You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2009.
What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting? Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends. And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.
I think Americans who live lives of busyness and business envy the apparent simplicity in a lack of drive to be busy for busynesses sake and who don’t see business as the ultimate goal in life. It makes me think of that line in Gaskell’s North and South when Margaret says about southern England, “It may be a little less energetic in its pursuit of competitive trade…” I think that is the difference. While life isn’t necessarily easier for the Amish (they certainly work harder than anyone I know), it is much less complicated and we crave that. I just think we have a tendency to romanticize simplicity to mean ease as well as a lack of complication.
I’ve never read anything by Cindy Woodsmall but I can guarantee I’m off to find out more!
Outside my window… Moths and other flying insects attempt to force their way into my house. Kind of like a lot of things actually… junk mail, ‘obligations’, and other things of life try to force their way in but we have to bar the door and screen the windows to prevent them from distracting us from our real purpose.
I am thinking… that my house looks like it had fifty people in it the other day.
From the learning rooms… I need to make Chapter two quiz for Quest of a Hemisphere so Nolan and Kaylene can do their work this week.
I am thankful for… a very rich and varied life and a family to share it with.
From the kitchen… we had roast, smashed potatoes, corn… and the bestest hubby ever cooked ‘em for us.
I am wearing … PJ’s but I’m planning on gingham capris and a white shirt tomorrow.
I am reading… Sister Chicks in Holland for an upcoming Book Review. I am also reading Argosy Junction looking for more errors.
I am hoping… that I get a quick appointment with the doctor. I’m calling Tuesday asap.
I am creating… adorable things out of cherries on twill fabric… starting tomorrow.
I am praying… for Heavenly aid to finish a ballad so I can publish my book.
Around the house… I am ‘freshening’ things for summer.
One of my favorite things… friends who stick closer than a brother.
A few plans for the rest of the week… Ballad on Tuesday, hair on Wednesday…
A picture to share…
My Birthday Girl/Graduate
Author: Mark Mynheir
Publisher’s Blurb: Eleven months ago, Ray Quinn was a tough, quick-witted Orlando homicide detective at the top of his game–until a barrage of bullets ended his career…and his partner’s life.
Now medically retired with a painful handicap, Ray battles the haunting guilt for his partner’s death. Numbing the pain with alcohol and attitude, Ray takes a job as a night watchman at a swanky Orlando condo.
But when a pastor and an exotic dancer are found dead in one of the condos in an apparent murder-suicide, Ray can no longer linger in the shadows. The pastor’s sister is convinced her brother was framed and begs Ray to take on an impossible case–to challenge the evidence and clear her brother’s name.
Ray reluctantly pulls the threads of this supposedly dead-end case only to unravel a murder investigation so deep that it threatens to turn the Orlando political landscape upside down and transform old friends into new enemies. As Ray chases down leads and interrogates suspects, someone is watching his every move, someone determined to keep him from ever finding out the truth–at any cost.
I included the publisher’s blurb in this one because I think it is actually a fairly accurate one. Often they leave you wondering if you read the same book but this one is pretty much dead-on. It’s not exactly how I would have written it, but that probably means we now know why I am not hired to write publisher’s blurbs don’t we? 
First of all, I’d like to confess that I don’t usually like books written in the first person. Generally I find them annoying. Even worse, they’re usually the worst written books I’ve seen so when I started reading and realized, oh joy, here’s another first person story, I was dismayed.
But not for long. Within the first five pages I was interested. I could still put it down and do other things at that point but by page thirty, I gave up. I had to read. Must. Not. Stop. It was a fascinating book, full of the lovely technical details I adore, and with a realistic plot line. The characters were amazingly well-developed and intriguing. I can’t wait to read more by Mynheir and there’d better be a sequel.
If I have left you with any doubt as to why you should read this, I’ll add a little tidbit. My husband Kevin doesn’t read. It isn’t that he doesn’t like it but that he rarely makes the time because there’s little that interests him. I handed him the book and nagged strongly encouraged him to read it. In three evenings, it was done. He’d come home, grab the book, and disappear into our room to read until forced out by dinner, eager children, or other such interruptions. Get the book. Read it. You won’t be sorry.
And… because Multnomah is such a generous company… I have a free copy to give away. Sorry guys… I’m keeping mine. I tried to be selfless but I just can’t do it. Mine.
So, I’ll draw on Friday some time after 6 p.m. PST for the winner of a free copy and I’ll use the random number generator to be “Fair”.
One of my favorite movies is Three Guys Named Mike. This movie is one of those delightfully innocent movies of the forties that just make you want to smile the whole way through. Rather than focus on your traditional love triangle, this move added another angle and made it a quadrangle. I’d give a big review of all the fun stuff in it, but most of the movie is irrelevant to my post so I think I’ll skip it for later.
Marci (the heroine of this comedy) is off to become an airline stewardess and gets some not-so-valuable advice from her father. “Don’t talk so much. Just say yes and no.” So she does and nearly loses the chance at her dream. However, thanks to her naturally talkative self, once the interviewer gets her going, she shows how personable she is and at this point (yes, I am coming to why I’m mentioning this movie) she said something I found very interesting. She said, “Thanks to airline travel, people all over the world are becoming neighbors.” Now, I don’t know about that… after all, not everyone can afford to travel. However, if you think about it, that’s the perfect description of the internet. I can talk to a friend in Ireland, a friend in Australia, a friend on the other side of town, and a friend in West Virgina… all at the same time.
Because of the internet, I’ve met so many people that otherwise, I’d never know. I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of praying a dear friend through brain tumors, another through the birth, health problems, and death of her beloved baby. I wouldn’t have had encouragement when my health went south or ‘family’ at Challice’s wedding. Because of the amazing thing that this internet is, we can know people we never would have met. We truly have become neighbors with the world.
I don’t want to pretend that the internet is the cure-all of humanity and doesn’t have its drawbacks. It does. It is very easy to lose a sense of physical community when you have such a wide and varied virtual one. It is easy, well for introverts like me, to stay holed up in their own homes, neglect the ‘real life’ relationships around them, and interact on a purely ‘online’ level. This, of course, isn’t best but for those who can’t get out it can be a way of still connecting with people on a very real level. I’m not calling for an abandonment of interpersonal relationships that take place face-to-face and provide much needed contact. However for the young mom at home with four sick children and a car that needs major work before she attempts to go visit a friend, it can be a life saver.
I’ve gotten to know so many people so much better being able to chat between helping a child with math, making dinner, and painting walls. I keep thinking, “The Internet- it does the Body good.” But unfortunately, if we’re not careful that’s a lie from the pit.
Anyway… regardless of its strengths and weaknesses, the internet has the ability to be a huge blessing in our lives, literally making neighbors of people who live thousands of miles away. I think that is absolutely amazing.
Ok, so I admit to being a little obsessed. I’ve never been fond of anything from the Arthurian period and here I am, the proud owner of an entire series and stalker of Amazon and the Houghto Mifflin website. I had begun to fear he was finished with his exciting and comical tales of the knights of King Arthur’s court but alas… look what I found!
Look! Isn’t it exciting! September 28, 2009… just *counts months on fingers* four short months! Long months. Excruciatingly miserable months. But alas and alack! It cometh!
If you haven’t read the previous eight books, you can read one every other week until the ninth book is released! It’ll be so cool I double dog dare ya to read them and not bust a gut a few times. Keep sutures handy.
For more information on these marvelous books, check out this blog post…
Outside my window… It’s dark, the night is drawing nigh… shadows of the evening… hmmm I think this flight of fancy implies that I’ve been putting off this blog post but it really means I was busy today. I made a blinkie for my blogs, wrote several chapters, and tried to recover from being sick.
I am thinking… that my laundry needs prompt attention. Very prompt attention. Super. Dooper. Prompt. Attention.
From the learning rooms… Ethan is learning to multiply outside basic facts. He hasn’t memorized those facts. Methinks it’s time for flash cards.
I am thankful for… a husband who did honey-dos all weekend without me asking and now my house looks absolutely amazing! Way to go Kevin!
From the kitchen… we had roast, smashed potatoes, corn… and the bestest hubby ever cooked ‘em for us.
I am wearing … pajama bottoms and top. I got ready for bed early. Like last night early.
I am reading… advertisements for the next Squire’s Tale book and Thirty Days Hath…
I am hoping… that I wake up well tomorrow.
I am creating… cards… for the joy of it. I am loving making cards lately!
I am praying… for a little boy who was ran over by a lawnmower.
Around the house… I’m preparing for Braelyn’s party!
One of my favorite things… The Glenn Miller Story. I forgot how good it is!
A few plans for the rest of the week… Get well, do grocery shopping, clean for a party, and do house cleaning.
A picture to share… I’ll take one in the morning of all the work Kevin did this weekend!
20 Of My Favorite Things
1. Color-today, that’d be aqua
2. Dessert- today, that’d be berry cobbler
3. Smell- lemon clean…
4. Flower-lilacs..
5. Animal- dog
6. Month- November
7. Beverage-Orange Sunrise Smoothie from JIB… I miss them
8. Pair of shoes-the ones I don’t have to wear
9. Snack-Cheetos
10. Song-Wake Up Little Susie… until No Other Love comes on… and then after that maybe something by the Beach Boys…
11. Book-The Harvester… I think
12. Fruit-Strawberries
13. Hairstyle-Soft and flowy…
14. Piece of clothing- the one that I don’t notice I’m wearing… but I love that green shirt…
15. Store to clothes shop-Coldwater Creek
16. Season-Spring
17. Hobby-Paper crafting… today anyway
18. Thing to collect- I really want to collect Waldorf dolls and toys… but I don’t “do” collections.
19. Movie-Persuasion until tomorrow anyway.
20. Restaurant-I’d like to find out if it’s The Grape Leaf or not.
I got the idea from this website…
Outside my window… The trees are still, the sun is shining, and the temperature is warmer than I’d like, and I see Challice’s car- she’s having lunch with me. Pzones from Pizza Hut.
I am thinking… God gives us the BLESSING of bad days to help us appreciate the beauty of good ones.
From the learning rooms… “Who am I” quizzes keep the information learned in Genevieve Foster books fresh in children’s minds. I never imagined such a cool history resource in a geography book!
I am thankful for… cheerful children, indoor plumbing, tasty food, and recliners.
From the kitchen… We’re having Chicken and bacon sandwiches tonight… I love those sandwiches.
I am wearing … tan capris, azure knit top, and am in need of a shower. I think I’ll take one. I bet I’d feel better. When I’m done, I’ll wear a white top, navy gingham capris, and maybe my ‘face’.
I am reading… The Night Watchman, Worn Out Woman, Organizing From the Inside Out
I am hoping… that the stress can be easily eliminated from my day.
I am creating… a table runner for my kitchen “hutch”
I am praying… for my mother-in-law and her heart. Praising God for a successful surgery and for mom’s continued health. I love my mother-in-law
Around the house… I’m working on beautification and improvement… particularly in the kitchen this week. It’s been neglected recently.
One of my favorite things… good old music to sing to… I think it’s time for a Rhapsody fest while I clean the kitchen.
A few plans for the rest of the week… I plan to make that table runner, make some pretty cards, get Andra caught up in spelling, work on Ethan’s reading some more, and doing some serious housework in a few areas.
A picture to share…
Thanks to Multnomah and Waterbrook, I am pleased to announce the following winners of blog drawings this week!
The numbers were…
Winners are:
Elena (I’ll get Challice to drop it off for me when she’s done)
and
Carolita (I’ve got your addy- I’ll mail it asap.)
and…
Those winners are…
Keer (need your new addy!)
and
Holly (need yours too!)
I’ll ship ASAP!!!
Stay tuned for my next review… The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir… it was GREAT!
I went to Random.org and entered the numbers and told it to pick TWO for me… and it did! I tell ya, it’s like Santa Claus and Christmas. You ask them for things and you get them. *cough*.
So, without further ado… the numbers were….
Voila! Kelly and Kristi!
So, email me at chautona @ chautona . com and let me have your addresses and voila! A book for Mother’s Day (but I bet it doesn’t quite make it in time… )
