tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72500223609713440672024-02-02T00:59:22.758-05:00366 and moreTimdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.comBlogger464125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-35756409255952789312021-02-01T22:49:00.002-05:002021-02-01T22:49:56.997-05:00FEBRUARY<p> Can I just say that I love February? Every year in February, I take part in 2 letter writing events which always bring me a lot of wonderful mail from many of my penpals and some new friends as well. I'll tell you a little about each one in case you are interested in joining.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="LetterMo-2021-layerBLANK-601x500" class="bwg_slide bwg_slideshow_image_0" id="bwg_slideshow_image_0" src="https://lettermo.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-gallery/LetterMo-2021-layerBLANK-601x500.jpg?bwg=1609918417" style="display: inline-block; max-height: 300px !important; max-width: 300px !important;" /></a></div><p><a href="https://lettermo.com/">The Month of Letters Challenge</a>- <span style="color: black;">This is a challenge where people sign up to send a letter every day and to respond to any mail that comes in from the "Lettermo" challenge. Many of the participants have participated for years and have their profile on the Lettermo page. It's fun because you can search people with similar interests, have an understanding that you will get a reply from your mail and most likely connect with someone who really enjoys writing letters. I have exchanged letters with so many interesting people through this event. My first piece of mail for LetterMo is going to my penpal Alenka in Slovenia. <br /></span></p><p><span style="color: black;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://incowrimo.org/">InCoWriMo</a>- Similar idea. International Correspondence Writing Month- Send at least 1 piece of personal mail every day during the month of February. One of the differences with this challenge is that there's a list of participants but you don't know anything about them. If you want to write to your own penpals, you can do that too. One thing I like about this challenge is that I never know if I'm going to get any mail from this challenge- or who/where it will come from. It's just kind of adventurous for me. When I first participated in this challenge (3 years ago?), it was hosted by someone else and it changed hands last year. So, I think there are some changes, but I'm still glad to have the opportunity to write. My first piece of mail for InCoWriMo is going to be sent to The Henlo Press, who is hosting the InCoWriMo group on Facebook- I think.... or are they hosting InCoWriMo? I will probably figure that out during the month!</span></p><p><span style="color: black;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: black;"> I know that snail mail and letter writing is pretty old-fashioned, but I LOVE it. As a child, my nana used to send me cards and notes through the mail all the time. The excitement I felt when finding that I had mail that I wasn't expecting was great. As I grew older, finding mail in my mailbox and recognizing the writing from a friend or family member always made me smile. (I am actually very sad that many teens right now don't know what their friends' handwriting looks like, or even some of their family.) It was always nice to know that someone had been thinking about me and cared enough to send a little note to say hello. Nowadays, some of my penpals are my closest friends. We share joyful moments as well as struggles that we are going through. I find that letter writers usually take the time to write so their letters are not shallow or for lack of a better way to say it, pointless. It takes effort to make time to write to someone. </span></p><p><span style="color: black;"> I will try to write some posts about both of these challenges and what I'm sending/receiving for mail. If you are participating in either event and would like a letter, feel free to leave a comment or message me. If you're not participating in the challenge and you just want to catch up, I'd be glad to send you a piece of mail too if you tell me you'd like some. Sometimes I don't send mail to friends/family because some people think I'm odd for enjoying writing, but I think during this time of Covid, people have started to appreciate any kind of connection they can find. </span><span class="bwg_slideshow_image_second_spun_0" style="opacity: 1; transition: opacity 1000ms linear 0s; z-index: 2;"><span class="bwg_slideshow_image_spun1_0" style="display: table; height: inherit; width: inherit;"><span class="bwg_slideshow_image_spun2_0" style="display: table-cell; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"></span></span></span></p>Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-77686322177671947392021-01-24T20:04:00.003-05:002021-01-24T20:04:21.094-05:00Unearthed and Keeping Corner<p style="text-align: left;"> "Unearthed" by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner<br /></p><div id="boxContents"><div class="editionCover" id="edition_25446297_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="25446297. sx318 " src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495338043l/25446297._SX318_.jpg" /> </div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_25446297_enlarge_cover"> I received this as an advanced reader copy.... in 2018. Eek. My apologies to the authors. I don't read a lot of science fiction so this was a nice change from my usual reading. After the Earth has depleted many of its natural resources, a message is intercepted from an extinct alien race. The planet Gaia may hold secret technology that may help replenish Earth's resources. The news of these new technologies led many people to have the desire to study the new culture, but also the desire to scavenge the planet for profitable materials. </div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_25446297_enlarge_cover"> Like many books I enjoy, this is told through alternate perspectives- Amelia- a scavenger who is attempting to "buy back" her sister from her employers on Earth, and Jules- a scholar hoping to learn more about the mysterious messages sent by the Undying. There were parts of this book that were a little repetitive and predictable, but it was a new enough concept for me to like the story. I might be interested in reading the 2nd book. <br /><div id="boxContents" style="text-align: center;"><div class="editionCover" id="edition_1037637_enlarge_cover">
<img alt="1037637. sy475 " src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438189686l/1037637._SY475_.jpg" /> </div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_1037637_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;"> I got this book from our former middle school librarian, who is a good friend of mine. It tells the story of Leela, a Brahmin girl who had been engaged at 2 and married at 9. Just before her anu, where she would leave her parents' home and go to live with her husband's family, her husband is bit by a snake and dies. The story tells of the customs of being a widow and how it affects Leela and her family in a time where society and culture was changing. I really knew nothing about a lot of these customs, or even about some differences between some of the castes in India, so this was engaging and thought provoking to me. There was a lot Hindi (? I think) words in the story, and a glossary at the end of the book that defines those words. This is a great book for people interested in other cultures or about how different generations see the same issue. <br /></div></div></div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_25446297_enlarge_cover"> </div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_25446297_enlarge_cover"> </div></div>Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-64280964049684539202021-01-17T16:27:00.001-05:002021-01-17T16:27:13.511-05:00The Bluest Eye<p>Very rarely do I really dislike a book. This is my first disliked book of 2021. "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison. </p>
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<div class="coverButton"> I'm having a difficult time putting into words why I don't like this book. This is my first Toni Morrison book so I was disappointed that I had a hard time with is. I've heard she's such an amazing author and I was really looking forward to experiencing her writing. The subject matter was problematic to me- incest is not something I'm often reading about and I felt like Pecola's (one of the main characters) world was just hopeless. On the other hand, I have read books about serial killers and other topics that didn't make me feel as gross as this book. I read this for my book club made up of women from town. Maybe after decompressing with them I will be able to put my finger on what bothered me so much. </div><div class="coverButton"> In the Afterword, Morrison writes " One problem was centering: The weight of the novel's inquiry on so delicate and vulnerable a character could smash her and lead readers into the comfort of pitying her rather than an interrogation of themselves for the smashing. My solution- break the narrative into parts that had to be reassembled by the reader- seemed to me a good idea, the execution of which does not satisfy me now. Besides, it didn't work; many readers remained touched but not moved." I'm not even 100% sure what THAT means, but the different snapshots of the lives of the characters didn't really tie things together for me. On to the next book...<br />
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-7728037863834209782021-01-13T22:01:00.002-05:002021-01-13T22:01:40.724-05:00Big Lies In a Small Town<p> I finished my 2nd book of 2021. I read the book "Big Lies in a Small Town," by Diane Chamberlain for my Book Hive Book Club. If you're a new reader on this blog, the Book Hive Book Club is pretty different. There are 12 people in a group. We all choose a book we want to read and buy that book and a journal. We read the book, journal about it, then send the book and the journal through the mail to the next reader. I've read so many books I never would've even considered picking up and I have met some really interesting people as well. Here's a link to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2235278393205537/">The Book Hive Book Club</a> on Facebook in case you might want to check it out. So, the book....</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45046808-big-lies-in-a-small-town"><img alt="Big Lies in a Small Town" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561879570l/45046808.jpg" width="263" /></a>
</p><div class="rightContainer"> <span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3747389794">This
story, told from alternating perspectives tells the life of 2 artists
and their involvement with a mural. The first artist, Anna, is the
painter of the mural. After applying for the post office mural contest
across the US, Anna was initially told that she could not paint the
mural she applied for, but she was given the opportunity to paint one
for a small town in North Carolina. She temporarily moves to NC to get a
feel for the town and quickly discovers the positive and negative
aspects of being there. </span></span></div><div class="rightContainer"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3747389794"> The other artist, Morgan, is a young woman
serving time in prison for a DUI charge. She is given the opportunity to
be released from prison and put on parole to help restore the mural
painted by Anna years before. A local artist had taken an interest in
Morgan and, in his will, has given the directive that she should be
given the opportunity to restore the mural for his new gallery opening.<br /> I have never read anything by this author, so this book was a pleasant
surprise. I really enjoyed the character development, the plot, the
relationships that developed over time and the story being told through
multiple perspectives. </span></span></div><div class="rightContainer"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3747389794"> Also, because I'm a total nerd, I became interested in the post office mural aspect of the story because I had seen the post office mural stamps released by the United States Post Office in 2019. Apparently, in 1933, a friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt suggested that the government try to help artists in need of work by commissioning artwork for public buildings. This led to the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). About 3,700 artists were hired to create work depicting American life and modern trends. After that project, the Section of Painting and Sculpture was formed, which was later called The Section of Fine Arts. This group commissioned over 1,000 murals to be painted in post offices across the US between 1934 and 1943. These are what the stamps look like. #GoNerds<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><figure class="text-center">
<img alt="Post Office Murals stamps" class="release-image" src="https://about.usps.com/newsroom/global/images/releases/post-office-murals.jpg" /> </figure><div style="text-align: left;"><figure class="text-center"> In my next post, I anticipate talking about how I'm currently tanking most of my January goals. Ugh. I've learned a lot about myself and about life in the past year. <br /></figure></div></div>
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-55860221390034081912021-01-04T18:26:00.000-05:002021-01-04T18:26:34.772-05:002021 Reading Goals<p style="text-align: left;"> Happy New Year! New Year, new goals. My reading goals this year will be somewhat reduced from last year. I would like to read more books, but do less challenges. I wasn't going to participate in any reading challenges this year, but then a woman from my book club tagged me in this group and I thought, "Wow, that looks fun." (Except for the steamy read. Not a huge romance fan.) </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="https://scontent-bos3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/134445084_3672359779546567_5583448352288625682_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=KNNuL2dhLAEAX9OXEcg&_nc_ht=scontent-bos3-1.xx&oh=af447d58df193b3fe07c5e7cc7573ba4&oe=60174B7D" height="640" src="https://scontent-bos3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/134445084_3672359779546567_5583448352288625682_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=KNNuL2dhLAEAX9OXEcg&_nc_ht=scontent-bos3-1.xx&oh=af447d58df193b3fe07c5e7cc7573ba4&oe=60174B7D" width="606" /> </p><p style="text-align: left;">For my Goodreads challenge this year, I would like to read 75 books. I didn't read quite as many in 2020, but I was also emotionally and mentally exhausted at times. I'm hoping to read a lot this year. We all know we'll have some time this year when there is not much else to do.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Book 1:</p><div id="boxContents" style="text-align: center;"><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover">
<img alt="33784321" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499726597l/33784321.jpg" /> </div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;">"The Secret Keepers" by Trenton Lee Stewart </div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;"> I got this book for my younger son after he loved The Mysterious Benedict Society books, written by the same author. <span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951">"The
Secret Keepers" is about an eleven year old boy named Reuben, who lives with his mom in the city of New Umbra. While his mom works hard to try to support the two financially, Reuben often spends his days exploring his new neighborhood. This is not something he is really supposed to be doing, but he is curious about places around him and finds it a challenge to hide somewhat within plain sight. He is weary of a group of men called The Directions, who spend the day scanning the city and talking to business owners. He knows they answer to The Counselor, who works for The Smoke. Nothing happens in New Umbra without these men knowing about it.</span></span></div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951"> One day Reuben stumbles upon a pouch
that had been hidden inside a brick wall, on a ledge, about halfway up
an abandoned building. Inside the pouch, he discovers an antique watch,
property of P. William Light. He brings this watch to a few people to
see if they can tell him the value and quickly learns that this is a
very valuable watch, and far from ordinary. There is a problem though,
there have been other people who have been searching for this watch for a very
long time. </span></span></div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951"> Throughout his journey to find out more about the watch, he
meets the Meyer family, who have secrets of their own. This story is
filled with adventure and was a good read. The characters were enjoyable
and the book had a few good lessons about character, family, friendship. greed
and honesty. </span></span><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951">I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. </span></span>If you enjoy illustrations, this book has at least one quote illustrated in each chapter and an illustration for the chapter title. I liked them a lot. The illustrator is Diana Sudyka. </span></span></div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951"> </span></span></div><div class="editionCover" id="edition_33784321_enlarge_cover" style="text-align: left;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview3731168951"> I'm hoping that writing reviews on one book at a time will allow me to be a little more detailed than last year and will help me keep up with my blogging. </span></span> </div></div>Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-16387671002479187162020-12-31T16:06:00.004-05:002020-12-31T16:06:47.403-05:00Closing out 2020. <p style="text-align: left;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> <img alt="2020 Balloons" class="photo-item__img" data-big-src="https://images.pexels.com/photos/3401900/pexels-photo-3401900.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=750&w=1260" data-image-height="2514" data-image-width="3764" data-large-src="https://images.pexels.com/photos/3401900/pexels-photo-3401900.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=650&w=940" data-tiny-src="https://images.pexels.com/photos/3401900/pexels-photo-3401900.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=1&w=500" data-tiny-srcset="https://images.pexels.com/photos/3401900/pexels-photo-3401900.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=1&w=500 1x, https://images.pexels.com/photos/3401900/pexels-photo-3401900.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=2&w=500 2x" src="https://images.pexels.com/photos/3401900/pexels-photo-3401900.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=1&w=500" />
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</a> 2020- What a year. I have been scrolling through Facebook today, reading a mix of positive and negative aspects of the past year. For my family, it was a very different year, but not altogether bad. Here are some of my thoughts as we end the year.<p></p><p>- We are lucky that none of the people we know have died or been gravely affected by Covid-19. Obviously all of our lives have been affected, and a few people we know were sick, but everybody we know is okay, which I'm grateful for.</p><p>- Our blessings could not have been more evident. We moved 10/2019 from a small, run down apartment into a house that doesn't need a lot done and is more than spacious for our family. Both my husband and I have jobs. We have a happy family and enjoy spending time together.</p><p>-Two of my favorite hobbies are penpalling and reading. These are great hobbies to have in 2020. Penpalling kept me connected to other people across the world and helped to feel not so isolated. Reading could take me to other worlds when I wanted to be alone.</p><p>- This doesn't mean 2020 was always easy. I'm pretty conservative so I've felt comfortable staying in while some people were really suffering from the fear of missing out on things. I don't think I was particularly scared that I was going to get the virus from being out in public, but I'm kind of higher risk and I figured it's kind of like wearing your seat belt in the car- if you can do something to help keep you safe (even if you're not in full control of that), why wouldn't you? So, being home when we wanted to do things like travel, see friends/family, drive to another state, etc has been inconvenient and sometimes hard. People across the US were divided about so many issues. It was hard to go online to any social media platform without seeing negativity, disagreements and disrespect. Racial tension, political tension, coronavirus issues, mask issues, education issues- it was all too much for me. I can understand people having differences in opinions, but I struggle with lack of decency amongst people. </p><p> - I lost a good friend of mine in August. Her name was Mary. We met in our book club and became fast friends. Very close to the start of quarantine, she found out that she had liver cancer, which then led to the discovery of pancreatic cancer. It was a quick decline and heartbreaking. She tried Chemo but reacted badly. She passed away right before school started. I miss her very much. Although I would've never expected a friendship to blossom between us when we first met, we were sort of kindred spirits. Secondly, teaching music online- not a fan, though I have grown as an educator and learned new skills. </p><p>-I have made my faith a greater priority. I've been attending a church online and I feel like it's making me think about my life in some new ways, not that the old ways were necessarily bad, but it has been good for me. I have also joined a women's group online, kind of like a Bible study. That has provided me with some new friends and fellowship. I'm very thankful for all of this. </p><p>-I have also learned to sit still- with God, with myself, with an empty schedule. I miss being busy every second of the day, but I have enjoyed slow times with my children, completing my thoughts without feeling totally frantic or rushed and taking joy from observing the world around me. <br /></p><p> As always, I have lots of goals for the new year. Perhaps I'll come back tomorrow and write about some of them. I have not been blogging much because I'm not 100% sure if anybody is getting anything out of this blog, or even reading it. I thought about starting a new one, on a more secure site, but I'm not sure. I'll see how blogging goes over the next few months. I anticipate writing about various subjects- my goals, reading, penpalling, life in general. I really like connecting with new people, so if you're a person who just stumbles upon the blog by chance, please feel free to say hello. </p><p> Happy New Year!<br /></p>Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-43796025266747903352020-08-31T21:00:00.070-04:002020-09-06T10:56:48.669-04:00August Reading<h2 style="text-align: left;"> August Reading:</h2><p style="text-align: left;"> Hello! As school is approaching my mind is all over the place. Maybe later I'll write a post about teaching during the time of a pandemic, but I just can't right now. To say I'm conflicted about how I feel about returning to school in an understatement. I hope you all know that I truly love my job and my students, and miss them dearly, but I also have concerns for myself and my own family. Sigh. I'd appreciate your prayers about this. On to books, which are way less scary...</p><p style="margin-left: 120px; text-align: left;"></p><p style="margin-left: 120px; text-align: left;"></p><p style="margin-left: 120px; text-align: left;"><img alt="39847584" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549919762l/39847584.jpg" /> </p><p style="text-align: left;"><span> </span>This was a book on Tim's options for required summer reading. As I mentioned in my July post, I like to read at least 1 book with the boys and talk about it with them/see what they're being asked to read. This is the book Tim chose, which was a bit of a surprise to me, but it ended up being a good choice. Frank Li is a Korean-American whose parents came to the United States from South Korea. They own a store where the father is always working to try to provide a good life for his family. Monthly, they attend "The Gathering," where all of the Korean families who came to the US around the same time meet for dinner at one of the houses of the families. Frank is a kid in his senior year of high school- dealing with preparing for college, learning how to manage relationships and, in his case, struggling to distinctly feel both Korean and American at the same time. In addition to these struggles, Frank also runs into a problem when he starts becoming interested in a girl named Brit. She seems like the perfect girl, except for one thing-she's white. He's fine with it, but his parents would not be since they expect him to marry a Korean girl, most likely a Korean American girl, which were pretty scarce in his area. He knows this will be a problem because his sister, Hanna, was already disowned for dating and then marrying a black man. To complicate his feelings even more, Frank's best friend is Q, a black boy in his grade. His parents like Q because he's "not like other blacks." One night at The Gathering he realizes that a lot of his acquaintances, who might even be able to be considered friends, have some of the same problems. For example, his friend Joy has been sneaking around dating a Chinese guy named Wu for the past few years. He and Joy decide to pretend to be dating each other to mollify their parents and also allow them to sneak out with their significant others for dates.</p><p style="text-align: left;"> This book provided a lot of opportunity for discussion, especially during these times were racial tension is so obvious. We talked about racial issues at school, expectations for certain cultures, how Tim thinks we'd react if he brought home a girl that was from a different culture, parental expectations, dating (which he hasn't done), pressures of being a teen, honestly, how the events of the story may feel from the teen's/parent's point of view, etc. It was actually pretty cool to hear his opinions. We had a socially distanced dinner where 2 of my former students came to visit. They are Indian and the topic of arranged marriages came up. Tim heard that conversation as well so we also discussed that. We both thought the ending kind of wrapped up too quickly, but there's a second book so maybe that's why it was done that way. </p><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: left;"><img alt="33574161" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492871051l/33574161.jpg" /> </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">This was a book for my Bee Hive Book Club. The main character, Weylyn Grey, is quite unusual. First of all, when his parents died in a car accident, he went into the woods and was raised by wolves. Secondly, he seems to have a connection with the weather. When he was a teenager, he became friends with an 11 year old named Mary, who met him while she was delivering meat to him from her father's butcher shop. This relationship drives a lot of the book. The story is told from the perspectives of different characters that meet Weylyn throughout his life: Mary- whom I've already mentioned, Roarke- a teenage boy who meets Weylen as an older adult. He meets him after a dare from some of his friends. Lydia- Whose family were foster parents for Weylyn for a while. Bobby Quinn Jr- The mayor of a small town who contacts Weylyn to see if he can help with preparations for hurricanes in the area, and Duanne Fordham- a logger in Montana. Then there's Merlin, Weylyn's horned pig and a few other likeable characters (and maybe 1 or two unlikable ones) thrown into the mix. I thought this book would be a little too "fantasy" for me, but I found it kind of touching in some ways. I actually stopped reading for a few days because I didn't want the story to be done. There are some questions I still have about the story and some things you don't ever get answered but it didn't stop me from liking the book. The other people in my book club who read the book before me also really enjoyed it. <br /></p><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: left;"><img alt="6398634" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1256849491l/6398634.jpg" /> </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Have you ever wondered what it would take for you to be happier in your everyday life? Well, Gretchen Rubin spent a lot of time thinking about improving herself and seeing if she could increase her level of daily happiness. She decided to take a year to focus on 11 different areas, one per month. (The last month she was implementing all the rules/attempts from the 11 previous months together.) Some of the areas she examined were her marriage, parenthood, work, eternity, etc. She laughed at the fact that she wasn't really unhappy, but she also realized her moods affected everybody around her and she could probably improve on how she related to people. <br /></p><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: center;"><img alt="40390757. sy475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529990008l/40390757._SY475_.jpg" /> </p><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: left;"> I'm reading this book with David. It is about 3 kids who discover 3 kids with their same names and birthdays have been kidnapped. They think this is very strange, but get very disturbed when their mother then needs to take an emergency trip from work and leaves them with a family they don't really know at all. It becomes obvious that something is not right and the kids, along with the help of Natalie Morales (the girl whose mother they are staying with), try to figure out the whole situation. This book was pretty good. It might be bad for kids who are afraid that something could happen to a parent because one parent has died and the other goes missing. Natalie's parents are also split up. This is the first book in the series. David has already started the second book and is enjoying it a lot. <br /></p><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="margin-left: 160px; text-align: left;"> </p>Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-20325245736940073272020-08-13T11:47:00.000-04:002020-08-13T11:47:09.869-04:00July reading<h2>
July Reading</h2>
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I have a "to read" shelf in my bedroom. It houses any books I've picked up anywhere and deemed readable. This one has been there for a while. I have no idea where I got it, but I finally got around to reading it. It tells the story of Harry Clifton's life through various characters who are intertwined somewhere along the way. When I picked it up, I had no idea that it was the beginning of a series. I will definitely consider reading the rest of the series. </div>
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I do remember where I got this one. A few years ago we went up to York, Maine. We were eating out at a restaurant with my parents and Timmy saw a basket of books that you could take/leave. He immediately grabbed this out of the basket. He read it and thought "it was okay." Me too. It was about a set of siblings who spend the summer at their grandmother's inn, which is supposedly haunted. They figure it might be fun (and good for business) if they bring the old ghosts back into play so they set up some pranks to liven the place up. Unfortunately, their behavior sets other things into motion and the real hauntings begin again. Not really my type of book, but it was okay. Nothing too scary or graphic for a younger audience compared to books written now.</div>
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I always enjoy a good Harlan Coben book. The Bayes are a couple who are concerned about their son, Adam, after his personality changes after the suicide of one of his best friends. Despite their best efforts, they feel like they are losing the kid he used to be. He has closed off and they decide that they need to dig a little to be 100% sure that things are okay. So, they install software on his computer and phone that gives them access to everything he is doing. The Bayes realize fairly soon that things are not okay and he is involved with some things that they never had even considered. </div>
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Lisa Scottoline is another one of my favorites. Mary DiNunzio has just been promoted to a partner in her law firm when a 13 year old girl approaches the firm to hire them to solve the murder of her sister. There are a few problems with this. The first is that the case is already solved. Someone who already confessed to the crime is already convicted and serving time, but Allegra (the girl) believes that they have the wrong man. Another problem is that Allegra's family, the Gardners, do not agree with this investigation and do multiple things to prevent it from happening, including having the young girl committed. </div>
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I received this from NetGalley. This is a memoir about growing up in a segregated community of Mill Creek. I thought about this book as a snapshot of a certain period of time for this family. I got a good sense of who this family was and some of the things that affected their lives, but there was something else I wanted in the book. Maybe I was missing some background information that would've made me appreciate the book more or maybe I was hoping for more explanations, I don't quite know what it was. This book was just alright for me. I read this for my Keyword Reading Challenge. </div>
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Strength of character is something that is important to me. I'm always curious to read books about character to read stories about people of character, opinions of what creates good character and tips for working with other people. This was another book I received from NetGalley. There were things I liked and disliked about this book. I suppose it was less "disliking" as much as not being able to relate. The authors of this book both have military backgrounds and connections with West Point so many of the points in this book and examples have do to with the military. I have very little experience with the military and, although I appreciate the people who serve and enjoyed reading some stories that I had not previously heard, I just couldn't really relate 100%. I agreed with how they broke down character into many different traits- strengths of the head, heart and gut. There were other examples that weren't based in the military that were more relatable to me. I also like that they have suggestions for how to work on your character and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. I might buy this for a friend, but it wasn't really a great book for me.<br />
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Every summer I try to read at least 1 summer reading book with my boys. This was a choice from my 12 year old's book list. I will say that I have one of the most innocent 12 year old boyss on the planet. lol. We read this together and enjoyed it. It is about a girl names Violet who was found as an infant, abandoned in a hotel at Eerie-on-Sea. The disappearance of her parents is somehow tied to the mysterious sea creature, the malamander. She enlists the help of Herbie Lemon, also an orphan, who is working as the Lost and Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. This is the first book of a series. We will most likely read the second book to see what happens next with Violet and Herbie.</div>
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It has been a long while since I read "World Without End." Would I be able to return to the story? Admittedly, I couldn't remember a lot of the story off the top of my head, but as soon as I started reading and Kingsbridge was reintroduced, much of the last 2 books came flooding back. I was immediately pulled back into this time period and into the lives of these characters. Ken Follett is just a master storyteller in my opinion. In a time where my mind is racing with all the "Are we going back to school?" thoughts during Covid... I loved plopping a 900 page book onto my lap and knowing that my mind could be in another place for a while. </div><div style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;"> <img alt="9791" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388189974l/9791.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> I had read about this book in a blog post about "feel good stories" or something like that, maybe "books that won't completely depress you during a pandemic." Ha ha. Soon after I read the post, this book popped up in a book exchange group in my town and I snatched it up. The book is about a man who decides he wants to walk the Appalachian Trail when he discovers a trail leading to the Appalachian Trail near his house. He does some research and offers the opportunity of hiking with him to some of his friends. The book follows his travels, challenges, successes and inner thoughts during the whole process. Tim read this before I did because he ran out of books. He said it was just "ok" and that the author "tried too hard to be funny/cool." When I started reading it, I thought he was hilarious but noticed that his opinions of people were sometimes unfiltered, which I think is what slightly offended Tim. I thought the information about the trail itself, the environmental issues, information about the park services, and specifics about individual locations (including some near me) made this book very interesting. <br /></div>
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Goodreads Reading Challenge: 48/60</h4>
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Keyword Reading Challenge: 7/12</h4>
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-28816820908610266332020-07-03T20:39:00.000-04:002020-07-03T20:39:29.912-04:00Composting I missed July 2nd after a sleepless night with a wisdom tooth issue. So, here I am on July 3rd... with one less tooth. Did you know I'm petrified of dentists? That can be your July 2nd fun fact.<br />
I thought I'd take July to venture into some areas I might not have talked about. I mentioned my gardening hobby the other day. On a related note, I have decided this summer to try composting. My town, like most others at this point, I think, has a recycling program but I still feel like I have a ton of trash. Last year my family visited Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. We stayed at an AirBnb and I was slightly surprised when I saw a huge note in their "house rules" about the trash. They have a pretty strict recycling/composting/trash system. There were tiny trash bins everywhere in the house and I thought, surely we will not be able to follow all of these rules. Well, sure enough- we could and I was shocked to see that in our time there we had 1 bag of actual trash.<br />
During this pandemic, I have tried to think of ways that I could help make the world better in any way. (I know that sounds dorky.) I thought one simple step might be reducing how much waste we send to the trash. Two years ago, a 7th grade teacher at our school had an idea to start composting at school lunches. It's a little bit of a challenge, but I think we're doing a fairly good job at it. We also reduced our trash from something like 8 full trash bags of trash per day to 2 or 3. I figured, if the kids can do it, why can't we? I read somewhere that 30% of trash is usually organic waste. So, at the beginning of the month we got an Earth Machine composting bin. It looks like this:<br />
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It's not exactly pretty, but I put it sort of out of the way in our yard. I've been saving anything from coffee grounds, dead flowers, paper towels and leftovers to go into it. I hadn't thought about being able to throw some of our yard waste in there too before getting the compost bin. I'm happy that this week we only had 1 bag of trash for the week. I'm hoping that this will also give us some soil for the garden next year.<br />
Do any of you compost? Any advice for things to do (or not do) for a newbie? Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-36283357478979991672020-07-01T14:45:00.000-04:002020-07-01T14:45:51.369-04:00Something different- gardeningI mentioned a few posts ago that I have taken an interest in gardening since we moved to our new house. Here are a few things I've learned:<br />
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1) I am so grateful for the people who lived here before us, who apparently had enough money to hire a landscaper. :)<br />
2) Gardening is HARD work! I have spent a lot of time and effort to make the yard look nice, while knowing that flowers are a temporary thing that I don't have a lot of control over.<br />
3) I'm also very knowledgeable to people who have more experience. Who would've known that there are so many plants that can look exactly the same to people who have no knowledge. "Green pokey thing," "Another green pokey thing," ""Ooh... green shiny pokey thing!"<br />
4) Apparently I do not mix well with poison ivy... at all. It's ironic that I'm great at following social distancing rules and quarantining and then break out by ending up in the ER twice. (I'm better now, mostly.)<br />
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Here are some of the beautiful things that have been growing in my yard over the past month. In all fairness, I did not plant any of these- but some of the things I did plant seem to finally be coming up. We'll see I guess!<br />
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The picture of the flowers in the vase were flowers given to me by Peta, an elderly woman next door. They were beautiful and smelled so nice! She grew them in her garden. They have also sent over scallions and rhubarb!<br />
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<br />Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-77733710387479740752020-06-30T20:42:00.000-04:002020-06-30T20:54:32.440-04:00June Reading<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="46258992" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581399683l/46258992.jpg" /> </div>
The Operator by Gretchen Berg<br />
I read this for my Book Hive Book Club. I thought I would really like it, but was a little disappointed in the end. There were a lot of women whose roles seemed to be putting others in their place, either by trampling on them or by judging them. It all was just too petty for me. In this story, Vivian works as a telephone operator. She overhears a secret about herself that threatens to cause humiliation- and to make it worse, it was told to the gossipy "Queen Bee" type. She tries to save the situation, but that of course leads to other consequences. This book was alright but I was annoyed by the characters and I wasn't really curious about what would happen next.<br />
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<img alt="11254934" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328186545l/11254934.jpg" />
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"Don't Look Behind You and Other True Cases" by Ann Rule. I think this was the last true crime book on my bookshelf. I used it to fulfill my Keyword Reading Challenge. One of the words this month was "and," so here it is. (Sometimes I'm really surprised to see that I only have 1 or 2 titles with any of the words they've picked to be one of the keywords. Thank goodness I don't have to go buy one every month!) This book was alright. I like how the cases were told as objective stories. This book included a few cases.<br />
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Good White Racist by Kerry Connelly- Ironically, I had gotten this book from NetGalley a few months back- before George Floyd and all of the reactions to his murder. Quite a while ago, I was reading an article about something and it said something like, "If you're one of those 'I try to be colorblind people,' you're part of the problem." It made me stop, feel a little uncomfortable, argue in my head a little bit, then go back to the article. I am a person who tries to value all people. As an educator, I try to be fair and equitable. I have always loved learning about different cultures and have not always lived in places that were culturally diverse. So, at the risk of being a little offended, I continued to read the article. It basically went on to say that when you attempt to completely ignore race, you're not really taking the whole person into perspective- their history, their culture, their learned values, perhaps some life experience. Ah, yes, I can see that and understand. I thought about it for a while and when I saw this book on NetGalley, I thought it would be healthy to check myself.<br />
This book was a good read for me. It basically challenged well-intentioned white people, who are against racism to try to do something about it, rather than be complicit. It tells ways of how we will unknowingly perpetuate the system through our actions and words. I will admit that there were a few things that I thought, "Eek, have I ever done that?" At the end of every chapter, there are action items, which can be a good next step. This is a good book to introduce racial injustice. <br />
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Never Die Alone by Lisa Jackson- I always enjoy Lisa Jackson as an author of thrillers. This book felt a little "all over the place," but I would still say I enjoyed it.<br />
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"The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George. This is a book I'm reading for my book club in the town that I live in. I suggested this book based on an article I read recommending more positive books during this time where there are so many heavy things going on in our world. </div>
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This book was just okay for me. The writing style was a little flowery for me and I felt that the plot moved a bit slow for my liking. There were some sections of the book that held my attention for longer, but I didn't feel 100% invested in the characters. It felt like a coming of age book for a middle aged man. I know that sounds weird. "A journey of self discovery?" I think I was roped in by he word "bookshop." I'll be curious to hear what the women in my book club say. I'm guessing 2 will like it and at least 1 will hate it. Maybe a few "did not finish."<br />
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"The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters" nu Balli Kaur Jaswal. This is my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2235278393205537">Book Hive Book Club</a> book for July. I'm a little ahead. Oops. This book is about a Sikh woman, named Sita, who gives her 3 daughters a letter asking them to take a pilgrimage to India to complete multiple requests she has asked them to do as well as to spread her ashes. These 3 sisters are very different from one another. Raija, the oldest daughter, is dealing with some family issues with her 18 year old son. Jezmeen, the middle daughter, is a struggling actress who is dealing with some image issues. Shirina, the youngest, lives in Australia with her husband (through an arranged marriage) and his mother. Going on this trip means different sacrifices for each and learning how to live with one another, despite their different personalities and lifestyles. </div>
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I liked this book a lot. The woman who chose this book for the book club also came up with some interesting discussion questions for us to think about- like how we would feel about visiting a country where women's rights are different from here in the US? I'm still contemplating some of the answers to her questions before I finish journaling.</div>
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"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr- I had heard great things about this book and apparently I acquired it at some point and stashed it on my never-ending "To Read" bookshelf. I'm so sad that it sat on my self for so long because I loved it. The story revolves around 2 characters- Marie-Laure, daughter of a the locksmith at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Marie- Laure went blind as a child. She is living happily in Paris with her dad until WWII, when she has to flee to another city and ends up moving in with her great-uncle. </div>
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Werner is the second character. He is a German orphan who is growing up in a place where it is expected that he will go to work as a coal miner when he turns 15. After discovering a radio with his sister, he learns that he is a whiz at figuring out how to build and fix these devices. In fact, he is so good at it that people in the neighborhood come to find him when they need help with repairing them. Eventually, he is recruited by the Nazis and offered an elite education. </div>
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These two stories eventually intersect of course. This book had some heartbreaking moments for me. It reminded me of some of the best and worst traits of humanity. The ending was a bit different than what I was expecting (and maybe wanted), but it still worked. I kept finding myself wandering back to the book and I ended up finishing it in 2 days. This was beautifully written. </div>
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-80954771516956428892020-05-31T22:14:00.001-04:002020-05-31T22:22:40.304-04:00May ReadingI'm a little swamped tonight so I'm going to fly through this post. Here'smy May reading- summarized:<br />
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I chose this as my Book Hive Book Club book for this year. It is a historical fiction book with an added paranormal twist. It was a light read for me but I liked the characters, was interested in the plot, it was creative and I learned a few new things. Gave it 4 stars.</div>
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I have heard a lot of good things about Spinelli. I have a signed version of this book that I bought for Tim, I think. He read it many years back and thought it was sad. I think there were sad and slightly hopeless themes in here, but I didn't necessarily think the book was sad. It was hard for me to relate to though. 3/5</div>
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Autobiography of Roald Dahl's childhood. I love his writing and I laughed a lot through this book. I was happy to hear that he was a letter writer. I was disappointed to learn about some of his personal beliefs later in life (Apparently he was extremely Anti-Semitic) from a friend while we were discussing this book. </div>
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This one was interesting to me, but not for the right reasons. I received this book from NetGalley. I thought I be reading a lot about the history of pianos in Siberia, more from a musical standpoint. I ended up reading a lot about Siberia, with the musical bits and pieces sprinkled in. So, in one way I disliked it because I was wanting to learn about music and influences within that time period. On the other hand, I learned a lot about the history of Siberia, Russian culture and politics and some interesting personal narratives. So, I'll give it a 3. </div>
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This book was recommended to my by my good friend, who is our school librarian. She thought one of the boys might like it. Tim wasn't interested, but David read it after I did and thought it was good too. I guess that this is loosely based on Welsh mythology. The way the story was told and the names of the characters were a little foreign to me, but it was interesting. 3/5</div>
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Part of the Alex Delaware series. This had a few plot twists I was not expecting so I liked it a lot. 4/5</div>
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Keyword Reading Challenge: 5/12</h4>
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-7750804627995739732020-05-01T17:00:00.000-04:002020-05-07T14:00:54.203-04:00Hobbies and social distancing It's been a while since I've just checked in so I thought I'd pop in to say hi. How are all of you doing with social distancing and all of the Covid-19 issues? We're doing alright. My husband is still working since where he works is considered a restaurant. Chocolate is essential, no? (I'm very grateful to be the recipient of his candy treats.) The boys have multiple opinions about being home. Since mid-March they've been doing school online.<br />
Tim is fairly disappointed. 8th grade is a big year. Their Washington DC trip was canceled. I doubt there will be an 8th grade graduation. He is super upset about missing his last concert in middle school. With that being said, he understands that realistically, this is only 8th grade and it would be more painful if he were a high school senior. He is happy in our new house and we are enjoying being home together. He misses his friends.<br />
David is actually loving being home. Ironically, he's really struggling with his art lessons through school. The lessons are great, he would just prefer someone bossed him around and gave him directions on what to do rather than asking him to think for himself. (I love educators that ask kids to think! Yeah!) So, I've been doing a lot of those lessons with him. He LOVES being out of school. He's self-motivated with his work and has found freedom in riding his bike around the neighborhood. He is growing into a new little person. I'm seeing sides of his personality that I haven't seen before- I don't know if it's because I'm home with him more or if he's just developing more confidence (and a little pre-teen snark, but it's manageable.) He does not miss school at all, which makes me a little sad, but I'm appreciative to see that my kids are happy at home.<br />
I am surprised that I can actually handle free time. I kind of hate teaching online. I thrive on relationships with the students and on checking in with how they're doing on their work in class. This is very impersonal and live music making online just doesn't work. I'm working really hard to make it accessible (and not awful) for everybody, but some kids have just checked out with all of the online learning. (In all classes, not just mine.) I deeply miss interacting with all of my students in person. With that being said, I'm getting a lot of kids sending me e-mails just to check in to say hi or to catch up. I'm going to start having a Monday lunch with all my chorus kids since quite a few have told me they're starting to struggle with loneliness. I have been feeling sick over the past few days- full of aches, not sleeping and massive headaches. I've started to realize it's from being on screens all day. Trying to combat that.<br />
In terms of my time when I'm not working, I'm loving the extra family time. I'm reading and writing a ton. I read 9 books in April. April was National Letter Writing Month and I wrote 80 letters! I love being able to catch up with people in this way. It's a total blessing to me to be able to connect with people across the world in this way. Oh, speaking of that- have you seen the View From My Window group on Facebook? Super cool. Go check it out. This time at home has given me a lot more time to do some things I actually enjoy doing, so I don't feel completely trapped like some others I know. I'm struggling a little bit with empathy. I am worried about my students, my friends (or families of students) who work in health care, people who are alone, etc. I am very grateful for our new home and really see how truly blessed we are right now to be healthy and secure. So many things can be taken away so quickly. If you haven't talked to me recently, let me know how you're doing. <br />
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-80452219683345587192020-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:002020-04-30T18:37:25.165-04:00April readingThese are the books I've read in April:<br />
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"Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child- Another Jack Reacher novel. I liked this one. It was kind of tame compared to some of the other Reacher novels I've read, but I think I needed that this month. <br />
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"A Map of Days" by Ransom Riggs- This is the 4th book of the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. It wasn't my favorite of the series. Maybe it's just been too long since I've read the other books, but it kept feeling like Jacob was too old or mature. I liked seeing his friends in his time period and how they adjusted to the current times. :)<br />
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"One Deadly Night" by John Glatt- This is a true crime novel passed to me by my former upstairs neighbor. I don't read true crime usually, so I thought I would give it a try to see if I liked it. I don't. Ha ha. It's kind of told in a "This is the way things seem" or "From so and so's perspective..." but I don't think there's any way around that when you're writing about something like a crime. The book itself probably wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea. This book completed my Keyword Reading challenge for April with the word "Night." <br />
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"Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult- I have only read two Picoult books but I have heard the endings can sometimes make you mad. This one did (for me). Basically, this is a story about an Amish woman who has been accused of murdering her baby. An attorney agrees to help out a relative by taking this case since the girl is a distant relative and the attorney is concerned she might not be able to handle the "English" court system. As a condition of her client's bail, the attorney agrees to live on the Amish farm to guarantee that the girl will not flee.<br />
This book was interesting to me. I liked learning more about the Amish traditions, viewpoints and culture (though I'm not sure if they are all 100% accurate since I don't have much experience.) The story included history, romance, faith, friendship, ethics. In general, it was a good read.<br />
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"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Nora Zeale Hurston- This was the last book of my Book Hive Book Club. This was yet another book that I probably wouldn't have chosen on my own. It is considered a classic, and that surprised me since I had never heard of it before. I enjoyed this book, written by a black, female author in 1937. It also features a black, female protagonist, which I imagine might have been rare in the 1930s. This speech in this book is written in dialect, which some members of our group struggled with. One woman said that she listened to the audiobook and it was super helpful to her. I would recommend the book, but I know that some of my friends would consider this a tough read.<br />
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"The Good Neighbor" by Maxwell King I did not know a lot about Fred Rogers, other than the fact that I watched his show as a young child. As an educator, a child who grew up watching, a musician and a mom, I found this book very interesting. He and I actually have quite a bit in common. It seems like Fred Rogers was "the real deal." It's not often you find celebrities whose public persona are the same as their personal lives. <br />
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"Braver Than You Think" by Maggie Downs- Where do you dream of visiting if you could? After her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis (and downward spiral due to the disease), Maggie decides to take a year traveling to all of those places she and her mother had talked about visiting, but never got the opportunity to visit. In the COVID-19 era we're living in, this book brought me places I hadn't really thought of visiting before. It definitely satiated some of my current wanderlust. This book was good. There were some chapters that I just felt were a little "this giant thing happened, now this is happening, then I did this amazing thing," but I think that that might be hard to avoid after traveling to so many new places in the span of a year. I don't know if I would be brave enough to take the trip she took, though some of the places she visited sounded fascinating. </div>
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"The Good Wife" by Clint Richmond- Ironically, after complaining about the last true crime story, guess what popped up in my "to read" pile? The good news is that this wasn't as bad as the last one. I still wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, but I thought it was well written and way more impartial than the last true crime novel I wrote about. </div>
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"Crossings" by Alex Landragin- I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. This book is pretty cool. It's written as 3 short stories that can be read one after the other or in an alternate order (kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure but with 1 choice of where to go) that jumps between all of the short stories. I'm going to admit that, at the moment, I've only read it in the traditional beginning -> end order, being the rule follower that I am. Each of the short stories has other stories within it. It can be a little hard to follow if you're not paying attention, but I really enjoyed it. I am NOT a re-reader at all, but I do plan to go back and re-read this in the alternate order because I can see how the stories would be interpreted very differently that way. Cool book. </div>
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-87500888911106291212020-03-30T20:40:00.000-04:002020-03-30T20:40:00.147-04:00March Reading**** I began this post at the beginning of the month, when I had no idea we'd be dealing with social distancing due to the coronavirus. As you might be able to tell, I spent quite a bit of time reading this month.<br />
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<u>The Dutch House</u> by Ann Patchett. I am reading this for my regular bookclub, but this fits my Keyword Reading Challenge for the word "House" too. Some of the women at book club are really raving about this book and really love it. I liked it but I don't love it. Maybe sometimes I am a little less forgiving than others? I'll be curious to hear more from the women at book club about why they all loved it.<br />
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<u>Einstein's Beach House</u> by Jacob M Appel- I don't often read short stories. This has been sitting on my shelf for a few years and I'm glad I finally picked it up. You know stories that are so odd that you feel, "Yeah, totally unrealistic," but then you meet a weird character and think to yourself "I know that person...." Well, this book was like that for me. The stories were weirdly amusing. My favorite one was about a depressed hedgehog. Maybe I'll try to read more short stories.<br />
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<u>Little Secrets</u> by Jennifer Hillier. I got this advanced reader copy from Netgalley. Thank you! This book was about an affluent couple whose 4 year old son goes missing while the mother is answering the father's text while Christmas shopping. Despite the best effort of mall security, police, FBI and a private investigator, there have never really been any true hints about what happened after the boy left the mall. Eighteen months have passed and life has changed- the wife has joined a support group of people with missing children while her life seems to be getting away from her a bit. The husband keeps working in hopes that he can move on.Without giving away a bunch of spoilers, the wife gets a call from the PI asking her to meet. At the meeting she learns that her husband has been having an affair with a younger woman.Chaos ensues.<br />
To be really honest, I wasn't sure I'd like this book- 1)I'm a teacher and a mom of boys- so, missing kids is not usually an entertaining subject for me. 2) I don't read romance so I'm not used to steamy scenes... there were a few in here. 3) I felt the beginning was predictable and at the start, I wasn't really liking the characters. One night, I went to bed early but work up a little before 11. I thought I'd read a chapter and go back to bed. Well, I ended up reading for a few hours until I finished the book. Then I e-mailed the author to tell her how surprised I was to have liked it. (She responded and seems super cool.)<br />
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<u>Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</u> by John Tiffany, Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling. This is another "shelf-dweller" that I'm glad I picked up. (Y'all- I might have only one "to read" bookshelf by the summer instead of a bookshelf with a giant pile next to it.) This is a play that opened in London in July of 2016. I'm delighted that I had no idea about the story. This is a play about what happens years after the Harry Potter series had ended. Harry, Ron and Hermione have grown up and have jobs and families of their own. One of the main themes of the play is growing up with a legacy that you did not ask for- growing up the son of the famous Harry Potter. Of course, anyone who has read the series will know that Harry also had a legacy he did not ask for, as "The Boy Who Lived." I let both of my sons read this before I did and it was fun to discuss the book with them. I also enjoyed this one a lot. </div>
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<u>What It Means To Be a Teacher </u>by Jenn Larson. This was another Netgalley Advanced Reader Copy. Thanks! This book made me laugh. Sometimes books that are written "to celebrate" a classroom are obviously written by people who have not been in a classroom for many, many years. This book made me feel like others totally get what I do. I'm writing this post on 3/30- about 2 weeks into our social distancing from school. There are a lot of little moments in my day that I really miss- a check in with kids in the hallway who "accidentally" pass me at the same time every day, the weird responses I get to questions on a test, the cute doodle I find in the corner of an assignment... it's these kinds of things that I miss. This book has mentions of those types of things along with with everyday teaching issues. I related to this book a lot.<br />
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<u>The Life We Bury- Allen Eskens-</u> I read this for my Book Hive book club. Joe Talbert is a student who is assigned to interview a stranger to write a biography for a class at university. He goes to a nursing home to see if he can find someone to connect with and a nurse points him in the direction of Carl Iverson, who is a Vietnam vet but also a convicted murdered who is only out of jail because of his life-threatening medical problems. While he is trying to learn about Carl, he is also forced to deal with his dysfunctional mother whose drinking and selfishness put him in a caretaker position to his younger brother who is autistic.<br />
I liked this book. The characters are relatable and many of the backstories make you look at their situation and wonder what you would do in a similar position. I might check out the other books in this series.<br />
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<span id="freeTextreview3254886626"> <u>The Garden of Lost Memories- by Ruby Hummingbird- </u>I received this from
NetGalley as an ARC. This was a delightful surprise to me. Elsie is an
older woman who is set in her ways and in her routine until she meets a
new neighbor who has left her abusive husband and is trying to support
her 10 year old son, Billy. Billy doesn't quite understand why he is
living in a new place or why he is stuck being babysat by Elsie, but he
starts to feel more comfortable when Elsie teaches him how to work in
her garden and he discovers a box that has been hidden for years. I
thought this would be a little too light for me at first, but I liked
how the characters developed throughout the story and the relationship
between Elsie and Billy. It was a nice feel good story to read, even
though not all of parts of the story are happy.</span></span> <br />
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<u>Only Daughter- Anna Snoekstra-</u> It's 2014 and a young woman is caught shoplifting in a supermarket. Being a person who is somewhat used to manipulating others to get what she wants, she tries all of her normal routines until she realizes that she may not get out of this situation. So, she decides to try a new approach, to claim to be a child named Rebecca Winters, who went missing 11 years before. Rebecca's (called Bec) parents are called and the girl is welcomed back home into the family. She originally expected to leave the family, but as she settles into her new life, she discovers that she might actually be able to pull this off and might not decide to leave since things aren't so bad. Then things start unraveling and she feels like she has to figure out what is really going on. This book alternates between the girl in 2014 and Bec from 2003. It kept my interest and there were a few plot twists I didn't see coming.<br />
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<u>Secret Prey- John Sandford- </u>I started this one but did get very far. It was on my "to read" shelf but I'm not enjoying books that I'm feeling are overtly sexual, violent or gross just for the sake of trying to be entertaining to someone.<br />
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<u>A Family of Strangers by Emilie Richards-</u> This is another book for my Book Hive club. One thing I love about this club is that every person picks a book that they'd like and everybody else reads it. I have read lots of books that I wouldn't normally have read. This book seemed like it might be a little light for me. It's about a woman named Ryan, who is called by her (considerably) older sister who has gotten in some sort of trouble and needs Ryan to help out by taking care of her nieces. Ryan, who is a crime podcaster, is extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation, but drops everything to try to help. When Ryan arrives at Wendy's house and begins spending more time with her nieces, she starts to realize that things don't seem to be as they seem.<br />
I liked this book too. I especially enjoyed the relationships between Ryan and her ex-boyfriend Teo as well as Ryan's relationship with her nieces. There were a few characters I spent a lot of time being annoyed by, but I think the author may have done some of that on purpose.<br />
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<u>Personal by Lee Child- </u> I enjoy the Jack Reacher books. In this particular book, Jack is asked to track down (really, to bait) a sniper named John Kott, who is believed to have tried to shoot the French president. Kott and Reacher have history, as Reacher is the person who got Kott convicted and put into prison. Reacher is teamed up with a woman named Casey Nice and challenged to find Kott before the G8 summit, where they are worried he might strike again.<br />
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<u>American Blonde by Jennifer Niven-</u> I have no idea where I got this book. I think it's been on my "to read" shelf for a long time. I also had no idea that this is the 4th book in a series. With that being said, it was fine as a stand alone book. It's a piece of historical fiction (regular fiction with historical pieces?) that takes place during the Golden Age of MGM pictures. Velva Jean Hart is a girl who is "discovered" after she is caught on a newsreel during her return to America after the war. She is invited to Hollywood to audition for the pictures and is given a contract and a new identity. She leaves most of her old life behind to experience what it's like to be a star while she still tries to hold onto her personal identity. This is another book I'm glad I gave a chance to. I'm not sure if I will go back to read the other three Velva Jean books, but I'm glad I read this one. <br />
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Goodreads Reading Challenge:19/60</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Keyword Reading Challenge: 3/12</h4>
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-66560349254492404122020-02-27T21:14:00.000-05:002020-02-27T21:29:50.850-05:00February Reading Update These are the books that I read in the month of February:<br />
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<u>Persuader</u> by Lee Child. I really enjoy the Jack Reacher novels, though I've found recently I might be enjoying thrillers a little less. I like how action packed these novels are and I suppose I like the fact that there is always vengeance for the good guy. In this particular novel, Reacher is hired (off the record, of course) to help take down a gun dealer who happens to be associated with a man who killed someone Reacher once worked with. I finished the book in a few days. I also just read an article about the author, Lee Child, and how he feels like he is "ageing out" of writing these Jack Reacher novels. He's passing the baton to his younger brother, Andrew. The 25th Jack Reacher novel will come out in October 2020.<br />
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<u>The Girl Who Disappeared Twice-</u> by Andrea Kane- another thriller type. This book was a bit predictable, but I enjoyed it. It was not graphic or terribly violent. I had not read any Andrea Kane before, and I will give her another shot if I see more of her books. I would've liked to see a few more things addressed towards the end of the book, but it was alright.This completes my February Keyword Reading Challenge with the word "Girl."</div>
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<u>The Blind Spot- </u>by Adam Barrow- Rarely do I stop reading a book. In this book, a boy is kidnapped from a planetarium when his dad accidentally falls asleep during a show. You learn about a chapter later that the boy is taken with plans to traffick him to other men. I didn't think anything edifying could possibly come out of this book, so I just stopped. Moving on...</div>
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<u>The Imperfects-</u> by Amy Meyerson. I seriously needed to walk away from the thrillers for a bit. This book is about a family who is estranged from one another coming together after the grandmother of the family passes away and leaves a piece of jewelry, which ends up being the Florentine Diamond, to one of the grandkids. It examines the lives of all the characters individually while addressing the family dynamics. I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters were interesting and their family issues were definitely relatable. There were also bits of historical information woven into this story and I enjoyed that just as much. </div>
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<u>The Breaker Boys- </u>
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<span id="freeTextreview3209849975"> My dad lent this book to
me. He apparently knows the author, or someone related to the author.
It's about young boys who used to work separating coal from other debris
after it had been brought out of the shaft. These boys were usually
very young (8-12?) and the job itself had some very dangerous aspects.
This story is about a family who relocates to a mining town after the
father gets into a dispute with his dad and decides to abandon the
family trade. After a short period of time, the father of the family
dies and the women of the family are left to fend for themselves. One of
the daughters decides to dress as a boy and become a breaker boy. <br /> I
expected the story to be a bit more linear and maybe focus on the boys
more, but it was interesting. I learned a few things and the characters
drew me in. Even though I might've preferred more of the story of the
breaker boys, their side stories added a lot to the book. I will say
that there were a few mistakes in the book that were distracting to me.
Example, there is a character who is referred to as Mr. Yager and Mr.
Yeager. I don't know if my dad has an edited proof, but it bugged me
that that got through the publisher because it happened a lot. Other
than that, I found it enjoyable</span></span><br />
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<b>Goodreads Challenge- 10/60</b></div>
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<b>Keyword Reading Challenge- 2/12 </b></div>
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-54755071230605819152020-02-10T17:56:00.001-05:002020-02-10T17:56:13.969-05:00Feb week 1Well, I did a great job at blogging for 2 days in a row. Lol. Here's what's going on:<br />
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<h4>
Teaching:</h4>
My district is in the middle of contract negotiations and it's not going well for either side. Many days when I'm teaching, there's a subtle feeling that nags at me about the fact that there are many people that do not value what I do as an educator or as a person. Although I try not to let other people's opinions influence me much, this is one that is hard to ignore.<br />
Last week was one of those "in the trenches" weeks. First, 1 ton of kids at my school have the flu. At least 6 of my kids have been out for over a week, and not ones who usually miss school. There is a constant flow of "out sick," "returning from being out" and "not feeling good today." Trying to meet every child we're they're at while trying to actually accomplish something with everybody who has been in class can be a challenge to say the least. I had an observation that was important to me Monday. (Not important in terms of making a difference in my job if I did badly, just wanting to do a good job.) Unfortunately, I did the observation with a new group of kids and it ended up being a terribly "off" day. Then, there were the normal middle school behaviors that we see every day. To say that last week kicked my butt would be an understatement. Thank goodness for those few kids in each class who just make a school nicer to be in.<br />
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Reading:</h4>
Still plugging away. I've been keeping a log of my February books, which I'll share at the end of the month. Have you read any particularly good books this month?<br />
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Writing:</h4>
I'm a letter writing machine this month. I think I've sent out 26 so far this month. Still going too. I've been getting a lot of great mail through Lettermo too! <br />
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Looking ahead:</h4>
Next week is February school vacation. We're going away for a few days and I cannot wait. Lots of reading, writing and family time. If you're not from MA, don't go to Cape Cod in the winter. It's dead. My parents bought a time share there and that's where we are going. We're pretty low maintenance, so we just enjoy hanging out with each other with a nice change of scenery.<br />
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-35065786913872972762020-02-02T22:17:00.002-05:002020-02-02T22:17:32.796-05:002/2/20 Just a short post tonight because I was foolish and spent hours watching the Superbowl. I sent 2 letters today- 1 to a person who requested to be friends on Lettermo and the other to a penpal who has been waiting for my mail since August. Here is her envelope:<br />
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<img alt="Image preview" height="300" src="https://attachment.outlook.live.net/owa/MSA%3Ajenbowler%40hotmail.com/service.svc/s/GetAttachmentThumbnail?id=AQMkADAwATExADhlNy00YzQxLTU1ATItMDACLTAwCgBGAAADIgIkKyfF3kenRo%2Ffn%2BFo7wcAsfjCj6rTpUmgQQV6fYPFSQAAAgEMAAAAsfjCj6rTpUmgQQV6fYPFSQADH%2BmP6wAAAAESABAA49eXEbTiC0GwjrfRCYD1IA%3D%3D&thumbnailType=2&owa=outlook.live.com&scriptVer=2020012701.13&isc=1&X-OWA-CANARY=AZ1RPYUWtUWPqr3GgYEtqABizOpWqNcYMVunblk4Fjm6dfMdILbAomFlbOV1grRdFftZGzAU_Bw.&token=eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6IjU2MzU4ODUyMzRCOTI1MkRERTAwNTc2NkQ5RDlGMjc2NTY1RjYzRTIiLCJ4NXQiOiJWaldJVWpTNUpTM2VBRmRtMmRueWRsWmZZLUkiLCJ0eXAiOiJKV1QifQ.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.Nv7IaJdUCQNydUwAKbiQ4rcBm0WmkiXfP-IVi90ntjBVpbRvfMm_gm8IyjaDLzGzgADDqsEnJVgzuxNtFudt53pu9Jeoop99CPjx-HnUCpRiiI53QZ1szCuEoFBUDUVd4JYuDhD1vHwJ7rpNa7CrwhvFN6XjdkbYFKZZa8gABZI5cLW6DNw19jvQ3Q-sQsQj9I3W7o5RQZ6ZaCL8bFTOZv5o3Mnm-kovmBGy653fSa87zh-cuIvdARwOZy2LY4LsyupmsSDzomtYJCJJqYjctwkTk4frUPykN9LWwyOfi9gyahI8AxI9Nwn6_6JPwDq-vKQjNcmtN67bQCygIDV24Q&animation=true" width="400" /> </div>
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I also wanted to tell some of my penpals about the Facebook group Snailmailersrus. It's a great site if you are interested in swapping. I haven't really met many people there yet but I have swapped things like homemade envelopes, stickers and other penpalling goodies. Today I took part in a "Gimme gimme," where you write 5 things that you would like and someone sends you something. You have to sign up to send something to another member. I am sending someone some tea and a memo pad. A woman in Russia is sending me some Russian snacks, which I'm sure I've never had before.</div>
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Tomorrow is a busy day. I'm being observed by a professor whom I am helping with a research project. I'm feeling a bit nervous about it but I'm sure I'll be fine when I do it. </div>
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-14251851534579997512020-02-01T19:03:00.001-05:002020-02-01T19:03:23.941-05:00February 2020 Want to know what my favorite thing about February is? Well, I have a lot- believe it or not. Quite a few years ago, I discovered <a href="http://www.lettermo.com/">The Month of Letters</a>, affectionately known as Lettermo. Basically, the premise of the challenge is that you write a personal piece of mail for every day in February and respond to each piece of Lettermo mail you get. I'm a little behind with my writing due to the move in October, but I plan to get caught up quick. Of course, I also have other notes I'd like to send too. I've prepped by making a whole bunch of envelopes and buying a ton of stamps. I may blog about the mail every day in February since I might actually get a lot of it and some of my friends have asked what makes penpalling so appealing to me.<br />
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Ironically, the only mail I got today was a tag where someone was supposed to send me a bag of candy but they put the wrong swap in the envelope and I got their mail intended for someone else. I've had a bit of a rough day so secretly I was hoping for Finnish chocolate. :( No such luck. Hopefully she will resend what I was expecting from the swap I signed up for. <br />
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I'm mailing a bunch of things today. There is a letter to a Lettermo participant that I've never written to before, a letter to a student to thank them for always working hard for me, 9 cards to students who auditioned for a music festival today and 1 card to a former student who just performed incredibly in the Dormagen Junior Men's Sabre World Cup.<br />
If I can get my act together, maybe I can put the stats for my current mail challenge up tomorrow. I have not done well with writing every day, but I have probably sent out more pieces of mail than there have been days in January. We'll see, I just need to track everything down. Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-58219676212401638432020-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:002020-01-31T17:41:54.648-05:00January Reading Challenge Update<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Reading Challenge Update- January</h2>
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These are the books I have read in January and my general impressions of them.</div>
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<u>The Little Book of Hygge</u> by Meik Wiking. The Scandinavian concept of "hygge," which is roughly translated to mean cozy and comfortable, has always been appealing to me. When I saw this book sitting in Barnes and Noble one day a few years ago, I was immediately drawn in to the subject as well as the beauty and simplicity of the book itself. The author, Meik Wiking, is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen and he has been studying what things contribute to making Denmark the happiest country in the world. </div>
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I was recently writing to a penpal about my old apartment and how it didn't feel like "home" to me. I may have written about it on the blog before too. Based on this book, I think I would feel very at home in Denmark (and a lot of other Scandinavian countries.) It talks about the fact that people like to just get together to be themselves and be comfortable- to share their time, food and fun. Nothing fancy many times, just good company and comfort- and candles, warm drinks and yummy foods- like cake. I just found myself reading this book and thinking, "Yes, I like that. That's what makes me feel like myself." I also realized that I have some pretty "hyggelig" places in my new house that I already love. This book includes ideas to make your home and places of employment a bit more hygge. It includes recipes and ideas of things to do. I enjoyed it a lot. If you like being casual and comfortable (with other people too), I'd recommend reading through this book.<br />
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<u>The Orphan Train-</u> by Christina Baker Kline. 2 good books in a row! Score. My friend Mary, who is in a book club with me, let me borrow this book. It tells the story of 2 women- Molly, a seventeen year old girl with a reputation who is in foster care, and Vivian, a 91 year old widow who lives alone with some hired help. When Molly is required to do some community service for stealing, her boyfriend hooks her up with a job to help clean out Vivian's attic. They begin to unpack the boxes and uncover some memories and similarities.</div>
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Family history is a very interesting topic to me. I like to see where people come from and "what makes them tick." I had heard of the orphan train before but I definitely did not know all of the details. I've actually wondered if my great-grandfather might've been involved with something like this since it's impossible to find any records on him. I found myself relating a lot to the characters and in how they relate to other people.<br />
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<u>A River Runs Again</u>- by Meera Subramanian. In all honesty, I got this book from Goodreads a very long time ago, maybe 2015. I was behind on my reading so it went on my TBR shelf. I'm using this as my Keyword Reading Challenge book. The keyword was water, but it's okay to use things related to that word. This book was a slow read for me,but I enjoyed it very much. I don't know a lot about India, only what I've seen on the news, in papers or from friends. I am friends with a few Indian families and friends but have never experienced India myself. Honestly, this book may lead to some interesting conversations with some of those friends. I regret not reading this when I got it because stats from 2015 will obviously be a little different now. (Hopefully for the better.) </div>
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This book was very informative. It brought up a lot of topics I have honestly never really thought of, or was just ignorant about. Some of those things had to do with water shortages in India (and how most of their yearly rain falls within 100 hours during monsoon season!), how different cultures dispose of their dead, the importance of vultures, pollution from cookstoves, how technological advances also have to be mindful of cultural practices, etc. It was kind of fascinating to me. With that being said, I would consider myself a nerd and I love to read. I struggled with some of the Indian names because I lack familiarity with them. In most cases I knew immediately what the author was explaining, but realistically, I didn't know if the name of a place or person might've had a larger significance than just a name. (For example, was a place names after a significant event in India or was there a symbolic meaning.) I like to read before bed and sometimes I needed more mental energy to be able to process everything than I had that night.</div>
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<u>Hillbilly Elegy-</u> by J.D. Vance- I suggested this book for my book club. I had heard some good things about it. Many people said it "was like Educated," which I hated, so I was hoping for good things. Basically, it tells of the author's experience growing up with his family. This family is not exactly what I would call functional, but there were definitely things that were relatable to me. In terms of good qualities- there were people in the family who were very loyal to one another, people who encouraged upward mobility and growing up to become something larger than people thought you might accomplish, and people who stepped up in times of need. On the negative side, there were dysfunctional relationships, addiction, poverty, and feelings of inadequacy just because of the life you were born into.<br />
Although many of the people in the book were pretty disturbing, I appreciate J.D.'s honest look at his life. So many people think that they "had a bad childhood" so there is no hope that they will be a functional human. Some people use their experiences as an excuse to not have to try in life. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that your past does not affect your life, but I'm not a believer that you are doomed forever or that someone know owes you something. I think what I liked about this book is that J.D. basically says "Here's my life" and shares both good and bad aspects and how those affected him as a person. Looking back, there are aspects of his life that he knows really affected him negatively, like his relationship with his mom, but also that there are many parts of his life that he appreciates and has shaped him as a person. I found it interesting to read about his experiences at Yale and not feeling like he fit in when he was with what his family (and maybe even himself) would consider "outsiders."<br />
I like books that explain why people are who they become. The author brings up some points about entitlement in America and a lack of work ethic, which I agree with. All in all, it was a good read. There was a lot of swearing with some of the "stereotypical hillbilly" people, which might be disturbing for many readers, but I think it was probably an accurate representation on who those people were in public as well as in private.<br />
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<u>The Scarpetta Factor</u> by Patricia Cornwell. Unfortunately, I have finally read a book during this year that I didn't enjoy. Although I'm usually okay with thrillers and suspense, this story did not pull me in at all. I didn't really like many of the characters and didn't particularly care about any of them. The victim in the story had a cool device on her wrist that looked like a watch that the cops were trying to figure out, but that was probably the most interesting part of the story to me. I finished it but it took way longer than I wanted to. </div>
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Goodreads Challenge 5/60</div>
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Keyword Reading Challenge 1/12.</div>
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-65004230357212239872020-01-19T16:01:00.002-05:002020-01-19T16:01:55.979-05:00The Book Hive Book ClubHello! I thought I'd just write a quick post about a nice aspect of last year. I have been writing a longer blog post about all the books that I've been reading in January, but I've scheduled that to come out at the end of the month instead of putting each book in its own post. What I thought I'd write about today is still reading related though... The Book Hive Book Club.<br />
Last spring, May maybe, I learned that a woman had an idea to share the love of reading in a unique book club. She wrote this on their Facebook page:<br />
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<span>The Book Hive Book Club is a unique opportunity that encourages members to share their love of reading with others across the United States. Essentially, each member is part of a 12-member team. Each member journals their thoughts in a notebook while reading a book and then mails the book and journal to the next member on their team at the end of the month. At the end of 12 months, each member's original book and thought-filled journal are mailed back to them." </span><br />
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<span> All of the group names are Bee themed. I'm in W's group, so I assume I'm the 23rd group! I think we started in August? The members of my group are from MA, OK, PA, TX, NJ, MN, WA, CA and WV. I send to OK and receive from WV. So far it's been pretty cool. I've gotten to know some of the members of my group through their journals and through our private Facebook group. I've read a lot of books I may not have picked up on my own, like "Have You Seen Luis Velez" and "Meet Me in Monaco." The book I chose for the group was "The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs." I have 5 books left- 1 romance (not something I'd pick for sure, but I'll give it a chance.), 2 suspenseful fiction, 1 classic and 1 non-fiction. </span><br />
<span> I even bought a Book Hive shirt that they designed: Now you'll know what it is if you ever see me in it. It has generated some conversation. </span><br />
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Yesterday I took part in a <u>6 hour</u> readathon with members of all the Book Hive groups. Rarely have I given myself permission to just hang our for 6 hours and do nothing but read. It was glorious. David and the cats joined me for a while. We had online check-ins and it was nice to meet some new folks.<br />
I know a lot of my friends are readers. I've mentioned this club to my other book club and 2 members also joined. I recently met another person in town who is part of the club too. If you might be interested, check out The Book Hive Book Club on Facebook. If you'd like to join, PM the owner of the page. It has been different and interesting. Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-71512068865459050592020-01-01T22:10:00.001-05:002020-01-01T22:10:35.684-05:00Happy New Year 2020!<h2>
<span style="color: purple;">Happy New Year!</span></h2>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> I was at Christmas this year and one of my sister-in-laws, Sarah, asked where I've been since my blog has been neglected for a long time. I laughed and told her that I haven't been updating because I think only 2 or 3 people actually look at my blog, but then I figured that if someone was asking about it, I should get back into being more disciplined about writing. Also, looking back on the blog, I'm seeing a ton of broken links with my pictures. I need to figure out why that is like that. New year, new start, right?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> So, there's a ton of news since I last wrote. So, right after my last post, I got a call from my landlord to ask how my summer was going. In reality, he was calling to tell us that he sold the house our apartment was in. After some discussion, it became obvious that he had no idea what the new owner planned with the house and if we'd be able to stay. He didn't seem to care either. The good news is that we'd probably find out when they passed papers, 3 days after his phone call to us. Matt and I decided that we needed to take immediate action about the whole situation. The good news is that anybody who knows me well would know that I've been dreaming of being a home owner forever. Massachusetts is a pretty expensive state to live in so it seemed pretty unachievable to me- and it was until this year. We started looking for a house at the end of August and moved into our new home, in the same town we lived in before, on October 25th. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> I've gotten dismally behind on my writing and reading (though reading had a huge increase over my Christmas break.) We're in good shape with being moved in and we love it here. It's so nice to live in a neighborhood, rather than surrounded by businesses. We've loved having friends and family come visit and hope to have many more visitors.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">2020 Goals</span></span></h2>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> I was thinking of my goal setting over the past week and then realized I had lost track of my 2019 goals. I thought that I had written a blog post about it but, looking back, I think I was just so grateful to have survived 2018 that I didn't even care. I failed my Goodreads goal by a few books. I read 54 out of 60. I didn't do any reading challenges. I FINALLY BOUGHT A HOUSE! That's been on my goal list for about 20 years. I also lost 20 pounds. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> After some thought, these are my goals:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">One Word- Some people like to choose a word to focus on for the year.<b> I think I'd like my word to be "CONNECT" this year.</b> I think I'm becoming a little more introverted in my old age (of 42), but I think I'm just sick of shallow. I want to establish better relationships and give myself freedom to walk away from people who seemingly suck the life out of me. Now, I know some of you are laughing and thinking, "Are you serious? You talk to so many people!" I'm okay with that. I like people. I like meeting new people and even sometimes being uncomfortable being surrounded by people that are really different from me. I just want to increase the quality of my relationships. In 2019 I made a few friends at the gym and in my book clubs. I took some risks and become closer to some families at the school where I work and even got to know some colleagues on a deeper level. I want more of this and now that we have a place I feel comfortable hosting, I'd like to connect more. I have a few ideas on how to connect more. Some of these ideas I'm keeping to myself. One of my ideas is to host a monthly "thing" at my house and just inviting anyone who wants to come. I think January will be a game night. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">Letter writing- Letter writing is one of the nicest ways for me to connect with the world and my friends. I've actually started writing to all of my nieces and nephews last year and really enjoyed just sending them a little love through the mail. They all probably think I'm weird but I know at least 2 or 3 appreciated it. :)<b> Like the first year I did the blog, my goal is to send at least 1 piece of personal mail per day. </b>That's 366 pieces of mail this year! I'll keep track of a lot of my incoming mail here on the blog so that will help me be disciplined. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">Spiritual Goals- I tried to have a devotional with a friend once a week but it was inconsistent so I'm going to try to<b> be more intentional with daily prayer and devotions. I'm keeping a prayer journal where I'm going to write down prayer requests and pray over them daily.</b> I'm not a big "journal" person usual. I think this will help me to remember what friends and family have brought to me and helps me to be less selfish in my prayer life. It will also be great to read back and be reminded of God's faithfulness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">Reading- I love crazy busy schedules, being surrounded by people and being mentally active. One of my problems is that I can sometimes be too mentally active. I need to unwind if I ever want a chance to sleep. Reading is one of my activities that give me peace. I have a few reading challenges I'd like to do.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> <b> My Goodreads challenge is to read 60 books this year.</b> I'll do it, especially since I failed this year. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> <b> I'll also be participating in the <a href="https://www.girlxoxo.com/monthly-key-word-reading-challenge-2020/">Keyword Reading Challenge</a>. </b>Every month of this challenge you need to read a book that has one of the keywords (or a variation of that word) in the title. I've done this challenge before when it was hosted by other people, but this year the original host, GirlXOXO is hosting. Thanks! I am looking forward to it! Here are the keywords this year. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-17760 lazyloaded" data-attachment-id="17760" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Instagram Keywords Post" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?fit=796%2C796&ssl=1" data-orig-size="796,796" data-permalink="https://www.girlxoxo.com/monthly-key-word-reading-challenge-2020/instagram-keywords-post/" data-src="https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=796%2C796&ssl=1" data-srcset="https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?w=796&ssl=1 796w, https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 100w, https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=250%2C250&ssl=1 250w" height="700" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.girlxoxo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Instagram-Keywords-Post.jpg?resize=796%2C796&ssl=1" width="700" /> There's one more challenge I'm kind of considering, but I might be going a little crazy.Ok, there are actually 2. Maybe I'll update if I decide to do those too.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">Physical- I've joined a gym and have been in the process of getting more healthy. Frankly,<b> I have a ton of weight to lose</b>- not literally, but sometimes it feels like it. So, to save you from passing out I'll spare you the amount of weight (just typed "weird" by accident but that fits too) that I'd like to lose, but it's quite a bit. Either way, even if the numbers are not as low as I'd like, I've lowered my blood sugar considerably, I'm stronger and I have more muscle. I'm committed to this gym until at least August so I'm already on the right track. Feel free to leave me healthy recipes that actually taste like food :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> Those are the main goals I've had. I was happy that this year made think a lot about what I can do to make myself a better person or to enjoy life a little more rather than feeling like I had to fix a lot of things that were wrong with myself. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> Ok, I think that's it for tonight. Feel free to say hello or introduce yourself if you're dropping by for the first time. If you're in the Keyword Reading Challenge, feel free to share your blog so I can follow along with you too! Happy 2020!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> </span> </span>Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-62733251671486292452019-09-01T18:44:00.000-04:002019-09-01T18:44:03.509-04:00Latest cards from August 2019<div style="text-align: center;">
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Netherlands- I can only imagine what seeing this in person would be like. Beautiful. </div>
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From Florida, but we have the exact same cards in MA with Cape Cod or some other coastal area written at the bottom. </div>
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Germany- These little guys are on television commercials</div>
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Germany- Typical things from the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. </div>
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I also received:</div>
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1) A card from Suomi, Finland, which is beautiful. The front showed a summer cottage on a lake while the sun was setting. The stamp was a beautiful cloud filled sky reflecting on a clear pond.</div>
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2) A hilarious card from Finland showing a comic strip about how Finns are often uncomfortable with small talk. </div>
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3) A card from a homeschooling family in Ireland, but who are originally Dutch.</div>
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4) A card of Germany, sent by someone in Italy who seems to be on a US Military base. They said they had never heard of Postcrossing so I have no idea who they are or how they got my address. So, thanks if it was you! Morgan?</div>
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5) A German card with a quote and a flower. </div>
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Sorry I don't have pictures of those ones. I'm in a hurry to finish before doing some housework so I just wanted to stop in. </div>
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Today is September 1 and I'm loving the cooler nights! </div>
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Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-31201674704032853272019-08-23T17:56:00.000-04:002019-08-23T17:56:11.212-04:00Incoming postcards After InCoWriMo, Lettermo and Write_On, I got a little overwhelmed with my mail pile and let it sit for a while. I'm in a frantic race to reply to all mail by Monday, August 26th when I go back to school. 8 letters to go. I'm going to do it. It is said "<br />
In order to get good mail, you need to send good mail." The other day, I was straightening up the desk where my computer is and I saw my pile of postcards to put away. I realized that, compared to the average person, I get a massive amount of personal mail. I send a lot too, but this pile made me happy. I thought I'd share with you some of the great postcards that I've received just this month. For anyone considering Postcrossing, this is where most of these Postcards came from. (I apologize if I posted a few of these before, I didn't want to scroll through all the posts to check since I don't have a lot of time tonight.) It's so great to connect with people across the globe in a positive way.I've written where each card is from above the cards:<br />
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Australia:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhzk4ZD2xHaLqvdNLZF6lYUP8t-xD36dpDBrFO2RHWQKSJMyNqnTdEgmSZd6bKpCAU2jxX8qQ9ejbkoQhyb3pR1wIdIliYH8y2wGJIRmVs0vORcWWA9Yik950toz6XYlUk3VntX7n5PU/s1600/IMG_5488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhzk4ZD2xHaLqvdNLZF6lYUP8t-xD36dpDBrFO2RHWQKSJMyNqnTdEgmSZd6bKpCAU2jxX8qQ9ejbkoQhyb3pR1wIdIliYH8y2wGJIRmVs0vORcWWA9Yik950toz6XYlUk3VntX7n5PU/s400/IMG_5488.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Belgium</div>
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Canada</div>
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Remember my vacation from last post? This is the famous "Three Churches" I was talking about. I bought myself this postcard as a souvenir.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ31xI8zeWZdvYSzVT9yuxyaGQ-hPBxR_E8gdm7-5XJ9DU_un-S3yYRS5javkTHp1FjOYZXNcIv9LMoE5nArN9NkuKo9rmKMgG73TPWDaPUhvNvGmMMrtbtuHJEEG9bgx56RUE7qUjKrA/s1600/IMG_5484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ31xI8zeWZdvYSzVT9yuxyaGQ-hPBxR_E8gdm7-5XJ9DU_un-S3yYRS5javkTHp1FjOYZXNcIv9LMoE5nArN9NkuKo9rmKMgG73TPWDaPUhvNvGmMMrtbtuHJEEG9bgx56RUE7qUjKrA/s320/IMG_5484.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
China:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEittzZBHCwksiq7YDebhmYcRx6iawZIyt-rTNbk2pE35AEOigZnaSTS86HFAwYkoixU9LwavoNlqtmjZnePObPBvFr08XLoAUbUbsGBSwHlkNCvw7XWu66OWc6BtOqEnkCtgbOH4un00/s1600/IMG_5485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEittzZBHCwksiq7YDebhmYcRx6iawZIyt-rTNbk2pE35AEOigZnaSTS86HFAwYkoixU9LwavoNlqtmjZnePObPBvFr08XLoAUbUbsGBSwHlkNCvw7XWu66OWc6BtOqEnkCtgbOH4un00/s400/IMG_5485.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Czech Republic:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKUxM-5UGi22myFGDM3r7IAo6k2R9OW7QAWZ5rYzAuCP2ArCAA294ep9SvoQwMwjANZGEhq0mIhwcx8gVS2iIxMmhM-VcRJ_8KCgwmFneo_GVHPvhAjplmR0YuUSSxcfEKlbAaVEbWnU/s1600/IMG_5487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKUxM-5UGi22myFGDM3r7IAo6k2R9OW7QAWZ5rYzAuCP2ArCAA294ep9SvoQwMwjANZGEhq0mIhwcx8gVS2iIxMmhM-VcRJ_8KCgwmFneo_GVHPvhAjplmR0YuUSSxcfEKlbAaVEbWnU/s400/IMG_5487.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Finland:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLP6nt25f3XLw1Vjm7mE4D5TIn8XwZRhO-_u7HPTttKiJwfiyPNcyZrNIQBEqakFE59aGvxkaLFDIZrDoHadGlQ-vifryfU7LXLlop_8YJ4MDKaVP0zSfraK1Q_WsdKFSKtOBF-HYoAGA/s1600/IMG_5489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLP6nt25f3XLw1Vjm7mE4D5TIn8XwZRhO-_u7HPTttKiJwfiyPNcyZrNIQBEqakFE59aGvxkaLFDIZrDoHadGlQ-vifryfU7LXLlop_8YJ4MDKaVP0zSfraK1Q_WsdKFSKtOBF-HYoAGA/s400/IMG_5489.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTJk7GCZucrf4etEmQhDMw49OFHV_g0uQiWa6LxNkvoX2HIQDespQH5g-c0VKFq0yvPQiEPCruFfnNDftYLoMHRvPNWz1DFkh2pYyD5LWpK5QakbM_9Nr5Ouj1whjGTphJnMvFiJXE4Y/s1600/IMG_5491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTJk7GCZucrf4etEmQhDMw49OFHV_g0uQiWa6LxNkvoX2HIQDespQH5g-c0VKFq0yvPQiEPCruFfnNDftYLoMHRvPNWz1DFkh2pYyD5LWpK5QakbM_9Nr5Ouj1whjGTphJnMvFiJXE4Y/s400/IMG_5491.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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France:</div>
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<img alt="FR-1192743" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/nfhinandmtls9oy944zvaq9llnc43npa.jpg" title="FR-1192743" /> </div>
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Germany:</div>
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<img alt="DE-8407419" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/pzdo8jyxn18cyhml6u9cx67gaxfz7kuw.jpg" title="DE-8407419" /> </div>
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<img alt="DE-8389791" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/qk69o6x8c7w3jgfboigv3c510cr6ghj1.jpg" title="DE-8389791" /> </div>
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<img alt="DE-8389790" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/24yt1duvq1ncufiks9a73xk36svdzqha.jpg" title="DE-8389790" /></div>
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Hong Kong:</div>
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<img alt="HK-648509" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" height="400" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/pd6ogo3vg28ita7kmxccnv9q6n3dgo7y.jpg" title="HK-648509" width="270" /> </div>
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Japan</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwR1Zr9eWMjvJ4bfPJf9Gt0jI7BKSjVvap-8Rbj_XuzQ00HVhxBB6JGABKNiVLHKhZcccdN3583hEbjxP3IS4DizifqAL5BTFIEcuFpW-9j0-JYLmvbAWIfZmGU-dUwQaqDIYIf38GJ64/s1600/IMG_5495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwR1Zr9eWMjvJ4bfPJf9Gt0jI7BKSjVvap-8Rbj_XuzQ00HVhxBB6JGABKNiVLHKhZcccdN3583hEbjxP3IS4DizifqAL5BTFIEcuFpW-9j0-JYLmvbAWIfZmGU-dUwQaqDIYIf38GJ64/s400/IMG_5495.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Khazakhstan:</div>
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<img alt="KZ-44930" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/eshs75fahos8nvk5hz2rkyj1dtrfff17.jpg" title="KZ-44930" /> </div>
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Luxembourg (And I understood most of the German without needing to look it up!):</div>
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<img alt="LU-60097" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/iw773kr2q8idfwkshx43iz49d7bwk0j5.jpg" title="LU-60097" /> </div>
Malaysia: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIc369W74RS9AyGGuvPi9wX0RLrEdSkn6KpySEyUMthTF-s5yEFJmr_rKfjc3VXmZj1L0kAXU3jPi_rRJI9UPbvz291DM5yGOXcDE45NGOCkgTl9YZNOq3ddhcHB1Ck0KtiboFSzsaxc/s1600/IMG_5496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIc369W74RS9AyGGuvPi9wX0RLrEdSkn6KpySEyUMthTF-s5yEFJmr_rKfjc3VXmZj1L0kAXU3jPi_rRJI9UPbvz291DM5yGOXcDE45NGOCkgTl9YZNOq3ddhcHB1Ck0KtiboFSzsaxc/s400/IMG_5496.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Russia</div>
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<img alt="RU-7424343" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/f7wtexq7qf5ivlha1a5aawziia4pxlj3.jpg" title="RU-7424343" /> </div>
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Taiwan<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMlbKR_-uSvJ7VK_eG42PUW_QffXkah0S_vk_b3ONDFFXNXgTXPZxbDT6VR0BYsDMPq8wKcjEZkwiUBYlrQgYablIXoE9eABYvGfuEongF0po3OZfm2zC2lg7IxDx2FP-lFgm0uVrI7U/s1600/IMG_5500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMlbKR_-uSvJ7VK_eG42PUW_QffXkah0S_vk_b3ONDFFXNXgTXPZxbDT6VR0BYsDMPq8wKcjEZkwiUBYlrQgYablIXoE9eABYvGfuEongF0po3OZfm2zC2lg7IxDx2FP-lFgm0uVrI7U/s320/IMG_5500.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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US</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioezxGql1fJBhxOQUSun_NaAPbUI7IWw0utJPgXt7WQx0FCZ4yAx8tf-MK-7ICxImOHfdDctwt_y1ebGeWGBF_Y1qait9Lq9h6IWZAQl4FBmzTJr-Xjoqt0zh6lZZthTCoRIzh6NGJL44/s1600/IMG_5501.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioezxGql1fJBhxOQUSun_NaAPbUI7IWw0utJPgXt7WQx0FCZ4yAx8tf-MK-7ICxImOHfdDctwt_y1ebGeWGBF_Y1qait9Lq9h6IWZAQl4FBmzTJr-Xjoqt0zh6lZZthTCoRIzh6NGJL44/s400/IMG_5501.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhApR-An2C1oGaQLQzuZ8lz0eCs3veAcLv46uInau7pmiJmb9fx6bFJuioq1qrNwV7ECjvjVakfgZj6K209P3DiuQx8mK6tt0spHT2sOj2XXdQ3IGCLeLxFGGKI9IlDitTJsGBhGxhZDsI/s1600/IMG_5502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhApR-An2C1oGaQLQzuZ8lz0eCs3veAcLv46uInau7pmiJmb9fx6bFJuioq1qrNwV7ECjvjVakfgZj6K209P3DiuQx8mK6tt0spHT2sOj2XXdQ3IGCLeLxFGGKI9IlDitTJsGBhGxhZDsI/s400/IMG_5502.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
(The Portland card is from a #Write_on pal.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGN0LVlYSsnHI0DjgPappRB2Ka7PF08if3Sj31Ti0MTSq4jPajfJ_b0DbUlV3lEUbZKhhWVV2MM9UiYYAHzl2-histPgy-B8QWXygbgNb30r_JqZXDHj1PG5i90CH9imYvhhfR4xZEEOM/s1600/IMG_5503.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGN0LVlYSsnHI0DjgPappRB2Ka7PF08if3Sj31Ti0MTSq4jPajfJ_b0DbUlV3lEUbZKhhWVV2MM9UiYYAHzl2-histPgy-B8QWXygbgNb30r_JqZXDHj1PG5i90CH9imYvhhfR4xZEEOM/s400/IMG_5503.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<img alt="US-6149520" class="image-with-shadow postcard-image image-centered elastic-image" itemprop="image" src="https://s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/static2.postcrossing.com/postcard/medium/6ry0kfb8k5m95lr6v2jfenp9802fc5is.jpg" title="US-6149520" /> </div>
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So, ask you can see, I get a great variety of cards.I have lots of other news to share, some good some not so good. Well, nothing bad, just a little stressful. I am going to let myself get back to school before writing those posts. </div>
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7250022360971344067.post-47513775365831106202019-08-06T22:16:00.000-04:002019-08-06T22:16:13.079-04:00Road Trip 2019- Canada Anyone who knows our family knows that we really love to travel and love a good road trip. This year the destination was New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. I have been doing a lot of genealogy research over this summer so I decided to try to get a few things done on vacation too.<br />
Our first day we traveled to Weldon, New Brunswick. According to records, my great-grandfather was born at Edgett's Landing and lived in Hillsborough, which is right next to Weldon. We stayed in a comfortable AirBnb and saw some nice scenery on the way.<br />
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Weldon is also near to Hopewell Cape, which is great since we couldn't get there when we visited Saint John in April. Of course we showed up at high tide, which I could've planned better. Hopewell Cape is on the Bay of Fundy, which has the largest tides in the world. The brown water is not exactly appealing, but the scenery is beautiful.</div>
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Is there anybody reading who is interested in genealogy? If you don't do family history research, you may not know that genealogy is a black hole that sucks you in for hours (years) at a time. I have worked on my family tree for a long time. I have many branches that are super confusing and seem to be dead ends. I had a few successful moments on my trip. My great-grandparents on my paternal grandmother's side moved from Canada. They were the Andersons and the McKinnons. (MacKinnon). Anytime I've connected with a McKinnon, they've talked about Scotch Settlement, which I figured was a town. It's not, it's a road. I found it... and the family cemetery. Ha! All my (dead) relatives couldn't hide from me here. </div>
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My great-great grandparents </div>
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The McKinnon homestead where I believe Absalom lived.</div>
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My 3rd great grandparents</div>
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You're probably thinking (if you're not into genealogy), "Wow, you're weird. Hanging out at a cemetery on vacation?" We actually went to a few. :) And I joked about my dead relatives hiding... 2 did and I couldn't find them at the cemetery they're buried at. I did randomly find other relatives at that other cemetery though so it was still a win.</div>
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Then we trekked over to Nova Scotia where we stayed in Mahone Bay. Here are some of the highlights because I could write A LOT about how much I loved Mahone Bay.I especially liked all of the people, and I met many. I will definitely want to return sometime. I didn't want to come home. </div>
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One of the images that come to mind when people mention Mahone Bay
are "the three churches." The first 2 are pretty noticeable, but the
third is kind of cut off in this picture. It's steeple is taken down and
a tree was blocking most of the church so I was happy with this
picture. Matt's family helped found this town and we did a lot of
genealogy work here too. I sometimes buy a Christmas ornament from our vacations as a souvenir. I bought one from the Amos Pewter Company. It shows a boy sleeping with these 3 churches showing out his window. </div>
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Ever see the show The Curse of Oak Island? The island is about 15 minutes away from where we stayed. They give tours on the weekend, but all of them are full for this year. They film on the island from Monday-Friday but we thought we'd stop by to look at the museum, which contains many of their finds. Imagine our surprise when we saw some of the cast, including Rick Lagina, hanging around outside. They invited all the people who were gawking at them to take a picture and they took time with each group of people that came over to chat. Rick Lagina was super nice and down to earth. </div>
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When we went back to Mahone Bay, we took this picture outside a pub and I later learned that this is where the Oak Island guys usually film the restaurant scenes. </div>
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Beautiful flowers everywhere. These were at the place we were staying. </div>
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An early morning letter writing session on our porch. I had a GIANT spider keeping me company. We tolerated one another. </div>
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There was this awesome place named <a href="https://thebiscuiteater.com/">The Biscuit Eater</a>. Oh man.... I loved this place. It combined delicious food, coffee, tea and BOOKS. Look at all of the great areas you can sit- and I didn't include one whole room or outside. I visited this place <u>3 times! </u>on our trip. The first time the whole family went for lunch. The 2nd time David woke up, came downstairs and asked where everybody else was. When I told him everybody was still asleep, he suggested going to get a "scone of the day." We did. This is when I took these pictures. The scone of the day was chocolate raspberry. It was so delicious that we stopped there a 3rd time before we left to take scones to go. That day the flavors were blueberry (pictured) and strawberry kiwi.</div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67889070_2492881700773839_7262942658501279744_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_oc=AQkTeL9mbnKybFqlGh-c7fsXQAzy-vbDJgohrOhVf80IGUl1nnr_JRzy_3VwC1Ld9Zk&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-2.fna&oh=d9265f38402ac1f96ee794c057a279a3&oe=5DD25688" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67886241_523333035072407_804922754406023168_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_oc=AQlY9WR9C9PkqGvUs43eT8E2LYnmnddwrBDOoGvgaQ_PkTm7X7MSnPbKkGPal4esBig&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=186bddee9a2e5cc0cab9e4f0d3e19293&oe=5DA03646" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67772588_432666030662593_6412982395993063424_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQn5d99Fwl66_4S0R1sbgEQ1qEjUFvvnJhd1tJMxHT6Cu3jMPHtaTZcPDEsPtFAmNWY&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=0869d41481c8c89b469dfdb2eaa79c19&oe=5DD7B431" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/68792214_297986754345286_7102212814642610176_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_oc=AQmT83u1xbhGT5p6M5SvxVPFZyNdcaNM6E5s9QWEiY-18JpK_sYm3vpKKDPNuCoOXmU&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-2.fna&oh=f737c9e2c07dac48a9e2e369cd2f68a6&oe=5DD4DA01" width="240" /> </div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Aug 2, 2019, 11:08:53 AM" class="SzDcob" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVi4V554B3A7jJJ40JKFmOTOaC3xrE7sTbBcR-63waZe3KG-QKVyFkLKXYdV1X6cKvkawzMkSosGqt6Lo7SWjHX5loG4azCgEOG_aeLvEMFq-Z6nv5SIZfyUjBZH2Q-0Vld0LWQzJYSM/w708-h944-no/" style="transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px) rotate(0deg);" width="240" /> </div>
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Ironically, when we decided to go on this vacation, our plan was to center all of our activities around Lunenburg, which is a UNESCO World Heritage location. We went there twice but I was so in love with Mahone Bay that we barely explored this town. </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="240" src="https://scontent.fbos1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67734304_490235344870872_450066311528054784_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQkHXY9ojPTbnQJWq_p0baXhQc3huNYkQPiJdXSGAbcql0nlEJu3uITVHn6pryTxq8E&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-2.fna&oh=3445e5aa2aa0071715a9f32d76dd2087&oe=5DE589D5" width="320" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="240" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67742110_403180190545589_4114840920271093760_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQk40T_KqQWyK1S_lJUfA51YZyNrh0oLk9S-lLvhISfEJSM9icGqIi4yC1X0hF5KOaY&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=1ddd52047268b75249f141fcd89e5da2&oe=5DDB8C12" width="320" /> </div>
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This summer I have intentionally stepped outside of my comfort zone to expand my horizons and grow as a person. This vacation, I met a distant relative that I had never met before. I actually went to the home of a stranger to have coffee and discuss our research? Remember the dead guys above? Check this out! My 2nd great grandfather is the guy in middle of the top row. His dad is sitting below him. I've never been a fan of facial hair, but these guys are cool. I took this picture outside, sorry for the glare. </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="240" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67872299_2234146756684718_2193704359462699008_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQmJcRMl7FNdce5gTEnwolUc1faqOeEQZSBsNFa5Wzef19JbstFaxZYVZkvzJ9ldoDY&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=eab386ddc4d99e8fc7da3517263506ce&oe=5DD328C4" width="320" /> </div>
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We explored a park called <a href="https://www.ovenspark.com/">The Ovens</a> because of its sea caves. This isn't a great place if you don't like heights, but it's certainly beautiful. One of the girls who worked there said that they had seen whales who had come into the bay to feed a few days before we were there. </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="240" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/68323489_2338966253098187_8236872152666603520_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQl5m6HOyG8LLsxfqi11T-XWD6JnqQ8M2x5dZHboSRdfAie5XaKqNo1U34aSLBEsxgg&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=962b705883d74e27b4b1a1ff25a8dfac&oe=5DE16BC4" width="320" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67648709_2354893351293268_5528401411429105664_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_oc=AQmr9G7gPTjHPh8I4HBVQYEznqxeO7Ay8jkQxsVINGLH-EVuuBjwOezsV5cv8BJ212A&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=9f848c3fa4a3646e766bf384e35b069f&oe=5DD21C10" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67611925_2418307811550666_2892437414729482240_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_oc=AQkBqSWHpNOuoYDm5YwUUYF6wgwYwCyDKtSYRKUcKXID9aNLIJ-o-9dC4dCLVL5A1sk&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=0433ecf2a0b4a74dd7cf7bb6f37f5d65&oe=5DD63044" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67942578_501172564018499_4766372272069935104_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQmiAy_AojOnAWkKMH1uoIEUpzGhmYK-YdYY9ORJgbDPVCtH5du1HAKliq0PF5Uz2Fw&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=4fdede2d19e0969a91ff53894824b06a&oe=5DA3D769" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/68494311_464504021063886_5392769350698532864_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_oc=AQnemPW_9UMvoSahByZejqQ8jzpeBKMgWLoiO1lf5PyYf9E4Bs631FPEcjKTn8MwWsI&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-2.fna&oh=7dadbd5add5ba4aa4d4177709667dd90&oe=5DD6758A" width="240" /> </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67673849_375789366454552_7029941421427654656_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_oc=AQmiY2Vi4jdgzLWprQ9cGr1SZiEnK7Jqo8LYoas5EJfc5Xy2ak7o2a4sIR9Z_W3j7Es&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=e9bee507097c929019100d92d2589cfe&oe=5DD5EAA2" width="240" /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CpxrsRIfODtWlyKnFOzyQLWQ6zZ2anCoDddgLbHJfDY8-LxtpoE0wGmln8T3T9EEqQxjaR8QOHN1KBSASlJnf91KtrV04lHT2MlWmuotyyU437JwaqLohWZbEuvT1x-J2ND_lYL8x8E/s1600/IMG_5430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CpxrsRIfODtWlyKnFOzyQLWQ6zZ2anCoDddgLbHJfDY8-LxtpoE0wGmln8T3T9EEqQxjaR8QOHN1KBSASlJnf91KtrV04lHT2MlWmuotyyU437JwaqLohWZbEuvT1x-J2ND_lYL8x8E/s320/IMG_5430.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Panning for gold. He got a little bit. </div>
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<img alt="" class="img" height="320" src="https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/67782064_356892881893607_5139813794351939584_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQkDZzFpAaVm_YG8ESIKGIXho6Z3U83Y1eFpPw2tXAS7KajM9CMFCHza-mhwmmDkAKI&_nc_ht=scontent.fbos1-1.fna&oh=40be04c701338637b7cfeefef69eef36&oe=5DCED751" width="240" /></div>
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Our second to last day we traveled to Halifax. There was a buskers festival and this lady, Jenny Jupiter, was my favorite. I caught an adorable moment where a little girl who must've been about 4 told Jenny that her dress was pretty. Jenny made a few gestures and blew the little girl a kiss. Super cute. I got this video from her website. I also really enjoyed a duet where the woman played the fiddle and the man played the guitar. If I'm friends with you on Facebook, there is a video of them there. </div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rQWu3yZyvAU/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rQWu3yZyvAU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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We visited the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which had some artifacts from the Titanic. That was pretty cool but I had hoped the exhibit would be bigger. Lots of maritime exhibits of course. The boys found 2 voicepipes in the museum and enjoyed chatting across the long distances. Tim actually whipped out his phone and was using Google translate to communicate in French with a Canadian boy. </div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Aug 1, 2019, 2:06:19 PM" class="SzDcob" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SWMR_dkBmuPflbU53rUH8TGMZJFZb5I577Qpc9QFk8mOZWIDi0b5QBlKuUoNRaC2nkrs840HnzBvutqI7qNE4ZUDo-GGZqVlq3jtDvBRwpi_RCcH7YCs4WxJGhz35OcUmKZw0pOADno/w708-h944-no/" width="240" /> </div>
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We spent the last day of our trip in Saint John. I stayed at a Hampton Inn with a waterslide. I love Hampton Inn and stay there a lot. I was not happy with this one. My room was dirty when we got there. There were damaged items in the bathroom (broken lock and a chunk of the shower tiling was broken) and the pool was SUPER chemical-y. They also charged me an optional tourism lien. When I asked them about it, they told me it was a tourism lien, but not that it was optional. It was disappointing. </div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Aug 2, 2019, 5:49:10 PM" class="SzDcob" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKpR2QIs3yUG_6MkwkC1LzQe-Ylj07d69zMf1sV98saKRoOCSga6MDFv-v4yNDtRagQIJtObaYSGLTa8Q2h2Mfi_ShJZmT_oVDb3bQZWOCvKu9qhIAfDBCPfvyZaT4_gceTsYKrKCg3XM/w708-h944-no/" width="240" /> </div>
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Back in April we visited Saint John and stayed right on the bay. We visited a restaurant called <a href="https://saintjohn.gahan.ca/">Gahan House</a> and it was delicious. When I planned to revisit Saint John, the idea to revisit this restaurant accompanied. We had a nice dinner. It was a great way to end our vacation. I had brown bag fish and chips, which I got last time too. I even ate my fries with gravy, very Canadian. Then Tim and I shared this dessert, which reminded me of eating chocolate frosting from the container. Much more appealing than I made it sound.</div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Landscape - Aug 2, 2019, 7:53:03 PM" class="SzDcob" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2X2o1Lsg6wrfwhmjVvr9iJiyaBRSJ8rwAu5USFQZt3jw1fH1W9duSSQuGNjXA0LDEE3uvKhmsmG1u7ZiFhq8gXfWlIRmmW5xcl9apciPQc-DYzGUNKHU6RtPkF-Qb8UpAJaX1UlXcngU/w1259-h944-no/" width="320" /> </div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Landscape - Aug 2, 2019, 7:53:23 PM" class="SzDcob" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufMGfGDannFHHJcfb2YPjx2oGAt0FAZnJ7yxHFiRBD1lNrb3n6rXWnn-ZL4vr8s5Yd9xl6QPzByjP92J6KcwtOhvmG9ji8TV8sEFQy6Atjw2NPFfKMVIY9YxRg0rxMAk6IIhonHTUhXo/w1259-h944-no/" width="320" /> </div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Aug 2, 2019, 8:21:11 PM" class="SzDcob" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9u0VIpVSL5Qrk1rT11M-xxy0CbOWcEn_OhEdiTarlZpSS_VYA82VTPBojGgbsiojRocfgB1rvLT0c7NUo9A15ECmLDhklWGdW-ZnvRCyxohtszgOAGSW6qslzc7o493-6kFvg9wIAJ4/w708-h944-no/" width="240" /> </div>
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<img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Aug 2, 2019, 8:52:58 PM" class="SzDcob" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Hmj2iK6T_524oj82FuGnZpV-oeRV6HXnesNMVTZgdADnBW197-SgPZ-fhhHUlZ_ZO6O_OLTU7YyHPHmZay8_11xRZTsb2VAbK2INfBUkJ96uuocxzuZneY_DztfBsOQUvPBjWtBWcaU/w708-h944-no/" width="240" /> </div>
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There are many other things I enjoyed about this trip. If you want to hear more ask me about Curtis, the trombone player or Catherine from New Zealand. </div>
Timdanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14293450220460334365noreply@blogger.com0