A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

The Saturday Morning Book Club + Reading List

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Last week we had a great conversation about “comforting clothes.” Well. On the third Saturday of every month I get to go to book club, which is like slipping into the most comfortably well-worn sweater you can imagine.

No one remembers exactly when our first meeting was, but we do know it was at least twelve years ago. Twelve years! That’s a long time for a group to get together in this busy era, so I asked these book-loving kindred spirits why they think our club has stayed the course. Here’s what they said:

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Castiel in Clay

Snow Day!

Lexie amused herself this morning by creating a clay version of Castiel, the trench-coat-wearing angel on Supernatural. Isn’t he sweet?

Normally I would love a snow day, but I had such a long list of things to do. Oh, well.

Seeing what the kids come up with when they have nothing else to do is helping me relax into this day of not-getting-things-done. Will is over at the kitchen island observing the effects of water immersion on lemon drop candies. Lily (who is not allowed to watch Supernatural) just informed me that she and Lexie are setting up a Supernatural set for their American Girl dolls. Andrew is drumming loudly in the basement. Layla, who loves having everyone home, is dashing around throwing her bone in the air.

And later we’ll go outside and play in this absolutely gorgeous snow. The to-do list can wait until tomorrow.

P.S. Lexie uses Oven-Bake Sculpey for her clay creations. And here’s the real Castiel.

 

 

 

Imaginary Neighbors

I was so happy to find this Papyrus card at Target. It has the perfect message for a close friend who lives much too far away:

In my imaginary neighborhood you live right next door.

Life has taken many of my favorite people to the farthest corners of the United States—and even the world. I wish we could get together more often, but thank goodness we have other ways to stay in touch until we can have proper face-to-face visits.

The friend I sent the card to and I have been talking about using Skype for ages. I admit it: I’m ridiculously slow to embrace new technologies. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just always seem to be doing something else! And there’s probably something even newer than Skype now! I just learned about a smartphone app called SnapChat that allows you to share photos and videos that self-destruct after being viewed once for up to ten seconds. Have you heard of it? (And can anything really self-destruct once it’s out in the ether?)

I really do need to start using Skype. I have friends who’ve been able to watch nieces and nephews grow from a continent away and others who’ve had a much easier time letting their college-age children study abroad knowing they could check in often with Skype.

What’s your favorite way to keep in touch with friends and family who live far away? Do you prefer to send cards and letters in the mail or have you branched out into using technology to stay connected? Have you discovered an amazing app we should know about?