June Reads

I can't believe it's already the end of June. Time has gotten away from me! Today I tried to use $10 in Kohl's cash, and five of it had expired. Way to get $6.01 outta me, Kohl's! You sly fox! (Grumble, grumble). 

Anyway, when school got out for the summer, I was curious to see what would become of my reading habits. Somehow I still got some reading in, even with my kids around, but I'm not sure how. I guess it's because I listen to audiobooks while I work in the garden, and I picked a lot of younger books this month. 

I decided from now on, I'm not going to do a write up of books that I don't really like, so at the end of this post, you'll see the list of books I didn't review. All of them were just "meh" or not worth the time, other than The Woman in the Library. That's what I was listening to when we found the girl at the park, and my brain stopped working for a while. I finished listening to the book, but I only retained about 20% of it because I was very distracted. 

Now that my opening business is out of the way, let's talk books. Here's what I read this month:

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

(young adult, contemporary, LGBTQ, poetry, family)

Source: audiobook (one of the readers is the author, and it's always interesting to hear an author read her own work because it's read the way the she intended)

Summary: Camino lives in the Dominican Republic and Yahaira lives in New York City. Unbeknownst to them, they are sisters, and their Papi, who has just died in a plane crash, was living a divided life. 

Content: language, sexual harassment

Review: ****

Final statement: I enjoyed this story, but I feel it had more language than a book for young readers should. 

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

(middle grade, mental health, abuse, family)

Source: audiobook

Summary: Sisters Della and Suki have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse and are taken into foster care. They must decide what to tell and how to heal. 

Content: sexual abuse (not overly descriptive - just enough to be informative), suicidality 

Review: *****

Final statement: This book deals with hard subjects and is written for a young audience. The content is important but should be approached with care. In the author's note, she explains that she was sexually abused as a child, and she wanted to write a story for children on this topic. I think she handled it with excellence - keeping the story very real while interweaving hope for healing. I am not sure what age I would recommend this for. It really depends on the maturity level and the life experience of each individual child. However, I highly recommend this for adults.

Reaching for the Savior by Reyna I. Aburto

(religious, Christian, non-fiction)

Source: audiobook via Deseret Bookshelf Plus (Sister Aburto is the reader, and I think her lovely accent adds a lot to her writing)

Summary: Sister Aburto shares some ways we can reach for the Savior and strengthen Christ's church and each other. 

Content: nothing of concern

Review: ***** (a book like this is hard to rate because you get out of it what you seek to get out of it)

Final Statement: I enjoyed getting to know Sister Aburto better. She has a fascinating life story and has experienced a lot of adversity. She is such a sweet lady - I will miss having her in the Relief Society General Presidency. 

The Doomsday Mother by John Glatt

(true crime, non-fiction)

Format: audiobook

Summary: An account of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell - how they came to be together and the deaths in their wake.

Content: some disturbing content due to the nature of the crimes - otherwise relatively clean save for a couple of uses of strong language in quotes.

Review: ****

Final statement: I feel like John Glatt was a bit antsy to make money off this story and wrote this book a bit prematurely (Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell are slated to go to trial in January 2023). At the same time, I think he did a decent job laying out the facts as well as they are known and remaining objective with connections to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Glatt was sure to differentiate between the Vallow and Daybell's beliefs and teachings and and the actual doctrines and practices of the Church. 

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

(thriller, mystery, family relations)

Format: e-book

Summary: A story of two sisters - Mickey, a Philadelphia cop, and Kacey, a drug addict. Kacey goes missing during a string of murders, and Mickey tries to track her down. 

Content: language, drug use

Review: *****

Final statement: This book was a little slow and a little on the longer side, but I enjoyed it. 

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue park

(historical fiction, Africa, middle grade)

Source: audiobook 

Summary: Salva is displaced from his family during the Sudanese Civil War in 1985. As a refugee, he travels with many groups across the span of several years until he is eventually sent to the United States. 

Content: grandma-friendly

Review: ****

Final statement: I believe I found this book on a list of recommended full cast audiobooks. It is based on the true story of Salva Dut (who gives a statement at the end of the book) but is slightly fictionalized. The story is short - only three hours long on audiobook. 

Books not reviewed:

Things the Kids Say: Episode 16

A prayer by Eva: 

"Hevenny Defadduh (Heavenly Father), please use your magic to make Daisy stop saying bad words like, 'peepee.'"

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"Hey, Eva! Text [Aunt] Amber and say, 'Can Zoe and Eva come to your house?' But don't use any poop emojis, or she'll know it’s not from Mom!"

-Zoe

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"My bladder is like a gallon Ziploc bag."

-Nicky

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"It smells like rotten eggs and six-day-old soda in here!"

-Zoe, referring to the van

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"I'm flirting with the man in the mirror!"

-Nicky singing "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson

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"(Aunt) Amber allows anything! Even caffeine!"

-Zoe

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"I have a really bad font."

-Nicky, referring to his handwriting

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"I have a little bit of an accent. I have no idea why. It's just the way God made me."

-Zoe

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"I can't wait to go to Saint George so I can twerk with no shirt on."

-Nicky

I need to go to bed (and eleven other random facts)

Fact #1: Today the kids moved out. Not the human ones. The feathered ones. 

Fact #2: It had to happen sometime. They can't reside in the living room forever. But as I sit on the couch writing this at 10:43 p.m. I can't help but notice the absence of their little cheeps. I’ve grown used to them. 

Fact #3: Right now they get to live in their own little coop, but when they are big enough, we'll integrate them with the other chickens. They are too small to join them just yet. 

Fact #4: Every morning, two obnoxious things happen: 

Around 4:00, the neighborhood rooster starts crowing. I don't hate him - the rooster - but sometimes I want to call him mean names. I can hear him crowing from my bedroom, and I can hear him on my morning walks when I am a mile away from where he lives. He crows for 2-3 hours straight. And sometimes he continues crowing later in the day. 

If you live nearby and haven't heard him... you will now. Because I just brought it to your attention. 

You're welcome!

The other thing that happens is this:

Five bajillion house sparrows congregate in the tree right outside my bedroom window and chirp from 5:00-6:00 every morning. 

Now, ya'll know I love birds these days (a sign of aging), but I don't like their noise and have been known to slam my window after yelling, "Shut up, birds!"

Fact #5: My daughter Zoe is a compulsive whistler. She whistles day and night, and she's pretty loud. It causes a lot of fights between the kids because no one wants to hear her whistle. 

Last week while Scotty was gone to camp, I woke up to the sound of whistling in the middle of the night. My jumpy heart was not okay with it - it scared the **** out of me. Zoe was whistling in her sleep.

She hasn't done it since. But now I know it's a thing: sleep whistling.

Fact #6: I established a family rule a while ago - "Don't do any dance moves you don't want to see your mom do."

You wanna twerk at at Hill Aerospace Museum? Whaddayaknow! I do too! 

Let’s just say… I twerk a lot now.

Fact #7: You know what I have no desire to do ever? Watch movies outside. 

I see all these advertisements for free community screenings of movies in the park. Why would I go watch a movie at 10:00 p.m. in a camp chair with a bunch of strangers while mosquitoes fly around my face when I can watch a movie at 6:00 p.m. in my own house with no pants on and be in bed by 9:00?

Fact #8: Things I did not buy at the thrift store this week:

Fact #9: Scotty and I went to Subway for dinner tonight where we watched a man at the drive-thru drive up over the curb and into a tree.

I'd been watching him and could tell something was wrong. I had just said to Scotty, "I think that guy might be stoned out of his mind." Then... tree! 

Scotty went outside to check on him, and the guy he said he was fine. Then he just left his car there - blocking the whole drive-thru and came inside to buy a sandwich. 

He was really happy about his sandwich, too. 

Fact #10: These are for sale at WinCo:

Fact #11: The other day, a friend told me that my blog is the "best toilet reading ever!" 

I think that's my favorite compliment I've received in my entire life. Thanks, friends. I am honored to be toilet-worthy!

A Week Ago

A week ago, two of my friends and I found the body of a young woman who died by suicide in the park. We were on an early morning walk when we saw her, and we asked each other, "Is this what it looks like? Could it be?"

It was. 

We called the police. 

One of my friends asked me if I was going to blog about it, and I said, "I don't think so." Out of reverence for the life that was lost, I didn't think that would be appropriate. But now that some time has passed, I find myself wanting to record a few thoughts (I've written the long version in my journal), and I believe I can do so in a respectful way; maintaining a sense of dignity on behalf of the girl. In that regard, I won't go into great detail about what happened, but I will say these few things:

Being able to assist in laying a person to rest is a very sacred thing. It was scary and startling to find her, but I have felt an overwhelming sense of peace about it. I feel as if we were somehow given a stewardship over this girl. My friends and I are delicate from the experience, and we keep discovering new jitters that we didn't have before. There are images that will stay with us forever, but amid all the parts of it that are hard, there has been spiritual protection and comfort. 

The three of us are so grateful that we found her and that she wasn't found by a child. She was in an area that is heavily trafficked by kids. Likewise, we are grateful that she wasn't found by individuals who would shame or disgrace her in some way. 

Any time I have a close encounter with death, it gives me the chance to consider my beliefs. In quiet, simple ways throughout the past week, I have felt that there is a God and that there is life after death. There is nothing loud or profound that testifies of this to me - it is still and small, but it is there.  

In a situation like this, it's hard to not be able to do anything. So each day, I say a prayer for those who are grieving this loss. 

As far as suicide goes, I don't know if I ever say or do the right things. A dear friend of mine has attempted to take her life more than once. Thank heaven she has been saved. Thank heaven. One night, after being released from the hospital, she called me and said she needed help. A few years have passed, and I am still in awe of what she was able to do in that brave moment. 

She called. 

That took something, and I don't know how many of us have that something when we need it - when we are deep on the throes of pain and suffering and just want it to end. 

There's such a great effort and ever-increasing need to prevent suicide, as it is becoming more and more rampant. There are hotlines and messages of "please stay!" I add my voice to that message. Please! Stay. If I ask you to stay... will you?... Can you? 

I know that's not enough, and I feel helpless. 

Last week, a young life was lost. I wish it wasn't so. Her loss reminds me of the important role we each play in relieving suffering. It's cliche, but you really never know what a person is going through. 

Three Tales

The Ladybug's Tale

Last night Scotty went for a run. When he came home, I noticed something dark on the back of his neck. My first thought was that it was a tick since he’d just returned from camping a few days prior and had found three ticks on him while he was gone. 

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a small ladybug. Scotty was about to get in the shower, so he took the ladybug off his neck and put it on the bathroom counter.

A day later, the ladybug is still in the bathroom. So I guess it just lives there now. 

Yes, this photo was taken from the toilet. Don't judge me!

A Tale of Big, Dumb Ideas

While Scotty was camping, I was desperate to keep my girls busy. We have an old playset in our backyard that we started to refinish several years ago and never finished. 

I decided to get out all my old paint from the garage and shed and let the girls paint it however they wanted. I knew it wouldn't be pretty, but I imagined them painting rainbows, flowers, and sunsets and having a joyous time.

Instead, I got this.

I have regrets.

The Tell Tale Tooth 

Throughout our marriage, Scotty and I have always thrown our change into an old pot and cashed it in every few years or so to use toward a vacation. It's usually enough to sponsor a few gas station snacks on a road trip. We call it our "pot money."

Today, Nicky and I went to the bank and cashed in our coins for an upcoming trip. The bank teller has to take the coins and dump them in a machine to count them. Then we can cash out in bills or deposit the balance in our account. Every time we do this, the teller brings back a few random items from our pot - usually car wash tokens, Canadian currency, and a stray thumb tack or golf tee. 

Today, the teller returned with our receipt for $102.95. Then he said, "Here's your screw, your key ring, and your tooth."

Then he handed me the inventory, and sure enough, there was a tooth. And a weird looking tooth, at that. 

 

In shock, I stuttered, "I have no idea why there was a tooth in there!" but every word felt like a cover story for some sick tooth fetish or something. There is a walk of shame I didn't previously know, and that is when your bank teller finds a tooth in your money and places it in your hand, and you have to leave the facility. 

I really didn't know where the tooth came from, but when Scotty got home, the mystery unraveled... kind of. When I showed Scotty the tooth, he said, "Oh! It's my grandpa's!" You see... Scotty inherited some of his grandpa's teeth. I don't know why his grandpa's teeth aren't in his grandpa's mouth. But apparently Grandpa had some gold crowns, and he kept his teeth to sell someday, and those teeth now belong to my husband. As you can see from the photo, the crown is missing from the tooth. Scotty sold it for a few bucks, and somehow the rest of the tooth ended up in our pot. 

How? Why? That is the remaining mystery as well as how and why the teeth were removed from Grandpa's body in the first place. 

Dismissed

Hello, it's been a few days. Things have been interesting. Scotty and Nicky were gone to young men camp last week, and my girls ran me into the ground. So much talking. So much fighting. So many needs. Due to that and other events, last week was brutal. 

Nicky came back a completely different color than when he left. That kid goes out in the sun one time and ends up like a perfectly toasted marshmallow. Well... a perfectly toasted marshmallow with a farmer's tan.

As for this week, which has only just begun, I'm currently one hour  two hours into jury duty. This is my 6th time having jury duty. Things have changed a lot with COVID, obviously, so this time is quite different than the others. The selection is being done online, so I'm logged into a conference call. I'm tied to my phone and laptop for several hours while also having a lot of downtime. It's slow-going, which is why I'm blogging (this post will just be a bunch of rambling and probably won't have any photos). I'm pretty far down the line, so the odds of having to serve on the jury are pretty slim. 

There are pros and cons to doing jury selection at home. It's kind of cool to go to the courthouse and see how things are done there - I mean, if you need to do jury duty anyway, you might as well get the full experience. Plus it's really fun to listen to all the other jurors introduce themselves and answer the judge's questions. People are fascinating, you know? The most exciting thing to see today is who's eating with their camera on (while our cameras are supposed to be off). But it's nice to not have to find a parking spot and go through security and spend all day in tight pants. And there are a few things I can get done during the waiting process (imma bout to load my pill container for the week. Things are going to get crazy up in here!) 

Nicky is home with me, but I enlisted my Nameless Sister-In-Law to take my girls for the day (refer to first paragraph). 

It's raining, which I'm so happy about. My yard needs a nice, big drink. The garden is doing pretty well so far. Fingers crossed! We used up the last of our cilantro over the weekend. We get about a handful of strawberries every day, and we should have peas any minute. I planted green onions three different times this year from two different packs (and brands) of seeds, and nothing ever came up. They didn't grow last year, either. I'm bummed, but there always has to be something that doesn't work out. At least half my garden has to fail or die. That's just part of the experience!

The baby chickens are getting huge. They can run away from me now quite effectively. One of them is super sweet and is my little buddy. The other two are naughty, but I love them anyway. Kind of like real kids. Every year, the CDC puts out warnings to NOT kiss your chickens. I didn't really understand why people needed to be told such a thing. Now I realize I'm the exact kind of person that needs to be told not to kiss my chickens. The chicks live in our living room still. We should probably relocate them soon, but until then... whatever. We just have chickens living in the house. They are literally two feet from the front door, so anytime someone comes to the house, there's no missing them. 

I've been experiencing a slew of emotions lately but can't cry. At some point, I need to have a grand outpour. Sometimes my eyes start watering a bit, and I'm like, "Oh, is this it?" and then everything just dries up. But I really, really need to sob like a baby. I just hope that when it hits, I'm somewhere I can let it happen without reserve. But knowing me, I'll probably be at Chick-Fil-A or my kids' orthodontist appointment. And something silly will set it off - like my food order will be wrong or I'll come out to the parking lot and find that someone parked too close to me. 

Well, it has now been two and a half hours since my jury duty started, and we were all dismissed. They ended up not needing a jury. I thought about lying to my sister-in-law and telling her I was chosen and would need to appear in court for the next three days in a row, and that I desperately need her to be my kids' mother for the duration, but my morals got the better of me. 

First Day of Summer

I think I could write a post every year about the first day of summer break, and it would come out relatively the same. I would first list everything we've done all day, and then I would end by saying something like... and it's only 10:00 a.m.

The first day of summer break is the longest day of the year - even though I try my hardest to make it not so.

Now let me tell you everything we've done today (which, by the time I post this, will actually be yesterday - Friday, June 3 - because I already posted today, so I'm saving this one for tomorrow which is now today).

-We had a 2.5 earthquake at 5:02 a.m. Luckily my kids didn't hear or feel it.

-I went for a 3.25 mile walk

-I went grocery shopping

-We did a half hour of chores as a family

-The kids had a half hour of YouTube time

-I went through all of our board games - reorganized them and got rid of some.

-I cleaned out and reorganized our storage room

-I did two loads of laundry, and Nicky did a load of laundry

-We ran errands:

-Took the grocery bags to the recycling bin

-Dropped off our library books

-Went to Krispy Kreme to get free donuts for National Donut Day

-Dropped off some puzzles to a friend 

-Went on a shopping spree at Dollar Tree

-Went to Harbor Freight  

-I watered the garden

-Daisy had a friend over

-I fed the kids lunch... like, three times

-Zoe and Eva played outside in the sprinkler

-Zoe and I made about 50 mini freezer waffles... which Zoe ate faster than we could get them out of the waffle makers (we ran two at a time)

-I worked on my 4th of July puzzle

-The kids built some wooden animal puzzles

These are $1.49 at Harbor Freight - FYI

-I listened to half an audiobook

-The kids had at least three hours of TV and Nintendo time

-I compiled a trunk load of items to donate to DI

-I strung our Summer of Heroes banners

-I wrote this blog post

Fortunately, it's not 10:00 a.m. It's 2:16 p.m.

But still... longest day of the year!