piles of dead fish and paper

Here's a quick update of what's going on in our neck of the woods:

Rachel's been hard at work re-creating a Goya painting (with acrylics thankfully). One of her assignments is to re-create a famous painting that's as close to the original as she can get. Naturally she chose a pile of dead fish. 

I've been doing the paparazzi thing when I walk by her room, snapping pictures of her progress.

And yes, Rachel is a bit of a slob. She's not only a bit of a slob, she also does that thing that creative people do, where we abandon everything but the project we're working on.

We made our tried and true orange rolls recipe, which needs to prove twice but is totally worth it.

These are without icing for a reason. We're usually unanimous about not putting icing on things in our house and when we're not, we put it on the side.

Izzy and I have been working on our first collage together. We've been cutting out pieces for a couple weeks and just started pasting the pieces down.

Our little book club is still going but has evolved. I'm a little proud of it. It goes like this:

1. Read a chapter

2. We each pick out a favorite word from the chapter and write a poem with the word.

3. Izzy uses an old-fashioned dictionary to look up the words. She writes them on index cards for the future.

4. We also talk about what we've read that day.

5. We go over the flashcards before we read each day.

This is going to help her with spelling and vocabulary. She has also expressed interest in poetry and has attempted to write it. But I don't think she's had much experience with reading/listening to it and learning about it. While we craft together I put my music on shuffle. My music library has a ton of poetry mixed in so she's started listening to it as well.

We've been taking a lot of walks. I've been compiling a lot inspiration for future art projects.

This is Josie-pie with Robert. Any time we come up to a wall she immediately leaps up. She loves jumping. Margo has never jumped up on a wall. She was even scared to get in the fountaing. 

But look at Josie's face. Isn't that the sweetest face? She really wants to be a good dog but she has energy for days (which is code for trouble) and still assaults people with her love. She's a hoot.

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

We are doing well! 

Robert and I developed a schedule for Izzy that's helped tremendously. Because her grades were good before spring break she doesn't really need to do anything extra. Her sophomore year is done. But she needs to keep everything she's learned fresh in her mind in addition to continuing the learning itself. Her teachers have been sending her school work and the head of her IEP team has been in constant contact, helping us develop a plan. Robert and I are using a combination of some of her school work with activities we've come up with. We have also transitioned both her primary therapy and the additional therapy and group therapy provided by the county through virtual sessions. We officially have a day-by-day plan for her that we implemented last Wednesday and Izzy's relaxed a bit now that there's structure in her life again. 

Rachel has been slogging through her studies. My office, Robert's office, and Rachel's room are all upstairs. I often peek in her room unless she's in an online class. Chemistry has been tough. I think she was getting a lot of additional help at KU, so that's been a change for her. She does seem to be enjoying one of her design classes and also typography.  I'm enjoying having her at home and definitely feel like I know more about her classes than I did when she was at the university.  Rachel and I also have the same sense of humor, and it's nice to have someone around who laughs at the same stuff I do (mostly we laugh uproariously when random blobs of food hit the floor while we're making dinner). That's the style of humor we have. It goes completely over Izzy's head and Robert just shoots us a stern nerd look. This of course makes whatever silly situation that is happening that much funnier.

Robert's work has slowed a bit now that his clients are set up at home, but he's still working just as much as I am, if not more.  His car broke down just as this was all starting. For a couple years we have been planning on getting new cars but life keeps happening (Europe trip, new child, expanding the nerd business etc.). Because the cost of fixing his car was astronomical we made the decision to purchase a new car. A few months ago Robert also ordered custom desks for his office (a necessary life happening). They were scheduled to be here in May but were delivered last week. So there's been an added layer of chaos with the new shiny things, but we've been enjoying the plethora of desk space in Robert's office for homework, crafting, and library work. I'm sure he'll eventually get his desks back. We've also taken a couple joy rides in the new car, which has offered a nice break (if you call watching all our favorite restaurants struggle to say in business while Robert blares the Pitch Perfect soundtracks a break).

I've been doing well. I've been thoroughly enjoying my library work at home. I miss the patrons and all the interactions with both patrons and coworkers that shapes everything I do, but I've enjoyed spending extra time on projects, brainstorming new ideas/projects, and using my office space (and Robert's) to work on everything while blaring loud rap music (only in my office, which we designed to be mostly sound proof, no joke). I haven't heard a screaming toddler in over two weeks, which is usually my background "music" for work, and it's a nice break. I have been making enormous strides with puppets, slowly learning the ukulele, and leisurely watching videos of amazing people doing extraordinary things with libraries and early literacy. I also have all my side projects and "homeschooling" Izzy to keep me super busy when I'm not librarying.

At the end of the day we all take a long walk with each other and afterwards, settle in with dinner and Star Trek (NG). I'm enjoying my family and am taking it one day at a time. 

Before COVID-19 I walked maybe 1-2 miles each work day and on the weekends, 3-5 miles a day. Now we're walking 2-4 miles most work days and about 5-7 miles on the weekends. It's a great way to casually talk about what's going on with everybody, whereas at dinner it can sometimes feel like an interrogation with Rachel and Izzy.

Occasionally our schedules don't line up and we can't all walk together. The rule is everyone has to take the dogs out every day, even if it's just around the block. This means the dogs are occasionally getting three walks a day. They've been a lot more mellow because of this.

Robert and I have braved the store twice since this started. Both times we had several meal plans in case the store was out of something we needed for a recipe. We are only making tried and true recipes during this time, which is sad for me because I like trying new things. But I am super thankful I began compiling all our favorite recipes in two places a few months ago. I've been scanning/taking pictures of all the recipes we love and also keep them in an official binder. Making meal plans has been super easy because of this. One of our favorite things has been this kale salad recipe I got from a coworker several years ago. We also add pepper and slivered almonds to it. It's amazing and all four of us love it, which is close to a miracle. The only other meal we can all agree on is baked chicken and broccoli. 

We bought all the kale we could find the last time we shopped and tripled the recipe. It's like eating sunshine.

Here is one desk Robert put together and he's hard at work putting the other one together in this picture. With his old desk (which was my grandma's), he now has three desks, which is hopefully enough to put all the computers he's working on (and Izzy's homework and whatever crafting/library thing I'm working on).

Ella has been relishing the extra attention. She loves when Rachel is home. When I come downstairs to take a tea break I usually find Rachel snuggled up with Ella during one of her breaks. Rachel has even fallen asleep this way. Ella likes her quiet time, but loves all the extra love we've been able to smother her with.

Favorite March Reads

March was a great month for reading. Here are my reviews. Enjoy!

The Giver by Lois Lowry and illustrated by P. Craig Russell (Teen Graphic)

Because The Giver is one of my favorite books I was extremely skeptical about this graphic adaptation. After flipping through its pages however, I knew I had to give it a try. When I read the original for the first time I went into it with my 10 year-old mindset and experiences. Everything was in color because I knew nothing else. Then color was ripped away from me, which I remember spending lots of time processing. And then color was given back to me at the end of the book. After I finished The Giver for the first time I immediately read it again so that I could read it the 'right' way. Even though it was many years ago I distinctly remember the guilt and shame I felt at not knowing that kind of wacked-out utopian society could exist. So I was determined to read it again after wising up a bit and probably asking adults a lot of uncomfortable questions. When I flipped through the graphic adaptation I noticed how both the saturation and frequency of color changed. Even though I was skeptical I knew I had to give it a chance. It was too much like my first experience of reading The Giver. The graphic adaptation follows the original story so closely I couldn't discern any large differences, which was such a relief. There isn't as much text as the original, but there's certainly the effort to cram as much of the original text as possible. This caused me some nausea and eye-strain headaches. But I cannot be too upset with P. Craig Russell for this because I can't imagine how tough it would be to omit any of Lowry's words. I thought the coloring was exceptional. The characters were as I imagined them to be, with the exception of The Giver, but just like the wonky text, I came to terms with that as well. The Giver looks a bit like a creepy convict in the graphic adaptation, but he's more clean-cut and less Dumbledore-like, which makes sense because everything about the story suggests that The Giver that graced the original books would have not been acceptable in their society. Scenes where The Giver lays his hands on Jonas' back and bathing the elderly citizens were tastefully done, which really impressed me. Lowry mentions this in a brief interview at the end of the book. And while I'm talking about the two brief interviews at the end of Giver, I must tell you they do not disappoint. I particularly enjoyed Russell's creative process of doing an adaptation, which I won't ruin for you. I will only say that he rips out every page of the original book to get started and what happens next in his creative process blew my mind.

What's in Your Mind Today? by Louise Bladen and Angela Perrini (Picture Book)

This is probably the simplest book about meditation I've read so far! There is a lot of focus on breathing, but not so much that it makes it arduous. Also, the excellent rhyming keeps this book flowing right along. There are moments that invite conversations - when monsters stomp around (scary emotions!) the author writes that the monsters "have no power of their own to stay." Lastly, the illustrations are beautiful, simple like the text, and feature multiple kiddos.

Artful Alphabets by Joanne Sharpe (Adult Nonfiction)

Artful Alphabets is full of hand-lettering inspiration using different mediums and techniques. A couple lettering ideas have a zendoodle-feel to them and the floral ones, though time-intensive, are gorgeous. 

The Art of Whimsical Stitching by Joanne Sharpe (Adult Nonfiction)

A great source of inspiration whether you're looking for a textile project or not. I'm definitely going to try her approach to making a journal cover and play with her doily idea. Other ideas of hers sent me in different artistic directions. For example, her art sampler with the splotches of different types of paint would make a great background for journaling. I usually toss samplers, but I may make a more conscious effort to keep mine more tidy and also save them for background pieces for later projects.

How to Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery (Adult Nonfiction)

Favorite moments: I enjoyed Montgomery's essay about collecting emu data, which was really just an excuse to be close to them during her research trip in Australia. "Watching them sit was a major discovery. First they dropped to their 'knees' - what looks like a bird's knee is more analogous to a person's ankle - then, to my surprise, to their chests!" I thought Mongomery's descriptions of the creatures were simply wonderful. From decoding her pet pig, Christopher Hogwood's grunts to the ermine who attacked one of her hens - "...out from the hole popped a white head smaller than a walnut, with coal-black eyes, a pink nose...The ermine's fur was the purest white I had ever seen, whiter than snow or cloud or sea foam - so white it seemed to glow, like the garment of an angel." I was in awe of not just her ability to write simply and beautifully about incredibly complex animals and their behaviors. I was also amazed by the hours upon hours of patient observations that went into each short essay. For example, she spent hours with octopuses attached to her arm, observing their color changes and relishing their beauty and curiosity. "...this was an earthbound alien - someone who could change color and shape, who could pour her baggy forty-pound body through an opening smaller than an orange. Someone with a beak like a parrot and venom like a snake and ink like an old-fashioned pen." There were only a couple things about How to Be a Good Creature that didn't enamor me. The cover of the book is gorgeous, but the illustrations inside could really use some color. I also would have preferred to see the author's pictures in color. But these are small things and didn't detract from how much I enjoyed the book. I did appreciate Montgomery's list of inspirational books and marked a few to read. I was also delighted to discover that Montgomery has written quite a few books. I have so much praise, respect, and admiration for her and cannot wait to read her other books.