The Poisonwood Bible

Last week I read Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible.

I absolutely love her writing, and this book was no exception. I generally dislike novels that are told from multiple perspectives, switching point of view from chapter to chapter. This book, however, consumed me. I read all 543 pages in just a few days' time.

In summary, the book is about a minister who takes his wife and four daughters to Africa on a yearlong mission that changes the course of all their lives. Difficult decisions are made and there are many moments of extreme tension and stress. Emotionally, the book chewed me up and spit me out.

I'd like to say that I have something profound to offer you from my reading, but all I can say is that it gave me a lot to think about. Relationships, religion, spirituality, history and politics of all things. Kingsolver does a miraculous job weaving this fictional family into the Congo in the middle of social upheaval.

I highly recommend this book.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The Democrats are making me angry.

I respect your right to vote for Obama if you've done your research and agree with him.

I do not, however, respect the Democrats' suddenly changing their opinion about campaign financing. For a party who has fought hard for "taking the big money out of campaigns", it's more than a little bit of hypocrisy to see Obama's team opt out of public finance funds to go ahead and raise the largest amount to support his campaign this country has ever seen.

And on top of that, they opt out of all the default fraud checks on credit card payments that would require the name and address entered to match that on the credit card. And that the card was registered to someone with an address in the US. To prevent illegal campaign donations.

AND THEN THEY HAVE THE NERVE TO SLING INSULTS AND THREATS TO A NEWS REPORTER WHO DARED ASK A QUESTION TO WHICH AMERICA WANTS THE ANSWER. Bad idea, guys. Makes you look like a bunch of nasty socialists. For more info, go here.

T-minus three weeks

Give or take. I can hardly believe how close we're getting!

I had another midwife appointment this morning, and everything looks great. I'm gaining about a pound a week, my blood pressure looks great, no swelling, and for being so close to my due date I'm feeling great.

I pre-registered at the hospital and installed the baby seat, so we're getting closer to introducing this kid to the world.

I finished one of Guy's presents last night! I made him ten bean bags and a floor mat tic tac toe board. I'm really excited about it, and I bet he'll love it. If I get around to it, I might embroider the words TIC TAC TOE across the nine squares, but I have other fish to fry first.

So on the docket for the rest of the day:

Fold laundry
Make dinner
Make bread
Pick up Josh, and run a few errands
Make up a Christmas gift that I'm really excited about! In theory, it'll be start to finish in just an hour or so.

Could it be?

Indeed? Are we really done nursing? 

This is just too weird! Exciting, but strange. Now I'm just wishing that my due date was a few weeks further away so that I can keep working on all these craft and organization projects. 

Today should be a good day. My goals are simple--clean the house, and go out with Mom. We're going to hit the Provo Craft outlet, and try to track down a few supplies for a Christmas gift. I think it'd be fun to go to this bakery, too, but we'll see if I can resist temptation.

And now? On to the dishes. Delightful. :-P

Two quick things

It's been 36 hours since we last nursed. Holy cow, I can't believe he's weaning. He's a good kid, and I'm glad that he's mine. But this means I just might get a few weeks of being a non-nursing mom. Crazy!

Second--there's this awesome website called InboxDollars  that I'm really excited about. I don't spend lots of time on it, but it gives me the chance to pick up a couple dollars here and there. I'm using whatever I'm earning towards  Christmas gifts, and it's not tons (I've earned about $10 in two weeks) but it's something I can do while I watch TV on the internet and while Guy naps. 

You get something like 2 or 3 cents for every e-mail ad you read. $0.50 for every survey you complete. And various amounts for checking out other offers, some of which are completely free (like signing up for Snapfish.com and getting 25 free prints) while others require you actually pay for the advertised service for a specified amount of time. 

If you're interested in checking it out, let me send you an e-mail referral! It'll get me a few extra cents, and I'd be glad to know whether or not my talking about this kind of thing puts anyone off.

*note--doing something like this, or any other paid survey website, merits setting up a new e-mail account to prevent the possibility of spam in your primary account

**second note--I've done some research and this particular site is reputable. Many others are not. Always read the privacy policy so you know what you're getting into!

And now? It's time to sew some bean bags, people. With any luck, I'll finish them all tonight!

Off I go!

EDITED TO ADD: I finished the bean bags and am halfway through the floor quilt! Getting closer every day

Coming up next, in Emily's Life

This week's going to be a good one, I hope. I have lots of goals, and several fun things to do, so it should be enjoyable.

As for weekly activities, Monday is play group. Tuesday morning I have a midwife appointment. Wednesday night there's an Enrichment where I'll be able to work on a certain someone's Christmas present. Friday Josh takes the SAS certification exam (it has something to do with computers and statistics, that's all I know) so I'll have the day to myself. Then Saturday is the ward halloween party. I, of course, volunteered to be part of the trunk or treat and to bring lemon bars. I'm planning on making those Friday while Josh is taking his test.

Sometimes I think I'm a little crazy :-)

Tomorrow's plans aren't too grandiose. I'm going to do all the regular things, like cooking and dishes, and go to playgroup. I'm going to get the whites folded, finish Guy's birthday bean bags, and keep trucking through the New Testament. Oh, and find a baby-sitter for Tuesday. That's never hard, though, as many of my friends are very gracious and willing to watch Guy along with their own kids. Hopefully I'll get some more crochet in there somewhere. I love to crochet!

Dinner is going to be chicken teriyaki noodle bowls, I think, but I haven't decided for sure. And Guy and I are going to be drinking green smoothies this week to try and beat the last lingering vestiges of his first cold of the season. 

It's going to be a busy week, but a good one.

How could you not love this face?