Happy New Year!

May 2013 be filled with a plethora of delicious books and incredible adventures.

Celebrate in style

Christmas memories

Stream of consciousness memories:

Waiting behind the closed kitchen door in while Erich lit the candles on the tree. 

Unwrapping the traditional gift of Scottish shortbread from Grandma and Grandpa Fenton

Arguing over who was going to brave the basement in order to retrieve the ornaments

Stirring the batter for Christmas cake and wishing for a horse (never came true)

Toddler lying beneath the tree and staring up at the lights in fascination

DNe whacking his dad in the head with a putter - by accident of course

Dad telling the story of the tree skirt to the dogs

 Frog Man Bradley and other K-Tel sensations

Getting drunk on Christmas pudding, gravy, and stuffing (not all in the same year)

Too many embarassing family shenanigans tied with an equal number of endearing family moments

Dark night, bright stars and breathtaking cold in Wawa

Snow falling gently down

Feeling the truth of O Holy Night  at church on Christmas Eve in PEI


The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Burl Ives, Fred Astaire and Ralphie - classics one and all

Roger Whittaker, David Bowie, Bing Crosby, Heinje

Skip the advertisement and enjoy - Merry Christmas to you all

Stille Nacht

Traditions

My 11 year-ol niece came over yesterday to help me prepare for Christmas.  We strung lights on the front porch, added some garland and a bow. We put up the tree, strung lights and decorated it. Her older brother climbed up on a chair to straighten out the branches and place the angel on top.

Then we baked. We played Charlie Brown's Christmas CD and sang as I taught her the family recipe that has been handed down through generations.  Grandma Fenton always baked it for us and Grandpa took over when she was no longer able to continue. He always used whole wheat flour which was a different texture from hers with the rice flour. My niece promised to keep the tradition flowing to further generations.

It was a good way to spend the day.  We felt joy and appreciation for each other and the long line of people who came before us.  I cemented my role in the continuum by handing the torch over to the next generation. She's a bit young but my niece soaks up tradition and stories like a sponge cake with tea.  And her very first attempt at shorbread melts in your mouth.

TBR Pile

I keep taking books and reading them but the TBR pile breeds while my back is turned.  At this moment I am currently reading

Operation Orca - Springer, Luna and the struggle to save West Coast killer whales by  Daniel Francil and Gil Hewlitt
On the edge of the Wild by Audrey Tournay
Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
Rapture by JR Ward
True Strength by Kevin Sorbo
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Puppy Love by Frauke Scheunemann
The tower the zoo and the tortoise by Julia Stuart
Standing in the rainbow by Fannie Flagg

I am within pages of finishing the first two on my list and actually stayed up late to finish the Actor and the Housewife.  It was a refreshing change from my usual fare.  Although there was one predictable subplot that annoyed me immensely, the author stayed true to her characters and I was so very glad.

Operation Orca is about the whale who broke my heart. The good news is that I wasn't completely delusional about him finding his way back to his family. There were two orphaned whales at the exact same time. One had a happy ending while the other had a tragic death.  What made the difference?

Zeitoun has been put down so many times I'm fairly confident sheer boredom will be the only thing that leads me to finish reading it.

But all the others grabbed me and I've had to switch them up so that I don't devour them in one sitting. I don't have that kind of time.  Standing in the rainbow is easiest to put down because the nature of the writing lends itself to small breaks.

Puppy love is told from the daschund's point of view. I need a break so I don't expire from the cuteness.  It's light and fun. So far. The recommendation came from a literary blog so I wouldn't be surprised if someone didn't contract a terminal illness and die while the puppy helped them all to heal and find their way back to life. Yep, I'm cynical about literary books.

Kevin Sorbo's story fascinates me. He was a young man when he took ill yet he overcame everything.  I always appreciate an overcoming adversity story. Though it occurs to me that the daschund is also known as Hercules.  Hmmm

I'm only two pages into Rapture because the title is a good reflection of my experience with JR Ward. As with Karen Marie Moning's books, I get sucked in, can't look away and read straight through. I don't have that kind of time right now.  But tomorrow after work...

What are you reading?

Quick update

Funny how things work out sometimes. I'm working crazy hours for thirteen days straight at a time. I don't have time to think let alone write. Yet, somehow, I'm carrying around a sheet of paper on which I'm compelled to throw some words.  It's a very creepy horror story. I think it's my way of decompressing from the two jobs.  It's about an object.  It only appeals to people who are disturbed on some level. I don't know much about the people but, the object lies at the end of my bed and taunts me with the horrors it has experienced. 

So, that's what's going on in my world.  What's going on in yours?