Our weekend started on a sad note. My daughter’s beloved hamster, Bear, died in her hands Friday morning. At 7am, when K. checked on Bear, she was lethargic and struggling to breathe. K. picked her up, and she raised her little head, put it back down, closed her eyes and she was gone. My daughter sobbed, “Mom, do something! Call 911!” so I called the animal hospital, but the vet said it would cost $80. just for him to leave his home and unlock the office door before regular business hours. Treatment, of course, would cost extra. After hanging up, I assured K. the animal hospital would do everything they could. I was pretty sure Bear was already dead, so I asked my husband, within earshot of the kids, to rush Bear to the animal hospital, but privately I asked him to drive around the block a couple times so that I could get the kids off to school. After school, she came flying at me, asking, “Is Bear ok?” I broke the news that poor Bear had gone to Hamster Heaven. K. was heartbroken but matter of fact. After we held Bear’s funeral, K. said, “She’s in a better place, right, Mom?” quickly followed by, “When can we go to the pet store to get another one?” We went up to Petco right after the ceremony and brought home a hamster that seems very sweet and looks like a smaller younger version of Bear. Bear, Jr. Hopefully this one will live longer than 3 months.
On Saturday, my daughter L. and I hit Borders (she needed the next book in the Five Ancestors series, and I needed a paperback for a book exchange for my book club’s 1st anniversary), then the hospital to see my stepdad. He had a quadruple bypass a couple weeks ago, came home, then had to go back to the hospital last week and have a second surgery for a massive infection. He’s facing one more surgery and weeks in the hospital, but he’s got a great attitude and we believe he’s going to be ok.
After a quick visit with Grandpa, L. and I headed to Starbucks for a double chocolate chip frappucino (her) and a mocha (me), then off to our local Farmer’s Market for strawberries, honey and apples. I’ve been thinking a lot about the food we eat lately, and where it comes from.. trying to buy food grown locally and in season as often as possible, and trying to cook more and buy less processed food. It’s so easy and convenient to buy pre-made products, or out of season fruit shipped in from Guatemala or Brazil, but I’m at least thinking about things and making small changes.
On Saturday evening our book club had it’s first field trip, stepping out t see The Other Boleyn Girlin the theater. When a book is so amazing, it’s hard to be objective about the movie, but I think they did a pretty good job with it. It was quite different than the book, however. Of course with a 661 page book, a movie would need to be 4 hours long or more to get it all in, so I guess they did the best they could given the time constraints. I wasn’t sure how Natalie Portman, who in past roles has seemed so wholesome, would pull off the fiery character of Anne Boleyn, but she brought a lot of passion and excitement to the role. Scarlett Johannsen made a great Mary Boleyn, and Eric Bana was a HOT Henry VIII. The costumes were nicely done and not over-the-top. We enjoyed it, but it was hard not to pick the film apart afterward (THAT didn’t happen in the book, THIS was glossed over, etc.)
Sunday was an unseasonably warm day, near 90 degrees. My flabby, lily-white legs and I are so not ready for shorts. Maybe I’ll look into one of those spray-on tans before my legs make their annual appearance in the neighborhood. Wouldn’t want to blind anybody with their brilliant whiteness.
On Sunday afternoon, my Girl Scout troop had their monthly meeting. One of the parents in the troop agreed to have the meeting at her house and teach the girls about skin care. They made masks of yogurt and oatmeal and gave each other facials. They had a great time, and now my daughter wants to give EVERYONE a facial.. me, her dad, her sister, the dog. She also is scrutinizing my every move in front of the bathroom mirror. “Mom, Mrs. R. says you should NEVER put your fingers into a jar of lotion.” “Mom, Mrs. R. says you should rub lotion onto your face in a circular motion. That’s not a circular motion, Mom!” UGH, quit watching me, kid!!
Sunday night was Book Club time. I look forward to these meetings so much. Something about no kids, no men, good food, intelligent conversation, and a glass of wine makes me incredibly happy. We started with food (potluck) and a game, because I am truly a book club geek. I listed the first sentence of all 12 books we’ve read together as a club and asked everyone to match the sentence to the correct book. I thought it would be easy, but only two people got them all right. I’ve won several online book giveaways recently, which made awesome prizes for my geeky little game. Then we proceeded to discuss The Time Traveler’s Wife in great detail. There was so much to say (three hours worth!) Everyone enjoyed the book and found the writing style unique and fascinating. I would highly recommend it for a book club discussion.
In April our book club will read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and will vote on books for our summer reading. My suggestions are: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to know if you think they’d be good for a group discussion.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
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Books on the Brain 