Snapshot: February/March 2016

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Starting . . . a new baseball season. I had not forgotten Clarksville baseball involved many hours of practice, but I had forgotten, perhaps, how those hours accumulate over the week. It is super fun, however, to see how much fun Camden is having. And this is his last year for Little League - how sad is that! I bought baseball pants in a men's size small for him this week.  What is going on here??

Finishing . . . nothing for myself necessarily, but we successfully navigated through a Bible memorization competition and two projects for each kid in the same week without losing our cool, and I feel like that is a major accomplishment.

Wondering . . . when I started turning the camera over to my 12-year old?? It's happened more frequently in recent months, and he is currently working on photographing a wildflower science project.

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Reading . . .
Columbine was the most riveting of this group. It's a hefty book with a tough subject matter, but I could not stop reading for 4 days (impressive considering our schedule that week).

I also highly recommend Raising Grateful Kids by Kristen Welch.

My first Ann Patchett novel (Bel Canto) was more poetically written than is generally my taste, but interesting.

I read Everything, Everything in one sitting (I have no idea the last time that happened).

The Gilded Hour (not pictured) by Sara Donati was a fascinating look (historical fiction) at women's issues, poverty, and immigrants. Even though I didn't agree with her slant on the issues, this was a fascinating and eye-opening book.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom was heart-wrenching, and I'm still thinking about the characters weeks later. Unfortunately, it also featured a truly abrupt ending that felt very ill-conceived. It was bad enough that I'm not even sure I feel up to reading the sequel that comes out next week.

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Watching . . . I'll Have What Phil's Having - a PBS travel/food show the kids and I watched during our sick days in February. It is educational, funny, and tends to bring on serious hunger pangs. Also American Idol and Reality Check (commentary on AI), Survivor, starting Season 2 of The Blacklist with Brian, and working our way through The People Vs. O.J. Simpson.

Listening . . . not much music these days, but an abundance of podcasts. Here are a few of my recent favorite episodes:
Inspired to Action podcast: Preparing for the Teen Years with Elisa Pulliam (Episode 95)
The Happy Hour: Retha Nichole (Episode 77)
The Art of Simple: Neighbor's Table with Sarah Harmeyer (Episode 21)
The Happy Hour: Jami Nato (Episode 68)
A Mom's Mission Field: Flower Patch Farmgirl Blooms in the City (Episode 15)

 Deleting . . . Facebook from my phone. It's been nearly 2 weeks, and I still need a 12-step recovery program.

Discovering . . . that listening to podcasts while grocery shopping transforms the mundane into a much more palatable experience. Introverts, unite.

Laughing . . .
"Mom, are we Dominican or Republics?" -Rory
"Have you ever lived in a compartment?" -Rory

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Comments

Norman said…
Melissa, I ALWAYS love your posts. This one made me feel blessed, happy for you, inspired, feeling awe, and almost tired (?) with your busy, busy, full life! Yes! God is good! Grama
5:57 AM
Christine @ 12,450miles said…
There's some good stuff in this snapshot! The books (you know how I feel about "Everything, Everything"), the podcasts (I need to look into those, and Rory's comments. I'm still trying to absorb that C is aging out of little league. Wow.
1:31 PM
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