What we read:
This week I read Into the Wild and I am rereading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I really enjoyed Into Thin Air so I was happy to find that the library had a copy of Into the Wild available for me to read next. Into the Wild follows the story of a young man who was seeking to survive off of the land in Alaska but sadly met a horrible fate. The best part of this book was the incredible cross country journey that lead him to his final destination. Both of these Jon Krakauer books involve stories of misadventure and careless mistakes that lead to the demise of the adventurers. I know hindsight is 20/20, but being able to look back is amazing. You can see the foreshadowing of tragedy much like you can in a novel. I previously noted that I do not want to EVER climb Mt. Everest and I definitely have no interest in living off of the land in Alaska in a broken down bus, but it was interesting to read about it.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle follows the story of the popular author Barbara Kingsolver and her family as they try to live off of the land and be more “green” overall. The first time I read this book, I wanted to run out and buy a farm so beware if you read this, she is very persuasive.
Ben (age 9) has been enjoying Catherine called Birdy and Mr Popper’s Penguins.
Emma (age 16) is reading Anne of the Island
What I watched: My husband and I have just started on the final season of The 100.
Things I am loving lately:
-Oranges!! They have finally released a new crop of them and they are sweet and tangy, not dry and yucky.
-My woodstove. We have been enjoying the blissful warmth during this cold snap we have been having lately. **In Alabama, we consider daily temperatures of 40 and nightly temps of upper 20s to be a cold snap.
Something we accomplished this week:
-Emma visited with a friend at a park while I walked in the freezing cold weather….but after the first mile I warmed up enough to quit complaining:)
-Both my husband and my daughter finish their fall semester of college classes with good grades and we registered Emma for her spring semester. She only has three more classes of general education requirements before she switches to her major courses….and she is only 16! I wish we had dual enrollment classes when I was in high school….
-My husband turned in proof of his grades and got his tuition reimbursed and my daughter Emma mailed off the textbook we rented from Amazon so we do not have to pay an additional $40 for it…yay!
Something I am looking forward to next week:
-Christmas! One of my sisters (I have five) has COVID so we all decided to just celebrate Christmas with our individual families this year. The numbers are going through the roof in our area so we are just hunkering down and enjoying the season with our little family. Luckily, I know how to make all of our holiday favorites so no one will be deprived this year.
-Potential snow on Christmas! **In Alabama we get excited for flurries, so hopefully we will get a few on Christmas Eve/Day.
Best things I saw on social media:
This wouldn’t work for our house because we do not have a dog, but they could blame our elf, Jasper….
“Loathe entirely!” I loved this version of The Grinch. In college I recorded the line from the movie, “If you utter one syllable, I’ll hunt you down and gut you like a fish! If you want to fax me, press the star key” and used it as my voicemail message:)
Stay sane safe and keep on laughing!
The Thrifty Educator 