The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

This is the true account of Jan and Antonina Zabinski. They ran the Warsaw zoo at the outbreak of World War II. Through their efforts they were able to help save over 300 Jews during the war. Jan worked with the Polish underground, and they housed many refugees in their home, and on the zoo grounds.

I liked this book. My reading time the last few weeks has been quite disjointed, and most of my reading time has been late at night when I was tired. The book didn't grab me enough to keep me fascinated, but I found it very interesting. It reads almost like a novel. It does have quite a bit of natural history thrown in there too. I thought because of the title that it would be mostly about Antonina, but it was about Jan too, and a lot of others who worked together to save as many Jews as possible. At the end of the book there is a great chapter with follow-up on the people in the book.

I am always curious about the people who risked their lives and their families to save the Jews. What made them do it? They seem like ordinary people, but most people barely managed to survive themselves. Their love for humanity makes them extra-ordinary. This is the kind of person I hope I would have been, and hope I will be if ever put in the same situation.

O Christmas Tree!

When I was growing up, trimming the Christmas tree was a family affair. My sister's birthday is December 11, and we usually waited until after her birthday to get and decorate our tree. We all went to choose the tree, and when we got it home my dad was in charge of putting on the lights. We had all kinds of lights-- some were clocks, some were round balls that looked like snowballs. Some lights were large and some were small. After the lights were on we all decorated the tree together. As we got older we were allowed to hang the more fragile ornaments. The finishing touch was putting on the tinsel. By then we were usually ready to be done, and we tossed on the tinsel in clumps. I remember my mom going around the tree and rehanging the tinsel in single strands.

With my own family we did much the same thing. Then as the children got older and left home it all gradually fell on my shoulders. I became the one to put on the lights and now I pretty much do it on my own. This year I was lucky enough to have some little helpers.

Matthew and Madeleine hanging ornaments

The children are done decorating, and highly pleased with the results

During nap time I rearranged the red balls, and added the gold. This is one of the bows that Audrey made. They really adds to the tree.

Matthew by the finished product

This year we've had so much going on that I have kept my Christmas decorations to a bare minimum. Peaceful surroundings help to keep my mind peaceful as well. One thing I love to put up is a nativity that my sister-in-law Orva made for my many years ago. It is made out of corduroy, and it is exquisite. The details are amazing, and so carefully done. The pieces have velcro on them and can be placed on the background. Here it is with all the pieces in order:

The children love this. Every time I walk past it, the pieces are arranged differently, in many creative ways. The other morning I came out and saw this:

I did not see the pieces anywhere. Usually they are scattered on the floor in front of the nativity while everything is being rearranged. I glanced at the tree, and found many new treasures hanging in its branches. Here are just a couple that I saw:

A Wise Man

Mary and baby Jesus

Maybe there was no room at the inn, or the stable. But there was plenty of room in the tree!

Caught in the act

Recently we had an overnight guest who slept in the library. This is what happened before I got the mattress and everything put away:

Party at G'ma's!

Austin, Madeleine, and Matthew

Movie request

Austin and Matthew approached Audrey: can we watch the movie with snow and silly dancing?

She said to ask G'ma.

Then they approached me: can we watch the Christmas Whites?

A new generation that loves White Christmas!

Done and done

A little over a year ago I wrote about my to-do list obsession here. Yesterday I finished the last of several items on a long-term to-do list, and walked around self-satisfied all afternoon. (How many hyphenated words can you put in one sentence without the hyphen police arresting you?)

1. I delegated to Ray (younger) to take care of some doctor/upcoming surgery stuff, and he did it. I get to count this because it was on my list to do. And it is not always easy to get him to do these things. But these he did quickly and cheerfully.

2. I finished the two quilts mentioned in my last post.

3. I have all the Christmas cards addressed. I bought the cards last year on sale, thinking if I just hand address 10 or so a month, all of them would be hand addressed and ready to go by now. I don't think my computer addressed labels will fool anyone. Let's just say one can only procrastinate so long, then one has to modify some ideas of how things could be done.

4. I have all the Christmas pictures printed.

5. I bought the stamps for the Christmas cards.

6. I have my house decorated for Christmas. This is the bonus that comes when your husband volunteers your home for part of the ward Christmas dinner party, which is tonight.

7. My tree looks lovely because Audrey made lots and lots and lots of bows for it. Lots. I'm counting this because I wanted it done. I folded her laundry and watched Elizabeth while she made all those bows. I got the easy jobs. Did I say there were lots of bows?

8. I ordered family pictures from Charles (the pictures were taken in July).

9. Last, and the most satisfying: I cleaned out our home and business office files, and they are stored and put away, or shredded. This has been on my list for two years, and I have sworn I would do it every time I tried to cram another piece of paper into those drawers. Yesterday I finished doing that - it took about an hour and a half all together. Once again I ask myself--what takes me so long to do these things???

Oh, but it feels so good to have them done!

Two Christmas quilts for the season

Last Spring Trish and I did the Quilt Shop Hop put on by local quilt stores (from Springville up to Logan - we stayed between Orem and Salt Lake). We went to about a dozen stores exercising great self-restraint - just looking, gathering ideas, not buying. When we hit our last store all that self control went out the window. I don't know how it happened, but we lost our presence of mind. Completely and thoroughly. First of all, they had a sale. 20% off everything in the store. Here in Utah that never happens (it happens a lot more in the Seattle area). I think when we saw there was a sale every logic cell in our brains took a vacation. We bought fabric for two projects: a Christmas card holder, and a Christmas quilt. Now bear in mind that neither of us likes to do appliqué, and that we have both repeatedly sworn that we have more than enough Christmas quilts. Ha! Like I said about the logic cells... both projects were appliqué as well as Christmas.

We rationalized our actions by saying that we would work together on the quilt - neither of us working on it unless it was our quilting day (most Thursdays). We started in June, and finished last week. There were a few diversions along the way, but we worked pretty steadily. All I can say is that it's a good thing we did it together or I would have given up a long time ago.

Here's the Christmas card holder (given to my brother and his family for Christmas this year):

And here is the quilt. Done at last.

Christmas Card holder:

Finished: November 21, 2009

Size: 16 inches by 62 inches

Pattern: Merry Christmas Card Holder in I Believe designs by Nancy Halvorsen, p. 14

Fabric: I Believe by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex

I Believe Quilt:

Finished: November 28, 2009

Size: 59 inches by 62 inches

Pattern: I Believe Quilt in I Believe designs by Nancy Halvorsen, p. 3

Fabric: I Believe by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex

Rise and shout!

BYU 26, U of U 23

'nuff said

It's a movie and I'll cry if I want to

The first time it happened I never saw it coming.

Ray and I rode our bikes to the budget movie on campus (remember those?) for a date. They were showing It's a Wonderful Life, and I had never seen it. It started at the scene where Jimmy Stewart is wandering around town seeing what life would have been like had he never lived. He runs into his wife Mary, who of course does not recognize him. Huge, wrenching sobs came out of me. I could not stop crying no matter how hard I tried. I cried until the end of the movie, and I cried all the way home on my bike. This was not a calm, quiet, dignified weeping. No, it was embarrassingly loud, out of control sobbing. When we arrived at my apartment, my roommates thought someone had died. There was absolutely no accounting for my hysterical reaction to the movie.

The next time it happened was in 1994. We went to see Forrest Gump with several couple friends.

It started toward the end of the movie, when Forrest is standing in the cemetery. I felt it coming. I told Ray, “I’ve got to get out of here FAST.” I think he thought I was nuts. I practically ran out of the building, to the car, where I cried and cried, trying desperately to stop before everyone else came out. I must have looked a wreck, and I’m sure people must have thought I was nuts to lose it so bad.

The third time was in 1996. We were in Portland, and went to see Up Close and Personal .

The television close-up on his boots at the end did me in. We were with another couple, so I ran out in the hall, and tried to find a secluded place – without much luck.

Wednesday night was the most recent happening. We went to see The Blind Side.

I cried through parts of the movie in a respectable manner (just so everyone knows, it is a sweet movie, and no one else will react like I did). But at the end, I felt the wave of emotion coming. I squeezed Ray’s hand and said “Let’s get out of here!” I was barely managing to hold it together, so he didn’t really catch on. I tried to go out a back door, but he insisted on going all the way to the front. I’m sure he was wondering why I was almost at a run. Unfortunately, he had dropped me off, so I had to wait for him to know where the car was. Once in the car, it all came out.

I cry at the drop of a hat—The Star-spangled Banner, flags in parades, Christmas music, soldiers in uniform, watching families reunite at the airport—you catch my drift. I’ve cried watching movies for years—normal crying, not wrenching, emotional sobbing. Anyone who has seen these movies knows that crying like that is not warranted. All I can think is that I must have really had a need to seriously cry.

This is why I always ask if a movie is sad, or if someone dies in it before I go see it. My children know this. They wisely warn me. I try to gauge my emotional well-being and determine whether I should see the movie, or wait and see it another time. (After Ray saw Terms of Endearment, he told me I must never, ever see it under any circumstances.) I don’t mind seeing sad movies; I just need to be prepared.