And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

I went to Barnes and Noble even though I said I wasn't going to.  I went to the sale table.  I wasn't going to but I did.  I picked up a couple of titles.  I wasn't supposed to but I did. 

I went to the new release shelves and a small book caught my eye.  It was titled "And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer" by Fredrik Backman.  It was small and short and I knew it would make me cry.  I walked away.

I looked a cookbooks, I fawned over the coloring books, I was amazed at how B&N has reduced their ebook section to almost nothing.  I was drawn back to the little book with only 76 pages.

I couldn't help myself.

It is about Grandpa -- an elderly man living with some form of dementia.  It is about his son Ted, his wife and his grandson Noah. 

It is sad.  But it isn't sad.  It isn't humorous but it isn't too dire either.  It is written beautifully like all the other Backman titles.  I really haven't read prose like his -- ever.  It seems like the central theme for all his books is death but then they aren't really sad.

Would I recommend?  Yes, yes, yes.  It is thought provoking and yes, a tear jerker but it is worth it.

Happy Birthday, PaPa!

Today is my grandfather's birthday.  He was born January 10, 1896 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  This photo was taken in 1953 at my 3rd birthday party.  It was taken in the backyard of my grandparents home in San Antonio, Texas, right around the corner from our house.  I dearly loved my PaPa and still miss him.

Teaser Tuesday

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
ETA: I am face palming myself for not using my new graphic, force of habit to just use the old one lol, sorry about that everyone. Feel free to use the new one if you want to.
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.


For some reason I always want to call this Tuesday Teaser instead of Teaser Tuesday.  Go figure.

Ok, my teaser today comes from a novella by Fredrik Backman.  The title is "And Every Morning the Way Homes Gets Longer and Longer".  This teaser can be found on page 36.

"Why are you holding my hand so tight, Grandpa?" the boy whispers again.
"Because all of this is disappearing Noahnoah. And I want to keep hold of you the longest of all".

This novella is only 76 pages long and I am almost finished.  You can read the review here later today.

Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini

Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini seemed like the perfect holiday read.  It was a slow go but mostly because the holidays didn't allow me much reading time.  As is popular now, it was a story comprised of multiple story lines involving lots of characters but it was primarily about the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family Christmas and modern day Sophia and Lucas.  The stories become entwined when Sophia choses a carol set to a Longfellow poem for the annual Christmas program.


There are several other story lines going on -- Father Ryan and his brother Liam, Camille, Sister Winifred, Charlotte, Alex and their mother, the Civil War -- there was a LOT going on.

All of these story lines came together at the end to make sense but for the better part of the book it all seemed scattered and hectic and I didn't think it flowed well.  I was a bit disappointed in this book because Chiaverini's books generally flow well but this one was just more halting and, at times I felt a bit contrived like she was really having to work to make it work.

With all that said, however, Jennifer Chiaverini is one of my favorite authors and I will continue to read her works with pleasure.

Quotes

It seems the popular "thing" on Facebook these days is posting quotes that are meaningful to you.  I see this done as an expression of faith, a nudge to the posters own sensibility or maybe even a passive aggressive message to a possible reader.  Whatever the reason behind the post, some of these really resonate with me.  One of my friends, a devout Christian, seems to always be posting something that I absolutely need to hear at that very moment. 

The words that I have quoted seem to express my reality now, three and a half years after my "medical adventure".  I know the reasonable, scientific, doctor-speak reason for my adventure but I really feel like it was to get my attention.  There needed to be an attitude adjustment.

While there was an abrupt change in my attitude at the time, there has been more of an evolving change as well.  I look at the world completely differently now.  I deal with "issues" differently now -- first line of defense is prayer.  I no longer think I can fix anything.  I can do things that I know are healthier (physically and emotionally) for me but in the big scheme of things I have no power except to realize and acknowledge the need for a strong faith, an unceasing prayer life, quiet time and a reason to go on with life.

I am working toward all of those things and I feel like a different person.  The most important, life changing thing of all was experiencing the joy that comes from gratitude.  There is no other feeling in the world like it and it is a feeling I have come to crave.  I believe it is a blessing and once you have felt it to the extreme, you know it.

So, yes, this above stated quote is like my mission statement.  It is pretty much how I govern my days these days.

The Remains of the Snow starring My Back Garden

They had been predicting snow for several days.  Not a lot of snow, mind you, just a few flurries.  It would begin about rush hour on Friday morning.

Friday morning came and went and no snow at Maison Brinkley.  I was keeping my fingers crossed because, while it is very lovely, I don't like snow or ice. 

About 1:30 we were getting ready to leave to pick up the Bean and we looked out and, lo and behold, what did we see?  Small little flurries punctuated by some really big fluffy snowflakes.  We laughed and said no big deal.

It wasn't a big deal except for the one patch of ice we hit but even that wasn't horrible. Thank goodness for four wheel drive vehicles!

So, with any luck, winter is over since it is supposed to be in the 70's on Tuesday. I jest because we have been known to have snow in March so we will see.  It is generally a crap shoot here in Texas in regards to the weather.

I did record this winter event for posterity and, for the viewing pleasure of my readers from up north,  a good laugh.

So, here is our Texas snowfall for January 2017.

Snow on the boulder -- there really was more last night

Ice in the birdbath

The berries make a wonderful addition to the photo, don't you think?

Yesterday....

Yesterday was quite the day.  Well, in the big scheme of things, not really, but in my little world anything out of the ordinary constitutes excitement.

In our house we have a set of unwritten rules.  I get up early.  Hubs doesn't.  The last one out of bed makes it up which means it is never me! I don't turn off the house alarm because it beeps and it might wake him up so that job goes to him as well.

Ok, so Hubs is on several meds for diabetes and high blood pressure and cholesterol and all that sort of thing.  Recently, oh say the last year or two, he has been having a "problem" in that he has vivid dreams and can't seem to wake himself up out of them.  As a result he seems to do a version of "sleepwalking" through them until he wakes up.  He looks like he is awake, he talks like he is awake but he usually is acting out the dream and he has no recollection of what is going on.  Trust me, these are very active occurrences.  It isn't like he is sound asleep and mumbling -- he is on his feet, trying to do things like fold all the bed cover up in a little square, or trying to rearrange things that aren't there.  A couple of nights ago he was wadding the quilt up and holding it up over his head like a sacrifice! Sometimes these things are funny but most times not.  Yesterday was one of those not-so-funny days.

I got up as usual.  Came in and had my breakfast and a cuppa when I heard the alarm being turned off.  He didn't get it turned off because it beeps a certain number of times when it turns off and I could hear that didn't happen.  I asked him and he replied "yes, of course I got it turned off".  I could tell, with that reply, that he wasn't awake.  Well, before I knew it he had gone out the door into the garage to "check the meat" (he was smoking meat in the dream) and, in the process of opening the door, he set the alarm off.  He kept trying to turn it off but was hitting the wrong buttons which sent it into a stupid loop where we COULDN'T get it turned off. 

The siren blared for at least 10 minutes.  The only thing to do was flip all the breakers on the panel and make it stop which he did.  We could then restore everything to normal.

It woke the neighbors up.  They came outside to look and decided there was something wrong with our gas meter.  They couldn't get us on the phone because we couldn't hear it ringing with the siren going off.  So, they called the gas company.  We didn't know any of this was happening.

I had just sat down with my cup of tea, trying to calm my nerves when there was a booming knock on the door.  It was the gas man asking about our call.  We didn't make a call.  I sent him next door.  By this time Hubs was waking up and getting dressed to go out and talk to the gas man.  There was nothing wrong with the gas -- no leaks or anything.  Gas man went on his way.

Everything finally calmed down into normalcy but as we sat laughing about the hectic morning, Hubs said he had no idea why he went out into the garage to begin with.  He was dreaming that he was smoking meat and that there was a line of people wanting to help baste it and he had to check to make sure it was getting basted and he assumed, in the dream, that the meat was in the garage. 

All that and no real meat to show for it.  If he is going to have these ridiculous dreams, I wish there was at least something to show for it other than my frazzled nerves.

Is this funny?  Sometimes.  Sometimes not.  Do I think it is serious?  Oh yes.  Am I going to have to intervene and talk to the doctor.  Probably.  Yuck. 

New rules -- I turn off the alarm when I get up whether it wakes him up or not.  I did that this morning.  He is still asleep.  Clearly not a problem.

Consistency

My goodness, it is already the first hump day of the new year! And a cold one it is.  We have been spoiled by lovely spring temps but we are paying our dues now for the next few days.  Friday might bring some light snow flurries.  If they are light and no ice is involved, I could enjoy that.  IF.


I don't like to make new year resolutions because I am always a bit over zealous, a bit too detailed and fussy and I am always trying to change things that clearly aren't meant to be changed.  Some of my resolutions would absolutely require a personality overhaul which, we all know, isn't likely to happen. 

However, since last spring I have been working on a list of things I would like to change about my habits and our life here in Maison Brinkley.  As I have posted earlier, I had a list of things that I had to do before the end of the year and I managed to get most of them done but not without a good bit of anxiety and sandwiching between other things.  I am starting out the year feeling accomplished but I don't want to lean on my laurels -- one of my biggest downfalls.  I was always like that and it isn't good.  As Dory would say, "just keep swimming".


So, I am making small changes to my personal habits to make things happen on a more even keel.  From what I understand, it takes 28 days to form a new habit and, by my observation, about 20 seconds to break it so my goal is to work hard to try not to break them.

One goal is to make my dentist very happy.  We all brush and floss our teeth -- or at least I hope we do.  However, some of us are more prone to dental distress than others -- it seems to be an inherited thing in my family -- so I have had to ramp up my dental habits somewhat.  My dentist is going to be pleased to hear that I am flossing after each meal as well as brushing.  Now, the brushing was always a given but the flossing after EACH meal is new to me.  I realize that is too much information but it is a good example of how a small habit can be formed -- I have been doing this now for a couple of months and I can't imagine not doing it -- I don't feel right when I don't.  I am hoping this new habit will yield results he will be happy with.  I will let you know.

Another bad habit I am hoping to break is waiting until 3:30 to figure out what is for dinner.  It will more than likely be something that has to be defrosted which immediately means dinner out.  That is a habit that was so easy to form and one that needs to be broken without a doubt.  So, today I am planning to start dinner quite early, make use of the crockpot and hopefully have a lovely roast for dinner tonight.  I started planning this last night so I can be more effective today.  I guess a good title for this would be "planning ahead". 

One more habit that I am currently forming is mopping my kitchen every night.  I have an open floor plan with lots and lots of tile floor but I don't intend to mop the entire house every night -- just the kitchen area.  It is a galley style and not all that huge so it really shouldn't be an issue.  I bought a Bona floor care system with the spray bottle of cleaner.  It works really well -- no big buckets of mop water and it doesn't feel sticky afterward.  So, how much work could it be to do a little spritz and swish over the floor at the end of the day.  I would think it would be quite do-able so I am going to do it! 

And another habit that I want to form is reading at least 30 minutes a day.  I am not joining any challenges this year but I did see one that is 52 books a year -- one a week.  I think that would be great but some books might take longer than a week and some maybe could be done in a day or two.  My goal, I think is to just real a little everyday -- consistency is important in anything you do.

In fact, I think consistency should be my overall goal for the year -- being consistent with everything.  Don't try to be perfect just be consistent.  So, that is my buzzword for 2017 -- Consistency! Just Keep Swimming!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a meme formerly hosted by MizB and now being brought to us by thepurplebooker.com.

The rules are --



• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Ok, so I used to participate in this meme often, as well, but somehow drifted away.  It is fun, though and does introduce you to new books/authors.

My teaser comes from "Christmas Bells" by Jennifer Chiaverini.

"How inexpressibly sad are all the holidays!" he wrote in his journal later that night."

"As he waited for the ink to dry upon the page, in his imagination he lived again his last Christmas with Fanny, saw vividly her loving smile, felt her touch upon his arm, heard her gentle, merry laugh close to his ear, felt her soft, tender lips brush his cheek."

Not sure how much of a "tease" these are but here they are!

Musing Monday

 I used to participate in the Musing Monday meme frequently when it was hosted by Miz B.  It is now being posted by thepurplebooker.com.  I decided the new year is calling me to revisit some of the memes that I used to do but have somehow abandoned.  So, without further adieu -- here we go!





I’m currently reading… Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini
Up next I think I’ll read…Angels in My Hair by Lorna Byrne
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…these were all free books on Kindle or Nook -- Murder at the Maples by Joanne Phillips but I can't remember the others!
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…Angels in My Hair when I finish it!
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…the book I am currently reading because I usually LOVE Jennifer Chiaverini but I just can't get into this book -- it does seem to be getting better as I progress though.

I can’t wait to get a copy of…Jan Karon's new book
I wish I could read ___, but…non-stop but the kitchen calls
I blogged about ____ this past week…my blue porch ceiling

So, why don't you join me in this meme?  It is a good way to learn of new books, authors and maybe find some interesting blogs to read!

Blue Monday and One Thing Always Leads to Another

Blue Monday is a meme that was originally hosted by Smiling Sally.  Sally has gone on to glory but the meme continues here at backyardneighbor.typepad.com.  The gist of the meme is to post photos of anything blue that strikes your fancy.  There are some lovely photos.

So, here are my blue offerings for this second day of the new year!

As you have learned from a previous blog entry, we have been up to our ears in home improvements.  And, as these things usually go, one thing leads to another.  So, I am going to take you on a tour of the back side of Maison Brinkley so you can see how "blue" our little world has become.

pretty blue bird feeders -- they need some food!

the big blue kamado -- it needs to be cooking

the blue, French-inspired planters which need to be planted

a blue bird bath that we created out of a pot and a saucer -- it needs to be put back together

beautiful blue Texas sky--sorry to get the back side of Target! It seems much more vibrant after the rain last night

the blue porch ceiling

I can attest to the fact that yellow jackets and wasps do NOT like the blue ceiling.  We took down  the ceiling fan on the patio which, much to our dismay, had become a big nest for wasps and mud daubers and decided to just replace it with a light.  A couple of the wasps came back looking for their now defunct home and they kept trying to fly up and hit the ceiling and came right back down which means they actually do think it is the sky.  They finally left and I haven't seen them since. 

I love blue, it is one of my favorite colors and I love incorporating it into my decor.  It is generally the color that I wear the most as well.  I very pleased with the way the back of the house looks with the new paint and the new roof.  I think we should go to the nursery today and buy some pansies to plant in those blue pots!

What do you think?