It is a sign of the times?

Or my age? Or simply a bad diagnosis many years ago when the opt. said I no longer needed glasses?

No matter the reason, I am rejoining the ranks of the glasses wearers. I'm amazed at how crisp and bright colors are. I'm hoping to be able to see better at night (though I haven't tested that yet).

Little Things

I got up and walked this morning. While it may not seem like that big of a deal, it IS a big deal because I've been wanting to and unable to for weeks now. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up!

Book Review: Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin

I really wanted to like this book. I really really did. However, I didn't like it all that much. David laughed his way through it...I barely made it I was so bored a lot of the time. Overall the story was good, the characters were very likeable and you wanted to see them succeed, but I just couldn't get into the jokes and silliness that seemed to happen every other page. It just didn't appeal to me.

The basic premis of the book is that the Prince and Princess of Wales are buffoons who keep messing things up with the press. They say and do the dumbest things and have to be taken care of by "Mr. Neil" who puts before them a quest of conquering America. They arrive in New Jersey by parachute wearing only fur underwear and have to figure out how to survive. Their adventures in America demonstrate how someone with nothing can make something of themselves--even to the extent of being elected President. They learn a lot about themselves, the power of love, the power of doing for and taking care of yourself. And they learn to appreciate the people that they serve as political leaders of their own country.

If I were to give advice to Mark Helprin, I would tell him to cut the book by about 1/2. It was overwritten in a lot of places and several of the chapters, especially those that dealt solely with the policital realm, were boring and unnecessary. Since I liked the story, the characters and the overall message, I kept reading and am glad that I did, but I would have liked it to be a tad, well, a tad "less" (if that makes sense).

A Few of My Recently Completed Projects

Strawberries Forever shows an Amish strawberry farm. Some younger people are picking the strawberries while some middle aged Amish are selling pies, jams and quilts. It was completed in 2003 but only framed a week ago.

The weaving sampler below was completed while in Chicago and shortly thereafter. I bought a lap handweaving loom to get some practice with weaving and to see if my classes in October will be a complete waste of time. I believe I wove my warp too tight and caught myself getting the weft (side to side) too tight about 1/3 of the way up. But I had fun playing with patterns, made a few up on my own, learned to read a pattern, and did it all by hand. Looking forward to a more complex machine.





Woman with flowers is a needlepoint designed by Chris Roberts-Antieau. I loved working on her because of all the fun colors and the complexity of the design. I finished her two nights ago and she is off to the framers today.
A is for Angel is a Christmas gift for Alyssa. The stitches and design motifs all begin with the letter A.


E is for Empress is a Christmas gift for Elizabeth. All the stitches and design motifs begin with the letter E.

What are the three books you'd like to sit down and read right now if you had the time?

Please get your friends and family members (who like to read) to participate in this blog entry. You can send it to anyone by clicking the little envelope icon at the lower right of this entry (right after it says "Posted by Leslie at..."

I am taking a poll about the books you want to read the most. Please add a comment and name the three titles and authors of the books you'd like to read right now if you have the time...the kicker? To limit yourself to only 3.

Mine?
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
Wicked by Gregory Maguire (reread)
Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hembley

The Rewards of Virtue

Well, I'm not sure I'm a virtuous woman--since I admitted that patience wasn't my thing, but I finally did get a car...and it's pretty and comfy and wonderful and I love it!

It's a bran' new 2007 Nissan Murano, Merlot, with tan leather interior, sun roof, Boze stereo system, dual AC, programmable seats and mirrors for 2 drivers...in short, it's AWESOME!

Hint...

I'm no longer waiting! Pictures tomorrow or Monday :)

Patience is not my virtue!

I remember in junior high wanting to be such a good Christian, and our Sunday School teacher told us that if we wanted to do something to improve ourselves, we needed to ask God to test us. I knew that I wasn't very patient, and thought that I should definitely serve penance and get tested and trained to be patient. So, I prayed very fervently that God teach me patience. I have to say, I'm still being tested, almost daily, and I'm not improving. I think God should finally realize I'm a lost cause, and things that one prays about as a teenager shouldn't still be haunting them when they're almost 40.

It's funny because most people I know think I'm incredibly patient. I don't think that's the case. I think I'm incredibly controlled and don't let my emotions get the best of me...but I'm not patient. They look at all my needlework and say, "the patience to do something like this!" It's not patience that allows me to sew. I'm completely in control of my sewing, so it's not a patience thing. I don't have to wait on anyone to do anything, and I find it very peaceful most of the time.

What I don't find peaceful, is waiting on people to do stuff. Waiting is very hard, and I don't do it well, and I've been SO good this week and last waiting for things to work themselves out for us buying a new car and now that things have worked out and we have to wait on the car to get delivered, cleaned, and then finding time in David's busy schedule this week to actually go sign the papers and GET the car! It's KILLING me!

No, I'm NOT a patient person!

When I was a little girl...

When I was a little girl, I told my brothers and my daddy that when "mama's out of town, I'm the mama, so you have to mind me."

All it resulted in was them laughing at me and my daddy telling the story over and over and over again throughout the rest of my childhood, but I guess I felt strong and powerful at the moment.

When I was a little girl...

My brothers and I got in trouble with my mom and she sent us outside "until I call you back in." Bryan and I were really bummed about this because we had a really good game going involving some weird combination of spyrograph and this marble guiding game. I honestly don't know what we did to get in trouble, but I do know that we were sent outside without any of our toys or games and I was mad. As was Bryan.

Trying to be grown up, I said, "Well, dammit...what are going to do now?"

Bryan jumped up, ran to the back door which Mom hadn't had the time yet to lock and yelled, "Mom, Leslie's cussing."

She came to that door fuming mad. I saw her jerk Bryan in, he was crying "I didn't do anything wrong, it was Leslie who was cussing." But somehow it didn't matter because I wasn't cussing where she could hear me, but Bryan was tattling where she could hear him. I assume he got sent to his room and was ordered to stay there or else, but I don't really know because I went in search of the kittens and managed to entertain myself without getting in Mom's hair--or at least I assume I did because I don't really remember anything else.

One very happy girl!

Who got her driver's license today! Yea Alyssa!

It's progress...

Even if it's a little bit, it's progress, I guess. I lost another pound this week...felt like I should have lost 3, but I guess I won't complain. Now that's 2 of the 10 pounds I've gained since getting back from Europe. I'm sure when I get to the gym next week they'll come off faster, but what's going to happen in Chicago! Hopefully I'll manage to make some mostly good choices.

Until I return...

Book Review: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

I just finished Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. This is not going to much a review of the book--not because it doesn't deserve a good review, but because I don't think I'm the person to do it. I liked certain aspects of the book--Milkman is an interesting character, the pain and confusion of growing up and dealing with life no matter your race if clear, the frustration of the characters not to be able to be treated as equals was difficult to read (especially as a white person). However, I was so confused much of the time about where and when we were in the story that I often felt frustrated.

In fact, reading the book was really a frustrating experience for me. I was tired of having to deal with the crazy characters every time I sat down to read. They haunted me (which is probably a sign of a successful book) but I didn't want them to. In fact, I felt that I honestly didn't want the challenge of reading this book and didn't want the challenge of what the book was trying to make me think about. And I felt that if I did manage to deal with the issues presented in the book that there wasn't much I could do about it since everything seemed so squirrelly and crazy.

I hate that I can't give the book a better review than this. I know Morrison deserves better of her readers, and I honestly feel like I failed her this time.

Surprised

We're back from our trip to Nashville, which was really nice except for the fact that our truck is acting like she just wants to lay down and die. We have her in the shop today. Hopefully nothing major is wrong. Nothing is showing up with the lights, she's just not performing well. Everyone we meet says "bad gas" but we just don't know.

We tried to eat well and track what we were eating while we were gone, but didn't go so great. When I go out to eat, the "grilled chicken with steamed vegies" just doesn't interest me. I know I need to change my mind-set on that, but it's really hard. Even though I didn't always make the best choices, I still managed to lose 1.4 pounds, which was surprising and encouraging. Of course, David, who ate worse than I did, lost 4, but he's a man, and I've heard that they lose faster...I hope that there's some retribution in there that they also gain faster...not that I want him to gain anything, it's just hard living with a superman!