Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

As in, my husband’s MRI came back clean–no evidence of recurrent or residual tumor.

We are so grateful.

Now he just has to survive next week’s checkup with the surgeon’s office–which should be comparative cake after the MRI and the colonoscopy–and he’s good for another 6 months. (I’m hoping he doesn’t have to have another MRI every 6 months, but I guess we’ll find that out next week.) And so far, the week AFTER next involves no doctors for any of us!

Some months are rougher than others, right?

Technically, I’m referring to a month-long period, rather than the actual month of March, because the madness started the last week of February. That was MY colonoscopy, last week was my hubby’s colonoscopy, tomorrow he’s having an MRI, and next week is his 6 month post-surgery follow up. Add to that a bunch of random events–Art Olympics, an upcoming wedding, a play, Prom–and I’m just ready to have a week with nothing big on the calendar.

(Oh, and the time change. If I ever catch the person who scheduled Prom the weekend of the spring time change, there might be violence. Who does that?)

In the meantime, I keep missing posts, and I told myself I wouldn’t miss today, so even though this hasn’t exactly been fascinating, well–at least it’s something, right?

With the appropriate nod to Hamlet, of course! Anyway. I spent yesterday diligently working around my house and on my Finch goals, and when it was evening and I hadn’t posted yet, I deliberately opted to finish a book rather than post after my youngest was in bed. And so I finally pulled out Super Boba Cafe (Book 1), which I read the beginning of many moons ago, and made relatively short work of the rest of it.

The verdict? The mystery, I grant you, is a little odd, but Aria’s reasons for visiting her Nainai make for a book that matters. Nidhi Chanani has successfully hidden lessons on digital safety and awareness inside of a graphic novel featuring kittens, a monster, and (weirdly) prairie dogs. Add to that an obvious (and mysterious!) secret and a whole lot of boba, and kids will get some worthwhile lessons without even realizing it. Try this on any of your upper elementary or middle school kids just for that.

In the meantime, I’m going to look up when the second one comes out, Chanani having aroused even my interest. (Although–prairie dogs?) Have a good day all!

I’m not even going to fill GUILTY for phoning it in, because I slept about two hours on Tuesday night and then had to get up at 5:30 on Thursday morning. I survived the colonoscopy, half the children are in bed, and I’d better get there sooner rather than later myself, because we clean the church tomorrow. Peace out…

I kept thinking ‘gee, I hope I have the time and concentration to review The One and Only Bob when I get home tomorrow,’ and then it occurred to me–why wait? If I have to be up anyway–and believe me, I still have to be up for a bit–then it only makes sense to write my review now. It’s something I can get done, at least, right?

Anyway. I gave myself permission to chill a good bit today, given my clear-liquid diet; I walked my youngest to and from school, I did the dishes, and I ran a few errands, but I also worked on an annoyingly difficult puzzle and listened to Danny DeVito narrate The One and Only Bob.

Not surprisingly, he was fantastic.

So, of course, was the book, but then, what else would you expect of Katherine Applegate? Bob is living with Julia now, but they’re visiting Ivan and Ruby when a serious storm hits–and hits hard. I don’t really want to say much more–verse novels go fast, and you really ought to enjoy the discovery of the story yourself–except that what happens during the storm shifts Bob’s outlook on the world. So go get the audio (you don’t want to miss Danny DeVito) and enjoy!

And to my English teachers? I’m sorry for all of the double dashes. One’s weaknesses do tend to show more at 2 am.

Guess what I’m old enough to have to do this week? (And spoiler alert–it’s nothing fun!) My very first colonoscopy is scheduled for Wednesday, and from now until after it’s done, no more solid food for me. Juice and soda and broth, yes, but Jell-O is as solid as I’m going to get. (But not RED Jell-O, of course. Of COURSE I can’t have approximately 80% of the flavors I prefer…) Good times, folks. Good times.

I was trying to decide what I wanted to have for dinner tonight–for my last meal, so to speak–but I ended up being mostly lazy and serving leftover lemon chicken orzo soup. (Or rather, lemon chicken orzo pasta. The orzo has long since absorbed the broth.) To make it feel more exciting, I tried this recipe for Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Muffins to go with it, and they were pretty good. They might have been excellent for me if the called-for quantities of spices had been higher–I was expecting a bit more flavor–but nonetheless, they were beautifully moist, even with part whole wheat flour. I may just up the spices and make them again!

Although not, of course, this week.

At any rate. Until Wednesday, folks! Wish me luck!

It’s true I didn’t manage a post yesterday, although I did do errands and laundry and dishes and things; last night, however, I finished reading Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, which is one of this year’s Newbery Honor books. (And I already had it checked out of the library, so go me!) I’m going to say up front that I don’t love the art, but the story is thoroughly enjoyable. The premise of two (new) friends trying to solve the mysteries of lone socks left at the laundromat–which is owned by Magnolia’s parents–is entertaining enough, but the execution is fantastic. Magnolia and Iris learn new things about all sorts of people, and when they start to flounder with each other, author Chanel Miller maneuvers them deftly through their difficulties with just the right amount of sentiment.

It’s not just that the plot is entertaining and the emotional notes are spot on, though. Possibly the best part of the whole book is the gradual expansion of how Magnolia perceives people that she thinks she already knows. Everyone can still surprise us, right? At any rate, this is a lovely gem of a story, and I’m glad it (and therefore Miller) won a Newbery Honor award.

I’m afraid I have to run, since my hubby and I are subbing for a children’s class in church tomorrow–have a great weekend, everybody!

That’s what Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was, folks–and, I imagine, what it was supposed to be. Someone recommended it to my 15-year-old, but my 18-year-old is bound to be a much bigger fan, since she’s the mystery lover. I listened to it slowly at first, but I had to binge listen a bit to finish it before it got automatically returned to the library, and I’m pretty sure the binging was responsible for at least one bad dream. (it happens.)

Anyway. It’s an interesting (and twisty!) mystery that sucked me in pretty quickly, and I absolutely did NOT guess the ending. (Although to be fair, it’s not like I frequently do with mysteries.) Pip is on the obsessive side but thoroughly likeable, and I appreciated her summation of the crime from an emotional and community point of view. If she were my daughter I’d strangle her–she’s the poster child for ‘I’m going to go ahead and do this thing (and this thing, oh! and THIS thing) that could totally get me killed’–but I’d be proud of her in the meantime.

Anyway. Our family of 6 headed up to Idaho this past weekend to visit my parents, and while it was a very quiet weekend–so many other family members were out of town–I’m incredibly glad we went. My dad’s dementia just keeps moving forward, but he still loves for us to come, and that matters. My hubby did the lion’s share of the driving and choked down the salmon that the rest of us were thoroughly enjoying, poor man, and he and I and my mother watched “Charade” with my oldest. We got home Monday evening and spent yesterday finishing up a care package for my niece and her family, running around, and doing a great deal of laundry. Today the kiddos are back to school and I went to the temple, the library, and the pharmacy–definitely back to regular life!

Seriously, though. We lost power around 4 am Tuesday morning, and while it was only out for an hour or so, my computer wouldn’t get back online until the part my hubby ordered came in–yesterday evening. (Our home phone was also out Tuesday, which, coupled with snow and slick weather, complicated the execution of SEPs for two children at different schools on the same night. PLUS my glasses lens popped out at the book fair…it was rough.) Costco replaced the missing screw the next morning, however, which worked because I had to go and get fruit for the teachers’ dinner anyway. I couldn’t have posted until after dinner last night and by then I didn’t have enough coherence in me!

Today has been snowy, even if not as cold, and the roads are still slick; I’ve had rather a nice back-and-forth between chores and downtime, though. And since we’ve got a long weekend, I’m taking some time off to spend with family. I’ll see y’all on Wednesday!

No, I’m not reliving the summer reading assigned before my senior year of high school. (Although it’s worth noting that “All My Children” was the first literary work I didn’t like that I did respect and appreciate, for which the credit absolutely goes to Carol Mumford. She was both an excellent teacher and an estimable human being.) Today is actually the day that all of my children are officially in the double digits. My baby is 10!

It was, incidentally, a busy day–I helped set up the book fair at the elementary school, ran home for lunch and exercise, and then took the birthday girl to therapy. When we got home the kitchen needed work and then the birthday dinner needed cooking (although thankfully, Korean beef and peas is about as easy as it gets). When I was home for lunch, however, I took the time to read the graphic novel I gave my girlie for her birthday. I don’t usually review the Babysitters Club and Babysitters Little Sister books anymore–they’re such short reads–but when I finished and gifted it today, why not? Karen’s Sleepover is the 8th book in the latter graphic novel series, and it had a nice ‘friends fight, but that means we apologize and move on’ kind of theme. I did wonder at inviting all the girls in a class to a sleepover, but it did appear to be a small class, so whatever; I’m still not sure about the odd lack of contractions. (Seriously, how many 7-year-olds do YOU know that consistently say ‘I will not’ and ‘I do not’?) The new girl’s plotline was sort of interesting–open-ended in an oddly realistic sort of way–although I was surprised, given Kristy’s personality, that she didn’t say anything. All in all, a cute read that I’m sure my girlie will enjoy.

My 10-year-old girlie.