First quarterly (or thereabouts) update on the 101

this is mostly me talking to myself to keep my honest / on track with my 101.  Updating what is done / started and quite possibly rambling on to myself with random thoughts on miscellaneous list items.

Items Done: 14/101

Items Started but not completed: 13

Just For Me (10)

1. Re-pierce my ears October 11 and buy some earrings I really <3 November 6

2. Get that next tattoo

I have the design picked out.  it’s probably going  just above my left wrist on the back of the arm would be a little cleaner version of this

3. Put readings, powerpoint etc. from Dad’s memorial on blog

We are approaching the 2nd anniversary of Dad’s death on the February 21.  I think it would be good to try to get this done before then.  My biggest issue was finding a way to embed the Powerpoint into the blog post with the music intact.  I really want it that way but realize I may have to settle for linking it somehow.  My inner geek really, really wants to find a way to make it work and is not good at accepting ideas like “it can’t be done”.

4. Totally blow off work one day and go to the beach. Alone. Feel no guilt

My birthday is on a Friday this year.  Depending on the weather this might be the date for this.  Of course, I don’t need a perfect beach day (or what is typically thought of as a beach day) since I am not all about swimming in the ocean when I go.  More about listening to the sound of eternity in the surf and doing as little as possible.  A cool, even blustery day would work for that as well.  The “feel no guilt” part is totally doable for me – especially if it is a Friday when no one answers their phones anyway and it’s my b’day.

5. Do a past life regression

I like to think this would be cool to do in Sedona or Cassadega.  No clue when I’m getting to either of those places.

6. Get makeup professionally done – 10/31

7. Go Bejeweled Blitz-free for 30 days November 06

8. Go unplugged 1 day / month (4/34)

So far, so good

9. Get that hot stone massage 3 times (0/3)

10. Sign up for and take a class offered at SRHS

I’m thinking photography although I might do beading also (see #38).  I’d love to do photography but probably shouldn’t unless I’ve got a boatload of spending money handy since it will almost certainly make me lust for a new and awesome camera.  And the number of (lower-end) cameras we already have in this household borders on embarrassing.

Home Dec (12) this section is not seeing much action unfortunately.  And this is stuff I really enjoy – just haven’t found the time.

11. Paint laundry room

12. Window treatment in front room

13. Shower curtain in boys bath

14. Window treatments in my bath

15. Get boys @ beach painting done

I have someone I want to do this for me.  When it will happen, though, is anyone’s guess.  I totally can picture it right in the big space between the two windows and over the bed in my room, though.

16. Finish painting boys room

17. Get curtains and make valances for bedroom

18. Repaint the blue in bedroom

19. Get new coffee tables in FR

20. Get new bedroom furniture

21. Paint master hall closet doors

22. Stencil border in master bedroom

Hobbies / Leisure (16)

23. Make the boys pillows January 3

24. Write a new poem

25. Redo music swap CD and mail out January 24

I am marking this done in the future, yes.  This has been almost ready to mail out for months but just before I did, I realized that a few of them did not burn right.  But I’m marking it for Sunday because I am determined this is going to get done this weekend.  Even if nothing else does.

26. Rip the rest of my CD’s

27. Do Postcard Crossing with the boys, 45 postcards (0/45)

Well, I signed up for an account.  Bought some postcards to send when I was in Orlando in October.  That’s a start.  Haven’t even talked to the boys about it yet, though, which is sort of when I will consider this started.  Or maybe once we’ve actually sent one.

28. Create custom google travel map

29. Crochet or knit an afghan

Picked a pattern.  That’s as far as this has gotten. Had some wicked cold weather when it occurred to me that it would’ve been great if I’d done this already.

30. Sew a dress

31. Read 20 fiction books (6/20)

this gets it’s own “post in progress”

32. Make a Best of Julia dvd

33. Sing at a karaoke bar

Well, my local girls have found that one of our favorite bars has karaoke on Thursday nights and we’re all up for making it out one time soon.  That’s as far as we’ve gotten so far.  I do, however, practice loudly and daily while driving. 

34. Make an apron

I’m sure I have many friends that might inadvertently spit their diet coke out when reading this (yeah, Caron, I am specifically thinking of you) since aprons and me wouldn’t ordinarily be thought of together.  However, first, I do have that whole fabric buying habit so it’s good to have an actual reason to do so now and then.  Second, I have a friend that lives in my ‘puter who put up some pics of some aprons she made and they are actually cool looking.  As in, “these are not your mother’s aprons” (Mom, I’m not dissing your aprons.  They’re fine.  It’s just a saying).  Also, while I’m the equivalent of an illegal alien in the kitchen, I do have to venture in there once in awhile.  I think it’d be good if, in those desparate times I were less likely to ruin / stain whatever I am wearing.  So, apron sewing it is.  There may or may not be pics of the finished product – depends how it all works out.

35. Try 25 new recipes (1/25)

I think I will give this it’s own post, also.  With recipes and reviews.  But it won’t be tonight.  I know I did several new ones at Christmas – I’ll just have to try to remember which ones and find them again.   That should probably be 5 or 6 / 25 but that’ll have to wait for now.

36. Watch 20 movies I’ve never heard of that are recommended by friends (3/20)

This also has it’s own “post in progress”

37. Grow some herbs

Well, let’s see.  I bought a couple basil plants at Thanksgiving for one of those new recipes and totally intended to get more whatever-I-need to start some other herbs and get them all planted in a container.  So far, I’ve still just got two basil plants that aren’t looking too good and still in the container they came home from the store in.  I might note, here, that my thumb is very nearly black.  I must’ve felt the need to prove something when I put this on the list.

38. Make at least one thing with all those beads

Heavy on the ideas here.  Not so much on any implementation yet, though.  If you catch me buying more beads before this status changes, please try to stop me.

Travel, Adventure and Outings (21)

39. Hike Zion Narrows

The plan (hope?) is to be able to do this next May/June.  Those months are filling up with stuff, though so… also my partners in crime for this adventure are my 20-something nieces who have lots of stuff and world travel going on in their lives at this stage so it’s anyone’s guess how it will work out.  My planning on the timing is mainly focused on the time of year with water that is least freezing (you hike through the river in some parts) and when flash floods are least likely. Information on the hike and some awesome pics are here

40. Try kite surfing

41. Go to Kennedy Space Center

42. See a shuttle launch November 16

This was great fun!  My sister and niece and great nephew were down for a visit from Canada.  We had a beautiful day (well, it was hot but it’s Florida.  What’re you gonna do?  The boys tolerated the wait and the crowd pretty well.  We ended up with a clear view to the launch pad (from ~ 13 miles away).  My favorite part was the boys talking about how the exhaust trail looked like a giant string of popcorn hanging down from the sky.  It truly was a spectacular sight to see and was well worth the drive and taking the boys out of school.

43. Camping @ Bahia Honda SP

No plan yet other than sometime when it is not blazingly hot. I did think I’d get that monstah tent out of the attic and have a “campout in the yard” night or two.  Ostensibly for the fun of it but, really, my ulterior motive would be to determine whether or not I can get it setup in a reasonably sturdy fashion without the assistance of the Camping Queen niece.  It was only used once, 3 years ago this summer and she was the resident expert.  I feel the need to know whether or not I can do this on my own *before* I find myself in the moment.  See, I have learned a few things in my old age (and from doing it the hard / wrong way).  I’m pretty sure I’m on my own with this one.  Mentions of this plan have garnered reactions from DH that are underwhelming, to say the least.   Oh, and it also occurs to me that I’m gonna need more air mattresses.  Sleeping on the ground ain’t happening.

44. Biking and geocaching in Jonathon Dickinson SP

Might even do this this weekend.  Maybe I should make it done to force myself to work it in.

45. Sleep under the stars. Preferably in the desert.

Well, if / when that Zion Narrows trip happens, it would include sleeping under the stars.  A big factor here is snakes.  Or more, specifically, a lack of them.  that is my very very strong preference.  I’m trying to ignore for the moment that I do realize Zion almost certainly has snakes.

46. Go skinny dipping in water that is not glacier fed (ahem, girls)

47. Take the boys to an outdoor music festival

48. Go kayaking

49. Go to Cassadaga

50. Go back to Sedona

51. Watch a sunrise on the beach with the boys October 16

52. Find a local laser tag place and take the boys

53. Take DS1 to Washington DC

54. Log visits to 10 earthcaches w/boys (1/10)

This also has it’s own “post in progress”

55. Make and activate 5 currency series geocaches

56. Visit a cave with the boys

57. Go snorkeling with the boys (like, somewhere with great snorkeling, obviously.  Not just off Jupiter Beach)

58. Go with the boys to somewhere with snow in winter

59. Take a cruise w/DH

Health / Fitness (5)

60. Bike (or roller-blade) 1000 miles you would otherwise drive (64/1000)

61. Lose that last 7 lbs (0/7)

Well, I’ve lost a couple of them several times already, but for now, this can’t be considered started since I’m back where I started with 7 to go. I suspect there will be a correlation with the completion of this one and the completion of the previous one.  One would hope, anyway.

62. Try those yoga DVD’s (at least once) (1/2)

Started doing the easier one (since I’ve never done yoga before).  I really quite love it and am doing it everyday now.  The other one is a bit more advanced so I’ll likely do a few more weeks on this one then start alternating.  I hadn’t anticipated getting into it when I put it on the list, actually.  It was just that I’d put these on my requisite Christmas list at least 4 years ago.  Got them as gifts and then never even took them out of the shrink wrap till last week.  It was more about ending the complete disuse of something I had specifically requested.  Enjoying it and sticking with it is just a pleasant fallout effect.

63. Lower blood glucose #

64. Get a good bike – November 30,2009

Giving Back (9)

65. Donate blood 4 times (0/4)

The local fire station by the boys school was doing a drive in January for a girl in the community with leukemia.  I went to donate but it went badly.  My previous attempt several years ago also went badly.  I’m going to give it one more go after making sure I’m well hydrated etc.  If it still doesn’t go well (my blood just stops flowing in mid-collection.  From there I start experiencing very unpleasant physical symptoms), I’m going to give up on it.

65. Make Heather’s chocolate cake for school staff for no reason

Plan to do this sometime around Valentine’s day.

66. Pay it forward by helping a mom with twin babies

67. Inspire someone else to do a 101 in 1001 My niece did one, posted December 7

68. Donate 101 cans of food to a shelter (67/101) November 12

69. Volunteer 101 hours (26.5/101)

70. Donate $5 of fun money for every item not completed.

71. Do the Reef Sweep / Beach Cleanup day as a family

72. Update school Amazon site October 29, 2009

Family and Friends (7)

73. Meet 10 of my “pretend friends” in person for the first time (0/10)

74. Visit Mary Kaye or get her a ticket here

75. Have a sleepover with MAM, CLC and JMS

76. Take a sushi-loving friend to lunch and let them attempt to convert me

77. Have a crawl with Kirbo + Capper and any other PNW-ers that can make it.

78. Send cards to 20 friends or family for no reason (1/20)

79. Play a complete game of Risk with DS1

This is a bit embarrassing.  DS1 and I have had the same game in progress since before Thanksgiving or right around there.  He’s less enthusiastic about playing it since I’ve started to dominate the board.  Really must finish this game soon.

The Endless Pursuit of Organization (15)

80. Split health and education files January 06

81. Finish dumping all home video tapes to drive

82. Write a will

83. Get Canadian passports / IDs for me and the boys

84. Print photos of all DS’s creations and put in an album

85. Get pics in orange striped photo album

86. Organize recipes into binder

87. Get photo dump folder organized / purged

88. Get boys DVD’s organized into a binder and indexed

89. Get dumped video time-stamped and org’d by quarter

90. Get dumped video edited and burned onto DVDs

91. Purge and restock travel bins, November 09

92. Purge and reorganize family room closet

Damn good thing I did this when I did.  Last weekend we had the boys’ birthday party.  I was not quite ready with all the game when everyone had arrived so I had some moms and dads working at blowing up some balloons and tying on ribbon.  They ran out and I was not to be found so one of the moms who is a good enough friend of mine to be comfortable doing so, opened this closet to find some.  The other moms were all horrified that she would do that but, lo and behold, it was beautiful and organized.  They were all so very impressed.  I was very relieved I’d decided to make it a priority to just get this done the week before since, otherwise, it would’ve been a terrible site to see!  I think it’s funny that these women that only know me peripherally now think I’m all about organization and neatness.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

93. Make that “what you’re gonna need to know if I’m dead” spreadsheet for DH

94. Organize / purge laundry room

This is mostly done but I can’t really mark it off since there are a couple bins of stuff to sort out yet.  It looks tons better now.  If I just painted it we’d be golden.

Financial (4)

95. unspecified / personal (0/6)

96. Pay off short-term debt (3/100%)

97. Start construction on a pool (this comes after #55 obviously)

98. Track budget / spending every month (0/34)

I have totally dropped the ball here.  However, since I am doing this list to help myself achieve objectives, I will leave this open and consider it done if/when I get it caught up (as compared to doing it on a timely basis for each month which was my original intent).

Work (3)

99. Log 5000 calls (0/5000)

Well, this is utterly embarrassing but I’ll put it out there in hopes that it inspires me to not embarrass myself further.  Just to clarify, that very low number is more a reflection of a lack of recording calls than of not making them. Although, to be sure, with holidays and out of town company and life, in general, distracting me there were almost certainly a less than ideal # of calls actually made.  It *was* well more than 88 though.  This item, though, is really about habits – specifically making a habit of logging my calls.  Apparently, I wish to prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

100. Hit quarterly work hour targets on schedule spreadsheet (0/11)

Not on track here, really, but catching up is totally possible.

101. Develop 4 new (to me) companies as clients (0/4)

He has a dream, as well

This week in school the boys were learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. (And be warned, that if you refer to him as Martin Luther King in front of DS1, you will get a disdainful “Junior” from him.)

DS3 had homework last night where he had to first write a sentence about what MLK’s dream was and then to write what their dream is and draw a picture of it, tell what people would do of their dream were reality and what he could do to make his dream come true.

I do hope I get this paper back so that it can go into the Mommy Archives.  Apparently, his dream is for chocolate (or choklit) to fall from the sky.  What would people do?  Well, eat it, of course.  And he could pursue his dream by getting a plane and dropping the chocolate.  Presumably, a raid of a Hershey’s factory somewhere along the way would also be required.

I wouldn’t put chocolate falling from the sky on par with say, equal rights and opportunity for all and peace and harmony between all the peoples of the earth.  It does sound sort of awesome, though, if possibly messy.  I mean, it gets hot here…

Today’s gem of wisdom

Courtesy of DS1.  He had some birthday money just burning a hole in his pocket and disrupting his ability to sleep or concentrate on anything other than his choices for means by which to stimulate the economy.  (the shopping genes are dominat, apparently.)

So, we made a stop @ Best Buy this afternoon where, after much indecision and a few “discussions” with me about why he wasn’t buying this or that game with violence ratings (for the bazillionth time) he settled on Civilization IV.  He already likes SimCity 4 which is, apparently, similar but on a much smaller scale both in terms of space and time.  There was a man in the games aisle who plays many many hours of various computer games as he’s recovering from double knee surgery.  He totally sold DS1 on the coolness of it – I think the talk about getting science points for building observatories and the like was what put it over the top.

So, as we’re driving home DS3 asks “do you have battles in that game?” Mostly, I’m sure because I told him he couldn’t get any more sequels to Command and Conquer which is just really all about war strategy.  I suspect DS3 was trying to figure out if they just put one over on me by ending up with a game with battles anyway. (Go ahead and picture me rolling my eyes.)

DS1, in his infinite wisdom (and because he’s suddenly already an expert even though the game is not even installed yet) responds “Of course.  You can’t get a society from the Stone Age to the Space Age without winning a few battles.”

Maybe this game with have a stealth lesson about hypothetical peaceful societies.  Of course, what fun would that be?

I think we know where all the Canadian blood went

Today we have not even approached 70 degrees indoors or out.  Now, my peeps up north do not appreciate the Florida interpretation whereby < 70 degrees as a high = cold.

DS1 appears to be getting a clue about this sort of thing as he approaches the ripe old age of 10.  He spontaneously dressed in long pants – warm ones, lined with jersey knit – and a long sleeved shirt today.  When he realized he was still cold he went back and put a tshirt on underneath.  This indicates 2 things to me. First, remarkable progress in that he didn’t need to first freeze, complain of freezing to me, refuse when I suggest he dress warmer on the grounds of anything more than tshirt / shorts not being comfortable (rinse, lather, repeat).  It also indicates that he failed to inherit any of my Canadian blood since all this dressing, layering and further wrapping up in a blanket to play computer games was brought on by indoor temps of 64 degrees.  He also contends that it is too cold to play outside at about the same temps.

DS3 has not progressed quite as much but still did OK.  He got up, put on a tank top and shorts.  Realized after about 2o minutes that this was not appropriate dress for today and asked me where the warm clothes were which he promptly went and changed into with socks for extra warmth (they all will only wear socks under duress).

DS2, on the other hand, put on his tshirt and shorts as always with no socks.  He has repeatedly proclaimed that he is not cold.  And actually does not appear to be feeling the cold.  He did, however, just say “Is there any warm air conditioning?  I’m just sayin, I’m not cold… I’m just saying” which kind of amused me.  He was also more than happy to partake in the warming hot chocolate “even though I don’t need to warm up”.

Just now the other two are cheering when DH mentions that he’s about ready to turn on the “warm air conditioning”.  DS2, OTOH, just wandered off outside to ride his bike.  Still barefoot in tshirt and shorts.

Given that I, born and raised in Canada, am also sitting here in all my warm layers with my supah warm n.a.p. blanket around me (the big one) and fuzzy socks (and have been most of the day) I can only assume that not only did the boy get his and both his brothers’ shares of the Canadian blood, apparently I donated mine to him, also.  Of course, the case could easily be made that I lost mine years ago in a necessary evolution which enabled me to get through a Florida summer without dying.

ETA: He just came in and said “It’s cold out there.  I’m not saying *I’m cold* I’m just saying that it’s cold out there.”  It’s entirely possible he is actually cold but in denial as the prospect of wearing clothing that touches him below the elbows or knees is, to him, a much greater evil.

A Christmas Eve Theory floated by DS1

First let me just say that I am very skeptical about the how genuine DS1’s apparent enduring belief in Santa is.  Not only for the fact that he is going to be 10 but, also, the boy is a very very logical thinker.  I think this belief has been (intentially, by me) shored up a bit by Santa’s habit of bringing him presents that I have made very clear *I* won’t be getting him.

So, anyway, just now he’s getting in the shower and he likes me to sit in there.  So, he starts on this great long and detailed explanation of how this could possibly work.  Most likely, this has been sparked in his ever-busy brain by us having a laptop on the live Santa tracking all afternoon.

In a nutshell, this is his theory.  He is able to go fast enough becuase the reindeer actually have a special sort of engine they’ve invented that is powered by light and when the light shoots out the back it propels the vehicle (or reindeer) forward at the speed of light.  It is possible, he notes, that there are also mirrors involved in order to get the needed forward motion.  Then, in order to make all the stops (and to avoid having to devise a braking system that could make so many frequent stops from lightspeed to stopped) he doesn’t actually stop.  He’s got a special beacon that he picks up and aims at the house.  The magic Santa key (which we hang on the front door) only responds to this beam (and only Santa has one).  when the beam hits the key, it doesn’t actually open the front door.  It slides open a secret panel in the roof of the house at which point Santa shoots the present out of his special launcher.  The presents are, of course, equipped with parachutes so that nothing is broken during flight and landing).  Then before the super secret Santa roof panel closes back up, he uses a tractor beam (which he knows exist because “the Chrono-Legionaires have them”.  What are Chron0-Legionaires, you ask?  Well, they are soldiers in Command and Conquer, of course) to instantly transport those cookies right up into his hot little hands.

Another flash of the beam and the roof is closed up and off he goes.

So.  Now you know how he manages to get so much done in one night.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy – like most things in life, having the right gadgets for the job makes all the difference. (<- that last bit is mine, not his.  I’m a big fan of gadgets.  I think I can live without a tractor beamer, though.  Or maybe not – it could be useful, say, when we are late for school when a child realizes he doesn’t have his shoes / homework / backpack / project / whatever.)

Is this a feature or a bug?

For a number of reasons I’ve taken to riding my bike home after dropping the boys @ school, working, riding back and driving them home on the days when other obligations don’t preclude this.

Yesterday was one of those days.  When I arrive at the school to pick up the boys from aftercare, I just sign them out and then let the counsellors know that I’m going to put my bike on the rack on the van and then drive back over to the pickup location since it usually takes close to 10 minutes to get all 3 of them from wherever they are in the school.

I get to the van, park my bike behind it, take off my helmet and hang it on the handlebars, dig the keys out of my backpack, push the unlock button 3 times so that all doors are unlocked, walk to the driver’s door, throw in my backpack, put the keys on the seat and, leaving the door open, walk back to the back of the van to put the bike on the rack.  Noticing that the helmet is still there I grab it and throw it in the front and, out of habit close the driver’s door.  I walk to the back of the van, turn the bike and just as I’m lifting it onto the rack I hear that sickening click that could only be one thing. Well, it’s only a sickening click when your keys are inside the van.

The van just locked itself.  Out of the blue several minutes after I had unlocked it.  Just as I heard that noise I remembered it doing this to me one time before several years ago.  Luckily for me, that time I was in my driveway with spare keys in the house.  This time, sadly, my keys, phone, wallet, dry clothes! etc… all in the front seat of the now-locked van.

So I had the pleasure of explaining this dilemma to the counselors (who were greatly amused by it), asking to use a phone to call DH who was busy getting fillings or something at the dentist so, of course, he didn’t answer.  We eventually got home after hanging out in the parking lot for over an hour like a family of vagrants.  Not really what I had planned for my evening.

So, I had plenty of time to think about this.  While it would seem (to me, anyway) that this is a malfunction, I suspect this is actually meant to be a feature.  Not sure how I’ve avoided having it happen more than twice in 6years if that is the case. If it is a feature, I do hope current models have an “opt out” switch.   Is it really so inconceivable to the engineers of this that a person might a) unlock their vehicle b) put down their stuff (including keys) and then c) do something else before actually driving away? As a feature, I personally think the hazards outweigh the potential benefit by a significant margin.  In general, I think we can assume that getting locked out of their van is a bigger problem for the average Odyssey driver than unlocking the vehicle and forgetting to lock it back again.

I think the resources spent on incorporating this feature would’ve been better spent on devising some kind of self-cleaning apparatus.  Or maybe a means for me to locate it when I forget where I parked at the mall.  Those things I can use. Locking me out without warning? Not so much.

Now I think I’ll go google the manual for the van and see if there’s a way to disable that.

A future in the Secret Service?

DS3 brought this artwork home the other day.

This is, as reported, him and his brother and their friend defending the President from air attack and “bad guys” (labeled as such, life should be so clearly defined. ).

The boy says he’s going to be a fireman when he grows up and on his days off he’s going to be a policeman and a veterinarian.  I’m not sure his schedule has room for secret service duties.

Of course, I blame this on DH.  I am pretty sure this is a story line from a military strategy computer game he plays with them.

Hmmm… I’m just noticing that the President is also packing heat.  I guess they’ll clear that up in training.

Vocabulary in action

Earlier this week I was helping DS1 with his vocabulary homework.  I happened to notice that this week’s list included the words “loathe” and “despise”.  I probably only noticed this because “hate loathe and despise” (or HLD for my acronym peeps) is one of my go to emphatic phrases.

A couple of days later I am giving the boys snacks before bed.  DS3 has blueberries and DS2 is eating some yogurt.  I ask him if he wants blueberries also.   DS2 says “No, I ha-… um, I mean I don’t really like blueberries”.  I give him a little look.  He says “well, I *was* going to say I hate them but I thought it wasn’t a nice word so I just said I don’t like them.”

DS1 (sitting at the table doing more  homework) chimes in “you know, [DS2], you could have just said you loathe them.  Or you could say you despise them”.

He cracks me up sometimes.  He’s totally serious when he says this stuff too.  One time when he was in 2nd grade, they happened to have just covered idioms when I was trying to get dinner. They were all underfoot and I told them (in probably a less than pleasant voice) to get out of the kitchen or I was going to go through the roof.  DS3 had a little confused look in his face so DS1 says “[DS3], that’s an idiom.  Mommy isn’t actually going to go through the roof”.

Earthcaches

Earthcaches are a special kind of geocache (see geocaching.com for more info).  From the earthcache.org site

An EarthCache site is a special place that people can visit to learn about a unique geoscience feature or aspect of our Earth. Visitors to EarthCache sites can see how our planet has been shaped by geological processes, how we manage the resources and how scientists gather evidence to learn about the Earth.

Earthcaches Visited (1/10)

1. Blowing Rocks, The Anastasia Formation EarthCache

Its rocky Anastasia limestone shoreline is the largest on the Atlantic coast. During extreme high tides and after winter storms, seas break against the rocks and force plumes of saltwater up to 50 feet skyward, an impressive sight for which the preserve was named.

Today we visited our first earthcache.  The water was a little wild, the boys had a great time on the rocks.  The blow hole activity was pretty minor though but it was enough to give the boys a sense of what it would do with rougher seas.  There are all kinds of shells embedded in the rock.  I think that coquina is the coolest thing.

I was not planning to go swimming but ended up soaked in my tshirt, shorts and hat when DS1 decided to go walking in the wild surf with his flippies on.  Not just any flippies but these ones we just got from Lands End that they all just <3.  Apparently, the roar of the waves prevented him from hearing me say to leave them up on the beach or they’d get washed away.  Which, of course, happened immediately.  So I braved the wicked undertow and waves slamming the rocks to try to retrieve it (since, of course, this had to happen 10 minutes after LE is all sold out of them for the season).  I didn’t get the flippy.  I’d guess it is halfway to the Bahamas by now.  I did however get totally soaked in my clothes and hat and really enjoyed changing into whatever soccer shirt was laying around in the van and then driving home in that and my underwear.  Trust, when you are driving in your underwear, you pay strict attention to speed limits and your adherence to them.

Anyway, this blowing rocks place totally warrants another visit.  There’s beach a little way up that would be better for swimming – the water is way too wild in the rocky areas.  We will probably go back after winter storms when, hopefully, the water will really be blowing up through the holes.  There are also some nice trails through the sea grapes etc. at the preserve.

I will try to remember to keep a change of clothes for myself in the van at all times, though, from now on.  I used to when the boys were much littler.  I thought they’d outgrown the need for me to do that.  Apparently, not.

I’ll post pics here at some point hopefully not too far in the future.

Books to read / Books I’ve read

this list will surely evolve. But when I hear / read of a book that sounds like a good candidate for the list, I have to put it down somewhere or that idea will be long gone when I need it.

Update: I think I will just keep this post ongoing beyond the completion of whatever number of books I put for my 101 things list. Maybe it will inspire me to read more (books, that is. I read plenty on the ‘puter)

Books read starting 10/2009 (numbered books are for the day zero project list)

1. Hell’s Gate, Stephen Frey

Your run of the mill mystery with some politicians, lawyers and rugged mountain men. It was good enough, no better or worse than most of the books you’ll find on the display table at the library (which is where/why I picked this up).

2. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Kim Edwards

I thought this book was really good even though I have some friends who find the story implausible.  I thought that the author did a good job of developing the father’s history with his sister to explain how an otherwise decent person could send away their daughter.    The ending did feel a bit like it could’ve been developed a bit more.  It was like the author got tired of writing the story and just wrapped it up in a style that was far more rushed than the rest of the book.  I don’t think I will see the movie, though.  At least I won’t make a point of doing so.

3. The Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger

Well.  I certainly could’ve lived my life w/o reading this book.  What a big yawn.  I think coming of age / teenage angst type stories and movies are just not my thing.  At all.  I will say, though, that I think Holden Caulfield is ADD.

4. A Mercy – Toni Morrison

This book was a bit difficult to get started as it jumps around a lot and it takes a bit to piece together the story.  But once I got into it, I thought it was a great book.  In fact, I stayed up till 2 a.m. after Thanksgiving dinner at the inlaws reading it.  My trouble with getting into it in the beginning may also have had something to do with the fact that I was attempting to do so while riding in the van with the whole family on the way to the inlaws.

It is short but moving.  I felt much the same after (and many times during) reading this book as I did after reading her book Beloved.  Even though I am technically aware of the era of slavery, to read such first person accounts of the evil inflicted by people on another really affects me.  It’s just incomprehensible to me that this was so many people’s reality not so long ago (Well, long in terms of one person’s life but from a historical perspective.)  In particular, I thought about my life compared to the lives of the women of that time.

I may reread this book at some point.  I think there is likely some significance to words and events earlier in the book that would come through the second time that I missed the first.

5. The Heretic’s Daughter – Kathleen Kent

I loved this book.  I think she does a great job of giving the reader a sense of life back then as well as developing a sense of the underlying forces and fears in play in the society which converged to allow an atrocity like the Salem Witch Trials to happen.  Another book that makes me think to myself “you can keep the ‘good old days’”.  This book made me realize that I really knew very little about this chapter in history.  I think now I will read up on it some more.  I may even visit some of the sites next time I am up that way.

This is a book that definitely stays in your mind and changes your perspective on things.  An interesting note that I didn’t realize till I was finished the book is that the author is a direct descendant of the mother who was hanged (and I *think* the daughter who narrates although I’m not positive on that now without the book handy – and too lazy to check Amazon.  She might be a descendent of one of the narrator’s brothers.)

6. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffennegger

7. The Kite Runner -  Khaled Hosseini

Books to Read

For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
The Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Dharma Bums – Jack Kerouac
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Outlander Series – Diane Gabaldon
The Gargoyle – Andrew Davidson (Tina)
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khalid Hosseini (Amy & Danielle)
The Bone People – Keri Hulme (not @ library) (Capper)
Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt (Capper)
Wheel of Time series – Robert Jordan (Amanda)
Katherine – ? (Amanda)
Jane Austen (Cindy)
Terry Pratchett DiscWorld series (Cindy and Jenny)
The Rice Mother (Danielle)
The Forgotten Garden (Danielle)
East of Eden (Danielle)
Message In a Bottle (and others) Nicolas Sparks (April)
The Power of One – Bryce Courntey (Michelle/Smurf)
A Prayer for Owen Meany – Irving (Amy B)
The Pilot’s Wife – Shreve (Amy B)
Joan Aiken books (Amy B)
The Bean Trees (Amy B)
Pigs in Heaven – Kingsolver (Amy B)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Cindy)
A Fine Balance (Sara)
I Know this Much is True (Sara)
Savage Inequalities (Sara)
Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood (Capper)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – David Wroblewski (Capper)

Other books (just for me to keep track – this seems like as good a place as any) that I’m not including in the count for the 101

When you Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win – Carol Leifer
Healing the New Childhood Epidemics

Peace Is Every Step – Thich Nhat Hanh

Chapter books read with the boys
A Wrinkle in Time
The Secret Country (Eidolon Chronicles, Jane Johnson)
Over Sea, Under Stone (audiobook) (The Dark is Rising series, Susan Cooper)
The Shadow World – Jane Johnson
The Dark Is Rising (audiobook) Susan Cooper (series)

Chapter books to read with the boys
Dark is Rising Series: The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree
Eidolon Chronicles: The Shadow World, Dragon’s Fire
Tom Sawyer
Huck Finn

Percy Jones series