Sprucing up

I've updated my "bedside table" list on the sidebar...an eclectic mix that reflects who I am: cooking, decorating, history, cultural observation. That's only a smattering of my interests, but I can only read so many books at once :-)

Recently finished and HIGHLY recommended: The Promise: The Moving Story of a Family in the Holocaust. I'm screening lots of literature related to the 20th century for our history study in the fall, and this is definitely one I will be having the kids, even the younger ones, read. I also finished a classic that I had previously missed (not surprising, given my paltry education), My Antonia by Willa Cather. It was my first experience reading a book online and it wasn't as difficult as I had thought...just read a chapter or two a night after being tucked in bed and didn't even have to have the light on!

I've also added a section for movies. I'll be screening a lot of films that relate to the time period we'll be studying, as well as other films of interest to me. I love documentaries, musicals, dramas, some romantic comedies. I'll share a few, not all, of the ones that cross my player, along with my "star" rating in case you're interested in my recommendations. (If it has no stars, I'm still trying to find time to stick it in the player...)

Travel season is here!

I'm off tomorrow for a few restful days with Lyric in California. While I'm gone, John will take off for what is ostensibly a business trip to Hawaii but I'm very suspicious of all this work in Paradise :-) Then Bethany leaves for Virginia, to spend some time with her sisters. Later in the month the Russells will leave on a road trip to Virginia, and a week later all the Warrens set out behind them. We'll all be there together for three or four days, and then we'll stay behind another few days after they head home. This will be the first real road trip that we've ever taken with the "B" team...we started thinking a few months ago that we did it often with the "A" team, mainly because we came home to see grandparents in the summers. But we realized that our younger set (not so young anymore!) has never had the privilege of being bored to tears for hours on end in the van, waiting for the next bathroom stop and hamburger, begging to see that cool exhibit with the prehistoric reptiles and buy cheap souvenirs for the unsuspecting recipients at the other end of the road trip. So quick, before they're all completely grown, we're going to splurge and allow them all those pleasures...

Planning for the next school year, which is about 2/3 done, takes a temporary breather starting tomorrow!