Leina's Turn to Lose A Tooth
The teeth are falling fast and furiously around here. Leina was quite excited to get this one out after watching Kulia rake in the Tooth Fairy money. She is already planning her trip to the Dollar Tree to spend her hard earned cash. The poor Tooth Fairy is pretty broke and this point. Hopefully things will slow down here but I must admit I love seeing their little gap toothed grins!
Yet another memoir type book. Am I on a role or what? This book, Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory, falls into one of my favorite categories. The sketch journal. I love these little peeks into someone’s daily epiphanies and adventures. These are books to pick up and admire a bit at a time. Filled with odd thoughts and simple sketches, these books inspire me to keep a simple, scribbled journal of my own full of awful sketches and favorite quotes. Mr. Gregory’s journal is set in New York and is full of city sketches of utilitarian objects around him. Not a trained artist but a determined sketcher, this is a sweet little book to pick up and thumb through to inspire your own creative thoughts.
And, to celebrate the start of Spring Break here in Sherwood, I give you a picture of J-Dog in all her glory. Please note the shaved spot on her leg where she received her IV drip after deciding to eat a rope. Yup. A rope. Don’t worry, after a nice long day at the vet, she emerged right as rain. For a “free” dog, she sure is good at racking up a vet bill.
Jada The Rope Eater
My mind is my garden,
My thoughts are the seeds,
My harvest will be either Flowers or Weeds.
— Mel Weldon
Goldie and Rainbow
Yup.
Fish.
Because there wasn’t enough animal poop to clean in my life, right? Actually, I kind of like these little buggers. Oh, I have no illusion that they will last long. These little fish never do. But I do find myself mesmerized by their motion whenever I walk by their little bowl. There is something so soothing about watching a fish swim.
So, Goldie and Rainbow came into our life in a little plastic bag. The girls had their school carnival on Friday and we went down for some fun. There were a ton of easy games to play, candy to win, teachers to dunk, and games to play. It made me a bit nostalgic. The cake walk, the ring toss, and the ping pong ball throw where the prize was your very own goldfish in a bag. Timeless. Of course, I remember our school carnival at Soleado being outside on the playground. Here in the land of gloom, it was held indoors. But aside from that, everything seemed unchanged. Same games; same prizes. We spent quite a few tickets on these here goldfish. Leina won first and Kulia put on a brave face but the tears were welling. Leina was feeling magnanimous and agreed to wait in line again to win her sister a fish and, several attempts later, she did.
And so, here they swim, our carnival fish.
Anybody want to take bets on how long they last?
The Dirty Life
I seem to be on a memoir kick right now. Sometimes “real life” can be just as interesting as fiction. One of my favorite memoir genres is the farm story. It usually involves a city person who one day wakes up and realizes they need to get back to the land. So, with great ambition but little real idea of what lies before them, they pack up their old life and head to the hills. Usually, there are chickens involved and that is an added bonus. This book, The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball, falls squarely into this category. Ms. Kimball is swept off her feet by a man with a plan that involves farming, animals, and getting back to the earth. She is a city girl so it’s all a great mystery full of hard work, anxiety, and love. Mostly, it’s about her developing faith. Faith in herself, in her community, her marriage – all the big ticket items really. It doesn’t romanticize the experience though. After finishing this book, I realized I had no desire to farm 80 acres or slaughter pigs or walk behind plow horses. Chicken, however, I could still go for chickens!
Another Tooth!
Kulia appears to be going for some sort of bizarre tooth world record. Tonight after dinner she had me pull her second loose tooth out! Leina had to leave the room because just the thought of losing a tooth gave her the willies. Kulia, however, is all about the cash. She wants another pillow pet to add to her collection and tooth money is big bucks for her. At the rate she is going, she’ll have a new pillow by sometime next week. I must say, listening to her talk is adorable. She had a hard time with “th” before her teeth jumped ship. Now, she wanders about trying to say “th” and giggling over the resulting sound. Oh so, so cute!