At Not-Quite-Nine

Anya turns nine this Wednesday. She did much of her celebrating this weekend, with a sleepover (best friend) and cupcakes on Friday.  Then on Sunday we took her to the "American Girl Doll" store to buy whatever clothes and accessories she wanted.

The result of all this?  In her room this morning was a setup in which one of her dolls (Amy) was doing push-ups, while her other doll (Anna) literally cheered her on.  Watching was their cute little dog, Meatloaf, and...a Dalek, of course.  The Dalek is purportedly guarding the dog.  (Heidi pointed out that this is not in keeping with Dalek identity, but then again: girl's room, girl's rules.)

Her other favorite toy is the 11th Doctor's sonic screwdriver, which she uses like a pro (video above to prove the point).  

I have to admit that American Girl Dolls--especially in cheerleader outifits--don't exactly thrill me.  In fact, they kind of give me the creeps.  But the fact that this girl combines them with Daleks and sonic screwdrivers?  Gives me great hope for our next generation of women.  Or, at least, this particularly fabulous girl.

Counting My Blessings

Howard and I sometimes discuss how it's easy to be grateful when things are going well, but much more of a challenge to be grateful (and to live in the moment) when all hell is breaking loose.  And this weekend, we're in the latter category.  Our basement is taking in water from the mild-weather thaw.  It's stressful, and even having emptied most of the furniture and getting the carpet ripped up--to be replaced later once new french drains are in and we have a full loop to a sump pump--well, even now the water is still coming.  

At some point this will all be resolved, but honestly?  I have no idea when.  Meantime, life goes on because it has to.  Anya's sleepover early-birthday celebration took place (complete with cupcakes). Furniture is being moved around to minimize clutter and to make it possible for us to work in new spaces.  Sam has been working in the library.  Tea is being made (though the jury is still out on whether I am responding to that yogi tea tag line with hope or disdain).  

So, time for gratitude, huh?  I am so very grateful for:

• A foundation expert, and our contractor, who both helped us figure out what was going on yesterday without even charging us.
• Professionals who show up quickly to do their part in resolving (or planning resolution for) these problems.
• Sam's complete willingness and good cheer about helping empty the basement of furniture and to do whatever he can to be of assistance.
• Having enough money that we can deal with this. 
• Anya's sheer joy in having one of her best friends stay overnight
• Yoga stretches, walks, and hot baths

How do you get through life's challenging moments?

A Little Piece of Heaven in My House

Behind the door...

Our new bathroom!

It's (nearly) done!  Well, there is still the radiant heating in the floor that has to be finished (thermostat didn't work, so we need a new one--that's the hole in the wall).  I also need to hang pictures.  But we've got a BRAND NEW TUB that is deep enough for a real bath, beautiful tile (who knew I could fall in love with tile?) on the shower surround and the floor. Lovely, bright coloring makes the room feel so much bigger.  And look at that light switch plate!  THREE different lights operated separately (in a room that's about 9 x 6), plus a fan that is relatively quiet!  And one of the really great parts: knowing that everything done behind those pretty walls was done properly.  We are just so pleased.

So of course, I celebrated by taking a bath.  I didn't even end up getting around to the book I had on hand.

It may not be my cozy cottage in Maine that I let go in October, but this bathroom has everything I need to pamper myself, and the only tub that can appease me for losing access to the claw foot tub in Maine.  

When we gave up the house in Maine, we did so needing to focus on and live in one place for a while.  This meant living more fully in this location--using our local farmers' market and health food store, using the library, etc.  It also meant making this house more of what we want.  The bathroom was a huge part of that for me, along with the major purging and organizing/painting that we undertook last summer and will complete this year.  

How do you make happy where you are?

A Reading Life

In the preface to his book Que Vivan los Tamales: Food and the Making of Mexican Identity (New Mexico, 1998), Jeffrey Pilcher quotes French gastronome Jean Athelm Brillat-Savarin as saying "Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you who you are."

I might tweak it: tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are.  The books on our bookshelves reflect us--our interests, values, views, dreams, desires, commitments--as surely as the food on our plates.  

With this in mind, I present some of the books on my bookshelves today.

There is the stack of new books waiting to be read.  (Note the jar with beach glass and sea-softened bits of pottery and china--all collected over the course of my childhood.)  Love having books in waiting!

 There are books that influenced me growing up--Jane Eyre was one of my high-school "go to" novels.  One Hundred Years of Solitude is my choice for best novel of the 20th century (challenged only, perhaps, by Midnight's Children).  In a Different Voice came to my life as I opened to feminism. One lonely Christmas eve in Quito, 20 years ago, A Christmas Carol lifted my spirits.  Oh, and see that Life's Little Destruction Book?  A gift from Howard early in our relationship. What does it say that he stayed with the woman he gave that to, and not the one who had given him Life's Little Instruction Book?

There are the books that help to shape my spirit and give me strength during this period of middle age.  Life Prayers, in particular, provided a poem Howard and I used in our wedding, and also a poem I read with my father's eulogy (today would have been Dad's 94th b-day).

I am mostly a prose gal, but I've fallen in love with some of the children's poetry that I've read with my kids.  My absolute favorite is Moon, Have You Met My Mother?

In the kitchen: well-used cookbooks and collections of recipes. You'd think I was a vegetarian to read most of these.  I'm not, though I only eat meat or fish a couple of times a week.

These are the books in play (along with other readings) in classes this semester:

My office is full of books that have influenced me intellectually, like these on Peruvian history (indigenous and/or gender):

 Or these more general books on Latin American gender history:

 And some works on gender in Mexico (Peasant and Nation changed many an academic life):

Some of the most influential gender books outside of Latin America--most especially Joan Scott's Gender and the Politics of History, but also work by my beloved mentor, Mrinalini Sinha (Specters of Mother India):

And then there is work to be done, such as reading and analyzing books on indigenismo in Ecuador:

And perusing through these early twentieth-century scholarly journals that were one of my very best used-bookstore finds in Quito:

And these primary source books by Ecuadorian women:

Finally, of course, there is that Che Guevara essay I have to revise:

This does not capture it all, of course.  Nothing from my 4 cases full of books at my campus office.  None of the many knitting patterns that are waiting for me to organize them into notebooks.  Nor the library and other books scattered about on tables here and there. But it gives a glimpse of a life built around reading and learning, I suppose.  A house full of books--for learning, for analysis, for creativity, for pleasure...for the pure joy of reading.

What's on your book shelves?

Calm Before the Storm

I am taking the Hibernate workshop right now, and one of the possible activities was to do an "at-home retreat" for a day.  With the semester looming (classes start Wednesday) and a long weekend with the kids, I decided to take the plunge and do it yesterday.  The central idea: a screen-free day of quiet, creation, and connection.

The children were less than enthused at the prospect of giving up screens for an entire 24 hour period, to be sure.  But they managed quite well in the end, and we had a fabulously hilarious game of "Life" and several rounds of Mad-libs that made us chuckle.

For me, the day brought much-needed quiet into my life. I went to a yoga class and took a walk, but mostly I hung out in the house reading or knitting by the fire (when not engaged in some small family activity).  Funny, it was the first time over break that I got to read about 1/3 of a novel in one day. Break has been much, much busier than anticipated!  

This week life resumes its usual hectic pace.  But I am thinking that our family could do with a "screen-free retreat day" once a month--and you know, those long weekends come just about that often.  We might just pull this off.

What does/would your home retreat look like?