Sibling love is a strangling love

So, I got these hilarious pictures from Chandra today (I do have other nieces and nephews, but no one else gives me pictures--just Chandra) and felt that I should share them! Blake's about 2 1/2 and Brin is 6 months. 6 months old, and already made 3 airplane trips to Alaska! Quite the little pair of travelers.

A relaxed and natural threat

The forensics class at the high school enlisted help from the faculty and staff by passing out paragraphs for us to copy--presumably to perform handwriting analysis. Nifty, I thought, as I prepared to put pen to paper. The instructions directed me to "copy the following paragraph in your most relaxed and natural handwriting." I knew, of course, that my handwriting would be a tad neater than usual--a smidge self-conscious, if you will--knowing that every loop and slant would be up for post-mortem review. I mean, is there anyone among us who doesn't overanalyze the result of picking "A" over "B" while taking a personality test? No? Manipulating personality tests isn't all that common, eh--just me, I suppose. Anyhow, here's the kicker--

We were to copy a RANSOM NOTE.

How "relaxed and natural" do you suppose you would be if penning such a nefarious note? One would think that you'd try and use your most agitated and forceful handwriting in such a case. I would hardly be as worried about a lovely, flowing script when compared to the same message seemingly written by a lunatic. OR, more likely, you'd try and disguise it altogether, perhaps eschewing the pen for a handy People magazine and a sharp pair of scissors.

Curious choice, is all I'm thinking.

~an email to my boss~

Subject: I'm thinking "no"

While the sub was a nice individual, I think perhaps next time you go with someone else? After finishing some projects, she (helpfully) asked if she could help me with anything else. I suggested that she could help me shelve. Face fallen, she asked, "Could I help you with anything else?" Which I totally understand, seeing as how she'd been staring at spine labels for quite awhile by then, but also, we are a library. Odd response. Anyhow, I looked around and suggested that she fill the empty book stands on top of the shelves with something nearby that was eye-catching. After she finished that, she gathered her stuff from the back room, settled at Nancy's Mac and was reading a book. I didn't notice until several minutes later and, when she caught me regarding her in a puzzled way, struggled to find a "we're equals" way of asking her why she wasn't still working. I finally settled on, "Are you waiting for something to do?" She didn't grab that lifeline. "Well . . . you're still here for ten minutes, right?" At her reluctant agreement, I briskly toted her up and suggested that we knock out the last few fiction books to shelve. When we finished shelving, I brightly announced that I had found a task that would only take 2 or 3 minutes to complete and wouldn't be staring at spine labels, as a bonus! I could see her eyeing the clock--it was 3:11 at that point. I somewhat diabolically figured that since she was ten minutes late to begin with, staying until her contracted time was the least she could do. So I had her scan some books into the computer as "Mark Item Used" and she was done and gone by 3:14. Once again, a very pleasant person, just baffling in the whole oh-you-wanted-me-to-work? aspect.

Poor sub, though, really. I had had mucho idiot kids who couldn't contain their cell phones, game playing or library-eating this afternoon, so I was perhaps not in the most understanding of moods.

Weekend! ;o)

"I'm gifting you in my mind."

If you are a Hutchings, immediately avert your eyes--do not ruin your own Christmas! I'll be very bitter. I'm counting on the idea that you guys never come to this site!

So, pretty much every Christmas--and occasionally some lucky person's birthday--I get wrongly inspired by the well-intentioned thought of gift-giving. And always totally last minute.

To date:

*Several years ago, I purchased a nifty book of hat knitting patterns, complete with fair isle knitting (two or more colors at once), ear flaps, etc., and decided to make all of my Anchorage family sweet homemade gifts for Christmas. I still haven't handed out some of the hats from 2002(?). Maybe it was 2003? All Rod's needs is a tassel and cords (and a liner inside for his sensitive head), Chandra's just needs a tassel and cords, Greg probably tossed his awhile ago (I wasn't very impressed with how his turned out--but at least I finished it!), Amber never even got one, Kaeli's was too big, Chelsea grew out of hers in about two seconds, Robin thought hers was BROWN even though it was a lovely PURPLE--and hers still needs some cords and a tassel.

**I promised my nephew, Tommy, that I would knit him a sweater for his birthday. Last year. We went about it all wrong, buying the yarn first without a pattern. Then finding a pattern that didn't quite fit him (or the thickness of yarn that we bought), but decided that the pattern would be a breeze to alter. I got the back done, then realized that unless I submitted the design to into a calc-based data processing pattern interpreter and waited 200 years for the calculations, my sweater would end up having questionable proportions.

***I knit my sister, Amber, a sweater for that same Christmas as the hats, I think, but never sewed the pieces together, or inserted a zipper. Honestly, there's an almost-made sweater just chilling under my bed, ready for my finishing touch once I sooth my fears of zippers.

****I knit my sister, Chandra, a cardigan back when I lived in Utah, and all it needs is buttons and to be blocked. Have I done this? No. I'm not even quite sure where it is. It's a lovely charcoal, though. I think she'd like it. Also, I have a complete-except-it-has-to-be-sewed-together ballerina sweater completed for her daughter, Brin, keeping Amber's sweater company. She'll likely grow out of it before I get back to that project. Anyone else having a girl? ;o)

*****And so on . . .

In our family, we divvy up the gift-giving this way: Each family buys for one other family (limit $75), rotating through the families every year. Amber and I, by the way, totally score on this system, as we each count as our own separate familes and don't have to split the gift with others. (Please ignore how un-Christmas spirit-y that last sentence sounded. I'm not as selfish as all that! If you look at it objectively, it's not like we're getting a whole lot of other presents, being the one-person families that we are.) This year, I have Robin and Rod's family. What do you give a family? DON'T SAY BOARD GAMES. I love board games, but their family doesn't even really play the ones they have.

Thanksgiving week, I decided to be ambitious and record books on "tape" for them. Rather, books on "mp3". I borrowed Amber's Mac laptop, settled down at the kitchen counter in my housesitting house, and began to read aloud, much to the consternation of the two dogs peering cautiously around the corner at me. I started with Chelsea's book, having a clear idea in mind of what title to pick (a Battle of the Books book--AK school trivia competition), and thinking that hers would probably be the shortest read--"short" being a relative term. Did you know how much longer it takes to read out loud than to yourself? My word. That 290 page book took something like 5:40 to read! I must say, too, that it was hard not to interject comments along the way--I totally figured out the mystery way before the main character. Which should not be something I brag about--it's a book designed for ten-year-olds.

Anyhow, I've decided on the following:

-The Book Thief for Robin and Rod (yeah, that's RIGHT, they'll have to share--that book is long) because it's her next book club book (and I've always wanted to read it).

-Walden for Madison because it's her next book she has to read for school--I figure it might be easier to listen to, if it comes to crunch time. You should have seen the other choices--Grapes of Wrath (over 600 pages), The Great Gatsby (my fine ASD education has permanently scarred me by over-analyzing that book), and other titles I can't remember. Why oh why didn't they save Of Mice and Men until after Christmas? That one's short! Despite owning it, though, I've never read Walden. Maybe it will make me more thoughtful and reflective. Well, that's what I thought about hiking around Mt. Rainier, too. Hmmm . . .

-Still torn on what to read for Kaeli. She's my nearest "kindred-spirit" niece when it comes to reading. What shall I indoctrinate her in next? So many choices. TOO many choices. Sigh.

-And, of course, you already know Chelsea's.

And THAT, my friends, is much more than you ever could have possibly wanted to know about my Christmas prep for this year. Gotta go and find a willing computer to chat to now!

Calling all runners!

Hey, so the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon has been chosen as the next marathon to get gifted with $95 of my money for the dubious pleasure of running 26.2 miles! It's held on June 29, 2009 so there's plenty of time to get ready, everyone. Of course, I do recognize that--due to Seattle's inherently clammy nature--this may not be the sunny Lower 48 experience I seem to always anticipate, but I will press on and register! http://www.rnrseattle.com/

Picky, Particular, Peculiar, Persnickety

Thank you, thesaurus.com . . .

One would hardly think it was possible for me to find something else to be fussy about, but I find--much to my surprise--that I am a jigsaw puzzle snob. The knowledge of this finicky-ness has been lurking on the horizon, but it popped up into full view this November. For the period of perhaps two weeks, I was fully engrossed in watching the new(er) series of Battlestar Galactica. Every day at lunch I would squeeze in an episode, and frequently I would either stay after school to watch more, or (when I was housesitting and not at B&N) take it home to continue the series. But I felt like kind of a lump just sitting there watching, so I started working on a nifty little puzzle. Well, a nifty little puzzle with a semi-sordid past. I actually bought this puzzle to give to a friend on bedrest in the hospital. She ended up having her baby several weeks early, though, so I rationalized to myself that now she would have no time, energy or patience to tackle what purported itself to be the World's Smallest 1000-piece puzzle. So, with a slightly disturbed conscience, I took the puzzle to work, to happily employ my fingers while rotting my brain on the pretty moving pictures before me.

Well, after that puzzle was finished, I found myself getting jittery if ever watching TV without one. So I bought the next puzzle in that series and fed my addiction some more. Meanwhile, I started noticing that I didn't have puzzles at my housesitting houses, or my own home, to work on if I were to grab a few spare moments to watch my show. So I bought more puzzles and set them up. The Christmas Ravensburger was a fine choice (though my mom did kind of take it over while I was gone), but the 10-puzzles-in-one Thomas Kinkade fiasco. Goodness. If I have to shuffle through another one of those hazy, pastel, poor-quality cardboard experiences again, well--I WON'T. Having unearthed this new snobbishness, I found myself wandering the stores, searching for an acceptable puzzle. Oddly enough, they are not plentiful to be had. The search will continue, perhaps for a lifetime, but I WILL satisfy my puzzle peculiarities. For those of you who are a bit mystified as to what a good puzzle entails, may I suggest the following:

-1000 pieces optimal

-Something entertaining in the photo (not just a mountain range or so)

-Ravensburger is a great brand, but anything that feels like it took more than 50 cents to make

-Hard to say, it just has to be worthy!

Upon reflection, it mystifies me as to how I've had so much time this month to watch three seasons of Batttlestar Galactica, or work on 6+ puzzles. I've been working both jobs, housesitting like crazy, working on Christmas projects, snowblowing, snowblowing, snowblowing, Book Club, Thanksgiving with family, planning the Ward Christmas Party, etc. I think cleaning fell through the cracks. I could literally live out of my car (it has all the necessities in it, including water--frozen--and breakfast shakes--semi-frozen), and I can hardly see the floor of my bedroom, due to all of the clothes strewn about. Ah, well, sacrifices must be made.

rahniREADS (November '08)

November's reading was dominated by children/teen books and political thrillers. Quite a combination!

~City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau (Finally got curious about this book, now that the movie is out)
~Half Moon Investigations - Eoin Colfer (One of Chelsea's Battle of the Books books)
~Separation of Power - Vince Flynn (Mitch Rapp #3) (Because you can't stop with a series until you finish)
~Among the Brave - Margaret Peterson Haddix (Shadow Children #5) (see above)
~Among the Barons - Margaret Peterson Haddix (Shadow Children #4)
~Among the Betrayed - Margaret Peterson Haddix (Shadow Children #3)
~Among the Imposters - Margaret Peterson Haddix (Shadow Children #2)
~Kitty Kitty - Michele Jaffe (Read this one & wrote a review so we could keep it for free in our library)
~Among the Hidden - Margaret Peterson Haddix (Bought this book a long time ago, Rod borrowed, never got it back, never read, finally hunted it down again upon Kaeli's enthusiastic recommendation)
~The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch (Read AGAIN to prep for Book Club--it was my pick)
~The Third Option - Vince Flynn (Mitch Rapp #2) (Had to stay ahead of Chandra--she's reading these, too)
~Just Like That - Marsha Qualey (Teen angst book--I'm not proud, just bored one day) ;o)

Check out Talya and First Friday in Anchorage!

I feel so responsible, because . . .

This really shouldn't impress me as much as it does, but every time I go to the polls I feel very inflated with civic pride. Even if, when I arrive, I find myself completely surprised (and uninformed) about some of the questions. Totally forgot about the judges this time. No research done at all.

And, of course, living in Alaska gives you some interesting voting experiences. More than a few times, the race has been finished before most of us have even voted. Sure, our population is pretty meager, but still! At least act like we matter.

Just another day spent in the College Gate cafeteria, standing amongst grade-schoolers eating lunch and shooting curious looks our way . . .

Blake & Brin celebrate in '08!

Chandra and Greg are raising some cuties!