Nearly twenty years ago, I tried Indian food for the first time. I will never forget it, because I've been so very lucky that my mom has shared her love of travel with me. No, I've not been to India; but to get authentic tikka masala, you only need travel to England. The origin of everyone's favorite Indian dish (isn't it, though?) is far from India. My mom and I did a quick three day trip to London to take advantage of a Virgin America deal, since they had just starting flying out of O'Hare. We hit all the usual tourist spots, caught musicals (Tommy and Starlight Express) and ate in a tiny little hipster Indian Cafe. It was one of those meals that you never forget, heavenly.
 |
| Our other favorite curry is veggie korma, on the left. |
I ran a little trail race, ummmm about a month ago. If I don't write a race recap, did it actually happen? I'm not sure, so I'm thinking better late than never...
This race initially drew my attention because it's held every year at Saint Edwards State Park which is a stone's throw from my house. We've done PLENTY of hikes with the kids there, but I've never really run the trails. Then I got to reading about the charity and I couldn't sign up fast enough. Jaimeson Jones passed away from testicular cancer at the tragic age of just twenty years old. The fund assists college students that are siblings of children dealing with cancer, the shadow victims. It's one of only two such funds of it's kind. The story behind it is very much worth reading.
To make this race even more convenient than it already was, they had pre race packet pickup at Everyday Athlete: my favorite running store that's also a very short jaunt from my home. Super cozy shirts have been plentiful at the last few races I've run, and this one was no exception!
.JPG) |
| Hehe, quite the logo... |
.jpg) |
| happy to get off the grass! |
.jpg) |
| Our bib info/race results! I'm on the bottom right there, somewhere in the first 10 women to finish in 30:32. |
.jpg) |
| Mmmm, homemade apple pie... |
It really didn't occur to me until about midweek that Easter weekend was coming up, when I remembered that I had to procure plastic eggs for my daughter's preschool class.
 |
| And thanks to the Y, she got to meet the Easter Bunny! |
Watching a movie that I loved almost thirty years ago (!) with my son was quite an experience. Interesting enough for me to want to talk about my observations in some detail...
 |
| this is going back in time as well... |
 |
| I was not as smart/cool as Dawson to have more than one, let alone hold on to them for posterity, dammit. |
.JPG) |
| If you have this version, don't just put in the first disc, like I did. |
Ahhh, it's been a really lovely week. I was dreading the fact that my husband had to take a business trip while the kids were on Spring Break. But, we've had such amazing weather and took advantage of it all week. And, yes, I did watch E.T. with my son. I have so many observations to make that I'm writing them in a post - lest I forget the hilarity.
 |
| Spring Break got off to a great start with a long play date that began with lunch at the park, included a walk to gelato, and ended at the beach. |
 |
| Actually taking turns and playing well together! |
 |
| Everyone and their brother was at the zoo this week, the most crowded I've seen it. |
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
This was another of the many Printz honor books I've been trying to catch up on, and it was pretty compelling, albeit dark, material (the protagonist is dealing with having been raped). It really called to mind the feelings of isolation most teens feel at some point in their lives (at least I did), and the author does an amazing job of putting you in Melinda's shoes in a very real and visceral way; certainly not uplifting, but very worthwhile. Incidentally, it's the 15 year anniversary of this book and Book Riot just did an interview with Laurie Halse Anderson on their blog.
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
This was another one of those 'not exactly uplifting, but very worthwhile' novels, as any written about slavery in the South are bound to be. In some ways it felt a little soap opera-like, with person X not knowing that person Y was someone's relation, etc., and love triangle misunderstandings. But the story was absolutely riveting and I could barely put it down, it was so suspenseful - in a very ominous way. The characters were all fully realized and I fell in love with every each one in Lavinia's family.
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
I just don't know about my affinity for self-help type books. It's just a re-hashed version of a lot of common sense to me. It's like someone went on Pinterest for inspirational quotes and then extrapolated it into a book. I wholeheartedly agree with all of her sentiments and would love to hear her speak, but my eyes totally glaze over with these types of books.
The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith
A friend of mine suggested I read this and another friend of mine had told me she loved the movie, and I thought I'd better read it before seeing it. This was absolutely heartbreaking and riveting material. It exposes the history of Irish adoptions to the United States in the 1950s by following one remarkable story. I was especially engrossed because my late father in law was adopted around the same time, born to an unwed Irish Catholic mother. I will say that although I really loved this book, I wish there was more of Philomena's story included. We follow her for the first quarter of the book or so, and then don't hear from her again until the very end. Now to watch the film...
As They Slip Away (a novella prequel to Across the Universe) by Beth Revis
Thanks to Bookriot, I learned that Beth Revis wrote a novella prequel to Across the Universe, which is my favorite YA dystopian trilogy as a whole (Meaning, each book was great and the last one didn't fall off the rails like The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, Matched, etc etc etc - all fantastic, all they all fall apart IMHO.) As They Slip Away was a rather melancholy story of one of the peripheral characters and how she chose to become a drone on Godspeed (the spaceship where the story takes place). If you have 30 minutes and read this series, it's worth checking out.
Speaking of YA dystopian stuff, I saw Divergent last week and thought it was great! Although, I'm conflicted, as The Fault in Our Stars is coming out and it's really weird to have Ansel Elgort as Shailene Woodley's brother Caleb in Divergent and then play Gus to her Hazel in the most heartbreaking romantic story. I suppose there's only a handful of actors that can play YA roles, and the all obviously keep overlapping. Sigh. I shudder in fear of what they might do to Eleanor and Park. For my third link to Book Riot, I think they hit the nail on the head on why casting the film adaptation will be very important and have the potential for great change...
Linking up with The Modern Mrs. Darcy's awesome 'Twitterature' book posts roundup!
I've got a pretty slim menu to share this week, as The Mister will be out of town for a couple of days. This is when I usually make dishes he doesn't like, or ones that can easily be consumed on the couch in front of the TV while watching Pitch Perfect or, lately, Veronica Mars. We watched Anchorman 2 this weekend and I'm inspired to watch Ice Castles, and maybe Xanadu if I have time.
 |
 |
| mmm, hopefully for Saturday night dinner |
 |
| I feel pretty lucky that I live near places like this to go running. |
