March 2023 Book Review

 Last month I completed 4 books

1) Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakley

2) Murder on an Irish Farm by Carlene O'Conner

3) Inside Out by Demi Moore

4) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

The Harry Potter book was a re-read.  I decided I want to re-read all the Harry Potter books, as it has been over 20 years since the first book was released. Plus, I love them.  

I didn't realize Lucky Suit was actually part of a series (The Guys Who Got Away #6), perhaps that is why I didn't really enjoy it much.

Murder on an Irish Farm is also part of a series (do you sense a theme so far).  It is book #8 of the Irish Village Mystery books.  Now these, I have read them all and I LOVE them.  They are what you call "cozy murder" mysteries.  The book is rather light-hearted, even though someone has been murdered.  But you are invested in the person that is murdered, but rather the main character of Siobhán O'Sullivan and how she goes about solving the crime.

I decided to select Demi Moore's 2019 biography "Inside Out" to review.  It was rather short, as far as biographies go (262 pages).  

Overall, I thought it was good.  I enjoyed it.  I do feel like she left a lot out though.  For instance, while she talks about how she met the men in her life (Emilio, Estevez, Freddy Moore, Bruce Willis, Ashton Kutcher), she doesn't get too personal into how she felt with them or give any personal details about their lives together and their breakups.  She kind of keeps it on the surface.

She talks quite a bit about how her parents were drug addicts and alcoholics and how she too, had problems with both drugs and alcohol.  She doesn't really seem to blame her parents for her problems but it is clear she knows she didn't really have good role models in her life.

She practically raised herself once she became a pre-teen.  She does mention her early beginnings with modeling and film roles but again, didn't really offer much insight on how all that came to be.  She mentions she started modeling because a girlfriend told her how she could make some money.  She talks about her first movie major movie role and the experience of filming it (Blame It on Rio), but doesn't mention how she obtained the role or how she really got her start in the industry.  She just says "When I was filming Blame It on Rio...I met this person and I did this" but how did she get that role, how did she feel about it, was she happy about it? Excited? What made her want to go into the movie industry?

Several times throughout the book, she discussed her body issues. Isn't it hard to believe that someone as beautiful as her would have body issues? But it just proves that all women do.  It made me a bit angry at the industry and I know this goes on, but still...When she was in "One Crazy Summer" she said she had put on a little weight (reasons for this is explained in the book) but please...she was still amazingly thin and beautiful.  Honestly, she is NOT fat in this film!

 

But before she filmed her next picture, "St. Elmo's Fire", Joel Schumacher, told her she was too fat and needed to lose 20 pounds.  God Bless Her, she said, "I knew he was right", I was so fat!.  How sad that she thought she was fat! How awful that he said she had to lose 20 pounds! I bet your bottom dollar he didn't tell Emilio Estevez to lose 20 lbs before he would give him the role - UGH!! Such a double standard.

Also, didn't it tick you off how Mare Winngham's character, Wendy, was always saying things and others were saying things about her weight - like she was a huge blob or something..OMG, if Wendy was considered fat, I'd hate to know what that think of me...but I don't care and I digress...

Back to Demi's book...while she did tell some a few very personal stories, overall, it just felt like she kept it at the surface.

After reading about her parents and a few other adults in her life, I think she just really tries to protect her heart and by keeping things on the surface, this is how she protects herself, and honestly, I can't say that I blame her.

March 2023 Project Life

There was a lot going on in March, busy at times but lots of fun things too.

My sister and I took a little day trip to Fayetteville, GA.  I documented a day in the life, started a new afghan,assisted with a Jane Austin Society event, cooked breakfast for the homeless, and tried 2 new (to me) restaurants.

Click on the photos to enlarge

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2023 Check In

 

Three months of 2023 have already passed us by...my goodness!! So, time for a check in.

The main thing happening in the news is about Donald Trump's indictment. I won't really go into that though since I like to keep my blog a happy place and political talk never makes me happy.

I've been super busy at work...I had planned to retire at the end of March, but decided to push it back until the end of July.  That will be here before you know it though.  In ways I don't feel ready but in ways I am way past ready.  Either way, I know God has me in His hands and everything will all work out okay.

So let's check in on things.

Bible/Prayer Time: I've been slipping a little bit...I don't like to say it is because I am so busy, but in a way it is...but God always makes time for me, so I need to be better about making time for Him.  I need to catch up on some reading.  I pray many times a day...so many people I know are in need of prayer.  I said it before but it is so true, I could pray 24 hours a day and not cover all that are in need of prayer, so I do my best and pray the most I can for those I know in need of it.

Crafty Time: Pretty good - see a few of my previous posts.  I've started a new afghan for my friend Susan and made 2 ice cream cozies for her and her roommate.  I do want to finish up my prayer shawl though.  I swear, every time I pull that shawl out to work on it, one of the kitty cats comes to sit with me and wants to cuddle.  I honestly think the smell of the wool draws him over.  I can't knit with with a kitty in my lap so I choose to give time to the kitty...I mean, who wouldn't?

Healthy Time:Doing well eating wise.  I went to the doctor this month for my annual physical and my weight was actually up 2 pounds from the last appointment 3 months ago.  I contribute that to 2 things...(1) My friend Susan was in town the week before and I don't always make the best food choices when she is around.  Sorry, Susan, but she will be the first to admit that she is not a healthy eater and loves sweets.  I tend to eat worse when I am around her...that is totally not her fault, but just something I need to work on. (2) My lymphedema was pretty bad the day I went to the doctor so I was retaining a lot of extra fluid in my legs.  I'm not really worried about it much.  I do hope to lose 10 lbs though before I go back to her in 3 months.

Project Time: No projects this month, but I have finally ordered the furniture I want from IKEA to complete setting up my office/craft room.  It really is more of an office than a craft room, but I hope to use it for some Cricut crafting and my scrapbooks will be stored in there.  I am getting a 9 "cubby hole" book case but I really wanted the 12 one..I just think the bigger one would crowd the room and I don't want to do that.  Based on my calculations the 9 holed book case should work fine but it doesn't allow a lot of room for growth, but that is okay.  We will see how it goes.  I will finally be able to get my computer and monitors off my kitchen table after working from there for over 3 years now...just in time for my almost retirement - ha ha!  

By the way...if anyone wants to volunteer to come help me put together this furniture...that would be awesome!

This month I completed 3 books,two I really enjoyed and one was just ok. 

Things have been busy but life is good...my friend Susan stayed a week with me and we started watching "The Chosen" together and we had a nice visit.  I was able to add 2 photos to my Georgia courthouse project (more on that another time) and I went to visit Susan in Summerville, GA to go to the Spring Market, where I tried freeze-dried skittles for the first time...oh boy are those addictive and don't contribute to my healthy eating, but they are kind of worth it (at least to me). 

I did a bit of genealogy work in March and was happy to find one of my dad's childhood buddies, DeLoyd McKenzie.  It turns out he is the brother-in-law of someone on my tree.  I'm not related to the McKenzies, as far as I know, but my dad talked about the antics he and DeLoyd would get into all the time when they were kids.  I wish I knew him..sadly he died in the 1980s and quite young too, in his 50s.  I reached out to a couple of people to see if they have a photo of him, but no luck so far.

W.I.P. Wednesday - Virus Blanket 2

I have finished up one yarn cake of six in making this blanket.  I tell you, the designer is incredible.  It amazes me that someone can make up a pattern like this in their brain.  I can follow pretty much any pattern you put out there but I have a hard time coming up with an original idea.  I really have to give pattern designers the proper shout out!!

So...after one yarn cake - it is already 24" x 24" - that is pretty big...not sure I will need 6 cakes, BUT I do know that as it gets bigger, you need more yarn for each round so the size will slow down a bit.  My last one was 60" square so that is what I am hoping for with this one too.  The yarn is similar weight and it is the same brand so I expect about the same size.  We shall see.

Ice Cream Cozies

As mentioned in my previous post, my friend, Susan has been in town and Susan loves ice cream.  One night, while she was eating from the pint, I noticed her holding the pint with a dishtowel so I pulled out some scrap  yarn and made her an ice cream cozy.  

I found  a super easy pattern on THIS BLOG, that appears that the writer abandoned after only 10 posts, which is interesting since just a couple posts after the pattern post, she goes on about how her blog is going to be great and she's going to let loose on it...well, that didn't last...not sure why she abandoned it after only 10 posts.  I found another blog of her's, that she had prior to the one linked above and she abandoned it after 5 posts.  She seemed to have been a new mom, so probably life was just very busy...maybe she had more kids in the past 12 years since she last posted.  At any rate, I hope she is doing well.

Side Note:  I understand if people lose interest in blogging or no longer have the time, but I really wish they'd just add a final posts that says they are going to stop blogging for now...they don't even really have to give a reason, but it makes me sad when I have been following a blog (not this one, but many others) and they just stop for no apparent reason and you never read another post from them again.  If I ever decide to stop blogging, I will at least give a final goodbye post.  Not that I have many that even read or see my blog, but still...I would want to give it a proper ending.

I digress.  Anyway...here are is the Ice Cream Cozy I made her, using Peaches & Creme Cotton Yarn in Psychedelic.

 

She and one of her roommates often eat ice cream and watch TV together in the evening.  His favorite color is green so I made him one too, so she could take it back to him. This one was made with Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn in Hot Green (which is one of my favorite colors of cotton yarn)

 

 Each one took less than 10 minutes to crochet - fun and quick project and a good way to use up small scraps of cotton yarn.

 

W.I.P. Wednesday - Virus Blanket # 2

 It has been a while since I've posted one of these.  

I heard that several Michael's stores had the older version of a Cricut Maker on clearance at a ridiculous price of like $24.00 (several photos have been posted on Facebook) so I had to pop in my local Michael's just in case...no luck - as I expected. 

However, my friend Susan was with me and fell in love with some yarn we saw.  On top of that it was sale!  She asked that if she bought it, would I crochet an afghan for her and I thought...I get to crochet and I don't have to buy the yarn - that is a big fat YES!

I showed her different patterns and she liked the Virus Blanket Pattern (so called because the pattern went viral when it was released).  I'm a lucky girl because I printed the pattern after it was first released and she released it for free.  Now it is $6. It is worth every penny though.  Jonna Martinez is a brilliant designer!

So I estimated, based on the other Virus Blanket I crocheted, that we would need 6 Caron Cakes.

The yarn is called Caron Cakes Cinnamon Swirls - I loved every color they had but she really, really loved this one.

 

 

So....I started the blanket and have finished the first 10 row...so far, it am liking it.  I really love this pattern too.  I need to preserve it in a sheet protector for safe keeping!

 

 

Geneaology - Found Document

 My mom always told me that her mom had some babies that didn't live.  She even took me to the cemetery in New Hope, FL where there are some baby graves buried next to my great grand parents and they are unmarked but sectioned off.  

I knew that there were at least 2 boys.  My mom has 5 sisters but never had a living brother.

I typically use Ancestry for most of my research but recently took a look at FamilySearch.org and there I found out a couple of things

1) One of the baby boy's my grandmother had was born in 1933 and died 26 Nov 1933 and his name was Charles E. Mims.  I don't know exactly when he was born or how long he lived but my mom did tell me that her mother said one of them lived about 10 days so I am thinking this must have been Charles. My mom told me that she recalls my grandmother telling her his name was "Ervin" so I assume that is what the "E" stood for.

My grandmother told my mom that when he was a few days old, he became yellow (we are guessing he probably was jaundiced).  My grandfather had to walk over 5 miles to go to the doctor (no phones, no cars) and by the time they made it back to the house, the baby had died. Remember, back in 1933, there wasn't much treatment for things like this...plus, he may have had something more severe, like a non-functioning liver.  

I know I had jaundice as a baby and was treated for it but that was 30 years after Charles was born.

2) Another boy was born a year earlier on 30 Oct 1932 and died 31 Oct 1932.  I know this because I found his death certificate.

Now, I am not sure why, but seeing this death certificate made me cry.  I mean really cry! This baby boy, who could have grown up to be my uncle died and didn't even live a whole day.  He didn't even have a name. Then a year later, my grandmother lost another son.  I don't know if either of them were premature, but I can't imagine carrying a baby for months and then losing them as soon as they came into the world.  

I know it happens and sadly, isn't uncommon.  But knowing that my grandparents had 2 children die within about a year, it is just heartbreaking.

I wonder what they would have been like, I bet they looked like my grandpa.  It makes me sad that the first baby boy didn't even have a name.  I'd like to give him one, I think he name might have been John, named after both my grandfather's father and my grandmother's brother.  

Before the 2 boys were born and died, my grandmother had a still born baby girl.  Later on, in the late 1940s, she had a miscarriage.  Soon afterwards, she became very, very ill and her brother, John, took her to the hospital in Opp, AL.  There, they discovered, she actually had been pregnant with twins...she miscarried both but one was still attached.  She nearly died.  She was in the hospital for a few weeks.

My mom told me that she must have had another still born child or miscarriage but she doesn't know when it was.  My grandfather always said they had 12 children....6 that lived and 6 that didn't.  

How awful and sad, I can't imagine how hard that had to have been on my grandmother!  She had it so hard.  My mom's oldest sister said, she had to plow the fields with mules and she was sometimes 8-9 months pregnant at the time and she'd work so hard she had blood in her shoes.  

Apparently, after Charles died, a nurse told my grandmother that she had a "dead liver" and that if she got pregnant again, she needed to take some kind of medicine.  My mom doesn't have the details really on this - exactly what was wrong with my grandmother's liver or what medicine she took, but my grandma said it worked because she had 6 babies that lived after that.  

I knew my grandma was a strong woman, but by golly, how did she manage to live through all this? I can't imagine how hard that was for her.