As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Alan Bradley spins a fun tale. This is number seven in the Flavia (pronounced with a long A, like grave) de Luce series. This book clarifies the pronunciation of her name, and I'm having to constantly rethink it in my little brain.

In this book Flavia is sent to Canada to school. She is her usual self, and of course is immediately embroiled in a mysterious death.

I think it may be my favorite book of the series.

45 Years Later

Cheryl and Diane

Diane and Cheryl

I remember the top picture hanging in our home, straight ahead as you walked in our front door. It's an 11 X 14, and seemed like a very large picture to me. My mom noted on the back that it's either 1960 or 1961 (another reminder to label photos).  In 1960 Cheryl was barely one year old at the beginning of the year, but turned two in December. I would guess the date should be sometime in 1961. I'll have to compare it to other photos taken around that same time.

In the top photo we are wearing dresses that Mom made. Cheryl's was a very pale pink, and mine was orange--about the same color orange that those candy hearts with sayings like "Be Mine" are. They are probably Easter dresses, which further convinces me it's more likely 1961.  My mom curled my hair. I remember pin curls all over my head. It was the only way to get my straight hair to have any curl at all. One time I remarked to Mom that it must have taken a long time to put all those pin curls in both my hair and Cheryl's hair. She just looked at me and said, "hers is all natural curl.I didn't have to do a thing with it."

Flash forward 45 years. The bottom photo is one taken at my daughter Debra's wedding in 2006. Oh my, we have a good time together! 

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

This excellent book is about the 1936 US Olympic rowing team, and how they got there. They were the crew team from the University of Washington--I loved reading about the Seattle area and picturing it all in my mind.

I was figuratively on the edge of my seat when reading about the races, even when I already knew the outcomes.

Brown also does a great job with historical setting and perspective. Set smack dab in the middle of the depression, it changes how you view the whole thing. I learned things about the depression I never knew before.

This non-fiction book reads like a great novel, which about the best compliment I can give.

Read it! It's well worth it.

2015

And we're off to a brand new year. I love January - the month of my birthday, and the start of new goals. Some of which I'll accomplish fully, others partially, and some not at all. But it's all good.

No monthly reports this year - I did like doing them, but I don't want to feel pressure to get them done on time.

Briefly, here's what I hope to improve on this year:

1. Become a more spiritual person. This is a life-long goal.

2. Eat better, exercise more, and in general be in better health one year from now.

3. Work on family history. This entails many possibilities: organize and label family photos; do genealogical research; take care of, file, and scan family history paraphernalia that I already have; keep a journal (which this is part of).

4. Make time for doing things I enjoy, and spending time with people I love.

Two words I want to keep in mind this year:
Purposeful
Deliberate

I want to make my choices in life count. So I want my choices and decisions to be purposeful and deliberate. I want to spend less time staring into space, or staring at some useless information on my computer.

That's it! Hopefully I'll remember at the end of December and report back on how I've done.

Happy New Year!