this week in books

Although we mostly max out our library account every couple weeks (the 30 book limit was obviously not set by homeschoolers;  we really must get Kaatje her own card and up our limit to 60), the books we've been recently reading are all our own.

Kaatje just received "Hildafolk" by Luke Pearson as her "finished her math book" prize this spring.  I'd read about one of Pearson's newer Hilda books, thought it sounded great, so we got this one to start.  It's a fun story and drawn wonderfully, but quite a short paperback (which we knew).  I especially like the matter-of-fact-strange world Hilda inhabits (with her mom, who acts so like a mom), just like our world:  a bit strange, a bit scary, but more safe and fun than we think sometimes.  This is a book for any ages, but there is one minor curse word (spoken by a monster, not Hilda).

Greta, who finished her math book a bit longer ago, also chose a book and picked another Tintin.  Although she does read "Calvin and Hobbes," she devours Tintin like Kaatje did Calvin so many years ago.  I'm not sure how much of it she actually word-by-word reads (she reads well, but not quickly yet, and sometimes skips long or hard words) but she always has one with her in the house, and Tintin is the breakfast and lunch reading of choice.  They are fun, exciting, fast-paced books, introduced to us by my dad who read them as a kid.  We're building quite the collection of them.  This weekend, one scene in Tintin spurred a game of battleship, taught to us by Dad (Grandpa);  I didn't even know the game battleship played on paper!  (everyone over 50 is rolling their eyes at me)  This will be a new car game for us, I'm sure.

I'm just finishing "Bella Tuscany," Frances Mayes' kind-of-travel, kind-of-journal book on her life part-time-living in the home they own in Italy.  I really liked her book "Under the Tuscan Sun," (is that a movie, too?  Never saw it.) and found "Bella Tuscany" at the thrift store.  I enjoy it, perhaps not as much as her first book, but it works well how I read it:  in small bits before bed.  I think it would become tired in large doses, but reading passages about her life and travels in Italy are perfect at the end of the day.  Even without the library distractions (I've been coming home with stacks of magazine back issues) I have books waiting in a line for my attention here at home.  I'm hoping to spend more time with them this season.  (With a cold drink, sitting in the sun, hopefully soon!)

one photo, one thought

with kaatje, it was calvin&hobbes.  greta's "books that are too hard to read but I'm going to read them anyway because I really really want to and teach myself to read in the process" are tintin.  (at least that's how it's going these days.) 
she loves them.

(I guess I'm raising a boy in the 1960's now..)

choice - a book review

"Hi.  My name is Christy, and I'm married to a recovering maximizer."

~
(maximizer: one who isn't happy with any choice except the perfectly right one, which may not even exist; spends over long making decisions, even for simple things; may not be as happy with purchases after making them, wondering if another would have been better... among other things)
~


Jeff and I are conservative with our money.  We like making good decisions with our spending, our only "splurges" are good deals on books, yarn, and computer parts, in that order.  Other than that, we make very few purchases not related to eating or working on the house.

When we were kids (way back in our early 20's), a little hobby of ours was making decisions.  Don't even ask how long it took us to pick out a car while we were in college - we had so much fun visiting car lots and sitting in numerous different models and years.  We had spreadsheets.  It was great!  But as we've gotten older and more busy with our family, the decision-making was sometimes getting, um, annoying.  Jeff has always had trouble making decisions, feeling like he just wants the best for his money, and with everything out there, like he should be able to find it!

We read about the book, The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz, a while ago, then I found it through the library.  As Jeff read it, he kept talking to me about it, so I read it, finished it a bit ago, and since then, not a day goes by when one or the other of us make reference to it regarding things we've encountered during that day.  I've been meaning to do a blog post ever since I finished it.

Basically (very basically), Schwartz makes the point that too many choices can make people unhappy.  In our nation of excess, many have "learned" that there is a perfect choice, and they must find it.  He shows how this can cause stress, tension, wasted time, unhappiness even after making a choice, and even depression.  ... it's no wonder to me that I refuse to go into a "real" grocery store anymore.  I do all my shopping at Trader Joes, Grass Roots Coop, and Costco - places where your choices are very narrow.

On top of that, I also have many guidelines for the food purchases I do make: I don't purchase anything with added colors, preservatives, MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, or hydrogenated oils... which greatly limits certain choices.  This idea of constraints Schwartz talks about, I think is a very important idea when making a choice - i.e.: we are Christians, which makes many choices (everything from taking God's name in vain to ideas about divorce) very simple.  Our particular congregation even does not have women vote, with the idea that the husband is the head of the family, and the husband and wife should come to an agreement on church voting matters.  (sorry if that opens a can of worms, but we do agree with it!)

Along with learning to create constraints for your choices, there are 10 other suggestions Schwartz gives at the end of his book for helping "maximizers" (and the rest of us) make choosing easier.  I hesitate to list them out as bullet points, because you really need to read the book for the context, but I will touch on a few briefly, paraphrasing, such as:

• Making yourself realize when you're making too big a deal out of a choice...
• Not comparing yourself to others...
• Don't change your regular purchases unless your actually unhappy with them...
• Once you've chosen, stop looking/deciding/comparing...
• Deciding what you really want (or need) in something before you start looking...

Jeff and I think of ourselves as pretty good at choosing and we're becoming even better.  We are good at making constraints, good at stopping with the choice once we've found something that meets our criteria, good at picking what we need and not more than we need (we did buy a mazda5, not a minivan).


We liked this book for its good, thought-provoking statistics and solid recommendations, and it has really changed the way we think about choice in our lives and in the world.  The author even gives a bit of a religious, if not Christian, perspective.  We highly recommend it!

any more drains?

Happiness is a bunch of money to spend through giant-company-selling-books-online, and I happily picked a bunch of books for my birthday a couple months ago.  Some books had been sitting in my wish list for ages, and a couple I just picked as I needed just $8 more (consequently spending $10 over, of course).

This little handwritten book I had seen referenced in a couple blogs I follow; it was inexpensive and intriguing.... and I love it!

Author Raleigh Briggs divides this little "how to" book into 3 sections: Health and First Aid, Non-toxic Cleaning and Body Care, and Gardening.  The first section tells how to make tinctures and salves and the like, which I haven't yet had the where-with-all to tackle (but would love to!).  The last section is a great intro to sustainable gardening practices with lots of tips and ideas.

The second section is the one I could jump right into, with things I already have!  Filled with ways to clean just about everything you can think of, from floors to faces, it was the first thing I thought of while cleaning the bathroom yesterday.

Seems like 6 - 10 years is the life of a clean sink drain around here - both our heavily used kitchen and main floor bath sink drains (which we installed new) were getting slow.  Here is the "recipe" I used:

DIY Drain Opener
from "Make Your Place" by Raleigh Briggs, Microcosm Publishing 2009

Pour 1 C each salt and baking soda, plus 1/2 C vinegar down the drain.  Let it sit for 15 minutes, and then flush the drain with 2 - 3 quarts of boiling water.


(Note: I didn't use nearly this much of the salt/bkg soda.  Probably about 1/3 of that, and it still worked like a charm!)

Next I'm looking at the face oils.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

happy drain cleaning!

but what we really need is more bookshelves.

Part 1:
A couple weeks ago I went through my closet a bit and finally bagged all those shirts that just don't fit right ("I'll wear this, but I won't like it!"), to donate them to the thrift store.

This is most of my fall-weather-ish tops, by the way.

Now I spend most of my internet free-time (which is not much time at all, but anyway) looking for new tops that will fit, and complaining about how much they cost.  This from the girl who got rid of a pile of cheap ill-fitting tops that I've been holding on to and complaining about for, oh, 10 years or so.

Part 2:
This weekend I went to the MHA homeschool conference... always a lovely time, always lots of good encouragement and ideas.

and books.  lots and lots of books.

So, yes, to answer your question - I have absolutely no problem plunking down 50 or so bucks for a pile of awesome used and new books (and a giant bag of wooden pattern blocks - little g's favorite - for $3, oh yeah!) without even thinking twice.

Full confession?  I have a on-line shopping cart filled with $300 (yes, you read that correctly) more, waiting for me to hit that "order" button.  Which will be a bigger step, yes, but will still probably take place sooner than later.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to return to the internet and continue complaining about the price of cotton knit.

(Would someone please take me clothing shopping?)

happy birthday...

to Frodo and Bilbo!

I couldn't let the day go by without a mention.

We last read the Hobbit to the girls when we were camping last fall (a year ago already?!  *sigh*), and I think Tolkien would have approved: all of us snuggled into sleeping bags, listening to the sounds of the outdoor night, reading Bilbo's adventures.  Wow, my voice was sore after all that dramatic reading in a bad British accent, as quietly as possible so as not to disturb other campers.  Dragon Voices are terrible for the vocal cords.

Whilst I bemoan not camping, you can enjoy this link to some fun Hobbit activities from Wired's Geek Dad:  Happy Hobbit Day!

(We probably do #1 most of all (bread and cheese.  um, yes, thank you).

...and I highly recommend you do not click on the #4 link. ;)

in the middle

We're in the middle of this crazy spring right now, and things are going okay. Bit by bit, items are being checked off the list(s), and before I know it, the crazy will be over and we'll be back to regular busy. I must say, it's been so nice keeping the computer off and spending my little free time in some yarn and our time in books and playing and outside.

(1800 more miles on the car meant a nice break, too)

(p.s. if you're ever in a trip through or around any of the Great Lakes with any small people, you absolutely must read aloud, during your trip, "Paddle-to-the-Sea" by H.C. Holling. A providential coincidence led me to the book early in our trip, and the girls were, and still are, enthralled.)

(p.p.s. lake superior, for all you uninitiated, is COLD - right around 52 degrees F. Jeff could barely stand in it for the few seconds for a picture... of course the girls didn't seem to even notice...)