Deliverance

I realized my catchy subtitle mentions books so let me tell you of my latest read.  But first, let me tell you I gave up on The Road.  Totally depressing and very hard to read when you are having a good time in life.  I am a total fan of Dystopian literature, but I gave up before I began.  I feel bad because I think the book group on it would have been some good conversation.  For next month, they are reading Three Cups of Tea, which I am boycotting because everyone thinks it is “the book to read” and I have a hard time following suit with certain trends.  Instead, I have picked up The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.  I make the disclaimer I am only about fifty pages in, but if you like anything involving the Salem witches or by Matthew Pearl I recommend picking this one up.  It also reminds me of The Historian and The Thirteenth Tale.  This is the type of novel where the protagonist finds something historical or book related and begins researching the tale behind it.  I think I like these types of novels because usually there are two stories weaving through the book — the life of the protagonist and the life of research he/she is pursuing.

So far, I am a fan of Connie, our protagonist, who is a doctoral student at Harvard left to clean out her grandmother’s house in order to sell it.  She is quirky, awkward, and a geek when it comes to learning.  Her hippie mother is a nice touch, as is the man she meets who does restoration and has a septum piercing.  The infusion of information from the 1600s mixed with research in the present transitions well and you do not feel jolted between the two stories; in fact, they compliment one another quite well.  As I get farther in the book, I will let folks know if it lives up to my expectation.  Right now, with a sleeping baby, I am going to try and steal fifteen minutes to read a little more!

Living in Seattle…I mean Vermont.

Well, in case you were wondering, it is pouring again today.  Not raining, but dumping large quantities of water on top of land that has already had an insane amount of water but on it all summer.  Luckily, I was able to get my long run in before the weather broke.  Today, I had to do nine miles which seemed like a lot, but after the first three miles of hills felt strangely serene.  The only buzz kill was the run took longer than I anticipated because of the long hills on Shaw Mansion Road.  I think I am the only person who was praying for the semi-big hill about 3/4 of the way down the road because the crazy downhill was killing my knees.  I was a little irked at this since I had such a great pace coming off Sweet Road and heading down Loomis.  I think next long run I am actually getting out on the route I will be running, which should be interesting because despite the fact that I enjoy running on dirt roads in the middle of the country where no one drives I hate this half marathon route.  I think it is because I hate the out and back concept.  Today I forced myself to run part of the route as an out and back, but it was on my favorite road of running in the entire world (except the loop around the lake in Greensboro, VT).  Of course, the most unusual moment of my run was running into a pretty large crayfish crossing the road at the end of Sweet Road by the pond.  I didn’t see it at first and when I did finally see it I thought it was a giant spider, but once I realized it wasn’t a spider I totally stopped to take a picture with my phone.  See…Very weird indeed.

On a different note, in the world of books, I finished Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich.  It was like having dinner with my best girlfriends.  Did anything out the ordinary happen — no — but there were some funny parts that made me laugh out loud for a bit (Stephanie dancing in a hot dog outfit — classic).  I am still trying to figure out who would play who if they made it into a movie, especially since in this book there was mention that Morelli has hair.  All this time, I have imagined him as someone who was totally bald.  Back to the drawing board.  I am attempting to read The Road, but it is a little hard to read an apocalyptic novel when you have an eight-month old who is totally happy-go-lucky.  I have two weeks to read it.  I am sure I’ll get it done, but it won’t be pretty.  I am still in the midst of Julie and Julia, but stopped to read the Evanovich book.  I am wondering how I am ever going to get a chance to read when the school year starts, but maybe I can find a way.

Now the torrential down pour has turned to monsoon conditions, which really is only a buzz kill because I wanted to run out and get take-out Thai food to go with our evening movie of Summer Catch with Freddie Prinze Jr. — a classic.  It is our back-up movie because the new Fast and Furious movie was out.  Maybe, in twenty minutes I can sneak out without heading down the mountain in a mudslide.

My First Longer Run…

was today.  My schedule said 7 and a half, but the route I wanted to run ended up being 8.  I am proud of myself for doing it in 1:35 meaning a little under 12 minute miles.  Sounds slow, but the point of long runs in training is to slow it down and really get time on your feet.  The weather was perfect today — some sunshine, small breeze, and upper sixties for temperature.  I left my house and headed up Kneeland Flats onto Ripley Road (same road just changes names mid-way).  For those of you who know this route, Ripley Road is the devil.  It has a series of small hills that end with one mother of a hill that doesn’t end where you think it will, but rather curves around an extra bit.  I ran it all.  I also kept a pretty steady pace so that I wasn’t racing out the door and then losing steam halfway through.  Once I hit Sweet Road, I was golden since it is mostly rollers and flat for the remainder (except the bit of downhill near the end of Barnes Hill Road that I forgot about — hate downhill — too hard on the knees).  Regardless, I did it.  By the end of it all, I felt like I could keep running.  Sweet Road was beautiful (my favorite place to run in Vermont next to the loop around Caspian Lake).  Today was the day I realized I can do Leaf Peepers and not make an arse out of myself.  Tomorrow I will rest and then back to the training Tuesday.  I may do a Jillian Michaels segment tomorrow or go for a small hike if I feel up to it, but I have no pressure.  I am back to the grind on Tuesday with my first week where I will have to go to the track for speed.  In addition, I am thinking about doing a 5K in Barre on Sunday to put a number on and get out there.  Good news is that changing my diet has helped my gall bladder and made me stronger since I am eating less fat and processed food.  Of course, as I write this my little duffer has been napping for almost an hour and he had good little nap this a.m. which might mean he will be up late tonight, but I guess I should feel lucky that he let us sleep until 7 a.m. today.  Funny, how 7 a.m. seems luxurious.  Now, off to enjoy my last few minutes of quiet with my new book Julie and Julia: A Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell.  I have to admit — I like her style of writing and her way of weaving in cooking and life.  I feel I need something light before I start reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy for my book club.  End of the world apocalyptic stuff — fits well with the rain we are having.  I leave you with thinking about putting a number on — get out there and so something!

Madness

Today I finished the second of two books in two days (who cares that I started them over two weeks ago).  This, my friends, is quite an accomplishment — especially when you have an almost eight-month-old.  Of course, yesterday’s book finishing occurred because I brought the little duffer to daycare to get work done and then secretly spent an hour before I had to pick him up not planning curriculum but finishing The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins instead.  This YAF book reminded me from the beginning of the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson most likely because these 11-18 year olds are sent out to kill one another in order to satisfy something from the Capital.  This dystopian society is one based on ours after some war that really screws it all up.  The Capital is now located in Colorado.  Katniss, the tribute from District 12, is quite the girl.  Throughout the book, I did appreciate her spunk, but kept thinking there is no way she is dying because it is a YAF book and well, main characters (unless they are dogs) don’t usually die.  I found the book entertaining and think that it would be appreciated by both boys and girls alike because of what my father calls the romance-comedy-action-adventure-drama factor.  SPOILER: Truth be told I was enjoying the book until I found out on the last page it was Book One of a series.  I was thinking it had enough staying power for a stand alone.  I am not so sure it will work for me in a series.  We shall see.  The other book I finished today was The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil.  I actually finished the book club book over a week and half before the meeting.  Since I joined about six months ago and have never read a book with them or attended a meeting, I think it is a amazing.  Not much to tell you about this one, it is very much in the vein of the Bridget Jones series and Shopaholic series in that there is a main woman character whose life is turned somewhat upside down due to a major event.  There is a cute unattainable man and a regular joe, some kids, a knitting shop, and a famous actress.  It is a beach read (as you can tell by the title).  I am not sure exactly what I can talk about with it at book group because it is pretty predictable, but I think I will introduce the Who Would Play Character in a Movie game.  Ask the group if this book because a movie who would you cast in the different characters’ roles.  I am now in the midst of starting a new YAF book called Beige by Cecil Castellucci, continuing to read my professional books about literacy, and plugging through Super Foods so my son can be a healthy and strong boy.  Of course, at this exact moment, I am going to rock out to U2 while folding the large pile of laundry on my bed and then after my cereal digests I am going for a run using my new Nike Sensor (More about that when I get back).

Rainy Day Off

Sheets of rain and wind are the backdrop for my day off.  I suppose it is my luck that today when I could be outside frolicking I am enjoying an inside day not unlike many people who probably live in the Seattle area.  I can’t remember the last time I sat down to write, but that doesn’t surprise me because even though I didn’t run the marathon this past weekend in Vermont I have been running my own marathon with six-and-a-half month babe, end of school year stuff, and oh yeah life.  Today, since I can’t sleep past 6:45 a.m. anymore, I was up catching up on some blogs I subscribe to about books.  Why I wasn’t reading an actual book instead I can’t tell you, but I felt like I need to hear about what others are reading.  This, of course, only depressed me because I realized I am that far behind in the world of books.  Clearly, the hip beret wearing book crowd is not reading Mouse was Mad, but actually many may be reading Where the Wild Things Are because of the movie due out in the fall.  Speaking of books that become movies — I am mad about a recent decision to cast Angelina Jolie as Kay Scarpetta.  Granted I became increasingly uninterested in the Patricia Cornwell series as it continued, but what the hell were they thinking.  In all the books I have read, not once did picture Angelina Jolie as the main character.  This, my friends, is what frustrates me about books becoming movies because in my humble opinion if the movie is better than the book then the book must have been bad.  We all have our games of thinking about who we might cast in the movie version of our favorite books, but do we want them to actually make the movie–not really.  For years, my mom and I have tried to figure out who would play the characters from the Janet Evanovich series with Stephanie Plum.  In fact, we have been playing this game for so many years we had to uncast (not a word–I know) Sandra Bullock because she became too old for the character.  I know it is not just me who feels this way about books to movies.  A student yesterday, who was telling me I must read Pride and Prejudice as a summer read if I hadn’t already,  said DO NOT see the movie with Kiera Knightly.  I am guessing this student was saying in not so many words that Kiera Knightly is not who she would have cast as Elizabeth Bennett.  I guess the only positive thing I can dream about happening from such books being made into movies is that folks will decide to pick up the book after the movie is out, but I guess this could become the famous chicken and egg scenario fast.  As you can see, amidst the muted day outside my window, I try to find a glimmer of sunlight about books and movies.  Truthfully, I think I will have to look ahead to my haircut this afternoon and past that conversation to find warmth.

Alex Ovechkin is the Man

At least that is what my almost eleven week old son thinks.  Of course, I can’t seem to get his age right.  For the last two weeks, he has been nine weeks old.  Took going to yoga class and having a woman whose daughter was born four days after Duffer telling me my math might be wrong.  Go figure.  If you haven’t seen the stylish outfit that Ovechkin wore during the All Star Skills Challenge I do recommend checking it out.  I love a guy who has a little fun with life, as does Duffer.  Last night, Duffer hung with the guys watching the Skills Challenge.  We have a great picture of him lounging on the couch in a pose that echoes a picture of me as a baby (yes mom we had to take a picture of him even though you told us not to).  However, the big news is we have started a bedtime schedule for Duffer and it is working.  My friend started telling me how she had a whole nighttime ritual for getting her daughter to bed and I thought maybe I should start Duffer on that since I am heading back to work tomorrow.  Last night, I gave him a bath, read him some stories, and put his mobile on.  I walked away and came back about ten or so minutes later.  He was asleep.  Tonight, I did the same thing and he is asleep!  What is most interesting is I bought a book about getting him on a sleep schedule over a month ago because someone recommended it and I have not read it yet.  Goes to show you that sometimes things just happen.

First Frost and Cabin Fever

After a lovely car ride through the hollow yesterday, I am back sequestered in my home.  I feel a little bit like I am on jury duty–only the verdict isn’t guilty or not guilty it’s baby or no baby.  We are still in the no baby phase.  Today I snuck out to sit on my deck so I could watch my dogs romp through the yard in their orange attire for hunting season.  While looking through the empty trees to the road above our house, I noticed a lone bumblebee resting on the railing.  He seemed slower than the ones I saw buzzing around my Bee Balm and Ecineacha this summer.  I realized that the crispy, white lawn this morning was a signal that his days are limited.  In addition, a signal that I am never going to be able to leave the house again since my flip flops are the only shoes that fit!  No worries since I am not supposed to leave the couch anyway.  During this couch sitting time, I have begun going through the boxes of my books that have sat in our garage since moving in two years ago.  It is thrilling to open plastic containers to find treasures that you don’t remember you have.  I found my entire collection of Richard Brautigan books that I collected during college (partly, I believe, because I had a crush on someone who really like the author).  In the mix of it all was a favorite children’s book, Jenny Learns a Lesson, that I loved.  Also, I found my stash of New Zealand authors collected during my time abroad (Sam Hunt, Witi Ihimaera, Janet Frame, etc.).  As I set up this collection of books on my adult bookcases (ones bought at an actual furniture store and not Target), I feel as if I will finally have the library that I dream about.  A good thing since I have no idea when my baby is coming and I need some new material to read over the course of the next couple weeks.  I think ahead to the week and realize the next time I can leave the house is Wednesday as I drive into town for the next check up.  Luckily, I will pull out some books to read aloud to my dogs and baby.  It is never to early to start exposing them to authors like Hawthorne, Woolf, and Steinbeck or poets like Kinnell, Gluck, or Frost.  I guess in someways the first frost of this morning is a prequel to the first Frost my son might hear over the course of the next couple weeks.  Both are good things because they welcome something new in the air.

Hornet’s Nest, Dogs, and Bed Rest

As my son continues to kick at my abdomen waiting for his announcement into the world, I sit watching the hornet’s nest in the maple tree above the pond.  My husband only just discovered this looming, gray orb yesterday as we let our dogs run wild through the backyard.  We are perplexed as to how it came about, but lucky that it hasn’t stormed our castle.  Today was the first day that we haven’t seen wildlife in the week that I have been home on bed rest.  In previous days, we have been lucky enough to see deer jaunting through the woods behind the house, our resident duck, a blue heron, and a pileated woodpecker.  Today is also the day I decided that in the month of November I will join my friend Heather and over 20,000 other people in writing a novel during this time.  As of yet, I have no idea what this novel could be about or how I will attempt to do it with the newborn I expect any day or week now, but the important thing is that I am going to take a risk and try to do it.  If I have learned anything from bed rest, it is take any opportunity to do something new even if it something you can do from the couch (all this wisdom after a week — I cannot wait to see what revelations I have if this continues the month).  I do have some new reading material on my side for the upcoming week.  It is that time of year when the “The Best American” series comes out.  I picked up The Best American Non-Required Reading edited by Dave Eggers and a writing book connected to motherhood (Writing Motherhood: Tapping Into Your Creativity as a Mother and a Writer by Lisa Garrigues).  Nothing like having some new material by your side.  I am also ready to get back to writing daily through any of the ways I’ve learned along the way (quick writes for seven minutes, three pages before you start your day, or fifteen minutes whenever you find time).  One way of the other, I am going to start the process that will hopefully guarantee that I can find a way to write 2,000 words a day while balancing life as a new mother, wife, and professional.  Hopefully, in the end, my dogs will forgive me.