September Book: Joyland by Stephen King

Once August hits, the New Years Resolution gets harder and harder to try and complete. I failed to complete any in August. With school starting for me and the kids, band for Dakota and football for Alaric, it was really hard to get everyone together. The only goal met for September was a book. Today is the last day of the month so I figured I better get my blog entry to complete. I am hoping to at least get books read through the rest of the year.

Joyland was a perfect end of summer book. I was delighted to find a Stephen King novel that was fewer than 300 pages long. Printed under the Hard Case Logo and having a cover like a pulp fiction novel, I wasn't sure what to expect. The story is about 20 year old Devin Jones, a college student whose girlfriend dumps him. He takes a job working at an amusement park, Joyland, in North Carolina. That's when the story begins.

The amusement park has a cast of 1000 interesting characters including other summer workers who become lifelong friends with Devin. King introduces carny lingo, and a great behind the scenes of how an amusement park runs.

Once again King proves he is a master of characterization. A few pages into the book and the reader "knows" Devin. And like his other book, his characters are multi-dimensional. There is no clear black and white. The book gets interesting when Devin looks into a murder that happened years ago in the parks' haunted house ride. 

A bit of a ghost story, a bit of a coming of age story. No real horror. Anyone can read this book. I couldn't put it down.

July Book: Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

I wavered between a 3 and a 4 on this book. I really wish I could do the 3.5 stars. I would give some sections of the book a 2 and some a 5 so it balanced out for me. The premise is that Ursula Todd keeps dying and gets to live her life over again. It wasn't really reincarnation since she always came back as herself. She also had deja vu about her previous lives so she was able to make different decisions and thus change the outcome of her life. 

The story is set in England. Ursula is born in 1910 over and over again. I thought the book started out very gimmicky. I got very irritated with the baby deaths and then the child deaths. Once the book focused on the adult Ursula it was a fantastic read. Both World Wars are covered in this novel. World War II is more captivating because it takes place during Ursula's adult lifetime.

Not only did Ursula's life change in each of her "lives", but so did the lives of those around her including family members, lovers and friends. The detail of the bombings in London were difficult to read because they were so realistic. The horror of war was brought to the forefront.

Spoilers: The section of her life where she marries a German could have been tossed. The section where she shoots Hitler was a complete waste of time and was sadly used as the teaser for the book. So happy that was a very short, unimportant part of Ursula's life.

It also ends as it began. That was rather a simplistic way to end this novel.

I also got confused by who some of the characters were. My favorite parts were when Ursula interacted with her family. The characters were the most developed.

Overall I would recommend the book.

Shakespeare on the Green

   This was the 27th year for Shakespeare on the Green. The company performs 2 plays every summer, and they are free to the public. I have wanted to go for a long time and am happy we finally did. The evening begins at 6:00 when different activities and entertainment are offered to the crowd. You are also able to pack food and drink. Some people sit in lawn chairs and some just throw a blanket on the ground and sit on the grass. Entertainment includes a juggler, singers and 2 minute Shakespeare where a group of actors perform a play in 2 mintues. The crowd calls out a play from the list in the program.

   The outing for July (I will call it June if we end up doing something else this month) was to go to Shakespeare on the Green. We ended up going over 2 nights. Dakota and I went on July 3. The play was Twelfth Night. I had read the review and decided I really wanted to see this. The director chose to go with modern costumes and since music is an important part of this play, the director added many modern songs. They ranged from "When the Lights go down in the City" to "Call Me Maybe". Sometimes the lyrics were changed by adding Shakespearean words to the songs. 

  I was pleased that I understood a great deal of the language even though I haven't taught Shakespeare for many years. I was able to follow the plot with little problem. Dakota was also able to follow the action. We both loved the experience. The crowd for July 3 was estimated to be 1500. 

  On July 5, Glen, Alaric, Savana, Alexsei, Rachel, Mikayla (these 2 are Alexsei's friends), and I trekked to Shakespeare. We brought a picnic lunch. The weather was remarkably nice for a July evening. The humidity was low. We also found my brother Jeff and his wife Ana. We sat by them. They left at the intermission. The crowd was estimated at 4000. It was packed. We ended up sitting in almost the same spot that Dakota and I did.

  Alaric brought electronics along, but never used them during the play. At intermission, I explained to Alaric and Savana who the characters were and what was going on. That helped them with the the second half of the production. I was shocked that Alaric actually enjoyed it. I reminded me of a Baz Luhrman production. The music worked well with the action and the actors were having fun with the production. 

  Overall, everyone enjoyed the production. I don't know that the kids would like a traditional Shakespeare production, Dakota might, but at least they got to experience Shakespeare live.

2 Minute Shakespeare

Brass Monkey!

June Recipe: Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I've decided I really like Thai food. I love spicy. This will be my last venture into Thai food for this year. I may repeat recipes, but no new Thai recipes. The girls are requesting Italian so I will be searching for some interesting Italian recipes for July. I would rather go American.

The chicken was marinated with coconut milk and honey. Glen grilled it.

Sides were: coconut noodles, spicy peanut noodles, spicy, pickled cucumbers, plum bean sprouts and spicy peanut sauce. I forgot the garnish of lime and cilantro, but no one noticed.

It was delicious with an icy cold beer.

Glen loved all of it.

I loved everything but the bean sprouts. I ate them, but they weren't my favorite. I loved the spicy, peanut noodles.

Dakota also loved all of it except the bean sprouts. He also preferred the peanut over the coconut noodles.

Alexsei would not eat hers as a wrap. She disliked the bean sprouts. She was not a fan of the cucumbers, and she preferred the coconut noodles to the peanut noodles. She is tired of Thai food.

Savana also ate her wrap deconstructed. She ate a bit of everything. She liked the cucumbers. She liked the coconut noodles better than the peanut and she wished the peanut sauce wasn't so spicy.

Alaric was not home to try the June meal so there is no feedback from him.

I pretty much followed the recipe from this site: The Triangle

June Book: the age of miracles

For June, I read the age of miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. This was one of the two books that we are reading for the library summer reading program. It is a quick read.

The premise of the story is the Earth's rotation begins to slow. The story takes place in California. The protagonist, Julia is 12 years old. She is recalling the story. Julia, an only child, is a social outcast. The book never really explains why. She loses her best friend when the family moves to Utah after the slowing begins. When they return a few weeks later, Hanna will no longer have anything to do with Julia. This is never explained either.

This book was hard to peg because I think it is adult fiction, but reads more like a Young Adult novel. The protagonist is 12 when the story takes place. It is her coming of age story against the backdrop of the earthly changes. Also, the book is very well written, but the Walker gets away with the Young Adult plot formula. She can make things happen without explaining them.

I was fascinated by the idea of the Earth's rotation slowing down and how it would affect the Earth. I don't know if the bits of science she throws out are accurate. Also, the story takes place exclusively in California. We do not even get news stories about how the rest of the United States or the world are faring.

Also, the government encourages people to stay on "clock" time to keep the economy going. Even though the days lengthen to 50+ hours, people diligently try to stay on clock time. The outcast are the "real timers". Let's see who they are. The old hippy couple that grow pot in their house and the artsy music teacher. Cliche much?

I liked the book. It was an interesting and fast read, but I did not think it was as deserving of the praise it received. Of course, I hated The Kite Runner, another highly praised novel.

May

May was an exceptionally busy month with end-of-the-school-year activities. Plus I had to finish my school year as well. Lots of grading involved there. Trying to find a day where no one had an activity and Dakota wasn't working just didn't happen. We also had to find time to plant the garden. We barely got that done in May as well. The only goal I got completed for the month was reading a book. I read it on May 31.

I chose a Young Adult book. The book was Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee. It was a very popular book a couple of years ago at the middle school where I teach. My daughter also had it and liked the book. I knew I could finish it in a day and that was all I had so those are the reasons why I picked this book.

As a person who has always struggled with weight, I could relate to Rosemary's struggles with being overweight. Rosemary's mother was 17 years old and single when she had Rosemary. She now owns a beauty salon and is well-loved by the community. Rosemary's Aunt Mary is continually on her about losing weight.

When Rosemary's "fat" pants no longer fit and when she has hit her all time high weight, she decides to   quietly lose weight. She starts with diet drinks and then works on exercising. Along the way she picks up a former popular girl, Kay-Kay as a best friend.

She also ends up getting the boy of her dreams for her boyfriend. I know this is a YA book, but I have never met a person who got their "Jake Ryan" so the fact that Rosemary ends up with her dream guy is a stretch. Real life doesn't work that way. The weight loss and the struggle are real. 

I did like that the book did not have the perfect ending. Not everything is wrapped up neatly.

April Book: Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool is a Newberry Award winning book. It was chosen by my middle school for their One Book activities. I had planned on reading it in January when the school was reading the book, but like everything else, it got put off. I figured I would save it for a time when I needed to read a book quickly. That was April. Like the rest of the activities for the month, this one came down to the wire. I read the book in 2 days. I finished it on Tuesday, April 30 about 10:45 p.m.

The story takes place in 1936 in Manifest, Kansas. Abilene Tucker is sent to Manifest by her father while he goes to work for the railroad. She stays with a local "minister," Shady Howard. While at his house, she discovers a cigar box full of "treasures" and letters. After breaking the vase of a local "diviner", Miss Sadie, Abilene agrees to work off her debt for the older woman. She tells Miss Sadie about the box, and Miss Sadie proceeds to tell her stories of Manifest in 1917-18. In addition, Abilene, along with two friends, tries to solve the mystery of the "Rattler". The "Rattler" was supposedly a spy in town during World War I. Most of all, Abilene hopes that the box and Miss Sadie will be able to shed light on her father, Gideon Tucker.

I enjoyed the book, a coming of age story with a historical background. I was able to predict the majority of the book. I expected that as an adult reader of an adolescent book, but it did not lessen my enjoyment of the book.

More about the book.

April Recipe: Grilled Lamb Chops

The April of the recipe of the month got done on the last day of April. Dakota did not have to work on April 30, so that was my last chance to get my recipe of the month completed. I finally got the nerve to try lamb chops. I've never wanted to make them because around here they are difficult to find and extremely expensive. They were more per pound then the prime rib we had at Christmas! I told Glen he had to grill them carefully because I could not handle ruining expensive meat.

I marinated the lamb chops using this recipe Grilled Lamb Chops. I also made the lemon risotto from the same site. I could not find Meyer lemons so I used the lemon juice/orange juice combo. I did not use arugula. I made a Greek spinach salad instead. I used baby spinach, grape tomatoes, red onion, toasted pine nuts,  and feta cheese. The dressing was olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

I chose to try Apothic Rose with my dinner. I like both the red and white. Apothic's are blended wines. The Rose is sweet. I could definitely taste strawberry in it. It is a bit on the sweet side, but not too sweet. I thought it went well with dinner.

Glen grilled the chops to perfection. It took about 3 minutes a side. They are very small. There were 6 to a pound. The meat was tender and juicy. There was a beautiful sear as is evident in the photos.

The dinner verdict:

Glen liked everything. He thought the lemon risotto was strange, but it grew on him. He loved the lamb chops.

Me: I am not sure about the lamb chops. They reminded me of beef in texture, but they almost had a gamey taste. Grilled they were moist and delicious, but I found myself taking bites of my salad with it. I liked the risotto. The texture was perfect. It was even better the next day. I love Greek salad. I ate the leftovers the next day. I could probably eat this every day and be happy.

Dakota loved the lamb chops and the salad. He gave thumbs down to the risotto, then again, he doesn't like my mushroom risotto either.

Alexsei liked the chops. She thought the risotto was strange. She could not handle the lemon flavor. It was very lemony. She did not like the salad at all. She even used raspberry dressing instead of the Greek dressing.

Savana ate the lamb chop. She didn't love it or hate it. She ate the salad. She also was not a fan of the risotto.

Alaric ate 2 bites of lamb and would not taste the salad or the risotto. His dinner: Italian bread.

April Family Activity: Henry Doorly Zoo

So we double dipped the zoo for activities. Between Dakota's work and weekend activities, it was difficult to find a time where we could get together and do something. So on the last Sunday in April, we trekked to the zoo. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. One of the few in April 2013. The zoo was packed. Our mission was to see the baby lions and the baby pygmy hippo. The other reason we chose the zoo was because they are having a traveling dinosaur display.

We saw the lions first. They were in the outdoor display, but they were all sleeping. I did get a few photos.

Pygmy hippo. The photos are not that fantastic. I took them from above with my phone.

Finally, the dinosaur display. We learned a great deal that I didn't know. Dinosaurs have certainly changed since I first learned about them. They had models of some that were discovered in 2010.

This was Dakota's favorite. It looked like an elephant with a dragon head. Definitely like a mythical creature.

This was a small sauropod. Alexsei wanted a full size one.

 This bird-thing would be frightening if it were still alive today!

March Family Activity Part II: Lauritzen Gardens

The children had spring break on March 28-April 2, the weekend of Easter. Glen and I both took Friday, March 29 off to spend a day with the kids. It happened to be a really nice day so we decided to go to the Lauritzen Gardens and see the Lego sculpture display. One of the teachers I work with told me about it. We ended up being short one child, as Savana decided she did not want to go.

The 5 of us headed to South Omaha. There were quite a few people at the gardens. I purchased a season pass because we got an educator discount, and we want to go back when the flowers are blooming. We did walk around the gardens. The grounds are lovely, but in late March, there wasn't much growing.

The Lego Sculpture Display was very impressive. There were 27 sculptures of vegetation and animals that are native to the midwest. The display ends in May. There is still time to see it.

Dakota, Alexsei and Alaric were all impressed. I think Savana would have enjoyed it had she gone.

This was the first sculpture. It was an orchid sitting on the desk when you walk in the building.

The buffalo was the largest of the sculptures and used the most Lego bricks to create.

Notice the "feed" inside the feeder.

The gardener was pretty much life-sized.

This was a very large hummingbird.

We missed the bee the first time around. One of the volunteers told us to look at it from the view of the flower. The bee looks like it is flying in to land on the flower.

After the display, we looked at the two engines that are displayed in Kenefick Park, on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. If you have ever crossed into Omaha from Council Bluffs, IA, you can see the engines up on the bluff. It is an impressive site. The engines are monstrously huge and there is a nice history as well. 

I also got to get another task off my list of things to do. In 2012, the Omaha World Herald started a monthly Food Prowl series. They picked 12 food items and a team went to different restaurants to decide on the best. The first Food Prowl choice was the Rueben. Omaha claims that the Reuben was created here. The Crescent Moon Reuben was voted the best. One of the reasons why is because the sandwich does not fall apart. I was amazed. It did not. It lived up to the hype. I want to go back and try the smoked version. The children enjoyed the restaurant as well. Great onion rings! They also have lots of beers on tap so Glen was happy. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and could recommend beers based upon what we liked. I loved the comfortable atmosphere. We seated ourselves.

Here is the Reuben.