Her Fearful Symmetry

The new Audrey Niffeneger book! It was so exciting, I totally love Time Traveler's Wife and was understandably excited to read here newest. And she took for-ever to write it so my hopes were a little on the high side

So, how would I describe it? I think I'll go w/ my sister's words on this... It was "effed up". It just WAS though. Not meaning it was necessarily awful or too weird, but it was just very different. And I'd say maybe a step further to the science fiction world than TTW was. But I still gave it 4 stars on Shelfari. I'm generous w/ stars though.

The plot follows these weird twins who are "mirror twins", meaning their insides and appearances were not identical but like reversed from each other. Apparently that's a real thing (though very rare.) They're kind of creepy. And their mom is a twin as well, and the beginning of the book is the mother's twin dying. Then the mother's twin, Elspeth, offers the younger twins, Julia and Valentina, her flat in London to come live for a year. Cool, free apartment, right? Except, oh yeah, she's haunting it. But apparently the creepy twins are cool with it.

There's way too much to overview much else ... and I know I'm making it sound lame. But it really was interesting and different from a normal genre I'd read. I love her writing, however weird the plot was. The characters were fully realized and the story moved along pretty well. I'd recommend it for sure, with the caveat that it's "effed up."

Can I still do book reviews on this thing?

*Testing*

Ahem. So, I just finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. It was a very up and down book - it started out AWESOME, and I was getting all ahead of myself, with "this is my favorite book" type thoughts. Then there was this long drawn out mid-section that just kept putting me to sleep (well, that or the baby... it's a toss up) and the ending was very good though!

Though, I have to say, a large part of my enjoyment of this book was the fact that it was drawn from the story of Hamlet, which I knew going into it. I haven't read Hamlet in a good 10 years (yikes, really? Senior year was 10 years ago?) so I could not have told you the story prior to reading this. But random themes and events did come back to me and with the help of wikipedia I recalled ;). You know, madness, ghosts, poison. And it was kind of a good distance to have from it. I'm not a Shakespeare enthusiast, but I do enjoy those plays more than most. I could easily see that Claude was Claudius, and Trudy was Gertrude. Wow, I'm like a brainiac. Sign me up for mensa.

So, the summary would be this: The Sawtelles have this dog breeding business where they aim to breed dogs that aren't purebred or anything, but good companion dogs. I think that's kind of neat... and that part of the story was really interesting. The dogs were so central to the story (in fact, I'm pretty sure Almondine was Ophelia?), and were almost given a voice. The Sawtelles had one son, Edgar, who was mute, though he could still hear. That was another interesting angle. Edgar's dad, Gar, dies inexplicably and Gar's ghost appears to Edgar saying it was Claude (Gar's brother) who did it. Is your HS Shakespeare reading coming back to you at all? Drama and tragedy ensue.

The writing was awesome, the characters were really interesting. I liked that in this book we get some explanation into Trudy's thought process. I remember in Hamlet being totally let down by how lame the female characters were... all 2 of them.

I recommend it... I kind of wished I'd been holed up somewhere during that middle portion with nothing else to do so I could have just motored through. So if you find yourself holed up somewhere for a few days (snowstorm? IDK) this would be a good time!

It's Fall in our 'hood

So, the leaves of our "mature landscaping" are coming down in earnest now. We knew it would suck... but it has eclipsed our wildest dreams :)

Scott spent all weekend outside doing manly things like raking, picking up pinecones (he counted 511 in our backyard) and blowing leaves with a wussy electric leaf blower (contrasted to the super manly gas-powered kind.) And now, it's raining... woohoo. That brings down more leaves. Not sure if this pic (out the window of our house) does it justice, but we have like a fortress of leaves along the curb. As does the entire neighborhood. There's a big leaf-sucker truck that comes twice in the next 2 months to remove them, I'm pretty excited to see that. Maybe I'm a 10-year old boy?

Yup, looks like we've done nothing. Awesome.

Also this weekend, Scott put up a clothesline for me! I feel so dorky and domestic getting SO excited about this, but it truly will save us on our power bill and will make our clothes & sheets smell lovely. I even figured out where to find clothespins... (at Target, by the Laundry drying racks & the like.) Bonus - $1.54 for 50! Oh, and since I mentioned it's raining, and probably will be for most of the week due to Ida, I don't think I'll get to test it out for a while.

See it, out there in the corner? It actually gets some sunlight too, so maybe I can bleach out stains. :)

30 Weeks and Workout Update

Welp, Happy 30 weeks to me. The Big 3-0! Whoa.

Oh, and BOO! :)


I totally love swimming - I must say that it is by far the superior exercise for preggos. I am no longer running - I did my last run around 25/26 weeks. I'm quite happy I made it so far. Why did I stop? I just felt like it was too hard. *shrug* All along I told myself I'd do it as long as it was fun and I felt like I was getting something positive out of it. The most difficult part was that every time I'd run I would HAVE to take a nap that day... logistically that is just a little inconvenient, right? Plus, I realized the pace I was going was no faster than a brisk walk and, well, walking is cool too! I do miss it a lot though, and am really excited to get my groove back in the spring :)

So swimming twice a week is my new favorite workout. The most beautiful thing about it is that I jump in and stretch out a little and honestly *forget I'm pregnant*! It's quite nice, actually, seeing how it feels like it's encroaching more and more on day to day life. Things like, you know, putting shoes on and picking something up off the floor... But in the pool not very much has changed. I can still swim at a pretty respectable clip and get my heartrate up to a good zone. And smoke people swimming in the lanes beside me (chumps.)

Oh, and also - go phillies! :)

Last trip to PA: Baby Shower Time!

This past weekend we made our FINAL journey to Elizabethtown until APRIL! Wow, does that sound far away! Though this trip was hard (mainly, on me and my back), we know the next one might just be harder. :)

The main event this weekend was Quiglet's Baby Shower. It was a blast, my friends and family did a fabulous job making it a special and fun event. I can't figure out how to rip the pics off of Kodak, but here's the gallery.

We did a "Green" Shower, which I was really excited about because though I do love opening presents, the overwhelmingness of opening so many at a shower (I know, what a whiner) and the wastefulness of it made the idea of a shower w/ no wrapping paper really appealing. And it was fun, to me it was no less special!

Another awesome thing the shower planners did was ask everyone to bring a book in place of a card. Scott and I had such a fun time looking through all of the books we got to start Quiglet's library. :) It's special because of course we have our own favorite books but it was neat to see others' favorites. And who knows what baby girl will like!

This is her closet, Pre-Shower:

With the combination of ridiculous Old Navy sales and consignment sales, my mom and I have outfitted this kid for the first year. Though, I will say, most of this stuff is "cute" stuff rather than "functional" stuff... at the shower we got a bunch of sleeping items and loungewear (lol), which we definitely needed!

The Baby Hats

Things are going really well with my little wannabe baby hat making business :) I'm updating the flickr album w/ all the ones I've made and sent out (well, unless someone ordered one that was *just like* another one I've made). It's a great thing for me. Because, seriously, no hate to the Phillies (bc I'd lose half of my Facebook friends an like all of my family probably) but baseball is actually more boring than football. I didn't always think that, but now I do. I want them to keep winning, I really do, but deep down I know that every win means they'll keep playing more. *Sigh*

So, though this isn't a commercial blog or anything, I'm still loving making the hats and if you want one, let me know.

I thought I'd share some pics of hats I've made for little Quiglet. I'm planning on taking a bunch to the hospital so we can figure out what looks good on her. I mean, the pink is gorgeous, and more than likely she'll look great in it, but it's not for everyone. (This is one of the perks of having a GIRL! I'm embracing accessories)

A list of all the stuff we found in the bonus room

...mainly in the stuff Scott's parents brought for us to go through. Though we do have an entire chest left to go through... another time. I know for a fact there's a Kids Sports Illustrated w/ Andre Agassi on the cover in there.

1. 3 Starting Lineup figures in the box. 2 Cal Ripkens (worth some serious money, but apparently he's pulling a 40-year old virgin and wants to keep them.) and a Scottie Pippen. Worth $20. Will sell that one...but that's chump change compared to Ripken.
   
2. A buttload of trophies. Including a Third Place plaque for "Computer Problem Solving". It's going beside my Third Place trophy for age 26-30 women in the Myrtle Beach 5k. Booya, nobody beats us! Except for 1st and 2nd.
   
3. Scott's elementary school writings. I particularly liked "Eagles vs Colts", which was dedicated to his uncle for "getting the tickets." It was a suspenseful, true story of the Eagles losing to the Colts. "We were so mad," Scott says. "And then they drove home and slept on the way." Another great one was "Dodgers vs Yankees", which was dedicated to the Dodgers. The dedications were the best part, another one was dedicated to "Kelly and Seven." Yes, Seven. (Sorry Steve, we figured you were just a baby so you probably didn't realize anyway.)
   
4. Right after we found a dead silverfish, we found a wrapped up bundle of sheep's wool in a "PA Agriculture Education" folder. Awesome.
   
5. An itemized list of all the baseball cards he owned and their value. I guess he thought a good place to store such valuable items was beside some gross sheep's wool? The other cool thing about the list was that it was printed on that old computer paper that stayed connected. It did have the holes ripped off though :)
   
6. A magic trick involving a disappearing coin. Very magical!
   
7. Jamie had a suitcase containing the following items: Wedding dress, photos, and teddy bears... Surprise!
8. We have a glow in the dark baseball (in a case) that is signed by.... some Harrisburg Senator. Yeah.... I snuck that one into the trash.
   
9. A kush ball! Smarty was confused about this one... she kept playing with it but then got annoyed because one of the nodes was always poking her in the eye. It was quite humorous.
10. Lisa Frank stickers. *hangs head*
    

We spent a good chunk of the weekend in there... yesterday I had a major cold issue. I hesitate to say it was anything serious or contagious just because I've been sick (sinusy... super fun stuff) for a few weeks off and on which is probably pregnancy related. But, nonetheless, it was unpleasant and put me out of commission for most of the day. And today Scott wasn't feeling so hot so I was on bonus room duty. Somehow, we finished most of it, just a few more things he has to do - like move some big/heavy things up or down and pound some nails into the wall. I'm not "authorized" to do that.

Personal achievement: I managed to consolidate all of my books to ONE bookshelf. I think I'm truly transitioning from a book owner/hoarder to a community book user. I now love the Wake County Library system and combined with the NC State lib I'm able to get much of what I want when I want it. I have about 2 dozen books to list on paperbackswap in the next few days so hopefully I'll get them out of here and get some fun new books. PBS is like library-lite. I really do love not wasting money purchasing books... when I was a big buyer I'd buy so many I ended up not really liking or wanting to even read in the first place. I'm really bad with impulse book buys... now if it's an impulse I just take it back in 2 weeks! What took me so long to get on board w/ this!?

Who is 28 weeks pregnant (already)?

Me... omg.


Into the 3rd trimester - wow that sounds scary. We have exciting times ahead... going home next weekend! Time flies, anyone can tell you this. But when you find out you're pregnant the first week in May, January 8th sounds a world a way. And depending on my mood, sometimes it still does. Maybe because it's in 2010 it adds to the far-away-ness of it. But dude, it's 3ish months away. That is all. And they're starting to put Christmas stuff in stores and all I know is Christmas = almost there.

We're making progress though... we painted the nursery and Scott put the furniture together...

And this weekend, we're tackling the bonus room. This is the room that since we moved in 6 months ago has been the go-to... "oh, just throw it in the bonus room." It's shameful, we still have (shudder) unpacked boxes. I've been pretty awesome at acquiring random baby things from all of the fabulous consignment sales Raleigh has. Things like an Exersaucer for $10, and a Bumbo for $12 (thanks Heather!). Which is all fabulous, but they live in a big pile in the bonus room. And I haven't even had my showers yet. So that's the benchmark: let's clear that out before we get ANYTHING ELSE.

It'll probably be last in line for our home renovations, as it makes a fantastic playroom. It's one of those things - it has very excellent carpet that is just not old enough for us to get rid of. BUT... it's plaid. It's not terrible (not like the bathroom wallpaper terrible) so we think we can live with it for a few years. And maybe it's actually good bc then we can just say - Ok Kids, don't worry if you mess up the carpet. :) And someday when the kids are older we can make the bonus room into a sweet movie theater (Scott's dream...not mine. Oh well, he just painted a room pink, I'll let him have it for now.)



My GOD, I wish it still looked like that.

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

Where to start... David Sedaris is just so amazingly awesome :) I feel like this book has been on my list for a long time now, and since I've pretty much cut out my book-buying habit (yay libraries!), I've had to wait my turn (booo libraries). But no worries, this one was worth the wait and, true to form, had me laughing out loud pretty often. I really enjoy his tone and style, one of those authors you feel like you could totally hang out with. It's also fun to read because it's basically a collection of loosely related short stories, so picking it up and putting it down randomly works. I like that freedom every now and then.

Up next is Emma, for the November Book Club book. I'm a tad intimidated... after Sedaris's witty and modern writing, how will I deal w/ Ms. Austen's formality? Also it looks long. If nothing else, I might actually get more school and housework done during the reading of this novel (which, let's be honest, wouldn't be a bad thing!)

*gag* Note to the Babe

Dear Quiglet/Monkey/She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named,

Hey! I'm not one to do a big weekly or monthly note to a fetus (though I do hope to do a monthly letter to you once you're born!), but for some reason, today I was just struck by how EXCITED I am to be carrying you around, and how EXCITED I am to meet you in 3 months (or less.)

It seems like, for me at least, you go through life, and if something is awful or bringing you down, you think about it a lot, even take drugs for it. I find it completely unfair that when something is lifting you up and making you overjoyed, it's not equally celebrated and addressed. Well, Quiglet, today I'm saying it: you are making me THAT happy. Like I could be taking depressants because I'm so overjoyed most of the time and it feels so different from normal life. I'm totally annoying and irritating even to myself, as I lay reading on the couch and can't focus because I'm just smiling like a fool thinking about you. How crazy is that?

So, we're about to enter our final trimester... wow, did the first two fly or what? I've very much enjoyed the most recent one. You decided to I guess inhabit what (mostly) already existed of my stomach, making me wait to really look the part of the 6 months pregnant lady. I think I needed the lesson in patience anyway, and I'm sure you'll continue to teach me. But now you must have run out of corners of my belly to inhabit because - pop - now I'm showing. I even do that annoying pregnant lady thing when I'm out and about where I rub my stomach, just to eliminate any doubt strangers might have about my condition... And I was simultaneously shocked and not-shocked to find out you already weigh 2 pounds and are over a foot long. And I'm still loving your kicking and flipping and whatever the heck you're doing in there. I was thinking about it today while I was swimming - what ARE you doing? From the pictures it seems like you must not have much room, does that suck? I was thinking how miserable it'd be for 9 months to be so cramped to not do anything. But I guess you're doing a lot... you know, becoming human and getting ready to be self-sufficient. Don't worry, we'll help you out on the self-sufficiency thing. Might actually take a few years, but we're prepared for that.

Oh, and I hope you like hats. I made you one today, and true to form, was smiling like a fool the whole time thinking about you. *sigh* Do you like it?


Love,
Mama