Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Children's books

Our local library had a giant book sale last Saturday. Aaron and I arrived early hoping to beat the crowd, but even arriving 15 minutes before it opened still deemed us 40th in line. Never the less, it was well worth it. The concept of the sale was to clean out multiple copies of books and get rid of some oldies. You could FILL a bag for $5! Thank goodness I brought my strapping husband along. Being the bargain shopper I am, I STUFFED two big bags. All-in-all, we got about 60 books; various genres; biographical, fiction, non-fiction, educational, poetry, short stories, classics, and a TON of children's books.

I wasn't a HUGE reader until my teen years, but when I was small, I definitely had a few favorites-- about 12 or so-- 10 of which I will list here. In case I haven't mentioned it before, although I think I have, the tick-tock of my biological clock has grown louder in the past year. It's not yet deafening, but loud enough that it's distracting. This isn't even a discussion I'm willing to have until after our Alaska cruise/land trip this summer. I REFUSE to be seasick and morning-sick while taking in the beauty of Alaska. After that, we shall see ;)

However, y'all know I'm a planner. Aaron and I do talk about raising children a great detail. We disagree on some things and agree on others. One thing we BOTH whole-heartedly agree upon is that we will NOT allow our children watch a lot of TV, maybe two hours per week. Thus, we have started to collect lot of books. I know it's a bit premature, but what's the harm?

I love books. I love buying new books and Aaron and I will often go to Barnes & Noble for hours on end perusing the shelves sipping a coffee. Unfortunately, I'm not really a person who can give books away. I keep them, which causes some problems in our small little chateau.

We have three shelves in our house all stuffed like this one. I have one large one in my office too. Aaron better get to work building me another.

My children's book collection is also growing. Those books, however, I don't keep on display. I have then organized in two milk creates, stored in a closet, waiting for use. Many of the books are new (shhhh!). When I go book shopping I don't buy just one book, I'll buy 8 or 10 and often I'll slip a kid’s book into the mix. Others, I took from my childhood home (the good ones at least) and about 25 of them I bought this weekend at the book fair.

My Top Ten favorite books from childhood:

1. Perfect the Pig
2. Corduroy- Everyone remembers that sweet bear!
3. Whose Mouse Are You?
4. The Velveteen Rabbit- A classic- must-have!
5. Dog Goes to Nursery School- This was probably my favorite. I had terrible separation anxiety in 1st grade. This book really helped me.
6. A Porcupine Named Fluffy
7. Once Upon a Potty- A really great “old-school” book about potty training but, as a child, I wanted the boy version (??!!)
8. Johnny Lion's Bad Day- It's all about taking medicine and being sick.
9. Pig-Pig Grows Up
10. Where the Sidewalk Ends- This book isn't pictured because I have it at my office. My sister used to read me those poems over and over and over again. My favorites were "Melinda May" (who ate the monsterous whale) and "Sick." I now read them to my group kiddos and they love it!

There you have it. My yet to be born children are already spoiled :)

Celebrating Black History Month

All month long I plan to educate my clients (as part of their curriculum) about various African American role models and  issues of race that still occur in the 21st Century. Part of the education may simply be a poem or a short story that I read at opening/check-in and have them discuss it. I also plan to incorporate some information about racism, stigma, and prejudice as part of their rehabilitation. Recovery includes integration back into the community that once shunned you or you withdrew from because of substance use; an interesting comparison.

Some of the material I discuss with them will be shared here. I think it's important to understand the basis of racism and how it still, so often, seeps into our world view. Many confuse racism with just nasty words, or not liking a person based on the color of their skin, their culture, heritage and so forth. In my opinion, racism is also ignorance to individual differences in people; ignorance to privilege. Ignoring and not discussing issues of race does not negate a person from perpetuating racism. Some of the discussions I hope to have here may be difficult and compel readers to dig deep into their own biases. Never-the-less, it's a necessary conversation.

*Note to my readers: I do not, under any circumstances, condone using the "N" word. It is a hateful word used to segregate and degrade. I will, however, discuss the "career" of such a hateful word in a later post. But as a preview- believe it or not, so suggest that when used by blacks, the word loses its power- an interesting discussion for later this month, so stay tuned.

Here is a poem, which profoundly affects me every time I read it; it truly breaks my heart.

The Incident (1925)

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."

I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.

-Countee Cullen

Photographic Friday: Mother-in-laws tongue

I love gardening, I love nature, and I love bringing nature inside to me. Due to this passion, I love plants. Unfortunately, I can't have many plants in my house because my animals (cats) love to eat them. I do have about 6 plants they seem to leave alone but, that's only 6 plants in my house :( My office, on the other hand, is another story. My office is more of a green house. I'm a firm believer, and research has shown, that plants help control indoor air-pollution and they just make me feel better when I look at them and take care of them.

I seem to inherit a lot of plants at the office. People may get them as gifts and then neglect them; shoving them in an empty office, or some people even bring them to me to "baby-sit" because of my green thumb. The plant below sat in the library of our building for 2 years. Every week I would go check on it, water it, prune it and take care of it. I asked around to see whom it belonged to. No one seemed to know and some didn't even know there was a plant in the library of our building. Sadly, there it lived for 2 years. It was up on the top shelf of the bookcases and I would have to climb a ladder to reach him every week. Finally, I just stole adopted him.

He came home to live with me and, since moving to our house about six months ago, he has outgrown his original potting. He grew so big, in fact, that we couldn't even get him out of his pot, we had to break the pot from around him. So after 2 bags of potting soil, a $30 pot and $14 saucer, he will have more room to grow in the years to come. He's so gorgeous and he's doing well. He is much too heavy for me to move around, so he hangs out by the window in our living room (indirect light.)

This plant is called the Sansevieria Trifasciata AKA: "Mother-in-laws tongue or Snake Plant." Sansevieria is also one of NASA's top 10 houseplants for removing indoor air pollution. :)

His trip downstairs to the garage to be repotted.

A size comparision; he really outgrew his potting and, as you can see below, he was really stuffed in there. Poor thing :(

I had to keep him belted for a week after I repotted him to make sure he wouldn't droop.

Fun Fact Thursday

1. In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb."
2. Many years ago in Scotland a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
3. The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone. 
4. Each day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.
5. Men can read smaller print better than women can; women can hear better.
6. Coca-Cola was originally green. 
7. It is impossible to lick your elbow. 
8. The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.
9. The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
10. The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38% 
11. The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $16,400 (So, what would be the cost of raising two incredibly spoiled Chihuahuas who live upwards of 17 years? Never mind, I don't want to know- they're worth every penny.)
12. The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000.
13. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. 
14. The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. 
15. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. 
16. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David, Hearts - Charlemagne, Clubs -Alexander, The Great, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
17. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321.

Wednesday Oui? Oui love Winter!

The weekend before last was the weekend of the big storm and it dropped a ton of snow on our part of New Hampshire. It makes me so sad that most of the snow has melted. I love winter and don't look forward to the mud spring brings.

Aaron is a machine; I don't know where he gets his ability to keep going, and going, and going, but I'm grateful for it! Often, when we get a big storm, he'll shovel us out, then head over to his grandmother’s house to shovel her out and then check to see if his parents are set (we all live within walking distance from each other.) I’ve never had to clean off my car, shovel the driveway, or be inconvenienced by winter. Perhaps that's why I love it so much!! He will even go so far as to shovel me a path to my various bird feeders so the birds can eat me out of house and home during every season (I won't even post how much it costs me to feed the bird-pigs but, I love them! Especially my cardinals and woodpeckers.)

That same weekend we went for one of the most beautiful snow shoeing excursions I have ever been on. We live about 2.6 miles from a huge gorgeous lake, which for us being outdoorsy (hiking/kayaking/etc.) was a major selling point in deciding the location of our first home. I had never really spent much time around this lake to date (considering we just moved here in April and gutted out the house- this didn't leave much time for exploration.) My gosh what a beautiful, breathtaking hike we took. It was beyond words. The whole time we were hiking I kept saying aloud, "Wow, look how beautiful this is! It's ours for the taking."

When it comes to the outdoors, I am a bit of an elitist. I can't fathom how everyone wouldn't enjoy the beauty of New England as much as I do. We have the ocean, mountains, lakes, beaches, big cities, small towns and four seasons. I love it! But then again, I'm a bit crazy about nature and I love to do things outside with Aaron, which, I understand, isn't for everyone.

Being outside always makes me feel better. Whenever I spend too much time indoors I can feel my brain rotting and my muscles atrophying. Okay, so that's an exaggeration, but if I don't get fresh air, I usually end up getting mildly depressed and sick. Further, nothing says a good nights sleep like a day of fresh air and physical activity.

Here are some pictures from the big storm and our gorgeous snowshoe.

Our backyard

One of the sets of feeders.

Another feeder

A cathedral of trees.

My favorite time during our hikes is when we stop at a spot we find to be the most beautiful and have a snack, or a small meal and just talk. We talk about everything; big subjects, small ones, gossip, daily happenings and our future. I love these times with Aaron, my best friend and confidante.