Life Adventures for Miles

Today we visited a family friend and their 10-month-old boy. We haven't seen the family in a couple of years won't be nice to visit. As her kid is a lot younger, luna had some Sussex (though she had no problem with his toys, haha). We even got a magnetic fishing bath toy (I am hoping it lessens the bath time fuss) for another Xmas present, while the little mister got a fluffy blanket and some books. Speaking of books... the book of the week! Book of the week: 1984; so this was a high school book that we had to read for some lesson or report of something. I only remembered that it was a government big brother story. The main character (Winston) is a worker bee for the party (the big brother government) who basically rebels and causes all sorts of problems. From my understanding, in the ending, he accepts the government after being tortured and betrayed (to and from) his lover. Totalitarianism was the name of the game along with all the factors that usually go with it. And we got

Today we started our road trip for Christmas. Road trips are my favorite way to travel. Plans are faster but too anxious-ridden, for me to fully appreciate and train rides are fun experiences, they can be slow and you can't easily stop and look about without having to start all over again. The vehicle allows you to stop and go and enjoy the ride and see places (as long as you don't have a short timeline to travel). As we routinely do on trips, our mornings aren't as early as some but not as late as others, we had our morning/brunch chow before setting off (gas on the way). As it was raining sort of hard from the get-go so we only truly stopped for those gas/toilet breaks that also allowed us to stretch our legs. Surprisingly, we didn't grab a luna stuff is/toy yet but maybe our subconscious knows Christmas is coming, heh. My husband found a way to get my child wifi for her tablet so that kept her busy and quiet most of the ride too (along with her pups and books). We fo

Back to JRR Tolkien! I have had the Silmarillion in my kindle library for a while (we also have the paperback version somewhere as he is still one of my other half's favorite authors). I was told that it was super long and super...dry. I found an audio version on youtube so I went with it. As it is basically a creation story in history book form, I can see why the people who loved the adventure action of his Hobbit/Lord of the rings. The first part seems a lot like a father quelling his rebellious children and distraction by giving them something else to ponder: first hearing and music, then vision (the preview of the world and its elves and man), and then the accepted creation-and the actual creation of the world; with all the spats and loving of a family that built it. One spirit found himself ousted by his rebellion and then created the evil and darkness in his envy and fear throughout the world. The fight between them lasted thousands of thousands of years, in all the ages, of

Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey Business  by Esphyr Slobodkina is a very cute children's  story. The artwork is fun and colorful and the text is simple and shares the action of "monkey see, monkey do" when the cap peddlar gets angry at them for taking his caps. The storyline is him taking a nap and waking up to his caps on monkeys in trees. The more they time they keep the hats, the more angry he gets and they copy his angry gestures until  finally he throws down his own cap...resulting in them doing the same. This ultimately  solves the  problem and he calmly takes them back and goes about his business.    Another book I would like to share (in the same path as Caps) is  Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. This fun story is about a boy (Harold) who goes for a walk with his purple crayon amd in doing so takes himself on an adventure drawing his way through it: first through the the moonlit night, then a small forest, then t

Oh ho ho! I found this on KU and couldn't resist! He was (is still?) one of my favorite authors growing up! Reading his poems again gave me a bit of a giggle...and I remember trying to do lots of things with that Hug-O-War poem of his. If you haven't read any of his stuff, he is a kid's author; and from what I recall poems (whether they be short poems or those long story poems like Homer did-prose?-) are his specialty. Where The Sidewalk Ends is one of his collection of poem books in which the poems are usually silly and short (unlike his book "the giving tree" in which he story-writes one long poem about, well, the giving tree!). If I remember correctly, he was one of those authors I found inspirational enough to try and write like...I am unsure if any of them survived (I don't thinks so), however, I sort of have ideas after reading this, so it may be fun to do! I could also tell how he influenced my...worage and verbiage in my speaking, heh. He does the artw

 Book of the week: Kindle Unlimited Romance. I didn't really read anything nee this week. I found old authors and old books to read instead. I found comfort in old heroes saving the spitfire heroines, and wall flowers finding love with those who look past the outer looks and (though they tend to have some don't of reason to be there like guarding them and the like) see the inner beauty within. Stories of that have basically the same patterns and plots but create fun characters and ideas in which these characters have to navigate in order to find and complete their ever after. This week most of them were of the fantasy world of magic and mayhem. 

  The hunting of the Snark is a nonsense poem from Lewis Carroll. Google said it was originally for one of his books...but ended up not making it in I guess. The poem was sent to a friend with a signed copy of one of his books. I guess most people like to put a mean g behind it all (which I suppose is reasonable as most things even nonsensical have an inspiration behind them). I think my favorite is the fact that he uses "nonsense" words by smashing words together (which I do unthinkingly). This poem contains 8 "fits" as Lewis Carroll calls them outlining 10 characters out on a hunt. Actually, the fact that they go out with a map (that is just a blank piece of paper) without much know-how or true knowledge about it (except for how one can be lured out and what it can become) sort of reminds me if a childeren's make-believe treasure hunt (or that scene in the Winnie-the-Pooh movie where the crew is blindly following a  map no one can understand). In any case it w

J.B.West was the assistant usher and then head usher for the white house household. He started close to the end of FD Roosevelt's administration and successfully retired in the first 6 weeks of Nixon's administration. With every new family the business culture of the white house and its estate changed as well. He learned quickly that one must be loyal and respectful to the establishment and its title versus the people holding that title themselves. Though it seems with every new family, he found himself that much closer to each wife of the president. And each president and their wife were their very own magical unicorns; leading the country in their own ways. J.B. West found himself perfecting his trade in "leading/training" of such unicorns so that their culture fits seamlessly into that of the vast network of the white house. As was his position, he discusses mostly of how each family chose to run the estate, from their decorating and dinning habits to their social

 So the day was for Katja lessons. Parenting my four year old is getting a little more interesting. I am unsure if it is because of the age, my recent evaluation or just because the inevitable actions of parenting evolution (or all of these factors and more), however, I am finding it hard to understand and foster that fine line between encouraging/pushing for her to do things and letting it be. This week also brought an expectation of doing something and anticipating it would turn out a certain way and it turning out differently. While I was right with this party-I could totally compare it to collage house/frat parties and being the one in a lone corner, while all the others mingle (not that I've ever actually been to such a thing)- I was also kind of expecting it to be a little less collage frat party and a little more...er, not collage frat party. My husband never did put on the scary movie he brought for background noise so I never had to deal with that either. I suppose it work

 Book of the week:  It works for those who can soak up vocab pretty well, I think. You read a story, it gives you the summary in English and English definitions for the vocab in the story. They offer an audio version so you can hear how it is pronounced as well. I think it can work too, for assessing your skills. As it is from a linguistic learning company,  they have many more versions of this level (and other levels) in other languages. I will say the stories are a bit dry and textbook-ish and more like an essay passage than a story. Maybe because of my background in listening to the German language, I understood it better with the audio (which means I am still abysmal reading and writing... and vocab). Alright, on to the fun stuff: pumpkin picking! So today's adventure was at a farm out here. They offered some entertainment like a magic show, taking a gander at their animals...and feeding them if you have the coins -though they specifically say not by hand and that they are not

Today's adventure was New Burn, NC and it's mumfest. We were lucky to plan a day of other things around it as it was more of a downtown street fair (in my opinion) then a full on mumflower fest. I suppose they are just celebrating its bloom as we did see quite a few out and about they they were very pretty.  Our day started out with trying to find a non crowded, non hour long wait for breakfast (Denny's to the rescue!) The first stop on the way to the fest, however, was a gander at a small RV lot. We even found one that we liked and that would fit our truck (I am totally calling it the kitty clipper if we end up getting it)! As each travel trailer seemed to be Luna own playground, she had a fun start to the day. We decided to wander downtown new burn as well and hit some fun spots. In a church area, we found a bunch of halloween picture cutouts and a playground that luna loved. We also saw some cool items in some stores here and there and places that I want to go back for (

Overthinking: How to Stop Worrying, Eliminate Negative Thinking, and Control Your Thoughts By Ashley Hill is another handbook for self-care. I am not quite sure why I gravitated towards this book this week as it is just a longer version of all the other mindful care books, but maybe the expansion will help?  It gave case studies examining each method of how one does overthink and worry and case studies of how the tips may help in such cases. The main focus was on how one can create such a space that will help one not overthink (mostly mindful behaviors that always focus on the positives, or finding the positives and confront/analyze the negatives with the ever-present structure).  Reading this, it made sense, as they always do, but I've also noted that with every book, I find it to be more and more fairy-tale like as it is not always practical to do some of the things noted...which means what, that we are stuck? In any case, when one needs a good reminding of mental health tips, th

So I came across this site when googling and I found it to be pretty fun. The German Project is a German learning site and as language YouTubers and the overall concept of learning tells me, children's books (or anything that has simple text and lots of descriptive pictures) are one of the best ways to do learn. The first book I came across on this site was Henry Hühnchen (direct translation is Henry Chicken, English book title is Chicken Little). I was pretty excited to see this as it was (as I remember it) one of the first books I ever learned how to read and used it so much the hardback covers and spine were literally falling apart. Now if I understood the words correctly (which I am pretty sure I did, as it has a translation button, and I used it to check my comprehension with) is a very modern up to date version. Henry finds out the sky is falling from the internet! One by one his bird friends find out and they all go nuts until they come across the fox (writing on his laptop)

I did a thing! I found it a lot more fun creating the content then editing it, though. This technical stuff gave me a right headache! So, for the rest of the day I decided dark and quiet it will be (and it sort of worked considering we do still have a 4-year-old in the house).  So the book of the week . I got it with a batch of others like a month ago or so and didn't realize, or forgot, rather, that it is the most recent part of a narrative (that has 2 books before it) of 2 families connected through history. The first book showcases the complex relationship of Mattie, a young enslaved wetnurse, and her charge, Lisbeth. The second book sees them returning to the place they met after both escaping in their own way, Mattie to free family, and Lisbeth summoned by the death of her father (the plantation owner). This narrative adds Mattie's young fresh-faced 19-year-old daughter Jordan in the mix and further examins and expands the complex relationship between the families and the

This is a guide book to gain mental toughness. The book by Damon Zahariades, says that mental toughness has many synonyms and is defined as the durability throughout one's life journey as one will always encounter some sort of install in your path at one point or another (whether that is in the professional field or personal). He starts by saying it is a skill developed, which I can agree with as one isn't usually born with obstacles straight out of the womb, however, he also states that one doesn't always have the the...grit to develop it and I disagree. Living life, one is faced with mental toughness in all forms. Whether that is through being a pretty princess that has life handed to you or a tragic orphan who has to survive their childhood. Just because one has help doesn't negate their mental toughness, it just forms from a different angle than one that grits through it. I do agree that it can and is uncomfortable and will be...difficult to achieve as one has to e

This week I had no true interest in ready anything new...or that I had to focus on. C.W. Grey is known for writing fluffy gay romance that touches on reality but always has a happy ending (and usually huge families and lots and lots of pets). I also did my mental health self-assessments today (yes it took a lot of the day). This was easier and harder then I thought it would be. My husband had to remind me to go with my gut and not second guess (there were lots of skipping questions and going back to them later). Harder because I don't feel like I know myself that well/ am very indecisive and unobservant, and easier because the booklet was geared towards children so (hopefully) by this point I had gained the skill or understanding (usually) for said questions/behaviors.

This author tells the legacy of Edith and George Vanderbilt and their house Biltmore (the "last castle"). We traveled back in time: from the beginning, of their good names but tragic loss early in life, to the humbleness nature of their desires that differed a bit from their peers as they definitely built and lived a life suited to their gilded age roots but also got their hands dirty in their life ambitions of essentially taking care of those less fortunate then they were. This resulted in the foundations of charities and businesses and growth in studies and reputations along with life long friends and acquaintances through generations. Biltmore has lasted to this day through private ownership of Vanderbilt descendants. The house itself served as the grand home to George and Edith and their children, host to wartime endeavors and hospitals, and from the late 30s to present, a tourist attraction of days gone by. As the days went by and the ages fell, rose and fell again, The

This book is a love story, I think, at least I read it that way. Not the typical romance stories between 2 people, but a love story about loving yourself, of being comfortable about what you have and have not; and of where you came from and where you are at. It starts with the birth mother's narration of the day that that kick-started the rest of the book. I'd say the true main character is Nina. She is adopted and the last of her adopted family has died and now she is floundering around about where she belongs and who she belongs to. From there, you see her deciding to go on a journey to find her birth family. She has no luck with the agency (or not strictly legal luck) but in the midst meets a younger sister who she knew from going to school. Her sister, Lindy's adoptive story was different but while she has the husband, the kids a fulfilled career, and still full and obnoxious adoptive family, she is also...finding herself-especially when she meets Nina and is sort of co

 SO Tolkien has been on my feed and on my radar for a while now it seems. I guess I've been in a nostalgic mood with books lately (Homer, Black Beauty now Tolkien). Also going in the 3rd week of audio I have confirmed that I need to know the story beforehand and I enjoy it when the reader does voices. I think that is usually a given when reading out loud so the listener knows who when and what/how but on those freebie volunteer apps I have it's not always the same person (especially when its a long book) so I am not always certain they do that.  So anyway, The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien, for anyone who doesn't know, is a fantasy world of adventure. He created a world full of different cultures and then mashed them up to see how they can orbit around each other. The little hobbit (Bilbo Baggins) is more or less manipulated into sojourning to help the dwarfs gain back their mountain from a dragon who (in my opinion) fought for it and won, by a crafty grey wizard...who comes and g

The book this week is another classic: Black Beauty. I remember reading as a kid and it fueling my love of horses even more. Though as I started this copy, I realized the only thing I had in my head was the movie version of the scene in which he and Ginger partner together for a carriage run(s) with the high fashion of holding the horse's neck high and keeping it there while they pull heavy, sometimes overly heavy loads. As a kid, I was fascinated by the horse and the characters it spoke of and about, the experience it had. This time around I noticed the setting and the over-layer (or is it the under-layer) of the book itself. The swishing of the layers of silk from the misteresses outfits and the scenery the land they inhabit. The high-bred land of country roads to the busy crowded streets of London. The comparison to human nature/society is stamped in its reality; all played out in the perspective of this high-bred born horse that ultimately gets messed-up by the mistreatment of