh, and I finished another book last night! Mini-review to come.

90. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (romance genre list, ebook) - 8/10 = B-
Three women with very different lives and problems meet and become unlikely friends through a knitting class at a new local yarn shop.
Part sweet (not at all racy) romance, part girl-friends-being-strong-for-each-other feel-good story, this was a comfy, easy read and a re-read for me. I would have liked...more?...in most aspect of the book: each woman's story could have been fleshed out better, the endings all seemed a little too pat. And also in some places I would have liked a little less, mostly in the needed-more-editing department, as some of the characters' thoughts and feelings were rehashed a few times too many. I'm also not a huge fan of Christian romance themes, and although this one only skated round the hint of a God-y plot, I still balked a bit at how close one storyline came to Youth Pastor Falls for and Then Saves Poor Bad-Girl Godless Uncouth Woman. (Just, ew.) Despite all of this, I still enjoyed it, which may come down the nostalgia of a re-read. *shrug*

>195 scaifea: Glad you first day of school went well. Hope the students live up to their initial promise!

Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner? I'll be right there :)

>195 scaifea: I will need the contact information for the Wendell Berry aficionado, please. (Just kidding, of course....but do tell that incredibly bright student about LT and the AAC at some point, won't you?)

>197 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! And come on over! You're welcome any time.

>198 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Ha! I *knew* you'd love that if you saw it! I immediately thought of you when I read his response.

That does sound like a great group of students, Amber. I love their literary choices!

>200 lauralkeet: Laura: Right? They haven't all turned in the assignment yet (it's not due until tonight) so I'll report back with any other good answers.

>196 scaifea: I enjoy the Hallmark adaptations of Macomber's Christmas novels but I've yet been able to stick it out for the entirety of one of her books. Glad you enjoyed your re-read though. :)

>202 MickyFine: Micky: Yeah, I'll probably give her another go at some point, but I'm not sure that I'll love it.

Kristan Higgins' Blue Heron series (the first is The Best Man) delivers that small town setting-romance-friendship-family vibe without the God-y stuff. She also incorporates a lot of humor and smarts into her stories and characters.

ETA: Plus, there's wine.

>204 katiekrug: Oooh, thanks for the tip, Katie! I'll have to add her to the list.

Yesterday was a long day. I never fully woke up, it seemed, and Charlie had math issues (he's not a fan on the best of days) and carried around the resulting grumpy attitude for the rest of the day. Here's hoping we both have a better day today.

I've got grading to do and a quick glance at my lecture notes, then office hours and class this afternoon. Otherwise I may start prepping for next semester so that I can just so a little at a time and not be rushed. I'd also love to squeeze some reading in since I didn't find any time yesterday for it. We'll see how it goes.

What We're Watching:
More Gilmore Girls. *happy sigh* The dance marathon episode is coming up soon and I'm fretful about Dean breaking up with Rory. So sad. And so, so good.

>206 scaifea: We watched a Seinfeld rerun a couple of nights ago and Lauren Graham made an appearance as Jerry's girlfriend. It was so weird to see her as someone other than Lorelai!

>207 lauralkeet: Laura: Ha! Right?! That's really funny because in one of the episodes we watched last night, Jon Hamm showed up as Lorelai's date and it was weird seeing him in that role!

>206 scaifea: That's one of my favourite episodes. Has Charlie watched it all already?

>209 MickyFine: Micky: He has, but it's been kind of a long time ago so he was pretty little when we last watched through the seasons and he doesn't remember much.

>210 scaifea: That's fun. I hope he enjoys the whole crazy thing.

I had a great time watching with Mr. Fine for his first viewing and my umpteenth. Ultimately Paris drove him crazy and he only came around on her a little bit. Dean was his favourite of Rory's boyfriends (although he insisted on calling him Sam :P). And the last line of the reboot made him a little nutty.

>211 MickyFine: Right?!

Charlie *loves* Paris. I'm not sure what that says about him, really, but he does love her. And I insist on calling Dean SamDean (and SPN Dean is DeanDean). SooooooOOooooo confusing.

I've not seen all of the reboot, but I do know about that last line and kind of love it.

>206 scaifea: Gilmore Girls became one of the shows that I watched with Becky - we'd both binge and watch as the last seasons came out - though I missed a good deal of the last season, as it really lacked a good deal of the GG magic. Neither of us were thrilled by the mini-series, but watched it through all the same.

>212 scaifea: It's strange watching GG now because when I watched it as it aired I was only a couple years younger than Rory (and I strongly identified with early seasons Rory) and I'm now at the point where I'm the same age as Lorelai. Still love it regardless of how old I get, though.

I'm delighted that Charlie loves Paris. She's an acquired taste but later seasons Paris always makes me laugh.

>213 quondame: I agree that I get a little tired of Lorelai's hot messèdness by that last season, but I still love the show.

>214 MickyFine: Micky: Ha! I was Lorelai's age when I first watched Now I'm...older...but Charlie still firmly believes that I *am* Lorelai and he's a Rory. And for the most part I think he's right, at least with how we interact with one another.

Madame MBH and your BFF are bigtime Gilmore Girls fans. I think I come in more like Mr. Fine. Paris always bugged me, and I love his insisting on calling the supernatural boyfriend "Sam". :-)

I'm glad it's looking like a positive experience with your Latin cherubs. Good idea to ask them about their recent readings. I could be pals with someone who lists her comfort reads as Persuasion and Jane Eyre.

>214 MickyFine: >215 scaifea: I was more Emily's age and Becky lagged Rory by half a decade, so there wasn't any parallel dynamic, but it still worked just fine.

>216 jnwelch: Hi, Joe! I thought of you this week when one of my students listed a Buddhist meditation book as his current read. Very cool.
Paris irritated me the first time around, but in re-watchings she has grown on me.

>217 quondame: Now Emily, *there's* the character who makes me grind my teeth. Ugh.

Another good class with the Latin cherubs; they're asking all kinds of questions and seem really engaged and that's excellent. I worried that the Zoom factor would be a hindrance to them chiming in but they seem unphased. They take their first quiz today, the bonus question for which is "What's the worst movie you've ever seen?" I'll report back with any fun answers.

We've hit a slight hiccup with Charlie's school work: the Math website they use wasn't working (for anyone, not just us) and now everything is two days behind schedule with no adjustments made to the schedule yet by the teacher. Charlie is convinced that he needs to try to catch up despite me trying to persuade him that I'm sure the teacher will make adjustments. On top of the fact that he's not a huge fan of math to begin with, this has made for a stressful couple of days. There have been some tears. Hopefully the teacher announces a plan today because that poor kiddo spent 3 hours yesterday working just on math and neither of us want to repeat that today. I, for one, am sick to death of Distributive Properties or whatever they're called...

On the reading front, I can actually report that I did some! I started Our Eddie last night and so far it seems promising.

What We're Watching:
Tomm's pick last night, so more Agents of Shield. There is time travel happening and I had to put my knitting down to concentrate on understanding what the heck is going on: they only know how to do something because they saw in the future that they had already done it...? I tried not to be irritated by it.

>219 scaifea: Oh causality loops. They're a fun time travel paradox. :P

>220 MickyFine: Micky: Yep. I'm okay with them if I'm actually paying attention to the show/movie/book, but when I'm trying to knit while casually watching something, they make me grumpy.

>221 scaifea: That's fair.

Oh, and while we're talking about Gilmore Girls, here's one of Charlie's new backpack patches (he picked it out himself):

>223 scaifea: oh, that's brilliant.

>224 lauralkeet: Laura: Right?! I kind of want one myself.

>223 scaifea: LOL. Perfection!

>219 scaifea: Alas that the beauty of distributive properties is obscure to you and Charlie. It is really quite a helpful reality.

>226 MickyFine: Micky: Right?!

>227 quondame: Not obscure, just annoying, in the sense that the lesson went on for 3 hours for him and there were tears.

Just getting caught up, so a belated happy first day of classes and glad to see you're enjoying the first week with the Latin cherubs. Looking forward to seeing any fun answers to worst movie.

As someone who had watched, hm, 12ish? seasons of Supernatural before watching Gilmore Girls for the first time a couple of years ago, it was very confusing to have Sam be Dean, so to speak.

I hope Charlie's math schedule gets straightened out soon. That would stress me out too!

Sorry about the math woes. I cried my own share of tears over math homework at Charlie's age. I got a C on a pre-algebra test once; it was the worst grade I had ever gotten in school up to that point. :-D

>228 scaifea: OK, it's just that algebra was the first school worked that liked me back. It just made sense and made sense of the world, unlike what reading and arithmetic had done to my dyslectic brain. Still, I'm grateful for all those arithmetic drill sheets before 5th grade and only wished later they hadn't stopped at the 12s but had gone up to 16s so I'd know F*D as well as 7*8!

>229 bell7: Mary: Don't you think that if Sam Winchester had normal parents and moved to Stars Hollow as a teen that he would, if fact, have been a Dean Forester?

The Math schedule has been sorted. I have a bone to pick with the teacher for not making the schedule clear from the beginning, which would have avoided all this stress and tears, but at least now it's clear and he doesn't have nearly as much Math to do each day as we feared. All is well on that front now. Whew!

>230 foggidawn: Oh no! Hugs to Young Foggi and the Terrible Math Test.

>231 quondame: I LOVED math as a kid even though it was absolutely my worst subject. So strange.

As I mentioned above, we got the math issues all sorted and things are back on track with a happy 6th grader once again. Thank the gods. I spent most of my day with one eye on Charlie's school work and the other on a discrimination and harassment workshop I had to take for the Uni. I wasn't enthusiastic about it because I've done them before of course and you pretty much know what's coming (essentially, don't be an a-hole), but I actually enjoyed this one because it had good tips for how to intervene in various safe but effective ways and how to gauge the situation to determine which kind of intervention is likely best. Plus, there was a choose-your-own-adventure type section, with a video that would change depending on how you think the characters should react, and I'm a sucker for those.

I got a bit of reading done yesterday: I started Sapiens and it is really interesting so far. I'm excited about it and I love that feeling of being excited about a book.

What We're Watching:
GBBS last night. I am in love with Kim Joy (I'm not sure what series we're in at this point, but it's, um, the one with Kim Joy as a contestant) and I got very emotional when Paul made her cry. Unacceptable, Hollywood.

>233 scaifea: Sounds like Paul needs to attend that workshop, eh? I really like GBBS but always thought he was a bit of a d**k.

>234 lauralkeet: Laura: *snork!* He's intense, for sure, but he sometimes shows a soft side. I think it's mostly that he doesn't show emotion very well and doesn't react to the social cues of others much, maybe. Tomm is very similar and we've joked before about how I love him absolutely but would *never* want to work for him because he'd probably make me cry. But I draw the line at Paul hurting Kim Joy. One look at her lopsided smile and I will walk through fire for her.

>232 scaifea:....Wait....his name was "Forester"??? How did I not know that? I must re-watch the entire series!!!!! Again.

>236 laytonwoman3rd:

>236 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Ha! Yep!

>237 lycomayflower: Laura: *SNORK!*

>238 scaifea:

>240 MickyFine:

>239 lycomayflower: Laura: *snork!*

>240 MickyFine: Micky: I love that one!

>241 lycomayflower: Laura: *SNORK!*

>242 scaifea: I laughed really hard when we watched that one. The look of total fear on Jared's face when they mention GG is so delightful.

>243 MickyFine: YES!

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Amber

>245 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. You, too.

A lesson learned yesterday: holding office hours on a Friday afternoon = an hour of free reading time. And I'm okay with that.

I tried my hand at a new cookie recipe yesterday, and I should have listened to Charlie, who told me I was insane for the attempt: s'mores-stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Reader, it did not work. But the good news is that I realized things were going pear-shaped early on and we now have supplies for s'mores all ready.

It was Family Game Night last night and Charlie's pick; we played the Wii version of Life. Charlie soundly beat both Tomm and me.

On the reading front:
I read a bit of the Cleese memoir yesterday, which continues to be very good and very funny.

What We're Watching:
It was my pick after our Game Night game and I was feeling nostalgic and picked a dvd of Bear in the Big Blue House, which Charlie used to watch tons in his toddling years. Charlie and Tomm gave me looks which I picked it, but they got into it in the end.

>232 scaifea: You know, I never thought of it that way but you absolutely have a point. I need to go back and watch all the Supernatural seasons one of these days. I started from the beginning of 2014 and have forgotten so much. >237 lycomayflower: is from one of my favorite episodes and I think I probably missed the significance of >240 MickyFine: at the time, but that's hilarious!

So glad to hear the math schedule was figured out and that all is right in the world :)

>248 bell7: Mary: Right?! Poor SamDean.
And YES I love that episode, too! All of the self-referencing episodes are amazing.

Thanks! We're both very much relieved to have the math issue sorted.

Yesterday was Baking Day here at Scaife Manor: Hawaiian Bread and Cinnamon Sugar Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. Both turned out really good! I also carved out some reading time, which I spent with There Will Come a Darkness. That one's been slow to start but it's now getting interesting and so I'll stick with it.

What We're Watching:
It was Charlie's pick last night and we watched Hamilton for the second time So, so good. So, so, SO good.

>250 scaifea: Good pick, Charlie! :)

And dang I need to come visit on Baking Day. Haven't quite decided whether I'll bake some cookies this afternoon (the breeze is feeling decidedly Autumnal today) or vacuum out my car like I'd planned.

Hope your weekend continues to be excellent.

>251 MickyFine: Micky: Right?! He's has excellent tastes.

You are welcome any time (virtually, for now, but honestly-to-goodness-y once we have a vaccine)!

>250 scaifea: I am not throwin' away my shot! 😀

>253 drneutron: Jim: YES!

I did a bit more baking yesterday (Chocolate Muffins for this week's breakfasts) and then spent some time in the sewing room for the first time in a long while (I worked on my current quilt project). I did some online birthday shopping for a certain almost-12-year-old and even did a bit of reading. I'll try to get a new thread going today, but I have grading and class prep first, so we'll see if it gets done.

On the reading front:
I started Holding the Cards yesterday, and we finished up Tom's Midnight Garden last night during story time (mini-review to come).

What We're Watching:
More Agents of Shield last night. Yo-Yo lost her dang ARMS! They even TOLD us that was going to happen and I was still absolutely floored. This show is getting so weird - and so good.

Oh, Tom's Midnight Garden. Such a good one. Did Charlie like it? There's a surprisingly good graphic adaptation of it: https://www.librarything.com/work/21756892

>256 jnwelch: Morning, Joe!

He didn't like it as much as I thought be might, but he didn't loathe it, either. I adore it and would have *loved* to have found a magic time-bendy garden when I was a kid. *shrug*

>247 scaifea: I've seen that recipe (or a recipe, at least) for s'mores-stuffed cookies come up now and then, and it always looked to me like it would result in something messy and unwieldy if I tried it, so I never have! (I mean, s'mores themselves are messy and unwieldy, but that's expected in the usual s'mores-eating setting.)

>258 foggidawn: You're a smarter woman than I am, clearly. Sheesh.

>259 scaifea: I mean, the flavor would obviously be fantastic, so I can see the appeal. And I've made those things where you wrap a marshmallow in crescent roll dough, with mixed (but tasty) results.

>260 foggidawn: Oh, that sounds good...

>261 scaifea: This is what I'm talking about:

https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/disappearing-marshmallows/79317

The trick is to seal the crescent roll dough very tightly around the marshmallow, otherwise it just melts and leaks out. It still tastes good, of course, but it's neither tidy nor visually appealing.

>262 foggidawn: Iiinteresting... I may try that at some point. Thanks for the link!

91. Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (Charlie's bedtime book, 229 pages) - 10/10 = A+
Tom is staying with his aunt and uncle while his brother is in bed with the measles. At first he dreads it because their apartment - one of several in an old house - has no garden to play in, but he discovers that the grandfather clock in the downstairs hall chimes to its own version of time and opens the back door onto a garden of the past. He wanders that magic garden every night and there meets and befriends Hatty. Time in the garden passes differently, and Tom discovers that the magic won't last forever.
Opening a door to another, magical land is right up there on my list of excellent plot devices, and I *loved* this book when I read it a few years ago, and wish that I'd discovered it as a kid. The twist at the end is very satisfying, too. Charlie wasn't quite as enchanted with it as I am, but he still enjoyed it (or at least he humored me by saying so).

>264 scaifea: Kind of him to humour you. I also discovered this one as an adult (in a children's lit course in undergrad) and adored it also because of course I'm a fan of all things timey-wimey.

>265 MickyFine: Of course!

Yesterday was full of grading and class prep for me, while helping Charlie out here and there with his school stuff: he had a 'quiz' (they can use notes and textbooks for these) on pronoun shifts and I may have gone on a bit of a rant about how some of the questions were very poorly worded. One was something like, "The baker was busy on Friday; they had a lot of cakes orders to fill." I mean, what if "they/them" are the pronouns the baker prefers? And then there was this one: "I love going to the park where you can see lots of different trees." Um, what's wrong with the impersonal "you," exactly?! Yoicks. I'm not sure Charlie appreciates the nuance I'm bringing to his education...

Anyway. No takers in my office hours yesterday (clearly my lectures are crystal and they all understand perfectly without extra help...*ahem*...), which means I got some nice reading time in, which means that I finished another book! Woot! Mini-review to come, possible along with a new thread.

New thread is up and running:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/323887

>267 scaifea: Yes...curriculum seriously needs to come up to date with the pronoun thing. Good thing you're there to make it clear.

>269 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: Yes, indeed, good thing. Charlie is thrilled.