I can’t decide if time is crawling or flying by. You would think it would be either one or the other, but it seems like each week is a combination of both. Here are a few of the things that made me happy, no matter how fast or slow the day went.
:: On Monday Mikey tried out for a swim team. It was obvious two minutes in that he was one of the only new swimmers trying out. Obvious. I’m trying to think of a way to delicately emphasize the difference in skill sets between Mikey and every other person in the pool, but the words don’t exist. And that’s okay, because it leaves me room to say how proud of him I was. He doesn’t suffer my pride and vanity. Instead, he is determined and confident. In his mind, he will only get better. He’s like a dog with a bone when he wants something, and he wants to be on the swim team.
:: I exercised on Tuesday! It was just a walk around the block because I had 12 year-old Buddy and Buster with me. I was worried about the heat (almost 100�) and their age, so I erred on the side of caution. Buddy was limping ever so slightly at the end, and Buster was puffing like a steam engine, but boy, were they ever on cloud nine! When we got home they stretched like runny pancake batter across the hardwood floor and looked up at the ceiling as if to say, “Ah, this is the life.”
:: Wednesday was supposed to be a day of excitement and mirth because I went to pick out fabric and craft supplies. Instead, I spent more than I was expecting and had a minor panic attack trying to find something I liked. I was happy to survive the experience.
:: I worked in the library on Thursday and found two books from the Medieval literature list! I read both of them, naturally, plus one more on what makes hair curly or straight. (Spoiler: it’s all in the follicles.) I post pictures of the interesting/funny/weird/awful books I find on instagram all the time (I’m @pancakesfries) and occasionally to Twitter and Facebook.
:: Friday is another library day. It should be awesome. I’ll admit, I’ve got my eye on some of the books. I’d like to reread the Anne of Green Gables series–I swear I read at least the first one as a child, but I remember nothing about the plot or characters. This is another book calling my name.
This weekend is going to be busy, which I dislike, but we’ll make the best of it. Soccer, Mikey is in a musical performance, and something else. The fact I can’t remember what the something else is doesn’t bode well, but maybe remembering it at the last minute can be my happy, happy for that day.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
I read the Anne of Green Gables series as a child but also can’t really remember anything about them. Maybe it’s time for a re-read for both of us!
That would be great! Too bad I didn’t stumble across the books sooner. I could have made them a book club pick!
I agree about time. How can it go so slowly and quickly all at the same time? It’s mind boggling on a daily basis. I hope that it all comes back into balance soon.
The Anne of Green Gables series is one of my VERY favorites. I just found my series as I was packing up our book shelf. I’m imagining lazy winter Saturdays laying on the couch by the fire rereading them. (You know, if I ever find a balance with time!)
It seems like everyone who has read them (and remembers them) ADORES them. I’m excited to reread them.
Oh, the Anne of Green Gables series. I remember absolutely devouring them and everything else I could get my hands on about L.M. Montgomery and Prince Edward Island. It’s still very high on my list of places I need to go in life.
Do you remember Emily? That book I remember loving. I bought it a couple of years ago from Amazon (total whim purchase) but I haven’t gotten around to rereading it. Maybe I will tonight!
I adore — and desperately want to BE — Anne, but there’s something about Emily… so few have met her, so it feels like she’s my little secret. That trilogy is just so, so good. I might have to do a little re-reading of my own. (Also, did you know Emily of New Moon became a TV series? I had no idea until my mother put the first season in my stocking last year!)
I’m the same way about Anne of Green Gables– I read it, but don’t remember anything about it, except liking it well enough. Clearly, it’s time for me to revisit that series! Also, if you’re looking for children’s series to read as an adult, I didn’t read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle until college, and I found the series to be really romantic, in an otherworldly sense, and beautiful.
I’ve read the Mary, Queen of Scots book, and it’s wonderful! She had a fascinating life, and the author does a really good job of weaving it into a narrative tale.
I’m not a frequent commenter, but I really love that you post about books and your monthly book club. I’ve been reading for the past few months, and I really enjoy reading your insight and perspective. Job well done!
Thanks so much, Claire. Useless trivia: Claire is in my top 10 favorite names list.
Now I’m really excited to read the Mary books. Someone else just marked it as a great read on GoodReads, which makes it all the more tempting.
“…they stretched like runny pancake batter across the hardwood floor.” Perfection.
You can picture it, right? Cracks me up every time they do that. :)
I reread all 7 Anne books every few years…love those books and the time in which they were written….I also love the Emily trilogy also by Montgomery. One of the best things about reading books I’ve read before is thinking about who I was and what I dreamed about when I last read them…
Yes! The Emily trilogy! Do you remember when she wrote herself a letter to her future self? Sigh. So sweet.
And you reread the series every few years? Now I really have to get my hand on these books.
I love this idea, Nora. That is one of the pleasures of rereading – remembering and perhaps revisiting who you were when you last read that book.
I love all of the Anne books, too. I’ve reread the first one recently, but the one that’s been on my mind is the last one, Rilla of Ingleside. I remember it being very romantic and sad, because it’s set in WWI, but with a hopeful ending (of course).
I just can’t quit the hopeful period romances–WHEN DONE RIGHT. It’s probably why I adore Downton Abbey so much.
I love love love anything by LM Montgomery. Before our basement flood I owned nearly everything she had written. I first read them in my tweens, and rereading them repeatedly as I’ve gotten older has given them more depth and meaning–especially the part about Anne’s miserable childhood before coming to Green Gables–at four she was in charge of babies and cooking dinner! One of my favorite books is the Blue Castle (not an Anne book, its a single novel on its own), which she wrote for adults.
So, apparently L.M. Montgomery kicked ass and took names. I need to reread these books!
WHAT??? Jules! Go read Anne again! Post haste! And then read the rest! I’m just a leeeeetle hyper about the Anne books. Let’s just say going to Prince Edward Island is basically at the top of my bucket list.
Does this mean you haven’t seen the Megan Follows video series??? AAAAAAH! Do I need to fly down to Cali bearing books and videos and watch them with you?? Anne party woohoo!!
I know! I’m seriously kicking myself for getting to these comments so late. Mikey sang/danced in a Filipino concert this weekend (long story) and we’ve been in dress rehearsals all week. I’m just getting online for more than 10 seconds between practices.
I wholeheartedly vote for rereading the Anne series. I was gifted the first book when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade but never got past the first chapter until my teens (maybe 7th or 8th grade), at which point I could not stop. :o)
Also, I think I should try to write a Happy Happy post too (or actually get off my butt and blog). Your posts are so inspirational.
Oh, wow! Thanks, IJOEMONKEY. Yes, feel free to write your own Happy, Happy post and link to it in the comments next Friday.
Oh man I love quiet days at the bookstore because it means that I can sneak in some book reading time. I started reading Anne of Green Gables at work the other day and realised the same thing; I remembered nothing. But first I’m going to tackle Huckleberry Finn to prepare me for Australian summer!
I have been TRYING to read Huckleberry for at least a year! I can’t get into it.
I really liked reading your take on your boy’s positive attitude in the face of that swim tryout. It’s hard, as a mom, to see our children’s weaknesses. My son has that same confidence and positive outlook – I want to protect that more than anything else in the world.
I always joke that it’s my most fervent hope that I don’t parent out of my kids their positive attitude and confidence. ;)
Hello my dear,
Those puppies must have been happy, but I’m guessing you were equally as pleased as they :)
Anne, how I love Anne, but honestly, it was more due to Gilbert who my first and forever crush.
Okay, wait. The name Gilbert suddenly rings a bell. Almanzo Wilder was my first book crush.
I’ve been rereading the Anne of Green Gables stories! Have we had this conversation? You should read them. I last did when I was eleven or twelve, and I love them just as much now as I did then. (And Gilbert too. I didn’t realize how much of my ‘ideal man’ was based on him!)
Hi, I am guessing from your post about exercising with your dogs that they don’t go for a walk every day anymore. Can I ask at what age you stopped walking them every day? I worry that I will push my dogs too far, desperate for them not to get old (they are currently full of bounce but it won’t be that way forever!).
My dog Buddy blew out his knee while rough-housing with Buster a few months back. Prior to that, they were 12 years old and fit as fiddles! We’ve taken it slow ever since. We spoke with the vet this weekend, and she said that what I did was fine. You can just tell, honestly. You’ll know when they start slowing down and can’t handle the vigorous walks anymore. :(
My daughter was just as inexperienced and just as determined when she tried out for swim team a couple of weeks ago. None of her friends were trying out, and she had never gone a full lap in the pool before. But she made it. Barely. And now she’s at practice three times a week.
Last night she worked so hard to learn the breast stroke that when practice was over she said, “My stomach muscles hurt so bad, Mome, I think they’re making me walk funny. BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!”