When have you even seen me wear a scarf?

Merry Christmas!

Ok, I'm bragging on myself. If you hate reading stuff like that, just know you have been warned. If you find things like this to be like reality tv, where you really just can't look away, please, read on.

I went full-on crafty for Christmas this year. I made scarves for all my siblings and siblings-in-law.

I think I realized in October that I was getting in over my head. However, I have to be honest and say it gave me something productive in those moments when I just needed to watch mindless tv.

My newel post became my model.

For my sister:

For her husband:

For my brother:

For my sister:

For her husband:

For my sister:

For my sister (who believes, as do I, that everything is better when it is red):

But there's so much to do before Santa comes!

I thought I would share some of my favorite things at this moment.

I really enjoyed the perspective in this article, written by a rabbi who loves Christmas, because it was a good reminder of what all the trappings of Christmas mean. And even the shopping isn't a bad thing.

We went to a house nearby that actually has the lights synchronized to music. He has a sign that says tune your radio to this station. We sat in the car and clapped and cheered for each song. I have to admit that secretly I thought all those videos were fake. It was totally awesome!

And my most fav:

These guys.

There's another beloved children's book I can never read again.

Book Reviews

1. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Plot: The novel is split between 1985 and 1945. It starts in 1985 with Henry, a Chinese American, who is reflecting on his life during the war and on his relationship with a Japanese American girl.

Review: I loved it. I got really wrapped up in the story and the characters. So wrapped up that I got upset over particular events and was sad when the book was over. It was well-written, the characters were good and believable, and it is an interesting period of time.

Recommend: Absolutely. To everyone.

2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Plot: An 11 year old girl, Flavia de Luce, solves a mystery.

Review: I really liked this one. It is young adult fiction, mostly because the protagonist is very young. But it is very smart. Flavia uses huge words and in general is very smart. She runs off solving mysteries entirely on her own, but even that is explained in a believable way. It's a clever story and a fun read.

Recommend: Yes, for a fun, young adult read.

3. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Plot: A young girl discovers that she can taste people's emotions in the food they cook and she grows up trying to deal with this "ability."

Review: I found the premise fascinating. I was reading recently that there is a branch of Indian belief that we are affected by the emotions of the people who prepare the food we eat, so they don't want people cooking when they are upset and putting anything other than love into the food. So I thought the idea was really interesting. However, the book didn't go quite where I had expected it to go with the idea. The author seemed to get lost with the narrator's brother. And then I was really disappointed with the end.

Recommend: Eh. No not really.

If I'm ever going to see their faces I've gotta get back home. The real world.

Have you seen this?



The bar has been raised. I have new expectations for when I arrive home next week. Family, I definitely think you should spend the week working on your flash mob skills.

Oh, I love Joey! Joey lives with a duck.

Oh and it is that time of the semester. It feels like it's been a while since I've posted some student writing. Somehow today, these two made me laugh. They certainly can't top the Gecko, so maybe the laughing was just to keep me from crying.

Student 1:
Earnies' pub had cheep beer and was pretty much empty. This was a great experience because it was the first time I was legally able to drink, and it made me fell like I was an adult.

In my mind:

And I'm also thinking, well, I guess you already knew the effects of alcohol if you knew you would fall.


Student 2:
About nearly 4,000 middle school students by Limber and fellow Clemson University psycho lists Robin Kowalski. Found that 18 percent reported being bullied at least once in the previous two months.

In my mind:
Yeah, I had to read that 5 times too.

Finally I realized psycho lists = psychologists.