2013 in Books

What I Did in 2013

I read 65 books.

I completed Nanowrimo.

I wrote halves of two other books.

I drastically reduced the size of my wardrobe. I still have too many clothes.

I distributed clothes I didn't wear anymore among my sisters. The clothes I gave away look much better on them than they ever did on me. I love it.

I dreamed and planned and talked of sewing my own clothes but didn't make a single thing.

There was a dearth of baked deliciousness. For reasons unknown I did very little treat making.

I filled up a journal and half-filled another one.

I got skinnier without really trying. Not knowing exactly what I weighed at the beginning of the year and having no idea what I weigh now, I can't quantify the difference. I can say that my clothes fit funny but I'm doing my absolute best to make them work. I do not like pants shopping.

I took an article of clothing to the tailor for the first time ever. I'm a fan of tailors.

I reduced my spending by focusing on necessities rather than wants.

Just as I was considering easing up on my year of no spending, my parents began their own year of no spending. Together, we're doing very little money spending. Ma has taken to keeping boxes of crackers in her car so she's not tempted to stop for a snack while out and about. I'm super proud of her.

I worked on mastering the art of singing. I still have a long way to go but can now with hardly a thought talk up in my face instead of down in my throat. Trust me—that means progress.

I played with each of my four new nephews, even the ones that live faraway. I'm seriously in love.

I worked a second job for the sole benefit of attending barre workout classes for free.

I taught myself how to make friendship bracelets. Don't ask me how I missed that pre-teen train but I can say with confidence that was not a part of my childhood.

I tried eating like a vegan for two months. It was delicious and not as hard as I thought it would be. I missed butter and baking with eggs like crazy. I also missed cheese. My mother believes the government shut down was the catalyst for my eating experiment. I don't know if she's right though her logic is sound.

I chopped off nearly a foot and a half of hair. I'm just beginning to have some length again and it is delightful.

I currently have the most adorable, short ponytail.

I was offered a temporary, 10-month position in Paris. I turned it down.

I tried three kinds of apples I'd never had before: Opal, Black Arkansas, and Pinata.

I nearly completed a patchwork quilt top. It's only missing a second border.

I kept my plant alive.

I purchased my first pair of skinny jeans. And then three more. None of them really fit anymore.

I visited

• Las Vegas
• Upstate New York
• New York City
• Vermont
• Donner Lake
• Sacramento
• Portland
• Park City
• Grace, Idaho
• Grand Canyon
• Bryce Canyon
• Zion's

This is the fist time in half a dozen years that Iowa hasn't figured in my travels.

I gained friends and lost friends.

I picked up knitting again after 15 years. Fingerless gloves, half a pair of socks, and the beginnings of a blanket have been added to the hall of things Megan has knitted. Previously, the sole occupant was a scarf I knitted for my American girl doll at the age of 12.

I gave myself a Nook for my birthday. I travel too often and read too much to rely on physical books.

I did not make significant progress in French though I do think I am slightly better off than I was a year ago.

I ate more chocolate chocolate doughnuts, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and bags of chocolate chips and marshmallows than any one person should lay claim to. Just the thought of all that deliciousness makes my heart happy.

I worked on paying attention to my body and how it was feeling. It was all part of an effort to take better care of it. This led to several things:

• I can no longer overeat. If I do overeat, my body reacts violently and I have to concentrate hard on not being sick.
• I'm still running. I don't push my body to go farther or faster than it is capable of. Because of this, I no longer despise running like I used to. When I like running better, then I can push myself.
• I don't worry about an exercise schedule. I exercise when I feel up to it. I don't when I don't.
• I discovered I'm the biggest stress ball that ever there was. My parents and siblings also live their lives as stress balls. We are a family of stress balls.
• I also discovered that I am very, very bad at relaxing. I knew this, but I didn't realize I was as bad as I am. I am working on it. I often stop, take a big breath, smile in an I'm trying to relax sort of way, and then carry on with less stress and muscle clenching.
• I've gone through bottles and bottles of lotion. My skin is happier. I am not. Boo to slimy lotion.
• I started washing my face with honey in the morning and olive oil at night. It's super weird but I love it. My face has never been so moisturized.

I turned 27. It's encouraging to think I've come so far.

December Books

I began the month by reading A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. It was one of the best written books I've read this year. It was also heart-rending. I loved the idea that our lives are in large measure what people all around us, that we know and that we will never know, do. Each moment is a constellation of future and past events and therein lies the true beauty of living.

Next I read Tinkers by Paul Harding. It was also well done but I didn't love it like I thought I would. It was interesting and it won the Pulitzer a few years back, a good reason in itself to read it.

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis was one of my favorite books as a child. I love the Chronicles of Narnia but The Horse and His Boy was my clear favorite and I read it over and over again. It was delightful to take a step back into childhood.

Next was Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore. I used this book to put my mother to sleep on our drive to Portland. it was amazing how quickly she was out. I found the content interesting. The prose was a little difficult for me to get through. I suspect the author is much more experienced in presenting material than writing about it. I also had hoped there would be a greater analysis of the actual letters and their content rather than a study of the differences between Jane's and Franklin's lives.

I read the first two book sin the Inkheart trilogy years ago. I decided it was time I read Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. Also, it was sitting on my shelf and I am trying to move through all the books on my shelves that I haven't read yet. I remember that I really like the first one. I think the third one was better than the second, but I hardly remember the second book at all so that might not be accurate. As a child I would have found the entire trilogy magical and would have loved every minute of it.

And finally, I read The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien. I saw the second movie in theaters and I couldn't believe my eyes. Either my memory was far worse than I suspected it was, or the movie makers took a lot of liberties. I discovered, much to my satisfaction, that it was latter. I'm not upset by this. They are doing a great job with the movies and it's likely a movie made to follow the book exactly would be quite boring. The book has exciting parts but mostly it's traveling and talking. That being said, I would have liked to see The Hobbit made into one, really well done movie.

Saturday Morning

Saturday I spent the entire morning in bed. I ignored the world and everything in it until early afternoon.

I was reading.

Once upon a time I used to spend many a leisurely Saturday morning in such a fashion. Then I grew up.

I have come to a determination. It is high time to grown back down again.

In honor of this determination, I've painted my fingernails blue.

There was a beautiful bottle of blue nail polish in my stocking along with the usual stuffers. Ma's stocking included a bottle of beautiful brown. Even Santa knows I need to grow back down again.

I feel deliciously happy each time I see my new, blue polish, even when I've only just caught a hint of it out of the corner of my eye. Since I see my fingernails quite a lot in the course of a regular day, I've spent most of the past two days feeling deliciously happy.

This is why the world is full of colors. Colors = happiness.

I feel quite pleased with the progress I've made growing down. To ensure no backsliding into adulthood I believe I must spend the coming Saturday morning lost in a book.

Yes, I think that would be just the thing.

Christmas

What did you get for Christmas?

I got a pot. I purple, cast iron, enameled pot. My mother picked it out for me and I love it. It's frivolous enough that I wouldn't have gotten it for myself, but it's purposeful enough that I'll be able to use it for years to come. In no time at all I will be a maestro with enameled, cast iron pots. Particularly the purple ones.

I also got a calendar from my brother's family. It's beautiful. Prettier than I knew a calendar could be.

Other than that there were only the basic things in the stocking. The peanuts and orange, the toothbrush and nail clippers. A simple Christmas with nothing more than what I can love.

Oh. And I gave myself a book. It is important to have new reading material on Christmas day because there's nothing better on Christmas than curling up with a blanket next to the fireplace and reading a new book while you sip wassail.

I didn't read my book yesterday. I was too busy with family and food to bother with reading, a Christmas first. That says better than I can how perfect a Christmas it was. I felt loved and spent time with the people I love. There's nothing better than that.

November Books

I enjoyed reading Surprised By Joy (by C.S. Lewis) but not in the way I've loved Lewis' other books. But then, I rather suspect his purpose in writing it was not to provide his reader with enjoyment.

I loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (by Mary Ann Shaffer). I'd heard mixed things about it, most particularly that it wasn't as good as everyone said it was. I loved it, despite not generally being a fan of novels written through epistles.

I wasn't impressed with Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (by Fannie Flagg). I wondered what the hype was about back when it was made into a movie. Now I know.

IT Guys

Sometimes you have IT issues that nobody can fix except one particular person who happens to be out of the office for an entire week but only after the IT guys who can't fix it spend two weeks telling you there's a problem because of how you're trying to log in so you have to wait for the IT guy that can fix it to come back from being out of the office after you've jumped up and down and done cartwheels and stood on your left foot for three hours at a time to prove to the not helpful IT guys that you are not the originator of the issue.

Of course, in an instance like this the issue happens to be one that makes your job uber difficult and you need it fixed right away because your coworkers are getting tired of you coming to them begging for help because they aren't having the same issue.

Then the IT guy that can fix it comes back and does his IT magic and suddenly your IT issue is gone as if it never happened and your world is filled with rainbows that drop tootsie rolls and muddy buddies and gummy watermelons which are all far superior to skittles and nobody really wants a skittles rainbow anyway.

Your message of thanks because everybody deserves a message of thanks when they are the catalyst for non-skittle dropping, life rainbows.

Dear IT Guy,

It works! Thank you.

Sending you hugs and kisses, but only the chocolate kind cause otherwise that would be weird.

Thank you so much!

Me

Some time later you go into your work email. (It's sometime later because now that your IT issue is no longer an issue you're busy trying to take care of all the things you've put off so you're focused and haven't noticed your email.) The IT Guy's response.

Phfsh! Whichever is more convenient for you . . .  ;)

And then you just kind of feel weird about the whole thing.

Except I don't actually feel weird about the whole thing because that's the response I'd expect from an anonymous IT guy that I will likely never meet and will probably not communicate with again who just happens to be the only IT guy employed by my place of work that can fix my IT issue and with whom a rapport was established through the scanty back and forth communications about my IT issue consisting of such things as 'Could you check to see if you're still having issues?' and 'Yes, I'm getting the same error message I was before,' and 'Lemme check things out and I'll get right back to you,' so instead of feeling weird I just smile at my computer like an idiot because that's why I love IT guys.

And then I worry that I maybe should feel weird about the whole thing. I mean, the IT guy just gave me permission to hug and kiss him. Shouldn't I be worried about this? Nope! I leave the feeling weird to you and will continue to crush on my IT guys.