Shelfishly Devoted to You

It is nearly midnight and I should be getting ready for bed because tomorrow will be a busy day. But I can't sleep because I MUST show you what I did after work today.

I dusted, organized, and fancied up bookshelves old and new.

Do you want to see? I'll show you the new bookshelf tonight and the other two soon.

Shelf One: purple owl, "fancy books", rag doll from a relative
Shelf Two: graphic novels, empty Holy Ail Ale bottle, poetry anthologies, short story anthologies, writing handbooks, Tolkien guide, purple vase, two brass owls, robin's eggshell

Shelf Three: metronome from thrift store, non-fiction arranged in semi-Library of Congress order, reading journal/book list, carved wooden Pegasus
Shelf Four: fiction from Alcott to Braddon

Shelf Five: fiction from Bronte to Clark (including stack of Angela Carter's works), thrifted tea tin
Shelf Six: Fiction from Clark to Delafield (including large stack of I. Compton-Burnett novels), thrifted circus tin, empty space for shifting

Expect the other bookshelves to soon, they are in the midst of a very messy dining room. Incidentally, I might be displaying some more pictures of the house next week. I'm planning on switching things up a bit.

Beau Still My Heart

After Hope's bully ordeal / allergy meltdown I spent the entire night worrying. I emailed the teacher and wrote notes. I researched food allergies and read the label of everything in the kitchen. At some point in my musings I placed the recycling by the curb and took the trash out. I came back inside and continued my worrying. Sam went to work (third shift) and I went to bed. The next morning I woke up, showered, and prepped for work. I woke Hope up. Something in my daily routine was missing. I felt terribly off.

Beauregard wasn't mewing for his morning Fancy Feast.

Well shit the bed, Beauregard escaped. Beau is an indoor cat even though he is not de-clawed. Between the high traffic near the apartment and the vicious, wild tomcats Beau has always been indoors. He escaped and was in the cold rainy night alone.

I wandered outside, sobbing, with Hope patting my back while I called Sam at work. Then I yelled for Beau three more times desperately and not caring that it was 6:15 a.m. on a Thursday and that the neighbors might not want their sleep disturbed.

I heard the tiniest meow and then I saw Beau bounding towards me out of the morning mist. Time slowed and I'm quite sure a Tchaikovsky suite played. He ran indoors and dropped a slug at my feet.

Awwww... he went hunting for me. I cried, this time with joy, and hugged Beau and felt his warm purring body wrapping around my neck.

Now, every night, Beau sleeps on me. Not beside me as usual, but on my hips, butt, or thighs.

I love animals, but I've never loved an animal as much as Beauregard Fitzgerald Capote.

This post is for Beau, you're purfect.

(P.S. and thank you ever so much for the slug)

Challenge!

Hope's doing much better this week; the bully was written up and Hope was commended for standing up to said bully and doing the right thing. Eliminating the corn has helped clear her skin problems, although reading all the labels and finding substitutes for favorite foods has become quite the challenge.

I have several other Goals this week and many Challenges. And yes, they deserve to be capitalized:

1. Clean the living room and dining room so that the cat will seize feeding on cold macaroni noodles.
2. Knit like a mad woman to finish Christmas gift #1.
3. Complete project the first of secret embroidery project.
4. Bake some treats for Hope to take to school in her corn-free sack lunches. I have a request from the Hope-star for sugar cookies.
5. Oh, I'm planning on entering a local cookie contest. These means I need to get in the kitchen and do some experimental baking.
6. Finish The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, because it is due back to the public library this week.
7. Take the clean laundry out of the baskets and ACTUALLY PUT IT AWAY.
8. Do not suicide with a stapler at work.
9. Wax my eyebrows.
10. Put up my new set of books shelves and reorganize my books. (see piles of books above)
    
11. Order some tights and investigate ancient ceremonies to convince the gods to allow Georgia to have Seasons (i.e. it is November and I would like wear my sweaters, enough with the spring-like weather.
12. Continue to free-base Midol and coffee.
    

Children of the Corn, OR, How Bullies and a Corn Allergy Ruined Hope's Day

Back in my earlier days of motherhood I thought parenting would be easier once Hope got older. I wasn't delusional enough to think it would be a piece of cake, but I thought I wouldn't have to worry about Hope being hurt. No more bashing heads into doorknobs, grabbing hot pans, jumping off a bed and onto a pile of Legos, and the myriad of other ways Hope managed to injure herself. I knew parenting an older daughter would involve emotions and hormones, but I thought the physical hurting would be minimized.

Of course this proves how clueless I am. When Hope was little I could read her a story or cuddle with her or tickle her belly and all the hurts would disappear. Tonight Hope was hurting intensely.

----She is allergic to corn and was in tears that she was going to be parted from "dear, sweet popcorn", Annabelle was bullying her for cash or Hope would be mass teased by the fourth grade, her eczema was inflamed and painful, her jeans are stupid, no one plays with her on the playground and instead she walks alone in a circle "to at least get some exercise", it was raining, she misses her Grandma, the remainder of her Halloween candy sucks, Daddy was sleeping all evening from working all night, the cat ignored her and wouldn't play, Mom was 15 minutes late home from work and Hope had to hold her pee in. A bad horrible stupid day----

Hope was curled up in my lap, sobbing, telling me all of these things, and subtly wiping her nose on my shirt. Of course there are things I can do to help her: call the teacher, make non-corn food, show-up on time, wake Sam up, take her to Grandma's, etc... but these are temporary fixes. I can't make it all better and all go away. Yes, we all have days that suck. It happens and all these hurts are ones I can't fix.

This is way harder than having a toddler.

BookNerd News!

One of my most favorite aspects of blogging is that I meet a lot of cool people from all over the world. I admit, I'm a bit of a voyeur, I love reading about other peoples' lives. I've heard that blogging about the mundane: laundry, sandwiches, etc... will wreck a blog. I, on the contrary, love it. Also, I'm continually inspired by what other people are baking, stitching, and reading. I soak of every stinkin' detail.

For the first time in the short life of The Blog Jar I'm participating in the Holiday Swap book blogger event. Hooray! I actually get to send something to one of those awesomely inspiring folks in the blog-o-sphere and I get a gift in return.

If you'd like to sign-up for the swap check out the site here, but hurry, the sign-up deadline is Thursday!

I've also made another booknerd discovery in the past few weeks, The Classics Circuit! Essentially the Classics Circuit is "a gathering place for links to reviews of classics on blogs throughout the blogosphere. Reviews will not appear on this site, but rather on the sites of participant bloggers." Currently the Classics Circuit is focusing on Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell. Alas, I didn't know about this in time to sign up, but I'm ready to participate in January when the author of the month is Edith Wharton.

This concludes my BookNerd News for now! Goodnight and Good reading!

Still Life with Tea, Scone, and Book

Now that, my friends, was a Saturday morning well spent. Yes, I was up insanely early, but a large cup of tea, a pumpkin scone, and The Moonstone made the world right. Of course, once I obtained a full belly and a quieted mind and found the concept of sleep inviting, it was time for me to get ready for work. *le sigh*

Work was extremely quiet, I don't think we had more than a dozen people at any given time in the library. After work Sam and I had a date night involving large bowls of Vietnamese soup, a few hours in a book store, and a decadent hot chocolate complete with curls of white chocolate. I did amazingly well at the bookstore and only bought myself a journal; everything else I purchased is for Hope's Christmas.

I'm off to curl up with The Moonstone. I loved that book the first time I read it, but I find that I'm enjoying it even more the second time around!

Reader's Anxiety: The OMG the Year is Almost Over Edition

Ahhhhh November..... This week the time changed, Hope gave me an exhaustive draft of her Christmas list, and I realized that the end of the year is fast approaching.

THE END OF THE YEAR IS FAST APPROACHING?!

How did we get through the entire year, ALLLL the way to November without my noticing. Now, in addition to all my crafting and baking to be done, I realize that it is time to set my final reading goals for the year. Before I can say "what happened to Edwin Drood?" the new year will be around the corner and I'll want to have a nice, new list of books to read.

Now, I should point out that it is 4 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I can't sleep so I'm doing the only (in)sane thing to do this early: drink cocoa and make copious lists/piles of books.

Here is my list of 12 books I want to read prior to December 31, 2009:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (in progress)
Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd
Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane
The Seance by John Harwood
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Thing on the Doorstep by H.P. Lovecraft
Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Originally I thought I should make the list "25 books to read" but I realized I should allow for library books and items on my shelf that suddenly catch my fancy.

It is close to 5 a.m. now; I'm off to pop some pumpkin scones in the oven and curl up with The Moonstone.

Hats Off!

Hooray! A few nights ago I finished crocheting my first hat. I sewed on some buttons from my collection for, as Hope would say, "pizazz." In addition to being on an all out reading binge, my list of things to create grows ever longer:

• Kitchen goodness: stews and soups, breads and cake, pies and cookies..... My stack of recipes are growing longer and I can't wait to start on more holiday baking.
• Yarn: I've been bitten by the hat making bug. I long to buy more yarn and get to making Christmas hats and scarves for gifting.
• Home: I've got plans to paint several pieces of furniture and an ideal involving rearranging the entire downstairs.
• Thread: I have so many embroidery projects I don't know what to do: a tea towel to finish, holiday ornaments to make, and a super-secret project I'm working on. To only increase my being overwhelmed, Jenny Hart's latest book, Embroidered Effects, arrived today.
  
  

What to do? Expect this blog to be bursting this month with all sorts of handmade goodness.

The Affair at Styles

This morning I was crashing around the house searching for my Charles Dickens bookmark. Sam looked perplexed, I was holding a bookmark; why did I need a different one? I calmly seized rifling through my desk to explain that I was starting The Moonstone today and as I didn't have a Wilkie Collins bookmark, a Charles Dickens one would have to do.

Cue incredulous looks.

Yes, I match my bookmarks to my books and I have on good authority from other book-nerds that this isn't too strange among bookish types.

But what about matching other things to my books?

For example, what about the perfect outfit to go with the book I'm reading? Add to that a comfortable reading spot and a cup of coffee and I'm set.

May I please introduce you to my new and most favorite time waster: Polyvore. Polyvore allows one to browse websites, "clip" (by clicking and dragging) sundry goods, and then construct sets. I must warn you, this is crazy addictive.

Ta-Dah! My first book inspired outfit. This one is based on Agatha Christie's The 4:50 from Paddington.

And yes, that is a Hercule Poirot mustache necklace. Expect more of these book inspired sets in the future! Tell me, what book would inspire you to create an outfit?

October Reading Wrap-up and November Reads

October was a fairly productive reading month. I didn't reach my seven book goal, but 5 books is a pretty good amount. I enjoyed the super creepy short story collection Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by M.R. James to finish up my R.I.P. challenge. I read several other books about the R.I.P goal including The Dracula Dossier by James Reese and The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill. Dracula Dossier was excellent and worked well as a companion piece to Drood and The Man in the Picture was fairly good, but I wanted more meat in the story. In addition I read an engrossing non-fiction book, Death at the Priory: Love, Sex, and Murder in Victorian England by James Ruddick; this book details an unsolved murder of a Victorian barrister. Finally, I inhaled The Coffee Trader by David Liss; I cannot recommended this book enough. The Coffee Trader concerns the introduction of coffee trading to Amsterdam and is filled with details about the Dutch Exchange and the life of Jews in Amsterdam. It was certainly a page-turner!

So what's in store for November? An ambitious seven books with a goal to read at least five of the titles:

• Harriet Dark: Branwell Bronte's Lost Novel by Barbara Rees: I don't know how much of this is Branwell Bronte's, but Rees asserts that the inspiration for this novel comes from recorded incidents of Branwell discussing his novel. It is pretty okay so far, but not stellar. However it is less than 200 pages long so I will finish it.


• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: This is a re-read for me, but I've found myself yearning to curl up with this book.


• The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd: a fictionalized account of a Victorian murder (I'm really into Victorian murders this year for some odd reason!)


• Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith: The sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley.


• Middlemarch by George Eliot: This one is also a reread. Lately I've talked to several people who are reading or have recently read this book and loathed every second. I remember loving it, so I thought poor Middlemarch deserved some company.


• The Girl in the Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold: Long-listed for the Booker, this novel is based on Charles Dicken's marriage. It should be good!


• A Monster's Notes by Laurie Sheck: The stunning cover -- pictured above -- is what drew me to this book. It is about Frankenstein and looks interesting.

Looks like I'll have busy month of reading!

Shhhh..... Something Nerdy This Way Comes

I thought I had Hope all set for Halloween. First, she wanted to be Coraline, but after my Father gifted her Molly (the American Girl Doll) Hope had her heart set on going as Molly. What an easy change! Hope already had Molly-looking clothes (skirts and cardigans) and all we had to buy were glasses and a Dorothy wig. We took the Dorothy wig and swapped the blue ribbons for red and we had a Molly costume.

Friday afternoon Hope arrived home from school at 3:30 and we only had about 30 minutes to get ready and leave for Trick-or-Treating on the Square. The first words out of her mouth when she came home was "Mom, I want to be a Gothic Librarian."

"What?! But we don't have a costume", I replied. "No worries, Mom," Hope assured me, "I have it all figured out."

Behold, Brunhilda the Gothic Librarian:

We stopped by the library I work at to raid their candy, scare the college students, and, of course, take pictures.


Hope kept saying priceless Gothic things in a monotone voice; "I like the rain" was her favorite. She didn't break character once. Actually, she looks just like me in high school, maybe she there is a Goth gene?


It was a cold, wet, miserable day so we stopped by Inman Perk so that I could thaw. Hope helped give out dog treats. Here she is with Jennifer who dressed up as.... Jennifer when she isn't at work.
Shannon was "cloudy with a chance of rain."

And Guy, the owner of Inman Perk, wins the Geek award for his costume: "pirated software."

Friday night Sam took Hope across the street for a Halloween Party and I stayed home and watched Gaslight.

Alas, Hope ended up getting grounded from trick-or-treating on Saturday. Her crime? Let's just say it involved two warnings from mom, a desk being ridden like a horse, a broken window, and a lie. At least Hope had a pretty good haul of candy from Friday!

Cure for the Blues: Cookies and Thread

I've been feeling a bit blah lately. I'll spare you the whining and self-loathing I've been indulging in and seriously, be glad you all aren't privy to my journal.

In an effort to cheer myself up, I've been trying to finish up a few projects. I've got only 150 pages left of The Coffee Trader. In addition, I've finished a tea towel and baked some gingersnaps for a friend.