pastime

Bibliophilia: Redux – NaBloPoMo

Posted on November 8, 2015 Written by Tonya

I don’t know if it’s because both my parents were educators, they read to me a lot as a child, I love spending time (not to mention lots of money) in bookstores and libraries, or because my playpen, as the story goes, was in a room surrounded by shelves and shelves of books, but my first word was “book”.

I read to my children everyday. Lola’s current favorites are Curious George and Dancing Feet and Lucas can now read chapter books and has discovered Nate the Great. He is dying to start the Harry Potter series, which believe it or not, I haven’t read!

Sadly, since I’ve had children my leisure reading has been cut in half. I miss it very much. There is nothing better than getting lost in a good book. Historical fiction modern day fiction are suspense novels are my favorite.

Books can transport you to another place and time and introduce you to interesting characters that you don’t normally encounter in your day-to-day life. I enjoy the relaxation of reading, especially when hours have passed and I don’t even realize it because I’m so enthralled in a good book. Sitting quietly with a juicy epic is truly one of life’s greatest pleasures and brings me a lot of peace.

My Personal Book Facts:

I am a founding member of a book club called JUGS (Just Us Girls) that my friend, Nancy and I started almost 12 (!) years ago and I used to live for our monthly meetings. Our discussions were always lively, fun and thought provoking. If it weren’t for our group, there are many books I would have missed. Unfortunately, despite many attempts to revive the group, it hasn’t met since 2010. People just got too busy.
I have a really hard time starting a book without finishing it, no matter how much I may want to throw it into the fireplace (i.e. Saving Graces, a terrible JUGS selection), however, the older I get, the more I realize life is just too short to read crap!
I always start books in bed.
One of my very best friends is in my life today because we initially bonded over books. Thank goodness for Patricia Cornwell and Kay Scarpetta!
Since 1999, I have kept a list of every book I have read maintaining (pre-mommyhood) an average of 35 books per year. Now it’s more like 15. My father also kept a list of the books he read and I often turn to it for recommendations.
My husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas 2014 and the purist in me took six months before I downloaded my first book and several weeks to actually read it, but now I’m head over heels hooked!

Some of my favorites include (in no particular order):
1. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
2. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
5. The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult
6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
7. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
9. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
10. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
11. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
12. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (this book moved me so much I write a blog post about it called Unwavering.
13. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
14. Wonder by R.J. Palacio (the first book I read on my Kindle!)
15. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
16. My next book!

Love her or hate her, I believe Oprah Winfrey single-highhandedly got our nation reading again when she established her book club in 1996. All hail the Queen!

As any voracious reader knows, there are so many books out there, it can be hard to choose just what to read next. I’m always in the middle of book, even if ends up taking me a month to read! At the moment I am in between books and this is a place I don’t like to be.

What’s up next on my reading list? Good question. My husband and I are going to New York next week without the children, so I want something juicy and epic for the plane ride there and home. I have a ton of titles on my Goodreads list to read. 979 to be exact and I’m always adding to it, but I want to know recommendations! I’m thinking The Goldfinch. Have you read it?

What are you currently reading?

I wrote a version of this post in October 2009 called Bibliophilia.

Summer So Far

Posted on August 4, 2015 Written by Tonya

It has been almost two months since my last blog post. I was hoping to have a lot more free time this summer to dedicate to my writing and Letters For Lucas, but that wasn’t meant to be. Instead it has been a crazy busy couple of months filled with pick ups and drop offs, play dates, visits with family, beating the heat and very little down time. We’re making memories and having fun but it’s going by way too fast!

With what little ~~time spent without children~~ quiet time I do enjoy, I prefer to work out, take photographs and read.

I have stayed up way too late to read some awesome books so far this summer… Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch and The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. And I started Judy Blume’s In the Unlikely Event last night. I adored Blume as an adolescent and teenager and so far I’m not disappointed.

I turned 43 the end of June and my husband and I spent a magical weekend in Palm Springs. We stayed at The Parker and I have thought about it ever since. More to come on this…. Trust me when I say, this hotel deserves its very own blog post!

I took a six week photography class and while I may still be utterly confused by depth of field, exposure modes and apertures, I love getting to know my camera. This was my best shot. In my ever humble opinion.

June 25, 2015 – Orange Coast Community College, Horticulture Center

Shortly after I took this, I tried to photograph a lily and fell on the side of a pond and damaged my lens. It has been at the repair shop for 10 days. I also ruined my favorite pair of white capris and I did not get the shot.

A week ago, Lola turned 18 months old and I’m still in shock. She’s wild and silly and is enjoying testing her boundaries and giving us all a run for our money. She loves to go for walks around our neighborhood and sit at the bar stools around our kitchen island instead of in her high chair. She’ll eat anything her brother doesn’t and wants to play with whatever he is. Lola is awesome.

On Friday, Lucas completed his fifth and final week of camp and will be at home with me for the remainder of his summer. I’m looking forward to a looser schedule, lazy mornings and some fun afternoon outings. He goes back to school September 2. As challenging as it is to have two children home for the summer with such varied interests, not to mention abilities, I love spending time with my loves and I’ll be missing Lucas when he starts first grade (!) in the fall. Four short weeks from now.

Today is Todd and my eighth wedding anniversary. A bronze milestone. Whatever that means. I suppose bronze is stronger than iron and copper, symbols of earlier years of marriage. A union of two lives and the strength resulting from combining time with perseverance. I like that and I love him. I’m so lucky he picked me to share this life with.

Eight years and counting…

How is your summer so far?

On Disappearing & A Review Of “The Age Of Adaline”

Posted on April 29, 2015 Written by Tonya

Nowadays with Netflix and Amazon instant video, movies going to DVD within months of their release on the big screen, RedBox rentals, On Demand, AppleTV and the 500 channels cable companies provide, there really is no reason to see a movie in the theater anymore.

But, in the theater is my favorite way to enjoy a movie.

Growing up, going to see a movie was a family pastime and with two small children, something I seldom do anymore. My husband hates going to the theater and it’s rare, but I can drag him to see something or if there is something I am dying to see, I’ll go alone.

And so today, I blew off cardio barre and a ton of errands and disappeared into the dark for just under two hours.

I took myself to see The Age of Adaline.

I loved every moment.

Both the disappearing and the film.

I knew I would.

One of my favorite books ever is The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and I liked the movie too. Time travel is fascinating as is defying age and beating mortality.

Like with The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Age of Adaline asks the viewer to suspend all belief in things that cannot be explained scientifically and let the movie take you to an extraordinary place.

You have to believe that miracles can happen.

Adaline, played by the stunning Blake Lively does a remarkable job. Her voice and her mannerisms are flawless much like her appearance as Adaline Bowman.

After having been in a car accident, a series of unlikely events occur at the same time and Adaline ceases to age, forever remaining 25.

Adaline’s story is fluid and original and also very sad. Adaline is close to very few people and picks up her life every decade or so to move to a new town and assume a new identity. She lives this way for 60 years and then an encounter with someone she used to know forces her to come clean and let go.

The movie was also visually beautiful with San Francisco as the background and the gorgeous and elegant costumes made for perfect eye candy.

I know how difficult it is to get away, but if you need a wonderful escape, I highly recommend this lovely and thought provoking film. If you do happen to see, please let me know your thoughts.

For photo credit, click on image.

From IMDb: After miraculously remaining 29 years old for almost eight decades, Adaline Bowman has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones reignites her passion for life and romance. When a weekend with his parents threatens to uncover the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever.

In The Moment

Posted on April 10, 2015 Written by Tonya

I’d be lost without local publications, such as Parenting OC.

This free magazine offers help for mothers of newborns, tots, preschoolers and teens. It contains award-winning articles with family wellness information, baby care tips, and OC school listings.

Their summer camp issue is one of my favorites and I also love their monthly calendar of things to do in and around Orange County and the In The Moment feature.

Especially this months…

I submitted this photo in December and can’t believe it has finally been published. I am delighted! With a circulation of over 70,000, little Miss Lola is going to be everywhere.

Thank you to my friend, Shelby for the encouragement. Photography is something that I have always adored and hope to improve over time.

This House Needs A Mouse: A Book Review

Posted on December 8, 2014 Written by Tonya

We love books in our family!

Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes and before either of my children were born, they had a ready and waiting library of childhood classics. Now reading together before bedtime is sometimes the best part of our day. We snuggle up together with a pile of books, with firm instructions to “read them in the order on your lap” and I try out different accents and change my voice as the characters do and we giggle and talk about the illustrations. At five-and-a-half, Lucas is starting to read now and hearing him read to his little sister, Lola fills my heart with so much joy.

We especially love new books and new titles find their way into our house several times a month thanks to three different libraries we frequent and a mom who has way to much access to Amazon Prime!

To receive a book in the mail is quite the thrill. Brand new and/or new to us books must be read right away!

Since its arrival, This House Needs A Mouse by C. Jeffrey Nunnally has been enjoyed many, many times.

This delightful book follows a mouse on a mission to find a house and escape the pet store he’s confined to and through a stroke of good timing, quick thinking and a family that needs a mouse to help with all the crumbs in their house, the mouse finds himself full of purpose and happy.

Soon the poor mouse’s life is turned upside-down by an unfortunate chain of events involving traps, rat poison and one unmotivated cat, but this seemingly ordinary mouse comes to grips with his new situation and his true purpose in life.

Lucas loves the repetitive language, rhyming and darling illustrations by Tamara Z. Brink. Every time we read it together he points out something different about the three families featured in the story and always giggles at the surprise ending. I love the underlining lesson that even ordinary things and people (and pets) can be extraordinary!

Lucas posing with his goldfish, Chocolate and his favorite page of This Mouse Needs A House.

Treat a child you love to a copy of this adorable book and I promise it will soon be a favorite for you too.

This House Needs A Mouse is available now on the book’s website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Big Tent Books. You can also find This House Needs A Mouse on Facebook and tweet with the author, C. Jeffrey Nunnally on Twitter.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of This House Needs A Mouse to assist in my review. No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Great Debate [In My Head]

Posted on September 16, 2014 Written by Tonya

I hear Lola stir in her crib upstairs just as I’m half way through an article on the Today Parents Website. She’s cooing and talking joyfully at first and then her pleads became more urgent.

I know as I climb the stairs to her room I’ll never finish the article. I’ll never get back to any of the tabs open on my laptop. At least not today. I’m excited to see my baby as she has been napping for over an hour and we can now take our daily walk and play and look at books together but I’m also dismayed that the quiet me time I had been enjoying for the last 90 minutes is now over. I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I had hoped. Damn it! Why didn’t I spend more time writing?!

One of the things I have tried to instill in Lucas is this mantra:

Chores before play, put away one game before setting up another, errands before park, etc.

I first heard it two years before I became a mother in the 2007 movie, The Great Debaters with Denzel Washington. I liked it then and love it now that I have children. I’ve also tried to follow it myself and it seems to work (most of the time) with my son.

My days are long and start the second my feet hit the floor. Full of tasks I have to do…

Make beds.

Make breakfasts, lunch, snacks, bottles.

Care for the dog.

Lay out clothes.

Change the baby.

Pick up stray socks, dirty bibs, Lego.

Assist Lucas as he packs his backpack.

Load the car.

It’s no different in your house.

Mornings are particularly and notoriously busy for households with children, trying to get everyone what they need to start the day.

A mom’s “have to do’s” last All. Day. Long. As soon as one need is met, it is followed up with another and another and another. And even our free time is not our own because when the kids are in school or napping is when the real work happens. I mean, who can sweep the floor with an adorable seven-month-old scooting around or an anxious Kindergartener ready to play another round of UNO? I certainly can’t.

So, alas… the things I want to do fall by the wayside. I make sure to exercise five days a week because if I don’t, I start to get twitchy. But apart from that, all I want to do lately is write. Writing is tricky, I can’t just sit down at my desk and write, I have to first peruse the Internet, respond to an e-mail, pay a bill, place a Diapers.com order, take a Buzz Feed quiz, get lost in the vortex that is Facebook.

I must tell myself every morning: After the kids are in bed and dinner is cleaned up and put away, I’ll stay up late and write.

And every night I crash within minutes of my children or I fall into bed too exhausted to do anything but exchange a few words with my husband and watch another episode of Chopped while I play Words With Friends.

Sigh! It’s the great debate in my head these days… when to write. Not what to write, just when?!?!

I was on a roll the other day and considered giving Lola a piece of paper to keep her occupied for a few minutes. And then I thought better and got down on the floor with her and worked on spit bubbles and mouth noises. It was time better spent, but my head is on overdrive and I must find some hours in the day to devote to writing.

Do you struggle with this too? When do you find the time to do the things you’re passionate about?

Things I Do At 4 In The Morning

Posted on May 8, 2014 Written by Tonya

We are so lucky, Lola is an excellent sleeper. She goes for 4-5 hour stretches each night, which means she’s only up twice, around midnight and 4 o’clock. My husband and I take turns and typically I have an easier time getting her to go back to sleep but after she has been fed and burped and changed and kissed and rocked, I am wide awake!

Try as I might to will myself back to sleep, never turning on a light or the television, lying still and breathing deeply, most nights I fail miserably.

And I know I shouldn’t grab for my phone, but it’s right there on the nightstand beguiling me. So here’s what I do at 4 in morning:

Respond to text messages… I know, a little but but better late than never.
Unsubscribe to unwanted promotional e-mails.
Meal plan.
Write partial blog posts.
Research soon-to-be expired Groupons I’ve purchased.
Look up answers to curious four-year-old questions, like knock-knock jokes, if fish sleep (they do, BTW) and birthday party themes.
Play Words With Friends (thank you to those who are up at the same time!).
Read, thanks to my Kindle app (!).
Order stuff…. diapers mostly but lately several packages have arrived at our house that I don’t exactly recall ordering. With the Amazon.com and Diapers.com apps, it is just far too easy, not to mention expensive!

Time to keep my phone downstairs.

Outside.

In the trunk of my car.

A Delightful Find

Posted on April 16, 2014 Written by Tonya

My mother was an elementary school teacher which is probably why she was so crafty, but not just crafty, she was creative. Although long before she was a teacher she made things.

She could wrap the most beautiful and unique looking presents with ribbons and bows and freehand draw anything.

I recall a spider ornament made out of pipe cleaners that she designed and mass produced for several school Christmas bazaars. I never got the spider/Christmas connection, but it was a huge hit.

When I was little, my mom handmade a lot of my clothes, all of my Halloween costumes and before you ask, yes, there were several mother/daughter ensembles. She made clothes for my dolls and even Barbies. I can’t even imagine sewing anything that tiny. I would spend hours in fabric stores with her looking through giant books of sewing patterns and fingering cloth for weight, texture and durability. Thirty years ago, patterns were $1.25 or less so I’m sure what was an enjoyable hobby was also a cost effective way to clothe her family.

I remember being fascinated by her sewing basket. It was filled with straight pins, scissors, the regular kind in various sizes and pinking shears, which I loved but was forbidden to touch. There were also needle packets, measuring tape, chalk, seam rippers, thimbles, buttons and spools and spools of colorful thread.

Does anyone sew anymore? Like with a needle and thread or a sewing machine? My grandmother had an entire room in her house devoted to sewing, crocheting, etc. I can barely replace a button and if I craft with Lucas, I have to follow directions provided by someone else. Apparently, I did not inherit the crafty gene and I do not own a sewing box.

My mother also dappled in ceramics, or rather used a mold and painted mugs, (see my past post Ceramic Mugs) knick knacks and because she loved decorating her home like her classroom, holiday items; including these decorative Easter eggs I found in my Easter stash.

I had forgotten all about them.

The eggs are rudimentary but whimsical and fun and I’m thrilled to have them.

Finding items like these amidst my own, items that were once my mothers, especially things that she made make me maudlin and miss her terribly.

Stamp Collecting

Posted on December 20, 2013 Written by Tonya

I can picture him now, plain white undershirt and khaki pants, cross legged on the carpet in front of the TV in our living room. Sometimes there would a card table set up and he’d be sitting in a metal folding chair. Either way it always looked completely uncomfortable to me, but I knew this was how he relaxed. He was in his happy place studying stamps, organizing stamps, categorizing stamps. He’d spend hours “playing with his stamps, as we would affectionately call his favorite activity.

There would be a magnifying glass in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other. Occasionally he would call me over and say, “you have to see this, isn’t it beautiful?” I’d roll my eyes and nod in agreement, “sure is Dad.”

My father had dozens of binders of stamps he had collected from all over the world. They filled the entire closet in his study. He acquired them in all different ways; personally living or visiting the countries of origin, giving money to friends he knew would be somewhere he hadn’t with a request and even ripping them right off envelopes from letters anyone in our family received.

He was a member of several philatelic clubs and his specialty was collecting stamp on stamps, a stamp depicting a stamp.

As one of the world’s most popular hobbies, I never really understood stamp collecting but I certainly can now appreciate how lovely they can be and I’m so happy my dad had this activity.

My sister and I sold the majority of his collection when he and our mother died. Although he had it insured for several thousands of dollars, it wasn’t worth very much. We kept all of his US postage stamps and I haven’t had to purchase a stamp in the last six years because he had that many!

If you received a holiday card from us then you also received a couple of stamps that my dad collected. I always enjoy flipping through the historic figures, trains, planes, automobiles, endangered species, sports, Olympics, Americana, pop culture, Disney, music legends, athletes, cartoon characters, world events, PSAs, celebrities, tiny insects, gargantuan dinosaurs, shaped stamps, unusual rarities, new stamps, old stamps and everything in between! There’s always a twinge of guilt and I wonder how he’d feel about my actually using them.

My only wish now is knowing how his passion for stamp collecting evolved. I suppose his love of history and curious nature played a large part. I’d think he’d want us to use them and I know he’d love that I am saving some that just seem more special than others for Lucas. Maybe he’ll take after his grandfather…

I Write In Books

Posted on October 1, 2013 Written by Tonya

I have shared my love of reading before, how much I adore getting lost in the shelves at bookstores and how I collect books.

My nightstand has been taken over by must reads.

I’m always reading something and this year I have made a [successful] conscious effort to read more. A purist at heart when it comes to books, I can’t believe I’m actually considering adding a Nook or Kindle to my holiday wish list.

I’ve gotten a lot better about passing my good reads on to family and friends, but I can’t seem to let go of my favorites and after I have read something, I hang on to it for far too long because of a habit I have…

As a lover of quotes and words in general and how some authors have a magical ability to string them together, for as long as I can remember I have written in my books.

I underline passages and sentences that speak to me and are relevant to my life and then add them to a document I have on my computer.

My father did the same thing.

In fact, it brought me to tears when my sister, husband and I were cleaning out my parents house and discovered a box full of dogeared pages and post-it notes and lots of of pen marks in books he had read and needed to transfer quotes from to his own document. Like father like daughter, I suppose…

Here are a few of my latest and these are all books that I highly recommend!

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives by Hoda Kotb

The Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

How To Kill A Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo

Have you read any good books lately?

Have you ever come across a book with passages underlined or notes written in the margins by someone else, like a family member? Did it add to or detract from your reading experience?

If you have an e-reader, which one do you prefer and why?

Bibliophilia: Redux – NaBloPoMo

Related Posts:

Summer So Far

Related Posts:

On Disappearing & A Review Of “The Age Of Adaline”

Related Posts:

In The Moment

Related Posts:

This House Needs A Mouse: A Book Review

Related Posts:

The Great Debate [In My Head]

Related Posts:

A Delightful Find

Related Posts:

Stamp Collecting

Related Posts:

I Write In Books

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

Related Posts:

What I Write About