It's True. I Couldn't Help Myself.

I'm not much of a Halloween fan. That's putting it mildly. I'm happy for everyone who loves it, but it's not for me. Where to begin on why? Any holiday that puts that much enjoyment into spiders was never meant for me. I'll spare you the other hundred reasons why. The one redeeming factor of the day is that it is my father-in-law's birthday. Instead of Happy Halloween, I think Happy Birthday, Dad!

So today as I was on the road quite a bit, I popped my new CD into the player in my car and enjoyed some Christmas music. Like I said, I couldn't help myself.

The King's Singers have been one of our favorites for over 30 years. If you aren't familiar with them, give them a try. The have classical stuff, pop, folk songs,-- and I think recorded just for me-- Christmas music.

Baby Steps for Andrew

When I gave the pink version of this quilt to Marilyn a few weeks ago (click here), Beth told me she wanted one just like it. Little did she know that I already had all the fabric and was ready to go on it. Of course this one is blue, for Andrew.

Marilyn and Beth are exactly three months apart, and have been great friends since the first grade. Being cousins also makes the relationship special. When we found out Marilyn was due five days before Beth, it all seemed so apt.  Well, the babies are not five days apart, they are exactly a week apart. Even more apt, I think.

Trish also made this quilt in blue, and gave me her extra fabric. I combined that with my extras and made a small (20 in. X 20 in.) matching quilt for Rachel. She can wrap her baby in that when Beth wraps Andrew in his.

Rachel's quilt

Now I just have to make the label. I wanted to wait until he was actually born and I had the date to add.

Baby Steps
Completed: October 2011
Size: 40 inches by 50 inches
Pattern: Baby Steps by Mountain Valley Stitches
Fabric: Melodies for Exclusively Quilters

Number 7 Is Here!

Grandchild number 7 arrived this week! We were all happy to have him come, but none as happy as his mother, Beth.

Andrew Linford Petersen (9 lbs 12 ounces, 21 inches long) began life by being very accommodating to the rest of the family.  Beth went in to be induced at about 10:00 a.m., and he was born at 3:34 p.m. No keeping anyone up all night (let's hope that lasts), and everyone could come for a quick first visit that evening. 

He's absolutely beautiful, if I do say so myself.

Andrew

Beth and Andrew. Can you believe she just delivered a baby a couple of  hours earlier?

Bruce and Andrew. Andrew is the spitting image of his dad.

Andrew and Rachel. We're all wondering how big sister will react. She'll be 3 in January.

Beth, Andrew, Rachel, Bruce

Diane (me) and Andrew

Andrew and Ray

Andrew and Aunt Audrey

Andrew and Aunt Debby

Andrew and Uncle Ray

Welcome to the family Baby Andrew!

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskill

I found this book delightful.

It does not have a compelling story line. Rather, it is more like a collection of short stories all about the women in Cranford. The chapters do carry a thread of story that goes from the beginning to the end, and the characters do develop along the way. So they are not really stand alone stories. The book was published serially, and that's probably why it feels like that.

But the characters are fun, and you can just imagine them doing the things they do.

Elizabeth Gaskill was a contemporary of Dickens. Her writing reflects the times a lot like Dickens' works. She feels a little less preachy to me. Dickens' books feel much more blatant about an agenda. What I've read of hers seems more subtle.

I definitely liked this better than her North and South (although I adored the DVD of North and South). Both books are autobiographical in some of the content, and that usually makes it more interesting for me. That was true for both of these books. I own the DVD for Cranford, but haven't yet watched it. I was waiting until I'd read the book.

Footloose 2011 - the movie

Two words: huge disappointment.

I was looking for a fun remake with lots of great dancing. There were only two great dance scenes - the opening "flashback" scene, and the closing scene. In between were 100 minutes of my thoughts careening in these directions:

1. This is too racy (for the first 30 minutes)
2. Only a teenager would like this, but I wouldn't want my teenager (if I had one) to see it (at least for the first 30 minutes).
3. If I run to the bathroom I know I won't miss anything.
4. (Peering at my non-glow-in-the-dark watch) I wonder how long until the movie is over?
5. I bet if I made a phone call the 10 people in the audience would find it more fun to listen to than this movie.
6. I should start thinking about my blog post now.
7. I wonder if we should just leave.
8. I've seen Andie McDowell act and enjoyed those movies. How come she's not acting now? Is it her, or the script?
9. Repeat number 8 for all known actors in the film.
10. Why in the few good dance shots there are, do the cameras show only a limb here or there, and not the whole body dancing?
11. The guy lead is pretty good.
12. The guy who plays Willard is good.
13. I'm disappointed in Julianne Hough. She's really the reason I wanted to see the movie. She can dance, but they don't show it enough.
14. If Bomont is supposed to be such a conservative small town, why are all the girls' chests so exposed, and their skirts non-existant?
15. Why can't Dennis Quaid tell his daughter is having problems just by her appearance?
16. Why did they put the best part (it's relative) of the movie in the last 20 minutes? Corny, yes, but at least more like what I wish the rest was like.
17. There is too much drinking and driving in this movie.
18. Thank heavens this is matinee prices and not full price.
19. Why didn't I borrow the original from a friend, and watch it again at home? For free.
20. What shall we have for dinner?

The Rest of the 26 Fairmount Avenue books by Tomie dePaola

 I recently reviewed the first book in this series, 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola. You can find the review here.

I've now read all the books there are so far. I sincerely hope there will be more! They are well written, and fascinating for anyone interested in Tomie dePaola, boys, life in the 40's, and good stories in general. I laughed and I cried.

Looking into these books, I stumbled on Tomie dePaola's website tomie.com . Head on over to that site to see and read some fun stuff.

The books are pictured in order, but here's a list of them in order too:
26 Fairmount Avenue
Here We All Are
On My Way

What a Year
Things Will NEVER Be the Same
I'm Still SCARED
Why?
For the Duration

Baby Steps Quilt

I made this quilt for my "other daughter" Marilyn. She's my husband's cousin's daughter, but that sounds much too remote. Other daughter is a much more accurate description of our relationship. 

Marilyn and my Beth are very close in age (3 months apart), and are very good friends. Marilyn's baby girl (no name revealed yet) is due five days before Beth's baby Andrew is due. So fun!

The quilt

Darling Marilyn holding the quilt

Beth and Marilyn

Quilt finished: September 2011

Size: 40 inches by 50 inches

Pattern: Baby Steps by Mountain Valley Stitches

Fabric: Melodies for Exclusively Quilters

If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O by Sharyn McCrumb

I think I read about Sharyn McCrumb's latest book in this Ballad series on Goodreads.com, and thought I might like to explore her books. I'm always on the lookout for a new mystery writer.

I checked out the first book in the series from the library. It takes place in Eastern Tennessee in 1986. The story line is quite involved with the Vietnam war, and the life of vets 20 years later. I found that intriguing - my generation just barely missed the Vietnam war. Most people I know even just 5 years older than me have a much more present sense of the war.

The book was well written. It was a teeny bit scary. It shouldn't have been - but I scare easily. I won't be able to read several of her books in a row. Just once in a while. But I will definitely read more.

I liked the introduction by the author very much. She told about how she came to write the book, and some of the process she goes through while writing. I'm always interested in that, and it was fun to note while I was reading the book some of the things she had mentioned in the introduction.

Snow!

Just yesterday I was driving down the road in the rain, thinking how much I've enjoyed our extended summer this last month. Until two days ago, it has been in the mid to high 70's. Just how I like summer - not the usual 90's and 100's of July and August. In fact I've been thinking how incongruous the fall colors have been with those toasty temperatures.

Yesterday the temperature was in the low 50's, and we could see snow at the tops of the mountains. This morning I just looked out my window to see snow. Snow!

Yesterday morning I was moaning because I had to wear long pants. Now I suppose I'll need to put on a jacket too.

Good thing is, it won't last. It's already turning back into rain. Just a taste of what's to come.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

I read this book for my book group, and waited too long to start it. This sometimes happens because I don't like to have too large a gap between finishing a book and discussing it. My book group meets the last Thursday of the month, so last week I spent every moment reading that I could, and still had half the book left to read on Thursday.

It seemed everything conspired to take away reading time from me on Thursday. Finally at five minutes before I needed to go, I gave up (still had over 100 pages to go), and went to confirm where we were meeting.

Turns out we're not meeting until next week. There was a change, and I had forgotten.

So now I've got the book finished, in plenty of time before our discussion. I can't wait for the discussion. I want to hear what others felt about the book and the writing. I also still can't figure out what the title means. I'm hoping for some enlightenment on that too.

Briefly, the book takes place in 1799 and 1800 on a small island in Nagasaki harbor, Japan. There is an outpost of the Dutch East Indies Company on that island. A clerk for the company comes to the island to help audit the books of the company to help eliminate inside fraud and other cheating going on. We get to know the Dutch employees as well as various Japanese characters.

The writing is excellent. It was nice to read a book with such great writing. I liked the story. I'm not sure I loved the story, but I might like it better after discussion.

Bottom line, I think I'd like to try another book by David Mitchell. That says something.

I Won a Giveaway!

No, not the blog kind. Just the very kind person whom I didn't even know at the football game kind.

We have BYU football season tickets. Mostly because of me. I know Ray likes the games, but I'm really the one who loves to go. Last night as we were leaving the game, I noticed a woman had on some cute BYU earrings (see above). I asked her where she got them, and she said, "the BYU Bookstore". Then she asked me if I lived locally, and I replied, "Sandy" (the city where I live), thinking to myself - I'll have to get to the bookstore and get some of those earrings. Meanwhile she reached up, took them out of her ears, and gave them to me. She gave me a big hug and said, "I'll just pick up another pair for myself." and walked away.

I never even got her name, it all happened so quickly. I'll wear them to the next game. Maybe we'll meet again.

Stranger things have happened.

Meanwhile - thank you again kind stranger for a delightful gift. You made my day!