The Correspondent

Once again I return to the list of "I have no idea who recommended this book" to talk about The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.

Seriously: I have so many recommendations from so many people and websites that I'm not sure where I heard about this one or how it made it on my list. It obviously looked interesting enough and it's very popular; I waited a long time for it to come in at the library and there are currently 712 holds on it (I'm returning it this afternoon so the next person can read it).

I really enjoyed the story. It's told in letter form (with some emails) over about 10 years. The main character, Sybil, is in her early 70s when the novel opens. She has written letters all her life and is not willing to give up and make the switch to email completely. Most of the letters are ones she writes, although some are written to her.

As the story unfolds, we learn more about Sybil's life, her past, and her family. We see her interact with other people: old friends, her brother and children, her friend's young son, a customer service rep whom she manages to befriend, and other characters. We start to get a picture of what type of person Sybil is and what influences in the past have shaped her present.

As a bonus, Sybil is a reader and often writes about books, either writing to the authors or sharing "what I'm reading now" with a friend.

The story is not action and adventure, but character and life. It held my attention and I read it quickly, over a couple days of riding the bus (my best reading time right now). I'm very glad that I picked it up and happily recommend it to others.

Reading to the Kids

Today is Wednesday, and Wednesday mornings are for taking care of the homeschool kids while their moms are in the Bible study, and one of the best parts is reading to the little guys (5-6 years old).

Today was a very good day because, after a month of various illnesses, most of my littlest lambs were back. Also, we read 4 books, so they were very happy.

Our books for today:

Ol' Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein

When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Diane Goode

ish by Peter H. Reynolds

My Daddy is a Cowboy by Stephanie Seales, illustrated by C.G. Esperanza

The children were full of energy, questions, and comments this morning. There were a lot of requests to see something in the picture, to know who the person was, to know why someone did something, to know what was going to happen.... I finally asked, "Do you know how books work? I read, you listen, and then you'll find out!" But I wasn't actually feeling impatient with them; I was more amused at their chatter.

There were also judgements of the characters ("He's not being nice to his sister"), misunderstandings ("Why did he throw out her pictures?" "He didn't; he threw out his own pictures and she rescued them"), and random thoughts ("I'm going swimming today!").

The best was when we got to the last book, My Daddy is a Cowboy. They had so many questions and comments about the people and the horses and the people who weren't even in the story and the cake in the shop window. Every page elicited more questions and comments.

Then we got to the line where the little girl talks about her daddy telling her stories about his childhood and says, "I listen closely and only interrupt five times to ask questions." 

And my sweet lambs thought that five times was a lot and that she shouldn't interrupt. I just laughed at them and kept going.

Wednesday morning story time is one of my favourite times.

Stories About Coffee

Story 1

Many years ago, I was visiting friends in Niagara Falls one New Year's. My friend's husband was a very important person in organizing the Niagara Falls New Year's festivities, and since one of the sponsors was Tim Hortons, he had a pile of coupons and we drank a lot of coffee. The thing is, until then I hadn't really ordered coffee anywhere that I didn't put in the cream and sugar myself, so I really didn't know exactly what to order. I did know that "double-double from Tim Hortons" was properly Canadian, so that's what I got. I liked it and I've ordered my coffee like that ever since.

I have no idea if I'd like my coffee any differently; someday, I should try a single-single or something. Or a double-single, but I don't know if the cream or sugar comes first.

Story 2

At my previous job, I used to walk part way to work. I was about twenty minutes or so and cut a pile off my bus time (it would be a more circular route otherwise), so if the days were nice enough, I chose to walk. The walk conveniently took me past a Tim Hortons, so I would usually stop in for coffee -- often enough that they knew my order, although the changing seasons would switch it from hot to cold coffee, or vice versa. 

Anyway, one winter day I had my coffee and was walking the rest of the way to work when I hit an  icy patch and down I went. I landed on one knee and one hand, but I held the coffee up with my other hand and didn't spill a drop.

My knee hurt and my hand stung and I was a little wet, but I saved the coffee.

February

January dragged past, and then February flew by! February is not my favourite month; it's cold and grey and I'm tired of winter (even more tired now that it's March and cold and grey). 

February was fairly quiet. There was a Very Important Baby born in the wee hours of February 1st. She is the first grandchild for some very close friends of mine, and she is all sorts of adorable.

I had a couple families over for dinner in February. I've been getting closer to each family and this was a good way to get to know them better -- especially the dads, since I'm usually with the moms and children. 

I spent a very happy afternoon with a family from the church. I don't know them as well, except the older children (there are 5 children and I had only spent time with the oldest three). They had been sick for a while and had a major vacation planned, and things were getting a bit overwhelming for mom. I went to help with whatever and ended up taking care of the children so mom could get some work done. I loved being with the children! The older ones raced Lego cars down the basement stairs to see which ones broke most spectacularly while the two littles and I cheered them one, then we had story time, we built puzzles together, and we made all sorts of Lego creations. We all had a lovely time!

My major accomplishment for the month: I finished the first draft of the first year of the Sunday School curriculum I'm writing! The next draft can't be finished until I finish teaching it in June; then I can finish the corrections and adjustments so it's ready for another teacher next year. Over the summer, I will start on year 2 and teach it next year.

That's about it for February. At the end of the month, I started booking homeschool facilitator meetings for March; things are going to be much busier for the next while.

The Woman All Spies Fear: a book review

My local branch library has moved across the road. The space is larger and brighter and nicer, and I think there are more books. Especially when it's very cold, I tend to hang out and browse the shelves for a few minutes before leaving in time to catch the bus and not have to wait outside.

In my perusal of the 900s, I came across The Woman All Spies Fear by Amy Butler Greenfield. She tells the story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, a code breaker who worked for various U.S. government and military branches during, between, and after both World Wars. I had read a children's picture book about her and was interested in getting to know her more. (Just as an aside, her parents spelled her name with the extra "e" where and "a" would usually be.)

The book was excellent and I enjoyed it very much! I didn't realize that it's officially a young adult book, and I don't really care who it was written for; I just care that the story is good. I enjoyed reading about Elizebeth's life and work, and that of her husband, William (also a code breaker). Elizebeth cracked codes during both World Wars, including being part of cracking the Enigma code in the U.S. She also helped decode messages from rum runners during Prohibition, smugglers, and spies. She also helped various people and institutions develop codes; as a master cryptologist, she knew how to make sure codes were virtually unbreakable.

Interspersed in the book are short sections (2-3 pages each) teaching about various types of codes and ciphers. I found those bits equally interesting and had fun thinking about types of codes I could create, despite having no real need for codes!

Overall, it was a very good, very well-written book. It discussed Elizabeth's challenges as a cryptologist, some of which were because she was a female in the early 20th Century doing "men's work", but also of her triumphs and joys. It also told of her family: her husband, William, and his own work and mental challenges, and their two children, Barbara and John. 

I would recommend it for anyone interested in that particular period of history or codes and codebreaking.  

Sunday School

The Sunday School curriculum I'm writing does 5 lessons, then a review, in the hopes that they'll remember something. Each review focuses primarily on what they've learned in the past 5 lessons, along with some general questions, and then some sword drills also focused the past few weeks. For everything after the first review week, I also include some "if you have time" questions at the end from previous review weeks.

We have fun on review weeks. The whole thing is set up as a quiz with different teams trying to win the great prize of having won (the competition and glory of winning are enough for them). Some of the questions have one answer, some have multiple answers and more than one team can get points, and some of them are done as hangman or fill-in-the-blank.

Yesterday was a review day in Sunday School. We had a lot of fun and there was a lot of laughter, especially when they were trying to name everything that proved Jesus was human in their attempt to get the ones on my list ("He had birthdays parties and presents and went to the bathroom!") They remembered most of what we learned over the past five weeks and some of what they learned before then.

At the end, I was going to tell them what the next week's lesson would be and realized that I had no idea! I've been trying to finish the full year's curriculum before I get busy again next week (barring interruptions, it should be done within 2 day). I could tell them what we're doing in May, since that's what I was working on last week, but that was it!

After a bit of thought, I told them I was pretty sure we were starting name of God. I checked when I got home and I was correct! 

Barley Bowls

In my on-going search for inexpensive, healthy, tasty meals, I stumbled upon barley bowls. There are piles of recipes online for pretty much any taste. I sometimes us a "proper" recipe for breakfast and lunch barley bowls, including a grilled chicken barley bowl, a barley salad with lemon dressing, or an apple-walnut barley breakfast bowl. I haven't tried the carrot cake one just yet, nor have I tried "overnight barley" (just like overnight oats, another favourite of mine).

Often, though, I just make "whatever-I-have-on-hand" barley bowls. It's pretty much a mix of barley, vegetables, some form of protein, and a dressing. I make enough to last 3-4 days and can either warm it up or eat it cold.

Today's barley bowl recipe:

1. Cook 1 cup of barley in 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring it to a boil, turn it down and simmer until you can't hear it bubbling. It's about 30-45 minutes, depending on the type of barley.

2. While it cooks, peel and chop the cucumber that's been in the fridge for a couple weeks (the peeling part is only because the peel looks less lovely, but the inside is fine). Also chop up 3 green onions and a red pepper.

3. Earlier in the day, take 3/4 cup of corn and 3/4 cup blueberries out of the freezer so they have time to thaw.

4. Find the leftover already cooked pork stir fry meat and chop it up a bit.

5. Yay, the avocado is ripe! Chop that up too.

6. When the barley is cooked, add everything you've been chopping and thawing, and let it sit for a little while so everything warms up and the flavours merge nicely. 

7. Add some maple Dijon dressing (Dijon, maple syrup, lemon juice, seasonings, apple cider vinegar), and mix well.

8. Remove from heat, put some in a bowl, and enjoy!

Bonus: There is enough for at least 2 and maybe 3 more days. I may heat it or eat it cold; it really depends on my mood each day.

Also: I didn't thing time, but hard boiled eggs are also good in a barley bowl.