I survived the day on my porch...

So I survived my 61st! The Grands called and sang Happy Birthday from TX and T.C.  M and family made me a yummy dinner and a delicious cake. The baby was so thrilled to sing and help blow out the many...many candles. My Hubby brought me coffee and made me breakfast.
About those last two questions from yesterday...Yes and yes.
Finished The Hunger Games Trilogy and online Aman Girls met to discuss...
Good read. Glad it was fiction.  Reality TV gone bad.

Another birthday on the old porch...

Tomorrow I will be 61 or tomorrow I will no longer be 60 ...


One year ago April 29, 2011,  I turned 60... much to my chagrin. I know it had to happen, not such a bad thing considering the alternative. But my days fly. Too many years too quickly. It seems like my sixtieth was yesterday and tomorrow is already my sixty first. I'm not sure if I lived every moment. Did I blog enough?   I did not answer two of my twenty questions. #19- Where did  you want to be in your life at this point? #20-Are you satisfied with where you are in your life? Two hard questions to answer. No novel has been written by this woman. My photography is just mine. Nothing in National Geographic. I have not been to Europe or Idaho. I did have my picture taken with John Wayne...

Where am I....

Let's see...three weeks traveling to Florida with a daughter and family. A week with two year old granddaughter and today I pack for a two week visit to a daughter in Texas. Easter and a day of subbing also fit in. Life is good. I finished Stephen King's Under the Dome (big, big book). It was awful...but I could not put it down and I lost much sleep over it. New book club book for April  The Hunger Games part one. I have not started it yet but am looking forward. I so enjoyed our (book club's) online discussion.

 My to do list is so long for April and May. I do not know where to start. My first post, when was that? I had "paint porch ceiling" at the top of my to do and it is still not crossed off. Another thing on April's to do "turn 61" I know I'll get that thing done. Time marches on! Year 60 has gone by in a blur...and I did not think I would survive but I did.

Back on the porch with Henry's Sisters...

English Tea Garden        

at the International Flower and Garden Show Epcot by HGTV! 

Just back from Florida vacation in time to talk about my Aman Girl's book club pick Henry's Sisters
Discussion Questions
Of the three sisters whom do you relate to the most? Janie. She lives on the houseboat, writes, a little odd. Friends with? Janie, the tea, aprons, crocheting...I could change places with her, only for a month. Reach out to other people maybe try to get out more. Isabelle went from a person who was  self destructive nearly to the point of death to a woman who wanted to live and enjoy life. Cecilia stopped pleasing only other people this helped with her extreme anger. Janie started letting people in including her family. River was hard for me to like. Some of her decisions were so alien to me. But I have never been backed into the corner she found herself in. I hope if I ever were in such dire straits I would find a way to let my children know how much I loved them. Her girls felt so unloved... Carl was a sympathetic character. His PTSD made me try to understand his leaving for 30 years but losing those years made the lives of his family so difficult...hard to forgive. Henry, now there was a character I knew. I worked with people like him for over 20 years. I believe he did have a happy life. Life made him happy. We could all learn from Henry that joy is in little things, that life is only lived in moments and give hugs when you have the chance. Father Mike gave Isabelle the means to forgive herself for her past. Good guy. The fallout from Henry and his sisters horrible childhood probably will always effect  their lives but I believe they will all rise above it and have interesting lives...not perfect but worth living. Isabelle's statement about men "...deeply flawed and exhausting." Well, aren't we all? I hope she gives a relationship a try. Henry held the family together with his unconditional love. I wish Henry would not have had to die. It would have been nice for him to have enjoyed his family in good times. He did a great job though of living all his moments right to the end. Any other ending would have worked but Cathy Lamb wanted to land her last punch!   Last question is a hard one for me to answer...what are the dynamics of our family? What are typical sisters? I think any family is functional if siblings, including in-laws, maintain relationships through out their lives.
In conclusion, I liked the book. A little hard on my sensibilities but put me in another woman's shoes for a while.

A road less traveled...

This is the road I traveled on Saturday from the baby's second birthday party to a dear friend's mother's 100th birtday party. Might have seen 3 other cars...

Just because I am now part of a book club I going to answer a few questions I found on a favorite blog...

#1 Which is your favorite genre of books to read and has it changed over time? I'll read anything. Historical fiction, modern fiction, fantasy, detective. I don't (can't) read romance novels. Not much change over time I have always read everything.

#2 Do you create a list of books to read for the year? No, it is really just random choices.

#3 do you have a reading goal for the year? No I do  not but I am keeping a list of what I read.

#4 Who is your favorite living author? Cathy Lamb, Kay McLaren, Deborah Harkness

#5 How do you organize your books? In piles. Read, to read, how did that get under the bed, could not make myself read...

#6 Do you listen to or read audio or e-books? Yes, I walk and ride bike with my audio books. I have  a  Kindle App on my Droid, new favorite toy.

#7 How do you choose what to read next? I browse book blogs, I go to the library, friends &  family on Goodreads. I am always looking for a good book.

#8 Which book has had the biggest impact on your life? Terms of Endearment changed how I felt about losing my mother to cancer when I was a teen...

#9 Which characters have you felt are the most real or believable? Imperfect people with challenges and flaws. I love those characters that struggle through life but make it good. Quirky unusual people, too. (the homeless girl in Language of Flowers)

#10 Favorite books? I have many...this year, my 60th, A Discovery of Witches, The Wierd Sisters, Born Under a Lucky Moon

One more snow day...

Izzy (8 mos.) is as big as our old dog but it is Gracie who will be 15 years old on March 9. She reminds me of us, hubby and me, we are as creaky and limpy as she is.
Another snow day today. The U.P. has lots of snow and our little town scored the most inches...I like snow. It makes the dreary gray outside world look all sparkley (sp) and clean. I could really use a snowfall inside...

Snow on the porch...

I woke up this a.m. to 10 inches of new snow. I have not been using my camera much this winter because our backyard has been all ice and dog you- know -what. Leap Day, today, my yard looks like a cotton covered fairyland. I love it . Got my camera  out and shot the blue chair...

A Leap Year note. My grandfather Frank Aman was born on February 29,1910 (per correction). He only had a birthday every 4 years so when he was my old grandfather he had only had 16 birthdays. I remember as a kid thinking how cool this was.

Happy Leap Day!