kapachino

Author: Kathleen

  • Best Book of 2009

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    Not my bookshelf, but isn’t it pretty?

    You might have heard that Gwen Bell is hosting a “Best of 2009 blog challenge” in which anyone can share their bests of the year on a different topic every day of December. Since I’m just coming off a month straight of posting, I’m definitely not participating in the entire challenge, although I think it’s a great idea. But today’s prompt is best book, and since books are something I’m passionate about I figured I’d jump in.

    Reading is my favorite hobby, even more so than blogging. So far this year I’ve read 27 books, and I should finish up at least a couple more by the end of the year. That’s actually a lot more than I thought I had read this year. I have a busy schedule and rarely get to sit down and just read for hours. But I am always, always reading, and I am not ashamed to pull out my book in the line at the grocery store or at a stoplight. That adds up. Next year I’d like to make it to 40, maybe even 50 books. I want to make it more of a priority.

    Anyway, I was looking over these 27 books and was pleasantly surprised at how many good ones there were. The Pillars of the Earth. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume 2. America America. Searching For God Knows What. All wonderful books that I would recommend in a heartbeat. In the end I chose two favorites, a fiction and a nonfiction.

    As for fiction, the winner goes to Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Since I just reviewed it recently, I don’t need to say much more. This book moved my soul. I laughed and I cried. It made me desire and appreciate life, from the smallest detail to the largest event. It made the love I have for others grow even more.

    I relish a good nonfiction book from time to time, and this year my favorite was the classic The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Do you want to be inspired? Do you want to be horrified? Do you need some perspective? Do you want to see the amazing things God can do through the people who love and obey Him? Read this book. It’s the story of a Christian family during the Holocaust who help hide Jews, and what happens to them when they are discovered. It’s definitely one I’ll be rereading through the years.

    What was the best book you read this year?

  • Currently In December

    Current Book(s): I’m reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It’s highly mediocre: just good enough so that I want to finish and know how it ends. I’ve also been listening to an audiobook called Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky. I never would have picked it out myself, but my husband brought it home for me from the library one day simply because I lived in Kansas for 4 years. It’s actually not bad.

    bleedingkansas

    Current Playlist: I’ve whipped up my Christmas playlist and am loving every minute of it. I hate the Christmas music on the radio, but I can’t get enough of the music I’ve acquired over the years. Here are the albums in rotation: Andrew Peterson – Behold the Lamb of God, Eleven Eleven Band – Christmastime, Sarah McLachlan – Wintersong, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Over the Rhine – Snow Angels, Your King Has Come. Of course I’m always open to new music, so let me know if I’m missing anything essential!

    Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Taking a complete and total break from exercising. It’s amazing how much less guilt I feel when I don’t even plan on it. I spent a couple of weeks intending to exercise every day, and when it didn’t get done I felt terrible. Now I’m just like, “Nope, not doing it right now.” (Although my plan is to start triathlon training again after the new year, so I’m enjoying this while it lasts.)

    Current Color: For Christmas I like pastel greens and jewel tone reds.

    Pastel Green 60M Ruby_Red

    Current Drink: Haven’t had any yet, but I absolutely love wassail during the holidays. Can’t wait to try making some myself!

    Current Food: Christmas cookies! Time to start baking up a storm.

    Current Favorite Show: I’m not watching any current shows, but David and I are still going through The Office on Netflix.

    Current Wishlist: All the items on my Christmas list, but what I’d especially like right now that doesn’t fit into our budget is more good Christmas albums, some house slippers, knitted boots, and more cold-weather clothes.

    knittedUggs

    Current Needs: To regain my confidence at work. An accumulation of small mistakes and unwelcome, trivial criticism has me feeling like I’m a new nurse all over again.

    Current Triumphs: Completing NaBloPoMo with very few cop-out posts. My goal was to have good content every day and refrain from whining about the task. For the most part, I think I accomplished that!

    Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Cold weather. I’m not adequately prepared for it, and it came so suddenly! This morning my husband turned on the heat, and I only protested a little bit.

    Current Celebrity Crush: I guess if I have to think about this one for too long, it’s probably not really a crush, right? Guess I don’t have one.

    Current Indulgence: The aforementioned not exercising, Christmas cookies, and turning the heat on.

    Current Blessing(s): A husband who knows exactly what to say to make me feel better about myself, doctors who don’t get upset when I bother them because of a silly mistake, warm socks and a warm home.

    Current Outfit: My #3 soccer sweatpants from college, a blue Old Navy fleece, and fuzzy socks. In a few hours I’ll find the energy to change and venture out into the world, but not yet.

    Current Excitement: I’m looking forward to seeing The Pioneer Woman this Saturday with Chelsea and Lauren. (My secret is that I’m more excited about seeing Chelsea and Lauren than The Pioneer Woman. Also, I need to buy her book, and quick.)

    pioneerwomancookbook-300x300

    Current Mood: I am well-rested and intent on accomplishing much today. Happy, for the most part, although thinking about work puts my stomach in little knots.

    Current Link: I love the blog Style Lush. It’s written by a group of women around my age, and features anything and everything that they enjoy or think is pretty. Recently they put out a pretty great holiday gift guide.

    Happy December!

  • #87: Complete NaBloPoMo

    nablo.sat.1109.120x200Today is the last day of November, and the last of my daily posts. I’ll be honest; there were times that it was a strain. I went through a lull in motivation about halfway through, but then I learned to plan ahead a little bit and came in strong for the finish. I challenged myself to be creative, to just write something even if it wasn’t great, and I did it. As cliche as it sounds, I do have a sense of satisfaction in completing this task.

    Posting every day isn’t something that is a priority for me to continue, but I have gotten into the habit and I think I’ll be a lot more frequent than I used to be. I really appreciate everyone who has encouraged me this month, who have told me how much they enjoy my daily posts. I love the creative outlet that my blog is to me, but the main reason I keep it up is because of the community and the people. Thanks, y’all.

  • Help! Household Woes Edition

    Although I adore our home, keeping it up is a never-ending list of chores and difficulties. The following items are just three examples of obstacles we are facing. Anyone have any good suggestions?

    1. The Broken Key

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    The key to our back door broke off in the lock, and we tried long and hard to remove it without success. We don’t want to have to replace the whole thing, so I’m looking for bright ideas of how to get that sucker out. After two weeks, the dogs still scratch at this door to be let out; they haven’t caught on that we have to go through the laundry room now.

    2. The Mysterious Drips

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    Drips and streaks like the ones in this picture (if you can see them) can be found on every wall of our bathroom. They are a rusty color and feel kind of greasy. The drips are activated after long showers. We know there isn’t a leak, and we also know that the wrong kind of paint was used in this room. Any clue as to what’s causing this eyesore? We don’t want to repaint if they are only going to come back.

    3. The Disappearing Windowsills

    DSCF2649

    This is one of three windowsills that has been almost completely eaten away by our dog(s). Okay, it was Cleo. So we know what the problem is, but my question is, how on earth do we fix this kind of thing? Or make it look presentable without spending a bunch of money? Right now I’m just glad these aren’t at eye level.

    Send me a winning suggestion, and I promise to make all your dreams come true. That, or I will write you a haiku. Whatever I feel up to that day.

  • Relinquishing Goal 26

    Number 26 on my 101 goals list is to learn CSS/HTML/PHP well enough to design and run my website independently. After much thought, equivocating, and some internal growth on my part I have decided to intentionally NOT complete this goal.

    The reason it ended up on the list in the first place is because I am committed to my blog and I like it so much better when it looks nice. I admit it, when I visit a new blog I totally judge its appearance. I won’t not read a blog if it’s badly designed, but if I like the way it looks then it has a higher chance of succeeding with me. I’m sure other people are the same way. (Come on, ‘fess up!)

    Right now I have an extremely complicated theme running which doesn’t allow for easy editing. I came to be in this conundrum because my brother is a graphic and web designer, and in the past he has done the bulk of the work for me. After awhile I became weary of my old design, and felt exasperated waiting on my brother to change it. I don’t blame him at all, because he has a full-time job and no computer at home (crazy, right?). So I hastily switched to my current theme without knowing how difficult it would be to work with. There are many things I want to change about it, but can’t on my own. So I wrote goal #26, because I want to be able to do what I want with my blog, when I want.

    The problem is that as much as I try to get into learning this website stuff, I don’t enjoy it like I wish I did. It’s not something I can sit down and master in a few hours, and I don’t want to immerse myself in anything I don’t love. I would much rather spend my time on other goals, or with people who matter to me. Giving up on this goal is like breathing a sigh of relief. I’m okay with my blog being “good enough” and not perfect. I plan to search high and low for a user-friendly theme that I love that will work for me, switch over, then do minimal editing from there until it looks pretty. And if that doesn’t work, I can always resort to flattery, bribes, or threats to get the help I need. :)