random reflections

Memos, Mail, Me: The Late Edition

Monday, the typical day for a memo post, was spent in the car. Traveling home from Chicago always seems much longer than going. Partially because we "lose" an hour coming back, but this time is was longer due mostly to summer road construction which starts in this part of the country as soon as it gets warm. We had good weather, though, in both directions for which I am always grateful.

This is a photo heavy post. We had a lovely time in Chicago. Our primary reason for going last week was to celebrate Hannah's baptism which took place on Sunday. One of the members of Sarah's congregation kindly took photos of the ceremony.

And a family photo afterwards.

After the ceremony there was a soccer game. Caleb scored two goals!

Earlier in the week, there was a special trip to Legoland for Caleb (and Grandpa, too, if the truth be known.)

And a chance to create once we got home. Caleb had this 450+ piece Lego set put together in less than a day.

On Saturday, Sarah and I drove downtown to a Renegade Craft Fair Pop-up. I've been interested in these ever since Sarah lived near San Francisco, and I first heard of them. They're only held in big cities, and somehow I've never been in the right place at the right time. The vendors had lovely wares, but I was a bit surprised at how small the event was; perhaps that's the nature of the pop-up.

Later that afternoon while Sarah and Adam attended a dress rehearsal of the youth musical, Tracy and I took the kids to the Chicago Botanic Garden. I love this place, and never tire of the model train garden (no photos there this time) or any of the other beautiful displays. This is my favorite photo from the trip because it shows so clearly how wonderfully Caleb and Hannah get along, despite the age difference. Caleb is a super big brother.

This was the first trip we've made during the spring season at the Botanic Garden, and the spring flowers were glorious.

Needless to say, there was plenty of mail when we returned. There was quite a lovely stack of birthday cards (a few highlighted below), two wonderful gifts honoring my OLW "Joy" from Honoré, and two new stamp sets which will soon be put to use for the remaining May birthdays and anniversaries (of which there are many!)

For now, I'm still trying to get unpacked and organized while keeping busy with multiple commitments that were on the calendar before we left. I hope things are going well for you mid-week!

 

 

 

 

Memos, Mail, Me: May 1 Edition

Hard to believe it's the first of May, but I'm greeting it quite happily as I know that most likely we'll be having warmer weather from here on out. But there's no guarantee. The weekend went from warm and sunny to cold and rainy. 

Our weekend started early with a dinner and movie with three other couples. The guys in Tracy's mens' book group read The Lost City of  Z a few years ago, and wanted to see the movie, and the wives decided to join them. It wasn't a movie I would have chosen to see, but it was very good, and the ending will stay with me for some time. Based on true events, it tells the story of Percy Fawcett who finds evidence of a lost civilization while mapping an Amazonian river. Despite much skepticism from the scientific community, he and his son return to the jungle to try and prove his case. The sacrifice his devoted wife makes for his journeys is remarkable.

Friday night we were out again. This time to a local brewpub with our friends, Karen and Mike. On Saturday, Matt, Betsy and the girls came for dinner. It's so much fun to be with these girls. Skylar lost almost all her hair, her eyebrows, and eyelashes last fall, but with thyroid medication it is all coming back. The kids in her kindergarten and day care have been absolutely wonderful---no teasing, so there was no change in her wonderful sunny disposition. This smile is who she is!

Sunday we had dinner at Tracy's mom's along with his sister and brother-in-law. Despite all the festivity around meals, the rest of the weekend was pretty quiet, and I got a lot of work done. I need a lot of birthday and anniversary cards for May, and have fallen behind in my assignments for Once Upon a Time: Your Photographs Have Stories to Tell, a class on contemplative photography. I'm also enrolled in Ali Edwards Type class, and had several videos to watch. Although I've been remiss in posting my sketches on Instagram recently, I've managed to keep up with the #100DayProject as well. It was great to have a couple days with few commitments. 

The mail brought a few goodies. One was a gift which I can't share here for a week or so, and another was the rather amazing Simon Says May Card Kit. They are always well worth the money, but this one seemed even more packed than usual:  two acetate sheets of designs, an exclusive animation stamp set with everything you need to make an animation slider card, patterned papers, two watercolor cards, a set of markers, as well as coordinating cardstock.

The stamp is a new "animation" stamp. I've watched a few videos about how to use it, but don't have any occasion for it quite yet. Given the many cards I do need, this kit will sit on the back burner for awhile. I was hoping for a small package from Papertrey Ink, but it didn't arrive. I rarely order between releases, but I've been on a waiting list for a vertical A2 scalloped die for quite some time. The first time I got a notice it was back in stock, it was out of stock again before I got it in my cart. This time I jumped right on it. I have all the pieces of a card prepared, just waiting for this to show up. Hopefully soon, since I need the card on the 14th of May for a very special occasion.

Waving to Sian and the Monday Memo Makers! Hope you have a great week!

Memos, Mail, Me: Happy Mail

It was a quiet weekend. Nothing much on Friday (I should have been much more productive.) On Saturday, we babysat for Miss Madelyn while Matt and Betsy took the two older girls to a birthday party. She started to crawl a week or so ago, and is on the move!

Afterward we got take-out from a new Mediterranean restaurant. It was just as good (and inexpensive) as all the Yelp reviews said it was.

Sunday, I heard Rabbi Stein from Temple B'rith Kodesh present at our Sunday Seminar, and then preach at our second service. He is a wonderful speaker, very articulate and thoughtful. His theme was the need for unity between religious groups during these dangerous times as well as a call to be out in the community working for justice and peace. Our Presbyterian church and the temple have a long-standing relationship, and do a pulpit exchange once a year. On Friday night, our pastor spoke at the temple.

Shortly after I got home, it was time to meet our book group for lunch and a discussion of Shadow of the Wind. I think the consensus was that although the plot was complicated, and the overall feeling rather dark, we all were glad we'd read the book. I had highlighted several passages as I read, and was struck by how universal the themes were when I went back to look at the highlighting. Here are a couple of them:

Few things are more deceptive that memories. I've been thinking about memory a lot recently. A friend of mine has incredibly vivid memories of growing up, yet I have few and very vague memories of my childhood. Why is that? I'll be spending some time with my brother later this spring, and expect to quiz him about his memories of our childhoods. In the book, the main character is trying to track down the books of a specific author (most were burned) and interviews many people about their experiences with the author. The memories of one character frequently do not match up with what he hears from another. 

One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. By the time the mind is able to comprehend what has happened, the wounds of the heart are already too deep. This proves to be so very true for four boys in the novel who grew up together, and I think is true for many persons who've suffered a great loss or trauma as a child.

On a far lighter note, along with the usual stack of junk mail, notices, a few bills, and catalogs, I received some lovely mail this week. First of all, two pairs of slacks which I ordered after completing purging my wardrobe---winter and summer. I took several bags to Goodwill, and sent off a box of clothes to Swap.com as well. When I had finished, I realized I needed a couple pairs of casual, lightweight slacks for the summer. Nice as that was, this was better:

Lady Ella (feeling somewhat sorry for me after my post about how slowly Spring was coming) sent me a wonderful magnet with a photo she'd taken of a flowering tree near her home. It is brightening my refrigerator as she hoped it would. Better yet, it proved to be a talisman so that Spring has finally sprung here! The next day an order from Papertrey Ink arrived with a lovely sentiment set for birthdays, a double banner die, and a gorgeous set of three dies. When I first saw "Mix and Match: Scallops" I thought it was too fussy for me, but I changed my mind quickly when I saw the various ways the three dies were used by the design team. 

Since I had some time this weekend, I made a Mother's Day card with it:

Just two dies, one stamp, three tiny pearls, and some coordinating papers and voila! a card is done. The curved banner die is from My Favorite Things, but all the rest is Papertrey Ink.

Waving to Sian and other Monday Memo Makers. The week ahead looks warmer (yea!) and a lot busier. It used to be true that the busier I was, the more productive I was. I'm hoping it still holds true.

Memos, Mail, Me: Extremes

On Friday morning, we awoke to this:

Yes, several inches of wet, heavy snow. 

By yesterday, it was 70° and we were off to the garden center for some spring flowers.

Despite the warm temperatures, there is still a bit of snow on the ground. I'm sure it will be gone by noon since temperatures are expected in the 70's again. It won't stay this warm, of course, but hopefully we're done with the snow!

It was a lovely weekend: dinner with friends on Friday night, a shopping trip to a McKenzie-Child warehouse sale with another friend, and dinner with family last night. In between, some appointments, sorting of clothes for the consignment shop, and time at the gym after several months away. McKenzie-Child has an annual Barn Sale which I've never attended, and the warehouse sale was something new. A friend texted me right before we left on our trip and asked if I were interested. I was, indeed. Although I have several pieces of their Courtly Check tinware, most of it is beyond my price range. Everything at the sale, however, was 50% off or more. I got this lovely pitcher which retails for $85 for $19. I know I'll find lots of uses for it; it's looking lovely in the dining room now. Not only was it a bargain, it was the only piece with this pattern that we saw.

Good things in the mail were rather sparse this week, but we did get one very nice package from The Great Courses. They were having a big sale, and Tracy wanted a course on genealogy. I picked up two sets of DVDs on the Bible. The New Testament is taught by Bart Erhman, and I was fortunate to hear him speak on Thursday evening at the University of Rochester's Phi Beta Kappa lecture. He spoke about some of his findings while researching his latest book, Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior.  Amazon describes him as a "renowned and controversial scholar," and I understand why some might think his conclusions are controversial. I thought the research on memory was fascinating, and I have the book on hold at the library. 

This week's calendar is pretty packed with appointments, volunteer commitments, and lots of social events. I'll have to work hard to find time for my daily reading, #The100DayProject, and my online class assignments. 

Waving to Sian and the Monday Memo Makers. Hope you have a great week!

Memos, Mail, Me: The Road Home

It’s rare that I’m writing a Mondaly Memo post after dinner, but the truth is I find it hard to get back into my usual routines after we’ve been away for over two weeks. In January, it took several weeks until I felt I had things under control again. This time it seems a bit better, but I’m still not quite “on it.” I hope you’ll forgive a longer than usual post, as I thought I’d do a recap of our trip home, even though most of it happened before the weekend.

When we left Florida, we headed to Macon, Georgia. Tracy had long wanted to visit the Indian mounds there at the Ocmulgee National Monument.

It was a beautiful day for a visit, and I was much more interested in it than I expected. The park is a prehistoric Indian site, having been occupied for over 17,000 years. The Earth Lodge is a reconstructed ceremonial building, but the floor has been carbon dated to nearly 1,000 years old.

The Temple Mound is the highest, and largest Mississippian mound. If you look closely, you can see people climbing the stairs as well as some people on top of the mound which gives you some perspective. The original mounds were, needless to say, constructed basket by basket of dirt carried by individuals. It must have taken a very long time.

From Macon, we drove to Atlanta to have brunch at our favorite restaurant, Canoe. We discovered it when Sarah was in seminary, and it never disappoints. It’s a beautiful place, with impeccable service, and outstanding food. It sits on the bank of the Chattahoochee River.

I needed a self-portrait for my CY365 project that day, but I cheated and let Tracy take on. It’s not often I’m willing to share photos of myself, but the setting was pretty wonderful.

Our next stop was Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a good distance between Atlanta and Nashville, so we planned an afternoon and evening there. Good choice. There was a wonderful art museum,

and an even more wonderful aquarium.

It housed a butterfly/bird garden on the roof,

a touchstation, “Stingray Bay,” where you can touch stingrays as they swim by,

and two buildings of exhibits, one the Ocean Journey, and the other The River Journey. Both are excellent. The exhibit of seahorses was absolutely fascinating although I have no photos from it.

There’s a wonderful pedestrian bridge that crosses the Tennessee River that links the downtown art district with a delightful area of restaurants and shops on the other side. After dinner at The Brewhaus, we walked across half the bridge, and then down to the park below. Chattanooga has done a wonderful job of revitalizing the river district. I wish Rochester would come up with a good plan.

Our primary destination for the trip home was Nashville. My main reason for wanting to visit was a bookstore, Parnassus Books, co-owned by Ann Patchett, one of my favorite authors. I was so engrossed in looking at books and reading the review cards, I never took one photo. I always try to buy one book whenever I visit an independent book store in order to support them. This time, both Tracy and I left with our own bag of books. I’m all set for reading material for the next several months! I did stick to my self-inflicted rule: you may only buy books you've never heard of (based, of course, on those marvelous little review cards taped to the shelves.)

But, I must admit that the highlight of our visit was not books, after all, but music. Thanks to the B&B owners we had tickets to see the Time Jumpers the first night. We ended up sitting with a couple who drive 1 ½ hours every week to hear the Time Jumpers. (Donny has seen them over 90 times!) It’s a 10 man “country swing” band, but I only have photos of a few of them since we were sitting right in front. Watching the band members interact with one another was such a treat, and the music was great!

The next night, we went to the Grand Ole Opry, and it was much better than I expected. It’s in a lovely auditorium, built specifically for the Opry, and it was a lot of fun.

That’s Charlie Daniels, if you’re a country music fan.

So that’s a long recap for a Monday. What about the mail? As you might imagine, we had a big stack of it. There were a couple great packages. One from California which I can’t share until later this month, and a package from Papertrey Ink. I spent most of yesterday, working on cards for April. Most of those I can’t share either, since the recipients do read the blog. This one, however, is for a friend who doesn’t read my blog.

Everything on this card came in my box of goodies. The diecuts, preprinted flowers and pot, and patterned paper are all from a mini kit, “Bloom and Grow.” The open frame die is one of three pieces in a new die set called “Mix and Mat: Flourishes.”

The flowers pull out to include a message, but there's another sentiment inside as well.

I'm entering this in the NBUS Challenge #11, for "never before used stuff." 

Waving to Sian and the Monday Memo crew! It’s good to be back, and hopefully next week, I’ll be on track again.

Memos, No Mail, Me: A Road Trip

Saturday evening we arrived on Longboat Key, Florida to spend a week with friends. We took a road trip on our way, and there will be another road trip on the way home. We left just in time to escape the biggest winter storm of the season---and one that dumped more snow on Rochester than we’ve seen in a long time---30 inches. I’m not sorry to have missed it!

We made a stop in Asheville, NC where it was bitter cold, but sunny. There we got to have lunch with a friend and explore a bit more of the city than we’ve had time to do in the past. We’ve come to the conclusion, though, that we need to schedule a trip in the late spring or early summer when the weather is more conducive to hiking and sightseeing.

We arrived in Savannah, GA on Thursday afternoon, took a trolley tour of the city, visited the SCAD Museum of Art, and had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day as well as Tracy’s birthday.

The parade for St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah is the second largest in the country. Only New York City’s is larger. We weren’t quite sure what to expect so decided to purchase seats on one of the bleachers set up on the parade route. We arrived well before the beginning of the parade, but despite the fact that the bleacher seats were sold out, ours was never filled, and quite comfortable. Good thing, since the parade is very long.

As you can see from the photo above, many people dress up for the day. I had a bright green vest on and purchased some of the shiny green beads from the vendors selling up and down the parade route. (No photos of me, however. What else is new?)

Of all the outfits, this was my favorite:

Mother, daughter, and dog were all decked out in tulle.

The parade included:

Marching bands from several states; some as far away as Indiana.

Floats; some very professionally done, others not so much.

Bagpipers, and drum corps.

Many military groups. Check out the cheeks of the soldiers. It is, evidently, customary for woman and girls to rush out and kiss their cheeks as they march by. It happened regularly where we were sitting, and the soldiers took to it quite well.

All in all, it was a fun time, and probably the biggest birthday celebration Tracy’s had. Before we left I got his birthday card made. I took a page from Sian’s playbook, and used some scrapbook ephemera to create a travel inspired card.

Because it was an odd size, I needed to make the envelope as well. It had been ages since I pulled out my envelope punch board, and I’d forgotten how easy it is to make an envelope of almost any size.

Sunday was rest and relax at the beach. Bill and Tina have rented a lovely condo with a long screened in porch overlooking the gulf. Just the sound of the surf is relaxing, and keeping the door to the porch ajar last night probably contributed to the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. I read, uploaded some photos, and we took a long walk on the beach.

We'll need to rest up here for the fun trip planned for the trip home. Waving to Sian and all the Monday Memo Makers. Hope all is well with you.

 

Mail, Memos, Me: The Weekend Edition

Our weekend started with a lovely birthday dinner on Friday night with Tracy’s sister and brother-in-law at a new Italian restaurant. Delicious food; good conversation!

Saturday I spent most of the day working on a project I’ll be able to share next month. I also spent some time watching a webinar hosted by Capture Your 365 in celebration of their 6^th birthday. One of my favorite sessions was on creating flat lays. Afterwards, I created one to post in the Facebook group for their birthday bash.

I’m so glad I rejoined CY365 this year. I’m picking up my camera every day, and being inspired by the photographs shared in the gallery. I also worked on the assignments for an online class on photography and visual journaling that started last week. More on that soon.

We were busy yesterday. Both Tracy and I were communion servers at the early church service. Although bitter cold (it was 6° when we left for church,) it was a bright sunny day, good for a drive to Buffalo for lunch and discussion with our book group. I spent the evening watching women’s college basketball games on television. I’ve been following the University of Connecticut team for at least 15 years, and now that we’re closing in on the big NCAA tournament, I’m interested in watching all their possible competition as well.

What about the mail? Well, like Melissa, I’m not in the need for any more books, but that’s what arrived in the mail this week.

Although I love my Kindle, reading a paper-bound book is still my preference, especially if I think I might want to underline or make margin notes. These all fit that category, and at least two of them will be accompanying me on our upcoming road trip.

I also ordered an inexpensive, but clever, pencil sharpener.You can see the numbers on the dial---choose the number and you will get a different kind of point as shown in the diagram. I bought it for my colored pencils hoping that choosing #1 will extend the life of the pencils.

Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky and other memo makers! Here’s to a great week!

 

 

Memos, Mail, Me: Birthday Weekend

It's Monday, and I'm waving to Sian at From High in the Sky and fellow memo makers from afar!

Matthew and his family just returned from a week long vacation in Florida. Before they left, we decided we would celebrate Matt's birthday two days early since trying to get together during the week often proves difficult. I did bake a delicious and gorgeous cake this weekend, but not for the birthday boy (who only likes cookie cakes from Wegmans), and I neglected to take a photo of it! The duplicate bridge group that was here on Friday night, however, gave it rave reviews. It was a chocolate praline cake, frosted with whipped cream. 

Dad had his arms full, but had help from the five year old in blowing out the candles. Ella was a little unsure about the whole event, although she had been singing "Happy Birthday," to her daddy all evening. Skylar came over early to help me cook dinner:  steak, roasted potatoes, asparagus, wild rice for Skylar and brussel sprouts for me and Betsy. Miss Madelyn was in Momma's arms during this photo, but posed for several before dinner.

The mail was filled with the usual bills, flyers, and catalogs, but at the last minute the Simon Says March kit arrived.

As usual, it was packed with goodies. I especially love the stamp set since now I'll be making multiple Easter cards. The patterned paper by Echo Park has one delightful paper after the next, and all are double-sided. I've never tried the Nuvo Mousse, but Simon Says included an Easter egg stencil and a palette knife so I'll be giving that a try. The first card is done. It was inspired by a cute card by Yana Smakula where she used the sunglasses with the little chick. Ella LOVES her sunglasses, and I couldn't resist the perfect sentiment in the set.

I trimmed a piece of patterned paper that had a set of borders for the bottom of the card, and colored all the images with Copic markers. After fussy cutting them, I added a mini-Wobbler to the back of the chick. Try as I might, I cannot get a photo of the chick wobbling although I've seen it done on other blog posts. The purple dotted egg sports glitter as well. I found the perfect little heart stickers in my stash. Here's hoping your week is off to a good start!

Memos, Mail, Me: A Breath of Spring

Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky and other Memo makers this bright, crisp February morning.

This weekend brought a breath of fresh air to western New York. We had two days of temperatures around 60°s with abundant sunshine. Despite a nasty cold that attacked me on Valentine's Eve, I got out for a much needed walk both days. The snow has finally melted from the roadways and sidewalks, but the ponds are still frozen.

As we walked from Brickstone Trail through the neighborhood, I got a glimpse of the landscape reflected in the lightbulb of someone's outdoor lightpost. Too good to pass up as I'm practicing (once again) with the manual option on my camera.

Our other outing was to the Black Button Distillery. One of the men on Tracy's reunion committee won a group tour and tasting, and nine of us took him up on his offer. I'm not one for spirits, so I skipped the tasting, but the tour was fascinating. I knew that Scotch had to come from Scotland, but I didn't know that bourbon had to be made in the United States in order to carry that label. We all went out to dinner afterwards, which gave us a chance to catch up with one another since the big reunion in September. (No, those cute young things in the photo were not in our group; we are all old enough to be their grandparents.)

And there was abundant happy mail again this week. Several weeks ago, we noticed holes that appeared to be cut in our quilt. It almost looked like we had critters eating pieces from the quilt. There's no explanation for it, but I started watching for something to replace it. A catalog from Pottery Barn arrived, and I found a comforter that was just the right colors for our bedroom---and a much more restful pattern than our previous quilt. It was on sale, and I had a "Friends and Family" coupon I could apply as well. I knew if it didn't work out, I could return it for free to the store at the mall. But, luckily, we're very happy with it.

And then on Valentine's Day, what arrives but two valentines from blogging friends--Honorè and Alexandra! Ellen Huston had a sale, and I picked up two sentiment sets I'd had my eye on for awhile.

Schools are closed here for a February break, and both organizations where I volunteer are also closed. It opens up a good deal of time for some serious crafting and work on photography projects. My cold seems to be on it's way out, so I'm hoping to be a lot more productive this week than I was on the weekend.

 

Memos, Mail, Me: The Valentine Edition

It's after dinner, and I'm just getting around to writing my Monday Memo blog post. It was a busy, busy weekend. We had the delightful job of babysitting for our three granddaughters on Friday night after a busy day entertaining a friend for lunch and volunteering in the afternoon.

Our Presbytery hosted its annual Church Leadership Development Day on Saturday. I was the official greeter prior to the worship service, and as soon as it ended I slipped out to go to the memorial service for a friend who lost her battle to ovarian cancer. It was a beautiful tribute to a very caring lady. Her three children spoke eloquently. I could have never spoken at my mother's funeral, so I am always impressed with the poise some people possess. I returned to attend an excellent workshop on exploring ways of companioning those facing loss or in crisis. 

On Sunday, I introduced our speaker for Sunday Seminar---the wonderful professor whose Old Testament course I took last fall. As always, her presentation was both scholarly, stimulating, and entertaining. After church, Miss Skylar came to bake valentine cookies.

Skylar took some cookies home for her family, some for her cousin and aunt, and we saved some for dinner on Wednesday night when they'll be here to celebrate Valentine's Day a day late.

Between events, I was making dark chocolate almond clusters with sea salt (yum!), and packaging my valentines for friends and family. 

One box of the chocolates went to a friend this afternoon, and the other is going to my hairdresser tomorrow when I get my hair cut. The cute container is from Reverse Confetti. I bought two packages of them when they were released, and love how easy it is to create a cute package with the accompanying die cuts. The XOXO die cut is from Simon Says, and the patterned paper is from a 6X6 paper pad by Echo Park.

I used the same containers for the Valentines for my older granddaughters. No worries that they'll see these on the blog before they get them on Wednesday.

Almost everything in the boxes came from Target and Michael's in Chicago when Sarah and I were shopping for the goodie bags for Caleb's birthday party. The crayon notebooks are little sketch books. Inside the box is a tube of colored pencils, some tiny highlighters, an eraser that looks like a cactus, a pack of sticky notes, and a couple of magnetic bookmarks.

Last, the goodies for the kids and co-workers at the after school program where I volunteer twice a week. 

I bought the fry boxes last year at Michaels and tucked them away in my Valentine bin. They worked perfectly to hold some dark chocolates for the three folks I work with in the intermediate room. I tied a tiny valentine to some brightly colored pencils I found at Target for the kids. Pencils always seem to be at a premium.

All these valentine gifts are in remembrance of my father whose favorite holiday was Valentine's Day, and never failed to send me a package and/or flowers. 

So, what about the mail?

Well, I got some great mail again this week. A darling "Save the Date" card from the daughter of a good friend. Check out Emily's great lettering on the envelope. I also got two books. I ordered the bottom one after checking it out of the library and realizing that I would want to underline and take notes. The top one was hand delivered by a friend. She read it on vacation and thought that both Sarah and I would enjoy it as well. Katherine Patterson was unknown to my friend, but she's a favorite author of mine. I think I've probably read Bridge to Terabithia at least fifteen times with fifth graders as well as several readings of  The Great Gilly Hopkins and Lyddie. I've enjoyed her books of essays, The Spying Heart  and Gates of Excellence, but I was unaware of her memoir, Stories of My Life. I'm really looking forward to reading it, and expect to put it in the tote bag for our March road trip. Then it will go to Sarah when we make our next trip to Chicago.

Waving to Sian at From High in the Sky, whose brilliant idea started this weekly meme, and all the rest of the Monday memo makers.