This is blatantly borrowed from my sister, but hey, I've got to start somewhere!

15 books I Love, in no particular order

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K.Rowling. Of course, I love all Harry books, but this is my fave, I think because of the way it portrays that the good guys are sometimes bad guys (and vice versa). That feels very real to me. (I have to finish it toaday, Or I won't have time to read Half-Blood Prince by Tuesday!)

2. Little House on the Prairie. Closely seconded by Little Town on the Prairie, and all the other Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The stark reality of a difficult life viewed through the eyes of a child who just thought it was all too marvelous. It takes me away.

3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. What's not to love about a time-travel-romance-mystery-adventure-historical-fiction? I love the entire epic saga, but the first book is still the most enthralling one. I think my favorite thing about these books is that Jamie and Claire are such a real couple: they fight, they make up, they hurt, they persevere, and they really love. And I also rave about the strikingly accurate and real portrayal of the way life was back when. (Woo-hoo for book 7 in September!)

4. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Even though I've read this little book at least a dozen times, I still find new puzzles to solve! Raskin is a genius and all 20-something of the characters are a treat to discover over and over.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen- the master of cynicism, social critique, and epic romance. Need I say more?

6. The Misanthrope by Moliere. Even in a passable translation, the rhyming verse calls to me! Moliere is a genius of wordplay.  And it's funny.

7. 1 John. I'm not really sure why this is my favorite book of the Bible, but it is, followed closely by
8. Phillippians. Which know I love because of the cheerful, encouraging outlook which makes me know I'm not crazy to say, "It'll be okay, God will take care of us." Because Paul obviously thought so, too. Great faith reminds us of our cause for great Rejoicing!

9.A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'engle. Of course, I love all the Murray and Austen books, but this one takes the cake for three reasons: 1)The brilliant structure of the chapers according to an ancient rune. 2)It's not just about Time Travel, It's about the tiny decisions we make every day, and how they impact the whole world for better or worse. 3)The theme that a choice to love just one person really can save the world. All this, and it's awfully suspenseful, too!

10. Baby names. Okay, maybe this is cheating, but there is no specific Baby Name book I love. I just love books of names and their meanings. There's some kind of linguistic and cultural mystery to it, I guess.

11. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Don't Panic! This book is so darn funny, and so darn smart. The way sci-fi should be!

12. How to Make a Mummy by Avi. I haven't read this in at least 15 years, but that's because I still have it mostly memorized. I was a weird kid.

13. Blink-Sorry I can't think of the Author's name but it is a really interesting book about the power of the subconcious mind.

14. Let There be Clothes! I don't know the author of this one, either, but it is one of the first things I looked for at the Hutch library. I have checked it out dozens of times since High school, and am tickled by it every time. It is a history of what people have worn form the beginning, laid out in a magazine style with brief bytes, lots of pictures, and a snarky attitude which all make it fun to peruse.

15. Aryth Dawn, book one of the Epilixy, By Adam Hass. I'm not beeing shmoopy, I really get into it! If he would only finish it so I can see what happens!

Next time maybe I'll do movies which, to be honest, would be a lot easier list for me to make. But maybe it's good for me to rehearse which books I love. Keeps me grounded.

love

First of all, sorry for the ridiculously long absence.

I awoke this morning to a blissful 5 inches of snow! I am snuggled with my coffee at my computer for the first time in a long time, and enjoying it thoroughly. My first thought when I got up and saw the snow was that I ought to bake something. Snow makes me feel cozy, and what's more cozy than something warm and soft and sweet? And Baking really helps warm up the house. Plus, I thought my Husband would enjoy a nice coffee cake when he got up. Then I realized that he will probably sleep at least until 9. so maybe I should hold off on that cake awhile. So here I am, finally blogging the thing that's been on my mind all month.
You may remember that awhile back I wrote about wanting to find my "work" for God. Well, He's been showing me a lot and I feel like, for the moment anyway, I am doing what He wants of me, not just being what he wants me to.
Back in October, I was listening on line to one of my favorite radio programs: Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I strongly encourage all you girls to check her out (yes, even you singles. Nancy herself is single and even adresses the topic I'm about to write on as it applies to single women) because I have been so blessed by her teaching. She was doing a series on the Titus 2 Woman which I found so challenging and uplifting. And then she got to the phrase, "Keepers At Home", and spent over a week on that one little part of a verse. I won't begin to summarze the teaching here, but God spoke to me one day, as I listened with awe, and said,"You need to learn to do this work, first."
I was astounded. After all, I had been a Stay-At-Home-Wife for over a year. And I've known how to cook and clean since middle school at least. But the Lord began to show me that it was a matter of heart. I was spending all my time wishing, planning or regretting the things I wanted to do outside my home. In reality, not only was I fairly lazy around the house, but my heart was in rebellion against my situation. It didn't help that other women, especially those at Church were always asking me, "What do you do?" (As in, you don't even have any kids, what could possibly keep you busy all day at home?)
I started asking myself what it actually meant to be a housewife, something I had never really considered before. I've always considered housewifrey the most noble profession. But, I have never thought it was for me. My mom was a housewife by default. Trained and working as a teacher, she gave up her career to teach Cat and me at home. But it was always clear to me that that was work.  Her job was still teacher, she just taught us. So, I never really thought I was the "housewife type" either. But as God worked on my heart I began considering both myself and the role of "homemaker".
For most of time and history, women worked in the home. This was not, as many would have you believe, because the men oppressed them and kept them from being "meaningful contributors to society." No, women stayed in the home and worked because, if they didn't, everyone would starve and be naked. Now, a lot of women (especially married ones) like to joke that men would starve and be naked without them now, but nowadays it's not true. Your husband left alone might only eat fast food, but he won't starve. He might accidentally use bleach instead of detergent, but he won't be naked. But as recently as 100 years ago, a woman in the house was literally vital to life. The man went out and procured the raw materials necessary for life, but the woman turned them into something useful. I got a great book at the library called "Forgotten Household Crafts", which truly opened my eyes to how hard that was.
The housewife prepared every morsel of food from scratch. She baked the bread and fried the chicken, but she also prepared and skimmed the milk, cultured the leaven for weeks, slaughtered the chicken, plucked the chicken, butchered the chicken, prepared the chicken and cleaned up the dishes by hand without running water. Oh, and usually she also made the dish soap herself from ashes and fat.  She did this kind of work over a fire three times a day, 365 days a year. And that was just the cooking.
The housewife made sure everyone's clothes were clean and presentable (again without running water and using homemade soap), but she also made those clothes herself. Before 1865 she made them by hand. Before the industrial revolution she may have even made the cloth herself. She knitted socks, hats, and outerwear. She cut every piece of fabric with care because it was precious, and she was adept at patching and sizing down still-good garments. And every scrap was saved for quilts or rugs to keep the house warm.
Her other chores included keeping the house clean, nursing the sick, making candles and other household items, growing a garden, preserving food, and keeping the fire burning without burning down the house.
Aside: I Love my washing machine! I feel so blessed not to have to pound out my clothes with lye in a cauldron. The hippie in me really likes learning all these things because I have a secret desire to go "back to the land", but honestly, I would have time for nothing else! But who knows, if we do enter a second Great Depression, I might be glad I know how to make soap out of ashes and lard.
So, housewiferey is not a hard as it used to be. And surely, God is not calling me to start raising chickens. What I really learned is that I needed to change my attitude about making my home. Homemaking is not drudgery these days, it's easy! I have nothing to complain about! I realized that Homemaking is not about what I do, but why I do it. I needed to learn true service and submission to my husband. As much as I study and write on such subjects, I was really resisting in my heart. My husband truly is my hero. I admire him for all the hardships he has overcome--and there have been no ordinary hardships! I trust him completely because he has always taken care of me. He always makes me happy. Was it too much to ask that I mop the floors on occasion to show my respect for him?  And that was the key: not that I mopped, but that I did it so that his life would be easier and happier.
I'm not going to speculate on how Adam feels about this change, but for me I suddenly felt releived. I felt that what I did had a purpose, and that purpose was showing my love for him through service. I no longer felt "trapped" in my house. I'm on a mission to make it a home.
The really Ironic thing is that, the moment I learned what God had been trying to teach me, he moved on to lesson 2. I got a job. I had appliled for it back in early October and never heard squat. Then, the first week of December I got a call, was I still interested? and since we really, really, need the money I said yes. I've been working full time suddenly, and I am reeling a little form the transition. And I realize that it's much harder to be a homemaker when you're also a breadwinner. I knew this before when I worked full time, of course, but back then I didn't care. I just let the house go. This time, I think God wants me to learn that, like the Proverbs 31 Wife, I need to take care of my home and be sucessful in the marketplace.
This is a lesson I never thought I'd have to learn. I thought I was modern and informed, and a good cook, so it would all somehow work out that I had a career. Ok, I thought I'd hire a maid service. But I truly understand now that the first interest of my heart needs to be my home. Nothing else is going to work out for me unless I get that taken care of first. And, surprisingly, I feel very content.
Also, I feel cold. I think it's time to go whip up that Coffee Cake. And possibly also rice pudding. And, I really do need to mop.

In Other News:
Our niece, Lillianne Jael was born on Dec. 4. She is beautiful and mother and baby are both doing well.
Adam's folks moved back to Kansas on Thanksgiving day. They're settling in.
Adam and I are both moving ahead with our books. I'm thinking that God's plans for us might not be in the order I expected. But hey, He knows best.

   So, the Today Show is doing a short series on gentlemen. Specifically, they were discussing whether gentlemen still exist, and if not, whose fault it is. There was even some discussion about what a gentleman is. Apparently there are so few left that people have forgotten what they look like.
   For the sake of this discussion, I posit that a gentleman is one who treats a woman like a lady. He is polite, respectful, and deferential to women of all ages regardless of his personal feelings towards them. I know that this kind of man still exists because I am married to one. On our first date, I was impressed by his politeness, his chivalry (yes, he opened doors!) and the fact that his shirt was tucked in. In addition, he was genuinely interested in my conversation, was respectful to his elders, and tolerated the giggles of my junior high "sisters" with charm and big-brotherly kindness. Seven years later, he is still respectful and considerate, not only of me, but of all women. He opens doors for strangers and gives his seat to my mom. The general consensus on the Today Show seemed also to be that Gentlemen are out there, but they're a fewer than they used to be.
   Theories abounded as to who's to blame for the decline and fall of Gentlemen. One commentator said that parents were to blame, one blamed changing social values, and Kathie Lee tried to pin the decline of the species on Rap music. (I love Kathie Lee, but, seriously.) But, no one seems to want to admit the shocking truth of what happened to all the gentlemen. Women Killed them. (Metaphorically, anyway.) Let's be honest with ourselves, people: gentlemen started dying out when Women started to get liberated. Now, before you get your panties in a knot, I have nothing against Women's liberation. The social system of the 1950's was restrictive and doomed to failure. But an unfortunate side effect of women being liberated is that many of the nice things men did for women were chucked aside as being "chauvanist". It is a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bath water. We've gained the freedom to choose our own destiny and get paid well for it, but we've lost the little niceties. And now, we miss those niceties. That's right, girls, we have found the enemy, and it is US. We (or, at least our proverbial sisters) went around acting like anyone who opened a door was a chauvanist just waiting for a knuckle sandwich, and now nobody opens the doors for us. In fact, I've heard several young men say as much: that the number of girls who act flattered by chivalry is outweighed by those who act insulted.
   Fortunately, Gentlemen have been around since way before the fifties. In fact for many hundreds of years (no matter what feminists tell you), it was considered a mark of finest breeding to treat a woman well. So, it shouldn't be too hard to return men to those old ways. And women will have to do it. To quote my favorite fictional Gentleman, Mr. Darcy, "The fault is mine, and so must the remedy be." Since we created this monster, we've got to dispose of it. How, you may ask, can we reverse the pendulum of society and regain all the perks without losing our status? The answer to This is actually so simple that it is easily overlooked: Expect it. To clarify, here's an excerpt from my work-in-progress:

I hear all the time that young men "just aren’t like that any more". This may be true, but I stand with many great Christian thinkers in saying that young men don’t behave that way because young women do not expect them to. Think about that. If someone really loves you, don't you expect him to treat you with honor?  If you expect a man to open a door, he will have to open it- or else stand behind you looking dopey while he waits for you to open it. If you expect a man to listen to you, he will have to listen- or else sit alone wondering why he can’t communicate with women. It is probably true that the number of men who do these things spontaneously is few. However, the number of men who will gladly open doors for a fantastic women who likes them is much, much greater. The problem seems to be that so many young women do not expect to be treated with honor.

   So, if you want a guy to be a gentleman, act like a lady. Be polite and respectful to him, and expect him to return the favor. Be honorable, and expect to be treated with honor. And if he doesn't change right away, go easy on him. Kindness breeds kindness. If even a small fraction of us girls start developing the men around us into gentlemen, the world will be a kinder, more chivalrous,  place in no time.
   What do you think, ladies? are you up to the challenge? Guys, can you rise to the occasion?