Nebo

A poem of mine was published in Nebo!

In the poem, which is called Crazy Quilt, I wove two places together, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, where I grew up, and Tucson, AZ, which is where a large chunk of my family resides, so the poem is very special to me.  Next time I see everyone I will share it with all of you.

garage extension

Despite the deceptively small hole cut into the front, this is the garage extension going up!

Where our rocking chairs will go

The remodel is moving right along.  

This outlines where the garage will be pushed forward and the added porch will be.

And here is the added porch outline, new side entrance with the unfinished door and a few casement windows.   

ooh watch me watch me

I'm not the person who usually writes the birdy blurb for the calendar, but this month I just couldn't help myself.

pet flashdrive

​A man came in to pick up his flash drive that he had accidentally left at the library.  The flashdrive just happened to be dangling from a shoestring.  

When I handed the man the flashdrive he dangled it in front of his face and very loudly scolded it, Listen you. I told you to stay where I could see you.

​

This wasn't incredibly odd, but as he walked away with it he kept it dangled in front of his face, and with a finger pointed at it, scolded it all the way out the door.  

body shapes, Percy poems, watercolor galore & rumpy bunches

The best grown-up books I read in January:

The Worrier's Guide to Life by Gemma Correll




- HILARIOUS - inventive and often wacky perspectives about everyday things like body shapes (ex. I'm both broken slinky and pizza shaped) - she's super easy to relate to (esp. if you are girly and like pugs)

The Truro Bear and Other Adventures by Mary Oliver


- for animal poetry enthusiasts this includes poems about all kinds of creatures such as whales and horses - at the end there are a handful of Percy poems - also included is the poem, 'The Poet Goes to Indiana,' with a line that says the nostrils of a horse are 'soft as violets'





A Fine Romance by Susan Branch






- beautifully illustrated memoir written in diary form - magically transports you to England in seconds no matter where you are - lots of National Trust places lovingly detailed, including Beatrix Potter's house

Blue Iris by Mary Oliver


- poems about plants, music, the soul - my favorite poem, Sea Leaves, has a line: 'the only thing I don't know is, should the activity of this day be called labor, or pleasure?' and this is exactly how I feel about working at the library - Mary Oliver uses the phrase 'rumpy bunches' in the poem, Goldenrod, and now I use it to describe my two golden retrievers

The Fairytale Girl by Susan Branch

- memoir written in diary format with lots of photographs and watercolor art - Susan Branch's slow awakening to her artistic powers - if you're like me and cannot get enough of Susan Branch there's going to be a sequel that comes out in June 2016

Humans of New York: Stories by Brandon Stanton

- micro memoirs that will illuminate and augment your perspectives of strangers - often the people in this book are having conversations with each other even though they are strangers - occasionally the people spoke directly to me with stories that were my stories and if I ever feel alone, I will reread this book to remind myself that we're all connected

snakes, friends, teeth & dachshunds

Because I read so many books and do not have the time to write lengthy reviews for all of them I have started writing flash reviews for all my favorites. Starting now I am going to give you a monthly list of my favorite children's and grown-up books for each month.  Because I read so many great books this past month this will be a two-part installment.

The best children's books I read in January:

I Don't Like Snakes by Nicola Davies:

- silly AND educational - quirky illustrations - snake cuddling

Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett

- doodle-like illustrations packed with engaging details - the lesson is cleverly sneaky - blobby dark friend is just a chunk of the night sky and can be anyone's friend

Fancy Nancy and the Too-Loose Tooth by Jane O'Connor



- Nancy learns something about honesty - the ups and downs of yearning/refraining/waiting - more Fancy Nancy fashion inspiration ooh la la

Pretzel by Margaret Rey



- adorable hero wiener dog story - illustrations are simple and sweet - Pretzel's crush, Greta, is obnoxious and uninterested, but you can't help who you love and maybe, just maybe, he wins her over

Will I be a victim tonight?

Even though we're living just a block away from the remodel it looks like this new neighborhood is a bit sketchier than the last. 



I never know what kind of scary beast I'll meet in the dark.  

Will I be a victim tonight? I ask myself, my feet cautiously feeling their way around in the dark.  

Or will I merely trip over the slain bodies of previous victims that lay scattered across the unruly and dangerously unvacuumed carpet of this new and wild neighborhood?

yes to all of the above

Robert had his followup appointment with the doctor today, and we received nothing but excellent news. The tumor was completely removed, Robert can start driving and doing physical therapy soon, and perhaps the best news of all is that he can finally take a real shower. 

Let me tell you this, when you are first dating someone and completely smitten with them, and you start to think about them being your forever partner, just ask yourself this.  Would you be willing to clean pus from their back, catch their puke, saran wrap their booboos and hose them off?

Over ten years ago, I honestly think I would have said yes to all of the above, and maybe even laughed a little about the saran wrap.

Because the appointment didn't take very long Robert talked me into going on a quick date before work - getting a cup of coffee and watching people remove windows.    

All in like 24 hours I think

More remodeling happiness!  Please note that these pictures were taken before Robert's surgery, literally hours before Robert's surgery.  It pretty much went like this:

No wall!  No stairs!  New stairs!  Tearing up driveway!  Picking out toilets!  Robert's Surgery. All in like 24 hours I think.  

There used to be a wall here.  No more!  What you are looking at is the future dining room/kitchen. This is where we will be playing lots of skip-bo and eating with friends and family.  

Stairs going in.

Poof!  Magic.

Concrete cake.  Missing the snow icing, but that was later.

Nerd playing in the dirt.

Picking out knobs/handles/gizmos is still a ways away, but lookee here.  

And here.

And today the windows were dropped off.